Stand Together
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. (Revelation 1:12-13)
In the Book of Revelation, John describes seeing the Lord standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. When you read that, you will most likely think of the Menorah, the seven-branched candlestick holder. That is not the correct picture. It is referenced in Zechariah 4:2, He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.”
From the Koine´ Greek words, we understand that the lampstand which John sees is not one lampstand, the Menorah lampstand. Instead, there are seven individual lampstands. In other words, there is a lampstand here for each candle. Jesus is in the middle of these seven individual lampstands. Now, you might be wondering, what is this picture? What does it mean?
The very first thing that John saw was Jesus in the middle of His churches. When he turned around to see the voice, he saw the lampstands. Guess what? That is exactly what this world does. They often don't see Jesus, but they see the church. They look at individual churches. This is why it is so important that individual churches stand for Christ. They must stand for His Word because they represent Jesus to the world. They need to get beyond the churches and get to Jesus.
Any church that loves Jesus, loves His Word, and loves preaching the Gospel; they are a partner in ministry with us. We should never put down other churches. If they are standing for Christ and His Word, they are partners with us in ministry; and Jesus is in the midst. Don't think like a football team. Other churches are not our rivals. We are not trying to beat them. We are trying to be in partnership with them because all of us collectively represent Jesus to a world that desperately needs Christ. The reason these individual churches are there is a beautiful example of why you need to be part of a church.
In the Book of Revelation, John describes seeing the Lord standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. When you read that, you will most likely think of the Menorah, the seven-branched candlestick holder. That is not the correct picture. It is referenced in Zechariah 4:2, He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.”
From the Koine´ Greek words, we understand that the lampstand which John sees is not one lampstand, the Menorah lampstand. Instead, there are seven individual lampstands. In other words, there is a lampstand here for each candle. Jesus is in the middle of these seven individual lampstands. Now, you might be wondering, what is this picture? What does it mean?
The very first thing that John saw was Jesus in the middle of His churches. When he turned around to see the voice, he saw the lampstands. Guess what? That is exactly what this world does. They often don't see Jesus, but they see the church. They look at individual churches. This is why it is so important that individual churches stand for Christ. They must stand for His Word because they represent Jesus to the world. They need to get beyond the churches and get to Jesus.
Any church that loves Jesus, loves His Word, and loves preaching the Gospel; they are a partner in ministry with us. We should never put down other churches. If they are standing for Christ and His Word, they are partners with us in ministry; and Jesus is in the midst. Don't think like a football team. Other churches are not our rivals. We are not trying to beat them. We are trying to be in partnership with them because all of us collectively represent Jesus to a world that desperately needs Christ. The reason these individual churches are there is a beautiful example of why you need to be part of a church.
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2 Comments
It is a sad thing when a church thinks they are the opposition. There are many churches preaching the Word of God. We do need to acknowledge that we are sister churches trying to reach those who don't know Jesus as their Savior
Indeed We Must stand United In Christ He Must Be The Center Of All We Are All We Do All That We Are Involved In Sadly There Are Those 'Churches'..Who Put Mans Traditions And Mans Wants And Desires Ahead Of Biblical Principles And Biblical Truths And God's Word We Are The Church Not The Building Noone Is Supreme Only Christ And If Our Local Body Of Christ Doesn't Stand United In Christ We Will Never Stand United As The Universal Body Indeed Other Churches Are Not Our Enemies They Aren't The Adversary The Devil Is We Must Stand United Together On The Forefront Of Faith IN Christ Through Christ And For Christ With Each Other...As Christ Told Peter On This ROCK I Will Build My Church ...United We Stand On The Foundation Of Christ And When We Do That We Will Stand In Unity For JESUS