A warning against being luke warm

Text Revelation 3:14-22 Time 01/08/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We are looking at the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2 and 3. So far we have looked at six letters – those to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia. This evening I want us to look at the last of the churches – Laodicea.

We've done ESP-TSP- now it's just L. We've looked at Mixed, Praised, Mixed/Mixed/Mixed more Blame and Mixed mostly Praise. Now it is Blamed.

With Laodicea we have a loud blast against complacency and a call to wholehearted recommitment.

Once again we will look at the description of the church and consider ourselves as a church and as individuals in the light of it. Verse 14 says To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

Laodicea was the leading city of the region of Phrygia, about 40 miles south east of Philadelphia. It is almost due east of the first church Ephesus by about 90 miles. Situated where 3 important highways met Laodicea was in an ideal place commercially and became a rich commercial and financial centre. So wealthy was it that when it was damaged in an earthquake the citizens declined to receive aid from the Emperor’s coffers. Interestingly, its water was piped in from hot springs about six miles away. By the time it reached Laodicea it was luke warm. Also a famous medical school grew up not far away. It developed an eye medicine called Phrygian powder which brought fame to Laodicea. Again it was in a valley, the Lycus Valley. Just to the north was Hierapolis, where there was also a church and just 10 miles away was the church in Colosse. In Paul's letter to the Colossians he urges them to read his letter to Laodicea. That could be what we call the letter to the Ephesians, Paul having written the same letter to both churches. Paul had never been to Colosse or Laodicea. The church in Laodicea was founded by a man called Epaphras. Perhaps he founded the church in Laodicea too.

Clearly the church was in bad way by this time. It wasn't necessarily due to heresy as such or persecution but they had fallen asleep on the job there in Laodicea and they needed this very stern letter to wake them up. Perhaps we need something like that too. Let's hope not. So we say a number of things growing out of what is in this letter to ourselves as individuals and as a church.

1. Consider the character of Christ and the fact these are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness and ruler of God's creation

For the final time we have these words These are the words of .... This time it is These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. This again mostly taken from Chapter 1. Amen is, of course, a Hebrew word. It means “it is”. We are familiar with it ax the word we use at the end of our prayers or the prayers of others, meaning “it is so” or “I agree”. It is the word Jesus would often use to introduce something important that he was saying. We often translate “Truly, truly”. He is the one then who is true. That is what makes him a faithful and true witness. He is also the ruler over God's creation, the one through whom all was created and the one who sustains it all.

In Laodicea they had rather forgotten all this and they needed to be reminded. Perhaps we too need such a reminder.

2. Consider his word of condemnation for a luke warm church

In verse 15 we get that famous statement I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! Throughout the letter we get these statements – I know, I know. Whatever the state of a church it is something known to the Lord, whether it is something good or something bad. Here it is something bad. The church in Laodicea is described as being neither cold nor hot. The expression is sometimes misunderstood because we tend to think of being hot – being on fire for Christ – as something good and being cold as something bad. You could think that Jesus was saying better cold then luke warm. If you can't be on fire, do nothing. In fact the idea is of refreshment. On a hot day you want something cold to cool you down. On a cold day you want something hot to warm you up. What is never refreshing is something tepid or luke warm. Have you ever left a cup of tea too long. You go to taste it and it is tepid. Yuk! Or think of putting on the tap to get cold water and only getting tepid water. I remember as a boy making that mistake – going to the gym on hot day expecting cold water and only getting warm. Yuk!

What Christ wants is that we should refresh him. There are different ways to do that but somehow we must refresh him by the way we live.

A surely apocryphal story is told that in the days when Soviet Russia was under organised persecution there was an occasion when secret police turned up at a meeting and said ‘Okay anyone who is not really all out for Christ can go, the rest must stay’. No-one moved. ‘Good’ was the response ‘We are not secret police actually but fellow believers. We wanted to be sure there were no compromisers present.’ How would that work out here? Certainly when Israel went out to war anyone who felt afraid was actually encouraged to go home and not come – he may discourage others. Here the sentence has not been passed yet. There is time to change.

3. Consider his word of warning for a luke warm church

Once we get the picture correct in our head verse 16 makes sense So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth. That was the problem in Laodicea – not hot, not cold either, just tepid, luke warm. Just as a person getting a mouthful of tepid tea is likely to spit it out or someone after an ice cold cola will spit out the luke warm stuff, so Christ says he will react against such tepid believers by rejecting and ejecting them. They will have to go. He cannot stand such people. What a warning! Be hot, be cold, but somehow refresh the Lord. Otherwise, you cannot expect to draw near to the Lord.

4. Consider how it is possible to be self-deceived about your true state

How did they get to be so luke warm in Laodicea? It was a problem of not realising just how bad things really were. In their ignorance they had completely misread the situation. Verse 17 You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. That was how they felt about themselves. In fact they were totally misreading the situation. Christ says But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Their situation was the very opposite of what they thought it was.

I remember haring a comedian say once that he had heard that to be popular with girls it was important to smile. So he went out smiling at every girl he met. It was only when he came home and looked in the mirror he realised he had a piece of dark green cabbage stuck on his teeth! We can all identify with such faux pas. But what about a man who is sure his job is safe and so organises his holiday and starts buying a car, etc, when the company intend to make him redundant at the end of next year? What about someone who is convinced all is well with him when in fact he has cancer and has only months to live? Like these men Laodicea had completely misread the situation.

They did not realise that they were

Wretched, pitiful – They were to be pitied rather than envied. They were sad and miserable not happy and glad. They were the opposite of Smyrna. The poor Smyrnans were told that despite their poverty they were in fact rich. The Laodiceans who thought themselves rich are in fact:

Poor. They had nothing at all to give. They were hardly able to keep themselves alive. Far from being the well taught Christians they thought they were they were paupers! There are many today like that. In some ways very rich but poverty stricken in truth – no comfort to share, no inward strength, no spiritual power.

Blind. They were blind. What ignorance there was. For all their claims to discernment they could not even diagnose their own parlous spiritual condition. Even the most intelligent in Laodicea knew so very little of what really counts. Again, how common that is – spiritual myopia, spiritual blindness.

Naked. Finally, they were naked. There was nothing to cover their exposed sin. They thought all was well between them and God but it was not.

Now the obvious thing not to do here is to say ‘Well, I’m glad I’m not like that’. Can’t we see the danger? We pride ourselves on our knowledge, our discernment, our strong sense of assurance – but are we fooling ourselves? Are we in fact wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked? Remember the Pharisee who (Luke 18:11, 12) stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. Rather let’s be like the tax collector who beat his breast and cried to God for mercy.

5. Consider what those who have fooled themselves need to do to get right with Christ

If we examine ourselves and we find that, even if only in a small measure, there is something wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked about us what should we do? The Laodiceans are left in no doubt. Three things come out.

1. Go to Jesus for spiritual resources. Verse 18 I counsel you to buy from me … says Jesus. Three things follow. These are to deal with the spiritual poverty, nakedness and blindness that have already been identified.

1 Gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich. Some people talk about the riches of this particular tradition or that but real spiritual riches are found only Christ. Go to him. The gold he has is gold refined in the fires of his life of suffering and his death on the cross. There is none like it. Throw aside the gaudy baubles and imitation smack this world has to offer and find genuine treasure – knowledge, faith, hope, love – in and through Christ.

2 White clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness. All sorts of attempts are made to cover up man’s shameful nakedness but none of it works. It is Christ’s provision alone that cover us adequately. Laodicea was famous for its black wool and the garments made from it but what the Laodiceans was to be dressed in white, the white of holiness. Christ alone can provide such garments.

3 Salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see. As we mentioned the famous medical school near Laodicea had come up with Phrygian powder a great eye salve. Christ here calls on these Laodiceans to buy eye slave from him to enlighten them and clear their clouded vision. All who are outside Christ are spiritually blind. Those who come to him have their eyes opened to see their own sin and the righteousness that he alone can provide. You may wonder why it says I counsel you to buy. It is true that we cannot earn salvation but there is a sense in which it does cost. We need to give up on ourselves. We need to humble ourselves, recognising that by nature we are poor, naked and blind.
Have you done it? Do so now.

2. Be earnest and repent

Although this is a stinging rebuke for the church in Laodicea the Lord Jesus does not want to discourage them. He tenderly points out (19) Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. These words of rebuke and discipline grow out of his love for the Laodiceans. I punish my children from time to time not because I do not like them but because I love them. So with Christ and his people.

The proper way to react to rebuke and discipline is to repent. So be earnest, and repent. Waste not time but immediately turn from your sins. Don’t be half-heated about this, earnestly repent. That is the only proper response.

3. Open the door of your heart to Jesus

Then in verse 20 come those famous words Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Now these words have so often been used to speak to unbelievers that it is easy to forget that they were first addressed to professing believers. The actual picture here is of the Laodiceans gathered together at one of their meetings. All are present and as they look round at one another they are contented with themselves – they are quite contented. ‘Well’ they think ‘we’ve got things going pretty well here – good numbers, good singing, good preaching, plenty of amens.’ But then there is he sound of knocking at the door. Who can it be? Who has been left outside? ‘It is me!’ says Jesus. It was the same when the people went home. Oh how good it all was - they thought. But at the doors of their homes and their workshops this knocking keeps coming. It is Jesus saying ‘Let me in’. Can they hear him? Can you hear Jesus speaking to you today? If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, he says I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Oh what a feast there will be! All you have to do is just open the door.

Has the Lord Jesus been pushed out of your life? He is on the outside trying to get in? Open the door! Hear his voice today here in the Scriptures.

‘Behold me standing at the door, And hear me pleading evermore,

With gentle voice; O heart of sin, May I come in, may I come in?’ (Fanny Crosby)

6. Consider the promise here for those who overcome and the call to hear the Spirit

Finally as with the other letters there is a promise and a repeated command for overcomers – for those who take heed to what is said and repent.

1. The promise. John has already spoken of believers as those who have been made to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father (1:6) and in 2:26 the promise to the overcomer is authority over the nations. Here we read To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. The Laodiceans though they were rich but they were not. It is those who truly know Christ who have real riches. They share with Christ in his coming reign over the Kingdom of God. In one sense Christ already reigns and his saints with him but the final consummation is to come. We are still in the midst of mopping up operations following the great victory of the cross. Other New Testament verses teach the same thing.

Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with him. What a glorious future lays ahead for the persevering believer!

2. The command. Finally, do not miss that concluding command. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If you have understood anything of what has been said this morning it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Now listen to the Word and do what it says – repent from any tendency at all to complacency, to lukewarmness, to self-sufficiency. Look entirely to Christ, trust in him alone and know his abundant blessing.

A call to hold on

Text Revelation 3:1-6 Time 25/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

There's an old Frankie Valli song. In it the singer is trying to persuade his girl friend not to give up on their relationship. He sings

“Let's hang on to what we've got Don't let go girl we've got a lot Got a lot of love between us Hang on hang on hang on To what we've got”.

There's another old song by Wilson Phillips that says

“Don't you know things can change Things'll go your way If you hold on for one more day Can you hold on for one more day Things'll go your way Hold on for one more day.”

Today's sermon is about something similar – the need to hang on, to hold on.

We are looking at the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2 and 3. So far we have looked at five letters – those to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis. Today I want us to look at Philadelphia and Laodicea, Philadelphia this morning.

We've done ESP-TS now it's P-L. We've looked at Mixed, Praised, Mixed/Mixed/Mixed more Blame,. Now it is Mixed more Praise and Blamed.

Once again we will look at the description of the church and consider ourselves as a church and as individuals in the light of it.

The name Philadelphia we associate best with the place in Pennsylvania, USA, but the original is about 28 miles south of Sardis in that same area of western Asia Minor (today Turkey) where the other six churches are found. The name means “brotherly love” and comes from the name of the city founder, Attalus Philadelphus. It has now been swallowed up by a larger town. Like Sardis it was in Lydia and very fertile. On the banks of a little river, it was dominated by Mount Timolus. It was in an area of volcanoes and earthquakes. Tremors were frequent.

Once again we do not know how the church began but it is clear that at this stage it was flourishing despite persecution. In a letter full of striking images, Christ is able to give the church almost unmixed praise. So To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write.

1. Consider the character of Christ and the fact these are the words of him who is holy and true and who holds the key of David

As is the pattern, we begin yet again with the phrase These are the words of him and this time it is him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. He adds What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

1. Holy and true. First then he is holy and true. These are terms, of course, that apply only to God. The Christ is God come as a man. Part of his being God is that he is separate, other. He is not like us. Another part is that he is wholly true.

2. Sovereign. He also holds the key of David. This takes us back to the prophecy in Isaiah 22:22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. It applies initially to Hezekiah's servant Eliakim but also to Messiah. Christ is ultimately the ruler over God's house and he is free to come and go as he wishes. He has the key.

It is this reference that means this church is sometimes referred to as the Church of the Open Door. What is an open door? An open door is a way of describing an opportunity. Here the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ asserts his authority in this area. He opens or he shuts the door of opportunity as he chooses. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. He is the one, then who gives opportunities to God's people to know him and to serve him and to get glory to his name. When he chooses that such an opportunity will come then nothing can stop it. It is part of his rule over history.

2. Consider the blessing that this church has known in the past and how it is commended

So here is a church that has known blessings in the past. There have been great opportunities and there has been great faithfulness. What an example they are to us in that. I know your deeds says Jesus just as he has said to other churches – and clearly here they are good deeds that are known. Are we doing good deeds? As we have said, we are saved by faith but true faith is never alone and always leads to good deeds.

Here are some other good questions for us too.

1. Are we aware of the opportunities we have, thankful for them and using them?

Verse 8 reads I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. How were they able to do the good they did? Only because Christ had given them the opportunity to do good. Paul says in Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. To do good we must first have the opportunity to do good and that is entirely from Christ. The church in Philadelphia had been given lots of opportunities to do good and they had taken them. As ever, we don't know the background detail but they did have opportunities there.

The same sort of attitude should take hold of us. Although some of the opportunities that we knew in the past are not still here there are still many opportunities for us and we must be thankful for them and take them. Yes, it is not the way it once was when most parents were still together and they were at least willing to send their children to Sunday School and when most people were free all day on Sunday. No, often families are now split and they are busy on Sundays. However, we are still free to tell people about Jesus, to give out tracts on the street and invite people in. Let's be thankful that door is still open and let's make use of it while we can. The Lord may not keep it open for us much longer.

2. Are we being faithful despite our weakness?

The second I know regards their perseverance – their willingness to be faithful despite their weakness. I know says Jesus that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Again, we don't know the nature of their weakness - whether they were a small fellowship or one lacking in many gifts or something else. Weakness is something we know but, however. Now like the church in Philadelphia we must resist any temptation to excuse ourselves because we are weak. Rather, like the Philadelphians, we must be determined to keep Christ's word and determined to refuse to deny his name, however much we are persecuted. Is that our attitude? Are we determined through him to stay exclusively with the one who is holy and true? Are we willing to persevere in his word and in his name? That is how it must be.

3. Consider the promise of future blessing that is given to them here

To encourage these godly believers to press on there are, as with the other churches, promises for them to take hold of. These are quite specific promises but ones that we can also to some extent take hold of and act upon.

1. The promise of vindication

In verse 9 Christ says I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars - I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. As elsewhere, a lot of the opposition to the believers in Philadelphia was coming from the Jews of the city. The same phrase used to describe the Jews in Smyrna (see 2:9) is used here to describe the ones in Philadelphia - a synagogue of Satan. They claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars. The risen Christ has something to say about people like this. I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. It's quite a note to strike but it is something we always need to remember when we are under attack from persecutors – there is a great change coming. It won't always happen in this life but it will happen at some point. Our enemies will one day come and humble themselves before us and acknowledge that they were wrong and that Christ did love us all along. All the Muslims and Hindus and the Romanists and the atheists will all come one day and acknowledge the truth. “Yes” they will say “what we taught was not right. We were wrong. All along you were right and what you said was right and you always had the love of Jesus Christ.” Sometimes it does happen in this life.

2. The promise of protection

Then in verse 10 there is another promise Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. The promise is a reward for their obedience and their patient endurance. This is a very specific promise, of course, but it reminds us again that we are entirely in the hands of Christ who holds the key. At this very time we are being very much kept from the hour of trial that is presently on much of the world that is testing those who live on the earth. It is not like it is here in China or Burma or North Korea or parts of Indonesia or the Philippines or Pakistan of Israel. We must recognise Christ's protection over us and continue to obey him and endure and work patiently.

4. Consider the further promise and the word of instruction that is also found here

In verse 11 there is another promise and a word of instruction with it. Jesus says I am coming soon. Yes, one day he is coming again. It is nearer now than it has ever been. A verse like this does not refer only to that final coming but also to the way he comes to his people in special ways before that time too. At times there are delays, sometimes long delays, and our patience is tested. This is true in our lives as individuals and as churches. We are in a time now when it is as if Christ is away from us. We are not knowing his nearness as others have done in the past. At such times we need to take note of this word of instruction here – Hold on! Hold on to what you have. Why? So that no one will take your crown. There is always the danger of slipping away and losing the crown. We must not allow that to happen. Have you ever watched a game of rugby where Wales or whoever is playing against England or whoever you want to win are pressing towards the line and are about to score a try but then the ball slips out of the man's hands? For some reason he can't hold on to it. If only he could have held on it was a certain try. Well, in a similar way we need to hold on to what we have. Yes, we are not knowing Christ's nearness as we wish. Yes, the opportunities seem to be narrowing rather than broadening. However, we must continue to hold on to what we have. We must hold on to the Bible and its message, to the privileges that are ours in Christ, to the Holy Spirit. Don't let go!

5. Consider the promises here for those who overcome and the call to hear the Spirit

So we need to overcome, this time especially in the sense of enduring and being obedient and patient. The promises this time to Him who overcomes are twofold. Jesus says of the one who overcomes

1. He will be a permanent pillar in God's Temple

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. As ever, this is a reference to heaven, to the everlasting Temple of God and to a permanent place in that temple. Of course, even now those who are faithful are part of the temple, indeed they are integral to it. They sound the praise of God – not just when they gather together but as they go abut their daily tasks.

2. Christ will write on him God's name, Heaven's name and his own name

The second promise is I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. So three names are written by Christ - the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, ... and ... the new name of Christ himself. You write your name on something that belongs to you. In a few weeks a new school term will start and so mothers up and down the country will be busy putting their children's names on all their clothing and equipment. If you ever see any of the Toy Story films you will notice that the character Buzz Light year has the name ANDY written on the sole of his right boot – because he belongs to Andy. The believers in Philadelphia are promised that all who continue in the right direction will have God's name on them and heaven's name (for that is where they are headed) and the name of Christ too, for he is their Saviour. Like those sticks of rock that have Brighton written all the way through so the name of God and heaven and Christ is on the overcomer, the true Christian who, having put his hand to the plough, does not turn back but keeps on going in Christ's own strength. What a call then, what an encouragement to hold on to what we have and not to let it go.

3. A final call to hear

Finally in verse 13 there is that repeated command He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. We say again -

You have heard. What are you going to do about it? The call is to hold on to what you have. The promise is of a permanent place in God's Temple, of being in God and in Christ and in the New Jerusalem. Don't lose such a crown. Be patient. Endure. Be obedient. Press on in Christ. Hold on to what you've got.

Strengthen what remains

Text Revelation 3:1-6 Time 25/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We are looking at the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2 and 3. We have looked so far at the first four letters – those to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and then this morning at Thyatira. That leaves Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. We've done ESP-T but now it's SP-L. We've looked at Mixed, Praised, Mixed and Mixed. That leaves Mixed more Blame, Mixed more Praise and Blamed. Mixed more blamed is Sardis the church I want us to look at this evening. For Sardis it is mostly blame, though there is one note of encouragement unlike Laodicea, for whom Christ has nothing good to say. Once again we will look at the description of the church and consider ourselves as a church and as individuals in the light of it.

To the angel of the church in Sardis write: So Sardis - Sardis is 30 miles south east of Thyatira and 50 miles due east of Smyrna. At the foot of a mountain and in a fertile valley a number of roads converged on Sardis making it a busy centre for traffic and trade.

It had a distinguished history in that it was the capital of the old kingdom of Lydia and the home of the famous King Croesus renowned for his wealth. (You sometimes hear the phrase as rich as Croesus). This was until his defeat by Cyrus and the Persians around 547 BC. It was later conquered again by Alexander the Great and then fell on hard times reaching rock bottom in AD 17 when a terrible earthquake destroyed much of it. It was under the Romans by this point and the Emperor Tiberius exempted them from taxes for five years which helped towards recovery. We do not know how the church there was founded. One old writer says “Like the city itself, the church had belied its early promise. Its religious history, like its civil, belonged to the past.”

1. Consider the character of Christ and the fact he has at is command the Spirit and the minister in every church

As usual we begin with the phrase These are the words of and picking up from something mentioned back in Chapter 1. This time it is These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

1. The seven spirits of God or possibly the sevenfold Spirit of God refers to the Holy Spirit. See 1:4, 5a John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,and from Jesus Christ. Another old writer (Trench) explains the term seven this way - “he is regarded here not so much in his personal unity as in his manifold energies”. Seven, of course, is a number of completeness and no doubt ties in with there being seven churches too. He is active in them all. The message this sleepy and practically dead church needed to hear was about the life-giving Spirit who Jesus pours out on believers. As a modern writer puts it, he can refresh a stale church, he can a waken a sleepy church, he can strengthen a weak church, he can make a dead church come to life!

2. The seven stars. This is explained in 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. The stars are the ministers of the churches, who are, as it were, in Christ's other hand. Both the ministers and the Spirit himself are in Christ's hands. The great need is for the ministers to be filled with the Spirit. That was the great need certainly in Sardis. Whether things here are as bad as there or not, it is still the great need.

2. Consider his words of condemnation for a church that was fast asleep

1. Beware of having only a reputation for being alive

Jesus says again I know your and again it is I know your deeds; exactly the phrase he used about Thyatira which was so good. The context, though, shows that things were in a far less healthy state in Sardis than what they were in Thyatira. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. If you asked people about the church in Sardis most people would tell you what a good church it was. People were happy with it. If you went there on a Sunday you would not immediately think, Oh dear what a terrible church, how hopeless. No, you would think it was a good church, a sound church, perhaps even a loving and faithful church, one that had not lost its first love. However, that would be a mistake. And this is quite a disturbing thought. Some of us pride ourselves in knowing what a good church is. We have some experience and so even in just one service we feel we could gain a pretty good idea of whether a church was on the right track or not. In fact, you can be wrong.
It is like anything else, even the experts can get it wrong. You hear of these cases from time to time, sometimes quite tragically, where experts can make big mistakes because of unknown circumstances. Well, sometimes people who think they know what a good church is will tell you this is a good church and it will turn out not to be. There are churches that have a reputation for being alive – large congregations, big budget, lots of activity – but in fact are dead.

It is important that we as a church do not think our reputation with men is what matters – no what does Christ say? If he says we are dead then dead we are. To simply live for reputation si to be a hypocrite.

2. Be alert and strengthen what still remains and is incomplete

And so this church is told (2) Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. This church is half dead. It has fallen asleep. Its deeds are not complete in the sight of my God says Christ. We hear these days of failing schools and failing hospitals, well this was a failing church. In all the important areas it was falling below standard. As sleepiness, a deadness had descended and they were not doing anywhere near enough.

That can be the position of a church, of an individual. What about us? Are we falling asleep? Are we only half alive? Are we failing to live as Christians as we should? What a danger! Watch out!

If we are like that we need to wake up, we need to strengthen the little that remains and is about to die.  It is like the embers of a fire – they need to be fanned into flame again. We need to get going again.

3. Give yourselves to obedience and repentance

What should an individual or a church finding itself in that position do? The instructions are quite clear (3).

1 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard. The people in Sardis were forgetting the message they had received. They had moved on to other things. Other matters were taking up their time and energy. They needed to remember where they had come from, their roots. It is a little like the church in Ephesus that had forsaken its first love. We must not be backward looking people but at times it is good to ask ourselves the connection between where we are now and where we first started. It is so easy to veer off at a tangent. You only have to go slightly wrong at a certain point and within a while you can be way off target. We must not forget what is in the Bible – the basics there. Perhaps we can go further and say that what the people received was the Spirit and they needed to remember that - as we do – and live as temples of the Holy Spirit.

2 Obey it, and repent. They needed to begin to obey again – obey the Word, obey the Spirit who speaks in the Word. They need to turn round from the direction they were headed in and to get back to God and to doing his will. Back to basics – that was the need. They needed to stop living as they were and get back to how it had been in the past.

3. Consider the warning to this church of what will happen if they fail to wake up

But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. If they fail to do this then Christ is going to come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. This is ultimately a reference to Christ's Second Coming but Christ can come in the sense of coming in judgement before then. He can judge at any time and we need to keep that in mind. It is vital that the church wakes up.  Do you get the picture? Here is a man who has fallen asleep in the doorway of his home with the door wide open. At some point a thief is going to come and take from him all he owns. He needs to wake up! He dare not lay asleep any longer – or he will lose everything. Wake up! Get ready! That is the message, perhaps, that some of us need to hear more than any other.

4. Consider the brief word of commendation and promise that is given

Thankfully, things at Sardis are not utterly bleak, as Christ is able to add a commendation (4) Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. While everyone else was soiling their clothes rolling in the mud of sin and grubbying themselves in the dirt of the world, some were remaining pure and clean. Such people are given a promise, They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The promise appears to be for the world to come in particular.

If we are not prepared for heaven we will not enter heaven. Without holiness no-one will see the Lord. But if we keep ourselves pure then we will walk with the Lord in holiness and joy.

5. Consider the promises here for those who overcome and the call to hear the Spirit

Finally, again, following the previous pattern we have promises for the overcomer and a call to hear the Spirit.

1. The promises.

1 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. Again the focus is on the purity and the glory and joy of heaven. This is what awaits those who go on in the Lord.

2 I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. It was the practice of the Jewish cities to keep a list of every citizen’s name in a book. When that person died his name would be blotted out. Here Jesus speaks of The Book of life, mentioned several times in Revelation. The idea of blotting out a name is found more than once in the Old Testament. Overcomers live forever and so their names will never be blotted from that book. Rather, Jesus will acknowledge their names in heaven – before his Father and all the holy angels. Their names will be called. They will not be forgotten. They will be counted worthy through Christ.

When the roll is called up yonder will you be there?

2. The command

Finally in verse 6 there is that repeated command He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

You have heard. What are you going to do about it? Hypocrisy is a great sin. It is (literally) play acting. Christ knows the reality. Where we see any in ourselves our response must be to wake up, to strengthen what remains, to recall how we began and to begin to obey again wholeheartedly, to repent. What we all need to do if we seek to walk in white with Christ in the world to come.

It is a little depressing to think that a church can go so far wrong and not realise but the hope here is that all who sincerely repent and begin again to obey have hope.

An active but over tolerant church

Text Revelation 2:18-29 Time 25/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We have begun to look at the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2 and 3. We have looked so far at the first three letters – those to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum. That leaves Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. To remember the names try ESP-TSP-L or ESPecially Top SPeed Limit.

Most of the churches receive some praise and some blame, though Smyrna receives unmixed praise and Laodicea only condemnation. For Sardis it is more blame than condemnation and for Philadelphia more praise than blame. The order praise and blame wise is -

Mixed, Praised, Mixed/Mixed/Mixed more Blame, Mixed more Praise, Blamed

This morning I would like us to move on to the letter to the church in Thyatira found in Chapter 2 verses 18-29. To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

We travel another 40 miles south next to Thyatira, halfway between Pergamum and Sardis. The city seems to be the smallest, least significant and most obscure of the seven places represented. Someone has noted how interesting it is that the least important place gets the longest letter! Christ's perspective is not the same as ours.

Despite its obscurity Thyatira was quite a prosperous town. A lot of trade went on there and archaeologists have found a lot of evidence of various active trade guilds. It was, of course, Lydia's home town. She was converted in Philippi but may well have been involved in some way in the establishment of a church back in her home town of Thyatira.

Thyatira was not Smyrna but, as with Ephesus and Pergamum, on the whole the church was prospering but, as we shall see, had a particular outstanding problem that needed to be dealt with. Once again a consideration of what Christ writes to this particular church will help us to think through what the situation is here too and see how we are doing. So

1. Consider the character of Christ, his penetrating gaze and unstoppable progress

Once again we begin with a description of Christ drawn from what has already been said in Chapter 1. These are the words of the Son of God, it says whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. Later on the Lord says I am he who searches hearts and minds and no doubt that is what the idea of eyes like blazing fire is meant to convey. Feet like burnished bronze is more difficult to follow and commentators differ. Perhaps it is best to see it, however, as speaking of his unstoppable progress in doing his will, especially in dealing with sinners. It is quite a frightening phrase really and fits with I will cast her on a bed of suffering and I will strike her children dead and I will repay each of you according to your deeds and He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery.

There is comfort in the I knows of these chapters but it is also a challenge. The Son of God sees it all. He knows exactly what is going on. It is important that we never forget that. Not only does he see what is going on but he is able to take things forward at his own pace and he is able to test it all, as in a furnace – and not everything will survive! Such thoughts ought to fill our minds as we consider these things.

2. Consider a New Testament church with some good points. Are they seen in us too?

1. Are we performing good deeds?

The one whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze knows firstly all about the deeds of this particular church - I know your deeds he says in verse 19. Clearly these are good deeds and he knows about them. The obvious question for us is what about our good deeds as individuals and as a church? Undoubtedly we are justified by faith. However, real faith never remains alone. It always leads to good deeds. That's how it was with the believers in Thyatira and that's how it should be with us. Is it?

2. Are we showing love and faith?

In particular Christ commends the believers in Thyatira for their love and faith. It is like the church at Thessalonica, of which Paul said in his first letter (1:3) We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love. We might tend to put this pair that way round – faith then love - as it is faith that leads to love. However, no doubt in the church in Thyatira it was their love that stood out. Whereas the church in Ephesus was first and foremost a sound church and Pergamum was perhaps a faithful church, with the Christians in Thyatira it was their love that stood out. They were loving and kind to one another and it extended beyond themselves to outsiders too. It was love rooted in genuine faith in God. They really trusted in him.

Now there's a challenge for us. Are we characterised by that sort of loving attitude? Is our faith lading us to love and our love based on a true faith? This is how it should be.

3. Are we serving and persevering?

The missing element here, of course, is hope. Faith, love and hope. It is covered here though when Christ goes on to speak of their service and perseverance. We saw something similar last Wednesday when we were looking at the opening of Titus 2 where Titus is told to encourage the older men to be sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 is similar – speaking not only of your work produced by faith and your labour prompted by love but also of your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because the people in Thyatira were filled not only with love and faith but also hope they were people who served and who endured in their serving. That again is the sort of church we really want to see here – a loving, faithful, serving church that endures despite the obstacles and the difficulties that are bound to come.

4. Are we doing more than at first?

The fourth and final thing to notice here is that and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Clearly this was not just a church that was marked by love and faith and hope but a church that was really going forward. They were now doing more than they did at first. The phrase is a little cryptic because we do not know the background. It's implication is clear, however - they are going forward. They are not standing still or backsliding. Increasingly they were seizing opportunities to do good.

Here is the challenge for us then as a church and as individuals – to do more for Jesus. You come Sunday morning, how about Sunday evening and midweek? You spend time in prayer, how about spending some more time? You are helping with one aspect of church life, why not another?

3. Consider the flaw in this church. Are we guilty of a similar failing?

So lots of good things to say about Thyatira. However, it isn't all good news. In verse 20 we read Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. It appears that there was a woman in that church and she was having a really unhelpful influence there. She was enticing God's people into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. Her name wasn't Jezebel in fact, of course, but just as Jezebel had led Ahab into sin and been such an opponent to Elijah so this woman was causing similar problems in Thyatira. And yet the good people of the Thyatira church were doing nothing to stop it! You tolerate that woman Jezebel says the Lord. How on earth did that happen? It wouldn't have happened in Ephesus for sure! This can be the downside of being a loving church, I suppose. Sometimes we can be too tolerant of things that are in the end detrimental to the kingdom and leading people into sin. Clearly, on the one hand, we must be loving and kind to all sorts of people, yet on the other we cannot do anything that promotes evil.

I think there are lesser examples of this sort of thing happening right now. In New York there is a Reformed church pastored by a man called Tim Keller. One would question some things that Keller does but he is basically orthodox. Nevertheless they recently invited Bishop N T Wright to speak, even though he is the main proponent of a false view of justification. You may know the name of John Piper, an influential and popular Reformed pastor in America. He is involved with various conferences and for his next one has invited Rick Warren, the author of The purpose driven church to be one of the speakers. Warren promotes pragmatism and can be guilty of bending Scripture to suit his purpose. He has said “We let the unchurched needs determine our programs; the unchurched hang-ups determine our strategy; the unchurched culture determine our style; the unchurched population determine our goals.” No-one can really understand why Piper has done this but I would guess that with him, like Keller, it is the same sort of imbalance that existed in Thyatira, where love and faith and doing more are distorted so that they lead to unbiblical toleration of what is false.

4. Consider Christ's wrath against perverters of the gospel

In verses 21-23 we have a series of statements concerning Jezebel and her followers.

1. Consider his patience

He begins by saying (21) I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. This situation has been going on for some time now and it seems that all is well. That is not the case. We must always remember to consider things in the long term. God is very patient but his patience can run out if there is no change.

2. Consider his wrath

In verse 22, 23 he says So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. The references to a bed and to committing adultery with her and to her children are all graphic ways of picturing what was going on. This woman was encouraging idolatry and it involved sexual immorality. Punishment was going to follow for this – suffering, intense suffering, even death. This is the future unless there is repentance. Now again, we do not know the exact circumstances but clearly Christ had plans to exercise his wrath against this people in a very decisive manner and would do so if there was no repentance. We can say something similar today. It is very important indeed that we do not tolerate heresy or fall into it. Yes, we want to be loving and kind and it is very nice to be popular and liked but some things cannot be tolerated. We cannot condone heresy, things that are going to lead others into sin. It is a very difficult line to tread.

We have in our hymn books hymns by Stuart Townend and Graham Kendrick. I feel slightly uneasy about it because some of the things these men promote are quite wrong. It could give quite the wrong impression, as if we think the Charismatic movement is a good thing. We certainly must take great care not to tolerate what is false.

3. Consider his purposes

Don't miss the purpose of all this Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. It is the exaltation of Christ that is the end in view and when we look at it like that then being intolerant where we should becomes an obvious must. We cannot play around with these things.

5. Consider this call to hold on to what we have until Christ comes

Next, in verses 24 and 25 we read Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come. Although there was a group in Thyatira that had clearly gone for Satan's so-called deep secrets the rest had refused to do that. The guilty have now been given a clear warning. As for the rest, they must hold on to what they have until Christ comes. It is interesting how this is put. Christ says (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come. Sometimes there can be an over-reaction when we get into these sorts of issues. We can start coming up with man-made rules to keep us on the right track. The Pharisees were notorious for laying burdens on the people that were eventually impossible to lift. We must not go to extremes and become intolerant of anyone who does not agree with us on everything. Rather, we must hold on to what we have – the faithful record here in the Bible – until Jesus Christ comes again.

6. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcome

Finally there are in verses 26-29 the words To him who overcomes which is defined here as doing Christ's will to the end – going on then in the faith.

The pattern is different to what we have had before in that the phrase (29) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches now starts to come at the end of the section not at the beginning. It is there to remind us that the Spirit of Christ gives these words and they are for all who hear and understand.

There are two promises. To the one who overcomes Christ says

1. I will give authority over the nations - He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery - just as I have received authority from my Father. The quotation is adapted from Psalm 2 and refers to Messiah's future triumph. Here the point is made that just as Christ has received authority from his Father so he gives authority to believers over the nations. How do they exercise this authority? On earth it is limited but when we bring the gospel to people and they are admitted to our churches or when we discipline those who appear not to be believers we are exercising authority. One day, as Paul reminds us, we will share in Christ's judgement at the end of the world too. Such a fact reminds us that we cannot remain neutral but must exercise our authority and make judgements. We must say, I will use a hymn book with the hymns of Stuart Townend and Graham Kendrick but they are errant brothers and we will not sing their songs or condone their teaching if it is false. We will read John Piper books but we will be very careful and distance ourselves from some of his statements and decisions. As for outright heretics like the health and wealth gospellers and the Roman Catholic church, while recognising that true believers may be caught up in these movements the teachers and the movements must be condemned uncompromisingly.

2. I will also give him the morning star. This is a little more difficult but in Revelation 22:16 Jesus himself is called the bright morning star. He is the star out of Jacob prophesied in Numbers. We are talking about having Jesus himself then to lead and guide us. If you have that then you have all. It is hard to show love and faith and hope and yet to avoid tolerating evil. How we must look to Christ always!

Being faithful and true

Text Revelation 2:12-17 Time 18/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

We have begun to look at the seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation 2 and 3. We have looked so far at the first two letters – those to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna. This evening I would like us to move on to the letter to the church in Pergamum, found in Chapter 2 verses 12-17.

As we have said Smyrna, the church we looked at this morning, is the only one that receives unmixed praise just as it is only the church in Laodicea that receives only condemnation. Pergamum, like Ephesus, receives a mixture of praise and blame.

Incidentally, if you want to remember the seven churches try – Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, try ESP-TSP-L or ESPecially TSPeed Limit.

The order praise and blame wise is -

Mixed, Praised, Mixed/Mixed/Mixed more Blame, Mixed more Praise, Blamed

So verse 12 - To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

Smyrna was 35 miles north of Ephesus and Pergamum (called Bergama today) is another 55 miles north again, still on the western end of what we know today a Turkey. Unlike the first two places it was not on the coast but 15 miles inland and a mile or two from the River Caicus. It has been described as “a strong centre for paganism” and had, we know, a massive altar dedicated to Zeus and a Temple to the goddess Athena. There were also places dedicated to Dionysius and Aesculapius, the so-called saviour god or God of healing. Indeed, Pergamum was the centre for the worship of this god. This led to a medical school being founded there and a regular influx of people seeking healing so that it was like a sort of Lourdes of its day. There was also the Emperor cult which thrived as much here as in Smyrna. Pergamum was a centre for the cult, from the time they had a temple dedicated to the Emperor Augustus – the first provincial temple to be built in honour of a living Emperor.

Once we know these things, it becomes clear why in the letter Christ says that this is where Satan has his throne and where Satan lives. Perhaps throne is a direct reference to the altar to Zeus. The letter is of particular interest to a church like this one, existing also, as it does, where Satan has his throne and where Satan lives. Here we find Hindu temples and Roman Catholic churches. The Neasden Temple was the first purpose built stone temple in Europe. Westminster Cathedral is the chief Roman Catholic building and the Brompton Oratory is world famous. All are filled with idols. Here we also find Sikh Temples and Mosques, as well as so called churches where Christ is actually denied and opposed.

I want to say six things arising from this letter.

1. Consider the character of Christ and the power of his Word

Once gain the letter begins These are the words of ... and again something is picked up from Chapter 1. This time it is These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. Back in 1:16 we read that out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. That may seem rather a strange picture but the Roman short sword was shape a little like the tongue. The reference is really to the power of the truth. Paul writes in Ephesians of the Word of God as the sword of the Spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says that the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Throughout the letter there is an emphasis on truth then and this opening statement reminds us of how central it is. What a powerful thing the truth is. As Jesus said (John 8), If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

2. Consider a New Testament church with some good points. Are they seen in us too?

Next we have that (13) I know where you live - where Satan has his throne. Yet says Jesus you remain true to my name. He says You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city - where Satan lives. This was the great quality of that church – they remained true to the name of Jesus, despite the opposition.

What Smyrna had tasted and was about to fully experience, they had already experienced and, for the most part, had proved faithful.

In Ephesus they loved the truth. They would not tolerate wicked men and they had tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and ... found them false. However, they had forsaken their first love. In Pergamum, however, they did not simply love the truth, it was Christ's name that they were true to. It was faith in him that they refused to renounce, even if it meant death as was the case for this man Antipas.

We don't know anything else about Antipas but we can imagine what happened. He was called upon to come before a stature of Caesar, to sprinkle incense and to say “Caesar is lord” but he would not say it. Jesus was his Lord not Caesar and although he was happy to give to Caesar what was Caesar's, he was also determined only to give to God what was God's.

What an example to us then is Antipas and these other Pergamumians. Despite all the opposition, they stuck to trusting in Jesus. They remained true to his name. They would not renounce that.

What about us? Is that central for us too? Is faith in Christ at the heart of our lives?

3. Consider the flaws in this church. Are we guilty of similar failings?

Despite these good things that Jesus could say, he has to add (14, 15) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

It would seem that the Nicolaitans are the same people as those who are also described as holding to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin although two different groups may be in mind. The Nicolaitans are mentioned back in verse 6 as a group whose practices the very orthodox Ephesians hated, as did Christ himself. We said then that we don't know anything about these Nicolaitans or who they were, although we can add that the word is probably symbolic as Nicolaitan can be taken to mean victory of the people or destroyer of the people. Balaam we read about in Numbers. He was some sort of prophet and the Moabites wanted him to curse Israel, which he failed to do only blessing them instead. He advised that the Israelites could be undermined nevertheless by sexual enticement, which is what happened. In John's day too there were false teachers who took a very liberal approach to the matters of idolatry and adultery and they were having an influence in Pergamum. Such people are around today.

The thing to note then is that even in a church like Pergamum, where the majority remained true to Christ's name and where people like Antipas would not renounce their faith in Christ yet there were others who held to false teaching. This false teaching involved not only false beliefs but involvement in idolatrous practices and sexual immorality of one sort or another.

The question for us is what about our attitude to such false teaching – are any of us being taken in by it. What great care we must take! If the devil is not rousing the opposition to persecute as in Smyrna then he is endeavouring to undermine Christ's cause with enticements to follow false doctrines. We must resist from wherever he attacks.

4. Consider what those guilty of such sins must do

As for what to do about such sins the message is very simple and straightforward, 16 Repent therefore! There is no other option. Full and immediate repentance – turning round from such sins completely. That must be the response. You cannot toy with false teaching and not get injured. If we have followed false teaching at all, we must repent. If we have taken idolatry or adultery lightly, we must repent.

5. Hear the warning for those who refuse to take such a step

If we do not repent what is threatened against Pergamum applies also to us Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. We are back to the the sword of Christ's mouth. If the people in Pergamum will not hold to the truth then the truth itself will, as it were, turn on them and they will suffer the consequences. To go over to false teaching is to set yourself up in opposition to Christ himself who is the truth. We must not do such a thing, even for a moment. Rather, we must be true to what is true – true to Christ himself, our Lord and Saviour. The gospel can save but it can also destroy – if it is rejected and not believed.

6. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcome

Finally, we have once again those words (17) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches the reminder that these are the words of God the Holy Spirit himself and that they are not only for the faithful in Pergamum but for all God's people – all who have an ear to hear what the Spirit says. The message is a little strange To him who overcomes, the one who goes on being true to Christ's name or if he fails to do so repents to that one Christ promises I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

We mentioned this morning that originally the ark of the covenant contained a pot of manna. Manna was hidden there. Manna is the bread that came down from heaven to feed the people while they were in the desert. It points ultimately to Christ, the true bread from heaven – the one who came down to this earth to feed us so that we would live forever. The promise is more of himself. That will happen in heaven. What we taste here on earth we will taste more deeply in heaven.

As for the white stone, commentators differ greatly. Given that such stones were used as tickets and that white stones were often sued with black stones to stand for yes and no when important decisions were made, I would guess this point sin one or another to gaining entrance – either a “yes” for “yes you can go into heaven” or a ticket guaranteeing entrance.

The new name written on it is no doubt the name of Christ. When a person is converted it is as if Christ's name is written on their heart so that they know him for themselves.

This is the freedom then that comes from knowing the truth and sticking to it. May we all know it now and forever.

A suffering church

Text Revelation 2:8-11 Time 18/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
We began to look last week at the seven churches of Revelation. As many of you know, these are the seven churches to whom the Book of Revelation was originally addressed. All seven were in what was then called Asia Minor, the part of the world that we know now as Turkey or Anatolia.
Revelation has quite a long introduction but it reveals that it was written down by the Apostle John. He tells us (1:9-11) that he was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. He was banished in exile there. He says that On the Lord's Day he was in the Spirit, and he heard behind him a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
The initial encounter is found in Revelation 1:12-19. John hears a voice first then he says I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man". He then describes the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, before whom he falls as though dead.
The whole book is 22 chapters long but in Chapters 2 and 3 we have the specific letters to the seven churches. The order is not immediately clear but a messenger carrying the messages from Patmos would travel 60 miles across the sea to get to the nearest of the churches – Ephesus (the one we looked at last week). If he stuck to the main road it would then be logical to travel north to Smyrna, the church we want to look at next.
Smyrna is the only church that receives totally unmixed praise just as it is only the church in Laodicea that receives only condemnation. The rest, like Ephesus, receive a mixture of praise and blame, Philadelphia being much more praised than blamed and Sardis being more blamed than praised.
Again, as we look at the suffering church Smyrna, we want to compare it with this church here and see how we measure up. So (8) we read To the angel of the church in Smyrna write.
Smyrna is know today as Izmir and is a large Turkish city. It is about 35 miles north of Ephesus, more or less due north. It was a splendid city and considered itself “the pride of Asia”. With a fine natural harbour and an excellent road into the interior it flourished economically and was “one of the most prosperous cities in Asia Minor” (R H Charles). The Apostle Paul may have planted the church as tradition suggests but we do not know anything from the Bible about its beginnings. The letter to the church at Smyrna follows the same pattern as the one to the church in Ephesus, beginning These are the words of him who is ... then an I know or two and ending with He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes ....

So
1. Consider the character of Christ and his eternity and power over death

Jesus begins These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. This description again draws on what has already been said back in the description of Jesus in Chapter 1. When John falls before him he puts his hand on him and says Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. That in itself echoes what God the Father says back in 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega. It is a reminder too of the amazing fact that though Jesus was crucified yet he also rose again on the third day.
The eternity of Christ is a particularly comforting doctrine when we come to the matter of suffering, as we do in this letter. Earthly suffering, even death itself, is in itself temporary and is to be distinguished from eternity, which is to come. The fact that Jesus died but then came to life again is also full of encouragement for all who belong to him. The one who overcame death can sustain us in suffering and even if we have to die for him then he can raise us up.
As we look at this mattering of suffering then, let's not forget who is speaking – it is the one who is the First and the Last, the one who who died but who came to life.
2. Consider a New Testament church and the troubles it knew

Are we prepared to suffer? The distinctive thing about the church at Smyrna was that it was a suffering church. We are not told in any detail why they suffered as they did but we can make an educated guess. We are familiar with the spectacle of cities competing to host the Olympic Games or the World Cup. Well, around about the year 25 many Asian cities were competing to see who would have the privilege of erecting a Temple to the Emperor Tiberius. In the end the privilege, if that is what it was, was given exclusively to Smyrna. This betrays a deep patriotism towards Rome and specifically to the Emperor and to the whole cult of Emperor worship as it had become by this time. We know that 200 years before they had had a Temple built to Roma, the supposed goddess of Rome.
Obviously that was not an easy climate for the Christians who came along some little while after this. When they were asked to offer incense to the genius of the Emperor, they refused such idolatry. How could they acknowledge Caesar as Lord when Christ was their only Lord? This didn't go down well with others. The Jews, of course, in the Roman Empire were exempt from such requirements and we can imagine that they did not make things easy for the Christians, especially Gentile Christians. The story of their opposition to the gospel is well documented and it is evident that they carried on in their usual way in Smyrna too.
We can pick out four sorts of trouble that had come or was going to come to the members of the church in Smyrna. In this church our sufferings are relatively non-existent and so it is hard for us to identify with such a church. We do know churches in different parts of the world that are facing these very same things at the present time, however. It ought to stir us to pray for them and serves also as a reminder of what may be around the corner for anyone of us who seek to serve the Lord today.
1. Christ knows when his people are poor

In verse 9 Jesus says I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! As we have said, Smyrna was a prosperous city. The Christians, however, were generally poor. This was partly, perhaps, because the membership was drawn mostly from the lower ranks of society. May be their generosity left some out of pocket. The coupling of poverty with afflictions suggests, however, that the problem was chiefly something that arose from persecution. Jews and pagans worked together to shut the Christian out economically. Further, their unwillingness to engage in the corrupt business practices of the day would have told against them financially too.
There are parts of the world today where Christians are in real economic poverty. Last Christmas The Barnabas Fund which exists particularly to help persecuted Christians, reported that in the previous 12 months they had provided food for over 85,000 Christians! Some of it was to support Christians in need where famine had struck, places like Burundi and Ethiopia. They also gave aid to help needy Christians who cannot afford to feed their families due to high prices (such as in Zimbabwe) or extreme poverty, as experienced in Pakistan, Egypt and the Middle East. But they also gave food parcels to vulnerable families who had fled their homes following anti-Christian violence, such as displaced Iraqi Christians in their own country now living as refugees in Jordan and Syria. Poverty is a way of life for some Christians. We should be thankful that is not our situation and we should pray for those for whom it is.
Christ knows when his people are poor. He sees.
2. Christ knows when his people are slandered

The letter goes on with Jesus saying I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. To slander someone is to say something that will damage their reputation. It could possibly be true but much more often it is not. We have mentioned the Jews in Smyrna and clearly they were having a very damaging effect on the Christians by what they were doing. Things are so bad that Jesus says they are not Jews really but a synagogue of Satan. The word Satan, of course, means slander and one of the things that he does is to slander believers before God and, if he can, in their own ears. He has been a liar from the beginning. As the Jews are doing Satan's work they are said to be a synagogue of Satan. The Jews blasphemed Jesus and now they were slandering his servants. When they hurled their insults at him, Peter tells us he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. Like him they no doubt did the same – as we must, if we are slandered.
There are parts of the world today where Christians are slandered. In 2008 in Zimbabwe "many" church ministers were beaten, arrested and falsely accused of organizing anti-government rallies. In Pakistan, yet again, a 40-year-old Christian, Gulshare Masih, and his 19-year-old daughter from Gojra near Faisalabad were taken into police custody after an enraged Muslim mob falsely accused them of desecrating the Qur’an. About 500 Muslims, including students from a local madrassa, gathered around Gulshare's house, throwing stones and bricks and breaking windows and the front door. Then they apparently decided to set fire to the whole Christian area so that no Christian would be left to desecrate the Qur’an.
In that same year a prominent Hindu leader was murdered in Orissa, India. Although Maoist extremists claimed responsibility, Christians got the blame, and subsequent protests rapidly escalated into horrific anti-Christian aggression. Christians there often fear that Hindu nationalists will stir up violence against them once again on the basis of a false accusation.
Some Christians are regularly slandered. We should be thankful that is not our situation and we should pray for those for whom it is.
Christ knows when his people are falsely accused. He knows the truth.
3.Christ knows when his people are in prison

Already the Christians in Smyrna had experienced suffering then – poverty and slander were common. However, things were about to get worse not better.
Jesus goes on (10) Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.
From the gospel's earliest days being put in prison has been part and parcel of being a Christian. That's what happened to John the Baptist and to Peter and to Paul and to others. So it continued after the New Testament period. It was what was about to happen to some of the Christians in Smyrna.
Now as Baptists we have a good tradition of this sort of thing. There is not only John Bunyan (1628-1688) who wrote Pilgrim's Progress in prison but others like Benjamin Keach (1640-1704). He is another who was imprisoned and was also pilloried in the stocks. In America Obadiah Holmes (1606-1682) was not only put in prison but mercilessly whipped for his faith. I noticed that a book came out in 2007 called No armor for the back: Baptist prison writings 1600s-1700s by Ketih Durso. Besides the more well known men, he deals with other forgotten men such as Francis Bampfield, Hercules Collins, Thomas Delaune, Thomas Grantham, Thomas Hardcastle, Abraham Cheare, Vavasor Powell and John Murton.
Some Christians, of course, are in prison today. Rev Wilson Issavi was released on bail on Sunday March 28 this year after being held in prison for 54 days in Iran. He was arrested on February 2, accused by the Iranian government of "converting Muslims". Others are in prison in North Korea and China and some of the former Soviet Republics. We should be thankful that is not our situation and we should pray for those for whom it is that God will keep them and soon release them. The writer to the Hebrews says (13:3) Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Christ knows when his people are likely to put in prison.
4. Christ knows when his people are at the point of death
Jesus goes on Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. This seems to be intimating that for some of them it will be worse again. Some of them will actually die.
Once again we have to recognise that although we feel no immediate danger of death here, down the years Christians have actually died for their faith and even today there are cases where people even lose their lives simply because they believe the things we teach here Sunday by Sunday. In the 1550s a man called John Foxe endeavoured to bring together a collection of stories of all the various deaths that had taken place up until his time. Even with his limited research there were hundreds. The first edition of Foxe's Book of Martyrs appeared in 1563 and was the largest publishing project undertaken in Britain up to that time. It went through many, many editions and became extremely popular.
As for today, let me give you just an example. This is from Iraq, from the northern city of Mosul, where, last February, anti-Christian violence resulted in the murder of eight Christians in the space of just 10 days. On Sunday March 14 Rayan Salem Elias was killed outside his home by armed assailants, and the next day a Christian greengrocer, Fatukhi Munir, was gunned down in his shop in a drive-by shooting. Then on Tuesday 16 two Christian students, Zia Toma (21) and Ramsin Shmael (22), were on their way to the local university when gunmen opened fire on them. Zia was killed and Ramsin wounded. They had already been displaced from their homes in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, by the instability there.
On Wednesday 17 Wissam George (20), another student, went missing on his way to the institute where he was studying to be a teacher. His body was found in the street that afternoon, riddled with bullets. On Friday 19 Sabah Yacob Dahan was found murdered, having been abducted from his shop five days earlier. And on Wednesday 24 Aiechoa Metoka and his two sons, Mukhlos and Basem, were killed in their home by three gunmen. They were the father and brothers of a prominent Christian leader, who was himself kidnapped (and later released) two years ago.
The Apostle Paul once said For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Christ knows when his children come home.
Are we prepared to suffer? Are we prepared to die? We should at least be willing.
3. Consider what a suffering church must do
With the warnings to the believers in Smyrna about what is about to come, Jesus has some words of encouragement and instruction for them too. In verse 10 he says Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer ... Be faithful, even to the point of death, .... You can imagine how the natural reaction to this letter in Smyrna would have been one of fear. If we were told the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days then we would certainly be tempted to fear. But no, Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer ... says Jesus. Rather concentrate on being faithful – even if it is to the point of death. That is all that is required of us. We simply need to look to him. You do sometimes wonder how martyrs could face death in the way they did. The answer is surely that they were simply looking to be faithful. They did not know for certain whether they would die for the stand they took. That is not the way they thought, though. It wasn't “What will happen if I do this?” but “I must be faithful to my Lord”. If we seek to be faithful, by God's grace all will be well.
4. Consider the comforts that a suffering church can be encouraged by

To encourage us to faithfulness, we must not miss the comforts that are strewn through this letter. We have already noted the opening words of Jesus - These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. We have also reminded ourselves that what ever we suffer Christ knows all about it - I know your afflictions and your poverty he says, I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not. If we are laughed at or mocked. If people say ludicrous things about our God and our religion and go apparently unrebuked, we need to remind ourselves that God knows.
Notice too how when he says I know your afflictions and your poverty he adds - yet you are rich! Whatever a Christian may miss out on in this life, he is still a child of God, he still has a glorious home in heaven. Christian, this morning, whatever you lack in this world's terms - you are rich! We have already read this morning Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Remember how Paul describes himself once (2 Corinthians 6:9, 10) dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. That is how we should seek to live.
Then what about that the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days? I don't think we should take the phrase 10 days literally, rather it means a short time (but not too short), a time that has already been set. It is important to remember that any period of persecution can only go on for as long as Christ allows it. He limits the length of time. Once the time of testing is over (and that is what it is) then the suffering will end. Even if a person suffered all his life it would still come to an end when Christ had decided it would. One reason why we panic in the face of suffering is that we feel everything is out of control. That is not the case.
Finally, remember that after we have suffered then comes glory. Be faithful, he says even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. We read about eating from the tree of life in verse 7. Here a different picture is used and it is the crown of life that is promised. The idea is now of the continuous glory that belongs to the faithful in heaven. What a prospect! We must keep it before us.
5. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcome

Finally, we have the call to hear as before (11) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. This message is from God's Spirit, not just for the church in Smyrna but for all who are able and willing to listen. He who overcomes it says will not be hurt at all by the second death. The second death is, of course, hell and it is everlasting. We tend to think often enough about the first death but nowhere near enough about the second death. We need not fear the first death if we are sure that we are safe from the second death. That can only be the case if we trust in Jesus Christ. We must.

Don't forsake your first love

Text Revelation 2:1-7 Time 11/07/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist ChurchI thought that over the next few weeks we could look at the seven churches of the Book of Revelation. As some of you know the Book of Revelation was addressed originally to seven churches in what was then called Asia Minor. That is the part of the world that we know now as Turkey or Anatolia. Revelation has quite a long introduction but it reveals that it was written down by the Apostle John. He tells us (1:9-11)
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.We don't know the details but John was exiled by the authorities to the little island of Patmos off the coast there in the Aegean Sea and it was there that he had this tremendous vision of the Lord Jesus. The initial encounter is found in Revelation 1:12-19. John hears a voice first then he says
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.There is much more, of course – enough to fill 22 chapters in our Bibles. Chapters 2 and 3 contain specific letters to the seven churches. The order is not immediately clear but a messenger carrying the message from Patmos would have to travel 60 miles across the sea to get to the nearest of these churches – Ephesus (the one mentioned first). If you stick to the main road it would then be logical to travel north to Smyrna and further north again to Pergamum before looping east to Thyatira, further south to Sardis and then on to Philadelphia and Laodicea. The archaeologist William Ramsay once wrote of “the great circular road that bound together the most populous, wealthy, and influential part of the Province, the west-central region”.
What we find with these churches is that only the church in Smyrna receives unmixed praise and only the church in Laodicea receives only condemnation. Philadelphia is more praised than blamed and the church in Sardis is more blamed than praised. The others have a mixture of praise and blame.
This week we want to look at the first church, Ephesus, and we want to compare it with this church here and see how we measure up.
Ephesus was at that time a port at the mouth of the River Cayster. It was not only the nearest church to where John was in exile but it was also the prosperous capital city of that region and a city that its citizens were very proud of. It was home to the great temple of Artemis or Diana as the Romans called her – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was also a church that John had close connections with. Although Paul had founded the church there (his letter to them is part of the New Testament) and Timothy had pastored there for many years (as is clear from Paul's letters to Timothy) it seems that John eventually worked there as Pastor. So let's consider what John is told to write (2:1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus. There are a number of things to note.
1. Consider the character of Christ and his presence among his peopleIn each case the letters begin with a description of Christ drawn from the initial description in Chapter 1. Here it is These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. This is mentioned back in Chapter 1 - I saw says John seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," ... In his right hand he held seven stars. The imagery is explained in 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.Jesus promised that where two or three come together in his name that he would be among them and to be with his disciples forever. Here the churches are pictured as being like lampstands from the temple – they give out light. Jesus is like a high priest walking among them. Angel means messenger and the angels of the churches are probably their ministers. They are in God's hands. This was true of the church in Ephesus then and it is true of every church including this one. When we meet together Christ is among us and the minister is in his hand. That is something worth remembering.
2. Consider a New Testament church with many good points. Are they seen in us too?
This Christ goes on to speak firstly of the good characteristics of the church in Ephesus. He mentions at least three things. We should be seeking to emulate such good traits.
1. Productive
First, Christ says (2) I know your deeds, your hard work. The church at Ephesus was a working church. It was active. Everybody did something. We do not have any details here of what they did but they did things and they worked hard at doing them. It was a hive of industry. This is what churches that please Christ are like. He doesn't want us to be lazy or inactive but to work hard and to do what we can to take the work forward.
Are you playing your part? There is praying to be done, children's work to be organised and led, evangelistic outreach to be involved in. There is cleaning and repairing to be done to the building, rubbish to be cleared and weeds to be dug up, papers to be dealt with, etc. We need a small army of workers to get it all done. In Ephesus that is how it was. What is it like here?
2.Persevering
Christ also draws attention to their perseverance. In verse 3 he says You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Perhaps you can imagine what being a Christian in Ephesus was like. There was plenty of opposition to the church. People worshipped pagan gods and engaged in all sorts of occult practices we know. This led to strong opposition at times we can be sure. Despite the opposition, however, these people still persevered and endured in the faith. We know a certain amount of opposition too and sometimes it must get us down but we need to press on despite it. When we hear Jesus say I know ... your perseverance, it should encourage us to keep going. Don't give up!
3.Pure
The other great thing about the church in Ephesus was its doctrinal purity. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, says Jesus and that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. In verse 6 he adds this - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. They were unwilling to tolerate those who practised wickedness. When people who were not apostles claimed to be apostles they tested their claims to see if they were true. We know nothing about the Nicolaitans but they were obviously a heretical group of the day whose teachings Jesus hated. The Ephesians were quite clear in their denunciation of this false teaching. They were determined to be orthodox and only to teach in the church what was true. Again the challenge is there for us. Isn't this what we should be aiming at? We cannot be indifferent to what is taught in the churches. We must seek to be orthodox and to conform to what is in Scripture.
So here is a church marked by productivity, perseverance and purity. What an example it is – an example we ought to follow.
3. Consider the one fatal flaw in this church. Is it something that we are guilty of too?
If the letter had ended there it would have been great but it could not end there for there was a problem in the church in Ephesus. In 2:4 we read Christ saying Yet I hold this against you. What is wrong? You have forsaken your first love. Whether this first love is human or divine is not spelled out but it would seem that it is their love for Christ that has been forsaken. The relationship between Christ and a church is to be like that between a groom and a Bride. We were at a wedding again yesterday in South Wales and I lost count of the number of times the groom told us he loved his bride. One of his best men made a joke about how John was willing to talk about Bethan ad nauseam. One hopes that he will continue to be as enthusiastic 40 years on. However, we know what married life is like. Sometimes you wonder if the husband really loves his wife at all, as he should. Something similar can happen in the relationship between Christ and a church or Christ and an individual for that matter. Certainly that is what had gone wrong in Ephesus.
Were they productive and hard working? They were.
Were they persevering – not giving up despite the trouble? They were.
Were they doctrinally pure, unwilling to tolerate any unsoundness? They were.
The problem was not a lack of productivity, perseverance or purity – the problem was the forsaking of their first love You notice it is forsake not lose as the misquotation often goes. This is not something that accidentally happens over night. No what happens is that the purity and the productivity become ends in themselves and the heart of the matter – love for Christ – is lost.
Is this us? Have we forsaken our first love? Are we like uncaring husbands or wives who have to say of their spouses – we're not in love with them any more? We must never forsake our first love. He must remain first and foremost. Nothing else must intrude.
4. Consider what those guilty of such a sin must doIn 2:5 Christ goes on to explain what must be done given that this problem exists in Ephesus. This time we can think in terms of two Rs.
1. Remember
The first thing is Remember the height from which you have fallen! We must not live in the past certainly but sometimes it is right that we look back and we see the changes that have come in our lives. Some of these changes are not for the good. As we have said, marriage is an example of a situation where a man may look back over his life and see that there has been a change and he no longer loves his wife as he once did. Such a realisation can save a marriage. Simply going on oblivious to the fact can be a disaster. So let's all look back and ask ourselves whether we have forsaken our first love. It is not a question of whether I do the same things I once did but whether I still love as I once loved.
2. Repent
The thing that should follow this remembering for the Ephesians is that they should do the things you did at first. This is real repentance – not just being sorry but trying to put things right. If we have forsaken our first love – as a church or as individuals – this is what we must do. We must turn around and start again. We mustn't be like a child that has fallen in a muddy puddle and is waiting to be picked up. We must get ourselves up and start getting back to where we should be – not in our own strength but in his – the one who was our first love. We need to stir each other up to it.
5. Hear the warning for those who refuse to take such steps
He goes on If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. If the lampstand is the church then it is pretty clear what that means. Verse 6 mentions the Nicolaitans - But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Christ is not saying that all is bad in the church in Ephesus. No, there are good things but to use football terms they have taken their eye of the ball. One can watch the ball and miss the man but one can also watch the man miss the ball. They have been caught watching the man instead of the ball. They are all taken up with these Nicolaitans instead of with Christ himself. We must not make that mistake. orthodoxy is important but not at the expense of forgetting Christ himself.
6. Consider the call to hear the Spirit and the promise here for those who overcomeAt the end of each of the letters we have similar words as in 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Here it is To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. To overcome is to overcome ones difficulties. Here it is this forsaking of the first love. It can only be done by remembering and repenting. The overcomer is promised the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. This is a promise of heaven. Without a return to love for one's first love, heaven cannot be attained.