August 27, 2024 • 39 mins
Can spiritual complacency be deadly? In this compelling episode, we start by examining the church in Sardis, once a city of opulence and now a symbol of spiritual lethargy. We discuss how Jesus' harsh critique serves as a wake-up call to complete their works and avoid the fate of Cain's unacceptable offering. This segment will make you question whether you're merely going through the motions in your faith life and how to reignite your spiritual fervor.
Turning our focus to Philadelphia, we delve into Jesus' uplifting message of divine authority and unwavering promise to the faithful. With references to Isaiah 22:22 and John 10:9, we unpack the powerful symbolism of the open door and Jesus' unique role as the gatekeeper to salvation. Our discussion also touches upon the contentious interpretation of Revelation 3:10 and the pre-tribulation rapture, setting the groundwork for more in-depth future explorations on this pivotal topic.
Finally, we draw striking parallels between the church in Laodicea and modern American Christianity, emphasizing how material wealth can lead to spiritual blindness. Jesus' call to buy gold refined by fire—character built through affliction—serves as a poignant reminder of what truly matters. We wrap up our examination of the seven churches with a heartfelt reflection on Jesus' rebuke as an act of love, and how rekindling our first love and overcoming lukewarm devotion can lead to a deeper, more passionate faith journey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Well, welcome to this first five verse Bible study.
I'm Randy Duncan, and in thisepisode we're going to be
covering Revelation, chapterthree, which covers the last
three of the seven letters tothe seven churches in Asia minor
.
We covered the first fourchurches Ephesus, smyrna,
pergamum and Thyatira and so inthis chapter we're going to
(00:30):
cover the letters to thechurches in Sardis, philadelphia
and Laodicea.
But we have a lot to cover inthis chapter, so let's just jump
right in Now.
The fifth letter written byJohn is to the church in Sardis,
which is about 30 miles southof Thyatira.
Back in the 6th century it hadbeen one of the greatest cities
in the world, capital of theancient region of Lydia and home
(00:53):
of the famous King Croesus, whowas renowned for his massive
wealth.
But Sardis was known for itswealth and luxurious and this
licentious living, and it wasfull of sophisticated paganism
and, like other cities we'vediscussed, it had an aqueduct, a
gymnasium, a theater and astadium.
And the citadel, or thisfortress of Sardis was thought
(01:16):
to be impregnable because itstood on an almost impossibly
steep hill with these sheercliffs on three sides that
dropped about 1,500 feet to thevalley below.
But in the 6th century, and asa result of their lack of
vigilance, the city experienceda stealth attack from the
Persians, led by Cyrus the Great, resulting in this humiliating
(01:39):
defeat.
According to the Greekhistorian, herodotus, a Persian
soldier saw a soldier of Sardisclimbing down the walls to
retrieve a helmet that hedropped, and so he tried to
follow the example.
He was successful in his ascentof the cliff and provided a
path for the rest of thesoldiers of Cyrus, and they
swarmed over the exposed walland promptly took the city.
(02:02):
You see, sardis didn't botherguarding this portion of the
citadel because they assumed itwas unscalable.
They were not vigilant, theywere overconfident and a bit
arrogant even, and thoseadjectives may also describe the
state of Christians living inSardis, because there's no
mention of any significantpersecution of the Christians in
(02:23):
Sardis.
No mention of any significantpersecution of the Christians in
Sardis, seemingly getting alongwith both the large Jewish
population there as well as thecity as a whole.
And since they didn't have anysignificant oppression from the
world, they may have growncomfortable in their
relationship with the world,accommodating themselves to
others in order to avoidconflict.
And it's to these Christianswhose Jesus is writing when he
(02:45):
says in verses 1-3, and to theangel of the church in Sardis.
Write the words of him who hasthe seven spirits of God and the
seven stars I know your works,you have the reputation of being
alive, but you are dead.
Wake up and strengthen whatremains and is about to die, for
(03:06):
I have not found your workscomplete in the sight of my God.
Remember, then, what youreceived and heard.
Keep it and repent.
If you will not wake up, I willcome like a thief and you will
not know at what hour I willcome against you.
And so Jesus begins his letterto the church in Sardis by
basically calling them a deadchurch.
He tells them I know your works, you have the reputation of
(03:29):
being alive, but you're dead,which is a really ironic
contrast to Jesus himself, whowas dead and is now alive.
The only good thing about thechurch was that it had a
reputation for being alive, butthis reputation was greatly
overstated and was not whatJesus saw.
The church had a reputation forspiritual life, but in reality
(03:52):
it was near death spiritually.
Jesus knows the genuine state ofthe churches and of each
Christian, just as he still doestoday, and I'm sure there are
many Christians today who othersin society may look at and they
say look how spiritual they are.
You know, old Johnny, he's agood Christian man.
But what others think and sayabout you doesn't really matter.
(04:15):
Jesus knows the real you.
Would he look at you right nowand say you have a reputation of
being spiritually alive, butyou are dead?
And it actually reminds me ofJesus' words to the Pharisees
when he told them in Matthew 23,woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites, foryou are like whitewashed tombs
(04:35):
which outwardly appear beautifulbut within are full of dead
people's bones and alluncleanliness.
But Jesus encourages them towake up and strengthen what
remains, because it's about todie.
The church here is driftingtowards death.
It is slowly and graduallyeroding.
And he tells them for I havenot found your works complete in
(04:58):
the sight of my God.
Now, it doesn't specify what hemeans here by their works being
perfect or complete.
It may be that their works werenot motivated by love or that
they weren't rooted in faith.
It may also be the case that,since they had a reputation of
being alive, that maybe theywere just sort of going through
the motions, the Christiansliving in Sardis.
(05:19):
They were different from someof the other churches because
they had become comfortable withthe world and so they didn't
have to pay any price forfollowing Jesus.
And again, that can happen toall of us.
I mean, how many times have youfound yourself just going
through the motions?
How many times have you foundyourself going into a church
service when maybe it was astruggle, you weren't motivated
(05:41):
at the time just to make anappearance or maintain a certain
public image?
But this idea of their works notbeing complete or perfect, it
also reminds me of Cain and Abel, where Cain's offering to God
was rejected by God.
And why was it rejected?
Remember, cain brought anoffering, just like Abel.
So why was his rejected?
(06:01):
There was something in Cain'smotivation, maybe his attitude,
and possibly something with whathe actually offered, that made
his offering unacceptable to God.
Because God even tells himafter the fact you will be
accepted if you do what is right.
If you're interested in maybe,a detailed look at this, you can
go to I think it's maybeepisode number 13, where I cover
(06:24):
Cain and Abel in Genesis,chapter 4.
But in Jude 11, we read thatthey have taken the way of Cain,
which is a description thatrefers to lawless men, and so
this may mean that they, likeCain, disobeyed God and devised
their own ways of worship, notcoming to God by faith.
Even though Cain's offering wasacceptable in his own eyes, it
(06:47):
was not acceptable to God Insome way.
Cain had changed or pervertedGod's prescribed form of worship
, and some of this same attitudemay have been present with the
Christians in Sardis.
They may have been guided moreby culture than by Jesus, and so
Jesus tells them to repent.
If you will not wake up, I willcome like a thief and you will
(07:11):
not know at what hour I willcome against you.
And just as the city had fallento the Persians in the past
because the people were notvigilant and awake, jesus tells
the church to wake up to repent,and if they will not repent, he
will come like a thief in thenight, and you never know when a
thief will come.
It's unexpected, it will takethe church completely by
(07:33):
surprise, and this warningshould have resonated with the
people of Sardis, so proud oftheir city, which had never been
defeated in a conventional war,but again which had been
overthrown by the surpriseattack of the Persians and Cyrus
the Great.
And they were conquered becausethey had failed to adequately
watch.
They grew complacent and, asI've said before, the easiest
(07:56):
way to get picked off in a waris to not even realize you're in
one.
And, by the way, jesus alsomentions coming like a thief in
the night in the last days inMatthew 24, where he says and
(08:20):
would have not let his house bebroken into.
Therefore, you also must beready, for the Son of man is
coming at an hour you do notexpect, but there's apparently a
few in the church at Sardis whohave not become complacent
(08:59):
because Jesus continues inverses 4 through 6 saying so.
When Jesus says that there's afew people in the church in
Sardis who have not soiled theirgarments, what does that mean?
Jesus is saying that thosebelievers who have not soiled or
polluted themselves with thepaganisms of the culture are
worthy and they will walk withhim in eternity.
Even in the temples of Asia andother places, pagan cultures
(09:22):
who worship pagan deities didnot dare approach those false
gods and temples with soiledclothes.
They wore white or linen, andthe staining of garments is a
picture of sin in Jude, andwhite clothing is a picture of
righteousness and purity.
And this issue of clothing?
It actually goes all the wayback to the garden when, after
(09:43):
Adam and Eve sinned, they triedto make themselves clothing made
of fig leaves.
But what does God do with theirattempt to cover themselves?
He dismisses it and makes newclothes for them, clothes that
required the sacrifice ofinnocent blood, teaching them
and us that it was only throughthe shedding of innocent blood
(10:04):
that their sins would be covered.
And now here Jesus is promisingthe one who conquers, the one
who overcomes, that they wouldbe clothed in white garments.
Not only that, but he also saysand I will never blot his name
out of the book of life, I willconfess his name before my
father and before his angels.
And it's interesting because insome ancient cities, athens for
(10:28):
example, the names of citizenswere kept in these registers.
But if a citizen were foundguilty of a treasonous act or
was set to be executed, his namewould be erased from the
registry, it would be blottedout.
But Jesus promises here that hewill never blot out the name of
one who overcomes.
But, more importantly, thoseregisters of citizens and
(10:52):
ancient cities.
It was a book of physical life,but Jesus is speaking of
eternal life, which is the muchmore important book to have your
name in.
And we'll see later inRevelation that on the last day
the book of life will be openedand the names of many people
will not be found in it.
Those who have never trustedJesus and accepted him as Lord
(11:15):
will not have their nameswritten in the book of life.
And Revelation 20, 15 tells us.
And if anyone's name was notfound written in the book of
life he was thrown into the lakeof fire.
But as Jesus says here In Luke12, 8, jesus said, the Son of
(11:41):
man also will acknowledge beforethe angels of God.
But we now turn to the church inPhiladelphia, which was the
youngest of the seven cities andwas located about 35 miles
southeast of Sardis.
The city was founded in the 2ndcentury BC by Talos II,
philadelphus, who was one of thekings of Pergamum.
(12:01):
Now Philadelphos is the Greekword for one who loves his
brother, and even our moderncity of Philadelphia is known as
the city of brotherly love.
But the city was located in anagricultural area and it was
known for its wine and grapes.
And it's no surprise that thepatron deity of the city was
Dionysus, the god of wine, whichmany people first heard of
(12:24):
during the recent controversialopening ceremonies at the 2024
Olympics.
But Philadelphia had a goodrelationship with Rome, that is,
until about AD 92, when theemperor Domitian wanted to
encourage the production ofgrain, and so he ordered half
the vineyards to be cut down,which enraged the citizens and
(12:45):
soured their relationship withRome.
The ancient historian Strabocalled Philadelphia a city full
of earthquakes, and indeed therewere many tremors there, and in
fact, in AD 17, the city wasactually almost completely
demolished by a severeearthquake, and this had caused
many people to leave the cityand continue to live on the
outskirts even after it wasrebuilt, and so had caused many
people to leave the city andcontinue to live on the
(13:05):
outskirts even after it wasrebuilt.
And so the church inPhiladelphia was different from
the church in Sardis, it wassmall, it was poor and it was
harassed by both local pagansand the local synagogue.
And it's to this church, in thisenvironment, that Jesus has his
message, which he begins inverses 7 through 9, which read
(13:26):
and so Jesus begins here by onceagain reiterating that he is
(14:08):
the holy one, the true one andthe one who holds the key of
David, just as we discussed inthe last episode.
This all speaks of his deity,but, just as a reminder, the one
who holds the key has theauthority to open and shut and,
as such, jesus is the one whodetermines who enters into his
house and who does not.
(14:29):
And just like in Isaiah 22, 22,he controls who gains entrance
into the royal palace.
Back in chapter 1, we also sawthat Jesus holds the keys of
death and Hades, but here hefocuses on holding the key to
salvation.
Hades, but here he focuses onholding the key to salvation.
And the one who holds the keyhas authority to open and shut,
(14:50):
to grant access or deny it.
And Jesus tells them behold, Ihave set before you an open door
which no one is able to shut.
I know that you have but littlepower, and yet you have kept my
word and have not denied myname.
And so, even though thePhiladelphian church had only a
little strength left, they hadproven themselves and managed to
(15:10):
remain faithful.
And so to this church thatfeels weak and insignificant and
small in a world that opposesit, jesus' words here remind
them that, even though they'remarginalized by the world, he's
the one who ultimately hascontrol.
And even though they'vesuffered opposition, they have
not given in.
They haven't offered worship tothe imperial cult.
(15:32):
They haven't worshipped themany gods throughout the city.
They haven't given in to thepressures of the local synagogue
and they haven't denied Jesus'name.
And if you think about it, therefusal to deny Jesus' name is
one of the basic hallmarks ofbeing a Christian.
I mean Christians throughouthistory and even today in
certain parts of the world, havesuffered for that.
(15:54):
In the West we have it mucheasier.
We don't really face the threatof death, just potential social
and economic consequences,although I do think those
consequences will be greater andgreater over time.
But when Jesus tells them thathe has set before them an open
door, what exactly is hereferring to here?
Remember, jesus holds the keysto the kingdom.
(16:17):
He can open and shut the doorto anyone he chooses, and so
this open door refers to theiraccess to the kingdom of God.
In fact, I find it interestingthat in John 10, 9, jesus says I
am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved.
And to take it a step further,jesus also said in John 14, I am
(16:40):
the way and the truth and thelife.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
I also find it reallyinteresting that Jesus is the
door and it's the only way tosalvation, because it reminds me
of the ark.
Think about it.
There was only one door in theark.
You entered only through thatdoor or you didn't get in, and
(17:03):
if you didn't get in, you werenot saved.
But he tells them I have setbefore you an open door which no
one is able to shut.
And do you remember who shutthe door to the ark?
Genesis 7 tells us that theywent into the ark with Noah and
the Lord shut him in.
God closed the door, folks.
(17:24):
Jesus holds the keys into thekingdom.
He opens and closes the door,and there is only one door, and
that door is Jesus Christ.
But he also tells them in verse9, that, behold, I will make
those of the synagogue of Satanwho say they are Jews and are
not, but lie.
Behold, I will make them comeand bow down before your feet
(17:46):
and they will learn that I haveloved you.
In short, what he's saying here, I believe, is that the Jews
believed that they were thechosen people of God, and of
course there's truth to that.
But more to the heart of God,these Jewish enemies of the
Christians would one dayacknowledge that all believers
belong to the kingdom of God.
Heaven is open to anyone, jewor not, who is a true believer,
(18:09):
who confesses that Jesus is theSon of God, who repent and
accept his offer of salvation.
This is what Jesus is sayingthat they're going to
acknowledge.
They will acknowledge the truth, and so this isn't about Jews
coming to bow down at the feetof Christians, but simply that
Christians will be vindicated.
But that brings us to verse 10,and I want to treat verse 10 by
(18:32):
itself because it's a verycontroversial verse.
In verse 10, jesus says Becauseyou have kept my word about
patient endurance, I will keepyou from the hour of trial that
is coming on the whole world totry those who dwell on the earth
.
Now, the reason I say thisverse is controversial is
because many people who believein a pre-tribulation rapture
(18:54):
point to this verse as proof oftheir belief.
Now, we're not going to settlethe pre-trib, mid-trib or
post-tribulation rapturequestion here, or if there even
is such a thing as the rapture,but I do want to touch on this
particular verse, since it's inthis chapter we're covering and,
believe me, we're going to havemuch more to talk about
concerning the best argumentsfor and against the rapture
(19:17):
later on as we progress throughRevelation.
But for now, let's focus onthis particular verse and
argument.
So again, jesus says that sincethey have kept his word and
endured, he will keep them fromthe hour of trial that is coming
on the whole world to try thosewho dwell on the earth.
Now, those who believe in apre-tribulation or a pre-trib
(19:38):
rapture, believe that this trialthat is coming to the whole
world to try those who dwell onthe earth is referring to the
great tribulation which we'llsee in chapters 6 through 19.
Is referring to the greattribulation which we'll see in
chapters 6 through 19.
And since he says he will quote, keep them from it, some people
assume that he means he willremove them from the earth so
that they don't have to endurethe tribulation.
(19:59):
Notice that the tribulation orthis time of trial, it's
designated for and it'srestricted to those who live on
the earth, the earth dwellersand this term earth dwellers
it's used nine other earth.
The earth dwellers and thisterm earth dwellers.
It's used nine other times inthe book of Revelation and what
we see is that this becomes asort of a technical term for
unbelievers.
(20:19):
And we see later in Revelationthat these earth dwellers
worship the beast, they'redeceived by the second beast and
their names are not written inthe book of life.
But I think a critical point tointerpreting this verse is the
word keep.
Jesus said he would keep themfrom the hour of trial that is
coming upon the whole world.
So what exactly does that wordkeep mean, because it's critical
(20:44):
to understand.
Does it mean that he will keepthem from having to endure the
tribulation?
Does it mean that he will keepthem from having to endure the
tribulation, or does it meanthat he will keep them
throughout the tribulation?
Now, people who don't believe inthe rapture argue that it
cannot mean escaping thetribulation entirely, because
down in verse 12, jesus makespromises to those who conquer
(21:05):
and overcome.
And so if the believers arealready raptured out, who
exactly is it that's overcoming?
And so they argue that thesebelievers will be kept during
the tribulation, not kept fromit.
They also argue that Revelationdoesn't give any indication
that believers will be snatchedaway from the earth and spared
(21:25):
the coming tribulation.
They argue that believers will,however, escape the trials even
while still living on the earth.
Now, a couple of things theypoint to as arguments for their
position.
First, consider the wholepicture of the exodus from Egypt
.
If you remember, god sent tenplagues upon Egypt and the
Hebrews were right there for allof them.
(21:47):
They were living in Egypt asslaves during the plagues.
God didn't take them out ofEgypt prior to the plagues, but
protected them during theplagues.
They were spared and it'sactually interesting.
But when we get there you'llnotice that the wrath poured out
upon the inhabitants of theearth during the tribulation
(22:07):
mimics the plagues of Egypt.
But another line of argument forbelievers not being raptured
from the earth during thetribulation mimics the plagues
of Egypt.
But another line of argumentfor believers not being raptured
from the earth is found in John17 15, where Jesus prays for
his disciples, asking that theybe kept from the evil one, even
while continuing to live in theworld.
In fact, jesus prays I do notask that you take them out of
(22:29):
the world, but that you keepthem from the evil one or from
evil.
And that phrase keep from arethe same Greek words, ektareo,
as the one we see here inRevelation 3.10.
They argue that it's clear thatJesus keeps them from the evil
one, not by removing them fromthe world, but by sustaining
(22:52):
them while they're in the world.
And so the word keep definitelydoesn't have to mean take out
of or keep from.
I know I mentioned the arkearlier when speaking about the
door, but I think it'sinteresting.
God didn't keep Noah and hisfamily from the coming
destruction by removing themfrom the world first, but he
kept them through the time ofdestruction.
(23:13):
The observation has been made bysome that believers aren't
spared from persecution, butthey are kept from God's wrath.
Others argue that nowhere inRevelation do we read of
believers being taken alive fromthe earth.
Nowhere in Revelation do weread of them being raptured
before the tribulation.
What we do see, however, isbelievers protected from
(23:35):
judgment, even though theysuffer persecution, in
Revelation 12 and 13.
But regardless of our belief orour interpretation of the
rapture, I think we need to becareful in how we discuss this
with others.
During Mao Zedong's purges inChina, which led to tens of
millions of deaths, many ChineseChristians thought that they
(23:55):
were experiencing the GreatTribulation and that they had
missed the long-awaited raptureof the church.
Later, these Chinese Christians, they didn't want any of the
Western missionaries to returnbecause they felt like they had
been lied to.
And so, look, as I said before,we're not going to settle this
issue right here.
In fact, it may never besettled, but we'll revisit the
(24:16):
whole rapture question again aswe progress through Revelation,
and I'll take a little more timeto discuss when and where this
idea of the rapture even camefrom.
You know, I always loved astory I heard from Chuck Missler
, who quoted I think it mighthave been Walter Martin.
When arguing with otherbelievers who were confused
about pre-trib, mid-trib,post-trib or they didn't believe
(24:38):
the rapture, he would just sayhey, don't worry about it.
I'll explain it to you on theway up, but for now we continue
with verses 11 through 13, where, after saying he would keep
them from the hour of trial,jesus continues saying I am
(24:58):
coming soon.
Hold fast what you have so thatno one may seize your crown.
The one who conquers.
I will make him a pillar in thetemple of my God.
Never shall he go out of it,and I will write on him the name
of my God and the name of thecity of my God, the new
Jerusalem, which comes down frommy God out of heaven, and my
own new name, he who has.
And so, after promising to keepthem during the trial that is
(25:21):
to come, jesus says I am comingsoon.
Now, I touched on this in anearlier episode but, as a
reminder.
There are a couple of differentways to handle this verse,
because it's obviously beenabout 2,000 years now and Jesus
has not yet returned.
So what exactly does he mean bysoon?
One option is that God's timeis not the same as our time.
(25:42):
God's perspective of time ismuch different than our way of
reckoning time.
2 Peter 3.8 tells us.
But do not overlook the onefact beloved, that with the Lord
, one day is as a thousand yearsand a thousand years as one day
.
But another possibility as towhat Jesus means by soon, it's
found in the Greek word used.
The Greek word is taku, whichis where we get our word for
(26:06):
tachometer.
It references speed, quickness,where we get our word for
tachometer.
It references speed, quickness,suddenness.
And so some commentators arguethat this doesn't mean Jesus is
coming next Tuesday, but thatwhen he does return, when these
events begin to take place, hewill do so suddenly and with
quickness.
But Jesus promises the one whoconquers, I will make him a
(26:28):
pillar in the temple of of God.
They will become a part of it.
Even though they're deniedaccess to Satan's synagogue, as
mentioned in verse 9, they willbe welcome into the eternal
presence of God, which brings usnow to the last of the seven
(26:49):
letters, the letter to thechurch in Laodicea, which is
about 60 miles southeast ofPhiladelphia.
Laodicea was founded byAntiochus II around 260 BC and
was named after his wife,laodice.
The city was wealthy andprosperous.
It was a banking center and itwas famous for this black wool
that it produced that was usedin clothing and carpets.
(27:11):
The city was devastated by anearthquake in AD 61, but the
citizens were so rich and soindependent that they refused
assistance from the Romangovernment and they rebuilt the
city out of their own resources.
It was also one of the chiefmedical cities in the region and
it was famous for its eye salve, which it exported.
(27:32):
Now, by the time John wrote thisletter, the spiritual condition
of the church in Laodicea haddeteriorated badly, like we saw
before.
It may have been due to thematerial wealth and the
luxurious lifestyle they lived,but this church receives the
harshest letter of all the sevenchurches, and we read it,
beginning with verses 14 through17.
(27:54):
And to the angel of the churchin Laodicea write the words of
the amen, the faithful and truewitness, the beginning of God's
creation.
I know your works.
You were neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot.
So because you were lukewarmand neither hot nor cold, I will
(28:14):
spit you out of my mouth.
For you say I am rich, I haveprospered and I need nothing,
not realizing that you arewretched, pitiable, poor, blind
and naked.
So the letter begins byreminding them who the letter is
coming from, jesus Christ, whois referred to here as the Amen.
(28:36):
In Isaiah 65, 16, god is calledthe God of truth and in Hebrew
it is Elohei Amen, or the God ofAmen, and so the application of
the alman, or the amen toChrist here indicates that he
shares the same divine nature asGod.
But he begins his message bysaying I know your works.
(28:58):
You were neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot?
And so because you werelukewarm and neither hot nor
cold, I will spit you out of mymouth.
Now, I don't know about you,but that's not the way I want
Jesus to start any conversationwith me.
And what he's addressing is thesort of nonchalant spiritual
(29:19):
state of the church.
They're neither too distantfrom God and thus cold but they
also aren't very close to God orhot.
As a result, they're merelylukewarm and lukewarm
Christianity.
It's apparently nauseating toJesus, so much so that he says
he will spit them out of hismouth.
Now, many translations of thisphrase don't adequately describe
(29:43):
the seriousness of what ismeant here, because the word
spit doesn't convey violentexpulsion.
The Greek word used here isamao, which means to vomit, to
throw up, to expel with extremedisgust, and the idea goes all
the way back to Leviticus, wherethose who gave themselves over
(30:04):
to sin would be vomited out ofthe land.
Now, we don't know for certainthe reasons that they were
lukewarm, but it may be thatthey were simply going through
the motions of theirChristianity, or they may have
tried to hold on to some middleground between their
Christianity and their worldlyliving.
Maybe they worshiped God butalso obeyed the emperor's
(30:25):
command to worship him.
But whatever it was, christ isso disgusted and nauseated with
these lukewarm Christians thathe's about to vomit them out,
which represents an absoluterejection.
In today's vernacular.
It would be like saying youmake me want to puke.
John Stott wrote that perhapsnone of the seven letters is
(30:46):
more appropriate to the 20thcentury church than this one.
It describes vividly therespectable, sentimental,
nominal, skin-deep religiositywhich is so widespread among us
today.
Our Christianity is flabby andanemic and we appear to have
taken a lukewarm bath ofreligion.
But Jesus continues by tellingthem For you say, I am rich, I
(31:12):
have prospered and I neednothing, not realizing that you
are wretched, pitiable, poor,blind and naked.
Now, first, how many people inAmerica today could this apply
to?
It's all about perspective.
Whose perspective do you have?
God's?
A worldly view, propagandizedby social media and what you see
(31:33):
on the news.
How do you know when you're inneed or when you've supposedly
made it?
It may be a good idea for youto spend some time making a
decision on what perspectiveyou're going to walk through
life with, to figure out who youreally are, because if you
don't know, the world willdecide for you.
The world will tell you who youare and then you'll be expected
(31:55):
to play your role.
And just like many of us, thechurch in Laodicea thought they
were rich, prosperous and werein need of nothing, but in the
eyes of Jesus, they werewretched, pitiable, poor, blind
and naked.
Of Jesus, they were wretched,pitiable, poor, blind and naked.
The richness of the Laodiceansindicated that they were some
way assimilating into thecultural morals of the day.
(32:17):
They weren't experiencingdifficulties like the other
churches and they werecomfortable.
The nakedness that Jesusmentions refers to their
shameful moral condition, and italso reminds me of a scene back
in the garden where Adam andEve stood naked and ashamed due
to their new moral condition.
But Jesus continues in verses 18and 19 where he says I counsel
(32:41):
you to buy from me gold refinedby fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments so that youmay clothe yourself and the
shame of your nakedness may notbe seen, and salve to anoint
your eyes so that you may seethose whom I love.
I reprove and discipline.
So be zealous and repent.
(33:02):
In these two verses Jesus tellsthe church what they truly need
, but he does so in aninteresting way by contrasting
what they need with what theyalready have.
For example, he tells them thatthey need to buy from him gold
refined in fire, even thoughbanking was what they were known
for.
That they needed to get fromhim white garments to clothe
(33:24):
themselves, even though theywere known all over for the
black wool and clothing theyproduced.
That they needed to get truesalve for their eyes so that
they could truly see and nolonger be blind, even though
they exported their eye salveall across the region and beyond
.
Jesus is telling the churchthat what they truly need is to
(33:46):
obtain from him the things thatmoney cannot buy, and so he's
offering them the spiritualcounterparts to their three
major industries.
And again, it seems that theproblems with the church in
Laodicea are most like ours inAmerica today, because we don't
deal with any significantpersecution or political
oppression or any othersuffering, and so we have in
(34:08):
some ways become content withthe world and our modern culture
, and if we're not careful, ourprosperity can lead to spiritual
blindness.
Jesus said to buy from him goldrefined in the fire.
Now, the qualities andcharacteristics of this gold
have been refined by affliction,and it implies that character
is refined in the same manner,because luxury is not
(34:28):
necessarily is refined in thesame manner, because luxury is
not necessarily known for itscharacter building traits.
In fact, it's been said thatyou cannot wish for a strong
character in an easy life,because each is the price of the
other.
I think it's also important toremember that the words of Jesus
here are coming from a positionof love and concern, because he
(34:51):
says as many as I love, Irebuke and chasten.
Love doesn't tolerate or excuseevil.
I mean it's no different thanthe way parents should
discipline their children out oflove and to do what's best for
them.
But we finish now with the lastthree verses, which read them.
But we finish now with the lastthree verses which read Behold,
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice andopens the door, I will come in
(35:19):
to him and eat with him and hewith me.
The one who conquers.
I will grant him to sit with meon my throne, as I also
conquered and sat down with myfather on the door, opening this
door to Christ.
(35:40):
It's a picture of repentance,and some people take this to
mean that Jesus is speaking toevery individual, standing
outside and knocking on the doorof their heart.
But others argue that in thiscontext, this is Jesus speaking
directly to the church, standingoutside of the very church that
bore his name but lacked truedevotion.
(36:01):
But in either case, the resultand the promise would be the
same.
You know, this verse iscaptured beautifully by the
famous painting by Holman Huntnamed the Light of the World.
It's a painting of Jesusstanding outside of a door
preparing to knock.
You should Google it If you donotice that there's no handle on
(36:21):
the outside.
The door must be opened fromthe inside.
It must be open from within.
In earlier days, to eat anddrink with someone else was an
act of acceptance and honor, asign of sort of an intimate
friendship, and dining withChrist symbolizes that intimacy
and that joy of fellowship.
But lastly, jesus promises theone who conquers.
(36:45):
I will grant him to sit with meon my throne, as I also
conquered and sat down with myfather on his throne.
To those who conquer, those whowin in the struggle against
self-indulgence, a life focusedon material wealth or of being
lukewarm in their devotion toGod, they would have a place
with Christ and his kingdom.
And so, as we wrap up thisstudy of the seven letters to
(37:09):
the seven churches and we lookforward to the next chapter
where we get a glimpse of thethrone in heaven, I think it's
important that we consider thelessons from each of Jesus'
messages, because the messagesto the churches can also be
applied to us as individuals,and they provide examples of the
types of things that can gowrong in a believer's spiritual
(37:29):
life, because we're in danger oflosing our first love, like the
church in Ephesus, of beingafraid of suffering, like Smyrna
, of compromising our doctrine,like Pergamum, or moral
compromise, like Thyatira, ofspiritual deadness, like Sardis,
or failure to hold on to ourbeliefs, like Philadelphia, or
(37:52):
of having a lukewarmChristianity, like we just saw
in Laodicea.
And my prayer for all of you isthat you spend some time
thinking about what kind ofChristian you want to be, and I
pray that you won't be satisfiedwith being simply a cultural
Christian, that you wouldrededicate yourself to being the
best version of a Christian andambassador of Jesus that you
(38:15):
can be, and pray for the wisdomand guidance from Christ to
strengthen you along yourjourney.
I'm on the edge.
I'm about to take a step.
I'm on a cliff.
I'm about to lose my grip.
I'm jumping off.
I'm gonna be fanatic.
Be fanatic, I'm fanatic for you.
(38:36):
I'm on the edge.
I'm about to take a step.
I'm on a cliff.
I'm about to lose my grip.
I'm jumping off.
I'm gonna be fanatic.
Be fanatic, I'm fanatic for you.
Thank you.
Well, welcome to this first five verse Bible study.
I'm Randy Duncan, and in thisepisode we're going to be
covering Revelation, chapterthree, which covers the last
three of the seven letters tothe seven churches in Asia minor
.
We covered the first fourchurches Ephesus, smyrna,
pergamum and Thyatira and so inthis chapter we're going to
(00:30):
cover the letters to thechurches in Sardis, philadelphia
and Laodicea.
But we have a lot to cover inthis chapter, so let's just jump
right in Now.
The fifth letter written byJohn is to the church in Sardis,
which is about 30 miles southof Thyatira.
Back in the 6th century it hadbeen one of the greatest cities
in the world, capital of theancient region of Lydia and home
(00:53):
of the famous King Croesus, whowas renowned for his massive
wealth.
But Sardis was known for itswealth and luxurious and this
licentious living, and it wasfull of sophisticated paganism
and, like other cities we'vediscussed, it had an aqueduct, a
gymnasium, a theater and astadium.
And the citadel, or thisfortress of Sardis was thought
(01:16):
to be impregnable because itstood on an almost impossibly
steep hill with these sheercliffs on three sides that
dropped about 1,500 feet to thevalley below.
But in the 6th century, and asa result of their lack of
vigilance, the city experienceda stealth attack from the
Persians, led by Cyrus the Great, resulting in this humiliating
(01:39):
defeat.
According to the Greekhistorian, herodotus, a Persian
soldier saw a soldier of Sardisclimbing down the walls to
retrieve a helmet that hedropped, and so he tried to
follow the example.
He was successful in his ascentof the cliff and provided a
path for the rest of thesoldiers of Cyrus, and they
swarmed over the exposed walland promptly took the city.
(02:02):
You see, sardis didn't botherguarding this portion of the
citadel because they assumed itwas unscalable.
They were not vigilant, theywere overconfident and a bit
arrogant even, and thoseadjectives may also describe the
state of Christians living inSardis, because there's no
mention of any significantpersecution of the Christians in
(02:23):
Sardis.
No mention of any significantpersecution of the Christians in
Sardis, seemingly getting alongwith both the large Jewish
population there as well as thecity as a whole.
And since they didn't have anysignificant oppression from the
world, they may have growncomfortable in their
relationship with the world,accommodating themselves to
others in order to avoidconflict.
And it's to these Christianswhose Jesus is writing when he
(02:45):
says in verses 1-3, and to theangel of the church in Sardis.
Write the words of him who hasthe seven spirits of God and the
seven stars I know your works,you have the reputation of being
alive, but you are dead.
Wake up and strengthen whatremains and is about to die, for
(03:06):
I have not found your workscomplete in the sight of my God.
Remember, then, what youreceived and heard.
Keep it and repent.
If you will not wake up, I willcome like a thief and you will
not know at what hour I willcome against you.
And so Jesus begins his letterto the church in Sardis by
basically calling them a deadchurch.
He tells them I know your works, you have the reputation of
(03:29):
being alive, but you're dead,which is a really ironic
contrast to Jesus himself, whowas dead and is now alive.
The only good thing about thechurch was that it had a
reputation for being alive, butthis reputation was greatly
overstated and was not whatJesus saw.
The church had a reputation forspiritual life, but in reality
(03:52):
it was near death spiritually.
Jesus knows the genuine state ofthe churches and of each
Christian, just as he still doestoday, and I'm sure there are
many Christians today who othersin society may look at and they
say look how spiritual they are.
You know, old Johnny, he's agood Christian man.
But what others think and sayabout you doesn't really matter.
(04:15):
Jesus knows the real you.
Would he look at you right nowand say you have a reputation of
being spiritually alive, butyou are dead?
And it actually reminds me ofJesus' words to the Pharisees
when he told them in Matthew 23,woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, you hypocrites, foryou are like whitewashed tombs
(04:35):
which outwardly appear beautifulbut within are full of dead
people's bones and alluncleanliness.
But Jesus encourages them towake up and strengthen what
remains, because it's about todie.
The church here is driftingtowards death.
It is slowly and graduallyeroding.
And he tells them for I havenot found your works complete in
(04:58):
the sight of my God.
Now, it doesn't specify what hemeans here by their works being
perfect or complete.
It may be that their works werenot motivated by love or that
they weren't rooted in faith.
It may also be the case that,since they had a reputation of
being alive, that maybe theywere just sort of going through
the motions, the Christiansliving in Sardis.
(05:19):
They were different from someof the other churches because
they had become comfortable withthe world and so they didn't
have to pay any price forfollowing Jesus.
And again, that can happen toall of us.
I mean, how many times have youfound yourself just going
through the motions?
How many times have you foundyourself going into a church
service when maybe it was astruggle, you weren't motivated
(05:41):
at the time just to make anappearance or maintain a certain
public image?
But this idea of their works notbeing complete or perfect, it
also reminds me of Cain and Abel, where Cain's offering to God
was rejected by God.
And why was it rejected?
Remember, cain brought anoffering, just like Abel.
So why was his rejected?
(06:01):
There was something in Cain'smotivation, maybe his attitude,
and possibly something with whathe actually offered, that made
his offering unacceptable to God.
Because God even tells himafter the fact you will be
accepted if you do what is right.
If you're interested in maybe,a detailed look at this, you can
go to I think it's maybeepisode number 13, where I cover
(06:24):
Cain and Abel in Genesis,chapter 4.
But in Jude 11, we read thatthey have taken the way of Cain,
which is a description thatrefers to lawless men, and so
this may mean that they, likeCain, disobeyed God and devised
their own ways of worship, notcoming to God by faith.
Even though Cain's offering wasacceptable in his own eyes, it
(06:47):
was not acceptable to God Insome way.
Cain had changed or pervertedGod's prescribed form of worship
, and some of this same attitudemay have been present with the
Christians in Sardis.
They may have been guided moreby culture than by Jesus, and so
Jesus tells them to repent.
If you will not wake up, I willcome like a thief and you will
(07:11):
not know at what hour I willcome against you.
And just as the city had fallento the Persians in the past
because the people were notvigilant and awake, jesus tells
the church to wake up to repent,and if they will not repent, he
will come like a thief in thenight, and you never know when a
thief will come.
It's unexpected, it will takethe church completely by
(07:33):
surprise, and this warningshould have resonated with the
people of Sardis, so proud oftheir city, which had never been
defeated in a conventional war,but again which had been
overthrown by the surpriseattack of the Persians and Cyrus
the Great.
And they were conquered becausethey had failed to adequately
watch.
They grew complacent and, asI've said before, the easiest
(07:56):
way to get picked off in a waris to not even realize you're in
one.
And, by the way, jesus alsomentions coming like a thief in
the night in the last days inMatthew 24, where he says and
(08:20):
would have not let his house bebroken into.
Therefore, you also must beready, for the Son of man is
coming at an hour you do notexpect, but there's apparently a
few in the church at Sardis whohave not become complacent
(08:59):
because Jesus continues inverses 4 through 6 saying so.
When Jesus says that there's afew people in the church in
Sardis who have not soiled theirgarments, what does that mean?
Jesus is saying that thosebelievers who have not soiled or
polluted themselves with thepaganisms of the culture are
worthy and they will walk withhim in eternity.
Even in the temples of Asia andother places, pagan cultures
(09:22):
who worship pagan deities didnot dare approach those false
gods and temples with soiledclothes.
They wore white or linen, andthe staining of garments is a
picture of sin in Jude, andwhite clothing is a picture of
righteousness and purity.
And this issue of clothing?
It actually goes all the wayback to the garden when, after
(09:43):
Adam and Eve sinned, they triedto make themselves clothing made
of fig leaves.
But what does God do with theirattempt to cover themselves?
He dismisses it and makes newclothes for them, clothes that
required the sacrifice ofinnocent blood, teaching them
and us that it was only throughthe shedding of innocent blood
(10:04):
that their sins would be covered.
And now here Jesus is promisingthe one who conquers, the one
who overcomes, that they wouldbe clothed in white garments.
Not only that, but he also saysand I will never blot his name
out of the book of life, I willconfess his name before my
father and before his angels.
And it's interesting because insome ancient cities, athens for
(10:28):
example, the names of citizenswere kept in these registers.
But if a citizen were foundguilty of a treasonous act or
was set to be executed, his namewould be erased from the
registry, it would be blottedout.
But Jesus promises here that hewill never blot out the name of
one who overcomes.
But, more importantly, thoseregisters of citizens and
(10:52):
ancient cities.
It was a book of physical life,but Jesus is speaking of
eternal life, which is the muchmore important book to have your
name in.
And we'll see later inRevelation that on the last day
the book of life will be openedand the names of many people
will not be found in it.
Those who have never trustedJesus and accepted him as Lord
(11:15):
will not have their nameswritten in the book of life.
And Revelation 20, 15 tells us.
And if anyone's name was notfound written in the book of
life he was thrown into the lakeof fire.
But as Jesus says here In Luke12, 8, jesus said, the Son of
(11:41):
man also will acknowledge beforethe angels of God.
But we now turn to the church inPhiladelphia, which was the
youngest of the seven cities andwas located about 35 miles
southeast of Sardis.
The city was founded in the 2ndcentury BC by Talos II,
philadelphus, who was one of thekings of Pergamum.
(12:01):
Now Philadelphos is the Greekword for one who loves his
brother, and even our moderncity of Philadelphia is known as
the city of brotherly love.
But the city was located in anagricultural area and it was
known for its wine and grapes.
And it's no surprise that thepatron deity of the city was
Dionysus, the god of wine, whichmany people first heard of
(12:24):
during the recent controversialopening ceremonies at the 2024
Olympics.
But Philadelphia had a goodrelationship with Rome, that is,
until about AD 92, when theemperor Domitian wanted to
encourage the production ofgrain, and so he ordered half
the vineyards to be cut down,which enraged the citizens and
(12:45):
soured their relationship withRome.
The ancient historian Strabocalled Philadelphia a city full
of earthquakes, and indeed therewere many tremors there, and in
fact, in AD 17, the city wasactually almost completely
demolished by a severeearthquake, and this had caused
many people to leave the cityand continue to live on the
outskirts even after it wasrebuilt, and so had caused many
people to leave the city andcontinue to live on the
(13:05):
outskirts even after it wasrebuilt.
And so the church inPhiladelphia was different from
the church in Sardis, it wassmall, it was poor and it was
harassed by both local pagansand the local synagogue.
And it's to this church, in thisenvironment, that Jesus has his
message, which he begins inverses 7 through 9, which read
(13:26):
and so Jesus begins here by onceagain reiterating that he is
(14:08):
the holy one, the true one andthe one who holds the key of
David, just as we discussed inthe last episode.
This all speaks of his deity,but, just as a reminder, the one
who holds the key has theauthority to open and shut and,
as such, jesus is the one whodetermines who enters into his
house and who does not.
(14:29):
And just like in Isaiah 22, 22,he controls who gains entrance
into the royal palace.
Back in chapter 1, we also sawthat Jesus holds the keys of
death and Hades, but here hefocuses on holding the key to
salvation.
Hades, but here he focuses onholding the key to salvation.
And the one who holds the keyhas authority to open and shut,
(14:50):
to grant access or deny it.
And Jesus tells them behold, Ihave set before you an open door
which no one is able to shut.
I know that you have but littlepower, and yet you have kept my
word and have not denied myname.
And so, even though thePhiladelphian church had only a
little strength left, they hadproven themselves and managed to
(15:10):
remain faithful.
And so to this church thatfeels weak and insignificant and
small in a world that opposesit, jesus' words here remind
them that, even though they'remarginalized by the world, he's
the one who ultimately hascontrol.
And even though they'vesuffered opposition, they have
not given in.
They haven't offered worship tothe imperial cult.
(15:32):
They haven't worshipped themany gods throughout the city.
They haven't given in to thepressures of the local synagogue
and they haven't denied Jesus'name.
And if you think about it, therefusal to deny Jesus' name is
one of the basic hallmarks ofbeing a Christian.
I mean Christians throughouthistory and even today in
certain parts of the world, havesuffered for that.
(15:54):
In the West we have it mucheasier.
We don't really face the threatof death, just potential social
and economic consequences,although I do think those
consequences will be greater andgreater over time.
But when Jesus tells them thathe has set before them an open
door, what exactly is hereferring to here?
Remember, jesus holds the keysto the kingdom.
(16:17):
He can open and shut the doorto anyone he chooses, and so
this open door refers to theiraccess to the kingdom of God.
In fact, I find it interestingthat in John 10, 9, jesus says I
am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved.
And to take it a step further,jesus also said in John 14, I am
(16:40):
the way and the truth and thelife.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me.
I also find it reallyinteresting that Jesus is the
door and it's the only way tosalvation, because it reminds me
of the ark.
Think about it.
There was only one door in theark.
You entered only through thatdoor or you didn't get in, and
(17:03):
if you didn't get in, you werenot saved.
But he tells them I have setbefore you an open door which no
one is able to shut.
And do you remember who shutthe door to the ark?
Genesis 7 tells us that theywent into the ark with Noah and
the Lord shut him in.
God closed the door, folks.
(17:24):
Jesus holds the keys into thekingdom.
He opens and closes the door,and there is only one door, and
that door is Jesus Christ.
But he also tells them in verse9, that, behold, I will make
those of the synagogue of Satanwho say they are Jews and are
not, but lie.
Behold, I will make them comeand bow down before your feet
(17:46):
and they will learn that I haveloved you.
In short, what he's saying here, I believe, is that the Jews
believed that they were thechosen people of God, and of
course there's truth to that.
But more to the heart of God,these Jewish enemies of the
Christians would one dayacknowledge that all believers
belong to the kingdom of God.
Heaven is open to anyone, jewor not, who is a true believer,
(18:09):
who confesses that Jesus is theSon of God, who repent and
accept his offer of salvation.
This is what Jesus is sayingthat they're going to
acknowledge.
They will acknowledge the truth, and so this isn't about Jews
coming to bow down at the feetof Christians, but simply that
Christians will be vindicated.
But that brings us to verse 10,and I want to treat verse 10 by
(18:32):
itself because it's a verycontroversial verse.
In verse 10, jesus says Becauseyou have kept my word about
patient endurance, I will keepyou from the hour of trial that
is coming on the whole world totry those who dwell on the earth
.
Now, the reason I say thisverse is controversial is
because many people who believein a pre-tribulation rapture
(18:54):
point to this verse as proof oftheir belief.
Now, we're not going to settlethe pre-trib, mid-trib or
post-tribulation rapturequestion here, or if there even
is such a thing as the rapture,but I do want to touch on this
particular verse, since it's inthis chapter we're covering and,
believe me, we're going to havemuch more to talk about
concerning the best argumentsfor and against the rapture
(19:17):
later on as we progress throughRevelation.
But for now, let's focus onthis particular verse and
argument.
So again, jesus says that sincethey have kept his word and
endured, he will keep them fromthe hour of trial that is coming
on the whole world to try thosewho dwell on the earth.
Now, those who believe in apre-tribulation or a pre-trib
(19:38):
rapture, believe that this trialthat is coming to the whole
world to try those who dwell onthe earth is referring to the
great tribulation which we'llsee in chapters 6 through 19.
Is referring to the greattribulation which we'll see in
chapters 6 through 19.
And since he says he will quote, keep them from it, some people
assume that he means he willremove them from the earth so
that they don't have to endurethe tribulation.
(19:59):
Notice that the tribulation orthis time of trial, it's
designated for and it'srestricted to those who live on
the earth, the earth dwellersand this term earth dwellers
it's used nine other earth.
The earth dwellers and thisterm earth dwellers.
It's used nine other times inthe book of Revelation and what
we see is that this becomes asort of a technical term for
unbelievers.
(20:19):
And we see later in Revelationthat these earth dwellers
worship the beast, they'redeceived by the second beast and
their names are not written inthe book of life.
But I think a critical point tointerpreting this verse is the
word keep.
Jesus said he would keep themfrom the hour of trial that is
coming upon the whole world.
So what exactly does that wordkeep mean, because it's critical
(20:44):
to understand.
Does it mean that he will keepthem from having to endure the
tribulation?
Does it mean that he will keepthem from having to endure the
tribulation, or does it meanthat he will keep them
throughout the tribulation?
Now, people who don't believe inthe rapture argue that it
cannot mean escaping thetribulation entirely, because
down in verse 12, jesus makespromises to those who conquer
(21:05):
and overcome.
And so if the believers arealready raptured out, who
exactly is it that's overcoming?
And so they argue that thesebelievers will be kept during
the tribulation, not kept fromit.
They also argue that Revelationdoesn't give any indication
that believers will be snatchedaway from the earth and spared
(21:25):
the coming tribulation.
They argue that believers will,however, escape the trials even
while still living on the earth.
Now, a couple of things theypoint to as arguments for their
position.
First, consider the wholepicture of the exodus from Egypt
.
If you remember, god sent tenplagues upon Egypt and the
Hebrews were right there for allof them.
(21:47):
They were living in Egypt asslaves during the plagues.
God didn't take them out ofEgypt prior to the plagues, but
protected them during theplagues.
They were spared and it'sactually interesting.
But when we get there you'llnotice that the wrath poured out
upon the inhabitants of theearth during the tribulation
(22:07):
mimics the plagues of Egypt.
But another line of argument forbelievers not being raptured
from the earth during thetribulation mimics the plagues
of Egypt.
But another line of argumentfor believers not being raptured
from the earth is found in John17 15, where Jesus prays for
his disciples, asking that theybe kept from the evil one, even
while continuing to live in theworld.
In fact, jesus prays I do notask that you take them out of
(22:29):
the world, but that you keepthem from the evil one or from
evil.
And that phrase keep from arethe same Greek words, ektareo,
as the one we see here inRevelation 3.10.
They argue that it's clear thatJesus keeps them from the evil
one, not by removing them fromthe world, but by sustaining
(22:52):
them while they're in the world.
And so the word keep definitelydoesn't have to mean take out
of or keep from.
I know I mentioned the arkearlier when speaking about the
door, but I think it'sinteresting.
God didn't keep Noah and hisfamily from the coming
destruction by removing themfrom the world first, but he
kept them through the time ofdestruction.
(23:13):
The observation has been made bysome that believers aren't
spared from persecution, butthey are kept from God's wrath.
Others argue that nowhere inRevelation do we read of
believers being taken alive fromthe earth.
Nowhere in Revelation do weread of them being raptured
before the tribulation.
What we do see, however, isbelievers protected from
(23:35):
judgment, even though theysuffer persecution, in
Revelation 12 and 13.
But regardless of our belief orour interpretation of the
rapture, I think we need to becareful in how we discuss this
with others.
During Mao Zedong's purges inChina, which led to tens of
millions of deaths, many ChineseChristians thought that they
(23:55):
were experiencing the GreatTribulation and that they had
missed the long-awaited raptureof the church.
Later, these Chinese Christians, they didn't want any of the
Western missionaries to returnbecause they felt like they had
been lied to.
And so, look, as I said before,we're not going to settle this
issue right here.
In fact, it may never besettled, but we'll revisit the
(24:16):
whole rapture question again aswe progress through Revelation,
and I'll take a little more timeto discuss when and where this
idea of the rapture even camefrom.
You know, I always loved astory I heard from Chuck Missler
, who quoted I think it mighthave been Walter Martin.
When arguing with otherbelievers who were confused
about pre-trib, mid-trib,post-trib or they didn't believe
(24:38):
the rapture, he would just sayhey, don't worry about it.
I'll explain it to you on theway up, but for now we continue
with verses 11 through 13, where, after saying he would keep
them from the hour of trial,jesus continues saying I am
(24:58):
coming soon.
Hold fast what you have so thatno one may seize your crown.
The one who conquers.
I will make him a pillar in thetemple of my God.
Never shall he go out of it,and I will write on him the name
of my God and the name of thecity of my God, the new
Jerusalem, which comes down frommy God out of heaven, and my
own new name, he who has.
And so, after promising to keepthem during the trial that is
(25:21):
to come, jesus says I am comingsoon.
Now, I touched on this in anearlier episode but, as a
reminder.
There are a couple of differentways to handle this verse,
because it's obviously beenabout 2,000 years now and Jesus
has not yet returned.
So what exactly does he mean bysoon?
One option is that God's timeis not the same as our time.
(25:42):
God's perspective of time ismuch different than our way of
reckoning time.
2 Peter 3.8 tells us.
But do not overlook the onefact beloved, that with the Lord
, one day is as a thousand yearsand a thousand years as one day
.
But another possibility as towhat Jesus means by soon, it's
found in the Greek word used.
The Greek word is taku, whichis where we get our word for
(26:06):
tachometer.
It references speed, quickness,where we get our word for
tachometer.
It references speed, quickness,suddenness.
And so some commentators arguethat this doesn't mean Jesus is
coming next Tuesday, but thatwhen he does return, when these
events begin to take place, hewill do so suddenly and with
quickness.
But Jesus promises the one whoconquers, I will make him a
(26:28):
pillar in the temple of of God.
They will become a part of it.
Even though they're deniedaccess to Satan's synagogue, as
mentioned in verse 9, they willbe welcome into the eternal
presence of God, which brings usnow to the last of the seven
(26:49):
letters, the letter to thechurch in Laodicea, which is
about 60 miles southeast ofPhiladelphia.
Laodicea was founded byAntiochus II around 260 BC and
was named after his wife,laodice.
The city was wealthy andprosperous.
It was a banking center and itwas famous for this black wool
that it produced that was usedin clothing and carpets.
(27:11):
The city was devastated by anearthquake in AD 61, but the
citizens were so rich and soindependent that they refused
assistance from the Romangovernment and they rebuilt the
city out of their own resources.
It was also one of the chiefmedical cities in the region and
it was famous for its eye salve, which it exported.
(27:32):
Now, by the time John wrote thisletter, the spiritual condition
of the church in Laodicea haddeteriorated badly, like we saw
before.
It may have been due to thematerial wealth and the
luxurious lifestyle they lived,but this church receives the
harshest letter of all the sevenchurches, and we read it,
beginning with verses 14 through17.
(27:54):
And to the angel of the churchin Laodicea write the words of
the amen, the faithful and truewitness, the beginning of God's
creation.
I know your works.
You were neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot.
So because you were lukewarmand neither hot nor cold, I will
(28:14):
spit you out of my mouth.
For you say I am rich, I haveprospered and I need nothing,
not realizing that you arewretched, pitiable, poor, blind
and naked.
So the letter begins byreminding them who the letter is
coming from, jesus Christ, whois referred to here as the Amen.
(28:36):
In Isaiah 65, 16, god is calledthe God of truth and in Hebrew
it is Elohei Amen, or the God ofAmen, and so the application of
the alman, or the amen toChrist here indicates that he
shares the same divine nature asGod.
But he begins his message bysaying I know your works.
(28:58):
You were neither cold nor hot.
Would that you were either coldor hot?
And so because you werelukewarm and neither hot nor
cold, I will spit you out of mymouth.
Now, I don't know about you,but that's not the way I want
Jesus to start any conversationwith me.
And what he's addressing is thesort of nonchalant spiritual
(29:19):
state of the church.
They're neither too distantfrom God and thus cold but they
also aren't very close to God orhot.
As a result, they're merelylukewarm and lukewarm
Christianity.
It's apparently nauseating toJesus, so much so that he says
he will spit them out of hismouth.
Now, many translations of thisphrase don't adequately describe
(29:43):
the seriousness of what ismeant here, because the word
spit doesn't convey violentexpulsion.
The Greek word used here isamao, which means to vomit, to
throw up, to expel with extremedisgust, and the idea goes all
the way back to Leviticus, wherethose who gave themselves over
(30:04):
to sin would be vomited out ofthe land.
Now, we don't know for certainthe reasons that they were
lukewarm, but it may be thatthey were simply going through
the motions of theirChristianity, or they may have
tried to hold on to some middleground between their
Christianity and their worldlyliving.
Maybe they worshiped God butalso obeyed the emperor's
(30:25):
command to worship him.
But whatever it was, christ isso disgusted and nauseated with
these lukewarm Christians thathe's about to vomit them out,
which represents an absoluterejection.
In today's vernacular.
It would be like saying youmake me want to puke.
John Stott wrote that perhapsnone of the seven letters is
(30:46):
more appropriate to the 20thcentury church than this one.
It describes vividly therespectable, sentimental,
nominal, skin-deep religiositywhich is so widespread among us
today.
Our Christianity is flabby andanemic and we appear to have
taken a lukewarm bath ofreligion.
But Jesus continues by tellingthem For you say, I am rich, I
(31:12):
have prospered and I neednothing, not realizing that you
are wretched, pitiable, poor,blind and naked.
Now, first, how many people inAmerica today could this apply
to?
It's all about perspective.
Whose perspective do you have?
God's?
A worldly view, propagandizedby social media and what you see
(31:33):
on the news.
How do you know when you're inneed or when you've supposedly
made it?
It may be a good idea for youto spend some time making a
decision on what perspectiveyou're going to walk through
life with, to figure out who youreally are, because if you
don't know, the world willdecide for you.
The world will tell you who youare and then you'll be expected
(31:55):
to play your role.
And just like many of us, thechurch in Laodicea thought they
were rich, prosperous and werein need of nothing, but in the
eyes of Jesus, they werewretched, pitiable, poor, blind
and naked.
Of Jesus, they were wretched,pitiable, poor, blind and naked.
The richness of the Laodiceansindicated that they were some
way assimilating into thecultural morals of the day.
(32:17):
They weren't experiencingdifficulties like the other
churches and they werecomfortable.
The nakedness that Jesusmentions refers to their
shameful moral condition, and italso reminds me of a scene back
in the garden where Adam andEve stood naked and ashamed due
to their new moral condition.
But Jesus continues in verses 18and 19 where he says I counsel
(32:41):
you to buy from me gold refinedby fire so that you may be rich,
and white garments so that youmay clothe yourself and the
shame of your nakedness may notbe seen, and salve to anoint
your eyes so that you may seethose whom I love.
I reprove and discipline.
So be zealous and repent.
(33:02):
In these two verses Jesus tellsthe church what they truly need
, but he does so in aninteresting way by contrasting
what they need with what theyalready have.
For example, he tells them thatthey need to buy from him gold
refined in fire, even thoughbanking was what they were known
for.
That they needed to get fromhim white garments to clothe
(33:24):
themselves, even though theywere known all over for the
black wool and clothing theyproduced.
That they needed to get truesalve for their eyes so that
they could truly see and nolonger be blind, even though
they exported their eye salveall across the region and beyond
.
Jesus is telling the churchthat what they truly need is to
(33:46):
obtain from him the things thatmoney cannot buy, and so he's
offering them the spiritualcounterparts to their three
major industries.
And again, it seems that theproblems with the church in
Laodicea are most like ours inAmerica today, because we don't
deal with any significantpersecution or political
oppression or any othersuffering, and so we have in
(34:08):
some ways become content withthe world and our modern culture
, and if we're not careful, ourprosperity can lead to spiritual
blindness.
Jesus said to buy from him goldrefined in the fire.
Now, the qualities andcharacteristics of this gold
have been refined by affliction,and it implies that character
is refined in the same manner,because luxury is not
(34:28):
necessarily is refined in thesame manner, because luxury is
not necessarily known for itscharacter building traits.
In fact, it's been said thatyou cannot wish for a strong
character in an easy life,because each is the price of the
other.
I think it's also important toremember that the words of Jesus
here are coming from a positionof love and concern, because he
(34:51):
says as many as I love, Irebuke and chasten.
Love doesn't tolerate or excuseevil.
I mean it's no different thanthe way parents should
discipline their children out oflove and to do what's best for
them.
But we finish now with the lastthree verses, which read them.
But we finish now with the lastthree verses which read Behold,
I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice andopens the door, I will come in
(35:19):
to him and eat with him and hewith me.
The one who conquers.
I will grant him to sit with meon my throne, as I also
conquered and sat down with myfather on the door, opening this
door to Christ.
(35:40):
It's a picture of repentance,and some people take this to
mean that Jesus is speaking toevery individual, standing
outside and knocking on the doorof their heart.
But others argue that in thiscontext, this is Jesus speaking
directly to the church, standingoutside of the very church that
bore his name but lacked truedevotion.
(36:01):
But in either case, the resultand the promise would be the
same.
You know, this verse iscaptured beautifully by the
famous painting by Holman Huntnamed the Light of the World.
It's a painting of Jesusstanding outside of a door
preparing to knock.
You should Google it If you donotice that there's no handle on
(36:21):
the outside.
The door must be opened fromthe inside.
It must be open from within.
In earlier days, to eat anddrink with someone else was an
act of acceptance and honor, asign of sort of an intimate
friendship, and dining withChrist symbolizes that intimacy
and that joy of fellowship.
But lastly, jesus promises theone who conquers.
(36:45):
I will grant him to sit with meon my throne, as I also
conquered and sat down with myfather on his throne.
To those who conquer, those whowin in the struggle against
self-indulgence, a life focusedon material wealth or of being
lukewarm in their devotion toGod, they would have a place
with Christ and his kingdom.
And so, as we wrap up thisstudy of the seven letters to
(37:09):
the seven churches and we lookforward to the next chapter
where we get a glimpse of thethrone in heaven, I think it's
important that we consider thelessons from each of Jesus'
messages, because the messagesto the churches can also be
applied to us as individuals,and they provide examples of the
types of things that can gowrong in a believer's spiritual
(37:29):
life, because we're in danger oflosing our first love, like the
church in Ephesus, of beingafraid of suffering, like Smyrna
, of compromising our doctrine,like Pergamum, or moral
compromise, like Thyatira, ofspiritual deadness, like Sardis,
or failure to hold on to ourbeliefs, like Philadelphia, or
(37:52):
of having a lukewarmChristianity, like we just saw
in Laodicea.
And my prayer for all of you isthat you spend some time
thinking about what kind ofChristian you want to be, and I
pray that you won't be satisfiedwith being simply a cultural
Christian, that you wouldrededicate yourself to being the
best version of a Christian andambassador of Jesus that you
(38:15):
can be, and pray for the wisdomand guidance from Christ to
strengthen you along yourjourney.
I'm on the edge.
I'm about to take a step.
I'm on a cliff.
I'm about to lose my grip.
I'm jumping off.
I'm gonna be fanatic.
Be fanatic, I'm fanatic for you.
(38:36):
I'm on the edge.
I'm about to take a step.
I'm on a cliff.
I'm about to lose my grip.
I'm jumping off.
I'm gonna be fanatic.
Be fanatic, I'm fanatic for you.
Thank you.
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