johnd

Jesus was so worthy of opening the scroll and bringing history to its consummation because of his death on the cross. This act was so noteworthy and praiseworthy because Jesus died for us, paying for our sins and giving us everlasting life

1. An open door in heaven 2. In the spirit 3. Holy 4. Lord God Almighty 5. Eternity 6. Worthy 7. Glory 8. Honour 9. Power 10. Creation 11. The blood of the lamb purchasing men for God 12. Serve our God 13. Reign on earth 14. Wisdom 15. Strength 16. Praise 17. Fell down and worshipped I imagine I've missed a lot, but this was my opinion of the key words when going through Chapters 4 & 5. Best regards, John.

I've now realised how poor my knowledge of Christian hymns, songs and choruses is. After some surfing on the internet and cribbing previous answers, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty" "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain" Your brother in Christ, John.

The churches are criticized for abandoning early love, idolatry, sexual immorality, being dead, lukewarm, wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They are praised for being rich, true to His name, having love, faith, service, perseverance, little strength yet kept His word. We should pay heed to these observations in shaping our own churches. They are as valid now as they were then. I believe we as Christians and hence our churches can loose direction and become diverted from serving the Lord. Our churches can end up as social clubs rather than a place to worship and share fellowship in the love of Christ.

a) The strength of a church is reflected in the strength of it's members. Churches are weak because the membership has become weak. This weakness and apathy occurs when we as Christians become diverted from our primary objective which is to serve the Lord. We succumb to temptations of the flesh and let other activities influence our lives. To combat spiritual apathy we need to devote our time and energy to the Lord. We need Jesus to be the controlling influence in our lives. We should read, listen and act upon the word of the Lord. As we do these things, through faith and God's grace our Church's strength will increase.

a) I think the religious compromise required by participating in heathen religious practices in the trade guilds was spiritually destructive because it created weakness in the Church. This heathen worship was the work of Satan and involved idolatry and sexual immorality sanctioned by Jezebel. Twenty-first century Christians struggle with being in the minority and being constantly bombarded with the work of the evil one. c) I think the compromises that dilute vital Chistianity are directly linked to my answers in a) and . We live in a capitalist society where material wealth is a major issue. Values of society and strength in unity appear to have lost their value where as it seems to be more popular to act as an individual. We are in much the same danger as the Church of Thyatira in that we will weaken our Christain faith by compromising on fundemental issues. By doing this we are letting Christ's control of our lives slip. It is imperative therefore that we steer clear of temptation and that we do not allow any compromise on issues such as the love of material wealth or sexual immorality.

a) As Christians we must obey the commands of the Lord which includes His instructions on sexual standards. We should not lower these standards to fit in with the rest of society. Peer pressure and the environment we live in is a huge factor that can influence our beliefs and determine how we behave. The society I live in (I guess this applies to most of the world) does not meet Christian standards and therefore I must ask the Holy Spirit for strength to speak out regarding such issues.

a. The congregation can drift from their basic faith and love of Christ into other secondary issues. b. The signs of genuine love for Jesus in worship and ministry are following a Christ led life and bearing the fruits of this. c. This lack of love shows up by leading a life controlled by ourselves and not bearing the fruits of a life led by Christ. d. For a congregation to regain this love it would be advisable to return to the basics of Christianity and invite Jesus into their hearts.

a. The lampstands represent the church and therefore Jesus is walking amongst the church. I think this is significant because we as Christians are the church and Jesus is in our hearts showing us the light. b. I beleive that this teaches us that we are one church with Christ as our glorious leader. c. Jesus is always with us and will never leave us. Non believers only have to invite Jesus into their hearts to experience the joy He gives.

a. The Carpenter-Teacher who walked the roads of Galilee and Judea was God in the flesh. The vision of Christ among the lampstands is our Lord in all His glory following His life, death, ressurection and being taken back to heaven. b. This vision of Jesus gives the reader a feeling of awe and an aura of sheer power. c. This understanding of Jesus gives us a balance because on one hand we see Jesus the humble man serving us with his ministry. On the other hand we see the full glory of Our omnipotent God. We therefore have an approachable God who has a human understanding of our problems and can be approached on a personal basis. We must also treat our Lord with respect and realise that we are His servants and that we should obey His commands.

a) Christians are currently experiencing tribulation or persecution for their faith throughout the world. I've just been searching the internet and the number of countries affected by persecution appears to be too numerous to list here. I'm not sure that if I was being tortured or facing death I would find much comfort in the book of Revelation. Some comfort may be "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings - and with Him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers." (Re 17:14)

a) Christians are currently experiencing tribulation or persecution for their faith throughout the world. I've just been searching the internet and the number of countries affected by persecution appears to be too numerous to list here. I'm not sure that if I was being tortured or facing death I would find much comfort in the book of Revelation. Some comfort may be "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings - and with Him will be his called, chosen, and faithful followers." (Re 17:14)

a) This tells us that the Father is forever (good news for us as we have a lot to look forward to). Jesus is God.

Hi, my name is John and I live in the North of England. I've recently made a commitment to Jesus and I'm hoping this online study will help me on my journey. Best regards to all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, John.

a. In times of trouble it is important to have the support of others who are willing to back us up. b. Jesus as the "faithfull witness" encourages us by His life. We know that Jesus is Lord and we should all try to be like Him. c. In a predominately secular society (I'm in the UK) I think we are embarrassed and feel awkward to witness to our peers. I feel it is important to ask in prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit and this will give us strength to be clear witnesses.