What The Spirit Says To The Churches

Identifies God's pattern for strengthening a church, counseling on how to be sensitive to the works of the Holy Spirit while discussing principles by which God leads a congregation toward a distinctive spiritual mission.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

In the book of Revelation, God unveils the world as it really is, identifying an unseen spiritual war and announcing a very real day of judgment. We need to be convinced that Jesus is reigning as the risen King. We need to have him speak to the situation in our churches. We need to see how God will pulverize wickedness, obliterate those who oppose him, and set up his kingdom. Revelation has exactly what we need. Useful for personal study, as well as for preaching and teaching (Hamilton even includes helpful charts and tables to highlight key themes and literary elements), the thirty-seven sermons in this volume have a clear structure: introduction, body, and conclusion. Hamilton successfully grabs the reader's attention, raises awareness of a real need, and states the main point of the sermon text. In addition to explaining the meaning of each passage, Hamilton connects the main ideas to applicable analogies and actionable points. Revelation is a prophecy of epic proportions and Hamilton invites readers to love God and his people by expositing this revelation of Jesus, and to say along with the apostle John, "Come, Lord Jesus." Part of the Preaching the Word series.

The Book of Revelation: What the Spirit Says to the Churches in America instructs lay readers to understand the last book of the Bible as its earliest audiences would have. The book aims to stimulate and educate Christians who find Revelation to be unapproachable. It assists readers to responsibly apply Revelation's messages to their own settings once they understand what the Spirit said to the seven congregations in ancient settings. Only with the original audiences in mind, can modern American readers begin to discern what the Spirit says to them through the words of John's Apocalypse. Through an accessible description of Revelation's linguistic, literary, and historical contexts, readers can learn to approach the book as the seven churches of Asia Minor would have. Comparisons and contrasts between the Greco-Roman culture of Revelation and the United States of the twenty-first century assist readers to answer Revelation's predominant question for themselves: "Who do you worship?" Many of John's own writing techniques are utilized to treat this book as a conversation, so we can discover together "what the Spirit says to the churches in America."

With a new foreword by David E. Aune, this modern classic by Colin J. Hemer explores the seven letters in the book of Revelation against the historical background of the churches to which they were addressed. Based on literary, epigraphical, and archaeological sources and informed by Hemer's firsthand knowledge of the biblical sites, this superb study presents in the clearest way possible a picture of the New Testament world in the later part of the first century and its significance for broader questions of church history.

''This book is a faith builder. It challenges every believer to walk in supernatural signs and wonders as a natural part of everyday life.'' -John Arnott; Anyone can walk in the miraculous-even you! If you've ever wanted to live and walk in the supernatural power of God, here's your chance!It is truly possible for human people to walk in the divine, and Christ came to show us the way. It is by rediscovering our true identity in Him that we can begin to move into the promises of God regarding the miraculous. Bill Johnson not only teaches the supernatural, he imparts it by changing the way we think.If you are not walking in the miraculous, you're living far below your birthright! By laying a carefully constructed biblical foundation for walking in the supernatural power of God, When Heaven Invades Earth provides all the equipment you need to experience miracles every day.

The Trumpet Call to God's People In the messages to the seven churches in Revelation, John records the Holy Spirit's counsel to each respective church. In Revelation 3:3 he writes, "So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." While this was written as a warning for the church in Sardis, we must also regard it as a warning for the Church today. The Lord's return is imminent-are we as God's people prepared and ready for His return? We must allow the Holy Spirit's messages to create a sense of urgency in our hearts as Christ's return draws near. Join author Marjorie Merz Fennell as she examines these seven critical messages and helps the reader understand what the Lord expects of His leaders and His Church.

While in exile on the Island of Patmos, the Apostle John received this instruction from Jesus: "Write what you see into a book. Send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea" (Revelation 1:11; The Message Bible). Jesus then proceeds to dictate to the apostle personal messages to each of the seven churches. The content of these messages does not contain the opinions, or instructions of a pastor, deacon, elder or governing church council. These messages were sent directly from Jesus and reveal his assessment of each church. This in itself should be sufficient reason for taking the time and exerting the energy to do an exhaustive study of the seven churches. But there are additional reasons as well which are dealt with extensively in this book. The messages reveal what is acceptable and unacceptable to Jesus in the life of a church. They also reflect seven periods of church history. In addition, the messages explain a Christian's relationship to the group of believers with which they are associated. Furthermore, they stress the responsibility of every Christian to protect the spiritual welfare of the local church. Finally, these messages provide the proper perspective of what Jesus values most in a church. At the end of each message Jesus makes this statement: "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches!" (Revelation 2:7; New Living Translation). The messages to the seven churches of the Apocalypse are as relevant today as they were when John received them. They are intended for anyone who has ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.