Letters to the Seven Churches II | Hail to the Victor

So we continue.

Hail to the victor.

A look at the book of Revelation.

You'll see that we have the questions that the sermon kind of small group does in the

CLC after church.

They are in the back.

There is a typo on this week's though it is Revelation 3.

It says week 2.

It is week 3.

So if it says Revelation 3, you have the right one.

There are ones from last week available if you did not grab those.

And we will have at the end of the sermon series,

we will have them all put together in case you would like those when we are done,

as we head into Advent together.

So we are continuing now the letters to the seven churches.

These are seven churches that are in what is known now as modern day Turkey.

It is one of where the Roman road would have gone through.

We see all of those.

We are going to hit the rest of them today.

Just a plug, if you could ever make it to that west coast of Turkey,

you will not be disappointed.

If you are a fan of kind of biblical history and just kind of ancient history,

about half of these churches have been excavated,

or not churches, cities have been excavated.

And you can see a lot of where Paul was writing, John was writing.

It just makes the book of Revelation and much of the New Testament really, really come alive.

Reading the book of Ephesians in Ephesus was a life changing experience,

back when I was there with the ministry in 2005.

But just plug for travel if you want to do that.

If not, you can probably YouTube all of it as well.

We continue now with these other letters.

And for the last four years, I have been what is on our classical interim committee.

Now, just a little kind of boring classes stuff.

Our denomination, the Christian Forum Church, is broken up into 46 classes

between Canada and the United States.

What is a classes?

A classes is a group of churches that share kind of geographical bounds.

Okay, so our classes at one point had 27 churches.

We are now at 16 active churches and one dormant church.

And so we are, we've definitely shrunk,

but it went at one point from South Holland, North South Holland, all the way down through Indianapolis,

through Louisville, down to Nashville.

And so there's this group of churches that twice a year, we all get together, used to be three times,

but twice a year get together to do the work of the classes,

the work of the denomination, all of those things.

And I've had the, I'll say honor, though that might not always be the word I would have used,

to chair it, this group that oversees the churches for 362 days of the year,

dealing with all of these things.

And we've had churches close, we have churches go through strife,

we've had churches that have needed consultants to come in.

And I think church consultants are always an interesting thing.

And I am going somewhere with this,

that when you bring in a church consultant for whatever reason,

maybe there's turmoil going on in your church,

maybe you've had a long standing pastor,

and you need someone to kind of bridge the gap from one pastor to whoever that next pastor is going to be.

There's many different reasons why church consulting would happen.

But a consultant comes into a church somewhat as the authority.

Okay? And I'm going to use that kind of lower case A,

but they come in to kind of spark some ideas,

maybe do some conflict resolution, maybe some mediation,

maybe some discipleship to elders and deacons, or a call committee.

But they literally will come in and they will bring their ideas,

they will bring their opinions, they will hopefully mesh with the church's ideas and opinions,

to set a path forward.

And a lot of times, they will give one to three,

hey, these are roads you can go.

The way the consultant, they give a final report.

If you've ever hired a consultant and they've never given you a report,

you hired a bad one.

They are to give a report, but then it's up to the church.

And unfortunately, I've known a lot of churches that spend multiple thousands of dollars

to get a report and they get this report and they look at it and they go,

yeah, we're not going to do any of this.

And to me, it's one of the dumbest things,

because to me, that tells me that the church is dealing and worshiping at the altar of pride.

Because the question I would ask simply is,

why did you invite the consultant to begin with?

If you're not going to listen to them, why are you going?

It's just like when you have kids, right?

When your kids ask you about something, you give them an answer and they do the opposite,

why did you even ask?

Right?

And you kind of expect it from your grammar school kids,

but it gets really annoying when you have teenagers or even adult children,

which I don't have yet, but I'm sure a lot of you can resonate.

Some people look at what Jesus is giving these churches as like some kind of consultant.

That the Son of Man is almost being hired to come into these churches and say,

hey, churches, hey, this is the first one I'm going to look at is the Church of Sardis.

Hey, here are my thoughts, here are my notes.

That is not what is happening in these letters to churches.

These are church letters, these are communications.

And as we talked about last week, of judgment and opportunity.

I've known consultants that come in, even in Classes of Silliana,

that through their time they've recommended that these churches close.

And I've sat at those tables when those elders have received that letter,

and that is not a fun conversation, but sometimes a necessary one,

because not every church that starts should remain forever and ever, amen.

Now I say that knowing that we just had our 154th birthday here at Munster Church,

so I know I want to be careful, but there are seasons of ministry for individuals

and for churches like we see with this seven.

So the first church, Sardis, the spiritually dead church.

We're going to be in Revelation 3, the first six verses.

Revelation 3, the first six verses say this.

To the angel of the church in Sardis, right.

The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars,

I know your works.

You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die.

For I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Remember then what you have received and heard, keep it and repent.

If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief,

and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments,

and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,

and I will never blot his name out from the book of life.

I will confess his name before my father and before the angels.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

All right, I picked on four people last week.

I'm going to pick on three more couples.

I'm going to use Bill and Sharon up there.

You guys are in the church of Sardis.

You get this letter.

How are you reacting to this letter?

I'd be quiet too.

Sharon, thank you so much for telling Bill to say that.

That was an amazing answer.

I feel like I'm being accused of something that I'm doing wrong,

even though I think I'm doing something...

Baltimore, that was amazing, because I think that's exactly what's happening.

At first, we want to break down really quick.

In exegetical note that we have to, before we can really kind of chew on this,

Christ's description of himself in verse one as the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Some of you are like, what in the world is that?

You get it, the seven spirits represent the fullness, seven number of completion,

the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

We pull that from Isaiah 11-2,

showing that Christ gives life through the Spirit while the seven stars signify his authority over the churches.

This is not a consultant coming in to give their opinions,

to read the data and just offer an option.

This is the Christ coming in and calling out the rebuke.

Christ piercing words to Sardis, cut deep.

You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Outwardly, they have the appearance of spiritual life.

They got some good things going on.

They might even have some Bible studies.

They may have some children's things going on.

You know that they, for all intents and purposes, look like they have a church that are doing some things.

But inwardly, they're spiritually dead.

Oof.

Perform theology, we call this to total what?

Depravity.

Without a regenerative work of the Spirit, we are dead in our sins.

Sardis stands as a warning to churches that reliance on the outer reputation

without the inner life of Christ will get you nothing but hell, or judgment and hell.

But there is a call to repentance.

It's real simple.

It's one that I know pastors and leaders want to say to people all the time,

Wake up!

Strengthen what remains.

Stop going down that road.

Stop trying to put lipstick on a pig, alright?

Let it, I apologize to my farmers we know pigs are beautiful, but have you ever put lipstick on a pig?

No, we eat them.

And so understand that, you know, there are churches that spend a lot of time,

a lot of resources on putting good lipstick on.

Yet they're doing nothing that Christ isn't being proclaimed.

Okay, if Christ's not being proclaimed, what is?

That's a whole nother sermon.

But understand, they may even do some good things.

They may even do some feeding of the hungry.

They may be doing some outings.

They may even do some things.

Yet inside, there's nothing.

There's nothing life giving.

The council's a mess.

There's no unity.

The pastor's head doesn't fit in the sanctuary, right?

All of these things are going on.

Now, in reformed churches, there is a governance that should ward against this.

Yet at times, it could be the main thing that's causing the decay.

That maybe there's this atmosphere of, we're the council.

What we say goes.

Yet they're doing nothing.

We are the council.

Elders and deacons, if this one hurts, it's going to.

I apologize ahead of time.

That we have this council, right?

These church may have this council, and they need all the help to do all the things.

Yet when the call goes out, the council doesn't do anything.

Because the council says, I'm just going to be here to make decisions.

Well, have you gotten to know the people?

Who? No.

There are some spiritually dead things.

It can come usually from the top.

From the pastor, from the elders, the deacons, from the committees.

If the rot is there, rot flows downhill.

That this is the church of Sardis.

That we are to receive God's grace, that God's grace alone not only revives and renews,

but what we learn, John wrote in chapter six of his gospel,

that salvation is entirely the work of God.

So what does that mean?

When a church thinks it's because of them, that people are coming,

that people are having babies, that we're doing baptisms.

We got all these programs. If it's because of our own merits,

you are one step closer from Jesus looking at the lamb stand of whatever church and going,

and when Jesus does that, the season of ministry is over.

Wake up and strengthen what remains.

What is the promise?

The overcomer is promise what?

White garments symbolizing purity and righteousness.

So if that's the answer, then that's probably also the cause.

If there is a culture of impurity, if there is a culture of self-righteousness,

if ego is what is led in your conversations about Munster Church,

I'd rather you not talk about us, because that is a Sardis trait.

Understand that if purity is the answer, impurity is the cause.

If there are things going on that are impure to the gospel, to the training up of children,

to the studies that are done, to the conversations being had, cutting the cheese,

whatever it is, if purity is the answer, then you have to rid yourself of the impurity of the cause.

And how do you do that? You look inward.

Are you the cause of that?

Are you bringing gossip? Are you bringing heresy?

Are you bringing insert whatever here that is tainting the work of the church?

Who can taint the work of the church?

Everybody better have their hand up.

Well, you all should, because we all can, because that is the church of Sardis.

So what is the application? What do we take from this?

We need to first wake up to our spiritual condition.

Like Sardis, we must ask ourselves, are we relying on reputation of spiritual vitality?

Or are we truly alive in Christ?

God calls us to examine your heart. When is the last time you did that?

Is it just next week, last Sunday of the month, when we go to prep Sunday,

so then we are right to come to the table?

Or is it a daily examination of the heart?

Two, depend on God s grace for renewal.

Even when spiritual vitality seems lost, God s grace is always sufficient.

Ask Him to awaken and strengthen your faith.

Why people don t ask the God that gives it to the God to revive it?

I have no idea.

That usually means we re going to try to revive it in other ways.

And that never goes.

Point three, persevere in Christ s righteousness.

Remember that it is Christ s righteousness, not our works

that secure our standing before God.

Let this truth encourage us to hold fast to Him.

That s why the bolt of my answer was so profound.

I m being accused of something though I thought I was doing it.

If you think you are right with God, there is a way to find out.

Ask Him.

Come alongside with a friend and confess those sins.

Even the secret ones that we think are omnipresent and omnipotent God can t see.

I said this last week.

I ll probably say it every week.

Why do we play hide and seek with our sin to a God that s omnipresent?

To a God that s omnipotent who sees everything, who is everywhere?

So we continue now to the church of Philadelphia.

Faithful yet weak.

And we read starting with verse seven.

And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, right?

The words of the Holy One, the true One.

Who has the key of David, who opens up and no one will shut.

Who shuts and no one opens.

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.

Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews

but are not but lie.

Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet

and they will learn that I have loved you

because you have kept my word about patient endurance.

I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world.

To try those who dwell on the earth.

I am coming soon.

Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God.

Never shall he go out of it and I will write on him the name of my God

and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem

which comes down from my God out of heaven and my own new name.

Who has an ear, let him hear to what the Spirit says to the churches.

So the church in Philadelphia, a faithful yet weak church.

Benes' you guys are getting this letter.

You are the church in Philadelphia.

There is kind of a two-parter here.

Where are you pulling from this?

They have given it a good college effort.

But they are just a pinkies just kind of holding on.

Absolutely.

What about that second part?

Anything about that second part?

About I am coming soon.

So get ready.

That is a tough one.

It is in there.

I would be puzzled too.

So understand here that it is again faithful yet weak.

This is the complete doctrine that we have the P of the canons adored,

the perseverance of the saints, or the H of the word faith held by God.

This is exactly the church of Philadelphia.

That the church of Philadelphia has been beaten.

The church of Philadelphia has been war-torn.

The church of Philadelphia has gone through splits deeper than chairs or pews.

They have gone through all of these things and they are holding on.

They have got that one peeky around the gospel and they are trying their best.

I am pretty sure I have described 95% of us at one point in our life.

And I think that is the encouragement.

The encouragement is that Christ introduces himself in the very beginning

with a very interesting kind of phrase that he has the king of David.

Signifying his authority to open and shut the doors of the kingdom of God.

Remember in the door series we did a couple years ago?

I am the door.

Jesus is doubling down on this and telling the Jewish culture is telling those churches

that have grown now that remember that the Davidic Messiah was Jesus.

The grand king of the Old Testament, David, Jesus is greater.

That he has the power and the authority to open and shut the doors of the kingdom.

This points to God's sovereign election.

That Christ alone determines who enters the kingdom.

This is the emphasis of God's absolute sovereignty in salvation.

So they are commended. Unlike Sardis, Philadelphia gets a pat on the back.

Their faithfulness despite having little power.

So what do we read from this?

That this church, though small and seemingly insignificant in culture standards,

has remained faithful to Christ's name.

And it is in the Holy Spirit that we preach us that God delights in using the weak to shame the strong.

We pull that from 1 Corinthians 1.

So what does Christ promise to them?

This small, seemingly insignificant church.

His promise needs to kind of raise them up.

Because a church that is holding to the keys of the kingdom.

Is known for being a faithful church in our confessions.

Dan Ardsbaum, I see you, right?

That a faithful church should follow three things that we get out of the Belgian Confession.

What are those?

The pure preaching of the Word?

The pure administration of the sacraments?

And the exercise of church discipline.

Is that not a backdoor curveball?

That, oh, preach the gospel. Have the sacraments. Discipline your people.

But it's true.

The marks of the true church, even if it's 10 people, you go into any church.

You should see and hear those three things.

Now I'm not saying that you go on vacation, you go to a church, and they're openly disciplining their people.

That's not how it works.

But understand that a faithful true church should follow those three things.

So why?

Why do they feel insignificant?

Why do they find this fascinating?

Why do they feel insignificant?

What do you think they're tying their identity to that may be beating them down to feel insignificant?

Anyone have any ideas?

If you're a small church that are doing the right things, yet you feel down and insignificant,

you're probably tying your identity to a couple of things.

Anyone have some ideas?

Peer pressure, okay?

So maybe, if you maybe speak more like the streets speak or something like that,

you may attract more people.

Maybe. Anyone else?

No?

What do you mean?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm this small little church.

We have this other huge church down the street.

And we feel, you know, maybe we're not doing anything right because we're looking there.

That church is not the author and perfecter of your church.

Jesus is.

Anyone else?

I'm looking for one specific.

All right, roll your eyes.

I get it.

That you're a small church and you're seeming insignificant and you feel beat down.

Anybody?

What do you mean?

Stop there.

We need more.

You said more people, right?

Churches strive to have more and more people.

It is the common mistake.

And I'm a pastor, okay?

My living comes from the church.

A common mistake of the church is that, oh, we'll make it when we get to 300 people.

Oh, we'll make it when we get to two services.

Oh, we'll make it when we can plant or have a satellite or build another building.

Oh, we'll make.

We all of a sudden make numbers the key thing.

Jesus in the book of Revelation is calling that thinking out.

And this church, 20-ish years ago, this church's back was against the wall because people looked at the size and the people exiting and said, what is wrong with us?

Now, I'm not saying having evaluatory conversations is a bad thing.

And this church didn't tie to just that but remain faithful in some key things.

It changed a little bit of the identity and the focus from inward to outward.

And I think that that was fantastic.

I think the Lord has blessed that but understand that if and when we ever get so wrapped up.

And I'm not going to call individuals out by name because I don't do that.

That's the last part of church discipline and this isn't a discipline issue.

But we have some people that ride the waves of Sunday attendance.

Oh, we were at 270.

Oh, last week we were at 247.

And you lose sleep.

I don't.

If you're so tied to the number, then you have forgotten how big God is and how much God is working and how much numbers don't really matter.

But Pastor, we're called to make disciples.

You know, that's a numbers game.

Sure.

Go out and make disciples of all nations, baptizing the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Where in there doesn't mean you have to get all of that in your church attendance, in your church membership.

It doesn't.

But understand that this small little church had one thing going for it.

It's purity and it's authority.

So what is the application?

What can we pull in the protection when Christ comes?

They get this protection.

But the application is remain faithful even in weakness.

Christ values faithfulness over strength.

When we feel small or weak, we are encouraged to remain faithful knowing that Christ is our strength.

Second, trust in God's sovereignty.

Just as Christ holds the key of David, He is sovereign over the doors of opportunities in our life.

Trust in His perfect plan even when the door seems closed.

And third, cling to the assurance of eternal life.

Christ promises eternal security to those who overcome.

Let this assurance fuel your faithfulness even in times of difficulty.

Final church, Lyotica.

Here we go.

To enter the angel of the church in Lyotica, right?

The words of the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

I know your works.

You are neither hot or cold nor hot.

Were that you either cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

For you say I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and shame your nakedness may not be seen.

And salves to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens it, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne.

As I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Can you go back to the first set of verses?

You all know where I'm going.

So Holland owners, you get this letter and you read it.

What are you thinking?

That's tough.

That's real tough.

Because what this church, what Lyodessia is getting to me is one of the harshest judgments that is the most applicable to all of us today.

That Jesus says, I would rather you hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.

There's no way to engage that and go, that feels great.

That Christ himself does not want you on his tongue.

The one who loves you, the one who created you, the one who sustains you, has seen your works, has seen your life, has seen the way you've lived in his name sometimes and far from his names other times and says,

I want no part of you.

Jesus describes himself as the amen.

I love this, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of creation.

This underscores two things, Christ's reliability and authority over all creation.

He is proving here his sovereign role as Lord and the rebuke.

It's a stark contrast to both the deadness of Sardis and the faithful perseverance of Philadelphia.

Lyodessia has become complacent, self-sufficient because they are rich.

But in reality, they're spiritually bankrupt.

This is a powerful reminder that apart from Christ, no matter what your life looks like, no matter what toys you have, no matter what the numbers in your bank account, no matter what your follow on socials, no matter what all of that, apart from Christ, you are poor.

And in 2024, we don't ever want to be poor.

But what he's calling out here is you need to shed all of it.

Anytime you look at this, the budget, anytime you look at your bank account, anytime you look at your stuff, all of the things, here's where he's finally calling out at the end.

This is proving that you can't take it with you when you die.

This is proving that any believer should be setting up the next generation with whatever they have before they leave.

Because you can't take it with you.

Great, you have a million, couple million dollars in the bank account when you breathe your last.

If you don't have that set up, who's getting it?

The government.

I know that's not technically how it works, but for the sake of my sermon, just take it.

But understand that what Jesus is saying is you have identified with all of these things.

You have walked with me, yet identified with this.

You have said Jesus is Lord, but identified when the bank account was low or high or whatever.

That you have said to other people, you are rich.

What if someone came up to you and said that?

Jesse, what if I'm meeting you for the first time?

Shake your hand and go, hey, I'm Pastor Jim Hollendore.

I'm rich.

How are you taking that?

No, he's going to have his pigs chase me down.

And they're mean.

And lipstick or not.

And understand that, I mean, yuck.

Like, what are we doing here?

Because the minute you put that out there, whether in thought, word, or deed, that becomes your identity.

So the church here is getting their complete identity thrown at them.

That our spiritual riches should come solely from God's grace and not from any human effort.

Christ invites them to repent and return to the relationship of dependence on Him.

And friends, that's not easy.

You can't go from depending on your wealth to depending on Him.

Just like that, it's really hard.

A lot of times something gets taken from you in that transition.

We're trying to get ahead of it this morning.

Verse 20 contains one of the most personal invitations in all of Scripture.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

How personal that is of Jesus.

Not a consultant, but Jesus the Christ standing at the door of your soul and knocking.

At this point, wouldn't Jesus just go to the door, kick it down, and just make a mess of it?

No, because He's still inviting.

He's still a God that brings that grace.

Though often misused to promote the human invitation of salvation.

This invitation to fellowship for believers who have grown distant.

Jesus is saying, you have not strayed that far.

You haven't gone to the end yet.

Come on back.

But you're close.

And there's the reminder.

There is the warning.

There's where the Christ, not the consultant, is saying a little farther and it's over.

Well, pastor, you know, I don't know, because God's sovereignty covers all of that.

Yes, in this life it does.

Friends, we're talking about the end.

And whenever that time comes, we need to be right.

Christ promises us that those who overcome will sit with Him on His throne.

Symbolizing a believer's union with Christ in His victory, not ours.

We have victory over nothing.

Christ's victory is all over us for those who believe.

This reflects our union with Christ.

Believer's share in both Christ's sufferings and His glory.

So what do we need to reject the first application from Lio D'Isia?

Reject lukewarmness.

This week, take a spiritual inventory of yourself.

Are you lukewarm in your faith?

Relying on your own resources, relying on so and so to give you what you stand in need of other than Christ.

Christ calls us to be either hot or cold.

Lukewarmness leads to judgment.

Repent, number two, of self-sufficiency.

Like Lio D'Isia, we are often tempted to trust our own material wealth or accomplishments.

Christ invites us.

He's knocking to find true spiritual riches in Him alone.

And then finally respond to Christ's invitation.

Friends, today Christ is knocking at the door of your heart, inviting you to a deeper fellowship with Him.

Do not ignore this call.

Respond by drawing nearer to Him.

So next week, it gets weird.

And that's exciting.

Next week we're going to see the final judgment start to unfold.

Final judgment.

So what do we need to do to prepare?

And please come back.

But what we're talking about do we need to do to prepare?

Let's end with these.

Examine your spiritual life.

Are there areas in your life where you have grown complacent or lukewarm?

Take time to examine your heart and ask Christ to revive your faith.

Two, persevere in faithfulness.

Even when you feel weak, remember that Christ values faithfulness over strength.

Trust in His promises and persevere in faith.

Three, rely on God's grace.

Reject any self-reliance.

Remembering that true spiritual riches come from God's grace.

Repent from trusting in material wealth or achievements to turn fully to Christ.

And four, and maybe you're hearing this for the very first time.

If you are, find me in the back of church.

I want to talk to you about this.

Embraced Christ's invitation.

A Christ who died for you.

For your good, your bad, and your uglies.

The sins that are, the sins that were, and the sins that will be.

Stands at the door and knock.

Open your heart to His call.

Let's pray.