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What happens when a church looks healthy from the outside, but Jesus sees it as nauseatingly lukewarm? This message walks through the final letter to the seven churches and asks an important question: has a false sense of self-sufficiency quietly replaced dependence on God? Discover why the sharpest critique in Revelation is followed by an invitation to reign with Christ himself.
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/the-illusion-of-self-sufficiency
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📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/the-illusion-of-self-sufficiency
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00Robert Berninger tells the story of a pastor that came to a church in a small little town
00:05in Oklahoma.
00:07And the first thing you notice is that the church appeared to be spiritually dead.
00:12People weren't showing up for the services.
00:15No one was caring at all what happened whatsoever.
00:18So the first thing he did is he made calls to all the members of the church and called
00:22on their homes, called them on the telephone, made connections with everyone that was on
00:27on the church directory of members of the church.
00:30And that Sunday, not one of them showed up.
00:34So the pastor said, fine, fine.
00:38He put an advertisement in the local newspaper to come to the funeral of the church.
00:45Who is going to add?
00:46He was going to hold it the next Saturday.
00:48So the next Saturday, the whole town showed up and all the congregation showed up.
00:52Curiously more about what this Christian burial is for a church is all about.
00:57So the pastor's up there and he's got a casket down there.
01:01He's got flowers all around the casket.
01:03He gives a great sermon.
01:04He gives a eulogy.
01:06And then he invites the congregation to come up and pay their last respects to the dead church
01:12of which they're supposed to be a part of.
01:14So the congregation comes up and they file past the casket and they get to the casket.
01:18They look in and then they turn away sheepishly.
01:21And then another one comes by and he looks in and they turn away sheepishly.
01:25What the pastor had done is he placed a mirror inside the casket.
01:29And when they walked up to look in the casket, they saw the reflection of themselves there.
01:34They didn't realize that they were the problem.
01:37They were the problem.
01:40The church that they have laid to see it, they didn't see themselves as a problem.
01:44They thought everything was going really well with them.
01:46They didn't understand that things were not as they thought they were.
01:50They saw it one way, Jesus saw it a completely different way.
01:55The church is not dead yet.
01:57It's not.
01:58And the risen Christ is now addressing his church to give them some, yeah, some encouragement
02:04and some rebuke and then a wonderful promise at the end.
02:07We're going to be in the last half of chapter three of the revelation.
02:10So we're going to finish it out.
02:12We'll be starting in verse number 14.
02:14And as we see this church, the last of the seven churches, so we see that self-sufficiency
02:20in a church is a disease, the opposite of faith and a rejection of the truth that believers
02:26need God for everything, every day, every day.
02:33How could a church or how could we, how could any of us forget that we need God every day,
02:41every hour, every second?
02:43It's not like we need him partially and then I can handle the rest and then I need him
02:47over here and the big things.
02:48It's no, we need him all the time, every day.
02:54Laodicea, the last of the seven churches.
02:56Here you see it's, you know, people have said it's, it is true that the mail route goes from
03:02Ephesus and then all the way around to Laodicea.
03:04And some have said, well, that's the reason why Jesus chose these seven churches because
03:08they're on the mail route.
03:09I don't think so.
03:10They are on the mail route.
03:11That's true.
03:12He chose these seven churches because they have characteristics of all churches of all
03:16ages that we need to pay attention to.
03:18We need to make sure that we don't find ourselves doing some of the things that the churches
03:22did that Jesus rebuked them about and find ourselves doing things that Jesus praised them
03:26about.
03:27So there are characteristics of churches of all time.
03:29So I think that's why he chose these seven because they disrepresent churches of all time.
03:34It was a major city.
03:36There was a big earthquake in AD 60.
03:39But since the church, since the city was a banking community, had a lot of wealthy members
03:44in the, citizens in the community that when the emperor said, hey, we've got finances to
03:50help you rebuild the city.
03:51The people of Laodicea said, hey, we don't need your money.
03:55Mr.
03:55Emperor, we have all of our own money.
03:57We're self-sufficient.
03:59So they took care of the debris themselves.
04:05They were relatively independent from Rome.
04:09They were still connected, obviously, but they were relatively independent from Rome.
04:13They were self-sufficient.
04:15And there was a medical school in Laodicea that worked with the eyes, with vision, which
04:20plays a role in the text that we're going to see right now.
04:22There was this guy that was an ophthalmologist, Demisrius Phileathrius, hopefully I pronounced
04:27his name correctly.
04:28He was there in Laodicea and he worked on the eye.
04:31It was a medical center for the eyes, for vision, which is going to play a role in the
04:35text as well.
04:37In Laodicea, there were no opponents inside or outside the church and no heresy, no bad teaching
04:42as mentioned as well.
04:43So that's all that we know about the church right now.
04:46The city itself, though, because of the wealth and because of the way they take care of themselves
04:50was a very self-reliant, self-sufficient city.
04:55That has carried over into the church.
04:58Look with me in the destination in verse number 14.
05:01To whom is he writing this church?
05:03To which church?
05:04Verse 14.
05:05And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, and the angel is the messenger, the
05:09pastor, or the leader, write the words of the amen.
05:15It's a true one.
05:16The faithful and true witness.
05:18The beginning of God's creation.
05:21Notice these titles that we see here for Christ.
05:23The amen.
05:25The faithful and true witness.
05:26The beginning of God's creation, which we'll talk about here in just a second.
05:29And this title of the amen, you only use one time, right, like this in the text.
05:36But it's a picture.
05:38What Jesus is doing, he's pointing back to what Isaiah said in the Old Testament.
05:42Isaiah said in Isaiah 65, verse 16, the idea of the amen.
05:47Verse 16, so that he who blesses himself in the Lord shall bless himself by the God of
05:53truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth.
05:58The word truth is amen.
06:00He's the God of the amen.
06:02He's the amen.
06:03And so there's a direct connection between the God in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ
06:07being God in human form here on earth.
06:10There's a direct connection.
06:11He is the amen, truth one.
06:14The God of truth.
06:15He is the amen because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from our eyes.
06:20This God of truth, the God of the amen.
06:23In fact, when you think about it, isn't that what Paul said?
06:26That everything about Jesus is yes in him.
06:29And because it's yes in him, we want to utter our amen to God saying, yes, truly that is
06:34true.
06:35That's recorded in 2 Corinthians 1.
06:38For all the promises of God find their yes in him, in Christ.
06:43That is why it is through him, through Christ, that we utter our amen to God for his glory.
06:46He is the amen.
06:47He is the God of truth.
06:49Not only is he of truth, he is truth himself.
06:52I am the way, the truth, and the life.
06:55He's not just speaks truth.
06:56He is truth.
06:58He's a faithful and true witness, the text says.
07:01He's a witness.
07:02He sees and can speak truly.
07:04You remember what it says that Paul told in Timothy that Jesus gave the good witness
07:08before Pilate.
07:09That's true.
07:10He gave a good witness before Pilate.
07:12He witnessed to the truth.
07:13Here, the idea more is that he is able to see what's really going on and give an accurate
07:18representation.
07:19He's a witness.
07:21He's a true witness.
07:22He doesn't lie.
07:23He gives the truth of what the state of this church really is.
07:27So, then we see this faithfulness of Christ contrasting with the unfaithfulness of the
07:33church.
07:34There's this contrast going on.
07:35He's a true and faithful witness.
07:37He's faithful.
07:37The church is not at this point.
07:39They're not being faithful to him.
07:42And then we come to this phrase, the beginning of God's creation.
07:45And you say, well, you mean that the Christ had a beginning?
07:49He was one time and then he became?
07:51That's not what the text is saying.
07:53The meaning of the phrase beginning of God's creation, beginning, means that Christ is
07:58the origin, first cause, ruling power, authority, not that he had a beginning himself.
08:04The word beginning has the idea of the first in rank, the ruler, the authority.
08:08He is over God's creation because he created all things.
08:12In Colossians 1.5, we see here, he is the image of the invisible God, the image, a direct
08:18represent the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
08:21You say, wait a second, now we're back to this whole thing with the beginning, the firstborn.
08:25What that firstborn means is first in rank, in authority.
08:29Not that he had a beginning.
08:31The Christ can have, God does not have a beginning.
08:33God is forever.
08:36When we come to John, John 1, John 1 says, in the beginning was the word and the word
08:43was with God and the word was God.
08:45Now, when we jump down to verse 14, which we're not going to see here, it says that the,
08:48who the word is, it's Jesus.
08:50In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
08:54He was in the beginning with God.
08:56All things were made through him.
08:58He is a creator of all things.
08:59And without him was anything made that was made.
09:02He had no beginning.
09:03The idea is he's the first in rank.
09:05He's the authority.
09:06He has the right to speak into this church's life.
09:11Theophilus of Antioch, he was a church, second century church teacher.
09:15He said this, he is called beginning because he leads and dominates everything fashioned
09:21through him.
09:22So what we're saying right now is what they were saying back in the second century is
09:26he didn't have a beginning.
09:27He created all things and he oversees all things that he created.
09:34So the one who sees and can give a reliable witness of what's going on in the church has
09:40some really hard things to say to them, really hard things.
09:44Look at verses 15 through 17.
09:46The one who sees correctly is telling them, this is what I see.
09:51I know your works.
09:53Again, we don't know what they are.
09:54They're not listed, but he knows their works.
09:56Then he says, you are neither cold nor hot.
10:01Would that you were either cold or hot.
10:03I mean, he wants them to be cold.
10:04What does he mean?
10:05Well, we'll talk about that in just a second.
10:08Would that you were either cold or hot.
10:10So because you are lukewarm and neither, yes, lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will
10:17spit you out of my mouth.
10:19That's the word vomit.
10:20Sorry, don't get sidetracked here.
10:22It's out of my mouth.
10:25For you say, I am rich.
10:27I have, I have prospered.
10:29I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiful, pitiful, poor, blind, and
10:37naked.
10:38He's got a strong rebuke for this, for this church.
10:41They were not hot.
10:42They were not zealous for the Lord, nor were they cold asleep.
10:46They were neither hot nor cold.
10:47They were right in between, lukewarm.
10:50And you say, well, why would Jesus want to say, I would wish that you were cold?
10:54I mean, I'd rather have you cold than lukewarm.
10:56Why would he say something like that?
10:57Well, if they're hot, he doesn't need to really tell them anything because they're already
11:01zealous for him.
11:02If they're cold, they may realize, oh, we need something here because something's amiss.
11:08But since they're lukewarm, they don't think they need anything.
11:12They need nothing.
11:13In fact, they said, we need nothing.
11:16We are self-reliant.
11:17We are self-sufficient.
11:18We don't need anything.
11:20He would rather have them cold and realize their need for him or hot serving him than lukewarm
11:25when they don't realize they need him at all.
11:29Lukewarm could have the idea of being barren, ineffectual, useless, always that too.
11:34And this lukewarmness, where does this whole idea come from?
11:38Well, it's interesting.
11:39Historically, we know this.
11:40Leon Morris tells us historically,
11:42The imagery may be derived from the water supply of the city, which appears to have been drawn
11:48from hot springs at some distance.
11:50So, some distance away comes out of hot springs, goes down the aqueduct, and by the time it
11:56gets to Laodicea, it's not hot and it's not cold.
12:00It's lukewarm.
12:03This forms a contrast with the hot springs at nearby Heriopolis and the cold, refreshing
12:09water at Colossae.
12:10Hot water heals, cold water refreshes, but lukewarm water is useless for either purpose
12:16and can only serve as the emetic.
12:19That means cause to vomit.
12:22I wish you were cold.
12:23I wish you were high.
12:24I don't want you lukewarm.
12:26Lukewarmness says, I don't need anything.
12:29Coldness is, at least I have a need.
12:30I need something.
12:31And you turn to Jesus.
12:32Hot as I'm serving, I don't need.
12:34They don't think they need him.
12:36They said, we need nothing.
12:38We need nothing.
12:39The church was neither a drink of refreshing cold water, like Colossae, nor a hot mineral
12:45bath for healing, Heriopolis, but nauseatingly lukewarm.
12:52Anonymous writer said, there is no middle ground with the Lord.
12:55In fact, for those who try, it makes him sick to his stomach.
12:59Take a stand on God's side.
13:01So what's the danger of being lukewarm?
13:04The danger with a lukewarm state is self-sufficiency.
13:08I need nothing.
13:09I have everything.
13:10I'm prospered.
13:11I have rich.
13:11I'm wealth.
13:12I have everything that I possibly need.
13:13I don't need anything else.
13:14That's the state of a lukewarm church is they're self-sufficient.
13:18They don't realize they need Jesus.
13:20And they need him every day and every hour.
13:24Self-acquired riches, a very wealthy city with wealthy banking.
13:28I have prospered.
13:29I need nothing.
13:30I'm self-sufficient.
13:33But if they would just repent, he won't vomit them out of his mouth.
13:37If they just would change their thinking and realize, I need Jesus every day.
13:42I need Jesus every hour.
13:44I need Jesus every second of my life.
13:47I don't have a just, I do all my own thing.
13:49And then when I, when I get stuck and I can't do it myself, I call on.
13:52No, I need him every day and every hour.
13:57For you say, the text says, so this is what they're saying about themselves.
14:01It's a present active verb, which means habitually.
14:03This is what they say about themselves.
14:04You can't change their thinking.
14:05This is what they say about themselves.
14:07This is what they think that the rich they're prospering.
14:10They need nothing.
14:12I have everything spiritually.
14:13I need, I don't need any more.
14:15I am completely self-sufficient is what they're saying.
14:18And what did Jesus say back in turn?
14:20No, the one who sees truly and is a true witness.
14:24What did he see?
14:25He said, you're wretched, you're pitiful, you're poor, you're blind, and you're naked.
14:32They saw themselves one way.
14:34Jesus says, no, you're not looking at yourself correctly.
14:37You need to look in that mirror and see yourself correctly.
14:42G.K. Chesterton said, the one spiritual disease is thinking that one is quite well.
14:48I don't need Jesus.
14:49I got this on my own.
14:51I got this.
14:53Jesus knows the truth about this church.
14:55He's the true witness.
14:56He says that they are wretched, wretched.
14:59Used one other time when Paul's talking about his wretched body that he's longing that he be glorified
15:04and get away from this indwelling sin principle that's in his body, the echoes of Adam.
15:09It's in Romans chapter 7.
15:11He said, wretched man that I am.
15:13This is the only other time the word is used.
15:15Who will deliver me from this body of death?
15:17It's a terrible state that one doesn't want to be in, is the idea.
15:22Wretched.
15:22They're in need of mercy.
15:24They're pitiful.
15:25It comes from the word mercy.
15:26They need mercy.
15:28Describing the church as distressed or miserable shows their true state.
15:33Trusting in their own self-sufficiency, the church needed mercy, not a kick swift at the backside.
15:41They need mercy.
15:43So they're poor, which is, of course, is figuratively speaking.
15:46The town is rich, but spiritually they're poor.
15:49It's not a wealth condition.
15:50It's a spiritual condition.
15:52Has no, they had an immense spiritual poverty and a great need.
15:58So what is he saying?
16:00He said, you need, you need riches from somewhere else.
16:02You, you, you think you're rich, but no, you need riches.
16:04Some, you need to come to me for I have the riches.
16:09Colossians 1.
16:11To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are.
16:15What are the riches of the glory of this mystery?
16:18What's the mystery?
16:18That Christ in you, the hope of glory.
16:21He is the riches of God.
16:23He has the wealth of God.
16:24Go to him and get the spiritual riches that you need.
16:29Wealth is not what we're talking about.
16:30They were spiritually bankrupt.
16:33Everything that the town of Laodicea counted as praiseworthy was lacking in this church.
16:39They had immense banking system, way, immense wealth.
16:43They had a medical school that dealt with vision.
16:46They also were very important in raising lambs with black wool.
16:49They had very soft wool and they made clothing out of the soft wool.
16:53And they were very proud of the clothing that they had.
16:56But Jesus said, you're naked.
16:57You have no clothing.
16:59Everything that the city was proud of, the church kind of adopted it like the culture,
17:03brought it into the church.
17:07They were to seek the true spiritual wealth.
17:09This is the strongest critique that Jesus gives to any of the seven churches.
17:14They were to stop being self-sufficient and draw on Jesus as a wealth that they need every single day.
17:20See, self-sufficiency is the opposite of faith.
17:23If I can take care of it, I don't need God.
17:26If I can do it, I don't need God.
17:30Thomas Reeves, in his book, The Empty Church, describes this scenario.
17:34Christianity in modern America is, in large part, innocuous.
17:39It tends to be easy, upbeat, convenient, and compatible.
17:44It does not require self-sacrifice, discipline, humility, a zeal for souls.
17:49There is little guilt and no punishment.
17:52The faith has been overwhelmed by the culture.
17:55I wouldn't say this is just an American problem.
17:58I think this is a first world church problem.
18:02But there is a disease in the American church.
18:04In the disease in the American churches, we have become way too self-sufficient.
18:10And we no longer sense our need for God.
18:12Think about it.
18:15Do we really need God for health?
18:17And then we go, oh, yes, yes, we need God for health.
18:19No, we have health insurance.
18:23I remember John Cargo, when he was here, we were just having a discussion.
18:26And he's offhandedly said, you know, in Sierra Leone, Jesus is our health insurance.
18:33Do I need God for finances?
18:36No, I have a credit card.
18:41Do I need God to put food on my table every day?
18:44No, I've got a well-stopped grocery store right over there that I can just go and get anything I
18:49need anytime I want.
18:50I don't have to beg God to put food on my table, beg God to reach my finances, or beg
18:54God to be there.
18:55I don't need him.
18:57That is the disease in our church in America, in all first world countries, is that we no longer sense
19:03our need for God because everything is available to us.
19:06We don't call upon him any longer.
19:10The Laodiceans were blind to their true condition.
19:13They saw one way and Jesus saw the truth.
19:16They were spiritually blind.
19:18In a city that's famous for vision, ophthalmologists, they're spiritually blind.
19:23They can't see.
19:25And they stood naked before God.
19:27They had nothing.
19:27They couldn't even take their black wool clothing and cover it in themselves.
19:30Jesus says, you're naked.
19:31You're naked.
19:32You're exposed.
19:35But he has a remedy for this church.
19:38His rebuke shows that he loves this church.
19:41He loves this church.
19:42In all of its faults and failures, he loves this church.
19:46Look at verses 18 through 20.
19:49So, what's his response to them?
19:51His exhortation to them?
19:53I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich.
20:00And white garments, so that you may clothe yourself.
20:03And the shame of your nakedness may not be seen.
20:06And solve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
20:10Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
20:18Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
20:21If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, so he's standing there knocking and speaking,
20:26I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.
20:30Here's his exhortation to a church that he loves.
20:34It says, come and buy from me.
20:37Now, this text is not implying that we earn our salvation or that we buy our salvation
20:41or that we merit our salvation.
20:43That's not what he's talking about.
20:44Salvation is a gift that God gives to us by faith alone in Christ.
20:49We don't buy it.
20:50The text is implying that we should go buy salvation.
20:52It's very similar to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 55.1 to the people of Israel.
20:58Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.
21:01And he who has no money, come, buy and eat.
21:04Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
21:08Why?
21:09Because it's graciously given by God.
21:13So that you will not be naked.
21:15You clothe yourself in white clothing so you will no longer be naked.
21:20This white garments are associated with festival occasions and purity in the book of the Revelation.
21:27Revelation, we see these festival occasions where there's a party going on
21:31or the purity of the person wearing the garments is viewed.
21:37Revelation 19, a beautiful picture of the marriage supper of the Lamb.
21:40Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come
21:45and his bride has made herself ready.
21:48It was granted her, given to her, presented to her to clothe herself with fine linen,
21:54bright and pure for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
21:59Not only do you need clothing, but you need a soul for your eyes because you're not seen correctly.
22:04Actually, the eye talks about the inner man, the inner person, the consciousness.
22:08That's what the conscious, excuse me, that's what Luke talks about in Luke 11.
22:12He talks about your eye being the inner man.
22:14If your eye is a lamp of your body, excuse me, your eye is a lamp of your body.
22:19When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light.
22:22So when your inner mind, your inner thinking, your conscious is full of light,
22:25your whole body is full of light.
22:28But when it is bad, when it is evil, your body is full of darkness.
22:31Therefore, be careful, lest the light in you be darkness.
22:34There was a medical school for the eyes here with this ophthalmologist,
22:39demonstrious philanthropist.
22:41They understood what it means to take care of their eyes, but they were blind.
22:45They couldn't see.
22:48He says, I'm going to come and I'm going to discipline you.
22:52And we all go, ooh, that sounds like a bad thing.
22:55Discipline of God is not a bad thing.
22:57His discipline is always educative.
22:59He's always trying to train us and educate us by the discipline.
23:02Now, it could be that we have done something wrong and he needs to,
23:05but often it's just because he's training us in righteousness.
23:08So we have a trial that comes into our life and he trains us.
23:11He disciplines us.
23:13It's educative.
23:14It's not to harm us.
23:15It's to help us.
23:17Here's a couple of passages in the Old Testament talking about God's discipline.
23:21Deuteronomy and Proverbs.
23:22Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son,
23:26the Lord your God disciplines you.
23:28He trained you.
23:28Why?
23:29Because he loves you.
23:30He cares for you.
23:31For the Lord reproves him who he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights.
23:38He reproves us.
23:39When we're wrong, he corrects us.
23:41And he disciplines us so that we walk on the way of righteousness.
23:44It's educative.
23:45It's not harmful.
23:47We always think of discipline as harmful.
23:49It's not harmful.
23:50How does he discipline?
23:52How does he reprove us?
23:54He reproves us through his word.
23:56He reproves us through his word.
23:58We read his word and it corrects the way that we're thinking.
24:01When we think wrongly, we read his word and we correct the way that we're thinking.
24:04He reproves us.
24:06In 2 Timothy, we have that famous passage.
24:09All scripture is breathed out by God.
24:13It's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
24:18for reproof, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
24:21So, he takes his word.
24:23Remember, his voice is at the door.
24:25He takes his word and he reproves us.
24:27He disciplines us.
24:29He helps us to think correctly about our situation and what's around us.
24:35He says, be zealous.
24:36Be zealous.
24:38It comes from the root Greek word to boil.
24:41To boil.
24:43Fire.
24:44Be zealous.
24:45Be hot.
24:46Be zealous for God.
24:47Trey Graham said,
24:49If Jesus hates lukewarmness so much, as believers, we must prioritize its avoidance.
24:56Serving Christ requires one to serve the wishes of Christ, including his wish that we demonstrate
25:01a passionate commitment to follow him faithfully.
25:04Faithful followers of Christ are characterized by many qualities, including love, joy, and forgiveness,
25:10but most notably, a passion that places loving Jesus ahead of loving the world.
25:16He wants us to be passionate about him.
25:18And the passion realizes that I need him.
25:22I need him every day.
25:24I need his presence.
25:25I need his word.
25:26I need his spirit at work in me.
25:28I have decisions that I need to make throughout the day.
25:30I need his wisdom.
25:32I need his strength to go on.
25:34I need him every day.
25:38Then he shifts a little bit here in this letter to the church.
25:42Up to this point, he was talking to the church as a whole.
25:45And then he goes individually.
25:46He says, if anyone.
25:48So he moves into an individual, speaking to the individual people in the congregation.
25:54This, if anyone, is a condition assumed possible, but there's a bit of uncertainty in it as well.
26:00If anyone, now he's talking to the individual members of the congregation.
26:05If anyone.
26:07So Jesus stands, knocks at the door.
26:10He speaks his word.
26:12Those who hear the knocking and the voice open the door.
26:15At least that's the desire that he would come in and sup with them.
26:18The desire is for them to open up the door.
26:20For his sheep hear his voice and they know it.
26:23In John 10, to him, the gatekeeper opens.
26:27The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name.
26:31So he speaks and the sheep knows his name and leads them out.
26:34When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know
26:39his voice.
26:39So he's standing there knocking and his voice, the sheep on the other side of the door hear his voice.
26:43And he wants them to open the door so he can come into them.
26:48We've probably all seen that picture, that famous painting.
26:50I wish I knew the author, the artist, I forgot.
26:52What his name was.
26:53Painted a picture of Jesus standing outside of a door.
26:56There's bushes.
26:56It's night.
26:57There may be a candle up here or something like that for light.
27:00There's a door right there and there's no door handle on the door on the outside.
27:04That's not in the text.
27:05That's just an artist's graphic.
27:07Someone has to open it from the inside is the idea.
27:09But he's standing at the door.
27:11And it's always used typically for an evangelistic purpose.
27:15Jesus is standing at the door of your heart.
27:18Open up the door of your heart and be saved.
27:20That's not what this text is all about.
27:22He's addressing believers here.
27:25Not unbelievers.
27:28And think about this.
27:31Jesus is standing outside the church.
27:35He's outside knocking.
27:37The church is inside.
27:39He's not even in the center of the church where the one who walks in the middle of the golden
27:43candlesticks should be at the very center of that church.
27:47They excluded Jesus.
27:49He stands outside.
27:51They don't need him.
27:52They're self-reliant.
27:54They're self-sufficient.
27:57They don't need him.
27:59But he says, if you open the door, I will come in and I will eat with you.
28:04This come in and eat what speaks of a continuing fellowship.
28:09Right now, we're not fellowshipping because you don't need me.
28:12Open the door and come to me that we can fellowship together and I can share myself with you through
28:17my spirit and through my word.
28:20Come.
28:21He really is not even the host at this point.
28:24He's outside as a guest.
28:25But as soon as someone opens up the door, he being the bread of life comes in and feeds us
28:29himself.
28:30Him being the bread of life.
28:35Jesus needs to be in the center of any church that names the name Jesus and calls itself a Jesus
28:41church.
28:41He cannot be outside.
28:43He cannot be at a distance.
28:44He needs to be right in the center of the church.
28:47Why?
28:47Because we need him.
28:50Every day, every hour, and every second.
28:54We need him.
28:59Here we see a crowning promise.
29:02Now, most severe critique of any church.
29:06However, the promise is wonderful to them.
29:08Look at verses 21 and 22.
29:12The one who conquers.
29:14I mean, we've talked about that before.
29:15It's not an implication that one may or may not conquer.
29:19It's not that at all.
29:20It's the conquering one.
29:21So, if you're a believer, you are a conquering one.
29:24I will grant him to sit with me on my throne.
29:29That's you, believer.
29:32That's you.
29:35He's going to grant that you are allowed to sit with him on his throne.
29:42As I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne.
29:48He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
29:54What a promise.
29:56When we get to the book, the end of the book, end of the revelation, the final revelation God gave
30:01to us here through John.
30:02When we get to the end of the revelation, we see this idea of believers reigning with God.
30:07Look at Revelation chapter 22.
30:11No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it.
30:18This is the eternities.
30:20And his servants will worship him.
30:22They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.
30:26And night will be no more.
30:27They will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light.
30:34And they, that's the believers, will reign forever and ever.
30:40Now, I'll be honest with you.
30:41I'm not quite sure what that means.
30:44All I know is what the text says is that you and I, believer, will sit with Jesus.
30:48He's inviting us to sit on his throne.
30:51And for in some way and capacity, you and I will reign forever and ever.
30:55He is the king and we are subjects underneath them.
30:59But in some form or another, you and I are going to reign forever and ever with him.
31:03He told the apostles that they would sit on 12 thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel in Matthew
31:0819.
31:10Jesus said to them, to the apostles,
31:12Truly I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne,
31:16you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
31:22Even the apostles talking about being judging over the 12 tribes of Israel.
31:26And then this believer, did you know this?
31:29Did you know this?
31:31Did you know, believer, that you are going to judge the world and angels?
31:36No.
31:37Well, we actually skip over 1 Corinthians chapter 6 so fast because we read all the other stuff that's going
31:43on there.
31:43But if you read 1 Corinthians chapter 6, this is what it says.
31:47Paul's talking to believers, that saints will judge the world and angels.
31:521 Corinthians 6, or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?
31:59And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
32:03Do you not know that we are to judge angels?
32:07How much more than matters pertaining in this life?
32:09Again, I'm not sure exactly what that looks like.
32:11But in some capacity, you and I are going to be part of the judgment of this world and the
32:16judgment of angels.
32:21He says, I have conquered.
32:22I have conquered.
32:23How did he conquer?
32:24He conquered through the cross.
32:26The cross was seen as a defeat for most people, but it was the ultimate victory
32:30that the Son of God paid for the penalty of the sin of the world,
32:34was buried, and three days later came out of the grave in his great triumphal victory.
32:40He overcame.
32:41He conquered.
32:42He conquered by the cross.
32:44And this is to be the pattern for all of us who follow after him,
32:48is that we deny self, and we pick up our cross and follow him daily.
32:53Again, we are not to be self-reliant, self-sufficient people.
32:56We are to be dependent people on God.
33:01Dependent.
33:03Jesus sitting with his Father on his throne comes from one of the most important Old Testament texts.
33:10In fact, it's the most often quoted Old Testament text in the New Testament.
33:15Psalm 110.1.
33:18The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
33:25One of the most important passages in all of the New Testament quoted from the Old Testament.
33:33Jamin Foster and Brown said,
33:34This, the grandest and crowning promise is placed at the end of all the seven addresses to gather all in
33:43one.
33:43It also forms a link to the next part of the book of the Revelation where the Lamb is introduced,
33:49seated on his Father's throne, verse number two of chapter four, verse two and three.
33:55And then he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
34:00And I've said this over and over again, and I'll say it again.
34:03These are not, these are directed to churches, yes.
34:06However, they are a characteristic of churches of all ages that we all need to learn from.
34:13H.D. Spence Jones says it like this.
34:15The seven messengers were not merely separate admonitions addressed only to each particular church,
34:22but all the epistles were meant for all the seven churches and, after them, for the universal church.
34:29This is for us to learn from as well.
34:31We want to put on those things that Jesus says this is good,
34:33and we certainly want to put off those things that says Jesus says this is bad.
34:38But we've got to have a proper view of who we are as a people.
34:43Let me ask you, do you need God?
34:45You say, yeah, I need him.
34:46Do you really need God?
34:48Does your soul cry out for him day by day saying, I need him today.
34:52I need him so much that I'm going to set aside a time,
34:56and I'm going to read his word and let his Spirit talk to you.
34:59I need him.
35:00Do we say that?
35:01Or are we self-sufficient?
35:02I don't really need anything.
35:03That's what Laodicea said.
35:04I don't need anything.
35:06We're rich.
35:07We're prospering.
35:08I need nothing.
35:10Do we need Jesus?
35:13Here's some things we can learn.
35:15Number one, Jesus condemns self-sufficiency.
35:20We need Jesus daily for everything.
35:23Everything.
35:24Everything.
35:25We are dependent upon him.
35:28We're not independent agents.
35:30We're not self-sufficient or self-reliant.
35:34We need him.
35:35Two, since we need him, Jesus has everything we need.
35:40We need him.
35:41He has everything we need.
35:43Everything.
35:44So seek his face.
35:46Seek him.
35:47Daily.
35:49Third, Jesus reproves and disciplines those he loves.
35:54Do not think it is a strange thing.
35:56Peter talks about when the trial comes upon us, don't think it's a strange thing.
36:00It's to teach us.
36:02It's to guide us.
36:03It's to help us become complete in Christ, reaching that end goal of looking like his son.
36:07So don't think it is a strange thing when discipline comes.
36:12Four, Jesus desires fellowship with his people.
36:16Take time daily to spend with him in his word, in prayer.
36:22Spend time with him every day.
36:25He wants that.
36:27Lastly, Jesus invites us to reign with him on his throne.
36:32Again, I don't know exactly what that is, what it's going to look like.
36:37All I know is that he invites us to sit on his throne with him.
36:41And whatever that is, it's going to be a glorious time and it's going to be wonderful.
36:45I mean, I get God bumps just thinking about this, that he's going to invite me to sit on his
36:50throne with him.
36:57We come to the conclusion of the seven churches.
37:00I think we've learned some things about ourselves from these churches.
37:05We can learn some things about our country from these churches as well.
37:10But the one thing I think we want to take away today is that through all of this,
37:15is that we are not a self-sufficient, self-reliant group of people,
37:19but we are a people dependent upon God,
37:23his word, and his spirit at work in us at all times.
37:28Let's pray.
37:29Father, thank you.
37:30Thank you for the text to the last of the seven churches.
37:33There's strong, strong critique you gave this church, but a wonderful blessing at the end.
37:39That reigning with you forever and ever is what the text says.
37:43And I don't understand that.
37:44I don't know exactly what that means, but I know it's glorious.
37:47And someday I'll get to experience that.
37:49And everyone here that names your name, Father, that's born again, will experience that as well.
37:54They will be there on your throne with you.
37:56You conquered.
37:57You overcame.
37:59You're sitting on your father's throne and you invite us to sit with you.
38:03What a day that will be.
38:05Until then, help us to be people that are daily dependent upon you.
38:09Don't ever let us become self-sufficient or self-reliant that we don't need you.
38:14What a terrible thing.
38:16Because we do need you every single day, every hour, and every second.
38:22We thank you.
38:23We pray in Jesus' name.
38:24Amen.