Hopefully we remember that when we began this series in the Book
of Revelation, we took the time to look at it from an aerial
perspective. And from there we descended
together, the chapter one with a magnifying glass in our hands.
And we moved carefully from verse to verse to explore and
examine all the thrilling details that the Holy Spirit has
revealed to us. But now we come to Revelation
chapter 2, and as we approach this section, I believe it will
be helpful to put aside our excavating tools for a moment
and to climb up again and to look down and to examine this
portion of Scripture with a bird's eye view.
Not the whole book, just chapters two and three that
focus on Christ's direct addresses to each of these seven
churches in Asia Minor. Because you see, when you put
these short letters side by side, you will definitely notice
similar patterns and repetitions, as well as unique
details that stand out from each of them.
And I wouldn't want us to miss out on what the Lord would say
even from that angle, by rushing through the first door of the
first church in the section. These characteristics, the
common ones and the unique ones, have a message on their own, and
we're going to see what Christ will say to us in them.
So before we come to each congregation in this book
separately, we're going to zoom out and we're going to look for
the bigger picture of what Christ has to say to the church.
If you want to know, that's where I've been this past week
on a imaginary hilltop with binoculars, looking at the wider
landscape of these churches and making notes of what we can
learn about the church in this and what Christ longs for from
his church. And I've gathered five thoughts
for you, and hopefully you will remember these thoughts.
Again, we're looking at the bigger picture.
The first thing that we can learn from these seven churches
as a whole is that the Lord Jesus Christ is passionate about
the purity of his church. The Lord Jesus Christ is
passionate about the purity of his church.
I find it fascinating that before we are introduced to the
chaos that will come to this world leading up to the final
moments of history, before we see the events that will
ultimately bring us to the invasion of Christ's Kingdom
into this planet, Christ expresses His concerns for the
church. And here's what that tells you
and me right away, that Jesus Christ prioritizes the refining
work of His people. He did it then and He's still
doing it now. That is his heart posture.
You know there are a lot of people who dangerously assume
what the Lord is doing or saying to His Church today.
You've probably seen it. The word of the Lord for 2025.
The word of the Lord for 2026. It's no mystery.
And none of us have to rely on any self-proclaimed prophet to
tell us what Christ is doing among his people.
Because according to Revelation two and three, we can conclude
with confidence that Jesus Christ is prioritizing the
conviction of His people, the comfort of His people, even the
chastising of His people in order for them to be more like
what he has called them to be. And that's what these letters
really do. They they reinforce that what
God expects from us as we traverse through this world is
that we would become like what he wants us to be like.
Unfortunately, what you have is people who think otherwise.
God's primary desire is not for you and I to live stress free
life as much as possible. It's not as interest for you and
I to accumulate as much resources as possible so that we
can access greater comfort and luxury.
Nor it is. Nor is it His ambition for you
to know your earthly ambitions apart from His purposes.
What is God after in your life that you and I will look more
like His Son? That is what we are destined to.
That's what we are here for, to look more like Christ.
Yes, with your spouse, with your children, with your kind of
income, with your limitations. The desire of our God is for
each of us to be conformed to the image of His Son.
And unfortunately, many believe that being a Christian simply
means saying yes to his sin, cancelling sacrifice, and then
coasting through life without his interests or influence in
mind. To the degree that some
professing Christians look no different than the world, how
can I be? We have verses like this in
Romans 829. For those whom he foreknew, he
also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in
order that he might be the first born among many brothers.
That's your destination. The moment that you entered into
Christ. Where you're headed is to be
conformed like Christ. So those who are in Christ are
determined to look more and more like Christ.
In other words, God is after us who are a part of the family of
God. To be like Christ's siblings.
In what sense? To share his characteristics,
Yes, with your unique personality and giftings,
nonetheless, for each of us to reflect him.
So that's his program for the church.
That's what he's doing week after week.
That's why you and I are here. We have surrendered when we said
yes to the Gospel, to this lifelong process.
Chisel me, change me, convict me, whatever you want to allow
my life, I receive it in faith because I know that this is what
I'm destined for. And that that's why a lot of the
mysteries that we try to wrestle with in our lives, it's actually
not really a mystery. We may not know why things
happen at the time that they happen or to the degree that
they happen. We can have this absolute
assurance, this is purpose for me to look more like Christ.
He's passionate about the purity of his church and we get a
sample of what he is after because what you find here in
Revelation 27 is a similar call to what we read in every letter
to these churches. There's an interesting phrase
here, Revelation 27. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches, to the one who
conquers. I will grant to eat of the tree
of life, which is in the paradise of God to the one who
conquers. You're going to find that phrase
in every single letter that Christ writes to these churches.
Other transitions would say to the one who overcomes.
Either way, both are essentially saying the same thing.
So that emphasis that repetition.
What is that? What does that say about the
Lord? Here's what it says that he
wants every single one of us to gain victory over any test over
any temptation that would seek to tamper with your conformity
to Christ likeness. He who overcomes, he who
conquers crisis after each of us to be conquerors in our faith,
not necessarily conquerors in our businesses, conquerors in
our bodies, conquerors in our relationship with Him.
And when you look at these letters, you get an idea of some
of the things that He calls us to conquer.
When you read Ephesus, you learn that He wants us to conquer
affectionless mechanical ministry, doing the right things
with the wrong motive. He wants you to conquer that.
He wants me to conquer that. When you look at Smyrna, we
realize that He wants to conquer the severe pressures that come
from outside persecution, to not bend the knee, to not give in,
to stand strong. When you come down to Pergamum,
we realize not just in Pergamum but also in Thyatira, that He
wants us to conquer false teachings that promote and
encourage idolatry and sexual sin.
When you go to Sardis, you learn that he wants us to conquer.
What dull spirituality He wants us to conquer, just going
through it all without any sense of life.
When you go to Philadelphia, what does he want us to conquer?
The slander of Satan's servants that would try to derail you or
discourage you by lying about you.
Leodicea. What does he want us to conquer?
Lukewarmness, being halfway in, halfway out.
And so we see here that this is what the Lord is after.
And here's the most encouraging part about this.
When I read these letters, I realize it's possible.
It's possible to be a conqueror. You know why?
Because out of the seven, there are two churches, Smyrna and
Philadelphia, who received no correction from Christ.
Pure praise, pure encouragement. And when?
When I learned that some time ago, it exhilarated me.
Why? Because it tells me that it's
possible to have pure teaching in a church.
It's possible to overcome any adversity, any obstacles,
internally and externally. It's possible to be consistently
fruitful. Ultimately, listen, It's
possible to be a church that really pleases God.
It's possible or else he would have criticized every church.
He didn't criticize every church.
Two of them, He says keep going. Here's that, what that means for
us. If the Lord were to write a
letter to Maranatha Bible Church in 2025, it would be possible
for him to say something along the lines of I know every single
one of you. I know all that's going on and
I'm pleased. Keep going, Mara, not the Bible
church. Don't give up until you meet
your eternal reward. So what the Lord is after, more
than anything else, is to purify His people, and He has many
means to accomplish it. And we have to understand that's
our purpose too, to be polished more and more by Christ, by his
Spirit, by his word, through his people, so that we would look
more like Him. There's a second thing that we
learn about these churches and it is this.
Christ evaluates churches much differently than man does.
There are a couple of places in these letters where Christ
comments on the apparent condition or self-assessment of
these ministries and then reveals the true state of his
people. So here are two examples.
Come with me to Revelation 29. Look what he says to the church
in Smyrna. He says I know your tribulation
and your poverty, but you are rich.
And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not,
but are synagogue of Satan. So according to Christ's own
words, this particular local assembly was materially lacking.
They were limited on their resources, so they didn't have
the state-of-the-art technology. They didn't have comfortable
pews. Oh, they couldn't even entertain
the idea of starting any kind of fundraiser for any updates in
the church, because there's nobody in the church that would
be able to donate anything significant.
You know, I thought about this when I was looking at it the
other night. How do prosperity preachers
handle a text like this? If wealth is apparently the sign
of God's favor, and you can access it by claiming it and
believing it, why does Christ praise this poor church?
Why doesn't he say, hey, use your faith, use your mouth to
blab it and grab it? He doesn't say that.
It's actually one of the churches that he praises the
most, and they're poor. So figure that out.
You're poor. More importantly, tells them
where they're really rich. He wants to remind them you are
rich in what what truly matters. You have God's favor.
You have true worship, you have spirit filled love.
You have love for Christ, love for the people of God, the lost.
You have joy. There's humility, there's unity,
there's endurance, there's strength.
You're rich. Now compare that to what Christ
says to the church in Laodicea. Go to Revelation 317, the
complete opposite of the Christians in Smyrna.
For you say I'm rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,
not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind
and naked. It's a scathing commentary, and
a Laodicean church in our day might be like pulling up to a
parking lot and seeing all these expensive cars lined up.
You walk to the doors of that church building and their
automatic doors. The moment you walk in, you are
confronted with the sweet smell of coffee because they have
their own coffee station in the lobby that outshines that of any
commercial establishment that you drive by.
And you realize that service is about to start.
So you make your way to the sanctuary.
But you glance over and realize there's still a long line.
The singing is about to begin, but it's just singing.
We need our coffee. So you enter into that room.
You quickly dismiss the thought and here you are entering into
this dark space. It's large, but wow, look at
that equipment. Look at those screens.
Who's the technician behind that sound?
And as you're led to that comfy cushion seat, you stand and you
quickly glance and look over and you can't help but sense that
there is spiritual apathy in the air.
You try to brush it off, but it's only confirmed as you're
seated and the sermon is preached.
And it's not necessarily heretical, but it is void of
Christ. It doesn't have biblical
exhortation. And on top of that, there
doesn't seem to be passion, There doesn't seem to be
gravity. When the Word of God is being
handled. You try not to judge, but you
can't help it. So you go week after week after
week, and you realize something else, that with the limited time
of fellowship that's there, as you get to know the people, the
conversations are void of Christ equally.
And they're nice and they're put together.
And but as you converse and as you get to know people, they
seem to be more passionate about sports and politics and home
renovations. In fact, when you try to bring
up the things of God, it gets awkward, gets weird, and you
learn the people here, they're not serving in any way.
Sure, they're attending, but they're not really doing
anything. There's no hunger for the Word
of God. There's no desire to make Christ
known. There's no love language towards
the Lord Jesus Christ. You get the idea, I'm sure.
Nothing wrong with stately buildings, nothing wrong with
large parking lots. We need one.
But see, this kind of church may seem prosperous, may be filled
with affluent people, but where there is complacency and
indifference towards the things of God, Jesus has a different
opinion about it. And here's where I would like
for us to consider something Being part of a physical, not a
digital, a physical community of Christians is not optional.
And once you and I are convinced of that, then we have to deal
with something here in America, all the options for churches.
And we have to understand here that Jesus has a standard for
the church. And you and I, when we have to
make that decision about which local assembly to be a part of,
am I going for what Christ wants, for my own personal
preferences? You know, you have some people
who are members of a church simply because it's closer to
where they live. And we have to be mindful of
that. We have to be realistic with
distance, sure. But it's a concern when you're
more concerned about the distance and not about how close
that church is to the truth. And you have others who put a
premium on production value and the events, the entertainment
that they they promote and they put so much effort into.
Why do you? Well, he's a dynamic speaker.
So what? What's the substance of what
he's saying? Oh, I can tell you this.
Many, many, many, many are planted somewhere because they
have found a sweet spot for their conscience.
They have found a place where they can satisfy their religious
itch, knowing all the while that they will never be challenged or
held accountable for what it means to be truly a disciple of
Jesus Christ. Which church are you part of and
why is it a place where Jesus says they're in the right
direction? You're never going to find a
perfect church, but you can find a blameless place.
And I know it's becoming increasingly rare, but I also
want to say this. I do not advocate people getting
up and leaving churches whenever they feel dissatisfied.
That is not a way to deal with the church because leaving an
assembly should be a very slow decision, a prayed about thing.
That's something that we just do because as members of the body
of Christ, it's not easy when a member rips away and go
somewhere else. All I'm saying with this point
is that you and I must align our thinking with what Christ
desires, what Christ has in mind for His people when they come
together. That's a helpful challenge.
But I see encouragement in this. What do I see?
I see here that Jesus reminds us that he is ultimately the
determiner of what a successful Christian looks like and what a
successful church looks like. He determines that.
And people as well as leaders in the church would save themselves
from much unnecessary discouragement if they would
just stop comparing super superficially and simply come to
God's Word and let him define what true success looks like for
individual spirituality and corporate spirituality.
He looks at this church and Smyrna says you're poor, but
you're rich. He looks at this rich church and
he says you're bankrupt in the soul.
Christ thinks differently than us.
You know, when I was putting my thoughts together for this, I
could not help. I was compelled.
To step back and ask myself this, when was the last time you
paused, look to the Lord and said, Lord, are you pleased with
my service? Never mind what so and so said,
What do you think of the ministry that I'm involved in?
And I can tell you this, if you come with an open heart and an
open Bible long enough and inquire of the Lord, you will
find more encouragement there than anywhere else, because
Christ value system differs than man's and he is much more
encouraging than you might imagine.
Let me give you an example. When you think of a holy person,
what comes to mind? A holy person?
Holiness. And I remember being confronted
by this truth in First Thessalonians, teaching me a
component of holiness that I think is often ignored.
Holiness includes many things, but have you ever thought about
Paul's words or what it truly means to be holy before God?
Go to 1st Thessalonians with me in chapter 3 verse 12, 1st
Thessalonians 3, verse 12. And may the Lord make you
increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we
do for you. So that.
So why is Paul praying that we would have bound in love more
and more? Verse 13 So that he may
establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and
Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his Saints.
Do you see it? I'm praying for you,
Thessalonians, that you would have bound more and more love
for one another and for all. Why?
So that when you stand before God, you would be blameless in
holiness. That's what this tells me.
You can't know true holiness unless you know love.
What does it mean to be holy? Loving people, loving the
Saints, Loving the stranger, Being practical, Son about you
being monkish, Son about you being strange, intentionally
weird. That's not what it means to be
holy. It's very hands on.
It's measurable. It acts, I'm praying that you
have more love so that you'd be more holy.
Do you see how we can misinterpret things?
See how it's possible to come to a church and and begin to
evaluate it with with our own understanding and we might even
think that we have references to back it up.
You have to come to God's word and see what he wants and what
he says is true. What he says is beneficial,
fruitful, alive, and what's dead and what's carnal and what's
lifeless. Christ sees things differently
than we do. But we have a Third Point as we
are looking at these churches. Christ is deeply interested in
our works. Christ is deeply interested in
our works. Now hang on, because I know many
Christians who are allergic to the idea of works.
But you're going to have a hard time debating this when you see
what Christ says to these churches.
Out of the seven, He makes the same statement five times.
What is it similar to what we see in Revelation 22?
Let's turn that together. Revelation 22 I know your works.
Let's keep reading your toil and your patient endurance and how
you cannot bear with those who are evil.
But I've tested those who call themselves apostles and are not,
and found them to be false. I know your works.
He says that to five churches. I know your works.
I know your works.
What's the lesson?
That Jesus is not just interested in what we know and
what we believe, He's interested in what we do.
And he praises a church that is practically active in the right
things and grieves over one that is not.
I know your works now, righteous.
These are not the only thing. It's not necessarily the thing
that we should just focus on, but it's important nonetheless.
And I want to touch on this because again, Christians have
developed this allergy to the concept of duty, of
responsibility, of accountability in action.
Oh, who are you to tell me that I need to work?
I'm saved by grace. Isn't it about faith?
Yes, it is about faith. You're not saved by your works.
But you're going to have great trouble in facing Christ's words
here because his understanding of grace is that it energizes
you to work. It motivates you to serve.
In fact, there is great danger, according to James's words, that
if a person has faith with no works, that faith might be
artificial. So this is very important.
And here's what I was thinking to myself.
What kind of efforts is Jesus interested in?
Because I don't want to be doing something that he didn't ask for
me to do. And when I came to these seven
churches, just put them side by side and began to just look at
it as a whole. I realized something that even
within Revelation that we have every right to go to the rest of
the Word of God. Just these letters.
I know what Christ is after in my life.
I know where He wants me to put my efforts.
Here's one thing to consider. Jesus wants you and I to put our
efforts in maintaining a love for the person of Christ.
Go to Revelation 2, verse 4. If there was any church that was
the most impressive out of the seven, it was the Church of
Ephesus. Man, they could spot out false
teachers. They work to the bone.
They were very discerning. But look what he says in verse
4. But I have this against you,
that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do
the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and
remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
I don't want to get ahead of myself, but let me say here, and
it's worth repeating next week when he says I'll remove the
lampstand from your place, you know what that means?
I will shut your church down. What do you mean you'll shut the
church down? This this church has pure
doctrine. They they're they're very
protective of the pulpit and they're working so much.
What do you mean shut? Yeah.
But if a church doesn't have ministry rooted in love for
Christ, I'm not interested in that kind of a church.
Jesus thinks differently than us.
So it's strange, isn't it, that this church that toiled, he
says, do the works you did at first.
Aren't they doing enough? What works is he speaking about
here? The things that you and I did
that nurtured and fostered a love relationship with Jesus
Christ. In other words, what he's saying
is go back, Go back to what you did that helped you fall more in
love with me and kept you in love with me.
You know, I know. I know of somebody who was
struggling with that. They were just kind of
robotically going through things and somebody advised them as
they were struggling with this. Go back to the songs you used to
sing when you first got saved and it helped.
You can get so busy that you abandoned what that time alone
with the Lord where you pray, not necessarily asking him for
things. We're just worshipping him where
you come to the word, not to look for a lesson for Sunday
school, but just to to be fed to taking the thoughts of Christ
and commune with Christ even throughout your day.
Go back to that. So when Jesus says I know your
works, when he says I'm, I'm, I'm looking for the right
things. One thing I can say for certain
is that he wants me to protect my efforts in growing in my
personal adoration of who he is, but not just that he wants my
efforts to be in rejecting the evil works of others.
So Revelation 26 yet this you have you hate the works of the
Nicolaitans, which I also hate. So when when we say Jesus is
deeply interested in our works, he's not only looking for what
we do, he's also looking for what we don't do.
James summarizes this beautifully.
So here's a quotation from chapter 1, verse 27.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father.
Is this two things? What's pure religion to God?
One, to visit orphans and widows and their affliction.
That's the positive. That's what you do to visit
those who are needy, destitute. And two, to keep oneself
unstained from the world. Those are two main categories.
Acting out in love and keeping yourself from being polluted by
the world. That's what's pure to God.
That's what religion is to God in terms of practical religion.
That's what I see here. He's asking them, the church in
Ephesus, go back to your works that you did in loving me.
But also I want to commend you. You hate the work of the
Nicolaitans. Keep hating them.
Did you know Jesus Christ hates things?
If you really know somebody well, you don't just know what
they enjoy, what their preferences are.
You always, with that, know what they don't like, right?
So with your wife, you know what not to buy and what not to
include in your relationship because as you've studied her
and as you've gotten to know her, you know what she loves and
you know what she hates. Do you know what Christ hates?
God is love. Praise God, He's love.
God also hates. What does he hate?
What can you say? I know Jesus hates this.
I know he despises it. Why is that important to know?
Because I don't want to entertain anything that he
hates. I don't want to engage in
anything that he despises that would grieve him.
So what does he hate? What does he hate?
Can I tell you this when you come to this book alone, in
these two chapters, I discovered that there are at least three or
four things just in these two chapters that he hates #1 He
hates. He hates false teaching, Those
who misrepresent His Word, those who elevate tradition above His
word, those who massage the Bible for carnal gain.
He hates that. Do you know what else he hates?
You're going to discover this as we go through these letters.
He hates idolatry. He hates when we have any
competition in our love for Him. You know what he brings up more
than once? He hates sexual immorality.
He hates it. He brings it up more than once
in these letters. Lastly, he hates apathy.
He hates apathy. And we're going to see that in
more than one church, unfortunately.
So I'm learning, what do you hate?
And now when he says I know your works, what is he looking for?
I'm sure He's looking for my efforts and expelling and
denying and swatting away that which grieves Him.
Another thing to consider, Christ is interested in my
efforts for the advancement of His Kingdom to increase over
time, not to decrease, but the increase.
Look at chapter 2, verse 19. I know your works, your love and
faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter
works exceed the first. He highlights that, so he tells
these believers here in Thai Tyra, hey, I've been watching
you over the years and as time is going on, you've only become
more zealous, more dedicated, more committed to acts of
service. Now here's what's true.
What we do for others in the name of the Lord will evolve
over time. They will change, they'll be
altered depending on the season of life.
And though that may happen, there may be adaptation.
One thing cannot be true of us that it becomes weaker over
time, no matter what. How we honor the Lord with our
service and our works may look different, but it should always
be there and not just there. We should pray that God would
keep us zealous and dedicated because He's looking for that.
He expects that, that we're always investing, doing
something, some kind of inclusion in his work.
In fact, He wants us to do this for the long term.
How long? The same passage.
Look at verse 26. The one who conquers and who
keeps my works until the end. To Him I will give authority
over the nation's. So Jesus Christ expects me in
one way or another to serve him until I see him.
This Is Us knowing Christ, brothers and sisters, this is
his standard. So I'm quoting scripture.
This is not my idea. This is what He's after.
Christ is deeply interested in our works.
Yes, the people who've been saved by his grace, but a grace
that energizes us to serve #4 Satan.
Satan ferociously opposes the church.
Aerial view hilltop with binoculars.
What do I see? Oh, these seven churches.
Satan is mentioned five times in these two chapters, 4 different
times in four different letters. Here's what that teaches me
right away. A church that does not
acknowledge the evil one or his schemes will not be able to be
the church that Christ called him to be.
I'm not talking about those ministries that obsessively talk
about Satan and demons. I'm talking about a biblical
informed awareness. That's what I'm speaking about.
Satan has brought up more than once four different churches.
Christ includes his name. What do we make of that?
Well, let's find out because these mentions are not random.
They reveal His strategies and He is very much at war with us.
The first time Satan is mentioned in these letters is in
Revelation 2, verse 9. Let's look at it again.
I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich.
And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan. Something similar comes up in
Revelation 39. Behold, I will make those of the
synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not but
lie. Behold, I will make them come
and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have
loved you. We're going to look into this
more in the coming weeks, but let's just establish this.
Satan uses people outside the community of faith to harass the
people of God. And at this time, it was the
Jewish people with this early Christian movement who were
claiming that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Messiah.
This irked them to the degree that they found many ways to
prick them and to harm them, to call the authorities on them.
So right away we see here where at least two mentions of Satan,
that Satan uses agents outside of the church to bother the
church. And we have to be mindful of
that. Here's why.
Because if you and I don't realize the satanic influence,
then you might be waging war against flesh and blood.
When people persecute us, when people call the police on us,
when people do all these things to us, it's not people that we
are at war with, it's Satan. And knowing that and believing
that helps us know what weapons to wield and not to fight in the
flesh. And so here we see Christ not
just highlighting and identifying the people that are
doing it, but who's really behind it.
Satan, we should expect the same.
But Satan doesn't just work outside, he works from within.
Look here at Revelation 224, the church in Thyatira, Jesus says.
But to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold this
teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things
of Satan to USA, I do not lay on you any other burden.
There are many ways that the devil can agitate a church from
within, and Christ highlights a prominent one, false teaching.
So if Satan can't pressure a church with persecution, he will
poison a church with bad doctrine.
And how does he do it? Does he just manifest on a stage
and intimidate people to believe his lies?
No, he doesn't do that. He finds people the same way he
finds people from outside. He finds people from within to
persuade God's people. And in this particular church,
he found a woman who claimed to be a prophetess who was seducing
the people of God to believe a lie and live out in sin as a
result of her teaching. So at this point we're supposed
to step back and be persuaded. The evil 1 is calculated.
He is strategic. Yes, indeed, more than you
think. Why do I say that?
Let me give you a sample. Look at Revelation 2, verse 13.
This is the church in Pergamum. And what does Jesus say?
I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, that you hold
fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days
of Antipus, my faithful witness who was killed among you, where
Satan dwells. Contrary to cartoon depictions,
Satan's headquarters is not in hell.
His roaming presence is continually on the earth, and at
this particular time in history, he felt very comfortable to set
up his home base in a place called Pergamum.
Why? Well, don't miss any upcoming
Sundays, because we're going to discover that at least some
possible answers. But here's what we can
establish. This is deliberate.
This isn't random. It wasn't for the views.
He is so locked in, he's so filled with pride, he thinks
that he can actually overthrow prophecy.
And he wants to doom as many people as possible.
And so clearly to me, here's what I take out of this.
There was something about Pergamum.
That helped Satan have a greater influence to gain greater
control of the region. There was something about
Pergamum that allowed him to what spread his corruption with
greater effect. So here's what I took from this.
Satan is interested in locations.
He considers that and if he considers that, then surely he
considers using platforms and and hiring people and, and being
very intentional of what he does, where he does it, whom he
does it through. Here's where I'm convicted.
If Satan is so strategic, what about the church?
Where's the planning? Where's the fasting?
Where's the warlike mentality? Where's the awareness, the
continual awareness that we're at war?
Hey, church and Pergamum, you're in the same neighborhood as the
devil. I said this before, forgive me
for saying it again. If there's any encouragement in
this, it's that God was able to raise up a church where Satan
dwells. So no matter how bad Chicago
gets, the church can still be the church.
And so we see here that there's something worth considering
about Satan. But here's what I want to say.
In addition to that, Satan is not mentioned in three out of
the seven. Any explanation?
I can't be dogmatic with any claim from silence, but I do see
something interested with the churches that Satan is not
mentioned in. You may disagree with me.
It's fine. I'm not making again a dogmatic
declaration here. Just an interesting observation.
The three churches where Satan is not mentioned is an Ephesus,
Sardis, Laodicea, unique with their problems, but they share
something quite similar. Ephesus abandoned their first
love. Sardis had a reputation of being
alive but was dead. Laodicea was lukewarm.
Can we say that Satan does not bother with churches that are
cold towards Christ? That's not a stretch, is it?
And when Christians just go through the motions and don't
pose any lasting threat to the Kingdom of darkness because of
that love, Satan pays little to no attention to them.
Why? Because a loveless Christianity
self defeating. Think about it.
Jesus told the church in Ephesus, If you don't change the
way you love me, I'm shutting this church down.
What does Satan have to do with the church like that?
Goes to show just how vital it is to have a heart brimming with
love, just how necessary it is for us to have and to protect
and to fuel affection for Jesus Christ.
Because that's what really stimulates fruitfulness.
That's what really opens up our lives to the potent spiritual
fragrance that impacts environments that we walk into.
So a church that's cold towards Christ, they'll shrivel up and
die in no time. Oh yeah, Let them have their
services and let them do their thing.
I'm going to focus on those that love Jesus.
Satan ferociously opposes the church.
Here's my final point with these observations.
Christ desires for His church to be eternally minded.
There are many more things that we can say, but let's land it
here. Despite the condition or the
circumstances of every church, whether there was more
commendation or more condemnation, Jesus Christ does
one similar thing with every single one of these assemblies.
He gives them a promise of a reward for those who conquer.
He's such a motivating God. He's such.
He is, as Roman says, the God of encouragement.
So with every church he says to the one who conquers, and he
follows it up with a prize. But there is something about
these prizes, though they are unique in each case they have a
common trait. And I want you to see, let's
just look at a few of them. Look at Revelation 27.
He has an ear. Let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches, to the one who conquers our grant to eat of
the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.
Look at verse 10. Do not fear what you were about
to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for
10 days you will have tribulation.
Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Skip over to chapter 2, verse 26.
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end.
To Him I will give authority over the nations.
Chapter 3, Verse 5. The one who conquers will be
clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot His name
out of the book of life. I will confess His name before
my Father and before his angels. Verse 21 of chapter 3.
The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my
throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his
throne. Do you see it?
These rewards are primarily eternal in nature.
They're everlasting and worth, and they will be fully realized
in the life to come. So what does that say to us?
That Christ here uses eternity as an incentive to keep us
motivated and conquers in our faith.
Eternity should not be a rare topic coming from the pulpit.
It shouldn't be absent in our mutual counsel and
encouragement. It's something that we have to
think about. It's something that we need to
use to stir up one another. Why?
Because I see my Jesus using it every single time with every
single church. To the one who conquers, Look
what I'll give you. It's coming and the life to come
and the life to come and the life to come.
Evidently, there's something about knowing what's to come
that keeps me going now. And to refuse to see that as a
detriment to us. Here's my prayer for our church,
that no matter what kind of week you had, no matter the bills or
the surprising payments that came house this or bills with
health, whatever the case may be, education, the stresses of
this life would wash away. Because as you come and as you
leave, you've been reminded of what's to come.
To be eternally minded. This is what the Lord is saying.
Remember what's happening. Remember what we're looking
forward to here. Come on, church, this isn't it.
There's life to come. I wasn't planning on saying
this, but I want to end on an encouraging note from the Old
Testament, and then we'll close together in prayer.
Jesus said that He wants us to be more than conquerors,
conquerors in our faith. And I want to tell you something
about his patience with his church.
When you come to the book of Malachi, you see something quite
amazing about God's heart in that refining process.
In Malachi 3/3 he says he will sit as a refiner and a purifier
of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them
like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings and
righteousness to the Lord. This is what God was doing in
the Old Testament of the Old Covenant.
What was he doing? He was refining them.
Is it any different today? But notice his posture.
What does it say in the beginning of verse three?
He will stand. He will sit.
When you sit to do anything, you're assuming that you're
going to be there for a while, that you're taking your time,
you're giving your focus, that you're not in a rush.
When Jesus purifies you, He's patient.
When He works on me, He is long-suffering.
He doesn't just toss us away when we don't comply
immediately. He works on us and he takes his
time on us. And you see that even in these
letters where this church that was ravaged by this false
prophetess, and he says, what to that church?
I gave her time to repent. I gave her time to repent.
If we were to walk into a church with a woman preaching and
saying it's OK to live in sexual sin, how long?
How much time would you spend there before you leave?
You don't care what kind of coffee is in the lobby.
I'm out of here. Jesus doesn't immediately even
shut down that church. I gave her time to repent.
This is the God you serve. And as we pray, let that be the
object of our desire. Lord, make us a people that you
want us to be. Help us think like you think.
Help us work for what really matters.
Help us realize that Satan hates us and that we have to be on
guard and help us be eternally minded.
Lord, we thank you for your help in this overview.
We pray that these things that we heard would be applied.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. So Lord, we do ask that we would
leave here, sensing your voice and empowering us to live out
what You've called us to do. And Lord, as we think about you
sitting while you refine us, we want to now stand in honor of
you and sing Your praises. Keep Maranatha Bible Church in
your will. May you find nothing here that
breaks your heart. Bless every ministry that is
represented here outside of this church.
May you find at this time more churches like Smyrna and
Philadelphia that bring you joy, that OfferUp true sacrifice of
praise. That's what we're striving after
and we know that you'll help us by the Spirit.
We love you Lord. Thank you for loving us first.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Let's stand before the one who
sits while he works on us. What a great God.