Now, in Revelation chapter 2, we have the first of two chapters where Jesus Christ is
addressing these seven churches to whom the book of Revelation is addressed.
And when he addresses these seven churches, he has a message to each of these churches
that is specific to them.
He talks about the things that he likes.
He talks about the things that they're doing well.
And he talks about the areas where they need improvement.
And to many of the churches, he makes this threat that if they do not fix these serious
problems that they have, he says, I'll remove your candlestick out of his place.
Now, if you back up to chapter 1, verse 20, the Bible explains some of the symbolism here
because in chapter 1, it talks about how Jesus is standing in the midst of these seven golden
candlesticks.
And it says in chapter 1, verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my
right hand and the seven golden candlesticks.
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches.
So the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.
And he says, if you do not repent, if you do not fix these things that are destroying
your church, I'll remove your candlestick out of his place.
I'll remove the church.
Now, part of that could be that the church will cease to exist.
Or part of that could also be that the church will no longer be recognized by the Lord Jesus
Christ as being a true church.
Sometimes you see churches that die in the sense that they disband and there's no building,
there's no people meeting there, and it's just gone.
But more often than that, what you see is a church where the Spirit of the Lord just
departs.
And it gets to where, yeah, there's a building, yeah, there's people meeting there, but the
Lord Jesus Christ would not even recognize that as being a church.
The candlestick is gone.
I remember my pastor back in Sacramento used to illustrate it this way.
He said one time he was in Tracy, California, and he saw that there was a Kentucky Fried
Chicken and they were removing Colonel Sanders' head from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
It was swinging from a crane.
And he said, what's going on, you know?
Why are they removing it?
And they said, the Colonel is coming down.
And he said, why is the Colonel coming down?
And they said, well, this restaurant has lost the franchise.
They were not serving food that was of the right quality, they were offering things that
were not on the menu, and so they're no longer allowed to call themselves a Kentucky Fried
Chicken, so the Colonel must be removed.
And so that's sort of like the removing of the candlestick, if you think about it.
You know, there could be a church where God says, you know, this is no longer a church
that I can bless.
This is no longer a church that I can have anything to do with.
And you know and I know that there are churches all over this city that God would not consider
a true church.
He would look at it and say, that's not even a Bible-believing church, that's not even
a Christian church, that my spirit is not even present there because of the fact that
they are so apostate and so far from what they should be that I won't even recognize
them any longer.
Now let me say this though, a lot of these churches that we read about in these two chapters
had some pretty serious problems, and yet God still recognized them as a true church.
So God does have grace.
He doesn't expect us to be perfect.
But when you do certain things that just cross a line with God, God says, look, I'm going
to warn you to fix this, and if you don't fix it, I cannot bless this church.
And as a church in 2014, going into 2015, we want to make sure that Faithful Word Baptist
Church is a church that pleases God, where God will look down and be pleased with us
and glad about the things that we're doing and that he would not even have to threaten
us, hey, you better fix that or I'm going to remove the candlestick out of his place.
Hopefully we wouldn't even get close to that.
Now let's start out looking at the first church on the list.
Let's see some of the things that God said, hey, if you don't fix this, I'm going to remove
the candlestick.
Look at verse number 1 of chapter 2, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write.
And by the way, the word angel simply means messenger.
And that's basically, I believe, talking about the preacher or the pastor, the one who brings
the message at that church.
Because a lot of the criticism is directed at the angel or the pastor, okay?
And then a lot of the criticism is directed toward the church itself.
You say, well, how am I going to know the difference?
Well, if you're reading a King James Bible, the word thee or thou is singular, whereas
the word ye, you, your is plural.
So when God is saying thee, he's talking to the pastor.
And when he's saying you, he's talking to the whole group.
And the reason that's important to note is that God holds the pastor accountable for
the problems in the church because everything rises and falls on leadership.
And it's the pastor's job to be the bishop or overseer, to be the under shepherd, under
Jesus Christ, and to make sure that things are right in the church.
That's why a lot of the criticism is directed at him and he's being told to repent.
But look at verse number 1, it says, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write.
These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and thou thou canst not bear them which are
evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them
liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast
not fainted.
So he starts out by praising them for the things that they've done well.
This is a church that's doing work.
It says they're working, they're laboring.
Labor is just another word for work that means hard work.
And then it says thy patience.
And it says these people could not bear them which were evil.
They tried them which said they were apostles and found them liars.
So these people were great at pointing out false doctrine.
These people were great at warning people about the false prophets and false apostles
that were out there.
And man, they would not bear with them that were evil.
I mean they were strict and they were very militant about making sure that things were
right.
But look what it says in verse number four, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee
because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works or else
I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou
repent.
So even though this church was great at keeping the false doctrine and false prophets out,
that wasn't enough because God said unless you fix this, I'll remove your candlestick
out of his place.
Now what was the problem?
Well it says that they'd lost their first love and he says that the solution is to do
the first works.
Now it's not that this church was doing nothing because remember he said I know their works.
And he said I know thy labor.
But it's just that they weren't doing the right works.
They were not doing the first works and he says in order to get the first love back,
you're going to need to do the first works.
Now what is he referring to here when he talks about the first love and the first works?
Well you know, go over if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter five, but while you're turning to
2 Corinthians chapter five, if we just take the term first works, any way you slice it
I think you kind of come up with the same answer of what the first works are no matter
how you approach this.
Because if we look at the first works, we could say okay maybe first means the most
important works.
You know the number one thing, the first works.
And we'd say okay well what are the most important works of the church or what is the most important
job of the church?
Then we could also think about chronologically the first works.
And when we see Jesus first calling the disciples and calling the apostles, you know what was
the first work that he gave unto them to do?
Or we could say okay how about chronologically in the New Testament?
So after Jesus died and was buried and rose again and we move into the New Testament,
what was the first work that he gave unto that early church to do in the New Testament?
And if you answer all three of those questions, you come up with the same answer for all three.
What was the first thing he told the disciples when he called them to be his disciples?
He said come with me and I will make you fishers of men.
That was the first thing he brought out to them as works.
Then if we look at the first thing he gave in the New Testament, you know after he's
died and been buried and risen again, what's the great commission that he gives unto them?
Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He said as my Father had sent me, so send I you.
He said go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've
commanded you and lo I'm with you always even at the end of the world.
At the end of all four gospels, you have some variation on that command to go out and to
preach the gospel and to win people to Christ.
And then when we get into Acts 1, how does Acts 1 start?
Well they get organized in chapter 1.
They get everything squared away with the 120 there and they replace Judas Iscariot
and then the first thing we see is that they're going out and they're preaching the gospel
to the lost in chapter 2, in chapter 3, in chapter 4, in chapter 5.
It's preaching the gospel to the lost, getting people saved.
Those are the first works any way you slice it and when you look at what's the important
thing that we should be doing, well it's going out and winning people to Christ and getting
people saved.
And you say well what does that have to do with the first love?
What does it have to do with loving Christ or loving our fellow man or what does it mean?
So look down at 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 14, I think we'll see a tie in here, because
it says in verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that
if one died for all then we're all dead and that he died for all, oh but the Calvinists
will tell you of course that he didn't die for all, but a lot of scripture that says
he did.
He says and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth we know no man after the flesh, yea though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet henceforth know we him no more, therefore if any man be in Christ
he's a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new, and
all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us, we pray
you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God.
So the Bible says we are ambassadors for Christ, we have been committed with the ministry
of reconciliation.
And when the Bible talks about reconciliation it's talking about salvation because he says
that Jesus died on the cross to reconcile people unto himself and that we are out there
in the stead of Christ, basically Christ is not physically walking on this earth today,
but we are here in Christ's stead beseeching people, begging people, compelling people
be reconciled to God.
And we're showing them how to get that reconciliation with God.
The Bible says in Romans 5, 1, therefore we have peace with God, you know, through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through faith, it all, I'm not quoting it right but you know what
I'm saying in Romans 1, or Romans 5, see I don't know what I'm saying.
But anyway, we see here that it's the love of Christ that constrains us according to
2 Corinthians 5, 14.
What gets us out there as ambassadors for Christ and what gets us out there motivated
to beseech people to be reconciled to God and to win people to Christ and to preach
the Gospel on every creature?
Well it's the love of Christ that constrains us.
Now notice in Revelation 2, if you want to flip back there, when he tells them you've
lost your first love, he says repent and do the first works.
He doesn't say do the first love.
He says do the first works.
See if you do the first works, the love will come back.
You know you get spiritually cold and you don't have the love that you used to have
for the Lord and you don't have the love that you used to have for the lost, getting out
and doing the first works will increase your love for the Lord and it will increase your
love for the lost.
When you find a church that's an unloving church toward the lost, you'll realize they're
not a soul winning church because soul winning keeps your love for the lost right.
Because when you go out soul winning and you're actually confronting people and knocking on
their door and talking to them and having a heart to heart, one on one conversation
of the Gospel, you feel love for that person.
You want that person to be saved.
You care about that person.
And it's more real to you than just getting together in a church where it's just all of
your own people and it's just all of us that are already brothers and sisters in Christ
and we can preach and talk about them out there.
But when you go out there and actually talk to people, then you'll love those people.
And you'll notice that the people who do the soul winning are the most loving people they
care about because it builds love in you.
When you do the first works, you recover the first love and your love increases and grows
as you go out and win souls.
How does this unloving spirit manifest itself?
Well, you know what I find is that churches that don't do the first works, churches that
don't go out and do any soul winning and reach people with the Gospel, you'll notice that
they start making it really hard for people to get saved.
They start saying things like, well, you know, I don't think that any of these people that
are getting saved through soul winning at this other church, I don't think those people
are really getting saved.
So they start criticizing the people who are doing the first works and then they start
saying things like, well, if somebody really is going to get saved, you know, you shouldn't
have to help them with the prayer.
They should have to do that on their own.
You know, you shouldn't have to help them.
Just preach, preach to them and they should just do it on their own.
And then they'll start saying, well, but if they're not willing to give up their sinful
life, then I don't see how they could be saved if they're still going to continue living
in sin.
You know, and they start adding all this prerequisite of making it harder for people to be saved.
You know, they got to be willing to give up this sin and they got to word their own prayer
and they got to do this and they can sit back and say, yeah, that's how it really is when
people get saved.
And, you know, when I got saved, I got all the way saved and blah, blah, blah and these
people that are getting saved on soul winning, they're not really getting saved, you know.
And what it is, they make it so hard to get saved and they're not getting anybody saved
or maybe they're getting one person saved a year or whatever and they sit there and
they get this attitude.
And you know what it comes down to?
It's not love.
Because if you actually love somebody, you'd want to make it easy for them to get saved.
You know what the Bible says?
Pulling them out of the fire.
Does that sound like you're just like, well, here's the way out of the fire, do what you
want to do.
I mean, is that what God said?
Here's the, okay, you're in the fire, here's the way out, I'm just going to leave it with
you to do that.
No, God said pull them out of the fire.
You know what that means?
You're helping them.
You're trying to make it easy for people to be saved.
Now, I'm not saying dumb down the gospel or make it to where, you know, oh, just pray
this prayer.
But actually really getting people saved and actually preaching them the truth in a
thorough way and teaching them the gospel and, you know, constraining them and trying
to persuade them to believe on the gospel and not making them jump through hoops.
You know what other hoops people make you jump through sometimes?
Walk down an aisle.
They say, hey, if you want to be saved, you need to come down the aisle and come to the
front right now.
Well, the problem with that is a lot of people are too shy to do that.
And in a lot of churches, the only way you're going to get the gospel is if you come down
that aisle.
But you know what love does?
Love goes and meets them where they're at.
It doesn't make them come up here and come down the aisle.
No, you go to them and you go talk to them and you pull out the Bible and show it to
them and you make it easy for them because you love them.
See, if you love people, you want them to get saved.
You don't want them to reject it.
You don't want to make it hard.
You don't want, you actually love people.
When you go out soul winning with love in your heart, when the people don't get saved,
you walk away disappointed and sad.
And you feel bad for that person.
And you pray for them and think, man, you know, I wish that person would get saved.
And you actually care about it.
Not just going out and just preaching and just let the chips fall where they may.
No, you know, when I go out soul winning, I actually want people to get saved.
I actually love the people I'm talking to and want them to get saved.
What if it's this street preaching mentality?
You know what I'm talking about?
Instead of going out and just doing normal soul winning, you say, well, what's normal?
Well, just opening the Bible and showing somebody how to be saved.
What could be more normal than that?
What could be more intuitive and natural than to just knock on somebody's door and ask them
if you can show them how to be saved?
But you get this mentality where it's just a bunch of guys getting all riled up.
Yeah, we're going to go out.
We're going to preach.
And they get their signs, their obnoxious signs.
And they go out and, ah, you need to repent and blah, blah, blah.
And then if you talk to these ministries, the numbers of people that they get saved
are a joke.
They're a joke.
They get barely, and they're not speaking the truth in love.
Now you say, well, you scream and yell and preach hard.
I'm screaming and yelling and preaching hard to people that are already saved.
Hello, this is church.
It's church.
We're screaming at the saved in here.
Okay, but notice, you know, the Bible says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like
a trumpet and show my people their sins.
Show God's people their sins.
Okay.
When we go out soul winning, we determine not to know anything among them except Jesus
Christ and him crucified.
You know, we're bringing them the gospel, the good news, and not just an obnoxious,
screaming, hateful version of it.
No, we preach hard to the saved because the saved need a swift kick in the pants sometimes
at church.
But when we go out to the lost and we're trying to win people to Christ, it's about the gospel,
it's about the good news, it's about Jesus, it's about the death, burial, and resurrection.
And this thing of going out and holding a sign and screaming at people in an obnoxious
way, you know, it's not effective.
It's not even biblical.
So what's the point?
You know, it's probably fun on some levels, right?
I mean, it probably is.
There are probably people who enjoy going out and just, you know, get the adrenaline
going, go to some really hostile place where they know a lot of people are going to get
mad and really start a fight with people.
I mean, there are people who have that personality, you know?
But honestly, that's not what I do when I go out soul winning.
I'm not interested in going out and picking a fight with people.
I'm not interested in getting in some screaming match.
You know, when I go out soul winning, I'm looking for the person who wants to be saved.
That's why when I get to a door where they're not interested, I'm out of there.
See you later.
Let me leave you with one verse adios, and I'm not going to sit there and go on and on
with that person because I'm more interested in getting to the guy down the street that
actually wants to hear the truth, wants to hear the gospel.
I'm not going to spend a bunch of time arguing and screaming back and forth with some reprobate
or some false prophet.
I might as well just go to the next door where somebody's going to be saved.
And you know what?
Love says, let's go out and get people saved because we love them, not just, yeah, we're
going to go out and we're going to, you know, we're going to really raise some hell, you
know, down at the, you know, whatever.
I'm not interested.
You know, it has no appeal to me.
You know, I mean, I want to preach hard sermons to God's people to wake them up, but not interested
in going out and screaming at a bunch of lost people that don't even understand anything.
They don't know their right hand from their left, my friend, they're not even saved.
They need the gospel.
Okay.
So what I'm saying is that this mentality that goes on, and the numbers are abysmal.
I've talked to these street preaching ministries, they'll have a couple people saved in a year.
Now look, just look at this, the things of how many people are dying every second and
how many people are born every second and you're going out and winning two people to
the Lord a year.
Yeah, that's not going to cut it, buddy.
If the world had been doing what you're doing all along, you know, 99% of people would all
be going to hell at the rate you're going, okay?
And you say, wow, but your numbers are inflated.
You know what, our numbers aren't inflated.
If you look at the book of Acts and if you look at the four gospels, they had multitudes
saved.
So why would we not have multitudes saved?
Oh, I just find it hard to believe that you had all these hundreds of people saved.
I find it hard to believe, you know, how many people did we have saved so far in this year
on soul winning?
I know that the numbers are not updated all the way to the end of the year, but going
up halfway through November, we had 1,354 people saved.
I don't believe that, that's ridiculous.
You know what, it's the truth.
Now obviously that number's not exact because there are going to be some people that, you
know, they go through it and pray and they didn't really believe.
We can't see the heart.
But then there are a lot of other people where if I pray with them and I have any doubt that
they understood it or got it, I won't count them.
And some of those people really did get saved because later you'll talk to them and they
were saved.
So you don't know, but honestly that's pretty accurate of a number to be honest with you.
It's pretty close to the truth.
We can never know the exact count until we get to heaven.
But people will say, well where are all those people then?
But you know what's so foolish about that is that if you look at the four gospels, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, Jesus and John the Baptist are winning multitudes to Christ.
The apostles are winning multitudes.
John the Baptist baptizing multitudes, okay.
And we know he wasn't baptizing the unsaved.
When he knew people weren't saved, he didn't baptize them.
When he looked at the Pharisees and the Sadducees, he knew they weren't saved.
He wouldn't baptize them.
Then it says that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John.
Multitudes and multitudes.
Look at him when he's feeding the 5,000.
Look at him, he's preaching and people are being baptized and saved.
How many people were in that early church after four years of ministry from John the
Baptist, Jesus and the apostles all soul winning full time all day every day?
That's what Jesus and the apostles did.
They went soul winning nonstop.
They were going from village to village to town.
And when they weren't soul winning, they were preaching the word of God.
But they were outreaching people constantly.
And you know how many people were in the early church at the end of four years of that effort?
120.
Because in Acts chapter 1, they had 120.
So I bet that these, these phonies today that don't have the first love and don't do the
first works, I bet those phonies would say this, well, I think only 120 got saved.
So you're going to tell me that John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles were just
baptizing all these thousands and thousands of unsaved people?
No, here's the reality, my friend, getting saved is easy.
Getting baptized is easy.
Staying in church and living the Christian life is an effort that a lot of people are
not willing to make, that most people are not willing to make.
So most of the people that John the Baptist wanted the Lord, Jesus wanted the Lord and
the apostles.
And you know what?
According to you, they were better soul winners than we are.
And yet they could only get 120 into church after the years, after the persecution, after
everything.
So you see how foolish it is to sit there and say, oh, where are they all?
Okay, well, where's John the Baptist?
Where's Jesus's converts?
Yeah, where are all these people you're waiting to the Lord?
You know where they are?
Somewhere.
They're out there somewhere.
We can't find them.
They're disappearing.
But they've all been raptured.
No, I'm just kidding.
But you know, where are they?
Well, I'll tell you where they're going to be 100 years from now.
With Jesus.
And you know where your converts are going?
Oh yeah, you don't have any.
And you know what?
You could sit there and say, oh, I don't think, okay, let's say one tenth of our
salvations are legit.
It's still more than the church down the street.
Even if 90% of them are not legit.
And I don't believe that for one second.
But anyway, we need to have the first love.
It's unloving when you get away from soul winning.
Because it's like, you know what you're saying?
I don't care about people.
I don't care about people out there.
And you know, people call our church a hate group and we don't love.
You know what?
Our church is a loving church.
That's why we actually go out and tell people the truth and tell people the Gospel.
Love is when you actually care enough to go talk to somebody and tell them the truth.
Not to just give lip service.
The Bible says, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
And there are a lot of people that are very loving in word and tongue.
But we need to love in deed.
What's another word for deed?
Works.
He said, do the first works.
That's how you love in deed and in truth.
But let's look at the last verse there of dealing with Ephesus.
And by the way, he said, if you don't fix that, I'll remove the candlestick.
That's why I feel that a church that has quit soul winning is not worth going to.
You know, and if a church has quit soul winning and not doing any soul winning, then at that
point somebody needs to try to fire up soul winning again in that church.
Somebody needs to go to the pastor and say, hey, can I start a soul winning program?
Hey, let's knock some doors.
Is it alright if I start doing it?
And if he shuts down the soul winning and he will not get back to the first works, it's
time to move on.
And look, I'll put up with a lot of stuff in a church that I don't agree with.
I put up with music that I don't like.
I'll put up with clothing that I don't like.
But you know, there's three things that I won't put up with.
I won't put up with a church that doesn't do soul winning.
I won't put up with a church that's not preaching the King James Bible.
And I won't put up with a church that's wrong on the Gospel.
Those are my three deal breakers.
That's my test of thought.
Hey, if they're different on Bible prophecy, whatever.
But you know what?
Those three things are deal breakers with me.
If you're not soul winning, you're not much because it's just a social club at that point.
But let's keep going here.
It says, He that hath an ear, verse 7, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
By the way, if you're not on a King James version, you're not hearing what the Spirit
say to the churches because these modern versions are so corrupted, it's no longer the Spirit
talking to you when you're in an NIV ESV preaching situation.
He says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He says, To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the
midst of the paradise of God.
Now there's a lot of debate about what this term overcometh means.
Now overcometh is not a term that's used a lot in the Bible.
It's used very seldom in the Bible.
But it's used very heavily at the end of the Bible here in these books that John wrote.
First John and also Revelation.
Let's go back to 1 John chapter 5 and get a definition of what the Bible means by overcome.
And then let's test that definition with every mention in Revelation and see if it holds
water.
So let's get a definition from 1 John chapter 5.
It says in verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now, he told us repeatedly in those two verses, he really nailed it down for us what it means
to overcome.
He said, Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world.
So according to that, being born again is what makes you an overcomer because whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world.
So in order to be born again, you know, you have overcome the world.
Those two things go together.
It says, Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
So how do we overcome the world?
By faith.
So overcoming is being born again.
Overcoming is by faith.
And then in verse 6 it says, or verse 5, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that
believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Now don't all three of those things go together?
Overcoming is being born of God.
Overcoming is by our faith.
And overcoming is believing that Jesus is the Son of God, okay?
Now let's test that definition.
Go to Revelation, a few pages to the right in your Bible where we were, Revelation chapter
2.
Let's test that definition.
It says in verse 7 of chapter 2, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith
unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst
of the paradise of God.
Now does it make sense that a person who is born again and has faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ and is saved, that that person would eat of the tree of life in the midst of the
paradise of God?
Because if you remember, the reason that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden
of Eden was lest they would put forth their hand and take of the tree of life and eat
and live forever.
So it was living forever that was the result of eating of the tree of life.
So it makes sense that a born again person with faith in Christ would live forever because
the Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Let's look at the next mention.
It says in verse 11, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches.
He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death.
Now what is the second death?
The Bible says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone which is the second death.
So the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone is the second death and the Bible is saying
here that those who overcome will not be heard of the second death.
Does it make sense that a saved person would not go to the lake of fire?
Of course, we're saved from hell.
Okay, look if you would at verse number 17.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white
stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth
it.
You know this is where we get the song.
There's a new name written down in glory and it's mine, oh yes it's mine.
Anybody heard the song?
It's in the hymnal.
We'll sing it after the service.
Brother Segura, do you know it?
Alright, let's do it.
So there's a new name.
He said I'll give you a new name and I'll write it down on a stone and no man will know
it except you.
Isn't that interesting?
So we as saved Christians, those who believe, those who have been born again, will be able
to eat of the hidden manna and receive a new name written on a white stone.
Now look down at verse 26.
Now watch this.
This one's a little different.
Pay close attention to verse 26.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end.
So this isn't just the person who just believed in Christ.
This is a person who overcomes and they kept his works unto the end.
This is a person who basically, you know, stayed faithful unto Christ and did the works.
To him will I give power over the nations and it says he shall rule them with a feather
duster or I'm sorry and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
You know, and people, it's funny, people, people don't believe that the criminal code
of the Old Testament's coming back in the millennium.
Oh, it's coming back.
He's going to rule with a rod of iron.
They think it's going to be free, free love, free sodomites, free every, you know, no free
adultery.
No, he's going to rule with a rod of iron.
That's why they're going to rebel after a thousand years.
That's another sermon.
But anyway, he says to him will I give power over the nations.
He shall rule with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers
even as I received of my father and I'll give him the morning star.
See this is a person who's getting rewards because ruling and reigning with Christ is
a reward that he gives one be thou power over, you know, he says be thou over one city or
be thou over five cities, be thou over ten cities, be thou over two cities.
God said behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give to every man according
as his work shall be.
See we're saved by faith, we're rewarded by works.
And he says I will give you according as your work shall be.
I have my reward with me and it's different for everybody because I'm going to give you
according to your works.
So here we still see that this definition is compatible with being saved because he's
saying if you're saved, if you overcome and you keep the works under the end you'll get
rewards of ruling and reigning with Christ and greater authority.
See the apostles, they forsook all and followed Christ.
That's why someday they'll be sitting on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
That's a pretty key position in the kingdom isn't it?
So let's look at the next time it's mentioned in chapter 3 verse 5.
He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment.
Raiment means clothing.
And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before
my father and before his angels.
Doesn't it make sense that the person who's born again and believes in Jesus Christ would
not be blotted out of the book of life?
Yeah because the book of life has to do with who's going to be saved and who's not going
to be saved.
Because remember he said anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire.
Now it's interesting as you study the book of life throughout the Bible you'll never
find anyone's name being added to it ever.
See a lot of people will teach oh you know when you get saved your name is written in
the book of life at that moment.
No actually you'll never find a scripture where it's being added.
The only time it ever talks about anyone's name being written in is before the foundation
of the world.
That's the only time frame you can point to of people's names being written into the book
of life.
And that's what you'll find a lot of talk of from Exodus and all the way up through
Revelation people's names being removed.
So what I believe based on you know reading the whole scripture is that everybody's name
starts out in the book of life.
You know because you're alive you're a you're a living soul and a living human being your
name starts out in the book of life and that only people are removed.
When is a person removed?
Well the Bible talks about people doing certain things that would get them removed.
Like for example you know an unsafe person who adds to or takes from the word of God
they can no longer be saved because their part has been blotted out of the book of life
and from the holy city and of the things that are written in this book.
So basically a person who becomes reprobate or a person who loses their opportunity to
be saved in this life basically their name's blotted out.
Or I believe that if a person dies without being saved you know if a person dies and
they never received Christ as Savior that person will be blotted out.
But who's not blotted out according to this?
Those who overcome and what does it mean to overcome?
To be born again.
How do you overcome?
By faith.
How do you overcome?
By believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
And so we see that it's perfectly compatible again with this.
Let's look at the next one verse 12.
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more
out and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God
which is New Jerusalem which cometh down out of heaven from my God and I will write upon
him my new name.
Again that's compatible with something that would be for all believers.
And then it says in verse number 21 you know it's basically that we will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.
You know we will dwell with Christ forever.
We will follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
And it says in John 14 I go to prepare a place for you.
He says I'll come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also.
And in Revelation 7 it says we'll follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.
But look if you would at verse number 21.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I also overcame
and am set down with my Father in his throne.
So again go to Revelation 21 last place, Revelation 21.
You say well why would believing that Jesus is the Son of God be called overcoming the
world?
Well first of all I don't have to explain that.
That's what the Bible said so that's what it is.
Because it said for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world and this is the victory
that overcometh the world even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.
I don't have to explain it, it's the end of story that's what it says.
But I believe that the reason why he calls believing on Jesus overcoming the world is
because the world has an agenda to stop you from believing that.
The world starts with little kids and starts training them not to believe that.
And they start teaching them in school that there's no God, that Jesus is a fable, that
the Bible is not God.
You know so you have to overcome that in order to be saved.
But it's all by faith I mean that's what it said.
But look at Revelation 21 7, he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his
God and he shall be my son but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers
and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death.
So in this scripture we seem to have a contrast between two types of people.
Those who overcome and they're children of God because they overcame and then those who
are cast into the lake of fire.
So again I believe it's consistent as we look through it and test every mention of overcome
it there.
But go back to Revelation chapter 2 I gotta hurry.
But in Revelation chapter 2 we saw that the first church Ephesus had lost the first love.
It's clear that we're not gonna get to all seven churches in this sermon so just don't
panic or anything like oh man you're doing the math how long I've been on this first
church and you're like okay we're gonna it's gonna be like Thanksgiving where we have lunch
around three o'clock you know but anyway.
The second church is the church at Smyrna.
Okay let's look at Smyrna it says and under the angel of the church in Smyrna write these
things say at the first and the last which was dead and is alive I know thy works and
tribulation and poverty but thou art rich and I know the blasphemy of them which say
they are Jews and are not but of the synagogue of Satan fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried
and you shall have tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee
a crown of life he that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches
he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
This is a church where God has nothing negative to say.
Do you notice that?
Because the first church he said here's what I like about you and here's the problem.
This church there's nothing negative said.
Now out of the seven churches there are two of which he has nothing negative to say and
those churches are Smyrna in chapter 2 and Philadelphia in chapter 3 and you know what's
interesting they're both churches that are being persecuted specifically by the synagogue
of Satan you see isn't that interesting because here's a church where they're doing everything
right and you think well that's the church I'd want to go to because that's the church
where everything's right.
I mean they're not getting criticized there's no threat of I'm coming to remove the candlestick
but notice what you have to put up with in a church where everything's right.
Persecution why because he says I know thy works and tribulation they're going through
troubles they're going through trials they're going through hard times and he says and poverty
that doesn't sound cool but thou art rich and he says I know the blasphemy of them which
say they are Jews and are not but of the synagogue of Satan fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer.
So when you're in the church that's doing right when you're in the church that has not
lost the first love when you're in the church that doesn't have fornication like some of
the later churches had when you're in the church that's not lukewarm but that's fired
up and serving God you got to suffer persecution.
See you're just never going to have it perfect in life you're never going to be in a church
that just oh yeah and the preaching perfect and the soul winning and they love people
and they're really reaching out and getting people saved and there's no persecution and
there's no suffering and my family loves the fact that I go here and all my friends think
it's the best church and all the politicians of Tempe they come and cut the ribbon every
time we get into a new building you know but look you can't have it both ways folks because
all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Yes some of these churches weren't going through any persecution because they're not
living godly there's not they're not they're doing things wrong that's why they're not
as persecuted why is it that the two churches don't tell me it's a coincidence that the
two churches of which he has nothing negative to say are both facing opposition this when
it says they're going to suffer they're going to go through tribulation many of them are
going to go to prison he said and they're going to be faithful to death I mean that's
serious persecute much more than anything our church has ever gone through and yet these
people are being faithful they're right with God it's a great church there at Smyrna now
why is it that it says that the the persecution is coming from the synagogue of Satan well
the synagogue of Satan people will debate about this what it means as if there is a
debate there's no debate because look what are the clues about it number one they say
they're Jews number two they're not number three they're a synagogue and number four
they're persecuting God's people okay well read the book of Acts who's persecuting the
believers in virtually every chapter of the book of Acts the Jews the so-called Jews because
God says they're outwardly Jews but inwardly they're not the so-called Jews are persecuting
God's people in every yeah the Romans no actually if you read Acts the Romans are constantly
rescuing the Christians the Jews are trying to tear Paul in half and the Jew and the Romans
come in and rescue him the Jews are like we've got 200 or not 200 men but they sent 200 soldiers
to protect Paul when the Jews had I think there were 40 of them right that swore an
oath and said we're not going to eat or drink until we've killed Paul and then the Romans
come in and protect him the Romans are giving him his rights the Jews are following Paul
everywhere he goes stirring up the people they're the ones saying it's not fit for this
man to live in every chapter virtually of the book of Acts the Christians are being
persecuted by the Jews okay it just all fits perfectly my friend there's only one religion
in the world that uses a synagogue Judaism okay you can narrow it down this way they
they say they're Jews how many people go around saying they're Jews somebody told me
hey Pastor Anderson you're the synagogue of Satan because you said that you're a Jew because
I said I was one spiritually you know because I'm I'm circumcised in my heart and in my
spirit okay and they said well you're the same but here's the thing the Bible says I
know the blasphemy of them which say they're Jews or not so whoever this group is they
blaspheme Christ well guess what the Talmud the Holy Book of Judaism does blasphemes
Jesus so they fit the bill on all fronts they say they're Jews check okay hey they're
not the Bible says he is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision
which is outward in the flesh check they persecute believers read the book of Acts they hate
us right now in Tempe here Faithful Word Baptist Church and then they also use a synagogue
check blaspheme Christ check it's not that hard to figure out folks unless you just don't
want to believe it well then believe what you want but if you look at if you look at
Philadelphia let's just jump forward to the Church of Philadelphia just quickly I don't
want to go over everything about Philadelphia but I just wanted to point out a couple things
quickly but it says of the Church of Philadelphia it says I know thy works but verse 8 behold
I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it thou hast a little strength
and has kept my word and has not denied my name behold I will make them of the synagogue
of Satan which say they're Jews or not but do lie behold I will make them to come and
worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee so again here we have a group
of people who think that God loves them more than he loves other people isn't that what
the Jews think you know they're the special chosen ones that God loves them more than
the Gentiles so we we see it all fits perfectly but notice he said to the Church of Philadelphia
I've set before thee an open door that's a term that the Apostle Paul used when he talked
about an open door being set before him to preach the gospel and the next words out of
his mouth were this there are many adversaries he said God's given us an open door and there
are many adversaries here he says I've set before thee an open door no man can shut it
look people want to shut that door the synagogue of Satan wants to shut that door so what I
am saying is that the two churches that had it together in the book of Revelation were
the two that were being opposed that had the adversaries that had the synagogue of Satan
on their back and that were being persecuted let's quickly look at the church at Pergamos
verse 12 of chapter 2 verse 12 of chapter 2 it says to the angel of the church in Pergamos
write these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges I know thy works
and by the way at the beginning of these Jesus is describing himself in a different
way every time it's always Jesus he says he walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks
he has the seven stars in his right hand he was dead and is alive here it says he has
the sharp sword with two edges meaning the word of God of course it says I know thy works
and where thou dwellest even where Satan's seat is so these people in Pergamos he's saying
are in the capital city of Satan I mean this is Satan's headquarters you say well where
is Satan's headquarters today well you know there are a few places I can think of Hollywood
might be one of his headquarters perhaps New York City Wall Street could be one of his
headquarters perhaps London could be a headquarters you know he might have multiple branches that
he's opened up but you know you know Jerusalem could be considered a headquarters of Satan
and also Colorado Springs Colorado is a headquarters of Satan I mean if you look at Colorado Springs
Colorado you're like what in the world but Colorado Springs Colorado has a lot of satanic
stuff going they have the world's largest satanic church there and a lot of the parachurch
just you know making merchandise of you for filthy lucre false prophets these parachurch
they have over a hundred parachurch ministries based out of Colorado Springs promise creepers
and others and just a lot of just a lot of false teaching and a lot of bad religion and
a lot of Satanism is coming out of Colorado Springs Colorado you know that that could
be one and by the way that is also and you're gonna think I'm a crazy kook for saying this
but actually it's been documented in many books that have nothing to do with conspiracy
theories that there is a base at Colorado Springs Colorado that is built underneath
the mountain there that can handle just insane amounts of earthquakes and basically if there's
ever an attack on Washington DC that's where the continuity of government program the shadow
government is because it's centrally you know if you look at the United States you know
Colorado and they're there in in Colorado Springs there's an underground military installment
that is the most secure military installation on the planet to my knowledge who has heard
about this installation yeah half the building okay I go I guess everybody doesn't think
I'm crazy half the building presented I learned about it from a book called fast food nation
of all places there's a book called who's read that book before fast food nation by
Eric saucer it's a great book but in in fast food nation he starts out with a chapter talking
about this who's seen the movie food Inc it's like a documentary about the same guy who
put together that that food Inc is the guy who wrote fast food nation the film is an
adaptation of the book and in the book he talks about this underground you know installation
in Colorado Springs and but I don't know what it had to do with fast food but the book starts
out with somebody delivering a pizza there or something I don't know but anyway I don't
know why it's in the book but it was really interesting but I've looked it up and studied
it and read about it in many other places and it reminds me of when the great man and
the kings of the earth and the rich man and the chief captains are going into the mountains
and rocks and say it hide us you know from the wrath of the lamb and it can handle you
know and all the earthquakes that are coming in Revelation you know I forget what Richter
scale but it can handle a serious earth it has these shock absorbers it's inside the
mountain it's super secure etc etc what in the world does that have to do with what I'm
preaching about this morning how did I get off on that oh because it's where Satan's
seat is you know and by the way the Denver Airport too who's ever been to the Denver
Airport creepy satanic murals all over the place giant idolatry out of ancient Egypt
I remember the first time I went there I'd never heard of that and I was just looking
around like something's wrong with this airport this is weird and I looked around and saw
this creepy idolatry and these really demented murals depicting people being killed and all
this I was like what is wrong with this place and then you know then I went home and googled
it and I saw that oh yeah you know it's this weird satanic stuff in Denver you know which
is called the Mile High City which I believe is the highest to my knowledge I think it's
the highest airport probably major airport in the United States and you know they love
to worship Satan where in the high places this is a really creepy summer we need to
get on something else anyway you know where Satan's seat is so I don't know you know where
that would be today you know Colorado Springs New York you know would it be Hollywood would
it be London you know just place you know centers of evil I don't know but wherever
they were they were in a hard place I mean they were in a place where there was a lot
of evil and a lot of satanic things going on and he says you're there where Satan's
seat is verse 13 and thou holdest fast my name and it's not denied my faith even in
those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you where Satan
dwelled they've even had somebody killed there somebody was killed for preaching the gospel
in this town but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold
the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children
of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication so ask thou also
them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which things I mildly dislike I'm sorry which
things I hate repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with
the sword of my mouth now the Bible here is criticizing this church for fornication
they have this doctrine of Balaam and it's brought in eating things sacrificed unto idols
and committing fornication you know those are the things that he and it's interesting
because he brings up fornication about two churches on this list and warns them you know
I'm going to remove the candlestick you need to get this fixed because Thyatira had fornication
and also Pergamos here had fornication you know this is one of the reasons why we in
2014 need to follow first Corinthians 5 and not allow fornication to go on in the church
we don't want to lose the kernel we don't want the kernel to come down you know we don't
want to lose the candlestick today so we need to make sure to keep this kind of sin and
I think this doctrine of Balaam is a permissive doctrine that says hey it's okay to eat things
sacrificed unto idols hey it's okay to commit fornication because Balaam taught the people
to commit sin and they committed fornication by the droves and God killed many people in
the plague because the fornication they committed in the days of Balaam back in the Old Testament
and it was an event that God kept referring back for to you know Baal Peor and that whole
incident was something that was constantly brought up we need to keep fornication out
of the church this permissive spirit that just allows wicked sin to run rampant in the
church he says all fight against you with the sword of my mouth God's not playing around
with this with these with these doctrines here he says look if you're allowing fornication
you become you know an enemy that he's going to fight against the Bible says ye adulterers
and adulteresses which obviously adultery and fornication are similar sins he says ye
adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with
God whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God now if you
study the story of Balaam what did he do he taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before
the children of Israel to teach them right he says before the children of Israel to eat
things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication what did he did he got God's people
to mingle amongst the heathen and learn their ways who were they committing fornication
with what brought that influence well Balak and the Moabites the God's people mingled
with the heathen they learned to eat things sacrificed idols they learned to commit fornication
because of that bad influence and so what this church is in Pergamos is a worldly church
a church that's not separated from the world and they allow just fornication and things
to go rampant because of influence from our wicked society and world that we live in they
were influenced by their wicked society that they lived in and so this is another thing
that we need to watch out for in our church if we don't want to lose the franchise if
we don't want to lose the candlestick if we want God to be pleased with us if we look
at Ephesus they did they were they were good at standing against sin they didn't have the
problems that Pergamos had they were good at standing against sin they were good at
exposing false prophets and I believe they were separated from the world but they're
not reaching anybody you know they're they're not winning souls they've lost the first love
they don't care about the people outside the doors and then when we get to this third church
at Pergamos what we see with them is that they are just gone into just worldliness and
sinfulness and they're not separated so look we need to have both today if we want to be
a church that God can bless we need to have both you know there and it seems like a lot
of churches they have one or the other there are a lot of Ephesus churches out there and
there are a lot of Pergamos churches out there because a lot of times you'll find churches
that are really zealous of reaching the lost so they say oh well if we're gonna reach the
lost we got to stop preaching on sin and stop preaching hard and stop you know because we
got to just reach the lost and make it appealing unto them and as soon as you start preaching
hard against sin you know what they'll say in the Pergamos church oh you're turning people
away you're turning people away stop preaching hard stop ripping on sin and then they'll
quote to you the verse I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ
and him crucified that's a verse about reaching the lost out there and they'll bring that
into the church Pergamos Baptist instead of going out and reaching the lost says let's
just bring all the lost in and have a big rock concert and get them all saved that's
Pergamos Baptist okay and then Ephesus Baptist says you know we don't need this junk you
know we don't need this worldly trash we're gonna be separated and we're gonna be you
know we're gonna be clean and pure and righteous but then they're just like yeah and next to
them you know what I mean and both have it wrong and what we need to be in order to be
Smyrna Baptist you know in order to be faithful word Baptist we need to have hard preaching
for the saved why so they don't get into fornication so that they don't eat things
sacrifice enough so it doesn't become just a worldly sin fest hard preaching that's where
the screaming and yelling and pulpit pounding comes in to show God's people their sins we
need to have that in order to not fall into the trap that Pergamos fell but then we also
need to still love the lost and go out and get them saved and not just sit around in
our little social club talking about how holy and how righteous we are and yeah we
tried those false prophets they were lying we got rid of them we cast out we're casting
people out of the church left and right we throw so many and we do by the way in fact
we threw more people out of faith forward Baptist Church in 2014 than any year we ever
have let's give ourselves a big hand we threw out we threw out more people we threw we threw
out sodomites we threw out fornicators we threw out railers I mean we're throwing people
out but you know what to just sit around and just yeah we're so no that's not what it's
about it's not about patting ourselves on the back and yeah we're so clean we're so
right you know we ought to be doing going out and caring about other people and by the
way you know what I've been around some people and thank God I don't think this is a spirit
that exists at our church but I've been in some fundamental Baptist churches though where
a spirit exists where when you go out soul winning with them they're kind of like looking
down on the people to the point where it's just kind of like it just because they're
not like us but but here's the bottom line though you weren't like us either before you
got saved you know we need to understand we love people where they're at and and you know
of course people what about these pedophiles oh shut up okay we're not talking about that
this morning that was a few weeks ago get over it but look the bottom line is that when
we go out soul winning you're you know people are not going to be dressed right people are
not going to be you know acting right people are going to be in all kinds of sinful wrong
situations you know and we need to just love people and and desire them to be saved and
not just be going out soul winning with an attitude just love people who care about people
you know and just understand that you know people are going to be if they're not saved
of course they're going to be worldly of course they're going to be living in sin they're
not saved and go out and try to get them saved and and and have love for people and you say
well how can we have both pastor Anderson well we better figure out how to have both
or we're going to lose the candlestick because you got to have both you got to have the tear
in the eye and the love for the lost and going out and by the way we don't just go to the fancy
neighborhood we go to the ghetto to go soul winning we go everywhere why because we want
to reach people where they're at no matter how derelict they are we we care about them and so
you know yeah let's go out and let's learn to love the lost tear in the eye compassion for the
unsafe but then we also need to never stop preaching hard well it's gonna run off the
lost yeah but that's why we get them saved out there you're you know because before they figure
out how hard we preach here but like you know both it's balance let's bow our heads and have
a word of prayer father we thank you so much for these teachings Lord and it would have been nice
to have a section that said you know unto the church at Tempe that would basically you know
tell us exactly what we're doing well exactly what we could work on Lord but we have these
seven Lord and if the shoe fits Lord we'll put it on so help us as a church here in Tempe to look
at these seven churches Lord and figure out okay are we guilty of this or or are we are we
succeeding in this area or are we going through these things Lord and help us to learn from these
seven pattern churches and Lord help us to keep our candlestick burning bright for decades Lord
and that we would be a strong soul winning church that also takes a stand against sin and false
doctrine that we would be able to balance those two things Lord and in Jesus name we pray Amen