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Revelation chapter 3 and verse number 14. Revelation 3.14, the last of the seven churches, it says, and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans. So that's the title for the sermon tonight. The church of the Laodiceans, so Sister Maria, you're close, church of Laodicea, almost there, you got a half point as well. So I'm not sure who wins exactly. Maybe, I think Sister Adela. I think you've got one point. Brother Martin's got half a point. And Sister Maria, you've got half a point. So well done, Adela, I'll just give you a round of applause for the trivia questions. Well done. All right, so let's get into the sermon here. Revelation 3.14, and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans writes, these things sayeth thee, amen, and faithful, sorry, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Of course, these are the words of Jesus Christ. And notice that it says, these things sayeth thee, amen. One of the names of Christ, one of the titles of Christ is simply, amen. Hey, what does it mean to say, when we say it, brother, you know, just said it right now. When we say amen, what are we saying? We're saying that this is true. What I've heard, I agree with that. You know, this is true. So when Christ says that he is the amen, he's saying that once again, he is the truth. He is the amen. He says the faithful and true witness. And then interesting words, the beginning of the creation of God. We're gonna come to that in a moment. But I did have the reading from Colossians chapter two. So please go back to Colossians chapter two for a moment. Colossians chapter two in verse number one. Colossians chapter two in verse number one. Now, why are we turning back to the book of Colossians? Because when we look at the church in Laodicea, we don't have in our Bibles an epistle to the Laodicean church. But if you wanna wrap your mind around like what the church of Laodicea was like, the closest church that you can probably think about in the Bible is the Colossian church. And I'll show you why in a moment. But look at Colossians chapter two, verse number one. Colossians chapter two verse number one, Paul runs to the Colossian church, he says, "'For I would that ye knew what great conflict "'I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, "'and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.'" So I want you to notice that as Paul is running to the Colossian church, he's also thinking about the church in Laodicea. And he says there are people in these churches that have not seen his face. Many of them do not know who Paul is. Even though Paul is one of the church planters, I assume these churches have grown over time and they just truly don't know who the church planter was. Go to Colossians chapter four now. Colossians chapter four verse number 16. Colossians chapter four verse number 16. Notice the other similarity we have with the Laodicean church here in Colossians 4, 16. It says, "'And when this epistle," so the epistle to the Colossian church, "'and when this epistle is read among you, "'cause it to be read also "'in the church of the Laodiceans, "'and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.'" All right, so you see that. So Paul says, hey, when you guys are done reading the book of Colossians, the epistle to the Colossian church, then send it to Laodicea. You know, let it be read in that church. And the epistle that was sent to Laodicea, let's bring that to be read to the Colossian church. You say, where is that epistle? It's not in our canon of scripture. Whatever reason God saw fit to not include that epistle in our canon, the epistle to the Laodicean church, I don't know why. I assume potentially it wasn't under the full inspiration of the Holy Ghost, you know, and just something that wasn't necessary to be captured in the canon of scripture. All right, now keep your finger there in the book of Colossians. I just wanna show you the parallel. When you go back to Revelation chapter three, I believe that there's a significant reason why Christ says these words. In Revelation 3.14, these things save the Amen, the faithful and true witness, then he says this, the beginning of the creation of God. Now, I have heard quotes, basically quote this verse here, verse number 14, because there are certain quotes that do not believe that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Okay, they don't believe his deity. They believe, well, maybe he's a lesser God. Okay, or he's just a man. And they'll take this passage here, and it says, well, the Bible says that he's the beginning of the creation of God. So let's say, well, it's not God, see, you know, the very first thing that God created, the very beginning of God's creation was Jesus Christ. Okay, so when we go back to Colossians chapter one, verse number 16, Colossians chapter one, verse number 16, there's a reason why Jesus Christ is saying that he's the beginning of the creation. All right, beginning of the creation. It says in Colossians chapter one, verse 16, Colossians chapter one, verse 16, it says that, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth. So by who all these things created? By Jesus, of course, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him, look at this, and he is before all things and by him, all things consist. So when it says that Christ is the beginning of the creation of God, it's because he is before all things. He is the creator of all things. Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end. There is nothing outside of the beginning. You wanna go before the beginning? All you're going to see is the Lord God. You wanna go to the end? He wants beyond the ending, it's the Lord God. You know, you cannot go beyond this. Jesus Christ is the beginning, he is the end. And so when we read Revelation 3.14, that he is the beginning of the creation of God, it's not saying that he's the first thing that God created, rather the beginning of all things is because of Jesus Christ. He created it and all things consist because of him. So let's keep going there, verse number 15. It says, I know, sorry, Revelation 3.15, please. Revelation 3.15. The Lord Jesus Christ says to the church in Laodicea, I know thy works. Now let me just stop there for a moment. So far, all the churches we have seen, they do some element of works. And when we looked at the previous church, I had mentioned that it's the only church that had nothing negative, for Jesus Christ to say nothing negative about this church. When we come to the church of Laodiceans, Jesus Christ has nothing positive to say about this church. Nothing positive at all. Christ says, okay, I know your works. So they are doing some level of works. But then about these works, it says, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would, thou were cold or hot, okay? And then it says in verse number 16, so then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Now, let me just share with you the most common interpretation I've heard of these passages. The most common interpretation is basically this, that the Lord God wants a church to be hot. You know, when they think about this idea of being hot, the idea is there to be on fire, to love the Lord, to serve the Lord with all their heart, and that's what it means to be hot. Now look, to be a hot church is definitely a positive attribute. But then I've heard people say, well, you know, and then they'll say, well, being lukewarm, so being neither hot nor cold, that's a negative attribute. And I agree, it's a negative attribute, because if you're lukewarm, Jesus Christ says he wants to just spew you out of his mouth. But then what I've also heard interpreters say is, well, then being cold is also negative. They'll say, well, being cold is a negative attribute, because then you've just got a cold heart toward the things of God. But look, I don't think that's the right interpretation, because then Christ says these words in verse number 16, and I could be wrong about this, I admit, I could be wrong about this. But look what Christ says once again, verse number 16. So then because thou art lukewarm, sorry, let me go back to that, verse number 15, verse number 15. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, then he says this, I would, or Christ, he says, I would prefer for you to be cold or hot. So if Christ is saying, I would prefer, I would want this church to be cold or hot, then obviously both those things are positive attributes. It's just that sometimes you feel like a hot drink, sometimes you feel like a cold drink. You know, like before we came to the service, I came home, I went to Bonnery to pick up some things at the shop, came back home to my parents' house, and I was really cold. So I told my mum, mum, can you make me a coffee? I feel like a hot drink. Why do I feel like a hot drink? To heat up my body a little bit, right? You know, and that's what a hot drink does. It gives you warmth. It gives you comfort as it were. You know, it warms up that cold body. And so it is positive in that sense. But there are times that I just want a cold drink. And you know what, a cold drink is not negative. Well, I'll just give you some passages. You don't need to turn there. But it says in Proverbs 25, 25, as cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. So when you receive great news, good news from a far country, it's like cold water to a thirsty soul. So what do we learn about cold water? It satisfies the thirst. Look, I'm sure when you're exercising and you're, you know, maybe you're busy working, it's a hot day, and you get thirsty, you're not thinking, I want a hot drink. You're most likely thinking, man, I just want some cold water right now to satisfy my thirst. And so it's a positive attribute. You know, when Jesus Christ says in Matthew 10, 42, it says, and whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water, only in the name of the disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. Jesus Christ said, if you give a cup of cold water to a little child, the Lord God's going to reward you. And so when you just look at other passages in the Bible about coldness of a drink, we're not talking about the coldness of a heart, but just the coldness of a drink, the illustration that Christ is using, being hot is positive, being cold is positive. It's just different elements, right? Hot gives you warmth, it gives you comfort, cold satisfies the thirst, all right? It's refreshing in that sense. And so, you know, what I get out of this is that not every church has to be exactly the same. You know, I mean, we come to church to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, each church has a different culture about them, depending on the kind of people that are within the church, depending on the pastor, depending on the families of the church, there's always a bit of a different culture. Now, brethren, look, as far as any church, you know, any church that's got safe people preaching the gospel, you know, teaching from the King James Bible, I can pretty much pick myself up and be part of any church. And I've been part of several churches, I've visited several churches in my life. And you know, when I visit churches, I just want to worship the Lord, I want to be a blessing, I want to be blessed in return. And I can fit in, but you know, when I look at different churches, they all feel different. They all have a different atmosphere. They have a different culture. You know, no church is really striving to be just like the next church next door. You know, a church, what we should be striving to do is how do we serve Christ? You know, does Christ want a hot drink? Then we'll be the hot church for him. You know, is Christ thirsty? Does he need some refreshing waters? Then we'll be that cold cup for him as well. But here's the problem. You know, cold is great at certain times, hot is nice at certain times, but when it's lukewarm, have you ever wanted a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and it's been sitting on the counter? Look, it just happens to me a lot, because I tell my kids, you know, kids, can you make me a cup of tea? And then like 15 minutes later, you know, I went, oh, I forgot that. And it's been sitting on the table, and they bring it, and I drink it. I say, oh, man, it's not hot. You know, it's lukewarm. I mean, thanks for making it. You forgot to bring it to me. But you know, it's lukewarm. I don't want to drink it, you know? And that's what it means, right? You know, you're not refreshing cold water. You're not a hot, warm water. Drink it neither. You know, you're lukewarm. You're somewhere there. You know, Jesus Christ just says, look, I just want to spew out of my mouth. And so this is why I have a different interpretation, and I hope I show you why I have a different interpretation. I'm not just trying to be different on purpose. I hope you can see that when I look at the scriptures about cold drinks, I can see that it is positive as well. You know, and we can be different types of churches as long as our main focus is to worship the creator, to come and serve him, and to learn what his word says. But what is it that made this church a lukewarm church? What is it? Well, verse number 17 answers that. It says, because. So this is why you're lukewarm. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increase with goods, and have need of nothing. So this church is lukewarm because it's a very wealthy church. They think they're rich. Look at all the things we've got. We've got the nice building. We've got the great chairs, the new chairs, right? We've got all the musical instruments. We've got the Lord going for us. You know, look, you're walking into the church, and wow. You know, this church has been blessed financially. Increase with good. Goods, they don't need anything else. This is a church that's looking on the outward. Look, is there anything wrong with a nice building? Is there anything wrong with nice things in the church house? Is there anything wrong with people giving generously toward a church so the church can buy things and have nice things? Nothing wrong with that in of itself. But this church that had set their eyes upon the outward appearance. Look, we look great on the outward. But really, on the inward, they're lacking much because it continues by saying, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Isn't that interesting? A church that has everything. You know, you walk into, wow, what a blessed church this is. But the people could be lukewarm. The church could be the type of church that Christ just wants to spew out of his mouth because yes, it looks great on the outside, but the people's hearts are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked. And yeah, I mean, great if they have the things on the outside, that's great, but it should match the inside. It should match what's inward, all right? So they're a lukewarm church because, yeah, like, look what we've done, great things, but they're, like, you know, I guess in one sense, they're on fire on the outside, but on the inside, they're cold. And so that mix of the hot and the cold there has made that lukewarm, okay? They can't identify, like, they can't even, they're not self-aware of their spiritual state before the Lord, okay? Again, they look at the outward blessings, they look at the outward possessions as being right with God and forgotten about the inward inside completely. So when it says that, know us not that thou art wretched, wretched. What does it mean to be wretched? To be wretched is to be kind of miserable or worthless. Now, I don't want to say the word miserable because then it just follows up there. Thou art wretched and miserable. So I guess being wretched makes you miserable as well. But there's one other place in the Bible that mentions the word wretched. The word wretched is only mentioned twice in the Bible. So I'm going to quickly read it to you. It's from Romans chapter seven, verse number 23. Romans 7, 23. It says, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? That's the other time that we see that word wretched. Paul describing himself, that he sees in his members, he sees in his body the desire to sin. And when he sins, he says, O wretched man that I am, right? I mean, Paul definitely hates sinning, but he can't help it. It's the law of his members. It's what his body wants to do. It's what his flesh wants to do because it's got the sinful nature. And so it says, I'm a wretched man. And so we see the idea of being wretched there is giving into the flesh, doing what the flesh desires, sinning against the Lord. And so when you think about the church of the latest sins, it's a wretched church. It's a church that's focused on the outward. It's a fleshly church. It's a carnal church. It's a church that's just giving into their sins. They're not desiring to overcome that in their life. And they just think they're right with God because look at what we have, the great possessions, the rich church that we are. They are wretched, miserable, it said there. Then it says, and poor. That's what I love about this. The church itself is saying, I am rich. But Jesus Christ says, no, you're poor. You're poor. Because again, what do we learn here? Just because you're rich on this earth doesn't mean you're rich in heaven. And just because you're poor on this earth doesn't mean you're poor in heaven. There's a big difference between our wealth on this land, on this earth versus our wealth in heaven. You know what Brevin, we have a bank account in heaven. The interest rate on your treasures, on the rewards is 100 fold. Whatever you give up on this earth is going to be given back to you as a reward times 100. Okay, I mean, look, if I told you, look, I've got an investment. You put in $10, just put $10 in. By the end of the week, you're going to make 100 times. How much are you gonna make by the end of the week? $1,000, guaranteed. It's a place where thieves do not come in and steal. It's a place where moth doesn't come and corrupts. The gold and the silver, they're not going to rust in heaven. You know what, it's a place, you can put it in 10, just put in $10 and you'll walk away with $1,000. You know what, if I had a deal like that for you right now, you'd be silly to not take it. Go, man, that's a great deal. That's a great place to park my investment, to park my savings. Well, Christ has those rewards, that treasure for us in heaven. What we do for Christ will be given back to us times 100. And so why is this church poor? Because they're not laying up treasures in heaven. Yes, they're rich on this earth, well done. You've got a nice church building or whatever you've got. You've got nice cars, well they didn't have cars back then. You've got nice chariots, I suppose. You've got nice servants, you've got the riches. But listen, when you die and you go to heaven, you're not going to have much. Yes, you've got the inheritance from the Lord, but your rewards aren't going to be great. You're not going to have the crowns to cast before the feet of Christ. You're not going to have these great treasures. And so brethren, I just want you to remember, hey, I mean, we need finances. We need to save and we need to provide and pay the bills. We need to have some element of wealth upon this earth to get by life. Please don't disregard that part of your life, but make sure your priority is on laying up your treasures in heaven. Then it says in verse number 17, and blind, they're blind. Why are they blind and naked, and naked? All right, we'll get to that in a moment. We'll get to that in a moment. Let's go to verse number 18. So because they're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, then Christ gives them some advice. The advice comes there in verse number 18. So Christ says to this church, I counsel thee to buy of me, God tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. So does Jesus Christ want this church to be rich? Yes. You're poor now, you haven't got much in heaven, but I want you to buy of me, God, so again, working for the kingdom of God, working for eternal things of, eternal value, laying them up in heaven, that thou mayest be rich, look at this, and white raiment. So don't just buy gold from Christ, but buy the white raiment. Now, one other misunderstanding that comes with this church in Laodicea, I've heard some preaching that this church was not even saved. I don't know if you've heard that before, the people just, they're not even saved in this church. And they'll take this thought here, well, they haven't got the white raiment, right? They'll say, well, isn't the white raiment our righteousness or the righteousness of Christ? And so if this church doesn't have the white raiment, in fact, in verse number 17, Christ said that they're naked. They haven't got the clothes. You know, because you're naked, you need to buy this white raiment. Then surely that means they need to get saved. But don't forget that when we started this series, each of these seven churches represented a candlestick, you know, in the hands of Jesus Christ. And so of course, it is a church of Christ, it belongs to Christ, it's made up of saved believers, otherwise it would not be a church of Christ. I mean, the church means the congregation. It means the assembly of believers. If it's not an assembly of believers, it's not a church. All right? So this white raiment obviously is not salvation. And I'll tell you the second reason why it's not salvation, because Christ says, buy of me gold and buy of me white raiment, since when is salvation our efforts to purchase that? You cannot buy your way to heaven. Salvation is not how much you put down, salvation is not how much effort you put in, salvation is free. It's a free gift paid by Jesus Christ. So you can't buy salvation, you know, but because it's a free gift. All right, it's a free gift. So this is definitely not saying, hey, church of the lay scenes, get saved. No, they're already saved, okay? It's just that it's a carnal church, it's a fleshly church. They're caring about the things on this earth rather than the things of heaven. And this should bring to remembrance last week's sermon. If you can just quickly go to Revelation chapter three, you're already there obviously, but verse number four, and don't forget in the church inside us, we saw two different garments, okay? When you look at Revelation chapter three in verse number four, it says, thou hast a few names even inside us, look at this, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. And I had taught you that in verse number four, this was speaking about our walk with God. It says that, and they shall walk with me in whites. This garment that can be defiled, well, these people did not defile the garments, is our walk with the Lord. It's not our position before the Lord. It's our walk, it's our fellowship that we have with the Lord. But then you get to verse number five, which says, he that overcometh, which is the saved, the same shall be clothed in white raiments, 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 you may recall that verse number five is a white raiment given to those that are saved. This is a white raiment that cannot be spotted because it's the righteousness of Christ. When we stand before the Father, he sees us positionally in the righteousness of Christ. It's the white raiments of Christ. But verse number four is our walk with the Lord. And as we walk through this earth, we get dirty, we get dirty feet, we get dirty garments. This is why we should go before the Lord and confess our sins when we do wrong. Not because we've lost our salvation, not to get saved, but to maintain a close walk, a close fellowship with the Lord. So understanding that, which then leads to the church of the latest sins, verse number 18, when it says to buy of me the white raiments, now we know that's not salvation, what raiment would that be? That would be the raiment of fellowship, the walk with the Lord, right? They haven't been wearing that raiment. They've been naked, as it were. You know, the Lord God has sought to fellowship with the people of this church, but they're not fellowshiping with the Lord. They're not walking with the Lord. Again, their minds, their hearts are on carnal matters. White raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint, look at this, anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. All right, so what did Christ say in verse number 17? He said they're blind. Hey, you need to open up your eyes. You need to anoint your eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. You know, when I get this idea of being able to see, of course that's through the word of God. You know, to understand this world, to understand our position, our walk with the Lord, to understand what is right and wrong, to understand how to walk in holiness, we need to turn to God's word, you know, and spend time with the Lord, walk with the Lord, and allow the Holy Spirit of God to touch our minds, to touch our hearts, to commune with our spirit, and to improve us in our holiness. And so that's what clears your eyes. Go into God's word, clear in all the junk, all the cataracts, you know, all the dirt that we get in our eyes from this godless world. You know, the brainwashing that comes from this world, we need to just clear our eyes with that solution, with that eyesalve, and we clear our eyes, we clear our mind with the Bible. So you can see this church has a lot of problems. They're not laying up treasures in heaven. They're not walking the Lord. They appear naked before God, as it were. They should be ashamed of how their fellowship with the Lord, and they can't see. I mean, there are so many problems that are within this church. Let's keep going there, verse number, actually, can you please keep your finger there? And please go to, you probably turned away from Colossians 2, but go back to Colossians 2, if you can, Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 6. Colossians chapter 2 and verse number 6. And again, the reason I'm going to Colossians is just to show you that there are a lot of similarities with the Colossian church and the Laodicean church. When you look at Colossians chapter 2, verse number 6, it says here, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, that's salvation, so walk ye in him. I just want to show you there are two parts of, there are two separate parts there. There's the receiving of Christ, salvation. Great, you received Christ. Just because you received Christ doesn't mean you're automatically going to walk with the Lord. It doesn't mean you're automatically just going to do that, which is right, because otherwise this verse will be pointless. You know, we're being instructed as Christians, hey, you received Christ, great, now walk in him. The Laodicean church, they're not walking with him. They're not wearing those white raiments of the spiritual walk. Look at verse number 7, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. So I want to draw a few things there from you. You're saved, great, now that you're saved, walk after the Lord. If you don't walk with the Lord, if you don't have fellowship with the Lord, you will, as it's said there, be spoiled through philosophy. You're going to hear the philosophies of this world, the wisdom of man, the wisdom of the world and go, man, that's right, that sounds right. And you're going to start being tainted by the wisdom of the world, vain deceit. You're going to be deceived, right? There are so many lies in this world, brethren. All right, after the tradition of men, right? You're going to follow traditions rather than God's word after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. So as I said to you, this is when you start become blinded. Yes, you're saved, but even the saved can get blinded. Even the saved can be deceived. Even the saved can follow after philosophies and traditions of this world. This is why we need to be in church, why we need to read our Bibles, why we need to fellowship with the Lord, why we need to pray, why we need to, why we need to develop friendships amongst God's people, fellowship with God's people, sing praises, sing up to the Lord. We just do these things and praise God, be thankful toward God so that we would not be deceived, that we would not be blinded. We don't want our church to be blinded. We don't want Jesus Christ to look down at blessed up at this church and says, man, this church is naked, this church is blind, right? And this church, hey, they think they're rich, but they're poor. We don't want the Lord God to be saying that about blessed up at this church. Can you please turn to another passage? Please turn to 2 Peter 1, verse nine. 2 Peter 1, verse number nine. 2 Peter 1, verse nine. 2 Peter 1, verse nine reads, But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Isn't that interesting? You know, a Christian can get so blinded, can get so far from the Lord God, that he's just forgotten the fact that he's been purged from his sins, forgotten the great things that God has done for him. You know, just forgotten about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not that they become unsaved or something like that, okay? It's just that, you know, the precious blood of Christ, Christ is just not relevant to them anymore. It's not that important to them anymore. And they just go throughout the world, and the Lord God says that they are blind. But when it says, but he that lack of these things is blind. Obviously, we don't want to become blind. So what is it that the person is lacking? So let's backtrack a little bit in that verse there, verse number five, 2 Peter 1, verse number five. So these are the things that we should have in our lives, lack of these things, otherwise we will turn blind, okay? So let's have a look at verse number five. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness. I'll stop there for a moment. What does this list sound like to you? Have you guys heard a list similar to this before? Yeah, the fruit of the Spirit. I mean, I'm not saying that's exactly every single fruit there as the fruit of the Spirit, but a lot of those things are the fruit of the Spirit. You see, when you're lacking the fruit of the Spirit, when you're not walking according to temperance, knowledge, patience, godliness, brethren, you start to become blind. Brethren, we need to be in touch with the Holy Spirit of God. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do a change in our lives. Not to be saved, but that we just not become blind as Christians. We will not be affected by the wisdom and the philosophies of this world. What does it say, the verse number seven? And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, charity, charity love. Hey brethren, if you learn to love the brethren, right? We learn to put up with each other when we annoy one another. Hey, we learn to forgive each other. We show love toward each other. It's gonna stop you from becoming blind. You know what happens when you start to despise your brethren? You start to look at your church and go, man, my church is full of hypocrites. Probably is. You know, your workplace is full of hypocrites. You know, you go out into this world, the world is full of hypocrites. Human beings are hypocrites because we've got a sinful nature. But you start to do, well, the church, oh man. You know, that family's weird. Why are they doing that? That brother, what did he mean by those words? You know what, I'm just not liking being in church anymore. You know, I'm not just gonna like the brethren. You know, you're losing the brotherly kindness. You lose the charity. Reverend, when that starts to happen, it's because you're becoming blind. You're becoming blinded. You know, this holier-than-thou attitude. Why aren't people more like me? You know, I just, every time I see an issue with people, people share issues with me. And they're open about certain struggles or weaknesses. I guess one of the advantages I have as a pastor, I get to hear these things sort of, but it just brings to a memory. I don't like, I don't think, man, what a wicked Christian you are. I just think, yeah, you know what? You've got a sinful nature, so do I. You know, we're selfish. You know, we struggle with the flesh. Our own wretched man that I am, as Paul said. All right, I mean, it's good to be able to say, hey, I've got issues, I've got problems. Can you pray for me, pastor? Hey, that's step number one, acknowledge that there are problems. Acknowledge sometimes we get blinded. Acknowledge sometimes we're not walking with the Lord, we may be naked. Acknowledge sometimes we're not laying up treasure in heaven, we might be poor spiritually at that point in time. Hey, you know what, we're not here to just be lifted with pride and think we're the best Christians in the world. You know what, sometimes it's good to just humble yourself, remind yourself what you are, who you are, all right? And seek after the Holy Spirit of the Lord. Seek after his leading. Seek after his fruits that he can develop in your life. Learn to love the brethren. It says there in verse number eight, second Peter chapter one, verse eight. And if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So you start working toward these attributes that were in that list. You're going to be fruitful, you're going to abound. God's gonna be able to do a great work for you and you won't become blinded. You won't be influenced by this world, the philosophies and the deceits that come from this world. Back to our Revelation chapter three, verse number 19. Revelation chapter three, verse number 19. And again, this verse should prove that this church is made up of saved people. It says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Okay, so does Jesus Christ love this church? He says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. I mean, look, as I said, there's nothing positive. I guess the one positive about this church is that Jesus loves them, okay? And of course, he said, look, he's gonna have to rebuke this church and he has been rebuking this church in the letter. He's gonna have to chasten this church. He's gonna take out his rod of correction, all right? He's gonna have to fix this church up. There's gonna be a little bit of pain. There's gonna be a bit of chastisement upon this church. But Jesus Christ is reminding them, hey, it's because I love you, all right? And because I love you, be zealous, therefore, and repent. Get things right with me, all right? Lay up your treasures in heaven. You know, walk with me, have fellowship with me, right? Learn, hey, allow the Holy Spirit to develop these fruits in your life. You start doing these things and then you've learned your lesson, church and laity seal. And you know, if you're a child of God, I guarantee you, if it hasn't happened yet, it probably has happened, you will be chastened by the Lord when you make mistakes. Now, the Lord is merciful, the Lord is long suffering. He might let you go for a while, waiting for you to just turn yourself around, be zealous and repent, as it says there. Otherwise, you don't get right with God for a while. At some point, he's gonna pull out that rod and you're gonna face some hurt. You're gonna go through some tribulations, all right? And I strongly recommend, and look, I'm not saying that every time you go through tribulation, I'm not saying that every time you go through trouble, it's because the Lord is chastising you. We get persecuted by this world. People hate the Bible, this world hates Christians, this world hates churches. There is definitely a persecution from the devil. But I always encourage you, if you ever find yourself in a place of tribulation, trials and difficulties. Before you just start saying, hey, the devil's persecuting me, just pause for a moment and just ask yourself the question, could I be facing the chastisement of the Lord, the chasing of the Lord? Is that what I could be facing? Is there a certain part of my life that I've really let down the Lord on? Is there some type of sin that I'm just not willing to go to the Lord and confess and get things right with him? Is there just something that I'm not giving over to the Lord? And if you identify an important part of your life, you know, that is far from the Lord, then I would say accept that tribulation, accept that trial as the chastening hand of the Lord. And say, look, I better get this right. I better be zealous therefore and repent because I want this chastening to do a work in my life and be profitable. Please keep your finger there and go to Hebrews chapter 12. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number six. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number six. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number six. Hebrews 12 is one of the best chapters on the chastening of the Lord. And I just want to show you here, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number six. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number six. The Bible reads, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Notice that. When you receive the chastening of the Lord, don't get angry at God. Just be, thank you, Lord. This proves that you love me. This proves that you're trying to correct me. You're trying to drive this sinful or whatever this wickedness that I have in me away from me. You're trying to give me victory. You're trying to teach me a lesson, Lord. Be thankful when you face the chastening of the Lord. Once again, he loves those that, again, why is he chastening the church in Laodicea? Because he loves them, okay? And then it says, look, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. So who does the Lord chasten? His sons, his children. Is the church in Laodicea a saved people? Of course they are, because that's why they're facing the chastening of the Lord, right? Then it says in verse number seven, if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? So what's it saying there? Hey, what kind of father does not chasten their own children? What kind of father does not correct their children? I mean, look, you know, when this was written by Paul here to the Hebrews, at this time, you know, it's such a rhetorical question. It's not like what kind of parent is not going to correct their own children? But then you come to 2022 and parents do not correct their children. They don't chastise their children. They're fearful. What are the neighbors going to say? What if my child says something to that school teacher? What if my child rings up the government and says that they received a smack and parents are frightened of their children? They don't discipline their children. But like when we read Hebrews 12, it's like, it's so obvious. What kind of father, what kind of parent does not chastise their kids? And look, you know, I'm all for, and you know, it's not because I'm just for, it's because the Bible tells us as parents, we're to take that rod of correction and apply it to our children. You know, God has given children that backside, that place of plenty of skin and fat, away from any vital organs for them to receive a good smack. It's got a lot of sensitive nerves there, so you didn't have to hit that hard and receive a lot of pain in that backside. That's the right way to do things. You know, we've gone through centuries, you know, of parents bringing up their kids this way. And this was what gives kids the fear and respect and honor toward parents, to do that which is right, the fear to do that which, to not do that which is wrong. But hey, we live in a generation where people aren't doing this. So let me just encourage the parents or parents to be one day, you know, the Lord God instructs us, He expects it, it should be a given that parents chastise their kids. And you know what, if that's a given, then it's a given that God's going to chastise you. He's going to chasten you when you do wrong. It's a guarantee, it's a promise, otherwise you're not a child of God. It keeps going to verse number eight, in fact, that's what it says there. And if ye be without chastisement, so if you just, you go through life, you're like saved for 10, 20, 30 years, and you never get chastised by God, it says, but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Notice that. Every child of God will be chastised by God. Every child, it says, look, by the way, it says, whereof all are partakers. All of us have either received that chastening or we're going to receive it in the near future, okay? Yes, even Pastor Kevin has received the chastening from the hand of God. Say, what would you do, Pastor? I don't know, but it just proves that he loves me. It just proves that I'm a child of God, amen. Let's keep going to verse number nine. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure, but heed for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. I love verse number 11. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Yeah, when you've been chastened by the Lord, it's not going to feel great. You're not gonna like it. You wish it didn't come upon you, okay? You're not going to rejoice over it. But then it says, nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. Hey, the chastening of the hand of God brings forth the peaceable fruit of righteousness. It makes you to walk in the right paths. Man, I made such a bad mistake. The Lord corrected me. He allowed me to go through some hardships. But you know what? That's going to help me. It's gonna teach me to walk in the paths of righteousness. It's gonna help me not to be ashamed and to walk in nakedness, but to get that right raiment, to buy that right raiment from Jesus Christ, and to walk in fellowship with him once again. So you can see the chastening of the hand of God is necessary for our lives, and we're all gonna be partakers of it. Back to Revelation chapter three, verse number 20. Revelation chapter three, verse number 20. Verse number 20. And this is probably the scariest part of this church. Verse number 20, it says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. Now remember, this church was not walking in the Lord. They were not in fellowship with the Lord. Were they saved? Yes, they were saved, but they're not walking in the Lord. So much so, that when they're having church services, it's as though God is outside of the building, knocking on the door. Hey guys, are you having a church service in my name? Can I come in please? Can I be part of that service? But they're not opening the door. Hey, Christ just wants to come in. Fellowship, sup with him, and he with me. Isn't that interesting? We come to church, what, to serve Christ, to uplift, to exhort the Lord God. Could you imagine we come to church, and we're so carnal, we're so fleshly, that Jesus Christ is outside the doors, and we think we're just serving Christ when it comes to his house? You know, I mean, if someone invites, you know, like if I invite you over to my house, right, a bit hard in Queensland, but anyway, let's say I invite you, hey, come over for lunch, you know, we'll have a barbecue, we'll have a great time together, and you come to our church, to my house, sorry, come to my house all excited, you press the doorbell, you knock on the door, no one answers. And you can hear, I can hear Kevin inside the house. I can hear the kids. They're doing the, I can smell the barbecue. They invited me over. You know, we're meant to be spending time together. And you're like knocking, you're pressing the doorbell, no one answers, right? I mean, look, you'll get frustrated eventually, right? You'll be like, what is this? You know, am I a joke to them? And you walk off going like, man, what, what? But this is what this church had done to Christ. They're meant to, Christ is meant to be in the midst, and Christ is out there, you know, out there knocking on the door. But what I love about Christ is not like, because if you did that to me, I'd get frustrated at you. Right, I mean, I'd be knocking there for about 20 minutes, I'd be like, forget this, I'm never coming here again. Okay, but Christ is look. It says here, if anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and sub with him and hear with me. See, Christ is a lot more long-suffering than you and I are. Okay, all it takes is for a few people in that church to say, you know what, you're just wearing church, but Christ is not here. You know, his presence is not here. You know what, I'm gonna walk with the Lord. I'm gonna get things right with the Lord. Hey, maybe my church won't, but I will. You know, I will walk in fellowship, I'm gonna get right with God, I'm gonna read my Bible, I'm gonna start laying up treasures in heaven. Hey, you do that, Jesus Christ says, well, you know, I'll come in and sub with him. I'll come in and fellowship with that one individual. I mean, as we've been going through the seven churches, there were churches, right, where there were major problems in the church, but there's always certain, a few people there doing that which is right. You know what, and Christ honors even those few that are doing what is right. But I love the long suffering of Christ because I would give up on those people. They invited me to the house and they're not letting me in, but Christ says, no, you open the door, you hear my voice, I will come to him, I will sub with him and hear with me. Look at verse number 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne. What an honor. Think about that. I mean, this is all that are saved, him that overcometh. You know what, we're all gonna get an opportunity to sit with Christ on his throne. I mean, it's a throne of God, okay? But look at this, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne, I love how Christ does the same thing. The Father does, you know, treats Christ a certain way, and Christ says, I'm gonna do the same for you. You know, the Father allows me to sit with him on his throne, therefore I'm gonna allow you to come and sit with me on my throne. I always love that about Christ. You know, everything that the Father gives him, he's wanting that to be passed down to his people, right? The Father gave him the word, and he gives those words to his people. The Father passed down the glory that Christ prays that the glory passed down to his disciples. You know, and now, the throne has been given to Jesus, and Christ says, look, I'm gonna give you opportunities to come and sit on my throne. What an honor to be in heaven, and just to sit there right with Christ. And we know that Christ is right next to the Father. I mean, look, you say, man, that's a lot of people to get through, yeah, but we've got all eternity. We've got all eternity, and we're all gonna get that opportunity if you're saved to sit with Jesus Christ on his throne. What an honor, what an honor that would be. Then it says there in verse number 22, hear that havenir, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So of course, once again, all of these lessons, we're now at the end here, but all of these lessons are lessons that we can take for any church. If we've got the ear, we've got the Holy Spirit working us, then let's learn the lessons that we learn through these seven churches. Now, there is one more thing that I wanna touch upon very quickly. I don't wanna go too late, but we've looked at these, and obviously, these seven churches are seven literal churches in that first century time. I mean, some of these churches, we know, we know of, because we've got other epistles in the New Testament, like the Church of Ephesus. We've got other epistles in the Bible. We've got the Ephesian church, for example, where Christ speaks, or Paul speaks about these churches, and they are literal churches with real people in them. But one of the misinterpretations that are out there, even amongst Baptists, is instead of viewing these seven churches as seven literal churches, they view these churches not as churches, but as ages. I don't know if you guys have heard of this. Okay, this falls under the umbrella of dispensationalism. And I'll just get you up to speed very quickly. Under dispensationalism, the teaching is that there are seven periods of time where God is dealing with his people in different ways. And each time, man fails, so then God has to create a new dispensation. And some of it does make some level of sense. So for example, let's say the first dispensation is when Adam and Eve were on this earth, and God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree, of the knowledge of good and evil, but they did, they failed, they were kicked out of the garden, so then God had to create a new dispensation. And then they failed then, and God caused the flood to fall upon the earth, Noah's flood, and then with Noah, he started a new dispensation. And then man failed again, tarot, Babel, and so then God had to create a new dispensation with Abraham. And then the Jews failed because they'd crucified Christ, and then God had to establish a new dispensation called the church age. And then basically I believe there are seven different dispensations where God is doing people at different times. But within that church age period, or within that age of grace, is taught that within that church age, within that age of grace, there are seven church ages. So there are seven dispensations, or seven ages, but within the church age, there's another seven. And those other seven are representative of the seven churches that we've just read about there in Revelation 2 and 3. Have you guys heard this before? Let me just give you, just because you may hear it, so at least you know what it's about, okay? So what they'll say is, you know, the very first church that we read about was the Church of Ephesus. They'll say, well, this church represents the churches during the time of Pentecost, so that's when the power of God came upon the disciples, until about 100 AD. So they say this represents first century church, okay, the church in Ephesus. And then they'll say the next church is the church in Smyrna. And the church in Smyrna represents from about 100 AD all the way to 300 AD, and that church is basically the one that was being persecuted by Rome, you know, especially by Nero, remember Nero, who would arrest Christians, throw them in coliseums, and they'd be tortured or destroyed by wild animals or whatever like that. So that's about 100 to 300 AD, they'll say that's the church in Smyrna. And then the next church is the church in Pergamos, and they'll say, well, this church existed from about 300 AD all the way to 800 AD. Now, when I started to hear this, I thought, that's interesting, okay, I can see where you're going with that, you know, but then we got to this point, and I've heard this many times, the church in Pergamos is a church from 300 to 800 AD. Does anyone want to guess what church that is supposed to represent? The Roman Catholic Church. And when I heard this, I'm like, what in the world? I mean, a church is a congregation of the Lord. It's God's people. You know, when you start to say that the church in Pergamos, 300 AD to 800 AD is a Roman Catholic Church, how can it be when they've got another Jesus, they've got another gospel, in fact, they don't even love the Lord, they rather pray to saints, they rather pray to Mary, another Mary, by the way, another Mary of the Bible who's a great lady, how can you say, and for me, this is where it started to fall apart. This person, are you sure you got this right? All right, but this is what they, honestly, this is what gets taught even amongst Baptist churches. And then they'll say, well, the church in Thyatira, church number four, is the church from 800 AD to 1517. Okay, and so that's the church in the Dark Ages. And then the church in Sardis represents the church from 1517 to 1700. Does anyone know why 1517 is that year? The Reformation. The Reformation, yeah, the Reformation. So it's when Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis on a Roman Catholic Church door or something. That's where the Protestant movement started. So they say the church in Sardis from 1517 to 1700 represents the Protestants that came out of the Catholic Church. And then we've got the church in Philadelphia, which is from 1700, they'll say, to 1900. 1900, 1700 to 1900. Which they'll say, those are the great missionary days. When the word of God was going out throughout all the nations, and a great revival was happening throughout Europe and places like that. They'll say, those are the great missionary days. And then they'll say the church in Laodicea is what? From the 1900s, 1900 till today, okay? So it's, again, it's a church that has nothing positive to say. It's a church that Jesus Christ is outside of the doors, and they're not having them in. And they'll say, look, the church now, like they'll say, now in 2022, we're living in the age of the Laodicean church. The Laodicean church age, they'll say. I mean, again, have you guys heard this? Yeah, but what, if that's true, what are you saying about your church? What are you saying about your church? If we're living in the age of the Laodicean church age, you're saying that we're lukewarm, you're saying we're the kind of church that God just wants to spew at his mouth, you're saying we're a poor, blind, naked church, you're saying that when we come to worship God, Christ is far away, he's outside knocking on the door, hey, let me in. Now, I know there are some churches like that. There's always been churches like that. There was a church just like that, we've just read about it in the first century. There's always been churches like that. But to say, to brush everything under this umbrella, we're living in the Laodicean church age, I mean, you're saying negative things about your church. The church that Jesus Christ built and died for. So, you know, this teaching is really strange, you know, to turn the churches into periods of time when that's not what the Bible's telling us. Don't we build our understanding from what God's word says? These are seven churches, seven pastors, seven angels, seven candlesticks that are serving the Lord in the first century, right? Literal churches, geographic locations, with real people, with real events, okay? The seven churches that we read about in Revelation is just as real as the churches of, you know, the Colossian church or the Ephesian church or the Thessalonian church, just as real as any of these churches that we read about. Okay? So please don't have this idea that it's just, they're all periods of time. And what's really strange about this teaching is that the churches that I've heard this stuff taught from also teach in a pre-tribulation rapture. They'll say that the rapture can happen at any moment. But I remember when I was learning this stuff, because I really wanted to be attentive and learn God's word. All right, so the church Ephesians, you know, actually, I was doing a Bible college course through my church, and this was one of the questions, I had to learn this, and I had to remember each of these churches and the ages and what they represented, but as I was going through this, I said, hold on, if Christians always believed that Christ could come back at any moment, any moment, if that's what they taught, and this is true, then Christ could not come until the church of the lay of the sea in age was finished. So in other words, Christ could not come back at any moment. In fact, this doctrine destroys the pre-tribulation rapture. Because for example, if Christ could come at the church in Smyrna time, 100 to 300 AD, well then what happens to the age of the Pergamos, the age of Thyatira, the age of Sardis, the age of Philadelphia, the age of the Laodiceans? Like these things have to happen first before the rapture takes place, therefore the believers of the past could not believe in the imminent pre-tribulation rapture. And so this, again, when you hear these things, it confused me, wait a second, Christ could come back at any moment, but there were these ages that had to happen first, and if they didn't happen, then we could not have a rapture? Doesn't make any sense. So as I've gone through these seven churches, I've touched upon end-time events, all right? And look, if someone believes in a pre-trib rapture, again, I don't hate them, they're my brother in the Lord, I wanna bless them, I wanna encourage them, I want them to serve the Lord Jesus Christ as much as they can. But you know what? When it comes to this doctrine of dispensationalism, it is so contrary to scriptures. It is so contradictive even to itself. You learn certain things and you really wanna learn it, then you learn something else, and you, hold on, this doesn't even match. This doesn't work, and you go to the word of God, hey, this doesn't work with God's word, these are literal churches, real people. It's strange, it's strange teaching. And so I say that, brethren, just as a warning, because when it comes to the book of Revelation, when it comes to the seven churches, there is so much warped teaching, there is so much confusion, okay? Because a lot of people just don't spend the time going to God's word, reading it, studying it, meditating, spending time with the Lord by themselves. A lot of pastors, a lot of churches, you know, will literally turn to the textbook, turn to the lectures, hear from man, and then teach what man says about these passages. Please take the Bible at face value. What did it say there at the end? Here they have an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Brethren, we've all been given the Holy Spirit of God. We've all been given the Bible. You have the ability to pick up God's word, you have the Holy Spirit to understand, to meditate, and to learn from God's word. The best teacher you can possibly have is the Holy Spirit of God. He wants to teach you, he wants to guide you, he wants to build those fruits of the Spirit into your life. So please, please be careful. And listen, I'm not saying that I'm always 100% right. I'm not saying that every single word I speak is 100% because I'm a human being just like anybody else. But brethren, honestly, when you're trying to grasp God's wisdom, please don't run to the online sermons. Please don't run to the commentaries. Please don't run to a book. Please don't run to these sources. Run to the Lord God yourself. You are a child of God. You have the Holy Spirit of God. You've been given God's word. Spend time in his word. Hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. And I tell you, you're gonna be in a much stronger place spiritually, mentally, than many Christians who are simply relying on what man teaches. Okay, let's pray.