Living In The Light

Here's Ann Graham Lotz. God is attracted to weakness. Did you know that? And it's because when we're weak, we're dependent on Him. If we think we can do it, we have to fall fat on our face and find out we can't.

And it's been amazing for me to see what He can do in and through me if I just make myself available. Glad you can join us today for Living in the Light with Ann Graham Lotz. Anne continues her series titled Get Ready, Jesus is Coming, Repentant She's teaching on the seven churches from the book of Revelation Last time, Anne looked at the first two churches Ephesus and Smyrna Today, she'll conclude her study with the final five churches Pergamum, Plyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea Anne believes each one of these churches represents an age in church history Let's find out more as we join Anne from Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The third church is the church of Pergamum. Verse 12, these are the words of him who has the sharp double-edged sword.

The word of God came from his mouth, and the Pergamites thought they had progressed beyond the need for God's word. Pergamum infected the church. Basically, they were leading the church to doubt and deny and dilute the truth of God's word as though they had grown past it.

So he says the principle, I think, is this, that we don't stand in judgment over God's word. God's word stands in judgment over us. Revelation 19 gives an incredible picture. When Jesus comes back riding on that white horse and he has a sword that comes from his mouth and all the armies of the world just, you know, they're gathering over there now, but they aim their missiles and their bombs and their whatever, and they go to make war against the lamb. Is he afraid?

He's even shaking his boots. He just speaks a word and they all drop dead.

So God's word stands in judgment over us. We don't stand in judgment over the word. The promise, he says, if you overcome this progressive attitude that somehow you, you know, people know more than what the Bible says. He says, if you overcome that and you approach the book by faith, I will give you some of the hidden manna in verse 17.

So when you ask yourself, what does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean in my life? And listen for the spirit to speak. He'll give you hidden manna.

Manna was the bread of life that came down from heaven and fed the children of Israel in the wilderness. Do you remember? And so God told Moses to take some of the manna, put it in a pot and hide it inside the Ark of the Covenant. And it would always remind the people of how God had provided for his people in the wilderness. And so that hidden manna is just the bread of life that's hidden and tucked away, but just something God wants to say to you.

Just a special verse and insight and encouragement. This past week, the Lord did that for me. I wasn't expecting it. It just popped up. It just washed over me.

It was the sweetest, dearest encouragement. It was the hidden manna that I would never have found had I not been reading my Bible one paragraph at a time asking myself, what does it say? What does it mean? What does it mean in my life? So are you listening to what he's saying?

Pergamum was not, there's no church there today. The fourth church is Thyatira in chapter two, verses 18 to 29. It's interesting, there are 11 verses given to Thyatira and she was the smallest church, the least town. People wonder how she even got in this list because she was so insignificant. And I wonder if that in itself is a lesson that sometimes you think, well, you're in a small town, you're a nobody, nobody really knows your name, you're not involved, people don't recognize you when you go down the street.

So you can get by with sin in your life because nobody notices. And did God single out Thyatira to tell you the opposite that he sees? He knows exactly what's going on. He sees what's going on behind closed doors. He sees what's going on on that computer, on TV, books that you read, magazines, whatever.

Look at me, verse 18. These are the words of the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and feet like burnished bronze. That is the picture of Jesus angry at the church. I pray I'll never see him looking at me like that.

So what in the world would provoke the anger of the Son of God? I know what you're doing right. Verse 19, look at this. I know your deeds, your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance. You're now doing more than you did at first.

It sounds like they're doing everything right.

So what were they doing so wrong that they would make him angry? In verse 20, you have that woman Jezebel who's leading people astray through her immorality. And I'm sorry, it was a woman. I don't think it makes any difference if it's a woman or a man. It's just a leader in the church that was living in immorality and people saw she got by with it.

So they thought we can get by with it. And she was leading the whole church into immorality. And I don't even think I have to go into this today, but it's so awful. I heard a clip on the news the other day just about pornography and how young men getting into pornography creates such an intense loneliness that there is enormous loneliness, not only in teens who are just suicidal at an alarming rate, but the young adults in their 20s and early 30s, these young men who are so intensely lonely, and one reason is because they're living online in these terrible relationships with a, you know, virtual, it's not real at all, but it keeps them from being able to have a real relationship. and I know that women are involved in that too.

I remember talking to a seminary president, large mainline evangelical seminary and he told me the number one problem they had with their students was pornography. And in the library they go back in the stacks and the students didn think anybody would see them and they were on their computers And those are going to be the leaders of the church That where pastors are chained missionaries So that's just one area.

So I don't know if anybody here is involved in that, but all I can tell you, throw away your computer, turn off your TV, don't go to where you're tempted in that. You think it doesn't make any difference, but it's like that creeping black mold that they had in New Orleans or like I've dealt with in my house and it just poisons the whole atmosphere. You've got to cut it out. And I would even watch some of the things. I noticed that one of the news pages I get, the pop-ups on the news page.

I thought if I'm a young kid dealing with hormones and see some of those pop-ups, It's just pulling people into it. And the sex trafficking, and I just heard that on the news, that America has become one of the leading brokers of sex trafficking in the world.

So just guard your heart, guard your eyes. He says, repent of her ways in verse 22. Stop using her example as an excuse for sin.

So the warning is if you don't remove the sin, he will. and in her case, it affected her children, her family.

So listen to me, he says, and he's just speaking to the remnant. But I think the principle is this, that God is not mouth. He demands holiness from his people, especially holiness from the leaders of his people. And God's standards haven't changed. We compare ourselves with each other and we think, you know, I'm a little bit better than this person, so I must be okay, not as bad as that person.

But he doesn't compare us with each other. He compares this to the holiness of his Holy Spirit. And he says, be ye holy as I am holy.

So is there any immorality in your thoughts, your flirting, second look? You know, I don't know. But anyway, stop it. The promise in verse 26, he says, if you overcome this, I'll give you authority over the nations. In other words, I think power and service is directly related to purity in your life.

So would you trade that involvement in immorality with being able to impact your family for Jesus, the spiritual power that's necessary to make a difference in our generation, to bear eternal fruit? Nothing's worth the trade off.

So are you listening to what the Spirit is saying in this permissive world in which we live? sinfulness. Just cut it out. A church at Thyatira was not listening. There's nothing there today, not even ruins.

The next church is Sardis in chapter three. And verse one, these are the words of him who holds the seven stars and the seven spirits of God. They're the balance scales.

So, you know, people say God's going to weigh my good works against my bad works. And if my good works outweigh the bad works, then I'll be accepted. And God weighs us, but he doesn't weigh our good deeds against our bad deeds. He weighs our whole life against the perfection of the Holy Spirit. And at one point in my life, he said, Ian, you don't measure up.

Learn from me. He says, I know what you're doing right, basically. They just knew people who were doing something right.

So they weren't doing anything right. And I know what you're doing wrong, verse one, you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. And this was, I was a young girl, I was a teenager. And because I was Billy Graham's daughter, I had so many expectations on me and I was modeling and dressing a certain way and people criticized and found fault. And so I was trying to be one way with this group and one way with this group and one way when I was with the church and one way with my family and one way with my friends.

And finally somebody grabbed hold of me and said, and you're looking at God through a prism. It's colored by all these opinions of other people. You just need to look at God directly and live your life to please him. And right there, I remember exactly where I was. I was in California.

And right then, I decided I would live my life for an audience of one just to please him. And I knew if I pleased the Lord, then my parents would be pleased, my grandparents would be pleased.

Some people wouldn't get it. And you can't please everybody anyway, you know? he convicted me of a phoniness pretending to be one way with this group and another way with another group and somebody here who's pretending to be more spiritual than you are pretending to be anything that you're not be authentic people can see that in you, especially young people the principle God doesn't look on the outward appearance he looks on the heart He's not impressed with our reputation at all. He sees who we really are. The promise, he says in verse 5, I'll dress you in white.

That's a right relationship with him that other people can see.

So you want to impress other people? Just be real. Let them see Jesus in you. And then he says, I'll never blot out your name. In other words, that relationship that you have with him will be permanent.

It won't even be interrupted by death. Did you know that? Death is just when your faith becomes sight, but the relationship is unbroken. Are you listening to what the Spirit is saying? Anybody here who's been pretending?

Anybody here who's prayerless? Depending on other people to pray for you. I told you Rachel Ruth heads up my prayer team. I have Mara that's on my office prayer team. And at some point I was, I tended to let them pray for me, and thinking I didn't have to pray for myself.

And the Lord said, no, their prayers are not any substitute for your prayers. You need to pray.

Somebody who needs to pray more perhaps Are you listening Sardis was not their only ruins there today The next church I do want to go into a little bit more detail because the Lord called me for ministry into ministry outside my home from the church at Philadelphia Chapter 3, verses 7 to 13. And he says, look at me, these are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the keys of David. The door he opens, nobody can shut. What he shuts, no one can open. And he's the one that holds the keys to opportunities in our service on earth.

who did you think held the keys? Your pastor, your spouse, your employer. Jesus holds the keys. And I can tell you as a woman in ministry, when I've had doors that have been shut on me, it does not offend me. It doesn't hurt me because I know he opens the doors and the doors he opens, nobody can shut.

And when he shuts, nobody can open.

So I just leave it up to him to open those doors of opportunity where he wants me to go. Look at me, he says. He holds the keys. Learn from me. I know what you're doing right.

I know your deeds. You have a little strength. You've kept my word. This is verse eight. You've not denied my name.

And this church did nothing wrong.

So this is the other church besides Smyrna that was beautiful in God's eyes. They had nothing to correct them for. But I see a tendency for them to do something wrong when he said you only have a little strength. Because when you only have a little strength, you tend to think when the door is open for you that you can't walk through it.

So this was my testimony because God called me, opened the door for me to teach Bible study fellowship in my city. And I'd never taught anything before. I'd never taught Sunday school. My own children didn't listen to me. And I thought, you know, I can't do this.

And he opened the door for me to do it. And I knew I only had a little strength. My children were five, three, and 10 months old. And if you have little children, that's all you have is a little strength, right? And I love the fact he didn't say, Ann, if you do this, you just try hard.

You can work yourself up, more ability than you know. He just said, Ann, I know you just have a little strength. I know your deeds. And you know what he knew? I hadn't done anything, not outside my home.

And then he said, you've not denied my name. And because of my family relationship, I've been associated with his name all my life and I've not denied it. And I've kept his word. I loved his word. But I know what I was doing wrong was being timid when the door was opened.

So in verse eight, when he says, Ann, I've opened a door for you, the implication is walk through it. He doesn't just open the door so we can say, oh my goodness, I had the opportunity to do such and such, but we don't take it. He expects us when it opens the door that we walk through. And so when he opened the door for me to teach Bible study fellowship, I said, Lord, I can't do this. And he said, I know, but I can.

And I said, Lord, I'm totally inadequate to do that. And he said, Ann, I know that too, but I'm sufficient. And I said, Lord, I'm too weak. And he said, but I'm strong. Walk through the open door.

Verse 11, he said, hold on to what you have. And I said, oh my goodness, what do I have? I only have a little bit of time. I only have a little bit of money, only a little bit of education. I just, and he said, Ann, you have my word and you have me.

You walk through the open door.

So, you know, at that point I just said, yes, sir. Because if Jesus is Lord, then we have no option, right? And if I turned him down, if I said I can't do it and I'm going to live in the can't, then he would no longer be my Lord. and I look back, that's almost 40 years ago and I look back what I would have missed. I've written 20 books, I've spoken all over the world, I've held big arena revivals, I've been at the Cove Seminar.

This is the longest consistently running seminar that they've had at the Cove. I was here at the Cove before they even had buildings on the place. We used to be at the Hilton and come have barbecue and a tent on the lawn down there by the gate and I think of all the people that I've had opportunity to minister to and the rest of it, what I would have missed if I had said, no, I can't do it. I don't believe you can do it through me.

So I'm just going to curl up, go back home, take care of my children, let life go by. I can't imagine what I would have missed.

So the warning to me was in verse 11 that if I didn't walk through the open door, he said, I'm coming soon. You know that? He told me that. That's been almost 40 years ago. And I have lived in that expectancy for a long time.

And I think his coming is imminent and it's time you and I walked through the open door. What opportunity has he put in front of you? Ask the Lord to show you. What door? Maybe it's your pastor who will just call you and say, would you help us this way?

or would you do this for us and don't get busy, busy, busy. But just ask God what opportunity he set before you. I think you know what it is, right?

So walk through the door. The principle, oh, I love the principle on this one. This is what I found. God is attracted to weakness. Did you know that?

And it's because when we're weak, we're dependent on him. If we think we can do it, we have to fall fat on our face and find out we can't. For somebody like myself who knows I can't do it, then I depend on him. And it's been amazing for me to see what he can do in and through me if I just make myself available.

So the promise in verse 12, I'll make a pillar in the temple of my God. In other words, I think it means he'll make you so strong in his presence that other people will look at you they'll have no idea how weak you are and how inadequate you are. You know, you're so dependent on him, what they see is Jesus coming through. I don't know if you're listening or not. Philadelphia was There is still a Christian church in that town It Philadelphia It in Turkey And there a Christian church there I stood in the courtyard and shared God word And in the courtyard there are two great big pillars that go back to ancient days standing there.

And I thought, you know, he's made them a pillar in the temple of his God. And the last church, briefly, but it's worth touching on. People believe that it represents our age. Each one of these churches can be taken to represent an age in church history. And Laodicea, I believe, represents our church age.

And I have labeled their sin as pridefulness. Verse 14, look at me. These are the words of the amen, the faithful true witness. What Jesus sees in your life and my life is the truth. And so it's just like when he convicted me of sin when I was preparing for that seminar or when he convicted me of losing my first love.

It hurts and you don't want to look at it, but it takes courage to see it because he speaks the truth.

So what he sees in you is true. The Laodiceans are not going to believe what he sees.

So I know what you're doing right, nothing. He didn't commend them for anything. I know what you're doing wrong. Verse 15 and 16, he said, I wish that you were hot or cold. You're neither one.

you're lukewarm and you make me sick to my stomach. And I think that implies an indifference. They just, you know, indifferent to a lost world, indifferent to people around them going to hell, indifferent to even the cross and what it cost Jesus to bring us to salvation. They were just, they shrugged it off because they were all caught up. They were very wealthy, caught up in their programs and their entertainment and their music and very sophisticated church.

But I think the real issue was pride. And you see that, not just in indifference, but in verse 17, you say, I'm rich. I've acquired wealth and don't need a thing. But you don't realize you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. This church, the people in it had never been born again.

To me, it's shocking. They were very religious, but they didn't have a relationship with the Lord. Look at this in verse 19. Repent. Turn away from that pride.

Humble yourself. Verse 19, and I love this because it says, Jesus, let me turn the page and read it. Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. He loved the proud Laodiceans. And for you out there, if you're religious and you're proud of your background, proud of what you know, proud of your reputation, he loves you.

Jesus loves you. He died for you. He loves you. But look at the next verse. He says, here I am.

I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. Jesus was on the outside of this church knocking to be let in. they had locked him out. That has to be one of the most tragic, sad scenes ever.

And I think it was their pride. They just didn't really believe they needed to humble themselves and come to the cross like everybody else. They were better than that. They did so many good things and God would just have to accept them. They deserved to get to heaven.

They had earned their way there. Had no idea how pitiful, poor, blind, and naked they were.

So listen to me. This is the principle. Religion is not a substitute for a personal relationship with God. You must be born again. That's not an option.

The promise, verse 21, if you overcome, you have the right to sit with me on my throne, he says.

so if you want to impress somebody to sit there on the throne with the son of God sharing his glory but the way up is down and you have to come like a little child you come to the foot of the cross tell God you're sorry for all the wrong things you've done believe Jesus died on the cross if nobody else needed a savior you did and you believe he died for you by name remember? You're on his mind and he died for you and he rose up from the dead to give you eternal life, which is a personal relationship with God now in heaven when you die. You open up your heart and you invite him to come in. He comes in and lives inside of you in the person of his Holy Spirit and then you choose to follow him every day, the rest of your life, all the way to heaven. there's no option.

You hear me? There's no way around that. I don't care what they say today. You must be born again. If you're not, you're not ready to meet Jesus.

You hear what the Spirit is saying. Are you listening? And then Revelation 19 7 says, Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory, for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. What do you need to do to make yourself ready for that first look? Do it.

To help and encourage you in your work for the Lord, we invite you to annegrahmlotz.org. It's a great opportunity to further read, study, live by, and love God's Word. You'll find Anne's daily blog, her messages, Bible studies, books, audio, and video that will enhance your study, your going forward that Anne spoke of today. Anne planned to join us again for Living in the Light.