Originally posted by JohnR7
That is why when we teach, we work with the Holy Spirit of God to help people to "discover" truth for themselves. It is the Holy Spirit of Grace & Truth who instructs, comforts, strengthens, teaches, and guides people on their way back to God. Jesus was a great teacher, but the teacher of the Holy Spirit can do a divine work in our lives to transform us. We need the water of the word, but we also need the fire of the Holy Spirit to purify us.
John,
I, too, am focused on the work of the Holy Spirit.
Let's never forget what Paul wrote to people who claim to be spirit-filled:
1 Corinthians 14:37
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment
Truly spiritual Christians follow the apostles' doctrines as the Lord's own teachings. This next scripture applies to those who do not accept Paul's teaching that the last days were his own times:
1 Corinthians 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.
For we KNOW that Paul taught all his flocks that the last days had come upon his generation:
Hebrews 1:2
in these last days has spoken to us
1 Corinthians 10:11
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for OUR instruction upon whom the ends of the ages HAVE come.
Originally posted by JohnR7
It's no allegory, it is right there in plain English who Jesus is writting to:
Rev. 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
John, that is spiritualizing away what John said if one tries to apply it the way you think to do. The seven churches St John sent his vision to were all 1st century churches that do not exist today anywhere on the planet. They are:
Ephesus
Smyrna
Pergamum
Thyatira
Sardis
Philadelphia
Laodicea
Each one of those Churches were Churches that St. John knew of personally. They were his own contemporaries. Each congregation had specific problems that were unique and Jesus promised each of those 1st century congregations that He was going to come back for them (e.g., Rev 2:18-25; Rev 3:1-3).
Now either Jesus Christ kept his promises to those first century Churches or he didn't. Jesus made them promises that he kept -- for our Lord is a Promise Keeper.
To say that Jesus did not keep his promise to those to whom St. John was writing is to turn our Lord into a false prophet.
Furthermore, no where in Revelation do we see St. John say that these Churches stand for segments of history or the Churches of any FUTURE time. St. John simply doesn't allow for such an allegorical use of his letter written and urgently sent to those Churches with this opening warning:
Revelation 1:1,3
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which MUST soon take place...Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it for the time is at hand.
We can trust that our Lord did not make promises to St. John and those 7 Churches that He failed to keep.
There is only ONE endtimes generation in all of human history -- and the apostles and Christ taught it was theirs (Heb 1:1-2; James 5:3; Acts 2:15-17; Heb 10:37; Matthew 24:34/23:36; 1 Cor 10:11; Heb 9:26; Rev 1:1; 1 John 2:18-19).
With you in the eternal ministry of the Holy Ghost,
GW
Further Reading:
The Beast of Revelation - Identified!
http://www.preteristarchive.com/PartialPreterism/gentry-ken_pp_02.html