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Over the hills and the valleys Sound of abundance of rain Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling But for the showers we plead There shall be showers of blessing Send them upon us, O Lord Grant to us now a refreshing Come and now honor Thy word Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling But for the showers we plead There shall be showers of blessing Oh that today they might fall Now as to God we're confessing Now as on Jesus we call Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling But for the showers we plead Showers of blessing Showers of blessing we need Mercy drops round us are falling But for the showers we plead Springs of living water song 223 I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame And nothing satisfying there I found But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came Where springs of living water did abound Drinking at the springs of living water Happy now am I, my soul is satisfied Drinking at the springs of living water A wonderful and bountiful supply How sweet the living water from the hills of God It makes me glad and happy all the way Now glory, grace, and blessing bark the path I've trod I'm shouting hallelujah every day Drinking at the springs of living water Happy now am I, my soul is satisfied Drinking at the springs of living water A wonderful and bountiful supply Oh sinner won't you come today to Calvary A fountain there is flowing deep and wide The Savior now invites you to the water free Where thirsting spirits can be satisfied Drinking at the springs of living water Happy now am I, my soul is satisfied Drinking at the springs of living water A wonderful and bountiful supply Some songs are just completely different. They have different tunes and everything, but some of them just have slightly different words. So of course our hymnal is right and the rest are wrong. No, just kidding. We're walking Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. It is a Sunday day. It is supposed to warm up a little bit today. When I say warm up I mean like 40 degrees, so above freezing. But hopefully my driveway will thaw. So it's been like just a sheet of ice for a couple weeks now. But welcome to Mount Baptist Church. Just some things on the announcement list here. I have, the big thing is I signed the contract for another retreat at the same place. And so we got 16 cabins. We literally booked the whole cabin area and then we got two of those cottages. The way we're going to do the cottage, there's two four bedroom cottages, is pretty much whoever has the most kids gets that. So you better get on that. No, I'm just kidding. But obviously those ones are kind of a little more spread out, so I think that helps out when you have a brood of children that you're taking with you. But anyway, I think they're all nice. I think we could get by even with a two bedroom when it comes to space and everything there. But let me know whenever you can. I know this is kind of real early, but by July something I need to have the room list together as far as who's definitely going to be making it, what days and stuff like that. So if you already know, hey, I'm going to be there, we'll have that time off, then I'll go ahead and get you guys on there and all that. Excited about that, but that will be September 25th through the 27th, I believe. I did it a little earlier this year because it seems like every year that we go, one, it usually rains on us for some reason in October, but we're always fighting whether we're going to have leaves on the trees out there. So this way, we know we'll have leaves. They may be different colors, they may not be. But up there, the foliage turns a lot quicker than down here. But yeah, that's going to be the 23rd through the 25th. I knew there was a 25th in there somewhere. So put that on your calendars if you want to come to that. Obviously, this is not a mandatory thing. You don't have to come, but I think it's a good time. We pretty much have the same activities that we've done, but maybe some people will actually join us when we go skeet shooting. But no, we'll try to see if there's other things to do, too, because there are other activities, and if it's not freezing cold or raining or something like that, we'll see what we can get into up there. Upcoming events, we just have the prayer meetings on here right now. So we have the men's prayer meeting at the end of this month, and so that'll be coming up actually this week, right? Yeah, because today's the 21st, so at the end of this week, we're going to have the men's prayer meeting. And then the next Saturday will be the women's prayer meeting on March 6th. And then our chapter memory until the end of this month is 2 Timothy 4, so we're capping off the book of 2 Timothy, and then 1 John 5.4. And so this is the third week we've been in 1 John as far as the memory verses. So next week I'll try to pick a different book, but this is applicable. So this is, For whatsoever is born of God, overcomeeth the world, and this is the victory that overcomeeth the world, even our faith. And so we've done 1 John 5.5, I know. Who is he that overcomeeth the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. So both those are good to have memorized. And so try to get that memorized and get your piece of candy or the reward of memorizing it. So if anybody's dieting out there, sorry, we'll find some celery sticks or something for you. And then our sowing times, the same this week. We have the one after the service today. And one thing I'll say with this is try to find your partners before we meet up. Let's just try to make that, I mean, you don't have to, but let's just try to do that as much as possible. And I know some have already been doing that, but try to find out who you want to go sowing with before we meet up so we're not trying to pick teams for dodgeball at the end or right when we're trying to go out. So I think that just helps if everybody's already got their person they're going to go sowing with. And then if there's a couple people that don't know, we'll figure that out in the end. And then Tuesday, don't forget about Brother Charles leading up that sowing time at 6 p.m. So get on the WhatsApp there to know where you'll be meeting and all that. But that's obviously typically in Morgantown, the regional sowing time up there. And then birthdays. Brother Charles, how old are you? So it's tomorrow, right? Yeah, that's right. So there will be 47. Happy birthday, brother. So we'll sing happy birthday for you. I think that's it. Just be a prayer for those that are on the pregnancy list there. Besides that, I can't think of anything else. Oh, yeah, I have – and I'll give these out later on, but I have some of the basic giving statements for some of the families. I'll say this. If you give online, I've been kind of like not – it's tabulated online, and so I can get that for you. But I've been mainly just keeping track of what comes in through the offering box. So if you need to know that, I can get online because the donation tool that we're using is like a tithe type thing, so it gives you like the breakdowns and all that stuff. So if you need to know and you've been given online, I can get that for you. If you want to request that, I can try to figure that out. But I haven't been keeping track of that physically like with our Excel sheet. I tried and then I gave up because it's just so sporadic with that and trying to keep track of that. So anyway, but besides that, I think that's it for announcements. They will come and sing one more song. And then before that, we're going to sing happy birthday, brother Charles. And then who's reading this morning? Brother Anthony is going to be reading 1 John 5. All right, take your song books and turn to song 219. We'll sing my burden's rolled away. But before we do that, we need to sing happy birthday to brother Charles. It's tomorrow. Awesome. Stand up. See, this is what a good sport looks like. It's not rebellious. So what's Henry doing? OK. OK. All right. We'll sing happy birthday to brother Charles. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. God bless you. Happy birthday. God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, brother. All right. We will sing song 219. I remember when my burden's rolled away. I had carried them for years, night and day. When I saw them blessing, Lord, and I took them at his word. Then at once all my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. I remember when my burden's rolled away. That I feared would never leave night and day. Jesus showed to me the law, so I left them at the cross. I was glad when my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. I remember when my burden's rolled away. That had hindered me for years, night and day. As I sought the throne of grace, just a glimpse of Jesus' face. And I knew that my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. I am singing since my burden's rolled away. There's a song within my heart, night and day. I am living for my King, and with joy I'll shout and sing. Hallelujah, all my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. Rolled away, rolled away. I am happy since my burden's rolled away. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to 1 John 5. 1 John 5, we'll have Brother Anthony read that for us. 1 John 5. The Bible reads, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, and because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. If any man see his brother, Sin of Sin, which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Let's pray. So this morning, and this day, we can gather again here in the Mountain Baptist Church, and I pray God that you would be with Pastor Robeson, helping to preach your word. Help us all to learn this morning. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. So you're there in 1 John, chapter 5. I was going to mention this in announcements, but I'm going to do a series. After I'm done with the prophets series, so we have still like 12 more of those counting today because we're into the minor prophets, but I'm going to do a series where I'm going to be dealing with all the so-called contradictions in the Bible, meaning that there's like these sites like Atheists and then Muslims where they have like 101 contradictions, you know, or the most damning contradictions in the Bible or something like that. And so I'm going to go through them all. Now some of them are going to be really stupid, meaning like I'm just going to tell you that I'm going to mention them and I'm going to like breeze through a lot of them because they're just really dumb. But I want to say that, meaning that going into that, we still have some weeks to go before I start that because I kind of want to do that in the afternoon and not do it in the Sunday morning just so that I can have other sermons for each or other topics. But if you have any, you know, troubling passages or places you've had questions, bring that to my attention and I'll include that. So even if it's not on their list, because it's funny because their list, I can think of better things than they can in a lot of these cases. And I look through these lists and I'm like, I already know a couple more that would be harder to answer. Now obviously there's no contradiction in the Bible, but I just want to kind of go through that and just debunk all these so-called contradictions that they say. And I think it's going to be embarrassing to them, you know, like a lot of these ones, you're going to read through this and be like, these people are morons, right? They're supposed to be like these smart people that like, you know, but really when it comes down to this, they're straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel and they're trying to find anything they can. So that's a commercial break at the beginning here. I meant to mention that, meaning that, you know, within the next 12 weeks, you know, just kind of if you think of any passage that you're like, hey, I wish I could have an explanation on that, I'm not promising you I'll have a good explanation for it. But obviously, you know, I want to go through them all. So meaning that, you know, that at least give me some time too. If it is a really hard one, I can study it out, look into it and all that too. But I'll just say this, the list that they got, it's not going to be hard. You know, it's just going to take some time to go through it and explain it. But at the same time, I think that'll be a good study and, you know, just answering some hard passages. But this morning, 1 John 5, and I'm going to be printing a sermon called, He that Overcometh. He that Overcometh. And this is something that should be pretty basic. But I'm getting, first of all, what does it mean to overcome or what does the Bible mean when it says that you've overcome? And then I'm going to be getting into what do you get because you've overcome? You know, there's a lot of promises that are given to those that have overcome. And you know, there's a, you know, a false prophet and just these false teachers that were over in New York that, you know, basically preached that you can, you know, someone that's saved can go to the lake of fire and all this other weird stuff. And their whole premise was the fact that He that Overcometh is not just talking about someone that believes. You know, it's more than that. You know, He that Overcometh is talking about, like, overcoming sin and all this other stuff. But I want you to read with me in verse 1 down to verse 5, and I want to see if there's anything in here that would make you think that you have to, you know, do anything other than believe to overcome the world. Verse 1 there, it says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus the Christ is born of God, and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. So it's saying that if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you're born of God, and then it says that we know that we love the children of God when we keep his commandments. Okay? Meaning that we know that we have this unfeigned love of the brethren when we keep his commandments, but that has nothing to do with you being born of God. Okay? And it says, For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Yeah, because if you love me, you keep my commandments. Right? That's what Jesus said. But notice what it says that means to overcome. Okay? Notice what it says in verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. Now let me ask you a question. From verse 1, how do you get born of God? You believe that Jesus is the Christ. That's how you're born of God. And to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. And you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. It's by faith, it's by believing that you're born of God. You know, being born again, not of corruptive seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth in the Bible forever because faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's very clear that you're born of God by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay? And then it's going to reiterate this because as for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. So when you think of overcoming, what are you thinking of? Being victorious, right? Overcoming something is being a conqueror and being a victor over something, okay? And the victory is faith. Faith is the victory when it comes to overcoming the world, okay? And then it says, who is he that overcometh the world? So this is a question, right? That's going to be answered in the same verse and people don't get this. It's interesting that, you know, you have false teachers like Doka and LeBlanc and all of them that, and you say, are you sure they're unsafe? Yeah, they're unsafe. If they can't understand that he that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life and that that's a present tense everlasting life, they're not safe. And if they think that you can go through the second death after you have everlasting life right now, they're either a moron, well, they're both. They're a moron and they're unsafe. They're morons, okay? And that whole doctrine is stupid. And what they do is they go to Revelation and say, well, see, he that overcometh is, you know, and it gives these different things shall not be heard in the second death. But he that overcometh is not necessarily, you know, just someone that believes on Christ. What does it say here? Who is he that overcometh but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? How many ways and how many times it has to say that if you overcome, it's by your faith, it's by believing. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and how are you born of God? But by faith, okay? So it's very clear that it's by faith. But go to John chapter 16, because the reason that we overcome is because Jesus overcame, okay? You say, well, you know, overcoming the world, that seems like it's basically something you'd have to work, you know, like that's a big task to overcome the world. It was for Jesus, okay? It was a great task for Jesus, okay? And he's the only one that could do it. And the reason that we overcome is because we put our faith in him that did overcome, okay? It says in John 16 verse 33, it says, these things I have spoken unto you that in me you might have peace in the world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, okay? So Jesus overcame the world in every facet that you can imagine, okay? I mean, he was sinless, he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, you know, he fulfilled all righteousness, the Bible says, and he went around doing good. Like I could spend a whole sermon just talking about, actually I could spend like my whole lifetime just talking about what Jesus did on this earth. But that being said is that he overcame, and that's why we get the victory, that's why we overcome, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But people want to look at it, you know, and this is anybody that believes in work salvation is that we are physically overcoming by our deeds, our actions, and that's what false teachers teach when it comes to he that overcometh the world. But the Bible's very clear, when we look at the definition of he that overcometh, I don't know how you can be any more clear than who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God, that that is as crystal clear as you can be, there's no way to take that out of context unless you just wanted to say something else, okay. So first I want to just kind of nail down that what does it mean to be an overcomer, you know, of the world, it means that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and why does that work, why is that effective, why does that, how can you overcome the world, you know, by believing on somebody because the person you're believing on is the one that overcame it, okay. And in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 53, it's not going to say overcome here, but it's going to say victory, and that's really what overcome is talking about, you know, if you say we overcame the enemy, what did you do? You were victorious over the enemy, okay. If you even were playing a sport and you said we overcame that team today, what did it mean? You beat them, you won, okay. Or if you were in a fight, you know, I overcame them, you know, or whatever the case may be, you got the victory, okay. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 53 here, it says, for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting, O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, notice this, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we see here that it's through him, it's through Jesus that we get the victory, okay. He's the one that destroyed death and if you think about it, in Revelation it says I am he that was dead, it says I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forever more and have the keys of hell and of death, okay. So Jesus is the one that when he rose from the dead, he got the victory over death and hell and he has the keys of death and hell, go to 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2. Actually 1 John, it's not just chapter 5 that talks about overcoming, but in Romans chapter 8 we have a passage 2 where it says we are more than conquerors, okay. So it's interesting and you'll see what I mean by this when we get into, this is kind of a preface, you know, this is the introduction to the sermon, when I show you what you get for overcoming, okay. Because obviously you get everlasting life, right, but just other things that God gives us over and beyond that, that we are more than conquerors, okay. And you'll see what I mean by that later on, but in verse John chapter 2 and verse 13, notice what it says, it says I have written unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you young men, I'm sorry, I write unto you fathers, later on it says I've written, I write unto you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you little children because you have known the father. And so, you know, we're talking about overcoming the world, we're also talking about overcoming the wicked one which is the devil, right. The devil is the accuser of the brethren and the devil is the one that is accusing us night and day before the father and stating that, hey, we've sinned, we deserve death, right. The idea of you have the law but then you have the prosecutor, if you will, and the devil is the prosecutor and he's the one that's basically saying, hey, they deserve death, they deserve this, but obviously we know that Jesus took that payment and so if we're in a court of law, Jesus takes that payment, we can choose to take his payment or we can choose to pay for it ourselves. And that's where everybody's at today as far as salvation goes. You can either pay for your sins in hell or you can accept Jesus' payment. Go to 1 John chapter 4 or verse 4, 1 John 4 and verse 4 and so this is very simple, you know, when you think about this as far as, you know, he that overcomes the world is he that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, he that believes and that's born of God because you've put your faith in Christ and you have to basically just take that phrase, he that overcometh and just rip it out of context and make it say what you want it to say, okay. Because if I just say, and that's the title of the sermon, he that overcometh, if you just said, he that overcometh the world will go to heaven, if you just said that phrase, do you know that most people would be like, well, yeah, you got to be a good person, you got to live a good life, you got to overcome the battles of this world, right? But then when you look at how it's defined in the Bible, it says he that overcometh the world is he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God, right? And so it's our faith that's the victory, it's not our works and it's not what we do in this life, but people can rip that out of context and make it say whatever you want. So in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 4 it says, ye are of God's little children and have overcome them, why? Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So it's just kind of saying in another way that when you get saved, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and you're sealed until the day of redemption. And you're talking about the spirit of antichrist and these false prophets and all this stuff in chapter 4 and it's saying that you have overcome them, why? Because greater is he that is in you, because you have the Holy Ghost living inside of you, you have God indwelling you and you know what, you're saved. And so that's very clear, right? Is the fact that he that overcometh, is he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God? And you know what's funny is that that phrase he that overcometh is mentioned mostly in Revelation. But 1 John comes before Revelation, okay? First John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, Revelation, right? And so I don't think it's a coincidence that's why we have those books because it's leading into Revelation. You don't have much before you get to Revelation there, okay, because 2 and 3 John and Jude aren't that big of books. They're both one chapter and at that, 2 and 3 John are pretty short one chapter books and then you get into Revelation and then you see all this stuff about overcoming. So what I want to show you is that at the end, when you're reading through these seven churches in Asia, at the end of everything that's said to each church, there's basically a little phrase as far as what's going to be given or what's going to be done to those that overcome the world, okay? So now that you have the definition of he that overcometh the world, it's just those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you can look at here and be like, I can claim this, okay, because it's not something that's, you know, just for those that are the elite Christians that are doing the most for Christ. Actually, it's just those that believe, okay? Now in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 7 here, you know, you start off with Ephesus and verse 7 it says, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. So we first see here that those that believe on Christ and those that have salvation, they are given to eat of the tree of life, okay, which is in the paradise of God. Obviously we're talking about New Jerusalem, we're talking about, obviously in heaven right now is New Jerusalem, that's where paradise is at, that's where the tree of life is at. But eventually New Jerusalem is going to come down, okay, you have the new heaven, new earth, and New Jerusalem is going to come down and so you're going to have paradise on the new earth, okay? And notice in Revelation 22, just to show you this tree of life, obviously we saw the tree of life at the very beginning in Genesis where you have the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, okay? But in verse 1 here, so Revelation chapter 2 and verse 1 it says, and he showed me a pure river of life, I'm sorry, a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servant shall serve him and they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads. So we see here that we have the tree of life is on either side of the river of life and there's so many verses on this when you deal with even Psalm 1 talking about being a tree planted by the rivers of waters and just the idea of having a tree next to a river, okay? But it's saying that on either side of the river you have this tree of life and it bears 12 manner of fruit. Now it says in every month, okay? Now this shows you too that there are months and time going on even at the very end, even in the new heaven, new earth, that there are like months that are going by. I'm not saying there's going to be winter so don't get all, you know, in New Jerusalem there's not going to be any night because the Lamb is the light. But that being said is that I don't believe it's going to be too hot or too cold or anything like that but there's these 12 months that is bearing fruit and 12 manner of fruits. Now that could be meaning that there's 12 types of fruit on the same tree or maybe each month there's a different fruit that's being produced, you know? It could be that that's, you know, not part of the sermon here as far as what, you know, what type of fruit's on there. But so we see that we're given that as for the healing of the nations. Go down to verse 14 because I think this is where people get confused about this, okay? Because what you're going to see is that in this case with the tree of life but also in another place where I'm going to go to is that sometimes there's things that are given to he that overcometh and does something else, okay? So he that overcometh is he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God, okay? But you know what? There are things that are given to those that not only believe and are saved but also do the work, okay? So a lot of times you're dealing with rewards. Some rewards are just given because you're a believer, okay? And I'm going to show you a lot of these are just given because you're a believer so that means that you're going to be able to eat of the fruit of the tree of life just for being a believer, okay? So that means everybody in heaven, everybody that's saved will be able to eat of the tree of life, okay? Does that make sense? But then you go down to verse 14, it says, blessed are they that do his commandments, okay? So now we're not talking about just believing, we're talking about keeping his commandments. That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. Now you may say, okay, well, now you're saying that if you want, you know, fruit from the tree of life and even go into the city, you have to do keep his commandments, okay? Well, first of all, every word is important when you're looking at this, okay? And it says that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city, okay? So it's not saying that you have to keep the commandments to enter into the city. What you have to understand is that people are going to have different positions of authority, okay? I believe what this is stating is that everybody's going to be able to eat of the tree of life but not everybody's going to be able to go to the tree of life and get the fruit. Does that make sense? Everybody's going to be able to enter into the city but not everybody's going to be able to open the gates of the city and enter in by their own volition. Does that make sense? Meaning that there's different offices, different positions of authority and you can imagine that even in an army, if you're going into the gate, there's certain people that have to hail and basically, you know, have the authority to say, open the gates, right? And in that, I believe that there's a special blessing on those that keep God's commandments, okay? Meaning that you don't just get to eat of the fruit. You can physically go up to the tree of life and take the fruit. You have right to go up to the tree of life and take it, okay? Whereas other people may have to just get the fruit from someone else that's a higher position of authority, okay? That's what I believe this is talking about. Same thing with entering through the gates is the fact that you have people that have positions of authority and you're going to have people that are going to be over 50s, 100s, 1,000, right? We're not just going to be playing on harps, okay? We're not just going to be sitting under a tree playing on harps and just like eating grapes off a tree, you know what I mean? Like I know that grapes don't grow on a tree but they grow off a vine, right? But you're not just sitting under a tree eating fruit and just not doing anything. No, we're going to serve the Lord and we're going to rule and reign with Him forever, okay? And so there's going to be positions of authority. There's going to be all that. And so there is, there is, you know, when I'm going through this, there's a lot that's just like you're saved, you get this, right? But then there's other things that you get because you did the work also, okay? And I'm going to be getting into that but I'll say this. The fact that you're saved and you're going to go to heaven and you have eternal life and you're not going to go to hell when you die, that should be enough to be, you know, praising the Lord for all eternity, okay? But now he's saying, okay, well now you're going to be able to eat of the fruit of the tree of life, okay? You know that tree of life that you read about in Genesis? You're going to be able to eat of that. And if you do His commandments, you'll not only be able to eat of that but you have right to go to the tree of life. You have right to enter in through the gates of the city, meaning that you're going to be in this higher position of authority, okay? Now go to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 11, Revelation chapter 2 and verse 11. But you see the prerequisite though. You can't just say, okay, well someone kept the commandments but they didn't overcome the world, okay? They didn't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well that's not going to fly, okay? The prerequisite to even, you know, to have right to the tree of life and to enter in through the gates is that you're saved, okay? That's the prerequisite. So but obviously if you do things for the Lord and you live for the Lord, there's going to be bigger rewards, there's going to be bigger positions of authority, there's going to be more honor given to you than the person that just got saved and didn't do anything with their life and didn't do anything for Christ. But I'm sure that person's going to be glad they got saved. I mean I'm sure that for all eternity they're going to be joyous and they're going to be glad that they're in heaven and all that but at the same time, you know, don't you want for eternity to say, hey, I did as much as I could in this life for Christ. Instead of for all eternity, you know, you're just like, yeah, I just kind of wasted my life. Thank God I'm here but, you know, I could have done something for Christ. I could have had more rewards. I could have had, you know, more honor in eternal life, right? Go to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 11. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 11 and this is where you get into false teachers that teach that someone that's saved could actually go to hell or to the lake of fire. This is so just against what the Bible teaches and notice what it says in verse 11. It says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. Now this should just make sense because whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God, okay? So if you're born of God, that means you put your faith in God, that means you've overcome the world and by the way, he that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life and this is the record, you know, which he have given us of his son that, now I'm going to misquote it, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. The idea here is that if you have eternal life, how could you go to the second death? It doesn't make any sense, okay? But go to Revelation chapter 20 because I want you to see what the second death is. The second death is the lake of fire, okay? And the Bible calls the lake of fire hell, by the way. When it says that, you know, fear him that is, fear not him that is able to kill the body but fear him that is able to destroy both body and soul in hell, that's talking about the lake of fire because both soul and body is being cast into there. When people go to hell right now, hell beneath that's in the center of the earth right now, that is just your soul going there, okay? Now I say just but obviously that's horrible, right? That's, you know, something we don't want to see anybody, you know, we want to see people not go there but at the same time, you know, that's their soul. When you go to the lake of fire, your body is brought back to your soul and you're standing before the judgment seat or the, I'm sorry, the great white throne judgment and you're going to be judged according to your works and you're going to be cast into the lake of fire, both soul and body and you'll be there and torment day and night forever and ever. It's called death, okay? When you're reading through this, it says death, hell, death, second death. So just on the surface when Jesus says, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, he that believeth on the son hath everlasting life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. I give unto them everlasting life and they shall never perish. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death into life. How in the world could you say that you would go to hell, go to death, go to this second death if you have everlasting life right now? It's ludicrous and anybody that believes that and preaches that you could actually go through the second death, go to hell, does not believe the record, does not believe that Jesus gives them everlasting life and they're calling God a liar, okay? But it's very clear here that he that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. Why? Because we have everlasting life. Very simple because life, death are polar opposites. You can't be dead and alive at the same time, okay? Now in Revelation chapter 20 verse 6 it says this, it says blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Okay, so it's talking about this first resurrection which obviously those that are in Christ, those that have believed on Christ, this is talking about the rapture and this is talking about the resurrection of the dead, okay? The first resurrection because there's going to be a thousand year reign where there's still people living and dying, getting saved after that and then there's going to be the final or the second resurrection if you will where you have the resurrection of the just which are saved and then you have the resurrection of the damnation which is the great white throne judgment where all these people are going to come out of hell and be judged according to their works. In Revelation 20 and verse 14, very famous verse because we use this out soul winning all the time. It says in verse 14 in death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death. So we see that, what's the second death? The lake of fire, okay? And whosoever is not found written in the book of what? Life was cast into the lake of fire, okay? So the idea here is that if you have everlasting life, how could you not be in the book of life? If you're going to live forever and never die, you know, Jesus says whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. You know, he that believeth on Jesus, it says shall live forever. Jesus says it in many different ways, you'll never die, you'll live forever, you have everlasting life, you'll never go into condemnation, you'll never perish, just over and over again I will no wise cast you out, right? You're in my hand, no man's able to pluck you out of my hand. Like how many times and how many different ways that Jesus had to say this that, hey, you will not die, you will live forever, and there's no way to change that, okay? And you know, this belief that someone could go to the second death is just ludicrous when you think about it. And obviously in Revelation 21, 8, it gives this list of people that's going to be going to be cast in the lake of fire and it says this is, you know, the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death. So there's no doubt that the second death is talking about the lake of fire. And you say, why is it the second death? Well, because your body dies once, goes to the grave, your soul would go to hell which is called death, right? Death and hell brought up the dead which were in it, right? When you bring your soul and body together again and then it's cast into this lake of fire, that's why it's called the second death, okay? But they were never alive again, okay? It says the dead stood before God, okay? It doesn't say that they were alive, it didn't say that they revived. No, they were standing and they were conscious because they don't lose consciousness but they're not alive, okay? And by the way, it's called everlasting punishment. It's called everlasting damnation. It's everlasting life, everlasting damnation. How could you say, well, you're going to go to the lake of fire for a thousand years, okay? Okay, and I've heard people say this which doesn't make any sense, okay, because there's only two people that are going to be in the lake of fire during the thousand year reign. That's the beast and the false prophet. Even the devil isn't even in the lake of fire yet because he's in hell beneath, he's in the bottomless pit and the Bible says that he's taken out for a season, then he's going to be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, okay? So the idea of people being in the lake of fire for a thousand years during the thousand year reign, that has no validity at all on any standing. Even if you were to say like somehow it's possible for a Christian to go to the lake of fire which is ludicrous, that doesn't hold up any water because there's only two people that are there during that thousand year reign, okay? And so it's just a major false doctrine. You say that's the point of the sermon, that's not the point of the sermon but when I think of the subject of overcoming I think of that false doctrine right there because what they're doing is saying well he that overcomeeth is not just believing, okay? So that means that if it's not just believing that means that it's possible for someone that believes to go be heard of the second death, no. The Bible says that he that overcomeeth shall not be heard of the second death so it's another great verse to show you that you cannot lose your salvation, that you have everlasting life and you're not going to die. So I quoted all those verses off to you but here's another verse. He that overcomeeth shall not be heard of the second death. There's another verse for you that proves that someone that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ cannot go to the lake of fire, cannot go to hell, right? Because there's a lot of verses that say you have everlasting life and you shall never die but here's a verse that says you shall not be heard of the second death. You know what that's saying? You shall not go to the lake of fire. You shall not be cast into the lake of fire, okay? Now I'll go to Revelation chapter 2 and verse 17. So we saw that he that overcomeeth shall eateth the tree of life, he that overcomeeth shall not be heard of the second death. And now we're going to see here that he that overcomeeth shall receive hidden manna and a white stone and a new name, okay? So a lot of these, like I said, there's no caveat of like, well, you've got to do this too to get this, okay? It's just he that overcomeeth shall not be heard of the second death. He that overcomeeth shall eat of the tree of life. Now there's a caveat as far as like some other higher up honors that you may have with the tree of life or with the gates in Jerusalem but in the end, everybody that believes on Jesus will eat of the tree of life. Everybody that believes on Jesus shall not be heard of the second death. Everybody that believes on Jesus is also going to get this. It says in verse 17, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcomeeth will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. So this is an interesting one. Now manna, you kind of think of, you can obviously kind of correlate this with the Word of God but honestly, I think you're literally talking about eating manna, okay? Meaning that kind of like you're eating of the fruit of the tree of life, that this hidden manna is probably something very special as well, right? Because when you think of manna in the wilderness, right, it says they did eat angels' food, okay? So the idea is that manna is heavenly food, okay? It even came down, if you will, from the heavens. Now, we know that obviously the heavens where the birds fly is not where God's at, you know. God is in the third heaven which is past, you know, the sun, moon and stars. So first heaven, birds fly, clouds, we're up in the airplane, all that. Second heaven would be the sun, moon and stars, outer space, if you will. And then outside of that is where God's throne is at. And so obviously, you know, this hidden manna comes from heaven, the third heaven, right? And I believe that there's going to be this, you know, the idea of whatever this hidden manna will be when we eat it. But we also get this white stone and on the stone or in the stone there's a new name written. So this is interesting and this is something to think about, you know, as far as, you know, the idea of all things being made new and having a new name, okay? And meaning in this life, if you think about it, everything's kind of tainted, you know. We kind of think about this when you have children. There's certain names you don't want to name your children just because they have like a bad connotation to it, right? You're like, I knew a girl named, you know, this girl, I can't name a daughter that. You know, I didn't like this guy, so I'm not going to name my son that. You know what I mean? And other people are just like, I love that name, you know, but they don't have that same kind of like connotation that would be on it, okay? And the idea here is that we're going to get new names in heaven. And, you know, go to Proverbs chapter 22, Proverbs chapter 22 and verse 1. Now it says that, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. So this could be meaning that only you and God know what this name is, okay? But I don't care if it's only me and God that know, don't you want this name to be a really good name, right? And if you think about it, you know, you say, well, is it just a name or does it mean something? I have a feeling it's going to mean something because names usually mean something, okay? Throughout the Bible and even in history, you know, even my name means something. And, you know, other people's names have meaning as far as where they came from, right? You know, like, you know, Belle means beauty or like Annabelle, her middle name is Belle means beauty or, you know, I'm trying to think of Irene means peace and just different things like that, that as far as words have meanings and names have meanings, and here's the thing, if Jesus were to hand you a stone that says I've given you a new name, you know, wouldn't you want that name to be like a really, like, meaningful name, meaning, like, if you wanted a moniker to be on your life, right, and what's a moniker, like, if you had a gravestone and it said, like, something about you, okay, who were you? What were you about, right? And so if, for example, one thing I wouldn't mind having on my gravestone, it said soul winner, right? If that was written on my gravestone, I'd be like, all right, that's good. Now I'm going to be dead and I'm not going to really care, you know, what's on my gravestone, okay, I'll be in heaven and everything else, but at the same time, when you think about how do people remember you, what do they think of when they think of you, what do they think about, you know, what comes to mind? Now go to Proverbs 22 and verse 1, it says a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold, and so the idea of having a good name, okay, and, you know, you can kind of think about your last name, having a good last name as far as, and it's not, it's like, well, it's just like the, how it sounds, no, we're not talking about pronunciation or anything like that, we're talking about what's associated with that last name, right, and you can kind of think of like people that you don't like, like Dahmer, right, do you want the last name Dahmer, like Jeffrey Dahmer or Bundy, Ted Bundy, now if anybody had, you know, like, you know, anybody that's listening that has like a last name like that, I'm not here to be like, you know, you're horrible or anything like that, but I do feel bad sometimes for people that have last names that are associated with some really bad people, right, they tainted that last name, or even in their family, right, their family is known for something that's really bad, and then you have to carry on that name, and you almost have to revive that name, right, and you think about when a lady gets married, they take their husband's last name, or at least they should, okay, I remember someone asked me, like, what if you were going to get married and your wife wouldn't take your last name, I'd be like, well, we're not getting married then, because, you know, we got bigger problems if that's the case, if you're already going to be this feminist where you're like, I'm not going to take your last name, then there's going to be a lot of other things, it's not going to work out, but that being said is that, you know, when a lady gets married, don't you want your last name to have honor, right, you're marrying into a family that is not, like, you know, delinquent or, you know, has a bad connotation, you think about, like, in an area, like, you know, let's say, my last name, Robinson, would be like, Robinson's, really, you know, and it's like, got this bad connotation on that last name or something like that, and the idea is that a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, meaning that having a good name, and that's not just the name itself, but what's associated, what's the reputation of that name, okay, and so I don't want you to just read past this and be like, all right, we get a new name, right, no, I think it's going to be very important, you know, talk about the hidden manna, right, and then it talks about this name that no one knows but you, and that relationship, and I believe that there's certain things that are reserved between you and God for eternity, and I think that's what this is getting to, is the idea that you and God know each other and He only knows, He's the only one that knows that name, right, and I believe it's this, you know, personal connection between you and your Savior, between you and your God, to where there's this name no one else knows but you and Him, right, and I think that's going to be a special thing, and, you know, we all get that, okay, and so that's something that, don't look past that and be like, oh, you know, okay, I'm glad, listen, we should all be glad that we're not going to be hurt by the second death, right, we should all be glad that we're not going to go to hell, but this is kind of a special thing between us and our God to where He's going to give us this name that only He knows and we know, okay, and it's not something to just, you know, like, look everybody, look at the name God gave me, okay, I believe it's just going to be this special connection that He knows you by, okay, and I want that name to be as good as it can be, okay, and like I said, every saved person is going to get this, okay, but, you know, it's, I think it may be possible that if you do more for Christ that name could be different based on what you do, okay, and I think it's all going to be good, okay, so don't get me wrong, you know, like the thief on the cross I still think gets a good name, okay, even though he got saved at the very last minute and didn't do anything for Christ, he couldn't anyway, right, I still think he's going to have a good name, okay, but his name's going to be different than like Paul or James and John or other people throughout history that have done great things for God, I think that there's going to be a little bit of difference there as far as that connection and what that name might be, so, but going on there in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 26, again, this is kind of just a fun sermon just to see all these different things that were given and can you see now that, hey, we're more than conquerors in Christ, you know, I have not seen nor heard neither has it entered into the heart or minds of men the things that God has prepared for them to love him, I mean, the idea here is that being saved would be enough, you know, having an eternal life, that's enough, honestly, that's more than we deserve by any stretch of the imagination because we didn't deserve that, but all this stuff that he's giving us on top of this, it's just kind of just mind-boggling to just even see a glimpse of all just a loving kindness and mercy and, you know, favor that God is giving us and Revelation 2 and verse 26, it says, and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, so now here's a case where it's not just you're a believer, okay, so if he that overcometh meant you keep the works unto the end, then this wouldn't make sense, okay, right, because you're adding on to he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, do you see how those are separated, and when you know what he that overcometh means, that means that he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God and keepeth my works unto the end, this is going to be given to them, so this one right here is not just for all believers, okay, now most of these are, okay, but this one right here is not, this one means that obviously you have to be saved, okay, to receive this, but not just saved, but you keep the works unto the end, it says to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and as the vessels of a potter shall he shall be broken to shivers even as I received of my father and I will give him the morning star, okay, so this is an honor that's outside of just being saved, okay, this is something that you you keep the works unto the end and you get this, now if you know that that passage there where it says he shall rule with a rod of iron, that's a passage talking about Jesus, Jesus is going to rule with a rod of iron, it says that in Revelation 19, it says that in Psalm 2, obviously where it's quoting it from, and so what it's basically stating is that if you think about the sons of Zebedee, they wanted to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus and remember that he said that's not my honor to give, that's for the father to give, so you know what that means is that that's not given to everybody, okay, I mean the 24 elders that are that are seated around the throne of God in Revelation, that's not given to everybody, okay, there's certain positions of authority and like I said when it comes into, you know, he that keeps the commandments shall have right to the tree of life and shall have right to enter in through the gates, I believe you're talking about a position of authority to where you can literally just go up to the gates and be like open the gates, you have that authority, whereas maybe not every Christian does, every Christian has the right to go into the city, right, and every Christian has the right to eat the tree of life, but maybe not everyone has the right to go up to the tree of life and literally take the fruit off the tree of life, okay, and that's where I think you get into these higher positions of authority here, and go to Matthew 25, Matthew 25, and honestly this part right here I think really shows you that he that ever come with is not talking about being good or, you know, actually doing good works or anything like that, it's just stating that you've overcome and now you're doing something on top of that, you're keeping my works unto the end, and so there is, you know, something to look forward to here if you're going to be a saved person that actually decides to follow Christ, and this really gets into this, you know, are you born again? Great, but are you a disciple? Because being a disciple means that you're taking up your cross daily, it means you're denying self, it means that you hate your own life, and that you're not trying to preserve your life, you're trying to, you know, basically give up your life now, what, for the next life, he says he shall preserve it, why, because you're laying up treasures in heaven, right, it says don't lay up treasures here on the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, but lay up treasures in heaven where moth and rust doth not corrupt and a thief can't break forth and steal, the idea is that we should be working for eternity, and here's the thing, if you're laying up at treasures in heaven and it's saying that some people aren't, that means there's going to be people that get to heaven that didn't have treasures laid up, okay, so there are going to be differences, this isn't going to be communism up there, where everybody just has everything the same, okay, now everybody's going to be saved the same, okay, everybody that's in heaven is going to have white garments, I'm going to get to that, I'm getting to my next, another point I'm getting to here, everybody's going to be saved, everybody's going to be there for the same reason, but when it comes to authority, when it comes to treasures, when it comes to different things that are going to be done in heaven, there will be a difference based off what you do in this life, okay, and in Matthew chapter 25 verse 21, this is the story of the parable of the talents, meaning that it's talking about this master giving out, you know, five talents here, two talents, one talent, and the two first servants, you know, they basically doubled what they had, the last servant just hid it, and so what you have here is a dichotomy of children of God and children of the devil, so that that last servant wasn't just an unsaved person, that person was someone that had rejected God, and basically rejected the measure of faith that was even given to him, hid it in the ground, and all that, but in verse 21 here, the thing I want you to see here is, his Lord said unto him, this is the first one, the first guy that had five talents, well done now good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make the ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. So the idea of authority, and that's what it's talking about here in Revelation 2, right, it's saying that he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them, okay, it also shows you that there's gonna be nations, okay, there's not just going to be in New Jerusalem, but there's going to be nations outside of that, right, and the idea is, okay, everybody can go into New Jerusalem, everybody can walk in New Jerusalem, there's gonna be other nations outside of that, and who's ruling over those nations, okay, you're like, this is going on, yes, this is going on, okay, if we're going to rule and reign forever, that means we're going to be ruling and reigning forever, we're going to be doing something, okay, you say, well, what about the person, what about the thief on the cross, who's he ruling over? Well, we're all going to rule over angels, it says we're going to judge angels, so at the very least, that last person, you were like, what's the, what about the last person on the totem pole, you know, that person got saved, didn't do a thing, you know, actually lived a sinful life, and just like, God took him out early, you know, because he was just like not doing what he should be doing. Well, he's gonna be saved, and he's going to be ruling, but he's gonna be ruling over a, you know, on the bottom row, and that's going to be, you know, at the very least, let's say he's not ruling over any, you know, child of God, he's ruling over angels, okay, and so we're made a little lower than the angels right now, but we will be above the angels, okay, and so we're going to be like, you know, it says we're going to be like him, for we shall see him as he is, we're going to be in the, you know, we're obviously, we're adopted children and all that, we're not God, right, but we are going to be like the resurrection of Jesus, we're going to be, you know, glorified with him, we're going to be joint heirs with him, okay, that is higher than the angels, okay. Now go to Hebrews chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 3, because this gets into the idea of, you know, doing his works unto the end, and that there's reward based off of that, and Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 6, Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 6, I kind of got to go quick through this, I've already preached on these before, these are other passages where people try to say, well, you got to do this unto the end to be saved, but it's not talking about being saved, it's talking about getting a reward, and Hebrews 3 and verse 6 says, but Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end, go to verse 14, for we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end, and in both these cases we're talking about holding our confidence steadfast unto the end, okay, one's talking about being in the household, so it's talking about bringing up spiritual sacrifices and having a spiritual house, as it talks about in 1 Peter, in this case talking about being partakers of Christ, so being partakers of Christ's sufferings and his glory, and if we suffer with him we should also reign with him, these ideas here as far as once you're saved you can have, you know, rewards, because notice in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 35, so in both those cases talking about holding your confidence steadfast or holding it fast unto the end, why? What's the point? In chapter 10 and verse 35 it says, cast not away therefore your confidence which hath great recompense of reward, okay, and the idea here is that if you keep his works unto the end, if you hold fast that confidence of your rejoicing unto the end, and you keep doing that unto the end, there's going to be a great recompense of reward. Okay, and Revelation 2 I believe is showing you that, that hey, you know, if you say well I'm not just going to be saved, I'm going to actually live for Christ, that there is a great recompense of reward, because you could go through here and be like well why do I need to work for Christ, because you know I'm already getting all this stuff. I think it's great to see that even if you're just saved you have a lot of great stuff waiting for you, okay, but I think it's also a really good thing and a sobering thing to think of the fact that hey if I don't do anything I'm going to be missing out on a lot of stuff that God could be honoring me with and all that and ultimately you say well is it just you just want authority when you're in heaven? No, I want I want for all eternity to feel like I did something for Christ and those positions of authority or that honor that's given is eternal, okay, and that means that for eternity the stuff that Jesus gives me reflects on the fact that hey I did love him or I did, you know, serve him, I did try to do this, you know, for all eternity and, you know, it's just, you know, you think about the father-son relationship and the fact that the father rewarding his child for serving him and, you know, the father takes joy obviously in being able to reward his child but also the son takes joy in receiving the reward. Why? Because it reflects on the fact that you actually did serve him, okay. I don't want to stick on this point that much here but James 2 touches on this. I mean if you think about Abraham and it says that the scripture was fulfilled which said Abraham believed God and it was imputed on them for righteousness so there's salvation. He's saved by believing and he was called the friend of God. Why? Because it says that he was justified by works when he offered up Isaac upon the altar, okay, and his faith was perfected by those works and the idea was that he wasn't just saved, he was also a friend of God, okay, and if that's, I mean, I'll say this, if living for God after you get saved was just for the fact that God would say you're my friend, okay, because, you know, obviously we're all his children if we're believers but for him to say you're my friend I think that's worth it. If it's just for the fact that he'd say well done now good and faithful servant I think it's worth it. I think it's worth it for Jesus to say that to you and that all that you do in this life would be worth him saying that, okay, but on top of that he's not just going to say it he's actually going to reward you and, you know, give you authority. You'll be able to rule with him and all that. Now go to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 5. Revelation 3 and verse 5. So I need to get moving here on this. Honestly you could probably take each one of these points and just go into different sermons on this but I really just kind of want to show you all these different facets when it comes to, you know, what you receive when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 5. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 5. It says he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. So here, you know, we saw where it says he that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death but now it's saying he that overcometh shall not be blotted out of the book of life and it's interesting because in Revelation 20 verse 14 and 15 those two things are brought up, right? It says that in death and hell were cast in the lake of fire this is the second death. It says and whosoever is not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So you're really saying the same thing, right? If you're not blotted out then you're not going to be cast to the lake of fire, okay? If you're in the book of life then you will not be cast into the lake of fire and you say well are we in the book of life? Well if you have everlasting life how could you not be in the book of life, okay? The idea is that you have everlasting life it can't be blotted out. Not only that but we're sealed unto the day of redemption by the Holy Spirit of promise. He's the earnest of our inheritance and you know so it's very clear that we're given white raiment and that we will not be blotted out his name out of the book of life. Now look up my sermon on the book of life if you want to get into that a little more detail as far as that because I preached a whole sermon on that but go to Revelation chapter 19 you say what are these garments you know clothed in white raiment, okay? I believe we'll all have this and I believe this does link to salvation, okay? You can go all the way back to the Garden of Eden where God clothed Adam and Eve you know after they sinned and the idea of clothing you know covering sin all that stuff and Revelation chapter 19 and verse 7 here. Revelation 19 verse 7 it says, Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready and to her was granted that she should be arrayed and fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. So we see here that what's the fine linen what's this this white raiment represent? Righteousness, okay? Not our righteousness, okay? The Bible says you know that our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, okay? And I didn't put that on here. I copied the same verse, okay? So it's in it's in Isaiah 64. We don't have to turn there for sake of time. In Isaiah 64 it talks about our our sins are unto him as filthy rags. You know our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, okay, in his sight. So you know our righteousness it's it's filthy and that makes sense because it says and others say with fear pulling them out of fire hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. In Zechariah chapter 3 it talks about Joshua the high priest and how he had filthy garments on and God said take off those filthy garments and put new garments on him, okay? You can see how this represents the resurrection, okay? We have filthy garments. We have the flesh. That's going to be taken off and we're going to have new garments, a new body, okay? There's a lot of correlation with this as far as the the fine linen what that represents and all that but ultimately it represents righteousness. It represents Jesus Christ's righteousness, okay? Because it says that I may win him and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith, okay? So we're talking about the righteousness of God being imputed unto us, okay? And that's why it says Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, okay? So faith is what gave us the righteousness of God that's imputed unto us, Jesus Christ's righteousness, not our own, okay? So that is very clear talking about salvation and all that, okay? Go to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12. Revelation 3 and verse 12. So like I said, if you understand what overcometh means, you know, he that overcomes the world, he that ever cometh the world, is simply talking about someone that puts their faith in Christ. Faith is the victory. Faith is whatever comes. Then it's very clear that someone that believes cannot be heard of the second death, will not be blotted out of the book of life, will be given to eat of the tree of life, you know, all these things that the Bible is promising to those that believe, okay? And Revelation is just hitting that over and over again. Notice what it says in Revelation 3 and verse 12. It says, So there's a couple things here, but it says that he's gonna make a pillar in the temple of my God. Go to 2 Chronicles chapter 3. 2 Chronicles chapter 3. I'm not going to get too deep with this, but I'm just going to show you that the idea of a pillar being associated with a person is not unprecedented in the Bible, okay? Again, in the Bible, I don't think anything's accidental, incidental, or coincidental, you know, that's written in the Bible. When it says certain things, that there's a reason for that. 2 Chronicles chapter 3, verse 17. This is talking about building the temple of God, so Solomon's building the temple of God, right? It says, And he reared up the pillars before the temple, one on the right hand and the other on the left, and called the name of that on the right hand, Jacob, and the name of that on the left, Boaz. So, you know, Solomon reared up these pillars, or columns, if you will, and he named them, okay? So one was Boaz, one was Jacob, and so when I see this passage, I think of that, you know, when it says that he's going to make us a pillar in the temple of God, you know, the idea is the fact that I think our name will be associated to that pillar. I think that's going to be our pillar, right? That's going to be a pillar for us. And the idea here is that you can definitely see how this correlates with the fact that the Bible says, Thou mayest know how to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, okay? It talks about how the prophets and apostles are the foundation, you know, the foundation of, you know, the Bible and all that, and the fact that they are the ones that penned it, they are the men that God used to, you know, speak his word, and that Jesus is the chief cornerstone, okay? And so it's interesting, you know, how this may correlate in heaven. And again, a lot of these I'm not really, like, I can't tell you, like, this is exactly why, this is exactly what it's going to be. I think it's just giving you a view into what this is going to be like, and I don't think we're going to ever really comprehend what that's all about until we get to heaven. But he's showing us these promises that, hey, you're going to have this pillar I'm going to make for you, and it says I'm going to write my name upon you, and it says, and they shall see his face. In Revelation 22 and verse 4, it says, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads, okay? You say, is this tattooing? No, this isn't tattooing, okay? Now, obviously, when you're dealing with this, this is a spiritual, you're in a spiritual body as it is anyway, right? So it's not talking about that, but, you know, people do that when they talk about Jesus, you know, having, you know, the word of God written on his thigh and all this other stuff and say, well, it's a tattoo. No, it's not. But at the same time, I do think we're going to have how that appears or how that works and all that stuff. I'm not sure, you know, how that works. But at the same time, we're going to have his name written on us, and we're going to have this pillar in the temple of God. Go to Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21, and notice what it says here in verse 21. It says, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father in his throne. So again, I believe this is talking about every Christian, okay? Now, if you remember, we were talking about the fact that if you overcome and you keep his commandments until the end, that he'll give you, you know, authority over all the nations, okay? So I do believe every single Christian will have some kind of authority and will be able to sit with him in his throne, but to what extent is that authority and to what extent, you know, do you have ruling over that, right? Because it talks about, you know, you have been faithful over a few things, I'll make you ruler over many things. In some places, it even says like how many cities, okay? You know, over five cities, over 10 cities, right? And so you think of like centurions, what are they? Centurions are captains over hundreds, right? Kind of think of century, right? Quaternions, which is hard to say, right? You think they're over like 25, right? You think like a quarter of, you know, so there's captains of tens, fifties, 25s, tens, you know, and it talks about this in the Bible as far as that goes. And then you have all kinds of above that, even thousands, ten thousands, you know, as far as who would be residing over those groups of people, okay? And so that being said, we're going to rule and reign not only for a thousand years, okay? Because the people that are living and dying during that thousand year reign that are Christians, they're not going to be ruling and reigning during that time, but they will rule and reign because notice what it says in Revelation 22. Revelation 22 and verse 4. Revelation 22 and verse 4 and verse 5 there. It says, and they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads. And it says, and there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Okay, so it's not just a thousand years that are going to be reigning. We're going to be ruling and reigning with Christ forever and ever, and that is something that I believe every Christian will have, but to what extent, okay? Is that, that's where I think it gets into this idea of, okay, well, some Christians are going to have more authority than others, you know, some may just be ruling over the angels, but some may be ruling over ten thousands or maybe even millions, right? Because obviously we're dealing with a number of people that no man can number, right? And it talks about, you want to talk about the save, that it's going to be like the sand on the seashore when it comes to that. And if you think about that, obviously throughout history, from Adam till now and even till after us, if the Lord willing, if the Lord tarries, right, the idea of how many people have believed on Christ and people are in heaven right now, it's going to be a huge number, okay? And the last thing I'll show you here is Revelation chapter 21. Revelation 21, there's actually one other place where it talks about overcoming or, you know, what happens, the heat that overcometh. And so I hope this is an uplifting sermon as far as, you know, obviously it's great to know you're saved, it's great to know you have eternal life, you're not going to go to hell, but it's also great just to know like, hey, there's other things that God has prepared for you, okay? Even just being saved, even if you were just to get saved and didn't do anything else for him, there's other things he's going to give you, okay? And to me, that just shows you the love of God, that shows you, you know, just, you know, the type of Savior that we have. Because like I said, it'd be enough that I'm saved from hell, you know, and I was the janitor up in heaven, okay? That would be enough because I can't even fathom, you know, hell and just how horrible that'd be for eternity. Just to be not in pain and to be at rest for all eternity, I mean, that's enough. But on top of that, he's like, no, I'm not done. You know, like God is just like, I'm going to give you more. I'm going to give you more just for being saved. Just for being a believer, I'm going to give you more than that. And then on top of that, if you decide to live for him, all the stuff that you can't even imagine that will be given. And, you know, like I said, you know, anything that you can think of, and my daughters are always like this, you know, will this be in heaven? You know, like it'll be animals or it'll be like food or something like that. I'm like, well, strawberries will definitely be in heaven. I hope so. But no, I said, I said, I said, well, here's the thing. Anything that you've eaten that you like, heaven will be even better than that. Like to think that we're going to be up in heaven and be like, man, I wish I could still have that. You know, you know, I wish I could still eat this over here. It's like, no, no one's going to ever be thinking that. They're going to be like, this is so much better than that. You know, like the idea that it's going to be like a downgrade is ridiculous. Okay. That means cinnamon is going to be there. Cinnamon rolls in particular. But Revelation 21, verse one here, the last thing I want to show you, it says, And I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is the thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. That is amazing. And, you know, we use this next verse out so many all the time, but the opposite. Did you just see all that, that magnificence of, like, no more pain, no more death, no more crying, no more sorrow? You're going to inherit all things, but the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Quite a contrast, right? And here's the thing. We all deserved verse eight there. We were all there because we were all liars. Every single one of us is told a lie, and we all deserve that, lake of fire, but thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus conquered death and hell. He's the one that has the keys of hell and of death. I can't conquer that, but through faith in Jesus Christ, I have the victory. And, you know, this is, you know, the this chapter right here, the very beginning here, is just something that you can hold on to, and I remember, you know, some people say, you know, Revelation is their favorite book of the Bible. Some people look at that and be like, yeah, that's kind of morbid, you know, because there's a lot of crazy stuff going on there, but not if you're reading chapter 21 and chapter 22, right? If you're reading chapter 21 and 22 as a believer, that's a lot of blessing. That's a lot of hope. That is light at the end of the tunnel, right, because this is where we're going to be. I don't care what happens in your life from here on out. You're saved. That's the end game. That's going to happen. So when the world is getting, you know, horrible and, you know, things are falling apart, you know, when the currency crashes, Bitcoin crashes, and economy crashes, and everything just falls apart, like, what are you talking about? You know, you can worry about a lot of things in this life, but in the end, when you have that light at the end that you've overcome by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, and all these things are promised to you, do you see how all that stuff just kind of falls away? Because in the end, that's where we're going to be, and we're going to look back at this life, and it's going to look like a shadow. This is, what is your life? Is it even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away? You know, what is our life when you think about the span of time that we live, and then you think of eternity, and all the blessings that God is going to give us just for being saved, just for putting our faith in Him. But let's not stop there, because there's other promises on top of that. And, you know, God is a gracious God. Thank God for salvation. Thank God it's just by faith that we overcome. But, you know, I thought that'd be a good sermon just to kind of go through all those different things that you see in Revelation, and know that, hey, these are promises to us. Let's end with a word of prayer today. Let me follow with you today. Thank you for your word, and thank you for the fact that that we've overcome by putting our faith in you, and thank you for overcoming the world to begin with, and overcoming death in the grave, and having the keys of hell and death so that we can just accept that by faith, and just be saved by faith. And Lord, we just thank you for that. I pray that you be with us throughout the rest of the day, you know, with the soul winning, with the fellowship, with the next service after that. And Lord, we just pray that you would be with us, and ultimately, Lord, that you get glory for everything that we do. In Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So by the day we'll come, sing one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 410. Song 410, if you would stand. We'll sing, Faith is the Victory. Song 410. Encamped along the hills of Lychee, Christian soldiers rise, and press the battle air. The night shall veil the glowing skies. Against the foe unveils below, let all our strength be hurled. Faith is the victory we know that overcomes the world. Faith is the victory, faith is the victory. Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world. His banner over us is love, our sword, the word of God. We tread the road, the saints above, with shouts of triumph trod. By faith they like a whirlwind's breath swept on o'er every field. The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield. Faith is the victory, faith is the victory. Oh, glorious victory that overcomes the world. On every hand the foe we find drawn.