Monday Sunday Reflections 092418

Most every Sunday night since I have been a pastor (since March 1991), after I get something to eat on Sunday night after church, I usually sit at my recliner, get my preaching Bible for the next Sunday, and look over the Scripture passages for both worship services the next Sunday. I have preached through the Book of Revelation at the four churches I have pastored and preached on the Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation (Chaps. 2 & 3) each time. But, in preaching through the Seven Churches again, I am looking forward more than ever before to the next sermon.

I can see some of Fellowship in each of the churches I have preached on the past three Sundays, both in the compliments the Lord had for each church and the criticisms/complaints and cautions He had for those churches. I encourage you to get a Bible with study notes, such as The Life Application Bible, and read Rev. 2:1-17 then read the notes that help to bring a relevancy for today regarding those churches. Below are some quotes that I shared in my message Sunday from the book “Simple Sermons on the Seven Churches in Revelation” by Dr. Herschel Ford, which were preached in the late 1950s at First Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas, when he was the pastor there.

“The only way that you can make a sinner know that you are a Christian is to live a life different from his, a life like unto the Master’s life.”

“Sometimes when we stand up for Christ it seems that the whole world is against us.”

“A few wrong people in a church can ruin the life and influence of the church.”

“If your Christianity is going to mean anything to you or God or others, you must loosen your hold on the world and live closer to God than you have been living.”

“There were two groups in the Pergamos church which Christ would fight against—those who were mixed up with the world and all of its sinful practices, and those who wanted to lord it over God’s people” [Their fellow church members].

“If we are living for Him above all, surely all the sweets and joys of Christ will be ours to feed upon and enjoy.”

In reviewing the text last night and studying for this Sunday’s sermon on the Church at Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29), Wow! I pity a church that has been affected by a “Jezebel” in their midst that, and as Dr. Ford put it, “is doing a devilish work” and being permitted to stay there, which is one of the complaints that Jesus had against the church. But, still, the Lord had some good things to say about the Church at Thyatira and He will bless those who stay faithful and stay true to Him.

Blessings,

Bobby Mullins