A Reflection of God

God reveals Himself to us in more ways than one.  The obvious way that God reveals Himself is in Scripture, and this is important, because there are many things we would not know about God without the Bible.  But in special ways, God has revealed Himself in His creation.  In intimate ways, God reveals His plan to reconcile man to Himself, and just how special our relationship with God is.  What we see in the physical world reflects certain spiritual truths.

The Sun is the most basic reflection of God's truth - it reveals to us the light of Christ, the Son of God.  Malachi 4:2 says, "But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.  And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall."  The rising and setting of the Sun reflects another eternal truth: The spiritual ups and downs throughout history.  The world is constantly rolling through times of darkness and times of light.  The fact that the Sun produces light, while the moon, the earth and everything on the earth can only reflect that light, demonstrates for us that the Son of God is the source of light, and when we live in that light we reflect the light of Christ.  Those in darkness are in darkness because the Earth is between them and the Sun.  So it is with those that allow the world to come between them and the Son of God - they live in darkness.  And when it is daytime, we feel a comforting warmth that comes from the Sun.  Yet the Sun can burn us, and if we look straight at the Sun, its light overwhelms us.  I think this demonstrates the fact that man is separated from God, and because of sin, the glory of God overwhelms us.

The family, which is another creation of God, also reveals for us some eternal truths.  God reveals Himself as the Father in Heaven, and by giving us fathers on earth He reveals a major aspect of the relationship between us and Him.  We know that, just like a good father on earth, He is protector and provider and the Head of our heavenly household.  He also disciplines us, just like a good father disciplines his son.  Marriage is what gives us a picture of our unity with God.  The Bible describes the Church of Christ as the Bride of Christ, and in Genesis 2:24 God states that a man and his wife become "one flesh".  This means that Christ and the Church will become "one flesh", and this is how we as Christians are adopted into God's family.  If Jesus is the Son of God and we are married to Jesus, then we too are sons and daughters of God.  In Ephesians 5:22-24, Paul draws a clear parallel between the relationship of a man and his wife and the relationship of Christ and His Church.  The man is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the Head of the Church.  This is another way that marriage reveals to us the truth of our relationship with Christ - it is as husband and wife, and Christ is the Head of the Church.

Finally I want to touch on the greatest reflection of all.  Christ coming to Earth and taking on the flesh of man is the essential demonstration of salvation.  Christ has done the work of salvation, but this is an important point: Jesus was 100% man and 100% God.  If Christ is 100% man and 100% God, then His work on earth demonstrates clearly that it is both God and man who do the work of salvation, and God and man working together as one.  Consider this: Paul and the other apostles were always using the phrase "in Christ" to describe a Christian.  The implication is that the Church makes up the body of Christ, and any member of that body is "in Christ".  This makes perfect sense when we consider regeneration (being born of the Holy Spirit) and the fact that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God.  When we are born of the Holy Spirit (the third Person of God) we are one with God, because then the Spirit of God is in us and we are in Christ.  So the body of Christ is made up of us - men - and made up of God.  Christ coming to earth, being born as a man, dying on the cross and resurrecting three days later is a blueprint for our own salvation.  We must take the steps that Christ took and so be united with Christ.

Plain and Profound

When the average person thinks about the Bible, its likely that he doesn't think too much of it.  He might think its just some ancient religious text.  He might think its full of myths.  He might associate it with genealogies.  He probably considers it to be way out of date and irrelevant to the present world.  His first thought about the Bible is not going to be something special.  Those that only have a vague idea of what's in the Bible certainly do not think its special at all.  Its quite plain on the surface.  But why then is the Bible the number one seller of all time?  Despite the seemingly plain and obsolete exterior of Scripture, there is something quite incredible in those pages.  I'll try my best to explain.

I think most of us, if not all of us, have held a view similar to the one above at some point in our own history, and there might be some reading this now that currently hold a view similar to that.  I believe there's a reason for it.  The Bible is indeed very plain on the surface.  But here's the reason: The Bible is not designed to be taken casually, or for a person to only skim the surface.  Those that do only skim the surface will never understand the many wonderful truths inside.  These truths are profound, but they require digging.  Remain on the surface and you will entirely miss these truths.  Every one of us has been there at one point, and many are there right now.  But those of us who went past the surface and dug a little deeper, did so because we were searching for the truth.  There is the key.  Those that seek, find.  Those that do not seek, do not find.  Those that know what is in the Bible, but haven't considered it in depth, do not understand what is profound about Scripture.

I believe this is by design.  I can't prove it, but it makes sense that God would design His word to be this way.  You see, the truth is hidden to those that do not put faith in it and do not seek it.  That is why you could come across a really educated person, who is supposed to be really smart, who does not understand any of the profound truths in Scripture.  To him they are hidden.  To him the Bible is just some ancient text with religious themes.  You could say that God has outsmarted him, and that God has purposefully hidden the most profound axioms from him.  God does this by His wonderful design of Scripture - plain on the surface but profound underneath.  In fact, I doubt that there is any limit to the profundity of Scripture.  The deeper I dig, the more I discover.  The more I discover, the more my mind is blown.  And that continues to this day - I don't know if there is any limit to it.  Only God could do that.  He authors the greatest book of all time, with the most profound truths that have ever existed, and He disguises it as a plain old religious text that seems like nothing special to most people.  The key to unlock the wonders of Scripture is to go searching.  Jesus said it in Matthew 7:7 - "seek and you will find."  Searching the Bible for discovery is the most incredible and joyous adventure that I can think of.  I can testify to that.

Reasons That Reasonable People Believe The Bible

This is something you may not think much about, but since the Bible makes claims that, if true, hold eternal consequence, it makes a lot of sense to spend the necessary time to thoroughly research the arguments and evidence relating to the Bible.  We can treat the Bible much like we treat other subjects, testing whether its true or not, because the claims in the Bible are specific, presented by specific people at a specific time and place.  We can take all the evidence surrounding those claims - all the historical documents, archaeological and scientific information - and compare it to what's written in the Bible.  And the fact that there are specific prophecies in the Bible on top of that, we can test the Bible to see if its trustworthy or not.  It would be foolish to simply dismiss it because its extraordinary claims seem unbelievable, or to ignore it; those extraordinary claims also carry extraordinary significance if true.  If we're reasonable people, we must search out the truth in this matter because of the importance of it.  So here are a few reasons to believe the Bible, and reasons that reasonable people believe the Bible.

Manuscript evidence
To believe any historical document, there must be sufficient manuscript evidence in the original language the document was written in.  The Bible is second to none in this regard, both the Old and New Testaments.  There are over 5000 original Greek New Testaments, and over 2000 original Hebrew Old Testament manuscripts.  And the early dating of many of these manuscripts is also comparable to none other.  A fragment of John's gospel dates back to AD 125, entire books of the New Testament date back to AD 200, and Codex Sinaiticus, a complete copy of the New Testament, dates back to AD 350.  In comparison, there is virtually no other ancient historical document whose earliest manuscript dates within 700 years of the original writing.  The earliest copy of the Twelve Caesars, by the Roman historian Suetonius, is dated at AD 950, about 800 years after Suetonius originally wrote it.  Beyond the shear number of biblical manuscripts and the incredibly early dating compared to other historical documents, there is also the consistency of these manuscripts.  For the over 5000 New Testament full and partial manuscripts there is about a 99% internal consistency rate.  Combine that rate of consistency with that number of manuscripts to compare against each other, and the case for the Bible's reliability is great.

That's the first reason, because if the Bible we are reading today were in some way different than the one written in history, then the basis of our faith would be flawed.  But its not.  Even just the casual observer, who reads the Bible, can see that there are many connections in the Bible that could only be by design, and could never be true if textual corruption had happened.  Just consider the consistency of Jesus' teachings in the gospels, and the same consistency between that teaching and the teaching of the apostles.  There are four different accounts conveying the teachings of Christ to us, and even with four different accounts there is no contradiction.  Paul, an apostle of Christ who never even heard Him teach, taught in his letters the exact same stuff that Christ was teaching in His ministry.  That is the kind of thing that can only happen by design, and if the text were corrupted, so too would the consistency of the teaching be corrupted.

The cross
At the center of the biblical story is the cross.  It is the fundamental act of redemption, and it also happens to be a great point of proof for Christianity.  Dying and coming back to life three days later is the greatest miracle Jesus performed.  Obviously its a miracle, and its recorded by all gospel writers.  A public event that is attested by four independent accounts within decades of the event, as most scholars date the gospels, makes it impossible fiction.  Why?  Because had the accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection been fabrication, no one would have believed it.  Its not like these were written long after the event or in a different location, so certainly there would have been plenty of contemporaries to verify or falsify what they witnessed.  Paul even made an astounding claim to the Corinthians, that there were over 500 witnesses of the risen Christ and many still living, which is a claim that the Corinthians could have checked out themselves.  The opponents of Christianity, of which there were many, could easily have discounted fictional stories written about supposed events only decades prior.  It would be like any one of us writing an account of miracles happenings during the Vietnam War; plenty of skeptics would come forward, and plenty of veterans as well, to easily disprove something that's already hard to believe.  But we know for a fact that this is not what happened with the gospel accounts.  They were believed by people living in the same location as the events, and only a few decades (possibly just two decades with some of the New Testament books) after the events.  And the accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection went on to be the basis of the largest belief system in the world.

So what else might have happened?  Could the disciples have stolen the body?  With Roman soldiers guarding the tomb, and the disciples being scattered and leaderless, this seems highly unlikely.  And it wouldn't account for the numerous witnesses of the resurrected Christ.  They claim to have seen an alive Christ, not a dead Christ.  Could it be that Jesus swooned on the cross?  Only if you think a person can swoon after being beaten, nailed to a cross, pierced with a spear, and then have the strength to uncover himself from the burial wrappings and roll back a massive stone from the inside of a tomb.  Its much more reasonable to believe the miracle.  Could the Romans have made up some story?  Why would they?  They were enemies of Christianity and enemies of Israel, and the last thing they wanted was another radical belief system to contend with.  And had the disciples made up a story, why would they have gone to their own deaths defending it?  Sometimes a person will die for a lie, but never does a person die for a lie that they themselves came up with.  All of the remaining eleven disciples and Paul died a martyrs death, except for John, who was exiled to Patmos.

The prophecies
This is a test that anyone with a Bible can perform.  Find at least one of the many prophecies in the Bible, something that has been fulfilled, and see if it can be proven to originate before the fulfillment of it.  If its something specific and not enigmatic, then you have real proof that the prophecy is of supernatural origin.  Take this for example: In Daniel 11 there is a prophecy about kings of the south and kings of the north, which perfectly describes the battles between the Ptolemy dynasty in the south and the Seleucid dynasty in the north.  We know that the Ptolemies and Seleucids were fighting in the third century BC, and we know that much of Daniel was discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which dates to around the same time period.  Its reasonable to assume that the original writing of Daniel occurred centuries before those earliest manuscripts, and Daniel's understanding of Babylonian culture also gives us good reason to place him in that time period.  That would make for a specific prophecy, fulfilled and reasonably originated before its fulfillment.  That's just one; Daniel, by itself, has more.  Psalm 22, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 11:12-13 and Ezekiel 26 are a few more examples.  If a person wants to go crazy with it (because studying prophecies is indeed a lot of fun), he can find plenty of examples where Old Testament prophecies line up perfectly with New Testament prophecies - prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled, like much of the stuff in Revelation.

These are a few of the reasons that you will find many reasonable people putting their faith in Christ.  Its not some blind dogma that atheists would like you to think it is.  Research it for yourself, study it out like you would study anything else.  I didn't even get to the mountain of archaeological evidence confirming many details in the Bible.

Legalism and Liberalism

In Jesus' time on earth there were two main Jewish sects, the Pharisees and the Sadducees.  The Pharisees had their own definition of 'righteous', and they added many of their own rules and regulations to the law of Moses.  The Sadducees were slow to believe anything supernatural, and even denied basic things like the resurrection of the dead.  They would treat righteousness as a relative and ambiguous thing.  These two sects, the Pharisees and Sadducees, represented two opposing ends of a spectrum.  These ends are called legalism and liberalism, with the Pharisees representing legalism and the Sadducees representing liberalism.

Its important for Christians to understand this, because the spectrum hasn't changed, and because there are still people today falling into legalism and liberalism.  Its important to notice that Jesus does not commend either the Sadducees or the Pharisees, and on separate occasions He calls both of them wrong.  Jesus silences the Pharisees in Matthew 22:18-22, who are trying to trap Him, and right after that, in Matthew 22:23-32, He rebukes the Sadducees for not believing in the resurrection.  He does this because both ends of the spectrum are not good and not correct.  Legalism is largely what Paul fights against in his letters; and liberalism is fought against by basically every New Testament writer - James, John, the writer of Hebrews, even Paul and more.  Understanding that it is a spectrum, with two evil extremes on both ends, is very helpful in understanding the Bible.  There are a number of passages that might seem to contradict, but if you know that these passages are meant to correct two opposite extremes, then it makes sense.

Legalism
Legalism starts with good intentions.  A person wants to be righteous, which is always a good thing.  But that person lacks maturity and understanding.  They fail to biblically define and understand what righteousness is.  So when someone comes along and says "rock music is sinful," or "showing your belly is sinful," or any number of other things, they automatically accept it as fact.  So there starts a list of sinful things without any foundation in the word of God, and that list becomes a huge burden.  Legalistic people do not in reality please God, because their silly rules are a distraction from doing the things that God truly does desire.  In the Bible Jesus commands us to love and to forgive and to make disciples and to pray and to worship and to seek first the kingdom of God.  These are positive actions directed toward one end - the glory of God on earth.  And these commands have nothing to do with alcohol or the way a person dresses or the words a person uses, or any of the things legalistic people are typically talking about.  Thus you can see how all these rules, which are found no where in Scripture, become a distraction from the real commands and the things that God really desires.  And when those legalistic people place their rules on other people, especially when they accompany them with threats of hell, you can see how it creates more problems.  There is a reason Jesus reserved His most vicious comments for the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  Read Matthew 23 (the whole chapter) sometime, and you will see how God feels about hypocritical teachers who place heavy burdens on people.  The solution to legalism is to question everything that is supposedly sinful.  And the way to do that is to read the Bible.  If something is truly sinful, there will be a reasonable basis in Scripture for saying so.  But if Scripture does not address the issue, then there is good reason to ignore it.  We must have a good understanding of God's word to know what is sin and what is not sin.  Paul wrote about the freedom a believer has in Christ.  Legalism is affront to that freedom.

Liberalism
At the opposite end of the spectrum there are some people trying to shoot down the very commands of God.  Whereas legalism is adding to Scripture, liberalism is subtracting from Scripture.  Liberalism seeks to create doubt in the word of God, and ignores the sins that are truly sins.  The liberals will say that homosexuality is not a sin, even though its clear in Romans 1:26-27 that God thinks otherwise.  Liberals will say that there are no gender roles in marriage, even though Paul and Peter both wrote about the roles of husbands and wives.  Liberals will distort Jesus' teachings on judging and forgiveness to condemn those who rightly say wrong beliefs are wrong or rebuke those who sin.  Liberalism falls into a bigger cloud of fallacies, relating itself to relativism and universalism.  Its basically the idea that there is no right or wrong, and that everything is relative, so there is no room for rebuking someone's sin or wrong beliefs.  It subtracts from Scripture by ignoring plainly written truths in Scripture, and the result is obvious: sin.  Sin is not good, and sin leads to hell, and anything that encourages sin is likewise not good by leading to the thing that leads to hell.  So liberalism is just as bad as legalism, and it can cause just as many problems, but in a different way.

There is a simple solution to both: Try not to go too far in one direction or the other, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, try to understand God's word - the Bible.

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise - why destroy yourself?  Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool - why die before your time?  It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.  The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.  Ecclesiastes 7:16-18

How To Be Content

There is a lot of value in being content.  It may not be the thing that most people seek.  Most people are seeking money and power and satisfaction of their carnal desires.  But being content, for those who are, is like a warm bed in winter and a glass of iced lemonade in summer.  And its rare to find content people.  So for anyone who desires contentment in this crazy world, what is there to do?  Something very real, based on Someone very real.

Having a clear conscience
A guilty conscience will haunt the person who has it.  Someone might get away with a crime, and not be thrown in prison, but his conscience will eat him up.  So much so that he may wish to be found out and brought to justice, so that he can pay retribution for his deeds.  As Solomon says in the Proverbs, "A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death" (Proverbs 28:17).  The only way to have a clear conscience is to be reconciled with God and with those people hurt by deeds done, and to be righteous from then on.  That starts with asking God for forgiveness, and asking God to give the Holy Spirit for regeneration.  Only a person who is born again can stop sinning and have a clear conscience.

Knowing the truth
Anyone who knows the truth, and that truth which is important and relevant to life, will have confidence in what he does.  There is no fear in the person who knows the truth, except the fear of God.  There is confidence.  There is an inward joy as others are speaking about things that he understands.  Sometimes there is an inward laughter.  And gaining knowledge of the truth is not hard to do.  It starts with reading the Bible.  The ultimate truth, whether God is real and Jesus is who He said He is, and whether the Bible is true, is something that must be answered first.  And that can be answered by studying the reasons people believe the Bible and the evidences supporting the Bible.  There are perfectly logical arguments for believing that the Bible is what it claims to be.  Once that is answered, and the truth is known in that regard, then you must read the Bible and meditate on its meaning.  All of the most important truths are found in the Bible.  Not only things that are general in nature, but also things quite specific and profound.  Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Having faith in God
When people talk about having faith in God it is usually about salvation.  Of course a Christian has faith in God for his salvation, but that isn't what I'm talking about here.  See, if we truly believe what the Bible says about God, then there is very good reason for us to have faith in God for everyday salvation.  Should we be worried about our bank account?  Should we worry about accidents?  Do we need insurance and a retirement fund?  If we have faith in God, the answer is no.  He has many multitudes of angels, and doesn't the writer of Hebrews say that angels are sent to serve Christians (Hebrews 1:14)?  And in Romans 8:28, Paul writes that God works to the good of those that love Him.  Even bad things that happen to Christians are turned into good.  So with faith in God, there is no way to worry about life.  Faith in God and worry are two drastically contradictory things.

Being satisfied with the greatest reward
There is no greater reward possible than the reward of eternal life.  Life with God in heaven, at the New Jerusalem, and with all the universe in our possession, is simply beyond compare.  So what is the point of desiring things of this world?  With that great reward of eternal life, how can anyone be wanting?  Eternal life brings satisfaction.  It brings satisfaction in Christ Jesus.  This starts with being born again.  Being born again starts with knowing the truth and having faith in God.  By the grace of God we are given the Holy Spirit, and with that we are given satisfaction and confidence and a clear conscience.  These things produce contentment.  And contentment is a gift that is largely undervalued in our world.  People don't realize just how wonderful it is to be able to say, "It is well with my soul."

What If

What if you could worship the living God with a complete stranger anywhere, on the street, in the middle east, or next to you on a plane?

What if the fear of God and reverence for God were commonplace anywhere you went?

What if prayer were seen as a righteous and holy act, encouraged at every venue?

What if every sports star, movie star, famous singer, business owner and politician gave thanks to God for all their successes?

What if every person on earth knew the name of Jesus, knew the Holy Spirit and the word of God?

What if the love of God saturated every inch of the earth, and every person were treated with the utmost respect because they are made in the image of God?

What if every person shared this in common: We all went to church on Sunday morning, worshiped our Lord and took part in Communion?

What if war were only a thing of the past, because the world is filled with brothers and sisters in Christ?

What if every nation on earth would wrap their arms around any nation that is hit with disaster?

What if we laughed together, praised together, cried together, celebrated together, and shared all our brilliant ideas with each other?

What if God blessed the world with harmony, peace and prosperity, and the effects of the curse were reversed?

What if a poor person were considered to be anyone with a car older than ten years?

What if the worst disease we feared were chicken pox?

What if Bible studies were so common that you could attend five a week if you wanted to?

What if we looked at God's word so intently that we were discovering new and amazing things every day, put there by God for us?

What if having a cross around your neck were an endearing symbol, bringing brothers and sisters together in one purpose?

What if new and glorious songs of worship were created every day by people endowed with divine talent?

What if obedience to Christ's commandments covered the earth?

What if disciples were made of every nation, tongue and tribe, and we all joined together to give God glory and praise and honor and reverence?

When Jesus prayed this: "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  He did not put it out there as only a good prayer.  Our mission on earth is to bring about that fulfillment.  We are God's vessels to this end.  And when that is accomplished, and God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, we will see the closest thing to heaven that could possibly be seen on earth.  We work to this end.  The first thing is to fulfill the great commission, making disciples and teaching them to be obedient to Christ's commands.  When we do this, the rest will follow.  God will bless the earth, and all the great and glorious things I mentioned will be true.  Brothers and sisters, I urge you to pray and work relentlessly to accomplish this.

The Consistency of The Old And New Testaments

You've probably heard, somewhere along the line, someone say something to the effect of, "God in the Old Testament is so different than Jesus in the New Testament."  The idea is that the Old and New Testaments paint such a different picture, that you can't really believe both of them at once, and that God either changed or God did not inspire both texts.  The problem is that there are a number of people, both in and out of the church, that know so little about the Bible that these kind of misconceptions exist.  I know I used to have this misconception, and before I read the Old Testament all the way through, I was a little bit nervous.  I read it at first with a considerable dose of skepticism, because I did not want what I might read in the Old Testament to affect my beliefs or thinking.  I realize now how foolish and ignorant that was.  Let me demonstrate, with a few examples, how consistent the Old Testament and the New Testament really are, and how a Christian can read both of them with full confidence.

The judgement of God
This is something that popular opinion might relegate to the Old Testament.  Y'know, "Jesus is so loving but His Father is so judgmental," idea.  Not so fast.  Jesus does not let sinners off easy, but just the opposite.

Not every who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  -Jesus in Matthew 7:21

The really disturbing part of that is that He is speaking about people who consider themselves to be Christians, otherwise they wouldn't be saying "Lord, Lord".  Now take a look at what Jesus says to the religious leaders of His time:

You snakes!  You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?  -Jesus in Matthew 23:33

Doesn't sound like the nice, loves-everybody, teddy bear Jesus, does it?  And that's not all...

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'   -Jesus in Mark 9:47-48

Whoa.  This is all New Testament.  So much for the idea that the New Testament is all about God's grace and forgiveness.  Anyone who knows the New Testament knows that there is plenty of warnings, both for believers and for nonbelievers, of the wrath and judgement of God.  Look at how the return of Jesus is described:

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.  "He will rule them with an iron scepter."  He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  Revelation 19:13-15

Now if you think this is somehow different than what's in the Old Testament, let me refer you so something David wrote in the Psalms:

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.  Psalm 2:12

God's grace to the meek and brokenhearted
This is the other side of the coin.  Its a common misconception that God in the Old Testament is always judgmental and mean; that there's no grace.  Those who have read the Old Testament know that God shows a lot of grace and love to the people who really need it. 

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  Psalm 34:18

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.  Psalm 51:17

Now compare that to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  -Jesus in Matthew 5:3-4 

God's love and care for the helpless
Going all the way back to Exodus - the Torah - where so many people can only think of God's vengeance for sin, we find that God is caring and compassionate for the people who need it the most.  See if this doesn't sound like love to you.

Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.  Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan.  If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.  -Yahweh in Exodus 22:21-22

Love your enemies
When you say that, immediately people think of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, but its not just a New Testament teaching.  God has been teaching us to love our enemies both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.  If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.  -Yahweh in Exodus 23:4-5

When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father?  Shall I kill them?"  "Do not kill them," he answered.  "Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow?  Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master."  So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master.  So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel's territory.  2Kings 6:21-23

These are just a few examples that illustrate a much bigger truth.  I could probably write several blogs on consistent truths in the Old and New Testaments.  I mention these simply to combat some common misconceptions.  Its important to note that Jesus and the apostles quoted or alluded to the Old Testament over 300 times.  Examples of consistent teachings, and a clear connection, are abundant to say the least.  When people try to say that there is some great disparity between the two, its likely either they've never actually read the Bible, or they are looking for some way to attack its credibility.

Only One Way

There is only one way to enter heaven

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me..."  John 14:6

To live in Christ is to obey His commands.  And Christ commands that we give up all worldly pursuits and seek the kingdom of God and the glory of God.  This is not easy to do.  We can see that by looking around, almost everyone is wrapped up in some worldly pursuit or another.  For some people its as simple as money and all the shiny things that come with it.  For others its relationships - family and friends.  And some people are trying to impress, to be recognized as talented or great or smart or maybe even humble.  Some people are trying to climb the corporate ladder.  Some people are trying to find the perfect spouse.  A person could write a book or two just on the ins and outs of worldly pursuits.  But that's not what I'm trying to do here; just trying to establish a basic idea of what worldly pursuits are.  Here we will address those psychological attractions and deterrents to seeking the kingdom of heaven.

If you ask someone plainly whether they want to go to heaven or not, you will almost always get an absolute and obvious "Yes!"  Putting the question so simply makes answering it very easy.  But is it that simple?  Can the desire displayed in that "Yes!" really take a person the whole way there?  Firstly we must tackle the hard realities of Christ's words.  Jesus did not make it so simple for His disciples.  Jesus said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  And we know from the verse atop, following Christ is the only way to enter heaven.  So that puts us in a different position.  Now the question is, "Are you willing to deny yourself and take up your cross daily so that you can enter heaven?"  Denying yourself means crucifying every desire to serve yourself, to honor yourself or to please yourself.  We know this is hard to do, but why is it hard to do?

Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  -Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14

The desire for worldly things is strong because we are constantly reminded of them.  Every time we see, touch, taste, feel or feel an emotion, we are reminded of these things.  It takes zero faith and understanding to believe in sex, or steak, or the praise of men, or a corvette, or a masters degree, or a six-figure income, or a desirable spouse.  We are reminded of these things many times a day; they bombard our mind through our senses.  And yet these are the things that must be denied in the denying of oneself.  That creates a colossal battle in the mind.  It is so much easier to just ignore eternity and focus on all the immediate things, the things that take no faith and provide instant reward.  And we can't have both.  Christ made sure we knew that.  He made sure that we knew that there is a reason why the road is narrow that leads to life, and that we do not ignore that reason.  So what would drive a person to choose God and choose to deny himself?  What is it about these "few" that makes them different from the "many"?

I believe God designed the human psyche in a peculiar way.  He knows what He made, both tangible and intangible.  Even the knowledge gained through the eating of a fruit was made by Him; so there is nothing, not even a man-made thing, that is not or was not known by God.  Every thing made by God is simply what it is, but how we judge that thing, whether we consider it good or bad, is more a matter of our own psyche as it is of the thing itself.  We might find roadkill repulsive, but buzzards beg to differ.  So we might look at our own psyche for once, rather than looking at the world around us, and wonder why some things are considered good and others bad.

We know that human instinct sees worldly things as desirable.  Otherwise we wouldn't be talking about them.  And we know that this is the reason it is difficult to follow Christ's commands and deny ourselves, and the reason for the narrow path.  But I believe there is a greater design at work, one that goes overlooked.  If all there were is our instinctual and worldly desires, then no one would be a Christian.  The path would not be narrow, the path would be nonexistent.  There has to be a deeper desire that exclusively exists in the human soul; a desire for meaning, I believe.  Its not an immediate desire - something you feel right away - and its not something you feel through your senses.  Its a desire that may develop over time.  And its something that our circumstances either contribute to or not.  Every experience adds or subtracts to or from our deepest values and heartfelt desires.  A Christian does not always crucify those worldly desires; sometimes they are unwittingly killed for him.  Now let us consider a situation in which that might happen, and see if that too might be a design of God.

I have a hunch that every worldly pursuit is riddled with pitfalls, and that because God designed it so.  There may be a guy that considers himself to be very honest and good.  But if his goal in life is to climb the corporate ladder, he will be faced with the reality that he must lie and cheat and step on other people to do so.  Suddenly this guy is not so honest and good.  Worldly pursuits lead to an inevitable compromise of morals.  Sometimes they lead to ultimate disaster, like what we see with the prodigal son.  On top of that, if there were any worldly pursuit (for example, having the perfect family) that didn't result in compromising morals or ending up as the prodigal son, it would still leave the pursuer empty.  A good relationship might satisfy for a little while, but there is only so much meaning that can be found in family, friends or a spouse.  This too is designed to fail.  Every worldly pursuit, whether its ignoble like sex and drugs, or noble like having a perfect family, is designed to fail in fulfilling an individual.  So what happens?

There are two things that can happen to a person, I take it, that will lead him to Christ.  The first thing is basically what happened to the prodigal son.  A person pursues his worldly desires and that worldly pursuit ends with disaster.  At that point he comes to his senses, has nothing to lose, and chooses to follow Christ.  This is what I mean when I say that not every Christian crucifies their worldly desires, but has them unwittingly killed.  And this is why I say that disaster can be the best thing to happen to a person; it can be the thing that turns his life to Christ and sets him on the path to eternal life.  The other thing that can happen is when a person realizes that there is nothing on earth that can satisfy his own soul.  This is the guy that has what he needs to survive, and maybe even thrive, physically, but knows that there is something missing in his soul.  He goes searching for meaning, and after some while, he finds meaning in Christ Jesus.  At that point he is faced with the fact that he must give up all his worldly pursuits and seek the kingdom of God.  You can't serve both God and money, as Jesus has said.

This is food for thought.  When you look around at the world, don't just think simply of what is there, think also of what God created and why He created it that way.  Things are designed, even our own way of thinking, in a particular way and for a reason.  Its amazing to me to consider all the things God has designed, from history, to His word (the Bible), to nature, to knowledge, to the unborn baby, to the dynamics of human life.  Everything is designed, and its all designed for a purpose.  The purpose of all those failures and pitfalls in life is to show us that worldly pursuits are the wrong path.  There is only one way, and the way is narrow, and the way requires a particular life, and the way is Christ.

Ultimate Excellence

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Philippians 4:8

First thing
This is not Scripture, but it is one of my favorite quotes:

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."  -Martin Luther King, Jr.

The first thing to excellence is simply to do all things to the best of your ability.  No matter what your calling in life, whether it is noble or ignoble, you can do your job well.  Especially when an entire congregation of saints does their unique duty well, it shows.  Good work cannot be hidden.  The collective excellence of saints shines brighter than the sun.

Maintain perspective
Eternity matters; the temporal does not.  Heaven comes first; we are only pilgrims here.  Remember that many things are trivial, especially as you think of other people's actions.  We can do all things to the best of our ability, but we must remember to bear with the defects of others.  Why?  Because it ultimately is not important.  This is the ascetic mentality. Doing excellent things and being excellent comes from a certain light-heartedness.  Before you can make a safer car, you must remind yourself that mankind survived quite nicely with horses for thousands of years.  This takes the pressure off, freeing your mind and body for the best work possible.

Forgive
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.  -Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15

Forgiveness is kinda like plan B.  Obviously plan A is that no one would ever sin against another person.  But we live in an imperfect world.  Mistakes will happen, sins will occur and offenses will be made.  But if we did not forgive people when they sin against us, that would result in continual bitterness and anger.  We simply need to let go of those things, reminding ourselves that those things are not important.  So someone took some of your money?  So what?  So someone slandered your name?  Big deal.  So someone cheated you?  It doesn't matter.  When we forgive each other, that too, takes the pressure off.  Its like we have the freedom to make mistakes, but of course we try our best not to.  Remember, love keeps no record of wrongs.

Do not worry
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own  -Jesus in Matthew 6:33-34

Maintaining perspective and forgiving others are leading to this point: Do not worry.  Since many things are not important, and we all are called to forgive one another, bearing with each others defects, there's simply no reason to worry.  A person cannot be excellent if they're always in a tissle.  Stress can even kill (heart-attacks).  So trust in God, let go of trivial things, and you will be in the right frame of mind to be excellent and do good.

Love
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you  -Jesus in Matthew 5:44

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Galatians 5:14

Love is key.  When people all over the world love their neighbor, and even love their fellow man across the globe, that is when God's "kingdom come," and His "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Love is the most excellent of all, as Paul says, "the greatest of these is love."  If we want to see excellence in the world, in each other and throughout the world, we simply must love each other.

Pray
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  James 1:5

Trust in God.  Prayer is a sign that you trust in God.  If you lack anything needed for excellence, do something so basic: pray.  God empowers us.  God leads us.  We are not orphans, and we do not strive on our own.  We strive with God as our vanguard and our rearguard.  We strive with millions of saints from every tongue, tribe and nation.  You may not think that you have what it takes; that's ok, because you shouldn't trust in yourself, you should trust in God.  Ask Him for what it takes.

To the glory of God
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  -Jesus in Matthew 5:16

Why excellence?  Why love and forgiveness?  Why do we do these things?  To the glory of God!  It begins and ends with God.  We seek Him and His kingdom, He empowers us, and the result is His glory.  Everything in between, even the street sweeping, is done to make an excellent world that begs the question: Where does this come from?  It comes from God.  We shine the light, so that men see the light and want the light for themselves.  Then we let them know the Source of all goodness and excellence.

The Four Beasts in Daniel

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed.  He wrote down the substance of his dream.  Daniel 7:1

In Daniel 7 there are four beasts described, from a vision Daniel had, each representing a prophetic kingdom.  If you remember, in Daniel 2 there were also four kingdoms represented by four sections of a statue.  Those were four ancient kingdoms, each succeeding the previous one, with all of them ruling the Asia Minor and Mesopotamian region at one time.  Babylon, Persia, Greece/Alexander and Rome - I wrote a blog about it once.  Those four ancient kingdoms seem to share some similarity with the kingdoms prophesied with the four beasts, but they are not the same; there are some distinct differences.  The most obvious difference is the fourth beast.  It has iron teeth, like Rome with the iron legs/feet, but the magnitude of its power and terror is much greater.  Anyone who has studied eschatology can spot very quickly how the fourth beast relates to Revelation 13, and so it does.  But lets go ahead and take a look at the first beast and see if we can figure this out.

The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.  I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.  Daniel 7:4

This beast shares some similarity with the golden head representing Babylon.  The lion symbolizes majesty and power.  The wings of an eagle means that this beast can travel over great distances.  There is only one kingdom in modern times that fits the profile, and that is Great Britain.  This is true for a number of reasons.  Great Britain has come the closest of any modern power to actually conquering the world.  It was once said, "The Sun never sets on the British Empire," meaning that in every part of the world Great Britain had colonies.  And the lion has always been associated with Great Britain.  You can see it on the royal coat of arms.  The wings of an eagle could refer to the original thirteen colonies, as the eagle is associated with the US and the thirteen colonies broke off from the British Empire.  The wings could also be simply all of Great Britain's colonies, which have broken away.

And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear.  It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.  It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!'  Daniel 7:5

A bear is big, brutal and clumsy.  This beast represents a kingdom like that - big, brutal, and we might say unpredictable.  In the ancient world, the Persian Empire was much like that.  They won battles simply by outnumbering their opponents.  They were not majestic like the lion.  They didn't rule with equity; they oppressed people.  And it was big.  There is a modern kingdom that fits the description perfectly: Russia.  Russia is just like a bear, which is why Russia has been associated with the bear for many years.  And if we consider the population of Russia, it is raised up on its western side.  Now its clear that right after WWII the Soviet Union ate its "fill of flesh" when it conquered and controlled Eastern Europe.  What's not as clear is the meaning of the three ribs in the bear's mouth.  I've heard it speculated that the Yalta Conference, with Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin as the three ribs, is the fulfillment of this.  I don't know, it could be.  The timing is perfect.

After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.  And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird.  This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.  Daniel 7:6

The third kingdom in the ancient world was Alexander's Empire.  Alexander the Great went out and conquered in a flash - he conquered the entire Persian Empire in only ten years.  This is much the way a leopard operates; by springing on its victims in a moment.  And we know Alexander's Empire was split into four kingdoms, ruled by four of his generals.  But this beast must represent a modern kingdom, if its to be consistent with the rest of the prophecy, particularly with the fourth beast, which is clearly the antichrist's global kingdom, revealed in Daniel 7:16-28 and in Revelation.  It takes a little pondering to figure out what modern kingdom the leopard represents, but its clear once you know.  Germany is the answer.  The first thing we notice is the four heads and the four wings.  These are four kingdoms within the greater kingdom and four leaders of each of those kingdoms.  As we know, Hitler was the leader of the Third Reich, which literally means "Third Kingdom".  The first kingdom was the Holy Roman Empire with Charlemagne as the first king, and the second kingdom was the German Empire with Otto von Bismarck as the second king.  This suggests that there will be a Fourth Reich with a fourth leader sometime in the near future.  It also fits perfectly with the chronology of the prophecy - Great Britain going out and conquering first, Russia eating its fill secondly, and the final head of the leopard, Germany, being given authority to rule thirdly.  The way this will likely work out, given that the European Union is already formed, is that in some way authority to rule the EU will be given to Germany, and there will be a powerful leader in Germany at the same time.  Whether he will be as ruthless as Hitler, or if he will go out conquering like Alexander, we do not yet know.

To make the leopard/Germany association clearer, consider how Hitler conquered France: with Blitzkrieg and tanks.  Consider what the name of German tanks are today.  This is a picture of the German Leopard 2

These are the first three beasts.  Similar to the ancient kingdoms of Babylon, Persia and Greece, but different in some way or another.  One thing that is similar but different is the fact that they are all in one region of the world, but that region is different from ancient to modern.  In the ancient world these kingdoms ruled the Mesopotamian and Asia Minor region.  In the modern world these kingdoms are all in Europe.  And the fourth kingdom is both - Rome.  Rome is in Europe, but the ancient Roman Empire ruled the same region that the other ancient kingdoms ruled.  The modern Roman Empire, or "Nova Roma", is prophesied in verse 7:

After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast - terrifying and frightening and very powerful.  It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left.  It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.  Daniel 7:7

We see how this relates to the statue prophecy in Daniel 2:40 with the use of iron.  The iron in Daniel 2 represents the ancient Roman Empire.  The beast with iron teeth in Daniel 7 represents the global empire of the antichrist, which will rule the world for a period of seven years.  We see the connection with Revelation 13:1, because of the ten horns.  And we see the explanation of it in Daniel 7:15-28.  I'll let you read it without me quoting it here, since it is pretty lengthy.

The Trinity in The Old Testament

The doctrine of the Trinity is the doctrine that says God is three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - in one God.  The Bible does not include the word "Trinity" in it, nor does the Bible specifically describe this doctrine, but the truth of it is plainly present in Scripture.  Not only is the truth of the Trinity present in the New Testament, but you can see it in the Old Testament as well.  I hope to show you exactly how the Old Testament proves the doctrine of the Trinity of God.

God is one
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Deuteronomy 6:4

For who is God besides the LORD?  And who is the Rock except our God?  Psalm 18:31

This is a pretty obvious fact, and its undisputed by all Christians, Jews and even Muslims.

God is more than one
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all creatures that move along the ground."  Genesis 1:26

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.  He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."  Genesis 3:22

"...Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."  Genesis 11:7

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"  And I said, "Here am I.  Send me!"  Isaiah 6:8

 We see examples of God using the plural pronoun for Himself.

The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for you feet."  Psalm 110:1

How can there be two Lords, and one speaking to the other?  The Trinity of God

"Shout and be glad, O Daughter of Zion.  For I am coming, and I will live among you," declares the LORD.  "Many nations will be joined with the LORD in that day and will become my people.  I will live among you and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you..."  Zechariah 2:10-11

God is speaking and He says "the LORD Almighty has sent me to you."  How can that be?  Only the Trinity of God can answer that.

The Father in the Old Testament
He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.'  Psalm 89:26

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.  Isaiah 64:8

The Son in the Old Testament
I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:  He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father....  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.  Blessed are all who take refuge in him.  Psalm 2:7,12

Who has gone up to heaven and come down?  Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?  Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?  Who has established all the ends of the earth?  What is his name, and the name of his son?  Tell me if you know!  Proverbs 30:4

He said, "Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."  Daniel 3:25

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.  Daniel 7:13-14

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  Genesis 1:2

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Psalm 51:11

Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.  So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.  Isaiah 63:10

Two Kinds of Love

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these."  Mark 12:29-31

Exclusive Love
What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?  Using the picture of marriage is probably the best way to describe it.  Rightly so, because the church of Christ is called the bride of Christ.  This love is the kind of love that involves passions and desires.  This love waits for and longs for Christ.  This is the love, that more than anything else, wants to be with Him.  There is a burning in the heart and soul that won't go away until its desire is fulfilled.  This love is exclusively for God.  It means rejecting with contempt anyone or anything that tries to compete with Him as number one.  This love makes a person think of Jesus, dominating a person's thoughts day and night.  Imagine a young lady who meets the man of her dreams: Is she kept up at night thinking about him?  This is a lose yourself kind of love; it requires total surrender.  You'll be hanging on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  You'll obey His commands with a desire to please Him.  We all know that God needs nothing from us, yet He asks us to serve Him, and that is so we can demonstrate our love for Him.  This is the love that drives us to worship.  We worship Him, and Him alone, because only God is worthy of our worship.  This is the total love that consumes every bit of strength and desire and thought and affection and expectation.  This is what might be called crazy love.

Brotherly Love
This is the second greatest command: Love your neighbor as yourself.  This is the kind of love that looks out for each other.  We have a common bond, being united in the church of Christ, and all being made in the image of God.  Because of that, we treat each other with respect and care.  We want what is best for the other person, just as we might for ourselves.  We encourage one another.  We strengthen each other.  We warn when there is danger.  We celebrate at victories.  We cry with each other.  This is the kind of love that looks beyond self and looks to the best interests of everyone.  This is brotherly love

Both Physical And Spiritual

There's a number of biblical issues some people have a hard time understanding, which can easily be understood if you think of the physical and the spiritual reality.  Firstly, I should define what I mean by both.  The physical is material things in the world.  The spiritual is that which is heavenly and from God.  The thing is, what people often don't understand, the physical and spiritual realities are combined into one.  Lets take a look at one example that any average Christian knows of, and we'll move on from there.

Jesus is God, and Jesus was man.  Jesus was both 100% man and 100% God.  The physical reality, when Jesus was here on earth, was that Jesus was a man; He came in the flesh (2John 7).  The spiritual reality, and eternal reality, is that Jesus is God (John 1:1).  When people try to think strictly with logic, without any allowance for paradox, they find that this is a contradiction.  But its not a contradiction, its a paradox, and as we shall see, its not the only paradox involving the physical and the spiritual.  I mention this example to lay some groundwork to make a point with another issue, in which there seems to be less agreement among Christians.  With this example, there is agreement.  And the agreement is that Jesus was both man and God.  So it shouldn't be hard for Christians to understand the paradoxical reality when it comes to salvation.  The keyword in all this is -both-

Who does the work of salvation?  That is the question that Calvinists and Arminianists have been arguing over for years.  Calvinists say that God does the work of salvation; Arminianists say that man does it.  I say they're both wrong, or both right depending on how you look at it.  The fact of the matter is that -both- man and God do the work of salvation.  This is another paradox, just like the paradox of Jesus being 100% man and 100% God.  And if you're going to understand salvation, understanding this fundamental fact is essential.  Both man and God do the work of salvation.  The Holy Spirit works in us, and what the Holy Spirit does, we do.  In other words, what we do is a result of what the Holy Spirit does.  Consider this verse: continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose (2Philippians 2:12-13).  So who is doing the working, man or God?  Both, and at the same time.

Think about it, we are the body of Christ, right?  And we did already establish that Christ is both man and God, right?  So doesn't that make -us- both man and God?  If you have been born again, that is who you are; you are both a man and one with God, because the Holy Spirit is in you.  You might think that sounds like blasphemy, saying that we are one with God, but that's exactly what Jesus says: On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you (Jesus in John 14:20).  The act of doing the will of God because of God doing it in you is exactly what unity is.  I am doing it, and God is doing it; my will is done by His will, and His will is done by my will.  That is what unity is.  And that is the paradox of the physical and the spiritual - they are two different things, but they are brought into unity by God.  Jesus was the first man to be both physical and spiritual, and Jesus is an example for us all.  What Jesus was and became, that is what we are and will become.  Just as Jesus died and rose from the dead, so shall we, because we are in Christ Jesus.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11).  Just as Jesus displayed the paradox of being both physical and spiritual, so do we.  We are both physical and spiritual.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Philadelphia

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  I know your deeds.  See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.  I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars - I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.  Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.  I am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it.  I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  -Jesus in Revelation 3:7-13

We have now come to the present day.  We live at a time when the church in Sardis is diminishing (the Protestant churches), the church in Thyatira continues (the RCC), and the church in Philadelphia is emerging.  Don't take that to mean that this is the "emerging" or "emergent" church.  Its hard to define the church in Philadelphia, since it is such an infant.  But you can look for these signs: holds to the Bible and keeps the name of Jesus.  This is churches that go by the name of Christ rather than the name of a denomination.  And this is churches that hold to Scripture and know it well.  You can tell which is the church in Philadelphia, if you see these two signs.

So what is the open door that Jesus speaks of?  Clearly this is figurative, as a literal open door means nothing.  Generally speaking, an open door is an opportunity.  Specifically, I believe this open door is the internet.  The internet is the most beneficial technology the church has ever seen; even better than the printing press.  Our mission as Christians is to communicate a message.  The advantage of the internet is that it gives us the ability to communicate that message near and far and wide, all without leaving the house.  Even just in a believer's spare time, he can post Scripture on his Facebook.  He could make a video defending the Christian faith in just a hour or so.  There is much us Christians can do to make disciples by using the internet.  Its simple and easy; its just a matter of doing it.

So the church in Philadelphia is emerging, Jesus has placed an open door before this church, and this church has kept His word and not denied His name.  Jesus says that He will make those who are the synagogue of Satan acknowledge that He has loved the church in Philadelphia.  So what is the synagogue of Satan?  Again, this is clearly figurative.  Jesus says that they claim to be Jews but are not.  And since its mentioned here, it must be something significant.  I believe the synagogue of Satan is the Islamic world.  Muslims claim to be Jews, or at least to be children of the promise - through Ishmael - but anyone that studies Islam can see clearly that it is wrought with evil.  Calling it the synagogue of Satan is accurate, if you know anything about Islam.  Also, if you know the OT prophecies, you know that God will punish the enemies of Israel.  Muslims in the middle east have made themselves the enemies of Israel.  If you connect the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 to what Jesus says about the synagogue of Satan here, you see a picture in which Muslims will come to acknowledge God after being humiliated in defeat.

Finally, since I write this to many who are in this church whether they realize it yet, I want to emphasize what Jesus says.  Jesus says that the church in Philadelphia has kept His command to endure patiently.  That means we must endure patiently.  And it means there must be a reason, otherwise it wouldn't be written.  There is a great promise in this letter, but evidently we will have to work hard and long before that promise will be realized.  We must persevere.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Sardis

To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.  Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  -Jesus in Revelation 3:1-6

We are now getting into the later churches.  The church in Sardis represents the dominate church from the time of the Reformation (AD1500) to about this day.  We think of this church as the Protestant churches.  The reformers have always had a reputation of being alive.  Today many Protestants put about as much emphasis on their favorite reformer and their own particular denomination's tradition as the Bible, and maybe more.  But the reality of these churches, which came out of the reformation, is that they were not alive.  If you study closely the history of Protestant churches and the people in and around them, you can see clearly that all is not well.  Spiritual deadness is hard to see in history, but we can see the effects of it.  During the time that Protestantism was dominate in Europe, there were wars and colonial slavery, which is obviously contrary to Christ's teachings.  Its also evident in the amount of division, with all the different denominations in Protestantism.

It could be that the "Wake up!" in this letter is reflected in the Great Awakening.  The two great awakenings were massive revivals that get a good bit of attention.  The awakenings themselves are pretty cool, but a person has to wonder why they had to awaken.  Their impact did not last for long.  It seems that churches went right back to sleep.  Christ tells the church in Sardis that they must strengthen what remains, because their deeds are not complete.  The fact that their deeds are not complete is a result of Sola Fide (by faith alone), which is a teaching peculiar to Protestant churches.  Protestants have always had the idea that deeds do not need to be done to enter heaven, and as a result, deeds have not been done.  So today, if you think about it critically, you see that there are many Protestant churches that are dead and dying.  You see churches that are spiritually dead and physically dying.  Those that go to church do not take their religion seriously, and you find more and more post-Christian people, because there is little reason to go to church.  There must be a realization that deeds are necessary, and good deeds have been lacking in Protestant churches.  The word "strengthen" is used, because there is an overall weakness in these churches.  Church-goers must learn the Bible and learn some apologetics, which will strengthen their faith and make them able to defend it.  This is one thing that has been lacking in Protestant churches.

Even still, there are some in the Protestant churches that have done good deeds and have obeyed their Master.  These are the "few people" that Jesus talks to in this letter.  You can read about missionaries that went to distant lands and put their lives in danger.  You can read about song-writers who wrote countless worship songs.  You can see strong fathers and mothers who raised their children well and taught them Scripture.  You can see, among the broader deadness, a few saints that have paid attention to Christ's words and followed them.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Thyatira

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.  I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.  Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.  By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.  I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.  So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.  I will strike her children dead.  Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.  Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come.  To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations - 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' - just as I have received authority from my Father.  I will also give him the morning star.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  -Jesus in Revelation 2:18-29

The churches up until now were all churches of early Christianity, with a fair amount of overlap among them.  This church, the church in Thyatira, is the last of the early churches, but also the first of the late churches.  This is the church that connects ancient Christianity with modern Christianity.  Its commonly known as the Roman Catholic Church, but also includes the Eastern Orthodox churches.  The time period in which the Roman Catholic Church was most dominate was from around AD500 to around AD1500, or from the rise of the papacy to the Reformation.  You can see, by studying church history, that the Roman Catholic Church has always been keen on good works, and they do a good many of them.  You'll also notice that during the dark ages (the beginning of this church age) the church was doing less than after the middle ages (the latter part of the church age).  The church progressively has done more and more, and that is worthy of commendation.  Jesus also commends them for their love and faith, which is something much less obvious from our vantage point, but I trust that its true.

There is one major problem with the Roman Catholic Church though, and that is the Vatican.  The woman Jezebel, that Jesus speaks of, is the Vatican, or possibly the office of Pope.  Either way, whether its the papacy or the Vatican, its basically the same entity.  There is no doubt that this Jezebel is a figurative representation, since the literal Jezebel was long dead when this was written, and she never lived anywhere near the city of Thyatira.  Its also quite telling that Catholics refer to the Vatican as "Mother Church" and the Pope as the "Holy See".  Notice that Jesus uses a female form of a false prophet to describe it.  And look at the things that Jezebel leads God's servants into by her teaching.  Its practically common knowledge that the problems in Roman Catholicism are idolatry and sexual immorality, as well as false teachings.  Consider also where the Vatican has taken up residence.  With the previous church, and Revelation 17:9, we discovered that Rome is where Satan lives and has his throne (Revelation 2:13).  In short, Rome is a tool on earth for Satan.  So its no surprise that this false prophetess, the Vatican, has taken up residence in Rome.  It also could be speculated that this Jezebel has some connection with the prostitute woman in Revelation 17.  Its clear from this letter and Revelation 17, that both Jezebel and the prostitute woman have many children by adulteries.  They could be one in the same.

The latter part of this letter is directed to those "who do not hold to her teaching".  I believe, in general, this is anyone, either throughout the church period or now, that has not taken the Vatican's teachings to heart.  Specifically, it could be the Eastern Orthodox Church.  Its clear that Eastern Orthodox are practically the same as Roman Catholics, but without the Roman part.  They might be, more specifically, who Jesus is talking to in the latter part of the letter, but that's a speculation.  Basically, its simply anyone who does not hold to the false teachings of the Vatican.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Pergamum

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.  I know where you live - where Satan has his throne.  Yet you remain true to my name.  You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city - where Satan lives.  Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.  Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.  Repent therefore!  Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.  I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.  -Jesus in Revelation 2:12-17

You probably noticed that there's a theme in this letter, which is "where Satan lives."  Jesus makes it clear that Satan lives in their city (I know, sounds really bad!).  The church in Pergamum represents the mixed church, from about AD313 to around AD750.  This is when the church and the Roman Empire were wedded together in some sense, which is why Pergamum is "where Satan has his throne."  We know based on other parts of Revelation that Rome is a tool for Satan.  We know that the woman, who is a great prostitute, sits on seven hills (Revelation 17:9).  And Rome has always been known as the "city on seven hills" because it is surrounded by seven hills.  We also know that Rome is the throne of Satan, because Revelation 13:2 says that Satan gave the first beast his throne, and Revelation 17:9 says the seven heads of the first beast are the seven hills on which the prostitute (Rome) sits.  It makes perfect sense, because the church during this period existed in the Roman Empire, both east and west at first and then later only east.  And Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire during this time.

Because the church and the Empire were wedded together, a number of false teachings and practices began to creep into Christianity.  The council of Ephesus, where Mary worship essentially began, was during this period.  A number of the historic pagan temples and statues were not destroyed, but were simply converted to use in Christianity.  In this way, idolatry entered the church.  Honoring, and even praying to, certain saints became a practice.  Some Christian clergy were more concerned with pleasing the emperor and Roman authorities than pleasing God, and they taught things that corrupted Christian truth.  Pagan rituals, where food sacrificed to idols was eaten and sexual immorality taken place, did not cease, but took on a Christian disguise.  This is why its called the mixed church - because paganism and Christianity were mixed together.  It did much more harm to the Christian church than the many persecutions before it did.

But not everything was bad in Pergamum.  Jesus commends them for their faithfulness, even in persecution.  The persecution He speaks of is the lingering persecution following the Smyrna church age.  Even after the Edict of Milan in AD313, Christians were still poor and facing persecutions from people who hated them.  And certainly not all Christians during that time took part in the corrupt practices.  There had to have been many who remained faithful to Christ's teachings.  The rebuke is mainly aimed at the fact that they tolerated the false teachings and practices that crept in during that period.

Notice that it was the Roman Empire that persecuted Christians in the first few centuries, and notice that Jesus says that Antipas (a figure representing the persecuted Christians in the church in Pergamum) was put to death in their city - where Satan lives - which was the Roman Empire.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Smyrna

To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.  I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich!  I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.  Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.  -Jesus in Revelation 2:8-11

This letter describes the Christian church from the time of the first major persecution (AD64) to the time of the last major persecution (AD311), which was the most severe of all.  Not long after this the emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan (AD313), legalizing Christianity.  The "ten days" in this letter symbolically represents ten major persecutions.  Here are the ten emperors that enacted these persecutions:

1) Nero AD 63-68
2) Domition AD 81-96
3) Trajan AD 112-117
4) Marcus Aurelius AD 161-180
5) Septimus Severus AD 202-210
6) Maximus the Thracian AD 235-238
7) Decius AD 250-251
8) Valerian AD 257-259
9) Aurelian AD 270-275
10) Diocletian and Galerius AD 303-324

This church has always been know as the early persecuted church.  This church is also known as the most pure of any Christian church.  Jesus states that they are poor in physical possessions, but rich in spiritual wealth.  In no way does Jesus rebuke of criticize the church in Smyrna, giving us a shining example to follow.  The ones who say they are Jews, but are actually a synagogue of Satan, is most likely the Jews who persecuted early Christians.  We see this clearly in the book of Acts, where Jews are causing trouble for Paul everywhere he goes.  When Jesus implies that they're not actually Jews, He is speaking of them not being the spiritual Israel, or truly Jewish in their heart (Romans 2:28-29).  So while they may have had a Jewish pedigree, they were not truly Jewish.  Take a closer look at the early persecuted church; there are many amazing stories of perseverance and faithfulness.  We truly have an amazing example of how to be faithful followers of Christ with the church in Smyrna.

The Seven Churches: The Church in Ephesus

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.  I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.  Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  Remember the height from which you have fallen!  Repent and do the things you did at first.  If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.  -Jesus in Revelation 2:1-7

This letter prophetically describes the church from its start (AD33) to around the end of the century (AD100), also known as the Apostolic Age.  There are a number of indications of this, especially when we look at the other letters and the rest of church history.  One very clear indication is the fact that Jesus tells John that the lampstands (churches) and stars (angels) are "what is now and what will take place later."  Just in this letter there is mention of those who claim to be apostles but in fact are false, which we know is something that went on while the apostles were leading the church (2Corinthians 11:13).  And we can tell by the epistles that these false apostles were not tolerated.  We also know that Christians in the Apostolic Age worked hard, persevered and endured hardship; the book of Acts is an indication of that.  The conditions of Judea, Asia Minor and everywhere else Christianity had gone at that time, are also an indication that they persevered and endured hardship.  Furthermore, we have reason to think there was a height to fall from.  Its important to note that the church during the Apostolic Age is not just the apostles, but all Christians in that church.  When the apostles were going out and making disciples, its not hard to think that it was a high time for the church.  This is the "first love" that Jesus talks about.  But as time progresses it can be hard to keep the fire and excitement alive.  Just imagine those who witnessed all the miracles performed by Peter or Paul.  After having seen those things, their hearts had to be on fire for the Lord.  But decades later, its hard to have that same fire and love.

Consider for yourself what "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" means.  It will become clearer when we take a look at the other churches, and how they are perfect descriptions of other church ages.

The Deathbed Idea

That's just a name I came up for it; I know its not creative.  This is the idea that a person can genuinely accept Christ on his deathbed and be saved from hell.  It generally goes along with a defense of "faith only" teaching.  If a person can genuinely accept Christ on his deathbed, then we would have to concede that good works are not necessary to enter heaven.  There is a parable Jesus told that gives us understanding on this issue:

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.  About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.  He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.'  So they went.  He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.  About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around.  He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'  'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.  He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'  When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'  The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.  But each one of them also received a denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.  These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'  But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you.  Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go.  I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?  Or are you envious because I am generous?  So the last will be first, and the first will be last.  -Jesus in Matthew 20:1-16

So we might ask ourselves the question: Does a person have to be a Christian (servant of God) for a certain time to enter heaven?  The parable clearly indicates that the answer is no.  It did not matter whether the workers were hired in the morning or late in the evening.  And it did not matter whether they worked for 10 hours or 1 hour.  The fact of the matter is that God can give eternal life to whomever He wishes.  It is His to give.  God can be gracious to anyone.  We should not keep a scorecard.  We shouldn't try to judge for ourselves what God will or won't give to this person or that.  Instead we should accept what God chooses to do, because God can do whatever He wants.  And we should be grateful simply that He has accepted us.  That's what this parable teaches us - God can be gracious to whomever He wishes, and we are not in a position to second guess that.

But suppose there was a man in the marketplace that knew the landowner would pay the latecomer the same amount.  Suppose he intentionally waited till the eleventh hour so he wouldn't have to work much.  What do you think would happen to that man?  If we already know of God and God's kingdom, and specifically God's grace, and we intentionally wait till our deathbed (so to speak) to repent and start serving God, then it won't be good.  That's an attempt to cheat God.  When the call to work for God comes to us we must respond.  This parable is not meant to give people a reason for tardiness.  This parable is not meant to say that salvation can wait till the deathbed.  Anyone who puts off serving God till their deathbed, or just putting it off at all, faces the risk of missing it entirely.  The point of the parable is to teach us not to have expectations of what we think God should do.  It teaches us that God can do what He pleases, and we should not complain about it, especially when we receive the pay God promised.  But it doesn't teach us that God can be cheated.  The only reason the workers hired in the eleventh hour were paid the same is because no one had approached them earlier in the day.  As the parable applies to reality, they would be the people who hear the word of God late in life.  They're not the people who hear the word of God and intentionally decide to wait till late in life to repent and obey.  And in no way does the parable make the point that good works are not required.  Afterall, its a parable of workers working for pay.  Could the workers put down their shovels if they knew the landlord would be gracious?  No, of course not; it would invite the landlord's anger.