When Jesus Observes Our Teaching

Pergamum was a city in ancient Asia Minor in what is now Turkey. Its giant pagan altar can now be seen in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin. In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus declared that Pergamum was the place where Satan dwells and a place rife with false teaching. Today, we'll see what the Lord himself says about the church in that city and what lessons we can take home for your church and mine.

Stay with us. From Chicago, this is The Moody Church Hour, a weekly service of worship and teaching with Pastor Erwin Lutzer. Today, we'll hear the fourth of eight messages on what Jesus thinks of his church. Later in our broadcast, Erwin Lutzer will speak on When Jesus Observes Our Teaching. The Moody Choir begins today's service.

Thank you! We ourselves, we ourselves, we ourselves, we ourselves, we are his call. In his quiet, God's grace is raising. Enter his gates to give him thanks.

You bear witness, you bear witness. And into his presence, you praise him, you praise him. You praise him, you praise him. Thank he give, thank he give, thank he give, thank he give.

Say his name and bless it, say his name and bless it, say his name and bless it. For the Lord is gracious, is gracious, is gracious, is loving kind, is loving kind, is loving kind, is truth and truth, is heaven, is heaven, is heaven, is heaven, is heaven, is truth, is truth, is heaven, is heaven, glory, glory to the Father, glory to the Father, and the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, as if God be gazing, God be glowing, heaven, love, and heaven, bigger more shall be forevermore. Amen.

Amen. Thank you so much, choir, for leading us in worship and reminding us that God's holy word, Psalm 100, which was sung, inspires us and leads us into the presence of Almighty God. In a moment, we're going to be standing and singing the hymn that is there in your bulletin. It's printed out, both the words and the music, at the name of Jesus. The point of contention today is the name of Jesus. But with the apostles, we say we shall not stop or cease speaking in the name of Jesus.

So be prepared to sing that. Our scripture reading today is by William Amati. William, for a number of years, has been one of our deacons here at The Moody Church. And as indicated, we shall have an opportunity to also participate. And then a little later on, just before the message, Pete LaLusa is going to bless us by singing about the ultimate triumph of Jesus. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. We're glad that you are here to worship with us, to enjoy this time, but most of all, to bless God through giving him all that we have, our attention, our worship, our hearts, because we love him and we are here to serve him. So I shall lead in prayer, and following the prayer, we shall stand to sing at the name of Jesus. Would you join me, please, as we pray? And now, Father, we ask in the name of Jesus, that name that is above every name, that you shall be here.

We know that you are because you're everywhere, but I mean, Lord, that you would come to reveal yourself to us, to remind us of your presence, to be here to lift burdens, to encourage the faint-hearted, to save those who need to be saved and to cause to repent those who need repentance. Lord, the list of what we need is great, but our focus is upon you. May we bless you because we give you our hearts and our obedience. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Amen. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Our scripture reading this morning is taken from Psalm 119 verses 33 through 40. I'll read the standard print.

Please join me on the bold print. Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and giving life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts. In your righteousness, give me life. There is no other name, Jesus the one we proclaim to all the world. The name above all names. Praise to God who said that the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Let heaven and earth proclaim the name of Jesus. And return, confess that Jesus is Lord, to God and the highest. There is no other name, Jesus the one we proclaim to all the world.

The name above all names. Praise to God who said that the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Let heaven and earth proclaim the name of Jesus. And return, confess that Jesus is Lord, to God and the highest.

King of kings and Lord of lords, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting fire, the prince of peace. Chairs of walls and lanterns, chases so proud to go, planting God's own power, everlasting fire above all names. Praise to God who said that the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Let heaven and earth proclaim the name of Jesus.

And return, confess that Jesus is Lord, to God and the highest. All hail the power of Jesus, great and profound, Lord of all. Glory to God and the highest.

Amen. I read in the Psalms, I think it was just last night before I went to bed, it says, all those who seek me will find me. Well, let's seek the Lord together. Our Father, we want to thank you today for your love and for your grace. We thank you that we can be here and that we can rejoice together. We thank you for our children and for that great ministry and for all who teach them, and for the many that are still needed to teach them and to be helpers in our children's ministry.

Lay that on the hearts of many people, we pray. We thank you, Father, today because our hope is in you. And Lord Jesus, I was reading in your word this past week in the Old Testament, word kept saying that there's a lamp in Jerusalem.

Oh, Father, we pray that there may be a lamp in Chicago. And as we think of the churches of Revelation, we think of the great message that you are going to teach us today through the church at Pergamum. Father, your word says repent, and we all want to do that.

We want to repent regularly, daily. And today we come to repent, to yield, to ask, Father, that couples within our church that are estranged would be brought together to provide a relationship between children and parents, Lord God, we pray. May there be forgiveness and understanding and grace.

We stand, oh Lord God, in great need. And Lord, even as we read your holy word, we want to pray the prayer that was read to us for ourselves. Teach me, oh Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep them to the end. Oh, Father, give us understanding that we might keep your law and observe it with our whole hearts.

Lead us in the path of your commandments. May we delight in them, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Praise him, oh creatures, give me hope. Praise him, oh lovely, give me hope. Praise the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

All fines, the day seems long. Our trials hard to gain. We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair. But Christ will soon appear to catch his blind way. All is forever over in God's eternal day. It will be worthy, Lord, when we see Jesus. When we see Christ.

What a glimpse of his dear face. All sorrow will erase, so bravely round the race, when we see Christ. Life's day will soon be old.

All storms forever past will cross the great divide. All glory saved at last will shed the choice of hand. Like a home crown, the tender world be vanished.

We lay our burden down. It will be worthy, Lord, when we see Jesus. Life's trial will seem so small when we see Christ. What a glimpse of dear this face. All sorrow will erase, so bravely round the race, when we see Christ.

Thank you so very, very much. And yes, it will be worth it all. As you well know, there's a war going on out there. It's a war of ideas. It's also a war of lifestyles.

And what people believe is supposed to guarantee or impact what they do, and usually it does, but sometimes it doesn't. I want you to open your Bibles to the second chapter of the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 2, because we're talking today about the church at Pergamum. Pergamum, which is about 50 miles north of Smyrna. It's a church that is prospering, and Jesus is there amid the candlesticks. As he says, he's walking along and he's giving his evaluation of the church. So with our Bibles open, let us simply look at four different snapshots of the church there in Pergamum. Verse 12, and to the angel of the church in Pergamum write to the words of him who has the sharp two edged sword. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is.

Wow. What is Satan's throne? Come with me to the ancient city of Pergamum and you will see a whole complex of temples. There is a temple to Athena and the snake goddess. There is a temple to Augustus and Roman emperor worship. And then the largest temple of them all is a temple to Zeus, very probably the throne of Satan. Maybe the whole complex was the throne of Satan, but that temple which stood there in the midst was huge and very impressive. In the 1920s, a Germany archaeologist went to Pergamum and they took the temple of Zeus apart piece by piece, brick by brick, stone by stone.

And they brought it to the city of Berlin and Berlin has today a Pergamum museum, which I've had the privilege of visiting on a number of occasions. And you can see this huge, huge altar. And you can walk up the stairs. And as I take groups of people on the stairs, I say, very probably you are walking here on Satan's seat from the city of Pergamum, the altar to the god Zeus, who I think is the father or at least was believed to be in mythology, the father of all the other gods. Jesus says, I know where you are.

You are where Satan's seat is. The headquarters of pagan religion. This was also the place, by the way, that was the Lourdes of its day. It supposedly had healing waters and people came from all over the country to be healed. And many of them, no doubt, were healed because there are many healings today in pagan religions.

Now, how did they do in the midst of a situation like that? Jesus goes on and says, I'm still in verse 13, you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith. Even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you were Satan dwells.

He says it again. Jesus said that in the midst of this, you did not deny my name. Think of the pressure that the church had, the pressure of broad mindedness, the feeling that we should worship all of these gods.

And on the way home from work, you stop at all of the temples to pay tribute to all of the gods. The church resisted that. The church also resisted the idea of an immoral kind of religion that says that we don't have to be redeemed or we can be redeemed in our own way because there is no fall in pagan religion.

Therefore, there is no redemption in pagan religion. And the church did not deny the name of Jesus in the midst of that pressure. The scripture says that you held fast to my name.

You still believe that I was the only way to the father. You believed in my uniqueness in the midst of this plurality of religion, in the midst of this religious tolerance and pressure. Because remember, those who did not obey sometimes were killed.

And we have the name of a martyr listed right here. Jesus says, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who died as a martyr, you were a faithful church. You did not deny, he says, the faith. List all of the doctrines of the Christian faith and this church would have believed them and Jesus commends them for it. Don't you wish that we could be like the church at Pergamum?

Well, so far. But now we come to the weakness of the church. And this is remarkable because what we really have is in the midst of doctrinal accuracy, you have tolerance of immorality.

You wouldn't expect it, would you? A church that prides itself in being true to the faith and believing the right things. But look at what Jesus has to say, because he's obviously not yet finished, is he? Look at the weakness of the church, verse 14.

But I have a few things against you actually, too, as they're given here. You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel so that they might eat food as sacrifice to idols and practice immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore, repent. What kind of a teaching was it that they are willing to tolerate? Jesus said that these kinds of teachings come from the teaching of Balaam.

Remember, in the Old Testament, it's in the Book of Numbers. It's a remarkable story. There was a king of Moab by the name of Balak. Don't get Balak and Balaam confused.

It happens that they are in the very same story. Balak was the king of Moab, and he hired Balaam, who was an occultist, to come and to curse Israel because Balak was afraid that if God blessed Israel, Moab was dead meat, so to speak. So he said, please come and curse Israel. So for a fee, Balaam decides that he's going to curse Israel. And while he's cursing Israel, some of the most remarkable blessings come from his mouth.

I shall see him, but not now. I shall behold him, but not nigh. A scepter shall arise out of Judah and a star out of Jacob. That came out of the mouth of Balaam, of all things, who is the quintessential example in the New Testament of a false prophet, which reminds us that there are false prophets and the airwaves is filled with them, and sometimes they say very good biblical things.

We live in a very confused world, don't we? But anyway, Balaam couldn't curse them. You know, he'd open his mouth and say, I want to curse Israel, and all the blessings would come.

So he said to Balak, he said, I can't curse them, I'm sorry, but he said, I do have an idea for you. Let's get the Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men and let's argue this way that Israel is under the covenant of God. They're under God's blessing. So because they have this covenant with God, they can kind of do whatever they like. Because God is going to accept them anyway, because God is faithful and they're under his blessing, and they are the people of the covenant.

So let us make sure that our women seduce their men and commit immorality. And even though they are under the covenant of God, you know what will happen, Balak? Balaam is saying, God may come along and judge them, and that's the only way we can get Israel weakened. I can't curse them, but if I get them to commit immorality and offer things sacrifice to idols, God will do it for us. He'll judge them. And you know, it says in the Bible that 24,000 people died because of this great sin.

Now imagine, here's Pergamum, a church with all the right doctrines and the right beliefs, and they have among them some who hold to the teaching of Balaam. Some who would say that if you're saved by grace, and I'm making this contemporary now, if you're saved by grace because of Jesus, you are eternally secure, therefore it is safe to sin. You don't have to worry about it. Grace will cover it. Grace will come along like an elastic band and stretch over your sin no matter what you do.

It's safe now to sin. And then Jesus says, you also have the Nicolaitans. We are not sure exactly who they are. There are several theories, but very probably for our purposes, let's just say this, that in the church at Ephesus, it's very interesting, Jesus said, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Here in the church in Pergamum, the Nicolaitans are accepted. They are woven into the congregation and they are a part of the teaching of Balaam. It may well be that the teaching is that of Balaam, but the teachers who taught it were known as the Nicolaitans. Very clearly, the Nicolaitans were immoral.

We know that much. So Jesus says, you know, on the one hand, I commend your accuracy and your willingness to actually suffer for my name, but you are tolerating within the congregation the idea that you can commit immorality and still walk with God. And there are many different ways that people justify that and the fact that because you're under the covenant of God, that sin isn't as bad as it would be otherwise. There was a woman who came to her pastor who said, you know, I'm living in sin, but but it's not that bad.

I'm a Christian. And he said very wisely, it is worse because you are a Christian. It is worse. It's not better.

It's worse. So we see here the weakness of the church. Let's hurry on and look at the warning to the church. Now I'm in verse 16 where Jesus says, therefore repent.

If not, I will come to you soon and will war against them with the sword of my mouth. Jesus is saying you have to repent. To repent means a change of mind. It means a change of direction.

It means that we now go in the opposite way. That's what repentance is. It's an humble acknowledgment of sin. It is when God makes us so miserable in our sin that we are willing to put up with anything.

To get fully right with him. That's what really leads to repentance. Sometimes it is said, well, you know, I've had people say to me regarding a certain situation, do you think that this person has seen the light? Well, my experience has been that people do not change when they have seen the light. We as human beings only change when we feel the heat. Then we change. It takes more than light.

There are people with tons of light walking in grave darkness. And so what God does is he says, you know, you have to repent. You have to lay your sins down.

You have to come to me in repentance. And then he says these words. And isn't it startling to see that the image of Jesus in the seven churches is so radically different and actually throughout the whole Book of Revelation. It's so radically different than the image of Jesus that the world today has. The world today thinks, well, you know, wasn't Jesus just saying we should love everybody and that's kind of the end of it. And didn't he love everybody?

Yeah, he loved everybody. But this is the same Jesus. And he says, if not, I will come to you.

And what did he say? And war against you. I personally don't want to be at war with Jesus. But he says, I will come and war against them with the sword of my mouth. Now, now is the time for us to comment on verse 12 and to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write the words of him who has the sharp two edged sword. What is the two edged sword?

If you were to ask Augustine, the great philosopher and theologian of the third and fourth centuries, really, I guess he lived in the fifth. He would say that it was the Old Testament and the New Testament, because the word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of the sunder of the soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Well, the sword is the word of God.

It says in the 19th chapter of Revelation that Jesus is coming and the sword of his word is coming out of his mouth. And later on, you have the great battle and the great victory that Jesus won. Now, it's interesting that the word of God does many things to us. The word of God cleanses us.

Now you're clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. The word of God saves us being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the living word of God, which lives and abides forever. It has an effect upon us. It encourages us.

It blesses us. But the same word that does all that also judges us. And the same gospel that has transformed us is the same gospel that is going to judge us. I was rereading this this morning, as I always do, before I am preaching here.

I get here early to the church and think through my message and read the text many times. And I was astounded by the fact that the same Bible that talks so much about grace is so incredibly intolerant when it comes to sin. Have you ever noticed that? I mean, all this grace out there.

Yeah, that's wonderful. And then so intolerant about sin. But thankfully, it isn't just intolerant about sin. It shows us the way, doesn't it? So then you have the warning, repent or else, or I will judge you with the sword of my mouth. This is the meek and mild Jesus.

Finally, what is the reward to the overcomers? Verse 17, he says, Now he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I've commented on this before and reminded you that there are many people who hear the words, but they don't have an ear to hear.

The words are there, but the heart is somewhere else. Whoever has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. The hidden manna. What is the hidden manna? The hidden manna, of course, is Jesus Christ.

Because the Bible tells us that he is the bread of God that came down from heaven to give his life for the world. He is the hidden one, yes, but he has been revealed and we come and we eat of that bread and we drink of that cup. So he's the hidden manna. And he says, I will give to him the hidden manna because there's a secret connected with it in conjunction with the overcomer.

Look at the second blessing or reward. He says, I will have a new name written on a stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. What is the new name? Lots of speculation. Speculation about the white stone, people going back into culture and history to try to find out what it is.

We'll look at it very simply. What Jesus is saying is that I'm going to give you this new name and I don't think it'll be a new name for us. We're probably stuck with the name our parents gave us. But it is a new name about Jesus.

In fact, to the Church of Philadelphia, Jesus says, I believe that that's the text. He says, I will give you my new name and no one is going to know the name I give you except you. Your wife won't. The person standing next to you in the choir of heaven. And by the way, Jerry, that's when all of us get to sing.

Thank you very much. The person standing next to you in the choir of heaven will not know. Just you and me. What we're talking about here is that in heaven, it isn't going to just be, you know, this massive humanity, and we are one number on God's computer. There is going to be such intimacy with Jesus that only you and he will really know what is going on between the two of you and no one else will know it. That's why it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

Life's trials will seem so small when we see him. Imagine what Jesus is willing to give the overcomers. And Jesus is saying, you have to overcome. You have to overcome doctrinally, most assuredly.

The church did that. But you also have to overcome morally. And in your walk with God, you must be an overcomer.

If not, I will come and I will judge you with the sword of my mouth and I will war against you. You notice how in the Bible, there are really only two categories of people. It has nothing to do with black or white, rich or poor, educated or uneducated. It has to do with overcomers and those who follow God and those who don't.

And the line is clear. Some things that we need to think about as we think about this passage in relationship to us transforming observations. Number one, as you look at the text, you realize that Satan is the one who stands back of all false religion. I know where you dwell, where Satan's seat is. Back behind those temples to Athena. Back behind the temple to Zeus.

Back behind all of the sacrifices that went on. There is an intelligent, powerful, evil, malicious, deceiving spirit called the devil. And back behind all the television shows that have to do with the occult charmed and all those other things that young people listen to. Back behind there is the devil and back behind all false worship is Satan.

Remember, I told you in the last message that primarily when you're trying to find the devil, you should go to church or the synagogue or the mosque. That's his place to deceive, to mislead, and to misdirect. And the bottom line here is that that means that we are in a very spiritual battle.

It's not just a war of ideas because all the good arguments are on our side. It's a spiritual battle with a spirit who wants to have a religion that is completely in harmony with the person's desires. It is desire driven theology.

I want God to be this way, therefore God is this way. Now if you were to go to visit these places, these seven churches, what you would find in at least two or three instances is this interesting fact. That beside these temples, these complex pagan temples, beside them is a church.

Sometimes right next to them. Now let's take a moment to folks today. Let's think about that. How should we interpret that? There are two ways to interpret it. One is to say that the church was so much a part of their culture and a part of false religion that they said we can worship right next to you because we're happy with what's going on next door. That's one way to interpret it, that the church succumbed to the culture and absorbed the culture and therefore was not a threat to pagan religion.

But there's a second way to interpret it, and that is a more optimistic and hopeful way. And I hope that this was true, that what the church was saying is this. We want to plant a church right next to the throne of Satan. That's where we want to be. Show us where the devil is and that's where we want the church to be. Because we want to invade his space. We want to invade his space and we want to show that right in the midst of the most demonic place, that's where the church can be.

Separate from the culture in terms of belief and lifestyle, but not separate from the culture geographically or in terms of our ministry. Right smack in the middle of where it's happening. Show us the place where Satan is most active in the city of Chicago. That's where we want to be, right there, right where the devil works over time, right in the drug culture. We think, for example, of some of the housing projects, and that's why we thank God so much for By the Hand Club for Children.

Right in the most hopeless, difficult situation. We want to be there and to say this is where we have a church. This is where the gospel goes out. But I want you to be aware that when we talk about preaching the gospel and sharing in our culture, we are speaking about nothing less than spiritual warfare.

We're going into enemy territory, and it seems from time to time as if all of America is drifting towards enemy territory. I don't want to have a negative view, but when you find the name of Jesus so maligned and when you find the church marginalized and all public expressions of Christianity in the so-called public square criminalized, you know that we have a wonderful, God-given, glorious challenge ahead of us. And that is to see the glory of God even in the midst of a culture that no longer has even respect for Jesus. So remember, all false religion back of it is Satan, Satan's throne. There's a second lesson that's very important, and that is this doctrinal accuracy, doctrinal accuracy can never be a substitute for moral purity. Doctrinal accuracy cannot be a substitute for moral purity. You can't say, well, I believe and defend Jesus. You know, there have been those who have been defenders of the faith, and usually they're very, very particular in all of their defenses. Nevertheless, and now I'm bringing it down not just to a church, but to an individual. Very often within their secret life, there is rot.

And you'd never know it. Because Jesus might say of them, you know, you're holding fast my name. You did not deny my faith. You were willing to put up with persecution. You were even on hand when my faithful witness Antipas was killed.

But I have this against you. You're tolerating immorality in your life. Repent, therefore, or I will come to you quickly and war against you with the sword of my mouth. I need to say it very clearly today, folks, just because we're under grace, that does not mean that it is safe to sin. Just because we're the covenant people does not mean that it is safe to sin.

The two things in scripture that I've referred to the wonder of grace and the other is the wonder of this intolerance for sin. Wasn't it Augustine, the great theologian who, when he was converted, he he had a mistress. And he knew that he had to give that up. And he prayed one time and said something.

Oh, God, I seek deliverance. But that, of course, didn't change his lifestyle. Then he prayed and said, Oh, God, deliver me, but not now.

Do it at a later time. But until the Holy Spirit of God worked mightily in his life and he couldn't take it anymore. He finally said, God, deliver me and do it now.

My wife and I know a woman who used to be a prostitute. And she told us this story that when she was in a brothel, she frequently prayed, Oh, God, get me out of here. She prayed with tears. God, get me out of here. God didn't get her out of there until she was so desperate. She said she got on all fours, hands and knees, and said, God, either get me out of here or kill me right now.

But do one or the other. Kill me or else get me out of here. That was the day she walked out of the brothel, never to return.

She's wonderfully married to a Christian husband and God is blessing her life. You see, there is that point of desperation. And Jesus is saying to us today, I know, I know. Which will you do? Repent, therefore, or I will come and declare war against you. Wow. You're ready to pray?

I guess that's easy to do. I should really ask, are you ready to repent? Let's pray. Father, we ask in Jesus name that you might use this wonderful letter. With its marvelous promise of intimacy with Jesus. Imagine his new name that no one else shall ever know, but just Jesus and me. Give us that vision, Father, of what you have provided.

Give us the vision. Lord, we pray to respond in faith and in holiness to your word. And now before I close this prayer, and after we've closed the prayer, we shall sing.

But before we do that, I want a time of silence. What is it that you need to say to God? And by the way, if you've never received Jesus as your savior, the good news of the gospel is that this Jesus that I preached about today actually saves sinners and forgives your sin and cleanses you and brings you into God's presence and declares you to be righteous. You know who you are if you need to receive Christ. You and Jesus know it, don't you?

You respond to him right now. Our Father, we think today of the church at Pergamum and know that it no longer exists. And we ask that you shall help us to repent, that future generations will be able to benefit from our impact, that we might be faithful, and that we might be found faithful to pass on the torch to others, that The Moody Church and other churches that are listening may be able to pass on to the next generation their commitment, their zeal, and their faith. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

That prince that we leave, lead them to believe, and the lives we live, inspire them to obey. O may all who come behind us find us faithful. O may all who come behind us find us faithful. May the fire of the ocean light their way. May the poor prince that we leave, lead them to grieve, and the lives we live inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us find us faithful. On today's Moody Church Hour, Pastor Lutzer spoke on When Jesus Observes Our Teaching, taken from Revelation chapter 2, the fourth of eight messages on what Jesus thinks of his church. Next week, we'll learn about a message to the church at Thyatira, as we hear Dr. Lutzer preach on When Jesus Observes Our Holiness. What Jesus thinks of his church can be yours on CD for a gift of any amount to The Moody Church Hour. Call 1-800-215-5001. Let us know you'd like to support Moody Church's ministry.

Our thank you to you is a CD album with eight powerful messages you can hear and then pass on to others. Call 1-800-215-5001 or you can write to us at Moody Church Media, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Online, go to moodyoffer.com. That's moodyoffer.com. Join us next time for another Moody Church Hour with Pastor Erwin Lutzer and the congregation of historic Moody Church in Chicago.