If Christ were to speak to the Church today, what would he say? In this message on Revelation 2–3, Pastor David Platt teaches us that Christ desires his church to define themselves by their pursuit of him. By doing so, the church can stand in a world that offers competing desires.
If Christ were to speak to the Church today, what would he say? In this message on Revelation 2–3, Pastor David Platt teaches us that Christ desires his church to define themselves by their pursuit of him. By doing so, the church can stand in a world that offers competing desires.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author and teacher David Platt. If you have a Bible I hope you do then we invite you to open with me to Revelation chapter 2. If you're not already there In Revelation chapter 2, I invite you to pull out those notes as returning. I want to share with you the first sermon I ever preached. It was from Revelation chapter 3. It was in the eighth grade and for some reason I was compelled to choose the text in which Christ says to His church I will spit you out of my mouth. So true story. I locked up to the front this group of students and adults probably a couple hundred people, and I was holding a bottle of water in my hand and before I said a thing, I took a sip. I took a sip and I spewed it out on the front row there and I looked at everybody and I said that's what God thinks of you if you're lukewarm. So not a promising start to preaching, but it's what happened. So we've come a ways for your benefit, but it does. This reflects some of the graphic imagery we see from Jesus to His church in Revelation chapter 2 and 3. Mark this down from the beginning Jesus does not pamper His people. He loves His people too much for that. He loves His people enough not only to comfort them but to confront them. He loves His people enough to convict and cleanse and challenge them with stern warnings of imminent judgment, not playing games. I've titled this sermon Words from Christ to a Church at War, because this is the reality behind the book of Revelation. Either in the first century, the 21st century, the church is in a battle on a daily basis with sin and evil and suffering, and you know this, don't you? You're familiar with this as a follower of Christ. You face temptation every day to turn from Christ, to compromise with Christ, to trust in yourself, to give in to sin. All across this room tonight, there are battles raging for marriages and homes and minds and hearts. You know, last week alone, every single day at least heard one account of marriages coming apart, ministers falling into moral failure, men and women in the church facing new bouts of physical suffering. And I have found myself just freshly longing for the day when sin will be no more and suffering will be no more. That day is coming, but today we're in the battle. We're in a war for our souls, the souls of men and women around us and all around the world who don't know Christ and His love and His mercy and His salvation. We're in a battle that is being waged here, in each one of our lives, in this church, in this world. It's a part of a much larger cosmic battle between conflicting kingdoms the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. And so here in Revelation 1-3, what we see is Jesus walking among His churches in the midst of battle, and he's speaking to them and he's calling them to hold fast, persevere in the midst of the battle, to walk with purity in a world of sin and evil, to live with a passion to proclaim the gospel, even when you're afraid and even when it may cost you your life, because Jesus is saying there's something greater than just your life here on earth that's at stake. Jesus is saying your life is at stake for eternity in this battle. He's saying that to us tonight. I don't want to be over-dramatic. This is true, this is real. Your life, right where you are sitting, is at stake for eternity, based on how this battle plays out. Not just your life, my life, but the lives of people around us that we live among. Work next to or school next to. The lives of peoples and nations are at stake for eternity, based on how this battle plays out. So Jesus doesn't play games. He comes to his church and he speaks clearly to them about their spiritual state. He encourages them, comforts them where they are enduring and trusting in him and proclaiming the gospel. He calls them out where they're compromising and their faith is waning, and he warns them not to fall away. And in the end, he promises them that he's coming soon and in light of that promise, he urges them to be ready. So I want to do all those things tonight as we look at this text. I am praying that you will be comforted and strengthened in the battle where you need comfort and strength, and at the same time, I'm praying that there would be deep conviction in the next few minutes all across this room as we are giving ourselves to sin in various areas of our lives and compromising in our relationships with Christ and our witness in this world. I'm praying that Christ would wake us up to see that he is King and Lord and Savior and Judge, and he's coming soon. And with him he is bringing reward and he is bringing wrath, depending on how we respond to him, even tonight. So what I've done is I've taken these seven letters to these seven churches and, instead of looking at them one by one, we are going to look at them together as a whole and we are going to see you can follow this in your notes just kind of from the top to the bottom. We are going to see how Jesus commends his church in these letters, how Jesus rebukes his church, what Jesus commands his church to do, how Jesus warrants his church, all of that leading to Jesus's promise of reward for his church, his promise of reward for Christians who buy God's grace, fight the battle faithfully all the way to the end. And I'm praying that God will use these letters from Christ to a church at war in the first century to speak very clearly tonight to a church at war in the 21st century. I take great comfort from Revelation, chapter 3, verse 22, the very last verse. In this passage the Bible says he who has in here, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and that's a clue for us. These words are not just for the churches at Ephesus, smyrna, pergamum, thyatira, sardis, philadelphia and Laodicea. These are words to many more churches in the first century and to many churches in the 20th centuries since then, including the church of Brachyls today. So let's have ears to hear tonight To every member of the church of Brachyls, to every Christian who is a member of another church and visiting with us tonight. Let's open our ears and let's listen to what the Lord Jesus is saying to us. This is church. We talked about this last night Last week. He is in our midst. He is speaking to us tonight, so let's listen to what he says. For those of you who may not be a follower of Christ and not a Christian, and you are visiting with us tonight, I hope you feel welcome and I want to invite you. As you listen in on these words from Jesus to his people, I pray that you will see a Savior who loves his people so much that he does not leave them alone in a world of sin and evil and suffering, but he draws them to himself and my prayer is that as you listen in that, you and your heart might be drawn to him as well, drawn to know his love and trust him your life, now and forever. So I put at the top of your notes a few truths and I want to set the stage for our journey through these seven letters. So four reminders, in a sense, four truths that I think are foundational from the start. Number one Jesus knows us truly. Now, these infuse all these letters. Many of these letters begin with Jesus saying I know your works, I know you. And the picture we have throughout these letters is clear. Jesus knows this church better than they know themselves. And this is maybe most frightening and clear. You get to chapter three, verse one, and look what it says to the church and shardist Jesus says I know your works. On halfway through verse one, I know your works, you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. That is a frightening verse. Is it possible for a church to have all the signs of life? People look on the outside and say yes, life, that church is alive and active and the Lord Jesus Christ look at the exact same church and say completely dead. That's scary. Is it possible for Jesus to say that to a church? Even more specifically, is it possible for people to look at the church of Brook Hills and say that church is alive and Jesus from heaven? Look at the church and this church and say dead? Is it possible for people to look at a Christian, a man or a woman and say that person, oh, they love God, they're following God, they're alive when the reality is Jesus looks at that same person and sees deadness. That's frightening. There's no room for pretense in this, when Jesus knows us truly. So that's why we see over and over again. Have an ear, open your ears, listen to Jesus speaking to you. He's showing us our blind spots and we need him to do that. We need Jesus to show us where we are fooling ourselves. We are all prone to spiritual deception. We are all prone to overestimate our spiritual condition, to think that we are fine when we are far from it. This is a dangerous thing. One of the primary tactics of the adversary is to deceive us and to think we are something spiritually when we are not. So Jesus knows us truly, so let's listen to him. Second truth here at the start Jesus loves us deeply. So what Jesus is doing in these letters is he's caring for his churches. Even in his most stern, strong, startling statements, he is calling his churches away from sin and destruction. Lay out a seer for whom he has nothing positive to say. Even in the midst of this I want to spew you out of my mouth. Jesus says those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. My two-year-old little girl is running into a street and a car is coming. It is a loving thing for me to yell out sternly and strongly for her to stop, to run after her, get in her face and say don't run into the street. It's a loving thing to do, and so see the love behind this. Jesus is speaking to those who are wavering in their faith and walking into sin, and so he speaks sternly and strongly to them because he loves them. And this is beautiful how he's holding out hope to them, even amidst the most stern, strong warning. He's saying to a church that he's ready to spew out of his mouth, repent and we'll have a meal together. The very reason he's speaking to these churches, even those that are in the worst shape, is to hold out hope to them. So feel that there is no one in this room that is beyond the hope of Jesus Christ tonight. Isn't that good news? No matter what your past, no matter what your present looks like, you are not beyond the hope of Jesus Christ. It loves us deeply. It's a good thing that the one who knows us truly, loves us deeply. Third, he guards us zealously. Jesus guards his church zealously. He taxes his church, he provides for his church, he preserves his church. That's what Jesus is doing here and what a gracious gift God has given to you and me in this room, in these letters, to think that Jesus, 2,000 years ago, revealed a vision to John, his words to his church in that day, in a way that 2,000 years later, as we come together in this room on this night, in a battle with sin and evil and suffering, we have the words of Christ to us in this battle, that he is present among us and he desires to protect us from one of his lampstands, church-ship-workills. He desires to protect us and provide for us and preserve us to the end. So that's why he's speaking to us tonight, because he guards us zealously. He's guarding you and me and pulling us back and keeping us from wandering and wavering in our faith and encouraging us to press on today. So Jesus guards us zealously. And finally, jesus uses us purposely. So Jesus not only wants to sustain and strengthen you and me in the battle, he wants to send us out on a daily basis in the front lines of this battle so that others might know his mercy, so that others might know his grace, so that other people might know that the one who died on the cross and rose from the grave and victory over sin for people's salvation, who's alive forevermore. So Jesus' purpose is not just to keep us in the kingdom. Jesus' purpose is to use us to advance the kingdom, and that's really driving all of these churches which we'll see. So, based on those truths, jesus knows us truly, he loves us deeply, he guards us zealously and uses us purposely. Let's think about how Jesus commends his church in Revelation 2 and 3. Now a couple of just side notes for clarification. When Jesus speaks to these churches, he says to John, to the angel of the church, in fill-in-the-blank right, and some people think that the angel of the church represents a pastor or leader in that church. But most people believe that this is a picture of basically angelic representation or identification before the Lord, representing each one of these churches. And so Jesus addresses specific things in each of these seven churches. But don't forget that the whole book of Revelation would be sent to all of these churches. So it's not like the Church of Ephesus just got Revelation 2, 1 through 7. They also heard what Jesus said to Smyrna, pergamum, thayatair and so on. And so Jesus is addressing specific situations, but in the dressing those specific situations, he's speaking to all of his churches, then and today. So then let's put him together. How does Jesus commend his church? Four primary ways. Number one Jesus commends his church for faithful perseverance in the Word of Christ. For faithful perseverance in the Word of Christ, one of the key themes throughout the book of Revelation, and it's evident from the very beginning of these letters to the churches, ephesians, christians. Jesus commends them for their toil and patient endurance. In fact, why don't you circles or underline this phrase? It's mentioned four times in these seven letters. You see patient endurance, or enduring patiently. I want you to see the emphasis here from the very beginning of Revelation, chapter 2, verse 2. Right into the Church of Ephesus, jesus says I know your works, your toil and your, so underline it here. Patient endurance, that's the phrase. Patient endurance. Underline or circle that. And now you cannot bear with those who are evil but have tested those who call themselves apostles that are not and found them to be false. Then look at verse 3. I know you are here. It is again Enduring patiently. So underline it or circle it there Patient endurance, enduring patiently, two times the Church of Ephesus. Now you get to Smyrna and the idea is there, this is the Church that is enduring in the middle of persecution, even death. You got church impergamum that's also not denying their faith in the midst of struggle. Then you get to Thyatira. Look at chapter 2, verse 19. Jesus says to the Church of Thyatira I know your works, your love and faith and service, and what Patient endurance. So circle it, underline it there, patient endurance. So I know your patient endurance. And you keep going to chapter 3. Come to Sardis, which there's not a lot to commend in Sardis, except for a few people. And then you get to Philadelphia and you see this one more time in verse 10. Verse 10, jesus says to the Church of Philadelphia because you have captured my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world. So circle or underline patient endurance there. Patient endurance, just let that phrase stick out in your mind. Patient endurance, faithful perseverance in the Word of Christ, this is what he's commending them for For, day by day, in the middle of the battle, enduring with patience. And this played out in a couple of different ways. On one hand, these early Christians are commended by Christ for guarding the Church internally Patient endurance, demonstrated by guarding the Church internally. This is particularly evident in Ephesus, the beginning of chapter 2, they did not tolerate evil, they did not tolerate heretical teachers in the Church. Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 6, tells us that they hated false teaching in the Church and they worked zealously to keep it from infiltrating the Church. They tested their leaders to make sure that what their leaders were teaching was true and faithful to God's words. And when the leaders were teaching anything other than God's word and they dealt with that seriously. So they did not grow weary in guarding the Church from falsehood. They did not begin to relax. Relax, well, it's not that big a deal. Patient endurance, guarding the Church from falsehood. So Jesus commends them for guarding the Church internally and Jesus commends this Church for advancing the Church externally. Now, that's not as much Ephesus, which we're going to see in a minute, but it was the case in cities like Pergamum, where they were enduring as faithful witnesses to Christ in the world, even to the point of death. Which leads to the second thing. Jesus commends this Church for Not just faithful perseverance in the Word of Christ, but faithful proclamation of the name of Christ. So perseverance and proclamation, perseverance in his word, proclamation of his name. They're at Pergamum. They're living in the middle of what Jesus calls Satan's throne. An antipas is killed for faithfully proclaiming the name of Christ. There was faithful proclamation of Christ in light of opportunity that Christ presented to them. This was evident particularly in Philadelphia where Jesus said I've set before you an open door which no one is able to shut, a door to the kingdom that obviously the Church of Philadelphia had walked through personally, but they were leading others through as well, particularly Jewish people. They were sharing the gospel with Jewish people, they were coming to know Christ as the Messiah, even though these Christians at Philadelphia were facing persecution. For that Opportunity was there and they were proclaiming the name of Christ in the middle of it. So Jesus commends them for proclamation of his name in light of opportunity and in the midst of opposition from all sides Religious, governmental, social, economic. It's interesting when you look at the circumstances in each one of these cities, you realize very quickly that it was not popular to proclaim the name of Christ in any one of them and to proclaim the name of Christ in any one of these cities was extremely costly. In cities like Pergamum and Smyrna and Philadelphia, we see and learn about opposition from Jewish synagogues who were slandering Christians and reporting Christians to the Roman Empire for being cultic. What would happen then? They would then begin to face governmental opposition from the Roman Empire, for Christians would not bow to Caesar, would not participate in emperor worship. It was common, in many sense required. The reason it's not to do that. So not to do that would be to face to face the Roman Empire. Then there was economic opposition. The church in Smyrna in chapter 2 was impoverished precisely because of their proclamation of the name of Christ and their perseverance in the word of Christ. See, here's the way it worked. Just a little economic background here. In most of these cities you had trade guilds that it was imperative for a worker to be a part of in a particular trade. So say you were a merchant or a baker or a potter, then you would be a part of a guild with other merchants or bakers or potters, and each guild had its own patron god or goddess that that guild would pay respect, honor, worship to. There would be guild festivals where food would be sacrificed to these gods festivals. That would then lead into all kinds of immorality and all of that was intertwined in the setup of the guild and it was obviously economically and socially advantageous to be a part of the guild almost necessary to be a part of the guild. But followers of Christ who are persevering in the word and proclaiming the name of Christ couldn't be a part of a guild as dedicated to the worship of a false god. And so if you were holding fast to the word and proclaiming the name, then you would not fit in the guild, which would have a huge economic ramification on you, would need to economic deprivation and be left out socially and economically. There's you got economic and social opposition built into that. And Jesus is saying there's slander coming against Christians in these places like Smyrna, for holding fast to God's truth and proclaiming God's son Jesus as the Messiah. And I just want to pause real quickly here and just point out that there is a word here for us today. Increasingly in our culture, it is increasingly common in our culture for Christians who believe this Bible and who proclaim this gospel of Jesus, christ as the only way to salvation, for Christians who believe the Bible, hold fast to it and proclaim the name of Christ not only to be labeled kind of out there, but to be labeled dangerous and evil in our culture. To proclaim this word in our culture today leads to charges of being anti-gay or anti-choice or anti-women or anti-intellectual or anti-diversity, or intolerant or ignorant or arrogant. The more steadfastly you or I hold to this word and proclaim the name of Christ in this culture, the more opposition will come from all sides religious, governmental, economic and social. So do not be surprised and, brothers and sisters, do not shirk back. There will be increasing temptation to shrink back from this word and from this name. It's happening all across the church in our culture. And Jesus, just as you just called his church in the first century, hold fast and keep proclaiming the name and hold fast to his word. He's calling you and me to hold fast to his word and proclaim his name even in the midst of opposition and particularly in the light of opportunity. So that's not easy, which is why, third thing, jesus commands his churches here for is trusting God amidst testing in the world, for trusting God amidst testing in the world. So go with me to smerner on this one, chapter 2, verse 10. And I want you to see what Jesus says to them there. So this is a church that is experiencing suffering, tribulation, poverty, slander, as they proclaim Christ, and listen to what Jesus says to them. Chapter 2, verse 10. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. And most scholars believe that 10 days is not a literal 10 days, but symbolic of a limited period of time. You will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. What an astounding verse. This is Jesus telling his children that he is going to let them, let the devil throw them into jail. A little background on smerner People were not imprisoned just to be locked up for a while. They were imprisoned with a view toward impending death. That's why it says be faithful unto death. So why is Jesus allowing the devil telling them hey, this is common. The devil is going to throw you into prison for you to be killed. Why? The answer is in the text the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested. So what's being tested? The answer, that's clear. Their faithfulness to Jesus is being tested. Will these brothers and sisters be faithful unto death? Will these Christians trust God, even when they are ripped away from their families, thrown into prisons and then literally put on the chopping block? Will they still trust God? So follow this. God allows, in some sense ordains Satan to cause suffering for the testing of his saints. And it's what we see all throughout the Bible, isn't it? It's the Joseph narrative in Genesis. It's the whole book of Job. It's Jesus being led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It's Paul in 1 Corinthians 12, thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment him. Given to him. God allows, even ordains, all of these kinds of things, even this kinds of suffering, for our good. So follow this, follow this. Satan is subordinate. May this be clear. Satan is not in control. Satan is subordinate and he intends suffering in our lives to sabotage us. So remember Satan is subordinate, satan is on a leash. Satan can do nothing to God's people apart from God's permission, god's ultimate purpose. All throughout these letters, what we're seeing is Satan trying to sabotage the church. We see a synagogue of Satan referred to, the devil's about to throw you into prison. You live where Satan's throne is where Satan dwells. The radical teachings of the church are described as the deep things of Satan. Satan is sabotaging the church and Christians here and he is doing the same thing all over this room. He is tempting pulling away, he is discouraging, he is attempting to defeat. This is not some fairy tale cartoon. This is real. There are spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that want to sabotage your soul Through trials and temptation and suffering. Spiritual forces of evil who want to use trials in your life spiritually, physically, relationally, of all kinds want to use trials in your life to sabotage you. But God is something and he uses suffering to sanctify us. So Jesus says you're going to be tested for 10 days. You're going to have tribulation. Be faithful unto death. Trust God all the way. Trust God amidst testing and I will give you the crown of life. He's saying this is for your good. It's as if Jesus is saying I know you don't understand all of this. I know you don't understand everything that's going on around you and your trials and your suffering. There's a mystery to why all these things are happening. But trust God, persevere in faith. Don't stop proclaiming Christ, even if it costs you everything. Don't stop proclaiming him, for the crown of life is coming. And that's exactly what happened in the church at Smyrna. The story is told of Polycarp, one of the early bishops, second century bishop of the church at Smyrna, who undoubtedly would have been familiar with this letter from Christ to this church. Polycarp, at 86 years old, was brought before the Roman governor and told that if he would not recant his faith and acknowledge Caesar as Lord, that he would be killed. All Polycarp had to do was offer a small pinch of incense before Caesar's statue and he could escape torture and death. And Polycarp looked back at the Roman governor and said 86 years I have served Christ and he has never done me any wrong. How could I blaspheme my King who has saved me and steadfast in his stand for Christ? At 86 years old, polycarp was burned alive at stake. So God, give us grace in the Smyrna to trust God through 86 years of testing. If that's what he gives to us, god, give us grace at 86 to be trusting him all the more than we are even at this moment. Trusting God, not that we understand everything that's going on around us, but trusting God amidst testing in the world. He commends his church for this, faithful, even unto death. Finally, these churches were committed for loving God amidst temptation from the world, for walking in purity. So picture here the names of the few in Sardis who had not soiled their garments in the scent of the world. They were walking with Christ in a manner worthy of his name. So these are the things for which Jesus commends his church Faithful, perseverance, proclamation, trusting God amidst testing, loving God amidst temptation. Now that leads to Jesus rebuke of his church. What I've done is identified in these two letters two main causes of rebuke. In these seven letters, actually, only five of the seven churches are rebuke. There are two churches, smyrna and Philadelphia, who there's not a specific rebuke of. But among those fives that are rebuke, here's the two main reasons why they're rebuke. One, for compromise. So we've already talked about how there was great pressure from all sides religious, governmental, social, economic pressure that quite simply was leading many in the people of God to settle for less than what God had called them to. There was compromise in the church, two primary ways. One, there was tolerance of evil in the church, tolerance of evil, idolatry and immorality Tolerated in the church. We see talk about the Nicoladans, which we don't know exactly all the Nicoladans were teaching, but we do know that their teaching was leading to sexual immorality and idolatry in the church. In Pergamum, jesus says in chapter two, verse 14, you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balaak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that, here it is, they might eat food sacrificed to idols, idolatry and practice sexual immorality. In Thyatira, chapter two, verse 20, people of God are being seduced into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that's been sacrificed to idols and they were tolerating it in the church. Not a big deal, it's okay, justifying it Tolerance of evil and that was rooted in tolerance of error. False teaching and false teachers spread throughout these churches. There were teachers in the church who were condoning this kind of immorality and idolatry. I mentioned earlier that there's this temptation to compromise with these trade guilds to participate in these feasts with food that were dedicated, was dedicated to false gods, and there were teachers in the church who were saying, oh, it's no big deal, you don't want to lose your job or your business over this, so just participate in the feast. You know your heart, it'll be good for you to witness. Teachers were spreading this kind of falsehood that was leading to compromise in the church. Teachers who were indulging in immorality were being tolerated, even supported and listened to in the church. So the church is rebuked for not zealously confronting evil and error in their midst. And inevitably, compromising the church led to compromise with the world and these churches began to look just like the culture in the cities around them and there was no distinction between the church and the pagan culture surrounding the church. Because of compromise On a variety of levels, for a variety of reasons. There was compromise for the sake of financial gain, compromise for the sake of social acceptance and compromise for the sake of personal safety. Christians in these churches were coming up with all kinds of ways to justify idolatry and immorality in their midst. You think about how easy it is. After all, you need to provide for your family, which means you need to belong to one of those guilds and, yes, that implies worship of a false God. But you know that's not your heart. And when that guild festival leads into all kinds of immorality, you would dishonor the host, shame them, shame yourself by leaving. So just stay there. You don't want to lose your influence that you can have for Christ. And if you're not careful if you proclaim the name of Christ too much, you'll be brought before the Roman governor and killed. What kind of witness are you going to have if you're dead? So it became very easy the church to begin to blend in with the world. Clearly there is a word here for us tonight. We live in a very different context in the first century, but it is just as easy for you and I, christian, to blend in with the world in suddenly seemingly justifiable ways For the same reasons that are listed here. For the sake of financial gain is not compromise with materialism and epidemic problem in the church in our midst? Compromise with materialism, brothers and sisters, is killing our souls and we don't even realize it. For the sake of social acceptance, isn't this one of the primary reasons, if not the primary reason, why we are not more actively proclaiming Christ, our neighbors and our camps and our workplaces? Because of the fear of man, for the sake of personal safety? Surely this is one of the reasons why we default to sitting back and coasting through church culture here in this context, while we turn a deaf ear to hundreds of millions of people who are literally starving to death, spiritually and physically, all around the world. But the cost to do something about it takes us out of our personal safety. Jesus rebukes his church for these things, compromise and for complacency related to this, for complacency for lack of love he says to Ephesus, for lukewarm faith. Jesus says to lay out to see it on this picture. And lay out to see it is particularly interesting. People often read this letter and assume that Jesus is saying cold is bad and hot is good. And I wish you were one or the other. I wish you were cold against me. You're hot on fire for me. But I don't believe that's what Jesus is saying here. Lay out to see it was a city with two primary sources of water. To the north, about six miles to the north, was the city of Hierapolis, home to hot springs. There were a source of healing and balm. Ten miles to the east of lay out to see it was Colosse, a city known for its cold, refreshing drinking water. So hot was good in Hierapolis, cold was good in Colosse, but water that was either healing or healing or refreshing, lukewarm water, was good for nothing. And that's the point. Church, and lay out to see it, had such an ineffective, apathetic faith that it was good for absolutely nothing. And Jesus says to realize that you make me sick here, apathy and your complacence. Why such a strong statement will follow this? Because this church in particular, lay out to see it, was marked by self satisfaction and self sufficiency. These here, this follow. These were wealthy Christians in a wealthy city who had everything they needed. The city of Lay out to see it was so wealthy that when a major earthquake devastated it in a d 60, they refused help from Rome to rebuild the city and said we're going to rebuild our city with our own resources ourselves. And they did it out. There was extravagant triple gate and towers, beautiful buildings, that gymnasium stadium with a long track, and this mentality and the city was reflected in the church. Just as the. As the city perceived no need of help from Rome, the church perceived no need for help from God. They had it all and in the midst of their material prosperity they had no clue the depth of their spiritual poverty is. Is that not a danger in our midst? We are Some of the wealthiest people to ever walk planet Earth. Is it possible For a people who have everything they need To lose sight of the depth of their need for God? Is it possible for a people who have most everything they want To wane and want for God. Let us be warned. Let us be warned this passage rebuked as it is applicable to us. Let us hear the danger of being seduced by material and physical wealth to the point where we are blind to utter spiritual poverty. Jesus says to that kind of church I want to outside looking in this complacency is an echo and a failure to complete the works of God and a failure to confess the word of God. So Jesus says to the church at Sardis I have found your works incomplete. In other words, you've settled, sat back and settled for less than all out obedience You're apathetic and half-hearted obedience you obey the commands that are comfortable to you. And then the one that comes up over and over again in these letters. If you were to ask me, after studying these seven letters over the last couple of weeks, what is likely the most dominant rebuke in these letters, I would say it's the opposite of the most dominant commendation. So the most dominant commendation in these letters is churches who are faithfully proclaiming the gospel in the middle of opposition, no matter what it costs. They're holding the gospel and they're proclaiming the gospel. The most dominant rebuke that infuses these churches is churches that are shrinking back from proclamation of the gospel. In this battle, it's Ephesus. What does he say? You're holding on to the word. You're zealously fighting false teachers in your midst, and that is good. But I have this against you you have forsaken the love you had at first, so not your first love. It's not what the text says. It's in the sense of primary love. You have forsaken the love you had at first. Now, what does that mean? Don't know love for God? Well, certainly, in a sense, love for God is the foundation from which any love in the church flows. But remember Ephesus. We studied this about a year and a half ago. We're walking through the book of Acts, acts chapter 19. You go back there sometime and look at verse 10 and you remember how, for two years, paul preached every day in Ephesus in the Hall of Tearness. He proclaimed the word of God there and people would come Ephesus. They would hear the word of God. Then they would scatter. And Acts, chapter 19, verse 10, says that all the residents of Asia, all the residents of Asia that's a lot of people All the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. As a result of what was happening at Ephesus. So what you had was people hearing the word at Ephesus and then scattering with the word and loving people enough to tell them the word of God, tell them that Jesus had died on the cross and risen from the grave and he could save them from their sins. This love that poured out in zealous evangelism all throughout Asia and Jesus rebukes them. Why Follow this? Follow this because, personally and pastorally, this is penetrating, I believe, for us it's impossible for church to value this word and love this word and preach this word and in some senses, even pride himself. And we hold the word, we love the word, we preach the word, and yet for that same church and the community to be silent with neighbors and coworkers and students about this life giving word. That's dangerous. To love the word and yet forsake love for people who need to hear the word. And so Jesus rebukes them for not confessing the word. You look at this Church of Brachels. There's word here in all of this. For us, compromise, it's so easy, it's so justifiable and it's happening all across this room. Let's be honest, there is compromise happening all across this room. It's so complacency, it's so subtle, it's so dangerous. We are lured daily by the world around us and the self satisfaction and self sufficiency Pro not to confess the word of God that we hold so tightly to and hear to people out there. So what do we do? Jesus commands this church three things. One remember remember. Remember who you are and what Jesus says to Ephesus and Sardis both First thing Jesus says remember who you are in Christ. Remember what you received from Christ. Remember what you've heard from Jesus. Chapter three remember his word. Hear it, don't turn your ears from it. So listen to it, let it soak in, don't pretend like everything is okay. Listen to Jesus, remember and repent, repent, act, turn from your sin, exposing sin, turn from it and trust in Jesus. Oh, see the grace of God here. Jesus is not yet right off any one of these churches. He's telling all of them over and over again. They got different issues, different struggles. We're remedy is the same in all of them Repent, and Jesus is giving them time to repent. What grace he gives us time to repent. So here is grace, see, is grace for you and me. Tonight we have time to repent and time tonight to turn from our sin and to stop toying with sin, to stop compromising. Stop compromising, to rise out of complacence. Repent and don't just hear this. Close the book and move on with life. This week, repent, jesus said this grace is speaking to us. Repent, turn from sin, remember, repent and then receive. Oh, this is great Receive from Christ. Here is gracious invitation to lay out to see you. Hear it to us in chapter three when he says I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire. I'll find your treasure in Jesus. Buy from me. Jesus says, like, stop going to the gallery and the summit to get all that you want. Like, come to me, I got better treasure than all of those places put together. Not saying it's bad to go shop ever, but we got gold from Christ that's to be had. Go into the prayer closet, close the door and get alone with him and call out for him and cry out to him. Be free from self, smug, self satisfaction and self sufficient. He says you can do this on your own. We need Christ. Buy gold from him, buy your treasure and close your life in him. Stop clothing your life and what everybody around you in this culture thinks is most important. Close your life and righteousness and all in us and humility, justice and fix your eyes on Jesus. He gives salve to anoint our eyes that we can see. Stop looking at the world like the world looks at the world. See the world as Christ sees the world. Jesus says come to me for these things. That's a command. What a gracious command. Come to me and I'm gold. We can obey that command. Want to obey that command. Jesus is the only source of treasure and truth and life. Just come to me, receive for me. Now. As he offers these command, jesus warns his church and you may be struck by the sternness of his warnings. I hope you are. Chapter two, verse five. Look at him with me. Unless you repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. The lampstand is symbolic of the church. What's that about? Chapter two, verse 16. If you do not repent, I will come to you soon. Listen to what Jesus says. He says I will war against you with the sword of my mouth. This is Jesus speaking to his church. I'm going to war against you with the sword of my mouth. Chapter two, verse 22. If she refuses to repent, I will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. Chapter three, verse three. If you will not wake up, jesus says, I'm going to come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. I'm coming like burglar against you. Chapter three, verse 16. We've talked about it I will spit you out of my mouth. These are startling verses that seem to imply that Christians are in danger of being rejected by Christ. Do you follow that Like that? I mean these verses seem to imply that Christians are in danger of being rejected by Christ. So what is going on here? And once you're following me, this is so key. Jesus is doing here what we see all throughout Scripture, all throughout Scripture, god gives warnings to Christians about falling away to keep Christians from falling away. God gives warnings to Christians about falling away to keep Christians from falling away. So there are passages in the Bible like these warning Christians not to fall away. They cause some people to conclude that Christians can lose their salvation. Hebrews three would be another example. Hebrews three, 11, 2, 14. Listen to these words. Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God, but exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be heartened by the deceitfulness of sin, for we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. And that passage seems to imply that it is possible for Christians to lose their salvation. But don't miss the context. They're in Hebrews or here in Revelation. These passages are not written to Christians who are thriving in their faith to say to them one day you may fall away. Now these passages are written to Christians who are wavering in their faith and God is saying to them. God is saying to you and me when we waver, don't fall away. And this kind of warning keeps us from falling away. It's one of the means God uses to draw us back to himself, to keep us from continuing to waver. Let me put it this way, I don't want you to be confused on this by grace through faith, true followers of Christ will persevere to the end. By grace through faith, true followers of Christ will persevere to the end. Guaranteed, everyone who is born again is born again forever. Well, persevere to the end. This is guaranteed by God the Father. 1. Peter 1, 3-5,. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, he has caused us to be born again into a living hope to the resurrection of Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven. For you who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time, it's guaranteed by God the Father, it's insured by God the Son. John 10, 27-29,. My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give them eternal life. They will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. When you're in the hand of Christ and the hand of the Father, you are secure, insured by God the Son, and it's accomplished through God the Spirit. Ephesians 1, 3, 13 and 14 says we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory. So the whole Trinity is involved in this thing, in keeping followers of Christ to the end, father, son and Spirit. And one of the ways that he keeps us is by warning us not to fall away. And those times when we're wandering from God, wavering in our beatings to Him, wavering in our trust in Him, he gives us good and gracious warnings to pull us back to himself. But that doesn't mean we just sit back and coast this thing out as followers of Christ, because God is going to keep us to the end, no, so keep going on your notes there. By grace through faith, yes, true followers of Christ will persevere to the end. At the same time, by grace through faith, true followers of Christ work to persevere to the end. So the Christian life? Nowhere in the Bible is ever described as coasting down a smooth hill with a breeze blowing through the wind. This is not found in the epistles of Paul. Instead, you're running a race and you're fighting a battle, and you're waging a war all the way to the end. As a Christian, this is all over Scripture. Jesus says Matthew 24, 13,. The one who endures to the end will be saved. Hebrews 3, 14, we read just a second ago we have come to share in Christ If indeed we hold original confidence firm to the end. Hebrews 10, 36,. You have need of endurance, so when you have done the will of God, you might receive what is promised. So we work, we work by grace, through faith, we work to persevere to the end. Now you might think well, what about those who don't endure? What about people who fall away and don't come back? You, I, likely know people who at one point can fast faith in Christ, claim to be Christians, but today want nothing to do with Christ or walking in total disobedience to Christ, or maybe even completely outright denying Christ. What about them, john? I trust is them. Same author here, in 1 John 2, 19, says of such people they went out from us but they were not of us, for if they had been of us they would have continued with us, but they went out. That it might be complained that they are all not of us. In other words, their falling away shows that they were not truly followers of Christ in the first place. That's why I emphasize true followers of Christ. There are many people, and there's some, maybe even many, in these seven churches who were embracing false teaching and living in idolatry and immorality, who would have claimed to be Christians, but even after these warnings, they would not repent, they would not listen and in their rebellion, their continued rebellion, they would show that they are not truly followers of Jesus in the first place. So, christian, let Jesus' warnings here be a wake up call to you to return to him, to refuse to settle for compromise and complacency in your life in any way. See the gracious God of the universe convicting of sin in your life tonight, my life tonight, to draw us back to himself. Hear his warnings to us as evidence of his grace, as he keeps us from wavering. At the same time, if you profess to be a Christian yet you refuse to repent and walk with Christ, be very concerned about the authenticity of your salvation. Be very concerned about the state of your soul. I urge you to not ignore his voice. Turn to him. Turn to him either for the first time, truly turn to him, or return to him as his child. Thankfully, this is not where these letters end with warning, end with a reward. Jesus, after these warnings and each one of these letters, promises eternal life to all who, by his grace, through faith, persevere to the end, to all of his children. Jesus promises reward, and the way these rewards are depicted is beautiful. All kinds of different images. So to Smyrna and Philadelphia. This promise of eternal life is portrayed as total vindication of Christ's ways in this world. Total vindication, jesus says. You're being slandered and persecuted by the synagogue of Satan, but it is going to be clear that I am the true Messiah and the Savior of all, and people will say that you're foolish for going to prison and dying for your faith. They will say that that kind of faith is nonsense, but in the end it will be clear that that kind of faith is the only thing that made sense. See this, brother or sister, let's live differently than the world around us. Let's turn things upside down. We live according to different values. We have different priorities throughout our life, priorities throughout our life. That makes us look very different in 280 culture around us. That makes us look too. Culture around us makes us look foolish. Go extreme in your obedience to Christ. You're proclaiming the gospel of Christ, proclaiming the name of Christ. You got a blank check on the table, letting go of possessions and priorities and plans and dreams to make the glory of Christ known in Birmingham and all nations. You look weird in this culture, but one day, the day's coming when it's going to be clear. That was the only God of life that made sense, and anything less than that is going to be shown to be foolish. Compromised with materialism for social acceptance and compromised for personal safety one day is going to be shown to be very, very foolish. Total vindication of Christ's ways in this world. Triumphant victory over Satan's powers in this world. End of every letter. You can go back and look at it. You see one phrase to the one who conquers, to the one who conquers the one who conquers will receive this. The one who conquers will receive this. It's one of the primary things in the book of Revelation. Conquering, overcoming Christian is a conquer, overcoming evil through faith in Christ and a triumphant victory that will last forever. Triumphant victory, total vindication. Secure protection from the horror of hell. Praise God. Chapter two, verse 11,. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. They may kill you, doesn't matter. You're going to live forever with Christ. Die is gained, live forever. Second death you're secure. Your name, chapter three, verse five, is in the book of life. Secure protection from the horror of hell. Shared participation in the reign of Christ. A crown of life is waiting for you. I will grant with you to sit with me on my throne, where we will have authority over the nations. What language here to be identified with Christ and His reign, with His name and His presence, with His authority. Total vindication, triumphant victory, secure protection from the horror of hell, shared participation in the reign of Christ, permanent citizenship in the city of God. We're going to dwelling with God. This is the reward in His city, with His name, a new Jerusalem where the old is gone and the new is gone. Come and you will belong there forever and ever and ever. Oh, I love this. The most clear depiction of the new Jerusalem, city of God that is waiting for you, comes to the church at Philadelphia. The church of Philadelphia, among all these cities, was the city that was most prone to earthquakes. In fact, there had so many earthquakes that many of the residents in Philadelphia lived outside of the city, on the outskirts of the city, because it was dangerous to live inside the city, because it was possibly being shaken. And Jesus says to them there's a city that is waiting for you that will never, ever be shaken and you will live there and nothing will ever destroy that city. Permanent citizenship in the city of God. And then then you see the end of these letters, this language of feasting over and over again. You conquer and you will eat from the tree of life. We're going to see that in the end of Revelation Last time. We see it as the beginning of Genesis, when God's people in sin were cast out from it, brought back around to it. Feast from the tree of life, eat hidden manna with Christ and hold picture and lay out a sea having a meal with Christ. So it's not just permanent citizenship in the city of God. The picture is there, awaits for you, christian, endured to the end, persevering faith, proclaiming the name. There awaits for you perpetual celebration in the presence of God. We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of Radical with David Platt. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radicalnet.