The Big Picture of the Seven Churches | Revelation 2-3 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Series)

Hopefully, we remember that when we began this series in the Book of Revelation, we took the time to look at it from an aerial perspective. And from there, we descended together to chapter one with a magnifying glass in our hands, and we moved carefully from verse to verse to explore and examine all the thrilling details that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us. But now we come to Revelation chapter two. And as we approach this section, I believe it will be helpful to put aside our excavating tools for a moment and to climb up again and to look down and to examine this portion of scripture with a bird's eye view. Not the whole book, just chapters two and three that focus on Christ's direct addresses to each of these seven churches in Asia Minor.

Because you see, when you put these short letters side by side, you will definitely notice similar patterns and repetitions as well as unique details that stand out from each of them. And I wouldn't want us to miss out on what the Lord would say even from that angle by rushing through the first door of the first church in this section. These characteristics, the common ones and the unique ones, have a message on their own. And we're going to see what Christ will say to us in them. So before we come to each congregation in this book separately, we're going to zoom out and we're gonna look for the bigger picture of what Christ has to say to the church.

If you wanna know, that's where I've been this past week on a imaginary hilltop with binoculars, looking at the wider landscape of these churches and making notes of what we can learn about the church in this and what Christ longs for from his church. And I've gathered five thoughts for you. And hopefully, you will remember these thoughts. Again, we're looking at the bigger picture. The first thing that we can learn from these seven churches as a whole is that the Lord Jesus Christ is passionate about the purity of his church.

The Lord Jesus Christ is passionate about the purity of his church. I find it fascinating that before we are introduced to the chaos that will come to this world, leading up to the final moments of history, before we see the events that will ultimately bring us to the invasion of Christ's kingdom into this planet, Christ expresses his concerns for the church. And here's what that tells you and me right away, that Jesus Christ prioritizes the refining work of his people. He did it then and he's still doing it now. That is his heart posture.

You know, there are a lot of people who dangerously assume what the Lord is doing or saying to his church today. You've probably seen it. The word of the Lord for 2025. The word of the Lord for twenty twenty six. It's no mystery.

And none of us have to rely on any self proclaimed prophet to tell us what Christ is doing among his people. Because according to Revelation two and three, we can conclude with confidence that Jesus Christ is prioritizing the conviction of his people, the comfort of his people, even the chastising of his people in order for them to be more like what he has called them to be. And that's what these letters really do. They they reinforce that what God expects from us as we traverse through this world is that we would become like what he wants us to be like. Unfortunately, what you have is people who think otherwise.

God's primary desire is not for you and I to live a stress free life as much as possible. It's not his interest for you and I to accumulate as much resources as possible so that we can access greater comfort and luxury. Nor does nor is it his ambition for you to know your earthly ambitions apart from his purposes. What is God after in your life that you and I will look more like his son? That is what we are destined to.

That's what we are here for, to look more like Christ. Yes. With your spouse, with your children, with your kind of income, with your limitations, the desire of our God is for each of us to be conformed to the image of his son. And unfortunately, many believe that being a Christian simply means saying yes to his sin canceling sacrifice and then coasting through life without his interest or influence in mind to the degree that some professing Christians look no different to the world? How can that be?

Well, you have verses like this in Romans eight twenty nine. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. That's your destination. The moment that you entered into Christ where you're headed is to be conformed like Christ.

So those who are in Christ are determined to look more and more like Christ. In other words, God is after us who are a part of the family of God to be like Christ's siblings. In what sense? To share his characteristics. Yes, with your unique personality and giftings.

Nonetheless, for each of us to reflect him. So that's his program for the church. That's what he's doing week after week. That's why you and I are here. We have surrendered when we said yes to the gospel to this lifelong process.

Chisel me. Change me. Convict me. Whatever you wanna allow my life, I receive it in faith because I know that this is what I'm destined for. And that that's why a lot of the mysteries that we try to wrestle with in our lives is actually not really a mystery.

Why things happen at the time that they happen or to the degree that they happen, but we can have this absolute assurance, this is purpose for me to look more like Christ. He's passionate about the purity of his church. And we get a sample of what he is after. Because what you find here in Revelation two seven is a similar call to what we read in every letter to these churches. There's an interesting phrase here.

Revelation two seven, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. To the one who conquers. You're gonna find that phrase in every single letter that Christ writes to these churches. Other translations would say to the one who overcomes.

Either way, both are essentially saying the same thing. So that emphasis, that repetition, what does that what does that say about the Lord? Here's what it says, that he wants every single one of us to gain victory over any test, over any temptation that would seek to tamper with your conformity to Christ likeness. He who overcomes, he who conquers. Christ is after each of us to be conquerors in our faith.

Not necessarily conquerors in our businesses, conquerors in our bodies, conquerors in our relationship with him. And when you look at these letters you get an idea of some of the things that he calls us to conquer. When you read Ephesus, you learn that he wants us to conquer affectionless, mechanical ministry. Doing the right things with the wrong motive. He wants you to conquer that.

He wants me to conquer that. When you look at Smyrna, we realize that he wants you to conquer the severe pressures that come from outside persecution. To not bend the knee, to not give in, to stand strong. When you come down to Pergamum, we realize not just in Pergamum, but also in Thyatira that he wants us to conquer false teachings that promote and encourage idolatry and sexual sin. When you go to Sardis, you learn that he wants us to conquer what?

Dull spirituality. He wants us to conquer just going through it all without any sense of life. When you go to Philadelphia, what does he want us to conquer? The slander of Satan's servants that would try to derail you or discourage you by lying about you. Laodicea, what does he want us to conquer?

Lukewarmness. Being halfway in halfway out. And so we see here that this is what the Lord is after. And here's the most encouraging part about this. When I read these letters, I realize it's possible.

It's possible to be a conqueror. You know why? Because out of the seven, there are two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, who received no correction from Christ. Pure praise. Pure encouragement.

And when when I learned that some time ago, it exhilarated me. Why? Because it tells me that it's possible to have pure teaching in a church. It's possible to overcome any adversity, any obstacles internally and externally. It's possible to be consistently fruitful.

Ultimately, listen, it's possible to be a church that really pleases God. It's possible. Or else he would have criticized every church. He didn't criticize every church. Two of them he says, keep going.

Here's what that means for us. If the Lord were to write a letter to Maranatha Bible Church in 2025, it would be possible for him to say something along the lines of, I know every single one of you. I know all that's going on, and I'm pleased. Keep going, Maranatha Bible Church. Don't give up until you meet your eternal reward.

So what the Lord is after more than anything else is to purify his people, and he has many means to accomplish it. And we have to understand that's our purpose too. To be polished more and more by Christ, by his spirit, by his word, through his people so that we would look more like him. There's a sec second thing that we learn about these churches, and it is this, Christ evaluates churches much differently than man does. There are a couple of places in these letters where Christ comments on the apparent condition or self assessment of these ministries and then reveals the true state of his people.

So here are two examples. Come with me to Revelation two nine. Look what he says to the church in Smyrna. He says, I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich. And the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are synagogue of Satan.

So according to Christ's own words, this particular local assembly was materially lacking. They were limited on their resources. So they didn't have the state of the art technology. They didn't have comfortable pews. Oh, they couldn't even entertain the idea of starting any kind of fundraiser for any updates in the church because there's nobody in the church that would be able to donate anything significant.

You know, I thought about this when I was looking at it the other night. How do prosperity preachers handle a text like this? If wealth is apparently the sign of God's favor and you can access it by claiming it and believing it, why does Christ praise this poor church? Why doesn't he say, hey, use your faith, use your mouth to blab it and grab it? It doesn't say that.

It's actually one of the churches that he praises the most and they're poor. So figure that out. Your poor, more importantly tells them where they're really rich. He wants to remind them, you are rich in what? What truly matters?

You have God's favor. You have true worship. You have spirit filled love. You have love for Christ, love for the people of God. The lost.

You have joy. There's humility. There's unity. There's endurance. There's strength.

You're rich. Now compare that to what Christ says to the church in Laodicea. Go to Revelation three seventeen. The complete opposite of the Christians in Smyrna. For you say, I'm rich.

I have prospered and I need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. It's a scathing commentary. And the Laodicean church in our day might be like pulling up to a parking lot and seeing all these expensive cars lined up. You walk through the the doors of that church building and they're automatic doors.

The moment you walk in, you are confronted with the sweet smell of coffee because they have their own coffee station in the lobby that outshines that of any commercial establishment that you drive by. And you realize that service is about to start, so you make your way to the sanctuary, but you glance over and realize there's still a long line. The singing is about to begin, but it's just singing. We need our coffee. So you enter into that room, you quickly dismiss the thought and here you are entering into this dark space, it's large, but wow, look at that equipment.

Look at those screens. Who's the technician behind that sound? And as you're led to that comfy cushioned seat, you stand and you quickly glance and look over and you can't help but sense that there is spiritual apathy in the air. You try to brush it off, but it's only confirmed as you're seated and the sermon is preached. And it's not necessarily heretical, but it is void of Christ.

It doesn't have biblical exhortation. And on top of that, there doesn't seem to be passion, there doesn't seem to be gravity when the word of God is being handled. You try not to judge but you can help it. So you go week after week after week and you realize something else that with the limited time of fellowship that's there, as you get to know the people, the conversations are void of Christ equally. And they're nice and they're put together and but as you converse and as you get to know people, they seem to be more passionate about sports and politics and home renovations.

In fact, when you try to bring up the things of God, it gets awkward. It gets weird. And you learn the people here, they're not serving in any way. Sure, they're attending but they're not really doing anything. There's no hunger for the word of God.

There's no desire to make Christ known. There's no love language towards the Lord Jesus Christ. You get the idea, I'm sure. Nothing wrong with stately buildings, nothing wrong with large parking lots, we need one. But see this kind of church may seem prosperous, may be filled with affluent people, but where there is complacency and indifference towards the things of God, Jesus has a different opinion about it.

And here's where I would like for us to consider something. Being part of a physical, not a digital, a physical community of Christians is not optional. And once you and I are convinced of that, then we have to deal with something here in America. All the options for churches. And we have to understand here that Jesus has a standard for the church.

And you and I, when we have to make that decision about which local assembly to be a part of, am I going for what Christ wants for my own personal preferences? You know, you have some people who are members of a church simply because it's closer to where they live and we have to be mindful of that. We have to be realistic with distance. Sure. But it's a concern when you're more concerned about the distance and not about how close that church is to the truth.

And you have others who put a premium on production value, and the events, the entertainment that they they promote and they put so much effort into. Why do you go Well that He's a dynamic speaker. So what? What's the substance of what he's saying? Oh, I can tell you this, many many many many are planted somewhere because they have found a sweet spot for their conscience.

They have found a place where they can satisfy their religious itch knowing all the while that they will never be challenged or held accountable for what it means to be truly a disciple of Jesus Christ. Which church are you part of and why? Is it a place where Jesus says they're in the right direction? You're never gonna find a perfect church, but you can find a blameless place. And I know it's becoming increasingly rare, but I also wanna say this, I do not advocate people getting up and leaving churches whenever they feel dissatisfied.

That is not a way to deal with the church. Because leaving an assembly should be a very slow decision, a prayed about thing. Not something that we just do because as members of the body of Christ, it's not easy when a member rips away and goes somewhere else. All I'm saying with this point is that you and I must align our thinking with what Christ desires, what Christ has in mind for his people when they come together. That's a helpful challenge, but I see encouragement in this.

What do I see? I see here that Jesus reminds us that he is ultimately the determiner of what a successful Christian looks like and what a successful church looks like. He determines that. And people, as well as leaders in the church, would save themselves from much unnecessary discouragement if they would just stop comparing superficially and simply come to God's word and let him define what true success looks like. For individual spirituality and corporate spirituality.

He looks at this church this morning and he says, you're poor but you're rich. He looks at this rich church and he says, you're bankrupt in the soul. Christ thinks differently than us. You know, when I was putting my thoughts together for this, I could not help. I was compelled to step back and ask myself this, when was the last time you paused, looked to the Lord and said, Lord, are you pleased with my service?

Never mind what so and so said. What do you think of the ministry that I'm involved in? And I could tell you this, if you come with an open heart and an open Bible long enough and inquire of the Lord, you will find more encouragement there than anywhere else. Because Christ's value system differs than man's, and he is much more encouraging than you might imagine. Let me give you an example.

When you think of a holy person, what comes to mind? A holy person. Holiness. And I remember being confronted by this truth in first Thessalonians, teaching me a component of holiness that I think is often ignored. Holiness includes many things, but have you ever thought about Paul's words of what it truly means to be holy before God?

Go to first Thessalonians with me. In chapter three verse 12. First Thessalonians three verse 12. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that so why is Paul praying that we would abound in love more and more? Verse 13.

So that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Do you see it? I'm praying for you Thessalonians that you would abound more and more in love for one another and for all. Why? So that when you stand before God, you would be blameless in holiness.

That's what this tells me. You can't know true holiness unless you know love. What does it mean to be holy? Loving people. Loving the saints, loving the stranger, being practical.

It's not about you being monkish. It's not about you being strange, intentionally weird. That's not what it means to be holy. It's very hands on. It's measurable.

It acts. I'm praying that you have more love so that you'd be more holy. Do you see how we can misinterpret things? See how it's possible to come to a church and and begin to evaluate it with with our understanding and we might even think that we have references to back it up. You have to come to God's word and see what he wants and what he says is true.

What he says is beneficial, fruitful, alive, and what's dead, and what's carnal, what's lifeless. Christ sees things differently than we do. But we have a third point as we are looking at these churches. Christ is deeply interested in our works. Christ is deeply interested in our works.

Now hang on because I know many Christians who are allergic to the idea of works. But you're gonna have a hard time debating this when you see what Christ says to these churches. Out of the seven, he makes the same statement five times. What is it? Similar to what we see in Revelation two two.

Let's turn that together. Revelation two two. I know your works. Let's keep reading. Your toil and your patient endurance and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false.

I know your works. He says that to five churches. I know your works. I know your works. I know your works.

I know your works. What's the lesson? That Jesus is not just interested in what we know and what we believe, he's interested in what we in what we do. And he praises a church that is practically active in the right things and grieves over one that is not. I know your works.

Now, righteous deeds are not the only thing. It's not necessarily the thing that we should just focus on, but it's important nonetheless. And I wanna touch on this because again, Christians have developed this allergy to the concept of duty, of responsibility, of accountability in action. Oh, who are you to tell me that I need to work? I'm saved by grace.

Isn't it about faith? Yes, it is about faith. You're not saved by your works. But you're gonna have great trouble in facing Christ's words here because his understanding of grace is that it energizes you to work. It motivates you to serve.

In fact, there's great danger according to James' words that if a person has faith with no works, that faith might be artificial. So this is very important. And here's what I was thinking to myself, what kind of efforts is Jesus interested in? Because I don't wanna be doing something that he didn't ask for me to do. And when I came to these seven churches and just put them side by side and began to just look at it as a whole, I I realized something that even within Revelation, though we have every right to go to the rest of the word of God, just these letters, I know what Christ is after in my life.

I know where he wants me to put my efforts. Here's one thing to consider. Jesus wants you and I to put our efforts in maintaining a love for the person of Christ. Go to Revelation two verse four. If there was any church that was the most impressive out of the seven, it was the church of Ephesus.

Man, they could spot out false teachers. They worked to the bone. They were very discerning, but look what he says in verse four, but I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

I don't wanna get ahead of myself. But let me say here and it's worth repeating next week. When he says, I'll remove the lampstand from your place, you know what that means? I will shut your church down. What do you mean you'll shut the church down?

This this church has pure doctrine. They they're they're very protective of the pulpit and they're working so much. What do you mean shut yeah. But if a church doesn't have ministry rooted in love for Christ, I'm not interested in that kind of a church. Jesus thinks differently than us.

So it's strange, isn't it, that this church that toiled, he says, do the works you did at first. Aren't they doing enough? What works is he speaking about here? The things that you and I did that nurtured and fostered a love relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, what he's saying is go back.

Go back to what you did that helped you fall more in love with me and kept you in love with me. You know, I know I know of somebody who was struggling with that. They they were just kind of robotically going through things and somebody advised them as they were struggling with this, go back to the songs you used to sing when you first got saved. And it helped. You can get so busy that you abandon what?

That time alone with the Lord where you pray. Not necessarily asking him for things, but just worshiping him. We come to the word not to look for a lesson for Sunday school, but just to to be fed. To taking the thoughts of Christ and commune with Christ even throughout your day. Go back to that.

So when Jesus says, I know your works. When he says, I'm I'm I'm looking for the right things. One thing I can say for certain is that he wants me to protect my efforts in growing in my personal adoration of who he is. But not just that, he he wants my efforts to be in rejecting the evil works of others. So Revelation two six, yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

So when when we say Jesus is deeply interested in our works, he's not only looking for what we do, he's also looking for what we don't do. James summarizes this beautifully. So here's a quotation from chapter one verse 27. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the father is this. Two things.

What's pure religion to God? One, to visit orphans and widows and their affliction. That's the positive. That's what you do to visit those who are needy, destitute. And two, to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Those are two main categories. Acting out in love and keeping yourself from being polluted by the world. That's what's pure to God. That's what religion is to God, in terms of practical religion. And that's what I see here.

He's asking them, the church in Ephesus, go back to your works that you did in loving me. But also, I wanna commend you, you hate the work of the Nicolaitans. Keep hating them. Did you know Jesus Christ hates things? If you really know somebody well, you don't just know what they enjoy, what their preferences are, you always with that know what they don't like.

Right? So with your wife, you know what not to buy and what not to include in your relationship. Because as you've studied her and as you've gotten to know her, you know what she loves and you know what she hates. Do you know what Christ hates? God is love.

Praise God, he's love. God also hates. What does he hate? What can you say? I know Jesus hates this.

I know he despises it. Why is that important to know? Because I don't wanna entertain anything that he hates. I don't wanna engage in anything that he despises, that would grieve him. So what does he hate?

What does he hate? Can I tell you this? When you come to this book alone in these two chapters, I discover that there are at least three or four things, just in these two chapters that he hates. Number one, he hates, he hates false teaching. Those who misrepresent his word, those who elevate tradition above his word, those who massage the Bible for carnal gain.

He hates that. You know what else he hates? You're gonna discover this as we go through these letters. He hates idolatry. He hates when we have any competition in our love for him.

You know what he brings up more than once? He hates sexual immorality. He hates it. He brings it up more than once in these letters. Lastly, he hates apathy.

He hates apathy. And we're gonna see that in more than one church, unfortunately. So I'm learning, what do you hate? And now when he says, I know your works. What is he looking for?

I'm sure he's looking for my efforts in expelling and denying and swatting away that which grieves him. Another thing to consider. Christ is interested in my efforts for the advancement of his kingdom to increase over time. Not to decrease, but to increase. Look at chapter two verse 19.

I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. He highlights that. So he tells these believers here in Thyatira, hey I've been watching you over the years and as time has gone on you've only become more zealous, more dedicated, more committed to acts of service. Now here's what's true. What we do for others in the name of the Lord will evolve over time.

They will change. They will be altered depending on the season of life. And though that may happen, there may be adaptation, one thing cannot be true of us, that it becomes weaker over time. No matter what, how we honor the Lord with our service and our works may look different, but it should always be there. And not just there, we should pray that God would keep us zealous and dedicated because he is looking for that.

He expects that, that we're always investing, doing something, some kind of inclusion in his work. In fact, he wants us to do this for the long term. How long? The same passage. Look at verse 26.

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end. To him I will give authority over the nations. So Jesus Christ expects me in one way or another to serve him until I see him. This is us knowing Christ, brothers and sisters. This is his standard.

So I'm quoting scripture. This is not my idea. This is what he's after. Christ is deeply interested in our works. Yes, the people who have been saved by his grace, but a grace that energizes us to serve.

Number four, Satan. Satan ferociously opposes the church. Aerial view, hilltop with binoculars. What do I see? Oh, these seven churches, Satan is mentioned five times in these two chapters.

Four different times in four different letters. Here's what that teaches me right away, a church that does not acknowledge the evil one or his schemes will not be able to be the church that Christ called him to be. I'm not talking about those ministries that obsessively talk about Satan and demons. I'm talking about a biblical informed awareness. That's what I'm speaking about.

Satan is brought up more than once. Four different churches. Christ includes his name. What do we make of that? Well, let's find out because these mentions are not random.

They reveal his strategies, and he is very much at war with us. The first time Satan is mentioned in these letters is in Revelation two verse nine. Let's look at it again. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Something similar comes up in Revelation three nine.

Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie, behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and they will learn that I have loved you. We're gonna look into this more in the coming weeks, but let's just establish this. Satan uses people outside the community of faith to harass the people of God. And at this time, it was the Jewish people. With this early Christian movement who were claiming that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the Messiah, this irked them to the degree that they found many ways to prick them and to harm them, to call the authorities on them.

So right away we see here with at least two mentions of Satan, that Satan uses agents outside of the church to bother the church. And we have to be mindful of that. Here's why. Because if you and I don't realize the satanic influence, then you might be waging war against flesh and blood. When people persecute us, when people call the police on us, when people do all these things to us, it's not people that we are at war with.

It's Satan. And knowing that and believing that helps us know what weapons to wield and not to fight in the flesh. And so here we see Christ, not just highlighting and identifying the people that are doing it, but who's really behind it? Satan. We should expect the same.

But Satan doesn't just work outside, he works from within. Look here at Revelation two twenty four, the church in Thyatira. Jesus says, but to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan. To USA, I do not lay on you any other burden. There are many ways that the devil can agitate a church from within and Christ highlights a prominent one, false teaching.

So Satan can't pressure a church with persecution, he will poison a church with bad doctrine. And how does he do it? Does he just manifest on a stage and intimidate people to believe his lies? No, he doesn't do that. He finds people.

The same way he finds people from outside, he finds people from within to persuade God's people. And in this particular church, he found a woman who claimed to be a prophetess, who was seducing the people of God to believe a lie and live out in sin as a result of her teaching. So at this point, we're we're supposed to step back and be persuaded. The evil one is calculated. He is strategic.

Yes, indeed. More than you think. Why do I say that? Let me give you a sample. Look at Revelation two verse 13.

This is the church in Pergamum. And what does Jesus say? I know where you dwell where Satan's throne is, that you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you where Satan dwells. Contrary to cartoon depictions, Satan's headquarters is not in hell. His roaming presence is continually on the earth.

And at this particular time in history, he felt very comfortable to set up his home base in a place called Pergamum. Why? Well, don't miss any upcoming Sundays because we're gonna discover that, at least some possible answers. But here's what we can establish. This is deliberate.

This isn't random. It wasn't for the views. He is so locked in. He is so filled with pride. He thinks that he can actually overthrow prophecy, and he wants to doom as many people as possible.

And so clearly, to me, here's what I take out of this. There was something about Pergamum that helped Satan have a greater influence, to gain greater control of the region. There was something about Pergamum that allowed him to what? Spread his corruption with greater effect. So here's what I took from this.

Satan is interested in locations. He considers that. And if he considers that, then surely he considers using platforms and and hiring people, and and being very intentional of what he does, where he does it, whom he does it through. Here's where I'm convicted. If Satan is so strategic, what about the church?

Where's the planning? Where's the fasting? Where's the war like mentality? Where's the awareness, the continual awareness that we're at war? Hey, church in Pergamum, you're in the same neighborhood as the devil.

I said this before, forgive me for saying it again. If there's any encouragement in this, it's that God was able to raise up a church where Satan dwells. So no matter how bad Chicago gets, the church can still be the church. And so we see here that there's something worth considering about Satan, but here's what I wanna say in addition to that. Satan is not mentioned in three out of the seven.

Any explanation? I can't be dogmatic with any claim from silence. But I do see something interested with the churches that Satan is not mentioned in. You may disagree with me, it's fine. I'm not making again a dogmatic declaration here.

Just an interesting observation. The three churches where Satan is not mentioned is in Ephesus, Sardis, Laodicea. Unique with their problems, but they share something quite similar. Ephesus abandoned their first love. Sardis had a reputation of being alive but was dead.

Laodicea was lukewarm. Can we say that Satan does not bother with churches that are cold towards Christ? That's not a stretch, is it? And when Christians just go through the motions and don't pose any lasting threat to the kingdom of darkness because of that love, Satan pays little to no attention to them. Why?

Because a loveless Christianity is self defeating. Think about it. Jesus told the church in Ephesus, if you don't change the way you love me, I'm shutting this church down. What does Satan have to do with a church like that? Goes to show just how vital it is to have a heart brimming with love.

Just how necessary it is for us to have and to protect and to fuel affection for Jesus Christ. Because that's what really stimulates fruitfulness. That's what really opens up our lives to the potent spiritual fragrance that impacts environments that we walk into. So a church that's cold towards Christ, they'll shrivel up and die in no time. Oh, yeah.

Let them have their services and let them do their thing. I'm gonna focus on those that love Jesus. Satan ferociously opposes the church. Here's my final point with these observations. Christ desires for his church to be eternally minded.

There are many more things that we can say, but let's land it here. Despite the condition or the circumstances of every church, whether there was more commendation or more condemnation, Jesus Christ does one similar thing with every single one of these assemblies. He gives them a promise of a reward for those who conquer. He's such a motivating God. He's such He is, as Romans says, the God of encouragement.

So with every church he says, to the one who conquers and he follows it up with a prize. But there is something about these prizes, though they are unique in each case, they have a common trait and I want you to see. Let's just look at a few of them. Look at Revelation two seven. He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Look at verse 10. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life.

Skip over to chapter two verse 26. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. Chapter three verse five. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

Verse 21 of chapter three. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. Do you see it? These rewards are primarily eternal in nature. They're everlasting in worth and they will be fully realized in the life to come.

So what does that say to us? That Christ here uses eternity as an incentive to keep us motivated and conquerors in our faith. Eternity should not be a rare topic coming from the pulpit. It shouldn't be absent in our mutual counsel and encouragement. It's something that we have to think about.

It's something that we need to use to stir up one another. Why? Because I see my Jesus using it every single time with every single church. To the one who conquers, look what I'll give you. It's coming.

In the life to come, in the life to come, in the life to come. Evidently, there's something about knowing what's to come that keeps me going now. And to refuse to see that is a detriment to us. Here's my prayer for our church, that no matter what kind of week you had, no matter the bills or the surprising payments that came, house this or bills with health, whatever the case may be, education, the stresses of this life would wash away because as you come and as you leave, you've been reminded of what's to come. To be eternally minded.

This is what the Lord is saying. Remember what's happening. Remember what we're looking forward to here. Come on, church. This isn't it.

There's life to come. I wasn't planning on saying this, but I wanna end on an encouraging note from the Old Testament and then we'll close together in prayer. Jesus said that he wants us to be more than conquerors. Conquerors in our faith and I wanna tell you something about his patience with his church. When you come to the book of Malachi, you see something quite amazing about God's heart in that refining process.

In Malachi three three, He says he will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver and they will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. This is what God was doing in the old testament or the old covenant. What was he doing? He was refining them. Is it any different today?

But notice his posture. What does it say in the beginning of verse three? He will stand, he will sit. When you sit to do anything, you're assuming that you're gonna be there for a while. That you're taking your time, you're giving your focus, that you're not in a rush.

When Jesus purifies you, he's patient. When he works on me, he is long suffering. He doesn't just toss us away when we don't comply immediately. He works on us and he takes his time on us. And you see that even in these letters where this church that was ravaged by this false prophetess, and he says what to that church?

I gave her time to repent. I gave her time to repent. If we were to walk into a church with a woman preaching and saying, it's okay to live in sexual sin, how long how much time would you spend there before you leave? You don't care what kind of coffee is in the lobby. I'm out of here.

Jesus doesn't immediately even shut down that church. I gave her time to repent. This is the God you serve. And as we pray, let that be the object of our desire. Lord, make us a people that you want us to be.

Help us think like you think. Help us work for what really matters. Help us realize that Satan hates us and that we have to be on guard and help us be eternally minded. Lord, we thank you for your help in this overview. We pray that these things that we heard would be applied.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. So Lord, we do ask that we would leave here sensing your voice and empowering us to live out what you've called us to do. And Lord, as we think about you sitting while you refine us, we wanna now stand in honor of you and sing your praises. Keep Maranatha Bible Church in your will. May you find nothing here that breaks your heart.

Bless every ministry that is represented here outside of this church. May you find at this time more churches like Smyrna and Philadelphia that bring you joy, that offer up true sacrifice of praise. That's what we're striving after, and we know that you'll help us by the spirit. We love you, Lord. Thank you for loving us first.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's stand before the one who sits while he works on us. What a great God.