“But hold fast what you have till I come“
But hold fast what you have
Jesus does not want us to let go of objective truth. False teachers want to wrench it from us. Jesus wants us to be true to what we have already, not to learn some new mystery of spirituality.
till I come
When Jesus […]
Archive for November, 1998
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations…”
And he who overcomes
We come to the promise portion of the epistle to Thyatira.An overcomer is a person who wins a victory over sin, the flesh, the world and spiritual failure, and thus who conquers spiritually.
and […]
“He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father…“
He shall rule them with a rod of iron
This verse is a quotation of the second Psalm (2:8,9) and refers to Jesus setting up His millennial kingdom on earth.
“Ask of […]
“…and I will give him the morning star“
and I will give him the morning star
Jesus gives a second promise to victorious Christians. He will give them “the morning star,” fellowship with the Lord Jesus Himself.
The “morning star” emerges just before the dawn. The victor will not only share in the rights of a victor, but […]
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
The “ear” is a system of perception and reception of truth. As His custom, Jesus ends this letter with a challenge to positive volition. The exhortation follows […]
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead‘”
We now turn to the fifth church that Jesus addresses.
And to the angel of […]
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God”
Be watchful
The word “be” indicates this church was not spiritually alert. The word “be” means to become. Jesus commands them to be what they were not. They were not spiritually alert. Now He […]
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God”
and strengthen
“Strengthen” means to fix, make fast, to set. The idea is to put something firmly in a location. The New Testament uses this word for establishing or stabilizing something.
Jesus wanted Peter […]
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God“
the things which remain
The “things which remain” is the time remaining for a given church. As long as a church remains, God still has a purpose for it. Once the church loses […]
“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you“
Remember therefore how you have received and heard
The church at Sardis needs to remember how they both heard […]