To the Angel of the Church at...

If Jesus were to write a letter to the church here in the next few years, what would you desire that letter to say? We want to answer this important question in this lesson, using the letters to the churches of Asia, looking at some of the different things that made these churches the Lord’s and also what displeased Him about them. These letters can be very helpful to us because they speak of many issues that confront churches today.

But we need to begin by realizing a vital truth, THE LORD IS AMONG HIS CHURCHES! The glorified Son of God is seen in the book of Revelation walking about His churches. We’re given this picture of one who is the keeper and maintainer of the lampstands, trimming the wicks and refilling the oil. Without the presence of the keeper of the lamps, the light would not be sustained. This shows us how vital it is for our Lord to be with us.

:13à “and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man.”

:1à “These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks”

Christ promised us that he would be with His people in , so we need not forget this promise! Our Lord just did not go to heaven, sit on the throne, and rest until He returns. Revelation portrays the Christ as active among His churches, inspecting them, beholding the good and evil within them, praising the one and condemning the other. His active presence among His churches is meant to be a source of encouragement and strength for us, but also a source of warning and exhortation, knowing that the Good Shepherd and the righteous judge is near. We as a church of the Lord need to remember the Lord’s presence among us and act accordingly; knowing we are under the authority and oversight of the Chief Shepherd. Our response knowing this should be to do all that is in our power to follow His voice and to be pleasing to Him.

In the letters to the churches, each one ends with this statement, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." This suggests to me that the letters were not just for the benefit of the churches addressed, but for all of God’s people to examine themselves with. These letters are written to exhort the churches to steadfastly follow the will of God, and to remind them of the great reward awaiting them if they remain faithful till the point of death, so we all need to have “an ear to hear” what the Spirit says to the churches. We are going to look at these letters as a whole, first looking at things that we would not want written of us; just some of the many dangers that we need to guard ourselves against. We’ll finish by taking a look at what we as a church would want the Lord to write to us, and the rewards we will receive if we endure.

Things that we do not want to be written of the Lord’s church here…

LEFT OUR FIRST LOVE (2:4)

The Church in Ephesus left their first love.

But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.

I’m not 100% sure what the first love they were neglecting was, but the Lord tells them to remember their works that they had at first and to repent and return to whatever works they were neglecting. They allowed their love that led them to their greater works for the Lord to decay and disappear. They were working in some way, just not the way they had previously been working.

What is our first love as a group? What is our reason for wanting to start a new work? I believe it is TO BETTER FULFILL THE MISSION THAT IS GIVEN TO THE LORD’S DISCIPLES TO SHARE THE GOSPEL! We want to be able to better serve the Lord in the work of evangelism in the areas that we live and work. I believe that is our first love as a church. The question we need to answer is “Are we going to keep it?”

We do not want it to be said of us IN THE FUTURE that we have left our first love. We do not want to lose the zeal and passion for the Lord that got us to the point where we are at right now. We have taken a leap of faith into unknown territory, where we do not know what kind of situations will come our way as we share the gospel in this community. But no matter what happens, we want to be able to keep the fire burning for the word of the Lord.

I am in derision daily; Everyone mocks me. For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!" Because the word of the Lord was made to me A reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, Nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, And I could not.

Our attitude towards the word of God should be just like the prophet’s. We need to allow the word of God to constantly burn within our hearts, and we need to continue to encourage one another to remember the power that the gospel has.

ALLOWING OF FALSE TEACHING AND SIN (2:14)(2:20)

I believe that we all fully understand what kind of danger there is in letting down our guard and allowing false teaching to come within our ranks. It only takes a little bit of leaven to leaven the whole lump. Just a little bit of false teaching can become a cancer that can lead to a church to leave the Lord and for its lampstand to be removed.

We see at the church in Pergamos that false teaching was within their ranks, and that it was leading the servants of the Lord to sin and to commit sexual immorality. We see this rampantly in churches that claim to be the Lord’s today when it comes to false doctrine on MD&R. False teaching today leads the servants of the Lord to commit adultery.

We need to keep our guard up to not allow false teaching in, and we need to test all things that we allow to be preached to us, even those things that are taught by our own group. There should not be a closed bible while the word of God is being preached. We need to not only test evil men, as we see the Ephesians commended for in 2:2, but we need to test the teaching of all men, and hold everyone accountable that claims to be speaking on behalf of the God of Heaven! We need to take the speaking and the hearing of the word of God seriously! We need to be reverent speakers and active listeners.

We also need to take sin seriously! We need to remember what the Lord says about sin and how it can destroy a congregation, just as false teaching can. We need to be willing to do what is necessary for any brother or sister here to see them restored to the faith if they are caught up in sin, even if that means we need to withdrawal ourselves as a collective group. Ignoring sin can lead to the removing of our lampstand.

PUTTING ON A SHOW (3:1)

“I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”

What was seen by men when it came to the faithfulness of the church in Sardis was deceiving. But the Lord could see what their hearts were truly like! This reminds me of what Jesus spoke of the scribes and the Pharisees; that they seemed righteous on the outside to men, but on the inside they were nowhere near righteous. He said in :

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

When it comes down to it, a good reputation doesn’t mean too much if that’s all that you’re in it for! The Pharisees could fool men, but not God.

We want our hearts to be in line with our efforts! We need to focus on pleasing our God, not doing things to be seen of men. We are not here to play “church.” We are here to be a faithful church of the living God; a church focused on it’s Founder and the One who bought it by His blood.

ONLY A FEW FAITHFUL (3:4)

'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Just the thought of not everyone here not being faithful, or not making it to heaven to be with the Lord hurts!

I like to sing “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!” because that is what I want to see for all of us! I don’t want to see any of us fall away from the faith. But we all need exhorted that each one of us must take heed, lest we fall. The path is strait and narrow, and we need to examine ourselves daily to make sure we are still walking it. We need to hold ourselves accountable to God’s word and to one another. Never try to fight your battles all alone! I read a quote a while back that I believe is true when it comes to facing sin and temptation alone. It said that “Lone rangers are dead rangers.” God gave you fellow soldiers for a reason!

Just look around at our brethren and ask yourself this question, “Is there someone here today that I would not do all that is in my power to help them to get to heaven?” Would you hold anything back?

The love that we are told to have for one another is more than just a feeling. We are told by our Lord to love one another JUST AS HE LOVES US!

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

IF WE ALL have that fervent and dedicated love for one another that the scriptures speak about, and we do everything that we possibly can to see one another get to heaven, will we be able to say that there are only a “few” here that have not soiled their garments? I don’t believe so. We need to make up our minds today if we have not done so already that we are going to love our brethren.

LUKE-WARMNESS (3:16)

The Lord had written to the Laodiceans,

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

They were not in the world, but they were not diligent serving the Lord either. I believe these were the “let’s do the bare minimum that we need to do to get by” kind of Christians. They did not have anywhere near the love and zeal that they needed to have. They were comfortable in their situation and thought they were in need of nothing. The Lord said that He was going to vomit them out of his mouth because of this. He said in verse 17 of chapter 3:

“Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”

These brethren had an attitude near to the brethren in Sardis who thought they were alive, but were really dead. These brethren thought their comfortable situation was good and did not see their true condition; how poor they were spiritually.

We need to remember how spiritually destitute we are without the grace and mercy of our God and seek after Him with all of our heart! Half-hearted effort and love for the Lord is not what He deserves or expects from us. Love the Lord your God with ALL of your heart, soul, mind and strength!

SLIDE CHANGE

THINGS WE WANT WRITTEN OF THE LORD’S CHURCH HERE ON THE EASTSIDE

AN attitude to work (2:2, 3)

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and 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.

In the work that the church in Ephesus was doing, we are told here that they were persevering in it and were not becoming weary. They did not quit working. They did not give up. They did not give up, EVEN WHEN THE GOING GOT TOUGH!

Will this be able to be said of us? The choice is ours alone!

We need to be like the builders under the leadership of Nehemiah. Even during ridicule, mocking, and threats from their enemies, they continued to work. In , we see the reason why they didn’t give up:

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

They had a mind to work. They made up their minds from the beginning that they were going to work. When Nehemiah told them how the Lord was with Him in his efforts, they said in chapter 2:18, “’Let us rise up and build.’ Then they set their hands to this good work.”

Do we have a mind to work? I believe that we do. We need to make up our minds right now if we haven’t already, that we will serve our God no matter what comes our way.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

A FOCUS ON SPIRITUAL TREASURE (2:9)

Our heart will be where our treasure is!

(ASV) 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

Is our focus on the kingdom or own the earth? Is our anchor cast in heaven or is it dragging behind us trying to keep our focus here? We need to live as pilgrims, knowing that we are citizens of a greater kingdom!

Jesus said to the church in Smyrna,

I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich)

Their physical situation was not one of abundance, but their spiritual situation was!

This is the opposite of what we see in the church in Laodicea. They were rich physically but were spiritually poor. Which would we desire to have written of this church? We need to remember that this world is not our home and focus our lives on our reward of heaven.

HOLD FAST TO OUR CONFESSION (2:13)

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 in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Through persecution and suffering, the Christians in Pergamos were not willing to deny the name of Christ. In the face of death they were willing to confess who their Lord was!

Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Paul took this statement of Christ seriously:

For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.

Paul was willing to speak the message of the cross no matter what could physically happen to him. If it would come to the point where our faith is seriously tested, will we be faithful in confessing our Lord in our words and our actions, or would we buckle under the pressure and deny Him?

KEEPS THE WORD (3:8,10)

If we do not keep the word, we cannot be what the Lord wants us to be. I believe that the churches are referred to as lampstands in the book of Revelation for a reason. What does a lampstand do?

A lampstand upholds the light so that the light may be seen!

but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

The church as a lampstand is the house of God where our God dwells by the Spirit within His people. I infer from this passage that Timothy’s conduct as a member of the Lord’s body is important so that the church can properly be the pillar and ground of truth.

Our conduct is important as to whether or not our lampstand shines properly! Are we following that which we claim to uphold? Does it show in our actions that we have the truth as our foundation?

If we are not keeping the word, we cannot properly uphold and show forth the light that Jesus wants us to. We are to be a GOLDEN lampstand that has great value and use to the Owner of it. Defective lampstands have no value! They are taken away and cast into the fire. I want this group to be a lampstand that fulfills its purpose of shining forth the light and being the pillar and ground of the truth.

We want this house and dwelling place of God to be built upon the Rock, built upon the words of Christ!

TURNà

This text is speaking to the conduct of the individual, but let’s make an application of this verse to the church!

"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

We want our foundation to be the word of our God. We would never want it spoken of this church that we have no kept the word.

We must be a lampstand; upholding the truth, & shining the light of Christ to the world!

We need to rid ourselves of whatever can hinder us from being a useful lampstand of the Lord, and listen to what the Spirit says to the churches in these letters! The Spirit made it a point to show us things that we need to guard ourselves against so we can be a faithful to our God.

If we remain faithful in being a lampstand of the Lord, upholding and shining forth the light of Christ, he promises us a prize!

SLIDE CHANGE

THE PRIZE…

“ I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Just as our brother Paul, WE ARE GIVEN A PRIZE TO STRIVE FOR, and Just as our Lord, we have A JOY THAT IS SET BEFORE US…

“to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.”

“shall not be hurt of the second death.”

SLIDE CHANGE

TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES…

“shall be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

“I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more”

“I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.”

What a prize and a joy that is set before us if we endure till the end. The question we need to ask ourselves is, will we strive to gain the prize?

CONCLUSION

We want to bring glory to our God and to our Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do collectively, and that begins by each one of making up our minds that we want to be one of the saints that have not soiled their garments, one of the faithful in letting the light of Christ shine forth from our lives and our teaching. Only when each one of us is willing to do our share in the building up of the group will this body function the way the Lord desires it to function, as a lampstand upholding and giving forth a beautiful, glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

SLIDE CHANGE

TO THE ANGEL OF THE CHURCH IN EASTSIDE PITTSBURGH, WRITE…? IF the Lord were to write to this church, what would you want it to say? The choice is ours alone!

INVITATION

If there is anything that we can do to help you in your battle against sin, why don’t you make your needs known today? We would be privileged to be able to serve you. If you desire to begin your relationship with the Lord or want to know Him more fully, why don’t you make your needs known as we sing the song that our brother has chosen as an invitation to you.