Characteristics of the Letters Overviewed

Transcript

GR 1983
11/13/2016
Characteristics of the Letters Overviewed
Revelation 2-3
Gil Rugh

We're going to the book of Revelation and we've finished chapter 1. We're ready to move into the first two chapters which are the content of the letters to the seven churches. We're not going to go into the first church in detail, what I want to do with you is overview a little bit of what will be similar in all these churches and that will sort of provide a framework for us as we move through the details of each church. There will be certain things that will be true in each church.

First of all, remember the broad outline given in Revelation 1:19, John is instructed to “write the things which he has seen.” That primarily refers to the content of the first vision he is given, which is in Revelation 1 and the last part of the chapter, from verse 9 to the end of the chapter there, which focuses on Jesus Christ, His glory as the resurrected Son of God/Son of Man now in His glorified humanity with the glory of His deity clearly manifested. Different aspects of His character are seen in that revelation. Then the second thing, “write the things which are.” And that would be the churches which were presently in existence, which will be the subject of what we study in Revelation 2-3. And then as Revelation 1:19 says, “the things which will take place after these things.” And that's everything from Revelation 4-22. So that's a simple, broad outline.

Now when we come to that section which is yet future, Revelation 4-5, we'll deal with the heavenly scene, what is going on in heaven. Then beginning with Revelation 6-19 we'll be dealing with that seven-year period called the tribulation that leads up to the return of Christ to earth. Then in Revelation 19 we have the return of Christ, the Battle of Armageddon. Then Revelation 20 we come to the kingdom, the first phase of the kingdom is the thousand-year millennium. At the conclusion of that we will have the last judgment of unbelievers at the end of Revelation 20, in Revelation 21-22 we are into eternity.

So the book flows well. Remember, the book of Revelation adds information, but what it does that is most helpful is it puts events in order. Through the Old Testament prophets we have quite a bit of material revealed about what is yet future. But it's not necessarily put in chronological sequence, just like the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ. Sometimes they will talk about the Second Coming of Christ and then later they talk about the first coming. Now we can put that in order. Well, for future events if you want to have some grasp of the order of the events, you come to Revelation and particularly Revelation 4ff, and what will take place on earth, particularly in Revelation 6-19.

The letters to the seven churches, they have been mentioned several times in Revelation chapter 1. In verse 4 where it said, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia.” And why don't we put that map up, you can see here something of the seven churches and where they are located, in somewhat of a context, and where they are. You can see Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira. You will start with Ephesus, right there by the coast, and we will go up and around, from Ephesus to Smyrna and around up to Pergamum and we come back down to Laodicea. We've said that is sort of an irregular circle or oval. It was the postal route of the day. In other words as the mail was delivered it would follow that order, going around. Those are seven literal, historical churches of the time and there are going to be letters sent to them. You can see where we are in the context, you can see Athens and cross over there to Corinth and that region. And then you would go around and you'd be into Italy and so on. So a very key part of the region. John is on Patmos, may be a little hard for you to see, but it is southwest of Ephesus, down there, out in the Aegean Sea there. That's where John is. His ministry in the closing years of his life early church history tells us, he was in Ephesus from about 69 A.D. until he is exiled. This is 95 A.D. when he writes the letter we have as Revelation. So he had a long ministry there which would have also impacted the other churches in Asia.

Why don't you put up the more detailed map there, if you would, it gives you a clearer picture and you can see it is not exactly a circle, but it is pretty much as you go up to Smyrna, Pergamum and on down around. And Christ is pictured in the middle of those churches. And that's going to be important and we'll be making note of that and its significance again in our study today. He is positioned there so He sees and knows everything going on, the good and the not good in each of the churches, over which He is Lord, He is the head. So this is the context of the letters addressed, this is modern day Turkey, just a reminder where we are on the map in our day. We may go back to that in our future studies as we go to each church.

There are certain characteristics true of each of these churches to start out. Most commentators and writers note seven characteristics, they are pretty basic but we'll mention them because they are going to be true of every church. Every letter will start out identifying the recipient of the letter. For example we take the church at Ephesus, beginning in Revelation 2:1. The letter is written to the angel or we noted the messenger of the church at Ephesus. He is there to be the recipient of the letter and he is joined with the church and what is said about it. He was also identified in Revelation 1 as a star. In Revelation 1:20 in the middle of the verse, “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” So these messengers, the word angel means messenger we noted, they are in the right hand, the place of Christ's sovereign authority over them. But also under His protection as the one who is in authority. It is addressed to them and to the churches that they represent. And so that's the first thing, the recipients mentioned. That will be the same pattern. When you get down to verse 8, “to the angel or messenger of the church in Smyrna write.” And it will continue down through each of the seven.

So first the recipient. Second characteristic, the sender of the letter is presented. It's not John, he is the human instrument, but this is a letter, remember, that comes from Jesus Christ. So you'll see in Revelation 2:1, as we use that as an example, “the One who holds the seven starts in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven candle lampstands says” this. And what we do in each of these letters, we pick up a characteristic or characteristics that were pointed out in the vision in Revelation 1. We have Christ in verses 12ff. Now we are going to have picked up here, “He is the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He is the One who walks among the seven golden candlesticks.” So He is in the midst of them and He is moving among them, showing that each church is getting His attention and His evaluation. That will be true of each of the seven churches. When you come to Smyrna down in verse 8, “the first and the last, who was dead and has come alive says” this. And you'll remember that's another of the characteristics drawn from that vision in Revelation 1. So that vision in Revelation 1 of Christ and what is true of Him now is connected to each of the letters and identifies Him as the sender.

A third characteristic will be His knowledge of each church. He has complete, thorough knowledge of each of the churches that He is writing to. He knows everything about that church, everything about each person in that church. I want you to note this emphasis in each of the churches. You'll note Revelation 2:2, He says, “I know”, I know. When you come down to verse 9 to the church Smyrna He starts out, “I know”; you come down to the church at Pergamum, verse 13, He says, “I know”; down in verse 19 to the church at Thyatira, “I know.” Down in Revelation 3 to the church at Sardis, the middle of the verse, “I know”; down to the church at Philadelphia in verse 8, “I know”; and then the church at Laodicea, verse 15, “I know.” Very crucial, He has thorough and complete knowledge of every church and everyone in that church. His evaluation will be accurate and correct. So he emphasizes He has complete knowledge. He is not writing to ask for information, He is not looking to find out something. He knows everything. I stress this because it is easy and it has happened to these churches. They go about their activities as a church and they get caught up in things and sometimes they get caught up, if you will, in the horizontal and forget that vertical relationship. How often do we stop and think, our local church. We'll have more to say about that as these churches are representative of the church and the different churches down through history. Jesus Christ has full knowledge of all that is taking place in our church as a body and each of our lives. He is evaluating us, He knows everything. That's the third thing, He has complete knowledge.

And fourth, following up on that, His evaluation is given of each church. The One who has full, complete knowledge, the One who can judge what is done, why it is done, gives His evaluation—what is pleasing to Him, commendable, and what is displeasing and condemned. It will be a complete evaluation, no passing over, no “you're doing pretty good and nobody is perfect. But your church is doing better than this church and I'm happy about that.” It's not that kind of evaluation. We stand evaluated on this level, not this level from the standpoint, we are not commended or condemned on how we are doing compared to Smyrna, for example. And Smyrna is not evaluated on how it is doing compared to Philadelphia. Each church is evaluated in light of where it is, in light of the will of the head of the church, the Lord of the church. And each individual as we will see as we move through it. And so an evaluation is given.

Then fifth a command is given and it is usually connected to His coming. So He will give them a command and as you would expect of a command, when there is something to be corrected, they are very stern. This is a serious evaluation. So a command is given.

Sixth a call to pay attention to what is being said. We'll have more to say about that but toward the end of every letter he says, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.” You better listen up, you better pay attention. So an exhortation to listen to what is being said.

Then finally seventh there is a promise given to the overcomer. And we'll have more to say about the overcomer. But there is promise at the end of every church letter. So that's an encouragement.

It's strange, one man who pastored for many years in the same church and then his messages were published on the book of Revelation, has made this observation about these seven churches. In these seven churches we have a delineation of the primitive churches as they were in the days of the apostles. Would you not have thought that the first churches founded and shepherded by the apostles would be paragons of purity? That they would be models of the faith? Exemplary in doctrine and in life and in deportment?

But the very opposite is true. Even the churches under the ‘shepherdly’ care and guidance and teaching ministry of the apostles were filled with heresy and schism and false doctrine and corruption. Even in that first church the members were always having trouble, they were constantly disagreeing and quarreling. Such has been the story of the church ever since. Just as you find discord in the beginning in those first apostolic congregations, so you will find it in the history of the church through all the centuries since. The story repeats itself. In fact ecclesiastical history is largely a recounting and chronicling of corruption and defection and falling away from the faith.

That man is now in the presence of the Lord, but that observation is true. John, the last of the apostles, is the instrument, being used to write. And we are appalled to look at the condition of the churches in this one region and where, if history is correct, John has spent the last twenty-five plus years of his life ministering. And yet to a church like Sardis Christ will say to it, “you have a reputation for being alive but you are dead.” Why did it get to this point? The mess that the churches are in, that comes out clearly. The evaluation is correct, that's the history of the church. That's why Christ is doing an evaluation. But the battles go on and the reason these seven churches are here is they are not only seven literal, historical churches of the time, but they encompass all the churches that will exist down through history. We either find our church more closely identified with one of the seven churches, or what is commended and condemned are still the issues that are pleasing to our Lord or displeasing. The situation doesn't change.

The number seven (7) is chosen. It is a key number in the book of Revelation as we have noted. Fifty-four times the number seven is mentioned in the book of Revelation. One person made a list, let me just read it to you quickly so you won't have time to write them down. There are seven churches, seven spirits, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven thousand, seven heads, seven crowns, seven angels, seven plagues, seven vials, seven mountains, seven kings. That's a lot of sevens. Now that is not fifty-four, that's nineteen but there is repetition like with the seven churches. They are mentioned three times in Revelation 1, all referring to the seven churches. It denotes completion. You go all the way back to Genesis2, in six days God created the heavens and the earth and rested on the seventh day. Pictures completion, fulfillment. So it is here with the churches. They are representative of the churches that existed all periods of time. We will find our church here, this local church. If not completely identified with one church, the things commended, we'll find some of those here. And the things condemned, sadly we may find some of those things here as well. So they are here for us, for our benefit, for us to learn.

Some of the characteristics of the church. One writer has listed some of the characteristics in each of these churches. They will be obvious as we move through, but just a reminder to you. The church at Ephesus, great church, but what do we think about it? “You have lost your first love.” So they have drifted from that initial passion and love for Christ. The church at Smyrna, they have been faithful to God, but difficult times are ahead. Christ doesn't come to tell them, as some popular preachers like to preach, better things are ahead; God has good things in your future. Well, ultimately that is true, we'll talk about that shortly, but the immediate future for the church at Smyrna is not good. It has been a tough road for them and the immediate future is not an improvement. But Christ tells them, don't be afraid, don't fear, continue to be faithful.

For the church at Pergamum, they are warned about doctrinal compromise. They have things to be commended, but doctrinal compromise is a danger. Thyatira, they are a church that also has a problem with compromise. The presence of a false prophetess and the teaching and practice and corruption that goes with that, warning of compromise. The church at Sardis, I mentioned them. What a way for a letter to open. Do you think if we have a letter from Christ the head of our church and it starts out, “You have a reputation for being alive, my evaluation is you are dead.” That has to come like a blow, spiritual deadness.

The church at Philadelphia, they have been a faithful church but because you have been faithful doesn't guarantee you will continue to be faithful. So they are warned against the danger of not holding fast as they have. How many churches have a great past history but not a great present reality? So it's a faithful church, they have done well, but they are warned they must continue to hold fast. Every battle, every conflict, every issue becomes a danger of drifting, every allurement.

Then you have the church at Laodicea, perhaps the most well-known to us. The first and last church seem to be the most familiar to people. Ephesus, the church that left its first love, and Laodicea, a church that looks to be the most effective and prosperous, doing the best, and there is no inner reality. And it has perhaps the most graphic picture, Christ finds what they are doing and their condition to be so revolting, it is something that turns His stomach. I'd like to “vomit you out of my mouth,” that's rather an unpleasant picture of the condition of the church that the head of the church, the Lord of the church, the One that we are accountable to says as I look at you, you make me so sick I want to throw up, vomit you out of my mouth. Amazing. The church is sixty years old and this is where we are. The apostles have been passing off the scene, John is the last. And the deterioration comes to this.

That's why it is so important that each church, as we mentioned, there is a call to hear, a call to hear. We mentioned this as one of the characteristics of each of the churches. And that call to hear is not just for the church to listen, it is a call for each individual to pay attention. People talk about the church, and my church doesn't have enough love, that church doesn't do this or that church does that. But what is what the church does? And what the individuals within the church do or don't do, right? The building here is static, we call this the church building because it is where the church meets, but it's just the building. There is no spiritual life in the physical building. The life is in the individual members that comprise the body here. So the letter is to the churches and to each individual in the church whose conduct and activity make up what is either pleasing or displeasing. It starts with each of us individually.

So you have that expression that has been addressed as we noted to each church, Revelation 2:11, “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Not what John the apostle says. This is Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit of God addressing the churches. “He who has an ear, let him hear,” each time. We can go through again—verse 17, “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”; verse 29, “he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” And we go through each church. You think it's enough that Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit is addressing the churches, but somehow we go tone deaf. It's like dealing with your children. You are telling them something, they are nodding their heads but their minds are somewhere else. You say, are you paying attention to me? Are you listening? You better listen, pay attention. That's what we are being told as God's people. You better pay attention.

We are all guilty of this, that's why we keep going through the Scripture, through the Scripture, through the Scripture. You know, we forget. No matter how many times we go through it. I've preached some sermons on some subjects many times and often people will come up after I've preached it and they'll say, that was so encouraging, I've never heard that before. Never heard it before? What's wrong with them? Then I'm going through the minor prophets this week and I'm listening to stuff and what do I find myself saying? I forgot that was there. Yes, I have to go back and look at that again. God expects us to know. What excuse will we have? Each of these seven churches getting a letter, if you were sitting here and I read you the book of Revelation and then you had to go up and go. We have it to take with us. He who has an ear to hear, we better hear.

This is true in Jesus' ministry, we'll just look at the Gospel of Matthew, some references here. Come back to Matthew 11. People come to church, we gather as the body of Christ in this place, we study the Word of God together. Or you are in a class or a home Bible study, the Word of God is given out, we have to pay attention, we have to discipline our minds. We say people can't concentrate anymore, they can't concentrate for extended times. We better learn. When God is speaking we better not let our minds wander, He will hold us accountable for what He says. So we learn to discipline our minds. As we say, whatever it takes, if I have to take notes, if I have to do something to keep my attention because the devil is there to distract me, to whisper in my ear. Things will take my mind over here and over there and all of a sudden I come back and I haven't heard a thing for the last ten minutes. Our minds wander. The work of the devil and our flesh gravitates toward that. Pretty soon we are thinking about what we are going to do this afternoon, what happened yesterday, what is on my mind. Wait a minute, God is speaking, this is His Word.

Look at Matthew 11:15, we won't take the context but Christ is speaking. What does He have when He is wrapping it up? “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” We better consider, do I have ears to hear what God is saying? Some people don't, and we'll see that, we are going to come to that. If they are not believers, it just goes right on by. They can pick up pieces, but you hear means to pay attention. It's what we tell our kids, did you hear me? Not just did they hear the sound? Could they repeat back? Did they hear and understand what they are required now to do? If later you find out they didn't do what you told them, what do we say? Didn't you hear what I told you? Yes, I heard it, I didn't know you expected me to do it. No, no, no. The reason for telling you was that you would respond and obey. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” Matthew 11:15.

Look over in Matthew 13:9, it's the parable here. “He who has ears, let him hear.” Come down to verse 43, the end of the verse, “he who has ears, let him hear.” And that gives you an idea. We could go into Mark and into Luke, Christ speaks and are you paying attention? If you have any spiritual life, listen up. That's what we are saying. What He is saying to the churches, the individual church and the individual within the church. He who has ears to hear. This is a letter to the church at Indian Hills, and he who has ears to hear, so the whole church is listening to the letter, but each individual now is being held accountable to the One who is evaluating us, not only as a church but as individuals within the church. And where we are and how we are functioning. Easy for us to get caught up in the things going on here and all of a sudden we are off track and we don't function biblically. And that's what is wrong in these seven churches. By and large most of them are off track in key areas. You say, how do you do that? It tells you what to do and what not to do. And now the Lord Himself has to point out.

Come back to Revelation. I want to spend the bulk of the rest of our time on the overcomer. Each of the churches has a promise to the overcomer, so the negative doesn't overwhelm. Some of the things that are said negatively like the church at Sardis, “you have a reputation for being alive but you are dead;” the church at Laodicea, you look so good on the outside to everybody, my response is I'd like to vomit you out of my mouth. We say, He's done with that church. No He is not, there is a promise still given and this comes to individuals within the church. We will be judged as a church and how we have done as a body in this place, but that judgment will entail individual judgments for each of us and how we have contributed to the functioning of the body and it being all that Christ intends it to be because this body can't be what He intends it to be as the head without each part functioning as it should. The analogy of the body, Christ is the head. Now if the head tells my hand to pick up this book and my hands say no, I don't feel like doing that today, there is going to be a breakdown in the functioning of the body. So there is where the trouble comes in, somewhere along the line we have a breakdown. We need to look at it, evaluate it, address it, get it right. That's what Christ is doing.

But He ends with a promise to the overcomer, there is a promise of blessing to each individual church and the individual within it. Pick up verse 7 first to get the first church, Ephesus. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes,” we'll look at the overcomer in a moment. There is a promise, “I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.” Now you'll note each of these letters started out connecting us back to the vision of Christ in Revelation 1. Now the end connecting us to the promise of what is yet to come. For example the tree of life in the paradise of God, we will find in Revelation 22 when we get into eternity. So that overcomer, the one who does overcome is promised eternal blessing in the presence of God.

When you come to the church at Smyrna, the end of that letter, after “he who has ears to hear, let him hear. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” That carries us to the end of Revelation 20 where unbelievers are “cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.” But the overcomer is promised deliverance for that. And on he goes through each of these letters. So the promise to the overcomer, the blessings that await them are an encouragement to us and a challenge.

And the overcomer is another word for a believer. Some have gotten off track on that and try to identify overcomers as a higher level Christian. So some believers are overcomers, some are just struggling, failing believers. But the overcomer is a believer, so it is a synonym for a true Christian, one who has been born again, one who is a child of God. What it emphasizes is the victory that believers have over the world, the flesh and the devil because of the victory that Christ accomplished for us.

Come back to the Gospel of John. The Apostle John was used to write the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John and the book of Revelation. And we're going to look in those three areas of John's writings to see the use of the word overcome. John 16:33, Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you,” this is Jesus' last night with His disciples before His betrayal and crucifixion. “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world.” I have overcome the world, so the tribulation, the turmoil, the suffering, that's part of you living in the world, representing Me in the world. Don't be discouraged, I have overcome the world. So much of what we will see that is in the church that should not be is a result of the devil getting entrance. How does he get entrance? You give your ear to the devil, pretty soon you are doing what the devil wants you to do. I don't respond as I should, now I give the devil opportunity; I don't act as I should, the allurements, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life get ahold of me. Now we have a conflict, it's like a disease that gets into the body and the more it spreads the more disorder it creates, the more that the church is displeasing to the Lord of the church. Christ has overcome the world.

Go to the epistles of John, 1 John 2. And in 1 John 2:13, verse 12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.” Remember in Revelation 1, Christ has loosed us from our sins by His blood. He gave His life so that we could be redeemed, set free, our sins be forgiven, its power over us broken. Verse 13, “I am writing to you fathers because you know Him who has been from the beginning; I am writing to you young men because you have,” and here is our word, “overcome the evil one.” Verse 14, “I have written to you fathers because you know Him who is from the beginning; I have written to you young men because you are strong, the Word of God abides in you. You have overcome the evil one.” Overcome the evil one, overcome the world.

I remember a professor I had while I was a student way back in Bible College, he preached here, he is now with the Lord. I remember him saying, and it stuck with my mind, “you never have to sin. As a believer you never have to sin.” That stuck with me all these years. When you sin, it is because you choose to sin, you want to sin. And that's good theology because Christ has overcome, He set me free. I now am a slave to righteousness, to God, not a slave to sin and the devil. I don't have to obey the devil, I don't have to obey sin. Sadly, sometimes I want to. I should never want to sin. Sometimes the devil deludes me and deceives me and I find myself thinking, “why did I do that? Why did I say that? Why . . .?” Didn't have to, clearly not the biblical thing.

Reminder, you have overcome the evil one, we are victors. He is not talking to us in the letters to the churches in Revelation is something we do in our own strength. That's where 1 John takes us. Look at 1 John 4, and this is the false prophets in the world, the demonic spirits that motivate, false teachers, false prophets. Verse 3, we are to evaluate and test the spirits, verse 1 said. Verse 3 gives one of the tests to use. “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.” You have to have correct doctrine, the truth about Christ that conforms to what God has said. All sin is the opposition to Christ, the opposition to God. It is already in the world, it will reach its climax in the Antichrist, as we will see when we get to Revelation, particularly in Revelation 13. But what does he say? Verse 4, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world.” They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world; the world listens to them. You note what it says, believers listen to God's truth and unbelievers don't. That's what we'll see in the letters to the churches.

Some churches are divided and in conflict because unbelievers infiltrate and then they spread their lies and deceit. Then it ends up bringing confusion. But do you know what? I have the Spirit, there is no excuse. If I sift everything carefully through the Word, I won't believe a lie; if I sift everything from the world, I won't be lured into unbiblical, ungodly conduct. Why don't I? Now be careful. I can't listen to the world or lust for the world but keep my life on track. That's why I say, give your ear to the devil, you will soon be doing his will; fix my eyes on the world, I will soon be drawn to do the things that the world allures me to. One of the traps, I can handle it, I'm strong, I've been a believer a long time, our church has been in existence for a long time. God doesn't talk just to hear Himself talk. The reason we can stand, verse 4, because we have overcome, and “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” The Spirit of God now indwells the believer, that enabling power is there. There is no sin so great, no demon so powerful that can overwhelm me. But sometimes I may choose to grieve the Spirit because what is set before me seems desirable enough. Remember Moses in Hebrews 11 who forsook the pleasures of the world to be obedient to God. Same basic principle.

Come over to 1 John 5, look at verse 5. Verse 4, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world.” So you see if you are born again, if you are born of God you overcome the world. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.” Not just faith as sometimes the world talks about it as faith in your faith, but as he has been talking about throughout this epistle. 1 John 5:1, “Whoever believes has faith that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” And on it goes. So it is faith directed to the person and work of Christ. Thus, whatever is born of God overcomes the world. “This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” That's the overcomer, the one who has been born again, the Christian. Has come to recognize his sin, his guilt.

Come over to Revelation 5, and we come to the heavenly scene, the scene in heaven. And one of the elders tells John, “Stop weeping. Behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, this is Christ the Messiah, ‘has overcome.’ He has power to open the book” which brings about the ultimate judgment and climactic redemption that He accomplished by His death on the cross. He has overcome. Revelation 12:11, and this is the conflict believers have with the devil. Don't think we are different. The conflicts we have within the church and among ourselves as believers don't come from the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is not in conflict with himself. It's like our physical body, when the parts of the body are functioning in obedience to the head all the parts are coordinated. It's when a disease gets in, a malfunction, now part of my body is no longer functioning as it should. So here we have in Revelation 12, we are told about the devil being cast down from heaven. Verse 10, “Now the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, the authority of His Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.” And he does that on earth through his emissaries. Constantly on the attack of believers. So what do we have with verse 11? “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony.” They didn't love their lives even when faced with death. God's children, even when brought to death, martyred for their faith, haven't lost. John is on the island of Patmos, but he hasn't lost. The emperor of the Roman Empire hasn't overcome John. When Peter is executed, when Paul is beheaded, they haven't been overcome by the devil. The lies and slander that would destroy God's people, they haven't won. We have overcome because of the blood of the Lamb.

Come to Revelation 15:2, “I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had been victorious over the beast.” Same kind of picture, victory over the beast. Revelation 17:14, “These will wage war against the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them.” We come to the climactic phase, the destruction of Babylon, its religious form, its commercial form in preparation for Armageddon in Revelation 19. “The Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords, King of kings. Those who are with Him are the called, the chosen, the faithful.” They stay true. Come to Revelation 21, we're ready to move into eternity, the new heaven and the new earth. And note the promise at the end of verse 6, and there you connect it back to Revelation 1, remember? “I am the alpha,” verse 6, “the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.” Remember Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman? Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst again. It will be like a river of living water. It's the life and the Spirit that God promises to those who believe in Him. And what does verse 7 say? “He who overcomes will inherit these things. I will be his God, he will be My son.” But the rest are closed out in the second death.

So to be an overcomer, and every believer is an overcomer and every believer is expected and required to live as an overcomer. And when you have a church comprised of overcomers, believers, with every believer living as an overcomer in obedience to the Lord that they serve, the church functions as it should. But the battle goes on, the devil is relentless, the flesh has not yet been totally annihilated. And so we have the letters to the seven churches.

I wonder, if Christ were to evaluate our church, what would He say? Everything is as it should be, everybody is as they should be. We know that is not true, none of us has been perfected yet, but remember there are no excuses. We are overcomers but sometimes we are not living like it. The evil one has been overcome, the world has been overcome, the flesh has been overcome. There is no reason why we should not live fully and completely for our Lord. Remember His standard—“you shall be holy, for I am holy.” By His grace He has provided that.

Now I have to ask the question, maybe you are not an overcomer, maybe you are trying to adjust your life, improve, get on the right track, and we are glad you are here. But it is faith in Jesus Christ and His payment for your sin that gives you the victory. Not just hearing, but believing, responding. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Have you ever responded to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is good news? And even though you are a sinner under the condemnation of God, with no hope to rescue yourself, God did for you what you can't do for yourself. He had His Son come and die, that's what the emphasis has been, so that when you place your faith in Him, He can declare you forgiven, cause you to be born again within, make you new and have His Spirit now take up residence within you so that you can live your life to honor Him. If not, why not? Today can be a day to hear and believe.

Let's pray. Thank You, Lord, for the clarity of Your Word. Lord, thank You for its simplicity. Lord, there is no real reason for us to say we are confused, we don't understand. You have spoken with clarity. Lord, for us as believers, we need to take to heart the truth that You have spoken, each one of us individually and then as a church body to be sure that we are functioning in a way that is pleasing to You, that would meet with your approval in every way. Lord, for those who may be here who are not overcomers, thank You for bringing them today. Lord, they have heard the truth. Thank You for your grace. Lord, they are no worse off than any of us who were at one time. I pray this might be a day when having heard the truth of Your provision for them, they might respond and believe it. May we together be a testimony to the grace that has made us overcomers. We pray in Christ's name, amen.