Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith, said Paul to the church at Corinth. Yet, he did not say what that test might be. Fortunately, the Revelation given to John sets forth a dynamic test that provides evidence as to who is genuinely connected to the kingdom and who is not. For the church at Laodicea, Jesus seems to have been left standing on the outside looking in.
Helping a person make a genuine connection to Christ is one of the most satisfying actions a believer can take. Most certainly, any believer can. Committing to memory four short verses gives anyone the tools to win another person to kingdom life. You can get started right now. Don’t wait.
When is a person’s name written in the Book of Life? At the moment of conception. Can a person’s name be removed from the Book of Life? Most definitely, so says the book of the Revelation. Is your name in or out
A congregation may say it’s a church. A community may say it’s a church. The IRS may say it’s a church, but unless Jesus says it’s a church, it’s not a church.
The good stuff bears repeating again and again and again and again. The guarantee of our membership is God’s kingdom is to be rehearsed again and again and again and again. This is the bedrock of our relationship to Him. This is the confidence we hold. This is the message we proclaim.
Jezebel is rightly viewed as the most-wicked woman in the Bible – corrupt in sexual matters, in spiritual matters, and corrupt in civil matters. She is still on the loose today. You may have encountered her in the very church you attend. Beware!
In the early 4th century A.D., the Roman Emperor, Constantine, reversed the hostility of his predecessors and gave favored status to Christianity and the church. Wonderful, right? Maybe not. Wouldn’t it be terrific if the church had that kind of status again? Maybe, but maybe not.
The Revelation reveals the entanglement of two very different dimensions. One is the physical dimension while the other is the spiritual dimension. They are both very much real, but at the same time, they are both very much different. They operate parallel to each other in the same space. In fact, we reside in the shadow of Satan’s throne.
If you wanted to cut through the Rocky Mountains with a butter knife, how successful would you be in that endeavor? One’s intentions may be good, but the results would be utter failure. Believe it or not, many followers of Christ go at life just like that. The results are the same.
After reading verses 1-3, it is difficult to conceive of the church at Ephesus as having major problems. Yet, shockingly, verse 5 reveals the presence of a problem of such a magnitude that Jesus threatened to shut down the Ephesian church. What could possibly have produced a warning so serious that it deserved to be dismantled? The answer just may be important for the 21st century church.