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7 Epistles of John with the same Revelation
~ A.D. 95 – from Patmos:

John, Pastor and Elder of the Church at Ephesus

As we observed in our chronology of ACTS of the Apostles, the Disciple John was a young man when he followed Jesus.

The Elder John and Leadership of the Church

Now, the Apostle has outlived the other Eleven, Paul, beloved family and many other first generation Christians.

The Elder John wrote the three short Epistles we are studying about ten years ago, but today we are looking ahead at John’s brief revelation to seven churches.
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I suppose you may not have thought of the introduction to 'The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John' as — SEVEN pointed epistles to 7 different churches. 
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~ A.D. 80’s – 90’s – a Cultural context for JOHN’s 10 Epistles

The Greco-Roman world at the close of the first century A.D. was in a state of cultural, philosophical, and religious ferment. Religious syncretism and inclusivism.. ‘the combination of various ideas and beliefs from different sources to form new or aberrant religions. This was the age of developing mystery religions, the age of the occult, the age of the proliferation of Gnostic sects.’

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary 1-3 John

Throughout Italy and the broader empire, new challenges arose: major earthquakes in Campania, famine and pestilence in Rome, and volcanic eruptions ranging from Mount Etna to the cataclysmic destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by Vesuvius in AD 79.

The Julio-Claudian dynasty—embodied by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—witnessed both grand construction projects (like the amphitheater at Alba Fucens) and notorious episodes of tyranny and scandal. .. After Nero’s fall in AD 68, civil war engulfed the empire until Vespasian founded the Flavian line, ushering in reconstruction efforts (such as the Colosseum) and culminating in the more stable governance of Nerva and Trajan by century’s end.

source: RomanHistory.net

an A.D. First Century culture of 7 Asian churches

Do you remember from back in Acts of the Apostles how the Spirit, at first, had instructed Paul NOT to preach in Asia?

Acts on Mission to Macedonia

And do you recall that Ephesus (in Asia) became a major city for Christian worship where later Paul had appointed Timothy as Pastor of the Ephesian Church?

PLACE AND TIME OF WRITING.

–The best authorities among the Fathers state that John was exiled under Domitian (IRENAEUS [Against Heresies, 5; 30]; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA; EUSEBIUS [Ecclesiastical History, 3.20]). VICTORINUS says that he had to labor in the mines of Patmos. At Domitian’s death, A.D. 95, he returned to Ephesus under the Emperor Nerva. Probably it was immediately after his return that he wrote, under divine inspiration, the account of the visions vouchsafed to him in Patmos ( Rev 1:2, 9 ). However, Rev 10:4 seems to imply that he wrote the visions immediately after seeing them.

source: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Introduction to Revelation
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Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἣν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός δεῖξαι τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι ἐν τάχει καὶ ἐσήμανεν ἀποστείλας διὰ τοῦ ἀγγέλου αὐτοῦ τῷ δούλῳ αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννῃ
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The Revelation of Jesus Christ

which God gave Him
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The Disciple who knew the Lord best refers to GOD THE FATHER simply, as God.
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to show His servants

that is, the saints or followers of JESUS, bond-servants redeemed by His blood on the Cross

—things which must shortly take place.

The Elder writes this same introduction to ALL seven churches who John has shepherded in the Way of Christ Jesus.

What he means by ‘shortly‘ is much debated in the immediacy of what these beloved saints have endured through the end of this A.D. first century. — Or perhaps God intends this epistle of revelation more millennially for all saints of every age.

Christ makes certain that Christians know the cost of faith until the unknown Day of His return.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 1:1b-2 NIV

The risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ sends an apokalypsis via and angelic messenger to John on Patmos — and the Elder to these seven churches consequently, by his apostolic duty, sends out this same ‘disclosure of divine things formerly unknown’ and testifies to the truthfulness of what is to follow.
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It makes little difference if John had opportunity to send it from Patmos with a human messenger much in the way the Apostle Paul sent epistles to his churches OR if the Elder would have written it later upon John's return to Ephesus. 
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“Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” – Question of the angel messenger in Revelation 5:2

a Book Sealed within: Addressed to 7 mortal Elders

What does John’s epistle enjoin each Elder to do?
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Set aside for a moment the imagery of the apocalypse with its angels, seven stars and seven candlesticks — the Elder John is FIRST to address issues of his own current church. 
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Most Christians know both exhortation and encouragement offered to the seven churches.

Which ones speak to YOU with some urgency (and hopefully, perhaps, to any Elder of your local church? (So which church looks like yours?)

Ἐφεσῖνος – Ephesus
- “I know your works, your labor, and your endurance,
- and that you cannot tolerate evil people.
Of course, John knows all this personally.

And does the Elder imply that the Ephesians will not be inclusive of those who insist on evil works opposed to Christ’s love?

You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars.

Revelation 2:2 CSB

And do your Elders test the theology and witness of your church leaders and members?
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And the pattern of this pointed epistle for each church now turns to exhortation and rebuke demanding repentance. 
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“But I have this against you:

You have abandoned the love [agapē] you had at first.
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Look it up.. IF you don't quite remember what agape love is.
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“Remember then how far you have fallen;

repent, and do the works you did at first.

Do YOU? Do christians ever repent more than once (that time we claim to have come to Christ)?

OR will He return to say, “I never knew you…?’

“Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the *Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

*Revelation 2:6 CSB

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the one who conquers,
I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 2:7 CSB

Σμύρνῃ – Smyrna
- “I know your affliction and poverty,
- but you are rich.
- I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Do YOU know any who avoid the Name of Christ? Do some swear to be Jew or Christian while afflicting others? Who then, do they truly worship?

“Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.

Does your prosperity preacher dare suggest suffering for the Lord Jesus Christ? OR REMIND of the Lord’s Judgment of all?

The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

Πέργαμος – Pergamum

“I know where you live — where Satan’s throne is.

.. where Satan lives. [Another mention of the nearby Nicolaitans]

But I have a few things against you.

You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality.
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Again, the common issue *even of this era is worship of idols and fornication. 
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In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the *Nicolaitans. So repent!

Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 2:15-16

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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Doesn't this even sound like the preaching of JESUS? 
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I AM the Bread of Life

To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna…

Revelation 2:27b

Θυάτειρα – Thyatira
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Just a REMINDER of Who Is speaking:
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Thus says the Son of God,

the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze:

Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 2:18b CSB
- “I know your works —
- your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance.
- I know that your last works are greater than the first.
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Quite an encouragement and blessing to believers.
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“But I have this against you:
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This one thing of importance to the Lord Jesus Christ
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Jezebel

You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.

Revelation 2:20-21 CSB

WHY is this issue of idolatry so important (in addition to God’s prohibition in the Ten Commandments of worshiping other gods)?

Ἰεζάβελ – Jezebel – the symbolic name of a woman who pretended to be a prophetess, and who, addicted to antinomianism, claimed Christian liberty of eating things sacrificed to idols.

Of Hebrew origin אִיזֶבֶל (H348) (used as a synonym of a termagant or false teacher):—Jezabel.

אִיזֶבֶל

Jezebel recalls the opposition to the LORD’s prophet Elijah.

Jezebel = “Baal exalts” or “Baal is husband to” or “unchaste”

queen of Israel, wife of Ahab, daughter of Ethbaal (King of Tyre)

It’s a contest of serious consequence between the LORD God and the false gods, false prophetesses, false priestesses — brash and shameless sinners claiming sin as worship of their gods.

This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the LORD their God who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt and because they worshiped other gods.

They abandoned all the commands of the LORD their God. They made cast images for themselves, two calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served Baal.

2 Kings 17:7,16 CSB

And it all goes back to Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings.

Ahab also made an Asherah pole. Ahab did more to anger the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
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Just one last application from Revelation, the mention of Jezebel, the Nicolaitans and (from a theological definition {above}) - antinomianism.
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Antinomianism is the belief or teaching that since believers are saved by grace through faith, there is no further obligation to follow any moral law or command.

.. At its core, antinomianism proposes that under the New Covenant, Christians are completely exempt from all moral guidelines because divine grace supersedes any need for abiding by commandments.

source: Biblehub.com

Σάρδεις – Sardis

I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.

Revelation 3:1b CSB
- “Be alert
- and strengthen [guard] what remains, which is about to die,
- for I have not found your works complete before my God.
- “Remember, then, what you have received and heard;
- keep it, and repent.
- If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.
“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:4-5

And the Lord Jesus again seals His warning to the Sardinian church calling on the MANY to follow the example of the FEW.

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 3:5 CSB

Φιλαδέλφεια – To the Church in Philadelphia

Permit me first to remind you that simply as the name, Christian, witnesses the Name of Christ; Philadelphia or Philedelphos φιλάδελφος witnesses [From φίλος (G5384) and ἀδελφός (G80)]as a FRIEND and BROTHER.

“I know your works.

Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Quite a compliment of Christian LOVE of these saintly brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.

A.D. first century followers of the Messiah Jesus considered themselves to be true Jews, who have now been redeemed. And the love they hold in Christ will include Romans (like much of the population of this city of Philadelphia) and Hellenists, Greeks or gentiles as they worship God in truth side by side.

“Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

Revelation 3:10 CSB

Λαοδίκεια – Laodicea

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:

the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:14 NKJV
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an urgent CAUTION, perhaps, for many a 21st century Common Era christian church claiming Jesus in some lesser way than in Truth.
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“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

Revelation 3:15 NKJV

“So then, because you are lukewarm,

and neither cold nor hot,

I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Laodicea: Lukewarm Prosperity
- Banking hub, black-wool trade, renowned medical school with eye powder.
- Water arrived by aqueduct, lukewarm by the time it reached town.
- After the AD 60 quake, the city rebuilt itself without Rome’s help—boastful self-sufficiency reflected in the church.
Source: BibleHub.com commentary
Because you say…

“I am rich

and have acquired great wealth,

and need nothing,”

but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked,

take my advice

and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich!

Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed,

and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see!

Revelation 3:17-18 New English Translation

Do you know of a Common Era Church like this — so in need of taking this advice from the risen and returning Christ Jesus ?

LISTEN! Hear His Voice. Open the door of your lukewarm heart. Allow the Lord to give you manna and living water of eternal life.

Sit on His Throne with Him.. just as He too conquered and sat down with His Father on His throne.

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:22 CSB

Next: INTRO — 3 Letters (10 yrs earlier) from the Apostle John
April 3, 2026
Tossed About in a Sinking Ship
How will you deal with the demise of your own failing flesh aboard the sinking ship of this brief life?

Acts of the Apostles 27

Sailing so slowly into a billowing whirlwind of destruction.

That’s how it must have felt for the Roman Centurion Julian, various guards and now others aboard a large Greek merchant ship hauling grain into a storm.

How did we arrive at these last days of a failed voyage to Rome?
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AD 59 - Acts [27] of the Apostle Paul
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- v.3 entering a (small) ship of Adramyttium, sailing only to nearby Tyre
- v.4-6 crawling along the coasts of Pamphylia and Asia to board this large ship hauling grain to Rome
- v.7 we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus [still only along the coast of Asia {Minor} at the Southeast edge of the Aegean Sea], the wind not permitting us to proceed.
- Their ship had drifted on gentle waters into harbors along Crete. Barely had their voyage into the Mediterranean begun.
- The winds of winter near upon them now, their only hope a sheltered harbor away from which they were suddenly swept into the tempest. [v.7-17]
“Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.”

Acts of the Apostles 27:10 NKJV – Paul, addressing the men onboard their grain ship

Swept asunder by the Tempest of a Euroclydon

Paul — Shipwrecked

276 souls on a sinking ship

Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day… On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands…

For many days neither sun nor stars appeared, and the severe storm kept raging. Finally all hope was fading that we would be saved...

.. they had been without food for a long time…

Acts 27:18-21 excerpt CSB

Message of an Angel to Paul and all souls aboard
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We have not heard from the Apostle for several days now since his warning to the Centurian Julian had been ignored. As would have been his regular practice, no doubt Paul and Aristarchus had been praying. 

Now the Apostle appears with a new messenge of hope from an angelic messenger of God.
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“You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss. Now I urge you to take courage, because there will be no loss of any of your lives, but only of the ship.

Acts 27:21b-22 CSB
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'Preposterous,' these hungry men on a sinking ship laden with grain must have thought - Roman men and Greek sailors who would have been weak from fighting for their lives.

'YOU told us we would die and now that we're almost sinking into the sea you say that we will not.'  
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“For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood by me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’

Acts 27:23-24
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The crew must still be skeptical.
'Your god has graciously given you all of us sailing with you?' Many of these sailors and guards must have thought, 'You're the prisoner, not us!'
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Paul has already established his credibility as a Roman citizen with Julian, the Centurion officer charged with delivering the Apostle to Caesar.

And we are about to learn that in the protocol of the Roman Empire, it is the Centurion who is in charge of ALL of these men — NOT a captain or pilot of the ship or enlisted Roman guard.
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The Apostle continues by prophesying what is about to take place (rather than drowning in the depths of the sea as their ship sinks into the depths of the sea). 
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“So take courage, men, because I believe God that it will be just the way it was told to me. But we have to run aground on some island.”

Acts 27:25-26

drifting in the Adriatic Sea

When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and about midnight the sailors thought they were approaching land. They took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms deep;
βολίζω – bolizō

to heave the lead, take a sounding

a line and plummet with which mariners sound the depth of the sea

ὀργυιά – fathom

the distance across the breast from the tip of one middle finger to the tip of the other when the arms are outstretched, 5 to 6 feet (2 m)
when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again,

they found it to be 15 fathoms deep.

Then, fearing we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come.

Some sailors tried to escape from the ship;

they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.

Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers,

“Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”

Julian the Centurion in COMMAND

Then the soldiers cut the ropes holding the skiff and let it drop away.

When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food..

“Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing. So I urge you to take some food. For this is for your survival, since none of you will lose a hair from your head.”

Acts 27:33b-34 CSB – encouragement of the Apostle Paul to the men of the ship
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Recall that Paul has this prophesy first hand from an Angel of God. 
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Breaking the Bread of Thanks

After he said these things and had taken some bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all of them, and after he broke it, he began to eat.

They all were encouraged and took food themselves.

Acts 27:35-36 CSB

And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.
ACTS 27:37 KJV

And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.

Fleeing a Sinking Ship

When daylight came, they did not recognize the land but sighted a bay with a beach. They planned to run the ship ashore if they could.

After cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders.

Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.

Julian – Responsible for all men

The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners so that no one could swim away and escape. But the centurion kept them from carrying out their plan because he wanted to save Paul,

and so he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship.

In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.

Acts of the Apostles 27:44 CSB

Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

Acts of the Apostles 28:1

To be continued…
September 24, 2025
Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Gospel of Luke 2:16 King James Version

Mary an Introduction
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Christians, Jews and unbelievers know parts of the iconic scene unfolding in Bethlehem through a virgin Jewish mother. 

Today I honor Mary most appropriately by retelling her story of Christmas mostly from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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Mary, Eve of the Virgin Birth

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem..

.. with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Gospel of Luke 2:4-5 KJV excerpt

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Mary, wife of Joseph?

Not quite, according to custom and Jewish law.
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Do YOU know any young woman who has been pregnant (even near full term) yet not married to the man she knew?
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μνηστεύω – Strong’s G3423 – mnēsteuō – from a derivative of G3415; to give a souvenir (engagement present), i.e. betroth:—espouse.
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Recall that GREEK is the common language not only of Luke the Physician but also of all of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus. 
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused G3423 to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Gospel of Matthew 1:18 KJV

SCANDELOUS !

(as least in the A.D. First Century)

Mary, ENGAGED to Joseph

AND they both know that the Virgin Mary had NEVER come together with Joseph her fiancé!

Joseph, an honorable man
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(like his namesake and ancestor, Joseph, son of Jacob, who the LORD used to rule Egypt under Pharaoh.) 
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Gospel of Matthew 1:19- KJV

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,

Joseph, thou son of David,
fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:
for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Matthew 1:20b KJV

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people from their sins.

Gospel of Matthew 1:21 KJV

An angel of the Lord speaks to you!

What to do?

The adoptive father of JESUS believes God (of course). And Joseph is a righteous and honorable man.

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Gospel of Matthew 1:24-25 KJV

Signs and Witnesses

Prophesy of Isaiah and others centuries Before Christ.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 KJV

a Failure of Kings Advent 4 of Christ

Witness by a heavenly host of Angels – Luke 2:8 KJV

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Gospel of Luke 2:8-14 King James Version

Witnesses and worship

And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. .. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

A light to lighten the Gentiles,

and the glory of thy people Israel.

Gospel of Luke 2:25-32 KJV excerpt [context]

Signs before Jesus’ birth

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Gospel of Luke 1:5-11 King James Version
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An Angel of the Lord standing beside the Priest of God right inside the Holy of Holies! A pretty big deal.

Briefly, what happens next is a foretelling prophetic birth of JOHN the BAPTIST, preparing the way for the Lord Jesus, the consolation of Israel and Messiah sent of God the Father. 
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Elisabeth, John and the Holy Spirit
- Zacharias the Priest of God continued to serve his term in the Temple unable to speak.
  - Daily worshipers in Jerusalem must have know that something was up.
- He returns home.
- Elisabeth conceived.
- An angel of the Lord then appears in Nazareth prior to their trip to register for the census of Caesar and also tells Mary:
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Gospel of Luke 1:36-37 KJV
- And Mary went into the hill country of *Juda
- And entered into the house of Zacharias
- and (knowing the the angel had revealed) saluted Elisabeth.
And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary,

the babe leaped in her womb;

and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Gospel of Luke 1:41 KJV signs confirming the Messiah when Mary greeted the mother of John the Baptist

In the Year of the most controversial birth in history

Jesus Christ born in a manger

Church fathers, theologians who study such things, took a few centuries to articulate the trinitarian Christology from the Apostles recorded in Scripture from the A.D. first century.

Creeds, Catechisms, Confessions & Christ – What do you believe?

The clarity of their CREEDS and CONFESSIONS of FAITH define our hope of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man…
Nicene Creed excerpt
AD 325 & AD381

Born of the Virgin Mary

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her,

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,

and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:

therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Gospel of Luke 1:34-35 King James Version

εὐλογέω – eulogeō

.. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Luke 1:42b KJV

κύριος – kyrios

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Gospel of Luke 1:46-48 KJV [familiar beginning of the Magnificat of Mary]

As were Joseph and others to whom the Lord sent His angels:

The soul of Mary is humble, as is JESUS from her womb to the Cross.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy
is on them that fear him
from generation to generation.
Gospel of Luke 1:49-50 King James Version – from the Magnificat of the Virgin Mary declaring that the Lord is mighty and holy is His Name.

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Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
December 24, 2024