Well, good morning. Looks like we're good. All right, let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for, again, the great privilege of gathering together this morning. We pray you'll help to calm our hearts and help us to focus upon you and upon the indescribable gift you've given us in your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for your faithfulness, dear God, and guide and direct us as we study your word this morning. It's in Christ's precious name we pray, amen. All right, well, I told James a couple days ago that I was terrified. Maybe it's a little bit hyperbolic, but I had studied through the week and in the evenings after work. By the end of the week, I felt like I hadn't made any progress at all, and Sunday was upon me, and I thought, this is not going well. So anyways, I've always been a little bit intimidated by revelation, and Didn't just I just didn't have a good mental construct and I've kind of somewhat I've In all my teaching. I don't refer a lot to Revelation and so anyways, I Think we're gonna be okay, but there was a little bit of panic there at the end of the week So I Think You know, James highlighted this last week, but I think there's a lot in the title of the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. And I think, you know, a couple points as we jump into the second lesson on this book. Obviously, all, Scripture is revelation from God. We glory as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and the uniqueness of the Word of God. It's a revelation given to us by God. Obviously, a very familiar passage, 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, all scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. And week after week, Pastor Will and James other men of God stand at this pulpit and teach, obviously not to share inspiring stories from the Bible, but rather to preach and teach the revealed word of God, that which the God of heaven has graciously given to man. And further, we can rightly say that All of scripture is about the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ, starting in Genesis, and obviously a simple concept, but a glorious truth. My obvious point is it's not as if scripture is building up to the entrance of Jesus Christ in this grand story of redemption. He is the story of redemption. And so Revelation, the book of Revelation brings a bit of a twist to the story in that the title aptly describes the thrust of the book, the glorious revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so briefly, the book of Revelation reveals Jesus Christ's ultimate victory over wickedness, Jesus Christ's great exaltation as the King of kings, Jesus Christ's second advent, returning as our warrior king, and Jesus Christ returning to rule in all his glory. Okay. And that was the end of the lesson, so I know. So, just a bit of review. You know, the author is, as James established last week, is the Apostle John. I think that's well understood to anybody who's familiar with the book of Revelation. It was written on the island of Patmos. And it was written probably in 95 or 96 AD, something in that neighborhood. You know, as we read earlier from 2 Timothy, all scripture is God breathes. And in the case of the book of Revelation, God used an angel as an intermediary in giving the word to the apostle John. And that's pretty clear in the early reading of the book of Revelation. And taking a very simple view of history, and by simple I don't mean minimalistic or unimportant, but simply a high level and straightforward view, there are two major events in history, the first advent of Christ and the second advent of Christ. And so obviously we live in anticipation of the second And prophetically, there is nothing between where we live in history and the return of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation was written to seven churches. However, like all of scripture, The book of Revelation is equally instructive to us today. There are several references in the first chapter. John to the seven churches in verse 4. send it to the seven churches. And I'm not reading the whole verse, obviously. Verse 11 and seven churches is mentioned again in verse 20. The point being that in John's writing of the book of Revelation, his primary audience was these seven churches. And again, by implication is all of those who have followed, who belong to the Lord. The book of Revelation describes the closing chapter of human history. And in doing so, it describes the eternality of Christ from eternity past to eternity future. Christ reigns. And as a bit of an aside, The Book of Revelation, obviously properly understood, is a problem for the Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses. He's eternal. And much of what we will learn in the weeks ahead decimates much of what they build their belief system on. John queues up the discussion in chapter one, but the book of Revelation will elaborate on Christ's victory over death. And again, Christ is eternal, and he has the keys of Hades and death. The Revelation 119, in fact, let me go there and just read that I have right here. So it kind of does a good job of providing a construct for the entire book of Revelation. I love, and my kids will tell you this, I probably wear out my welcome in over the years in quoting this verse, but I love John 20 verses 30 and 31. And truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. and believing you may have life in his name. So John does a fantastic job of saying, this is why I wrote the book of John. And it's just very clear. And so you have this expectation of working through the book of John, where it's all headed and what the intent was. And I think in the same way, we could probably take Revelation 119 that says, therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. So the things which are seen, James talked about last week, in chapter one, the things which are in chapters two and three, and the things which shall be in chapters four through the end of the book. So again, a nice construct, and John is very clear about what he's writing. So James went over this a bit last week, but just to be clear, kind of as we jump into chapter two, this is a real prophetic narrative. This is not allegory or something we are meant to understand in a spiritual or abstract way. And as passages in the Old Testament prophetically describe the events leading up to the first advent, the book of Revelation prophetically describes events leading up to the second advent. And we get that in spots in the New Testament, but we really get a huge dose of it in the book of Revelation. As noted earlier, John received the word of God from an angel, an event unique to the book of Revelation. And he used it to exhort and admonish the people of God at the seven churches. And again, we'll address that. four of those churches today. And these are actual churches. So it's important to understand that, again, this is not abstract. These are churches that existed in John's day. So let's work our way through these churches. So... And these are all kind of, if you looked at the questions in our workbook, I use that same construct. John uses that same construct, and so it's really a product of the way that John kind of writes these letters and structures these letters to these churches. The, in terms of the commendation to the church at Ephesus or Ephesians, Ephesian church, the Ephesians were diligent. They worked hard. And as a bit of an aside, this is a, a bit unnerving to read as our culture tends to elevate hard work to a saintly virtue. And obviously hard work is important for sure. But as we'll see in a minute, it does not insulate us from serious breaches in our relationship with God. He further commended the Church at Ephesus for standing strong against evil. Again, another noteworthy virtue. He commended them for being discerning. Those that claimed to be apostles, but were not, were false. And Paul warned the elders at the Church of Ephesus on his departure, that savage wolves would come into the church. In Acts 20, 29, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And so the church at Ephesus was on guard, and the apostle John commended them for their faithfulness in being discerning and rejecting those who claimed to be apostles, but were not. He also commended them for being perseverant, for the cause in name of Christ. The Ephesian church labored hard for Christ's sake. Again, these are very noteworthy and commendable character traits. And a worthy pursuit for any believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, laboring for the sake of Christ. Nicolothians, I should have asked my wife how to pronounce that, but anyways. I'm not sure exactly what this is and I didn't spend a lot of time looking into it, but the Lord commended the church of Ephesus for their hatred of their deeds. and we'll see that again as we continue to talk about the churches. In terms of rebuke, and this is a gut punch. What a rebuke, in fact, let me, I realize I hope I probably could take the time to read these. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of time. Let me do a little bit of rewinding here. I'll read real quick so we have the context. The angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things say, says, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands, I know your works, your labor, your patience, that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my name's sake. And have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love." And that's what I want to focus on in this rebuke. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolothians, which I also hate. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." So again, Looking at the rebuke, this is quite a blunt blow, if you will. Obviously, both of these perspectives are from the Lord Jesus Christ, the commendations and then the rebuke. His commendations were real and sincere, but his rebuke was equally thoughtful and sincere. And so the The church at Ephesus was orthodox and yet compromised on the thing that mattered most, the love for the Lord Jesus Christ. It's, again, it's almost hard to read those words and just comprehend the contrast between the commendation and then, but I have one thing against you. It's not like this is a little thing they need to tweak. I mean, this is a big, big deal. Then the commandment, and the starting point for any correction is to remember. And we need to constantly think on all that Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished, anything fruitful, we do is an outgrowth of Him and the work He has done in us. I often, when I'm teaching, I often refer to John 15.5. I love the passage and it's where it says, in part, apart from me, you can do nothing. And I think that has to be the starting point in our thinking, that apart from Christ, apart from abiding in the vine, we are absolutely powerless to do anything fruitful that has any meaning in the economy of God, if you will. And so despite the discipline and diligence of the Ephesian church, they had lost their first love. And so they needed to repent. They needed to repent and to turn from their sins and turn back to Christ. And he admonished them to restore their original, original works and to repent and turn back to a life of faithfulness in doing the works of God. And by that, I certainly do not mean that And obviously the Apostle John did not mean that. Those works were a product of human endeavor and human effort. The point being, they needed to return back to Christ, their first love. And as I referred to in John 15, 5, acknowledging that, again, anything they were doing would be absolutely unfruitless apart from abiding in the mind, abiding in Christ. being subject to Him and loving Him with all their hearts. And then the the promise, and this is again the pattern through all these churches if we get through all of them. So, and this exhortation is repeated in all seven of the letters. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in paradise." And this, this basic truth is critical in living the Christian life. And MacArthur in his commentary aptly quotes Proverbs 4.23, where it says, watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. I think we can all say this. there's probably nothing more terrifying in living the Christian life than just being sobered by what our hearts are capable of. And by God's grace, he allows us to see that in the lives of people and learn lessons that hopefully by God's grace, again, we are quick to apply to our own lives and avoid the terrible errors and difficulties that others encounter again. the oft quoted, but for the grace of God there go I. So I think that the point with Proverbs 4.23 is we really need to guard our hearts and with all diligence. The Lord Jesus Christ is calling the Ephesian believers back to a life of faithfulness in turning from, again, their lack of love for Him. So it's sobering that we can have all the right doctrine and yet betray our first love, the Lord Jesus Christ. Any questions, any comments before I go on to the next church? Okay. So now we'll go on to Smyrna. And I'll leave this for one of the other men, maybe they can come up with something. I was thinking, the engineer in me wanted to take all four of these churches, actually there's seven, but if you didn't consider chapter three, and put them on some kind of a graph and a matrix that said, OK, you look at all these attributes and you think there's got to be some way to organize these in a way that would Again, it's probably my engineering brain, but it just, there's gotta be a way to do this. So these characteristics, these four things is kind of the, again, the construct that John uses in instructing each one of these churches, again, as given to him by the angel of God and ultimately from the Lord Jesus Christ. So the church at Smyrna, The commendation. Christ well understood the tribulation the church at Smyrna endured. And despite the harassment of Satan, they stood strong. And God, through John, characterized them as rich. They also endured blasphemy from those who call themselves Jews but are not. They are from the synagogue of Satan, which is, again, blunt words from the Lord Jesus Christ. And so again, very, very commendable that this church stood strong under intense persecution and tribulation. And the Lord Jesus Christ in this letter commended the church at Smyrna. Oops, I forgot to put that up. So in terms of a rebuke, Unlike the Ephesian church, the Lord Jesus Christ did not rebuke the church at Smyrna, which is noteworthy and remarkable. And again, something for us to find instructive. Terms of commandments. The Lord Jesus Christ knew they were going to endure more suffering. He told them not to fear. And the Lord Jesus Christ also rightly knew that the devil was going to throw some into prison and test them. And as an aside, the day and age we live in, sometimes I think before I leave this earth, will I end up in prison? I hope I'm faithful and I hope the Lord tests me in that way that I'm found faithful. It's not a stretch to see in our day and age that could be coming. He said to them also, be faithful unto death. And these are blunt words that both sober and encourage. And this is not a temporal trial that will soon pass, but the end of their time on this, this earth. Again, he's, he's talking about the finality of, of, of death. And, um, you know, again, not some, you know, small bump in the road. This is, he said, be, be faithful unto death. And, and, and God calls us to be faithful unto death. And, uh, And yet despite the finality, Christ encouraged them to stand fast. And then in terms of the promise, again, the Lord instructed them to be faithful to the end, that they might receive the crown of life. a crown of faithful service, not reflecting on the works of the faithful, but reflecting on the perseverance of those who genuinely trusted in Christ. And so, True Christians will never, ever endure the second death, eternal damnation, which is such an encouragement and just keeps us steadfast. And to know beyond this life, we enjoy eternal life. Any questions on Smyrna? Faithful church and one to be one to be mimicked. Dylan. Less of a question, more of just kind of a general kind of comment or observation. But if Revelation was written around, you know, 1885 or 1895, then this letter would have been given to the Church of Smyrna and probably read by Polycarp as a young man who lived there. So this is something he would have had been able to look at and found true in his own kind of personal experience. Maybe that's not a cool thought, but I've always thought it's... No. Yeah, I wish we had time to... You're absolutely right. I mean, that... Yeah, it's a wonderful story, and you're right. That's probably very true. Yeah, very good thought. In fact, I think, if I'm not mistaken, I didn't read it, but I think in MacArthur's commentary, he spends quite a bit of time talking, you know, kind of recounting the story of Polycarp, so. Okay, Pergamos. So the commendation, uh, the people of the church of Pergamos held fast to the name of Christ, despite the fact that they, uh, dwell where Satan's throne is. Um, Pergamos was evidently an idolatrous city. I didn't spend a lot of time studying the city of Pergamos. But the point of the Lord Jesus Christ is they clinged to Christ despite their circumstances. that created a satanic opposition, and they held fast. Further, they did not deny their faith, and even in the midst of the martyrdom of Antipas. And John, you know what, I'm almost not reading these again. Let me read here. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, these things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword, I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas. I'm sorry, even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful marcher, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. But I have few things against you, because you have, there are those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrines of the Nicolothians, which thing I hate. Repent or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it." So Again, they did not deny their faith. And this Antipas, which again is mentioned here in verse 13, we don't know a lot about him apart from what's mentioned in this verse. But Christ describes him as a faithful martyr who was martyred, who was killed. And again, to Dylan's point, Polycarpus very likely, very familiar with these stories and what these letters obviously, and which we'll find out someday when we see him in heaven, but I'm sure they were an encouragement to him. In terms of a rebuke for the Church of Pergamos, so evidently there were some among the church who held to the doctrine of Balaam. And despite the commendation, the congregation was not completely united in their faithfulness to Christ. And some did not cling to Christ. And the rebuke is likely a result of the fact that the Church of Pergamos did not exercise church discipline and biblically deal with those who were in opposition to Christ. 2 Peter 2, 15 and 16 says, Abandoning the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of righteousness, but he received a rebuke for his own offense, for a mute donkey speaking with a human voice, restrain the insanity of the prophet." Restrain the insanity of the prophet. Pretty strong words by the Apostle Peter. At any rate, evidently, as Christ lays out in terms of the rebuke, some among the Church of Pergamos had given way to this nonsense. And these same people were lured away into idolatry and sexual immorality. And so, like the Church of Ephesus as well, some of the Church of Pergamos embraced the doctrine of the Nicolothians. And then in terms of commandment, pretty obvious, but the Lord Jesus Christ called them to repentance, or he would fight against them. This obviously is not any foe, but the eternal son of God who would oppose them. And judgment would fall upon both those who embraced idolatry and those who looked the other way and did not deal with those who embraced idolatry. So again, a very, very sober, sober commandment to repent. And then the promise. The one who repented and overcame would receive the hidden manna which is an allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 6, 48 to 51, the Apostle John there says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread of life that comes down out of heaven so that anyone may eat from it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats from the bread, he will live forever. And the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is my flesh. There is no greater blessing that could result from repentance than to enjoy the divine blessings of Christ. And as we talked about earlier, there is no greater judgment than to incite the judgment of the Son of God. So again, the Lord Jesus Christ was warning them to repent or else he would oppose them. Uh, the same passage, uh, in terms of the, the promise, um, mentions the white stone. I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tackle the white stone. I, I don't know exactly, uh, what's going on there, but there, um, there is no doubt. Um, I think the point is that this kind of gives reference or makes the point of the multiplied blessing of God that results from their repentance. OK, any questions on Pergamos? I find it interesting that today the Temple of Zeus was brought over into Berlin. just prior to the Nazi reign in Germany, and I find the pagan roots synonymous. It's just interesting that the pagan people would bring in the seat of Satan that is there today. You can see it. I wouldn't want it here. Yeah, absolutely. Well said. Okay, and the last one for this week, then we'll do three more next week. So the Church of Thyatira. So the commendation, the Church of Thyatira was commended for its love. They were also commended for their faith, service, and patience. The Lord Jesus Christ also noted the fact that they were increasing in these, your works, the late or more than the first. In fact, let me read real quickly. And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write, these things says the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants, to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into the sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children. with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have the doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But behold, but hold fast what you have till I come and he who overcomes and keeps my work works until the end to him. I will give power over the nations. He shall rule with with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels as I also have received from my father and I will give them the morning star and he who has ear to has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. So the church at Thyatira was commended for its love And as I said a minute ago, they were all so commended for their service and their patience. And the Lord Jesus Christ also notes the fact that they're He says, as for your works, the last are more than the first, which would imply or infer that they are improving in these things, like Peter says in his epistles. The rebuke is pretty harsh again. Using the name Jezebel was no doubt intentional and conjures up appropriate images of the depth of unfaithfulness. And eerily, despite the earlier commendation, there were serious problems in the church of Thyatira. And evidently, this woman who was fashioned after the Jezebel of the Old Testament, called herself a prophetess, teaching and beguiling the servants of Christ. And further, she led them into sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. It's, it's, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not sure exactly how to reconcile the commendation versus the rebuke. On one hand, they seem to be excelling in love, unlike the Ephesian church, and growing in maturity and their service to Christ. On the other hand, they have permitted this sinful woman to have undue influence among them. And it, Verse 21, where it says, I gave her time to repent. She does not want to repent for her sexual immorality, perhaps gives us some clues. It would seem that the Lord was giving her opportunity to turn before bringing judgment upon her, which is meted out in verses 22 and 23. In terms of a commandment, Christ admonishes Admonitions, I'm sorry, were directed to the woman, Jezebel, and to those who followed her. To the rest, Christ reassured them with the comfort of a Savior that He would not place any other burdens upon them. He exhorted them to hold fast till Christ returned. And so again, there seemed to be a bifurcation in the church. Those who were following after Christ and those who were being deluded and deceived by this woman, Jezebel. And then lastly, the promise, and this is a promise yet in the future to the faithful. They will rule with Christ and someday in his millennial kingdom, and shall rule with a rod of iron. It's hard to imagine exactly what that looks like, but the promises of the Lord are clear and unambiguous and very encouraging. Any final questions or comments? How do you interpret the morning star? It can't be the planet of Venus. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. James, any thoughts? Well, I think it's the use of Christ. So give him the morning star. So I would, at first blush, connect it to the being with Christ in glory. But I'd have to check that. Yeah. I did study that. Any other? Betty? I just think it's interesting that in our time, what's emphasized is tolerance. Yeah. All through this. Yeah, exactly. Very good point. James? It's just interesting that so much, using my dad's word, interesting, that so much of the deeds of the Nicolaitans, it follows the teaching of the Nicolaitans. And then the deeds of the people who are sinning in Thyatira follows the teaching of this Jezebel woman, and how you have to, believe the word of the Lord and keep it, but on the opposite side, not believe the false prophets and then keep their word, which leads to perverted lifestyles. That just struck me as you were going through this. Yes. It's the beginning of a graph, I think. I'm just wondering about the promises in each case. In each church, they're different. What do we learn from that? Why are we different? You know, I don't know. I didn't think about that. That's a good observation, yeah. I'd probably have to go back and think about that. I think, again, I think it's I think the common refrain is what it said initially. Let me get to it real quick. All right, so. He who has ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of paradise. He who has ear to hear, verse 17, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So I think there's a, I think the conroom refrain is, You know, again, kind of the point I think James was making in that is to give heed to the things that Christ is revealing, the things that Christ is saying and returning to a life of faithfulness that's fixed upon the revelation of Christ and following wholly and completely after Him. But you're right, there are some nuances in each one of the promises to each of the churches that, yeah, I'd have to give that some thought. Maybe it was reflective of the particular difficulties that each one of these churches were having and how Christ was dealing with, you know, kind of what he was rebuking them for and trying to, on the other hand, encourage them in their walk with him. So, yeah, it's a good question. Alicia. I think it's interesting to see, you know, Revelation is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, and even in these letters we are seeing Christ revealed. So that each letter starts with a description of Christ, taken in reference back to chapter 1, but that revelation itself of Christ offers a comfort to the people he's writing to, and a rebuke to the people that he's writing to, and then even a promise of the participation in his glory. It all goes back to that description that's given in that letter to that particular church. the thing that encourages us to keep pursuing righteousness and the thing that rebukes us away from our sin is Christ himself. Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah, well said. You said it better than I did. And it's because that's, that's not, yeah, it's not, it's not works for work's sake. It's, it's Christ and it's constantly going back to him. Yep. Well said. Very well said. Yes, Sue. The Church of America, as it were, every single one of the sins, the things that they were rebuked for in these seven churches, anybody could, any church in any location could be guilty of any of that. So I think that it's this warning. to watch out for those things. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. No, I think this is very instructive to us, very instructive to the church in the United States. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Let me pray. Father, thank you again for your love and kindness to us. Thank you for Christ. And thank you that all things center on Him. We pray that you'll help us grow in our affection for Him. Help us to keep our eyes fixed upon the author and finisher of our faith. And we pray, Father, that you would help us to finish this race well. We love you. It's in Christ's precious name we pray these things. Amen.