Revelation 17:14 Bible Study

"These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Rev.17:14 NKJV

I recently read this in my daily devotions. This verse spoke to me years ago and it still speaks to me and to us today. What we do is not high tech and hard to do. It is a work of God and it does take God's involvement to do what we do.

God is faithful to do what only He can do. What is our part? 

First, we must be called. Being a pastor, evangelist, or missionary, is not a career choice we make. It is not just doing what we have a knack for. It is first and foremost a Divine calling. 

"Then He said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Mat.4:19

Jesus calls men to do what He wants them to do.

Second, we must be chosen. Chosen by God, chosen by Christ, chosen by our pastor.

" For many are called, but few are chosen." Mat.22:14

Chosen means that we have sanctified ourselves to be worthy of being chosen. It is a spiritual, and moral, and financial place of doing right. Called is like a big net. Chosen is like a hook and a pole. Chosen will be seen and recognized and agreeable to the local church who must support God's calling on your life.

Finally, we must be faithful. All ministry is a result of faithfulness over time. Anyone can be faithful for a day or a week. Show me a man of God and I will show you a man who has been faithful. Faithful to his wife, faithful to the Bible, faithful to preach and to teach and to counsel. 

"Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?" Prov.20:6

If a man is called, chosen, and faithful, there is no limit to what he can do for God. Amen!

 

A Mystery

 It's funny how when I do a Bible study no one reads what I write. But other things and readers magically appear. I wonder why that is?

Come Quickly, Lord Jesus!

 In my Bible reading I read Luke chapter 21, which is Luke's account of the end times Jesus spoke about. Here are some thoughts about what Jesus said.

v.8 Be not deceived. Deception is the key to the end times.

v.9 war and commotion, but not yet.

v.11 natural disasters, but not yet.

v13 Testimony is a key to our responsibility in this time.

v.22 all will be fulfilled. Everything leads up to an end.

v.27 is the second coming of Christ.

v.28 Look up, not look around.

v.32 the last generation. Of who or what? 

v.33 God's word will be fulfilled.

v.34 Take heed to yourselves.

v 36 watch and pray

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

The Times of the Gentiles

 "And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." Luke 21:24 NKJV

A recent Bible study brought me to this verse. I did a quick study to find out if I could better understand what it means.

First, this times of the Gentiles statement is only used in this verse. There are a couple of places where a similar thought is conveyed, but not in this exact manner. Romans 11 talks about the fullness of the Gentiles coming in. Ezekiel 30 talks about the day of the Lord and the times of the Gentiles.

The word times is a word that in the original language means an appointed time. It is used to define a definite period or a particular season. What this means for us is that the times of the Gentiles is a definite time that happens at the right time. Gentile rule of Jerusalem is not an accident or a coincidence.

Some theologians suspect that the times of the Gentiles began at the Babylonian captivity and continues to this day. Even in light of 1967 and the Six Days War, Jerusalem has not been without Gentile rule or influence. To this day with the temple mount under Muslim control and Gaza inhabited by Palestinians, Jerusalem and Israel is almost but not quite a sovereign nation.

I suspect that the times of the Gentiles ends at the rapture in Revelation chapter 4. Israel still has a part to play and the Gentile nations are doomed to judgement after the church is gone.

I wonder if rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem will trigger the rapture, or if the chaos after the rapture will allow Israel to build a new temple. I wonder if we, the church, will see these things come to pass.

There are events in Bible prophecy that the church will not see first hand. I am grateful for that!

If Only

When I was in high school I applied to the US Coast Guard academy. I did not make it in. I ended up in Prescott, Arizona to go to Prescott College instead. It was as a first year student that I ended up at the Door and got saved. That was in 1973.

I know how life is made up of time and chance sometimes. What would have happened if, since I did not make it into the academy, if I had enlisted as a sailor with the Coast Guard instead? I would have had a career, maybe I would have gotten married and had children. Like most people I would have lived life. But no matter how good life might have been, eternity would have been not so good.

All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Looking back, I am glad that my parents did not give me advice or guidance and that I was able to go my own way. Today, I am still saved, still Spirit filled, and still a part of this great Fellowship. 

I have a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen!

Heroes? Really?

It seems like Memorial Day is a hard day to preach about. Memorial Day is not a Christian or Jewish holiday. There is nothing directly linking this day to anything in the Bible. Pastor talked about heroes, and how important heroes are to our lives. Here are my thoughts on heroes.

1. Heroes inspire us. Not that we can choose to be heroic. Rather, that we can aspire to be our best.

2. Heroes are rare. They do not come around every day. They are unique for a special time or place.

3. Heroes need extraordinary times to emerge.  My thinking is that combat is one of the times for heroic action. First responders get opportunities for heroic deeds. Most of us, while we can be great or successful, will never get the chance to be heroes.

4. Heroes are so rare that we give them medals or erect monuments in their honor. 

Making heroism common lessens it's value. Calling everyone a hero makes being a hero of little worth.

As a church we can honor and remember those who died in military service on Memorial Day. Calling them all heroes is missing the point. 

What Makes Us Pentecostal?

What marks us as a Pentecostal church? Is it that we clap our hands to up tempo songs? It it that we lift our hands when we sing worship songs? Is it our song service that makes us Pentecostal?

Are we Pentecostal because we stand on a busy street corner and preach? Is it street preaching that makes us Pentecostal?

Is it that we focus on evangelism and soul winning that we are Pentecostal? It it because we make disciples, and we plant churches, that we are Pentecostal?

There is one thing that makes us Pentecostal and that is what happened on the day of Pentecost.  They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. We still need to all be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues. Speaking in tongues for prayer or for worship is what defines a Pentecostal church. Everything else comes after that singular event. It was important to them, it ought to be important to us.

"Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them." Mat.11:4-5.  

We put at the top of our list what Jesus put 6th (or last) on His list. Those are things that Jesus did, not different aspects of a sinner's life. Healing is still needed today.

If evangelism is the most important thing, then we are an Evangelical church, not a Pentecostal church. Evangelicals do not believe in anything supernatural except the saving of a soul. They do not speak in tongues. They do not heal the sick. They do not deliver the oppressed. They are more Sadducees than Christians.

There are many things printed in red in my Bible.  We do well to follow all of those important things. Not just the exciting ones.

In Acts, the tongues of fire come before the eager feet and multitudes saved. We need to tarry until we are filled. Then we can go ye.

Faith or Works? Natural or Supernatural.

 The discussion came up today on the faith versus works debate. First, whether we are saved because of the good that we do to our fellow man. And, the place for good works for those who believe that it is by grace we are saved and not of works.

Two versus come to my mind about this.

"Then they said to Him, what shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." John 6:28-29

"But someone will say, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:18

In these verses, Jesus lays out the doctrine that Paul came to embrace as he preached to a Gentile audience. James, the Jewish apostle, spells out the Jewish way of thinking to a Jewish audience.

It is not a question of either/or. It is first that we are save because of the work that Christ did for us, not by virtue of anything we have or can ever do. Keeping the Law is powerless and void of any saving efficacy. The good works in question are the fruit of the Spirit at work in and through us. Christ crucified and resurrected is our only hope to be right with God. Our service is what we do to show our gratitude to God for what Christ did for us in saving us.

One thing that I have noticed is that the good works folks never think to heal the sick or to be filled with the Spirit. Speaking in tongues is supernatural. Divine healing is supernatural. Helping the poor is not supernatural.

James is more Jewish than Christian and his book belongs in the Old Testament. In my humble opinion.

When You Need A Pastor To Talk To

 Pastor this morning rightly said how we need a personal connection to a pastor. No matter how long we have been saved, we will at times find ourselves needing to talk to our pastor. Not a text or a phone call, but face to face and in person. This is hard to do when your pastor is not in church. We know that our pastor is in demand around the Fellowship just like pastor Mitchell used to be. Pastor Mitchell was a valuable resource to the Fellowship both as a pastor of pastors and to being used in miracle healing crusades. But even with that, it seemed that in Prescott, pastor Mitchell made it a point to be in church on Sunday morning. I often had a sense that, come Sunday morning, pastor will make things right again.  

While pastor this morning was correct in his doctrine, he is a hard man to get a hold of sometimes. 

I know that my pastor is not my father or even my friend. But, I no longer call him when I need a pastor to talk to. I call one of our associate pastors who are easier to get ahold of.

Just saying.

Past or Present?

One thing we cannot do is to compare yesterday to today. We cannot compare what happened in the past to what is happening today. You cannot apply today's standards to yesterday's problems or events.

People want to know about pastor Mitchell and what he did to build the Prescott church and the the Fellowship. No one but pastor Mitchell knows those details, and he is dead and gone. Those early days happened in a different world than the world we live in today.

One thing about God is that he is always today. He does not live tied to time and space. He is always here and now. Unfortunately the Bible is an ancient book written thousands of years ago and it is a lot of work to apply ancient words to a modern world. We run the risk of becoming irrelevant.

Some things are unchanging. People are people all of the time. God is God all of the time. The Bible can be understood and applied to any generation. The grass was always green no matter what side of the fence.

Instead of wondering what happened in the past, why not find out what God is doing now and do that? 

A Personal Faith

 Tonight pastor mentioned Fundamentalists Anonymous, a group started in the 1980's to assist people who were fleeing fundamentalist churches. I had never heard of this now defunct group. But in Prescott I saw a similar phenomenon happen.

The children of the first wave of converts who grew up in our church and who were affectionately called church kids all seemed to grow up and grow cold and left our church when they got out on their own. Pastor Mitchell tried a few things to help these kids and to minister to them and their families. We managed to save a few of them, but we lost far more than we kept.

Those Potter's House kids who made it are strong and steadfast to this day. Those church kids who left are angry and bitter and hateful to this day. It took years before I could have a simple conservation with my son after he left. He has grown up and I have mellowed out and we communicate now more than we have in a long time.

Some of you will remember You Might Be A Potters House Kid as something church kids had fun with for a short time. Some of you will remember Slam The Door, a place where former Fellowship folks could vent their anger. I began my first blog because I wanted something besides Slam the Door to come up if you Googled Potters House.

God wants us to be saved more than we want to be saved. The only way to lose with Christ is to quit.

God has no grandchildren is not just a film. It is how the Christian life is. It's personal. No one will be in Heaven who does not want to be there. Faith is first and foremost personal; it's you and Jesus with no other mediator. He is the mediator between God and man.

God wants you to be saved, but He will not violate your will. You have to repent and believe to be saved.

Growing Up

 The older I get, the better I was. This seems to be a prevailing idea especially in men as we get older. One thing that I have noticed is how many guys who talk about the great things they used to do are not doing those things today. They talk about these things like it is current events. But in reality, it is history at best.

In churches there comes a time when we need to reevaluate our standing and current position. Failing to do this might make us victims rather of deceiving ourselves, talking about old times like we are still actively doing what we used to do. We talk about the outreaches we did or the people we witnessed to or the ministries we were once involved in and to me it sounds almost like they are bragging.

There are men who will never get sent out or who are too old to be sent out but that uncertainty of calling still weighs in on their decisions today. There are men who never witness but who talk like they witness all of the time.

You can support the vision of our church without being on the front lines of what we do. Instead, maybe it is time to grow up and to be content to do what we can with the time we have left.

My future is still bright, but not in the same way as when I was a young new convert.

The Greatest Commandment is Go?

 "And He said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

Our Fellowship, and our church, are built on our obedience and faithfulness to this command. We may not be perfect in everything. But I believe that our obedience to this command has gained us God's favor over the years.

Did you know that this is not the only command that the Lord gave us? Another command is given us in John chapter 13.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." John 13:34

The second commandment is also written in red, just like the first one I mentioned. Both are commandments. The Lord expects us to obey both of them. We only preach on one of them with any regularity.

And yet, Jesus said that love defines us as true disciples of Christ.

"By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

Paul, the great missionary, told us that the greatest attribute we can have as believers is love.

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1Cor.13:13.

So, while we rightly focus on evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, maybe we ought to give a little time to love, the first and greatest commandment. Loving God, loving one another.

Why I Blog

 I realized that, while few people read what I write here, I get a benefit from writing. Which is why I started blogging to begin with. I do not care to keep a journal. I do not write in a diary. But I have always used a blog to write down my thoughts or my ideas or my inspirations.

Once in a while someone will read what I write here and I enjoy that. I cannot see who has stopped by, just a grand total of visits.

I am not a writer and I have no interest in starting a podcast. So once in a while, when something interests me or something moves me to write, I will stop by and post my thoughts.

Taking A Break

 I am going to take a break from this blog. It will remain in place. I just won't be writing on it for a while.

Death and Dying

 We are very concerned about getting a person ready to die so that they will be saved and ready to meet Jesus. We work hard to make people ready for Heaven. And we do nothing to help saints face the realities of death and dying. We want to make it to the Rapture. But if we do not live that long, we will die. We can die suddenly, or we can die slowly. Do we know what to expect when those we love die?

Because Kathy died suddenly and unexpectedly, I never got to say the last goodbye to her. She was alive when I left for work and she was dead when I got back home that evening. We were not prepared for her death. She died suddenly.

One thing about death and dying is that we have a lot of crazy ideas and beliefs about it all. Maybe death could be easier if we didn't think about it all wrong. It is natural to die. It is our bad ideas and crazy doctrines that make it so hard.

Death and dying is for the survivors, not the dead person. People can die on their own. We must live life after they die.

We need to know more than we currently know about death and dying.