February 27
Of course, the writer of Hebrews was not referring to prisoners who were in prison for actual criminal activity, but this letter is one I wrote to a young man who is in prison for armed robbery. Two years ago he was in our local jail and chose to follow Jesus after several weeks of questioning everything I was teaching there. He is still in prison, but may well be out in a few months. I visited him yesterday and sent him this letter after our visit. It has some good points for all of us, so I decided to make it today’s instruction.
Greetings Brother, in the blessed Name of our Lord Jesus,
I really enjoyed our conversation yesterday. It was good to see you once again. It is terrific to see how God is using you there in jail. I pray daily for you to stand firm in God’s word and let your light so shine among men that they will be drawn to our Lord. Two things that stuck out in our conversation that I would like to address: 1. You are reading prolifically and that is good. I would however, caution you to be careful not to develop any theological point of view on the writings of men. Some of the writings of men can help us better understand a particular theological issue that may be a little hard to grasp, but I would steer clear of any twelve step plan for alcohol and drug addiction for example. Jesus has a one step plan, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Drunkenness is sin and needs to be dealt with by confession and repentance. Our society has excused it for so many years and relabeled it a sickness that we have made it much more important than it is. It does not require years of counseling to defeat, a support group to visit weekly to help us get over it, or any other social gospel applications. It is sin. It is displeasing to God. When on is fulfilling the ministry to which God has called him, he has no time for drunkenness.
When one has been truly transformed, born-again, regenerated, he is a new creature; old things have passed away (II Cor. 5:17). Of course he has to learn to crucify the desires of the flesh daily, but there are actually fleshly lusts more problematic than drunkenness, and they are a lot more subtle. For example, there are millions today who are addicted to wealth. I would venture a guess that many more men and women fail to take up their cross daily and follow Jesus because they are too busy making the mighty buck than those who are drunks. I suspect television and sports keep more people on the wide path to hell than alcohol. 2. You mentioned you know God wants you to get a degree from some bible college when you get out. If you truly believe that’s God’s will for you, I pray you will do it. I do not think it is God’s will for you however. If no one will listen to you unless you have a degree from a bible college, I suggest it will only be so if you haven’t anything significant to say. I have personally preached to hundreds of people in the past 38 years. I have preached in churches, in the street, in jails, in senior citizen centers, in our home, and maybe some places I have forgotten. You may never preach in a church with 3,000 people if you don’t go to bible college, but I can assure you, you will reach more people than many of those who do if you spend your time studying God’s word intensely.
I spent two years in bible college and one in seminary and really appreciated two out of about 20 teachers I had there. I learned Hebrew and Greek and my instructor on the book of Romans was incredible. The rest had us read books about the bible and taught the vain philosophy of man. After two years, I got tired of spinning my wheels and returned to the secular world of sin and depravity where I had the opportunity to preach the gospel in the streets daily and actually make a difference in the lives of sinners.
In closing, I would like to reiterate, you must do what you believe God tells you to do, I just have a hard time believing God wants anyone to attend one of the hundreds of bible schools in America that focus their attention on teaching their graduates how to preach a three point sermon, using alliteration effectively. Two things have been the most challenging to maintaining spiritual growth and connection to God in the thirty-eight years I have been a follower of Christ: bible college and traditional churches.
God bless you brother. I’m going to fill out that form today and send it in. Keep the faith, preach the gospel, and remember I Corinthians 10:11-13.
In Christ,
Brother Dave
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Letters to the Churches (Revelation 2 and 3)
Chapter 2
As I previously indicated, these seven churches were actual churches which existed at the time John wrote the Revelation. There is no implicit or explicit biblical justification for believing otherwise. I will however focus on the secondary fulfillment of this prophecy to the churches. As I already suggested, all of the problems they faced, false teaching, false believers, idolatry, lusts of the flesh, and immorality, are problems we still face today. What we have perceived to be our greatest blessing, the freedom to worship without government interference, has become the church’s Achilles Heel. Lack of persecution has made us soft and lackadaisical.
We have become like the lukewarm church of Laodicea. Actually, calling us luke warm would probably be exaggerating the temperature of our commitment. As a nation that claims to be Christian, it seems to me that most churches (local bodies of believers) in America are overwhelmingly apathetic. I engage people in conversation regularly, who know very little about Jesus and even less about the gospel. And most of those who profess to know Him aren’t aware we are a spiritual battle in America for the souls of our children in our public schools.
I live in a small rural community of about 5,000 residents in Montana. I teach high school history. Every year, when I begin my history classes we read from a textbook that assumes we all believe planet earth has been around for billions of years. Recently, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper about the absurdity of such an approach to education. I indicated our textbooks are indoctrinating our children, not educating them. I pointed out that teachers in public education have the obligation to present both the Creation Theory alongside of the Theory of Evolution as explanations for the existence of man. I explained they are both theories and the whole point of education was to present both sides of an argument when there is more than one possibility.
A local resident responded, questioning both my veracity and my sanity. I responded to his response, expressing my dismay that he would attack me personally without bothering to address the point in question. One person, from the entire community, mention that he appreciated my willingness to defend my faith. Evolution is most assuredly a doctrine; and it is also most assuredly the doctrine of demons. It’s a doctrine, the main goal of which is to discredit the doctrine of creation. I have thirty-five or forty Christian friends in this community. Out of all of them, only one commented on the editorials. I find it disconcerting to realize that the majority of people who call themselves Christians in America are either apathetic or they are afraid to speak out against this continuous onslaught by the devil and his unholy angels against God and His word. I t seems most churches in America are filled with Laodiceans. But let’s begin the church at Ephesus.
To the Church at Ephesus
Jesus begins His address to the church at Ephesus describing Himself as, “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” It is worth noting that all of these churches were located in what is today a Muslim nation, Turkey. Paul had a special place in heart for the church in Ephesus. In Acts 19 we read of his encounter with the first group of disciples in Ephesus. These disciples had heard John’s teaching, but had not realized that Jesus had actually come, lived a sinless life, died for the sins of mankind, resurrected from the dead, and had ascended into heaven. When Paul clarified the rest of the gospel for them, they were immediately baptized in the name of Jesus, Paul laid hands on them, and they began speaking in tongues, thus verifying his apostolic authority (Acts 19:6).
Contrary to what some preach, Acts 19:6 doesn’t support the entirely false doctrine that all believers should have the gift of tongues. It was clearly and simply a testimony to Paul’s apostolic authority. It means nothing more than that. Those who would distort the scriptures interpret this verse with no concern for its context. I deal thoroughly with the issue in book on the spiritual gifts. It’s available for anyone who wants to learn more about the subject.
It was in Ephesus that Paul took those disciples out of the local synagogue into the school of Tyrannus where he taught them for two years (Acts 19:9). It was in Ephesus that the seven sons of Sceva attempted to mimic Paul by casting out a demon (Acts 19:13-16). The demon jumped Sceva’s sons, stripped them naked, and caused them to flee the house naked. It was in Ephesus that books of sorcery, worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (approximately fifty thousand day’s wages), were burned (Acts 19:19). The first letter to Timothy was written to him while he was pastoring churches in Ephesus (I Tim. 1:3). It’s difficult to imagine a group of born-again believers sitting under the teaching of the Apostle Paul would lose their first love. Yet the list of their accomplishments is most impressive.
1. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Ephesus? 2:1
2. List the positive things that were going on at Ephesus. 2:2, 3, 6
3. What does Jesus have against the Ephesian church? 2:4
4. What three things does Jesus tell the Ephesians they must do to resolve their problem? 2:5a
a.
b.
c.
5. What does He promise to do if they don’t heed His warning? 2:5b
6. What were Jesus final words to the church at Ephesus? 2:7 (see also 22:1, 2)
The church at Ephesus was filled with people who toiled and persevered; they didn’t tolerate evil men; they tested those who called themselves apostles. They endured. But they had lost their first love. They no longer adored the One who died to set them free. They forgot they were redeemed sinners who were once doomed and determined to spend eternity in hell. They’d forgotten God saved them from the law of sin and death. Though they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans (they despised immorality and wickedness), they needed to return to their first love, Jesus. I Corinthians 13 comes to mind where we are told without love nothing we do is of any eternal significance.
Maybe some of us need to take a moment and think about what life was like before Christ. Sometimes we get caught up in lits many challenges and forget what’s really important. Sometimes our love for Jesus takes a back seat to our lust for life. I recall a story about a man who was told he needed heart bypass surgery that would cost $50,000. He replied, “Do you really think I’d pay $50,000 for you to keep me out of heaven for a few more years?” Perhaps our love for Jesus can be measured by how much we’d be willing to pay to keep us out of heaven.
To the Church at Smyrna
I have been in churches that were very much like the Smyrnan church. They are filled with poor people who are rich in faith. They are also inhabited by those who are religious fanatics but spiritually bankrupt (they think they are spiritual Jews, but they are not). These foolish fanatics were Satan’s pawns (they were a synagogue of Satan). This church, which was ruled by spiritually bankrupt ideologues, had a few in it who were the faithful and true. Those few were admonished to take courage, even though they would soon experience imprisonment for a while, “ten days”. This crew of corrupt church leaders were admonished to repent. Jesus warned that He would make war with them using the matchless word of God to defeat their doctrine of immorality and idolatry. He ended His encouragement to the faithful in Smyrna with the words, “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” (Rev. 2:11) This second death, of course, is the eternal death that will be experienced by those false church leaders and members of congregations who have spent decades going to church pretending to be saved.
7. How did Jesus describe himself to the church at Smyrna?
8. List Smyrna’ accomplishments. 2:9
9. What did Jesus call the false Jews? 2:9
10. What does Jesus warn the faithful followers of Christ at Smyrna were going to have to endure? 2:10
11. What was His promise to those who were faithful until death? 2:10
12. What were Jesus’ final words to the church at Smyrna? 2:11 (see also Rev. 20:4-6)
This admonition to the leaders of the church at Smyrna is a solemn warning to church leaders today who are willing to sacrifice the purity of God’s word for the approval of men (James 3:1). I have personally spoken to countless pastors and elders who readily admitted they were willing to compromise God’s word rather than see members of the congregation leave. One actually had to audacity to suggest I’d understand the need to compromise when I became more spiritually mature. He was part of that 35% of pastors in America who don’t believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. He was more interested in filling pews with church members who tithed than building warriors who could storm the gates of hell and snatch lost souls from the flames.
Notice, in Smyrna God didn’t bother telling those who were a synagogue of Satan to repent. It seems those teachers had stepped over the line. They would find no room for repentance (Heb. 6:6; 12:17). Jesus’ stern warning to teachers comes again in His words as recorded in Luke 17:1, 2,
“Indeed, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
Beloved, we can’t afford compromise the clear teachings of scripture. Those issues about which there is no clear teaching of scripture (i.e., dancing) are certainly issues that require tolerance for differences in understanding and application. But by their very nature, issues that are clearly taught in scripture divide the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:33). The clear implication of verse 11 is that these compromisers (liars) will be seriously hurt (they will spend eternity in hell) by the second death. Both those who follow false doctrine and those who teach it will spend eternity in hell. Pesonally, I’m convinced those who preach it will have an especially dismal place to spend eternity. They’ll have the hellist place in hell to spend eternity. I believe there is an especially disgusting place in hell reserved for those who teach false doctrine and especially those who claim to be preachers of the word who refuse to teach the whole counsel of God. Their reward will be according to their deeds. I believe they’ll find themselves in the deepest most despicable recesses of the eternal lake of fire for all of forever.
To the Church at Pergamum
I have also been in churches like the one in Pergamum, which, like the Ephesian church, preached the doctrine of Balaam. Balak, the king of the Midianites (Numbers 22-24), tried to get Balaam—a non-Jewish prophet, the son of Beor at Pethor—to curse 600,000 Hebrew warriors as they camped beside his kingdom. The story is a little hard to follow. God tells Balaam not to go with Balak’s messengers, but then tells him to go. On the way, He nearly kills Balaam. Balaam told Balak he couldn’t curse those God blessed (Israel) We don’t discover until we get to the New Testament this Gentile prophet helped Balak plan a strategy that would get Israel to commit lewd acts against the revealed will of God. Realizing he couldn’t curse those whom God blessed, he told Balak they could get Israel to be a curse unto themselves if he could get them to eat unclean food and commit acts of immorality with the Midianite women (II Pet. 2:15; Jude 1:11; Rev. 2:14). While we don’t sacrifice food to idols in America in the strictest sense, there are many similar ideas inherent in the act that are part of our culture (see explanation page 23 re: Jezebel). I’ve known several churches that had members living together out of wedlock whose pastors avoided teaching on the topic of morality for fear of offending them.
When pastors know members of their congregation are indeed practicing any kind of immoral act and refuse to confront them as instructed by Paul in I Corinthians 5 and Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20, they are, by implication, teaching that immorality is not an offense against God.
13. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Pergamum? 2:8
14. What were their accomplishments? 2:13
15. What things did they need to fix? 2:15
16. What was the solution to their problems? 2:16
17. What did Jesus warn them He was going to do if they failed to heed His warning? 2:16b
18. What were Jesus’ final words to the church at Pergamum? 2:17
The church at Pergamos was in the very heart of Satan’s kingdom. It was probably very much like our central city churches in America which are fighting the good fight for the souls of lost creatures. While they were holding fast to the doctrine of God in one sense, in another, they, like the church of Smyrna, had those in their midst who were teaching the doctrine of immorality and idol worship. Like some contemporary televangelists preachers who have been caught up in their own immorality, those leaders preach holiness while living unholiness. They preached the doctrine of slavery to Jesus while worshipping the idols of lust, immorality, and wealth. And it appears these leaders of the church in Pergamum had sufficient control over the local fellowship that church discipline as defined in I Corinthians 5 and Matthew 18 was out of the question. Therefore, those who were faithful to the word were promised the hidden treasure of manna, a white stone, and a new name, the significance of which only its recipients would comprehend.
To the Church at Thyatira
I have been in corrupt churches like the one in Thyatira. It’s difficult to imagine a church with the long list of accomplishments as described in these verses would tolerate a Jezebel, but that’s exactly what this one did. Just try to imagine you’re the visitor in one of these churches. You go to your first adult Sunday school class and have an incredible time of fellowship and learning from a senior citizen who seems to love God with all his heart and to knows His word well. People share experiences where they were faithful through trials and tribulations and you’re even more impressed. You learn the church has a pantry they use to feed the poor and downtrodden. Wow! You think this just might be the church you’ve been looking for all your life. Sunday school ends, you go into the main sanctuary for church and there she sits. The senior pastor gets up and she begins to preach. Jezebel has entered the room.
19. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Thyatira: 2:18
20. List her accomplishments? 2:19
21. What did they need to fix? 2:20
22. Did Jesus kill Jezebel immediately? 2:21a
23. Did Jezebel respond to her warning? 2:21b
24. What did Jesus say He was going to do to for her failure to repent? 2:22a, 23
25. What did He threaten to do to her bedfellows unless they repented? 2:22c
26. What was the long term purpose of Jesus’ punishment of Jezebel? 2:23b
27. What was Jesus’ promise to those who did not abide in Jezebel’s teaching? 2:24-28
25. What were Jesus final words to the church at Thyatira? 2:29
Jesus had numerous praises for this church. He knew of her deeds, love, faith, service, and perseverance. He even noted that her current deeds were greater than when they began the church in Thyatira. Her problem was that she tolerated the false prophetess, Jezebel, who taught heresy. This woman Jezebel taught two false doctrines rampant in many of today’s churches: 1. Immorality, as strange as it may seem, is alive and well in many of today’s churches. The number of pastors, elders, and deacons who have been divorced and remarried is reaching epidemic proportions. And the number who are having adulterous affairs with members of their congregations is embarrassing. One would be too many, but it seems the rising accounts of unfaithful spouses in pastors households knows no bounds.
Jesus told his listeners all divorce is repugnant to God (Matt. 19:8). Under no circumstance does He define it as a good thing. There are three circumstances however, under which God accounts the separation legitimate: 1. Adultery; 2. desertion by an unbeliever; 3. death.
Adultery (Matt. 5:32; Mark 10:11)
In Matthew 5:32 and Mark 10:11 Jesus makes it clear the sin for which God has clearly stated it is acceptable for the offended believer to divorce the offending spouse is adultery. I believe Ephesians 5:22-33 and I Corinthians 6:18 will help us understand why this is so. Ephesians 5 tells us that the relationship between the husband and wife is a type of the relationship between Christ and His church. I Corinthians 6 tells us that immorality is the dumbest sin of all sin. These two biblical truths place adultery at the top of God’s list of disgusting sins. He doesn’t want His children to be a party to such unholiness, so He tells them they can divorce themselves from one who has breached the covenant of trust he made when they were united in Christ.
There are some who teach it is not essential one to divorce an adulterous spouse. Certainly there is ample evidence to suggest adultery can be forgiven and the marriage covenant continued. My counsel goes something like this: I can forgive the act without continuing in the relationship with the one who committed it. I believe adultery so taints a relationship that both parties are better served by severing the ties of the marriage covenant. I don’t believe in our human bodies and with our human minds we can ever function effectively as a believer of the gospel once such an act has been perpetrated against us. If you believe otherwise, I am sure you have God’s blessing to do whatever He leads you to do. If children are involved, it complicates the situation even more. Weighing the effect the divorce will have on them against the affect of continuing to live with the adulterous spouse is an important consideration. Even the age of the children may determine whether or not one chooses to stay married to the adulterer. The pain that goes with being so betrayed is something that takes most people years to overcome, though a person can begin healing immediately when God’s abundant grace and mercy leads the way.
Desertion by an Unbeliever (I Cor. 7:10-16)
This one is interesting. God knew there would be those who would be converted whose spouses would not. He also knew the converted spouse would always be in a position to bring the unbeliever into a covenant relationship with Him as a result of the believer’s testimony in that relationship. Thus, as long as the unbeliever doesn’t choose to leave the relationship, the believer is instructed to remain. If the unbeliever leaves, the believer is instructed he or she no longer has the responsibility to honor the covenanted vows of marriage. The reason is blatantly obvious. The believer has no control over the life of the unbeliever who chooses to leave a relationship. Thus, through no fault of his/her own, the relationship ends. In that instance, the believer is told he/she is free to remarry as long as he/she marries a believer.
It’s difficult to comprehend the number of people I’ve personally known whose lives have been destroyed by multiple marriages. I’ve known women who have had four or five children and some of them don’t even know for sure who the father is of some of them. I’ve known men who made good money but lived like paupers because they had to pay most of what they earned on alimony and child support. The consequences of the “divorce on demand” philosophy we have fathered in America has wreaked havoc on family life. I strongly suspect the number of dysfunctional families far outnumbers traditional, nourishing, loving two parent homes, even among members of the local church. If we don’t get a handle on the problem in the local church, I fear it will eventually be our undoing. It appears America is coming apart at the seams. Therefore, I reiterate, unless the unbeliever leaves, the believer is commanded to remain in the relationship.
Death (I Cor. 7:39; Rom. 7:1-3)
While this one should be obvious, for some it isn’t. There are some who pine for decades over the loss of a loved one. Such pining is tragic, unbiblical, and unproductive. When a Christian dies, he goes to be with the Lord. That should be a cause for celebration for those left behind. It’s both logical and biblical for the one left behind to grieve for a few weeks, maybe even a few months. Beyond that, it’s counter productive for one to continue to grieve the loss of a loved one. Such grief is usually the result of self-centered egotism that is only heightened by the believer’s loss of a loved one. Life does not end for anyone who still breathes when a loved one goes to be with our heavenly Father. If your spouse dies and you are still at an age when your sexual drives need to be satisfied, you definitely should remarry. I pray if I die before my beloved wife, she celebrates my departure and moves on with her life. She’s already nearly sixty, so whether or not she would choose to remarry is certainly not a mandate. It would be strange indeed for her to mourn my physical death for long while I am in heaven rejoicing with Jesus.
Immorality covers everything from masturbation to adultery. Masturbation, watching triple X rated movies, homosexuality, lesbians, pre-marital sex even by those who vow they are in love, prostitutes, and whores all fit into this category. Please forgive my blunt use of terms, but we have so perverted bible terminology it is nearly impossible to make the appropriate connection sometimes. Masturbation is unbiblical for two reasons: 1. it requires the one doing it to visualize himself with an unknown counterpart having sex with that person for the one masturbating to reach the desired level of sexual gratification. 2. It is self-gratification. Sex, as ordained by God is only acceptable when it is engaged by a man and a woman who have taken the vows of marriage and whose goal is to bring pleasure to the other person (Matt. 5:28; I Thes. 4:3-8; I Cor. 7:1-5).
Homosexuality is a blatant disregard for God’s intended role for sex. His word makes it abundantly clear in Romans 1:27 that both homosexuals and lesbians are committing indecent acts for which they will burn in hell if they do not repent (see also Gal. 5:19, 20). Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle; it is a direct affront to the holiness of God. It is a perversion of all that is holy. It is an act that will send those who practice it into eternal hellfire and damnation.
Any form of pre-marital sex is prohibited in scripture. If you are a woman of God reading this, do not allow your male friend to convince you your love for him hinges on whether or not you have sex with him before you are married. If that’s true, your love for one another is incredibly shallow. God calls you to save yourself for that one person He has chosen to share your love. When he comes along, you’ll have no trouble recognizing him. He’ll not pressure you into dishonoring your body so he can experience a fleeting moment of ecstasy.
The number of church goers who are living together out of wedlock is staggering. In 1998 one of the most respected televangelist preachers of conservative churches in America got divorced. He told his congregation before the divorce he would resign his position if he wasn’t able to fix his marriage. When the divorce was final he, all of a sudden, had a vision. He then told his congregation that God had spoken to him in that vision and told him He would move him to another church when He was good and ready. Apparently, not wishing to argue with God, the congregation allowed him to remain on as the senior pastor.
I suggest any pastor, elder, or brother in Christ who knows such a condition exists and doesn’t address it as instructed in Matthew 18 and I Corinthians 5 is teaching by example that immorality is acceptable. And it seems logical and biblical any pastor who has gone through a divorce needs to step back from full time ministry for a time of deep reflection, prayer, and re-evaluation of his calling. A divorce for desertion or adultery shouldn’t disqualify him for pastoral ministry; but it does take a period (sometimes long, sometimes short) of spiritual rehabilitation before a man who experiences it should be allowed to resume pastoral duties.
The reference to eating food sacrificed to idols, was a literal reference in its original context. I suggest for us today it could include anything one indulges daily that feeds his body, soul, and spirit in such a way as to make a separation between himself and God. For example, the number of men in America who feed their souls overwhelming doses of football for at least six months of the year is ever increasing. NASCAR, the NBA, the NHL, boxing, wrestling, and professional baseball are the religions of choice for millions of Americans who also profess to be followers of Christ. Most are faithful church goers until the season of their favorite sport rolls around. Recently, I heard a highly respected conservative televangelist, confess on national television and in front of some three or four thousand members of his church that he’s addicted to Chicago Bulls basketball. He said it in such a light hearted fashion it made most of his audience laugh. God forgive us for thinking such foolishness is the least bit comical.
We in America are eating food sacrificed to idols in this figurative sense in epic proportions today; and the truly sad thing is our universal refusal to understand why so many of these events are often scheduled on Sunday mornings. We prefer to call this addiction to sports stress relief, relaxation, or a little time for ourselves. Of course all of these labels are created to appease the minds of those who don’t wish to call them sin. Excuses are always worth what you pay for them. He who is a liar from the beginning has made this one so very palatable. Few sports are inherently evil, but spending more than a very occasional amount of time once in while watching them is at best bad stewardship of one’s time; and we’re supposed to be “redeeming the time because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). Furthermore, missing the opportunity to grow in the faith or minister one’s gift to watch 30 seconds of a sporting event is most assuredly a complete waste of time. When they began paying twenty-two year old boys millions of dollars to play a game, I figured that one out without any help. Gorging oneself on hours of any professional sport is very much like the sin of eating food sacrificed to idols.
It seems when a person spends inordinate amount of time viewing or participating in sports, his love for Jesus begins growing cold (Is. 59:1-3). He discovers the power and joy he once had fellowshipping with God in his local church begins waning. After an extended period of such foolishness, one’s love for Jesus will grow cold; he’ll find himself glibly following the ritual of occasional church attendance, feigned love for the brethren, praying over meals, saying an occasional, amen at something the preacher says, and he may even take the opportunity to teach a class for a few Sunday mornings or lead a connections group once a week in someone’s home.
I knew a man who regularly missed church during the high school girl’s basketball state playoffs. He had committed himself to lead music in his local church, but during the playoffs, he was often gone. By attending those games and allowing his children to play in them, he was inadvertently teaching them church attendance wasn’t as important as basketball playoffs. One of two things was true in that brother’s life. Either the preaching and teaching in his local church was so lackluster and powerless that he really believed he wasn’t missing much, or his confession of faith was sorely lacking in substance.
I’ve taught bible studies for decades and have discovered that few who attend them are willing to spend any time at all during the week preparing for the coming study. As a teacher in the public school system, I expected teens to treat public education with such disdain. We seldom had anything significant to teach them, so it’s little wonder the average teenaged boy or girl doesn’t take what we teach seriously. But, when one who professes to be a Christian, doesn’t think it’s important to study a given lesson daily in preparation for class, I have to wonder if that brother has any kind of relationship with Jesus to begin with.
Jesus describes four different reactions people have to the gospel (Matt. 13). There are some who are compared to the rocky soil, a metaphor of the one who receives the word with joy, but has no firm root, so that when the temptations of the world come along, he easily yields to them and falls away from the pure love and doctrine of Christ. While his body is at most of those events in the life of the church that make him appear to be saved, he continually gorges himself with food sacrificed to idols. And those who don’t repent will suffer the same fate as Jezebel. They will be thrown onto a bed of sickness and into a time of great tribulation. If you are one who has been deceived into thinking a few hours a week feeding your soul with sports is harmless, I challenge you to start spending equal time each week studying to show yourself approved unto God. It’s not likely His eternal kingdom will be filled with many who gorged themselves with food sacrificed to idols. Jesus won’t play second fiddle to the NFL, NASCAR, the NBA, or any other god.
God promises to the members of the Thyatiran Church that each of them will receive from Him according to their deeds. Those who hold fast until He comes, he who overcomes and keeps His deeds until the end, will receive authority over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron. The promise of the morning star is a promise that the one who endures will finally know Jesus in all His fullness at that time. He is the bright and morning star (cf. Rev. 22:16 with II Peter 1:19).
To the Church at Sardis
In chapter 3 John addresses the last three churches, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Of course, I trust everyone realizes there were no chapter divisions in the original writings. If it helps you remember these churches in the order they are addressed I use the letters E S P T S P L to help me remember them. I just find grouping the first letters of each church in groups of three makes them easier to remember.
God’s reprimand of the church at Sardis is rather pointed.
1. How does Jesus describe himself? 3:1a
2. What are their deeds? 3:1b
3. What is Jesus’ warning? 3:2, 3
4. What is the only redeeming words Jesus has to Say about this church? 3:4
5. What does “they have not soiled their garments” mean?
6. What does “they will walk with me in white,” mean?
7. What three promises does Jesus make to those who overcome? 3:5
a.
b.
c.
8. What are Jesus’ final words to the church at Sardis? 3:6
He knows this church has a reputation it is alive when in actuality it is dead. He warns them to wake up and strengthen what remains, remember what they have received and heard and keep it. It is clear the church at Sardis had, at one time, received good teaching. Verse 4 indicates some were still abiding in that teaching. Those received the promise that they will walk with Jesus in white, for they are worthy. The phrase “he who overcomes” is used numerous times in scripture. It is a reference to those who have made a profession of faith that was genuine. All of scripture makes it abundantly clear that anyone who does not overcome only fails to do so because the Holy Spirit has never regenerated his dead spirit, thus they have no power to overcome.
This church was like the hundreds in America today which are packed with healthy, wealthy, and prosperous men and women who, like the Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke, appear to be religious, but inwardly they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness (cf. Matt. 23:27, 28). Each week the pastors of these infamous churches make sure to have famous personalities entertain their congregations before they deliver sermons filled with possibility thinking and the, I’m okay, your okay psycho-babble begun by Dr. Robert Schuler and Norman Vincent Peal. It seems most of these preachers of the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine have memorized only one verse in their entire lives which they quote without regard to its context. Of course, it never occurs to these wolves in sheep’s clothing to know the context of a verse. One isn’t concerned about such things when he is purposefully using God’s word to mislead the sheep. These would be prophets quote Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” as if it is a promise from God to obtain health, wealth, and prosperity. In actuality, it is a proclamation by Paul that in spite of the incredible trials, tribulations, and misery he has had to face, he is standing firm in the gospel because God has strengthened him to do so. He has learned to live in poverty, pain, anguish, and suffering with joy in his heart because God strengthens him. This biblical truth is the antithesis of what the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers would like the whore mongering goats they call sheep to believe.
And the reason it is so important for them to get their disciples to believe such foolishness is that they can then convince these fools all they have to do is give money to their ministries and God will enable them to “do all things” (i.e., get rich) as a reward for their faithfulness. The real tragedy is that occasionally one of their followers does actually get rich, which only serves to perpetuate the lie. I sometimes wonder how many of the famous people they have entertain their goats even care or know how utterly ridiculous they appear as they stand beside these wolves in sheep’s clothing talking of how God has blessed them so.
Beloved, if you are a follower of any preacher who has convinced you God wants you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, run as fast as your feet can carry you out of that church to one that is preaching that we must bear our cross daily if we wish to be a follower of Jesus. We must die to the lusts of the flesh each and every moment of this life before we can live to Christ. That is the gospel preached by Jesus, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Jude, James, and the writer of Hebrews. It is not a gospel of prosperity; it is a gospel of self-sacrifice and humility. And such a life can only be lived by one who is indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God almighty.
Dying to the self daily does not necessarily mean one will have to suffer physically, emotionally, or economically each and every day he follows Christ. Paul makes it clear he experienced times when he had more than enough to meet his own personal needs and he also experienced times when he didn’t have the bare necessities (Phil. 4:11, 12). The point is that a believer doesn’t need to make sure he is in a place where he suffers for Christ. Jesus has not called any of us to take the vows of a nun or a priest of the Catholic Church. He has not called anyone to go to a convent to live a life separated physically from the world. As a matter of biblical fact, Paul teaches the exact opposite of that idea in I Corinthians 5:9-11. It is categorically absurd to think that anyone can be a warrior for Christ while locked up in a place where he has no contact with the outside world. We can’t be lights shining in the darkness if we are hiding under a table.
I counsel inmates at the local county lockup facility on a regular basis who think what they need to do when they get out of jail is to move to some other city where they will not have to deal with the people they hung around with who helped them get into trouble in the first place. I suppose there are times when such a move is warranted, but I suggest that unless the prior acquaintance poses a physical threat to one’s health, the counselee needs to seriously consider God’s promises as found in places like I Corinthians 10:13,
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
It isn’t the temptation that gets anyone into trouble; it is when one yields to that temptation, to do something he knows is displeasing to God that he falls into sin. And beloved, temptation is present in every nook and cranny of every city, suburb, or podunk town in the world. If a woman is being physically abused by her husband, it might well be necessary for her to move to an area where he can’t find her so he can’t physically abuse her. God may choose to protect her from such a threat right where she stands, but he might also choose to move her to another location. He spoke to Jacob and told him to move back home because his father-in-law meant to do him harm (Gen. 31).
I think great wealth is usually more of a curse than a blessing. It is the rare man or woman who can live meekly when he makes over a million dollars a year. Such people are rarely rich in faith. Jesus taught on more than one occasion that those who live in luxury during this life will not do so in the life to come (Luke 16:25). In America, I think we have lost sight of what true poverty is. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population would be thrilled to live at the economic level we have labeled poverty in this country. I’m actually embarrassed when a missionary writes me personally and asks for a $50 donation to help him meet his minimal needs for a rather extended period of time. I can easily spend $50 on one meal at a local restaurant. Beloved, we need to wake up in America and smell the burning souls of sinners who are going to continue burning for all eternity if we don’t reassess our priorities and begin living sacrificial lives. There is little point in sharing with others about the atoning work and sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of mankind while we continue living self-indulgent lives (James 2:14-16).
To the Church at Philadelphia
The Philadelphian church (3:7-13) is the second church that is lauded as faithful in all things. Jesus had nothing corrective to say to the church at Smyrna; and he has nothing corrective to say to this church at Philadelphia.
9. How does Jesus describe himself? 3:7
10. What is Jesus putting before the Philadelphian church? 3:8a Discuss what “the open door mean.” cf with opening comment to this church
11. What are the Philadelphian church’s good deeds? 3:8b
a.
b.
c.
Once again we see this reference to those who are a “synagogue of Satan.” 3:9a cf. 2:9
11. What is Jesus going to do to those liars? 3:9b
12. What special promise did Jesus make to the Philadelphians, and why? 3:10
13. What were Jesus parting promises to the church at Philadelphia? 3:11-13
It is interesting to note that Jesus knows her deeds (II Chron. 16:9; Heb 5:15; 12:1, 2; I Pet. 3:10-12). He acknowledged that this church was relatively powerless. It is also noteworthy that He praised her for keeping His word, and not denying His name. It is especially interesting to me that Jesus did not praise this church because it was overflowing with superstars from Hollywood or some professional sport jock. Not even one gladiator is mentioned. This church’s commendation comes from the simple fact that she is keeping the word and not denying His name. God’s warning to any pastor/teacher who may be reading this is that you keep the word and do not deny His name. Nothing you do as a pastor/teacher is more important than that you preach and teach God’s word faithfully and in its entirety. Do not allow anyone to suggest you ignore any part of God’s revelation so you can remain politically and culturally correct.
Democracy promotes tolerance of homosexuals, lesbians, and the idea that women can do anything a man can do. God’s word does not. God’s word teaches men and women can be forgiven of any sin against God but the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But it does teach homosexuals, lesbians, liars, murderers, thieves and everyone else who has violated the clear teaching of God’s word are all going to hell when they die unless they repent (Gal. 5:19-21). These activities are not alternative life styles; they are not cultural norms; they are sin; and before anyone practicing them can be follow Jesus, he must repent of them, confess Jesus as Lord and God, believe God raised Him from the dead, be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins, take up his cross, and carry it daily (Acts 3:38, 39; Rom. 10:9).
In verse 9 Jesus addresses a group that apparently has been claiming to the church at Philadelphia that they are Jews. They are not only not converted Jews, but they are not Jews of any kind. It appears the only synagogue they have ever attended was specifically gathered to learn how to deceive church members. Thus, they are called the synagogue of Satan. Of course, the other possibility is that those Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah were now just as bent on destroying Christianity as was the emperor of Rome. They were therefore referred to as the synagogue of Satan. Either of these are possible interpretations of the text. Either way, Jesus promises the time will come when these false converts will come and bow down at the feet of the true followers of Christ. He closes with, what I believe is proof positive this particular group will be supernaturally protected during the tribulation. “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from (in) the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
The Greek word translated here “from” is en. It can be translated “in” or “from” depending on the context. I deal with this point later. The translators of the NAS demonstrate their pre-tribulation rapture bias here when they translated the word “from.” In this particular case, the context does not make the choice clear. What is clear is that historically, God has kept His chosen safe “in” the midst of the outpouring of His judgment on towns or nations (see Genesis and Exodus). He moved Noah and his family into the ark before the flood (Gen. 6), righteous Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19), before raining down fire and brimstone upon it, and he divinely protected Israel when He poured out His wrath on Pharaoh in Egypt (Ex. 6-12). The most important point of all for us to recognize here is that the church has been undergoing persecution since its inception. The thought that God would remove it during the time of its greatest perse-cution is nonsensical. We have always been God’s light shining in the darkness. And during planet earth’s darkest hour, we’ll be its brightest light.
Jesus finishes His address to the church at Philadelphia with some astonishing promises,
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; 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 My new name. (v. 12)
I’m not sure any of us can fully grasp the magnitude of these statements. This may sound trite, but just imagine you are the CEO of Microsoft. As such, you are a highly respected leader. You have the responsibility to travel world wide to meet with those over whom you have charge. While your job pays well, you have no real life. You work 80-100 hours a week not counting the time spent traveling. If one really thinks about it, such honor is not something the average person would covet. Now imagine you are the CEO of Christ’s Home for Children in heaven.
You need no pay because, absolutely and without limitation, anything you want or need is at your fingertips. You live in a mansion that makes the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (the White House) seem insignificant. Hundreds of servants wait on your every need daily. No matter where you go, everyone knows who you are because you have your corporate seal clearly pasted on everything you own. You have just entered the eternal abode of those who have kept the word and have not denied Jesus’ Name. Oh yeah, one final requirement exists for membership in this exclusive club. You will have had to have overcome the evil one; and one can only overcome the evil one when he has been transformed by the blood of Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5).
As I previously indicated, these seven churches were actual churches which existed at the time John wrote the Revelation. There is no implicit or explicit biblical justification for believing otherwise. I will however focus on the secondary fulfillment of this prophecy to the churches. As I already suggested, all of the problems they faced, false teaching, false believers, idolatry, lusts of the flesh, and immorality, are problems we still face today. What we have perceived to be our greatest blessing, the freedom to worship without government interference, has become the church’s Achilles Heel. Lack of persecution has made us soft and lackadaisical.
We have become like the lukewarm church of Laodicea. Actually, calling us luke warm would probably be exaggerating the temperature of our commitment. As a nation that claims to be Christian, it seems to me that most churches (local bodies of believers) in America are overwhelmingly apathetic. I engage people in conversation regularly, who know very little about Jesus and even less about the gospel. And most of those who profess to know Him aren’t aware we are a spiritual battle in America for the souls of our children in our public schools.
I live in a small rural community of about 5,000 residents in Montana. I teach high school history. Every year, when I begin my history classes we read from a textbook that assumes we all believe planet earth has been around for billions of years. Recently, I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper about the absurdity of such an approach to education. I indicated our textbooks are indoctrinating our children, not educating them. I pointed out that teachers in public education have the obligation to present both the Creation Theory alongside of the Theory of Evolution as explanations for the existence of man. I explained they are both theories and the whole point of education was to present both sides of an argument when there is more than one possibility.
A local resident responded, questioning both my veracity and my sanity. I responded to his response, expressing my dismay that he would attack me personally without bothering to address the point in question. One person, from the entire community, mention that he appreciated my willingness to defend my faith. Evolution is most assuredly a doctrine; and it is also most assuredly the doctrine of demons. It’s a doctrine, the main goal of which is to discredit the doctrine of creation. I have thirty-five or forty Christian friends in this community. Out of all of them, only one commented on the editorials. I find it disconcerting to realize that the majority of people who call themselves Christians in America are either apathetic or they are afraid to speak out against this continuous onslaught by the devil and his unholy angels against God and His word. I t seems most churches in America are filled with Laodiceans. But let’s begin the church at Ephesus.
To the Church at Ephesus
Jesus begins His address to the church at Ephesus describing Himself as, “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” It is worth noting that all of these churches were located in what is today a Muslim nation, Turkey. Paul had a special place in heart for the church in Ephesus. In Acts 19 we read of his encounter with the first group of disciples in Ephesus. These disciples had heard John’s teaching, but had not realized that Jesus had actually come, lived a sinless life, died for the sins of mankind, resurrected from the dead, and had ascended into heaven. When Paul clarified the rest of the gospel for them, they were immediately baptized in the name of Jesus, Paul laid hands on them, and they began speaking in tongues, thus verifying his apostolic authority (Acts 19:6).
Contrary to what some preach, Acts 19:6 doesn’t support the entirely false doctrine that all believers should have the gift of tongues. It was clearly and simply a testimony to Paul’s apostolic authority. It means nothing more than that. Those who would distort the scriptures interpret this verse with no concern for its context. I deal thoroughly with the issue in book on the spiritual gifts. It’s available for anyone who wants to learn more about the subject.
It was in Ephesus that Paul took those disciples out of the local synagogue into the school of Tyrannus where he taught them for two years (Acts 19:9). It was in Ephesus that the seven sons of Sceva attempted to mimic Paul by casting out a demon (Acts 19:13-16). The demon jumped Sceva’s sons, stripped them naked, and caused them to flee the house naked. It was in Ephesus that books of sorcery, worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (approximately fifty thousand day’s wages), were burned (Acts 19:19). The first letter to Timothy was written to him while he was pastoring churches in Ephesus (I Tim. 1:3). It’s difficult to imagine a group of born-again believers sitting under the teaching of the Apostle Paul would lose their first love. Yet the list of their accomplishments is most impressive.
1. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Ephesus? 2:1
2. List the positive things that were going on at Ephesus. 2:2, 3, 6
3. What does Jesus have against the Ephesian church? 2:4
4. What three things does Jesus tell the Ephesians they must do to resolve their problem? 2:5a
a.
b.
c.
5. What does He promise to do if they don’t heed His warning? 2:5b
6. What were Jesus final words to the church at Ephesus? 2:7 (see also 22:1, 2)
The church at Ephesus was filled with people who toiled and persevered; they didn’t tolerate evil men; they tested those who called themselves apostles. They endured. But they had lost their first love. They no longer adored the One who died to set them free. They forgot they were redeemed sinners who were once doomed and determined to spend eternity in hell. They’d forgotten God saved them from the law of sin and death. Though they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans (they despised immorality and wickedness), they needed to return to their first love, Jesus. I Corinthians 13 comes to mind where we are told without love nothing we do is of any eternal significance.
Maybe some of us need to take a moment and think about what life was like before Christ. Sometimes we get caught up in lits many challenges and forget what’s really important. Sometimes our love for Jesus takes a back seat to our lust for life. I recall a story about a man who was told he needed heart bypass surgery that would cost $50,000. He replied, “Do you really think I’d pay $50,000 for you to keep me out of heaven for a few more years?” Perhaps our love for Jesus can be measured by how much we’d be willing to pay to keep us out of heaven.
To the Church at Smyrna
I have been in churches that were very much like the Smyrnan church. They are filled with poor people who are rich in faith. They are also inhabited by those who are religious fanatics but spiritually bankrupt (they think they are spiritual Jews, but they are not). These foolish fanatics were Satan’s pawns (they were a synagogue of Satan). This church, which was ruled by spiritually bankrupt ideologues, had a few in it who were the faithful and true. Those few were admonished to take courage, even though they would soon experience imprisonment for a while, “ten days”. This crew of corrupt church leaders were admonished to repent. Jesus warned that He would make war with them using the matchless word of God to defeat their doctrine of immorality and idolatry. He ended His encouragement to the faithful in Smyrna with the words, “He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” (Rev. 2:11) This second death, of course, is the eternal death that will be experienced by those false church leaders and members of congregations who have spent decades going to church pretending to be saved.
7. How did Jesus describe himself to the church at Smyrna?
8. List Smyrna’ accomplishments. 2:9
9. What did Jesus call the false Jews? 2:9
10. What does Jesus warn the faithful followers of Christ at Smyrna were going to have to endure? 2:10
11. What was His promise to those who were faithful until death? 2:10
12. What were Jesus’ final words to the church at Smyrna? 2:11 (see also Rev. 20:4-6)
This admonition to the leaders of the church at Smyrna is a solemn warning to church leaders today who are willing to sacrifice the purity of God’s word for the approval of men (James 3:1). I have personally spoken to countless pastors and elders who readily admitted they were willing to compromise God’s word rather than see members of the congregation leave. One actually had to audacity to suggest I’d understand the need to compromise when I became more spiritually mature. He was part of that 35% of pastors in America who don’t believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. He was more interested in filling pews with church members who tithed than building warriors who could storm the gates of hell and snatch lost souls from the flames.
Notice, in Smyrna God didn’t bother telling those who were a synagogue of Satan to repent. It seems those teachers had stepped over the line. They would find no room for repentance (Heb. 6:6; 12:17). Jesus’ stern warning to teachers comes again in His words as recorded in Luke 17:1, 2,
“Indeed, it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.”
Beloved, we can’t afford compromise the clear teachings of scripture. Those issues about which there is no clear teaching of scripture (i.e., dancing) are certainly issues that require tolerance for differences in understanding and application. But by their very nature, issues that are clearly taught in scripture divide the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:33). The clear implication of verse 11 is that these compromisers (liars) will be seriously hurt (they will spend eternity in hell) by the second death. Both those who follow false doctrine and those who teach it will spend eternity in hell. Pesonally, I’m convinced those who preach it will have an especially dismal place to spend eternity. They’ll have the hellist place in hell to spend eternity. I believe there is an especially disgusting place in hell reserved for those who teach false doctrine and especially those who claim to be preachers of the word who refuse to teach the whole counsel of God. Their reward will be according to their deeds. I believe they’ll find themselves in the deepest most despicable recesses of the eternal lake of fire for all of forever.
To the Church at Pergamum
I have also been in churches like the one in Pergamum, which, like the Ephesian church, preached the doctrine of Balaam. Balak, the king of the Midianites (Numbers 22-24), tried to get Balaam—a non-Jewish prophet, the son of Beor at Pethor—to curse 600,000 Hebrew warriors as they camped beside his kingdom. The story is a little hard to follow. God tells Balaam not to go with Balak’s messengers, but then tells him to go. On the way, He nearly kills Balaam. Balaam told Balak he couldn’t curse those God blessed (Israel) We don’t discover until we get to the New Testament this Gentile prophet helped Balak plan a strategy that would get Israel to commit lewd acts against the revealed will of God. Realizing he couldn’t curse those whom God blessed, he told Balak they could get Israel to be a curse unto themselves if he could get them to eat unclean food and commit acts of immorality with the Midianite women (II Pet. 2:15; Jude 1:11; Rev. 2:14). While we don’t sacrifice food to idols in America in the strictest sense, there are many similar ideas inherent in the act that are part of our culture (see explanation page 23 re: Jezebel). I’ve known several churches that had members living together out of wedlock whose pastors avoided teaching on the topic of morality for fear of offending them.
When pastors know members of their congregation are indeed practicing any kind of immoral act and refuse to confront them as instructed by Paul in I Corinthians 5 and Jesus in Matthew 18:15-20, they are, by implication, teaching that immorality is not an offense against God.
13. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Pergamum? 2:8
14. What were their accomplishments? 2:13
15. What things did they need to fix? 2:15
16. What was the solution to their problems? 2:16
17. What did Jesus warn them He was going to do if they failed to heed His warning? 2:16b
18. What were Jesus’ final words to the church at Pergamum? 2:17
The church at Pergamos was in the very heart of Satan’s kingdom. It was probably very much like our central city churches in America which are fighting the good fight for the souls of lost creatures. While they were holding fast to the doctrine of God in one sense, in another, they, like the church of Smyrna, had those in their midst who were teaching the doctrine of immorality and idol worship. Like some contemporary televangelists preachers who have been caught up in their own immorality, those leaders preach holiness while living unholiness. They preached the doctrine of slavery to Jesus while worshipping the idols of lust, immorality, and wealth. And it appears these leaders of the church in Pergamum had sufficient control over the local fellowship that church discipline as defined in I Corinthians 5 and Matthew 18 was out of the question. Therefore, those who were faithful to the word were promised the hidden treasure of manna, a white stone, and a new name, the significance of which only its recipients would comprehend.
To the Church at Thyatira
I have been in corrupt churches like the one in Thyatira. It’s difficult to imagine a church with the long list of accomplishments as described in these verses would tolerate a Jezebel, but that’s exactly what this one did. Just try to imagine you’re the visitor in one of these churches. You go to your first adult Sunday school class and have an incredible time of fellowship and learning from a senior citizen who seems to love God with all his heart and to knows His word well. People share experiences where they were faithful through trials and tribulations and you’re even more impressed. You learn the church has a pantry they use to feed the poor and downtrodden. Wow! You think this just might be the church you’ve been looking for all your life. Sunday school ends, you go into the main sanctuary for church and there she sits. The senior pastor gets up and she begins to preach. Jezebel has entered the room.
19. How does Jesus describe himself to the church at Thyatira: 2:18
20. List her accomplishments? 2:19
21. What did they need to fix? 2:20
22. Did Jesus kill Jezebel immediately? 2:21a
23. Did Jezebel respond to her warning? 2:21b
24. What did Jesus say He was going to do to for her failure to repent? 2:22a, 23
25. What did He threaten to do to her bedfellows unless they repented? 2:22c
26. What was the long term purpose of Jesus’ punishment of Jezebel? 2:23b
27. What was Jesus’ promise to those who did not abide in Jezebel’s teaching? 2:24-28
25. What were Jesus final words to the church at Thyatira? 2:29
Jesus had numerous praises for this church. He knew of her deeds, love, faith, service, and perseverance. He even noted that her current deeds were greater than when they began the church in Thyatira. Her problem was that she tolerated the false prophetess, Jezebel, who taught heresy. This woman Jezebel taught two false doctrines rampant in many of today’s churches: 1. Immorality, as strange as it may seem, is alive and well in many of today’s churches. The number of pastors, elders, and deacons who have been divorced and remarried is reaching epidemic proportions. And the number who are having adulterous affairs with members of their congregations is embarrassing. One would be too many, but it seems the rising accounts of unfaithful spouses in pastors households knows no bounds.
Jesus told his listeners all divorce is repugnant to God (Matt. 19:8). Under no circumstance does He define it as a good thing. There are three circumstances however, under which God accounts the separation legitimate: 1. Adultery; 2. desertion by an unbeliever; 3. death.
Adultery (Matt. 5:32; Mark 10:11)
In Matthew 5:32 and Mark 10:11 Jesus makes it clear the sin for which God has clearly stated it is acceptable for the offended believer to divorce the offending spouse is adultery. I believe Ephesians 5:22-33 and I Corinthians 6:18 will help us understand why this is so. Ephesians 5 tells us that the relationship between the husband and wife is a type of the relationship between Christ and His church. I Corinthians 6 tells us that immorality is the dumbest sin of all sin. These two biblical truths place adultery at the top of God’s list of disgusting sins. He doesn’t want His children to be a party to such unholiness, so He tells them they can divorce themselves from one who has breached the covenant of trust he made when they were united in Christ.
There are some who teach it is not essential one to divorce an adulterous spouse. Certainly there is ample evidence to suggest adultery can be forgiven and the marriage covenant continued. My counsel goes something like this: I can forgive the act without continuing in the relationship with the one who committed it. I believe adultery so taints a relationship that both parties are better served by severing the ties of the marriage covenant. I don’t believe in our human bodies and with our human minds we can ever function effectively as a believer of the gospel once such an act has been perpetrated against us. If you believe otherwise, I am sure you have God’s blessing to do whatever He leads you to do. If children are involved, it complicates the situation even more. Weighing the effect the divorce will have on them against the affect of continuing to live with the adulterous spouse is an important consideration. Even the age of the children may determine whether or not one chooses to stay married to the adulterer. The pain that goes with being so betrayed is something that takes most people years to overcome, though a person can begin healing immediately when God’s abundant grace and mercy leads the way.
Desertion by an Unbeliever (I Cor. 7:10-16)
This one is interesting. God knew there would be those who would be converted whose spouses would not. He also knew the converted spouse would always be in a position to bring the unbeliever into a covenant relationship with Him as a result of the believer’s testimony in that relationship. Thus, as long as the unbeliever doesn’t choose to leave the relationship, the believer is instructed to remain. If the unbeliever leaves, the believer is instructed he or she no longer has the responsibility to honor the covenanted vows of marriage. The reason is blatantly obvious. The believer has no control over the life of the unbeliever who chooses to leave a relationship. Thus, through no fault of his/her own, the relationship ends. In that instance, the believer is told he/she is free to remarry as long as he/she marries a believer.
It’s difficult to comprehend the number of people I’ve personally known whose lives have been destroyed by multiple marriages. I’ve known women who have had four or five children and some of them don’t even know for sure who the father is of some of them. I’ve known men who made good money but lived like paupers because they had to pay most of what they earned on alimony and child support. The consequences of the “divorce on demand” philosophy we have fathered in America has wreaked havoc on family life. I strongly suspect the number of dysfunctional families far outnumbers traditional, nourishing, loving two parent homes, even among members of the local church. If we don’t get a handle on the problem in the local church, I fear it will eventually be our undoing. It appears America is coming apart at the seams. Therefore, I reiterate, unless the unbeliever leaves, the believer is commanded to remain in the relationship.
Death (I Cor. 7:39; Rom. 7:1-3)
While this one should be obvious, for some it isn’t. There are some who pine for decades over the loss of a loved one. Such pining is tragic, unbiblical, and unproductive. When a Christian dies, he goes to be with the Lord. That should be a cause for celebration for those left behind. It’s both logical and biblical for the one left behind to grieve for a few weeks, maybe even a few months. Beyond that, it’s counter productive for one to continue to grieve the loss of a loved one. Such grief is usually the result of self-centered egotism that is only heightened by the believer’s loss of a loved one. Life does not end for anyone who still breathes when a loved one goes to be with our heavenly Father. If your spouse dies and you are still at an age when your sexual drives need to be satisfied, you definitely should remarry. I pray if I die before my beloved wife, she celebrates my departure and moves on with her life. She’s already nearly sixty, so whether or not she would choose to remarry is certainly not a mandate. It would be strange indeed for her to mourn my physical death for long while I am in heaven rejoicing with Jesus.
Immorality covers everything from masturbation to adultery. Masturbation, watching triple X rated movies, homosexuality, lesbians, pre-marital sex even by those who vow they are in love, prostitutes, and whores all fit into this category. Please forgive my blunt use of terms, but we have so perverted bible terminology it is nearly impossible to make the appropriate connection sometimes. Masturbation is unbiblical for two reasons: 1. it requires the one doing it to visualize himself with an unknown counterpart having sex with that person for the one masturbating to reach the desired level of sexual gratification. 2. It is self-gratification. Sex, as ordained by God is only acceptable when it is engaged by a man and a woman who have taken the vows of marriage and whose goal is to bring pleasure to the other person (Matt. 5:28; I Thes. 4:3-8; I Cor. 7:1-5).
Homosexuality is a blatant disregard for God’s intended role for sex. His word makes it abundantly clear in Romans 1:27 that both homosexuals and lesbians are committing indecent acts for which they will burn in hell if they do not repent (see also Gal. 5:19, 20). Homosexuality is not an alternative lifestyle; it is a direct affront to the holiness of God. It is a perversion of all that is holy. It is an act that will send those who practice it into eternal hellfire and damnation.
Any form of pre-marital sex is prohibited in scripture. If you are a woman of God reading this, do not allow your male friend to convince you your love for him hinges on whether or not you have sex with him before you are married. If that’s true, your love for one another is incredibly shallow. God calls you to save yourself for that one person He has chosen to share your love. When he comes along, you’ll have no trouble recognizing him. He’ll not pressure you into dishonoring your body so he can experience a fleeting moment of ecstasy.
The number of church goers who are living together out of wedlock is staggering. In 1998 one of the most respected televangelist preachers of conservative churches in America got divorced. He told his congregation before the divorce he would resign his position if he wasn’t able to fix his marriage. When the divorce was final he, all of a sudden, had a vision. He then told his congregation that God had spoken to him in that vision and told him He would move him to another church when He was good and ready. Apparently, not wishing to argue with God, the congregation allowed him to remain on as the senior pastor.
I suggest any pastor, elder, or brother in Christ who knows such a condition exists and doesn’t address it as instructed in Matthew 18 and I Corinthians 5 is teaching by example that immorality is acceptable. And it seems logical and biblical any pastor who has gone through a divorce needs to step back from full time ministry for a time of deep reflection, prayer, and re-evaluation of his calling. A divorce for desertion or adultery shouldn’t disqualify him for pastoral ministry; but it does take a period (sometimes long, sometimes short) of spiritual rehabilitation before a man who experiences it should be allowed to resume pastoral duties.
The reference to eating food sacrificed to idols, was a literal reference in its original context. I suggest for us today it could include anything one indulges daily that feeds his body, soul, and spirit in such a way as to make a separation between himself and God. For example, the number of men in America who feed their souls overwhelming doses of football for at least six months of the year is ever increasing. NASCAR, the NBA, the NHL, boxing, wrestling, and professional baseball are the religions of choice for millions of Americans who also profess to be followers of Christ. Most are faithful church goers until the season of their favorite sport rolls around. Recently, I heard a highly respected conservative televangelist, confess on national television and in front of some three or four thousand members of his church that he’s addicted to Chicago Bulls basketball. He said it in such a light hearted fashion it made most of his audience laugh. God forgive us for thinking such foolishness is the least bit comical.
We in America are eating food sacrificed to idols in this figurative sense in epic proportions today; and the truly sad thing is our universal refusal to understand why so many of these events are often scheduled on Sunday mornings. We prefer to call this addiction to sports stress relief, relaxation, or a little time for ourselves. Of course all of these labels are created to appease the minds of those who don’t wish to call them sin. Excuses are always worth what you pay for them. He who is a liar from the beginning has made this one so very palatable. Few sports are inherently evil, but spending more than a very occasional amount of time once in while watching them is at best bad stewardship of one’s time; and we’re supposed to be “redeeming the time because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5). Furthermore, missing the opportunity to grow in the faith or minister one’s gift to watch 30 seconds of a sporting event is most assuredly a complete waste of time. When they began paying twenty-two year old boys millions of dollars to play a game, I figured that one out without any help. Gorging oneself on hours of any professional sport is very much like the sin of eating food sacrificed to idols.
It seems when a person spends inordinate amount of time viewing or participating in sports, his love for Jesus begins growing cold (Is. 59:1-3). He discovers the power and joy he once had fellowshipping with God in his local church begins waning. After an extended period of such foolishness, one’s love for Jesus will grow cold; he’ll find himself glibly following the ritual of occasional church attendance, feigned love for the brethren, praying over meals, saying an occasional, amen at something the preacher says, and he may even take the opportunity to teach a class for a few Sunday mornings or lead a connections group once a week in someone’s home.
I knew a man who regularly missed church during the high school girl’s basketball state playoffs. He had committed himself to lead music in his local church, but during the playoffs, he was often gone. By attending those games and allowing his children to play in them, he was inadvertently teaching them church attendance wasn’t as important as basketball playoffs. One of two things was true in that brother’s life. Either the preaching and teaching in his local church was so lackluster and powerless that he really believed he wasn’t missing much, or his confession of faith was sorely lacking in substance.
I’ve taught bible studies for decades and have discovered that few who attend them are willing to spend any time at all during the week preparing for the coming study. As a teacher in the public school system, I expected teens to treat public education with such disdain. We seldom had anything significant to teach them, so it’s little wonder the average teenaged boy or girl doesn’t take what we teach seriously. But, when one who professes to be a Christian, doesn’t think it’s important to study a given lesson daily in preparation for class, I have to wonder if that brother has any kind of relationship with Jesus to begin with.
Jesus describes four different reactions people have to the gospel (Matt. 13). There are some who are compared to the rocky soil, a metaphor of the one who receives the word with joy, but has no firm root, so that when the temptations of the world come along, he easily yields to them and falls away from the pure love and doctrine of Christ. While his body is at most of those events in the life of the church that make him appear to be saved, he continually gorges himself with food sacrificed to idols. And those who don’t repent will suffer the same fate as Jezebel. They will be thrown onto a bed of sickness and into a time of great tribulation. If you are one who has been deceived into thinking a few hours a week feeding your soul with sports is harmless, I challenge you to start spending equal time each week studying to show yourself approved unto God. It’s not likely His eternal kingdom will be filled with many who gorged themselves with food sacrificed to idols. Jesus won’t play second fiddle to the NFL, NASCAR, the NBA, or any other god.
God promises to the members of the Thyatiran Church that each of them will receive from Him according to their deeds. Those who hold fast until He comes, he who overcomes and keeps His deeds until the end, will receive authority over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron. The promise of the morning star is a promise that the one who endures will finally know Jesus in all His fullness at that time. He is the bright and morning star (cf. Rev. 22:16 with II Peter 1:19).
To the Church at Sardis
In chapter 3 John addresses the last three churches, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Of course, I trust everyone realizes there were no chapter divisions in the original writings. If it helps you remember these churches in the order they are addressed I use the letters E S P T S P L to help me remember them. I just find grouping the first letters of each church in groups of three makes them easier to remember.
God’s reprimand of the church at Sardis is rather pointed.
1. How does Jesus describe himself? 3:1a
2. What are their deeds? 3:1b
3. What is Jesus’ warning? 3:2, 3
4. What is the only redeeming words Jesus has to Say about this church? 3:4
5. What does “they have not soiled their garments” mean?
6. What does “they will walk with me in white,” mean?
7. What three promises does Jesus make to those who overcome? 3:5
a.
b.
c.
8. What are Jesus’ final words to the church at Sardis? 3:6
He knows this church has a reputation it is alive when in actuality it is dead. He warns them to wake up and strengthen what remains, remember what they have received and heard and keep it. It is clear the church at Sardis had, at one time, received good teaching. Verse 4 indicates some were still abiding in that teaching. Those received the promise that they will walk with Jesus in white, for they are worthy. The phrase “he who overcomes” is used numerous times in scripture. It is a reference to those who have made a profession of faith that was genuine. All of scripture makes it abundantly clear that anyone who does not overcome only fails to do so because the Holy Spirit has never regenerated his dead spirit, thus they have no power to overcome.
This church was like the hundreds in America today which are packed with healthy, wealthy, and prosperous men and women who, like the Pharisees to whom Jesus spoke, appear to be religious, but inwardly they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness (cf. Matt. 23:27, 28). Each week the pastors of these infamous churches make sure to have famous personalities entertain their congregations before they deliver sermons filled with possibility thinking and the, I’m okay, your okay psycho-babble begun by Dr. Robert Schuler and Norman Vincent Peal. It seems most of these preachers of the health, wealth, and prosperity doctrine have memorized only one verse in their entire lives which they quote without regard to its context. Of course, it never occurs to these wolves in sheep’s clothing to know the context of a verse. One isn’t concerned about such things when he is purposefully using God’s word to mislead the sheep. These would be prophets quote Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” as if it is a promise from God to obtain health, wealth, and prosperity. In actuality, it is a proclamation by Paul that in spite of the incredible trials, tribulations, and misery he has had to face, he is standing firm in the gospel because God has strengthened him to do so. He has learned to live in poverty, pain, anguish, and suffering with joy in his heart because God strengthens him. This biblical truth is the antithesis of what the health, wealth, and prosperity preachers would like the whore mongering goats they call sheep to believe.
And the reason it is so important for them to get their disciples to believe such foolishness is that they can then convince these fools all they have to do is give money to their ministries and God will enable them to “do all things” (i.e., get rich) as a reward for their faithfulness. The real tragedy is that occasionally one of their followers does actually get rich, which only serves to perpetuate the lie. I sometimes wonder how many of the famous people they have entertain their goats even care or know how utterly ridiculous they appear as they stand beside these wolves in sheep’s clothing talking of how God has blessed them so.
Beloved, if you are a follower of any preacher who has convinced you God wants you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, run as fast as your feet can carry you out of that church to one that is preaching that we must bear our cross daily if we wish to be a follower of Jesus. We must die to the lusts of the flesh each and every moment of this life before we can live to Christ. That is the gospel preached by Jesus, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Jude, James, and the writer of Hebrews. It is not a gospel of prosperity; it is a gospel of self-sacrifice and humility. And such a life can only be lived by one who is indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God almighty.
Dying to the self daily does not necessarily mean one will have to suffer physically, emotionally, or economically each and every day he follows Christ. Paul makes it clear he experienced times when he had more than enough to meet his own personal needs and he also experienced times when he didn’t have the bare necessities (Phil. 4:11, 12). The point is that a believer doesn’t need to make sure he is in a place where he suffers for Christ. Jesus has not called any of us to take the vows of a nun or a priest of the Catholic Church. He has not called anyone to go to a convent to live a life separated physically from the world. As a matter of biblical fact, Paul teaches the exact opposite of that idea in I Corinthians 5:9-11. It is categorically absurd to think that anyone can be a warrior for Christ while locked up in a place where he has no contact with the outside world. We can’t be lights shining in the darkness if we are hiding under a table.
I counsel inmates at the local county lockup facility on a regular basis who think what they need to do when they get out of jail is to move to some other city where they will not have to deal with the people they hung around with who helped them get into trouble in the first place. I suppose there are times when such a move is warranted, but I suggest that unless the prior acquaintance poses a physical threat to one’s health, the counselee needs to seriously consider God’s promises as found in places like I Corinthians 10:13,
“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
It isn’t the temptation that gets anyone into trouble; it is when one yields to that temptation, to do something he knows is displeasing to God that he falls into sin. And beloved, temptation is present in every nook and cranny of every city, suburb, or podunk town in the world. If a woman is being physically abused by her husband, it might well be necessary for her to move to an area where he can’t find her so he can’t physically abuse her. God may choose to protect her from such a threat right where she stands, but he might also choose to move her to another location. He spoke to Jacob and told him to move back home because his father-in-law meant to do him harm (Gen. 31).
I think great wealth is usually more of a curse than a blessing. It is the rare man or woman who can live meekly when he makes over a million dollars a year. Such people are rarely rich in faith. Jesus taught on more than one occasion that those who live in luxury during this life will not do so in the life to come (Luke 16:25). In America, I think we have lost sight of what true poverty is. The overwhelming majority of the world’s population would be thrilled to live at the economic level we have labeled poverty in this country. I’m actually embarrassed when a missionary writes me personally and asks for a $50 donation to help him meet his minimal needs for a rather extended period of time. I can easily spend $50 on one meal at a local restaurant. Beloved, we need to wake up in America and smell the burning souls of sinners who are going to continue burning for all eternity if we don’t reassess our priorities and begin living sacrificial lives. There is little point in sharing with others about the atoning work and sacrifice of Christ on the cross for the sins of mankind while we continue living self-indulgent lives (James 2:14-16).
To the Church at Philadelphia
The Philadelphian church (3:7-13) is the second church that is lauded as faithful in all things. Jesus had nothing corrective to say to the church at Smyrna; and he has nothing corrective to say to this church at Philadelphia.
9. How does Jesus describe himself? 3:7
10. What is Jesus putting before the Philadelphian church? 3:8a Discuss what “the open door mean.” cf with opening comment to this church
11. What are the Philadelphian church’s good deeds? 3:8b
a.
b.
c.
Once again we see this reference to those who are a “synagogue of Satan.” 3:9a cf. 2:9
11. What is Jesus going to do to those liars? 3:9b
12. What special promise did Jesus make to the Philadelphians, and why? 3:10
13. What were Jesus parting promises to the church at Philadelphia? 3:11-13
It is interesting to note that Jesus knows her deeds (II Chron. 16:9; Heb 5:15; 12:1, 2; I Pet. 3:10-12). He acknowledged that this church was relatively powerless. It is also noteworthy that He praised her for keeping His word, and not denying His name. It is especially interesting to me that Jesus did not praise this church because it was overflowing with superstars from Hollywood or some professional sport jock. Not even one gladiator is mentioned. This church’s commendation comes from the simple fact that she is keeping the word and not denying His name. God’s warning to any pastor/teacher who may be reading this is that you keep the word and do not deny His name. Nothing you do as a pastor/teacher is more important than that you preach and teach God’s word faithfully and in its entirety. Do not allow anyone to suggest you ignore any part of God’s revelation so you can remain politically and culturally correct.
Democracy promotes tolerance of homosexuals, lesbians, and the idea that women can do anything a man can do. God’s word does not. God’s word teaches men and women can be forgiven of any sin against God but the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But it does teach homosexuals, lesbians, liars, murderers, thieves and everyone else who has violated the clear teaching of God’s word are all going to hell when they die unless they repent (Gal. 5:19-21). These activities are not alternative life styles; they are not cultural norms; they are sin; and before anyone practicing them can be follow Jesus, he must repent of them, confess Jesus as Lord and God, believe God raised Him from the dead, be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins, take up his cross, and carry it daily (Acts 3:38, 39; Rom. 10:9).
In verse 9 Jesus addresses a group that apparently has been claiming to the church at Philadelphia that they are Jews. They are not only not converted Jews, but they are not Jews of any kind. It appears the only synagogue they have ever attended was specifically gathered to learn how to deceive church members. Thus, they are called the synagogue of Satan. Of course, the other possibility is that those Jews who had rejected Jesus as the Messiah were now just as bent on destroying Christianity as was the emperor of Rome. They were therefore referred to as the synagogue of Satan. Either of these are possible interpretations of the text. Either way, Jesus promises the time will come when these false converts will come and bow down at the feet of the true followers of Christ. He closes with, what I believe is proof positive this particular group will be supernaturally protected during the tribulation. “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from (in) the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
The Greek word translated here “from” is en. It can be translated “in” or “from” depending on the context. I deal with this point later. The translators of the NAS demonstrate their pre-tribulation rapture bias here when they translated the word “from.” In this particular case, the context does not make the choice clear. What is clear is that historically, God has kept His chosen safe “in” the midst of the outpouring of His judgment on towns or nations (see Genesis and Exodus). He moved Noah and his family into the ark before the flood (Gen. 6), righteous Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19), before raining down fire and brimstone upon it, and he divinely protected Israel when He poured out His wrath on Pharaoh in Egypt (Ex. 6-12). The most important point of all for us to recognize here is that the church has been undergoing persecution since its inception. The thought that God would remove it during the time of its greatest perse-cution is nonsensical. We have always been God’s light shining in the darkness. And during planet earth’s darkest hour, we’ll be its brightest light.
Jesus finishes His address to the church at Philadelphia with some astonishing promises,
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; 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 My new name. (v. 12)
I’m not sure any of us can fully grasp the magnitude of these statements. This may sound trite, but just imagine you are the CEO of Microsoft. As such, you are a highly respected leader. You have the responsibility to travel world wide to meet with those over whom you have charge. While your job pays well, you have no real life. You work 80-100 hours a week not counting the time spent traveling. If one really thinks about it, such honor is not something the average person would covet. Now imagine you are the CEO of Christ’s Home for Children in heaven.
You need no pay because, absolutely and without limitation, anything you want or need is at your fingertips. You live in a mansion that makes the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. (the White House) seem insignificant. Hundreds of servants wait on your every need daily. No matter where you go, everyone knows who you are because you have your corporate seal clearly pasted on everything you own. You have just entered the eternal abode of those who have kept the word and have not denied Jesus’ Name. Oh yeah, one final requirement exists for membership in this exclusive club. You will have had to have overcome the evil one; and one can only overcome the evil one when he has been transformed by the blood of Christ (II Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5).
Friday, February 26, 2010
Children of the Tribulation (Rev. 1:9)
February 26
I love the book of Revelation. I read something in chapter 1 that really struck me this morning. In verse 9 John identifies himself as our “brother and fellow partaker of the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, . . .” His words opened my eyes to something I had never before considered in the past dozens of times I have read this book. We are already living in the tribulation. Of course, it’s not final seven years of tribulation which John is about to tell the church will be much more severe in many ways than what they were experiencing at the time; but the fact is the posture of churches all over the world was completely different in the first century than it is today, because they believed they were living in the tribulation.
In contrast, we in America believe we are not being persecuted, that we can worship when and where and how we please. And, of course, theoretically that is still true. But all one has to do is suggest a particular local church is not doing things exactly as prescribed in God’s word today and he’ll quickly discover what tribulation, persecution, and perseverance is. One will quickly learn how incredibly shallow friendships are among Christians if he has the unmitigated gall to suggest the local church is wasting money or that the local pastor is possibly doing things unbecoming a pastor. You’ll quickly discover it isn’t acceptable to have an opinion, even if it is based solidly on scripture, and express it in any public forum. It’s truly amazing how entire denominations will fall lock step behind a local pastor if he graduated from one of their own hallowed bible institutes. The thought one of them could be corrupted by his own lust for money is apparently not in their list of possible scenarios for a local church pastor.
I’ll close today’s instruction by posing the following food for thought. Has it ever entered your mind that in today’s churches all across this land it just might be the men standing behind the pulpits who are the real wolves? Maybe, just maybe, it would be an idea worth trying to be as the honorable Bereans of Acts 17:11 were and check everything they are preaching against the word of God. Just a thought. Maybe we would do well to test the axiom to know them by their fruits. If hey're not living sacrificially, for example, their fruit stinks. If they're frequently failing to maintain a calm demeanor with anyone who challenges their thinking or when the sound system doesn't meet their expectations, their fruit stinks. If they call other people's ideas stupid, their fruit stinks. If they preach one thing and do another, their fruit stinks. If they refuse to acknowledge their own sin and confess it immediately, their fruit stinks. If their an ineffectual parent, their fruit stinks, If they have a well earned bad reputation with those outside the church, their fruit stinks. If they don't deal with church discipline in a biblical manner, their fruit stinks. Wow! Could someone who really preaches well but has a lot of stinky fruit be a wolf in sheep's cloth
I'm considering doing some research. I think I'm going to go to a different church each Sunday for the next 17 weeks (there are 17 churches in our community), recording the pastor's sermon, and checking its contents against the light of God's word on this blog for the following week. It should be an eye opener. I’ve decided this morning that my next exhaustive study is going to be titled "Who are the Real Wolves?" According to the apostle John, we are living in the tribulation. By comparing preaching in churches across this land today to God’s word, I believe we’ll discover who the real wolves are; and then we’ll be able to avoid getting too comfortable in one of their pastures. I report. You decide.
I really am weary of dealing with the arrogant childish rantings of bible school graduates who seem to think their degree gives them some divine authority to be the big cahuna of the church where they preach. Jesus is the only true Big Cahuna, the only true Chief Shepherd, and the only true Senior Pastor. Do you think we are not in the tribulation? Copy this blog and give it to your pastor. It won't be long after you do so that you'll learn who your true friends are. And if you discover you have none, praise God! It's better to enter the kingdom of God with one good hand than to enter hell with two. Now, go and tell someone what great things God has done for you today.
I love the book of Revelation. I read something in chapter 1 that really struck me this morning. In verse 9 John identifies himself as our “brother and fellow partaker of the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, . . .” His words opened my eyes to something I had never before considered in the past dozens of times I have read this book. We are already living in the tribulation. Of course, it’s not final seven years of tribulation which John is about to tell the church will be much more severe in many ways than what they were experiencing at the time; but the fact is the posture of churches all over the world was completely different in the first century than it is today, because they believed they were living in the tribulation.
In contrast, we in America believe we are not being persecuted, that we can worship when and where and how we please. And, of course, theoretically that is still true. But all one has to do is suggest a particular local church is not doing things exactly as prescribed in God’s word today and he’ll quickly discover what tribulation, persecution, and perseverance is. One will quickly learn how incredibly shallow friendships are among Christians if he has the unmitigated gall to suggest the local church is wasting money or that the local pastor is possibly doing things unbecoming a pastor. You’ll quickly discover it isn’t acceptable to have an opinion, even if it is based solidly on scripture, and express it in any public forum. It’s truly amazing how entire denominations will fall lock step behind a local pastor if he graduated from one of their own hallowed bible institutes. The thought one of them could be corrupted by his own lust for money is apparently not in their list of possible scenarios for a local church pastor.
I’ll close today’s instruction by posing the following food for thought. Has it ever entered your mind that in today’s churches all across this land it just might be the men standing behind the pulpits who are the real wolves? Maybe, just maybe, it would be an idea worth trying to be as the honorable Bereans of Acts 17:11 were and check everything they are preaching against the word of God. Just a thought. Maybe we would do well to test the axiom to know them by their fruits. If hey're not living sacrificially, for example, their fruit stinks. If they're frequently failing to maintain a calm demeanor with anyone who challenges their thinking or when the sound system doesn't meet their expectations, their fruit stinks. If they call other people's ideas stupid, their fruit stinks. If they preach one thing and do another, their fruit stinks. If they refuse to acknowledge their own sin and confess it immediately, their fruit stinks. If their an ineffectual parent, their fruit stinks, If they have a well earned bad reputation with those outside the church, their fruit stinks. If they don't deal with church discipline in a biblical manner, their fruit stinks. Wow! Could someone who really preaches well but has a lot of stinky fruit be a wolf in sheep's cloth
I'm considering doing some research. I think I'm going to go to a different church each Sunday for the next 17 weeks (there are 17 churches in our community), recording the pastor's sermon, and checking its contents against the light of God's word on this blog for the following week. It should be an eye opener. I’ve decided this morning that my next exhaustive study is going to be titled "Who are the Real Wolves?" According to the apostle John, we are living in the tribulation. By comparing preaching in churches across this land today to God’s word, I believe we’ll discover who the real wolves are; and then we’ll be able to avoid getting too comfortable in one of their pastures. I report. You decide.
I really am weary of dealing with the arrogant childish rantings of bible school graduates who seem to think their degree gives them some divine authority to be the big cahuna of the church where they preach. Jesus is the only true Big Cahuna, the only true Chief Shepherd, and the only true Senior Pastor. Do you think we are not in the tribulation? Copy this blog and give it to your pastor. It won't be long after you do so that you'll learn who your true friends are. And if you discover you have none, praise God! It's better to enter the kingdom of God with one good hand than to enter hell with two. Now, go and tell someone what great things God has done for you today.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Why Did God Choose Me? (Eph. 1:4-12; Rom. 8:29-30; Jn. 6:35-40, 15:16)
February 25
The doctrines of election and predestination are likely two of the most difficult for many to accept. They are ones with which I spent many years struggling. I must confess, the major reason I didn’t want to believe salvation was entirely a work of God was that it meant I did not nor am I capable of doing anything to save myself. Even after studying God’s word intensely for years and walking with Him daily, I had a hard time accepting the thought that I had nothing to offer God that would make Him want to save me. Those who accept the doctrine fit into two categories: 1. God chose those who would be part of His eternal kingdom before the foundation of the word, and His choice was based on nothing defined in scripture other than the fact that it is the right of the Creator to do with creation what He wills (Rom. 9:15-18; Jer. 18:6). 2. God knows the future, so he chooses those whom He effectually calls because He knows in advance who will respond to His call. I have difficult time with number 2 because it goes against so many verses. Romans 3:10-18 make it clear all men are totally depraved, incapable of doing anything pleasing to God without God’s intervention. Ephesians 2:8-10 indicates even the faith to believe is a gift from God.
I think the answer is a little easier than we usually make it. It isn’t necessary to deny that salvation is offered to anyone who will take it and also believe only the elect will take it. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what most of the letter to the Romans tells us. God offers salvation to any who will accept it, but none will accept it unless God regenerates man’s dead soul, so he is capable of responding to God’s provision (Titus 3:5).
Finally, once a person understands this doctrine, he is free to truly respond to God’s love and choice of him, knowing it is not because of his good works that God chose him, so no amount of good works will cause God to keep him in the faith. We are kept by the power of God because He is God. Once this truth is understood, one is free to be obedient to God’s call without any fear or pride in whatever it is God calls him to do. Once a man realizes going to Brazil to preach the gospel to complete strangers will not earn him a higher grade on God’s report card, he can go to Brazil to preach the gospel to complete strangers because of his overwhelming love and appreciation for God. Knowing I did nothing to merit God’s choice helps me realize I can do nothing to merit his continued love and care for me.
The doctrines mean that before the foundation of the world God chose you (election). He then predetermined your entire life and makes you responsible to fulfill it with under His continued care and guidance. When we do those things which bring glory and honor to Him, it is an example in our lives of His perfect will. When we do things incorrectly, not in complete harmony with His perfect will, we are fully responsible for our actions (agency), because God never tempts us to do evil nor does he fail to provide us with the opportunity to always do right (II Cor. 10:13; James 1:13). Now, go and tell someone what great things He has done for you.
The doctrines of election and predestination are likely two of the most difficult for many to accept. They are ones with which I spent many years struggling. I must confess, the major reason I didn’t want to believe salvation was entirely a work of God was that it meant I did not nor am I capable of doing anything to save myself. Even after studying God’s word intensely for years and walking with Him daily, I had a hard time accepting the thought that I had nothing to offer God that would make Him want to save me. Those who accept the doctrine fit into two categories: 1. God chose those who would be part of His eternal kingdom before the foundation of the word, and His choice was based on nothing defined in scripture other than the fact that it is the right of the Creator to do with creation what He wills (Rom. 9:15-18; Jer. 18:6). 2. God knows the future, so he chooses those whom He effectually calls because He knows in advance who will respond to His call. I have difficult time with number 2 because it goes against so many verses. Romans 3:10-18 make it clear all men are totally depraved, incapable of doing anything pleasing to God without God’s intervention. Ephesians 2:8-10 indicates even the faith to believe is a gift from God.
I think the answer is a little easier than we usually make it. It isn’t necessary to deny that salvation is offered to anyone who will take it and also believe only the elect will take it. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what most of the letter to the Romans tells us. God offers salvation to any who will accept it, but none will accept it unless God regenerates man’s dead soul, so he is capable of responding to God’s provision (Titus 3:5).
Finally, once a person understands this doctrine, he is free to truly respond to God’s love and choice of him, knowing it is not because of his good works that God chose him, so no amount of good works will cause God to keep him in the faith. We are kept by the power of God because He is God. Once this truth is understood, one is free to be obedient to God’s call without any fear or pride in whatever it is God calls him to do. Once a man realizes going to Brazil to preach the gospel to complete strangers will not earn him a higher grade on God’s report card, he can go to Brazil to preach the gospel to complete strangers because of his overwhelming love and appreciation for God. Knowing I did nothing to merit God’s choice helps me realize I can do nothing to merit his continued love and care for me.
The doctrines mean that before the foundation of the world God chose you (election). He then predetermined your entire life and makes you responsible to fulfill it with under His continued care and guidance. When we do those things which bring glory and honor to Him, it is an example in our lives of His perfect will. When we do things incorrectly, not in complete harmony with His perfect will, we are fully responsible for our actions (agency), because God never tempts us to do evil nor does he fail to provide us with the opportunity to always do right (II Cor. 10:13; James 1:13). Now, go and tell someone what great things He has done for you.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
How Secure are the Saints? (II Peter 1:10, 11)
February 24
The major problem with the concept many conservative preachers call the security of the saints is that many don’t do a very good job of explaining what it means. The bible is full of paradoxes. There are some passages that, upon first glance, appear to contradict others. That's why it's so very important we not take a single passage and develop a doctrine from it. For example, John 10:29 makes it clear no one is able to snatch any of God’s sheep from His hand. Then, we read passages like Hebrews 3:12 and 6:4-8 and conclude they are referring to a person who was once a believer losing his salvation. I have no illusions I’ll be able to clear up this issue in one short daily instruction. At least one entire denomination got started over it, so it isn’t likely I’ll be able to set the issue to rest here. What I will do is provide food for thought that I pray will stimulate readers to examine the issue further. It is an important issue, though I don't think it is one that should be divisive.
If one examines the Hebrews verses, he can easily conclude the writer was not talking about the Christian who once tasted the goodness of God. I believe to have become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, in this context simply meant they dwelt for a while in the midst of a godly group of men and women (a church) and witnessed the glory of the living God in their midst. According to the writer of Hebrews, if one has had that experience and then returned to their old lifestyle, they have crucified to themselves the Son of God again and put Him to open shame. For those who do that, it will be impossible to renew them again to repentance. I can’t count the number of people with whom I have spoken over the past three plus decades who believe they are in that category. When they ask me if God will accept their repentance, I answer by telling them the very fact they desire to repent indicates they are not beyond His grace and mercy. It is the evidence the writer of Hebrews was not addressing them.
II Peter 1:10, 11 is a warning to any in the church who are resting on their pious laurels. Peter warns his readers to continue practicing the things about which he has just spoken: diligence, faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. He promises them as long as they practice those things, they will not stumble, and their entrance into the eternal kingdom will be abundantly supplied. Of course, that implies some will enter the kingdom with the smell of hell's fire on their clothing. I Corinthians 3:14, 15 and Jude 1:22, 23 seem to clearly support that idea.
In closing, I would like to make it clear I believe those who have truly been elected, pre-destined, effectually called, regenerated, born-again, confessed sin and repented in faith, sanctified, justified, confess Jesus and Lord, believe God raised him from the dead, and take up their cross daily and follow Him can be absolutely confident they will enter His kingdom upon death or His return for us all. Such people will be glorified at Christ’s second coming.
On the same note, however, it is clear there are great multitudes in churches around the world today who don't meet God's criteria as indicated above. If you’re one of those, I urge you to correct the problem. If you fail to do so, YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN HELL! No good works you do will ever change that.
The major problem with the concept many conservative preachers call the security of the saints is that many don’t do a very good job of explaining what it means. The bible is full of paradoxes. There are some passages that, upon first glance, appear to contradict others. That's why it's so very important we not take a single passage and develop a doctrine from it. For example, John 10:29 makes it clear no one is able to snatch any of God’s sheep from His hand. Then, we read passages like Hebrews 3:12 and 6:4-8 and conclude they are referring to a person who was once a believer losing his salvation. I have no illusions I’ll be able to clear up this issue in one short daily instruction. At least one entire denomination got started over it, so it isn’t likely I’ll be able to set the issue to rest here. What I will do is provide food for thought that I pray will stimulate readers to examine the issue further. It is an important issue, though I don't think it is one that should be divisive.
If one examines the Hebrews verses, he can easily conclude the writer was not talking about the Christian who once tasted the goodness of God. I believe to have become a partaker of the Holy Spirit, in this context simply meant they dwelt for a while in the midst of a godly group of men and women (a church) and witnessed the glory of the living God in their midst. According to the writer of Hebrews, if one has had that experience and then returned to their old lifestyle, they have crucified to themselves the Son of God again and put Him to open shame. For those who do that, it will be impossible to renew them again to repentance. I can’t count the number of people with whom I have spoken over the past three plus decades who believe they are in that category. When they ask me if God will accept their repentance, I answer by telling them the very fact they desire to repent indicates they are not beyond His grace and mercy. It is the evidence the writer of Hebrews was not addressing them.
II Peter 1:10, 11 is a warning to any in the church who are resting on their pious laurels. Peter warns his readers to continue practicing the things about which he has just spoken: diligence, faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. He promises them as long as they practice those things, they will not stumble, and their entrance into the eternal kingdom will be abundantly supplied. Of course, that implies some will enter the kingdom with the smell of hell's fire on their clothing. I Corinthians 3:14, 15 and Jude 1:22, 23 seem to clearly support that idea.
In closing, I would like to make it clear I believe those who have truly been elected, pre-destined, effectually called, regenerated, born-again, confessed sin and repented in faith, sanctified, justified, confess Jesus and Lord, believe God raised him from the dead, and take up their cross daily and follow Him can be absolutely confident they will enter His kingdom upon death or His return for us all. Such people will be glorified at Christ’s second coming.
On the same note, however, it is clear there are great multitudes in churches around the world today who don't meet God's criteria as indicated above. If you’re one of those, I urge you to correct the problem. If you fail to do so, YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN HELL! No good works you do will ever change that.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The Consequences of Idolatry (Judges 2:6-15)
February 22
What happens to a nation that forsakes its God? In Judges 2 we read about the death of Joshua and all the elders who had lived during his life. As soon as that entire generation died off, Israel deserted their God and began worshiping false idols. In verses 13-15 we read,
“So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so they were severely distressed.”
It is the consensus of God’s word that we in America have forsaken our God. We have gone after the idols of football, basketball, baseball, hockey, NASCAR, Formula One, hunting, fishing, Brad Pitt, Paul Newman, Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Miley Ray Cyrus, and computerized games, ad infinitum. The amount of time our children and adults spend on everything but studying God’s word, worshiping him, and helping the lost know how they can enter the kingdom of God is miniscule when compared to the amount of time we watch commercials, much less the programs they pay millions to become sponsors of. Parents who take their children to sporting events out of town and still make it a point to attend church services in the town where the event occurs if they are there on typical days they would be in church are certainly the exception to the rule.
Several people I once actually believed loved God recently got rather perturbed at me, one actually didn’t speak to me for weeks, because I had the gall to suggest their detailed knowledge of baseball and its players indicated they probably spent way too much time watching it. A local pastor actually cancelled a group he was supposed to be leading one Sunday evening because he wanted instead to go out hunting for that ever so illusive big buck. I recall one elder missed church once to enter a destruction derby of some kind a few hundred miles from his home. When confronted about it by another elder, he went complaining to another elder about how he had been attacked. Get it? Sin is a vicious circle that never ends until it is uncovered, confessed, and abandoned. Verse 10 of the second chapter of Judges is really quite revealing,
“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.”
Why do you suppose the generation after Joshua did not know the Lord? If today’s generation is any indication of what has happened historically, I suggest the answer is quite simple. Children learn to do what they observe their parents doing. It does little good for parents to take their children to church every Sunday and to children’s programs throughout the week if they miss church and/or bible studies to take their children to a school function that just happens to be scheduled at the same time. Unfortunately, what most of those parents don’t realize is the opportunity to choose between studying God’s word and doing something else is usually a test presented by God to determine intended to give them a chance to demonstrate their own priorities.
James 1:3 makes it clear the reason so many never mature is that they constantly fail tests provided by God which He uses to determine their allegiance. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Of course, the endurance can only be produced when we pass the test. The phrase peirasmois peripesete suggests more the meaning of falling into temptation than encountering something like a difficult trial. It is literally translated trials you should be falling into. Every single minute of every single day of every single week of every single year of every single decade each of us makes millions of decisions. When one works eight to ten hours a day at a job, he has little extra time daily to watch things like his favorite sport. If he chooses to do that, rather than spend that same amount of time studying God’s word, he demonstrates daily for his children and wife what his priorities are.
In closing today’s instruction, I would like to admit, I probably spend way too much time watching national, international, and local news and commentary on it. I also watch “G” rated things like Cosby and Little House on the Prairie way too much. I am retired and get weary after spending seven or eight hours studying God’s word and writing things like this daily instruction. When I worked eight or nine hours a day, I spent at least four hours most days studying and writing. Even then I probably watched way too much news. Parents’ priorities in this life should be God, his church, each other, their children, their friends and acquaintances, and their jobs in that order. Their jobs must reflect their spiritual, personal, and social values in that order. Any job that interferes with one’s ability to maintain those priorities in that order and balanced, is the wrong job for one to continue doing, period.
I can’t begin to count the number of men and women I’ve personally dealt with this last year alone who have given up their spiritual life or a significant portion of it for a “good” job. Their incessant excuse is that they have been given the responsibility by God to take care of their families. Most of them have two or more cell phones. Most of their children past the age of five have their own cell phones. Their children have Game Boys, televisions in their bedrooms, personal computers, and myriads of other things no one on planet earth needs. And they continue to excuse their unbalanced lives as divinely blessed because, they claim, God wants them to take care of their wife and children. Of course God wants men and women to care for their children. He expects them to nurture them, teach them His word, provide them with food, clothing, and shelter, and leave them some kind of inheritance. But in most places in America, that can be done on a great deal less income than most married couples make.
You’re constantly being tested. You’ll have many opportunities in the coming days, months, and years to demonstrate your priorities to God. Will you pass the test? (II Cor. 13:5)
What happens to a nation that forsakes its God? In Judges 2 we read about the death of Joshua and all the elders who had lived during his life. As soon as that entire generation died off, Israel deserted their God and began worshiping false idols. In verses 13-15 we read,
“So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and he sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so they were severely distressed.”
It is the consensus of God’s word that we in America have forsaken our God. We have gone after the idols of football, basketball, baseball, hockey, NASCAR, Formula One, hunting, fishing, Brad Pitt, Paul Newman, Danny Glover, Mel Gibson, Miley Ray Cyrus, and computerized games, ad infinitum. The amount of time our children and adults spend on everything but studying God’s word, worshiping him, and helping the lost know how they can enter the kingdom of God is miniscule when compared to the amount of time we watch commercials, much less the programs they pay millions to become sponsors of. Parents who take their children to sporting events out of town and still make it a point to attend church services in the town where the event occurs if they are there on typical days they would be in church are certainly the exception to the rule.
Several people I once actually believed loved God recently got rather perturbed at me, one actually didn’t speak to me for weeks, because I had the gall to suggest their detailed knowledge of baseball and its players indicated they probably spent way too much time watching it. A local pastor actually cancelled a group he was supposed to be leading one Sunday evening because he wanted instead to go out hunting for that ever so illusive big buck. I recall one elder missed church once to enter a destruction derby of some kind a few hundred miles from his home. When confronted about it by another elder, he went complaining to another elder about how he had been attacked. Get it? Sin is a vicious circle that never ends until it is uncovered, confessed, and abandoned. Verse 10 of the second chapter of Judges is really quite revealing,
“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.”
Why do you suppose the generation after Joshua did not know the Lord? If today’s generation is any indication of what has happened historically, I suggest the answer is quite simple. Children learn to do what they observe their parents doing. It does little good for parents to take their children to church every Sunday and to children’s programs throughout the week if they miss church and/or bible studies to take their children to a school function that just happens to be scheduled at the same time. Unfortunately, what most of those parents don’t realize is the opportunity to choose between studying God’s word and doing something else is usually a test presented by God to determine intended to give them a chance to demonstrate their own priorities.
James 1:3 makes it clear the reason so many never mature is that they constantly fail tests provided by God which He uses to determine their allegiance. “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Of course, the endurance can only be produced when we pass the test. The phrase peirasmois peripesete suggests more the meaning of falling into temptation than encountering something like a difficult trial. It is literally translated trials you should be falling into. Every single minute of every single day of every single week of every single year of every single decade each of us makes millions of decisions. When one works eight to ten hours a day at a job, he has little extra time daily to watch things like his favorite sport. If he chooses to do that, rather than spend that same amount of time studying God’s word, he demonstrates daily for his children and wife what his priorities are.
In closing today’s instruction, I would like to admit, I probably spend way too much time watching national, international, and local news and commentary on it. I also watch “G” rated things like Cosby and Little House on the Prairie way too much. I am retired and get weary after spending seven or eight hours studying God’s word and writing things like this daily instruction. When I worked eight or nine hours a day, I spent at least four hours most days studying and writing. Even then I probably watched way too much news. Parents’ priorities in this life should be God, his church, each other, their children, their friends and acquaintances, and their jobs in that order. Their jobs must reflect their spiritual, personal, and social values in that order. Any job that interferes with one’s ability to maintain those priorities in that order and balanced, is the wrong job for one to continue doing, period.
I can’t begin to count the number of men and women I’ve personally dealt with this last year alone who have given up their spiritual life or a significant portion of it for a “good” job. Their incessant excuse is that they have been given the responsibility by God to take care of their families. Most of them have two or more cell phones. Most of their children past the age of five have their own cell phones. Their children have Game Boys, televisions in their bedrooms, personal computers, and myriads of other things no one on planet earth needs. And they continue to excuse their unbalanced lives as divinely blessed because, they claim, God wants them to take care of their wife and children. Of course God wants men and women to care for their children. He expects them to nurture them, teach them His word, provide them with food, clothing, and shelter, and leave them some kind of inheritance. But in most places in America, that can be done on a great deal less income than most married couples make.
You’re constantly being tested. You’ll have many opportunities in the coming days, months, and years to demonstrate your priorities to God. Will you pass the test? (II Cor. 13:5)
Monday, February 22, 2010
What’s a Sheep? (John 10:27-30)
February 21
A pastor recently likened his sheep to dumb animals who needed a shepherd with a rod to smack them on the butt occasionally to keep them in line because they were too stupid take care of themselves. Wow! That would be tyrant actually thinks that was why Jesus referred to his followers as sheep. If you’ve ever been the victim of such poor bible exposition, please note, Jesus used that metaphor because sheep are the most faithful animals on the planet. They hear and recognize the voice of their shepherd, even in the midst of several shepherds who are calling them. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”Only the wolf is afraid of losing God’s sheep. Only the wolf works in secret, in the shadow of darkness.
Psalm 23 reads,
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lied down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.(emphasis mine)
What does verse 4 tell us is the purpose of the rod and the staff? They are meant to comfort the sheep, not control them. It was the shepherd’s job to beat off any wolf, lion, or bear that attempted to snatch away any sheep. The staff was to be used for protecting the sheep not beating them into submission. God’s word is the staff meant to be used by today’s shepherds to ward off any wolves, lions, or bears. When they use it on their own sheep, they simply end up with less sheep. And the wolves keep howling. Now go tell someone what great things God has done for you.
A pastor recently likened his sheep to dumb animals who needed a shepherd with a rod to smack them on the butt occasionally to keep them in line because they were too stupid take care of themselves. Wow! That would be tyrant actually thinks that was why Jesus referred to his followers as sheep. If you’ve ever been the victim of such poor bible exposition, please note, Jesus used that metaphor because sheep are the most faithful animals on the planet. They hear and recognize the voice of their shepherd, even in the midst of several shepherds who are calling them. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”Only the wolf is afraid of losing God’s sheep. Only the wolf works in secret, in the shadow of darkness.
Psalm 23 reads,
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lied down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.(emphasis mine)
What does verse 4 tell us is the purpose of the rod and the staff? They are meant to comfort the sheep, not control them. It was the shepherd’s job to beat off any wolf, lion, or bear that attempted to snatch away any sheep. The staff was to be used for protecting the sheep not beating them into submission. God’s word is the staff meant to be used by today’s shepherds to ward off any wolves, lions, or bears. When they use it on their own sheep, they simply end up with less sheep. And the wolves keep howling. Now go tell someone what great things God has done for you.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The Introduction and Benediction (Revelation 1)
February 20
Chapter 1
John was exiled about 90 AD to the isle of Patmos, an island just off the coast of Asia Minor (current day Turkey). He was exiled for refusing to quit preaching, in Jesus, the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection from the dead. This prophecy was given him either during Nero’s or Domitian’s reign over Rome. History tells us that Nero wanted to refurbish an entire section of Rome so he set it on fire. When he was confronted about this dastardly deed, he blamed the Christians and began an all out assault on any who claimed to be followers of Christ. It was during this time that Paul was rearrested and thrown in prison for the second time and executed (the time he wrote II Timothy), and Peter wrote II Peter. If you read those two books knowing the historical background they will take on new meaning for you. John is told by the angel the Revelation he was receiving was to show His bondservants “the things that are soon coming.” The Revelation was communicated by His angel (probably Gabriel) to John. Finally, John speaks by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear and those who heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” I have high-lighted the three verbs in the pronounced blessing to make sure we realize this is a three part blessing. The Revelation is the only book in the bible that promises a blessing for the one who reads, hears, and heeds its contents. I have read it more times than I care to mention, written two novels based on it, written a previous exposition on it, and am writing this study, in an attempt to inform and forewarn those who are really in Christ about the things that are soon coming upon us. For some reason, great multitudes of professing believers seem to think this book is only for a chosen few to read and understand. Think about it. If that’s true, God promised this incredible blessing knowing only a select few believers would ever receive it.
Certainly that’s possible. But I seriously doubt that was God’s intention. Certainly, on a world wide scale, out of billions of souls, many are called, but only a few are chosen. Among the chosen however, I believe it is the perfect will of God that all of His church read, hear, and heed the magnificent truths contained in this Revelation of Jesus, communicated by His angel, to the Apostle John, for the time is near.
1. Whose revelation is this? 1:1a
2. Who gave it to Jesus Christ? 1:1b
3. To whom was it to be shown? 1:c
4. What was it going to show them? 1d
5. By whom was this revelation communicated? 1e
6. To whom was it shown? 1f
7. To what did he testify? 1:2
a.
b.
c.
8. What are the three parts of the promised blessing? 1:3
a.
b.
c.
9. According to verses 4 and 5, from whom was the revelation?
a. Him . . .
b. from the seven . . .
c. and from . . .
10. How is Jesus described in 1:5
11. According to the last part of 1:5, what has He done?
12. What has he made us to be? 1:6a
13. To whom has He made us to be a kingdom of Priests? 1:6b
14. From where will Jesus appear when He comes? 1:7a
15. Who will see Him when He comes? 1:7b
16. Why do you suppose all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him when He returns? 1:7c
17. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet; omega is the last. What, about God, does this represent? 1:8
John begins delivering the prophecy addressing the seven churches of Asia (called Asia Minor today, currently Turkey). He identifies the source of the message as the triune God, “. . . from Him who was, is, and is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” (1:4, 5) He briefly identifies Jesus, His ministry, and the position of the saints (made to be a kingdom of priests). He then explains how Jesus will return to the earth when He does so. He makes sure to include that the Jews will recognize Him as the one they pierced. Upon seeing the one they rejected, those who were not annihilated at Armageddon will mourn the fact they didn’t believe those who spoke of His return during the tribulation. Upon realizing the futility of the past seven years rejecting His authority, they finally realize He has come to hold them accountable. When He returns to begin His one thousand year earthly reign, those who have refused to acknowledge Him as the rightful heir to the throne of David will bemoan that foolish decision. Like the millions in our prisons today who never thought they’d get caught for their dastardly deeds, those who finally realize the Judge has come will not be happy campers.
In verse 8, the returning King identifies Himself for those who don’t yet know His link to God the Father (the Jews who rejected Him at His first coming). He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord God, who is and was and is to come, the Almighty” (cf. v. 4). Some suggest verse 8 is God the Father speaking. That’s possible. Later (22:12, 13), the reference of Himself as the Alpha and Omega is clearly the Son, so the cross reference either establishes both the Son and the Father call themselves the Alpha and Omega, or this is statement in verse 8 is the Son.
18. Why was John on the Isle of Patmos? 1:9
19. What does John mean when he says he was “in the
Spirit on the Lord’s day?”1:10a
20. What did he hear, and from where was it coming? 1:10b
21. What was the instruction he got about what he was seeing? 1:11
22. What did John see when he turned around? 1:12-16
23. What did he do when he saw Him? 1:17a
24. What did “Him” do? 1:17b
25. What did “Him” say? 1:17c-20
In verses 9-20 John explains how he got onto the isle of Patmos, what he saw, and from whom he got this revelation. The historical records of the church indicate he was exiled for preaching the gospel during the time of great persecutions against Christians by Titus Flavius Domitianius (Domitian). Eusebius tells us the emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva (AD 32-98), released him from Patmos about 96 A.D, the year Domitian was assassinated. He stated he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when he received this vision. Clearly he was transported into heaven (in the Spirit) on the first day of the week (Sunday), the day the early church began celebrating as the Lord’s Day. He saw Jesus, who was in the middle of seven golden lamp stands. (see Exodus 25:37) These lampstands foresaw, in the tabernacle built by Moses, the coming of the church age almost three thousand years before they existed. John was told to write to the seven churches of Asia Minor (Turkey), Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardus, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. He saw Jesus as, like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, wearing a golden sash, head and hair white, eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze aglow, voice like Niagara Falls. He had seven stars (the angels of the churches) in his right hand, a sharp two-edged sword in his mouth (the word of God), his face shone like the sun.
John fell on his face like a dead man. Jesus told him not to be afraid. He explained to John that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches of Asian Minor and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. He was told to write a message to each of them beginning with Ephesus. These churches have a threefold importance for us to today. First, they were literal churches which existed when John wrote the book of the Revelation. They received this letter from John, thus realizing what they had to do to get their act straight if they didn’t want the judgment of God to come upon them. Second, these churches represent the seven phases the church has undergone historically since John wrote these warnings. And third, they represent the condition churches all over the world are in today. Today, in what I believe is the final few years of the church age, the apostasy, heresy, idolatry, immorality these churches were told to deal with is still rampant in churches around the globe. I have been in churches in the United States alone whose leadership and teaching was just like that described in these letters to the churches of Asia Minor.
It’s time for us to wake up and let the Holy Spirit of God revive our luke-warm spirits, setting them ablaze to do that to which we have been called. Before evangelism will ever take its correct place in churches in this country, there will have to be revival in hearts of its members. Our apathy has reached epidemic proportions. The number of people in churches across America today who do little more than attend church once or twice a week is incalculable. I suspect it would boggle all of our minds if we were able to discover how many people who call themselves “Christian” get every ounce of theology they have from the pastor/teacher of their local church. I recently heard less than 35% of the pastors preaching from pulpits across America today believe in the verbal, plenary, inspiration of scripture. Actually, research indicates 1% more of these preachers’ congregations believe the bible was inspired. Is it any wonder the rate of moral decline in this country is rising exponentially?
Chapter 1
John was exiled about 90 AD to the isle of Patmos, an island just off the coast of Asia Minor (current day Turkey). He was exiled for refusing to quit preaching, in Jesus, the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection from the dead. This prophecy was given him either during Nero’s or Domitian’s reign over Rome. History tells us that Nero wanted to refurbish an entire section of Rome so he set it on fire. When he was confronted about this dastardly deed, he blamed the Christians and began an all out assault on any who claimed to be followers of Christ. It was during this time that Paul was rearrested and thrown in prison for the second time and executed (the time he wrote II Timothy), and Peter wrote II Peter. If you read those two books knowing the historical background they will take on new meaning for you. John is told by the angel the Revelation he was receiving was to show His bondservants “the things that are soon coming.” The Revelation was communicated by His angel (probably Gabriel) to John. Finally, John speaks by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear and those who heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” I have high-lighted the three verbs in the pronounced blessing to make sure we realize this is a three part blessing. The Revelation is the only book in the bible that promises a blessing for the one who reads, hears, and heeds its contents. I have read it more times than I care to mention, written two novels based on it, written a previous exposition on it, and am writing this study, in an attempt to inform and forewarn those who are really in Christ about the things that are soon coming upon us. For some reason, great multitudes of professing believers seem to think this book is only for a chosen few to read and understand. Think about it. If that’s true, God promised this incredible blessing knowing only a select few believers would ever receive it.
Certainly that’s possible. But I seriously doubt that was God’s intention. Certainly, on a world wide scale, out of billions of souls, many are called, but only a few are chosen. Among the chosen however, I believe it is the perfect will of God that all of His church read, hear, and heed the magnificent truths contained in this Revelation of Jesus, communicated by His angel, to the Apostle John, for the time is near.
1. Whose revelation is this? 1:1a
2. Who gave it to Jesus Christ? 1:1b
3. To whom was it to be shown? 1:c
4. What was it going to show them? 1d
5. By whom was this revelation communicated? 1e
6. To whom was it shown? 1f
7. To what did he testify? 1:2
a.
b.
c.
8. What are the three parts of the promised blessing? 1:3
a.
b.
c.
9. According to verses 4 and 5, from whom was the revelation?
a. Him . . .
b. from the seven . . .
c. and from . . .
10. How is Jesus described in 1:5
11. According to the last part of 1:5, what has He done?
12. What has he made us to be? 1:6a
13. To whom has He made us to be a kingdom of Priests? 1:6b
14. From where will Jesus appear when He comes? 1:7a
15. Who will see Him when He comes? 1:7b
16. Why do you suppose all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him when He returns? 1:7c
17. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet; omega is the last. What, about God, does this represent? 1:8
John begins delivering the prophecy addressing the seven churches of Asia (called Asia Minor today, currently Turkey). He identifies the source of the message as the triune God, “. . . from Him who was, is, and is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” (1:4, 5) He briefly identifies Jesus, His ministry, and the position of the saints (made to be a kingdom of priests). He then explains how Jesus will return to the earth when He does so. He makes sure to include that the Jews will recognize Him as the one they pierced. Upon seeing the one they rejected, those who were not annihilated at Armageddon will mourn the fact they didn’t believe those who spoke of His return during the tribulation. Upon realizing the futility of the past seven years rejecting His authority, they finally realize He has come to hold them accountable. When He returns to begin His one thousand year earthly reign, those who have refused to acknowledge Him as the rightful heir to the throne of David will bemoan that foolish decision. Like the millions in our prisons today who never thought they’d get caught for their dastardly deeds, those who finally realize the Judge has come will not be happy campers.
In verse 8, the returning King identifies Himself for those who don’t yet know His link to God the Father (the Jews who rejected Him at His first coming). He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the Lord God, who is and was and is to come, the Almighty” (cf. v. 4). Some suggest verse 8 is God the Father speaking. That’s possible. Later (22:12, 13), the reference of Himself as the Alpha and Omega is clearly the Son, so the cross reference either establishes both the Son and the Father call themselves the Alpha and Omega, or this is statement in verse 8 is the Son.
18. Why was John on the Isle of Patmos? 1:9
19. What does John mean when he says he was “in the
Spirit on the Lord’s day?”1:10a
20. What did he hear, and from where was it coming? 1:10b
21. What was the instruction he got about what he was seeing? 1:11
22. What did John see when he turned around? 1:12-16
23. What did he do when he saw Him? 1:17a
24. What did “Him” do? 1:17b
25. What did “Him” say? 1:17c-20
In verses 9-20 John explains how he got onto the isle of Patmos, what he saw, and from whom he got this revelation. The historical records of the church indicate he was exiled for preaching the gospel during the time of great persecutions against Christians by Titus Flavius Domitianius (Domitian). Eusebius tells us the emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva (AD 32-98), released him from Patmos about 96 A.D, the year Domitian was assassinated. He stated he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when he received this vision. Clearly he was transported into heaven (in the Spirit) on the first day of the week (Sunday), the day the early church began celebrating as the Lord’s Day. He saw Jesus, who was in the middle of seven golden lamp stands. (see Exodus 25:37) These lampstands foresaw, in the tabernacle built by Moses, the coming of the church age almost three thousand years before they existed. John was told to write to the seven churches of Asia Minor (Turkey), Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardus, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. He saw Jesus as, like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to his feet, wearing a golden sash, head and hair white, eyes like a flame of fire, feet like burnished bronze aglow, voice like Niagara Falls. He had seven stars (the angels of the churches) in his right hand, a sharp two-edged sword in his mouth (the word of God), his face shone like the sun.
John fell on his face like a dead man. Jesus told him not to be afraid. He explained to John that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches of Asian Minor and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. He was told to write a message to each of them beginning with Ephesus. These churches have a threefold importance for us to today. First, they were literal churches which existed when John wrote the book of the Revelation. They received this letter from John, thus realizing what they had to do to get their act straight if they didn’t want the judgment of God to come upon them. Second, these churches represent the seven phases the church has undergone historically since John wrote these warnings. And third, they represent the condition churches all over the world are in today. Today, in what I believe is the final few years of the church age, the apostasy, heresy, idolatry, immorality these churches were told to deal with is still rampant in churches around the globe. I have been in churches in the United States alone whose leadership and teaching was just like that described in these letters to the churches of Asia Minor.
It’s time for us to wake up and let the Holy Spirit of God revive our luke-warm spirits, setting them ablaze to do that to which we have been called. Before evangelism will ever take its correct place in churches in this country, there will have to be revival in hearts of its members. Our apathy has reached epidemic proportions. The number of people in churches across America today who do little more than attend church once or twice a week is incalculable. I suspect it would boggle all of our minds if we were able to discover how many people who call themselves “Christian” get every ounce of theology they have from the pastor/teacher of their local church. I recently heard less than 35% of the pastors preaching from pulpits across America today believe in the verbal, plenary, inspiration of scripture. Actually, research indicates 1% more of these preachers’ congregations believe the bible was inspired. Is it any wonder the rate of moral decline in this country is rising exponentially?
Introduction to the Revelation
February 19
First, allow me to freely admit that I do not have the education of those who have gone before me who have taken on the task of commenting on the Revelation. It is an almost entirely eschatological book, meaning it deals almost entirely with future events. I believe more of those future events have already occurred than do most expositors who attempt to comment on the Revelation. It is a historical fact the first three seals have already occurred. The fourth seal is in heaven, thus we cannot see it, therefore it may well have already occurred also. I have made it a point to avoid reading most books about the bible for the thirty-seven years I have been saved. I focus nearly all of my time on reading the bible itself. I don’t believe my understanding of the Revelation has been diminished one iota for my failure to read the comments upon it by those who have preceded me (John 16:13). It is the Holy Spirit who leads us into truth, not those Christians who have preceded us. That said, if anyone reads extensively, I’m confident he will find that everything the Holy Spirit has revealed to me about this book, He has already revealed to someone else, somewhere, at some time. I have read Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late, Great, Planet Earth; and I have read the commentary by Dwight J. Pentacost, Things to Come and a book by a post tribulation rapturist several decades ago. I read the entire Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye and David Jensen. I have also read or listened orally to the pre-tribulation rapture arguments posed by John McArthur, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, John Hagee, and several others whose names escape me at the moment. While I have a great deal of respect and admiration for most the teaching of most of these pastor/teachers, I must declare that I am sorely disappointed at how poorly they interpret the book of the Revelation.
It’s safe to say that there have been hundreds of commentaries and bible studies written on the book of the Revelation to John the Apostle even in contemporary times. When I use the term contemporary, I refer to the past three or four decades, the time I have personally been a follower of Christ. Men like Hal Lindsey have written books like The Late, Great, Planet Earth which was an popular book in its time. Published around 1970, just two years before I got saved, it is only biased by brother Hal’s pre-tribulation mindset, which means he had to do a lot of stretching of time periods and concludes the Revelation was not written chronologically. I am sort of a post-tribulation theorist on the issue of the rapture, though not strictly speaking. I will argue in this book that the bowl judgments, the final judgments of God on planet earth consume about 45 days, occur right after the rapture of the church, and thus end the period we call the Great Tribulation. Technically, therefore, while I am a post-tribulation rapturist, the final judgments of God on planet earth do, in actuality, come after the rapture; so my understanding of the book really doesn’t fit into the pre, post, or mid-tribulation theories heretofore espoused.
If you are a new Christian, or an old Christian who has not personally read the Revelation numerous times, you will have trouble understanding any study on this book. The Revelation is written in a fashion intended by God to make it unintelligible to the casual observer. It is a book of types, metaphors, similes, and symbols like few others in our time. I believe it is purposefully clouded in symbolism, so the casual reader cannot understand it. It is a book that God intended only the generation that would see its fulfillment to understand it in its entirety (Dan. 12:4, 9, 10). Most of the symbols, types, metaphors, similes, and illusions to the antichrist have had countless partial fulfillments countless times in the past. John makes this clear with statements like, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (II John 1:7). The antichrist is a person; but the spirit of the anti-Christ has been with us since the resurrection and is stronger today than at any other time in history. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and the long line of popes, all manifested the spirit of the anti-Christ. These have all been men who wanted to establish a world wide kingdom with themselves as the head of it. The anti-Christ is every spirit that refuses to acknowledge Jesus as coming in the flesh and, of course, all that is meant by that coming. That said, it is clear that the Antichrist, the one indwelt by the devil himself, will appear in the final seven years of history as we know it, and make his final attempt to thwart the eternal plan of God in the final 3 ½ years of that seven year period.
As already indicated, I have made it a point to study God’s word without reading too many extra-biblical books by brothers I really do respect as conservative, knowledgeable expositors of scripture. My reason is that I simply want to hear God’s voice speaking to me as I read. While I know He has spoken to great multitudes before me, I can’t know what He has said to them until I know what He has said to me. This is the reason I have made it a point to prayerfully read His book from cover to cover many times each year. My theology is almost entirely based on what God has shown me from His word as I have read it countless times in the past thirty-five years. I have had just enough exposure to outside sources (books and lectures of brothers in Christ), to be confident my exegesis of scripture is sound.
I make absolutely no claim of exclusivity. I don’t believe there is any person on the planet nor has there ever been who alone knows what God’s word means. If God has not revealed to anyone else what He has revealed to me, I immediately suspect that I do not yet understand fully what He means. That said, I must say I believe even as I am writing that this commentary has some insights I have not yet heard anyone else proclaim. I have attempted to make that point clear where such teaching exists. After thirty seven years of studying God’s word, He continues to grant me new insights each day into its meaning. Please pay close attention to the grammatical structure of all I have written. I have attempted to be faithful to observe appropriate literary English protocol in every jot and tittle.
The following is an example of the kind of irresponsible preaching I have encountered regarding the Revelation. Riding home from a symposium on the United States Constitution one day, I heard a radio pastor limping through an almost comical exposition of the eschatological events. He made some rather amateurish errors in both the dissemination of information and in dealing with objections posed by listeners who ask why we should bother studying the Revelation if we’re going to be raptured before the tribulation begins. This pastor’s first error was the way he dealt with that question. The question, all by itself, is the strongest argument for the post-tribulation view of the rapture I know. It is a most obvious question, and one to which I have never heard a pre-tribulation rapture theorist provide an adequate answer. This radio broadcaster did exactly what every pre-tribulation theorists has done that I have ever heard deal with that issue. He stated that while he understood how difficult it is to accept that apparent problem, we should still study the Revelation because it’s part of God’s word, so we must try to understand it.
I fear it’s far too easy today to teach things not supported in scripture because far too many churched people spend so little time in the scriptures themselves searching them to see if what their pastors are saying is true. I find it hard to believe that so few believers today spend enough time studying eschatology to understand this book of the Revelation. It’s disconcerting to me that mainstream Christianity has swallowed the pre-tribulation theory hook, line, and sinker. It, like the theory of evolution, is filled with false assumptions, blatant contradictions, countless unanswered questions, and literally dozens of scripture verses about the end times that are ignored entirely.
It is perfectly logical to conclude if we are going to be gone during the tribulation, there is no reason to study the book of Revelation. Its threefold purpose as detailed in Chapter 1:3, to bless the one who reads, hears, and heeds the words written in it, is wasted on anyone who isn’t going to be here to experience the devastation that is described in it. The truth is, when those events described in the book come upon the earth, God’s people will endure them because they will know He described them in detail hundreds of years before they came to pass, thus proving He is in complete control of them. The thought that this book will suddenly begin making sense to people who aren’t saved when the tribulation begins without God’s prophets, evangelists, preachers, and pastor/teachers around to explain it is absolutely preposterous.
I often wonder how my pre-tribulation brethren who are preaching this theory are going to deal with the immense problem they have created when they discover the tribulation has started and they and the multitudes they have been teaching the pre-tribulation rapture theory are still here. Of course, if they are right (the odds of which are zero and none), my point will be moot. If they are wrong, it seems rather obvious to me, they will have created one of the most astounding crises with which the church has ever had to deal. Try to imagine, if you will, the great multitudes who did not bother to learn what God has in store for us during the tribulation because they believed they were going to be gone. Try to imagine what will happen when the number of people who believed these men of God all of a sudden come to realize that, on this incredibly crucial issue, they were wrong. Try to imagine the chaos that could erupt in conservative churches all over this planet. Just try to imagine the number of church goers today who would then join the world church referred to in the Revelation as Babylon the great, the mother of harlots. At least that might explain why there will actually be true believers who have joined themselves unwittingly to this false world church. These are true believers who will be temporarily overwhelmed upon discovering their conservative pastors in whom they had placed so much confidence, were wrong. Their response will be to seek understanding from those leaders of the false church who will appear at this time to have a better grasp on end time prophecy than their conservative pre-tribulation counterparts.
The second thing this radio pastor said had to do with his misunderstanding that all nation of the United Nations have an equal vote in U.N. resolutions. He made the absurd claim that the U.N. was unequally represented because all nations who are members of it—even the tiny ones who have only recently joined—have an equal vote in its resolutions. That is simply untrue. Five nations of the original United Nations have absolute veto power over all U.N. resolutions. Russia, the United States, China, France, and Great Britain must all agree to any U.N. resolution or it is immediately rejected. All anyone has to do is Google the U.N. to acquire this information. Clearly, all nations to the U.N. do not have an equal say in the passing of its resolutions. If that were true, there would be no reason whatsoever for nations like the United States to be a member. To this pastor I heard on the radio (I did not ever hear his name), I would say, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1) To claim to be a teacher of the word and to make such incredibly inept error in one’s teaching is, to say the least, unfortunate. I fear this brother will have much for which to give account when he stands in the presence of our Lord.
First, allow me to freely admit that I do not have the education of those who have gone before me who have taken on the task of commenting on the Revelation. It is an almost entirely eschatological book, meaning it deals almost entirely with future events. I believe more of those future events have already occurred than do most expositors who attempt to comment on the Revelation. It is a historical fact the first three seals have already occurred. The fourth seal is in heaven, thus we cannot see it, therefore it may well have already occurred also. I have made it a point to avoid reading most books about the bible for the thirty-seven years I have been saved. I focus nearly all of my time on reading the bible itself. I don’t believe my understanding of the Revelation has been diminished one iota for my failure to read the comments upon it by those who have preceded me (John 16:13). It is the Holy Spirit who leads us into truth, not those Christians who have preceded us. That said, if anyone reads extensively, I’m confident he will find that everything the Holy Spirit has revealed to me about this book, He has already revealed to someone else, somewhere, at some time. I have read Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late, Great, Planet Earth; and I have read the commentary by Dwight J. Pentacost, Things to Come and a book by a post tribulation rapturist several decades ago. I read the entire Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye and David Jensen. I have also read or listened orally to the pre-tribulation rapture arguments posed by John McArthur, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, John Hagee, and several others whose names escape me at the moment. While I have a great deal of respect and admiration for most the teaching of most of these pastor/teachers, I must declare that I am sorely disappointed at how poorly they interpret the book of the Revelation.
It’s safe to say that there have been hundreds of commentaries and bible studies written on the book of the Revelation to John the Apostle even in contemporary times. When I use the term contemporary, I refer to the past three or four decades, the time I have personally been a follower of Christ. Men like Hal Lindsey have written books like The Late, Great, Planet Earth which was an popular book in its time. Published around 1970, just two years before I got saved, it is only biased by brother Hal’s pre-tribulation mindset, which means he had to do a lot of stretching of time periods and concludes the Revelation was not written chronologically. I am sort of a post-tribulation theorist on the issue of the rapture, though not strictly speaking. I will argue in this book that the bowl judgments, the final judgments of God on planet earth consume about 45 days, occur right after the rapture of the church, and thus end the period we call the Great Tribulation. Technically, therefore, while I am a post-tribulation rapturist, the final judgments of God on planet earth do, in actuality, come after the rapture; so my understanding of the book really doesn’t fit into the pre, post, or mid-tribulation theories heretofore espoused.
If you are a new Christian, or an old Christian who has not personally read the Revelation numerous times, you will have trouble understanding any study on this book. The Revelation is written in a fashion intended by God to make it unintelligible to the casual observer. It is a book of types, metaphors, similes, and symbols like few others in our time. I believe it is purposefully clouded in symbolism, so the casual reader cannot understand it. It is a book that God intended only the generation that would see its fulfillment to understand it in its entirety (Dan. 12:4, 9, 10). Most of the symbols, types, metaphors, similes, and illusions to the antichrist have had countless partial fulfillments countless times in the past. John makes this clear with statements like, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (II John 1:7). The antichrist is a person; but the spirit of the anti-Christ has been with us since the resurrection and is stronger today than at any other time in history. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and the long line of popes, all manifested the spirit of the anti-Christ. These have all been men who wanted to establish a world wide kingdom with themselves as the head of it. The anti-Christ is every spirit that refuses to acknowledge Jesus as coming in the flesh and, of course, all that is meant by that coming. That said, it is clear that the Antichrist, the one indwelt by the devil himself, will appear in the final seven years of history as we know it, and make his final attempt to thwart the eternal plan of God in the final 3 ½ years of that seven year period.
As already indicated, I have made it a point to study God’s word without reading too many extra-biblical books by brothers I really do respect as conservative, knowledgeable expositors of scripture. My reason is that I simply want to hear God’s voice speaking to me as I read. While I know He has spoken to great multitudes before me, I can’t know what He has said to them until I know what He has said to me. This is the reason I have made it a point to prayerfully read His book from cover to cover many times each year. My theology is almost entirely based on what God has shown me from His word as I have read it countless times in the past thirty-five years. I have had just enough exposure to outside sources (books and lectures of brothers in Christ), to be confident my exegesis of scripture is sound.
I make absolutely no claim of exclusivity. I don’t believe there is any person on the planet nor has there ever been who alone knows what God’s word means. If God has not revealed to anyone else what He has revealed to me, I immediately suspect that I do not yet understand fully what He means. That said, I must say I believe even as I am writing that this commentary has some insights I have not yet heard anyone else proclaim. I have attempted to make that point clear where such teaching exists. After thirty seven years of studying God’s word, He continues to grant me new insights each day into its meaning. Please pay close attention to the grammatical structure of all I have written. I have attempted to be faithful to observe appropriate literary English protocol in every jot and tittle.
The following is an example of the kind of irresponsible preaching I have encountered regarding the Revelation. Riding home from a symposium on the United States Constitution one day, I heard a radio pastor limping through an almost comical exposition of the eschatological events. He made some rather amateurish errors in both the dissemination of information and in dealing with objections posed by listeners who ask why we should bother studying the Revelation if we’re going to be raptured before the tribulation begins. This pastor’s first error was the way he dealt with that question. The question, all by itself, is the strongest argument for the post-tribulation view of the rapture I know. It is a most obvious question, and one to which I have never heard a pre-tribulation rapture theorist provide an adequate answer. This radio broadcaster did exactly what every pre-tribulation theorists has done that I have ever heard deal with that issue. He stated that while he understood how difficult it is to accept that apparent problem, we should still study the Revelation because it’s part of God’s word, so we must try to understand it.
I fear it’s far too easy today to teach things not supported in scripture because far too many churched people spend so little time in the scriptures themselves searching them to see if what their pastors are saying is true. I find it hard to believe that so few believers today spend enough time studying eschatology to understand this book of the Revelation. It’s disconcerting to me that mainstream Christianity has swallowed the pre-tribulation theory hook, line, and sinker. It, like the theory of evolution, is filled with false assumptions, blatant contradictions, countless unanswered questions, and literally dozens of scripture verses about the end times that are ignored entirely.
It is perfectly logical to conclude if we are going to be gone during the tribulation, there is no reason to study the book of Revelation. Its threefold purpose as detailed in Chapter 1:3, to bless the one who reads, hears, and heeds the words written in it, is wasted on anyone who isn’t going to be here to experience the devastation that is described in it. The truth is, when those events described in the book come upon the earth, God’s people will endure them because they will know He described them in detail hundreds of years before they came to pass, thus proving He is in complete control of them. The thought that this book will suddenly begin making sense to people who aren’t saved when the tribulation begins without God’s prophets, evangelists, preachers, and pastor/teachers around to explain it is absolutely preposterous.
I often wonder how my pre-tribulation brethren who are preaching this theory are going to deal with the immense problem they have created when they discover the tribulation has started and they and the multitudes they have been teaching the pre-tribulation rapture theory are still here. Of course, if they are right (the odds of which are zero and none), my point will be moot. If they are wrong, it seems rather obvious to me, they will have created one of the most astounding crises with which the church has ever had to deal. Try to imagine, if you will, the great multitudes who did not bother to learn what God has in store for us during the tribulation because they believed they were going to be gone. Try to imagine what will happen when the number of people who believed these men of God all of a sudden come to realize that, on this incredibly crucial issue, they were wrong. Try to imagine the chaos that could erupt in conservative churches all over this planet. Just try to imagine the number of church goers today who would then join the world church referred to in the Revelation as Babylon the great, the mother of harlots. At least that might explain why there will actually be true believers who have joined themselves unwittingly to this false world church. These are true believers who will be temporarily overwhelmed upon discovering their conservative pastors in whom they had placed so much confidence, were wrong. Their response will be to seek understanding from those leaders of the false church who will appear at this time to have a better grasp on end time prophecy than their conservative pre-tribulation counterparts.
The second thing this radio pastor said had to do with his misunderstanding that all nation of the United Nations have an equal vote in U.N. resolutions. He made the absurd claim that the U.N. was unequally represented because all nations who are members of it—even the tiny ones who have only recently joined—have an equal vote in its resolutions. That is simply untrue. Five nations of the original United Nations have absolute veto power over all U.N. resolutions. Russia, the United States, China, France, and Great Britain must all agree to any U.N. resolution or it is immediately rejected. All anyone has to do is Google the U.N. to acquire this information. Clearly, all nations to the U.N. do not have an equal say in the passing of its resolutions. If that were true, there would be no reason whatsoever for nations like the United States to be a member. To this pastor I heard on the radio (I did not ever hear his name), I would say, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1) To claim to be a teacher of the word and to make such incredibly inept error in one’s teaching is, to say the least, unfortunate. I fear this brother will have much for which to give account when he stands in the presence of our Lord.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Church Discipline
February 17
The title of today’s blog is church discipline. I’m writing it to teach any who read my blog how and why the bible says it's supposed to be done. The reason for biblical discipline is that the name of God might not be blasphemed among the Gentiles (Rom. 2:24). The biblical instructions for it have been completely ignored, rewritten, and/or misapplied in the past three traditional churches I attended, so I know from personal experience how vital it is for God’s people to thoroughly understand what His word has to say on the issue. I have written an exhaustive study on the topic for anyone interested.
It’s truly sad how many people in churches today sit idly by and watch unqualified church leaders banish members from traditional churches under the guise of administering discipline because they know even less about the topic than those leaders. I guess it takes seeing it done improperly many times and being the victim of its improper application a time or two to realize how much damage misinformed church leaders do to the kingdom of God when they abuse their power regarding discipline. Apparently some pastors believe it is their unique responsibility to handle all church discipline. That glaringly violates the basic principle of Matthew 18 which demands only the one who knows of the sin in the brother’s life should approach him at first.
I’ve witnessed ill informed congregations follow the lead of a tyrannical church leader, lock step, like good little Nazi soldiers. Of course, I’m not suggesting they really were Nazis. The image just popped up in my mind when I thought about how they truly believed they were doing the right thing because their “senior” pastor was so convincing. Just like the Nazis blindly followed Hitler in World War II, they have no sense of the magnitude of their sin for allowing the unbiblical application of this process in the church. Frankly, I truly wouldn’t want to be any of those church leaders when they stand before Jesus (James 3:1).
Matthew 18:15-17 makes it abundantly clear it is the members of the church’s responsibility to discipline those in their midst who are living in sin (see also Rom. 15:14). However, it very clearly provides a three step process by which discipline is to be administered. It would take a lot more space here than I want to take to write in detail, so I will defer to the simple teaching of Matthew on the subject.
Step one: go personally and in private to the person and show him from scripture what he is doing wrong. He must know the specific act he is engaging is sin. Explain how he can confess his sin and repent. If he does that, the issue is over.
Step two: take one or two more with you if he does not respond in confession and repentance as a result of the first visit. Beseech him to repent the second time as indicated by the specific sin specifically shown him from God’s word. The one or two you have taken in the second step are there to confirm he has correctly and lovingly been shown what his problem is specifically from God’s word; and, that he refuses to confess his sin and repent of it. If he confesses and repents, the issue is over.
Step three: If the sinning person refuses to confess his sin and repent one must bring the issue before the church and have him removed from fellowship. I don’t care who says otherwise, there is no biblical authority for any church leader or hand-picked representative body of the church to decide if that person is to be excommunicated. There is no biblical authority to send the person being disciplined an email or postal letter informing him of the church's actions. The failure of clear communication throughout the process, absolute adherence to biblical mandates, and personal, eye to eye, communication is a must. The one accused of having sinned must also have opportunity to attend the excommunication process and have his say about whether or not the process was properly followed. Sending an email or postal letter is such a heinous and callous misuse of God’s word I suspect the leader who does it will get some special attention from God one day.
The final step is a church wide issue and must be handled as such if it is to meet the biblical mandate. And, it is, in my humble opinion because of those church leaders who fail to follow the entire process properly from beginning to end that so many refuse to have anything to do with the biblical teaching about church discipline. And, I strongly suspect it is also why there are so many today who will never again darken the doors of a traditional church.
Contact me by requesting my exhaustive study on the topic below if you would like to have it. It’s free, I’ll email or postal mail it to you. Now go tell someone how he can become part of Jesus’ church so some lame guy who thinks he’s god’s (lower case “g” intentional) chief shepherd can toss him out of “his” church when he disagrees with him about something. Just kidding, of course.
Step three: Bring the issue before the church and have him removed from fellowship. I don’t care who says otherwise, there is no biblical authority for any church leader or hand-picked representative body of the church to decide if that person is to be excommunicated. There is no biblical authority to send the person being disciplined an email or postal letter. As a matter of fact, doing it that way is such a heinous and callous misuse of God’s word I suspect the leader who does it will get some special attention from God one day. The final step is a church wide issue and must be handled as such if it is to meet the biblical mandate. And, it is in my humble opinion because of those church leaders who fail to follow the entire process properly from beginning to end that so many refuse to have anything to do with the biblical teaching about church discipline. And, I strongly suspect it is also why there are so many today who will never again darken the doors of a church.
Contact me by requesting my exhaustive study on the topic below if you would like to have it. It’s free, I’ll email or postal mail it to you. Now go tell someone how he can become part of Jesus’ church so some lame guy who thinks he’s god’s (lower case “g” intentional) chief shepherd can toss him out of “his” church when he disagrees with him about something. Just kidding of course.
The title of today’s blog is church discipline. I’m writing it to teach any who read my blog how and why the bible says it's supposed to be done. The reason for biblical discipline is that the name of God might not be blasphemed among the Gentiles (Rom. 2:24). The biblical instructions for it have been completely ignored, rewritten, and/or misapplied in the past three traditional churches I attended, so I know from personal experience how vital it is for God’s people to thoroughly understand what His word has to say on the issue. I have written an exhaustive study on the topic for anyone interested.
It’s truly sad how many people in churches today sit idly by and watch unqualified church leaders banish members from traditional churches under the guise of administering discipline because they know even less about the topic than those leaders. I guess it takes seeing it done improperly many times and being the victim of its improper application a time or two to realize how much damage misinformed church leaders do to the kingdom of God when they abuse their power regarding discipline. Apparently some pastors believe it is their unique responsibility to handle all church discipline. That glaringly violates the basic principle of Matthew 18 which demands only the one who knows of the sin in the brother’s life should approach him at first.
I’ve witnessed ill informed congregations follow the lead of a tyrannical church leader, lock step, like good little Nazi soldiers. Of course, I’m not suggesting they really were Nazis. The image just popped up in my mind when I thought about how they truly believed they were doing the right thing because their “senior” pastor was so convincing. Just like the Nazis blindly followed Hitler in World War II, they have no sense of the magnitude of their sin for allowing the unbiblical application of this process in the church. Frankly, I truly wouldn’t want to be any of those church leaders when they stand before Jesus (James 3:1).
Matthew 18:15-17 makes it abundantly clear it is the members of the church’s responsibility to discipline those in their midst who are living in sin (see also Rom. 15:14). However, it very clearly provides a three step process by which discipline is to be administered. It would take a lot more space here than I want to take to write in detail, so I will defer to the simple teaching of Matthew on the subject.
Step one: go personally and in private to the person and show him from scripture what he is doing wrong. He must know the specific act he is engaging is sin. Explain how he can confess his sin and repent. If he does that, the issue is over.
Step two: take one or two more with you if he does not respond in confession and repentance as a result of the first visit. Beseech him to repent the second time as indicated by the specific sin specifically shown him from God’s word. The one or two you have taken in the second step are there to confirm he has correctly and lovingly been shown what his problem is specifically from God’s word; and, that he refuses to confess his sin and repent of it. If he confesses and repents, the issue is over.
Step three: If the sinning person refuses to confess his sin and repent one must bring the issue before the church and have him removed from fellowship. I don’t care who says otherwise, there is no biblical authority for any church leader or hand-picked representative body of the church to decide if that person is to be excommunicated. There is no biblical authority to send the person being disciplined an email or postal letter informing him of the church's actions. The failure of clear communication throughout the process, absolute adherence to biblical mandates, and personal, eye to eye, communication is a must. The one accused of having sinned must also have opportunity to attend the excommunication process and have his say about whether or not the process was properly followed. Sending an email or postal letter is such a heinous and callous misuse of God’s word I suspect the leader who does it will get some special attention from God one day.
The final step is a church wide issue and must be handled as such if it is to meet the biblical mandate. And, it is, in my humble opinion because of those church leaders who fail to follow the entire process properly from beginning to end that so many refuse to have anything to do with the biblical teaching about church discipline. And, I strongly suspect it is also why there are so many today who will never again darken the doors of a traditional church.
Contact me by requesting my exhaustive study on the topic below if you would like to have it. It’s free, I’ll email or postal mail it to you. Now go tell someone how he can become part of Jesus’ church so some lame guy who thinks he’s god’s (lower case “g” intentional) chief shepherd can toss him out of “his” church when he disagrees with him about something. Just kidding, of course.
Step three: Bring the issue before the church and have him removed from fellowship. I don’t care who says otherwise, there is no biblical authority for any church leader or hand-picked representative body of the church to decide if that person is to be excommunicated. There is no biblical authority to send the person being disciplined an email or postal letter. As a matter of fact, doing it that way is such a heinous and callous misuse of God’s word I suspect the leader who does it will get some special attention from God one day. The final step is a church wide issue and must be handled as such if it is to meet the biblical mandate. And, it is in my humble opinion because of those church leaders who fail to follow the entire process properly from beginning to end that so many refuse to have anything to do with the biblical teaching about church discipline. And, I strongly suspect it is also why there are so many today who will never again darken the doors of a church.
Contact me by requesting my exhaustive study on the topic below if you would like to have it. It’s free, I’ll email or postal mail it to you. Now go tell someone how he can become part of Jesus’ church so some lame guy who thinks he’s god’s (lower case “g” intentional) chief shepherd can toss him out of “his” church when he disagrees with him about something. Just kidding of course.
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