We're coming back to Revelation
and the letters to the churches, and I'm going to spread the message
over two weeks. These letters are found in chapters
two and three of Revelation, still in the first of the seven
visions of Revelation, and I think they're very relevant to the
day in which we live. I'm very much persuaded, and
have been for a while, that we're living in what the scripture
calls Satan's little season, his little season of deception.
You can read about it in this same book, Revelation 20 verse
3, where it talks about Satan being restrained for a symbolical
thousand years, not a literal one, a symbolical thousand years.
But at the end of that, he is released for a season. You see,
he wasn't able to deceive humanity in general. that there is no
such thing as God, like today. Today, it's overwhelming, is
the deception of Satan. I believe we're in this little
season of deception, before the end comes. Look at it, in this
country especially, unbelief is widespread. Even where people
profess Christianity, what is the Christianity they profess?
Is it not tantamount to unbelief? It's a superstition, really.
Truth and integrity in our society are at an all-time low. Funny, just as a little illustration,
I found some music. I looked it up because I heard
something else. It was Flanders and Swan. Some of you in Britain
might remember Flanders and Swan from years ago. The guy in a
wheelchair and the other one at the piano. And they used to
come out with some very comical things. And I listened to quite
a lot of it yesterday. And it was reminiscent of my
childhood, it was reminiscent of the ideas and the morals and
the social structure of my childhood, and it was such a refreshing
thing to see how things have changed to the day in which we
live. Truth is at an all-time low,
integrity is at, look at our politicians, what a shambles,
it's at an all-time low, but the church the body of Christ,
the people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the people
who have had it revealed to them that they are the recipients
of the saving grace, the atonement that Christ has accomplished
in His precious blood, that church continues despite what this world
develops. progresses, spirals down into. Jesus said to the disciples in
Matthew 16 and verse 18 about his church, the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. They shall not prevail against
the church he has built. The church is not a building,
the church is people, his people. His people bound together as
a body, the body of Christ in this world. He prayed to his
Father, John 17 verse 15, for his church in this world. He
said, I don't pray for the world, but I pray for them, my people,
my church in the world. Keep them, Father, from the evil. It's going to be evil. Keep them
from it. Keep them. They'll be in it, but they'll
not be of it. And so to feed us, believers,
to encourage us, to keep us, the book of Revelation was given
in AD 95 by the oldest remaining, single remaining apostle, the
Apostle John. And it's a book of seven visions. And each of the seven visions
is a changing perspective of God's one eternal plan. It's the unfolding of world history
towards the triumph of God's eternal kingdom of righteousness
and peace, His true kingdom, the only true kingdom. He shows
in this book, in seven visions, different perspectives of that
one eternal plan. that his kingdom shall triumph,
that Satan's kingdom, the kingdom of rebellion, the kingdom of
this world, the kingdom of Antichrist, shall be overthrown. And it's
a comfort to his people, and it's an assurance to believing
people, that however bad things appear, God, the God of the universe,
the sovereign God, is in control. And what does it say in Romans?
If He is for us, if God be for us, who can be against us? Who
could possibly be against us? There is no one greater than
the eternal God. If God be for us, who can be
against us? as Jesus said to his disciples
in that world of Luke chapter 12 verse 32. Fear not, little
flock. Yes, the true people of God appear
as just a little flock. Fear not, little flock, for it
is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. If it's
the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom, nothing
can stop him from giving you the kingdom. So what is the heavenly
perspective of our situation as believers today? You know
we can look at our situation as believers today from a worldly,
fleshly perspective and say, well, it looks terrible. I mean,
look at us here. It used to be the day when we used to worship
in a building that was called a church building. We used to
be able to rent a building. Look at us now, we're just in
a lounge of a private house. It looks a bad situation, doesn't
it? What is the heavenly perspective,
though, of our situation? Since Christ ascended, since
John wrote this book down, he was told, write it down in a
book, Until Christ comes again, for it says, behold, in verse
7 of chapter 1, he cometh with clouds. Before he comes back,
here we have the first vision in chapters 1 to 3. It's Christ's
message to his church for the duration of time. So who is it
from? To whom is it written, and what
does it say? That's what I want to look at,
and I'm going to spread it over two weeks, because there's too
much. The first time I did it seven or eight years ago, we
tried to squash it all into one message, and it was just too
much. So I'm going to go at a bit more of a leisurely pace. You
might still find there's an awful lot in here, but anyway. Who
is it from? These first three chapters are
the first vision the heavenly perspective of the situation
of believers, of the Church of Christ, the body of Christ, in
this fallen world, in this kingdom of Satan, in this kingdom of
Antichrist. So first of all, who is it from?
The answer is it's from the living Christ. This is the message from
the living Christ. The message to the churches in
chapters 2 and 3 is a message from the living Christ. Look
in verse 18 of chapter 1, where this same one, this glorified
Lord Jesus Christ says this. He says, I am he that liveth. and was dead and behold i am
alive forevermore amen and have the keys of hell and death who
is it that's writing obviously it's the lord jesus christ the
one who is alive and was dead he died He literally died. He died for the purpose of redemption. He died to pay redemption's price. He is the one who is writing
this. And verse 1 of chapter 2, unto the angel, unto the messenger,
unto the pastor of the church of Ephesus, write, These things
saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who
walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, This is
the Lord Jesus Christ telling us that he is the one that holds
the seven stars. Look back at verse 20 of the
previous chapter. The seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, the ministers, the preachers, the ones who bring
the message from heaven to the people of God on earth. He says, these things saith he
that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand. He holds his
preachers, his messengers, in his right hand. And while he's
doing that, he walks. He walks in the midst of the
seven golden candlesticks. Look at the last phrase of verse
20. The seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches. This is the church of God on
earth. And here he is, holding the preachers,
holding the stars, and walking in the midst of the churches.
He that John saw in about 95 AD, is now in us and around us
as his people who believe his message, trust in his accomplished
salvation as we look for his return. He's here amongst us. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. How
do we know he's in our midst? Because the Holy Spirit comes
and takes of the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and reveals
them, makes them known. makes us conscious of them. He
reveals them to us. Where are we now? I'm going to
leap forward to Revelation chapter 14. You're getting to know this,
I think, because I often refer to it. Chapter 13 is a terrible
chapter. It's the chapter of Satan's kingdom,
the kingdom of Antichrist, the kingdom of this world, his two
beasts, the beast from the sea, which is world empires, and the
beast from the land, which is technological wizardry, which
is blinding and dazzling people in the day in which we live.
And all of it is against the people of God. All of it is seeking
to put upon everybody the mark of the beast, which is their their ticket of conformance to
this world, and you think, oh how dreadful. Now look, chapter
14, and I looked, and I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount
Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having
his father's name written on their foreheads, and I heard
a voice from heaven. Where was John when he saw, when
he looked? Where was he? He heard a voice
from heaven. So he's on the earth. He's on
the earth. I looked and on the earth, lo, a lamb stood on Mount
Zion. Mount Zion is the city of the
living God. Mount Zion is the church of the
Living God. Mount Zion is the people of the
Living God. And the Lamb, who is the Lamb
of God. Behold the Lamb of God, said
John the Baptist. Behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world, the sin of His people in this world.
The Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him, the 144,000. And
we know from elsewhere, they are the people of God at any
one time on this earth. I really do believe that. I used
to believe that that was symbolical of all of them for all time,
but when you get to Revelation, is it chapter 9? There's 144,000
described as the tribes, and then, I beheld in heaven a multitude
that no man can number. No man can number them. This
is 144,000. These are the ones on earth. What's the message
of this? That Christ is with his people now, on this earth. Christ, the Lamb of God. Christ, the The Saviour. God is our Saviour. He's our
Saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God on earth
with His people. Meeting together now as we are,
when He says, I am there in the midst, this is saying exactly
the same thing. You know, So-called scientists
and philosophers have tried to convince us that there is no
such thing as God. Richard Dawkins with his, there
probably isn't a God, so don't worry about it. He put that sign
on the side of London buses, paid for it, and they drove around
a few years ago saying exactly that. But, you know, Paul, when
he went to Athens, the Apostle Paul, he went to Athens. Look
in Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17 and verse 22. Paul stood in the midst of Mars
Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things
ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the
unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly
worship, you worship without knowing, because you call him
the unknown God, him declare I unto you, God that made the
world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth
to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds
of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, and if
happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be
not far from every one of us. Do you hear that? Though he be
not far from every one of us. In him we live and move and have
our being. I think it's going to say that now, isn't it? It
is, the very next verse. For in him we live and move and
have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said,
for we also are his offspring. For as much then, as we are the
offspring of God, you are. If you're listening to this,
the offspring of God. We ought not to think that the Godhead
is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's
device, idols in other words. And the times of this ignorance
God winked at. Have I read too much? Yes, I've
read too much. That's far enough to go. In Him we live and move
and have our being. He is not far from all of us. but especially to the people
who believe him, especially to his church, especially to us
in a gathering like this, just a handful of us, and you out
there on the internet with us at the moment, quite a few I
can see. Not just his message, it's not
just the message that's written that continues, you know, the
message of Shakespeare continues, because it's written down in
books and passed down and shared around, but Shakespeare's dead.
No, it's not just the message of Christ that continues. He
continues. For he lives. He said, I am he
that liveth. I am he that liveth. I am alive
and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.
He is the one who lives. He lives now, and He walks in
our midst. You know, some of those old choruses
that we used to sing in our minion circles seem so shallow doctrinally,
but actually some of them are quite deep. He lives, He lives.
Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me, and He talks
with me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation
to impart. You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart. in the midst. Revelation 2.1,
he's in the midst, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks, in the midst of his churches, he's here with
us now. Are you conscious of this? That
here, with us, in this room, is the Lord Jesus Christ, walking
among his seven golden candlesticks. And all who seek him, and all
who gather to worship now, he's amongst us. We don't just consult
the manual left by some dead guru. He lives, he lives, and
he speaks. This is a revelation from heaven
for his people, waiting in this world, this enemy territory,
for his return. It's revealed to the eye of faith. It is the gift of God. This eye
of faith is the gift of God. John 15 verse 15 says, all things
that I have heard of my father I have made known unto you. John
15 verse 15. Jesus The manifestation of God has
revealed to His people, His church, all things that He heard from
His Father, heavenly things revealed in this world. He who is the
Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, speaks the thoughts of God, the
thoughts of God to those He loved. You know, we know God says He
has thoughts. Jeremiah 29, 11, I know the thoughts
that I think to you, my people. Thoughts of peace. Thoughts of
peace to give you a good end. To those he loved before the
beginning of time. Are you ready to listen as Samuel
was? Shouldn't we have that kind of
attitude of Samuel? You know, what did Samuel say,
the boy Samuel? with Eli in the temple, and he
kept hearing, Samuel, Samuel. And he went and said to Eli,
yes, Eli, you called me. No, I didn't call you. Samuel,
Samuel. Eli, you did call me. No, I didn't.
It is the Lord. When he next speaks to you, say
this. And so he did. Samuel went back to his place,
just a boy, and he heard the words, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel
answered, speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. Speak to me,
I'm listening to what you will say. Are we listening to what
He will say to His churches? In this day in which we live,
it's in all ages, including us here now, but especially for
us now, do you know He doesn't speak to everyone. Who is he
speaking to? He doesn't speak to everyone. He doesn't, he doesn't. Let me
explain this. In Luke chapter eight and verse
10, Jesus had been telling them a parable. And they asked, why
do you speak to the people in parables? And he said, unto you,
my disciples, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God. The mysteries? The things that
are not generally known. But to others I speak in parables,
that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. You're saying, hold on a minute,
I've never read that before. Show me that again. Read it for
yourself. Luke chapter eight, verse 10.
This is the living God speaking. God manifested, God incarnate,
God in flesh. He's saying, I'm speaking in
parables because It is the will of God that my message should
go to certain people and not to others. Are you among those
to whom he speaks? Let me tell you, you can't force
it. You say, oh, I know my rights.
You've got no rights when it comes to this. You can't force
it. You can't demand that God will
speak to you, you just have to acknowledge that heavenly light
is in the sovereign gift of God to bestow. It's His gift to bestow. What can you do? You can't demand
it, you can't force it, but you can cry, Saviour, dear Saviour,
hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling,
please do not pass me by. You can only beg for mercy. So
who does he speak to? Let's look in these seven letters
in chapters 2 and 3. I want to show us who he's speaking
to. He's speaking to them that have
an ear. Now follow me with these verses.
In chapter 2, verse 7. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Verse 11. He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Verse 29. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Chapter 3, verse
6. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Chapter 3, verse
13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches. And verse 22, He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. There
it is, exactly the same, seven times. Because you see, This
ear that he's talking about, have you got this ear? You've
only got it because God has given it to you. You've only got it
because he's given it to you. As it says in 1 Corinthians 2.14,
the natural man, without this gift from God, does not receive
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to him, neither
can he know them. Why? Because they're spiritually
discerned. We must have spiritual discernment. We must have this ear to hear
what God says from heaven, through His Word. You say, well, can't
anybody just read this? Yeah, they can read words on
the page, and they can turn them into English words that their
brain understands, but not words that their heart understands.
Not words that are the words of the living God to them, through
that ear, which is the gift of God. By grace are you saved,
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. You might not like it, But the
scripture couldn't be clearer, could it? It's absolutely clear. This is the gift of God to give
this. He's speaking to people to whom he's given an ear to
hear what his message is. Has he given you that? And if
he has not, do you want him to? Well, ask him. Savior, dear Savior,
hear my humble cry. While on others you are calling,
do not pass me by. Secondly, he speaks to him that
overcometh. We see it again and again in
verse seven. In the midst of that verse, to
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life. Verse
11. He that overcometh, towards the
end of the verse, he that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second
death. Verse 17. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone
and a new name. Verse 26. He that overcometh
and keepeth my words unto the end, to him will I give power
over the nations. Chapter three, verse five. He
that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment.
Let me see, verse 12. To him that overcometh, I will
make a temple in the pillar of my God. Verse 21, to him that
overcometh. This is talking about persevering
to the end in the faith of God's elect, the faith which is his
gift to give and which he has given to his people. It's continuing
in it. It's persevering to the end,
not in your own strength, because you can't keep yourself in your
own strength, but in the strength of God's keeping power. It's
overcoming this overwhelming at times pressure to conform
to the world, to say, oh, I give up. Let's just join in with Revelation
13, with the kingdom of this world, with the kingdom of the
beasts. Let's just join in with it. Let's stop fighting against
it. Let's go along with it. Let's not put up any fight for
the kingdom of God at all. No, to him that overcometh, to
him that overcometh, to keep persevering to the end. And then
in chapter 2 verse 24, verse 24, But unto you I say, and unto
the rest in Thyatira, and as many as have not this doctrine,
this was a false doctrine that we read about in the earlier
verses, which have not known the debts of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden. Right, so he's speaking
to those not embracing false doctrine and the debts of Satan
because In that which appears superficially to be the true
church, the true body of Christ, there are degrees, there are
levels, there are different gradations of departure from the true doctrine
of God, the true gospel doctrine of God, into false doctrine.
And he's saying that he's speaking to those who do not embrace false
doctrine and the debts of Satan. He's not saying that these people
are perfect, because while we're in this flesh we're never perfect.
We will never be free from sin as long as we're in this flesh.
We're not sinless. but were not happily settled
in Satan's falsehood. We have been plucked from the
burning. You know, the burning is the
burning of judgment, which God will justly bring on this world.
We have been plucked as brands from the fire. You know when
a log is starting to burn, and you pluck it out of the fire,
and you put out the burning around the edge of it, and that goes
out. That's the picture here. It's people that have not embraced
the false doctrine of Satan. And then, fourthly, in chapter
3 and verse 19, chapter 3 and verse 19, As many as I love,
I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
The next way of describing those to whom he's writing is, those
that Christ loves and rebukes, and who hear and open. Behold,
I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and
he with me. We'll have fellowship together.
Those that Christ loves, Those that Christ loves, He rebukes,
because we're sinners. We're always falling into sin,
we're backsliding, we're getting into things that we shouldn't.
He says, those that I love I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore
and repent. I stand at the door and knock.
If you open that door of your heart to him, believer this is.
This isn't an Arminian call to accept Jesus into your heart.
This is for you who have professed and you've slipped. And he says,
I'm standing at the door and knocking. Open the door and I'll
come in and we'll suck together and we'll have fellowship together.
These are the people that Christ loves. He speaks to his believing
people. even though they're disobedient
and needing chastisement, but they are his true sheep. Now
then, what does he say? You see, he's speaking to those
who are true believers, to those who really are. his people, called
out of this world, called into the truth of God, from the darkness
of this world into the marvelous light of Christ. What does he
say? What does he say can be summarized
in six things? He says, I know, I know. Because he walks amongst the
seven candlesticks, amongst the church in the world. He says,
I know. And sometimes he says, I praise,
I praise. And sometimes he says, I rebuke. And sometimes he says, I warn
you. And other times he says, I encourage you. And mostly he
says, I promise you. Six things. What does he say? Six things. In two chapters,
in seven letters of about six or seven verses each, to real
churches in the historical world of Western Turkey of 1900 and
odd years ago, the living God, This is the living God speaking.
This is Jehovah, Jesus. Jehovah, Savior. He speaks throughout
time to all assemblies of believers. Assemblies of even two or three.
Assemblies like we are together now. I've noticed the number
going up. I don't normally look at this,
but there's quite a few of you out there at the moment. to assemblies
of believers. As sinners in the flesh, we are
all like wayward sheep." You know what sheep are like, if
you've ever had anything to do with sheep, helping a farmer.
You know how they're not very bright. They go wandering off.
They need a dog to chase around them and round them up. They're
prone to wandering off the path of life. Prone to wander, Lord,
I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love,
says that hymn. That's me in my flesh, prone
to wandering off the path of life, in which God guides His
people by His Spirit's application of His Word. Are you serious? Am I serious about following
Christ? Are we serious in this world
about following Christ? Do you desire, as Paul says in
Philippians 3.14, do you desire to press toward them? You see,
there's the idea of effort. Do you desire to press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus? Is it your ambition to give diligence,
as Peter says, 2 Peter 1 verse 10, is it your ambition to give
diligence to make your calling and election sure, by doing the
things that the Scripture encourages? I'm not saying that it's by works
that you're saved, but the behavior, the way you live, the way you
respond to Scripture, Scripture itself is quite clear. Peter
says, if you do these things, you'll be greatly encouraged
that you're among the people of God. If so, if that's right,
aim to live always conscious of these things. Aim to live
always conscious of this first one, and we'll just do two. I
know and he praises this week, and then we'll leave the rest
for next week, because it's too much. He knows, he knows. He tells every church that he
knows their works. He says it in verse two of chapter
two, in verse nine of chapter two, in verse 13 of chapter two,
in verse 19 of chapter two, in verse one of chapter three, verse
eight of chapter three, verse 15. The situation, the trials,
the efforts, the locations of all those seven churches were
different. And yet, He says He knows all about it. Do you know
He knows about us? And He sees us. He says, I know
your works. He sees, He sees. This is God
from whom nothing can be hid. Revelation 1, 14, His head and
His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes,
whereas a flame of fire, a flame of fire, meaning piercing, burning
through, nothing can get in the way of it. As we read in, we
didn't read in, sorry, verse 18 again. I am here that liveth
and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and have the
keys of hell. Hold on, no, that's not the,
that's not. Sorry, 2 verse 18, chapter 2 verse 18. These things
saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of
fire, and his feet like fine brass. That's what we read in
Daniel chapter 10 verse 6. Eyes like a flame of fire, burning
through, piercing, piercing, piercing. He will, as it says
in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 5, He will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness and the counsels of the hearts. Don't think for
one minute that anything is hidden. All of it is recorded for examination
in judgment. You know what it says towards
the end of Revelation? And the books were opened and
people were examined. People were called out of their
graves, people were examined for what they did, for all the
records are there in the books. I know that's symbolical language.
It's not literal language, it's symbolical, but nevertheless
the meaning is overwhelmingly powerful. The God who created
you, the God who upholds this world, the God who created this
world is the Judge. He is the absolute moral purity. He is the absolute standard of
moral purity. And what we are is sinners in
His sight. And everything that has been
done is recorded in books. There's only one book. There's
only one book that you want to be found in. You want to have
your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You read about
that judgment later. So beware of casual presumption. The infinite, omnipotent God,
even now, knows everything about our situation, as we seek to
maintain a witness to the truth of his gospel. There is nothing
hidden from his view. Does that grab you? Does that
get hold of you? Read the article I put in by
Don Faulkner in the bulletin about this. He knows. I know
thy works. Consider these letters as personally
relevant to us and to all who join with us via the internet.
Personally relevant now. personally directed by the Living
God, manifested in the person of His Son, through the ministry
of the Holy Spirit applying this. He knows our situation. He's
now actively walking amongst us. We're not looking at the
manual of some dead guru. Christ is alive and amongst His
people. He's observing, He's watching.
He knows. He knows our situation. He knows
what's going on in every company of believers. He knows about
the truth they stand for. He knows about the error that
they tolerate. He knows about the practices
that they go along with. He knows. There is nothing hidden
from his view. And secondly, he praises. He praises. What does he praise? In verses 2 to 6, he's got a
lot of praise for the Ephesians. For them, he praises their works,
their labour, their patience. They cannot bear them that are
evil. They've tried those that say they're apostles and are
not, and have found them liars. They're all good. You're born,
you've got patience. Nevertheless, somewhat against
you. Repent from it. What he praises is dedication
to his cause. You know? You know people that... football fanatics and they have
their team and they dedicate their lives to supporting their
team and going to every match and all that sort of thing. It's
well known in the habits of this world, dedication to a cause. He's talking about here dedication
to his cause, works and faith. He's talking about faith that
does work. He's talking about that which
means to stand up for his truth. And then he praises his people
for their patience in trials of providence, because living
in this world, there are all sorts of things. You know the
curse right back in the Garden of Eden? The curse was pronounced. You know, your garden will from
now on grow thistles and thorns. And by golly, does it grow thistles
and thorns. In this fallen world, it does.
There are trials of providence. We need patience. He praises
his people for patience, waiting, patiently waiting for his return
throughout whatever we have to do. Trials of providence, trials
of spirit in this world, but being patient throughout it.
He then praises them again for maintaining discipline about
correct doctrine, about the truth of the gospel of grace, about
being intolerant of primary gospel error. You know, the world's
idea of the Christian message is that you're tolerant of anything
and everything. The one thing you can't be is clear about error
in any way at all. No, no, that's not the view of
Scripture. Christ, who is amongst us now, who sees us, who knows,
who walks amongst us, He is concerned that we maintain correct doctrine. What is correct doctrine? This
book, the Bible, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak
not according to this word, there is no light or truth in them. He praises churches that maintain
that discipline about correct doctrine, that don't allow, that
actively resist the infiltration of their church with false doctrine. We do not allow it. We wouldn't
have anybody come and preach for us who we didn't 100% trust
to preach the same message. We're in a wilderness world,
as this book of Revelation will later describe it, chapter 12,
for example. We're in that place prepared
of God to feed her there, in this wilderness separation from
this world. We're in a place of trials, of
hardship, of loneliness, of opposition. There's so many things that we
really don't feel comfortable joining in with, because it's
got the mark of the kingdom of this world all over it. And Jesus
said, I pray not, John 17, 15, he said, I pray not that you
should take them, his people, his church, out of the world,
but while they're there, keep them from the evil. What we do
How we live, the testimony we bear, matters. Christ is here
amongst us. He sees it and he praises the
good. Beware of any who try to say
that our behaviour in the flesh doesn't matter. Now I'm going
to end the message at this point because there's far too much
to go on. So next week, God's warnings to his church, his exhortations,
and his promises. But we'll leave it at that point
there. Okay.