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Some of Jesus' warnings to the churches of Asia in Revelation two and three were nothing less than shocking.
So, are you ready to be shocked? Then stay with us, listen, and learn. You're listening to "Until He Comes," a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hinnant, author of "The Second Coming of Christ," His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation, and now author and teacher Greg Hinnant. Welcome to the program, my friend.
In our previous episode, we talked about the Sovereign Judge's legal opinions. That is. What Jesus had to say in his judgments of the churches of Israel was quite explicit, and I would say surprising, if not shocking, in some of the statements that he made. We're going to read some today that will shock you, and then we talked about his notable refrains. To each of the seven churches, Jesus made these three statements: "I know your works." Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
And to him that overcomes, and he then promised a great blessing.
Now today we want to move forward, and note that Jesus sovereignly charged the five churches of Asia to repent, and two he did not charge in this way.
So. What does this mean to us?
Well, it could mean, if we parallel it to our situation today, that five of every seven churches have some serious correction issues.
Now, is that is that absolute? No, I wouldn't say that that's absolute. But I would say that these messages to the churches of Asia do indeed parallel the condition of the churches in any given. Period of the Church Age, I think many expositors agree with that viewpoint.
Now, they don't always apply to every church, obviously, but every church will find its representation in Revelation two or three. I think we can say that definitively. And so, with that in mind, since five of the seven churches were corrected or even rebuked by Christ, we should pay attention to what He said. Why he said it, and what that means to us. With that in mind, let's first of all note these five correction issues and what Jesus said.
He said to one church, he would remove the witness. To another, he would execute continuing sinners in their midst with his sword of judgment. He said to another, he would execute impenitent sinners. By his penal judgments during the seven-year tribulation, he said to another, "They would miss the secret coming of the thief in the night, which is a clear reference to the rapture." And to another, he would expose them as naked, and we'll talk about what that means.
Now, these are powerful warnings. No one would want to hear these. And let me make the point clear now: Jesus didn't say this to Christians who just had a bad day. Perhaps fell into sin on one occasion. Perhaps had a teaching that wasn't quite orthodox, and then corrected it, or in some other way sinned and came short of his will, or his guidance, or his calling, or what he ordered them to do in the ministry or in missions.
No, these were warnings. To churches and Christians in those churches who stubbornly refused to repent and correct the issues that he raised with them, in these two chapters, Revelation two and three, we're seeing Jesus in judgment mode. This is the whole core message of this series. You've seen Jesus in every type of role. You've seen him as the healer, the deliverer, the teacher, the preacher, the counselor, and many other roles.
But we don't think of him in judgment mode. Even though during the first advent we had clear examples of Jesus in judgment mode. When he went into the temple twice, not once but twice, he set things in divine order because they were out of divine order. This is really the essence. Of what we're teaching here, and Jesus in judgment mode, Jesus comes in and examines and assesses, and He is the one to do it.
He's the most upright, godly, spiritual, Christ-like—excuse me, godlike—figure in Christian history. He is God in the flesh.
So he, like no other, has a right to do this.
So here we have his assessments of the churches of Asia, and we're looking particularly at the five that he issued stern warnings to.
Now this is the Jesus that we don't feel like we like, but friends, we need to know this Jesus now, because we will face him at the judgment seat of Christ. We want that to be a wonderful time where he truly says to us.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
Enter thou into the joy, of your Lord. But friends, he's not going to say that to every Christian. We need to understand it now. To the church of Ephesus, Jesus made this statement in Revelation two verse five. This is a powerful statement.
Remember, therefore, from whence you have fallen. And repent, meaning change the mind, with such strength the whole life is reordered. And do the first works. Here's clear instructions. The way of repentance was to go back and do the first works again, or else.
Okay, now here comes the warning.
Now, friends, we can't just take part of the word and reject the other. We've got to take it all, embrace the whole of every verse of the Bible, or else, he said. I will come unto you quickly, and I will remove your candlestick, lampstand is often, as it is often translated. I will remove your lampstand out of its place.
So to this church, which was the mother church of Asia, the first that was founded, it was the central church there. He noted that. They no longer had the devotional fire for him that they once had. Other things had entered in. They meant more to them than him, and he had noticed a distinct decline in their devotional worship and praise, and the time they spent with him.
Now their works were exquisite. Nothing could be said against their works. They had their ministry in order. Their ministries were. Steady, strong, even flourishing, but at the heart, in their secret mind and soul, they were drying up.
Perhaps even dead. He called the Sardis Church dead. They knew they weren't where they once were. They knew they were not where they once, where they now could be. Jesus noted it, but nobody else did.
That may describe you today or your church. Oh, everything seems to be going along. You know, A. W. Tozer commented in the early nineteen sixty s that it disturbed him that the church had learned to operate on its own steam.
You know, if you could just deliver a good sermon. If you can just put that suit on just right, or today put that golf shirt on just right, whatever you your attire is. If you're snappy, if you're zippy, if you know how to lead the hymns, if you know how to do the singing, if you know how to say "God bless you, sir," "God bless you, ma'am," look religious, sound religious, you can get on with the work of the church. Particularly if you have a good personality. But in the Bible, the church is an extension of Jesus Himself.
He is the head of the church, and the body are those persons who believe on Him with their whole heart, and they consequently throb with His life. They are in tune with Him. His Word is there. Law, in a sense, in that it's all authoritative to them, they delight to obey His word, and they're doing what He tells them to do.
So that kind of a church is never going to be corrected in this way by Him, because they will not lose their first love. But if you have lost it today, just do what he says here. Repent and do the first works. And the first step of repentance is very simple: acknowledge your sin. Say, Lord, you know what?
I don't love you like I once did. I don't really want to spend time with you in the mornings like I once did. I don't want to read your word like I once did. I don't pray as often as I once did.
Something's wrong with me, Lord.
Now, if you pray that kind of a prayer, I'll tell you what—you're not going to shock Jesus. Because guess what? Get ready now—he already knows it. Yes, he doesn't need your confession to find out what your life is like. He already knows it.
So you're not shocking him.
So I encourage you to take that path today. If you find yourself like the Ephesians, having lost your first love. Then he said to a church at Pergamum something else. Let's read chapter two, verse sixteen. Jesus said to this church that had in its midst those who were living immorally and teaching that it was fine to do so, that grace would cover their immoral acts.
That what they did in their bodies did not affect their soul. This, of course, was the extension from the teaching called Gnosticism, and that from Greek philosophy. He said to them in verse sixteen, "Repent." Same message. Change your mind is so strongly that you change your whole life. Or else, there he goes again.
Jesus is not just telling us what to do. He's going to give an or else. Do you remember when you were a boy or a girl in your home, and your dad or your mom said, "Okay, now get that homework done, or else. Cut the grass, or else. You make that bed.
You've been not been making it for a week now. Make it, or else." And immediately they mentioned some loss of privilege or other form of corrective punishment. That's because they loved you, and they didn't want you to fail to do the duties you should do in life, or be slothful, or be messy. They were trying to train you in the ways of the Lord.
So they told you what to do, and then they added, or else. Or else, Jesus is doing that here with this church at Pergamos, which had in its midst a very strong remnant. Oh my goodness! They had gone through persecution faithfully. Even one of them, Antipas, Jesus mentions in my name, had been executed.
Tradition says that he was placed in a bronze bull. They had those big bronze bull that was in the temple of Zeus, and they put him in there. And they lit a fire under him and scorched him to death. Oh my goodness! If such a thing would happen to many churches, the Christians would clear out, and that would be the end of that church.
But not so at Pergamus. They held on. They were strong. They had a core of strong believers who were committed all the way, faithful to the death. But they had another faction.
That was practicing the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and Jesus said, "I hate that." Why? Because immorality destroys spirituality. Listen to that: immorality destroys spirituality. Today, we see it in pornography, extramarital affairs, and mainly, I think it's safe to say that the main example of this today is people just. Cohabiting, the younger generation has seen their parents and their grandparents divorced, and they stand back and think, and they say, "I don't want any part of that." So they just live together.
Maybe you're just living together with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
Now you call them your fiance. You think that covers it? It does not. It does not. God will judge fornicators, but those who marry, we're told in the book of Hebrews.
Honor God, and He will honor them. Why? Because the institution of marriage is ordained for our blessing, and when anyone marries, they, in a sense, by doing so, honor God.
Now, back to the text: Repent, or else," he said to the Christians, the faction at Progamas that was indulging sin. He said, "Or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth." What's he talking about? The sword of my mouth. You see, he had just said earlier that he was the one who held the sword. He said, "Listen to this statement.
This is an amazing statement. These things saith he who has the sharp sword with two edges." Verse twelve. What's he talking about?
Well, in Pergamus, the Roman governor of the province of Asia had his residence, and he held the sword of capital punishment over the people. And when there would be a parade, often before the litter which carried the governor. A Roman soldier would go ahead of him with a giant sword, holding it up to show the people, and they got the message: the man following me has the power of the sword of a you. That is, he can cut your head off. He can execute you by if you're not a Roman citizen.
He can execute you by crucifixion. He has the power of capital punishment. You better fear. Him, what Jesus says here, that He has the sharp sword, and He says His sword has two edges. Oh, my goodness, we only thought it had one.
Friends, this is the same sword that's mentioned in Revelation nineteen fifteen, where Jesus emerges, and we see there. That he has a sword coming out of his mouth. My goodness, it's the same sword. It's not a different sword. Listen to what John said, as he sees Jesus coming from the heavens at Armageddon and releasing a sword of judgment on those who have defied him and taken the mark of the beast and come out literally, knowingly, intentionally, actually to fight Christ.
Militarily, what madness! He says, "The Bible says, and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword." That's exactly what he said to the church at Pergamus, that it should with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.
Now he goes on to say in verse nineteen that excuse me. In verse twenty one, it is said that the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth.
So the sword of Christ is his implement of capital punishment. He was telling the Christians in Pergamus. He said, "Look." Your government has the natural power of life and death, but I have the power of eternal life and eternal death. The latter, of course, meaning the second death.
So, this was a powerful warning. Powerful warning. He would come and fight them with the sword of his lethal. Judgments.
Now, in case you're wondering, Doctor Hinn, what are you talking about? I've never heard of such a thing.
Well, again, I'm back to our theme. This is Jesus in judgment mode, and He's not speaking to just any Christians who happen to stumble, and fall in sin. He's talking about those who are stubborn in their sin. They're intransigent. They're just not going to change.
These He warns. He gives a time or space to repent. And if they don't repent, they're in danger of serious judgment.
Now, in Acts chapter five, verses one through eleven, we see Jesus, through Peter, judging two Christians who were right in the middle of the most wonderful awakening, revival, renewal, whatever you would like to call it, in the early church: Ananias and Sapphira's wife. Both of them had agreed to test the Holy Spirit to see if He could discern their lie. They sold a piece of property like the others were doing because you see they had envy. They wanted to look like a generous couple, but not be a generous couple. Look like they were great givers, but instead retained what they wanted for themselves secretly and hiding it from the church.
So they sold the land, brought part of the price, put it at the apostles' feet, and immediately the Holy Spirit showed Peter this something wasn't right. And either immediately or soon thereafter, He showed him what had happened.
So He warned Ananias, and Ananias fell dead.
Now note that Ananias was not killed by some person; he was killed by Christ. Yes, some some people say he wasn't a Christian. No, I believe he was. I believe he was. We have more proof here.
First of all, we've already given you proof of what he said there in chapter two, verse sixteen, to the Christians at Pergamus. And then his wife Sapphira came in. Peter questioned him. She lied again. She had a chance to repent.
She did not, and she felt it.
So we have two miracles of divine judgments, and that's what they are. We're used to miracles of deliverance, miracles of healing. This is a miracle of divine judgment. They had no natural cause of death. Jesus just removed their spirit, and their bodies fell limp.
They expired.
Now in First Corinthians eleven twenty-eight to thirty, which is the passage which describes how we should take communion. Paul is very clear that for this reason, that is the reason of coming and taking communion unworthily, meaning in an unworthy manner or behavior or an unworthy state, retaining sin in your soul. And here he warned them that for this cause, many sleep. Many sleep. Then he actually said, many are weak or sickly or sleep.
Which really seems to me to be a progression from God putting or permitting a weakness, a sickness, to come upon you, and first you're weakened by it, you weaken, and then you're sickly, then you pass. Why? Because you don't repent. You don't repent of your sin, and this is written to Christians, not unbelievers. First Corinthians eleven twenty-eight through thirty.
Please read it yourself. And Paul said, if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
So you see, when you're judging, examine yourself on a daily basis, keeping sin out, and should it come in, you immediately confess it and turn away from it. You are not subject to this text I just read. Then in Revelation nineteen, verse fifteen to twenty-one, as I just read, we see Christ coming and the sword of Judgment coming out of His mouth. It is the same sword, not another, and it has two edges, and both are sharp. With one edge, He cuts the unbeliever; another, the believer.
If you have been walking with the Lord at any time, you know you've heard scriptures. That have been spoken to you. You've heard texts and teachings. You've read texts in the Bible or in other books, and they just immediately cut the flesh. They cut self-will, and you had to make a decision: repent, or else.
So we see two already. Jesus promised two churches if they didn't repent of their stubborn sin, they would they would have their witness removed. That is, they would no longer be able to share Christ effectively. Oh my goodness, that would be terrible for any church or Christian. Or they would be executed with his sword of lethal judgment.
Now, next, he said to the church in Thyatira, a similar thing. He promised he would execute impenitent sinners by his penal judgments in the seven-year tribulation. Let's read that text, chapter two, verse twenty-three.
Okay, we'll actually read verse twenty-two first.
Now he had described the problem there. There was a woman that he named sarcastically, caustically. He named her Jezebel. That was not a real name. She was a woman who claimed to be a prophetess.
She was not; she was an impostor, and she also had a following. And he mentioned her and her following. He had already dealt with her about her sin and given her a space to repent. That's a divinely appointed time in which God stands back and withholds judgment. But now he's going to promise her that if she doesn't respond, she and her followers will suffer the consequences.
Here we are, chapter two, twenty-two. Behold, I will cast her, that is Jezebel, into a bed. That was not a literal statement. He was talking about the tribulation period. Why did he call it a?
Bed, because that's where her sin was committed. You see, she taught the Christians in Thmuis that it was all right with God for them to go to the local temple monthly, eat the sacrificial meal of food that had been offered to an idol god, which was a form of worshiping that god, and then on top of that, enter into acts of lewdness, fornication, adultery, with a temple. Priest or priestess, which was simply a code word for prostitute, to honor the so-called deity. It wasn't honoring a deity; it was honoring Satan and his demons. She said this was all right.
Christ said it wasn't.
So he says, "I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery." She had been in a bed of pleasures; going to put her in a bed of pain. And then they commit adultery with her.
Now this is both figurative and literal. They were literally committing adultery because they were married and they were having sex with other partners in the temple. And then secondly, secondly, they were committing adultery against him. They were the bride of Christ, and they were being unfaithful to him. I will cast them into great tribulation.
Clearly, a reference. To the tribulation period, specifically the latter half, except they repent. There's the key word of their deeds.
So even at this late juncture, Jesus offered repentance. He goes on, and I will kill her children with death. My goodness, something must be wrong with my Bible. How could Jesus make such a statement? Because friends, he holds the sword.
Your life and mine is in Christ's hand, not Satan. Jesus has the keys to life and death. He he gained them for himself and for us. After he defeated Satan on the cross, and then went down to hell and freed in the Sheol portion, the bosom of Abraham, freed the righteous to go into the immediate presence of God. And now he has the keys of hell and death.
So here. He says, "I will kill her children with death, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the hearts, and I and the minds, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." He was saying, "Listen, listen! When I execute this judgment, all the Christians will realize at that time that I'm sovereign, that I know what's in your hearts." Isn't that one of the three statements he said repeatedly? I know your works, and he said the fear of God will come upon them. Friend, the fear of God can come upon us now.
We don't need to see a judgment before we fear the Lord. We're reading about these words where Jesus is promising judgment, and I'll tell you something: if they did not repent, he did throw them into a bed of tribulation that was not the the tribulation because they passed 20 centuries ago. But he kept his word. I'll tell you that he doesn't. Idly threaten anyone.
Now there was another that he spoke to, and we'll pick that up in our next episode. The church that is in Sardis and the church that is in Laodicea, with which we're familiar.
So, friends, think about this: Jesus in judgment mode. Do you know him? Are you ready to? Can you handle this? A Christian should be able to accept all biblical truth because it's all inspired.
It's all important. We need it all, and I urge you to receive this instruction on Christ in judgment mode. If this message has blessed you, tell your friends, and please consider helping us stay on the air by sending your tax-deductible donations to Greg Hennett Ministries. Also, remember you may download the "Until He Comes" podcast from your preferred podcast app. May you walk closely with Christ and trust and obey Him in your daily tests of faith and patience until He comes.
This is the Truth Network.
