Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190003A
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00:31 Hello and welcome once again to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:35 We are so glad that you are joining us for our continuing 00:38 study in the Book of Revelation, and we encourage you 00:42 to have your Bible and a pen and we hope you have 00:46 this Quarterly. 00:47 If you do not yet have a Quarterly, you can go online to: 00:51 ABSG.Adventist.org and download a copy 00:57 or you can go to your nearest Seventh-day Adventist Church, 01:01 they will be happy to provide you a copy and you may want to 01:04 stay by and worship and study with them. 01:07 I'm Shelley Quinn and let me introduce our panel today... 01:11 Next to me is Pastor Ryan Day, Jill Morikone, 01:16 Pastor John Lomacang and then we're very pleased that 01:20 Danny Shelton has also joined us today. Good to be here! 01:23 Danny, would you like to have 01:24 our opening prayer please? I would, I would. 01:27 Lord... We thank You for Your blessings and Your love, 01:30 and Your plan of salvation. 01:31 Lord, we thank You for Your word and this opportunity 01:35 to expound on it and, Lord, to see the churches that 01:39 even Your rebukes to us, and especially as we look down 01:42 to the church that we're in here in Laodicea, but Father, 01:46 we just thank You that You stand at our heart's door 01:50 and You knock and we are receptive and we're open 01:53 that you'll come in. 01:54 You'll hear our prayers, you'll save us where we are. 01:57 I pray now for the anointing of the Holy Spirit 01:59 on each and every one watching this program, listening to it 02:02 today. In Jesus name I pray... Amen 02:05 Amen and Amen! 02:07 Well, as Genesis is the Book of beginnings, Revelation 02:11 is the Book of consummation. 02:14 This is where everything is going to come to a close 02:19 and a new beginning, right? Amen! 02:21 So what we see here... and let me just kind of review 02:25 a few things... the very word "revelation" is in the Greek 02:29 "apokalupsis" and this is an unveiling. 02:33 It means that it's showing something that 02:37 we couldn't see if it weren't for this unveiling. 02:40 And we've already studied, in chapter 1, that these 02:44 messages were signified; they were coded in symbols, 02:50 but all of the symbols are found in the Bible. 02:55 And this is what I love about understanding Revelation... 03:00 I grew up being taught - you couldn't understand it, 03:03 and I heard every kind of interpretation and really, 03:08 for me, Daniel was the key that unlocked Revelation, 03:12 but it's so beautiful. 03:14 So here we've got the Apostle John who has been 03:18 banished to this little, tiny island, 03:21 a rocky island of Patmos and on the Sabbath day, 03:26 he is in the Spirit, he is worshipping the Lord and he 03:29 receives a series of startling visions but it begins 03:35 and I love this - as Jesus is showing Himself to John, 03:39 and this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 03:42 What happens is he sees Jesus walking among the seven 03:48 candlesticks which are the seven churches and we have 03:53 already seen that these messages have a historic 03:58 application... they have a prophetic application 04:01 and a universal application. 04:04 So what we're going to do today, we actually started last week 04:07 and it was you, brother Ryan, who started on the 04:11 first message to the first church which was Ephesus, 04:15 so today, we are going to continue with 04:18 the other six churches. 04:19 And I have to share something with you... 04:21 our study is going to be just a little out of order 04:24 because we study from a prepublished release 04:29 and we've just gotten these today and found out that 04:33 they're really quite different than what we were studying, 04:36 but I'm going to cover: "The Messages to Smyrna and Pergamum" 04:42 and the reason being is these are the only (excuse me) 04:46 Philadelphia? Yes... 04:48 I was going to say, "not Pergamum," 04:50 to Smyrna and Philadelphia," and the reason I think 04:54 these were originally coupled is because they're the only 04:58 two churches that didn't receive a rebuke. 05:01 Now, let me say one thing... All messages that Jesus 05:07 gave for the church have things in common. 05:11 They open with Jesus addressing the church by a 05:15 specific name and then He tells something very 05:19 personal about Himself and every one of His descriptions 05:24 about Himself is specific to the needs of that church... 05:29 So Jesus points to His ability to meet their struggles, 05:35 and that's what I love - because you know, when we think about 05:38 this, Jesus - He gives an appraisal of the church, 05:42 and for some churches, what, five of them, He gives 05:46 the commendations and for five, He gives a rebuke and those 05:50 aren't the same five. 05:52 So we see that the picture of the seven churches 05:55 as a whole - the churches are in a steadily 05:57 declining situation here. 06:01 But what I love, let me read the new memory verse is... 06:05 Revelation 3:21, it says... "To him who overcomes I will 06:11 grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame 06:16 and sat down with My Father on His throne." 06:19 That's Christ's greatest promise, I think. 06:23 Of all the promises and it's to, of all churches, Laodicea 06:28 the lukewarm church. 06:29 So what it shows is that the more that sin abounds, 06:34 the more than grace abounds, and that Jesus is 06:37 enough to meet all of our situations. 06:40 So of all of the seven churches, only two did Jesus not 06:45 criticize - that was Smyrna and Philadelphia. 06:48 So the letter to Smyrna has a lot of similarities 06:52 to the one to Philadelphia, very positive messages. 06:57 Some historians say that Smyrna had a population of 07:01 around 200,000 residents during the first century. 07:06 So this was no small town. 07:08 It had pledged its loyalty to Rome and had become 07:13 a headquarters for the imperial cult of 07:17 emperor worship in the area and Domitian 07:22 had issued an edict that emperor worship was mandated for all. 07:28 Now this is interesting... All of the Roman inhabitants 07:33 were supposed to be worshipping the emperor, 07:37 but they gave a little grace if you want to say, 07:41 to the - there was a very large and strong Jewish 07:46 community in Smyrna and so basically, they exempted 07:50 them from emperor worship. 07:53 But the Jews didn't want that 07:55 same privilege to be given to the Christians. 07:58 So here we see that Christians are now - we've got Rome 08:02 is beginning to persecute them, Jews are persecuting them, 08:06 and there are a lot of temples and they weren't going 08:10 to participate in this temple worship, 08:13 so they had a lot of problems. 08:15 But it was interesting, as I was studying this... 08:18 did you know that the pagans thought that the Christians 08:22 were atheists? 08:24 They thought they were atheists because they wouldn't 08:27 worship all of their gods and they even accused Christians 08:32 of being cannibals. 08:34 So it was because they were afraid that since Christians 08:40 were not worshipping their local deities, 08:44 they were afraid that it was going to have a bad 08:47 effect on their economic situation and they blamed 08:53 every catastrophe on the Christians... 08:57 And we may remember Polycarp who was a disciple of 09:01 John and a pastor - he was burned at the stake 09:05 in Smyrna about A.D. 156. 09:08 So let's read this... Revelation 2:8-11, "And to the angel 09:14 of the church in Smyrna write, "These things says 09:18 the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life..." 09:28 So the first and the last here is a reference to the 09:33 Old Testament Yahweh, the God of the covenant. 09:37 And then he says... "I know your works, tribulation, 09:40 and poverty, but you are rich; and I know the blasphemy 09:43 of those who say they are Jews and are not, 09:46 but are a synagogue of Satan." 09:49 Smyrna was a persecuted-poor church, not like Laodicea 09:54 that could boast of its material riches. 09:57 It was poor in material goods, but rich in grace. 10:02 And when it's talking about the Jews that say they are Jews 10:05 and are not... this isn't denying their Jewish linage. 10:09 What it's basically saying is... this is mirroring what Paul 10:13 said is that - "Just because you're a Jew outwardly, 10:17 doesn't mean that you're a Jew unless you have this 10:20 circumcision of the heart and are a Jew inwardly." 10:23 So verse 10, He says, "Do not fear any of those things which 10:27 you are about to suffer. 10:28 Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, 10:31 that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. 10:36 Be faithful unto death, and I will 10:39 give you the crown of life." 10:40 Most scholars hold that ten days was a well-used 10:46 expression, a normal ancient expression 10:50 for a short period of time. 10:52 So there's going to be a time of testing for the faithfulness 10:56 and the endurance of the Christian community in Smyrna. 10:59 But they would get the crown of life... this is not the 11:02 stephanos, not the royal diadem but this was the crown 11:08 of victory like the garland leafs that they put on the 11:13 athletes who were in the Olympic games 11:15 there held in Smyrna and it signified the joy 11:18 that they would have in victory. 11:20 So verse 11... "He who has an ear, let him hear what the 11:25 Spirit says to the churches. 11:27 That's interesting... each church hears that message. 11:30 And then he says... He who overcomes shall not be 11:33 hurt by the second death... which is the annihilation 11:36 of the wicked and stands in contrast to eternal life. 11:40 So the historical application... and I'm gonna have to hurry, 11:45 is for the message to the church in Smyrna - is to the 11:49 post-apostolic (I get that word out here) when 11:55 Christians were viciously persecuted by the Roman 11:59 Empire in the ten days in Revelation (ten, as I said, 12:04 is the short time that Diocletian in A.D. 303, 12:09 started this persecution and it continued until A.D. 313 12:15 when Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan 12:20 which granted the Christians religious freedom. 12:23 Now, the church of Philadelphia, I feel like I am an auctioneer! 12:28 Laughter... Philadelphia means brotherly love and it 12:34 was in it from Sardis set amidst the center 12:39 ... it was promoted for Greek language and culture 12:44 in the area of Lydia. 12:46 A severe earthquake hit Philadelphia in A.D. 17 12:50 and, you know what? Not only did it devastate 12:53 it then, but the aftershocks lasted for 20 years afterwards. 12:58 Isn't that amazing? 12:59 So each time the devastation would just get worse. 13:03 So Revelation 3:7-13 says... "To the angel of church in 13:08 Philadelphia write, "These things says He who is holy, 13:12 He who is true, "He who has the key of David, who opens 13:18 and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens." 13:21 This is from Revelation 1:18, when He says, "I have the 13:25 keys of Hades and Death. 13:27 I know your works. See, I have set before you an open 13:30 door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, 13:33 and have kept My word, and not denied My name." 13:37 "An open door" was a metaphor for the opportunity to 13:42 preaching the gospel and we know that this church, 13:45 in the historical application, would be the revival 13:50 of Protestantism during the 18th and 19th centuries. 13:56 And I'm out of time... 13:59 We need to pray for that clock! I think we do! 14:04 So much to study, so much to reveal, 14:06 so little time to do it in, but we're still going to give 14:08 you the best juiced version of the study that we can. 14:12 I'm going to continue our study on to the church of Pergamum. 14:15 "Pergamum" actually means "elevation," 14:19 "acropolis or elevation" because the city of Pergamum 14:22 was such a highly elevated city, and I'm actually going to reveal 14:26 a few things about the city of Pergamum throughout the study, 14:30 but I want to jump right into the text because we have 14:32 so little time... Revelation 2:12-15, we're going to start 14:37 there and we're going to start breaking 14:40 this down as we go through. 14:41 So Revelation 2 beginning with verse 12 says... 14:44 "And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write, 14:48 "These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 14:52 "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's 14:56 throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny 15:00 My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful 15:04 martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 15:08 But I have a few things against you, because you have there 15:12 those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak 15:17 to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat 15:20 things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15:25 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine 15:29 of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." 15:33 So we're going to just stop there, I'm want to go back 15:34 through and just kind of unpack a few things 15:36 that we're seeing in this particular text that we read. 15:38 First of all, notice how it opens up by stating "These 15:43 things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword." 15:46 I don't think we have to go too far into this before 15:50 we realize who exactly that's talking about... 15:52 of course, Revelation 1:16, in reference to Jesus Christ. 15:56 Just a chapter before speaking of Christ, it says, "He had 15:59 in His right hand, seven stars, out of His mouth went a 16:02 sharp two-edged sword." Right 16:04 The same thing is repeated in Revelation 19:15... 16:08 "Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword," talking about 16:11 Christ on the white horse coming back for His people." 16:13 So there's no doubt, and of course, I have to put it 16:17 in here... Hebrews 4:12, it says, "For the word of God 16:21 ... in the beginning was the word and the word was God, 16:23 and the word was with God, referring to Jesus. 16:25 For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper 16:27 than any two-edged sword piercing even the division of 16:30 the soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, 16:33 and is a discerner of the thoughts 16:34 and intents of the heart. And there is no creature 16:37 hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and opened 16:40 to the eyes of Him whom we must give account." 16:43 So when it says that, right here in this particular text... 16:46 "He who has the sharp two-edged sword (this is 16:50 none other than Jesus Christ representing Himself 16:53 as the coming word of God in which we shall be judged). 16:57 Notice what verse 13 says though... and of course, 16:59 those words which we will hear repeated over and over... 17:02 Not "I know your faith," but "I know your works 17:06 and where you dwell where Satan's throne is." 17:11 Now when I first read this years ago, studying this, I thought, 17:14 "Oh man, that's interesting... "where Satan's throne is." 17:17 And I just want to also reference the end of verse 13. 17:20 Notice what it says toward the end - I'm just kinda read 17:23 through that verse here... "My faith, even in the days 17:25 in which Antipas was my faithful martyr who was killed 17:28 among you, (there it is again) where Satan dwells." 17:31 So there's something about this Pergamum, this Pergamos 17:33 city, this time in which Satan has a hold. 17:37 He has placed his throne somewhere in the midst 17:40 of this particular city, this particular church. 17:43 And so, I'm going to kind of unpack this for a little bit. 17:45 And I want to kind of approach this from the concept 17:48 of when Satan was tempting Jesus because my mind went 17:52 to the time when Jesus went into the wilderness... 17:55 Do you remember Satan took Jesus to a very high, elevated 17:59 place - remember that? 18:01 Again, that's exactly what Pergamum or Pergamos means, 18:03 elevation and he offered to Jesus the cities of the world. 18:08 Jesus turned him down because Jesus would have become 18:12 almost like Satan's vice president, had he had done that, 18:15 and Jesus wasn't about to have that. 18:16 But what's interesting though... is while he offered it 18:20 to Christ but Christ turned it down there in Matthew 4. 18:23 We see that the offer (check this out...) prophetically, 18:26 see that the offer is accepted by the first 18:28 beast of Revelation 13, by the way of Pergamum. 18:33 Now follow me for this for a moment... I may have to take a 18:35 few extra minutes to unpack this, but I just want to go 18:37 through this here... Satan's throne, where Satan 18:41 dwells... Babylon was the central hub of false worship 18:46 and paganism, right? That's right! 18:47 Okay, now follow me with this... 18:48 Cyrus, who actually overthrew Babylon through the 18:52 Meds and the Persians, he was the emperor of the 18:54 Persian Army... Cyrus was a (let me see if I can say this right) 18:59 Zoroastrian which is a monotheistic faith. 19:04 Okay, now again, polytheistic versus monotheistic... 19:08 When Cyrus came in and conquered Babylon, 19:10 the chief Chaldean pontiff and many of the priests 19:14 fled Babylon and guess where they relocated? Pergamum! 19:18 And I looked this up in history, it's accurate. 19:20 In 520 B.C. Darius I executed many of the priests 19:25 that remained; some who survived again fled to Pergamum. 19:30 Notice #5 here, on my list here; in 482 B.C. Artaxerxes I 19:35 further massacred many of the remaining priests. 19:37 At that time, Artaxerxes destroyed their gods and 19:41 melted the image of the sun god Marduk and once again, 19:46 Pergamum provided refuge for these priests 19:47 and adopted their religion and culture. 19:50 So by the time you get to the year 67 B.C., 19:52 Pompey made Mithraism which had its origin in Pergamum, 19:58 (notice the common theme) the official religion 20:01 of the Roman legions. Okay. 20:03 The eagle, the symbol of the sun god - Mithras, was also 20:07 adopted by the Roman legions as their ensign. 20:10 If you want the historical reference of this, it's a 20:12 multivolume historical set called, " A Historical 20:14 Connection of the Old and New Testament," 20:17 by Humphrey Prideaux, and you can find it on page 145, 20:20 and 147, also 205-207. 20:23 So what you have here is an interesting theme. 20:25 You have Babylon, Pergamum, Pagan Rome, Spiritual Rome, 20:33 and then Papal Rome... you can follow the influence 20:36 that Pergamum had all the way from Babylon all the way 20:39 through to Papal Rome and we will see this as we continue 20:42 on through to Revelation 13 and onward. 20:45 But it's interesting when it says that Satan's throne is 20:49 there - Satan, of course, he's all about some 20:51 false worship and some paganism. 20:53 He wants to establish that certainty of taking our 20:57 attention away from the One True Almighty God, 21:00 and placing it on anything and everything else, 21:02 and that's exactly what Babylon was all about. 21:04 That's exactly what Pergamum was about. 21:06 So when we read there, where it says, Satan's throne 21:08 what's founded there... where Satan dwells. 21:10 That's exactly what it's communicating in that aspect 21:13 because it went from Babylon to Pergamum in history there. 21:18 Then comes the rebuke! Boy, time is flying. 21:21 Revelation 2:14-16 (notice the rebuke here) 21:25 "But I have a few things against you because you 21:26 have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, 21:29 who taught Balak to put a stumbling block... (And we know 21:31 the story of Balaam, so most of us for the lack of time here, 21:35 I just want to make mention here Numbers 22 and 25, 21:40 all the way through, I believe, to Numbers 31 and 33. 21:44 We have this interesting story of the prophet Balaam being 21:48 kind of enticed by the King Balak to curse Israel. 21:53 And the reason for this is because Israel was advancing 21:56 towards Canaan and, of course, Balak, the king of Moab, 21:59 feared that paganism would be destroyed. 22:01 He wasn't going to have that and so he convinces 22:03 this prophet and says, "Look, why don't you curse them?" 22:06 He tried four times and eventually, the only thing 22:08 could come up with was, "Hey, why don't you send in 22:11 the daughters of Moab to entice and to encourage and sweep 22:15 the men off their feet and then they will fall into 22:17 idolatry and sexual immorality." 22:19 That's what the Scripture is referencing here when it says 22:21 "Who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the 22:23 children of Israel - to eat things sacrificed to idols, 22:26 and to commit sexual immorality." 22:30 Now notice what it says... "Thus you also have 22:32 those who hold the doctrine 22:34 of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate." 22:36 Now this brings us back to the Nicolaitans 22:38 which I talked about briefly last week 22:40 in reference to Ephesus. 22:42 Now Ephesus turned away the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, 22:45 and Jesus commended them for that, and now you come to 22:47 Pergamum - Pergamum is accepting it. 22:49 Let me read you a little something about the Nicolaitans. 22:51 First of all, a couple of historians... Irenaeus and 22:56 Hippolytus tell us that the Nicolaitans were heretical 22:59 followers of Nicolas and, of course, this was one of the 23:02 seven deacons mentioned in Acts 6:5. 23:05 Now if this is true, Nicolas apostatized 23:07 from the faith, okay... 23:09 The Nicolaitans were a group who taught a radical 23:12 dualism between the body and the soul. 23:14 They believed that what is done with the body 23:17 cannot in any way defile the soul. 23:19 Therefore, they taught the believers are free from the law, 23:22 and they can do as they please. Okay. 23:24 So, in other words, no law, no discipline and so now 23:29 Pergamum has adopted this mentality - Jesus is rebuking 23:32 them for it, in fact, He goes on to say in verse 16... 23:35 "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will 23:37 fight against thee with the sword of My mouth." 23:40 You will be judged by the word of God... in other words, 23:43 I can just imagine Jesus standing there with a drawn 23:45 sword saying... "This or else." 23:47 But we know that with love, He gives the promise. 23:51 Notice chapter 2:17, in closing here... "He who has an ear, 23:55 let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 23:57 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden 24:00 manna to eat and I will give him a white stone, 24:03 and on that stone a new name written which no one knows 24:08 except him who receives it." 24:10 I'm looking forward to that time when Jesus is going to 24:13 give ME a white stone! 24:14 Amen! That was powerful and it's the same promise... 24:18 the new name is the same promise that He gave 24:21 to the church of Philadelphia. 24:23 I'm going to put a new name on you and I think of 24:26 Revelation 14:1 where the 144,000 have the name 24:30 of Christ and the Father on their foreheads. 24:33 because they're going in, right? 24:35 We're going to take a quick break. 24:37 Please stay tuned, we'll be right back. 24:44 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:48 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:51 Well, you can, by visiting 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 24:56 A clean design makes it easy to find the 24:59 program you're looking for. 25:00 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guides 25:04 so you can follow along. 25:06 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose 25:08 your favorite social media. 25:10 Share a link, save a life for eternity! 25:16 Welcome back, we're going to 25:17 continue our study on the "Seven Churches" 25:20 Jill has the church of Thyatira. 25:22 I do, church number four, "Christ's Message to Thyatira" 25:27 We're in Revelation 2, this is actually the 25:31 smallest of the cities. 25:32 Thyatira was the smallest of the cities, but it received the 25:35 longest letter from John. 25:39 The city was focused on trade. 25:41 They uncovered some ancient coins that showed 25:45 a multitude of guilds. 25:47 They had linen weavers; they had bronze workers; 25:49 they had potters; they had bakers; and each trade guild 25:53 had their own patron deity. 25:56 They included feasts and seasonal festivities, 25:59 but also a whole bunch of sexual immorality. 26:02 So the Christians did not want to belong to these trade guilds, 26:06 but yet they were subject to economic sanctions 26:10 if they refused to belong to these guilds. 26:13 We know that Lydia, seller of purple, remember Paul and 26:17 Silas met her in Philippi, but she came from the church 26:21 of Thyatira. 26:23 So as we look at these churches, this is church number 4 26:25 in the progression. 26:27 The church of Ephesus which Ryan, you covered so beautifully 26:29 last week, Revelation 2:6, it says... "But this you have 26:34 that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate." 26:38 So the church of Ephesus stood for truth and they did not 26:43 tolerate evil, evil teachings or evil men. 26:46 But yet we know that that church lacked love. 26:50 And then, Shelley, you covered the church of Smyrna, 26:52 and Ryan, you just covered the church of Pergamos, 26:54 the compromising church. 26:56 And this church, they went from, remember the church 26:59 of Ephesus, they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, 27:02 and they stood for truth. 27:03 Now we come down to the church of Pergamos and they are 27:06 tolerating evil in the midst. 27:09 We come to the next church, the church of Thyatira. 27:12 They not only tolerate it, they teach it. 27:15 In Revelation 2:20-21, this is part of the rebuke, 27:21 and then we're going to back up, but I just want to show 27:24 the progression of decline, as it were, spiritually, 27:27 in the midst of these seven churches. 27:29 Each church... now, of course, Smyrna was a pretty good 27:31 church - there was no rebuke, but the rest 27:34 of the churches, as you go through, you see this decline. 27:36 Hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans, then accepting 27:40 them and tolerating them in their midst and now 27:42 openly teaching false doctrines and teachings. 27:45 Revelation 2:20... "Nevertheless I have a few things 27:48 against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, 27:52 who calls herself a prophetess, 27:53 to teach and seduce My servants... 27:57 (now seduce means to deceive in the Greek, 27:59 it literally means to deceive) 28:01 My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things 28:05 sacrificed to idols." 28:07 So they went to openly teaching this and then 28:11 we see the progression as we get all the way down 28:13 to the church of Laodicea, and you might think... 28:15 "Well, Laodicea is not such a bad church." 28:17 Wait and find out when we get all 28:19 the way to the end here of the table. 28:21 Each one of the churches, the description of Jesus 28:24 at the beginning of this passage that He gives 28:27 to the church is relevant for that particular church. 28:30 So let's look at the description 28:32 of Jesus for the church of Thyatira. 28:34 We're in verse 18, Revelation 2:18... "To the angel 28:37 of the church in Thyatira write, "These things says the Son 28:41 of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, 28:44 and His feet like fine brass..." 28:47 So the three descriptions I see there: 28:49 1... The Son of God. 28:50 2... Eyes like flame of fire. 28:54 3... Feet like fine brass. 28:57 This is the only time the phrase "Son of God" 29:00 occurs in the Book of Revelation. 29:02 It emphasizes His deity, He has the right to judge 29:06 because He is divine. 29:09 He's coming to this church as a judge... not as a high priest, 29:12 not coming to bring comfort and peace because this 29:16 church definitely needs judgment. 29:19 #2... Eyes like the flame of fire. 29:21 You ever notice, Pastor John, that it's hard to look 29:23 someone in the eye when you're feeling guilty about something. 29:26 When you're trying to hide something from someone, 29:29 you don't even want to look at them because you 29:31 are trying to hide that. 29:33 Fire is often used in Scripture as a symbol of God's judgment. 29:38 1 Corinthians 3:12-13... "Now if anyone builds on this 29:42 foundation with gold, silver or precious stones, 29:45 wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; 29:48 for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed 29:52 by... what's the word? fire; and the fire will test 29:55 each one's work, of what sort it is." 29:58 So fire reveals character. 30:01 Then again, the third description... 30:02 "Feet like fine brass." 30:05 I think this church, in particular in that time period, 30:09 had a lot of trade guilds. 30:10 There was a lot of bronze and metal workers, 30:12 so they might even identify with that description of Jesus. 30:15 But this also shows judgment 30:17 and strength for trampling on evil and sin. 30:20 Now lets look at the characteristics of 30:22 the church of Thyatira. 30:23 I see a progressing church; I see a problem church; 30:27 and I see a precarious church. Okay. 30:30 Now when we look at the progressing church, 30:33 amazingly, they're actually growing in 30:36 some Christian virtues, even in the midst of all the 30:38 sin that's rampant in the church. 30:40 Let's look at that... verse 19. "I know your works, love..." 30:45 (but incidentally, the word for love is "agape" that's 30:48 the highest form of love and it's the only church 30:51 that's commended for love, and yet they have open sin 30:54 that they are teaching their false doctrines, okay) 30:57 "I know your works, love, service, faith and your 31:01 patience; and as for your works, 31:03 the last are more than the first." 31:05 So this church is actually growing in some Christian 31:09 virtues, but at the same time, the rebuke comes from Jesus. 31:13 There is a problem in this church. 31:15 That is that the woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, 31:19 is teaching and deceiving people. Wow! 31:22 Who is Jezebel? She was a wicked queen, we know, 31:25 in the Old Testament, who was married to King Ahab. 31:29 And Jezebel sponsored the worship of Baal. 31:32 She was kind of over the worship of Baal there in Israel. 31:35 We see here the union, as it were, of church and state. 31:39 The union of Jezebel with that religious false teaching 31:43 with Ahab, as it were, the state, and if you look at the 31:46 church of Thyatira, it symbolizes the church of 31:50 the dark ages from 538 through the 1500s when 31:55 there was false teaching united with the Roman Church, 31:59 but united with kingly power and there was such control 32:04 over the people during that time. 32:07 So the problem church - they had two major issues in this church. 32:11 First was the tolerance of open sin. 32:14 They encouraged sin, they openly taught it, Jezebel taught it. 32:18 Now this is the opposite of Ephesus - remember the church 32:21 of Ephesus stood for truth while neglecting love. 32:24 The church of Thyatira holds on to love and they 32:28 neglect truth. 32:29 I would submit to you that both of them are wrong. 32:32 In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, this is the denomination 32:35 that we're a part of... when I grew up, I was taught that 32:38 there is no unity apart from truth. 32:41 We need to hold on to our doctrines, they need to be pure. 32:45 We need to preserve the truth at all costs. 32:47 And then our church and many denominations swung 32:50 in the opposite direction and they said, "relationships 32:53 are more important than truth." 32:55 We need to hold on to relationships at all cost. 32:58 This camp says "It doesn't matter who you hurt." 33:02 This camp says "It doesn't matter what you believe." 33:04 This camp says, "It doesn't matter who you step on." 33:08 This camp says, "It doesn't matter what you teach." 33:11 This camp says, "It doesn't matter 33:12 how you preserve the truth. 33:13 And this camp says, "It doesn't matter 33:15 how you compromise." 33:17 Both are wrong - as we see in the church in Ephesus, 33:19 and the church of Thyatira. 33:21 We are to hold on to the truth, but hold on to it with love, 33:25 and with humility. 33:27 So the first problem with this church is they had this 33:29 tolerance of open sin. 33:30 The second problem is they had a lack of repentance. 33:34 Verse 21... "I gave her time to repent of her sexual 33:37 immorality and she did not repent." 33:40 Instead of repentance often, 33:42 how often do we choose to ignore sin? 33:45 We excuse it, we rationalize it, we defend it, we even embrace it 33:52 and live in open rebellion to the truth in the word of God. 33:57 This church is progressive. 33:59 It is a problem church, but it's also precarious because they're 34:02 faced with a decision right now. 34:05 They can choose God and His word and choose to repent of 34:08 the sin and the false teachings that are in that church... 34:12 Or, they would be carried away 34:14 with swift and complete destruction. 34:18 There's a promise to Thyatira which I love at the end. 34:22 Verse 26... "He who overcomes and keeps my works until 34:26 the end, to him I will give power over the nations. 34:30 He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be 34:33 dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels - as I also 34:36 have received from my Father; and I will give him the 34:38 morning star." 34:40 Three take-aways in closing... 34:41 #1... Never take your spiritual walk for granted. 34:45 Just because certain virtues seem to be flourishing 34:48 in your life or in your church community, 34:50 does not mean there is sin or something else 34:53 underneath all of that. 34:55 #2... Acknowledge sin and be willing to repent when the 35:00 Holy Spirit convicts you of something in your life 35:03 or a teaching that you are teaching that's 35:06 out of harmony with the word of God. 35:08 #3... Make a choice for Christ, choose His way. 35:12 Choose His will and choose His truth! Pastor John. 35:16 Wow! Amen! That was very good. 35:18 That's sermon material right there, I appreciate that Jill. 35:21 Which takes us now to the church of Sardis. 35:23 Sardis is an amazing church, it's a time where this church 35:29 exists during the Dark Ages and what's amazing about Sardis, 35:33 it's a church with a glorious history but the glorious 35:38 part of Sardis was more in its past than in its presence. 35:42 It was synonymous to those who will say... "You know, when I 35:46 was 25 years old, I remember my walk with Christ," but they 35:50 could never make reference to 35:52 any present experience with Christ. 35:54 This church had a glorious history, but what had happened 35:58 with Sardis existing during the Dark Ages 1565 to around 1740, 36:03 that's in the centralization of the Protestant Reformation 36:07 coming to the forefront, the battle between Rome and the 36:10 church heating up intensely... 36:12 Martin Luther catapults the Protestant Reformation 36:15 along with all the other pre-protestant reformers 36:18 and then the post protestant reformers. 36:21 And right now, the Church of Rome is at its height in 36:24 controlling society, so because of that, Sardis had to 36:29 operate only as it was allowed to. 36:31 It was a city that was existing at the top of a steep hill, 36:35 and it had walls surrounding the city - which was a very 36:38 spiritual application. 36:40 It says that the walls were guarded but carelessly. 36:44 And, you know, that reminds me of our relationship with Christ. 36:47 You may have walls that govern the parameter 36:50 of your worship of God, but if you guard those walls 36:53 carelessly, anything could come in and begin to chisel 36:56 away in at your relationship with Christ. 36:58 The other thing about the message to Sardis was 37:01 that it was a message in a spiritual situation. 37:06 It was during the rise of Protestantism, 37:09 but Protestantism was under the restraining 37:11 arm of Catholicism. 37:13 So it could only do so much, and then Romanism 37:17 catapulted the Counter Reformation which was 37:21 while they were trying to push us back to the Bible, 37:23 the Counter Reformation attacked Protestantism by 37:26 saying... "Let's go back to art and music and math, 37:28 and science. 37:29 So the church is being stifled and the church, 37:33 while it's not being able to breathe and thrive 37:36 the way it should, it's now disintegrating into a 37:38 lifeless formalism and a state of spiritual complacency. Yes. 37:44 So when you lose the fervor and, secondly, when 37:50 you give into the circumstances surrounding you, 37:52 and you say, "Well, I cannot be a Christian because 37:54 I'm being oppressed by surrounding circumstances, 37:58 look back at Elisha, look back at Paul, 38:00 look back at John the Baptist, look back at Old Testament 38:02 prophets who thrived in the midst of complacency 38:06 and apostasy. 38:08 We must never allow our surrounding circumstances 38:11 to define our relationship with Christ. 38:14 That was what Sardis was guilty of... they allowed 38:17 the formalism around them, then they disintegrated 38:20 from spiritual to rationalism and secularism because 38:25 secularism was pouring into the church... 38:28 art, cathedrals with stained glass, music, science. 38:32 The devil did everything he could to get them away, 38:34 and that's why you have to really be careful... 38:37 I just saw a report where a schoolteacher wrote a 38:40 booklet, I mean a book actually, saying that people that 38:43 focus on getting all A's in college, really are not the 38:46 ones that change the world because they're focused on 38:49 academic achievement, they're focused on academic 38:51 excellence when they lose creativity. That's true! 38:54 He said those with the lower grades tend to be the ones 38:56 that shape society. 38:57 Steve Jobs graduated with a 2.3 GPA. Steve Jobs! 39:04 And he talked about all these people that are 39:06 famous and movers and shakers of the world and 39:08 he said, "They had low education, they hardly had 39:10 any, but look how they changed the world." 39:12 So what happened with Sardis was they were able to 39:16 be redirected away from their relationship, but the 39:21 relationship thrived with the secular society and the 39:25 rational thought coming into the world... 39:27 philosophy, psychology grew tremendously during this time. 39:31 The church was being stifled, not only that, 39:34 they gave up the gospel commission. 39:35 Instead of preaching the gospel commission of salvation, 39:38 they gave in to creedal and philosophical arguments... 39:42 which you know, when you read the Book of Romans, 39:43 Paul, he tried to fight against all the Greeks with Greece. 39:47 He tried to fight and then when he wrote the Book of Romans, 39:49 he was SO frustrated, he says, "I don't want to know anything 39:53 but Christ and Him crucified. Amen! 39:55 Because you cannot win an argument philosophically 39:58 with those who spend all their time in philosophy. That's true. 40:00 It's just an act of futility. 40:03 The church of Sardis began becoming creedal and 40:05 philosophical and they started slipping. 40:08 That's why the Bible, when it says here, listen to 40:13 Revelation 3:1, He says, in the middle... "You have a name 40:17 that you are alive but you are dead." 40:20 And that could happen easily - it's a rebuke 40:24 and also a caution to us as Adventists because we have a 40:27 powerful message, but if we allow our message to 40:30 descend into formalism, if we put more 40:32 focus on philosophical reasoning about our message, 40:35 rather than spiritual exercise in our own lives, 40:38 then we could descend into winning an argument 40:42 but losing our connection with Christ. That's true! 40:44 That's what could happen! 40:47 I want to make sure that all the points of my philosophical 40:49 argument are tight but I don't know who Jesus is 40:51 because I rather win an argument than win the person. 40:53 We have to be very careful with that. 40:55 I used to be that kind when I was young. 40:57 I would do everything to win the argument, 40:58 but nobody would talk to me when I got on the bus! 41:02 He's ready to argue, but now I want to win the person, 41:04 show them the Christ in my own life and let their heart be 41:07 transformed by what Christ means to me. Amen! 41:09 But you don't throw away the truth, as you said, you don't 41:11 throw away relationships for 41:13 truth or truth for relationships. 41:14 A Christian has Spirit and truth, John 4:23. 41:18 Not only that, the Lord says, "Remember (verse 3 of 41:22 Revelation 3) how you have received and holdfast and 41:26 repent; therefore, if you will not watch, I will come 41:31 among you as a thief and you will not know what hour 41:33 I will come upon you." 41:36 In winding up my section, I want to bring that out 41:38 because there are some significant points 41:40 that the Lord pointed out. 41:42 He wanted them to remember how they have received. 41:45 What I've discovered is... when you forget how God 41:50 has delivered the message to you, it chisels 41:53 away at your gratitude. 41:54 You know, you could have a powerful gift but you don't 41:57 even appreciate the Giver, and you could say, "This is 42:00 a wonderful message but I'm more concerned about 42:04 the surroundings of my religion rather than 42:06 the person who I am connected to. That's right! 42:08 They descended. In Deuteronomy 8:11... well, actually I'm going 42:14 to go to Psalms 102 and Psalm 103, but I'll just go 42:18 ahead and read Psalm 102, I think it's Psalm 102:4, 42:21 remind me if I'm incorrect because I put two together. 42:23 Read that for me Jill, what does it say? 42:24 "My heart is stricken and withered like grass." 42:26 Okay, Psalm 103:2, that's the one... "Bless the Lord, 42:30 O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 42:33 Who forgives all your iniquities, 42:35 who heals all your diseases." 42:37 So don't forget all the benefits, don't hold the 42:40 benefits aloof from the benefactor. Amen! 42:43 Don't forget that this message is potent but don't 42:46 forget the Christ of the message. 42:47 We could be so in tune with the message, 42:49 we forget the Jesus of the message. Absolutely! 42:51 And that happens sometimes in the avenue of complacency. 42:54 The other one is... when you forget, you make "self" the 42:57 focus and it results in destruction. 43:00 Deuteronomy 8:11, He says... "Beware that you do not 43:03 forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, 43:06 His judgments and statutes which I command you today..." 43:09 Verse 17 of Deuteronomy 8... "... Then you say in your heart 43:13 "My power and my might and my hands have gained 43:17 me this wealth." 43:18 And so, sometimes people are so successful, 43:21 that they become focused on self. 43:24 When you lose gratitude, self becomes the focus. 43:27 The third thing is verse 19 of Deuteronomy 8, you have it Ryan? 43:33 Jill go ahead and read it because you have it... 43:34 "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord 43:37 your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship 43:40 them, I testify against you this day 43:42 that you shall surely perish." 43:44 Because when you forget, it removes accountability. 43:49 When you forget... "I'm not accountable to anybody." 43:51 And when you lose accountability, the Lord says, 43:53 "You forget where it came from, you're gonna perish." 43:56 "If you forget Me, it's not going to be successful. 43:58 Also, it produces what I call "reciprocal results." 44:03 When we forget God... One of the things we say 44:05 is true... "I'll never leave you nor forsake you," 44:08 but the Lord says... "If you leave Me, 44:10 I'll leave you... Don't' forget that. 44:12 Go ahead and look at Hosea 4:6, this produces 44:16 reciprocal results and, you know, I didn't even get 44:19 into the repent part, but that's how it works on this program. 44:22 Revelation is too deep to be 10 minutes long! 44:25 That's right! But I'm gonna hit it real quickly. 44:27 Hosea 4:6, it says, "My people are destroyed for lack 44:31 of knowledge (but look at this...) because you have 44:34 rejected knowledge, I will also you from being priest 44:37 and because you have forgotten the law of your God, 44:40 I will also forget your children." 44:42 Have to be very careful, you can't forget the Lord, 44:45 and you can't cannot forget His law because it has 44:48 reciprocal results. 44:49 "You forget me... I'll forget you." 44:51 So we must do two things... Repent, and we must hold fast 44:54 whatever God has given us, we must hold fast. 44:57 Why? Fight the good fight of faith. 44:59 1 Timothy 6:12... "Lay hold on eternal life." 45:02 We have to lay hold... hold fast to eternal life. 45:05 And then, we've got to repent. 45:07 Why do we repent? "Repent for the kingdom 45:11 of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2. 45:14 Don't forget... "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 45:18 That's what the Lord encouraged Sardis to get back to. 45:22 Amen! Thank you, that was beautifully done. 45:24 Mine is really exciting because it's "Christians in Laodicea" 45:29 and if there's any time in earth's history, in any church, 45:33 that aptly represents the end-time church, 45:37 it's the seventh church there, so we can look back 45:40 and learn many lessons from... I'm going to call it the 45:44 "original Laodicea" because we've taken on that 45:46 the last church. Wow. 45:48 And so it's interesting how God rebukes in all the churches, 45:53 but in Laodicea, it seemed like He had no mercy. 45:57 Now I take that back... God has mercy but He's like... 46:00 to some of them, "Well, you did this or that," He's like 46:02 "You're wretched, you're miserable, you're poor, 46:04 you're naked, you're blind." 46:06 Then also you say... "What terrible sin is it... 46:09 that they did?" 46:11 Well actually, there's not anything that He doesn't rebuke 46:14 us for some terrible, serious sin, but it's basically 46:19 ... well it wasn't about adultery and sexual sins; 46:23 it wasn't about, you know, alcoholism and drugs; 46:25 it wasn't about killing people. 46:28 It's about "You're asleep." That's right. 46:31 Complacency. That's right! 46:33 And lethargy. Wake up! You are asleep because 46:36 that is the most damaging kind of 46:39 Christian that you can have. That's right. Amen! 46:41 You see, He says, "I'd rather you be hot or cold, 46:45 but you're lukewarm. 46:46 So I'm going to go back and take a little bit of the history. 46:49 Laodicea was a wealthy city during the Roman time, 46:52 but it was a city like some of these others, it was a major 46:56 trade route that connected it to other important 46:58 cities like Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis and so on. 47:02 But it was a textile center and also, I thought it was 47:05 interesting - they even had a medical school where they 47:08 produced eye salve. 47:10 So now as we're listening a little bit about it, 47:12 you'll start thinking about the rebuke a little bit later 47:15 on here starting with verse like 14 through 22. 47:19 So here you have this and it says also their banks were 47:23 full of money - so it was considered a wealthy city. 47:27 And I think in verse 17, we hear that when Jesus says, 47:30 "Try of Me gold in the fire." 47:32 But it's not surprising they are termed as a wealthy city. 47:37 But an earthquake destroyed the city in about 60 A.D. 47:40 and when Rome came in to help them, they said, 47:43 "We don't need the help, we've got everything we need." 47:46 "We have all the resources, we don't need you. 47:48 We've got money, we've got... I mean 47:50 everything you want, we have it here." 47:52 They were short on one thing that's most important though, 47:55 and that was water. 47:57 They had no water period, so you have a whole city 48:01 that depended on Hierapolis, a city some distance away 48:05 that literally brought the water through aqueducts. That's right. 48:09 And so when this water came from a distance, 48:13 guess what... that's where that came from "lukewarm" 48:16 because it was neither hot nor cold by the time 48:19 it traveled all this distance. 48:20 So when Jesus is saying to those of ya, I'd rather you be 48:24 hot or cold, because you take lukewarm water and it 48:26 really - you do want to get rid of it... you want to spew 48:29 it out because I don't know about you all, but I like 48:31 something to either be hot or be cold. That's right. 48:34 And so here we are, we're finding out that this church 48:37 that what had happened is they have so much 48:40 ... we're going to call it "pride" because we don't need 48:43 anything, we have everything that we need. 48:45 And I look at our own church, so I have to come back and say.. 48:49 "Okay, what are the similarities between Laodicea of old, 48:54 and the seventh church today 48:56 which I think all of us believe that we're living in this era, 49:01 this time in earth's history." 49:03 So we look at it and there were a number of things 49:05 and one that kind of surprised me was Domitian, the emperor, 49:10 he declared himself a god... now while he was alive. 49:14 Now most of the time, you know, somebody did that afterwards 49:17 and said, "Oh well, he's a god," but Domitian, he says, 49:20 "Hey, I'm a god and you worship me." 49:24 Now, you had a lot of rich Christians in Laodicea, 49:29 I mean a lot of that money in the bank was these 49:32 Christians, but Domitian said, "If you don't worship me, 49:36 you can't buy nor sell. 49:39 There's organizations you belong to and you're not 49:41 going to be in that business organization 49:43 unless you worship me." 49:45 As you mentioned earlier, he kind of excused the Jews 49:48 and some of the others, but to Christians 49:50 ... "You're going to have to do this, you can't buy nor sell. 49:52 (And, in fact, it got so bad...) if you continued to do this, 49:56 then we're going to kill you." 49:57 Now we, as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, are living in a 50:01 time and here basically, the similarities are, you know, 50:05 worship the image of the beast and who am I going to serve? 50:09 And so that, for several thousands of years, 50:12 has been the big question... as to whom am I going to serve 50:16 today - do I serve God or do I serve man? 50:20 And so I began to think about it as a church and as a people, 50:23 we have some of the most beautiful 50:25 churches anywhere in the world. 50:26 We have a health system, John, an educational system 50:30 that's second to none anywhere in the world. 50:33 We have churches that have million dollar pipe organs. 50:37 Did you know that? No. I've been in them. 50:39 I've seen them - I said, "What does that cost?" 50:41 They said, "A million dollars." 50:42 And I'm like, well a little synthesizer behind the curtain 50:45 now could do that and no one 50:47 would know it wasn't a pipe organ, you know, but 50:49 we have all of these things that appear to be 50:53 great and to be Christian, but unless that health system, 50:57 that educational system - unless those beautiful buildings are 51:00 winning souls, they're spiritually useless. 51:03 Is that too hard to say? Is that fair enough to say? 51:06 Although what happens within Laodicea that these people, 51:10 the original, I'm going to go back to the original, 51:13 they were dependent on themselves because 51:16 "we have everything," we're kind of that way 51:18 as a church today and, if we're not, it's because 51:22 we're in denial and we are asleep, but if we wake up... 51:25 But Jesus says, you know, that we should ask, 51:28 and here's the beauty of it, as our time... I see what y'all 51:30 are saying about your time because I haven't even 51:32 got started on my notes yet, I made some notes here. 51:36 But the beauty of it is... Jesus says, "Ask of Me, 51:40 ask of Me - so here He talks about eye salve; 51:44 He talks about, Why don't you get the kind of gold 51:46 that comes from your faith, that will last forever. 51:51 Jesus is the living water, so what happens when 51:56 ... and I thought about this, the likeness - just think 51:58 about every time you get too far away from the living 52:01 water... you know, this lethargy, this complacency 52:04 sets in - Laodicea was too far away from it. 52:08 So we become lukewarm and so we have to stay close 52:12 to Jesus in order to keep the vision that - why are we here? 52:17 It's not about our buildings, it's not about all these 52:19 beautiful things... 3ABN is a great television network, 52:22 but all these cameras and all the buildings, all the studios 52:26 really mean nothing if they're not dedicated to saving souls 52:30 for the Kingdom of God. That's right! 52:32 So I think about a people that come to the Lord, 52:35 and the problem with the Laodicean Christian... 52:39 you come to the Lord and usually we come to the Lord 52:41 out of trouble... I mean, if we're doing fine, 52:45 but people... "Uh oh, I've lost this, my health is bad, 52:49 I may die; I better look around and see if 52:52 there is a God and if there is, maybe I need to serve Him." 52:56 You know, "I'm bankrupt, I have no money." 52:59 Whatever reasons - we turn to God. 53:01 And, people watch - they're watching, 53:04 they watch what you do. 53:05 People want to see when you accept Jesus Christ 53:07 as Lord and Savior - how are you going to act 53:09 when you get into a time of trouble... 53:11 when you get into rough time. 53:13 So now, we're doing fine, but all of a sudden 53:16 our health gets good and all of a sudden our wealth 53:20 gets better - we're coming back, so we lose that first love 53:24 and that first love takes us into that complacency, 53:29 that Laodicean - no longer are we involved in 53:32 evangelism; no longer are we giving our testimony. 53:35 And I want you to ask, in closing here, 53:37 how long has it been since your church has had an 53:41 evangelistic series? Had a Ryan Day or 53:43 a Pastor John or somebody? 53:45 How long has it been since you, personally, 53:47 have done community service? 53:48 We used to do that when we were young. 53:50 We would keep how many hours you did. 53:52 What are you doing for the cause of God today... 53:55 other than just giving money, that's great, we need it, 53:58 but God is asking for all of us today and if we want 54:02 to be different; if we want to be ready... 54:04 here's what Jesus says... "If you ask of Me, 54:07 I stand at your heart's door and I'm knocking, 54:11 and if you let Me, if you'll open up your heart, 54:14 I'll come in," and He will save you. 54:16 So Laodicea - whether all that, you know - the past means 54:19 nothing; the good part is Jesus says that He will come, 54:23 He will dwell with us, we can sit with Him on the 54:26 throne and we can rule and reign forever if we're willing 54:29 to submit and commit our life to the Lord Jesus Christ. 54:32 So it's my prayer today that each and every one of us, 54:35 as far as looking at ourselves individually, our churches, 54:38 remember that it's all about evangelism. 54:42 I used to say, I had a few words in my vocabulary, 54:45 but it's kind of gotten down to one... 54:46 Evangelism, Evangelism, Evangelism! 54:50 Stay close to the water. 54:52 Stay close, you don't want to be lukewarm. 54:54 Stay close to the water of life, Jesus Christ, 54:57 and when you do that, your love for Jesus... 55:00 as long as you got love for Jesus, if you have love 55:02 for Jesus, you'll have love for your fellowman. 55:04 Then, go and tell what He has done for you! 55:08 Your greatest asset is your own personal testimony 55:10 of what Jesus Christ has done for you! 55:14 Amen! Amen! Thank you Danny, that was powerful 55:16 even though you didn't get to your notes. 55:18 You know, something I meant to say at the very 55:20 beginning is as Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 55:24 we believe in the historicist application of prophecy. 55:29 And the historist, that just simply means that 55:32 prophecy follows the flow of history from antiquity 55:38 till the end of time. 55:40 And this is what all the reformers believed, 55:42 and in fact, it was the anti-Reformation that came 55:48 up with the idea of the futurism that so many 55:51 Christian churches believe today. 55:53 We have just a couple of minutes. 55:57 Please just give us a quick 55:58 recap or some thought from your day. 56:01 Sure, absolutely... Well my day was on the church of Pergamum, 56:06 and what really sticks out to me, not just for the church 56:09 of Pergamum but other churches, 56:11 is that Jesus encourages them to overcome. 56:14 He says, "To them that overcome," and He gives a 56:16 beautiful promise. 56:17 You know, I desire to overcome, as I know you do, 56:21 and as I know each one of us here do and so to overcome 56:25 means you have to overcome a struggle, a fight because 56:28 this is a fight and so my prayer is that we will keep 56:30 fighting and we will keep overcoming through Jesus Christ. 56:33 Halleluiah, Amen! Thank you Ryan. 56:35 What I love about the seven churches is that 56:38 Christ knows each one of them intimately. 56:40 He knows their struggles, He knows where they have 56:42 failed and He offers encouragement; 56:45 offers hope; offers a promise that they can overcome 56:48 and they can be victorious. 56:50 And the promise to Sardis is... "If you overcome your lethargy, 56:54 your formalism, your cold commitment, I will not blot 56:58 out your name from the Book of Life." 57:00 There's only one thing worse than having your name 57:05 blotted out of the Book of Life is living thinking that 57:08 it's there and it's really not. Amen! 57:10 And so I don't want to live that formalism thinking 57:12 that somehow I'm there but I've lost my connection 57:15 and I've descended into cold formalism. Amen! 57:17 Though we're born in Laodicea, we don't have to stay there. 57:21 Let's ask God for the Holy Spirit and the Latter rain 57:24 so that we can be equipped to go out and to win souls 57:28 for the Kingdom of God. Amen! 57:29 I have learned something from each one of you today. 57:32 I want to thank you very much for your investment of time. 57:34 And we hope that you will join us next week 57:38 for Lesson 4 which is: "Worthy is the Lamb" 57:42 The beautiful thing about the Book of Revelation is 57:45 it is all about Jesus and His soon return! 57:49 Our prayer for you is that the grace of our Lord and Savior 57:52 Jesus Christ, the love of the Father and the fellowship 57:54 of the Holy Spirit will be with 57:56 you today and always! God bless. |
Revised 2024-08-13