WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:17.210 me to Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Now, before 00:00:17.210 --> 00:00:20.750 I get into the content of our lesson tonight, 00:00:22.469 --> 00:00:28.160 I want us to go back to overhead class 101. And 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:30.620 I just want to show you some information on the 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:32.939 overhead that may help you put what we're looking 00:00:32.939 --> 00:00:37.200 at into a context that will aid your understanding 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:40.960 of it. This particular overhead talks about the 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.460 historical setting of Revelation. You will notice 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:49.200 this line gives to us the dates in the first 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.679 century that relate to certain events in the 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:55.909 church. the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ 00:00:55.909 --> 00:01:00.429 in approximately 30 A .D. It talks about the 00:01:00.429 --> 00:01:03.409 evangelization of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, 00:01:03.729 --> 00:01:07.489 those chapters in the book of Acts. Here is the 00:01:07.489 --> 00:01:13.549 ministry of the Apostle Paul as it begins. And 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:16.469 here we have the local churches in Asia and so 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:20.189 on. This talks about the opposition to Christians 00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:24.079 that increased. And you find here a list of the 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.659 Roman emperors. And down at the very bottom, 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:30.280 I think it's still on there, although a little 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:32.459 bit out of focus because of the angle we're doing 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:35.680 this with, you see John's ministry. He was a 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:38.680 leader of the Jerusalem church. And exactly when 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.200 he made his move out of Jerusalem, we don't know. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:46.379 But obviously he did leave and his ministry was 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:51.079 focused on Asia Minor. in the last part of his 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:56.120 life. And so Paul was killed about right here. 00:01:56.359 --> 00:02:01.879 John lived on until about 100 A .D. and had the 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:13.699 longest ministry of any of the apostles. The 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:17.379 next overhead I want to show you is an outline 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:23.840 of the book of the Revelation. I can't quite 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:25.759 get all of this on there, so I'm going to start 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:28.539 over here on this side, because that's where 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:32.659 we're really dealing tonight. You will see this 00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:34.939 phrase, the things which are, you remember in 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:36.780 chapter 1 there are those phrases, the things 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:39.240 which you've seen, the things which are, the 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.780 things which shall be, the things that you've 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:46.400 seen as chapter 1, the appearance of Christ to 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:49.500 John on the Isle of Patmos, the things which 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:52.659 are describe the first three chapters of the 00:02:52.659 --> 00:02:55.139 book, the messages to the seven churches, and 00:02:55.139 --> 00:02:58.599 that's where we're studying right now. And then 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:00.900 the things which shall be hereafter begin in 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:04.300 chapter four when John is told, come up here. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:08.199 And then he has this great vision laid out before 00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:11.620 him of heaven and then the judgment of God upon 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:15.639 the Christ -rejecting earth. And all this culminates 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:18.439 with Christ's second coming and then the new 00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:21.830 heavens and the new earth. Now we'll be pulling 00:03:21.830 --> 00:03:25.009 that overhead out again as we work through the 00:03:25.009 --> 00:03:28.009 book, but I'm going to give you another view 00:03:28.009 --> 00:03:33.270 of just the early chapters, chapters one to five, 00:03:33.789 --> 00:03:35.789 which form something of an introduction to the 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:38.430 book of the Revelation. Chapter one again we 00:03:38.430 --> 00:03:41.330 have the vision with Christ in the midst of the 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:44.009 churches, and then chapters two and three, the 00:03:44.009 --> 00:03:46.270 letters to the seven churches which are listed 00:03:46.270 --> 00:03:53.430 here. You will notice that the content to the 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:57.509 churches is listed this way. There is a warning 00:03:57.509 --> 00:04:02.909 of complete extinction. Jesus warns the church, 00:04:03.349 --> 00:04:07.030 I'll remove your lamp stand, to Ephesus and to 00:04:07.030 --> 00:04:09.330 Laodicea, the first and the last of the letters. 00:04:10.789 --> 00:04:14.710 The second and the sixth, there is unqualified 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:18.069 praise. There is no word of condemnation or correction. 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:22.079 to those churches. And then three, four, and 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.019 five in the middle there's a mixture of good 00:04:25.019 --> 00:04:35.620 and bad. I think you have in your hands an outline 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:37.899 that we're going to be using not only tonight 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:43.180 but also the next two times that we talk about 00:04:43.180 --> 00:04:46.420 Revelation. I'm hoping that you will keep this 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:48.379 with you, although we'll try to have extra copies 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:51.180 each Sunday night, because we want to be filling 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:54.600 this in and also using the back of the page. 00:04:54.620 --> 00:04:57.639 Let me throw this up here once more too, just 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:01.620 giving you a geographical setting for the churches 00:05:01.620 --> 00:05:07.399 that we're now going to talk about. The first 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:11.279 letter is written to Ephesus, the second to Smyrna, 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.050 and you'll notice that the route of the the Lord's 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:17.889 dictation goes north and then loops back south. 00:05:17.930 --> 00:05:20.990 It's sort of a circuit there. He is dictating 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:24.069 to John here on the Isle of Patmos, which is 00:05:24.069 --> 00:05:27.470 off the coast of Asia Minor, about 25 miles. 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:30.009 This part of the world has been in the news the 00:05:30.009 --> 00:05:32.970 last few days because it was here in the Aegean 00:05:32.970 --> 00:05:36.649 Sea that we were having the joint exercise under 00:05:36.649 --> 00:05:42.509 NATO with the Turkish Navy and one of our ships 00:05:42.509 --> 00:05:45.709 fired missiles. had a destroyer of the Turkish 00:05:45.709 --> 00:05:48.230 Navy and you remember it killed some men and 00:05:48.230 --> 00:05:50.149 there were others who were taken to a hospital 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:54.290 and the hospital was in the city of Izmir which 00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:58.910 is the city of Smyrna. So it's one of those churches 00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:01.029 that receives a letter. Its modern name though 00:06:01.029 --> 00:06:09.290 is Izmir. I believe this is the form that you 00:06:09.290 --> 00:06:13.250 have. You need not wait, by the way, till the 00:06:13.250 --> 00:06:15.089 Sunday nights when we talk about the churches 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:17.110 to fill this out. If you'd like to do some Bible 00:06:17.110 --> 00:06:19.290 study on your own, I'd encourage you to do so. 00:06:19.790 --> 00:06:21.810 And to work your way through these two chapters 00:06:21.810 --> 00:06:25.870 and write in here the verses that are appropriate 00:06:25.870 --> 00:06:30.670 to each of these titles. Here we have the names 00:06:30.670 --> 00:06:34.569 of the seven churches and here the description 00:06:34.569 --> 00:06:37.209 of Christ, the commendation, the condemnation, 00:06:37.689 --> 00:06:40.149 the correction and the challenge. that is given 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:43.009 to each of the churches. The letters basically 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:47.310 follow the same format, although there is no 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:49.689 commendation, I'll just give you a little hint, 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:53.629 to the church at Sardis or the church at Laodicea. 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:56.050 So those will be blank. You won't find any verses 00:06:56.050 --> 00:06:59.170 where commendation is given to those two churches. 00:06:59.550 --> 00:07:03.050 It's all negative. There are two churches that 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.949 don't receive condemnation and they are Smyrna 00:07:08.829 --> 00:07:10.949 Philadelphia, so you won't find any verses to 00:07:10.949 --> 00:07:14.009 put in there. Other than that, you should have 00:07:14.009 --> 00:07:16.750 some verses in each of those squares, and I'll 00:07:16.750 --> 00:07:19.149 just give you the hint. Tonight we're going to 00:07:19.149 --> 00:07:21.870 be looking at something about these seven churches 00:07:21.870 --> 00:07:25.290 and the description of Christ. We find the first 00:07:25.290 --> 00:07:29.230 description of Christ in 2 1, the second in 2 00:07:29.230 --> 00:07:36.170 8, the third in 2 12, the fourth in 2 18, the 00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:38.620 fifth... in 3 -1, the first part of the verse, 00:07:38.660 --> 00:07:45.480 1a, the sixth in chapter 3 verse 7, and the final 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:49.980 one in chapter 3 verse 14. So what I would encourage 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:51.759 you to do on your own is simply go through the 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.959 chart and find out which verses relate to each 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:57.860 of these topics, and that way you'll be well 00:07:57.860 --> 00:08:00.079 ahead in our study because we'll not be going 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:02.879 through this chart just exactly as you see it 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:05.240 here, but it will serve as our guide to keep 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:09.449 us on track. Let's talk first about the church 00:08:09.449 --> 00:08:12.189 at Ephesus, and you can see that it is the first 00:08:12.189 --> 00:08:16.230 seven verses of chapter 2 where the Lord Jesus 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:21.230 says to the angel of the church of Ephesus, right, 00:08:21.790 --> 00:08:24.550 these things says He who holds the seven stars 00:08:24.550 --> 00:08:27.329 in His right hand, who walks in the midst of 00:08:27.329 --> 00:08:30.129 the seven golden lampstands. And that's as far 00:08:30.129 --> 00:08:32.029 as I'm going to read tonight. I want us to think 00:08:32.029 --> 00:08:34.429 about the church at Ephesus, and you may want 00:08:34.429 --> 00:08:37.210 to simply turn this sheet that you have now over. 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:39.419 and write some things down on the back of it 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:42.539 about each of these seven cities where the churches 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.399 are located. I'm going to say more than you're 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.720 going to have time to write, but just some thoughts 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:49.860 that you may want to remember would be good to 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:53.259 record. Ephesus is the most important of the 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:57.240 seven cities that are addressed. It was a commercial 00:08:57.240 --> 00:09:00.940 center located on the Keister River. There were 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:05.350 three roads which terminated there, including 00:09:05.350 --> 00:09:07.389 one that came all the way from the Euphrates 00:09:07.389 --> 00:09:13.149 River. Now our map doesn't go that far, but here 00:09:13.149 --> 00:09:18.070 the city of Ephesus was a port city, a port city 00:09:18.070 --> 00:09:20.990 in the sense that it had this magnificent river 00:09:20.990 --> 00:09:24.009 that flowed into it, and there were roads from 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.870 all over Asia Minor that came to the city of 00:09:26.870 --> 00:09:30.549 Ephesus, and so it became quite a commercial 00:09:30.549 --> 00:09:34.190 center. By the way, today the ruins of the city 00:09:34.190 --> 00:09:38.750 of Ephesus are miles from the ocean because through 00:09:38.750 --> 00:09:43.370 the centuries silt has caused the harbor that 00:09:43.370 --> 00:09:47.629 used to be there to be entirely filled in. Ephesus 00:09:47.629 --> 00:09:51.190 was also a religious center. It was noted for 00:09:51.190 --> 00:09:54.950 the Temple of Diana, which was one of the seven 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:59.549 wonders of the ancient world. If you have a VCR 00:09:59.549 --> 00:10:01.490 in your home, you may want to go to the Ramsey 00:10:01.490 --> 00:10:04.769 County Library and find there a VCR that they 00:10:04.769 --> 00:10:08.090 have, or a tape rather, cassette tape, on the 00:10:08.090 --> 00:10:09.909 seven wonders of the ancient world. It'll take 00:10:09.909 --> 00:10:12.830 you about an hour to see it. There's a fabulous 00:10:12.830 --> 00:10:16.509 hour -long presentation of these seven wonders, 00:10:17.429 --> 00:10:19.149 only one of which is still around. Does anybody 00:10:19.149 --> 00:10:23.789 know what it is? The what? The pyramids, that's 00:10:23.789 --> 00:10:26.360 right, the pyramids. The others have all been 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:28.899 destroyed through the centuries. But one of the 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:31.919 things they talk about in that videotape is the 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:37.840 Temple of Diana. It was 418 feet long and 239 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:44.679 feet wide and had 130 columns to it. Now this 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:49.860 is before the day of mass manufacturing. These 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:53.610 were hand -hewn. 130 of these columns and each 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:57.309 of the columns was 60 feet high. Imagine that. 00:10:57.570 --> 00:11:01.549 Six stories high. This temple was built on marshy 00:11:01.549 --> 00:11:05.490 land and therefore they made an artificial foundation 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:10.590 that was made out of skins and charcoal layered. 00:11:12.289 --> 00:11:15.350 The purpose of that was to protect this magnificent 00:11:15.350 --> 00:11:19.049 temple to their goddess against earthquakes which 00:11:19.049 --> 00:11:22.240 are still very common. in Turkey. Some of the 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:24.240 worst earthquakes that happened in the world 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:27.960 happened over there. And so to try to protect 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:30.360 this temple that they were erecting, they laid 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:34.840 down layers of charcoal and skins in order to 00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:37.419 build a foundation. And on that then, they put 00:11:37.419 --> 00:11:40.679 the marble and erected this magnificent structure. 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:44.120 Inside the temple, there were housed crude and 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:49.789 lewd images to the goddess of fertility. which 00:11:49.789 --> 00:11:54.909 is what Diana or Artemis stood for. Ephesus is 00:11:54.909 --> 00:11:58.889 also noted as a center of black magic, that is 00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:03.669 of occultic kinds of activities, and we see evidence 00:12:03.669 --> 00:12:06.730 of that in the book of Acts. It was also a cultural 00:12:06.730 --> 00:12:09.950 center. There was a museum that was known all 00:12:09.950 --> 00:12:12.750 over the world at that time, and one of the things 00:12:12.750 --> 00:12:16.330 they had in it was a representation of Alexander 00:12:16.330 --> 00:12:20.120 the Great. So much for the city of Ephesus. We'll 00:12:20.120 --> 00:12:24.320 come back to Christ's appearance and address 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:26.360 to them in just a moment. Let's talk about the 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:31.600 city of Smyrna. Smyrna is located about 40 miles 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:38.059 to the northwest of Ephesus. It was a rival city 00:12:38.059 --> 00:12:42.659 of Ephesus. It had a population, it is estimated, 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:47.860 of 200 ,000 in that day. including many Jews. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:54.919 It came to be one of the few planned cities of 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.360 the ancient world. That's because the original 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.919 city was destroyed by a massive earthquake, and 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.120 then they planned the city as it was rebuilt 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:06.419 and reconstructed. So it was one of the few like 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:10.639 that. It had an even more excellent harbor than 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.899 Ephesus did. It was famous for its trade. and 00:13:14.899 --> 00:13:20.299 especially its trade of myrrh, which is a bitter 00:13:20.299 --> 00:13:25.320 resin, a bitter gum kind of resin from shrubby 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.620 trees that are found in Yemen and in Africa. 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:34.740 The myrrh was one of its principal exports. And 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:38.200 you can see in its name Smyrna that it got its 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:43.149 name from this export of myrrh. It boasted of 00:13:43.149 --> 00:13:47.330 a large stadium and a library and a public theater, 00:13:47.690 --> 00:13:51.409 which was the largest in all of Asia. And when 00:13:51.409 --> 00:13:53.590 I say Asia, I don't mean China and India, that 00:13:53.590 --> 00:13:57.850 kind of Asia. I'm talking about this Asia, which 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:02.110 was the name for it in the Roman world. It's 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:05.370 now called Turkey, the largest theater in that 00:14:05.370 --> 00:14:09.039 whole area. It was among the first... city to 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:14.379 worship the Roman emperor as deity. In fact, 00:14:14.620 --> 00:14:18.080 Smyrna was famous for a temple that was in honor 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:21.659 of Tiberius Caesar, which was constructed in 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:25.519 26 A .D. They entered into a contest with several 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.500 other cities and won the honors for that. And 00:14:28.500 --> 00:14:33.200 as I've already suggested to you, Smyrna is today 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:40.039 called Izmir, Turkey. Smyrna is best known in 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:43.179 church history besides this letter for one of 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:47.200 its pastors, a man who was one of the early church 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:50.799 fathers as he was called, an elderly man who 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.879 was martyred whose name was Polycarp. A godly 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.159 man, he was arrested without making any attempt 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:03.600 to flee. In fact, it is said that he offered 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:07.059 food and drink to his captors. and asked permission 00:15:07.059 --> 00:15:10.580 to retire for prayer, which he did for a couple 00:15:10.580 --> 00:15:14.039 of hours, and then they drove into the city with 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:17.159 him. The officer who was in charge urged him 00:15:17.159 --> 00:15:20.879 to recant of his worship of Christ. You see, 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.100 he was to worship Caesar as God, and he refused 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:28.059 to do that. What harm can it do, the man asked 00:15:28.059 --> 00:15:31.799 him, to sacrifice to the emperor. Yet, Polycarp 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.299 refused. On arrival, he was roughly... pushed 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:38.279 out of the carriage and brought before the proconsul 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:40.980 in the amphitheater, which we just talked about, 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.220 who addressed him this way, have respect to your 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:48.740 old age, swear by the genius of Caesar. And again 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:51.960 he said, swear that is to Caesar that he's God 00:15:51.960 --> 00:15:57.039 and I will release you, revile Christ. Polycarp 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:01.460 replied, 80 and six years have I served him and 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:05.000 he has done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:08.940 my king who saved me? The proconsul persisted, 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:11.379 swear by the genius of Caesar, I have wild beasts 00:16:11.379 --> 00:16:13.159 if you will not change your mind. I'll throw 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:18.539 you to them. Polycarp said, bring them on. The 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:20.700 proconsul said, as you despise the beasts unless 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:22.779 you change your mind, I'll make you to be destroyed 00:16:22.779 --> 00:16:28.460 by fire. Polycarp stood his ground. Jews and 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:32.639 Gentiles who were infuriated. gathered wood for 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.419 the pile. Polycarp stood by his stake, asking 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:40.120 not to be fastened to it, and he prayed, O Lord, 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:42.440 Almighty God, the Father of Thy beloved Son, 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:45.659 Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:51.759 of Thee. And he said, I thank Thee that Thou 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:54.460 hast thought me worthy this day and this hour 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:58.120 to share of Thy Christ among the number of Thy 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:01.889 witnesses. And then the fire was kindled, and 00:17:01.889 --> 00:17:06.970 as the wind drove the flames away from him, one 00:17:06.970 --> 00:17:11.710 of the soldiers put forth a sword and killed 00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:15.170 Polycarp for his faith. Well, all of that happened 00:17:15.170 --> 00:17:19.910 in the city of Smyrna. And so in the early church, 00:17:19.970 --> 00:17:27.230 this was a place of much suffering. part of the 00:17:27.230 --> 00:17:29.710 embalming process of some of the peoples of that 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:34.789 day. All of that speaks of suffering. Let's go 00:17:34.789 --> 00:17:39.390 on to the city of Pergamum. One writer at that 00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:41.710 time said it was by far the most distinguished 00:17:41.710 --> 00:17:47.170 city in Asia. Pergamum was built on a high cone 00:17:47.170 --> 00:17:49.609 -shaped hill that jutted a thousand feet into 00:17:49.609 --> 00:17:54.140 the air. The name Pergamum means citadel. And 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:55.880 that's what it looked like as you approached 00:17:55.880 --> 00:17:59.900 it. It was 15 miles inland, and so it was not 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:04.259 a transportation center, but it was the capital 00:18:04.259 --> 00:18:07.440 of the province of Asia, and therefore it was 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.240 an administrative center. It was famous for its 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:15.299 library. It is said that it had 200 ,000 parchment 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:19.819 scrolls in its library. Imagine that. Some public 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:23.019 libraries today are not that large. But they 00:18:23.019 --> 00:18:26.720 had 200 ,000 parchment scrolls. And in fact, 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:31.500 parchment was created here in the city of Pergamum. 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:34.599 Parchment, by the way, was writing material that 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:40.259 was made from animal skins. There were many temples 00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:43.700 in the city of Pergamum. One of them was to Asclepius, 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:48.559 who is the god of healing to the pagans. And 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.279 he was worshiped in his temple by living serpents. 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:56.099 being bowed to. The city was also famous for 00:18:56.099 --> 00:19:00.180 an altar at the very zenith of its hill that 00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:04.859 was to the god Zeus. It was 90 feet square and 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:07.079 40 feet high and stood at the very pinnacle of 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:11.700 the city and was to the leader of the Greek pantheon, 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:15.480 Zeus. One of the famous physicians in the ancient 00:19:15.480 --> 00:19:19.039 world was born and studied medicine here in the 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:21.730 city of Pergamum. And I note him because his 00:19:21.730 --> 00:19:27.710 name was Galen. Pergamum was the center of Caesar 00:19:27.710 --> 00:19:30.630 worship, and like some of the other cities, an 00:19:30.630 --> 00:19:33.970 annual declaration of loyalty was evidenced by 00:19:33.970 --> 00:19:36.630 worship of Caesar, and it was required of all 00:19:36.630 --> 00:19:39.390 the citizens of the city to do that, to prove 00:19:39.390 --> 00:19:43.950 that they were loyal. Now, let's move ahead to 00:19:43.950 --> 00:19:45.849 Thyatira, and we're going to come back now and 00:19:45.849 --> 00:19:48.029 relate Christ to each of these churches. But 00:19:48.029 --> 00:19:49.970 I want to just give you a picture of what the 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:53.329 cities are like. Thyatira was the smallest of 00:19:53.329 --> 00:19:56.490 all of the seven cities addressed and the least 00:19:56.490 --> 00:20:00.009 important of them. And yet, it is interesting 00:20:00.009 --> 00:20:03.130 that it received the longest of the letters. 00:20:04.349 --> 00:20:07.109 It's also the letter that is the most difficult 00:20:07.109 --> 00:20:11.109 to understand. So little is left from that city. 00:20:11.470 --> 00:20:14.190 that some of the phrases and words and ideas 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:17.549 that are in the letter are hard to understand. 00:20:17.609 --> 00:20:21.230 We don't have archaeological evidence telling 00:20:21.230 --> 00:20:23.869 us what was meant by some of the things Jesus 00:20:23.869 --> 00:20:28.410 said to the city of Thyatira. It was a commercial 00:20:28.410 --> 00:20:31.529 center that was located between two major valleys. 00:20:31.670 --> 00:20:36.029 There were many trade unions in Thyatira. And 00:20:36.029 --> 00:20:38.990 they included wool workers, linen workers, makers 00:20:38.990 --> 00:20:43.299 of outer garments. dyers, leather workers, tanners, 00:20:43.539 --> 00:20:47.720 potters, bakers, slave dealers, and bronze smiths. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.200 It is interesting that Thyatira was the home 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:53.440 of a lady who was the first woman saved in Europe. 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:58.920 Can anybody give me her name? Lydia. Lydia, who 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:03.420 was a seller of purple dye and cloth. So she 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:07.259 was undoubtedly a merchant and a member of one 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:11.029 of these gills that I've just mentioned. Thyatira 00:21:11.029 --> 00:21:16.490 especially worshipped Apollos, the sun god. It 00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:19.769 appears that there was a local cult in that city 00:21:19.769 --> 00:21:24.150 that worshipped another smaller, less important 00:21:24.150 --> 00:21:28.809 god by the name of Apollos, and they combined 00:21:28.809 --> 00:21:33.109 these two religions so that these two Apolloses 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:38.319 were called the sons of Zeus. Now, I point that 00:21:38.319 --> 00:21:41.759 out because Jesus identifies Himself here by 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:44.200 a particular name, and we'll come back to that. 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:49.039 Then the city of Sardis, and now we come to chapter 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:52.599 3. Sardis was located at the junction of five 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.500 roads. Five roads came together in this city. 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:02.000 It was a very wealthy city, and perhaps partly 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:04.880 because of that, its citizens were characterized 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:10.630 by slackness. But they also may have been a bit 00:22:10.630 --> 00:22:14.450 careless because their city was built on a hill 00:22:14.450 --> 00:22:19.730 with 1 ,500 foot cliffs. And so they thought 00:22:19.730 --> 00:22:24.430 themselves to be absolutely impregnable. And 00:22:24.430 --> 00:22:27.910 yet history records that twice the city was captured. 00:22:28.769 --> 00:22:31.549 Sardis was capital of the ancient kingdom of 00:22:31.549 --> 00:22:35.349 Lydia, if any of you are familiar with ancient 00:22:35.349 --> 00:22:40.200 history. The religion of Sardis was focused on 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:43.480 the worship of Cybele, a local goddess who was 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:48.279 believed able to restore life to the dead. Now 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:50.079 that's interesting too in light of what Jesus 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:52.660 says to the city of Sardis, the church rather 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:57.240 at Sardis. And then let's move ahead to the city 00:22:57.240 --> 00:23:01.279 of Philadelphia. We're not talking about Pennsylvania. 00:23:02.259 --> 00:23:05.480 This city was at the junction of the approach 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:09.779 to three of the provinces, right here in this 00:23:09.779 --> 00:23:13.480 area, the provinces of Missia, Lydia, and Phrygia. 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.460 And therefore, because of its position, it was 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:21.980 called the Gateway to the East, this way. It 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:24.359 was built by a man, and I'm just going to give 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:25.960 you his name, not that it's significant, other 00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:29.460 than you'll see why. His name was Attalus II, 00:23:29.619 --> 00:23:32.900 Philadelphus. And so that's where the city gets 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:35.500 its name. Its founder was named Philadelphus, 00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:38.420 therefore it was called the City of Brotherly 00:23:38.420 --> 00:23:43.000 Love. This man was from Pergamum. And he intended 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.339 for Philadelphia, this gateway to the east, to 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:50.019 be a missionary center, not for Christianity, 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:54.339 which hadn't even come yet, or for Judaism, but 00:23:54.339 --> 00:23:58.559 for Hellenism, that is for Greek culture. He 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:01.099 wanted it to be the center of Greek culture and 00:24:01.099 --> 00:24:03.579 for that Greek culture then to influence all 00:24:03.579 --> 00:24:06.700 of the area around it. So Philadelphia was intended 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:10.339 to be a missionary center long before there was 00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:14.079 Christianity. Some of you know that Philadelphia 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:17.900 is called the missionary church. It's interesting 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:21.980 how that relates. Philadelphia was especially 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:25.420 vulnerable to earthquakes. and was completely 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:28.099 destroyed in 17 AD, although it was rebuilt by 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:32.059 Tiberius Caesar. And it had many temples, including 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:35.599 the most prominent of which was to Dionysius, 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:42.380 or Tobacchus, not Tobacchus, but Tobacchus, who 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:46.220 was the god of wine and of drama in the Greek 00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:48.740 pantheon. In fact, his image was stamped on the 00:24:48.740 --> 00:24:52.319 coins made in that city. Drunkenness was a major 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:56.910 problem. in the city. And finally, we come to 00:24:56.910 --> 00:24:59.490 the city of Laodicea. We've made the entire circuit 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:03.769 now. Laodicea was located at the junction of 00:25:03.769 --> 00:25:06.670 two rivers and three major roads. So again, it 00:25:06.670 --> 00:25:08.650 was a commercial center, as you might expect. 00:25:10.069 --> 00:25:13.430 It was a very wealthy city, perhaps the richest 00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:17.829 of its day. It had been destroyed in an earthquake 00:25:17.829 --> 00:25:24.170 in 60 AD. And without the aid of the Roman government, 00:25:24.730 --> 00:25:27.789 it completely rebuilt itself by its own finances. 00:25:29.849 --> 00:25:33.490 It is noted for its banking and its manufacturing 00:25:33.490 --> 00:25:36.509 of clothing, especially from a local black wool. 00:25:38.930 --> 00:25:41.990 It was also known for literature and for science. 00:25:43.509 --> 00:25:47.589 Laodicea was recognized for medicine. It had 00:25:47.589 --> 00:25:53.700 a medical school as well as places which manufactured 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:56.079 a particular kind of medicine that they made 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.940 there, an ointment that was used for ear problems 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:05.960 and a salve that was used for the eye. Now again, 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:08.099 if you are familiar with the letter that Jesus 00:26:08.099 --> 00:26:11.180 gave to the city, you'll see all kinds of significance 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:15.380 in what I just told you. Laodicea was a large 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:20.180 Jewish colony. It had over 7 ,000 males. in addition 00:26:20.180 --> 00:26:22.299 to children and females, so it was a very large 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:25.160 Jewish colony. But the pagans in the city worship 00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:29.599 Zeus. The problem with Laodicea, and again you're 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:31.480 going to see immediately the significance to 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:33.900 what Jesus said, the problem that this city had 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:38.059 was that it had no convenient water supply, despite 00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:40.019 the fact that it was located on a couple of rivers. 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:43.839 The water was apparently not good, and so they 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:48.140 had to bring the water six miles from some springs 00:26:48.650 --> 00:26:51.769 And the water flowed through stone pipes that 00:26:51.769 --> 00:26:56.029 formed an aqueduct. And so the water as it left 00:26:56.029 --> 00:26:59.490 the springs was cold. But as it arrived in the 00:26:59.490 --> 00:27:03.029 city, what do you suppose it was? Lukewarm, that's 00:27:03.029 --> 00:27:05.930 right. And you may remember Jesus had something 00:27:05.930 --> 00:27:08.190 to say about the spiritual condition of the city, 00:27:09.009 --> 00:27:13.109 of the church in that city, about its lukewarmness. 00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:21.210 the description of Christ as He writes to these 00:27:21.210 --> 00:27:24.470 seven churches. In some of them, it's very easy 00:27:24.470 --> 00:27:27.690 to see why He described Himself the way He did 00:27:27.690 --> 00:27:31.670 as He began to dictate the letter to them. In 00:27:31.670 --> 00:27:33.630 others, it's a little more difficult to see. 00:27:35.529 --> 00:27:37.869 We have said that Ephesus was the most important 00:27:37.869 --> 00:27:40.410 city, the commercial center, religious center, 00:27:40.470 --> 00:27:44.250 or cultural center. And we see Jesus describing 00:27:44.250 --> 00:27:47.960 Himself in verse 1 of chapter 2. Saying, these 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:51.700 things says He who holds the seven stars in His 00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:54.740 right hand who walks in the midst of the seven 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:59.420 golden lampstands. We see the Lord Jesus describing 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:04.460 Himself here as the one who is in complete authority. 00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:10.819 He says He is holding the seven stars. Now we 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:13.759 said last week in looking at chapter 1 that the 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:18.759 seven stars represent the seven angels of the 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:22.519 seven churches. And people debate as to whether 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:26.200 those angels are the pastors of the church or 00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:29.980 whether they are literally angels that were assigned 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:34.279 to the church. The stronger argument seems to 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:36.900 be toward the latter because every other time 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:39.299 the word angel is used in the book of Revelation, 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.900 it's used of heavenly beings. It seems a little 00:28:42.900 --> 00:28:45.200 awkward to say, well, in this one instance it 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:51.160 refers to human beings. And so he has in his 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:55.920 hands complete control over these angels of the 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:58.180 seven churches. And he is walking in the midst 00:28:58.180 --> 00:29:01.980 of these seven lampstands, each one representing 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:05.539 one of the churches. And so Jesus, as he begins 00:29:05.539 --> 00:29:08.240 now to address not only the church at Ephesus, 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:13.990 but us. wants us to know that he is the one who 00:29:13.990 --> 00:29:19.369 is in charge. All authority in the church is 00:29:19.369 --> 00:29:22.490 committed to him. That's why he is called the 00:29:22.490 --> 00:29:27.950 head of the body. Everything in the church relates 00:29:27.950 --> 00:29:32.569 to him. He is the one who is supreme and preeminent 00:29:32.569 --> 00:29:36.750 above all. That is the picture that he gives 00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:42.240 of himself as he begins his dictation. Now, let's 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.940 look in chapter 2 and verse 8 and see how he 00:29:45.940 --> 00:29:49.880 describes himself to the church at Smyrna. You 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:53.119 will notice that he begins in chapter 2 verse 00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:56.059 1 by relating back to the vision John had had 00:29:56.059 --> 00:29:59.779 in chapter 1, and he does something similar here. 00:30:00.839 --> 00:30:09.200 The city of Smyrna was famous as for its worship 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:13.619 of the Roman Emperor as deity. As I told you, 00:30:13.700 --> 00:30:15.940 it was famous for a temple that it built in honor 00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:19.619 of Tiberius Caesar. Who is Tiberius Caesar? He's 00:30:19.619 --> 00:30:23.160 the most powerful man in the world. Notice how 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:26.480 Jesus begins to address the people. He says, 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:31.380 these things says the first and the last who 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:37.750 was dead and came to life. And so He identifies 00:30:37.750 --> 00:30:41.569 Himself as one who is sovereign even over such 00:30:41.569 --> 00:30:46.509 a person as Tiberius. He is over the Caesars. 00:30:47.470 --> 00:30:50.710 He is the final disposer of all matters. Why? 00:30:51.289 --> 00:30:54.890 Because He's the first and the last. As we said 00:30:54.890 --> 00:30:57.650 in chapter 1, He's A and Z, Alpha and Omega and 00:30:57.650 --> 00:31:03.390 everything in between. He is even over the persecutors. 00:31:03.660 --> 00:31:06.640 who are causing the church at Smyrna to suffer. 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.559 As the first and the last, He is unchanging, 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:14.380 even though they themselves were in the midst 00:31:14.380 --> 00:31:18.599 of constant turmoil and change. And He says to 00:31:18.599 --> 00:31:22.819 these suffering people, to whom He has no word 00:31:22.819 --> 00:31:28.019 of condemnation, He says, I am the first and 00:31:28.019 --> 00:31:35.180 the last. And He says, I was dead. and I came 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:38.019 to life." Can you imagine the comfort that was 00:31:38.019 --> 00:31:43.480 to these suffering people? These same people 00:31:43.480 --> 00:31:45.500 who a few years later would see their pastor 00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:50.160 burned at the stake? To know that Jesus Christ 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:53.859 knew them, that He was the one that they worshiped, 00:31:53.859 --> 00:31:57.779 and that He had died and had come to life again. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.519 Someone has pointed out that of men, we say, 00:32:01.819 --> 00:32:06.230 He lived and died. But of Christ, we say, He 00:32:06.230 --> 00:32:11.130 died and lived. The resurrection of Jesus Christ 00:32:11.130 --> 00:32:13.990 undoubtedly was a great comfort to these who 00:32:13.990 --> 00:32:19.950 were facing martyrdom. He said, I died and I 00:32:19.950 --> 00:32:25.009 am alive again. And so He addresses Himself to 00:32:25.009 --> 00:32:29.109 them as the living sovereign. Now the city of 00:32:29.109 --> 00:32:36.660 Pergamum, the citadel. the city famous for its 00:32:36.660 --> 00:32:41.700 temple to Asclepius, the god of healing. Jesus 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:46.599 says to them, chapter 2 and verse 12, these things 00:32:46.599 --> 00:32:51.700 says he who has the sharp two -edged sword. Remember 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:55.200 in chapter 1 when John saw Jesus, one of the 00:32:55.200 --> 00:32:58.319 last things he describes was Jesus' mouth, and 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:01.539 he said that out of it came a sharp two -edged 00:33:01.539 --> 00:33:04.119 sword, not a little tiny sword, referring to 00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:09.180 a big sword that was used in that day. Now what 00:33:09.180 --> 00:33:12.119 John saw was literal. He records what he saw, 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:14.500 but it had a symbolic meaning. It meant that 00:33:14.500 --> 00:33:20.339 the word of this one was all -powerful. And so 00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:25.170 Jesus uses that part. of the vision to describe 00:33:25.170 --> 00:33:29.849 himself to the church at Pergamum. We are told 00:33:29.849 --> 00:33:33.130 by secular historians that the proconsul, the 00:33:33.130 --> 00:33:37.329 chief guy in Pergamum, had what was called the 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:41.190 power or rather the right of the sword. The right 00:33:41.190 --> 00:33:43.670 of the sword. What that meant was that he had 00:33:43.670 --> 00:33:47.230 the power to execute anyone at will. All he had 00:33:47.230 --> 00:33:50.700 to do was speak it and they were dead. And so 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:54.720 Jesus picks up on that sword concept, and he 00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:57.940 says that ultimately all authority resides with 00:33:57.940 --> 00:34:02.900 him and his word, and his word. He is the one 00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:06.660 with the sharp two -edged sword. Well, that would 00:34:06.660 --> 00:34:09.320 have meant something to these people at Pergamum 00:34:09.320 --> 00:34:11.780 who knew that the guy in charge of their city 00:34:11.780 --> 00:34:15.179 had the right of the sword, but Christ is over 00:34:15.179 --> 00:34:20.380 him. Well, in verse 18 we have Christ's description 00:34:20.380 --> 00:34:24.400 of Himself to the church at Thyatira, the smallest, 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:28.860 the least important of the cities. Who worshiped 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:32.639 two Apollosus whom they called the sons of Zeus, 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:38.619 the chief of their pantheon, the sons of their 00:34:38.619 --> 00:34:42.420 God? Notice how Jesus describes Himself. These 00:34:42.420 --> 00:34:48.519 things says the Son of God. who has eyes like 00:34:48.519 --> 00:34:51.980 a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass." 00:34:51.980 --> 00:34:54.860 Again, going back to the vision of John in chapter 00:34:54.860 --> 00:34:58.099 1. Only here in the whole book of Revelation 00:34:58.099 --> 00:35:02.179 do you find this name for Jesus, the Son of God. 00:35:03.059 --> 00:35:07.380 It is a name that John employs freely in his 00:35:07.380 --> 00:35:11.139 epistles and in the Gospel. But not so in the 00:35:11.139 --> 00:35:15.599 book of Revelation. Only here, and it's Jesus, 00:35:15.900 --> 00:35:19.099 who uses this name undoubtedly because of that 00:35:19.099 --> 00:35:22.800 particular religious quirk in the city of Pergamum, 00:35:23.059 --> 00:35:25.400 or rather the city of Thyatira, where they worship 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:28.900 the sons of Zeus. And he says, these things says 00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:33.820 the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of 00:35:33.820 --> 00:35:40.059 fire, talking about His penetration in His look, 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:46.610 His ability to see through deception. The church 00:35:46.610 --> 00:35:53.210 at Thyatira was struggling with seductive compromises 00:35:53.210 --> 00:35:56.550 that were being offered by a person who's called 00:35:56.550 --> 00:36:02.190 here in this letter Jezebel, a woman, most probably 00:36:02.190 --> 00:36:05.489 a literal woman who was in that city, whether 00:36:05.489 --> 00:36:10.349 her name was Jezebel or not. That's what Jesus 00:36:10.349 --> 00:36:12.989 calls her. Perhaps he's drawing upon Jezebel 00:36:12.989 --> 00:36:16.030 in the Old Testament who was married to Ahab 00:36:16.030 --> 00:36:19.309 and who brought terrible idolatry and compromise 00:36:19.309 --> 00:36:23.110 to the people of God in her day. And that's what 00:36:23.110 --> 00:36:26.530 this false teacher was doing in the city of Thyatira. 00:36:26.610 --> 00:36:30.650 She was bringing in compromise and she was seducing 00:36:30.650 --> 00:36:34.650 this church away from the truth. So, Jesus says 00:36:34.650 --> 00:36:37.769 that He has eyes that penetrate through the deception. 00:36:37.889 --> 00:36:42.030 He sees what is going on, and His feet, in their 00:36:42.030 --> 00:36:48.829 description, tell of His power to judge. Now 00:36:48.829 --> 00:36:51.530 let's move ahead to chapter 3 verse 1 where we 00:36:51.530 --> 00:36:54.730 have Jesus describing Himself to the church at 00:36:54.730 --> 00:37:04.099 Sardis. And He uses these phrases. spirits of 00:37:04.099 --> 00:37:08.639 God and the seven stars." So again, he refers 00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:13.199 back to the stars and he also mentions the seven 00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:17.219 spirits of God, which again comes out of the 00:37:17.219 --> 00:37:22.320 first chapter. As we explained when we talked 00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:25.699 about that phrase then, it refers to the perfect 00:37:25.699 --> 00:37:28.519 and complete ministry of the Holy Spirit. The 00:37:28.519 --> 00:37:31.460 number seven has symbolic value, meaning that 00:37:31.460 --> 00:37:35.139 which is complete. that which is perfect. And 00:37:35.139 --> 00:37:39.039 so it seems here to refer to the perfect, complete 00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:42.599 ministry of the Holy Spirit in the hands of Jesus 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:46.719 Christ. Here was a church, as Jesus goes on to 00:37:46.719 --> 00:37:49.719 describe it, that had a name that they were alive, 00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:54.920 but they were dead. In other words, all the things 00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:57.139 were in place in the exterior, but there was 00:37:57.139 --> 00:38:00.699 no life in the church. Remember who they worshipped? 00:38:01.099 --> 00:38:07.019 Sibylle. The people in this city worship Sibylle, 00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:10.440 and they believe that she was able to restore 00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:15.239 life to the dead. Jesus seems to pick up on that 00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:17.300 thinking that's in the minds of these people 00:38:17.300 --> 00:38:20.219 converted out of paganism, and He says, you have 00:38:20.219 --> 00:38:24.239 a name, but in fact you are dead. They had completely 00:38:24.239 --> 00:38:28.079 compromised their faith. This church is the most 00:38:28.079 --> 00:38:31.880 severely denounced of all of them. Someone has 00:38:31.880 --> 00:38:36.159 said, This was a perfect model of inoffensive 00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:39.760 Christianity. God forbid we should ever follow 00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:42.739 that kind of a model. They had learned to get 00:38:42.739 --> 00:38:45.639 along quite well in their culture without offending 00:38:45.639 --> 00:38:52.500 anyone, and therefore they died. Well, we come 00:38:52.500 --> 00:38:56.340 now to the sixth church, Philadelphia, into chapter 00:38:56.340 --> 00:39:00.280 three, verse seven, where Jesus says, these things 00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:05.199 says, he who is holy, He who is true, He who 00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.039 has the key of David and He who opens and no 00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:14.559 one shuts and shuts and no one opens. Jesus is 00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:18.440 looking beyond Revelation 1 now as He identifies 00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:20.360 Himself to this church and going all the way 00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:23.579 back to Isaiah 22. Would you just look back there 00:39:23.579 --> 00:39:28.960 a moment and let's read the 22nd verse of Isaiah 00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:35.599 22. Isaiah's prophecy here is regarding the coming 00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:39.960 Messiah and he says, the key of the house of 00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:45.039 David I will lay on His Messiah's shoulder. So 00:39:45.039 --> 00:39:49.239 He shall open and no one shall shut, and He shall 00:39:49.239 --> 00:39:54.219 shut and no one shall open. So there is the allusion 00:39:54.219 --> 00:39:56.599 that Jesus is referring to all the way back to 00:39:56.599 --> 00:39:59.599 what Isaiah had said regarding Him as Messiah. 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:03.300 He says, he who is holy, that is he who is set 00:40:03.300 --> 00:40:07.119 apart to be Messiah, he who is true, who can 00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.239 be trusted, who is faithful, who is in complete 00:40:10.239 --> 00:40:14.000 control over his royal household, who has complete 00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:17.699 authority over his coming kingdom, who has the 00:40:17.699 --> 00:40:23.159 keys to control access to his kingdom. You say, 00:40:23.340 --> 00:40:26.159 well why is all of this of note to the people 00:40:26.159 --> 00:40:32.610 in Philadelphia? they had apparently been excommunicated 00:40:32.610 --> 00:40:36.110 from their synagogue because of their faith in 00:40:36.110 --> 00:40:39.670 Jesus. The door was slammed shut in their faces 00:40:39.670 --> 00:40:43.690 and they were told, you are no longer a part 00:40:43.690 --> 00:40:46.750 of us. You're no longer welcome here. And Jesus 00:40:46.750 --> 00:40:49.550 says, I'm the one who has the key, not the leaders 00:40:49.550 --> 00:40:52.690 of the synagogue. And I open the door and no 00:40:52.690 --> 00:40:56.289 one can shut it. When I close the door, no one 00:40:56.289 --> 00:40:59.980 can open it. He is the one who controls access 00:40:59.980 --> 00:41:03.599 to His kingdom. And that was undoubtedly a comforting 00:41:03.599 --> 00:41:06.500 word to these people who are still feeling the 00:41:06.500 --> 00:41:10.559 sting of being excommunicated from their synagogues. 00:41:11.539 --> 00:41:15.019 And then, finally, the Church of Laodicea and 00:41:15.019 --> 00:41:23.400 Jesus' identification to them. So verse 14, these 00:41:23.400 --> 00:41:27.690 things says the amen. The faithful and true witness, 00:41:27.869 --> 00:41:33.449 the beginning of the creation of God. Here Jesus 00:41:33.449 --> 00:41:38.849 identifies Himself by this term, amen. You know 00:41:38.849 --> 00:41:41.190 when the last time was I heard an amen in this 00:41:41.190 --> 00:41:45.489 church? I'll tell you when it was. It was at 00:41:45.489 --> 00:41:48.869 a funeral this last week in which there were 00:41:48.869 --> 00:41:50.869 about a hundred bikers sitting right here in 00:41:50.869 --> 00:41:55.210 this section from the warlords. You say, what 00:41:55.210 --> 00:41:56.570 were they doing here? I don't have time to tell 00:41:56.570 --> 00:41:59.389 you the story. But they were there, and when 00:41:59.389 --> 00:42:01.809 I finished, one of them said, amen. I turned 00:42:01.809 --> 00:42:04.269 and said, thank you, sir. That's the last time 00:42:04.269 --> 00:42:07.090 I heard amen in this church. Not that I haven't 00:42:07.090 --> 00:42:10.170 heard it before, that from some of you. But this 00:42:10.170 --> 00:42:13.530 term, amen, what does it mean? He probably didn't 00:42:13.530 --> 00:42:16.530 know when he said amen, but he was using a Hebrew 00:42:16.530 --> 00:42:23.130 term that means, so be it. It is an acknowledgement. 00:42:23.760 --> 00:42:29.079 of what is binding and valid. When you say amen 00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:33.099 at the end of a prayer, you are saying, and that 00:42:33.099 --> 00:42:38.119 is bound. I put that together as a volume, as 00:42:38.119 --> 00:42:41.659 it were, and offer it to God. This validates 00:42:41.659 --> 00:42:45.920 this prayer as being mine. Amen. And we send 00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:52.280 it off. Jesus says, I am the amen. I am the trustworthy 00:42:52.280 --> 00:42:55.760 one. Quite in contrast to the church here, which 00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:58.440 was not trustworthy and which was unfaithful 00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:01.920 He is the one who validates all of the promises 00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:07.440 of God And notice this last title that he uses 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:11.800 which has no reference at all to chapter 1 Where 00:43:11.800 --> 00:43:14.059 he describes himself as the beginning of the 00:43:14.059 --> 00:43:16.119 creation of God Let me tell you that Jehovah's 00:43:16.119 --> 00:43:18.380 Witnesses have a wonderful time with that phrase 00:43:18.380 --> 00:43:21.739 They say you see here. He's the first thing that 00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:24.420 God created He's the beginning of the creation 00:43:24.420 --> 00:43:27.659 of God. The only problem is that's not what it 00:43:27.659 --> 00:43:34.039 means. The word beginning means that He's the 00:43:34.039 --> 00:43:38.059 source of it. It means that all of the creation 00:43:38.059 --> 00:43:42.139 of God comes back to Him as the Creator, and 00:43:42.139 --> 00:43:44.579 it ties together perfectly with what Paul wrote 00:43:44.579 --> 00:43:47.639 to the Colossians in describing Jesus there as 00:43:47.639 --> 00:43:50.949 the firstborn. of all creation, the preeminent 00:43:50.949 --> 00:43:55.889 one of all creation. You say, well, why did Jesus 00:43:55.889 --> 00:44:00.130 use this term? Well, it's only speculation, but 00:44:00.130 --> 00:44:03.329 Jesus, or rather Paul used that phrase, the firstborn 00:44:03.329 --> 00:44:06.110 of all creation, when he wrote to Colossae, which 00:44:06.110 --> 00:44:10.030 was only a few miles from Laodicea. And probably 00:44:10.030 --> 00:44:12.949 that letter written to Colossae had been passed 00:44:12.949 --> 00:44:15.050 along to the church at Laodicea, and they were 00:44:15.050 --> 00:44:18.500 used to that phrase from Colossians, the firstborn 00:44:18.500 --> 00:44:21.739 of all creation. And so Jesus in addressing them 00:44:21.739 --> 00:44:25.360 wants them to know He's the same one that Paul 00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:28.300 was talking about. He's the beginning, that is 00:44:28.300 --> 00:44:33.900 the source of all of the creation of God. So 00:44:33.900 --> 00:44:35.519 I'm going to stop there tonight so that we can 00:44:35.519 --> 00:44:37.820 come to the Lord's table before we go, then we'll 00:44:37.820 --> 00:44:42.880 be on our way. But I want us to notice this before 00:44:42.880 --> 00:44:49.239 we close here. The same Lord Jesus Christ who 00:44:49.239 --> 00:44:51.480 identified Himself with all of these descriptions 00:44:51.480 --> 00:44:55.340 and titles and who stood that day in the midst 00:44:55.340 --> 00:44:58.340 of the seven golden lampstands stands right here 00:44:58.340 --> 00:45:03.079 tonight. He is in the midst of this church as 00:45:03.079 --> 00:45:05.119 much as He was in the midst of the church at 00:45:05.119 --> 00:45:07.619 Ephesus or Sardis or any of the other of them. 00:45:08.679 --> 00:45:12.360 He is present. And when we come to His table, 00:45:13.340 --> 00:45:16.059 it is an act of memoriam. We remember what He 00:45:16.059 --> 00:45:18.900 did for us, but let us remember that He is here 00:45:18.900 --> 00:45:21.639 with us and that we are fellowshipping with Him 00:45:21.639 --> 00:45:25.760 as we come to His table. We cannot see Him as 00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:29.039 John saw Him, but the same Lord Jesus Christ 00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:34.039 is with us tonight and so as we partake. Let's 00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:37.980 partake worshiping Him and realizing that as 00:45:37.980 --> 00:45:41.219 He inspected that church, so He inspects us as 00:45:41.219 --> 00:45:44.440 a church and as individuals. And if there is 00:45:44.440 --> 00:45:46.599 in fact some area of our life that needs to be 00:45:46.599 --> 00:45:50.079 confessed so that we can come to the table in 00:45:50.079 --> 00:45:53.920 a worthy manner, we better do that. It's serious 00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:59.119 because He's here and He knows and He loves us 00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:02.019 and invites us to come. If you're walking in 00:46:02.019 --> 00:46:04.840 obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we 00:46:04.840 --> 00:46:06.880 invite you to partake of this table with us. 00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:11.719 If you're not, please do not partake lest you 00:46:11.719 --> 00:46:16.420 eat and drink. judgment to yourself. But assuming 00:46:16.420 --> 00:46:18.659 that you are His and you're walking in obedience, 00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:21.760 we invite you to come to His table as we remember 00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:25.860 Him together. Let's bow together as we give thanks 00:46:25.860 --> 00:46:29.480 for the Savior and for these elements representing 00:46:29.480 --> 00:46:36.119 His sacrifice on our behalf. Our Heavenly Father, 00:46:37.599 --> 00:46:40.440 we thank you for your wonderful Son, the Son 00:46:40.440 --> 00:46:47.130 of God. We thank you that in Him we have been 00:46:47.130 --> 00:46:54.409 given life. We thank you that our life is made 00:46:54.409 --> 00:46:59.050 possible by His death. And we come this evening 00:46:59.050 --> 00:47:03.309 to remember the sacrifice. We come to remember 00:47:03.309 --> 00:47:06.030 the cross. We come to remember His body, His 00:47:06.030 --> 00:47:12.070 blood. And as we partake of the bread, we do 00:47:12.070 --> 00:47:15.760 so remembering that 2 ,000 years ago he offered 00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:22.119 his body, and that we now as his spiritual body 00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:27.739 join our hearts in fellowship in eating this 00:47:27.739 --> 00:47:34.000 bread, remembering what Jesus did for us. Amen.