Isn't this a great "shroom picture? I took it one day and for some reason, I just love it. Just something wild and ugly growing in the yard! :)

..............................

Thought I would try to play "catch up" today while it's raining. That really has nothing to do with anything, just my reasoning.

................

John's picture of Christ ...

" ... one like the Son of man "

He was "manlike" in appearance. "The Son of Man" is one of the most frequent titles Jesus applied to Himself in Scripture.

" ... clothed with a garment down to the foot"

Typical of the long robes of the high priests as they ministered in the Holy Place in the Temple.

"... girded about the breasts with a golden girdle."

Symbol of strength and authority. The average working man wore a short tunic of loose fitting clothing. Only those in authority wore a girdle (or belt).

... His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow:

antiquity and the vision of Daniel in Daniel 7:9-13 ... "The Ancient of Days"

... His eyes were like a flame of fire"

Ever seen someone really angry???? Their eyes tell it all and Christ is angry at some of the things He must tell John and say to His Church.

... his feet like fine bronze

Bronze speaks of judgment. Remember the brazen (bronze) altar at the opening of the Temple of Meeting?

... his voice like the sound of many waters

Maybe something like Niagara Falls. Never been there but am told that you cannot hear over the roar of the water. Men cannot hear His voice today but they will hear it then and it will not be stilled again.

... and He had in His right hand seven stars

The seven stars are the seven angels of the church. Could be either of two things: (a) The messengers appointed by God to lead local congregations (i.e. pastors, leaders, teachers) or (b) actual angels appointed to each church. The objection to the angel theory is that if they are angels, they have failed to keep The Church pure. Even though angels are supernatural ... they are not divine.

... out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword

Ephesians 6 refers to the Word of God as the Sword of the Spirit.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword. There will be no defense against the Word of God in that day of Judgment.

... His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.

The divine nature of Christ. In Matthew 17 Peter, James and John saw Jesus in His divine glory for a brief time at the transfiguration. John's reaction to this was to fall down "as dead" at Christ's feet. This was the same John who felt close enough to Jesus to lay his head on his chest while reclining at dinner. Now he is knocked cole by the Glory of God!

Clouds?

You will never look at clouds the same way after this lesson. Or at least I don't. Main thing to remember ... CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN! It's not a fairy tale or some made up story, it's the absolutely truth!



Acts 1:11



This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.



How did He go? In a cloud (or clouds).



Acts 1:9



And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.



Look up Ezekiel 10:1-5; 18-19; 11:16-25 and read about the clouds. What are they? They are God's movement! God's very presence. So when Scripture tells us that Jesus was taken up in a cloud ... God is wrapping His very own self around His Son and taking Him Home!!!! (Can you see me jumping up and down and clapping my hands!) What a beautiful picture!



Matthew 24:30



And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming IN THE CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory.



EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM! How is this possible. Duh, internet, CNN, ESPN, anything else satellite that we now have. Many years ago this was thought impossible that EVERY EYE could see something at one time but it's not so impossible to us!



Jesus Himself said to Caiaphas in Matthew 26:64



I say until you, "hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, coming IN THE CLOUDS of heaven.



Matthew 24:30-31



And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man COMING IN THE CLOUDS of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.



It is no wonder that God predics that "all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."



The ones that have rejected the Christ and are eternally lost will wail.



If this book teaches nothing else, it clearly shows that JESUS CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN TO JUDGE THIS WORLD.



Read Rev 1:9-20



The early church was not given to the teaching that separated the clergy with the laity. This separation has done much harm in the churches of today. John was the oldest living apostle of our Lord at the time of this writing. Instead of calling attention to the fact that he was an apostle, he chose to identify with the people of the day. As a brother and companion in the tribulation. The tribulation that John was speaking of was that of the early church that was being persecuted. It had already claimed the lives of Peter and Paul and probably most, if not all, of the other apostles. John was possibly about 90 when this book was written. He was still refusing to stop preaching and glorifying God. Don't we all want to be that way. I want to be praising Jesus and God when I go out of this world!



v 10 refers to being "In the spirit on the Lord's Day".



Any day of the week is the Lord's Day and we can be in the spirit on any day of the week.



7 churchs of John's day were literal churches with which John was very familiar. Why might these 7 have been chosen?





7 basic divisions of church history. The study of history reveals that the Church has gone through seven basix periods or stages.



7 types of churches that exist today. Some trends are still in existence even in our own day.



7 characteristics that can exist in any church.



We can see that these 7 churches comprise 7 methods of attack by Satan on the Church or individual Christians within the Church.



Remember the 7 lampstands (The Church) ... a fitting description for The Church. Just as a lampstand does not give off a light of its own (it gets it's light from another source, whether electricity or fire, etc) likewise we do not give off our own light but that light that comes from Christ in our lives. Without Him, we have no Light.

.....................

Wow, finding the time to do this is so difficult. As most of you know, I am a "legal flunky" for a domestic attorney here in Bowling Green. Sometimes family life of others really gets in the way of my time and my life. Always remember to pray for those getting divorces, fighting custody battles for their children and adoptions which are both wonderful and sad. I like the "wonderful" part! :) I'll try to do better

Rev 1

Read Revelation 1:1-3

apokalupsis = the radical uncovering or breakthrough of what was previously hidden; to show or expose to view

This book is the unveiling of Jesus Christ to all of us.

In one of the rare cases, John identifies himself by name and further by saying that he was a witness to the Christ. How exciting ... to think of Jesus' best friend writing this book!!!

John tells us that we are "blessed" if we hear and keep the message of this book. The word "blessed" appears 7 times in the Revelation and in Greek simply means "happy" but the Hebrew word that John was probably using here means to find the right pathway in the face of false pathways.

It has to do with finding meaning in the face of chaos.

John is saying that we will be on the right pathway when we get the meaning of our life and the pattern of our living from the character of God, from His holy will.

This book did not originate with John but came to him through a sequence of events ... the true source of the book of Revelation is God!

Read Rev 1:4-8

The trinity ... "from him who is, and who was, and who is to come."

The saluation: Grace and peace ... (What are grace and peace to you?)

Grace ... the surprise gift ... undeserved
Peace ... wholeness and health

Both come from God

This verse shows that the Trinity shares in the dispensing of grace and peace to man:
God the Father - from him who is and who was and who is to come
God the Spirit - and from the 7 spirits who are before His throne
God the Son - and from Jesus Christ

Isaiah 11:2 ... And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord ...

This is referring to Jesus ... the secon spirits is a reference to the sevenfold work of the Spirit revealed in this verse. The term "seven spirits" does not mean seven Holy Spirits but the seven ministries of the Holy Spirit.

verses 5, 6 and 7 describe the past, present and future work of the Christ:
...the faithful witness (John 14:9)
...the first begotten of the dead (1 Cor 15:23) (Christ is not the first one raised from the dead BUT He is the first One raised in his incorruptible body and His will never die again like the others).

... the prince of the kings of the earth ...
... to Him that loved us ... (denotes continual action. Not only did He give Himself for us, but today He continues to love us with an everlasting love ... all those who have received Christ Jesus by faith have been cleansed by His blood.

... and hath made us a kingdom of priests unto God and His Father!.

Amazing as it may be, Christ has made us kings and priests (and princesses). The day is coming when - because we are the children of God by faith - that we will rule and reign with Him if we have been born into His spiritual kingdom. For the present time, we are to do our work as priests, intervening and interceding on behalf of those who need Christ and cannot pray for themselves.

Revelation

I can only hope that you all understand these entries. Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!

Things to remember when studying Revelation:
1. It is not hard to understand. Think of it like this, if you were living in John's time and saw a B52 bomber, how would you describe it? You would have to use language and things that the people of that day understood; therefore, it looked and sounded like animals or the like. A bomber might look like an eagle with the face of a man. (That is purely an example! :) ))

2. Beth Moore put it so simply: God spoke through the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. When Christ came, God began to speak through The Church (Christians). He put the Nation of Israel "on hold" as with a telephone. They are now "on hold" and God is speaking through us. After the rapture as described in 1 Thessalonians 4 happens, Israel will be taken off "hold" and once again, God will speak through that nation (the people).

To many Revelation is a closed book. My Daddy (that's how we say it in Georgia) used to tell me that we did not need to study Revelation because we would not be here. Well, if I can't understand something, how am I going to tell someone about it to warn them. I need to understand everything that God's Word has to offer! I hunger to know everything that is in that little Book and I am so far from it!

There is a special blessing to anyone to studies the Book of Revelation. Rev 1:3 and Rev 22:7 tell us this clearly so I want my blessing!

It reveals God's plan for the future. As a child I heard over and over again that the "end times" were near. Well, they are still near and will always be near. It doesn't necessarily mean that they will be today or tomorrow (though they certainly might be). It simply means that we need to always be ready and on our spiritual toes!

This book gives clearer detail concerning Bible prophecy than any other book in the Bible. It reveals the governmental operation of the man of sin; the terrible events of the tribulation period; the ultimate end of Satan; the glorification of the Church; the future position of the saint and the City Christ has prepared for His church.

It completes the circle of Bible truths:

It completes what Genesis began: (this is so cool!)

Genesis shows man's beginning in a beautiful paradise;
Revelation shows the wonderful paradise to come.

Genesis shows how man lost his chance to eat of the tree of life (Gen 3:22-24)
Revelation shows man will eat of that very same tree (Rev 22:2)

Genesis tells of man's first revellion against God in chapters 3 and 4
Revelation promises to end man's rebellion against God

Genesis records the first murderer, drunkard, and rebel
Revelation promises a city where no sin will enter (Rev 21:27)

Genesis reveals the tragic sorrow that resulted from sin
Revelation promises that God will wipe away our tears (Rev 21:4)

Genesis records the first death
Revelation promises that there will be no more death (rev 21:4)

Genesis shows the beginning of the curse and Revelation shows that curse lifted Rev 22:3

Genesis introduces the devil for the first time and Revelation shows the final doom of Satan (Rev 20:10)

Genesis promises that Satan's hear would be bruised; Revelation shows him bruised and defeated (Rev 19:20)

Genesis shows Satan's first attempt at discrediting the Word of God; Revelation promises the curse on all such ones who detract from God's Holy Word (Rev 22:19

...................

The key verse is Revelation 1:19. "Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter."

Threefold division of Revelation: that which was, is and is to come.

Listen to this description:

Music is like food to my soul! Music speaks to me when nothing else can come close. If Revelation were written in a four part movement like a symphony, it would express the inner drama and suspense that the text contains. There would be mixtures of sheer terror and surprising peace; dangers too perilous to contemplate and at the last minute ... the LION to whom we belong appearing on our behalf. The cadences are swift, sudden titanic jolts; yet there is a steady and sure paced movement and beat.

Look at the pictures so clearly stated by John and get them into your hear. If we believe the Word of God, we surely believe that these times will come to pass.

LET THE TEXT SPEAK FOR ITSELF. DO NOT TRY TO INTERPRET SOMETHING AS WE THINK IT MIGHT BE BUT TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JOHN WAS TRYING TO SAY.

First time!

Well, let's see if I can do this! I've been asked to give a blog on lessons taught on Sunday in our Adult Bible Fellowship (or Sunday School for old timers) on Revelation. Maybe this thing will catch on and we will be able to share the Word with many more than in our class. I now teach a group of wonderful women who call ourselves The Princess Class because we are daughters of the King of Kings! We have pink shirts and everything to prove it! We meet at Living Hope Baptist at 9:30 on Sunday mornings and have a wonderful time. Our main problem is that we get rather loud! :) We love to laugh and bring joy to each other even in the midst of pain. We realize that nobody is without some hurt in their lives and yet we enjoy the company of other Christian women. We are a very close group but welcome anyone who might want to be a part of our fellowship! I was very excited last Sunday when we had 2 visitors and 1 new member. That brings our total to about 23 or so. I can't believe that many women would want to listen to me but it's not about me (as they like to tell me!). It's about the moving of the Holy Spirit in our lives and how He deals with us!

I will start posting lessons this afternoon and hopefully post each week to keep up. Give me your comments, questions and concerns.