Christ tells His Concerns to the Pergamum Church (Rev. 2:14-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2015 10:18 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  The Concern for Pergamum

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 2:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “14 ’But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 15 ’So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”

            What we see in these verses shows us that there were some in this church who held to error, and this reminds me of something that is going on in many of our churches in, not only the United States, but around the world and that is the teaching of evolution.  I have written about this in earlier SD’s, and have expressed my hatred for this “religion,” yes that is what evolution is a religion.  We have many who like to take out what the Bible has to say about creation and that is that in six literal 24 hour days God created the heavens and the earth and all that is on the earth.  There is no room for any “gap” theory in the book of Genesis, which is saying that there were millions of years between the days of creation.  God could have created the heavens and the earth in six seconds if He wanted to, but He had reasons to create it in six days.  People who hold to this view, and there are many believers who do, it is just as sinful as those in the church in Pergamum who held to the teaching of the Nicolaitans and those who held to the teaching of Balaam, they are all three wrong and Christ comes down hard against those who held to those teachings in this letter.  The Bible is true and we need to take it seriously and not try and pick and chose what we believe.  Now I am going to, at this time quote again from my first study on the book of Revelation dated 02/22/2005 and then will give some additional comments on this portion of Scripture.

            “In his book “Be Victorious” Dr. Warren Wiersbe points out some interesting meanings to some names and this helps to explain what this verse is saying.  He writes that the people who have infiltrated the church at Pergamos were called “Nicolaitans,” and this name means, “to rule the people,” which is what they were trying to do in this church.  The Hebrew meaning for “Balaam” means “lord of the people,” and these are similar meanings to these two names.  The story of Balaam is in Numbers 22-25 and it is a sad story indeed, for Balaam was a true prophet of the Lord, but he fell in love with money and thus compromised his beliefs because of that.  Balak hires Balaam to curse Israel, because he was frightened of them, but God would not allow Balaam to curse the Israelites so he figured another way to get at Israel.  What he did was to get the people of Israel to become friends with Moab, and they began to eat foods that were sacrificed to idols, and to also cause the men of Israel to play the harlot with the women of Moab.  James writes about something similar, “Jas 4:4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God.”  The sin that Israel committed was the same sin that the church Pergamos committed, and that was separation from the Lord, and compromising their beliefs.  Scofield has this to say about this verse, “The doctrine of Balaam (CF) See Scofield "2Pe 2:15" See Scofield "Jude 1:11" was his teaching Balak to corrupt the people who could not be cursed. #Nu 31:15,16 22:5 23:8 by tempting them to marry women of Moab, defile their separation, and abandon their pilgrim character.  It is that union with the world and the church which is spiritual unchastity. #Jas 4:4. Pergamos had lost the pilgrim character and was "dwelling" #Re 2:13 "where Satan’s throne is," in the world. #Joh 12:31 14:30 16:11.”

            “It is interesting to see that it probably did not take a lot of people to get this church to fall into this sin, yet the problem was that they compromised and did not stand up and get rid of these people who were causing this trouble like they should of.”

            This last paragraph tells the story of how so many churches fall into worldliness and are eventually not worth much in the eyes of the Lord.  Now I read a story or heard it, not sure which about a small man who was a boxer.  He was in the navy and weighed about 105 pounds and he was looking for a sparring partner so he could hone his skills.  He found a much larger man who said that he would be willing to spare with him, and this larger man did not think that it would bother him at all.  He was wrong for as the skilled smaller fighter continued to fight with him he began hurt him even though he was so big and strong, but not as skillful as the real fighter.  This is what happens when the church does not do its job in making sure only believers are members in their church, and when they do not take the time to discipline members who are living in unrepeated error like what happened in Pergamum.   We saw that the Ephesian church left their first love and I believe that this is the first part of a downfall, that is not corrected that it will end up in more serious situations, like what we read about in this church, and as we will see the downfall will continue in the rest of the churches with the exception of Philadelphia. 

            At this time I want to quote some verses from the 15^th chapter of the book of Acts.  This chapter is a critical chapter in the history of the church.  The apostle Paul was being used of the Lord to start churches primarily with Gentiles even though he would first go to the Jews first.  There arose a problem with the Jewish believers in that they wanted the Gentile believers to follow the Jewish laws including circumcision.  What we see in the 15^th chapter of Acts settles this issue and at the end of the chapter we read what the Gentiles were to follow and this has to do with what the church in Pergamum was not following.  The following is the letter that was sent to the Gentile churches:  “"The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings. 24 “Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, 25 it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 “Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28  "For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29  that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell."

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are times when I have a problem with realizing that things are right in the site of God, as sometimes things seem right, but when I begin to study more thoroughly I find they are not what the Lord wants.  I believe that by studying the attributes of God that I have a better idea of who God is and thus have a better idea of what I am to believe.  I try and filter things through who God is, and the church at Pergamum was not doing this and it cost them dearly.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to better understand the love that He has for me.

Memory verse for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-9.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8 For if these qualities are yours, and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Peter” (Matthew 26:72).

Today’s Bible question:  “Lot pitched his tent toward what city?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/31/2015 11:21 AM

             

 

 

God Completes the Task (Ezekiel 21:28-32)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2015 11:18 PM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  God Completes the Task

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezekiel 21:28-32

            Message of the verses:  “28 "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says about the Ammonites and their insults: "‘A sword, a sword, drawn for the slaughter, polished to consume and to flash like lightning! 29 Despite false visions concerning you and lying divinations about you, it will be laid on the necks of the wicked who are to be slain, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax. 30 Return the sword to its scabbard. In the place where you were created, in the land of your ancestry, I will judge you. 31 I will pour out my wrath upon you and breathe out my fiery anger against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, men skilled in destruction. 32 You will be fuel for the fire, your blood will be shed in your land, you will be remembered no more; for I the LORD have spoken.’"”

            In our last SD we studied about the Lord causing the Babylonians to move against Judah and especially Jerusalem instead of going to where the Ammonites lived.  They too were involved in an alliance against Babylon and this would cause the Babylonians to desire to defeat them along with Judah.  However God wanted Jerusalem first and when the Babylonians were defeating Jerusalem first the Ammonites were making fun of Judah’s defeat.  God would not allow Nebuchadnezzar to put his sword away as seen in verse thirty.  We see this message closing as another fire similar to the one seen in 20:47-48, but this fire would be a hotter fire.

            I have mentioned what I am about to write in other SD’s but it fits well in this one.  Since I have been looking at the book of Revelation and especially as I listen to it I know that the last judgments to come are the bowl judgments and they are full of the wrath of God to be poured out on the people of the earth because of their sin.  We see something similar in the 15^th chapter of Genesis when God tells Moses that in four hundred years He would use Israel to defeat the nations that were then in the Promised Land.  There time would be in four-hundred years.  My take on this is that God’s bowl of wrath had not been filled up but would be in four hundred years.  As we look at this passage and the many passages concerning Israel and Judah we would find that God’s bowl of wrath was filled up and He was using the Babylonians to bring about His wrath on Judah and also the Ammonites.  I wonder how full God’s bowl of wrath is on our country.

            We are not at the end of the sixth chapter as we follow along in our study of Ezekiel, the sixth chapter in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary in which I am following along with Stewart Briscoe’s commentary on Ezekiel.  I am sorry that this study has kind of been slowed down because of our study in Revelation, but that is the way I feel that the Lord wants me to do.

            Warren Wiersbe writes the following as he ends this sixth chapter of his commentary.  “We come away from the stud of chapters 18-21 with a fresh realization of the tragedy of rebellion against the Lord.  Israel had a long history of rebellion, but the other nations weren’t any better, except that Israel was sinning against the light of God’s Word and His providential care over His people.  If any people had the obligation to obey and serve the Lord, it was Israel, for the Lord had blessed them abundantly.  Instead of becoming a holy nation to the glory of God, she became like all the other nations and failed to be God’s light to the Gentiles.

            “And yet woven throughout this series of messages is the theme of Israel’s hope.  The prophet reminded them that God had promised to regather them from the Gentile nations and give them their King and their kingdom.  Historically speaking, weak King Zedekiah was the last ruler in the Davidic dynasty, but not prophetically speaking; for Jesus Christ, the Son of David (Matt. 1:1) will one day come and reign from David’s throne.  Ezekiel will discuss that theme in detail before he completes his book. 

            “Under ‘Query 18’ in the notes of the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote, ‘Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.’  Ezekiel has defended the justice of God and magnified the mercy and grace of God.  What more could he do?”

1/30/2015 11:44 PM

The Commendation for Pergamum (Rev. 2:;13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2015 9:29 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Commendation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Rev. 2:13

            Message of the verses:  “13  ’I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”

            The glorified Christ commends them for standing firm even though they live where Satan’s throne was.  This is an interesting statement and one my wonder what this means “where Satan’s throne is.”  There are some who identify this throne being the splendid altar of Zeus in which the Pergamum people worshiped at.  Edwin Yamauchi notes the following as seen in John MacArthur’s commentary:  “The word altar is somewhat misleading.  The structure is a monumental colonnaded court in the form of a horseshoe, 120 by 112 feet.  The podium of the altar was nearly 18 feet high.  The great frieze, which ran at the base of the structure for 446 feet, depicted a gigantomachy, that is, a battle of the gods and the giants.  It was one of the greatest works of the Hellenistic art. (New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor [Grand Rapids: baker, 1980], 35-36).”  John MacArthur comments “Such an impressive structure could easily merit the designation ‘Satan’s throne.’”

           

 

            Needless to say that it is not perfectly clear as to what the real meaning of “Satan’s throne” is, but we do know that there were many other god’s worshiped in Pergamum including the one we mentioned yesterday, Asklepios, the god of healing and also the temple to worship the Roman Emperor who reigned at the time.  MacArthur writes “Satan’s throne could easily be understood as a reference to the might of Rome under the god of this world’ (2 Cor. 4:4), blaspheming the true God by the emperor worship cult.”

            At this time I wish to quote from my former study on Revelation dated 02/21-2005 “The symbol of the Roman proconsul was a sword, and Chris identified Himself by the One who had the two-edged sword in His mouth, and thus these believers knew by this that they should fear the Lord and not the Romans.  These believers stayed true to the Lord even when facing the death of a brother in Christ, Antipas, who died for the cause of Christ.”

            There is no other reference in Scripture as to who Antipas was, but perhaps he was one of the leaders of the church there and tradition says that he was roasted inside a brass bull during the persecution that was instigated by Emperor Domitian.  John MacArthur gives some insight into the word “witness’ as seen in the text.  He writes “Witness translates martus, a word that eventually became transliterated into English as the word martyr, because so many witness for Christ paid with their lives.”

            I want to go back to the topic of “Satan’s throne” and  quote a portion of MacArthur’s sermon on this church: “Now, let's look a little more closely at the letter and see the commendation. There's some good things to say. He says them in verse 13. "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is." They existed at the headquarters of satanic opposition. Now people say, "Well how would you interpret that?" Well, I would just interpret it the way it's written. Satan had obviously established the center of his operation there. I don't know why, but he had. It was the headquarters for his authority. You must note also that He says here, "Where you dwell where Satan's throne is," a mark of permanent residence. Satanic power was manifest right out of that city.”

 

            I am not sure where Satan’s throne is at this present time, but as we go through our study on Revelation we will see that his throne will be in the place where the antichrist will rule from, which the Bible calls Babylon.  Where that will be we will look at when we get to chapter seventeen as some have a difference of opinion as if this will be the literal Babylon located in modern day Iraq.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I truly have been blessed by living in a country where I have been free to worship for all of my life, but there seems to be coming a day when that freedom will be taken away from all who name the name of Christ and my prayer is that I will always stand for the cause of Christ no matter what this could mean to me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to continue to better understand the love that He has for me.

 

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 1:5-9.

 

5 Nor for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from former sins.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Martha” (Luke 10:40).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘I do not know the man’?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

1/30/2015 10:31 AM

God Directs the Babylonians Army (Ezekiel 21:18-27)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2015 1:57 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  God Directs the Army

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 21:18-27

            Message of the verses:  “18 The word of the LORD came to me saying, 19 “As for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city. 20 “You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. 21 “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. 22  "Into his right hand came the divination, ’Jerusalem,’ to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall. 23 “And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized. 24 “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ’Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear-because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand. 25  ’And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end,’ 26  thus says the Lord GOD, ’Remove the turban and take off the crown; this will no longer be the same. Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high. 27 ’A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.’”

            I am amaze as I look at the prophecies found in the Word of God.  Let me explain what I am thinking at this time.  When God called Israel who came through a man named Abram who was later renamed Abraham God told Abraham that he would have a son with his wife Sara who was 65 years old when God called Abraham.  Not much was said for a lot of years and then when Abraham was 100 years old and Sara was 90 years old the prophecy was fulfilled and they had a child which the named Isaac.  God had told Abraham that his descendants would be in a land for four hundred years and then He would bring them out which He did.  Moses wrote in the book of Deuteronomy that Israel would not keep their covenant with the Lord and the Lord would have to take them out of the land, which He did.  He also wrote that they would come back and be taken out of the land again, which happened in 70 AD.  Ezekiel is writing to the exiles telling them about what was going to happen to Jerusalem step by step and this also happened.  However when we look back to some of the history of Israel God would send prophets to tell them that they were not doing right in the eyes of the Lord breaking the Covenant with the Lord, but they would not listen.  The exiles who Ezekiel is writing to at this time though that Ezekiel was a bit strange and did not know what he was talking about.  They would not believe his message even though it was happening right in front of their eyes.  I see the attributes of long-suffering and also wrath in all of this.  You know it has been said that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.  I have seen this with people I know when I present the gospel with them, leading them to water, but they refuse to drink.

            We see the word “divination” in this section which is ways to show someone what they should do in the future.  Dr. Wiersbe writes the following in an end not on the different kinds of divination used:  “Several kinds of divination are mentioned in verse 21: selecting an arrow from the quiver, as if drawing straws; consulting small images of the gods; and inspecting the entrails of an animal sacrifice.  Perhaps verse 22 is describing the casting of lots (see NIV).”  “22 Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering-rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering-rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works (NIV).”  The divination here was to determine whether the Babylonian army was to go to Jerusalem or to the capital of Ammon, and attack the Ammonites.  It is like there is a “Y” in the road and they needed to determine which fork to take.  God wanted them to go to Jerusalem so that is how it worked out for them.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Ezekiel paused to give a special message to Zedekiah, whom he refuses to call king but refers to as a prince.  He calls him profane and wicked, a man who has committed iniquity and will suffer because of it.  He would lose his crown and his throne.  The day had arrived when God would turn everything upside down.  Those who were ‘great and mighty’ would be humbled, and those who were humble would be exalted.  The word translated ‘overturn’ (‘ruin,’ (NIV) is awwa, and we just can hear Ezekiel lamenting: ‘Awwa-awwa-awwa.’”

            Now let us again look at verse 27 and see some hope given to his audience:  “27 ’A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.’”  Dr. Wiersbe concludes “The phrase ‘whose right it is’ takes us back to Genesis 49:8-12, a messianic promise that we met in Ezekiel 19 when we studied the images of the lion and the vine.”

1/29/2015 2:30 PM

 

Pergamum the Church and City (Rev. 2:12:a-b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2015 10:16 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Church and City

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 2:12a-b

            Message of the verses:  “The church in Pergamum.”

            There is nothing mentioned in the book of Acts as to when this church was founded.  The city was in the region of Mysia and Paul passed through that city as recorded in Acts 16:7-8 “7  and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8  and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”  After that Paul saw a vision of a man in Macedonia calling to him to come over there and this is what he did, so we don’t know how long he was there in Mysia, but probably not long enough to begin a church or Luke would have recorded it.  Again I want to bring up Act 19:10 “This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”

            The City (Revelation 2:12b): “Pergamum.”

            I find it interesting to look at what can be found on these ancient cities and whether or not they are still around today as in the case of Pergamum.  We mentioned that these cities were in the postal route and if you followed that route you would come to all of these cities.  With that said we find that Pergamum was about one hundred miles north of Ephesus, and the last city we studied, Smyrna located about half way between. 

            I quote this from the last time that I studied the book of Revelation from my SD of Feb. 20, 2005:  “The city of Pergamum was the first city to build a temple for the worship of the Roman Emperors, and the city also had a temple dedicated to Aesculapius, who was the god of healing, and its insignia was the entwined serpent of the staff, which is still a medical symbol used today.”  Now in that temple there were many snakes which were the non-poisoned kind and when a person was sick they would go into the temple and lie down to sleep and allow the snakes to move over them.  I wonder how they would get any sleep. 

            I want to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary for this interesting fact:  “Pergamum’s huge library (200,000 handwritten volumes) was second only to that of Alexandria.  So impressive was Pergamum’s library that Mark Antony later sent it to his lover, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.  According to legend, parchment (or vellum) was invented by the Pergamenes to provide writing material for their library.  Seeking to build a library rivaling the one in Alexandria, a third century B.C. Pergamene king attempted to lure the librarian of the Alexandrian library to his city.  Unfortunately, the Egyptian ruler got wind of the plan, refused to allow the librarian to leave, and in retaliation prohibited the further export of papyrus to Pergamum.  Out of necessity, the Pergamenes developed parchment, made of treated animal skins, for use as writing material.  Through parchment was actually known form a thousand years earlier in Egypt, the Pergamenes were responsible for its wide spread use in the ancient world.  In fact, the world parchment may derive from a form of the word Pergamum.”

            The following is a note from the “Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia”  “Pergamum, capital of Asia, was situated on a hill about 1000 feet high commanded the fertile valley of the Caicus River in southern Mysia.  The city stood opposite the island of Lesbos about 18 miles from Aegean and communicated with the sea via the Caicus, which was navigable by small craft.  Pergamum was also located on the great N_S road which ran from Ephesus to Cyzicus on the Propontis or Sea of Marmara.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   I see from this section that although there is not any history as to when this church began, I know that it began because it was in the will of the Lord to begin it, and it was also in the will of the Lord to rebuke it and give encouragement to it.  He continues to do this in my life and in the life of the church that I attend for which I am thankful.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, and to allow the love of the Lord He has for me to be used in my life.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 2:1-9.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.  

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wanted Jesus to tell her sister to help her?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/29/2015 11:07 AM  

Author of the Letter to Pergamum (Rev. 2:12c)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2015 10:52 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Author of Letter

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 2:12c

            Message of the verses:  “The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:”

            Perhaps a little review is in order here as we look at who the author is and how He is described.  When people wrote letters during the time this letter was written they identify themselves first so the reader know firsthand who is writing to them, and this is probably a better idea than what we do in modern times.  We also remember that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who is now glorified that is the author of all of these letters to these seven churches, churches that existed during this time period around 96 AD.  We also remember that Jesus will identify Himself using the description of what is seen in the vision of Him that John saw in the first chapter of Revelation.  He identifies Himself in a way that is helpful to the church that He is writing to.  Remember too that Jesus is the One who walks among the lampstands and sees everything that is going on in His churches, and knows what they need to have a better relationship with Him.  Remember that the seven stars mentioned in chapter one are the messengers who will take these letters to their churches.  It is not known who these messengers, but they probably were the leaders of their churches and in reading John MacArthur’s commentary he believes that all of them set off to make the journey to their churches and when they got to Ephesus, the first church mentioned then the one who had letter would stay on at Ephesus while the six others would continue moving on to the next church where the messenger for the church at Smyrna would stat there with his letter and five would go on and so on until all the letters were delivered. 

            In the partial verse that we have for today’s SD we see the gloried Christ described as having the “sharp two-edged sword” and this comes from chapter one and verse 16 “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.”  The question is what is this sharp two-edged sword?  Let us look at Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  The Word of God is the sharp two-edged sword as seen in this verse.  Now in my study of the book of Ezekiel I am looking at this time in chapter 21 and in that chapter the word “sword” is used 19 times and the sword that is being used there is God using the swords of the Babylonians to destroy the city of Jerusalem and the temple along with many of the Jews who were living there.  Why was God wheeling His Sword there?  Because they had disobeyed Him breaking His covenant He made with them.  Now we see in our verse from Hebrews that the Word of God is a sword and it is used in the case of the church at Pergamum to show them that they are not following the things that they should have been following, they were living in sin.  Let us look at what James has to say about the Word of God and how he describes it “19  This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20  for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was (James 1:19-24).”  James is saying to his readers that the Word of God is likened to a mirror and when a person reads the Word of God it will show him the imperfections that he has, but the key is to remember what is says and not do as these people in Pergamum were doing and that is forgetting what it says and go on living like they were before they read the Word of God. 

            In Ephesians 6:17 we read about the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, and although the sword described there is a small knife like sword and the one that is described here is a large sword I still believe that they both speak of the Word of God.  When we look at the attribute of God being all powerful we can believe what He says from His mouth is all powerful and these words in Revelation are coming from the mouth of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. 

             Jesus Christ is described this way in this church because, as mentioned in our last SD, this church was a compromising church, a worldly church and this is what is needed from Christ to cause them to not being worldly or compromising.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is wonderful living in our great country, but one of the problems living in our society is that there are many things that lure you away from following the Lord and becoming worldly.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  To recognize how much I am loved by the Lord.

Memory verses for the week:  2Peter 1:5-9.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6  and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7  and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Darkness” (Exodus 7:12).

Today’s Bible question:  “In the Christian Armor, what is the breastplate?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/28/2015 11:30 AM

 

God Sharpens His Sword (Ezek. 21:8-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2015 11:27 PM

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:  God Sharpens His Sword

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Ezekiel 21:8-17

            Message of the verses:  “8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9  "Son of man, prophesy and say, ’Thus says the LORD.’ Say, ’A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished! 10 ’Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!’ Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree? 11 “It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12 “Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh. 13 “For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will be no more?" declares the Lord GOD. 14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. 16 “Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed. 17 “I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken."”

            We mentioned in yesterday’s SD that the word sword is mentioned some 19 times in this 21^st chapter of Ezekiel, and it is mentioned many of those times in these verses.  We also mentioned that this chapter is showing another of Ezekiel’s action sermons, sermons to teach the exiles what the Lord was doing in Jerusalem.  We see in this section that Ezekiel cries and wailed, but he also clapped his hands together (see verses 13 and 17). 

            The sharpening of the sword means that the Lord was preparing the Babylonians army to attack and destroy the city of Jerusalem, along with burning down the temple of the Lord.  As we read verse 13 we can see that the Lord did not like the leader of Judah and was about to deal with him.  The sword of Babylon would turn Judah’s scepter into nothing but a stick.  In verse 14 we see that the sword of the Babylonians would take care of three of the men of Judah.  God pointed this out when we look at the writings of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy which stated that if the Jews keep His covenant then they would be able to kill many of their enemies, but if they did not then their enemies would be the ones killing them.  In verse seventeen we see that God will clap His hands when the Babylonians would defeat Judah.  He was feed up with their sin.

1/27/2015 11:45 PM

The Worldly Church PT-1 (Rev. 2:12-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2015 9:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                 Focus:  Pergamum:  The Worldly Church PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 2:12-17

            Message of the verses:  “12 "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: 13 ’I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14  ’But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. 1 ’So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 ’Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’”

            Now before we get started looking at this worldly church I want to bring up something that is important to realize as we look at these different churches on our journey through the book of Revelation.  Now I have mentioned before that when you look at all of the churches you will see a downward spiral in their spirituality with the exceptions of the two churches in which Christ will give no rebuke to, Smyrna and Philadelphia.  There is a reason as to why the spirituality of these churches goes downward and it starts with the church in Ephesus where Christ rebukes them from leaving their first love.  Once that happens, once you lose you love for the Lord Jesus Christ then the other things that are mentioned in these churches begins to happen beginning with worldliness and ending up with out and out being lukewarm to which Christ wants you to spit you out of His mouth and seeing Him standing on the outside of the church wanting to come in.  It all begins with losing your first love for the Lord Jesus Christ. 

            I remember listening to a man named Howard Ball who had a ministry of reviving churches, churches who had fallen into the spiral that we see in the churches in Revelation.  He made a statement that I will never forget, and this happened in 1974 when I heard this.  He said that he liked to put his hands around the new believer in order to get warm from their heat of being a new believer in Christ.  They were hot for the cause of Christ, and I have seen this in people that I have had the privilege of leading to the Lord, and it is a wonderful thing to see.

            I have mentioned in different SD’s that I left a church after attending it for 32 years because they were trying to turn the church into what is called a “seeker-oriented church.”  The church wanted to lower themselves to what the world is in order to attract people from the world to come in and worship there.  At first thought you may think that this is ok, but think about what the church is suppose to be, and one thing it is suppose to be different than the world, a world in which Satan is in charge of.  Remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness and Satan told him “8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9  and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." 10 Then Jesus *said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, ’YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’" 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.”  Now notice Jesus did not say to Satan that he was not in charge of those kingdoms but told him to only worship the Lord and to serve him.  Churches are to be salt and light to the unbelieving world as we saw in the first chapter of Revelation seeing Christ walk among the lampstands which are the churches showing that we are to be a light in a dark place, and that dark place is the world. 

            What is worldliness?  John MacArthur gives this description of worldliness:  “Worldliness is any preoccupation with or interest in the temporal system of life that places anything perishable before that which is eternal.”  He goes on to write “Since believers are not part of the world system (John 15:19), they must not act as though they were.  ‘Do not be conformed to this world,’ wrote the apostle Paul, ‘but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect’ (Rom 12:2).” 

            John writes in 1^st John 2:15-17 “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 

            We will begin to look in more detail at this church in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This will be short, but to the point:  I want to stay away from worldliness which will take grace from our Lord to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, mind soul, and strength, and to better understand the love He has for me.

Memory verses for the week:  2 Peter 3:5-9.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.  8 Now if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless, nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jude.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What was the ninth plague that God placed on Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/27/2015 11:00 AM  

God Draws His Sword (Ezek. 21:1-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2015 10:37 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  God Draws the Sword

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ezekiel 21:1-7

            Message of the verses:  “1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2  "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3  and say to the land of Israel, ’Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 “Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 “Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again."’ 6 “As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. 7 “And when they say to you, ’Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ’Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ declares the Lord GOD."”

            As we look at this chapter we see that the word sword is used nineteen times in this chapter alone, and this speaks of the invasion of the Babylonians in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is the city of our great God, and yet because of the sin that was committed by His people that city had to be destroyed.  This will not be the only time when devastation will come upon this city.  “Mt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.”  These are the words of our Lord and in 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed again, this time by the Romans under Titus.  Next look at these verses:  “Re 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.”  This verse will take place near the end of the Tribulation Period, and when you look at what will happen to Jerusalem during that time you will see that there will not be much left, however when we get to chapters 40-48 we will see how great the city will be when the Lord returns as spoken of in Revelation chapter nineteen.  Now that is not the end of Jerusalem, although the city of Jerusalem that Christ rules from will be destroyed when the entire universe is “un-created” as seen in the third chapter of 2 Peter.  However the book of Revelation tells us that there will be a New Jerusalem that is built by the Lord and it is 15,000 miles in height, width, and length and this will be the place where those who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will live forever.

            Now we know that the Lord used the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem as we read in these verses from Ezekiel that it is “My Sword” indicating Him as the destroyer of the city. 

            We see another of Ezekiel’s action sermons in verses six and seven.  The Lord tells Ezekiel to weep and lament over the destruction of Jerusalem, and I am sure that this would have not been an act for Ezekiel, but real feelings for what was going on in Jerusalem.  Jerusalem was finally destroyed on August 14, 586 BC.  The false hope that was nurtured by the exiles was gone after that.

1/26/2015 10:54 PM

 

The Counsel for Smyrna (Rev. 2:10b-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2015 11:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Counsel for Smyrna

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Revelation 2:10b-11

            Message of the verses:  “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’”

            I think that everyone on earth can use some counsel from time to time and the best counsel as far as I am concerned comes from the Word of God, and now we see the Glorified Jesus Christ who walks among the churches giving counsel to this little suffering church.

            Now to be fair as we look at each of these churches we will see something similar at the end of each message, something that I went over when we looked at Ephesus, but there will also be something different when we look at each of the churches, something unique to their situation, something to give encouragement to them if they would only follow what our Lord has to say to them, and that something unique in this case is that the Lord wants them to faithful until death, and then they will receive the crown of life.  There is no one better to give this advice than our Lord as He went through suffering and pain and then died a death that brought salvation to those who will accept His forgiveness.  He was raised from the dead because He had done what His Father had sent Him to do and now will receive much from His Father for being obedient even unto death.  “1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3  "Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!" 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5  Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

    7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ’You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 ’You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’"

    10 ¶ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. 11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. 12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2 1-12).”  This is a wonderful Messianic Psalm that gives us a glimpse of what the Father will do for His Son.

            John MacArthur explains the Greek for “the crown of life.”  “Those who prove the genuineness of their faith by remaining faithful to the Lord until death will receive as their reward the crown (stephanos; the victor’s crown) of life (cf. James 1:12).  The crown (reward, culmination, outcome) of genuine saving faith is eternal life, and perseverance proves the genuineness of their faith as they endure suffering.  The Scriptures teach that true Christians will persevere.  The biblical truth was understood by the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith, when they wrote ‘They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.’  That is the unmistakable teaching of Scripture (e. g., Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 4:13-20; John 8:31; Col. 1:21-23; 1 John 2:19).”

            Now go back to the end of the writings on the church at Ephesus in order to understand verse eleven as it is the same.  (See SD dated 1-19-2015).

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be faithful to the Lord to the end of my life, to do the things that He calls me to do for the cause of Christ whatever that may be, and that being said I pray for grace from Him to see me through the things that He has called me to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the love He has for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “King Agrippa” (Acts 26:19).

Today’s Bible question:  “In which book of the Bible is Enoch’s prophecy found?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/26/2015 11:54 AM