The seven churches
[0:00] Well, it's a little sort of mini-series, isn't it, on the book of Revelation, which has these characters in it.
[0:11] It's not really meant as a conundrum by which Christians can score points over one another, but as an incentive to fight the fight of faith. And it reminds us that we're fighting against various forces, and we're in a state of constant flipsis, which means tribulation or trouble, temptation.
[0:36] And it gives great encouragements for us to keep on fighting. And that's really what I'd like to say this morning.
[0:47] So if you're very tired and you want to go to sleep, I mean, I'll wake you up at the end. But that's the main point, is just keep on fighting the fight of faith in the Lord Jesus.
[0:58] Keep fighting. And as it says here, we must overcome. We mustn't give in. We mustn't be defeated. We must press on. So, just to recap a few of the things that we looked at last time.
[1:15] It's a book in the Bible. It's for our edification and our survival and our progress as Christians. And I'm praying this would help us to progress in our Christian life. We saw it's an unveiling.
[1:27] That's what apocalypsis means. So it shows us what's behind the scenes, what's going on behind the scenes, the truth behind the appearance. It's in the form of a letter.
[1:38] So it addresses the first hearers, same way that all the other letters in the Bible do, particularly in the New Testament. It's addressed to them. But we can profit from it if we sort of think about how it applies to us.
[1:52] And it was addressed to some churches. And just to see if you're awake, how many churches was it addressed to? Seven. Seven. Seven. Yeah. Seven churches. It's in the nature of a letter to be relevant to the hearer.
[2:04] You know, dear so-and-so, I'm writing to you on behalf of Barclays to inform you that you have written a cheque for a thousand pounds, which you cannot possibly pay. You're sincerely Barclays Bank.
[2:16] I mean, if that's relevant to you, it's relevant to you, isn't it? But it's in the form of a prophecy. A prophecy in the Bible, it's telling them what is shortly going to happen.
[2:29] It keeps on saying that. And it also gives ethical and behavioral implications. And all the prophets do that, don't they? Because of this big picture, because of what's going to happen short-term, long-term, this is how you should behave.
[2:43] Hear, O Israel, let us walk in the light of the Lord. Lord, it's meant to affect how we live now. I talked about the approach of listening to his way of speaking.
[2:57] And if we were having a longer series, maybe we'll come back to this. But we would need to pick up a little bit more information about how he conveys things. He uses signs, which point away from themselves to something else.
[3:10] He uses images and symbols. And if we're to understand it, we must know the way that Bible uses images and symbols. Most of these are from Scripture.
[3:21] Not all of them. And he's prepared to use language in a way so as to apparently contradict himself. So we heard him. He wrote that he turned to see the voice.
[3:32] You know, how can you see a voice? Things like that, etc. Anyway, that just sort of sets us up. And I've got one for the boys and girls. Can you identify this image that's coming up?
[3:47] This one? This one? This one? Boys and girls know what that one is from the book of Revelation? Like to guess? Anybody else?
[4:02] Horse? Horses? Four horsemen. Yeah. Yeah. The four horsemen of the apocalypse. They come up in a future chapter and they ride out across the world.
[4:17] And they bring war, civil war, famine and disease. And just as it happens if we look out over the world, we see those horsemen riding out at this very moment, don't we? What are they?
[4:30] What were they? Horsemen. And how many were there? Four. Correct. Correct. And what do you think they do? Well, they ride out and create all this across the world.
[4:42] So that's happening as we speak. And just to recap some pictures, you don't have to feel that you've both got to just answer all these questions. We can shed it out.
[4:52] So there were these. Anybody like to say what those are in the book of Revelation? Beasts. Beasts. Beasts. Yes. There's at least two beasts. And trumpets.
[5:05] How many trumpets? Seven. Seven. And we have this beautiful lady. The bride. And we have this rather sinister lady. Well, Jezebel, the prostitute, the whore of Babylon.
[5:20] Yeah. And we have some cities. So that one, I've almost given that one away with a tall tower. Babylon. Yeah. And this city.
[5:31] Beautiful. Zion. Yeah. And we have this. Yeah. The golden lamps. And this one, which was?
[5:43] Horseman. And this one? The throne. And this one? The dragon. And this one? The lamb. And I think we could sum it up.
[5:57] We had a go at summing it up. What is the overall thing that's going on with all those pictures? At least what? Conflict. Yeah. I think conflict is what's going on.
[6:08] So let's look at these seven churches. It's a letter to the seven churches. There's a lampstand. And what do you think the lampstand... Where does this picture come from?
[6:18] We did this last week. But just see how good your memories are. Pardon? From the temple. Yes. Inside the first chamber is a lamp, isn't it?
[6:30] The holy. The holy. The first room. And then... Yeah. There's the holy place. And then the most holy place. And this lamp is on the holy place. And it's a seven-branched candlestick.
[6:41] It's a little bit like a tree. So it's almost like being in a garden. But that idea of the seven lamps gets taken over to the prophet Zechariah.
[6:54] And he uses it to communicate the idea of the community of believers being a light shed. Why does John use this picture?
[7:09] Well done. Because we're supposed to be the light of the world. You should have written my script for me. Yeah. You are the light of the world. It's Matthew chapter 5 verse 14. I think that's what he's picking up on.
[7:20] That we're meant to be shining out into the universe. And that's come out of order. The seven churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
[7:37] If you have your Bible there, you can sort of see them. Have you got headings in your Bible that tells you those without you having to look too hard? Those are the churches.
[7:49] And why do you think there are seven? Because seven is the number of completeness. So I'm not thinking he's telling us there are only seven Christian groups in that area.
[8:01] I mean we know there's Colossians, Philippians, they're not in there. Thessalonians. There were other Christian churches. But the seven I think he's using to say symbolically the whole thing.
[8:17] This applies to the whole church. Symbolic number of completeness. And what he says to those seven churches is relevant to us. Because we're part of the whole church.
[8:28] And so we need to listen to it in that way. And I put that in red. The way the book of the Revelation works is rather unusual. In that if you have say letters of Paul.
[8:40] He will usually give you the doctrine first. And then he'll give you the application points after that. So he will say something, something, something. Therefore, walk as children of light.
[8:53] Or therefore, I don't know, can't think of anything off the top of my head. But he will do it that way. Now this, the book of Revelation works the other way around. It puts the application at the front. And it says, and then it goes on to say at considerable length.
[9:06] And this is why you should behave as I've just said. So the application comes at the beginning. And the reasons follow. We're not going to get as far as that, are we?
[9:18] I'm looking for a map. And there it is. And there, I think, are the seven churches. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. That's Ephesus. And that is Laodicea.
[9:34] Got it right. And they go in order. Interestingly, dum, dum, dum, dum. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. They go in the order a messenger would go if he was making a round trip.
[9:48] There we are. And I'll just say again so that all the churches can hear what is being said to all the other churches.
[9:59] And I think there's something quite subtle and important about that. So it may not be directly said. The things that are said to Ephesus are may not directly said to Pergamum.
[10:13] But Pergamum can listen and say, well, to what extent does that apply to me, if you see what I mean? And as we listen, he may not be saying you're exactly like the church in Laodicea or something.
[10:29] But we can listen and say, well, I want to be careful that that isn't true of me. To what extent is that true of us? Because we need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
[10:43] Now, what I wanted to do, and I hope this is a sensible use of our time this morning, is to give us an idea of what it was like to be in one of those seven churches.
[10:55] It was in the time of the Roman Empire. And Rome is somewhere there. Boys and girls, have you, that's a boy and girl, have you, are you conscious of ever having been to a Roman place?
[11:11] So, have you been to Rome? Have you ever been to Rome? Have you ever been to a Roman place? Where have you been that's Roman? Went to some Roman...
[11:25] Okay, a Roman villa somewhere. Is that what you were going to say? Now then, just thinking of Roman villas. There's one near Chichester, Fishbourne, Roman villa.
[11:38] Was it that one? No. Okay, there's actually one on the Isle of Wight at Braiding, but it probably wasn't that one, was it? Wherever it was, there are Roman villas in our nation, and there are other signs of the Romans having been here.
[11:57] Anybody like to suggest other signs that the Romans were over here? I've got an arrow for that, I think. Yeah, the Romans went all over the place. Straight roads. Straight roads, yes.
[12:07] There are some straight roads, and that's how the Romans built those. Aqueducts. Yep. I'm just trying to think. I'm not sure whether I've seen one, but they had them, didn't they?
[12:20] And what about words and places? Baths. Pardon? Baths. Baths. Yeah, the Romans, they're great on Roman baths, and I think that at Fishbourne there'll be Roman baths.
[12:31] Language. Language. Yes. We have a lot of Latin words in our vocabulary. I'm just going to be complete. I can't, my mind's going to complete blank.
[12:42] There's lots of them, if I remember. Pardon? Circumspec. Latin to look around. Yeah. Circumspec. Spectare. To look around. Yeah, spectare is to look, so we've got spectacles.
[12:56] A spectacle. Yeah. Lots of things like that. What about place names? Place names. Chester. Yes. Because the Roman Latin word for camp or encampment is castra, and so that's got changed over the years, so Chester, this becomes Chester, so we've got Chichester, Winchester, Sirencester, Colchester, Chester.
[13:23] These are all Roman names. So the Romans have left, you know, what have the Romans ever done for us? Lots of things. So that's, and the Rome brought peace.
[13:37] The Pax Romana. Romans brought stability to, I don't know, a huge area. It brought trade and money, so people could cross boundaries and trade all over the place.
[13:55] It used force. So have you ever had to draw a Roman soldier, or have you seen Roman soldiers? They do them at Fishbourne.
[14:07] My grandchildren went, and one of them became a Roman soldier temporarily. A lot of fun. Conquest and force, Roman soldiers.
[14:18] Glorious cities. Rome was thought to be sort of almost like the eternal city, the wonderful city. But there's a lot going on in Rome that wasn't glorious at all.
[14:34] The Roman Empire had emperors, and to one degree or another, and I still need to do some research on this, the emperors wanted to be worshipped.
[14:45] They would say they were the Son of God, or they would say Caesar is Lord. They would say such and such a person has come as the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
[14:59] And Christian people would find that very problematic, because we believe that Jesus is Lord, and we believe that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, and we believe that Jesus alone is truly the Son of God.
[15:16] So there was emperor worship, and there was a lot of sex stuff going on. There was when men would treat little boys as if they were married to them, as if they were their wives.
[15:31] There was prostitution, where women would sell sex. There was Roman wealthy people would have multiple women as their wives, and treat their slaves as if they were their wives.
[15:49] There was an awful lot of wrong sex going on, both in whatever combination of genders you think of. And Rome was a place where there were many gods.
[16:03] And we had the names of some of the gods. We think of Zeus, the names of the planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Neptune.
[16:16] So all these would have been Roman gods and many more. What's it called when you have many gods? Do either of you two know what it is when you have many gods?
[16:31] Not really? Oh, grown-ups? Pantheism. Pantheism. Pantheism is when everything is god. So we're sort of in the right territory.
[16:43] But when it's many gods, it's called? Pardon? Greedy. That wasn't what I was thinking of. I was thinking polytheism. Now then, see if we can...
[16:54] So that's the sort of overall picture. If you're walking down the street in one of those cities, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, I think you would find this.
[17:12] What does that relate to of the list we just made? So what is it supposed to be a picture of? Coins. It's meant to be a picture of coins. And when I did the original, I wrote on it, but you can't read it because the writing's too small, that on this coin is inscribed, Nero, Saviour of the World.
[17:32] I need to find my original source for that. But if you look on Google, you can find pictures of Roman coins where the Roman emperor says he's the son of God or the Saviour of the World or whatever.
[17:44] So that, the coin says that. What of that list, if any, does that that you would find on the street relate to? Trade?
[17:59] Emperor worship? Yeah, this sort of idea of gods. Yep. So even as you go into the marketplace to buy a loaf of bread or a milkshake or whatever, yogurt.
[18:22] In your hand, the coins are saying something that... How do I relate to this as a Christian? What about that one? This one here?
[18:34] Anything... Does that relate to anything on that list? The conquest? Yeah, the Roman armies. Emperor worship?
[18:46] Yeah, they would enforce that. I think I've got a thing coming up. So... If we walk the streets in mainland England, we don't see soldiers in uniform.
[19:03] If... Well, probably it'd be a little bit in just one or two places. If you go to Switzerland, where all the adult men, I don't know whether it's women as well, have to join the army at least for a year, you see people walking around in uniform.
[19:20] And if you'd gone to Ephesus or Smyrna, you would have seen people walking around in uniform. And they are... They might not necessarily be on horses, but there is the power of Rome.
[19:31] And what weapon would Rome particularly use back in those days? It would be the power of the sword. And there's a Roman soldier with his sword.
[19:44] And he becomes important in this book as we go forward. And what about this? What picture here would... Would that relate to anything on that list?
[19:55] City. Well, it's a city. Yeah. Yeah. So thinking of the city. Rome. There was legends about Rome.
[20:07] Romulus and Remus, isn't it, that founded the city of Rome. And they had a god called Roma, who was the goddess of Rome. And when John uses this idea of the goddess of Rome, he makes her into a prostitute, horrible, horrible woman.
[20:24] And so that's a block of stone with a face and a sort of crown and somebody worshipping it.
[20:36] Which would that relate to of any of those, do you think? The many gods? Abomination. Yeah, abomination.
[20:49] Yes, you could say that. I think probably the emperor worship thing. I think I probably said this the other week. When the apostle Paul went to...
[21:03] Where did he go to? Athens. It was said of Athens that as you walk down the street, you would as soon meet a god as a man because it was full of idols, you know, statues of this god or statues of that god.
[21:19] And they weren't just stone. They were painted like really bright colours. So you would turn the corner and there's, you know, the god Mars or whatever. So you're finding this all over the place.
[21:32] If you go to India or Sri Lanka and Hindu temples, they've got gods all over them, haven't they? Sort of crawling all over them.
[21:44] So that's the scene that they're in. Have I got another one? Yeah, worshipping that. And here is a guy with robes that you might meet as you're walking along.
[21:54] Any idea who that's meant to be? A priest. Yeah, you'd find priests who would tell you how to join their cult.
[22:05] This is how we worship our god. We slaughter a bull and then we get drunk. This is what we do in our meetings. Or we swap wives and husbands.
[22:16] This is how we do things in our meetings. And they're saying, you know, come and join us. So that's the reality. I've tried to draw the reality. See what I mean of what it'd be like just to walk in the streets of those cities.
[22:32] And yeah, there's a... You might meet this lady if you go out in the city late at night and she's looking for trade. So, and then I think, that was them.
[22:44] And perhaps it's worth thinking, how much is that like our city? I mean, we live in a city. Some of it is not quite like, but some of it is, isn't it? I mean, we have peace.
[22:57] And by global standards, we're very wealthy. If you are fortunate enough to own a house, it puts you in the top 1% globally of rich people.
[23:10] That's quite a thought, isn't it? In Brighton, you would think, oh... But top 1% globally. Money, I think, is our problem.
[23:22] We're not used to being forced to do anything religiously because our society is tolerant. But we do begin to see people like the lecturer at Sussex University who was forced out of her position for...
[23:41] I mean, she wasn't a Christian, but she was forced out of her position for her views on sexuality. So, that in a way... Glorious cities that have...
[23:51] that are actually shameful. Just think of our... this weekend. Yeah, we have pride, which is... When people ask me, I say, humility is the Christian virtue.
[24:07] But our economy, our business, our council leaders have set us up for this thing to take pride. Now, let's just try and say, I think we should always treat men and women as being made in the image of God.
[24:23] We should treat them with respect and value them, whatever their marital status or whatever. We should always treat people with respect. There's no excuse for insulting or belittling or making fun of.
[24:36] But it's gone way beyond that, hasn't it? And things that the Bible would say we should be ashamed of are things that appear to be celebrated as things we should be proud of.
[24:49] So, I think our city is not far off in that. We don't have emperor worship, but we do have a big push on sexuality being done very differently to what the Bible says with one man and one woman in a committed marriage relationship lifelong.
[25:09] That's the framework that the Bible has. And we don't have statues of gods, but there's lots of things that function that way in our society that become the be-all and end-all, become the source of our meaning, the source of guidance, the thing that looms largest in our lives.
[25:37] And the apostle John could write to his Christian congregations and say to them, children, keep yourselves from idols. So, just taking time to think about how it was for these seven churches and to think, well, actually, although it was a long time ago in a different place, it's not that far different from where we are now.
[26:04] So, what does God say to the seven churches? What does the risen Christ say? There's a pattern, and if you have chapter 2 open in front of you, you can just follow it through.
[26:17] There's an address to write to the angel of so-and-so, the angel of Ephesus, and there's a statement of one aspect of Christ's identity.
[26:32] So, for Ephesus, these are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. The pattern goes on with the risen Christ saying, I know, I know what you're doing.
[26:49] I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance. I know you cannot tolerate wicked people, have tested those who claim to be apostles and found them false. You have persevered, endured hardships, my name, and not grown weary.
[27:02] So, he knows those things. They're positive things. And the risen Christ also, in his loving care for his churches, says, but.
[27:17] And for each, nearly each church, there is a but. And for the church in Ephesus, the but is, but I hold this against you.
[27:27] you have forsaken your first love. You have lost the love you had at first.
[27:39] And then there's a warning or encouragement or exhortation and he says, consider how far you have fallen.
[27:50] Repent and do the things you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place. And then there is this saying, whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
[28:05] And then there's a promise. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.
[28:16] And that's a reference to the end chapters and what it will be like at the end. So, that's the pattern. And we don't have time this morning to go into huge detail, I'm afraid.
[28:28] But let's just try and with a very broad brush point out the sort of things that are said to these churches. To church number one, to Ephesus, it says, they've been very steady but they've lost their first love.
[28:46] hear what the Spirit says to the churches and where to think, to what extent is that true of us? Well, I think these are very searching words.
[28:59] You've done lots of good stuff but in your heart of hearts, do you still have the same love for the Lord Jesus that you used to have?
[29:11] And he says, if you don't, then do something about it. And that's the message to the church in Ephesus. You've persevered, you've not grown weary but you've lost your edge.
[29:29] I'm quoting Steve, I borrowed that from Steve. Church number two, the church in Smyrna. Here he says, I know your afflictions, verse nine, you're afflicted and you're poverty but actually you are rich and this is a church that Jesus commends and he doesn't have a but.
[29:58] He says, I know you, things have gone against you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, there will be a period where you'll find this particularly difficult, you'll suffer persecution for ten days but be faithful to the point of death and I will give you your victor's crown.
[30:21] That's a rather lovely message to that particular church. You're afflicted but actually in my eyes you're rich.
[30:34] you're going to go through a testing period but you be faithful, hang on and there is a crown waiting for you.
[30:45] Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the third church which is Pergamum, he says, I know, I know what it's like in your city.
[30:59] you could say Satan has his throne there but you're still true and you hang on even when Antipas was put to death by the Roman sword in that city and he does have a but.
[31:21] You hold the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin and said they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.
[31:31] Well, we've seen those features just a few minutes ago and you've given in to that. There are some of you who have given in to the pressure of the world around you and you're doing your religion the same as them and your sex life the same as them.
[31:53] That's wrong. Repent. Otherwise, I'll come and fight against you says Jesus. The fourth church Thyatira again, he says I know your deeds I know your love and faith your service and perseverance you're now doing more than you did at first verse 19 and here's another but.
[32:21] there's a woman who calls herself a prophet or a prophetess she misleads people that same pressure sexual immorality food sacrifice to idols and I'm dealing with her I will cast her on a bed of suffering and she must repent otherwise I'll strike her children dead and he says and that will be so serious that the churches will know that I really do care I really do see the heart and I really do react and repay for the sort of what's going on in our lives.
[33:10] It's all quite serious isn't it? You know it's meant to be serious hear what the Spirit says to the churches I mean is that us?
[33:24] Is that you? Is that me? What does the Spirit tell us? And to the rest of you verse 24 who don't hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's secrets so called deep secrets no burden on you just to hold on hold on in faith in steadiness in prayer in walking with me until I come and that will be victory to the one who is victorious and does my will to the end I will give authority over the nations and the fifth church Sardis the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I know your deeds too it's interesting the way the Lord Jesus can see our lives I mean what we show to one another we control to one degree or another don't we just show one another our best side our polite our polite words and our polite conversation but Jesus sees the totality of what we're doing and what's going on inside and to the church in Sardis he says
[34:37] I know your deeds you have a reputation of being alive but you're actually dead wake up I'm interesting he said you're dead but you can still wake up so you know there's something really seriously wrong but it's not so far wrong that you can't get right even at this point and it's a fairly frightening thought isn't it that Jesus sees the church and everybody says wow it's a great church what full of people look at the quality of the music it's amazing it's like being in a recording studio look at how rich these people are and the quality of their coffee is just beyond belief and Jesus says yeah people say what a great church but I know you're actually a dead church no living faith at all what a fearsome pronouncement from the Lord
[35:42] Jesus let's hear what the spirit says to the churches he says to them repent turn round the church isn't all like that verse 4 you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes they will walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy the one who is victorious will like them be dressed in white and their name will be acknowledged before the father take it on board hear what the spirit says to the churches church number 6 Philadelphia verse 8 I know your deeds I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut I know that you have little strength but you have kept my word and not denied my name verse 10 since you have kept my command to endure patiently
[36:48] I also will keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth I am coming soon hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown the one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God that's another church about which there is not a but the outside observer might say well they're not much of a church they've got little strength but Jesus says but I can see what what what's going on with you you have kept my word and not denied my name and I will be with you keep on hold on to what you have and overcome hear what the spirit says to the churches and the seventh church is matches the first one in the awfulness of its situation this is the church in
[37:56] Laodicea and according to what I've read Laodicea was a city which had some springs of water up at the top of the hill and some springs of water down at the bottom of the hill and one of them was a cold spring let's assume that's the one at the top and one of the was a hot spring let's assume that's the one at the bottom and the one at the top you could use and it would quench your thirst and be very delicious to drink and the one at the bottom would be useful for having a bath washing clothes you could do!
[38:27] all sorts of things like that but he says to Laodicea you are verse 16 you are lukewarm you are neither hot nor cold you make me sick I'm going to spit you out of my mouth that's a useless church it's not useful for one thing nor another and look how wonderful they think they are verse 17 you say I am rich you see money there I am rich I have acquired wealth I don't need a thing they lost any sense of dependence on the Lord Jesus you know sometimes the things the Lord sends into our lives are very good to teach us dependence on him aren't they but you don't realize he says to Laodicea you are wretched pitiful poor blind and naked and Jesus says that's really where you're at and I can sort every single one of those things I can give you riches
[39:28] I can give you gold refined in the fire I can give you clothes to wear to cover your nakedness and you just can't see properly I can give you ointment for your eyes and then you'll be able to see how things really are and he says to that church repent that's in verse 19 and it's interesting the way it's put isn't it it's put in terms of his love the people that he loves he rebukes we should not think that if we're rebuked by the Lord it's because he doesn't love us it's because he does love us those!
[40:18] those whom I love I rebuke and discipline so turn round turn back to me I know I could say this this morning if there's some area in our lives in your life in my life where we've become distant from the Lord turn round and Jesus says it's just so marvellously possible here I am I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me that's a lovely thing isn't it the Lord could say well I'm fed up with you lot I've said this to you before I'm just fed up that's it but he doesn't say that he says I'm telling you I'm rebuking you again and if you open the door
[41:19] I will be more than happy to come in I won't come in and tell you off I'll come in and we can eat together church which is really failing its Ofsted and all the different churches all the seven churches and the many thousands upon thousands of other churches that have read this can measure themselves against Christ's words and so can we now I'll just remind you that of those seven two had no buts it would be great if we could be one of those but the safest thing is just to be looking into our lives and if there's anything where we need to be repenting just to be repenting and to do so every day well there's the conclusion where all these churches are somewhere between that time when the
[42:20] Lord was walking and the heavenly city which is where we're headed to we learn things like this the churches! of Christ can get pretty love for Christ matters do we love Jesus being faithful unto death matters we don't face the sort of imminent acute threat of being assassinated but we face every day the temptation to turn a little bit away from the Lord so let's be faithful in life Antipas was faithful unto death doctrine and ethics matter the teachings that we're listening to shouldn't be listening to that priest who tells us his way of doing things we should be listening to the Lord and behaving accordingly and we should I think the safest thing is always to be repenting we see the way
[43:22] Christ knows and honours steadfastness and faithfulness and we see the way Christ incentivizes us I hate that word but I did write it all of those addresses have got a promise haven't they we're not so used to that we're not used to living in terms of the long term future but all of these churches are invited just think how this will be on the last day think of what the consequences of following Christ will be when Christ comes again think of how worth it will be for him to know our name to say well done good and faithful servant wouldn't that be wonderful is it on that plaque I can't see it from behind the say well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of thy Lord yeah
[44:22] I mean that's put on there for a reason all those years ago to faithful service the joy that is there ahead for faithful servants wouldn't that be worth it wouldn't that make it worthwhile serving the Lord now and making it a point of doing so for what lies ahead!
[44:42] and he tells us don't be defeated if you've been knocked down get back up again fight on to him who overcomes keep fighting and overcome amen we're going to sing a song about a ending ending ending