I invite your attention to Revelation chapter 3 verses 7 through 22. We're going to look at the letters written to a church at the city of Philadelphia in modern-day Turkey. In the ancient time, it was called Asia, Asia Minor, and the Church of Laodicea. By way of introduction, we conclude today the first vision of the book, and this first vision began at chapter 1, verse 9, where John, the writer of Revelation, says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. Chapters 2 and 3 describe situations in the seven churches of Asia Minor that are representative of problems and privileges that all churches from Pentecost until the rapture will face. And as we look at these last two churches, there will be some statements made that are relevant to the local church then, but remember These are open letters written for the people of God, no matter where they live, to learn lessons and life values, what God values and what He doesn't like, by you and I reading these letters, too, and applying them to ourselves. Each letter has a primary association to the local church address. Each letter has a personal application to any church, anywhere, as well as to the individuals in any church. Today we read the letters to the churches of Philadelphia and Latticea. First thing we are going to do is look at the map again and remind ourselves that this is Turkey, the continent of Turkey. This is the Aegean Sea on the left-hand side of the continent. Patmos, where John is located as he's writing this book, is his prison area. And we've looked at the letter to Ephesus, the letter to Smyrna, the letter to Pergamon, called the church Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, and today we're more inland, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Let's hear the word of the Lord to the church at Philadelphia. Revelation 3.7, and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things says he who is holy, he who is true, he who has the key of David, he who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens. I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it, for you have a little strength, have kept my word, and have not denied my name. Indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie. Indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you, because you have kept my command to persevere. I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall go out no more, and I will write on him the name of my God, in the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The city of Philadelphia was founded in the third century B.C. by one of the Pergamonian kings and named after Attalus II, who lived 159 to 138 B.C., and who, in spite of Roman pressure, maintained loyalty or love, philos, for his brother Eumenes II. Thus the name Philadelphia, brotherly love, or better, one who loves his brother. And so frequently we talk about a city named Philadelphia as a city of brotherly love, one who loves his brother. That's how the name for that city came about, according to historians. The city was located on one of the greatest highways in the then known world, built by the Roman army, The Roman army specialized not only in conquering people, but building roads, building bridges, building ease of access so that once they conquer the people, if there's any uprising or problems, the army, a cohort of army, can immediately get there much easier because of the good Roman roads that have been built. So it was the empire of Rome essentially in its 700 years of dominance connected the various parts of the globe in the Middle East and in Europe together. This city of Philadelphia, a Roman city, had many gods and so many temples that it was sometimes called Little Athens, Athens, Greece. Typical example of where there were a temple of Zeus and Athena, and you name the gods and goddesses, and there were hundreds of gods and goddesses. And when I say a temple, I was surprised when I was in Athens, Greece with my family that these temples were not big buildings. These temples were what we'd call a little place, maybe some of them 20 by 20. 20 by 20 is pretty small. We were in the Temple of Zeus, Athens, and the whole temple was no bigger than this room. Inside of it was no bigger than this room. So when you're thinking about a temple, don't think of big modern edifices. They did have some of those, but typically the temples to the gods and goddesses, unless it was a major deity and had a lot of people with money supporting that deity, it was a very small temple. That's why there were so many temples. Now the city of Philadelphia was located in a volcanic region and experienced many earthquakes. And the fertile volcanic soil was good for growing its main crop. And they, I suppose by trial and error or agricultural experts, determined that the best thing we could grow in the area around Philadelphia would be grapes. It was a center also, therefore, for the worship of the Greek god Dionysius, who is the god of wine. This city was founded to spread the Greek culture and Greek language throughout the Roman Empire. It's interesting, the Romans conducted their business in Latin, but the Romans very much borrowed and appreciated and valued highly the Greek philosophy, Thank you. and the Greek culture, because it was out of the Greek culture that you get all of the democratic ideas and so many other concepts for how a city should be run and how to work with people. And so the Romans, why try to invent the wheel? We're the conquerors. We're going to be the rulers. But anything good that our previous cultures have, we'll just absorb it into our culture. That's what I call smart. Don't you think that's smart? And so here are some of the ruins at Church of Philadelphia. I tried to make heads or tails, having never been to Philadelphia personally, of these pictures. And it looks to me like these probably would be something of the city walls, but I'm not sure. I mean, look at the thickness of them, and look at their positioning. If you were in Philadelphia this morning, they would be showing you this site for sure, among with other sites. And here's an aerial view of what I was just showing you. You see the city built around it, the modern city, and this is a protected archaeological site to draw tourists, and so they won't lose the cultural significance. And there you have their major crop, grapes. What is the meaning of what Jesus wrote to Philadelphia? Each of these letters Jesus opens with a self-description, and we've been noticing that his self-description changes depending on the church he's writing to. And to Philadelphia, he says to them, I want you to remember I am holy. What does holy mean? When we talk about God being holy, it's talking about an essential characteristic of all of his attributes. He's holy in everything he does. When holy is applied to us, holy means separated unto God, that we have been separated from a life of sin and from following the culture and traditions of this world. And when we get saved, we are separated, we are devoted to Jesus and following him and practicing the culture of the kingdom, of Jesus' kingdom. So that's what it means for us to be holy. As God shows us things that are wrong according to the Word of God, then we separate, we stop doing what Scripture tells us we're not to do. Holiness for you and I is not to be understood in terms of perfection. It's to be understood in terms of relationship to God. that when we get saved, we become His. 1 Corinthians 6.19 says Christians are bought with a price, and we know that's the precious blood of Jesus. We're not our own anymore. And so, we are holy by relationship, and then He asks us to demonstrate holiness in our life by obedience to the word of God. Don't be afraid of the word holy and don't allow other people that are not giving biblical definitions to influence your thinking on what holy means. You and I are to live holy lives, obedient lives every day. So Jesus is the source of holiness and he is holy. He is also true. Now, the Greek word translated true has the idea of also faithful and trustworthy. Of course, anybody who speaks the truth is a person of integrity, then you can count on what they say. And Jesus says, I am such a person that you can take to the bank, so to speak. There's an idiom, take it to the bank, you can count on it. that what I tell you is going to happen, is absolutely true, there's no error. Then he says he has the key of David. Now, that's a concept from the Old Testament, where David is a king, a earthly king, and he was going to be one of the people through whom Messiah would come. It goes from Abraham, who's the beginning of the Jewish race, Abraham through Isaac, through Jacob and his 12 sons. And in those 12 tribes, there is a tribe of Judah, and so it narrows down from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 12 sons, the tribe of Judah, who in the tribe of Judah, there comes a person born who is called David, and God makes him king. So, you've heard of King David. Well, the Messiah is going to be a descendant of King David, and many promises were made to the literal king, King David, predictive promises of the future kingdom that the ultimate king, Jesus, would fulfill. And so to have the key, to have the key of David means that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the descendant of David. He is the one who has fulfilled what scripture said the Jewish Messiah would do. He died, he was buried, he rose again, he has Ascended to heaven, he's been given all might and power in heaven and earth by God, and he is the one who's running the show. And if you want to get in the kingdom and be part of his kingdom, you have to meet his demands. Because he opens the door to let you in, and he can close the door. And nobody is going to be a member of his kingdom that doesn't meet the kingdom requirements. And how do you become a member of his kingdom? Through the new birth. being saved, and then living in obedience to what he tells us how we're to live, and following the instructions in these letters, for example. Notice, he's the one who opens, and if he opens the door, no one can shut it until he's ready for it to be shut. And he shuts, and no one opens, which means Jesus is sovereign. If he wants you to walk through what we call an opportunity, and we talk about open doors and closed doors, meaning that the open door, there's opportunity and you can do it. When the door is closed, maybe political situations have changed and nobody can do it anymore. Well, Jesus is the one who's ultimately in charge of the doors that he wants you and me to walk through. And when he closes the door, then let's not be banging on it. He's all wise. Let's just understand he's the one who opens and he's the one who closes. I could give you illustration after illustration of how God opened doors that humanly were impossible for people to accomplish what they accomplished, but Jesus wanted them to do that, so he worked things out. People say, well, that's miraculous. Well, yes, it is miraculous, but he specializes in miracles. So you and I are wise when we follow him. and we live for him. He's the one who opens and shuts. The church is reminded of Jesus' attributes, attributes of holy and true. His resources, he's in charge, and his prerogatives, he opens and he shuts. And as I explained, the key of David is the messianic king who controls who enters his kingdom. Now, why was that important? Well, in context, they had been barred from the Jewish synagogue. So the Jewish people said, you're not welcome here anymore. That's like shutting a door in their face. You can't come in anymore to our synagogue. Well, do you think they felt excluded? Of course. Did they feel disenfranchised? Yes. Did they feel victimized? Yes! And Jesus tells them, hey, don't worry about what people do or don't do. I'm in charge. And if I wanted you to go to that Jewish synagogue, they couldn't keep you out. Don't let it upset you, the fact that humans shut doors. You walk through the doors I open, and you keep your eye on me, and live for me, and don't worry about what other people do or don't do. I know your works. See, I've said before you an open door. No one can shut it. Well, what was that open door? Quite frankly, nobody knows for sure. Those who wish to see it as a missionary endeavor, an outreach to other people, try to see, interpret that that open door is an outreach to the lost. Could be. The phrase open door doesn't necessarily focus on soul winning outreach. We don't know. So the best thing to do, I think, is to view it that as God leads us personally, he doesn't have a job description that everybody is to be the same. As we follow Jesus, he works individually in our circumstances, in our life, And we need to be faithful to follow Him, and when He gives opportunities, He'll make it clear if that's what He wants us to do, then let's do it. And I was talking to a dear friend Friday out in Oklahoma, and he told me what he's doing. and what position he's in and how he's earning his living. And he says, and I quite frankly don't know how long this opportunity is going to last. He told me the variable circumstances. And he says, you know, I'm kind of in limbo as far as knowing the future. I have no real job security. I don't know. He said, I'd like to know. I wish Jesus would tell me. I chuckled. I said, don't we all? We all like to have six-month, year, two-year, five-year, ten-year plan that God says, this is the way it's gonna be. But God doesn't normally, he can, but he doesn't normally work that way with us, does he? He says, trust me, just one step at a time. Live today in the light of what you know. I'll take care of tomorrow. And so I said, well, brother, I'll pray for you that God will bless you, strengthen you. And he knows that God is going to take care of him. He just would like to know. And he doesn't know. And a lot of times, that's just the way it is. You know what that helps us to do? It helps us to rely on Jesus more every day and just keep our focus on him. And Lord, I don't know about tomorrow, but I do know what you want me to do today. I'll be what you want me to be, and I'll trust you to work it out for tomorrow, amen? He says you have a little strength. I don't take that as criticism. Some commentary said a little strength. That's a negative comment. You're just a wee. I don't see it that way. Not every church has the same opportunities and the same complexion and the same people and the same circumstances. He says you have some strength. I think that's great. So I'm going to take it positive. And you've kept my word. Look before and after it. So I don't think we need to see positive, negative, positive. I think it's all positive here. You have some strength. You've kept my word. That's huge. If Christians who profess to be Christians would live according to the word of God, our culture would be totally different. But so many people who claim to be Christians no more practice the principles of Scripture than the man on the moon. But he says, you have practiced, you've kept my word, you've not denied my name. That's positive, that's tremendous. Indeed, Jesus promised, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but they lie. My understanding of that phrase is based upon how God himself tells us in other books of scripture, that within the Jewish genetic pool of Jews, that God established the Jewish people, that when he gave promises, his promises were to the Jewish people that believed and followed God, not to the unbelieving Jewish people. So there was a Jewish people and within that Jewish people there were the true followers of Jesus. Are you with me so far? So there is a Jewish community in Philadelphia, genetic Jews, they have a place to worship whether in their home, or they build a little building called a synagogue, and Jesus says, yes genetically they're Jews, but they're not the recipients of the promises, because it's only spiritual Jews who are going to receive the promises. And did you know that Paul says that when Gentiles get saved, they become spiritual Jews, not genetically, but they are walking in the footsteps of their father, Abraham, footsteps of faith. And so, the Church of Jesus Christ is composed of true believers, whether they be genetic Jews or whether they be non-Jews, Gentiles. What unites them and makes them the church is their faith in Jesus Christ. But within a Jewish community, where Gentiles could go, but they'd only be spectators, these people are genetic Jews, but they're not followers. They have refused and rejected their Messiah, and so they're not spiritual Jews. And so Jesus is saying, being a Jew doesn't give you entry into the kingdom. But indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you. I checked about 20 commentaries on that phrase. About all of the commentaries agree that it was not somehow conquer the Jews and have them bow before saved Gentiles. That makes no sense, that never happened in the history of Philadelphia. And so consequently, they say, well, that's a difficult phrase. And here's the consensus that this most likely means that God is going to keep working in these Jewish people's lives, and some of them will get saved. And those that get saved will bow at Jesus' feet spiritually. And of course, saved Gentiles bow at Jesus' feet also. And so most interpreters see that this is talking about that they're going to know that you have a special relationship because you're my children. And they're going to come to understand that and join with you in that special relationship. That was a better possibility to me as I looked at the options. We all know Philippians chapter 2 says that, one of these days, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Some commentary suggested it's talking about that event in the future. I'm not positive what it talks about, except that that's what it says. God's promises are for spiritual Jews, as I've explained. And he says, because you kept my command to persevere. What does persevere mean? It means that I have determined to follow Jesus now. An hour from now, I'm gonna keep the same attitude, and five hours from now, if I'm still alive, I'm gonna follow Jesus, and tomorrow, I'm gonna follow Jesus, and every day, I'm gonna follow Jesus. I'm gonna live for him. I'm gonna keep my commitment to Jesus, and I'm gonna be faithful unto death. That's what it means to persevere, because you've kept my command to live for me no matter what you experience. I also will keep you from Now notice, the hour of trial which shall, and this is unique, come upon the whole world, not upon you. In an earlier letter to another church, God said to them, you're gonna have 10 days of severe persecution. Talking about that community and the Christians in that community. Here, it's not local. This is gonna be problems that are gonna come upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon earth. I agree with the commentaries that say probably this is referring to the future tribulation period. That's a seven year period of God's judgment at the end of earth's history, just before Jesus sets up his millennial kingdom on earth. So this come upon the whole earth broadens it out from just Philadelphia to the whole earth. Most likely, this is going to be the events in chapter six through 19 that we're gonna read about in Revelation, the tribulation period. It's a seven-year period. that we'll learn about starting in chapter six. Jesus warning, behold, I'm coming quickly. Now, it's been almost 2,000 years since Jesus said that, so I want to keep stressing to you, Jesus' view of quickly is different from our view of time-space. Evidently, his second coming, his return to establish his millennial kingdom has been next on God's timetable since 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. And so, I come quickly. This is not a mistake, it's just a different timetable than you and I are on. From God's point of view, it's next. And so he says, hold fast what you have. Don't give up, don't get discouraged, don't abandon your faith. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown away. And you know, and I know, that every day the enemy of our soul, whether we recognize the cause of negative thoughts in our head, these aren't coming from God. They may be coming from your own inter reflections, but the enemy is also broadcasting negative, discouraging thoughts into our brain and wants to divert our focus from that which is praiseful, lovely, of good report, to that which is discouraging, bad news, and a bummer. And you and I constantly having to refocus and keep our minds, as Jesus tells us to, on the positive as we cope with life. So don't get discouraged and don't think, what's the use? Jesus is coming back again. There is a judgment day coming. And if you're faithful, as I understand scriptures, that we're not going to be the recipients of the wrath of God, as we'll see in chapter six. So what do we see about this letter to Philadelphia? There seems to be no criticism or negative charges against this church. And then he concludes, he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar. Now why the imagery of pillar in the temple of my God? And suggestions, why would a pillar be meaningful to the Philadelphians? Well, Romans erected a lot of pillars. We saw those ruins where pillars are standing up. And in a volcanic region, when the ground starts shaking, pillars come tumbling down. And so, they had an earthquake in AD 19 that destroyed the city. They rebuilt it and in AD 60, this is written in AD 90, in AD 60, they have another severe earthquake and Philadelphia is largely destroyed. Historians discovered that some of the engineering techniques that the Roman builders employed was they would put the foundation of the pillars on sand, not cement, on sand, and then they would, believe it or not, put sheep fleeces so that when that earthquake and the ground starts moving, there is flexibility, and if the pillar, the ground can shift under that pillar without it being permanently attached, it's gonna stand and withstand these quakes and tremors that frequently happen. And so the idea is, I'll make you a pillar. I'll give you a sure, firm foundation and you'll be able to stand no matter what happens in life. And I thought, well, I don't know that much except what I read about the history and the geography and the volcanic activity of the Church of Philadelphia, but if that's the way it was, I could see how that would be meaningful to them. Jesus promises to his followers a sure foundation. You're going to be able to stand in the temple of my God and not go out anymore, not have to run out for protection. And I will write on him the name of my God. I'll write on him my new name. And I can't tell you for sure it's not literal. I think the better definition of what's going on is speaks of imprinting his character on us and identifying us as belonging to him. And my new name probably is a greater understanding and a deeper relationship with Jesus than we even have now. A change in our position and a deepening of our understanding of who God is. Now we come to the Church of Laodicea, our last church, just a short letter to them. And to the angel of the Church of Laodiceans write, these things says the Amen, faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you're lukewarm, Neither cold nor hot, I'll spew you, vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich and become wealthy and have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are really wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked. Obviously different viewpoints, right? Their viewpoint of themselves, spiritually, and materially, We're in great shape. We are good Christians. Absolutely everything's cool. God looks at them and says, spiritually, you're wretched, you're miserable, you're poor, you're blind, you're naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire. He's not talking about literal gold. He talks about the genuine relationship David said, your word is more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold. The privilege of relationship and walking with Jesus is more valuable than gold and rubies, the book of Proverbs says. So when he says, I count you to buy for me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, rich spiritually. They were already rich materially. And white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness, their spiritual nakedness, may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Well, he loves them. it just sounds like very harsh and severe judgment, but this is coming out of a heart of love toward them. He says, I'm not going to try to smooth over what's wrong in your life, I'm going to tell you the truth. He says, I'm rebuking you, I'm chasing you, therefore, It's not too late to change, change. Believe what I'm telling you and view yourself as I view you and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in to him and dine with him, he with me. To him that overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Here's a little information first about Latticea. It's believed that it was the richest of the seven cities. That's what historians tell us. The earthquake in 60 AD, which destroyed Philadelphia, also destroyed this city, and they were able to rebuild it without Rome's help. We have listings of, just like our government, when parts of the country have floods or hurricane damage and it's severe, the government will pitch in funds to help rebuild. Rome did the same thing. And the cities listed, Philadelphia, many of the other cities listed, no mention of Latticea because Latticea didn't need the financial help. They could rebuild it on their own. Latticea was a center of banking and finance. Unusual flocks of black sheep were raised there. The sheep had beautiful black wool of a very soft texture and a glossy sheen to this wool like satin. It was in high demand. They made a lot of money selling it. Famous medical school was there which specialized in eye disease. They discovered a medicine, an eye salve, that was helpful to cure eye diseases. I believe this church was begun through the ministry of Epphras, while Paul was ministering in Ephesus, Epaphras. And typically, here are some pillars and some ruins that you would see at Laodicea. Now, the explanation of the letter to Laodicea. He says, I am, amen means truth. You can count on it. The faithful and true witness believe everything I'm telling you. Whether you see this about yourself or not, believe me, I am the beginning of the creation of God. Now that is an important phrase not to misunderstand. He is the beginning, the prototekos, in the sense of beginner or originator. He is the originator of the creation of God. How do we know that? John 1.3, John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. And then in John 1.3, that the Word, who is Jesus Christ, everything was created by the Word and through the Word. Jesus is the creator. Colossians 1.16 teaches that Jesus created everything. He has not created himself. So the statement, the beginning of the creation of God, is in the sense of the beginner, the one who originated all of creation, not that Jesus is himself created. We are not to worship anything created. If Jesus was the first of the creation, then we would not be permitted to worship Jesus. We are only to worship God. And so the Bible says that. When the devil said, If you kneel down and worship me, I'll give you the kingdoms of the earth. Jesus said, Get behind me, Satan. It's written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall you serve. You and I worship Jesus. We worship the Father, we worship Jesus the Son, we worship the Holy Spirit. One God, and each one of those persons make up the one God. And so Jesus is not a creature created, he is the creator. Jesus warning, I know your work. Pause right there, they would have kept smiling. Then he says, you're neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So you're not hot, you're not cold, you're lukewarm. And because of that, I'm gonna spew you out of my mouth. And furthermore, you think spiritually you're in great shape. You say, I'm rich, I've become wealthy, I have need of nothing. And I'm all that I should be. I'm good to go. Yes, I'm a child of God. Do people have that opinion of themselves when it's incorrect? Just ask everybody. So many people today believe they're Christians. On Sunday, they go to church and they talk religious language. On Monday through Saturday, they act like the world and talk like the world and live like the world. Jesus says, in reality, spiritually, you think you're okay. But you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Well, what are you supposed to do about that? Well, it's not hopeless. Buy from me gold refined in the fire, white garments that you may be clothed. And then, notice, anoint your eyes with eye salve. That would be meaningful to Latticeans because that was the place where a special medicine for eye salve problem. But this is spiritual eye salve. Repent. So a profession of being a Christian? Yeah. Did they really think they were Christians? Yes. Were they mistaken in the view of themselves? Yes. And whose view is the most important? Your view of yourself or Jesus' view of you? Well, obviously Jesus' view. What makes you? You're not hot? On fire for God? You're not cold? What makes you lukewarm not giving Jesus first place in your life? They must have gotten saved, then slowly neglected their relationship and drifted with the pressures of life. They're not consistently following Jesus daily. They believe they're okay, believe the right things, but they're not walking the walk. They're not fully committed. what we might say casual about the relationship. Now, in their own minds, they'd not abandon Jesus. The Holy Spirit who speaks to us is faithful to awaken us to our spiritual condition and uses scripture like this and urges us to repent. So, to be lukewarm means Jesus has been relegated to a position outside of their daily schedule. Evidently, they've divided life into secular and the sacred. And for a Christian, we're always in everything we do to honor Jesus and to do it according to the Word of God. We don't, well, this is a secular area of my life, and I have to operate this way, and this is the religious area, and I operate differently. No, no. That's evidently what's happening to them. What Christians need to understand is when you get saved, when we get saved, all of our life belongs to Jesus and he expects in everything we do, we reflect his word. That means we're truthful, we're honest, we're reliable. Do the best we know how. If we make a mistake, if we do something wrong, we're willing to acknowledge it and do what we can to change, fix it. Jesus wants to be at the center of our life, so I ask and as we close, are you hot or cold or lukewarm spiritually? Is Jesus at the center of your life every day? His promise, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice, opens the door, I'll come in and dine with him and he with me. To him who overcomes, I'll grant to sit with me on my throne as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. Wonderful privileges. Who wouldn't want to participate in those? But we have to have an ear to hear what he says to the churches. And notice In closing, I stand at the door and knock. He doesn't want the Latticeans to remain lukewarm. That's why he addressed the issue, and I'm sure it hurt their feelings. That's to put it mildly. I'm sure they were shocked. They believed they were just fine Christians. Jesus' evaluation, not so. Because you're religious, oh yes, you're very religious, but you're not putting me in the center of your life and trying to live your life every day in a way that would honor me in obedience to my word. So each of us as we close, we've seen a lot of positives and negatives that can be true of any church and any person. May God grant that we'll be on fire for God, that we'll be 100% living for Him every day. Amen? Because we do want to participate in the rewards, in the privileges, don't we? I do. I know you do. Let's close in prayer, ask God to search our hearts, and if there's anything we need to change, that He shows us, then let's purpose that we'll make the changes by His grace. Our Father and our God, thank you for the precious Word of God as we read it and we do our best to understand what it says. We also want the Holy Spirit to examine us. We'd like to, before we get to the judgment seat, before we stand and take our final exam before you, we want to make sure that we're the person that we ought to be. that we haven't fooled ourselves into thinking because we claim to be Christians, that makes us a Christian. For a true Christian, we live every day in obedience to what you show us in your word. We keep our conscience clear. If we do something that's wrong, we immediately apologize and ask, if necessary, if other people are involved, other people's forgiveness, as well as asking you to forgive us. Thank you, Lord, that you want to have a relationship with each of us, that you're not interested in any of us failing to be part of your permanent kingdom. You speak these words because you love us, you're faithful to us, and would you help each of us, Lord, to be good clay on the potter's wheel as you're shaping our lives daily? Help us not to resist, help us not to be willful and wayward. Lord, may we be submissive to your truth, your word, your spirit, and allow you to help us to change our attitudes, our words, our behavior, until we more perfectly reflect the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for your great faithfulness to each of us. Purpose, Lord, by your grace to walk in truth, and to be truly followers and examples of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray this together in Jesus' name, with thanksgiving. And everyone said, amen.