Life Study of Revelation message 18

Message Title: the Worthy Lion-Lamb

this chapter begins with the scene in the heaven, right after Christ's resurrection. in the morning of His resurrection, Christ ascended to the heavens as the firstfruit for the Father's satisfaction. in this chapter, it reveals to us what happens in Christ's ascension. 

the first matter I would like to stress is "the only One who is worthy". here in the right hand of the Most High, is the scroll with seven seals. the apostle John wept because there was no one found worthy to open the seals and look into the scroll. However, in verse 5, it says:

Revelation 5: 5 And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so that He may open the scroll and its seven seals. 

Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord, that He is the worthy one, who is qualified to open the scroll and the seven seals. one interesting thing here is that, in verse 5, the elders says that the Lion, has overcome and He may open, but if we continue on to verse 6, it says: 

Revelation 5:6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 

Revelation 5:7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sits upon the throne.

ok, let's take a look. in verse 5, the elder mentioned the Lion. then in verse 6 and 7, John saw a Lamb standing in the midst of the elders and this Lamb took the scroll from God. so here is the question!!!!

who is the worthy one? the Lion? or the Lamb?? or they are actually one??

if we read the context in this chapter, we will realize that surely they are one. there is only One who is worthy, that is the Lion-Lamb, who is both the Lion and the Lamb. then here come another question: 

how can He be both the Lamb and the Lion, which are like two extremes, so opposite to each other. 

in verse 5, the Lion is mentioned in the way that He has overcome. why is He worthy? because He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who has overcome the enemy of God, death and Hades, and all the negative things. in verse 6, He is the Lamb as having just be slain, because through His death and resurrection, as the redeeming God, He has accomplished the redemption for God's people, solving all the problems, reconciling us to God. in other way, to the enemy, Christ is the fighting Lion, who has overcome, has won the victory triumphantly. but, to us, God's people, He is the redeeming Lamb, bringing us back to God. because of these two aspects, He is worthy to open the scroll and the seven seals. 

Life Study of Revelation message 17

Message Title: the Scene in Heaven after Christ's Ascension

Revelation 4:2 Immediately I was in spirit; and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting;

Revelation 4:3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance

as soon as the apostle John was in spirit, he saw a throne set in heaven. this throne is the throne of God's judgement. in the other books, especially in Paul's epistles, he mentioned that we can come forward to touch the throne of grace. the throne in other books in the Bible is the throne of grace for the believers to come forward to touch. but here, in the book of Revelation, the book of God's administration, the throne is the throne of God's judgement, out from which issues the river of fire. this river of fire is for the clearing up of all the negative things in the universe. after the great flood of Noah, God established a covenant with Noah, that He will never use water to judge the earth. therefore, after that, God always uses fire to burn away, to consume everything that does not match His holy nature. However, while He is sending fire to clear up the whole universe, He is still faithful to His own covenant, indicated by the rainbow around His throne. while executing His judgement, He still remembers His covenant with Noah, to spare some creatures on the earth. 

on the throne there is One sitting, having the appearance of jasper and sardius. this shows us the One sitting on the throne is both God and the Lamb, God, as the one full of riches of life, as the source of life; Lamb, the redeeming God, who accomplished redemption for us, redeeming us back to the source of life, to enjoy all the riches of the eternal divine life. 

around the throne are the 24 thrones with 24 elders of the angels sitting. in front of the throne is the four living creature, with the face of lion, calf, man and eagle, as the representation of the entire creation of God, with man as the leading part. 

Revelation 4:11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for You have created all things, and because of Your will they were, and were created. 

this verse shows us the purpose of our existence, the meaning of our existence. because God has a will, He created all things. if we have a clear realization that are created because of God's will, this vision will govern our daily living and conduct. also, this will still all our questions and doubting. many times, we ask "why this...why that..." why??? because of God's will. if we are willing to submit ourselves to God's will, no more questions, no more complaining, no more murmuring. 

Life Study of Revelation message 16

the Church in Laodicea

here the church in Laodicea signifies the degraded recovered church. the Lord reacted to the church in Sardis and raised up the brotherly love church, Philadelphia. However, if Philadelphia does not hold fast to what she has, she will become degraded again, therefore becoming Laodicea. 

the prominent characteristic of Laodicea is they are neither cold nor hot, which means they are lukewarm. the Lord said that He would rather spew them out His mouth. this should be a warning to us, that if we become lukewarm like Laodicea, the danger is that the Lord will spew us out from His mouth. I was kind of wondering, how can they become lukewarm, like not just cold? Because they once were Philadelphia, they did receive many riches from the Lord, this leads to what the Lord says in verse 17, that they think they are wealthy but they are poor. they think they are wealthy, because the Lord did recover so many truths through them and they became proud of their spiritual riches. but think about their situation later, saying that the Lord is standing at the door and knocking. they had all these truths but they did not have the Lord. the Lord was outside the church, knocking the door, trying to get inside. this is a warning to us today also. now we have this open bible, all the published ministry books. the question is how are we reading the Bible, reading the books? are we reading with the Lord, or are we reading them with the Lord standing outside and knocking? without the living Lord, all these truths are just dead doctrines, dead letters, which will kill us. it is the Spirit that gives life. so while we are reading the word, how much we need to exercise our spirit to touch the life-giving Spirit, to touch the living Person. 

the Lord charges the church in Laodicea to:

1. buy gold refined by fire: gain more of God, more of His nature to be worked into our being, so we can have more divine element added into our being.

2. white garments: in our daily living, we need to live out Christ, express and magnify Christ. this is also to prepare our wedding garment, so we can be ready when the Lord comes back. 

3. eyesalve to anoint their eyes: because of their spiritual pride and lukewarmness, they do not have spiritual insight to see the things of God and God's economy. therefore, they need the anointing Spirit.

the Lord charged the church in Laodicea to "buy", not to take freely. for this one, we need to buy, which implies that we need to "pay the price". the three items above do not come freely, even do not come in a cheap way. we have to be willing to pay the price. what price can we pay? obviously, at least, we can pay the price of "our time". may the Lord help us to redeem our time to spend more time with the Lord and in His word. 

Revelation 3:19 As many as I love I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent. 

this verse is such a comfort to us. the Lord's spending time to discipline us is a sign that He loves us. if we realize this point, we will be willing to accept the Lord's discipline, and will be willing to repent. 

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. 

Revelation 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. 

the Lord promises to the overcomers to sit with the Lord on His throne: to be co-kings to reign with the Lord during the millennial kingdom. 

Life Study of Revelation message 15

The Church in Philadelphia

"philadelphia" in Greek, means brotherly love. as the reaction to the dead Sardis, the Lord raised up some brothers to come back to the original church life at the beginning. 

here the Lord reveals Himself as the true One, the holy One, the One who has the key of death and Hades. we already mentioned before the significance of the Lord as such a One. 

Revelation 3:8 I know your works; behold, I have put before you an opened door which no one can shut, because you have a little power and have kept My word and have not denied My name. 

what really impresses me is the "little power" here. in our own concept, we intend to think that, ah, if we want to be an overcomer, if we want to overcome all these negative problems, we must try so so so hard, because it is so hard. but here the Lord praises the church in Philadelphia, that they only have a little power and they did keep the Lord's word and did not deny His name. this clearly shows us that the Lord does not require much from us, and He does not require us to do much or try much. the Lord has deposited a little faith with a little power in our spirit already, and He has granted us sufficient grace. therefore, we just need to exercise our little power to cooperate with His all sufficient grace, and we will be enabled to keep the Lord's word and to not deny His name. we all have this a little power. may we all use our "a little power" to allow the Lord to produce us to be His overcomers. 

Revelation 3:11 I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown. 

the church in Philadephia is the only one among the seven churches, who did not receive any rebuke, because they are the recovery church, which the Lord has recovered back to His original intention. there is nothing in Philadelphia that the Lord charged them to repent. the Lord only charged them to hold fast what they have. but they do have a danger, which is that their crown may be taken, which did happen later, that we will see in the church in Laodicea. the Lord has granted them the crown because the church in Philadelphia is well pleasing to the Lord. so they have the crown already but they may lose the crown if they do not hold fast what they have. this is also the warning to us. if we feel that we are in the Lord's recovery, so we will have no problem to become the overcomers. NO NO NO. the fact that you are in Philadelphia does not guarantee that you will become the overcomer to receive the reward. if you are slothful, or self content, then it is possible that you will miss the Lord's secret coming and also miss the reward. the Lord's charge here is a reminder to us, that we need to be watchful and faitful, so no one will take our crown. 

the Lord's promise to the overcomers here:

1. to be kept out of the hour of trial

this refers to the three and half years of great tribulation. the Lord promises that if we hold fast to what we have, He will rapture us before the great tribulation. 

2. to make him a pillar of the temple in God's temple

once we are made a pillar in the temple of God, of course, we shall by no means to go out anymore. the palmist expressed his desire in the Psalms, that he has asked Jehovah for one thing, that is to dwell in the sanctuary of God, and to behold the beauty of the God. here also, the reward to the overcomers is that they not only dwell in the temple, they themselves even become the pillars of the temple. 

3. to write upon him, the name of God, the name of New Jerusalem, and the new name of the Lord

this means that the overcomers will be fully possessed by God, by the holy city of God and the Lord, and will be one with God. 

Life Study of Revelation message 14

the Church in Sardis

Revelation 3:1 And to the messenger 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 living, and yet you are dead.

Revelation 3:2 Become watchful and establish the things which remain, which were about to die; for I have found none of your works completed before My God.

"Sardis" in Greek, means "remainder", or "restoration". after the condition of the church in Thyatira, what Satan has did to damage and corrupt the church, the Lord came to react with the church in Sardis, as the restoration, recovery. the Lord used Martin Luther to release the Bible to common people, and to recover the truth of justification by faith. but not long, the church became degraded again. in the verses, the Lord said that Sardis was living in name, but actually was dead, and even their reformation work, none of which was completed before God. but the most crucial thing we see in the church in Sardis, is that they were dead and were about to die. so they need the Lord as the intensified seven Spirits of God to enliven them.

Revelation 3: 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and keep it and repent. If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief, and you shall by no means know at what hour I will come upon you. 

here the Lord mentioned that He would come as a thief and they would not know when the Lord would come upon them. as we mentioned before, which is here, the significance of the Lord's secret coming as a thief to His overcoming believers, we need to be watchful and prepare ourselves for the Lord's secret coming. the church in Sardis was dead, which means that they would not be aware of the Lord's coming. so there is the need to be watchful. 

Revelation 3:4 But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white because they are worthy. 

because Sardis was dead and about to die, to overcome in Sarids means to overcome the death and deadness. here the Lord said that those who overcome are those who have not defiled their garments. not defiled by what??? considering the condition of Sardis, here, to be defiled is not to be defiled by sin, but by death. God hates death more than sin. if we sin, we can confess our sins and apply the precious blood of the Lord, then our fellowship can be restored. but according to the record in Numbers and Leviticus, if someone touched corpses, which means to be defiled by death, they need to stay outside the camp, wash they body and clothes, and be unclean until evening, which means that they could not  come back to the camp (the fellowship with God and with God's people) immediately after being cleansed and washed, rather, they needed to wait for some time. this is why God hates death more than sin, and why death is more defiling and more damaging than sin. we need to be careful not to touch and be defiled by death, to make sure that we will be able to stay in the presence of God and the fellowship with God. for our church life today, we also need to be aware of the presence of death, which is the absence of life. whenever we feel there is death in the meetings, we need to exercise more, so that life can come in to swallow up death. 

Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will be clothed thus, in white garments, and I shall by no means erase his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 

the Lord's promise to the overcomers is 

1. to be clothed in white garments

this white garment is the same one mentioned in chapter 19, the wedding garment of the Bride, white fine linen, which are the righteousnesses of the saints. this is also the same one as mentioned in Psalms 45, the second garment of the queen. today, while we are waiting for the Lord to come back, we are preparing our wedding garment, the white garment. how do we do?? day by day, to spend time with the Lord, to allow the Lord to make more home in all our hearts, and to live out this wonderful Christ, to allow His glory shine forth through us, so that we will express the Lord in our daily living, to be His living testimony. when our garment is completed, when the wife has made herself ready, the marriage of the Lamb will come!!!!!!!!

2. the name not being erased from the book of life

for our name to be erased, first means that our names are already in the book of life. our salvation is eternally secure, and we will not lose our eternal salvation. then why does it says here that if we do not overcome, our name will be erased from the book of life?? we have to be clear that here the Lord is not talking about our eternal salvation, but the reward during the millennial kingdom. if we do not overcome, do not get mature in life, we will not be qualified to be the Bride of the Lamb. therefore, while the overcoming believers are enjoying the marriage of the Lamb for one thousand years during millennial kingdom, the rest of the believers will be cast into the outer darkness, to suffer the discipline of the Lord to help us to get mature in life. during this one thousand year period, the names of these believers will be temporarily erased from the book of life. the Lord is wise in using this as the incentive, to motivate us to forget the things which are behind, and to stretch forward towards the prize.  so, in order to get the reward, we need to cooperate with the grace of the Lord to grow in life day by day, to prepare ourselves to be ready in this age. 

3. name to be confessed by the Lord before the Father and His angels.

if our names are not erased from the book of life, of course, the Lord will confess our names before the Father and the angles. 

Life Study of Revelation message 13

the church in Thyatira

Revelation 2:20 But I have something against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and leads My slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices. 

one crucial thing, or person mentioned in the epistle to Thyatira, is the woman Jezebel. if we look back to the books of history in the Old Testament, Jezebel was the pagan wife of King Ahab. She was quite evil and did many evil things. She made the plot to kill the righteous man in order to take over his vineyard for Ahab. the most evil thing she did was that she brought the idol Baal, and had hundreds of prophets to serve and to lead God's people to worship Baal. She killed lots of faithful prophets of Jehovah, and also threatened to kill Elijah. Elijah ran away from Jezebel to hide in a mountain, where Jehovah came to comfort him by saying that He has preserved 7000 for Himself, who never bowed down or worshiped Baal. here in the epistle to Thyatira, the Lord mentioned that they tolerated the woman Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess and teaches and leads God's slaves astray. this means that in the church in Thyatira, there was certain teaching which does not lead people to know and worship God, rather turn them away from knowing God. this woman even assumes the supreme authority over God. she teaches and charges people to listen to her, rather than listen to God. what is really terrible is that, in the church in Thyatira, there was also the teaching of the deep things of Satan. terrible!!! we, the believers, even do not have enough time to know God, love God and pursue God. how can we have to time to learn the deep things of Satan???? I don't need to know anything about Satan, except that the Bible tells me the destiny of Satan is the lake of fire. God has already judged Satan and cast him into the lake of fire. what else do I need to know????? not interested!!!!! I want to spend all my time, all my energy, and all my effort to pursue to know the Lord, to experience and enjoy the Lord !!!!! 

the Lord surely is merciful, that, even to such a terrible woman, the Lord still gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent!!!! she is like the Pharaoh in Exodus, whose heart was hardened, determined to go against the Lord, not knowing that the Lord's mercy and long-suffering is to lead them unto repentance. this also should be a warning word to us. sometimes, our heart may also be so hard, and our will may be stubborn, that we reject the Lord's mercy and grace. when the Lord shines on us and show us our sins, our mistakes, etc, are we willing to repent, to be humbled, to take the precious blood of the Lord???? or are we still determined to go our own way, and force the Lord to discipline us????? therefore, choose life!!!!!! take grace!!!!

Revelation 2:26 And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations;

Revelation 2:27 And he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father;

Revelation 2:28 And to him I will give the morning star.

here, the Lord promises to the overcomers:

1. authority over nations

to participate in the millennial kingdom, to reign with Christ over the nations.

2. to shepherd the nations with an iron rod

3. to have the morning star

at the secret aspect of His second coming, the Lord will appear to the overcomers, to those who watch for His coming, as the morning star. 

Life Study of Revelation message 12

Message Title: the Church in Pergamos - eating for transformation

Revelation 2:12 And to the messenger of the church in Pergamos write: These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: 

the word "pergamos", in Greek, means "marriage", implying a union. the church in Pergamos entered into a marriage with the world, i.e. a union with the world. it is quite interesting to see that, in the last church, the church in Smyrna, Satan used persecution to try to wipe out all the Christians. but by the supply and strengthening of the resurrected Christ, the more persecuting, the more Christians, the more their love and faithfulness for the Lord. Therefore, Satan changed his strategy, from killing and attacking the believers, to welcoming as many people as possible into Christianity, which issues the church in Pergamos, the union with the world. during that time, people did not need to believe into the Lord and repent, they can become so-called "Christians" by being born into Roman empire. gradually, with the time passing, more and more pagan things were brought into the church. the church lost her purity and chastity towards the Lord. rather, the church became rooted into the world deeper and deeper. therefore, the Lord came as the One with the sharp two-edged sword, to judge and cut away all the mixtures in the church. 

as the issue of union with the world, within the church in Pergamos, there were the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of Nicolaitans. according to the book of Numbers, Balaam was a gentile prophet, who was hired by the king Balak to curse the Israel people. Balaam was greedy to get the wealth and treasure so he went against the will of God to go with  Balak. but amazingly, God turned his curse into blessing to the Israle people. Balaam found out that the cursing would not work, so he taught Balak to put stumbling block to Israel people by sending gentile girls to seduce Israel people to eat idol sacrifices and to commit fornication. there was the teaching of Balaam in the church in Pergamos, which means that some people are leading God's people astray to commit idolatry and fornication. this is surely terrible! and there was also the teaching of Nicolaitans, which was to establish clergy laity system to kill the function of the members of the Body of Christ. these two terrible things were among the believers in Pergamos. 

as a reward to the overcomers, the Lord promised to give them:

1. to eat the hidden manna.

during the 40 years wandering in the wilderness, the Lord fed Israel people with manna from the heaven everyday in the morning, which was the open manna.

Exodus 16:32 And Moses said, This is what Jehovah has commanded, Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.

Exodus 16:33 And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omerful of manna in it, and place it before Jehovah, to be kept throughout your generations.

Exodus 16:34 As Jehovah commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony to be kept.

but the hidden manna was put in a golden pot, and put in the Ark in the Holy of Holies, with the two tablets of ten commandments, and the budding rod of Aaron. what does that mean when the Lord said that He would give the overcomers to eat the hidden manna? 

"The open manna was for the enjoyment of the Lord’s people in a public way; the hidden manna, signifying the hidden Christ, is a special portion reserved for His overcoming seekers who overcome the degradation of the worldly church. While the church goes the way of the world, these overcomers come forward to abide in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, where they enjoy the hidden Christ as a special portion for their daily supply. 

If we seek the Lord, overcome the degradation of the worldly church, and enjoy a special portion of the Lord today, He, as the hidden manna, will be a reward to us in the coming kingdom. If we miss Him as our special portion today in the church life, we shall surely lose the enjoyment of Him as a reward in the coming kingdom. "

2. to receive a white stone with a new name 

we are man made of clay. but here it mentions about the stone. God's building work, does not use clay, but use stone. so we need to be transformed from clay to stone. how can we be transformed? by eating the hidden manna. if we come to the Lord to abide in His presence faithfully day by day, we enjoy Him as this hidden manna, the result of which is that we will become stones, even precious stones for God's building. 

Life Study of Revelation message 11

Message Title: the Church in Smyrna -  the resurrection life and the crown of life 

Revelation 2:8 And to the messenger of the church in Smyrna write: These things says the First and the Last, who became dead and lived again: 

Revelation 2:10 ...Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 

the word "Smyrna", in Greek, means "myrrh". in Israel, there is the tradition, when they bury the dead people, they always use myrrh to anoint the corpse. so myrrh is closely related to the death and burial. the church in Smyrna signifies the church under persecution. in the short section of these few verses, the Lord mentioned that they would suffer 10 days, and charged them to be faithful unto death, which reward will be the crown of life. 

in the beginning, the Lord revealed Himself as the First and the Last, the One who became dead and lived again. this person is just what the church in Smyrna needs during her suffering under persecution. 

1. the First and the Last

the Lord declared that He is the First and the Last, which means no one can be before Him and no one can be behind Him, so everything is within the limitation of the Lord, especially the persecution the church in Smyrna was going through. the Lord said it would be ten days, which means He has set the limitation, which cannot go beyond what the Lord had set, and it was under the Lord's control. so with such a One, the Lord, the church in Smyrna does not need to fear or worry. 

2. the Lord became dead and lived again. 

the Lord is resurrection and He is life. He became dead and then He was raised from the dead. He resurrected. now He is the resurrection life with the power of resurrection. while the church in Smyrna was suffering persecution and martyrdom, they need to experience the Lord as the resurrection life first, otherwise, they had no way to be faithful unto death. while enjoying the resurrection life and supplied by His resurrection power, the church in Smyrna was enable to face all the persecution, therefore to be faithful unto death. 

the Lord promised to the overcomers, that they would:

1. receive the crown of life

"The crown of life as a prize to those who are faithful unto death in overcoming persecution denotes the overcoming strength which is the power of the resurrection life; it also signifies that these overcomers have attained to “the out-resurrection from among the dead,” that is, the outstanding resurrection."

2. not hurt by the second death

according to the book of Revelation, there is something called the second death. because we are all fallen human beings, we will all die one day, sooner or later, which is the first death. some may think that the first death is the end and conclusion. NO. the Bible clearly tells us that at the end of the tribulation, before the millennium kingdom, Christ will sit on the great white throne, resurrect all the dead and judge all the dead. if cannot pass the judgement, those will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. 

Life Study of Revelation message 10

Message Title: the Church in Ephesus - love, life and light

the name "Ephesus", in Greek, means desirable. the name is very significant in expressing the Lord's feeling toward this church. as the church in the very beginning stage, Ephesus is desirable in the Lord's eyes. the Lord approves her works, her labor and her endurance. Ephesus also hates what the Lord hates. 

but the problem with Ephesus is that she lost her first love. 

Revelation 2:4 But I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love. 

though they have a lot of works and desirable things, just this "one thing" can annul all the other things they have done. the Lord even warned them that if they do not repent, He will come to them and remove the lampstand from them, which means that they will lose the testimony of the Lord. this is also a warning and a sober word to us today. No matter how much we have worked or done for the Lord, if we do not have the first love the Lord requires from us, all work, all doing simply means nothing. the Lord wants us to love Him, furthermore, to love Him with the first love, the best love. He demands the best love from us. we cannot love Him and also love someone or something else. we must give Him the first love, the best love, the undivided, unshared love. 

it is quite a danger that, by looking at Ephesus, they left the first love, but they still were very active in doing work for the Lord. this means that, it is very likely that, we can still keep what we have been doing outwardly, without the consciousness, or without being noticed, that, our love for the Lord is no longer fresh, hot or pure. what the Lord approves is the first works out from the first love. if we are not giving the Lord our first love, all our works are not well pleasing to the Lord, because they are not the first works out from the first love. this is quite subtle. we may even think it is fine, we may give ourselves the excues, "we are fine. we still love the Lord. we still do so much gospel preaching. we still read the Bible and come to the meetings." but where is the first love? where is the best love? 

how can we maintain our first love? this is a hard question, because we even are not sure whether we have lost the first love. we need to look to the Lord moment by moment. He promised that He will take away the heart of stone out of us, and give us a heart of flesh. He will give us a new spirit and new heart, a heart that will love Him and incline to Him. so the most safe way is to seek the Lord's mercy and grace, to claim His word, that He will guard our heart above all things, that He will draw us and attract us to run after Him. if we are willing to let Him to soften our heart and keep our heart, He surely will take the responsibility to rekindle our heart, to recover our first love for Him. and it is always good to tell the Lord by a very simple and short sentence, "Lord Jesus, I love You." keep telling Him again and again, several times a day, that we love Him. this will also help to maintain our love fresh and first for Him.

the consequence of losing the first love, is that the church became degraded. gradually, the church turned away from the living and true God, to follow and worship the vain idols and false gods. this is true in our experience. when our love to the Lord grows cold or just lukewarm, we will quickly find something else to love, or go away to pursue something else in the world. this turned our heart even further away from the Lord. 

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. 

the promise to the overcomers in Ephesus is to eat the tree of life. look back to Genesis chapter 2, the tree of life was already there. after Adam was created, he was put by God in front of the tree of life. but after Adam fell, the way to the tree of life was closed, and guarded by the sword with fire. but now, the Lord promised that, he who overcomes, can have the right to eat the tree of life. God is recovering us back to His original intention, to eat the tree of life, to enjoy Him as our life, life supply and our everything. 

Life Study of Revelation message 9

Message Title: the Son of Man in the midst of the Churches

Revelation 1:13 And in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. 

on the one hand, He is now interceding for all His believers as the great High Priest; on the other hand, He is walking in the midst of the churches to care for them. 

1. in His humanity 

in verse 13, John wrote that he saw the Son of Man, not Son of God. this is quite meaningful. after ascension, in the third heaven, He is still the Son of Man, which means that He still has the humanity. while walking in the midst of the churches, the Lord is cherishing all His believers in His humanity. Hebrews 4 says that He is our High Priest, who can understand and sympathize all our weakness, because He is the Son of Man with His humanity. 

2. as the Priest

in verse 13, John wrote that the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet. this garment is a priestly garment, which indicates that the Son of Man is our High Priest, living to intercede for all of us. 

3. caring for the churches in love

in verse 13, it writes that the Son of Man was girded at breast with a golden gird. This signifies that the Lord is caring for us in love. He has accomplished everything and is now sitting at the right hand of God, so there is no more need for work, but tender care in divine love. 

"Christ is now exercising a divine care over the churches, moving among them in His humanity and caring for them with His divine strength. "

Revelation 1:14 And His head and hair were as white as white wool, as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; 

4. being ancient

the white hair here in verse 14 does not mean that Christ is old, but He is ancient, because He is the ever existing One, from eternity to eternity. 

5.His eyes 

His eyes are like a flame of fire, which is for observing, watching, judging, searching, and also for enlightening and infusing. the seven eyes of God are sent forth throughout the whole land.  I remember we have a children song, which says that "He sees all I do, He hears all I say, My God is listening all the time time time." so our God is observing and watching us. If He finds anything within our being that does not match His divine nature, He is faithful to judge and burn away these "dross", so that our being will be transformed and conformed more and more to the image of His Son. 

Revelation 1:15 And His feet were like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 

6. His feet

His feet are like shining bronze and have been fired in a furnace. through His sufferings in His living on earth, and eventually through the death on the cross, Christ has been tried, judged and proved by God. 

7. His voice

when Elijah was running away from Jezebel, Jehovah's voice speaking to Elijah was tender and quiet voice. but here in Revelation, His voice was serious and solemn like many w

aters. 

Revelation 1:16 And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword; and His face shone as the sun shines in its power. 

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw upon My right hand and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. 

8. the seven stars

in His right hand, the Lord is holding seven stars, which are the messengers of the churches. the stars are shining in the night time in the heavens. the messengers are likened to the stars, which means that the messengers should also be like the stars, having heavenly nature and functioning as the luminaries in this dark age. 

9. the two edged sword

this two edged sword out of His mouth is for judging. on the one hand, the Lord is caring for us in love; on the other hand, the Lord is also judging, cutting off the negative things, the things that does not match Himself. while we are enjoying the Lord's love and care, we also need to allow Him to cut off the parts He wants. 

Revelation 1:18 And the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 

the Lord willingly died on the cross on our behalf. but Hallelujah!!! death cannot hold resurrection life!!! life swallows up death!!!!the Lord passed through the death. He laid down His life, became dead and behold, He is living forever and ever!!!! more than that, He even has the keys of death and of Hades. since He now has the key, He has authority over death and Hades!!! He has destroyed the last enemy, death, and He has destroyed the one who has the might of death, Satan. therefore, we can rejoice!!!!! our Lord is the Victor!!!