Out of the Darkness

Matthew1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: 2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. 4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9 Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. 11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. 12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. 14 Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. 15 Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. 16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us." 24 Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.

After 400 years of darkness, (represented by the two blank pages in your Bible between the Old Testament and the New,) a Light shines.

Thinking of all the possibilities God may or could have employed for Jesus to enter the world He created, this may have been the least expected or anticipated way, except for one thing – it is exactly what the scriptures had said about the birth of The Savior.

Have you noticed by now God ALWAYS does exactly what He says He will do?

You might have thought The Son of God would enter the world upon a chariot of fire accompanied by an army of the angelic host. God had said He would be born of a virgin. (Isaiah 7:14.) Which entry is more spectacular?

In the same quiet way He is born into every human heart which will allow Him room. It may not seem like that big of a deal – but it will change your whole world.

Jesus did not come to leave things as they are.

-Pastor Bill

Choose Life!

Revelation 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. 6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. 7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." 8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God." 10 And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." 12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

One of the things we carry away from a study of The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ is a better appreciation of the heart of God, and His love for all people.

How - you may ask – in the midst of all the cataclysmic events described in this book, do we see God’s heart?

Well, there are two things that have become very clear: First - God loves His people, and He will do everything He can to bring them into the New Heaven and the New Earth; and Second - God hates sin and He will no longer allow its existence to harm His people. 

Simply put, all who love sin and hate God will be destroyed – and all who love God and hate sin will be delivered.

This is the ultimate expression of man’s determination of his own eternal destination, (and God yields to it.) With everything we’ve read and studied – where do you desire to spend eternity? Amazingly, the choice is yours.

-Pastor Bill

New and Improved

Revelation 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." 6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." 9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

“New” and “improved” are two words we love to hear. Any advertisement that promises a “new and improved” product is sure to get our attention – at least for a moment.

What if life could be both ‘new’ and ‘improved?’

What if your life could be ‘new’ every day? What if everything in your life was ‘new’ everyday? What if your life was so ‘new’ every day that there was no more pain because your life was so new every day that pain never had a chance or a way to develop – because every day was a new day – and because all life was new every day?

This is the reality of the new heaven and the new earth. Everything is made new. And everything is made new in a way that it stays new eternally. It never gets old. It never gets tired. The freshness of the ‘newness’ never wears off, and it never gets old.

When all of the work of all the salvation of the old world and the old heaven are complete, God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth and a new you that remain new forever. Everything old will be made new again. Forever.

-Pastor Bill

Radical Feminization

Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

The worldly definition of ‘feminization’ is described as being ‘radical.’

Somehow, some way, by the slow, inevitable creep of evolutionary thought and progressive philosophy, we have arrived at a time in which woman is thought to be her best self when she takes on some of the forms of masculinity.

Somehow, some way, this is presented as ‘overcoming’ the ‘weakness’ of femininity, and we are told we must instill this thinking in our daughters from an early age, so they may grow up believing they can “do anything.”

Somehow, some way, the thinking is a woman in the workplace represents the fullness of all that a woman may become, and that a woman’s sense of personal fulfillment is to come from the praise she may receive for the “productive” work she does. A performance review informing woman she is an excellent worker, (especially in a field formerly thought to be ‘man’s work,’) is said to be feminization.

In America we celebrate ‘Rosie the Riveter’ as the inception of the emergence of woman from the enforced role of home-maker – that she may finally be all she can be.

And so we long for the day we may have a woman president, because this will be a radical statement in fulfillment of all we have been working for nationally for so long. A woman president will say that we have arrived at “true equality,” and unless and until we reach that point we fall short of what true equality means.

Along the way, the role of motherhood has been marginalized, and its meaningfulness has been portrayed as being “less than all you can be.” Confession you are merely a ‘home-maker’ is to invite derision.

All of this is making woman into the image of Adam.

God’s Word, on the other hand, describes woman, (created in the image of God,) as, “the mother of all living.”

I get so excited just reading that statement for all it implies about the importance of motherhood, and what motherhood means to eternal life - that all eternal life comes through motherhood. But not simply of birth by water. There is so much more, and THIS is the radical part of feminization.

‘Radical feminization’ means being ALL God says you can be, according to His Word, and according to His design. It means playing a vital role in instilling Godliness in the family, and accepting full responsibility for the nurturing required to represent the extent of God’s mercy in the home.

In the world today, a woman in the workplace (any workplace,) can hardly be considered ‘radical.’ Radical feminization is ushering your children and your family into the presence of God for all eternity.

-Pastor Bill