Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 2-3 refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant. It means the suffering in the flesh that must be experienced by the seven churches of the Gentiles or the ones in the last days to be perfect and without any blemish and worthy to welcome Jesus’ second coming.
Revelation 2:9-10
2:9 "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
2:10 "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
The church of Smyrna suffers in the flesh or experiences the death together with Jesus.
The attitude in such condition must be as follows.
There are three kinds of the faithfulness until the end as follows.
Matthew 14:28-32
14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
14:29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
14:32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Peter was faithful in the service and ministry as well as suffering in the sea of the world. Unfortunately, he was doubtful in facing the wind of false teachings and began to sink. Sinking means losing all of his faithfulness from the beginning, even the salvation vanishes away.
Nevertheless, he still got the opportunity to lift up his hands and fully surrender to Jesus. We confess that we cannot do anything without God. We cry His name and He will lift up and heal us. We are lifted up on the glorious clouds when Jesus comes a second time. We meet Him and enter New Jerusalem forever.
God blesses you.
Revelation 2-3 refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant. It means the suffering in the flesh that must be experienced by the seven churches of the Gentiles or the ones in the last days to be perfect and without any blemish and worthy to welcome Jesus’ second coming.
Revelation 2:9-10
2:9 "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
2:10 "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
The church of Smyrna suffers in the flesh or experiences the death together with Jesus.
The attitude in such condition must be as follows.
- Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. We must fear the Lord when we are in the suffering.
- Be faithful until death. It means we are faithful until our flesh does not speak anymore or the faithfulness until the end.
There are three kinds of the faithfulness until the end as follows.
- The core of the faithfulness.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4
11:2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
11:4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted––you may well put up with it! - It is the simplicity that is in Christ or to the true teaching Word. As a result, we have the atmosphere of paradise.
The true teaching Word means as follows.- Being written in the Bible.
- Being revealed through a verse that explains other verses in the Bible.
Genesis 2:16-17
2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freelyeat;
2:17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Genesis 3:1-3
3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3:3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touchit, lest you die.' "
Eve took away the word 'freely' and added the word 'touch'.
It means losing the simplicity that is in Christ.
Eve was a mother. She refers to the pastor. Be alert! There are many pastors who take away and add the word.
Revelation 22:18-19
22:18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;
22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
The tragedy in garden Eden will happen again in the last days.
The church is deceived or made doubtful by the fiery red dragon, not only as the serpent anymore. It refers to the multiplied power of the deception. We can endure only by the grace of God.
The word 'freely' refers to Holy Spirit. Taking away the word 'freely' means the preaching of the Word does not rely anymore on Holy Spirit, but on riches, and so on. It is limited by the time. The content is also limited. Consequently, the church is bound by the sins up to the peak.
Adding the word 'touch' means adding the Word of God with the sound of the flesh, namely joke, knowledge, and illustration whose truth cannot be accounted for. Consequently, the congregation never feels the touching of God’s hand in the heart.
The consequence of adding and taking away the Word is the church in the last days live in the atmosphere of curses, labor, sorrow, and perdition forever in the hell.
Revelation 22:20-21
22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”
Only the servants or sons of God who get His grace that can keep the simplicity that is in Christ or the one true teaching Word. We are sanctified day by day until we are perfect or without blemish like Jesus.
James 3:2
3:2 For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
The measure of the perfection is not lying until we do not stumble in word. We say 'yes' if 'yes' and 'no' if 'no'. We say right if right and false if false.
Revelation 19:6-7
19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
Not stumbling in word, we only say "Alleluia" to welcome Jesus’ second coming on the glorious clouds.
If the church is deceived by the dragon until there is disobedience and sin up to the peak, they will be left behind when Jesus comes a second time and there will be a great cry in the world. - The faithfulness in the service and ministry, including marriage.
Luke 12:37,41-46
12:37 "Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
12:41 Then Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?"
12:42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wisesteward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
12:43 "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
12:44 "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
12:45 "But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,
12:46 "the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
We must serve and minister to God faithfully and wisely, faithfully and correctly, according to the ministry God has given us until the end.
If one is not faithful, there will be no righteousness. He becomes a wicked and lazy servant. Consequently, he beats other servants. Moreover, he will fall in the sins concerning eating-drinking such as smoking, getting drunk, and drugs abuse, as well as marrying-being given in marriage such as sexuality sin and all its kinds, sexual deviation, and wrong marriage.
Only the servants or sons of God who get the grace of God may endure in faithfulness and wisdom, faithfulness and righteousness, in the service and ministry to God until the end as well as the ministry in the marriage.
Luke 12:42-44
12:42 And the Lord said, "Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?
12:43 "Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.
12:44 "Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.
The pastor who serves and ministers to God faithfully and righteously, faithfully and wisely, will be lifted up by Him to be the ruler over His possession, namely the tithes, offerings, and true worship, until he can bring the congregation to be the bride of God.
Likewise, if we serve and minister to God faithfully and righteously, faithfully and wisely, we will be lifted up as the ruler over the possession of God in our daily life, namely the tithes, offerings, and the true worship, until we become His bride.
Isaiah 11:5
11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
Luke 17:7-8
17:7 "And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?
17:8 "But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?
Serving and ministering to God faithfully and righteously, we become His servants who always gird our waist with the belt. It means that we are always ready to minister to God as if we give food and drink to Him to satisfy Him in our ministry. The results are as follows.- The Lord will also preserve our life physically and spiritually. Our food and drink become the concern of God. We have the joy and satisfaction of heaven that cannot be affected by anything in the world, so we do not look for other satisfaction in the world.
- The belt will tidy up. It means that God is able to tidy up our life and make all things beautiful in His time.
- The Lord is able to use our life in the revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain as long as we are faithful and true.
Revelation 19:11
19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. - The belt is the adornment of the bride. It means that we become the bride of God.
Jeremiah 2:32
2:32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.
- The Lord will also preserve our life physically and spiritually. Our food and drink become the concern of God. We have the joy and satisfaction of heaven that cannot be affected by anything in the world, so we do not look for other satisfaction in the world.
- The faithfulness in the suffering together with Jesusuntil the end, namely we pass away or Jesus comes a second time.
James 1:12
1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of lifewhich the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Only the servants and sons of God who get His grace may endure in the suffering together with Jesus until the end.
We are we let suffer together with Jesus? Because there is God’s glory behind the cross.
2 Corinthians 4:16
4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
It means that we experience the life renewalfrom carnal men to spiritual ones like Jesus. It begins from being strong and of good courage as follows.- We are neither disappointed nor hopeless. We do not leave God in facing all things, but keep on believing and hoping in Him.
- We are not tossed to and fro by the false teachings. We keep on holding fast to and obey the true teaching Word.
Matthew 14:28-32
14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
14:29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
14:32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Peter was faithful in the service and ministry as well as suffering in the sea of the world. Unfortunately, he was doubtful in facing the wind of false teachings and began to sink. Sinking means losing all of his faithfulness from the beginning, even the salvation vanishes away.
Nevertheless, he still got the opportunity to lift up his hands and fully surrender to Jesus. We confess that we cannot do anything without God. We cry His name and He will lift up and heal us. We are lifted up on the glorious clouds when Jesus comes a second time. We meet Him and enter New Jerusalem forever.
God blesses you.