Long-Suffering Community (Part 3 of 3)

Jesus never promised to spare his people from suffering. Today on Truth for Life, we'll learn what he did promise and how his promises help us persevere, no matter the circumstances we face. Here's Alistair Begg concluding our study in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. Let's beware of thinking in compartmentalized terms.

Let's beware of thinking that we're without spring harvest. That's a kind of spiritual venture, but we're going back to the bank, which is, of course, a completely secular venture that we're here on Sunday, and we brought out the file, brought it out, put it in the laptop, and brought it up on the screen. Religious file, religious activities, religious thoughts, religious aspirations.

Take that file out, insert another file. Now let's go back into the world where we live the rest of our lives. Not at all. There is an inherent danger in coming to an event like this and listening to the things that are said by people like myself who essentially have our callers turned around the wrong way. If we're not very, very careful, we can fall foul of suggesting to the gathered community that there is a way to really serve God, which is to do it the way we are doing it. And then, of course, if you want a kind of secondary way to serve God, then you can just get on with your business and be a good faithful mom and a loyal school teacher and so on. However, if you're prepared to get really serious, then you know you can come and join the ranks of the funny people. Well, you're welcome to join the ranks of the funny people. We'd be glad to have more, but the fact of the matter is, be faithful now.

Be faithful where you are. My mother, I never heard her pray out loud. Even when we had prayer times in our home, she never prayed. She was a very quiet lady. But she was a great baker. She was a wonderful listener. She had a fantastic sense of humor. She prayed for her children.

And God took her home at the age of 47. I have fought the fight. I have kept the faith. I've run the race. Now there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. That's what he says. Don't be afraid.

Be faithful and realize that there is a crown that awaits you. Okay, I'm going to give you the cheat sheet on the church at Philadelphia then, all right? These are the things you buy at the Shakespeare plays in WH Smith. When you don't want to read the whole play, you just read the wee book. Well, I'm going to give you now this, the wee book version for Philadelphia, and then we're done. You will notice, if you're careful, that there are distinct similarities between what is said to Smyrna and what is said to Philadelphia, because there are distinct similarities between the two. There is no complaint offered in Smyrna.

There is none offered in Philadelphia. He says, I know that you have little strength, but you've kept my word and you have not denied my name. And we could spend time there, but we really did quite a bit on that yesterday. Remember when we thought about the previous church? They were true to his name and they did not forsake the faith.

Also, you will notice that Philadelphians were like the Smyrnas in that they were opposed by the Jewish population. Jesus tells the church that if it will boldly march through the door that he's opening for them, then there will actually be converts from among this opposition party, these people who are slandering you, these people who are opposing you. He says, if you will seize the opportunity that I am about to present to you, if you will be bold in your proclamation, if you will not crumble in fear, if you will be faithful to the calling, then I want you to know that by the power of my spirit and the might of my word, those who are your opponents will become your friends and your family. And in Philadelphia, as in Smyrna, they were confronted by the threat of future tribulation. These people in Philadelphia recognizing that the storm clouds are gathering might have been tempted simply to circle the wagons, to sound the retreat, to convince themselves that given all that they are confronted by, this is not a good time for evangelism, this is not a good time for outreach.

And so the risen Christ urges them with the promise not to spare them from suffering, you will note, but to uphold them when they face it. Just last evening, a friend gave me a copy of Richard Bue's little book on Revelation. It's really helpful. I wish he gave it to me on Saturday. And so do you. But anyway, when I went to my bedroom last night and I read it, I said, maybe I could just get up there and read this tomorrow.

It would be briefer and probably a lot more helpful. But anyway, I read it and I decided I would steal the best from it and then admit it. And so here it is. In the section where he deals with Philadelphia, he points out very helpfully that there are three symbols mentioned in these verses and he just gives a sentence or two on each.

Let me try and follow his example. He draws attention to the key in verse seven. The key in verse seven, which is a symbol of Christ's authority. These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.

You need to check for homework in Isaiah 22, 22 to get a context for this. This key, which Jesus alone is able to have, if you like, like the steward in Isaiah 22 fastened to his shoulder. Jesus is the one who is able to wield this key, which opens the way to salvation. We're about to sing, there was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the door of heaven and let us in.

Why? Because he is the one who holds the key of David. It opens the way to salvation. And it is the same key that opens the door to service, which is, of course, what he is saying to these dear people, what he is saying to us this morning. This key opens the door in to salvation and opens the door out to service. So the key, symbol one, of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ goes in the lock, which is in the door, symbol number two. The door, a symbol of the opportunity for the follower of Christ. The key, which Jesus holds to salvation and to service, opens the door of opportunity to each of us. And once we have walked through the narrow gate that leads to life, we discover that it is a life of service.

I beseech you, brethren, says Paul in Romans 12, remember, I beseech you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of spiritual worship. I remember Eric Alexander preaching on that so powerfully when I was just a young man, and he was uncharacteristically using alliteration. And I never forgot it. I wrote it down, and it was anchored from that point. But he said that the sacrifice that we offered then in response to the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross was a living, lasting, logical sacrifice. The word in Greek is logikos, which is where we get in the King James Version, your reasonable service, your logical service. There is a logic that attaches to this.

C.T. Studd understood it when he wrote in his diary, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice that I could ever make for him could ever be too great. The door of opportunity swings before us. The Philadelphia church had the chance it would seem to spread the gospel far and wide into the interior of the Roman jurisdictions. The good news of God's grace, of God's kingdom, the door is open. They may go through it.

They must go through it. There is actually far more freedom of opportunity, I think, in the United Kingdom than there is in the United States for the gospel. You can still in schools conduct services, can't you?

The local minister can go in and actually say something. So pray for him that he will say something rather than just dribble down his chin. Because the games teacher is standing at the back. He's a young man. He takes them out on the field. He has questions about life. He's working out his existence, and he stands at the back, and he listens. And he wonders if the establishment, if religion, if this Christian thing is anything to see. And some poor soul comes in and just utters a bunch of benign platitudes. And the children are all sitting like this, waiting for him to go. And the games teacher makes a mental note, forget that.

It's not there. I must go to the bookstore. Perhaps there is something in Zen Buddhism after all, something that is a bit of a bite to it, a good Stilton cheese religion, not this dreadful American cheese stuff, this wimpy cheese. No, no. You say, well, that's not very nice. I know it's not very nice, but not everything has to be nice.

If the cap fits, wear it. We're not talking about being bombastic. We're talking about being imaginative. We're talking about being creative.

We're talking about having our one foot in the Bible and our other foot in the culture and being able to blend our understanding of what's going on around us with our understanding of the biblical text. And if we do it imaginatively, humbly, sensitively, creatively, not only will children listen, but the school teachers will take us aside afterwards and they'll say, excuse me, I'd like an opportunity, if I may, just to talk to you because my mother-in-law is in the hospital and she has cancer, and frankly, I have no explanation for what's going on and I have no hope in the world. Perhaps you could tell me. It seems to me that you have direct contact with Jesus, who is apparently the resurrection and the life of first and the last. And you say, well, yes, I actually do.

And I'd be glad to have coffee with you. Symbol one, a key. Symbol two, a door. Symbol three, and the final symbol, a pillar. The key represents the authority of Christ, the door represents the opportunity of the follower of Christ, and the pillar is a symbol of the believer's security in Christ. God is putting together a temple. It's not a man-made structure.

It's not going to appear in this world. The Jews were constantly focused on Jerusalem and their temple. Oh, goodness, our temple fell down. We have to build it again. But no, Jesus is building with different materials. He's building a new temple.

The component parts are Christian believers. They are the living stones built together, as Peter says, into a spiritual temple, being put together in such a fashion that we will be the habitation of the Spirit of God, Ephesians 2.2. If you like, I may say so reverently, God is working with a gigantic spiritual Lego set and he is putting together this amazing building and this amazing creation. And in this phenomenal mixture of metaphors, we discover that as we look forward, we're going to be a pillar in the park.

I said to myself this morning as I walked out, I don't know how to put all these metaphors together. Now the people say, well, I'm going to end up a pillar in the park. I'm going to be a pillar in paradise.

I'm going to be a sponsored pillar. I'm going to have names all over me written on the back and the front of my shirt. I'm going to have the name of God. I'm going to have the name of the New Jerusalem. I'm going to bear the name of Christ.

Well, it's a metaphor, of course. What prospect to become a pillar? Lot's wife became a pillar.

That doesn't appeal. What he's saying is when I build this temple, I'm going to build it with people. And if you will be an overcomer, if you will take the key, saved, serving, if you will walk through the door of opportunity, then you can look forward to being a part of this.

It's a wonderful picture. In the course of pastoral duties in Scotland, in the years when I was assistant to Derek Prime, two of the most formative years of my life and for which I will eternally be grateful, I visited all sorts of people. People who had strokes and one lady in particular stood out because of the loveliness of her face and the kindness of her eyes and the fact that she'd been so dreadfully impaired by the stroke that she was now unable to verbalize anything at all, but she still could get some kind of melodic line out. And her sister, who knew her very well, and her brother-in-law were usually present when I would visit. And on one occasion that I was there, she managed to get out the little melody line that went... And her sister said, do you know that one? I said, yes. She said, well, then let us sing it. And so we sang, the three of us, dreadful trio.

And here's this lady, stroke ridden, paralyzed down the one side, constantly having her mouth dabbed by the loving care of her sister, unable to verbalize it, but in her heart and through her eyes, recognizing that through this experience of suffering, that's where she was going. Well, our time is more than gone, isn't it? Let's recap.

An open door, standing for the church's opportunity, a key, a symbol of Christ's authority, and a pillar, a picture of the conqueror's security. I want to say this before you all run off for your children. Some of us have got more behind us than we've got in front of us, time-wise. When you're five and your birthday comes around, it seems forever, doesn't it? When you're five and a year goes by, 20% of your life went by. When you're 50 and a year goes by, 2% of your life just went by. And I wonder if there isn't something in the biological clock, you know, that registers this, and that's why it makes us think the older we get, that time is actually passing quicker.

It's going at the exact same speed, but we have this perception of it running through our hands. And some of us who have been born a little early and lived a little longer are tempted to say, you know, well, we'll just turn around and leave it to the group that are coming behind. After all, look at all these wonderful young people here. They have got so much, you know, in front of them. Yeah, but we must run all the way to the end. We must continue. There's no sitting in the grass.

There's no throwing ourselves down on the field. Are you prepared to give yourselves again unreservedly to walk through the door of opportunity? To say, Lord Jesus Christ, anywhere, anytime, anyone, I'm yours. To take those little choruses from your childhood and sing them as you're driving in the car, Lord, send me, here am I, send me. I want to be greatly used of thee.

Across the street or across the sea, Lord, send me. I mentioned that my favorite film is Chariots of Fire. The best part of Little's story is not in the film.

Perhaps in another film, it will be. When he came back to Edinburgh after winning gold and setting a new world record in the 400 meters in the 1924 Olympics in Paris, they asked him what was the key to his success in the 400 meters. He thought for a moment and then he said, I run the first 200 as fast as I can. And with God's help, I run the second 200 even faster.

And someone said, well, I'm in the second 200. Yeah, so do you think you get to slow down? Speed it up. Speed it up.

There are people coming behind. And you young people, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? What are you going to do with yourselves?

That's the great question. On the evening that Little left Edinburgh, Little left from Edinburgh Waverly Station. And when he was settled on the train and put his case in the compartment, he came back out to the door and he let down with the leather thing.

Remember, we used to jam your fingers and the wee brass bits that you hooked it on, on the holes. And your mother said, careful. And they said, ah, aw.

Right? So he let it down very carefully as a sensible chap. And now he's going to China. Now he was fulfilling this other part of the picture. The great vision before him, the vision of Revelation 7. He had seen a company that no man could number, that would gather from every tribe and nation. And he realized that in the giving of his life now, and what a wonderful fellow he was in the sporting world, in that missionary school and so on. What an impact on the lives of so many people. But in giving his life now, he was doing so in order that he might see the glorious vision of the risen Christ, the expectation of the Lamb in all his glory brought to fruition his heart by his willingness to walk through the door of opportunity.

And history records that he put his head out through the window. And to the vast gathered crowd he shouted, Christ for the world, for the world needs Christ. And then he led them in the singing of the hymn. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun. Loth his successive journeys run, his kingdom stretch from shore to shore, till moon shall wax and wane no more. He had walked in to salvation and was walking out to service. Do you remember where we began? The Bible reader, the letter said, will expound the text but will also focus on Christ revealed in the text.

I've tried my best. Let us consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Let us run with patience the race marked out for us, setting aside every sin, the things that trip us up and entangle us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Suffering is indeed an inevitable part of a Christian's life, but we can persevere in faith as we trust in Christ, who has promised he will uphold us. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. Alistair will be back in just a minute to close today's program with prayer. Today is the last day in our series titled Letters from the Risen Christ.

Alistair ended today by asking if we are prepared to commit our lives to Jesus. And if you'd like to know more about what that means, we want to recommend to you a couple of short videos. One is a brief talk from Alistair explaining the gospel.

The other is an animated feature titled The Story. You'll find both videos at truthforlife.org slash learn more. You'll also find several suggestions for additional teaching from Alistair about Jesus and the Bible, about church, about the basics of Christianity.

Again, the website is truthforlife.org slash learn more. If you are already a follower of Jesus, we want to recommend to you a book titled Mere Evangelism, 10 Insights from C.S. Lewis to Help You Share Your Faith. The author of this book is an evangelist who became a believer after reading C.S. Lewis's well-known book Mere Christianity. He was so impressed by Lewis's effective presentation of the gospel that he began to analyze Lewis's approach. The book Mere Evangelism explores 10 specific strategies used by Lewis to compel others to consider the Christian faith. These are approaches that you can adapt to your own style as you share the gospel with others. Request the book Mere Evangelism when you give a donation at truthforlife.org slash donate.

Or you can give us a call at 888-588-7884. Our mission at Truth for Life is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance. One of the outcomes that stems from this mission is that local churches are strengthened. As pastors are able to hear Alistair's preaching on this program, our prayer is they will be encouraged to faithfully preach the gospel in their own local churches. We recently had a number of pastors and local church leaders joining us for the Basics Conference. In fact, if you can remember to keep those who were here with us in your prayers, I'm sure they would be grateful.

Ask God to help them apply all they learned while they were here. The conference sessions can be revisited online at basicsconference.org. And as an additional learning tool for pastors, there's a free course titled The Basics of Pastoral Ministry.

It's available on our website. This study provides instruction from Alistair for how to lead a congregation, how to preach expositionally, how to make the gospel central in every message. There are other sessions in the course as well that cover topics important for church leadership.

All four modules and the corresponding online study guides are accessible for free at truthforlife.org. Search for the basics of pastoral ministry when you go to our website. Now here's Alistair with a closing prayer. Father God, write your word upon our hearts. Make the Lord Jesus increasingly precious to us and give us a heart of compassion. Forgive our limited vision, forgive our benign mumblings.

Vanish from our recollection what is unkind, unhelpful, untrue, unclear, unnecessary. And may we retain only and all that you desire for us from your word and by your spirit. For we pray in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we'll learn how God reveals himself continually to everyone throughout the earth, even those who've never read the Bible. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.