The Unveiling

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. 4 John, to the seven churches which 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, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

There comes a time in every deep and growing relationship when an unveiling takes place. This is referred to as “intimacy,” and it has everything to do with developing trust.

How fascinating that as we arrive at the very end of God’s Word to us and for us, a complete unveiling takes place. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is the book where we learn of the, “…things we have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” (This is indeed the outline of the Book.) (Rev 1:19)

All of it, every bit of it, is revealed. Unveiled. Laid bare for those in relationship with Jesus to see.

The word ‘apocalypse’ is often misused and misunderstood. People speak of an ‘apocalypse’ as if the meaning of the word is some sort of great cataclysmic event. That is simply not true. The definition of the word ‘apocalypse’ is ‘unveiling.’

Thus the English translation of the Greek ‘apokalypsis’ is: ‘revelation.’ Everything is ‘revealed’ to those who are willing to look.

Note that all we are shown here in the Book of Revelation is a single, unified revelation, and so it is not correct to speak of this as, “the Book of Revelation(s).”

What exactly is revealed to those willing to look? (By the way, the Book promises a blessing to all who DO look. See Rev 1:3)

I believe the blessing is the complete understanding of Who God in Christ IS, and what God in Christ is going to accomplish on behalf of His people. One of the greatest understandings to come from this unveiling is: God is in control. Total control. The events of this world have not spun out wildly, they have spun out as God has directed and will direct, and we who are in Christ may have perfect peace even in the midst of all the events described even as they are literally taking place because we know God is driving, and He promises to protect (bless) all those who “hear” the words of this book.

-Pastor Bill

Those Left Standing

Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10 But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Those who speak falsely, or speak falsehoods, have no fear of God.

The record of those who do speak falsely is not good. Jude, (most likely Jesus’ half-brother,) relates the less-than-hopeful future of those who do. To see that more clearly, all we need to do is look to the past to see how God has dealt with those who have brazenly opposed His message, or His messenger.

Sometimes we may think those who oppose God somehow escape His notice. They do not. Jude writes an important reminder of that fact. If nothing else is made clear here – and there is plenty made clear - it is that God is watching men’s hearts, and that He opposes those who oppose Him.

It has often been said, (and it is a true saying,) that you plus God is a majority opinion. It may not seem like it, and it may not feel like it, but it is true and always has been. Pleasing God must be our only motivation, even when, (especially when,) all the world is against us.

Jude speaks to the observable fact the world is a battleground for Christians. Of this world he exhorts we who believe to contend for the faith, which can only mean at some point we have to stand for it.

-Pastor Bill

Discerning Love

2 John 1 The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, 2 because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. 5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. 12 Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. 13 The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

What is love? Where is love to be found? Is it only in your family or only among those who know you best, or know you at all?

John wrote in an era of itinerant preachers, when the church of Jesus Christ was in its earliest days. Those traveling preachers and teachers, (such as John himself - who was the last of the apostles who had walked with Jesus Christ - and others who were Spiritual descendants of the original disciples and the apostle Paul,) depended upon the kindness of others as they spread the Gospel throughout the known world.

In a day when there were no motels, or inns to speak of, these traveling itinerant preachers and teachers would stay in local homes, often for extended periods of time. They would be fed and sheltered by those they previously had not known, graciously.

In what Jesus had called the “greatest commandment,” He stated that, “to love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind,” was the first and greatest commandment, but that the second was like it, “to love your neighbor as yourself.”

At this point in his ministry life, John has personally realized how important Jesus’ commands had been to the spread of the church, and even the very life of the church. Everything the early church accomplished had to be based upon love. Not the emotional kind, but the servant kind.

On the other hand, John warns, there will also be those who will exploit that love in an attempt to undermine the true church. Be careful your love for people is informed by your love for truth, and reject those whose goal is to deceitfully destroy.

-Pastor Bill

Ask and Receive

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. 18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

When I was a child, I was sometimes asked, “If you had three wishes – what would you wish for?”

Another question sometimes asked, (and very much like the first,) “If you could have anything you wanted – what would it be?”

Of course, as a child, those kinds of questions caused my mind to dance. Visions of ‘sugar-plums’ fill the mind. What would it be…what could it be…Oh the flood of the excited thinking! (As a child I could think of a LOT of things I really wanted, most of it from a VERY selfish perspective.)

But what was it that I needed most of all? Was it a new gigantic toy of some kind? Was it my favorite food? (Fried chicken.) Was it a new house, of course a mansion? Was it new friends, or fame, or fortune?

The idea of God as a genie is very popular these days. ‘Ask and you shall receive,’ is a very fortunate doctrine to proclaim.

But what do I need most of all?

This is the confidence I have in Jesus. That He alone is capable of meeting my need.

What I need most is forgiveness of sins.

I ask for forgiveness of sins knowing Jesus has already paid the price for my forgiveness, and so it would be foolish of me NOT to ask Jesus to forgive me. I may be humbled by asking, but there are many things in this world which humble me.

In fact, not asking for forgiveness of sins is THE single sin I will not be forgiven of - should I fail to ask - because I have not asked. Not asking is the sin which leads to death.

Satan may come along and tell me I am not forgiven, but I know that I am forgiven simply because I have asked to be.

-Pastor Bill