The Concern (Rev. 2:4-7)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/20/2015 9:35 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  The Concern

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Revelation 2:4-7

            Message of the verses:  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.”

            I think that one of the benefits of studying the book of Revelation along with also studying the book of Ezekiel is that there are times when there are parallels between the two books.  Ezekiel was living with the exiles in the land of Babylon trying to make them understand the consequences of why they were there and not back in the land of Israel, a land that God had given to them as a promise to the patriarch Abraham, as seen in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis.  We can look at some of the different prophets along with Ezekiel to see what was the real problem that God’s wrath came upon His children, the children of Israel, as we could say with truthfulness that they broke the covenant that God had given to them.  We could also say, and it would be true that they had continually disobeyed the Lord since they entered the land by worshiping idols, and this would be true, in fact after God graciously brought them back to their land the problem with idol worship ended.  Now the kind of idol worship that ended was they did not bow down to “gods” made of wood, stone of metals any more.  But as we look more deeply into the real problem as to why the Lord’s wrath came upon them it was a heart issue, as they stopped their love for the Lord.  If they would have truly loved the Lord with all of their heart, soul, and strength they would have not bowed down to any idols or done the other awful things that they did.  Let us now look at some verses in the book of Jeremiah to show that Israel’s love for the Lord continued to wane.

            “2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ’Thus says the LORD, "I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown. 3 “Israel was holy to the LORD, The first of His harvest. All who ate of it became guilty; Evil came upon them," declares the LORD.’" 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD, "What injustice did your fathers find in Me, That they went far from Me And walked after emptiness and became empty? 6  "They did not say, ’Where is the LORD Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of deep darkness, Through a land that no one crossed And where no man dwelt?’ 7 “I brought you into the fruitful land To eat its fruit and its good things. But you came and defiled My land, And My inheritance you made an abomination. 8 “The priests did not say, ’Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the law did not know Me; The rulers also transgressed against Me, And the prophets prophesied by Baal And walked after things that did not profit.

    “9 "Therefore I will yet contend with you," declares the LORD, "And with your sons’ sons I will contend. 10 “For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see, And send to Kedar and observe closely And see if there has been such a thing as this! 11 “Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. 12 “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate," declares the LORD. 13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water Jeremiah 2:2-13).”

            Now from a passage in the book of Ezekiel that not too long ago we looked at in our study of Ezekiel.  From Ezekiel 16:8-15 we read:  “8 “Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine," declares the Lord GOD. 9 “Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 “I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 “I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 12 “I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 “Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 “Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD. 15 "But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot because of your fame, and you poured out your harlotries on every passer-by who might be willing.”

            When John wrote the letters to the seven churches it was some forty years after the time when these churches began.  Remember that it was the Ephesian church that was the “mother” church that began the other churches.  We are now in the second generation of these churches, and the problem with the Ephesian church was that they were doing things by mechanical orthodoxy.  Perhaps we could say that it was similar, but not exactly life the orthodoxy that the Pharisees did.  Now not exactly but similar for it is doubtful that many of the Pharisees had any love for the Lord at all, but the still did things in a mechanical way.

            This love that they had lost could include things like love for God and Christ, love for each other and also having a love for the lost, wanting to see them come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

            Now we know that the all seeing, all knowing glorified Lord Jesus Christ will tell them what they need to do in order to overcome what He had spotted wrong with them.

            The Command (Revelation 2:5):  “5 ’Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place-unless you repent.”

            This is a very serious statement or perhaps a very serious command that the glorified Lord is telling them to do.  They are to remember, repent, and do what they use to do when they first became believers.  When we look at the word remember it means to continue to remember, keep on remembering from where they had fallen.  Think about how good it was when they first became a believer and their love for the Lord was fresh as they joyfully were doing things for the Lord because they loved Him.  Now one of the things that I enjoy about listening to the sermons of John MacArthur is that he always reviews what he is teaching so that if perhaps you forgot something he will remind you again and again.  I know that this irritates some, but to remember is a good thing, and reinforcing points from MacArthur’s sermons is also a good thing that he does. 

            John MacArthur writes this concerning the word “repent.”  Second, they need to repent in a deliberate rejection of their sins, because to fail to love God will all of one’s heart, soul, mind and strength is sin (Mark 12:30).”  Repent means to “1) to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent  2) to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins (Greek/English Dictionary).”  MacArthur writes that “they needed to recapture the richness of Bible Study, devotion to prayer, and passion for worship that had once characterized them.” 

            As stated earlier this was a very serious issue they were facing and John MacArthur concludes this section by writing the following:  “Underscoring the seriousness of the situation, Christ warns the Ephesians to take the necessary steps to recover their first love for Him.  He demanded that they change or be chastened:  ‘I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.  The coming to which Christ refers is not His second coming, but His coming to them in local judgment on that church.  Failure to heed the warning would cause Him to remove the lampstand (symbolic of the church; Rev. 1:20) out of its place.  Tragically, Christ threatened divine judgment that would bring an end to the Ephesian church. “ 

The Counsel (Revelation 2:7):   “’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’”

            1/20/2015 10:38 AM   1/20/2015 1:00 PM

            I want to say something here about this first part of verse seven “’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  We see this phrase at the end of each letter to the churches and we will go over as to what this means and then we will understand it.  I want to make one more point before we go on to look at what this means and it comes from “Re 13:9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear.”  What we see here is that this verse is not saying “what the Spirit says to the churches.”   When we look at chapter four we see a picture of John going to heaven in the Rapture so by the time we get to chapter thirteen the church is in heaven and that is why the verse in not completed like when Christ is speaking to the churches.

            This verse, according to John MacArthur means “It emphasizes the sober responsibility beliers have to heed God’s voice in Scripture.  The use of the plural noun “churches” signifies the universal nature of this invitation each time that it appears.  This call cannot be limited just to a group of overcomes in a single church; it must apply to all churches.  Every church needs to hear every message.”

            Now let’s talk about the word “overcomers” I realize that the verse says “To him who overcomes.”  Who is the one who overcomes?  John, who also wrote the gospel of John along with three letters has this to say about this word:  “1Jo 5:4-5 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.  5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  John tells us that all believers are the ones who overcome, so this is not a special class of believers, but simply those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 

            Jesus promise those who are in Ephesus who are believers that they will one day eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.  All the way back in Genesis we see in the garden of Eden that there was a tree that if Adam and Eve would have eaten of before they ate of the tree of knowledge that things would have worked out much better for all of us, however they lost the rite to eat of this tree because of sin.  The following is what John writes in the last chapter, chapter 22:2 “in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit”, 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.”  19 “and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

            John MacArthur finishes his commentary on the church at Ephesus with the following words:  “The example of the Ephesian church warns that doctrinal orthodoxy and outward service cannot make up for a cold heart.  Believers must carefully heed Solomon’s counsel:  ‘Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.’ (Proverbs 4:23).  Those whose love for God has cooled would do well to heed the exhortation Hosea addressed to a backsliding Israel:  ‘1 Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. 3 “Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ’Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy’ (Hosea 14:1-3).

            “And to those who return to Him God promises, ‘I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely’ (Hosea 14:4).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have expressed that I feel my need for 2015 that I need to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, however until I found out that this was a sin I did not confess it as such since I did not realize this.  I have since and the letter to this church has helped me to realize that.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to understand how much God loves me.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-9.

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 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.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

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

Today’s Bible question:  “In which year of his reign did Solomon start building the temple?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/20/2015 1:41 PM

 

The Commendation for the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:2-3, 6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/19/2015 9:15 AM

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  The Commendation for the church at Ephesus

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 2:2-3, 6

            Message of the verses:  “2  ’I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3  and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.  6 ’Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

            The Greek word for “know” is “Oida” however there is another Greek word for know and that word is ginosko.  Oida means complete knowledge, and in this case we can see that Christ has complete knowledge of all of the churches for this word is found in 2:9; 13, 19; 3:1, 8, 15).  The other Greek word ginosko means to accumulate knowledge or progressive knowledge.  Jesus Christ is omniscience; He knows everything including what is going on in His church. Christ knows both the good and the bad as we will see as we progress through chapters two and three. 

            Christ is going to tell them the good things that they are doing before he tells them the things that they are not doing right, and in the case of the Ephesian church He does add one more good thing (v. 6) after He tells them what they need to correct (vv. 4-5).  He uses the word “deeds” which is a general term for what He is about to say.  First we see the word “toil.”  Toil “Kopos” denotes labor to the point of sweat and exhaustion.  They were working hard for the cause of Christ as this describes an all out effort on the part of the church including both physical exhaustion and also mental exhaustion.  Next we see the word “perseverance” and this is translated “hupomone, and this speaks of having patience in trying situations and circumstances.  MacArthur writes “In contrast, its synonym makrothumia, generally emphasizes patience with people.”  We see this word, perseverance six times in chapters 2-3 and then once more in chapter fourteen.  Perseverance is seen 21 times in the NASB translation in the entire NT.  MacArthur continues “This commendation indicates that despite their difficult circumstances, the Ephesian believers remained faithful to their Lord.” 

            Another commendation from Christ to them is that they refused to tolerate evil men.  These believers knew the difference between men who wanted to follow the Lord and those who did not as they had the spiritual understanding to spot those who were evil.  Remember that Satan can act as an angel of light, but that still makes him who he is and that is evil and a liar.  Now on the thought that these men were actually believers they would use the proper discipline that is spelled out in Matthew 18:15 and following for these men.

            We mentioned that they had a great deal of spiritual discernment as we see further evidence of it when we see that they “put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and …found them to be false.”  Paul spoke of this to the elders of that church when he was about to leave them as seen in Acts 20:28-31 “28  "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”  It seems to me that they had followed this admonition that Paul gave them. Now this letter to them by our Lord was sent some forty years after Paul spoke to them in Acts 20 and so Christ is giving them a commendation for following this teaching from Paul.

            False teachers were a problem in the early church and they are still problems in churches today and so we must be like the church in Ephesus and be on guard for them, having great discernment and they to either discipline them or just plain kick them out of the church. 

            Verse six speaks of what Christ called the Nicolaitans, and this term is also used in His letter to the church at Pergamum where we can get some more light on this subject.  There is no dogmatic answer to who these people are however there is speculation that in Acts chapter six we find one of the first deacons was named Nicholas and there is speculation from those in the early church that said he or a follower of him is behind their deeds.  Now the word Nicolaitans comes from two Greek words and the first word is Nike which is familiar in our sporting world today.  The definition is as follows “Nicolaitans  = "destruction of people"”  and my Greek/English dictionary goes on to say the following “a sect mentioned in #Re 2:6,15, who were charged with holding the error of Balaam, casting a stumbling block before the church of God by upholding the liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols as well as committing fornication.”  Now the name Balaam has a similar meaning and we read the following again from my Greek/English dictionary “A native of Pethor a city in Mesopotamia, endued by Jehovah with prophetic power. He was hired by Balak to curse the Israelites; and influenced by the love of reward, he wished to gratify Balak; but he was compelled by Jehovah’s power to bless them. Hence later the Jews saw him as a most abandoned deceiver.”  Balaam could not curse Israel, but he did cause them to commit sexual sins against the Lord, thus we believe that these Nicolaitans were doing the same thing and the believers in Ephesus hated this.

            1/19/2015 10:02 AM  1/19/2015 11:37 AM

            MacArthur concludes this section with the following “Unlike the church at Pergamum, the Ephesian church did not tolerate the Nicolaitans but hated their heretical teachings.  For that they Lord Jesus Christ commended them.  Hatred was an appropriate attitude and exactly the opposite reaction to the tolerance of the Pergamum church toward the Nicolaitans (1:14-15).  The Bible reveals that God hates impurity (Isa. 61:8; Jer. 44:4; Amos 5:21; Zech. 8:17).”  Now this may seem strange to some but look at the following verse in the book of Romans “Ro 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.’”  “1) to hate, pursue with hatred, detest” and this is the meaning of the word hate from the Greek/English Dictionary. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that most people remember the fact that the Lord tells the Ephesians that they had left their first love as seen in verse four, however this being true of course there are still many things that the Lord commended them for that I can follow, and then I also want to obey the Lord, which means that I love Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, mind, and strength, and to act and continue to believe that He loves me.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-9.

5 Now for the 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. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Lot’s” (Genesis 19:23-26).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book records Moses’ final talk to the children of Israel?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/19/2015 11:59 AM

More from the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/18/2015 8:54 AM

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  More from the church at Ephesus

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 2:1b

            Message of the verse:  “Ephesus.”  Today in this Spiritual Diary we will look at the city of Ephesus during the time when this letter was written as this will help us to better understand the challenges that the church had during this time period.

            Ephesus was not the capital of Asia Minor but it was the most important city in Asia Minor.  Actually Pergamum was the capital of the providence.  John MacArthur states in his commentary on Revelation that the population was between 250,000 and 500,000 people when this letter was written to the church at Ephesus.  There is not a city there today, but ruins of the old city can be found.  Turkey is the name of the country that all of the churches and cities are found today.  Even though Ephesus was a part of the Roman world at that time it was a self governing city as there were no Roman troops stationed there.

            During the time when this letter was written to them the city did have a harbor which was good for trade as the boats could get to it up the Cayster River some three miles.  However even during John’s day the river was beginning to have a large amount of silt in it which would eventually prevent boats from coming up the river, thus hindering the trade there.  Today the remains of Ephesus are now six miles from the harbor.  Not only was Ephesus able to have sea travel, but four of the major Roman roads went through there too, which was also good for the trade and business of the city. 

            MacArthur writes “But Ephesus was most famous as the center of the worship of the goddess Artemis (Diana)—a point of great civic pride (Acts 19:27, 35).  The temple of Artemis was Ephesus’s most prominent landmark.  Because its inner shrine was supposedly inviolable, the temple served as one of the most important banks in the Mediterranean world.  The temple and its environs also provided sanctuary for criminals.  Further, the sale of items used in worship of Artemis provided an important source of income for the city (cf. Acts 19:24).  Every spring a month-long festival was held in honor of the goddess, complete with athletic, dramatic, and musical events.  Paul may have anticipated this annual event as a unique evangelistic opportunity and have been waiting for it when he wrote the Corinthians that he intended to remain in Ephesus (1Cor. 16:8).”

            As we look at this brief description of the ancient city of Ephesus we can be sure that the church was placed in a very difficult place for them to be faithful to the Lord.  As we look at places around the world today we can see that the effects of the communications through modern technology cause many problems with the church.  This modern technology can also benefit the cause of Christ too.  I can’t help but think of when the world only had one language and we can see what happened to it when we read in Genesis about building the tower of Babel.  I have mentioned that this was a tower called a ziggurat used to chart the stars and the beginnings of Astrology.  Our world today is very close if not surpassed what people can do if they speak only one language because of modern technology. God scrambled the languages in order to stop the progress of mankind when the tower of Babel was being built; the question is what will He do to stop the progress of evil in our world today.  Perhaps the prophecies of this book we are studying will begin to come true very soon.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Even though I, like those in the Ephesian church were obeying the Lord in many ways, I can learn from their good ways of serving the Lord and also learn from what they were lacking.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Learning to love the Lord with all of my mind, soul, and strength is my goal this year and I want to do it better.  I also want to live my life with the assurance of knowing that the Lord loves me.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-9.

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. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Gennesaret” (Luke 5:1).

Today’s Bible question:  “Whose wife turned into a pillar of salt?

Answer in our next SD.

1/18/2015 9:33 AM   

More Introduction and The Correspondent (Rev. 2:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/17/2015 10:22 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  More Introduction and The Correspondent 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                               Reference:  Revelation 2:1

            Message of the verse:  The church of Ephesus as related to the book of Revelation is famous for one verse:  “’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev. 2:4).”  Now I have mentioned about my spiritual goal for this year is to love the Lord more and more as I believe that my love for the Lord has been waning, thus this section will be a good study for me.

            When we think of the word “Christian” we find out that it is much different than when we first run into that word in Ac 11:26 “and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”   The question what does it mean to be a true Christian?  There are many things written in the Scriptures that speak of what it means to be a Christian, but the main one is what our Lord told a man when he asked Him what was the greatest commandment and His reply was “to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, and strength.  Now as we look at this commandment and the following one which is “and love your neighbor as yourself,” I see a picture of the cross, loving God is the vertical part, and loving your neighbor is the horizontal part.  But there is more to these two commandments and that is that all of the other commandments flow from these two, including the Ten Commandments, and out of them flow all of the other commandments given in the Law.  Now we are not ready to look in particular at verse four in today’s SD, but I do want to talk about loving the Lord.  As a believer I sometimes think about when Christ first called me in January of 1974, and the difference that that calling made in my life, how fresh my love was for the Lord who had saved me.  I certainly did not know the things then that I know about the Bible, but there was such a refreshing joy in my heart and soul that was never present there before He saved me.  That is what it means not to forget your first love.

            John MacArthur writes in his introductory portion of his commentary on the church at Ephesus the following:  “While love of the Lord Jesus Christ will always be present in true Christians, it can fluctuate in its intensity.  Christians will not always love Jesus Christ with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to fail to do so is sin.  There is no better illustration in Scripture of the seriousness of allowing love for Christ to wane than this letter to the church at Ephesus.

            “The seven churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3 were actual existing churches when John wrote.  But while not precisely duplicated, they also represent the types of churches that are generally present through the entire church age. Five of the seven churches (Smyrna and Philadelphia being the exceptions) were rebuked for tolerating sin in their midst, not an uncommon occurrence in churches since.  The problems in those five churches ranged in severity from waning love at Ephesus to total apostasy at Laodicea.  Further, any church in any age could have a mixture of the sins that plagued these five churches.

            “Though Christ may have addressed the Ephesian church first because it was first on the postal route, it was also the most prominent church of the seven.  It was the mother church out of whose ministry the other six were founded (cf. Acts 19:10) and gave its name to the inspired letter of Ephesians penned four decades earlier by the apostle Paul.  The contents of this first letter form the pattern for the other six.  It contains seven features:  the correspondent, the church, the city, the commendation, the concern, the command, and the counsel.”  These following seven features are what we will be looking at as we study these seven churches over the next days and we will begin with the correspondent in today’s SD.

The Correspondent (Revelation 2:1c):  “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands.”

            It is quite obvious that the author of this is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, and as I mentioned in earlier SD’s He often uses images from the vision in chapter one to describe Himself, images that are exactly needed for those in that particular church.  Now we mentioned when we studied the vision of the glorified Christ that the seven stars were the messengers of the seven churches, mentioning that these were probably not angels, but Pastors or Elders.  The seven golden lampstands were actually the seven churches bringing light to a dark world.  MacArthur writes “In fact, Christ indentifies Himself to each of the first five churches by using phrases from that vision (cf. 2:8 with 1:18; 2:12 with 1:16; 2:18 with 1:14-15; 3:1 with 1:18).  That reinforces the truth that He is the author of the letters; they are His direct word, through the apostle John, to those local congregations and to churches like them in years beyond.”  As we look again for a moment at “the seven stars” that Christ holds in His right hand we can see from this statement that Christ is in complete control of the churches.

The Church (Revelation 2:1a): “the church in Ephesus.” 

            Now there is much that is written in the NT about this church.  There were many “famous” people who lead this church including Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, Apollos, Timothy, and even John.  The story begins in the 18^th chapter of Acts verses 18-19 and then continues in verses 24-26, however the apostle Paul’s main visit to them is seen in the 19^th and 20^th chapter of the book of Acts   Let us look at Acts 19:1-7 “1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." 3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John’s baptism." 4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7 There were in all about twelve men.”  Paul spent three years with the people teaching them and then when he was on his way to Jerusalem where he would be put into prison he stopped and spoke to the people there and the emotions of that visit were very high, as there was much weeping when he told them that he would not see them again.  He also warned them about what would eventually happen to this church.  This happened about forty years before this letter we are studying would come to them, so we can be assured that this church for lengthy time had a wonderful ministry. 

            Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians to them, and this letter was actually a circuit letter that was suppose to go to the them and also to the surrounding churches around them, a letter in which we find much about how a true Bible believing church is to operate.

            In a quote written earlier in this SD John MacArthur stated that Ephesus was the mother church of all the seven churches that are found in Revelation 2-3. 

            There is a very interesting story in the book of Acts about what happened in Ephesus as the believers began to grow.  The believers decided to get rid of all of their idols and their other things that had to do with the false “religion” and so they burned them in a fire and it is said that their worth was fifty thousand pieces of silver, worth 50,000 days of work.  A wonderful story of how the Word of God affected them.  However because of these types of things the people who made idols were upset because their business was not doing well because of these Christians.  You can read about this in Acts 19:23-41.

            Spiritual meaning form my life today:  I think that it is wonderful how the Lord used our Pastor to talk about loving the Lord, and then He continues to bring this to my attention in the verses that I am studying in this wonderful book of Revelation.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all my mind, soul, and strength, to remember my first love, and to also remember the great love Christ has for 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:  “Jesus” Matthew 27:46.

Today’s Bible question: “What is another name for the Sea of Galilee?

Answer in our next SD.

1/17/2015 12:01 PM

Introduction to the Churches

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/16/2015 9:57 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  Introduction to the Churches

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  Various Verses in Revelation

            Today’s SD will be a bit different in that I want to take some time to introduce what we will be looking at when we study these seven churches found in chapters two and three of the book of Revelation.  There are similar things that we will find when we study each of these churches.  First of all I want to talk about one thing that some people believe is true from the study of these churches and some do not agree with it, and that is that the churches are in prophetic order, and what I mean about this is that the dominant church in the world is in prophetic order as the churches that are listed.  The last time when I studied this book back in 2005 I wrote down the prophetic order of these churches and so I will do so in the introduction of our study of the churches and whoever reads this will have to make up their own mind as to whether or not they believe this is true.  Ephesus 33-100; Smyrna 100-312; Pergamos 312-590;  Thyatira 590-1517; Sardis 1517-1750; Philadelphia 1750-1925; Laodicea 1925-present time.  There are some ways that I think that the churches are in prophetic order, but even if this is true we do find each and every one of these types of churches that are around since John wrote this letter. 

            It is also good to be reminded that as we looked at the vision of Christ and what John saw in the first chapter of Revelation we saw that the churches were represented by the lampstands “"As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches’ (Rev. 1:20).” We saw the vision of the glorified Christ walking among the lampstands, which shows us what He has been doing since the church began.  This also shows us that churches are to be a light to the dark world in which we live in and as believers we are to show our light to those who live in this dark world, for that is the only light they will have.

            As we look at these churches we must also remember that these were seven physical churches that were there in Asia Minor, (modern day Turkey).  We will look at what the cities where these churches were located and so we can have a better idea of the problems that they all faced because of where they were located. 

            We will see as we go through these letters that each letter will contain a personal message for our Lord Jesus Christ.  There will also be messages to the individual believers within the church and an example of this is what Christ says to the church at Laodicea when He says that He is at the door knocking.  We will see as we read these letters that we have the opportunity to examine our spiritual status in the light of Jesus’ exhortations to these churches.  And as I said above there may be a prophetic lesson to learn from these churches as to where they fit into the history of the church.  We will also see that the things that we saw in John’s vision of the glorified Christ will be used to describe Him to the different churches.  For example as we look at Revelation 2:1 we read “"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:”  We saw in the vision of the glorified Christ that He was holding the seven stars in His right hand and He was the One who walks among the churches (the seven golden lampstands).  I believe that as we study these seven churches that we will see clearer what the Lord expects of us as believers and what He expects of the churches that we belong to.  Each church had its own particular set of issues and so as Christ looked at them He told them what He wanted them to do.

            There are two of the churches that Christ has no rebuke for, Smyrna and also Philadelphia, but as you read through the list of churches you will see that there is a downhill spiral in the spirituality of the churches with the exception of the church at Philadelphia.  When we come to the church at Laodicea we actually find Christ on the outside of the church knocking to get in.

            I mentioned in the first SD that I did this year of a sermon that was done by our “Seniors” Pastor at the very end of last year to help us to set some goals for this year of 2015.  We had a number of things to chose from and I chose my need to love the Lord in a better way this year and as we get to the first church, Ephesus the most famous verse in that letter is Christ telling them that they left their first love, so I believe that this is just another example of God speaking to my heart on the fact that I need to do a better job loving Him.  It seems that the people in Ephesus were running around doing things for the Lord, but did not stop to love Him.

            As we look at these seven churches over the next day’s my prayer is that we all will have a better idea of what it is that Christ wants to accomplish in our lives and then we will set out to do it.

1/16/2015 10:42 AM

The Effects of the Vision PT-1 (Rev. 1:17a-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/15/2015 8:45 AM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  The Effects of the Vision PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 1:17a-19

            Message of the verse:  In Today’s SD we begin the last section that goes along with chapter one, and as written above we will see what effects that this vision had on John, and what effects this vision should have on us as we study it.  Now it is important to remember that what John saw and wrote about when He saw the Glorified Jesus Christ was the Christ who is caring for the churches, His bride and we will see in chapters two and three the things from this vision that Christ will use when He speaks to the seven churches which represent all the churches from the time He told John of this until He comes to take His bride in the Rapture of the church as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  Jesus Christ is ministering in the churches each and every day, and He does this because He wants His bride to be clean and pure.

            Fear (Revelation 1:17a):  “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.”

            This is not the first time the glorified Christ has affected John in this way for a little more than six decades earlier on the Mt. of Transfiguration John, along with Peter and James were greatly affected seeing the resurrected Christ days before He would be crucified for our sins.  We can also look back at the books of Daniel and Ezekiel to see these two men fall as if they were dead when they too saw a glimpse of the glorified Christ. “Ezek. 1:28  As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.  Ezek. 3:23  So I got up and went out to the plain; and behold, the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory which I saw by the river Chebar, and I fell on my face.”  “Dan 8:17 So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end."  Dan 10:9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.”  Now let us look at what happened to Isaiah when he too saw the glorified Lord.  “Isa 6:5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."”  This same kind of thing happened to Samson’s father, Manoah and also to Job, and in the New Testament after the resurrection Saul of Tarsus, whom we know as the apostle Paul had a similar experience when he saw the glorified Christ on the road to Damascus, and it was during this experience that God called him to do his word for the cause of Christ. 

            Now let us focus on today and talk about people who have said that they have seen the Lord, but none of the things described in these verses have occurred to them.  The glory of the Lord is a bright light, a light that is brighter than the sun for after all God created the sun.  When Moses wanted to see the glory of the Lord God told him that it would kill him, but we read the following from the book of Exodus.  Now what I am about to write is from the 33^rd chapter of Exodus and this is when the Lord was not happy with the children of Israel because of what they had done when Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments so we kind of break in the middle of His conversation with the Lord.  Moses says to the Lord “"I pray You, show me Your glory!’(Exodus 33:18b).”  “19  And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." 20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 21  Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22  and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen’ (Exodus 33:19-23).”  I truly have a difficult time reading about a person seeing the Lord after reading this section of Scripture along with the others above.  Remember when our Lord came into the world His glory was veiled in human flesh and we surely can be thankful that He came so that we who accept His forgiveness can be saved.

            Assurance (Revelation 1:17b-18):  “And He placed His right hand on me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”

            Let us briefly look at Matthew 17:7 “And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Get up, and do not be afraid."”  This is exactly what Jesus did when they were all on the Mt. of Transfiguration, and I can’t help but believe that John remembered that, and I believe that this reassured John as it should us too for in that touch of the glorified Lord we see His great love for John and for us too.  Jesus tells John to “stop being afraid,” which according to John MacArthur is the literal translation of “do not be afraid.”  I searched these words “do not be afraid” for the entire NT and came up with seventeen times it is seen. 

            The reason that John should listen to the Lord is because of who He is for He goes on to say I am, and we will stop there for now.  Let us look back at Exodus again and see how the Lord answered Moses when Moses saw Him at the burning bush.  “God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ’I AM has sent me to you.’"”  Now what does this mean?  I Am speaks of the covenant name for God, a name which the Pharisees would not even pronounce fearing that they would be taking the name of the Lord in vain. 

            Next we see that Jesus says “the first and the last,” and we will compare this with Rev. 2:8 and also 22:13.  “"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:”  “"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."”  So we see this a total of three times in the book of Revelation.  When Jesus applied this title to Himself it is another proof of His deity.   These words also speak of the fact that Jesus Christ is the eternal God.

            Next we see the third title of Jesus in this section as being “the living One.”  Let us look at two verses in John’s gospel, John 1:4 and 14:6.  “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”  “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

            What we must see from this section is that the Jesus who brought fear to the heart of John, so much fear that he fell down as a dead man, is that it was the same Jesus who came to earth to die for his sins and who touched him and who comforted him.  Paul writes “What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31)

            John MacArthur writes about the statement “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more,”  “I became dead.”  He goes on to write: “The living One, the eternal, self-existent God who could never die, became man and died.  As Peter explains in 1 Peter 3:18, Christ was ‘put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.’  In His humanness He died without ceasing to live as God.”

            The next statement “Behold I am alive forevermore” begins with a statement of amazement as the word behold declares it.  Behold is a statement of amazement and wonder for Christ states that He is alive for evermore.  Christ lives forever n a union of glorified humanity and deity as we see from Hebrews 7:16b “according to the power of an indestructible life.”  It is so very important to know that Christ will never die again, and we know that Christ’s death and resurrection is a “firstfruits” of what will happen to those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.  Paul writes about Him never dying again in Romans 6:9 “knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.”  John MacArthur writes “In spite of his sinfulness in the presence of the glorious Lord of heaven, John had nothing to fear because that same Lord had paid by His death the penalty for John’s sins (and those of all who believe in Him) and risen to be his eternal advocate.”

            Now we get to the next part of the verses we are looking at which speak of keys, for Christ has the keys of death and of Hades.  One of the things that I like to do is to carry my keys with me, and if I don’t have them I feel lost.  I don’t know if others feel this way, but I do.  Jesus having the keys of death and Hades shows or denotes access and also authority.  MacArthur writes “Jesus Christ has the authority to decide who dies and who lives; He controls life and death.  And John, like all the redeemed, had nothing to fear, since Christ had already delivered him from death and Hades by His own death.”   Jesus stated that “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies…because I live, you will live also (John 11:25; 14:19).”  The part form chapter eleven of John was spoken to Martha and Mary who were about to see their brother resurrected from the dead.

            Duty (Revelation 1:19):  “"Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.’”

            As mentioned in an earlier SD this is the outline of the book of Revelation and it became a duty for John to write about the things which he had just seen, and then he was to write about the things which are, and by the way they still are, for this speaks of the seven churches, and then he was to write about the things which will take place after these things, in other words he is to write about the end of the world and it begins in Revelation chapter four and goes through the end of the book.

            John MacArthur finishes his commentary on this first chapter of Revelation with the following words:  “Like John, all Christians have a duty to pass on the truths they learn from the visions recorded in this book.  Those visions may at first be startling, disturbing, or fascinating.  But they, like all Scripture, are ‘inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteous; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  As believers study the glory of Christ as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [will be] transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit’ (2 Cor. 3:18).”

            Now as I have the privilege of studying this wonderful book again, a book that was the first book that I read after I became a believer in Jesus Christ I have the wonderful privilege of sharing with those who desire to read it as it is placed on my blog, and for that I am indeed thankful.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is comforting to remember that even though John saw great fear when he saw the Lord in all of His glory that His Lord gave great comfort to him, and He has promised to do the same for me.

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

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

5 Now for this very reason, 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:  “Twelve” (Luke 8:41-42).

Today’s Bible question:  “Complete the beatitude ‘Blessed are they that morn for they shall be…?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/15/2015 10:44 AM   

           

The Unfolding of the Vision PT-6-7 (Rev/ 1:16b-16c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/14/2015 9:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  The Unfolding of the Vision PT-6-7

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Revelation 1:16b-16c

            Message of the verses:  Over the last few days we have been looking at the unfolding of the vision that John saw when he turned around looking for where the voice that he heard came from and what he saw was the risen Jesus Christ.  Now as we look at what he saw we will hear about it in chapters two and three when the risen Christ tells John what to write down for the seven churches that He has already mentioned.  The details of what He looks like will be used in what Christ has to say to the churches.  You see we are now living in the church age, and that began in Acts chapter two on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon those who were in the upper room waiting for something that they did not know would happen, but obeying the Lord Jesus Christ who told them to wait in Jerusalem for something to happen to them.  What happened to them was the giving of the Holy Spirit who is given to everyone who believes and is saved.  The church age will end at the Rapture of the Church something we discussed when we studied the forth chapter of 1 Thessalonians verses 13-18.  The vision of the Lord Jesus Christ shows what He is doing during this age of the Church.  When we get into chapters 4-22 we will see what He will be doing after the Church has been taken to heaven.  Now back to the last two parts of the vision.

             Christ Protects His Church (Revelation 1:16b):  “and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.”

            First we want to look at Revelation 19:15, 21 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.  And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”  We can see from these two verses that the sword that comes out of the Lord Jesus Christ’s mouth is used to protect, and in the case of verse 16b it will be used to protect the external threats of the church.  However when we see this sword we can be assured that it will also be used to protect the evil that can raise up inside the church, and when we go through chapters two and three we will see some examples of this evil that came up inside some of those churches, and is coming up inside churches today.  There is a parable that Christ gave while on earth about the wheat and the tares that gives a little bit of an example of what we are talking about here in that there will grow up both wheat and tares and the tares will be difficult to discern from the wheat as there are times in churches when there are those who proclaim to be believers but are not and it is hard to tell that they are not.  MacArthur mentions two different verses on how this sword will work:  “12  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:12-13).”  Next we will look at 2 Thessalonians 2:8 “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.” MacArthur goes on to write “all the power of the forces of darkness, including death itself (the ‘gates of Hades’; Matt. 16:18), will be unable to prevent the Lord Jesus Christ from building His church.”

            Christ Reflects His Glory through His Church (Revelation 1:16b):  “and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”

            “John’s vision of the glorified Lord of the church culminated in this description of the radiant glory evident on His face, which John could only describe as like the sun shining in its strength.  John borrowed that phrase from Judges 5:31, where it describes those who love the Lord (cf. Matt. 13:43).  The glory of God through the Lord Jesus Christ shines in and through His church, reflecting His glory to the world (cf. 2 Cor. 4:6).  And the result is that He is glorified (Eph. 3:21).”  These are the words found in John MacArthur’s commentary for this section of Revelation.  I want to now give the references in the order found in this quote.

“"Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD; But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." And the land was undisturbed for forty years.”

"Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

“For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

“to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is truly my desire to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ in my life is what I can see that I want to do from this section of Scripture.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, and strength, and to realize in my heart and mind that He loves me and then act like He loves me.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 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:  “Three times” (2 Kings 13:18).

Today’ Bible question:  “How old was Jairus’ daughter?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/14/2015 10:07 AM