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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 perk you up now

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 thyatirans on the other side of the state

that we forget what we are as individuals

let's not look at these equations 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 ecclesiastes

as me you or me i'm looking at dev ramcharan

in all the stages of his life sometimes laodicean sometimes ephesian

thyatiran

always with problems sometimes with a little strings

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

ecclesiastic today as then

of having the whole fabric of their existence

unraveled

because of what's in the world around us these are letters not to the ecclesia down the street their ecclesias here our

ecclesiastes are letters to me to you as individuals as we struggle in our daily lives in the truth

ephesus is the first one that's addressed

unto the angel of the ecclesia

that is in ephesus

first it's 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 older 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 equation 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 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 ephesus

ephesus 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 ephesus from all the way down the road coming up from the euphrates came through ephesus from south

right up through the land of palestine there was another road crossing through ephesus 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 ephesus that was the status it was the most opulent of all of the cities

it was so beautiful so rich so full of goods

it was called the marketplace of asia preeminent of all of the cities even though it wasn't the official capital it was the preeminent city of all of the province of asia

crossroads

and

lots of money

lots of goods

lots of materialism

that's what ephesus was all about brothers and sisters in ephesus 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 duels

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

push 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 ecclesiast 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 ecclesiastic decisions that we make in our

ecclesiastes 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

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 strengthen them would in the long run strengthen all of the ecclesiastic 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 eclegia being concerned for the welfare of not just the whole ecclesia but individuals little people like you and me we're 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 on a collegial 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 ecclesiastes aware of let this be strong sobering excitation to us in the manner that we build within our ecclesiastes

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 do 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 coppas

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

laboring to exhaustion but still with that capacity to endure cheerfully

not just to passively put up with difficulty and strife or d 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 has tried them which say they are apostles and are not and has found them false

they're difficult words brothers and sisters

let's go back to an earlier time let's go back to acts 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 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 my leaders he sent to ephesus and called the elders of the ecclesia

he called the arranging brethren together that's what he did he called them together and when they were 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 the holiness 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 now 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 and 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 a ranging 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 a 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 a ranging brethren that is the example that we have to follow

we are the servants of the ecclesia it's 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 weakness 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 grieve us wolves enter in among you

not sparing the flock

also

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 at 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 ephesus 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 back biting 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 3

and also you have born

and hast patience and for my namesake has 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 a 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 in 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

christodolphian

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 was in the other ecclesias when it came to burning incense to caesar and saying that he is lord

no doubt here they refuse 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 the labor of the truth

who tire themselves out fully in doing what that why does that happen

what is it what do we need to hold on to

that we might survive and not faint

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's 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

often times 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 down-hearted

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 and 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 ne 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 of 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

that has 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 there's a clear

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 brother bedwell and i think it is valid

is that this ecclesia

because of the fact that it hadn't 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 a seeking out of wrong teaching whenever something sounded off then the assumption would be 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 persons 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've 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

when this is a problem christ says remember the word is a greek word that was based on another little word that meant to chew something to it

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 that 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 equations

perhaps love was a thing that we

locked up into the period of an exhortation 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 that thou hate is 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 nicolaitans that are 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

yen's brothers and sisters by saying he who has the capacity to listen let him open up his ears and listen let him hearken let them hear what the spirit says 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 eternal life 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 up with 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 hearken to this message brothers and sisters

Transcript

my daily 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 overcometh

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 reclusion 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 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 and and give them 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 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 world 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 of one or two slim bible passages and the rest is all just it's 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 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 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 re-read

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 1000 bc

roughly a thousand 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 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 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 worshiped 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 morays and standards morals come out of the u.s

flow throughout the rest of the earth to the dispersion of your culture by the mass media

it was the same effect that the us 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 crystal delphian in smyrna

with the worship of the goddess roma

and the worship of the caesars

and the way that smyrnans 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 wright

these things says 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's he's 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 at 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

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

he's 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've 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's a there's 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's all common commendation brothers and sisters and when we read through whatever we read through in this letter we're 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 brethren and sisters

because that is what he will look for when he sees us

reflected image of something

of him

in us

i know your works

i know what you have done i know what you're doing i'm aware of your labor

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've 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 softened 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 letter as we are as brethren to our communities he gave that message and suffered tribulation as a result and the smerlins 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 and 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 pena the word penury comes from that word and the word pena means the state of a man who's 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 tokaya

and that word brethren and sisters describes

complete destitution

pena describes the state of a man who doesn't have anything left over tokaya 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 bettinson

and in this book he talks about a man called pliny

planning happened to be working in an area just north of asia he was in the province of by finia and 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 christodolphians

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 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 denied that they had been or were 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 gave 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 neighbor

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

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 absorbs 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 brethren and sisters in other countries the way that they they generously share what they believe to whoever will listen the way that they care for each other

it's heartbreaking for me i'm sure 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 the desire for rest

that i that you may have we've got to change that

and somehow the people who have the same kind of activity the same kind of dedication that these brethren ins 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 would say they are jews and really are not jews

they are not jews inwardly 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 that 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 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 crystal delphian 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 fear none of those things

which thou shalt suffer

the jews were sheltered under roman law from worshiping 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 christodelphians 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 but 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 and 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 mean 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 so 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

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 10 days nobody really knows what the 10 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 stephen is the same word

it was a crown that was given to victorious generals

it was a crown of lore a laurel uh 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 but 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 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 maritally in raising our children in sickness in else

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 ecclesias 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 he is as walls and bulwarks around us if we would only see that he's around us

he that overcometh

shall not be heard

of the 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 president 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 in 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 weather as well as 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 manner 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

but 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

fire tyra was the city just before pergamos along the great trade route that linked all of the seven euclesias of 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 is 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 eos gladiati

and there were others who didn't

the eu's gladia meant they had the sword

of justice they had the right of life and death

the gladiators 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 was a two-edged sword that was carried in his presence with which his authority to have the right of of 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 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 and 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 so 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

now when we read through this letter we are reading about an ecclesia in difficult circumstances

so 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 says he which have 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 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 said he which had 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 confirm what 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 would 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 too

these are the things that are implied by those words you win 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 i'm 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 to his name 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 wherein 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 holy creature

can you imagine the effect

that the man who is willing to labor as a servant

for the life of the ecclesia

can have

on that ecclesia

can you imagine the effect

that a sister who labors

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 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

bergamos saw when it happened the holy collision was there he 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

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 have that they that they've done so far all of the battles that they've won all 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 and the walls

the children of israel

to 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 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 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 their 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 word 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 now 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 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 says unto the ecclesias

to him that overcometh

will i give to eat of the hidden manner

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 belong 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 dying

guild lydia remember she sold garments that were died she 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 it 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

you remember remember paul talking to the corinthians about that but 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 were a group of people 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 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 that it's as common as as it is in our society today it's it's not it's not just something that's tolerated it's it's encouraged

what the school system puts into into into school washrooms for young men and women to purchase encourages the activity they say ah what you're trying to 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 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 before 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 believe 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

i want to participate in the 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 and our careers brethren

find ourselves surrounded by people

whose language is obscene

whose lifestyle is is 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 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 in on our

ecclesiastes that are not baptized 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 of 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 him 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 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 are 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 i'm 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 is 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 says the son of god who have his eyes like unto a flame of fire

burns through everything sees right into us burns away all of the 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

you're running to serve each other that's what the word ministry is based on to run to serve not not to run away from serving to run to serve

that's what the 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 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 a cliche strive to grow not to become stagnant

and unchanging

but 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 sufferest 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 the whole personality of that ecclesia she 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 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 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 and she doesn't want to change her way of thinking she willings 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 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 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

tribulation

except 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 ecclesiastes

in order for us to learn lessons in order for us to have the opportunity to 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

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 the the ecclesia might have a weakness might might have a a a tendency to

to have quiet conflict under the surface

i'll give you an example a very common example your recliner 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 ecclesiastes that have gone through things like that so there's something under the surface that's not been resolved comes right up to the four

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 ecclesiastes it is what he does he moves in the midst of the ecclesias ceaselessly tending them laboring within them with individuals and with holy creatures 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 aboard 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 their 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 pergamus in the midst of the euclesia

one of my brethren put it this way

he said

to make the exhortation close to home 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 material point of view

in order that he might 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 he that hatha near verse 17

let him hear what the spirit saith unto the ecclesias to him that overcometh

will i give to eat of the hidden manner and i will give him a white stone

now remember in pergamos there was a problem with the 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 the ecclesia 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

what 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 life 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 reigns i go right in to people i know what's in their hearts the reigns

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 inside torah 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 the rest of the brethren and sisters in neoclear 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 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 crystaldelphians 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's he 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 as 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 she abstained from meat offered to idols

and from fornication from which if ye keep yourselves you shall do well

stay away from me to offer 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

and 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 holy cleaver

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 ecclesiastic 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 is 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 re-affirm 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 until 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 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 of wheeling the shepherd rod

to protect

sheep from marauding animals

that would destroy the sheep that's what it means

isn't that wonderful what's he 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 ecclesiastial

family and it rests heavy on our shoulders as a ranging 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

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

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 of my father he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the ecclesias and under 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 years before 700 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

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 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 krissus

was its greatest ruler in his time sardis reached its pinnacle in his time sardis felt fell to its its depths

he was so wealthy that when people came through

who were famous individuals from the from the from the from the countries around he would take them around the streets show them the beauty and the richness of a city

what had happened in 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

and it failed to be watchful

so when chris 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 creases

generals drop a helmet down and he'd he'd come down and he he'd 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

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

and the city was destroyed

the people were butchered

those that were left cyrus by decree

forced

to become effeminate and soft

it agreed 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 fighting

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 sardians hadn't learned from their past experiences brothers and sisters

and so he writes to the ecclesia in sardis these things says 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

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 has to name the thou livest that are 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

of the kingdom

and the love and forgiveness and the the continual pastoral work that is required of us as shepherds

becomes a little bit out of focus a little bit of skew

and 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 the lord jesus christ of 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 ecclesias 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 phillips in 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 workings of the ecclesia going but infuse them with life make them 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 a ranging brethren whatever that you have decided to do or you've 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 and 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

and we don't want to get involved because it might hurt their feelings they might become irritable with us

we know that they are young people wrestling with a world that will conquer anyone

when we leave it up to other people to look after it

we know that they 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 is 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 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 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 preached 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 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 a thing i'll come as a thief

and you will not know what hour i will come upon thee thou hast the 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 three 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 is 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 the 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

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 every day 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 hast a 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 raymond 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 with the spirit saith unto the ecclesias

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 look what 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 a hundred thousand invitations to a lecture rather than going out ourselves

to distribute

pamphlets and leaflets and invitations but we don't need to do that we can use the mail system the postal system

we can we can we can get rid of our lectures and try and find some other way some time 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 said

unto the ecclesiastes

Transcript

there's now a little ecclesia that's being addressed in a place called philadelphia

unto the ecclesia and to 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 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 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 maja lydia and phrygia three sections of that area of the roman empire

these were largely barbarian territories and so colonists from pergamos or pergamum 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 be 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 the 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 these things saith he that is holy

he that is true

he that hath the key of david 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's 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 hath the key of david

he that hath the key of david now this would appear to be a cross-reference to from the 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 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 isaiah 9

and

7. all right 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 six 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 in 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

and that reminds us of 2nd samuel 7

doesn't it and the promise is made to david this man fulfills those promises

the key to the promises lucky belongs to him

but surely there's another chapter that your your center margin talks about yes

yes isaiah 22 isaiah isaiah isaiah a.i in hebrew is pronounced i i

right so the city of ai was really the city of i

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 the 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 mine that these people had at this time will 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 or eliakim and his name means god shall establish well the man's very name was a was a striking

condemnation of the 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 many like him because god established me i held firm in god my faith in him

i was the the true one i was the genuine one

and i have that key of david the key of the promises made to david is 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 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 this ecclesia i've 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 first 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 open 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 four 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 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 have you ever been to a little ecclesia

you might even be a member of a little ecclesia

and yet a door was opened wide for this little ecclesia

it reminds me of a little eclecia that i know of

a boy and his mother and a couple of sisters started in 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 his 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 crystal delphian pamphlets on the bus

one of them used to leave crystaldelphian pamphlets at the home of a of a of an infirm elderly woman that she used to look at 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 continue 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 ecclesiastic 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 the city had experienced

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

he 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're 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're 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 is telling them you few that have held fast my name in your little ecclesia

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 the 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 the 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 ecclesia 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 you 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've 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 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 in 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 gave us 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 may be they may be one as we are while i was with them in the world i kept them in thy name those that thou gave as 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 word i pray not that thou should take them out of the world

but that thou should 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 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 second timothy would pray that god would keep him but 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 hit 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 had 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

came from him

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 jake and brothers and sisters jacob means he shall establish

he shall strengthen and give firm foundation to he shall establish and boaz means

in it his 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 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 that 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 right 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 we can frail we may be today

let's remember the wonderful example of this city of one who loved his brother