Good morning, brothers and sisters.
I would like to ask you to turn to the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, as it is called. This is the last book we have been hearing about these weeks, and we will continue from a little different perspective this morning.
I want to read a number of verses, beginning in Revelation 1:4:
John to the seven assemblies which are in Asia.
I know some of your versions have “churches.”
Revelation 1:11:
What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
Revelation 1:12–13:
And I turned back to see the voice which spoke with me;
and having turned, I saw seven golden lamps.
And in the midst of the seven lamps, One like the Son of Man.
Revelation 1:17–20:
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not;
I am the first and the last, and the living One;
and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages,
and have the keys of death and Hades.
Write therefore what thou hast seen,
and the things that are,
and the things that are about to be after these:
the mystery of the seven stars which thou hast seen on My right hand,
and the seven golden lamps.
The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies,
and the seven lamps are the seven assemblies.
I just want to read a few more verses, one for each church.
To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write.
To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write.
To the angel of the assembly in Pergamus write.
To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write.
To the angel of the assembly in Sardis write.
To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write.
To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write.
Lord, we come to You, and we always feel such a dependence when we read Your Word, that the Holy Spirit might bring Your Word to life. You have the words of eternal life. I always think of Peter. He said, “To whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”
Once again, we say, Lord, unless You speak to us, unless You open Your Word and anoint Your Word and make it alive, we will not have any idea what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
So we invite You into our midst this morning. And we say, Lord, first of all, You take over this time. You take over the speaking, and You take over the hearing, and You take over the response, that everything that is said and done, and will follow, will be to Your praise and glory. For we ask it together in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, I think some of you know that the last three times I have had responsibility to share, I have been sharing out of the Old Testament: the Word of the Lord at the end of the age.
My impression has been this: last words are of vital importance. You know, some of us—I always say this—parents, when we are about to leave our kids alone, or with some big responsibility, we always have these last words that we say: “Don’t forget this.” Now, inevitably, they might, but we always have this added urgency and emphasis with our last words.
It is no different in the Scriptures. With the Lord’s last words, with His closing words in the Old Testament, and now, today, His closing words in the New Testament, that added urgency is there. Those last words are so important.
You know, it reminds me—if you turn to Matthew 28. I will just give this as an illustration, to give some emphasis. Everybody knows the concluding words of the Gospel of Matthew. These happen to be not only the concluding words of the Gospel of Matthew, but the concluding words of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matthew 28:18–20:
And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying,
All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth.
Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you:
and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Now, these are last words. Based on these last words, all of the Christian work down through the centuries has been done: “Go therefore, make disciples,” baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them what the Lord said.
Then these last words have been the greatest comfort down through the ages. You know, His parting words were not departing words. He said this incredible statement: “I will be with you until the end of the age.”
His departing words, His last words, were a promise of His permanent presence with us. What comfort these last words, these concluding words, have given us down through the ages.
The brothers reminded me, because it has been some lapse, that I would have to give a little introduction. So, if you bear with me, I just want to touch upon a few things before we look at the Revelation.
We have been sharing on three prophets: the last three books of the Old Testament—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. For those of you who have not heard anything, this will be all new.
These are considered minor prophets, normally because of the volume of what they spoke. But these minor prophets did a major work. Because of their ministry and efforts, the testimony of God was recovered in the earth. Not only was the testimony of God recovered in the earth, but the people of God were prepared for the Lord’s first coming.
That is the importance of these last words. Without these last words, the testimony of Jesus would not have been revived, restored, and recovered among the people of God. Without these concluding words, they would never have been prepared for the Lord’s coming in the first place.
They were post-exilic prophets, because they followed the exile from Babylon. When Israel was taken into captivity in Babylon, these were the instruments, even with what seems like such little work, in the recovery of God’s full purpose.
Brothers and sisters, we cannot underestimate the importance of the ministry of Haggai, the importance of the ministry of Zechariah, and the importance of the ministry of Malachi. Without them, the New Testament would not have happened. I do not think that is an overstatement.
When I think of concluding words in the Old Testament, I always think of what Paul said to the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 10:11. He was speaking of Moses, and of the children of Israel in their experience in the wilderness. He said this profound thing:
Now these things happened unto them by way of example;
and they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
They have been written for our admonition—do you get that? More than that, they were written for those upon whom the end of the ages has come. That is the importance of these concluding words.
In Haggai, we saw an old prophet with a short ministry. He only ministered for four months, and he only gave four messages. Think of that. You think, “How could he have such a great impact?” But brothers and sisters, when God is in something, it does not matter how brief or how short it is. He can do a marvelous, incredible, overwhelming thing.
In just four months after Babylonian captivity, with four very short messages—unlike mine—he transformed the people of God from a people who no longer cared to a people who were used to recover God’s very purpose. Think of it. I think Haggai has one of the most powerful ministries in the Old Testament.
We looked at how God confronts His people. Sometimes we do not like to talk about God confronting us, but thank God for His confronting mercy. He said to His people, “Consider your ways.”
What happened to them? They came back to rebuild the house of God. Then, when they got into the business of life and the cares of life, they were overwhelmed, and they left off completely building the house of God. Their priorities changed, their whole emphasis changed, and they stopped doing the very thing they were called to do.
It was at that moment of urgency that Haggai was raised up. With this one word, “Consider,” he was able to inspire them to begin again to rebuild the house of God.
We also saw that God comforts His people. In the midst of the great difficulties they experienced—and brothers and sisters, they experienced great difficulties when they returned to build the house of God—God comforted them. Building the house of God is not easy. He never said it was easy.
In the midst of that great conflict, He had two identical words of comfort:
I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.
I do not know about you, but can there be any more precious words of comfort than that? Suppose the Lord had said, “You are on your own. Do the best you can. I will show up later.” But His words of comfort, twice—not just once, just so they would get it—were, “I am with you, saith the Lord.”
That was how God comforted His people. And God completes His purpose. That is the beauty of it. When the Lord was able to get their attention, when this prophet with such a brief ministry was used by God to stir the spirit of that remnant again, they returned to the business they were called to do.
In a very short period, the house of God was built. Brothers and sisters, that is the glory of it: God is able to complete His purpose.
We may think we have years. We may think we have decades. We may think, foolishly, that we have centuries. God is able, in the briefest of periods, to complete His testimony.
Then we looked at Zechariah. Unlike Haggai, who was an old prophet and had seen the glory of Solomon’s temple, Zechariah was a young man. He had a longer ministry—maybe he had more vigor; you can think what you like—but he ministered for two whole years.
How he was used to encourage, transform, and equip the people of God to be about the Father’s business. We looked at a couple of things.
First, there was great vision. The recovery of God’s purpose in difficult times begins with vision. What is wrong with most of us as the people of God—and I think it is fair to say this, and I mean it for myself as well—is that we lack vision of what is in the Lord’s heart.
Zechariah was a man of great vision. When you read Zechariah, he had visions of Christ unparalleled in the Scriptures, almost like Isaiah, who wrote in much greater volume. Look at the visions Zechariah had of the Lord Jesus. His great vision was a vision of Christ.
I believe that is what our brother Jerry has been exercised to share with us. But not only that, Zechariah had a vision of a lampstand, all of gold. When the vision of Christ opened to him, something of God’s purpose in His people opened also. Those two things together were the great vision.
Second, he offered great encouragement. I cannot overstate how difficult their period was. We might think it is a little bit of a struggle if we do not get dessert with our meal. These brothers and sisters really gave up for the purpose of God.
They must have been overwhelmed. They must have thought, “How on earth are we able to build the testimony of God in our midst?” And he said these famous words:
Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, if we ever think the work of God depends upon our power and our might, then we are sunk from the beginning. That was the word of encouragement he gave.
Finally, Zechariah showed there was a great calling. There is a vital lesson in Zechariah 4, where he calls for sons of oil. I think God is calling today for sons of oil.
The sons of oil did only two things. They poured the golden oil out from themselves into the lampstand to lighten the testimony of God. They were willing to be poured out. They were anointed, and they poured out the golden oil. That was not their oil; it was the golden oil from God Himself.
The second thing they did, it says, was that they stood beside the Lord of the whole earth. That is all they did.
The Lord is looking today, just as when the children of Israel compromised and the calf was made, and the separation came, and He said, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” He is looking for those who are willing to be poured out—sons of oil—and those who are willing to stand on the Lord’s side.
If any of us hear that call, that is what I believe is the concluding word Zechariah gave.
Finally, we talked about Malachi. Malachi is a book I really did not want to speak on, because when I read it, I thought, “It is too full of judgment.” I do not know about you, but sometimes I do not like to talk a lot about judgment.
But after I began to read this book, I discovered something entirely different. It is the closing word of the Old Testament. It begins with a singular explanation of who God is and what God does:
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
That is it. That is the only explanation. You cannot give me another explanation. You cannot divide it, separate it, and disseminate it, and say there is another explanation for who God is.
John the apostle, under the anointing, said in 1 John 4:8, “God is love.” Then he could not help himself; he repeated it again in 1 John 4:16: “God is love.” This is all that He is. This is the great explanation.
Divine love is the great explanation. It is who He is, and it is behind everything He does.
Then we looked at divine judgment. As Christians, we do not like judgment; we like to talk about love. But Malachi shows the real condition of God’s people. It was very low.
There were seven questions. I am not going to go into them again. The first was this: “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” and they said, “Wherein hast Thou loved us?” Can you imagine? Seven times: “Wherein?”
The people of God were not aware. So He judged—not to cast off. Judgment for the people of God is for recovery. It is never for destruction. That is the difference.
If you read the Book of Malachi, there is a beautiful verse: “He sits as the refiner.” It is the refiner’s fire. All of His judgments toward the people of God are for refining us, making us, and transforming us into what He is after.
To me, that is what the Book of Malachi is about. Then we talked about the divine desire. We looked at Malachi 3:16, where God is looking for a people who would speak often of His name, a people who would love fellowship, a people for whom He can write a book of remembrance, a people of whom He can say, “This is Mine own peculiar treasure.”
Today, we are going to look at the beginning, at least, and then one more time we will finish the New Testament. The Revelation—and I will keep emphasizing that; you will see why in a moment—is God’s concluding word in the New Testament.
There are varied opinions about when it was written. If you like the view of Graham Scroggie—and a lot do, and I happen to—it was written as the first of John’s writings, followed by the epistles, and then last, the Gospel: about A.D. 68 to 70, before the destruction of Jerusalem.
There are those who just as adamantly hold to the opposite view: that it was the last book written, about A.D. 98 to 100, at the end of the first century. Brothers and sisters, they are just as adamant. I do not hold to it, but you might say, “What do you know?”
Here is the point: forget that for a moment. We can get all hung up on whether the Greek was good. One of the things Graham Scroggie used was that the Greek is not very good in Revelation; it is much better in 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and the Gospel of John. He also pointed to the mentions of Jerusalem, suggesting that Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed.
But this is the one thing they agree on: this Book of Revelation is, in spirit, the concluding word of the New Testament. Therefore, in the canon of Scripture, it is last.
The Revelation is last for reasons. It is, in spirit, concept, and content, the last utterance of God to His people before the end of the age. I do not think anyone disagrees with that.
Graham Scroggie said that the key word is consummation. It shows us the consummation of all things. Chronologically, it may not be last, but in content it is certainly last.
We begin by looking at the central theme of the Revelation. I do not know how many of you dreaded book reports like me. I still remember, when I was in the third grade, having to give my first oral book report. You talk about terror, sweat, and fear. It must have been worse than outer darkness.
I will never forget it. I knew then I would never be a public speaker. My teacher had this little cute device called a tape recorder. She began to record, and I got up there and went completely blank. I fumbled around, trying to remember what the theme of the book was and how I could report it to the class. Brothers and sisters, it was a total embarrassment.
Then, to put agony upon agony, she replayed it and made me listen to it all over again. That is why I am an engineer. So much for me and my love for English.
But every book has a central theme. If we miss the central theme of the book, we miss the author’s emphasis.
Often we do. You look at Revelation, and we see vials and bowls and wars. We see plagues and end-time events. We see war in heaven and war upon earth. We have all these themes working their way through the book.
But in fact, there is only one central theme to the Revelation. There is only one. That is why it is called the Revelation.
It is not called “Revelations,” as if the book were plural. The book is not plural. The book is Revelation. Actually, it is better than that. It is more than “Revelation.” It is the Revelation, because it is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The apostle John left no doubt about the theme of this book. He was not like me, all befuddled and unable to remember what his theme was. Revelation 1:1 says:
The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
That is the central theme. There is no other thing. That is the theme: the Revelation.
Now, I tease you—I will show my foolishness. Us Wahoos call it the University of Virginia for emphasis. And Ohio State—you always hear those Ohio State guys say, the Ohio State. But this is the emphasis here: the Revelation.
It is a singular revelation. It does not have to do merely with events, times, miracles, and the passing of the calendar until He comes again. It has to do with the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you miss that singular point—that it has to do with the unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ—you miss the whole of what this book is about.
I believe our brother Jerry has made very clear what this book is about. I believe, in fact, as our brother has said, this is our need: that our eyes would be opened to this vision of the Person of the Lord Jesus.
If recovery is going to happen in our generation, it will happen because we have seen more of the Lord Jesus. That is the central theme. There are not two themes.
It is God’s concluding word. In the briefest explanation I can give you, the New Testament is centered upon one thing—and I hesitate to say one thing. It is centered upon one Person.
That has always been God’s heart. We cannot ever forget that. We will go into error. We will step off the rails. We will go into peril. We will miss the boat—whatever analogy you want to use. It will happen to us if we turn from the central theme of this writing, this concluding word.
I thought of the word preeminence. The word translated into English as “preeminence” occurs only three times in the Bible. I thought that was odd. Such a grand word—preeminence—and yet only three times.
The first time is Ecclesiastes 3:19:
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts;
even one thing befalleth them:
as the one dieth, so dieth the other;
yea, they have all one breath;
and man hath no preeminence above the beasts:
for all is vanity.
That is the first place: man has no preeminence.
The last place is 3 John 1:9:
I wrote somewhat unto the church:
but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
Can you imagine if that were said of you? “That brother loves to have the preeminence.” I think it could be said of some of us, sadly.
But then there is one beautiful verse. You do not have to look far; just over my left shoulder. It is Colossians 1:18:
And He is the head of the body, the church:
who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things He might have the preeminence.
He is the central theme of the Revelation. Our greatest need is that our vision of Christ might be made clear. That is our greatest need.
I recently had to go to the eye doctor. My doctor had been on me because of these old glasses, so I went. He corrected my vision; it was a little out of kilter.
I remember flipping those things. I do not know—this is a personal peeve—but it drives me crazy because he flips them too fast: “Is that better, or that better? That better, or that better?” I finally just started saying, “Well, that is good.”
But he was able to sharpen my vision, to see things as I ought to see. He told me, and I could not believe this from an old guy like me, “With correction, I am able to get you to 20/15 in both eyes.” I thought, “Cool.”
Our vision needs to be sharp. Our vision needs to be refocused. When John was on the Isle of Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus, the first need—the preeminent need—was to see Christ. Christ is the central theme.
I will never forget our brother DeVern Fromke. Some of you are too young to remember DeVern Fromke. But he probably helped us in many ways as much as any brother. Maybe it was only for a short time in the beginning, like Haggai or Zechariah, while others have been with us longer and helped us for a much longer time.
But I remember Brother Fromke said this—and we debated the other night about the proper wording of it—but he said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
If you can remember that, it will sharpen your focus. The main thing is the Lord Jesus Himself—not what is going to happen, not the church. The main thing is the Lord Jesus.
Our one charge is to keep the main thing the main thing. If we do not keep the main thing the main thing, then we will fail concerning this matter.
The second thing I would like us to think about is this: not only do you see, in the first place, this vision of the Lord Jesus, where John fell down as dead; you begin to see the concern of Christ in this book.
You do not just see that Christ is the central theme of the Revelation. You begin to see something else in the first chapter of this book: what the concern of the Lord Jesus was.
Let me read some verses. Revelation 1:10–11:
Write in a book, and send it to the seven churches.
This was the command to John. John saw that vision, and then he began to write. He said, “I, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia.” Then in Revelation 1:17, it says:
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not;
I am the first and the last, and the living One.
He goes on concerning the keys of death and Hades: “Write therefore what thou hast seen.” Write what you have seen.
Then in Revelation 1:11:
What thou seest, write in a book,
and send it to these seven assemblies:
to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamus, to Thyatira,
to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
Brothers and sisters, if you can see it, not only is the centrality of Christ the whole focus, but the concern of Christ is brought into view. I wonder if we see that.
That reminds me of Matthew 16, at Caesarea Philippi. You remember how Peter had this God-given vision of the centrality of Christ, and he said:
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
But then the Lord Jesus began to unveil to the same Peter what His concern was. He said:
Upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
In other words, going along with the centrality of Christ is what He is concerned about. I remember when Brother Stephen shared this summer. It hit me in a new way because I had not heard him use this word before. He said that, in that vision at Caesarea Philippi, after Peter saw this vision of the Christ, the Lord began to share what was uppermost in His heart.
What was uppermost?
Brothers and sisters, I wonder: have we seen the concern of Christ? I wonder: do we have the concern of Christ? I wonder if it has hit us with the same impact.
That is in this book: the urgency of the Lord Jesus. You have to see the urgency of the Lord Jesus. If you miss His urgency, you will miss what His concern is.
He said, “Write.” Then, to each one of those churches, we read:
To the angel of the assembly in Ephesus write.
To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write.
To the angel of the assembly in Pergamus write.
To the angel of the assembly in Thyatira write.
To the angel of the assembly in Sardis write.
To the angel of the assembly in Philadelphia write.
To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write.
Do you sense any of the Lord’s concern? Do you sense what is most urgent in His heart?
Brothers and sisters, forgive me. I am afraid we have made the Christian life almost solely about our individual life.
I think our individual life is very important. I once gave a whole series built around this: without the individual Christian life, Christianity is impossible. You must have that living relationship.
But I went on to say that without the corporate Christian life, the Christian life is incomplete.
There are those who do not have the Lord’s concern at all. I wonder what the Spirit of God is saying in this last utterance, this concluding Word of God in the New Testament, this concluding Word for the ages. Is it not this simple word: Do you bear My same concern?
I believe that is it. If I am wrong, you can help me. But I believe it is what is uppermost in His heart.
Some of us can live without each other. Some of us do not even like each other, and I know that to be the case. I remember the great philosopher who said, “The more I get to know people, the more I like my dog.” Who was it? Was that Socrates? You can correct me.
But brothers and sisters, here is the Lord’s concern. Do we see it? Has it hit us with the same impact that it hit Peter at Caesarea Philippi? Has it hit us with the same impact as it hit John?
John knew he had seen the Lord Jesus, but then he was overwhelmed with the instruction to write.
The Lord is even seen as standing in the midst of His church. You might say, “Well, the Lord is in heaven.” But the scene John saw was different. He was standing in the midst of the assembly.
Where are you standing? I believe that is the concern of Christ.
I hope we have an increased vision of the Lord Jesus. But I hope we have an increased concern for what He is concerned about.
I am no different than you, brothers and sisters. I am not up here to say I understand it all. But I know life is tough. Linda and I have shared this before: our favorite expression is, “Life gets in the way.” I have said that so often you are probably tired of hearing it.
But sometimes we have to do violence with ourselves. The kingdom of God is brought in by violence. Now, that is not physical violence, but the violent seize upon it, the Word says in Matthew.
We need to do battle with our schedule. We need to do battle with our priorities. We need to do battle with what concerns us. We need to have in our hearts something of what the Lord is concerned about.
I believe—this is the concluding Word of God in the whole of the New Testament.
Where are we? We have been praying on Wednesday nights for the condition of the churches. I think if we had this concern, that meeting would be overwhelmed with participation.
We have been praying that the Lord would do something, that the glory of what is in His heart—that Christ and the church would express that manifold glory of God, as it says in Ephesians 3:10—would be realized in our generation.
We should come to the Lord and say, “Lord, make it so. This is not our concern. This is Your concern. Make it happen. Restore that glory.”
Let me finish with the condition of the churches. Next, you begin to see the condition of the local assemblies.
There are different opinions about what these seven letters or epistles mean. There are some quite contrasting views. I am not going to convince you of one or the other. But I think all agree that they express the condition of the church.
Campbell Morgan said you can divide it in one of two ways. First, the Revelation is the revelation of differing church conditions throughout the whole of the Christian era. Second, they cover successive periods in the church era.
Well, I think there is a third view. I think they were actual churches in the condition that existed in the first century. But I believe these other two things as well.
Brothers and sisters, we need to see what the condition of the church is. That is what this concluding word addresses. The Lord sent personal messengers—angels, or messengers—to each assembly with His words and with His description of what their true condition was.
Whatever you think this means, there are seven churches. The number seven is always the perfect number in the Scriptures. It means completeness.
What I think the Word of the Lord at the end of the age in the New Testament is saying is this: it gives us a complete picture of the condition of His church.
Some of this might be true about us. Some of that might be true of us. It may be that one represents one age and the next represents another age.
I will never forget, I was up in New Jersey, and after I said I liked the fact that this represents the successive ages, a brother came up to me afterward and said, “Brother, I am so glad you did not dwell on that reprehensible doctrine that this represents the successive periods down through the ages.” I thought he must not have been listening very well.
But I think there is something to it. Those who take that opinion say we live in the Laodicean age of the church. I think there is something really to that. But if I cannot convince you of that, let me at least convince you that this is the condition of the churches.
There is one key word in the condition of the churches, and that word is: I know.
With every church, there is the word “write,” and with every church, there is the word, “I know.”
In Revelation 2:2, to Ephesus: “I know.” In Revelation 2:9, to Smyrna: “I know.” In Revelation 2:13, to Pergamus: “I know.” In Revelation 2:19, to Thyatira: “I know.” In Revelation 3:1, to Sardis: “I know.” In Revelation 3:8, to Philadelphia: “I know.” And in Revelation 3:15, to Laodicea: “I know.”
Repetition of words in the Bible is very important. The Word of the Lord at the end of the age is: “I know your condition.”
There are those of us who think we know our condition. But it does not say, “You know.”
Beware of people who always say, “I know.” Only the Head of the church really knows our true condition. He is the only One. No one else.
You might have some idea. You might even have discernment about a situation; I will not fault you for that. But we have been bothered for years by people who come in and say, “I know what your issues are. If you would just do this, you would get it right.”
I appreciate the fact that, in the early years, Brother Stephen helped us greatly with that. There were some who came in early and said, “I know. I know.” We had to stand up and say, “How do you know? You do not even know us.”
Only the Head of the church knows our true condition.
You look at all these churches. If the condition of the church were yours, you would give up a long time ago for most of them, would you not? I think you probably would.
But the blessing to me—the Word of the Lord at the end of the age—is that He never gives up on His church. He can have the worst conditions, the worst conditions, and He never gives up. He is always calling. He is always looking for a response. He is always waiting.
It can be Ephesus. Ephesus had great things to be commended for. They had one thing to be condemned for:
I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love.
Some people like to read that, “You have lost your first love.” It does not say that. Newell made a distinction. He said, “You have left, not lost.” In other words, you can leave something, and you can come back to it.
You can leave that living expression and come back to it. But sometimes you can lose it. If you lose it, you can never find it.
The Lord never gives up on His church. I remember when I was a little kid, three years old—down in Oregon Hill. I may have been older than that. I do not know if I remember whether I was three, but I was in that young four- or five-year-old period.
I had this favorite little metal army man. Nobody probably has them anymore. I carried it around with me, and I lost it. I remember losing it. I never found it again.
I looked. I circled Oregon Hill. I circled Oregon Hill. I circled Oregon Hill for hours. It was lost, and it was gone forever.
But the Lord said:
Thou didst leave thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent;
or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place.
Then you can think of Smyrna. It could represent the age of persecution. It is the first church with not a hint of condemnation. They are the suffering assembly.
When I read The Christian Testimony Through the Ages by T. W. Carron this past year, I was impressed with how greatly many of our brothers and sisters have suffered for Christ. We have not suffered greatly. We may. As a matter of fact, when the Lord talks about the coming days, the end of the age, He says it will start with persecution.
But hear this assembly suffered, and He said:
But thou art rich.
You would think we would say, “My, we have such pity on them.” He says, “But you are rich.”
And He says:
Be thou faithful unto death,
and I will give thee the crown of life.
No condemnation.
You can think of Pergamus. It could represent idolatry and the clergy system. It says some pretty strong words:
Thou dwellest, even where Satan’s throne is.
Can you imagine saying that of the church? I often think of these Christian signboards on church buildings. They have nifty sayings on them, and they are always trying to get people in. Can you imagine if they said, “Come meet with us where Satan dwells”?
But the Lord said it. He did not give up on them. He did not cast them off. They were His concern.
Brothers and sisters, this is the condition of the church: clergy becomes prominent; a professional class does all the service; and the priesthood of believers is lost.
Or you can think of Thyatira: the power of the papacy and Catholicism. It talks about Jezebel. Jezebel simply means the religious system.
We read later, to the glory of God, in Revelation 17 about Jezebel being dealt with. But brothers and sisters, I think this was the Dark Ages, when all in the world and the church was as dark as night.
But the Lord, in His mercy, did not leave it like that. He raised up Martin Luther. Is that not good news?
Then I think of Sardis: dead Protestantism. “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead.”
Lang said Sardis is “a corpse, flesh-tinted.” Pretty strong words. Would you imagine waking up and saying, “You all are a corpse, flesh-tinted”?
But without vitality. I have gone, like you, to many visitations and funeral homes. People have looked at the corpse and said, “Boy, does he not look good?” I often think, “No, he looks dead.”
He may be flesh-tinted, but he is dead.
Brothers and sisters, this is the encouragement: He can raise the dead. He can breathe life into the dry bones. The condition of the church is not irreparable.
It may be us. I once had a sister say that about us. She later became one of the most precious sisters to me, but I remember, during a long break we had, she said, “Brother, you are Sardis”—not me personally; she was speaking of us.
But thank God, He raises the dead. He is a God of resurrection, and He can breathe life into dry bones. That is Sardis.
Oh, you can think of Philadelphia. It is interesting to me that it says Philadelphia had a little power. I searched these seven churches and wondered, “Where is the church with great power?” It is not listed.
We are always looking for the church with great power. But it seems to me the living Christ, whose concern is for the church, found the church with little power, and He was satisfied.
Brothers and sisters, that we might be of Philadelphia. Maybe we will not ever have great strength. Maybe we will just have little power. But that is enough.
There was no condemnation for that church in Philadelphia.
Then the one I want to end with is Laodicea. Laodicea means lukewarm. He says:
I am about to spew thee out of My mouth.
That is strong language. Because you are neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, “I am about to spew you out of My mouth.” Strong words. Very strong words.
They did not realize their true condition. They thought they were rich and in need of nothing. Then He says this in closing to them:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock:
if any man hear My voice and open the door,
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
Would you notice that is in the present tense? “I am standing at the door.” “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with Me.”
Now, brothers and sisters, we have made this a gospel message, and thank God. I know many souls that have been saved through it. When I preached on the streets down at VCU, I used to say, “He is standing at the door, knocking at the door of your heart.”
But this is not the door of your heart. This is the door of the church.
Can you imagine? His own special possession had closed the door. Can you imagine? That is the condition.
Many say the Laodicean condition is the condition we live in now. That is the reason it is in the present tense:
I am standing at the door, and I am knocking.
This is the condition of the church.
It reminds me of when the Lord came to Jerusalem. You remember Matthew 23:37, when He says:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
how often would I have gathered thy children together,
even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,
and ye would not!
I wonder: is that our answer? “But we would not.”
Brothers and sisters, He is knocking today. He is knocking today. This is the condition of the church: He is on the outside.
He is saying, “If any hear My voice and open that door, I will come in and sup with him.” If anyone is willing to have this concern that I have, if there is some response, I will come in. Fellowship with Him—there will be a new dimension.
But I wonder: are we tempted to say, “But we would not”?
Well, this is the burden the Lord laid on my heart. I believe this, at least in some way, is the concluding thought of God in the New Testament.
Is He the center of all things? Does He have the preeminence?
Do we have any sense of what His concern is?
Do we know our true condition? He knows. And He never stops knocking.
He will never quit. If it were you, I can guarantee you—if it were me—I would say, “Give it up.”
Even though there is a saying, “Put your fingers in your ear,” and we say, “We are not listening,” I think sometimes we are like that.
May the Lord Jesus have mercy. He is waiting. He is calling.
That is the end of the Lord’s Word in the New Testament. He is calling His church to respond.
The question is: what will be our response? Will it be, “We would not”? Or will it be, “Yes”? Yes, more, always looking for more. May the Lord help.
Lord, we commit these thoughts to You. We are asking that You would breathe some life into them and help us to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
We are confessing our inability, but we are asking for the One who knows all things to do a work that we cannot do, and bring us into that understanding of what Your Word is to us in this hour.
For we ask it in the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.