This is the third book

John's Seven Letters

The Apostle John was on the Isle of Patmos in captivity because the declaration in his life to The Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ', for that sole reason. While John was on Patmos we are told that there were angels', this word translated from the Greek aggelos' is often understood as messengers'. Many folk think that it refers to men who were sent to Patmos to find out how the aged Apostle was, these brethren came, it is thought, from the seven fellowships in Asia Minor to whom the letters were written by the beloved John. As I understand, John was an elder, O that we had more brethren of his calibre in the churches today', so one would ask, What is an elder?'

The answer to this question is in Scripture wher�e Peter says, The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint but willingly, not for money but of a ready mind'

As I understand an elder in a fellowship, he is not a man who is democratically elected by a company of Christians. Before I deal with this matter further may I remind ourselves that a church' should not be controlled democratically, that is government by the people, but it should be a theocracy' controlled by our Lord, as He is Head of The Church and Lord of all'. I now make one point, the Children of Israel would never have gone into the Promised Land had the matter been decided on a democratic basis

I consider that elders are chosen brethren, first of all by our Lord and placed, through circumst�ances in their lives, within a local Christian Fellowship. Elders should then be recognised by the assembly of the people of God in question and I have experienced this myself

The way the work of our Lord is handled, is managed, it should be far different to the way the worldling would consider to be right, even to the point of the devotions before meetings, as this should set the tone of all gatherings, if not then there will be problems. Now I do not just mean that a few verses of Scripture are read, a brief remark made about them, we must go much deeper by far. I remember two meetings, where the brethren who were chairman, unpacked the Word of God in rather a wonderful way. At the one gathering the brother spoke on the word finished' as relating to our Lord Jesus, the other dear man concentrated on the shed blood, the life giving of our Lord Jesus, what a start it was to the meetings concerned. THE TONE OF BOTH OF THESE MEETINGS WAS SET BY THE WAY IN WHIC�H THE WORD OF OUR LORD WAS OPENED FIRST OF ALL, MAY IT EVER BE SO. If I remember aright at the meetings in question, there was no voting, the items referred to on the agendas were dealt with, important matters were under consideration without any problems at all

Now the seven letters we are considering were not written to individuals and have very wide meanings indeed. The word seven, in the understanding of the Greeks, means complete', the letters should be understood as to the complete Church of Christ', the Mystical Body of Christ', so how should we understand them for ourselves?

I am only going to touch on three applications, the Historical', Prophetical' and finally the Personal' one, there are more, but as we correctly understand the last one we need not stretch our thinking any further

First of all the letters were Historical', they were actually written to seven fellowships in Asia Minor where the aged Apostle was an elder. The beloved Apostle knew the fellowships well, understood matters that were not as they should have been in many of the assemblies, so because of his responsibility for our Lord, was guided by the Spirit of our God to give the necessary advice

Let us now dwell on the Prophetical' application of the letters. It is considered that the age in which we are now living is, The Dispensation of The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ', some regard it as The Church Age' It started at the Cross/Resurrection experience of our blessed Lord and will continue until the consummation of the ages when our Lord Jesus will return to Planet Earth. During this period, which has already been going on for 2,000 years, the gospel of our Lord Jesus has been and will continue to be presented to mankind. Now this time can be roughly divided up into seven different periods, starting with Ephesus' and finishing with Laodicea' in which we are living at thiws moment. These periods do overlap and although we are prophetically in Laodicea' at present, there are situations at the moment, when some saints are having the painful Smyrna' experience, you can think of countries, fellowships and individuals where this is so no now, as the people of our Lord are being persecuted right now. Then the church in South Korea is enjoying a Philadelphian' experience of revival at this moment, although we are prophetically in the Laodicean' age. Many years ago I read a book by Fred Mitchell on this application of the letters and found it very interesting indeed, but I would state that if I remember aright, the writer was not being dogmatic in any way

In considering the first two applications of these letters that I have just referred to, we could all have different opinions and I want us to put those on one side for the moment, as the fi"nal meanings of these documents is of paramount importance to us all, indeed they are always a challenge to me, it is the 'Personal' one, let us proceed. First of all remember the One who dictated the letters, our omniscient Lord, He is The One, who is clearly stated in the seven documents, as the I know', He knows everything, even what you and I are thinking at this precise moment. In the letters, there are words spoken, direct to the individual, yes to you and me, To him that overcometh'. The main and fullest sense the letters were written to the Church of The Living God', The Mystical Body of Christ', The Company of The Redeemed', those who have their names written in The Lamb's Book of Life' and to that company of people our Lord Jesus likes to be in the midst', just read Rev c1 v13 and dwell on those lovely words in Matt c18 v20 There am I in the midst' . Our dear Lor�d desires a deep personal, intimate experience with all His redeemed people

In the seven fellowships that John was writing to, with every one of them special points were mentioned, encouragement and warnings were given with the exception of two. I cannot consider all the matters in this discourse, but draw our attention to the very serious points. The condition with Ephesus was that they, 'Had lost their first love', then we see Smyrna under persecution', after that Pergamum was settled in the world', Thyatira was in idolatry',, to follow with Sardis as dead but having a believing remnant', Philadelphia was a church in revival', and finally Laodicea in a state of apostacy, neither hot nor cold'. Looking back in history you can see how all these periods have fitted in, in a general sense to the church, this to me is interesting, but I go no further on this point at the moment.

These letters can
also be applied to fellowships, the ones where we meet or have met in times gone by, we could well ask, What state is the church in where I worship?' But now may I think deeper and encourage you so to do, to consider the personal relationship we all have as individuals with our blessed Lord, what Personal' spiritual condition are we in?

In considering the condition of the fellowship where we meet or our own personal standing with our Lord, this Personal' interpretation of the letters is vital. Had we, in the churches where we worship, received these letters for consideration, what would have taken place? All sorts of good' explanations would have been given to justify our own position, just think of the Church Business Meeting' and how would the age�nda have been written? Now I understand this thinking for myself, but let us put all this on one side and understand that the voice of our Lord comes to us all as individuals, it still challenges me today. Through the letter to the Ephesians, Trevor, yes you, what relationship have you with our Lord?' Have you lost your first, your first enthusiastic love for The Master?'. There are the words of the hymn by William Cowper, Where is the blessedness I knew, when first I knew the Lord?' Then the words from the Smyrna document, are you sir we in any way being Persecuted for The Master's sake?' Remember the words of Polycarp in the second century, he was tied to the stake and they tried to get him to denounce His Lord, the blessed man said, For six and eighty years He has done me no harm, why should I denounce Him now? Now in the message to Pergamum, Are you now Trevor so comfortable in your life,m So settled in the world? - So earthly minded that we are of no heavenly use?' I see such a one frequently as I shave in a morning, I have nothing else to look at - what a shock! Then can I hear the challenge through the note to Thyatira and this goes deep, Are there any idols in your life?' At once the words of the hymn by William Cowper come quickly to my mind, The dearest idol I have known, whate'er that idol be, help me to tear it from Thy throne, and worship only Thee'. There are also the words by Arabella C Hanley, 'That this world's empty glory is costing, or has cost me too dear', what a price) we are prepared to pay to get a good position, earn plenty of money or have frequent holidays, just think of those words of the lady Hanley again. Let us now consider the words to Sardis in which there is a little hope, You are as dead, but there is a believeth remnant', If I could only hear those blessed words addressed to me, as were spoken to Philadelphia, You are enjoying revival'. Revival does not start out there in the world, it starts within the hearts and lives of the people of our God. Please Lord for me, may it not be said that my personal devotional life is Laodicean', may I not be in a, State of apostacy, neither hot nor cold', may it not be so dear Lord, please. I now state quite clearly that this is how these letters should be understood first of all, there is no escape

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For our relationship with our blessed Lord to be right, we do not need first of all, a wonderful understanding of the whole of the Word of God, neither is it asked of us to be good theologians. There is the danger, as mentioned in Scripture of, Ever learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth', so what is necessary? We need, above all else, a personal love for our dear Lord, for all He is, everything He has done for us and this love to be expressed in all we do and say. If we do not have a rich, deep personal love for our blessed Lord we have much to learn, our first loyalties should and must be to The Master. As we feel out of touch with our Father God, think that we are not getting anywhere in our spiritual lives, that our prayers go not beyond a ceiling of brass and ask, What is the matter�?' In answer to this question there can be a number of important factors, but can I encourage you to ask yourself just one question as I do of myself, How much time is being spent with our Lord every day?' The answer to the problem lies there, just dwell on the words by William Cooper once more

So shall my walk be close with God,

calm and serene my frame.

So purer light shall mark the road,

that leads me to The Lamb

As one falls in love, you cannot help think and talk about the one to whom your affections are directed, not only in the words you use, but in the very tone of your voice as you speak of your beloved one. As we really love our Lord, our feelings for Him will be expressed in the way we talk about The Master, in our normal conversations with each other, or maybe just in the tone of our voice - if this is not right, then there are problems. We should keep our dear Lord central as far as our affections are concerned. I now just quote the first two verses only, not the third of a hymn by Donna Adkins:

Father, we love You,

We worship and adore You,

Glorify Your name,

in all the earth

Jesus, we love You,

We worship and adore You,

Glorify Your name,

in all the earth

We can only come to a correct understanding as to who our Lord Jesus is by the power, the influence of His Spirit, for His ministry is to glorify our dear Lord Jesus, not Himself as taught in John's Gospel c15 v26, c16 v 14 & 15. N.B. If we glorify the Spirit of our God, then we grieve Him

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only begotte�n Son of the Living God.

Centuries before the actual birth of The Babe of Bethlehem, we are told that

one would come as the seed of the woman', this was Jesus, Joseph had no part in it.

It was the Son of Man who was born in The Manger.

Our Lord Jesus gave such good teaching, also did many miracles.

It is our Lord Jesus Christ who we remember in the Breaking of Bread.

This same Lord Jesus went through The Cross, to the wonder and glory,

the might and majesty of the resurrection on the third day.

Our beloved Lord Jesus Christ is now, at this very moment crowned with resplendent glory, seated at the right hand of The Majesty on high, interceding for us

and He the King of kings and Lord of all is coming again�

O come, let us adore Him,

For He alone is worthy,

Lets give Him, all the glory

Christ, the Lord

Yes, this same Lord Jesus is also coming again, as He said so a!nd because of who He is He could not tell a lie. This wonderful future event is mentioned over 340 times in the New Testament, an average of once in about every 12 verses. The actual date is in the mind of the Father only but we should watch and pray', noting the times and seasons', but this does not mean, as we understand those two words correctly, it cannot mean fixing dates. But considering this serious matter, how should we live? Scripture answers this question, look at 2 Peter c3 v11 and as we ponder on this matter we should consider the words, What manner of persons aught we to be, in all holy living and Godliness', as our blessed Lord is coming again without any doubt at all, now enjoy the words by Henry Burton

There's a light upon the mountain, and the day is at the spring,�

When our eyes shall see the beauty and the glory of The King,

Weary was our heart with waiting, and the night watch seemed so long,

But His triumph day is coming and we crown it with a song

There's a hush of expectation, and a quiet in the air,

And the breath of God is moving, in the fervent breath of prayer,

For the suffering, dying Jesus is the Lamb upon The Throne,

And the travail of our spirit is the travail of His own

Hark! we hear a distant music and it comes with fuller swell,

Tis the triumph-song of Jesus, of our Lord Emmanuel,

Zion, go ye forth to meet Him, and my soul be swift to bring

All thy sweetness and thy dearest for the triumph of our King

This is the third book