Letters to the Church Pt 2

Good evening. Would you all stand? I want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel this evening. And those of you online, we want to welcome you.

Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity, Lord, together this evening to worship you in song and to study your word. And we would ask that you would just be glorified tonight as we gather to worship, Lord, and to study. We ask that you would encourage us in our walk in witness for you and strengthen us with your might, Lord. And we encourage us each in our walk in witness for you.

And may we just look to you, the author and finisher of our faith, Lord. We ask for your strength, your helping us focus and just look to you. We're to glorify us for your strength.

It's to help lead us and guide us, convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Lead us now in grace to that unmerited favor and be saved.

It's settled in our hearts, Lord, to begin as we're studying. Part your spirit of wisdom to us. And the revelation of the knowledge of you tonight, Lord, be strengthened with your might. It's an hour to live for you, Lord, in this world that is opposed to the things of you.

Glad you're here tonight. If you would open up to the book of Revelation, chapter 2.

Revelation, chapter 2.

We've been looking at the things that are the church age and the message to the churches. As a matter of fact, I've entitled chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the churches. Last week, we... Looked at part 1. Today, we look at part 2. Hopefully, we're going to finish up with these last four churches today. We've looked at the first three, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos.

And tonight, we start off in verse 18 with the message to Thyatira. Verse 18 says, And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished bronze, says this, I know your deeds and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads my bondservants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, lest they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold... Who hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan as they call them, I place no other burden on you.

Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. He who has... Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The message to Thyatira. The city of Thyatira was actually the most small and insignificant of the seven cities that he's going to write to. But it was known for its many active trade guilds. As a matter of fact, one of the things that they traded in a great deal was purple. There's a name that may stick out to you about Thyatira. Her name was Lydia. Lydia, the seller of purple.

That actually was in Philippi when Paul first came to Philippi. But that's where she was known to be from. And so the problem with these trade guilds is that to be a part of them, usually there was great pagan ceremony that took place within the guild and to be a part of these different trade guilds. And so with that as a background, he begins to write to the church of Thyatira.

And as he always does, Jesus identifies himself. Notice in verse 18 what he says. The Son of God, who has eyes... There's two ways he identifies himself after he says that this is the Son of God that's speaking to you. The first is eyes like a flame of fire. The idea is the penetrating gaze of Jesus. That not only is there purity in the things that he looks at,

not only do his eyes have purity in them, but they are able to search deep into the hearts of people. And not only are his eyes penetrating in their gaze, but his feet are like bronze. And we remember that according to our understanding of the temple, bronze is always synonymous with judgment. So Jesus sees the things that are deep and he judges the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

And as he identifies himself as such, he starts off by saying, this is what you've done right. He says, I know your deeds. Matter of fact, he lists several of them, your deeds of love and of service and of faith and of perseverance. Not only that, but these deeds that they have are actually growing because notice it says that your deeds of late are even greater than at the first.

There's really good things that are going on within this church. As a matter of fact, we would say that this is a church that reaches out quite a bit and shows love to people around them. If we were to see this church today, they would have a soup kitchen and make sure that they were feeding the homeless. They would make sure that they were clothing those who needed clothing.

They do all of the outward deeds, but there was a problem. And the problem that they had was this. He says, but this I have against you. You tolerate the woman Jezebel. Boy, is there any name that just sort of like causes you to sort of shudder any more than the name Jezebel, right? Like that's what you call every girl. I apologize if anybody named their daughter Jezebel in here,

but I've never heard that used in a positive context, right? But we always think of Ahab's wife. Ahab's wife in the Old Testament, Ahab and Jezebel who led Israel into idolatry, as the Bible says, like had never been done before. Led them into the depths of idolatry like no one had done before. And so as he says this, he says, you tolerate this woman Jezebel.

There's two thoughts that go along with this. Number one, there probably really was someone named Jezebel there who did the exact same things that this woman is doing. Or two, there was a woman there who had the same spirit as Jezebel and was leading the people astray. Rather than getting caught in the weeds of whether it was a real person named Jezebel or just someone who had that spirit, let's look at what this woman did.

She was a self-proclaimed prophet. Notice what it says. She calls herself a prophetess. But what does she teach them? She teaches and leads my bond servants astray astray. And they commit acts of immorality and they eat things sacrificed to idols. You see, what they were tolerating in the church of Thyatira was one who spread false doctrine. And this woman that spread false doctrine

was allowed to continue to do so because do you notice what it says that you tolerate the woman? It wasn't that there was someone that existed within the church that was teaching. Listen, we always have to understand that any time that there's a church, there's a potential that someone's going to come up and have a false idea. The problem was not that somebody had a wrong idea.

The problem was that they never confronted it, that they tolerated it, that they allowed it. Because as they allowed it, what began to happen? People began to be led astray. And as they were led astray, they were led astray into immorality and into feasts where they were eating things sacrificed to idols. It led them into immorality. It led them into immorality

and religious compromise. And from this, we need to understand something. Bad teaching leads to bad living. You see, so many people are like, oh, don't get so caught up in doctrine. Don't get so caught up in theology. Can't we just not worry about the details of the doctrine and theology? Well, that's fine. But you just have to know that if you do that, you'll end up straying away in some form or fashion

because it's our natural bent to always go towards sin. Therefore, if the teaching that someone is leading us in is directing us away from the purity of the gospel, then it's always directing us towards the impurity of sin. There are many churches today that from all outward appearances are wonderful churches because they're doing all of the right things. They have all of the right programs and they're helping people a great deal.

And we can say, I love that you're helping people. But the problem is I disagree with every bit of their doctrine or, or maybe I, only disagree with one major portion of their doctrine. But either way we go, it's wonderful that you're doing those things, but you're so far off in your doctrine. You're so far off in your teaching. And because of it, it's leading lots of people astray.

And he said, you tolerate this. You don't deal with this. And because you don't deal with it, I have an issue with you. I got to say one of the toughest things that I have to do is stand up here and tell you when I think something is wrong. Because I always know if I tell you that I think something is wrong based on what the Bible says, one of you is going to like it.

And you're going to be mad at me about it. And you're going to be like, well, I don't see anything wrong with it. Well, you don't have to, but the Bible says it. So I can't help that. But more and more us as pastors have to be sure that we call out the things that we think are wrong. And going forward, I'm going to have to continue to do that. And sometimes I'm going to step on your toes.

You just have to know that Jesus stepped on my toes first. And told me to do that to you. Because you see, if the pastor of the church of Thyatira had stepped on someone's toes, they might not have had to get a letter from Jesus that said, you tolerate the woman, Jezebel. I saw a wonderful meme floating around the social media network not too long ago. And it said,

if Paul saw the church in America today, we'd be getting a letter. We can't help that because there's a lot of things going on. There's a lot of things going on. There's a lot of things going on. There's a lot of things going wrong in the church of America today. He says, you tolerate this woman, Jezebel. He goes on in verse 21 and say, I gave her time to repent.

Isn't this great? Because God is gracious. He said, I gave her time to repent. If you're reading the old King James or the new King James, it says, I gave her space to repent. But she doesn't want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent, they repent of their deeds.

I want you to take note of the progression of thought here. Number one, I'm going to throw her on a bed of sickness. In other words, that specific false teacher is going to have to pay the price, going to have to pay the consequences for what she's doing, for what's taking place, for the way that she is leading other people astray. You remember what Jesus said?

He said, stumblings are going to come, but woe to him who stumbles one of these little ones. It would be better if a millstone were hung around, their neck, and they were drowned in the deepest of oceans than to lead one of these little ones astray. It's almost like God doesn't take that very well when people lead astray his kids because he knows the end result of bad doctrine. He says, I'm going to throw her on a bed of sickness and all those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation.

But take note of that last phrase, unless they repent of their deeds. Isn't that great? Even in this process, God is still calling them to repentance. And it brings up an interesting point that I'll continue to make. And that's that God doesn't show us where we're wrong without also giving us the opportunity to be right. But God's not just cruel. And he's like,

this is where you screwed up. Sorry, there's no hope for you now. Matter of fact, I'm jumping ahead of myself, but when we get to Laodicea, he'll say, those whom I love, I chase them. He says, unless he repents, this is what's going to happen to her. And he goes on to say, and I will kill her children. And I think what he's talking about there is her followers with pestilence.

And all the churches will know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. If you're an underliner, that's a really good one to underline. And the churches will know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts.

It's a wonderful truth about Jesus, but it's also a, a very sobering truth about Jesus. It says, but verse 24, but I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them, I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless, what you have hold fast until I come. Isn't it great that there's a remnant in the church of Thyatira?

He says, but I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to this teaching, you just keep doing what you're doing. Hold fast. Don't give in to the false doctrine because here's what we need to know, brothers and sisters, is that once false doctrine becomes popular, you become the bad guy because you're the person that calls it out. You become the one that's super intolerant.

You become the one who is, oh my gosh, they're making way too big of a deal out of this. How dare they make such a big deal out of something that's not that big of a deal. I know because this has happened to me my entire ministerial career is when I call people out on things or I call out, the truth. And I'm like, actually that's opposed to biblical things.

They're like, you just don't understand. You're just making a big deal out of things you don't need to make a big deal about. I'm like, the Bible makes a big deal about it. Feels like we should make a big deal out of it. He says, you keep holding fast. You keep holding onto the truth no matter what anybody says. Why? Because he who overcomes, verse 26, and he who keeps my deeds to the end,

I will give him authority over the nations. I believe what he's talking about there is in the millennial kingdom, the authority that we as believers will have in the millennial kingdom to rule and to reign. But not only does he say, I will give him authority, but in verse 28 he says, and I will give him the morning star. Do you know what the morning star is always synonymous with in scripture?

It's always synonymous with Jesus. He says, not only will I give him authority, and that's awesome, but I'll give him myself. I will give him authority, and I will give him relationship with me.

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Next we come to the church of Sardis. It says, to the angel of the church in Sardis write, he who has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars says this, I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive, so far so good, but you are dead. Wake up, strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die, for I have found your deeds.

I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. So remember what you have received and heard and keep it and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments. They will walk with me in white for they are worthy of me.

He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from the book of life and I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear with the spirit, says to the churches. The next church that we come to is the church in Sardis. Sardis is known as a wealthy city, but at this point in time in history when the book of Revelation is written, it was a wealthy city that was in decline.

In other words, its influence was not quite what it was at one point in time. It was known for several things. It was known, of course, for immorality, which most of the cities at this time were, but it was also known for apathy. It was known for easy money and soft, luxurious living. You can have the best life now. And this is what he has to say to the church in Sardis.

First of all, he again introduces himself as the one who has the seven spirits of God and the one who has the seven stars. What does he mean by that? Well, he identifies himself as the one who gives the Holy Spirit, which, by the way, is where life comes from. After all, he's going to tell them that they look like they're alive, but they are dead. And so he identifies himself

as the one who has true spiritual life, but he also identifies himself as the one who holds the churches in his hand, the ultimate authority in the church. And he goes on to tell them, he says, I know that I am the one who gives the Holy Spirit, but I know your deeds. You just don't have any. He says, I know your deeds. You have a name that you are alive. Before we get to the bad part, let's just say this.

Let's say this about this church. This church has a name and they are alive. This church has a name that looks like it has a lot of life into it. I love the way Amir Servati in his book put it. He said, this church would draw you with the magnificent building, with the pastor that everybody wants to see, with the best worship band and with the most programs of any church.

This church is all about the show and everybody wants to come because everybody's excited about the church in Sardis. He says, you have a reputation and your reputation is that you are alive. You can draw a really big crowd, but there's one problem. You are dead. Isn't it interesting? He doesn't say you're struggling for life. He says, he doesn't say you're on life support.

He says you're dead because all they are is a show with no spiritual life in it. Can I just say, this is one of the scarier thoughts that you can have as a pastor is that you would have all of the things, but you'd miss the one thing that you were supposed to show up for. And that's Jesus. You'd miss the one thing that you're supposed to show up for. And that's to meet with Jesus.

Dear God, if that ever happens to me, fire me. If I ever stopped giving you Jesus, I give all of you permission to fire me because I have completely missed the point of what I'm supposed to be doing. It's not about whether we can remodel the sanctuary. It's not about whether we can build a gym. It's not about whether we can bring people to church. It's about whether we're bringing people to Jesus.

And that was the problem that Sardis had. Everything looked amazing, but they quit bringing people to Jesus. They brought people to church. He says, you have this reputation that you're alive, but you're dead. And so he tells them to do some things. This is what he says. First of all, he says, wake up. Wake up because you are dead. Come back to life. The only way that you can come back to life

is if you come back to Jesus. Because what does he say? Strengthen the things which remain, which are about to die. What are the things which remain? The truth of the gospel. At least they were still a church. At least they had some form of telling people that they have the truth. Well, get back to the truth. Strengthen the things that remain, that are about to die.

After all, you have a lot of works that you have not completed. Did you take note of the way he worded that? For, verse two, I have not found your deeds completed or mature in the sight of God. In the sight of my God. You've started a lot of really good things. You just haven't finished anything. He said, it's time to get back to the things that remain. Wake up.

And then he goes on to tell them, verse three, and remember, remember what you have received and heard. Isn't it amazing? It's the second time in the letters to these churches that we've been told to remember. And both of them have to do with coming back to Jesus. Remember the church in Ephesus, was told that they had left something. Remember what they were told that they had left?

Their first love. And now the church in Sardis is told that they have left something else. They've left their real life. And they're both told to do the same thing. Remember. Remember the things which you have heard. That true message of the gospel. Remember the things that you have heard. And then repent. Repent of the fact that you have stopped making Jesus your priority.

Therefore, if you do not wake up, middle of verse three, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. From what I understand from my reading about the church in Sardis or about the city of Sardis is that Sardis was an easy place to defend. There was actually only one entrance to the city of Sardis. And so really it was an easily defendable city.

You just had to place guards at the one entrance to the city of Sardis. There was only one entrance to the city. But the city had been taken over twice. And the reason why the city had been taken over twice both times are because the ones that were supposed to be guarding the gate to the city had fallen asleep. That's historically what had taken place in the city of Sardis.

And so as Jesus tells them, wake up. Otherwise I will come like a thief in the night. In other words, wake up because you won't be ready for my second coming. You won't be ready for me coming back to get you. You'll be sleeping. Jesus told a really similar parable to this, didn't he? Remember the wise and the unwise virgins? Half of them weren't ready. They weren't prepared.

He says you need to wake up and be ready. Get back to the things that you know you're supposed to be doing and get back to the heart of what is supposed to be taking place in church. Get back to Jesus. He says, but you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. Isn't it always wonderful

that God always leaves a believing remnant? That even in churches that we might look and go, they look like they've got it all together, but I don't think they do. It seems like they're kind of dead. Even within a church like that, there's still some people that really love Jesus. There's still people that really care about the truth that are trying to light the fire

under everybody else. He says you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. And he who overcomes, verse 5, will be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from the book of life and I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. He ends by saying there will be great assurance of salvation for he who overcomes.

He says I will not blot out his name from the book of life. Now, that leads most of us to draw a conclusion, doesn't it? A lot of us can draw a conclusion from that and say, does that mean some of us will have our names blotted out of the book of life? Well, that's not what it says. It says I won't blot out your name from the book of life for he who overcomes.

There is great security for those who continue walking. It's a conversation that people get into a lot. Can you lose your salvation or not? And quite frankly, I can't 100% definitively give you an answer on that. I can tell you that we have security in Christ as long as you're abiding. If you're living the abiding life, then there is great security in Christ.

But there's always a warning to all of us. And I don't remember which commentary that I read it in, but one of the commentators pointed out a perfect example of this. And that's a guy by the name of Charles Templeton. I've shared about him before. Charles Templeton was a contemporary with Billy Graham. He helped start this movement called Youth for Christ. And Billy Graham would go on crusades with him.

Well, there came a point in time where Charles Templeton renounced his faith. Matter of fact, renounced any kind of belief in God whatsoever. And he died an atheist. So the question always rises. Did Charles Templeton, did he lose his salvation? Or was he never actually saved? You and I say, I don't care. Walk with Jesus. Don't worry about what happened to him.

You stay close to Jesus. Let that be an example to you. Let that be a warning to you to be one who overcomes. One of my favorite teachers in Bible college used to always say this. He said, if you come to me and your heart is broken because you've fallen into sin, and you say, can I still be saved? Can I still belong to Jesus even though I have fallen in this sin?

He said, I will become the strongest proponent of eternal security you've ever heard in your life because the Bible says he saves all who call upon him. But if you come to me and you want to know how much sin you can get away with and still be a believer in Jesus Christ, I will become the staunchest Arminianist you've ever met. And I will tell you, you better pay attention to the warnings in scripture of those who have walked, who have walked away because it has more to do with the condition of your heart than what you believe about eternal security. Amen.

So, he then once again encourages us, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And I'll point this out again when we come to Laodicea. But have you noticed that in each of these, as he ends it, he doesn't say, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to that church. He instead uses what? The plural form of the word

to the churches. Meaning, as we pointed out last week, that each of these letters, while yes, is for a specific church, is also for the church. It's for all of us. Which is why I don't get hung up with, well, which particular part of the church age is this? All of it. Okay? Because in every church age, you have churches that look like they're alive, but they're dead.

And we can't be like, oh, well, you know, back in the mid-century, this is the Middle Ages is what this is talking about, the Catholic Church. I don't know that. You don't know that. Oh, it's actually the Protestant Church. Sure, probably. Or it could just be that in every age there are these churches. And we should always pay attention to the warnings. Next, we come to the church

in Philadelphia. It says, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, right? He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens, and no one will shut, and who shuts, and no one opens, says this, I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have little power and have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie. I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them come and make them know that I have loved you because you have kept the word of my perseverance. I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly.

Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God and he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write on him, the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

The church of Philadelphia, the word Philadelphia, many of us know means brotherly love. That's of course where we get our city of Philadelphia's name. Although I don't think a great deal of brotherly love goes on in Philadelphia anymore, but it's what is known for. But the city of Philadelphia was actually a center for the spreading of Greek culture. You see, when Alexander the Great

began to take over the world, his goal was not only to rule the world, number one, but it was also to spread Greek culture because he had such a fundamental belief because he was raised by philosophers. And so this was one of the centers for the spreading of the Greek culture in that particular region. And so as Jesus begins to address this church, he once again points out who he is. He says, he who is holy and who is true.

That word true, there's two different words for true there. One means true, meaning not false. The other word for true in the Greek language meaning true, not fake. That's the word that's used here. So when Jesus says, he who is holy and true, the idea is not fake, but genuine. The real deal. So he identifies himself as being very genuine. He who is true, who has the key of David,

who opens and no one will shut and shuts and no one opens. In other words, the God who has ultimate control. He goes on to say, I know your deeds. I put before you an open door which no one can shut. You have little power. And have kept my word and not denied my name. Three things that he tells them about their deeds. Number one is that they have an open door

before them. You see, the church in Philadelphia had this open door. Well, what was the open door for? For the spreading of the gospel. It's similar language to what Paul used when he asked the people would pray for him. Pray for me that there would be an open door for the sharing of the gospel. You see, this church in Philadelphia had a door that was wide open.

Part of their deeds is that they were open. Part of their deeds is that everything was open before them to be able to go and share the gospel with anybody that they wanted. But there was a second thing that was a part of their deeds. They had little power. And you probably think to yourself, well, that doesn't sound good. But it is. Because you see, their little power

meant that they found true strength. Because after all, what are we told? That when I am weak, that I am strong. Power is perfected in weakness. You see, they understood true power. And that brings us to the third aspect of their deeds. And that's that they had kept his word. This church was faithful. Which is why Jesus identifies himself as the genuine, faithful one.

And so, as he talks to them about their deeds, their deeds are threefold in those ways. And so he begins to make them a promise. He says, behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and they are not Jews and are not, but a lie. I will make them come and bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you. The synagogue of Satan

was Jewish people who didn't really hold to the purity of the word of God. We saw similar things in the ministry of Paul as these Jews would follow Paul around and they would discredit everything that they had to say. Well, that same thing was taking place in Philadelphia. The synagogue of Satan, these Jews who didn't have a true understanding of who Jesus is were discrediting the people of the Philadelphia church.

And as they were discrediting the people of the Philadelphia church, Jesus says, don't you worry about that. Don't worry about all the things that they're saying about you. As a matter of fact, I will bring them to your feet and they will bow down and they will know. Actually, he says, I will make them to know that I have loved you. What does he mean by that?

He means I'll vindicate you before your enemies. I'm often reminded and I've shared it lots of times before and I will continue to do so because it's a philosophy I live by in my life. I don't have to go around and correct anybody's misconceptions of me. I don't have to go around and correct anybody's misconceptions of my faith. Jesus is really good at that.

We're told in Psalm 37 that he's able to bring forth our righteousness like the noonday sun. And that's exactly what he tells the church in Philadelphia. He says, there's this synagogue of Satan and I know what they're saying about you. I know how they're trying to discredit you, but don't worry. I'll bring forth your righteousness like the noonday sun. And they will be forced

to admit that I have loved you. He makes that promise to them. He goes on from there to say, because you've kept the word of my perseverance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing. That hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. I do agree with the commentators that point this out. I believe he's talking about the tribulation there,

the great tribulation that we'll see begin in that chapter four scenario that comes up next week. I believe he's talking about delivering them from that great tribulation that's to come. And the reason why I believe that is because it refers to it as the hour of testing that all of the world will have to go through. And so he says, I will deliver you from that hour of testing.

And then he says in verse 11, I am coming. Quickly. Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown. He says, don't worry, I'm coming quickly. Now that word quickly there isn't speaking of a proximity of time. It's speaking of a suddenness of appearance. We could actually substitute the word I am coming suddenly. Remember he told the church in Sardis

he would come like a thief in the night. It's the same idea, except these guys are going to be ready because they're prepared for it. He says, I'm coming quickly. I'm coming quickly. I'm coming in a sudden sort of way. So hold fast. Hold on to what you're doing. Don't quit now. Because as you and I both know, the easiest thing to do right before the end is to quit.

It's just to stop because it's like, oh, it's gotten so hard. Now he says, hold fast. Just hang in there. Just keep going. He who overcomes verse 12, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. And he will not go out from it anymore. He will be an attached fixture in the temple. And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God,

the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name, the eternal hope that this church in Philadelphia has. And then, of course, that familiar ending, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. And now we come to this last church, the church that we all hoped to not have to read about. But here it is anyway.

It says to the angel of the church in Laodicea, right? The amen, the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God says this. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy

and have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich. White garments so that you may clothe yourselves that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed. And I said to anoint your eyes so that you may see those whom I love.

I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him, will dine with him and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne. As I also overcame and sacrificed, sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear,

let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Laodicea. The word Laodicea literally means rule by the people. That's the actual definition for the name. It was an important city. It was a wealthy city and it was a self-sufficient city. If I remember correctly, it was 37 years prior to the writing of this letter. The church had been, or the, the entire city had been destroyed

by an earthquake. The city of Rome, the Roman government offered to help them rebuild it, to give them money and resources to help the Laodicean people rebuild the church. But the Laodicean people of the city refused because they had plenty of money to do it themselves. And quite frankly, they did. They rebuilt the city themselves with no help from the Roman empire.

They were a wealthy, important, self-sufficient city. And may I say the church themselves had found themselves to be wealthy, important, and sadly, self-sufficient. Because Jesus has to address them. He starts off as he usually does by identifying himself to the angel of the church in Laodicea write the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

I love the way he identifies himself. He identifies himself. I love the way he identifies himself in this one because it's there's just great power with the words that he uses. The amen, the word amen means so be it. In other words, the one who makes things happen. He identifies himself as the faithful and true God. Ironically, similar to how he identified himself

to the Philadelphian people, except with them, he was relating to who they are. But with the Laodicean people, he was showing them who they are not. He said, the faithful and true witness. And then he refers to himself as the beginning of creation. In other words, the one who started it all. You know why he identifies himself as that? Because they found themselves

to be very self-sufficient. And he says, no, you're not. I created everything. I created you. I created this church. You are not. You're not self-sufficient. You're me sufficient. And so he says, I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot, but you are lukewarm. Now, when we hear this, we've heard it lots of times. And so it makes sense to us.

But let me tell you why it would have made sense to the church in Laodicea. The Laodicean church sat at the foot of mountains that were usually snow capped. As the snow would melt, it would run down in streams. It would produce very cold water. But there was hot springs right near Laodicea as well that also had water flowing from them. So by the time those two streams met

and arrived in Laodicea, the water was lukewarm. Nobody really liked to drink it that much. They would try to do something to it to make it more palatable because it just didn't taste very good. And so when Jesus says, you're neither cold nor hot, you're lukewarm, they would have gone, that's just like the water we can't drink. And Jesus says, and I want to spew you out of my mouth.

He said, I wish you were one or the other. If you think about it, cold water is refreshing, right? Hot water is relaxing and almost healing in some ways, right? But they're neither one of those things. Jesus says, it can't do much with you. You're neither cold nor hot. So I want to spew you out of my mouth. You see, the church in Laodicea was lukewarm. They had just enough religion

to make themselves feel good, but not enough to change their lives.

They were the people who liked to come to church two or three times a month. Just to make sure that they had their bases covered. They owned maybe some copies of some parchments so that they had their bases covered. They probably read a couple of scriptures so that they had their bases covered. They'd all, if you will, purchase some fire insurance, but they weren't really passionate about the Lord.

Nobody showed up for the prayer meetings. Nobody really poured out their hearts in worship. Nobody really got that into the Bible study. Matter of fact, there probably wasn't really a lot of people there. There probably wasn't really a lot of people there. There probably wasn't really a lot of people there. There probably wasn't really a lot of people there.

There probably wasn't really a lot of people there. There probably wasn't really a lot of people there. Bible study. I always loved what Xavier Reese called them. He said, this is a church that had sermonettes. Sermonettes for Christianettes, right? They never really got deep in anything that they had to say. Because of that, Jesus is very upset with them. He says, you're neither cold nor hot.

You're lukewarm. Because of that, I will spit you out of my mouth. Then he begins to tell them more of their problem. He says, because you say, I am rich. And have become wealthy. And have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched. And miserable. And poor. And blind. And naked. You see, the problem was that they didn't know how bad they really were.

Do you remember the very first of the Beatitudes that we read in Matthew? It said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That idea of being poor in spirit doesn't just mean putting yourself down. It means having a realistic estimation of who we really are. That we are truly poor in spirit. That we know that I am wretched and blind and naked and poor in the eyes of my Savior.

That I'm destitute of any spiritual goodness. But you see, the problem in Laodicea is they didn't know that. As a matter of fact, they were the very opposite of that. They were rich, at least in their eyes. They had become wealthy. And they had need of nothing as far as they were concerned. They were the church that didn't need Jesus anymore. Because after all, look at everything that we've got.

Look at everything that we have. No longer do we have to say, silver and gold have I none. Because we have it all. But as one wise saint said to a pope that made that very same statement, he said, But also neither. Can you say, rise up and walk? You see, they thought they had everything. But Jesus says, the problem is you don't have anything. You don't know that you're wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

This was the church that had the emperor's new clothes, right? This was the church that were walking around naked, thinking that they were the most beautifully clothed church in all of the land. And they had no idea. And so what does Jesus tell them that they need to do? He says, Now, each of those is interesting statements. But I want to point out where it starts.

I advise you to buy from me gold. Now, here's the problem that I have with this verse. And one that, and hopefully you have too, and we'll point out why it's not really a problem in just a second. If they are wretched and poor and miserable and blind, how can they buy gold? How can they buy new garments? And how can they buy eye salve? That feels like a little bit of an oxymoron, does it not?

How are they supposed to buy those things? Well, with the very same truth that I just presented to you at the beginning of Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are the poor in spirit. But theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, once I realize that I am wretched and naked and poor and blind and miserable. All of a sudden, I have to come to Jesus and say, Can I have some of what you've got?

Because I don't have any wealth of my own. I don't have anything of my own. I have no spiritual riches. I need some. And do you know what he does? Well, he imparts to us. Every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. That's what we're told in the book of Ephesians. That he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. We say, I don't have a garment to wear.

As a matter of fact, I'm walking around naked because sin has so destroyed me. Jesus, is there anything you can cover me with? And he says, why don't I cover you in my righteousness? Kind of reminds me of the Garden of Eden, right? Remember what happened in the Garden of Eden? Before sin, they were both naked and not ashamed. Because they were clothed in righteousness.

They were clothed in righteousness of God. Well, once they ate of the fruit, what was the first thing that they realized about themselves? I'm naked, right? And then Adam goes and makes terrible clothing. And God says, let me take care of that for you. He takes the skin of animals, which was the righteousness of the Old Testament. And he covers them in it. He says, let me make you a promise.

The promise is this. I'm going to send a son. And he's going to eventually crush the head of Satan. And then I can really clothe you in righteousness. I added that last part. He didn't say that last part. But it's what he meant. And now when we come to Jesus and we say, Lord, I've got nothing. He says, but let me give you everything. I'll give you all of my spiritual blessings.

I will wrap you in a coat of righteousness. And then what was the last one? Some eye salve. Because what were they? They were blind. Apparently in the city of Laodicea, they were known for their salve that they would anoint people's eyes with. He says, buy some eye salve. Why? So that you can truly see. So that you can truly see. So that you can truly see the truth.

So that you can truly see me. That your eyes can be opened to me. He says, that's all I want you to do. I just want you to come to me. Come to me with your nothing. Come to me with your wretchedness and your nakedness and your blindness and your lack of wealth. And let me give you everything that you need. And then he goes on from here to say, I love verse 19.

He says, those whom I love, I reprove and I discipline. Guys, I hate getting disciplined, right? Like growing up, it happened to me all the time because I was an idiot, right? So I had to get disciplined. But one thing I always knew is that my dad is doing this because he loves me. Even in my stupidity, I always knew that. And I know that the same thing is true of Jesus.

Matter of fact, the writer to the book of Hebrews says, hey, listen, no chastening is fun in the moment. But it always produces. It produces the peaceable fruits of repentance. So Jesus says, all of you that are lukewarm, it's time to repent. As a matter of fact, he tells them to be zealous and repent. You know what that word zealous means? That word zealous can be translated hot.

Be hot and repent. Get rid of the lukewarm and get fired up for me. And repent of your lukewarm nature. Repent of these things. Because I love you and that's what I want to see you do. And then he makes this really interesting statement in verse 20. Probably one that you've memorized. Some of you may even know the song. I'm not going to make us sing the song.

I don't think. Unless I change my mind in a second. It says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and I will dine with him and he with me. This is interesting because I guarantee you've heard this used as an evangelistic verse. And it is. I believe that this verse is speaking both to believers and unbelievers.

But we need to remember that this is also speaking to the church. Because oftentimes, who's the last one that's welcome in church? Jesus. Gosh, I hope he's not at the front door knocking right now. I hope he's right here with us. I hope he's right here moving among us. He says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. Isn't it great that Jesus is just knocking and not busting the door down?

I love that about Jesus. He's always patient. Now, listen, I don't know how hard he's knocking on your door. For me, he had to pound that thing like crazy, right? I think his knuckles were bloody by the time I got there. I don't know. And I finally opened the door. Once I did, man, nothing's ever been the same. That's the way Jesus is with us, right? He's like, hey, listen, behold, I stand at the door and knock.

And if you hear my voice, just open it up, son. And I'll come in and we're going to hang out. We're going to eat together, right? We're going to eat a little In-N-Out because that's Jesus' cheeseburgers. Maybe later, we're going to go get some Chick-fil-A because that's Jesus' chicken nuggets, right? I haven't found Jesus' coffee yet. We're going to keep brewing it, right?

That's Jesus. That's Jesus' coffee. We're just going to hang out together. And listen, there comes times in our lives, we go through ups and downs in our lives. And every now and then, we've been pushing Jesus away. Every now and then, we kind of backslide a little bit. And Jesus goes, hey, we open the door back up. And the beautiful thing is, is that he's always so patient with us.

When we sort of find ourselves drifting away, because that's what happened to the church in Laodicea. I think they started off good. They just kind of started drifting. And Jesus goes, hey, can I come back in? I sure do miss you. He says, behold, I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. And then notice what he says in verse 21. He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne.

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the seven churches. I love this because he just absolutely jacked this church up with rebuke, right? Like, I mean, it... You can't get more slammed against the wall than I want to spit you out of my mouth, right? Like, that's pretty slammed against the wall with discipline. And then he goes, but man, once you overcome, once you let me back in, dude, we're going to hang out on my throne together.

Right? Because those whom he loves, he chastens. Those whom he loves, he disciplines and corrects. And he just can't wait for us to come back. Guys, there's so much we can learn. There's so much we can learn from these letters to the seven churches. I've moved through them pretty quick. To do this in two weeks is actually pretty quick. I know some pastors will take a church a week.

But we're moving a little quicker through the book of Revelation. But I would highly encourage you, go back and read through these letters to the churches. And see what Jesus is having to say to you. See what he has to say to you because there's messages in all of these for all of us. Amen? Father, thank you so much for the time that we have in your word. And I thank you, Lord, that you took time.

To address churches so that not only we as a church can learn something. But Lord, so that we as individuals can learn something. Father, protect us from false doctrine. Protect us from corruption. Protect us from a lukewarm feeling. And protect us from being dead. Lord, help us to wake up. Help us to stand strong. Help us to hold fast. Lord, may you produce in us hearts of faithfulness.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Lord, if we have closed the door, help us to hear you out there knocking. Because when we hear you knocking, Lord, we want to let you come in. And so, Lord, continue to do your work in our hearts. And we just thank you and praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.