(Timeless Doctrines) What Kind of a Church Do You Go To? - Part 5 — Denny Kenaston

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. This morning, the Lord has laid on my heart a message which I'm sure will take me two weeks to give.

I wrestled some with the title and I may change the title, but for now, we'll give the messages this title. What kind of church do you go to? What kind of church do you go to? Maybe another title would be the seven churches.

Another title might be a message from God to the church. You know, as I travel, I often ask that question. Once you meet someone new and you begin to have a conversation with them, and they say that they are a Christian, I often ask them, what kind of church do you go to?

Now, they know what I mean when I ask that, and so they say, well, I go to a Baptist church, or I go to a Mennonite church, I go to a Methodist church, and they give a certain title. But as I meditated upon the message this morning, I thought to myself, the messages to the seven churches would be a good evaluation for us, a good definition for us to describe what kind of church we go to.

I believe that we can find the answer to that question in Revelation chapter 2 and 3. The messages that we find in Revelation 2 and 3, I'm sure you would agree, we could have seven sermons and then even not get done.

I don't believe that I'll have seven sermons, but I don't believe that I can get done in one. So, if you haven't already turned there, I'd like you to turn to the book of Revelation, and we want to read a few verses by introduction in chapter 1.

The Urgency and Blessing of Revelation

I believe the message is very important for us in these last days. Revelation is a book that was written in the context of the last days. And now we live in the context of the last of the last days. So, if it was important and pertinent 2 ,000 years ago, and it was very much so, and we all see that, it is so much the more important and pertinent for us who live in the last of the last days.

John, in chapter 1 and verse 1, says, The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass. And He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

Verse 3 is important to us. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Now I think that, I want you to take that literally, what it says, and know that we're going to get a blessing even this morning because of what we are reading.

We will get even a greater blessing if we open up the ears of our heart and hear the things that we hear this morning. And we'll get even a greater blessing if we allow those things which we hear with the ears of our heart to affect us and change us and cause response in us.

We will get a triple blessing, according to the word of God here. Why? For the time is at hand. And I believe that those words were breathed out by the Spirit of God to quicken, even in our hearts this morning, an urgency, an expectancy, a watchfulness, a wakefulness, and yea, maybe for some to even wake us up.

For the time is at hand. And verse 4, John says, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead.

Now, I read verse 4 so that we could see that just like all of the other, or many of the New Testament books, this one has an introduction to it. John puts his name on it. He's sending it to churches, wanting them to receive it.

Revelation’s Beginning and Its Conclusion

Now, let's turn also, as introduction, to chapter 22. I'm going to go all the way to the end of the book now. And read from verse 16. Revelation 22 and verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.

I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. Aren't those awesome words?

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life. And out of the holy city. And from the things which are written in this book.

He which testifieth these things say, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now, we read the beginning and we read the end. And the reason why I did that is because I think it's very important for us as we understand anything in the middle to also look at it as a whole.

And the whole of the book of Revelation was written to these seven churches. Christ gave them an evaluation and admonished them each before he unveiled the prophecy of this book. I believe those things are important.

And they can help us to understand the weight of the words that fell on the hearts of those seven churches. Because all the things that followed from chapter 4 all the way to chapter 22, they were given in light of the admonitions, the evaluations, the corrections, the inspirations that Christ gave to those seven churches.

The prophecy of the whole book is clearly meant to motivate them, to open their hearts to the evaluation that Christ gave, to encourage their hearts, to repent and to inspire their hearts to be among the number of those who have been overcomers.

Christ’s Credentials in Revelation 1

In chapter 1, reading from verse 13, Christ gives his credentials. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girded about the paps with a golden girdle.

His head, and this is Christ, a description of Christ, his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters.

And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.

And I think we'll stop right there. Christ gives his credentials before he begins to give or unfold the message to the seven churches. Imagine with me this morning, just imagine, it's a Sunday morning service after this message was given to the pastor of each of these churches, because I do believe that it happened just that way.

There was a church called Ephesus, and a church called Smyrna, and a church called Thyatira, and all the other of the seven churches. There were churches. They received this message from God through the apostle John.

It was a letter sent to them. The pastor gets up on Sunday morning. The congregation is all gathered together, and he says, we have a letter from our beloved apostle John. Can you imagine the excitement in the air that morning when the pastor gets up with a letter, probably a scroll, from John the apostle?

Oh, how interested each and every person would be as they sit on the edge of their seat and wonder what he's going to say. A letter from John! The attention rises as he begins to read chapter one, verse one, two, and three, and immediately their attention is gripped because they find out this is a very special message, and there's a special blessing on those who hear it.

And so this begins to create interest in their heart, even as they begin to hear it read. They find out it's a special message to them. It's to the seven churches, and they hear their name in the very beginning of it.

And you must use your imagination a little this morning, because there was a time and there was a church who heard this message for the first time. And when they heard it the first time, they just heard their name.

Oh, the church at Ephesus. That's us! That's us! Yes, that's you. Can't you see the awe settle down over their hearts as they hear for the first time the description? Because, you see, John is writing to them, and he's telling them, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I saw the Lord Jesus.

He was there. He was on the Isle of Patmos, and I saw Him, but He was nothing like anything that I've ever seen before. He was like the Ancient of Days. He had white hair, and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

I saw Him there on the Isle of Patmos. His feet were like brass. His feet were on fire like they'd been in a furnace. It was an awesome sight, and John is writing this to the church. Can't you see the awesomeness of that settle down over the church as they get a glimpse of what John tells them that he saw?

Personal references made to each church. They hear those words, and under the angel of the church at Ephesus, and that word angel is the pastor, by the way, under the angel of the church at Ephesus, to the pastor, write in everybody's ears, Perka, a special word for us.

He used our name, the church at Ephesus, or the church at Smyrna. He used our name. Hearts are bowed in that service there that Sunday morning as He blesses them, and He encourages them, and then after He has encouraged them, He rebukes them.

And hearts are bowed in the service as they realize, yes, we have lost our first love. We have lost our first love. Then the scenes in heaven begin to unfold before them. Chapter 4, chapter 5, a multitude of people, 4 and 20 elders.

These things begin to unfold before them, and John is telling them, I saw these things. I was caught up into heaven. The seals are described in chapter 6. Trumpet judgments, vials, God's wrath, judgment.

Some things they understand. Some of it they don't understand at all. But it's a message from God through the apostle John. We've never heard it before. We've never read it before. And we're sitting here on a Sunday morning, and the pastor begins to read chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 6, and all settles down over us.

We wonder what it means. Some of it we understand. Some of it we don't understand. But an awe settles down over us, because we know that it's a message from God through the apostle John. We see the whore riding on a beast.

We hear the angels crying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city is fallen. We hear of great war. Much trouble, much tribulation. We hear of death. We hear of plagues. We hear of sun scorching the people upon the earth.

We see the bride who's made herself ready. We read of the new heaven and the new earth and the things to come. And the pastor finishes by saying, These things I sent an angel to signify them, that they might be delivered to all of the churches, because the time is at hand.

And the last words that ring in our spirit that morning are the words of our Lord Jesus who says, I'm coming quickly. I'm coming quickly. To him that overcometh will I grant, etc., etc., etc. What kind of a service do you think they had that morning?

After the reading of the letter that the apostle John sent to them, what kind of a service do you think they had when the letter was finished? If the last book of the Bible was of utmost importance to them, and it certainly was, how much more is it to us who live in the last of the last days?

How much more is it important to us? Oh, we may read it, and I know there's some of it that way. We may read it. Some of you young people, you may have read it and thought, I don't understand much in that book.

Listen, the church at Ephesus didn't either. When it was read to them, they didn't understand it all. But yet, there's enough of it that anybody with the simplest education can read, that you can pick up the spirit of what God was saying in that book.

And the spirit of what God was saying in that book is the same spirit that needs to settle down over each and every child of God and every church that is in the world today. That needs to settle down, whether we can figure it all out or not, whether you know what the trumpets are, or whether you know what the vials are, whether you know what Babylon is, whether you can name who the Antichrist is.

The spirit of that whole book needs to settle down over each and every one of our hearts and minds. And I believe that even though that church at Ephesus, there was a lot of it that they could not understand, there's enough of it that they could understand that an awesomeness settled over their hearts as that thing was being read to them, one chapter after another.

Overcoming as an Imperative Christian Calling

Now, there are many ways that we can look at these seven churches. But I would like for us to consider just a few thoughts here. Notice a few things before we begin to look at these seven churches. I would like you to take note, number one, that the word, overcometh, is used seven times.

At the end of each admonition that the Lord Jesus gives to each church, He finishes it with a motivational word. He, that overcometh, and then He gives a word of blessing, which we will look at those as we're going through these two chapters.

But I want us to notice the word, overcome, means a conqueror. He who conquers. I'd like us also to notice that this word, overcome, is an imperative word. It's not an optional word. I've heard some teach, you know, two levels of Christianity.

There are the overcomers and there's the rest of the guys. And the overcomers are those who live on a higher plane spiritually than what the rest do. And there are whole little books written about that.

But I want to tell you, if you study the context of these two chapters in their simplicity, God is not speaking of a special blessing to a special few who are more earnest than the rest and who overcome.

The overcome that we will see in these two chapters, it's imperative overcome. And it's to each and every one of us. The challenge goes to us this morning. We must be, not may be, not can be, we must be overcomers as we see the last day approaching.

We must be overcomers. It is imperative. I'd like us to notice that that challenge to overcome was given in the context of all the rest of the book of Revelation. You see, many times we contextualize portions of Scripture.

And this is one that I think we've probably done that a lot because, oh, the message to the seven churches, they make good revival messages. You know, you can go in and you can zero in on one of them and apply them very well, but I think it's good for us to realize that chapter 2 and 3 are packed right there in the middle between 1 and 4 and all the way down to 22.

And Christ was preaching and admonishing these seven churches in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ that we must follow in chapter 4 all the way to the end of the chapter. And oh, may it be also a motivation to us because you see, there's an urgency, an urgent spirit that you find in the book of Revelation that can be a great blessing to our hearts and our lives if we will open our heart to it, even though it can strike some fear in you, even though it can put some uncertainty in you, even though it might even give some of your children nightmares at night.

I can remember the children when they were growing up, and even the little ones now. You know, we play the Bible to them while they sleep at night when they go to bed and sometimes they'll say, Papa, is that Revelation?

I don't want to listen to Revelation tonight. You know, they know. They don't understand it all, but they know there's something awesome about that book. It's scary. Well, it is scary, but blessed are you.

The prophecy that is written in that book. Blessed are you if you allow your heart to get scared. Blessed are you. Alright, the next one that we want to notice. Another little phrase that comes seven times in these two chapters is the phrase, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

And the reason why Christ put that word in there is because there are those who will not hear. So, we have to recognize this morning that the choice is there for each and every one of us. Some will hear and some will not hear.

But the challenge is given after the awesome word is given, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. If you've got an open heart this morning, then you hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the church.

And that is given seven times to each of these seven churches. It's like a wake-up call. It's a word of wake-up. Another thing we want to notice, and this also appears seven times, Christ said these words seven times, I know thy works.

I know thy works. And today, His all-seeing eye knows our works. And we, we sit here this morning as a church, and isn't it a blessing? Isn't it an awesome blessing to sit here and ponder and know that the Lord Jesus knows our works?

He has evaluated us, charity Christian fellowship, with just as much clarity, with just as much distinctness, with the same all-seeing eyes, which are like a flame of fire. He has brought His discernment upon us.

He knows where we're at, just like those seven churches. And I'd like us to notice also the fourth thing and the last thing. Christ describes Himself out of the description of Revelation 1. He uses, out of that description, little parts of the description to each of those seven churches.

And in each situation, He uses a part of His description that applies to the needs of that particular church. Amazing! But that's the way God is, you know. Remember, He's like that diamond in many sides.

And one side of the diamond may apply to you, and another side applies to me. I may need to see the lily of the valley today, and you may need to see the lion of the tribe of Judah. But Jesus uses little pieces of the whole description there in Revelation 1 and applies it to each church right where they're at.

Seven Descriptive Categories of Churches

Alright, now we're going to give names to these seven churches. Descriptive names to them this morning just so it'll be easy for you to follow. And maybe you have a better name for one of these churches.

I would be glad for a little input on it. But let's just look at these. The church at Ephesus, we're going to call that the active Orthodox church. The church at Smyrna, we'll call it the blameless persecuted church.

Pergamos, we'll call it the acceptable worldly church. Thyatira, we will call that a corrupt church. Sardis, we're going to call that a dead church. Philadelphia, we will call the church at Philadelphia the faithful church.

And the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm church. Those seven. The active Orthodox church, the blameless persecuted church, the acceptable worldly church, the corrupt church, the dead church, the faithful church, and the lukewarm church.

Those seven categories we're going to follow. Now let me say this before we get into these seven churches. There are several ways that we could apply. And there are several ways that these two chapters have been applied down through church history.

First of all, these were seven actual churches in John's day. I think that you all believe that. I think you know that those churches did sit down and hear this letter for the first time. What an awesome thought.

Can you imagine being there that day? And hearing such a message on a Sunday morning. So, it certainly can be applied to those seven churches. But number two, it can be applied to any church down through history.

You can find any or all of these churches or these categories of churches down through history. I believe personally, you can find these different types of churches today. So that's another way that we can apply it.

And that's the way that we will mostly be applying it here and through the message. Taking these churches as categories, as general descriptions of the condition of certain types of churches and looking at it that way and gleaning from it and applying and learning what we can from it.

There's another way that you can apply these seven churches. And I believe there's some wisdom in it. And that is to go down through and look at church history and look at the different eras down through church history.

If you do it that way, you begin with the church at Ephesus. And there you have the apostolic age when the apostles were alive. The churches were right. The churches were standing for what was right. And yet, there was some waning of their love, of their relationship to God.

We know that just simply by the writings. The writings of Paul. The writings of Peter. The writings of the Apostle John. I believe we could say that that was that age right there. Then the second one is the faithful persecuted church.

What about the persecuted church? Well, after the apostolic age, there was an age in the history of the church when the church was persecuted. In fact, there were ten waves of persecution that followed the age of the apostles.

It was a purifying age. The church was hot. The church was being persecuted. There was much trouble on every hand. So we could make that application. The next category is the worldly church. And could we say this morning, just by way of application, that when Constantine came on the scene and the church and the state married each other, and all of a sudden it became popular to be a Christian, that all of a sudden a worldly church began to settle in?

An acceptable worldly church. And there was an age or an era in the history of the church when there was an acceptable worldly church. It didn't have much influence, as we'll see. Following that came a corrupt church.

A corrupt church. You know, and that's a little bit how it goes, isn't it? You go from an acceptable worldly church when everything seems to be okay, but yet you have the applause of the world and everyone speaks well of you, and it's popular to be a Christian, and you move from that stage into a corrupt church where evil is allowed, where sin is there, where fornication and impurities are not dealt with.

And there you have a corrupt church. And I believe that there followed, after the age of the acceptable worldly church, a corrupted church. And from there, in church history, there was about 1 ,000 years that historians call the dark ages.

And there was a dead church. No light. No fire. No zeal. And then after that, we have a faithful church rising up. And could we say here this morning, the Reformation, all of a sudden the Word of God comes on the scene again, and the name of Jesus becomes a precious name, and salvation by faith in Christ rises forth, and out of there then comes sanctification and holy living, and all of these things, and modern missionary movement, and missionaries passed all over the world, and revival in America, and revival in Wales, and all those things.

And then lastly, a lukewarm church, a falling away at the end, at the last of the last days, a falling away, a turning away, a lukewarmness, a don't care. I believe that we could at least apply these seven to the different eras of church history.

I'm not dogmatic on all of that. And then fourthly, we can also apply it to our own individual lives, because churches are made up of individuals. And if the church at Ephesus was a church that lost its first love, it didn't lose its first love en masse.

It lost its first love one by one by one by one, because churches are made up of individuals. So therefore, I believe that it's also worthy for us, even this morning and next week, to find some practical, personal applications out of the messages to the seven churches, because churches are made up of individuals.

The Active Orthodox Church at Ephesus

Alright. Now let us turn to chapter 2, and we'll look at the first one. Under the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

And I think it's worthy for us to note what Christ used, what part of the description of His being He used as He wrote to the church at Ephesus. I'm the one who holds the seven stars in my right hand, and I walk in the middle of the candlesticks, which are the seven churches.

I know thy works. And then Christ begins to describe this active, orthodox church. And it's very commendable. It's commendable what we see here of the church at Ephesus. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil.

So you see, they're holding on to some good things here. They're working for God. They're laboring, and that word labor means toil. It doesn't mean just a little work here and there. That word labor means toil.

They're in the work. I mean, they're on the front line. They're doing a work for God. They're patient. They're enduring. They don't like evil. They can't bear those that are evil. If there would be sin among them, they deal with it immediately.

Very commendable. Thou hast tried them which say that they are apostles and are not, and hast found them to be liars. They have discernment. They are dealing with things. They have their eyes opened. They're prudent, like Brother Moe said.

And there are those who say that they are apostles, but they have tried them. They've discerned them. They've looked at their lives. They've discerned what they're saying, and they've found them to not be apostles.

And Christ is commending them. They're sharp. I mean, they're on target. Those apostles that come around there, they see them and they say, you're not an apostle. And thou hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake, hast labored, and hast not fainted.

Oh, we see the motivation there. They have right motivation. They're laboring for Christ's name's sake. They have bore the load. They're a good church. It's a good church. You would want to be there. Loves the Lord.

It's a good church. Things are happening there. They are working for God. Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Now, it's good for us in this situation here with the church at Ephesus, since we have some Scripture that show us a clear account of their beginning, because that's what Christ is referring to right here in this Scripture.

He's saying you have left your first love. And in the next verse He says, remember where you used to be. Well, the church at Ephesus has a beautiful beginning. You can find it in Acts chapter 19. The Apostle Paul, he went there to Ephesus.

And when he got there, he found certain disciples. I believe there were twelve disciples there. And he asked them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? And they, being untaught, they said, we haven't even heard that there be a Holy Ghost.

And Paul begins to speak to them. And he said, well, in what name then were you baptized? Well, baptism of John. Well, he said, you need to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. He is the Savior.

John was just pointing to Him. But you need to be baptized in His name. Well, let's do it. I mean, they were open. They were hungry. They were teachable. Well, then let's do it. And when he finished that, he laid hands on them.

And the Bible says they were filled with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God came on them just like it did on the apostles there and the disciples in the upper room. The Spirit of God came on them. And they were filled with the Holy Ghost.

They began to speak in tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. And from there, a mighty revival broke out in Ephesus. I mean, there was a church birthed in the spirit of revival. It had a beautiful beginning.

People started getting born again. I mean, the news spread throughout the city of Ephesus. Persecution came because of it. And people began to hear. And it passed by word of mouth from this one to this one to this one.

And soon, there were so many who were repenting of the evil deeds of their life that they just made a big bonfire right there in the center. Downtown Ephesus, they had a bonfire. Burned a bunch of books.

50 ,000 pieces of silver worth. A large amount of money. I don't know how much that would be worth now, but I know it would be a lot of money. I'll tell you, that would make a commotion around here too.

If about 300 or 400 people in downtown Lancaster started a bonfire in the city square down there, gathered all their evil books and all their drugs and all their cigarettes and all their booze and all their music and all their games and all their junk, and burned it in the downtown city square, I guarantee you, it would make front page.

Beginnings that the church in Ephesus had. You know, it's awesome when you think about it, that that's where they were, but that they had lost that. Now they were still right, and they were still serving, and they were still preaching, and they were still discerning, and they were still standing for right, and they were still bearing, and they were still being patient, and they were doing many things right.

It was an Orthodox church. Everything right in a row. But, when you consider their beginning, it doesn't look so good, does it? If they lost their first love. Oh, it's a blessing this morning to know that the Lord Jesus, He can discern the best of all because He knows the beginning, and He knows where we're at now.

Many times we would just look at the church in Ephesus and say, what a beautiful church! But not if you know how it began. There was a fire among them. There was a sweet spirit in that place. They were in love with the Lord Jesus.

They were excited about what God was doing in their life. That was their beginning. It was their first love. They were in love with the Lord Jesus. The fellowship was sweet. I could safely say they had the same kind of experience there that the church at Jerusalem had on the day of Pentecost.

The fellowship was sweet. The breaking of bread was lovely. The preaching. They went house to house. They were sharing with everyone. Community was sweet. Prayer meetings were hot. Everything was beautiful.

Souls were being saved. On the left and on the right. And here we are, maybe 30 or 20 years later, and He who has the wisdom and the understanding like nobody else, He who has the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven churches, He knows how it used to be and sends a message to the church at Ephesus and says, nevertheless, I have somewhat against you.

There's one thing. Just one. Some might say, oh, but it's just one thing. Yes, but it is the one thing that is going to affect all the other things that are mentioned. And the Lord Jesus knows that if He doesn't deal with that one thing, all those other things will not be there very long.

Can we this morning receive from the Lord a message, an admonition, an evaluation for us also is that one thing missing? Visitors will come. And they do. And praise God for them. But visitors will come not knowing everything.

They'll come and say, it's beautiful here. The fellowship is sweet here. I like the way you live. I like the way you order your families. I like the song service. Oh, how you sing. And you do this and you do that.

But He who walks in the midst of charity Christian fellowship and He knows and sees the beginning and the end, all together, can we learn something from the message to the church at Ephesus this morning?

Notice what God says to the church at Ephesus. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works. You see, they remember. Remember how you got your first love. Repent and do the first works.