Revelations summary

[0:00] Well good morning and a warm welcome to church this morning good to see everybody here and good to see a number of visitors with us this morning and you're especially welcome.

[0:14] Also good to see some returning locals as well. We have the group from Nepal who are back safe and well and we're delighted to see you back also and we look forward, we'll give you a break today but we look forward to hearing about that trip over the next few days or the next week or so. Just for information those who are visiting here in particular there's a summer Sunday school to which all children under 12 are welcome to attend and the children leave after the second singing. Tea and coffee served at the end of the service as usual, please stay if you're able to. If I could say a word of thanks to those who helped with the holiday club, we've had a holiday club here over the last few days and it's been a blessed week and we want to just say thank you first of all to the Lord for all that he has done and we pray he continues to do through it but also to the Lord's people, thank you to everybody who helped from donating lunches to cutting out to leading the kids to acting in dramas. There were many roles, very varied roles but each of the contributions were essential to the smooth running of the club and over the course of the week I think it was about 50 children altogether who came through and probably on average about 40, 45 each day were present. So we thank God for that. He answered our prayer I would say far in excess of all that we probably asked or thought or imagined and so we're grateful for that answer to prayer.

[1:53] Evening service at six will be conducted by myself, God willing, and various things in the course of the week as normal. The Bible study, Ladies Bible Study Monday, the prayer meeting on Wednesday, the Road to Recovery on Tuesday, all as usual in the usual places and also to say that the leave a bit of communion services start on Thursday of this week. Visiting ministers Malcolm McLeod from Shawbust and Alistair Macaulay, Payne and Fern. These sheets out the door, there's a schedule of services, pick them up at the end if you're able to attend. And the service is next Sunday 11am by myself conducted, God willing, and the evening service. There'll be no evening service here next Sunday because we'll be joining together with the folks in Leverborough at half past six for the service there and the fellowship meeting afterwards for those who are able to stay. So these, I think, are all the intimations. And let's worship God and sing to his praise from Mission Praise 496.

[3:04] Mission Praise 496 and the words also are on the screen. Oh for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise. As usual, there's a couple of intimations that I forgot to mention. One is that I think at the end of the service when we're having tea and coffee, pictures from the holiday club will be on the wall. Is that correct? Yeah. And so those who want an insight who weren't present, then you can stay behind and see that. And the second thing is that Amman has said that he wants to take a few pictures today for the website.

[3:43] And so if anybody has a problem with that, I would rather they don't have their picture or their children's picture on the website. Have a word with Amman and you'll make sure that any such pictures are deleted and are not put on online.

[4:01] I think these are all the intimations. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this year's day and we thank you for the fact that once again we are encouraged to come apart from all the world and to take this time to find rest and to find peace, to find strength and joy in life in your presence.

[4:35] We thank you that we come here this morning, not just out of routine, not out of some sense of habit or duty, but we come here because you have called us to come and unite our hearts in worship and in prayer.

[4:54] And so Lord, we do that just now, asking that you would receive us in Christ. We acknowledge once again, even as we look back over the last few days of this week, even as we look into our own hearts in some measure, we see, Lord, the fact that we are sinners and that we are not worthy to come into your presence.

[5:18] But we thank you that we are made worthy, not in ourselves, but in the name and through the finished work, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

[5:29] We thank you that we gather, we unite in his name and our prayer is that in everything that is done from the reading of the word to the preaching of the word, to the message to the children, to the prayers both audible and silent, to the songs that we sing, songs of praise, we ask, Lord, that in everything that is done and said and thought that Christ would be lifted up and that we would be drawn to him, to put our whole faith, not in ourselves, not in anyone else, not even in the established church, but in him.

[6:11] We thank you that he is everything and more that we have been singing of. We thank you that he is our redeemer. We thank you that he is our God and our king.

[6:25] We thank you that he is our God and our king. We thank you for the triumphs of his grace. And once more, Lord, we do praise you for all that you have done for us in Christ.

[6:37] Father, we thank you for sending your son into this world. We thank you, Lord Jesus, that you came willingly, knowing that you were coming to be a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, the one who would die for his people.

[6:53] And Holy Spirit, we praise you that you have opened our eyes to see Jesus and our need of Jesus. And we pray that you would be active in this hour that we have together, drawing many more to come and put their faith in Christ.

[7:11] We ask, Lord, for your blessing upon the service this morning. We pray for all who are here and especially we thank you for those visiting with us. We ask that you would refresh them and bless them and bless any fellowships of your people that they come from.

[7:28] Wherever they meet, Lord, we ask that you would be present with them and that you would be lifted up. We thank you for those who have been away and who are back with us this morning.

[7:39] For those who are in Nepal and we thank you for their safe return. We pray that you would continue to bless all that we believe you have done through them in that trip.

[7:51] And Lord, that you would continue to build your church in that place as we pray that you would continue to build your church in this place. And for all those who went out in the name of Christ, we pray that you would continue to sanctify them and build them up.

[8:09] Watch over them. We thank you for the holiday club and such a great answer to prayer and all the children who came over these days. We pray that the word that was shared in simple terms would be remembered and that their hearts and ours would be like good soil.

[8:29] And that that word would take root and go deep. And Lord, that there would be many who would find everlasting life even through all that was done in the course of these days.

[8:42] Thank you for everybody who was involved and we thank you that the church of Christ is called to be in. Even in this week was felt to be a body working together with that one desire for your glory.

[9:00] We pray for a world so broken. And as we think about the news, as we think about all that we see reported, there is so much conflict, there is so much disruption, there is so much inequality, there is so much violence in this world that we cannot bring each country to you in this time.

[9:22] The Lord, as our minds go to different places around your world, we ask, Lord, that you would bring relief to the suffering. We pray that you would break into places where there are dark strongholds and where there is violence done.

[9:39] Sometimes even in the name of God. Lord, we acknowledge that there is only one true God. And we thank you that you have revealed yourself to us in Christ.

[9:53] So may our gaze and our hearts be focused upon him. We ask, Lord, for those struggling in our locality at this time.

[10:04] We pray for those who are grieving, for loved ones lost in past months and even in past few days. And we ask that you would be their comfort and their strength. And for those attending funerals, even in the next few days, we pray that you would be very near to them as the God of all comfort.

[10:23] We pray for those who are awaiting hospital appointments and who look at the prospect of procedures and surgeries over future months and weeks.

[10:34] We ask, Lord, that you would be near to them and that you would uphold them and take them, carry them through everything that is before them. And for those, Lord, who are struggling in different ways, some with addiction, some with depression, some who are in recovery but who are in respite.

[10:54] Lord, you know our every need. And we ask that you would meet us at the point of our need. And Father, we pray finally for those who may feel that they need nothing.

[11:05] Those who may feel that they have everything in life and have some perhaps shallow sense of contentment. Lord, we pray that you would awaken those who are apart from Christ and who don't see their need of him.

[11:22] Enable them, as we pray you would enable us to see that we are here just for a while and then there is eternity. We thank you that Jesus enables us to be ready for eternity.

[11:35] And so we pray that you would cause them and cause each one of us in time to look in faith to him. Hear our prayers. Lead us by your spirit, we pray.

[11:46] And all these things we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. Boys and girls, would you like to come out, please? How is everybody today?

[12:00] Aye. How tired are you? Quite tired, I'm quite sure. But we had a good week, didn't we? Yes.

[12:10] And I hope you've remembered all that we've learned about in this week. So I'm going to just set you a wee test to see how much you remember. So I'm going to ask Cammie to stand up, please.

[12:25] What's his real name? Can you remember? Cammie. Cammie. What's his pirate name? Bethany?

[12:36] Bluebeard. This is Bluebeard for the last few days. So Bluebeard has been teaching them all kinds of things over the last few days. And I want to see if you guys remember what Cammie was telling you about the light.

[12:54] Remember that? Tuesday? Long time ago, wasn't it? You come over this way, Cammie. You can feel as nervous as I do for the next 30 seconds or so. So what do you remember?

[13:07] Cammie. Can you give us a wee reminder of what you were teaching? What's this? A light. A light, yeah. So we use the light. Remember Paul was talking about the light of Jesus. And there's another part of the Bible as well.

[13:19] John talked about the light of this world, which is Christ Jesus. Who is Christ Jesus? And if we believe in Christ, that we have the light of Jesus in our hearts. Okay?

[13:30] It's really important to let that light shine out to the world. Okay? So Paul told us to shine the light out to the world, the light of Jesus. And it's really important to remember it's not our light, but it's the light of Jesus.

[13:43] We can't shine our lights out, but we can reflect the light of Jesus. How did we reflect? How did we show that? Do you remember what did we use?

[13:53] We used a torch. What else did we use? A mirror. A mirror, yeah, that's right. Can we have the lights off for a second, please, Alan and Salah? Hopefully it'll work. It worked quite well on Tuesday. It worked quite well on work today.

[14:04] So who's the light of the world, do you remember? Who said I am the light of the world? Jesus said I am the light of the world. And he also said in Matthew 6, you are the light of the world, but it's not our light.

[14:18] And we're reflecting, aren't we? Jesus' light, so let's see if this works, will it? Sure. Look at that. Now the mirror's got no light of its own, but as we point the mirror towards the light there, we can see that light that Cammy's holding going all the way across the congregation, even to those trying to hide at the very, very back, Duncan.

[14:48] Now, can I ask somebody to, maybe, E&A, can you hold this mirror, please? It's a bit of a job to ask one of you guys, maybe, to do that.

[15:01] As long as the mirror and the torch, there's nothing between them. What's happening? All the time, what's happening just now? What can you see?

[15:12] Yeah, Bethany? Yeah. Yeah. So you can see the light reflecting all the time when there's nothing between the light and the mirror.

[15:27] There's reflection. Come a wee bit closer, Cammy. And actually, the closer the light gets to the mirror, the brighter the light that's reflecting seems to be. But what happens if something comes between the light and the mirror?

[15:48] Really? The light goes away. You can't see any reflection anymore. And so there's nothing going across the congregation, nothing that can be seen.

[16:01] Put it back on, Cammy. So the light is still there. But when something comes between the light and the mirror, there's no shining. There's no reflection. I move.

[16:15] The light's shining again. Back. No reflection. And so the very simple little message that I want you to remember, that's extra to what Cammy was telling you in the week, is you and I have to make sure that nothing comes in between us and Jesus, who's the light of the world.

[16:40] Sometimes we might get really busy. This is probably more for the older ones. Sometimes the older ones, we've got jobs to do and we can get so busy that our jobs, they get bigger and bigger and bigger.

[16:52] And they get so big that they come between us and Jesus. We stop shining. Sometimes there might be somebody in our life, a friend, maybe a girlfriend, and they get so important to us that we take our eyes off Jesus.

[17:08] They get even bigger in our lives than Jesus. They come between us and Jesus. Light stops shining. Sometimes it can be something really good, like a hobby that we really love.

[17:21] What kind of things do you love doing? Playing sports? Going to school, doing homework? No. Some of the older ones, when it gets to exam time, something that's really good to do, study.

[17:35] Sometimes even our exams and our qualifications get so big that they get in between us and Jesus. We stop listening to Jesus. We stop reading the Bible.

[17:46] Sometimes we want to play football or sport or whatever sports you do, shinky or cricket or whatever. And all our time goes into that. And all our minds go into that.

[17:58] And we stop reading the Bible. We stop praying. Because all we can think about is that thing that we love. And so, today, boys and girls, message for the big ones and the wee ones.

[18:11] Let's not let anyone or anything get between us and Jesus so that we can shine his light through our lives. Will you remember that? Thank you.

[18:24] I hope you will. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for all that we learned this week in the Holiday Club.

[18:36] And we thank you that we were taught that Jesus is the light of the world. We thank you that we were taught that we are to trust Jesus. And we're to have his light in us.

[18:48] And we're to reflect his light into the whole world. Lord, sometimes we know that we let other things and other people in our lives get so big and so important that people can't see the light of Jesus shining out of us anymore.

[19:06] We pray that if that's the case, that you would show us that today. Any sin, Lord, anything that we allow to get so big that it blocks out your light, we pray that you would take it away.

[19:18] We ask, Lord, that you would wash us in the blood of Jesus, our hearts, and make us pure and make us clean so that we can shine bright for you. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.

[19:31] Amen. Thank you, boys and girls, for listening. You can go back to your chairs now. No, you can't. Just sit there, in fact. We're going to sing now, and we don't have it in the hymn books, but we have it on the screen.

[19:44] What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So let's stand to sing just a moment. What can wash away my sin?

[20:05] Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[20:18] Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Oh, other plant I know.

[20:33] Nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my pardon, this I see. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[20:46] For my cleansing this might be. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.

[21:05] No other plant I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

[21:23] Not of good that I have done. Not of good that I have done. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the blood of Jesus.

[21:34] Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other plant I know.

[21:46] Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace Nothing but the blood of Jesus This is all my righteousness Nothing but the blood of Jesus Oh, precious is the flow That makes me white as snow No other fact I know Nothing but the blood of Jesus Well, if you could turn your Bibles, please, to Revelation.

[22:34] The book of Revelation. And really what we're looking at this morning is the sweep of chapter 2 and chapter 3. We've gone through both of these chapters over the last few weeks.

[22:48] And we're going to look at an overview of it just as we conclude the series today. But I'm going to read from verse 14. The last letter of the 7 to the church in Laogacea.

[23:04] And really if there was a text that I was going to take this morning it would be Revelation 3 and 20. But we think about the whole two chapters.

[23:16] So this is Jesus speaking through the Apostle John to the church in Laogacea at verse 14 of chapter 3 of Revelation.

[23:27] This is the word of God. To the angel of the church in Laogacea write These are the words of Yaman the faithful and true witness the ruler of God's creation.

[23:40] I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm neither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

[23:53] You say I am rich I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you can become rich and white clothes to wear so that you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so that you can see.

[24:17] Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline so be earnest and repent. Here I am I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with he with me.

[24:34] To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

[24:50] Amen and may God bless that reading of his word to us. I am now going to ask Donald McSween to come and lead us in prayer and God. Please. the Semana bears' teeth in the reca teasing hedge mirala's feet.

[25:36] Here I pay no Sahyavi. There's no deed we cannot do it.

[25:48] There's a big deal, but there's a big deal here. A divine world.

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[26:14] What have you Brentia. Why human development, ex-itten about it. Why do we need how we got here? How didn't we get here?

[26:26] It has nothing to do over here. Sometimes we will find gain. A car has only lost even if ten years ago.

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[29:47] God willing pleanteoms. Amen. We sing again to God's praise from Psalm 138.

[30:05] Psalm 138. And the first two verses of the psalm, the first two stanzas of the psalm in Gaelic. Thee will I praise with all my heart.

[30:17] I will sing praise to thee before the gods, and worship will toward thy sanctuary. I will praise thy name even for thy truth, and kindness of thy love, for thou thy word is magnified, and thy great name above.

[30:32] These verses to God's praise. We remain seated to sing, and we sing in Gaelic. Le mot l'ach d'ye, ars d'or amour, ars d'or amour qu'a can.

[30:43] Le mot l'ach d'ye, ars d'or amour, ars d'or amour.

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[34:58] Satsang with Mooji And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, as I said already, today we come to the end of our studies in the two chapters of Revelation.

[35:16] The short series looking at the letters to the churches. And as you scan through from Revelation chapter 2 to Revelation chapter 3, you'll see that there are seven letters to the churches.

[35:33] There's a letter to the church in Ephesus, and then a letter to the church in Smyrna, then Pergamum, and Thyatira, and Sardis, and Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

[35:46] And someone asked me actually on the way out of church, maybe it was last Sunday, why seven? Why is there only seven letters to the churches?

[35:59] And the answer to that question is, well, on the one hand, because Jesus determined that he had a particular message for seven churches in that particular place at that particular time.

[36:14] Jesus had a message that he wanted to pass to seven specific churches in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, at that time.

[36:28] But deeper than that, the number seven in Scripture is a number that speaks to us of wholeness and completeness. And what becomes clear as we study through these letters is that although these were letters that were addressed to a particular postcode in a particular year, these are letters that are intended for the whole church, every church, not just back then and there, but also here and now.

[36:58] These are letters that are relevant to every church, every day, every age. And so just to conclude this series, I want to think about these letters in the broad sweep just one more time.

[37:15] Now, when I began to prepare the message for today, the house was quiet, we were at the holiday club, and I'd nipped away a wee bit early on this particular day, and I went through to the kitchen, and I put on the kettle.

[37:34] I was going to make a cup of coffee. And just as I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I glanced at the kitchen table, and there was a magazine on the kitchen table. Hello, magazine.

[37:44] I didn't buy it. Do you know where it came from? Let me just be clear, though, I didn't buy it. And in the minute or two that I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I flicked through the magazine and just looked at some of the pictures and some of the people, some of these portraits that are within this magazine, and I have to tell you, none of the people in this magazine look like me.

[38:08] None of them. Everyone in this magazine seems to have a better manicured beard than mine, and a stronger, more muscular physique than mine, and a clearer jawline, and a clearer skin, and better bone structure, and all these things.

[38:29] What we see in terms of the people that are presented to us in this magazine, as far as I can tell, it's pretty close to perfection. And then when you flick from the front section into the next section, which is to do with meals, recipes, every recipe that's prepared and pictured on the table, the dish looks perfect.

[38:52] And then there's a holiday section, and every holiday that seems to be shared with the general public, as it's portrayed through photographs, looks perfect. And the homes featured in the home section, they all look perfect.

[39:09] And that's just what's presented in these magazines. That's what sells magazines. Perfection. That's what gets you the most likes on your Facebook or Instagram, or whatever it is that you and I use.

[39:27] These presentations of family trips, that look pretty much perfect. But we all know, I hope we all know, what you see in these magazines, and what people present to you in their Facebook daily summaries, it's not real life.

[39:48] It's not real life. But what's presented to us in Scripture, that's real life. And as Jesus, in these two chapters, looks into his church, that he loves, he sees, and he shares with us, not a glossy picture of perfection, but a real, recognizable, gritty snapshot of reality.

[40:16] So what then do we see in these two chapters? Well, I have two points this morning. First of all, we see an imperfect church. And the second thing we see is a perfect Savior.

[40:32] And it's as simple as that. First of all, the imperfect church. You've probably heard the story of the couple that were on their quest for the perfect church.

[40:46] And they were in a city and they were going from this church to that church to the next church. One church was too formal, the next one was too informal. The next one, the music was too loud. The next one didn't have any music at all.

[40:58] The next one they visited, the youth ministry wasn't good enough for the children, the one afterwards. It was all to do with youth and nothing to do with the adults. And they went from, hopping from church to church.

[41:09] They became notorious. And known with all the ministers in the area as they just jumped from church to church to church. And there was one minister who was meeting with them in the vestry at the end of the service.

[41:22] He knew of them. He was expecting fully the conversation to unfold as it did. And sure enough, they explained to him the reasons why after four or five weeks they just couldn't stay in this particular church any longer.

[41:36] And he wished them all the best as they left. And he wished them all the best in particular on their search for the perfect church. And then, with a grin, he says to them, by the way, if you find the perfect church, whatever you do, don't join it.

[41:51] And he looked at him. Why ever not? He said, because if you join it, you'll only spoil it. It won't be perfect anymore, will it? And it's important as we look at this passage in these churches that we see and we realise that the church of Jesus Christ on earth is imperfect.

[42:18] And we see that right the way through Scripture. Think with me just for three or four minutes about the New Testament. I'll run through some of the sections of it.

[42:32] Think about the Gospels. Because in the Gospels, we see the beginnings of the church of Jesus Christ. And we see, in the first instance, these disciples that Jesus chooses.

[42:43] Now, what are the disciples like? Are they polished professionals? Full of qualifications? They're far from it. They're ordinary people who were slow to learn and who were often weak in faith and who were no strangers to failure.

[43:02] Remember Jesus when he takes Simon Peter aside. Matthew 16. And Peter is beginning to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[43:17] That's his confession. to Christ. And Jesus says to him in Matthew 16, verse 17 and 18, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

[43:33] And I tell you that you are Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church. And so Jesus takes hold of Peter, the rock.

[43:47] Now was Peter always perfect and steady and strong? Was he always solid? Was he always faithful? Well, no, he wasn't.

[44:01] And if we fast forward just a few chapters from Matthew 11, we can hear Peter deny Christ. Not once, not twice, but three times.

[44:12] as the heat rises, as the cross rooms, as Jesus' disciples and followers are coming under attack, Peter, with curses, three times, claims that he doesn't even know Jesus.

[44:30] and yet Jesus, when he took hold of Peter, made no error in judgment. Jesus, who is the Alpha and the Omega, as we've read in Revelation, who knows the end from the beginning, determined that Peter would be one of the first imperfect members of his imperfect church on earth.

[44:58] touch the gospels. Run from the gospels into acts, which we've been studying in previous months. And we have this story of the developing church.

[45:11] Now, as the church develops, the gospel spreads, the church grows in numbers, but the bigger the church grows, the more we actually see imperfections.

[45:26] And we could go through and survey these imperfections, but we have done in past months. And what we can see in the Acts of the Apostles, as I made the point as we were passing through it, it's a book where the imperfections, the failures, the sins of the church, they're not photoshopped out.

[45:51] They're not bypassed, they're not glossed over, they're not cut and edited from the story. the book of Acts is a portrait of the church, warts and all, run from Acts into the pastoral epistles, you see more of the same just in the micro level.

[46:12] You get a window into these churches that are far from perfect, they are real, they are genuine, they are sincere, but they're not trouble-free.

[46:22] we're seeing that in Ephesians, we've seen that in Philippians, we think about Philemon, think about 1 John, think about Corinthians and their attacks on the Apostle Paul.

[46:35] We see these portraits of an imperfect church, and now as we go from there into Revelation, we're given this big picture of the whole church, and these churches were not perfect.

[46:53] Flick back through the last two chapters, and you see Ephesus, and our memories are jogged as we look at the words going through from verse 1 of chapter 2, Ephesus, there's a church, they're busy, they're industrious, they're energetic, they look impressive, but they're just going through emotions, they don't have that sincere agape love.

[47:21] Look at, for example, Pergamum, they were compromised, their hearts were not wholly given to Christ, Thyatira, they were so nice, but they were tolerant to things that Jesus was not tolerant of, and so they were allowing sin to come in and fester and spoil within the fellowship.

[47:47] Sardis, great reputation, everybody said how good they were, Jesus looked in and said, Sardis, you are dead, you flat lined, Laodicea, we studied last week, were lukewarm, they were a sickening insult, to the saviour that they professed to know.

[48:15] And so there's the churches as Jesus saw them. There was good, and Jesus commended them for the good. He saw every good commendable point, but he saw all the failures as well, and he listed them, and he brought them, and he shared them with us so that we would see them also.

[48:34] the church of Jesus Christ was, and is, imperfect. All of us have these phones virtually now.

[48:49] Most of us have mobile phones, and on the phones you can make phone calls, but you can also use these things for photographs, so wherever you go you're not safe.

[49:01] Somebody's always got one of these things pointing your direction, even in church this morning, am I? I'm sorry. Now with these phones, you select the camera function, and you point the camera out, and as I point the camera out, I can see you all in the frame here.

[49:20] I can take a snapshot, but if I click this wee icon on the top, all of a sudden I go from seeing you to seeing this terrifying portrait of me up close.

[49:33] And you know, that's actually what's going on as we study through these letters in Revelation. We've looked at these churches, seven churches, but we remember the church of Jesus Christ, then and now, it's not buildings, institutions, it's not denominations, it's people, people like us.

[50:06] And you know, all the imperfections that we see in the churches as we serve them, as Jesus has shown them to us, they're actually reflections of our own hearts.

[50:21] Are they not? Ephesus, loveless, sometimes that's our confession.

[50:34] We may be industrious, we may be busy, but we are lacking in agape love. some of these churches were mechanical, they were going through the motions, they were attending, they were doing everything religious, but the life was draining out, others were compromised, they were accommodating what Christ would not tolerate.

[50:58] Others were fearful, when they shouldn't have been. Others were half-hearted, and lacking in zeal, and lacking in life, and all these things that Jesus pinpointed, and held against these churches, if we're honest, we see them all in our own hearts, because they are symptoms of the problem of sin.

[51:26] And so the imperfect church isn't actually something that we get to point at, here, or anywhere, and look at, and stand back from, and voice disapproval over.

[51:48] The imperfect church is something that we are part of, and that's something that you and I need to know, as we ask that the Holy Spirit will show us, in the measure that we can bear our own hearts, because it's only when we see that the imperfect church is something that we are part of, and not something that we look at in the distance, that we know our need.

[52:16] It's only when we see our imperfection, our imperfection, it's only when we realise, and realise, and realise, our helplessness, and our need, that we look in faith, to the only one, who is our perfect saviour.

[52:38] So first point, the imperfect church. Second point, final point, is our perfect saviour.

[52:50] Jesus. Some of us remember days when we were in Sunday school, and when the teacher would ask the question in Sunday school, and to some extent, when I ask the question here, every Sunday of the young ones, he asked the question, up go the hands, nine out of ten times, what's the answer to the question?

[53:15] Jesus. And you know, the answer to every sinful imperfection, the answer to every problem that Jesus pinpointed through each of these churches, was Christ himself.

[53:34] And at the end of chapter 3, and in verse 20 of chapter 3, we have this abiding image of Jesus standing at the door of one of the churches that he loves, and he's knocking, and he's knocking, and he's knocking.

[53:56] Now, such a striking picture. How often do you and I hear accounts of people who you may invite to church, and they'll say, I'm not going in there, not to your church or any church.

[54:09] There's this in there, and there's that in there, and there's this one, and there's that one, and they did this, and they said that, and they thought this, and they said that. I'm not going anywhere near it. You won't catch me going over the door.

[54:24] And yet, they only see that much of how bad we really are, because we know in our own hearts that we're worse than anyone can see.

[54:36] And Jesus sees more of the sin in our hearts than we do. and yet, there he is, knocking, knocking, knocking, knocking, not standing back and saying, I don't want him, but knocking, asking that we will open the door.

[54:59] And the one who was the answer to their every problem in Laodicea and Ephesus and Smyrna and so on, there he is, knocking, ready, willing, to come in and put right everything that was wrong.

[55:25] I was remembering an old man this week who's gone to glory now and I see some friends from the East Church with us this morning. This is a man who was an elder in the East Church when I was there some years ago, old Roddy McCall.

[55:43] And Roddy struggled with English, but he would pray at the prayer meeting sometimes in English. And when he would pray, it would often be a similar shaped prayer and he would always say this.

[55:58] It's always stuck with me. It was sincere, it was simple, it may have been repetitive, but it's because it was on his heart constantly and he would pray, put us right where we are wrong and be with us every step of the way.

[56:19] How simple, how sincere and how willing Jesus is to answer that kind of a humble prayer.

[56:29] how willing he is as we open the door to grant forgiveness, to bring in salvation, to grant revival to those who are waning, to give life to the dead, to give love to those whose hearts have become hard and cold.

[56:55] how willing he is to give courage to the fearful and hope to those who are wavering and intimacy and reality and blessing and blessing and blessing.

[57:11] How willing he is to put us right where we are wrong and to be with us each step of the way. here I am, says Jesus, I stand at the door and knock.

[57:29] If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

[57:42] That's the picture that we have back then. That's the reality of where we are just now. Because still, Jesus stands at the door of our hearts and our lives and he knocks.

[58:04] And he seeks entry. A saviour. He seeks entry to those who have already trusted him and who maybe have pushed him back because they've brought sin in.

[58:16] he knocks. This doesn't happen so much in Harris, but it sometimes still does.

[58:28] Have you ever gone to a house, perhaps it's a new neighbour. You've never met them yet. And you go at their door and you knock.

[58:40] And when you knock, you can see that they're in. There's lights on, there's movement there and you knock. And they hear the knock. And as they hear the knock, you start to hear activity in the background.

[58:50] You hear clothes getting thrown, you hear all kinds of movement, you hear shouting and you hear running around and they'll say, I'm hearing you, I'll just be there in a second. Just one moment. Yep, yep, I'm just on my way.

[59:03] Just give me one moment. What are they doing? Well, they're either getting their house into a presentable state or they're getting themselves into a presentable state before they answer the door.

[59:18] I wonder if there is anyone here this morning and that's what you're doing with Christ. And perhaps for some weeks, perhaps for some months, perhaps for some years, you've heard him knocking and such is his patience that he's still knocking and he hasn't left, he's still there.

[59:40] but perhaps right now your life secretly is a mess. And there's a presentable image, but you know that Christ knows that inside there's a mess.

[59:56] You know what your heart is filled with, you know what your mind is filled with, you know how dark you really are. And as Jesus knocks, you're saying to him, just a minute, just another week, just another month, just another year, let me just sort out this thing and that thing and the next thing.

[60:14] Let me just get myself right where I'm currently wrong and once I've got myself into a presentable state and tidy up the mess of my life, then I'll open the door and I'll let you in.

[60:30] You know there's no bigger mistake than that. Because you and I are no more able to fix the mess of our own lives today than the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 days were to fix themselves.

[60:48] No matter how many services we sit in, no matter how many good works we do, no matter how many donations we give to charity, how many older young ladies we help across the road, no matter what portfolio of good works we accumulate, no matter how many bad works we flee from, we cannot save ourselves.

[61:17] We need Jesus. We need the one who died on that green hill far away for our sin and rose victorious.

[61:30] honesty. We need Jesus. We who are so imperfect need Jesus to be our perfect all sufficient saviour.

[61:47] We're going to sing at the end in Christ alone my hope is found. he is the perfect saviour.

[62:06] He lived the life that we could never live, the sinless life. He died the death that we deserve to die, the sinner's death, and he rose a saviour and lord and king.

[62:32] He's the perfect saviour. no matter what church you go to, no matter what your life looks like, no matter how far gone you might think you are, how much of a lost cause you may consider yourself to be, he is the perfect saviour.

[62:56] Or no matter how good you think you are, and how proud you have become, no matter how much you might think you could save yourself with your clean morally upright life, you can't.

[63:14] He is your perfect saviour. And he stands and he knocks.

[63:27] Will you let him let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love and we thank you for the fact that as we prayed beforehand, your word is truth.

[63:52] And we thank you that you see the truth of the church of Jesus Christ in this world, the church that is imperfect. And Lord, we thank you that you see the reality of the imperfection and the sin of our own hearts.

[64:11] And yet still you love us and still you knock. Jesus knocks at the door of our lives. And we thank you that as we open that door of faith, trusting him and not ourselves, he is able to purify us from all sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[64:34] What we could never do for ourselves, we thank you that Christ has done it all. We thank you for the cross upon which he died. We thank you for the blood that was shed, that takes away all our sin.

[64:48] and we thank you that the gospel message this morning as it rings out from your word is a message which is true and which calls for a response.

[65:04] So enable each one of us we pray not to trust ourselves but to look in faith to Jesus. He is the perfect saviour that we pray that he would be the one that we are able to call our perfect saviour.

[65:24] And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We sing to conclude for Mission Praise 1072.

[65:45] 1072 Christ in Christ alone my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song, this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm to the fiercest drought and storm.

[66:01] Okay boys and gals, we're going to say a final prayer together. Lord God, we thank you for your love, we thank you for your grace, and now we pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, will be with us all both now and forever more.

[66:18] Amen. Amen. Amen.