Prophecy

Earlene Davis

Christ The Judge – Revelation 1

John the Beloved disciple was given visions which are recorded in the book of Revelation. John was on the barren isle of Patmos where they dumped criminals. He was put there for the word of God and for testimony of Jesus Christ (1:9). In spirit he was taken to the Lord’s day, Christ’s day to reign. He heard a great voice behind him as of a trumpet and he turned to see the voice and saw seven golden candlesticks (vs. 10-12). Verse 20 tells us the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. 

Looking back from the view point of the Lord’s day, John was seeing the Church Age. He sees Jesus in the midst of the churches, as Judge. He is judging believers and will give His verdict at the judgment seat of Christ (II Cor. 5:10). He judges by His Word. A nine-fold description of Christ as Judge is in Vs. 13-16. 

1. “Clothed (or endued) with a garment down to the foot.” Jesus Christ has been endued with the authority and power to Judge – (Jn. 5:22). When Christ was raised from the dead, God gave Him to be the Head, the Authority over the church, the body of Christ. He has the right to judge the church, for He gave His life for the church– (Eph. 1:20-23; 5:23,25).

2. “Girt about the paps (or breasts) with a golden girdle.” Breasts are for nourishment, love and mercy, but as judge Christ cannot show mercy, so the breasts are girded up with a golden girdle, gold speaks of deity. When God judges our flesh by the Word, He does not show mercy. Later on in the book of Revelation the saints are girt about the same way, agreeing with Christ when He comes to judge  the world.

3. “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.” White speaks of purity and holiness and white hair of His eternal being (ageless), Compare Dan. 7:9 where He is called the Ancient of Days. In Revelation He is seen as “God manifested in the flesh,” in the capacity of His majesty, the Judge.

4. “His eyes were as a flame of fire.” His eyes scrutinize and sees the hypocrisy of men. Heb. 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” 

5. “His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” Brass in scripture speaks of judgment. The brazen altar was made of brass, where the sacrifical animals were slain and burned, the judgment of God on the sacrifice, instead of on the people picturing the sacrifice of Christ. Also Moses was told to put a brazen serpent on a pole. When the snake bit people looked on the brazen serpent, they were healed. Christ likens Himself to that brazen serpent on that pole in Jn. 3:14. Fine brass speaks of intricate judgment, Christ judges thoroughly as He walks among the churches.

6. “His voice as the sound of many waters.” Dan. 10:6 likewise describes the voice of the Judge sounding like many waters. A great water falls makes a mighty roar.

7. “He had in His right hand seven stars.” V. 20 tells us these stars are the angels or messengers (pastors) of the churches. Christ holds them in His right hand, that means they are responsible to Him. Which is more serious then the responsibility to the people. Heb. 13:17, “they must give account.” Acts 20:28, Pastors are responsible to feed the saints which Christ has purchased with His own blood. 

8. “Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.” Heb. 4:12, the sword is the Word of God. The sword going out of His mouth speaks of the Word by which He judges. He is the Word of God, the Word made flesh. He speaks the Word or causes others to speak it. We are responsible for the Word we hear, no matter who the vessel is that gives it forth. We are responsible to heed the Word and to let it judge us. The Word cuts back the flesh, but the Holy Spirit heals the hurt.

9. “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” His countenance is very bright, for He is the True Light – Jn. 1:4-5,9. Paul saw Him at noon and His countenance was brighter than the noon day sun. Compare Jn. 3:19-21 & 8:12.

John fell at His feet, seeing the awesome Personage of Christ as Judge – V. 17-19. Christ touched John and encouraged him. “Fear not,” I am the Eternal One.  Write the things thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be thereafter. 

Next issue: Christ’s message to the churches

JONAH

Debra Isenbletter - Pastor Springfield, Missouri

Jonah 2:8: “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”

After Jonah Fainted and Remembered and Prayed Jonah made a Confession.  At first glance when reading this you would think that Jonah is speaking of others but this is a personal confession and Jonah is speaking of himself. He begins with a Confession: “They that observe lying vanities” and he ends with a Conclusion: “they forsake their own mercy.”  

When Jonah says “They” he is not just referring to others, but himself.  He could be thinking about Israel, for “they” had trusted in “vanities” and of course he could be thinking about the Gentiles, for “they” too had done the same, though they did it in ignorance. But this is personal for Jonah, he is also speaking of himself, for he also had trusted in “vanities.” Jonah says “observe” which is another way of saying trusted.  It means “to regard, to guard and preserve,” that is a striking statement.  To “observe” means to look at and to recognize, the idea is that it is not done in ignorance. To “guard” means to accept it, to believe it, to protect it. That is what is so dangerous.  Jonah’s confession is that he knew what he was doing, he did it with his eyes open, he did it willing, knowing that it was wrong when he ran from the Lord.  

The word “lying” means emptiness” or “falsehood” and “vanities” means “emptiness, something transitory.”  It is like a double emptiness. How sad, how very, very sad for someone who knew the Lord, knew the Word to be taken in by something that was nothing, to be taken in by a lie, by lying to himself.  A lie has no truth, no substance, no reality and although Jonah did not worship an idol, he told himself a lie and believed it to justify himself. These “lying vanities” can be anything we tell ourselves to justify ourselves in disobeying the Lord.  In Jonah’s case I think there were two things that he put before his God that became “lying vanities” and he used them to justify disobeying God.  One was his Pride and the other was his Patriotism.  Pride in being a prophet for Israel, and Patriotism for Israel in his attitude against the Gentiles. When Pride and Patriotism were put before God’s Word and God’s Will they had become idols, something that was empty that could not support or satisfy in time of crisis and the Lord had to show him how very vain these things were.  

In our own lives, these “lying vanities” can speak of deception, either by ourselves or by others. Both are equally dangerous and destructive. We can believe the lies others tell us because that is what we want to hear and we can believe lies we tell ourselves for the same reason.  We can do this when we are discouraged or disobedient. We can do this when we are walking by sight and not by faith.  These “lying vanities” may not be physical idols or statues but they are just as powerless to help us when the time comes to face the consequences of our actions or decisions.  What is so striking is that Jonah, who would have shuddered to go to an idol for help, had fled to Tarshish, to those that trusted in idols. Now, a chastened Jonah, realizes what he has done and makes this confession and identifies himself with those who have done the same.  The result of trusting in “lying vanities” is trouble and turmoil (Psa.88:3; Psa.143:4) and the remedy for “lying vanities” is simply to trust the Lord (Psa.31:6).  

The conclusion that Jonah comes to is striking for he realizes that those who trust in these vain lies have “forsake their own mercy.”  Other translations for this are: “Forsake their own [Source of] mercy and loving-kindness. (Amplified Bible); “Forsake their faithfulness,” (New American Standard); and “Give up their source of mercy” (Complete Jewish Bible).

To “forsake” means to relinquish, to leave, to refuse.” Jonah knew what God’s mercy was, he knew that it belonged to him, that it was his privilege, as did the rest of God’s people. Yet, in disobedience he forsook it, he left it, he refused it, as did Israel in their disobedience.  Jonah, though he did not realize it at the time was refusing God’s “mercy,” His “loving-kindness,” His “goodness;” His “favor.”  He was refusing to believe in God’s “faithfulness” and refusing to be “faithful” in return.  He took it for granted and when he turned away from it, the Lord let him feel how empty his life was without it.  He did not realize what he had turned away from until he denied it and suddenly felt the need for it and could not seem to find it.  Another meaning for “mercy” is “steadfast love,” and despite Jonah’s departure, the Lord was still there and still loved him. Jesus made that same promise to us when He said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (Heb.13:5).

The real lesson that Jonah learned was that he had mercy at his disposal and he did not accept it.  He failed to show mercy to others when he refused to go to Nineveh and now he saw how precious “mercy” was.  But, Praise the Lord, despite that and because of that realization, the Lord will show mercy to Jonah and he will preach to Nineveh and the Lord will show His mercy to them.

Psalm 23

Last Part

By Vicky Moots

Psalm 23:6a: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”. Our good and merciful Shepherd goes before us to lead us, and goodness and mercy are following behind us (our rear-guard). We are therefore surrounded by His goodness and mercy and need not fear the attacks of the enemy. Blessings will follow us as we follow Christ. Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” As we receive His mercy, we show it to others.

Goodness is one of the attributes of God and actually means “God-ness.” The Scripture plainly tells us that apart from God, there is no goodness. Matt. 19:16-17 relates the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said, “…Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God…”. Jesus was trying to tell him that in order to call Him “good,” then he must believe that He is God, Emanuel, “God with us,” because only God is good. Did he believe that Jesus was really God in the flesh? We know that he did not actually believe that because verse 22 tells us that he went away sorrowful.

That young man had wanted to know what “good” thing that he could do to earn eternal life. This question is often asked today. In Rom. 3:12 the Apostle Paul quoted Ps. 14:3: “…there is none that doeth good, no not one.” There is therefore no “good” thing that we can do to earn eternal life because there is no “good” in the old creation. Any good that we do is through the life of Christ in us after we are born again, born of God, and become a new creation as sons of God.

Goodness is not a work of the flesh; it is a part of the fruit of the Spirit, listed in Gal. 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…”. God’s goodness will be manifested in us through the fruit that we bear in our lives as we walk in the Spirit, and not through any of our self-works. It is a result of the life of Christ in us.

Goodness and mercy are closely connected to each other as attributes of God. We see this in the words that God spoke to Moses in the mountain. Ex. 34:6-7: “And the LORD passed by before him [Moses], and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…”. So, we see that the Lord is both merciful and abundant in goodness.

Goodness has already been discussed, but what is mercy? The dictionary meaning of mercy is “kindness in excess of what is expected by fairness; refraining from punishing offenders or harming enemies; the power to forgive or be kind.” All of these meanings were manifested toward us by God when He sent His son to die in our place and to bear our punishment for sin. God did this for us because of His mercy toward fallen mankind. When we deserved death, He gave us life.

Jeremiah declares God’s mercy in Lam. 3:21-23: “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” God’s mercies are new every morning because we need them to be able to start each new day.

Psalm 86 records a prayer of David. Verse 5, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.” In vs. 15-16 we see that David does call upon God’s mercy and says, “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me…”. David in his prayer is echoing some of the words that God spoke to Moses, and they are just as true for us today.

We are also encouraged by the writer of Hebrews to call upon God’s mercy, because we have a High Priest, Jesus, who understands our feelings and our infirmities and short comings, and He is able to intercede for us. Heb. 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Because of the blood of Jesus, we can come boldly into the presence of God without fear. The judgment for our sin was poured out upon Jesus on the cross so that we could receive God’s mercy instead of punishment. God’s goodness and mercy are always present and available in the person of our Shepherd who leads us.

How long will His goodness and mercy surround us? “All the days of my life,” just as David said. Throughout this life we need His goodness and mercy. His goodness and mercy are unlimited and have a life time guarantee. That means we can call upon His mercy everyday for the rest of our lives as we pray and come boldly unto the throne of grace. David realized that this was a sure thing and left no room for doubt when he said, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

We don’t have to guess or hope that God will show mercy to us, because it is based on His merit, not our works. Since God’s goodness and mercy are as eternal as He is, we can also say with the Psalmist, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever” – Ps. 89:1. So, lift up your voice and sing!

Psalm 23:6: “…and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Notice that David says, “I will dwell.” He does not say, “I hope to dwell,” but “I will dwell.” If you were to die today, do you know without doubt that you would go to heaven to dwell in the house of the Lord? Perhaps you might say, “I think so,” or “I sure hope so; I’m trying to live right and do the best I can. That’s all God can expect, right?” Can we, like David, really be sure that we will dwell in the house of the Lord?

What does the word “dwell” mean? It means “to take up residence; to abide; to stay.” It does not mean just to visit for a short time, but to live permanently. David desired to dwell with the Lord, to be able to stay in His presence, and so should we. Ps. 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life…”.

How can that be possible? What would be required of us in order to be able to do that? David asked that question in Ps. 15:1: “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill”? There are qualifications for being able to dwell in the house of the Lord, and God showed David the answer in v. 2: “He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” This is only possible after we are born again and become a new creation in Christ and receive His righteousness. As a new creation we become a part of His family and have a right to dwell in His house. We cannot earn that privilege; it is all by His grace.

Jesus, Himself, assured us of a dwelling place in His house. John 14:2-3, “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The word “mansions” actually means “dwelling places” or “abodes.” 

When Jesus stated, “I go to prepare a place for you,” He meant that He was going to the cross, to prepare the way for us to have a place in heaven to abide with Him. The work was finished on the cross, and the only nails that were used to prepare that place were the ones in his hands and feet. He also promised that He would return for us to receive us unto Himself to dwell with Him. All we have to do is to believe.

But how long will He allow us to live with Him? Is there a limit? Not only was David sure of his dwelling place, but he knew that it would be forever, because God’s love is forever. We can be assured that this is true for us also who believe, because Jesus, our Good Shepherd, promised us that it would be so. John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto the eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

If we are His sheep, then we are safe and secure in His hand. We are His sheep forever, and He has provided an eternal dwelling place for us so that we can dwell with Him in His house forever.

 THE ENCOURAGING WORD

“I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with Me.” Psalm 13:6

“You have enclosed me and shut me in behind and before and have laid your Hand upon me. Your (in Christ) knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me, I cannot reach it.” Psalm 139:5-6

“You are my hiding place and my shield. I wait for your word.” Psalm 119:114

“The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.” Psalm 118:14

“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” Psalm 138:8

Martha Wainright

 Let Us Have Grace

Jack Davis

 “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:28-29.

Is not Godly fear and Godly fire compatible, by laying faith’s claim to God’s grace? In the second half of this chapter Vs. 18-29, we find such great contrast of conditions in believer’s approach and relations to God. The God of all grace has called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ - I Peter 5:10.

Oh, how marvelously blessed we are today in this age of grace. When we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we became a part of the heavenly segment of an unshakable kingdom. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our heart’s treasures are above. We are urged now to appropriate by grace the high glories of said kingdom, on a course of faith. It is our privilege to receive and honor now the coming universal King of all kings to the throne of our hearts. 

Our worship today is only acceptable (well-pleasing) as we appropriate His grace. We do well also to allow Him who is the same yesterday, today and for ever, to establish our hearts therewith making us steadfast, unmovable - Heb. 13:8-9.

In our service of worship we are urged to approach our Father’s throne with confidence. Heb. 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

But let us fear ever becoming presumptuous. Be fully aware that He is able to see any and all the dross. He is willing to apply the heat to burn it out.

With the statement of verse twenty-nine we are so very glad that we may worship Him as our God. Heb. 11:16, 

…God is not ashamed to be called their God…”.

 BEHOLD I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW

 Rev. 21:1,2 

Anita Clark – Pastor

Grace Chapel, Carbondale, Kansas     

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17).

This is  where we began as a new believer in Christ.  Notice that the above scripture uses the phrase, “...in Christ...”  How do we become “in Christ,” and what does it mean to be “in Christ.” 

Here is the answer.  When we accept Jesus to be our Savior and ask Him to rule in our hearts, He accepts us into His family.  We become children of God.  We are recognized as a member of the body of Jesus Christ.  Our faith in Jesus, accepting His salvation which He accomplished on the cruel cross, paid for our sin.

The new life of Christ is placed within us, and from that new life comes attributes of the Heavenly Father.  These things are seen in our lives as new things.  II Peter 1:4 tells us, “Whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

This divine life of Christ within us produces new thoughts, new motives and new actions.  The characteristics that Jesus manifest, such as: love, mercy, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faithfulness, patience, longsuffering and temperance, now are manifest in our lives as we yield to the Lord Who dwells in us.

Since we have become a New Creation in Christ, we can look forward to many new things.  For example, the life as yielded to God is full of joy and peace.  The weight and guilt of sin is lifted.  Our future is bright, whereas before it was dismal and full of fear and judgment.

Romans 8:21-23 tells us, “...the creature itself shall be delivered  from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God...we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption (placing as sons literally in God’s presence) to wit the redemption of our body.” 

 This is the promise - we will have new bodies one of these days.  No more pain, death, sorrow, or crying as we enter into that eternal state with Christ our Lord.  I John 3:2 says, “...but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”

Phil. 3:21 guarantees this, “Who [Christ]  shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body...”  What does it mean to be glorified?  We think about what kind of body Jesus had after His resurrection.  He was incorruptible, He was eternal, He could go through walls, He could eat, but did not need to, and He appeared here and there, revealing Himself as He willed.  This shows us what it means to be glorified.

We are expecting a new heaven and earth as 2 Peter 3:12-13 says. And John saw in Rev. 21:1,2, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride for her husband.”  This is our destination.  Because we are new creatures in Christ, we are destined for a new home for eternity.  How wondrous it will be!  Prepare now to live on high with God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit forever.

 Listen And Learn

“A wise man will hear, and will increase  learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:” Proverbs 1:5

Scripture speaks to us about the need to listen more and speak less. Listening is the only way to gain understanding and wisdom. In particular, the Bible is speaking about listening to God’s Word as He speaks to us.

This principle applies in all aspects of our lives. In school, those that were willing to listen more gained more understanding. In marriage, those that are willing to listen more will gain more understanding of their spouse. In business, those that are willing to listen will gain more understanding.

This is not an easy task for most of us, because we tend to prefer to talk, especially if we think we know something about the subject being discussed. However, we tend to lose out on the wisdom and understanding that can be gained by listening to others.

Spiritually, it is even more important that we be willing to listen and gain understanding. Not just listen to some person, even though God does give us teachers and Pastors to teach us His Word, but listen to God’s Word. Measure everything we hear from others against what we read in the Bible.

We need to have an ear to hear the Holy Spirit. He is the one God has provided to teach us as we study our Bible. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:13-14.

These verses give us some understanding of how we know when we are hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. He will glorify Jesus. When we hear someone preaching something that does not glorify Jesus, then we need to move away from that. We really do need to have a desire to hear the Holy Spirit. If we are studying the Bible just for some knowledge, we are missing the point. We are not just learning for the sake of learning, we are learning about our beloved Lord.

Each one of us must hear God’s Word personally. This involves getting into the Bible and studying to know what it says. As I notice the great amount of “teaching” out on the internet, in social media, on Youtube and other places, it is clear that there is so much error being taught, that we simply cannot approach that without knowing what the Bible says already. 

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15. The Greek word translated study here speaks of a diligence to know the Word of Truth. The approval that matters is God, not ourself or others.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:” James 1:19. Today everyone gets to speak their opinion because of social media. There is a lot of speaking, and very little listening. James reminds us that we should listen much more than we speak. 

On social media, people can say anything they want about anything, whether or not it is true, and there will be some that will give them positive feedback which will increase the nonsense. The way to know error is not to study error, it is to know truth and compare everything to that.

When working with audio, we use filters. A filter can be used to cut out certain frequencies or to allow only certain frequencies to pass. Filters can be used to make audio clearer and more understandable.

Christians need a filter every time they approach the world. Everything we take in from the world should be understood through the filter of God’s Word. It allows us to understand clearly what we are hearing or seeing.

It is extremely important that we approach our study of God’s Word without preconceived notions that we have created for ourselves or heard from others. It is the way of human nature to want to make the Bible agree with us, when it must be the other way. We must be willing to agree with the Bible and be willing to hear what God wants to speak to our life when we study.

The more I study, the more I am realizing that God has something He wants to speak to each of us. God has always desired to have close communion with each one of us, and He is doing that through His Word. Our interest in studying God’s Word is in direct proportion to our desire to know our Lord better.

We say we want to be in the bride of Jesus, but the truth is that His bride will know Him intimately, and that will necessitate real, earnest, study while listening to the Holy Spirit teach us. “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellers.” Psalms 119:24. “I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.” Psalms 119:162.

Is God’s Word your delight? Are you listening? Are you learning? I’m absolutely convinced the time is short for us, and we must be diligent in our relationship with our Lord. 

Gordon Crook