Talk of JESUS . com

Tag: Revelation

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John

  • Who Is It?

    Who Is It?

    A knock at the door:

    What is your first thought?

    ‘Who is it?’ your mind rapidly asks. “Who is it?’ your voice may even inquire loudly?

    Perhaps you know who to expect and will just open the door to welcome your guest. Or in a more hostile environment you might even ask, ‘Friend or foe?’

    The door stands as the remaining barrier between you and the unseen ‘friend or foe,’ the known guest or unknown visitor who has come to meet you face to face in the place where you live.

     “Behold, I stand at the door and knock,” invites the painting which does grace the walls of many homes and houses of worship.

    The friendly guest is none other than the Lord, Jesus.

    I have heard a sermon or two using the illustration of Jesus at the door – some based on the actual scripture; other messages from the pulpit using the picture to illustrate other applications of other scriptures.

    (Personally, I had forgotten for a moment the source of this scene.) The author, through the Spirit, is not an unexpected guest to the Apostle. The context, perhaps a bit unexpected for this tranquil scene, is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John.

    The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John…

    3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

    Greeting to the Seven Churches

    4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

    Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

    To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

    8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

     

    The Apostle John then describes his vision and prophesy from the Risen Christ Jesus and continues with Christ’s word to each of seven churches.

    STOP. Do not be deceived for an instant that this Revelation of Christ Jesus does not apply to you and me (even though addressed to ‘seven churches of Asia’ in the first century).

    We are the church – the churches of Christ Jesus in this day.  The Revelation is timely to Christ’s Church worldwide (catholic, universal, orthodox, protestant, Greek, Roman, etc.): ALL who are true Christians, faithful to our One Lord, who IS faithful and true.

    Behold, it is Christ who knocks at the door.

    Look! See the Word of scripture. Listen to the Voice of Jesus.

    What is your answer to His word to each of the seven churches? [See Revelation 2-3]

    To the Church in Laodicea

    [He has kept this Revelation until last for the seven churches.]

    14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

    15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot.

    Is Jesus (at the door of your heart) a friend?

    OR is Jesus, the Amen and final Judge of all souls, a foe?

     “I know your works,” says the Lord.

    He knows our love. (OR He knows our lack of love.)

    He knows our faith or lack of faith.

    He knows our service for Him or our lack of fruit for His Kingdom.

    Imagine that our risen Lord Jesus comes to your door and confronts you with this:

    Would that you were either cold or hot!

    16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold,

    I will spit you out of my mouth.

     

     To be continued…

     

  • Esau I Hated

    Esau I Hated

    Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord.

    But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord.

    “Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated.

    We pray to God: ‘Give me a blessing.’ ‘I cannot do this alone?’ ‘Please help me, Lord.’ We acknowledge God as our Father and as our Lord. The Lord, our Father in heaven then blesses us. He provides a loving mate. He provide godly guidance for our misguided children. He heals a dreaded disease. He provides job after job and puts food on our table. He places us in the congregation of Christians who care for our needs and for our soul. Again, and again, the Lord brings us blessing and not curse when we are not in the low place and do not even pray for blessing.

    And what is our thanks? What is our offering to the Lord? Do we cleave to our beloved husband (or wife)? Do we stand as example of Jesus in our instruction of our children? Do we give thanks to the Lord for healing our body? Do we witness at work of the Lord’s unfailing love? Do we thank Him for the food on our table as if without Him we could not be fed? Do we thank Him that someone does not have to feed us for our inability of health to hold even a spoon? Do we joyfully worship with our loving brothers and sisters in Christ on the Lord’s day? Do we gently guide our children to the house of the Lord?

    We fall back into our sins. We slide back toward the pit. We revel in the ways of the world and witness against Christ as our Lord. We witness against God our Father. We offer the sacrifice of our tithes and offerings to the gods of chance, the gods of addiction and the gods of our evil desires. We bow down and worship the gods of sin!

    But you say, “How have you loved us?”

    Do you understand as you trespass the blessing of the Cross that you sell forever His blessing and grace and love?

    Don’t you know that we are ALL lawbreakers? Don’t you remember what you were before you were adopted into the family of faith, the Household of God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord?

    God is NOT your Father and Christ Jesus is NOT your Lord (for no one will lord it over you) IF you witness against the love and sacrifice and blood of the Cross.

    You reject the Lord. Why, at the Day of your judgment, should the Lord not reject YOU?

    Some of us reject a God that could hate Esau… a God who would hate us. (I spoke to this earlier.) We think of Esau as just a man who lived long ago. We think of Israel as only a land and not a people chosen once by God who rejected God continually and rejected Christ Jesus forever.

    Paul, the Apostle to the gentiles, was once a man of Jacob, chosen by God over Esau.  He hated Christ Jesus, the Messiah of Promise and Blessing of the gentiles. God so loved the world; yet Saul of Tarsus hated the church.

    What if Saul of Tarsus had not finally bowed down to Christ Jesus as Lord? Would he not also be judged with Esau?

    Abram was changed to Abraham. Jacob was changed to Israel. Saul of Tarsus was changed to Paul the Apostle.

    Has God changed you for all eternity by the Cross of Christ Jesus?

    Or do you ask for God’s blessing, then quickly turn from the Lord?

    The books of the Bible, which we so carelessly neglect along with the armor of our salvation, point us so diligently toward salvation (being saved from our great curse of sin and death). Over and over the books of the Bible instruct us in that which we ought to have instructed our children and heeded in our own lives.

    GOD IS a Person. God our Father may hate, but most certainly God our Father does love those who truly love Him.

    Genesis 4: And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

    10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

    Does the Blood of the Cross not cry out against you when you offer to your sin that which is the Lord’s?

    13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden…

    Deuteronomy 11: 26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

     Joshua 8:30-35 

    Joshua Renews the Covenant

    30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, 31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord…

    34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

    The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

    7 And I heard the altar saying,

    “Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
    true and just are your judgments!”

    15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

    James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

    3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

    Colossians 1:3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you…

    Pray also for me, that the blessings of God our Father, the Son Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will continue through His work in me, and that His own Blessings to my life may be renewed in His Spirit, obedience, faithfulness and love.

     

     

  • The Whole Truth

    The Whole Truth

    John 14: 6 Jesus said to him,

    “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

    There’s always something someone does not tell you when you meet them. You buy a house or rent an apartment and they don’t mention that the toilet doesn’t flush right. An acquaintance tells you about their great job, but they fail to mention how they were fired from a previous job. You meet someone who claims to love their kids and discover later how their children have little respect for their own parent. In fact, we encounter hidden truths every day as we discover more and more of the hearts and lives of our loved ones. We are all sinners (and hypocritical to some degree).

    At one time our courts would ask: ‘Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?’ ‘I do,’ was the expected response. Now the ‘I do’ response has no more expectation of truth than the promise of marriage, by rule without God by courts contemptible to the Law and also to truth. *But that controversial topic is for another discussion. Any two may be married by law and easily divorced by their own will without consent or knowledge of the other. *The lawyers are manipulators of justice and challengers to righteousness, as was so often the case in conversations with our Lord, Christ Jesus.

    Jesus Christ made a claim: “I am the only way to the Father.” What does that mean? What does it mean to Christians? What does it mean to faithful Jews, faithful Muslims, faithful Hindus, Buddhists and the like?

    Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God.

    Have you ever truly considered the judgment seat of Christ? Considering that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and eternal life, how do you think these others will do? And how will you fare before the Throne of God’s judgment?

    Guilty? or Innocent?

    What is HIS verdict?

    O, foolish follower – O, rebellious believer – O, obstinate perishing vessel of flesh:

    You have no hope without Christ Jesus. This is the truth.

    God’s Righteous Judgment

    2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience,not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

    6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

    God’s Judgment and the Law

    12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when,according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

     

    Yes, the Jews have the Law by which to be judged. A few Jews are most righteous (though many are as selfish and ungodly as many of our christian sisters and brothers).

    Matthew 5:17-20

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Christ Came to Fulfill the Law

    17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

    May God have mercy on those many Jews, many Muslims and many christians who do in practice and by the fruit of their faith have such righteousness as exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.

    In fact, why do I pray for these lost ones, even christians?

    Life is not life in our body, as so many feed by the pleasures and comforts of the flesh. Life is life in the spirit. You are the spirit within you, not just the brain and the blood, the neurons and the organs. It is the heart, in the sense of the soul (not the heart of muscle and corpuscle) of with the Bible speaks. It is your heart which is judged and your soul with will suffer.

    You have no need of the further torment of your flesh eternally or the temporal joy of that which is passing.

    Jesus is life to you. Jesus is life to me. He IS the resurrection and the life.

    John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

     

    And a less familiar reminder to christians who have turned from the whole truth of Jesus Christ and those attracted to Him:

    5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

    Judgment Before the Great White Throne

    11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.

    Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

    15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

     

    The Revelation of the risen Christ Jesus to the Apostle John speaks of ALL SOULS.

    Christ uncovers the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

    As you stand naked in your sin before the Sinless One, what is your plea?

    Dear Lord, Have mercy on me, a sinner.