Message to the Churches

Message to the Churches
By Gottfried Osei-Mensah

The Prayer of Maturity
In the light of the Christian's inheritance which is unseen, but eternal, the Lord Jesus
could speak very plainly about further suffering which was in store for His faithful
people in Smyrna: "For ten days you will have tribulation." And the source and
engineer of it all is Satan. But He also assured them that He would over-rule the
whole thing for their benefit. Satan meant it for their destruction, but the Lord would
thereby test and approve them for greater rewards of grace. Note that the duration of
the trial would be a full, but limited period. It was for ten days, not twelve. Satan can
only go as far as the Lord gives him permission.
Why should those whom the Lord loves be exempt from trials and tests when He
purposes to bless them as a result? Our trials are blessings in disguise. Sometimes
we pray wrong prayers. We pray that the Lord should spare us pain and suffering in
our present bodies which are destined to decay. But He knows better, and we should
be prepared to leave ourselves entirely in His blessed hands. He will weigh our trials
and sufferings with loving wisdom, and with them all prepare us for eternal glory.
Therefore, let us not be continually praying to be spared from suffering. Let us pray
instead that His purposes for our lives will be worked out, whether by life, suffering or
death. That is the prayer of maturity. That is how the apostle Paul prayed (see
Philippians 1:20, 21.)

The Second Death
The Lord of the churches encouraged His people in Smyrna to continue steadfast,
faithful and loyal to Himself, even if this meant physical death for His sake. Those
who successfully go through the test of loyalty are solemnly promised that they will
not be hurt by the second death. We do not talk much about the second death these
days, but it is more to be feared than physical death. If it were not so, the Lord would
be descending from the sublime to the ridiculous. He says, in effect, "Be faithful unto
death and then you will not be hurt by the second death." If the "second death" were
not something more dreadful, there would be no sense in seeking to avoid it, even to
the extent of being willing to die physically. It is the state of being forever separated
from the presence of the living God. Men and women who do not know the Lord
Jesus Christ are faced with that fearful prospect. They are spiritually dead here and
now because they have no relationship with the life of God. They will die physically
one day. But after that there is this second death, when they are separated from the
presence of God forever. This fearful reality is a powerful, biblical motivation for
evangelism. If we truly know what it means, then, like the apostle Paul, we will not
rest until men and women have had the opportunity to hear the Good News. They
must be warned to flee from the wrath to come, for the end of that wrath is the
second death, when the unbelievers are cut off forever from any help and doomed to
suffer for their rejection and ignorance of the Christ.

Sharing His Life
The teaching concerning death - spiritual, physical and the second death - has
practical applications for Christian life, especially for the church of Jesus Christ in
Africa today. Release from the fear of death is one of the greatest blessings of the
Gospel. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
"deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage"
(Hebrews 2:15). He became man Himself (flesh and blood); and through His own
death, He overcame the one who has the power of death, that is Satan, and
liberated us from the terrible bondage of the fear of death. He has freed us from the
fear of death because He has died our death and He is risen again that we might
share His life.
This is one of the most relevant truths in the African context, where the fear of death
colours every aspect of life. For our people, death takes many different forms. There
is the death of childlessness, and it is no less to be feared than physical death.
Singleness, that is to be by-passed in marriage, particularly for the African woman, is
another form of death. The anguish of this reproach has led many to take their own
lives. Deep poverty and consequent indebtedness is also a form of death. This
afflicts not so much individuals as whole extended families, when they are obliged to
sell valuable property in the extended family to try to defray the debt. Chronic ill-
health and diseases that defy treatment are also forms of death.

Invest Everything with Me
The Lord's exhortation, "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life," is
a relevant message to the church in Africa. "Remain faithful to me even if it means
death." Do you know what drives otherwise honest Christians from our churches into
idolatry? It is the fear of these "deaths' - fear of childlessness or singleness which
has driven many a woman who has been a promising disciple in the church of Jesus
Christ into idolatry. They have abandoned loyalty to Christ to follow other ways to
see if they can get husbands or children. They have sacrificed their witness to the
Lord Jesus Christ in order to follow non-Christians who promise them marriage.
Others have sold themselves into prostitution and all kinds of evil so that they may
earn money to support the extended family or to pay its debts. There is a child in the
family who is seriously ill. They have tried all the hospitals but without success. So
what do they do? Secretly this child of Christian parents is taken by a non-Christian
relative to a witch doctor, and his soul is sold to Satan in order that he may get
physical healing. The Lord says to His people, "I know your tribulation; I know your
poverty. You are rich. Invest everything with me in faithfulness and loyalty. Be faithful
unto death and I will give you the crown of life."

Repaid a Hundredfold
We can be sure that there is nothing good here on earth which, for the sake of
faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to give up, but will be made up to
us in Heaven. Any enjoyment we deny ourselves here, for the sake of faithfulness to
Him, will be repaid a hundredfold in Heaven where riches really keep their value. Be
obedient and loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ and He promises that you will never be
the loser. Remember that He Himself was very rich, but for our sake He became
poor so that by His poverty we might share His eternal riches.
May the Lord help us to think spiritually, appreciate these eternal realities, and give
ourselves to Him in faithful and loyal service, whatever the cost. May none of us fail
to inherit what God, who cannot lie, has promised to all His faithful servants. Do not
be afraid of death. He has overcome it. He is the Resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Him, even though he dies, shall live forever. He who has an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches today.

A Consuming Fire
We said before that we should take "the angel of the church" to represent the
corporate leadership of the local church in every place. This is particularly relevant
here. It seems quite clear from the way the Lord speaks here that He is addressing
the leadership of the local church in Pergamum (or Pergamos, as the New King
James has it). His displeasure at the growing immorality and indiscipline in the
church is clearly a message to the church leadership, as we shall see.
But first, let us look at Christ's self-designation. He is the One "who has the sharp
two-edged sword." In the introduction in Revelation chapter one it says that a sharp
two-edged sword issues from the mouth of Christ (Revelation 1:16). It is the same
sword referred to in Revelation 19:15, where it is said the Lord will judge the nations
with it. It is sharp and double-edged, and with it the Lord threatens such severe
punishment and chastisement for His impenitent, compromising people as will
amount to war against them. The Lord does judge His people, we are told in
Scripture (see Hebrews 10:30). The writer to the Hebrews says, "It is a fearful thing
to fall into the hands of the living God." That was addressed to the people of God.

Of course, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1);
but judgment and condemnation are two different things in the Scriptures. The Lord
judges His people. Let me explain. You remember what the apostle Paul wrote to the
Corinthian church. Those who were morally lax at the Lord's Supper and desecrated
the table of the Lord, were judged by the Lord. Some of them had died because of
their immorality, impenitence and lack of holiness. Others were sickly and the reason
was that the Lord was judging them. If they had considered their evil ways and
turned from them, the Lord would not judge them, but since they would not, the Lord
had come with His chastening. As the Lord warns this local church, this may amount
to declaring war against His own people. So let us fear our God. As the writer to the
Hebrews says, "He is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).

Enemy Territory
The Lord's first word to this church was not one of judgment, but of praise. He has
eyes to see the things His people were doing right and He encouraged them. The
Lord was tenderly aware of the peculiar situation of His people in Pergamum: "I know
where you dwell." The church on earth is always militant. We are in enemy territory;
but some are set as light-bearers nearer to the enemy's command post, as it were,
than others. The church in Pergamum was located where Satan's throne was, where
Satan dwelt (verse 13). As we would expect, the battle for faith was consequently
hotter there than elsewhere. The prince of darkness had his throne in Pergamum.
The great altar of Zeus was located there, and also the temple of Asclepius, the god
of healing whose emblem was that of a serpent.
But the real challenge to the Christians came from the cult of emperor worship.
Because Pergamum was a provincial capital, there were temples dedicated to the
worship of Caesar. Every loyal citizen was expected to offer incense at the shrine of
the emperor and to say, "Caesar is Lord." As we have already seen, the Christians
refused to do any such thing.
The peculiar situation of Pergamum made the church's virtues shine all the brighter.
As a church that would not compromise on this crucial issue of emperor worship, it
displayed remarkable faithfulness and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ in that place.
The Lord Himself commended the church for its faithfulness in the present: "You hold
fast my name." And that is a tremendous commendation for any church. The
Christians were supposed to be light-bearers and they were being just that. They
were holding forth the word of life. They were up-holding the honour of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and He commended them for their faithfulness and loyalty even so
close to the enemy's command post, the place where Satan's throne was.


The Mettle of Which it is Made
Jesus also recalled the faithfulness of the church in Pergamum in the past. It was not
only faithfulness in the present; they had been consistent, even in the past. He says,
"You did not deny my faith" (verse 13). There had been challenging times in the past,
but they had stood the test. They had not denied the name of the Lord; they were
bearing faithful and fruitful testimony to Him even in such a difficult place as
Pergamum.
Moreover, they even remained true to the Lord in a time of special trial when one of
their outstanding leaders, Antipas, had been martyred in their very presence. "Killed
among you," says the Lord, "where Satan dwells." This is often the enemy's tactics.
Like Idi Amin, he chooses an outstanding Archbishop Janani Luwum and slays him,
hoping that the church will thereby suddenly become silent. But the enemy always
outdoes himself. He does not know that when the church faces martyrdom that is the
time when it displays the mettle of which it is made. The supernatural power which
sustains the church is awakened right at that moment; and instead of shutting the lid
upon the church, the persecutor soon realizes that he has opened a whole nest of
wasps and hornets upon himself. The church of Jesus Christ is never silenced by
persecution in that sense.

"You Did Not Deny My Faith"
There is something more insidious which can silence the church's testimony to Jesus
Christ, and some of our political leaders in Africa have discovered it. Where an open
persecution is inappropriate, they have resorted to a stronger and more deadly
weapon against the church. I remember the situation in my own country of Ghana
towards the end of the regime of Kwame Nkrumah. He had apparently made a list of
the faithful preachers of the gospel throughout Ghana, and was searching for their
friends and relatives close to them. We learned later that some of our outstanding
preachers had their friends sent to them by devious means to have a private word
with them. The message was invariably this: "We know you are a man of God, true
and sincere, but you must be careful how you preach because you could be
misunderstood." By that subtle way, by sending their friends to advise them to be
careful as to how they preached, many of our outstanding Christian leaders began to
cool down, and to lose the fire in their preaching. I tell you, that is more deadly than
the killing of a Janani Luwum. As we shall see, this was the method the enemy
adopted when he could not silence the testimony of the church in Pergamum through
the killing of Antipas. But now the Lord says, "I commend you. You remained faithful
in that difficult time. You did not deny my faith."


"We Are Not Ignorant of His Devices"
The Lord detected among His people at Pergamum, as it were, "a root of bitterness
already springing up" and threatening to defile the entire fellowship. There were
some (we are not told how many) who held the teaching of Balaam. If you want to
know about this teaching, read Numbers chapters 25 and 31. You will find there
references to the cunning way by which Balaam instructed Balak to destroy Israel.
The essence of this teaching, which is the same as the policy of the Nicolaitans, is
seduction, a seduction to idolatory and immorality. When Balaam and Balak could
not destroy Israel through cursing, they turned to seduction and succeeded in
destroying 24,000 of the Israelites, 23,000 of them in one day alone (Numbers 25:9).
In 1 Corinthians 10:8, Paul cites this incident as a warning to Christians. Satan had
tried to shake and undermine the Pergamum believers' loyalty to the Lord Jesus
Christ with a sword and he had failed. Now his purpose was to weaken them through
seduction and compromise and so destroy them from within; and he had already
gained a foothold in the fellowship through some of the members. This is how subtle
our adversary is and how vigilant we need to be at all times. He has many methods
at this disposal and he changes them as quickly as the closing of an eye. He tries
one thing and if it does not work, he is not discouraged. He has another weapon
from his arsenal which he can pick up and use. Sometimes the church is busy
guarding one gate while leaving herself wide open to attack on another side. May the
Lord grant us grace to be vigilant on all sides, and to say with the apostle Paul, "We
are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11).

Watchfulness Over the Flock
The Lord now brings a warning to the church in Pergamum. In His rebuke and
warning, we see the relationship between individual sin, corporate responsibility and
the role of the leader among God's people. Church discipline is what the Lord takes
up here with this local church. This is why He speaks to leaders. Here is the
structure of verses 14-16: The Lord says, in effect, "You church leaders are held
responsible (verse 14) because some of the members hold the defiling teaching
(verses 14, 15). Therefore you church leaders must repent (verse 16). If not, you
church leaders will be visited by me, (verse 16) and those who hold the defiling
teaching will be punished by me." You see how He frames his warning. He speaks to
church leaders, because they are held responsible for those who hold the defiling
teaching. If they were feeding the flock with the right food, they should not go looking
for trash. If they had eyes to detect the beginning of error in individual members and
to lovingly correct them, the matter should have ended there. But the church leaders
were lax in discipline, as they were lax in their watchfulness over the flock of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

Keeping Them in the Fold
You all know the way in which church discipline is often carried out in our local
churches. It is in bits and pieces and this makes discipline seem arbitrary and
unbearable for the ordinary member. This is how the church member often feels:
"The elders and deacons care very little about me and my problems. Where were
they when I was struggling on my own with problems and temptations? They were
only concerned about themselves, while I struggled until I had no strength left; so I
gave in and fell into sin. Now they come as the self-righteous ones to rebuke and
discipline me! Did they love me and seek me out when I was facing the temptations
and difficulties in life? If they did not love and care for me when I was struggling
alone, why are they pretending they love me now when they come to administer
Christ's righteous discipline?" The resentment we have in our local churches against
church discipline arises from this source. The church leaders do not love their flock;
they only appear, like self-righteous policemen to point out faults after members
have fallen into sin. Where were they when the flock was being led astray? That is
why the Lord is laying a charge to these church leaders. He says, in effect, "I hold
you responsible for the flock that is going astray. If you had been keeping them in the
fold and loving them, and providing them with the right food they would not go
looking for the teaching of the Nicolatians."

Instructing With Tears
The apostle Paul warned the church leaders in Ephesus in Acts 20 that they should
tend the flock of Christ which He had purchased with His own blood. Paul gave
himself as an example of one who cared for the flock, visiting them, and teaching
them day and night publicly and from house to house. He knew every one of the
sheep of Christ and he cared for them all. He instructed them with tears. How many
church leaders have wept tears in twenty years for the flock in their charge? May the
Lord help us to recover church discipline in our local churches, but may He help us
even more to grow in concern for the flock to the point of weeping tears for them as
we instruct them in private and in public, loving them with the love of Christ and
seeking to protect them in the love of Christ.

A Little Leaven
We certainly do need church discipline, for moral laxity in a church member, if not
disciplined, becomes like yeast in a mass of pastry: It soon spreads through the
entire lump. In 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul commended the church to undertake
seriously the discipline of God's people, he warned, "Do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump?" We should not allow false modesty (e.g., "I am not
perfect, so how can I go and discipline someone else?") to prevent us from carrying
out our responsibility to Christ and to His sheep. If indeed the church leader is not
taking care to walk uprightly before the Lord and be a worthy example to the flock,
he has lost his authority to discipline anyone in the local church. The answer to that
is not to abandon discipline in the local church, but to ensure that the local
leadership are walking uprightly, and therefore are able to discipline members who
are inclined to be wayward. Discipline is for the good of the entire corporate
fellowship, because immoral behaviour in one member, if unchecked, will spread like
cancer.

Channels of His Blessing
Now we come to the exhortation: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches," and the concept of the people of God as a body is again
underlined for us. This concept applies not only in the context of warning, but also of
the exhortation. As one member's unfaithfulness can spread like defiling cancer
through the entire fellowship, even so one member with an obedient heart and
submissive will can become God's channel of renewal and revival for the community
of God's people; and not only in his own day, but in succeeding generations as well.
We read to profit from the books of godly men who have gone on before us, "they
being dead yet speak." By their books, they still draw us to the Lord Jesus Christ
because once upon a time they took time to walk closely with Him, and to heed what
He was saying to the churches. They took it to heart, and heeded it, so that it
benefited them and also the fellowship to which they belonged. You and I should
pray daily for hearing ears, ears that hear what the Lord is saying to His people in
this generation. What is the Lord saying to His people now, in my congregation, in
my little fellowship? We become a blessing to the fellowship when we take care to
walk with Jesus so that He is free to use us as channels of His blessing to His
people everywhere.

The Hidden Manna
Now let us come finally to the promise which the Lord makes to His people in
Pergamum: "To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will
give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows
except him who receives it." Christ's servants, those who overcome Satan's devices
and maintain their loyalty and devotion to Him to the end, are promised the
enjoyment of His intimate relationship and friendship. This is described in two ways.
First, they will enjoy from Him the hidden manna. This seems to be alluding to John
6 when the Lord spoke of Himself as the bread of life, the bread from heaven. The
manna also came from heaven and sustained Israel in the desert, and the Lord
promises those who will be faithful to Him the hidden manna to sustain them, and for
their enjoyment. The Lord also spoke of Himself as the line bread from heaven which
gives life to this world (John 6:32, 33 and 51). The Lord, therefore, is at one and the
same time the bread of life which satisfies every hunger and quenches every thirst
(John 6:35) and the giver of the same. He is both these things because this living
bread is participation in His own life. What He is promising us here is that we shall
share His life; we will know the enjoyment of sharing His life in greater abundance
than we can know here. We will participate in His life for He is the bread of life and
He Himself is that hidden manna which He will give us to satisfy our every thirst and
our every hunger.

A Foretaste of a Feast
"He who eats my flesh," says the Son of God, "and drinks my blood abides in me
and I in him" (John 6:56). There is participation in His very life. This is the experience
to which the manna in the wilderness was a foreshadowing. Israel was given that
manna in the desert as a foreshadowing of what the Lord is going to give to meet the
deep needs of His people, to satisfy them for time and eternity. It is also that of which
the communion table is a foretaste. When we come to the Lord's Supper, His broken
body and His out-poured blood are offered to us: "Take and eat, this is the body of
Christ broken for you. Take and drink, this is the blood of Christ shed for you." The
body and the blood speak of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ which is given to meet
and satisfy our deepest needs. The communion table is only a foretaste of that bridal
feast when He will give to the overcomers to eat of the hidden manna. What do you
think is going to be on the table when we arrive at the Lamb's bridal feast? It is the
hidden manna that we will participate in. At the communion table we only have the
foretaste, but there we shall enjoy it in all its fullness. He has promised, and that
encourages His people to be overcomers. They should not submit to the seduction of
the evil world and Satan. They should be faithful to Him for He has a feast prepared
for them.

Christ's Personal Signature
Jesus also promises the members of the church in Pergamum this other treasure for
all eternity: Christ's personal autograph. Have you ever collected autographs from
famous people? When I was a boy it was one of the things I loved doing. And I
wanted famous people to sign my little book, so that I could say, "You know whose
signature this is?" The Lord promised that His people who overcome will each
receive a special autograph which they will treasure for all eternity. It will be a special
secret between the individual and the Lord. It is a token of the intimate relationship
between the individual and the Lord. There is something special for everyone and
the Lord will make sure you will have it and will enjoy and treasure it for all eternity. I
remember visiting one of my friends in Kenya, a minister of state. The president of
Kenya and his entourage, including my friend, had just returned from a state visit to
the United Kingdom. Displayed in his sitting room were portraits of her Majesty the
Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and they both bore their royal signatures. He
seemed very proud, as he explained, "The Queen gave this to me personally, and in
my own presence she signed it, Elizabeth II." He is going to treasure it all his life and
hand it on as an heirloom to his children. The Lord says, "I will give you a white
stone, a precious stone, on which I have personally put My autograph." It is going to
be a special one, because He knows how to sign His name in a special way. He will
sign His name how many times? As many times as there are overcomers! There is
always going to be something distinctive about each autograph and He is going to
give it to you.

Bearing Brilliant Testimony
My brother and sister, isn't it worth remaining faithful and loyal to the Lord Jesus
Christ to the end? Should we allow the world and its passing pleasures to attract our
attention away from the Lord of glory? Are we going to allow the pride of life, the lust
of the eyes and the lust of the flesh, these things which are passing away, to hold us
in captivity and to drag us to the grave and to hell? No, let us heed the hymn writer:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim In the light of His glory and grace. Remember what He has
promised: eternal satisfaction with Himself, the hidden manna, and the autograph of
His eternal love to you personally, for whom He laid down His life. I tell you it is worth
being in the place even where Satan's throne is, and bearing brilliant testimony to the
Lord Jesus Christ, even if necessary sealing our testimony with our blood.

Jesus' Self-Designation
The Lord Jesus introduced Himself to the local church in Thyatira, and the three
aspects of His self-designation give us a clue to the main issue He was trying to take
up with this local church. As with the church in Pergamum, He was writing primarily
to the leadership of the church, because there was a spirit of tolerance in Thyatira
which almost amounted to the abdication of responsibility for the purity of the church.
This is what He had in mind when he introduced Himself by the three-fold self
designation. He presented Himself, first of all, as "the Son of God." This emphasized
His holiness and His exclusive claim to His people's devotion and worship because
He is the only one with ultimate authority in the church. We read from 2 Corinthians
6:16 that there can be no agreement between the temple of God and idols. The Lord
of the church is the Son of God, and He was not going to share the affection of this
congregation of His people with idols. They were His temple, and that meant they
were exclusively His, and so He introduced Himself as the Son of God. But He also
went on to describe Himself as He who has "eyes like a flame of fire." The
compromisers and false teachers in the church may successfully hide their real
motives from men, but "all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with
whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). He searches the minds and the hearts and
will give to everyone as his work deserves (verse 23). His third self-designation is
He "whose feet are like burnished bronze." When we looked at the vision of the Lord
several weeks ago, it was pointed out that this description emphasized the fact that
He has determined, as the holy Lord, to trample down and stamp out wickedness
from among His people. It presents Him as the judge of His people, as we shall see.

A Desire to Encourage
The Lord had many things in this local church in Thyatira to commend, and He
began with those. We have seen again and again that this is His nature. He does not
come to us primarily with a desire to judge. His real desire is to encourage us so that
we may share His holiness. So whenever He finds anything among His people that
He can praise, He does so; and He encourages us to do more and more of those
things. There were many things in this local church that pleased the Lord. There
were works: good deeds which were the fruits of their genuine trust and relationship
with the Lord, and He praised them for those deeds. There was also love, sacrificial
concern for the good of others arising from their devotion to Christ and He praises
them for their love, a genuine love that was true of the congregation as a whole.

Patient Endurance
Jesus also praises the church of Thyatira for their faith, their trust and confidence in
the Christ, in spite of present difficulties and future uncertainties. They trusted Him,
they had faith in the Lord, and He commended them for it. He also praised them for
their service, the active ministering to the needs of one another in the fellowship and
beyond it. All these things were praiseworthy and the Lord commended the church
for them. Moreover, He praised them for their patient endurance because they had
been doing these things for a long time, a sterling quality of the Spirit which made
them still outgoing in love, in faith and service, even under trying circumstances.
They did not merely maintain their good deeds under pressure, rather they
abounded more and more. We are told that their later works exceeded the first. They
did everything possible to glorify the Lord, and increased in their good deeds, their
love, their faith and their patience under trial. So the Lord commended them for
these worthy things and exhorted them to continue in them until His return in power
and in glory.

Something to Discuss
In addition to his desire to encourage the Christians in Thyatira, he Lord also had
something to discuss with them. He had something against them. He wrote, "I have
this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess
and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food
sacrificed to idols" (verse 20). The leadership of the local church was rebuked for
tolerating a false prophetess who was spreading false teaching in the fellowship,
which in turn bred immorality and idolatry among the members. It is significant that
the Lord referred to this woman as Jezebel. In the Old Testament, in 1 Kings, we find
that Jezebel was responsible for so much evil that took place in the reign of King
Ahab of Israel. We read a summary in one verse, (1 Kings 21:25), "There was none
who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom
Jezebel his wife incited." The power of that woman behind King Ahab was a
tremendous force for evil among God's people, and this woman had the potential of
doing exactly the same thing among God's people in Thyatira.

Christ-Given Authority
The whole issue facing the church in Thyatira was that of authority. We see this
clearly in the self-designation of Christ as the Son of God with authority to judge and
to rule. We see it, too, in the Jezebel-like woman, with her claim to teach with
prophetic authority; and finally in the promise given to the overcomers concerning
power over the nations, to rule them with a rod of iron. The failure of the church
leaders was a failure to exercise their Christ-given authority. In the discussion of
Revelation 2:12-17, we were concerned about the failure to exercise Christ-
appointed discipline in the church. Here it was failure to exercise Christ-given
authority in the church. When that happens, it leads to the same result: immorality
and idolatry. When every member arrogates to himself or herself authority in the
fellowship, the result is spiritual anarchy. But the question is what should a church
leader do, if some otherwise respectful member rises up in the congregation and
claims for himself or herself the prerogatives of the prophetic office? If someone gets
up in the local church, and says the Lord has given him the gift of prophecy, or some
other spiritual gift, and he begins to exercise authority in the church quite
independently of the appointed leaders of the local church, what should the local
church leadership do? Oftentimes it is not so much the individual's own claim, but
what others in the fellowship claim for him or her that presents the problem to the
local church leadership. We may with hindsight condemn the leadership in Thyatira,
but in your own local church, what would you do about it?


Test the Spirits
Scripture has not left us without guidance in the matter of what to do about church
members claiming authority for themselves independent of the church leadership.
The apostles and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, together with examples in the Old
Testament, give us guidance as to how we should deal with this situation or crisis of
authority in the local church. First of all, "Test the spirits to see whether they are of
God," says the Apostle John (1 John 4:1-3) and the acid test is the spirit's attitude to
the unique person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. That is the
test that the Apostle John recommends to us. Test the spirits, find out what their
attitude is to the person of Jesus Christ. You will soon discover whether it is the Spirit
of Christ, the Holy Spirit, or some other spirit. "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord' except
by the Holy Spirit," says the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 12:3). So you see there is a
way of finding out. If anyone gets up, claiming to have prophetic gifts, and begins to
cause confusion in the church, we must be patient; we must test the spirit; we must
inquire carefully what the attitude of this spirit is towards the Lord of the church, the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Scripture as Yardstick
In seeking to discern whether a potential leader in the church genuinely possesses
godly authority, we must examine the teaching of this prophet to see if it is apostolic
(see 1 Corinthians 14:29), and the yardstick to be used is the Scriptures. Let the
prophet or prophetess stand up and give his or her prophecy, but let those who are
in leadership examine what is said or taught. Listen carefully and compare what is
said with the Scriptures to see whether it is in agreement with the Scriptures. If the
message does not agree with the Scriptures, the Lord has not sent the prophet.
Whatever authority the person claims is not from the Lord, and he or she must be
rejected. The standard of test is the Scriptures, the apostolic writings that have been
given to the church. All this, of course, assumes that we ourselves as leaders know
the Scriptures through and through, not just in the quotation of isolated verses, but
the entire sense and teaching of the Scriptures. If we do not know the Scriptures
ourselves, anybody could get up and speak in the name of God, using familiar Bible
language, and lead the church astray. We will not be able to test what is said; we will
not be able to compare it with the teaching of the Scriptures and determine whether
it is from the Lord or not.

A Firm Foundation
Remember that many who claim to be prophets and prophetesses are not fools; they
will use religious phrases. If just because you recognize biblical terms you conclude,
"Well, it must be from the Lord," you may already be deceived. Listen to the whole
message carefully, and then examine the entire teaching to see whether it agrees
with Scripture. If it is not in agreement with the apostolic teaching, it is not from the
Lord. The teaching of the apostles and the prophets was given as the foundation of
the Church of Jesus Christ, of which He Himself is the cornerstone (see Ephesians
2:20). Their teaching is the firm foundation on which the Church is being built.

No Mangoes from Thorn Trees
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew
7:16). That is an infallible test, although it requires a lot of patience. It means that we
should allow time, and we should carefully watch the lives of those who are bringing
a new teaching to see how their lives and their teaching correspond. Is the fruit of
holiness seen in their lives? Is their attitude to the Lord Jesus Christ one of
reverence and submission to His Lordship and authority? Time will tell. "By their
fruits you will know them," and you will not gather mangoes from thorn trees!

Discerning Godliness
Moses provides us with another test which we can use in these difficult days to
discern the godliness and authenticity of Christian leaders. He said, in Deuteronomy
13:1-3, "If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams and gives you a sign
or a wonder, and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he
says, 'Let us go after other gods' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,'
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams." So,
regardless of the signs and wonders and miracles, whatever tempts us to
compromise our loyalty to King Jesus is anathema (accursed). We should never
forget that Satan can work signs and miracles; and if we are only looking for signs
and miracles we are undone. We must find out what their teaching is compared with
Scripture; what their attitude is to the Lord; what the spirit is behind the whole
movement.

Keeping Balance
While we are discerning the authenticity of a Christian leader or prophet, however, I
must add this, so that we get the balance. I know that our concern for the truth can
sometimes be used to thwart a genuine work of the Holy Spirit, just because it does
not fit into the patterns which we ourselves have set. Paul provides us with the
balanced attitude (see 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22): "Do not quench the Spirit, do not
despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every
form of evil." Now that beautifully summarizes the whole teaching and provides us
also with the proper balance. Church leaders should not oppose or suppress a new
movement just because it is disturbing to their comfortable peace. You may be guilty
of quenching the Holy Spirit if you do that. No one should claim that prophetic
utterances ceased when the apostolic Scriptures were completed. We have no
authority in Scripture to say that, yet that has become the dogmatic teaching of some
churches. All we are given in Scripture is a way of testing what is being claimed, both
the spirit and the teaching itself, as well as the lives of those who are presenting
themselves as prophets and prophetesses. If we apply the proper tests we will save
ourselves from, on the one hand, the danger of quenching the Spirit, and on the
other hand, the danger of tolerating error that will defile the body of Christ.

The Saltiness of Salt
All the tests that the Scriptures provide for us must be applied. The church leaders in
Thyatira were rebuked by the Lord because they had failed to do just that. We need
to take the Lord's warning about false prophets seriously. He took much time to warn
the disciples (and, through them, us) against the activities of false teachers and false
prophets (see Matthew 24). "Do not be led astray," He repeatedly warned the
disciples. It is often during the period of prolonged persecution or some crisis in the
church that false teachers arise and claim to bring a word from the Lord which will
resolve the situation. The policy of the particular seducer in Thyatira and her
followers seemed to be, "Well, if you cannot beat your adversaries, join them." That
seems to be wise counsel in many church situations today. Infiltrate the non-
Christian society, join their clubs and then begin to influence them from within. Now
that makes good sense, provided that when you join them the salt remains salt, and
the light is not overcome by the darkness. Very often those who take this course are
not as careful to maintain the saltiness of the salt, and to keep the light shining in the
midst of the darkness. They certainly did not do that in Thyatira, and so the Lord was
displeased. The long-suffering Lord had convicted the false teacher of the error of
her ways and given her time to repent. But she persistently refused to repent (verse
21). Therefore, her judgment was certain. There would be a painful protracted
sickness for her, and a violent death for her natural children. Her followers were
threatened with the same fate if they, too, would not repent of the immorality. The
way in which the Lord would judge and punish the impenitent compromisers would
draw His people's attention away from man and to Himself. He would act in such a
way that all eyes would be turned to Himself as the ultimate authority in His church
(verse 23).



Remain Steadfast and Faithful
The Lord exhorted His loyal followers who had not submitted to the false teaching to
remain steadfast and faithful lo the end. They should continue in their good deeds,
love, faith, service and patience until He comes. That was all the burden He would
lay upon them.
We have seen that, although there was a powerful minority in the local church who
were causing trouble, the generality of the members in Thyatira were faithful to
Christ. In a local church you will always find that the majority of the people really
want to go on with Jesus, walking with Him day by day in obedience. It is usually a
small elitist group among them who shout loudest, and claim access to new insights
hidden from the rest. But the Lord exhorted His people just to continue faithful and
loyal to Him. All He requires of us is to carry on in the teaching we have received,
and to bear the fruits that really please Him.

Sharing in His Royal Splendour
We saw that the issue in Thyatira was the exercise of authority. Christ's loyal and
faithful servants who overcome through their glad submission to his Lordship are
promised a share in the exercise of His kingly authority over the nations (verse 26
and 27). They will also receive the morning star, which may be interpreted as a
share in Christ's royal splendour (verse 28). We find in Revelation 20:4 that the
exercise of kingly authority in which the Lord invites His faithful servants to share,
has to do with the final judgment. At the final judgment when the Lord sits in His
kingly authority to judge the nations, His servants who have remained faithful to Him,
even unto death, will also sit on thrones beside Him, judging the nations. They will
also share His royal splendour. Christ is described here as the morning star; and as
the morning star He rules the heavens, so believers will rule with Christ. They will
share His royal splendour, His kingly glory.

Lifting Up the Local Church
The Lord concluded His message to His people in Thyatira with the familiar
exhortation, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." I
would like us, too, to try to apply the Spirit's message to ourselves in our own day
and generation. The local church still remains in the center of God's purposes to
reach out to mankind. We have no right, therefore, to set the local church aside in
seeking to do God's work in this world. The local church may have failed many times,
but the Head of the Church still uses it as His main instrument to accomplish His will
in a particular place. Therefore we may not despise the local church. If we judge it
weak, we should pour whatever strength the Lord has given to us in lifting it up. Our
aim should be to help it to function effectively as the Lord would have it. We may not
despise and set it aside, because the Lord has not made any other arrangement for
carrying out His will, on a long-term basis, apart from the local church.

Jesus Must Increase
We have seen the tests that need to be applied to discover if a particular prophetic
gift is genuine. But even genuine gilts and ministries can cause divisions in the local
church. The tension may arise both on the part of the church leadership and on the
part of the individual or group who senses the call of the Lord. Since we are dealing
with genuine rather than counterfeit gifts, the source of the problem must be in the
attitude of both sides to the situation. The leaders of the local church may feel
threatened by the new group rising up in the fellowship. There may even be a feeling
of envy and jealousy, and a desire to suppress or frustrate the new movement. The
Bible contains examples of this. Joshua was jealous when the spirit of prophecy was
also given to Eldad and Medad, and wanted Moses to forbid them. But Moses
rebuked him instead for his jealousy (see Numbers 11:27--29). The disciples of John
the Baptist envied the success of Jesus and His followers who were attracting more
crowds than their master. But John rejoiced at the news and explained to his
disciples that "He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease" (see John 3:26-30).
Again, John and the other disciples, moved with jealousy, forbade a man from
casting out demons in Jesus' name; but the Lord taught them not to do that again
(see Mark 9:38-40). The lesson is clear. In the work of the Lord there is no room for
self interest or self-promotion. The leadership of the church should be concerned
only with the glory of the Lord; they should be completely open to fresh ways in
which the Spirit of the Lord may work towards this goal in the congregation.

Equipped to Serve
The attitude of a new group or individual raised up for some specific ministry in the
local church must be one of humility and submission (see 1 Peter 5:5). Spiritual gifts
are given to equip us to serve, and not necessarily to lead God's people. If we make
it our aim to serve the Lord's people with humility and patience, the leaders of the
local church will the more readily recognize the value of our contribution and make
room for it.
Because of human sinfulness and spiritual insensitivity, we must face the fact that
sometimes separation is inevitable. If the leaders of the church refuse to recognize
our special gifts, we may be led by the Spirit to join another church where there is
opportunity to serve. On a rare occasion we may be guided to launch out on our
own, or with a small group to start a fresh witness in a needy area. Whatever
happens, our parting should be without bitterness, but rather with earnest prayer that
the Lord Himself may bring about better understanding and reconciliation at the right
time.

A Dead Church
The question we are faced with here is this: "Is there such a thing as a dead
church?" The answer, sad to say, is, "Yes." The Lord Jesus Himself says so
concerning this church in Sardis. "I know your works; you have the name of being
alive, and you are dead." That was His message to the local church in Sardis
through its leadership. The church had a reputation of being alive; but, said the Lord
of the churches, "You are dead."
Let us look at some of the essential marks of a dead church according to Jesus
Christ. There may still be works, commendable activities and generally helpful
service which a church is engaged in that, on closer examination and spiritual
evaluation, have little value before the Lord. "I have not found your works perfect (or
acceptable) in the sight of my God" (verse 2). Truly Christian works are the fruits of
faith, a living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and they are motivated and carried out in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Such deeds or activities are acceptable to God because
they are primarily Christ-confessing. But so much otherwise commendable service
done by a dead church is not acceptable to God because it is motivated by
something other than the Holy Spirit, namely the flesh. It draws attention to someone
else other than the Lord, namely human pride. This is the first sign of a dead church.
It carries on activities and services and, generally speaking, these are beneficial. But
when the Lord evaluates the whole thing in the light of eternity, they do not stand the
test. The works are never carried through to completion and acceptance in the sight
of the Father.

The Letter of Christ
The second mark of a dead church is a name and a reputation which do not belong.
"You have the name of being alive, and you are dead" (verse 1). A dead church
exists on the fame and reputation of a former godly generation. At one time in its
history, the church in Sardis had real saints who stood firm for Christ, and whose
shining testimony became known in the locality. They were truly "the letter of Christ,
known and read by all men" in that community (see 2 Corinthians 3:2, 3). But alas,
that generation had gone on to their reward, and a different generation had arisen in
the church which still bore the name and cashed in on the reputation and fame of the
former generation. But they did not show the same faith and faithfulness toward the
Lord; they certainly did not know the reality of the power of the Holy Spirit which
marked the former generation. They were boasting of a reputation which did not
belong to them. The traditions, activities and ceremonies which at one time were the
expressions of a fervent worship and acceptable service may still be observed by a
dead church as a religious habit. But the spirit and the power have long since
departed.
Is it not surprising that, at a period of severe testing for all the churches, we do not
read of any persecution in Sardis? Is that not an indication of their utter failure to be
light-bearers for the Lord Jesus Christ? They were not being persecuted because,
apparently, the devil did not see anything worth bothering about in that place. Satan
left them in peace. They were completely at peace - the peace of the cemetery!

The Faithful Few
Did I say that the spirit and power had long since departed from the dead church?
Almost, but not quite. It is quite consistent with a dead church to find there a few
members who resist the spiritual decay and pursue personal holiness, and so
preserve their spiritual garments unsoiled. The Lord acknowledged the faithful few
still there in Sardis, who were seeking to be faithful to Him in the midst of the
prevailing spiritual decay. This is another mark of a dead church. When you enter the
congregation it is like entering a refrigerator - spiritually cold and unwelcoming! But
look hard and patiently enquire and you will find one or two spiritually minded
believers with whom you can have fellowship. But you have to do a lot of searching
before you find them!
The Lord takes account of individual members and their personal faithfulness in the
midst of the prevailing corporate spiritual decay. The faithful remnant may become
God's agents for renewal and revival in the entire fellowship. If they are humble and
prayerful, free from spiritual pride and self-righteousness and a holier-than-thou
attitude, the Lord can use them to kindle a fresh flame in the dead church. But they
have to be instruments that the Lord can use. To seek to preserve one's personal
holiness is one thing, but to be a fit channel of the Lord's renewing grace in a dead
church is sometimes another thing altogether. If we are going to be prophets to call
our people back to God, we must at the same time be priests to weep and pray for
them in secret. If we are not prepared to undertake the priestly duty, we should not
assume the prophetic office.

The Way of Recovery
It is possible in a dead church to find certain things that are at "the point of death,"
but they have not quite died. I think we can safely say that a Christian church may
never be said to be totally dead. That is a contradiction in terms. If it is Christian at
all, there will always remain those things which may be at the point of death, but
which may yet be strengthened and recovered. The place of God's word and prayer,
and the practice of brotherly love and care may be among those things that remain,
albeit at "the point of death" in a dead church. The neglect of these and other means
of grace is the sure sign of a dying church. But the dimly burning wick of the local
church's corporate witness to salvation and life in the Lord Jesus Christ may still be
recovered from total loss.
In this letter to the local church at Sardis the Lord graciously gives us the steps to
spiritual recovery. Many of us come from churches which can be described spiritually
as dead. It is the particular peril of the second and third generation church. So let us
consider carefully what the Lord says about the way of recovery (verse 3).

Recalling the Marvels of God's Grace
First, "remember." Remember what you have received and how you have received it.
This is a very important principle. Recovery begins when we recall how, through
God's mercy and the sacrificial ministry of the Gospel messengers, the precious
message of faith and life in Christ was brought to us, heard, and received by us.
Forgetfulness is the peculiar sin of the second- and third-generation Christians and
churches. You find this in the Scriptures. In Judges 2:10 we are told how, after
Joshua and the generation which saw the marvelous works of the Lord in the desert
had died, Israel got into trouble. There arose another generation who did not know
the Lord or die work which He had done for Israel. So what did they do? They
abandoned Jehovah, the God of Israel, and joined themselves with the heathen
around them in worshiping the false gods of the Canaanites (Judges 2:12).
Very often, those who remain faithful to the Lord in a dead church are the people
who recall the marvels of God's grace, and the sacrifices of those who brought them
the Gospel.

Preparing the Next Generation
We should pray earnestly that by God's grace we may be able to preserve our own
garments from being soiled. But also, that the Lord may use us to bless the masses
of our people in local churches that can only be described as dead. We must pray for
revival and renewal for congregations who know very little of real Christianity and the
power of it. At the same time we must take steps to prepare the succeeding
generation. They need to be instructed in the truth so that in their turn they can stand
faithfully for the Lord Jesus Christ, and not succumb to the forces of spiritual decay.

We find in Deuteronomy that the Lord was very concerned about this matter of
memory (see Deuteronomy 8). The main purpose of the appointed feasts was so
that Israel would always remember what the Lord had done for their salvation. They
were to wear God's commands on their hands and foreheads, and write them on
their door-posts and gates as easy reminders. Children were to be taught what the
Lord had done for the past generation and what He was able to do for them in their
own generation if they would obey Him. As Israel was commanded to keep the
memory fresh, so the Lord says, "Remember." Remember what you have received
and how you have received it.

An Eternal Inheritance
Remember what you have received and keep it. There were things in the church at
Sardis which were at the point of death. They were to be recovered and kept as
precious. We, too, must treasure the enjoyment of our inheritance in Christ enough
to mourn for its loss, and to long for its recovery and repossession. If we would
recover and keep those things, we need to go back to the Scriptures to consider
afresh the inheritance the Lord has purchased for us with His own blood. We must
meditate upon them until we feel and mourn our loss; that we are not enjoying our
spiritual inheritance as we ought. Then we will be driven to real prayer; praying to the
Lord to forgive us our sins, and to restore to us the joy of our salvation. We will hold
on to those things that are at the point of death. Remember and keep; treasure and
possess it. It is an eternal inheritance. Do not let it slip out of your grasp. Mourn for
its loss and pray for its recovery.

Repenting to Recover
In order to recover true religion in a dead church, there must be repentance.
Repentance implies a turning from as well as a turning to. If we would recover
spiritual life and vitality in Christ, we must turn from the sin of proud self-confidence,
which was the particular sin of Sardis. They were too confident in themselves and so
they relaxed their grip on the spiritual treasure, which then slipped away quietly with
hardly anyone noticing. The path of backsliding was so smooth. We find this
illustrated in the secular history of Sardis, and I think there is a strong allusion to it
here.
History records that the city of Sardis was captured twice, in 549 BC and again in
218 BC by enemies, in spite of its impregnable defences. It was built on a rocky
promontory with sheer sides all round, except for a narrow strip of land linking it to
the rest of the countryside, which was easily guarded. The city was confident that it
was invincible. Yet twice the enemy climbed in by the side which was not guarded,
the place that they thought was most secure. The enemy troops were mountaineers,
and they climbed through the crevices in the rocks. They did not go by the way that
was guarded. Under the cover of darkness they penetrated the defences, and twice
by this method Sardis was conquered and taken by enemies. This is an important
lesson for us. We may think we know our weak points well, and that we have taken
adequate steps to guard them; for the rest, we can go to sleep! But we have
forgotten that we have an enemy who can outwit us at any time, were it not for the
grace of God. Satan is crafty and knows how to come in, even in these areas we
think we are most secure. We delude ourselves if we relax our vigilance and prayer.
While we sleep at night the enemy will come in like a thief and we are defeated.
But we must turn to, as well as turn from; and the One we turn to is the Lord of the
churches who alone has the answer to our need.

Weep for Them in Secret
The Holy Spirit is Christ's agent to renew His Church, to impart life and to keep it
alive. So often, it is when we grieve the Holy Spirit through sin and impenitence that
our problems begin. Oh, that the Lord will send forth revival! Surely this is not a
luxury the church can do without at the present time, with the marks of spiritual
decay all around us. At the same time, we should pray that the Lord will send forth
fiery ministers to preach His Word with power to His people; that in our pulpits the
Gospel may be preached not in word only, as is so often the case, but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (see 1 Thessalonians 1:5). Men and
women will then be converted and renewed. If we desire to see this happen, we
must search our hearts and turn from our own wicked ways. Then we must identify
ourselves with the sins of the churches to which we belong and weep for them in
secret as we bring them before God as priests, praying that the Lord will both forgive
and cleanse us and send forth His Spirit to renew his people.
This then is the way of recovery -- remember, keep, repent.

The Way of Holiness
The letter to the church in Sardis closes with a promise and a warning. The promise
is to whoever conquers, and the way of victory is the same as the steps to spiritual
recovery which we have outlined previously. It is the way of holiness. If we would
inherit the promises, we must follow the way of holiness. The three specific things
that the Lord indicated in His promise underline the need for holiness among His
people. The "white garments" signify righteousness, the manifestation of holiness.
The white garments are mentioned many times in the Book of Revelation (see
chapters 3:4; 7:13, 14, and in chapter 19 verse 8 where the white garments are the
wedding dress of the Bride of Christ).
Again Christ promised secure names in the book of life. The victor will be written into
Christ's book as belonging to Him forever. He says, "I will not blot his name out."
That tells us two things. The names of God's people are already written in God's
book. "I will not," He says; and He expresses it in the negative for emphasis. If you
would be faithful to your Lord in this way, you can be certain that your name is there.
Our assurance in this life that we really are in the Lamb's book of life has to do with
the way we live. Do you want to know whether you are among God's elect? God
chose His people for holiness (see Ephesians 1:4). Do you long for holiness? If you
do not long for holiness, you will not be disappointed. You are not included. But if
you long to be holy and are pressing on toward the mark, regardless of what you
have attained, you can be sure that your name is there and that the Lord will
certainly not blot it out. That is His promise. A rich entrance will be yours into the
eternal kingdom, and you can here and now enjoy the assurance that you are on the
highway to heaven. All we need to do is to be preoccupied with the things that
please and gladden the heart of our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Everlasting Honour
The Lord promised the victor a presentation at the royal court in heaven. "I will
confess his name before my Father and before his angels" (verse 5). I will own him
as Mine, as one of My redeemed; one of My precious jewels recovered from the
dung hills of this world. The Lord will bestow everlasting honour on you in the
assembly that matters the most, in the royal courts of heaven. You will be presented
there before His majesty and before all the angelic hosts, and Christ Himself will do
the presentation!
Is not that a tremendous thing? You and I are nonentities in this world. We are
"nobodies" in the eyes of the world. But you and I have this prospect of entering into
the heavenly palaces; there to stay because owned by the King as His forever!
Would to God He would give us this perspective throughout our earthly life that the
things that are seen are passing away. It is the unseen things which are real and
eternal: it is these things that should control the way we live. When the unseen
realities control our perspective we are given the strength to live our lives in the way
that pleases the Lord.

Rich Promises
The Lord makes rich promises to all who will be faithful to Him here and now. But if
before men and women here on earth we are ashamed to be identified with the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is a sure sign that we have no inheritance with Him up there in
heaven. If we confess Him here and identify ourselves with Him, in His sufferings
and concern for His Church, in everything that advances His kingdom, He in turn
promises He will acknowledge and honour us in the royal assembly of heaven. It all
has to do with holiness. Without holiness, no man, no woman shall see the Lord.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).

A Solemn Responsibility
The Lord warned His church in Sardis in no uncertain terms: "If you will not awake, I
will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you" (verse
3). If the promise to the victors is explicitly spelled out, the warning to the
unrepentant is left a mystery, at least to us. But for the inhabitants of Sardis the
warning was a pointed one. You will remember the historical background I cited
earlier. There was another incident in the history of Sardis. This impregnable city on
its rocky promontory was shaken to its foundations by an earthquake in the year
AD17. Again, without any warning; and the Lord said that is the way He would visit
them in judgment if they remained unrepentant. They knew very well the sudden
destruction that the earthquake caused, and they could therefore imagine the painful
effect that the Lord's chastening would have.
In order to drive home the continuing relevance of this message to us also, as
applicable today as it was to Sardis, the Lord added, "He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says (note, "says" in the present tense) to the churches" (verse
6). We belong to churches that are in the main dead; there are few things that
remain spiritually valuable in His sight, and even these are at the point of death. We
have a tremendous and solemn responsibility, not only to keep our own garments
unsoiled, but to be the means by which the Lord renews His people.
May the Lord give us grace to be worthy of this trust.

Consistent With the Honour
The Philadelphian Christians were full of remarkable deeds, out of all proportion to
their "little power," as the Lord Himself testified (verse 8). Historically this was true.
They indeed had little power both in terms of numerical strength as well as economic
power; they were nowhere as rich as their neighbours in Laodicea. The pagan
society did not take much account of them, because they were apparently
insignificant, and had no social influence. Nevertheless, they kept Christ's word in all
faithfulness. They were obedient to the will of the Lord as they knew it from His
Word. Furthermore, they did not deny Christ's name.
The emphatic negative indicates that they were under pressure at times to deny His
name. But they resisted the temptation and remained pure; they remained faithful to
the Lord Jesus Christ. They faithfully followed the Lord's teaching and lived in a way
consistent with the honour of Christ whose name they bore. Moreover, they
maintained their testimony, not in a society neutral or indifferent to the Christian
message, but one that was viciously opposed to it. In particular, they faced
continually the antagonism of an arrogant religious sect, self-styled Jews, whom the
Lord denounced as the "synagogue of Satan" (verse 9). But through it all they stood
the test and reverenced the name of the Lord through their patient endurance (verse
10). What a testimony to the faithfulness of a local church!

The Door of Opportunity
Notice the beautiful reflection of Christ Himself in this local church in Philadelphia, in
the purity of its teaching and the holiness of its life. The Lord introduced Himself to
His people as the holy One and the true One because they wonderfully reflected His
holiness and the purity of His teaching in their lives, right there in Philadelphia. In
every way they constituted a "letter of Christ," known and read by all the pagan and
persecuting Philadelphians.
The Lord responded to this church's commendable loyalty and commitment in three
ways. First, He opened to them the door of opportunity (verse 8). They were
promised the opportunity to witness even more boldly for their Lord in Philadelphia.
Here is a spiritual principle which runs through the whole of the New Testament. It is
the principle of stewardship. Those who are faithful in the use of their limited
opportunity, the Lord counts them as worthy to be entrusted with much more.
Whatever therefore the Lord has entrusted to us, whatever the opportunities He has
given to us in our own local situation, let us serve him faithfully; He will open more
doors of opportunity before us.

Far Greater Things
The Lord will not entrust to us greater opportunities if we have proved unfaithful in
the little ones. There is today a healthy interest in the potential of the church in Africa
for cross-cultural missionary endeavour. Let us learn the lesson well. To qualify for
the Lord to send us out as cross-cultural missionaries we must be eager in taking the
evangelistic opportunities where He has placed us now. We must prove our gifts at
home before we venture out. It is not getting into an airplane and going across the
sea to another people that makes one a missionary. The Lord calls and appoints His
servant or messenger before He sends him out. The going, therefore, does not make
you the missionary. If you are not exercising a missionary concern where you are
now, you will not be fruitful out there. Therefore make full use of the opportunities
given to you here and now and witness boldly in your present circumstances. Then
you will find the Lord opening more doors of opportunity before you as you go on.

The Lord entrusts to us just as much as our capacity for obedience and commitment
has developed; not more than that. He tested the Philadelphian Christians and He
found them faithful in the little; now He was going to entrust them with far greater
things. He introduced what he was about to do for them with the word of
exclamation, "Behold" (verse 9). This little flock could hardly believe what the Lord
was going to do through them! He promised them unusual harvest from among the
most unlikely candidates of conversion. "I will make them (your enemies) come and
bow down before your feet, and to learn that I have loved you" (verse 9). The people
who were persecuting them, those counterfeit Jews of the synagogue of Satan,
would soon see such a manifestation of God's love in this little flock that they would
fall on their knees before the Christians and be blessed by Jesus Christ their Lord.

Open Hearts
The Lord is able not only to provide us an open door, but to open hearts as well. He
opened the heart of Lydia to receive the Gospel, and even conquered the heart of
Paul the persecutor to make him a messenger of the Word of Life. There is a
beautiful illustration of the Lord's power over His enemies in Isaiah 60. The Lord
revealed to the prophet what He was going to do to the enemies of His people -
those who had persecuted them: "The sons of those who afflicted you will come
bowing to you, and all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of
your feet; and they will call you the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of
Israel" (Isaiah 60:14). The Lord is able to make good this promise in our own day as
He did for the church in Philadelphia. Many of us live and work among people of
hostile ideologies and resurgent religions that are no friends of the Christian faith.
The Lord is calling us and encouraging us through this message to the
Philadelphians to remain faithful to Him; pure in doctrine, holy in life and fervent in
our commitment to Him.

The Key of David
In His own time Christ will open the door of opportunity so that those who are now
opposed and incensed against Him and His Gospel may have their eyes opened to
see the King and to bow their knees to Him. They will come and share in the
experience of His love for us His redeemed people. Note again that what guaranteed
both the open door of opportunity and the ingathering of the spiritual harvest was not
the Philadelphia church's little power, but the sovereign authority of the One who has
the key of David. We may consider our own inadequacy and wonder how such a
promise could be fulfilled in our own situation. But it is not dependent upon our
weakness. It is entirely dependent upon the sovereign power and authority of the
One who has the key of David, before whom iron gates must yield. Let us not be
faithless but believing. He is able; His hand is not shortened that He cannot save.
Remember that our risen Lord who has sent us to go and make disciples of all
nations first assured the apostles of His sovereign authority in heaven and on earth
and then promised His abiding presence with us to the close of the age (Matthew
28:18-20).

No Standing Still
The third promise which the Lord gave to the church in Philadelphia in response to
their faithfulness and commitment to Him was protection from a certain hour of
testing which would come on the whole world (verse 10). This is a reference to a
time of tribulation, Satan's last fling, as it were, at the people of God all over the
world before his final doom. In Revelation 11:7; 13:7 and 20:7-9, references are
made to the testing times that are coming upon all mankind, including the believers.
But the Lord made a promise to His people. He will keep them. Is that not wonderful?
If we are faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, we can leave our security entirely in His
blessed hands. He, after all, owns us; whether we live or die we are His; and we are
assured that "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm
116:15). He does not spend the life of His people for nothing, but when He sows
them like seeds, it is in order that they may bear a rich harvest. He has the power to
protect those that are His own; so let us leave our security and our well-being
entirely in His hands, and make the seeking of His kingdom our first and only priority.
He will take care of all other things that concern our welfare both here and hereafter.
Now the Lord Jesus appealed to the fact of His soon return, with rich rewards for His
faithful servants, to motivate them to steadfast and fruitful service (verse 11). In the
spiritual life there is no standing still; we are either advancing forward or backsliding.
Hence "hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown." The crown
refers to the assurance of our inheritance in the Lord.

No Shrinking Back
The backslider has no assurance whatsoever that he is Christ's in his backsliding. In
his spiritual carelessness, he has lost his crown - the joyful assurance of his
salvation. Of course we know doctrinally that he is not lost; even though backslidden,
he is still the Lord's. But he himself has no subjective assurance that he belongs to
the Lord. We must hold fast to faithfulness and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ
and not allow ourselves to be robbed of our joy and assurance in Him. Peter, in his
second letter, explains what it means to "hold fast what you have." Rich and precious
promises have been given to us by which we are to be preserved from the corruption
that is in the world and become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
It is for this very reason that we must make every effort to supplement our faith with
goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and
love. We do this by the study, meditation and obedience of God's Word, prayer,
worship and the practice of caring love in the Christian fellowship and beyond it. If
we neglect this exercise, we become short-sighted and lacking in assurance. We
may even begin to wonder whether we have ever been saved. May none of us be
found shrinking back, as the writer to the Hebrews puts it, throwing away our
confidence in the Lord which has a great reward: "for yet in a very little while, he who
is coming will come and will not delay" (see Hebrews 10:35-39).

Pillars in the Temple
There is a two-fold promise to the overcomers (verse 12). The first promise is to
become a pillar in God's temple. The city of Philadelphia, we are told, honoured its
worthy citizens by erecting memorial pillars to their name in one of the temples.
Christ will honour His worthy servants by making them pillars in the temple of His
Father, there to abide eternally.
In Isaiah 56:4-5 a similar honour is promised to those who serve the Lord faithfully.
There was no permanence to the honours bestowed by Philadelphia on its citizens.
The city was prone to earthquakes and occasionally the pillars fell. But in the temple
of God your memorial and name will abide eternally. We receive a kingdom that
cannot be shaken; there will be no earthquakes there, and our names will be
honoured there eternally. We in Africa have seen many mighty statues toppled down
overnight, following the frequent changes in politics and political leaders. We need
no reminders that pillars and memorials do not last here on earth. Therefore we
should not waste our time erecting pillars to our honour here on earth.

Citizens of the New Jerusalem
The Lord will stamp His name and that of His Father, on those honoured by the King
of kings and the Lord of heaven. There is a double sense of belonging here; God is
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Saviour, and we belong to both and are
honoured by them as citizens of the New Jerusalem.
Some of us spend much time getting a passport. Without one you cannot cross from
one country to another. Here is the Christian's passport. When he gets to the
heavenly immigration barrier and produces his passport the angels will acknowledge,
"Yes, he belongs, he is a child of Zion and must have free access because the name
of the Lord is stamped on it." The central idea of the promise, therefore, is that the
Lord's faithful servants enjoy a complete sense of belonging, and a wide open door
into the presence of the living God. They are not strangers but citizens of the new
Jerusalem, belonging to God and to His Christ forever. What a wonderful privilege is
ours in the Lord!

Solid Joys and Lasting Treasure
May the Lord encourage us to be faithful to Him. We are surrounded by many
difficulties and many enemies of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But He
encourages us to persevere in faithfulness and commitment to Him. He who is holy
and true longs for us to reflect His holiness and truth in our lives and circumstances.
If we remain faithful to Him in our present opportunities, He promises a wider open
door of opportunity before us. He will entrust us with a harvest beyond our dreams
and expectations. When our service on earth is fulfilled, we will have a lasting
memorial in His presence. We will be like honoured pillars in His temple for eternity.
And well may we sing with the hymn writer:
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
Saviour, if of Zion's city
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy name:
Fading is the worldling's pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion's children know.
An Unqualified Amen
As with the other six churches, the Lord's introduction of Himself to the church in
Laodicea was exactly appropriate to the issues He was going to take up with it. He
introduced Himself in three ways. He is the "Amen." The Lord meant by this that He
is the "Yes" to all the promises of God.
The Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian Christians, "The Son of God, Jesus Christ,
whom we preached among you... was not Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes.
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen
through him, to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 1:19, 20). The Lord Jesus is the only
One in whom God is propitious to us sinners; through Him are we saved by grace
alone. Now the Laodicean church must make up its mind as to whether it would
affirm the truth with an unqualified Amen or not.

The Faithful and True Witness
The Lord also introduced Himself to the church at Laodicea as "the faithful and true
witness." He is the only one whose knowledge of true reality is complete, and
therefore whose testimony is final.
And, He introduced Himself as "the beginning of God's creation." He is the beginning
in the sense of source and originator. Writing to the Colossians, Paul asserted, "For
in him all things were created...through him and for him" (Col. 1:16). He is God's
appointed heir of all things (see Hebrews 1:2). All creation, we are told, coheres in
Christ, who upholds the universe by His word of power. Now the point is clear. He
who created everything out of nothing may be trusted to mend what has gone wrong
in His church. That was His message to the Laodicean church. But what was the real
trouble in Laodicea?

Cold or Hot?
The problem with the church in Laodicea was that of a complete conformity to the
world around them. We have in Laodicea the logical conclusion when a church
becomes in every way conformed to the world. Here are the marks of this tragic
spiritual malaise. First, the Laodiceans were neither cold nor hot. That is a telling
illustration which the Lord took from the water supply of Laodicea. Situated in the
neighbourhood of hot springs, the city obtained its water supply from the springs by a
system of aqueducts which carried the water into the city. Consequently, by the time
the water reached the city, it was literally neither cold nor hot.
The Laodicean church was apparently not out and out apostate. They had not
renounced their faith in Christ; but neither was there anything at all in their lifestyle,
their deeds, words or attitudes that marked them as Christians. The Lord wished
they were consistent, one way or the other: "Would that you were cold or hot!" On
the contrary their lukewarmness was so sickening that it made the Lord of glory want
to vomit. Now that may sound somewhat irreverent and strong, but that was exactly
the word the Lord used. He was so sick as He observed this local church that He felt
like He could vomit!

Badges of Spirituality
A second sign of the spiritual disease in the church of Laodicea was that they were
sadly deluded concerning their true state. Their sense of values had become
completely worldly. Laodicea boasted, "I am rich, I have prospered, and I need
nothing." As a local church they were saying they were completely self-reliant and
comfortable, quite unaware of what was really true concerning them. They spoke
about their wealth and self-reliance as though those were the supreme badges of
spirituality. They had forgotten what the Lord said: "A man's life does not consist in
the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). The One who is "the faithful and
true witness" had a completely different assessment of their real state. They were
wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. How pathetic when a deluded person
glories in the things of which he should be ashamed! Their very language showed
the extent to which they had conformed to the world around them.
History records that there was a devastating earthquake which partly destroyed the
city of Laodicea. The Roman senate offered the Laodicean authorities a generous
grant towards the reconstruction of the city. But the proud, self-sufficient Laodiceans
declined the offer in the very terms the Lord quoted here: "I am rich and I have
become wealthy and I have need of nothing." The Lord was referring them to their
own history, to illustrate how much the church had become worldly and conformed.
They were now, in effect, telling the Lord, "We are rich, we are alright, and we do not
really have needs such as other lesser mortals have."

In the World, But Not of It
Think how sick and sad the Lord Jesus Christ must be as He looks at some of our
local churches that have completely conformed to the world. The church, we are told,
should be in the world but not of it; but in so many of our local churches you can
hardly distinguish between what is of the world and what is of the Lord. The world
has succeeded in pressing us into its mould, so that outwardly when anyone looks at
some of our people he cannot tell whether they are Christian at all. There is nothing
that marks them out as the light-bearers of the Lord Jesus Christ in the community.
The sad thing is that in spite of our desperate spiritual need, our church leaders can
be resentful if anyone approaches them, whether from the congregation or outside,
with suggestions as to how the situation could be improved. We rightly affirm the
centrality of the local church in the purposes of God. But this does not mean the local
church is self-sufficient, or that it can do without the help of other Christian
organizations raised up and gifted by the Lord Jesus Christ for specific ministries.
We should not denounce parachurch organizations. They, too, have a call from the
Lord. Oftentimes it is because the local church has neglected its mission that the
Lord branched out to raise an alternative testimony for Himself in a particular place.
Ideally, the mission of the local church should effectively cover all that parachurch
organizations are doing now. However, the situation in our local churches is far from
the ideal, and we must thankfully recognize and welcome the complementary
ministry of other bodies raised up by the Lord of the church. Some of these
organizations specialize in evangelism among young people, Christian literature,
radio ministry and relief work. Laodicea made the mistake of telling the Lord of the
church Himself that it had need of nothing, it was self-sufficient; but it was wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind and naked without realizing it.

The Deceitfulness of Riches
Very often, delusion is brought about by material prosperity. The New Testament
warns us concerning the deceitfulness of riches (see 1Timothy 6:9, 10 and 17). It is
the moment we think we have all the money to do whatever we want to do, that we
begin to cease relying upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. At both
the local church and international levels, the prevailing prayerlessness is clear
evidence of how much Christians have conformed to the world. We evidently do not
feel the need to pray. Prayer after all is for those who are dependent, but we are self-
sufficient. We have the wisdom to lay out our plans and strategies, and we have the
money to carry them through. Why should we pray? Therefore prayerlessness is one
great indication of our spiritual poverty and our conformity to the world around us.
May the Lord deliver us and protect us and the churches from the deceitfulness of
riches.

That You May See
Now let us consider the Lord's gracious offer to the Laodicean church; and if their
situation was so desperate, then nowhere in the messages we have been
considering does the splendour of God's grace shine with such unrivalled beauty as
here. I stand amazed at the gracious way in which the Lord dealt with this church.
Any of our evangelical agencies would have written the church off long ago as a
hopeless case but the Lord was so gracious and tender. The Lord of glory made a
four-fold offer to this unworthy church.
First, He offered them true riches. He said to them in effect, "I see you are interested
in being rich, but what you have gathered for yourself is not riches at all. Open your
hands and see what is there. What have you got? Ashes. Come to Me and I will give
you true riches. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may be
rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness
from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see." True riches in
place of the sham is what the Lord offered to His people in Laodicea.

Christ's Strong Love Reproves
Christ assured the church in Laodicea of His love, in spite of all that was true of
them. To me this is almost unbelievable. The Lord said to them: "Those whom I love,
I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent" (verse 19). Turn away from the
sinful way; turn back to Me, because I love you and My reproves are a proof of that.
If ever any of us had doubts as to whether the Laodiceans were Christian at all, here
surely is our answer. The Lord's strong love reproves and disciplines His own
redeemed children. The writer to the Hebrews takes up the same theme: "My son, do
not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished
by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom
he receives. It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons;
for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without
discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not
sons" (Hebrews 12:5-8, see also Proverbs 3:11, 12).
The reason why the Lord was concerned about the congregation in Laodicea was
that they were Christians; they were His. If they had renounced Him, He would have
renounced them too, and they would have become apostate. In that case He would
not send a message to them, because it would not do them any good. But He
acknowledged them as His own, and was deeply concerned about their desperate
situation; hence His gracious call to them to be zealous and repent. It is only a son
who suddenly realizes that what is done to him is done for his good, and who
determines to mend his ways.

I Stand at the Door and Knock
Jesus also offered the church in Laodicea a fulfilling fellowship: "Behold, I stand at
the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to
him and eat with him, and he with me" (verse 20). If what the Lord had said to them
up to this point had awakened their Christian conscience, and corrected their
distorted sense of values, they would have begun to see their real plight. Friendship
with the world had cost them the enjoyment of their Lord's fellowship, and they no
longer experienced the smiles of His countenance upon them. A Christian who
conforms to the world always forfeits for himself the fellowship of the Lord. He no
longer enjoys the smiles of the Lord upon him, because he has become a friend of
the world. If the Lord still smiled upon us when we turned to our wayward paths,
what incentive would there be to turn back to Him? A good father will never do that to
his son whom he loves; why should the Lord do so to us? When my son disobeys
me, I do not offer him sweets! I do not cease to love him, but I frown to let him know
that I am displeased with his behaviour. Then I wait patiently until he comes to
apologize.

Never Far Away
If the consciences of the members of the church in Laodicea had been awakened,
they would feel the sense of having grieved the Holy Spirit, and being, as it were, on
the wrong side of their Lord. It is only to those who are so convicted by the Holy
Spirit that the words of our gracious Lord come like refreshing springs to a thirsty
soul: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Many of us can testify how these
"beholds" of our Lord Jesus Christ have often surprised convicted souls with the joy
of salvation and recovery. He speaks to convict us first of our need; then when we
begin to sense our real need, He comes with the refreshing offer of restoration:
"Behold here am I, standing at the door all this while and knocking."
The Lord denied them His fellowship on account of unacknowledged need and
unrepented sin; but He was never far away from them at any time. He is like a father
who reproves his son of some misbehaviour and then goes into his study. As he sits
there he prays that his son may be convicted of his offense so that he will knock at
the study door and come in to say, "I am sorry."

Weeping Back into Fellowship
The longing of the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, our compassionate Saviour, is to
meet the crying need of our hearts for fellowship. As soon as the backslider begins
to feel the conviction of his sinful worldliness, he becomes acutely conscious that he
does not belong to the world. Then he begins to turn his eyes away from the world.
But before he is fully restored to conscious fellowship with the Lord Jesus, he feels a
tremendous sense of loneliness. He knows he does not belong to the world; at the
same time, he is keenly aware that he has offended his Lord. That is the time when
Christians need to surround him with love and let him feel the warmth of acceptance
back into the fold.
Those of us who are under-shepherds must have our eyes open all the time to see
whether the prodigals are on their way back home, so that we may run to meet them
before they are discouraged along the way. I have often thought how Peter must
have felt before that interview with the risen Lord recorded in John 21. The Lord had
apparently appeared to him after His resurrection. We are not told what He said to
Peter at that time, but evidently Peter did not feel that things were really right
between him and the Lord. He was still living with the sense of conviction, that he
had deeply grieved the One whom he loved, until the gracious Lord provided him
with that opportunity. How painful the interview must have been! But it was so
necessary for Peter to weep his way back into fellowship and trust with his Lord.
The Lord was offering the same opportunity to His people in Laodicea, and He
continues to do so in our own Christian experience today. Whenever we turn our
backs upon Him and wander into sin His Spirit strives with us to convict us of our
sins, and to make us weep our way back in repentance to where we really belong; to
open our heart's door wide to Him again that fellowship with Him may be restored.
Why should any of us who have tasted that the Lord is good want to keep Him
outside there?

A Foretaste of Exaltation
The Lord further promised the church in Laodicea true elevation and honours.
Oftentimes, the reason for backsliding is a courting of popularity and influence with
the world. We want the world to take notice of us and to honour us. The church
leadership may begin to feel a sense of importance as they are included in
invitations to state functions. An infatuation with the world and the honours of the
world gradually makes them lose their vital contact with the Lord. That is sometimes
how it all begins. At any rate the Lord considered it necessary in attracting His
people away from worldliness to assure them afresh of the surpassing honours that
belong to those who are members of His body: "He who conquers, I will grant him to
sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his
throne" (verse 21).
Already believers, the redeemed of Christ are, spiritually speaking, seated with Him
in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6). Though still on earth, we are granted in
measure to live our lives here in the power of the age to come, because we are
united with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We derive spiritual strength from Him to live
victorious lives here on earth, but that is only a foretaste of the exaltation promised to
His people. If we remain faithful to Him to the end, if through His power we overcome
the world, sin and the devil, then we shall sit with Him. He will grant us to sit down
with Him on His throne in the same way as He overcame those enemies on the
cross, rose triumphant and is seated with His Father on His throne.

Sitting With Christ on His Throne
Now I find this mind-boggling. You think of it: Jesus overcame and sat down with His
Father on His throne. He promised that if we overcome, He will grant us to sit with
Him on His throne. What shall we say to these things? Let me conclude with an
exhortation from Peter's first letter: "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty
hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you" (1 Peter 5:6). May the Lord grant
that, having considered what the Spirit still says to the churches, we, too, will heed
His warnings, appropriate His promises and rise to His exhortations to faithfulness
and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us so that
we, too, may overcome the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and the power of the
Gospel which we preach, and so look forward with anticipation to eternity with the
Lord.