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1 3073 RADIO PROGRAM THE BOOK IS UNSEALED - REVELATION MADE SIMPLE SESSION #4 Christ's 7 Letters to the 7 Ecclesias of Asia (Part 2) Reading: Revelation 3 This is THE BOOK IS UNSEALED, the 4th in 16 programs dealing with the book of Revelation, and tonight's subject will complete the subject of Christ's Seven Letters to the Seven Ecclesias of Asia. We would ask that you have your bibles open at Revelation chapter 3, that you might follow the discussion closely. And now we cross to Paul Cresswell and Steve Hornhart, to discuss for us, the seven letters of the seven ecclesias of Asia. Paul, last week you said that Christ's message showed that the spiritual decline was already obvious in the seven ecclesias at the end of the first century. And if I remember correctly, you said the seven letters portray a developing apostacy as time passes. Now I've read over the seven letters in chapters 2 and 3, and find that I do agree with you; but what worries me, is that if Christianity has been inherited from these churches or ecclesias, where does that leave us today? It leaves us in a very difficult position, Steve! It's not that we can't find God's truth, that's still written clearly enough in the bible. But though there's no persecution today, as there was in those early times, we still have to have the courage to stand alone, and appear to be against everybody, when in fact, our one desire is to set forth God's true promises to everyone, that they may be saved out of death. God is not willing that any should perish, is the bible passage, and neither are we, and that's why these seven letters are recorded, and why there is a special blessing promised to those who keep them! That's fine, Paul, but looking at the next ecclesia, Sardis, in chapter 3 verse 1, it might not be quite so easy to see ourselves as God does; I mean, Sardis, has a name here that it lives but it's dead. How do we know how we stand? I think the answer, Steve, is in the next verse, where in verse 2 the Lord says, 'Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain', we only know where we stand by being watchful! by daily reading the bible, and testing our beliefs and our conduct, by what the bible teaches. Christ said to Sardis, 'I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest'. Oh, yes, it appeared to be thriving alright; there was not a lot that was obviously wrong with it, but their hearts weren't in it, for Christ says, (and literally in the Greek the phrase is) but art dead. So Christ who has the seven Spirits of God, by seven Spirits He encompasses the seven ecclesias (but you might remember, it's really only 2 one Spirit Paul says in Ephesians 4 verse 4) seven is the perfection of Spirit, so Christ who has the seven Spirits of God, sees and we need to pick up with Christ, the phrase from James chapter 2 and verse 20, 'faith without works is dead'. What they believed wasn't being put into practice; now verse 4 of chapter 3, the Lord says, 'thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy'. The worthy, Steve, are those who are both faithful and obedient, those who Paul says in Romans 2 and verse 7, 'patiently continue in well-doing'. That verse 4 also, Paul, says, 'they have not defiled their garments', and 'they shall walk with Me in white', could you go on and expand a little on that, please? Yes, certainly Steve! In the bible, sinners are said to be naked; not literally so, but their sin exposes them to death. Now when we're baptized into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, we put on a covering of righteousness, as if it was a garment. Where would we get that reference from, Paul, the biblical reference? Well, I'll give you two, Steve. The first is Ephesians chapter 4 verses 22 to 24, and the second, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30, but the particular warning is found in the Revelation, in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 15, 'Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, less he walk naked and they see his shame'. So you're saying, Paul, that if anyone is not baptized, then they are naked in a spiritual sense? Yes, still in their sins! And to defile their garments would be, to be baptized but then not live a righteous life? Exactly, to not obey the Lord's commandments concerning purity of thought and actions, to walk unwise is partly explained in the next verse, verse 5, 'He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment (says the Lord) and I will not block out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels'. So it is to be as Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 4, 'clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life'; to be clothed in white then, is to be made immortal like Christ's Bride. She's mentioned in this way in chapter 19 and verse 8, and the white robe there, is said to be 'the righteousness of saints'. And so here in chapter 3 verse 5, 'their name is written in the book of life'. That's the record of the names of those who will receive everlasting life, after the resurrection takes place, when Jesus Christ returns to earth. It's not a literal book, of course, that's not necessary because God remembers, God knows us, but it's spoken of that way, as a memorial, that we might grasp the significance of it. Well, Paul, I think now we better move on to Christ's message to the believers in Philadelphia! Yes, the ecclesia of 'brotherly love'. Yes, that's what the name 'Philadelphia' means, isn't it? It does, brotherly love, and here Christ introduces Himself as 'He that hath the key of David'. God promised David a son who would rule on David's throne in Jerusalem forever, you'll remember that from 2 Samuel chapter 7. Now this promise to David becomes a very important feature in the prophets. For example the prophet Isaiah speaks of the sure mercies of David and particularly, it is referred to in Luke chapter 1 by the angel Gabriel. It was the angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary and told 3 her that she would have a son named Jesus. And of this Jesus that was to be born, the angel Gabriel said, 'The LORD God shall give unto Him the throne of his father David; and of his kingdom there shall be no end'. Obviously, David's throne over Israel was in Jerusalem, and for the throne to be restored, Jerusalem is to be restored with the throne, when the Lord comes! The key of David, means that He has the power to open and shut; that the authority of the kingdom is His! So that's why in verse 8, Christ says, 'I have set before thee an open door'? Yes! The narrow gate that leads to the kingdom. You will notice that Christ also says that they have 'kept my Word and hast not denied My name', so some still hold on to the true gospel, while there are others as verse 9 says, claim to be Jews, but are not. These are false brethren, whose claim to Christianity shows them to be liars; they're really of the synagogue of Satan. As you know, the word 'Satan' means 'adversary', and when Christ says He'll make them of the synagogue of Satan' (literally, 'I will give them up'), it means He will abandon them to the errors of what was to eventually become known as, Orthodox Christianity! (Music) Right, Paul! we'll read verse 10 then, shall we, of chapter 3 of Revelation? 'Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth'. Now, some of them in Philadelphia, Paul, obviously kept the Word, and will receive the blessing promised. But what is this 'hour of temptation' from which the faithful would be protected? The Roman world under the pagan emperor Decius tried to stamp out Christianity. And we get this expression here 'to try them' because by now, the very corrupt church deserved it in a way; and in this period of persecution when they tried to remove Christianity from the world, the false brethren were killed and because of that, truth survived. This was the year AD. 248 to 260 but by then, the faithful had fallen asleep in Christ, as is indicated in that verse. These should receive a crown, as Peter says in 1 Peter 5 verse 4, 'a crown of glory that fadeth not away'. So the idea of being a pillar in the temple, verse 12, 'him that overcometh will I made a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out', so this idea here, Paul, is to be part of the temple of Christ's body, immortality; is that correct? That's right, yes, and He goes on to say, 'and the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which cometh down out of heaven'. The saints are described in Revelation 21 verse 2, as the new Jerusalem, this isn't a literal city here, but it’s a composite city that is built up of people, and it's described to us there as the glorious city of the saints! Now why does it say 'the name of my God'? Well, the idea is similar; God says in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 16, 'I will dwell in them', and in its fullest sense, I will dwell in them can only be true, when our bodies are changed to spirit immortality like God Himself. Thank you, Paul! Now that brings us to the seventh ecclesia, in Laodicea. No doubt 4 Christ describes Himself in verse 14 and we'll read this, 'And unto the angel of the ecclesia of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God'. He says He is the 'faithful and true witness', I suppose because by now there were very few genuine followers of Christ left? Few genuine followers left, that's right! Now Jesus is described as the beginning of the creation of God, and what we're talking about here is a new creation which commenced with His conception in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. A creation that began with Him and is finally to be completed at the end of the millennium, the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, which is mentioned in chapter 21 verse 1 to 5. By the way, Steve, Laodicea is another remarkable place; it's water supply is drawn from the old city of Hierapolis. Hierapolis is a few miles away on the hillside, Laodicea itself is down in the valley; when we were at Hierapolis we bathed there in warm springs. It was quite concentrated mineral water, and you can see where the very ancient aqueducts carried this warm mineral water from the springs down into the valley, and you can even see the pipes going up into the site of the ancient Laodicea. And when this water reached Laodicea, it still was quite warm and very unpalatable! And history tells us, that visitors were known to vomit from drinking the water. Now meanwhile, while we're there, and bathing in this very warm water, on the mountains around, snow could be seen on the tops. So we've got this expression in verse 15 and 16 of chapter 3, 'I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot; so then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth'. Why cold? Well, cold is refreshing. do you remember the proverb, Proverb 25 and verse 13, cold is as refreshing as the cold of snow in the time of harvest'. What about hot? Well, obviously that would be fervent, while lukewarm is to be lifeless, or insipid. And why were they 'lifeless and insipid and lukewarm? Because, says Christ in verse 17, 'they felt they had need of nothing. This was a very self-satisfied people, and yet their real position is described by Christ in verse 17, as 'Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and notice not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked'. Blind? Blinded by pride and ignorance; Naked? still in their sins because they weren't really true Christadelphians or true followers of Christ, and therefore, Christ threatens to 'vomit them out'. This is really a shocking condition that Christianity had fallen into. I can see why Jesus says in this particular letter to Laodicea, 'buy of Me gold tried in the fire', that is, faith developed by reading the Word of God. We're told that, of course, in 1 Peter 1 and verse 7, he also says that thou mayest be rich, rich in faith, of course, and is of the kingdom, that's James 2 verse 5, Steve, that's right! He also says 'buy of Me white raiment' which we've already seen represents righteousness. Yes, we saw that of the Bride of Christ, in chapter 19 and verse 8. Why then, Paul, the expression 'anoint thine eyes with eyesalve'? Apparently, Laodicea was known for its ointments, probably because of the minerals from its water! and in particular, it was known for an eyesalve. But for all that, they 5 couldn't themselves see the true gospel, they needed to rub in God's Word. Now, let's look at verse 19, the Lord now says to them, 'As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent'. So as a father, He loves, but nevertheless, chastens His children for their development. And then in verse 20, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me'. The door, obviously, is the door of the heart; we must listen to His Words in the bible, if we're going to hear His voice! What about an inner voice? is this Christ speaking to us? No, it's not! the inner voice is certainly not Christ speaking to us; I know it's easy to get carried away with that idea, just realilze that God Himself says through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 17 and verse 9, 'That the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who shall know it?' You can't trust the heart, you can't trust the inner voice, it might just be deceitful, desperately wicked. What we do know we can trust is the bible; feelings can be very misleading! Then He says in that verse 20, 'I will come in to him' what does that mean? Well, let's take the apostle Paul, he says in Ephesians 3 and verse 17, 'Christ will dwell in your hearts by faith' NOT some kind of disembodied dwelling inside of us. Christ will dwell in your hearts by faith, by as much as we have got HIS WORD IN US! Well then, moving on to verse 21, Paul, we might like to read that, 'To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne'. And there's the reward, isn't it? the reward is to sit with Christ upon His throne! To sit with Christ upon His throne when He has overcome in the future; you see, He's not sitting on His throne at the moment, He's sitting on the right hand of God. Neither has He overcome yet; oh, yes! He's overcome sin in His personal life, He's overcome the grave and He's alive for evermore, but the expression here is I OVERCOME. His enemies are not yet destroyed, His throne is not yet set up in Jerusalem, but I believe that the time when this will be fulfilled is now fast approaching! so we have in verse 22, 'He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the ecclesias'; it's urgent now, there isn't much time left for us. Well, the next chapter will take us forward to when the throne is set up; so we'll look at that next time, God willing. But I do have a question that we might ponder or think about between now and then; you see, in chapter 4 and verse 2 it says, 'The throne was set up in heaven', not Jerusalem, and I very much want to hear what you have to say about that! Next time, Paul! Yes, that's a good one and I think it's quite interesting, actually with chapter 4, we're really going to start getting into the prophecy of the Apocalypse, and we'll see it's unfolding through history. It gets quite exciting from now on, I think! So let me sum up what we've done on these letters to the 7 ecclesias. We've seen how Christ shows that gradually an apostacy would develop and just about swamp the truth. Therefore, there is a warning in these epistles and we must take that warning. You know, the message to each ecclesia ends with, 'he that hath an ear, let him hear'! So let's hear carefully that the reward might be ours! And what's the reward? To shine with 6 Christ in glory as the morning star, at the dawn of God's kingdom on earth. You know, it says 'blessed is he that readeth and they that keep the words of the prophecy of this book, and keep the things that are written therein, for the time is at hand'. Thank you, Paul, I found the discussion tonight very stimulating and very thought provoking!