Revelation 14-18

John saw and heard firsthand the grand finale, day of antichrist, the end of the age, the culmination of all that was prophesied.  This chronicle should be read slowly and repeatedly.  For John, these visions were quite a contrast to his surroundings in exile.  How he must have been encouraged and humbled!

Action in the book of Revelation is both awesome and dynamic, for God is the master at giving us tremendous mental imagery.  Put yourself in the front row of an IMAX screen watching fantastic visual effects of the most exciting scenes of all Star Wars movies with sequences of continuous animation.  The huge difference between IMAX images and reading chapters 14-18 is that the Bible is absolutely true.  God knows the future, and as He did with creation, He has purposefully envisioned these scenes and knows them to be as true as if they have already occurred.  People today try to predict the weather, the stock market, and who will win sporting events, but God already knows the future in exacting detail.

Jesus often used word pictures.  The patriotic song “O Beautiful,” written by Katherine Lee Bates in 1895, uses many word pictures.  “Amber waves of grain” is colorful mental imagery which describes wheat fields that are ripe and blowing in the wind.  The book of Revelation utilizes vivid conceptual descriptors such as sickles being thrust, bowls and vials of judgment being poured out, and extreme darkness, to depict drastic and severe retribution.  People will chew their tongues in anguish. There is a time in the middle of most severe scenes where men and women will know who is judging and will curse Him instead of repenting and recognizing Almighty God for Who He is (16:9 and 21).  (Compare the attitude of Cain in Genesis 4:9.)  Men in both passages realize they are dealing with God, the Creator of everything, yet they are unwilling to submit themselves to His sovereign authority, and they suffer the tragic consequences.  People will choose sides, and many will be eternally sorry for the decision they made.

Judgment is coming.  God is longsuffering, but God also has wrath toward sin.  The wrath of God is poured out on the earth in these chapters in a way that never has been and never will be again.  At the conclusion of any good book or movie, the activities increase, and the plot thickens.  The fervency and intensity of action is fierce.  If we could hear background music, it would be eerie, then loud and bombastic.  This is the climax of the age.  There are fantastic scenes of great deliverance and great punishment.  The book transitions often from visions of imagery to concrete, literal statements.  It is not a hodgepodge of clips but unfolds in mathematical order.  After two beasts have been identified in chapter 13, the victorious Lamb is spotlighted in chapter 14. Thunderous sounds occur from heaven.  There is heavenly music from heavenly musicians.  There are vivid, colorful descriptions of many different characters.   Winners and losers are distinguished.  Angels are used as servants and messengers.  An angel pronounces judgment upon Babylon, the place where the tower of Babel originated, and also refers to the apostate religious and political world system headed up by the Beast.  Those in authority will profoundly bemoan the destruction of Babylon.  There is a warning not to take the mark of the Beast, which shows allegiance to him, because to take the mark is a death sentence.

The reading of this book is a blessing (see 1:3) and should encourage us to praise and worship God who planned this and informs us about it.  The Revelation should sober us, as well as embolden, rally, and stimulate those who know the Lord to live in a manner that is well-pleasing to Him.  It should persuade us to tell our friends and neighbors about His love and their need for the Savior so they too can enjoy His blessings and avoid coming judgment.  As I imagine faces of people I know reaping the judgments in chapter 16, I am prompted to live a testimony and share my faith, hoping that God will use me to save some before the judgment.  May Jesus Christ be praised!

Don Brenton

2 Peter 1-3

If you knew your time in this life was growing short, what would you do? I know the answers will vary, but for Peter knowing that the time was near for him to leave this earth and feeling the responsibility of being a spiritual leader compelled him to remind believers of some very important truths.

The first thing that Peter reminds us of is that in Christ we lack nothing when it comes to living a godly life. God is not withholding a single thing from us. But while God has given us everything we need to live a godly life it doesn’t mean that it automatically happens. There is a moment-by-moment tension for the believer because while we have been saved from sin, we are still living in a sin-riddled world with sin-riddled bodies that constantly desire to go back and indulge in sinful desires.

So how do we live godly lives in the midst of the constant temptations that plague our minds and hearts?

Peter gives us a list of important things in 1:5-7 to implement into our lives in response to what God has given us so that “we can escape from the corruption of the world.”

“In view of all of this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence and moral excellence with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with patient endurance and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone.”

What we fill our minds and our hearts with is what we eventually will become. In response to all that God has done and given to us let us fill our minds with these truths and principles.

Here is an illustration to give us a picture of what Peter is talking about: We are bound to the ground we stand on but when we are saved God gives us wings to fly giving us freedom from the ground if we choose to use our wings to fly. Once we are flying, we have to keep flapping our wings in order to stay off the ground. But it can be tiring work and we will feel a force around us which of course is gravity trying to pull us back to the ground. When we start to feel that pull it is easy to shift our focus onto staying off the ground instead of looking upwards to fly higher.

What this means is that God has given us the means (wings) to escape the sinful desires (ground). The wings will not automatically fly for us, we need to choose to use them and then continue to choose to use them even when it gets hard and tiring. Lastly, if we try to do this on our own, our focus will be on not sinning instead of growing closer to God. Drawing strength from the Lord is something that will take time and effort, but it is crucial and rewarding as we strive to live godly lives.

The Prophet Isaiah said it well in Isaiah 40:31. “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on eagles’ wings. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

Living a godly life definitely doesn’t happen overnight. It happens throughout life as we learn to make moment by moment choices to follow Christ. It’s not easy, but then again it was never meant to be easy. It was meant to give us an opportunity to grow in Christ. Let us then take hold of what God has given us to live for Him who has given everything to us.

Tyler Wood

Hebrews 9: 1-22

When we read Hebrews 9: 1-10, we see an Old Testament description of atonement for sins. This included the tabernacle, a moveable temple that shadowed the unsettled state of the church on earth. Within the tabernacle was the Holy place that contained the lampstand, the table, and the bread. Behind the second veil was the Holy of Holies which contained the golden alter of incense and the ark of the covenant. Inside the ark was the golden jar of manna and Aaron’s rod. Above the ark were the cherubim of glory. Once a year, only the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to offer a sacrifice for himself and the people that had committed sins in ignorance. He was not to go in without blood for the sacrifice. The Israelites of Old Testament times, in general, looked no further than these outward forms. But these forms could not truly take away the defilement or dominion of sin. They pointed forward to a greater sacrifice: the blood that saves.

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14)

We see from the scriptures that not only today but in Old Testament times we cannot do it on our own. They had the high priest to intercede for their transgressions. Now we have the ultimate high priest in Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins once and for all.

Jesus is able to do these things by offering himself without any sinful stain in his nature or life. Jesus entered the Most Holy place not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood. By doing this, Jesus not only obtained the blessings of salvation for us, but gave us power to use them. We are all guilty of sin before God and still yet He was willing to show the greatness of his mercy and proclaimed a new covenant of grace.

Through Christ and our faith in Christ, we can be saved. We don’t have to go to the high priest once a year with our blemish-free calf or goat. We simply have to trust that Christ is the sacrifice who died for us. Through faith in Christ, all our sins are forgiven, and we will live with him forever. God loves us all and he has built a new kingdom for us to dwell with him eternally, giving him the glory and singing praises to him forever.

I pray that we all understand the sacrifice God has made for us and that we share all that we know with everyone we come into contact with. God is a kind, loving, caring and merciful God, so let’s proclaim his name to all the world.

Patrick Miller

1 Timothy 4-6

There are many, many New Testament warnings about false Christs, prophets, and teachers as well “another Gospel”. All believers are to heed these strong warnings, avoiding distortions of doctrine and behavior.

In 1 Timothy 4:1 we read, “Now the Spirit expressly speaks that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.”

We Christians may be aware of many of the OBVIOUS seducing deceptions around us, but sadly many believers these days are falling prey to many tempting SUBTLE distractions, such as:

Emphasis on Self — when prayers, plans and concerns about one’s self (pride) take precedence over a proper focus on God.

Experiences — when personal spiritual experiences have more value and attention than clear biblical truths.  (Many use those experiences to “validate” new doctrine or questionable behavior.)

Worldliness and Busyness –when issues (fame, fortune, excesses in hobbies, careers, entertainment, etc.) habitually distract us from the Lord, the Word, church, and spiritual growth.

A “new spirituality” — promoted in current books, movies, social media, games, etc.,  cleverly denying God, His Word and ways, while promoting old and new lies from our enemy.

Reading about the Bible instead of studying the Bible itself!  (Supplemental materials can be good, but the Bible is from God.)

Making happiness  the goal in life  (or health, or career, or sports, or whatever) instead of seeking FIRST the kingdom of God.

Scripture twisting to make any doctrine “more palatable” to the person. This includes the “pick & choose” approach for truth.

Frankly, the devil doesn’t really care WHICH deception or distraction keeps us from the Lord — just as long as SOMETHING does!!

To avoid these seducing problems, let us BE AWARE… 

Here are some practical tools to guard ourselves against the deceptions and distractions of the enemy:

In-depth, regular reading and studying of all the Bible; deep and abiding prayer; being God’s true servant; pursuing the Spirit’s guidance; faith, trust and obedience consistent with the New Life; giving glory to God; proper use of spiritual gifts; being “Bereans” and personally checking the validity of things against God’s truths in the Bible; putting on the “armor of God” to thwart the wiles of the enemy.

Raone Elzinga

John 20-21

A son took his aging father out for dinner one evening.  He was excited to spend time with his father who wasn’t able to get out of the house much these days.  But as they entered the restaurant many patrons began to stare, for his father was very feeble and his weak stature was difficult for some to look upon.  During dinner, his father was dropping food on his shirt and trousers and the stares became more pronounced.  One woman loudly questioned why anyone in that condition would eat in public.  The son’s uplifting evening was now turning into one of ridicule, disappointment, and even anger.  But after finishing eating, he quietly took his father to the washroom where he caringly cleaned him up.  They came out of the washroom, settled their bill and started walking out of the restaurant when a man called to the son and said, “I believe you’ve left something behind.”  The son looked back at the table and replied, “No sir, we haven’t.”  And then the man continued, “Yes, you have! You left a valuable lesson for every son and hope for every father.” The son experienced an array of emotions that evening.

Elation, discouragement, joy, disappointment, happiness, and despair likely describe the emotional rollercoaster that we have all been exposed to numerous times during the course of our lives.  So, let’s try to put ourselves in the sandals of those who were close to Jesus, especially Peter, and try to imagine the multitude of feelings rushing through them in this text.  Maybe no one in this group experienced more of an emotional rollercoaster than Peter himself.

We know through scripture that Peter was an emotional person.  You might describe him as a “Fire, Ready, Aim” kind of guy who had a tendency to speak well in advance of his thoughts.  We see a great example of this in John 13:36-38, when prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter, feeling very bold and full of pride, tells the Lord that he will lay down his life for Jesus.  But Peter is quickly brought back down to reality when Jesus says that before the rooster crows that very evening, Peter will deny Him three times.  In chapter 18 we then see Jesus’ prediction come true as Peter denies his Lord three times followed immediately by a rooster crowing.  The Gospel of Luke tells us that as soon as Peter denied Jesus the third time, Jesus turned and looked at him and Peter went out and wept bitterly.  And when you think one’s emotions couldn’t get any lower, the one Peter confessed as being “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” is crucified.  Peter’s Lord is dead and he along with the other disciples fearfully hide themselves behind locked doors.

Then, on that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene and the other women rush to tell the disciples that Jesus’ tomb is empty so Peter and John run to see for themselves.  However, John 20:9-10 tells us, “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.”  Peter remains emotionally devastated, remembering that he blatantly denied his Lord in public and now He is gone.

But Peter is about to be restored in one of the most incredible examples of love in all of scripture, second only to Jesus laying down His life for all. After the resurrection when Jesus appeared to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, He asks Peter three times, “Do you love Me?”  Through this one question asked three times, Jesus lovingly erases Peter’s three denials, completely restoring his walk with the Lord.  As emotionally distraught as Peter was after denying Christ, Jesus restores Peter’s relationship with Him to a point that lifted him to spread the gospel ultimately throughout the world.

It is important for us to remember, that just as the story of the son being emotionally restored by the man in the restaurant, Jesus stands ready to completely restore us in our failures, if we truly seek Him.  And through this restoration, we too, will be driven to spread the gospel to all of those around us.

John Carter