Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to
Foundations of Truth Podcast,
where we are laying strongfoundations for a holy life.
Here we return to timelesstruth, building our lives on the
solid rock of Scripture withpreaching.
Join us as we grow in wisdom,faith, and understanding.
Rooted in Christ, thecornerstone.
Now on to the next sermon.
(00:21):
Enjoy.
SPEAKER_06 (01:58):
There was a preacher
that was coming to my house to
buy some books.
It was Brother Fletcher fromVirginia.
Some of you may remember BrotherFletcher.
And he had a companion with himwho loved books as much as I
did.
And when they showed up, I hadput a I had a two-car garage in
the house that we owned, butBeth let me take a portion of
(02:20):
that and turned it into anoffice.
And so I had books everywhere inthat little office.
And Brother Shad rolled in withBrother Fletcher that day.
And uh he we didn't do manypreliminaries because he wanted
to get into the books.
So once he got done with thebooks, then we got the
preliminaries out of the way.
And uh we became good friendsthat day and have been friends
(02:41):
ever since.
And uh many times I've calledBrother Shad just as a friend
and a confidant, and he's agreat man, great preacher, but a
wonderful man.
And so I appreciate BrotherShad's friendship, his
influence, and Sister Kathy, anduh her just consistency and
faithfulness, and uh just we'veall been over there and they've
hosted us, and we certainly lovethem and appreciate them.
(03:02):
And it's been an honor for us tohave them this week as he's
preached his heart to us, anduh, I appreciate what he's doing
for the Lord.
Want him to come take hisliberty in the Lord.
Would you just put your handstogether and let Brother Shaz,
Sister Kathy know how much welove them and appreciate them
and honor them so much?
Amen.
SPEAKER_05 (03:29):
Hello, everyone.
Brother Rodney, you're not 340miles away.
I want to hear you say amen thismorning.
Thank you, Brother Ashley.
Appreciate the message.
I rejoice to hear you tell aboutAllison's healing.
(03:53):
I remember years ago, rightafter she had made that C D, I
sat down at my desk and I was,as the old saying is, so low you
couldn't touch the taproot.
And I opened that C D and put itin the player, and God spoke to
my heart.
(04:14):
And I rejoiced that Allisondidn't lose her song.
Praise God.
Last night service will go downin the books.
Appreciate Brother Douglas somuch.
It's been a joy to be here withhim and his family and all of
you.
Appreciate the message and theway God has worked and helped.
(04:38):
I want to take a little momentto say how much I appreciate
this local church, the Ralstonfamily, the vision of all of
you, the model of excellencethat this church, school, and
college is, the tremendousimpact that Brother Ralston has
(05:01):
upon the holiness people, notjust the uh church here, uh,
that vision, but the ministers'conference in January, and how
great a benefit it is to theministry at large among the
holiness community.
And then we have also hereBrother Ralston, Brother Brim,
(05:22):
Brother Sanders, board membersof the Pentecostal Fire Youth
Conference, and it does atremendous work of encouragement
to our youth.
And I appreciate the vision thatis birthed here and how that it
has gone out and affected us allacross our country.
(05:43):
And so let's celebrate all ofthat, can we?
Glad that Israel and Sarah andthe girls made a flying trip
here today.
God bless you.
(06:03):
Thank you for your charity, thewonderful place to stay.
Now let's stand and go to theback of the book.
I read yesterday from Genesis.
So after you leave here today,you'll be able to say that man
preached last week from Genesisto Revelation.
The Revelation chapter one.
(06:26):
Thank you for your giving andevery kindness you've shown.
Revelation one.
If you get to the maps and theback, you miss it.
The Revelation chapter one.
Verse 9.
(06:48):
John Who also am your brotherand companion in tribulation and
in the kingdom and patience ofJesus Christ.
For the word of God and for thetestimony of Jesus Christ.
(07:10):
I was in the Spirit on theLord's day, and heard behind me
a great voice as of a trumpet,saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, and whatthou seest, write in a book, and
send it unto the seven churcheswhich are in Asia, unto Ephesus,
(07:32):
and unto Smyrna, and untoPergamus, and unto Thyrotira,
and unto Sardis, and untoPhiladelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And I turned to see the voicethat spake with me, and being
turned I saw seven goldencandlesticks, and in the midst
(07:54):
of the seven candlesticks onelike unto the Son of Man,
clothed with a garment down tothe foot, and girt about the
paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs werewhite like wool, as white as
snow, and his eyes were as aflame of fire, and his feet were
(08:17):
feet like unto fine brass, as ifthey burned in a furnace, and
his voice as the sound of manywaters.
And he had in his right handseven stars, and out of his
mouth went a sharp, two-edgedsword, and his countenance was
as the sun that shineth in hisstrength.
(08:39):
And when I saw him, I fell athis feet as dead, and he laid
his right hand upon me, sayingunto me, Fear not.
I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and wasdead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore.
Amen.
(08:59):
And have the keys of hell and ofdeath.
Write the things which thou hastseen, and the things which are,
and the things which shall behereafter.
The mystery of the seven starswhich thou sawest in thy in my
right hand, and the seven goldencandlesticks, the seven stars of
(09:19):
the angels, of the sevenchurches, and the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest.
And the seven candlesticks whichthou sawest are the seven
churches.
Thank you, you may be seated.
I'll take my text there, wherethe scripture declares, John
(09:40):
said, I was in the aisle that iscalled Patmos.
Verse 9, verse 10.
I was in the Spirit on theLord's day.
So if the Lord will stand by me,I'd like to title that text, The
Patmos Paradox.
It seems to be an incongruouscontradiction to put Patmos with
(10:06):
paradise, but these verses are ashort lesson to us that God is
able to take us from where weare to where He wants us to be
in spite of the circumstancesthat may surround.
Yesterday I tried to speakconcerning paradise lost.
(10:31):
It was Milton that wrote thatParadise Lost.
He gave it to his wife to readand critique.
And she said, Great book.
You didn't tell us how to get itback.
So Milton wrote Paradiseregained.
Because of Jesus Christ,paradise can be regained.
(10:56):
John finds himself on thisancient Alcatraz, this bleak,
barren island where he isbanished there in the
Mediterranean.
It seems as if he is there allalone by himself.
Why would God allow?
Why would it be so?
(11:17):
Why was it necessary that thisbeloved of Jesus, the one that
leaned on the Lord's breast,this one that was nearest and
closest to his Lord be banishedon this paradise, this Patmos
rather, this place of lonelinessand banishment.
(11:40):
Why would he be there in thatawful place?
I read once of a warm summerevening, the skies hanging low,
dust begins to settle, and asnight comes on, the stars begin
to glisten.
A little farm boy goes insidethe house and comes back out on
(12:00):
the porch with a telescope, andhe peers up into the darkening
sky as the heavens awaken withthe glory of the night stars.
He begins to look through thatlittle cheap telescope at those
stars that begin to shine andthose glistening orbs that begin
to brighten the night heavens.
(12:22):
And um his riviere of the nightheavens is broken by the words
of his grandpa that says, Whatare you doing, boy?
And grandson says, Well, Papa,he said, I'm looking at them
night stars and maybe planets orother worlds.
I don't know what all's outthere.
And grandpa said, Well, you'llnever visit those places.
(12:46):
They're too far away.
He said, I know, Papa.
He said, My feet are on earth,but my heart is somewhere out of
this world.
Hallelujah.
John is on Patmos, but his heartis somewhere out of this world.
(13:08):
And so may I say to you todaythat this Patmos that you find
yourself in is not permanent.
Patmos is your passport.
May I say that where you are nowis not where you will always be.
We can praise God that Patmos isnot permanent.
(13:28):
We can praise God that where weare is not our end.
There's something better that isin store.
And I want to take a moment,please, to reassure you that you
may think that you areforgotten, and you may feel like
you have been forsaken, and youmay think that God has put you
(13:51):
on the back burner and no oneknows where you are.
May I simply say God knows wherePatmos is and God knows how to
visit your Patmos.
God can take care of you rightwhere you are.
Amen.
He's got a GPS on your location.
(14:12):
Hold on just any moment.
You're gonna make a move fromPatmos to paradise.
Oftentimes in your life andmine, we wonder, God, do you
know where I'm at?
Do you know what I'm doing?
Lord, has everybody forgottenme?
I remember our dear friendBrother Kevin Webster telling of
(14:35):
how that he went back home toIron Post.
Amen.
If you don't know where that is,find Locust Grove.
You'll get close.
And I heard Kevin tell of howthat after his dad died suddenly
with a heart attack, that hewent home and he got a job
working there for CherokeeNation.
(14:55):
Wilma Mankiller was thepresident of the Indian Nation
at that time.
And Misery's Mankiller gaveKevin a job with the housing
authority.
And Kevin said he went through atime of depression.
He's no longer preaching thoserevivals.
He's no longer out and abroadamong the holiness people.
He's there working a job, takingcare of his widowed mother.
(15:19):
And he said, I said to the Lordone day, Lord, I feel like you
put me on the back burner.
And the Lord spoke to Kevin andsaid, Kevin, you can cook just
as good on the back burner ifyou'll keep the heat up.
May I say to someone here today,keep the heat up.
No matter what you're goingthrough, no matter what you're
(15:42):
facing, no matter thedifficulty, no matter the trial,
no matter the tempest or thetest, God knows where you're at.
SPEAKER_04 (15:50):
And if your own
patmos get ready, amen to check
and up.
You're on your way to paradise.
God's gonna take you up.
God's gonna lead you out.
God's gonna bring you through.
He's gonna take you over.
And he's gonna make a way and ano way just because you're at
Patmos.
Hold on, there's paradise thatawaits.
SPEAKER_05 (16:15):
There is a voice
that was assuring.
John there on Patmos.
He hears a voice that to him wasassuring.
And he said, I was in the Spiriton the Lord's day.
He was in the isle calledPatmos, but he was in the
(16:38):
Spirit.
Look at the spirit of the Lordthat enveloped him.
That place of loneliness he wasin.
Suddenly he is surrounded withglory.
Amen.
He is in the isle called Patmos,but he is in the spirit.
(16:59):
I remember reading of that waterbeetle that can descend into the
depths of the water, but beforeit goes down, it surrounds
itself with a bubble of air.
And scientists have learned thatit can take down enough oxygen
to stay for many hours, and itcan feed on the plant life that
(17:24):
is in the water, and even takeoxygen from that plant life.
Amen.
It is in, but it's not of.
Hallelujah.
It is surrounded, but it doesnot succumb.
I know you're in a bad spot, butyou don't have to succumb to
what is around you.
Amen.
I know there may bediscouragement and darkness all
(17:47):
around.
SPEAKER_04 (17:48):
And it may seem like
your world has cabined and
cloistered and confined andcribbed you into a small place.
That's all right.
If you got glory all around,you're not gonna succumb to what
surrounds.
You're not gonna succumb to whatsurrounds you.
SPEAKER_05 (18:10):
Look here and see.
Amen.
The spirit of the Lord thatsurrounded.
And then now, the summons of theLord that employed.
Here John is on Patmas, and theLord has got something for John
to do.
He said, I want you to write thethings that you have seen.
(18:33):
And I love the text, verse 12.
John said, I turned to see thevoice.
He turned intuitively and heturned instinctively because he
knew that voice.
John had first heard that voicewhen that voice said, Follow me,
and I will make you fishers ofmen.
(18:54):
Amen.
And may I stop to say that whenwe stop casting nets, we will
start casting stones.
SPEAKER_04 (19:02):
It's time we again
cast nets.
The first time John heard thatvoice, that voice said, Follow
me.
John heard that voice, as thatvoice preached the Sermon on the
Mount.
John heard that voice, and thenas Jesus looked to a woman,
taking an adultery and found inthe very net.
(19:26):
And John heard that voice say,Neither do I condemn these.
Go and sin no more.
John heard that voice when thatanonymous woman with an issue of
blood.
And Jesus said, Down her.
I'm glad I know his voice.
(19:47):
I'm glad I've heard his voice.
I'm glad I've heard his voice.
SPEAKER_05 (19:54):
John heard that
voice.
As Jesus stepped to the bow ofthat ship and rebuked that
storm, and it obediently quieteddown as a dog would hearken to
the voice of its master.
John knew that voice.
(20:18):
I'm glad I heard his voice.
And if you will listen, if youwill hearken, if you lean in, if
you lean in, you'll hear hisvoice.
My heart aches as I rememberLindsay Savage, brother LD,
(20:42):
standing, and he looks to hisson, his grandson Ricky, about
30 feet away across the platformof that count meeting stage.
And he says, Ricky, can you hearmy heartbeat?
And Ricky says, No, Papa.
And I watched that as a youngpreacher, as Brother Savage
(21:06):
said, Come closer, Ricky.
And every footstep brings Rickycloser to his grandpa that loved
him and took him in as his own.
By and by, he's just a mare afew feet away.
Can you hear my heartbeat?
No, Papa.
But if I live to be a hundred,I'll never forget when young
(21:28):
Ricky laid his head on hisgrandpa's chest.
And he said, Can you hear myheartbeat?
And he said, Yeah, Papa, I canhear it.
If you'll get close enough, youhear his voice.
SPEAKER_04 (21:44):
If you don't get
close enough, you can hear his
voice.
John's own practice.
Amen.
But Jesus knows right where Johnis.
Amen.
And Jesus speaks to John.
And John said, I know thatvoice.
Mary is at the tomb.
And it's resurrection morning.
And she don't know it.
Amen.
(22:04):
And the tomb is empty.
And she thinks the man is thegardener.
And he says Mary.
And she turns.
And she says master.
Somebody ought to turn.
And call him master.
Somebody ought to turn.
And call him master.
Could you worship him in thehouse today?
SPEAKER_03 (22:29):
Glory to God.
Oh, give him a phrase all overthe house.
SPEAKER_05 (22:39):
John knew that
voice.
Voice that was assuring.
Vision that was astonishing.
He turned to see a Christ thatwas glorious.
And he realized I'm not bymyself.
(23:03):
In 1918, so says the memoirs ofan English soldier.
He said, I was sent into noman's land to deliver a message,
this English soldier said of thefirst war.
(23:24):
He said, I crawled into no man'sland on my belly.
He said the rain was fierce.
He said I was covered with mud.
Mortar fire shook the sky, andgunfire cracked like lightning.
(23:44):
He said a blast suddenly threwme over into a large crater.
And he said I was half buried,half burned, and bleeding.
He said I was pinned down andleft to die.
And he said, My thought was,this is the end.
(24:08):
I am alone and I am forgotten.
Here is where I will die.
And then he said suddenly, itwas as if I were a boy again.
And I remembered the prayers ofmother and the hymns of Sunday
school.
And he said, I began to pray.
(24:30):
And I began to sing a hymn thatI learned as a boy in that
crater there in No Man's Land.
He said, A strange thinghappened.
He said, I was still in France.
And I was still in no man's landin the middle of a battle.
(24:54):
He said, but something strangehappened not around me.
He said, something strangehappened in me.
SPEAKER_04 (25:03):
He said, suddenly,
there was peace not around me,
but peace was in me.
And he wrote these words.
He said, suddenly, I understoodthe miracle.
I was in the trench, but I wasin the throne room.
(25:24):
Somebody ought to praise it thateven when you're in the trench,
you can get to the throne room.
I feel victory in the housetoday.
And I want to tell you, heaven,amen, it's not far away.
Somebody ought to worship God inthis room.
You may be in the trench, butyou can get to the throne room.
You may be in the trench, butyou can get to the throne room.
(25:47):
Praise him in the house.
SPEAKER_05 (25:54):
All right.
John is not alone.
And he turns.
And there is a vision that isastonishing.
Jesus knows where Patmas is.
Helen Rosevier, who was amedical missionary to Zaire,
(26:21):
Africa back in 1950, tells ofhow that one evening a young
mother went into labor.
She struggled through the night.
So Helen Rossevir says, and thisyoung mother gave birth to a
(26:43):
very premature little child.
And Helen Rosevere said,regrettably, we lost the mother.
And only the baby survived.
And she said, so because thebaby was so premature, we needed
to get it warm as soon aspossible.
(27:03):
She said, we did not have theluxury of electricity, but we
had a fire.
And we set on a pot of water toboil.
And I sent one of our littleworkers to go get that hot water
bottle.
I know.
Some of you don't know what thatis.
(27:25):
Some of us do.
And so they got that hot waterbottle, and they began to fill
it with that boiling water.
And the bottle was cracked andweathered and it ruptured.
She said, there we were with apremature baby and no hot water
(27:50):
bottle, nothing to keep it warm.
And she said, I told a youngnurse, wrap it up with as many
blankets as you can.
Hold it close.
And she said I left and went tothe chapel for morning prayers.
She said, along beside me was alittle 10-year-old.
And she knelt with me as we hadprayers and our morning
(28:13):
devotions.
She said, I prayed that God bysome miracle would help that
little premature baby survive.
She said, I heard the words ofthat little 10-year-old as she
said, Now, Lord, we need a hotwater bottle, and we need it
today.
Tomorrow would be too late, butwe need it today.
(28:36):
She said, I thought within myheart, here we are in Central
Africa.
It's 1950.
There's nowhere to go buy awater bottle.
And the little girl also said,And Lord, while you're sending a
hot water bottle, would you sendthis new baby a little baby doll
too?
(28:57):
Helen Rosevere said I laughedwithin myself and thought, no,
not never ever.
She said, about one o'clock inthe afternoon, one of the
children came running throughthe compound and said, someone
just dropped off a partial.
She said, I went and I lookedand I noted that it had been
(29:18):
shipped from America five monthsearlier.
She said, I opened it.
She said there was candy.
There were clothes.
And she said, You guessed it.
There was a hot water bottle.
Amen.
She said, that little10-year-old girl, her eyes
brightened with anticipation.
(29:39):
And she said, Misery's hellin,there's gotta be a baby in there
somewhere.
And they dug a little deeperinto the partial and pulled out
a baby doll.
SPEAKER_04 (29:49):
She said, I read the
note from a Sunday school class
in America that felt led of God,amended to put in the package a
baby doll and
SPEAKER_05 (30:38):
He he turned to a
Christ that was glorious.
And now the touch of Christ wasgracious.
He looked and he saw him.
And he had stars in his hands.
(31:05):
His hands are never so full thathe doesn't have room for you.
And he laid his hand on me.
That's what he said.
You may think that you areforgotten.
(31:30):
And you feel so hopeless andlost.
He's got room in his hand foryou.
I read of a vacationer that wentto New York City and he wanted
to see the RCA building.
And he said, so I went to theRCA building.
(31:52):
And he said, there in front ofthe RCA building was a statue of
Atlas, the world's strongestman.
He said, I stood in awe at thatgiant, colossal, gargantuous,
monolithic, huge statue of theworld's strongest man.
(32:15):
Y'all ready for the pose?
He's got the world on his back.
His muscles are bulging.
But you can see the strain andthe exertion and the agony of
what Atlas is bearing on hisback.
(32:37):
He said, I turned from thestatue of Atlas, and I walked
across the street to St.
Patrick's Cathedral, and Iwalked to the altar at the
front, and there was a smallstatue of the boy child Jesus.
He said immediately I was takenby the calm repose and the
(33:02):
serene countenance of the boychild Jesus.
Eyes that burn like fire.
The calm serenity of the boychild Jesus.
But what struck him most, hesaid, was the outstretched hands
of the boy child Jesus.
And in his hands was the world.
(33:28):
It ain't no strain on him.
SPEAKER_04 (33:32):
Come on here now.
I said, what you're goingthrough in your world, it ain't
no strain on Jesus.
SPEAKER_05 (33:52):
And he wrote her a
letter.
And he said, the world over hereis burned, destroyed with war.
It's a blackened, burned-outworld.
And then as he closed the letterto his sister, he said, But God
(34:13):
has got the whole world in hishands.
He was inspired by that.
So in that he's writing to hissister, he said, Sister, he's
got the whole world in hishands.
He moves with eloquence.
And he thinks of niece andnephew.
(34:34):
And he says he's got the, and hedid say it, the itty-bitty baby
in his hands.
SPEAKER_04 (34:40):
And now you know
where that little song came
from.
It comes from a soldier boy in awar-torn country that wrote to
his sister and said he's got thewhole world in his hands.
And he's got me a new sister inhis hands.
And he's got me a new brother inhis hands.
(35:00):
And he's got the innovative.
Somebody ought to praise him.
He's got it in his hands, andhe's not gonna let go.
The eternal God is his refuge.
And underneath, can somebodyshout, underneath, underneath is
his everlasting arms.
He can't fail.
Amen.
He won't let you down.
He's got your world in his hand.
SPEAKER_05 (35:22):
Somebody ought to
praise him in this room.
Oh, you got more praise thanthat.
You got more praise than that.
(35:52):
Don't miss it.
The voice that was assuring.
The vision that was astonishing.
The victory that isaccomplishing.
When John closes this firstchapter in red words, he speaks
concerning the fulfillment ofthe plan of God.
(36:15):
The things which shall behereafter.
Amen.
Christ, first redeeming, nowresurrected, reigning,
returning.
He said, I am alive.
And I am alive forever.
It ain't over yet.
(36:38):
Amen.
And not only the fulfillment ofthe plan of God, but the future
of the people of God.
The things that shall be hereand after.
And here we are.
That's us.
(36:59):
That's now.
And here we are right now.
Hallelujah.
Grace that's brought us thisfar.
And grace shall lead us on.
There's more to come.
(37:19):
There's more to come.
And we're leaving here.
Amen.
We're leaving here.
And soon we're going there.
And we're going to make ourtransport from Patmas to
(37:41):
paradise.
Then we which are alive andremain shall be caught up.
John got a look within that opendoor in Revelation 4.
And he said, I heard a voicethat said, anybody ready to go
(38:01):
up?
Well, since I'm in Georgia, thisis for Georgia.
In 1971, a Vietnam soldier fromthe state of Georgia, and if the
record I read had it correct,was fighting in Vietnam on
(38:23):
Hamburger Hill.
He had been pinned in, artilleryfire, had him locked down, and
he had been in a foxhole forthree days.
No water, no rations.
They couldn't get to him, and hecouldn't get out.
And that Georgia boy pinned intothat foxhole thought that that
(38:43):
was the end.
And then on that third day, tohis shock and surprise, he heard
the chop, chop, chop of ahelicopter that made a daring
feat and an almost miraculousmission to come in fast and low
and drop a partial off, and itlanded right in his foxhole.
(39:06):
That Georgia boy opened thatparcel.
There was water and there wasrations and there was a note
from his commander, and theywere six cans of Libby's Georgia
Peaches.
Amen.
SPEAKER_04 (39:24):
Hallelujah.
And when that soldier boy lookedand saw those six cans of
Libby's Georgia Peaches, thecommander had wrote a note and
said, here's a little taste ofhome until we can get you out.
I wanna tell you, Jum is in thehouse today to give somebody a
(39:49):
little taste of home.
We're soon about to get them outof here.
A little taste of home withsomebody praising him and make
the fum and moral fum.
You remember to get your worshipof the Lord from the God from a
(40:11):
little place of the world.
SPEAKER_01 (40:41):
We hope today's
message has strengthened your
faith and helped you grow inunderstanding.
Be sure to subscribe so youdon't miss an episode.
And share this podcast withothers who seek the truth.
Until next time, stay groundedin God's word and walk in his
life.
God bless you.