Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20050626.htm

CHRIST'S PROPHETIC MESSAGE TO CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICALS
Part IV: Christ's All-Sufficiency Offered To Wean Us From Evangelicalism's Two Factions To Himself
B. Christ's Great-Cross-Before-The-Crown Solution Detailed And Applied
3. Christ's Offer To Use The Effects Of Past Persecution By The Factions To Position Us For The Crown
b. Christ's Offer To Use Persecution's WOUND To Give Us HIS "Crown" In Victory Over Worldliness
(Revelation 3:21-22)
  1. Introduction
    1. In His cross-before-the-crown solution to their needs, Christ calls pastors to look to Him to arrange for them to be persecuted by errant Evangelicals to wean them from the errant Evangelical enterprise itself.
    2. After providing the "cross" in this process, Christ supplies an astounding "crown" as pastors overcome in their fifth and final trial, their conquest of the WORLD that so typically, fully infects Evangelicalism:
  2. Christ's Offer To Use Persecution's WOUND To Give Us HIS "Crown" In Victory Over Worldliness
    1. We learned that as Christ calls us in Rev. 3:18 to let Him arrange for us be persecuted to yield faith (gold), ministry holiness (white garments) and insight (eyesalve), three of our five Rev. 3:17 needs are thus met.
    2. We then saw the fourth need ("wretched" KJV) is met by heeding Rev. 3:20's victory over the sin nature.
    3. On the fifth need, Christ says in Rev. 3:21 that we may overcome like He says He did, and the only other verse where He says He did that is John 16:33 where He overcame the world (Moult. & Ged., Conc. to Greek Test., p. 665-666); we thus view Rev. 3:21 to discern His words of victory over WORLDLINESS:
      1. In our last lesson, we saw the Rev. 3:18-19 "cross" yields a Rev. 3:20 lure to press others on money , and in Rev. 3:20, a superior knocks for entry from inferiors. The only other N.T. passage where that occurs is Lk. 12:36f where its context (12:13ff) handles a lure to press another on money, Ibid., 563.
      2. Well, COUPLED with Lk. 12:36 is the Lk. 12:41-48 parable that explains the Rev. 3:21 reward: a master exalts a steward over all he has PROVIDING the steward faithfully, gently feeds the other slaves from the master's rations. If he hoards the rations and beats the other slaves, he is beaten!
      3. By way of application for us, (a) in our last lesson, we recalled Rev. 3:18-19 shows Christ lets a pastor be persecuted by Evangelicals to wean him from trust in-, ministry alliance with- and holding the errant beliefs of- errant Evangelicalism lest Christ punish him; he NEXT learns not to press others re: money due to the costs that rise for his making such stands, but trust Christ and see Him meet all needs, Rev. 3:20! (b) Well, COUPLED with this, IF in accountability to Christ he does his God-assigned local church work in a WAY that ((1)) does NOT abuse the flock to indulge his lusts [not pushing projects/programs and filling his wallet by pressuring others], but ((2)) humbly, faithfully feeds them God's Word, Christ extends his Rev. 3:20 "sup" blessings worldwide, cf. 3:21 as follows:
        1. We recall [in Part IV, A of this series] that Christ's Rev. 3:18a "counsel" hints of Caiaphas' counsel to kill Him that God used to unify His world flock (John 18:14; 11:47-52). This patterns a pastor's own personal destiny IF he heeds Christ's Rev. 3:18 call to accept his OWN cross like Christ did!
        2. We now explain: Evangelicals are divided at 5 points into Calvinist and Arminian factions like Jews and Gentiles were divided at 5 points in Christ's era (John 11:52; Bib. Know. Com., N. T., p. 315f, 625; Eph. 2:11-12); yet, Christ promises to use this pastor's local ministry of the Word that rises out of his STANDS and INSIGHTS gained in his OWN Rev. 3:18-19 "CROSS" to guide God's world flock to discern Calvinist and Arminian errors; GOD then unifies the receptive into a sound entity like He made Jew and Gentile one new man via Christ's cross, Ephesians 2:11-17.
        3. Rev. 3:21 pledges Christ will seat this pastor on His [earthly] throne, and Ps. 110:2 NIV with Heb. 10:11-13 reveals how: God extends out the pastor's local ministry to impact first His world flock and then the world! The Rev. 3:20-21 phrases, met' emou ("with Me") and hos ka'go ("as also I Myself") mimic the Rev. 3:4 and 2:28 phrases in contexts where Christ extends the impacts of Edwards and Luther; as both came by crises linked with their unedited writings that were directed to believers, and as Evangelical publishers now suppress the truth on these issues to believers, I think God will cause event crises with our web site's unedited lessons to fulfill Revelation 3:21!
    4. Verse 22 applies this Rev. 3:14-22 message to ALL believers, SO as we ALL heed the beliefs and works Christ wants in PASTORS, we will ALL be blessed with TREMENDOUS INFLUENCE by Him!
Lesson: May we ALL heed Christ's Rev. 3:14-22 instruction on godliness that He may bless us ALL!