February 9, 2022 Wednesday Bible Study [Bishop Garfield Daley] "The Seven Churches In Revelation"

oh the lord bless you brethren beloved welcome to another uh bible study happy to have all of us who uh have tuned in and god indeed our father has been a good savior a good friend a good god and it is just awesome to have us together another wednesday evening to go through bible study i did plan to start a new series however as we know there was there were a few of the church i think three of them that we did not get to wrap up in the series that we were looking at recall that we were going through the seven churches of revelation and we had already gone through ephesus smyrna uh pergamos tayathira and therefore three more would have been left we spent quite a while going through those and somehow we set the piece we understand exactly what was happening in each of them and we learned and could easily see that the situation in each of the churches had things to teach the church then and even today have things to teach the church churches today and it is important that we do take the time out to look at the lessons that we can learn and do everything in our power to order our steps according to the things that we see the things that jump out at us and make sure that we are in tune with what it is that the good lord of heaven requires of us we are going to try to use the next uh couple of minutes the time that we have to just wrap up on the three they are not very long and it follows the same pattern that we would have been you know going through with all of the other churches we did make the point yes that uh as we went through uh the the things that were there that were in for example the church at ephesus uh the church at smyrna the church of pergamos we find that they all followed a particular um structure they all had an address they all had a description of jesus there was a word of commendation um and there was also a rebuke except for two of them regarding the condition of the church at the time and so they followed there was a command yes from jesus to the church there was a general exhortation and there was a promise of reward and this general structure pretty much went through the entire set of churches that we were looking at it would be the very same thing for these three that we will be going through and we just ask that we take the time out follow closely the things that are being revealed the things that are being highlighted and we will easily see that the messages still are relevant for the period that we are in today so we are going to look first of all at the church at smyrna the church in sarinas murder sardis and we are going to take our time but at the same time that we gently and slowly go through we are going to be moving at a pace because we are going to try to just capture the last three churches which is sardis philadelphia and the church at laodicea and we try to wrap them up this evening so that we can move on into the new series that we have in store for us so brothers and sisters let us zoom in and take a look at the church in sardis and let us see what we can extract from this church let us look together at the slide we are in the church of sardis and the scripture relating to this church is from revelation chapter number three verses one to six and you're gonna be spending some time seeing a lot of the slides and a little less of me and that is fine because i want us just to go through as quickly as swiftly as pos as possible but yet get the essence get the lessons that are there for all of us revelation chapter 3 we are going from verse 1 and unto the angel of the church inside is right these things say he that had the seven spirits of god and the seven stars i know thy works and that thou hast the name that the livest and art dead be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for i have not found thy works perfect before god remember therefore who thou has received and heard and hold fast and repent if therefore thou hast not watch i will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what our i will come upon thee 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 he that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment and i will not blot out his name out of the book of life but i will confess his name before my father and before his angels he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches now as we have done with all the churches that we have looked at so far we start start out giving a history of the particular city in which the church is located and in this particular church in sardis said this was about 30 miles from the city of tayathira it was at one time one of the most powerful city in ancient in the ancient world this was for three reasons one it's defense sorry the city was ideal for defense in that it stood high above the valley of hermos and was surrounded by deep cliffs that were impossible almost to scale and then apart from the defense secondly it was a place of heavy trading right so trade was done among sardis and the aegean islands and this brought a lot of financial resources to this city sardis and then thirdly because of its money so its defense its trade and its money made it a very important city the first coinage ever to be minted was done in sardis uh at some point long ago and in fact sardis was the place where modern money was born and so the city was wealthy however as a result of this wealth it literally led to moral decay moral depravity and as a result the city was a bit lethargic right the the the splendor that it once had became something of a distant memory as time went on as things happened as you know time spanned out somehow the greatness became a thing of the past it had lost its luster it had lost so much and what it once had was just a thing of the past now to give a little bit more about this city it was attacked and conquered twice right in 594 bc the persian king cyrus we all know of cyrus he actually ended the rule of cross us by skilling the very cliff which was a part of his defense and over the cover of night under the cover of night cyrus and his team came in and prevailed against the city of sardis then later in 214 bc the armies of antiochus the great again captured the city by the very same method and we find that this once wealthy powerful vibrant a city of defense of trade a city that had its money having been conquered it somehow no longer had the luster that it once had apart from the attacks from outside the city ultimately in about 80 17 yes was destroyed and somehow never seemed to recover and got back to the glory days that it once enjoyed that it once had and so the people of sardis even though over time they started out well and somewhere along the line because of what they had because of the things that they had achieved because of their particular position their particular place it was it money was there it's a lot of trade was there and it was fortified you know that sense of well-being overtook them and ultimately because of that that sense of well-being and they're falling into that seat of lethargy they lost out on what they once enjoyed and in spite of all of that the people of sardis still wanted to maintain their reputation as in many cases they live off what they once had and so here was a great city he was a wealthy city it was a city that had its glory days but it had drifted into the twilight because of what they had allowed they had allowed their sense of ease and their sense of what they had to take over and it became lethargic and they lost out on what they once had but yet in their own minds they didn't even see themselves as losing out and that they were no longer where they once were they still carried on as if they were enjoying the glory days when in fact the glory days had in fact gone and so they were living off they were maintaining their reputation as if things were still high and lusty and they were still at that power that place of power and strength that they once were but we need to understand in order to maintain its reputation sardis during the time of the roman empire yes because they thought that they had it when in fact they didn't and they approached the roman empire and requested the honor of building a temple to caesar of course this honor this request was denied because those that were in the new recognize that they did not have what it took to undertake this massive this great work to to to build a temper for caesar caesar knew that the resources really weren't there and i'll do what they once had the the might and the resources to do it at the time that they made the request their place of splendor the things that they had their glory days had passed and so uh the roman leadership denied the request of sardis uh to build this temple to caesar in fact the anna went to smyrna but not to sardis and when we started to look at the city and see how it was one of the things that we said earlier in our study of the seven churches that somehow and we need to understand the city the arena in which we operate as a church we must be very careful that the things which are identified with the city the way that the city operate the the state of the city we must be very careful that as a church we are not impacted by our environment we need to understand that we can as a church be impacted by the area the community the city in which we operate and it is our duty as people of god as a church to make sure that we are not compromised because of the environment within which we operate there are so much things happening there are so many things around us that can distract that can bend that can influence us and as a church we must look at what happened to all this church that we have been looking at and when we start to look at the church at sardis we find that the persecution that was rife over at the church at smyrna and in other of the churches none of it was in sardis there they were at a place where they were so compromised with the pagan surroundings that were there around them that they didn't even bother to trouble the church at sardis yes they had they had fitted in so to speak with the city they had somehow embraced all that was there that was happening in the city so they they they they trade and the money that was there and the ease that was in the city it somehow crept into the church and they they were so compromised they the pagan surroundings had somehow gotten a grasp of them that in the era that they were supposed to be impacting the era was literally impacting on the church to the extent that they didn't even bother to persecute the christians that were there because as far as the people around the pagan citizens around were concerned the church that was there the church what was in the midst of sardis and remember it was a church that was established by the apostles in those days it was an apostolic movement but they were compromised the people in the city didn't even see them as different they were doing what everybody else was doing and they themselves when the city became lethargic this particular church was also lethargic and so it is clear it is evident that the surroundings the people that they were supposed to impact with the word these people instead these pagan people instead had impacted the church and did not see them as different from them to the extent that persecution didn't even come their way they were compromised and we must be careful saints of the most high god that we are not impacted by the people and the system that we are supposed to impact that we are supposed to make sure that we send the word auto that we present jesus to we have to make sure that we impact them and not that they impact us very important lesson to learn no as we said in in in all the other churches and as we made mention of a while ago there are some things that are common yes to all the churches and we are seeing it happening here because one of the things we said that there is a description of jesus to all the different churches he described himself in similar in different ways sorry and he uses a description that matches what is happening in the particular city on the particular church in the area and here jesus describes himself and this this is how he describes himself and unto the angel of the church inside his right these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of god and the seven stars the seven spirits of god it all speaks to the the holy ghost the holy spirit that god is in fact in charge he is the spirit and it also says that in identifying giving a description of himself that he holds the seven stars and the seven stars as we had discussed in previous studies represents the messengers or the leaders or the pastors of the seven church churches so he's basically in describing himself he's saying he who hath the seven spirits of god which is basically speaking about the holy spirit and he's also describing himself as the one that holds the pastors are the leaders of the seven churches in his hands no he basically has and i don't know how because the commendation and the rebuke almost goes hand in hand but here he has a commendation for the christians at sardis he says i know your works that you have a name that you are alive jesus knew the church at sardis and that it had a name that is a reputation that they have life and vitality so he knew something about them and it would appear that he's giving them some word of commendation that you are you have a name or you want to hold on to a name and you want to ensure that your reputation of life and vitality is intact but then he goes right off to rebuke the very church by extending to them that listen in as much as you think this about yourself and it is probably good that you want to have a name and that you want this to be known of you but then he goes right off and made a very profound statement to this church at sardis he said you are dead so what we need to pull from these sins of god is that a good reputation doesn't matter what you think about yourself doesn't matter what people think about you it doesn't matter what you project out there a good reputation is no guarantee of true true spiritual character i'm sorry and we need to bear this in mind it is important brothers and sisters that we pay close attention to what jesus thinks about us it is important that we be clear that we be conscious that whereas we can think about ourselves in a certain way what jesus thinks about us is more important and he's going to have a particular thought about us by virtue of how we conduct ourselves by virtue of all we align ourselves with the word and it is very important i want to just present to us the difference between reputation and the character because the church of scientists had this reputation they had this name that they were this in other words they they were concerned so much about their reputation and we need to know what reputation is reputation basically is the beliefs or opinion that are held by people about us so somebody can literally think or we can even think of ourselves in a certain way and those looking onto us can think about us and have a certain perception of us that might be very good and at the end of the day it is not so much what people think about us are what we even think about ourselves of course we must think good of ourselves and we certainly want people to think about us and it is we me we must be careful that we don't just step out of the air we know who we are and we know what we have done and we know where we have been and so it is one thing to know who we are deep within and at the same time try to establish a reputation so that people can think about us and can have opinion of us that are positive and that are good when in fact our true character is what the lord looks at and formulate his opinion about us so reputation is what people think of us the beliefs and the opinions that are generally held about us what people think of us but character on the other hand is the mental and the moral qualities distinctive to an individual and this is what the lord looks at and makes his assessment as to who we are so god don't look at our reputation the lord jesus christ is not concerned about our reputation that is what people think about us and most times people can be wrong but our character gives a true picture of our mental and moral qualities and this is what jesus used when he looks at us and makes a determination and it's your character with who you are and it is therefore important that we recognize that while they thought that they had a name and they were alive and that they were doing well jesus looked at them that was their reputation that was what they had that was what they were putting out and holding on to jesus turned and looked at them and said but you are dead and we need to be very careful and so notice that they were dead because there was no fight against evil we need to understand that in our journey on this pathway we are always going to be confronted we are going to be confronted in warfare evil is going to come at us all kind of wicked things are going to devices are going to be tr formulated against us we are going to meet upon discouragement we are going to meet upon um every imaginable evil but it is important since of god with the lord jesus on our side we must put up a fight we must resist the devil resist simply means to go on the offensive means simply to put up a fight to don't just sit back and think that we are going to seal true we are going to have to do something and the lord has equipped us uh the lord has given us what is required what is necessary he has given us the spirit of god he has given us a will and he has taught us how to fight and we must put up a fight against evil many folks are dead today because they can't but they have fought for too long they have done so much but as long as we are in the church and as long as we are here on earth until jesus come brethren sins of god we must fight we must be brave against every evil we must resist the devil at all times when we fail to do that we are going to find that it only takes a little time and we are going to become dead the day that we stop resisting the day that we stop fighting the day that we stop pushing is the day that we are going to open up to death coming our way and this is exactly one of the reasons why sardis was described as being dead there was no sight they were not resisting the adversary and notice that this particular church they weren't even persecuted they didn't bother to persecute them because they realized that if they are just like us and i want to remind the saints any time we become like the people that we are supposed to be bringing to the lord i want to be like them we look like them we talk like them we act like them nobody can see a difference between them and us it means just like sardis we have compromised to the point where the folks don't even respect you they don't even they may ever talk a certain way but i can tell us they do not respect because for them they are just like us pagan people we don't even need to let us go put pressure on some other folks who are pushing for the lord so that we can stop them in their tracks but for the people inside this that was not the case and two they were just losing the battle dead men really don't fight battles being dead means the battle was already lost and the fight was over jesus said but you are dead the church at sardis was quite happy within themselves they were at peace but it was the peace of the dead what does that mean you one person said the only time you're going to have a certain kind of peace where you don't have no issue you don't have nothing fighting you know i'm not coming against you is when you're in the casket and the people outside who thought that they had peace it was the peace of a dead man they were literally dead but jesus wanted the church at sardis to do a particular thing in as much as they were dead and they had a name that they were something when they were nothing and that they were living when in fact they were dead in general that was the situation that was there but there was something that i observe about the lord and i want to relate it to all of us we need to understand inasmuch as that might have been what was the real situation there that they were dead we find that even within that space there were folks that were still trying to hold on and even to the church that jesus said to them you are dead eno turns to them and makes some statements some things that he wanted them to do he was still reaching out after them because as dead as they were if they decided that they wanted the lord he was willing to reinstate and to revive them and so here what he said to the dead church be watchful i have not followed your works to be perfect before god and that is evidently clear but then he goes on remember therefore oh you have received and heard who will fast and repent and he said look here if you will not watch i will come upon you as a thief so here it is that he started out and in describing the church and telling them where they were that they were not living at all but they were dead is no relating to them there is still hope i want you to be watching i want you to know that i have examined what it is that you are doing and who you are and your works are not perfect in other words it is unacceptable before god i want you to remember the things that you have received and that you have heard listen back to the teachings listen to this and remember the things that you have learned from before and hold on to them and as a result of doing that you know repent because if you don't watch i will come upon you literally as a thief and then he went on and said look here there are a few names even in sardis even in this dead church even in a life that is dead there is still hope and jesus said they have not defiled their garments and amongst that group that is dead they will walk with me in white brethren beloved your situation might be and i'm talking to individuals no we have spoken to the church we have spoken to the church and we are saying that in a broad sense that particular church they had a name and our reputation that they were doing this and that they were doing that and that they were lively when in fact jesus said you are dead and while that might have been the case with the church you can draw a little bit closer now and that easily was the case with individuals in the church but jesus is now saying that look there are few of you even insiders who have not defiled your garments and he made a call as we saw before even to those whose garments were defiled remember hold fast repent your words are not perfect in other words he was saying as individuals and as a church there is still hope turn to me and walk with me and for those who have not defiled your garments i encourage you keep on holding on you will walk with him in white you will walk with him in white and so if we dare to repent and to turn around and to hold on to him he has promised some rewards and to the church of sardis although you were dead you can become and be alive again and he had some promises even for those in the dead church even for those individual lives that right now are dead it can be turned around his arms are opened and if we dare to repent and decide to walk with god again here is what the lord jesus told them if they dare to overcome they will be clothed with white raymonds jesus will not blot out their name out of the book of life and he will confess the name of the overcomers before his father and before his angels what a thing look how it started out have a reputation that you're doing good when in fact you're not doing a thing and jesus himself declared that you are dead and yet he opened up the way for dead individuals and a dead corporate assembly to become alive again and having done that he has given a major set of promises that he will allow you to be cloned with white remains and not blot out any amount of the book of life and will confess your name before his father what a god so no matter where we are sins of the most high god no matter who we are and what we are going through it is important to know that the arms of the lord our god is opened um let us run right into the philadelphia church right so we close off with that with the church of sardis and we can easily pull and easily extract and see where we are and how we stack up against those that were in the church at sardis it is important to know that the lessons that were there are lessons to be learned today and we can see where we are put ourselves in the place look at the mirror and if there is the need to repent and to turn to god his arms are still open and he will give to us those very rewards that we have just looked at nowhere the philadelphia church is concerned revelation chapter number three speaks to this particular church and to the angel of the church in philadelphia right these things says he that is holy he that is true he that at the key of david he that opened it and no man shut it and shut it and no man open it i know thy works behold i have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it for thou has a little strength and has kept my word and has not denied my name behold i will make them of the synagogue of satan would say they are jews and are not but do lie behold i will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that i have loved thee because though has 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 behold i come quickly hold fast that which thou has that no man take thy crown him that overcometh will i make a pillar in the temple of my god and he shall go no more out and i will write upon him the name of my god and the name of the city of my god which is new jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from god and i will write upon him my new name he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches as we did just a moment ago with the church at sardis the church of philadelphia we gave a history and we are giving us a history again of philadelphia the city of philadelphia was about 25 miles southeast of sardis and about 100 miles east of smyrna it was the youngest of the seven and was called the gateway to the east because the roman postal route went straight through the city right now the city had planes to the north and the environment was suitable for growing grapes you know the economy the economy was an agricultural based economy and it had its industrial base also when it was founded philadelphia was founded as a missionary base for the ancient greek culture they call it hellenism it basically was the culture of the ancient greeks and why we say it was a missionary base is that it was a center that was established to spread the greek culture they were a part of the they are they were the dominant power the super power of the day so to speak and it was their desire to spread their culture and to spread their language right across the length and breadth of the areas that they had control over and of course we know that to be the entire asia minor asia provinces and they they wanted to spread their culture right across so this was essentially philadelphia it was established as this missionary place and we are going to see exactly how and why and how it impacts the church that was there no there is something else about the history of philadelphia that we need to know it was near a fault line when we say fault line and we talk about faultline what comes to mind right away is earthquakes when you're near a fault line it means that the line is constantly having movements and as a result the place is prone to earthquakes and aftershocks and this was exactly what was the situation with philadelphia as a result of the many earthquakes right that was here people we normally see sorry we normally see a lot and if you look to the that side there are a lot of pillars those i um what we call pillars going up into the here the air it it it was a part of their building construction you normally see high pillars and then the walls are there in between and the roof are high and whenever there is a earthquake and there were many what normally happened is that the roots the roof would cave in and the walls would tumble but somehow those pillars were built so strong that even when the earthquake keems on the aftershocks and all of those things the pillars are always left standing so the walls would tumble the rules would crumble and what we see standing in many cases are just the pillars of this magnificent building and notice also that the earthquake always had people in the city worried so history says that many of the folks literally live outside of the city wall they became tired of the constant earthquakes and then the aftershocks and when they think everything was gone no one started to rebuild it it wasn't long again that the earthquake would come and so many of them instead of staying in the city where there was so much trauma they moved to the outside and live outside of the city walls no the pillars of the building yes that was a part of what near philadelphia philadelphia on those pillars were the names of a fearful city servant are some distinguished person some distinguished priests any distinguished person in that city that had achieved some things and one and they wanted to honor them the way that they honor these folks was to inscribe their names on the pillars of the temple right because whatever happened the pillars always remain standing and so to inscribe the names of some noob person some faithful some distinguished person it was uh like the greatest honor right and so they will they will honor their illustrious sons you know by putting their names and on the pillars of the temple and all who will come to worship would see and would recognize and would know that these people have achieved great things now i want us to remember this about the history we are going to see jesus playing back on these things as he relate to these people who understood the meaning of these things what he's going to do for those in the church of philadelphia who overcame and who walked with him in spite of all that might be happening around them and we are going to be able to extract to see how it can impact us today also and that is the essence of why we are looking at the churches so again here is jesus giving a description of himself to the people at philadelphia and he's saying here in revelation chapter number 3 and verse 7 these things saith he that is holy he that is true he that at the key of david he that opened it and no man shot it and shot it and no man openeth so he's listing some things about himself he that is holy and true yes we and and that there's something significant about that statement because it is saying something about his godness is he's making a clear statement about who he is when he talks about he that is holy and he that is true and then again below that he says he that has the keys of david there is something about this that we need to understand because he's telling them something those folks right there in ephesus firstly jesus was saying when he said he that is holy and he that is true he was essentially making it clear that he was none other than the god himself this was a title that god used this title for god was used at different times in old testament scripture where he talks about himself as he that is holy let us look at isaiah 40 and verse 25 and let us also look at um the book of abercromb here it is in isaiah 40 and verse 25 he's saying to whom then will he like me or shall i be equal saith the holy one this is god speaking and this is the same title of holy that jesus is employing there in revelation 3 that we just read and the same god that spoke in isaiah 40 and saying who would he like me or who should i be equal the god that spoke then who was talking the holy one this is god himself jesus used the term in revelation no doubt to send the understanding to these folks that this is god himself speaking habakkuk chapter 3 and verse 3 god came to the man and the holy one from mount para paran his glory covered the heavens and the earth was full of his praise here again god is using that title that belonged to him where he referred to himself as the holy one or just holy sometimes it is just written there as holy but it's the same thing and god is referring to himself here as holy just like what jesus used in revelation chapter 3 e that is holy the same term as used in isaiah fought in the same term as used in habakkuk chapter 3 jesus is using it here to present himself to describe himself to this people and it is important that we understand that that is what he was doing he also says that he is true and of course god is god and he is true and he was basically making the point that not only am i god but i am the genuine i am the real and we need to understand that is how he described himself for um to the people right there in philadelphia he wanted them to understand that it is i am your god and i am the real deal i am the true i am the genuine god he now goes on in describing himself further to say that he at the key of david he that opened it and no man shot it and shot it unknown most folks don't realize that this very term this very um thing that we see here in the scripture in terms of description was used before and i want us to look at isaiah chapter 22 as we read and try to understand what it means when he says the key of david he has the keys of david and hear what isaiah 22 says thus said the lord god of hosts go get thee onto this treasurer even unto shebna which is over the halls and say i'm just cutting it short and it shall come to pass in that day that i will call my servant like him the son of ilkaya and the key of the host of david will i lay upon his shoulder so he shall open and none shall shut and he shall shut and none shall open and it is important we are seeing that this very scripture we're looking at in revelation is already here in the book of isaiah right the official position that they call secretary of state was taken from shebna and given to eliakim and god spoke through isaiah to eliakim and said i will give you the key to the host of david this position was the highest position in the royal court and whatever doer that secretary opens no other person at the authority to close it and if he closes a door nobody else had authority to open it and so this position when you are given the keys of david it was the keys at the time to the royal court and its signal it signaled simply that jesus the keys of david and jesus said i have it it simply means that jesus has absolute authority over who will enter the kingdom of god no friend no pastor and that's why we need to be very careful you know because there are times when folks might do things or might have this feeling it was practiced years ago but it is important for us to understand no past that cannot bend the rules for any sin no pastor can turn aside the what is written in the book and say all right because of you i will allow you to do this but you know the word of god said this but here's what i'm going to do i'm going to pray and i'm going to talk to god for you and i'm it is not possible we do not have the key to allow for that we do not have the authority to determine certain things it don't matter how a man might project himself to be close to god when it comes to the word of god if it is clearly outlined and clearly established to walk a particular way no pastor no apostle nobody have the authority to make adjustments to the word of god to cover to help to facilitate any saint or any sinner it is just not possible and so jesus used the term that he controls the key of david and it simply means he and he alone has absolute authority over things pertaining to the kingdom and we must never lose sight of that fact sorry no he has as was the case with the other churches words of commendation what does jesus know about the church of philadelphia one you tell him i know your work behold i have set before you an open door and no man can shut it and he's saying because i am in control because it is me jesus that have has ultimate uh an absolute authority i know what you're doing and i'm going to set before you an open door nobody can shut it and he tells them that the second thing that he points out to them that he knows about them which are words of commendation that you have a little strength and then he goes on and let them know you have kept my word and you have not denied my faith and it is important for us to recognize what jesus is saying here now there are different views that people have but there's no doubt that when jesus is talking to the philadelphia church and he sees what it is that they are doing he has no move to open the door and nobody can shut it and this is one of the commendations that he has and when he talks about open door set before the church of philadelphia it can be interpreted easily it can be understood easily to mean an evangelistic opening an open door speaks of evangelistic opportunities now why do i say that if we look at some scriptures if we look in first corinthians 16 and verse nine if we look at second corinthians two and verse twelve if we look at colossians chapter four and verse three we see all of these speaking about and we might not look at them all but let us say look at one quickly those glance at the first corinthians 16 verse nine for a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there are many adversaries what if we look look at the background paul had an opportunity to deliver the word over there at corinth and he referred to it as a great door opened unto him and we are seeing it as an evangelistic opportunity if we look in second corinthians we see also where he's talking again and say furthermore when i came to trust to preach christ's gospel a doer was open unto me of the lord so when we see open door and just as was written there to the church at philadelphia and philadelphia was want to do a church that did not receive any rebuke it was an evangelistic church they made use of the opportunity of the open door and they did what they had to do in colossians 4 and verse 3 without praying also for us that god would open to us a door of utterance to speak the mystery of christ talking about the gospel and outlining it so every time that we see an open door we recognize that it was evangelistic in nature and god actually used this the lord jesus actually used this in his words of commendation to them so they made use of evangelistic opportunities that they had and it is important to us that we make use brethren because as we speak the philadelphia church made use of the opportunity that they had jesus oh nadura nobody could shut it and as we speak a door is open to us in this age in this generation in this city that we are in and i want to urge us to make use of the open door make use of the open door don't be ashamed to declare the word of god don't be ashamed to speak to those that are your neighbors don't be ashamed of the gospel of jesus christ for it is the power of god unto salvation it is important that we understand that he has opened a door it is an effectual door it speaks to evangelistic outreach and not only must it be done in group groups but it can easily speak to us as individuals playing our role and speaking and declaring and pointing out to folks the gospel of our lord jesus christ the door is open let us do what we must do then the second commendation that he gave to them he said though has that little strength the term little strength does not imply weakness scenes of god the term is simply speaks to the fact that they were probably a small group a church that was small in number but in in although they were small although they were little he commended them if he was speaking about it being weak it wouldn't be a commendation it would more be a rebuke but it he was commending them and so it is not that they were weak but they were probably small in number in numbers and it is important for us to know even if it is you alone you can make a difference even if you're in your little prior group and it is just two or three of you alone that small number doesn't mean that you cannot achieve and accomplish it doesn't mean that you cannot touch you cannot reach god even with the little things that we do it is important that we understand that even with our little strengths are even with the little that we have the small number that is there work with who we are working with work together be united and we will be surprised to know what can come out in terms of the massive results of a small group getting together and so it is important that this be understood now the other thing that jesus said in terms of his commendation to them is that they have kept his word and have not denied his name the church of philadelphia was fearful to jesus and his word i'm saying to us saints of god we are in the church today i cannot emphasize or over emphasize how important it is for us to be fearful to the lord jesus and for us to be fearful to his word it is why we live it is why we move we must be faithful to him don't be distracted don't be misguided don't let the influence of this world take us over as children of the most high god if you realize that there is a tendency to want to always be like and do the things that everybody else do including the people that it's out in the world we must be it means that we need to take time out and spend some more time in prayer i'm telling you sins of god if we have an appetite for the things of the world it means that something is lacking we need to be introspective and we need to fix that and fix that right away fix that quickly it is important that we understand that no he also when he speaks to the fact that you have not denied my name he's basically saying that my name is important and yes you have not denied it you continue to to propagate my name but it goes deeper than that it is much deeper than that he's actually expressing the thought that their allegiance to jesus their way of life how they live they lived in a way that was faithful to whom jesus is and what his name represents they were genuine christians so that not deny my name is not talking about you say jesus jesus sorry while that is so and we continue to call his name the the depths of what is being portrayed here is that he's saying that the way and the things that my name represents and my own character as jesus the christ the way that you live is suggesting that you're upholding everything that i jesus represents we are genuine in our pursuit of our christian walk and therefore jesus is saying look here when you say you're a christian and when you are out there representing me make sure that the character my own character that's the character of the lord jesus christ and what i stand for and what i demand your life is reflecting that if we are not reflecting that then we must be very careful that we are unfearful to him and to his word very important that we understand that and so sins of god notice that there was no rebuke for this church evidently the lord was um happy with a lot of the things that they were doing and he was pushing them to continue you don't deny me don't deny my name walk if you're walking walk in a way that it represents the things that i jesus represents i want to speak just from my heart you know to the sins and if you find that as you go along if you find that as you go along if you find that as you push along in your walk with god there is the tendency to want to do this like what is happening over there in the world look the struggle is real the struggle is it is there and i know that the adversary is after the people of god and especially our young people i might single you all because i know that the age that we are in this generation this age has something associated with it that makes the time a difficult time in which to exist and to walk but i know that the god that we serve can and will he has the keys and he is he is the holy one and he knows exactly what it is that we are going through and what we are confronted with and he has given us enough for the moment he has given us enough for the time and he requires of us and simply say to us look i am opening a door it means that as rough as the time is and as much as we are being pursued by the adversary and as much as we are being tempted on every hand we have what it takes to overcome he has opened the door and nothing nobody no demon from hell can shut it and he's simply saying use what you have and be a weakness for me be an evangelist for me be somebody that propagate the word and do it because you have what it takes to do it he has given us everything for us to overcome and if him oh no nobody can shut it don't feel that our door can be shut in your face not the door that jesus opened and he made it clear and he's saying i have authority absolute authority over what happens to anything pertaining to the kingdom you just do your part and be fearful to me be fearful to my name and be faithful to my word and i use this opportunity to encourage every child of god particularly our young people to be like the scenes in smyrna and follow through with what jesus encouraged them to do he saw what they were doing and he commended them and he said follow through and be fearful to my name and to my word and being fearful to his name simply means in essence the things that represents jesus pursue them with a genuine heart don't set jesus with your mouth and say jesus in a space a place and then your heart is somewhere else he looks at that heart and we see what he does we see how he describes the church in sardis they were presenting a certain faith they were presenting a certain position and they were saying that i have this and i have that and they want to maintain a reputation that i am this and i am that and jesus looked them straight in the eye and said nope you are dead if we are going to serve him let us serve him on his terms if we are going to live for him let us live for him on his terms not ours the day that we start to break it down and establish our terms and just sing a song about his name and put our hands together and call his name but we live it we are living this christian life on his terms the day that we do that is the day that we are thinking that we have something we have a reputation that we know this and we know that and we are alive and we're lively and we we're doing what we're doing jesus is going to look around and say you are dead it has to be sins of god on his terms and i have a responsibility to tell us that and i am telling us it is on his terms not ours otherwise he's not going to hesitate just as he did to sardis and say you are dead you know looks at the church at philadelphia and say i see you have something going live for me be fearful to my name and be fearful to my word and if you're going to be fearful to his word align yourself to it don't look at escape route to do things that will block your soul don't look an escape route from within the world to give yourself something that will say here is an escape that i can't do it or i want to do it or here is an escape route that i don't have to subject myself to this i don't know why but we seem to these days want to be looking for escape route to free up ourselves we are already free but not free to sin not free to conform ourselves to this world but we are free indeed because the lord has granted unto us liberty liberty to worship him liberty to walk along the street the streets of kingston are wherever we are and lift up the name of jesus and declare that he is lord and he has risen from the dead and he is liberty to to just glorify god wherever we are in the restaurant on the bus we have liberty they were in bondage under the law and they had to work according to certain strictures when it came to going in the temple to make up some offering but we don't have that kind of bondage again we are free to offer the sacrifice of praise to god every day every hour every moment that's the freedom that we have not freedom to cause people to look at us and just can't even distinguish as to who we are no that's not the freedom what the bible talks about when in the new testament it speaks about freedom and i want us to understand that and so let us do everything in our power to be fearful to him and to be fearful to his name to be fearful to his word it means that we are going to live according to his terms according to the things that are in the word and align ourselves and freely glorify and magnify him the church at philadelphia had no rebuke and it says a whole lot so let us follow what they did let us persevere let us be fearful let us do what we have to do and do it with all our hearts it is required of stewards that a man before faithful let's be fearful to him now let's go on as we move to to wrap up as best as we can we are going on now and we are going to look at the in in closing just with the church at philadelphia just look at a few of the promises that jesus made amen to this church i will make those of the synagogue see it and come and worship before your feet this is to a church that was faithful to him if we're fearful to god if we forget about who is looking at what other people are saying and forget about all of those things forget about it totally just be faithful to the lord and he promised that oh i will make those of the synagogue of satan come and worship before your feet he will make your enemies know that he loves you those are great and precious promises then it went on to say he will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world and um right here we know he's talking about we won't go too much into it because we have gone through all of that already you know folks were wondering when it speaks about this exactly what he was talking about when he said he's going to keep it from the oauth trial we shall come upon the whole world but but we know that it is talking that is going to keep us from the the tribulation from the great tribulation if we are going to be in the church at that time it is speaking about the tribulation that is to come the word from what he said is going to keep you from the trials are from the thing that is going to come that word from is the greek word ek which means out of away from so he's going to keep us out of the tribulation that is to come or away from the tribulation that is to come and so we we won't spend time going into this right uh because we have gone through it already when some time ago when we are dealt with the tribulation match 24 and verse 21 speaks to it for then that shall be great tribulation was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be so he was basically outlining to them that he was going to keep them from the great tribulation out of the great tribulation which is to come later on and as i said i will not uh go into that since we had already treated with it already but jesus told them what what he wanted them to do he said look behold i am coming quickly hold fast what you have that no one take your crown so here again in the end you know he's telling the church of philadelphia what he wants them to do here is a a serious statement by the lord who run to what you have you have something special you have something great you have something worthwhile hold on to what you have that no man take your crime because that no one take your call it is possible for folks to attempt to want to take your crawl it is possible that people come by and they have the ability because of how they are led by satan himself to try to take that which you have and ultimately take away your crime but he's saying listen to me i'm coming soon i'm coming quickly hold on to what you have and don't make nobody take away your crown so i use the same term and i want to say to you sins of god hold fast hold on tightly to what you have don't make no man no woman nobody in church or out of church because there are people who are in church that will are going to try to influence you to tell you that you don't have to go on like it's a holy holy if if somebody in church tell you that you're too holy holy ma that person and watch them well they mean you know good you shall not be striving to live for jesus and i seen so so-called sin tell you that you're too holy holy free up yourself man loosen up don't do this don't do that then the bible never said this and the bible never said that and look how much other people doing this in fact they can't even use the bible they're just telling me what other people do if a sin tell you that you're too holy ma that one very well and avoid them yes avoid them and you hold fast my brother who will fast my sister to what you have that no one take your crown now jesus told them if they dare to overcome listen to what is not promising them go back to what we looked at earlier when we were looking at the history of the city and we are going to see some resemblance here because he's talking to the scenes who understand what real anna is he's talking to these people who knows clearly and understand clearly when he's making reference to pillars they understand what is being said and here is the thing that he said to them i will make him a pillar just like the great pillars was the only thing standing after the earthquake jesus was saying when everything else around us crumble he will give us the strength to remain standing and that is very important and that is very significant and he went on further no in terms of his promise he said he shall go out no more what jesus was saying that the overcomer will have a place of permanence and stability with god what a reward not wandering or going up and down he is going to have a place of permanence and stability with god and what a promise what a promise what a promise then thirdly he said i will write on him the name of my god i will write on him my new name so just like in philadelphia and we said it earlier on and this is where we're bringing it together just like in philadelphia we're the honor where they honor their sons by putting the sun's name on the pillars of the temple because that pillow is steadfast that pillow when everything else was changing and caving in always stole it and they used that pillow as a mark of stability and then inscribe on those pillars the name of some noble person it is this very thing that god was presenting to them and say so it will be god is saying for standing up for me i am going to write my name on you so we are not going to be those pillars that are standing and then god is going to write his name on us and he promised them that he is going to do that brethren the rewards are certain the rewards are powerful the rewards are elaborate and whereas back in philadelphia the names were written on the pillars god is going to write his name in us and this is just absolutely unbelievable and absolutely awesome and the spirits want us to hear the spirit wants us to hear the letter we read applies to all of us as we close brothers and sisters this is what the spirit wants us to hear whole fast don't let nobody steal your crown be fearful to his name which means be fearful to walking according to his precepts and he also says be faithful to his word this is what the spirit is saying in these last days brothers and sisters don't watch any face don't listen to any uncertain sound be steadfast be unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord be fearful to his name be fearful to his word hold fast to what you have and don't let any man take your crown away and that is very sorry significant and as we close and hear what the spirit is saying philadelphia teaches us that we must stay on the true foundation which was jesus jesus name and jesus's word and we must depend on jesus as our source of strength and not on our cells very very important and we close at this time with the church in laodicea and i want us to look at the scriptures here in revelation chapter chapter number three verses 14 to 22 and we just go through quickly and let us do this together i'm sorry and unto the angel of the church of the laodiceans right these things save the amen the faithful and the true weakness the beginning of the creation of god i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would that the word coal are hot so then because though art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot i will spew thee out of my mouth because those says i am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing i know it's not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou makes me rich and white raiments that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear and anoint thine eyes with i salve and that thou mayst see as many as i love i rebuke and chasten be zealous therefore and repent behold i stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door i will come into him and will sup with him and e with me 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 he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit says unto the churches brothers and sisters as we look at this last church in the same way we will follow through and look at the history of laodicea at the end of the mailing route and we spoke about the mailing route at the start to kind of outline the seven churches and how they were uh set in a particular um [Music] stretch at the end of that mailing route was the city of leo decea this city of literacy i was about 25 miles south east of philadelphia right and all the cities mentioned so far of all of them leo this year was by far the wealthiest i want us to be that in mind it was known for three things it's banks it's manufacture of our particular kind of black wool and its medical school that produced some eye drops they call it ice salve so that you know when they were cataracts as we would call it are things that will cause blurry vision you put this in your eye you were your eyes you were able to see clearly and these were things that were consistent in the city of laodicea the city was also a center for the imperial cults you know they worshiped the god of healing and in fact the chief of gods who was those are [Music] his center was right there in laodicea and it is important that we remember some of these things now the city had a poor water supply so that they had to use aqueducts to bring waters from other nearby cities and there was a city here a police which was known for its hot mineral springs that had therapeutic values but then there was also colosse which was nearby and it was known for its cool refreshing spring both of them had to send water down to leo this here but hiropolis was the one that we want to recognize in that a lot of the water that came from this particular place when although the springs that it came from was hot and bubbly and had therapeutic value by time the waters from that spring reached into leodus here it was no longer hot by time it went over the aqueduct and traveled and traversed that distance to get into laodicea the water became lukewarm and it is important for us to remember this we will come back to it no as was with all the other churches as i said jesus gave a description of himself and here he describes himself to them these things saith the amen the faithful and true weakness the beginning of the creation of god and he describes himself to them so that in the same way that he has done it before with others of the churches in the different cities that he introduced himself to now here jesus is outlining some things to lay this here that he knows about them he says look here i know that you are neither cold nor hot but that you are lukewarm he said he wished that they were cold or hot and because you are lukewarm i'm going to spew you out of my mouth the words pew is the same word from which we get vomit he's going to vomit you out of his mouth and that is very very significant virgin beloved i want us to understand something and i might just take the time to make mention of it there is something about us understanding who we are and where we are we have a responsibility to ourselves to always introspect and to always take stock it's not good for us to want to wait for persons to point to us to say that you are you're you're hot or you're cool we don't need anybody to tell us who are where our position is at a point in time you have that responsibility i have that responsibility to myself and i want us to understand we know because we cannot fool ourselves we can fool others but we cannot fool ourselves we know where we are when we introspect when we take stock we know where we are we know if we are falling short we know that we are falling short it is important for us to know that we are either hot or we have drifted and we are not cold if we don't and we are in a place of lukewarmness we stand at the risk of having the lord vomit us out of his mouth we become insipid if we are called and we know it we recognize it we go to god he will just what repentance is all about acknowledging where we are he is faithful and he is just and he will forgive but we admitted to him that we are called we know it and we go to him he will take steps to restore us to where we were we are hot we continually go into his presence and he's happy with that and he instructs us instructs us to remain in that state the problem is when we are neither hot nor cold it is a state of insipidness it is like we're drinking water that is not hot that we can't say is tea it is not cool that we can say it's a refreshing drink it is lukewarm and it is insipid to the taste and jesus is saying if we are neither hot nor cold be careful i want us as children of god i want us as those just like the people who did not seat in the church of laodicea i want us to see it and i want us to take stock examine ourselves look if we are praying examine ourselves and see if we are praying brethren beloved examine ourselves and see if we are constantly in the word brethren beloved we must do this for ourselves and if we find that we are not in the word and if we find that we are not at the meeting place with him that we set out when we put the time and we put the place and we don't turn up it is significant if we find that we have a tendency to want to drift over to do the things that the people in the world do if we find that we have a love for parties and a love for those little shows that takes us into place that cause our minds to wander and end up sinning we must take stock and be honest with ourselves and it is in that honesty that we are going to put before the lord and say god i have drifted i am no cold help he will help but if we know that we have drifted and we know that we are not in the word and we know that we are not praying and we know that we have a love for the world and we leave it day in and day out but we still turn up to church we are still in the assembly we are still walking with our bibles we cannot fool god and we cannot fool ourselves no is a good time to introspect and to come before the lord and to make it right so if we don't we stand the risk of him spewing you out of his mouth brethren don't let that happen none of us need to make that happen all right so the other thing now and let us go back on the screen the other thing that we need to look at let's put it back up on the screen i'm sorry the other thing that we need to look at jesus is saying i have some things against you so here comes the rebuke you say that you're rich you have become wealthy and you have need of nothing but jesus now looks across at you and he says a totally different thing a totally different thing i want us to understand it's not that the church at la disa wasn't spiritually poor they were it's just that they were blind they didn't even realize and i'm saying to us following up on what i just said we need to understand where we are in our walk with god saints of the most high god we have been around long enough now and we can sense it we can know it if we are not we're you know we are not lined up as we are and i'm not speaking about us being perfect because even in our pursuit for perfection we will fault along the way but we must be pursuing it and we will know if we are pursuing or if we are just stagnating at a partic a particular place and just going around in circles because we have a love for the things of the world so it is possible for people to be spiritually poor to be stagnant and don't even know because they are blind so here it is that they are not even aware of that and they are saying that they are rich and they have no need of nothing and jesus now turns up and saying you say you do have no need of anything and you are this and you have this and you have that listen to me jesus is saying he looked at their spiritual condition and came up with this final assessment he said you're wretched this is jesus having looked at those folks i said am i right him say you're wretched you're miserable you're poor you're blind because you don't see that you don't have nothing and you're not anywhere and then he went and said you're naked so they're wretched they're miserable they're poor they're blind they are naked and this is to a group of persons that thought they had it this is the church at laodicea backslidden and don't even know it and they think they have it going but they are backslidden up past it laodicea simply means in english if we were just from a greek term that means the voice of the people is the voice of god or in other words the people rule laity rule the church people take over and they want to rule and they the terms this is what i want as a christian this is how i want us to live and they set some rules of engagement and they know put it together and vote on it and the fact that the majority vote on it they said the voice of the people is the voice of god the voice of the people is the voice of god and as a result they establish their whole form of holiness their own standard that is not even equated to biblical principles and they vote on it and because the majority votes and this is what we want they now have a basis for walking in what they consider to be holy totally different and detached from the word of god but because the majority says so that is how it is going to be and the apostle john wrote of the ladies and church that signal what is going to happen in the last days where the church is concerned it is going to be a bachelor group it is going to be individuals backslidden in heart and it is going to be individuals that don't even know that they are backslidden except that they know that they are not walking in the word except that they know that they are not praying except that they know that they have a love for the world but with all of that they still felt that they were christians walking with god and that there can see and jesus said you're blind get myself the very thing that was manufactured in laodicea back there jesus used and said cincinnati medical school and can make isis use it and wash your eyes so they can see and see that you guys are in a backslidden state and i'm saying to us be very careful if when we measure ourselves against the word we are phone wanting use the word as the measuring stick look at principles look at how they live back there i'd rather be an old-time christian look at how they wanted to conduct conduct their lives back there look at the language of the epistles that teach us how to live and we will see that a lot of things that are perpetrated and sent out as holiness is far from it and so jesus said look here you are blind and you are naked and you are wretched and he went and to describe all that he saw and it was so different from what they saw i say to us bridget and beloved this is the laodicean age but as individuals there are many that have fallen as a leodysian scene because backslidden in heart apostate turn away from the basic principles from the basic things that make up this gospel when the bible said to war holy there is a standard that is there that we can go and look at it means to be separated from and to be separated unto to be separated from the things of this world and to be separated unto or for the lord that we serve what many people pass as holiness today is just their waterline version so that they can blend in with the world and don't feel bad when they have to go to certain places to knock shoulders and rub shoulders with others of their uh academic and professional colleagues but if you as a child of god cannot walk the way that god wants you to walk and still meet with your professional and academic colleague then you are denying this gospel you can be a true christian and still stand up at work and if they if they dare to try to let you feel embarrassed well that's what they did to all the others that were before you and it is in the face of this embarrassment and persecution that will come that you must stand and be counted as a child of god as a christian that will not bend and that will not bow that is what we are called upon to do and that is how we are called upon to live i will be an old fashioned not old-fashioned in just wearing this our old fashioned and wearing that no but old-fashioned in terms of the things that guide our very existence and if the bible tells us to pray then i'm going to pray and if the bible tells us to fast and if we set our fast times and decide that this is my dear then even if we go to a function at work and the professionals are there don't be belittled tell them let it pass and still maintain the basic things that make you who you are you can fast on the job you can fast at school and nobody needs to know and maintain your relationship with almighty god and so look the layer decent church they say it it simply means the people rule the laity rule the voice of the people is the voice of god be careful what you want to introduce in church be careful what you want to introduce in your life god rules the most high rules in the kingdom of men and he still rules in the church and he must rule in your heart never forget that so let us move to close off let's bring this screen back up and let us move to close off right now on the section of our of the church the laodicean church jesus told them and i and he counsel them buy gold refined in the fire yes you think you have it but you don't buy from him buy gold get what is right and apply to yourself buy white garments that you may be close because you are naked and don't even know it and he's saying having said all that he said before and pointed out that you're naked and you're rich and you're blind and you you're poor and all of those things he's saying buy off me gold refine in the fire buy white garments that you may be closed and then he says anoint your eyes with eyesight that you can't see because you you claim that you can't say but you're kelsey you're blind you can't see his teeth you cannot even see that you're drifting that you love the world and he's saying to you if you love the world you don't have the love you don't love the father you do love me for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life is not of the father but it's of the world and unless you can recognize that you have you're gravitating to the world you're going to tell people that you're all right and you're still going to turn up with your love world you love the accoutrements of the world you love the dress of the world you love the nakedness of the world you don't want to conform to things that are righteous don't your conscience telling you but you just love the world if that is your case buy gold of him refining the fire buy white garments that you may be close anoint your eyes with eyes out and then he said as many as i love i rebuke and chasten therefore be zealous and repent this is what you just repent let's turn to him no and you will see you will see exactly that jesus wants to reach out and to touch and to be with you hear what he says behold i stand at the door and knock notice he stand at the door and knock and all that you fosu one line and crying oh jesus don't just come in and do this he's not going to do that he is a gentleman and he is going to stand at the door and he's going to knock and he will only come in if you open the door because here what he said he started in the world now if any man hear my voice and and open the door i will come in but if you don't he will not and don't think him when lick you over and force himself in he will certainly not we are going to have to hear his voice hear the knocking open the door and then he will come in and will sup with him and he with me then comes the reward saints of god as i close jesus told them that if they overcome he will grant them to sit with him on his throne brethren overcome overcome overcome because we can overcome because he has given us everything that it takes we have everything that is required to overcome to be a vibrant christian to be a stalwart child of god we have it and i want to encourage and i want to urge every one of us to push so that we can be with him sins of god few very few want to identify with the church at laodicea we we we somehow squeeze ourselves into some of the others but somewhere along the line sardis the dead one leo the seer the backslidden one we try somehow to not want to associate there we want to be like the church at philadelphia probably church at ephesus when it just started and although there were some problems so many good things were there and you're going to just wrap it up but ephesus philadelphia but nobody wants leaders here and yet many folks believe it or not is right there since we are closing let us close with the understanding that we determine where we end up we have gone through seven of them we have looked at their shortcomings we have looked at their strengths we have seen jesus making statements about them we have seen him giving his instructions to them as to what they are to do if they are to overcome and then he give some promises and rewards to them if they overcome we can overcome we can make it we can be victorious in fact we are already victors and i can only say that and pray that we understand that we are already victors we are already victorious we are already overcomers we have just got to get up and move and it is in our hands it is that near that close we can decide that we are going to pray we can decide that we are going to read and follow the word we can get into a time of fast and the bible says the bible did not say if you pray it says when you pray and therefore we have to pray but it also did not say if you fast it says when you fast it means in the same way we have to pray we have to fast and i therefore submit to us if we get into the word if we get into prayer if we get into fasting and if we decide to align ourselves with the word and be steadfast in prayer and fasting and the word and just living for him i absolutely guarantee that the weakest of us will be so strong that you are going to go through sweeping through the gates and as we close on the subject of the seven churches of revelation it is my prayer it is my hope it is my trust i am confident that coming out of this simple story we didn't even get into it all but we did the fundamentals so that we can grasp what was happening the fundamentals it is my hope and desire and prayer that we do what is to be done so that we latch on and as jesus said let no man hold fast that which you have and let no man take your crown overcomers let's do it let's push on let's make it happen we are destined to win and we are destined to be with the lord in that place where he has gone to prepare for us god bless you thank you again in jesus name let us pray we bless your great name father in heaven we thank you for this privilege to complete this study the study on the seven churches of revelation god you are good you are great and you are greatly to be praised i pray that you will touch the hearts and minds of your people help us lord to introspect to take stock to see where we are so that we can make the necessary adjustments the right adjustments and move on to scale higher heights and to do greater exploits for the lord the god that we serve strengthen us oh god we pray hold us in the halls of your hands and let none fall by the way we give you thanks mighty god we pray that you will direct our steps order our steps according to your word and we will be careful to give you the glory and the honor and the praise we give you thanks mighty god we bless your great name together in jesus name amen amen god bless you god's willing next week same time we start our new series and we look forward to us being in bible study next week in the name of the lord jesus god bless you amen

Channel: Faith Chapel of Faith Apostolic Ministries

Views: 1,173

Keywords: Faith, Chapel, Gospel, Good, preaching, anointing, Holy, Ghost, Ministry, bible, study

Id: w4mAWRWSp7M

Length: 111min 37sec (6697 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 09 2022