Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from Revelation

Revelation 2:1-7 "Too Tough For Love"

Jesus writes seven letters to His Church gathering together in seven different cities in Asia minor. You might think that the message that He gives to one church would not apply to us, but just like we learned from Paul’s letter addressed to the church in Rome, we can also learn from Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus and Smyrna and rest of these cities. Why do these letters apply to us? Because there really is no such thing as the "Church of Ephesus", or the "Church of Rome". There is only one Church, the one that is ruled by Christ, made up of all the believers who love and serve Him. Jesus writes to the "gathering" in Ephesus, not to some religious organization. At the end of each of these letters He also writes, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." These are messages for all gatherings of Christians everywhere.

"To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says he who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."
(Revelation 2:1-7)

To Ephesus Jesus describes Himself as "He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: This tells us how deeply interested and involved Jesus is with the church. My son has many toys and books, his room is full of things to play with, but in any given week most of these things will not even be taken off of their shelves. As I watch him play I have noticed that he is interested in one thing at a time. The thing that has his attention is the toy that he is holding in his hand. Think about everything that God has made. Think of all the stars and galaxies of the universe, of all the creatures and vastly complex ecosystems that God created and sustains. Out of all this the one thing that Jesus holds in His hand is us, His Church. He not only holds us in His hand but He also walks in the midst of us. He is deeply involved with His body. He says to each of the churches that He writes these letters to "I know your works". He knows everything that we do and everything that we are, because He loves us. When Jesus looked at the church in Ephesus, this is what he saw.

He looked at the church and He saw that they were hard working. They were a church that was constantly busy doing good works. We know that God has prepared beforehand good works for us to walk in. (Eph. 2:10) The Scriptures were given to us to equip us for every good work (2 Tim 3:17) Jesus said to "let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16) Of course Jesus is talking to those who know Him as Savior. Our works are not an attempt to impress God, but rather a continuation of our worship of Him. We gladly work for Jesus because of what He has so freely given to us. The Lord wants us to walk in those good works that He has prepared for us and not grow weary.

Jesus also praises the Christians in Ephesus for their patience and perseverance. They lived in one of the centers of idolatry in the Roman Empire. The temple of Diana in Ephesus was considered one of the seven wonders of the world. In the book of Acts we find out how fiercely Paul was opposed there. When Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians he spent much of it in telling them how to wage spiritual warfare, counseling them not to wrestle against flesh and blood but instead to put on the full armor of God so that they could stand against spiritual enemies. We also live in a place that is spiritually oppressive. Satan does not want the people of Japan to be free from sin and death and he does all he can to try to hinder the gospel. We must carry on with patience and perseverance like the Ephesian Christians.

A third thing that Jesus praises them for is that they had no tolerance of evil, they tested those who said that they were apostles and were not and found them liars. In verse six Jesus adds that they hate the Nicolaitans which Jesus also hates. It is impossible to say who the Nicolaitans were because the only times they are mentioned are in these letters. But the name of the group might give us a clue. The part "Nico" means "to conquor" and the part "laos" or "laity" means the people. So it is possible that this group’s goal was to rule over the people in the church. It sounds like they fancied themselves as the next generation of apostles with the same authority as Peter and James and John. The Christians in Ephesus tested these men and found out that they were liars. The model that we have in the New Testament is for the whole church to use the varied gifts that God has given to each of them for the mutual encouragement of all. And the pastor is just one more of these gifts, not a master to rule over the people or somebody with special revelation. Instead, as the word "pastor" means, he is one who cares for the sheep, overseeing the flock. Like the Ephesians, we also need to be on guard against those who would come in and set themselves up as somebody special. Jesus warned of wolves who would come in sheep’s clothing, and Paul warned the Ephesians themselves on his last visit that after his departing, "shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." (Acts 20:29)

But even though the church was working hard, keeping itself pure of evil and suffering opposition patiently there was something wrong. Jesus says, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." I can really see how it could have happened. The church in Ephesus was a lean, mean fighting machine. They were tough! They were getting the job done. The gospel was preached, the poor fed, the sick healed and the demons driven away. Whatever opposition came they just charged right through it and came out the other side. When attacks came from the inside they were just as quick to find out the problem and get rid of it.

One of the pictures that God has given me for this church is that we are a desert flower, not an apple orchard. In the area of Oregon where I grew up there were thousands of fruit trees that provided apples and pears and peaches and many other kinds of fruit. However when I visited the desert near San Diego a couple years ago I was startled by how many things were growing in the desert. Sure it wasn’t as fruitful as the orchards back home, but there was life. I took it as a word from the Lord that I should not try to compare our church with the huge fruitful ministries of other churches in other places. Instead in the spiritual desert of Tokyo we need to be like those desert flowers. Incredibly tough and resilient to attack and wonderfully sensitive to any water, any move of the Spirit. The Ephesian church was also incredibly tough, resilient to attack both from without and from within. But it got that tough at the cost of its first love. As I look around our church I am constantly amazed at the love of God that I see here. When people first come they realize it, and after they have been here for a while they know that it is the real thing. We are in love with Jesus Christ, for who He is, for what He has done for us when we still did not know Him, for what He is doing in our lives as He leads us into a deeper and deeper relationship. We love Him because He first loved us, and that love shines on our faces. It flows out from us to others, in a multitude of different ways, some spectacular, most not, but all love.

So the lesson for us from the church in Ephesus is that we must be careful not to become so tough that we dry up. We know that as long as we are doing the work of the Lord there will be attacks and opposition. The reason why we know this is because there is an enemy. But the most important thing in our church is to love with the love that Jesus has given to us. Jesus says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." We need to listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying to us here. Each one of us needs to check his own heart and see if we have stopped doing what we used to do joyfully. Jesus says "repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place." When you first found the love of Jesus were you excited to tell others what you had found? Was it just natural that Jesus was a part of your conversation? After being laughed at or ignored or rejected have you stopped? When you first found the love of Jesus were you quick to open your heart to anyone you met, quick to share deep things? Have you stopped? Were you quick to share what you have with others, quick to open your home to someone in need, quick to pray with those in trouble? Have you been hurt or taken advantage of and then stopped. Have you put a hard clay jar over the top of your light and been content to keep it to yourself? If so the Lord will come quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent. Remember where you used to be, holding up the light of Jesus to a world lost in the darkness. Remember from where you have fallen and do the first works. The works of love. We have to be tough in this battlefield world, but not so tough that love is lost. If we lose love then the battle is already over and we have lost our lampstand.

RevelationÅ@2:8-17 "The Two-Edged Sword"

"And this to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life; I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." (Revelation 2:8-11)

The second letter from Jesus to His church is addressed to the church in Smyrna. This group of Christians was persecuted severely. They were under tremendous pressure. They were in poverty (but Jesus said that they were rich). Unfortunately the one’s that gave them the most pressure were those who called themselves Jews. The one’s who should have inherited the faith of Abraham were instead blaspheming the name of God’s son and their gatherings became the place that Satan used to accuse the church. In fact many of the Christians who were persecuted would have been tried in the same synagogues because they doubled as courts for the Jews. I find that rather than those who don’t know anything about Jesus, it is usually those who do know, but reject Him that are the most hateful against the church. When I hand out tracts on the street I rarely ever get a hostile reaction from an African, Asian or Japanese. Instead, the most hostile and even violent opposition comes from my own countrymen, Americans. One man who was passing out tracts with us experienced this when after giving a gospel tract to an American man passing by, the man stopped in his tracks, turned around with a look of hate in his eyes, ripped up the tract and threw it back in his face. People often throw tracts away on the street, but to do this, this man must really have been carrying a lot of hate inside of him. This kind of hate and worse is directed against Christians all the time. I read the news this week that there are whole churches fleeing from Chechnya into Southern Russia right as we speak because their pastors and leaders have been brutally murdered and their lives are in danger.

To this church Jesus describes Himself as "the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life;" I believe that no one else could give them the advice that He gave them. No one else is qualified to say what Jesus said. "Do not fear any of those things which your are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death," Unless Jesus is the one who speaking this does not make any sense. He tells them that their worst fears are all going to take place, that they are going to suffer and they are going to die. And then he says, "Do not fear". Why not? Because I will give you the crown of life. I thank God that not all of us will go through tribulation like the church of Smyrna, not all of us will go through tribulation like the church of Chechnya, not all of us will go through poverty and imprisonment but all of us have the same reason not to fear death. Jesus is the one who was dead and came to life, and He will give us the crown of life. His promise is that those who overcome, those who hold onto their faith, shall not be hurt by the second death. The first death is physical death that separates our spirit from our bodies. But the second death is spiritual death that separates us forever from God. This is the result of judgement on our sinful lives. None of us could ever stand up against that awful judgement when every sin and every action and thought are measured against the righteousness of God. It is only through Jesus that we can survive the second death, only through His sacrifice on the cross for us.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, "These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it." (Revelation 2:12-17)

Smyrna was the persecuted church and Jesus had nothing but praise for it. He does not hold anything against them. He encourages them not to fear and to be faithful. But Pergamos was also a persecuted church. They lived in the very place where the seat of Satan’s power was, the epicenter of spiritual opposition, and yet they held fast to the name of Jesus Christ. They did not deny Christ and yet Jesus had something against them. You see at first, against this church Satan tried the frontal attack. A man named Antipas was arrested and put on trial for being a Christian. Even though he knew that the punishment would be death. Antipas faithfully testified that Jesus the Son of God was alive and that he was a Christian. Antipas died for his faith, and yet instead of weakening the Christians, it had the opposite effect.

When Satan realized that he could not get them to renounce their faith he started a second attack that was much more destructive. He started to bring in false teaching. One of these teachings was that it was alright to marry a person who was not a Christian. This is the doctrine of Balaam. Back in the Old Testament a false prophet by this name instructed a King who was the enemy of Israel how to defeat them. He told Balak to bring into the Israelite camp women from Moab. The men took these women to be their wives and had children with them but the problem was that they continued to practice their own religion and pass it on to their children. If this plan had succeeded the Israelites would have been wiped out in a generation. This is a big problem in the church in Japan. We are so discouraged that the percentage of Christians is so low here, but then each generation we water down the faith. How can we raise up children who love the Lord when one parent is still of the world? Please do not think that this is not a big issue with God. Here is a church with martyrs, a church willing to die for its faith, that nevertheless would not exist in a few generations because they were sending their children a mixed message. One parent was praying to God and the other was joining in the idolatry of the world. If you are already married to someone who is not a Christian, this is not a teaching to divorce or despair. The Lord is able to restore and to change. But dear singles, Jesus knows the desire of your heart. If you want to marry, He knows it. It really is a test of faith when there is somebody who looks perfect and is willing but doesn’t know the Lord. The fear is there that their might not be another chance. The temptation is to think that after the marriage they will have a change of heart. But do not fall for it, because it is a stumbling block from Satan himself. Your faith might not be hurt, but your children will be forced to choose between loving their parents and loving the Lord. Do you see how Satan works. If he cannot succeed one way, he will try another.

Jesus says to this church, "Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth." Jesus described Himself to this church as "He who has the sharp two-edged sword" Ephesians 6:17 tells us that the Sword of the Spirit is the Word. Heb 4:12 says "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." This sword is two-edged because although we often use the word against the enemy, it is also often used by God against us. It is a powerful weapon against any attack that Satan would throw against us, and yet in the very next instant it will turn around and pierce us through the heart as it reveals sin in our own lives. In our day the teaching that Christians should not marry non-Christians is extremely unpopular, and yet the word of God clearly teaches that we should not be unequally yoked. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, repent and hold fast. If you do the Lord says that He will give you something different from the sword. In the desert God gave the people of Israel manna to eat. But the real reason God did this was explained later. He gave them manna so that they would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If we humble ourselves and repent then that terribly sharp sword is turned into manna, it becomes our food, provided lovingly to us by the Father.

One more promise is that He will give us a new name, not written on a black stone of rejection, but a white stone of acceptance. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would give His people a new name. "For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your rightiousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah (My Delight is in her) and your land Beulah; (Married) For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married." Eat of the manna that the Lord is providing, trust in the Word of the Lord. He will not rest until He sees that your lamp is burning bright. He will not hold His peace until He has changed your name.

Revelation 2:18-29 "The Dynamic Church"

"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, 'These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 2:18-29)

As we study these letters from Jesus to the churches I can't help thinking of trying to walk the tightrope. Have you ever been to the circus and watched the man high up in the air walking on that thin line. He usually has a long pole or an umbrella which he uses to help him keep his balance. The church is really a tightrope walk. Keeping our balance is so difficult. Each of these letters is Jesus’ way of helping us keep our balance. Ephesus was a tough hard working church, but they had gotten so tough that they had lost their first love. Pergamos patiently endured the persecution of the world and yet allowed the ways of the world to come into the church through compromise. The next church was also out of balance and needed to get back in line. I am so thankful for these letters because it shows the way that Jesus deals with churches that get out of balance. He does not condemn them, He loves them. That is why He wrote these letters and why He gives them a chance to repent.

Thyatira was a great church, great in love and service, faith and patience. Most especially great in works. Unlike the church in Ephesus that had lost its first love, the church in Thyatira’s recent works were even greater than the works that they had done at first. What is the connection between love and works? Why do works depend on love, and why vice-versa are we told to go back and do the first works if we lose our first love? First, let’s define what a "good work" is. It is anything that causes people to give glory to God. Jesus told His disciples to let their light so shine before men that they would see their good works and give glory to their Father in heaven. The problem is that it is just as easy for people to see our works and give the glory to us. What is worse is that our human nature likes to get glory for ourselves and doesn’t really like to see it go to somebody else. The big exception to this rule is when you add love to the recipe. When love is involved we gladly give all the glory to the one whom we love. You see without love it is impossible to do really "good" works. It is easy to do works, to run programs and get the jobs done, but unless God gets the glory they are not really "good".

Many churches get mixed up when they continue to do the same things they always do every year. At first these are usually great things, because they love the Lord, are guided by His Spirit and He gets the glory. But over time that particular ministry, or camp, or event or mission trip or whatever becomes a "part" of the church. The church is complimented on it, and becomes famous for it and even though the Lord is leading them in a different direction they still continue to do it because it is their "big thing." You see now God isn’t getting the glory, the church is. What usually happens is that each year’s event is not as good as the one the year before and none were as good as those first few years that are looked back upon fondly by the old-timers. This is what happened in Ephesus. They had lost their first love and so Jesus told them, "repent, and go back and do the first works." Not the pale imitations of those first good works that you are doing now. But the real thing that gave glory to God and shone the love of Christ out brightly to the world. Ephesus was a hard working church and yet without love it was hard for them to do "good works", those that give all glory to the Lord. Thyatira was exactly the opposite. Because they had love their last works were actually even more than their first. This was a church were there was always something new going on. I think that this is the way that the church ought to be. The church that loves the Lord and wants to do things His way will always be a little bit on the edge because who knows the way the Spirit will lead. As soon as we get settled into doing works, the Spirit will always blow through and break things up because the Spirit is not satisfied with just works, they have to be "good works". And because we love Jesus and want Him to get the glory, we are actually expecting the Spirit to do that. In fact we not only expect it but we also hope and pray for it and when it happens we call it "revival". A church that is loving is a dynamic church. "Dynamis" in Greek means power and the church that loves Jesus is full of power. We sing "More Love, More Power". The two go hand in hand because the more we love Jesus the more the Spirit works through us. The loving church is a vibrant, alive, powerful, dynamic church. My prayer is that we can be that kind of loving church where the last works are more than the first.

However, despite this church's incredible love and power, the Lord had a very serious thing against them. There was a woman whom Jesus refers to as a Jezebel. He is referring to one of the worst characters of the Old Testament. At a low point in the history of Israel, King Ahab married a princess from Sidon named Jezebel. This woman not only continued to worship Baal but led her husband into idolatry as well. Once she had the King she made a systematic attempt to kill all the prophets of God which was only stopped when God sent Elijah. The Jezebel in Thyatira was nothing less than a similar attempt by the enemy to put an evil woman in leadership over God’s people. Let’s look closely at this Jezebel and see what the problems are that we must avoid.

First, she "called herself" a prophetess. We know that there were women who had prophetic ministries. Philip, one of the seven deacons in Acts had four daughters who were true prophetesses. It wasn't that she was a woman that was the problem but that she "called herself" a prophetess. You cannot just "call yourself" a teacher/pastor, or prophet, or apostle, just as you cannot just call yourself a doctor or professor. If you simply wander around saying to people that you are a doctor but you have never actually worked at a hospital then something is wrong. If you wander around calling yourself "Professor" but have never worked at a University then you are just fooling yourself. Likewise just because someone calls themselves a pastor or missionary or prophet does not mean that they really are.

But what about the gifts? Doesn't the Spirit give these gifts to people regardless of whether or not those gifts are recognized by others? Isn’t gifting much more important than whether someone has gone to seminary or been ordained? Well, yes and no. The ministries that we have just mentioned are not only gifted, but they are also entrusted, because they all involve authority in the church. Because people listen to them they must not only have an ability to speak, but with it also a responsibility to care for the flock. When it comes to authority, teaching the Word of God to change people’s lives we can not easily accept what is taught unless we know and trust the teacher. Sometimes it is hard even then! Their must be a relationship of love between pastor and flock. I think that this is the fundamental reason why I felt so uneasy about accepting the invitation to go to India to preach at their conference. I do not know them and they do not know me. There is no relationship at all. I think that without it I have very little right to speak. True ministers don’t go around calling themselves by titles. Instead they are called a "pastor" or "prophet" by those who know them and love them.

The church in Thyatira should not have allowed this to happen. Why did they let her continue to call herself a prophetess? I think that it is the weakness of love. They did not want to think badly of her. They did not want to discourage her in her walk. And besides there was so much going on and so much work to be done that they could always use a confident, self motivated person like her. In fact she seemed such a natural that soon she had slipped right into teaching and training up new leaders. This was the second mistake. Not only had she "ordained" herself, but now she was allowed to gather her own disciples around her and have authority over them as their teacher.

The problem with the self-ordained, the self-appointed, is that there is nobody that they will listen to. They consider themselves to be the mouthpiece of God and the final judge in all matters of spirituality. But folks nobody is that perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. Everyone needs someone a little older and wiser to come along beside them from time to time to take them aside and point out where they are getting out of balance. The problem with Jezebel was that because she appointed herself there was no one who could tell her anything. I don’t know exactly what doctrine she got off on, but I can guess. I think, considering the prevailing atmosphere of love in the church, that she took love too far. She decided that it was unloving to reject people just because they worshipped in a different way. Wouldn't it be more loving to accept all people regardless of which gods they believed in? In fact as a demonstration of their love and freedom in Christ they would even go to the temple with their friends and invite them to church the next week. Even more loving would be to accept all the practices of the idol worshipers and even join in, knowing that in reality it is all meaningless anyway. And little by little her error got worse and worse until finally they were involved in the same sexual immorality and sins as those who worshipped false gods. The worst of it is was that if anybody said anything, Jezebel would defend her group as the most loving in the church, the most radical servants of God going into the enemy territory to spread the love of Christ. In fact her little group would call their field trips into the world, "knowing the depths of Satan", like if you didn’t have this experience then you really weren’t qualified as a frontline soldier for Christ. I am sure that her group was the most exciting part of the church and those who weren't part of it felt like they were missing out. And yet how misguided they were, so wrong that Jesus says that unless they repent there would be sickness, great tribulation and even death. But even though Jesus gave her time to repent she would not.

I said before that a loving church will also be a church on the edge. But sometimes people fall off the edge, they get so radical and zealous that they no longer hear the leading of the Spirit and head out on their own. I think that the task that is set before our church is to be loving, dynamic, Spirit-led, church that is full of good works that bring glory to God. But at the same time to keep our balance. How do we do it? First, we need to be careful about who we listen to. Here in Tokyo we live in one of the largest, most modern cities in the world. People come and go from around the world every day. You can hear so-called Christian teaching on the radio, from tapes, from books, and from the internet. Don’t believe everything you hear, check out the source. Second, if you are in ministry, and I believe that the Lord has gifted every Christian for ministry, then you also need to make sure that you are under authority. There is no such thing in the church as being accountable only to God. Without authority over you, you are very vulnerable to attacks from the enemy. Third, Jesus tells all those who were not involved with Jezebel in the church in Thyatira to "hold fast what you have till I come." The meaning in Greek is to "become a master of what you already have." We do not need new doctrines. Believe me, after 2,000 years, no one is going to suddenly come up with something that no one has ever noticed before that will solve all our problems. We already have all the doctrine that we will ever need. We just aren’t very good at applying it to our lives. Hold fast and keep doing those good works of Jesus Christ until the end.

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