Okay. We are now in Hour 22 of Learn the Bible
in 24 Hours and we're going to address the first 3 chapters of the Book of Revelation. And for a number of reasons that will become
evident, I think this is the high ground of the Bible in some respects. And it certainly ...
the Book of Revelation's one of the favorite books of anyone who takes the Bible seriously. And secondly, the most relevant
parts of the Book of Revelation for you and me is the chapters 2 and 3. So this is going to be fun stuff
as we go here. We've gone through the whole New Testament,
of course. The ... what I call the five gospels, usually Luke volume I and volume II. Acts is the volume II so to speak. We went thought the 13 epistles that are ascribed
to Paul. We went through the 8 epistles that are the so-called Jewish Christian epistles. But now we come to that book which among all
the others books ties it all together. Everything that started in Genesis is wrapped
up in the Book of Revelation. In fact, one of the most astonishing discoveries
that I hope you are in the process of making as we do these things, is to recognize, discover
the unity of the entire package. 66 books penned by 40 guys over virtually
2000 years and yet it's integrated in its design. There are aspects throughout the book that
anticipate what needs to be there in order for Revelation to make sense. And so, here we go. It's interesting that in the Old Testament, of
course, Christ appears in prophecy. In the gospels, Christ appears in history. In the book of Acts, Christ appears in the
Church. And, of course in the epistles, we see Christ
in actual experience. And then, of course, in the apocalypse we're
going to see Christ coming in glory. So in a sense the Old Testament says 'behold
He comes', the gospels say 'behold He dies'. Acts says 'behold He lives', epistles, 'behold
He saves'. And we're going to see 'behold He reigns'. Christ is actually going to reign in this
book. Anyone that's want to deny that has huge problems
in Revelation. That's why many pastors try to avoid the book
because it confronts some issues they're not prepared to deal with. I want you to first to notice the name of
the book. It's singular, not plural. You often, for some reason, you always see
people say 'revelations'. Whenever you ... when you hear that 's',
when you see it as a plural, you know immediately they have never taken a study of the book. All they know it's somehow a collection
of visions, so that's why they think it's plural. No, it's singular. It is the unveiling. The word 'revelation', the apocalypse means
the unveiling. And it is the consummation of all things. It's the only book in the Bible that has the
audacity to say 'Read me, I'm special.' No other book of the Bible has the chutzpah,
if I could use a Jewish term to say 'read me, I'm better than the other guys.' Lots of places in the Bible it says 'Search
the scriptures. Study the word of God,' all those broad ...
the phrase always embrace the whole thing. This is the only book that says, 'Hey, read
me and you are entitled to a very special blessing.' So if you're really in the mood for a blessing,
no matter how down you are, not matter what you're doing, if you need ...
one of those days you need a blessing. Stop. Read the book of Revelation. It doesn't take long; it's not a big deal. And watch what happens. Now one of the reasons the book is such a mystery
to so many is because they haven't done their homework. Most Christians don't know their Old Testament. The book of Revelation consists of 404 verses
that include allusions to over 800 items from the Old Testament. In other words 2 to 1. It's 2 to 1. For ever verse in Revelation there's, in effect,
two allusions to the Old Testament. So if the book seems strange to our ears it's
because we haven't spent time in the Old Testament. The more you know your Old Testament the more
comfortable this book reads. And it is, of course, the climax of God's
plan for man. And that's exciting for lots of reasons. Let's just take ... let's take a look at what
is ... let's read just the first sentence. "The Revelation," singular, "of Jesus Christ." What is it revealing? Jesus Christ. "Which God gave unto Him." Whoops, wait a minute. Time out. God gave this to whom? Jesus. If this sounds a little strange, look who
the addressee is. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
unto Him. There was a time in Mark 13:32, "No man knows
the day nor the hour. Not the angels in heaven, not the Son, but
the Father only." Strange verse, at least at that time, at that
moment. The Father knew when Jesus was coming back,
He was the only one that did. Whoa, we're on dangerous ground here. You mean there's things the Father knew the
Son didn't? I thought they all knew all things. Yeah, I guess so, but that's part of the mystery. It could be that He didn't then, He knows
now. I don't know that. I'm not going to quibble with those things,
but I just highlight for your own consideration. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God
gave unto Him," why? "To show unto His servants things
which must shortly come to pass." That word shortly is actually 'τάχει'
in the Greek. It's the word from which we get tachometer. Shortly or quickly in the sense of speedily. It doesn't mean it's going to happen the day
after tomorrow, it means when these things start happening, they're going to follow tightly. That's really what the, the Greek implies. The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass. And He sent and signified it," rendered it
into signs. Information scientists would say he rendered it into sememes: signs, idioms, whatever. "He sent and signified it by His angel," or
messenger, "unto His servant John, who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony
of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw." That he saw. Not that he thought or dreamed up, these were
things that he wrote down what he saw. So we're going to see visions, we're going
to see many idioms, strange ones perhaps, but these are things that were visual and
they're not necessarily just three dimensional. But we'll move on. Verse 3 is the verse you want to claim tonight. "Blessed is he that readeth and they that
hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time
is at hand." Praise God. I'm reading and you're listening so we're
both in good shape. That doesn't mean everything I say is correct,
you've got to check that out, but it does mean that if we do this with sincerity and
commitment that a blessing is in store. "Blessed is he that readeth and they that
hear the words of this prophecy," not history, prophecy. And it continues, "John," now it reads like
a memo, a corporate memo. "John, to the seven churches which are in
Asia. Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which
is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His
throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the
dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." So John is going to put up in front of this
document a cover letter. And he's addressing this cover letter to seven
churches. We're going to get into those seven churches
when we get to the next chapter. But this is sort of a front end cover letter,
cover note, if you will. "John, to the seven churches which are in
Asia." The word 'Asia' there doesn't mean Asia as
you and I think of it. It's the Roman province of Asia, which today
is that region that we generally associate with Turkey, if you will. The Roman province of Asia. "Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him ..." now
we have a strange set of addressees, "Him which is, and which was, and which is to come,"
who is that? God the Father. "And from the seven Spirits which are before
His throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of
the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." Okay, we have this first guy, 'Him which is,
and which was, and which is to come', could mean any of several things. Jehovah, if you will, or Yahweh, or Yod-Heh-VaV-Heh,
however you want to say it, or God the Father, that's a possibility. And then we have "and Jesus Christ who is the
faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." Great, but we have this strange phrase between
these two, "the seven Spirits which are before His throne." If you're a New Testament reader that sounds
strange to your ears, if you know your Old Testament, who is it talking about? The Holy Spirit. So you have the Trinity here. "Grace be unto
you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come," I'll call that
the Father. "From the seven Spirits which are before His
throne," I'll explain that in the next slide. "And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful
witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." I want you to notice here in Jesus Christ,
there's three labels: faithful witness, first begotten of the dead, prince of the kings
of the earth. You'll discover that in chapter 1 there are
24 titles of Jesus Christ and they're all used as identities somewhere else in the book. So you enter, if you're a computer programmer,
this is like the data division. These are the data definitions. So if Jesus Christ is the faithful
witness, if later on I'm talking about the faithful witness, you know who I'm talking
about. You see it's linkages that are being set up
here, just ... the book of Revelation was obviously written by a computer programmer. In Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2 there's a
passage that wouldn't be familiar to your ears unless you had studied Isaiah 11. But there he speaks of the spirit of
Jehovah, or Yod-Heh-VaV-Heh, shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding,
the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of
the fear of the Lord. This is the seven-fold spirit of the term
that you and I would call the Holy Spirit. He's a he. It's a person. That's what really is
in view, so we really have here a salutation by John that comes from the Trinity in a form
that you're probably not familiar with. But let's move on. So we have actually seven spirits listed here,
this is the seven-fold spirit of what you and I would lump together as the Holy Spirit. And he continues, "Unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." John can sure pen it. But I want you to notice an interesting phrase
here. 'He hath made us,' what? "Kings and priests." That is very non-Levitical. The only people that are kings and priests
are Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, and who else? You and me if we're in the church, because
of this verse right here. We're going to encounter 24 elders, ... it's important to understand who the 24 elders are, ... we'll deal
with that when we get there. In chapter 1 ... we're not going to go through
the whole thing verse by verse, that'll take some time. We'll do that separately. The vision in chapter 1 has seven
key features. The hair on his head, his eyes. His hair on his head is the same as the one
in Daniel 7. His eyes which show up in Hebrews chapter
1 and 4, is like a flame of fire, ... in 1 Corinthians, it's also in Malachi. His feet, which is a symbol of the walk, are
brass, which speaks of judgment. Remember the brazen serpent in Numbers 21? His voice is as of many waters. Ezekiel uses that phrase several times in
chapter 1 and chapter 43. Daniel uses that phrase in chapter 10. These are idioms that speak of Jesus Christ,
but from the Old Testament labeling, if you will. There's seven features. In His right hand are seven stars ... He has seven stars in His hand, yet He's in the midst of the lamp stands. So there's a strange double meaning here. He's in the midst and yet we're in His hand. See we are in His hand in one sense, and yet
He's also in the midst of us. Sounds contradictory and geometrically it
would be, but idiomatically it's not. You with me? "Out of His mouth comes a two-edged sword,"
Hebrews does that, Ephesians, Isaiah 49, so forth. He judges the unbeliever in John 12, by His
mouth. The earth is smitten, in Isaiah 11, by His
mouth. The antichrist is consumed in 2 Thessalonians,
by His mouth. And His countenance is as the sun as Matthew
17 at the transfiguration demonstrates. So there are these 7 features of Jesus
Christ as He shows up in chapter 1. This is John seeing the vision of Christ and this
is his recording of that vision using mostly idioms from the Old Testament. Then we get to verse 19. The Book of Revelation is very generous to
us because it gives us the outline of the book. Most books, when you sit down to study them,
you have to figure out what the outline is. That's your first step to try to understand
the book. Revelation gives it for you in verse 19. John is ... told, " Write the things which
thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which will shall be μετὰ ταῦτα,
hereafter," or after these things. These are three categories. The vision of Christ in chapter 1 are the things
which, John, you have seen at this point, right? Write the things which are. What exists at that moment? These seven churches that are going to be
so prominent in the next two chapters. And then, the things which shall be hereafter,
μετὰ ταῦτα is the Greek term, which follows after the churches. Chapter 4 verse 1 starts out with the words
μετὰ ταῦτα, after these things. So verse 19 breaks the book down into three
parts, chapter 1, which you've just seen. Chapters 2 and 3 that we're going to deal
with shortly. And then the rest of the book from chapter
4 on, we'll deal with that in our next session. We're going to focus now on chapters 2 and
3, which are among the most fascinating in the book. They're usually overlooked by people skimming
through the book. They're probably, in many- ... I've studied
the book for 50 years, the most fascinating part of the book, in many respects, is chapters
2 and 3. There's more stuff hidden there that people
miss. But anyway, continuing in chapter 1 for a moment. "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest
in My right hand and the seven golden lampstands." Okay, Jesus Himself, the book all the way
through for the most part identifies the idioms for you. These lampstands, translated candlesticks
in the old King James, but fine. "The mystery of the seven stars which thou
sawest in my right hand and the seven golden lamp stands: The seven stars are the messengers
(or angels) of the seven churches, the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven
churches." Are we together? I want you to notice that these lampstands
in chapter 2 and 3, He's among them. They're on the earth. Chapter 4 you'll discover they're in heaven. Notice those things as we go. Okay, the seven churches, these are the things
that are. The first question is why these seven? As you go through these, ... this list of
seven, they're strange names. Ephesus is familiar to us, but Smyrna? Pergamos? Thyatira? Sardis? Philadelphia? Laodecia? Why those seven churches-, those are weird-, why
those seven? Why did Jesus write those ... what happened
to the church at Jerusalem? What about the church at Antioch that was
the headquarters for the gentile outreach? What about Iconium? Lystra? Derby? All these churches you read
about in Acts, they're not here. Why these seven? You need to figure that out. Furthermore, something else that's interesting,
each of the seven letters has a phrase in it. There's one phrase that's in common to all
seven letters. Each letter has this peculiar little code word. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches." It may surprise you that these seven letters
have at least four levels of meaning. Four levels of meaning. Levels of application. First of all, they really were local churches. This ... strange phrase that
we see in the seven letters occurs, by the way, seven times elsewhere in the New Testament. An interesting exercise, to track down every
other place that that occurs. Seven times, not by accident. But let's not go too far afield, or we'll never make it here. But they really were real churches. Sir William Ramsey, with great effort, over
many years, researched these seven churches and discovered they really were churches,
they really had these kinds of problems. So there is a practical, immediate, local
reason for the letter. Good. Okay. They were actual churches. But there's another level, admonitory. You notice what this says, "He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." He doesn't say listen to the church, listen
to the letter that applies to your church. He expects anybody that has, you know, to ... this is for all the churches are to read all the letters. "Hear what the Spirit says to the churches." If you're in Philadelphia, you want to know
what the Spirit said to Laodicea, etc. You follow me? So there's ... it's admonitory. There's advice here for churches in their
leadership. We're together? Okay, "He that hath an ear," how many of you
in the room have an ear lobe? Can I see a show of hands? Okay, if your hand is up, it's written to
you. It's personal. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches." So this is also, it applies ... it applied locally,
historically. It applied as admonition to churches in general. It also applies to you personally to understand
the dilemma and the solution each of these seven letters. Well that's all pretty straight forward stuff. Let me show you the surprise. This also, these letters, lay out a history
of the church. What's ... this is the most amazing part of these
letters, and if they were in any other order, this wouldn't happen. In the order they're in once you understand
the letters it's astonishing, because they lay out seven periods of church history with
some surprising precision. Each letter has seven design elements. When you study these seven things you'll
... each one has, there's the name of a church, and you'll discover the name of the church
turns out to be significant to its message. Each church has a specific message, a specific
theme, if you will. The name of the church turns out to be relevant
to that. The title that Jesus Christ uses of Himself
is different for each letter and it's appropriate to the mission of that particular church,
or the issues that face that church. Then there's a commendation. 'Hey guys, here's your report card. Here's what you got an A in.' Then there's some areas of concern and there's
exhortation. It's like a report card. Let me tell you something that's really interesting
about the seven letters in advance. Every church is surprised. The churches that thought they were doing
great were doing terribly. The churches that thought they were doing
terribly were doing great. You know, that's sobering. People like to organize church, you know,
by watching the first century. I wouldn't do that, the first century is all
screwed up. Everybody there is surprised. You want to design church governance,
go to the scripture. Go to the book of Acts. Go to these seven letters and so forth. Anyway, there's seven things. I said there's the name of the church, title
of Christ, a commendation, a concern, an exhortation. And then there's a promise to the overcomer,
there's a specific little prize for the overcomer. And the seventh element is this weird little phrase. It's almost like it's the close of the letter. It's sort of like a closing passage, except
it's not always closing. There's something very ... that most people miss,
that I want to show you and I think it's very significant. So these are seven elements and here are the
churches, we have Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Each one's name means something, and ... we'll go through ... let's just go through them here. Then each one has a title of Christ, and so
forth. Let's take the first one, the letter to Ephesus. "Now to the angel of the church of Ephesus
write, These things sayeth He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, and walketh
in the midst of the seven golden lampstands". The name Ephesus means 'darling'. Darling. It's a term of courtship. "These things sayeth He (Jesus Christ) that
holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, and walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands". He gives them a commendation. “I know thy works," oh that's wonderful
to hear, Lord. "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast tried them which say they are
apostles and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience,
and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted." That's A+ in that category. Done good guys. You may recall in Acts chapter 20 when Paul
gave his farewell address to the Ephesian elders. He warned them that there was going to be
wolves coming among you that going to not spare the flock. He warned about false teachers and so forth. Apparently, Paul's advice was heeded; they
apparently were terrific, they did not allow false doctrine. They tried them which say they are apostles
and are not, and found them liars. They did a good job with doctrine. They were sharp. They were orthodox. They were also patient and they labored, persevered. Terrific, well done, guys. Whoops. Nevertheless. You're before your boss. Your boss says, 'Man, you've really done great. You did this, this, this, this.' You're feeling pretty good. Your thumb goes under your suspenders or whatever. Then your boss says, 'Nevertheless,' that's
deflating. Pink slip in his right hand. I mean you just see it coming, right? Nevertheless, heavy word right here. Jesus is saying to them, after all this good
stuff, he says "Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first
love." Heavy stuff. They were so busy on the business of the King,
they had no time for the King. Are you so busy in ministry, helping the poor,
doing all this stuff that you don't have time for personal devotions? You miss the real point. So he goes on, "Remember therefore from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent." Where is Ephesus, where is their lampstand
today? It's a great place to visit because there
are elaborate ruins, it's one of the best, of the seven churches to visit, it's
really worth doing; it's incredible. But it's ruins. The lampstand isn't there anymore. Anyways, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest
the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." This is a point of ... a lot of
different scholars have differing ... who are the Nicolaitans. There are at least three theories-, two theories. Some books suggest that there was a first
century sect called the Nicolaitans that abused the liberty in Christ. Founded after, it's speculative out of
a guy by the name of Nicholas who was one of the seven that was chosen
to administer to the poor in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 6. And some feel that he founded the sect
and that's really what somehow, it was involving. That may be true, some people hold that view. I don't, I suspect something different. I think it's an untranslated word. The word νικάω means to conquer, overcome,
or rule. And the word laity, or λαoς, λαoς means
laity or people. The word, the Nicolaitans, the term implies
conquering or ruling over the people. I believe what was emerging here that Jesus
did not like was the whole concept of the clergy ruling over the laity. Jesus gave us our org chart when He dealt
with the washing of the feet, you may recall in John 13. Jesus told us how we should be organized. Let he that be chief among you be the servant
of all. See, I think the Nicolaitans were those that
were using their clergical stature to pos-, or position, to rule over the laity and I
don't think that was God's plan. I don't see any of that in the scripture and
having some senior elders do teaching, that's fine, but it doesn't assume they rule over
the people. You have deacons to help and there's
a whole different concept suggested. I think this, the formalism that we see in
some denominations I think is Nicolaitanism. That's just my personal view. Anyway, then we come this then cause "He
that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." And then we have the promise to the overcomer,
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst
of the paradise of God." Okay, so there's this unique promise to the
overcomer. I want you to notice that this 'he that hath
an ear' phrase, which closes the letter, we have the promise to the overcomer as a post
script, like a PS. Follow me? The first three letters have that design,
the last four are different. I'll come to that when we get there, but just
I want you to notice it here as we go through here. "He that hath an ear let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches." And then as a post script we have the promise
to the overcomer. Each promise to the overcomer is unique in
each letter. Let's go to the next letter, the letter to
Smyrna. The word Smyrna is a synonym for myrrh. Myrrh is an embalming ointment. The word myrrh suggests death. When the magi visited Bethlehem they brought
three gifts. There weren't three magi, there were more
than that, but there were three gifts: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Good. In the millennium, Isaiah tells us, they're
going to bring the Lord gifts; they're going to bring him gold and frankincense. No myrrh, no more myrrh, why? Because the magi were prophesying His death. In the millennium His death is once and for
all behind Him. Interesting, I want you to notice these things
because it demonstrates the integrity of design of the scripture. But in any case the church at Smyrna speaks
of death. Interesting letter for a number of reasons,
let's go on ... "These things saith the first and the last,
which was dead, and is alive." Notice the very title Jesus chooses of Himself
is the one that would be the most encouraging to those that were facing death and persecution. "These things saith the first and the last,
which was dead, and is alive. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty,
(but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan." It's interesting that, I think the Smyrna
listeners were surprised. They're doing better than they thought they
were. You see, you thought, I know your works and
tribulation and poverty, I know that. But then He tells them a little footnote,
but you are rich. Really? Yeah. "And I know the blasphemy of them which say
they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan." I am very concerned when I hear people feel
that the church replaces Israel, because they're saying they're Jews and they're not. If that's what Jesus is talking about, boy
I don't want to trade places with them. Let's move on. Then there's an exhortation. I want you to notice something's missing,
did you notice there was no concern? There's a commendation and there is an exhortation,
you know, some encouragement. But there's no commen-, this is, this is one
of two letters that has nothing bad said about it. But Jesus goes on and says, "Fear none of
those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches," and then we have a post script, "He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death." You see you want to be ... if you're born twice,
you die once. If you're only born once you die twice. I'll let you chew on that one. But I want you to notice that the promise to the
overcomer is a post script. How interesting. Strange stuff. Let's ... 10 days, it's interesting that the
persecutions of the church, scholars have suggested that it came in 10 specific waves. Nero, Domitian, who was, he used, that's where
John was exiled. Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Nero's the one that had Peter beheaded,
excuse me, Paul beheaded and Peter crucified upside down. And the 10 days cover about 250 years
actually. Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Marcus Aurelius had Polycarp martyred, bishop
of Smyrna. And Severus had Iraneus, one of
the early church fathers killed. Maximus killed Ursula in Hyppolatus and
... Diocletian was the worst of all of them. But 10 days, interestingly enough. Let's go on to the next one, the letter to Pergamos. The word Pergamos, you know what bigamy means,
that's two marriages, double marriage, right? Polygamy is multiple marriages, right? Pergamos is a mixed marriage or unfavorable
marriage. Like a perversion or whatever. "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos
write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges." Jesus is talking about His weaponry here. What's the sharp sword with two edges? What is it? The word of God. You betcha. The remedy for this church is the word of
God. Jesus goes on, "I know thy works, and where
thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not
denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain
among you, where Satan dwelleth." It may not sound like it, but that's the good
news. Let's get to the bad news. "But I have a few things against thee, because
thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling
block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit
fornication." Now to get these letters you have to know
your Old Testament. Who on earth was, what was the doctrine of
Balaam? What was that about? Balaam was a prophet that was hired by Balac,
the enemy of Israel. How do I beat these people? And Balaam knew that the way, the only way
this king could defeat Israel is for Israel to be out of favor with God. So Balaam counsels Balac to get his good looking
gals along the fringe of the camp and get these guys into fornication with these pagan
gals. And if you do that, Balac, God's hand will turn against Israel and you'll win. So Balac is giving, Balam's giving Balac the
doctrine that will put a stumbling block before Israel. And so Jesus is making an analogy here between
that and the situation in Pergamos where they're mixing idolatry. They're faithful on the one hand, and yet they're
mixing idolatry with their worship. They're marrying the world rather than being
a witness to the world. That's where the Pergamos aspect ... So to
eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication, in other words, to compromise
with the world. And he goes on, "So hast thou also them that
hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." Previously, it was the deeds of the Nicolaitans
God hated, now they've become the doctrine. You see what, do you see the evolution of
it going there? Okay. So here's the exhortation, "Repent; or else
I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." Well, of course, the doctrine of Balaam is the
spiritual unchastity, marriage with the world. We also find the way of Balaam mentioned in
2 Peter, that's where Balaam was a hireling making a market for his gift. There's a doctrine, a way, and an error. These are three similar things and yet technically,
slightly different. The error of Balaam, which is mentioned in
Jude 11, is sacrificing eternal riches for temporal gain. So all three involve the same thing, they're
slightly different aspects of the same actions, in a sense. Then we get to the, "He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;" and again we have a post script. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat
of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." So there ends the letter to Pergamos. Let's take the Thyatira. Thyatira was formerly named Semiramis and
Semiramis, of course, was the consort of Nimrod the first dictator of the world back in Genesis
10 and 11. "Unto the angel of the church at Thyatira
write; These things saith the Son of God," strange term. I mean He's used other titles, why so specific? We're going to find the key player here is
a gal by the name of Jezebel who calls herself the queen of heaven. He's saying, 'These things saith the Son of
God' in contrast to the queen of heaven. "These things saith the Son of God who hath
his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass." Eyes flaming and feet like brass implies judgment
coming. So this is a hostile letter. Probably the most hostile of the bunch. "I know thy works, and charity, and service,
and faith, and patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first." That's the good part. But here's the concern, "Notwithstanding I
have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calls
herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols. I gave her space to repent of her fornication;
and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them
that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds." So what on earth is Jezebel all about? He's using that term as a label, I don't know
that the gal that was causing the trouble in the church at Thyatira her name was Jezebel,
He's calling her a Jezebel, in effect. She may have been named Jezebel or He may
be just drawing your awareness to the scripture, scriptural Jezebel to understand what was
she all about. You with me? Let's find out a little bit about queen Jezebel,
for this you would turn in to 1 Kings 21. She did a lot of things. First of all, King Ahab had everything he
wanted. He's a king. He runs the place. But there was a little guy by the name of Namoth, Naboth, excuse me, that had a little vineyard. And he loved that vineyard. And Ahab wanted the vineyard and Naboth didn't
want to sell it. And King Ahab had a fit. He went into a pout and Jezebel says, 'Hey,
let me handle it for you.' What does Jezebel do? Well, she arranges an inquisition. She got
some false accuser to accuse Ahab, Naboth of some improprieties and had him put
to death. And took his lands in the name of the king and said hey, Ahab, here's my gift
to you. So false witnesses, condemned, executed. And Naboth's vineyard was seized for the king
... does this sound familiar regarding history? Where you contrive inquisitions to gain lands
and wealth for the church? That's the parallel here. And I want you to notice God promised Jezebel
that she would be cast into the tribulation. We'll come back to that a little later. Jesus continues, "And I will kill her children
with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and
hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the
rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths
of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you no other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come." Then he has the promise to the overcomer,
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over
the nations." See they apparently wanted power over the
nations before, that wasn't appropriate then, but if they hang in there, He'll give it to
them later. "And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches." You notice now that the promise to the overcomer
is put into the body of the letter, not a post script. Follow me? See the difference? First time we've seen that. Let's go to Sardis. "And to the angel of the church in Sardis
write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars." You know you look at the title, you can just
infer by now that the title gives you a clue as to what the remedy is. Whatever Sardis' problem is, it's apparently
the Holy Spirit that is the repair. Jesus says, "I know thy works," whoops, where's
the commendation? Usually the commendation comes first, right? There's no commendation in this letter. This hurts. Many Protestant commentators make a big thing
trying to tie Thyatira to the Roman Catholic church. That's easy to do, by the way. If that's true then Sardis is the Reformation. Sardis has nothing good said about it. Careful. Jesus says, "I know thy works, that thou hast
a name that thou livest, and art dead." The word 'name' echoes all through this letter:
name, name, name. That's a synonym for the denomination. And its exhortation, "Be watchful, and strengthen
the things which remain, that they are ready to die: for I have not found thy works complete,
or perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received
and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will
come on thee as a thief." Really? Apparently, if you are watching, it won't
be as a thief. "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will
come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Is the denominational church asleep today,
prophetically? How strange. The exhortation continues, "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." Who is they? The few names. Not everyone. Then the promise to the overcomer, "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." And then the closing salutation, "He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches." Ask any church and they'll tell you they're
part of Philadelphia, of course, because it's the one that has nothing bad said about it. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,"
Philadelphia, by the way, means brotherly love, as you probably know that. "These things saith he that is holy, he that
is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth,
and no man openeth." This is the missionary church, when God opens
the door, the door is open like it is in Asia right now. Boy, exciting. "I know thy works: behold, I have set before
thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast little strength, and hast kept
my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue
of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not," there they are again, "but say they
are Jews but 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." Man, that's pretty neat. "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try
them that dwell upon the earth." No concerns, by the way, this is the commendation
still going. But this verse, verse 10, is a key eschatological
verse. What is Jesus saying to the church at Philadelphia? "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour (or time) of temptation (or tribulation or testing)." I won't keep you from the testing, I'll keep
you from the time of the testing. See the difference? It's one thing to be protected through the
... it's quite another to be protected from the time of. You see the difference? "I'll keep thee from the hour of temptation
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." One of the things you'll discover as you study
the Book of Revelation, there are two groups of people those that are saved and the earth dwellers. All the way through the Book of Revelation,
those that dwell on the earth are the losers. They're lost. So you don't catch it unless you read the
whole book. You'll see that phrase again, and again, and
again: them that dwell upon the earth. They don't just live on the earth, they don't
happen to be physically on the earth, they dwell upon the earth. That's the concept. You and I are not earth dwellers. We may be here, but our allegiance is elsewhere. We're passing through, we're pilgrims. Here they're talking about earth dwellers. This time, I'll keep thee from the
time of tribulation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that
dwell upon the earth." That's not us for two reasons: we don't dwell
on the earth, and secondly we won't be, that's what he's saying, we will be raptured. Great, a great passage. "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which
thou hast, that no man take thy crown." You may not be able to lose your salvation,
but you sure can lose your rewards. Be careful about that. Then the promise to the overcomer, "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 my God: and I will write upon
him my new name." And then, "He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches." There, again, the promise to the overcomer
is in the body of the letter. Then we get to the last one: Laodicea. Lao means people, dicea means rule. This is where the people rule. Really? I thought Christ was supposed to rule the
church. No, these churches do market research to make
sure they're user friendly. These are churches that the people rule, not
the Word of God. Let's see what Christ says about the letter to Laodicea. "Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation
of God." That doesn't mean that He was created, that
means He was at the beginning in the creation. We know that from Colossians. Don't miss it, don't let that ... it's an
interesting phrase, by the way, that title of Christ is used in only two letters. It's used in this and it's also used in Colossians. I'll come back to that later. Jesus goes on, "I know thy works, that thou
art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Yuck. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked." A friend of mine pointed out to me, you know
a lot of us are familiar with what we call the 'name it and claim it' gospel, the people
on television that raise money. You know, if you're sick it's because you
don't have enough faith and if you're in Christ then you should be rich and wealthy and it's
the wealth, it's the wealth that, you know, we call the 'name it and claim it', the 'blab
it and grab it' guys. I had a friend of mine say, 'You know,
they're scriptural.' I says, 'What?' He rattled off some of the leaders that, 'Yeah,
they're all scriptural.' 'What do you mean?' He says, 'Sure, because they say they're rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing.' That's what they're saying, right? They have need of nothing. Got all the Rolex watches and the limousines
that, you know ... have need of nothing. He "knows not that he is wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked," as far as Christ is concerned. These are the Laodiceans. His exhortation. Notice, by the way, there's no commendation
here, just concerns and exhortation. "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in
the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and
that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that
thou mayest see." He's using that idiomatically, of course. You want riches and garments and the ability
to see, invest in me, not these worldly things. That's what he's saying, he's using the idiomatically. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent." Now we get into verse 20. This is one of the
most beautiful verses in the scripture as you normally hear it. How many have heard this verse? "Behold," Jesus says, "I stand at the door,
and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with me." Isn't that beautiful? That's a fabulous verse, it's used by evangelists
all over the world ... when used as a single verse. That's legitimate, no problem. However, if you put this in the context of
this letter, it's a scathing indictment. Why do I say that? Let's take a look at the church at Laodicea;
where is Jesus Christ? Outside, knocking to get in. And His invitation is not to the church, it's
to an individual. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if
any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me." It's individual. An invitation coming from outside the church to the individual. That's an indictment of Laodicea. You see
what I'm saying? He goes on, then, the promise to the overcomer,
"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." That's where Jesus is today. The day will come when the Father says to
the Son, 'Go get them.' But that's where He is today. And then, "He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Those are seven letters. Now, you notice that each one of these letters
typically have a name, a title of Christ that was used, a commendation, concerns, and exhortation. It's interesting that two letters had no,
nothing. Sardis didn't and Laodecia didn't. Those two letters are devoid of anything good;
no A on their report cards. So if the Protestant commentators like to
make mince meat of Thyatira, they better take a good look at Sardis, it's worse
off, in a sense. And there are two letters that had no concerns. Smyrna, 'Hey, you're doing fine guys, just
hang in there,' and Philadelphia are the two star witnesses here. Isn't that great? But something else is interesting that 'He
that hath an ear' in the first three letters, the promise to the overcomer is a post script. In the last four letters, the promise to the
overcomer is in the body of the letter. There's another distinctive in the last four
letters, I'll show you. Let's go at it another way. If we take these seven letters, Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodecia. Ephesus is descriptive of the apostolic
church: strict on doctrine, but forgot their first love. Smyrna is the persecuted church, suffering
death. Willingly being burned alive for the sake
of the gospel. And Pergamos is when the church marries the
world or the world marries the church. We are called to be separate and a testimony
to the church, to the world, not to be part of it. So in Pergamos, the church marries the world
and that, of course, leads to what I'll call, for lack of a better term, the medieval Church,
inheriting the state church that then pursues temporal power. And then we have the Reformation, which leads
to what we might call collectively the denominational churches. And then, of course, then we have the missionary
church, and we have the apostate church that's forgotten what the name of the game is. That's pretty exciting. Okay. What's interesting is this first three are
a group, and the promises to the overcomer are post scripted. That suggests to me that they have
a historical termination. These last four, the promises are in the body
of the letter, which causes me to suggest that they endure to the end, historically. There's another thing that the last four letters
have that the first three don't. Each one of the last four letters has an explicit
reference to the second coming of Christ; it's alluded to in the letter and it's conspicuous
by omission in the first three. But there's more to that, Thyatira is explicitly
promised to go into the tribulation. Jezebel, I'll cast you ... and all them that went in bed with you into the great tribulation. Philadelphia is explicitly promised that it
would not. It would be delivered from the time of trial. So it would seem that Philadelphia is consistent
in that sense, that it's raptured out. What happens to Sardis and Laodicea is problematic.
I suspect it obviously depends on individual issues as they all do, actually. Something else that's kind of interesting,
in Revelation 2 and 3 we have seven letters penned by Jesus Christ. In Matthew 13, we have seven parables given
to the disciples. And the Lord says, "These are things hidden from the foundation
of the world," which means they're not in the Old Testament, it means they're about
the Church. And it's interesting how these seven parables
map against the seven letters. Let's just take a couple to make the point
because our time is short. The third letter to Pergamos is comparable
to the mustard seed. Mustard seeds, if you've ever been in Israel,
you see little bushes that grow about 2-3 feet high that are yellow all over
the fields in the spring. Those are mustard plants. Little tiny seeds grows to a plant about 2-3
feet high. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a
mustard seed that grows into a tree that is so big that the birds of the air lodge in
its branches. Ever seen a bird lodge in the branches of
a 3 foot high thing? No. And furthermore, the birds in the parables
in the sower are the devil's ministers. If you're looking for the ministers of Satan,
don't overlook the pulpits. That apparently is what's happening in Pergamos. Thyatira, on the one case it was the woman,
Jezebel, in the letters. In Matthew 13, it's the woman and the leven. And you need to understand the Jewishness
of this, the leaven was the fellowship offering ... the woman put leaven in the fellowship
offering, which, if you're Jewish, you would gasp in horror. Leaven is always a type of sin. So, again, there's a parallelism, if you will,
between Jezebel's false doctrine and the woman and the leven in the parables there. Let's get skip to Philadelphia. The parallel in there is the pearl of great
price. Jesus talks about the pearl of great price. A very strange idiom for Jesus to use because
He was Jewish and oyster is not kosher. What is He talking about here? The pearl. What a beautiful analogy, the pearl is the
only jewel that is a response to irritation, that grows by accretion, and is removed from
it's place of growth to become an item of adornment. Talk about the church being raptured, there
you go. Anyway, you can go all through these, but
some are a little technical. That gives you a little flavor of it. Let's go one step further. Jesus wrote seven letters to seven churches,
so did Paul. He wrote to Ephesus. That one's easy, they parallel pretty well. He wrote a letter to Smyrna. Paul wrote to Philippians, joy through suffering,
remember? Pergamos: is there a church that Paul wrote
to that was worldly? Sure, to be a Corinthian was a
way of calling a person a fornicator. And, of course, Thyatira, religious externalism,
the call out of that being Galatians. Sardis, the denomination, the word of God
to be your support, we have the definitive statement of the gospel. Philadelphia, Thessalonians parallel to that;
the rapture and all of that. And Laodicea and Colossians were suburbs of
one another, they were explicitly instructed to exchange letters. Interesting how, I'll let you play with that. Remember we had an outline, the things which
thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. Vision of Christ was chapter 1, the things
you have seen. The things which are, the seven churches,
we've just gone through. Then we get to the third section, the things
which shall be hereafter. The word 'hereafter' in the Greek is μετὰ
ταῦτα, it means 'after these things'. That's the ... we've been through chapters
2 and 3 and when we get to chapter 4. The first word is μετὰ ταῦτα, after these
things in the Greek. Chapter 4 will, when we get there, will open
up, "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice
which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,
and I will show thee things which must be μετὰ ταῦτα." There's that term again. So from here on is the third section of the
book. Now, well there's so much here we'll deal
with that really when we get to the next section. But anyway, "and there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne," wait a minute, I thought these lamps were on the earth. Not anymore. Come up hither, I believe this is a milestone,
of the ra- ... Paul, excuse me, John is treated to a glimpse ahead of what it will be like
at the rapture. That's really what we're seeing here. And, the first voice I heard was a trumpet
talking with me, trumpet of God. And, when you get to chapter 5, it is
a very pivotal chapter, passage in the entire scripture. John is up there in heaven, he says, "I saw
in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a scroll written within and on the backside,
sealed with seven seals." Written within and on the backside. You didn't
usually read, write on the back side of a scroll, it was the rough side. But, if it was a title deed, the rules by
which it could be opened were written there. This implies it was a title deed. That occurs in Jeremiah and elsewhere. And John says, "And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll, and to loose the seals thereof?" Word goes out, huh? Notice this strange verse 3, "And no man in
heaven," no man. It had to be a man. Why? It had to be a kinsman of Adam to be eligible
to open this book. "No man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under
the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon." Now you and I don't understand what's going
on, but John did because he says in the next verse, 'I sobbed convulsively'. "I wept much," he said, "because no man was
found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look thereon." "I wept much because no man was found worthy
to open and to read the scroll, neither to look thereon." So John understood this is tragic. This is scary because no man ... it took a
man and no man was worthy to do this. So he's panicked. "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep
not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood the Lamb as it
had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth." Who is this guy? A lamb, yes. But what is His title? The Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is what Matthew spends his gospel establishing,
the Root of David. Yes, He was the Lamb that had been slain. The Lamb as it had been slain. Not a lamb, the Lamb as it had been slain. The entire universe pivots on this historical
event. The book of Leviticus lays down the specifications. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not a
tragedy, it was an achievement. And because of that achievement, there is
a man eligible to take this title deed. That was God's plan from the beginning and
Satan's attempt to thwart that plan included trying to contaminate the human race to prevent
a man being eligible to do this. So we have the apocalypse, which ... the catastrophic end crisis is going to be in the next section. The spectacular reappearance of the King of
Kings in His global empire will be the center point. The internment of Satan in the ἄβυσσο,
and we'll talk about that. And the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. It's astonishing how few churches embrace
this Biblical view. And then, of course, the final insurrection,
when Satan is finally released, and the final, fortunately, the abolition of sin. And we'll see a new heaven, a new earth, and
a new Jerusalem that concludes it. So let's stand for a closing word of prayer. Exciting passages of an exciting book. It's frustrating to try to summarize it so
briefly, and yet there's a value in having the whole thing in view so I submit that to
you, but I do encourage you to undertake, when you can, a verse by verse exposition
of the Book of Revelation. If you do it properly it will take you into
every other book of the Bible. It's a very, very ... it's something you don't
do in an hour or two, it's a lifetime pursuit. But I encourage you in that direction because
it will be a continual blessing. Let's bow our hearts. Father, we just rejoice in getting a glimpse
of the final chapters. We thank You that You've gone to such extremes
that we might live. We thank You that there is a man, right now,
today, sitting on the throne. We thank You that He is worthy to open the
seals and look thereon. We thank You that we are the beneficiaries
of these extremes that You've gone to that we don't deserve, but are we grateful for. Father, we would just pray that You would
take our lives without any reservation. Illuminate that path before us. Let us know precisely what You'd have of each
of us in the days that remain that we might be more pleasing in Your sight, that we might
be more fruitful stewards of these opportunities, that we might grow in grace and the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua. In whose name we commit ourselves this night. Amen
