ResponsiveReiding

Letter to the Church at Pergamum – Revelation Part 6

July 17th, 2017
Rev. 1:12-20 & 2:12-17

Numbers 31:1-18

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Just as with the previous letter to the Church at Smyrna, the circuit this book was sent on moved another 40-50 miles north to the city of Pergamum.

To the Angel and the Church in this large and influential city, Jesus writes personally and speaks both to good things He commends them for, and some very serious errors. Errors that are remarkably timely for the Church in America today – though as we’ll see – not restricted to either their age nor ours.

I. APPEAL TO THE REVELATION

Once again Jesus’ words begin with a reference back to the vision of Himself that was recorded in 1:12–16 “Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

This time the highlighted aspect of that vision for those in Pergamum to use as a backdrop to all He has to say to them is: 2:12“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.”

I do not know what it was like in your household growing up, but in ours, whenever Dad started addressing me by using all three names: Reid Alan Ferguson – I already knew I was in trouble. At that moment it was like being identified with infamous criminals whom for some reason, news reports always seem to use the 3-name formula: Jared Lee Loughner; Lee Harvey Oswald; James Earl Ray; John Wilkes Booth; Mark David Chapman – Reid Alan Ferguson!

Well there was no missing the inference here at the beginning of this letter – Jesus is communicating something right out of the box that is meant to make them sit up and take notice. To take what He is about to say with the highest degree of seriousness.

The tone has been set.

But what exactly is it Jesus’ is so concerned over that He would begin His letter this way?

II. DECLARATION OF INSIGHT

13 “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

As with Ephesus, Jesus has both good things to commend and concerns to express.

13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.

Jesus begins by telling them He is well aware they are in a very difficult place.

There are conjectures as to what exactly He means by saying that Pergamum is where Satan’s throne is – but there can be no doubt He is at least acknowledging that where they are is a place with such evil influence from Satan, that it can be called “his throne.” A place where he influences the people and the culture to a remarkable degree. Satan’s influence seems to have virtually universal sway in Pergamum.

What does that look like? A number of things.

It was the very center of Emperor worship in Asia. The very first city to have a temple to the Emperor and formalize Emperor worship.

It was the chief location for the worship of Asclepius – the Greek god of medicine and healing. His temple and it’s supposed healing methods drew people from all over the world to cure their ailments.

It hosted a fabulous temple to the chief of the gods – Zeus, who’s altar it is said resembled a massive throne.

It’s crowning temple was to the goddess Athena – the goddess of wisdom, craft and war.

And it hosted a temple to Dionysus, the patron god of arts and theater – of parties and drinking.

Politics – Medicine and well being – supreme authority over all the gods – wisdom and the arts.

Satan’s influence dominated every aspect of Pergamum’s culture.

We don’t need Jesus as King – we have Caesar!

We don’t need Jesus as a healer in the resurrection – we have Asclepius now.

We don’t need Jesus as the wisdom of God, we have Athena.

We don’t need Jesus as God, we have Zeus – the chief of the gods.

We especially don’t need a Jesus who won’t entertain us – when we actually have a god of entertainment – Dionysus. Wikipedia states: he was “the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy.

Christianity had a tough row to hoe in Pergamum.

Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

In the face of all this opposition and these Satanic counterparts trying to supplant the proper place of Christ Jesus – they had retained a testimony to the Gospel and to Christ’s name, even when one of their own – Antipas – was put to death for it.

They had not denied Jesus’ name as Lord and Savior – even though that title “savior” was attributed by the Culture around them both to Caesar and to Asclepius.

And the Gospel was still being preached. They had not denied Jesus “faith.”

So Jesus rightly affirms and commends them.

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

In the face of their witness and the fact the Gospel was still being preached – 2 things were so disordered among them, that Jesus represents Himself to them with the most troubling warning.

And these two things appear to be interrelated. The NAC states it this way: “Two items are specified as problematic: The church allows people to function who have the teaching of Balaam, and they also allow the teachings of the Nicolaitans.

1^st, He says But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.

Now some knowledge of the Old Testament is necessary here to unpack what Jesus is talking about. And the account comes to us out of the Book of Numbers – 22-24 and 31.

When Israel was living out their 40 year wilderness wanderings, one of the places they came to was opposite Jericho in the plains of the Jordan – a place called Moab.

The king of the Moabites was a man named Balak and he feared the Israelites would devastate them if they had the chance.

Balak and his leadership approached another group – the Midianites – to come up with a plan to stop the perceived threat.

Their plan was to hire a pagan prophet – a mystic named Balaam to come and put a curse on the Israelites.

The story is fascinating and needs to be treated in full by itself. But in short – when God prevents this pagan mystic from cursing Israel and instead pronounces blessings on them – he sees that all the money promised him for cursing the Jews is about to evaporate. So he goes to plan B.

Later, in Numbers 31 God tells Moses to destroy the Midianites for plotting against the Jews, but the Jewish soldiers decided not to kill the women, but to save them for themselves.

When they are rebuked for this we find out what Balaam’s Plan B was: Numbers 31:16 “Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. “

Balaam had told Balak and the Midianites that God wouldn’t let him curse them – but what they COULD do, was get their women to get chummy with the Israelite men, and in seducing them, eventually getting them to participate in idol worship – The idea being then God Himself would judge them.

It was a simple, brilliant and insidious plan. Get the people to forsake God’s commands in favor of their own pleasure, and God will strike them down Himself.

And this Jesus says – is exactly what was happening in Pergamum.

Sexual immorality had become the wedge. Enticing those who profess faith in Jesus, to cave to the loose morality of the surrounding culture, and in effect, getting some to actually participate in going to idolatrous sacrifices to please their sexual partners – or at the very least, to serve the god of personal pleasure over the Christ who redeemed them.

Can anyone spell “T-O-D-A-Y”?

Some in the church in Pergamum were being seduced to adopt the Culture’s attitude toward morality and sexual purity – and in the process, were inviting the judgment of God to come upon them.

And one cannot help but stand in amazement at how that very tactic is still being employed, and employed with great success in our own day. How many a professing Christian young man or woman has forsaken Christ’s commands on sexuality – only to eventually to be so compromised as to fail to be identifiable Christians at all – Christians in name only?

But Jesus takes the sins of His own People Seriously. I might add, as seriously now, as then.

One of the key signals that one has shifted from Biblical Christianity to a rudimentary form of idolatry is that someone says to themselves: “As long as I do the “Christian” stuff that is essential, how much and in what way I live my life, even outright sin – is irrelevant.”

I can live with my girlfriend or boyfriend, indulge in pre- or extra-marital sex, enter into or condone a same-sex relationship, cheat on my taxes, rob from my employer, slap my wife and kids around, disrespect Governmental authority, enter into shady business deals, curse my parents under my breath, grumble and complain against God’s providences, affirm the moral climate of the day – as long as I go to Church sometimes, read my Bible occasionally and babble out a rote prayer before I eat – or just think of myself as a Christian in some sense.

That Beloved is to serve God as though He is an idol. It is “Christian idolatry” – but Idolatry just the same. And it invites God’s judgment.

Jesus makes us see here in no uncertain terms – that those who imagine they can wear the name of Christian and live that way – are sorely mistaken. He will come against them with the sword of His mouth. And we do not need to know precisely what that means to be justly terrified by it.

Sexual morality is not a product of cultural acceptance or practice but of Biblical command. And to ignore that, is to invite God’s judgment upon oneself. No matter how good or natural or desirable that behavior seems to be, or how it is accepted by the Culture.

2^nd, Jesus mentions the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

The way this is phrased shows there is a connection between the 2 – even though as I mentioned 2 weeks ago, we do not have precise knowledge of what the Nicolaitans taught.

By virtue of the connection here though I think we are safe in making this observation: What often enters the Church as secret practice and compromise, if allowed to persist, will eventually find some who will try to justify it and even try to make it Biblical. They will systematize the error.

It appears the Nicolaitans were the theologians justifying the immorality that was being indulged in.

So Paul warns in Ephesians 4:14 that Pastors an Teachers are given to the Church by Christ “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

This idea of “craftiness in deceitful schemes” could well be translated “the systematizing of error.” Not just wrong behavior – but creating a system to make the behavior acceptable.

Just this week I saw the following as a post on FaceBook – with an article headline from Church Leaders magazine: “Should people engaged in premarital sex be allowed to lead ministries in a church?”

How is this even a question? Where is the Church today that such an article should be written – except that such behaviors have crept in, and even now there are those who will seek to justify blatantly immoral practices by twisting and reinterpreting the Bible to their liking.

As we saw in 2 Peter 2:1–3 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

III. THE CALL And so it is here Jesus makes Himself perfectly clear – “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.”

IV. THE REMINDER

“17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

How grateful I am for how Jesus finishes this short note. For it is just here that we are able to settle on the most sweet and gracious takeaway from a difficult and challenging, for some – convicting – letter.

Note simply these:
1. The words “Let him” – tells us Jesus deals with each individual.
The error in Ephesus was pervasive, and the threat was to remove the Church completely. Here while the problem is present, it is not pervasive.

In the main, the repentance referred to here would be to take up their duty to see that Biblical teaching and practice is safeguarded in the Church. And this falls on each one in the congregation. On the leadership for sure – but everyone needs to be on the lookout here.

Then , it would be to repent of the specific sins mentioned.

To know that those who do not repent WILL be dealt with, but those who have not fallen into those kinds of errors, will be spared even if and when Jesus must judge.
1. No matter how deeply one may have fallen into these wretched and soul damning errors, Christ stands ready to forgive and receive all who repent. It is NOT TOO LATE!
2. Jesus in no wise diminishes the rewards of those who overcome these things. Hidden manna most probably speaks of the partaking of the full satisfaction of Christ that the world cannot know – for all who seek their satisfaction in Him and not in the sins of the flesh.
3. And lastly – when any repent of their sin and flee to Christ for forgiveness, no matter how far down those wicked roads they have gone – He does not receive us back at arm’s length – but in closeness and deep intimacy.
The picture of a white stone with a name written on it no else knows – if nothing else signifies an intimacy and purity that Christ delights to give.

Sarah is my daughter. My only daughter. My only child.

I love her in a way I simply cannot love anyone else. And she alone is truly MY KIDDO.

That said, there are lots of Kiddos in the world. Even though she is mine alone.

BUT! There is no one else in all the world who is “Bug.”

Bug. It grew out of a game that Sarah and I played when she was little – the details of which belong to her and me.

But that is a name between the two of us that no one else enters into but the two of us. She is my Bug. My only Bug.

So it is Jesus promises to all who overcome in rejecting the world’s morality, no matter how defended by teachers who twist the Word of God – who remain, or repent and serve Him in these matters as He has put them forth – there will be an eternal intimacy between you which no one else will be able to enter into. And it is sweet, and precious, and to be desired above all the World can offer.

You will miss nothing here – that will not be infinitely better when we are at last before Him in His glory.

Church, as a Church, we are all responsible to see those errors that justify people in their sins is not taught among us.

And if there are any here today, caught in these very sins – Jesus calls to you today to repent. To turn to Him. And to be recipients of those soul-satisfying and intimate rewards that come with being His and His alone.
The Letter to the Church at Smyrna: Revelation Part 5

July 9th, 2017

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

Revelation Part 5

2:8-11 – Smyrna

Isaiah 10:5-27

2 Samuel 24:1 / 1 Chronicles 21:1

About 40 miles north of the city of Ephesus lay the trading port city of Smyrna. Not as ancient as Ephesus, still, it was considered by the ancient world the most beautiful city in the Roman empire.

And both its history and its position in the Empire, has a lot to do with what the Church in Smyrna was facing when Jesus sent this letter to them – even as every Church in every place throughout history has been impacted by its history and location.

Roman cities had been building temples to their Emperors since 44 B.C. E., the first in honor of Julius Caesar. Originally as a means of recognizing Rome’s just and beneficent rule. It was a show of gratitude and loyalty, not truly religious.

The 1^st of these was in Pergamum – which city we’ll deal with next.

60 years later when Augustus Caesar died, the Senate did something remarkable – they deified him – pronounced him a god. This became the custom thereafter for Emperors. And now Emperor worship took its steps toward becoming the official State religion.

In fact, in the year 29, Smyrna had been one of 7 major cities which competed for the right to build a temple to the then Emperor Tiberius – and won the contest and the coveted name: Temple Warden.

This all set the stage for Caligula when he took the throne in 37 C.E.

One day, he strode into the Senate and announced to them he had already been deified – and was a god right then and there. And, not only was he now a god, so was his horse!

And seeing Caligula was as brutal as he was insane – no one laughed. The cult of Emperor worship now took off in the Empire.

So here sits Smyrna – one of the most recognized seats of what is now the official state religion – and the Church in it has some hard choices to make. For part of being a good citizen, was the expectation that you would burn incense to the Emperor at appropriate times. To refuse to do so was not just anti-culture – it was anti-government. It was the height of not being politically correct.

Something which came with severe and painful consequences.

With that being the backdrop, let’s look at the short letter itself.

It follows the same pattern as all 7 of the letters.

I. (v. 8) THE APPEAL TO THE REVELATION OF CHRIST:

2:8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.”

Once again, the appeal here is to the revelation of Jesus we saw in chapter 1 and a briefer form of what was stated in 17–18 “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

In effect Jesus says: “Before I address anything else, let me remind you that I speak as the one who governs time – I am the 1^st and the last – all of human history is wrapped up in me. Everything that exists, exists in relationship to Me. It all began in Me and it will end in Me.

Added to that, I also was a human being who died in persecution, but who is now alive forever more. I have absolute authority over life and death. Keep that in mind as you consider what I am about to say.”

II. (v. 9) THE DECLARATIONS: In this case, positive only, no negatives.

2:9 “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

2.1 TRIBULATION. I know it not only because I am omniscient; not only because I walk among the 7 golden lampstands even now as an up-close observer; but I know because I’ve endured tribulation too. “I’ve truly been there.”

The Smyrnan tribulation came down to two related things.

POVERTY. They were a poor church, made up of poor people. From the beginning of Christianity even till today, the Church is sometimes affluent – like the Church in Laodicea – and sometimes poor like the Church in Smyrna. There is no single standard for the financial state of Christ’s church that holds true in all places and at all times.

And since neither poverty nor riches are a measure of the spirituality or “success” of a church, that is true for individual Christians as well. Though in the present climate in the US, one would imagine financial success is THE measure of well being – inside and outside of the Church.

It is a lie.

For Jesus quickly adds, that tho He is well aware of their poverty, in fact, when weighed in a different scale – they are not poor, but “rich.”

The truth is, no man or woman can truly grow spiritually apart from this distinction informing their lives and decisions.

If Believers measure our blessedness on the scales of this life only, then we may as well pack it in. For not all, indeed probably not many who are Christ’s will ever have the financial success so many in the world seem to pursue and possess.

And what of it?

Jesus says He knows they are in material poverty – but then asks them to consider that there is a wealth the world knows nothing about – and that wealth, these poor Believers possess!

What a seduction it is for the Church in America, in this land of opportunity and affluence, to measure ourselves today by the same measure as those outside of Christ.

More, think about it in your own heart and mind. What is it that you imagine today, that if only you had it – THEN, you could consider yourself “RICH”?

If I only had: My health back; A relationship as I want it; An employment situation; Respect from a certain person or persons; Freedom from an undesirable circumstance; Prospect of a more certain future; The chance to pursue some particular fancy; – If I just had “X” – THEN, THEN I’d be “rich.”

It is at this point that all temptation to all sorts of things gets it power. When we, who have been bought by the blood of the Lamb of God…

Now have the forgiveness of sins…

The promise of the resurrection…

The promise of eternal life in the boundless felicities of Heaven…

Who have God’s Word with us…

Christ’s Spirit within us…

Christ’s Church around and with us…

Access to the very throne of God in prayer…

And the realization that as His, He takes our oppositions and redeems them as means to make us more and more like Himself…

But if only we had “X” – THEN, we’d be rich.

So Jesus says to them – Yes, I know your poverty Oh, but you ARE rich.

The great issue of sin and reconciliation to the God through the cross who made us and adopted us as His children is settled! With all of its eternal ramifications for all who believe!

Those in Christ can indeed say “we are rich” no matter what our outward circumstances – bar none.

Then directly related to this poverty – is the “slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

As the cult of Emperor worship escalated, and pressure was put on all people groups the Romans dominated to participate, only one group was eventually exempted from having to burn incense to the Emperor – The Jews. This, because despite any form of persecution or pressure, the Jews had remained absolutely obstinate in refusing to cave. The were so obstreperous, the government finally just threw up their hands and let them alone.

But here’s where the story runs deep. For the beginning decades, Christianity was seen as a Jewish sect. As such, they enjoyed the same exemption from Emperor worship the Jews did.

But as the rift between the Jews and the Christians widened, the Jews grew more and more anxious to stamp them out. And one way they began to do this was to make it clear to the government that these Jesus followers were NOT Jews in any sense of the word.

In fact, there is evidence they even made official complaints to the government so as to sever all ties with the Christians. Which would have the effect of making the Christians lose the exemption from Emperor worship they had enjoyed to date.

The types of slanders they would use to buttress their arguments were that Christians were cannibals, because at the Lord’s Supper they ate the flesh and blood of their ”God.”

That they were promiscuous because of their love feasts.

And above all, they were insurrectionists and traitors because they refused to burn incense and declare “Caesar is Lord” – but instead at their baptisms, would declare “Jesus is Lord.”

So losing their Jewish exemptions, they would then be virtually unemployable in a city known for its political and religious loyalty to Rome. They could hold no high positions or get any good jobs, but would be relegated to lives of slavery for the most part.

So what does Jesus counsel them in such a situation? How to compromise? How to skirt the system? How to overthrow the government? How to start a grass roots rebellion? How to win their persecutors over with cunning and guile? How to avoid the suffering being His will bring on? How to sue their foes better?

III. (v. 10) THE CALL: 3 Things.

2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

3.1 Do not fear what you are about to suffer.

Notice He does NOT say, “don’t fear because I’ll spare you from all the suffering if you just pray long enough and hard enough – and click your heels three times.”

DO NOT BE MOTIVATED BY THE FEAR OF MAN AND CIRCUMSTANCES, MORE THAN MOTIVATED BY FAITH IN WHO I AM AND WHERE THIS IS ALL GOING.

Do not fear: I am the first and the last – these things are all temporary.

DO NOT FEAR. Don’t be afraid of suffering.

I do not know about the Smyrnans, but I do know about our society and culture – and we are a people so averse to suffering in any capacity, that we inevitably have a pill, a program, a person or a product to relieve any and all discomforts when they come into our lives. Whether our suffering is physical, situational, psychological, emotional or anything else, we believe we deserve to be free from suffering under all circumstances. And probably – that God owes that to us. That if any suffering attends us, it means something is wrong and God must fix it.

Something IS wrong. We live in a fallen world with indwelling sin and an active enemy. But that is not going to change until Jesus comes.

The truth is no one ever grows in Christ beyond the level of discomfort we are willing to endure to do so.

I will never grow in endurance, without things to endure.

Learn forgiveness without people, offences and sins to forgive.

Gain patience without frustrations to face.

Develop sweetness without bitterness to refuse.

Exercise faith in Christ without things which outstrip my natural capacities.

Gain victory over temptation without the pain of denying myself.

So He simply says: DO NOT FEAR.

3.2 “Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.”

Do not be unaware that the Devil is real, and seeks to savage God’s people.

It is one of the peculiar defects which afflicts those of us who have a strong and Biblically robust doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty in all things – to hold that doctrine to the virtual exclusion of acknowledging there is a Devil who is an active agent in the world today – and that he wickedly seeks to harm God’s people.

At the beginning of the service I had two parallel passages read from the Old Testament – both referring to very same event.

2 Samuel 24:1 “Again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”

1 Chronicles 21:1 “Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. “

So which one is it? Is God working in this event or is Satan?

YES!

And this is vital for the Smyrnan Church and for us to grasp.

That God is always at work in and with His people for ultimate blessing, even when the Devil himself is hard at work seeking to hurt, discourage, and ravage God’s people.

And the reality is, whenever Christ’s people suffer persecution or marginalization due simply to being Christ’s and living as unto Him – Satan is always to be found involved.

Do not be fooled, the current climate of the continuing loss of religious rights under the shadow of the secular religion of materialism and the LGBTQ moral agenda has all the ear marks of the direct influence of Satan.

This is not a social or political problem, it is a spiritual problem. And the question for us is not – can we elect the right leaders or get the right Supreme Court Justices to protect us? The real question is: “Will we remain faithful in the face of it and endure?”

To hear some talk, one would think we need to change the lyrics of the hymn from “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness” to: “My hope is built on nothing less than Donald Trump and viral texts!”

We cannot legislate against the Devil. We must persevere by faith.

No, we do not look behind every bush for his direct activity in every sorrow or suffering we endure – but when the Church is directly under such opposition – The Devil cannot be left out of the equation. It is a spiritual battle.

We do not have time to unpack the Isaiah passage we had read earlier, but there the point is that not only are God and Satan often at work in one and the same event, so too, people are as well. And we must trust Him as superintending all of these in inscrutable ways.

3.3 In light of this all then: REMAIN FAITHFUL. Death in this life cannot compare with the crown of life in the resurrection. Remember, I was dead, and now I am alive forever more!

And isn’t this the essence of faith? Believing the promises of God such that they inform how we respond to and endure such tribulation for Jesus’ sake.

IV. (v. 11) THE REMINDER:

2:11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.”

4.1 “Conquering” in Ephesus, meant recovering their first love by recovering the love of Christ.

Conquering for the Smyrnans will be staying true to Christ, even in the face of tribulation, poverty and death brought on by refusing to compromise with the World’s agenda.

One can endure the difficulty now, and enjoy eternal felicity, or one can opt for the ease now, and partake of eternal pain and suffering.

There is no third option.

Revelation being written near the end of the 1^st century, as the evidence indicates, it would be less than 60 years later when Polycarp, the man who was Bishop of Smyrna – most likely at the time this letter Jesus’ letter was received by them – would be the very example of “remaining faithful unto death” – he was martyred at age 86 or more. He was a student of the Apostle John, and Irenaeus, his disciple, tells us that “Polycarp was instructed by the apostles, and was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ”

After his death, the Church at Smyrna circulated a letter among the other churches so they could all get a sense of how this man died suffering the very things Jesus said would happen in Smyrna.

When given one last chance to repent and honor Caesar or face death he replied: “Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He has done me no wrong”, how then can I blaspheme my King and Savior? You threaten me with a fire that burns for a season, and after a little while is quenched; but you are ignorant of the fire of everlasting punishment that is prepared for the wicked.”

As he was to be burned at the stake he prayed: “O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of Thee, the God of angels and powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before thee, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast counted me, worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Thy martyrs, in the cup of thy Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, through the incorruption [imparted] by the Holy Ghost.”

His crime? He refused to burn incense to Caesar.

His end? Eternal glory with His God and King – the one who said: “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
A Communion Meditation out of Naaman the Leper’s Account

July 3rd, 2017
Naaman The Syrian Leper

2 Kings 5:1-19a

1 Corinthians 11:20-34

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE
1. A very great man with a very great problem.
Commander: Position

Great: Attributes – capabilities

High favor: Respectable and respected

Given victory: Blessed by God

Valor: Distinguished as brave and competent

Leper: Nonetheless, afflicted with an incurable and deadly disease

But his problem was worse than he knew.

In his world, he only had a medical problem.

Much the way the world looks at sin today.

But in the economy of God, he was more than merely sick, he was defiled, and could not approach God nor be with God’s people.

He was sick alright, but more than physically, he was sick spiritually.
1. None of his virtues had any impact on his problem. He was “great”. High in the reputation of the King. A man of valor and great accomplishment. Respected. Even enabled by God to do some of what he had done, And wealthy.
But neither any of his virtues, nor any amount of money could buy his cure.

It is perhaps the single most common misconception by many that Christianity – like most religions – teaches that “good” people go to Heaven.

But the Gospel utterly repudiates that idea.

It is not good people who go to Heaven. It is people who own their sin and wickedness, and look to the substitutionary death of Jesus and His righteousness imputed to them by faith – who go to Heaven.

None of Naaman’s good qualities – and make no mistake, they WERE good – none of them could somehow mitigate his uncleanness.
1. There was no magic in the water. He was told to go dip in the Jordan River 7 times.
But there was nothing special about Jordan’s water.

The answer to his dilemma wasn’t in the water, it was in hearing the Word of God, and receiving the gift of grace on God’s terms, not his own.

And we must be clear here: While obedience to God is only right, it buys us nothing, since it is only what is expected of us.

Luke 17: “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

Note too: Vs. 10 – Elisha sent a messenger. He did not go himself.

How many who are in dreadful condition before God in their sin, nevertheless demand God show them a sign or somehow show them the respect they think they deserve.

I never cease to be amazed at those who want God, but only on their own terms.

But God is not to bargained with – He sets His own terms.

And if we will not hear the voice of His messengers as He sends His Word – the truth is we won’t believe no matter what He does.

Think back to the account Jesus gives us about the rich man and a man named Lazarus in Luke 16.

The rich man had a really great life, while this Lazarus was a poor, diseased beggar.

When both die, one goes to be in the presence of God – Lazarus, while his wealthy counterpart finds himself in Hell.

Tormented there, and desiring relief, the Rich man still tries to get things on his own terms: “Send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water to cool my tongue!”

But Abraham answers – sorry. Things don’t work like that in God’s economy. You’re privilege in the world of the living died when you did. You must live according to God’s terms now, and no one is allowed to pass from here to you.

But another pain afflicts this man.

If he can’t relieve his physical suffering he at least hopes that maybe he can relive his emotional suffering and pleads that this Lazarus might go and tell the rich man’s 5 brothers to avoid the same fate he is enduring.

Once again, he wants things on his own terms – even in Hell! This Lazarus, he says, I want him to leave the glories, joys and comforts of Heaven, to go and do my bidding so that I’ll feel better.

Abraham replies simply, they have Moses and the prophets – let them pay attention to the truth they already have! They have God’s Word. They need nothing else.

The Rich man pleads more – NO! If someone goes back from the dead they’ll listen then!

And Abraham replies: Luke 16:31 ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

You see, they can’t have salvation on their own terms either – but only on the terms which God has laid out before the World.

This is the same reasoning that so many espouse today, accusing Christianity of being narrow and saying salvation can only be had in Jesus Christ. But they forget that Jesus Himself set that narrowness in place when He told us plainly: John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
1. The need and thus the real cure, was internal.
The picture is really poignant. I’ve met the true and living God of Israel, and I’ve got to back to where I live – so let me take something with me that serves to anchor me in the service and worship of this God, even in that other environment.

He doesn’t leave His new-found God at the Jordan, but he takes what he can with him back into his regular life.

He brings his new relationship with God to bear on his everyday life. He does not keep them separate.

Secondly: 5:18 “In this matter may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the LORD pardon your servant in this matter.”

In my regular life, I am going to have to participate in things that are not in keeping solely with God. And where duty calls me, and I must give attention to the matters of this life – let it be known I own this God and not the gods of this world. Not my Master’s god Rimmon. I no longer serve the gods of this world:

Success. Sex. Self-gratification. Fame, fortune or my own desires. I want to serve God in EVERY capacity of life.

And Elijah responds: “Go in peace.”

This is the mark of a changed heart.

I will serve the true and living God in every place and under every circumstance – and not myself.

Indeed this is the very essence of Christianity – Jesus as Lord of our lives. And seeing we are no longer our own, but His!

So it is for us today: Fame. Fortune. Accomplishment. Wealth. Desire. Self-government.

We bring nothing to this table.

We come here to these elements just as we did for salvation

No position

No reputation with anyone else

No reliance on the fact God may have blessed us

No accomplishments

No personal virtue

Nothing which can buy our salvation in any way – no matter how great

Only our need of cleansing by the blood of Christ – our incurable, fatal defilement.

And coming on God’s terms, to receive grace at His hand, for our real need. Coming to our Lord and King at His behest.

We come in remembrance of the person and work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, to make us acceptable to the Father through His atoning sacrifice.

And that is precisely the point – as we’ve noted all along –

We must come on His terms.

Like Naaman the Leper:

We must abandon our good opinions of ourselves.

We must forget about any reputation we might have in our own or other’s eyes.

We must set aside any value we put on our own virtues or accomplishments.

We must forget about any perceived status we have among any group in the world.

We must give up living life for ourselves, but as His redeemed people – for His plans and purposes.

And we must forever abandon any thought of thinking we can bring anything of enough value to buy the grace we seek in Christ. Even if it were the value of 600 hundred all bound together.

We come to Him humbly, and ready to obey His voice.

To receive, not to earn, purchase or accomplish – to receive by grace and grace alone the forgiveness and cleansing and restoration to right relationship with the God who created us for Himself, through the sole means of broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ as our substitute on the cross of Calvary – taking the wrath of God due to us, that we might have the blessing of God due to Jesus Christ.

All of this informs how we must come today.

There may be someone here even today in this very place. You want God to prove something to you before you will surrender to Him.

You’ve brought your own riches – your perceived righteousness. You’ve brought your good reputation and your excellent accomplishments.

You’ve brought the high esteem of those around you.

And you’ve even relied on the fact God may have blessed you in certain ways.

But you still want Christ on your terms and not His.

But God’s terms are this: Hear my word, and respond as obedient to the God who has spoken.

In this case, a very humble, and in and of itself, meaningless gesture, except it is God who has asked it. Just like “go bathe in Jordan”.

Go get washed in the only stream I have appointed.

Or in terms of salvation, come to Jesus for the cleansing by His blood.

For that and that alone is appointed by God for anyone to be cleansed of our sin and accepted in Him.

And this table is for those who are in this condition – to come and renew the wonder of His saving grace – purchased by His blood.

And that we are His.
A wee sweet bit of Newton

July 1st, 2017

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Last Lord’s Day, I closed the sermon with an impromptu reading of a poem by John Newton. In his “Olney Hymns” – Newton wrote a poem on every book of the Bible. Many books enjoyed more than one poem. This is the one he wrote in regard to the Song of Solomon. And it is sweet indeed. Enjoy!

SOLOMON’S SONG / The name of Jesus. Chap. 1:3

1 HOW sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

2 It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.

3 Dear name! the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place;
My never-failing treasury fill’d
With boundless stores of grace.

4 By thee my pray’rs acceptance gain,
Although with sin defil’d;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am own’d a child.

5 Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

6 Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art,
I’ll praise thee as I ought.

7 ’Till then I would thy love proclaim
With ev’ry fleeting breath;
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 3 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 370.
Sermon Notes: Revelation Part 4 – Ephesus

June 29th, 2017
Revelation Part 4

1:9-2:7 Ephesus

Psalm 103

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND HERE

As I noted a few weeks ago, each of these letters to the 7 Churches has the same 4 common elements:

– An Appeal to the revelation of Jesus in Ch. 1

– A Declaration of insight (positive and/or negative)

– A Call to something

– A Reminder to hear everything Jesus says to all 7, not just what He says to each particular church in its context.

That is the pattern I’ll be using in working through each of these letters.

I. (v.1) THE APPEAL TO THE REVELATION OF CHRIST:

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.”

1.1 “To the angel”: This is probably not referring to the pastor since this appellation is not given to pastors anywhere else in the Bible.

More than likely, this is a reminder that God supernaturally superintends His Church by means of angelic beings who have an assigned, vested interest in the spiritual health of Christ’s congregations.

We’re not given any more information regarding this state of affairs, so it does not open the door for Christians to appeal directly to those angels nor to interact with them in any way. But it does tell us they are there by God’s assignment and that we are to be aware that we are not simply left on our own.

Heb. 13 reminds us that the way we conduct ourselves is monitored by such angelic beings, and that we ought to be aware of it. Heb. 13:1–2 “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

And 1 Cor. 11:10 Paul warns the Church to be careful that she maintains proper order in her services because of the angels – the idea being that these are God’s observers in His Church and report back to Him.

No local assembly, and no individual in the Church is without divine oversight. Nothing we do goes unobserved.

1.2 “Him who holds the 7 stars and walks among the lampstands.”

Not only does Christ Himself have these angelic beings who bear some responsibility for the Churches, but He Himself walks among the Churches – represented by the lampstands as per 1:20.

As we looked at in detail last time – Jesus remains intimately and personally involved in His Church.

He is in our midst, and with His eyes of flaming fire – He hears and perceives and knows everything about us AS a Church and as individuals IN the Church.

It is on this basis that He then makes His assessment of the Ephesian Church – and by implication – ours as well.

II. (v.2-3 & 6) THE POSITiVE AND NEGATIVE DECLARATIONS:

2.1POSITIVE: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.”

This is not an inactive Church – she is a church that works. Jesus says He knows 3 things especially: Their TOIL; Their PATIENT ENDURANCE; Their keenness to sort out false teachers who might come their way.

These are not people blown about with every wind of doctrine.

They are not fools for false teachers and teachings.

They are a discerning bunch and they are willing to make necessary judgments about truth and those who claim to teach the truth.

They had followed the OT guidelines which God had laid out for testing false prophets – and had rightly applied them to dealing with false teachers or false apostles.

The Church in its earliest days had few local teachers, so there were many itinerant preachers and teachers like Apollos who God raised up to meet the need. However, there were also some who were self-appointed and saw this as an opportunity to seize power, money and prestige.

The 2-fold test for such teachers was:
1. What they taught. Did it accord with received Scripture teaching?
2. How they lived. Did they live as those redeemed from the World’s values and sin?
Both had to be in place.

Jesus adds a 4^th commendation in vs. 6: They know how to hate what Christ hates – in this case the works of the Nicolaitans.

We do not have much detail on this group – but based on what is said about them in vss. 14-15 in the letter to Pergamum, it appears they had some tendency to teach that it was all right for Christians to engage in pagan rites and festivals as a reasonable compromise with the culture.

Ephesus was known both for its pagan temples – especially to the goddess Artemis (Diana), and to the cult of Emperor worship. There were thousands of priests, priestesses and cult prostitutes.

Given the fact that much of the economic trade in Ephesus was rooted in trade unions that protected the manufacture and sale of silver images of Artemis – the pressure would be intense to strike a happy compromise in order to secure work as a silversmith or a merchant. They needed to thrive in that economy and culture.

Because Paul’s original mission work there, ended up in a riot over the fact that Paul was preaching Christ alone as God (Acts 18-19) – keeping a low profile and not speaking out publicly against idolatry would be especially tempting. Why rock the boat more, when it almost capsized back then?

Keep your head down. Don’t make unnecessary waves. Compromise here and there. Keep your Christianity to yourself. Stay internally faithful, but publicly quiet and respectable.

This would be their great temptation. And isn’t it ours as well?

They seemed to be holding the fort in this regard.

They hated this teaching and Jesus is markedly pleased with that attitude.

2.2 (v. 4) NEGATIVE: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

2.3 You have abandoned your first love”

This abandonment is the subject of a lot of scrutiny by everyone who works through this passage. Just what does Jesus mean and what does it look like?

We know it had something to do with their outward witness in the Ephesian context.

I take that from what Jesus warns them of in vs. 5: “repent…If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

The connection with Jesus’ teaching about the Church in the Sermon on the Mount comes immediately to mind: Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

The implication of Jesus’ words in this letter is: “If you won’t take up your charge to BE light in this place, I will remove your light altogether!”

But in exactly what way had this become the danger they faced?

The answer surfaces in the statement: “You have abandoned your first love.”

Look at the whole description again:

They TOIL – they work hard

They PATIENTLY ENDURE – they are holding on without fainting

They PRACTICE DISCIPLINE and judge truth claims well

They HATE COMPROMISE with the culture

But it is all being done in some way – lacking love. Lacking passion.

And there is no surer way of demonstrating a fading or faded love, than holding the fort, doing the grunt work, but without the joy that love inherently brings to the equation.

They believed the right stuff.

They did the right things.

They were dug in for the long haul.

They were committed.

But they had abandoned – they had left their first love. They were going through the orthodox motions, but it no longer captivated their hearts.

Don’t get me wrong, there is much to be said for sticking to one’s clear duties and obligations when the joy of a relationship wanes – but when it remains that way – and nothing is done about it – nothing short of disaster is on the horizon.

This is the Ephesian condition, and it can easily be yours or mine as well.

In sum, they had begun to obscure the LIGHT they were meant to be in that dark place, by serving Christ and His cause – however meticulously and orthodoxly – without joy.

And nothing – nothing is less a witness to the world about the God whom we serve, and the Christ who loves us and redeemed us than to present Him to the world as one who has made us joyless, over-scrupulous, judgmental, perfunctory performers of dead religious duty.

Now the Ephesians are not alone in this are they?

Is there anyone who has walked with Christ for any length of time, who has not also experienced dry seasons? Periods when the faith has not been abandoned, and the commitment to truth and to His Word and to His Church – at least outwardly has not shifted – but in truth, inwardly, there is no joy anymore. There is no excitement. The heart has grown cold and formal.

Yes, you come and sing and pray and have your private devotions, but in reality, your heart is no longer broken over sin…

You are no longer delighted in the things of God…

You haven’t wept in joy over the mercy and grace and goodness of God to you in weeks, months, or maybe even years.

You’ve lost your first love. There is no newness, no freshness in your walk with Christ. It is all old hat, and you’ve hunkered down for the long haul – but you know something is not right. Service in the Kingdom has become all duty and obedience, and it is no longer love that draws your best efforts out of you for the name of Christ.

His love doesn’t melt you anymore. The question is – “what do we do?”

And Jesus provides the answer, even before they, or we ask it.

III. (v. 5) THE CALL: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Jesus’ doesn’t merely diagnose their predicament and turn it into prosecution. No.

Instead, He also gives them a sweet and wonderful prescription to restore them to their previous help.

And He does so by means of a two-fold remedy.

3.1 “Remember from where you have fallen.”

When love and passion have lost their joy, when we have lost the sense and impact of the love of God for us in Christ – we inevitably turn to something else to fill the void.

In fact, the word for “abandoned” here is always used in the NT of not just leaving a relationship, but leaving it and turning to someone or something else. Not just a faded love, but a redirected love.

In spiritual life, this most often manifests itself in a turn toward ritual, rite and ceremony. To formality and mere duty in place of joy and vitality.

And so the first need is this: We must go back to refamiliarize ourselves with the wonder, the joy, the magnificence and the thrill of what brought us to Him in the first place: the glory of His love for us.

To rehearse and revel in His wondrous love.

Recovery of our love for Him, begins in recovering awe at His love for us! It must lead us back to gaze upon the cross again until the love of Christ warms, floods and overwhelms our hearts again as it did at the first. For we always leave our love for Him, when we have first lost sight of His great love for us.

Paul saw this tendency in them much earlier, and made it the basis of his intercession for them his letter to the Ephesian Church: Ephesians 3:14–19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

To be filled with the fullness of God, to be satisfied and deeply moved in Him – comes only out of “knowing the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge!”

Filled with His love, we will be filled with love for Him. There is no other way.

The principle is articulated for us in 1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”

We cannot stir up love in a vacuum. It has a seed, a starting place. And the place His love for us is manifested above all others – is Calvary. In Jesus’ willing, loving and free offering up of Himself for our sin – taking the complete wrath of God due to us, so that we might enjoy the complete favor of God due to Him.

3.2 – Secondly – “repent, and do the works you did at first.”

Repent! Turn around! Refuse to accept this as a permanent condition to be tolerated or accommodated – but a malady of the soul to be challenged and cured!

We have a most encouraging example of this tactic written down for us in Ps. 103.

Spurgeon writes on the opening phrase: “Bless the LORD, O my soul. Soul music is the very soul of music. The psalmist strikes the best key-note when he begins with stirring up his inmost self to magnify the Lord. He soliloquizes, holds self-communion and exhorts himself as though he felt that dullness would all too soon steal over his faculties, as, indeed, it will over us all, unless we are diligently on the watch. Jehovah is worthy to be praised by us in that highest style of adoration which is intended by the term bless. Our very life and essential self should be engrossed with this delightful service, and each one of us should arouse his own heart to the engagement. And all that is within me, bless his holy name. Many are our faculties, emotions, and capacities, but God has given them all to us, and they ought all to join in chorus to his praise. Half-hearted, ill-conceived, unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our loving Lord. If the law of justice demanded all our heart and soul and mind for the Creator, much more may the law of gratitude put in a comprehensive claim for the homage of our whole being to the God of grace. “

This is a call, a command to self:

Bless the Lord soul – bless Him!

Don’t you dare forget all the benefits that are yours in Christ.

How He forgives all my iniquities – continuously,

Heals all my diseases – purposes to cure every defect of sin

Redeems my life from the pit

Crowns me with steadfast love and mercy

Who satisfies me with good

Who promises to render final justice on all wrongs

Who is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and ABOUNDING in steadfast love

Who does not deal with me according to my sins

Who does not repay me according to my iniquities

Who removes my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west

Remembers my frame that I am only dust

Whose steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting

Whose throne is in the heavens and so He rules over all to make all of these things certain

BLESS THE LORD, O MY SOUL!

IV. (v. 7) THE REMINDER: Now – “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Conquers? In what way? In respect to repenting from lost love to renewed intimacy and passion.

And for all who do, there is the promise of enjoyment and pleasure in God for eternity.

Jesus was still walking in the midst of this joyless Ephesian Church.

He was still holding their angel in the palm of His hand.

He is still with you dear saint, you who have lost your first love.

And He calls you back to the Cross this morning, to be broken in joy and wonder once again.

He who has an ear – let him hear.
Eclipses in the Christian Life

June 23rd, 2017

In 1983, the raspy-voiced Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, rocked the airwaves with her hit song “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” (Remember the hair?) Jim Steinman’s attention grabbing lyrics helped the tune stay stuck in the music zeitgeist of so many. That place where, once you hear it, you keep singing it to yourself over and over.

Once upon a time I was falling in love

But now I’m only falling apart

And there’s nothing I can do

A total eclipse of the heart

Once upon a time there was light in my life

But now there’s only love in the dark

Nothing I can say

A total eclipse of the heart

What Steinman wrote and Tyler sang about, however, was not merely a common phenomena of human relationships. Utilizing the universal human experience of the eclipse, they also describe one of the most ubiquitous experiences every Christian faces in their relationship with Christ. And isn’t it curious how the design of our solar system communicates such truth in the essential makeup of our material world? One might even think it was planned that way.

Eclipses are what happens when one celestial body moves into the shadow of another celestial body. So here on earth, we have two kinds. A solar eclipse occurs when our moon passes between Earth and the Sun and temporarily blocks out the Sun’s light. A lunar eclipse happens when Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, causing the shadow of the Earth to block the Sun’s light from hitting the Moon.

And both beautifully illustrate various ways in which the normal state of affairs in the Believer’s relationship with Christ can suffer.

The simply pictures are these.

Mankind was made to bear, to reflect the image of the Living God. Like the Moon, we are not meant to be light generating bodies – producing our own light, but those who – when there are no obstructions, beam with the reflected light of the God who made us. Reflecting the “Light of the World.” It is in this capacity we become too, the light of the world. But not out of ourselves, out of Him.

But just as in the case of a lunar eclipse, there are times when the World gets in the way. When the things of life, of this Earth and its lures, demands, kingdoms, desires – even GOOD things given to us by God family, work, etc., can take a position such that the light of the Son is blocked out.

When this happens, we no longer reflect anything. Our light goes out too. For we make no light of our own, it all comes from Him.

When this happens, we are no longer witnesses of Christ to the World, since the World now occupies space it was not meant to. Things are out of whack.

In truth, the Sun’s diameter is 109 times that of Earth. You could put well over a million earths inside of the Sun. But in these moments, in these seasons, proper perspective is lost. This World and the things in it, the things of life, have blocked out the light of the larger. And our souls plunge into darkness. Nothing of His light bounces off us to illuminate the World. We go dark. We fail in our mission.

But then, there is the solar eclipse model. This happens when the Moon, an even smaller object than Earth, blocks out the light of the Sun.

It is when we ourselves get in the way of the Gospel. When there is so much attention on ourselves, that the plans and purposes and goodness of God are blocked out from others – because we’re in the way.

Our opinions are more important than His truth. Our personalities eclipse the beauties of God incarnate in Christ Jesus and His cross-work. Our personal concerns, woes, cares, griefs, and priorities take such a place, that the message of the Gospel is lost in our darkness. Indeed, darkness falls over the face of all the earth. For the very ones created to reflect His glory, and redeemed from the Fall, so as to once more make Him known, fill the landscape and block out His light.

No, nothing has fundamentally changed in the universe. The Moon remains smaller still than even the Earth. The Sun is just as large and shining still in all of its strength. But we are in the way. In our own minds, and to the observation of others, we have taken center stage. And when this happens, darkness falls. Once again, we fail in our mission.

Eclipses of both sorts come and go are part of the natural order of our solar system. God made it so. But we are meant to live supernaturally, in Christ. We are meant to live in the light, walk in the light, and make His light known. At all times and in all seasons.

Christian, make sure the World has not blocked out the glory of Christ for you. For if and when it does, you give no light to a lost World either. And then, beware that you are not the source of blocking out the Light of Christ by making your life and circumstances, your joys or your woes, your plans and purposes nor your disappointments somehow occupy the space meant to let the World live in the light of God’s glory, goodness, grace, mercy and redeeming love. Make sure in all things, Christ may still be seen.

Philippians 1:20–21 “as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
A thought on 1 Corinthians 10:13

June 6th, 2017

God the Father is so good and gracious to His blood-bought ones, that He never allows them to be subjected to any trial, temptation or tribulation – but He is omnisciently confident we can overcome and benefit from: Through the counsel of His Word, the power of His indwelling Spirit, and the exercise of our in faith in utterly depending upon Him.
As I was Reading Today – A Tasty Bit of Newton

June 6th, 2017

John Newton wrote hundreds if not thousands of poems. During his tenure pastoring in rural Olney, England, he compiled many of his own compositions and those of William Cowper into a collection known as The Olney Hymns. He wanted them to reflect the great themes and truths of Scripture in the common tongue of his people, and sung so as to be memorable.

Part of his endeavor included writing poems on almost every book and/or major event or theme in the Bible. The one I read last night struck me both because of its familiarity, its context, and additional content.

Newton wrote but one poem in regard to the book of 1 Chronicles; The theme of which Newton picks out as God’s abiding and amazing grace toward His People, and especially through the Davidic kingship and line. Hence we have the strains of – Amazing Grace.

Note especially the last two verses. New to me, and sweet as sweet can be. They need to be resurrected and sung once more.

AMAZING grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

2 ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believ’d!

3 Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

4 The Lord has promis’d good to me,
His word my hope secures:
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

5 Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the vail,
A life of joy and peace.

6 The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below,
Will be for ever mine.

John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 3 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 353.
What Prevents Me from being Baptized? Sermon notes for 6/4/2017

June 4th, 2017

What Prevents Me from Being Baptized?

Isaiah 53

Acts 8:26-38

Matthew 28:19-20

AUDIO FOR THIS SERMON CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE

The doctrine and practice of baptism has fallen on hard times in our generation.

The whys behind it may be many, but among them is surely the fact that baptism is more often practiced as an archaic and disconnected ritual. It isn’t seen as central to Christianity any more.

Old things and especially symbolic things need explanation.

People today – and I lay the fault of this at the feet of Church leadership – fail to see baptism as profoundly central to being a Christian as the 1^st century believers did. As the Bible does.

The early Church knew nothing of someone claiming to be a Believer, a follower of Jesus Christ apart from obeying Him in being baptized.

Additionally, we have the peculiar tendency of our culture to atomize virtually all thought – a recipe for baptism losing any real psychological impact.

Let me explain what I mean by atomizing thought.

Webster defines atomizing as:

1: to treat as made up of many discrete units

2: to reduce to minute particles or to a fine spray

3: DIVIDE, FRAGMENT (an atomized society) also: to deprive of meaningful ties to others (atomized individuals)

Inc Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003).

In religion this can manifest itself in what used to be termed: Cafeteria Christians or Buffet Believers.

Approaching Christianity as though it lays out a smorgasbord of truths, and you just pick and choose what you like and leave what you don’t.

Try doing that with something as basic as water.

Water is H₂O. And if someone were to say: “I don’t like being forced into having to always have hydrogen and oxygen mixed this way in order to be hydrated – I prefer to have a glass of hydrogen here and there, and then just a sip of oxygen when I like” – you’d call them a couple of fries short of a Happy meal.

But it’s no more crazy than trying to separate anything else that needs to be constitutionally bound together in order to be of use in the way God intended it.

Sexuality w/o marriage

Christianity w/o Church

Or gathered worship

Or prayer

Or the preaching of the cross and the substitutionary atonement of Christ

Or Bible reading

Or holiness of life – and abandoning sin.

It is why so many professed Christians can’t seem to sort out ethics or sexuality in our day. We approach them as though we can hold views on such matters without reference to the teaching of the whole of Scripture as authoritative for our lives.

We pick and choose what we want from the Bible, like its comfort or hope, and leave behind its demands and responsibilities. And imagine that is Christianity, and that it somehow too, is salvation.

It is not.

And it is why we can’t have Biblical Christianity without baptism as a necessary part – especially in the face of commands like that of Jesus in Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Church MUST go – preaching the Gospel in calling men and women to become disciples of Jesus; baptizing them with reference to the triune God; and teaching them to obey Christ!

These things cannot be atomized – separated from each other. They go hand in hand in Biblical Christianity and form an integral whole.

Now that takes us back to the narrative we had read for us in Acts 8.

As we saw when it was read for us, Philip, was one of the 7 who were set apart to take care of the ministry of the Church in Jerusalem. They were to see to dispensing the Church’s resources to the needy in a compassionate and equitable way. This Philip was prompted by an angel to head south out of Jerusalem.

As he went, he encountered an Ethiopian eunuch – a court official of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians.

This man was probably a “God fearer”. This was a designation for those who had adopted the Jewish God and who wanted to worship Him with them. He had been to Jerusalem to worship at the time of Passover to Pentecost. But as a eunuch – emasculated – he would not be permitted to be a full proselyte and considered “A Jew”.

As Philip nears the man’s chariot, he hears the man reading aloud out of Isaiah 53.

Philip approaches him, and asks him if he really understands what it is he is reading – to which the eunuch humbly replies, no. I need someone to interpret it for me.

He was reading vs. 7-8 of Isaiah in particular: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

Then he asks Philip – was the writer saying this about himself, or someone else? He is practicing a good Bible study method – asking the who, what, why, when and where questions.

And the text says: Acts 8:35 “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”

Which then leads to what we might think is a surprising turn of events: Acts 8:36 “And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

The question we ought to be asking ourselves in reading this is: How did the Eunuch make the leap in logic from Isa. 53 – and how it applies to Jesus – to asking to be baptized as the next step?

Was this simply the outcome of a part of Philip’s instruction not recorded for us here?

Or is there something in the Isaiah passage that lends itself to getting the Eunuch to think that way?

I am going to argue that the Isaiah passage brings up the principle that led the Eunuch to that conclusion – especially when coupled with what the Eunuch most probably observed on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. And certainly – what he was forbidden to experience as a full proselyte – even though he wanted to serve the True God.

We need then to go back to Isaiah 53 and take a quick look at what was written there to make the connection for ourselves.

Isaiah 53 is one of 4 portions in Isaiah labeled “The Servant Songs.” Places where Isaiah’s prophecies are specifically messianic and portray the Messiah not as a reigning King – as all the Jews wanted and expected, but also as a suffering servant.

This particular song is startling in its explicitness and content. And it is here the Eunuch was confronted with ideas he desperately needed to be unpacked.

So the text begins:

1 “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

We have a most amazing report to give – and we wonder who has actually believed it?

To whom has God seen fit to open their eyes – to see the arm of the Lord in action in what we have reported? To see God’s power on display in the things we are about to discuss.

The Arm of the Lord is used elsewhere in Scripture to identify God Himself – God acting in power. And here, it will be used in a most interesting way.

Who has believed our report? is a good question, for Isaiah will lay out 12 astounding things to be considered. All of them vital to understanding the person and work of the Messiah.

1: 2 “For he grew up before him like a young plant,”

Though “HE” is the arm of the Lord – the One who IS God’s power, nevertheless, HE grew up before God. He was incarnate. GOD, BUT SEPARATE FROM GOD IN SOME WAY. The “Arm of the Lord” grew up – before or in the sight of The Lord.

2: “and like a root out of dry ground;”

HE is The Arm of The Lord incarnate, but in a dry, unfruitful and unproductive place. A place where fruitful life was not going on. Israel was in horrible spiritual condition when HE came.

Jesus didn’t come the first time because the Jews were all cleaned up and in a good place – He came into darkness, spiritual decline and faithlessness.

3: “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”

He did not come like unfallen Adam – in all the glory he had before the Fall, nor as a King or Nobleman nor as strikingly handsome. He didn’t stand out in attractiveness to the natural man.

In fact, this says so much about us too!

We would not be attracted to the eternal, glorious, divine beauty manifested in the radiance of God’s being, the very image of the invisible God.

What an indictment!

What a disclosure of our fallen state.

How blind must we be that God in human flesh would not be the most sweet, attractive, desirable of all.

How this exposes us.

Would you know your fallenness and the depth of it? Then note how much more attractive almost everything and everyone else is compared to Him – especially in our moments of temptation.

No, we would not see Him in His incarnation as naturally desirable.

4: 3 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Not only would He not be attractive to us, He would be despised – thought little of, and rejected.

Far from being the toast of the town, the Bon Vivant – most would cross to the other side of the street when they saw Him coming.

5: 4 “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;”

All this – and yet it is HE who was weighed down with weight of how sin had ravaged us. It was He who would stretch out His hand time and time again to heal and to relieve the suffering our own sin brought into the world. He would weep and grieve over us, at the very same time we would be rejecting Him.

6: “yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

And while He was healing and blessing and feeding and preparing to die – we would take the opinion that His low estate and suffering were because of HIS sin! That in His death – God was judging HIM rightly.

7: 5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

BUT NO! THAT IS NOT THE CASE. HE WASN’T JUDGED BY GOD FOR HIS SIN – BUT FOR OURS!

OUR SIN? WE HAD ALL STRAYED FROM GOD, EACH OF US LIVING LIFE AS UNTO OURSELVES – FOR OUR PLEASURES AND PURPOSES WITHOUT REGARD TO THE ONE WHO MADE US FOR HIMSELF.

HE SUFFERED ALL IN OUR PLACE. HE TOOK OUR GUILT. WILLINGLY AND SILENTLY. WITHOUT DEFENDING HIMSELF IN ANY WAY.

8: 10 “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief;”

AND NOTE THIS – IT WAS THE LORD’S WILL – OUT OF HIS LOVE FOR US THAT HE AFFLICTS HIS OWN SON ON OUR BEHALF. UNBELIEVABLE LOVE AND GRACE!

9: “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;”

YET IN HIS DEATH – THAT WILL NOT BE THE END. HE SHALL RISE TO SEE HIS OFFSPRING. THOUGH IN THE CROSS IT WILL ALL APPEAR TO BE LOSS, THE WILL OF HIS FATHER WILL PROPSER – AND THE FATHER WILL BE SATIFIED ON OUR BEHALF IN THE ANGUISH OF HIS SON’S SOUL.

10: “by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

AND BY BELIEVING THIS REPORT OF HIS SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH – MANY WILL BE ACCOUNTED AS RIGHTEOUS WITH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, EVEN AS HE WAS ACCOUNTED GUILTY WITH OUR GUILT.

11: 12 “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death”

AND IN HIS OBEDIENCE EVEN UNTO DEATH – SO HE WILL INHERIT ALL THE FATHER HAS TO GIVE – AND SHARE IT WITH THOSE WHO BELIEVE!

12: “and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

AND THIS THEN – IS THE FINAL WORD AND THE KEY TO THE EUNUCH’S RESPONSE: HE – JESUS, WAS NUMBERED WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS. THE SUFFERING SERVANT, THE ARM OF THE LORD, IDENTIFIED WITH THOSE IN WHOSE PLACE HE SUFFERED.

It is this identification with us in our sin, that calls us then – if we believe – to be identified with Him – to be marked out as His.

And the way He has asked us to do that – is to be baptized in His name.

So natural is this impulse to be identified with the One who died for us, that the Eunuch immediately says to Philip: Acts 8:36 “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

No doubt he connected this with what he was not allowed to do previously. For when a Gentile became a proselyte – a full convert to Judaism, he would go through a ritual washing – a baptism as part of being identified with the Jewish community.

This Eunuch evidently wanted to be a part of that, but due to his physical defect, would never be allowed. But how different this would be in Christ. All obstacles are removed in Jesus. He now asks if he can be fully identified with Christ in a way he could not be part of the Jewish community. And Philip says – YES!

When we add all to this Jesus’ command as we saw in Matthew 28 – we might well ask any who profess that Jesus has died for their sins – if you have believed the report – if you have received the revelation from God that this Jesus is the Arm of The Lord, crucified for your sins: “What prevents YOU from being baptized?”

From God’s side – NOTHING. Every sin and short coming has been met in Christ. EVERY ONE!

No, baptism does not save you. And some for various reasons have been prevented from being baptized by circumstances beyond their control.

Such are just as saved as any others who believe.

But it is the natural and Biblical response both of having believed the revelation of Jesus Christ; God incarnate, dying a substitutionary death under the wrath of God for YOUR sins and risen for your justification – AND of wanting to wear the name of the One who died for you – to be numbered with those who are His even as He was numbered with the transgressors.

What a high gift and privilege this is. And what a command for all those who profess saving faith in Him – and claim to be His disciples.

He, this Lord Jesus identified with you in your transgression – so completely, that He died in your place on the cross, taking the wrath of God due to you – upon Himself.

And now, He calls you, if you believe in Him, to enter the waters of Baptism and to be identified with Him – marked out as His. In this most simple and profound act of obedience to Him as your Lord.

If you believe, what prevents you – from being baptized?
Bad Reid. Bad, bad, BAD Reid. It’s OrtlUnd – with a U, not an A!

June 1st, 2017

That’s the last time I post while suffering from jet-lag.

Thanks to my friend Jack (John T) Jeffery, my blunder has been pointed out and corrected.

Thanks Friend.

But once again – that is the last time I post while under the influence of jet-lag. Bad bad bad.

Bad Reid.

Bad, bad, BAD Reid.