Meadowbrooke Church

I believe the book of Revelation is intentionally shaped by the rhythm of the seven Jewish feasts,  with deep echoes of the Exodus and Israel’s wilderness journey woven throughout its visions.  We have already seen how this works in chapter 1, where the imagery echoes Passover. Passover  marked Israel’s deliverance from slavery through the blood of a substitute—and in Revelation  1:12–16, that substitute is revealed in all His risen glory. Jesus stands among His churches as the  victorious Lamb who was slain and now lives forever.  Because of His sacrifice, the Christian belongs to God. If you have been redeemed by Almighty  God through His Son, what is there to fear? Jesus Himself answers that question: “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” (Rev. 1:17–18). Our confidence is not rooted in our  circumstances, but in the One who has conquered death itself.  As we move into Revelation 2–3 and read the seven letters to the churches, the dominant echo is  the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which immediately followed Passover. This feast called God’s  redeemed people to live holy lives, set apart for Him (Lev. 11:44–45; 1 Pet. 1:16–17). Israel  removed all leaven from their homes as a visible reminder that they belonged to the Lord and  were no longer to live under the old patterns of corruption. That same call still comes to us  today: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your  body” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).  Each of the seven churches faced real and pressing challenges in their own day—and what they  struggled with are many of the same things we struggle with today, just dressed differently.  While we will look at each church individually, here is a brief snapshot of what we will  encounter:  The church in Ephesus had lost its first love.  The church in Smyrna was about to suffer “tribulation” for ten days.  The church in Pergamum struggled with faithfulness to sound doctrine. • The church in Thyatira tolerated a false teacher within the congregation. • The church in Sardis was spiritually lethargic and nearly dead.  The church in Philadelphia faithfully clung to the word of God.  The church in Laodicea was lukewarm and missionally useless. In every one of these churches, there was the danger of leaven—sin quietly working its way  through the house. And the call of Christ was to remove it: through renewed love for Jesus and  for one another, faithful endurance in suffering, a commitment to truth, intolerance for evil,  vigilance against spiritual apathy, unflinching obedience to Christ, and a wholehearted devotion  to the mission of God.  About forty years before Revelation was written, Paul wrote about God’s expectation for His  church: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ  loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:1-2).  Revelation 1 is about the One who makes our salvation possible. Revelation 2-3 addresses the  kind of people He calls us to be. So, when we come to Revelation 4, we encounter the One on  the throne who is holy, holy, holy!   The City of Ephesus  When the gospel came to Ephesus, it was a wealthy and influential trading city, best known for  the Temple of Artemis (also called Diana), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The  city’s economy, culture, and moral life centered on the worship of this goddess. Artemis worship  was deeply sexualized and demonic, marked by ritual immorality and idolatry (1 Cor. 10:20).  Ephesus was a place where spiritual darkness was not hidden—it was celebrated,  institutionalized, and profitable.  Into this city, the gospel came with unmistakable power, as it always does in God’s timing and in  His way. What we read in the epistle to the Romans was experienced in Ephesus: “For I am not  ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes...”  (Rom. 1:16). When the apostle Paul preached Christ in Ephesus, lives were transformed, and the  worship of Artemis was directly challenged. So disruptive was the gospel that those who profited  from idolatry feared economic collapse, admitting that Paul had persuaded many that “gods  made with hands are not gods at all” (Acts 19:26). Paul spent over two years there, and in this  spiritually hostile environment, God birthed a faithful church—the same church later addressed  by Christ Himself in Revelation 2. What makes Jesus’ words to Ephesus so sobering is not the  city’s darkness but the fact that a church born in such devotion, perseverance, and truth would  later be warned: “You have abandoned the love you had at first” (2:4).  So what happened? To answer that question, we need to first recognize the many things Jesus  praises the church for.   What the Ephesian Church Was Doing Right  The Ephesian church was commended for many things by Jesus such as their toil, patient  endurance, and intolerance for evil. Heraclitus, a native of Ephesus and philosopher, spoke with  open contempt of his city’s moral corruption—so severe that later writers summarized his view by saying no one could live in Ephesus without weeping.1 The fact that the church was able to  endure for forty years in a city known for its sexual promiscuity and demonized idolatrous  worship, while holding on to biblical orthodoxy, is staggering!   Because of their orthodoxy and fidelity to the Word of God, the church was intolerant of evil,  refused to ignore false teachers, and shared Jesus’s hatred of the Nicolaitans. Forty years earlier,  Paul warned the elders of the Ephesian church: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves  will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise  men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert,  remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with  tears” (Acts. 20:29-31). This is what the church did well, and Jesus praised them for it.   Now, notice what Jesus does not say to the church in Ephesus. He does not say they were being  too orthodox. He does not say they were too truthful, or that their intolerance of evil, false  teachers, and the works of the Nicolaitans was too extreme. Jesus does not tell the church to dial  it back but instead celebrates these as examples of what they were doing well. What the church  did well was refusing to yield to the pressures from their city to conform.   Before we look at what the church got wrong, we need to address who the Nicolaitans were and  why Jesus hated their teaching. From what we know, the Nicolaitans were a heretical “Christian”  sect associated with the teaching of Balaam (Rev. 2:14-15). They taught that the grace of God  permitted freedom to engage in the kinds of things their pagan neighbors enjoyed, such as sexual  immorality and full participation in pagan temple feasts. Why? Because grace covered it all.   We will come back to Balaam when we look at the church in Pergamum, but for now what you  need to know is that Balaam is known for his false teaching that served to seduce the men of  Israel to engage in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab that also resulted in the  worship of their gods in place of obedience and worship of Yahweh (see Num. 25). The  Nicolaitans did not deny Jesus, they just reinterpreted what obedience to Jesus really meant, in  that you could both be loyal to Jesus and actively pursue and participate in the kinds of things the  Word of God commands the people of God to flee from. The Ephesian church was rightfully  commended for their hatred and intolerance of the works of the Nicolaitans because Jesus shares  their hatred for the same reasons.   Listen carefully. Jesus does not merely disagree with teachings of the Nicolaitans— He hates them. He hates any belief that suggests a person can remain loyal to Him while  willfully embracing the very sins He died to free us from. The cross was not a license to make  peace with sin; it was God’s declaration of war against it. To claim Christ while pursuing what  nailed Him to the tree is not freedom—it is self-deception. Christ did not die to make sin safe,  but to make His people holy.  1 Richard D. Phillips, Revelation, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed  Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2017), 91. What the Ephesian Church Got Wrong  So what was it that the church in Ephesus lost? Well, we know it wasn’t the church’s orthodoxy.  It was the love they had at first. What love did they have at first? I believe the love the church  lost was a combination of their love for Jesus and others. I believe this because of what the  apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the Ephesians and what Jesus said the church needed to do to  regain the love they had lost. First, let’s look at Jesus’ criticism in verses 4-5, “But I have this  against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 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.”  The way back to regain what they had lost was to first remember where they had fallen or had  lost sight of their love, then to repent by doing the works they had done at first. What were the  works they had done at first? We are given a few clues in Ephesians about the church from what  Paul says at the beginning and the end of his epistle to the Ephesians.  1st Clue: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your  love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my  prayers...” (Eph. 1:15-16)  2nd Clue: “Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.”  (Eph. 6:24)  I believe that the love the Eph

Permit me to share a story from my own experience that helps explain why it took me so long to  preach a sermon series on the book of Revelation. When I was twenty-eight, I had been ordained  as a minister of the gospel only a short time earlier and was serving as an interim pastor at  Calvary Baptist Church, a congregation of roughly three hundred people. The church was  struggling. Years of poor leadership decisions and the dismissal of one of its senior pastors had  left it in a fragile state. I was young, inexperienced, and keenly aware that I had far more to learn  than to offer.  When Calvary eventually called its next senior pastor—whom I will refer to as “Bob”—he  inherited both me and another assistant pastor. Less than a year into his tenure, Bob called me  into his office to discuss my future. He asked what I hoped for in ministry, and I told him I  planned to finish seminary and learn as much as I could from him, given his decades of pastoral  experience. Then, without warning, he asked me what I believed about the rapture. Caught off  guard, I answered honestly: I believed Christ would return for His people, but I was not yet  certain whether that would be before, during, or after the tribulation. Bob paused, looked at me,  and said simply, “Well, that’s a problem.”  It was a problem because Calvary’s doctrinal statement treated a pre-tribulation rapture not as a  point of discussion, but as a nonnegotiable. One passage often cited in support of that view is 1  Thessalonians 5:9—“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through  our Lord Jesus Christ.” Yet the “wrath” Paul describes there is not the suffering believers  endure in this world, but the final judgment reserved for the condemned. That conversation  marked me deeply. It revealed how quickly the book of Revelation—and the questions  surrounding it—can become a test of loyalty rather than a call to faithfulness. And it helps  explain why I approached Revelation for so many years with caution, hesitation, and no small  measure of pastoral concern.  Suffering (Tribulation) is a Part of the Christian Life (v. 9)  What troubled me about Pastor Bob and the doctrinal statement Calvary Baptist Church has since  removed is that this view is difficult to reconcile with Jesus’ own teaching on what Christians  should expect as His followers. Jesus said plainly, “You will be hated by all for my name’s  sake” (Matt. 10:22). And again, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I  have overcome the world” (John 16:33).   The apostles echoed the same expectation. Paul warned new believers, “Through many  tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” just after he was stoned and left for dead  outside of the city of Lystra (Acts 14:22). Peter likewise urged Christians not to be shocked by  suffering, but to see it as participation in Christ’s own path: “Do not be surprised at the fiery  trial when it comes upon you to test you… rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s  sufferings” (1 Pet. 4:12–13).  The word tribulation simply means affliction. In Revelation, tribulation is never portrayed as  some vague or theoretical idea, but as a real and immediate experience for faithful believers.1It  is the context of John’s exile, the churches’ suffering, and the cry of the martyrs. Tribulation is  the setting in which the church endures, bears witness, and waits for Christ’s victory.  Let me press this one step further. In Matthew 24, Jesus warned His disciples, “And you will  hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place,  but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,  and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning   of the birth pains” (vv. 6–8). Then He said,  “They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated  by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one  another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many  astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom  will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and  then the end will come” (vv. 9–14).  Jesus then went on to prophesy about events we know with certainty occurred in AD 70: “So  when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in  the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the  mountains… For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the  beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (vv. 15–21).  History records that everything Jesus warned would happen did, in fact, occur. Roman soldiers  under Titus breached Jerusalem, entered the temple, slaughtered priests while sacrifices were  being offered, piled bodies in the sanctuary, erected pagan images, and offered sacrifices to  Roman gods, including sacrifices to the emperor himself. The temple was dismantled stone by  stone, fulfilling Jesus’ words: “Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon  another that will not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2).  John lived through those events. More than twenty years later, he wrote to seven churches not as  a distant observer but as a participant: “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation  and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called  Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” The question to consider  until we reach Revelation 6 is: What tribulation is John participating in? The persecution of  Christians didn’t end in AD 70. What began as local opposition has become global. Some regions  where the gospel once flourished—such as North Korea and Nigeria—are now among the most  dangerous for Christians. A challenging reality of the Christian life is that faithfulness to Jesus  often leads to suffering. John introduces himself not as an exception, but as a fellow participant  in this tribulation.  Whatever view of the tribulation you currently hold, know that John and the first-century church  were convinced they were living in it—not as a fixed or future timetable, but as a present season  of suffering that began with Christ’s ascension and will end only with His return.  Jesus Will Not Abandon the Christian in Life (vv. 9-16)  When John received his visions, it was on the Lord’s Day. Before anything was revealed about  God’s plan for the world, it was a day set apart for worship. Many believe this is the earliest  technical use of the Lord’s Day to refer to Sunday—the day of Christ’s resurrection and the dawn  of the new creation. What is most significant is that John hears from the Lord while  worshiping the Lord.  While in a state of worship, John hears a loud voice behind him like a trumpet. This recalls Sinai,  where we are told, “there were thunders and lightnings… and a very loud trumpet blast, so  that all the people in the camp trembled” (Exod. 19:16). The trumpet-like voice commands  John: “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches” (v. 11). When John  turns, he does not see a trumpet, but seven golden lampstands, and “in the midst of the  lampstands one like a son of man” (v. 12).  Do not miss the significance: the lampstands represent the churches (v. 20), and Jesus stands in  their midst. The Greek word mesos means among and in the middle. In other words, in the  midst of tribulation and suffering, Jesus has not abandoned His people. This is the  fulfillment of His promise: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt.  28:20).  The long golden sash Jesus wears is that of a priest (cf. Exod. 28:4; 29:5). His golden sash is not  a fashion statement but a firm reminder that He is our great High Priest, who intercedes on our  behalf as the One who advocates for all those He has redeemed through the shedding of His  blood once and for all. As Hebrews 7 tells us, “He holds his priesthood permanently, because  he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near  to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (vv. 24–25).   The hairs on Jesus’ head are white like the whitest wool, as Daniel describes the Ancient of  Days: “His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne  was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire” (Dan. 7:9). Here Jesus is identified with eternal  wisdom and divine purity—equal with the Father, yet uniquely the Son. He is the Everlasting  One, and His wisdom is infinite.  Jesus’ eyes are like a flame of fire. This does not mean He has literal beams shooting from His  eyes any more than the sharp two-edged sword from His mouth is a literal sword (v. 16). His  eyes blaze like fire, revealing that nothing escapes His sight—no motive hidden, no deed  overlooked, and no wound His people suffer that will go unnoticed. His knowledge knows no  bounds.  Our Savior’s feet are like burnished bronze. There is no tiptoeing with Him. Our great High  Priest and awesome King embodies unshakable strength as the One who will judge the nations  with perfect justice and holy resolve. He is omnipotent—solid, sure, and infinitely strong.  The voice of our Savior matches His divine wisdom, all-encompassing knowledge, and  unequalled strength as Yahweh. When He speaks, He does so with pervasive power: “For by  him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones  or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for  him” (Col. 1:16). His word—every word—carries divine weight.  Why does this matter in light of what John and the churches suffered? Why does this matter for  your brothers and sisters in North Korea

In a world that exalts earthly power and demands allegiance, the book of Revelation pulls back the curtain and shows us the true throne of heaven. It calls God’s people to place their hope and loyalty not in the rulers of this age, but in Jesus Christ—the One who governs history and alone deserves our allegiance.   To grasp Revelation rightly, we must consider the circumstances in which it was given. Most scholars agree that the book was written near the end of the first century, likely between AD 90 and 95, during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian. John tells us that he received this revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 1:9). His exile was not a voluntary retreat, but punishment for unwavering faithfulness to Christ.   John had lived a long and costly life of discipleship. He had outlived the other apostles, witnessed the rise and fall of emperors, and seen friends and fellow believers martyred for their allegiance to Jesus. He had watched the brutality of Rome unleashed—most notably in the devastation of Jerusalem—and he had seen firsthand what happens when earthly powers claim absolute authority.   Long before Rome’s pressure intensified, many Jewish believers in Jesus had already been pushed out of their own communities—excluded from synagogues, cut off from family life, and treated as apostates rather than brothers. Faithfulness to Christ often meant losing one’s religious home before ever confronting the power of the empire.   By the time John was exiled, the pressure on the church had intensified. Under Domitian, emperor worship became a test of loyalty, especially in Asia Minor. For most citizens, participation was routine. For Christians, it was a crisis. To confess “Jesus is Lord” was to deny Caesar that title, and refusal could lead to social exclusion, economic loss, exile, or worse. This was not a moment of widespread slaughter, but of steady compromise. Christians were not being asked, “Will you die for Christ today?” They were being asked, “Will you bend—just a little?”   It is into this world that Revelation was given. The very word revelation means unveiling. God is not hiding His purposes; He is revealing them. This book was written to a pressured church to show who truly reigns, how history is moving, and why faithfulness to Jesus is always worth the cost. And that is where Revelation begins.   Behold the Blessing (vv. 1-3) When it comes to Revelation, the book is not Revelations. It is not a series of secret disclosures reserved for the most skilled students of prophetic Scripture. It is not a collection of clues designed to help us identify the next antichrist—especially since we are told that many antichrists have already come. It is also not a puzzle to figure out the timing of Christ’s return, for Jesus even said, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36). Revelation is a revelation—but more precisely, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. That is how the book begins, and that is what the book is about.   So what does Revelation reveal about Jesus? Everything.   From beginning to end, Revelation presents Jesus in the fullness of His person and work. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth (1:5). He is the First and the Last, the Living One (1:17–18), the Holy One, the True One (3:7), and the originator of God’s creation (3:14). He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David (5:5), yet also the Lamb who was slain and the Worthy One (5:6, 9, 12). He is the Son of Man (14:14), the Word of God (19:13), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (19:16). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (22:13), the Root and the Descendant of David, and the Bright Morning Star (22:16).   For this reason, the book of Revelation may rightly be called the most Christ-centered book in the Bible. How can I say that? Because, as Paul tells us, all the promises of God find their “Yes” in Jesus Christ—and Revelation is the book that shows us, again and again, how Jesus is God’s “Yes” to every promise He has ever made.   This is the primary reason why we are assured a blessing for all who read, hear, and keep what is written in Revelation. You do know, don’t you, that you can read something and not hear it right?  You can read a verse in the Bible and not really hear it, just as easily as someone can tell you something and it goes in one ear and then out the other with little to no effect.     I believe part of that blessing is reflected in what The Center for Bible Engagement discovered through a large-scale study on Bible engagement involving more than 600,000 participants. The results surprised many people—including those who conducted the research. The study found that individuals who engaged with Scripture at least four times a week experienced: a 30% drop in loneliness a 32% drop in anger a 40% drop in bitterness in marriage and relationships a 57% drop in alcoholism a 60% drop in sexual sins, including pornography addiction a 62% drop in those who felt distant from God   So what does it mean to “keep” the book of Revelation? It means more than reading it or debating it—it means treasuring its words and following the Christ it reveals in obedient faith. The very first sentence of the book gives us this clue: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants…” The word translated servants is the Greek word doulos, a term that speaks of belonging, allegiance, and obligation. A true Christian, then, is not someone who merely speaks well of Jesus, but someone who gladly submits to Him—yielding not just words, but life itself—in faithful service to the One who is revealed as Lord.   And this is why we are called to read, hear, and keep the words of Revelation—not only because of the blessing it promises, but because “the time is near.” What time is near? Not simply the final return of Christ, though that hope is never absent. Rather, John is pointing to the nearness of pressure, opposition, and persecution that come when allegiance to Jesus collides with the demands of the world. Revelation prepares God’s people to remain faithful when conformity is rewarded and faithfulness is costly.   Behold Our Triune God (vv. 4-6) So why should we press on in light of what is coming? Why read, hear, and keep the words of this book? Because of who God is. Our God is the LORD Almighty—Yahweh—and there is no one like Him. He is the One who greets His people and extends grace and peace to those who belong to Him.   John’s greeting is not casual; it is deeply theological and addressed to the seven churches. These were seven real, historical congregations located in strategic cities of Asia Minor. Yet because the number seven signifies fullness and completeness, they also represent the church as a whole—God’s people in every generation and in every place. In that sense, the seven churches represent us.   And it is to this church—then and now—that grace and peace are given. They come first from the eternal, self-existent God, the One Isaiah proclaimed when he said, “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god’” (Isa. 44:6). This is the God who stands at the beginning and the end of history—the God who is never threatened, never surprised, and never displaced.   This God is also all-sufficient and unchanging. James calls Him “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (Jas. 1:17). In a world where rulers rise and fall and circumstances shift, God remains the same. That is why His grace does not fade and His peace does not fail. In Revelation 1:4, He is described as the One “who is and who was and who is to come.” This is God the Father—the great I AM—who once set His people free by crushing Pharaoh and now meets His suffering church with grace and peace. This grace and peace also come from the sevenfold Spirit—the Holy Spirit. The language of “seven spirits” speaks not of multiple beings, but of the fullness and perfection of the one Spirit who proceeds from God’s throne. It is the Holy Spirit who applies God’s grace to our hearts, sustains us in suffering, and empowers faithful witness.   And finally, this grace and peace come from Jesus Christ, the Son. John describes Him as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Jesus is the faithful witness because He perfectly revealed God and bore faithful testimony to the truth—even unto death. As the firstborn from the dead, He conquered death on our behalf, guaranteeing resurrection life for all who belong to Him. As Paul declares, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20), and again, “He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent” (Col. 1:18).   Our risen Lord is not waiting to rule—He already reigns. He is not described as one who will be the ruler of the kings of the earth, but as the One who is the ruler of the kings of the earth. Having lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved, and risen in victory, Jesus is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. As Scripture declares, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9–11).   But that’s not all, dear brothers and sisters. Scripture tells us that truth is established by two or more faithful witness. Again and again, God confirms His testimony through two witnesses. And in Revelation 1:5–6, John gives us exactly that. Christ bears witness to His love for us in two unmistakable way

Keith Miller Meadowbrooke Church January 18, 2026   An Obscured Blessing Revelation 1:1-3   Introduction I remember the first time I sat down to read the book of Revelation. It was the summer of 1992—a pleasant Pennsylvania evening—sitting on the back patio of the small house where I spent my teenage years. That night, I read all twenty-two chapters in one sitting. Early on, I underlined a verse that encouraged me: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy…” (Rev. 1:3). Those words felt like a promise—that something good awaited anyone willing to step into this book.   But as I kept reading, I grew more and more confused—especially when I reached chapter 6. The imagery became overwhelming, the questions multiplied, and when I finished, I had only highlighted a handful of verses. That night marked both my introduction to Revelation and the limits of my confidence in it—a confidence that, for many years, did not grow much beyond that patio chair.   Part of the reason I read Revelation in the first place had to do with a movie I watched with my friends called A Thief in the Night, which focused on what theologians call the rapture—the belief that believers will be caught up to meet Christ in connection with a future tribulation. Passages like 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 are often cited in support of this view. For the sake of time, we read just the words from 1 Thessalonians: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven… and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (v. 16).   Because the word rapture does not appear in the Bible, many people encounter it through popular books and films, such as the Left Behind series. Those works helped popularize one particular way of reading prophetic texts—known as dispensationalism—which has had a significant influence on American evangelical churches. Dispensationalism is one of several interpretive approaches Christians have used to read Revelation, and it developed in the nineteenth century before spreading widely through conferences, study Bibles, and evangelical institutions.   My own thinking as a new Christian was deeply shaped by this framework. I share that not to critique my past, but to be honest about the lenses I brought with me as I opened this book—and the lenses many of us bring with us still.   It’s also important to know that dispensationalism is not the only way Christians have read Revelation. Throughout church history, believers have approached this book in several major ways: Preterist, Historicist, and Idealist readings. Faithful Christians have held each of these views while confessing the same gospel and worshiping the same Lord. That diversity of interpretation is not new. In fact, G. K. Chesterton once observed, “Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.” [1]   How to Read Revelation Today When I began my Revelation and Its Parallels project, I heard a simple statement—one I’ve never been able to trace to a single source—that has guided everything since: “Revelation cannot mean for us what it did not first mean for John and the first-century church.” That sentence has served as a compass for my book, my preparation for this sermon, and every message in this series.   I believe this principle is confirmed by Revelation 1:3, where we are given one of the clearest clues for how this book is meant to be read: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” This is the first of seven blessings in Revelation,[2] and it was originally spoken to seven real churches that existed in history. That blessing was not abstract or theoretical—it was given to ordinary believers gathered in local congregations.   To read Revelation rightly, we must first recognize that it is a letter written to seven churches. At the same time, it is also apocalyptic—from the Greek apokalypsis, meaning “unveiling.” Apocalyptic literature communicates truth through visions and symbolic language, revealing heavenly realities that are normally hidden from everyday sight. It invites us to question the assumption that appearances always reflect reality. What seems powerful and permanent by earthly standards may already be exposed as temporary when seen from heaven’s perspective.   What does that mean for us today? Revelation was written to first-century churches, but it was written for the church in every generation. It speaks across time, culture, and ethnic boundaries precisely because it first spoke clearly and meaningfully to the first-century church. And one of the clearest ways John teaches us to read this book is through the careful and consistent use of numbers—especially the number seven. Let me show you what I mean.   Reading Revelation Through Its Use of Numbers There are a series of numbers that you must be aware of that are used throughout the Bible.  When you are trying to figure out what those numbers mean, you MUST understand how those numbers are used throughout the Bible.  So, the important numbers you need to be aware are 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 24, 3½ (also 42 months, and 1260 days), and 1000.  I have a whole chapter in the beginning of my book on the use of numbers in the book of Revelation, but for now let me highlight why this is important without getting into the weeds.   The Number Seven The most predominant number used throughout the book of Revelation is the number seven. Many people associate seven with judgment—but Revelation begins with seven churches, not seven disasters (Rev. 1–3). Before Christ judges the world, He walks among His churches, knows them by name, commends their faithfulness, and calls them to endurance. Throughout Revelation, the number seven consistently communicates divine completeness—the fullness of God’s purposeful and perfect work.   There are not only seven churches, but also the seven Spirits of God. The seven Spirits are before God’s throne (Rev. 1:4) and are sent out into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). John is drawing on the imagery of Zechariah 4, where the emphasis is not on multiple spirits, but on the fullness of God’s Spirit at work. John is not describing seven distinct spirits, but the complete, sevenfold Spirit of the Lord. Each time we encounter this phrase, we should hear the echo of Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.”   In Revelation 5, John is told, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah… has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (v. 5). Then something that happens often in Revelation occurs: John hears one thing, but when he turns to see, he sees something unexpected. In verse 6 he sees “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes.” Jesus is the Lamb. The seven horns do not describe physical features, but complete authority, since horns symbolize power. The seven eyes represent perfect knowledge—the Lamb fully knows His people and their suffering.   Throughout Revelation there is a scroll with seven seals, followed by seven trumpets and seven bowls of wrath. But here is what often surprises people: there are also seven blessings, sometimes called the seven beatitudes of Revelation. So let me ask this question: if the number seven is used everywhere else in the book to communicate a real and meaningful theological truth, why would we assume it functions differently when applied to a period of suffering often called the tribulation?   The number seven is even applied to evil powers—not to suggest their equality with God, but to show how evil attempts to mimic the completeness that belongs to God alone. Even then, its power is borrowed and its end is certain. We will return to the number seven again at the end of the sermon.   The Number Three The number three is also an important number in Revelation. It does not appear as obviously or as frequently as the number seven, but it is woven throughout the book in meaningful ways. We see it immediately in Revelation 1:4, where John writes: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”   In the Greek, John begins very simply and deliberately: “from the One who is, and who was, and who is coming.”[3] This threefold description refers to the Father and emphasizes His faithful presence across all of time—past, present, and future. Before Revelation introduces conflict, judgment, or suffering, it grounds the church in the identity of the eternal God.   Here’s the encouragement: before Revelation tells us what will happen, it tells us who God is. The book does not begin with fear, but with divine testimony—a settled assurance that the God who was faithful in the past is present now and will remain faithful in what is yet to come.   Before Revelation confronts the church with suffering, it anchors the church in the faithful, triune God who speaks with one unified voice.   The Number Four After Revelation reveals the nature of God, it shifts focus to encompass all of creation and its relationship to Him. In the Bible, the number four frequently symbolizes the entirety of the created world—representing the total extent of God’s handiwork. By utilizing this number, Revelation emphasizes that John’s vision is not limited to a specific location or group, but instead embraces the whole of creation.  We see this in Revelation 4 with the four living creatures who surround the throne of God (Rev. 4:6-8).  Have you ever thought about the way they are described? The first living creature had the appearance like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third was like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Taken together, t

After the Sand Bernardino shooting in California, the cover page of the Daily News read God Is Not Fixing This with highlights from some tweets from conservative leaders concerning their thoughts and prayers being with the victims of the mass shooting. The irony in The Daily News cover is that in an effort to fix our world without God, we have made more of a mess of it. In fact, human history has shown us that every effort to create a better or utopian society apart from God has not moved us closer, but rather further away from a utopian society. When we started this sermon series, I told you that Gods plan was always for a King to rule the nations, but a different kind of King, one that the world could never manufacture. What the world can manufacture is what the devil manufactures, and that is a life lived apart from God, which is only a cheap substitute that robs a person of the kind of life God designed for us to experience. From the manger to the cross was One who lived among Adams helpless race as Gods plan A to mankinds sin problem. God is fixing this! God has been fixing this! God is sure to fix this! Jesus was always the King intended for Israel and the nations and the remedy to reverse the curse of sin! This is what the Lord says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of armies: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. (Isa. 44:6) Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will live securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, The Lord Our Righteousness. (Jer. 23:5-6) The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the rulers staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (Gen. 49:10) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (2 Sam. 7:13) Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11). Jesus said: Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. (Rev. 1:17-18) Jesus is the fully divine and fully human King! He is the first and the last, and there is no other like Him! He is not only the King of kings and Lord of lords, but He also bears the name, Yahweh our Righteousness. Jesus is the only One qualified, able, and willing to redeem lost sinners as the Lamb of God who, takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is our Kinsmen Redeemer who is qualified to take the deed of creation by reversing the curse of sin and why all of heaven celebrates: Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth (Rev. 5:9-10). God is fixing this one life at a time through the Son: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17). It is through the Son that the Father is restoring all that was lost, and so we are promised that the way God is fixing this will exceed our wildest imaginations: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new. And He said, Write, for these words are faithful and true. (Rev. 21:15) There is so much that is packed into the final two chapters in the book of Revelation that there is no way that we can plumb the depths of what is promised to those of us who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. However, there are some things that we do have time to reflect upon that ought to encourage you. Life Will Be Purged of Sin, Death, Evil, and the Devil There is not a whole lot I need to say on this point, but I simply want to point out that what will follow Jesus second coming is His final victory over the antichrist (who is yet to come), the false prophet, and the devil (the unholy trinity). All three will be thrown into the lake of fire where they will never again be able to tempt, deceive, and harm. Their destruction will be in a place of eternal torment that Jesus described, where their worm does not die, and their fire is not extinguished (Mark 9:48). Satans judgment will be the final crushing of his head that was promised in Genesis: And I will make enemies of you and the woman, and of your offspring and her Descendant; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise Him on the heel (Gen. 3:15). After the antichrist, the false prophet, and the devil are judged, we are told of a final judgment where Death and Hades will also be thrown into the lake of fire, which is described as, the second death. What is most sobering about Revelation 20:11-15, which describes this coming judgment, in my opinion, is what we read in verse 15, And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Ultimately what the second death means for the Christian, is the death of death, sin, and the devil. Mortality will be Swallowed up by Life The new heaven and earth that we read about in the final chapters of Revelation will not be new in the way you trade in your used car so that you can afford a new one. The new heavens and earth will be new in the same way Jesus resurrected body was; think about what had to happen for Jesus dead body to come back to life again. Jesus body began the process of decomposition several minutes after he died on the cross. When His heart stopped beating, the cells in His body became deprived of oxygen forcing them to break down. Within 24-27 hours after death, Jesus internal organs were already decomposing, and his body was beginning to bloat. For Jesus body to be resurrected, the DNA in His body had to change. The resurrection of the heavens and the earth will be like Jesus resurrection, and it will include a DNA change. We are told in the Bible, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people (2 Pet. 3:7). Randy Alcorn, in his book, Heaven, writes of the coming Day: The earths death will be no more final than our own. The destruction of the old earth in Gods purifying judgment will immediately be followed by its resurrection to new life. Earths fiery end will open straight into a glorious new beginning.[1] Of the resurrection the Christian will experience, the apostle Paul describes it this way: For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:1, 4). Quite literally, the resurrection we will experience, the earth will experience too, and when the earth is resurrected what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. What I find so amazing about Revelation 21 is that God will not stop with making all things new; He will also move His dwelling place from the present heaven to the new earth. God making His dwelling place with man on a new earth is His promise: Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them (Rev. 21:3). This has been the plan from day one. Do you remember the two principles that God operates on? They are not the only principles, but they are important principles. The principles are the Incarnation Principle and the Grace Principle. The Incarnation Principle: God does not need a building because He intends to dwell with His people. The Grace Principle: God will do what only God is capable of doing apart from any help from any other person. The plan was always for God to tabernacle with His people and the way that he would do it would be through a grace not conditioned on His creation, but totally and unconditionally upon His own sovereign will and infinite love. Joy will be the Serious Business of the New Earth (vv. 5-8) When God makes His dwelling place on earth with mankind, all that clouds your joy now will be no more. The love, joy, and happiness we will experience on the new earth will never crest, abate, or recede. As C.S. Lewis wrote in one of his books, Joy is the serious business of Heaven.[2] This is why we are told that only when God resurrects this dying and cursed creation, will He wipe away our tears: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there by mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (21:4). The new earth will be like the Garden of Eden but better; it will also be like heaven today, but better. We will enjoy physical bodies and a physical planet. We will enjoy a full and perfect creation that will include trees, mountains, and rivers. There will be one City the City of God where we will be able to go in and

In Revelation 19:11-18 is a description of Jesus that proceeds His reign on earth as promised King who will bring peace on earth. In our passage there are eight descriptions of King Jesus that highlight His authority and character as the Only One who is able to make what is wrong in our world right. Jesus is coming and will come to make peace in our world by waging war on the antichrist who is to come and all the peoples who will align themselves with Him. It will be the realization that perhaps there was some truth that all roads do in fact lead to God, with the major clarification that many lead to Him as judge and only one leads to Him as savior. All I want to do with the time that we have this morning is to show you who He really is. Jesus is a triumphant King. The color white does not symbolize purity here as it does when used to describe garments. The white war horse that Jesus descends from heaven on symbolizes His role as a conquering King, and what is impressive is that, in Revelation 19:1, the battle has not yet begun. Jesus is coming back. You dont have to believe it and you dont even have to live like it, but the fact of the matter is this: Jesus is coming again, and He is not coming to die like He did the first time He came, He is coming to judge! The Bible says, at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11; see also Isa. 45:22-23). The Roman Senate had to give Julius Caesar permission to drive a chariot drawn by white horses through Rome to celebrate his victory in North Africa, but only after he defeated North Africa. When Jesus comes, He comes as a victorious King whose power will be demonstrated in such a way that every living creature will have no alternative but to bow before Him as the Lord. He rides a white horse signifying His victory because none can stay His hand. Jesus is a Faithful and True King (v. 11a). The second characteristic of Jesus is that He is faithful and true. When King Jesus comes to set up His kingdom, He will have no need to boast in a facade of faithfulness and truth because He is the very embodiment of faithfulness and truth. There is a lot of suffering in the world today. Every time there is a catastrophe in the world, governments rush with promises of help and often those who are left in the wake of tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, ethnic genocide, and the like, are left with empty promises of deliverance. Not so with Jesus! My dear brothers and sisters, many of you have been touched by divorce. Some of you have grown up with one broken promise after another. Some of you have been disappointed, have been hurt, have been mistreated, or perhaps taken advantage of. Take a look at verse 11 again, and permit me to ask you, Who is sitting on the white horse? Jesus is planning an eternity with His Bride, and He means to make a home for her that is characterized by holiness and righteousness. Jesus is a righteous King (v. 11b). When Jesus comes, He will come in righteousness to judge the nations. There will be no room to accuse Him as being harsh, rash, or unjust in the execution of His judgment. For many of you, the idea of righteousness and justice is something you have been thinking a lot about because of the politicking we are seeing on television. An election will be coming soon in the United States; promises will be made, and every candidate will claim some measure of integrity while maligning the other candidates. The wars we read about in our history books and the ones we hear on the news often leave a wake of injustice and suffering. Books have been written about The Just War. Whatever your views are concerning war and the one we may find ourselves in the future, one thing is sure: When Jesus comes to wage war on the nations, it will be completely and categorically just, for the Bible says of Jesus: Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make decisions by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt around His hips, and faithfulness the belt around His waist. (Isaiah 11:15) Jesus is an all-seeing King (v. 12a). This is the third time in Revelation that Jesus is described as having eyes like fire (see 1:14; 2:18); every time He is characterized this way, it is metaphorical of His ability to see all things, including the human heart. As King, Jesus will execute justice on all those who have rejected Him as the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus does not have to pretend at being able to see all things; He is able to see all things; He is all knowing, and the entire world will be held accountable for what they do and think, both in public and private. When He comes to judge the nations, He will do so intelligently, there will be no civilian casualties. Jesus is the King of kings (v. 12b). In verse 12b, John notices something on Jesus head: many crowns. The Greek word for crown is also diadēma (we get the word diadem from it), it also means rulers crown. It is used only three times in Revelation. It is used to describe the crown worn by the dragon (12:3), the beast (13:1), and Jesus Christ. The point that is being made here is that the dragon (Lucifer) and the beast pretend to be what Jesus is. Their authority is temporary and given by God, Jesus authority is absolute and universal (This is why John records that Jesus had many crowns. The use of many is one way of saying innumerable). When Jesus comes, not only does John see many crowns on His head, but John also sees the title King of kings and Lord of lords on His robe and thigh. Every king or ruler that had been born into this world has had a temporal reign limited by age and mortality. When it comes to our lifespan, we are all like blips on a radar flashing on the screen of life and fading out just as quickly as we came in; James 4:14 asks, You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. Jesus reign and authority is eternal and genuine, He does not need to pretend. Jesus is a One-of-a-kind King (v. 12c) There is a lot of debate and theologizing over what name Jesus has that no one knows. There are two things we know about the ancient world of Johns day that may help us understand why Jesus has a name that no one knows. First, it was common in the world of Johns day to believe that both the gods and humans had a hidden name that contained their true essence, that defined their fundamental nature. Second, it was believed that to know a persons name was to exercise some level of control over that person. What is revealed of the Rider on the white horse is that His revealed name is called, The Word of God and what is tattooed on His thigh is the title: King of kings and Lord of lords. What we see in Revelation 19:11-18, Paul described in Philippians 2:9-11, which I believe helps us understand the unknown name that only He knows: For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. What Paul wrote in Philippians 2:9-11 would have given his readers goosebumps because of what is written in Isaiah 45:22-23, Declare and present your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this long ago? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. (Isa. 45:2123) According to Isaiah, only Yahweh has the right to judge the nations, and it is to Yahweh that every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance. Yet, Paul tells us that it will be before and to Jesus that, every tongue will swear allegiance and every knee will bow. Revelation 19:11-18 described the day when that will happen. The name that Jesus has that no one knows is reveals his absolute authority as God in the flesh who will not nor cannot be manipulated. Jesus is a just and holy King (v 13a). Why is Jesus robe dipped in blood? Is His robe dipped in blood to symbolize what He did at Calvary? I do not think so. I think Isaiah 63:2-3 gives us a clue to the meaning behind what John sees, Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no one with Me. I also trod them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My clothes (Isa. 63:13). Jesus robe is dipped in blood to indicate how He intends to deal with the nations that conspire against Him. How will He accomplish this? Look at verse 15, From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron The justice Jesus will execute will flow out of His perfect holiness; it is the kind of judgment described in Psalm 2 The kings of the earth t

I was thinking the other day that the manger that Jesus was laid in was dirty compared to our standards today. It is estimated that Jesus was most likely born in March or April. We are not entirely sure what kind of room he was born in, but the fact that there was a manger (feeding trough) gives us some idea that it was where the animals were kept. So, what was in the stable Jesus was most likely born in? If there were donkeys, cattle, sheep, or chickens, there was also the smell of manure and urine, cattle-biting lice, a whole bunch of annoying species of flies common in the middle east known as the Bazaar Rly (known to spread trachoma an irritating eye disease). Do not forget the common Stable Fly that would have been feeding on the blood of the livestock surrounding Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. By the way the Stable Flies Mary and Joseph shooed away from Jesus may have carried anthrax. My guess is, there were most likely rats and mice along with all the diseases they carry. The manger was a feeding trough and before they prepared it to lay Jesus in, there was no Clorox to disinfect it from it being used for animals to eat from, drool into, and maybe even sneeze out an occasional maggot that crawled up into the snouts of certain animals to live in their throats. I am sure Joseph did his best to clean out the manger, but then you have the bedding to consider, which would have been straw infested with straw itch mites. So the first group of people invited to see the Christ-Child are dirty shepherds? My point is simply this: The One born King of the Jews made His grand entrance into our world through the mess of a stable. But why that way? It was of Jesus that the ancient prophets declared: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel. (Isa. 7:14) For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6) But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His times of coming forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity. (Mic. 5:2) Why a stable? Before I answer that question, I want us to reflect on Hebrews 1:1-3 briefly. In only three verses, we are given nine reasons for why there is a good reason for the shepherds, a stable, and a manger. Jesus is the Only Way to Know God. The best and greatest revelation of who God is according to the author of Hebrews, is Jesus. According to the prophet Micah, Jesus did not become the Son of God at Marys miraculous conception as a virgin or at His birth; no Jesus was always God the Son long before His birth, for His times of coming forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity (Mic. 5:2). What did happen when Mary was told that she would have a child, is that Jesus took on human flesh, and He did so to live a life while remaining fully divine and fully human, and the life He lived was the life we could not live for the purpose of dying a death he did not deserve on a cross for the sins of mankind. Jesus said of Himself: For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus is the heir of all things. The One laid in the manger, was and remains the heir of all things. All of creation belongs to Him; it was His from the beginning, but it is especially His now! The Bible says that all of us are sinners from the moment of conception in that we are all born sinful. When Jesus took on human flesh by way of the miraculous conception that did not include a human biological father, he was born without a nature to sin. Jesus was fully God while remaining fully human. For sinful humanity and a cursed creation to be liberated from sin, a kinsmen redeemer was needed. If a family member lost their inheritance and property for any reason, a kinsmen redeemer was needed who met three requirements: He must be related to the person who suffered lost, he must have the ability to purchase back what was lost, and he must be willing to make the sacrifice necessary to restore what was lost. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned against God, the curse of sin has been passed down from one generation to the next. The child that was laid in a manger is the kinsmen redeemer qualified to restore what was lost through Adams sin. Jesus is the Creator of the world. Jesus not only existed before His birth on the first Christmas, but we are also told that it was through Him that God made the world. The Bible says of Jesus: for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authoritiesall things have been created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16). The one who was laid in the manger, was responsible for the material that human hands used to fashion it, which also shows us that only is Jesus a qualified redeemer, but He is also an able redeemer. Jesus radiates the glory of God. Jesus does not reflect the image of God like the moon reflects the Suns light. No, Jesus radiates the glory of God like the Sun radiates light. Jesus was not created by God but is God. There was never a time when Jesus was created because there was never a time when He was not the Son. The God of the Bible is unlike any other god that people have created to worship, for the God we learn of in the Bible is Yahweh as One God in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus is exact representation of Gods nature. I have two sons; they share my DNA but they are not me nor are they the exact representation of me. There is a Son who shares the exact representation of Gods nature, and that Son is Jesus, for the God the Son and the God the Father are of the same divine essence; this is how Jesus is the climax of Gods revelation of Himself to lost humanity. When one of his disciples asked Jesus, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. To which Jesus answered: The one who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? (John 14:8-9). When Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds saw the face of Jesus, the saw the face of God. Jesus is the sustainer of creation. The mystery of the incarnation and miracle of Christmas is that the one who was laid in a manger, is the One who sustains and keeps creation, by the word of His power. What the author of Hebrews is trying to say here is that the Son of God is not only responsible for creation, but actively preserves creation! This is why Jesus could walk on water, cure diseases, raise the dead, and quiet storms with the word of His mouth. Jesus is a qualified and willing redeemer. The One who was laid in the manger was born to make purification of sins, and the way that he did it was through a cross of wood for sins we committed and are guilty of. This is why, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said: Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)! Hundreds of years before Christmas happened, the prophet Isaiah wrote of Jesus: But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Isa. 53:5). The Christ-Child was born to become a curse for us so that we could be pardoned, redeemed, and made the children of God (Gal. 3:13-14); or as the Bible states: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus is the only one who can save. After Jesus died upon the cross for our sins for our redemption, we are told that Jesus, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high What this means is that because of who He is and why He took on human flesh, after He died, Jesus rose from the grave because how can death keep the Author of Life? After Jesus rose, He ascended to heaven, and He sat down! He sat down because his sacrifice for sin only had to be offered once and for all! This is why Jesus said of Himself: I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). Besides Jesus, there is salvation found in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved (Acts. 4:12). Jesus is to be worshiped because of who He is. The child born on the first Christmas and laid in a dirty manger surrounded by dirty creatures, of which Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, and every other human is the dirtiest; He was born to save sinners. Of Jesus the scriptures testify: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2:810). The question for you my dear friend, is what will you do with Jesus today, on this Christmas Eve? The reality of Christmas is simply this: Jesus was really born. Jesus really did live, Jesus really did die on a Roman cross, and Jesus really did rise from the grave. J.R. Tolken, who wrote The Lord of the Rings, once said of the story of Jesus: The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind, which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. But this story is supreme, and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels, and of menand of elves. Legend and History have met and fused.[1] The reason Jesus made His grand entrance into our world through the mess of a stable is because He was born to enter into the mess of sin-cursed humanity. The message of the manger is simply this: If you were a hundred times worse than you are, your sins would be no matc

God is a Trinity in that He is One God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In his book, Delighting in the Trinity, Michael Reeves wrote of the Trinity: If the Trinity were something we could shave off God, we would not be relieving him of some irksome weight; we would be shearing him of precisely what is so delightful about him. For God is triune, and it is as triune that he is so good and desirable.[1] Fed Sanders in his book, The Deep Things of God, wrote: God is eternally Trinity, because triunity belongs to his very nature. Things like creation and redemption are things God does, and he would still be God if he had not done them. But Trinity is who God is, and without being the Trinity, he would not be God. God minus creation would still be God, but God minus Father, Son, and Holy Spirit would not be God. So when we praise God for being our creator and redeemer, we are praising him for what he does. But behind what God does is the greater glory of who he is: behind his act is his being.[2] To appreciate the glory of the King who was born on the first Christmas, you must understand what it is that sets the God of the Bible apart from every cult and religion is that the God in the Bible is One God in Three (Trinity) Persons. What this means is that there was never a time when Jesus was created because there was never a time when He was not the Son. What happened that never happened before and never will happen again is in the angels announcement to Mary: behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus (Luke 1:31)? What happened that was new was God the Son took on human flesh by being conceived in the womb of a virgin. What was new was that God the Son also became the Son of Mary (Luke 1:31, 35). Represented in the Christ Child was, the union of undiminished deity and perfect humanity forever in one person. The message of advent is simply this: The plan was always for a King to reign in Israel over all the nations. In passages like Isaiah 44:6-8, Yahweh was to be King over Israel. We are told in verse 6, This is what Yahweh says, He who is the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of armies: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me. In 2 Samuel 7:13, we read of how king David was promised that a very human descendant of his would reign as king forever: He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Both Isaiah 44:6-8 and 2 Samuel 7:13 come together in the promise of Isaiah 9:6-7, For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:67) The glorious reality of the Trinity is that the Son was always the King of Isaiah 44 and Isaiah 9, and the incarnation allowed Him to be all of Isaiah 44:6-8 and Isaiah 9:6-7 while at the same time becoming the Son of David (2 Sam. 7:8-17) through the virgin birth (Luke 1:26-38). Jesus is the Means for Our Redemption (vv. 4-8) The book of Revelation was written to suffering Christians who needed encouragement. There was much that John suffered because of his association with Jesus, and although he most likely was not martyred for his faith, many of his friends were. If you believe that the purpose of the book of Revelation is primarily about how the world will end, you have missed the point of the book entirely. We are told why it was written in its opening verses: The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must soon take place (v. 1). When you are in a season of long-term suffering, it is easy to grow weary believing that there will be no end to such suffering. The book of Revelation was written to encourage suffering Christians that their suffering had an expiration date while their salvation would remain nonperishable. Before we are told about what is coming, John first tells us what has already happened. In just three short verses, the apostle lists for us seven reasons why we can be confident that our suffering is not how our story will end: John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His bloodand He made us into a kingdom, priests to His God and Fatherto Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Rev. 1:46) The grace and peace of verse 4 is from three persons. The One, who is, and who is to come is God the Father, the seven spirits is a reference to the Holy Spirit,[3] and, the grace and peace that is for the Christian is from Jesus Christ. Seven is an important number in the Bible, especially in the book of Revelation and its use is symbolic of fullness. In these opening verses, John lists seven ways Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection benefits the Christian: Jesus is a faithful witness in the way He lived, died, and rose from the grave. His life is our example, and we are to look to Him as we, run with endurance the race that is set before us looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfector of the faith (Heb. 12:1-2). Jesus is the first born of the dead in that he suffered and died, but He did not stay dead. Jesus conquered death, which means that our death will eventually lead to a resurrection too. Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth in that He is sovereign over all earthly powers to the point that no king can destroy what Jesus loves and treasures. Jesus loves us and His love for His Church is not fleeting, fragile, or conditional. Jesus released us from our sins by His blood in that He shed His blood on a cross of wood by becoming a curse for us to free us from the curse of sin in perpetuity. Jesus made us into a kingdom in that the citizenship of the Christian is in the realm of Jesus kingdom. Jesus made us into priests who were once alienated from God, are now reconciled to God, and called to participate in the mission of God as His ambassadors. Because God the Father so loved the world, He sent Jesus the Son who completed all that was needed for our redemption, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Because we are recipients of the first advent of Christs coming, we now long for the second advent of His coming which, according to verses 8-9 is as good as done: Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:78). This is why the angel was able to announce to lowly shepherds that the birth of Jesus was good news: Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:1011). So, we rejoice with the hymn writer who wrote of Jesus: He makes the rebel a priest and a king, He has bought us and taught us this new song to sing: Unto Him who has loved us and washed us from sin, Unto Him be the glory forever. Amen.[4] Jesus is the Glory of Our Redemption (vv. 9-16) In Revelation 1:9-16, John sees the glory of the One who was laid in a manger on the first Christmas, what he lists for us are nine characteristics of Jesus glory that come together in Him being fully God and fully manjust as the number 7 symbolizes fullness or completeness, the number 9 symbolizes perfection. Here are the nine things John sees in a Jesus who, because of the incarnation now is fully God and fully Man for the rest of eternity: Jesus stands in the middle of the seven lampstands. The lampstand John sees was like the menorah used in Solomons temple that symbolized the seven days of creation. It was one lampstand with seven lamps. Remember that seven symbolizes fullness; the seven churches are both seven literal churches that symbolize the global Church. Jesus is both Lord of the Church and the center of the Church because He purchased her with His blood. He is the groom, and the Church is His Bride. In the manger was laid the groom of the Church! Jesus is clothed in a robe wearing a golden sash. The clothing Jesus is wearing when John sees Him is that of both a High Priest and a King. Jesus stands in the midst of His Church as the King and He stands serving as the High Priest whose perfect sacrifice was Himself for the atonement for sins, sins we are guilty of. The one laid in a manger was born to die for sinners: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Gal. 3:13). Jesus head and hair are white like white wool. Jesuss head and hair are white because before He was born in flesh, he was for all eternity the Ancient of Days spoken of by the prophet Daniel, I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head like pure wool (Dan. 7:9). The one laid in a manger is the Ancient of Days who stands as the groom, High Priest of His Church because He is Him who is, Holy, holy, holy Jesus eyes are like a flame of fire. What is the point? Christian, you are the Church, and although you may be weary and tired the Groom of the Church does not grow weary or tired! The One laid in a manger sees you and sees all that is w

To BELIEVE in Jesus is to BE a Christian.  What I mean by “believe” is not agreeing that the Bible is true and Jesus is who He claimed to be.  What I mean by “believe” is that you are all in on what the Bible teaches and who and what Jesus claimed to be and do.  Genuine belief begins with your intellect, but it does not stop there.  Genuine belief affects your daily actions and life choices.    So, to believe in Jesus is to live in a state of being as a Christian.  To “BE” is to “EXIST.”  You can believe certain things that do not affect your state of existence. An example of this is how I view the reality of math. I believe that math is both real and good, but my belief goes no further than my intellect.    It is possible to “BELIEVE” in Jesus and not “BE” a Christian.  If you are a Christian, your Christianity is more than a religion or something you believe, but who you now are.  Think about what the apostle Paul wrote: “And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this world.... But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ...” (Eph. 2:1, 4-5).  If you are a Christian, you were once dead, but now you are alive with Jesus.  Because you are now alive with Jesus, Paul continued in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”    To go from death to life requires a change in your DNA.  By the time Jesus arrived at Lazarus’ grave, he was dead and in his tomb for four days (John 11:17).  What that means is that decomposition had already started, his body was bloated, his bodily fluids were already seeping out of the orifices of his body, his internal organs were already breaking down, and because of the breakdown of the tissues of his body there was already an overwhelming stench that was present in the tomb.  When Jesus asked for the stone of the tomb to be removed, Lazarus’ sister, Martha, said to Jesus: “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days” (v. 39).  For a dead Lazarus to become a living Lazarus, his body would have to go through a complete DNA change, and that is exactly what happened when Jesus raised him from the dead when He shouted: “Lazarus, come out” (v. 43)!  Lazarus’ body experienced an immediate DNA change, he then got up, and then he walked out of the tomb.    Christian, you experienced spiritually what Lazarus experienced physically the day you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and believed. This is why Paul was compelled to remind the Ephesian Christians who they were with these words: “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3).  So, how do you do that?  Paul tells us: “So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15–16).  Okay, but what does that look like in the home?  It looks like husbands loving their wives in the same what Jesus loved His church and gave Himself up for her (Eph. 5:25-33).  It also looks like wives, subjecting themselves under the headship of their husbands (vv. 5:22-24).  Oh... but how does one walk in a manner worthy of our calling in the way we parent our children or in the way we respond to our parents?   I struggled if I should address parents and children in the reverse order than how the apostle Paul did it but decided to follow in the same order he chose.    Responding to Our Parents in a Manner Worthy of Our Calling Paul addresses children by reminding us of the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Exod. 20:12).  For some parents, this commandment is abused; for some children, this commandment is ignored.  For a lot of people in the church, I suspect that the fifth commandment is confusing.  Just so you know, the first four commandments concern our relationship with God; the last six commandments concern our relationship with people.    The first commandment states: “You are to have no other gods before Me” (Exod. 20:3). How you yield your mind, life, and heart to the first commandment will affect how your respond to idols, how you use the name of the Lord in what you say and do, and what kind of time you spend with the Lord in worship. Concerning the final six commandments, I suggest to you that how you yield your mind, life, and heart to the fifth commandment will affect how value your neighbor’s wife/husband, that which does not belong to you, your integrity, and what you think you need or do not need.  It all begins with what kind of relationship you have with God.   Show me how a young man or woman treats their mother or father, and I will show you what kind of husband or wife that person will most likely be.  If you cannot honor the person who is responsible for sheltering you, providing food, clothing, and an education for you... then when it comes to the other people in your life... you probably will not be a very honorable person (unless something changes, such as a spiritual DNA change).    Now, for the big question many of you may be asking: “At what age does the fifth command expire?”  When you are eighteen?  Twenty? How about when you are on your own?  How about after you are married and have a family of your own?  The commandment doesn’t even indicate an age, but the word the apostle Paul uses is Ephesians 6:1 is “children.”  The Greek word for “children” is teknon and it means exactly the way every English translation translates the word, and that is “children.”  The point Paul is making is that if you are a child, then you have a command from God to obey, and that is to give your parents honor.    Notice the order Paul address regarding the family.  He begins with wives, then moves on to husbands, then children before he addresses “fathers.”  Why?  Because if you are alive today, then you are a child of someone.  Not everyone is a parent, but everyone is a child.  In the context of Ephesians 6:1, Paul is speaking to non-adults, and the way they are to honor their parents is by obeying them.  However, this does not exempt every person who has a parent from honoring their parent(s).  So there are two things going on with Ephesians 6:1-3. First, for every non-adult in the room, if you are unwilling to obey your parents, then you are not walking in a manner worthy of your calling as a Christian.  Second, if you are a son or a daughter with a living parent, you are not walking in a manner worthy of your calling if you are not giving them honor.    Let me help you understand what exactly is being said in these verses.  Walking in a manner worthy of your calling as a Christian as a non-adult means that you honor your parent(s) by obeying them so long as what is asked of you does not violate your primary obligation to obey Christ.  If a father or mother askes their Christ-following child to sin, then that child is obligated to respectfully disobey.  Honoring your parents by obeying them does not mean that you must endure sexual or physical abuse, nor require you to lie, cheat, or steal because your father or mother told you to do something immoral or wrong.  But when it comes to the things your parent(s) ask you do such as the rules of the house you live in, you are to honor your mother and father by obeying and respecting them.    Non-adult children, listen to me.  Paul states that the fifth commandment has a promise tied to it: “Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may turn out well for you, and that you may live long on the earth.” Obeying your parents who want you to thrive and succeed will help protect you from the kind of friends and habits that could ruin or shorten your life.  The other way it will turn out well for non-adult children who honor their parents through obedience and respect for them, is that you will most likely develop honorable and healthy character traits.    So, how old until you do not have to obey all the rules of the home your parents pay for?  Until you can pay rent and/or move out on your own.  However, when you do move out of the home of your parent(s), to does not mean you are no longer obligated to honor your parents.    So, what about those of us who are adults?  The fifth command does not state “obey” although throughout the Bible, non-adult children are expected to be obedient.  The fifth commandment is also a principle to live by.  Notice what the commandment does not say.  It does not say “Love, admire, agree with, trust, or drop everything that you are doing for your parents.”  No, what the fifth commandment states is to “Honor your father and mother.”  The relationship I had with my sons when they were toddlers was very different then, than it is today.  How I relate to my 24-year-old son is very different than how I relate to my 14-year-old son.  If the day comes that they should ever get married, my relationship with them will be very different than it is today.  So what does it mean to honor my father and mother as an adult?  I am commanded to honor them no matter where they live, how old they are, what physical condition they are in, or how they feel about me.       Tim Keller provides a clear answer that honors the tone of all of scripture when it comes to our parents: “Honor is a decision to treat your parents with dignity and with courtesy, and it’s also a decision to provide long-term loyalty to their best interests.”[1]  To walk in a manner worthy of my calling as a son or daughter must include seeing my father and mother as individuals created in the image of

Thursday morning, while at Gold’s Gym, hours before news broke of Israel’s attack on Iran (ironically named “Rising Lion”), my thoughts were consumed by the crazy protests in Los Angeles and the posturing of California’s governor and our President against one another.  I also thought about the fragile state of our world, Putin’s unrelenting push to take Ukraine and Ukraine’s resolve to remain a sovereign state.  While on the Stair Climber at Gold’s gym, as I thought about the above current events, I typed the following on my “Notes” app on my phone: “The kings of the earth will mourn when Jesus returns because they do not want to give up what belongs to the King of kings.”    We are promised by God’s Word: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.”  Of His return to judge the nations, Jesus said: “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (Matt. 24:30).  When Jesus comes again, He will come with “power” and “great glory.”   Jesus is coming, He will judge the nations, and He will come with power and great glory!  I do not know when He will come and neither do you, but what I do know is that time is running out!  My dear brothers and sisters, the hour is late and His coming draws nigh (Luke 21:25-28)!  It is possible that you are here or watching the livestream, and as you do... you are still sleeping.  Men, it is possible that you are here, or you are watching the live stream, and you are currently suffering from an identity crisis.  Permit me to explain what I mean.   After God created all things, on the sixth day, He created man; more specifically, we are told that He said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image according to Our likeness...” (Gen. 1:26).  We are later told in Genesis that God put Adam in the Garden and before He formed Eve from His rib, God commissioned Adam as the first man to “cultivate it and tend it” (2:15). God also said of Adam as a man, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (v. 20).  The man and the woman were to complement each other, but the man was also responsible to cultivate and tend to his wife, or as the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:25, Adam was to love his wife in such a way that would later be demonstrated upon a cross by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.    God Created You to Know and Enjoy Him (vv. 18-21) Adam and Eve were to serve as His ambassadors in His creation; Adam was to serve as priest in his home in the way that he loved his wife and eventually parented his children alongside and with his wife.  All that was good in Adam’s home and the peace that he and his wife knew in the presence of God was vandalized by the first couple’s sin and Adam’s failure to shepherd his wife as a lover of her soul.  The serpent sought to destroy God’s image bearers bypassing Adam while targeting Eve.  Although Adam was right next to his wife while the serpent tempted and deceived her, the man did not provide, nor did he protect by refusing to protest the lies of the snake on behalf of his wife.  Eve believed the wicked serpent and ate of the fruit that God warned would bring death, and after Eve took the first bite, she then gave it to her husband, and he ate of the forbidden fruit. Both Adam and Eve were then filled with shame.    I would like to suggest to you that I believe Adam bit into the fruit because he wanted glory and power that did not belong to him.  In fact, ever since Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, mankind has pursued a glory and a power that belongs only to the Creator.  I would like to suggest that the underlying motive of idol worship in whatever form it takes is a desire for power and glory.   What do I mean by “power and glory,” and how do they relate to idol worship?  What I mean by power is chasing after the thing, person, or experience that God has said you cannot have or that you cannot have on your terms, but on His. In the garden, God said no to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but He provided every other fruit in the garden for their enjoyment.  Another example of how idol worship is really a pursuit of power is determining that you will go outside of God’s prescribed moral boundaries so that you can get, receive, or experience what you think is best for you.  When you do that, you make yourself to be “like” God in the same way Adam and Eve desired to be like God when they ignored His word to receive what they believed was best for themselves.  This is the point of Isaiah 45:18-21; for a moment let verse 18 settle on your soul: “For this is what the Lord says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): ‘I am the Lord, and there is no one else.’” In other words: There is only one Creator, He is Yahweh, and you are not Him.  His creation that He made was designed with your living and thriving in mind within the way that He designed all of it.  When you make decisions or act in such a way that goes against what Yahweh has declared to be good or bad, you assume an authority that is not yours.  Idol worship is assuming the role of Yahweh and the power to determine what is right and wrong, apart from Him.    What I mean by “glory” is by making yourself the center of Yahweh’s creation.  By default, because He was able to create all things, He is God.  There was no one before Him and before all things, He existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Not three different forms at different times, not by three different titles, but as One God in Three Persons.  There is no God like Him!  The good news is that He is equally holy as He is good.  He is not like the idols we humans create that can only burden and crush those who worship them.  However, when we do bow down to idols, we do so because we have determined that they can give us what God cannot.  Anytime we make something ultimate in our lives (even the good things), we essentially have determined that the thing, the person, the experience, can give us what God cannot give.  When we do this, we become guilty of self-worship and have removed God from His rightful place in our lives and placed ourselves at the center of His universe.    Listen, just as it is true that any idol you create is a god of your own creation that you must carry that will only burden you... so it is true that any idol you create and bow down to is self-worship. To do this is no different than those, “Who carry around their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save” (Isa. 45:20).  Your idols will lead you away from the life and joy the true God intends for you, not to it!  This is why in Isaiah 45:21, Yahweh calls to all under the crushing burden of their idols: “Declare and present your case; indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this long ago? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none except Me.”  His call is one of mercy and grace that is motivated by love, but He will not share your heart with any of your idols!   God Provided a Way to Know and Enjoy Him (vv. 22-25) There is a way to be free of your idols, there is a way that leads to life, there is a way to experience the kind of joy for which you were born, but it cannot be in and through any idol of your making!  This is why the Bible says, “There is a way which seems right to a person, but its end is the way of death” (Prov. 16:25).  Any way that you seek, that excludes God, to find and experience life, joy, your best life now... can only and will only lead to death because the kind of life and purpose you were born for can only be found in the One to Whom there is no comparison.  The God who made you, calls to you: “Turn to Me and be saved...” (v. 22).  Who can turn to Yahweh to be saved?  God tells us: “...all the ends of the earth.” On every continent and in every nation, God invites all to turn to Him for their salvation, and it must be on His terms alone!   You cannot come to Yahweh for salvation with your idols, for the only way to come to Him is by first laying your idols down before Him. We learn from Isaiah 45:19, that He is not far off and He is not hidden.  He is within reach because He alone is God and there is no other like Him!  In Isaiah 45 alone, it is repeated not twice, not three times, not even seven times, but ten times that there is no God like Yahweh.  Why is this repeated ten times?  There are 10 commandments that were given to Israel; the number ten symbolizes the divine law and the God who created mankind to know Him.  It is this God who not only has made Himself available to you and has invited you into a relationship with Him, but it is He who has pursued sinners who do not run to Him but from Him.  It is this God and no other who declares with the same power and glory that spoke creation into existence with just the word of His mouth: “I have sworn by Myself; the word had gone out from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear allegiance” (v. 23).    What does it mean to bow one knee and what does it mean for one to swear allegiance to Yahweh?  It means to come to Him in humility, contrite in spirit, and trembling at His word.  To tremble at God’s word is to recognize that He is God and you are not, and that you have nothing to give Him but your broken self; to tremble at God’s word is also to come to Him as one who is poor in spirit.   To be contrite in spirit is to not only recognize and see your sin for what it is, but to grieve over your sin; to be contrite in spirit is also to be one who mourns over your sin.  

Last Sunday, I mentioned Solomon as an example of a life of faith that began so wonderfully but ended very tragically.  Solomon knew the scriptures well, we know this because of what he wrote in the book of Proverbs, and one such verse that he wrote was Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”  In fact, according to Proverbs, real wisdom is the Old Testament Law applied to all of life.  Yet, at some point, Solomon’s heart was turned away from God and foolishly pursued what God warned would lead to heartbreak, shame, and disaster.    The thing that Solomon’s father, David, was known for was that he was a man of war (1 Chron. 28:3), which Solomon was not. Solomon was known as a man of peace.  The problem was that he pursued peace even if it meant that he ignored the very Law of God that influenced his writing of Proverbs.  One of the ways the kings of other nations would enter into a peace agreement or an alliance (i.e. covenant) was by marrying the daughter(s) of the king of that nation.  We are told that Solomon, “loved many foreign women” (1 Ki. 1-2).  The problem with this is multifaceted, but here is what God commanded in His word that Solomon ignored: Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their memorial stones, and cut down their Asherim —for you shall not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they would prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods. You shall not make for yourself any gods cast in metal.” (Exod. 34:12–17)   Solomon, who had been known for his godly wisdom and the building of the Temple, “loved many foreign women” (1 Ki. 11:1-2).  So what happened?  Listen to what the Bible says about Solomon’s ending legacy: So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, on the mountain that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abhorrent idol of the sons of Ammon. He also did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.” (1 Ki. 11:6–8)       What Solomon thought would bring peace, contentment, and success... created a crushing burden the wrecked his life and led to the dividing of the nation of Israel into the North and the South.    After the death of Solomon, the divisive spirit Solomon was responsible for creating through his many compromises led to the splitting of the nation he loved.  The king of the northern kingdom (Jeroboam) established two alternative places to worship to keep those in the North from traveling to the Southern kingdom to worship Yahweh in the Temple that Solomon built.  King Jeroboam set up golden calves not unlike the one made by the Hebrews after Moses was up on the mountain receiving the commandments of God; Jeroboam then said to the people: “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt” (1 Ki. 12:28).  The Northen Kingdom in Israel was known for its rampant and evil idolatry that included child sacrifice and gross perversions of marriage and sex, all while promoting a worldview contrary to the one of their forefathers.  After many years of God warning the Northern Kingdom through His Word and His prophets to repent from their sins, and after many years of ignoring those warnings, God used the Asyrian Kingdom to judge, destroy, and exile many of the people.   The Southern Kingdom was initially led by Solomon’s son, Rehoboam.  In many respects, the Sothern Kingdom remained somewhat loyal to the faith and vision of their forefathers such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David.  There were no doubt periods of idolatry, but there were also seasons of religious reform with an emphasis to return and maintain the worship of Yahweh at the Temple in Jerusalem.  Many in the Southern Kingdom believed that because they had Solomon’s Temple, that they had the presence of God.  Eventually the Southern Kingdom grew increasingly nominal in their faith to the point that God also sent them prophets to warn them of a similar fate that the Northern Kingdom suffered if they did not repent.  Because they had Solomon’s Temple, were more conservative, and were ‘not as bad’ as those in the Northern Kingdom, that they were safe.  Eventually the Southern Kingdom became known for their worship of the idols of the nation’s, instead of their worship of the God of Abraham, Moses, and David.   Both the Southern and Northern Kingdoms eventually experienced the crushing burden that their idols created.  But it was after the Northen Kingdom’s demise and God’s repeated warnings to the Sothern Kingdom to turn from their sins that Isaiah wrote what we read in 46:1-13.       Creaturely Idols Create Crushing Burdens for those who Bow Before Them Idols come in all shapes and sizes; they are not only physical creations made with human hands.  Idols include established gods worshiped by people groups and cultures, but they also come in the form of ideologies, things, or people that are made ultimate in the heart of their devotees.  Some of the ancient idols of long ago have taken different shapes or even cloaked in a different dress... but they are not new.    In Isaiah 46, the prophet calls out the worship of the Babylonian gods known as Bel and Nebo about a century before we are introduced to Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel.  Bel was the chief god worshiped by the Babylonians who was also known as Marduk and believed to be responsible for creation and worshiped as the supreme god.  Nebo, the son of Bel (Marduk), was worshiped as the the Babylonian god of wisdom, writing, and scribes.  In Isaiah 46, Bel and Nebo are depicted as burdens pulled by cattle; the irony of the way they are depicted is that in the days of Isaiah, when a nation was conquered, because it was believed that their gods were unable to save, the victorious army would put on display in a parade the idols of the defeated people. At least the defeated worshipers of Bel and Nebo can move, but the gods the Babylonians attribute power and knowledge to are stooped over because they are powerless, motionless, and without life.  Like every other idol in the world, Bel and Nebo have no power to save or produce what they promise.    The weight of Bel and Nebo is crushing even to the cattle forced to transport them.  Why?  Because according to verses 6-7, “Those who lavish gold from the bag and weigh silver on the scale, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; they bow down, indeed they worship it. They lift it on the shoulder, carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may shout to it, it cannot answer; it cannot save him from his distress” (Isa 46:6–7).    Those who worshiped Bel and Nebo, essentially worship a god of their own creation.  All that the gods add to the lives of those who worship them is a “burden.”  The word for burden that is used (mǎś-śā) can be translated “weight.”  There is a universal fact about what people chose to worship: Anything we create to worship... will require its creator to carry it.  Idols always promise what they cannot give, and rob those who worship them the life, joy, and salvation that those idols offer.  The only thing that created idols offer is the crushing weight of their burden.   Unlike the idols of the world, there is only one God who created all things!  Because He is the Creator, all of His creation is dependent upon Him.  Because He is the Creator, He is the One who carries those who worship Him: “Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will carry you! I have done it, and I will bear you; and I will carry you and I will save you. ‘To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal, and compare Me, that we would be alike?’” (vv. 4–5).   The Uncreated God Powerfully and Purposefully Saves (vv. 8-13) Just as He did with the gods of Egypt, the God of Abraham, Moses, and David promised to do the same with the gods of Babylon.  The reality and existence of Yahweh puts everything and anyone who would set themselves up to be more than what they are... to shame.  Lucifer attempted to usurp the God who made him, God cast Him out and Jesus said of that day: “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:18).  In Isaiah 14, we are given a glimpse into the heart and motives of Lucifer: How you have fallen from heaven, you star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who defeated the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isa. 14:12–14)   Because God is God, He declares the end from the beginning.  What does that mean?  It means what He wills, He not only does but accomplishes!  What else could verse 10 mean? It is God who is responsible for, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My plan will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.’”  There is no room for luck, chance, or karma in a universe with a God who “declares the end from the beginning.”    Because Yahweh is God, he does not need anything from us.  There is no deficiency in Him

From the Pulpit of Keith Miller Last fall, I preached a series of sermons on the armor of God as part of a series in the epistle to the Ephesians.  Today, I am not preaching any of those sermons.  I am preaching this sermon on a familiar passage out of a sense of urgency for all of us (me included). It might be because we are honoring six of our own from Meadowbrooke Church who have graduated from High School.  It may also be because of multiple examples we are given in the Bible of individuals who started well, but whose lives ended poorly; people like Solomon, Uzziah, Judas, and the two men Paul lists in 1 Timothy (Hymenaeus and Alexander) who did not do the things Paul urged Timothy to do, which was to, “...fight the good fight, keep the faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith” (1 Tim. 1:18–19).   Then there are the repeated admonitions throughout the New Testament; permit me to share some of those with you this morning: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” (Matt. 24:42) “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13) “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” (Heb. 2:1) “So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:15-16) “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.” (1 Pet. 5:8-9)   Aside from the multiple examples of the moral failure of key individuals in the Bible who started off strong spiritually and then ended badly, and the many appeals throughout the New Testament to “be careful,” to “pay attention,” to “be alert,” and to be “sober minded.” Over the past 18 years and nearly 180 hours I have spent in the book of Revelation, the thing I have seen and keep seeing is the repeated appeal throughout the book to persevere until the end: “Be faithful until death...” (Rev. 2:10)   “The one who overcomes, and keeps My deeds until the end...” (2:26)   “Hold firmly to what you have...” (3:11)   “The one who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” (Rev. 21:7)     The question is how do you finish well, stay alert, and endure until the end?  I believe Ephesians 6:10-18 provides us with that answer.    The Enemy is Demonic and Real (v. 12) We are specifically told that the struggle we face is both demonic and real.  We are told in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” The reason we are told to be strong in the Lord is because our struggle is with powerful forces that are demonic in nature: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).     The rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness are those angels who sided with Satan in his war against God.  Although Satan is only one demon who cannot be in more than one place at a time, he has authority over millions of demons who obey his every command. The rulers, authorities, powers, and spiritual forces of wickedness are different demons with various ranks and responsibilities; some influence governments and kings, others have a more global influence, and many focus their attacks on individual Christians.    Now to be clear, we are told that when Jesus saved you and redeemed you through the life He lived, the sin-atoning death He died, and His victory over the grave... that He, “disarmed the rulers, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces of wickedness” and, “made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Jesus]” (Col. 2:13-15).  In his [1]book, The Warrior Savior, Owen Strachan wrote, “The crucifixion represented a real death, but not a real defeat.”    Listen, the demonic powers have no claim or authority over you Christian except what you give to them.  Paul does not mince words here and leaves no room for confusion: “For our struggle...” our fight is not just a fight, but it is a wrestling match in the way that it is not off in the distance but in your face, around you, on you, and is only interested in choking you out!  And “our struggle” is not only with our flesh, but also with, “...the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Our enemy’s attacks come from afar and they come to us up close! The enemy brings his fight against us in all different way and techniques!  It comes in the form of slander, false teaching, and the temptation to sin.  Our fight can come in the form of doubt, depression, and deception.  The battle can come in the form of persecution from friends, family, or state authorities. Believe me when I say this: the enemy knows you better than you know you, and he is strategic, deceptive, and is set on silencing or sidling you in any way possible.  It is possible that you have already given the enemy ground, and you are trapped and not sure out to break free. There is One who is mightily greater than they!     The Strength of the Lord is Necessary (vv. 10, 13-17) There is no persevering, no conquering, and no victory apart from Jesus!  There is only one remedy against Satan, against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places... and that remedy is the One who disarmed them, “...having triumphed over them” (Col. 2:15).  There was only One capable of doing such a thing: “And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col. 2:13–14).   Listen, when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to standing firm, when it comes to persevering, when it comes to being a Christian, you CANNOT do it apart from Jesus!  He alone is “the first and the last, and the living One; He was dead, and behold, He is alive forevermore, and it is He who holds the keys of death and Hades” (Rev. 1:17-18).  The One who died is the Lamb of God, and because He is the Lion of Judah, He conquered death when He got up on Sunday morning and because He is both the Lamb and the Lion, He alone is worthy, “to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing” (Rev. 5:1-14).    When it comes to living the Christian life, you cannot do it with Jesus at a distance, you cannot do it with Him being second, and you cannot do it out of your own strength!  You can only do it if He is your strength.  The biblical definition for the word “salvation” is not confined to a date when you believed and said some prayer.  No! The biblical definition for salvation includes the day you were saved but is only complete when you receive a resurrection and all things in creation are made new.  It is of this salvation that the great multitude in heaven that includes every nation, all the tribes, peoples, and languages who cry out at the top of their lungs: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:10).  The completion of your salvation in the biblical sense, cannot be done on your own, but ONLY in the strength and might of King Jesus (Eph. 6:10)!    Okay, so how can you be strong in the strength and might of Jesus?  We are told that we do that by putting on the full armor of God (v. 11). What is the armor of God?  Let me first tell you what it includes: The belt of truth, which is God’s truth. The breastplate of righteousness, which is Christ’s righteousness. The shoes of the gospel of peace, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ that that we stand firmly in. The shield of faith is our hope in God that is saturated by the truth of God’s word. The helmet of salvation, which is the security that we have in the assurance of our salvation. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God as our offensive weapon in all the armor we are to put on.   For those of you who were here for the armor of God part of the Ephesian series, what I am about to say probably will not surprise you.  Each piece of the armor of God belongs to Jesus. Jesus is our belt of truth, Jesus is our breastplate of righteousness, Jesus is our peace, Jesus is our shield of faith, Jesus is our helmet of salvation, and Jesus is the Word of God.  I am convinced that the way one puts on the armor of God is by abiding in Jesus.  This is why the phrase “in Christ” or “in Him” or any other phrase related to “in Christ” is repeated about 36 times in the short six chapters that make up Ephesians.  The only way to put on the armor is by abiding in Jesus.    What does it mean to abide in Jesus?  There are scores of passages we can turn to answer that question, but I will show you two: The first is in 1 John 3:24, and this is what the apostle John wrote: “The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us” (1 John 3:24).  Listen, the only way you can know how to keep His commandments is if you know what His word says; His commandments are His words.  The second passage that unpacks what we just read in 1 John is found in the Gospel of John through the words of Jesus: “Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.... If

The church in Ephesus was planted sometime around AD 52 by apostle Paul with the help of Aquila and Priscilla.  The book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John sometime in the mid 90s.  The church had existed in a very difficult city for many years; a city where Christians did not have rights, emperor worship was mandatory, and the economy was heavily dependent on the worship of Artemis. From the time the apostle brought the gospel to the city and the letter to Ephesus, written to the church and included in the book of Revelation, the challenges the church faced in Ephesus did not get easier.  Yet in its 40th year (relatively speaking), they were known for doing some really good things and what they were most known for was their doctrinal purity.   It would have been easy for any church present in a city like Ephesus to have fallen prey to the sin of the city had its doctrine not been rock solid.  The church was commended by Jesus for her doctrinal purity: “I know your deeds and your labor and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people, and you have put those who call themselves apostles to the test, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured on account of My name, and have not become weary” (Rev. 2:2–3).  Jesus praised the Ephesian Church for not tolerating evil people, their ability to sniff out false apostles, and perseverance to hold the line doctrinally in a city that was utterly demonic.   It is only because their doctrine as a church was pure that they were able to persevere and stand against the onslaught of evil people, false apostles, and every other demonic force that threatened their congregation.  Sound doctrine is good theology, and good theology is known as orthodoxy.  As a church, we spent 46 weeks in Ephesians.  Throughout the epistle were encouraged to make sure that our doctrine is pure!  We are told in Ephesians 5:26 that Jesus is cleansing and purifying His people “through the washing of the water of the word.” We, the church of Jesus Christ, are being, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone...” (2:20-22).  Sound doctrine cannot and must not be substituted by what others feel is less offensive and more agreeable.     However, there was something that Jesus did have against the church in Ephesus, and it is a danger each of us face even today.    Their Love Was Found Wanting There was a lot of good the Ephesian Church was doing that was praised by Jesus, but the thing that threatened the church most in Ephesus was not the temple of Artemus, it was not the demonic idols and sorcery the city was known for, and it was not even the Roman Empire that saw Christianity as a threat.  The thing that threatened the church was from within, and it is what threatens us today. The church looked healthy on the outside, but there was a cancer that if left untreated could turn terminal, and it was the only antidote that keeps orthodoxy from becoming dead legalism. Listen again to Jesus’ loving but stern rebuke of this church: “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (v. 4).   Now, there are three questions you need to answer before you can be helped and encouraged by Revelation 2:1-7, and verse 4 is at the center of those three questions.  Here are the three questions that must be answered:  “What is meant by ‘first love’”? “Whose love abandoned who?” “Who is it that was no longer loved?” The question is this, “What is the object of their love that they left?”   What is meant by “first love”? If the Bible you are using is the NIV or ESV, then your translation reads, “...you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  But the KJV and NASB versions of the Bible translate the Greek in such a way to suggest that the Ephesian Christians have left their first love.  Is the love that has been abandoned a person or is it the depth and quality of love?  Well, one way you can answer that question is to see if there are any clues in the epistle to the Ephesians that help us understand what kind of love is being talked about here, and thankfully there are two clues given to us at the beginning and end of Paul’s letter to this church.  The first clue is found in Ephesians 1:15-16, “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you...”  The second clue is found in the very last verse in Ephesians: “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love” (6:24).    So what kind of love is it that has been abandoned?  I believe it is the quality of love they once had for another person or people.  This is why I believe the NLT version of the Bible offers the best translation of Revelation 2:4, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!”   Whose Love Abandoned Who? This is an easy question to answer.  The Ephesian church is who “left” their first love. What Paul thanked God for in Ephesians 1:15-16, they had lost.  Love is what keeps orthodoxy from becoming legalism.  Legalism is a perversion of orthopraxy (right living) that is devoid of mercy and grace.  You also need to understand that love for Jesus and His people with orthodoxy is also a deadly cancer that threatens the church.    The Ephesian Church abandoned their first love, and I do not think that they did it intentionally. I believe it happened somewhere along their journey and participation in God’s mission that they did not even realize that it happened.  During my church planting years Sundays were always hard work just to make it happen.  We had to set up our platform, chairs, and equipment every single Sunday for years.  One particular Sunday, Seth wanted to go home with me so that he could play with his friends whose parents were helping me tear down.  When I was finished with what I had to do to wrap up, I headed home but it wasn’t long before I received a call from Julie (my administrative assistant at the time) who asked me if I had forgotten anything.  I immediately realized that I had forgotten my Bible to which she replied: “Yes, you did forget your Bible.  Did you forget anything else?”  At that moment, I realized I had forgotten Seth, who was about five at the time.  Somewhere along the way the passion and love for Jesus had been left behind while they held tight to their orthodoxy, but what they were left with was a legalism that threatened from within the church.   Who was no longer loved? You probably already guessed by now the answer.  I believe it was their love for Jesus and His people.  When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was by a group of legalistic religious leaders, he answered: “And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt. 22:37–39).  Your love for God will create in you a love for people; you cannot claim to love God and at the same time refuse to love others.  Your vertical love for God will overflow into a love for others, this is especially true for those who Christ died for and are now His church (people).  If you are struggling to believe what I just said, then believe the apostle John who said, “If someone says, ‘I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen’” (1 John 4:20).   I believe the Ephesian church, who was first known for their faith in Jesus and incorruptible love for Him was the catalyst that created in them a love for one another that they were known for in the early days of the church’s existence.  Their love infused faith in Jesus and their love for all the saints was the cocktail God used to push back evil and transform lives!    What Revelation 2:1-4 teaches us is that Jesus wants our obedience, but He also wants our hearts!  In fact, if Jesus has you heart, He will have your obedience.       The Way Back is Always Jesus What about you dear Christian?  Have you lost your love for Jesus and His people?  Has your love for Him waned over the years?  Have you gotten sidetracked?  Think about the days when you first encountered Jesus and believed in Him. Remember the excitement of those days.  In many respects, it is very similar to any relationship where you experienced love.   If you are married, think back to the days when you first met your spouse.  Try to remember what you felt on your first date.  Can you recall the day you were engaged?  Revelation 2:1-7 reminds me of a funny little article titled, “The Seven Years of the Married Cold.” I am not sure who wrote it, but I first heard about in through a sermon Pastor Greg Laurie preached; here is how the article described the first seven years of marriage dealing with the common cold: First year of marriage: “Sugar dumpling, I’m really worried about my baby girl. You’ve got a bad sniffle and there’s no telling about these things with all the strep going around. I’m putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general checkup and a good rest. I know the food’s lousy, but I’ll be bringing your meals in from Rozzini’s. I already have it all arranged with the floor superintendent.”   Second year: “Listen darling, I don’t like the sound of that cough. I’ve called Doc Miller to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl, just for Poppa.”   Third year: “Maybe you had better lie down, honey. Nothing like a little rest when you feel lousy. I’ll bring you some soup.”   Fourth year: “Now look, dear, be sensible. After you’ve fed the kids, and done the dishes, and washed the floor, you better lie down.”   Fifth year: “Why don’t you take a couple aspirin?”   Sixth year: “I wish you’d just gargle or som

Men's Breakfast - January

Introduction: The Story We Have Been Telling The entire Bible tells a single, unified story—a story that begins in Genesis and finds its fulfillment in Revelation. It opens with God creating the world and placing two trees in the garden: the tree of life, from which Adam and Eve were free to eat, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God, in His loving wisdom, commanded them to avoid. Tragically, instead of trusting God’s goodness and choosing life, Adam and Eve reached for what was forbidden. In that moment, they embraced curse rather than blessing by taking from the tree God had graciously withheld for their good.   The pinnacle of creation came when God declared, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness…” (Gen. 1:26). Unlike any other creature in Eden or on earth, Adam and Eve were uniquely formed to reflect God’s image. God then blessed them and commissioned them: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Gen. 1:28). Humanity was created to live under God’s rule and to extend His reign throughout the world.   I began this sermon series by reading a quote from Owen Strachan’s book The Warrior Savior: “It was a tree that damned us. It was a tree that redeemed us. And it will be a tree that heals us in the age to come—time beyond all time.”[1]   Today, we turn our attention to the tree that ultimately redeemed us—the tree upon which Another was cursed in our place. As Strachan observes, “Adam, the first man, was a priest and a king unto God. He lived and ruled under the divine regency of his Maker.”[2] Yet Adam failed. Through his disobedience, sin entered the world, and with it came death. As Paul explains, “Through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind… death reigned from Adam until Moses… Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come” (Rom. 5:12–14).   Humanity rebelled against God, the curse entered creation, and death became an ever-present reality. But the story does not end there. God promised that the curse would not have the final word. From the very beginning, Scripture reveals not a collection of disconnected stories, but one unfolding story—a story of how God moves toward a cursed people and a broken creation with redemption. This morning, we come to a passage where the apostle Paul explains—explicitly and unmistakably—what that story has always been about. Galatians 3:10–14 is not a detour from the story we have been tracing; it is Paul putting words to it. Here, the curse is named, the problem is clarified, and the solution is revealed with stunning clarity.   Paul tells us plainly, “All who rely on works of the law are under a curse” (3:10; BSB). That statement may sound severe. But it is the biblical diagnosis of the human condition. The origin of that curse is ancient. It reaches back to Eden, where God created humanity for life, fellowship, obedience, and worship. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered the world, the curse followed, and spiritual and physical death became the inevitable outcome.   The curse did not merely affect humanity inwardly; it affected creation itself. The ground was cursed. Thorns and thistles appeared. Pain, toil, suffering, and death became woven into the fabric of life. From that moment forward, every human has been born under the weight of that curse—inclined toward sin, separated from God, and unable to restore what was lost.   Paul’s point in Galatians is not that the law created the curse, but that the law exposes it. God’s commandments reveal the depth of our problem. They show us that no amount of effort, obedience, or religious devotion can undo what was broken in the garden. As Scripture says, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law, to do them” (Gal. 3:10). And none of us has.   Our Need Is a Righteousness We Cannot Produce To be under the curse is not to suffer from bad luck, karma, or chance; it is to stand under God’s righteous judgment. Our greatest problem is not circumstance or ignorance—it is that God is holy, and we are not. The law demands perfect righteousness—and we are incapable of producing it. That is why Paul insists, “No one is justified before God by works of the law. The righteous live by faith” (Gal. 3:11).   Think about the people we have looked at throughout this series. Reflect on the gravity of their sins. Adam let Eve eat the forbidden fruit, even though he had been told that doing so would bring death and curse. But as the priest and king appointed by God in Eden, he didn’t protest or intervene—he stood by, silent and passive—and then joined her. For what? Because both of them bought into the lie of the dragon that they could be just like God. In that moment, they tore apart the sacred boundary between creature and Creator, unleashing the curse that would plague every generation to come.   Consider the violence of Cain and his descendants—how they perverted the sacred institution of marriage and showed no regard for the sanctity of life. Reflect on Noah and his family: even after the flood, even after God’s rainbow appeared in the sky, sin still found its way into their lives. After Noah became drunk, his son Ham committed such a shameful act related to his father’s nakedness that Scripture does not even specify what it was. Think also about the Tower of Babel, where people sought to build an empire not for God’s glory, but for their own. All these accounts serve as a mirror, revealing just how broken and corrupted by sin humanity truly is.   Consider Abraham, weighed down by his own failures as a husband and father. Picture Isaac—his love for Esau burning brighter than his love for Jacob—splintering their family and sowing seeds of rivalry that tore through generations. Consider Jacob’s twelve sons, born to two wives. Their family was marked by jealousy, betrayal, and constant conflict, with discord replacing the harmony that should have filled their home. See Judah—drawn toward idols, taking a Canaanite wife, wandering far from the ways of God, his heart tangled in spiritual darkness.   And then Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law—driven to the brink by desperation and grief. Her life battered by the wickedness of Judah’s sons, she cloaked herself in the garments of a prostitute, her face veiled, her dignity hanging by a thread. She knew Judah’s moral weakness. When he passed by, she sold herself for silver—pain disguised as survival—his own lust blinding him to her true identity. This is not a sanitized tale; it is the raw, exposed reality of sin’s grip—brokenness that bleeds through families, hearts shattered and lives twisted by deceit and desire.   Shall I continue? I must—because it’s essential for you to grasp the full gravity of the word “cursed.”   Look at David: the mighty king, the poet, the man after God’s own heart—yet swept away by desire, stealing Bathsheba and orchestrating the death of her husband to cover his shame. Blood stained his hands, guilt gnawed his soul, and tragedy ravaged his house. Yet out of this relationship—marked by betrayal and sorrow—God, in His mercy, brought forth a way for hope to emerge. Their surviving son, Solomon, would rise from the ashes of their brokenness. Through Solomon’s line would come Joseph, the husband of Mary and stepfather of Jesus; and from David’s son Nathan would descend Mary herself, the mother who would cradle the Savior. Out of scandal and sorrow, God wove together the lineage through which the true and better David would come—a King crowned not by conquest, but by grace.   What connects all of these individuals is twofold—listen carefully. First, none could escape the curse of sin, a problem rooted in the heart. Second, nearly all of them stand in the lineage of Jesus. The Law given to Moses revealed to them—and to us—that their struggle was one only God could solve: “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many” (Rom. 5:15; BSB). As Paul explains, “Before faith came, we were held captive under the law… So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:23–24).   This is where the story presses us toward hope. If the curse cannot be undone by our obedience, then liberation must come from outside of us. What we need is redemption; what we need is rescue. And that rescue must address the curse at its root. Our Only Hope Is That Christ Became Our Curse What is our hope? Our hope is that there is One who is able to save us from our sins by providing a righteousness that we could never produce on our own. Oh, my dear friends, this is exactly what we learn from Galatians 3:13–14. God has provided the righteousness we need—not through our obedience, but through Jesus Christ. Look at verse 13—you have to see this: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’”   How is it that a person is cursed on a tree? The answer is found in Deuteronomy 21:22–23. Under the Law of Moses, if a man committed a crime punishable by death and was executed, his body could be displayed on a tree or wooden post. This was not merely a method of disposal; it was a public declaration. To be hung on a tree was to be marked as one who stood under God’s judgment. Scripture says plainly, “Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deut. 22:23; BSB). In other words, to be hung on a tree was to be identified as extraordinarily cursed.   Now, look directly at the cross—see it for what it is. The very wood upon which Jesus hung was shaped by Roman hands, but in God's eyes, it was a tree. And according to the Scriptures Paul cites, anyone nailed to a tree is branded as cursed, set apart for divine judgment. But here is the shocking, undeniable truth—Jesus was wholly innocent. He wa

From the opening chapters of Scripture, the narrative of humanity is marked by the presence of a tree. At the heart of Eden stood two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life offered the promise of ongoing life, while the other was strictly off limits, carrying the warning that eating its fruit would bring death. When the first humans chose to take what God had forbidden, they inherited not blessing but a curse—banishment from paradise and the inheritance of death. Since that fateful day in Eden, we have lived beneath the shadow of that curse outside of Eden, our lives marked by its consequences.   Throughout this series, The Tree, we have traced God’s answer to the problem introduced in Eden. We have seen a promised Seed spoken of in the garden (Gen. 3:15), a promise preserved through judgment in the days of Noah (Gen. 6–9), narrowed through Abraham’s only son (Gen. 22), carried forward through broken families and deeply flawed people, guarded through exile and deliverance, and entrusted to kings who both reflected God’s purposes and failed to live up to them. Again and again, the message has been unmistakable: God’s promise advances not because His people are faithful, but because He is.   And then, in the fullness of time, the promise took on flesh (Gal. 4:4-7). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). God did not merely speak again—He stepped into the story Himself (Heb. 1:1-2). Yet Luke 4 marks a decisive moment. Jesus is no longer simply the child of promise or the quiet presence of Immanuel. In Luke 4, Jesus stands up, opens the Scriptures, and for the first time publicly declares who He is and why He has come.   It is no mystery that we humans are a mess. Scripture does not flatter us, and history confirms the diagnosis. We are fallen creatures living under the curse of sin. We are born spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1), enslaved to desires we cannot master (Rom. 6:16), inclined to distort what God has called good (Rom. 1:21–25), and we live beneath the shadow of death—both physical and spiritual (Rom. 5:12). Though humanity still bears the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27), that image is no longer reflected as it once was. Our thinking is darkened, our lives disordered, and our relationships fractured. We were made for communion with God, yet we live far from Him.   This brokenness did not occur in a vacuum. Scripture is equally clear that there is an enemy in the story—real, personal, and malicious. Satan is the great antagonist of redemptive history, a murderer from the beginning who traffics in lies and delights in death. Jesus said of him, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him… for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Yet even in judgment, God spoke hope. To the serpent and the woman He declared that a descendant would come—One who would be wounded, yet in being wounded would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). Death would strike, but it would not have the final word.   From that moment forward, the Scriptures move with expectation. God promised His people a Deliverer—someone greater than Moses (Deut. 18:15; Heb. 3:1–6), someone greater than David who would reign with justice and peace forever (2 Sam. 7:12–16; Ezek. 37:24–28), someone who would not merely rule but redeem. Through the prophets, God revealed that peace would come through suffering, that the One who would heal the world would first bear the curse Himself. Isaiah saw it clearly: “But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings… and by His wounds we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).   This is why the announcement of Jesus’ birth was not sentimental but staggering. When angels appeared to shepherds living in darkness, they did not proclaim a teacher or a moral example, but a Savior: “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). As the apostle Paul later wrote, “For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:20; BSB). Jesus is not one promise among many—He is the fulfillment of them all.   It is against this backdrop that Luke 4 unfolds. Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, enters the synagogue, and is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He reads words every faithful Jew knew well:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19; Isa. 61:1–2).   After reading, Jesus sat down and declared, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  We are then told that the immediate response of those in the synagogue that day was that of admiration: “And all the people were speaking well of Him, and admiring the gracious words which were coming from His lips; and yet they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (v. 22).  Now listen (or read) what Jesus said next: And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a severe famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” (vv. 23-27)   Jesus mentioned two different people who had no biological connection to Abraham nor were they Jewish.  A prophet called to speak on behalf of God by the name of Elijah went to Zarephath under the direction of Yahweh, to a town full of Gentiles during a time that a famine also affected Israel, and yet Elijah went to a Gentile widow who God miraculously fed and protected during that famine (see 1 Kings 17:8–24). Listen, the point Jesus was making is this: The widow of Zarephath was a Gentile outsider—poor, desperate, and forgotten—yet she received the mercy Israel assumed belonged to them alone.   A second example Jesus gave was that of Naaman the Syrian who served as a commander of the enemies of Israel.  Jesus said, “And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian” (v. 27).     Listen to what we are told concerning Naaman in 2 Kings 5, “Now Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man in the view of his master, and eminent, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but afflicted with leprosy” (v. 1).  And yet, God healed him! How was Naaman healed?  He was only healed after he humbled himself in obedience to the word of God delivered by Elisha the prophet (see 2 Kings 5:1-14).    What was Jesus’ main point? He was showing that the promise of a Deliverer and redemption was never exclusive to Israel, but it was intended for all nations. When Jesus read from Isaiah and proclaimed, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21), He wasn’t simply interpreting the passage—He was revealing Himself as its fulfillment. In that moment, Jesus was announcing His mission, His authority, and the inclusive nature of His kingdom. He declared Himself as the promised Deliverer—the greater Adam, the greater Abraham, the true Israel—and made clear that through Him, blessing would extend to every nation, not just one people.   In Luke 4:25–27, Jesus reminds His hometown that God sent Elijah to a Gentile widow in Zarephath and healed Naaman the Syrian—an enemy commander—making clear that God’s mercy is received through Jesus by faith to all who will receive it, not where privilege assumes it.   There are four facets of Jesus’ ministry that is described in these verses:   Jesus Came as Good News to the Poor for All People Jesus clarifies the kind of poverty He has in view when He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). This poverty is not merely economic. Scripture and experience alike tell us that not all who are materially poor long for God. The poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy before Him—those who know they have nothing to offer God but their need. Jesus is good news to such people precisely because it is only through Jesus that one can have God. Those who believe themselves rich in righteousness will feel no need for a Savior, but those who know they are empty will discover that Christ is everything.   Jesus Came to Set Captives Free Out from the Nations Scripture declares, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Every human being is born enslaved to sin—any violation of God’s holy standard. Human experience confirms what Scripture teaches: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). Apart from Christ, every one of us stands under judgment (Rev. 20:11–15). This is why Jesus came. As John the Baptist proclaimed, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). When Jesus read Isaiah 61 in the synagogue, His hearers assumed He was announcing political liberation and national restoration. What they did not understand was that their deepest captivity was not Roman oppression but spiritual bondage. Jesus came to proclaim liberty to captives whose chains were forged by sin.   Jesus Came to Give Sight to the Blind Who Make Up All Humanity While Jesus healed physical blindness throughout His ministry, His greater work was opening spiritually blind eyes. This blindness is