WEBVTT 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:05.440 Well, let's pray once more then. Father, as we 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.060 come to open your Word this morning, we pray 00:00:08.060 --> 00:00:12.400 again for your help that you would enable us 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:14.900 to hear and to receive that which you have for 00:00:14.900 --> 00:00:18.179 us this morning. Pray that your Word would be 00:00:18.179 --> 00:00:20.519 powerful, effectual, accompanied by the Holy 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.579 Spirit, that we would be in submission to that 00:00:23.579 --> 00:00:27.859 Word and Spirit, and that you would be glorified 00:00:27.859 --> 00:00:32.799 and honored by what proceeds. here this morning 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:37.179 and by us, but when we go our separate ways and 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:39.700 attempt to put into practice that which you teach, 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:43.799 help us. Overcome me, enable me to speak clearly 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:48.659 in your word and your word alone. We ask again 00:00:48.659 --> 00:00:51.240 for the loss that you'd have mercy on some here 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.619 and in other assemblies that are faithfully preaching 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:57.039 your word, but some might come to repentance 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.320 and faith this morning. And we ask it in Christ's 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.510 name. Okay, we're going to look at Revelation 00:01:04.510 --> 00:01:07.790 once again this morning. Hopefully you got my 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:12.090 email and you had the opportunity to read these 00:01:12.090 --> 00:01:19.489 two chapters. But you'll remember that we started 00:01:19.489 --> 00:01:22.310 out here and we saw Christ last week in all of 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:26.530 his glory. All the symbolic descriptions of Jesus 00:01:26.530 --> 00:01:29.590 Christ there as the head of the church. We saw 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:32.530 him that he's in the midst of his church, the 00:01:32.530 --> 00:01:38.730 candlesticks and the stars. They're the candlesticks 00:01:38.730 --> 00:01:41.349 of the church, and Christ is in the midst of 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:44.349 his church. And they're golden candlesticks. 00:01:44.590 --> 00:01:48.129 They're not brass or wood, but they're golden. 00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:55.590 This is how Christ views his church. Very precious. 00:01:56.590 --> 00:02:01.140 It cost him his life. Talked about it. We've 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:05.739 sung about it this morning He died that we might 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:14.400 be his He is the king He's also made us kings 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:19.340 and priests It's not that we we're going to become 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:24.539 that we are that So we're gonna we're not the 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:27.960 king of kings he is but under him we're king 00:02:28.830 --> 00:02:31.870 Satan has no more power over us. Our sin has 00:02:31.870 --> 00:02:38.270 no more power over us. The same power that raised 00:02:38.270 --> 00:02:43.090 Christ from the dead indwells us. Does anybody 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:46.969 really believe that? That's an incredible statement. 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:52.069 But it's true. It's Bible. That's the kind of 00:02:52.069 --> 00:02:54.430 kings we are. That's the kind of power we have. 00:02:57.129 --> 00:02:59.530 We should pray that we would experience that 00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:01.830 power, that we would be willing to experience 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:05.449 that power. Okay, so Christ is in the midst of 00:03:05.449 --> 00:03:08.710 his churches. You want to say, where can I find 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:11.969 Jesus? Well, you come to the meeting. You gather 00:03:11.969 --> 00:03:15.710 with his people. You don't go off on some mountaintop 00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:19.389 or you don't go into some woodsy valley. You 00:03:19.389 --> 00:03:22.150 might meet him there, but you can for sure meet 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:24.449 him when you gather with his people. That's what 00:03:24.449 --> 00:03:28.759 the Bible, we saw it last week. So this week 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.460 now, and I'm not going to exposit all of this, 00:03:31.860 --> 00:03:34.680 all the details in these two chapters here. I 00:03:34.680 --> 00:03:37.599 have one concern really, and that's what I'm 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.599 going to dwell on in these various churches. 00:03:41.740 --> 00:03:47.180 So remember, the church is precious. He views 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:52.680 us as golden candlesticks. So if you read these 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.860 two chapters, Revelation 2 and 3, letters to 00:03:55.860 --> 00:04:00.000 the seven churches, There's some recurring statements, 00:04:00.340 --> 00:04:06.199 recurring themes, and every one of them is introduced 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:10.120 by a reference back to the vision of Christ that 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:13.539 we looked at last week. So there's no doubt that 00:04:13.539 --> 00:04:17.759 these letters are directly from Jesus Christ. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.040 They're His words to the churches. They're His 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:27.839 last words to the churches. So they're obviously 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:36.680 pretty important, as we said last week. Now, 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:43.939 the other recurring word here is repent. These 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:48.220 churches are called to repent. I think there's 00:04:48.220 --> 00:04:52.139 only one that we can for sure say that that doesn't 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:55.100 apply to. But all the rest of these churches 00:04:55.100 --> 00:04:57.519 are called to repent of something or another. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:05.660 And then the next is overcomers. The church is 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:08.379 called to be overcomers. Now remember, that's 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:11.060 us, the church. We're talking about people. When 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:13.240 we say the church, we're talking about people, 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:17.860 obviously. And you remember last week that there's 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:21.540 a lot more churches in Asia than seven. So the 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:25.680 number seven is significant. It represents all 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:28.879 the churches, and it represents all churches 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.860 until eternity future when the world will end. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.120 So these words are for us, in other words, and 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:41.139 they've been for every generation of churches. 00:05:42.339 --> 00:05:46.439 They don't depict time zones or anything else. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.759 All seven letters are for all the churches for 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:55.399 all time. Remember, they didn't send out separate 00:05:55.399 --> 00:05:59.459 letters. This whole letter of Revelation went 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:03.560 in its entirety to the seven churches. They all 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.459 heard and read what Christ said to the other 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:10.079 seven. And they all knew that it wasn't just 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:14.180 those particular churches. They scattered the 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:21.939 letters throughout all the churches. So, the 00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:28.259 other phrase here is, He that hath an ear, let 00:06:28.259 --> 00:06:33.220 him hear. That's in the letters. What does that 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:39.220 tell us? He that hath an ear, let him hear. Well, 00:06:39.220 --> 00:06:42.680 it tells us that you have to be regenerated. 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:45.720 You've got to belong to Christ. You've got to 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.100 be His person. You've got to be one of his kings. 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:51.500 You've got to be one of his priests. In order 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:56.720 to hear, you're not going to get this if you're 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:01.300 not his. You can't repent if you're not his. 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.079 You can repent and be saved, but you can't repent 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:09.920 of something that you're doing. So it's important 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.720 that we understand that he's talking to Christians 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:19.079 here. And then the last thing that's generally 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:22.660 speaking here is these golden candlesticks that 00:07:22.660 --> 00:07:25.160 we saw last week, they got lots of problems. 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:31.939 They got lots of things to deal with. And that 00:07:31.939 --> 00:07:35.839 doesn't affect their value in Christ's eyes whatsoever. 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:42.060 So remember that. Christ loves his church. It's 00:07:42.060 --> 00:07:47.459 important. He's purifying his church. He won't 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:53.920 settle for half effort. He won't settle for marred 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.060 candlesticks. He wants them bright and shiny. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.920 That's what these letters tell us. It's not okay. 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.959 It's not just a little thing that Jesus is just 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:13.480 gonna look over. He wants us pure, spotless. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:18.310 He wants us... Believing and repenting, believing 00:08:18.310 --> 00:08:24.069 and repenting. It's a lifelong activity. And 00:08:24.069 --> 00:08:27.449 we have the power to do it. We have the power 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:30.810 to change the way we think and the way we act. 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:35.049 And when we deny that, we deny Christ. Simple 00:08:35.049 --> 00:08:44.110 as that. Well, the first letter is to Ephesus. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.940 And I'm going to read a few verses here in chapter 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:54.220 2. It identifies Ephesus as the receiver. And 00:08:54.220 --> 00:09:17.049 in verse 2 it says, and for my name's sake has 00:09:17.049 --> 00:09:22.409 labored and has not fainted." Well, that's quite 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:24.789 a list. That's quite a bunch of accomplishments 00:09:24.789 --> 00:09:28.370 there. These people were all about the truth. 00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:33.389 They were all about making sure that they understood 00:09:33.389 --> 00:09:37.750 everything rightly. That they attempted to put 00:09:37.750 --> 00:09:42.029 it into practice. This is all wonderful. But 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:46.789 he said there's a but. And he says in verse 4, 00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:49.169 Nevertheless, I have something against thee, 00:09:49.370 --> 00:09:55.049 because thou hast left thy first love. Well, 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:58.230 what was their first love? Well, it was Jesus, 00:09:58.389 --> 00:10:03.070 wasn't it? That's who they loved. That's who 00:10:03.070 --> 00:10:07.750 they were all about when they got saved. Jesus, 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:11.750 learning more, experiencing more, loving you 00:10:11.750 --> 00:10:15.289 more perfectly, loving the brethren. Remember, 00:10:15.490 --> 00:10:18.830 when our love for God subsides, our love for 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:21.570 the brethren subsides. These are inseparable. 00:10:23.250 --> 00:10:25.850 You cannot claim to love Christ without loving 00:10:25.850 --> 00:10:28.649 his people or vice versa. That's what he's saying 00:10:28.649 --> 00:10:35.149 here. So it's very similar to 1 Corinthians 13. 00:10:35.710 --> 00:10:38.149 All that you do if you don't have love, it's 00:10:38.149 --> 00:10:43.710 nothing. Is that simple? The motive behind what 00:10:43.710 --> 00:10:51.100 we do is where it all starts so don't lose that 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:56.399 first love you must be motivated by love to Christ 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.340 and love to his people and then you must do something 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:06.440 you can't remain still if you love God and you 00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:10.320 love his people and he says then this is how 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.230 he wants them to repent In verse 5, remember 00:11:13.230 --> 00:11:16.269 therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent 00:11:16.269 --> 00:11:20.509 and do the first works or else I will come unto 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:23.190 thee quickly and remove thy candlestick out of 00:11:23.190 --> 00:11:26.850 its place except you repent. So what does he 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:30.710 say there? He doesn't say remember your feelings. 00:11:32.529 --> 00:11:35.309 Get those feelings back. Get those warm fuzzy 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:37.850 feelings back into you. He doesn't say anything 00:11:37.850 --> 00:11:44.110 like that. He says, do the first works. Get back 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:48.909 to what you used to be doing. Maybe you were 00:11:48.909 --> 00:11:51.289 faithful in reading your Bible. Maybe you were 00:11:51.289 --> 00:11:54.850 faithful in prayer. Maybe you were faithful in 00:11:54.850 --> 00:11:57.570 driving somebody that couldn't get around. Whatever 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:01.570 it was that you've lost. Whatever you used to 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:04.929 do in the name of Jesus Christ. Whatever you 00:12:04.929 --> 00:12:09.269 used to do because you loved Him. And really 00:12:09.269 --> 00:12:11.350 we all should be doing all of those things and 00:12:11.350 --> 00:12:16.629 many more if we love Christ and his people. So 00:12:16.629 --> 00:12:19.850 there's our first warning. There's our first 00:12:19.850 --> 00:12:24.750 notice. We're put on notice. Now that's foundational. 00:12:24.870 --> 00:12:29.570 That's why it's first. We could say the same 00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:32.250 about, I think, almost all the rest of these 00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:37.080 churches have lost their first love. But it manifests 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:40.539 itself in other ways, and He wants us to be clear. 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.399 He wants us to be on guard. He wants us to know 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.600 the truth that we're all susceptible to these 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:52.919 things. There are no exceptions. We can all fall 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:58.639 under these sins if we're not on guard. It reminds 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.860 me of some of Matt's messages. Be careful of 00:13:01.860 --> 00:13:05.419 what you hear. Do you have ears to hear? well 00:13:05.419 --> 00:13:09.620 use them properly hear only good things the good 00:13:09.620 --> 00:13:15.019 word the truth okay so we're not going to lose 00:13:15.019 --> 00:13:18.779 our first love we won't want to do that the next 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:24.919 is uh smirna this is the one that he only has 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:30.539 praise for smirna was a rich place it was one 00:13:30.539 --> 00:13:33.240 of the richest towns or provinces or whatever 00:13:33.789 --> 00:13:38.490 Roman Emperor. Except the church was the poorest. 00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:42.590 The church couldn't participate. They were persecuted. 00:13:42.990 --> 00:13:47.429 They didn't have any economic value. They couldn't 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:51.570 enter into businesses. They were cast down. They 00:13:51.570 --> 00:13:55.850 didn't have anything. He says in verse 9, I know 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:59.269 thy works in tribulation and poverty, and in 00:13:59.269 --> 00:14:04.840 parentheses, but thou art rich. I know the blasphemy 00:14:04.840 --> 00:14:08.440 of them would say they are Jews and are not, 00:14:08.820 --> 00:14:12.320 but are the synagogue of Satan. They're under 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:16.519 persecution. The Romans empowered the Jews. They 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:22.240 used the Jews to hold down the Christians. They 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.799 were poor. It tells us, I just read it to you. 00:14:26.179 --> 00:14:33.879 And in the physical realm, they were poor. In 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.320 the spiritual realm, what were they? They were 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.259 rich. That's what he means. You don't have a 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:43.799 thing in this world, but you've got all of me, 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.500 all of my blessings, all of my communion fellowship. 00:14:49.539 --> 00:14:54.440 You are rich beyond belief, even though the world 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:58.720 thinks that you're nothing. He commends him. 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:02.080 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:05.240 Behold, the devil shall cast some of you in prison, 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.080 that you may be tried. You shall have tribulation 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:13.059 ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:16.299 will give thee the crown of life." He's telling 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:19.919 them, I know all about your persecution. It's 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.539 not that it's going to last a physical ten days, 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:26.440 or ten days represents ten years. We don't know 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.919 how long it's going to last. The point of telling 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:32.580 them that is that he knows the extent of the 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:36.659 persecution that is overcoming them. He is in 00:15:36.659 --> 00:15:40.779 control of it and he will handle it. So don't 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:43.200 concern yourself with those things. Don't be 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:47.519 afraid of those things. Now this is a beautiful 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:55.120 church. Hopefully we know that we're rich. And 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:58.080 it's nothing to do with earthly, worldly things. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.860 So what are we striving after? What are you striving 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:09.240 after? Money? Prestige? Power? That's what the 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:12.899 world strives after. We strive after knowing 00:16:12.899 --> 00:16:16.899 Christ, having fellowship with Him, pleasing 00:16:16.899 --> 00:16:21.809 Him, all of our day loving one another. Going 00:16:21.809 --> 00:16:26.769 through trials tribulations, whatever it is In 00:16:26.769 --> 00:16:29.269 other words we have the motivation and we have 00:16:29.269 --> 00:16:32.230 the power to go through anything that comes our 00:16:32.230 --> 00:16:36.529 way from the hand of our Lord That's the that's 00:16:36.529 --> 00:16:40.429 the lesson We don't really know too much about 00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:43.029 all this because we're in a richest country there 00:16:43.029 --> 00:16:47.830 is And we all have good jobs. We all have nice 00:16:47.830 --> 00:16:51.049 houses and cars And there's nothing wrong with 00:16:51.049 --> 00:16:55.769 that. As long as our attitude remains the same. 00:16:56.529 --> 00:17:00.669 Christ is preeminent. Christ is precious to us. 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:06.710 All the rest of this stuff is dumb or trash compared 00:17:06.710 --> 00:17:19.990 to Christ. The next is Pergamum. and they were 00:17:19.990 --> 00:17:25.309 full of false teachers and they didn't do much 00:17:25.309 --> 00:17:30.650 about it he says i know thy works thou dwellest 00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:33.750 even where satan's seed is and thou holdest fast 00:17:33.750 --> 00:17:38.809 my name and has not denied my faith even in those 00:17:38.809 --> 00:17:42.809 days wherein antipas was my faithful martyr but 00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:46.970 i have a few things against you because thou 00:17:46.970 --> 00:17:52.150 hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:56.170 who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before 00:17:56.170 --> 00:17:59.269 the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed 00:17:59.269 --> 00:18:03.690 unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast 00:18:03.690 --> 00:18:06.369 thou also them that hold the doctrine of the 00:18:06.369 --> 00:18:13.500 Nicolaitans. Which thing I hate. So the doctrine 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.160 of he was teaching the doctrine of Balaam. What 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:21.400 is that? Well, it's conformity This conform get 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:26.220 along Take on some religious practices there 00:18:26.220 --> 00:18:30.359 of the pagans So you can get along you can make 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:34.460 friends. I Mean so you can have influence over 00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:37.720 them So you have to have a relationship in order 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:41.240 to evangelize blah blah blah blah and saying 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:46.279 that for decades, 100 years probably. So they 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:48.420 had these false teachers. Nobody knows for sure 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:52.039 what the Nicolaitans taught. It's not known. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:56.380 So nobody can say this is absolutely sure. But 00:18:56.380 --> 00:19:00.740 most people say that the Nicolaitans taught that 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:05.640 they needed to change to the times, adjust their 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.319 thinking, their belief system, and their behavior 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.609 according to the times. In other words, God changes 00:19:12.609 --> 00:19:16.009 from time to time, from dispensation to dispensation. 00:19:16.509 --> 00:19:20.509 You don't have to be persecuted. You don't have 00:19:20.509 --> 00:19:26.430 to be different. You just have to change. And 00:19:26.430 --> 00:19:28.849 again, we're just going through all this. We 00:19:28.849 --> 00:19:31.910 just went through it for four or eight years 00:19:31.910 --> 00:19:35.230 in our own day. And we're probably still going 00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:41.339 through it in a lot of places. So, again. We 00:19:41.339 --> 00:19:45.079 can be thankful that we don't struggle in this. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:53.019 But be warned. Be warned in your own life. Have 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:59.500 you made compromises to keep any friends? You're 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:03.220 a member of the church. The church hasn't compromised, 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:08.240 but have you compromised in any way in speaking 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.089 to people? Have you tried to soften the difference? 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:19.809 That's the warning repent and of course, I'm 00:20:19.809 --> 00:20:24.630 not reading all the rewards So he's not Jesus 00:20:24.630 --> 00:20:27.470 is not just saying repent. He's saying repent 00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:30.910 and you're gonna receive some great stuff But 00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:34.549 I'm not we're not talking about that this morning 00:20:34.549 --> 00:20:38.329 we're talking about the warnings we're talking 00:20:38.329 --> 00:20:41.269 about the sins that we don't want anything to 00:20:41.269 --> 00:20:46.430 do with as a church or as individuals within 00:20:46.430 --> 00:20:49.509 the church. Remember, the last word of Christ. 00:20:52.549 --> 00:20:55.190 I'm not going to read anything from Thyatira, 00:20:56.509 --> 00:21:00.589 but their problem was they had women teachers. 00:21:01.789 --> 00:21:06.670 They allowed women to teach. We're rampant. That's 00:21:06.670 --> 00:21:10.269 all over. Everywhere. It's even in the Philippines. 00:21:11.289 --> 00:21:14.309 It's everywhere where they got women pastors 00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:19.690 So that's condemned and it's condemned in no 00:21:19.690 --> 00:21:23.289 uncertain terms. I mean, it's strong You probably 00:21:23.289 --> 00:21:25.269 already read it if you haven't you can read it 00:21:25.269 --> 00:21:30.589 for yourself But women are not to be Teachers 00:21:30.589 --> 00:21:34.430 or have any type of authority over men. That's 00:21:34.430 --> 00:21:40.470 God's Word not mine That's what it says. So here 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:56.349 we have that we're coming in to Sardis. Okay, 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:04.349 so we're going to read this. Some of it, anyway. 00:22:04.849 --> 00:22:09.660 This is to the church. in Sardis. And again, 00:22:09.740 --> 00:22:13.980 it's from Jesus Christ. And it says then in verse 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:16.779 two, be watchful and strengthen the things which 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:20.420 remain that are ready to die. For I have not 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:25.180 found thy works perfect before God. Remember 00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:28.819 therefore how thou hast received and heard and 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:33.039 held fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:38.109 not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and 00:22:38.109 --> 00:22:43.390 thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon 00:22:43.390 --> 00:22:47.250 thee. Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, 00:22:47.329 --> 00:22:50.789 which have not defiled their garments. And they 00:22:50.789 --> 00:22:56.549 shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." 00:22:56.549 --> 00:23:04.680 So this is a dead church. It's got all the outward 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:08.400 trappings, but it's dead. There's only a few 00:23:08.400 --> 00:23:13.779 left that haven't succumbed, that have indeed 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.220 maintained their walk and their relationship. 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:20.920 And they're supposed to wake up the others. If 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:25.779 they don't, bad things are gonna happen. So this 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:33.500 is about form and ceremony. The liturgy... doesn't 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:40.640 matter in reality the form of the worship we 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:42.859 know what the worship is going to consist of 00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:46.519 but how it all is put together that's what I'm 00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:50.799 talking about you don't have a certain order 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.799 that is right and another certain order that 00:23:53.799 --> 00:23:57.819 is wrong again we're confronted with the need 00:23:57.819 --> 00:24:04.190 to realize Worship is not an outward thing. You 00:24:04.190 --> 00:24:06.890 can do all the right things all morning long 00:24:06.890 --> 00:24:10.490 here and you've not worshipped. Regardless of 00:24:10.490 --> 00:24:13.890 what way we do it or what order we do it, worship 00:24:13.890 --> 00:24:18.750 comes from within. You can dance around, wave 00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:22.890 your hands, that's not worship. Sorry. We all 00:24:22.890 --> 00:24:24.890 probably already knew that because we don't do 00:24:24.890 --> 00:24:27.250 that here. But there's plenty of places that 00:24:27.250 --> 00:24:33.660 do it. That's physical. That's nothing. Worship 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:39.079 is within. Yeah, it has expressions. We give 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:42.660 expression to it in our songs, in our prayers, 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:46.500 in our proclaiming God's Word and simply reading 00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:51.519 God's Word. All of that is good and proper. Giving, 00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:55.180 that's a good and proper thing. As long as it's 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:58.440 all from within, from our heart, from the inner 00:24:58.440 --> 00:25:02.269 man. from this overwhelming love to God and his 00:25:02.269 --> 00:25:07.309 people. That's why we do what we do. The farm 00:25:07.309 --> 00:25:12.529 is irrelevant. And this place was dead. Just 00:25:12.529 --> 00:25:15.609 a bunch of people going through a bunch of different 00:25:15.609 --> 00:25:22.329 farms. They had no heart. They had no emotional 00:25:22.329 --> 00:25:28.089 involvement with God. That's as simple as I can 00:25:28.089 --> 00:25:33.319 put it. And that's how you can tell yourself. 00:25:34.660 --> 00:25:38.160 Are you emotionally involved here with the Lord 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:45.960 Jesus Christ? I hope so. Are you just putting 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:49.079 your time in? Sardis, they're just putting their 00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:51.039 time in. It's gotta be a habit, this is what 00:25:51.039 --> 00:26:03.619 we do. Dangerous. So we get to Philadelphia. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:12.180 Verse 7. And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia 00:26:12.180 --> 00:26:18.259 write, verse 8, I know thy works. Behold, I have 00:26:18.259 --> 00:26:21.960 set before thee an open door, and no man can 00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:26.400 shut. For thou hast a little strength, and hast 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:30.619 kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold. 00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:35.730 I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which 00:26:35.730 --> 00:26:40.809 say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, 00:26:41.069 --> 00:26:45.690 behold, take note. I will make them to come and 00:26:45.690 --> 00:26:49.630 worship before thy feet and to know that I have 00:26:49.630 --> 00:26:53.349 loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of 00:26:53.349 --> 00:26:56.789 my long suffering, I also will keep thee from 00:26:56.789 --> 00:26:59.309 the hour of temptation which shall come upon 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:02.980 all the world. to try them that dwell upon the 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:14.799 earth. That sounds pretty good. But Jesus has 00:27:14.799 --> 00:27:17.880 to tell them, he has to say, you have an open 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:23.519 door. In other words, get up and get going through 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:29.509 the door. You have opportunity here. to serve, 00:27:29.789 --> 00:27:33.630 to worship me, and to do some good in the synagogue 00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:37.849 of Satan, the people that are tormenting you. 00:27:38.849 --> 00:27:42.069 Don't just sit there and do nothing. I've opened 00:27:42.069 --> 00:27:45.289 the door. Nobody can shut it. And just to give 00:27:45.289 --> 00:27:48.369 you more encouragement, I've got people in there. 00:27:49.250 --> 00:27:51.890 I'm going to bring some people out of that wretched 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:54.460 place. and they're going to come in with you 00:27:54.460 --> 00:27:56.880 and they're going to worship with you. They're 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:58.980 going to worship me with you. In other words, 00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:01.420 I'm going to save some people for myself out 00:28:01.420 --> 00:28:05.980 of the synagogue of Satan. The door is open. 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:10.740 Get going. Share the word. Share the gospel. 00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:16.339 So the warning is to understand and realize the 00:28:16.339 --> 00:28:22.670 open door and get busy. We have all the freedom. 00:28:23.910 --> 00:28:26.609 We don't have any reason that we have to be afraid 00:28:26.609 --> 00:28:29.849 of speaking any kind of words that we want to 00:28:29.849 --> 00:28:34.069 speak. The door is open. It doesn't matter how 00:28:34.069 --> 00:28:38.670 sinful everything is. This was a very sinful 00:28:38.670 --> 00:28:42.970 place. It's called the synagogue of Satan and 00:28:42.970 --> 00:28:45.710 they claim to be Jews. They claim to be religious. 00:28:46.789 --> 00:28:49.970 They're the true people of God, they would declare. 00:28:50.269 --> 00:28:54.329 But they're not, Jesus says. But I'm going to 00:28:54.329 --> 00:28:58.609 save some of them. So we don't know who God's 00:28:58.609 --> 00:29:00.769 going to save, but we do know how He's going 00:29:00.769 --> 00:29:02.569 to do it, if He's going to do it, and He's going 00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:04.789 to do it through the proclamation of the Gospel. 00:29:06.269 --> 00:29:10.609 We have an open door here. So let's get busy. 00:29:10.950 --> 00:29:14.029 We've got a couple events coming up. We'll all 00:29:14.029 --> 00:29:16.509 have an opportunity to do that. But we should 00:29:16.509 --> 00:29:19.509 be watching for these open doors, these opportunities 00:29:19.509 --> 00:29:23.349 throughout our days. Somebody's having a hard 00:29:23.349 --> 00:29:28.509 time. You can tell them about Jesus. That's what 00:29:28.509 --> 00:29:32.349 we're talking. That's what Jesus is telling these 00:29:32.349 --> 00:29:37.549 Philadelphians. Do we have a heart for the lost? 00:29:37.829 --> 00:29:41.849 Maybe that's the way I should put it. Do we have 00:29:41.849 --> 00:29:45.960 a heart for the lost that enables us? to share 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:51.119 the good news of Jesus Christ. Do we have a heart 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:56.200 for God that enables us to desire to glorify 00:29:56.200 --> 00:30:00.559 him by sharing the gospel and seeing men and 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:11.920 women saved? Lastly then, we come to Laodicea. 00:30:20.489 --> 00:30:26.029 This is very Convicting hopefully it's always 00:30:26.029 --> 00:30:30.809 been convicting for me These these are the lukewarm 00:30:30.809 --> 00:30:36.910 folks neither hot nor cold So a very dangerous 00:30:36.910 --> 00:30:38.950 position to be in because he says he's gonna 00:30:38.950 --> 00:30:41.430 spew him out of his mouth because they're neither 00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:48.380 hot nor cold And it's a very fitting example 00:30:48.380 --> 00:30:51.279 for these folks in Laodicea because they didn't 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:57.000 have a water supply. They had a aqueduct or pipes 00:30:57.000 --> 00:31:03.339 all the way from Helodius, Herladius, I can't 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:06.079 remember for sure, but it was another city. And 00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:10.240 in that city they had hot springs. I mean hot 00:31:10.240 --> 00:31:15.740 springs. And it was about five miles away. And 00:31:15.740 --> 00:31:18.759 it went through this aqueduct system down to 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:25.880 Laodicea. And when it got there, it was neither 00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:30.359 hot nor cold. It hadn't gone long enough out 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:33.920 of the hot spring to cool down to a nice refreshing 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:37.720 drink, but it had cooled down from the hot springs 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:43.660 into lukewarmness. So Jesus uses this as an example 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:48.549 for them. In other words, they're not close enough 00:31:48.549 --> 00:31:53.769 to the source. They're not close enough to Jesus 00:31:53.769 --> 00:31:57.309 Christ their Lord. There's too much distance 00:31:57.309 --> 00:32:01.849 between them. They need to get closer so they're 00:32:01.849 --> 00:32:09.690 not so lukewarm. That's the point. They need 00:32:09.690 --> 00:32:14.829 to be in more fellowship with God. Let me just 00:32:14.829 --> 00:32:20.970 read it here a little bit. In verse 15, I know 00:32:20.970 --> 00:32:24.130 thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. 00:32:24.769 --> 00:32:28.930 I would thou were cold or hot. So then because 00:32:28.930 --> 00:32:32.710 thou art lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will 00:32:32.710 --> 00:32:36.890 spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayeth, 00:32:36.930 --> 00:32:40.470 I am rich, and increased with goods, and have 00:32:40.470 --> 00:32:44.210 need of nothing. and knoweth not that thou art 00:32:44.210 --> 00:32:48.970 wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, 00:32:49.269 --> 00:32:55.450 and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried 00:32:55.450 --> 00:32:59.390 in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white 00:32:59.390 --> 00:33:02.690 raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that 00:33:02.690 --> 00:33:06.589 the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. Anoint 00:33:06.589 --> 00:33:11.230 thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:14.740 I should have probably mentioned this place was 00:33:14.740 --> 00:33:18.099 known for black wool. They had all kinds of black 00:33:18.099 --> 00:33:20.319 sheep, and it was expensive, and they sold the 00:33:20.319 --> 00:33:22.859 black sheep. They were also a medical center. 00:33:23.579 --> 00:33:26.839 They had all kinds of salves to put on whatever 00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:32.619 ailed you. So again, Jesus used the very source 00:33:32.619 --> 00:33:35.440 of their income and their pride and their money 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:38.400 against them. You don't need black wool, you 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:41.420 need white. You need purity. You need repentance. 00:33:41.759 --> 00:33:45.119 you need holiness you don't need all this other 00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:48.140 stuff you're not wealthy you're poor because 00:33:48.140 --> 00:33:51.579 you don't have me you get you get your wealth 00:33:51.579 --> 00:33:56.720 from me it comes from me you've got this uh search 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:01.259 for you've got to come after me if you want true 00:34:01.259 --> 00:34:09.260 wealth spiritual wealth so are we lukewarm have 00:34:09.260 --> 00:34:14.280 we gotten away from our communion with God? Do 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:19.159 we even desire to be wealthy spiritually? Are 00:34:19.159 --> 00:34:25.039 we all about wealthy physically? There's a warning 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:28.900 here. Are we satisfied with lukewarmness? Well, 00:34:28.940 --> 00:34:34.260 as I said, Jesus isn't. There's no lukewarm Christians 00:34:34.260 --> 00:34:38.320 that can count themselves blessed or in right 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:43.860 relation to Jesus Christ. And he uses this word 00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:50.360 in 19, as many as I love I rebuke and chase them. 00:34:51.340 --> 00:34:56.000 Be zealous therefore and repent. Zealous, be 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.699 white -hot. That's what the word really means. 00:34:59.019 --> 00:35:04.900 Be white -hot about it. Not half -hearted. Be 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:08.980 wholeheartedly after your Lord. Be as close to 00:35:08.980 --> 00:35:12.760 him stay as close to him as you possibly can 00:35:12.760 --> 00:35:24.500 Now we have this Tremendous little verse here 00:35:24.500 --> 00:35:29.039 at the end. This is where we're gonna end And 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:35.199 it's so misunderstood and so much wrongness in 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:41.619 how it's applied It's a mess. But if you understand 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:46.420 it rightly, it's fabulous. So I haven't talked 00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:49.440 about this since 2018, so I'm talking about it 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:54.280 now. In verse 20, it says, behold, I stand at 00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:57.940 the door and knock. If any man hear my voice 00:35:57.940 --> 00:36:01.619 and open the door, I will come into him and will 00:36:01.619 --> 00:36:08.289 suck with him and he with me. Now, again. I started 00:36:08.289 --> 00:36:11.449 in the beginning. This is to Christians. This 00:36:11.449 --> 00:36:15.530 is to people with ears. That's who he's talking 00:36:15.530 --> 00:36:20.190 to here. They can hear. So this isn't a general 00:36:20.190 --> 00:36:23.010 invitation for the whole world. It's to the churches. 00:36:23.070 --> 00:36:26.889 It's to Christians. There's plenty of invitations 00:36:26.889 --> 00:36:30.210 for the rest of the world. This is directed to 00:36:30.210 --> 00:36:35.190 Christians. He says, behold. Hey, take note of 00:36:35.190 --> 00:36:40.610 this. this is important listen up i'm here i'm 00:36:40.610 --> 00:36:43.690 stand at the door and i knock i'm here knocking 00:36:43.690 --> 00:36:49.929 on the door so what we've learned from that we 00:36:49.929 --> 00:36:53.409 learned that jesus wants communion with his people 00:36:53.409 --> 00:36:59.030 he's ready to have communion with his people 00:36:59.030 --> 00:37:03.630 they're his he loves him he wants more communion 00:37:03.630 --> 00:37:07.940 with them that's number one then if you hear 00:37:07.940 --> 00:37:13.480 his voice and open the door i mean if you do 00:37:13.480 --> 00:37:17.480 you hear the voice of god today you hear jesus 00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:20.760 in these verses today are you going to open your 00:37:20.760 --> 00:37:25.699 heart to jesus are you going to open the door 00:37:25.699 --> 00:37:29.559 are you going to be stubborn are you not going 00:37:29.559 --> 00:37:33.599 to repent are you going to be rebellious are 00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:37.030 you going to be lukewarm Are you going to remain 00:37:37.030 --> 00:37:41.610 distant from God? Or are you going to open the 00:37:41.610 --> 00:37:45.750 door? Open the door and come in, and what's going 00:37:45.750 --> 00:37:48.849 to happen? Well, he's not going to come in and 00:37:48.849 --> 00:37:52.590 shake your hand and go. He's not going to come 00:37:52.590 --> 00:37:57.530 in, tap you on the back, and go. He's not going 00:37:57.530 --> 00:38:00.650 to say, good job opening the door, I'll see you 00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:03.949 later. He's not even going to come in and say, 00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:07.199 Give me a glass of water and drink his water 00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:10.280 and go. He's not going to do any of those things. 00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:13.019 What is he going to do? He's going to come in 00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:17.820 and suck with you. That was a big deal in Bible 00:38:17.820 --> 00:38:20.440 times. He's going to hang around and have dinner. 00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:24.659 And he's going to stay there. He's going to be 00:38:24.659 --> 00:38:27.840 with you. He's going to be guiding, directing, 00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:32.480 loving, growing you. You're going to be white 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:35.750 hot for him. You're not going to be satisfied 00:38:35.750 --> 00:38:38.849 until you're pure. There's not going to be any 00:38:38.849 --> 00:38:42.469 such thing as a little sin in your life. You're 00:38:42.469 --> 00:38:44.769 going to hate it all and want to be rid of it 00:38:44.769 --> 00:38:47.730 all. You're going to be looking for opportunities 00:38:47.730 --> 00:38:51.690 to bring glory to God through your works that 00:38:51.690 --> 00:38:56.789 have been preordained for you to walk in. All 00:38:56.789 --> 00:38:58.869 of those things are going to be true more and 00:38:58.869 --> 00:39:02.860 more and more. The more that you're in Jesus' 00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:05.860 fellowship and company, the more you're going 00:39:05.860 --> 00:39:08.440 to grow. You're going to take off. Your love 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:12.900 is going to be unstoppable. Nobody will be able 00:39:12.900 --> 00:39:17.380 to put you in fear of anything. Because you know 00:39:17.380 --> 00:39:20.860 Jesus. You have fellowship with Him. You know 00:39:20.860 --> 00:39:24.099 that He's taken care of you. And the only thing 00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:26.900 that can happen is that anybody can send you 00:39:26.900 --> 00:39:30.780 to heaven. And then you'll have more fellowship 00:39:30.780 --> 00:39:42.639 with him. It says as much there in verse 21, 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.519 to him that overcomeeth will I grant to sit with 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:51.920 me in my throne. See? You're with Jesus. You 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:55.679 overcome. You overcome these temptations. You 00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:59.900 overcome your lukewarmness. You're gonna be granted 00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:02.480 that door is gonna be open forever. In other 00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:04.900 words, you're gonna have life to the max You're 00:40:04.900 --> 00:40:10.059 gonna be with Jesus on his throne Even as I also 00:40:10.059 --> 00:40:13.900 overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his 00:40:13.900 --> 00:40:17.039 throne It's a glorious thing to have communion 00:40:17.039 --> 00:40:20.119 with God. It's a horrible thing to have that 00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:25.179 interrupted by sin and We should be aware. This 00:40:25.179 --> 00:40:29.389 is Jesus own words to all of the churches, remember? 00:40:31.250 --> 00:40:34.230 We're going to experience this at some point 00:40:34.230 --> 00:40:37.909 if we haven't already. You're going to have to 00:40:37.909 --> 00:40:41.550 decide. You're going to have to make the responsible 00:40:41.550 --> 00:40:46.469 decision. You're going to be giving an answer 00:40:46.469 --> 00:40:52.250 as to why you didn't. You're going to be repenting 00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:56.400 or you're going to be in sin. Nobody's perfect. 00:40:56.400 --> 00:40:59.039 We've all got to do it. We've all got to repent. 00:40:59.179 --> 00:41:01.480 We've all got to believe God. We've got to take 00:41:01.480 --> 00:41:06.159 Jesus' Word for things. Not ours, not some wise 00:41:06.159 --> 00:41:11.380 counselor, philosopher, teacher. No, we take 00:41:11.380 --> 00:41:15.559 God at His Word. He's made it absolutely clear 00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:20.800 for us. There's no mistake. The blessed life, 00:41:20.820 --> 00:41:26.119 the rich life, is ours in Jesus. when we continue 00:41:26.119 --> 00:41:30.739 in fellowship with Him. Amen.