1
00:00:05,729 --> 00:00:09,172
Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to the book of Revelation.

2
00:00:17,345 --> 00:00:20,047
We are in Revelation chapter 3.

3
00:00:28,607 --> 00:00:35,977
as we examine the letters that are being written to these churches of Asia Minor.

4
00:00:37,729 --> 00:00:42,412
who are the direct recipients of the book of Revelation.

5
00:00:42,412 --> 00:00:49,177
uh And yet, we understand that as the books were...

6
00:00:49,309 --> 00:01:01,755
and letters were received by these churches, they would then forward, as was commonly the
case with Paul's letters and Peter's letters, they would forward those letters from

7
00:01:01,755 --> 00:01:03,896
themselves to others.

8
00:01:03,896 --> 00:01:17,682
If you go read in the book of Colossians uh what Paul writes, you'll find that Paul sends
word for them to forward that letter to the church at Colossae over to the church at

9
00:01:17,682 --> 00:01:18,443
Laodicea.

10
00:01:18,443 --> 00:01:19,223
oh

11
00:01:19,223 --> 00:01:30,143
of the other places where we have reference of the church in Laodicea, and Paul's letter
that went to the Colossians would go to them as well after the Colossian brethren had

12
00:01:30,143 --> 00:01:31,154
received it.

13
00:01:31,154 --> 00:01:34,637
But let's begin with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study.

14
00:01:35,818 --> 00:01:38,960
Our gracious Father in heaven, come before your throne.

15
00:01:39,241 --> 00:01:48,067
grateful for the day you've blessed us with, for the life that we have been granted, the
opportunities that we have to serve you.

16
00:01:48,268 --> 00:01:54,753
We are mindful of your word and what it commands us to do on a daily basis.

17
00:01:54,783 --> 00:01:58,804
the things it commands us to be involved in and to abstain from.

18
00:01:58,905 --> 00:02:05,418
We're also mindful of your command to worship you on the first day of the week.

19
00:02:05,418 --> 00:02:13,811
And Lord, we are grateful that we have the ability, the energy, the uh health to be able
to assemble together to do that.

20
00:02:13,871 --> 00:02:18,333
And we're mindful of those who, for reason of health, are unable to be with us.

21
00:02:18,433 --> 00:02:24,716
We pray that you be with them and help them to recover the desired strength that they
might once again be in

22
00:02:24,716 --> 00:02:25,836
presence.

23
00:02:25,996 --> 00:02:34,916
We also pray for those who are traveling and those who are away from us, and we pray for
those who will travel in the upcoming weeks that they have safety and are able to return

24
00:02:34,916 --> 00:02:36,996
home safely as well.

25
00:02:37,236 --> 00:02:41,936
Lord, we pray that you be with us as we close out this year.

26
00:02:41,936 --> 00:02:44,616
May we examine the year that we've had.

27
00:02:44,616 --> 00:02:54,636
May we look back at the things that we've done and have left undone, and let us examine
and plan for 2026 in a mind

28
00:02:54,636 --> 00:03:03,141
mindset that puts your kingdom first, and that may we always seek first your kingdom.

29
00:03:03,622 --> 00:03:13,207
We ask that you be with us as we go through this period of study and as we examine this
book that was written to encourage the Christians that were about to go through struggles.

30
00:03:13,328 --> 00:03:19,552
We pray that we might have the same mindset to overcome as they were commanded to do.

31
00:03:19,552 --> 00:03:22,894
All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, amen.

32
00:03:30,962 --> 00:03:35,245
We were in discussions on the Church of Sardis.

33
00:03:35,465 --> 00:03:49,876
Chapter 3 verse 1, the letter opens, and to the angel of the church in Sardis write, these
things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your works,

34
00:03:49,876 --> 00:03:54,258
that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead.

35
00:03:54,439 --> 00:03:58,042
Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain.

36
00:03:58,042 --> 00:03:58,642
oh

37
00:03:58,642 --> 00:04:04,706
that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

38
00:04:04,766 --> 00:04:08,429
Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard.

39
00:04:08,429 --> 00:04:10,510
Hold fast and repent.

40
00:04:10,510 --> 00:04:19,636
Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know
what hour I will come upon you.

41
00:04:19,636 --> 00:04:28,062
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white.

42
00:04:28,062 --> 00:04:29,703
for they are worthy.

43
00:04:29,703 --> 00:04:41,693
He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name from
the book of life but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

44
00:04:41,693 --> 00:04:47,278
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Okay?

45
00:04:47,278 --> 00:04:57,576
There's a couple of things here in this text that we need to examine and identify because
again chapters two and three are written in

46
00:04:57,950 --> 00:05:10,313
They have some of the imagery from the figurative part of the book, from the spiritual
visionary part of the book, but they're written in plain ordinary language.

47
00:05:10,353 --> 00:05:21,796
And so when you see the imagery, you're quite often getting an explanation of what should
we interpret the imagery to mean in the rest of the book.

48
00:05:22,317 --> 00:05:27,206
A couple of areas like that is, for instance, here in verse

49
00:05:27,206 --> 00:05:29,286
and verse five.

50
00:05:29,286 --> 00:05:35,826
So we've mentioned already that in the book of Revelation numbers have significance.

51
00:05:35,826 --> 00:05:41,546
The number seven is the perfect number in Judean thinking.

52
00:05:41,946 --> 00:05:44,586
The number eight is the number of God.

53
00:05:44,586 --> 00:05:47,066
The number of six is the number of man.

54
00:05:47,066 --> 00:05:52,406
The number 10 is the idea of completion and perfection.

55
00:05:52,406 --> 00:05:56,566
So all of these things are important, but they're numbers.

56
00:05:56,601 --> 00:05:57,922
have significance.

57
00:05:57,922 --> 00:06:06,290
We also recognize that there are imagery that has significance, like for instance the
seven stars, the seven candlesticks.

58
00:06:06,290 --> 00:06:14,056
Well here, you're going to find that colors also have significance in the book of
Revelation.

59
00:06:14,057 --> 00:06:19,021
What color do we have identified in verses four and five?

60
00:06:22,263 --> 00:06:22,603
white.

61
00:06:22,603 --> 00:06:36,023
Okay, notice verse 4, you have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their
garments and they shall walk with me in what?

62
00:06:36,844 --> 00:06:37,844
White.

63
00:06:38,725 --> 00:06:40,926
For they are worthy.

64
00:06:41,227 --> 00:06:44,189
He who overcome shall be clothed in

65
00:06:46,059 --> 00:06:47,530
white garments.

66
00:06:47,670 --> 00:06:54,436
And I will not blot out His name from the book of life, but I will confess His name before
my Father and before His angels.

67
00:06:54,436 --> 00:06:56,157
Go back to chapter 1.

68
00:07:00,323 --> 00:07:13,289
Verse 11, John is there, he's in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and he says, heard a voice
saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, what you see right in a

69
00:07:13,289 --> 00:07:21,163
book, send it to the seven churches, which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to
Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, to Laodicea.

70
00:07:21,163 --> 00:07:26,531
Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden
lampstands.

71
00:07:26,531 --> 00:07:36,466
And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed in a garment
down to the feet, girded about the chest with a golden band, his head and his hair were

72
00:07:36,466 --> 00:07:44,099
white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire.

73
00:07:46,199 --> 00:07:54,751
The picture of white and the use of the term white and the color white everywhere in the
book.

74
00:07:55,292 --> 00:08:05,594
And this is a challenge to us because this will contradict common ideas about the book of
Revelation as soon as you apply it.

75
00:08:06,215 --> 00:08:15,357
If you find the picture of white in the book, it's dealing with spiritual

76
00:08:15,717 --> 00:08:18,379
purity and righteousness.

77
00:08:18,379 --> 00:08:19,859
How do we know?

78
00:08:19,940 --> 00:08:27,965
Because John has just described it to be that exact thing in chapter 3.

79
00:08:27,965 --> 00:08:32,808
Because he is saying, here's this church, he says, you are dead.

80
00:08:33,029 --> 00:08:35,510
You are defiled.

81
00:08:35,531 --> 00:08:44,884
You are in a state where you have a very little amount of anything that God approves of
left that you can strengthen.

82
00:08:44,884 --> 00:08:55,921
and that still remains and yet you have among you some Christians who have not defiled
themselves.

83
00:08:56,602 --> 00:09:10,162
But rather they will be arrayed in white, they will walk with me and they will be holy and
pure and righteous because that's the opposite of defiled.

84
00:09:10,162 --> 00:09:12,053
Okay?

85
00:09:12,255 --> 00:09:14,796
Here's another passage that will help us from the Old Testament.

86
00:09:14,796 --> 00:09:18,487
Turn to Isaiah chapter 1.

87
00:09:29,117 --> 00:09:42,282
Isaiah chapter 1 beginning verse 12, When you come to appear before me, who has required
this from your hand to trample my courts, bring no more feudal sacrifices.

88
00:09:42,282 --> 00:09:44,493
Incense is an abomination to me.

89
00:09:44,493 --> 00:09:47,565
The new moons, the Sabbath, the calling of assemblies.

90
00:09:47,565 --> 00:09:51,106
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.

91
00:09:51,106 --> 00:09:54,578
Your new moons, your appointed feasts, my soul hates.

92
00:09:54,578 --> 00:09:55,968
They are a trouble to me.

93
00:09:55,968 --> 00:09:58,569
I am weary of bearing them.

94
00:09:58,687 --> 00:10:02,099
When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you.

95
00:10:02,099 --> 00:10:04,520
Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.

96
00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:16,446
Your hands are full of blood." He is writing, Isaiah is writing to the children of Israel,
and he is accusing them of being defiled.

97
00:10:16,807 --> 00:10:23,170
And God says, you may come into my house, the temple, to worship, but I'm not going to
accept your worship.

98
00:10:23,170 --> 00:10:28,513
You may offer me many prayers, but I'm not going to listen to you because you are

99
00:10:28,513 --> 00:10:30,053
Defiled.

100
00:10:30,453 --> 00:10:32,233
Your hands are full of blood.

101
00:10:32,233 --> 00:10:44,393
He says, verse 16, wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your
doings from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the

102
00:10:44,393 --> 00:10:51,193
oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow, come now let us reason together,
says the Lord.

103
00:10:51,333 --> 00:10:56,213
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be what?

104
00:10:56,933 --> 00:10:58,425
As white?

105
00:10:58,517 --> 00:11:00,371
as snow.

106
00:11:02,205 --> 00:11:17,759
Isaiah uses the picture in the introduction of his book of God cleansing us from the stain
of sin and the picture of the person cleansed from that state of sin is what?

107
00:11:19,509 --> 00:11:20,449
white.

108
00:11:21,151 --> 00:11:35,603
So John takes this imagery, which is not unique to Isaiah, but is regularly seen
throughout the Scriptures, and he uses the color white to mean something.

109
00:11:35,684 --> 00:11:41,989
Well, when the text tells you what something means, what should you assume it means in the
rest of the book?

110
00:11:43,711 --> 00:11:44,902
Same thing.

111
00:11:46,466 --> 00:11:50,472
And that's going to be a challenge because you know what you've heard about?

112
00:11:51,415 --> 00:11:57,605
You've heard all the denominationalists through the years talk about the Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse, right?

113
00:12:00,245 --> 00:12:02,002
What color is one of the horses?

114
00:12:05,563 --> 00:12:15,481
If you've got four horsemen of the apocalypse and they're all bringing some sort of bad
thing and yet one of them is white, you have a problem.

115
00:12:17,297 --> 00:12:21,789
The book is consistent in its use of imagery.

116
00:12:21,789 --> 00:12:31,284
As a matter of fact, every single time you see anyone on a white horse, it is Jesus
Christ.

117
00:12:32,505 --> 00:12:34,406
And it is those who are with Him.

118
00:12:35,727 --> 00:12:37,447
Every time in the book.

119
00:12:38,628 --> 00:12:46,032
So, when you get to the book, and when the book tells you what something means,

120
00:12:46,796 --> 00:12:55,258
You must have contextual evidence to indicate that it doesn't mean what it means
everywhere else in the book.

121
00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:09,192
If there's a picture, a color, a number, and it means something everywhere else in the
book, there better be a really strong clear statement in a context to say, well, wait, I'm

122
00:13:09,192 --> 00:13:11,223
not using that picture this way anymore.

123
00:13:11,823 --> 00:13:16,524
No, right here it means something different because John doesn't do that.

124
00:13:16,732 --> 00:13:19,373
because I challenge you, you're not gonna find that.

125
00:13:19,414 --> 00:13:24,476
You're not going to find John flip-flopping on the visionary imagery.

126
00:13:24,735 --> 00:13:29,158
He's going to use it consistently throughout the book.

127
00:13:29,539 --> 00:13:43,726
And right here in the plainly stated passages dealing with the church, white is the
picture of someone in full fellowship and righteousness with God.

128
00:13:44,607 --> 00:13:46,388
They are pure.

129
00:13:46,396 --> 00:13:47,956
and holy.

130
00:13:47,976 --> 00:13:57,116
And all throughout the book those who are righteous are described as being arrayed in
white.

131
00:13:59,106 --> 00:14:04,300
just like John describes here concerning this church.

132
00:14:04,601 --> 00:14:10,045
But then consider as well we have the term the Book of Life.

133
00:14:10,966 --> 00:14:20,464
This is a picture of God having a record of those who will be judged and those who are
righteous.

134
00:14:20,464 --> 00:14:22,636
This is not unique to the book of Revelation.

135
00:14:22,636 --> 00:14:27,900
You find this terminology elsewhere in Scripture, but here John says

136
00:14:28,514 --> 00:14:33,267
I have those who I have written their name in my book.

137
00:14:33,948 --> 00:14:46,356
And if I have written their name in my book, then I will confess their name before my
Father and His angels who are in heaven.

138
00:14:46,937 --> 00:14:55,142
Further evidence given for who's the one writing to the churches, who's the one speaking
the message, it's the one who has a father.

139
00:14:55,542 --> 00:14:58,544
It's the one who has angels at his beck and call.

140
00:14:58,638 --> 00:15:11,794
it's Christ, but further you have this idea that comes forward from Matthew chapter 10
where Jesus says, you will not confess me before men, then I will not confess you before

141
00:15:11,794 --> 00:15:13,015
my Father who is in heaven.

142
00:15:13,015 --> 00:15:15,696
Well, that terminology is found right here.

143
00:15:16,396 --> 00:15:24,800
And so you can have a congregation where Christ says, I'm not confessing that congregation
before my Father in heaven.

144
00:15:26,858 --> 00:15:34,970
And yet you can have individuals amongst that number that Christ does confess their name.

145
00:15:34,970 --> 00:15:37,791
He says, they will walk with me in white.

146
00:15:37,791 --> 00:15:39,741
They will receive their reward.

147
00:15:39,741 --> 00:15:41,252
But the rest of you?

148
00:15:41,752 --> 00:15:43,032
Not happening.

149
00:15:43,332 --> 00:15:43,852
Okay?

150
00:15:43,852 --> 00:15:45,853
Not unless they repent.

151
00:15:45,853 --> 00:15:54,715
One last thing that I wanted to point out is here in verse two, sometimes when we are
helping people overcome

152
00:15:55,363 --> 00:16:01,108
spiritual destitute lives, spiritually destitute lives.

153
00:16:01,108 --> 00:16:12,367
When we are trying to help people get out of the things that they are doing that are
wrong, maybe we're trying to restore someone who has fallen, who is a member of the body

154
00:16:12,367 --> 00:16:21,925
of Christ, we have here a small indicator of something that we can do that will help them
get where they need to be.

155
00:16:21,925 --> 00:16:24,523
Notice verse 2, he says,

156
00:16:24,523 --> 00:16:30,325
be watchful and strengthen the things that remain.

157
00:16:30,885 --> 00:16:41,908
It is a challenge for us when we are trying to fix something that we often want to attack
the single point of greatest weakness.

158
00:16:42,088 --> 00:16:46,870
We want to correct the single greatest point of failure.

159
00:16:47,430 --> 00:16:51,273
And the reality is that most times people

160
00:16:51,273 --> 00:17:02,552
will not succeed fixing their greatest weakness until they've focused on building their
strengths on their greatest strengths.

161
00:17:03,713 --> 00:17:16,643
We all face the reality that we have weaknesses, and if we spend the maximum amount of our
time focused on our weaknesses, we will rarely make any significant progress.

162
00:17:17,631 --> 00:17:31,804
Yet if we instead challenge ourselves to focus our maximum amount of time on our strengths
and turning the strengths that we have into something that is steadfast and unmovable,

163
00:17:33,266 --> 00:17:42,665
slowly but surely the weaknesses start to disappear or the weaknesses can be solved by
relying on someone else's strengths that cover our weaknesses.

164
00:17:44,533 --> 00:17:55,853
when you're dealing with a crumbling bridge, you do not focus first on the crumbling part
of the bridge.

165
00:17:56,694 --> 00:18:08,094
You focus first on strengthening everything that is already stable because if you begin
with the crumbling part, you may find the crumbling part begins to get bigger and bigger

166
00:18:08,094 --> 00:18:11,547
and bigger because the strong part starts to lose strength.

167
00:18:12,319 --> 00:18:18,961
You stabilize what is strong and then you build toward and fix that which is weak.

168
00:18:19,942 --> 00:18:22,143
And we have to do that in our own lives.

169
00:18:22,143 --> 00:18:28,325
Jesus even says to do that within the church in Sardis, which is, as he said, dead.

170
00:18:28,325 --> 00:18:30,066
He says, you've got a little bit left.

171
00:18:30,066 --> 00:18:31,787
You go focus on that.

172
00:18:31,927 --> 00:18:33,907
You go build that.

173
00:18:34,308 --> 00:18:39,410
And from that, you have a platform to correct the rest of the things.

174
00:18:39,410 --> 00:18:42,140
Okay, so there's some insight there from

175
00:18:42,140 --> 00:18:43,080
the book of Revelation.

176
00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:58,104
Chapter 3 verse 7, to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things says he
who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts,

177
00:18:58,184 --> 00:19:00,564
and shuts and no one opens.

178
00:19:00,824 --> 00:19:11,663
When Christ handed the keys, as it were, of the kingdom to the apostles, and the apostles
preached that first gospel sermon there in Acts chapter 2,

179
00:19:11,663 --> 00:19:21,697
and they opened the doors of the kingdom and invited people to obtain the salvation that
was found within the body of Christ and within the salvation that is found in the

180
00:19:21,697 --> 00:19:30,011
crucifixion and death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, could anyone come along
later and shut those doors?

181
00:19:31,599 --> 00:19:47,313
No, not Rome, not Caesar, not someone that was declared to be a god, not Satan, not the
enemies of Christ, not the Judaizing teachers, not the individuals who separated

182
00:19:47,313 --> 00:19:51,425
themselves from righteousness and true sound doctrine.

183
00:19:51,425 --> 00:19:58,806
None of those people could shut the doors because Christ is the one who opens and no one
shuts.

184
00:19:59,407 --> 00:20:00,767
And shuts

185
00:20:01,297 --> 00:20:02,627
No one opens.

186
00:20:03,228 --> 00:20:17,796
The idea of Christ being the one who opens, this is opportunity, this is salvation, this
is what you want, but when Christ says, that door's closed, think about it from the

187
00:20:17,796 --> 00:20:19,417
perspective of a church.

188
00:20:20,237 --> 00:20:23,699
Imagine a congregation where the door's shut.

189
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,361
No matter how much you try, you can't get the door open.

190
00:20:29,142 --> 00:20:30,903
Christ says, if I...

191
00:20:31,301 --> 00:20:45,242
come to you and judge you as a congregation, I'm going to shut off your access to my
Father, and there's not going to be a thing you can do to change it unless you repent.

192
00:20:45,242 --> 00:20:46,343
Okay?

193
00:20:46,343 --> 00:20:59,792
So this picture is of Christ, the one who has controls of the key of David, of the promise
and the salvation that was promised through David, and the authority of Christ.

194
00:20:59,792 --> 00:21:03,152
but also of opportunity and judgment.

195
00:21:03,212 --> 00:21:05,132
Verse 8, know your works.

196
00:21:05,192 --> 00:21:11,592
See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it.

197
00:21:11,592 --> 00:21:18,012
For you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name.

198
00:21:19,272 --> 00:21:29,680
When Christ says to the church of Philadelphia, I've opened a door for you, I've created
an opportunity for you, Paul would describe

199
00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:37,844
uh a number of different times scenarios where he described having an open door of
opportunity.

200
00:21:38,425 --> 00:21:41,917
Christ says, I've set before you an open door.

201
00:21:41,917 --> 00:21:47,990
Now, did Christ shove them through it and force them to actually take the opportunity?

202
00:21:48,870 --> 00:21:49,831
No.

203
00:21:50,912 --> 00:21:52,432
That was up to them.

204
00:21:52,672 --> 00:21:55,013
They had to make that choice.

205
00:21:55,394 --> 00:21:57,775
But Christ says, door's open.

206
00:21:58,416 --> 00:21:59,746
Door's right there.

207
00:22:00,260 --> 00:22:06,512
He says, for you have a little strength, have kept my word and have not denied my name.

208
00:22:06,512 --> 00:22:12,724
Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but
lie.

209
00:22:12,724 --> 00:22:18,745
Indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved
you.

210
00:22:18,745 --> 00:22:29,218
Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of
trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth."

211
00:22:29,390 --> 00:22:31,801
Behold, I am coming quickly.

212
00:22:31,801 --> 00:22:36,462
Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

213
00:22:36,462 --> 00:22:43,584
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no
more.

214
00:22:43,584 --> 00:22:55,158
I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new
Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new

215
00:22:55,158 --> 00:22:56,068
name."

216
00:22:56,132 --> 00:23:05,590
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." As you go through
this letter to the church at Philadelphia, what's unique about it?

217
00:23:09,518 --> 00:23:13,930
No correction, no negative statement anywhere to be found.

218
00:23:14,891 --> 00:23:24,686
Yet interestingly, of this church, Jesus does not describe them as having great strength.

219
00:23:26,862 --> 00:23:27,994
But what?

220
00:23:29,038 --> 00:23:30,270
Little strength.

221
00:23:31,962 --> 00:23:36,938
He says, I know that your capabilities are small.

222
00:23:38,141 --> 00:23:49,696
Yet in the midst of their small capabilities, the one thing they have compared to all the
others is they have nothing to critique.

223
00:23:51,401 --> 00:24:11,449
It is a reminder to us that sometimes in churches you have someone whose moral activity is
just uncompromised, whose words and deeds are those which are beyond rebuke.

224
00:24:12,061 --> 00:24:19,602
I'm not saying they're sinlessly perfect, they never sin, but their actions and their
lifestyle is beyond rebuke and yet...

225
00:24:21,108 --> 00:24:25,756
their capacity and their abilities are small.

226
00:24:34,902 --> 00:24:45,389
weakness, my grace is sufficient, like even though, because he talks about their
perseverance, the holding fast, the fact that they are still doing what they're supposed

227
00:24:45,389 --> 00:24:55,205
to be doing, that even though they are maybe weak in strength, as he puts it, that it is
that they are relying on God like they should through that.

228
00:24:55,226 --> 00:25:00,629
I think there's a lot of that, and I think there's also a picture here that's an Old
Testament picture.

229
00:25:01,010 --> 00:25:04,932
When you see David,

230
00:25:06,156 --> 00:25:09,522
come to the confrontation with Goliath.

231
00:25:10,123 --> 00:25:17,959
Would you have described David as the one who was strong or the one who was weak in the
confrontation?

232
00:25:19,798 --> 00:25:22,350
Physically weak.

233
00:25:23,011 --> 00:25:26,513
mean, here's Goliath.

234
00:25:26,674 --> 00:25:28,234
He's a giant.

235
00:25:28,535 --> 00:25:33,779
He's coming and his armaments are so big he's got to have somebody else carry the shield
in front of him.

236
00:25:34,260 --> 00:25:38,263
He's got a staff that's like a weaver's beam.

237
00:25:38,504 --> 00:25:40,344
He's got a sword.

238
00:25:40,565 --> 00:25:41,836
He's got all these things.

239
00:25:41,836 --> 00:25:44,468
And what did David show up with?

240
00:25:47,346 --> 00:25:51,362
Shepard's garments, no armor, and a slingshot.

241
00:25:52,144 --> 00:25:53,966
Which one looks weak?

242
00:25:54,828 --> 00:25:57,592
Which one only has a little strength?

243
00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:03,620
Which one was reliant upon God for their strength?

244
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:10,100
The answer is the one who trusted in the Lord.

245
00:26:10,740 --> 00:26:17,080
So David did not succeed because of his strength.

246
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:23,100
He succeeded because he trusted in God's strength.

247
00:26:24,620 --> 00:26:29,780
and he did what he could.

248
00:26:31,658 --> 00:26:43,376
So many times in congregations that I have been a part of and that I have witnessed
through the years, there are some little old ladies who may not have a whole lot of

249
00:26:43,376 --> 00:26:48,979
strength to get up and walk around, but they are the backbone of a congregation.

250
00:26:50,441 --> 00:27:01,008
They would be described as those with little strength, and yet they are a force to be
reckoned with for righteous action in a church.

251
00:27:01,104 --> 00:27:06,407
It doesn't have be a lady, but sometimes you have people who physically they're weak.

252
00:27:06,407 --> 00:27:11,279
If you look at the things that they can do and accomplish physically, they're weak.

253
00:27:11,279 --> 00:27:23,335
And yet here you have strength because of their character, because of their action,
because of the soundness of their obedience to God.

254
00:27:24,476 --> 00:27:30,799
Philadelphia is a congregation where God says, I've opened the door.

255
00:27:31,269 --> 00:27:32,740
Nobody can shut it.

256
00:27:33,501 --> 00:27:43,248
But also, he says, I know those who are in your presence who are the assembly of Satan.

257
00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:47,902
They are the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not.

258
00:27:47,902 --> 00:27:52,495
Now, this is using terminology that Paul used.

259
00:27:52,535 --> 00:27:57,779
Paul said they are not all Israel who are of Israel.

260
00:27:58,951 --> 00:28:10,531
God has made it clear from the Old Testament all the way to the New that there are those
among the nation of Israel that are not His people.

261
00:28:10,731 --> 00:28:14,851
And as a result of that, He says, they're Israel, but they're not Israel.

262
00:28:14,851 --> 00:28:16,551
They're Jews, but they're not Jews.

263
00:28:16,551 --> 00:28:24,751
Because if they were the descendants of Abraham spiritually, they would hear my voice and
they would obey me.

264
00:28:25,019 --> 00:28:35,648
But rather they are the portion of Israel like those who came out of Egyptian captivity
who instead of hearing his voice and being obedient to his voice, rebelled and are

265
00:28:35,648 --> 00:28:37,549
destroyed and are judged.

266
00:28:37,689 --> 00:28:46,676
So here in Philadelphia, they are dealing likely with some persecution or localized
persecution from the Jews.

267
00:28:46,877 --> 00:28:54,693
And God says, you don't be concerned about the fact that they claim to be the people of
God because they're not.

268
00:28:55,309 --> 00:29:01,545
and rather they are a descendant, they are an assembly of Satan.

269
00:29:02,768 --> 00:29:08,313
Did you know you could have a group of people who claim to worship the same God you do?

270
00:29:08,895 --> 00:29:11,956
Claim to honor the same God you do?

271
00:29:12,238 --> 00:29:16,603
Claim to believe in and obey the same God you do?

272
00:29:16,603 --> 00:29:25,326
but are in abject rebellion against him so much so that God says they are actually an
assembly of Satan.

273
00:29:26,627 --> 00:29:28,728
That's what he's describing here.

274
00:29:29,108 --> 00:29:35,651
These Jews hadn't gone off and started worshiping Satan in their weekly assemblies.

275
00:29:36,071 --> 00:29:45,075
They didn't start reading from some book of Satan on their feast days, but they were in
complete rebellion from God.

276
00:29:45,221 --> 00:29:52,393
because they would not hear his voice, would not accept his son, they would not do what he
told them to do.

277
00:29:53,814 --> 00:30:05,897
This picture, by the way, comes from what Jesus said in John chapter 8 when Jesus said,
you are of your father, who did he say?

278
00:30:06,558 --> 00:30:07,638
The devil.

279
00:30:08,378 --> 00:30:10,979
For he was a liar from the beginning.

280
00:30:11,827 --> 00:30:20,450
Jesus points out that it is their lies that cause them to be the descendants of Satan.

281
00:30:21,551 --> 00:30:26,783
And these people, this congregation was dealing with people like that here in
Philadelphia.

282
00:30:26,783 --> 00:30:41,340
But then consider as well, he says ah that he's going to basically defeat them, bring them
to bow down before the feet of the Christians and know that I have

283
00:30:41,340 --> 00:30:45,211
loved you because you have kept my command to persevere.

284
00:30:45,211 --> 00:30:52,134
Also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test
those who dwell on the earth.

285
00:30:52,134 --> 00:31:06,118
This terminology here, this picture of Christ saying to the Church of Philadelphia,
everybody else is going to go through these trials, but I'm going to set you aside.

286
00:31:07,182 --> 00:31:10,045
I'm going to save you from them because of your faithfulness.

287
00:31:10,045 --> 00:31:12,968
It comes from the book of Habakkuk.

288
00:31:14,470 --> 00:31:21,297
It comes from what God said concerning the judgment that was coming on Judah.

289
00:31:21,938 --> 00:31:29,886
And he says, verse 2, then the Lord answered me and said, chapter 2, write the vision.

290
00:31:30,002 --> 00:31:33,524
Make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it.

291
00:31:33,524 --> 00:31:36,846
For the vision is yet for an appointed time.

292
00:31:36,846 --> 00:31:40,509
But at the end it will speak and will not lie.

293
00:31:40,509 --> 00:31:42,950
Though it tarries, wait for it.

294
00:31:42,950 --> 00:31:46,772
Because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

295
00:31:46,793 --> 00:31:55,718
Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by faith.

296
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:08,818
That phrase is going to get used over and over and over and over again in the New
Testament to speak concerning the salvation that is found in Christ, but in this context,

297
00:32:08,818 --> 00:32:16,802
it's dealing with the salvation from the judgment that was coming on Judea through the
Babylonian Empire.

298
00:32:17,623 --> 00:32:22,028
And this idea is what is going to be for...

299
00:32:22,028 --> 00:32:30,283
found here concerning the Philadelphia church, he says, I'm going to save you out of this
turmoil.

300
00:32:31,044 --> 00:32:47,014
Now, if you were to think about those who Christ or God saved out of the turmoil of the
Babylonian empire, who might you describe as those who were saved out of that situation?

301
00:32:50,198 --> 00:33:01,888
You think we're going to talk about people who just happened to have a city that got
missed by the Babylonian Empire as they came and barreled through the country and overran

302
00:33:01,888 --> 00:33:02,308
it?

303
00:33:02,308 --> 00:33:03,609
Don't think so.

304
00:33:04,871 --> 00:33:17,071
Rather, you're going to be thinking about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who
were taken off into captivity, yet they prospered and they were blessed, not in Judea, not

305
00:33:17,071 --> 00:33:18,454
by remaining in their land.

306
00:33:18,454 --> 00:33:20,415
but by going into captivity.

307
00:33:21,336 --> 00:33:28,099
You're going to think about Ezekiel, who was there by the banks of the river, writing back
to the captives.

308
00:33:28,099 --> 00:33:31,001
You're going to think about Nehemiah and Ezra.

309
00:33:31,001 --> 00:33:37,764
Ezra in captivity prepared his heart to know the Lord and to teach his law and to teach in
Israel statutes of judgment.

310
00:33:37,764 --> 00:33:40,966
Nehemiah is serving at the behest of the king.

311
00:33:41,419 --> 00:33:51,425
All of these individuals were saved out of the destruction, out of the judgment, yet they
were saved out of it by going through the captivity.

312
00:33:52,446 --> 00:34:02,892
They endured the judgment that was happening around them, but they were not judged by it.

313
00:34:03,273 --> 00:34:05,954
They rather were promoted by it.

314
00:34:06,795 --> 00:34:10,958
And so here you have this picture of God saying,

315
00:34:12,126 --> 00:34:13,846
I've got you.

316
00:34:14,506 --> 00:34:18,406
You are those who have persevered.

317
00:34:18,406 --> 00:34:21,846
He says, verse 11, behold, I am coming quickly.

318
00:34:21,906 --> 00:34:26,006
Hold fast what you have that no one may take your crown.

319
00:34:26,006 --> 00:34:37,126
Again, we're seeing all throughout the book the term coming is not discussing the end of
time.

320
00:34:37,566 --> 00:34:41,486
It's not discussing the final return.

321
00:34:41,872 --> 00:34:47,465
When he says he's coming, what context is he dealing with in this passage?

322
00:34:47,465 --> 00:34:56,930
He's dealing with the turmoil and the persecution and the judgment that is coming shortly
to pass.

323
00:34:58,151 --> 00:35:00,632
He says, I'm coming quickly, but don't worry.

324
00:35:00,653 --> 00:35:01,973
I've got you.

325
00:35:02,394 --> 00:35:04,154
I know who you are.

326
00:35:04,515 --> 00:35:06,015
I know who belongs to me.

327
00:35:06,015 --> 00:35:10,898
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God

328
00:35:11,582 --> 00:35:21,402
and he shall go out no more." Now, if we were to believe that everything in the Bible is
literal, then we're going to have to face the fact that these Christians were going to be

329
00:35:21,402 --> 00:35:24,302
turned into literal pillars in the temple.

330
00:35:25,262 --> 00:35:27,222
I don't think that's going work out.

331
00:35:27,222 --> 00:35:29,002
They're going to get really tired.

332
00:35:30,102 --> 00:35:34,862
And yet, what is a pillar in the temple of God?

333
00:35:40,614 --> 00:35:43,881
Is this the only place this terminology is used of Christians?

334
00:35:45,982 --> 00:35:59,408
Matter of fact, Paul uses it over in Galatians when he references James, the brother of
Jesus, Peter, who seem to be pillars in the church.

335
00:36:00,369 --> 00:36:04,851
He's using terminology that is visual of a temple.

336
00:36:04,851 --> 00:36:12,754
What would often be the case in temples, especially in the Roman temples, if you were to
look at the temple?

337
00:36:15,456 --> 00:36:20,953
these columns that would go all the way around and hold up this great ceiling.

338
00:36:28,474 --> 00:36:30,175
That is correct.

339
00:36:30,175 --> 00:36:30,994
All right.

340
00:36:30,994 --> 00:36:35,777
So we have here uh spiritual imagery.

341
00:36:36,277 --> 00:36:40,579
The spiritual imagery of being a pillar.

342
00:36:40,579 --> 00:36:44,559
The spiritual imagery of a temple.

343
00:36:44,559 --> 00:36:49,322
Is there a temple in heaven?

344
00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:55,117
The answer is yes and no.

345
00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,516
Turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 3.

346
00:37:22,893 --> 00:37:30,039
beginning in verse 11, for no other foundation can anyone lay which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ.

347
00:37:30,039 --> 00:37:40,507
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or
straw, each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it, because it will be

348
00:37:40,507 --> 00:37:42,349
revealed by fire.

349
00:37:42,349 --> 00:37:45,802
And the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is.

350
00:37:45,802 --> 00:37:52,643
Now notice the analogy that Paul is presenting to the Church of Corinth is your faith

351
00:37:52,643 --> 00:38:01,460
that the quality of the workmanship of your faith is going to be tested not by the good
times in life, but by what?

352
00:38:02,181 --> 00:38:03,522
The fire.

353
00:38:03,803 --> 00:38:05,624
The trials of life.

354
00:38:05,624 --> 00:38:11,309
What happens to a faith made of straw in the midst of a fire?

355
00:38:13,005 --> 00:38:14,706
burns up and it's gone.

356
00:38:15,028 --> 00:38:22,335
What happens to a faith that is made of precious stone in a fire or gold?

357
00:38:23,377 --> 00:38:24,898
It's purified.

358
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:27,321
It withstands the fire.

359
00:38:27,782 --> 00:38:29,054
It endures the fire.

360
00:38:29,054 --> 00:38:30,365
Now what has

361
00:38:30,467 --> 00:38:34,819
Christ just described this church as being those who are.

362
00:38:34,819 --> 00:38:37,160
They're those who persevere.

363
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:38,881
They're those who overcome.

364
00:38:38,881 --> 00:38:42,502
They're those who are going to go through the trials, the tribulations.

365
00:38:42,502 --> 00:38:46,144
They're going to be ah kept faithful by Christ.

366
00:38:46,144 --> 00:38:50,406
They're going to be protected by Christ, and they're going to persevere and overcome.

367
00:38:50,406 --> 00:38:55,968
They're going to go through the trials of fire, and they're going come out the other side
shining.

368
00:38:56,088 --> 00:38:58,209
Now notice, he says,

369
00:38:58,623 --> 00:39:03,036
If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive an award.

370
00:39:03,036 --> 00:39:08,980
If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet as
through fire.

371
00:39:08,980 --> 00:39:15,004
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

372
00:39:16,345 --> 00:39:21,817
Two times in the book of Corinthians, 1st Corinthians, chapter 3, chapter 6,

373
00:39:21,817 --> 00:39:32,568
Christ addresses the Christians and the Church, Church collectively here in this passage,
Christians individually, as the Temple of God.

374
00:39:35,245 --> 00:39:45,432
God did not promise the Old Testament Israelites that there was going to be a day where He
was going to come and set up a temple where He would dwell with men.

375
00:39:45,473 --> 00:39:58,582
As a matter of fact, you remember in 1 Kings chapter 8 that Solomon made it quite clear
that when he had built that magnificent temple, it couldn't hold God.

376
00:39:59,603 --> 00:40:02,525
God couldn't dwell in that temple made with hands.

377
00:40:04,031 --> 00:40:08,401
and rather the New Testament presents the temple as what?

378
00:40:12,329 --> 00:40:13,449
the church.

379
00:40:14,750 --> 00:40:26,012
Now you need to hold on to this imagery because he's writing to a church and he says you
will be part of the temple of God as a church.

380
00:40:27,633 --> 00:40:33,734
And he also says that on him will be the name of my God.

381
00:40:33,734 --> 00:40:39,876
Oh, we're going to get to somewhere in the book where some names are being written on
people.

382
00:40:40,206 --> 00:40:49,582
And in this passage to the Church of Philadelphia, John says, to the faithful Christians,
I'm going to write my name on you.

383
00:40:50,163 --> 00:40:57,067
To the faithful Christians, he says, I'm going to write on you the name of the city of my
God.

384
00:40:58,248 --> 00:41:02,510
What's the city of his God named?

385
00:41:03,351 --> 00:41:04,892
According to the text.

386
00:41:10,388 --> 00:41:13,168
The New Jerusalem.

387
00:41:13,488 --> 00:41:20,628
We're going to spend some time with the idea of the New Jerusalem because that's an Isaiah
image.

388
00:41:21,288 --> 00:41:27,528
But God says, I'm going to write on my faithful Christians a New Dane.

389
00:41:27,828 --> 00:41:29,588
It's the name of my God.

390
00:41:29,588 --> 00:41:34,408
I'm going to write on the Christians the name of the city of my God.

391
00:41:34,408 --> 00:41:35,788
What's the city of my God?

392
00:41:35,788 --> 00:41:37,208
The New Jerusalem.

393
00:41:37,780 --> 00:41:44,020
I'm going to write on them my new name.

394
00:41:45,060 --> 00:41:48,860
All of these pictures we will see throughout the text.

395
00:41:49,260 --> 00:41:52,520
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

396
00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,620
We're not going to spend a great deal of time on Laodicea.

397
00:41:54,620 --> 00:42:05,120
I'm going to mention something as we close and then we're probably going to move on
because I think probably Laodicea gets more treatment out of all of the letters of the

398
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:07,460
book of Revelation than any of them.

399
00:42:07,812 --> 00:42:16,098
And to the angel of the church of the Laodicean bride, these things says the amen, the
faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

400
00:42:16,119 --> 00:42:19,181
I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot.

401
00:42:19,181 --> 00:42:21,243
I wish you were cold or hot.

402
00:42:21,243 --> 00:42:26,827
So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my
mouth.

403
00:42:26,827 --> 00:42:36,134
Because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know
that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.

404
00:42:36,155 --> 00:42:37,996
I counsel you to buy from

405
00:42:39,634 --> 00:42:50,630
that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, and that the shame of
your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see.

406
00:42:50,630 --> 00:42:55,513
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, therefore be zealous and repent.

407
00:42:55,513 --> 00:42:57,934
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

408
00:42:57,934 --> 00:43:03,738
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and
he with me.

409
00:43:03,738 --> 00:43:07,972
To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne.

410
00:43:07,972 --> 00:43:21,653
as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne, he who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches." We often talk about this church being the

411
00:43:21,653 --> 00:43:23,664
lukewarm church.

412
00:43:23,805 --> 00:43:31,030
We often talk about the idea of something lukewarm being that which just is unpleasant.

413
00:43:31,972 --> 00:43:37,456
But for the Christians in Laodicea, this had a more pointed...

414
00:43:38,296 --> 00:43:40,581
aspect to it.

415
00:43:40,581 --> 00:43:46,751
From Laodicea you could look one direction and you could see White Calf Mountains.

416
00:43:48,769 --> 00:43:54,590
And from the other direction, you could see a city with nice hot springs in it.

417
00:43:55,791 --> 00:43:59,251
And the water in Laodicea was horrible.

418
00:44:00,772 --> 00:44:03,512
It was something that was bitter.

419
00:44:04,173 --> 00:44:14,215
So in the days of the first century, the Romans had, and the Laodiceans, which were a very
wealthy city, had said, fine, our water's bad.

420
00:44:14,215 --> 00:44:18,596
So they built an aqueduct over to the city that had the white cap.

421
00:44:18,628 --> 00:44:22,729
hills and they got fresh mountain water.

422
00:44:23,430 --> 00:44:26,631
Nice, cool water.

423
00:44:27,672 --> 00:44:31,793
And they built an aqueduct to the hot spring city.

424
00:44:32,534 --> 00:44:38,956
And they got hot spring water from that city and they brought both of them to Laodicea.

425
00:44:40,017 --> 00:44:47,620
Only problem was when you build the aqueduct and it starts off as nice cold water over in
the ice cap hills.

426
00:44:48,846 --> 00:44:52,079
By the time it got to Laodicea, guess what it was?

427
00:44:52,740 --> 00:44:54,161
was Lukewarm.

428
00:44:55,242 --> 00:45:02,089
And when you got the hot spring water out of the other city, by the time it got to
Laodicea, guess what it was?

429
00:45:02,690 --> 00:45:03,950
Lukewarm.

430
00:45:05,513 --> 00:45:09,296
All the riches, all their money, couldn't buy them quality.

431
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:21,006
Christ is using their day-to-day lives, their day-to-day experiences of the water they
actually drank and says, this is what you are.

432
00:45:22,047 --> 00:45:35,376
You've got something that you could be, which is great, but instead you've decided to
allow yourself to just be nasty, worthless.

433
00:45:35,817 --> 00:45:41,140
Something that somebody puts in their mouth that there is nothing of value here.

434
00:45:42,433 --> 00:45:44,413
because you're relying on your riches.

435
00:45:44,634 --> 00:45:52,275
You're relying on your wealth and your prosperity, and you think being wealthy and
prosperous means you're good to go.

436
00:45:53,036 --> 00:45:55,296
And Christ says, no.

437
00:45:55,816 --> 00:46:09,180
As a matter of fact, I will spew you out of my mouth because you have not chosen to
recognize that what you need most is me and not what you bring to the table.

438
00:46:09,180 --> 00:46:11,029
Okay, thank you for your attention.