The church of Sardis...

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.  (Rev 3:5)

 Greetings. It has been a while since I wrote my latest post. Honestly, It feels good to write again and teach about the word of God. In this post, we are going to look at a few things that were an issue with the church of Sardis. These issues were so serious that God was threatening with removing their names from the book of life.                                                                           

 First, Sardis was once a church that was following the Lord and backslid. On the outside, the leadership was still talking about God and, probably, rejoicing and worshipping as normal.  God in his wisdom, saw right thru them and saw the condition of their hearts. The Message version gives us a view of what God saw- 

“I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you’re dead, stone-dead.  “Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there’s life in you yet. But I wouldn’t know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God’s work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God. (Rev 3:1-3) 

Second, the city of Sardis had great riches. It is believed that they had gold in their rivers. Riches and wealth are great tools to have and God wants us to enjoy his blessing, but they can be a snare to our souls when not used the right way. They can distract us from the ways of God and cause us to be lukewarm in our worship.

Third, it was a heavily fortified city built on a mountain. They had a strong military but they got puffed up in pride. They got so slothful that their guards slacked off. Even after suffering an attack by the Persians, they failed to heed the warning signs. They were, finally, conquered by the Greeks. Years later, They had a devastating earthquake that caused massive damage to that city. God fulfilled his promise of Judgement. (Rev 3:3)

Forth and final point, the Lord acknowledged the faithful ones in Sardis. Beloved, when you see your church fall short, do not immediately pack your bags and seek another church. The Lord might want you to stay there, pray and make a difference in the congregation. God recognized their loyalty and praised them for remaining steadfast. (Rev 3:4-5)

Summing it up, Let us learn from the church of Sardis and their shortcomings. When financial prosperity comes, let us use it wisely as a tool to glorify God. Again, it is not wrong to be rich but do not let it distract you from doing God's will. 

Guard your heart against pride. The city of Sardis had great pride in its military and its fortified city. Don't spend time in the past remembering God's glory and testimonies in your life. Strengthen your walk with God and avoid pride. 

The last point, be faithful to God. Whether it is in your church, job or marriage, seek the Lord before making a move. Who knows if God can turn your testings into your testimonies? God bless. 

Questions to Ponder--

1- Has your worship become routine? Have you slacked off in your worship and allowed distractions to sidetrack you?

2-Are you going back to memory lane and revisiting times when God was truly moving in your life and church? Are you dissatisfied with your church because you feel that something is missing?

3- Are you having trouble with your job, marriage, or even church? Have you given up and have a desire to move on? 

Prayer--Dear Lord, Help me to walk in your ways. Examine my heart, O Lord, and speak to me. Please forgive me, Holy Spirit, if I have grieved or quenched you in any way. Show me what things are distracting me from you. Show me areas of pride in my life so I can repent. Help me to be faithful in what you have entrusted me to do. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

A special invitation...

If you are in the South Hampton roads area in Virginia, please consider visiting our church. Our Pastor and overseer Steve Johnson and me would love for you to drop in. Our address is Love Fellowship Community church, 1128 London Blvd, Suite B, Portsmouth, Va 23704 at 10:00 am on Sunday, Nov 14! I will try to record it on our Facebook page ...https://www.facebook.com/PastorSantos56                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Judas--Wasted potential.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. (Acts 1:20)

Greetings. The word for today is–Don’t waste the potential that’s inside of you. God has given you gifts, skills, and talents. You may ask—What are my gifts? The answer is in God’s word.

The word of God tells us that we have a treasure inside of us. (2 Cor. 4:7) This is good news. When we were born into this world, we carried gifts, skills, and abilities to the table.  Those gifts were enhanced and more were added to us at the new birth. Some who may be reading this may not even realize the precious gift that God has given inside of us.

As we study the life of Judas, he had a couple of gifts in three areas. First, He was talented in administrative duties. Second, he was good in the area of numbers, causing him to be the treasurer of the disciples. Third, he had a talent for business and knew how to close business deals.  

The question to ask is what happened to this talented apostle? He was part of the 12 disciples and was entrusted with the power of God. (Matt 10:1) Somewhere along the line, he got sidetracked. His love for money was his weakness. God had given him many opportunities to repent, but he kept hardening his heart. As we read on, we are going to see how his hardness caused him to lose everything and abort his God-given destiny.   

                                                Your gifts and destiny

Judas forsook his future with God. He was called to be a Bishop and his purpose was to help transform the whole world for the Lord. (Acts 1:20) God could have used his gifts to draw important people to him. ( Prov 18:16) Sadly, this was not to be. Judas fell and his love of money caused him to betray his messiah.

What does this tell us? We have a God-given destiny to fulfill. Don’t abort your future destiny with God. God has put inside of us gifts to help you and others in life. For example, we can see the gift of creating businesses. A gift in that area can help you and your family. It can, also, provide jobs for others. 

Another example is the gift in the area of science and technology. This gift can bring answers to life’s toughest problems. Your gift can be creative and, even, help save lives. All of you reading this post on my blog have a gift. Do you know what it is? God wants to show us our hidden treasures and use us for his glory. 

Prayer–Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me. Lord, show me my gifts, skills, and talents. Help me to use it for your glory. Help me to use it to provide for our needs, family and even bless all the people surrounding me. Help me to pour out all that you have invested in me. Use me as a willing vessel to bring honor and glory to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The church of Pergamos

                                          Picture of modern-day Pergamos

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God  (Heb 6:1)

Is Doctrine important?

The meaning of the word doctrine comes there the Greek word “Logos” which means sayings of Decree, mandate, or order. In the ’80s, there was a push to unify the church. We saw a strong showing of unity in the Washington for Jesus movement.  Believers fasted and prayed unto the Lord. Things started to turn around for this country for a season.

After that season, we saw a couple of things happen. A few prominent ministers fell and false doctrines started to make their way into the movement. Ministers started saying that doctrine was not important and as a consequence of those incidents, the unity of the body took a back seat. My friend, doctrine is very important for the body of Christ if we are to stand and make an impact on society.

Doctrine of Balaam

As we study the church of Pergamos, we find two major doctrines that are the mentioned-the doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitanes. We had discussed the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes some time ago, and now we will take a look at the doctrine of Balaam. What is the doctrine of Balaam? It is based on the love of money and compromise (2 Peter 2:15)

Have you heard the saying–Money talks? It does, especially within the church. Many Pastors who were once anointed, have compromised the word for the sake of money. There are others who talk about money, prosperity and feeling good without repentance or holiness. I don’t mean to fault-find because by the grace of God stand I, but the doctrine of Christ has to be followed in order to have unity within the body.

The word commands us to be of one mind. ( Phil 1:27, Phil 2:2) One obstacle to this is that we are opinionated, so in the natural, this would be hard to follow. The good news is that God has given us the mind of Christ. If we put on Christ and his identity, being of one mind will not be hard. Revelation knowledge will come and it will cause us to walk in one mind and be unified.

So, in this day, make it a practice to put on Christ. Ask God to help you discern proper doctrine. Declare that you have the mind of Christ. Spend some time seeking his face, praying for the body and what is your part in this end-time movement. God bless.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church. 

 

 

The doctrine of the Nicolaitanes.

 

So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. (Rev 2:15)

                                Defining the word doctrine 

Greetings. In this Bible study, we will look into the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. As you study Rev 2, you will find that God mentions the Nicolaitanes two times. When you see a word repeated in the Bible, pay attention. Doing so will help you find out what God is trying to tell you.

First, let’s define the word doctrine. Webster’s dictionary defines it as something that is taught. Teachings or instruction. The word of God places great importance on the doctrine of Christ. (Heb 6:1) What is God trying to tell us concerning doctrine? Correct doctrine is important and failure to adhere to it can have grave consequences

Let dig in further. The word Nicolaitanes comes from two Greek words. Nikos and Laos. Combining these words together means the conqueror of the people or laity. The Lord has placed Pastors as the authority of the local church. The Holy Spirit speaks to the Pastors first, and then to the church. Pastors are supposed to be hearing and guiding the church thru the Holy Spirit.

                                The root of false doctrine 

When the people override the Pastor’s authority, there is division. Respecting God’s spiritual authority in the church will bring you into a safe place. Everyone needs to know their place in the church so it can operate in peace and harmony. Miriam and Aaron got into trouble because they tried to override Moses's authority. (Numbers 12:1-9)

Most theologians believe that the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes came from Nicolas, one of the first deacons of the church. (Acts 6:1-5). The Apostle Paul had warned that out of the congregation would come division and strange doctrines. (Acts 20:30-31) This message would not be received in today’s modern user-friendly church. The church needs to receive correction and warnings so that they could be watchful and not allow the enemy place.

Let’s look at the life of Nicolas and how this false doctrine came into being–

• First, Nicolas might have been a charismatic person, finding fault with everything and everyone. Maybe, he wanted to go on his own (without being ordained) and have his own church.
• Another possibility is mixture. The mixture in the church could have played a role because some people in the church of Ephesus had books of curious arts (Witchcraft and sorcery–Acts 19:19).
• Finally,  it stands to reason since they were in a sexually liberal city, they had lowered their standards                  

                                                 Watch and pray 

It is not clear what happened, but false doctrine rose up to try to destroy the Ephesian church. God complimented them for their stand against those false teachings. What is the central message for us in this day and age? Watch! Brethren, now more than ever, we need to watch for false doctrine.

Some churches are lowering their standards. Holiness is a foreign word in some churches and grace is being perverted. It’s time to pray, stand firm in the Lord, and be vigilant. Let’s learn from this example and reject any false teachings in our lives. Pray and support your Pastor. Allow God to use him to bring about correction and order. Doing so will keep you on the right path and in a place of safety. God bless.

Have you left your first love?

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.(Rev 2:4)

In our past studies, we took a hard look at the church of Ephesus. This was a church that was founded by the Apostle Paul. It was a church that had tremendous growth. They won so many souls that they, practically, emptied the temple of Diana. The idol Diana brought great gain to the silversmiths, and this massive conversion to Christ affected their business. They, in return, stirred the mob against Paul and the church.

In spite of all this opposition, God protected Paul. The church overcame this obstacle and increased in size. God gave them uncommon favor with those in high places and they influenced that city for the Lord. We could conclude a happy ending to this story, right? Not quite, the Lord had a final say—They left their first love! How did they get so distracted and how does this apply to us?

Defining first love

First, let us address the topic of first love. There have been many interpretations about defining first love, but let’s look at Matt 22:37-38 —
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

So, based on this verse above, we find that loving God is the first thing we should do. We could conclude by this that the Lord Jesus is our first love. He is before your wife/husband, family, job, etc. When you love someone, you do the things that please them. They have top priority,

Perhaps, the church was doing things in a routine way. When you get to see many miracles, signs, and wonders, it can get to be a routine. Another thought to this is their work in the ministry. Working for the Lord in ministry is good, but it can have its drawbacks.

Church Pastors can get caught up in helping the poor and other community ministry outreaches that it robs their time with God. After a while, they spend less time in prayer and Bible study. The results? Their sermons are improvised and not anointed. Finally, maybe many rich and influential members were pressuring its leaders to adopt worldly ways of doing things that were not right with God. A spirit of compromise could have been a major factor causing them to lose their first love.

It is an unknown issue what happened in that church. The main issue is that there was a falling away from God. They had grown cold towards God and lost their first love, but not all is lost. God had some answers to this problem.

Consequences and benefits

To further enhance this study, we will use the Amplified version. The Amplified version of the Bible gives us clarity on God’s ultimatum (Consequences and benefits). Let’s look at the following verses below–

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent. Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the [a]Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who [b]overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’(Rev 2:5-7)

God is threatening to remove their candle. What does this mean? This means that they will lose their influence with those in high places. They will not longer be making an impact on society. On the bright side, God has an answer to their problem. The answer is that if they get this matter corrected, they will eat the fruit of the tree of life. God is opening up heaven on earth again if they repent.
Proverbs 15:4 says that a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. This talks of dominion and authority. Your tongue can bring life and death. God has given us authority to tread on serpents, scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19)

As we study this subject further, God is addressing their authority. Their authority was at stake in this matter. They were at risk of forfeiting their authority because of their sin. The good news was that God was willing to take them to even deeper dimensions and blessings. The only thing that was required was repentance and correcting the problem of falling away.

They had a choice to make. The first one was to continue in their sin and forfeit their authority. The other alternative was to repent and correct the problem. God, always, gives us a choice. There is a saying that with great power comes great responsibility.

Personal application

As we ponder on this example, we need to ask ourselves–Have I lost my first love with Jesus? Here are some points to consider..

• Have I had so many answers to prayers that I become complacent and robotic in my service to the Lord?
• Have I allowed distractions to take away my time from the Lord?
• Have I been so involved in ministries and good works that I placed the Lord in second place?

Let us not cut the flow of blessings from God in our lives. God is a jealous God and he demands our time with him. Doing so will allow us to continue to eat from the tree of life and be an overcomer.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church. 

 

A look at the church of Ephesus--Part 2

 In our last Bible study, we had seen how God used the Apostle Paul to raise up a church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a city where the false God Diana was worshiped. That cult had a large following and its temple seated anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people. It took Paul three years to establish the church and as a result of his efforts, there was revival.

How revival started in Ephesus.

Before we address how revival started in the city of Ephesus, we will see a series of events that occurred prior to that event. Let’s look at some points—

1. Paul spent some time ministering to twelve men. He made sure they were equipped and ready for the challenge. ( Acts 19:1-7)
2. Paul preached the gospel in the synagogues. He was not afraid to stand up to his beliefs. Unfortunately, many rejected his witness. (Acts 19:8-9)
3. Another door of opportunity opened up for Paul. Tyrannus had a place for Paul to teach the gospel unto others. This, in turn, allowed his students to preach the word and reach many in his surroundings.
4. God confirmed his miracles with signs and wonders (Acts 19:12)
5. An unsaved group of men tried to take upon themselves the casting of demons. The results were disastrous. (Acts 19:14-16)
6. This incident caused the church to examine themselves by the Holy Spirit. The church had allowed the mixture to creep in. They repented and burned all the books that had to do with curious arts such as Magic, Sorcery, and the Occult. (Acts 19:19)
7. The result was the growth of the word of God and souls coming to the kingdom

The backlash

As a result of these events, souls started to get saved and the temple was getting empty. Idolatry was big business and the silversmith industry was getting clobbered. No longer were the idols of Diana being sold. Demetrius led a mob with false accusations to kill Paul and stop this revival, but it backfired. (Acts 19:24-41)

Entering into God’s rest

The church of Ephesus, eventually, prevailed. They went on to exercise great influence on their city. They passed the test and God gave them rest to do his work in that area. Many believers have the mistaken idea that they need to suffer constant attacks from the enemy. It gives them a sense of comfort and assurance of their salvation. Yes, Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy but he can depart from you for a season.

Let’s look at the following points. First, the devil departed from Jesus for a season. (Luke 4:13). Would we conclude that there was something wrong with Jesus because the devil departed from him? No, Jesus passed his testings in the wilderness! The second point to consider is Acts 9:31. The churches had rest for a season. Passing your testings in life will cause Satan to depart from you for a season.

That is why it is so important to pray for those over us. God wants us to lead a quiet and peaceable life. (I Tim 2:1-3). Friends, there are times of rest that God gives us for our benefit. When we pray for those above us, it can influence our leader’s heart and give the church favor.

The third point is pleasing God. You can have a church in the midst of people who hate you. When you start looking to please God and be obedient to his calling, your enemies will be at peace with you. The fear of God will be prevalent and uncommon favor will follow.(Prov 16:7) 

One final point is understanding the word from a military point of view. The word of God calls us soldiers. (2 Tim 2:3) I was in the military myself and understood the importance of rest. Soldiers need time to rest. A much-needed rest will help them to enjoy the fruits of their labors. It will refresh them for the next battle to come.

End result

The end result of God’s rest is victory. The church of Ephesus was so influential that many ministries wanted to get it's stamp of approval. A stamp of approval would mean that they would expand to other areas, but it was not that easy.  The leadership at Ephesus had the gift of discernment. They knew whether the Apostles were sent or not. (Rev 2:1-3)

Another notable achievement with this church was following correct doctrine. The correct doctrine was very important. Discerning the false doctrines of its day–the Nicolaitanes caused the Lord to be pleased with their work. (Rev 2:6) All these achievements would make for a happy ending, but the Lord is not through. He noticed that they had fallen from their first love. In our next study, we will see how the Lord deals with this shortcoming.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian Corner community church.  

 

 

A look at the church of Ephesus...

In our last study, we saw the introduction of the seven candlesticks and stars. The Lord Jesus had appeared unto John in the midst of the candlesticks. He noticed that the Lord had the seven stars in his right hand. This imagery is interesting and symbolic as we will see below–

1. The Holy Spirit defined the stars as angels. The  Greek word for Angels is Aggelos, which means human messengers. These were the Pastors of the churches located in Turkey.
2. The candlesticks were defined as the churches.  There were seven churches mentioned —-

•  Ephesus–The Loveless church
• Smyrna–The Suffering church
• Pergamos–The Worldly church
• Thyatira–The adulterous church
•  Sardis–The dead church.
• Philadelphia–The faithful church
• Laodicea–The Lukewarm church.

The church of Ephesus

For the sake of our studies, we will take a look at the church of Ephesus. It is interesting what we will find described below–

Unto 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; (Rev 2:1)

Let’s begin by taking a look at our Lord Jesus. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. He rose up on the third day and is sitting on the right hand of the Father. Sitting is symbolic of rest. He completed his work on earth  There are times in which he has stood up for important events.

One good example was with Stephen. As he was getting ready to be martyred by the mob, he had a vision. Jesus stood up to honor Stephen. (Acts 7:55) In Rev 1:13, we see Jesus standing again in the midst of the candlesticks.

As we turn our attention to Rev 2:1, we see him walking. Jesus wanted to see the whole picture concerning what was happening in the churches. Walking among the churches gave him a better view of existing issues within that area. Let’s look at the following verses below —

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. (Rev 2:2-3)

Notice how the Lord begins his conversation. I know thy works! The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He starts off commending them for their good works. They labored (Worked hard in the ministry), exercised patience, and hated evil.

A blow against idolatry

It would do the body good to hate evil and love righteousness. It will bring a spirit of joy which, in turn, will give us strength. It gave the church of Ephesus the strength to do God’s work. (Heb 1:9) Joy is a powerful force.

One point to consider is the name of Ephesus. The word Ephesus means desirable. God desired to reach the city of  Ephesus. It was a stronghold for the godess Diana. Its temple housed a great multitude of people. It is believed that it seated about 20,000 to 30,000 people.

Idolatry was big business in that area. It brought great gain in the financial realm. Silversmiths were making good money craving the idol of Diana for the people. The Apostle Paul was sent by God to do his work in that area for about three years. God used him to bring about a mighty revival in that area.

The turning of the people from Diana to God affected the idol trade. Greedy and evil people stirred the mob against Paul, putting his life in peril. (Acts 19) God’s word prevailed, and the church developed tremendous revelation knowledge to win that whole city for the Lord. In our next study, we will see how important it is for believers to enter into God’s rest. We will, also, see some wonderful revelation knowledge that was brought to that church.

Prayer–Dear Lord, help me to apply this lesson to my life. Help me to love righteousness and hate iniquity. Restore the joy of my salvation. Use me to impact my family, community, and society–In Jesus's name. Amen.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church. 

 

The presence of God

 A quick review

Greetings. In continuing with our studies of revelation, let’s do a quick review of what we have studied—

• We saw a background on the life of the Apostle John. His life was an example of Love. In our past studies, we defined how the fruit of love helped to preserve his life and how God spoke to him at Patmos.
• We, also, saw the power of faith that was at work in his life. His faith helped John in his problems and tribulations.
•  We saw the prophetic significance of the words Alpha and Omega. God started to reveal himself to John in a prophetic dimension.
• Finally, the importance of listening to God. Not assuming nor jumping to conclusions but learning to hear God in a clear and concise manner.

Understanding the presence of God. 

In this study, we are going to look into the Presence of God. How the fear of God is essential especially in the times in which we are living. Folks, God is real and he wants to dwell among us. We need to learn the proper way to reverence God and prepare our hearts to welcome his presence. Let’s look at the verse below–

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: (Rev 1:17)

Some theologians say that the Apostle actually died. I, respectfully, have to differ from this opinion. I, personally, believe that he was slain in the spirit. Slain in the spirit is Biblical. It is defined as a person being overwhelmed by the power of God. This effect causes the individual to fall down as if they were dead.

We saw this as an example when the angel of God came down to remove the rock of the burial cave of Jesus. The word of God says that the guards became as dead men. (Matt 28:1-4) They did not die but fell down as if they were dead. We see another example of being slain in the spirit. This happened during the realm of King Solomon. The spirit of God came to the temple and it affected the priests (I Kings 8:10-1) They could not stand in his presence.

The visitation of God

There are many who want to have God’s presence during church services. God’s presence is good, but there are pros and cons. In his presence, there are manifestations of healing and miracles. For the believer, God is inside of us by faith (We walk by faith and not by sight) We do not see nor feel him. When it comes to God’s presence, He will start to manifest himself in a real way.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.(Jer 23:2)

God’s presence can be compared to electricity. Electricity can be used for good. It brings the heat in the winter among other things. The bad news is that if you tamper with it in the wrong way, it will hurt or even kill you. God is not a sugar daddy. He is God. We need to learn how to reverence him.

The fear of God is much needed within the churches. Let’s reverence God and enjoy his presence in a good way. Who knows?  He might show you things to come into your life and family.

For our online Sunday morning service, click on this link and check out the Presence of God….https://www.facebook.com/PastorSantos56

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church.