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my dearly beloved brethren and sisters by this time you are tired because you've had two long sessions and you probably are looking forward to lunch so i'm going to have to to wake you up at some point we may have to pause and sing a hymn without any accompaniment so that might be frightening enough for you because you sing awfully that might be frightening enough for you to wake you up and in this series that we will be doing together please bear this one thing in mind it is our common habit as human beings to not look at ourselves when we are reading scripture but to think in terms of who this might apply to outside of ourselves we in our ecclesial world all know the laodicean ecclesia down the street and we're all aware of the thiatyrans on the other side of the state but we forget what we are as individuals let's not look at these ecclesias as groups of individuals that are separate from each other let's look at them as our own ecclesia our own family let us look at each of these ecclesias as me you or me i'm looking at dev ramcharan in all the stages of his life sometimes laodicean sometimes aphesian sometimes thiatyran always with problems sometimes with a little strength so when we look at these letters break down any of those preconceptions break down those ways of looking at things and look at them with new eyes let's look for ourselves in these few short verses why would these letters go to asia well john john was in that region he was the man of all the apostles specifically suited to receive this particular book he'd been prepared he'd been tried he was the one who had a comprehension of the spiritual aspects of the lord jesus christ and his ministry his work what god was accomplishing through him far beyond that of the other brethren when he writes he writes differently to the others god is inspiring him to the same degree as any of the other writers but he writes in a different way god uses his personality this was the personality suited to receive these particular messages he was the one man in asia who seemed to have been the preeminent strengthener of the ecclesias in that region asia at this time in its history had experienced a period of growth prosperity like no period in its past history at the same time asia had right in it looseness worse than any other part of the empire and on top of all of that asia was preeminent in the worship of the caesars of all the provinces of the empire asia was the one that was strongest in that regard because it had been the most blessed by the roman peace now all these three things together had the potential to wreak havoc with the lives of the little ecclesias that were in that region we only need to think of north america experiencing a period of prosperity greater than any period in its history ever at the same time experiencing a looseness and casual way of living life that is worse than any generation before it in north america today wrestling with peer pressure to conform to standards behavior lifestyles in the world around us more than any of our forebears have ever had to relate to or to labor under ecclesias running the risk today as then of having the whole fabric of their existence unraveled because of what's in the world around these are letters not to the ecclesia down the street their ecclesias here our ecclesias these are letters to me to you as individuals as we struggle in our daily lives in the truth ethesus is the first one that's addressed unto the angel of the ecclesia that is in ethesus the first is written to an angel now the word angel means a messenger a messenger brethren and sisters somebody who brings a message to somebody else in most instances where that word is used in scripture it is referring to an individual who is a divine being a divine messenger but it was likewise used of people who were messengers sent bearing a message and the word though it appears to be singular at the beginning of each of these letters is not necessarily singular at all because you will see in one of the other letters that the word you is used in connection with the person or the individuals represented by that word angel we'll look at that when it comes around in the letter that it is in the word you in english was plural you and thou both referred to the same thing but singular and plural thou meant an individual you meant plurality a group of individuals more than one and so where you see that word angel a messenger it is referring i believe it can be referring to a group of individuals in the midst of the ecclesia who are messengers within the ecclesia they bear messages to the ecclesia why is a singular word used because brothers and sisters these messengers are to work together as a unit what a challenge for us arranging brethren to work together as a unit remember the vision that john had seen of the one like unto the son of man one individual consisting of a multitude all together a single unit but individuals at the same time working together the angel the arranging brethren the servants of the ecclesia are being issued a challenge by the one of the very first words in each of these epistles they are being challenged to work together as an individual as a unit united for the good of the ecclesia to the angel of the ecclesia it means a group of people called out group of called out ones called out called out of what surrounds them there's another challenge to us little words brothers and sisters they are so strong in the challenges that they present to us are our ecclesias groups of people who consider themselves do i consider myself do i behave like an individual who has been called out of that that is out there there's a challenge to us again this message goes to the angel of the ecclesia that is in ethesus ethesus brothers and sisters was the most opulent magnificent city in all of the province of asia all of the province of asia it was a city in which the roads of that portion of the empire met all of the crossroads that existed the major trade routes and links crossed right in ethesus from all the way down the road coming up from the euphrates came through ethesus from south right up through the land of palestine there was another road crossing through ethesus when the governor of the province of asia which is in the area roughly of turkey when the governor came to take up his duties it was a statute a law that he would disembark in the port at ethesus that was the status it was the most opulent of the cities it was so beautiful so rich so full of goods it was called the marketplace of asia pre-eminent of all of the cities even though it wasn't the official capital it was the pre-eminent city of all of the province of asia crossroads and lots of money lots of goods lots of materialism that's what ethesus was all about brothers and sisters in ethesus there was a kind of worship that involved praying to rituals connected to the goddess artemis this wasn't really the greek goddess artemis this was a local deity that was absolutely foul and rank in whatever was associated with her licentious behavior all manner of obscenity were connected in worship this is how they prayed with that deity there were young women by the hundreds in one of the architectural wonders of the age the temple of diana of the ephesians or artemis of the ephesians hundreds of young women largely drawn from the poorer section of the population and they were called hero duals the word meant a temple virgin and what they did was the exact opposite of everything that a virgin is and that was their religion very popular the whole society was connected to based on founded on that way of behaving that religion and in the midst of all of that there is a little ecclesia or maybe a number of ecclesias there are a number of ecclesias which had been worked in by paul personally you remember back in the act of the apostles and they struggled with courage and determination against everything the society around them pushed them in the direction of doing and believing he says to them these things says he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks seven golden candlesticks it deliberately is intended to remind us of the seven branched candlestick that was back in the tabernacle and in the period of the temple seven branched candlestick why is ephesus addressed first she was the preeminent city of all of the cities of asia history also attests to the fact that she was the preeminent ecclesia of all of the ecclesias whatever happened in ephesus would spread to all the other ecclesias eventually we do not operate in vacuums brethren as individuals what i do the decisions that i make are going to affect those who are around me and it's the same with our ecclesias the decisions that we make in our ecclesias have an impact on ecclesias around us even though we might consider whatever is being decided to be an internal affair and our business nobody else's business that's the way we might look at it our decisions affect everybody else ephesus was like the central branch or the central central standing upright candlestick of the seven branched candlestick in the tabernacle or in the period of the temple the light that was lit first was the middle one and then from that one the others were lit the funny thing is ephesus was called by the romans the light of asia that was what this city was called and so whatever happened in ephesus would affect everybody else it was vital for the lord jesus christ to give them a bracing message that would strengthen them because what would would in the long run strengthen all of the ecclesias he says i walk right in the midst of the ecclesias i have the ecclesias in my hand in my hand right in my hand when we might feel ourselves to be powerless in the midst of difficulty and trial when we feel as if we've been let go of and we're left drifting now we don't know where we are how to pick up the pieces of our lives we have no idea how to lift ourselves up out of the depression that we find ourselves in we're in his hand look at what he said christ himself also said these words in another book that john had written john 10 between verses 27 and 29 my sheep hear my voice and i know them and they follow me and i give them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand and i and my father are one in our way of thinking in our way of loving the ecclesia being concerned for the welfare of not just the whole ecclesia but individuals little people like you and me we were in his hand he's right in our midst that's a sobering thought for us brethren isn't it when we are fighting in our boards when we are fighting in our bible classes when we are fighting with each other on a personal basis or an ecclesial basis christ is right in the midst of us he walks about in the midst of us he knows our state our condition whatever is going on in our ecclesias he is aware of let this be strong sobering excitation to us in the manner that we build within our ecclesias he goes on further and says i know thy works you might feel as if nobody knows the labor that you're doing you might feel as if the labor you in the truth is exhausting back breaking labor and it is it is fruitless it does not yield any reward there is no discernible difference after the labor the act has come to an end but christ knows our works what does he focus on not our words brothers and sisters that is an issue likewise but here he knows what we are doing i know what you're doing i'm aware of your labor your works and i'm aware not only of your works but of your labor that word meant in the original the greek word kopos it meant a cut a beating that's what it meant it meant brothers and sisters suffering tiring laborious toil that is exhausting and wearying in its effect that's the kind of ecclesia that that was these are the kind of brethren that worked within the ecclesia they worked until they were exhausted tired out that was the kind of labor that they did in ease oriented recreational activity focused north american society this flies in the face of how we live our lives and how we conduct ourselves in our ecclesias and what we do with our brothers and sisters these were people who labored to exhaustion a challenge for us for you and for me to work within the ecclesia to keep the ecclesia healthy alive surviving growing healthy unto the return of christ i know your work i know your labor he goes on and says and thy patience the word patience brothers and sisters means cheerful endurance labor to exhaustion but still with that capacity to endure cheerfully not just to passively put up with difficulty and strife or whatever trials may come up it means to endure them cheerfully yes we have a problem we shall work through the problem we will get through the problem together it's hard it's difficult but we will make it through that problem they worked they labored to exhaustion but they still maintained their patience he goes on further and he says and i know also that you cannot bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not and found them false a difficult words brothers and sisters let's go back to an earlier time let's go back to axe chapter 20 this is when paul beloved beloved brother paul had worked for a period of three years in the midst of this ecclesia to strengthen it why because he knew if you keep ephesus strong the all the whole region will be strong overly strengthened he says verse 20 or chapter 20 of acts beginning at verse 17 it is written and from miletus he sent to ephesus and called the elders of the ecclesia he called the arranging that's what he did he called them together and when they would come to him he said unto them you know you all know that from the first day that i came into asia after what manner i have been with you at all seasons you know how i lived with you how i conducted myself with you serving the lord with all lowliness of mind not lifting myself up above the ecclesia i was not a manager of the ecclesia i was not its supervisor i was underneath in lowliness of mind i was the ground that the ecclesia walked on to stay upright that's what he's saying with all lowliness of mind and with many tears and temptations trials which befell me by the lying in weight of the jews though i kept back nothing i kept back nothing that was profitable unto you same with us brothers we are to keep back nothing that is profitable for the ecclesia nothing that can strengthen and uplift an aged elderly widowed sister we are to keep back nothing that can encourage a young man who looks as if he's slipping out into the world and will not accept the truth we are to keep back nothing that will encourage him back in when we see a young family under pressure and the marriage running the risk of cracking at the seams we are to keep back nothing that is profitable to them to encourage them lovingly to help them to bring them back together paul kept back nothing that was profitable to the ecclesia he goes on says further i kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have showed you and have taught you publicly and i went from house to house he didn't just do it in the official meetings of the congregation he went from home to home meeting with people individually ministering to their needs teaching instructing building encouraging he was the glue that held the ecclesia together as arranging brethren that is what we have to become brothers we are not supervisors and managers this is not the office we conduct our meetings too often as if we are dealing with business at the office right let's deal with this issue make a decision let's get it over and done with quickly so that we can get home more and more brethren are saying in their board meetings let's keep this as quick as possible i've got to get home i haven't got time for this or that or the other i haven't got time for this activity or that activity you ought not to be doing the activity of that is the case the ecclesia is something that christ gave his life for it was not something that he dabbled in it was not something the life of which he had a tentative concern for it was his life and as arranging brethren that is the example that we have to follow we are the servants of the ecclesia its slaves we are not people who have to fit them into portions of our lives they must be our lives our family and our ecclesia that's our life to keep these things strong somehow to lift up the faint-hearted the broken-hearted to strengthen the weak knees that's our job and that's what paul did with these men but when we read what he says as we drop down brothers and sisters to verse 29 he says i know i know that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock all soul of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them from the midst of those brothers and sisters who were the shepherds of the flock from them would arise those whose way of thinking or teaching or behaving would be stumbling blocks to the ecclesia itself and you might ask well why did paul bother to put all this work into it because he had to why do we bother to preach the truth in a world that seems largely to be heedless because it is our duty to because wherever we are whatever point in our lives we are we are to make ourselves useful in god's service paul knew down the line what would happen but he did everything in his power while he had the strength while he was with them to offset the problems that would come we have to do the same brethren today strengthening building not people who are who are just casually associated with each other but near to each other with our arms around each other weeping with each other as paul did with these men they wept with him likewise but they remembered what he had said they remembered that he had said there would be those who would cause the ecclesia to stumble and they were sensitive to this when we go back to the letter to aphesis we see that they took heed to what he had said they listened to what he had told them they examined the claims that were made by certain that they were apostles that they had a special commission to lead and teach in these days they tried them and found it was not so and they were rejected or they were dealt with however they were dealt with so there is a sensitivity in this hard working patient ecclesia there is a sensitivity to wrong teaching now before we judge them as we go further on let us remember what they are being commended for christ is commending them for their hard work not for their casual labor christ is commending them for their cheerful endurance not for their grumbling murmuring backbiting and criticism christ is commending them for their watchfulness and concern for the health of the ecclesia and whatever might lead to the perversion of the beliefs that they had received that we refer to as the truth for all these things they are commended verse three and also you have borne and hast patience and for my name's sake hast labored and has not fainted you kept working you bore the difficulties of life and the difficulties of ecclesial living and preaching the truth in our city where there was so much that was adverse to what you were teaching to bear means to lift and to carry a heavy burden it also means to put your back into an effort challenge for us brethren and sisters to put our backs into the effort of preaching god's word of keeping our ecclesia strong also to put our backs into the efforts of keeping our family life strong likewise they had borne difficulty and trial for the sake of christ's name because they understood what a privilege it was to be associated with christ's name because they understood that the title the name christodelphian is an honorable name an honorable title nothing greater than that son or daughter of god brother or sister of christ they were prepared to go through whatever they had to go through in defense of that name to hold firm steady and to be faithful to it no doubt there must have been the same problem here that there wasn't the other ecclesias when it came to burning incense to caesar and saying that he is lord no doubt here they refused to do it likewise because rather than saying caesar is lord they put up with difficulty for christ's name christ is lord they stood firm in that and they endured affliction as a result it would seem in the other ecclesias the affliction was worse here they had difficulty but not to the same degree at least not from what we read here and you didn't faint you didn't get so tired out that you walked away and left it all behind there are brethren especially who exhaust themselves in labor of the truth who tire themselves out fully in doing what they're why does that happen what is it what do we need to hold on to that we might survive and not faint perhaps it is the understanding of what the labor is intended to accomplish the end result love out of a pure heart an ecclesia that will be ready for christ to return a little family that will be strong enough to endure all the ups and downs of marriage and parenting all the difficulties and the challenges that it might face in order that that little family might have the hope of being in god's kingdom and when we are laboring with each other and we exhaust ourselves oftentimes it is because not everybody is laboring to the same degree oftentimes it is because we are allowing so much to rest on the shoulders of so few because we feel it's their job it's their responsibility that we help them to exhaust themselves to labor to exhaustion the faint out of the way therefore the responsibility lies on all of our shoulders brothers and sisters to strengthen and labor within the ecclesia not just the arranging brethren they must set us an example that we must follow we must labor together with them to keep whoever we know that is downhearted going and strong it's our duty as brothers and sisters in the ecclesia we do not feel good when a brother falls away from the truth somebody who had been a laboring warrior someone who had been looked up to and we always ask why did it happen and we always blame the brother who left we think hmm he never really believed the truth he never really loved the truth if that's what he's done rather brethren and sisters we ought to look at ourselves I never really helped him do what he was doing I never really helped strengthen him and his family I never tried to take some of the labor off his shoulders onto mine and to say brother let me help do such and such these people in Ephesus labored they were exhausted but they did not faint out the way they have a strong commendation for all the work that they did but brothers and sisters there was a problem the problem is summed up as follows nevertheless nevertheless I have somewhat against thee you notice the way he does this brothers and sisters he's not like how we can be sometimes he starts off by telling them this is what you've done right this is what you can draw on to continue doing what is right he doesn't start with criticism and backbiting with finding faults and flaws he presents to them what they have to draw on to deal with the faults and flaws he says I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love thou hast left thy first love you've stopped loving as you used to you don't love the way you did before what is he talking about what is he talking about sometimes we look at that verse and we think well they've lost their love of the truth I don't believe that brothers and sisters I don't believe this ecclesia putting up with what it did living the way it did bearing up under pressures with cheerfulness I don't believe this ecclesia lost the love of the truth but what could have happened and this is a suggestion from both brother bedwell I think it is valid is that this ecclesia because of the fact that it had grown used to watching out for wrong doctrine in its midst had developed an eye that was watchful that was critical that was bent on heresy hunting within the ecclesia and in that kind of way of viewing the ecclesia keeping it pure focus on purity there was a streak of judge judgmental attitude that came into the ranks of the ecclesia there was always a watching for and a seeking out of wrong teaching whenever something sounded off then the assumption would that person is teaching wrong doctrine and that watchfulness for mistakes that watchfulness for heresy resulted in brethren and sisters not loving each other as they once had earlier in their history brothers and sisters I know what it is to deal with a difficult situation it's hard when we are dealing with a difficulty that comes up in the ecclesia it's hard when there is a kind of teaching that is brought in that might not be good for the ecclesia it's hard for us not to rush in and strike out we can take a brother who does that or a sister and pursue them into a corner so that they have no other course but to turn and rend us so that we feel fully justified in pursuing them right into the ground because we're looking for wrong teaching and wrong doctrine there's a balance brothers and sisters the balance is when we see it when we hear it we deal with it gently and lovingly there is a course of action that Christ tells us about in Matthew 18 and there is a course of action that Paul tells us in the letters to Timothy and Titus likewise and the course of action does not begin with fighting and sleeves rolled up and fists clenched too often this is what we do when we are looking for trouble and oversensitive to heresy and wrong doctrine we've got to be aware of it Christ commends them for being aware of it and dealing with it but we've got to be aware of the fact that when we pursue somebody into the corner the behavior becomes addictive the board becomes more and more hardened in its attitudes less willing to yield to make compromises for the good of the ecclesia not compromises of doctrines but personality compromises person is giving difficulty deal with them slap them right down that's not right brothers and sisters it's not right when we do that we've lost the love we had at first in the final analysis it means we really have lost the love of Christ and we stop loving our brethren with intense love the love that Christ had for us then we really lost our love for him how could we love him if the brother that we see in front of us that is a source of irritation to us is somebody that we detest or cannot work with or will not work with nevertheless I have this problem with you you've lost the love that you had at first remember therefore from whence thou art fallen fallen your ecclesia might be strong and healthy we might be preaching the truth we might be laboring away but if we've fallen from our love from each other then this is a problem Christ says remember the word it's a greek word that was based on another little word that meant to chew something chew it chew it is a word that means love reconsider go over in your mind remember remember the love you had at first remember that from which thou hast fallen and repent and do the first works not words the first works the work of love of nurturing pastoral activity for the health the emotional and spiritual health and well-being of the ecclesia go back to the work that you did at first or else I will come unto thee quickly and I will remove thy candlestick right out of its place the position that Ephesus held the status its very existence was threatened threatened by the loss of the love that it once had perhaps we never realized how important love is in our ecclesias perhaps love was a thing that we locked up into the period of an excitation at the memorial meeting perhaps love was something that we expressed from the platform but love is more than that brothers and sisters love involves works things that are done remember the kind of work you did at first when you loved each other intensely remember that but there's one thing that you do have this thou hast but thou hatest the works at the nicolaitans which I also hate remarkable isn't he just finished talking about love is there a contradiction here now there is the indication of of hatred the exact opposite of love you notice it's not the that I hated it is their their works who were these people what did they stand for their name means the conquerors of the people and we shall deal with their problem in the next class in the next classes he ends brothers and sisters by saying he who has the capacity to listen let him open up his ears and listen let him harken let him hear what the spirit saith unto the ecclesias whoever overcomes overcomes what overcomes that judgmental streak that leads to a loss of love for our brothers and sisters whoever overcomes that weakness that we all have I will give to that person to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the garden of God so brothers and sisters there is not just a challenge that's issued to them there's also a real hope look you overcome this and you continue to labor as you have you will receive in God's kingdom you'll eat of the tree of life your candlestick seven branched is like a tree and you are the middle branch growing upward all the time and if you keep that alive living with love I will give you to eat of another tree the tree of life in God's kingdom let us harken to this message brothers and sisters

Transcript

My dearly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, I am concerned that the messages that come out of the Epistles to the seven Ecclesias will not be so hard-edged as to depress you. Remember, in every letter there is that phrase, He that overcomeeth. And therefore, no matter how bad things might have been in the individual Ecclesia, no matter how difficult things may be in your Ecclesia or in your family, it is possible to overcome the difficulties that you, your spouse, your family, or your Ecclesia might face. Christ puts that into every one of the letters as an incentive and also as something to hang on to. There is always hope, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be. Now in Ephesus, if there was an Ecclesia that was at the crossroads of its existence, and you'll remember that Ephesus was at the crossroads of all of the province of Asia, here was another Ecclesia that was at another crossroads in very difficult circumstances. Brethren, note that the message goes to the angel of the Ecclesia, to the messenger of the Ecclesia. That is a very important little word. We are to be messengers to our Ecclesias as brethren. Remember, a messenger took a message from someone to the Ecclesia. In these circumstances, the message involved life and death for every one of the Ecclesias. And the message was the Word of God given to them. Too much of the messages that we give in North America are really light entertainment. We want to be entertained. We want to be made to laugh. We want to enjoy what's being said. We want to be able to put our arms back on the chair and give then to happiness as a result of what is being said. And so too much of what we teach is not entrenched in the Word itself. There is too much allusion to psychological courses, theory that is related to management, that is being retailed, reiterated from the platform instead of the Word of God. You know, I went to a course and I learned such and such. And really this is something that we have to do in the Ecclesia. That's not the Word of God. That is current day philosophy. That is humanistic reasoning. It is today's state of psychology, but it's not the Bible. And the message that we are to bring to our people to keep them alive and well is the Bible. That's what we have to teach. This is the message we have to bring. This is the Word that has got to be presented. It doesn't matter how eloquent brother X or brother Y might be. It doesn't matter how knowledgeable, how interesting and funny and entertaining they might be. If they do not leave the impression in our minds that the Word of God is strong and powerful and able to lift us up out of whatever we might be in, then they've not done their job. Our job as speakers, brethren, is to connect our people to the Word itself. That we might step out of the picture. The ideal circumstance is for them to forget who said what, but to remember that Scripture has a message for them. So that when they are in their trouble and trial, they can turn to it. Not to what brother X or Y said, because none of us in the final analysis is an authority. We are all weak, frail, mortal creatures, just like you. No different to anyone else with the same troubles and weaknesses, the same difficulty in living the truth that anyone else has. Our job is to connect the minds of our people not to today's philosophies, not to the nonsense of this world, but to the Word of God itself. So that when my sister is on the point of leaving her husband, she will go to the Word of God for comfort and for guidance. Because she will remember that somewhere in Scripture there is something that talks about couples under pressure. So that when my brother loses his job, is laid off, and finds that he has fallen into the pit of depression, and is very close to falling out of the truth, he will remember that there are men in Scripture who have lost everything. And all that they had in the end was God. How do we do that? Not with our great eloquence, brethren. Not with the nonsense that we want to entertain each other with, but with the Word of God itself, and the message that the Word of God has in it. And so our talks must always be Bible-based and oriented. Always, always. Even in a lighter evening program, where there was room for laughter and enjoyment, it must be Bible-based. Because that is where we want people to go, in trouble, in need. Not to the philosophies of the world. Not to the silly marriage manuals that are put out in the Christian world today, that are a mishmash of one or two slim Bible passages, and the rest is all just marital counseling based on today's philosophies. We want them to know that the Word is relevant to them. That's what we have to accomplish, brethren. It means that we have to be studying our Bibles. It is too easy for us to look at a brother X or a brother Y and say, oh, well, it's easy for him. He's able to speak it. Look at him. It's easy for him. It's not easy for anybody. The lessons that you hear through this Bible school may be simple, but they are based on hours spent, brethren, sometimes till two or three o'clock in the morning, reading, thinking, breaking down the material, breaking it down into digestible pieces for our people, considering over and over again, what is this saying? I can't understand this. I don't agree with the commentary. What is it saying to me? What can it be saying to my people to keep them going? That is labor that takes time. It is not easy for anyone. And God develops your ability to speak to your brethren and sisters if you have a mind to take the time to do it. And it is not for our glory. It is not that we might be better or worse speakers than anybody else. It's just a labor that we do to keep each other alive. In this continent, everybody wants to be the best of everything, the best and the greatest, the fastest, the smartest, the richest, the most knowledgeable. But that's not scriptural, and it's not helpful. And when these lessons were addressed to arranging brethren, those who would teach, those who would serve within the Ecclesia, they were given to people who sacrificed, and who must today sacrifice time, labor, energy, to think and rethink and read and reread the Word of God. We are not to entertain each other. This is not TV that we are looking at. When we are listening to a talk, this is something that is related to life and death for every one of us. It's a message to the angel of the Ecclesia that is in Smyrna. If Ephesus was the most famous city in all of Asia, if it was the light of Asia, as it was called, then Smyrna, brethren and sisters, was the most physically beautiful of all of the cities of the province of Asia. It was a city that had the most gorgeous gardens. It had been planned out. One of the earliest cities in mankind's history to be planned and zoned, just like we have zoning laws and bylaws, and cities grow according to specific criteria, rules, specific rules. You can't build a certain kind of house in a certain area. The same thing happened with this city. It stuck out. It was called the Flower of Asia by the writers of the time. That's what Smyrna was. Something that was beautiful to look at. It was the great rival of Ephesus. They were rival cities in everything. They were always trying to be better than the other. About 1,000 BC, roughly 1,000 years before the birth of Christ, this city was founded by Greek colonists. It was destroyed 400 years later, completely destroyed by barbarians from the east. And so the city was born and then it died. And it was almost dead for 400 years before it was rebuilt again. And when it was rebuilt, that second time, that is when the city was structured and planned in a very careful way to emphasize its beauty and its points of defense. It had a beautiful harbor that was one of the best harbors to use in all of Asia. It also had the added benefit that a chain could be strung across the harbor in the event of poor weather or to protect it. Very beautiful city, physically beautiful. This was a city that was one of the earliest of the allies of Rome. When Rome was not yet the mistress of the world, when she was not yet a world empire, when she was having war with a nation in the east, and the war was going very badly for it, Smyrna struck an alliance with Rome. When Roman soldiers were shivering with cold and almost naked on the battlefield, the members of the city of Smyrna stripped off their own clothing and sent it to the soldiers that they might be warmed, that they might be clothed. And so you can imagine the Romans had a real feeling of great gratitude for the people of Smyrna. And so Smyrna, like all the other cities of Asia, tried to be a little Rome. Whatever happened in Rome, whatever was done in Rome, however Rome was structured in society, whatever was worshipped in Rome, whatever was popular in Rome, was popular in all of these cities, and in Smyrna in particular. It's the same with the world in relation to the United States. Whatever is done in the U.S., whatever is believed in the U.S., whatever lifestyle exists in the U.S., whatever mores and standards, morals, come out of the U.S., flow throughout the rest of the earth through the dispersion of your culture by the mass media. It was the same effect that the U.S. has on the world, Rome had on Asia and all of these cities, especially on Smyrna. Because of Smyrna's entrenched loyalty to the Romans, when there was the consideration of which of the cities of Asia would be the first to erect a temple in the honor of the god Caesar Augustus, Smyrna was chosen above all the other cities because of its ancient faithfulness as an ally to Rome. Can you imagine then, brothers and sisters, what it must have been like to have been a Christadelphian in Smyrna with the worship of the goddess Roma and the worship of the Caesars and the way that Smyrna tried to ape, to imitate, to be just like the Romans. Can you imagine what it must have been like to be a brother or sister in that society and to beg to differ with the lifestyle and the worship of the inhabitants of the country that you lived in or the city that you lived in? It must have been terrible, brothers and sisters. There was an ecclesia that was surrounded by an utterly hostile group of fellow citizens. So when we read this message, bear in mind Smyrna's history. To the angel of the ecclesia in Smyrna write, These things saith the first and the last, the first and the last, which was dead. This is almost an add-on. It's almost as it were an interpretation of the name Yahweh itself, the name of God that Brother Warren was talking about, that name which means I will be who I will be, or I am what I am. Here the Lord Jesus Christ speaks in terms of himself as being one who is part of that name. He is the first and he is the last. He is the beginning, part of the beginning of the manifestation of God who has always existed, the first, the first one. And he will be with those who are finally united with him who will fully manifest God in and after God's kingdom is established. Yahweh Elohim, that was the combined name that was given to Moses of the bush. He who will be mighty ones, and if your hands are weak and you're elderly and you find you can't always retain what you would like to say and you feel as if your place in the ecclesia is very limited, that you're not helpful to the ecclesia and that you're more a hindrance and a burden to those around you than a help and a strength, remember you will be a mighty one in God's kingdom. In his eyes today you are a mighty one. You are part of his children. You, with all of your experiences of life and all that you've been through are a source of strength and encouragement to your younger brethren and sisters. When they see you out to anything, you're a living lesson to them. There is strength in that knowledge. I am the first and the last. I am the first and the last which was dead and lived again. I was dead. I lived again. Smyrna could relate to that. The city had died once. It had been utterly destroyed and it rose to life again. Brand new, better than it had ever been before. Something that was, compared to what was before, almost perfect. Just like what we shall be, brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus Christ who had lived, who had lived and died and rose again. The first and the last, which was dead and is alive, is deliberately connecting their minds back to the vision that he had shown to John. The vision of the glorified image of the whole community of Christ with the voice of a multitude like rushing waters who had said himself, I am the first and the last. Remember, Smyrna, whatever you are going to go through, whatever may have already happened to you, what you are in now is temporary. And what I have shown you is what you shall be. You shall live forever. I know what you have gone through. I am the first and the last. I lived and I died, but I rose again. What else does he say, brothers and sisters? He says, I know your works and your tribulations and your poverty. In the other letters, when he says, I know your works, he knows what they have done, yes. He knows in full detail whatever they are going through, the mistakes that they are making. But in this letter, brothers and sisters, when he says, I know, there is a special feeling to that, even if the word isn't any different, because this was the ecclesia of all of them that he could relate to with the most intimacy. This is what he was saying to them. Look at what we read in this letter. There is not one single word of criticism. It is all commendation, brothers and sisters. And when we read through whatever we read through in this letter, we are reading all about what Christ went through. So he sees in them an image of himself. He sees in their life something that reflected his life. He sees in their tribulations and trials his own tribulations and trials, and to the extent to which the Lord Jesus Christ will see himself in us. That is the extent to which we have hope, as brothers and sisters, because that is what he will look for when he sees us, a reflected image of something of him in us. I know your works. I know what you have done. I know what you are doing. I am aware of your labour. He says, I know your works and I know your tribulation. I personally know your tribulation. I know the kind of tribulation you are going through because I have gone through it myself. I know that difficulty. Tribulation, pressure, crushing under the weight, being crushed under the weight of circumstances, persecution. He himself likewise had been persecuted. He himself had suffered the pressure, trial of those around him to whom he brought a message for their own good, to whom he gave the word of God as the angel is at the beginning of this letter, as we are as brethren to our communities. He gave that message and suffered tribulation as a result. And the Smyrnans were doing exactly the same thing, brothers and sisters, giving a message that was for the good of the community around them. And tribulation was the result. Tribulation, severe trial and persecution. He says, I know thy poverty, poverty, but thou art rich. Poverty. You know, brothers and sisters, there are two words, two words in Greek that mean poverty or that are used for poverty. There is the word penia. The word penure comes from that word. And the word penia means the state of a man who is not wealthy and he has to provide for himself by the labor of his own hands. Now remember, this is in a time where everybody had slaves and servants. But a man who has to go and be a laborer to labor for himself, that's the first kind of poverty, penia. Then there is another Greek word. It is the word tokeia. And that word, brethren and sisters, describes complete destitution. Penia describes the state of a man who doesn't have anything left over. Tokeia describes the state of a man who has nothing at all. Nothing at all, brothers and sisters. Nothing at all. That was the condition of the Ecclesia. Nothing at all. You know why? It was Roman policy for individuals that refused to worship Caesar or to abide by their civil duties of worship to Rome. It was their policy to take everything away from them that they owned. Everything. I want to read to you something that is out of a book called Documents of the Christian Church. It was edited by a man called Henry Bettenson. In this book, he talks about a man called Pliny. Pliny happened to be working in an area just north of Asia. He was in the province of Bithynia. In this area, roughly around the same time that these letters were written, it was his job to go and investigate what was going on as far as the Christians, the Christadelphians were concerned. These people who believed in a king other than Caesar. Look at what he says when he writes to the emperor Trajan. Meanwhile, this is the course that I have adopted in the case of those brought before me as Christians. I ask them, if they are Christians, if they admit it, I repeat the question a second and a third time, threatening capital punishment. If they persist, I sentence them to death. For I do not doubt that whatever kind of crime it may be to which they have confessed, their stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy should certainly be punished. There were others who displayed a like madness and whom I reserved to be sent to Rome since they were Roman citizens. Thereupon the usual result followed, execution. The very fact of my dealing with the question led to a wider spread of the charge and a great variety of cases were brought before me. An anonymous pamphlet was issued containing many names. All who denied that they had been or were indeed at that time Christians, I considered should be discharged because they called upon the gods at my dictation and did reverence with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought forward for this purpose, together with the statutes of the deities. And especially because they cursed Christ, a thing which, it is said, genuine Christians cannot be induced to do. It helps us get a sense out of a historical record beyond Scripture itself of what the brothers and sisters were going through. As we sit in times of ease and prosperity, it's difficult for us to imagine what it would have been like. Now imagine if the wife held firm in the truth and the husband did not. Imagine if a child broke ranks with the family that was walking away to make it easier and said, no, I will not worship Caesar. Do we get a sense of the awful trial that our people went through at this time, brothers and sisters, before these unfeeling, logical, judicial judges? Do we understand what it was like for them to go before our judgment seat and be rejected? We go on further, brothers and sisters. I know your works, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, you are rich in faith, you're rich in love, you're rich in works. Even though you've lost everything that the world has any concern for, you are rich in my eyes, you're wealthy. Brothers and sisters, there are other countries in this world, you know. There really are. And in these other countries, there are brothers and sisters, you know. And some of these brothers and sisters don't have enough to eat. There was a family in Jamaica not that far away from here that was so poverty-stricken, even with whatever assistance they received, that there was rarely ever any little extra food in the house. There were many days when there was no food, brothers and sisters. Members of the family would wake up in the night with stomach cramps and move around their little shack looking for food to eat. And in the morning, in the morning they understood the principle, give us this day our daily bread, something that we mouth but cannot ever understand. And before the end of that day, somebody would drop in, a neighbour or another Christadelphian with a little food for them to eat. All that they had was the truth. All that they had to hold on to was the hope of God's Kingdom and the love of their brothers and sisters. And in the final analysis, when all is said and done, when all the battles have been lost or won, all that will be left for us is the hope of the Kingdom, the love of a merciful and gracious Father and the love that we had and showed to our brothers and sisters. We like to throw dollars at problems and difficulties in other countries. We think in some way it absolves us from any responsibility. We feel better when we shell out our cash to drop it in to the collection bag for the CBM or whoever else we give our money to. We admire the dedication, the love, the conviction and the single-minded devotion to the truth that these poverty-stricken brothers and sisters have. By giving them money we feel that's all we have to do. It's not. And it shouldn't settle our conscience, brothers and sisters, because we have to follow their example. Their example. That's what we have to follow. That is what will clear our conscience. The money that we give is like a little band-aid. In fact it can spoil them in some instances if it's not done through the appropriate agency. But in the end we have to follow their example. Do we not feel bruised inside when we read and hear about the devotion of poverty-stricken brothers and sisters in other countries? The way that they generously share what they believe to whoever will listen. The way that they care for each other is heartbreaking for me. I'm sure it's heartbreaking for you likewise. And it bruises me deep down inside. And I think I've got to change with all of the materialism, all of the ease of existence, all of the desire for rest that I, that you may have, we've got to change that. And somehow be people who have the same kind of activity, the same kind of dedication that these brothers and sisters in Smyrna, the brothers and sisters in Malawi, the brethren and sisters in India, Hyderabad, the brothers and sisters in South America and Central America somehow recapture their zeal. It's all they have. For us it's just one thing competing with so much, so much abundance. I know your poverty, but you are rich. He himself had made himself poor that we might become rich as a result, rich in hope, rich in hope of the kingdom. Brothers and sisters, I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and really are not Jews. They are not Jews in Woodley. They are Jews in name and by descent only. But they are the synagogue of Satan. They are the synagogue of the adversary. They are enemies to the truth. In fact, if you consider Satan as being any adversary of the truth, they were closer to being the synagogue of Rome and the Romans than they were to being Jews indeed. The Jewish section of Smyrna was very large, very influential. Later on in Smyrna's history, about 40 years after this letter was written, there would be the persecution and burning of Christadelphian martyrs or believers in the truth. One particular one who would be burned at the stake. The Jews were so angry with and hated so much, they were prepared to break their Sabbath to go and bring wood so that he might burn. That was the kind of terrible hostility there was towards our community by the Jewish people at that time. You see, the ones who had become Christadelphians had more than likely been drawn from the ranks of the Jews. That is why they hated them so much. Sometimes, I'm sure we must wonder, if we preach the way we really ought to, might it not bring us into more conflict with the bigger, grander, more traditional Christian churches around us? It's a fear that they have in North Industry, Ohio, with the success of their Learn to Read the Bible Effectively seminar series. There's a worry that organized religion, as it is called here, is becoming more and more aware of Christadelphian belief. And there might, at some point in time, be a concerted effort to squelch, to steal the voice of the Christadelphian community, to block their ability to speak at certain places, to make life difficult for them. If we really preach the truth, I'm sure we would probably experience more of what Smyrna went through. He says, The Jews were sheltered under Roman law from worshipping the Caesars as gods. They were the only people in the whole empire that had that particular right. And for a long period of time, Christadelphians were considered to be just a sect of the Jews, like Pharisees or Sadducees or Herodians or whatever else Jews might be. They were just considered to be another offshoot, another group connected to the Jews, still Jews. Around this time, brothers and sisters, the Jews began to make it clear to the Roman authorities more and more, those are not Jews. They are not of us. They've got nothing to do with us. They're a renegade group that pretends to have Jewish origins, but they are not Jews. And therefore, they became an illegal religion. And there were religions under the empire that were illegal, not allowed to exist. Because they weren't connected to the sheltered Jews, they were now exposed to whatever anybody might decide to do or say to them. And so when the Lord speaks about the Jews and the blasphemy, the evil speaking against, the slander that they spoke against our brothers and sisters, that's what he's talking about. He's talking about a group of people pushing a small group of people out that they might be destroyed, that they might be a sect everywhere spoken against. That's what they became. They were known under the title the Haters of Mankind. That's what our brothers and sisters were called. Why? Because they did not love Caesar, and they did not love the empire, which had given so much peace to the earth, therefore they were the Haters of Mankind. Because they broke up families when one would accept the truth and the other would not, therefore they were the Haters of Mankind. Because they had the breaking of bread and wine, the drinking of wine, which represented the body and blood of Christ, and therefore they were accused of being cannibals. Because they referred to their memorial meetings as love feasts, meals of love, and therefore they were accused of immorality. Evil spoken against them everywhere, blasphemy. And the Jews were preeminent in doing this to the brothers and sisters in Smyrna. They knew what the Jews were doing. They knew what faced them. And so Christ says to them, don't be afraid of what is about to happen to you. Don't be afraid of what you are going to go through. Please, don't be afraid. Does it mean, brothers and sisters, that they would not go through whatever they were going to go through? No, it doesn't mean that at all. He's begging them. He's asking them. He is telling them. Hold firm through what you are about to go through. Life in the Ecclesia has trials. Life in the truth involves difficulty. Life in the truth involves loneliness. Sometimes strife with the world around us. If one is in the truth and one is not, even within the truth there is strife. Life in the truth was never intended to be easy. In the beginning of chapter one, when Christ talks about the things which must surely come to pass, do you know what he was saying? That word must means it is necessary. Tell them the things that it is necessary must happen. They have got to go through these things. These difficulties must arise. The Ecclesia, throughout its history, must go through its trials and tribulations as we do as individuals. We cannot have a life in the truth without trial and tribulation, difficulty, challenges that face us. It is the nature of our life in the truth. It's good for us in the long run, brothers and sisters. Without it, we would just melt away into nothingness. Don't be afraid of the things that you're about to go through. Behold, the devil, the slanderer. The civil authorities are about to cast some of you into prison that you may be tried. You know what prison was? Prison wasn't the holiday camp that it is in North America. Prison was a holding place where you were kept and tortured and abused, especially if you were a woman, before you were executed. That's what prison was. Can you imagine getting a message like this? If you received a message in the mail that said what's about to happen to you, how would you take that? Fear, panic, agony? What is going to happen to my wife and daughters? Look at what he said. Don't be afraid. Behold, some of you will be cast into prison that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation, great trial and persecution for ten days. Nobody really knows what the ten days means. But it's a short period of time. That's the indication. There will be a period of time. Maybe the only reason he uses the word ten is to tell them there is a limit to the time. There is a limit to the time of your severe trial and persecution. It will last for a limited period of time. So pull through. Pull together and survive through this. You shall be in tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death. Be thou faithful to me even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Crown, Stephanos. The word Stephanos is the same word. It was a crown that was given to victorious generals. It was a crown, a laurel crown, that was given to people who had successfully completed and won a race. It was a crown that was given to people that were being married, brothers and sisters. All of these things. And the crown of life is the crown that Paul talked about. I am now ready to be offered, held in prison, waiting to be executed. I am now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. There are many fights, brethren, that are not good fights and are not worth fighting. I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Is that where he stopped? Look at the heart of this man, always considering himself in connection to his brethren and sisters, just like his Lord, never away from them, never, always separated from them, always himself and them together, I and my beloved brethren and sisters. He says, not to me only, but unto all of them also, that have loved his appearing. That crown of life is there for you, it's there for me, if we will be faithful to our Lord, faithful through all the ups and downs of life, ecclesially, personally, professionally, meritally, in raising our children, in sickness, in health, if we will be faithful unto him. Brothers and sisters, the message ends. He that hath an ear to hear, if only we will listen, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesiastes. He that overcometh, overcometh what? Fear, fear. He that overcomes being afraid, being anxious, being full of panic and worry. He that overcomes that forgetfulness of mind, that makes us fail to remember that we are in Christ's hand, firmly held, that we are in God's hand, firmly held, that he is a shelter for us, and that he is as walls and bulwarks around us, if we would only see that he is around us. He that overcometh shall not be heard of a second death. You may be rejected in judgment today by the world and its standards and requirements, but at the second judgment, when I come back to the earth, you will not be hurt by that judgment. You will receive at that time a crown of life. To him, to her that overcomes, the Lord Jesus Christ says to every one of us, I will give a crown of life.

Transcript

Thank you, Brother Presider. I have been remiss in not asking that we also read the letter to Pergamos together. But Brother Tennant has been doing something that seems to be very helpful for everybody, so let's read that one together then. So we're in Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2, beginning at verse 12. Revelation 2, beginning at verse 12, and let us begin together. And to the angel of the Ecclesia in Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges, I know thy works where thou dwellest, and where thou dwellest, even where… Can we begin at verse 13? I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is, And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, Even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, Who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, Who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, To eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, And will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesias. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, And I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, Which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. Evidently I need more practice reading together with other people likewise. Well, we've gone through so far the letters to Ephesus and to Smyrna. The reason that we've linked Pergamos and Thyatira together is that the problems that faced both of these two Ecclesias were very similar. In fact, Thyatira was the city just before Pergamos along the great trade route that linked all of the seven Ecclesias or the seven cities that we're studying together right now. Pergamos was the official capital of the Roman province of Asia. It was called a most illustrious city. As far as its commercial greatness was concerned, it never really met the same level of greatness from a commercial point of view that Ephesus and Smyrna were able to achieve. But it was a center of culture that surpassed both of these two separate cities. It had a huge library that was one of the greatest libraries in the ancient world. And much of the written material that was in this library was on parchment. In fact, the word Pergamum or the word Pergamos is the same word for parchment in Greek. That's something that it's connected to. It's connected to what is studious, what has to do with scholarship, what is scholarly. It also has to do with authority. This is where the Roman governor had his seat. This is where the Roman governor judged cases that were the highest judicial cases that had to be judged in the province of Asia. There were two kinds of governor in the Roman Empire. There were governors who had what was called the ius gladii, and there were others who didn't. The ius gladii meant they had the sword of justice. They had the right of life and death, the gladiator's sword. A Roman governor in Pergamos could condemn a man on the spot to be executed right in front of him. He had that right, and the symbol of that right was a two-edged sword that was carried in his presence, with which his authority to have the right of condemning somebody to death was associated. The governor that was in Pergamos had that right. Another interesting thing about Pergamos, and that is that this city, being the capital of Asia, was the center of the worship of the Roman Empire and emperors. The Roman goddess Roma and all of the emperors that were supposed to be divine beings on the earth. This is where that worship was centered. There was a priesthood associated with these temples. There were all kinds of rituals. There were holidays and feast days. It was almost a parallel religion to the truth. In fact, the interesting thing is when the Roman Catholic Church developed, it just fit right into the existing religion. The pope fit right into the particular role that was fulfilled by priests within that form of worship. Eventually, the emperor, his particular divine status, fell on the shoulders of the pope in the course of time. Pergamos was the place where this kind of worship was centralized. As you can well imagine, brothers and sisters living in this city would probably face the greatest peer pressure to conform with that kind of worship, with that form of religion. When we read through this letter, we are reading about an ecclesia in difficult circumstances. Let's bear in mind the authority of the governor in Pergamos, the kind of worship, the kind of lifestyle that was associated with all of these cities. And there's the little ecclesia in Pergamos. Once again, the letter is written to the arranging brethren, to the serving brethren, those who are the servants and slaves of the ecclesia in Pergamos. These things saith he, which hath the sharp sword with two edges. It's an immediate allusion to what the governor in Pergamos had. He had that right to condemn to death. Christ is saying to the ecclesia, do not be afraid of those who can merely kill the body. Be afraid of the one who has the power to do that and to kill the hope of the individual likewise, in order that they would utterly perish without any form of life after. In other words, I am one whose authority and power and whose right of giving life and death is superior to anything that any Roman governor has. If anyone is to be feared, it's not the Roman governor, it's me. Respect, honor, that fear of God, fear of the Lord Jesus Christ is what is being spoken of here. He gives his status. He is higher than the governor. His right of judgment, his giving of life and death, are superior to that of the Roman governor. Therefore, fear not what the Roman governor and his associates can do to you. Don't be afraid of that death. These things saith he, which hath the sharp sword with two edges. I know your works. I know what you're doing. And I know where you dwell. You are living even where Satan's throne is, where the official throne of the adversary is, right in the territory of the official throne of the Roman governor. That's right where you are. I know what you have to contend with. I know the difficulty that you face being right there in that territory and how much pressure there is on you to conform with the society around you is doing. I know all that. And I know that on top of that, thou holdest fast to my name. You hold fast to my name, not denying my name. Rather than saying that Caesar is Lord, you affirm that I am Lord. You hold fast to my name. That word hold, the two words hold fast. They come from a Greek word, or they are a translation of a Greek word, which means to use strength or vigor. It doesn't mean to just passively believe something. It means to actively believe it, to hold fast to it and use strength and vigor in that process, effort. Perhaps putting up with physical persecution, tribulation, trial, in the process of holding fast. There is a use of energy. There is a zealous regard for the importance of what is being held fast to. These are the things that are implied by those words. You in Pergamos, I know what you have to live with, and yet through it all you've held fast to my name and has not denied my name, my faith. You haven't denied me, what I stand for. You haven't denied my faith. The word deny means to pretend that you do not know somebody, to pretend you don't know somebody. When Peter denied Christ, that's exactly what he was doing. He pretended he didn't know him. I don't know Christ. You're wrong. You're mistaken. I'm not one of his followers. Rather than deny the Lord Jesus Christ and pretend they didn't know him and do what was required of them, which was to burn a pinch of incense to the image of the emperor, to curse the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to worship the gods and goddesses of Rome and of Asia, rather than do those three things, they used vigor and strength to hold on, never letting go of his name, never letting go of the faith that he had, the faith that he had given to them. They had his kind of faith, and they stood firm in his faith. And they are commended for that at the beginning of this letter. Even in those days where in Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells, where the adversary, the enemy, the opposer lives right there. Even in that time when Antipas was killed. So there's a brother who was killed for his faith, brethren. There was a brother who gave his life for the Ecclesia. But it would have been the easiest thing in the world to justify burning that incense and to say, listen, you know that Caesar is no god, and I know that Caesar is no god. Rather than do that and put a stumbling block in the way of the entire Ecclesia in the direction of taking its principles and compromising them all with whatever was around them. He refused, he held firm, and he died. My faithful martyr, my witness, that's what it is. He was my faithful witness. The revised version says it in the most tender way. In the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you. Among you. That means the Ecclesia saw when Antipas was killed. They were right there when Antipas died for the truth. Died for the Ecclesia. Gave it everything he had. His whole life, they were right there when it happened. Can you imagine that, brothers and sisters? A man dying right in front of you for the truth. Can you imagine the effect it would have on you for the whole Ecclesia? Can you imagine the effect that a man who is willing to labour as a servant for the life of the Ecclesia can have on that Ecclesia? Can you imagine the effect that a sister who labours to keep her sisters and the elderly and the young alive can have on the whole Ecclesia? You can imagine that because you've seen people like that. You know that you look at them and your spirits are lifted. And you feel as if you want to run along in their footsteps and help in the same way. That's the way we ought to feel, at least. Antipas gave his life for the Ecclesia. Pergamos saw when it happened. The whole Ecclesia was there. He was slain among you where Satan dwelled. But I have a few things against thee. Because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam. That hold the doctrine of Balaam. Remember what Balaam had done way back in Israel's history? Balak was concerned. He was terrified. Because there was this people encamped. Two million strong. With all of their exploits that they've done so far. All of the battles that they've won. All of the people that have been conquered. And he is terrified. And he hires Balaam to help. Balaam tries his best to curse the children of Israel, but he can't. God will not allow him to. But then there was a way that Balaam found. To break down the resistance on the walls of the children of Israel. To break them down in their faith. There was intermixing between the people around and the children of Israel. There was a physical union that was not based on the spiritual tenderness. The typing of the relationship between Christ and the bride that Brother Tennant was telling us about. But was based only on what is base. What is fleshly. What is instinctual. What is bestial. What is selfish. And remember that the young priest came along with a spear. And killed one of the princes of Israel and one of these women at the same time. And there was a plague that struck the children of Israel. Remember these things. This was all Balaam's idea. He realized he couldn't curse them. The only way to do it was to do it from inside the flesh. Was to pander to their fleshly instincts. Their lusts, their physical weaknesses and frailty. And there was in the Ecclesia of Pergamos, them that held the teaching of Balaam. Now it's more than likely that these people never considered that that is what they were doing. They never thought that the consequences of their actions or their teachings for the Ecclesia. Would be the result that the Ecclesia might be destroyed. They never would have thought that. In fact, they would have thought the exact opposite. They thought to themselves that what they were teaching would ensure the life. And the continued existence of the Ecclesia. So that's what they must surely have thought. It must have been what they thought. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I have this against thee. That thou hast there them that hold the teaching of Balaam. Who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel. Something for them to fall over. To fall out of the way through. A stumbling block before the children of Israel. To eat things sacrificed unto idols. And to commit fornication. So the doctrine of Balaam, whose name means conqueror of the people. This doctrine involves the eating of things sacrificed to idols. You notice it doesn't say the worship of idols. It says the eating of things sacrificed to idols. And fornication. Looseness. Loose living. Two things that are associated with the doctrine of Balaam. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Which thing I hate. And the word Nicolaitan means conqueror of the people. They both mean the same thing. Those two words, Balaam and Nicolaitan. Very interesting, isn't it, brothers and sisters? Within the Ecclesia, there were those who had a particular kind of teaching. The end result of which was that the members who followed them were prepared to fornicate and to eat meat that had been offered to idols. Let's go on further. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly. And will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. That's the sword that I'll fight against you with. The word of God of which I am filled. I'm filled with the word of God. It comes right out. I am the word of God made flesh right out of my mouth. That is what will condemn you. The sword that I have is my word. It is my authority. Greater than the authority of any Roman governor. If you do not turn around, if you do not change your way of thinking, this is what is going to happen to you. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesias. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna. And will give him a white stone. And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. Brothers and sisters, in Pergamos and Thyatira, there were professional trade guilds. You couldn't be in any profession unless you belonged to one of these guilds. It is like a trade union and certain kinds of professions or trades associated with those unions. If you don't belong to the union, you cannot conduct your trade. It used to be that way in certain trades. But in Thyatira and in Pergamos, great trade guilds existed. The guilds existed for the mutual pleasure and profit of the members. So you might belong to the leather workers guild. You might belong to the slave dealers guild. You might belong to the garment dyeing guild. Lydia, remember, she sold garments that were dyed. She dealt in those kinds of goods. Well, whoever labored in any trade had to belong to a guild. To not belong to a guild meant that you were an individual who experienced little or no economic prosperity. You couldn't really work in one of these cities and provide very well for your family if you didn't belong to one of these trade guilds. The trade guilds held meetings, brothers and sisters, and in their meetings they usually had gods and the images of these gods, which were the gods that were the patron deities of their trade, whatever it might be. There was a god of the leather workers. There was a god of this or that or the other kind of trade. And in the halls where these trade guilds had their meetings, the image of the god would be placed. They would have big feasts to get together, and in the feasts there would be drunkenness, there would be much eating of food and meat that had first been offered according to specific rituals to the idol that was there. Remember Paul talking to the Corinthians about that, about eating meat offered to idols? You know that there's no idol, but because of the fact that it could make your weaker brother or sister fall, don't eat it. Don't buy it. Don't buy meat that is left over from a feast or some kind of temple celebration that had previously been offered to an idol. Don't eat it. Stay away from it for the sake of your brethren and sisters. Well, in this ecclesia there was a group of people whose teachings went according to the following ideas. If our brothers and sisters are not allowed to belong to the trade guilds and to eat the meat within these rooms, not believing in the idol, but just participating in the meal and eating the meat so that they can function as individuals living in their society. If they can't do that, then we're going to be destroyed as an ecclesia. Not only did they eat meat offered to idols, but according to the standards of the time, prostitutes were also present at these meetings of the trade guilds. And the looseness and obscenity that took place after the meal was finished involved fornication. That was so common in the society that these brothers and sisters lived in. It's as common as it is in our society today. It's not just something that's tolerated, it's encouraged. What the school system puts into school washrooms for young men and women to purchase encourages the activity. They say, ah, what we're doing really is to limit the damage of what they are doing. But they encourage it. The entertainment that these young people and that we all have access to encourages those things. It encourages adultery. It encourages young people to have physical unions with other young people before they're married, long before they're ready to even realize the importance of what they're doing. It was so common in these times that the brethren and sisters who believed that it is important for the ecclesia to be similar to the people around them that they might continue to function. It was so common in that society that they felt, well, you eat the meat, it doesn't matter, and well, whatever happens in these trade guild meetings, God will forgive you. It strengthens your opportunity to preach the truth to them, you see. Because if you're with them in their life, you are able to talk to them about the truth. If you are with your friends doing whatever they do, then it increases your opportunity to be with them, to talk to them about the truth, to attract them to it. This is possibly the kind of reasoning that was used. What was Pergamos doing? Pergamos was unwilling, or at least the group within Pergamos that believed these things. These were people who were unwilling to be different, to be ostracized from, to have a different material standard of living to the nation around them, the peoples around them. How do we apply that to ourselves, brothers and sisters? How indeed. When our young people want to go out into the world around us, and want to participate in the revelry of the young people around them, when we think to ourselves, ah, yes, they're young people, and they have to be with other young people, or else they will be rejected by the young people that they have time with in school. And when we allow them to go, knowing full well the kinds of things that happen at these young people's gatherings, and we still let them go, we're doing what these brethren and sisters did. When we ourselves in our careers, brethren, find ourselves surrounded by people whose language is obscene, whose lifestyle is not what ours is supposed to be, and who want to draw us into their lifestyle. They want to go drinking with us after work. They want to take us to do whatever they do, and to go wherever they go. And we feel that there's a limit, there's a wall beyond which we will not go, until we find that as time goes by, the wall becomes thinner and thinner, and before long it's just paper thin and easily collapsed and broken through. When we do that, we're doing what these brothers and sisters wanted to do. We want to be accepted by the world around us. We want to be respected by them. We want to have what they have. Brethren, if there is the potential that that promotion within the company that you have been offered will result in more and more of a commitment of time and leisure time to those that are in the workplace and outside of the truth, consider saying no. Because as we rise within companies in this country, I don't know what it's like in England, I don't know what it's like anywhere else, but in this country, the compromises that we are asked to make are larger and larger in their impact on our families and on our ecclesias. And on the young people within our ecclesias that are not baptised, that look at us and see what we're doing, we may be hurtling away in the direction of some kind of growth within our career, and yet what are we doing within the ecclesia? What kind of message are we giving to our young people when we find ourselves spending more and more time away from the ecclesia, away from the family, and with those who are in the workplace? Is it right for us to do that? No, it isn't. It's not right for us to be away that way. It's not right for us to be in their lifestyle. It's not right for us to be out with them, eating and drinking and being involved in the life and the conversation that they want to have with us. And do we talk about the truth under those circumstances? Do we indeed draw them closer to us, or do they suck us into their life? When God said at the time that Balaam did what he did, look what he said. Let's go back to Numbers 25, just to have a quick look at what God himself said to this way of thinking, to this manner of behaving. Chapter 25, And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. That's what was done. The individuals who were involved in this life, this mixing of truth and untruth, of pure and profane, they died as a result. When Christ says, I am the one with the two-edged sword, is he using these words lightly? When he says later on, the sword of his mouth is what he will come against them with, he's talking to us. This is serious business. We don't see it as such sometimes because we think, well, we can survive through all of these little kinds of intermixings. We don't see it for what it really is. It's an unwillingness to be separate from the society in which we live, what it does, what it believes, and we all feel pulled by that. We talk to teenagers about peer pressure. It is strongest when we are full-grown adults, because then there are things like career and employment that are at stake in our minds. And so these people, who Christ said in the letter to Ephesus, whose works I hate, I detest what they do, not that I am displeased with it, I detest what they do. He's saying the same thing here. This ecclesia ran the risk of losing everything that it had, all that it has accomplished, and yet the very things that it had accomplished, it could draw on to strengthen it to pull through the rest of the way. It could draw on the fact that it had held fast to the name of Christ, as we do, because we love his name, and we are striving to hold fast to him and to hold on to his faith. They did those things, and those were the things that they could draw on to strengthen them, to pull them through the difficulty of being sucked into the society in which they lived. They thought that this was a way for the ecclesia to survive. The Lord Jesus Christ was saying, that's the way to kill the ecclesia, by mixing up the principles of the world with the principles of the truth, the requirements of the truth with the behavior of the world around which we are living. And then we go to the letter to Thyatira. These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, burns through everything, sees right into us, burns away all of the outer garments, all of the protections, all that we choose to show to each other, burns through all of that right inside. Eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished brass. Yes, it means that these are feet that have been made glorious, but it also has to do with what is hard and pulverizes and pounds small, because that's what he's talking about here. I am the one with eyes of flame of fire and feet like fine brass. I know your works, I know your love. So this was a loving ecclesia. And your service and faith, your ministry, your running to serve each other, that's what the word ministry is based on, to run to serve, not to run away from serving, to run to serve. That's what this ecclesia was like. Look at the compliment that he pays them. He says, I know also that your last works are more than the first. So this was an ecclesia that had steadily grown in its ability to labor, in the works of love, preaching, the works of the truth that were done. It grew in its labor. That's what we have to do as ecclesias, strive to grow, not to become stagnant and unchanging, but to grow in ability, grow in labor, grow in work, pastoral activity, preaching activity. That's what we have to strive to do as individuals. As arranging brethren, we have to move within our ecclesia to labor to encourage the growth of that spirit and to show it ourselves, growing in our willingness to labor, in our ability to labor, in the labor itself. This ecclesia had done that. But he says, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou, supprist, you allow, you tolerate that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I've given her time that she might repent. I've given her, why do you tolerate it in your midst? Why do you put up with this teaching and let her continue? More than likely, a sister, Lydia, had been the one that was instrumental in the start of this meeting. Remember, she was loving, she was hospitable, and all these things are commended at the beginning. That sister had had a seminal influence on the growth of the whole personality of that ecclesia. She'd helped give it life. She'd nurtured and strengthened and shown a type of service that spread throughout the ecclesia. Now, it seems there was another sister, another sister whose influence was leading to what could potentially be the death of the ecclesia. Sisters are a most powerful influence in their ecclesia. They are a most powerful influence for good. They have the ability to carry the ecclesia, to carry their brethren through difficult times. A woman can, through instinct, be aware of something that a brother would never see in a million years and be able gently and tenderly to minister to that need, quietly do it. She has the ability to raise children that are like glorious plants for God rising up unto him. She has the ability, when brethren cannot seem to pull together, to work behind the scenes with the husbands, to encourage and to build bridges. She has the opportunity to be the glue that holds the ecclesia together. That's what the truth is. That's what Christ is. But she has that special ability to do that. A woman is a most powerful influence in an ecclesia. Whether she's single or married, she has a powerful influence on its life. And this woman, regrettably, seems to have had a very negative influence because what she taught, she didn't want to change. Christ said, look, I've given her the opportunity to change, but she doesn't want to change her way of thinking. She willeth not to change. She doesn't want to. Terrible thing to talk about, this fellowship or withdrawing from somebody or any kind of internal ecclesial discipline. We don't like words like that at all. But the truth is not always just happiness and joy and resolving problems in an easy fashion. Sometimes there are difficulties that come up that just cannot be resolved because of the stubbornness of either the person trying to work with the individual or the individual him or herself. Sometimes the only thing that we can do after an extended period, brethren, it doesn't happen instantly. We do not hammer down on problems. We try gently, quietly, individually to deal with difficulties that come up. And over a period of time, as Christ gave her time, he was doing what the arranging brethren should have done, but for some reason didn't have the strength of character or the understanding to be willing to do. I gave her time. I tried to work with her. She doesn't want to repent. And so he will do what the arranging brethren seem to have fallen down in their responsibilities in doing. But what he will do is even worse. He says, Behold, I will cast her into a bed, into a sick bed. She'll become ill. And them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, great tribulation, accept the repent of their deeds. Unless these people turn around, they're going to go through terrible difficulty that I shall bring upon them. Now that beggars the question, does Christ bring difficulty into our ecclesias in order for us to learn lessons, in order for us to have the opportunity to rub off rough edges we may have? You'll notice that for some reason, your ecclesia experiences the trials that are perfectly suited to it. It. And the problems go straight to the weak points of the ecclesia, whatever they may be, wherever they may be. And there are problems that strike you right, where the ecclesia might have a weakness, might have a tendency to have quiet conflict under the surface. I'll give you an example, a very common example. Your ecclesia may have in it those who are very liberal in their understanding of scripture as it relates to divorce and remarriage. It may also have those who are extremely conservative in their interpretation of that issue. And then those who are very moderate. And the greatest fear that you may have is that a divorce and remarriage issue comes up where the couple refuses to go to another ecclesia that will accept them. And that's exactly what might happen. You may have gone through it already. There are ecclesias that have gone through things like that. So there, something under the surface that's not been resolved comes right up to the fore. Is this something, a trial that's brought by the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't know the answer to that question. You can ask Brother Tennant that. He answers the questions that I fall down over. More than likely, the Lord oversees whatever takes place in our ecclesias. Yes, it is what he does. He moves in the midst of the ecclesias, ceaselessly tending them, laboring within them, with individuals and with holy ecclesias. We're in his hand, like this, the seven stars. And whatever problems may come up, they are to strengthen us in the long run. They are to test our ability to make choices, to be able to continue to work together in love, even when we cannot agree. In this country, it's so difficult for us to do that because we are so strongly dedicated to the idea that we have the right to believe what we want to believe because we're individuals. It's how you began as a nation, Americans. That's what you fought for over 200 years ago. And it's something that has dribbled down or dribbled up north of the border. Likewise, we have the same mentality. And so on the border, it's very common for decisions to be split decisions. May I shock you with the knowledge that that is very North American and doesn't happen elsewhere? That most arranging brethren's meetings and other ecclesias in the British Isles end with all the brethren agreeing. Can you imagine that happening in your meeting? Can you have a business meeting where there is not a huge falling out and ruckus over something as essential as whether or not we should have air conditioning, for instance? Well, then we have something wrong with us as North Americans that we've got to work out. Well, brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ said that he would kill her children with death. That means sickness, illness. This mentality that came into the ecclesia made it ill, made it sick. We'll end this letter tomorrow morning.

Transcript

Brothers and sisters, we ended our session yesterday with an incomplete letter or a letter that we hadn't yet finished, the letter to Thyatira. Now remember what had happened in Pergamos. Remember where Pergamos was, what the brethren and sisters had to contend with. It was the official seat of the governor in the province of Asia. It was the capital of the province of Asia. You remember likewise it was the capital, it was the centralized location of the worship of the emperors, the worship of Rome. Remember somebody died in Pergamos in the midst of the Ecclesia. One of my brethren put it this way, he said, to make the excitation close to home, that that brother was somebody's father, somebody's husband, somebody's brother, somebody's friend, somebody's son. That's who that individual must have been, a real life flesh and blood human being who was prepared to die and to lose everything that he had from a worldly or a fleshly or hold on to what he could not see with his eyes, but what he believed in surely, things which must come to pass, a kingdom to come and a reward in that kingdom. You remember that he encouraged the Ecclesia to hold on to that example, to not be afraid of the sword of the Roman governor, but to bear in mind and take heed to the sword of Christ, his status as judge, his judgment seat, his judgment which would result in acceptance or rejection. And at the end of that letter, Christ said, Now remember, in Pergamos there was a problem with a group called the Nicolaitans, the conquerors of the people, whose ideas resulted in the end in brethren in the Ecclesia participating in what was going on in the society around them, in order that they might not be ostracized or pushed away by the society in which they lived, but they might be able to function and prosper right within that society through participating in the license and looseness of the society. Remember that. Remember the meals that were had in the trade guild meetings and the unlawful physical unions that took place after that. And then this stone, this white stone has a special meaning. It was like a ticket, these white stones. They were given to the population of Rome, the poorer classes, in order that they might present them and receive food in exchange for the white stones. In times of judgment, the white stone was given to the individual that was judged to be guiltless in an argument, a dispute between two individuals. The white stone was also given to gladiators who had labored for an extended period of time and had won the acceptance of the general population and were then excused from duty given the white stone which proved that they had been warriors or people who had fought in a manner that was admired by the population. Whether that was good or not is not the point. But there was also a special reason for these white stones or a special use. They were given to people who were going to attend banquets or large feasts and dinners. They went to the banquet, presented the stone, and gained entrance. The white stone that Christ is talking about involves a feast superior to any feast or any kind of gathering that a trade guild could have that involved marriage, a marriage feast, entrance into a marriage feast with the Lord and a union that was lawful, that will be lawful, that will be pure in contrast to the impurity of the unions that took place in the trade guild meetings and banquets. So there is the contrast between the marriage feast of the Lord and entrance into it and the feasts of the trade guilds. The life of the truth and the hope that we have made real when it's fulfilled and the hope and the offers that the world around us offers with all of their uncleanness and all of their emptiness in the end. So that is what is put before those who will overcome the looseness taught by those within who said, go out and make compromises with the world, a world that in itself, as brother Bill said, thinks it's strange that those who are in the truth will not run to the same excess of riot as the ones they used to associate with still run to. And when we get into Thyatira we find a woman who has a powerful negative influence over the life of the Ecclesia as sisters can have a powerful negative influence. But of course there was also a sister here who had had a powerful positive influence, Lydia, who had nurtured and built from within and set an example for hospitality and love and pastoral labor, care for the needs of the Ecclesia that had stayed with the Ecclesia right up to this point. It was an Ecclesia that had grown in its ability from its beginning to the time at which Christ writes, they've done better than they've ever done before. But there are still things that have got to be changed. And there is a kind of teaching going on within the Ecclesia that the arranging brethren are tolerating, that they are not dealing with. It's not that they don't like the individual, that's not the issue, whether they get along with this strong-willed individual or not, because sometimes we can make that the issue. The issue is what is being taught will harm the Ecclesia, will destroy the fabric of the Ecclesia, will make brethren and sisters fall away from the hope of the truth and they were not dealing with it. So Christ says, I will deal with her, I will deal with her. He gave her space to repent, she didn't want to repent, she didn't want to change. And in the end, she and her children, those who accepted and behaved according to her teachings, would be destroyed. For I am he that searches the rains, I go right in to people. I know what's in their hearts, the rains and hearts. And I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Verse 24, but unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, which have not known the deep things, the depths of Satan. No doubt the people who were teaching here thought that their understanding of the truth was deeper than the understanding that the rest of the brethren and sisters in the Ecclesia had. They thought that they saw their way of building into the world, making use of what the world has to offer and making compromises with the world. But they saw that as an extension of the gospel, of the gospel of grace, God's desire to forgive when we sin. And they considered whatever they were teaching, whatever associated doctrines and beliefs came with this lifestyle that they advocated, they saw that as the deep things, deeper truths, deeper than what we believe as Christadelphians, something that was an offshoot and a corruption, they saw as a development, an enhancement of what the truth already was. Goes on and he says, I will put upon you none other burden, I'm not asking you to do anything more than what I've already asked you to do. What are you asking them to do? Well it's interesting because that idea of putting a burden upon somebody reminds us of something that had happened during the period of the Acts of the Apostles, I'm sure you remember that brethren and sisters, Acts 15 and verses 28 and 29, what we refer to today is the Jerusalem Conference, when the decision of what to do with the Gentiles was brought before the elders in Jerusalem. And it was said at that time in verses 28 and 29, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that ye abstain from meat offered to idols, and from fornication, from which if ye keep yourselves, you will do well. Stay away from meat offered to idols, stay away from fornication. If you do these necessary things, you shall do well, necessary, and in our day it refers to all manner of things that we can do that are not good for the Ecclesia as a whole. Every decision that we make as individuals is going to affect somebody else in the meeting. We don't exist in vacuums. Salvation is not an individual matter, brethren and sisters, until we're at the judgment seat. Then it's an individual matter. At every point before, that point in time, salvation is worked out in the midst of a community of brethren and sisters. The stuff of which salvation is made involves what I am doing today in connection with those who are around me. The decisions that I make affect my family in the truth, my brethren and sisters, young people, my wife, my children, those on the outside who are learning the truth. We have to realize that. The decisions that we make involve other people. We might choose to do something, to take a job that carries us off into an area that will involve us raising our family in complete isolation. A decision like that, you might consider yourself to be strong enough to pull through, to survive through. Then another brother sees you do that and follows, and he and his family fall away. That's like eating meat offered to idols. It's making a decision that you might be able to survive through while still being hurt in many ways, but which in the long run will be harmful to the whole Ecclesia. That's meat offered to idols for us. That's just a poor example, but we must always consider what we are doing with our careers, with our families, with our Ecclesias, the decisions we make as individuals. How will these decisions be perceived by and affect my brothers and sisters? Well, she repented not, brothers and sisters. And we go on further. But what you already have, verse 25, hold fast till I come. Whatever's left in you, whatever is worth hanging on to, hold fast to it. What? The truth, the beliefs, the doctrines. Hold on to these unassailable truths, which we were exhorted so wonderfully this morning to rediscover and reaffirm for ourselves, generation after generation, to rediscover why we believe what we believe, and the validity of what we believe, that we might give a good answer to those that ask why we believe what we believe. Hold fast. Put your heart and your shoulders into holding on to the truth. That's what he's telling us. That's what he's telling them. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. What's he talking about? Well, no doubt it is a reference back to Psalm 2, which talks about Christ ruling the nations with a rod of iron. But it's very interesting, brothers and sisters, the word rule means to shepherd. To shepherd. That's what it means. The word should be taken in the sense of wheeling the shepherd rod to protect sheep from marauding animals that would destroy the sheep. That's what he's saying. He's saying, arranging brethren, look to the condition of your flocks. Protect your brethren and sisters from what is harmful to them. Labor in their midst as slaves, servants, and protect them from harm. Sister Bernice talked about the fact that there is the need to build a hedge about young families today. We need to do the same thing with our ecclesias, the whole ecclesial family. And it rests heavy on our shoulders as arranging brethren, serving brethren, to labor to do this, to look after our flocks in which we are sheep likewise, as we have been looked after. He goes on and he says, I will give that individual authority, and as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father. He says, in the kingdom, those who are given the privilege of sharing in my authority will not tolerate that which is harmful to those who are in the earth. They will not put up with that that harms the sheep of the earth. They will not tolerate what you have tolerated in your ecclesia, brethren of Thyatira. And that's what he's saying. To them, then, to us now likewise. And I will give him the morning star, the son of righteousness that shall arise with healing in his beams. And I will give him the day star on high, that which comes up and shines brilliantly after the period of greatest darkness, darkness. That's what I will give the individual who overcomes the willingness to tolerate what is harmful within the ecclesia. I will give that individual light, the opportunity to share in my light, the opportunity to be a light throughout the earth, and a shepherd throughout the earth, as you arranging brethren must be to your people, to give light and a shepherd gently, lovingly, firmly. Even as I have received my father, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the ecclesias, and unto the angel of the ecclesia in Sardis. Right. Sardis, brothers and sisters, had been a city that was once glorious in its ancient history. Seven hundred years before this letter was written, it was one of the greatest cities in the civilized earth. And then all of its splendor had been lost. So it was a city once full of splendor, having a good name and a good reputation throughout the earth, that had been destroyed in war, in battle, just completely obliterated. And then it had risen again. It had been rebuilt. The name Sardis is plural, because there were really two cities. In a mountain, on the top of a ridge, there was a high conical hill on which the city was built. It was impregnable, the original city, with its walls up on its hill, with steep sides of the ridge on either side. There was no way that that city looked as if it could be taken. It looked as if everything was unassailable. It was extremely wealthy, fabulously wealthy. One of the richest men who ever lived, King Croesus, was its greatest ruler. In his time, Sardis reached its pinnacle. In his time, Sardis fell to its depths. He was so wealthy that when people came through who were famous individuals from the countries around, he would take them around the streets, show them the beauty and the richness of his city. What had happened in the process of time is that Sardis, because of its feeling of unassailability and self-confidence, because of its wealth, all of its riches, it began to become soft. It began to become soft. It failed to be watchful. So when Croesus got it into his head to go and fight against the Persians, Cyrus came against him and trounced him on one side of the river. He fled back with his forces without much concern into the high, unassailable city. Not the lower portion that had extended down to the bottom of the ridge, the upper section that was unassailable. And there they ate and drank and made merry, because there was no way that Cyrus could enter. Now the kind of rock that Sardis was built on was rock that develops cracks easily. And one of the soldiers fighting under Cyrus had seen one of Croesus' generals drop a crack. He fetched it back up again. And so this man realized, well, there must have been a fissure in the rock. There must have been a crack somewhere in the rock that an agile man could climb into and climb up again. And so Cyrus offered a reward to any man who would be able to enter into the city or find a way into the city. And he had seen this. He took a group of armed Persians with him by night, found the crack in the rock from underneath, climbed up through the crack. When he got into the city, there wasn't even a guard posted. There were no watchmen, because they were sure there was no way that anybody could enter the city. They had everything they needed to be safe. What need of a watchman was there? When the city was destroyed, the people were butchered. Those that were left, Cyrus, by decree, forced to become effeminate and soft. He decreed that it was illegal for a Sardian to possess a sword or a spear of any kind of implement of defense or warfare. He decreed that the sons of the Sardians should be taught dancing and music, and that the boots, the very boots that they wore should be the boots worn by actors, things that you cannot really work in or fight in. And so the society that was already soft became soft and effeminate, brothers and sisters. That's what happened in Sardis. Later on, after Alexander died many, many years after, exactly the same thing happened again. Two of Alexander's generals were fighting with each other. One of them fled up into the fortress of Sardis, and his soldiers, the soldiers of the opposing army, found the crack, got up into the city and found it wasn't even being watched again. They hadn't learned from history. The Sardians hadn't learned from their past experiences, brothers and sisters. And so he writes to the Ecclesia in Sardis, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Now the seven spirits of God, spirits may refer to spirit beings such as the angels that go throughout the earth and do the will of the Lord. It may refer to the spirit gifts that were given to people who lived within the Ecclesias at this time, that they might draw on these things for the strength and benefit of the Ecclesia. It may simply have been the work of the spirit of God, represented as seven spirits, perfection. Whatever it was, there was strength to be drawn on from Jesus, from God, if this Ecclesia wanted it. And the Ecclesias are in his very hand, he's saying. He has the seven spirits and he has the Ecclesias. They're right in his hand if he wants or if they want his strength. He says, I know thy works and that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. You've got a reputation for being alive, but you're really dead, Sardis. The reputation you have is based on the fact that you're doing everything that would appear to be what a living Ecclesia does. You've got your unassailable fortress. You're having your Bible classes. You're having your evening lectures. You have your Sunday morning meetings. You do all of these things, but there's something that's lacking. All the formality, all the formalism is lacking in what has to do with faith, the heart, commitment, completion of duty. You have a reputation for being alive, but you're not. Well, when we look at ourselves as individuals, when I look at myself as an individual, there are times when I'm exactly like this, and I need this message to pull me out of that way of thinking. When my focus is more on rules and regulations, when my focus is more on purity and defense, and when my focus on Jesus, on the kingdom, on the love and forgiveness and the continual pastoral work that is required of us as shepherds, it becomes a little bit out of focus, a little bit of skew. I need to be reminded that it is necessary not just to preserve the organization and formality of the truth, but to fill it, to enliven it with the love of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom with his character, the giving, the joyful giving of service to my brothers and sisters, with not just a desire to do things for them, but the willingness and the fortitude to carry through with that desire and do things that are for the good of my ecclesia. He says, I know your works. You've got a name that you're alive and you're not. Be watchful. Wake up. Wake up. That's what he's saying. Be watchful and strengthen the things that are about to die. The things that are left, the things that remain that are about to die. Your ecclesia is about to die. You're about to lose the truth. You're focused on formality, but you're not looking at the hearts of the truth. Wake up. Be watchful. Don't just assume because you are doing the things that Christadelphians do in your ecclesia that those will carry you through. There must be more internally. The commitment, the zeal, the love of the truth. Be watchful. Wake up. Who better than Sardis to realize the necessity for being watchful? They never set a guard. They were taken twice. They thought they were unassailable. They weren't. Trouble came right into that little crack that even they were unaware of or had forgotten about. Be watchful. Be watchful. Philips, in his book, he says, his rendition says, now wake up. Strengthen what you have before it dies. The New English Bible says, put some strength into what is left, which must otherwise die. Keep up the formality of the truth. That is right. Keep the structure, the organization. Keep the living. Make them powerful. Make them important and real. When you get up to preside, preside with your whole heart. When you conduct a business meeting, do the same thing. Be concerned for the life of the ecclesia and your brethren and sisters. Infuse the formality, the structure with life. He goes on and he says, be watchful. Strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not found thy works perfect. The revised version says, I have found no works of thine fulfilled. He's talking to arranging brethren. Whatever you have decided to do or you have seen that needs doing, you have not completed it. There's work that's not being completed in the ecclesia. Brethren, we can look at so many problems in the truth. We look at problems in the truth and they become for us this paper on the ground. We know it's there. Somebody has to pick it up, but I'm busy. We know it's there. There's a need to be ministered to, but somebody else is closer to that problem and should look after it. We know that there are young couples under pressure, pressure, pressure, like no generation ever before. Pressure. We don't want to get involved because it might hurt their feelings. They might become irritable with us. We know that there are young people wrestling with a world that will conquer anyone and we leave it up to other people to look after it. We know that there are elderly cast down into a feeling of depression and worthlessness and we leave them there for somebody else to pick them up. Brethren, when we see a need, it's important to fulfill that need, to minister to it, to see the problems that exist in our ecclesia and deal with them. We have to want to do that. That's what the shepherd does or the sheep die or escape or hurt themselves somehow. That's what Christ is saying. I've seen that none of the work that you know has to be done, none of your works have ever come to fruition or been completed. Oh, let's do this, let's do that. There's a need for this, there's a need for that. We ought to do this, we ought to do that and nothing ever comes of it. You've never completed the works because you're listless and lazy and sleepy and you're not watching and oh, life is everything but what needs to be done. That's what he's saying to them, to me, that's what he's saying to me. He may be saying something different to you but that's what he is saying to me. Strengthen what remains. You see that little ecclesia that it is your privilege to be in the midst of, to serve, keep it alive because the only privilege that you will receive in God's kingdom is to keep those that are left in the ecclesia of the earth alive and growing. Keep them alive. Strengthen what is left, what is ready to die. Remember therefore how thou hast received. Why how? Why not what thou hast received? Why not say remember what you received? How? Little words, you don't have to be a Greek scholar, brethren, to find this. Look at the little words in the English. What is it saying? Remember how you've received. Remember how those who preach the truth to you gave their lives for you. That the man who gave himself for you that you might have the truth. Remember how he gave it to you. Remember his whole lifestyle, Paul's lifestyle, the lifestyle of the brethren who taught this ecclesia, who brought it into existence. Remember how you received. It wasn't just speaking from the platform, it was day to day labor with them, from house to house, problem to problem, issue to issue, misunderstanding to misunderstanding, need to need. Remember how you received. Remember therefore how thou hast received and how you heard. And hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief. Thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. You will be completely unprepared. Remember Christ in the parable. The good man had known when the thief was coming he would have watched. I will come as a thief, take you completely by surprise and I will steal from you everything you thought was worth anything. Everything in this world that you held on to, that you thought would give you salvation. All your possessions, all your professions, everything that you wrapped your life up in so that you could not minister to the needs that existed. I'll steal all of that from you and you'll see it was nothing. It wasn't worth anything. It wasn't worth anything. I'll come as a thief and you will not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled the garment that they put on when they were baptized. They put on Christ and a way of life that is laid out in Colossians 3. All associated with that garment. There were some even in Sardis who continued to labor according to what was associated with their garment, Christ. With love, with dedication you notice what he's saying. Thou hast a few names in Sardis. He's saying people other than the arranging board. Who's he talking about? You know your brethren on the board you have even in Sardis a few names. So he's not talking about them. He's talking about people other than the arranging brethren. There were some in the ecclesia who continued to labor. The elderly brother or sister whose understanding of the truth is simple and basic but who in kindness is always doing what little he or she can to relieve the pain, sorrow, the grief of mind that other brothers and sisters have in the ecclesia. That person will go into the kingdom ahead of me, far ahead of me. That's what he's talking about. 4. To care for the needs of the ecclesia so that it is not an academic thing. It is not an exercise in studiousness and scholarship. It's real everyday life and looking after the needs of those who are everyday ordinary people with an extraordinary hope. The truth is not a body of principles that are believed. The truth is a body of principles that are done. That's what we believe. We are believers who do things. The world consists of people who believe principles that are flexible, that change according to the whims and circumstances of the age in which they are living. But our principles do not change. We've been told that by Brother Tennant. Brother Peter told us that this morning. We need to think about why we live in ecclesias. What is the reason for having ecclesias? It is to give forth light within and without. And the light involves keeping the light shining when people are in darkness, in dark times. The world is in darkness. Yes, our brethren and sisters can be in situations of darkness. And if we ignore them or wait for them to spiral out of control, if we wait for divorce and remarriage to come up without doing something in the beginning, to not, or to do everything in our power to prevent that from happening, then we're beginning to do our jobs as arranging brethren and as ecclesias. He says, Thou shalt be in the house of few names, even in Sardis. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Who walked in white? The priests in Israel, brothers and sisters. They walked in white. They labored. They instructed. They purified. And they offered sacrifice for the people continually, day in and day out. So these people were doing the labor of priests. They would be clothed and made priests in the time when we shall be kings and priests in God's kingdom. He that overcometh laziness, unwillingness to labor, the desire to pass off responsibility and problems to other people because I'm doing all I can, what I'm doing is enough. He that overcometh that frame of mind, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. He will be a priest because our job is to labor in the kingdom, not to sit back and relax. So we must be doing now what we will do in the kingdom. Now is the time to learn what we will do. If we want to be priests and kings, we've got to labor as they were meant to. And I will not blot his name out of the book of life. Every Roman city, every Asian city had a book in which all that was citizens were registered. And if a person died, the name stayed on the register, the family name. But if somebody for crimes was no longer considered to be a citizen, somebody refused to live up to their civic obligations, that name was expunged, wiped off, blotted out from the book of the city. It's the same with us in the truth. We have work to do, brethren. Let us be working. We have work to do, sisters. Let us be laboring. He that hath an ear to hear. Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesians. I will confess that person's name before my Father and before the angels. When you read Luke chapter 12, as you do the readings or in your spare time, you will see that when Christ talked about confessing his name, he talked about preaching the truth. Being willing to admit, I am a disciple of Christ, Jesus is Lord, I believe in him, I am looking for him to come. But he that refuses and denies Christ, that person will be denied before Christ's Father and the angels. So the Sardians were not preaching the truth. That's why Christ says this. They didn't need to. They didn't feel the need to. They'd grown soft. Well, the public isn't responding. They don't come out to the lectures anymore. Let's stop having lectures. Why? What are we bothering to come out on a Sunday evening to have lectures for? Nobody comes out. Why don't we just mail out 100,000 invitations to a lecture, rather than going out ourselves to distribute pamphlets and leaflets and invitations? We don't need to do that. We can use the mail system, the postal system. We can get rid of our lectures and try and find some other way sometime of preaching the truth. If you've ever fallen prey to that way of thinking, then this is a message for you. It's a message for me. I need this message. Let us listen to what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesiastes.

Transcript

There's now a little Ecclesia that's being addressed in a place called Philadelphia. Unto the Ecclesia, unto the angel of the Ecclesia that is in Philadelphia. So once again it is a message that is addressed initially or given initially to those who are the servants of the Ecclesia in Philadelphia. Philadelphia, what a lovely name that is. It means literally, one who loves his brother, one who loves his brother. And it was named after a man who loved his brother. His brother was a king and he adored him. He did everything he could to protect him. He supported him. He watched over him. And in remembrance of that, the little city Philadelphia was named after that kind of feeling of brotherly concern and love, support, companionship. Pulling through difficult times together with the love of a brother. That's what Philadelphia means. It was a city that was the youngest of all of the seven different cities that existed. It had a very interesting purpose. It was set up with a very deliberate design in mind. Now it wasn't set up like some of the others as a place that was rooted in an area that was extremely fruitful or because it was a place that could be easily defended. It wasn't set up for that reason. It was set up because it was a city that was on the border of three different areas where they met. The areas of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia. Three sections of that area of the Roman Empire. These were largely barbarian territories. And so colonists from Pergamon moved to this area and this city was set up. You know why it was set up? It was set up with the deliberate intention of this city being a missionary city for Greek language and culture to all of the barbarians on the back side of it. Isn't that interesting? This was a missionary city. A missionary of Greek culture. So that was the whole intention for the setting up of this little city of Philadelphia. Philadelphia was located in an area that was prone to earthquakes. One of the great ancient geographers Strabo called it a city full of earthquakes. There were all kinds of earthquakes because volcanic activity was strong. Lava came up right from under the surface. Most of the houses in the city had massive cracks in the walls. And earthquakes were so frequent that the people were somewhat skittish. They were a little nervous. Anybody who lived in the city territory of Philadelphia was considered to be a little bit cracked himself or herself. Likewise, because of the danger of earthquakes, especially within the area of the city. And so most of the people who lived in that area lived outside of the city. Whoever lived in the city found himself continually having to shore up the walls and foundations of his house. So it was a continual activity of building up a house that was always getting cracks in it. That was always running the risk of falling down. That was always developing problems with its foundations. And a little lesson from that is obvious, isn't it? Because we're trying to do the same thing with the earthquake-prone ecclesial life that we've all been blessed with, really. So they were continually working on their little houses in that particular area. Because of the fact that earthquakes were frequent, as we just noted, people tended to be a little bit nervous and frightened very easily. And like people in California, they were always waiting for the big one, the big earthquake to come that would devastate and probably destroy everyone. But when we come to this little letter here, we read a message that, unlike some of the messages prior to it, doesn't have any rebuke. There is no sternness of message. There are no corrective measures that are required. There is only admiration expressed, love, fellow feeling. The Lord Jesus Christ expresses the most brotherly feeling for this most brotherly of ecclesias. He begins by saying, Brother Tennant has rightly said that in these letters we have both pictures of glory and at the same time, pictures of what exists now. In these difficult circumstances. So there is a picture of glory. He describes himself as he that is holy. The word means separate, dedicated unto God. And when he says this, every time he describes himself at the beginning of these epistles, he's saying something that somehow is connected to the ecclesia that he's talking about. In many instances, in most instances, it is almost as it were a contrast to what the ecclesia is like. But in this instance, he is describing aspects of who he is and what he is that the ecclesia can hold on to. Because what he's telling them is, I am like you. I'm holy. I'm separate. I'm separate from the world and whatever it offered, whatever flesh had to offer me. I was separate from that. I maintained a separation and dedication unto my God that I still have today. But you have little Philadelphia. You're just like that. It's a wonderful thing about you. I am also he that is true. That means genuine, the real thing, he that is true. Because Philadelphia, that is what your faith is like. It is the real thing. You're genuine in your dedication to me. He that has the key of David. He that has the key of David. Now, this would appear to be a cross-reference to, from the point of view of the page that we're looking at, to another portion of scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ is alluding to something somewhere else. Now, how can we tell what it is? What is it? What does your center margin say is the cross-reference to go to, to find out what the key of David means? Anyone? Loud? Isaiah 9 and 7. Alright, turn that up, please. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 7. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 7. We'll read that. Of the increase of his government, this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. So perhaps we should back up a couple of verses. Verse 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name, look at the names. His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government, and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment, and with justice, from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. So there's something that is related to the throne of David. And there's a name. It's almost as it were a new name, isn't it, that Christ has. He wasn't called these things when he was on the earth. But these are the things that he will be called. Then he will be God with us. He will be the individual who perfectly manifested God. He perfectly showed God's character. And the way that he thought, the way that he spoke, and the things that he did. When he is on the earth, there is the perfect manifestation of God in the earth. That's what we hope to do likewise. On the earth, when he returns, we all hope to perfectly manifest God's character, way of being. And these things are all connected to, or associated with, the throne of David. Now that reminds us of 2 Samuel 7, doesn't it? And the promises made to David. This man fulfills those promises. The key to the promises, well, that key belongs to him. But surely there's another chapter that your center margin talks about. Yes, Isaiah 22. Isaiah, Isaiah, Isaiah. AI in Hebrew is pronounced AI, IE, right? So the city of AI was really the city of IE. A little different the way we pronounce it. Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 22. And at verse 22. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder, so that he shall open and none shall shut. He shall shut, none shall open. Now, how can you lay something that's small on your shoulder? Because the keys were really very big. Locks were large. And a key was a big thing. It could be laid on a shoulder in these times. We're not going to look at this chapter in detail. But let's just summarize what is going on. This chapter recounts the rebuke of a man called Shebna. Now, Shebna was the treasurer, prime minister during Hezekiah's reign. There was faithlessness in the midst of the nation at this time. Remember, they were surrounded by the hostile people that wanted to destroy everybody on the inside of the city. And the people began to lose heart. The people whose primary responsibility it was to prevent all of the nation from losing heart were preeminent in creating the faithlessness that existed in the nation. In fact, Shebna, rather than believing that God would deliver him and his family from those that were around the city, instead went and hewed out for himself a very elaborate sepulcher for his family to be buried in. And the attitude of mind that these people had at this time was, let us eat and drink because tomorrow we die. They'd lost their faith in God's ability and willingness to deliver them from their trial. And Shebna is rebuked. This man, who should have been preeminent in setting an example of faithfulness, instead is faithless. And so he's rebuked. And God tells him, somebody is going to replace you and take your status and take your honor away from you. That individual's name is Eliakim. And his name means, God shall establish. Well, the man's very name was a striking condemnation of the kind of faithlessness that the nation had fallen prone to. God shall establish. This man will replace you. Eliakim, God shall establish. He will take your garments. He will replace you. And as it goes on further, it says, I will lay upon his shoulder the key of David. He shall close and no man will open. He shall open and no man will shut. So he'll be the one who'll look after the treasury, Shebna. You will be replaced. You will be inferior to this man. When we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his letter to the Ecclesia in Philadelphia, saying to them, I am he who has the key of David, he that hath the key of David. He's saying, I am that man, his fulfillment, the one that he pointed forward to. He was, as it were, the shadow that I cast backward, that man Eliakim, because God established me. I held firm in God, my faith in him. I was the true one. I was the genuine one. And I have that key of David. The key of the promises made to David belongs to me. I am the son of David. And that man who replaced Shebna, well, he was like me, because those who were the Jewish elders and leaders of the people lost their status, lost their rights over the people because of the guidance, the faithlessness that they showed to the people. Christ replaced those people. When Christ is talking to little Philadelphia and telling them this title that is associated with himself, he's telling them something about them likewise. They were in the midst of a particularly hostile Jewish group of individuals. We'll go on further. He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and that shutteth, and no man openeth. Look, I know your works. I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door. That's what he said before the little Ecclesia in Philadelphia. An open door. What does that remind you of from their history or their location? What does it remind anybody of? What was their purpose as a city when they were set up? Loud. They were missionaries. They were. That little city was like an open door for Greek culture. It went right through to all the people behind it. And he says to this little city, Look, Miss Ecclesia, I have set before you an open door. You know, that phrase, an open door, is used a couple of times in the New Testament. It's used once by Paul in 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 9. There he says, For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. He's talking about preaching the truth. God had opened a great door for him to walk through, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. And also in Acts 14 and verse 27, Paul and someone else are telling the Ecclesia or telling others what has happened to them, what God has done with them. They rehearsed all that God had done with them. Now he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. So the door that's opened to this Ecclesia involves the opportunity to preach a message. As their city had been a missionary city, now they were a little missionary Ecclesia. It's really what we all have to be, bearers of a message to those that are without. There's another aspect to this open door. Because if you drop down to chapter 4, the beginning of that chapter, you'll see that John says after this, I looked and behold, a door opened. Same phrase, an open door. What does he see behind that door? He sees images of Christ glorified, of the redeemed singing to him, all manner of wonderful things that are connected to the kingdom and eternal life for you and me. That's what he sees. And that's what these people likewise are being encouraged to see with their inner eye, their mind's eye, to see that whatever they may be going through in their present circumstances, God has opened a door through which we can see his kingdom and what he offers to us. And of course, every time we open our Bibles, the door is open and new for us. We can see what he wants us to hold on to, to hold fast to, to encourage and uplift us, build us up. Let's go on. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a door opened, and nobody can shut it, for thou hast a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name. Now, what do you think that means, thou hast a little strength? You might think that it means that, well, this is a fairly weak group of individuals. That's not necessarily what it's saying. What it could very well be saying is, you only have a little bit of power, a little bit of strength. To me, what this is saying is that this was a little ecclesia, small, just a little group of people. Have you ever been to a little ecclesia? You might even be a member of a little ecclesia. And yet, a door was open wide for this little ecclesia. Reminds me of a little ecclesia that I know of. A boy and his mother and a couple of sisters started an ecclesia right here in the United States. I won't tell you the name of the ecclesia. He was 17 years old, and he became the recording brother of that ecclesia. Talk about only having a little strength. What could be more frail and fragile than that? In the eyes of the world especially, so fragile. A boy and his mother and a few sisters, slowly, slowly, bit by bit, they continued working together. He did the presiding, he did the speaking, he conducted the meetings by himself. Poor young fella. He did everything. And eventually that ecclesia grew because other people joined in their preaching activity. Many were attracted to the truth. That ecclesia has in it over 35 people today, and has revolutionized the way that we preach the truth throughout the world. Having a little strength, one little ecclesia, and what it was able to accomplish, because it held fast to what was important. You might think to yourself, especially if you're elderly, I'm no good for very much at all. I'm not good for hardly anything. There's an older sister back home, there are three or four elderly sisters in their 70s and 80s who leave Christadelphian pamphlets on the bus. One of them used to leave Christadelphian pamphlets at the home of an infirm elderly woman that she used to look after. She was in her 70s at the time when she looked after this 90-year-old crippled woman. And bit by bit, this elderly, infirm woman read these pamphlets and eventually accepted the truth. Another one just kept on writing and writing to friends of hers about the truth, very simple her faith was, nothing spectacular. She didn't have any concept of the types and shadows of the law of Moses. She understood the hope of the kingdom and what Jesus had done for her. And a friend in Germany now is a member of the Esslingen meeting because of her efforts, that little writing, little sharing of love and a message that God had opened a door for her to allow her to be able to preach through. So if you think that there's nothing that you can do in the truth, there really is. You still have a message that you can share and give to other people. You still have the ability, even with the knowledge you have, it's superior to the knowledge of the vast majority of human beings in the earth. And if you share it with them, there's no telling what little you can accomplish because of that big door that opens. So here is a little Ecclesia. Here is someone or a group of people with not much strength. They continued to preach the truth, and he says that they kept his word. They kept his word, and they did not deny his name. This phrase which comes up through the letters, the keeping of Christ's word and refusal to deny his name, every time we see that, that's connected to the severe trial and persecution that the Ecclesias received as a result of the unwillingness to worship Caesar. The unwillingness to worship Caesar. Interesting thing about Philadelphia is that it had been renamed twice in gratitude for the money that had been received from two of the Caesars at the end of severe earthquakes that the city had experienced. In the time of Tiberius, when he gave them money to rebuild, they renamed Philadelphia Neo-Caesarea, which means the new city of Caesar. New city of Caesar. And in the time of Vespasian, they renamed it Flavia, which was the family name that Vespasian had. His family name was Flavius. Remember Flavius Josephus? Well, Josephus, being the crooked, crafty man that he was, renamed himself after Vespasian's family in order that he might receive special attention and support from them when he lived in Rome for the rest of his life. So this was a city that had gratitude to Caesar, that had even renamed itself after the Caesars. And here was a little group of people that refused to worship Caesar. Utterly refused. They had been through difficult times. If you find yourself with your little strength in a situation, in a marriage or in a family situation, where you are the only one who has accepted the truth, or you are the only one who is attempting to live according to the truth, and you are experiencing severe opposition, grief of mind, because of holding fast as best you are able, be strengthened by this little message. Be strengthened especially by what comes after. Look, look at what he says. He can understand Christ exactly what you are going through, because he understood exactly what they went through. He says, Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee. He's telling them, you few that have held fast my name in your little eclosure with all the difficulty of your life, you few who might once have gone to the synagogue where the Jews are, you who have been pushed out and ostracized from the synagogue, they shut their door on you. Remember, I have opened a door to you. Remember that no matter what they do in opposition to you as your adversaries, that's what synagogue of Satan means, I will one day make them come and bow before your feet. And just as Eliakim, Eliakim, replaced Shebna, just as I have replaced the leaders of the nation, just as I will replace all of the leaders of all the nations, so you will replace them. They will come and acknowledge before you that they were wrong and that you were the true ones, the genuine ones, my holy ones. So he's asking them, please, please hold on to what you have. I know that going is rough. I know your life is difficult. I know there are times when you weep when you're alone because you have no support in living the truth you feel if you're in a difficult family situation. And if your little eclosure is struggling to manage to continue to survive, hold fast. Why? Because even though those around you that were close to you have pushed you away or are in the process of pushing you away and ostracizing you, I have loved you. And these people will see at that time that I have loved you even though they didn't. I have loved you little ones. I love you. That's what they needed to hold on to. That's what you need and I need to hold on to. The love that Christ, the greatest man who has ever lived, the greatest being next to his father that exists, that's how he feels about little you and me. Look at the concern that he expresses for those with only a little strength struggling to hold on to the truth. Goes on and he says, I have loved thee because why have I loved thee? Because thou hast kept the word of my patience. The word of my patience. He loves a group that lives in a city that means the love of a brother. And the word of his patience refers to what he had said once in his lifetime before in Matthew 10 and verse 22. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. He that endureth. It doesn't mean he that doesn't sin, he that doesn't make mistakes. It means he through all of the difficulties of living the truth. She who through all of the difficulties of this life endures, pulls through, pulls through through thick and thin, that person shall be saved. He goes on further and he says, I will keep thee from the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Because you have loved me, because you have kept the word of my patience and pulled through thick and thin, I will keep you from an hour of trial. But what does that mean, brothers and sisters, to keep them from an hour of temptation? It reminds us a little bit of John 17, doesn't it? Let's turn up quickly, John chapter 17, and look at the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a father, this is a very moving portion of scripture. If you are a father who can imagine being about to die, about to die, and your little children will be left behind you, what would be in your heart? Just imagine. Imagine the love and the concern, the yearning for them. Well, he had all of those things. He loved them to the uttermost, to the end. And in chapter 17 at verse 6, he says to his father, and they're all there listening to him praying, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Father, I showed them what you were like. I showed them who you are, how you love and give. I showed them your patience. I showed them everything you told me to show them. I showed them your name which thou gavest me out of the world. You gave me these people out of the world in which they were living. Thine they were, and thou gavest them to me. And they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. Verse 11, And I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father, please, Father, keep through thine own name. Keep through the character that I showed them and everything that is connected to you. Keep them, those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the one son of perdition, but the scripture might be fulfilled. That's why he was lost. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. You know, brethren and sisters, sometimes we might consider ourselves to be pulled to and fro by the world, to be worldly, but in God's eyes we're not of the world. In the eyes of Jesus, even those men who didn't really fully understand what he was talking about, even at that time, they were not of this world, in God's eyes and in his eyes. What he's praying for in this prayer is that God will look after them, not that he will take them out of the world and away from trials and difficulties that will try them to the uttermost, but that he will keep them away from the evil of this world, from the evil of giving up and walking away, walking away from him, from the truth. Paul, at the end of his life in 2 Timothy, would pray that God would keep him, that Jesus would keep him from every evil work. And once again, Paul was talking about denying Christ. He was saying to Timothy, I am in the worst trial of my life right now, and I believe that Jesus will prevent me from denying him in my trial. And Christ is talking about the same thing in his prayer. And when he talks to us, little weak ones in Philadelphia, he's saying the same thing. Not that I'm going to prevent you from being tried, but I will preserve you through the trial. Not that you will not die within the trials and have difficulties, severe difficulties, but that in the final analysis, in the end of all things, you will be strengthened to persevere through your persecution and difficulties, so that you will not deny me, but will hold fast to the end. Says, as he goes on further, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them to dwell upon the earth. So there was a period of trial coming. Finally, the earthquake, the big one, was arriving. Philadelphia would finally be hit by a severe earthquake, an earthquake not of the shaking of earth, but the shaking of the foundations of everything they stood for. Some kind of trial. No one really knows exactly what it was. Some have this idea, some have another idea. In the end, it was some kind of trial that many felt that the Ecclesia was subject to and that Christ strengthened them to pull through. He says, look, look, I will come quickly. I'm coming to get you. I'm coming for you. Sister, whatever you find yourself in, however low you may find yourself to have fallen in depression, I'm coming to get you if you'll only hold on. I'm coming quickly. I will be there soon. I will come quickly. I come quickly. Hold fast. Put your shoulder into holding on to what you've got. Hold fast what you have, that no one will take away the crown of righteousness that you shall receive. And though in our little lives today we may feel as if the kingdom is so far from us and the truth that I want to live seems to be so much beyond my reach, I can't even touch it. Christ says, hold on to what you have. The strength of this little Ecclesia didn't come from within them. It came from Him. It came from His God, His Father. That was their source of strength. It's the same for us, brothers and sisters. He is there to draw upon on our knees and with tears when we are sitting quietly and calm and in our times of joy likewise, there to be drawn on to strengthen us and build us up, to help keep us in the way so that all areas of our lives are lightened by His presence and all burdens that we have we can carry easier because we know that the burdens are on His shoulders likewise, that we have put them on His shoulders. So He says to them, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. He that overcomes will I make to be a pillar in the temple of my God. That's a reminder of the temple that the son of David had built. And there were two wonderful pillars out front, right out front of the doorway, at the open doorway, there were two pillars, Boaz and Jacob. Remember those two pillars. Boaz and Jacob, brothers and sisters. Jacob means he shall establish. He shall strengthen and give firm foundation to. He shall establish. And Boaz means in it is strength. So you who have only a little strength, you shall be pillars in my temple. You shall continue the work of missionary activity, of teaching and taking out a message to all the earth when I shall come in my kingdom and in my glory. You will be pillars. How appropriate that is to Philadelphians, those who stood like pillars, forming a doorway for Greek culture to all the nations behind them. That's what this little Ecclesia is going to be. That's what little you and me will be in God's kingdom if we can only hold fast, hold fast through the difficulties that we all have to struggle with today. He says, I will write upon him the name of my God. There's a new name that these people will receive. That name, God's name, Yahweh, Yahweh Elohim, all the other titles. He who will be mighty ones, not little weak and frail ones. He who will be mighty ones, that name will be written on us, write on us, not in literal letters, but in us will be mighty for God in his kingdom, established by God, strengthened by God, overcomers of the difficulties of this time of little strength and difficulty. He says, I will write upon him also the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name, the name which is above every name. What will he be called? Wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, God with us. He who is part, the primary fulfillment of the name Yahweh, the full manifestation of God in the earth, and that name will be our name. We will be part of that. If we will only pull through our difficulties and hold on to him and hold fast to the knowledge that he loves us, little you and little me, whatever we're going through, he ends by saying, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear with the spirit, saith unto the ecclesias. If you have ears to listen with, surely that's what your ears are for. Be comforted and encouraged to hold on to this message of hope, of redemption out of our difficulty, of a change that will make us mighty and strong, though weak and frail we may be today. Let's remember the wonderful example of this city, of one who loved his brother.

Transcript

Seven letters have been given, seven separate messages to seven separate Ecclesias. It doesn't mean that these different Ecclesias represent different ages in the history of the truth. At any given point in time, all the Ecclesias go through what any of these Ecclesias went through. At any given point in any one of our individual lives, we are like the Ecclesia and Ephesus. Later on we might be like the Ecclesia and Laodicea. It is true that the age that we are living in today is of all the ages of mankind, the most wicked and the most materialistic. And we have to contend against these great dangers, these great difficulties. Dear the arranging brethren of the Ecclesia that is in Laodicea, write. Laodicea, brethren and sisters, was the wealthiest of all of the cities of the region. It was a great banking centre. Here many people cashed checks. This is one of the first areas of the world where that kind of banking took place. The soil of Laodicea was extremely fertile. Fertile land produced rich crops and nourished a particular variety of sheep that produced a wool that was beautiful, black, glossy. Garments made of this wool were exported internationally. So it was a great textile producer, this city, Laodicea. It was also famous for its medicines. There was a temple right in Laodicea that was dedicated to the Greek goddess Clepios, who was the god of healing. And this particular temple had a college, a medical college associated with it that had doctors that were famous around the world. In fact, they're very coined. Sometimes had on them images of great physicians who were associated with the temple and college of Clepios. There were two things that were world famous produced by this college. One was a particular kind of air medication that was produced from spikenard and it was extremely costly. Another one was a particular kind of eye salve, an eye ointment that was made with an extremely costly powder. These two medications were produced in Laodicea and were indeed world famous. Funny thing about Laodicea, apart from these things, it had a great weakness. There was, of course, the license and looseness of the society, the thing that it had in common with all of the other cities and with our society today. But with all of its wealth and with all of its independence of spirit, it was a city that 30 years before had been completely destroyed by an earthquake and yet refused any help from Rome. I have enough to look after myself, thank you. I don't need any help. And it had rebuilt itself independently. With all of its independence, all of its wealth, it had a great weakness. And that is that there was no real source of water in the midst of Laodicea. And so it had to be piped in by viaduct from elsewhere. There were two cities that were close by, Colossi, which had cold, refreshing streams, and Hierapolis, which had hot springs. Water was piped in. And so it was a city that was, though wealthy and strong, as far as material circumstances are concerned, was really rather exposed to weakness, couldn't provide its most basic needs. Even though it had so much. If you cut that viaduct somewhere along its length, Laodicea would have died of thirst. Cities with that kind of weakness learned the art of compromise. They learned the art of appeasement. They learned how to make allowances and accept things from those that were a danger to it. This was a city that knew all about compromise. Interesting, isn't it? Well, this is the letter to which this particular letter is addressed. We are a product of the environment in which we live. Brother Tennant has pointed that out. The countries that we live in, the societies that we live in, where we've grown up, how we've grown up, how we've been educated, the families that we were born into, how we were raised. We are a product of our environment. We have to wrestle against the weaknesses of our environments. And so we have a particular environment and lifestyle that we wrestle against in North America. And it's the same. You think of the American culture, it's Canadian, because Canada and the States are only divided by a border. It's really the same thing on both sides. They, likewise, were a product of their environment. Christ begins his letter to them by saying, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, the Amen. Well, if you look in your centre margin, you'll probably see a cross-reference to Isaiah 65, verse 16. And if you look there, you'll see that it says that God, that Yahweh, that the Lord is a God of truth. The word truth in Hebrew is Amen. That's what it is. So the word Amen, which means so be it or may it be so, may this occur, is connected to truth. It's connected to, as we see in the other two words that are used, faithfulness and a true witness. Interesting. When the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of himself in these epistles, it's usually in contrast to or to strengthen the existing characteristics of the Ecclesias, whichever they may be. So here he's saying to an Ecclesia that might have had a problem with preaching the truth. Look, I am the Amen. I am somebody who is full of truth, as my God is full of truth. I'm faithful, as I want you, Laodicea, to be faithful. I am a faithful and true witness. I say what God tells me. I give forth his messages. In fact, you are reading a message that God gave me to give to his servants. So I'm a true witness. That, Laodicea, is what I want you to be. I want you to be a true and faithful witness to me and to the Gospel. And I am the beginning of the creation of God. You, in Laodicea, you're surrounded by and your life is full of what is of this creation, material things, what you create with your hands, what you make, what you're able to spend, to wear. That's the creation that you may be focused on now. But I am the beginning, I'm the beginning of the creation of God. And that involves, Laodiceans, a creation that is related to God's kingdom and to those who will be newly formed, reformed, renewed, invigorated with eternal life, changed completely utterly, perfected, who will be recreated through my word, through God's power. That's the new creation. So, Laodiceans, I am a faithful witness. I want you to be like me. I'm the beginning of a new creation. My whole life when I was on the earth was dedicated to and focused on that new creation. And I want you to make it so for you likewise. That's what he's saying. He's saying it to us too, isn't he? Lift your eyes up above what is under the sun to what is above it and around it. And in this, the word of truth, I know your works. I hear what you say, but I also know what you do. And I know, Laodicea, because of the society that you are living in the midst of, that you're neither cold like the refreshing streams of Colossi, nor are you indeed hot like the healing waters of Hierapolis. You're neither full of refreshment for the brethren and sisters that are in your midst, nor are you hot with zeal. The preaching of a truth that will build and strengthen within and without will heal and encourage. And I know, Laodicea, the society around you is what you're wrestling against inside of you likewise. That's what you have to contend with. I know your works. I've seen what you do. And this is my evaluation. And I know these are hard words for you to listen to, Laodicea, but this is the way it is. He says further, So then, because thou art lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew thee out of my mouth. Lukewarm. Six miles away in Hierapolis, brothers and sisters, springs in the middle of that city produced mineral water, mineral laden water that came up out of the ground boiling hot. It flowed out of the city across a plateau to the edge of the plateau, 300 feet high, one mile wide. And then the water would spill over the edge and to the rocks below. Unsuspecting travelers would come along and pick up the water close to the edge and drink it. And would either throw up, they would vomit, or they'd spit it out. It was lukewarm. And because of what was contained in it, it had the effect of making the individuals sick. What a hard thing for Laodicea to hear. You, brethren and sisters in Laodicea, you like this lukewarm water. And you know the effect that that kind of water has on people that drink it when it comes out of Hierapolis. That water makes people throw up. And the effect of your lukewarmness in the truth. Well, it's having the same effect on me. I'm about to vomit you out, hard though these words may feel to you. This is what is about to happen. So here's your condition. Here's your state. Why are they like that? As far as he is concerned. Verse 17, because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Would they have said that, brothers and sisters? Would they have said that with their mouths? Do we say that when we don't want anyone else to help us? And we try to push people away who offer assistance and guidance and encouragement when we really do need these things. Do we say that? Sometimes we do. I don't need your help. Everything's all right, thank you. We're all right. More than likely this Ecclesia said it through their actions. They had said once in their history as a people 30 years before, Rome, we don't need your help. Thank you very much. Don't bring any help here. Don't make us feel small. We can look after ourselves. Thank you. Sometimes ecclesial problems come up. My own Ecclesia, I participated in a decision like this. We don't need help. We had a problem that came up. And rather than looking to objective individuals from the outside to help us, we thought, no, we're not going to do that. It's nobody's business. It's our own business. We resolved the problem to some degree, but we really didn't. The problem was exported elsewhere. It left. So the problem really wasn't resolved. And we were too proud to really ask for help. That's what it was. We were too proud to look for help. This Ecclesia was like that so that I can relate to that Ecclesia. Perhaps you can also, in some small degree. We're rich. We need nothing. I don't need help, thanks. They relied on what they had, this Ecclesia, in this city. They relied on what they owned, their wealth, their material circumstances. They might have relied on their intelligence, their education. In other words, whatever it was they had, they were self-reliant, as opposed to God-reliant, self-reliant. So here's something that makes the Lord Jesus Christ nauseous. When we are self-reliant, as opposed to being God and the Lord Jesus Christ-reliant, relying on them for help and encouragement and guidance, He says, you say you're rich and increased with goods, and you don't need anything, and you don't know. Look at that. With all of this idea of what they had, what they were capable of doing, what they were, they didn't really know their condition. When we rely on ourselves, brothers and sisters, especially brethren in arranging boards, when we rely on what would appear to be logical, when we make, as it were, management decisions in our arranging boards, and we don't make decisions that involve open Bibles, then we are just like these people. We become self-reliant individuals. Arranging brother must be, of all people, a man whose Bible is always open. This is what we've found in our experience. And there are so many decisions that are made on the spur of the moment in an arranging board meeting that are based on anything but Scripture and its principles. This is where we need to turn. This is where we need to go to help us in the decision-making process that we are involved in, which involves a life of our ecclesia and the survival of our brothers and sisters. And we've got the ability to do it. We just need to have that internal incentive, that desire for the good of our people. He says, you know not that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. No doubt these are things that would have come as a shock to the ecclesia. What? Miserable, wretched, poor, blind, naked? It doesn't make any sense. Here, the proud Laodiceans were miserable. That means the objects of pity. The proud Laodiceans were objects of extreme pity. The rich Laodiceans were poor as beggars. That's what the word poor means. The eyes of producing Laodiceans were blind. And the great textile exporting Laodiceans were naked. Interesting. People in any society at any point in time can feel that what is in their society can deliver them from all things. And what they are surrounded with, they can rely on in times of trouble and difficulty. I'm like that to some degree. These brothers and sisters were like that. They didn't realize that because of their self-reliance, because of their failure to rely on God and to preach His message, yes, to preach His message, they had gotten themselves into a condition that in the eyes of Christ was not what they should have been. He says to them, Look, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. I counsel thee. Very interesting language. It's the language of a banker. This is my advice to you. In other words, he's using the language of business. These are businessmen, more than likely. They're brethren who are businessmen. He says, Look, my advice to you is that you buy gold from me and then you're going to be rich. So he's an investment banker with them. That's what he's talking to them in language they can understand in their circumstances and with their mentality. This is the advice I give you. What's the gold tried in fire? Faith. Come to me, realize that what I have and the difficulties associated with my message will try you, will put division between you and the society around you, will result in tribulation. There's no history of any persecution whatsoever in this Ecclesia, at any point in its history. So the message that they gave must have been a fairly tame one. That doesn't mean that we can't give pleasantly inviting messages. It's what we are to do in our preaching. But they tried so much to exist peacefully within their society. It was a Laodicean tradition, appeasement and compromise. But the message that they gave was of no consequence, didn't result in any kind of separation between them and the people around them, and certainly didn't result in the kind of tribulation that the other Ecclesias experienced. Look, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. If you live the life that I want you to live, if you do the activity that I want you to do, there will be fire in your life, difficulty, the difficulty that we all go through in the truth. He says, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments, that thou mayest be clothed. You come to me, rich as you are, and buy gold from me, you'll be rich. Buy clothing from me, and you won't be naked anymore. Now, what's the clothing? Look at Revelation chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, brothers and sisters, and there we're going to read the words of the redeemed. Verse 7. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife hath made herself ready, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. The righteous acts of the saints. Come, come to me, and buy clothing from me. Live a life that involves giving of yourself from the heart to me. Activity performed within the ecclesia, dedicated to me, following my example. And you'll be clothed with righteousness, with a linen garment, clean and pure and white. You who are naked, when I come back to the earth, you'll be my bride, and your wedding garment will be fine linen when I take you unto me. That's what he's telling them. So this is not a message that is intended to depress them. It's intended to make them stop in their tracks, look at themselves and say, yes, yes, this is true, and I need to take heed to this and change. He says to them, also, that thou mayest be clothed, and the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. When? At the judgment seat. When, if they keep this lifestyle up, they'll be found unclothed. The life that they should have been clothed with will have been something that they'd stripped off or defiled. The life that was associated with putting on Christ, as one puts on a garment, putting on a lifestyle that involves not just words but works, righteous works, works that are related to righteousness, works that involve doing things for and with people, sometimes people that are difficult, as we can be difficult for other people. That's what it involves. That thy nakedness be not seen, and anoint thine eyes with thyself, that thou mayest see. What does that remind us of? Surely, brothers and sisters, it reminds us of a time once in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ when there was a blind man and Christ spat on the ground and he made clay and he rubbed it on the eyes of the man who was blind. And he saw again. What came from his mouth healed a man's eyes. What came out of his mouth made a man see aright. And what has come out of his mouth is right here. We have two, three, four, five copies each. There it is. I salve. If we would anoint our eyes with it, anointing our eyes through the doing of the daily readings, through the taking of time to just look over portions, to look at what scripture is saying to us, that we might get our vision right, our perspective clear. There's the I salve if we want it. Laodicea, if you want to see, this will make you see, clearer than any I salve that can be produced in the world that you're living in. He says further, brothers and sisters, as many as I love are rebuke and chasten. Don't take this hard and be beaten down into the ground and depressed. Don't be broken down to nothing by it. I love you. I love you. I love you. So I'm talking to you straight. That's what he's saying. He loves us. It's not just an affection that one might have for a brother. It's more than that. It's the affection that a man had that was so great that he was willing to give his life not just on the cross, but day after day, back breaking, exhausting labor, teaching, nurturing, healing, instructing, correcting, rebuking, reproving, lifting up, and then finally, finally giving his life upon the cross. The most excruciating pain, that's the love he's talking about. As many as I love. God chastens those that he loves. We ought not to be overly focused on chastening and the negative aspects of that. God gives guidance and correction to his children. You don't correct and discipline other people's children. Even though you care for them and love them, they're not your children. You do it with your own because you love them so very much. When they make mistakes that are bad for them, do things that will hurt them, well, you give them correction verbally or sometimes in a more serious fashion. You re-divert their attention to what it is they should be focused on. That's good for them and those around them. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, don't feel as if my feelings towards you based on the sternness of this message is based on anything other than love and affection and concern and high regard and a desire to help and encourage. That's why I'm talking to you this way. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore. You've got it in you. It means keep on being zealous. So they must have had some element and then they could draw on. We have so much in us, all of us, already there to draw on. Just unlock it. Remember what we have been baptized into. Remember what we're looking for. Remember what was done for us, how we received the message, who died for us and how he died and how he lived and how he spoke and what he gave and gave and gave. Remember, we have it in there to draw on. We have it in the pages of God's Word to draw on, to look at and consider and consider and reconsider and renew in our minds. Be zealous, therefore, because I know you can do it, he says. I know you can do this, so be zealous and repent. Just turn away from the old way of thinking. Look away from it. Look at me. Look at what I have to offer you. Look at the kingdom. That's what I want you to look at. Lift your eyes up to the new creation, to the faithful witness. Follow me. I know you can do it. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. I'm right at the door. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in to him. I stand at the door and knock. There he is knocking from the door of our hearts. Please let me in. That's what he's saying. You know, brothers and sisters, elsewhere, he said, Matthew 24, verse 33, when you should see all these things, it is near. Even at the door, my return. And all the things that would happen in prophecy that we've seen happen is right at the door. It's near. James 5, verse 9 says, Grudge not one against another. Behold, the judge standeth before the door. He's right outside the door. But there's another lovely passage, the Song of Solomon, brothers and sisters. Chapter 5, verse 2. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 2. Look at the words of Christ to his beloved. To you, to you and me. Song of Solomon, chapter 5, verse 2. This is the bride speaking. I was asleep, but my heart waked. It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. For my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. It's Jesus saying to us, Open the door of your lives and let me into your lives. Let me into your marriage. Let me into the work that you do. Let me into your ecclesias. Let me into the raising of your children. Open the door and let me come in. You notice she was asleep? Sometimes we're asleep likewise, and we don't hear him knocking. But she was woken by his knocking. She heard the knocking, and she opened the door for him. When Jesus says to us in Revelation, Behold, I'm standing at the door. He's saying, whatever your problems may be, Laodicea, I've not run away from you. I've not gone away. I've not said that I don't want to have anything to do with you because you really haven't wanted to have much to do with me. Look, I'm right here at the door. I've come to find you. I've come to bring you back to me. I'm knocking right at the door. If any man lets me in, well, I will sup with him. I'll have a meal with him. Same word was used of the memorial meal. The breaking of bread and the drinking of wine. Whenever we eat the bread and drink the wine, remember these words. Together with whatever awful memory there is of what he went through, remember that when we open the door of our lives to him, then there is a real meal of fellowship that we are having with him. The same word is used of the marriage feast of the Lamb in the future, further on in the book of Revelation. A marriage feast in which we will be a perfect bride. Perfect. All of our weaknesses and problems now, but made perfect then. To him that overcomeeth, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame. Don't think you're alone and I can't understand what you're going through, Jesus says. I had to overcome difficulties just like you. I had to overcome tendencies to do what was right for me and what was selfish, just like you. I had to overcome the tendency to rely on what I had, the power that I had, the ability rather than to rely on God. I know what you're going through, my beloved. I know what you're going through. And I want you to overcome, to have victory over your circumstances and over yourself, just like I did. Look at me, remember me, follow me. That's what he's saying. That's what he's saying to you and to me, to Laodicea. He says, ye that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Ecclesiastes. You want to hear something devastating, brothers and sisters? Not long after these letters were written and this book was given, a council was held in the region. Laodicea was prominent in rejecting the book of Revelation as an uninspired document. They didn't listen. It wasn't important to them. They didn't really believe. Now, we won't do that. I know we will not do that. But if there's even a little element of doubt in our minds that these messages are addressed to us, remember what Laodicea did, how they threw the whole message out. With all of the love he expressed to them and all of the encouragement, they still threw the message away. You know, brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus Christ says to those who will overcome, I will give him to eat of the tree of life. I will give him a crown of life and a new name, better than any name he might have had before. I will give him power over the nations. I will confess his name before my Father and the angels. I will write upon him the name of my God and I will sup with him. So here we have been, all of us. History, as we know it, is coming to an end. The sun is setting on mankind and here we are, ere the sun is set. Some of us are sick, some of us are sad. Jesus offers us life and hope and joy and he is sufficient for all of us, every one of us, whatever we are going through, whatever the difficulty, whatever the trial, whatever the heartache is there for us. He loves us and so ought we to love one another. And all of these messages were written to people who had the ability to do what he asked them to do. And we all have the ability to do what he asks us to do. And if we need strength, it's there to draw upon in prayer and through the reading of his word and through taking counsel with each other. My beloved brothers and sisters, let us hold fast to what we have and fix our gaze on God's Kingdom and get our vessels going in that direction. He will be here soon.