As we study the seven churches Jesus addressed in Revelation, we need to see how they apply to their time, our time, our churches, and to us personally. As we see our connections with the church in history, we will see how closely the history of our own local church can mirror the churches in Revelation, for good or bad. As we will see in the Lord’s message to the first church He addresses in Ephesus, it is when we lose our first love for Him that we get diverted from following Him. The same is true...

      In these times when lying and deceiving to gain political advantage are so prevalent, we must become even more devoted to the truth. As we’re told in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, God will destroy “… the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (emphasis mine).”

      People seek truth for many reasons, but there is only one reason the followers of Christ are to use: because...

      We can be humble and contrite as the ones the Lord is seeking to build His house with, but this will not guarantee that we will not fall into the same traps as others have. Being humble and contrite is a good foundation for the other qualities we need, but there is more needed. Our trust cannot be in our humility but in God, whom alone we must follow.

      We follow Him by knowing His voice and only responding to His voice (see John 10) and by staying filled with His Spirit, who has...

      We must keep in mind that God is as gracious as He can be to all people because He loves all. So, He prefers mercy over judgment. He will bless things done for Him as much as He can, but He will only inhabit what He initiates and what He builds. Much of the book of Revelation is about the conflict between the church God is building and those men are building. Men may attach His name to their works and presume they are building for God when they are really building for themselves. It is...

      Presently, the Scriptures only give us sketchy details about our life after the resurrection and in the kingdom of God that is coming to earth. They’re awesome sketches, and we’re promised that the reality is going to be much better than our present minds can even conceive. He has only given us these brief sketches now because we do not need all the details about how wonderful it is going to be. However, we need to have clear marching orders for what we’re here to do. This is what we must focus on now: doing the...