Seven Churches Part 2: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 Here we go, first church. Ready? Now we’ll say this group over here is the church of Ephesus. This is God talking to you, and he says, every one of them, he says to the angel of the church (he’s writing this to the church leaders), “I know your works.” And honestly, church, in every church he’s going to lead out by saying, “I know your works.” In America we are so strong on “not by works, it’s by grace.” No, works is out, works is out. And yet to every church, all seven, he says, “I know your works.” So are works important? Yeah. It starts right off shattering American theology. “I know your works.” “But I’m not under works, I’m under grace.” “I know your works.” “You may be under grace, my child, but I know your lifestyle.

▶ 1:08 I know what you’re thinking. I know what you’re doing.” And he says, “You labor, and you are patient, and you cannot bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who say they’re apostles and are not, and have found them liars.” Boy, I wish the American church would do that. We’d get rid of almost all of our false ministers today if they were just tested by the Scripture. “I have...” Okay, you have persevered, you have been persistent, you keep trying. How about you? Do you keep trying? You know, you fall down, you get back up. I mean, in Psalms it says the righteous falls seven times but the Lord picks him up. I don’t have to stay down because I fall. I don’t have to stay down because I make a mistake. He says, “You keep trying.”

▶ 2:11 This church is looking good, isn’t it? Man, you get up and keep trying. You guys are looking pretty good over here. You cannot bear evil people. Man, you don’t like it when people promote evil and say it’s okay. You have tested the false prophets. You have labored and not become weary. You didn’t do like a lot of Christians: they serve God for a couple of years and then, boom, you know, they get in the church and man, they get involved and all that, then after, you know, a couple years, boom, you don’t see them anymore. Just why? They get weary. Why? Because they don’t feed themselves. You can’t give if you don’t receive. But this church is not weary. They keep trying, they are persistent. But he says, “I got a little problem with you.

▶ 3:20 You have left your first love.” Now, what does that mean? Well, we know the first commandment is what? Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might, with all your strength. Amen. Jesus said he wants us to love him, isn’t that right? And so they got busy laboring and winning souls and feeding the poor and visiting people in the hospital and all the rest, and what they were doing, the second part of the priesthood, and they had stopped doing the first part of the priesthood. They left their first love. They [unclear] important things so that you have something to give when you go and labor. Amen, and that’s a big thing. He says you need to repent. What’s the word? Repent. Christians need to what? Repent. Turn from the error, do the first works.

▶ 4:27 What is the first work? Love God. Get into the Bible, get into prayer, you know, get into church and worship and seek him and touch him like John did. Jesus touched him when he got spiritual, when he turned, when he fell on his face before him, Jesus touched him. Isn’t that beautiful? And if you don’t, he says your lampstand is going to be moved. Now, where’s the lampstand? You remember the picture? Where’s the lampstand? It’s where Jesus was. Jesus was in the midst of the what? Lampstand. The churches. The lampstands are the what? Churches. And in spite of this church leaving their first love, the presence of God was still there. The presence of God is not his approval. Don’t ever forget that. He wants you to keep changing into his image. Isn’t that a good amen?

▶ 5:39 Isn’t it comforting to know that though they had broken the top commandment, Jesus was still in their midst, but he wasn’t happy with them in this area, and he come to correct them, and he says, “If you don’t get back to your first love, I’ll take your lampstand out.” What does that mean? He’s going to remove his presence. Amen. And we need his presence. Let me tell you, helping the poor and visiting the sick and all these things that we do to be nice Christian people means nothing without him. And that’s what 1 Corinthians 13 says: without love (God is love), without God your tongues, your arms, your prophecies, your miracles and all that are worthless. Amen. Why? Because God’s got to be first. Now, you hate the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans, the only place we can find a source on them is from the early church fathers who wrote about them and said they were an unrestrained group that shared wives.

▶ 6:59 Okay, that’s all we have on them. And also they like to take [unclear] they like to be the boss. I mean, you know, a lot of Christians in America want to be the boss. They want to decide what’s right and wrong, and, you know, instead of Jesus being the boss. And they live unrestrained lives, and the Ephesians recognized that and said that’s wrong, and God said himself, “I hate this kind of Christian that live unrestrained lives.” And then he says, “He that overcomes, he will eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Hallelujah! So what’s the reward? The tree of life. And remember, he says to this Ephesian church, you can overcome. You can do it, man. He didn’t come and say, “You’re out.” He said, “You can overcome. You can conquer this thing.”

▶ 8:08 And he says it to every church, and it’s important that we understand that, to every church and in every problem that they had, at the end he says, “Come on, you can overcome,” and you overcome, you conquer, you get victory, and “I will give you something.” And his presence is still there, and that’s what fools us in America. The people say, “Well, the presence of God was there.” That doesn’t mean God approves what the church is doing. Amen. “But I feel his presence.” That doesn’t mean God’s approving you either. He’s just faithful. He wants us to correct those things that need to be corrected. All right.

▶ 9:02 Now here’s the church of Smyrna right here. We only got one Smyrna church member here. Boy, they’re the angel of the church or the member of the church, they’re everything right here. All right. “I know your works, your tribulation, your poverty.” I mean, you know, some Christians are just dirt poor, and it may not be because they didn’t go to school or try to learn a job skill or whatever. They may just have been born in a place where poverty is just, you know, abundant. I mean, some nations, they are ran by a government that just keeps the people in poverty. But he says, “You’re rich.” Now, why did he say they were rich? Because the true riches is the riches of the kingdom. So don’t get down on yourself because you’re poor, but don’t stay down there if you can get up.

▶ 10:01 Jeez. Now, “you have some in your midst that say they’re Jews but are of the synagogue of Satan.” Do we have people today that say they’re Christians, but you would never know it? They act just like the people that follow Satan. Isn’t that true? And that’s what happens here. He says don’t fear the suffering that’s coming. Well, we don’t like to hear those messages, man. We want joy, hallelujah, we want money. He says, “Don’t you fear. Don’t you be afraid, because there’s a coming suffering. In fact, the Devil is going to give you tribulation for ten days. He is going to test you for ten days.” Wow, how do you feel about that, member church member? Huh? “Be faithful to death.” Oh my gosh, I may not get out of this tribulation alive. Wow. You wouldn’t do that, would you, Lord?

▶ 11:08 You wouldn’t really, you know, they’re going to kill me. Some of them, we’re going to die here. “But I will give you a crown of life if you’re faithful to death.” How many? You know, we need to be faithful to Jesus till the day we die, regardless of our poverty, our riches, or what our circumstances are in life. We are to be faithful to him, amen, and then we inherit that crown of life. And he says to he that overcomes, “You will not be hurt by the second death.” The second death is the lake of fire, as we will get to, that burns for eternity, and that’s where people go that reject Christ and his word, the lake of fire. He said you won’t be hurt by the lake of fire. And don’t you be afraid of the tribulation and troubles that come.

▶ 12:04 Church, this should be very liberating for you. Troubles are normal, and some troubles are Satan given the authority to test you like he tested Job, knowing you’re going to come out fine. See, God already knew Job could handle it. Job did not serve God because he was wealthy, had a great home and all this and people looked up to him. He served God because he loved God and he knew God, and no trouble can distract you from that. Hallelujah. Okay.

▶ 12:36 Then he comes to the next church, Pergamus, and he says, “I know your works. You dwell where Satan’s throne is.” Man, these people lived in the pits. How many, you know, some areas of the world are worse than others. There’s really horrible things going on, and this church was in a bad place. Yet “you hold fast to my name.” You’re faithful to my name, “and you did not deny my faith when Antipas was martyred,” one of them was killed, and they didn’t give in. “You dwell where Satan dwells.” Some have the doctrine of Balaam. You’re doing great in these areas, but you got the doctrine of Balaam. The doctrine of Balaam is: he advised Israel to commit sexual immorality and offer things sacrificed to idols, and he was in it for the money. He wanted to get payment.

▶ 13:46 How many preachers are in it for the money in America? That’s the doctrine of Balaam. You take their money away, you take their message away. Are you guys out there? And as long as you’re sending in the money, they don’t care if you’re shacking up, living with someone and committing sexual immorality or whatever. They don’t care if you got, you know, idols in your home, images and fetishes and all this stuff. They don’t care. They just want the money, and they just want to tell you how good you are. Just keep bringing the money in. “If you want to be blessed, give me your money and you’ll be blessed.” You know why? Don’t he give their money, him his money to him so he’d be blessed? You ever think of that? If this worked so good, why didn’t it work for the messenger?

▶ 14:44 Man, if this works, I just give all the money back to the people and I’m blessed. See, the truth sets you free, doesn’t it? Yes. And here’s that Nicolaitan doctrine again, and we already went through that. So they have two. This is this church over here, man, they’re all messed up. Look at them, got all kinds of weird doctrines going on. And he says to this church, “Repent, or I will war against you with my word.” “I will war against you.” Well, Jesus only does good. Yeah, yeah, sure. He also corrects, and he corrects with his word. Remember, we taught that. And he corrects with bringing opposition in your life to wake you up. You see again, young people, if God cannot be involved in the earth and correct me and punish people, he’s a worthless God.

▶ 15:52 What good is he? If I just live on earth and I got to experience this, when I go to heaven, what good is it doing me on earth? But the truth is, God is involved in the earth, and he does punish and he does judge now, and there’s a judgment coming. “To he that overcomes I’ll give you the hidden manna. I’ll give you a stone with a new name written on it.” And, you know, when God changed names back in the Bible, because they were moving up to a different level, isn’t that right? Abraham’s name was changed because God was moving him up to a different level. Sarah’s name was changed because God was moving him up to a different level. Jacob’s name was changed because God was moving him up to a different level.

▶ 16:36 And he’s saying here, “I’m going to give you a new name. I’m going to bump you up, man. I’m going to give you a new job description, because you are victorious, you are conquering.”

▶ 16:49 “I know your works, and your last works are more than the first.” You’re increasing, man. You’re not diminishing at all. And I told you before, a lot of people start out really good and then they get into the retirement or the old folks home mentality, or the, yeah, old folks home, convalescent hospital thing. “Everybody serve me. I’ve put in my time.” I’m always telling my kids at home, “I put in my time, you got to put in yours. You go get the milk, you go do that.” “I know your love, your service, your faith and your patience.” Wow, this is the church of Thyatira over here. Look at them. Wow, they’re feeling pretty good about themselves right now. Look at them, man, they’re looking cocky. Their heads are getting big. But you allow Jezebel. You see the, those women at that table, you all?

▶ 18:06 “You allow Jezebel to come in and teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and worship idols.” Wow. After this great stuff, they let the feminist come in. She says she’s a prophetess, and she’s not. She, she, she gave herself the title. How many, not a lot of ministers give themselves the title. And you can tell by the results. You can tell everything by the results, the fruit. He says, “I gave her time to repent.” I told her to repent. I told these people, “Do you stop it?” The people that are following her, the one that’s teaching, repent, and they wouldn’t repent. And you know that is the message to God’s church, church: that we can repent and we should repent. And how many, you know, there’s people that just refuse to repent. They justify their wrong, ain’t that right?

▶ 19:08 And you know it by their lifestyle, by their fruit. “So I’m going to put her in a sick bed of tribulation. I’m going to bring sickness, I’m going to bring tribulation on her for her works.” Her what? What’s the word? Works. Not her faith, her what? Works. “And I’m going to kill their children.” God’s going to kill innocent people, folks. You got to remember, God’s an eternal being. Death is part of the program. When he had David’s child that was conceived in sexual immorality die, he is God. Yes, that child is innocent, but that’s part of God’s program. Don’t believe this liberal thinking that, “Well, if there’s a God, why does he allow these problems in the earth?” We create the problem. Don’t blame God. The Bible says God can do no evil. See, David and Bathsheba was the one that caused this child to die, not God.

▶ 20:30 You teenagers, you getting this? This is very important for you, because these atheists who don’t believe in God always blame God for everything on the earth, and my response to them: how can you blame someone you don’t believe in? Number one, you say he doesn’t exist, and now you’re blaming him. I says, if you really knew the book, he gave us authority, he gave us the responsibility to deal with bad things in the earth and to do right and raise our children right, and when the problems come and the payment comes, it’s our fault, not God’s. Can I hear an amen? And innocent people dying, from Genesis to Revelation, God’s people, innocent, died. Stephen died, they killed him. Prophets were stoned and killed in the Old Testament. They were innocent people. God wasn’t responsible for that death, people was.

▶ 21:29 You understand that? Please tell me you understand that. They try to turn things around and put us on the defensive. And yes, things happen to innocent people when we make bad decisions. Don’t blame God. Blame the one that made the bad decision. Could that be an amen? Now, folks, I don’t know, this is good stuff. This is the revelation of the church. You need to get this in your mind. “To the rest, the people that aren’t following Jezebel, keep what you have till I come.” Isn’t that beautiful? See, he always encourages, always encouraging. And “to they that overcome, I will give you power over the nations.” Does the church have power over the nations? And we’re diminishing. You know, we had America when I was a child (I was sharing with people yesterday) was a moral nation.

▶ 22:41 Even bad people knew what was right and wrong. Now bad people feel they’re okay, they believe they’re okay. That’s how we’ve declined. Before the sixties, America’s impact from the religious area was very powerful. We didn’t even have supermarkets opened on Sunday. I can still remember the first time they opened up a supermarket on Sunday in Detroit, Michigan. Why? Because of the impact of the church upon the nation. And we’ve lost it in fifty years. We have lost it. But we can what? Overcome and get it back. We’re supposed to be the ones that have impact and influence over the nations. Amen. Do you get this? See, this is the revelation of the church. This is the revelation that God has for you. But they got us thinking we got to hang on to the rapture, and we got, us, you know, the church age and the, and, uh, dispensationalism.

▶ 23:53 It’s not even in the Bible. They make up this stuff and we hear it and we believe it. And this is the real dispensation, this is the real church age: we are supposed to be a force in the earth, growing into his image and becoming a, a, an element in the earth to be reckoned with. Hallelujah! And he says, “I will not only give you power over the nations, I will give you the morning star.” Who’s the morning star? Jesus Christ.

▶ 24:30 Now here’s the church of Sardis right here. This group right here, one with the hood on his hat, and that group right there. Hallelujah! And the old man that just come from the Arctic Circle here, up there where it’s so cold, my goodness, just hearing about it I got chills running up and down my spine. But he’s so important, they can’t do without him up there. “I know your works. You are not perfect.” Well, yeah, you got me there. “You have a name that you’re alive, yeah, but you’re dead.” Woo, that’s not nice, that’s not edifying, that’s not kind, that you’re dead. You just think you’re alive. “Be watchful, be alert, strengthen the remaining things that are ready to die.” You got some good in you, you got some things in you. Come on, strengthen those things and let’s get out of this.

▶ 25:37 Amen. You see how he encourages? “Repent, and remember those things which you received and heard. Remember those things that are dying that you have. If not, if you don’t watch, I will come.” And he says “I will come” to six of the seven churches. He’s not talking about the second coming here. He’s talking about coming and taking care of business. See, we got our eyes on the second coming, we can’t see that he can come now and he can deal with us. Are you there? “Some are worthy, they’re not defiled.” Hallelujah! And you’ll find this almost everywhere you go: there are some people. I’ve been all over the world, I’ve been in every denomination, I’ve preached in almost every denomination there is in America, including the Catholic Church. And you ask around, how many Protestants have preached in a Catholic church?

▶ 26:49 But yeah, if you don’t mingle, you know, if you get this sectarian mentality where you got to be separate from everybody, how you going to impact people if you’re separated from them? And I have found that there were Catholics that loved Jesus. I was found there were Episcopalians that loved Jesus. Yeah, their church taught some weird stuff, goodness, but there were sincere, genuine, born-again people there. See, and that’s what it says here: “Some of you are worthy, you’re not defiled.” If you overcome, “I’ll give you white attire, [unclear], and I’ll put your name in the Book of Life.” Hallelujah!

▶ 27:36 Now here’s the angel of Philadelphia here, that row in the back, nothing but women. I should have made them the Jezebel church. Huh? I wasn’t thinking good enough there. Look at him back there. Man. “I know your works. I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it.” This is to the church of Philadelphia. He says nothing bad about this church. He said, “Because of who you are, I’m going to open doors for you that nobody can shut.” Don’t you worry about the liberals, don’t you worry about the atheists, don’t you worry about the homosexuals and the sinners. I’m going to open doors and none of these groups can shut it. Do we need that in America? Yeah, yeah. Why? Because this church was everything that he said to the other church: faithful, persistent, serving God.

▶ 28:38 “You have a little strength.” How many of you know it only takes a little strength in God? He multiplies the strength. You say, “I’m not very strong.” Well, you’re a candidate. You know, when you realize you got some strength but you’re not the total strength, then you’re a great candidate for God to do something. Now, hallelujah! When we get too confident in our strength, we eliminate ourselves, because it’s got to be him. But when we have a little strength that he is working in me, then nothing is limited. Hallelujah! How many are glad for a little strength? Amen. You know, don’t put yourself down because you feel a little strong. “You’ve obeyed my word.” Wow, did you hear that? “You’ve obeyed my word, and you have not denied my name.” “Some of them have come to you that are Jews, of Satan’s synagogue, and they lie,” and he says, “I’m going to deal with you so that they know I love you.”

▶ 29:47 You see, this is where the church needs to get in America, where the liberals and the atheists and the humanists, these groups that are putting down the church, and these false apostles and these false prophets and all the rest, God moves in us so greatly that those groups know God loves us. Do you see? Not that we’re some great people, but what Jesus loves us. Oh, that’s good. Maybe raise your hand and say, “I really want to see that in America.” Yeah. You see, we got to understand the promise to the church before we can get this. Promises: “I’ll keep you from the hour of testing.” Okay, that ten days of tribulation coming back there, he said it’s not going to happen to you. “I don’t need, I don’t need to fool around with this area in your life, we’re moving on.”

▶ 30:47 How many raise your hand, say, “Man, I can handle that, get out of this tribulation, we’ve had enough tribulation, we don’t need to keep having tribulation”? “The hour of testing. I come quickly. Hold fast to your crown.” See, he’s coming to do what he said he would do: open the door that no man could shut, to bring these groups that say they’re Christians and they’re not, they’re against the things of Christ, to your feet, where they know that God loves you. God’s doing it, not us. Now that’s good stuff, folks. Can he? Remember the faith of Abraham: can God perform? Does he have the power to do what he promised? See, that’s all the faith we need. We got to quit looking at our weak strength and our mistakes and our problems and start looking to him and let him come and move us up to this dominion, to this area.

▶ 31:56 Amen. “They that overcome, I’ll make him a pillar in my temple, and I’m going to give him my new name.” Not them a new name, “I’m going to give them my new name,” Jesus’s new name. You see, and there’s a sermon on that. Moses, you know, was given these new names.

▶ 32:27 And the last church, Paul back there all by himself, and Lou. Look at those two guys. Here we are, the Laodicean church. “I know your works. You’re neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot, because you’re lukewarm and neither cold or hot, I’m going to vomit you out of my mouth.” Man, look at him. Hallelujah! Woo! Now, you got to remember John wrote these, wrote it seven times and sent it to the seven churches, and the seven churches are reading this, and this is the message to each church. They’re hearing what he said to the other churches, and they’re hearing what he said to us. My God, how many, you know, they can learn from all seven churches, and me, know those seven churches were written so all of us could learn.

▶ 33:26 Yes, absolutely. All right. Now, “you say you’re rich and you have need of nothing.” Hallelujah! Have you met him? “Oh, I’m a believer in Jesus, I don’t need anything else. I don’t need maturity, you know, I don’t need wisdom, I don’t need nothing, and I’m just, I’m just fine.” I meet them all the time. And God says, “You don’t know that you’re poor, blind and naked.” You can’t even see that you don’t have garments of righteousness. You can’t see anything. You don’t know anything. You’re spiritually in poverty. And then he encourages him to “buy refined gold from me, white attire, and eye salve.” Now, how do we buy from Jesus? Do we get money out of our pocket and give it to the minister? No. How do we buy? Seeking him, praying, reading his word, coming to him.

▶ 34:27 See, that’s how we purchase. We believe that his cross, his death on the cross, paid the price for everything, not just the payment for my sin, but the inheritance for my inheritance. Amen. “I love, and I chasten and I rebuke those whom I love, so repent.” See, remember this lukewarm church still had the presence of Jesus. See, he hangs in there. He hangs in there. Don’t you let people talk you into, “Well, I’m so lousy and I’m so lukewarm and I’m so messed up, God, no.” He hangs in there. The candle, the church was still in the presence of Jesus. Jesus would come when they assembled together and sought him. “Open the door, and I will come in.” He’s always knocking. Paul, open the door. Lou, open the door. Come on. Have to knock a little louder.

▶ 35:46 Lose a little heart of hearing. He’s always trying to get into your life to encourage you and strengthen you and change you. Are you with me? He, Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor what? Forsake you.” He just wants you to recognize your condition and what? Buck up, step up. “He overcomes, he will sit with me on my throne, as I sit with my Father on his throne.” There’s that rulership again. Common to all or common to most: “I know your works.” Was that common all? Yeah. Are works important? Yes. “He who overcomes.” Can we overcome? Yeah. He, he not only brought the weakness in our life, but he said, “Come on, we can conquer this, and I’ll reward you.” Did he encourage every church? Absolutely, absolutely he encouraged. Did they all hear what the Spirit said unto the churches?

▶ 37:01 Yeah, every church. He said, “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” He corrected six of them. Only Philadelphia did not need correction, but they were challenged to move up. Told five of them to repent. Told three of them, those of you who haven’t done these other things, you keep what you have, you maintain what you have. And so these are common. He says, “I will come” six times. “I will come, I’ll take care of business, I’ll come to make you an overcomer, I’ll come to fulfill my promises in your life.” You know, we only tell our kids things wrong in their life so that they can be straightened out. We don’t point out things in our kids wrong so we can throw them out. “Okay, I got a reason to get rid of you, James.

▶ 38:11 Out!” No. And God, he comes to point things in our life so he can what? Make us better. So get out of the guilt-trip thing and get into the conquering, overcoming mentality that you were chosen by God to become a conqueror. And he said to the angel of the seven churches to preach those things and teach those things that only Jesus allows us to teach. Could that be an amen? And we should go to churches where they teach the Bible so we can grow and become a conqueror church. This is a tremendous promise to us. This is the revelation part of it. There’s more to come. He’s not done revealing his church, but this is powerful. So you can see some weaknesses in your life and you can repent and turn from them and get up, and you can see some promises and possess them.

▶ 39:35 Hallelujah! You can be encouraged that God isn’t finished with the work that he started in you, if you’ll accept that challenge today and say, “Jesus, I’m going to spend some time like John did in spiritual things. I’m going to repent from the things that I need to repent from. If I have to do it ninety-nine times, I’m going to do it till it’s done. And Lord, I’m going to bow before you and submit to you, and I want you to touch me and empower me to possess these things.”