The Seven Churches

Introduction

[Prayer]

Well, good morning!

If you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do…open ‘em up with me to Revelation chapters 2 and 3. As you can see, we’re gonna be covering a large section of text this morning…looking at the seven churches that John describes here in this book.

And I’ll be honest…most pastors preaching through this section of Scripture…they typically take each letter and preach through ‘em one at a time. There’s actually entire sermon series built around these seven letters that we’re gonna look at over the next 30 or 40 minutes. But guys, the main reason we’re doing it like this…its because I don’t want you to lose the main theme of Revelation. It’s so easy for us to get wrapped up in all these details and for us to completely miss the main point of Revelation. There’s just more that stands out when we go through it as a whole.

Listen, one of the things I find entertaining, its to go through the Bible app, right?…and just look at all the different translations out there. Some of ‘em are pretty crazy…One of my favorite ones…not to read but for entertainment…it’s the HPB translation or the Hawaii Pidgin Bible. Now, I won’t read from it this morning…but as crazy as it is to read…I think they get something very right about Revelation. You see, this translation…it’s actually changed all the names of the Bible. And so, Genesis they call “Start”…Exodus…they’ve named, “Outa Egypt.” The Book of Acts…that’s called “Jesus Guys.” But listen, for Revelation…I actually love this…they call it, “Jesus Show.”

Now, for the record…we shouldn’t change anything about the Bible…especially the names of it’s books…Revelation actually talks about this…but I love the point that this translation’s trying to make. Its that Revelation, its all about Jesus. It’s all about Him! It’s about what did at Cavalry…its about His person and His power…its about His glory and what we know He will do. It’s His show!

Guys, if you were with us last week. That was the point. When we began following Jesus…we picked up our cross…we said yes to anything that might bring Him glory. We turned from ourselves. And as believers today, we understand that we’re united in the same battle. A battle that’s existed since Adam and Eve ate from the fruit.

The church, the bride of Christ…its fighting a battle…and the battle, its over the eternal lives of the people around us. And guys, we have to understand that Jesus takes this battle serious…He doesn’t play games. He cares about the souls of those around us…and guys, He called us to care just as much. But we have understand that there’s a spiritual battle waging…and the forces of this spiritual darkness…they’re not trying to take you out of commission…they don’t have the power to do that…Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades…those powers, they’re just trying to sideline you. And if we’d open our eyes…like the churches we’re gonna read about this morning…we’d see Jesus among us. We’d see Him there encouraging us as we fight this battle…we’d see Him there commending us as we faithfully endure…we’d see Him there rebuking us as we allow this darkness to make us useless in the kingdom. If we’d open our eyes, we’d see Him among us.

Listen, in our ministry context, it’s common for church leaders to spend some time each year just evaluating their ministries…seeking a vision for their congregation. Some churches, they plan a whole retreat around this every year. Some pastors plan workshops…others, like myself, we’re constantly working on reflection and vision casting all throughout the year. But listen, every single time I sit down and begin to pray about where we’re at as a church…what we’re doing well…what we need to work on…I’m just always convicted. My thoughts, it always goes to, “What would Jesus say about us?…If He were physically in those meetings…if He was sitting across the table from me as I thought through those things…what would He say? What would he think about us and what we’re doing?”

Listen, the book of Revelation, it actually shows us that Jesus, He’s present among us. He knows very well what’s going on in His churches and He evaluates the state of His people’s hearts. He commends us when we deserve it…He rebukes us when necessary…He encourages us and comforts us and warns us. He gives us our marching orders. He’s with us and He’s leading us, even now. Guys, we’d see that if we’d just make it all about Him.

Listen, as we’ll see today, while Revelation is a letter in nature…these so-called seven letters to the churches in Asia, they, in themselves, aren’t actually letters. Instead, they form a vital portion of this book, which together forms a single letter to all the churches. Remember what I’ve been saying…John showed us at the beginning of this book, it was gonna be symbolic in nature. And so, numbers and colors and events, animals…they all have great, symbolic meanings…and so, I believe when he talks about writing Revelation to the 7 churches of Asia, he’s writing to the church as a whole…mainly because of what the number 7 means all throughout Scripture…It means fullness…completion…perfection…Of course, we know there were more than 7 churches in Asia at this time…and churches, they weren’t like our churches where we meet in a singular building…churches, they represented cites in the New Testament…and the people, they met in different house churches, scattered all throughout the city. We have to realize as we cover this section of Revelation…chapter 2, verses 1 through 7…that section wasn’t only sent to the church in Ephesus…verses 8 through 11 wasn’t just sent to the church in Smyrna. No, John, He sent them together to be read aloud in all the churches.

This section of Revelation, while each of these things were literally true about the mentioned churches in this book…this section, it wasn’t just intended for the 7 churches…it was equally intended for the whole church…past, present, and future…because listen, as we walk through this…what we’re gonna see, it’s that all of the things its addressing, each of these things are present in every church across every age, in every location. That’s why as you skim through these letters…you’ll notice, each message it concludes with, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Listen, underline that in your Bibles. He writes that over and over again. The fact that each of these sections are all addressed to the churches in plural, it shows us that the problems identified here, they’re common problems that churches of all times struggle with…and it shows us that this letter, it has a universal message and a universal relevance to all the churches in Christ Jesus.

Listen, as you read these letters on your own, because we’re not gonna have time to read every single word this morning…what you’ll notice…each of ‘em also share the same pattern…Jesus praises the church…He points out areas for repentance…He warns the church of His judgement…and He promises blessings for those who overcome in His name.

And so, as we walk through these letters…I have one main point for us and three sub points…The main point, its that Jesus knows us…and then the sub points…its that He commends us…He rebukes us…He rewards us.

And remember as we dive back into this book, everything we’re reading this morning…it can’t mean today, what it never could’ve meant for these Christians in the 1st century. I just wanna constantly remind of that as we dig into Revelation.

And so, if you’re there with me…let’s dive into this first point together.

I. Jesus Knows Us

Jesus knows us!

Listen, if you have your Bible, notice that at the very start of every letter (your Bible’s should have a section divide for each of these throughout chapter 2 and 3)…notice, that every one starts with Jesus saying, “I know…”

To the church of Ephesus…Jesus says, “I know your works, your toil, your endurance…” To Smyrna, He says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty.” To Pergamum (Per-ga-mom), “I know where you dwell.” He says to Thyatira (Thigh-a-tie-ra), “I know your works, your love and faith and service and patience.” To those in Sardis and Philadelphia, and Laodicea, He says, “I know…”

Guys, if there’s only one thing you take away from me this morning…let it be that Jesus knows you better than you know yourself. As a church here at FBC, He knows us better than we think we do ourselves. And this can be very encouraging and very frighteningly all at the same time. If these letters were meant for the entire church…when we read things like what He says in chapter 3, verse 1…it’s frightening. He tells Sardis, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you’re dead.” Meaning, its very possible for a church to have all the signs of life, its possible for the people to look at a church and say, “Wow, that church, its alive, its active.” And at the same time…because Jesus knows us deeply…its possible for Him to look at us and say, “You’re completely dead!” It’s possible for FBC to look alive to everyone else around us, and it’s possible for Jesus to still tell us, “You’re dead!”

And listen, that’s possible because only Jesus truly knows us—as a church and as believers. Guys, we’re all prone to spiritual deception. We’re all prone to overestimate our spiritual condition, to think that we’re fine when we’re not. And so guys, as we dive into this, let us open our eyes and our ears and ask Jesus, who knows us, to speak to us as a church and as believers, let us ask Him to show us our blind spots…to show us where we’re fooling ourselves.

Guys, we have to remember the portrait of Jesus we saw last week. He walks among the golden lampstands, He walks among His churches, right?…In fact, He says that at the beginning of chapter 2 again…Let us remember that He declared Himself to the be the first and the last…He’s died and He lives forevermore…that’s how He reintroduces Himself to the church in Smyrna.

Last week, we saw that Jesus’s words, they’re powerful…like a double edged sword…which He says again to Pergamum here in our passage this morning…His eyes, they’re like a flame of fire, that sees us and searches us…He says that again to Thyatira.

The purpose of last week, it was for us to take that picture and build on what’s He’s saying to all the churches this week…He sees us and He knows us because of who He is. And guys, we have to take that information…we have let it help us understand the person and power of Jesus…and we have let that knowledge cause us to obediently and sacrificially follow Him.

And listen, when we do that, when we understand this knowledge that Jesus has of us…we begin to see just how much He loves us. In fact, He shows us these things throughout these 7 letters.

Look at Revelation 3:19:

Revelation 3:19 (ESV)

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Love, it doesn’t always mean He gives us what we want…instead, it involves Him giving us what we need. That’s what we see through these letters. He’s among us…and He comes to us because He loves us. And whether He tells us things we like to hear or He tells us things that are hard to hear…He does it because ultimately, He loves us. And He wants us to stay engaged in this battle.

Understanding Jesus’s knowledge of us it also reminds us that He guards us…zealously! He protects His church…He provides for His church…He preserves His church. I mean think about it, 2,000 years ago, revealed in this vision to John, Jesus knew His words would encourage those today that were struggling with the same kind of sin and suffering.

And listen, through His love for us and through His protection of us…because of those things…We know He uses us purposefully in His kingdom. Our lives, our sacrifices…our suffering…our acts of faith…they’re all used purposefully…they’re not wasted.

That’s His desire…for us to know He loves us…for us to know He guards us…to know He uses us purposefully. And listen, in this revelation…the fact that we get a firsthand account of this knowledge He has for His church, for the people of the church…it should give us great confidence in the One we serve and follow.

A. He Commends Us

And so, with all that being said…what does it mean for us that He knows us?

Part of the comfort we have in understanding that Jesus knows us…its that He sees what we’re doing well…He sees our faithfulness. We don’t have to tell Him or justify ourselves or give an account…He sees us!

Every letter, with the exception of two…Sardis and Laodicea…Jesus praises ‘em. Before He gets to all the other stuff…He stops and He addresses what they’re doing well.

Remember, every one of these churches, they’re being persecuted…people are losing their lives because they’re following Jesus. And listen, Jesus…He’s sensitive to that…He knows what they’re going through and He addresses each of those things…He commends them with the intentions of encouraging them.

And listen, I love this…there’s actually three things Jesus commends His church for doing here…which if anything…it tells us what He cares most about, right? And so, again…regardless of how you might interpret this book…you might wanna take notes if you care about Jesus’s recognition…if care about His approval… if you wanna stand before Him one day and hear those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

The first thing we see here…Jesus commends the church for their faithful endurance. If you’re taking notes…underline this phrase. It’s mentioned four times in these 7 letters…its the phrase “patient endurance.”

At the beginning of the letter to Ephesus, Jesus says, “I know your works, your toil and your [underline it there] patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.” Then look at verse 3. “I know you are [here it is again] enduring patiently…”

Then you get to Smyrna and we see the same idea there. Sardis was a church patiently enduring in the middle of persecution and death.

Then the church at Pergamum, also not denying their faith in the midst of struggle.

Then we get to Thyatira. Look at Revelation 2:19. Jesus says to the church at Thyatira, “I know your works, your love and faith and service and [what?] patient endurance…”

And then we keep going into chapter 3, we come to Sardis, where there’s not as much to commend, but then we get to Philadelphia, and we see this one more time in verse 10. Jesus says to the church at Philadelphia, “Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world…”

He also tells Philadelphia here, they’re gonna each be a pillar in this new temple of God…again symbolism, just as I’ve been mentioning…this’ll have significance later on…so just mark it down in your notes for later.

But patient endurance. Let that phrase stick out in your mind. Patient endurance, faithful perseverance.

And so, that’s what we’re seeing here. A lot of these churches, their faithfully enduring…some of ‘em were guarding the church internally from false doctrines…we see that in the section to Ephesus. They tested false teachers with the Word of God. They were doctrinally and theologically sound…they cared about the Word of God…as should we…we should be faithfully guarding it and keeping it.

We see Jesus commend those that not only kept His Word but actually proclaimed it. That’s what He’s talking about to the church of Pergamum…they’re living in this dark city…Satan’s throne, Jesus calls it…and yet, they were faithfully proclaiming His name to the people around them. They were losing their lives for this proclamation…and Jesus, He’s commending them here for their faithful endurance in proclaiming His Word. That’s His heart, right? That’s what He told us to do all the way back in Matthew 28…to go and make disciples! And He’s commending them for doing that.

In these Roman cities, there were all kinds of opposition…they had it coming from the Jews, who were constantly reporting the Christians to the Roman authorities…they had it coming from the Roman Empire. We have to remember that for these Christians to not bow the knee to Caesar…to not give in to emperor worship, it was a death sentence…but yet some of these believers they were proclaiming Christ and His Word anyway. Jesus commends them.

The third thing we see, its that Jesus commends some of these churches for trusting and loving God amidst testing in the world. Revelation 2:10 says:

Revelation 2:10 (ESV)

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

They’re experiencing suffering…poverty…slander…and Jesus says to them, “Don’t fear…Yes, some of you, you’re gonna be persecuted…some of you, you’re gonna die…but do it for Me! Trust Me! I’m not taking it away…for some of you, it’s gonna get worse” I mean what an amazing verse. Guys, that’s what’s expected of us.

These Christians, they could be asking, “Why on earth would God allow Satan to throw His children in jail…why would He allow him to kill some of ‘em?”

Guys, they knew it was a time of testing…Their faith, like Job’s…it was being tested. And Jesus commends them because even when they were taken from their families and even when they were being thrown into prison…even when they were coming face-to-face with death…they kept trusting and loving God. Revelation isn’t about removing Christians from suffering and persecution…we suffer for Christ…for the purpose of advancing His kingdom…we willing give it all, to see the good of God done in those around us…knowing that the end, it ends with Jesus victorious and glorified.

Its the same mindset Joseph had with his brothers back in Genesis chapter 50.

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.

God uses our suffering and our affliction for good. And He commends us when we trust Him through whatever it is we face.

Guys, our call…what Jesus wants from us…its to remain steadfast to His Word…its to proclaim His Word…its to trust Him and love Him despite what happens around us! That’s what He commends in us. That’s what shows others around us, what we truly care about.

B. He Rebukes Us

But listen…while Jesus sees our patient endurance in those things…He also sees the areas where we fall short and He calls us out. He rebukes us.

Listen, its very possible to be doing all the things that cause Jesus to praise us and yet still be wrong. All throughout Scripture…we see that what God desires, its our heart, right? And listen, it’s possible for us to do all those things that Jesus loves…and yet do it with the wrong heart.

We actually see two things here that Jesus rebukes across the 7 churches…we see complacency and we see compromise. And if we’re honest, this is what we’re seeing all across the global church today. It’s the same problems…and Jesus, He’s saying the same exact thing to us today.

Is it possible to remain steadfast to God’s Word and yet lose our heart for the things of God? Yes, absolutely! That’s exactly the thing that Jesus rebuked Ephesus of. They might’ve been doctrinally sound, but they had lost their love for Jesus…what good was their doctrine if they didn’t love Jesus…they had become complacent.

He calls Laodicea out for their lukewarmness in another section…saying, “They’re neither hot nor cold.” And listen, this wasn’t saying that being cold was bad and hot was good…if you think about it…cold water and hot water have usefulness…lukewarm water…well, it’s not really useful. They were going through the motions…they were complacent.

This church, it had such an ineffective, apathetic faith that it was good for absolutely nothing, and Jesus tells them, “Do you realize that you make me sick?”

Why such a strong statement? Because this was a church marked by self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency.

These believers, they were wealthy Christians in a wealthy city who had everything they needed. This city, it was so wealthy that when a major earthquake destroyed the city in AD 60, they refused help from Rome and they rebuilt the city themselves with their own resources. This city, it was extravagant—they had a gymnasium, a stadium with a long track, a triple gate and towers, beautiful buildings. And listen, just as the city saw no need for help from Rome, the church saw no need for help from God.

Guys, it’s a dangerous thing for God’s people to have everything they could want or need in this world, because without realizing it, they begin to think that they don’t need God. And they begin to wane in their want for God.

These Christians, they had succumbed to the lure of physical prosperity, and they had no idea the depth of their spiritual poverty. Jesus says to that church, “I’m on the outside looking in. You’ve not invited me in.” They had become complacent.

And listen, complacency, what happens is it leads to our failure to confess or proclaim God’s Word to the world around us. We begin to compromise which is the other thing we see Him rebuke through these letters.

What we see here…its that some of these churches, while they had good intentions, they had compromised in the form of tolerance. Just look at Revelation 2:14:

Revelation 2:14 (ESV)

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

What’s He saying, “Yes, you’ve done a great job proclaiming my name…holding fast to my name…you understand the gospel and the truth found in my Word…but why are you allowing false teaching in my church? You know what’s true but you’re tolerating false doctrines for the sake of the world around you?”

We see in Revelation 2:20

Revelation 2:20 (ESV)

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Guys, the reason this was appalling to Christ…its because these Christians they were tolerating evil and it was causing them to look like the rest of the world. I believe the name, Jezebel, its another symbolic thing we see here. Jezebel in the Old Testament, she led the people of God in idol worship and influenced them to turn from God. Sexual immorality here, I believe stands for idolatry. And Jesus, He’s telling them that they’re tolerance of this idolatry in the church, this compromise, its causing them to look like the world…and in turn, its causing them to be useless in the kingdom.

Guys, it’s so easy for us to wanna be like the world…its so easy for us to want the things of the world…to want our kids to be like their friends, or for them to do all the other things the other kids are doing. Guys, Jesus, He’s rebuking these churches here that first began to compromise and who later became tolerant. They began to look like the world. Jesus, He’s showing us here that’s not His heart…He purchased us, He bought us by His blood…and guys, He’s set us apart…He’s called us to be different…to be holy. We’re not to compromise…and we have to be careful not to become complacent…which is why the church and your involvement in it is so crucial.

And listen, He warns us over and over again in these letters…when we fail to follow Him…when we fail to care about the things of Christ…when you become complacent and when you begin to compromise and when you do nothing about it when He reveals these things to you and when He convicts you…it might just mean something else.

Revelation 2:22–23 (ESV)

Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

He’s talking about Jezebel here. And what He’s saying, “I’ve told you where you fall…I’ve told you to turn…I’ve told you to look different…if you keep looking like the world…you’re gonna experience the same judgement that awaits the world.”

Revelation 2:16 (ESV)

Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 3:3 (ESV)

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Revelation 3:16 (ESV)

So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Guys, if you know you’re failing at the mission of Christ…if the Spirit’s convicting you…if He’s rebuking you…your lifestyle…the things you care about…and listen, if you’re doing nothing about it…it might just mean you don’t just look like the world…you are the world.

We see all throughout Scripture that when we’re given new life…we see evidence that Jesus, He sanctifies us and He grows us. Every day that passes…we become more and more like Him. We see in Scripture…that by grace through faith, true believers, they’re persevered by the power of Christ. Jesus, He’s warning these people here…these churches…”if you’re struggling, and if you’re unwilling to repent and turn….it might just mean something very different for you…and you might not actually belong to Me. And listen, you might wanna pay attention to rest of this letter because that judgement, that its about to talk about, its for you…and you will be swallowed up…you won’t be given life. You think you have something that you’ve not yet obtained.” Part of being reborn, it means you care about the things that please God. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect…but it does mean when He makes you aware of your short comings, you turn to Him to fix those things.

Guys, Jesus rebukes us because He alone truly knows us…and He alone truly loves us.

C. He Rewards Us

And then finally, we see that Jesus, He rewards us!

Guys, as you’re reading these letters on your own this week, pay attention to the constant theme here. He’s urging these churches to repent. He rebukes ‘em…and then He tells them to repent.

Listen, we have this bad habit of thinking that repentance…its only for nonbelievers, right? Like somehow, we’ve only got to repent once when we begin believing in Christ. Our lives, they should be ones of constant repentance. You understand? As the Spirit of God convicts you…as He rebukes your sin…which should be a constant thing…we’re called to repent. We’re called to turn from those things that dishonor God.

In Jesus’s rebuke of us…He’s commanding us to repent. And guys, as we realize that…we should share in that desire. As believers, we should share in that desire to wanna be holy…to wanna be honoring…we should mourn over our sins.

And listen, the reason for that…the reason He’s writing to the churches as they suffer in the 1st century…the reason, He’s rebuking them here and commanding them to repent…its because there’s a battle waging…and the end, it has eternal ramifications.

You see, it’s impossible for us to care about another’s eternal salvation when we could care less about the sin that still has power over us now. Jesus, can’t start talking about the end times and His future judgement, which we’ll get to soon enough…He can’t make His point that we should care about the people around us because of this promised return…until He’s helped us place our own oxygen masks on first. It’s impossible for us to truly care about the kingdom unless we’re living a life of repentance ourselves.

Guys, we need to repent of complacency and compromise…we’re in a battle…and the powers of darkness they want us to compromise when it comes to God’s Word…they want us to become complacent and begin sitting on the sidelines while they do everything in their power to ensure people die and go to hell. They might know we’re securely held in the palm of Jesus, but they want us to be useless in the kingdom and they want us to care less about the people around us. (Baby example?) We have to repent of the things that’s keeping us from confessing God’s Word and proclaiming God’s Word over our city.

Guys, if you’d search your lives…there’s areas where both of these things are true…you’re complacent and you’ve been compromising. We have to repent…and we have to set our eyes on Jesus and care about the things that please Him…because here’s the deal…He’s coming…and for some…it’s not good a thing. And guys, we hold the keys…we have the story that might possibly change their life for all eternity.

Repentance…its not a bad thing…its a reward. We get to approach the throne of Jesus…we get to be in His presence…we get forgiveness granted to us because of His grace and His mercy. And that repentance, it gives us a freedom over sin now…guys, it gives us the ability to truly see people the way Jesus sees people. And listen, when you’ve been used to initiate life change in someone, there’s no greater reward.

And listen, I love this, this’ll be our closing…when you do this…when you repent…whether you’re a believer, nonbeliever…this is Jesus’s promise. Revelation 3:18:

Revelation 3:18 (ESV)

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

He says in Revelation 2:7:

Revelation 2:7 (ESV)

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Revelation 2:11 (ESV)

The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Revelation 2:17 (ESV)

To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Closing

Jesus, He tells us here…that when you repent…you receive Me. If you’re a believer…you get more of Me…if you’re a non believer…you get this gracious, merciful relationship with Me. By repenting…by turning to Jesus…He removes the shame that consumes you…He removes the guilt that causes so much of the problems that exist in your life today…He opens your eyes to truth…He gives you new garments…He gives you victory over death…He satisfies your every desire.

And so, listen…the message here, its the same…repent and turn to Jesus…turn toward the only One that has authority and power, as chapter 1 demonstrated to us. Turn to Jesus and find life…and joy…and satisfaction. And listen, as you do that…as you turn from yourself…as you place your trust and belief in this Jesus…we get the great privilege in knowing that He comes back for us…and we get the great privilege in taking this same message to other people and getting to see that life change in them…we get the privilege to be freed from the grips of sin even now.

Guys, that was Jesus’s message to the first century church…and listen, that’s His message to us today. He’s saying…I know you…I see the things you’re doing well…I see that your clinging to truth…I see your holding fast to the gospel. But take those convictions…take that foundation and actually do something with it…quit being complacent…quit compromising. You might hold fast to truth…but why are you allowing the world and the people around you to dictate when and how you share the gospel? Repent and turn to Christ…Repent and walk in obedience to Christ. Make the gospel first and foremost in your life…use every opportunity to make disciples…use your gifts and your time and your money and everything else all for the glory of Christ…Will you suffer? Will you face rejection? Will you lose relationships? YES! It’s a promise! But its so important because we’ll see soon enough as we continue studying…Jesus is coming…and those around us, they need to know that Jesus comes to judge and set all things right. Anything we might lose in the process of proclaiming that message, its worth the cost. And so, repent and walk in obedience.

But if you don’t know Christ as your Lord and Savior…you need repent and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that He raised from the dead. You need to confess to Him that you’re a sinner and that you recognize He paid the penalty for your sin.

Listen, when you do that…the Bible says He’ll give you new life. He’ll save you…and like so many of us here this morning, you get to join us in the victory Christ secured by His death.

Would you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

Listen…our praise team, they’re gonna come back and lead us in worship…and so, here’s what I want you to do…I want you to take this time, seek the Lord through the leading of the Spirit…and I want you to repent and turn to Jesus. If you’re a believer…repent of complacency and compromise…if you’re a non-believer here this morning, repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus.

And so, you take this time and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]