Gadfly's Muse

Revelation 11: Two Witnesses - Testimony & Victory

Image:  "Two Witnesses", 2021, Norris Geyser Basin scene, Yellowstone Nat. Pk. Wy.

Revelation 11:1–3 Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

Revelation 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.

Revelation 11:7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

Revelation 11:11–12 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Revelation 11:19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

___________________________________________________________________

There are as many different interpretations of "who are the two witnesses in Revelation 11" as there are folks who write about the chapter.  Some of the more commonly held views are: (1) they represent "the law and the prophets", hence the summary teachings of Scripture, as symbolized by Moses and Elijah on the Mt. of Transfiguration; (2) they represent the faithful church of Jesus Christ in its role as prophet to "peoples, nations, tongues, and kings" (cf. Rev. 10:11 & 11:3) and; (3) they represent physical "prophets" who will rise up in the last days.

These have strengths and weaknesses.  My own view is that these witnesses symbolize (1) the true Gentile Church of Jesus Christ and (2) the continued preservation of ethnic Jews in fulfillment of Paul's teachings in Romans 10:1-3 & 11:1-5 where Paul says that "there is a remnant according to grace."

What do both of these groups have in common?  (1) Together they make up "all Israel" (Romans 11:26) and therefore will both ascend to heaven (Rev. 11:12, cf. 1 Thess. 4) at the Lord's coming; (2) both have born witness to the God of heaven throughout the ages and incurred the wrath and condemnation of the demonically inspired hordes (11:7ff); both possess the power of prayer as Jesus promised His faithful followers, to the end that their prayers can transform the world (11:6).  More could be said but you get my drift.

What this chapter teaches us is that the "subject" of continuing history is the witness of the true, combined, Israel to its God and to His Son Who rules over heaven and earth.  They do this because the "temple" on earth has been judged and destroyed, leaving the earth without a worldwide institutional Presence of God.  John was given a "measuring rod", like Ezekiel before him (Ezek. 40ff) to measure the temple.  As with Ezekiel, this was done to symbolize God's fierce anger at the physical temple "Presence" and its descent into idolatry and perversion.  God was going to bring about a "new temple" on the ruins of the old.  This "new temple" was instituted in the People of God who are the temple of God in space and time. (cf. Ephesians 1:22; 2:19-22)

The main points of this chapter then become: the combined people of God will continue to bear witness (testimony) to the abiding Presence of the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ, throughout the remaining age preceding the Lord's return; this witness will be effective in gathering many of the elect but it will also be effective in proving the hard-hearted arrogance of the mass of rebellious men; there will come a time when it will appear that this true witness will be stamped out and the "two witnesses" corpses (empty churches) will decorate the pavement; but, God Who is not slow concerning His promises, will return and raise up His faithful witnesses to the astonishment and terror of their enemies.

In the closing verses (11:15-19) we see, undeniably, that the trumpets take us right up to the final day.  Then it shall be that "the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ." (11:15)  In a direct parallel to chapter 21:15-27, there is a vision of the "temple of God" opened in heaven.  the "lightnings, noises, thunderings, earthquake and great hail" take us back to Israel at the foot of Mt. Sinai when God showed Himself to His People in a terrifying vision.  

It's a wonderful and solemn story told in these verses.  It reminds us that God has set us aside for His purposes and some of these may involve daunting things.  But it also reminds us that God will use our testimony to bring His victory, a victory in which we will not only participate but in which we will be glorified and exalted.  In other words, whatever He requires... it will be worth it.

 

Revelation 02: Hear What the Spirit Says!

Image: Soldiers Chapel, 2021, Big Sky, Montana

Revelation 2:7 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

Revelation 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Revelation 2:13 “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Revelation 2:15–16 Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Revelation 2:19–20 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

_______________________________________________________________________

In chapter 1 Jesus is depicted as standing in the midst of His entire church (symbolized by the number 7, the sign of completeness), and in chapters 2 & 3 He, through the Spirit, speaks to us all.  Each church chosen to be addressed should be viewed as both an individual historic church with the specific character He addresses, as well as, a continuing representative of His Church throughout the ages.  Thus, we should see, in this chapter, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira as having their equivalents present even today.  Further, we can see within each, trends that can possibly be present in any given church at any time.  We should recognize that though Jesus spoke to the ancient churches directly, He is speaking indirectly to all of us now.

In every age, we have churches like Ephesus, who are striving to hold fast to the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  These are hard-working churches and Christians within the Church, who toil and show forth patience and insist on denouncing false prophets.  But we also have to guard against being so entrenched in our apologetic task that we forget that our first command is to love.  Paul commended the Ephesians (Eph. 1:15ff) for the zealous faith and love they exhibited in their witness to the world.  They started out as a church "on fire" for the Kingdom of Christ.  This loving zeal has a passionate nature that moves Christ's disciples to not only preserve the doctrines and strive for purity but also to touch the lives of others.  This is the "first work" of a Christian and one which the church in every age must constantly resurrect in itself.

Like Smyrna, the church in every age can waver in the face of the unrelenting attacks by the spiritual forces gathered against Christ.  All too often this results in real and intense suffering (vs. 10) and we must be reminded that we must not "fear" those things but rather be "faithful until death" if such is necessary.  The "crown of life" will be ours when the "second death" falls upon all those who cause our suffering.

In the same manner, the church, as Pergamos reminds us, can be infiltrated and undermined by false teachings and the constant pressure to give in to worldly pleasures.  Christians can begin to wonder about the call to purity in life when the world abuses them and it would be so much easier to just go with the flow of secular ideals and practices.  When every form of social "entertainment" has a message promoting sexual practices that God hates, Christians feel the pressure to not make waves and even, when those practices hit home in their families, to begin to question God's commands.  Jesus calls us to not give in but to stand for God's truth about right and wrong.  In the face of this constant pressure, He promises to give us "manna to eat" even as we walk through what appears to be a barren, moral wasteland.

And, like Thyatira, sometimes Christ's Church does become dominated by leaders who openly condone and even seek to justify idolatrous activities and perversions.  There will always be those who call evil, good.  Christians, like those mentioned in verses 24ff, who are grieved about this situation, in their own church or within the wider Church, must not lose hope.  They must remember that our Lord, though absent in body, yet rules His Church with a "rod of iron" (vs. 27), and those who have defiled His precincts will be brought to shame.

It only takes a moment's reflection upon our world and the state of the Church in our time, to see how relevant and appropriate these exhortations and warnings are to us.  Jesus is still speaking to us and we must always be guarding against error in doctrine and practice.  Our Christ is magnificent in Person and terrible in His anger at those who despise His rule.  His loving compassion always shows itself in His call to repentance as well as humble perseverance.  He is worth the effort and His rewards are as certain as the trials we must face on our way to gaining them.  He will overcome and we are to "overcome" with Him, now and forever.

 

 

Revelation 01: The Object in View

Image: "Rock Solid", 2020, Yellowstone Nat. Pk., Photograph by David Johanson

Revelation 1:1–2 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.

Revelation 1:7–8 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.”

Revelation 1:12–13 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Revelation 1:17–18 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

__________________________________________________________

The Revelation given to John is one of the most intriguing pieces of literature ever written.  It challenges us, scares us, stretches our minds, and ultimately, when understood correctly, gives us a great sense of peace and a strengthened will to persevere.  All of those things, especially the last, form its basic purpose.  This Revelation was given through John to the church in every age (vs. 1 & 11) and is intended to be understood by the church as applying to itself in every age.  In other words, the Revelation covers the entire span of human history, from the "First" to the "Last", and it reveals to us that in the very foreground of this vast picture, stands the "Rock" that gives meaning to all the other details of our times.  This is Jesus, the One "Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty." (vs. 8)

In this one verse, Jesus proclaims Himself as the central feature in every view of history, whether past, present, or future.   That is the "secret" the Revelation makes known.  That is why it is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ" (vs. 1) which was given first to Him and which He then made known to His servants, immediate of whom was John the apostle.

Thus the central fact of history is Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of God.

We must be careful to not limit this statement to just His earthly life, death, and resurrection.  When Revelation teaches us that Jesus is the central fact of history, it teaches us that every instant of history is about Jesus, either in His pre-incarnate life as the Christ of God in the Old Testament era, or His earthly life, but immediately, His post-resurrection life.  This translates to us as understanding our "now!"  Our life and history are about Jesus.  He is at the center of all things now.  He is yet standing, as John first saw Him, in the midst of His Church, registered in its totality by the "visible church" (lamposts) and the "invisible church"(stars) which surround Him in the vision.  

There He stands, today as He was to John, in brilliant magnificence, clothed in unimaginable splendor, terrifying in His power and authority, and yet, with wondrous compassion telling us "not to be afraid." (vs. 17)  He yet calls to His Church and proclaims the reality behind all things: "I Am Alive Forevermore!"  

Here is the patience and courage of the saints.  No matter what their "age" or "eon" has in store, whether relative peace and prosperity or struggles seemingly beyond endurance, yet this truth is above all else.  He is alive and He is here!  It is He has holds the keys of "Hades and of Death." (vs. 18)  It is He that is waging war against all the demonic enemies that oppress His people and defile His creation with the "sharp two-edged sword" that is His Word.  

He is our "Object in View" through Whom we must gaze at the details of the vistas before us.  He is immovable and provides our fortress as well as our place of rest.  Without Him in our picture, we will understand nothing.  Seeing all things through Him means that we understand all things in their true nature.

This is the Mystery Revealed.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. (vs. 11)  We must not be deceived.  Whatever is, is about Him!

 

 

 

Jude: Be Alert to Contend for the Faith

Image: "Seeing The Big Picture", 2021, Severna Park, Md

Jude 1 Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:

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.

Jude 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.

Jude 12–13 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.

Jude 20–23 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

___________________________________________________________________

Jude challenges us with references to non-canonical literature.  The tug of war between Michael and the devil is not drawn from Biblical sources nor is the prophecy from Enoch.  That doesn't mean that these statements are to be disregarded, by no means!  They gain their authority not from their origin but from their inclusion by the  Holy Spirit's inspiration of this letter.  Some statements by Paul are in the same category.

Jude's main point however is not subject to doubt.  The precious faith which Jude and his readers share must be "contended for."  Jesus did not leave His Church in a "safe" fortress, shielded by impregnable walls that would nullify any weapons thrown at it by an enemy.  Jesus' visible church is always at risk and always being attacked.  It is the nature of things.  The Church is Jesus' body on earth and as His physical body was opposed, slandered, and physically abused in His earthly ministry, so Jesus' spiritual body, as He Himself said, would be similarly treated.

Notice how Jude characterizes the enemy.  First of all, they are sneaky.  They "crept in unnoticed." (vs. 3)  Here we see how subversively Satan seeks to undermine the church.  He sends in "moles" who may or may not be actually aware of their true master.  Satan's deceptive powers are so great that men, like Saul of Tarsus, could embark on horrible crimes against the church and yet be convinced they are doing the Lord's work.  But Jude points to their distinguishing marks: ungodliness, turning from grace to sensual religion, and denying the truth of the God of the Bible. (vs. 4)  Never doubt that such agents are still attacking Christ's Church.

But Jude says they are marked out for condemnation like the unbelievers who infiltrated the ranks of departing Israel in Egypt. (vs.5)  They, like the dark angels, are reserved for "everlasting chains under darkness." (vs. 6)  That's a terrifying image but it is made even worse by the sentence to the "vengeance of eternal fire" awaiting those who are given over to "sexual immorality" and lusting after "strange flesh." (vs.7)

A further identifying characteristic is that of rejecting "authority." (vs. 8)  Like the wayward sheep of the 60's Hippie movement, these folks make a point of "doing their own thing."  "Conformity" is anathema to such people as those who believe authentic human existence is only attained by transcending social taboos and giving free rein to one's own personal impulses.  As is obvious in many modern art displays, the end result is either nonsense or something that is intended to heighten shock.

Jude says that these folk are like "brute beasts" (vs. 10), "clouds without water", "trees without fruit", they are "twice dead having been pulled up by the roots", raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame."  They are the ones for "whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."

Jude calls us to the severity of the threat in these characterizations.  Modern Christians are overly tolerant of others when it comes to matters of "faith."  "Who am I to judge?" is often their stated position.  What this really communicates is that the individual does not want to engage in the unpleasant business of judging according to God's Word and, as Jude makes clear, this is disobedience and sin.

Jude says that we must judge.  Some of those whose Christian profession is doubtful, are to be treated with compassion.  In this, we must "make a distinction." (vs. 22)  Some we are to seek to "save with fear", so disgusted by the vanity, depravity, and arrogance of Satan's workers that we are fearful for ourselves, but notice, we are to hate "even the garment defiled by the flesh."

All the above are comprehended under the heading "contending for the faith."  It is incumbent upon every Christian to enter this battle.  We have to pray and diligently seek to be equipped for the work and we have to trust that our God will keep us from stumbling. (vs. 24)  But God is worthy of our whole devotion and total commitment to His glory.  This must be our exceeding joy... to serve Him wherever He and His Kingdom are being threatened.

 

 

 

1 John 4: Carefully Noting

Image: "Cautiously Proceeding", 2009, Roadside view, vicinity of Acadia Nat. Pk., Me

1 John 4:2–3 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world.

1 John 4:6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:9–11 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:15–16 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

__________________________________________________________________

I have, over the years, mentioned that God's Word calls us to a "radical" lifestyle.  That needs a bit of explaining since the idea of "radical" conjures up some wild-eyed, hairy-headed, zealot holding up a sign or tossing Molotov cocktails at establishment representatives.  That's not the image I am promoting but I have to be clear.  "Radical" Christianity puts those guys to shame.  All too often there is a mind-numbing "sameness" to the radical leftists marching in the streets.  On the whole, they have profited from the same institutions they propose to tear down.  They are actually just closer to one end of a continuum than others in their "radical stances."  They really aren't representing an entirely "alien" culture.

Christianity, properly understood, is an alien culture.  It lives differently than the world around it.  It thinks differently than the so-called intellectuals in the academies.  It lives "in the world" but it is definitely not "of the world."  Whenever the line between "living in" and "not of" begins to blur then to that degree Christianity departs from its Biblical foundations.  

In this chapter, John calls us to notice the "radical" nature of our confession of Jesus.  John says (v. 15) that there is a clear demarcation between the world and Christianity in how each actually views Jesus' Person.  "Whoever confesses Jesus is the Son of God" has God actually "abiding" in Him and he abides in God.  Now it only takes a moment's pause to let that sink in and the "radical" nature of Christianity begins to clarify.

Think of an entire race of "God-indwelt" people.  If, as they certainly should, they are convinced of this themselves and live in absolute dependence and reflection of the "God indwelt" reality, then their own sense of authority, clarity, conviction, zeal, and energy would be like a bubbling cauldron.  They would be radically different in their poise, self-control, clearness of insight, etc. than the overwhelming majority of their fellow acquaintances and workers.  They would also, with boldness, recognize that any other person, not of like faith with them, but who was zealous for doctrines and principles counter to their own, was an enemy of Christ and must be opposed and/or converted.

In other words, a "God-indwelt" community of people would be able to recognize "false spirits" (vs. 1-3) and would respond appropriately to them.  They would show forth an amazingly calm and imperturbable demeanor in engagement. They would rest in the certainty that they were "of God" and had already "overcome" their opponents because God is "greater than he who is in the world." (vs. 4)  They would not be driven by a sense of ultimate responsibility for how their interaction with such enemies turned out.  They would know that if the words they spoke and the example they set, fell on deaf ears then it was because their opponents were not "of God."  If they had been then the Christian would have seen their testimony and witness, bearing fruit in the interaction. (vs. 6)

And, standing above all other radical attributes "God-indwelt" Christians show forth is the character of love.  Their confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of God extends to the astonishing truth of His ministry.  They embrace God the Father for sending "His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."  This thought becomes like burning coals in a furnace.  It warms up their entire life.  They treasure it because it proves this was an act of pure mercy by God.  He did not send His Son because we first loved Him!  Just the opposite.  He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins (vs. 10) and explicitly the sin of not loving God as we ought to have done.

The burning coals register in an outflow of love for God and love for their fellow Christians that stands in stark contrast to anything in the "other world" outside the community.  This is "radical Christianity."  That doesn't mean that it is one "form" of Christianity registering at a point in a continuum of other "Christian" communities.  No... as John here tells us, this radical "God-indwelt" Christianity is the only true faith there is.  All others are caricatures of the faith and therefore not true at all.  The radical nature of the Christian faith is grounded in the Presence of the Holy Spirit in it as given to it by God Himself. (vs. 13)  

There is no other Christianity than this... so it is truly a radical reality.

 

2 Peter 3: Something To Look Forward To...

Image: "Idyllic Place" (Acadia), 2009, Vicinity of Acadia Nat. Pk., Me

2 Peter 3:4–5 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,

2 Peter 3:8–9 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:11–13 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

__________________________________________________________

When the 16th-century explorer Verrazzano, serving the King of France, arrived off the coast of present-day Labrador/Newfoundland, he encountered scenes of majestic beauty.  He reached back into his classical education and brought forth a Greek word, "Arcadia", to name and describe what he saw.  The word means "place of enjoyment" or "idyllic place."  Over the years, the "r" was dropped and the name Acadia now designates the region and, in my opinion, it is well named.

It's a common feature of all human history that mankind yearns for such a place, a habitation, where surrounded by beauty it may live in peace.  Various "utopias" have historically occupied the thoughts of philosophers and virtually all religions hold out hope for some future physical or spiritual reality.  Even so-called Darwinists often see crass, godless evolution as proceeding toward a future perfection of mankind such that perfection of his environment may follow. 

Only the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has definitively and authoritatively proclaimed that such a yearning will be satisfied in His time and purposes.  It has been the foundation on which human history was to develop ever since Adam was cast out of Eden.  Man must have hope in order to live according to hope and that is exactly what God commands.  He has given great and good promises and it is His intention and command that those promises motivate us to serve Him in "peace, without spot and blameless". (vs. 14)  This eschatological yearning is intended to be vibrant, sincere, and productive.  It is not to be equated with some bare theological doctrine to which complacent intellectual assent is given.  That is not "hope."  God intends for His people to live with the abiding conviction that they have "something to look forward to" and to that end, He has ordained that they do.

But, as far as man-measured time goes, it has been a long while since Adam sadly passed out of Eden.  The promise has remained, in various forms, and man's sinful nature, under Satan's constant harping, has come to complacently discount the promises.  Scoffers sneer "where is the promise of His coming?" (vs. 3,4)  They contemptuously dismiss the fact that "one day is as a thousand years" with the God who lives in timeless reality. (vs. 8)  The simple explanation is that the promise must tarry until God's purposes in creation are attained.  It is His purpose to have particular people, a specific community, who will be ushered into this coming "Arcadia" and who will live with Him in blessed communion forever.  It is not His will that any one of those for whom He has wrought creation out of nothing to house, be "lost." (vs. 9)  That means they must all be born, they must come to faith, and they must embrace the promise before the consummation arrives.

It is readily apparent that this explains human history.  "History" is the unfolding story of a sanctified race being brought into existence.  That "race" is the reason for history.  It is God's purpose in all things.  It was for this "race" that the world was created. (vs. 5)  It was for this "race" that God guided the remnant of Adam and Noah and Abraham and Moses through their various stages in order to have the promise carried forward in integrity and truth.  It was for this "race" that God sent His Son, our Christ, to purify them unto the promise given them.  It is for this "race" that our present "age" is harvesting the entire world and gathering those who God has set aside for Himself from every tribe and region.

At the bottom of all things is "hope".  The hope of something good coming.  The assured hope that is far more than wishful thinking.  This hope will be fulfilled in a final act of purification when all of those whose lives on this earth were not directed toward that hope, will be eliminated.  This world is preserved and reserved for a day when godly men will see their hope fulfilled and ungodly men will face perdition. (vs. 7)  That is part of the promise also and Christians wouldn't want it any other way.  The "Acadia" that is coming will be characterized by justice and mercy by our God who lives in glorious justice and mercy.

We most certainly do have something to look forward to and we should let that hope penetrate through our whole person and live according to it.  This is Peter's message.

 

 

 

 

1 Peter 5: Humble Opposition

Image: "Humility", 2020, Hofskirkja Turf Church, Öræfi, Iceland,  (Link) Photo credit: Dave Johanson

1 Peter 5:2–4 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

1 Peter 5:5–7  Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:9–10 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

______________________________________________________________________

Two main themes are readily apparent in these verses: the call to humility and the exhortation to resist.

Peter's readers are living at risk.  They know it and he knows it.  The world, under Satan's hidden reins (vs. 8), is always looking for an opening, an opportunity, to rip the little churches apart.  This, as Peter well knew, is what it means to "embody Jesus" or "walk in His footsteps."  The more Jesus and His message took root in ancient Palestine, the more enraged and jealous were His enemies.  They were constantly watching Him, seeking to entrap Him, catch Him in an indiscretion.  They feared Him because they could not control Him.  They were terrified of Him because it was clear, by His teaching and example, that they should submit to Him.  This was intolerable to them... as it always is intolerable to pride-soaked mankind and its aspirations for autonomy.  Peter knew that the Church, as the continuing ministry of Jesus, was also the focus of Satan's continuing hatred.

So Peter called his first readers, even as he is calling us, to follow Jesus in dealing with this opposition.  Right in the center of this chapter, signaling emphasis, we find Peter's exhortation to humility.  He calls us to be "clothed with humility" (vs. 5)  He began this verse speaking to the younger folks but he expands his scope to "all" in the requirement to be "submissive to one another."  Then, after quoting Proverbs 3:34, he calls on us to "humble" ourselves "under the mighty hand of God." (vs. 6)  

Here again, our thoughts are drawn to the comparison with Jesus.  Did He not exhibit humble submission in the face of all His enemies?  Did He not clearly see that, like Joseph, though those enemies meant their efforts for evil, yet God meant them for good?  Did He not rebuke Peter himself for suggesting that God surely would not want Jesus to suffer?  Peter points through the rolling battle drums of the enemy hordes bearing down on the little church and shows them the sovereign Hand of God in the background.  This "mighty hand of God" (vs. 6) was supervising the course of history in general and the particular expressions of trials that the church must face.  There was a necessity to it.  As the Christ had to suffer unto the end of God's glory (vs. 10,11), so the suffering ahead of Christ's church was necessary also.

This is the core of Christian humility.  It is the exact opposite of downcast defeatism and despair.  Christian humility is the willing and even energetic embrace of God's purposes for our lives.  It is always characterized by a certain acceptance that those purposes are hidden from our view.  We don't know the "why" of our situation but we readily recognize the "what."  God leads us to face perils, particularly those arrayed in the battle colors of the enemy, and calls on us to trust Him.  There is no place here for self-pity.  Christian humility understands the privilege we have been accorded.  We have been called, along with untold thousands of other brothers and sisters across the world (vs. 9), to suffer... for a while... unto the end that we may be exalted in due time. (vs. 6)

Here is the apparent paradox.  Willing submission to the hand of God in the face of enraged enemies is opposition to those evil men and the demonic powers behind them.  It is God who is actually fighting and it is He who is resisting the proud. (vs. 5)  He is not absent from the conflict but rather is present to give grace to the humble.  He is not like a callous general throwing his soldiers into battle as so much "cannon fodder."  Rather, He cares for us. (vs. 7)  It is His intention to carry us through our struggles and then usher us into "eternal glory" after our short while of suffering, and, through those trials, perfect and establish us in His Kingdom and His blessing.

Christian humility is realizing and accepting that we are God's "pawns" if you will, to be used as He sees best, to attain His ultimate victory.  However, unlike pawns in a chess game, our sacrifice does not mean we are removed from the board and cast aside.  It means that, as would happen with a pawn advancing to the last row, we will be elevated to royalty as part of God's eternal family.

Christian humility is grounded in the conviction that "it doesn't get any better than this."

 

 

 

 

1 Pet 3-4: Godly Wives - The Beauty of Christ's Church

Image: "Purity", 2013, Severna Park, Md

1 Peter 3:3–4 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:8–9 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

___________________________________________________________________

My favorite moment at any normal wedding is that instant when the groom sees his bedecked and gloriously arrayed wife for the first time.  Usually, the wedding march has started and everyone is standing and facing the door where she will appear   But not me.  I look at her second.  My attention is first focused on the groom for the fleeting instant of shocked appreciation and delight.  It's worth all the trouble and preparation for me.  This was especially true when it was my own sons who were standing there at the altar.

It becomes obvious from scripture, that God uses the special metaphor for marriage as revelatory of His relation, as a husband, to His wife, the church.  There are too many passages to even scan for this teaching.  But within today's passage,  (3:1-4 in particular) we get a glimpse of the quality of this relation.  Peter calls for wives to be "adorned" for their husbands unto the end that they might be "won" over to Christ (if she had previously married as an unbeliever to an unbelieving husband).  And what was the nature of this "adornment" that so grabbed the husband's attention and like the young groom, filled him with deep respect, appreciation, and gratitude?  It was the "incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God!"  Here we find the true, unfading beauty which is worth far more than any "gold" which might adorn her hair. 

What God is here telling us is that this is the "beauty" that He sees in His Church.  We can think of Him as we think of the young groom, delighting in exuberant joy at the vision of His bride.  The beauty of Christ's Church which furnishes our God so much joy is that very inward, hidden, incorruptible, gentle, and quiet spirit.  What Peter here exhorts godly women to attain is absolutely incumbent upon all men also.  We, along with them, comprise God's "Wife", His bride, and therefore we must not somehow think that this teaching is for women only.  It is not.

If any further proof is required then the remaining sections of this chapter furnish it in abundance.  

Is not the love that Peter commends in vs. 8 just this same, quiet, gentle spirit reaching out to others as a loving wife opens her arms to her husband?  We must remember that when God created man and woman that both were created in the image of God and, to a very large extent, that image was their corporate nature.  The created differences in the two genders are not only complementary but are designed to be mutually assimilated.  Husbands are to learn from their wives to value life and all things through that special feminine insight God gives to women.  Women are to learn from their husbands an appreciation for distinctly masculine perspectives on such things, for example, as vocation and external calling.  Becoming "one flesh" is both a declared status established by God at the moment of formal marriage and a process that happens as the couple jointly undertake their life together.  When husbands "dwell" (vs. 7) with their wives with understanding, then that husband cannot help but be impacted by the special perspectives and wisdom that she displays.  The same is true for the wife.

Thus it is how God wants us to understand Him and His relationship to us, His Church, through this Scriptural ideal of marriage.  Our affections within marriage, if we cultivate them in the manner God has commanded, will more and more grow to reflect God's affections toward us.  We understand Him better and more deeply when we understand the love and affection that can and should exist between men and women.

What we must also understand is that God already sees us as beautiful.  His Bride has already been purified, washed in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and therefore without spot or blemish in His eyes.  You and I, as members of that elected community, have been sanctified and dressed in the spotless white robes of His Bride.  All Peter is here exhorting is for us to appreciate this metaphor and then to so direct our steps as to bring our present lives into conformity with what is already true.  We are eternally beautiful, like a Godly Wife.  So, let us act like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James 4: Choose Your Friends Wisely

Image: Textures, 2021, Greensboro, NC

James 4:4  Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:7–10  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

________________________________________________________________

It's pretty hard imagining a modern pastor speaking these words, using this tone, to his congregation.  Now, that's not necessarily a good thing.  Jesus certainly didn't shy away from "firing for effect" when the situation demanded it.  He turned to Peter, after his somewhat condescending comments regarding Jesus' future, and soundly rebuked him:  "Get behind me Satan!"  Talk about being set back on your heels!  Jesus was actually showing mercy to Peter.  He was awakening him to the subtlety which Satan can use to lure us away from right thinking.  James is doing nothing less here.

James is worried about his people.  His central concern is "double-mindedness" ( ch. 1:7, 4:8), the deadly trap of trying to live with one foot in each world: the world of Christ's Kingdom, or the world of the flesh and the devil.  We must not think that this circumstance is unusual.  Every church is infected with this plague to some degree and, truth be told, perhaps the majority of so-called Christian congregations are dominated by it.  Again, like with Peter, the essential problem is the subtlety of the sin.

Every time a Christian gathers with his brothers and sisters, he brings worldly thinking to the gathering.  Christians live the majority of their lives engaging the world.  They live in secular neighborhoods among very worldly neighbors.  They work in the fiercely competitive economy for people and among people, who are actively devoting their lives to Mammon.  They cannot escape the political environment and they have been mostly educated in institutions that sneer at the Christian faith.  The most common coping mechanism Christians employ is to "bifurcate" their worldview.  They put their Christianity in a little box marked "private" and they only open that box when gathering with their brothers and sisters in the church. 

Necessarily this results in "double-mindedness".  Keeping their faith "private" means that Christians actively "make friends" with the world. (vs. 4)  When the world is "at ease" with a person it is because that individual poses no threat to it.  There are no points of friction.  There are no distinctions made within the group.  The Christian, though perhaps unconsciously, is influenced by the worldly values, opinions, and priorities that control his worldly circle.  Since in normal practice, he spends much more time in that world than in Christian fellowship, he is deeply impacted by worldly thinking.  This is what he brings to the Christian fellowship.  This is how an entire Christian congregation can, and not uncommonly, does become dominated by worldly thinking.

How else can it happen that a church can be ripped apart by "wars and fights" within it? (vs. 1,2)  There can be no unity where worldly thinking predominates.  Look at the world itself!  Is there unity there?  Do we see peace in the sphere of the flesh and the devil?  Of course not.  Thus we can be certain that when Christians are dominated by impulsive passions ("pleasures", vs. 3), of whatever type, rather than sober consideration grounded in a thorough submission to God and His Scriptures, then Satan not only has a foothold, he may be in their master.

That is why James calls on his flock to "draw near to God."(vs. 8)  They must "resist the devil" (vs. 7) because he is certainly present.  They must choose: either to be friends with God through Jesus Christ, or friends with Satan and enemies of Christ.  There is no middle ground and James cuts them no slack at all. (vs. 4)  No sane person would consciously choose Satan as a friend over God.  But that's the whole point.  It is seldom "conscious" and it is always insane.  We must be awakened to our deadly peril.  "Double-mindedness" is so common as to be just part of the air we breathe.  Like the proverbial frog in a pot that doesn't sense the rising temperature of the water in which he is immersed, we are imminently at risk of spiritual death.  

Therefore we must heed James' admonition.  We must awaken to the tokens of worldly thinking in our individual and corporate lives.  We must resist the temptation to "judge" in the sense of negative assessments of other Christians' worth.  We must actively pray for humility even while trembling at how God might answer the prayer.  But most of all, we must take Christian thinking and Christian teachings into our secular precincts.  It may cost us a few "friends" but we can bet that those were the very ones who had been leading us astray.  Christ deserves our entire person and His church deserves our utmost concern for her purity and peace.  Let us put away "double-think" in all its forms and serve our Christ in single-minded devotion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

James 2: It Takes Work(s)!

Image: "Ready to Work", 2012, Scene at a gas station near the Great Wall, PRC

James 2:1 My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.

James 2:4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

James 2:9–10 but if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

James 2:21–22 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect?

James 2:26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

__________________________________________________________________

It is pretty much useless to try to convince people that James, in this chapter, is not contradicting Paul.  You either get it or you don't.  Paul is addressing one set of issues - the idea of meritorious works earning God's blessings and justification.  James, the hardworking pastor, is addressing another - the sinful dispositions found in many professing Christians who want God to save them without having to change.  We sometimes hear Christians say: "God loves you just the way you are!"  No... God may love you... but if He does He intends to change you from the way you are.  James teaches this under the principle: "a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (vs. 24)

James starts off by addressing a common issue: the worldly practice of giving deference to the rich, powerful, or famous people.  Though we don't often admit it, most of us naturally and sinfully equate success with merit.  People who "make it" are more worthy of our admiration than those who do not.  I am not saying that we should not seek to emulate some people who have done great things.  I personally consider John Calvin to be imminently worthy as a role model.  But the sin comes in when we are in social contact with successful people and we show deference to them in such a manner as to demean others who have not had worldly "success."  

James here speaks of the "poor" and how, especially in the Church of Jesus Christ, we are not to show "partiality" toward the rich over the poor.  Here is the pastoral crux of the matter.  James wants us to see that often, in the Kingdom of God, it is the poor who are "richer" in faith than those who are rich in worldly goods.  Jesus taught His disciples that it was the poor widow who went away justified, having deposited only a few pennies, rather than the rich hypocrites who gloried in showing off their "generosity."  

This teaching is not separate, at all, from James' focus on "works."  What he teaches here are the types of "works" that true faith must demonstrate.  Where there is saving faith, a faith that corresponds to justification, there must be a heart change so that worldly success does not blind us to the things of the Spirit.  It would be a "good work" to ensure that a poor brother or sister received an extra measure of welcoming love and hospitality to help offset their culturally imposed sense of unimportance.  Sometimes we have to go an extra mile with people to further the witness of God's Presence with us.  James here gives us a grand illustration of how we must be transformed from worldly thoughts and opinions and how we must act on a different basis.  

James hammers this home with further examples such as Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac and Rahab's courageous actions in hiding and protecting the Israelite spies. (vs. 23-25)  The important thing is seeing how "otherworldly" these actions were.  Abraham would be considered insane by today's standards.  Rahab, similarly, was guilty of treason, and for what reason?  Giving aid and comfort to "bloodthirsty enemies?"  These actions went against the grain of "common sense" as it was understood in those times. 

So it is with "good works" in every age.  There is and must be, an element of risk in living out true faith in Jesus Christ.  It has to place us "out-of-step" with the world around us.  If we are not acting "strangely", to some degree, then James says that it is highly possible our faith is dead also. (vs. 26)  

In our modern, chaotic, society, the true Christian faith will be ridiculed and scorned.  True Christians will go against the grain in most of the prevailing social currents.  Our families, the education of our children, our attitudes about gender and gender roles, our adamant stand for the value of life, our insistence that national laws are subservient to God's laws, will all stand as highly visible tokens of our alien status.  What James is here telling us is that if we are not being noticed then it is probably because we are not doing "works" that correspond to a "true and lively" faith.

God does not save us to remain "one" with the world.  He saves us to be "one" with His Triune Self.  As good "works" naturally flow from God's Person so good "works" must naturally flow from those united to Him.  James here says nothing about which Paul would disagree and it is a lesson we need to learn very well.