Revelation 3:14-22
• The Diagnosis of the Church
– The Laodicean Church is a compromising church
• The heart of man is described three different ways in the New Testament, a burning heart in Luke 24:32, and Matthew 24:12 speaks of a cold heart. But in the Laodicean church there was a lukewarm heart.
• A triad of cities (Colossians 4:12); A reference to the water situation, hot water springs in Hierapolis and cold water springs in Colosse, pipes and aqueducts transported the water result/lukewarm.
• The Laodicean Church is a conceited church.
– The church at Smyrna thought it was poor when in fact it was rich, the church at Laodicea though they were rich when in fact they were poor.
– “The Laodicea church was a half-hearted church, a Christianity which was both flabby and anemic. They had taken a lukewarm bath of religion.” –John Stott
• The Laodicean Church was a Christ less Church.
– Jesus is standing on the wrong side of the door. The Greek word for “dine” refers to the last meal before the dawning of a new day. He was ready to give the Church a new day but he had to be invited in.
– “When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)
The Counsel to the last Church
• Prescription one for spiritual compromise: Repent (Revelation 3:19)
• Prescription two for spiritual poverty: Gold refined by suffering (Revelation 3:18)
• Prescription three for spiritual nakedness: White garments of righteousness (Revelation 3:18)
• Prescription four for spiritual blindness: Salve (Revelation 3:18)
• Prescription five for their Christlessness: Open the door (Revelation 3:20)
Open the door
The only cure for the lukewarmness is the readmission of the excluded Christ. Apostasy must be confronted with His fidelity, looseness with conviction born of His authority, poverty with the fact of His wealth, frost with the mighty fire of His enthusiasm, and death with the life divine that is in His gift. There is no other cure for the loneliness of heaven, for the malady of the world, for the lukewarmness of the Church than the readmitted Christ.” - G. Campbell Morgan
• What do the following scriptures reveal to us about fervency in one’s walk with the Lord?
– Acts 18:25
– Romans 12:11
– Colossians 4:12
– James 5:16
– 1 Peter 1:22
– 1 Peter 4:8
• How could you apply the concept of “fervent heat” to the spiritual life? (2 Peter 3:10, 12)
• Describe as many different elements as you can from 1 Corinthians 15:58 about what it means to be fervent for the Lord:
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Seven Messages to Seven Churches Lesson seven; The Faithful Church at Philadelphia
Revelation 3:7-13
• It is possible to be part of a church with which the Lord Jesus is pleased. But what kind of church is it? Is it one measured by the size of buildings, member rolls, or financial giving? Jesus commended the church at Philadelphia, but not for meeting our modern standards of success.
The Destination of the Letter
• The word Philadelphia is almost identical to the city we know by the same name, Philadelphia, and means “brotherly love.” The noun and adjective forms of the word occur seven times in the New Testament besides its use as a city name. It is normally translated as “kindly affectionate” or “brotherly love”
• (Romans 12:10; 1Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews13:1; 1Peter 1:22; 3:8; 2 Peter 1:7).
The Designation of the Lord
• Holy, True, Having the key of David, able to open and shut according to His will.
• The preeminent, holy God, alone qualified to call the Christians at Philadelphia to a life of faith in Him.
• The key of David: Isaiah 22:22 “The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So shall he open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.”
The Diagnosis
• They have an open door
– 1Corinthians 16:8-9, 2Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3
– Philadelphia was situated at a corner where three regions came together: Lycia, Lydia, and Phrygia. The city was founded in 140 B.C. by Philadelphus, the king of Pergamos. The city was founded to be a gateway for the spread of Hellenism.
• They have a little strength
• They have kept the word
• They have not denied the Lord
– Many church growth experts have identified the four characteristics of the Philadelphia church as characteristics of growing congregations: identification of open doors of ministry, dependence on the Lord for strength, commitment to the Word, and submission to the Lordship of Christ.
The Declaration of Christ to the Church
• He promises to humiliate their enemies
• He promises to keep them from the hour of trial
• He promises to come quickly
– All of the commendable traits will be unprofitable unless we walk through the door God has opened for us.
Questions
• According to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
– How was Paul made weak?
– Who was the source of his weakness?
– What was the purpose of his weakness?
– What normal response did Paul have to his weakness?
– What was God’s response to Paul? What was his plan for making Paul strong?
– What was Paul’s response when he understood God’s plan?
• It is possible to be part of a church with which the Lord Jesus is pleased. But what kind of church is it? Is it one measured by the size of buildings, member rolls, or financial giving? Jesus commended the church at Philadelphia, but not for meeting our modern standards of success.
The Destination of the Letter
• The word Philadelphia is almost identical to the city we know by the same name, Philadelphia, and means “brotherly love.” The noun and adjective forms of the word occur seven times in the New Testament besides its use as a city name. It is normally translated as “kindly affectionate” or “brotherly love”
• (Romans 12:10; 1Thessalonians 4:9; Hebrews13:1; 1Peter 1:22; 3:8; 2 Peter 1:7).
The Designation of the Lord
• Holy, True, Having the key of David, able to open and shut according to His will.
• The preeminent, holy God, alone qualified to call the Christians at Philadelphia to a life of faith in Him.
• The key of David: Isaiah 22:22 “The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So shall he open, and no one shall shut; and he shall shut, and no one shall open.”
The Diagnosis
• They have an open door
– 1Corinthians 16:8-9, 2Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3
– Philadelphia was situated at a corner where three regions came together: Lycia, Lydia, and Phrygia. The city was founded in 140 B.C. by Philadelphus, the king of Pergamos. The city was founded to be a gateway for the spread of Hellenism.
• They have a little strength
• They have kept the word
• They have not denied the Lord
– Many church growth experts have identified the four characteristics of the Philadelphia church as characteristics of growing congregations: identification of open doors of ministry, dependence on the Lord for strength, commitment to the Word, and submission to the Lordship of Christ.
The Declaration of Christ to the Church
• He promises to humiliate their enemies
• He promises to keep them from the hour of trial
• He promises to come quickly
– All of the commendable traits will be unprofitable unless we walk through the door God has opened for us.
Questions
• According to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
– How was Paul made weak?
– Who was the source of his weakness?
– What was the purpose of his weakness?
– What normal response did Paul have to his weakness?
– What was God’s response to Paul? What was his plan for making Paul strong?
– What was Paul’s response when he understood God’s plan?
Friday, August 17, 2007
Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth (Sis Edwina Roberts)
Women's Bible Study
Tuesday July 31,2007
Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth
2 Tim 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
What is truth? According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, truth is conformity to fact, faithfulness to an original or standard. In the Old and the New Testament truth is a moral and personal quality of God.
In Psalm 119:142 the Psalmist declared, "Your law is truth", in Psalm 119:151 "All your commandments are truth" and in Psalm 119:160 “The entirety of your word is truth.”
Because of His perfect nature and will, God has to speak and act in truth; He cannot lie. 1Samuel 15:29, Hebrews 6:18, James 1:17-18
Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh, "the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) God is truth, the Spirit is truth, and Jesus is truth.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."(John 14:6) Jesus and the revelation which the Spirit of truth gave through His apostles are the final-ultimate definition of truth about God and man.
"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17
Now that we understand that "truth" is everything that is written in the Bible, we come to the "rightly" dividing of that truth. “Rightly Dividing-Correctly handling the Word of God in both analysis and presentation”, “Analysis-Separation of a whole into its component parts”, and “Presentation-Something offered or given”.
We now know that every scripture is truth and there is a reason and purpose for it.
So in "rightly" dividing, let us go to 1 Cor 14:34-35 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."
We have already established that if it is in the Bible it is truth. So obviously that scripture means exactly what it says.
The question is why don't we preach it and obey what it says? It is Bible and therefore it is truth.
This is where "rightly" dividing the Word of Truth comes in. In 1 Cor. 14:34-35 the apostle Paul was talking to the Corinthian Church about something that was happening in the Church in that day. So what was happening? It was a question of authority and submission. Women were usurping the authority of the men in their churches by speaking out when it was not appropriate. They were not being respectful or obedient to their "head" their husband. Therefore Paul was telling them to wait and ask their question at home.
How do we know that Paul did not intend for that scripture to be interpreted to mean that women should never speak in Church, although that is what it said, and although it is Bible and although it is truth, because it would have contradicted the following Word of Truth.
Acts 21:8-9 “And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.”
Notice; in order to prophesy we have to speak!
Luke 2:36-38 "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."
Some of the finest leaders in Israel were women, in spite of the fact that the culture was male-dominated. God revealed His Word through Prophetesses.
In Acts 18:26 God used Priscilla, a woman and her husband Aquila to explain the way of God more perfectly to Apollos the preacher.
Why would Paul mean that women should never speak in church when clearly according to the Word, according to truth, God Himself used women to help reveal His Word.
Paul was asking the women in the Corinthian Church to be submissive to their husbands in order to preserve order within the Church and to be a witness to outsiders.
This should be a case in point as to what it means to "rightly" divide the truth. If there is a "rightly" then there most also be a "wrongly."
If we had wrongly divided the truth of 1Cor. 14:34-35 look what we would have missed---the anointed ministry of Thetus Tenney, Vesta Mangun, Nona Freeman, Joy Haney, to name a few.
Another case in point; Matthew 28:19: Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying what is to be said over the individual in baptism. After all it is Bible, it is the Word, and it is truth.
But in "rightly" dividing the truth we find that Jesus is the name of the Father, Jesus is the name of the Son and Jesus is the name of the Holy Ghost.
We also see that in the book of Acts everyone was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This scriptural truth is validated in the 8th chapter of Acts, 10th chapter of Acts and the 19th chapter of Acts.
The prophet Hosea said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:" Hos 4:6
We need to be very careful that we "rightly" divide the Word of Truth.
Respectfully,
Edwina Roberts
Tuesday July 31,2007
Rightly Dividing The Word of Truth
2 Tim 2:15 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
What is truth? According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, truth is conformity to fact, faithfulness to an original or standard. In the Old and the New Testament truth is a moral and personal quality of God.
In Psalm 119:142 the Psalmist declared, "Your law is truth", in Psalm 119:151 "All your commandments are truth" and in Psalm 119:160 “The entirety of your word is truth.”
Because of His perfect nature and will, God has to speak and act in truth; He cannot lie. 1Samuel 15:29, Hebrews 6:18, James 1:17-18
Jesus is the Word of God who became flesh, "the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) God is truth, the Spirit is truth, and Jesus is truth.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."(John 14:6) Jesus and the revelation which the Spirit of truth gave through His apostles are the final-ultimate definition of truth about God and man.
"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17
Now that we understand that "truth" is everything that is written in the Bible, we come to the "rightly" dividing of that truth. “Rightly Dividing-Correctly handling the Word of God in both analysis and presentation”, “Analysis-Separation of a whole into its component parts”, and “Presentation-Something offered or given”.
We now know that every scripture is truth and there is a reason and purpose for it.
So in "rightly" dividing, let us go to 1 Cor 14:34-35 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."
We have already established that if it is in the Bible it is truth. So obviously that scripture means exactly what it says.
The question is why don't we preach it and obey what it says? It is Bible and therefore it is truth.
This is where "rightly" dividing the Word of Truth comes in. In 1 Cor. 14:34-35 the apostle Paul was talking to the Corinthian Church about something that was happening in the Church in that day. So what was happening? It was a question of authority and submission. Women were usurping the authority of the men in their churches by speaking out when it was not appropriate. They were not being respectful or obedient to their "head" their husband. Therefore Paul was telling them to wait and ask their question at home.
How do we know that Paul did not intend for that scripture to be interpreted to mean that women should never speak in Church, although that is what it said, and although it is Bible and although it is truth, because it would have contradicted the following Word of Truth.
Acts 21:8-9 “And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9 And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.”
Notice; in order to prophesy we have to speak!
Luke 2:36-38 "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; 37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."
Some of the finest leaders in Israel were women, in spite of the fact that the culture was male-dominated. God revealed His Word through Prophetesses.
In Acts 18:26 God used Priscilla, a woman and her husband Aquila to explain the way of God more perfectly to Apollos the preacher.
Why would Paul mean that women should never speak in church when clearly according to the Word, according to truth, God Himself used women to help reveal His Word.
Paul was asking the women in the Corinthian Church to be submissive to their husbands in order to preserve order within the Church and to be a witness to outsiders.
This should be a case in point as to what it means to "rightly" divide the truth. If there is a "rightly" then there most also be a "wrongly."
If we had wrongly divided the truth of 1Cor. 14:34-35 look what we would have missed---the anointed ministry of Thetus Tenney, Vesta Mangun, Nona Freeman, Joy Haney, to name a few.
Another case in point; Matthew 28:19: Jesus said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"
At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying what is to be said over the individual in baptism. After all it is Bible, it is the Word, and it is truth.
But in "rightly" dividing the truth we find that Jesus is the name of the Father, Jesus is the name of the Son and Jesus is the name of the Holy Ghost.
We also see that in the book of Acts everyone was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. This scriptural truth is validated in the 8th chapter of Acts, 10th chapter of Acts and the 19th chapter of Acts.
The prophet Hosea said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:" Hos 4:6
We need to be very careful that we "rightly" divide the Word of Truth.
Respectfully,
Edwina Roberts
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Seven Messages to Seven Churches; The Dead Church at Sardis
Revelation 3:1-6
• The fifth letter of Christ to the churches was sent to the church at Sardis. More than anything, it is remembered as the city defeated by a surprise attack, a piece of history which may have prompted Jesus’ admonition to the church to be watchful.
• The Lord designates himself as the one who has control over the pastors of the seven churches. Revelation 3:1
The City of Sardis
• Considered to be one of the most impregnable cities of its day. Situated fifteen hundred feet above the valley floor on the top of a mountain spur, it was surrounded by sheer cliffs.
• The greatest king of Sardis was Croesus, whose overconfidence was his downfall when he went to war with Cyrus, king of Persia.
• Defeated when underground passageway to the city was discovered.
The Denunciation of the Church
• The Church is denounced for its outward profession and inward deadness. Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 23:27.
• The Church is denounced for its incomplete works. Revelation 3:1-2
• “We can have pomp and ceremony, color and ritual, liturgical exactness and ecclesiastical splendor, and yet be offering a worship which is not perfect of ‘fulfilled’ in the sight of God. -John Stott
The Direction to the ChurchRevelation 3:2-3
• Become Vigilant (Ephesians 5:14)
• Become Vigorous (At Sardis there were a “Few” who had not “Defiled their garments”)
• Become Victorious (“Remember what you have received and heard”)
• Become Vibrant (“hold fast…” 1Cor. 15:2; 1Thess. 5:21; 2Tim. 1:13; Hebrews 4:14; 10:23)
• Become Virtuous (“Repent”)
The Declaration to the ChurchRevelation 3:5-6
• To those who are overcoming, they shall be clothed in white: Being clothed in white signifies righteousness. Revelation 19:8
• … they shall be continued in the book: Ancient cities kept records of citizens, if a citizen committed a crime their name was blotted out of the book.
• …they shall be confessed before God: Matthew 10:32
How does a Church Die?
• What we can rule out:
– Death from an outside enemy
– Death by suicide
– Death by abandonment
“A Church is in danger of death when it begins to worship its own past…when it is more concerned with forms than with life…when it loves systems more than it loves Jesus Christ…when it is more concerned with material than spiritual things.”-W. Ramsey
What causes death?
• The church died through the death of its individual members.
• The church died from relying on its past reputation. Spiritual movements go through four stages: a man, a movement, a machine, a monument.
• The church died because it was sensitive to its own spiritual condition.
Questions
According to Matthew 23:1-39, what was a sure sign that the Pharisees were hypocrites? (verse 3b) Who were their works done for? (verse 5)
What is the warning statement about man-centered religion? (verse 12)
What does God always preserve for Himself even in times of spiritual deadness? (Romans 9:27; 11:5)
• The fifth letter of Christ to the churches was sent to the church at Sardis. More than anything, it is remembered as the city defeated by a surprise attack, a piece of history which may have prompted Jesus’ admonition to the church to be watchful.
• The Lord designates himself as the one who has control over the pastors of the seven churches. Revelation 3:1
The City of Sardis
• Considered to be one of the most impregnable cities of its day. Situated fifteen hundred feet above the valley floor on the top of a mountain spur, it was surrounded by sheer cliffs.
• The greatest king of Sardis was Croesus, whose overconfidence was his downfall when he went to war with Cyrus, king of Persia.
• Defeated when underground passageway to the city was discovered.
The Denunciation of the Church
• The Church is denounced for its outward profession and inward deadness. Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 23:27.
• The Church is denounced for its incomplete works. Revelation 3:1-2
• “We can have pomp and ceremony, color and ritual, liturgical exactness and ecclesiastical splendor, and yet be offering a worship which is not perfect of ‘fulfilled’ in the sight of God. -John Stott
The Direction to the ChurchRevelation 3:2-3
• Become Vigilant (Ephesians 5:14)
• Become Vigorous (At Sardis there were a “Few” who had not “Defiled their garments”)
• Become Victorious (“Remember what you have received and heard”)
• Become Vibrant (“hold fast…” 1Cor. 15:2; 1Thess. 5:21; 2Tim. 1:13; Hebrews 4:14; 10:23)
• Become Virtuous (“Repent”)
The Declaration to the ChurchRevelation 3:5-6
• To those who are overcoming, they shall be clothed in white: Being clothed in white signifies righteousness. Revelation 19:8
• … they shall be continued in the book: Ancient cities kept records of citizens, if a citizen committed a crime their name was blotted out of the book.
• …they shall be confessed before God: Matthew 10:32
How does a Church Die?
• What we can rule out:
– Death from an outside enemy
– Death by suicide
– Death by abandonment
“A Church is in danger of death when it begins to worship its own past…when it is more concerned with forms than with life…when it loves systems more than it loves Jesus Christ…when it is more concerned with material than spiritual things.”-W. Ramsey
What causes death?
• The church died through the death of its individual members.
• The church died from relying on its past reputation. Spiritual movements go through four stages: a man, a movement, a machine, a monument.
• The church died because it was sensitive to its own spiritual condition.
Questions
According to Matthew 23:1-39, what was a sure sign that the Pharisees were hypocrites? (verse 3b) Who were their works done for? (verse 5)
What is the warning statement about man-centered religion? (verse 12)
What does God always preserve for Himself even in times of spiritual deadness? (Romans 9:27; 11:5)
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Thyatira; The Adulterous Church
• The destination of the letter: Unlike some of the other cities Jesus addresses, the city was not known for its grandeur, culture, or learning. But it was known for its commerce.
• The designation of the Lord: Rev. 2:18
– The Son of God: Authority
– The All-Seeing God: Knowledge (John 2:24)
– Feet like fine brass: Judgment (Deut. 28:23)
• Thyatira was a…
– Laboring church
– Loyal church
– Longsuffering church
– Maturing, Progressing, Growing Church
• There more recent works, Jesus said, are more than the first. In other words, this was a church that was maturing, progressing and growing-a church making progress in sanctification. While this was a commendable church in many respects, that in which they were failing overshadowed the good.
• “If the devil cannot conquer the church by the application of political pressure or the propagation of intellectual heresy, he will try the insinuation of moral evil. This was the dragon’s strategy in Thyatira.”-John Stott
• The woman Jezebel
– Wife of Ahab
– Priestess of Ashtaroth, (a.k.a. Aphrodite and Venus)
– Persuaded Ahab to build a temple, supported 850 false prophets, and systematically killed the prophets of God. Elijah ran for his life from her.
• The Message to the Cult: Rev. 2:21-23
• The Message to the Christians: Rev. 2:24-25 (keep on doing what you’re doing)
• The Message to the Conquerors: Rev. 2:26-29
– The right to rule and reign with Christ
– Possession of the Morning Star
– “I Jesus…am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”-Rev.22:16
• The designation of the Lord: Rev. 2:18
– The Son of God: Authority
– The All-Seeing God: Knowledge (John 2:24)
– Feet like fine brass: Judgment (Deut. 28:23)
• Thyatira was a…
– Laboring church
– Loyal church
– Longsuffering church
– Maturing, Progressing, Growing Church
• There more recent works, Jesus said, are more than the first. In other words, this was a church that was maturing, progressing and growing-a church making progress in sanctification. While this was a commendable church in many respects, that in which they were failing overshadowed the good.
• “If the devil cannot conquer the church by the application of political pressure or the propagation of intellectual heresy, he will try the insinuation of moral evil. This was the dragon’s strategy in Thyatira.”-John Stott
• The woman Jezebel
– Wife of Ahab
– Priestess of Ashtaroth, (a.k.a. Aphrodite and Venus)
– Persuaded Ahab to build a temple, supported 850 false prophets, and systematically killed the prophets of God. Elijah ran for his life from her.
• The Message to the Cult: Rev. 2:21-23
• The Message to the Christians: Rev. 2:24-25 (keep on doing what you’re doing)
• The Message to the Conquerors: Rev. 2:26-29
– The right to rule and reign with Christ
– Possession of the Morning Star
– “I Jesus…am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”-Rev.22:16
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