Last Things Last - To the One who Conquers

This week we continue our Last Things Last series, looking at Revelation chapters 2–3 and Jesus' words to the seven churches.

Each message ended with the same phrase, "To the one who conquers…"

But conquering in Revelation isn't about domination. It's not crushing enemies or winning arguments. It's about staying faithful when it costs the most. It's love that doesn't give up. It's obedience that outlasts emotion. It's worship that endures in the fire.

However, we see there are two main ways to respond to tribulation:

• Give in — compromise our convictions.
• Give up — quietly quit and walk away.

But there is a third way: receiving the victory that Jesus has already won for us. "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
— 1 Corinthians 15:57

You don't win Jesus' victory by willpower. You walk in it by receiving it. It is something He gives and something we must keep receiving. Victory isn't something we earn; it's something we live from.

Revelation is often seen as all about a future tribulation and while there is a case that things may get worse, John says he's already "a partner in the tribulation." For the first readers and for millions of Christians around the world and throughout history the pressure had already begun. It's not something that is coming. It was something that Christian's were experiencing in John's day, and it is something that Christian's are experiencing right now.

Maybe the reason we don't instantly recognise this in the west, is because we can be the ones who are more tempted to give in and accept the comfortable road. Comfort dulls us. Compromise weakens us. There are, however, many in the world today, who can relate to John's world. But Jesus strengthens us all. Here's the message of these chapters: You can't receive victory if you're living in compromise or relying on your own strength. But to the one who stays faithful the one who loves, endures, and holds fast, Jesus promises that you will conquer, because He already has.

And to those who keep going, Jesus offers breath-taking promises:

• To eat from the tree of life.
• To be given hidden manna and a new name.
• To be clothed in white and never blotted from His book.
• To be made a pillar in His temple. To sit with Him on His throne.

These are not small things they are the inheritance of those who hold fast when the world says, "Let go."

For those who have suffered horrendously who have lost, grieved, and walked through darkness hear this, you are seen. Your pain is not overlooked or forgotten. Your tears are not wasted. Tribulation is not the last word. Jesus is.

The One who was slain still walks among His churches, and He will wipe away every tear from every eye. He keeps giving victory to those who refuse to quietly quit and those who refuse to compromise.

So as you go into this week, receive his victory. Be persistent. Stay awake. Stay in love. Stay true.

"To the one who conquers, I will grant to sit with me on my throne."
— Revelation 3:21

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Last Things Last – The Revelation of Jesus Christ

On this podcast we begin a new teaching series which we are calling, "Last Things Last", exploring the book of Revelation, not as a code to crack, but as a vision to receive.

Revelation often brings to mind beasts, battles, and barcodes. But it opens with a much simpler and more stunning line: "The revelation of Jesus Christ."

Not fear. Not confusion. Not chaos.
Jesus.

This book shows us the Jesus we still need to see. Not just the baby in the manger or the teacher on the hillside, but the risen, reigning King who walks among His people and holds all things together.

John, who had known Jesus for decades, sees Him again in glory and falls at His feet as though dead. That's what happens when you truly see Jesus. That's what Revelation invites us into.

So, as you go about this week, lift your eyes. Don't just look for answers, look for Jesus.

Because when you see Jesus as He really is… everything changes.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

First Things First – Faith from First to Last

Some seasons feel like winter — cold, slow, and uncertain. The skies are grey, and it's hard to imagine anything changing. But faith is like stepping outside in shorts and sandals on the first warm day of spring. It's not denial. It's not hype. It's a response to something real — a crocus flower poking through the snow, a promise that spring is coming.

That's what Hebrews 11 is all about. Faith is not just positive thinking. It's not mental gymnastics to convince ourselves everything will be OK. It's living considering what we hope for — because God has already proven Himself faithful.

• Faith starts with reason. Like Sarah, we "consider Him faithful who made the promise." Like Abraham we "reason' that he is faithful and able to fulfil his promises.
• Faith grows through obedience. Like Abraham, who acted even when he didn't know how God would come through.
• Faith holds steady in hardship. Like those who didn't see the miracle in this life but still believed.

Faith is the substance of what we hope for. When we act in faith — forgive, trust, obey, risk, pray — we touch the edges of the world God is bringing. We aren't pretending something is true we begin to experience the thing we hope for.

Maybe your prayers haven't been answered yet. Maybe you're waiting, wondering, doubting. That doesn't mean your faith has failed. Even when snow falls on the crocus, spring is still coming.

So don't shrink back. Live by faith. Start with reason. Step with courage. Trust Jesus — not just in theory, but in action.

This Week:

What would it look like for you to live by faith this week?

• Is there something God's calling you to do that makes no sense unless His promise is true?
• Is there an area where you've been stuck in thought — but now is the time to act?
• Is there someone you need to forgive, or a place where obedience seems costly?

Pray for courage. Ask for the empowering grace to do what you never thought you could. Faith is not just about changing your world — it's about God changing you as you trust Him.

First Things First: Loving God

There's nothing better than simply being with the one you love. No agenda, no to-do list — just presence.

This week, we heard a strong but tender word from Jesus in Revelation 2 — a letter dictated directly to His church.

He begins with celebration:
"I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance."

But then He says something that takes the air out of the room:

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first."

Not lost it. Left it.
Not fallen out of love, just slowly drifted, distracted, or dulled.

We've all felt it in marriage, family, or friendship — the slow fade that comes when love is assumed rather than pursued. When life gets full, we start running on autopilot.

And that's how it happens with Jesus too.
We still believe.
We still behave.
But the fire has cooled.

So what does Jesus say?
Remember.
Repent.
Redo.

Go back to the simplicity. The sweetness. The stunning realisation that you were rescued, not by your knowledge, your behaviour, or your gifting, but by grace.

This Week: Return to First Love

Let's make space this week to pause and re-centre our hearts on the love of Jesus.

Ask yourself:

• Am I cultivating love for Jesus, or coasting on familiarity?
• Has good stuff (even church stuff) taken the place of what matters most?
• When was the last time I simply told Jesus, "I love You"?

You were made for this love. It is not fragile or fickle. It is fierce, forgiving, and forever.

Take time this week to say, "Lord, I love You" and let His love stir your heart again.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

First Things First: Love Thy Neighbour

In this talk, we explored one of Jesus' most famous teachings—the story of the Good Samaritan. The conversation started with a big question: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

But it was a test. A performance. A set-up.

Jesus flipped the script—not by narrowing the answer to a category of people to love, but by broadening the call to become a person of love.
The question isn't, "Who is my neighbour?"
It's, "Am I living as a neighbour?"

The expert in the law wanted minimum requirements.
Jesus called for maximum transformation. Not love for show. Not love for those who "deserve it." But love that sees. Love that stops. Love that shows mercy.

That kind of love is not natural.
It's not self-generated.
It's Jesus-shaped.

He is the Good Samaritan who found us in our need, carried us in His grace, and paid the cost of our healing with His life.
Now He sends us out to "go and do likewise."

As You Go About This Week

• Am I becoming a person of love?
• Where am I tempted to pass by instead of stop?
• Is there someone God is asking me not just to tolerate—but to love?

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

First Things First: Of First Importance

What would you say is the most important thing in your life?

This week, we explored what Paul calls the message of first importance: the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just as a doctrine to understand, but a reality to rejoice in.

Do you remember the joy of your salvation? The freedom, the relief, the wonder of knowing your sins were forgiven? That you were loved—not because you earned it, but because of grace?

Sometimes we lose that joy. We drift into performance. We hear the "You must" of the Christian life louder than the "Christ has." We begin to live as if the gospel starts with what we do, rather than what Jesus has done. When this happens it is the road to being miserably saved.

But the gospel is good news, not good advice. It's not a to-do list. It's a Ta-dah!

Jesus is the fact. The truth. The joy.

Because He is, we are. Because He has, we have. Because He will, we can. Because of what he has done we can rejoice and be glad.

If your joy has felt low, don't try harder. Come closer. Return to the gospel. Let the Holy Spirit remind you of all that has been done for you:

• You are forgiven.
• You are free.
• You are His.

Let's ask Him to restore to us the joy of His salvation.

🧭 As You Go About This Week

• Are you carrying the gospel like a burden or receiving it as a gift?
• Where have you reversed the grammar — are you trying to earn what God has already given to you?
• Is there something you do that you haven't yet connected to God's purpose and power in your life?

Let Jesus be the "Ta-dah!" at the centre of it all — not just a part of your life, but the foundation of it.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

First Things First – Seek First

In this podcast we explore the idea of "The List of God," how Jesus doesn't call us to squeeze Him into our lives, but to surrender our lives to Him.

We all have and live by lists: to-do lists; bucket lists; shopping lists. We even have ‘someday’ lists. But Jesus doesn't say, "Add me to your list and put me first." He says, "Lay down your list. Take mine."

He tells us to, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

Seeking the kingdom first isn't about making sure God is the top of our list. When we do this we still own the list and decide what's on it. Seeking first the kingdom is where His Kingdom becomes the list—the starting point, foundation and the centrepiece. Not because our needs don't matter, but because our lives don't work when they're ordered around anything less than His reign.

Jesus doesn't want to rubber-stamp our plans. He wants to rewrite them in light of His Kingdom.

This isn't about doing more. It's about living differently.

As you go about your week, pause and ask:

• Am I adding Jesus to my plans, or am I being led by Him?
• Is there something I need to surrender that's on my list but doesn't add to my life?
• Is there something I do that I haven't yet learnt to connect to God's purpose and power in my life?

Let's be people who seek first His Kingdom, not just on Sundays, but in every decision, relationship, and moment of ordinary life.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.