Discerning False Teachers and Prophets

In our world today, there are many many teachers and preachers providing programming on the radio, TV, and through the internet. There are books coming out constantly that claim to be from the Lord. How do we know which Bible teacher or preacher to trust? We are told that in order to recognize a counterfeit, one must be thoroughly familiar with the authentic and in that way we will be able to distinguish the true teachers from the false. I have found though, that the false teachers also proclaim some truth mixed in with their deceptions. So it can be quite a challenge sometimes to differentiate between the true and false teacher. I am not going to name any names in this blog post but I want to explore what to look for. What does the Bible say about this? How can we know and what should we be looking for? Jesus says in Matthew 7 that false prophets come in sheeps clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. This means that they are very deceptive - they really do look like good people whom we could trust - BUT they are not. Jesus also says - Ye shall know them by their fruits - This means that it's not so much who they say they are but their actions ( their fruits) will make it obvious for whom they are working ( either for the Lord or for satan) Jesus says a good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Evil fruit is that which Jesus mentions in Mark 7 -evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness
SO, look at the life of the person who is claiming to be God's messenger - what kinds of things are they doing when they think no one is watching? What kind of life are they promoting?
Matthew 7: 15-17 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mark 7: 21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Let's look at some more characteristic of false prophets and false teachers as described in the Bible:

* deception and false teaching - ( shall deceive many - Matthew 24)
* sign and wonders - ( shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, - Mark 13)
* destructive, untrue doctrines - (who privily shall bring in damnable heresies - 2 Peter)
* in word or action they deny the Lord; ( denying the Lord that bought them, 2 Peter)
* they are popular and are held in high regard by many people ; ( all men shall speak well of you! Luke 6)
* a Bible teacher must confess Jesus Christ is come as a baby, Son of God or else he or she is not from God - ( confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God 1 John )
*some other clues to discerning the false teacher is if he claims there are other ways to be saved than through Jesus alone. The Bible teaches that there is only One true God, One Savior - our Lord Jesus Christ.
* a false teacher will justify sin - especially sexual sin. This could be in promoting or tolerating the gay lifestyle, or the false teacher may preach that there is no real freedom from lust, pornography, adultery and other sexual sins. Beware of these kinds of teachers. The Bible teaches to flee sin, to put sin to death in our lives, to be a separate and a sanctified people.

As I read through this list, what I see over and over again is that the false teacher lies. He lives a lie and speaks a lie but all the while tries to have people believe that he is a true Christian. He pretends to be a true preacher of the gospel.

Overcoming Temptation....

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. The devil tried to take advantage of Jesus in His hungry condition. We can imagine that after having been without food, Jesus's physical body will have been quite worn down. So satan tries to tempt Jesus into caving in to his own physical needs. But Jesus has just spent days in communion with the Heavenly Father, so even though in His body, he is in need of nourishment, He is still strong. Jesus rebukes satan and says : Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Satan continues on with other temptations but Jesus remains firm and strong and never gives the devil even a bit of ground and the angels come and attend to Him and take care of Him. Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him

Many times when people are discussing temptation, and trying to justify falling into temptations you will hear them say - Well, even Jesus was tempted, but He was God so, of course He didn't sin. That is true - Jesus is God and He didn't sin.

There are two aspects of temptation that I would like to address.
 First is the real definition of temptation
 Second standing strong in the face of temptation.

1) What is the definition of temptation?
The answer is found in James 1: 14-15 where it says : But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Temptation is the act of Satan presenting something unrighteous (something that he thinks you might desire) before you, perhaps with a thought in your mind or a picture in a magazine or on TV. If you have made the decision to live faithfully for the Lord you will have absolutely no desire for whatever it is that satan places before you. You will honestly say No, I do not want that, I do not need that and you refuse to take a second look or toy with the thought at all. It is awesome if you can quote a Bible verse at such a time since satan cannot stand against the Word of God. That is what it means to not sin in a temptation.

If on the other hand, satan places a thought into your mind or puts a picture in front of you and you desire it in your heart- you have already sinned and you need to repent before God even though you have only sinned in your thoughts and desires at this point. At this point lust has been conceived and sin is present. When not dealt with, this then will lead to death - spiritually and in relationships, and sometimes actual physical death.

How to Stand Strong against Temptation?
Let's think back to Jesus in His temptation experience. Jesus had just spent 40 days with God so though He was weak physically, He was strong in His Spirit. If Jesus needed to get away from people and busyness of life and spend time with His Heavenly Father - how much more do we need to get serious about spending time with our Heavenly Father. The closer we walk with the LORD, the more victory we will experience in every area of our life. So we need to daily, ( I mean daily) spend time in the Bible and become quiet before the LORD and allow Him to soak and saturate us with His Word and in this way His desires become our own personal desires. The more we have with the LORD, the less we want of the world and it's useless pleasures. We need to get Scripture into our minds so that throughout our day, we are thinking and meditating on the things of the Lord. We need to have Scripture in our mind and in this way we can quote it in the midst of temptation and Satan cannot stand against the Words of the Bible and He must flee.
Our desire becomes to do only that which pleases the LORD and brings glory to Him!!
Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Tribulation Judgments - Revelation Series

In our study today, we want to get an overview glimpse of the tribulation judgments described in the book of Revelation. Much is being said these days about these judgments and the coming wrath of God. We can be sure that all that is written will be fullfilled. How do we know this? We know it because of the accuracy of things previously written and predicted in the Scriptures and all that has already taken place. God's track record is 100% in accuracy. He does what He says He will do and He does not change. Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not;
God's favor is on the nation of Israel and on the Jewish people. God is not favorable to peoples and nations that oppose His people or that would seek to destroy them. God promised the rebirth of the nation of Israel and it happened in 1948 when God brought back the nation of Israel into their home land. Isaiah 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
War will break our in the middle east. It is only a matter of time. I want to take an overview look at the judgements and the wrath as described in Revelation. We don't know when these things will happen, but we can see the time drawing ever closer.
We know that the Antichrist will appear at the beginning time of the tribulation period. The Bible says that the Antichrist will make a peace treaty with Israel which he will break at the mid point of the 7 year tribulation period.
As you study the judgments and wraths described below, please make sure that you are ready to meet God. It is of most importance that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior - then come what may you are safe in the arms of Jesus.
The Tribulation judgments are divided into three catagories. 1) seal judgments, 2) the trumpet judgments, and 3) bowl judgments

So lets begin with the 7 Seal Judgments.
First Seal: the Antichrist makes his entrance as a rider on a white horse set out to conquer.
Second Seal: War - a red horse comes and there is no peace, but people slaying one another
Third Seal : Famine - the black horse - the daily wage of a person will only be enough to feed one person.
Fourth Seal: Death - a pale horse - Revelation 6:8 And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Fifth Seal: Martyrdom - people slain for the Word of God Rev 6:9 I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Sixth Seal: A great Earthquake, Sun becomes black, moon becomes as blood, stars fall to the earth, sky is split apart
Seventh Seal: sets the stage for the Trumpet Judgments/Wraths

The 7 Trumpet Judgments/Wraths
We will see that in these wraths - nature is the first to feel the punishing judgments and then secondly it falls on people.

First Trumpet - Earth scorched - a third of the vegetation is burned ( earth, trees and all the green grass)
Second Trumpet - the Sea is smitten - a third of the sea becomes blood and creatures die and ships are destroyed.
Third Trumpet - A Star named Wormwood falls into the fresh water supplies - a third of the rivers and on springs of water, People die from the bitter water.
Fourth Trumpet - Darkness - a third of the sun, moon and stars are struck that they do not shine
Fifth Trumpet - People are smitten - locusts hurt only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. No one is killed by these locusts, but the locusts torment the people for five months
Sixth Trumpet - A third of mankind is killed by fire and smoke and brimstone
Seventh Trumpet - Loud voices in Heaven , temple of God in heaven is opened, lightening, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm

7 Bowl Judgments - the last plagues and in them God's wrath is finished
Bowl 1: Malignant sores - painful sores - a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Bowl 2: Sea is turned to blood - and every living soul died in the sea.
Bowl 3: Fresh Water turned to blood - rivers and springs of water turned to blood Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Bowl 4: Men scorched with fire - fierce heat on the people but they will not repent
Bowl 5: Darknes over the kingdom of the Beast - his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Bowl 6: Invasion from the East - the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared... And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon
Bowl 7: " It is done" Great Earthquakes and much Destruction widespread - thunders, lightening, nations fall, earthquake, hail ( the hailstones weigh about 100 pounds each)
Revelation 16: 17 - 21
¹⁷ And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
¹⁸ And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
¹⁹ And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
²⁰ And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
²¹ And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

The Message to Laodicea ( the lukewarm church ) Revelation Series

We have now come to our last study in our series - Messages to the Churches of Revelation. Today we will look at the church at Laodicea. Many Bible teachers feel that the Evangelical church of today is an example of the church at Laodicea. Why? As we go through the study I believe the answer to the question why will become quite clear.
Laodicea was located about 90 miles east of Ephesus. It was a popular and wealthy city boasting itself in three areas - its medical school, its banking system, and its textile and clothing industry.
The city of Laodicea's water supply came from a hot spring so the people were familiar with lukewarm water. This is a very important point to remember as we study.
Revelation 3: 14-22
¹⁴ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
 ¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
 ¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
 ¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
 ¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
 ¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
 ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
 ²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
 ²² He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

So let us just go through the verses one by one:

Verse 14 -And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Here in verse 14, Jesus refers to Himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness. I believe by using these words, Jesus is saying that He is the One who has the final say on things. He has the ultimate authority. He is the One to whom we must all give account. He is the One who will judge each of us using the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God in the judgement on that final day.

Verse 15 -  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Here again Jesus declares that He sees what is happening - He sees their works.  Jesus then give the diagnoses the Laodiceans are neither cold nor hot, they are lukewarm - I believe this means they do not see issues as white or black. They want to be "grey" on matters and do not take a stand for the Lord in holiness and righteousness.  Being lukewarm is undesireable - be either cold or hot for the Lord. We need to be true to the Lord in living our faith - no faking will do.

Verse 16 -  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Jesus says because they are lukewarm He will spit the Laodiceans out of His mouth. We all know in our own physical life, how we look forward to a nice hot cup of coffee or tea, or we crave a good cold drink of water or soft drink. But none of us would ever be caught saying - " Oh I so use a cup of lukewarm coffee right now!" or " I'm going to get a quick drink of lukewarm coca cola". We know we want either a cold drink or a hot one!  As we mentioned in the introduction, the city of Laodicea's water supply came from a spring which produced lukewarm water for the city. They understood what Jesus was saying here. It has a spiritual application. The Lord rejects half hearted Christianity. The Bible teaches in Matthew 22 that we are to love the Lord with our all - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  Half heartedness and a "whatever" attitude is not acceptable in the sight of the Lord. Take a stand for truth, for Biblical principles and do not back down from it. Stand firm for the Lord even in the midst of controversy.

Verse 17 - Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
The people of Laodicea were living in a city that boasted itself in its medical schools, banks and clothing industry. So here Jesus rebukes them for this but in a spiritual sense. We must never let anything or anyone come between us and the Lord. The Lord is our provider, He is our shield and protector, He is the healer of our bodies and souls. Without Jesus we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked even though we may possess wealth and fame. But with Jesus we are truly rich even though we have very little worldly possessions.

Verse 18 - I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Here in verse 18, Jesus calls the people of Laodicea to come to Him and find in Him the fullfillment and purpose for their lives. He will provide all that we need.
The church at Laodicea was very deceived - they thought they were wealthy and needed nothing but really they were spiritually in great need. They thought they were well clothed with expensive gaments when in reality they were spiritually naked - they needed to be clothed in Christ's righteouness through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. They thought they could see but they were blind - in need of Christ to open their spiritual eyes.
When a Christian is living in sin it creates a blindness to sin within that person. The deeper a person goes into living in sin, the heavier and deeper the blindness becomes. This is why we see within our own churches people living in the bondages of sin. Through media ( television, magazines, the idolization of celebrities, through the  internet and music  ) people become desensitized to the evil all around us.  Our churches are filled with these lukewarm people. We can see this in the way people dress. Why is there no shame among women in exposing their breasts with the modern day fashions? We see men caught in pornography, couples divorcing due to immorality and affairs, abortions rampant, people are addicted to drugs and alcohol, etc and this among people who call themselves Christians. This is lukewarm Christianity that the Lord Jesus will not tolerate but will spit these out of His mouth unless they repent!

Verse 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Of one thing we can be sure and that is that Jesus loves each of us. He loves us and calls for us to repent of our sins. Turn from your sin and come to Jesus for cleansing and forgiveness.

Verse 20 - Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Here we see a picture of Jesus stand outside the door and knocking - waiting for those inside to open the door and invite Him in. This is a picture of Jesus waiting at our heart's door - Jesus is knocking at the heart's door of every unsaved person - saying "Won't you turn to Me and be saved?" Jesus died on the cross for this very purpose - to save each of us. He wants to come into our hearts and lives and live in us, leading and guiding us to eternal life in heaven with Him. For further study on how to be saved please click to link on salvation here -  http://livebyfaithonlinebiblestudies.blogspot.ca/2012/10/salvation.html

Verse 20 is also a picture of Jesus standing outside the church, knocking on the door - waiting for the invitation to come in from the so called Christians in the church. How can it be that the Lord Jesus would not be invited into our churches but would have to stand outside the door - knocking on the door and waiting to be let in? We need to take a hard look at our churches and make changes where needed - Invite Jesus to your church!
 I mean really ....We need to let Jesus into our church after all it should be His Church!

Verse 21 - To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
The reward for him that overcometh here is not a crown or a stone etc as we seen in some of our other studies. But here the reward is to sit with Jesus in His throne. Wow!! That is really a huge reward and it can be ours! I can not imagine the immense joy of sitting with Jesus in this way! I do not have words to describe such a blessed place " sitting with Jesus in His throne".

Verse 22-  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We know that this message to the church of Laodicea is for all of us as Jesus plainly states here - He that hath an ear let him hear. We have ears and we have eyes. We can hear and we can see. The message is for all of us. Listen up and hear the voice of Jesus and He speaks to your heart today!

For further study on the conditon of the church of today I encourage you to also read a post I wrote on my sharingthefaith blog titled "Drought Awakening 2012" . Link to the post here  http://sharingthefaith-northernsparrow.blogspot.ca/2012/08/the-drought.html

 

Message to Philadelphia ( the faithful church ) Revelation Series

We are studying the messages of Christ to each of the seven churches of Asia. We have already looked at five of the seven churches. We have studied Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira and Sardis. We are now ready to study the message to the church of Philadelphia. You will probably have heard Christians today refer to themselves as the church of Philadelphia. As we study we will see why we would like to be a part of this church. Also we want to remember that though the message was written to the church of Philadelpia of long ago, we can still find a message here for our own personal lives as well as for our own home churches of today.

The Message to Philadelpia - Revelation 3: 7-13
⁷ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
⁸ I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
⁹ Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
¹⁰ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
¹¹ Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
¹² Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
¹³ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The church of Philadelphia is often referred to as the "faithful church". We see from the Scripture passage that Jesus did not rebuke this church for anything. In all of our previous studies, Jesus has called for repentance and for the churches to make some much needed changes.
The word Philadelphia means "brotherly love". That is very pleasant thought already as we begin. Philadelphia was a small city located about 40 miles away from Sardis. It was a wealthy city having many vineyards and was know for its wine production. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 17  with many frightening aftershocks plaguing the city in the days following the actual earthquake.

Verse 7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Jesus is holy, He is true. Everything that Jesus says is always true!  None of us could say that all we have ever said is true . .. but with Jesus, there is never anything but truth in Him, always has been and always will be. We never ever need to wonder if we should take heed or pay attention to what Jesus says. Why? - because His words are always important and always true!! Jesus holds the key to eternal life. The door is currently open to receive Christ as Savior and to become a part of the family of God ...BUT when Jesus shuts that door - no one can open it. Jesus holds that key. One way the door is shut is when we pass through death and into eternity. There is no chance to get right with the Lord once we have passed through the door of death. The time is to trust Christ is here and it is now! The other way that Jesus will shut that door is when He returns in the second coming. All is final at that moment - no time left to turn to Christ then.

Verse 8 - I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Jesus tells the church in Philadephia that He knows their works. This is so comforting to know. Even if no person on earth ever gives you any recognition for the hard work you do for your family and for the Lord, He sees it and He knows it and someday will reward you openly. Here also in verse 8, Jesus again declares that the door to salvation is currently open.
He continues with the following commendations - they have a.) kept my word,  b.) have a little strength, c.) not denied the Name of the Lord.

Verse 9 -  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Jesus says He will deal with those people who claim to be Jews but are not. You may know some people who say they are Christians but their actions don't match up with them saying they are Christians. While we cannot judge another person in this matter,  Jesus does know the heart of each individual. He can see if our heart is true to Him, or whether it is a just a fake. It is possible to fool other people but it is impossible to fool or trick Jesus. He sees, He knows what our every thought is. He knows what is in our heart.
Jesus will clearly let everyone know who it is that are his beloved children.

Verse 10 -  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
This verse brings about a lot of debate among Christians. Is Jesus saying here that He will rapture the believers out of this earth before the time of the seven year great tribulation or is He saying that He will protect and keep believers in His care in the midst of the troubles and tribulation that is to come. I am not sure what the correct answer is to this debate but one thing I do know - that is God is able to deliver us both ways. He is able to swoop us out of here if He chooses to do so but He is also able to protect, guard and hide us in the midst of troubles and tribulation.  He is honored by our faithfulness to Him in difficult times. The important thing is that we set our hearts firmly on the decision that no matter what comes our way, we will continue to trust in the Lord. If in the midst of great trouble and tribulation, we would be killed, we would immediately enter the presence of the Lord - so even that is not a real harm or danger to a true Christian. Stand firm in your faith regardless of your circumstances and in the midst of the difficult situations that you may face.

Verse 11- Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
In verse 11, Jesus reminds us that He is coming again. We need always to be prepared for His coming. Hold fast - stand firm in your faith in the Lord Jesus. There are crowns awaiting us in heaven. Crowns are some of the rewards that Jesus will award to the faithful at the judgement seat of Christ. We do not want to stand in regret before the Lord on that day.

Verse 12 -  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
How blessed a thought indeed that the Lord Jesus will write His own new name on us. We belong to Him. It reminds me a bit of a wedding ring ( I realize this is not a perfect analogy). The wedding ring sends a message to everyone who sees that ring - it is a message of belonging and tells the whole world "I'm taken, I belong with my husband, I love him and he loves me, I am his and he is mine." A ring speaks volumes without any actual words being spoken.
Back to verse 12 - a pillar in the temple of my God - this indicates a permanent place. When we enter heaven, we take up permanent residence there. We belong and remain with Jesus in the presence of God forever!!

Verse 13 - He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
I have noticed that this is a reoccuring message to each of the churches we have studied. Listen up - hear and understand what the Lord is teaching us in these messages to the churches.

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