‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’
(Revelation 3:22)
What might Jesus be saying, church of Casnewydd?
Might it sound something like this?
The words of Him who is End and Beginning; ever ancient, ever new. The words of Him who holds our memories like a cherished vase and forms our future like a Potter with the clay. The words of Newport’s King.
People forget that My word was first heard in Cymru in the towns and villages surrounding Newport. They forget that the first martyrs on Welsh soil were executed in your region. They forget how My name was inscribed on vessels found in your soil.
People forget. But I do not forget.
I do not forget what I have done in you, Newport. I do not forget that at the dawn of 1904 at Langstone House near Newport, I met with My servant Seth Joshua; it was there that he resolved at the beginning of that year for the ages to ‘live out the consecrated life in 1904’ (as he wrote in his diary from Langstone). One individual’s consecration became a doorway for the nation’s transformation.
History has largely forgotten. But I do not forget, Newport.
What others overlook, I cherish. This is the way of My kingdom: ‘blessed are the poor in spirit …’. You are not forgotten, O people of Mine in Casnewydd. And you are not at the bottom of heaven’s priority list, waiting for Me to pass by on My way through to some other place. I have purposes and plans that I am treasuring and forming with you in mind; your city, your churches, your leaders, your streets. I delight to spark kingdom fires where the world would not expect them; to see the gospel torch ablaze in realms of darkness and decay. I delight to see My fire burn in you, saints of Newport.
My call to you as My beloved people in Newport is simply this: prepare the way for My fire. My fire is a purifying fire.
I am jealous for My glory, Newport. What Seth Joshua prayed for himself in Newport, so I make the call to all the saints across the city – ‘the consecrated life’. Remove the idols from your hearts. Let Me burn away every ounce of pride and bitterness. Let Me burn you down to the priority of prayer again – the foundation from which all My new work is built. Let Me give to you My tears over the things that grieve My heart. And let Me make of you a lighting place for the nation – a port for wanderers to find fresh fire among a people who burn with pure brightness for My fame.
My fire is a unifying fire. Like bonfires in winter, so I desire to gather My people across denominational boundaries in the city to one holy passion again. The unifying passion is simply this: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. Gather round, young and old in Newport; gather round, doubters and dreamers, leaders and laypeople; gather round one and all – gather to the fire of My gospel again.
My fire is a spreading flame. I have this word for you, Newport – ‘You will be My witnesses’ (Acts 1:8). I have chosen you, weak and helpless though you may sometimes feel, to carry the gospel torch into the city and the nation. Cymru needs what you carry, saints of Newport. Arise. Pick up the martyr’s torch. Give yourselves to the spread of the gospel – in Newport, Cymru and the nations.
Let your fire burn, ‘for behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light.’ (Isaiah 60:2-3)