RSS

TO MINISTERS

16 Oct

Back ground Reading: Rev.1: 9-20.

“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches”.

Message: “Stars in the right hand of Jesus” (Rev.1:16a)

1.The Risen Christ whom John saw:

The Christ of Revelation, who is the risen Christ, one who does not have the earthly body:

He is fully clothed with His holy church—the temple of God, and girded with truth –(gold). (John 17:23a “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one”);
His head has hair as white as wool, telling us that He is all wisdom;
His eyes were as a flame of fire, implying that He burns all dirt wherever He goes;
His feet were as if they burned in a furnace, saying that He is ready to break down all who fall by His feet, purify them as gold by fire, and be their King;
His voice is like the sound of many waters implying that He is the Word of God that has come down to men through many periods of all the past ages as said in Hebrews 1:1-3.
He is the glorified Christ and He is revealing God to us (John 17:3). He says: “……….I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b). This is the Christ in whom we are all built together to be the habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph.2:19-22). Christ is neither a group, nor a system of dogmas or traditions.

2. To be a star in the right hand of Christ, to hear Christ, to receive His message, you must be in the Spirit: (Re.1:10).

(a) The first need is to be born into the family of God (1 Peter 1:23). This gives you spiritual life and qualifies you to do the family business. You cannot do the family business until you are a member of the family.

In John 1:12-13, we read: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. You cannot have the power of without living as His child. Living as His child is described in Eph. 4: 24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness”. It is being a new creature: Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”

(b) You must be led by the Spirit always to be able to do God’s business (Rom.8:14).

(i) Jesus would not allow the Disciples to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4).

The Holy Spirit plants the truth in our hearts (John 14:26;) and
The Holy spirit gives us the power to stand in that truth (Acts 1:8; Rom.8:11). In other words, He gives the written Word life in us and this life is seen by all around us by the fruit of that life (Eph.5:9). You must not go to preach without life from the Holy Spirit. This life is seen by the way we live—-like Christ.

(ii) Be taught of the Spirit first, and then make sure you live as He has taught you (John 16: 13) .You must not witness without the power of the Holy Spirit. Wait until you are endued with power from on high. Pray until you are filled with the heavenly glory (Mat.7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”.

3. Rev.1:17: “And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not”.

John was nothing at the feet of Jesus until He was made something. Many of us take ourselves as if God cannot do His business without using us. It is a serious error. God does not need us and when He uses us, it is only a favor He bestows upon us (Luke 17:10). As John was strengthened by Jesus, so must we be, before we undertake a mission for Him. The touch of the Master is a must before we can serve Him. No matter how much truth we know, no matter how much faith we have, we must not move until the Master touches us and makes the truth alive in us. This is a kind of strength that many do not seek and they lack it these days. They get indoctrinated and recognized in their organizations and then they just go on doing their things. They just speak from head knowledge, which is catastrophic. This is where most of us have made a mess in our testimony and in our preaching “……O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me” (Dan. 10:19).

Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane until God sent an angel down to strengthen Him so that He could go to the cross and fulfill His mission (Luke 22:43). He touches us and gives us the needed strength, wisdom, power at His appointed time. Col 1:11 “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness”. Until this has happened, we are not ready to preach our message.

4. Get commanded by the Lord (Rev. 1:11 “…..What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea”. Rev.1:19 “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter”.

Jesus commanded John to do a job for Him and john did just that. Note: John did not carry himself around as a boss to each congregation he was told to write a letter to. Neither did John take Himself to be the “pope” of the church. He just did a job of writing the letters, and the visions, for the Master. The letters are found in Rev. 2-3 and the visions begin in Rev. 4. We would do very well to keep our place in the right hand of Jesus and not to lift ourselves out of His hand by pride whenever the Dear Lord uses us to accomplish something.

(a) The Stars must give the light they have received from, Jesus (Mat. 28:20).

Sit at the feet of Jesus and receive truth from Him: The truths of holiness, unity and Eternal things must be allowed to work in our lives before we can be a light there in the temple of God. It is this truth that shines in our life that makes us a star in the right hand of Jesus.

(b) God uses His Messengers in different places and at different times in His church, represented by the seven golden candlesticks that were used to give light in the temple (Rev. 1:20).

Abraham was used of God to bring about a generation of God’s children; Moses was used of God to lead His people; Peter, Philip, Paul, and so many others were used of God to build up His church; Even to-day God has laid His hand on His chosen men to be His messengers. All these are “the seven stars” in the right hand of Jesus. They are the messengers of God at all ages of salvation.

5. The stars must give bright light for people to walk in: ( John 12:35 “Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth”.

(a) The Star led the wise men to Jesus (Math.2:9). We are to let our light so shine that men see the good works and glorify our heavenly Father (Mat. 5:14-16).

We must have Jesus on display always (Rom.13:14).

(b) The people rejoiced greatly to see the star that led them to King Jesus (Math.2:10).

Are we rejoicing in the truth we are so privileged to be getting to-day. Many do not have this light we have here today. I am so grateful to God for raising a good ministry in Kenya now. We must rejoice to see this star that leads us to Jesus. We see the many groups that are in the darkness these days around here. They are fighting amongst themselves even to the extent of getting police men to come and supervise them in their church business. Jesus is not King enough to them. They are busy warning others about other men, gossiping and backbiting, blaming others, lying about others, destroying other men’s name and influence, but not letting their light so shine before men so that they can see Jesus. We must rejoice in the light of righteousness that keeps us in fellowship with Jesus and in true worship. It is the light that lets us know that every soul is a candidate for heaven and must not be pushed until it lands in hell.

=================================================

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

About THE CHURCH OF GOD in Kenya

We are a number of saints who live for God's glory, to love and serve Him as well as all humanity.

View all posts by THE CHURCH OF GOD in Kenya »

CHURCH OF GOD IN KENYA .

TO MINISTERS

Like this:

About THE CHURCH OF GOD in Kenya

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

Flickr Photos

Archives

Email Subscription

Blog Stats

ClustrMaps

Archives

Follow “CHURCH OF GOD IN KENYA .”