Strength

REVELATION 3 v 7-13

Do we just get crushed if we are not strong or do we rely on the Holy Spirit for our strength?

The church in Philadelphia was an unstable place to live, founded by some of Pergamum’s citizens it was built as a gateway to Asia Minor and stopped barbarians from coming in. The city itself was destroyed by a major earthquake in AD 17 so most of its people live outside of the city limits. They allowed in a lot of Greek culture.

It was an unstable place to be not just because of the earthquake but because of barbarian attack and Greek culture flowing.

•  John's writes that he knows they have little strength, which is ironic because this is the town which is supposed to protect the rest. The believers had little strength, but they had kept God's word and not denied him even in times of persecution.
• Verse 10 "I will also keep you from the hour of trial." There are three different understandings of this...

1. That this future time of tribulation we as believers will be spared.
2. The church will go through great times of tribulation but God will be our strength.
3. The churches great time of suffering and tribulation through the ages.

• Judges 7 v 7-8 - “7 The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” ⁸ So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others."
• Gideon obeyed God because didn't want the Israelites do boost saying they did it in their own strength, so God cut down the number of men Gideon had dramatically. SO now when they won they would worship God for only by His strength they won.
• I believe in our weakness God is strongest.
• The Philadelphian’s were of little strength but what little strength they had they used. We all have different gifts and abilities, and we are not all the same or act the same but what God does commend them for was their ability to be resourceful with what he had given them and to be obedient to Him.
• Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25 v 14-30. Jesus teaches us to be faithful with what God has given us. This is what the Philadelphian's were good at.
• Be resourceful with what we have.
• Play to what strengths we have.
• The strengths and gifts God has given us + the power of the Holy Spirit = building the Kingdom of God successfully.

Wake Up!

REVELATION 3 v 1-6

How do you help people regain life back into their faith?

The church in Sardis was in a very wealthy town, the town was split in two because they out grew their first location. The letter doesn't mention there is major idol worship going or any major spiritual warfare, although I expect there was some. Their main problem was death. Spiritual death.

The angle I am going to look at it from today is of how does this affect us?

• The church in Thyatira didn't have this problem but yesterday I mentioned James 2 v 18 "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." But Sardis had a problem and its route was faith and deeds. They were doing nice and good deeds but without the focus of God at the forefront of the deeds.
• Sometimes a people can be doing all sorts of outreach and good in the community but they have focused too much on the need and lost focus of the source of healing for those needs.
• The church in Sardis looked good on the outside but was rotten at the core.
• They had soiled their clothes by making compromises and corruption.
• "No matter how much you learn it shouldn't affect our foundations in Christ."
• Do we sometimes do deeds and forget why we doing them?
• Do we sometimes let things fester inside of us?
• Do we need waking up? Need life injecting back into us?
• Do our deeds and faith match up?

Distractions

REVELATION 2 v 18-29
Are we distracted by potential distractions or do they drive us to focus more on God?
Thyatira was a working man’s town, one of Paul's first converts, Lydia, was from there. One of the things the city didn't have was other idols or God's in mainstream focus; they were very much a secular city. Now this could prove easier of harder for the Church there, depending how you look at it.
-  The picture of Jesus continues to build with feet burnished with bronze and fire blazing from his eyes.
     -  Eyes blazing with fire - my interpretation is this; the eyes represented Jesus seeing everything we do.
     -  Feet burnished with bronze - represents Jesus as the original good news bringer, we are to have a feet ready to carry the good news.
What we can learn from Thyatira...
-  They did many good deeds.
-  They had a great faith.
-  They had great love.
-  James 2 v 18 "But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
-  It works both ways - faith without deeds is dead and deeds with no faith before them are dead.
-  We should live in a way where our faith is shown through our deeds, the church in Thyatira were great at this. Faith, love and acts of service.
What did they need to deal with...
-  There main issue was a woman John named Jezebel, she may not have been called Jezebel but it is the symbolism and spirit Jezebel which lives with in this woman.
-  She was teaching the church to be flexible when it came to sexual sin.
-  Jezebel - 1 Kings 19 v 1-2 & 21 v 1-15, 2 Kings 9 v 7-10, 30-37.
-  The main problems was this - that sex outside of marriage always hurts someone may it be God or one of the parties involved.
-  The church was being distracted and worse led astray by this woman’s teachings.
-  Jezebel was unwilling to repent.
-  Christ said he would destroy her entire family, because he knows our minds and hearts. She was not willing to repent.
-  They wasn't just the distractions of Jezebel there were others who were promoting the 'Secrets of Satan', people were being sold on them because it claimed to deepen spiritual life. Their claim probably wasn't in correct but it would deep spiritual life with Satan instead of God. So they did not deepen spiritual life with God.
-  When distractions like Jezebel or the Secrets of Satan come along we need to take it back to the basics of our faith and remain strong.
-  For those who remain strong in the faith they will reign with Jesus as he judges the world.
-  What distractions are taking our eyes off God? 

Standing Our Ground

REVELATION 2 v 12-17
What does it take to withstand in a place of a stronghold?
Proverbs 12 v 12 - "The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers, but the root of the righteous endures."
-  The church in Pergamum were in a Stronghold of evil and idols.
-  The city was strong on a hill top and well protected, people would come from all around to be healed by the Asclepius. It says in Revelation this is the place where Satan has his throne - this city was the centre for four cults and Asclepuis was represented by a serpent. 
-  God didn't want the people to become corrupted by the goings on in the city, he wanted their roots to remain in righteousness.
-  God was going to judge this city that is what the double-edged sword represents.
-  The church in Pergamum were surrounded by all these horrible things but God commended for staying strong in their faith even when their leader was put to death.
-  How strong does our faith remain in the middle of the battle ground?
-  In this situation it is or was never easy but choosing the alternative to God is deadly.
-  The key to them remaining and growing while in this evil stronghold was there faith.
-  The church Pergamum were not out to fight people but to get along with and live side by side BUT not to compromise!
-  This is the main issue John tackles, some of the members of the church are compromising with the values of the idol worshipping people and forgetting some of the roots.
-  The pressure was so great that some bowed to it and became open minded to sexual practices and idol worship.
-  What we have to remember is that their situation was incredibly difficult, it was not easy. But this doesn't mean they are allowed to sin.
-  To withstand in such strongholds or dangerous places we need to be firmly rooted in our faith.
2 Key things we need to do...
    1. Have a firm foundation and know our roots and how deep they go. Matthew 7 v 24-29 - "²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
 ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."
   2. Seek the after what God wants us to do for the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6 v 33 - "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Sometimes God places us in a place which is a stronghold but by doing the 2 key things, putting on the armour of God and using the power of the Holy Spirit we can do things for God wherever he calls us too whether it be in the midts of such things as Pergamum or where over powers and principalities rule over.

EASTER - The Next Step

MATTHEW 28 v 16-20

What is the next step after Easter?

-  Jesus gives us a big call for us to make disciples.

-  Making disciples isn’t about just a one off event where someone responds it is about a process.

-  Luke writes in Acts this call to all who follow God – Acts 1 v 8 –  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

-  We can’t make disciples and change the world without the Holy Spirit.

-  We aren’t to make disciples just so we can have a bunch of clones but so we have a group people who are building the Kingdom of God with us.

-  Discipleship is about reproducing ourselves in others. But if we are aphetic or lazy then so will our disciples. But if we are passionate missionaries willing to build the Kingdom of God then we will produce the same kind of people.

-  Jesus doesn't just send us out with nothing He gives us the authority God had given to Him.

-  I believe to make disciples we need to see where are as our mission field.

-  We are all missionaries wherever we are placed – work, education, services, unemployed, retired, parent, neighbour etc…

-  So our mission field is where we spend our time. 

- Our next what Jesus calls us to is to make disciples.

-  How can you make disciples where you are?