Philadelphia’s Commendation PT-1 (Rev. 3:8-11a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/19/2015 10:21 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  Philadelphia’s Commendation PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 3:8-11a

            Message of the verses:  “8 ’I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9  ’Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10 ’Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 ’I am coming quickly;”

            We have already mentioned that the Lord found nothing in their deeds that would cause Him any concern, so He goes right into the commendation for this church.  Notice the first words of verse eight “I know your deeds,” and think about this for a minute.  Jesus Christ the all knowing, all seeing God of the church knows our deeds.  Now that can a great deal of discomfort to you or it can cause a great deal of comfort to you, but which every way the fact remains that Jesus Christ knows our deeds.  I have mentioned many times in my Spiritual Diaries that Ephesians 2:10 is a verse that causes me to better understand the God that I serve and I draw strength from it.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  We see here that we were created for doing good works, and we also see that God in eternity past prepared works that we will do for Him.  I believe that the words or as we see in Rev. 3:8, the deeds that Christ knows we are doing are done in the power of the Holy Spirit as we yield to Him so that God will receive the glory for the works (deeds) that He has planned for us to do.  If you look at a hose that would be us and the water that flows through us (the hose) is the Holy Spirit using us to do good works.  Now remember these works are done after our salvation which is seen in verses 8-9 of Ephesians 2.  We can’t work for our salvation, but we work after our salvation.  As we look at the phrase “little power” we can see that this is all we need to accomplish the works that Christ has for us to do, for Christ through the Holy Spirit gives us the power that we have to do these deeds.  One may think that this is a negative comment, but no it is a positive comment for what they had they were using for the cause of Christ.  This church was a very small one, but they had an impact on the city that they lived in.  Remember what Paul said in 2 Cor. 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

            Next we want to look at their obedience as we read you “have kept My word.”  Think about when you were little or perhaps when you had children and you gave them something to do and they did what you wanted them to do, and this brought joy to your heart because they kept your word and obeyed you.  Christ feels the same way as we can see in this verse.  Job writes “"I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food (Job. 23:12).”  We saw in Ephesus that those there had lost their first love, but we see here that this church loved the Lord and that is why they were keeping His Word.

            Next we see that they did not deny His name, and this was done in times of persecution that was surrounding them.  Paul said the same thing to the church at Thessalonica, a letter we studied last year.  Paul was concerned that because of the persecution that was going on there and the fact that he only spend a short time with them that they may have fallen to the temptations of Satan, but they did not and this church in Philadelphia did not either.

            John MacArthur writes “Finally, Christ commended the Philadelphia church because its members had kept the word of His perseverance.  The NIV translation clarifies Christ’s meaning:  ‘You have kept my command to endure patiently.’  The Christians at Philadelphia persevered faithfully through all of their trials and difficulties.”

            We see an example of this in the life of Christ as seen by the writer to the Hebrews “1  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin (Heb. 12:1-4).”  Paul writes about the perseverance of the Thessalonians in 2 Thess. 3:5 “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.”  We will pick up on this subject in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The word “perseverance” has kind of popped up in my life a lot lately.  It seems to me that it is a first cousin of “patience” and both qualities are hard to accomplish, but I must remember that nothing is impossible with God.  “’Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You (Jer. 32:17).”  Sounds like a good verse for a song.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love Christ has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “God stopped the flow of the Jordan while it was flooded” (Joshua 3:14-17).

Today’s Bible question:  “Why did the Jewish council in Jerusalem contend with Peter?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/19/2015 10:57 AM

           

           

The Church and City of Philadelphia (Rev. 3:7a,b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/18/2015 10:35 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  The Church and City of Philadelphia 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 3:7a, b

            Message of the verses:  “"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this.”

            There are things that are common in these seven churches and the fact is that it is not known as to how or when these churches were started in six of the cities, and the key can be in the one that we know how it was started and that is the church at Ephesus.  We have mentioned Acts 19:10 in reference to how it is believed that six of these seven churches began:  “This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”  From this verse we believe that the ministry in Ephesus spread throughout all of Asia so that the other six churches began there.  John MacArthur adds the following information: “A few years after John wrote Revelation, the early church father Ignatius passed through Philadelphia on his way to martyrdom at Rome.  He later wrote the church a letter of encouragement and instruction.  Some Christians from Philadelphia were martyred with Polycarp at Smyrna.  The church lasted for centuries.  The Christians in Philadelphia stood firm even after the region was overrun by the Muslims, finally succumbing in the mid-fourteenth century.”

            Next we look at the city of Philadelphia.  In his commentary on the book of Revelation “There is a New World Coming,” Hal Lindsey writes the following on the city of Philadelphia:  “Philadelphia was about thirty miles southeast of Sardis.  It was destroyed in AD 17 by the same earthquake that toppled Sardis.  Tiberius Caesar, the great builder of cities, reestablished it.

            “Philadelphia was at the center of a great vineyard district and had a thriving business in wine.  Because of this, Bacchus, the god of wine, had many devotees there.  Quite naturally, drunkenness was a chronic social problem in the district.

            “The very large Jewish population in Philadelphia was apparently responsible for some of the persecution of Christians.  The Jews were no stranger to persecution; Roman laws were hard on them as well as on the Christians.”

            John MacArthur writes how the city was first founded sometime after 189 BC.  The city was started “either by King Eumenes of Pergamum or his brother, Attalus II, who succeeded him as king.  In either case, the city derived its name from Attalus II’s nickname Philadelphus (‘brother lover’), which his loyalty to his brother Eumenes had earned him.”

            The city was set on an eight hundred high hill which meant it was good for defensive purposes and it also had major roads running through it which was good for trade. 

            We mentioned the earthquake that happened in 17 AD as this part of what is now modern day Turkey has hand many earthquakes which gave it the rich volcanic soil so they could grow their vineyards.  John MacArthur quotes a man named Sir William Ramsay who writes about the nerve-wracking experiences which left some psychological scars on the inhabitants of Philadelphia because of the frequent earthquakes:  “Many of the inhabitants remained outside the city living in huts and booths over the vale, and those who were foolhardy enough (as the sober-minded thought) to remain in the city, practiced various devices to support and strengthen the walls and houses against the recurring shocks.  The memory of this disaster lived long…people lived amid ever threatening danger, in dread always of a new disaster; and the  habit of going out to the open country had probably not disappeared when the Seven Letters were written.”   

            Perhaps the people on our west coast can understand what these people went through.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This morning I have been thinking about my family and how God brought my wife and I together and a short time later we both came to know the Lord which turned our lives around 180.  I was thinking about the miracle of my son who had to have a few different surgeries when he was young.  At six months he had his first heart surgery and then another before he was one on his ear, next came the open heart surgery at age 18 months, one of the longest days of my life.  God brought us through this and he is now married and has three children of his own.  I was also thinking of my daughter and her husband who now have four children, the first one adopted from overseas and how they cried many tears to plead with God to give them children and He surely answered their prayers.  When I look back at our life, and the life of my family I can see how the Lord has had His hands on it from the start and for this I praise the Lord.  Looking back on these seven cities we can also see the hand of God on them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength and to better understand the love He has for me of which I have written of above.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, Song of Solomon, and Lamentations.”

Today’s Bible question:  “By what miracle did the children of Israel enter into the Promised Land?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/18/2015 11:16 AM

The Correspondent (Jesus Christ) (Revelation 3:7c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/17/2015 8:00 AM

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  The Correspondent (Jesus Christ)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 3:7c

            Message of the verse:  “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key to David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”

            As we have looked at the first five letters that are found in the book of Revelation we have followed a pattern as to how we go through them in order to better understand what is written.  In each of the letters we have known that the human author is John, but John is only the one who is writing down what the glorified Lord Jesus Christ is telling him to write, and in each of the previous letters the description of Jesus Christ was given from the vision that John saw in the first chapter of Revelation, but not the case here, as the description of our Lord does not come from that first chapter.  We will look at this description in our SD today and I think that all of us will be blessed by it.  John MacArthur states that this description of Jesus Christ has distinctly Old Testament features.

            The first part of this description tells us of the holiness of our Lord.  I realize that there are some people who do not realize that Jesus Christ is the second person of the godhead, but He is and the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit goes all the way back to the book of Genesis where we learn of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all involved in the creation of the earth and all of the stars and of course the things that are on the earth including the plants, animals, and human beings.  We read in Ge 1:26 “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."”  We see that the trinity is seen in this verse.  Now as we go back to Revelation we see that our Lord is described as being holy and only God possesses absolute holiness and this is seen repeatedly in the pages of the Old Testament, in fact “the Holy One” is a messianic title of our Lord.  First we will look at a short list of OT Scriptures that speak of God’s holiness:  “2 Kings 19:22; Job 6:10; Pss. 71:22; 78:41; Isa. 43:15; 54:5; Hab. 3:3).”  (List acquired from MacArthur’s Commentary on Rev.)  As we go back to a favorite part of the OT, Isaiah chapter six and verse three we read “And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."”   Now let us compare this with Revelation 4:8 “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!" (NKJV).”  What does it mean to say that God is holy?  “God is utterly separate from sin; therefore His character is absolutely unblemished and flawless.”

            Now we will look at some verses that speak of the Messiah as being the “Holy One.”  The first one is given by a demon in Mark 1:24:  “saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!"”  The demons knew who Jesus was, but unfortunately many people did not then and still do not know who He is.  The angel, while announcing His birth says “The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35).”  Peter affirms this as seen in John 6:69 “"We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."”  Peter will later on rebuke the unbelieving Jew who crucified our Lord by saying in Acts 3:14 “"But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,” and that murderer was Barabbas. 

            Now we will look at the next section of Rev. 3:7c, “He who is true.”  MacArthur writes “Alethinos (true) denotes that which is genuine, authentic, and real.  In the midst of the falsehood, perversion, and error that fills the world, the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth (John 14:6).”  When Jesus Christ came before Pilate He told him the following “John 18:37  Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."” “John 18:38  Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him.”  Here we see that Jesus tells Pilate that Jesus came to testify of the truth and then Pilate asked “what is truth,” but did not stick around to have Jesus tell him the answer.”  Also interestingly we see that Jesus says “ Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."”  My question to those who read this is have you heard the truth so you can understand who Jesus really is?  You will not hear an audible voice, but your heart will be opened by the Holy Spirit to understand what the truth is and how you can obtain that Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Next we see our Lord described as the One “who has the key of David.”  When we look at Revelation 5:5 “and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals,"” and also Revelation 22:16 “"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star,"” we can see that David symbolizes the messianic office.   Now what does a “key” represent in the Scriptures?  It represents authority; whoever holds a key has control “(cf. 1:18; 9:1; 20:1; Matt. 16:19).”  MacArthur writes “The term ‘the key of David’ also appears in Isaiah 22:22, where it refers to Eliakim, the steward or prime minister to Israel’s king.  Because of his office, he controlled access to the monarch.  As the holder of the key of David, Jesus alone has the sovereign authority to determine who enters His messianic kingdom (cf. John 10:7, 9; 14:6; Acts 4:12).  Revelation 1:18 reveals that Jesus has the keys to death and hell; here He is depicted as having the keys to salvation and blessing.”.        

            Lastly we look at “He who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens.”  This speaks of our Lord’s attribute of being omnipotent, all powerful, as MacArthur writes “what He does cannot be overturned by someone more powerful.”  Because there is no one more powerful than Jesus, no one is able to undo anything He does.  If anyone was more powerful than Him, He would not be God.  Now, of course all the Persons of the godhead possess this attribute.  MacArthur writes “No one can shut the doors to the kingdom or to blessing if He holds them open, and no one can force them open if He holds them shut.  In light of the promise in verse 8, Christ could also be referring to opening and shutting doors for service.  In either case, the emphasis is on His sovereign control over His church.

            “That Jesus Christ, the holy, true, sovereign, omnipotent Lord of the church, found nothing to condemn in the Philadelphia church must have been a joyous encouragement to them.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  That last statement is a very important statement to understand, and one that I truly would like to have said about me whenever the Lord comes for His church, or takes me to be with Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To better understand and to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love He has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Rachel” (Genesis 29:18).

Today’s Bible question:  “What OT books are not referred to in the NT.”

Answer in our next SD.

2/17/2015 9:01 AM

The Unfolding of the Vision PT-4-5

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/13/2015 1:59 PM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  The Unfolding of the Vision PT-4-5

Bible Reading & Meditation                                    Reference:  Revelation 1:15b, 16a, 20a

            Message of the verses:  We will first look at Revelation 1:15a in our study for today.

            Christs Speaks Authoritatively To His Church: (Revelation 1:15a):  “and his voice was like the sound of many waters.”

            Notice we have that word “like” in this section as perhaps John had a difficult time truly explaining what he heard.  When we heard Christ speak in verse ten it was like the sound of a trumpet.  The sound of many waters could mean like the waves crashing into the seashore, or perhaps even a waterfalls.  When one goes to visit Nigeria Falls they will never forget the sound that the falls make especially if you go on one of the boat rides that goes close to the bottom of the falls.  The voice that John heard was a voice of sovereign power showing once again that Christ is God.  This same voice will one fulfill the following words:  “28  "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29  and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29).”

            When Christ speaks to His church we must listen.  Remember what the Father said when Christ was on the Mt. of Transfiguration:  “This is My beloved Son,…listen to Him!” (Matt. 17:5).  One more verse to look at and that is Hebrews 1:1-2 “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2  in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

            Christ Controls His Church (Revelation 1:16a, 20a):  “In His right hand He held seven stars…the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.”

            In the book of Ephesians we learn that Christ is the head of the church:  “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ (Eph. 4:15.”  “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body (5:23).”  Next is Col. 1:18 “He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”  We notice as John speaks of the vision of Christ he tells us that the seven stars, which represent the 7 churches is in the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, and being in His right hand it represents control.

            I want to, at this time quote from my commentary that I wrote on this section on Feb. 8 2005 to help us to see what the word ‘angels” means.  “Jesus says that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the word means messengers, which is the word that is used for angels many times in the Bible.  Some think it refers to the Pastors or Ministers, but it certainly could mean that God has appointed an angel over each of His Churches.”  I hope this helps.

            My opinion of this is that they are not angels, but they are the leaders of the churches.  Let me explain one of the reasons why I believe that this word is speaking of the physical leaders of these seven churches.  When Christ died on the cross and was resurrected from the grace He gave authority to His disciples, and in the second chapter of Acts, on the Day of Pentecost we see the church begin.  As we work our way through the book of Acts we see the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of the apostles, especially Peter and then Paul to establish the churches.  Once these men died there were never any more apostles, but what we see in the book of Acts and also in Paul’s letters that he appoints different men, Elders, Pastors, deacons to lead the new local churches and the seven churches in Revelation are a part of those local churches.  God’s way of having His Word taught in His churches is through the leaders of those churches and I do not believe that there are angels who are the heads of any local church today or when the church began.  I am not saying that in the spiritual realm that there are not angels to help protect different churches, for this is most probably the case, but not teaching the churches.

            Spiritual meaning form my life today:  One of the things that I want to make sure of when I join a church or even visit a church is that the Pastor of that church has been called by God and can tell me when it was that he was called by God.  In this way I can believe that the messages that he is giving are from the Lord, for if he were not called then that would not be the case.  I am thankful that all of our Pastors in our church have been called by the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, and strength, and to live like I know that He loves me.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-8.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Acts.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How many times did Joash smite the arrows to the ground?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/13/2015 2:43 PM

    

Introduction to the church at Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/16/2015 9:06 AM

My Worship Time                                             Focus:  Introduction to the church at Philadelphia

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                          Reference:  Revelation 3:7-13

            Message of the verses:  “7 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: 8  ’I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9  ’Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie-I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. 10 ’Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 ’I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 ’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. 13 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

            The first time that I read about this church I had thoughts that because there is a city by the same name in our country that this was about our country.  I read this somewhere around the 28^th of January 1974 a few days after I became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Things have changed in my understanding of this section of Scripture as I now look at this church I know that it is one of the two churches that Christ has no rebuke for and I also know that this is not referring to the city in the United States.  We can also see that when we look at the description of Christ that He does not get if from the vision found in chapter one.  Now as far as an introduction to this church I want to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary as it is very short and will help us better understand not only this church but others as well.

            “Occasionally I am ask by young men seeking a church to pastor if I know of a church without any problems.  My response to them is ‘If I did, I wouldn’t tell you; you’d go there and spoil it.’  The point is that there are no perfect churches.  Churches struggle because all are made up of imperfect, sinning people.  The church is not a place for people with no weaknesses; it is a fellowship of those who are aware of their weakness and long for the strength and grace of God to fill their lives.  It is a kind of hospital for those who know they are sick and needy.

            “Like all churches, the one in Philadelphia had its imperfections.  Yet the Lord commended its members for their faithfulness and loyalty.  They and the congregation at Smyrna were the only two of the seven that received no rebuke from the Lord of the church.  In spite of their fleshly struggles, the Christians at Philadelphia were faithful and obedient, serving and worshiping the Lord.  They provide a good model of a loyal church. 

            “To aid in understanding the letter to the Philadelphia church, it may be divided into six headings:  the correspondent, the church, the city, the commendation, the command, and the counsel.”

            Now as we look at this church over the next week we need to understand why it was that Christ had no words of rebuke for it.  I believe that when Christ tells them that they had little power is a key as to why this church was not rebuked.  People who are weak can be strengthened by the Lord, but those who think they are strong, many times feel they can do it all by themselves.  Not so with this church.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians “And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Cor. 12:9).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Pride is a very big problem as pride hinders our help from the Lord.  I have often quoted a song written and sung by the late Roger Miller and in that song he sings “I believe that pride is the chief cause in the decline in the number of husbands and wives.”  Lord help me not to be proud, but be weak so You can work through me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To better learn to love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love that He has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The temple” (Acts 21:28).

Today’s Bible question:  “For whom did Jacob say he would serve seven years?”

Answer in our next SD.

2/16/2015 9:34 AM

Christ Gives Counsel to the church of Sardis (Rev. 3:5-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/15/2015 7:28 PM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  Christ Gives Counsel to the church of Sardis

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 3:5-6

            Message of the verses:  “5 ’He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

            Let’s begin with what I wrote on this verse on March 14, 2005:  “As mentioned before overcomers are the true believers in Jesus Christ, those who are born-again.  True believers are the ones who have been purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ when He died on the cross, and because He died for them, and because His Father chose them before the foundation of the earth, and because the Holy Spirit of God called them, they will never be lost, and once their names have been written in the Lambs Book of Life it will never be removed.  All of those who have been written in this book will be clothed in white raiment one day.”  Now I will try and add some more to what I wrote then.

            The reward of believers as seen here is that they will wear white garments and we read in Revelation 19:7-9 where they will be worn:  “7 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said to me, "Write, ’Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’" And he said to me, "These are true words of God."”  This is an event that all believers throughout the church age should be looking forward to for it is here that believers will receive their rewards from our Lord for the things that we have done in the body while here on planet earth, thing done in the body that were empowered by the Holy Spirit who lives in all true believers.

            White robes were worn in ancient days at weddings and also when battles were won and we see that believers will wear them at the Lambs supper and we can note also that we are victorious through Christ, so both fit in.

            Now we come to a part where perhaps some believer are a bit confused about and that is the part where Jesus says that He will not erase their names from the book of life.  I did go over this a bit when quoting from my earlier notes on verse five but will add some more here.  Jesus never says that He will erase names from the book of life here, just the opposite is said, so this will never happen to a true believer and a non-believer will never have his name there in the first place.  Jesus goes on to say that He will confess his name before the Father and before His angels.  This surely is a wonderful statement to realize that when you become a believer Jesus Christ will confess your name before the God who created all that is seen, the God who not only created all we see, but is in control of all we see too.  What a wonderful privilege we have as believers in Jesus Christ.

            John MacArthur writes “In John’s day, rulers kept a register of the citizens of a city.  If someone died, or committed a serious crime, their name was erased from that register.  Christ, the King of heaven, promises never to erase a true Christian’s name from the roll of those whose names were ‘written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain’ (13:8).

            On the contrary, Christ will confess every believer’s name before God the Father and before His angels.  He will affirm that they belong to Him.  Here Christ reaffirmed the promise He made during His earthly ministry:  ‘Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven’ (Matt. 10:32).  The comforting truth that true Christians’ salvation is eternally secure is the unmistakable teaching of Scripture.  Nowhere is that truth more strongly stated than in Romans 8:28-39:  28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            Now I will now go into the last verse which is the same as in all the letters, but to say that the word “overcomes” refers to all true believers and we are to make sure that we listen closely to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the promises that I have seen in this section, promises that are so much better than what we have here on earth, things that sometimes I think are important, but are not.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to learn more about loving the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand the love Christ has for me so that I can live a better life for the cause of Christ.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The angel of the Lord” (Luke 2:10).”

Today’s Bible question:  “The Jew in Jerusalem accused Paul of taking Gentiles into what place?

Answer in our next SD.

2/15/2015 8:03 PM

           

 

The Command Christ Gives to Sardis (Rev. 3:2a, 3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/14/2015 10:03 AM

My Worship Time                                                   Focus:  The Command Christ Gives to Sardis

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 3:2a, 3

            Message of the verses:  “’Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die… ’So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”

            Now we have already mentioned that in many of these churches that Christ writes to have many unbelievers in them which we know was not good then and is not good today, or for that matter not good during any part of the church age, but we see that in this section that Christ is addressing this command to the faithful remnant or to those who were truly believers in this church.  He was not talking to those who were dead for there was no reason to do that.  We will not look at the five steps that are seen in this section that if followed the church would live on.

            The first words He gives to them are “wake up,” and there must have been a good reason for Christ to tell these believers to wake up.  MacArthur writes “The believing remnant needed to look at what was happening in their church, evaluate the situation, get involved in changing things, confront sin and error, and make a difference.” 

            The next thing Christ tells them to do is to “strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die.”  In writing of this word “things” MacArthur says “Things is a neuter noun in the Greek and does not refer to people, but to spiritual realities.  Christ exhorted the true Christians at Sardis to fan into flame the dying embers of the remaining spiritual graces in the church.”  This reminds me of something that Paul wrote to Timothy “For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands (2 Timothy 1:6).”  In this verse Paul is telling Timothy a very similar thing that Christ is telling the believers at Sardis, to get the fire going again is seen in both verses, to remember when the fire was hot for the Lord and fan the flames in order to get it going again. 

            We continue with this theme of remembering in the third point Christ makes to these believers as he tells them “remember what” they had “received and heard.”  We humans can forget things, even things that are very important, very easily, and all it takes if for us to stop a good habit like reading and studying the Word of God for a day and then it will happen for two and three and finally we will be out of that habit all together.  The solution is to remember how good it was when we were in that good habit of studying the Word of God and to pray and to be ready to tell others of the hope that lies within us.  Why do we do these things?  We do them first of all because we love the Lord, the Lord who came down from heaven to be born as a baby in a cave where lambs were born, lambs that were used in a sacrifice on the day of Passover.  In a dirty cave was the Son of God born because He loved us that much.  He loved us that much by becoming our Passover Lamb and dying on the cross at the exact time that the Passover lambs were slain, but our Passover Lamb had just taken our punishment in His own body on the cross so that we can receive His righteousness and be accepted by God to live with Him forever.  We as believers need to remember these truths in order to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.   As we have looked these churches so far we saw in the first church, Ephesus that the only thing Christ condemned them for was leaving their first love, and when that happened we see these other condemnations that flow from forgetting their first love and it is a downward spiral until we get to the church of Laodicea where Christ is actually on the outside knocking on the door to get into the church.  Yes there are two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia that were given no condemnations and those are the ones we are to be like, but with the others it kept getting worse.  We are to remember for we are a forgetful people.

            The forth point ties in with this third point, and that is to keep the things that were found in the Scriptures, things that I spoke about in our last point.

            Finally we get to the last point and Christ tells them to repent.  MacArthur writes “With remorse and sorrow, the believers at Sardis were to confess and turn away from their sins.  These five stops, if diligently practiced, would bring about revival.”

            The consequences if revival did not come are seen in the last part of verse three:  “Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”

            Just for the record what I have written about the birth of Christ, as far as where He was born is something I have learned from my studies and also from a historical novel that I read many years ago.  They all make perfect sense to me, that is having our Passover Lamb born in the cave where the Passover lambs were born during that time in Bethlehem. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We have an enemy who would like nothing better than to trip us up in our studying of the Word of God.  He is crafty and if had the chance would destroy all believers in an instant, but thankfully God is in control, but we, as believers need our Spiritual armor on so we can stand.  I have made a commitment to learn more about loving my Lord better this year so I do not fall into the downhill slide that I am learning about in these churches.  I desire to not only love the Lord in a more biblical way, but to better understand how much He loves me so that I can live a life that is more pleasing to me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Nicodemus” (John 3:4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Fear not: for, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people?’”

Answer in our next SD.

2/14/2015 10:50 AM