Revelation - 3:1-10
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But, um- I got- If you're jumping in on this or if you've missed some, I would really recommend... And they're all online, so we record this so we can put them online. I would recommend going back and listening to the other ones if you get a chance. Um, I am kind of planning to do a major review. I'm either gonna do it between chapters three and four, or I might do it between chapters four and five. But, uh, so in a couple of weeks from now, more than a couple, but, um, I'll do a review of what we've done so far, but then I'm also gonna lay out the different millennial views, which I've actually done a couple of times, um, but we keep getting new people and stuff, so I think it'd be good to do that. Um, but probably one of the most important things in terms of the Book of Revelation, uh, in terms of interpreting it, and it happens in the first chapter, and then it comes back actually in the last chapter, and that is the timing. So if you jump in the middle of the book, 'cause I was thinking about what was posted today, if you jump to chapter six and you start reading chapter six, theoretically, you could put it anywhere you want in history Unless you pay attention to the timing passages, which if we get what-- there's another one with one of the churches, so if we get to it, I'll let you know what I'm talking about. But, um, so it really does matter with the Book of Revelation that you start at the very beginning, and you understand the timing passages, and then when you get to the end of the book, it's gonna repeat itself in terms of the timing passages, and then we can interpret when this stuff takes place. So, um, just a little bit of an introduction. A little bit of review, and then we'll move on. We finished the first four churches. Uh, last week we, uh, finished Pergamum and Thyatira, and, uh, just a couple of things in terms of review y- again because we've covered it. Uh, I found it interesting, Thyatira was a very small, unimportant city, probably had a small church, and yet it's the longest letter. Um, and again, I, I pointed out last time, it's just the grace of God. God doesn't look at size. God doesn't look at the outward appearance. Um, uh, the other thing that we saw, uh, in the letter to Thyatira, we also saw this, I believe it was in the letter to Ephesians. Um, the church, and we're not good at this anymore, uh, but the church is supposed to be intolerant. Doesn't mean we don't love people, doesn't mean we don't love the sinner and, you know, all that stuff, but there's a line that we're supposed to draw, and we're supposed to have a certain amount of intolerance. And Thyatira was, uh, scolded because they tolerated this woman Jezebel, and they shouldn't have. They should have been intolerant to what she was doing. So, uh, the other thing that we saw, uh, in that letter was, uh, we saw Jesus described as judge and executioner. And you all know this, whether you watch it on TV, whether you hear people talk about it, it's usually the surfer Jesus that you get introduced to, and Jesus is all about love. And I am not denying that He's all about love. But in, uh, chapter two, verse twenty-three in the letter to Thyatira, literally Jesus says, "I will kill her children." I mean, it's like Jes- Jesus is God, and sometimes we lose sight of that. And Jesus will judge those who reject Him. So, uh, just a little few things by way of review. So if you would please, open your Bibles to, uh, Revelation chapter three. And once I get there, if somebody would Revelation chapter three, if somebody would read the first six verses, this is the, uh, letter to Sardis, and then we'll start looking at it. "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold spirit of God and the seven stars. I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first. Hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don't wake up, I will come to you suddenly as unexpected as a thief. Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the book of life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches." Okay, so a little background on Sardis, and I always give you a little tidbit. And it's interesting because Jesus, uh, who is the author of these letters, always picks up on something and, and relates it back to them. So, um, Sardis is the old capital of Lydia. Uh, it was twice conquered. It was conquered once by Cyrus. It was conquered another time by Antiochus. Um, and the reason it was conquered, and this is what Jesus picks up on and, and throws it out to the church, is because they failed to keep watch. Historically, we can go back and we can research it and we can read it. Basically, they, they didn't keep watch and basically got surprised. So both times they got conquered, it's because they weren't keeping watch, and Jesus is gonna use that and throw it out to the church. Uh, so in verse one, uh, "The angel to the church in Sardis," who are the angels of the churches? The pastors. Pastors. Okay. Um, the pastor, the, the one giving the messages. Um, "He who has the seven spirits and the seven stars," um, when he says seven spirits, what's he referring to? And again, this is stuff we've talked about, so... Seven attributes. What's that? Isn't it like the churches like the lampstands? Interesting, 'cause some, uh... It's not here. It's somew- It's-- I think it's in the next letter. Um, and, and some will say that, that it's actually the churches, it's the lamps. But typically, the seven spirits in, uh, it was talked about in chapter one. He's simply referring to the Holy Spirit. Okay. He's referring to the Holy Spirit. Seven in scripture, we need to be careful when we do numerology. But certain numbers, the number three, the number six, the number seven, the number ten, they do have some significant meaning throughout the Bible. And seven is the number of perfection. So it's the perfect Holy Spirit, but it's also the Holy Spirit that is omnipresent and omniscient and sees all things. So the seven spirits and the seven stars. And what were the stars? So those would probably be the churches, right? The lampstands were the churches. Why did I just draw a blank? What were the stars? Go to chapter one Uh, chapter one, verse 20: "As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." So the stars are the pastors. Okay? So the, the stars are the pastors also called angels. Why would the pastors be called angels? Um, other than we're- Messenger ... heavenly beings. Messenger? Yes, because angel at its core simply means messenger, both in Hebrew and Greek. That's what it means, and then we have to go to the context to find out what kind of a messenger it is. So, um, uh, "I know your deeds that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead," which is kind of a slap in the face. Somebody wanna look up 1 Samuel 16:7 and then somebody else wanna look up Luke 16:15. So 1 Samuel 16:7 and then somebody else Luke 16:15 I have Luke All right, go ahead And he said to them, "You are those who justified yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God." Okay, I know your deeds. You have a name, you have a reputation. You seem to be alive, but you're dead. God sees the heart, not the outside. I think you could say this about a lot of churches in America today. I mean, we, we got a lot of churches, and yet look at the culture. Look at what's going on. You know, are we being effective? Who has 1 Samuel 16:7? I have that one. 16- Seven ... verse seven? Yeah. "But on the Lord-- But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'" Okay. So, um, we could even be doing the right things but still be dead because God looks at our heart. God looks at, uh, why we do what we do. Um, and again, I think there's probably lots of churches in our country that are like this. And then in verse two, Jesus says, "Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain." And the word for wake up literally means be watchful or keep watch. And that's, like I said, with every church, Jesus refers to something in that church's history that the people would relate to. Uh, Sardis was conquered twice because they didn't keep watch. So I think Jesus is hinting at what's gonna happen to the church if they don't wake up and start keeping watch. Um, so just some play on words. Uh, "Be watchful, strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of God." Um, this is interesting because he says, "Strength, strengthen the things which remain that are about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of God." And I think you can pull the principle, and you're gonna find it elsewhere in scripture, but as a Christian, you cannot be stagnant. There's no such thing as a stagnant Christian. A stagnant Christian is a dying Christian, okay? A Christian must always be growing, always be working, always be moving forward. Does that make sense? I, I think you find that principle there about, um, you're about to die and you guys need to get to work. Verse three: "So remember what you have received and keep it. Repent." Who can tell me what it means to repent? Just in simplistic, what does it mean to repent? Turn 180 degrees away from what you're doing and walk the other way Okay. Turn from. Yeah. You know, turn from. But again, with scripture, usually when you're asked to repent, it's turning from something, but it's also turning to. So, I mean, in that sense, unbelievers turn from things all the time. But true biblical repentance would be turning from and turning to. Um, did-- Let me ask you this. Did Judas repent? No. Iscariot? Judas Iscariot. No. In any way, shape, or form? No, he went out and killed himself. Okay, but what did he do before that? Well, he threw the coins back at them. Okay. I don't know if that's repentance or be like, "Oh." Anybody, anybody else got a thought on that? Well, I don't think he could be considered a turning towards Christ because he killed himself. Right. So is that real repentance if it requires turning from and then turning to someone? Right. Yeah. Yeah. So what I-- Would you say- Yes. Very good. So what, what I'm hinting at, and the Bible doesn't use the word repent for, for Judas, but he felt bad. He felt remorse. He went and he returned the money. He knew what he did was wrong, but he didn't do what Peter did. Peter turned back to Christ. Which is, yeah. Okay? He went and hung himself. So no, he didn't repent because it wasn't complete. It wasn't a turning from and a turning to. But it was certainly, at least in part, a turning from. So that's, that's kind of the point that I'm trying to get to. Do you think he was capable of, of asking for forgiveness? No. I didn't think so either. No. No. 'Cause he was the son of perdition, right? Jesus made it very clear he was the son of perdition. Yeah. So he was predestined to do that. Yes. That's- It, it-- That's looking at it from the divine side. Mm. From the human side, he didn't wanna repent. He felt bad, but he didn't wanna repent. He, he could have gone to Jesus. I mean, I can only imagine what he felt like, but I can only imagine what Peter felt like. Do you think that there was, you know, demon possession involved in that? Like was- With Judas, absolutely. The Bible literally says Satan possessed him. So then is that entirely his fault then? Yes. Okay. I've heard it explained that he had his conscience pricked instead of his heart pricked. In Acts says, in Acts it says, "Your heart's been pricked." Yeah. Um, which only happens when there's the true repentance. But normal unbelievers, unregenerate people can have their conscience pricked in that they know they did something bad, but that doesn't necessarily mean, like you said, they turn from it and to something else. Right. Right. And back to the whole did Satan possess him, so is that his fault or whatever, um, there-- I've studied enough, and it's something that I would love to study a little bit more, but people I trust and... You have to open yourself up to that in some sense. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, sometimes, you know, kids can be opened up to it because of bad parenting or something along those lines, but you have to open yourself up to it, and, uh, Judas clearly opened himself up to it. Jesus gave him ample chance to turn from what he was gonna do, and, uh, he didn't. Uh, so remember verse three. So remember, uh, what you have received and heard, and keep it and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, there's that word keep watch again. Therefore, if you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will not know what the hour-- what hour I will come to you. Anyone recognize that language? Where else do we see that language in scripture? I will come like a thief. Matthew. Matthew, yeah. Okay, Matthew. Where in Matthew? And, and you don't have to tell me the verse. Parables. Uh, I'll tell you the-- it's chapter twenty-four. But- Chapter twenty-four. Okay. But what was, what was the occasion? What was going on? Anybody remember what we call that? It's the- The Olivet Discourse. Okay, the Olivet Discourse. Which gospel does not have an Olivet Discourse? John. The gospel of John does not have an Olivet discourse Because Revelation uses- There are-- Yes. And you think that John- There are plenty of scholars that think this is John's Olivet discourse Good job, John. That John is taking what, you know, Matthew did in chapter twenty-four and even expanding it in an entire book. So it's interesting that he uses the language that Matthew uses in the Olivet discourse here. I'll come like a thief, and you're not gonna be ready, you're not gonna be prepared. Um- Scary verse. And just, again, so everyone knows, um, the Millers know, uh, I don't go in as much depth here as, say, from the pulpit or whatever. So if you guys have questions or, say, maybe I skim over something that you want more detail, make sure you ask, and I'll, I'll back up and do my best or whatever. But verse four. Uh, "But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled," uh, interesting word. Literally, it means ritually impure, defiled their garments. Um, "And they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy." Somebody look up Romans thirteen and fourteen, and somebody else look up Galatians three twenty-seven. Romans thirteen and fourteen, Galatians three twenty-seven Because it, it's interesting he, he, he uses the picture of garments. Some of you have soiled your garments, but others of you will walk with me in white, and the idea there is in white garments. Mm-hmm. Not, you know, purified garments. So Romans 13:14 and then Galatians 3:27. I have Galatians. All right. You can, you can do that. "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Okay. And the word there is, is a word used of getting dressed or putting your clothes on. Mm-hmm. So that's the idea. Those who are gonna walk in white, those who are gonna be worthy- Yeah ... it's because they've put on Christ. And then Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires All right, so same thing, same word, same kind of language there. Uh, put on Christ. Clothe yourself in Christ. All right, here's where it gets fun. Verse five: He who overcomes... What was your translation, Yoshi? All who are-- NLT. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. Victorious. Interesting. So, um, the word for overcome, did anyone remember what, what the Greek word is? Nike. Very good. Nike. Okay. Nikao. It means to conquer. So-- And I find it interesting that Jesus uses that word, and I find it interesting that most of our translations don't translate it that way. But Jesus expects his church to conquer. I don't, I don't see how you get around that. It's not just overcome. There's an active sense to that word. He who conquers. And yet, the most popular eschatology of the day is an eschatology that says we lose. Um, so that's like pointing more towards the church should be dominating in some aspect. Yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. I agree with that. So he who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. And I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. So what I wanna do is, I'm curious to hear from some of you, what is the book of life? Because there's all kinds of things that are talked about with the book of life. So for instance, Jesus promises, "I will not erase his name from the book of life." So one question, and this is why we need to identify it, can a name be erased from the book of life? Not once it's in, when it's in. Well, that's what you think. You think. That's what you say is it can't be erased. Right. I'm not saying anything yet. I'm waiting to hear from you, then I'm gonna say it. I think absolutely you could take your name out of the book of life. Okay. So you think that passage implies that? When he says, "I will not erase his name from the book of life," does that imply that a name can be erased? That's saying that he is not-- If, if I accept Yahweh as my Lord and Savior, he's not gonna be like, "Okay, not, not Yoshi." But I could at any point in my life say, "You know what? I'm done with this. I rebuke you. I'm not gonna follow you anymore, and do whatever I want." That's taking my name and being like- Okay ... I don't, I don't want Jesus. I'm done. But God already knows if that's gonna happen or not, so would he even put your name in there in the beginning if he already knew that you- Well, okay. Go ahead. What-- Before you answer that, that's why my first question was, what is this book? I think it's a book where you, you accept y- Jesus as your own savior. You ask him to live in you. So is it the book of confession? No. Or is it the book of saving faith? No, it's not the book of confession 'cause there's, there's one for a book of judgments and deeds, and- Now, when I say confession, to confess Christ as my savior is, is what I'm referring to. I've always thought of it as the book of everlasting life, right? Okay. Not just like, obviously we're all living, so it can't just be the book of life. Okay. All right. Anybody else? What other ideas? What have you heard? What do you think? Well, so then maybe- I think once God has ordained you as saved, and your name gets placed in that book of life, then you can never be erased from that. Because in order for that to ha- happen, your heart had to be transformed. You had to become regenerate. You're now a new creation. So the people that would have fall- fallen away would have never had that regeneration, that heart of flesh from the heart of stone. Okay. And I think this is pointing to, like, a promise, right? Like, an encouragement to the believers. If I run the race, like I, I do the conquering, I do the overcoming, then my name will be in the book of life. Okay. All right. So then is this an empty threat? I'm just throwing things out there 'cause I want you to think it through. Is this an empty threat then? I, I was gonna say, I don't think like the sentence makes any sense unless it's a impos- unless it is possible to erase a name from the Book of Life. Okay. Like the inverse of it, doesn't the inverse have to be true? And so then the question is, the Book of Life must be something else other than the name of predestined- Okay ... persons in the book. All right. Anybody else wanna throw it out there? Look at interesting- It makes me think of the verse where he says, you know, "You cannot be stolen out of my hands," which if this is, you know, a book of those who are saved, then they wouldn't be able to be erased if that statement is also true. So there, that would make you think that it is therefore a book of something else. Okay. All right. Somebody look up Revelation 13:8 and read it for us. Revelation 13:8. Is that the one where it says all the books are opened up in front of the face of everyone? Nope. Nope. Why don't you go get your Bible and read it? No. I can't see. "And all who dwell on earth..." Sorry. "And all who dwell on earth, uh, will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain." Okay. So, uh, I'll read... What translation are you reading? The right one. No, it wasn't New American Standard. It wasn't Paul's- ... 'cause Paul uses New American Standard. That was, that's ESV. ESV. Yeah. Okay. R-read it one more time. All right. I like to hear it from, you know, faulty transla- No. All right. Uh, "And all who dwell on earth will worship it." Stop. What's the it? Just so we know the context. The lamb The earth Will worship Something other than that. The dragon. Yeah. He's talking about the dragon. Okay. Yeah. Okay, just- I was trying to think in my mind, like, what's the- Yeah, no. Yeah. "All who dwell on earth will worship," my translation says him. Mm. It is just as good. It's referring to the dragon. Okay. So we're talking about unbelievers. Mm-hmm. Unbelievers are gonna worship the dragon. Keep going. "Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." Okay. Does that language there help you identify the book of life in any way? When were the names written in the book? Before the foundation of the earth. Okay. Does that language help us in any way identify what the book of life is? Can anyone think of any other passage that maybe contains that kind of language that might help us identify? Oh, no, no, no. Somebody look up Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. Okay, so to be a little more literal, just as he elected us in him, and when did it take place? Before the foundation. Before the foundation of the world. When were the names written in the book of life? Before the foundation. Before the foundation of the world. And this is the book of life. So here are the choices, and then I'll, I'll-- You've probably guessed which one I think it is. But some, some commentators would say it's the book of the covenant. And if it's the book of the covenant, then names could be erased. Because remember, we, we enter into an outward covenant with, with Christ via a confession of faith, via a-- We start to look like a Christian, we start to live like a Christian, um, but do we have saving faith? And again, saving faith is demonstrated by a life, okay? Um, it's also demonstrated in the moment. Um, so it could be the book of the covenant, and if it was the book of the covenant, then it would make sense that names could be erased. Uh, others see it as the book of the elect. It would be the book of the, the elect, therefore names could not be erased. And still others, and this is more the Arminian view, would see it as the book of salvation, but since you can lose your salvation, your name could be erased. Okay? Um, however, and this goes back to something, Anna, you said, um, from a logical perspective, when Jesus says, "I will not erase your name," that does not logically imply that it could be erased. There's, there's no reason to jump to that conclusion, logically speaking. Okay? Just because he says, "I won't erase your name," doesn't mean that it's erasable. Just like, uh, if your child wakes up in the middle of the night and they're scared 'cause it's storming out or something, and you go and you sit in their bed with them, and you tell them, "You know, Daddy's not gonna leave you. I'm gonna stay here with you. Daddy's not gonna leave you," does, does that imply you might leave him? You could Huh? You could. You could, but it, is that, would that, is that really your intent though? Yeah. Okay. Um- So then would you say that it is an empty threat? No, I would say it's a promise and not a threat. I threw that out to see if I could trip you up. Mm. It's a promise. He's promising, "There's no way I'm gonna..." Just like he says, "Whom the Father gives me, none can take them from my hand." John chapter 6 where he says- Yeah ... the same thing. It's, it's not a threat. It's a promise. It's a promise to the elect. "You are secure in me. There's no way I'm erasing your name from the book of life. That just, that's not even a possibility because you're in me. I own you. You're mine." So, and the reason I asked it the way I did is a, a lot of people read that and they take it as a threat. And a- again, from a logical, grammatical perspective, it's not a threat. It's a promise. All right? And the promise does not imply that it could actually be erased because, uh, the other reason is it's the book of life, and the only place to have true life is in Christ Jesus. And as we've seen, as we've been working through the Book of Hebrews, if you're in Christ Jesus, there's no way to be removed So I see this as a promise, and I would describe it as the book of the elect. And it goes back to when the names were written in the book before the foundation of the world, when God elected the people he would save before the foundation of the world. And I think it also goes to it's a promise and not a threat. There's no reason to take it as a threat, okay? Um, other than-- I think the only reason some people take it as a threat is they wanna try-- attempt to use this passage to demonstrate you can lose your salvation. That's the only reason to take it as a threat. Or you already hold that view, so when you come here, you're gonna take it that way. Does that make sense? Yes. Okay. Uh, and then Jesus says what he says at the end of every letter: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." All right? And I pointed out last week, uh, or last time we had a Bible study, I also pointed, I think, in the sermon last week, that the hearing in Scripture is always connected with obedience. When God bores out the ear, when God gives you ears to hear, it's connected to obedience. So when Jesus uses this phrase, and he uses it throughout the Gospels, "He who has an ear, let him hear," he's saying, "He who has an ear, obey me. He who has an ear, trust me with the kind of trust that's gonna lead to a changed life and obedience." So it's not just, "Hey, listen," and, you know... It's, "Listen and obey." Any questions on this church? For verse five, going back to the word of conquers, what is-- what would you say is the subject of that conquering? Like, the one who conquers, conquers what? I think, uh, based on the context here, I think ultimately it's sin. I think it's sin in our own lives, but it's also sin in the church. And if we can conquer sin in the church, then the church is gonna be victorious because if the church can live holy lives and live the kind of lives that they're supposed to live, they're gonna make a difference in the world. So I think if you boil it down contextually, um, it, it has to do with overcoming sin, overcoming the evil in the world, overcoming and even conquering, even in the sense of dying, overcoming the world and what the world throws at us. So does that make sense? Yeah. So when you say conquer sin in the church, is that obtained through church discipline and- Right ... outreach of the church itself? Um, yes. In fact, I think it's gonna come out in, in one of the next churches. Um, yes. I would say yes. All right. Any other questions before we move on to Philadelphia? What was the, the, uh, the reference from Revelation thirteen again? It was thirteen- What verse was that? Thirteen what? Eight, I think. Eight. Yeah, eight Okay. Yeah. All right. All right. Anyone, who knows, now most of you probably do, what's Philadelphia mean? Brotherly love. Brotherly love. So it's the Church of Brotherly Love, but it's a real church called Philadelphia. And in terms of the background for the Church of Philadelphia, um, they had a very small population, um, and it had been destroyed by an earthquake in AD seventy. So the city of Philadelphia had been destroyed in AD seventy by an earthquake. So, um- Can you say it slower? Uh, it was just a small city. I, I didn't, like, get the numbers or anything- Ah ... but scholars would, would just s- from multiple sources described it as just a small city, not a giant population. They didn't get any numbers. That's what I was saying. So a- another unimportant city is, is kind of the, the idea there. This is fun. Um, all right. Would somebody read, somebody, um, who hasn't, uh, Philippians- Oh. Philippians. Wife. Uh, rele- That's fine. Uh, verses 7 through 13. Okay. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, "This is the message from the one who is holy and true and the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close, and what he closes, no one can open. I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. Look, I will force those who belong to Satan's synagogue, those liars who say they are Jews but are not, to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love. Because you have obeyed my commands to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take it away from-- uh, no one will take away your crown. All who are victorious will become pillars in the temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God, and I will write on them my new name. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches." All right. Good. All right. So the city of Philadelphia. Um, and this goes back to your q-question, Barack, which I said is gonna come up with the next church. Uh, Jesus says to the angel, to the pastor, to the star, uh, of the church in Philadelphia, "Write." And he's writing to the pastors because the pastor is supposed to preach these messages. He was holy. He was true. That was one of the passages I referred to during the sermon, if you remember. We're supposed to approach the throne with a true faith, and this is the same word that describes Jesus. Jesus is true. So it gives us an idea of the quality of the faith we're supposed to have. Um, he who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one will open, says this. What are the keys of David? And where else do we find that in scripture so that we understand how these keys function? Didn't Jesus have them? Jesus has them. Does anyone else have them? That would be another question I would ask. Okay. So I got one no. Jesus has them. Nobody else has them. I got one no. Anybody else? What are they? What is it? What, what are the keys of David? And, and again, does anyone know where this idea comes from or whether it's Old Testament or New Testament? Where has this been used before? I would say it's Old Testament St. Paul No? I didn't say no. Oh, okay. I'm just waiting for It's right there in the back of my brain somewhere I was told by my wife not to say it yet, so I'm not gonna say anything yet. But go, what were you gonna say? I wanna say it's Old Testament for David and the New Jerusalem. Okay. It is found in the Old Testament, and it's found in the book of Isaiah And while- Winning ... are you, are you in Arizona? Where are you at? Well, I wasn't sure. In Jobe. I'm like, it's early. Oh, in Jobe? In Jobe. I'm not thinking Jobe, but maybe you know something I don't. Okay, good. Good, good, good, good Talking to Peter once Job 12:14 When Peter confesses Jesus is Christ- I think that's it ... he says, "I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Yeah, that, that's it. "And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." All right, keep your finger in that verse. What were you gonna say? So it's Old Testament, New Testament. Um, my Bible had a reference to this verse. Okay. "Behold, he tears down and it cannot be rebuilt. He imprisons a man, and there can be no release." Okay. And that's describing Yahweh, so I think there's something to that. Um, the main reference that people go to would be Isaiah 22, and- That's it back in the Old Testament, uh, it was literal keys to the, to the king's castle. And it was given to a steward, and the steward could open and close, and, you know, he basically had control of who went in, who went out, stuff like that. But Je- then Jesus picks up on that, and I think the first place we see it is in Matthew 16 verse 19. Brock, you wanna read that again? And this is right after Peter's confession of faith. Matthew 16 what? 16:19. Matthew 16:19. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Okay, and so he's talking to who? Peter. Peter. Peter alone? He's Peter the Pope, is that what you're saying? Yes. Passed by. He's talking to all 12. Yeah. Okay, Peter's just the representative of the 12. He asked the 12, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter has that great confession of faith, "You're the Son of God, the Messiah." Um, that was a poor paraphrase, but basically that's what Peter says. Um, and then, "Upon this rock, I will build my church." Uh, but I believe contextually it's upon Peter's confession, a confession that all the apostles will make. And then he's gonna send the apostles out as his representatives, and he's gonna give them the keys. What they open will be opened, what they close will be closed, okay? Can anyone think of another passage that can help us refine this in Matthew? Somebody, Matt maybe, turn to Matthew 18 and read for us verses 15 to 20 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them and by my Father in heaven. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them. Okay, so the keys were originally given to the apostles because the apostles were originally given the Great Commission to go out and spread the word. But we see in Matthew eighteen, the keys are also given to the church, okay? And I would argue, and historically is, it has been all argued that it's the elders of the church. So it goes from Christ, who always possesses the keys, always, to the apostles, to the elders of the church, okay? And basically, the keys are-- When we preach the gospel, we're opening the kingdom. All right? We're opening up to allow people in. Now, Jesus is ultimately sovereign. That's why here in the letter, he talks about he has the keys, 'cause ultimately, he has the keys, okay? The-- Yahweh is the one who elects. Yahweh is the one who saves. The Father is the one who gives to the Son, all that. Um, so he ultimately has the keys, but he's given it to his apostles, so the word goes out. When the church preaches the gospel, the word goes out, doors are being opened. But then when the word-- when the church practices church discipline, then it's closing doors All right? Um, so that's the picture there. Does that mean the door can't be reopened? Uh, no, because we have 2 Corinthians where the guy actually repents, who was disciplined by the church, and the church accepts him back into their congregation. So, but it is the church, I think the, the elders, but everyone in the church, um, we exercise-- We're kings and priests under Christ. So isn't it, I wanna say it was Peter who in that instance where they kicked the man out of the church, doesn't he say like, "In hopes that his heart will be crushed or his spirit will be crushed and he will come back"? Yes. And it was Paul, not Peter. Oh, it was Paul. But yeah, it was Paul. Geez. But yes, that's what he said. That's what he said, though. Yeah. Okay? Yeah. Um, which is the, the whole point of church discipline. So church discipline, yes, it closes a door, but it's not slammed shut so that it can never be opened. But it's the church that exercises these keys. Yeah. A-again, it's, it's a power that God has given to the church, and yet- Mom especially in our day and age, we act as if the gospel is helpless. We act as if, you know, we're scared to preach the gospel instead of believing that it's going to change lives. Um, and yet most of the time we're fearful, most of the time we think, you know, it's not gonna do anything, it's not gonna have this big effect. We don't treat it like keys. We don't treat it the way God or Jesus explains it. Um- And then verse eight. So we're back to Revelation. Um, "I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door." Interesting that he uses that, that, uh, phraseology since he was already talking about the keys of David. Uh, "Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and have kept my word and have denied-- and have not denied my name." So, uh, what translation do you use, Brock? This is ESV. ESV? Okay. And what are you using? NLT. Okay. So both of you read for me, 'cause I know you got the ESV, or whatever that one's called. Uh, teasing. It's a good translation. Read verse eight. I'm just curious how, how it comes out in your translation. "I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." Ooh. Good. Kiyoshi, read yours. "I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me." I, I'm gonna have to admit, both translations are better than the New American Standard here. Um, because I think the Greek should be taken as-- You could read the New American Standard as, "I've given you power," like, "I've increased your power." But I think what the text is actually saying is, "You don't have any power." Yeah. "You have little to no power whatsoever, and yet I've opened a door for you because I'm ultimately the one that exercises the keys." Uh, somebody- Hmm ... uh, read Zechariah 4:6. This is a-- You'll all recognize this after it gets read, but Zechariah 4:6. Go for it Then he answered and said to me, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power, but my Spirit,' says the Lord of Hosts." Okay. So it's always by the Spirit of God. It's not because we have power. It's not because we have great words. I love-- One of my favorite chapters in all of scripture is, uh, and I'm gonna mess it up. I can't remember if it's the end of 1 Corinthians 1 or now the end of 1 Corinthians 2, but you'll recognize it. It's where Paul says, "I didn't come with persuasive speech." I was-- I'm paraphrasing, but I was scared. You know, I mumbled, I stuttered. I mean, it, it was the work and the power of the Holy Spirit. And, you know, that's what it is. Um, there are, uh, preachers throughout the history of the church that were very golden-tongued, and then there were other ones, um, like, uh, Jonathan Edwards. Uh, I've heard that Jonathan Edwards was theoretically boring to listen to. Mm. That he just basically read his sermons in a monotone voice, and yet look how God has used those sermons. Okay? Um, what, what's his famous one? Sinners in the Hand- In the Hands of an- In the Hands of an Angry God. And- Mm ... Spiderweb Over the Flame. It just, it's an awesome sermon and-- But he would've delivered it just like, "And God will crush you." And yet God used him because it's not by might, it's not by power, it's not by my eloquence, but it's by the Spirit, and that's what he's telling the church here. "I'm the one who opens the doors. You don't have any power." But what did they keep? Look at the verse again. Verse 3:8. What did they keep? The Word. God's Word. That's where the power comes from. That's what the Spirit uses when Jesus opens doors, even when Jesus closes doors. So just something to remember. Um, and then in verse nine, and we'll get controversial here, he says, "Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie, I will make them come and bi- bow down at your feet and make them know that I have loved you." Okay? So who is Jesus talking about in this passage? Pharisees and Sadducees Yeah, I was gonna say the Jews that have not converted? Okay. Uh, I would say that he's ar- he's talking about old covenant Jews. Okay? There would've most likely been a synagogue in the city, and he describes it as the synagogue of Satan- Right ... who say they are Jews, but they are not. So somebody please look up Romans 9:6. Romans 9:6. Somebody else, Romans 2:28. And somebody else, Galatians 6:16. I got Romans 9:6. Okay, then somebody else, Romans 2:28. And somebody else- I got, I got Galatians 6:16. All right. All right. Who's got Romans 2:28? Yeah, you're cheating over there. I will do Romans 2:28. All right. So Yoshi, Romans 9:6. Okay, Galatians... I'm just kidding, Romans 9:6. "Well then, has God failed to fulfill His promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into this nation of Israel are truly members of God's people!" Okay. That's- Exclamation point. Yeah. That's an interesting, uh... What, what did you use, NLT? NLT. Okay. So New Living Translation, so it's a bit of a paraphrase. Mm-hmm. But I do like the way it paraphrased it, so I'll read it out of the New American Standard. Um, "But it is not as though the Word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who have descended from Israel." Mm-hmm. Okay? So obviously, God is investing Israel with a different meaning in the new covenant. Who had Romans 2:28? I do. Okay. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh." Okay. So again, we're investing a new meaning here. Galatians 6:16. I'm gonna back up and read 15- That's fine ... 'cause I think that adds context. "For ne- for neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God." And clearly, he's referring to the church there. So he's referring to the church as the Israel of God. So back in Revelation 3:9, he describes this synagogue, which would've been a Jewish synagogue, and those who would've been attending the synagogue would've rejected the Messiah. They would've heard the message by now. Obviously, there's a church in the city. So they've rejected Jesus, so he refers to it as a synagogue of Satan. Jesus. And those who say they are Jews, but they're not, they lie, because a true Jew now is one who's accepted Christ. Uh, "I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and I will make them know that I have loved you." Okay, so here's my question because it is a big deal in the modern church: How should we treat... Not only is it a big deal in the modern church, but it's actually a big deal politically in our country. How should we treat the modern Jew? How should we treat the modern Jewish nation? Okay, as pagan Goats separated from sheep. Can I ask you a question? You can. The- You just did, in fact. Now you gotta listen. The word Jew in there, the Greek, is that referring to The ethnic Jew itself? Well, okay, in, in all the passages we read, it uses the same word. The same thing. So it, it, again, depends on context. But here in Revelation 3:9, I would argue, yes, we're referring to ethnic Jews. But I like saying it even better. I like saying old covenant people. Yeah. People who still hold to the old covenant, 'cause there could have been some Gentiles in that group as well. But they're holding to the old covenant. They've rejected Jesus as Messiah, 'cause clearly the gospel has come to this city and it's been preached, okay? And if you remember the pattern of Paul, um, he would always go to the synagogue first, and then once he was rejected, then he would go-- He would, he would always take it to the old covenant believers first, believers in the old covenant. I'm not necessarily meaning saved by that. But he would take it to the old covenant people first, and then when they rejected it, he would go to the Gentiles. So yeah, I think it's talking about mostly ethnic Jews, but there could be some Gentiles thrown in. So just old covenant members Yeah, I would say pagans as well. Okay. And, um, that's good because, um, I think that's how we need to... I guess what I'm saying, because you'll hear a lot of Christians say this, and I'm not trying to be mean, I'm not trying to be overly controversial. I don't think this is controversial. Um, but people will still refer to the nation of Israel that exists in the Middle East as the people of God. Yeah, I'm just- Well, they're un- It's like- ... educated. I feel like d- do you read your Bible? That's, like, my first question. Okay. Well, I also find it interesting they also use the particular phraseology, "God's chosen people." Well- And most of the people who use that terminology are Armenian. Yeah. Well- Appreciate it. That is true. Well, wait a minute. And I feel like that is just very old covenant thinking, and that was kind of part of the problem, right? Is the old covenant Jews were still thinking of, "No, we're God's chosen people. You aren't allowed into this." And that was kind of the rejection of Christ is, "You can't tell us that all these people are the same as us now." And that was kind of their heart issue, and I feel like that's still their heart issue is- Well, I was gonna say, the, the-- which the Orthodox still would claim that. Exactly. Yeah. And so you have to be accepting not just of Jesus Christ, but of the Gentiles as well, and so... Oh, so, so should we, just continuing with this thought, should we pull a Luther in his later years and basically hate them? Well, that's on good- Lu- Luther became pretty crotchety in his later years. I don't, I don't blame him. The man had health issues. Bad health issues. Yeah. But, I mean, should we have disdain for them? If they're a sin, well, they're- But you should hate evil. Okay. Hate evil, I agree with that. You know, a lot of people like to say, you know, "Hate the sin, not the sinner," but I don't really think that's an accurate way to look at it. Neither does God, so you're on the right page. So I do think we should hate them with a righteous hatred- Okay ... in the sense that they have denied the thing that- Sure. Okay ... mankind is created to love most and glorify. Okay. Well- And at the same time, the Great Commission still applies to them. Okay, so- The gospel needs to be- Yeah carried to them in the same way that it gets carried to every other nation, every other tribe, every other tongue. You should look at them and- Except for the ones that openly reject it and where you dust your shoes off. Right. Exactly. But you should still see them as people that need to be converted. But, I mean, at this point, I feel like- Who are actively living in the kingdom of darkness Israel is, like, past the point, I think, at that point. I mean, they know the gospel. It's been brought to them many, many times, and they have no-- They seem, they appear to have no intentions of changing. Mm-hmm. So I, I don't know. Okay. Well, could we say the same thing, uh, about the majority of this country? Well, that's the hard issue of it, and that's like- Right I take a-- I personally take offense to Christians who support Israel because I feel like you can't support a nation that doesn't openly confess Christ if you're a confessing Christian. Well, just go for it. I, I think the problem is, um, we're not allowing God to define these terms for us. But we just saw how God defined it. Church of Satan. Jews that reject Him- Mm ... is the synagogue of Satan. Okay? The real Israel today is the Church of Jesus Christ. Mm. Okay? We were grafted into Israel, all right? Um- We're Israel. We're the true Israel. And, um- Since you brought it up- Oh, you're throwing this on me now. Yeah, absolutely. Something-- I want, I want you to speak to that- T-shirt uh, that particular, um, passage about being grafted in, because I see this a lot of times as well, where you will have Christians acknowledge that-- They might even go so far as to say that the church is the Israel of God. But they still insist upon making the church subservient in some way or lesser than, um- Le-lesser than old covenant Israel because we've been grafted in. So, in your mind, what is the correct response to those people? Well, I, I- 'Cause essentially, uh, and they, of course, they ignore the, the verses right before that, that talk about the, the, um, the tree, the limbs, the dead limbs being trimmed off. They-- I don't-- I guess they just can't use their imagination to figure out what that means, um, which is pretty apparent to me. But how do you respond to, to that, uh, when you have people that say, "Oh, but we still have just been grafted in." I would take- As if it's a lesser position or something. Right. I would, I would take them to Ephesians where Paul talks about the mystery, and we are on absolute equal footing. I mean, that's the whole point. The barrier's been broken down. Yeah. We're one new man. We're not to be viewed separately anymore. And I would also, you know, what Paul says in chapter 10 is we can be broken off. It's more of a covenant description of what Paul is talking about in the book of Romans. So, um, we're no better than them because that's what-- Paul dealt with that very thing. You think you're better than them? Be careful 'cause you can be broken back off. Mm-hmm. Okay? They are the root. The root supports the tree, okay? So, but yeah, I'd go there and then to the book of Ephesians and deal with it. I have a question for you. Do you think that Christians today can have an idolatry towards the actual country- Oh, absolutely ... of Israel? I, I think many do. Okay. Like I said, it's become even a, a very, I think, dangerous political issue in terms of Judaism. Yeah, we're making laws into it now. Judaism. Which is ridiculous. Yeah. Well, I don't know if anybody's been paying attention to the news even just this afternoon, but again, since you brought up politics. It's your fault. But there's a particular congressman from, uh, the state of Kentucky who literally just lost his reelection bid after basically standing up and saying that as a, as a nation, we shouldn't be beholden to this other country on the other side of the world. And he was just savaged for months and has basically lost his seat after the most expensive, uh, congressional race in history. Something like $35 million poured in- Mm-hmm ... from a particular lobby of people. So it has real world consequences, this. It does. I, I mean, it does. And again, we need to interpret reality the way God interprets reality. And currently, I mean, go to ChatGPT, go wherever you, where you want, 'cause it's just not hard to find. It is basically the LGBTQ plus capital of the Middle East. Yeah. There's more abortions per capita in Israel than anywhere else in the Middle East. Um, I mean- They're a wicked people right now, and they have rejected God. And I'm not saying we don't love them. I'm not saying-- They treat Christians horribly. Mm-hmm. I'm not saying we don't love them. I'm not saying we don't reach out to them. I'm not saying we don't share. We treat them like any other country. Yes. All right? But we allow God to, to define His terms. And, um, there's more we could say because there's always, there's Romans eleven, and there's a couple of different interpretations, uh, found in Romans eleven, but we don't have time to go there today, so we won't. Um, but that's fine there, there. Let me wrap this up. Let's see. Um, all right, we'll, we'll finish, uh, with verse ten because verse eleven we're gonna camp out on a little bit. Uh, so we'll finish with verse ten. Uh, Jesus says, "Because you have kept my word, the word of my perseverance," um, they've, uh, basically held up under adversity, "I will also keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon the earth." Um, so this is one of many, I don't know many, but one place where many dispensationalists will go to demonstrate a pre-trib rapture. So it's interpreted as, "I will keep you from the hour of testing," so I'll remove you before the great tribulation. And he says, "The hour which is about to come upon the whole world." And again, the interpretation is, okay, that's the entire planet. All right? Um, so there's a couple problems with that. Um, it's not what it says. Um, he's gonna keep this particular church, and we don't even know what he's referring to, um, other than when he says, "The hour which is about to come upon the whole world," it, it, it, uh, probably points-- Well, I believe with all my heart it points to seventy AD. But the interesting thing here is the word translated world is the same word translated world in Luke chapter two, verse one. So let me read to you Luke chapter two, verse one. "Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth." Or to translate it consistently, "Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of the whole world." So did Caesar Augustus actually order that the Americas be counted? No. No. It referred to the Roman Empire. It referred to the known world of the day. All right? So there's no reason to take this passage here as referring to the entire planet. It would have referred to the world that these people lived in. All right? And the fall of Jerusalem had reverberating effects on the entire world because when God made it very clear that the old covenant system has been removed, it empowered the church, and the church conquered Rome within two centuries. And it became the Holy Roman Empire. Not perfect, but the church was victorious. The church were conquerors. So, uh, we'll end it with that. Uh, Brock, if you don't mind, can you close us in prayer? Yeah, sure. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day that you've given us. We thank you for gathering us together today to learn about your Word. We pray that as we go home and meditate on what we've learned today, that we would be able to apply it to our lives, that we could strive to be better Christians tomorrow in all walks of life and everything that we do, and that we can learn from tonight and take it and be those that go out into the world and conquer. We ask this all in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. I was scared he's gonna pee all over grandma's house
