Revelation, Part 2

The book of Revelation chapter 1, a little from chapter 2, and a little from chapter 3. But before we do that, I'm just going to give you a quick run through this chart. If you don't already know, this chart was produced by Dr. Harry Ironside, who lived in a former day. He's an outstanding servant of Christ, and many of us have his works, and the one on Revelation is very good.

Now, people ask a question, so I'm just going to answer it for you. So why do you display his chart? Because it's outside the sphere of 75 years from it was created, so it's now in what we call the public zone, and copyright laws don't apply. You see, if I was inside the 75 years, his family could sue us, but the laws of this country in Canada are exactly the same in this regard.

So feel absolutely satisfied that we're not stealing anybody's thunder. But we certainly appreciate this man, Dr. Harry Ironside. Now, it's good to see the younger ones here, and we'll try and be as simple as possible and go over the ground.

Now, let me just give you the idea here. First of all, look at the title. See it? The Revelation of Jesus Christ.

We have already pointed out the word revelation is the word apocalypse, and if you don't know what that means, it's the unveiling of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's the Lord Jesus Christ that is the center of this great book, and of course, when you come to that then, added to it is God's prophetic program. Now, this is majored on the book of Revelation, so people ask the next basic simple question, well, where are we on the chart? Well, I want to tell you that we're here.

You see this bit that we are going to talk about, the seven churches in Asia Minor? We're right here in testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're about to hear the shout, and then our testimony will be over. Now, we're going to go over some of that ground today. I'm going to give you the overview, so as you understand what we're talking about.

We have pointed out already, things which thou hast seen, that's John has been instructed. Now, what you have seen, that's chapter one, you write it. See the next one here, the things which are, that's Revelation chapter two and chapter three, and that has to do with assembly testimony in this life.

Now, when that is over at the rapture of the church, that could take place today, please notice now, watch carefully here. There's a space in here. Now, after the Lord Jesus Christ comes, the great tribulation will commence, but the Bible doesn't tell us when it commences.

All it tells us is, it's of seven years duration, and if you want to know where we get that from, I'll be happy to talk to you at the end of the meeting. I want to keep simple, right? Now, after that tribulation starts, as we have pointed out here, from here all the way through to where I'm pointing to now, it will end. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes to earth, and as far as the judgment of the living nations is concerned, Matthew 25, he will come as the son of righteousness, Malachi 4, and he will come down to earth, and a number of things happen, and one of them is after all these events take place, the millennium reign of Christ will commence.

Millennium, a thousand years, and we believe that that is literal, and then after that is finished, then there's the battle of Gog and Magog, and the resurrection, the second resurrection, and Satan will be loosed from the bottomless pit, and follow that sign, and if you can't see it, look at your copy, and then fire will come down from heaven, and in a moment everybody will be consumed, and all will then go to the great white throne judgment that have turned down the Lord Jesus and said no, and will finally be cast into the lake of fire. Now the book of Revelation, I've already pointed out to you that it's a book of sevens and of threes, and it already has been pointed out, and we're only here, obviously folk are interested in looking at the chart, now if it's all sevens, people are asking the first question, I hope you can count here, see that there where I'm pointing to now, seven seals, but there's six, then it says here seven trumpets, but there's only six here, and somebody says how does that come, now come over a bit further, and you see here are seven vials, there's seven of them there, and somebody says well why is there not just six the way these are demonstrated, there's seven here, well there's nothing beyond the vials, whenever we're at the seventh vial, we're almost at the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth. Now let me explain, you all know what a telescope looks like, and the older the you or whatever, you get this telescope, and it says about that length, now what you have to do is before you can look through it, you have to extend it, expand it, so out of the base comes another section, and out of the second section comes a third and so on, now the word that we use is telescopic, so we're talking about a telescope, right, now we'll be reading about this sealed book here, well it's really a scroll, Revelation 5, now it has seven seals, you count them till you see, but when the scroll is unfolded, we have Revelation chapter 6, six seals, and out of the seventh seal comes seven trumpets, when somebody says there's only six, well out of the seventh trumpet comes the seven vials, if you don't believe me, read your bible for a minute, I'll turn you to it, give you an example, look at chapter 8 of Revelation, please, just read, lying right on the surface, because people think that we make this up, it's in the bible, now look at verse number one of Revelation chapter 8, for example, and when he had opened the seventh seal, right, got it, not the sixth, the seventh, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour, and I saw the seven angels which stood before God, to them were given seven trumpets, and another angel came and stood at the altar having the golden censer and all the rest of it, right, now notice verse number six, and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound, verse seven, the first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood and all the rest of it, now can't you see that out of this seventh seal comes the seven trumpets, and out of the seventh trumpet by the same token comes the seven vials, now when we're talking about sevens, we'll go over that a little further in the nights to come, dv, now look again, people say, you know, the book of Revelation is a straight line, it's like a string, starts here and it finishes here, now the book of Revelation is not what we call linear, it starts here, it goes forward a bit and then it comes back, and then it goes forward a little more and then it comes back and so on, now I won't read the verses, but in Revelation chapter 11, for example, there comes a point where John is told, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of God and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever, and yet there are 11 chapters to come in the book of Revelation, so in this chart then, Dr. Ironside has rightly pointed out that there are parentheses, now I won't point them all out, but if you look at this chart, for example, see where it says here, chapter 7, parentheses, and somebody says, what does that mean? That means there's a pause, there's a break in the content that's been taught, it's slightly different to what has just come and what will come after the parentheses, but it's connected, now that's all kinds of things, that's true to life, you come to this point, then there's a break, if you're a hockey fan, there's what we call an intermission, 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off, and then there's another intermission and so on, now that's the whole idea here, now we want to talk then about chapters 2 and 3, and somebody says, you're going to cover the seven churches in Asia Minor now in 45 minutes, I think not, but I'm going to show you the structure, that's what we're here to give you, the overview, and let me just say to you, if you don't understand, please talk to us, I'll be happy to sit down and talk to you one-on-one or whatever is required, we're at a certain place here recently, and this dear believer said to me, Stan, I don't like your accent, well I said, lady, did you understand what I said, she said a hundred percent, and I said, mission accomplished, right, so if you don't like my accent, I hope I'm clear and can communicate simple things, right, Revelation chapter 1 please, and we're going to look at this part of the chart here, and I'll say a little about it and we'll move on, right, look at verse number 11, and here's what the Spirit is saying to John, verse 11, middle of the verse, what thou seest, write in a book, that's Revelation, send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, now here's scripture to show, dear friends, that every one of the seven churches got seven letters, you need to understand that, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea, chapter 2 please, notice verse 1, unto the messenger of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, I know thy works and so on, notice verse 4, nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love, see how that ends, verse 7, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God, now chapter 3 to conclude, notice here, verse number 14, unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, I would that thou wouldst, that thou wert cold or hot, so then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, now listen to the reason, verse 17, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and of need of nothing, and knowest not that thou wert wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see, now notice verse 20, some of my brethren mightn't agree with this, but I'm going to suggest to you, behold I stand at the door and knock, now brethren tell us that that's the Lord Jesus Christ outside the assembly, now I'm not so sure that that's the idea, it's a golden lamp stand, and notice, if any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me, now that's pretty obvious that it's an individual, it's not the assembly, so he's interested in the entrance to the affections and personality of a potential overcomer and so on, now we'll have to leave it at that because there's a fair bit of ground to cover and I want to just summarize it for you, the things which are, that's where we are today, right here, let me tell you about the setting of the lamp stands, now what I'm going to tell you now is not in the Bible, you have to look at the history book, Josephus or his fellows will tell you what it's all about, now here it is, the old man is in his 90s, he's on the isle called Patmos, he's looking eastward to the mainland and he's in a higher elevation on that island and he can see the lights of seven cities, and if you look at the map, they're approximately in a circle, and he starts with Ephesus and goes right round to the seventh Laodicea, and it would seem that the dear man is really concerned for the testimony of the Lord Jesus in assembly life, all his peers are gone, the generation that started in Jerusalem in Acts 2 are home in heaven, and he wonders now when he goes what will happen, now in answer to that he gets a look at the unveiled Christ, the apocalypse, the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ and the assemblies that he's interested in, the chapter shows that the Lord Jesus is moving amongst the low golden lamp stands as a judicial priest, now people want to know what that means, as a priest he's interested, very keenly interested in assembly life, but as a judge he's discerning that some of these people need help and they need to be told about their local problems, now next thing I want to think about is the scribe, he's John, now the Bible doesn't tell us this, but if you were around the nation of Israel and you went to Ephesus and these places where the guide would show you, this is the house in Ephesus where John the Apostle allegedly lived, and from that point he was taken by the Roman authorities and put into this island alone, and God richly compensated him and give him a picture of the Lord Jesus and the assemblies that represent him in the darkness of the night, that's why it's a lamp stand, and it hasn't too much to do specifically with the golden lamp stand in the tabernacle, and somebody says what does that all mean, now I'm going to draw on your knowledge, you see on the golden lamp stand in the tabernacle there were three lights on one side and three lights on the other, and then the center stem had a light at the top, and these lights showed light to the center stem, and that all speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ, now the concept in the darkness of the night, Philippians 2, luminaries in the moral darkness of this great age that we live in, we have a function, we have to bring light to those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and we proclaim to a dying world our Lord Jesus Christ, now that's John, I want to tell you another thing, if you have your Bible open let me point it out to you, the structure of these seven letters, now just let me look for example at chapter two, and we'll just take the first seven verses which is the one to the Ephesian company, all the other seven are the same, number one structure for example in verse number one of chapter two, the presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then verses two to three, he then commends or condemns conditions in the assembly, there's only two where there's no censor, and that is number two church Smyrna, or number six church Philadelphia, and then of course from the end to the end of the chapter there, or the end of this little section here from verse six and seven, he then has a presentation, he has a commendation, or a condemnation, and notice the difference there, and then of course a recommendation for the overcomer, as he overcomes conditions in that church, now let me point out to you that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is an overcomer, that's what first John tells us, it's our faith that is the overcomer in the world, see, but whenever you come to revelation two and three, it's a different line for an overcomer, you see, it's open to every believer, but to be an overcomer you have to overcome conditions that are in that specific assembly to enjoy the divine presence, all right, now here's another three for you to think about, all right, again the scholars are divided, but I always go for the simple approach, I would suggest to this company that these seven churches here that we're looking at on the chart, see there's number one, that's Ephesus, and you go right round and you come to Laodicea, first of all there's the primitive view, somebody says what does that mean, that means there were seven literal churches in seven cities of Asia minor that existed to the glory of God, now more about that in a minute, the next way you can look at it is prophetic, see starting here and going right round, now the scholars tell us John hadn't the faintest clue about the history that we know now, he was looking forward, you and I are looking back on this great age of grace, he didn't know anything about the prophetic view, and I would have to admit that's right, at the same time there's a prophetic view to show us conditions from the apostolic age right until the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ, now if there's time we can develop that but there might not be time, here's the next one, see from here these seven churches, there's a very definite practical view, three Ps, the primitive view, the prophetic view, and the practical view, now we're going to talk about the practical view in a minute or two, but let me give you the prophetic view for a minute, you see Ephesus answers to the apostolic age when things were in their infancy and they were on fire for the Lord Jesus, but that's the very church where affections to the person of Christ were on the wane, see when you come to Smyrna, Smyrna speaks of the afflictions of the people of God, and it answers to that time of the ten big Roman emperors who tried to put the Christians right into the ground, God allowed it, but they survived and God blessed them in their afflictions, you see dear brethren, suffering, persecution, affliction never puts the work of God down, it fans it, example, the nation of Israel and Egypt, you know the story, for 400 years and the pharaohs tried to put them right into the ground, but the more they did it, the more they prospered, it's the same idea in assembly life, see Pergamos, Pergamos means marriage, associations, associations, at this particular time was the age of Constantine, third century, and he made edicts where it was easy for the church and the world, the world system to be together, we call the idea twice married, that means that like on the marriage ceremony, when the tie is made and they're pronounced husband and wife, they go down the aisle together, and in this particular era, it was easy to become a Christian and be as worldly as was possible, you know, you see out of that came Thyatira, and this one is, describes the assertion of women, the host there, Jezebel, the brethren might not agree with this, but I think as a suggestion, she's a literal woman in the assembly, right there in Thyatira, I tell you she caused havoc, and that's another line of ministry, but that is the assertion of women, you know something, in the world and generation that we live in, in the business world, there are more women today in places of authority, like CEOs and senior vice presidents and financial officers and all of the above than ever there were before, and you see, they have to look after things in the home, if they have a family, I've been doing some research in some of this, and it's totally amazing to see that these dear women have to do two jobs, and their spouses don't normally help them for whatever reason, and that leads to nothing, only disaster, and you see in assembly life, we thank God for our sisters, we can't get along without them, but you see a woman out of her place, you got a disaster in your hand, that's Jezebel, do you see now the next one is Sardis, well Sardis is the lifeless church, named to live and are dead, they're asleep, that's a tactic of the old devil, you don't want the assembly to be active, do your own thing inside your own walls, and just forget the world, and just go to sleep, and out of that condition comes Philadelphia, that's the appealing church, there's a little strength has not denied my name, and all the rest of it, and that answers to assembly life in the 21st century, now we haven't time to go into all of these things, but then you see Laodicea, it is a lukewarm condition, and that describes another condition that's in our world right here in this generation, and you see Laodicea means rights of the people, we have our own rights, whenever you hear that in an assembly, after all, if you don't allow us to do these things, we're going to do them anyways, that's lawlessness, you see that comes from an attitude problem, they thought they were rich, and God says no, you're not, now all kinds of things can be said then about the prophetic view, and I'll just quickly go over that again, let me look at it in the chart, here's Ephesus, apostolic age, here's Smyrna, the age of persecution and suffering, the Roman authorities, 10 emperors, here's Pergamos into the third century, and there they are, and now life has changed, and under Constantine, it's relatively easy to become a believer, see the next one, Thyatira, answers to the people age, the dark ages, where women were asserted, and the Virgin Mary and all that goes with it was to the fore, and then out of this here is Sardis, the Protestant dissenters from out of the darkness of Rome, and all these men, like Martin Luther, and all the rest of it, what happened, and then after that, the people that followed those initial protesters became the state churches of the western civilization, and they went to sleep, that's what the old devil wants, and don't get me wrong, dear saints of God, we're not here to criticize anybody, but I want to tell you something, there's a few places, and I don't have Ontario in mind, for I don't know it, but I know other places, and the folk just go, and they sit in a pew, and they go to sleep, that's what the Lord wants, what the devil wants, and out of that comes number six, Philadelphia, that answers to the assembly gatherings, and people say that's when it started, nothing doing, Acts chapter two shows the first assembly ever known in this great age was right in Jerusalem, and there was likely 10,000 plus in the assembly, count them till you see, and out of that persecution came, and the work scattered, and it moved to the ends of the earth, Rome at that particular time, and so on, now in John Nelson Darby's day, and William Kelly, and Lord Congleton, and Lady Powerscourt, and all of that, in the middle of the 19th century, the great point of gathering to the Lord's name was awakened, and that answers to Philadelphia, brotherly love, it's a fantastic story, and then of course, out of that comes Laodicea, rites of the people, and that answers to the day that we live in, very sad, dear brethren, we're losing ground, I'm talking about the big picture, we're back down to this very same point, we all have to live, yes, we all have to have cash to live, we need homes, we need cars, we need vacation, we need food, we need clothes, and all the rest of it, but which of these worlds are we living for, the present one, or the one that's coming, and more about that in a minute or two, so you can see, here's the names, right there, one through seven, now here's what I want to talk about practically for a few minutes, we have only 20 minutes and it's time to go, see, I can fill your head and fill my own head with information that you would sound intelligent to people who don't know, but I want to teach practical truth here, we need to learn what God wants us to learn from these matters, right, so I'm going to talk about Ephesus, and then I'm going to talk about Laodicea, now a very simple overview is, I've pointed out that these seven assemblies specially picked by the spirit of God to convey truth from the day of Pentecost until here, Pentecost, there it is, till the rapture of the church, these seven conditions existed in these seven churches, they could all exist in one church, or one, any one to seven, and any one of the seven, the one that we have read from Ephesus, that got one for them, but all the other six got their letter, and they got the other six, now read it carefully till you see, now somebody says, so what do you want to teach out of this, well I want to suggest to you, that in Ephesus, the big point, they had a lot of pluses, I didn't read it, but here are people that came, and they said we are apostles, and the assembly tried them and they found out that they were false, and they put them away from the assembly, and you know what, their affections for the person of Christ were on the way, and that's a very, very, very practical point that I want to bring out of Ephesus, so here we are, we have to ask ourselves a simple question, do we really love the Lord Jesus Christ, one day on the shores of the sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus asked Peter three times, wonder how many times he has asked us, lovest thou me? Peter got frustrated, but he got the message, do you know that one of your best communicators in the country of the USA says that to get a point across that people will pick it up, you have to say it three times, maybe you don't believe me, but just check it out, check it out with your children, I have heard mothers saying to their children, go, go, go, did you get the message, simple, but it holds good for assembly life, and so the Lord says to Peter, lovest thou me, Peter says, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I fondly love thee, now here I want to ask you, is an assembly gathered to his precious name wherever we go in the world, how is our affection for the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, the Lord makes this assessment, and he says, Ephesus, with all your pluses, I have to tell you, you don't love me the way you used to, now I want to expand on that for a minute, I want to be very, very practical for all of us today, I want to ask you really, I ask myself first, do you really love the Lord Jesus Christ? And people say, yeah, I do, I do, I do.

Well, if you love the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I love the Lord Jesus Christ, we'll do what he wants us to do. I was saved 55 years ago, I'm in assembly fellowship 55 years, and I can remember the first day I took my place in the assembly, and I want to tell you that my affections for the person of Christ were really on fire. But you see, the years of life, and the ups and downs of life, and the difficulties that we face in, say, family life, assembly life, business life, neighborhood life, financial life, wherever, it dampens our enthusiasm.

Just think of your experience. So I asked myself, do I love the Lord Jesus Christ today more than I did 55 years ago? Now, he could make the assessment, how about you? Now, I could develop that further, but I want you to think about it. Next thing I want to ask is, do we really love the place where his honor dwelleth? You see, Psalm 26, for example, in verse number eight, David says, I love the habitation of thy house.

One thing have I desired above everything else, that I would be in that place. Could I ask you today, do you love the assembly gathered to his precious name? And people say, certainly I do. Well, I would like to ask you, as I ask myself right now, if you love the assembly, will you put it number one in your life? I tell you, that's a difficult question to answer.

And there's all kinds of ways, and I don't want to get after anybody, but I'm here to teach you the Bible. Please think about it. Here's an example.

If you had an anniversary to go to, or a meeting in the assembly, which one would you go to first? These are acid things. Younger men and younger women in the West, I have asked some of them, they're involved in the sport world, and I asked them, if the Vancouver Canucks are playing a game at home, and it's the assembly night, would you go to the Canucks to listen and watch the hockey and shout and get on, or would you come to the prayer meeting in the Baylor Eden? Dear brethren, this is where the rubber meets the road. This is what's happening today.

And the Lord Jesus Christ is asking, do we really love the assembly? I'm going to ask you another thing. Do you love the people that are in the assembly? Remember I quoted you this morning, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one to the other. So here's a wee test for you, and for me too, of course.

And I would say to dear people, now, if it was for me to choose who would be in the assembly, would you choose the folk that are here? Well, I'd have to say we might not, because all personalities are different. So here's the acid test. If it was in your responsibility, would you choose me? But you see, the Lord has chosen us.

I'll give you a wee simple thing. Here's a man called Levi, Matthew, the tax collector. He was collecting taxes for a foreign power, the Romans, and the Jews hated them, couldn't stand them.

That's why the publicans were hated. They're tax collectors. Here's another man, Simon Salotes.

He's a zealot. There was a whole group in the nation, and they were mad against these people. The Romans, get out of our country.

We hate you. Now, isn't it interesting to notice that the Lord Christ chose Matthew, and he chose Simon Salotes, diametrically opposed in their ideals in life. And guess what? They're in the 12, and they're in the assembly of Jerusalem.

It's a fantastic thing. See, it hasn't to do with your choice and mine. It's the choice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord helped us to get along with each other as we move. Here's another one. Do you love the precepts and the Holy Bible linked with the assembly? The place where his honor dwelleth.

Some of these Old Testament scriptures, it says, you know, in keeping of the word, there's great reward, Psalm 19. Moreover, by them is thy servant warned. I'd like to ask you today, do you love the Bible and the assembly gathered to his precious name? Here's a wee simple test.

And I have been in the middle as well, to be honest. I'm the same as you. So here's me sitting at home, and here's the Bible sitting right in front of me.

And here's the Reader's Digest, for example. Now, I want to ask you something. Which one would you pick first? We're all the same.

Some of us would pick the Reader's Digest first, and we would read the Digest, and then we'd read the Bible second. These are very basic, simple things, but this is what life is all about in the assembly. I want to ask you another wee thing.

Do you love the prospect of the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ? Look at the chart. Here it is. I would like to ask this audience, as I ask myself, do you see in view of the coming, do you love the prospect? Revelation chapter 22 verse 20, even so come Lord Jesus.

Now, you have to say that John loved the prospect. But I want to ask you something. Have you any unfinished business if the Lord comes today? Bring that to the assembly.

Any unfinished business in the assembly in view of the coming? Any unfinished business in the family? Any unfinished business in your place of business? These are very practical things. The Lord help us to humbly bow to the Lord Jesus. Isn't that what we sing? I love thee, because thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon.

Calvary's true. I want to tell you, dear saints of God, if the affections of the Lord Jesus doesn't affect us, no amount of legislation will help us to do what the Lord wants us to do. God help us to appreciate that.

See, this one here, the big problem there was the affections of the Lord Jesus, for the Lord Jesus of his own. Now, I want to take out this seventh one here. Now, look at the chart here for a minute.

Ephesus and Laodicea answer to each other. You'll see in a minute. I can't go down them today, but you look at it.

Smyrna answers to Philadelphia. You'll have to look at it carefully. And you see, Pergamos answers to Sardis.

And somebody says, I don't know what you're talking about. Well, I'll give you an example. See this, Pergamos here, marriage with the world.

See this one here, asleep. The more worldly we become, the less effective we are in assembly life. Many of us are asleep, spiritually speaking.

And then, of course, Thyatira is in the center. And that speaks of the dark ages, prophetically speaking. And you and I are in that age today, even though that there are other conditions.

And let me get this across if I can. Dear saints of God, listen. We can't get along without our sisters, I'm telling you.

I was in a home here not too long ago to give you an example. And the dear brother was what I call a male chauvinist. And he wouldn't help his wife to do anything.

He thought that that was the domestic side of things is for the female spouse. It's nothing to do with him. It would be beneath his dignity.

And some of these dear men, they can't boil water without burning it. I'm telling you, I'd like to ask your husband, when's the last time you told your wife you really appreciated the meal that she prepared or the house that she's running? See, we can't do without our sisters. Imagine an assembly without sisters.

It wouldn't function. But you know what? If a sister gets out of focus and out of place, it can be a disaster. That is our friend, a woman called Jezebel.

All right. Lift your Bible now. You have only five minutes here.

And I want to show you another thing. You see, I've told you that the big point here in Ephesus is affection for the person of Christ. Do you see here in Laodicea? Do you know what the big point there is? Laodicea writes to the people.

Here it is. Attitude. Somebody says, what does that mean? Well, they say to John, you know, we're rich, we're increased with goods, and we're in need of nothing.

Self-sufficiency. Now, that's an attitude problem. What did the Lord say to them? Now, this is metaphorical language.

And knowest not that thou art poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked. Yet, what's the divine assessment? Do you know why? Because their attitude was wrong. Now, dear saints of God, in the world of men, or wherever we cut it, or whatever the spear is, affection and attitude are parallels.

If my affection for the Lord Jesus is right, and on fire for him, my attitude will be right. Now, again, dear saints of God, I'm not here to criticize anybody. I'm here to teach the principles of the Bible.

And in my short experience, I have noticed that dear people that get away from the Lord, and their affections for Christ, develop an attitude problem. It doesn't matter what you do, it's not right. They're always complaining about something.

And those that are doing less are the biggest complainers among us. Brethren, look, these are real facts. I have seen it in different countries this year.

I've been in several countries this year, and we thank God for his assemblies. There's no one like them. But we want to be more effective in the work of God.

And so, I've come to appeal to you today, and ask myself as I asked you, how's your affections for the person of Christ? How's your attitude in the assembly gathered to his precious name? Now, you see, dear brethren, it's not all bad. And I suggest that every one of these are golden lampstands. And if they're golden lampstands or assemblies, and if they're assemblies, according to Matthew 18 and 20, the Lord's in the midst.

And I'm suggesting to you that number seven, Laodicea, the Lord is still in the midst of his people, and he's knocking at the heart's door of potential overcomers to come into their experience and be more useful and effective for God. It doesn't say, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If the assembly hear my voice, it's not in the verse, it's the individual.

I leave that for your consideration. And so, with all the ups and downs of life, we thank God for these seven assemblies. And we thank God for our assemblies today, and Ontario, Wisconsin included.

And we thank God for the testimony gathered to his precious name. And we're here to help in whatever way we can, but we need to be stirred and we need to be challenged by the Lord Jesus Christ himself and by the holy word of God. Now, if I was taking up the seven churches, I'd be taking one of these each night, but I have just given you that as we close.

Ephesus answers to Laodicea, Smyrna to Philadelphia, Pergamos to Sardis, and Thyatira stands alone. It's like a triangle inverted with the base at the top and the apex at the bottom. Things are at a low ebb whenever you get to Thyatira.

They have to leave it. Thanks for coming. Thanks for listening.

We're going to move into the sevens from Wednesday night on, Tuesday night on. Tomorrow night, we're going to talk here about revelation. See, here's the rapture, and we're going to talk about conditions after the rapture and into this area here.

See chapters four and five? That's tomorrow night in the will of God, and I'll summarize it again. And I've divided the chart up into six segments that we might get an opportunity to know what it's all about. Now, all the other things that I was going to say, I won't say.

It's a quarter to three. Thanks for coming. Let's pray.