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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good evening, tonight we're in Revelation chapter 3, and the Bible reads, And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast the name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. For I have not found thy works perfect before God. And remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If, therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. I know thy works, behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou art cold nor hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and of need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy with me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Let's pray, dear little God, just thank you for every soul of this church right now, Lord. Just thank you for allowing us to congregate together, to hear the preaching of your word, Lord. Just please bless this service. Please bless Pastor Mejia as he preaches your word unto us, Lord, and that us and the church can be edified by the preaching, Lord. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in Revelation chapter three this evening, and tonight is a part two from last week, lessons from the seven in Revelation, and I'm going to skip over some of the things, the statements that I made last week regarding the number seven in the Bible, and I'm just going to jump into real quick what the significance of these seven churches are in the book of Revelation, because you think to yourself, what's the point of even addressing these seven specific churches in a book dealing with end times Bible prophecy? And sometimes people could read the book of Revelation and kind of think that, you know, this seems out of the narrative. It doesn't seem to go along with everything that else is happening in the book of Revelation from chapters four and on regarding end times, the antichrist, tribulation, the wrath of God, and it's my personal belief that chapter two and three obviously are talking about literal churches that existed in the first century A.D., but it's also kind of an example of the type of churches that will exist in the end times, and the common denominator with all of these churches is the subject of tribulation, okay? Now, why is that important? Well, because of the fact that God wants us to understand, as the apostle Paul said, that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. There's a false narrative that's pushed by a lot of churches out there that claims that Christians will not go through the tribulation, right? They're not going to experience the tribulation. They're not going to experience the six seals of Revelation. They're not going to experience the persecution of the antichrist. They think that the entire church as a whole, we don't call it the church, but they believe that the church, referring to all believers, will be raptured before the tribulation. This is what's known as the pre-tribulation rapture. Before any of that takes place, we're going to be gone, unmanned airplanes everywhere, our clothes are going to fall, we're heading to heaven naked or something, you know? It's just everyone's gone, but this is a false doctrine, okay? Because of the fact that when you look at the common narrative throughout the Bible first and foremost, Christians never escape tribulation, okay? We're always going through tribulation, we always suffer affliction, and often Christians get this confused when it comes to tribulation and the wrath of God, okay? Because what the Bible actually teaches is that we will not be here when God pours out his wrath upon the world towards the latter three and a half years of Daniel's 70th week. This is what we see in the book of Revelation known as the seven trumpets and seven vials of God's wrath being poured on this earth. Whereas the first six seals of the book of Revelation deal with persecution, death, famine, pestilence, persecution that happens from the world unto Christians. And sometimes people will say, well, no, the church is out of here after Revelation chapter 4, and they're no longer present, we're not going to be here anymore, so we don't have to worry about those things. But the problem is that when you read past Revelation chapter 4, you find the saints in the rest of the book of Revelation. And in fact, Revelation chapter 13, when talking about the antichrist, says that the antichrist makes war with the saints and overcomes them. I don't know if you know this, but saints is not referring to that statue in the Roman Catholic Church, it's talking about you and it's talking about me. Saints are people who are believers in Christ, right? Not only that, but in Revelation chapter 6, when talking about the six seals of Revelation, we see that in the fifth seal, there are the souls in heaven under the altar, right, who were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them which dwell on the earth? Showing us that there's believers on this world during that time that are being killed, they're being martyred, clearly indicating that churches are still in existence at that time, Christians are still here, the rapture has not yet taken place, tribulation is something that Christians will experience all the days of their life, but specifically going into end times. And that's why I believe Revelation 2 and 3 are trying to prepare us for. They're trying to show us that different churches respond to tribulation in different ways, right? Some respond great, they actually make it through, they pray unto the Lord, they sow in, they expose false prophets, things of that nature. Other churches are just kind of lame. They're just kind of lukewarm, they're not serving God, they're blinded to a lot of what's going on in their lives as a church spiritually, and God has to rebuke them for it. Now, when you look at these seven churches, starting with the church at Ephesus, you know, the application that we can make regarding end times prophecy is that there's going to be churches in the end times that are really good at spotting the bad people, because the church at Ephesus, you know, we see there, they can't bear them which are evil, they try them which say they are apostles and are not and has found them liars. You know, I guarantee you there's going to be churches in the end times that will spot the false churches, right? They will spot the false prophets, the antichrists, and they will know, hey, this is not the Lord, this is not a prophet of the Lord, this is a false Christ and a false apostle, a false worker, a deceitful worker. But here's the problem, I guarantee you, though, that these same churches, if they're not careful, are not going to be preaching the gospel. You know, it's really easy to become imbalanced in our ministry if we're not careful. We need to make sure that we're exposing the false prophets, but that we don't lose love for the lost, too, though. And it's our job as believers to go out and preach the gospel all the while exposing the false prophets, all the while exposing the false gospel. And explain to me, how do you expose a false gospel without preaching the right gospel? Right? We need to make sure we're doing both. And I'm all for exposing the false church down the street and calling out the names and showing these people who are false workers, deceitful workers, who are transforming themselves into an angel of light, but in like manner, we need to make sure that we're going out there and doing the first works as well, getting people safe. You know, if you really care about the truth, and you really care about exposing the deceit, then you should be out there getting people saved as well. Okay? Preaching the gospel, getting people saved, helping people to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, all the while not bearing them which are evil. You understand? Not only that, but the church of Smyrna, if you look at chapter 2, if you would, look at verse 10 of Revelation 2. This is our introduction. It says in verse 10, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation in ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and will give thee a crown of life. Now, I don't have time in this sermon to develop this particular teaching here, but the basic teaching or interpretation of the ten days, this is a callback to Leviticus chapter 25, dealing with the time of Jubilee, when people were given liberty, the land was given liberty, people were given liberty, you know, those who were indentured servants were released. This is what's known as the time of Jubilee, and this typically took place in the seventh month on the tenth day. And so what that pictures is what? The rapture. Our Jubilee, so to speak, is when we're delivered from this bondage of sin known as this corruptible body, and we are given a glorified body at the resurrection and at the rapture. Now, the reason it says ten days is because of the fact that when you look at the numbers in end times of Bible prophecy, we see that 75 days prior to the rapture taking place, this is what's commonly referred to as great tribulation. So the first four seals of Revelation are tribulations coming upon the world, it's affecting believers and non-believers. This is what's known as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. So when the fifth seal is open, regarding martyrdom, the killing of Christians, that lasts for 75 days. And this is what's known in Revelation 2 verse 10 as tribulation for ten days, showing us that 75 days after that, you have the release, the freedom, the liberty, the resurrection taking place. And so this is why it says, you know, you're going to be tried, you're going to have tribulation ten days, be thou faithful unto death. Why? Because there's a lot of Christians that are going to die during that time. The great tribulation is when we become public enemy number one in this world. The antichrist is making war with the saints, he's overcoming them, and he's killing Christians during this time. But if we're faithful, we are loyal to the Lord, we're still preaching God's word, we're holding fast his name, the Bible says that we will receive a crown of life. And so that is the application to Smyrna. And then Pergamos, if you look at verse 13, he says, in verse 13, I know thy works without dwellest even where Satan's seat is, and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. But I have a few things against thee, because I was there 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. And I truly believe that in the end times, there will be churches like Pergamos, who are essentially causing people to stumble, causing churches to stumble by disobeying God, and worshipping Israel, worshipping the Jews, that's a stumbling block that has been infiltrated within churches, and that's something that God is not pleased with at all. And that's not hard to believe that that's going to happen in the end times, because of the fact that it's happening today. And it'll be that much more prevalent in the end times. Now go to chapter, or actually we're still in chapter 2, because I need to cover the church at Thyatira before we get into chapter 3. So we left off with Thyatira. Look at verse 18. He says unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. Verse 19 says, I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. So the first thing I want to mention here regarding Thyatira is the fact that the Lord esteems the progressive labor of a church. So what do you mean by that? Well, Thyatira, according to this verse, was very loving. Kyla and Bruce sit up straight and pay attention and stop messing around. Thyatira was a very, these are my kids, so don't get offended for them. Mom's not here, so I have to parent them right now. Thyatira was a very loving church. They were a serving church, right? And they had faith in God, according to this verse. They had endurance, meaning they stuck it out in the Christian life. These are very good qualities to have, right? And according to this verse, they had a really good work ethic. And it also seems to indicate that they progressively labored more as time went on. Because it says there that He knows their works, the last to be more than the first. Meaning that when they first started, they were laboring, but as the years go by, what happens? A church grows. And as the church grows, more labor should be added to the harvest, right? You know, as our church begins to grow, we should be training more soul winners. More labors for the harvest, more servants in the local New Testament church, more work needs to be distributed and delegated. We need to be a laboring church. And I can confidently say that in 2024, First Works Baptist Church is laboring more today than it was back in 2017 when we first started. Why? Because there's more people. And there's a greater need, and so obviously that is God's will for every church, is to progressively labor more and more, not to put it in neutral, not to just put it on cruise control and just keep it at one speed and just never do anything thereafter. We need to do more for the Lord as the years go by, not because of the fact that we're trying to prove ourselves per se, but rather because the more people are added to the church, the more God is blessing that church with more labors, more opportunity to get people saved, et cetera. Now, honestly, when I think of this church here, believe it or not, I do think of some of these non-denom churches. And I know there's a lot of non-denom churches that don't preach the right gospel and they preach a false gospel or whatever, but there are some that actually do preach the right gospel. This is a little liberal. But I guarantee you, if you talk to anybody in your church who's been to a liberal church, they could probably tell you that it's a laboring church. There's always all types of activity happening in that church. They're always laboring, they're always doing something, they have a lot of charity, faith and patience. And obviously that's a dangerous thing because it causes people to think that that is what a local New Testament church should be like at all times. So this church, they're working, they have love in their hearts, they're servants, they have faith, they're praying, they have endurance, they have a good work ethic in church, that's a good thing. But look at verse 20. Not withstanding. That's another way of saying, nevertheless. Now I love the sandwich method that God always puts, right? He's like, you're doing really good. And then he just like brings the hammer on them in the middle and then later on says something positive about them. So just picture yourself at Thyatira like, brethren, we're doing well. Sisters, we're doing good. And then the preacher's like, I'm not finished reading the letter though. There's a notwithstanding here. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against the, you know, the air just gets sucked out of the room. Because thou sufferest, sufferest means allow, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel. Now how embarrassing is that? If you're Jezebel in that church, he's calling you out by name. And I do think that this is also symbolic of the Jezebel of the Old Testament. God is trying to help us to make a connotation here, an association with something. But I also believe that Jezebel was actually in this church. So you know, Jezebel's like, you know, she's like, amening. She's all happy and everything. And all of a sudden she gets called out and she's like, face goes red. I mean, this is, Jesus is addressing you. And by the way, notice that he says, hey Jezebel, I'm talking to you. No, he says, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess. You see, God calls us prophets. But there's certain people that call themselves a prophetess or a prophet, right? This is not a label that God gave to her. She's given herself that label. To teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. So let's go ahead and dissect this a little bit and see why God is so upset what's going on here in Thyatira. First of all, he's condemning them, listen to this, for allowing women to preach and teach in church, okay? That's what he's saying. He says, thou sufferest that woman Jezebel to teach, okay? And according to the Bible, this is biblical and I know this is very offensive to a lot of people. Women should not be preaching behind the pulpit according to the word of God. Now hold your place or go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Before you lose it, okay? Because we're Bible believers here, we believe what the word of God says and no, we don't need cultural context. The Bible is, Christianity is the culture of the Bible. So we don't need to go back 2,000 years to figure out how people did church back in the day. We have the word of God itself. And these principles and doctrines, listen to me, are timeless. Meaning there is no expiration date on them. They remain relevant in 2024, okay? Look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 9. It says, in like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. So obviously God is not, he's not necessarily, he isn't saying that women serving in the church is a bad thing or even women preaching the gospel is a bad thing because women are supposed to preach the gospel because every believer is supposed to do that. We're talking about the ministry of the pulpit in the local New Testament church. And according to the Bible, the only one sanctioned to fulfill that role and fulfill that, to occupy themselves in the word of God is a man. And in fact, in 1 Timothy chapter 3, it tells us that if a man desired the office of a bishop, he desired the good work. The bishop is the pastor. And then he gives the qualification and says, therefore a man needs to be a husband of what? One wife. Well, how does that work if it's a woman? It doesn't work. He says in verse 11, listen to this, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. Is that a hard pill to swallow for you or what? That's what the Bible says, right? Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. And he further expounds upon what this is referring to in verse 12, but I suffer. Doesn't that sound like Revelation 2? But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. Oh, that's so chauvinistic and, you know, outdated. Then call me chauvinistic and outdated, it's biblical. That's what the Bible teaches. That's why Joyce Meyer should sit down, shut up, and not be preaching or pastoring in that church, because it's not biblical. And it's hypocritical for her to claim that she loves the Bible and loves the Lord Jesus Christ, all the while rejecting the clear teachings of the word of God. I don't care if you think she's a good preacher or not. That's not what's in question. What's in question is what is her biblical role? And why is her husband sitting there listening to that? He should be up there preaching the Bible, not her. He says, I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. And look, this is one of the reasons why I'm glad Trump won, amen? Praise the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because if not, the alternative would have been Kamala, Kamala, or however you want to call her name, the loser, okay? And you know what, that would have been a curse upon the nation. And according to the Bible, God condemns the woman usurping authority over the man in church, the arena of the church, and the arena of just politics in general. That's what the Bible teaches. Now why is God against that in the church? Why is God against a woman preaching behind the pulpit, teaching the word of God? Why is he against this? Well, look at verse 13. He gives us the reason, for Adam was first formed, then Eve. Verse 14 says, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So this is related to the forbidden of allowing women to preach in the church. Why? Women are more susceptible to deception. And if a woman is susceptible to deception, that means she's more likely to teach false doctrine behind the pulpit. Nuh-uh, give me an example, Jezebel. Thyatira was just like, let's prove them wrong. Get the woman behind the pulpit. First thing she does, seduces and teaches to commit fornication, eating, sacrificing them to idols. Well, thank you for proving our point, Jezebel. Why? Because according to the Bible, Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam was not deceived. Eve was deceived, showing us conclusively that a woman is more susceptible to teaching and believing false doctrine. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? Now, in case you think this is isolated, like, well, that's just one verse. Well, it's an entire passage, okay? But go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 14. 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, if you would. Now, don't misunderstand what the Bible's telling us here, because the Bible also says in Titus, chapter 2, that the aged women are to teach the younger women how to love their husbands, you know, to love their children, to guide the house, to fulfill their God-given role. But notice it doesn't say to teach them the Bible, though. It just says to love their husbands, right? It gives them all of the conduct and conversation that they should be imparting and teaching to the other ladies in church. And it's not behind the pulpit either, okay? It's something that's done one-on-one on discipleship, things of that nature. And this is not forbidding women to preach the gospel, because that commandment is given to everyone to preach the Word of God, to preach the gospel out there. This is referring to the context of a local New Testament church where the Word of God is being taught. Look at 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33. Premise this with verse 33, it says, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches. Man, Paul's just really on it, huh? For it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Now, women, when they listen to this and they get offended by it, they often try to go with this extreme argument. Are you saying we just can't talk at all in church? There's just no talking whatsoever in church? What are we, just shut up by the time we come in until we leave or something like that? That's obviously not what the Bible's teaching here now, is it? What is this in context of? It's in context of sermons, preaching. Because 1 Corinthians 14, the previous verses are dealing with prophesying. What is prophesying? It's synonymous with preaching, okay? So this is in the context of preaching. So it doesn't mean as soon as you walk through the doors, ladies, you're just... Right? Just not going to say anything, not going to talk to anybody, because women ought to keep silence in the churches. Don't take this crazy position and exaggerate like that. Don't add to the word of God. This is obviously in context of preaching in church that according to the Bible, women are not to be preaching behind the pulpit. Plain and simple. Now, I don't care if you think, well, that's cultural, that was culture back then. There's nowhere in the New Testament that gives the caveat, obey this until the culture changes. Because if that was God's will, he would have laid that out for us. There would have been some sort of caveat, some sort of instruction that said, hey, this is instituted until the time of when, you know, women are gently leaving their husbands or whatever, and at that point, everything changes, blah, blah, blah. Okay? And this is important today because you know what? A lot of churches are given permission to women to preach behind the pulpit or have some sort of position of authority in the local New Testament church to teach the word of God to men, and it's wrong. That's the doctrine of Jezebel. And by the way, fundamental Baptist churches, maybe they won't go to that extent, but they have no problem starting a podcast, though, and teaching the word of God on the podcast or something like that. That's also wrong. Why don't you do what 1 Timothy 5 says and Titus 2 says and guide the house? Well, that's what I'm doing. I'm just doing it through a podcast. But we don't need doctrine on your podcast, though. But you know what? This is just another example of what the Bible's teaching here. And is it any surprise that in the day and age in which we live, there's so many women pastors out there and female preachers and women teaching the word of God and wanting the spotlight in that area? That's completely against God's will. It is what the Bible calls confusion. And some of you may think, yeah, but my wife knows more Bible than me, though. Well, that's a problem. You better get to studying. And don't tell anybody that. My wife just reads the Bible more than I do. Then the roles have switched or something, because I'm not saying that the women are not to learn the Bible and know the Bible, but you know what? The one who's spiritually supposed to be guiding the house in a spiritual matter is the husband. He sets the spiritual temperature. He sets the spiritual tone. He teaches the word of God and is not to be usurped by anybody other than himself and the Lord, obviously, who's leading him. His wife is not supposed to be usurping his authority. And that's how it's supposed to be in church as well. And by the way, this is one of the reasons why in our type of churches, women do not say amen. Because that, according to the Bible, is a shameful thing to do. Now look, I know sometimes I'm on one and I'm preaching and I'm just ripping, and there's women in our church that agree wholeheartedly what's being said. And it sometimes accidentally slips out. I ain't mad at you, you know, because the preaching is that good, amen? Preaching is so good, even the women want to say amen. You're just like, come on, preacher. Hey, I get you, that's okay. But don't make it a habit, amen? Look, in Southern churches, Southern fundamental Baptist churches, or just Baptist churches in the South period, it's very common for women to just be very vocal in their services, creating all types of confusion. Even in fundamental Baptist churches, that's a shame according to the Bible. And so go back to Revelation chapter 2, if you would, Revelation chapter 2. And this also teaches us that, you know, when it's time for preaching, it's not a question and answer time either, right? When I'm preaching, you know, because sometimes you'll have people like raise their hand, well, what about this in the Bible? You know, it's just like, this is not a Q&A right now. Number one, if you're a dude, ask me after the service. But number two, if you're a woman, you should ask your husband. And if your husband or your authority is not here, then you can ask me after the service, or some other person in the service, and that's completely fine. But when it's time for preaching, we need to keep order in the service. So I will ignore you if you raise your hand for a question. And if you persist to want to ask the question, I'll just say, hand down, I'm not answering any questions right now. You can ask me afterwards, okay? Because we need to keep law and order in the local New Testament church and allow the man of God to expound the word of God to teach the Bible and hold your questions till after. Look at verse 20. So he's condemning them for Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she's teaching, strike one. He says, calls himself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. So Thyatira has this woman preacher named Jezebel. She has some sort of authority in the church. And to add insult to injury, she's seducing the servants of God and making sin permissible. Meaning, she said, fornication, it's okay to kind of live together before you guys get married. You know, if you really love each other in the Lord and you guys just had that special thing going on, you can live together, it's okay, God knows. They're making excuses for sin in the church. This is what Jezebel's doing. This is what the Bible says, that she's seducing them to commit fornication. Now, the scripture also seems to imply later on that she's seducing them to commit fornication with her. So obviously, there's a very wicked woman here. And it also says to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, hold your place in Revelation 2. So she's making sin permissible by saying that it's okay to commit fornication. And I guarantee you, she's not using the word fornication either. You can live together is probably what she's saying to that. Just kind of lowering the effect of what fornication is, saying that it's okay. And look, this isn't foreign. Today, churches do this, where they're okay with people in the church not married, shacking up together, committing fornication, and the pastor and the church leadership just do absolutely nothing about it. Oh, we're discipling them, we're teaching them. Yeah, but it's been like five years, though. How long is this discipleship program going to take, right? You know, how long does it take to just show people fornication is the wicked sin that according to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, merits excommunication from the church if the person's not willing to get it right? Or how about the alternative, just get married? Why is it so hard for a pastor to encourage their members, if they're involved in fornication, just get married? Well, I don't want to offend them. Marriage is not an offensive thing. It should not be an offensive thing in the local New Testament church, amen? Marriage is a wonderful thing, and in fact, you essentially remove the curse upon that couple's life by motivating them to get married, and then they have God's hand upon their life, God's blessing upon their life, because God blesses the Holy Union, amen? And so, by the way, if you're involved in fornication, either you have to repent of that, separate, or get married. And you can easily, you don't even have to have a fancy ceremony, you can if you want here, but you have to legally get married, though. I mean, you have to go to the recorder's office, get your marriage license, pay the $80, $90, whatever it is that they charge, and, you know, have someone sign it off, and you're officially married, that's okay. That's ideal. Look at 1 Corinthians 10, let's talk about the eating things sacrificed into idols, because what is this referring to? Well, I think it's referring to Jezebel encouraging the church of Thyatira to adopt pagan ideologies and practices, okay? Because this doesn't mean, you know, when the Bible talks about eating things sacrificed into idols, I do not believe that this is referring to there is meat offered to this false god, don't eat that meat for sustenance. Some people take that position, I don't believe that's what it's referring to. Look at verse 6, first and foremost, he says, And were destroyed of serpents. Skip down to verse 14, verse 14 says, Therefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Skip down to verse number 19. What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God, and I would not think you should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils. Now let me ask you a question, what is he referring to when he says the Lord's table? He's referring to communion, right? Taking the Lord's Supper, right? That's what it's talking about. And he's saying, you can't participate in the Lord's Supper, which is a religious rite, it's a religious ritual laid out by the Bible, laid out by the word of God, and also participate in the table of devils. So the table there is signifying that there is a religious, you know, activity taking place there, worshipping of God, and the table of devils is that there is also a religious activity taking place there, worshipping a false god or a devil. So he's saying, you can't just like, act like you're a Christian and participate in the Lord's table, and then turn around and participate in some pagan activity, worshipping of false gods and eating things sacrificed unto idols. That's what he's saying. Now you say, well, how does that apply though? Like, how would we apply that? Well, obviously it's hard for us to apply this because of the fact that this country is not necessarily a nation that is permeated with idolatry. You know, people in churches don't necessarily struggle with idolatry, per se, as they would in times past. But here's a great example, the Roman Catholic Church, whose church practices is basically participating in the table of devils. Why? Because they worship idols. And when they participate in the Eucharist, that is a pagan activity. It's not found in the Bible, my friends. You say, what is the Eucharist? It's the belief that when they drink alcohol, yes alcohol, and eat the little wafer, that it literally becomes the blood and body of Jesus Christ in their body. This is known as transubstantiation. So when they eat the bread and the wine, they consume it, it supernaturally becomes the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ. That's pagan. You say, well, I thought like John chapter 6 says something about eat my flesh and drink my blood. Well, that's funny because at the end of John chapter 6, what does the Apostle Peter say? To whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that we should eat this because it becomes your literal body and blood. We believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The teaching in John chapter 6 was to signify that believing on Jesus Christ or eating his flesh, drinking his blood, is synonymous with believing on the Lord. You're consuming the word of God, which is Jesus, for salvation. Why? Because the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. You understand? When you believe on Jesus Christ, you are essentially accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. You are accepting his blood as an atonement for your sin. But yet you have, whatever, three billion people in this world or whatever, or a billion people in this world known as Roman Catholics, who participate in this pagan ritual, believing that the bread and the wine actually becomes his blood. That's pagan. And you know what? Roman Catholics aren't the only ones who are doing this. There is also Protestants who claim to be saved, who claim to believe the Bible, who also believe in this transubstantiation as well. And you know what that is? That's eating things, sacrificing them to idols. And you know what? They also believe in praying to the saints, which is an idolatrous practice. You know, and people have asked me this over and over again. What do you believe about praying to saints? I'm like, why would I pray to them when I could just pray to Jesus? I mean, Catholicism is one of the easiest cults to debunk. You say, how? Just throw the Bible at them and it just destroys their entire... Because they do everything opposite of the Bible. Bible says don't pray vain repetitions. They're like, oh, pray of the hundred Hail Marys. It's like, man. It's like, Bible says don't commit idolatry. They're like, let's pray to Mary. Bible says there's only one mediator. They're like, no, we got Mary, the mediatrix or whatever. I mean, over and over again, the Roman Catholic Church shows itself to be just anti-Bible. And they're just like, well, we gave you the Bible. How are you going to say that if we gave you the Bible, then why don't you obey it? You say you believe the Bible, you gave us the Bible, you can't quote the Bible. And when I quote verses, they're like, huh? Huh? Huh? Why is it that you claim to give me the Bible? You can't even quote a single verse. And why do you esteem the traditions of man over God's word? Why does everything you believe in stark contrast to the words of Jesus Christ? Why is it that you call your spiritual leaders father when Jesus literally said, listen to this, call no man father? Well, what do you call your dad? Oh, man, checkmate. Let me let me talk to the Lord about that and explain to him how you checkmated him, too, since he's the one who said it. They always say that. And it's just like, are you arguing against me or against the Lord Jesus Christ? Because he's the one that said it. He says, call no man father. And what it's referring to is referring to holding a position of spiritual leadership and labeling yourself as a father. And it's just like, well, no, you know, the apostle Paul kind of related to himself as a father. Yeah. Name me a verse in the Bible. Quote me a verse in the Bible where Timothy is saying, Father Paul. Can you find me, Father Paul, Father Peter, Father John, Father Benedict, or, you know, can you find any father in the Bible like that? No, it's always bishop this, right? Brother this. You never find anybody calling anybody father in the Bible because of the fact that it's not there. Or how about the fact that just the word Catholic is not even in the Bible? Yeah, you did such a great job giving us the Bible. You forgot one little detail, and that's putting the word Catholic in the Bible. And then to add insult to injury, you actually accidentally put Baptist in the Bible. You put Baptist in the Bible, you leave Catholic out. I mean, they're basically handing over the victory to us and the argument. The point that I'm making here is that churches out there, there are churches. Listen to me. There are churches out there that are integrating Catholic practices into their service. That's a fact. Protestants are the major culprits of that. And by the way, I'm not a Protestant either. This is not a Protestant church, okay? I'm not a Presbyterian or a lesbian. I'm not a Methodist. I'm not a Lutheran. I'm a fundamental Baptist, okay? And I don't believe that the Catholic church left us. You know, we didn't leave the Catholic church. The Catholic church left us. It's like, dude, these people, no Catholic is saved. People say, the Catholics are like, there's no salvation outside of the Catholic church. And you know what? There's no salvation in the Catholic church though. Because none of them are saved. They believe in a workspace salvation. And it's not a controversial thing to tell people that. It's a fact. And you know what? Too many compromising churches out there who take a watered down position on the Catholics, because there's more of them than there are of us. But you know what? Let me remind you. God is the way to lead it to destruction, and many there be which go in there. You say, why are there so many Catholics there? Because God is the way. There's many. Let me tell you of another congregation that has more people than anybody else. It's called hell. How about that? There's more people in hell today than there will be people in heaven. Did you know that? There's going to be a lot of people in heaven, but folks, there's a lot of people, souls, in hell. Fact. We're not just talking about numbers here. You know, you're not winning in that regard. Hell is filled with people of, and you know what? Hell is an ecumenical place too, amen? You know, there's Catholics, there's Protestants there, there's Buddhists, there's Hindus. Hell will take anybody, except for those who believe on Jesus Christ, solely for their salvation. So, this is what's taking place. You know what? Where they permit drinking alcohol in church. They permit fornication in church. They permit all types of wicked sin in the church, making it permissible, and by doing so, they're actually incurring the wrath of God upon the individual committing that. And then aside from that, they're also integrating pagan things, pagan worships. You know, the charismatic movement is notorious for that too. Much of their services are methodologies that were adopted by the ashram cults of India and these false religions, okay? And so, it's wicked, it should not be, go back to Revelation chapter two if you would, and look at verse 22. So, you know, I think Jesus is mad at Jezebel here. And you kind of wonder like, whose parents would name their daughter Jezebel? Did they not read the history of Israel? But, you know, she calls herself a prophetess, she's taking over the church there, and he's rebuking her. Now, whether Jezebel was saved or not, we don't know, but God is being merciful and gracious to Jezebel in Thyatira because he says, I gave her space to repent, right? And you know what? That's what we as a church do. When someone isn't necessarily up to par with biblical standards, we don't just cast them out of the church or something. We don't just throw them out. You say, what do you do? We give them space to repent because some people just don't know, right? You know, they don't know that alcohol is wrong to drink consistently or at all. They don't know that fornication is wrong. They don't really know these things because they're growing up in a society where sin is permissible. They're listening to all these preachers that make sin permissible. So, they come to a church like ours that has a high standard and they don't know. And you know what? I don't think we just, every sermon needs to be on these things, but they'll eventually catch it. And once they do, they've had the space to repent. I've had plenty of people come to me and be like, I didn't know tattoos were wrong. Tattoos are wicked. I didn't know we weren't supposed to mark our bodies until you preached this sermon like months down the road and I realized it was wrong. So, I'm not going to get any more tattoos. Or I didn't know drinking every once in a while is wrong. And it is wrong. Until you preach the sermon on that, then they're given that space to repent. Some people are like, well, that's a little too much. You might offend people. But folks, I'm more concerned with making sure I don't offend God, though. Although I call it my church because this is where I attend, this is God's church. And it's our job to keep it clean, keep it clear, be gracious about it, be merciful about it, be patient with people, but not compromising these areas. He says in verse 22, behold, here's the end times application here. Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Now, what is that talking about? Well, when he says he'll cast her into bed, obviously, he's relating this to the fornication that she is literally committing. But because this also ties into end times prophecy, what this is telling us here is that he's going to put her to sleep. Because what do you do in a bed? You sleep. So when he says I'm going to cast her into a bed, spiritually speaking, it's referring to the fact that they're spiritually going to be asleep. And let me tell you a time where you don't want to be spiritually asleep during great tribulation. Right? You want to be aware, alive, awake, enthusiastic. You want to make sure that you're paying attention to what's going on, that you're watching, you're being vigilant, you're reading the Word of God. And in the Bible, I don't have time to develop this, but in the Bible, being a fleshly Christian or being in the flesh is synonymous with being asleep. It doesn't mean you're literally asleep. It means you're just spiritually asleep because you're in the flesh. And a great way to illustrate this, if you think about it, is when Jesus Christ goes into the Garden of Gethsemane. And what does he tell his disciples? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. Right? Watch means be vigilant. Keep a watch. And what do they do? They fall asleep. They literally fall asleep. And then he's like, could have stopped that watch with me for one hour? He like rebukes them, he corrects them. He says the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. And a parallel passage says the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weak. So it's relating the weakness of the flesh with being asleep. And I'm not talking about literally falling asleep like some of you are doing right now. I'm talking about not being aware of spiritual truths. Right? Not being able to discern spiritual truths from the Word of God. Not praying through things. And that's one of the worst ways to enter into a time of affliction. It's just completely in the flesh. Right? Not being able to discern what is God doing in my life? What's taking place? You can't necessarily discern that. So he tells her, if you don't repent of this sin, if you don't get this right, I'm going to put you to sleep. And those that commit adultery with you into great tribulation. And you know what? There's going to be a lot of sleepy churches in the end times. Why? Because they're too political. Hey, political churches are sleepy churches. Why? Because they're not awake to spiritual truths. Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee life. You know, the Bible tells us over and over again, awake thou that sleepest, for some have not the knowledge of God as speak this to your shame. He's not telling the church at Corinth, hey, wake up physically. He's saying you need to wake up spiritually. You need to start getting in the Bible again. You need to start praying. You know, instead of reading a devotional or getting your verse of the day or whatever on your calendar, you know, that you got from Hobby Lobby, instead of, you know, watching some podcasts, why don't you actually just sit down at your desk, Bible in hand, and just read it with a cup of coffee, amen? Say, Lord, open down my eyes and I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Help me to be watchful. Help me to be ready in the Spirit, to receive spiritual truths, to be able to discern the decisions that I need to make today. You know what? We need that if the tribulation comes in our time. We want to be awake during that time because those who are not awake will suffer the consequences of not watching, okay? Let me read to you from Isaiah 56, verse 10 says, his watchmen are blind. They're all ignorant. They're all dumb dogs. They cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Who are the watchmen? The pastors. The Bible says in First Thessalonians 5, 6, therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, for they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night, but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. Sounds to me like God wants us to be wide awake, spiritually speaking, right? Walking in the Spirit, not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. One last verse here, Matthew 24, verse 42 says, watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. He's speaking to those who are going through tribulation in the end times and he says, you better be paying attention to what's going on, okay? And we're not referring to the news either. Talking about knowing what's going on spiritually, being able to discern what the spiritual battle is, okay? All right, let's keep going here. Look at Revelation chapter 3. I'm gonna finish up with the church at Sardis here. But he tells the church at Thyatira, he says, look, you better get this right. If not, I'm gonna cast you into bed. You're gonna go to sleep. You're gonna go through tribulation, not being sober, not paying attention, and that's gonna be a detriment to you and the church. Look at Revelation 3, verse 1. Unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If, therefore, thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Now, this is a continuation of that same thought because he just got finished telling the church at Thyatira, if you don't repent, I'm gonna cast you into a bed, which means they're gonna go to sleep. Now, he addresses the church at Sardis, and he's addressing a church that has already fallen asleep because he says you have a name that you're living, but you're actually dead. And this is why in elsewhere he says, awake arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. And he's saying be watchful, and you need to start strengthening the things which remain, the things which are ready to die. Now, I believe what he's telling them here is that they just need to wake up, okay? So we have a church in Thyatira that's going into slumber because they're involved in sin, but then you kind of have a church in Sardis who's already slumbering. And it's easier, let me say this, it's easier in my opinion to help a church from falling asleep than to try to already wake up a church that's already asleep. Just like it's easier to keep you from committing a sin than from helping those who are already in sin get out of that sin. It's easier to keep you in church than for me to try to get people who are already out of church back into church. You understand what I'm saying? It takes more work to get people back into church when they're already out. But you know what? And it takes work to keep people in church as well, but you know what? This work is a lot easier and simpler than the other one. And the same thing with you. You know, it's work to try to keep yourself in the will of God in church right with the Lord, but it's a lot more work to get right with God when you've been out in sin, out of church. I mean, it's difficult. You know, I can't necessarily say by experience that I know what that's like, but I just trust the Bible that it's true in that regard. And I know that it's hard to stay in church. I know that's difficult to do the same thing over and over again all the days of your life, listening to preaching, cleaning up your life. That's a very daunting and hard task. But let me say this. The alternative is a lot harder. Okay, because once the heart grows cold and hard, it's very difficult to soften it back up again, which is one of the reasons why God has to allow a person to hit rock bottom to go through very difficult, painful trials to kind of wake them up, right, to get back into church, to get back into the love of God and doing those things which are pleasing in their sight. And, you know, what God commends them with here in verse 4, he says, Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. So he's looking at this church at Sardis, and he's saying, these guys, you guys are all asleep, not paying attention. But there's a few names there who apparently have not defiled themselves. They're walking. They're doing that which is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. And what this shows me is that you don't have to be a byproduct of your environment, right? You know, I think of people who attend different churches. They could still be a good Christian in that church. They can still walk with the Lord, walk in white, and not defile their garments. They could be individuals who are serving God. Now, a secondary interpretation of this could possibly mean that the church at Sardis in general is not a saved church. They have a name that they're living because they're a church, but they're actually dead in their trespasses and sin. And it could be that when he says, Thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy, is referring to the fact that there's still a couple of saved people there. And I think anybody could attest that there's a church out there, maybe like a mega church, where maybe the pastor preaches the false gospel. In general, a lot of people there are not saved if you talk to them. But then you will run into a few saved people. Those are the few names in Sardis, okay? And here is possibly the reason why I would say that that's the case, the interpretation that is, is verse 5. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment. Overcometh means what? Be saved. They believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The same shall be clothed in white raiment. 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. So that is in conjunction with verse 4 about these few names who are walking with him in white. So it's possibly referring to the fact that this church at Sardis, they didn't do their due diligence to make sure that people are saved in their church. That's why they have a name that they're living, but they're actually dead. And what they have to strengthen is what? The Gospel presentation, the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of justification, but they have these few names in Sardis that are possibly saved, or that are saved, excuse me. And so there's that. Let's try to finish up here. Look at verse 7. Now, Philadelphia is an awesome church. This is probably one of my favorite churches in the seven churches, aside from Ephesus, because you don't really have anything negative. It's kind of like Smyrna. There's nothing really negative about the church of Philadelphia. Look what it says in verse 7. It's an angel of the church in Philadelphia, right? These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Oh, man, there goes that anti-Semitic phrase again. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them to dwell upon the earth. Now, let me make a couple comments regarding this church before we finish here. So he's telling them that he set an open door before them, no one is able to shut it, and he says that he's going to make those of the synagogue of Satan to come and worship before their feet, and to know that God has loved them. And then he says, you've kept the word of my patience, I'm going to keep you from the hour of temptation. So what is this referring to? It's very enigmatic, it's kind of cryptic, but what I believe this is talking about, it's kind of a reference to Daniel chapter 3. Now, in Daniel chapter 3, you have the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being cast into the fiery furnace. And if you read that story, Nebuchadnezzar creates this great image of himself, right? We'll just call it like an abomination of desolation in the end times. And I can't think of the measurements right now, but it's kind of like six, six, and then – and I'm not joking, it's literally that – and then when there's these six instruments that play, everyone's supposed to come and worship before that giant idol. So 666, you know, maybe just a coincidence. So everyone's just bowing down and worshiping the image of Nebuchadnezzar, except for Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. So someone rats them out, they tell on them, and Nebuchadnezzar's really furious with them. He's angry with them, and he's just like, why aren't you doing this? And they answer, we're not careful to answer thee in this manner. He's like, we're not going to bow down and worship before the image. And, you know, he basically threatens them. He says, if you don't, I'm going to cast you into the fiery furnace, okay? And he says, you know, they respond by saying, our God is able to deliver us, but if not, we will not bow down and worship the image. So then Nebuchadnezzar is infuriated. He turns up the furnace seven times more often than it was. You know, seven times, okay? Like the number that we saw in Revelation. Even to the point where the flames are so wild that the men who are casting the three Hebrew children into the fiery furnace, they get burned up, okay? So they throw them in there, and Nebuchadnezzar looks inside, and he says, how many people did we throw in there? He's like, three. He's like, well, I see four. And the fourth is like unto the Son of God. And they're just kind of walking around, it's like a sauna. It's not even like a sauna for them. They're just walking around in there. And so he calls, Nebuchadnezzar just obviously sees this as a great miracle. And by the way, that's why you need to use a King James Bible, because the King James says the fourth is like unto the Son of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, who walks with us in the fiery furnace, right? And, you know, whereas these other modern versions are like the sons of the gods or something. It's nonsense. The King James says, like unto the Son of God. And it goes with the narrative of the Bible, amen? So then they come out, and they're not burned, they're not singed, and in fact, it says that a hair of their head is not even burned. Just like in the New Testament, when it talks about the tribulation, a hair of your head shall not perish, and your patience possesses your souls. Okay? So they're complete, and then, you know, Nebuchadnezzar ends up believing, and it's a great story. But this is obviously a picture of the end times, because of the fact that in the end times, the abomination of desolation is set up, and everyone in the end times is expected to worship the image of the beast, of the antichrist, and those who do not are put to death. And in fact, they're burned, right? They're symbolically, in a sense, cast into the fiery furnace. But the Bible tells us here that the Lord is telling the Church of Philadelphia, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. So if you can picture, like, the furnace has open doors, and they were able to walk out of those doors, which symbolizes the tribulation. And what does the Bible say? There is no temptation taking you, but such is as common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with the temptation, listen to this, also make a way to escape. And then conveniently, the verse after in 1 Corinthians 10 says, So it's, you know, relating the abomination of desolation, which is one of the greatest of idols that will be in this world in the end times. But just as he made a way for Meshech, Shadrach, and Abednego to escape out of the fiery furnace, in like manner, he's going to make a way for you, even in 2024, to escape from your fiery furnace as well. But even in the end times, he will make a way for you to escape the clutches of the antichrist when he comes after you. But hold on a second. It's not just anybody though. Who is it? Verse 10, You know, if you're able to keep the word of God, endure the word of God, preach the word of God, God will keep you in the fiery furnace. This is why during the tribulation, we need to keep preaching the word of God, we need to keep preaching the gospel, so that God can protect us from the fiery furnace of the clutches of the antichrist. Look at verse 11, He's saying, look, you need to make sure you endure this, endure this temptation, endure this tribulation, endure this trial, so that no man is able to take your reward for enduring that tribulation. Because, you know, you will be rewarded in due time, you shall reap. Listen to this though, if you faint not though. And so the admonition that he's giving the church at Philadelphia is like, hey, you're going to make it through. And by the way, you know, why does he say the Jews, I'm going to make them to know that I love thee and to come and worship before thy feet? Well, because in Daniel chapter three, everyone was worshiping before the feet of Nebuchadnezzar, while Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego were kind of like the outcasts. But in the end times, when the millennial reign takes place, everyone's going to be coming to the believers, right? They're going to be obeying the believers, be under the authority of the believers in the millennial reign. And so that is what it's referring to there. And I'm going to stop there. We'll cover the church at Laodicea next week. The sermon is basically showing us here that what God is interested in when it comes to the church is, he wants to know if you're able to handle tribulation. And he's kind of addressing this with all the churches. You know, God wants you to know that he loves you, but you kind of already know that though. He wants you to know that he cares for you, that he's gracious with you, that he's merciful to you. But let's just be honest, we all kind of know that. You know, we got saved because we found that out, right? What he wants to know is he wants to see what you're made of. And, you know, some people think that, you know, experiencing the love of God through reading the Bible is like the apex of like fellowship with the Lord. And that is an incredible experience to be able to read God's word and pray and have the love of God shed abroad in your heart and experience that. But let me just let me just give you a reality check here. The greatest type of communion and fellowship you'll have with God is when you're suffering. It's true. I don't know if you have your Bibles open, but look at chapter three and verse 20, because this is what he says to the church here, to all the churches. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. What is he saying? You know, some people will say, well, you know, you just got a little fellowship with the Lord and invite him into your heart. But that's not what this is saying. This is saying I'm standing at the door of the church and I want to know if you want a fellowship with me. And what's the fellowship referring to? It's referring to suffering, which is why the apostle Paul said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of the suffering. You know, this is why Jesus Christ specifically rewards people, according to Romans Chapter eight. We are joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, the Bible says. So it's like the Lord is like outside of First Works Baptist Church. And he's like, you guys want a fellowship? But it requires suffering, though, to be acquainted with his grief, to have that fellowship. And you know what? That's a scary thing to pray for. I pray for that, but sometimes I'm a little reluctant to pray for that because tribulation is hard. Tribulation is painful. Afflictions are difficult. But you ever notice that when you go through a hard time and you walk with God, it's some of the sweetest fellowship you'll ever have with the Lord. You actually grow closer to God when you're going through the fellowship of his suffering. So the main message that he carries to all these churches is he gives you all these churches in Asia and he's like, I'm knocking on the door. I don't care how much what kind of purple lights you got, smoking mirrors, glass pulpits. I want to know, are you willing to suffer? Who's with me? He's like, who wants to fellowship with me? And you know what? He doesn't get a whole lot of volunteers. Because it's hard. And sometimes we just need to pray and say, Lord, make me capable of going through tribulation. Help me to have the capacity to suffer righteously and not to just quit on you and to quit church and quit the Bible and quit salvations and soul winning and all this. Quit the service of the Lord because I'm going through tribulation. Help me to just like plow through this because it's during this time that I'm going to have the most sweetest of fellowship with you, the fellowship of your suffering. That is the lessons to the seven churches. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And I know there's a lot to unpack there, Lord, but I pray that you'd help us to apply much of it, Lord. And if anyone takes anything out of this, most important thing is that we need to know how to suffer righteously. And none of us like to suffer. I don't like to suffer. I don't like tribulation. It's very uncomfortable. It's very painful. And, Lord, it just it's very awkward. But I pray that you'd help us to be apt, capable to suffer wrongfully, Lord, when it comes upon us. And that we would take advantage of those seasons not to get away from you, but to draw nigh unto you, knowing full well that you'll draw nigh unto us. And that we would pray and read the Bible and create within us an appetite for the eternal. And I pray you bless us as we go on our way. Lord, we love you so much. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus.