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Seven Steps to a Dead Church (Part 2)
Posted by
Gordy
,
24 March 2012
·
1349 views
Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:8-11
THE FAITHFUL CHURCH
The first church is the faithful church. This church is the one that faithful unto death. Look at the text:
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first
and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation,
and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which
say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear
none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some
of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days:
be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh
shall not be hurt by the second death.
Here the church has no fault before the Lord. I see this church as those in the "closed" countries of the world, such as Vietnam, North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China and the Sudan. We in the United States and many "free" countries have had too good. We have become soft. We would not know persecution to our faith if it came and slapped us in the face. In fact, I firmly believe that the only places where we can find the Faithful Church is in those countries where the persecution is at its highest.
Persecution is coming! We will soon see who the real believers in Christ, make that the true disciples of Jesus Christ really are. I assure you that the time is coming faster than you can imagine. May I say that rather than praying for God to keep us from persecution, we should pray for God to allow the persecution to come.
Let's think about that, amen.
THE FAITHFUL CHURCH
The first church is the faithful church. This church is the one that faithful unto death. Look at the text:
And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first
and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation,
and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which
say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear
none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some
of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days:
be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh
shall not be hurt by the second death.
Here the church has no fault before the Lord. I see this church as those in the "closed" countries of the world, such as Vietnam, North Korea, the Peoples Republic of China and the Sudan. We in the United States and many "free" countries have had too good. We have become soft. We would not know persecution to our faith if it came and slapped us in the face. In fact, I firmly believe that the only places where we can find the Faithful Church is in those countries where the persecution is at its highest.
Persecution is coming! We will soon see who the real believers in Christ, make that the true disciples of Jesus Christ really are. I assure you that the time is coming faster than you can imagine. May I say that rather than praying for God to keep us from persecution, we should pray for God to allow the persecution to come.
Let's think about that, amen.
