The 21st Century Church

I want to go a bit further here, and we do encourage anyone, if you see this video, you've got time to get to London next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and please meet us there, and please do keep praying for us. We're looking forward to being there the first time we've traveled in a year and a half, and we're looking forward. It's going to be a brief, short time, but enough time to do a lot of damage for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what we endeavor to do. So much is happening in this period of time. We may be insignificant like that little Shulamite, barefooted, running through the fields, nothing to behold, sunburned, but I tell you, she's a mighty army with banners, and saints of God, if you have faith for it, we can do extraordinary things in this hour. I assure you, whether it's affecting schools, and running schools, and Bible schools in Tanzania, are being involved in videos that are going to be translated into 20 languages, whatever it is, saints of God, we are in a very important hour in this time. Will you please turn with me to Revelation chapter 1. I've finally got a series title for these past three messages that I've done, and I'm going to preach the fourth message here this morning, and my series title, that's going back to the first one, a message for the hour. Then where have all the churches gone? And then thirdly, where have all the shepherds gone? Well, my message here this morning is the same name as the title for all of these messages, and sometimes you don't know what to call the thing. It's a bit like a baby. Purr, Hannah, and Suf there, you've got a baby growing within the womb. It's real, it's alive, it's coming whether you want it or not, but I assure you, you're not sure what to call it. You're praying, you're saying, what do I call this? Well, sometimes I get a series like that. It's living, it's fighting, it's kicking, it's very much coming out, I can assure you, but what will we call this baby? Well, here it is this morning. I'm calling the series and the message title this morning, the 21st Century Church. Reading from Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10 through to the end of the chapter. Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice and a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send it on to the seven churches which are in Asia, on to Ephesus, on to Smyrna, on to Pergamos, on to Thyatira, on to Sardis, on to Philadelphia, and on to Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that speak with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with the garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace. And his voice was the sound of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went the sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. And behold, I am, amen, and have the keys of hell and 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 in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." Let's pray here this morning for the Word of God as we just turn our hearts towards the Lord, looking for him to speak to us in a very real way here this morning. Father, I do thank you for the Word of God, and Lord God, I pray set before us a vision of the church, not just as it is in the 21st century, but the church that you desire, the church that you've planned, the church that you've ordained, the church that you are going to build in the 21st century. Lord God, we don't look for man's opinions, his thinking, his inventions, the latest strategies, the latest styles. We are looking for a church made all of gold. We're looking for the golden candlestick. We're looking for a church that's conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, a church that is in line with the written Word of God. Thank you for the Bible. Thank you for an infallible book. Thank you for the light and the truth and the power of the Word of God that breaks up the inventions of men, that exposes them, that destroys them in the light of your presence. Lord God, I pray for a vision in this church and everyone who listens to this message. Will you open our eyes? Will you anoint our eyes that we might have an open vision, a clear sight through the written scriptures of what this golden candlestick is. Lord God, of the 21st century church that you desire, that's within your heart, would you reveal it unto us even in these messages, that your name be glorified, that Christ would stand at the center as our great high priest, as the one supreme one who is head over the church in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Just a few weeks ago reading Revelation, something struck me. I have preached, taught, dealt with these things, thought deeply on them for decades. I've studied over these things, but now and again suddenly something appears to your sight that was obvious. It is there and yet you didn't see it. And what that thing that became so, so clear to me was the fact of the seven golden candlesticks, each one representing a church in Asia. And this is the thought that I had as I bring you to this message. The seventh church is the church of the Laodiceans. All the churches, the six previous ones are the church in Ephesus or of Ephesus or of Philadelphia. But when you come to the Laodiceans, it's the church of the Laodiceans. Now listen to me, of the seven churches, they're all distinct. Five of them are called to repentance. Two of them are outstanding. Philadelphia, the church of love, and Sardis, the persecuted church, they are outstanding churches. And yet to each one of these seven churches, God gives the same vision. He gives the same symbol, no matter what problems are there, what heresies, what false teachers, what issues that he needs to deal with, how far they've fallen away, or how close they are to God's design and pattern. It didn't matter. God gave the same vision. It was the symbol of the golden candlestick. The golden candlestick was the symbol of the church of Ephesus. It was the symbol of the church at Philadelphia. It was the church, and listen to this, this is shocking. The golden candlestick made all of gold was the symbol to represent the church at Laodicea or the church of the Laodiceans. That church at Laodicea had departed so far from God's plan and purpose. It was so far removed from the written scriptures, from apostolic doctrine, from the reality of who Christ is. Christ was on the outside of that church knocking on the door, trying to get into it. And in fact, his message is, is there any individual in there who hears my voice and desires to sit with me? Is there even one in Laodicea? Is there anyone in there? What a shocking thing to think that God didn't give a different symbol for Laodicea, but it was the same golden candlestick. In other words, no matter what the church looks like in any generation or in any city, God's symbol for that church, God's message for that church, how he looks at that church and what he desires for that church is exactly the same all through the ages, all through the culture, all through time. It doesn't matter about local culture. God has one vision of what the church is to be. Doesn't matter whether it's Ephesus or Laodicea. Doesn't matter if there's heretics in there or if it's a pure persecuted church. It doesn't matter. The vision is exactly the same. It's the golden candlestick. Look at the very last sentence of Revelation chapter one and verse 20, where we read here this morning. It says, the seven candlesticks which thou sought are the seven churches. That's my text for this entire message. Now I'm going to expound on that and explain it all the way from Exodus all through the Revelation to explain what it actually means, that God holds up a vision of the golden candlestick to the church of the 21st century. My message, the 21st century church, I'm not just talking about how it is. I'm not talking about what it's become. I'm not talking about the errors and the troubles and the movements and the loss of local churches or the loss of real preachers. I'm not dealing with that. I want to bring you right back in this message that there is a divine plan for the church of the 21st century, and I know what it is. I know what the Spirit of God is saying to the church of this hour. I know what God's desire is. I know the vision that he has for the church. I know what he's going to build in this hour. I actually know it, and so do you. You may not realize it yet, but you shortly will do. We all do if we have a Bible. Notice that here in verse 20, we first of all see the mystery of the seven stars in the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. The seven stars are actually explained to be seven angels. These are not angels, angelic beings. These are messengers who deliver the message to the local church. The messenger is used of preachers or of the person who brings the message to a church in a city, in a region, in an area. It is the person who delivers God's message. We see it was God who gave the message unto the messenger to deliver to the church. Christ is speaking. The Holy Spirit is speaking, but God always finds a messenger, whether it's Laodicea or Philadelphia or Ephesus. It doesn't matter the church. It doesn't matter the denomination. It doesn't matter the generation. God always has a messenger very specifically prepared to deliver a specific message. Do you know how much effort God puts into getting a messenger to speak to Laodicea? Can you imagine what this preacher was like walking into Laodicea saying, is anybody saved in here? Does anybody in this church want to be one Christ? Does anyone know that Christ is standing at the door knocking? Can you imagine being the messenger who delivers that message to a lukewarm, cold, proud, arrogant people who say, we're rich. We don't have need of anything. I'm absolutely fine. And you're the preacher commissioned by God, prepared by God. And so we see that the seven stars are preachers who deliver a letter, a message, a specific message to every church in that place in a unique fashion. We see that the churches are represented by a candlestick. It doesn't matter their condition in prophecy or vision. According to how Christ looks at it, he sees a golden candlestick. Can I tell you the symbol of this church here, LCC, is a golden candlestick. It's not what you are maybe at the minute. It's maybe not what we shall become. It's not the finished product. But I tell you, I know God's plan for this church. I know his vision for his church. I know all of this speaking from this pulpit is to bring us to this golden candlestick. You may say, but we're not that yet. I understand that. But it doesn't matter the church, doesn't matter who listens to me on this video later, what country, what nationality, what culture, do you know what God's vision is for their church? A golden candlestick. This is no different from the first century to the 21st. Do you begin to understand why I call this the 21st century church? I know an awful lot about the church that God is going to build in the 21st century. It is so simple. It is so obvious. It is so unchanging. It is in the character of God. It is in the plan of God. It is in the purpose of God. Walking in the middle of these seven golden candlesticks is one called the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see him portrayed in Revelation 1, he is dressed in the clothing of the great high priest of the Old Testament. He is actually there in the ministry of high priest and he goes from candlestick to candlestick to candlestick. What is he doing? Making sure nothing is hindering. He is there to deal with what hinders the fire and the church becoming this golden candlestick. This is his vision. He will not tolerate anything else. He is not looking for anything else. All of his encouragement and messages are the words bringing us there. You see, for about 25 years, listen to me very carefully. This is the burden behind this message in my heart. For about 25 years at least, in the place of prayer and studying God's word, I have wondered what the church of the 21st century would look like. You see, in every century from the 1st through to the 21st, every century, there are unique features of the church of that century. Utterly unique features, because world events are different. Circumstances are different. There has been a change in the church. Its message has never changed. The order of the church has never changed. Its biblical doctrine has never changed. Its holiness, its prayer life, all these things are the same. But listen for a second. When I look to the 16th century, the 1500s, when I look to the church of that century, an entire century, and I look at it, it was a church prepared for a very specific hour and very specific events happening in that hour. It was the church of the Reformation, breaking out in Germany, in France, in Scotland, in many other nations of the world. Entire nations were turned upside down. National churches were birthed out of Catholicism. Preachers were raised up. Men of God that shook entire nations and changed the face of society. Our world has never been the same. That is the church of the 16th century. I can identify it. It wasn't perfect. There were many problems, many shortcomings, but I can identify who God used. I can identify the stars in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ that He raised up with a message for that hour. I can see how God raised up His church and came forth to build it according to the golden candlesticks. It was a remarkable century of the Bible being translated into German, into English, into many other languages. I mean the Bible exploded everywhere across our world. The Huguenots en masse got persecuted in France. 100,000 had to leave. 100,000 were killed. Many others suffered terribly. I can look at the 16th century and say it's not the church of this century, and it certainly wasn't the same as the 20th century. Now hear me, there are fundamental things that never change, and yet you need a new church for a new hour who is in tune with the Spirit of God and who goes back to reality. In the 17th century, we had that great body of men in England called the Puritans. They were preachers. They were writers. They were great expositors of the Scriptures. I love the Puritans. They were men of God who brought fire on the earth. We don't hear much about this. They could bring fire in churches. They could bring evangelism to societies, to towns, to villages. They'd done a remarkable work. In that same 17th century, there were the Scottish Covenanters where prophets arose in the midst of the church. Men like George Wishart who trained John Knox or his grandson called John Welsh who was a prophet of God or Peden the prophet, old Alexander Peden. There were prophets raised up in that church. They were Presbyterians, good old-fashioned Presbyterians. Some people say they don't believe in prophets today. You need to go back and read Presbyterian history. I want to assure you, that century as well, revivals came, sometimes in fields with 30, 40, 50,000 gathered in a field, persecuted, driven from town to town. When I read of the church of the 17th century, I can see the golden candlestick in that century. What about the 18th century? The Methodist revival and revival sweeping the early American colonies through Jonathan Edwards. It was a remarkable era, a pioneer evangelism of great crowds in London, 50, 60, 70,000 in the open field as George Whitfield and John Wesley preached to them. Again, dynamic as I looked at it. Century by century, you can trace the real church. They had unique callings, unique features, certain things that they restored from the 16th century. They restored justification by faith. In the 18th century, they restored holiness of life. And then over into the 19th century, it was a century of missionary expansion, taking the gospel where it was not, going into Africa, into Asia, into South America, William Carey, David Livingstone, and hundreds of others. Many of them died. They arrived there and died. They got killed by the local natives. And yet it was the beginning of a massive missionary movement that was going to change the world. In that century, there was a return to the biblical order of the local church and moving away from tradition, baptism for believers only, a New Testament order of the local church. And the end of that century finished with Moody and mass evangelism and a need for the baptism in the Holy Ghost. When we come into the 20th century, last century, since I grew up in the end of the 20th century, I knew my history. I knew what the golden candlestick looked like in the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century came the Welsh revival in 1904. All of Wales was shook in one year. God reached down and saved an entire generation. One out of ten people, one out of every ten people was saved in six months within that nation. God bent the heavens and came down. Then in 1906 and 1907 came the Pentecostal revival. A friend of mine called Alan Kearns, a free Presbyterian theologian, scholar of history. He once preached in a message to his own church, a free Presbyterian church. They weren't Pentecostal and he went through all 20 centuries showing what the church was in every century. A message for each century. Well, he got to the 20th century. I was very interested. What's he going to say? And he told his church who none of them were pro-Pentecostal. He says, you listen to me carefully. The 20th century had the greatest movement of any century previously. The Pentecostal movement evangelized the world. I didn't say that. It was a free Presbyterian, a fundamentalist free Presbyterian who said that. With the Pentecostal revival came the restoration of the nine guests, the five ministries and worldwide evangelism. All of South America was changed. Africa was invaded. Asia was turned upside down. Saints, I'm telling you of what happened in every single century. Over the past 25 years, as we approach the year 2000, I said, as I look at Bible prophecy and the hour we live in, I believe the church of the 21st century will not look exactly like the one of the 20th century. Oh, I look through all the centuries. I love them all. I love the Puritans and the Reformers and the Pentecostals. I love the Methodists. I love them all. You know, if all my books on my shelf came alive, the authors, there'd be a mighty war in my library and my study. Man, I'd be standing there trying to keep them apart. But I love them all. Paul is mine. Peter is mine. Apollos is mine. I love all of the preachers, all of the great moves of God. I don't care whether a man's a Baptist, a Pentecostal, whether he's something we don't even understand. But if they're real biblical Christianities, I love that. Saints of God, I'm bringing you to the 21st century church. It's like having a baby. Like I said with Hannah and Silph, there's a baby forming. You get the scan. You feel it. It punches. It moves around. Your body begins to change around it. You go, this is a real baby that's going to come forth. But I don't know what the eyes, what eye color is it going to be? A baby is a baby, is a baby. He'll have two eyes. He'll have two ears. He'll have a mouth. He'll speak. He'll walk. He'll grow. He'll dirty its nappies. Be assured, just you wait, you pair. All of these things are going to happen. But you go, what hair color? What are the eyes going to be like? What's the personality like? A man is a man or a woman is a woman. There's nothing unique about that. You can, well you used to before the 21st century, be able to identify a woman and a man. It was very easy. Now they're trying to change all of that. But can I tell you, the church of the 21st century, I know its makeup. I know its character. I know its nature. I know its fundamental parts. But the church of the 21st century is going to be utterly unique like the church of the 20th century and the 19th, 18th, 17th, 16th, 15th. The church of the 15th century is still a unique church and so shall the church be of the 21st century. We have now reached the 2020s and God with all of these churches has used world events, politics, crisis, tragedy, amidst all of that to mold and raise up a very, very unique church. We are standing at a point in history that no other church in world history has stood at. We are in the 2020s, in the 21st century. Politics is changing, heading for a world government. Technology is joining computers to men. It has never happened in world history before. It is a surveillance state. Everything is pressing in. Do you realize what a unique hour we're at? You see, for decades I wondered this. I said, Lord, how are you going to change the church? I have wondered. I have prayed. I have studied. I have read. But I've looked forward going, what is this baby? I could feel it in me. I could feel the church of the 21st century. I go, it is coming, whether we like it or not. Christ is going to build his church. There is a baby coming forth out of the plan from the womb of the morning. It's going to be birthed forth. But what is it going to look like? I've read church history all through the years. I've read of all the revivals. But what is this baby going to look like in the 21st century? Oh, it's going to have all the old patterns of evangelism, of holiness, of truth, of centrality of Christ. But what is it going to look like? I'm going to preach myself out of a message here. But I'm so enjoying it. It's wonderful to be back with you. My message to the 21st century church, that was only the introduction. We live in an hour where I'm sick to death all my life of hearing men, gifted men with power and wide influence in the church talk about rethinking the church, reinventing the church, making the church relevant. And now we have many who say, let's go back to the church fathers of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th of this century. They say, we'll find the real church there. No, you will not. I tell you those that go back to the church fathers to try and discover what the church is today will be deceived. In those preachers that said, you need to be baptized in water to actually be born again. That's heresy and it's against scripture. For the first four or five centuries, they introduced all the heresies that become the Catholic church. I don't go back to the church fathers. In fact, the apostles writing in this Bible, they said when they were alive, Paul, Peter, Jude, James, and others, they warned, they said, right now are those rising up in your midst who are going to be wolves, false teachers. Do not believe them. Stick to the word of God. Don't move away from what we taught you. Even if we come preaching something else, don't go there. Stay with the truth of God. So the first generation after John and all the other apostles, they're not more faithful to scripture than we are. I assure you it's dangerous to follow extra biblical teaching. Here this morning, let me take you back to God's plan for the church. What does it look like? What will the church of the 21st century look like? Are we to become more relevant? Do we need to rethink the church? Do we need to reinvent the church? Do we need to reset the church? Do we have to do all these things like all the great preachers are telling us? I reject it all. From a teenager, I grew up under preachers, white-haired preachers saying, you young man, you young generation, you need to have the flashing lights, and you need to have the social drinking, and you can dress any way and act any way, and you need a youth church to suit your generation. You know, from a teenager, I never believed that. I said, what a load of waffle. What a load of what? From a teenager, I said, that man doesn't know what he's speaking about, and yet we have pastors and preachers who can't see through that. It is a tragedy. But I want to take you back to God's original plan. When we begin to look at the golden candlestick that represents the church of every town, every city, every nation, every culture, and every generation, the pattern is a golden candlestick. It has never changed with time. You don't have a candlestick with flashing lights instead of the burning flame. That's an abomination. The pattern looks exactly the same. There is a similarity of the real church in the first century, in the fifth century, in the eighth century, in the 10th century, and in the 21st century. I can identify the real church when I read about their message. I want to hear this morning, take you quickly back to a few portions of Scripture, back to Exodus 25, Zechariah chapter 4, Revelation 1 to 3, and Revelation 11. And I hope you're here for six hours. I'm here for the next six hours. You can go if you want. I'll just stay here. So good to be in God's house. First of all, let me take you to Exodus 25. And listen, the origin of God's thought on the candlestick. When you read in Revelation chapter 1 verse 20 that the seven candlesticks which thou saw'st are the seven churches, it takes you immediately back into the Old Testament. You cannot understand this if you don't go to Exodus 25 or Zechariah 4. You cannot understand it. You will not understand what is being said here. But when you go back to Exodus 25, we see the beginning, the plan, the purpose of the golden candlestick, the lampstand, the seven lampstands with its seven flames all made out of gold. You see the origin of God's thought. He actually put this in here in Exodus 25, knowing he was going to have a church, that this would be the symbol of the church in every city, in every nation, and in every generation. God's plan doesn't change. Here for a moment, let me just explain the origin of God's thought on the candlestick. In Exodus 25, 31 to 39, you have the beginning, God's purpose in the candlestick. It says there, first of all, thou shalt make it, speaking to God's people. We are involved with it. It's God's plan, God's purpose. He is the builder of his church. But you and this golden candlestick, in every generation, we're caught up in making it. You're responsible. You know here in this church, LCC, week to week, you are responsible for making that golden candlestick. God doesn't do a miracle and give us that golden candlestick. He shows us a vision and said, this is my plan. This is my purpose. I want you to make it. I want you to put it here. I don't care how impossible it is. I don't care about money. I don't care about numbers. This is my only plan. I want you to make it. Saints, let me tell you what God's plan for the church here in Limerick is. It is a golden candlestick. We read at the beginning, it was made out of pure gold. There was nothing else in it. It was absolutely gold. When the Bible says the golden candlestick's made of gold, it means it's all of God. There's nothing man-made. There's nothing impure. There's nothing that is not the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in the vision for that church is absolutely all of God. It is God's thinking, God's plan, God's desire, God's teaching, God's style, God's everything. You dare not change it. We are making it, but it's made of gold, pure, pure gold. Notice as well, it is made of beaten work. How do you make this seven branch golden candlestick? They didn't make the branches separately. It's all made out of one piece of gold. The entire thing, top to bottom, inside out, the entire thing is gold, no wood within it. What does that mean that it was beaten? It means that it is a work in progress. It's not molded, but it's created by the hammer blows. In other words, it gets beaten. It gets put in the fire. If you're going to have a church that's a golden candlestick, it's going to be out of fire, the fire of God, the fire of trials, the fire that God allows to bring. Then the hammer blow comes. Have you ever felt it? Have you felt the church being hammered into shape? We go into churches today that go, we tiptoe around. Don't mention sin. Don't mention repentance. Don't mention judgment. That's for some other church. We just want to make you feel good here. You don't hear the hammering of the blows. You don't see the fire. You don't see the smoke ascended in that church. But I tell you, if you ever find a real church, you have fire. You have the banging of the hammer, and that people know what they're caught up in. You know what? I'm not satisfied with you, Brother Soph. Sister Hannah, I am not satisfied with you. All of you, Margaret, I am not satisfied with you, and neither should you be with yourself. We live in an hour. People say, you're condemning me. God help me. None of us are able for this. I just want to become like Jesus. I'm not there yet, but I do want to shine. Oh, I want to be changed. I want to wake up in his likeness. But since, oh God, there is a work in progression, we actually have to be caught up in this work of making a pure gold candlestick. That is the local church. You don't have any right to change that. I, as a preacher, have no right to come here and to preach a different vision for the church. Well, our mission statement is this. Our vision is different than your vision. We're a social program. This is our calling. I don't know what your personal calling as a church is, but we just feed the hungry. You won't find that in the Bible. You will not find that sort of thinking in the Bible. Well, we need to understand the Islamic mind. If we're going to evangelize the Muslim, you can't preach the same as you do here, Brother Keith. What a load of trash. We have destroyed the church. This golden candlestick cannot be a man-made thing. It's also made after a pattern. God gave the pattern. He said, I wanted this height. I wanted this material. I don't want any wood in it. Well, I just think a bit of wood would look beautiful. A bit of goofer wood. I've got a lovely tree growing in my garden. I could make it look so beautiful and it would burn well. None of man's thinking can come into this. It's got to be after the pattern of God. Do you realize Moses was one of the greatest men of God who ever lived? And as we look at the man of God, he went up on the mount and God gave him a pattern, a written clear vision of the tabernacle. I'll tell you what the brazen altar, the message of the cross is going to be. I'll tell you what that laver where you need to wash in the word of God, what it's going to be like. I'll tell you what the holy of holies is going to look like. I'll tell you what the golden candlestick's going to go like. There's no room for opinions here. You know, I'm sick to death and so are you. I'm sick of death of people coming. I think you should do this. How long have you been here? Oh, well I've been at two meetings. I think you should do this. I think we should do that. I think we need to. Who are you? How many times have you read your Bible? Do you know Churchill, the politician who led Britain through the second world war? Do you know he read the entire Bible through at least 16 times? And that's why it comes out in his speeches. That's why he quotes scriptures when he stands up. That's why it's written in his books. I meet pastors who are going to be building the golden candlestick, who say, I want to reinvent the church. How many times have you read your Bible? And you're going to preach to me and deal with my soul? Sure, Churchill knew more about this than you do. The man like that meant business and God knew that he wasn't born again. He wasn't a Christian, but I tell you, God sovereignly used him in the second world war to hold back oppression and tyranny. I'm telling you about God's original thought for this golden candlestick. When you get to Revelation chapter one and two and three, and you see that each church is represented by a golden candlestick, you need to go back to Exodus 25 and begin to understand it's not man's plan. The golden candlestick is God's plan. It is a divine plan. He gives you that. He tells you what this church is going to look like. This golden candlestick was to stand in the holy place. You had the outer courts where the altar was and the brazen neighbor. Then you had the holy place. And then third of all, you had the holy of holies. But the golden candlestick stood in this middle compartment called the holy place. There were no windows in there. There was no natural light. There was no created light of the sun or reflected light of the moon or initiated light of the stars. No man made light was in there. The only means of light was divinely appointed light. The only light I allow in the holy place is this candlestick. No other means of light. I want no other source of light. You realize in Limerick City, there's no other source of genuine God-given light than this candlestick. Oh, I know there's social programs. I'm very glad for the politicians. I'm very glad for much that goes on, but there's only one source of light and it's the golden candlestick. That's what God actually ordained. It's an instrument of light. It's the only means of light. And in that holy place, all ministry went on. That's where ministry went. You could only go in there if you're a priest. That means you need to be born right. Listen carefully. I'm talking about the golden candlestick. You can't minister around this golden candlestick unless you're born right. You see the other 11 tribes can't come in there. You have to be of Levi. You have to be born right. Your genealogy has to be there. You have to bring in your birth certificate. Where's your evidence? Here it is. I've got a birth certificate. My mummy's right. My daddy's right. My birth was right. Are you really born again? We allow people in instruments, preaching, testifying. They don't even know what the new birth is. They've got no birth certificate. They don't know about a changed life. But we're saying, come into the light and minister. You cannot do that. No one else is allowed in that holy place unless you're a priest of the most high God. Your genealogy needs to be right. But your being born again isn't enough. Did you come by way of that brazen altar by blood this morning? You can't come in here today. Oh, I know you've been at home with your wife and your family. Have you come through the brazen altar this morning? Why do you think you can come in and minister? Have you been to that laver to wash yourself? Oh, I'm clean enough. I've just come in from home. I got up a bit later, rushed in. I'm going in to minister. Have you stopped at the laver? Oh no, I'm fine. Take a look at your face. You really need. Have you ever done that to someone? They don't realize what's on their face. Oh, I'm fine. You need to look in the mirror. You need to look at that laver. And as you do, you'll begin to wash. Now go and minister. You see, there is a pattern for this golden candlestick. As you enter into that place, it is the only means of light for ministry. Apart from the light of that candlestick, there is nothing else. It is divinely appointed and all ministry must be accomplished. Notice this within the light. You need light shining upon you. Exodus 27 says the lamps are to burn continually. They must never go out. God help us if the light in the church goes out in a nation or a city or a community. If God threatens to remove our lampstand, God help Limerick City. Have we not seen things called churches and there's no light there? There's no truth there. There's no Christ there. There's no repentance there. There's no real conversion there. There is worship. It's Laodicea. It's Laodicea. Is there anyone in there born again? Most of the pastors aren't born again. I've talked to pastors. They know nothing of the things of God. And so, the fire was to burn continually. The priesthood was to make sure the fire is burning. There's got to be enough oil in there. You've got to clear out the ashes. You've got to make sure the flame is fine and trimmed. It's not the preacher's responsibility to make sure the fire is burning. It's your job. Are you a priesthood? Are you a royal priesthood under Christ? Every one of you are responsible for bringing oil here this morning, for trimming the lamps, for making sure the lamp is burning. Well, the worship was a bit off this morning and it certainly wasn't. Man, I could have danced this morning. Candice would have hit herself thinking, I missed Keith dancing this morning. But you get people coming in. Well, I didn't like the worship. Didn't like the preaching. How much did you pray for me? Didn't think Keith had it in the preaching tonight. How much did you pray for me? Did you fast for me this week? So, you've got a right to an opinion. Well, I'll just come in. Bring the fire, brother Keith. Warm all of our hearts. Get us all stirred up so we go home feeling great. Do you realize the priesthood's job is to keep the fire burning? They were to dress the candlestick every morning and every evening. In fact, the high priest, there was only one high priest who represented Christ. Every single morning, he inspected the candlestick. Every single morning, not the evening, in the morning, he went in there and inspected it. Anything blocked? Anything in the way? Anything out of order? Is there only six flames on that candlestick? We need to work on it here. He began to trim the lamp and also at night, they refilled it with fuel. The lamps were lit by a fire of the brazen altar. Out there in the open court is the brazen altar, the place of the cross, the place of blood sacrifice. Where do you get the fire to burn the candle? You get it at the brazen altar. One of those priests went out and got a flame from the brazen altar. That's where the fire comes from. You say, I don't have any fire. Our church doesn't have any fire. Go back to the brazen altar. Go back to the place of Calvary. Go back to the cross again and let the fire burn. That's the source of all fire. Without Calvary, there's no Pentecost. Do you realize there's no date in the Jewish calendar for Pentecost? You couldn't mark it out. You had to go to Passover. We know when Passover is every year. We know when the sacrificial lamb dies every year, but we've got to measure. That's how you find Pentecost. That's why so few churches can find Pentecost, revival, a real move of the Holy Spirit in this hour. You know why? They don't go back to Calvary. They don't go back to the brazen altar. When you walk into that holy place, it's a room 30 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 15 feet high. When you first go in there from the outside, the light of the lamp seems dim. Your eyes need to adjust to that lamp, but it's real. It's the fire of God. This is the plan of God. You know what? Most of us out there in this world, you're so blinded with daylight, natural light, with the light that lights our whole world, that when you come into the presence of God, some of you go, it's black in here. No, your eyes need to adjust. There's a candlestick burning. You know, as you tarry there and spend time there, the light of the candle begins to grow brighter. No, it's your eyes changing. You know what? You need to acclimatize. Your vision needs to acclimatize. When you first go in there, all you see is a glow, but as you tarry there and watch and wait and adjust to the environment, you begin to see that beautiful golden candlestick. In fact, the flame illuminates it. The flame begins to show you in clarity. Too many in the church, they can't see the golden candlestick. In that room, as you abide there, you also make the sweet fragrance of burning incense. The entire room is smelling fragrant. You're seeing the burning light. Saints, this is the golden candlestick. This is the ministry of the local church that we enter in here. There is a way to approach God. As you enter into the holy place, to the right of you is the table of showbread, where the bread is laid out. That's Bible teaching. That's where you feed yourself. To your left is the golden candlestick giving you light to feed yourself, to come into the presence of God. That's where the light is. Directly in front of you, before the curtain that leads into the holy of holies is the altar of incense. That's the place of prayer. Do you see how the holy of holies is dominated? As the light shines, it illuminates the place of the ministry of God's word and illuminates the place of prayer. It's a very simple environment. The word of God, prayer, and you've got the candlestick made of gold with light burning in the midst of it. Is this not so very, very simple? It is a very simple place to abide in the church. I am sick to death. That's the third time I'm saying it. I'm sick to death of those who want to reinvent the church. What are you going to reinvent it as? That's what worries me. You know, for decades I've listened to these men because I didn't like the church I'm living in. I didn't like the church I saw around me. So I went, any prophet, any preacher, any man of God, okay, tell me. Talk about simple church. Talk about an authentic church. Talk about a biblical church. Talk about a New Testament church. Talk about going back to the church as it originally was. Most of them, I read their books, listened carefully. And like Paul who went up to Jerusalem, they added nothing to me. You know what, what I found in here, there's nothing comparable. I am not hearing preachers in this hour, take us back to the golden candlestick. The candlestick we see in Revelation 1, let's go back and see what it is again. It is a remarkable thing. It is a remarkable thing. Saints of God, I want to tell you, I am searching, I am seeking for the 21st century church. I won't find it in a new book or a new ministry or a new prophecy. I need to go back to Scripture again. And I need to begin to search for the 21st century church. You see, I've always looked for the saints. That's why right now I'm caught up in this. That's why I'm preaching the way I'm preaching. That's why certain doors are opening up in this hour. You know why the church I've been looking for, praying for, saying, Lord, what's this baby going to look like? You know what, God answers the hard cry of individuals. There is a cry right across our world at the minute saying, I want a local church, not a big church, not financially superior, not a fancy building. I want real, genuine fellowship. I'm looking for the light of the candlestick. I'm looking for the fire. I'm looking for that fragrance of prayer. When you come into the holy place where that golden candlestick is, I'm in a real candlestick. When you really find the golden candlestick, there is the smell of prayer. I smelt it this morning. Oh, I was running late this morning. I walked into this building and I went, it wasn't physical. I didn't see it, but there is an incense cloud in this place. Oh, I know there's many missing because of sickness, but what I found here, I wouldn't have found at home. I didn't have earlier today, but when I walked in here, I go, there's glory in the house. There's light in the house. There's the presence of Christ. Christ walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks. And you know what? He comes to investigate. Laodicea, he's coming to your door. Ephesus, he's coming to you with a message. Philadelphia, he sees how you love him. Sardis, he sees the suffering that you're going through. What is the church of the 21st century going to look like? What sort of church is it going to be? What is history going to write about the church of the 2020s? We are living in a decade when they're going to join computers to humankind. They want to put brain chips in humanity. They want to hitch every baby up to the internet. They're changing everything. They're taking control since that's going to produce a certain kind of church. I am excited in this hour because you know what? When you get to the Red Sea and all you have behind you is a cloud rising and all the chariot wheels and horses of Pharaoh, they're coming. This is a massive army at your back. Either side of you are hills and mountains. Before you is the Red Sea. What are you going to do? I believe God has deliberately brought the church of the 21st century to a Red Sea. And you know what? As we stand there, we go, it is transhumanism is coming up on those heels. One side of me is all of this medical tyranny trying to jab us all. At the other side of me is this political agenda that's changed our governments. And before us, we've got a sea of humanity that needs evangelized. What are you going to do in this hour? You know what I'm going to do? The crisis of this hour is going to make us the church one more time. Yes, I believe this isn't the end of the church. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not, cannot, shall not prevail. I'm prophesying to you, hell will not prevail against the church. I don't care what our enemies are or how small we are. I am looking for the golden candlestick. I'm going back to Exodus 25. And as you say, this is going to maybe go on to another part and another part. I've got an awful lot here to say to you. I haven't even began with my pages of notes here, but I want you to hear this. I'm looking for the 21st century church. Will you make this journey with me? I'm tired of those for decades that play games with us. All I'm doing is going back and saying, I want what has always been the real church. I don't care about styles of worship or your clothes. I don't care about your titles or what sort of building you meet in. I don't care if you meet in a house, in a small group or a mega building. I don't care. But what I do care is, who do you say the Lord Jesus Christ is? What rock are you building on? What vision are you seeking for the local church? And what are you doing to get there? It's going to be by prayer through the preaching of the word of God that we are going to see that candlestick one more time. Will you stand with me here? Hallelujah. Praise you, Lord God. Oh, we bless you. We worship you. We exalt you. We magnify you. Oh, send the fire. Send the fire again. Hallelujah. Oh my God. Father, we pray, oh God, right now for our world. We're in the 2020s and our world is absolutely changing. It'll never be the same again. And you've called us to be here. We're few. We're scattered across the world. We can hardly find a real church. But my God, I pray for all my friends who listen online. All those that are online right now this morning. All those that'll listen later. My God, all who gather here at Limerick. Lord God, we are praying that you give us a divine vision. That we might turn to hear the voice speaking to us. And as we turn, that we behold a golden candlestick. And you say, this is the church that I desire. And this hour, Lord God, will you help us? Will you bless us? Will you envision us this morning? We are so longing to see the church that you're going to build in this hour. In Jesus' mighty name.