Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are still discussing Revelation 2-3.
According to Tabernacle Teaching, it refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant.
It means the seven epistlesfor the seven churches of the Gentiles or the last sanctificationdone by Jesus for the seven churches of the Gentilesor the congregation in the last days to make them perfect or without blemish like Jesus. They become the perfect Bride of heaven who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds to meet Him, the Heavenly Bridegroom, forever.
This is the last effort or sanctification done by the Lord to make us without blemish.
Be alert!One blemish will cause imperfection.
Revelation 2-3(the last sanctification) can be divided into two big parts as follows.
Tonight, we start learning the second part (Revelation 3).
We will discuss the conditionof the church in Sardis and Philadelphia, and the one of the Laodiceans as a wholeas follows.
This is a prophecy.
The Gentiles in the last days must experience the sign of death and resurrection together with Jesus to have the glory with Him.
The facts found in the DEATH and RESURRECTION experience with Jesusstart from water baptism.
IT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER WE ARE LIFTED UP TO GET THE GLORY AS GOD'S BRIDE OR NOT.
Matthew 3: 7-9
3:7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduceescoming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
3:9 "and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Whomust get the water baptism?
Both the Gentiles and the house of Israel are the brood of vipers as follows.
Therefore, they must be baptized of water.
Matthew 3: 8
3:8. "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
The requirementis repentance or stopping sinning to return to God or being dead to sin.
Romans 6: 4
6:4. Therefore we were buriedwith Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raisedfrom the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The executionof the right water baptism is being buried in water with Jesus in the name of Father God, the Son, and Holy Spirit or the Lord Jesus Christ to raise with Him and receive new life, namely righteous one. We live by faith (faith is the righteousness). All aspects in our life must be right or straight. In such condition, we have left the vipers.
Living by faith means that we live by the Word. We do not despise it. The righteous will neither get bored nor despised the hard Word, even they will give thanks, rejoice, and receive it. On the contrary, the people who are not righteous will get angry after hearing the hard Word.
Galatians 3: 7
3:7. Therefore know that only those who are of faithare sons of Abraham.
The house of Israel and the Gentiles who are baptized in the right water baptism and live in righteousness are the sons of Abarahamwho deserve to get the promise of God to Abraham (physical blessings to the descendants and the heritage of the Promised Land or the eternal heavenly kingdom).
It also means fleeing from the wrath to come, namely the judgment to the world by the fire from heaven that destroys the world and all its contents and the fire and brimstone of the hell forever.
After experiencing the death and resurrection through the water baptism, we can get the glory experience.
The fact found in the GLORYexperience with Jesus can be learnt from Moses as follows.
Exodus 33: 18-23
33:18.And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."
33:19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
33:21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
33:22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
33:23 "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
'Please, show me Your glory' = Moses willingly got the glory experience with God.
'Here is a place by Me' = the way to get the glory.
'see My back'= Moses was allowed by God to see His glory from His back.
God shows three places for Moses or all of us to see or experience His glory as follows.
Standing on the rock or being shepherded and being in the cleft of the rock or having the true teaching Word, we can see or experience the glory of God.
Exodus 33: 23
33:23. "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
Formerly, Moses experienced the glory of God from His back.
The proofis Moses could write the five books in the Bible although the contents had happened far away before he was born as follows.
Now, we can experience or see it also. We can see the glory of God from His back or experience His mercy and goodnessin the right and good shepherding. The mercy and goodness of God will always follow us in every step of our life and our heart beat. The term "follow" refers to "from the back".
Psalm 23: 6
23:6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow meAll the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
The results of having the mercy and goodness of God are as follows.
God blesses you.
We are still discussing Revelation 2-3.
According to Tabernacle Teaching, it refers to the seven sprinklings of blood before the Ark of the Covenant.
It means the seven epistlesfor the seven churches of the Gentiles or the last sanctificationdone by Jesus for the seven churches of the Gentilesor the congregation in the last days to make them perfect or without blemish like Jesus. They become the perfect Bride of heaven who is ready to welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds to meet Him, the Heavenly Bridegroom, forever.
This is the last effort or sanctification done by the Lord to make us without blemish.
Be alert!One blemish will cause imperfection.
Revelation 2-3(the last sanctification) can be divided into two big parts as follows.
- Revelation 2: the sanctification to the four churches of the Gentiles (it has been explained from General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014to General Service in Surabaya, January 18, 2015) as follows.
- The church of EPHESUS(Revelation 2: 1-7) (it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, September 7, 2014). The church in Ephesus must return to the first loveto return to Paradise.
- The church of SMYRNA(Revelation 2: 8-11) that had to suffer. God said to them not to be afraid in the suffering, but faithful until death(it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, September 14, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, November 9, 2014).
- The church of PERGAMOS(Revelation 2: 12-17) that must leave the false teachings (it has been explained in Bible Study Service in Surabaya, November 17, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, December 28, 2014).
- The church of THYATIRA(Revelation 2:18-19)that must experience the sanctification to the heart and mind to the deepest one(it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, January 4, 2015up to General Service in Surabaya, January 18, 2015).
- The church of EPHESUS(Revelation 2: 1-7) (it has been explained in General Service in Surabaya, July 27, 2014up to General Service in Surabaya, September 7, 2014). The church in Ephesus must return to the first loveto return to Paradise.
- Revelation 3: the sanctification to the three churches of the Gentiles as follows.
- Revelation 3: 1-6= the church in Sardis.
- Revelation 3: 7-13= the church in Philadelphia.
- Revelation 3: 14-22= the church of the Laodiceans.
Tonight, we start learning the second part (Revelation 3).
We will discuss the conditionof the church in Sardis and Philadelphia, and the one of the Laodiceans as a wholeas follows.
- The church in Sardisis in the deathsign.
Revelation 3: 1
3:1. "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. - The church in Philadelphiais in the resurrectionsign.
Revelation 3: 7
3:7. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens":
'the key of David'= resurrection power that cannot be fought by anything, even the death cannot overcome.
The church has the key of David. The opened door cannot be shut and the shut door cannot be opened. We do not need to be afraid of anything. - The church of the Laodiceans. The church in Sardis is in the death sign and the one in Philadelphia is in the resurrection. The next church or the one of the Laodiceans must have been in the sign of glory. Nevertheless, in Revelation 3: 15-16
3:15. "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
'neither cold nor hot'= they do neither die nor arise= they are neither defeated nor victorious.
It means being lukewarm as a useless vomit. They live in uncleanness. They are disgusting and will be destroyed.
This is a prophecy.
The Gentiles in the last days must experience the sign of death and resurrection together with Jesus to have the glory with Him.
The facts found in the DEATH and RESURRECTION experience with Jesusstart from water baptism.
IT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER WE ARE LIFTED UP TO GET THE GLORY AS GOD'S BRIDE OR NOT.
Matthew 3: 7-9
3:7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadduceescoming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
3:9 "and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Whomust get the water baptism?
- Pharisees and Sadducees or the house of Israel, namely physical Abraham's descendants from Isaac, Jacob, and so on. They must have received the blessings of Abraham, but the Lord says Brood of vipers!Why? Because they have transgressed the Word. They do not become the descendants of Abraham anymore, but the vipers' or Satan's.
They have transgressed the Law and rejected Jesus. - 'stones'= the Gentiles(all of us) are like hard stones. Their heart is hard like the drowned stones in a dirty ditch. The Gentiles are called as the brood of vipers.
Revelation 7: 5-8
7:5. of the tribe of Judah(1)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Reuben(2)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Gad(3)twelve thousand were sealed;
7:6 of the tribe of Asher(4)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Naphtali(5)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Manasseh(6)twelve thousand were sealed;
7:7 of the tribe of Simeon(7)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Levi(8)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Issachar(9)twelve thousand were sealed;
7:8 of the tribe of Zebulun(10)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Joseph(11)twelve thousand were sealed; of the tribe of Benjamin(12)twelve thousand were sealed.
There are twelve tribes of Israel that are chosen by God to be the core of the bride. The tribe of Dan is not mentioned, but Manasseh. It means that the tribe of Dan has been made as the Gentiles or the brood of vipers.
Genesis 49: 17
49:17. Danshall be a serpent by the way, A viperby the path, That bites the horse's heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
Both the Gentiles and the house of Israel are the brood of vipers as follows.
- Doing fleshy or sinful deeds.
Acts 28: 2-3
28:2.And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.
28:3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
'sticks'= the wood that refers to flesh desires.
'hand'= deeds.
Galatians 5: 19-21
5:19. Now the works of the fleshare evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
5:20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
5:21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. - Saying idle words, namely lie, gossip, slander (the false is made right and vice versa), and the blasphemy to the saints in heaven and the Lord or the true teaching Word.
Psalm 140: 4
140:4. They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah
The poison of asps is under their lipsmeans idle words. It is written in the epistle of James that the tongue is wild with the lethal poison.
Slandering the right or holy is the same as blasphemy. - Sinful or fleshy characteristic, namely loathing manna or rejecting the Shepherding Word (spiritual food) and the true teaching Word.
Numbers 21: 4-6
21:4. Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.
21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread."
21:6 So the LORD sent fiery serpentsamong the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
As long as we receive the Word, we can be repaired.
Therefore, they must be baptized of water.
Matthew 3: 8
3:8. "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
The requirementis repentance or stopping sinning to return to God or being dead to sin.
Romans 6: 4
6:4. Therefore we were buriedwith Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raisedfrom the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
The executionof the right water baptism is being buried in water with Jesus in the name of Father God, the Son, and Holy Spirit or the Lord Jesus Christ to raise with Him and receive new life, namely righteous one. We live by faith (faith is the righteousness). All aspects in our life must be right or straight. In such condition, we have left the vipers.
Living by faith means that we live by the Word. We do not despise it. The righteous will neither get bored nor despised the hard Word, even they will give thanks, rejoice, and receive it. On the contrary, the people who are not righteous will get angry after hearing the hard Word.
Galatians 3: 7
3:7. Therefore know that only those who are of faithare sons of Abraham.
The house of Israel and the Gentiles who are baptized in the right water baptism and live in righteousness are the sons of Abarahamwho deserve to get the promise of God to Abraham (physical blessings to the descendants and the heritage of the Promised Land or the eternal heavenly kingdom).
It also means fleeing from the wrath to come, namely the judgment to the world by the fire from heaven that destroys the world and all its contents and the fire and brimstone of the hell forever.
After experiencing the death and resurrection through the water baptism, we can get the glory experience.
The fact found in the GLORYexperience with Jesus can be learnt from Moses as follows.
Exodus 33: 18-23
33:18.And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."
33:19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."
33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
33:21 And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
33:22 "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
33:23 "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
'Please, show me Your glory' = Moses willingly got the glory experience with God.
'Here is a place by Me' = the way to get the glory.
'see My back'= Moses was allowed by God to see His glory from His back.
God shows three places for Moses or all of us to see or experience His glory as follows.
- The right and good shepherding.
Verse 21= 'stand on the rock'.
Genesis 49: 24
49:24. But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
'the rock' refers to the Lord Jesus as the Shepherd. 'the Shepherdof Israel', namely physical and spiritual Israel or the Gentiles.
'stand on the rock'= being firm in the right and good shepherding.
'Nain' means the pleasant place or the pasture.
Let us make the right and good shepherding as the most pleasant place.It can happen if our heart is good, sincere, obedient, honest, and humble.
The proofthat the shepherding becomes the most pleasant place is our perseverance in doing three main services in the shepherding pen or the Holy Place.
We (the church in the latter rain) can compare it with the church in the early rain.
Acts 2: 41-42
2:41. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrineand fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The rock will never be moved. We must be firm in the shepherding and our body, soul, and spirit will have the fellowship with the Trinity of God. We are with Him, so we will endurelike the rock and never fall because of the attack of Satan the trinity as follows.- 'rain from heaven' = Satan with unclean and evil spirits or sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage that attack anywhere.
- 'strong wind' = false prophet with false teachings, including lie.
- 'flood'= antichrist with the power of mammon or economy.
- The true teaching Word.
Verse 22= entering the cleft of the rock.
Another meaning of the 'rock' can be found in 2 Samuel 22.
2 Samuel 22: 31-32
22:31. As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
22:32 "For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
The Word is God Himself.
The rock is God.
Thus, 'the rock' is the pure and right Word or the Bible. The cleft of the rock refers to the chapters and verses in the Bible or the revelation of God's Word through a verse that explains other verses in it or the true teaching Word. That is our hiding place where we can see the glory of God like Moses who was put in the cleft of the rock to hide himself there.
For example, it is written in John 3: 16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believesin Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
'whoever' can be replaced with our own name. This is the cleft of the rock.
Standing on the rock and hiding in the cleft of the rock mean that we must be shepherded in the true teaching Wordor the True Vine and persevere in doing three main services to Godlike a branch that dwells in the True Vine so that we can see or experience the glory of God. It is indeed a suffering in our flesh, but sweet thing to our soul and spirit. Moreover, our life up to our descendants will be easy and light. - In the anointing of Holy Spirit.
Exodus 33: 22
33:22. "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My handwhile I pass by.
The hand of God refers to Holy Spirit. Being covered by God's hand means being anointed by Holy Spirit.
The priests must be in the shepherding pen to be sanctified and anointed by Holy Spirit.
Leviticus 21: 12
21:12. 'nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the consecration of the anointing oil of his Godis upon him: I am the LORD.
The holiness and anointing of Holy Spiritwill distinguish our ministry from the things in the world.
Ministering to God without the anointing and holiness, but uncleanness, the house of God will be made as the den of thieves.
Keep the holiness and anointing of Holy Spirit!
We are sanctified and anointed by Holy Spirit in the shepherding pen. The proofs are as follows.- We can keep faithful and fervent in spiritin doing our service and ministry to God according to the office He has trusted to us until the end, namely we pass away or Jesus comes a second time.
- We can prioritize or make our service and ministry to God as the first things more than anything in the world.
4:22. "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn.
4:23 "So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn."'"
We must make our service to God the first things in our life, or else the things we are proud of and love will be destroyed by Him because of hindering us to serve and ministering to Him, like the firstborn son who was killed.
On the contrary, we are specialized by God as the apple of His eye when we can minister to Him in holiness and the anointingor we are faithful and fervent in spirit as well as make the service to God as the first thing in our life. We are pleaded, protected, and preserved by God; even a grain of sand cannot enter the apple of His eye. - We can keep faithful and fervent in spiritin doing our service and ministry to God according to the office He has trusted to us until the end, namely we pass away or Jesus comes a second time.
Standing on the rock or being shepherded and being in the cleft of the rock or having the true teaching Word, we can see or experience the glory of God.
Exodus 33: 23
33:23. "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."
Formerly, Moses experienced the glory of God from His back.
The proofis Moses could write the five books in the Bible although the contents had happened far away before he was born as follows.
- Genesis that is about God's goodness(He said that everything was good).
- Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are about God's mercy. The house of Israel had been in the slavery of Egypt for four hundred years, but then they could go out and reach Canaan only because of God's mercy.
Now, we can experience or see it also. We can see the glory of God from His back or experience His mercy and goodnessin the right and good shepherding. The mercy and goodness of God will always follow us in every step of our life and our heart beat. The term "follow" refers to "from the back".
Psalm 23: 6
23:6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow meAll the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
The results of having the mercy and goodness of God are as follows.
- We experience the redemption power of Godor the deliverance from sin. There is lifting up power from the fall in the valley of sin even the peak, namely sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
Psalm 107: 1-3
107:1. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemedfrom the hand of the enemy,
107:3 And gathered out of the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.
The sin makes us heavey laden and weary. We are lifted up means that we have the peace. - We have the power of help of Godto finish all problems, even the impossible one, and wipe away our tears. The valley of problem is the one of tears. We have the comfort and joy of God.
Psalm 118: 1-7
118:1. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.
118:2 Let Israel now say, "His mercy endures forever."
118:3 Let the house of Aaron now say, "His mercy endures forever."
118:4 Let those who fear the LORD now say, "His mercy endures forever."
118:5 I called on the LORD in distress; The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.
118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
118:7 The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. - Jesus alone on the cross is able to do great wonders or the greatest miracle, especially the life renewal. It begins from obediencelike Him, who is obedient to the point of death.
Psalm 136: 1-4
136:1. Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 136:2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever.
136:3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever:
136:4 To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever;
All men and God Himself leave Him because He bears our sins.
If we are obedient, the physical miracle will also happen. The sick will be cured and there is nothing impossible.
It will continue until we are changed to be as glorious and perfect as Jesus is when He comes a second time. We become His bride who is ready to welcome His second coming on the glorious clouds. We are glorified with Him forever.
God blesses you.