THE CONQUEROR, STUDY GUIDE
Copyright © 1998 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
ForewordANSWERS
Introduction
The Lord Jesus Christ
The Two Lampstands
The Church in Ephesus
The Church in Smyrna
The Church in Pergamos
The Church in Thyatira
The Church in Sardis
The Church in Philadelphia
The Church in Laodicea
Foreword
Introduction
The Lord Jesus Christ
The Two Lampstands
The Church in Ephesus
The Church in Smyrna
The Church in Pergamos
The Church in Thyatira
The Church in Sardis
The Church in Philadelphia
The Church in Laodicea
QUESTIONS
Foreword
1. For what is the material creation waiting?
2. Give one synonym for the term manifestation.
3. What will the Day of Christ do for us?
4. How will the change taking place in you now under the watchful eyes of the Lord be emphasized radiantly?
5. What is the “city” of your personality becoming?
6. What is “overcoming”?
7. What are the rewards to the overcomer?
8. What is the purpose of the first resurrection?
Introduction
1. Read Revelation 21:7; 20:4.
2. Who will inherit all things?
3. What is the “first resurrection”?
4. What is the subject of this booklet?
5. What are the two concepts discussed?
6. Why are we discussing these two concepts together?
7. What are the rewards assigned to the overcomer?
8. Read Philippians 3:11.
9. What is the “prize of the high [on high; heavenly] calling of God in Christ”?
10. What is the attitude toward the past, of the conqueror in Christ?
11. What is it that overcomes the enemy?
12. How do we conquer every foe?
13. Read Philippians 3:13,14.
14. Is it reasonable to believe that Paul, toward the end of his life, was still attempting to attain basic salvation from God’s wrath?
15. According to the context of Philippians 3:14, what was Paul’s goal that he was pressing toward?
16. Read Luke 17:27,29.
17. Of what kind of believer is Noah an example?
18. Of what kind of believer is Lot an example?
19. Read I Corinthians 3:14,15.
20. Do we have clear scriptural support for the doctrine that some believers have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God, while others are snatched, as was Lot, from the fires of destruction?
21. Read I Corinthians 5:5.
22. What were the elders of the Church of Corinth to do concerning the man who was living in sin?
23. Read Jude 1:23.
24. Is there a difference in fruit-bearing among Christian people?
25. Can every believer in Christ be a conqueror?
26. How do we become a conqueror?
27. What was true of the condition of the churches of Asia Minor?
28. How are the churches always addressed?
29. How are the victorious saints always addressed?
30. In order to become a conqueror, what must each believer do?
31. From what is the conqueror born?
32. Is it true that the Church is one group of people and the victorious saints are another group of people born from the Church?
33. Who is being formed in the saints?
34. Where does each conqueror dwell?
35. What action and attitude on our part are necessary if we are to be a victorious saint?
36. To whom has been given the glory and responsibility of ruling with Christ during the coming thousand-year Kingdom Age?
37. Who will “take” the Kingdom of God?
38. If the seven churches of Asia Minor represent seven periods of church history, what (church) period are we in now?
39. What may be another key to the interpretation of the seven churches of Asia Minor?
40. What three factors are we going to discuss?
41. What must we do if we are to receive the Divine rewards?
The Lord Jesus Christ
1. Whom does the Holy Spirit always present first?
2. What is the all-important concept that each overcomer embraces?
3. Because Christ is in the midst of them, what are the Christian churches?
4. Why are the churches golden lampstands?
5. What is the only testimony that has eternal impact?
6. What does the white robe of Christ portray?
7. With what is Christ girded?
8. What do the head and hair of Christ reflect?
9. Why are the eyes of Christ “as a flame of fire”?
10. Why are the feet of Christ “like fine brass”?
11. What two things take place as a result of the Divine testimony?
12. Why is the voice of Christ “as the sound of many waters”?
13. Why is Christ revealed as holding the seven stars in His right hand?
14. What does the Spirit of God teach the conqueror?
15. What other weapon in the creation is as powerful and as penetrating as the Word of God?
16. Why does the Word of God divide the joints and marrow of our bones?
17. Why is the face of Christ like the brightness of the sun at noontime?
18. Why did the Apostle John fall as a dead man at the feet of Christ?
19. What eternal truth did Christ announce?
20. What lie will be circulated in the end-time?
21. Who is the only person who can prevent Christ from accomplishing His goal in our life?
22. Who alone can open the door of our heart to Christ?
23. Is Christ alive today?
24. Is it the Father’s will that there be many duplicators of Christ in the universe?
25. What will come forth from the imperfect Christian churches?
The Two Lampstands
1. What do “the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks [lampstands] standing before the God of the earth” symbolize?
2. What does the solid-gold Lampstand with its cups, fruit, and flowers, standing before God portray?
3. What are the majority of Christian churchgoers not doing.?
4. Who are the second lampstand, of Revelation, Chapter 11?
5. Of what will the two Lampstands bear witness?
6. Where will salvation be found during the coming age of darkness?
The Church in Ephesus
1. Read Revelation 2:1.
2. How does Christ appear to the church in Ephesus?
3. What are the “stars”?
4. What does the “right hand” signify?
5. What are the “seven golden lampstands”?
6. Is Christ subject to the churches and limited by the sins and frailties of the churches?
7. Does the conqueror adore the churches and the ways and things of the churches?
8. Does the conqueror submit to and serve the churches out of obedience to and love for his Lord Jesus Christ?
9. What is necessary for the growth to maturity of the believer in Christ?
10. What is Christ’ position in the assemblies?
11. Whom have many Christian people never met?
12. With whom does the conqueror come face to face?
13. From what source does the conqueror receive his wisdom and power for living?
14. Read Revelation 2:2.
15. What did the church in Ephesus maintain?
16. What did the church in Ephesus do when someone claimed to be an apostle of Christ?
17. What did the church in Ephesus discover about many persons who claimed to be ministers of Christ?
18. What is true of every apostle of Christ?
19. What must accompany an apostle’s teaching?
20. What must the churches do with any teaching that is contrary to the Scriptures?
21. What must be true of the moral behavior of the minister of Christ?
22. Concerning whom have both Christ and Paul warned us clearly?
23. Of what must we beware?
24. Read Revelation 2:3,4.
25. What was the blemish of the church in Ephesus?
26. What does it mean to leave our first love?
27. Where does the victorious saint keep his eyes?
28. Why is the conqueror continually renewed and refreshed?
29. What can working for Christ lead to?
30. What does working in and with the Lord of the churches lead to?
31. What is our proper relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ?
32. What does the name Ephesus mean?
33. What does Christ desire?
34. Read Song of Solomon 4:7; 6:9; Psalms 45:10,11.
35. What is the continuing attitude of the conqueror?
36. Read Ephesians 5:27.
37. What is the Christian discipleship?
38. Read Revelation 2:5.
39. What are the “first works” of the Church of Christ?
40. What happens to a church when it becomes occupied with human-oriented tasks and forgets fervent prayer and praise?
41. What takes place when the church returns to prayer and to holiness before the Lord?
42. What has been true of the revivals of church history?
43. What does the victorious saint learn?
44. Who performs the work of the Kingdom of God?
45. Read Revelation 2:6.
46. What is Christ’s attitude toward attempts to please the world?
47. What were the “deeds of the Nicolaitans”?
48. What temptation faces each local church?
49. What must we do if we are to gain acceptance by worldly people?
50. What is the local church?
51. What is the local church’s first responsibility, after it has rendered love and worship to Christ?
52. In what way and to what extent is the Christian church not of this world?
53. What attitude will worldly people take toward the church when it is following Christ with singleness of heart?
54. How much help does the Christian church need from the world?
55. Read Genesis 14:22,23.
56. Why do the saints not need the assistance of the world?
57. What two things are never in order in the household of God?
58. What are the main purposes of our assemblings?
59. What does the fear of man bring?
60. Are we suggesting that we demonstrate rudeness and a lack of sensitivity to the needs of weak Christians or the unsaved?
61. What will happen to man-pleasing efforts to build the Kingdom of God?
62. What will be missing from the churches on the earth during the reign of Antichrist?
63. Where will the anointing of God be in the days of Antichrist?
64. What is the Spirit of God exhorting us to do today?
65. What did the Philistines have to do in order to conquer Samson?
66. What can conquer the saint?
67. What happens when the world comes into the church?
68. What leaves the church along with Christ?
69. Read Revelation 2:7.
70. What is the first reward to the overcomer?
71. Do the Scriptures teach us that we are to keep on seeking more eternal life after we are saved?
72. Read Galatians 6:8; I Timothy 6:12; Romans 8:13.
73. What happens to us the moment we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior?
74. What must we do in order to conquer the world, Satan, and our sinful, self-centered nature?
75. What was Paul seeking to know and experience?
76. What two powers are struggling for mastery in each believer?
77. What will happen to the believer who chooses to live in the lusts of his flesh?
78. How does the saint attain the first resurrection from the dead?
79. What will happen to us if we become filled with Christ in this life?
The Church in Smyrna
1. Read Revelation 2:8.
2. What does the name Smyrna mean?
3. What was myrrh used for?
4. When does myrrh yield its fragrance?
5. Read Song of Solomon 4:16.
6. What does Smyrna represent?
7. Read John 16:33.
8. How is the saint able to overcome each difficulty through which he or she passes?
9. Read Acts 14:22.
10. What two aspects of Christ enable us to overcome every tribulation?
11. What two questions arise in our minds when we are undergoing severe testing?
12. Is it ever given to the saints to walk in dark places?
13. To what promise does the suffering soul cling?
14. From whom should we flee?
15. If we keep the word of Christ’s patience, what will He provide for us?
16. What will happen as a result of your tribulations?
17. What fragrance comes from us before we suffer?
18. What is true of the fragrance that comes from us after we suffer?
19. Why do we have no fear of suffering and death?
20. Read Ephesians 2:4-6; John 14:19.
21. How can we conquer tribulation?
22. Read Revelation 2:9.
23. How can we please Christ?
24. Why can Christ understand our tribulation?
25. What does earthly wealth bring us?
26. What does heavenly wealth bring us?
27. Is the conqueror wealthy?
28. What is true of many believers today?
29. To what church do such believers belong?
30. How are true Christians revealed?
31. Read I John 3:7; Revelation 2:10.
32. Who overcomes our dreads, worries, anxieties, fretfulness?
33. What will our tribulations in this world accomplish for us?
34. How should we respond when the Lord allows Satan to cast us into prison?
35. What will we gain if we force our way out of the prison in which the Lord places us?
36. What will we gain if we remain faithfully in prison?
37. Read James 1:12.
38. What is the first aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
39. What is the second aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
40. What does a crown signify?
41. By what power does the saint conquer all the enemies of God and man?
42. What two things was Paul seeking?
43. What shall be true of us when we possess eternal life in abundance?
44. What is the crown of life ?
45. When will the authority and power of life, which is veiled now, be unveiled?
46. What is the most important attainment of the first resurrection, as far as we as an individual are concerned?
47. What does the first resurrection include?
48. What will be true, in the Day of the Lord, of the believer who has not enthroned Christ as absolute Lord of his life?
49. What are some of the aspects of the resurrection from the dead with which we are familiar?
50. What can we accomplish by keeping the joys of the resurrection ever before us?
51. When does the change of administration of the creation begin?
52. When does the first resurrection from the dead begin?
53. What is true of us if we are not submitting to the lordship of Christ right now?
54. What is essential to the life of victory in Christ?
55. Read Revelation 2:11; 20:6.
56. What is the second reward to the overcomer of the church in Smyrna?
57. What becomes true of the saint when he is crowned with the authority and power of eternal life?
58. What is the “second death”?
59. Over what does the second death have authority?
60. When will the great white throne judgment take place?
61. Is the Lake of Fire an actual lake into which the doomed will be cast?
62. Where is the Lake of Fire located?
63. What is the maximum sentence that will be handed down from the great white throne?
64. What assurance does the conqueror have in writing from the Lord?
65. When does the second death cease to be a threat to us?
66. What will be true of each conqueror by the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age?
67. What will the Lord’s kings and priests be able to do as soon as the new heaven and earth reign of Christ comes into being?
68. What is the sentence that is passed on each conqueror?
69. In our study, what has the conqueror gained thus far?
70. To this point in our study, in what areas of challenge has the saint been victorious?
The Church in Pergamos
1. What does Pergamos mean?
2. With whom is the conqueror to become united?
3. From what is the conqueror to turn away?
4. Why does Christ appear to the church in Pergamos as the One who has the sharp sword with two edges?
5. What penetrates the joints and marrow of the frame of the Christian person until all is re-created and is of Christ and in Christ?
6. Read Revelation 2:13.
7. Can the saint serve Christ perfectly in the center of demon activity?
8. Are there seasons when we are so pressed that all we can do is wait patiently for the Lord to lift the darkness?
9. Is Christ the victory in every situation?
10. What shall every tongue confess?
11. Read Psalms 91:13,14; Luke 10:19.
12. What happened when the Ark of God and Dagon, the God of the Philistines, were brought face to face?
13. Read I Samuel 5:4.
14. What will take place in the end-time?
15. What does the “Ark of the Covenant” represent?
16. What three elements must be fully formed in each saint who is to be used of God to destroy the enemy?
17. What will happen when the God of this world is forced to face Christ in the saints?
18. Read Revelation 12:11; Romans 16:20.
19. What power will cut off Satan’s wisdom and control, and his power and ability to act?
20. What satanic power is greater than the power of the Word of God spoken in the Spirit in Jesus’ name?
21. Read Revelation 12:13.
22. What does the name Antipas mean?
23. How did Antipas become one of Christ’s martyrs?
24. Why can we say that the martyr, Antipas, was never overcome?
25. What may happen at some point in the life of the Christian saint?
26. Whom are Christ and His “Antipases” against?
27. Read Psalms 149:5-9; Revelation 2:14.
28. What is the doctrine of Balaam?
29. Read Numbers 25:1,2; 31:16.
30. What was Balaam unable to do?
31. What did Balaam counsel Balak to do?
32. What did Balaam hope to accomplish by this?
33. Can all the forces of Hell break through the Angel of the Lord and harm one of Christ’s soldiers?
34. What must Satan do in order to harm one of Christ’s soldiers?
35. What happens when one of Christ’s soldiers walks in sin?
36. What caused Balaam to destroy himself?
37. What is one of the snares that the saint must diligently avoid?
38. Can any person serve both Christ and money?
39. What will happen to the Christian who becomes entangled in the pursuit of money?
40. What happens when the Christian ministry pursues money?
41. Name five of the chief demon gods of this world?
42. What are the church people doing today?
43. What does the conqueror do to these five demon gods?
44. How does the conqueror overcome the devil?
45. Read Revelation 2:15.
46. From what is the conqueror to flee?
47. Read Revelation 2:16.
48. What will happen to those of the church who do not turn away from their idols, their fornication, their love of the world?
49. Read Revelation 2:17.
50. What two aspects of the first resurrection are given to the conqueror in Pergamos?
51. What is the manna of the conqueror?
52. To whom is the hidden manna given?
53. Read I Samuel 21:6.
54. What did David receive after he had been given the showbread, the “hidden manna”?
55. From what source does the Lord nourish His exhausted warrior?
56. How nourishing was the “hidden manna” that Elijah received?
57. What is the meaning of the word stone ?
58. What does the giving of the white pebble signify?
59. How many are “chosen”?
60. To whom is the overcoming grace of God given?
61. What happens as we progress through the rewards assigned to the conquerors?
62. What is the point at which we are established forever in the Presence of God and the Lamb?
63. What is the supreme goal of the disciple?
64. Read Isaiah 62:2. 65. When is the saint to reveal what God has spoken to him in secret?
The Church in Thyatira
1. Read Revelation 2:18.
2. What good works characterized the church in Thyatira?
3. What was the church in Thyatira permitting to continue in its midst?
4. Read Revelation 2:20.
5. To whom was Jezebel married?
6. Whom did Jezebel worship?
7. What spirit has attempted to take charge of the churches of Christ from the days of the first apostles?
8. How are the churches of Christ to be ruled?
9. Describe the spirit of Jezebel.
10. How does the spirit of worldly lusts conceal its true nature?
11. How can we recognize the Jezebel spirit at work in the churches?
12. Is it wise to judge the worth of a church by the number of people who attend?
13. Will “Jezebel”—worldly Christians—participate in the first resurrection?
14. What is the proper way to deal with the Jezebel spirit?
15. Read II Kings 9:33.
16. Should Christ’s conquerors enter discussion with worldly people concerning how the saints of God should behave?
17. Read Revelation 2:21.
18. What does Thyatira mean?
19. What does the Jezebel spirit teach us to do?
20. What will happen to those who continue to teach and to practice worldly lusts?
21. Read Revelation 2:22.
22. What does God do to us if we choose the way of Satan over the way of God?
23. Why must the saint guard his heart with diligence?
24. Read Revelation 22:11. Notice the lack of opportunity for repentance in this verse.
25. What is one of the main characteristics of Hell?
26. What will happen to us if we keep on loving and practicing evil?
27. Read Revelation 2:23.
28. If we continue in worldly lusts, with what will we be “killed”?
29. If we choose to walk in the flesh, with what will we be filled at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?
30. What choice are we making now?
31. In the Day of the Lord, what will happen to the resurrection life that we at this time are nourishing within us?
32. What will happen to the believer who continues to walk in the appetites and desires of the flesh?
33. What is every human being on the earth doing continually?
34. What will his end be if his God is the devil?
35. What will his end be if his God is the Lord?
36. Read Romans 12:1,2. 37. Who makes the choice concerning our state in the Day of the Lord?
38. When do we make that choice?
39. What will each believer reap?
40. Read Revelation 2:24.
41. How does the Lord Jesus feel about the “depths of Satan”?
42. What is true of Christ?
43. Read Revelation 2:25.
44. What type of attitude and conduct characterizes the Christian overcomer?
45. What reward will be given to the conqueror?
46. Read Revelation 2:26.
47. What will bring the Kingdom of God into the earth?
48. What are the experiences of this present life preparing us for?
49. Read Revelation 2:27.
50. Where is the rod of iron now?
51. What is a rod of iron?
52. What is being created now in each overcomer?
53. How are we to treat our own body?
54. What is the member of the Body of Christ with respect to the Divine judgment?
55. What will Christ do to the nations of the earth at His coming?
56. How much disobedience to Christ will be permitted in the Kingdom of God?
57. Read Daniel 7:26,27.
58. What additional aspect of the first resurrection will be given to the saint who overcomes the worldly lusts of the church in Thyatira?
59. Who or what is the “morning star”?
60. Read II Peter 1:19.
61. What will take place before the Kingdom Age comes to the earth?
62. How can we tell when a personal day of the Lord is being created in us?
63. What is the necessary preparation of the conqueror for the great and terrible Day of the Lord that is at hand?
64. What is the mystery of the Gospel?
65. Why does the Lord Jesus demand so much from the saint and deal with him or her endlessly?
66. Will the Bride finally be without spot or wrinkle?
67. What is our principal responsibility and task?
68. What will happen if we keep the Word of Christ faithfully?
69. What is one important aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
The Church in Sardis
1. Read Revelation 2:29; 3:1.
2. Is Christ ever held or controlled by the churches?
3. In what realm does the Sardis-type church come short of the Glory of God?
4. What reputation did Sardis have?
5. What actually was true of Sardis?
6. What life was missing from the corpse in Sardis?
7. What source of energy was giving the illusion of life to the church in Sardis?
8. What was present among the believers in Sardis?
9. What does the name Sardis mean?
10. What is the concept of a remnant?
11. Read Isaiah 10:20,21; Joel 2:32; Romans 9:27; 11:5.
12. What prophet does Paul mention in association with the remnant?
13. Who are the remnant ?
14. What service will the remnant provide during the tribulation that is to come on the earth?
15. Read Joel 2:32. 16. In what area does the remnant especially fulfill the will of God?
17. In what does the human-oriented church place its trust in order to accomplish its goals?
18. What is the battle cry of the remnant?
19. What expression of position rings eternally in the holy of holies of every conqueror?
20. In what environment does each conqueror live continually?
21. Read Revelation 3:2.
22. What is the warning to Christians of the Sardis-type assembly?
23. What activity distinguishes the remnant from the Sardis-type assembly?
24. What two people described in the Gospel of Luke illustrate the difference between the remnant and the church in Sardis?
25. What kinds of activity took place in Herod’s Temple?
26. What should have happened when Joseph and Mary came in holding the baby Jesus?
27. What was taking place before their eyes?
28. What was the response of this Sardis-type assembly?
29. How can we account for this blindness, this inability to perceive the Presence of God?
30. Why were Simeon and Anna able to recognize that the greatest event of human history was taking place?
31. Read Luke 2:26. 32. Who was leading Simeon and Anna?
33. What was leading the remainder of Israel?
34. What did the common people do while the God of Heaven was in their cities and villages?
35. Do the Scriptures teach us that God often uses one person, or a few people, to do His work?
36. How many believers of the entire church in Sardis were selected by Christ as being worthy to walk with Him in white?
37. What is the worst possible thing that could happen to any human being?
38. How can we avoid missing the Lord’s Christ?
39. Read Revelation 3:3.
40. What does the Lord Jesus advise the human-oriented church to do?
41. Does Christ advise the saints to imitate the events that transpired in former years?
42. To what, then, are we to return?
43. Were the large denominations of today a remnant in time past?
44. Does the Lord always have His remnant?
45. How can we recognize the remnant?
46. What is true of the works of religious flesh?
47. What happens when the Spirit of the Lord blows on the works of religious flesh?
48. How are the eternal accomplishments of the Kingdom of God brought to pass?
49. What will happen to us if we do not repent of our man-centeredness?
50. Read Revelation 3:4.
51. Is the worthiness of the believer a new-covenant concept?
52. How does the believer become worthy ?
53. What are our “garments”?
54. Describe the believer in Christ who is wearing “dirty clothes.”
55. Name some behaviors that are unclean.
56. How do we wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb?
57. By what means do we overcome the accuser of the brothers?
58. What will be true of those who do not prove to be worthy?
59. Read Revelation 3:5.
60. What is the first reward to the overcomer in Sardis?
61. What does the “white raiment” signify?
62. Read Revelation 19:8.
63. What two kinds of righteousness does the saint receive from Christ?
64. Read Romans 7:24.
65. Read Matthew 5:6; Isaiah 61:10.
66. What is the saint weaving now, by means of the grace of Christ that is being imparted to him each day?
67. Is the ability to live righteously in every situation an important aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
68. How will the coming of the Lord from Heaven affect the individual believer?
69. What is true of the believer in Christ who is compromising with the world, with Satan, and with his own fleshly nature?
70. What is the end result of the conqueror’s determination to walk each day in Christ?
71. Is there a reward for seeking the Lord diligently each day?
72. What is the third reward assigned to the conqueror in Sardis?
73. Why does Christ announce the name of each conqueror in the Presence of the Father and the holy angels?
74. Does the Father pay close attention to the name of each whom Christ announces in His Presence?
75. Do the elect angels pay close attention to the name of each whom Christ announces in their Presence?
76. Will the holy angels also know the servants of Antichrist?
77. In what hour are we living now?
78. Can any person who so desires become one of Christ’s conquerors?
79. If you would be a conqueror, what must you do?
80. What is the Lord’s part?
The Church in Philadelphia
1. What “church” are we in, in the present hour?
2. Read Revelation 3:7.
3. What does the name Philadelphia mean?
4. Is denominationalism the normal state for the Christian Church, the Body of Christ?
5. Will the denominational divisions of the Christian Church be in existence when Christ returns to the earth?
6. What three forces may divide the Christian churches into the true Church and the professing Christians?
7. Does there seem to be a diminishing of the spirit of sectarian pride and loyalty today?
8. What is the first “word” to the ruling spirit of the church in Philadelphia?
9. What is the Holy Spirit emphasizing today?
10. Can a sinning believer walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ?
11. Is holiness of behavior an important part of the New Testament writings?
12. What will be the two opposing forces in the battle of the end-time?
13. What must Satan accomplish in order to overcome a saint?
14. How can we keep ourselves in the truth?
15. Does God ever bless people whose doctrine is not perfect?
16. What must each conqueror maintain if he is to avoid being deceived?
17. What can help us guard against deception?
18. What will come to the person who does not obey the Scriptures?
19. What can a strong desire on our part do easily?
20. What is the basic nature of the war between Christ and Antichrist?
21. How can we distinguish between those who are of Christ and those who are of Antichrist?
22. Read I John 2:29; 3:7,8.
23. What is true of those who claim that righteousness and holiness of behavior are not essential to the Christian life?
24. What is the “key of David”?
25. When we come to the church in Philadelphia, what is emphasized?
26. Why did King Saul have so much difficulty obeying the Lord?
27. What does King Saul represent?
28. Why was the Lord with David continually?
29. What did David build?
30. What is the Church of Christ to do now?
31. What is given to the saint who will allow the Holy Spirit to build the Kingdom of God through him?
32. Can a political power close off a nation of people from the Gospel of Christ when Christ has determined that those people shall hear His Word?
33. What power in the heavens or on the earth is greater than the power of Christ?
34. In what name does the conqueror think, speak, and act?
35. When does Christ allow a conqueror to use the key of David?
36. What is true of each conqueror?
37. Read Revelation 3:8.
38. Are we now in a period of spiritual declension or revival?
39. What did Jesus say would happen before the end of the age?
40. What has Christ set before us today?
41. What is coming soon on the earth?
42. What should we do with our “little strength”?
43. Will heroes of faith arise in the end-time?
44. Read Revelation 3:9.
45. What eventually will happen to the false professors of Christianity?
46. Read Revelation 3:10.
47. What reward is given to those who keep the word of Christ’s patience?
48. Read John 17:15.
49. Is it the will of Christ that the saints be taken out of the world?
50. What is the will of Christ for His own?
51. What does God do for the saint who is going through great difficulties?
52. What does the Lord sometimes allow to happen to us?
53. Can the Lord God of Heaven bring one of His saints through deep waters and fiery trials and keep that saint free from every harm?
54. What is the realm in which many of our most difficult trials take place?
55. Read Revelation 3:11.
56. What may happen to a believer who allows himself to slip into foolishness and carelessness?
57. What must be true of the saints who ride with Christ in the Day of the Lord?
58. What attainments are available to the believer today?
59. What change of dominion must take place in us if we would be an overcomer?
60. Read Revelation 3:12.
61. What has the saint achieved as soon as he is created a pillar in the eternal Temple of God?
62. What is the eternal Temple of God?
63. Read Ephesians 2:21,22.
64. What is God making of each saint who will permit Him to do so?
65. How important are pillars to the Temple of God?
66. How important is one of Christ’s conquerors to the Kingdom of God?
67. How may the power of multiple Presence operate in the life of the saint in the ages to come?
68. What does the writing of the name of God on the conqueror signify?
69. Read John 17:23.
70. Into what Oneness are we being brought?
71. What does the writing of the name of the new Jerusalem on the conqueror signify?
72. What is the new Jerusalem?
73. What are the adornments of the foundation of the wall of the new Jerusalem?
74. Who will come to know that the Father has sent Christ, and that the Father loves the saints as He loves Christ?
75. Read Isaiah 60:14; 61:6. 76. What takes place in our consciousness of Christ as we press forward in our Christian pilgrimage?
77. What is the Church, the Body of Christ?
78. What has been the purpose for the two thousand years of the Christian Era?
79. What does Christ finally become to us?
80. What is God’s intention?
81. What is the conqueror being created?
82. What is the one consummate experience that is reserved for the appearing of Christ?
83. What will our new body be?
84. Read Revelation 3:13.
The Church in Laodicea
1. What does the name Laodicea mean?
2. What is the church in Laodicea?
3. What spirit is rapidly approaching maturity in the earth?
4. What standard will be maintained as the supreme consideration to which all must take heed?
5. How are today’s leaders careful to present their desire for domination?
6. How will Antichrist present himself?
7. What will Antichrist do as soon as he has spread his lie successfully?
8. What is true of the mass of mankind today?
9. Read II Timothy 3:1-4.
10. How will Antichrist treat the Spirit-less Christian churches?
11. Where will the conqueror be during this period?
12. Read Revelation 3:14.
13. How does Christ appear to Laodicea?
14. What does the “Amen” signify?
15. What will be the great hope and doctrine of the Laodicean churches?
16. What must the conqueror, during the reign of Antichrist, have written in the marrow of his bones?
17. What is true of each conqueror if Christ is not the faithful and true witness of God?
18. What is true of each conqueror if Christ is the faithful and true witness?
19. What is the meaning of the expression, “the beginning of the creation of God”?
20. What will occupy the thinking of the church in Laodicea?
21. Why will the church in Laodicea be the greatest idolater of all time?
22. What occupies the thinking of the conqueror?
23. Do we see the spirit of Laodicea today?
24. What is one way to destroy a Christian?
25. What happens to Christians when they are persecuted?
26. What is the tactic that Satan will employ successfully in the end-time?
27. Why did the Lord Jesus warn the elect repeatedly concerning deception?
28. How is the Gospel of Christ being presented today, in many instances?
29. What is sometimes missing from the “positive” gospel?
30. Is Christ a means by which we obtain what we desire?
31. What are the words of Christ to the conqueror?
32. What is the Father seeking?
33. Read Hebrews 12:5,6.
34. What part of the Scriptures will the Laodiceans embrace?
35. What part of the Scriptures will the Laodiceans reject?
36. Will the Laodicean “believer” participate in the first resurrection?
37. Why is the church in Laodicea nauseating to Christ?
38. What does Christ do to that type of church?
39. Where are the bodies of the Laodicean believers on Sunday morning?
40. Where are the hearts of the Laodicean believers on Sunday morning?
41. Where does Christ hold the church in Laodicea?
42. How does Christ regard the “rights of the people” ?
43. Why is the church in Laodicea “increased with goods”?
44. What are elaborate church buildings?
45. What “church building” is of concern to God the Father?
46. Why is the Laodicean believer “wretched”?
47. Why is the Laodicean believer “miserable”?
48. Do worldly people have peace and joy in their hearts?
49. What is true of the person who does not have Christ in his heart?
50. Why is the Laodicean believer “poor”?
51. What does the conqueror possess?
52. Why is the Laodicean believer “blind”?
53. What will happen to the Laodicean believer in the Day of the Lord?
54. Why is the Laodicean believer “naked?
55. How is the conqueror clothed?
56. Read Revelation 3:18.
57. Why will the Laodicean believer have many opportunities to buy from Christ “gold tried in the fire”?
58. What is the “white raiment” that the Laodicean believer is counseled to buy from Christ?
59. What is true of the person who “sees” (understands and gets along well) in the present world?
60. Why must the saint in these days fill his mind with the things of Christ?
61. What must we guard carefully today?
62. Read Revelation 3:19.
63. What does Christ do to each person He loves?
64. What should we do when the Lord rebukes and chastens us?
65. Why does the Lord chasten us?
66. Read Revelation 3:20.
67. What awesome power does each individual possess?
68. What is the greatest opportunity ever given to a human being?
69. Will Jesus ever force His way into our life?
70. What takes place when Christ enters us?
71. What happens to us if we keep our heart’s door closed against Christ?
72. What happens to us if we open our heart’s door to Christ?
73. Read Revelation 3:21.
74. Who is lifted to the supreme throne?
75. What is true of the throne of Christ?
76. Why is it true that the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist?
77. Where does the Bride of the Lamb come from?
78. Who is creating the Bride of the Lamb?
79. Read Colossians 3:3-5.
80. What will be true of each conqueror when Christ appears?
81. How are we able to overcome the world, Satan, and our fleshly desires and self-will?
82. What is true of us when we have overcome the world, Satan, and our fleshly desires and self-will?
83. Read Revelation 3:22.
ANSWERS
Foreword
1. For what is the material creation waiting?
The manifestation of the sons of God.
2. Give one synonym for the term manifestation.
Revelation; disclosure; a making known.
3. What will the Day of Christ do for us?
It will reveal what we are.
4. How will the change taking place in us now under the watchful eyes of the Lord be emphasized radiantly?
By the garment of incorruptible resurrection life that will be handed us in that Day.
5. What is the “city” of our personality becoming?
The eternal dwelling place of God and of the Lamb.
6. What is “overcoming”?
A simple, direct, day-to-day process. It is the normal Christian experience.
7. What are the rewards to the overcomer?
Steps toward the attainment to the first resurrection from the dead.
8. What is the purpose of the first resurrection?
to change the occupants of the thrones in the air above us that govern the spiritual atmosphere of the earth.
Introduction
1. Read Revelation 21:7; 20:4.
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. (Revelation 21:7)
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
2. Who will inherit all things?
He or she who overcomes.
3. What is the first resurrection?
The seating of the saints on the thrones of the universe, giving to them authority to exercise the Divine judgment.
4. What is the subject of this booklet?
The victorious Christian saint, the overcomer, the conqueror.
5. What are the two concepts discussed?
The first idea is that of the believer who pursues the life of victorious faith in Christ and the rewards assigned to him on the basis of the victory he has won. The second idea is that of the first resurrection from the dead (toward which Paul was pressing) and the rulership associated with that resurrection.
6. Why are we discussing these two concepts together?
We believe they are related. It is our understanding that the fruit, the outcome, of the victorious life in Christ is the first resurrection from the dead.
7. What are the rewards assigned to the overcomer?
Aspects of the attainment to the first resurrection. They are the characteristics of life, authority, power, and union with God through Christ that God’s kings and priests must possess if they are to perform their predestined roles in the Kingdom of God.
8. Read Philippians 3:11.
if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection [Greek: out-resurrection] from the dead. (Philippians 3:11)
9. What is the “prize of the high [on high; heavenly] calling of God in Christ”?
The first resurrection from the dead.
10. What is the attitude toward the past, of the conqueror in Christ?
“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are ahead.”
11. What is it that overcomes the enemy?
Christ’s virtue, wisdom, and strength.
12. How do we conquer every foe?
By abiding in Christ.
13. Read Philippians 3:13,14.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13,14)
14. Is it reasonable to believe that Paul, toward the end of his life, was still attempting to attain basic salvation from God’s wrath?
No.
15. According to the context of Philippians 3:14, what was Paul’s goal that he was pressing toward?
The out-resurrection from among the dead, the exanastasin, to employ the Greek term.
16. Read Luke 17:27-29.
“They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
“but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone [burning sulfur] from heaven and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:27-29)
17. Of what kind of believer is Noah an example?
The conqueror who is raised from the dead, to speak symbolically, and charged with the responsibility of restoring the earth.
18. Of what kind of believer is Lot an example?
The nonovercomer who is saved through the prayers of godly relatives.
19. Read I Corinthians 3:14,15.
If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (I Corinthians 3:14,15)
20. Do we have clear scriptural support for the doctrine that some believers have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God, while others are snatched, as was Lot, from the fires of destruction?
Yes.
21. Read I Corinthians 5:5.
deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. (I Corinthians 5:5)
22. What were the elders of the Church of Corinth to do concerning the man who was living in sin?
Turn the sinning Christian over to Satan so his spirit may be saved in “the day of the Lord Jesus.”
23. Read Jude 1:23.
but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. (Jude 1:23)
24. Is there a difference in fruit-bearing among Christian people?
Yes.
25. Can every believer in Christ be a conqueror?
Yes.
26. How do we become a conqueror?
By abiding in Christ. We shall overcome our circumstances through means of His resurrection life working in us.
27. What was true of the condition of the churches of Asia Minor?
They were “spotted and wrinkled.”
28. How are the churches always addressed?
As groups.
29. How are the victorious saints always addressed?
As individuals.
30. In order to become a conqueror, what must each believer do?
Press on past all persons, voices, and things other than the Person of Christ. The saint must give his all to Christ. There can be nothing between his or her soul and the Savior. He must be free from all people and yet be the servant of all.
31. From what is the conqueror born?
From the ministry and travail of the Church.
32. Is it true that the Church is one group of people and the victorious saints are another group of people born from the Church?
No.
33. Who is being formed in the saints?
The Conqueror—Christ.
34. Where does each conqueror dwell?
In the secret place of the most High—at the right hand of the Father.
35. What action and attitude on our part are necessary if we are to be a victorious saint?
We must give ourselves wholly to Christ. He must become not only our personal Savior but our absolute Lord as well. Apart from obedience to Him we cannot be a victorious saint.
36. To whom has been given the glory and responsibility of ruling with Christ during the coming thousand-year Kingdom Age?
The conquerors.
37. Who will “take” the Kingdom of God?
The person who cares enough to grasp it by faith, diligence, and patience.
38. If the seven churches of Asia Minor represent seven periods of church history, what period are we in now?
It is our understanding that historically we now are in the church of Philadelphia and that Laodicea is at hand.
39. What may be another key to the interpretation of the seven churches of Asia Minor?
“If the shoe fits, wear it.”
40. What three factors are we going to discuss?
The manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ manifests Himself to us in order to meet our present need; the sins, enemies, and problems the saint must overcome; the rewards assigned to the believer who conquers through Christ the various sins, enemies, and problems that trouble the churches.
41. What must we do if we are to receive the Divine rewards?
We must, using the Apostle Paul as our example, leave all else so we may press onward toward the mark, toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ
1. Whom does the Holy Spirit always present first?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
2. What is the all-important concept each overcomer embraces?
Christ is greater than the churches and is the Lord of the churches. Christ is the Commander in Chief.
3. Because Christ is in the midst of them, what are the Christian churches?
The churches are the light—the only light—of the world.
4. Why are the churches golden lampstands?
Because they are of God. Gold, in the Scriptures, symbolizes Divinity.
5. What is the only testimony that has eternal impact?
That which is given by the Holy Spirit.
6. What does the white robe of Christ portray?
Christ’s righteous and holy Being and conduct.
7. With what is Christ girded?
The strength of God Almighty.
8. What do the head and hair of Christ reflect?
The purity of eternal wisdom.
9. Why are the eyes of Christ “as a flame of fire”?
The eyes of Christ are as a flame of fire because they test the motives of people. They burn away what is insincere and fleshy. We cannot deceive Christ. We cannot convince Him of the correctness of our ways. Christ perceives our every motive, and we are found to be connivers, self-seekers.
10. Why are the feet of Christ “like fine brass”?
Wherever Christ walks, Divine judgment is executed.
11. What two things take place as a result of the Divine testimony?
The testimony given by the saint shall cause some to be saved and others to be reserved to the Day of Judgment.
12. Why is the voice of Christ “as the sound of many waters”?
The voice of Christ is multiplied in the saints, each of whom is a fountain of living waters.
13. Why is Christ revealed as holding the seven stars in His right hand?
The right hand represents authority and power. The almighty Christ holds the spirits of the churches in the right hand of His power.
14. What does the Spirit of God teach the conqueror?
The churches do not hold up Christ. Christ holds up the churches.
15. What other weapon in the creation is as powerful and as penetrating as the Word of God?
There is no other.
16. Why does the Word of God divide the joints and marrow of our bones?
So that all that is not of Christ will be driven from our personality.
17. Why is the face of Christ like the brightness of the sun at noontime?
Because the face of Christ is the Face of the righteousness and holiness of God Almighty.
18. Why did the Apostle John fall as a dead man at the feet of Christ?
John was weak from fear, having no strength left in him.
19. What eternal truth did Christ announce?
“I am the first and the last.”
20. What lie will be circulated in the end-time?
Christ was a wonderful person and had good intentions but could not finish what He started. He was an idealist who was willing to die for His views, but He could not accomplish what He set out to perform.
21. Who is the only person who can prevent Christ from accomplishing His goal in our life?
We ourselves.
22. Who alone can open the door of our heart to Christ?
We ourselves.
23. Is Christ alive today?
Yes.
24. Is it the Father’s will that there be many duplicates of Christ in the universe?
No. We are not to be duplicates of Him. We are called to be part of Him, the extension of Him, the fullness of Him, His complement.
25. What will come forth from the imperfect Christian churches?
The unblemished Wife of the Lamb.
The Two Lampstands
1. What do “the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks [lampstands] standing before the God of the earth” symbolize?
The end-time witness to the nations.
2. What does the solid-gold Lampstand with its cups, fruit, and flowers, standing before God portray?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
3. What are the majority of Christian churchgoers not doing.?
- They are not coming out of the world and walking in holy separation to the Lord.
- They are not confessing and gaining victory over the sins of the flesh.
- They are not saying “not my will but Yours be done” in every situation of life.
4. Who are the second lampstand, of Revelation, Chapter 11?
The victorious saints.
5. Of what will the two Lampstands bear witness?
The coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
6. Where will salvation be found during the coming age of darkness?
Only in the remnant of saints hidden in the wilderness.
The Church in Ephesus
1. Read Revelation 2:1.
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: (Revelation 2:1)
2. How does Christ appear to the church in Ephesus?
He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
3. What are the “stars”?
The angels of the churches.
4. What does the “right hand” signify?
The authority and strength of Christ.
5. What are the “seven golden lampstands”?
The ability of the churches to testify, through means of the anointing of the Holy Spirit, of the atoning death, resurrection, return to earth, and supreme lordship of Christ.
6. Is Christ subject to the churches and limited by the sins and frailties of the churches?
No.
7. Does the conqueror adore the churches and the ways and things of the churches?
No.
8. Does the conqueror submit to and serve the churches out of obedience to and love for his Lord Jesus Christ?
Yes.
9. What is necessary for the growth to maturity of the believer in Christ?
If the believer in Christ is to grow to maturity he must partake of the ministries of the churches. He must obey the elders. He must listen to instruction and partake of the corporate life of the assembly. He must serve in the churches as the Lord provides the opportunity.
10. What is Christ’ position in the assemblings?
He is Lord of the assemblies.
11. Whom have many Christian people never met?
The God of the house of God.
12. With whom does the conqueror come face to face?
The Lord of the churches.
13. From what source does the conqueror receive his wisdom and power for living?
The Lord of the churches.
14. Read Revelation 2:2.
“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; (Revelation 2:2)
15. What did the church in Ephesus maintain?
Good Christian works.
16. What did the church in Ephesus do when someone claimed to be an apostle of Christ?
It put him to the test.
17. What did the church in Ephesus discover about many persons who claimed to be ministers of Christ?
It found them to be liars.
18. What is true of every apostle of Christ?
Any individual who has been sent to the churches by the Lord Jesus will demonstrate in himself or herself both the moral fruit and the gifts of the Spirit of God. There must be signs following the preaching of the Word of God. There must be a witness of the Spirit, an awareness of the power of the Kingdom of God.
19. What must accompany an apostle’s teaching?
The power of the Kingdom of God.
20. What must the churches do with any teaching that is contrary to the Scriptures?
They must reject it.
21. What must be true of the moral behavior of the minister of Christ?
The moral behavior of the minister of the Gospel must be above reproach.
22. Concerning whom have both Christ and Paul warned us clearly?
The teacher who is seeking his own gain.
23. Of what must we beware?
Insisting on being amused and entertained.
24. Read Revelation 2:3,4.
“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. (Revelation 2:3,4)
25. What was the blemish of the church in Ephesus?
The church in Ephesus had left its first love.
26. What does it mean to leave our first love?
To become so occupied with the work of the Kingdom of God that we lose sight of Him who holds the stars in His right hand. We no longer love Christ. We are serving Him but not loving Him. We are working for Christ but not in Him and with Him.
27. Where does the victorious saint keep his eyes fastened?
On Christ.
28. Why is the conqueror continually renewed and refreshed?
Because he is not working for Christ, attempting to do the work of the Kingdom. He is working in and with Christ.
29. What can working for Christ lead to?
Spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion, to nervousness, self-pity, unbelief, bitterness, the blaming of others.
30. What does working in and with the Lord of the churches lead to?
Continual renewal, joy, peace, love of the brothers and sisters and of all people, confidence, health of mind, emotions, nerves, and body.
31. What is our proper relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ?
We love Him.
32. What does the name Ephesus mean?
Desirable.
33. What does Christ desire?
A pure and beautiful bride.
34. Read Song of Solomon 4:7; 6:9; Psalms 45:10,11.
You are all fair, my love, and there is no spot in you. (Song of Solomon 4:7)
My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. (Song of Solomon 6:9)
Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;
So the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him. (Psalms 45:10,11)
35. What is the continuing attitude of the conqueror?
Forgetting the past and pressing toward the horizon of the Day of the Lord.
36. Read Ephesians 5:27.
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27)
37. What should the Christian discipleship be?
A romance.
38. Read Revelation 2:5.
“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. (Revelation 2:5)
39. What are the “first works” of the Church of Christ?
Praise, prayer, fellowship, and intense sharing of thoughts and feelings with Christ.
40. What happens to a church when it becomes occupied with human-oriented tasks and forgets fervent prayer and praise?
The testimony of that church grows ever weaker.
41. What takes place when the church returns to prayer and to holiness before the Lord?
The light of the testimony, the light of the Lampstand of God, shines in blazing power to the ends of the earth.
42. What has been true of the revivals of church history?
They have been characterized by repentance, confession of sin on the part of God’s people, prayer, praise, and strict obedience to the Holy Spirit. Soon there was given authority and power to testify of the atoning death and resurrection of the Savior.
43. What does the victorious saint learn?
If he will put prayer, worship, holiness, and obedience in first place in his life, the Lord will begin to work alongside him with signs following.
44. Who performs the work of the Kingdom of God?
The Spirit of God.
45. Read Revelation 2:6.
“But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Revelation 2:6)
46. What is Christ’s attitude toward attempts to please the world?
He hates them.
47. What were the “deeds of the Nicolaitans”?
It is believed that the Nicolaitans were the followers of Nicholas of Antioch, who attempted to find ways in which the Christian churches could be harmonized with paganism—with the local community and the surrounding culture of the Roman Empire. Other scholars are of the opinion that Nicolaitanism was antinomian Gnosticism, the turning of Paul’s teaching of grace into an excuse for immorality.
Another viewpoint is that the deeds of the Nicolaitans were those of worshiping and finding security in the activities of the churches rather than the Lord Jesus. Yet another interpretation has to do with the division of the one Body of Christ into priests and people, clergy and laity.
48. What temptation faces each local church?
To attempt to make the church acceptable to the local citizenry, gaining members and support and avoiding the rejection and persecution that come upon any group of people who are separate and “different.”
49. What must we do if we are to gain acceptance by worldly people?
In order to make the church understandable and attractive to the unsaved community, with a view to the gaining of members and support, we must quench the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and modify the written Word of God.
50. What is the local church?
The prophet of God among men.
51. What is the local church’s first responsibility, after it has rendered love and worship to Christ?
To reveal God’s will in Christ to mankind and to beseech all persons to be reconciled to God
52. In what way and to what extent is the Christian church not of this world?
The Church is not of the world in the same way and to the same extent Christ is not of the world. When the churches follow Christ with singleness of heart they will be hated by the world, because they are a perpetual rebuke to all that the world is and practices.
53. What attitude will worldly people take toward the churches when they are following Christ with singleness of heart?
They will hate the churches.
54. How much help does the Christian church need from the world?
The Church is not to seek help from the worldly community. There are times when the Lord will use the people of the world to help the saints, and He will direct the believers when such is the case.
55. Read Genesis 14:22,23.
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
“that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— (Genesis 14:22,23)
56. Why do the saints not need the assistance of the world?
Because God supplies all our needs through His riches in glory by Christ.
57. What two things are never in order in the household of God?
Worldly attractiveness and soulish endeavor.
58. What are the main purposes of our assemblings?
To worship and bless God, and to obey the Holy Spirit as He builds the Church of Christ, the Body of Christ.
59. What does the fear of man bring?
A snare.
60. Are we suggesting that we demonstrate rudeness and a lack of sensitivity to the needs of weak Christians or the unsaved?
No.
61. What will happen to man-pleasing efforts to build the Kingdom of God?
Their results will be washed away by the trials that are coming.
62. What will be missing from the churches on the earth during the reign of Antichrist?
The testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of prophecy, the eternal rebuke to Antichrist.
63. Where will the anointing of God be in the days of Antichrist?
Abiding in and resting on the saints, the remnant, who have been hidden away by the Lord until His return.
64. What is the Spirit of God exhorting us to do today?
To cease attempting to appeal to the understanding and desires of the world and to commence seeking the mind of the Spirit concerning the building of the Body of Christ.
65. What did the Philistines have to do in order to conquer Samson?
In order to conquer Samson, the Philistines had to remove his separation to God as a Nazirite.
66. What can conquer the saint?
The attempt to become understandable and pleasing to the world. In that moment he loses his ability to overcome the devil.
67. What happens when the world comes into the church?
Christ leaves.
68. What leaves the church along with Christ?
The ability to conquer.
69. Read Revelation 2:7.
“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 2:7)
70. What is the first reward to the overcomer?
To be permitted to eat of the tree of life.
71. Do the Scriptures teach us that we are to keep on seeking more eternal life after we are saved?
Yes.
72. Read Galatians 6:8; I Timothy 6:12; Romans 8:13.
For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. (Galatians 6:8)
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:12)
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)
73. What happens to us the moment we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior?
We are touched with eternal life. We pass from death to life.
74. What must we do in order to conquer the world, Satan, and our sinful, self-centered nature?
Continue to partake daily of the “tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” This tree is Christ Himself.
75. What was Paul seeking to know and experience?
The power of Christ’s resurrection.
76. What two powers are struggling for mastery over each believer?
Eternal life and eternal death.
77. What will happen to the believer who chooses to live in the lusts of his flesh?
The Divine Life that is in him will be shoved aside. The Divine Life eventually will leave, and the new creation that has begun in him will die because of the loss of life.
78. How does the saint attain to the first resurrection from the dead?
The conqueror overcomes, through Christ, all opposition from the world, from his fleshly nature, and from Satan, in his pursuit of eternal life. In so doing he attains the first resurrection from the dead. The Divine Life of Jesus, who Himself is the Resurrection and the Life, is formed in him.
79. What will happen to us if we become filled with Christ in this life?
When He appears we will shine as part of the brightness of His appearing.
The Church in Smyrna
1. Read Revelation 2:8.
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: (Revelation 2:8)
2. What does the name Smyrna mean?
Myrrh.
3. What was myrrh used for?
Embalming of the dead.
4. When does myrrh yield its fragrance?
When it is crushed.
5. Read Song of Solomon 4:16.
THE SHULAMITE Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits. (Song of Solomon 4:16)
6. What does Smyrna represent?
The tribulation, the fire, the deep waters, the prisons through which every disciple of Jesus must pass.
7. Read John 16:33.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation [perplexity, weakness, threatenings, persecution, physical suffering, upsetting conditions]; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
8. How are the saints able to overcome each difficulty through which he or she passes?
We are able to overcome tribulations because He, the Overcomer, is in us, is with us, and is helping us in every way.
9. Read Acts 14:22.
strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22)
10. What two aspects of Christ enable us to overcome every tribulation?
His unchanging faithfulness (“the first and the last”); and the power of His resurrection (“which was dead, and is alive”).
11. What two questions arise in our minds when we are undergoing severe testing?
Has Christ forgotten me? Can Christ be overcome?
12. Is it ever given to the saints to walk in dark places?
Yes.
13. To what promise does the suffering soul cling?
That Christ is not only the first but also the last. Christ keeps what has been committed to Him, with the end in view of bringing us into glory in the Day of the Lord. In faithfulness He finishes what He began in our life. He is the Finisher as well as the Author of our salvation.
14. From whom should we flee?
From those who would, as did Peter to Christ, attempt to turn our eyes away from the cross of suffering. This voice is of Satan.
15. If we keep the word of Christ’s patience, what will He provide for us?
Christ will make a way of escape for us so we may be able to survive throughout every difficulty and finally stand in triumph before the Son of Man.
16. What will happen as a result of our tribulations?
Our tribulations in the wilderness of this life are making it possible for our “last” (our end in Jesus) to be wonderful.
17. What fragrance comes from us before we suffer?
Our personality smells of self-seeking, personal ambition, trickery, foolishness, lust, fear, cowardice, instability, and everything else that is offensive.
18. What is true of the fragrance that comes from us after we suffer?
It is attractive, liberating, pure, reminding us of God, of Christ, of Heaven, of the holy angels, of Paradise, of eternal joy.
19. Why do we have no fear of suffering and death?
We have no fear because Christ is alive and victor over death and Hell, having led captivity captive. We are risen with Him. We are a part of His resurrection. Therefore we are indestructible.
20. Read Ephesians 2:4-6; John 14:19.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:4-6)
“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. (John 14:19)
21. How can we conquer tribulation?
By faith in Christ’s resurrection and faith in our participation in that resurrection.
22. Read Revelation 2:9.
“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. (Revelation 2:9)
23. How can we please Christ?
By being faithful in the small tasks He places before us each day.
24. Why can Christ understand our tribulation?
He understands in a special way because He also is a man, a person, a human being, and He was subjected to much dread and pain.
25. What does earthly wealth bring us?
Earthly wealth brings much sorrow, anxiety, concern, distraction.
26. What does heavenly wealth bring us?
Heavenly wealth brings peace, security, happiness, a bright future.
27. Is the conqueror wealthy?
Yes. Christ, the King, dispenses His wealth as He will to His conquerors.
28. What is true of many believers today?
They are claiming to be Christians but are careless and presumptuous concerning the Kingdom of God. They assume they can commit fornication and partake of the gods of lust, violence, money, occult practices, criticism, bitterness, and revelry, and still ascend the throne of righteousness in the Day of the Lord.
29. To what church do such believers belong?
The “synagogue of Satan.”
30. How are true Christians revealed?
We are true worshipers of Christ and conquerors when we are keeping the commandments of Christ.
31. Read I John 3:7; Revelation 2:10.
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. (I John 3:7)
“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. (Revelation 2:10)
32. Who overcomes our dreads, worries, anxieties, fretfulness?
Christ.
33. What will our tribulations in the world accomplish for us?
Our tribulations in the world will increase the gladness we will experience in the Day of the Lord.
34. How should we respond when the Lord allows Satan to cast us into prison?
When the Lord allows Satan to cast us into prison, into a situation in which we are denied the freedom to move about as we please, we are to be “faithful to death.” We are not to force an escape, or sin, or blame other people, or become angry with God.
35. What will we gain if we force our way out of the prison in which the Lord places us?
Our future will be unpleasant and barren.
36. What will we gain if we remain faithfully in prison?
The crown of life.
37. Read James 1:12.
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)
38. What is the first aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
The authority to eat of the tree of life.
39. What is the second aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
The crown of life.
40. What does a crown signify?
A crown speaks of the authority and power of rulership.
41. By what power does the saint conquer all the enemies of God and man?
The unlimited eternal power that raised Christ from the dead and established Him forever at the right hand of God Almighty.
42. What two things was Paul seeking?
The power of Christ’s resurrection; the fellowship of His sufferings.
43. What shall be true of us when we possess eternal life in abundance?
We shall be able to destroy all the works of Satan and walk in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
44. What is the crown of life ?
The authority and power to behave righteously and to bring our surroundings into obedience to Christ. The gaining of such authority and power is part of the first resurrection from the dead.
45. When will the authority and power of life, which are veiled now, be unveiled?
At the appearing of the Lord.
46. What is the most important attainment of the first resurrection, as far as we as an individual are concerned?
The occupying of the throne of our own life by Christ.
47. What does the first resurrection include?
The changing of the thrones that govern the peoples of the earth from the evil lords of darkness, who are ruling now, to the “saints of the most High.”
48. What will be true, in the Day of the Lord, of the believer who has not enthroned Christ as absolute Lord of his life?
He will be a liability rather than an asset when Jesus appears.
49. What are some of the aspects of the resurrection from the dead with which we are familiar?
Being with Jesus forever, seeing our loved ones again, the rejoining of our spirit with our body so we can stand on the earth once again, the receiving of the glorified body, our ascension into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
50. What can we accomplish by keeping the joys of the resurrection ever before us?
We can escape the lust and corruption that are in the world.
51. When does the change of administration of the creation begin?
When the saint allows Christ to ascend the throne of his personality, putting down the saint’s self-rule in the process.
52. When does the first resurrection from the dead begin?
The first resurrection begins now in the heart of the victorious saint.
53. What is true of us if we are not submitting to the lordship of Christ right now?
We are not part of the first resurrection.
54. What is essential to the life of victory in Christ?
We must love not our life to the death.
55. Read Revelation 2:11; 20:6.
“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 [lake of fire].”’ (Revelation 2:11)
Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power [authority], but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)
56. What is the second reward to the overcomer of the church in Smyrna?
He will not be hurt by the second death.
57. What becomes true of the saint when he is crowned with the authority and power of eternal life?
He is free from the authority and power of the second death.
58. What is the “second death”?
The Lake of Fire.
59. Over what does the second death have authority?
Over all sin.
60. When will the great white throne judgment take place?
At the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age.
61. Is the Lake of Fire an actual lake into which the doomed will be cast?
Yes.
62. Where is the Lake of Fire located?
Perhaps in the depths of the earth.
63. What is the maximum sentence that will be handed down from the great white throne?
Eternal separation from God in a lake of torment and darkness.
64. What assurance does the conqueror have in writing from the Lord?
He will not be harmed by the second death; the second death no longer has authority over him.
65. When does the second death cease to be a threat to us?
When we receive the crown of eternal resurrection life, which constitutes dominion over sin and death.
66. What will be true of each conqueror by the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age?
He will be in a highly exalted state.
67. What will the Lord’s kings and priests be able to do as soon as the new heaven and earth reign of Christ comes into being?
Behold the face of the Father.
68. What is the sentence that is passed on each conqueror?
He has been sentenced to glorification at the Lord’s coming.
69. In our study, what has the conqueror gained thus far?
Access to the tree of eternal life, a crown of life, and eternal escape from the authority and power of the second death. These are three major aspects of the first resurrection from the dead.
70. To this point in our study, in what areas of challenge has the saint been victorious?
He has overcome false apostles. He has labored faithfully in the work of the Kingdom of God and yet has not lost his first love of prayer, praise, and holiness to the Lord.
He has been cast into the prison of tribulation and has been tested for a season. He has remained faithful to the point of death. He has refused to compromise with the world or to seek its support or understanding.
The Church in Pergamos
1. What does Pergamos mean?
Marriage, and elevation.
2. With whom is the conqueror to become united?
Christ.
3. From what is the conqueror to turn away?
Life lived in the flesh and soul. He is to turn away from all relationships with demon gods, from all physical and spiritual fornication, and to live and move and have his being in Christ at the right hand of God in the highest heaven.
4. Why does Christ appear to the church in Pergamos as the One who has the sharp sword with two edges?
Because the church in Pergamos was dwelling where Satan’s throne was, at the center of Satan’s place of rulership, Christ appeared as the One having the sharp sword with two edges—the most powerful weapon in the universe.
5. What penetrates the joints and marrow of the frame of the Christian person until all is re-created and is of Christ and in Christ.
The Word of God.
6. Read Revelation 2:13.
“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. (Revelation 2:13)
7. Can the saint serve Christ perfectly in the center of demon activity?
Yes, if that is where Christ has placed him.
8. Are there seasons when we are so pressed that all we can do is wait patiently for the Lord to lift the darkness?
There certainly are!
9. Is Christ the victory in every situation?
Yes.
10. What shall every tongue confess?
Jesus is Lord!
11. Read Psalms 91:13,14; Ephesians 2:6; Luke 10:19.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. (Psalms 91:13,14)
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6)
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)
12. What happened when the Ark of God and Dagon, the god of the Philistines, were brought face to face?
Dagon bowed in worship.
13. Read I Samuel 5:4.
And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. (I Samuel 5:4)
14. What will take place in the end-time?
The enemy of God will be forced into a confrontation with the “Ark of the Covenant.”
15. What does the “Ark of the Covenant” represent?
Christ and those in whom Christ has come to maturity.
16. What three elements must be fully formed in each saint who is to be used of God to destroy the enemy?
Righteous and holy personality and behavior—the Ten Commandments; life lived by continual dependence on the Word of God—the memorial jar of manna; the power of the endless and indestructible resurrection life of the Holy Spirit that is given to the elect royal priesthood of God—Aaron’s rod that budded.
17. What will happen when the god of this world is forced to face Christ in the saints?
He will bow in worship of Christ.
18. Read Revelation 12:11; Romans 16:20.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11)
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20)
19. What power will cut off Satan’s wisdom and control, and his power and ability to act?
The Word of God.
20. What satanic power is greater than the power of the Word of God spoken in the Spirit in Jesus’ name?
There is none. Every satanic power, no matter how great, must give way in obedience.
21. Read Revelation 12:13.
Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. (Revelation 12:13)
22. What does the name Antipas mean?
Against all.
23. How did Antipas become one of Christ’s conquerors?
By loving not his life to the point of death.
24. Why can we say that the martyr, Antipas, was never overcome?
Antipas will be wielding the sword of the Spirit in the Day of the Lord and will be rejoicing in Christ with the rest of the saints.
25. What may happen at some point in the life of the Christian saint?
He or she may be required to stand “against all,” to stand alone.
26. Whom are Christ and His “Antipases” against?
Against all who will not yield to Jesus as Lord.
27. Read Psalms 149:5-9; Revelation 2:14.
Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds.
Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand,
To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute on them the written judgment—This honor have all His saints. Praise the LORD! (Psalms 149:5-9)
“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. (Revelation 2:14)
28. What is the doctrine of Balaam?
God’s people should eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.
29. Read Numbers 25:1,2; 31:16.
Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.
They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. (Numbers 25:1,2)
“Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. (Numbers 31:16)
30. What was Balaam unable to do?
Curse Israel.
31. What did Balaam counsel Balak to do?
Balaam counseled Balak, the king of the Moabites, to provoke God’s anger against Israel by sending out the Moabite girls to lure the Israelite warriors into fornication and into the worship of the demons that the Moabites worshiped.
32. What did Balaam hope to accomplish by this?
To remove the Lord’s protection from Israel so Balaam could curse the people.
33. Can all the forces of Hell break through the Angel of the Lord and harm one of Christ’s soldiers?
No.
34. What must Satan do in order to harm one of Christ’s soldiers?
He must lure the Lord’s soldier into sexual lust or into other forms of demonic activity and worship. Then the judgment of God will fall on the saint.
35. What happens when one of Christ’s soldiers practices in sin?
He or she can be overcome easily by Satan.
36. What caused Balaam to destroy himself?
The love of money.
37. What is one of the snares that the saint must diligently avoid?
Mixing religion and money in such a manner that monetary profit occurs.
38. Can an individual serve both Christ and money?
No.
39. What will happen to the Christian who becomes entangled in the pursuit of money?
He surely will fall.
40. What happens when Christians pursue money?
The believers begin to partake of the idols of the world around them and give themselves to fornication—both physically and spiritually.
41. Name five of the chief demon gods of this world?
Fleshly lust, murder and violence, material gain, occult practices, revelry and drunkenness.
42. What are the church people doing today?
The church people are partaking of these filthy spirits, worshiping them and committing fornication with them.
43. What does the conqueror do to these five demon gods?
Through the power of the Spirit of God the saint casts off fleshly lust. He casts off anger and violence. He casts off the desire for material gain. He casts off all attempts to control or engage in the spirit realm other than in the manner assigned to him by Jesus. He casts off the practice of revelry and riotous indulgence in food, drink, and entertainment.
44. How does the conqueror overcome the devil?
By the blood of the Lamb, by the word of his Spirit-empowered testimony, and by loving not his life to the point of death.
45. Read Revelation 2:15.
“Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. (Revelation 2:15)
46. From what is the conqueror to flee?
From idols and fornication. The conqueror is to flee from all attempts to blend gracefully with the ways of the world.
47. Read Revelation 2:16.
‘Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. (Revelation 2:16)
48. What will happen to those of the church who do not turn away from their idols, their fornication, their love of the world?
They will be stripped of all their accomplishments and be in danger of losing their souls, if they do not repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing.
49. Read Revelation 2:17.
“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 2:17)
50. What two aspects of the first resurrection are given to the conqueror in Pergamos?
He is fed with hidden manna and is given a white stone in which has been written a new name known only to the one receiving it.
51. What is the manna of the conqueror?
Christ’s body and blood are our manna from Heaven.
52. To whom is the hidden manna given?
Those who faithfully perform the will of God; the soldiers of Christ.
53. Read I Samuel 21:6.
So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away. (I Samuel 21:6)
54. What did David receive after he had been given the showbread, the “hidden manna”?
The sword of Goliath, the Philistine.
55. From what source does the Lord nourish His exhausted warrior?
From the Substance and Virtue of Christ.
56. How nourishing was the “hidden manna” that Elijah received?
In the strength of such “hidden manna” Elijah traveled on foot forty days and forty nights.
57. What is the meaning of the word stone ?
Voting pebble.
58. What does the giving of the white pebble signify?
We have been voted into the elect, the chosen, the pure and spotless Bride of the Lamb.
59. How many are “chosen”?
A few.
60. To whom is the overcoming grace of God given?
Each person who requests it.
61. What happens as we progress through the rewards assigned to the conquerors.
Our eternal standing before God is established.
62. What is the point at which we are settled securely for eternity in the Presence of God and the Lamb?
When we have become established as a pillar in the Temple of God.
63. What is the supreme goal of the disciple?
To be ever with the Lord.
64. Read Isaiah 62:2.
The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. (Isaiah 62:2)
65. When is the saint to reveal what God has spoken to him in secret?
Only when he is guided to do so by the Holy Spirit.
The Church in Thyatira
1. Read Revelation 2:18.
“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: (Revelation 2:18)
2. What good works characterized the church in Thyatira?
Charity, service, faith, patience.
3. What was the church in Thyatira permitting to continue in its midst?
A teaching of worldly lusts.
4. Read Revelation 2:20.
“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. (Revelation 2:20)
5. To whom was Jezebel married?
King Ahab of Israel.
6. Whom did Jezebel worship?
Baal and Asherah; demon gods of lust.
7. What spirit has attempted to take charge of the churches of Christ from the days of the first apostles?
The spirit of worldly lusts.
8. How are the churches of Christ to be ruled?
By godly elders who act in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, themselves being under the discipline of the will of the Spirit of God.
9. Describe the spirit of Jezebel.
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
10. How does the spirit of worldly lusts conceal its true nature?
By calling itself a “prophetess”—the will of Christ for the assembly.
11. How can we recognize the Jezebel spirit at work in the churches?
There will be pressure on the ministry to permit increased revelry, worldly gaiety, eating, drinking, sexual license.
12. Is it wise to judge the worth of a church by the number of people who attend?
No.
13. Will “Jezebel”—worldly Christians—participate in the first resurrection?
No.
14. What is the proper way to deal with the Jezebel spirit?
Throw it out of the church.
15. Read II Kings 9:33.
Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. (II Kings 9:33)
16. Should Christ’s conquerors enter a discussion with worldly people concerning how the saints of God should behave?
No. The conquerors are to cast down the world spirit and stamp on it with the bronze feet of Divine judgment.
17. Read Revelation 2:21.
“And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. (Revelation 2:21)
18. What does Thyatira mean?
Sacrifice.
19. What does the Jezebel spirit teach us to do?
Worship demons. The teachings of both Balaam and Jezebel lead to demon worship.
20. What will happen to those who continue to teach and to practice worldly lusts?
Christ will send on those evildoers a deluding spirit and will bring them into tribulation.
21. Read Revelation 2:22.
“Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. (Revelation 2:22)
22. What does God do to us if we choose the way of Satan over the way of God?
God sends on us a strong delusion such that we no longer can hear or see Christ but are chained by evil spirits.
23. Why must the saint guard his heart with diligence?
If he persists in lawlessness God finally will give him what he is demanding.
24. Read Revelation 22:11. Notice the lack of opportunity for repentance in this verse.
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.” (Revelation 22:11)
25. What is one of the main characteristics of Hell?
We are placed in the midst of those who love and practice the evil we have chosen to love and practice.
26. What will happen to us if we keep on loving and practicing evil?
There will come a day when we no longer can cease loving and practicing it.
27. Read Revelation 2:23.
“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. (Revelation 2:23)
28. If we continue in worldly lusts, with what will we be “killed”?
Spiritual death, the second death—the death that is the absence of the eternal Life of God that is in Christ.
29. If we choose to walk in the flesh, with what will we be filled at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?
The corruption of our flesh.
30. What choice are we making now?
We are attaining the resurrection from the dead or we are walking in the flesh and dying spiritually.
31. In the Day of the Lord, what will happen to the resurrection life that we at this time are nourishing within us?
The light of Christ that has been formed in us will blaze forth in the glorious revelation of His forthshining, His Presence.
32. What will happen to the believer who continues to walk in the appetites and desires of the flesh?
That glorious resurrection life will be removed from him. His lampstand will be removed from its place. If we live in the appetites of the flesh we will die, we will not participate in the rewards to the overcomer, including the first resurrection from the dead. We have not attained the resurrection by seeking to experience the fullness of the Life of Christ.
33. What is every human being on the earth doing continually?
Making his or her offering to his or her God.
34. What will his end be if his god is the devil?
Spiritual death.
35. What will his end be if his God is the Lord?
Eternal life.
36. Read Romans 12:1,2.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1,2)
37. Who makes the choice concerning our state in the Day of the Lord?
We do.
38. When do we make that choice?
Now.
39. What will each believer reap?
Exactly what he has sown, whether or not he belongs to one of the Christian churches, whether or not he professes the name of Christ.
40. Read Revelation 2:24.
“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. (Revelation 2:24)
41. How does the Lord Jesus feel about the “depths of Satan”?
The Lord Jesus does not consider any sin to be a “depth of Satan” because there is no depth in Satan.
42. What is true of Christ?
Christ is an inexhaustible depth of wonders and delights in whom the inquiring saint will discover treasures forever.
43. Read Revelation 2:25.
“But hold fast what you have till I come. (Revelation 2:25)
44. What type of attitude and conduct characterizes the Christian overcomer?
Patient steadfastness in Christian faith and conduct is the mark of the conqueror.
45. What reward will be given to the conqueror?
His reward will be to rule with Christ over the nations of the earth during the thousand-year Kingdom Age known as the Millennium.
46. Read Revelation 2:26.
“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations— (Revelation 2:26)
47. What will bring the Kingdom of God into the earth?
The change of personages on the spiritual thrones that govern the earth.
48. What are the experiences of this present life preparing us for?
They are for the purpose of teaching us to rule correctly in Christ under God.
49. Read Revelation 2:27.
‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father; (Revelation 2:27)
50. Where is the rod of iron now?
The rod of iron is being formed now in the personality of each conqueror.
51. What is a rod of iron?
A rod of iron is the strength to bring ourselves and our environment, as the Spirit of God guides and enables, under the discipline of Christ.
52. What is being created now in each overcomer?
A wall of defense against sin and rebellion.
53. How are we to treat our own body?
We are to bring our body into subjection. We are to rule our desires and feelings with an iron hand.
54. What is the member of the Body of Christ in terms of the Divine judgment?
The weapon that the Spirit of God employs in performing the will of the Father.
55. What will Christ do to the nations of the earth at His coming?
He will fall on them suddenly, breaking them into pieces as it pleases Him.
56. How much disobedience to Christ will be permitted in the Kingdom of God?
There will be no gainsaying, no rebellion, no dallying concerning obedience to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ.
57. Read Daniel 7:26,27.
‘But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it forever.
Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’ (Daniel 7:26,27)
58. What additional aspect of the first resurrection will be given to the saint who overcomes the worldly lusts of the church in Thyatira?
The “morning star.”
59. Who or what is the “morning star”?
Christ.
60. Read II Peter 1:19.
And so we have the prophetic word [the Scriptures] confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star [Christ] rises in your hearts; (II Peter 1:19)
61. What will take place before the Kingdom Age comes to the earth?
There will be formed in each conqueror a personal day of the Lord, a personal kingdom age. The day of the Lord has its rise in us as every work of sin and self is cast down in us and the Lord alone is exalted.
62. How can we tell when a personal day of the Lord is being created in us?
When the Lord alone is exalted in us.
63. What is the necessary preparation of the conqueror for the great and terrible Day of the Lord that is at hand?
A change of dominion must take place in him.
64. What is the mystery of the Gospel?
Christ in us.
65. Why does the Lord Jesus demand so much from the saint and deal with him or her endlessly?
We are being married to Christ. Christ intends to dwell not only with us but in us.
66. Will the Bride finally be without spot or wrinkle?
Yes.
67. What is our principal responsibility and task?
To obey the Lord through the help the Spirit gives us.
68. What will happen if we keep the Word of Christ faithfully?
The Father and the Son will come to us and our desires will be changed from those that are opposed to Christ’s will into those that are in harmony with Christ’s intentions. We shall begin to do the will of God by nature. This is the coming of the Kingdom of God to us and the fulfillment of the new covenant.
69. What is one important aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
The transformation of our will into the will of Christ.
The Church in Sardis
1. Read Revelation 2:29; 3:1.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’ (Revelation 2:29)
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1)
2. Is Christ ever held or controlled by the churches?
No.
3. In what realm does the Sardis-type church come short of the Glory of God?
The anointing of the Spirit and the lordship and power of Christ.
4. What reputation did Sardis have?
Christian people considered it to be a living, active, growing assembly of believers.
5. What actually was true of Sardis?
Sardis was an active, growing corpse to which members were being added daily.
6. What life was missing from the corpse in Sardis?
The life of the Holy Spirit.
7. What source of energy was giving the illusion of life to the church in Sardis?
The life of human endeavor.
8. What was present among the believers in Sardis?
There were a few believers, even in the animated corpse in Sardis, who were found worthy to walk with Christ in the white garments of righteous behavior.
9. What does the name Sardis mean?
Remnant.
10. What is the concept of a remnant?
The idea is that of the “Elijah” company—those who serve God with a pure heart during a period when the people of the Lord are cold and backslidden.
11. Read Isaiah 10:20,21; Romans 9:27; 11:5.
And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. (Isaiah 10:20,21)
Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. (Romans 9:27)
Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:5)
12. What prophet does Paul mention in association with the remnant?
Elijah.
13. Who are the remnant ?
The “remnant” are those persons, either Jewish or Gentile by natural birth, whom God has called—as Elijah—to stand before Israel and the world as the representatives of His Person, will, ways, and eternal purpose.
14. What service will the remnant provide during the tribulation that is to come on the earth?
It is our understanding that the remnant will give an earth-shaking testimony of Christ during the days of Antichrist, as symbolized by the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter 11.
15. Read Joel 2:32.
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion [the saints] and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls. (Joel 2:32)
16. In what area does the remnant especially fulfill the will of God?
The area of the anointing, and of the Person and power of Christ.
17. In what does the human-oriented church place its trust in order to accomplish its goals?
Human wisdom, human energy and diligence, human talents, money, entertainment, and all other fleshly endeavor.
18. What is the battle cry of the remnant?
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”
19. What expression of position rings eternally in the holy of holies of every conqueror?
“The Lord God before whom I stand.”
20. In what environment does each conqueror live continually?
In the anointing of the Spirit of God. He or she always remains conscious of the almighty power of Christ.
21. Read Revelation 3:2.
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. (Revelation 3:2)
22. What is the warning to Christians of the Sardis-type assembly?
To wake up spiritually, to begin watching in prayer in order to regain the mind of the Holy Spirit. Strengthen whatever remains of worship, of holiness, and of the unadulterated Word of God; for all that is of God will be choked out and die when the success of the assembly is being brought about by the ability and industry of human beings.
23. What activity distinguishes the remnant from the Sardis-type assembly?
The amount of prayer that is exercised.
24. What two people described in the Gospel of Luke illustrate the difference between the remnant and the church in Sardis?
Simeon and Anna.
25. What kinds of activity took place in Herod’s Temple?
The priests, scribes, and Pharisees practiced the politics and discussed the problems of their nation. Money changed hands. Younger men studied under the leading rabbis and made the important contacts that would ensure that one day they too would be distinguished as leaders of prominence in Israel.
26. What should have happened when Joseph and Mary came in holding the baby Jesus?
Every mouth should have shut. Every action should have stopped. Every eye should have been fastened on Immanuel. Every knee should have bent in worship before the thundering God of Sinai now appearing as a Babe.
27. What was taking place before their eyes?
The almighty God of Israel had this day visited His people with salvation, with redemption, with eternal atonement for sin.
28. What was the response of this Sardis-type assembly?
None of them turned. None of them worshiped. The priests, scribes, and Pharisees continued to practice the politics and discuss the problems of the nation. Money continued to change hands. The young men continued their studies and professional contacts.
29. How can we account for this blindness, this inability to perceive the Presence of God?
They were putting human effort ahead of prayer and reliance on God.
30. Why were Simeon and Anna able to recognize that the greatest event of human history was taking place?
They were people of prayer and of the anointing.
31. Read Luke 2:26.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:26)
32. Who was leading Simeon and Anna?
The Holy Spirit.
33. What was leading the remainder of Israel?
The blindness of the flesh.
34. What did the common people do while the God of Heaven was in their cities and villages?
The common people baked their bread, worked in the fields, watered their animals.
35. Do the Scriptures teach us that God often uses one person, or a few people, to do His work?
Yes.
36. How many believers of the entire church in Sardis were selected by Christ as being worthy to walk with Him in white?
A few.
37. What is the worst possible thing that could happen to any human being?
To miss the Lord’s Christ!
38. How can we avoid missing the Lord’s Christ?
By watching diligently in prayer. By looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance and enablement rather than to human help. By exalting Christ in the church and worshiping Him rather than filling up the Divine service with activities operated by human skill and talent.
39. Read Revelation 3:3.
“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. (Revelation 3:3)
40. What does the Lord Jesus advise the human-oriented church to do?
To “remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” He tells the members to go back to the fire in which their church was born, to the faith in God and holy living that were passed on to them by their founders.
41. Does Christ advise the saints to imitate the events that transpired in former years?
No.
42. To what, then, are we to return?
To prayer, to holy living, to the preaching and teaching of the Scriptures rather than the traditions of men, to reliance on the Person of Christ and the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God instead of on the ideas and ambitions of human beings.
43. Were the large denominations of today a remnant in time past?
Yes.
44. Does the Lord always have His remnant?
Yes.
45. How can we recognize the remnant?
The remnant are not employing a program of human-oriented activity. The remnant are not building the Kingdom of God by the wisdom and efforts of flesh and blood. The remnant are watching faithfully in prayer, waiting on the Lord always for every detail of what they are to be in personality and to do.
46. What is true the works of religious flesh?
They are as grass that springs up in a moment and perishes in a moment.
47. What happens when the Spirit of the Lord blows on the works of religious flesh?
They wither and fade away.
48. How are the eternal accomplishments of the Kingdom of God brought to pass?
By the Spirit of God.
49. What will happen to us if we do not repent of our man-centeredness?
We will be caught off guard one day and found penniless as to the true riches of Heaven.
50. Read Revelation 3:4.
“You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)
51. Is the worthiness of the believer a new-covenant concept?
Yes.
52. How does the believer become worthy ?
By the righteousness of Christ that is assigned freely to him on the basis of his confession of faith in Christ, and then by the righteousness, holiness, and obedience created in the believer’s character as the result of Christ being formed in him. The believer is found to be worthy of the Kingdom of God as he faithfully follows the Lord Jesus through many fires and tribulations.
53. What are our “garments”?
Our actions, our words, our motives, our thoughts, and our imaginations.
54. Describe the believer in Christ who is wearing “dirty clothes.”
He or she is unclean in action, word, motive, thought, and imagination.
55. Name some behaviors that are unclean.
Lust, hatred, violence, covetousness, occult practices, drunkenness, and revelry.
56. How do we wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb?
In order to wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb we first must decide once and for all, with vigor and firmness, that what we are doing, saying, and thinking really is sin and not some pardonable frailty God is winking at.
Second, we must repent of our sins. Having denounced them as unworthy of the Kingdom of God we must resolve that by the Lord’s help we never again will practice those deeds, words, or thoughts.
Third, we must believe firmly in God’s promise that when we “confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
Finally, when the same temptation returns we are to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. Then the devil will flee from us (James 4:7).
Confession, repentance, faith in God’s forgiveness, and resistance—these are the four scriptural steps for washing our robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb. Every one of Christ’s conquerors keeps his robe clean by washing it regularly in the blood of Lamb. He conquers by the blood of the Lamb.
57. By what means do we overcome the accuser of the brothers?
By the blood of the Lamb.
58. What will be true of those who do not prove to be worthy?
They will not be able to walk in white with Christ.
59. Read Revelation 3:5.
“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5)
60. What is the first reward to the overcomer in Sardis?
He or she will be “clothed in white raiment.” Being clothed in white raiment is part of the early resurrection from the dead that Paul was seeking to attain.
61. What does the “white raiment” signify?
The power to live righteously.
62. Read Revelation 19:8.
And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:8)
63. What two kinds of righteousness does the saint receive from Christ?
Imputed (ascribed) righteousness; also, the power to behave righteously.
64. Read Romans 7:24.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)
65. Read Matthew 5:6; Isaiah 61:10.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
66. What is the saint weaving now by means of the grace of Christ being imparted to him each day?
A robe of righteous conduct.
67. Is the ability to live righteously in every situation an important aspect of the first resurrection from the dead?
Yes.
68. How will the coming of the Lord from Heaven affect the individual believer?
The coming of the Lord from Heaven will not result principally in a change in what he is as much as it will in a revelation of what he has become during his discipleship on the earth.
69. What is true of the believer in Christ who is compromising with the world, with Satan, and with his own fleshly nature?
He is faced with the possibility of being blotted out of the Book of Life.
It may be true that the majority of Christian believers of our day, even though they profess to believe in the Divine authority of the Scriptures, absolutely refuse to believe that a person could begin a walk in Jesus, and then turn aside to such an extent that his name was blotted out of the Book of Life.
However, the unwillingness of today’s believers to accept the Scriptures that present the sternness of God will not affect the Word. Those who do not lead a victorious Christian life stand in clear danger of having their names blotted from the Book of Life.
70. What is the end result of the conqueror’s determination to walk each day in Christ?
The end result of such walking with Christ is that our name is engraved for eternity in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
71. Is there a reward for seeking the Lord diligently each day?
Yes.
72. What is the third reward assigned to the conqueror in Sardis?
Christ will confess his name before the Father and the holy angels.
73. Why does Christ announce the name of each conqueror in the Presence of the Father and the holy angels?
Because of the willingness of the remnant to flow with the Spirit of God, to point to the immediate Presence of Christ among us, and to seek the approval of Christ whether or not people also give their approval.
74. Does the Father pay close attention to the name of each individual whom Christ announces in His Presence?
Yes. The Father, God Almighty, pays exceedingly careful attention to each name proclaimed in His Presence. The attention of God is drawn to that particular saint because he or she has lifted up the name of God’s beloved Son in the midst of human beings who are determined to seek their own welfare, who scorn the thought of laying aside their interests in favor of exalting Jesus.
75. Do the elect angels pay close attention to the name of each person whom Christ announces in their Presence?
Yes. The holy angels who perform God’s will take special note of each name confessed by Christ in the Presence of the Almighty, for the elect angels are spirits who minister to the heirs of salvation. They have been charged with the welfare of the sons of God.
76. Will the holy angels also know the servants of Antichrist?
Yes. All those who choose to worship and serve Antichrist will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the Presence of the holy angels.
77. In what hour are we living now?
The time of the harvest (latter) rain.
78. Can any person who so desires become one of Christ’s conquerors?
Yes.
79. If we would be a conqueror, what must we do?
Our part is to pray, read the Scriptures, believe what they state, and by the Lord’s help seek the will of the Spirit for our life and do what He directs us to do.
80. What is the Lord’s part?
To provide every resource, every circumstance, thing, and relationship necessary for our complete and perfect victory in Him.
The Church in Philadelphia
1. What “church” are we in, in the present hour?
Philadelphia.
2. Read Revelation 3:7.
“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: (Revelation 3:7)
3. What does the name Philadelphia mean?
Brotherly love.
4. Is denominationalism the normal state for the Christian Church, the Body of Christ?
No. The slightest knowledge of Scripture indicates to us that denominationalism, the separation of the Church into competing camps, is alien to the concept of the one Body of Christ.
5. Will the denominational divisions of the Christian Church be in existence when Christ returns to the earth?
Our belief is that they no longer will be in existence by that time.
6. What three forces may divide the Christian churches into the true Church and the professing Christians?
One of the forces will be the Spirit of God. Another force will be the persecution of Christian worshipers. A third force will be the earthwide rise of lawlessness—the revolt against authority (the apostasy) that the Scriptures inform us will take place before the Lord returns. There will be such an abundance of sin, such an opportunity to engage in the lusts of the flesh, that the majority of believers will succumb to immorality.
7. Does there seem to be a diminishing of the spirit of sectarian pride and loyalty today?
There seems to be an acknowledgment in some instances that churches ought to combine. However, fierce loyalties to the various institutions still exist.
8. What is the first “word” to the ruling spirit of the church in Philadelphia?
Holy.
9. What is the Holy Spirit emphasizing today?
Holiness.
10. Can a sinning believer walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ?
No; not if he is aware of the sin.
11. Is holiness of behavior an important part of the New Testament writings?
Yes.
12. What will be the two opposing forces in the battle of the end-time?
Truth and error.
13. What must Satan accomplish in order to overcome a saint?
Persuade him or her to believe a lie.
14. How can we keep ourselves in the truth?
As Christ is formed in us the Truth is formed in us. The most essential aspect of remaining in the truth is to have Christ formed in us. It is also of utmost importance that we accept the sufferings and prisons that come our way. Believers who refuse to share the sufferings of Christ will be deceived. They have not loved the truth
15. Does God ever bless people whose doctrine is not perfect?
Yes—in numerous instances.
16. What must each conqueror maintain if he is to avoid being deceived?
An attitude of prayerful watchfulness.
17. What can help us guard against deception?
The knowledge of the Scriptures enables us to discern between good and evil, between what is holy and what is not holy, between what is of God and what is of Satan.
18. What will come to the person who does not obey the Scriptures?
Delusion.
19. What can a strong desire on our part do easily?
Masquerade as a direction from the Lord.
20. What is the basic nature of the war between Christ and Antichrist?
It is a battle between truth and deception.
21. How can we distinguish between those who are of Christ and those who are of Antichrist?
Those who are of Christ are walking in righteousness and holiness. Also, they are obedient to Christ and are not seeking the accomplishment of their own will.
Those who are of Antichrist are continuing in the lusts of the flesh. They are self-willed, self-centered, self-ruled. They are not cross-carrying disciples.
22. Read I John 2:29; 3:7,8.
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. (I John 2:29)
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:7,8)
23. What is true of those who claim that righteousness and holiness of behavior are not essential to the Christian life?
They are not of the truth or of Christ but are of the spirit of error.
24. What is the “key of David”?
The key of the Kingdom of God.
25. When we come to the church in Philadelphia, what is emphasized?
Building the Kingdom of God..
26. Why did King Saul have so much difficulty obeying the Lord?
Saul feared the people more than he did God.
27. What does King Saul represent?
The fleshly self-will of human leadership.
28. Why was the Lord with David continually?
Because David loved the Lord and obeyed the Lord.
29. What did David build?
The Kingdom of Israel.
30. What is the Church of Christ to do now?
To follow the Lord and trust in Him to build the Kingdom of God.
31. What is given to the saint who will allow the Holy Spirit to build the Kingdom of God through him?
The authority and power to open and to shut, to bind and to loose, to forgive sins and to retain sins.
32. Can a political power close off a nation of people from the Gospel of Christ when Christ has determined that those people shall hear His Word?
Never!
33. What power in the heavens or on the earth is greater than the power of Christ?
There is no greater power or equal power.
34. In what name does the conqueror think, speak, and act?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
35. When does Christ allow a conqueror to use the key of David?
As soon as the saint ceases from his own works and enters the rest of the Spirit of God, the rest that is an abiding in God’s rest.
36. What is true of each conqueror?
Each conqueror is an expression of Christ when Christ has been formed in him and is dwelling in him, and he is living in Christ and by Christ rather than by his own religious efforts.
37. Read Revelation 3:8.
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. (Revelation 3:8)
38. Are we now in a period of spiritual decline, or revival?
Revival. It is our sincere conviction that we are in the early stages of the greatest outpouring of God’s Spirit in the history of the earth, and that signs and wonders of unprecedented authority and power will follow the preaching of the Gospel of Christ to every nation under the heaven.
39. What did Jesus say will happen before the end of the age?
The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to all nations for a witness.
40. What has Christ set before us today?
An open door leading into the fullness of the Kingdom of God.
41. What is coming soon on the earth?
The darkest hour ever known to mankind.
42. What should we do with our “little strength”?
Press forward until we become strong in the Lord and in the power of His strength.
43. Will heroes of faith arise in the end-time?
The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.
It is our point of view that some of the greatest leaders of the Kingdom will be produced from the present generation of children.
44. Read Revelation 3:9.
“Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. (Revelation 3:9)
45. What eventually will happen to the false professors of Christianity?
They will be forced to worship God at the feet of the true saints.
46. Read Revelation 3:10.
“Because you have kept [guarded] My command to persevere, I also will keep [guard] you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)
47. What reward is given to those who keep the word of Christ’s patience?
Christ will keep them from the hour of temptation.
48. Read John 17:15.
“I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep [guard] them from the evil one. (John 17:15)
49. Is it the will of Christ that the saints be taken out of the world?
No.
50. What is the will of Christ for His own?
That we be kept, guarded, from the evil (one).
51. What does God do for the saint who is going through great difficulties?
God makes a way of escape for him so he may be able to triumph throughout the particular trial. God keeps him in the midst of temptation.
52. What does the Lord sometimes allow to happen to us?
He allows us to remain in difficult circumstances until we achieve victory through His faithfulness and glory.
53. Can the Lord God of Heaven bring one of His saints through deep waters and fiery trials and keep that saint free from every harm?
He can and He does.
54. What is the realm in which many of our most difficult trials take place?
Patience.
55. Read Revelation 3:11.
“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. (Revelation 3:11)
56. What may happen to a believer who allows himself to slip into foolishness and carelessness?
Some person may come along and with perceptiveness and persuasiveness rob the saint of his crown, his inheritance in the Lord.
57. What must be true of the saints who ride with Christ in the Day of the Lord?
They must be people of righteous conduct—true, faithful, patient, strong in the strength of the Lord.
58. What attainments are available to the believer today?
Ministry, authority and power in Christ, personal growth in the image of Christ, abiding in Christ.
59. What change of dominion must take place in us if we would be an overcomer?
We cannot reign with Christ until Christ reigns in us.
60. Read Revelation 3:12.
“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. (Revelation 3:12)
61. What has the saint achieved as soon as he is created a pillar in the eternal Temple of God?
Once this goal has been attained the believer’s destiny has been established for eternity. “He shall go no more out.”
62. What is the eternal Temple of God?
The Church, the Body of Christ, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb.
63. Read Ephesians 2:21,22.
in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21,22)
64. What is God making of each saint who will permit Him to do so?
“A habitation of God through the Spirit.”
65. How important are pillars to the Temple of God?
If one pillar is damaged in any manner, or removed from its place, the household of God is thrown into disorder. The perfection, the strength, and the operation of the entire Temple of God are destroyed.
66. What is true of God’s “pillars”?
It is necessary that the “pillars” of God be created and placed with exceeding care.
67. How may the power of multiple presence operate in the life of the saint in the ages to come?
We “shall go no more out” but shall be able to minister through the Holy Spirit as Jesus does now.
68. What does the writing of the name of God on the conqueror signify?
As soon as God’s name has been written on him he is God’s personal possession for eternity. Wherever he goes throughout the creation he will be known as a person who belongs to and is a part of God.
69. Read John 17:23.
“I in them, and you in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that you have sent Me, and have loved them as you have loved Me. (John 17:23)
70. Into what Oneness are we being brought?
We are being made one in God—a part of the Fullness of His Being.
71. What does the writing of the name of the new Jerusalem on the conqueror signify?
The title, “Jerusalem” will be engraved permanently on the conqueror. This is because he is part of the structure of the new Jerusalem.
72. What is the new Jerusalem?
The new Jerusalem is the Bride of the Lamb. The new Jerusalem is a living city.
73. What are the adornments of the foundation of the wall of the new Jerusalem?
The virtues that have been formed in the saints through suffering, through intense heat and pressure, and through patiently waiting for the deliverance that comes only from the Lord.
74. Who will come to know that the Father has sent Christ and that the Father loves the saints as He loves Christ?
Earth’s peoples.
75. Read Isaiah 60:14; 61:6.
Also the sons of those who afflicted you shall come bowing to you, and all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they shall call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 60:14)
But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, they shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles [nations], and in their glory you shall boast. (Isaiah 61:6)
76. What takes place in our consciousness of Christ as we press forward in our Christian pilgrimage?
He grows.
77. What is the Church, the Body of Christ?
The universal expression of Christ.
78. What has been the purpose for the two thousand years of the Christian Era?
The magnifying of the death and resurrection of Christ in the members of His Body.
79. What does Christ finally become to us?
All that is worthwhile in the universe.
80. What is God’s intention?
That the whole creation become a reflection of the image and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we all shall live and move and have our being in His will and Life.
81. What is the conqueror being created?
A part of Christ’s appearing, His forthshining. Christ is coming not only with us but also in us. In that Day we will resemble Christ, and yet be ourselves. Our personality will be in union with His in such a manner that we appear as Him and as ourselves—neither personality being confused as to identity.
82. What is the one consummate experience that is reserved for the appearing of Christ?
The resurrection of our body.
83. What will our new body be?
A complement, a handmaid of the attributes of character being perfected in us now as we demonstrate our willingness (or unwillingness) to follow the Lord through the several arenas of conquest.
84. Read Revelation 3:13.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’ (Revelation 3:13)
The Church in Laodicea
1. What does the name Laodicea mean?
The rights of the people.
2. What is the church in Laodicea?
The church of the apostasy, of the worldwide revolt against authority of which Paul wrote.
3. What spirit is rapidly approaching maturity in the earth?
The revolt against authority.
4. What standard will be maintained as the supreme consideration to which all must take heed?
The “rights of the people.”
5. How are today’s leaders careful to present their desire for domination?
As being something that benefits and liberates mankind.
6. How will Antichrist present himself?
As the benefactor “of the people,” as the leader who will guide them to the fulfillment of their desires and aspirations.
7. What will Antichrist do as soon as he has spread his lie successfully?
He then will take his seat in the Temple of God and declare himself to be God.
8. What is true of the mass of mankind today?
Men and women are becoming lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. There is no fear of God before their eyes. All authority is shown to be evil in that it prevents people from following their desires.
9. Read II Timothy 3:1-4.
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (II Timothy 3:1-4)
10. How will Antichrist treat the Spirit-less Christian churches?
They will be tolerated by Antichrist.
11. Where will the conqueror be during this period?
Hidden away in the wilderness areas of earth and nourished by the Lord until His glorious appearing.
12. Read Revelation 3:14.
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: (Revelation 3:14)
13. How does Christ appear to Laodicea?
As the “Amen.”
14. What does the “Amen” signify?
The One who steadfastly maintains the promises of God.
15. What will be the great hope and doctrine of the Laodicean churches?
That God’s Word can be changed; that Christ can be brought down to the level of frail humans.
16. What must the conqueror during the reign of Antichrist have established in his personality for eternity?
Christ never, never changes.
17. What is true of each conqueror if Christ is not the faithful and true witness of God?
The conquerors are so dependent on the unchanging faithfulness of Christ that were He to fail their entire existence would become meaningless, fail, and disintegrate into nothingness.
18. What is true of each conqueror if Christ is the faithful and true witness?
If Christ indeed is the faithful and true witness of God, then the conqueror—of all the people of the earth—is pursuing the most meaningful, the most successful, the most sensible, the most rewarding life possible.
19. What is the meaning of the expression, “the beginning of the creation of God”?
Christ is the Beginning of the spiritual and physical creations, the Beginning of the Kingdom of God, the Beginning of everything.
20. What will occupy the thinking of the church in Laodicea?
How marvelous people are.
21. Why will the church in Laodicea be the greatest idolater of all time?
It will worship and adore the creature rather than the Creator.
22. What occupies the thinking of the conqueror?
How marvelous Jesus is.
23. Do we see the spirit of Laodicea today?
The hideous flowering of it is appearing on every side.
24. What is one way to destroy a Christian?
To appeal to his sense of morality and good works and pretend to admire them, and then to gently and slyly move the Christian away from his state of separation to Christ and his fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
25. What happens to Christians when they are persecuted?
They become strong in the Lord.
26. What is the tactic that Satan will employ successfully in the end-time?
To tempt believers with the appetites of the flesh, while at the same time reasoning with them concerning how wonderful people are and how the welfare of human beings ought to be the primary concern of God and of the churches.
27. Why did the Lord Jesus warn the elect repeatedly concerning deception?
Because God’s people are like children in that they easily are led astray.
28. How is the Gospel of Christ being presented today, in many instances?
As a positive force that helps people lead a better life, have a stronger marriage, obtain physical and emotional health, and become prosperous in material wealth.
29. What is missing from the “positive” gospel?
The understanding that the “better” life is one of repentance, of cross-carrying obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ; although such a life is not “better” according to human understanding.
30. Is Christ to be a means by which we obtain what we desire?
Never.
31. What are the words of Christ to the conqueror?
The call of the Bridegroom to the Bride.
32. What is the Father seeking?
To enlarge the one true Vine.
33. Read Hebrews 12:5,6.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:5,6)
34. What part of the Scriptures will the Laodiceans embrace?
The part of the Gospel that appeals to their betterment and comfort.
35. What part of the Scriptures will the Laodiceans reject?
They will reject the part of the Gospel that deals with self-sacrifice and endurance throughout trials.
36. Will the Laodicean “believer” participate in the first resurrection?
No.
37. Why is the church in Laodicea nauseating to Christ?
It is the desire of Christ that we either reject Him vigorously or accept Him wholeheartedly. To attempt to use Christ for our betterment while we keep our heart closed against Him is nauseating to Him.
The Christian salvation is not to be preached as a means of helping people lead a better life but as a means of escaping the wrath to come.
38. What does Christ do to that type of church?
He will spit it from His mouth.
39. Where are the bodies of the Laodicean believers on Sunday morning?
In church.
40. Where are the hearts of the Laodicean believers on Sunday morning?
Far from God.
41. Where does Christ hold the church in Laodicea?
In His mouth along with the sharp two-edged sword.
42. How does Christ regard the “rights of the people”?
It is not a “food” He will swallow.
43. Why is the church in Laodicea “increased with goods”?
It is supported by Antichrist.
44. Of what value are elaborate church buildings?
The value of wood, hay, and straw.
45. What “church building” is of concern to God the Father?
The heart of the saint.
46. Why is the Laodicean believer “wretched”?
Because he is without Christ and without hope and is ignorant of this fact.
47. Why is the Laodicean believer “miserable”?
He is “miserable” because he is in bondage to the god of this world.
48. Do worldly people have peace and joy in their hearts?
No.
49. What is true of the person who does not have Christ in his heart?
He is nervous, anxious, irritable, possessing no abiding contentment, often exhibiting malice and wickedness. His life is vapid, a delusion. Worldly people sometimes come to realize this. Truly, the way of the transgressor is hard.
50. Why is the Laodicean believer “poor”?
He does not possess the riches of the Kingdom of God.
51. What does the conqueror possess?
All things.
52. Why is the Laodicean believer “blind”?
Because he does not possess the light of Christ.
53. What will happen to the Laodicean believer in the Day of the Lord?
He will be caught off guard by the appearing of Christ and will be cast into outer darkness, because he did not know the hour of the Lord’s appearing. He will be caught by surprise because he is abiding in darkness. He is a child of darkness and will be assigned to eternal darkness.
54. Why is the Laodicean believer “naked?
He is naked because he does not have the Presence and power of Christ with which to clothe himself. When the Lord Jesus comes the Laodicean will attempt to hide, as did Adam and Eve, because he is spiritually naked. He will run from the light of Christ because of the shame of his nakedness.
55. How is the conqueror clothed?
He is arrayed handsomely in the righteous deeds that have been created in him through means of the virtue of Christ—virtue that has been given to him as he has sought the Lord earnestly. He runs to the light so his deeds may be revealed clearly that they have been performed in God.
56. Read Revelation 3:18.
“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (Revelation 3:18)
57. Why will the Laodicean believer have many opportunities to buy from Christ “gold tried in the fire”?
As soon as he begins to oppose Antichrist he will suffer economic deprivation. The comforts of life will be denied him and he will be threatened as to his welfare and the welfare of his loved ones.
His faith in the Word of God will be put to the test. He will be required to flee into the wilderness with the true people of the Lord and learn to live by faith. His faith—his “gold”—shall be tested, tested, tested in the fires of temptation, persecution, and tribulation!
When his faith has been purified by fire it will be worth infinitely more than all the gold that can be given him by Antichrist.
58. What is the “white raiment” that the Laodicean believer is counseled to buy from Christ?
The grace and virtue of Christ so he can conduct himself in righteousness, in holiness, and in obedience to God.
59. What is true of us when we “see” (understand and get along well) in the present world?
When we “see” by the light of this present world we are blind to the Kingdom of God. When the Holy Spirit anoints our eyesight we become “blind” to the philosophies, values, and aspirations of the world and we begin to behold the Glory of God in Christ.
60. Why must the saint in these days fill his mind with the things of Christ?
The Spirit of God and the world spirit are on courses so separate, so divergent, so opposed to each other that we either are understanding the world and compromising the written Word of God or we are seeing and hearing the Spirit of God and are largely ignoring the world while it pursues its path to certain judgment and destruction.
61. What must we guard carefully today?
Our mind.
62. Read Revelation 3:19.
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)
63. What does Christ do to each person He loves?
He rebukes and chastens him or her.
64. What should we do when the Lord rebukes and chastens us?
When we are chastened we are to “repent,” that is, we are to turn and walk in the direction toward which the Spirit is leading us. Each of us who starts on the pathway of redemption has numerous lessons to learn, many experiences to encounter, a whole host of blessings to receive. We rejoice because Christ’s grace is sufficient for every situation.
65. Why does the Lord chasten us?
The Lord chastens us so we may partake of His holiness.
66. Read Revelation 3:20.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)
67. What awesome power does each individual possess?
The power to keep the door of his personality closed for eternity, or to open it to Christ.
68. What is the greatest opportunity ever given to a human being?
To be able to allow Christ to enter him and become one with him.
69. Will Jesus ever force His way into our life?
No.
70. What takes place when Christ enters us?
If we receive the Lord, He dines with us, and we with Him. It is a love feast, a banquet all the day. In the middle of the night there is a feast, as Paul and Silas demonstrated while confined in the inner cell of the jail in Philippi. Christ spreads a sumptuous table for us in the Presence of our enemies.
The food we eat is the flesh of Christ. The life we drink is the blood of Christ.
71. What happens to us if we keep our heart’s door closed against Christ?
We deprive ourselves of everything of value in the universe.
72. What happens to us if we open our heart’s door to Christ?
Our destiny is fulfilled to perfection and we enter an inheritance so marvelous that we cannot conceive of the smallest fraction of it.
73. Read Revelation 3:21.
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. (Revelation 3:21)
74. Who is lifted to the supreme throne?
He who overcomes.
75. What is true of the throne of Christ?
The throne of Christ is the throne of the universe. There is no other throne as elevated, as complete in authority and power. When we behold the throne of Christ in the heavenlies we will be reduced to nothing. That throne is so exalted, so vast, so holy, so powerful, that all the mass and energy of the present universe is seen to be but one speck of dust.
In the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles, the throne of almighty God is being formed in the heart of the believer. If we succeed in living the victorious Christian life we will be permitted to sit with Christ on the throne of our own heart. But first, Christ must become the undisputed King of our personality.
76. Why is it true that the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist?
Because of the formation of Christ, the Day Star, in him.
77. Where does the Bride of the Lamb come from?
The Bride is not of the earth but is of Heaven, having been created from the body and blood of Christ; and will come down from Heaven to rule eternally on the new earth.
78. Who is creating the Bride of the Lamb?
The Lord God of Heaven.
79. Read Colossians 3:3-5.
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire [lust], and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:3-5)
80. What will be true of each conqueror when Christ appears?
Each conqueror will be an inseparable part of Christ’s appearing.
81. How are we able to overcome the world, Satan, and our fleshly desires and self-will?
Through the grace Christ gives us we will conquer our sinful nature, we will conquer Satan, we will conquer the spirit of the world.
82. What is true of us when we have overcome the world, Satan, and our fleshly desires and self-will?
We have arrived at the first resurrection and are seated forever with Christ in His throne.
83. Read Revelation 3:22.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’” (Revelation 3:22)
(“A Study Guide For the Conqueror”, 3359-1)