BrothersOfTheBook.com

Back in God’s Presence

Revelation 19-22

Today is the end of 2011.  I hope it has been a good year for you and your family.  I also hope that you found our year of reading through the Bible in chronological order a blessing; it has truly blessed me.  As we finish reading the last chapters in Revelation which describe the coming reign of Jesus the Christ, I think it appropriate to review.

Back in Genesis we saw that man started in a perfect relationship with God.  He created a being in His own image and then split that image into man and woman.  We lived an ideal, perfect life back then.  We were His stewards of this world He created and in the evenings He would walk with us in the cool of the evening.  He gave us only one rule; don’t eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  We could eat of any other tree including the Tree of Life.

One rule and we couldn’t even obey that.  How did Satan entice Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit?  He told two lies.  He said that if we ate of that fruit we could be like God and he said that we would not die.  Why did we believe it?  We believed it because we wanted to believe it.  We wanted to be our own gods.  We didn’t want to have to obey anyone.  Satan seduced us with the very thing that seduced him, godhood.

What was God’s response?  Disobedience to God is sin.  Our sin separates us from Him.  We could no longer walk with Him in the Garden of Eden.  Why?  In the garden was the Tree of Life.  Why did God not want us to partake of that tree after we disobeyed Him?  Remember that it wasn’t out of bounds before our sin but after.  Satan sinned by wanting to be God himself.  He lives forever.  He is unredeemable.  If, after eating of the forbidden fruit we also ate of the Tree of Life we too would be unredeemable; we would be forever trapped in our sin, separated from God forever.  God put mankind out of the Garden of Eden as the first step in His plan for redemption.

Do you remember how Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with a fig leaf?  They attempted to cover their own sin which wasn’t possible.  Only blood could cover sin so God killed two animals to create for them a covering.  We cannot cover our own sin; we cannot work our way back into His presence.  After putting them out of the garden, God placed an angel with a flaming sword at the entrance.  The only way back into God’s presence was through death.

Further demonstrating our inability to work our way back into His presence is the story of Cain and Abel.  Abel offered the blood of a lamb to cover his sin.  Cain wanted to earn his way back into God’s good graces so he offered not blood but the works of his own hand.  Cain’s offering was rejected.  You cannot earn your way back into the presence of God.

The Bible goes on to demonstrate our complete filthiness before a holy God.  It shows us that we cannot obey one of God’s rules nor 600.  It shows us that we need a savior.  We need someone to walk up to that angel at the entrance of God’s presence and take that flaming sword right in the heart.  We run from death but Jesus walked right up to it and accepted it as an eternal sacrifice for our sins.  That is the story of the Bible.  It is a story of hope, of redemption.  It is a story that billions of people on the face of the planet Earth need to hear.  It is a story your Savior has commanded you to tell.  Will you tell it?

In closing I’d like to make a suggestion.  I find that the end of a year is a good time to sit back and assess where I’ve been over the past year and where I hope to go in the next.  It is particularly helpful to do a spiritual assessment.  How have you grown spiritually over the last year?  Which areas of your spiritual life saw improvement and which areas were a struggle?  What changes will you make in the year to come to become more like Jesus Christ?  What behavior is God’s Holy Spirit urging you to change?

When we accepted Christ we became a new person.  Our challenge ever since has been to continue down the road of discovery.  We need to continue down the road of sanctification which is really a process of discovering who we are in Christ.  We can’t work our way back into God’s presence but through the saving grace of Jesus Christ we have been cleansed from our sin.  Where we once could not obey 1 or 600 of God’s commands we now can, because His Holy Spirit resides within us.  It is not us but Christ who lives within us that makes us able to come into God’s presence.  Take full advantage of that great gift.  Make a plan to become more like Christ in the year to come.  He will help you do it.

Have a blessed day and year to come!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Out Of Gas

Revelation 12-18

Well guys, as you may have guessed, I’ve been out of town visiting with family over the past several days and I just got back home.  My in-laws don’t have internet access so after I’ve read and written my comment on the Bible I have to drive down the road to McDonald’s were I can connect to the internet.  I always tried to slip out when the family was busy with a movie or ballgame so I wouldn’t miss “family time”.

As you know, travel can be very stressful and that was certainly the case for my family and me today.  My daughter has been struggling with some behavioral challenges and today those challenges reared their ugly head once again.  These eruptions take a huge emotional toll on my wife and I and I feel like all the wind has been taken out of me.  As I sit down to comment on Revelation I find my heart is not in it and I am unable to live up to that challenge.

We have only one more day of Bible reading before we finish our year-long chronological trip through the Bible.  I have no doubt that any blessing you have received in our time together has come not from my comments but from God’s Word.  If you have read His Word today then you have had the better part of what this blog has to offer.  Please excuse my lack of comment and enjoy God’s Word to the full.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Know That God Is With You

Revelation 6-11

Brothers, I have struggled all day in attempting to prepare a commentary on today’s reading.  I have, in the end failed.  It is still the holiday season and I am visiting with family.  The racket in the house is antithetical to coherent thought.  I can’t seem to string two coherent sentences together with regard to the book of Revelation.  This is truly an incredible book and the substantial amount of symbolism which it contains requires a great deal of study and brain power to digest.  I currently lack that brain power.  I’m sure some of you would suggest that I never had that brain power to begin with and I’m not sure I would disagree.

Let me at least attempt to set the scene or context for the writing of this book.  The Apostle John, the beloved disciple, wrote this book.  At the time he was very old, probably in the 90 – 100 year range.  He was living in exile on the island of Patmos.  Patmos was about 10 miles by 6 miles in size and was located off the southwest coast of Asia Minor or what we now call Turkey.  Patmos was used by the Romans as a place to banish criminals.  Under the emperor Domitian, Christians were viewed as criminals.  These “criminals” were typically forced to do hard labor in the mines and quarries of the island.  Early Christian tradition holds that John was in exile on this island for 18 months.  It is likely that he suffered incredible hardship while there.

John lived through some extremely hard times for Christians and he foretold of even worse.  Many see allusions in Revelation to a resurrected Nero who had died some years earlier but not before persecuting Christians mercilessly.  Early Christian tradition holds that both Peter and Paul were victims of Nero’s persecution.  By the time John wrote Revelation he had witnessed a great deal of murderous persecution toward Christians.  He also witnessed Roman emperors claim to be gods and require worship by all people within their reach.

It is in this context that John wrote Revelation.  He used symbolism that would have been readily apparent to Christians of his day but which have lost their meaning to us today.  Part of the purpose in writing the book of Revelation was to give Christians of his day encouragement in the face of dire suffering.  As is always the case with the Bible, however, this book also serves as an encouragement to all Christians throughout history.  Persecution toward Christians waxes and wanes but never disappears.  As we head toward the end of the age we will see persecution increase.  Today there is no other group of people who is more persecuted than Christians.  Every year Christians die in significant numbers just because they are Christians.  It will get worse.

As you read this book look for the encouragement God intends you to receive.  We too often can be filled with a sense of dread at what is to come but let us never forget that we have God’s promise of eternal life.  Even if we suffer for our faith, the rewards that are to come will make such suffering a forgotten memory.  Take this book seriously but know that God is with you.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Be Hot For Christ!

Revelation 1-5

We are coming to the close of our reading of the Bible in Chronological order.  Today we begin the end.  Revelation is the end of the story.  Genesis told us of the creation of the world and Revelation tells us of its passing away.  Something new will take the place of this fallen world.  Just as each of the children of God will have a new body, so will the place in which we live.  Every so often the world comes to a panic about the possible end.  We have had preachers, politicians, and scientists tell us the end is near.  My friend the end is near when God decides it is so.  Revelation gives us a glimpse into how the end will play out.

Now I am no expert on Revelation and End Time Prophecy.  I am loath to make emphatic statements concerning what we will be reading over the next few days.  There is great disagreement amongst men of great knowledge and spirit and I would never dream of attempting to place myself in their league.  Still there are some principles expressed in Revelation that we have seen throughout the entire Bible.  I feel I am on safer ground when we run into these occurrences.  Since we will have more time to study each book in the New Testament over the year to come I will avoid digging too deeply into this book at this time.  I will attempt to be more courageous when we come back around to Revelation late in 2012.

With all of that said I think the most important issue facing each of us when discussing the End of the Age is this – are you ready?  The entire Bible is about our need for a Savior.  The exhortation of Christ and His Apostles to the Children of God is to be ready.  Are you ready?  Where do you stand in your walk?  Are you faithful?  Are you going diligently and eagerly about your Father’s business or has your faith turned cold?  I think most of you might say that you may no longer be as “hot” as you once were but you are not cold and that is great.  It is not, however, enough.  Take a look at the following Scripture.

Revelation 3:15-19

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

The verses above were written by John at the instigation of Christ and were addressed to the “angel of the church” in Laodicea.  Even this label “angel of the church” is fraught with controversy.  Is this a literal angel or a human responsible for the church or is it simply a way of referring to the particular church in general?  We don’t know.  What we do know is that the behavior being condemned is very human.

Tell me, does your faith seem to grow more when things are good or when things are bad?  When do you grow closer to God?  A physical life filled with blessings can lead to a spiritual life lived in apathy.  Here Christ makes it clear that an apathetic faith is unacceptable and will be rejected.  These verses are a rebuke to those of us who have it too good.  It is a warning for those of us who have let our faith cool.  Are we on fire for God?  Are we on fire for the building of His kingdom?  Christ tells us to shed our covetousness for things of this world and to trade our worldly desires for treasures He has stored up for us.  Don’t be lukewarm.  Be hot for Christ!

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Stand Against Evil In Love

2 John, 3 John

Brothers, today our reading is very short.  2 and 3 John are very short letters.  These letters were written to very specific individuals and yet they hold truth for each of us today.  2 John reminds us that we are to love each other.  The overriding principle of the Gospel is love.  I once said that if I had to boil the entire Bible down to one word that word would have to be love.  If we have not love we have nothing.  Our love for others is evidence of God’s Holy Spirit working within us.

Our love for Christ should compel us to be obedient to His commands.  He said that if you love Him you will obey Him.  Our love for Christ should also compel us to love those He came to die for.  Our love for Him should compel us to tell others the Good News.  Are you willing to obey your Savior?

3 John shows us that not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian.  It shows us that individuals can actually move up very high in the church and yet not truly be a follower of Christ.  It is not a loving act to allow non-Christians to pose as Christians, particularly if they are in a powerful position from which they can negatively affect the eternity of others.  Loving others does not mean that we look the other way when evil is perpetrated.  Love does not require that we submit to evil.  Love requires that we speak against evil.  John takes a stand against one who is doing damage to the church in this letter but he intends to address this problem in person.

We are called to love others and stand up for truth.  Let us not think that these two traits are incompatible.  They are in fact completely compatible.  We must take a stand against evil in love.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!

Are You Saved

1 John 1-5

How do you know you are saved?  You submitted your life to Christ right?  So you know you are saved right?  I’ve said many times before that I am worried that far too many who claim to be Christians aren’t really.  I have offered in my own words how one can know for sure if they are truly saved.  In today’s reading John actually tells us how we know we are saved.

1 John 2:1-6

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

It isn’t simply about what we say but also about what we do.  We are saved, we belong to Him, if we keep His commandments.  Jesus tells us the greatest commandment is this:

Matthew 22:37-38

“…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 first commandment.”

In the very next verse He told us the second great commandment.

Matthew 22:39-40

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

While there are many things that Jesus taught and commanded there is one other prominent command that He gave.  I find it of great importance because it is the last command He gave His followers before ascending into heaven.

Matthew 28:18-20

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Are you doing these things?  If so you belong to Him, you are saved.  If not, why not?  Do you belong to Him or not?  Understand that it is not the doing of these things that saves you.  It is the doing of these things that demonstrates the accomplished fact of your salvation.

Have a blessed day!

Your brother and servant in Christ,

Bill

Dying to self, living to serve!