back to indexWed Bible Study - Revelation Lesson 5
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All right, we're going to be looking at the three remaining churches of the seven churches 00:00:12.900 |
in chapter three, the Church of Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 00:00:17.680 |
So let me pray for us and then we'll jump in. 00:00:21.160 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for this afternoon. 00:00:23.660 |
We pray, Father God, that we would be able to meet you through your word. 00:00:31.920 |
We know, Father God, that ultimately we can only be fed, Father, when we're with you. 00:00:36.740 |
So help us, Lord God, not to simply go through the motion, but this opportunity would be 00:00:42.720 |
an opportunity for us to really seek you, to know you, to worship you, that we may continue 00:00:51.240 |
And we pray that you would anoint this time and that your word would be spoken, Father. 00:00:58.560 |
All right, so the remaining three churches, the Church of Sardis, so we're going to jump 00:01:03.960 |
right into it because there's a lot of material. 00:01:07.640 |
The Church of Sardis, again, every single one of these letters has different titles 00:01:13.800 |
of Jesus that was mentioned in chapter one and is repeated and is related to what he 00:01:23.920 |
The first one is that Jesus is introduced to us as one who has seven spirits of God 00:01:31.280 |
And again, I'm not going to spend too much time here. 00:01:47.440 |
Well, seven, obviously, you know, it represents the number completeness. 00:01:52.320 |
And in the previous chapter, it tells us that the seven stars, they represent the seven 00:02:00.000 |
And again, I'm not going to go too deep into that because basically it signifies God's 00:02:05.040 |
sovereignty over the churches and what he's about to say. 00:02:12.200 |
This church, one of the harshest rebukes out of the seven, some of you might say that the 00:02:19.920 |
I think the harshest rebuke is to the Laodicean church, but it's obviously debatable. 00:02:28.880 |
In fact, I don't think there's an argument that it's either between Laodicea and this 00:02:34.160 |
And the reputation that they had was they were alive, but in reality, they were dead. 00:02:39.440 |
It says Jesus who walks among them, knows them intimately and not just their reputation. 00:02:44.440 |
So we've been hearing over and over again, it's this Christ who is in the midst of them, 00:02:50.000 |
That this is not a God who is far off and he's watching from a distance and say, "Hey, 00:02:55.920 |
The scripture says that this is the body of Christ. 00:02:59.080 |
And the vision that John sees is that Jesus is in the midst of them. 00:03:03.760 |
So again, obviously an application for us as a church that Christ, even though we can't 00:03:10.200 |
physically see him, if we are his church, his presence is real among us. 00:03:15.480 |
And so that's why he's able to say over and over again, "I know your deeds, right? 00:03:21.720 |
I know what your reputation is, but I know who you really are." 00:03:24.120 |
And so he says, "Beyond the surface of reputation, this is how everybody else sees you, but this 00:03:30.180 |
You have the reputation of being alive, but you're really dead." 00:03:34.280 |
And it's, again, it kind of reminded me of the fig tree in Mark 11, verse 20, where Jesus 00:03:40.080 |
sees it and he goes forward and thinking that there would be fruit and there's no fruit, 00:03:46.240 |
It has an appearance of life, but in actuality, it was actually dead. 00:03:51.280 |
In 1 Corinthians 10, 12, we are warned that when you think you stand, be careful because 00:03:59.400 |
And so the danger of this church was that they did not recognize where they were because 00:04:03.980 |
they were believing their own reputation, because other people said this about them. 00:04:09.760 |
And because maybe these people had particular titles or maybe they did something in the 00:04:13.560 |
past or maybe they had a famous evangelist as a pastor. 00:04:16.760 |
I don't know why they had this reputation, but for whatever the reason, they believed 00:04:23.200 |
And so you have a reputation, but in reality, that's not who you are, right? 00:04:29.200 |
But the only explanation that is given for why this church is dead is given in verse 00:04:37.600 |
In verse two, it says, "Wake up and strengthen." 00:04:53.320 |
In verse two, it says, "I have not found your work complete." 00:05:03.080 |
So the only explanation given to us of why this church was dead and not alive is that 00:05:10.220 |
It doesn't mention about any particular heresy. 00:05:13.000 |
It doesn't talk about any particular sin that they're tolerating. 00:05:19.760 |
You started this work, but you haven't completed it. 00:05:28.060 |
Some of you guys who may know the book of Haggai, the book of Haggai is written where 00:05:33.320 |
God calls this man, Haggai, to prophesy against the nation of Israel because 16 years prior 00:05:39.320 |
to Haggai's ministry, God basically allowed the nation of Israel to come back and rebuild 00:05:45.940 |
And when they came back, they were met with some resistance from the Samaritans. 00:05:50.680 |
And because it was difficult, they weren't received with fanfare and there was opposition, 00:05:58.680 |
And every time they would try to build the temple, there would be these antagonists, 00:06:03.080 |
the Samaritans, and that's part of the reason why there was such animosity between them. 00:06:08.260 |
And so after a while, they got tired and they quit. 00:06:11.020 |
And so as a result, Haggai is sent to prophesy against the nation of Israel, basically saying 00:06:17.760 |
You've forgotten about the temple, which is the very reason why I sent you. 00:06:21.540 |
And so the passage in Haggai, okay, let me wait until it comes up. 00:06:46.500 |
I'm just going to read this passage to you because it's kind of consistent or reminiscent 00:06:52.660 |
Haggai 1, 7-11, God speaks through Haggai to the nation of Israel. 00:06:56.700 |
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Consider your ways. 00:06:59.580 |
Go up to the hills and bring wood and build a house that I may take pleasure in it and 00:07:05.300 |
'You looked for much and behold, it came to little. 00:07:15.060 |
While each of you busies himself with his own house, therefore the heavens above have 00:07:19.700 |
withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 00:07:24.540 |
And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills and on the grain, the new wine, 00:07:29.300 |
the oil on which the ground brings forth on man and beast and on all their labor.'" 00:07:35.140 |
So basically God says to the nation of Israel, the reason why you're frustrated in your commerce 00:07:39.380 |
and in your homes is because you haven't completed the task that you were sent to do, which is 00:07:46.640 |
We don't know exactly what the work was in Sardis that Jesus is referring to where their 00:07:56.240 |
But all we know is whatever it was that God sent them to do, they forgot about it. 00:08:00.760 |
Maybe they started enjoying church and they just started going through the motions and 00:08:07.180 |
taking care of their children and maybe they weren't evangelizing. 00:08:13.080 |
But because of their incomplete work, even though they may at one point may have been 00:08:18.240 |
alive, he said in God's eyes now they are dead. 00:08:27.540 |
And this is the same exhortation that he gives to all the churches that he has an issue with. 00:08:33.840 |
He says first and foremost, whenever God has something against, the first thing that needs 00:08:41.260 |
And repentance basically means is owning up to that sin. 00:08:45.380 |
If we don't recognize our own sin, our repentance would be disingenuous. 00:08:50.620 |
So the first thing he calls us to and he points out what the sin is and then he calls to repentance 00:08:57.360 |
And more specifically, he calls them to wake up from their indifference. 00:09:03.500 |
Whatever it takes to strengthen what they do not have before it dies. 00:09:08.540 |
There are certain things that they have that hasn't died yet, but it's in danger of dying 00:09:12.700 |
if they don't pay attention to it right away. 00:09:17.780 |
So like the church of Ephesus, they are to remember. 00:09:21.300 |
And so remember he says the same thing to the church of Ephesus. 00:09:29.640 |
Not to innovate, to find new things or new ways to do something. 00:09:35.820 |
The reason why you've fallen away and why you have abandoned your first love and why 00:09:41.520 |
you have a reputation of being alive but you're actually dead is because you're forgotten. 00:09:53.940 |
Or maybe you didn't forget, but it no longer has an impact on you. 00:10:00.740 |
The fact that Christ saved you from your sins, it's old news. 00:10:12.980 |
And so the remedy that Jesus gives to this church, which consisted with all the other 00:10:16.680 |
churches is to repent, to wake up from where you are, recognize the situation that you're 00:10:32.620 |
You're not completing the task that God called you to do and to remember and to obey. 00:10:40.180 |
And he says the present condition is because they become dull in remembering what they 00:10:52.480 |
And as a result, the consequence, if they don't repent, that he will come, he will come 00:11:11.620 |
Who does he say that Jesus' second coming is going to be like a thief? 00:11:23.500 |
Are Christians going to receive Jesus' second coming like a thief? 00:11:32.800 |
That you ought to stay sober and awake so that when he comes, he will not be like the 00:11:37.380 |
thief, that you ought to watch and be careful so he would not overtake you like the world. 00:11:42.660 |
But here it says, if you don't wake up and repent and you continue in your state, he 00:11:47.660 |
said when he comes, it's not going to be this, wow, Jesus is coming. 00:11:54.800 |
And so the idea, the imagery of thief coming in, thief is coming in unexpectedly to do 00:12:04.000 |
So the idea of Jesus' second coming is for judgment. 00:12:08.200 |
So again, and I want you to think about that for a second because he's writing this to 00:12:14.000 |
He's writing to the church and yet he says, if you do not wake up, you don't repent and 00:12:18.680 |
you're not restored where you ought to be, his second coming, he's going to come with 00:12:25.840 |
And I want you to think about that for a second because there's this tension in every one 00:12:32.400 |
of these letters where God brings judgment, where his judgment sounds like a judgment 00:12:42.160 |
And I don't want you to just dismiss it and say, well, he's going to come like a thief, 00:12:44.920 |
but you know, we're Christians, so we're no longer under judgment of God. 00:12:48.280 |
So therefore, even if we don't wake up, even if they don't repent, since we really believe, 00:12:57.300 |
So he must be talking about some other people, not talking about us, right? 00:13:02.500 |
But I want you to read that, read this text carefully to see if he's, if he is talking, 00:13:09.240 |
So how do we reconcile this, a warning given to the church to wake up and repent, to restore 00:13:22.220 |
But again, I'm going to come and revisit this, but I want you to understand the tension that's 00:13:27.160 |
not just here, but in other passages as well, right? 00:13:31.480 |
But for those who are faithful and the ones who repent and conquer, Christ promises three 00:13:42.780 |
Their names will not be blotted out in the book of life, and Christ will acknowledge 00:13:50.460 |
So I want you to think about this too, right? 00:13:52.820 |
He's talking to the church, and he says if you don't repent, he's going to come just 00:13:58.900 |
like he's coming to the rest of the world to bring judgment upon them. 00:14:03.340 |
But if you do repent and you continue, right, and you are restored, he says you will be 00:14:17.420 |
Their names will not be blotted out in the book of life. 00:14:19.380 |
Whose name is blotted out in the book of life? 00:14:29.000 |
He says if you do not repent, right, only those who repent and are restored, their books 00:14:37.080 |
And then thirdly, he says Christ will acknowledge them before God and his angels, right? 00:14:41.900 |
Remember Matthew 10, 32, "He who denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father. 00:14:47.260 |
He who acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father." 00:14:53.180 |
He's distinguishing between Christian and non-Christian, yet he's talking to the church 00:14:57.420 |
who have a reputation of being alive, and if they don't repent, then restored. 00:15:03.460 |
All of these judgments are things that he has said to non-Christians. 00:15:21.180 |
Jesus is described as the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and 00:15:28.620 |
no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens. 00:15:33.540 |
There's a new description of Christ, but it's particularly related to this church. 00:15:38.620 |
The term "Holy One" is a common term used in the Old Testament to refer to God the Father, 00:15:45.500 |
And clearly here, it is saying that Jesus Christ is God. 00:15:48.500 |
So if anybody says Jesus is Son of God, Son of Man, but not God himself, this is one of 00:15:56.940 |
This title only belongs to God, God the Father. 00:16:00.100 |
And so he's called the Holy One, and he's also called the True One, right? 00:16:05.060 |
It's added to refer to Christ as a true Messiah who has the key of David. 00:16:11.180 |
And the key term, "key of David" is referenced to the Messianic complete reign. 00:16:16.580 |
In other words, the key of David meaning that the prophecy was that the King of Israel, 00:16:22.420 |
Messiah, was going to be a descendant of David. 00:16:25.160 |
So to have the key of David means that Jesus is the fulfillment of that, right? 00:16:29.740 |
So he's the true Messiah who is the Holy One. 00:16:59.020 |
This is a Messianic prophecy about when Christ comes that this is going to be fulfilled. 00:17:04.820 |
And it says, "I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. 00:17:08.460 |
He shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open." 00:17:13.060 |
So clearly this is in reference to Christ and his fulfillment. 00:17:16.140 |
So not only is he the fulfillment of the prophecy of the descendant of David, but he's the Holy 00:17:30.580 |
This church and Smyrna are the only two churches that have no negative remarks on the church. 00:17:35.940 |
And so if you notice that both churches were heavily persecuted. 00:17:40.140 |
They were enduring an intense amount of suffering. 00:17:44.080 |
And both churches are only given commendations. 00:17:51.640 |
The reference again of the synagogue of Satan is to highlight the persecution primarily 00:17:57.980 |
So this was an area where the Jewish community was sizable. 00:18:03.620 |
And the synagogue of Satan basically is reference that if you didn't cooperate. 00:18:10.100 |
So if you came around and you started proclaiming the gospel and you started saying Jesus Christ 00:18:14.900 |
was resurrected from the dead, what happened to you as a Jew? 00:18:21.800 |
If you get kicked out of the synagogue, what would your life look like? 00:18:26.760 |
I try to think about what that would be familiar, like similar to today. 00:18:33.900 |
You know, what's a community that we belong to that if you don't, if you're not part of, 00:18:38.160 |
you'll be maybe being kicked out of the church could be, right? 00:18:41.600 |
But you have to understand that if you were a Jew at that time, the synagogue was where 00:18:49.580 |
That was where men got together to fellowship. 00:18:52.320 |
That's where women got together and they lived, they shared things together. 00:18:56.400 |
So a Jewish community typically was not integrated into the Gentile world, right? 00:19:03.160 |
So everything that you know about what it was like, the Jews would not even sit and 00:19:08.240 |
So if you were rejected by the synagogue, basically you were shunned. 00:19:12.760 |
You might as well just pack up and live outside the city because everything that you needed 00:19:20.560 |
to survive, it was centered around the synagogue, right? 00:19:25.500 |
So if that's what he says is synagogue of Satan and they kick you out, pretty much your 00:19:33.040 |
Not only your life, but your family, whatever business that you were running, education. 00:19:37.160 |
I mean, you were basically shunned from everything, Facebook, Instagram, Costco, church, everything, 00:19:44.800 |
You just could not, you wouldn't be able to function. 00:19:47.700 |
So when Jesus says, "I am the one who opens and shuts," right? 00:19:53.640 |
It's very much related to what was going on in this particular city because they're being 00:20:00.240 |
And we see the same thing here where, I think I have another passage. 00:20:05.360 |
John chapter 10 verse 9, where Jesus says, "I am the door," right? 00:20:12.760 |
And it sounds a lot like how he described himself here. 00:20:15.840 |
And the reason why he says that, "I am the door. 00:20:18.560 |
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." 00:20:23.960 |
And the very next "I am" statement in John chapter 10 is, "I am the good shepherd." 00:20:30.640 |
Does anybody know what happens in John chapter 9? 00:20:34.280 |
I know you guys are all thinking it, but for the sake of time, John chapter 9 is where 00:20:47.100 |
And as a result of that, he has this encounter with the Jewish leaders and then he gets, 00:20:52.540 |
He gets bold, he's like, "Do you want to be a disciple too?" 00:20:55.500 |
And then they get angry, he said, "He gets kicked out of the synagogue," right? 00:21:01.960 |
Remember, even his parents were afraid to confront the Jewish leaders because they knew 00:21:06.920 |
if they didn't cooperate with the Jewish leaders that they would get kicked out. 00:21:14.560 |
I mean, clearly he's our son and he was blind, but now he sees. 00:21:20.080 |
So they basically take the fifth, but the guy who has his eyes open, he's bold. 00:21:24.520 |
He's, you know, he's like, "Do you want to be his disciple too?" 00:21:29.920 |
So that, for a Jew, that would have been the greatest fear. 00:21:32.560 |
So imagine if you were a blind man, you know, that you couldn't be a part of society. 00:21:39.480 |
So you were already outside of the synagogue, right? 00:21:46.120 |
So all of a sudden he gets healed and now he can have a normal life. 00:21:49.760 |
And then the Jews are saying that if you don't deny Christ and say he didn't do it, we're 00:21:56.000 |
So can you imagine the temptation that he might have been in because gaining his sight 00:22:01.640 |
Everything in his life would have been restored, but he stands up to them and says he gets 00:22:05.880 |
So it is the very next section where Jesus says, "I am the door." 00:22:15.840 |
All the Jews are trying so hard to appease the synagogue leaders because they think that 00:22:24.480 |
And the very next "I am" statement is, "I am the good shepherd." 00:22:27.840 |
So even if they kick you out, right, I will open and no one will shut. 00:22:33.960 |
And that's basically what's happening also in this church in Philadelphia. 00:22:40.080 |
So the door that Jesus is referring to, obviously, is the kingdom, the kingdom of God. 00:22:51.360 |
That though they may be shut out of the earthly doors of the synagogue, the true house of 00:23:06.480 |
And as a result of their perseverance and not compromising, they will be rewarded for 00:23:12.840 |
And they will be kept from the hour of trial. 00:23:15.280 |
Now, we could spend a lot of time here talking about what this means because some will interpret 00:23:25.400 |
Doesn't this say that the church is going to be preserved from the tribulation? 00:23:30.520 |
So this is one of the verses, it's not the only verse, it's one of the verses that is 00:23:38.880 |
He's going to come and deliver the church and clearly he says he's going to save us 00:23:44.800 |
But some interpret this as a rapture to save them from the tribulation. 00:23:49.960 |
Some, me included, believe that this means that Jesus will give them strength to persevere 00:23:58.160 |
Not he's going to save them so that they don't experience these trials, but through these 00:24:02.520 |
trials that he's going to strengthen them so that he may persevere. 00:24:05.960 |
And the reason why I believe that, and again, we can spend a lot of time talking about this, 00:24:10.900 |
but part of the reason, and I'm going to make my case here, at least three points, Jesus' 00:24:15.280 |
high priestly prayer in John 17, 15, where he says, "My prayer is not that you take them 00:24:20.760 |
out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one." 00:24:23.720 |
Secondly, Jesus repeatedly exhorted and promised that those who conquer or abuse, that says 00:24:36.140 |
He doesn't say those he snatches away that doesn't experience the suffering, but he says 00:24:40.540 |
those who, in the context of severe suffering and persecution, who do not deny Christ and 00:24:46.480 |
perseveres to the end, he says those will be saved. 00:24:51.560 |
And then finally, thirdly, the post-tribulation view seems to fit better with other parts 00:24:57.160 |
of scripture where we are commended for suffering for Christ. 00:25:01.560 |
So where Paul considers it an honor, right, that he was chosen to suffer for the name 00:25:09.740 |
So suffering, at least in the way that we see it in the New Testament, is given to a 00:25:16.880 |
So it's not that because he loves us, he's going to preserve us from the suffering, but 00:25:20.480 |
because he loves us, he's going to preserve us through the suffering. 00:25:25.080 |
Now again, I can spend a lot of time here, but I think this is more, again, my view is 00:25:31.960 |
that we are going to go through an intense period of tribulation, and he's going to test 00:25:37.520 |
the church, and those who have the reputation of being alive but really dead are going to 00:25:42.160 |
be tested and found that they were never really alive. 00:25:46.000 |
And then there's people who lost their first love, and they don't repent, right? 00:25:51.120 |
And so all of these churches that do not repent, that do not conquer, that they're going to 00:25:55.440 |
go through these tribulations, and they're going to be found that they were, again, that 00:26:03.360 |
And obviously it might bring us more peace to think that before the real stuff comes, 00:26:12.800 |
But I don't see that as consistent with everything else that I've seen in Scripture, nor in church 00:26:22.120 |
So because you and I live in a comfortable society where we don't understand persecution, 00:26:26.400 |
and we say, "Oh, he's going to preserve us from that," there's a whole world of people 00:26:30.320 |
who are going through intense suffering today. 00:26:34.080 |
They're not being preserved in the sense that they're not being rescued from that. 00:26:39.920 |
The only reason why it's difficult for us to have it in our world is because we don't 00:26:47.200 |
And so we think preservation means that he's going to keep it this way, and that we're 00:26:51.520 |
going to have a nice and comfortable life, you know, and this is such a blessing, so 00:26:55.640 |
we're going to be here, and the next thing we know, we're going to be up in heaven. 00:26:58.600 |
I don't see that as consistent with what I see in Scripture. 00:27:02.000 |
I believe that that persecution we see in the Middle East and in India, and that's 00:27:07.160 |
spreading all over, is going to eventually come here, right? 00:27:12.360 |
And those of you who've been around long enough, can you imagine the kind of prejudice 00:27:18.640 |
I mean, it's still minimal compared to what's going on in the rest of the world, but if 00:27:24.760 |
you told me 30 years ago the type of things that would cause you to get fired at your 00:27:29.560 |
job or a radio announcer or an athlete says something about his faith and will get him 00:27:37.920 |
banned and business shut down, rocks thrown at, 30 years ago, it would have been ridiculous. 00:27:51.040 |
And I think that the Scripture prepares us, right? 00:27:58.160 |
Everything that I see in Scripture is a warning and encouragement to prepare us, because there's 00:28:02.600 |
going to come a time where it's not always going to be this easy, right? 00:28:15.040 |
For those who persevere, it says, they will be given a big crown, and the coming of Christ, 00:28:20.440 |
though it is a threat to some churches, but it says to them, it's going to be a welcome 00:28:30.680 |
They will be made pillars of the temple of God, and they will never be sent out of it, 00:28:35.680 |
Instead of these Jews, the synagogue of Satan that's casting them out and making their life 00:28:40.200 |
difficult, and he said, no, you are the pillar, they are not. 00:28:45.120 |
So Jesus will write on them three things, the name of God, right? 00:28:54.760 |
The name of God's city, indicating that their citizenship is in God's kingdom. 00:29:00.740 |
And it says his own new name, that he will become completely new creation directly united 00:29:09.120 |
So that's the reward for this church for their suffering. 00:29:16.840 |
Everything that he describes here is what every single genuine born again Christian 00:29:24.480 |
Is there any Christian that doesn't have the name of God, who doesn't have a citizenship 00:29:29.240 |
So the distinction he's making is between a Christian and a non-Christian, those who 00:29:37.240 |
He's not describing a different level of Christians are going to have the name of God, and different 00:29:42.940 |
level of Christians who persevere are going to have the citizenship in heaven. 00:29:47.760 |
This is what he says about all Christians, right? 00:29:51.360 |
But all Christians who persevere in the context of suffering, who doesn't deny Christ. 00:29:58.440 |
And then obviously, I think you know, we all know much about this Laodicea because so much, 00:30:04.800 |
Jesus is referred to as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. 00:30:11.400 |
So the Amen is mainly an acknowledgement of whatever is true and binding. 00:30:21.080 |
Here the Amen may be a connection to the conclusion of the seven letters. 00:30:31.360 |
So some commentators believe that the reason why he's addressed as Amen is because he's 00:30:39.160 |
In either case, it's relevant to this particular church. 00:30:42.520 |
Christ faithful and true witness is in contrast the unfaithful witness of the Laodiceans. 00:30:50.720 |
And then Laodiceans became rich because of natural resources, and we're going to get 00:30:54.600 |
into that in a minute, but Jesus is reminding them that he is the beginning of God's creation. 00:31:00.480 |
So every single one of these titles to these churches have something directly related to 00:31:17.600 |
The Laodicean church was rebuked for their arrogance, and that's what led them to lukewarmness. 00:31:26.440 |
It says that they didn't see, because of their wealth, they didn't feel a need for anything. 00:31:34.060 |
And that's where, at least here, I don't think that's the only thing that leads to lukewarmness, 00:31:38.040 |
but at least in this particular church, it was their wealth. 00:31:41.360 |
It was their self-sufficiency, that they weren't like the other who are poor, who are needy. 00:31:47.360 |
Because they had money, they couldn't get whatever they needed. 00:31:51.280 |
The Laodicea was a very wealthy area, and they were known for three particular things. 00:31:57.600 |
They were known for their banking, their garment industry, and their medical school. 00:32:02.780 |
And all of that is reflected in the rebuke of this church. 00:32:09.320 |
The city was a very important trade route, which naturally brought the banking industry. 00:32:13.200 |
So remember, if you looked at the seven churches, you know how it kind of went in a circle like 00:32:20.880 |
So Laodicea is in the bottom of that, and so it was an important trade route. 00:32:25.720 |
So if you wanted to trade toward the east, you had to go through this particular city. 00:32:30.680 |
And it just happened that they had a lot of natural resources, so they were able to make 00:32:37.760 |
So because a lot of money was being traded back and forth in this particular city, the 00:32:42.120 |
banking industry was very strong in this city. 00:32:45.840 |
And because of their natural resources, they had particular natural ailments. 00:32:51.920 |
So the salve that he's talking about is a particular medicine that you can only find 00:32:56.980 |
And then the garment that he talks about to wear white, again, is in contrast to the garment 00:33:02.680 |
So all of this has direct relevance to the wealth, the cause of wealth in this particular 00:33:11.360 |
The natural resources led to medical fines and specific garments that could only be produced 00:33:17.240 |
And he says their problem was they were neither hot nor cold. 00:33:22.320 |
Now this doesn't mean that Jesus is saying that I'd rather you be completely worldly 00:33:32.080 |
God is not saying to the church, "I'd rather have you living in debauchery, like all out, 00:33:40.480 |
Since you're neither, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth." 00:33:43.040 |
He's referring to something very specific in this city. 00:33:47.600 |
This city was known to have a hot spring that ran through. 00:33:52.800 |
And by the time it went through, obviously at the end of it, it would become lukewarm. 00:33:57.260 |
But obviously if you have a hot spring in the city, it would often be a place where 00:34:01.700 |
people would go in, take baths for mineral and for health reasons. 00:34:06.400 |
It also had a cold water spring that didn't go through the city, but they had enough money 00:34:12.860 |
to make an aqueduct that would bring them into the city. 00:34:16.320 |
So if you had hot water, it would be used for medicinal purposes. 00:34:19.620 |
If you had cold water, it would be used for refreshing, for drinking. 00:34:23.680 |
And he says, "Either one would be useful, but because you're neither," he says, "I'll 00:34:34.120 |
He doesn't just say, "I have this against you." 00:34:35.840 |
No, all the other churches where he says, "Yet I have this against you." 00:34:38.960 |
You have all these things, but yet I have this against you because you tolerate the 00:34:45.880 |
He says to this whole church, "I can't stand you." 00:34:52.160 |
When he says, "Spit you out," like what would you spit out? 00:34:56.600 |
He's something you put into your mouth that you just can't stand for even a second. 00:35:00.720 |
He's not just taking it out, he's spitting it out. 00:35:03.520 |
So that's why I think the harshest judgment, criticism, and rebuke is to this lukewarm 00:35:19.840 |
Their wealth blinded them to think that they were well off, but Jesus warns them that they 00:35:25.040 |
are really wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 00:35:33.000 |
What caused them to be, forgot to use these extreme descriptions of this church, wretched. 00:35:41.440 |
Francis Chan believes that these are descriptions of non-Christians. 00:35:47.200 |
I don't know if you've ever heard him preach on this, but he basically says a lukewarm 00:35:56.520 |
But I want you to understand the tension where he may be getting that. 00:36:09.600 |
If you think that's a Christian, that would cause a lot of problems. 00:36:15.880 |
If you think it's a non-Christian, it would also cause a lot of problems. 00:36:26.740 |
The only way to truly become rich, he says, is to seek Christ. 00:36:31.160 |
Buy gold refined by fire from him instead of going after the wealth of the world. 00:36:36.080 |
Buy white garments rather than the black garments that Laodicea was known for to clothe their 00:36:41.920 |
Nakedness obviously is a reference to their shame. 00:36:44.880 |
Instead of flaunting their wealth and wearing these elaborate garments to show off, he says, 00:36:51.040 |
you're actually naked and in shame to come to Christ and to wear the white that he gives. 00:36:57.880 |
Buy salves from him and not to put their confidence simply on the medical salves that was found 00:37:03.600 |
in the city to really see with spiritual eyes. 00:37:09.600 |
And then that passage, I think the memory verse for this week. 00:37:26.080 |
Jesus promises to restore intimate fellowship with the church if they repent. 00:37:38.920 |
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and I will dine with 00:37:45.480 |
And so that promises where Jesus, where is Jesus in this church? 00:37:53.600 |
In every church he says he's in the midst, but here he's, where is he? 00:37:58.840 |
He's standing outside the church knocking to be in their midst, to get in. 00:38:03.160 |
And he says, I will fellowship with you if you open the door. 00:38:09.120 |
If you recognize your lukewarmness and you repent and you open the door, then I will 00:38:25.480 |
And again, I want to talk about what I originally started with, this tension between justification 00:38:32.280 |
But before we even get to that, think about like every one of these letters, what he says, 00:38:38.400 |
in particular what he says to that church of Ephesus, the church of Sardis, and even 00:38:44.040 |
to the other churches, that this was meant for us to read. 00:38:50.440 |
This was not something that was written 2,000 years ago, oh, these churches had these problems. 00:38:58.440 |
He's talking to a church that's doing everything that seems to be right, but they've abandoned 00:39:05.000 |
He's talking to a church that has a reputation of being alive, but in actuality they're dead. 00:39:09.980 |
He's talking to a church that are doing some things great, but they're tolerating wickedness 00:39:13.420 |
in the church, and they're just kind of sweeping sin underneath the rug, and they're not dealing 00:39:20.880 |
There's certain parts of the church, they said, and every single one of them that he 00:39:24.120 |
points out, he says, if you do not repent, there's serious consequences. 00:39:29.200 |
And the consequences that he tells us is not just a slap on the hand. 00:39:35.200 |
In fact, they're so severe, it kind of, that this is what causes us to take a step back 00:39:44.600 |
I want to deal with that just a few minutes before I break you off into your small group. 00:39:50.680 |
That tension between the justification and sanctification, we can err on both sides. 00:40:00.120 |
We can look at this and say, yeah, that's pretty serious. 00:40:02.880 |
If you don't repent, he's on the outside, and he's going to come like a thief. 00:40:09.320 |
And only those who conquer and repent, that he's going to put his name, or he's going 00:40:14.440 |
He's making a distinction between Christian and non-Christian. 00:40:18.080 |
So we can just kind of err on this side and just dismiss this because one saved always 00:40:26.180 |
I mean, you're in a reformed Calvinistic church, so you know that one saved always saved. 00:40:32.580 |
Salvation is not earned, so you already know all of that. 00:40:35.160 |
So we can falsely feel security, just kind of gloss over, even if we are guilty of all 00:40:41.360 |
of these things, we can just kind of gloss over all of these things and hold it on to 00:40:46.400 |
And yet, we see texts like this and warning like this, and we just, something in us just 00:40:53.320 |
kind of, this is not applying to us, or it's not real. 00:40:58.000 |
Now the reason why I ask you to think about this is because this tension, anybody who 00:41:03.200 |
studies the scripture carefully is going to come out with this tension. 00:41:08.760 |
We are told that we have absolute eternal security, we're saved by grace and not by 00:41:14.600 |
And yet, we see warning after warning after warning of lukewarmness, of being worldly, 00:41:21.360 |
of tolerating sin, of having certain reputation but not being true. 00:41:29.200 |
And yet the scripture says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:41:35.720 |
So if you're not paying attention to scripture, you can just live in licentiousness and say 00:41:40.040 |
one saved, always saved, and then not live with this tension because you're not really 00:41:44.720 |
Or you can live in this other end where you've heard that you have absolute security and 00:41:51.580 |
So you can live with security, doing whatever you want. 00:41:54.540 |
But if you're studying the scripture like we're studying it and going through verse 00:41:57.600 |
by verse, you know that there's a tension here. 00:42:02.960 |
Though we're saved by grace, there is consequence for living in sin. 00:42:09.720 |
So I want you to look at some of these verses. 00:42:14.080 |
Revelation 2, 5 says, "If you don't repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand 00:42:22.400 |
So what is a lampstand in the Church of Ephesus? 00:42:31.640 |
So it's kind of like if you're the salt of the world and if you lose its flavor, what 00:42:36.080 |
good is it other than to be thrown and to be trampled? 00:42:41.480 |
He says if you don't renew your first love, he will remove his lampstand. 00:42:48.880 |
And yet he says the consequence of unrepentance is removal of lampstand. 00:42:57.360 |
If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth." 00:43:02.160 |
Revelation 2, 22, "Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery 00:43:12.000 |
with her I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works, and I will 00:43:18.520 |
Talking about the sin of Jezebel and idolatry and those who follow along, right? 00:43:24.680 |
So again, these are all warnings given to the church. 00:43:28.920 |
He's writing to the church, to the angel of the Church of Ephesus, to the angel of the 00:43:39.040 |
He says, "If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at 00:43:47.120 |
So there's this tension in the scripture of absolute security in Christ, and yet there's 00:43:54.920 |
a strong call to repentance and live righteous holy lives, or there are serious consequences, 00:44:03.080 |
So in order to deal with this tension, different groups have come up with different theology 00:44:14.120 |
So you have one group who teaches salvation by works, right? 00:44:20.200 |
Because the scripture says you have to do this. 00:44:26.120 |
So call to repentance isn't just feel bad, right? 00:44:31.040 |
Call to repentance is to redo what you did at first. 00:44:37.440 |
And so obviously, you know, obviously that's a contradiction to justification by faith 00:44:44.520 |
Clearly we've been going through that in the Book of Romans. 00:44:46.580 |
But that's how one group have tried to embrace these passages or try to reconcile. 00:44:52.420 |
Some have embraced Arminianism, which believes that salvation can be lost. 00:44:57.540 |
You may look at these passages and these warnings that said, "We're writing to the church, 00:45:01.360 |
but he says if they don't repent, he's going to come like a thief and bring judgment." 00:45:05.740 |
And yet the scripture says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, so therefore 00:45:12.200 |
So that's how that group has reconciled this. 00:45:17.200 |
And again, I'm not going to go through the doctrine of justification. 00:45:20.800 |
We've been going through this, you know, for months and months and months through the Book 00:45:26.860 |
Some have differentiated between people who are only saved but is lacking baptism of the 00:45:32.040 |
So the Pentecostals have reconciled this tension between justification and sanctification by 00:45:38.020 |
there are some people who are saved, but then some people who have not been baptized by 00:45:41.280 |
the Holy Spirit, so they teach the second baptism of the Holy Spirit. 00:45:45.480 |
So if you happen to go to a Pentecostal church, they're always praying for a renewal of the 00:45:49.880 |
Spirit, refilling of the Spirit, because they believe that that's where the tension comes, 00:45:57.200 |
that there are some people who have just been saved but have not been baptized, and that's 00:46:02.160 |
why they're not living in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, or full of the Spirit. 00:46:09.760 |
Some embrace this false dichotomy between born-again Christians who can identify a specific