Fresh Speaking
(Nancy's notes from Lord's Day fellowship, Feb. 28, 2010)
Matt. 13:45-46
"Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls; and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
Eph. 5:25-27
"Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish."
The merchant found a fine pearl and he bought it. The pearl has already been bought, yet there is a process going on. The pearl is the church. Christ gave Himself up for the church, that He might sanctify her. There is a process going on to produce a glorious church. Throughout the ages there has been a process going on in order to produce the church.
The Lord speaks a final word. Revelation. This is His last and final word. Rev. 1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ. Not revelations . Not the revelation of John. The revelation of Jesus Christ to show to His slaves. Does everyone get to see revelation? No! Many study Revelation, even non-christians. Do they get this revelation? The revelation is intended for His slaves. He showed His slave John, to show to us - the 7 churches. It is important to be a slave in the 7 churches! He wrote 7 short letters to the 7 churches. The Lord in His wisdom, before history had occurred, wrote these 7 epistles. He foretold history before it occurred. These 7 epistles to the 7 churches are the history of the church.The One who gave Himself up for the pearl, these things says this One! To each situation He describes Himself in a certain way.
Ephesus means desirable. What He has been after. Yet you left your first love.
In each church we see different things. This is not just historical, but each of these principles are our experience. This is our life. He brings us to Himself and we fall in love with Him. Then He shines a little. "Oh, my first love. I need to come back to Him as my first love!" This becomes a principle we walk by each day.
"Lord, keep me in that first love!" As we go on, we realize that this christian life requires our death. We begin to have such a heart - "Lord, I lay down my life for You." Then we experience Him as the resurrection life! He is the resurrection Life!
God's enemy is king of this age. Everything around us is to stop the production of this pearl.
Pergamos- the Lord says "I know where you dwell". He says this to us too. He knows where we dwell. Everything in this world nailed Him to the cross. The world is against Him. We take such a stand - to stand with Christ against the world. When we take such a stand somehow we are nourished. The Lord rises up in a "hidden" way and we are nourished by Him. Also, He gives a white stone- transformation. In that stand, He begins to work, transforming our very being.
Thyatira- if you do not take that stand against the world, you begin to tolerate things of Jezabel. If our stand is not so strong, we begin to tolerate the things of the world. (Idolatry, fornication,etc.) The church becomes very polluted. The experience of Christ becomes hard to be found. The Lord reacts as we go on. Even when we are not so strong, He comes to us with eyes of fire and bronze feet. He reacts and we go on.
Sardis- "Lord, I need a replacement in my life. I need Christ to be everything. My life can never match You. My life can never meet any requirements of God." We cannot side step along the way. Sardis did not go on with Christ so He counsels them to be watchful. 10 virgins - 5 were wise, 5 were foolish. We need to buy the oil now. To meet the bridegroom we need oil.
Philadelphia - key of David - the man David, not his kingdom. We need to look at everything about David.
Acts 13:22
"And when He had deposed him, He raised up David for them as king, to whom also He testified and said, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will."
It's easy to look at David and only see his accomplishments. He accomplished so much. He won battles, gained the good land, set up God's kingdom, etc. But what was it about David himself? David had a heart after God's own heart. He had God's heart. When a husband and wife first get married they have two different hearts. After several years, the two hearts become one. We need to have a heart for what is on God's heart. Not just a heart toward God Himself, but a heart to match His heart. This is a step up. David's whole existence was for God's house. After going through so many experiences, David went out and gathered all the materials so his son could build the house. Let this letter (to Philadelphia) be to us! The church in Philadelphia has come to such a place - to be after God's heart. In the process of producing the pearl - here the Lord speaks to Philadelphia concerning God's desire, God's house.
Rev 3:12
"He who overcomes, him will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name."
David was the one in the Old Testament to fulfill what God was after. This was a picture. A big, beautiful, physical house.
The church, in the New Testament is the house.
The letter to the church in Philadelphia - the completion of God's desire. In the living out of the church life, God's desire is met.
How wonderful and how sobering. This is the reason He created the earth and stretched forth the heavens!
You have an open door. You are in the final stage of producing God's desire!!!!
Then Laodicea. Why another letter? He knows our situation in the world and He knows our ways. Laodicea - how could it happen?
Yet it happens in us. This is something so sobering. "I know your works. You say - and do not know" How sobering a thought, that we could be in such a condition (wretched,miserable,poor,blind,naked) and not know. So unhealthy, yet not know. Wouldn't you think they would know?
We can be wretched and miserable and not know. Laodicea comes out of Philadelphia! We are in the Lord's eternal purpose!
The Lord has taken us to a mountain top. His eternal purpose is being worked out. Yet we become complacent, and even take pride in our riches. We don't need anything. We have it all. We see so much. When we say this, He turns the light off.
How is it that we stay out of such a condition?
Rev. 3:18
"I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested, and eye salve to anoint your eyes that you may see."
Buy gold - God's divine nature
white garments - Christ's perfect human living
eye salve - the anointing Spirit
"Lord, I want more of You!"
Philippians 3:13-15
"Brothers, I do not account of myself to have laid hold; but one thing I do:Forgetting those things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called me upward.
Let us therefore, as many as are full-grown, have this mind; and if in anything you are otherwise minded, this also God will reveal to you."
Let us - as many as are full-grown. The church in Philadelphia is a picture of being full-grown. If our attitude is that of being rich and in need of nothing, OH,LORD! Paul says to pursue! To lay hold of! We must have this attitude! Full-grown - sounds like we're done. But NO! We must pursue - have this mind - to buy the gold and garments and eye salve. Praise the Lord, He has brought us to such a place and He gives us such a warning! Gain more! Buy gold! "May all the rest of our lives be a life of buying! Pray unceasingly - come to Him day by day in our church life, to stand against the world, lay down our soul lives, let Him make home in our hearts, buy the gold, build His house
(Judy's notes from Lord's Day fellowship, Feb. 28, 2010)
Matt 13: 45-46 Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls; and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. The kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant who sought fine pearls, and when he found one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had to buy that pearl.
What is the pearl? In Eph. 5: 25-27 we see, "Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, that He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish." In these verses we see something more of the pearl, a process. The pearl has been bought, it's there, but there is a process going on to get this pearl, to produce the church. The pearl is the church the Lord gave Himself up for. When we see this process going on to produce the glorious church, it is a revelation! The church was produced on Pentecost, but there is a process going on through the ages to produce the church glorious.
In the Bible, the Lord's final word is the book of Revelation. Rev. 1: 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His slaves the things that must quickly take place; and He made it known by signs, sending it by His angel to His slave John What we see here is that the revelation is of Jesus Christ, not revelations or the revelation of John - NO! It is the revelation of Jesus Christ to show to His slaves. Does everybody get to see this revelation? No! Jesus Christ has given this revelation to show to His slaves. It is intended for His slaves, and He gave it to His slave, John to show to the rest of His slaves. What does John do with it? Rev.1:4a "John to the seven churches which are in Asia". It is important to be a slave in the seven churches to receive the revelation!
The seven churches were actual churches historically, yet, the Lord, in His wisdom, wrote about them before the history occurred --- the seven epistles foretold history before history occurred. Each one is a section of the history of the church.
The One who is after the pearl and producing what He is after, He is the One writing, speaking to each church and describing Himself to each church in a certain way. Ephesus, the Lord was initially pleased Ephesus means desirable, the Lord speaks to Ephesus "But, I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love (Rev. 2:4). The churches are not just historical through these letters, we realize the principles are our life and experience. The Lord brings us to see this is our path. First, we are brought to Himself, we fall in love with Him, but shortly we need to see that we must come back to Him as our first love every morning. This is the principle, we must walk by every day. Each epistle is another step in our experience. The Lord shines a little to keep us in the first love. We go on.
Smyrna here we see that the Christian life requires our death to lay down my life for the Lord. Nothing of this life, or our natural man merits anything before God. We begin to experience Christ as resurrection.
We go on to the experience of Pergamos where we see that Satan is the ruler of this age and everything is designed to keep us from going on and to keep the pearl from being produced. To Pergamos, the Lord says, "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is (Rev. 2: 13a)) He says to us, "I know where you dwell everything of this world nailed Christ to the cross! Our response "I would stand for You!", then the Lord begins to have a way to work! As you take the stand against the world and lay down your life, the Lord rises up to nourish you in a hidden way there may be tears, but there is something nourishing going on and the Lord begins to transform, to work in us no longer "I", but Christ a white stone.
Thyatira If you don't take a stand against the world, you are tolerating the woman, Jezebel "I'm happy, the world treats me well, thank You for Your blessings". There's not such a strong stand, but you say, "That's okay". With Thyatira, the church became tolerant of the world, idolatry, fornication. The church became polluted. The Lord in us reacts as we go on even though we're not so absolute, the Lord is still speaking! He comes with burning eyes and bronze feet (Rev. 2:18) to walk through our life and we take a stand.
Sardis Here we see that we can't sidestep or become comfortable Sardis became comfortable and didn't go on, like the five foolish virgins who didn't buy the oil in Matt. ch. 25 In our experience, we realize, I need a replacement in my life, for Christ to be everything "Lord, I need You in my life! I realize, my life never matches You! I need to buy the oil!"
Philadelphia Rev. 3: 7-13 the key of David the key of David is not the kingdom of David or what he did. David had a heart according to God. Acts 13: 22 " I have found David, a man according to My heart, who will do all My will". It is easy to look at David, to see he did so much, fought battles, defeated the enemy and through him, the physical kingdom was set up, but, it was David's heart after God not just to love Him or be soft to Him, but to have a heart according to God, to have God's heart, to have a heart for what's on His heart, for what He's after! In the last year's of David's life, after going through many experiences, all he did was gather materials for the house of God. His son, Solomon would build the house, but he was still young, so David gathered materials, afterwards, Solomon would build the house. That the epistle to Philadelphia would mention David means that the church has become one with God's heart to do all His will.
The Lord, in gaining the pearl, takes us through the process. The Lord's heart's desire is to be fulfilled in the churches, the end goal of what He's after. David/Solomon built a physical house in Philadelphia, there's no longer the physical house. Rev. 3:12 "He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God " The key of David is with those who will do all of God's will. In the Old Testament, David set upGod's kingdom on earth and in peace. David was a type, a picture of what God was after on earth. In the New Testament, in Philadelphia, - we no longer see a physical a house, but the completion of God's heart's desire. In the living out of the church life, God's heart's desire is met. What a high and sobering thought to us in that little letter to Philadelphia, we see His goal, His aim in creation the key of David! So, why then is there another letter? The Lord knew us well He knows us, our ways, nothing is hidden to Him!
Laodicia How could it happen? Yet, it happens in us we become lukewarm. How sobering! Rev. 3:1517 "I know your works you say " The Lord's speaking is that you do not know, I know, but you do not know. How sobering to be in such a situation not to know the true condition we too could be in such a condition before the Lord and not know it that "you are wretched and poor and blind and naked" we too can be that way and not know it! Laodicia comes out of Philadelphia, the "high of highs". The brother sharing said he doesn't know anywhere else which mentions God's eternal purpose. The Lord has taken us to the mountain where His eternal purpose is carried out, yet we become complacent, filled with pride we feel we don't need to read other books we say, "I see so much, I know it". The Lord then takes "light off" a little bit.
So, how do we stay out of that condition? Rev. 3:14 "Buy from me gold refined by fire, white garments that you may be clothed and eyesalve to anoint your eyes". This is God the Father's divine nature, the Father, Son, Spirit, the Triune God, His perfect living worked out, so sweet! In Philipians 3: 13-15, Paul says "I pursue toward the goal as many as are full-grown have this mind" Philadelphia is a picture of fullgrown, but if there is the attitude that we are rich, we fall into Laodicia. Paul heart was to pursue, lay hold of, gain Christ. Lord, may we have this mind! Yes, we've seen much of God's riches, but don't be comfortable Lord, I want to buy gold, white garments, and eyesalve!
In Philadelphia, we see the Lord is accomplishing through the churches, but there is a warning to keep going buy today and every day for the rest of your life! It is He to whom we must go to buy He is the seller pray unceasingly! Come to Him! All of the seven epistles are to see His goal fulfilled.
May we go after You and buy from You! We have not obtained, but we pursue! Be zealous to repent and continue to pursue. Our journey through life goes through the line of the churches.
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For our continued labor into the first three chs. of Rev. go over them over and over by yourself, get together house to house, with others on the phone, etc. Keep going through these chapters, and in whatever way your portion may be - write down notes, and in whatever way you can, enjoy the verses day by day. Don't just come in, listen to the message, go out & forget about it. Don't become indifferent! In the next weeks group by group may share their enjoyment. Have a pursuing spirit!
(Ken's notes from Lord's Day fellowship, Feb. 28, 2010)
Letters to the seven churches in Revelation. These churches can be seen not only historically but experientially they are our experience.
Pergamos
--This age is designed to keep the pearl from being formed.
--Need to take a stand, receive hidden manna.
--Need to experience transformation (white stone)
Thyatira
--No stand (became tolerant)
--But the Lord is still speaking!
Sardis
--No completion (growth in life)
--Need to buy oil now, today!
Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7-13; Acts 13:22, 23)
--Had a heart for God's heart
--God's heart is on the church, God's house today
Laodicia
--"You say
and do not know" how sobering!
--Phil. 3:13-15 Need to pursue, lay hold of Christ!