To Gain Understanding
Daniel 9:20-27
July 17, 2016

One of the reasons we started the book of Daniel now
Is because it is a book that fits so well
With our Sunday morning study of Revelation.

This morning in Revelation we began to talk about God’s redemption plan for Israel and how that plan includes the time of the tribulation.

God told John that the tribulation was something that “must take place”.

The book of Daniel helps us understand that even better.
In fact understanding is the entire purpose of the final 8 verses of Daniel 9

At the end of verse 23 Gabriel tells Daniel, “so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”

It is the equivalent to what we have heard Jesus say over and over
To the churches: “He has an ear, let him hear…”

The purpose of this portion of Scripture is understanding.
It is actually the purpose of the entire chapter, the first 19 verses merely show us why Daniel was given the privilege of receiving this revelation.

And the reason namely is because Daniel was contrite of heart.

Psalms 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

If you were here with us two weeks ago when we studied the first 19 verses of Daniel 9, it was DANIEL’S CONTRITION that was on full display.

• Daniel had no desire to argue with God or question God.
• Daniel had become fully aware of his sin and the sin of Israel.
• Daniel was in full agreement that the consequences for that sin were both just and deserved.
• Daniel even realized that the sins that caused their predicament had yet to be repented of, and therefore God was perfectly right and just in allowing their suffering to endure.

• And finally Daniel understood what so many fail to grasp and that is that by reason of her sin Israel had blasphemed God, and the entire purpose of this Babylonian exile was to transform Israel into a nation that would rightly glorify God.

Daniel saw and confessed all of that in the opening verses of this chapter.

And if you’ll notice, it is because of his contrite heart
That God determines to give Daniel even greater understanding.
IS THAT A TRUTH YOU ARE WILLING TO SEE?
God grants more of His truth and more of Himself
To those who are truly contrite of heart.

That is when God sent word to Daniel.
(20-21) “Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.”

We saw Daniel’s contrition.
God did too.
• Daniel was praying, Daniel was seeking.
• Daniel even reached the point of “extreme weariness” over his sin.

And God responded to that.

It’s no different than the prophet Isaiah.
Remember Isaiah 6 when Isaiah saw the LORD and then said, “Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.”

Remember God then used a live coal from the altar
To purify Isaiah’s lips and to take away his iniquity.

Then what does it say?
Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

“Then I heard…”

It was after Isaiah’s contrition that God was willing
To reveal to Isaiah His plan for the nation.

I’m not saying God will map out for you what is coming for America.
What I am saying is that God responds to the humble in heart.

And notice what Gabriel has to say to Daniel.
(23) “At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”

That proves that is was the state of Daniel’s heart
And not simply the words of Daniel’s mouth
That prompted God to respond.

Daniel was answered “at the beginning” of his prayer, not the end.
God saw his heart and responded.

And Gabriel was sent to give Daniel (22) “insight with understanding”.

God is revealing the plan.
He wants Daniel to “give heed to the message and gain understanding.”

It is not God’s desire to hide all His plans from His people.
If that were so, we would have nothing.
But God has broken into our world and revealed His truth to us.

In short, God wants us to have understanding.
He wants us to be a people of discernment.

And that is the purpose behind Daniel 9.
God wants Daniel (and us) to understand what is about to happen.

And as I said, these verses fall right in line with
What we talked about this morning as we began Revelation 4.

God told John that these things “must take place”, by reading the 9th chapter of Daniel you will understand more fully why that is so.

So let’s look at the message that Gabriel brings to Daniel.

For the purpose of understanding we can break it down into 3 points.
#1 THERE IS A DETERMINED TIME PERIOD
Daniel 9:24

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city,”

Don’t get too caught up on the word “weeks” there.
Gabriel isn’t speaking of a week as you think of one.

The word simply means “sevens”
It is used more like you would use the word “dozen”
It can be a dozen of anything.

Gabriel tells Daniel that “Seventy sevens have been decreed…”
We’ll come to understand that Gabriel was referring to years.
If you are slow in math, that’s 490 years.

I want you to understand why that is interesting here.
If you look back at the beginning of Daniel 9 you will remember that Daniel found a very interesting piece of information by reading the prophet Jeremiah.

Daniel 9:1-2 “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans — in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.”

Daniel had been reading Jeremiah 29 and he learned that God
Had decreed that it would take 70 years to actually cause Israel
To once again seek God with all her heart.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

You can imagine Daniel’s excitement
Since at this time they had already been in Babylon for 67 years.

Daniel saw that the time was almost up
And that repentance was absolutely necessary,
So Daniel began to repent.

And God is answering Daniel here,
But he has what COULD BE PERCEIVED AS DIFFICULT NEWS.

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people”

It is true that it would take 70 years for the children of Israel
To learn their lesson in Babylon and once again begin to seek God.

It would take 70 years to rid Israel of her idolatry
And once again give her a heart for God.

However…
It would take 490 years for Israel to fully become
All that God intended for her to be.

The Babylonian exile was not the end, it was barely the beginning.

It is true that Israel was exiled to Babylon because of her idolatry.
They worshipped every false god known to man.

And it is true that the exile cured that.
Israel came out monotheistic
And never again ventured into that type of idolatry.

But God desires more for Israel than that she just be monotheistic.

You must understand the difference between
True worship and false worship.
True worship is when you worship the right God in the right way.

But there are varied forms of false worship.
• One is to worship the wrong god (which is what Israel did before the exile)
• The other form of false worship is to worship the true God in the wrong way.
And this is what Israel did after the exile.

The 70 year exile cured the first type of false worship,
It would take 490 years to cure the second.

God is not just interested in monotheism.
God is interested in pure worshipers.

Remember what Jesus told the woman at the well?
John 4:23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”

That is what God is looking for from Israel,
And that is what He has NEVER received.

It will take “seventy weeks” to bring that about.

Listen to what Gabriel says:
(24) “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.”

There were six things Gabriel listed there that God is still waiting for from Israel.
1) “to finish the transgression”

We that from the moment Moses descended off of Sinai with those tablets
And the people entered into covenant with God
They have done nothing but transgress that covenant.

Every promise they ever made to God they broke.
Their history has been one of repeated lying and unfaithfulness.

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

Hosea said:
Hosea 6:4 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.”

And while the 70 year exile stopped their idolatry,
It did not change their lack of loyalty.
It would take 490 years to stop that.

2) “to make an end of sin”
The difference between transgression and sin is that
Transgression refers to the breaking of an agreement, or willful sin.

“sin” is simply just a falling short of God’s standard of holiness
And Israel has done this from the beginning as well.

The great deception of Israel’s past is that they actually thought
That their religious works made them acceptable to God.

They actually assumed all their religious ordinances
Somehow nullified their sinfulness.
And that has never been the case.

Prophet after prophet in the Old Testament reminded Israel that her religious sacrifices were a poor substitute for her sinful ways.

When John the Baptist came on the scene
He was still preaching the same message.
“Repent! And do not suppose you can say we have Abraham as our father…”

Israel was sinful and no religious ordinance had taken that away.

The 70 year captivity stopped Israel’s idolatry, but it didn’t stop their sin.
It would take 490 years to do that.

3) “to make atonement for iniquity”

Once again Israel’s stubbornness will work against her.

You and I know that God would send His Son as atonement for sin
To offer Israel forgiveness,
But she would reject Him and nail Him to a cross.

This is explicitly why it will take 490 years and not just 483.
That last 7 is required because it will take all 490
To finally get Israel to look on the One they pierced.

Their sin will never be atoned until they come to Jesus.

And while the Babylonian captivity removed idolatry,
It did not atone for their iniquity.

It would take 490 years to do that.

4) “to bring in everlasting righteousness”

This runs hand in hand with the previous, for Christ does both.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

It is the truth known as IMPUTATION
• Our sin was imputed to Christ.
• His righteousness was imputed to us.

But Israel rejected Christ so neither occurred for them yet.
And as a result they are still sinful and still not righteous.

They may not bow down to Molech any longer,
But that doesn’t mean they are righteous in the sight of God.
It will take 490 years to accomplish that.

5) “to seal up vision and prophecy”

That simply means to FINISH all the prophecies.
There are still numerous promises and prophecies in the Old Testament
That have yet to be fulfilled.

Isaiah 65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. “They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”

It is a promise yet to be fulfilled.

This morning in Acts 3 we listened as Peter told the children of Israel that Christ had already fulfilled every passage regarding the suffering of the Messiah.

The only thing missing was for Israel to “Repent and return so that her sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that God may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for them.”

The reality is that in leaving Babylon Jeremiah 29:10-14 was fulfilled,
But there are a host of other promises yet to be fulfilled.

It will take 490 years to get all that done.

 

6) “and to anoint the most holy place”

It is not fully understood what is meant by “anoint the most holy place”
But it is clear whatever it was did not occur at Calvary.

It seems most likely that the idea here is that of sanctifying or setting apart the holy place as the most important place of all the earth.

When Ezekiel saw the end he said:
Ezekiel 43:6-9 “Then I heard one speaking to me from the house, while a man was standing beside me. He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their harlotry and by the corpses of their kings when they die, by setting their threshold by My threshold and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger. “Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me; and I will dwell among them forever.”

It carries the idea of God’s presence
Being the most important thing in Israel.

And while 70 years in Babylon did get them to remove foreign gods,
It did not get them to value the true God as they should have.
It will take 490 years for that.

So you see the message for Daniel.

God has a bigger plan for Israel than just to cause them to lay down their idols and seek Him.
• God wants them to be completely finished with transgression and sin.
• God wants to atone for that sin and make them perfectly righteous.
• God wants to be able to fulfill every promise He ever made to them.
• And God wants to be the most important thing in their lives.

Incidentally that is God’s goal for every one of us.
And all of those things are fulfilled in Jesus.

He not only atones for our sin and makes us righteous,
But He is also the fulfillment of all God’s promises to us.

Remember what Paul said about Jesus being our “Amen to the promises of God”.

It is Jesus also who causes us to be born again with a new nature
That hates sin and loves righteousness
And loves God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.

That is why trusting Jesus is the plan of God for each of us.

Israel is not there.
God tells Daniel it will take 490 years to get them there.
There is a Determined Time Period
#2 THERE ARE DETERMINED EVENTS
Daniel 9:25-26

Now I don’t mind telling you that this may be
The most profound prophecy recorded anywhere in the Bible.
God reveals to Daniel how this 490 years is going to play out.

First God reveals when the clock starts.
(25) “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”

Now don’t confuse this with Cyrus’ decree to rebuild the temple,
That is not what Gabriel said.

This is the “decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem”

And it happened in Nehemiah 2
Nehemiah 2:1-8 “And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, ” Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.”

In the month of Nisan Nehemiah received the decree to rebuild Jerusalem.

First Gabriel said there would be “seven weeks”
• (49 years) which is the time it would take for Jerusalem to be rebuilt.

And then Gabriel said there would be “sixty-two weeks”
• (434 years) until the next major event would happen.

What event would that be?
(26) “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing,”

Let me make this as clear as I know how.
First you need to know that the Jewish calendar differs from the Gregorian calendar, which is the one you and I use.

If you try to take a Jewish prophecy and align it by a Gentile calendar
You run into trouble, so let me help you out.
(And I don’t expect you to fully grab all of this, but you will get the point)

Take 483 years according to the Jewish calendar.
(The Jewish calendar has 360 days per year in it)

So the total number of days we are talking about is 173,880 days.

Now the decree by Artaxerxes was in 444 BC
And obviously Jesus died in 33AD
By our calendar that is 476 years
(So it appears we are 7 years off)

However, if you go by days.
476 x 365 is 173,740

And you say preacher we’re still off by 140 days.
• That is unless you account for the 116 leap years that would have
occurred during that time
• And the 24 days which occurred from March 5 to March 30 and you
realize this:

Artaxerxes gave the decree on March 5, 444BC
Do you want to know what happened on March 30, 33AD?

Jesus entered Jerusalem seated on the foal of a donkey.

God showed Daniel the exact time of the rejection of the Messiah.
It is absolutely staggering.

God has now told Daniel that it was going to take 490 years to finish everything He intended to do with Israel.

• The first 49 years was to rebuild the city.
• The next 434 years was to wait for ultimately kill the Messiah

Now you should know that killing the Messiah
Would have devastating repercussions for the nation of Israel.

Here is what Gabriel told Daniel would happen as a result of that.

(26) “and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”

Now pay attention here because this is important.

Gabriel introduces “the prince who is to come”.
We haven’t seen him yet, he’ll show up in verse 27. You and I know him as Antichrist.

But we find that BEFORE HE ARRIVES on the scene his “people”
Will inflict much pain on the nation of Israel.

• His people will “destroy the city and the sanctuary” which did
happen in AD 70.
• “there will be war” which has happened nonstop for Israel.
• “desolations are determined” which has also been constant.

This is where we throw in horrific events like the holocaust under HITLER
Or the persecution under STALIN or even the TERRORISM of today.

All of these things are continually occurring in Israel
As a result of her killing her Messiah.

What is not spelled out here,
But is made clear to us in places like Romans 11
Is that when Israel killed the Messiah
The DIVINE CLOCK regarding their redemption STOPPED.

• At 483 years the pendulum quit swinging and Israel since that day has been trampled underfoot by Gentiles.

If you want me to do a little CONNECTING OF THE DOTS for you.
This is the period Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:4-8 “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

That is where Israel has been stuck for nearly 2000 years.

Luke 21:20-24 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. “Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

This has been the repercussions
Israel has continually faced for killing her Messiah.

However, you must have noticed that
We are only 483 years into this promised timeframe.

That is because there is A DAY COMING in the future.
The day we learned about this morning in Revelation 4
That “must take place after these things.”

It is that final 7 years that is yet to be fulfilled
When God will once again start the pendulum swinging
And fulfill all those things listed in verse 24.

That day is coming.

So you’ve seen There is a Determined Time Period
There are Determined Events
#3 THERE IS A DETERMINED END
Daniel 9:27

This is that “prince” spoken of earlier. You know him as Antichrist.

In that final 7 year period he will make an agreement with Israel to be their deliverer, but 3 ½ years into it he will break that agreement.

(just as was foreshadowed by Antiochas Epiphenes)

And he will terrorize Israel “even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

That final 7 is on its way.
• A time of great tribulation.
• A time of great desolation.

But it will be this final 7 years that will finally cause
That list of 6 things back in verse 24 to happen.

Because it will be during this period that Israel will finally
Look on Him whom they have pierced and will mourn for Him

And as a result of that:
• Their sin will be removed
• Their righteousness will be granted
• And they will finally love God the way He intended
• And God will bring the fulfillment of all the promises He made to them.

This is what it will take to finally mold Israel into the nation God intended.

I’m sorry Daniel, but 70 years in Babylon isn’t going to cut it.
It’s going to take 490 years (that is if you don’t count the 2000 plus where God had broken them off and focused on the church)

This helps us understand passages like:
Isaiah 65:1-2 “I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name. “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,”

It helps us understand the weeping of Jesus over Jerusalem.
Matthew 23:37-39 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'”

And it helps us to understand why the tribulation
We are studying in Revelation MUST take place.

It will happen because God is not willing to forsake the nation of Israel,
And that is what is required to bring about their salvation.

So, I encourage you to “gain understanding”
From the vision just as Daniel did.

• Understand God’s unfailing redemptive love for Israel and the
lengths to which He will go to save them.
• Understand God’s sovereign prerogative and the immense wisdom
that is His in orchestrating such events.
• Understand the grace that is yours to have salvation in the midst of
their rebellion.
• Understand the high cost of stubbornness before God and the high
cost of rejecting Jesus.

“so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”

The Sovereign God of Heaven – part 1
Revelation 4:1-11 (1-2a)
July 17, 2016

Well this morning we begin a most anticipated journey.
We are granted the wonderful privilege of seeing
HOW GOD WILL WORK OUT THE END OF ALL THINGS.

(1) “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

That verse leaves absolutely no doubt as to the purpose of the chapter
And the direction we are headed.

In chapter 1 Jesus told John this:
Revelation 1:19 “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.”

• “the things which you have seen” refers to the vision of chapter 1
• “the things which are” refers to the church age seen in chapters 2 & 3
• “the things which will take place after these things.” Is the rest of the book.

That is where we now are.

Here in chapter 4 God issues an invitation to the apostle John to “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
• John is about to see future things.
• John is about to see things that have not yet happened.
• John is about to see what is coming next.

And as we begin to step into this tremendous revelation,
I think it is important to gain an understanding of what is intended here.

It is important to understand
The entire scope of the redemptive plan of God
So that you and I can fully understand what is happening here.

I want you to remember with me here that
This whole thing did not begin with the church.
It began with Israel.

The story begins with men like Abraham and promises to his descendants.

Even in the New Testament we get verses like this:
John 4:22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
This entire plan has always revolved around Israel.
And much of what Scripture deals with
Is actually regarding the redemption of Israel.

That is certainly true as we begin to look towards the end.

And I want to sort of show you that ahead of time
So that you can see exactly what it is we are looking at.

And this is actually made clear here in the first verse.

God tells John, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

The “these things” here refers to what we will call “The Church Age”

The Church Age is what was represented in chapters 2 & 3.
• It was there that Jesus addressed the church.
• It was there that Jesus evaluated the church.

Now we are looking at the time frame after that.
We are looking at “what must take place after these things.”

If I could get a little more specific,
We are talking about the plan of God
After the time of the church has run its course.

Let me show you.
TURN TO: ROMANS 11
If you are familiar with Romans 9, 10, &11 you know that
It is a portion of Scripture that deals with the fall and rise of Israel.

Chapter 9 = The Present State of Israel
• And we read about their great rejected privileges
• We read about how Israel did not respond in faith
• We see that Israel is currently lost

Chapter 10 = The Possible State of Israel
• It is in this chapter that we find that if they would simply confess Jesus as Lord, they could be saved since “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Chapter 11 = The Promised State of Israel
• Namely that God is not finished with them.
• That God made irrevocable promises to them.
• And that God will in fact honor His word regarding Israel.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time here,
I just want you to get the highlights.

(1) “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!”
(2) “God has not rejected His people whom he foreknew.”
(11) “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!”
(23) “And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

You see statement after statement indicating that
God still has a plan for Israel.

• He made promises to Abraham and to his descendants.
• He made promises to Isaac and to his descendants
• He made promises to Jacob and to his descendants.
GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN THOSE PROMISES.

And that leads us to the important passage I want you to see.

(Romans 11:25-29) “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

And here is the truth.
“a partial hardening has happened to Israel
UNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”

• But there is coming a day when God will save them.
• Namely because “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
• God called them and so God will save them, and according to Romans 11, it will happen after “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

TURN TO: MATTHEW 21:33-44
I hope you are familiar with the vineyard reference here. It comes from Isaiah 5 in which God revealed that despite all that He had done for Israel, they failed to produce the fruit of righteousness and justice.

Jesus references that reality here in a parable of His own.

• And we find that the vineyard owner (God) went to receive fruit from His vineyard (Israel).

• But when the slaves went they were mistreated and even killed by the vine-growers. (this would have been the O.T. prophets all the way up to John the Baptist)

• So the vineyard owner decides to send His Son to the vineyard, of course this is Christ.

• And there we find that the vine-growers killed the Son in order to try and steal His inheritance.

And look at the announcement of the Lord
(READ 40-44)

Jesus said, I will take it away from you (Israel)
And give it to a new people (Gentiles)

Jesus is referencing the same reality that Paul spoke of in Romans 11, that Israel would be broken off and the Gentiles (a wild olive shoot) would be grafted in.

What we are talking about then was basically a moment in which
The redemptive working of God toward Israel was paused
And a door was opened for the Gentiles.

This reality is clearly seen throughout the book of Acts,
Probably none more than by Paul repeated saying
“from now on I’m going to the Gentiles”

So the reality is that Christ came, Israel rejected Him, and Israel was broken off for a time while the door swung open to the Gentiles.

In Romans 11 Paul taught us
• A day is coming when “the fullness of the Gentiles” will have come in
• Then God will reopen the door to Israel, and will then save them all.

In fact, if we could take it just a brief step further.
The only thing prolonging the return of Christ to reign upon the earth, is in fact the repentance and faith of Israel.

TURN TO: ACTS 3:17-21
• Here Peter was preaching in Jerusalem and he makes an astounding observation.
• He references that Jesus suffered at the hands of Israel just as the prophets said He would.
• But he also reminds them that Jesus fulfilled all that was said regarding His suffering. (Meaning He has no more suffering to endure) Hence Jesus saying, “It is finished!”

All we are waiting for now is the repentance and return of Israel to Christ
So that He can return and reign upon the earth.
(READ: 19-21)

Do you see it?
When Israel finally repents, Jesus will finally return.

The important reality then is that we understand that
Jesus is not going to end this thing without His people Israel.
There will be no final judgment until God has been able
To draw His people Israel back to Himself.

And the main agent God will use to draw Israel back to Himself
Is the period of time which will occur after the church age;
That period known as “The Tribulation”.

The tribulation referenced in the Revelation is not for the church.
In fact, after chapter 3 the church is not seen at all.

Now don’t misunderstand me. That does not mean the church will not have tribulation. More Christians are dying for their faith in this day than at any other point in human history.

• Russia is in the process of passing a law that says no evangelism can take
place outside of the church building.
• Christians are being beheaded in the middle east

Tribulation will occur and perseverance is required.
The church at Smyrna certainly taught us that.

But this tribulation in the book of Revelation
Is God’s tool to draw Israel to Christ and back to Himself.

And that is clearly spelled out in the Old Testament.
Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.”

If you come back tonight we are going to study that passage
And see that 70 weeks were required to fully redeem Israel.

• 69 weeks have already occurred.
• All that is left is that final week (the final 7) which will be what finally pushes Israel over the edge and back to Christ.

The tribulation is God’s means of bringing Israel to repentance.

TURN TO: ZECHARIAH 11
Again, we don’t have time to fully unpack all of this, but I can skim the mountain tops here and show you the plan of God.

• Zechariah 11:4-6 is a preincarnate conversation between the Father and the Son, where the Father commanded the Son to go and Shepherd His people Israel.

• In Zechariah 11:7 the Son did just that. He became flesh and dwelt among us.

• Verses 7-14 indicate the tremendous struggle that He would have trying to shepherd such a rebellious flock.

• Verse 8 shows us His continual battle with the religious leaders of the day.

• Verses 9-11 show us the rebellion of the sheep and the Shepherd’s rejection of them.

• Verse 12 even shows the price at which the nation would value this good Shepherd.

And finally in verse 14, this flock was broken off.
It’s the same thing Jesus referenced in His parable regarding the vineyard.
The same thing Paul referenced in Romans 11.

• In verses 15-17 we find that God promises to raise up a corrupt shepherd to lead them and ultimately afflict them. (This false shepherd is none other than the Antichrist)

And that leads to a tremendous time of tribulation
Which is what is spelled out in Zechariah 12:1-9.

But the result of this tribulation is what you need to see,
And that is what is revealed in Zechariah 12:10.

Israel, as a result of her tribulation, will finally
Look on the One whom they pierced and will mourn for Him.

Now does that phrase look familiar to you?
It should we actually saw it referenced in the opening chapter of Revelation when we were looking at the preview of the book.

Revelation 1:7 “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

This is what we are talking about.
By means of the tribulation, Israel will finally come to Christ.

And the RESULT of their repentance
Will be the return of the Lord and His earthly reign.

And this reality is seen in Zechariah 14.
(Read 1-5)

SO WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT PREACHER?

Namely that everything you are about to see
Through the remainder of this book
Is nothing short of the intended plan of the Sovereign God of Heaven.

• We’ve recently studied stories like that of Joseph, whom God directed through enormous suffering and hardship. But God did that in order that He might save Israel.

• We’ve recently studied the story of Job, whom God put through enormous suffering, but God did that in order to humble Job and reveal that a relationship with God cannot be severed.

• We’ve recently seen the story of Daniel, who at 15 years of age God allowed to be kidnapped and thrown into a Babylonian brainwashing system, but God has done this as a means of purifying Israel from her idolatry.

The Tribulation that is about to unfold
Is nothing short of the sovereign plan of the God of Heaven.

Satan is NOT in charge here, God is.
• God is doing this
• God is controlling this
• And as is always true with the affliction God allows, it is only meant for good.

Just as God told Israel before they were exiled to Babylon.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

This period of tribulation must been seen in that exact same light.
• This is God’s plan for finally redeeming Israel back to Himself.
• This is God’s plan for finally redeeming creation back to Himself.
• This is God’s plan for finally seeing His Son reign upon the earth.

GOD IS IN TOTAL CONTROL HERE.

I just want you to understand the purpose of what we are about to see.

God told John in verse 1 “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

We are about to look at the things that “must take place”
In order to bring about Israel’s repentance and Christ’s return.

And in order to see it all God calls John up to heaven.

NOW THE VISION IS AN EXTENSIVE ONE.
John is going to see all sorts of judgments unfold on the world.

But the beginning of the vision occurs in chapters 4 & 5
And these chapters set the stage.
These chapters serve as the lens through which
We must view the coming destruction.

In Ch. 4 the vision centers on and focuses on THE SOVEREIGN THRONE
• We are drawn not only to the sovereign rule of God,
• But also to the nature and glory of the One who is on the throne.

In fact a quick reading of chapter 4 shows us that
Everything John sees is in regard to the throne.
• (2) “on the throne”
• (3-4) “around the throne”
• (5) “from the throne”
• (5-6) “before the throne”
• (7) “in the center and around the throne” (near the throne)

Everything John sees relates to the throne.
Chapter 4 focuses on THE SOVEREIGN THRONE

Ch. 5 makes a shift and the focus becomes THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB
• This chapter is all about the Lamb who was slain and what the Lamb accomplished through His sacrifice.
• It also focuses on the rise of the Lamb to take the scroll and to begin His work of redeeming the world back to Himself.

These chapters combine as an important foundation
Because they help us bring stability
To the chaos that is about to hit the world.

Despite what you will see, God has not lost control.
Despite what you will see, Redemption remains the purpose.

So we begin looking at the end by first looking at the throne,
Let’s begin looking at it this morning.

We can easily break it down into 6 points. As I said, everything relates to the throne.
#1 THE THRONE
Revelation 4:1-2a

After hearing God’s call to come up and see the things, John says:
“Immediately I was in the Spirit”

This simply means that John was in the spiritual realm.
Somehow by the power of God, John was allowed to see a realm
That is otherwise invisible to you and me.

And John was transported to heaven.

This is not the first time in Scripture that this occurred.

• As the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt, Moses went up on the mountain of God and the elders followed at a distance and Moses records:
Exodus 24:9-10 “Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.”

• In the book of the kings when Ahab was seeking direction from the LORD, the prophet Macaiah came and said:
1 Kings 22:19 “Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.”

• In Isaiah’s day, King Uzziah died after a 52 year reign and Isaiah was distraught wondering what was going on in the world. He writes:
Isaiah 6:1-4 “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”

• Ezekiel was a prophet of Israel who was actually deported to Babylon (like Daniel) and while there, Ezekiel was granted a vision. It’s too long to read it all right now, but here is part of it:
Ezekiel 1:26-28 “Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.”

• Also in Babylon was Daniel, who wrote:
Daniel 7:9 “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.”

These were all people of God throughout the course of history
Who were granted the privilege of gazing into heaven.

And no doubt you have probably seen
The STRIKING SIMILARITIES to what all of them saw.

They were all overcome with the sight of the same thing.
It was the throne of God and the utter holiness and wrath
That seemed to radiate from it.

Everything pointed there.
And it was a terrifying scene for all of them.
• Isaiah cried out “Woe is me! For I am undone!”
• Ezekiel fell on his face.
• Daniel said his spirit was distressed within him.
• In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul went and he couldn’t even speak of what he saw.

This is a most sacred and holy and terrifying scene.

And could I add one more important thing for you here?

THIS IS THE ONLY AUTHORITATIVE AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF HEAVEN WE SHOULD EVER LOOK TO.

Have we forgotten what was written at the end of this book?
Revelation 22:18 “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;”

But that warning hasn’t stopped the countless charismatic counterfeits
From adding their own heaven experiences to the list of best-selling books.

Yes, you heard me right.
I do not agree with or like or believe accounts like:
• “90 Minutes in Heaven”
• “Heaven is For Real” (I think I already knew that)
• Or any of the other MANY counterfeit preachers who have claimed trips to
heaven and back.

When God wanted to give an authoritative view of heaven,
He ordained to give it to the apostle John
And that revelation came with strict orders that
This vision should never be added to or taken away from.
This is it.

So it’s certainly tragic and terribly disturbing to me that when most of the world wants to know about heaven they go read “Heaven is for Real”
Instead of the book of the Revelation.

THIS is God’s Revelation; I don’t believe those others for a second.

JOHN SEES HERE AN INCREDIBLE SCENE.

And please notice
• He isn’t captivated by loved ones who have gone before.
• He isn’t running down the streets looking for his mansion.
• He doesn’t immediately talk about the amazing golf courses.

You see what captivates his attention.
“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven,”

“A throne”
Obviously indicates sovereign rule; sovereign authority.

The fact that it was “standing” indicates that
It is fixed, unchanging, unwavering.

The vision reiterates what we have often said:
GOD IS IN CONTROL

The overwhelming testimony of heaven is that there is One who sits supreme and authoritatively in charge over all of creation.

Look down to the end of the chapter at the praise of heaven.
(11) “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Do you know why everything is here?
God told it to be here.

Do you know why everything remains?
God tells it to remain.

God is SOVEREIGN

Psalms 103:19 “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.”

Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Psalms 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

And that is the overwhelming point of this vision.
Don’t look at the chaos of the world
And then wonder if God is somehow in danger.

And you might be tempted to think that.
• World war is coming, followed by intense famine, and death
• ¼ of the world’s population will soon die
• The sun will turn black, the moon to blood, and 1/3 of the stars will fall
• The entire heavens will then roll up like a scroll and the mountains will move
• Meteors are about to hit the earth
• Fresh water will turn bitter
• And a 1/3 of the sea will turn to blood
• A demonic army will spread through the earth inflicting pain
• Followed by a destructive angelic force with 100 million strong army which will kill 1/3 of the remaining people on earth.
• In the middle of the mayhem Antichrist will rise blaspheming God, killing Jews, and starving the faithful.
• And this before things like the malignant sores, and 100lb hailstones

Things are about to appear out of control, but don’t let appearances fool you.

GOD’S THRONE IS FIXED IN THE HEAVENS.
THIS IS ALL PART OF THE PLAN.

I wish we had been able to go a little further this morning,
But it is a good beginning for us to simply recognize that
OUR GOD REIGNS.

That means that you and can take a sigh of relief and rest.
• Isn’t it good to know that a world filled with terrorist attacks have absolutely no bearing on God’s redemptive plan?

• Isn’t it good to know that November’s election has no bearing on God’s redemptive plan?

None of those things can stop a single thing God is doing.
In fact, we learn that God orchestrates all things
In order that His perfect plan will always succeed.

Romans 8:28-31 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

That my friends is the earthly response
To the reality of God’s Sovereign Rule.

Psalms 118:5-9 “From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.”

Psalms 11:4-7 “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”

Psalms 20:6-7 “Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven With the saving strength of His right hand. Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.”

That is the point.
Do not fear the appearances of things.

For when John was granted by the mercy of God
To see things that even Paul was not allowed to speak of
He was instantly captivated by one great thing:
“a throne was standing in heaven,”

Take courage, The Sovereign God of Heaven is on His throne.

The Sickening Truth About Self-Sufficiency
Revelation 3:14-22
July 10, 2016

Well this morning we come to the final church of our study
Here in the book of the Revelation.

We are studying the church at Laodicea.
It is a church that we have several times referred to as “The Fake Church”

And that’s really not a hard title to prove.
• They are self-sufficient,
• They are self-deceived,
• They are over confident,
• And to make matters worse, they have locked Jesus outside.

They ARE RELIGIOUS to be certain,
But they ARE NOT REDEEMED and this is a major problem.

We actually find Jesus here looking for “anyone”
Who will hear His voice and open the door to Him.

Let’s look at this church together this morning.
#1 THE CHURCH
Revelation 3:14a
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:”

Again this section is really more about the town than it is the church.

Laodicea was an important city on a crossroads of two major roads.
• The east to west road that ran from Ephesus to the interior,
• The north south road that ran from Pergamum to the Mediterranean sea.

Those roads crossed at Laodicea.

It was a city that housed a great banking center
(you’ll see Jesus reference to their riches in a moment)

It was a city noted for producing black wool
(you’ll see Jesus reference their clothing in a moment)

It was also a city with a medical school noted primarily for the invention of eye salve which was distributed throughout Asia
(you’ll see Jesus reference that in a moment as well)

Laodicea was a booming, wealthy, industrious, and important city.

Theologically speaking we don’t know a lot except for the fact that Laodicea was located only 10 miles from Colossae and it seems that the two cities were very similar in their theological beliefs.
Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Colossians 4:15-16 “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.”

That indicates then that we can gather quite a bit about the prevailing doctrines in Laodicea from Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

While the Colossians did struggle with various things like legalism and asceticism and mysticism and the like.

The most glaring concern about Colossian theology
Was their denial of the deity of Jesus.
It was an issue Paul directly settled.

#2 THEIR LORD
Revelation 3:14b
“The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:”

Again (just as with Philadelphia) Jesus draws a reference to Himself
Which is not contained in chapter 1.

But Jesus seems to have a very direct purpose in mind.

“The Amen” is a unique title.
• It is a word said over and over in church.
• It is a Hebrew word that is left as is in the Greek New Testament.
• Literally it means “faithful” or “true”

Deuteronomy 7:9 “Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;”

“the faithful God” is literally “the amen God”

It is a word involving certainty and faithfulness.
• It is a word that when used by God came to mean “It is so”
• It is a word that when used by man came to mean “let it be so”

The unique thing here is that Jesus calls Himself “The Amen”

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

Paul said that all of the promises of God are fulfilled in Jesus.
He is “our Amen to the glory of God through us.”

To put it another way, if you don’t have Jesus,
You don’t have any of what God has promised.
Coupled with that Jesus says that He is also:
“the faithful and true Witness”

Certainly we could elaborate on how faithful and true Jesus actually is in all that He does, but this is more than just a statement of Jesus’ character.

John 1:18 “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Jesus is the One who shows you the Father like no one else.

Jesus even said to Philip:
John 14:9 “Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Hebrews 1 says that Jesus is
“the exact representation of His nature”

In short, no one shows you God like Jesus.

And there is a reason for that. It’s because He is God.

Jesus also identifies Himself as:
“the Beginning of the creation of God”

This doesn’t mean Jesus was the first One created,
It means that creation originated with Him.

Colossians 1:15-20 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

So if you want to piece it all together it becomes clear who is speaking.
• It is the One through whom all the promises of God flow.
• It is the One who alone can bear accurate witness of the Father.
• It is the One who is in fact one with the Father.

Let’s just put it like this.
Jesus is the ESSENTIAL ONE

You can have everything this world makes available,
But if you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything.

You’ll see why this is such a fitting introduction of Christ to the church in Laodicea.
The Church, Their Lord
#3 THE EVALUATION
Revelation 3:15-17
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out My mouth.”

I’m sure you’ve probably heard the phrase,
You’ve probably even heard it explained several ways.

Some love to view “hot” as an on fire Christian
And “cold” as sinful or backslidden Christian.

This can’t be for Jesus certainly would not wish that the Laodiceans were “cold”.

Instead of trying to build a symbolic theology off of this analogy
It’s best that you understand what Jesus is doing here.

• The city of Laodicea rested on a plateau that was several hundred feet
high, and this certainly helped in making the city more secure.

• The one glaring weakness of the city was that their water had to be
transported from several miles away, which they did by means of a man-made aqueduct.

• When the water finally reached the city it came in lukewarm and dirty.

It wasn’t refreshing like a cool mountain spring.
It wasn’t soothing like the hot springs in Sardis.
In reality it was disgusting.

And this is the point that Jesus is making.
YOU ARE JUST LIKE YOUR WATER SUPPLY

What an evaluation!
“because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

Again, follow the analogy, but don’t build a theology on it.
I’ve heard it preached that this was about losing your salvation.

No it isn’t.
(Laodicea didn’t even have salvation)

It is likened to what God said to Israel in Isaiah 1
Isaiah 1:13-15 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
Like God in Isaiah’s day,
Jesus is merely saying that your worship is not pleasing to Me.
It is gross and detestable, and I won’t have anything to do with it.

Laodicea was the church that made Jesus vomit.

WOW…WHY?
(17) “Because you have said, “I am rich and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

They were a church literally dripping with
SELF-SUFFICIENCY and SELF-CONFIDENCE.

They literally thought they needed nothing.
• Their budget was good
• Their seats were full
• Their programs were busy

When they looked around and did an evaluation
THEY REALLY THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST FINE.

And that is such a contrast from what Jesus saw.
Jesus said they were “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

And just let that mental image sink in for a second.
In the backdoor of the church walks in a poor blind man,
Barely dressed and smelling to high heaven.
And you ask if you can help him and he says, “Nope, I don’t need anything”

The Laodicean’s represent the most absurd misevaluation of self
That any person ever gave.

“wretched” is a compound word in the Greek
Which literally means “steadfastly miserable”

It was the word Paul used of himself when he realized he couldn’t escape sin on his own.
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

It is a word that means never good; not at all, not ever.

“miserable” in the Greek is a word that indicates “a person in desperate need of pity.”

1 Corinthians 15:19 “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

And then Jesus said they were “poor and blind and naked”
Which are all words we understand.

The real condition of this church was appalling
And yet they thought they were doing great.

Can I give you an example of a person who could have been a member of this church?

TURN TO: LUKE 18:18-25
Of course you know all about this man,
He continues to be one of the most relevant examples for our religious culture.

• Luke taught us that the man was a ruler
• We know he was rich
• Matthew’s gospel tells us he was young
• Because we are really smart, we call him “The Rich Young Ruler”

But if you’ll notice he is the epitome of what the church in Laodicea was.
• Externally he thought he was fine.
• Even when Jesus told him to keep the commandments he said, “All these I
have kept from my youth.”

He thought he was fine.
Jesus’ evaluation was a little different.
Jesus knew he was poor because he lacked treasure in heaven.
Jesus knew he was wretched because he loved his earthly money.

And so Jesus said, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Of course that man chose to stay in his filth.
He chose to remain poor, he chose to remain wretched,
He chose to remain miserable.

But he was an example of the church at Laodicea.
What they thought and what they were, were two very different things.

• All of their achievements…
• All of their goodness…
• All of their accomplishments…

WERE WORTH NOTHING

It is as we read in Isaiah:
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

What looked valuable to them was detestable to Jesus.
They made Him sick.
And just as a note, you should know that SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Is NOT an attitude begetting salvation.

Jesus never asked for people who thought they could do it on their own. (In fact that was really more like the Pharisees)

Remember this story? (also in Luke 18)
Luke 18:9-14 “And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus found no favor in the man who was self-justified.
But give Jesus a beggar who knows his need and Jesus comes running.

It is what we always talk about in the beatitudes.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

That wasn’t Laodicea, they just knew they were rich.
How tragic since in reality they were poor.

They had nothing that was of any value to God
And yet they still considered themselves rich.

Friend let me tell you, if you don’t have anything that God values…you don’t have anything.

The Church, Their Lord, Their Evaluation
#4 THE ADVICE
Revelation 3:18

I know you have lots of money,
But you need “gold refined by fire so that you may become rich”

I know you have black wool and make clothing,
But you need “white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed.”

I know about your eye salve that you export,
But you need true “eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”

And the thing that all of these have in common
Is that you can only get any of them from Jesus.
That is why Jesus said, “buy from Me”

And no, this is not some morbid indication that salvation is for sale.
It is a common reference in Scripture.

Remember these two parables?
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

“buy” simply means “to acquire”

Jesus is saying that He alone is the source of true riches, true clothing and true discernment and you must come to Him for it.

Isaiah 55:1-3 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

The church at Laodicea had a lot of money,
But they had no treasure in heaven. They had nothing that God valued.

Jesus said:
Matthew 6:19-20 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;”

The church at Laodicea had a lot of garments
But nothing to clothe their shame.

In Scripture garments represent character.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 22:1-14

We had a man who tried to slip into heaven on his own merit, according to his own goodness, instead of in the righteousness which only Christ can provide.

That man was not found worthy, he was found detestable and he was thrown out.

I don’t care how good your good is, it doesn’t even come close to measuring up to the righteousness of Christ.

The church at Laodicea produced eye salve,
But they had nothing to produce spiritual discernment.

They also needed Christ’s “eye salve”

They were the living epitome of the spiritually blind
Matthew 13:13-15 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’”

Do you understand what Jesus is saying here to Laodicea?

We live in a world that absolutely praises self.
• Self-esteem
• Self-sufficiency
• Self-confidence
• Self-worth

And none of those attributes will get you to heaven
For Jesus called for SELF-DENIAL

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Until you learn to despise your own abilities
And futile attempts at righteousness
You will never be fit for the kingdom of heaven.

• You must be “poor in spirit”
• You must be like the tax collector begging only for mercy
• You must see your sin for what it is and realize that you are wretched

But if you come to Jesus proud of who you are and what you’ve accomplished you will only make Him sick.

• If you really want to be rich…
• If you really want to be clothed in righteousness…
• If you really want to see…
Then you are going to have to deny yourself
And take up your cross and follow Jesus.

He’s the only One who has those things.

Jesus’ advice to Laodicea is that they come to Him.

The Church, Their Lord, Their Evaluation, The Advice
#5 THE ENCOURAGEMENT
Revelation 3:19-20

I absolutely love the way these two verses are written.

One might expect that Jesus wrote this letter with fire in His eyes
(similar to the letter to Thyatira)

One might expect that He was angry ready to come in with His sword
(similar to the letter to Pergamum)

But that’s not it.
Jesus wrote this letter with tears in His eyes!

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”

Earlier I compared this church to the Rich Young Ruler.

Look what Mark’s gospel says about him.
Mark 10:21 “Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

That is the same thing here.

Yes their feeble attempts at righteousness are sickening to Jesus,
But more than anything
He is broken hearted at their lost condition.

• He longs for their repentance
• He longs for their humility
• He longs for them to see their sin and run to Him

And all the while look at what it says:
(20) “’Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

If you are willing to recognize this, there is another example for you here.
TURN TO: LUKE 19:1-10

Zaccheus opened the door.
He was in just as bad a spiritual condition as the Rich Young Ruler,
But he was willing to see that and run to Jesus.

This church had everything, but they didn’t have Jesus.
• “The Amen” who was the fulfillment of all that God had promised.
• “the faithful and true Witness” who could show them the Father.
• “the Beginning of the creation of God” who is God Himself

Despite all their money, and their clothes and their salve,
They had nothing.

Everything they needed was outside knocking on the door, trying to get in
It was time to let go of everything they had and run to Jesus.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Do you understand what Jesus is saying there?
You cannot keep this life and gain the next.
• The Rich Young Ruler tried and it didn’t work.
• Zaccheus submitted and found salvation.

By the world’s standards,
Laodicea was a perfectly wealthy, successful, and thriving church
By Jesus’ standard they were the most pathetic.

They needed what only He could provide.

#6 THEIR EXAMPLE
Revelation 3:21-22

Up until now Jesus has always had a faithful few in the congregation who have overcome and thus He uses them as an example.

• Those who overcame complacency in Ephesus
• Or those who overcame fear in Smyrna
• Or those who overcame compromise in Pergamum
• Or those who overcame worldliness in Thyatira
• Or those who overcame pride in Smyrna
• Or those who overcame weakness in Philadelphia

But there are no positive examples in Laodicea.
No one there has overcome.

So Jesus uses Himself as the example.
“He who overcomes…as I also overcame”

“I will grant him to sit down with Me on My throne”

What does He mean?
You are going to have to turn with me one more time
To that story of the Rich Young Ruler.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 19:22-29

Do you hear the concern of Peter?
If we do give up this life to follow You, will it be worth it?

“Truly I say to you,” (Literally “Amen I say to you”)
“that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children of farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.”

That is the same thing Jesus is telling Laodicea.
If you will overcome like I did, then I will let you reign with Me.

So the question is, WHAT DID JESUS OVERCOME?
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus overcame SELF
It has to go.

Laodicea trusted in self.
Jesus told them they had to deny self.

AND THAT IS WHERE WE ARE THIS MORNING.

Are you willing to deny self, take up your cross, and follow Christ?
• This is the only way to gain His riches
• This is the only way to gain His righteousness
• This is the only way to gain His discernment

Otherwise it is nothing more than outward religion
And all it accomplishes is to make Jesus sick.

If you go through this life and gain everything, but Jesus is kept outside,
You have nothing.

In short, which is going to be; the Rich Young Ruler or Zaccheus?
• Will you leave it all, or will you keep it all?
• What are you going to do with Jesus?

Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

The Contrition of Daniel
Daniel 9:1-19
July 3, 2016

As you are well aware we are studying through the book of Daniel.
You are also aware that the book of Daniel makes a very vivid distinction regarding who Daniel is writing too at any given time.

The majority of the first parts of this book are written in Aramaic
And thus intended for Gentile readers as Daniel lays out to the world that
Despite the difficulties of the Jewish people,
God is absolutely sovereign and in total control of all things.

The only reason nations like Babylon and Persia and Greece and Rome are allowed to persecute God’s people is because God Himself has allowed it and ordained it.

And the proof of God’s sovereign control was seen in the way in which God humbled the rulers alive in Daniel’s time.

• We saw God teach numerous lessons to Nebuchadnezzar before finally
causing him to lose his sanity for 7 years which ultimately led to the worship
of Nebuchadnezzar.

• We saw God answer the arrogant idolatry of Belshazzar as God wrote with His
finger on the wall and ultimately removed Belshazzar that very night.

• And we saw God get the attention of Darius the Mede by preserving Daniel’s
life while in the midst of the den of lions.

All of those stories pointed to the sovereignty of God
Even over the Gentile world.

And Daniel wrote all of those stories in Aramaic
So the world would read them and know who is really in charge.

But as I told you last week in chapter 8 Daniel made a shift.
No longer writing in Aramaic; Daniel began to write in Hebrew.

Now it wasn’t that Daniel just made a shift in the way he wrote,
For chapter 8 was written long before chapters 5 or 6.
Daniel was just choosing his audience.

Well now we are in a section that reveals
The truth God has for His people, the Jews,
And it is written in Hebrew.

Chapter 8 made clear to us that God has a divine purpose in store for Israel.

He made it clear that He was first bringing Babylon, then Media/Persia, and then Greece to afflict His people.
In particular there would be a general arise from Greece
Who would do especial harm to Israel
Even desecrating their temple and seeking to remove their Law.

God would even allow this for 6 years and 4 months.

And the REASON was made clear to Daniel
Daniel 8:12 “And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.”

Daniel said that all of this affliction was coming
“on account of transgression”

That is to say that all of this tribulation would be as a result of Israel’s sin.
And that should have resonated loudly with Israel.

After all we had Isaiah and Micah and Habakkuk and then Jeremiah and Ezekiel all five calling for the same thing in their ministry which was repentance from sin.

But their warnings were overlooked and ignored
So God raised up the blood thirsty Chaldeans who came in and raised Jerusalem to the ground and carried of God’s people into exile.

In fact, even after Israel returned from exile and rebuilt the temple under the leadership of Zechariah and Haggai, Israel would fall again into sin (this time apathy as Malachi would point out)
And so God would raise up Greece and this horrible general known as Antiochus Epiphanes to punish Israel.

And so chapter 8 was a sober warning to Israel
About the dangers of sin and the extreme steps
God is willing to take to purify His people from it.

That being the case it stands to reason what should have occurred all throughout the nation of Israel following such a revelation.
THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN NATIONAL REPENTANCE.

After all, we are all familiar with Jonah in Nineveh talking about their destruction and we remember the national repentance of that nation and how God spared them.

You would expect that repentance would be the call of the day.

So it is not at all strange what we find taking place in chapter 9.
We find Daniel’s prayer of repentance before God.

And I am so thankful that this prayer has been preserved for us and that we get an opportunity to see what a true prayer of repentance looks like.
Hopefully you understand how important repentance is
To the expectation God has for your life.

The very first word of the gospel message has always been (and will always be) REPENT.

When the forerunner came:
Matthew 3:1-2 “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

When the Messiah came:
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

When the apostles began:
Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Peter again:
Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”

Paul:
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

It becomes clear to us that repentance
Has always been the beginning of the gospel message
And always been a clear expectation of God for the sinner.

Now certainly we understand that man is justified by faith alone.

• That is to say that no amount of contrition or repentance is enough to
save a person from judgment.
• God grants righteousness on the basis of faith as we have learned
throughout Romans 3 and 4.

But we also quickly come to grips with the fact that
Any faith which does not have repentance is not saving faith.

As Jesus laid out for us the attitudes of salvation
In His Sermon on the Mount
He made it extremely clear that the attitude of repentance was essential.

Matthew 5:3-6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The word repentance is not used there,
But it literally drips out of the passage.

There is an obvious brokenness and contrition that must occur
In order for our faith to be deemed genuine.

And we see this quite a lot today
IN FACT WE HAVE SEEN IT FOR CENTURIES.
You saw this morning that the church is making rightnow media available to you. One of the first studies I watched was called “Luther and the Reformation” by R.C. Sproul

And would you know that this issue of faulty repentance was one of the key issues that started the reformation?

I’ll give you a quick summary because it is fascinating to me.

Of course one of the MAIN PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY
Has always been an inability to measure up to God’s righteousness,
And one of the chief questions of religion
Has been how to address that problem.

One of the ways in which the Catholic church addresses this issue is through what they call “THE TREASURY OF MERIT”
(not a treasury of gold, but one of merit, or “goodness”)

• In that treasury was all the merit of Christ and of the apostles.
• In that treasury was any extra merit that was earned by martyrs and saints, etc.
(more to it, but that’s the gist)

Catholicism says that when a person dies without enough righteousness to go before God they have to go to purgatory which is a place of purging.
(and the length of stay depended upon how long it took to purge the body of sin)

The TREASURY OF MERIT then holds units of merit
Which can be applied to a person’s account
Which makes them more worthy
And thus shorten their time in purgatory.

Well in Luther’s day was that the church became strapped for money.
Pope Leo the 10th bankrupted the church. (building of St. Peters)

At the same time
• You had a man named Prince Albert who wanted to become Arch Bishop and it was common in that day to buy church offices which he did for 10,000 gold duckets (one for each of the 10 commandments)

The problem was that he didn’t have 10,000 gold duckets
• So in order to help him finance the deal and pay off his creditors the Pope gave Prince Albert the authority to oversee the distribution of indulgences throughout Germany.

Prince Albert gained the services of man named Yohon Tetzel.

• Tetzel would go into a town with great pomp and pageantry and use very
similar tactics to the evangelists today in which he would ask the crowd if
they could hear the screams of their family members in purgatory and
would they be willing to purchase indulgences to get them out.

“Every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs”

Now Prince Albert had said that indulgences could be awarded in response to the giving of alms, but that only if given with a true spirit of contrition.
Obviously that wasn’t happening.

This infuriated Martin Luther who wrote his 95 thesis
Regarding this horrific sight and nailed them to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany.
(he wasn’t seeking to be rebellious, he wrote them in Latin in order to have a discussion with the faculty, but his students translated and dispersed them)

And this started the firestorm of the reformation.
Which of course led to many other theological issues.

But the main argument Luther had with Tetzel
(and one that caused Luther to beg repeatedly for theological discussion)
Was that Tetzel’s communication bypasses the call for CONTRITION and replaces it with ATTRITION.

And obviously Luther’s story and fight went much further than that,
But it all began with an issue regarding repentance.

AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION EVEN TODAY.

Attrition is repentance motivated by the fear of punishment. It is a decision made simply because a person doesn’t want to go to hell, etc.

Contrition is repentance motivated by sorrow over sin and over having offended God.

The gospel call has never been for simply attrition,
Where if you can scare people enough about hell
Then in order to skip the consequences they will say they are sorry.

The gospel call has been for contrition,
That because you have offended God, you must turn from your sin.

If you want an example in the Bible:
Hebrews 12:15-17 “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.”

Esau was a man was very sorrow for what he had done
Only because of the consequences he had received.
But he was never sorry for the way that his sin had offended God.

Thus the writer of Hebrews said “he found no place for repentance”

You might see it as the difference between remorse and repentance.

And we still struggle with it in our day and time.
• Evangelists have done us a massive disservice over the years in
their Tetzel like approaches to scare people into a decision.

I can certainly tell you that this was the main difference in the decision
I made at 8 years old and the one I made at 19.

At 8 I ran to Jesus simply because I didn’t want to go to hell.
At 19 I ran to Jesus because He was the only one who could fix my offense to God.

There is a massive difference there.
We are seeking true repentance (contrition not attrition).

And TONIGHT I want to show you an example of
What a true prayer of contrition looks like.
Daniel knew that their captivity was a result of transgression,
Tonight we look at Daniel’s prayer of repentance.

5 things Daniel had
#1 AWARENESS OF THE PROBLEM
Daniel 9:1-3

We all know where Daniel was. Daniel was taken to Babylon as a teenager.
And we all know why these Jews were living in Babylon.

But I want you to understand, many of the Jews didn’t.
Most of the Jews who were living in Babylon
Continually expected deliverance from Babylon at any minute.

They expected that any day now God was going to bust into Babylon,
Break the yoke of the oppressor, and deliver His people.

BECAUSE OF THE FALSE PROPHETS
Ezekiel and Jeremiah were the only two saying anything different.
But remember, their messages were widely rejected.

Most of the prophets were preaching a message
That any day now God will deliver us.
Jeremiah 14:15 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end!”

Jeremiah 27:14 “So do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon,’ for they prophesy a lie to you;”

Jeremiah was right on target, but Jeremiah was rejected.
So what we have is the nation of Israel exiled into Babylon,
And most of them didn’t know why.

And here is one of the major hindrances to prayers of repentance.
PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE THEY HAVE A SIN PROBLEM.

Have you ever heard the expression,
“You’ve got to get a person lost before you can get them saved.”?

We live in a world that doesn’t realize they are lost.
Most people really in their mind think they are ok.
Most people really believe they are going to heaven when they die.

Daniel and his people were living the life of a curse,
And the reason was because God was judging their sin.
But most of them didn’t think that was the case.

Most of them thought God was on their side.

But that is what Daniel is about to figure it out.
(1-3) “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans – in the first year of his reign…”

Now stop there for a second, because this is also interesting.
Let’s talk a little history.

The deportation to Babylon happened in three phases.
Daniel and his friends went first – 605 BC
Ezekiel and 10,000 captives went second – 597 BC
Jerusalem fell and the rest went last – 586 BC

Darius became king in 539 BC
So how long has Daniel been in Babylon at the time of this prayer? – 67years.

The Jews would return home in 536 BC.
Daniel is three years from the end of captivity.

I think that is interesting, because finally now people are starting to listen to God.

(2b-3) “I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.”

Finally God has someone’s attention, and
Finally someone cares about what Jeremiah had to say.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.”

When Daniel learned that
All of this affliction was the result of transgression
Daniel went to the word in search of what it was.

Here we find that Daniel finally found the issue.
• Men hadn’t been calling upon God.
• Men hadn’t been praying to God.
• Men hadn’t been seeking God with all their heart.

Men had fallen into sin.
Daniel has become aware of the problem.

Awareness of the problem.
#2 ADMISSION OF GUILT
Daniel 9:4-8

Not only did Daniel realize that God had sent them to Babylon,
Daniel also realized why.
Men had not sought God.

So now Daniel determines it is time to get right with God.
So Daniel begins to lay it all on the table.

And we can see two aspects to his repentance.

1) HE LISTS THE SIN COMMITTED Verses 5-6

Daniel pretty much gets right to the point.
• If there was a law in place we broke it,
• If someone called us on it, we ignored them.

He admits to every sin he can think of.
2) HE LISTS THE SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM Verses 7-8

Here Daniel tells God who all was involved in the sin.
EVERYBODY.
We all sinned huge.

And I don’t mind telling you that Daniel’s attitude here is so refreshing.

Don’t you just love it when people come up to you and say,
“I’m sorry I did that, but you really shouldn’t have…”
Or
“If I have done anything to make you angry, I’m sorry…”

Look Daniel was not here faking his remorse.
• His sin wasn’t God’s fault
• His sin wasn’t the community’s fault
• His sin wasn’t the prophet’s fault
• His sin was Moses’ fault
• His sin wasn’t Babylon’s fault

OUR SIN IS OUR FAULT

And what is even more astounding…
AND GOD YOU WERE RIGHT TO PUNISH US.

(7) “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame”

That is not someone who wishes to debate
Whether or not they really need to repent,
That is someone who knows they need to repent.

Do you see what repentance looks like?
I blew it, it was all me, and I’m sorry.

Awareness of the Problem, Admission of Guilt
#3 AGREEMENT WITH THE CONSEQUENCES
Daniel 9:9-14

This is almost foreign to us today.
But not only does Daniel admit that the guilt here is all his.

But look at what he says about God.
“To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.”

Are you kidding me?
Did Daniel really just call God compassionate?

WHY?
Because after what Israel did, they are lucky they are still alive.

In the first chapter of Isaiah,
Isaiah tries to get this reality through the thick heads of Israel.

Isaiah 1:7-9 “Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields — strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.”

Daniel is seeing it through Isaiah’s eyes.
We’ve suffered badly, but really a 70 year exile was gracious.

1) HE AGREES THAT THEY DESERVE THE CONSEQUENCES. Verse 11

Daniel has done far more studying than just the one passage in Jeremiah.

He has also read the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 28 begins the section on blessings and curses.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 = blessings for obedience.
Deuteronomy 28:15-69 = curses for disobedience.

All that is happening to Israel is directly because of their disobedience,
And what is happening is exactly what God said would happen.

Deuteronomy 28:36-37 “The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. “You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the LORD drives you.

Daniel said, we sinned, and so we received the curse,
Just as God said we would.
We deserve the consequences.

2) HE AGREES WITH THE DEGREE OF THE CONSEQUENCES Verse 12
Here he has been reading another book.

Ezekiel 5:7-9 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor observed My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’ therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ‘And because of all your abominations, I will do among you what I have not done, and the like of which I will never do again.

• Everything You have done, You said You would do.
• We deserve everything You have given us.
• We deserve the punishment, and we deserve the degree to which we have
been punished.

Not only that, but WE STILL DESERVE IT!

3) HE AGREES WITH THE DURATION OF THE CONSEQUENCES Verse 13-14

Why would Daniel say they still deserve it?
Because they still haven’t turned from their sin and started seeking God!

2 Chronicles 7:12-14 “Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

And Daniel says, WE STILL HAVEN’T DONE THAT,
SO WE STILL DESERVE TO BE HERE.

Can you hear Daniel’s humility and remorse?
• He isn’t arguing with God
• He isn’t trying to negotiate a reduced sentence
• He is sorry for what they have done to God.

Awareness of the problem, Admission of Guilt, Agreement with the Consequences
#4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SAVIOR
Daniel 9:15-16

Daniel not only realizes that he has offended God,
But he also realizes that the God he has offended
IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP
(Does no good to keep offending Him)

God alone has the power of forgiveness.

After the paralytic was brought to Jesus:
Luke 5:20-21 “Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Only God could give Daniel forgiveness.
And only God could deliver Israel from their consequences.

It is important in our repentance
That we understand WHO we have offended and WHERE we must turn.

All sin is an offense primarily to God.

Even after the Bathsheba incident David said:
Psalms 51:3-4 “For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.”
All sin is offense to God.

But you should also know that
God is the only one who can deliver from it.

• Don’t turn to religion (putting money in Tetzel’s cup won’t help)
• You have got to run to God.

#5 APPEAL FOR FORGIVENESS
Daniel 9:17-19

Why did Daniel want forgiveness?
• Was it so they could get back to life as normal?
• Was it so they could get out of Babylon?
• Was it so all the pain would go away?

NO, “for Your sake, O Lord”
And again in verse 19 “For Your own sake”

Daniel realized that his sin
Had not only brought about the consequences he now suffered,
But his sin had also done damage to the reputation of God.

I read a blog about a year ago from a man who had been homosexual most of his life.
• He was raised in church, so he knew it was wrong, and he couldn’t understand
why God never seemed to answer his prayer to help him become straight.

• Until he realized that the only reason he wanted to quit being gay was because
he didn’t like the scrutiny and treatment that came with it. It wasn’t until he hated being gay because it was an offense to God that he found the freedom from that sin.

Daniel says, I’m no just repenting because I want relief.
I’m repenting because I have offended You.
Do you see the difference between CONTRITION and ATTRITION?

It is a necessary part of saving faith.

Without repentance there can be no forgiveness,
But make sure it is the repentance that God expects and deserves.

• You don’t ask for forgiveness because you don’t like your consequences.
• You ask for forgiveness because you offended God.

This is the beginning of the gospel
And Daniel gives us a beautiful picture of it here.

Pleasing Jesus
Revelation 3:7-13
July 3, 2016

I’ve called the study of this 6th church here in the book of the Revelation: “Pleasing Jesus”

By this point in our study you may find that to be a rather curious title.
5 churches into this study and it has almost seemed as though
Pleasing Jesus isn’t an option on the table.

We’ve studied 5 and 4 were not pleasing.
• Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis were all threatened with impending
judgment.
• Ephesus was warned that it would no longer be a church.

The only 1 of the 5 who received a positive review was Smyrna,
Whom the Lord commended for being faithful despite the opposition.

But even Smyrna was told that there was more testing to come in the form of tribulation, imprisonment, and death before a final assessment would be made.

The point is that after studying the first 5 churches it can tend to leave one wondering if pleasing Jesus is even possible.

After all, Jesus is the One with lofty expectations.
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

In the Sermon on the Mount He said:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Words like “spotless”, “blameless”, “holy”, “perfect”…
That is obviously a difficult standard.

AND THEN THERE’S US
• We seem to be well aware of our struggles and our short comings.
• We know our weaknesses
• We know where we are prone to fail
• We know about all of our mistakes

So the question is:
In light of our weaknesses and Jesus’ standards, is pleasing Him even possible?

Now to make sure that we don’t get our theological wires crossed
It is important to understand exactly what we are talking about here.
We are NOT talking about obtaining the position
Of being made pleasing to God.

That is called JUSTIFICATION
And that occurs purely by faith alone.

Romans 3:21-24 “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ,
His righteousness is immediately imputed to our account
And we are declared righteous before God.

That is why Paul could say:
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

So we are not talking about salvation here.
Jesus settled that on the cross. He has made us pleasing to God.

What we are talking about is our manner of life after salvation.
We are declared righteous before God, but it is obvious that
Jesus now wants us to also live in a pleasing manner.

That is we are to now do the things that please Him
And abstain from the things that do not.

2 Corinthians 5:9-10 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Ephesians 5:6-10 “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”

So obviously the goal is to please Him.

And yet after studying Jesus’ evaluation of these first 5 churches
There must be a least a little doubt in our minds
As to whether or not that is even possible.

THAT IS WHY WE LOVE TO STUDY THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA!

They are the church that pleased Jesus.
No more tests
No more trials
Jesus reveals His final verdict and Philadelphia was a pleasing church.

I don’t know what that does for you, but it is highly ENCOURAGING to me
To know that it is possible in this life to live in such a manner
That brings only commendation from Jesus and no correction.

It is encouraging to me to know that it is possible, even in this life,
To live in such a way so as to please Jesus.

Let’s look at this church that pulled it off!
#1 THE CHURCH
Revelation 3:7a
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:”

• The city of Philadelphia was a strategic center for Greek culture.
• It was built as an outpost of sorts.
• It was not a military outpost, but rather a cultural outpost.

It was used a center meant to spread the Greek culture and Hellenism
Throughout Lydia and Phrygia.

In this city was the church at Philadelphia.
They were a church with “a little power”
Their opposition came in the form of “the synagogue of Satan”
Regardless they “kept the word of [Christ’s] perseverance”

LET ME SHOW YOU SOMETHING I FIND INTERESTING
• There is no word of imprisonment…
• There is no word of martyrdom…
• There is no word of present tribulation…

The ONLY THING we know they were dealing with was
A heavy Greek influence and a nagging Jewish presence.

And we realize that not all standing strong has to do with
Enduring physical pain or imprisonment or death.

Philadelphia was a church asked to stand against
The ideals and beliefs of a pagan culture.
It reminds me a little of what Paul told the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

If you’ll notice the things Paul was fighting were “speculations”
And arguments raised up against “the knowledge of God”.
Paul said he was “taking every thought captive”.

• His warfare was against bad doctrine.
• His battle was against faulty thinking.
• He refused to let what was untrue continue to be proclaimed as truth.

And if you’ll remember, this gets right back to
The heart of the purpose of the church.

1 Timothy 3:15 “but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

The church supports the truth.

The church at Philadelphia would fight its battles
Against a culture of error and worldly thinking.

I think this most closely resembles the battles we currently fight.
(Certainly the day of physical tribulation may come)

We fight on a battle ground for truth,
And not just against the obvious heresies of the culture
And things like homosexuality and abortion, etc.

We also live in a nation with an enormous amount of religious influence
And a great deal of it is wrong.
Even much of what is considered to be evangelical Christianity.

And this seems to be the battle Philadelphia was fighting as well.

The Church
#2 THEIR LORD
Revelation 3:7b
“He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”

HOW DOES JESUS REVEAL HIMSELF TO PHILADELPHIA?
Unlike the other 5, Jesus doesn’t draw from the chapter 1 revelation.
They get a special revelation
“He who is holy”

Holy is a title reserved for God.
Isaiah 6:3 “And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And so it is significant that it is a title used of Jesus.

A terrified demon screamed.
Mark 1:24 “saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Peter proclaimed
John 6:69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”

Jesus is the Holy One.
This implies His deity and His ABSOLUTE FAITHFULNESS in judgment.
A holy God does not tolerate sin.
A holy God does not let it slide.

The implication from Jesus is that
I am the One who does not let sin go unpunished.

No one who deserves punishment will skip it.

Romans 2:9-11 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.”

Jesus also reveals Himself as:
“He…who is true”

Not only will He Faithfully Judge,
HE WILL ACCURATELY JUDGE.
John 7:24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Jesus certainly did this.

John 5:30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

John 8:16 “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.”

His judgments are always right
And He will most certainly enforce them.

I’m not thinking that Philadelphia would have been necessarily
Set at ease by these two attributes of Jesus here.
And He continues…
“who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one will open.”

This speaks of His authority

Any time you come across the word “key”
It is a term that indicates authority or control.

Earlier we read that Jesus had “the keys of death and Hades”, indicating that He has authority over death, He has control over it.

HERE HE HAS THE POWER TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE KINGDOM.

Isaiah 43:13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Not only that, but “the key of David” was a unique term.
It is taken from Isaiah 22.

Isaiah 22:20-22 “Then it will come about in that day, That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, And I will clothe him with your tunic And tie your sash securely about him. I will entrust him with your authority, And he will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.”

• In Isaiah 22 we find a man named Eliakim who was given the “key of the house of David”,
• This would have been the key to David’s treasure house.
• It was the treasure accumulated from David up to the time of Hezekiah and dispensing of that treasure fell under the authority of Eliakim.

Jesus here is referencing His authority or control to that kingdom.

He controls the entrance to the kingdom
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

He controls the blessings of the kingdom
Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

The implication here from Jesus is getting pretty clear.
• I am the Holy Judge who never lets anything slide.
• I am the true One who always judges accurately.
• I have all the authority to enforce My judgments
• My judgments will never be overruled
• And I have the keys indicating that everyone must go through me.

That’s a pretty terrifying way to introduce Himself.
Jesus just revealed Himself as the Only Judge
Who is always holy and always true.

What must be coming next?

#3 THEIR EVALUATION
Revelation 3:8-10

Their evaluation is full of the things they were doing well.
• (Vs. 8) – “I know your deeds.”
• (Vs. 8) – “you have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”
• (Vs. 10) – “you have kept the word of My perseverance.”

And Jesus seemed to be most impressed by their perseverance
Because He understood how difficult it was for them to do those things.
(Vs. 8) “Because you have a little power”

If you’re paying attention we are really RUNNING TO THE EXTREMES when we look at these churches.

• We’ve seen a church that had conviction but had no love (Ephesus)
• We’ve seen a church that had love but no conviction (Pergamum)
• Smyrna was a church that looked poor, but was really rich.
• Laodicea is a church that looks rich, but is really poor.
• Thyatira and Sardis had earthly power, but no endurance
• Philadelphia has a little power and they never quit.

They are impressive.

He’s not calling them weak here or making fun of them,
Jesus is merely pointing out that from an outward appearance
They did not have the things that most people would look for
When looking for a strong or powerful church.

• Maybe a poor congregation with few resources
• Maybe a small congregation with little manpower
• Maybe an isolated congregation with little support

WHATEVER THEIR WEAKNESS, IT DIDN’T STOP THEM

It reminds us of that statement from Paul:
2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

And Jesus was impressed with this church.

You want something even more impressive?
THERE IS NO WORD OF CRITICISM FOR THIS CHURCH
And that’s really saying something since we just learned that
Jesus is the Holy and True Judge who doesn’t let anything slide.

Does that mean they were perfect or sinless? No
• But in the place where Jesus had put them
• And regarding the mission Jesus had asked of them
• They fulfilled it exactly as Jesus had instructed.

He has no criticism for this church.
(and this wasn’t just one individual in the church, this was the whole church!)

It encourages me to know that pleasing Jesus is possible.
It encourages me to know that it is possible for the Lord
To look at our church and say, “Well Done”.

THAT MEANS PHILADELPHIA HADN’T FAILED WHERE THE OTHERS DID.
• Philadelphia did not struggle with their love for Jesus (Ephesus)
• Philadelphia did not struggle with their conviction for truth (Pergamum)
• Philadelphia did not struggle with endurance (Smyrna)
• Philadelphia did not struggle with dangerous influences (Pergamum, Thyatira)
• Philadelphia did not struggle with worldliness (Thyatira)
• Philadelphia did not struggle with true spiritual life (Sardis)

And we know that because those are all things
Jesus criticized the other churches for struggling with.
And the Holy and True Judge
Would have most certainly criticized them for it as well.

They held fast His name
They maintained their love
They refuted error

Jesus has no criticism for the church at Philadelphia.
WHAT A WONDERFUL AND ENCOURAGING TRUTH

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO PLEASE GOD?
Hebrews 11:32-40 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
• God is not looking for a strong church
• God is not looking for a wealthy church
• GOD IS LOOKING FOR A FAITHFUL CHURCH

PHILADELPHIA IS PRAISED BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED GOD.
“Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.”

Matthew 17:20 “And He said to them, “…for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”

Because they had little power, but great faith…
“Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one will shut.”

I HAVE OPENED WIDE THE KINGDOM TO YOU.
And all the blessings therein!

AND…
“I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie – I will make them come and bow at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.”

That “synagogue of Satan” were more of those false followers of God.

You’ll remember they were in Smyrna as well.
They were Jews, and they had synagogue, but they didn’t really love God.

Imagine the ridicule they dished out to this church in Philadelphia
• Both claimed to be God’s people.
• Both claimed to be true followers of God.
• Both claimed to be the ones that God was pleased with.

I’m sure the hostility was real,
And here Jesus said, “I’m going to settle the debate!”

I’m going to “make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.”

Imagine if everyone who ever maligned you for Christ sake,
All of a sudden came to you in repentance,
And desired to trust Christ and serve Him alongside of you.

Not only that, but…
“I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

MANY SEE THIS AS A PROMISE THAT THE CHURCH WILL SKIP THE GREAT TRIBULATION. (I have no problem with that).

HOWEVER, WE ARE TRYING TO EVALUATE THE CHURCH
Do you remember why Smyrna was promised persecution?
“for your testing”

It is important to know who is real, and who is not.

AT WHAT POINT DO YOU STOP TESTING?
Once a person has adequately exhibited they can pass the test.

WHATEVER PHILADELPHIA’S TEST,
THEY HAD PASSED IT, AND HAD NO NEED TO TAKE IT AGAIN.

PHILADELPHIA HAD LITTLE POWER, BUT WERE STRONG.
THEY HAD ENORMOUS FAITH, AND PASSED THE TEST.

#4 THEIR EXPECTATION
Revelation 3:11

Notice there is no further expectation.
There is no change that needs to be made.

Jesus simply tells them to keep on keeping on!
“hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”

The implication here isn’t that they are competing with other churches for the prize and they need to make sure some other church doesn’t pass them in the end.

The implication is that they don’t give in to the tempter and somehow disqualify themselves now.

Remember the Galatians?
Galatians 5:7-8 “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.”

Remember what the writer of Hebrews said?
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Remember what Paul said about his own ministry?
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

The church in Philadelphia had run well.
• They had jumped many hurdles, and crossed many dangers.
• They had passed every test.
• And the hard part is behind them.
But the race is not quite over
They simply need to keep on the path and finish strong.

I’m reminded of a statement made by a Scottish preacher.
“Keep this in mind from an old man. There is no finality to the Christian life, this side of eternity.”

That was his way of saying there is no such thing as Christian retirement.
You don’t get to just stop because you think you’re time is over.

It is true that your ministry may change.
Even in Scripture a young woman has a different ministry than an older woman
And a young man has a different calling than an older man.

But neither are told to just quit.
You’ve run a good race, you’ve completed your trials, you’ve passed your tests,
Now just keep running strong.

BE FAITHFUL.

Philippians 3:7-16 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”

That’s it, just keep running.

#5 THEIR EXAMPLE
Revelation 3:12-13

“He who overcomes”

There again we ask, “overcomes what?”

What did Philadelphia overcome?
They had “a little power”

• What is your weakness?
• What is it that makes you think you can’t move forward?

• Moses stuttered
• David was the youngest of his brothers
• Paul was formerly a blasphemer and violent aggressor and later a thorn in the flesh
• James and John were judgmental
• Peter had a propensity to be too impulsive
• Thomas was a pessimist
• Zacchaeus was a wee little man
• Martin Luther struggled with guilt
• Charles Spurgeon struggled with depression

Everyone has those things that threaten them and make them feel inadequate and tempt them to retire and sit on the sidelines.
(And granted some of them are bigger than others, I would pretend like they aren’t)

But regardless of what that weakness is,
Or that area where you have “a little power”
To overcome is to be faithful anyway.

Jesus told Philadelphia, “you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”

You didn’t disobey Me and you didn’t deny Me
Even though it didn’t feel like you had a lot to work with at times.

And can I remind you again that Jesus didn’t have one single word of criticism for this church?

Don’t make too much of your limitations and weaknesses.
Just be faithful even though you have them.

Overcome the temptations and accusations of the enemy
Who says you are unworthy or unable or unusable.

What did Peter teach us?
2 Peter 1:5-8 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In short, be faithful.
You are useful despite your limitations.

And if you overcome…
“I will make them a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore.”
THEY CANNOT BE SHAKEN
THEY CANNOT BE MOVED
THEY “will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

“I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.”

WHAT DOES A CHILD DO WITH A BELOVED POSSESSION?
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR LUGGAGE?

YOU WRITE YOUR NAME ON IT

IF YOU OVERCOME, YOU WILL BE MINE,
AND WILL BE WITH ME FOREVER.

Learn from the church at Philadelphia:
• He doesn’t ask us to be rich
• He doesn’t ask us to be large
• He doesn’t ask us to be talented
• He doesn’t ask us to be powerful
• HE ASKS US TO BE FAITHFUL

Think of some of the most notable commendations Jesus gave in the Bible.
• We have the Centurion who simply believed Jesus had authority.
Jesus said, I haven’t found faith like that in all of Israel.
• We have the woman who brought the alabaster vile.
Jesus said, wherever the gospel is recorded, I’m including this story.
• We have the woman who gave the two pennies
Jesus singled her out for giving all she had
• We have the Syrophonecian woman with a demon possessed daughter
Jesus said there wasn’t faith like that anywhere in Israel

Jesus was always commending those
Who seemed the weakest and least useful.
And yet He continually had rebukes for those with power.
JESUS LOVES A FAITHFUL CHURCH

This may not be the attributes by which the world evaluates a church,
But it is the attribute by which Jesus evaluates the church.
AND JESUS IS PLEASED.