Call to the City - Watch your Language

In the cultural melting pot of London it is very difficult to maintain your identity. What does your language say about you.

Discipleship pays dividends

This week was an exiting time for us. We talk about discipleship, and we teach discipleship, but it doesn't become real until you see the results in the life of the disciple.

Over the past few years we have been blessed to see Afrim growing and putting into practice the things he has learned of God. Thursday saw it all come together.

2 Timothy 2:2

2. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Afrim has been taught, and now he is teaching. In fact, within this church he is now forming third generation disciples!

He taught from Psalm 1, and in short summary, the challenge was this:

You have a decision to make, walk in unrighteousness, listening to the counsel of the world, or walk in righteousness, trusting in God's word. What are you going to chose?

Call to the City - Priorities

It is impossible to Worship god if your life is full of other stuff. Time to clean house.

The Church of Smyrna - Withstand Trials

Firstly, who was the first and the last? Who was dead and now is alive? this is the message to the church of Smyrna.

Letter From

Revelation 2:8

8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

From the Old Testament, for example Isaiah 44:6, we see that this is The God of Israel, the creator of all things. Moving on to Revelation, we find that he is also the last, the ending, the Alpha and Omega.

Revelation 1:8

8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

So in dealing with the problem later on it is key to understand that the one writing is the Lord of Israel, the creator of all, and the one who will judge the world at the end. It also says that the letter is from the one who was dead and is now alive. This is of course none other than Christ himself. The risen Lord, in who we have salvation, and the assurance of resurection on the last day.

The Problem

Revelation 2:8-9

9. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

This was the church he was writing to, and for us, a challenge to be sure of who is around us. There is always a problem. Some say that this church had no problem, except persecution which is not a problem but a blessing! However it is a problem. How do you persevere in the face of persecution? Only by being secure in the knowledge that there is a God, he created all we see, and will judge it at the end. More importantly, we will rise again on that last day. For all who believe that Christ is risen from the dead there is no fear in death.

1 Corinthians 15:12-14, 20

12. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

If Christ is risen, we also will rise and therefore we can stand against any persecution.

Call to the City - Repentance

A few short years after Nehemiah rebuilt the walls the people were back in a mess. What went wrong?

The message to the church of Ephesus - "Loss of first love"

Revelation 2:1-8

Letter From

While clearly the messages to the churches all came from God, what is this about? Seven stars and seven candlesticks?

Revelation 1:12-13

12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

From this we realise that the message is from the Son of man, that is Jesus Christ. He uses this phase of himself in the gospels, and it is used some 85 times in the New Testament to refer to Christ.

The Problem

Revelation 2:4

4. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

The problem was, and is a loss of first love. All Christians face this. Somewhat like how couples start out in a blaze of love, that after a year or two becomes a relationship that needs work. In both cases we need to return to that first love. The enthusiasm and dedication of that time. Do you love God with all your heart, mind and strength? This is not about what you practically do as "works". The Ephesians were great at "works". This is about your heart. Out of your heart actions will follow, but without the heart actions become "works".

As with all the letters, the problem is met by the realisation of who the letter is from. In this case, the problem was a loss of the first love following salvation. The solution, to look once more to Jesus, the Son of man, the author and finisher of our salvation.

The Seven Churches of Revelation - Introduction

The book of Revelation is confusing. It is confusing because it describes many things that have quite clearly not yet taken place and therefore describes events that we cannot properly comprehend until they do. We can fit these prophesies to certain historical events, but we can also fit them to other historical events. The result is that through the ages there have risen many potential anti-christs and many possible fulfilments of prophesy, but it was not yet God’s time. Therefore, while theologians have for centuries believed that the letters to the seven churches lay out seven consecutive phases in history they have almost universally placed themselves in the Laodacean church age.

Peter himself placed himself in the last days, just forty days after Christ was crucified as he preached in Acts 2:14-20

And Paul seems to have expected to be still alive when Christ returned:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Many believed at that time that John would still be alive to see the return of Christ. None of this has happened, yet it demonstrates again the fact that while we can apply historical analysis to these letters and place them as phases of history, they were most definitely letters written to specific existing churches at the time of writing, and they most definitely have a message for us today. We cannot ignore the letters to earlier churches believing ourselves to be in the Laodacean age, or God would not have passed them on to us today.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

With this in mind over the coming weeks we will note the classical interpretation of historical placement of these letters, but primarily we are interested in applying these lessons to ourselves.

All the letters end with the enjoinment:

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;”

Faith unto Salvation

The paralytic man of Matthew 9 was looking for salvation, not healing, but it was a good bonus!