WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.940 Come up with us. Thank you. And what did that 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:07.160 verse say about chilly winds not blowing anymore? 00:00:08.419 --> 00:00:14.619 That must be a future time. Well, we did spend 00:00:14.619 --> 00:00:16.620 a few days in Florida. Someone remarked about 00:00:16.620 --> 00:00:20.460 that up here. I attended a class with the Moody 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:24.539 Graduate School, which was held at their Keswick 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.920 Conference Grounds in St. Petersburg, Florida. 00:00:28.380 --> 00:00:31.699 And I just want you to know that it was so delightful 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:35.079 to hear it was snowing here. You know, it makes 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.799 the trip all that sweeter when back home they 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:41.140 have cold, snowy weather and you're in Florida 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:44.340 or someplace like that. But I'm glad it melted 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:48.060 in time for us to get back too. It was a good 00:00:48.060 --> 00:00:50.039 week. Thank you for praying for us, those of 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:55.840 you who did that. And we return to the Cincinnati 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:59.659 area on Friday, I say we, that's my wife and 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:01.939 myself, return to the Cincinnati area on Friday 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:04.840 afternoon in order to spend a few days with her 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:08.180 family. And while we were there, enjoyed the 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:10.760 Tall Stacks Festival. I don't know if you've 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:12.219 seen anything about that in the network news 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:18.180 or not, but this is the year when the paddle 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:20.439 wheelers of America, the steam powered paddle 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:24.040 wheelers, river boats, congregate at Cincinnati. 00:01:24.420 --> 00:01:27.140 They do this every four years. And I tell you, 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:29.079 down on the riverfront yesterday, on the Ohio 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:32.379 River, it was absolutely spectacular. And St. 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:35.359 Paul, Minneapolis, were well represented by three 00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:41.799 boats. The Jonathan Paddleford. What were the 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.959 others? What is the Josiah Snelling? And then 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:46.540 there was another one that I had not heard of 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:50.260 before that was there from our area too. And 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:51.760 so they'll be back in a couple of weeks. Somebody 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:54.140 asked if I wanted to get back home. on one of 00:01:54.140 --> 00:01:56.079 those ships. And I said, if I just had two weeks, 00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:58.019 I would love to do that. That'd be quite a trip, 00:01:58.099 --> 00:02:00.980 wouldn't it? I think they had come the furthest 00:02:00.980 --> 00:02:04.400 of any of the 17 vessels that were there at the 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:07.400 riverfront. Well, how many of you have in your 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:10.599 hands a copy of the notes for tonight? Would 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:15.099 you wave them at me? My, you look like a bunch 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:19.379 of Pentecostals. All right, good. I'm glad you've 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:21.759 got them. If you need one, there's probably a 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:24.560 stack by the door there. and Usher can get one 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.639 for you. We are continuing our study tonight 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:30.300 in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. This is the second 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:35.419 part, and we have a third part that will address 00:02:35.419 --> 00:02:40.060 another section of the seven letters to the churches 00:02:40.060 --> 00:02:42.539 of Asia Minor. Let's just remind ourselves where 00:02:42.539 --> 00:02:47.680 we are in our study. Can you see that okay? If 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:49.879 not, you're too far back and need to come forward. 00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.150 In this rather simple outline we have the chapter 00:02:59.150 --> 00:03:03.229 numbers here along this line, and you can almost 00:03:03.229 --> 00:03:05.990 get all of that on I think. And tonight we're 00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:08.590 dealing with the messages here in chapters two 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:13.050 and three. Christ is in the midst of the church, 00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:16.009 in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. 00:03:16.330 --> 00:03:18.550 And you can see where we're headed as we continue 00:03:18.550 --> 00:03:20.990 our study, but right now we're talking about 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:25.460 the things which are. You may recall in the last 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:27.800 verse or the next to the last verse of chapter 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:31.300 1, John is told to write about the things that 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:35.039 he was seeing, had seen, that is the vision of 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.800 the Lord Jesus. He does that in chapter 1. The 00:03:37.800 --> 00:03:42.479 things which are, chapters 2 and 3 address that, 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:45.319 the things which are in the letters of the seven 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.159 churches. And then the things which shall be 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:52.150 after the things which are. And that section 00:03:52.150 --> 00:03:54.509 begins with chapter four as you see here in this 00:03:54.509 --> 00:03:56.889 outline and goes through the rest of the book. 00:03:56.949 --> 00:04:01.169 Those are the more prophetic chapters of Revelation 00:04:01.169 --> 00:04:04.729 as we look at the book. Now we'll just zero in 00:04:04.729 --> 00:04:08.770 for a moment on these first chapters. Again, 00:04:08.770 --> 00:04:14.750 we have the vision here of Christ in glory and 00:04:14.750 --> 00:04:17.430 then chapters two and three, the letters to the 00:04:17.430 --> 00:04:21.240 seven churches. Christ is in the midst. and the 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.300 church is on the earth during this time. There 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:28.879 are reasons to believe that as the Scriptures 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:31.899 unfold in Revelation, the church is removed from 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:35.540 the earth and is taken up into heaven. But very 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:38.800 clearly the church is present on earth as we 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:45.540 come to chapters two and three of the book. Now 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:53.420 I think you have on one side of the page the 00:04:53.420 --> 00:04:56.060 grid that we've been working with as we have 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:59.019 studied these letters to the seven churches. 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:09.240 We talked about the description of Christ that 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:12.180 is found in each of the letters. We saw that 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:15.620 that description in about half of them goes back 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:18.990 to the first chapter. as Jesus appeared to John. 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:21.810 And there are other phrases describing or Jesus 00:05:21.810 --> 00:05:24.829 uses really to describe Himself which are drawn 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:28.170 from the Old Testament. But He is addressing 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:33.110 each of these seven churches as the Lord of the 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:37.629 church. He has something important to say. Because 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:42.170 of His awareness of the characteristics of the 00:05:42.170 --> 00:05:45.610 churches, Jesus addresses them with specific 00:05:45.610 --> 00:05:49.480 words. focused on their peculiar circumstances, 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:53.639 and each letter, after telling about Himself 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:55.879 in these verses that are up here already on the 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.399 screen, Jesus goes on to say to them, I know 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:02.540 your works. Now why is that? Because He's in 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:05.399 the midst of the lampstands, He's observing them, 00:06:05.420 --> 00:06:08.279 He knows how the candle is burning, that candle 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.879 of testimony as it were, and so He says, I know 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:15.180 your works. Now while on the one hand that may 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:19.990 seem a little threatening to us. On the other 00:06:19.990 --> 00:06:23.009 hand, it can be quite an encouragement to know 00:06:23.009 --> 00:06:26.069 that our Lord sees everything and knows everything 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:31.870 regarding our service for Him. Jesus knows what 00:06:31.870 --> 00:06:34.910 we're doing, and you may be in some Sunday school 00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:37.310 class and you feel like nobody really pays attention 00:06:37.310 --> 00:06:41.029 to me. Now, Emily does pay attention to you. 00:06:41.029 --> 00:06:43.129 You may not realize it as fully as you ought, 00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:45.569 but she does pay attention to you. You may feel 00:06:45.569 --> 00:06:47.910 like, well, I'm an usher, nobody notices me. 00:06:48.410 --> 00:06:51.629 We all do, and especially when you're gone. You 00:06:51.629 --> 00:06:54.250 may feel like, well, I witness to people, but 00:06:54.250 --> 00:06:57.649 that's just such a small thing. Listen, there's 00:06:57.649 --> 00:07:02.410 nothing that we do that goes unnoticed by our 00:07:02.410 --> 00:07:05.129 Lord, and one day He will reward us for all that 00:07:05.129 --> 00:07:07.709 we're doing. That's a great encouragement to 00:07:07.709 --> 00:07:11.290 me, and I hope it is to you as well. Some of 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:14.860 the issues or identities in these letters that 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:16.420 we're going to look at tonight are difficult 00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:20.000 to understand. We don't have the historical or 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.439 archaeological data to interpret them without 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:26.339 some questions remaining. So if you're hoping 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:28.079 that in our brief look at these letters, we're 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.160 going to answer all your questions about them, 00:07:30.540 --> 00:07:33.480 you need to dispel that notion right now. In 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.360 fact, if we preached a message on each of the 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.680 seven letters, it took seven weeks to do it, 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.139 which I chose not to do in our study this time. 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:45.139 We would still have questions remaining because 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:48.420 there are some of these phrases and ideas that 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:52.180 are still mysterious to Bible scholars as to 00:07:52.180 --> 00:07:54.259 what was really meant. Now had we been living 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:57.259 in Ephesus or in Pergamum or one of the other 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.000 cities and we read the letter, we would have 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.939 known exactly what Jesus was talking about and 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:05.120 there would have been no questions. But we're 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.680 2 ,000 years later and not everything about those 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:11.000 churches is known. And the content of the letters 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:15.980 serves several purposes. First, to address the 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:19.300 seven congregations of that day. That's obvious. 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:22.459 There were seven churches. Jesus is talking to 00:08:22.459 --> 00:08:26.420 seven literal congregations in the seven cities 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:31.079 of Asia Minor that are named here. There are 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.080 Bible scholars who also understand these letters 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:42.940 to include a broad and general progression of 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:46.620 the church age. In other words, as they look 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:49.039 at what Jesus said to that church in Ephesus, 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:54.080 they say, you know, that letter seems to describe 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:56.860 generally what the church was like in the first 00:08:56.860 --> 00:09:01.320 century when the apostles were gone and up until 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:04.179 that time when the persecution became so severe 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:08.659 in the Roman Empire. That sounds like what the 00:09:08.659 --> 00:09:10.659 church in general was like in that day. And there 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:13.879 are others who look at the Church of Pergamum 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:16.480 and they say, well, boy, that sounds like the 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:21.340 church in the first two or three hundred years 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:25.259 after the apostolic period and after the first 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:29.019 century. And so as they look at the general characteristics 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:31.480 of the seven churches, there are some scholars 00:09:31.480 --> 00:09:34.440 who see that it rather outlines the progression 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:39.980 of how the church developed. degenerated, frankly, 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:43.019 in some of the periods of church history in the 00:09:43.019 --> 00:09:46.580 last 2 ,000 years. And if you approach the seven 00:09:46.580 --> 00:09:49.019 letters that way, then we today would be living 00:09:49.019 --> 00:09:53.440 in the Laodicean period, which is not to say, 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:58.299 I trust, that all of the churches of the Lord 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:00.620 Jesus Christ are like the church at Laodicea, 00:10:01.299 --> 00:10:07.590 but Christendom in certain aspects. can be described 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.929 as a lukewarm church like that. Now I'm not going 00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:12.870 to develop it that way, but some of you are familiar 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:16.190 with that. If you're interested in finding out 00:10:16.190 --> 00:10:18.309 more how that falls out, let me know and I'll 00:10:18.309 --> 00:10:21.230 suggest a couple of books to you. We want to 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:23.909 spend more time though talking about the characteristics 00:10:23.909 --> 00:10:27.750 of the seven churches as they apply to all believers 00:10:27.750 --> 00:10:34.450 in all ages. Each church today has some people 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.299 somewhat like those in the seven churches. In 00:10:38.299 --> 00:10:41.720 other words, in Grace Church, Roseville, broadly 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.519 speaking, we would have Christians who would 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:48.720 represent these seven different churches, would 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:51.960 be like these seven churches. And so that's the 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.559 way primarily we're going to look at it. First, 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:57.620 let's look at the church at Ephesus. You will 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:00.419 notice an outline on the other side of the page 00:11:00.419 --> 00:11:02.779 that you may be looking at. We have written down 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:06.850 a key word. left blank on your copy to describe 00:11:06.850 --> 00:11:11.289 each of these churches. The words that I've chosen, 00:11:11.429 --> 00:11:13.330 you might choose other words or even better words, 00:11:13.450 --> 00:11:16.129 but these are the words that I would use to describe 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:20.370 generally the seven churches. Ephesus, the busy 00:11:20.370 --> 00:11:24.570 church, the busy church. Notice the commendation 00:11:24.570 --> 00:11:27.289 that Jesus gives as we turn to the second chapter. 00:11:28.029 --> 00:11:30.450 We're not going to take time to read all of the 00:11:30.450 --> 00:11:32.549 verses here, but I want you to notice he begins 00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:35.990 by saying, I know your works, your labor, your 00:11:35.990 --> 00:11:38.230 patience, and that you cannot bear those who 00:11:38.230 --> 00:11:41.190 are evil, and that you've tested those who say 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:44.190 they are apostles and are not, and have found 00:11:44.190 --> 00:11:47.149 them liars, and you have persevered and have 00:11:47.149 --> 00:11:49.509 patience and have labored for my name's sake 00:11:49.509 --> 00:11:53.309 and have not become weary. And then together 00:11:53.309 --> 00:11:58.379 with verse 6, But this you have, you hate the 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:02.019 deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:03.899 And so if you outline this, you have something 00:12:03.899 --> 00:12:07.220 like seven commendations of Jesus to the church 00:12:07.220 --> 00:12:09.899 at Ephesus, the busy church. He says, I know 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:13.659 your works. This means good works, good deeds 00:12:13.659 --> 00:12:16.820 that they had done. I know your labor. This takes 00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:21.620 the idea of work to the extremity of exhaustion. 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.120 It means to toil until you're ready to drop. 00:12:25.220 --> 00:12:28.799 These people were busy, hard -working Christians. 00:12:29.580 --> 00:12:33.179 He says, I know your patience. That is your steadfastness. 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:36.139 They are the kind of people who would not quit. 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.200 They just kept pushing ahead. He commends them 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:43.259 for their opposition to evil. They were alert 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:46.500 to corruption in the church and they exposed 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:50.820 it. He commends them for their spiritual discernment. 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:53.529 They knew the truth. And in light of that, they 00:12:53.529 --> 00:12:57.830 examined their teachers. You could say that this 00:12:57.830 --> 00:13:01.190 was an orthodox church. They were militant defenders 00:13:01.190 --> 00:13:04.730 of the faith. Again, Jesus commends them for 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:08.210 their labor without growing weary, and He says, 00:13:08.289 --> 00:13:11.409 seventh, that they hated the Nicolaitans. Now, 00:13:11.409 --> 00:13:15.669 literally, that word means to conquer the people 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:20.000 or the rule of the people. And this is one of 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.759 those concepts that's hard to really pin down 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.960 in these seven letters. What were the Nicolaitans? 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.600 Was this a movement in the church in that first 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.059 century to separate the clergy from the laity 00:13:36.059 --> 00:13:40.240 so that the clergy sort of ruled over the laity 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:45.879 which developed into a priesthood? Well, it's 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:47.860 really hard to know. Some people say, no, it 00:13:47.860 --> 00:13:50.100 means that the people were seeking to rule. It's 00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:53.159 the rule of the people. It was the church seeking 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:56.360 to be a democracy. And so, as I say, it's hard 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:58.220 to really understand what the Nicolaitans were. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:01.139 But this does seem clear. The people who were 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:05.019 following this idea were people who believed 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:10.759 in loose, sensual living. Whatever their doctrinal 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:14.399 position was, their moral position was a bad 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.460 one. They believed in living loosely and immorally 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:22.659 and sensually. And Jesus commends the church 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:27.139 because they hated the Nicolaitans. We would 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:29.639 have to say after looking at this that the church 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:31.480 at Ephesus is one of the best churches in the 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.059 world. There are not many churches that could 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:37.539 come up to the level of what Jesus commends this 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:40.700 church for in these verses. But there is a word 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.539 of condemnation as found in chapter 2 verse 4. 00:14:45.750 --> 00:14:50.350 The condemnation is that the church in its busyness 00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:54.190 had left its first love. It had left its first 00:14:54.190 --> 00:14:58.570 love. It was not as intense. It was not as exciting 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:04.110 as that first love for Jesus which they had exhibited 00:15:04.110 --> 00:15:06.950 early on in their history when Paul had been 00:15:06.950 --> 00:15:10.169 there some forty years before this and had lived 00:15:10.169 --> 00:15:12.929 among them for three years and when Timothy was 00:15:12.929 --> 00:15:16.559 their pastor. They had lost something from those 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:22.080 days. Still a good church in so many ways. Jesus 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:26.200 says, you've left your first love. Now we may 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:28.159 just gloss over that a bit, but just suppose 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.980 that your spouse came home one day to you and 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:33.960 said, I don't love you anymore. I'm going to 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:38.080 continue providing food. I'm going to continue 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.399 living with you. I'm going to continue doing 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.279 the things I need to do around the house. But 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.679 just know this, I don't love you like I used 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:49.399 to." How would you feel about that? Would that 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:52.820 make you feel good about your marriage? Of course 00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:56.019 not. You would be stunned. You'd be heartbroken. 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:00.700 And that's the way the Lord Jesus felt. Here 00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:02.419 were people going through the things that needed 00:16:02.419 --> 00:16:04.700 to be done and they were working hard at it, 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:09.639 but they had lost their love for Him. And so 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:12.200 He corrects them in verse 5. Basically He says, 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:17.220 remember, Call to your mind what our love was 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:21.940 like before. And repent, that means change your 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:25.340 mind and direction. And return to the first works. 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:30.340 What does he mean by that? He means go back to 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:32.860 those works that were motivated by your love, 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:36.419 the intensity of your love, and recapture that. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.279 Let there be a genuineness and a vigor in your 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:44.980 love. Or else, he says, I'll remove your lamp 00:16:44.980 --> 00:16:47.820 stand." Now what does he mean? Well, he means 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:52.080 he's going to remove ultimately the church. You 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:54.240 say, wait, you mean Jesus would actually put 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:59.379 a church out of existence? That's right. Listen, 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.700 sometimes when churches close their doors and 00:17:01.700 --> 00:17:03.919 sell their property, it's not the devil that's 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:11.279 done it. It's Jesus Christ. Because that church 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:16.839 has refused to repent. and return to Him and 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:21.059 love Him first. And history records this is exactly 00:17:21.059 --> 00:17:25.819 what happened eventually to Ephesus. The city 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:29.960 was destroyed about 200 years, 150 years later 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.099 after this letter was received. The Goths came 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:35.680 in and destroyed the city. It never did recover. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.500 Its marble from its fabulous temple of Diana 00:17:40.500 --> 00:17:43.769 and its other pagan temples. It was all queried 00:17:43.769 --> 00:17:47.589 by the Turks and the Italians in medieval times. 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:49.750 The beautiful river on which it was located in 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:53.329 its day filled in with silt and became a malarial 00:17:53.329 --> 00:17:59.349 swamp. You know, it makes us stop and ask the 00:17:59.349 --> 00:18:02.390 question, what is going to happen to the great 00:18:02.390 --> 00:18:06.029 cities of America if the Church of Jesus Christ 00:18:06.029 --> 00:18:16.319 abandons them? We need to remember that God has 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:21.539 us here in the St. Paul area to represent Him, 00:18:21.539 --> 00:18:25.420 and our being here is not only important to Him, 00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:30.799 it is important to this city. And it is important, 00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:33.240 I mean, each of the local churches of our area 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:37.660 is important. Several years ago, I preached at 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:40.359 an anniversary of my home church in Kansas, and 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.339 one of the things that I... told them that day 00:18:43.339 --> 00:18:47.319 was that the city, that town in Kansas where 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:49.180 it's been located at that time, I think it was 00:18:49.180 --> 00:18:53.220 45 years or so, that that town should give thanks 00:18:53.220 --> 00:18:57.220 to God, because for those four decades and more, 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:00.460 that town had been blessed by a gospel preaching 00:19:00.460 --> 00:19:02.900 ministry. It hadn't always been the church it 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:05.700 should have been. It hadn't always been as effective 00:19:05.700 --> 00:19:08.140 as it might have been, but the gospel had always 00:19:08.140 --> 00:19:11.079 been preached there. Do you think what would 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:14.019 happen to the Twin Cities if every gospel preaching 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:16.700 church just closed its door and left and was 00:19:16.700 --> 00:19:19.279 no more? I want to tell you something. In a matter 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:21.220 of weeks, this city would know a difference in 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:25.619 its moral climate. It would know a great difference. 00:19:28.380 --> 00:19:30.539 Well, the church at Ephesus, the busy church, 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:34.519 we need to be careful of being busy for Jesus 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:39.809 and not having a fervent and intense love for 00:19:39.809 --> 00:19:43.349 Him that motivates that. You say, well, I've 00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:45.369 lost it, Pastor. What do I do? Just what Jesus 00:19:45.369 --> 00:19:50.210 said. Remember like it was one time and repent 00:19:50.210 --> 00:19:53.589 and return. Get back to that point of loving 00:19:53.589 --> 00:19:58.089 Him with genuineness and intensity in your heart. 00:20:00.710 --> 00:20:05.190 Smyrna. Number two, Smyrna, the suffering church. 00:20:05.670 --> 00:20:11.579 The suffering church. The commendation is found 00:20:11.579 --> 00:20:14.180 in verse 9 where Jesus says that He knew the 00:20:14.180 --> 00:20:19.480 works of this church. He knew the tribulation 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:22.319 that they were passing through. This word tribulation 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:27.339 means grinding pressure. Here was that city where 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:33.599 Caesar was named as God first. It was a city 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:36.660 that prided itself on emperor worship and the 00:20:36.660 --> 00:20:42.700 heavy hand of Rome. was on this church because 00:20:42.700 --> 00:20:47.779 of its loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:50.200 says, I know your poverty, however they were 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:54.380 truly rich, but in earthly things they were in 00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:57.000 utter destitution. They had very, very little. 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:01.559 Jesus speaks about the blasphemy of the false 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.859 Jews that were in that city. There apparently 00:21:04.859 --> 00:21:07.619 was a large Jewish population there that fanned 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:11.559 the flames of antagonism toward the Christians. 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:16.799 Now why would they do that? Well, probably several 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.599 reasons, but among them, it took the pressure 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:23.380 off of them, the pressure of persecution. They 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:26.599 were able to focus it on this new sect, which 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:30.900 they too despised, and therefore they were relieved. 00:21:31.019 --> 00:21:33.160 but Christians suffered, the suffering church. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.460 You'll notice there is no condemnation from the 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:38.880 Lord Jesus to this church. There is no correction 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:44.500 to this church. But there is a command, and it 00:21:44.500 --> 00:21:50.140 is this, do not fear, Jesus says, verse 10. Do 00:21:50.140 --> 00:21:52.779 not fear any of those things which you are about 00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:55.660 to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:59.400 some of you into prison. Now is that just a figure 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:03.319 of speech? Is Jesus just saying, well, there's 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:05.160 going to be some bad things happen to you, we 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:08.440 sort of call it the devil around heaven? No, 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:12.440 of course not. Jesus is saying there is a literal 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:17.240 devil, there is an evil personage, a fallen angel 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:19.240 by the name of Satan, and the book of Revelation, 00:22:19.259 --> 00:22:23.660 by the way, deals at length with him, and persecution 00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:30.490 comes from his hand. within those boundaries 00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:34.289 that the Lord allows. The Lord is sovereign over 00:22:34.289 --> 00:22:38.710 Satan. But Jesus says the devil is going to bring 00:22:38.710 --> 00:22:40.569 suffering. Some of them are going to be thrown 00:22:40.569 --> 00:22:42.849 into prison that you may be tested, he says, 00:22:43.390 --> 00:22:46.869 and have tribulation ten days. Hard to know just 00:22:46.869 --> 00:22:49.829 what ten days means here, but we know this from 00:22:49.829 --> 00:22:52.730 what Jesus says. It's a limited time. Suffering 00:22:52.730 --> 00:22:57.670 is not forever. Suffering is for a while. There 00:22:57.670 --> 00:23:00.369 should be encouragement to them. And Jesus says, 00:23:00.609 --> 00:23:04.430 be faithful unto death. Do you remember Polycarp, 00:23:04.670 --> 00:23:07.690 the man that I quoted a few weeks ago? He was 00:23:07.690 --> 00:23:10.150 one of the leaders of this church in Smyrna. 00:23:10.190 --> 00:23:12.930 He was burned at the stake, or they attempted 00:23:12.930 --> 00:23:16.009 to burn him, and the flames were blowing the 00:23:16.009 --> 00:23:19.089 other way and so one of the soldiers pierced 00:23:19.089 --> 00:23:22.670 him with a sword and he died. His body was burned, 00:23:23.210 --> 00:23:25.849 but he would not renounce his faith in the Lord 00:23:25.849 --> 00:23:30.369 Jesus. The suffering church, be faithful he says 00:23:30.369 --> 00:23:33.390 unto death. Folks, I don't know what the future 00:23:33.390 --> 00:23:35.369 holds any more than you do. I'm not a prophet. 00:23:37.150 --> 00:23:41.349 But as things look, there is persecution coming 00:23:41.349 --> 00:23:44.690 to faithful Christians in our nation. I don't 00:23:44.690 --> 00:23:47.930 know if it's next year or five years from now 00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:50.450 or ten years from now or when it's going to be. 00:23:50.750 --> 00:23:54.250 I rather think it may be sooner than later. But 00:23:54.250 --> 00:23:58.960 there is suffering coming. And not just for the 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:00.740 church in our nation, although it may strike 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:04.299 us the hardest, because we're not used to that. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:06.819 But I believe that suffering is coming to the 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:10.680 true church worldwide. We look right now at what's 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:13.160 happening in places where the church has suffered, 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:17.329 like Eastern Europe and Russia. And we give thanks 00:24:17.329 --> 00:24:19.930 to God for the open door that is there, and we 00:24:19.930 --> 00:24:22.269 are amazed that literally it is true there is 00:24:22.269 --> 00:24:25.329 more freedom in Russia today to preach the gospel 00:24:25.329 --> 00:24:27.470 than there is in the United States of America. 00:24:28.230 --> 00:24:30.849 That is absolutely true. They are begging for 00:24:30.849 --> 00:24:34.069 Bibles in their schools. They want the Bible 00:24:34.069 --> 00:24:36.630 taught in their schools, not because they're 00:24:36.630 --> 00:24:39.910 eager necessarily for evangelism, but they want 00:24:39.910 --> 00:24:43.430 some kind of a moral base, and they know they'll 00:24:43.430 --> 00:24:49.170 get it from the Bible. But on the other hand, 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:51.470 we read statements like I did today in the airplane 00:24:51.470 --> 00:24:54.529 coming back in which Edward Shevardnadze warns 00:24:54.529 --> 00:24:57.210 that there is a dark cloud hanging over Russia 00:24:57.210 --> 00:25:01.190 and that Yeltsin's time is quickly running out 00:25:01.190 --> 00:25:04.009 and the forces of darkness, that's his term, 00:25:05.630 --> 00:25:08.450 he says are gathering strength. Who's he talking 00:25:08.450 --> 00:25:11.390 about, the reporter asked. He's talking about 00:25:11.390 --> 00:25:14.309 people who are the extreme communists and worse. 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:19.019 who are plotting to take the country back. Will 00:25:19.019 --> 00:25:22.140 they succeed? Only God knows. But it could be 00:25:22.140 --> 00:25:24.880 that suffering will return to those people, too, 00:25:25.299 --> 00:25:27.640 after this brief and happy interlude when the 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:31.039 gospel can be preached. My point is that the 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:35.079 Church of Jesus Christ worldwide may become the 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:38.579 church at Smyrna, the suffering church. And we, 00:25:38.579 --> 00:25:42.759 I believe, will be among those. And we need to 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:45.160 listen to what Jesus says to the church. Be faithful. 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:48.440 Know that when suffering comes, it comes under 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:51.859 God's hand. It comes for His purpose. It comes 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:54.599 from the devil. But Jesus is in charge. It will 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:58.200 be a limited time. It can only last as long as 00:25:58.200 --> 00:26:01.440 His lifetime. That's for sure, right? Beyond 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:06.779 that, it's glory. And we need to be ready if 00:26:06.779 --> 00:26:11.150 we become the Smyrna, the church of Smyrna. Let's 00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:13.309 look at the church of Pergamum. I would call 00:26:13.309 --> 00:26:17.089 this the compromising church. Jesus has a word 00:26:17.089 --> 00:26:19.569 of commendation, and my goodness, this sounds 00:26:19.569 --> 00:26:23.069 good. Look at verse 13, I know your works and 00:26:23.069 --> 00:26:26.430 where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. Interesting 00:26:26.430 --> 00:26:31.210 phrase. This is the place that up on top of a 00:26:31.210 --> 00:26:35.569 hill there in the city they had a huge altar 00:26:35.569 --> 00:26:38.549 that some archaeologists say was in the shape 00:26:38.549 --> 00:26:42.940 of a throne. And that altar was dedicated to 00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:46.980 Zeus, who was the chief god of the Roman and 00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:50.819 Greek pantheon, the head honcho of their pagan 00:26:50.819 --> 00:26:54.519 gods. That may be what this phrase refers to, 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:58.319 the throne of Satan. Because listen, idolatry 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.640 and Satan and demons are always connected. You 00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:05.579 write it down, they're always connected. And 00:27:05.579 --> 00:27:08.200 Jesus says, I know. where you dwell, that's where 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:10.980 Satan's throne is. You hold fast to my name and 00:27:10.980 --> 00:27:14.019 did not deny my faith even in the days in which 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:16.960 Antipas was my faithful martyr. And so one of 00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.440 their people had been killed. We know nothing 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.059 about Antipas except what Jesus says about him 00:27:22.059 --> 00:27:25.599 here. And can you imagine a commendation greater 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:31.539 than this? My faithful martyr, who was killed 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:33.559 among you where Satan dwells. And so there is 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:37.630 a tremendous commendation, but... Jesus doesn't 00:27:37.630 --> 00:27:43.529 stop there. He goes on now to give a very strong 00:27:43.529 --> 00:27:47.170 condemnation to this congregation of people. 00:27:48.849 --> 00:27:50.750 And he says that there are some of them who have 00:27:50.750 --> 00:27:54.009 embraced the doctrine of Balaam. You remember 00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:57.769 Balaam was that false prophet who was hired by 00:27:57.769 --> 00:28:01.710 Balak, the king of Moab, to curse Israel. Remember 00:28:01.710 --> 00:28:05.369 that back in the book of Numbers? He could not 00:28:05.369 --> 00:28:08.430 bring a curse upon Israel. God would not let 00:28:08.430 --> 00:28:13.410 him speak it, but in the end he suggested in 00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:18.349 place of a curse a compromise, a moral compromise 00:28:18.349 --> 00:28:25.589 for the people of Israel, and it worked. Here 00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:29.049 he refers to those who are following that kind 00:28:29.049 --> 00:28:32.650 of teaching, and so I'm calling this Pergamum 00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:36.720 the compromising church. Because here is a church 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:39.779 that compromised with the world and with its 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:44.099 values. There was social compromise and moral 00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:46.660 compromise in the church. Now, I want to say 00:28:46.660 --> 00:28:51.019 that compromise can be a good thing. In Acts 00:28:51.019 --> 00:28:54.480 chapter 15, we see the leadership in the Church 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:57.240 of Jerusalem and Barnabas and Saul and others 00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:00.380 gathered and there was compromise. It was important 00:29:00.380 --> 00:29:05.369 compromise and it pleased God. In fact, people 00:29:05.369 --> 00:29:09.029 who never compromise on anything are divisive 00:29:09.029 --> 00:29:15.309 and they're miserable to live with. On my trip 00:29:15.309 --> 00:29:20.190 last Sunday evening from the leg from Cincinnati 00:29:20.190 --> 00:29:26.089 to Tampa, I was sovereignly placed beside a husband 00:29:26.089 --> 00:29:31.559 and wife who disagreed on everything. There was 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:35.799 so little compromise in that marriage. I said, 00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:41.140 Lord, can you get us there in a hurry? Whatever 00:29:41.140 --> 00:29:45.019 she said, he disagreed with it. Whatever he said, 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:49.039 she had another point of view. We were served 00:29:49.039 --> 00:29:54.299 a wonderful meal and had coconut cake for dessert. 00:29:56.099 --> 00:29:58.890 And when it was done, she made some comment about 00:29:58.890 --> 00:30:01.009 the coconut cake. He said, that wasn't coconut 00:30:01.009 --> 00:30:04.910 cake. She said, of course it was coconut cake. 00:30:04.950 --> 00:30:07.089 He said, that wasn't, there was no coconut on 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:09.789 my cake. She looked over on his plate, which 00:30:09.789 --> 00:30:11.769 was still there, and there was coconut all the 00:30:11.769 --> 00:30:14.150 way around the area where the dessert was. She 00:30:14.150 --> 00:30:17.269 said, there's coconut right there. And she said, 00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:20.289 I've got it sticking in my teeth. I mean, they 00:30:20.289 --> 00:30:24.289 couldn't get along on anything. When you're married, 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:26.509 you learn that compromise can come in pretty 00:30:26.509 --> 00:30:30.750 handy sometimes. There's a place for compromise, 00:30:31.190 --> 00:30:35.609 but not when it comes to essential things. You 00:30:35.609 --> 00:30:38.809 don't compromise the faithfulness of your marriage. 00:30:40.849 --> 00:30:44.289 You don't compromise. That's essential. And so 00:30:44.289 --> 00:30:46.430 it is spiritually. There are times when compromise 00:30:46.430 --> 00:30:50.109 is good, but not when it comes to essential doctrine. 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:53.000 That, we cannot compromise. Not when it comes 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:56.119 to clean, moral living. We dare not compromise 00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:59.519 that. And here some held the doctrine of the 00:30:59.519 --> 00:31:03.299 Nicolaitans. Again, that was a group that seemed 00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:06.400 to profess Jesus Christ on the one hand and live 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:09.279 immorally on the other hand. It was inconsistent 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:12.359 and a compromise that Jesus Christ condemns. 00:31:12.920 --> 00:31:14.920 And there is a word of correction in verse 16. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.619 Jesus says, you repent or I'm going to discipline 00:31:17.619 --> 00:31:21.950 you. He says, I will fight against them with 00:31:21.950 --> 00:31:25.650 the sword of my mouth. Here's a church that Jesus 00:31:25.650 --> 00:31:28.750 Christ is going to war against. How would you 00:31:28.750 --> 00:31:32.190 like to be in that war? God forbid and deliver 00:31:32.190 --> 00:31:50.160 us from that kind of a war. I'm calling Thyatira 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:53.579 the idolatrous church. If Pergamum compromised, 00:31:55.019 --> 00:31:58.819 Thyatira just took it all in. Here we have the 00:31:58.819 --> 00:32:01.880 idolatrous church, and that is the reason that 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:06.059 some identify this with the Church of the Dark 00:32:06.059 --> 00:32:10.680 Ages that brought in the idols and its false 00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:14.019 doctrine that went with the idols and which is 00:32:14.019 --> 00:32:17.869 still with us today in certain forms. the church 00:32:17.869 --> 00:32:22.910 at Thyatira, the commendation in verse 19. Jesus 00:32:22.910 --> 00:32:25.869 again knows their works, your love, your service, 00:32:25.970 --> 00:32:29.150 faith, and patience. And as for your works, the 00:32:29.150 --> 00:32:32.490 last are more than the first. Here seems to be 00:32:32.490 --> 00:32:35.009 a church that is deeply involved in doing social 00:32:35.009 --> 00:32:39.910 good. Here's a church that knew and understood 00:32:39.910 --> 00:32:42.069 the needs of the city in which it was living, 00:32:42.309 --> 00:32:44.490 and it was trying to meet those needs, but there 00:32:44.490 --> 00:32:48.500 is awful condemnation. Down to verses 20 to 23, 00:32:48.519 --> 00:32:52.720 they tolerated what Jesus calls the evil of Jezebel. 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:56.500 Who in the world is Jezebel? Well, you know who 00:32:56.500 --> 00:33:00.019 Jezebel was in the Old Testament, that queen 00:33:00.019 --> 00:33:04.079 that Ahab married, and she brought with her into 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:10.500 that marriage all of her idolatry, and it only 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:13.299 further reinforced the wickedness of that bad 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:17.099 king of Israel or Samaria. She was the one who 00:33:17.099 --> 00:33:20.640 fought against Elijah, the prophet you recall, 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:25.059 Jezebel. Well here Jezebel seems to refer to 00:33:25.059 --> 00:33:28.680 a wicked false teacher or maybe it's a pseudonym 00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:32.720 for that teacher. But this teacher was seducing 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:36.279 believers into doctrinal and moral error. Here 00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:40.640 is idolatry with its demonism and moral perversion. 00:33:41.299 --> 00:33:43.920 And by the way, where you find idolatry, you 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:46.890 will find moral perversion. Now why is that? 00:33:47.109 --> 00:33:49.390 Because of the works of darkness and demons. 00:33:49.890 --> 00:33:57.390 It's all a part of the same stew. This Jezebel 00:33:57.390 --> 00:34:01.849 claimed to be a prophetess and apparently claimed 00:34:01.849 --> 00:34:04.750 to have special revelation from God in addition 00:34:04.750 --> 00:34:08.469 to the Scriptures. Anything, by the way, that's 00:34:08.469 --> 00:34:11.969 in addition to Scripture and is claimed to be 00:34:11.969 --> 00:34:15.610 his authority is a lie. And it always results 00:34:15.610 --> 00:34:19.010 in error. It always results in error. And Jesus 00:34:19.010 --> 00:34:22.449 gives a word of correction, verses 26 to 29. 00:34:23.889 --> 00:34:27.170 The false believers in this church, in this congregation 00:34:27.170 --> 00:34:34.630 will face judgment. But Jesus says, I said 26 00:34:34.630 --> 00:34:38.489 to 29, didn't I? I meant 24 to 25. Somehow my 00:34:38.489 --> 00:34:42.010 computer messed up here, or the person who programmed 00:34:42.010 --> 00:34:46.739 it maybe. 24 and 25, the false teachers will 00:34:46.739 --> 00:34:49.980 face judgment. What does he say? To you I say 00:34:49.980 --> 00:34:52.219 and to the rest in Thyatira as many as do not 00:34:52.219 --> 00:34:54.039 have this doctrine and who have not known the 00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:56.139 depths of Satan as I call them, as they call 00:34:56.139 --> 00:34:59.159 them, I will put you on you no other burden but 00:34:59.159 --> 00:35:02.380 hold fast what you have till I come. And so there 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:05.500 was a remnant in this church that was told to 00:35:05.500 --> 00:35:08.300 hold fast until Jesus would come. An idol. What 00:35:08.300 --> 00:35:10.599 is an idol? We may pride ourselves that we don't 00:35:10.599 --> 00:35:14.500 have idols in our church. Remember, an idol is 00:35:14.500 --> 00:35:19.400 anything that takes the place of God. Traditions 00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:26.780 can become idols in churches like ours. Traditions 00:35:26.780 --> 00:35:28.780 can become idols. They're more important than 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:34.960 God in some churches. New ideas, church growth. 00:35:35.460 --> 00:35:38.539 I mean, you can go down the list of lots of different 00:35:38.539 --> 00:35:42.409 ideas and movements that come along. And if we 00:35:42.409 --> 00:35:45.050 put those in the place of God, I'm not saying 00:35:45.050 --> 00:35:47.150 all these things are wrong, but if we put them 00:35:47.150 --> 00:35:50.369 in the place of God, then it becomes idolatry. 00:35:50.829 --> 00:35:55.230 And we are like the church of Thyatira, the idolatrous 00:35:55.230 --> 00:35:58.230 church. Did I give you that word? The idolatrous 00:35:58.230 --> 00:36:01.449 church. Now let's move ahead to the church of 00:36:01.449 --> 00:36:07.409 Sardis, which I'm calling the sleeping church. 00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:12.780 There is no commendation at all to this church 00:36:12.780 --> 00:36:15.460 unless you look at verse four and decide that 00:36:15.460 --> 00:36:18.400 that might be. You have a few names even in Sardis 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:21.659 who've not defiled their garments. And they shall 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:23.820 walk with me in white for they are worthy says 00:36:23.820 --> 00:36:27.079 Jesus. But to the church as a whole there really 00:36:27.079 --> 00:36:33.500 is no commendation. There is condemnation. Jesus 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:39.829 says the last part of verse one. I know your 00:36:39.829 --> 00:36:43.829 works that you have a name that you are alive, 00:36:44.230 --> 00:36:49.090 but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen 00:36:49.090 --> 00:36:51.869 the things which remain that are ready to die 00:36:51.869 --> 00:36:54.349 for I have not found your works perfect before 00:36:54.349 --> 00:36:57.110 God." Here was a church that had a reputation 00:36:57.110 --> 00:37:00.690 for something, but there was no reality to it. 00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:05.150 Isn't that tragic when that happens? Oh, and 00:37:05.150 --> 00:37:08.780 that can happen in a church. A church can become 00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:13.159 proud of its past and seek to live in its glory 00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:18.000 days. And it has this reputation that everyone 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:21.639 looks to and they say, oh my, what a church. 00:37:22.900 --> 00:37:25.320 When you get close to it like Jesus was doing, 00:37:25.820 --> 00:37:27.960 it's a dead church in the inside. There's no 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:31.239 reality there. By the way, that can happen to 00:37:31.239 --> 00:37:35.260 Christians too, can't it? He says, you have a 00:37:35.260 --> 00:37:38.260 name? that you're alive, but the truth is you're 00:37:38.260 --> 00:37:43.219 dead. Your works have not been brought to completion." 00:37:43.219 --> 00:37:45.739 And so he gives them words of correction in verses 00:37:45.739 --> 00:37:48.980 two through four. He says, be watchful. Strengthen 00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:51.480 what yet remains. Shake off your complacency. 00:37:52.119 --> 00:37:56.400 Remember, hold fast. He says, repent or else. 00:37:57.179 --> 00:38:00.639 Here we have another or else. He says, I'll come 00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:03.940 as a thief. What does he mean? Unexpectedly. 00:38:04.759 --> 00:38:06.900 I'll bring judgment." He's not coming here in 00:38:06.900 --> 00:38:10.400 His return. He's saying, I'm going to come unexpectedly 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:13.039 and I'm going to bring judgment to you, not salvation. 00:38:14.179 --> 00:38:18.179 This isn't the rapture. This was a city that 00:38:18.179 --> 00:38:22.380 was well -known for its wealth, Sardis. They 00:38:22.380 --> 00:38:25.480 boasted themselves in wealth. And you may recall 00:38:25.480 --> 00:38:27.699 that I said that it was a church that was built 00:38:27.699 --> 00:38:30.480 with cliffs around it going up over a thousand 00:38:30.480 --> 00:38:34.949 feet. It was a complacent... Lethargic city, 00:38:35.449 --> 00:38:37.869 only twice in their history had they ever been 00:38:37.869 --> 00:38:42.630 overrun. And they felt in the day that John was 00:38:42.630 --> 00:38:44.329 writing the letter to the church in that city 00:38:44.329 --> 00:38:47.050 that they were still secure. And because of their 00:38:47.050 --> 00:38:49.449 advantage up there in the cliffs and because 00:38:49.449 --> 00:38:52.550 of their wealth, they thought, you know, life 00:38:52.550 --> 00:38:55.969 is wonderful. Everything is beautiful in its 00:38:55.969 --> 00:38:59.289 own way, you know. They were sitting on top of 00:38:59.289 --> 00:39:02.590 the world. And here's a church that has gone 00:39:02.590 --> 00:39:04.750 to sleep in the midst of that city. They took 00:39:04.750 --> 00:39:06.929 on somehow the characteristics of their culture 00:39:06.929 --> 00:39:11.510 around them. And Jesus corrects them with strong 00:39:11.510 --> 00:39:16.289 words. He says, hold fast or else. The church 00:39:16.289 --> 00:39:24.670 at Philadelphia, a wonderful church. I call this 00:39:24.670 --> 00:39:28.579 the missionary church. If Sardis was the sleeping 00:39:28.579 --> 00:39:31.920 church, here's the church that is alive to its 00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:35.239 opportunities. The commendation is long as verses 00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:38.760 8, 9, and 10. Christ knows their works. He says 00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:41.159 that He's given to them an open door, which means 00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:45.940 an open door of opportunity. Despite their little 00:39:45.940 --> 00:39:48.539 strength, He says they've kept His Word and they 00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:51.960 did not deny His name. The idea seems to be that 00:39:51.960 --> 00:39:56.190 the church in the city of Philadelphia was a 00:39:56.190 --> 00:40:00.510 small church in number. They had little influence 00:40:00.510 --> 00:40:05.269 in the world, and yet Jesus commends them for 00:40:05.269 --> 00:40:08.429 using everything they had. It's like the old 00:40:08.429 --> 00:40:11.110 statement says, God plus one is majority, right? 00:40:12.210 --> 00:40:15.050 So here you have a little band of believers apparently 00:40:15.050 --> 00:40:19.090 who were really on fire. Here's a group of people 00:40:19.090 --> 00:40:22.030 that didn't have a lot. They weren't like the 00:40:22.030 --> 00:40:26.480 church at Sardis. But they really were aware 00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:30.639 of what God wanted them to be about. Jesus commends 00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:33.559 them because He had set before them an open door 00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:36.940 and He gives them a promise. He says, their enemies, 00:40:37.139 --> 00:40:42.019 by the way, a church, if it's going to do something 00:40:42.019 --> 00:40:45.000 for Jesus Christ, is going to have its enemies. 00:40:46.139 --> 00:40:49.000 You can count on it. The church at Philadelphia 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:52.440 did. Jesus says one day their enemies would come 00:40:52.440 --> 00:40:57.519 to acknowledge. their error, and would also acknowledge 00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:00.619 Christ's love for the church. And Jesus gives 00:41:00.619 --> 00:41:02.619 a wonderful promise in verse 10, because you've 00:41:02.619 --> 00:41:04.920 kept my command to persevere, I also will keep 00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:08.599 you from the hour of trial which I'll come upon 00:41:08.599 --> 00:41:12.639 the whole earth to test those who dwell on the 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:15.360 earth. He uses a technical term there at the 00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:18.760 end. Literally He says in that last phrase, to 00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:22.349 test the earth dwellers. I'm going to talk about 00:41:22.349 --> 00:41:25.289 that on some other evening. But here is a term 00:41:25.289 --> 00:41:29.269 in Revelation that is referring to unregenerate, 00:41:29.489 --> 00:41:35.190 unsafe people. It is a term describing those 00:41:35.190 --> 00:41:37.369 whose whole life is wrapped up in the world, 00:41:37.530 --> 00:41:42.010 the earth dwellers. Now because of what Jesus 00:41:42.010 --> 00:41:44.809 says here and the way He says it, there are a 00:41:44.809 --> 00:41:47.369 lot of Bible teachers, and I'm among them, who 00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:50.280 would say that this verse not only refers to 00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:53.280 the historic church of Philadelphia, but it refers 00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:55.900 to the church in our day that's faithful to Christ. 00:41:56.480 --> 00:41:59.900 And it's a wonderful promise to believers that 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:01.760 they will be kept, that we will be kept from 00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:05.920 the hour of tribulation that is coming upon the 00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:09.320 earth dwellers. In other words, that seven -year 00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:12.300 period of God's wrath that we poured out upon 00:42:12.300 --> 00:42:15.730 the earth. I believe that it is another verse 00:42:15.730 --> 00:42:18.269 that underscores that teaching that says the 00:42:18.269 --> 00:42:20.889 church will be taken out of the world before 00:42:20.889 --> 00:42:26.150 that time of tribulation of God's wrath is poured 00:42:26.150 --> 00:42:31.809 out upon the earth dwellers. Now, Jesus has no 00:42:31.809 --> 00:42:34.150 condemnation to this church, but there is a command. 00:42:34.170 --> 00:42:37.849 He says, hold fast, verse 11, I come quickly, 00:42:38.409 --> 00:42:40.849 hold fast what you have that no one may take 00:42:40.849 --> 00:42:45.309 your crown. Suggestion is that We can lose our 00:42:45.309 --> 00:42:49.070 reward. Jesus says, don't lose it. Hold fast. 00:42:49.670 --> 00:42:54.510 I'm coming quickly. Good words. We want to be 00:42:54.510 --> 00:42:57.030 faithful to the doors of opportunity that Jesus 00:42:57.030 --> 00:43:00.710 Christ has given us. And though enemies may arise 00:43:00.710 --> 00:43:03.289 from time to time, know that the Lord is in charge 00:43:03.289 --> 00:43:06.750 and He's with us. And He says to us, hang in 00:43:06.750 --> 00:43:10.130 there. Don't let anyone steal the crown, the 00:43:10.130 --> 00:43:12.909 reward that you may have for your faithful service. 00:43:13.030 --> 00:43:18.429 And then finally, the church at Laodicea. This 00:43:18.429 --> 00:43:20.650 is undoubtedly the wealthiest church of all of 00:43:20.650 --> 00:43:24.889 them. And I would call this the apostate church. 00:43:25.550 --> 00:43:29.110 The apostate church. There is no word of commendation 00:43:29.110 --> 00:43:33.050 at all to the church at Laodicea. Jesus speaks 00:43:33.050 --> 00:43:37.599 condemnation to them that is strong. It is powerful. 00:43:37.639 --> 00:43:41.179 He says, I know your works. He says, you're lukewarm. 00:43:43.380 --> 00:43:47.260 And their lukewarmness nauseated Christ. You 00:43:47.260 --> 00:43:51.840 may recall that this city had no decent water 00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:55.500 to drink. This is the city that I told you about 00:43:55.500 --> 00:43:57.880 that arranged for water to be brought in from 00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:01.699 springs about six miles away. And the viaduct, 00:44:01.699 --> 00:44:05.860 the viaduct, the aqueduct that brought the water 00:44:06.059 --> 00:44:10.280 Parts of it are still present today. And some 00:44:10.280 --> 00:44:13.000 have said that the water apparently was not even 00:44:13.000 --> 00:44:15.219 good from the springs because there's limestone 00:44:15.219 --> 00:44:18.579 deposit left by that water that used to run in 00:44:18.579 --> 00:44:21.420 that aqueduct. But you see, that water would 00:44:21.420 --> 00:44:23.500 start out cold at the spring, and by the time 00:44:23.500 --> 00:44:25.639 it flowed through that aqueduct all those six 00:44:25.639 --> 00:44:29.900 miles under that hot sun, it became just tepid 00:44:29.900 --> 00:44:33.199 water. That's the picture Jesus is drawing upon. 00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:36.280 He says, you nauseate me. Have you ever tasted 00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:40.420 the water in Florida, along the West Coast? It's 00:44:40.420 --> 00:44:43.519 sickening. You can't wait to get back to Minnesota 00:44:43.519 --> 00:44:46.860 and have a decent drink of water. It's terrible. 00:44:46.920 --> 00:44:50.099 It has all kinds of minerals in it, and you do 00:44:50.099 --> 00:44:52.159 well to make sure it's cold. If you drink it 00:44:52.159 --> 00:44:55.519 tepid, I think you would get sick. Jesus says 00:44:55.519 --> 00:44:59.699 here, you, he's speaking now to people who profess 00:44:59.699 --> 00:45:02.820 his name, a church. He says, you make me sick. 00:45:04.610 --> 00:45:06.949 I don't know about you, but those are words that 00:45:06.949 --> 00:45:10.929 strike me." He says, I know your words, your 00:45:10.929 --> 00:45:14.570 works. You say I'm rich, you need nothing. He 00:45:14.570 --> 00:45:16.650 says, you don't recognize that you're wretched 00:45:16.650 --> 00:45:22.550 and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Let 00:45:22.550 --> 00:45:25.050 me just tell you something about this city. Laodicea 00:45:25.050 --> 00:45:29.630 was famous for its wool. There was black wool 00:45:29.630 --> 00:45:32.829 that was grown in that area and they made clothing 00:45:32.829 --> 00:45:36.460 from that. It was a city that was famous for 00:45:36.460 --> 00:45:41.139 its medicines, several kinds of medicines. And 00:45:41.139 --> 00:45:45.199 one of them involved a pill that they made which 00:45:45.199 --> 00:45:48.420 had to be crushed and mixed with water and then 00:45:48.420 --> 00:45:51.760 that was put on your eyes. It made sort of a 00:45:51.760 --> 00:45:54.860 paste or a salve like stuff. And it was very 00:45:54.860 --> 00:45:56.960 famous in that day, supposed to have healing 00:45:56.960 --> 00:45:59.780 qualities for the eyes. Now notice Jesus' correction 00:45:59.780 --> 00:46:04.690 to them in verse 18. I counsel you to buy from 00:46:04.690 --> 00:46:09.230 me gold refined in fire that you may be rich." 00:46:09.230 --> 00:46:13.230 Here's the richest church of all of them. Jesus 00:46:13.230 --> 00:46:15.389 says, you're poor. What you really need is gold 00:46:15.389 --> 00:46:18.489 from me. He's talking about spiritual righteousness. 00:46:20.010 --> 00:46:24.130 He's talking about being spiritually right with 00:46:24.130 --> 00:46:29.389 Him. He says, buy from me white garments that 00:46:29.389 --> 00:46:32.010 you may be clothed at the shame of your nakedness. 00:46:32.199 --> 00:46:34.440 may not be revealed." He says, you need garments. 00:46:34.719 --> 00:46:36.820 They're famous for their garments, see? He says, 00:46:36.880 --> 00:46:40.079 you buy for me white garments, speaking of righteousness 00:46:40.079 --> 00:46:42.000 again, in the book of Revelation at least, as 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:45.659 we'll see later, and anoint your eyes with eye 00:46:45.659 --> 00:46:48.920 salve that you may see. They're spiritually blind, 00:46:48.940 --> 00:46:51.780 and now he says, you need salve for your spiritual 00:46:51.780 --> 00:46:56.400 eyes. You see how he draws upon that cultural 00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:59.139 background in the city and addressing them? He 00:46:59.139 --> 00:47:01.300 gives a word of command. He says, be zealous. 00:47:01.420 --> 00:47:08.039 The word means be hot. Be hot. Repent. And then 00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:10.860 verse 20, that famous verse of invitation of 00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:14.340 Jesus knocking at the door, wanting to come in. 00:47:14.840 --> 00:47:18.900 Notice where Jesus is in relation to the church 00:47:18.900 --> 00:47:21.739 at Laodicea. He's not inside the church. He's 00:47:21.739 --> 00:47:24.739 outside. That's why I call it the apostate church. 00:47:25.460 --> 00:47:27.739 There's a church that has the name across the 00:47:27.739 --> 00:47:31.420 top. but no Savior inside. It's just like the 00:47:31.420 --> 00:47:34.139 modern liberal churches today that have their 00:47:34.139 --> 00:47:37.219 names across the top, and they have their bank 00:47:37.219 --> 00:47:39.619 accounts, and they live off of them and their 00:47:39.619 --> 00:47:41.960 wealth from years and years in the past, but 00:47:41.960 --> 00:47:44.239 there is no Savior in them. They have no gospel 00:47:44.239 --> 00:47:48.519 to preach. They are apostates. They are the church 00:47:48.519 --> 00:47:51.420 of Laodicea, and they nauseate Jesus Christ. 00:47:51.500 --> 00:47:54.460 Better that they would take His name off of them. 00:47:58.119 --> 00:48:05.400 and to be what they are. And so we see that these 00:48:05.400 --> 00:48:08.239 churches represent churches like we have today 00:48:08.239 --> 00:48:12.639 in our world, and they represent Christians. 00:48:13.380 --> 00:48:15.780 And I say this broadly like we have at Grace 00:48:15.780 --> 00:48:20.179 Church. I don't know about you, which church 00:48:20.179 --> 00:48:23.760 do you like to identify with here? There are 00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:26.639 phrases from several of them that are highly 00:48:28.829 --> 00:48:33.050 words of commendation, high words of praise. 00:48:33.849 --> 00:48:35.949 But if there's one church that I would like us 00:48:35.949 --> 00:48:38.989 to really say that that's our model, it would 00:48:38.989 --> 00:48:40.869 be the church at Philadelphia, wouldn't it? Wouldn't 00:48:40.869 --> 00:48:43.750 you agree with that? The church that's awake 00:48:43.750 --> 00:48:46.170 to its opportunities, the missionary church. 00:48:46.670 --> 00:48:48.690 Did I give you that name by the way, the missionary 00:48:48.690 --> 00:48:51.670 church? The church that sees itself as a mission 00:48:51.670 --> 00:48:56.190 center. The church that understands its mission 00:48:56.190 --> 00:48:58.710 and why it's there, and God help us to be that 00:48:58.710 --> 00:49:02.650 kind of church. Jesus tonight is looking at our 00:49:02.650 --> 00:49:07.349 candlestick, and I would hope that He could say 00:49:07.349 --> 00:49:09.090 about us some of the things He said about that 00:49:09.090 --> 00:49:11.530 church. As He looks at my life, as He looks at 00:49:11.530 --> 00:49:14.570 your life, Jesus would undoubtedly have some 00:49:14.570 --> 00:49:16.690 words of commendation. Our Lord, even in some 00:49:16.690 --> 00:49:20.710 of the worst churches, found something to say 00:49:20.710 --> 00:49:24.280 about them, and He would about you too. and about 00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:26.679 me too. I would hope that whatever he would have 00:49:26.679 --> 00:49:30.659 to say by way of condemnation would be few and 00:49:30.659 --> 00:49:33.460 far between, but if he needs to say it, let him 00:49:33.460 --> 00:49:36.760 say it so that we can hear his words of correction 00:49:36.760 --> 00:49:43.019 or command and repent. I don't like the or else, 00:49:43.199 --> 00:49:47.179 do you? I don't like the or else. I want to walk 00:49:47.179 --> 00:49:49.599 with the Lord and I know you do too. Let's stand 00:49:49.599 --> 00:49:55.829 together as we dismiss in prayer. Well, which 00:49:55.829 --> 00:50:01.969 of these churches most describes you? Just tell 00:50:01.969 --> 00:50:03.769 the Lord right now in your own heart of hearts, 00:50:03.929 --> 00:50:08.329 Lord Jesus, as you look at me, tell me what I 00:50:08.329 --> 00:50:13.809 need to hear. Write upon my heart the message 00:50:13.809 --> 00:50:18.869 that you want to share with me and give me a 00:50:18.869 --> 00:50:23.510 heart that's sensitive. that will hear what you 00:50:23.510 --> 00:50:28.710 have to say and respond to you. Lord Jesus, do 00:50:28.710 --> 00:50:30.789 that for all of us tonight, and as we go from 00:50:30.789 --> 00:50:34.969 here, may we this week be like those Philadelphian 00:50:34.969 --> 00:50:40.309 Christians. Open for us, Lord, doors of opportunity. 00:50:42.070 --> 00:50:44.409 And if you close doors, help us not to fret about 00:50:44.409 --> 00:50:48.170 that, but to go on and to remember your promises 00:50:48.170 --> 00:50:51.300 to those who are faithful. I thank you for this 00:50:51.300 --> 00:50:53.699 faithful congregation and for these people who 00:50:53.699 --> 00:50:56.320 are here tonight, and I pray your blessing and 00:50:56.320 --> 00:50:58.920 the fullness of the Holy Spirit in their lives, 00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:03.139 in their homes, in their each individual situation 00:51:03.139 --> 00:51:05.900 this week. In Jesus' name, amen.