January 27, 2008 8:45 AM
Sam wrote:
To Rik, from yesterday.....Jesus holds "the keys of death and Hades", which means that it will be He who locks people up either in death/Hades/Hell. He also allows people into Heaven, but certainly not those for whom he has damned to Hell and locked into that dungeon forever.
Today: Revelation 2. I have no idea why man divided the seven churches into four (chapter 2) and 3 (chapter 3), but they did....so let's look at these first four churches. Ephesus. What do we know about it? Well, a LOT from the letter Paul wrote to that church. Remember Paul telling that church some 33 years before John wrote this, that the people had lots of sin in them? (Remember chapter four and all the things Paul told them to refrain from?) Well, it appears that 33 years later, Jesus sees that they didn't necessarily follow Paul's advice. He tells them to "Repent and do the things you did at first." THIS is what we also should keep in mind. I am thankful for the New Life Church I am now attending. It is a fresh start for me. I was falling from a heightened love of God (Jesus tells the Ephesians the same thing), but now am being rejuvenated. The emphasis on studying the Bible (Thursday night 'connection group' and Sunday night Men's Bible Study) is looking a lot more like what I used to look forward to in the 'old' ACOC, not the one which currently seems to be going through the motions of Sunday worship and little else. I am encouraged at the church's emphasis (not just one individual like the guy at the old ACC who is doing the African mission work, but the whole church) on outward focussed mission work. Anyway, back to Revelation. I don't want Jesus to hold against my a forsaken love for God like He did for this Ephesian church. Ephesus is no longer a city, but the original archeological site is located in today's Turkey. Next, the Church in Smyrna (not, not Georgia, or Tennessee, but in today's Turkey (originally built/owned by Greece). A poor church. It was obviously infiltrated with false prophets ("synogogue of Satan"), yet Christ, through John, tells them to perservere. Today, we also have plenty of 'preachers' who are doing so with only one thing in mind....money. I consider them to be false prophets, misleading teachers and sons of Satan. Even though the may be preaching the Word of God, there reasons for doing so are not their love of Him (now refer back to the church in Ephesus in the first part of this this chapter). Pergamum...what a word! Today, this Turkish city is now called Bergama. Jesus favorably mentions a guy named Antipas. According to Christian tradition, John the Apostle ordained Antipas as bishop of the Pergamum during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian. The traditional account goes on to say Antipas was martyred in ca. 92 AD by burning in a brazen bull-shaped altar used for casting out demons worshiped by the local population. Wouldn't it be nice if Jesus someday remembers OUR names as His "faithful witnesses"? Reply to this
January 27, 2008 9:12 AM
Sam wrote:
to continue about the church in Pergamum. Although the people had remained true to Jesus, He said that 'nevertheless, I have a few things against you', and goes on to tell of them following other beliefs. Jesus says that they are following the beliefs of the Nicolaitans, which to the Church in Ephesus He had said that these folks were conducting practices which Jesus said he HATED. Hmmm...whatever those were (some scholars say that a deacon Nicholas (from which his followers became known by Nicolaitans) taught promiscuity ('free sex') as not being sin.), I don't want to be looked at that way by Jesus. I want Him to see me as a Christian, not a Nicolaitan or any other name following non-Biblical practices. And lastly, the church in Thyatira. Today, this city in Turkey is called Akhisar, which means 'white castle'. Jesus warns two different groups in this church: followers of Jezebel and 'the rest of you'. To the former He says He will "repay each of 'them' according to 'their' deeds, and is referring to punishment as they are following Jezebel's teaching of promiscuity and sacrificed foods. To the latter, He tells them to hold on to what they have (deeds, love, faith, servance and perseverance (verse 19)) until He comes back. Jesus tells them that if they do that, He will give them 'the morning star', obviously referring to the brightness (as the sun) of Heaven. THAT, is one day I will be desiring....to be able to see the radiance of God up close. Gentlemen, please excuse my verbosity this morning, but I just got going and couldn't stop. There is a LOT of stuff in this chapter. I did find out that all seven of these churches were located in cities which are now located in Turkey, which I did not know before. Reply to this
January 27, 2008 9:14 AM
Sam wrote:
Psalm 27.... Reader's Digest version.... "Teach my your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors." This is my prayer for today. Reply to this
January 27, 2008 12:20 PM
Rich wrote:
I have always struggled with the book of Revelation. It just seems to difficult to relate to. Also, I have never read the entire book. So this is a challenge to me.
I read chapter 1 and got confused. So, I went to the Manna for the Morning books that I have to see if it would help. It most definately did. Perhaps it will help you guys as well. In case, hear is what it said in introduction:
The book of Revelation is somewhat of a paradox to the casual Bible reader. We are to receive a blessing for reading and taking its message to heart (Rev. 1:3), but understanding its message may seem virtually impossible to the first-time reader! The book is actually not that difficult if we keep two fundamental facts in mind. One is that the language is clearly symbolic. Much of it is borrowed from the Old Testament prophets and is used to create emotional impact. Called apocalyptic or "unveiling" language, it uses symbols to describe the downfall of God's enemies and the deliverance of God's people. Whether animals, colors, or numbers are being considered, the symbolic language was never intended to be taken literally.
Secondly, the book was written to a specific audience to address a specific problem. The church started being severely persecuted near the end of the first century and Christians were dying for their faith. At the heart of the issue was the Roman Emperor Caesar's demands to be honored as a "god." Disciples would not confess Caesar as LORD, and thus they were persecuted and discriminated against economically and in other ways. Revelation was written to bring the disciples hope in a life-threatening time. In spite of how things appeared in the short run, in the eternal realm Jesus was in fact reigning as LORD of lords, King of kings, and Emperor of emperors.
With these basic facts in mind, it should be obvious that this book was not written as a twentieth century documentary! The Hal Lindseys of the religious world have distorted Revelation into an unrecognizable medley of sensationalistic messages. The most realistic approach is to interpret the book as a message to a first century church undergoing persecution. When we do this, everything begins to clear up quickly. As the church progresses to face similar challenges today, the book jumps off the printed page right into our hearts. Reply to this
Before getting into the text itself, a brief explanation of the use of numbers as symbols is necessary. In symbolic language generally, and in the writing in Revelation particularly, certain numbers are used to convey specific ideas. The number one describes unity; two, strengthening; three, the number of Divinity (Father, Son, Spirit); four, a world number (symbolizing the '"four comers of the earth"); six, sinister, evil things (short of file perfect seven); seven, perfection; ten, complete ness; 1.000, ultimate completeness; twelve, organized religion; and 3-1/2, a period of persecution (also found as its equivalents: 42 months, 1260 days, "time, times, and half of a time"). Reply to this
Revelation 1:1 gives us the title of the book. John the apostle was the writer. He addressed the book as a "revelation" to the seven churches of Asia. Jesus is portrayed as the majestic Son of man who walks amidst His churches (Rev. 1:9-20). He knows each church. He was quick to convict them but also to forgive them when they turned back to Him. The seven churches named were real churches, but only seven are mentioned, which represent the entire first century church.
Specific letters to seven congregations are found in chapters two and three. Each letter contains a uniform content: a greeting, a description of Christ (from chapter I), a commendation, a condemnation, an appeal and a warning, an exhortation, and a promise. Every letter does not contain every item, but a pattern is clearly recognizable throughout.
The church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7) was a hard-working, doctrinally sound church. Yet, Christ was very upset with these disciples for forsaking their first love. He made it clear that they would lose their salvation unless they genuinely repented from their hearts. Do you remember the excitement and convictions you had when you were baptized? Are they still there now? If not, you have some soul-searching and repenting to do. No amount of commitment and hard work will offset a failure to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength!
The church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) was commended for enduring persecution and facing poverty with grace. Jesus told them that their hard times would worsen, even to the point that they could be killed. Yet, he promised them the crown of life for persevering in the face of death. A daily walk with Christ, denying self and carrying a cross may seem challenging, but it pales in comparison to being killed for being a Christian.
In Revelation 2:9, John made it clear that the true Jews are Jews spiritually, not physically (cf Phil. 3:2-3). The idea, still commonly held today, that the Jews are still God's special people is clearly wrong. The Jewish persecutors described here undoubtedly believed that they were a synagogue of God, but Jesus called them a synagogue of Satan.
The church in Pergamum (Rev. 2: 12-17) had not backed down from its profession of Christ even when one of their members had been martyred. However, they had backslided from their commitment to biblical morality. In Pergamum, idolatry had exerted a strong pull on the lives of many people before they became disciples, encouraging them. 'to sacrifice animals and involve themselves in sexual immorality (fertility goddess "worship"). Once again, they were losing conviction and being drawn back into the old patterns of worldliness. Reply to this
The church in Thyatira (Rev. 2: 18-29) had a similar problem. Trade unions were very strong in this city. The union meetings were normally held in the pagan temples, where a sinful atmosphere prevailed. The woman Jezebel (not her real name!) caused Christians to compromise their decisions to put God first (cf Matt. 6:33). Her line was presumably something like this: "God knows that you have to keep your job in order to gave to and to feed your families. Anyway, if you are too different from the world, you won't be able to influence them." Beware of any interpretation of God's word which replaces the obvious demands of total commitment and exacting morality with a "whatever feels good" mentality. Reply to this
January 27, 2008 12:39 PM
Rich wrote:
It helps me to have this perspective on Revelation. Given that all of us have our hardships (maybe they could be called "persecution issues"), maybe we can see Revelation as an encouragement letter from God.
Specifically, I am encouraged by the first 2 chapters. The most encouraging thing to me in Chapter 2 is that God will reward those who overcome. We will face difficulties in our life and things will not always turn out like we want. Our measure of "success" in life is not what is going on at the time. Illness, financial troubles, spouse issues, children problems, work, pain (physical and emotional), and so on are just events in our life. If they overcome us, we lose. But if we stand up to them, if we remain faithful to the end, God will reward us. Our goal is not to have peace and comfort in this life. It is to make it to heaven. Troubles are just a part of life. The church in the first century was going through intense persecution. People were being killed for belonging to the church. Jesus understands the troubles they were having. He understood their doubts. And so he sent them this letter to tell them to hang in there. He told them to focus on heaven. If we focus on heaven during our times of trouble, we will be able to overcome. I think I am going to make the word "overcomer" a permanent part of my vocabulary. I want to be an overcomer. I want to remain faithful to the end and I want to focus on heaven in times of trouble. I think if I do these things, I will find that the times of trouble will make me stronger and somehow or someway I will learn to accept and perhaps even appreciate these times.
As I read the rest of Revelation, I am going to focus on the strength and power and victories of Jesus and the beauty and glory of heaven. Reply to this
To Rik, from yesterday.....Jesus holds "the keys of death and Hades", which means that it will be He who locks people up either in death/Hades/Hell. He also allows people into Heaven, but certainly not those for whom he has damned to Hell and locked into that dungeon forever.
Today: Revelation 2. I have no idea why man divided the seven churches into four (chapter 2) and 3 (chapter 3), but they did....so let's look at these first four churches. Ephesus. What do we know about it? Well, a LOT from the letter Paul wrote to that church. Remember Paul telling that church some 33 years before John wrote this, that the people had lots of sin in them? (Remember chapter four and all the things Paul told them to refrain from?) Well, it appears that 33 years later, Jesus sees that they didn't necessarily follow Paul's advice. He tells them to "Repent and do the things you did at first." THIS is what we also should keep in mind. I am thankful for the New Life Church I am now attending. It is a fresh start for me. I was falling from a heightened love of God (Jesus tells the Ephesians the same thing), but now am being rejuvenated. The emphasis on studying the Bible (Thursday night 'connection group' and Sunday night Men's Bible Study) is looking a lot more like what I used to look forward to in the 'old' ACOC, not the one which currently seems to be going through the motions of Sunday worship and little else. I am encouraged at the church's emphasis (not just one individual like the guy at the old ACC who is doing the African mission work, but the whole church) on outward focussed mission work. Anyway, back to Revelation. I don't want Jesus to hold against my a forsaken love for God like He did for this Ephesian church. Ephesus is no longer a city, but the original archeological site is located in today's Turkey.
Next, the Church in Smyrna (not, not Georgia, or Tennessee, but in today's Turkey (originally built/owned by Greece). A poor church. It was obviously infiltrated with false prophets ("synogogue of Satan"), yet Christ, through John, tells them to perservere. Today, we also have plenty of 'preachers' who are doing so with only one thing in mind....money. I consider them to be false prophets, misleading teachers and sons of Satan. Even though the may be preaching the Word of God, there reasons for doing so are not their love of Him (now refer back to the church in Ephesus in the first part of this this chapter).
Pergamum...what a word! Today, this Turkish city is now called Bergama. Jesus favorably mentions a guy named Antipas. According to Christian tradition, John the Apostle ordained Antipas as bishop of the Pergamum during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian. The traditional account goes on to say Antipas was martyred in ca. 92 AD by burning in a brazen bull-shaped altar used for casting out demons worshiped by the local population. Wouldn't it be nice if Jesus someday remembers OUR names as His "faithful witnesses"?
Reply to this
to continue about the church in Pergamum. Although the people had remained true to Jesus, He said that 'nevertheless, I have a few things against you', and goes on to tell of them following other beliefs. Jesus says that they are following the beliefs of the Nicolaitans, which to the Church in Ephesus He had said that these folks were conducting practices which Jesus said he HATED. Hmmm...whatever those were (some scholars say that a deacon Nicholas (from which his followers became known by Nicolaitans) taught promiscuity ('free sex') as not being sin.), I don't want to be looked at that way by Jesus. I want Him to see me as a Christian, not a Nicolaitan or any other name following non-Biblical practices.
And lastly, the church in Thyatira. Today, this city in Turkey is called Akhisar, which means 'white castle'. Jesus warns two different groups in this church: followers of Jezebel and 'the rest of you'. To the former He says He will "repay each of 'them' according to 'their' deeds, and is referring to punishment as they are following Jezebel's teaching of promiscuity and sacrificed foods. To the latter, He tells them to hold on to what they have (deeds, love, faith, servance and perseverance (verse 19)) until He comes back. Jesus tells them that if they do that, He will give them 'the morning star', obviously referring to the brightness (as the sun) of Heaven. THAT, is one day I will be desiring....to be able to see the radiance of God up close.
Gentlemen, please excuse my verbosity this morning, but I just got going and couldn't stop. There is a LOT of stuff in this chapter. I did find out that all seven of these churches were located in cities which are now located in Turkey, which I did not know before.
Reply to this
Psalm 27....
Reader's Digest version....
"Teach my your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors." This is my prayer for today.
Reply to this
I have always struggled with the book of Revelation. It just seems to difficult to relate to. Also, I have never read the entire book. So this is a challenge to me.
I read chapter 1 and got confused. So, I went to the Manna for the Morning books that I have to see if it would help. It most definately did. Perhaps it will help you guys as well. In case, hear is what it said in introduction:
The book of Revelation is somewhat of a paradox to the casual Bible reader. We are to receive a blessing for reading and taking its message to heart (Rev. 1:3), but understanding its message may seem virtually impossible to the first-time reader! The book is actually not that difficult if we keep two fundamental facts in mind. One is that the language is clearly symbolic. Much of it is borrowed from the Old Testament prophets and is used to create emotional impact. Called apocalyptic or "unveiling" language, it uses symbols to describe the downfall of God's enemies and the deliverance of God's people. Whether animals, colors, or numbers are being considered, the symbolic language was never intended to be taken literally.
Secondly, the book was written to a specific audience to address a specific problem. The church started being severely persecuted near the end of the first century and Christians were dying for their faith. At the heart of the issue was the Roman Emperor Caesar's demands to be honored as a "god." Disciples would not confess Caesar as LORD, and thus they were persecuted and discriminated against economically and in other ways. Revelation was written to bring the disciples hope in a life-threatening time. In spite of how things appeared in the short run, in the eternal realm Jesus was in fact reigning as LORD of lords, King of kings, and Emperor of emperors.
With these basic facts in mind, it should be obvious that this book was not written as a twentieth century documentary! The Hal Lindseys of the religious world have distorted Revelation into an unrecognizable medley of sensationalistic messages. The most realistic approach is to interpret the book as a message to a first century church undergoing persecution. When we do this, everything begins to clear up quickly. As the church progresses to face similar challenges today, the book jumps off the printed page right into our hearts.
Reply to this
A little more in introduction:
Before getting into the text itself, a brief explanation of the use of numbers as symbols is necessary. In symbolic language generally, and in the writing in Revelation particularly, certain numbers are used to convey specific ideas. The number one describes unity; two, strengthening; three, the number of Divinity (Father, Son, Spirit); four, a world number (symbolizing the '"four comers of the earth"); six, sinister, evil things (short of file perfect seven); seven, perfection; ten, complete ness; 1.000, ultimate completeness; twelve, organized religion; and 3-1/2, a period of persecution (also found as its equivalents: 42 months, 1260 days, "time, times, and half of a time").
Reply to this
Concerning Chapters 1 and 2 it says:
Revelation 1:1 gives us the title of the book. John the apostle was the writer. He addressed the book as a "revelation" to the seven churches of Asia. Jesus is portrayed as the majestic Son of man who walks amidst His churches (Rev. 1:9-20). He knows each church. He was quick to convict them but also to forgive them when they turned back to Him. The seven churches named were real churches, but only seven are mentioned, which represent the entire first century church.
Specific letters to seven congregations are found in chapters two and three. Each letter contains a uniform content: a greeting, a description of Christ (from chapter I), a commendation, a condemnation, an appeal and a warning, an exhortation, and a promise. Every letter does not contain every item, but a pattern is clearly recognizable throughout.
The church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7) was a hard-working, doctrinally sound church. Yet, Christ was very upset with these disciples for forsaking their first love. He made it clear that they would lose their salvation unless they genuinely repented from their hearts. Do you remember the excitement and convictions you had when you were baptized? Are they still there now? If not, you have some soul-searching and repenting to do. No amount of commitment and hard work will offset a failure to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength!
The church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8-11) was commended for enduring persecution and facing poverty with grace. Jesus told them that their hard times would worsen, even to the point that they could be killed. Yet, he promised them the crown of life for persevering in the face of death. A daily walk with Christ, denying self and carrying a cross may seem challenging, but it pales in comparison to being killed for being a Christian.
In Revelation 2:9, John made it clear that the true Jews are Jews spiritually, not physically (cf Phil. 3:2-3). The idea, still commonly held today, that the Jews are still God's special people is clearly wrong. The Jewish persecutors described here undoubtedly believed that they were a synagogue of God, but Jesus called them a synagogue of Satan.
The church in Pergamum (Rev. 2: 12-17) had not backed down from its profession of Christ even when one of their members had been martyred. However, they had backslided from their commitment to biblical morality. In Pergamum, idolatry had exerted a strong pull on the lives of many people before they became disciples, encouraging them. 'to sacrifice animals and involve themselves in sexual immorality (fertility goddess "worship"). Once again, they were losing conviction and being drawn back into the old patterns of worldliness.
Reply to this
Continuing:
The church in Thyatira (Rev. 2: 18-29) had a similar problem. Trade unions were very strong in this city. The union meetings were normally held in the pagan temples, where a sinful atmosphere prevailed. The woman Jezebel (not her real name!) caused Christians to compromise their decisions to put God first (cf Matt. 6:33). Her line was presumably something like this: "God knows that you have to keep your job in order to gave to and to feed your families. Anyway, if you are too different from the world, you won't be able to influence them." Beware of any interpretation of God's word which replaces the obvious demands of total commitment and exacting morality with a "whatever feels good" mentality.
Reply to this
It helps me to have this perspective on Revelation. Given that all of us have our hardships (maybe they could be called "persecution issues"), maybe we can see Revelation as an encouragement letter from God.
Specifically, I am encouraged by the first 2 chapters. The most encouraging thing to me in Chapter 2 is that God will reward those who overcome. We will face difficulties in our life and things will not always turn out like we want. Our measure of "success" in life is not what is going on at the time. Illness, financial troubles, spouse issues, children problems, work, pain (physical and emotional), and so on are just events in our life. If they overcome us, we lose. But if we stand up to them, if we remain faithful to the end, God will reward us. Our goal is not to have peace and comfort in this life. It is to make it to heaven. Troubles are just a part of life. The church in the first century was going through intense persecution. People were being killed for belonging to the church. Jesus understands the troubles they were having. He understood their doubts. And so he sent them this letter to tell them to hang in there. He told them to focus on heaven. If we focus on heaven during our times of trouble, we will be able to overcome. I think I am going to make the word "overcomer" a permanent part of my vocabulary. I want to be an overcomer. I want to remain faithful to the end and I want to focus on heaven in times of trouble. I think if I do these things, I will find that the times of trouble will make me stronger and somehow or someway I will learn to accept and perhaps even appreciate these times.
As I read the rest of Revelation, I am going to focus on the strength and power and victories of Jesus and the beauty and glory of heaven.
Reply to this
How to get rid of the dependence of FaceBook?
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