Hear What the Spirit is Saying!

0:48Did I say it's important for you to drive with your headlights on? Good. Well, Revelation 3:22, again, before I read it, I want to stress to you the importance of driving with your headlights on. We've got a daughter who's growing right now, just got her driver's license, and we want to stress to her, guess what? The importance of driving with your headlights on. Seven times. Let's look at Revelation 3:22. He who has an ear. Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2.7, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2.11, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3.17, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3, 2, 29, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 3.6, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 3.13, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And Revelation 3.22, our text this morning, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

2:30Think somebody's trying to say something? Jesus says this seven times. Seven times. So I justify preaching at least one sermon on this. If he says it seven times, it's probably okay for me to preach one sermon on this message or on this statement. Literally, the expression is, he who has an ear, you, the one who has an ear, An ear. The one having an ear, hear. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. It's Jesus who is speaking.

3:11This message has been transcribed by the Apostle John, but it is the Spirit that is speaking to the churches. Hear, most important command given to Israel: hear, Israel, listen. This is a very unique body of scripture that we've just spent our months on. Chapters two and chapter three, it's a very unique portion of scripture. There, Jesus Himself is writing a letter to each of these churches. It is Jesus writing, and he speaks to the churches of the day, literal churches of their time. We are very straightforward body of Scripture. Jesus is speaking to literal churches of his time. And he was very selective. And he expresses the challenges that they are going to face. We are not to read chapters two and chapters three as some sort of mystical key into the future ages of the church or dispensations within the church, period. No, it's dealing with seven churches, and through those seven churches, Churches, Jesus is telling us the kind of issues that the churches are going to face for the whole church age. Church age being from Pentecost to the rapture, widely held by schools, all different kinds of schools of thought. There is the church age from the time that Jesus left to the time he comes and gathers his people again, the church age. And what happens in these seven letters is that Jesus gives us a depiction, a comprehensive depiction of the kind of issues the church is going to face as it goes through the nations and interacts proclaiming his gospel, the things and the challenges that are going to come, that are going to come against the church. At the same time, he also tells us about those who are going to overcome those challenges. And he tells us what he expects of us. In light of the fact that the church is going to face challenges, and here are the kinds of challenges that the church can expect to face, he also tells us what it's going to take to overcome them. But even going beyond that, he tells us even more. He gives us a preview in what heaven itself is going to be like.

5:52A remarkable block of scripture. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. To the churches. I often wonder, like we're told to pray in Matthew 6, 9, pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is it? What is heaven like? When I pray, your will be done on earth and in my life and in this church as it is in heaven, what does that even look like? Well, as we go through this morning, that's going to become apparent. We're going to get an idea of that, and there's so much more there. I would love to spend more time, and maybe in a couple of venues ahead in our teaching ministry, there is much to say about identity. Who are we in Christ? And I'm not even going to really deal with that this morning, but there's so much here about who we are in Christ, what we are becoming, and we are to take our cues not to become, but who we are, therefore we act. There's so much about identity, but this morning, I just want to broad brush, quickly run through, summarize the last 27 sermons. If you can believe it, we have spent 27 sermons going through just chapters 2 and chapter 3, looking at each of these letters. But I want to quickly summarize the 27 sermons so that you will understand that. Challenges that the church is facing today, that you will be a people who overcome the challenges that the church is facing, that you will help churches overcome the challenges they are facing. And then I want to give you a glimpse of what heaven is going to be like all in a very quick manner. 27 sermons. Broadbrush. You ready? Let's go. So here are the churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches through these churches. It's very relevant to everything we are, we'll become, and what we're facing in our days. So, first, we looked at the church at Ephesus. I called them the church of loveless orthodoxy, loveless orthodoxy. And from this church, we realized that a love for orthodoxy can take the place of love for Jesus Himself. It's going to be a temptation to get caught up in right doctrine to the point of making right doctrine take the place of Christ Himself. That orthodoxy becomes the pursuit in and of itself and to fail to realize that church. Truth itself speaks of a person. It connects us to a person. It emanates from a person. So to be connected to truth is really to be connected to the person. But there is going to be this challenge that the church faces that will reduce a relationship with Christ to merely cerebralizing Orthodox doctrine. I think we see that.

9:29And when it happens, what happens is a person no longer is loving God, no longer loving Christ, but loving themselves. And many times, truth is going to be used in an unloving way. There will be a temptation to use truth to reduce and bring people down. This is the issue facing the church there in Ephesus. And what is frightening about all this is that Christ removes this lampstand. He said, unless you change, I'm going to remove your lampstand.

10:09Only one other church really got the same kind of treatment or severe punishment, and that was Laodicea, the one that he wanted to spit out of his mouth. The stiffest penalty for this one who really has it right in so many ways. And oh, for churches that love truth today, that would love Orthodox. Orthodoxy. That would be more about doctrine. Oh, that we would have more of those. But this is a frightful, frightful penalty. The point is, lovelessness can happen in a church that has good doctrine.

10:50And Christ is not going to allow his people to be characterized by lovelessness. But then there are those who are going to overcome this challenge. There will be those who will not let a love for a necessary thing and a good thing, like orthodoxy, trump the main thing, which is Christ Himself. Listen, you can have orthodoxy. You can love orthodoxy without loving Christ. But you cannot love Christ without loving truth. Truth connects us to Christ. And so it is in this context that the one who is overcoming is the one who is overcoming this challenge to tire, to reduce Christianity to just cerebral checking the right boxes and articulating the right truths. No, it is those who do not tire of earnestly contending for biblical truth out of a fervent love for Christ, out of a fervent love for Christ. For his church and out of a fervent love for people in general. Sometimes proclaiming the truth hurts. But those who overcome this temptation to merely cerebralize truth are the ones who apply the truth to their own lives and they're not ashamed of that truth to declare it to somebody else, even though it may be painful. But it doesn't come from a heart that wants to reduce or belittle people, but from a heart that loves people, and truth is necessary to connect us to the God who is true.

12:35Let me tell you the reward for such. Revelation 2:7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. You see, those who care heaven is going to be characterized by those whose first love is Christ. They're going to love Christ. They're going to love God the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the manifestation of God in Christ.

13:12They are the ones who are going to eat from the tree of life. That's a statement. These are the ones that are going to go on forever. These are what heaven is going to be characterized by. You know, I love the South. I love Texas. And let me tell you one reason. I don't think it's just my imagination, but people seem to be friendlier in the South. I mean, there's some pockets around. I've been around the world, and I remember one time returning to New York from an overseas trip, and I was miscombobulated, and I was trying to figure out how to do this kiosk to get through customs. And this woman just yelled at me and said, Are you so stupid that you don't even know how to use that machine? And one of my boys was with me. I'm not being, I'm not stretching the truth or the tone. That was the greeting coming back to the United States. And sometimes, you know, you compare that with some of the arrivals in Houston, like, oh, Sugar, let me show you how to use that thing.

14:22You just call me Sugar. You know, that's there. You can tell a character of a city or a place just by the people. And I love the people. I feel like Texas is a very friendly place, and that goes across. I wouldn't realize that we have, quote, racial issues in this country if I didn't read the news or something. Because when I go around town, there is just a friendliness by everybody. I just, I don't sense there seems to be a very friendly friend. I know that's my little anecdotal world, but very, very friendly.

15:12Let me tell you what heaven's going to be like. You can tell what heaven's going to be like by the way the people are. And heaven is going to be characterized by those whose first love is Jesus Christ. Second. I'm trying to meter this out so we don't get, because I can stop right there, preach another 27 sermons. But second church, it's the church of Smyrna. You remember the church? I called this one the church of living martyrs. These were people that were on basically death row. They were going to be called at any moment to step in and die for their faith. Well, the challenges that the church will face, we can see from this church, is that the church is going to have its enemies. As the church carries out its commission that Christ has given it, the church is going to confront its enemies, going to meet with enemies. There will be synagogues of Satan throughout the church age. Synagogues of Satans. It happened to be here at Asia Minor. These were some who were so-called Jews.

16:23But these synagogues of Satans are going to be gathering places, schools of thought. Who oppose Christ viciously, and they're going to be scattered throughout. And they will raise all kinds of slanderous accusations against the church. And the reason they do this, their goal will be to make them criminals in the eyes of people and use the state to persecute them all the way to date, all the way to death. It happened in Jesus' day. It was those people that were gathered against Jesus, and what did they do? They manipulated the Roman government to bring them down, the Jewish government and the Roman government to bring him down. This is the same thing in Paul's day. This is the same thing in Church of Asia Minor. Very common, very common play in the satanic playbook. Slandered the church, accused them of being criminals, and bring the state upon them.

17:33Well, such a mode of suffering is going to be a reality until Christ returns. We have a devil who's a slanderer who wishes to destroy us, and this is a play out of his playbook. But then there are those who are going to overcome this challenge. They know that Christ knows who our enemies are. They know that Christ knows what they are up to. They know that. Also, that suffering is temporary. It comes to an end.

18:06And so, what they do is they are active in creating and nurturing routines of faithfulness. Routines of faithfulness at home, routines of faithfulness at church. And they live on call to die for the gospel every day in big ways and in small ways. And it's because they've learned how to die in the small ways that they are ready to die in the big ways. Those who overcome these challenges are the ones who've ceased fearing God's enemies and have begun truly trusting God, that there's a purpose. They know that before any trial ever comes, they know that Christ is there because he is the first.

18:55When it is over, we know that Christ will have the last word because he is the last. And he will be with us all the way through, even in death, even in physical death. Those who've grown accustomed to dying know that physical death is just one more way we die to self. And in there, we find victory. Just like we found victory in the cross all the way in little ways, we find victory in the cross in the big ways.

19:31Well, think about the reward for those who do. Look at Revelation 2:11. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. An expression, they will in no way be harmed by the second death. In no way. Not only them personally or relationally or in any other way, they will not be harmed by the second death. That eternal separation. That's not true about the enemies of Christ.

20:06They will be harmed by the second death. They will be permanently exposed. They will be permanently separated. They're going to be crowned with eternal life, those who overcome. So you get this glimpse also of in heaven. There is going to be no one hostile to God's people in heaven. So he's starting to get the character of heaven. The character Jesus is going to be the first love for eternity of all in heaven. And there's not going to be anyone in heaven who is hostile to God's people.

20:48Move on. Next, we come to Smyrna, the church of Smyrna. I'm sorry, the church of Pergamum. Church of Pergamum. Remember, I called this the church of endangered loyalty, endangered loyalty. This is the church that tolerated doctrinal defection, or they tolerated compromise. And so this puts their loyalty in danger. But this is a picture of what's going to happen and what we can expect in churches. There are going to be those personalities that will arise within the church, and they will seek to bring down God's people by enticing them to sin against God in order to bring God's curse upon them. You think about this. This is exactly what the serpent did in the Garden of Eden. You couldn't come against it, you can't bring Adam down unless you get Adam to sin against God and then get God to take Adam down. That was the game book. That was a play back then. That was what Balaam did. If you'll remember what's what Balaam did, how can I curse a people that are blessed by the Lord? There's only one way: get them to sin against God and get God to curse them. That's what you have to do. Satanic playbook. Very familiar, and it will happen on through the church age. The church is going to face the deception of those who relax biblical standards of marriage, who relax biblical standards of sexual relations. There are going to be those who are going to promote participating in the immoral. Entertainment scenes of pagan society. And many are going to get swept up in it. In fact, I would say young people today are totally getting caught up in this. These personalities rising up. Yeah, no, a little closer to the line. Yeah, relax, relax, relax. Listen, loyalty to Christ begins to erode when a church allows those who embrace compromising philosophies of its time a voice within its ranks. You know, when you give a voice within its ranks and say, yeah, you know, let's call it, yeah, you can get a little bit closer to the edge. Yeah, some of these people are just a little bit too far on the conservative side of this stuff. They're just legalists, and you hear all this, but you can get closer to the fact that this isn't sin at all. And when you allow those voices, a church, the loyalty to Christ begins to be in danger. But then there are those who overcome this challenge. They love doctrinal and biblical purity. And they don't elevate it to a place of lovelessness. No, they love biblical truth. They love what is orthodox and what is correct and what is straight.

23:52And they do so, they love it because they love the God of truth. And they do not underestimate the destructive power of doctrine. That promote fleshly indulgences or who okay fleshly indulgences. They're very much aware that religious syncretism is the way to bring God's anger upon church and upon oneself. These who overcome this challenge, they're not lethargic in their opposition, nor are they casual in their acceptance because they love truth. They do not allow those who mix truth and error a voice in their lives or in the lives of their church. They are jealous for loyalty to Christ.

24:46You know, it's easier to be quiet. And I think this is what was happening there at Pergamum. It's easier to just be quiet and say, well, I'm not going to go down that road, but I'm not going to raise a scene and make sure that this person doesn't get a voice. But look at the reward. The reward for those who overcome. Revelation 2:17. He who has an ear, let him hear. What the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone and a new name written on the stone, which No one knows but he who receives it. The manna speaks of that provision that keeps the resurrected body healthy for eternity. It also keeps the soul in union with God, whatever it is. It is an indication that God is going to preserve the resurrected body and in union with Him, keep it from dying forever. The stone, the stone speaks of rest. There is coming a time of rest from combat. Combat. The name speaks of eternal intimacy with Christ.

26:19Union forever. Body, soul, and God, rest from combat. No more contending for truth. Truth is embraced. Christ is loved supremely. There is no opposition. There is no more contention for the truth. This is what the character of heaven is. Listen, those who want to tolerate sin in their lives and excuse sin in their lives are not really going to like heaven anyway. Starting to get a character of heaven. Let's move on. Let's come to Thyatira. This is the church that I refer to as the church of compromised loyalty. Remember Bergamum, the church of endangered loyalty. They're allowing a voice that speaks to fleshly indulgence, or okays. Here in Thyatira, it's gone a step further. They've compromised loyalty. This is a church that not only tolerates compromise or tolerates doctrinal defection, but they celebrate the defection. They celebrate moral compromise. So through the church age, there's going to be those personalities who arise within the church who will pressure the church to not only tolerate, but celebrate fleshly indulgences.

27:53The fleshly indulgences embraced by the culture. And you know what? They're going to come up with a form of Christianity that allows it. That's going to be a challenge that the churches face. Such personalities prefer to change Christianity rather than changing their heart. So they'll come up with a form of Christianity that can celebrate the fleshly indulgences of the culture. This is the Jezebel spirit. This is the Jezebel persona. She with her. Self-appointed authority, controlling, immoral, seductive. She pays tributes to the gods and the goddesses of the workplace and society. She hates truth, syncretistic, blends worship of the false gods in with that of the true God with a view to promote immorality. She's very articulate, slanderer, deceiver, imposter, very influential, and she has absolutely no intention of repenting. That persona is going to be a challenge in the churches as they carry out their tasks. And she will lead many into high-handed sin against God through the avenue of celebrating moral compromise.

29:33Then there are those who overcome such challenges. They're not buying into the moral, immoral teachings of progressive thought that compromise loyalty to Christ. They hold fast to the Christ that the apostles proclaimed, and they possess a mental and spiritual confidence. In Him, in His words, in His message, in His ways. They're not ashamed of Christ. They hold on to the truth even when it's costly. They're the ones who overcome and help others overcome. They're the ones who continue doing the deeds in the spirit and disposition of Jesus Christ, not those who do the deeds in the spirit and disposition of Jezebel. And they continue and keep on doing them until the very end.

30:36Look at the reward for those who overcome. Revelation 2, I'm just beginning and reading in verse 26: He who overcomes and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

31:16Ruling authority, he gives them. There will be an authority and a glory in heaven. There will be no unions, small or large. Not even a whisper that defect or compromise who Christ is or his words. Heaven is going to be populated with those who break these kinds of unions, who don't buy into the unions, the anti-Christ unions, or the compromising spirit of their age. And they are going to be the glorious ones, the morning star. They are going to be prominent forever. That's the character of heaven.

32:06That's why I was saying those who celebrate moral compromise, if that's you, you're not going to like heaven anyway. Heaven's not for you. You must break with your love of moral compromise and embrace the truth of Scripture. Embrace the Christ of Scripture. Let the Spirit of God do a work in you. Welcome Him into your life so that He will give you a taste and a thirst for heaven. Soon we can, if you don't have a taste and thirst for heaven, you're not going to want to go there. It's all about Christ. It's about God. It's about Father, Son, Spirit manifested in Jesus Christ, the worship of Him, first love, no opposition. Absolute fidelity to him. That's heaven.

33:05Let's move on. Let's talk about lessons learned from Sardis. This is the church that I refer to as the church of spiritual deadness. But you can see a progression between churches 3, 4, and 5. There is a pergamum, there is an endangered loyalty. In Thyratyra, there's a compromised loyalty. And in Sardis, there's a dead loyalty. That's where it goes. When you allow a voice within the ranks of the church to espouse and to justify moral compromise, and then when you that will grow into a larger part that actually celebrates moral compromise, and the aftermath of all of that is spiritual deadness.

33:57You see, it's easy to become lethargic about the demands of following Christ in the midst of a secular culture. That's going to be the natural tendency. And why is that? Well, we want to be well thought of by our culture. We want to be well thought of by our peers. So what happens is we get to be slow to do, slow to say, or even think anything that would offend the spirit of our age. Now, listen, this characterizes so many of our young people today.

34:36We're afraid of the spirit of the age. And so we won't think or do anything that will offend the spirit of the age. And what that does is that causes us to cease being active about the things that we need to be active about. It causes us to stop saying the things that we should say and doing the things that we should do because we're so afraid of the spirit of our age. That's spiritual deadness. You see, it's the lack of doing the right things for the right reason that led to the spiritual death in Sardis.

35:12And they got there because they were afraid of the spirit of the age. They had not only allowed a voice in their ranks to tolerate, but they allowed a voice to celebrate. And then they end up in the aftermath of all of that. Listen, this paralyzes a person. When a spirit creeps into your life or into your church that causes you to stop doing the right things, spiritual death is sure to come. When you stop saying the things you should say, when you stop doing the things you should say, be sure that spiritual death is not far away. But then there are those who overcome this.

36:01Temptation. There are those who are not ashamed to be identified with Christ in a secular society. That's the only hope that I see on the horizon of this land. Is that there are young people, there are a growing number of young people, it seems like, that are not ashamed to be identified with Christ. That's the hope I see on the horizon. They overcome the temptations and the pressures to embrace a church philosophy that redefines Christ. They do not grow lethargic in spiritual output, but they are active in serving Christ. Spiritual output is very important. And that's people who overcome. They're active doing the deeds of Christ. Their spiritual output. They say the right things. They do the right things for the right reasons. They don't let the spirit of their age smash them down into silence and inactivity. They maintain spiritual output in the midst of it all. And I pray that that will be characterized, people of this church. Spiritual output, doing the right things for the right reasons.

37:27Well, look at the reward for those who. Overcome. Revelation 3:5. He who overcomes will be thus clothed in white garments. And I will not erase his name from the book of life. And I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. White garments. I'm going to showcase their fidelity forever. I'm going to showcase their service one day. Listen, you see something about the character of Christ, or character of heaven? It's not filled with people who are ashamed of Christ. Quite the contrary. Listen, if you are ashamed of him now, you're not going to like heaven.

38:23There is no one up there ashamed of Christ. They love him. They exalt him. Book of life. Heaven is a place of life, vibrant life, vibrant vitality, love toward Christ. And it will be that way forever. And Jesus, I love this. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. You know what he's saying? I will brag about them before. My Father and before His holy angels. Let me tell you about this one. Let me tell you about this one. This one was not ashamed of me, and I am not ashamed of him. Let me tell you, Christ will absolutely and gladly own them. He is not going to be ashamed of them in the presence of infinite holiness. He's going to brag about them in the place and in the positions of infinite holiness.

39:33Let's move on. Philadelphia mentioned called this is the church that Jesus cherishes. It's a church that Jesus cherishes. Nothing bad is said about this church. It's not a church who tolerates compromise, who celebrates compromise. And this made them probably a pretty small and unpopular church. Which brings us to the challenge that they will face. Another challenge. Little strength. This is the church of little strength, little ability, perhaps little capability. But this is a church that was very much acquainted with his smallness.

40:23From all outward appearances, this church was probably not very remarkable. And you look in verse. Verse 11, there is a command to hold fast, hold fast. But it provides us a little bit of insight into the struggle this church was facing. Jesus had to say, hold fast, stay to it, don't let go, don't give up, keep doing what you're doing. This church was tempted to let go or simply give up, perhaps because of their perceived insignificance.

41:07Are we really doing anything here? Are we doing any good? Have you ever heard that voice? If I disappeared from the scene, would it really even matter to anyone? The temptation is to look at your smallness and your insignificance and say, I'm done. No one will miss me. I think that's what this church is facing. But then there are those who overcome this temptation. They are the ones who endure patiently. Sometimes enduring patiently is one of the biggest challenges we can face. Give me something where the action's happening. Give me something. That's moving. Even if it involves difficult things, I want something that's moving and active. And sometimes God calls us to just patiently endure where we are, the situation we're in, and exalt His name in it. And sometimes that can be very hard. And there's a tendency to just say, I'm not much of anything, I quit.

42:23But these are those who maintain a right attitude toward Jesus' word and toward Jesus' name. No matter the degree of their smallness, they're not about themselves. They're not about their smallness. They're about the greatness of their God and King, Jesus Christ. And they continue to treasure Him. They treasure His words. They prize His name. And even though their world despises both, these are the ones that are saying, Where else can we go? You're the one who has the words of life. Well, look at the reward for these people.

43:07Revelation 3:10, Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon the earth. He's talking about chapter 6 through chapter 18, or maybe 8 through 18, however, you I will keep you from the hour of testing. Testing, that great tribulation. Why? They've already been tested. They've already endured patiently. Revelation 3:12, he goes on, He who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. Listen, for those Christ cherishes, he opens the door to eternal honor. He is going to vindicate before their enemies. He's going to have their enemies come down and bow down before them and say, I know now how much the Lord loves you.

44:17They are feeling small, and Jesus is saying, Look, there's going to come a time when everybody knows how much I love you. And it's going to be broadcast. Your enemies are going to, you're going to be vindicated. It's the character of heaven. There's going to be people that are going to be eternal VIPs in heaven, pillars in the temple, proximity to God, never to go out more. This is a depiction of prominence. They're going to be eternal VIPs in heaven.

44:58And Give him filled with people of prominently filled. These are the ones who are like, Look, let me tell you the character of heaven. These are the ones that, like, on earth are saying, Look, where else should we go? You're the one who has eternal life. I understand my circumstances are difficult, but look, where else am I going to go? I'm going to endure. Help me endure. Let me tell you something. When they get to heaven, they're going to have the same mode. I don't have a desire. Where else can I go? You're the king of kings, Lord of Lords, and being in your presence, the fullness of joy. This is the character of heaven.

45:41Same thing. Oh, let's look. Laodicea. Oops. I kind of lost Laodicea. There it is. I'm sorry. We'll just. There we go. Let's stay with that. Laodicea. There you're sorry. Well, this is the church that Jesus detests. We go from the church that he cherishes to the church that he detests. This speaks of a challenge that the churches are going to face. A profession without possession. Remember, their self-perception was that they are rich, become wealthy, in need of nothing, but their reality is that they're wretched, miserable, poor. Blind, naked. Their success had become merely that of outward show.

46:39This speaks about a temptation. You see, sometimes it's easier to measure wealth and outward show than true success. Sometimes it's easier to build a building than to make true disciples. And sometimes those who've mastered the the money flow and the ability to build, build, build can think to themselves, well, look at all of this. Therefore, we must be successful. The church at Laodicea, they had a higher esteem for monetary affluence than for Christ. And the reason this happens is because they had a low view of Christ. To have a high view of monetary affluence is really to have a low view of Christ. He is Creator God. He is the true and faithful witness. He is the first and the last. And there's nothing that can awaken you out of your lukewarm stupor than to have a high view of who Jesus is.

47:53Inevitably, you will downgrade Christ in your life if you have a low view. View of Him. But then there are those who overcome this temptation. They are the ones who recognize that the wretched condition is Christ on the outside of their lives, knocking on the door. They're the ones who open the door to Him. They are the ones who are dining with Him. They are the ones who bring Him in. They are the ones who are growing in resistance to earthly interests that reduce zest for Christ to lukewarmness.

48:36These are the ones who dine with Christ. They want Him in their lives. And they understand that the purpose of the churches, the seven lamps, they understand that Jesus walks among them, and the purpose of these churches is to light the communities in which they are in with the light of Christ. And they understand that. And they are overcoming all these obstacles to an unhindered fellowship with Christ. And they do so by, first of all, accepting God's purpose for their lives. They follow the way of the cross and they rely upon his power. They're the ones who are overcoming and will continue to overcome throughout the church age.

49:28Look at the reward for those. Who do? Revelation 3:21, He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne. You see, He wants to share His glory with His people. He emptied Himself for the purpose of raising His people up to the heights of His throne. And so in heaven is going to be heaven is going to be filled with those who rule with Christ, who reign with Him.

50:12Well, I know our time's getting away. So, what can we expect about life in the church age? Well, there's going to be a lot of challenges. Challenges that churches are going to face corporately and that we're going to face individually. We're going to be tempted to lose our first love. We're going to be tempted to be afraid of suffering. We're going to be tempted to tolerate doctrinal defection. We're going to be tempted to celebrate moral compromise. We're going to be tempted to succumb into a spiritual dead lethargy. We're going to be tempted to give up our witness simply because of our smallness. Ineffectiveness, we are going to be tempted to drift into a lukewarm spiritual state. Well, all of those the church faced in the first century.

51:16But then, as we look to heaven, this church age is going to end. Jesus will be everyone's first love. No one will be hostile to God's people. There will be rest from spiritual combat. There will be victory over anything and everything that sets itself up against Christ. There will be life. So, when you pray, Lord, on earth as it is in heaven, when you come before him, say to him, Lord, I want this to be true of me now.

51:54This is your will. I see the character of heaven. I see the first love. I see the glory. I see the honor. I want all of that in my life now. And whatever circumstance you have me go through, I want that to be true of my current circumstances. I welcome your dominion. Come, I welcome your kingdom as earth as it is in heaven. This is who I'm going to be one day. I would like for it to be showing up now in my day-to-day.

52:24So, here are the challenges of the church age. Here's what he wants. us to be like. Here's what heaven is going to be like one day. And so in the midst of it all, what is the Spirit saying to the churches? Overcome. Because that's who you are. Overcome. 1 John 5, 4. Whoever is born of God overcomes the world. Want to see who you are? This is who you are if you are in Christ. This is what the Spirit who can speak and say, let there be light, and it is. This is what the Spirit of God has spoken, and this is what he is doing. So you go overcome. Because this is who you are in Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you, recognizing these incredible truths that we have before us, that you would take the time to write, to personally address these churches, and by so doing, speak to all the churches through all time, giving us an understanding of the major issues that we will be facing and the way to overcome them. And a glorious picture of what's ahead and what heaven is like.

53:49Thank you, Lord. And Father, I pray this morning that you would cause through this proclamation of the word this morning and us meditating and thinking through these things. That you would plant these truths deep within our hearts, Father, that they would reap the desired outcome, forming us into the image of your Son. Father, and if there's anyone here this morning that does not know you, this is the invitation that they are personally getting from you to open the door and to let you into their lives. Father, we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.