'All things, bright and beautiful ... The Lord God made them all' - this is the great, positive message that comes to us from Genesis 1 - but things are very different when we get into Genesis 3: things are not so bright and beautiful. What are we to do? Are we to listen to …
Continue reading Can Paradise Lost become Paradise Regained? (Genesis 3 and Revelation 12)
Revelation is a complex book, yet it is for ordinary people. Its theme is simple and straightforward: Jesus is Victor! There are many things we don't understand, but there's one thing we do know: God will have the last word. * Satan has a great deal to say about our lives. He is "the accuser …
"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 nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will …
Carl E. Braaten has written that "Serious reservations ... must be voiced against the dominant position of the idea of revelation in theology." Braaten suggests that the idea of revelation implies that "man's essential predicament is his lack of knowledge." Braaten offers this comment: "If the ignorance of man stands in the centre, then the …
Continue reading Revelation – Centred On Christ, Our Saviour
We can't go back to the past, and we can't go on into the future. We're not at the beginning of our life on earth. We're not yet at the end of our life on earth. We're somewhere in the middle. We cannot go back to the book of Genesis (the book that takes us …
We read of “gold” in both Ezra and Revelation (Ezra 1:4,6,9-11; Revelation 8:3; Revelation 9:7). In Ezra 1:6, “gold” is set alongside “valuable gifts” and “all the freewill offerings.” “Gold” is a valuable thing. The “gold” of our lives is truly valuable when it is given freely, as a “freewill offering.” In Revelation 8:3, “gold” is associated with “the prayers …
God is at work in the life of both the Church and the nation. He has a message for His Church. It is the message of the Spirit: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:29; Revelation 3:6). This message of the Lord concerns His Church. …
Continue reading God has a message for His Church. It is the message of the Spirit.
"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood... to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 1:5-6). Love comes to us from our Saviour. May glory be given to him by us.
"The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8). Often, it seems to us like we are surrounded by darkness. We wonder, "Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?" When we feel like this, we need the eternal perspective, the vision of God's glory - "The city …
In Genesis 3:1-7, we read abot the evil influence of "the serpent" (Satan - Revelation 12:9). Here, we must note the difference between temptation and sin. Satan tempted Adam and Eve. They sinned. They couldn't blame Satan for their sin. Temptation only became sin when they gave into temptation. It's the same with us. We …
At the heart of the rebuilding of the Temple, there was worship - “With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: ‘He is good; His love to Israel endures for ever” (Ezra 3:11). Those who worship the Lord are set within the context of a world that refuses to worship Him: “The rest of …
Continue reading The Lord has much to say to this generation – if only the people would listen …
1 and 2 Kings So many kings, so many names - Most of them are best forgotten. Is there a king we must never forget? "King of kings and Lord of lords" - This is what Jesus is! When all the kings have come and gone, Jesus remains - King of kings and Lord of …
These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb... The Lamb, at the centre of the throne, will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from …
Continue reading Responding to God’s Word (57): Lo, he comes with clouds descending
"God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24, New International Version). What is Jesus saying to us here? When we read, in the King James Version, the words, "worship in spirit and in truth", we may feel that he's speaking about the attitude in which we are to …
"In Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). We read these words of Paul, and we may wonder, "Was he going 'over the top' with this description of Christ?" Then, we think of the resurrection of Jesus. What does the resurrection tell us about Jesus? It tells us that He …
"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and …
Continue reading A glimpse into the eternal dimension, a vision of glory
"I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3). When we think about the history of God's salvation, we begin with God's everlasting love. We go back beyond the beginning of the world - back to the everlasting God and his everlasting love. "That it might be fulfilled" (Matthew 1:21). When we focus our …
Continue reading The history of God’s salvation – Jesus is our Saviour and Lord.
"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen" (Revelation 1:5). What great love our Saviour has for us. What a great thing He has done for us: He has died for our sins. What a …
Genesis 1:1-3‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’. Its opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right. (a) the priority of God(1) God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) the priority of God’s Word (3) God is the first to speak. Before any human word is spoken, there is the Word of the Lord. (c) the priority …
Continue reading A New Beginning: Some thoughts from the Scriptures
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus came from heaven. He came to earth. What a wonderful story is the story of God's way of salvation! In …
Continue reading The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Here are a few thoughts from the messages to “the seven churches.” Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love (Revelation 2:4). This is one of the saddest verses in the whole of the Bible. It tells the story of so many of us. Let us pray that this will not …
Revelation 18:1-19:10 We read of the fall of Babylon (18:2,10,16-17,19,21). We live in a time of sinful rebellion against God. This will be followed by the time of God’s holy judgment. What is God saying to His own people at this time? - ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share …
Continue reading God Is Calling Us To Be Holy – And To Give All The Glory To Him.
"I have set before you an open door" (Revelation 3:8). We're leaving what lies behind us. We're entering the world that lies ahead of us. It's a new world - a world of opportunity, a world of grace, a whole new world. What do we mean when we speak like this? We lift up our …
"To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the …
Ezra 4:6-5:17; Revelation 11:1-19; Psalm 145:1-7 Ezra speaks of the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem (Ezra 5:11). Revelation speaks of "God's Temple in heaven" (Revelation 11:19). Both belong together: building the Church here on earth and building for the Kingdom of heaven. We must never be content with a measure of success in building …
Continue reading Looking forward to praising God for ever and ever
Zechariah 9:1-11:17; Revelation 1:1-20; Psalm 140:1-5 “Rejoice greatly … your King comes to you … having salvation … because of the blood of My covenant with you” (Zechariah 9:9,11). “The Ruler of the kings of the earth … who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood” (Revelation 1:5). The King …
Revelation 18:1-19:10 - We read of the fall of Babylon (18:2,10,16-17,19,21). We live in a time of sinful rebellion against God. This will be followed by the time of God’s holy judgment. What is God saying to His own people at this time? - ‘Come out of her, My people, so that you will not …
Continue reading We look away from ourselves. We look to the Lord, and we say, “Hallelujah!!
Revelation 19:11-21:8 - Our Saviour is ‘Faithful and True’. He is ‘the Word of God’. He is our ‘Lord’ and ‘King’ (19:11,13,16). We are invited to ‘come’ to Him. The invitation - ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God’ - is a call to come to Christ (19:17). We come to Christ so …
Ezra 10:1-44; Revelation 14:14-15:8; Psalm 146:1-10 God's people are to belong to Him alone. Influences which are foreign to the Gospel of Christ, alien to the Word of God, are to be excluded from our lives so that we might be, more truly and more fully, the people of God. This is the message of …
Revelation 3:1-22 - There are some doors which the Lord must open - ‘I have placed before you an open door that no-one can shut’ (8). There is a door which we must open - ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in...’ (20). …
What's life all about? What does it mean? Does life have a God-given meaning? or Do we, ourselves, give it a meaning that, we feel, it has for us? Why are we here on earth? What is the purpose of our life? Do we have a God-given answer to this question? or Must we create, …
REVELATION 1:1-20 - This is ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1). It comes from Him and it speaks of Him. Christ ‘loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood’ (5). We rejoice in Him. Christ is ‘coming with the clouds’ (7). We must get ready for Him. ‘The revelation of Jesus …
Continue reading The revelation of Jesus Christ: it comes from Him, and it speaks of Him.
Revelation 6:1-7:17 - Christ invites us to ‘come’ (6:1,3,5,7) - and look at things through His eyes. With Him, we look at earth. With Him, we look at heaven. Troubled world, tremendous worship - These are the things we see when we look through the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our world is deeply …
Continue reading Christ invites us to look at things through His eyes.
Revelation 12:1-13:18 - In Genesis 3:1, we read of ‘the serpent’. Here he is again - ‘that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan’. He is a powerful enemy. He ‘leads the whole world astray’. He is a determined enemy. ‘Day and night’, he is busy, accusing God’s children. He is a defeated enemy. ‘They …
Continue reading Christ has won the victory for us. Let us claim His victory by faith.
Revelation 21:9-22:21 - God has given us a glimpse of a future which is heavenly, eternal and glorious: ‘the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God - It shone with the glory of God’. Is this ‘eternal life’ for everyone? Will all people ‘dwell in the House of the Lord for ever’? …
Continue reading God has given us a glimpse of a future which is heavenly, eternal and glorious.
Our Saviour is ‘Faithful and True’. He is ‘the Word of God’. He is our ‘Lord’ and ‘King’ (Revelation 19:11,13,16). We are invited to ‘come’ to Him. The invitation, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God’, is a call to come to Christ (Revelation 19:17). We come to Christ so that we might …
John 3:16, Rev 3:16–20 lIn John 3:16, we read these wonderful words concerning God’s love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Here’s another “3:16″ – “So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I …
Revelation 16:1-17:8 We live in an unbelieving and rebellious world: ‘they refused to repent and glorify Him’. In an increasingly hostile environment, we must seek to maintain our faithful’ testimony’. There are many who take delight in sin. They rebel against God. They take pleasure in persecuting the people of God: ‘They will make war …
"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). When we read these words, our thoughts move forward to several verses from the New Testament. In John 1:29, our attention is directed towards Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." In 1 Corinthians 5:7, we learn …
In Genesis 3:1, we read of ‘the serpent’. Here he is again, ‘that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan’. *He is a powerful enemy. He ‘leads the whole world astray’. He is a determined enemy. ‘Day and night’, he is busy, accusing God's children. * He is a defeated enemy. ‘They overcame him by …
Continue reading Christ Has Won The Victory For Us. Let Us Claim His Victory By Faith.
Revelation 3:1-22 There are some doors which the Lord must open: ‘I have placed before you an open door that no-one can shut’ (8). There is a door which we must open: ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in...’ (20). Christ is waiting …
Nehemiah 7:4-8:18; Revelation 18:17b-19:10; Psalm 148:1-6 We are called to “worship God” (Revelation 19:10). Our worship is to be with reverence and joy. “Be still: “This is the call for reverence (Nehemiah 8:11). Alongside this reverence, there is to be joy: “The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). We are to “rejoice” …
Continue reading We are called to worship God with reverence and joy.
Ezra 2:68-4:5; Revelation 9:13-10:11; Proverbs 30:24-33 At the heart of the rebuilding of the Temple, there was worship: "With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: 'He is good; His love to Israel endures for ever" (Ezra 3:11). Those who worship the Lord are set within the context of a world that refuses to …
"God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). At the cross, we see Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). In the cross, we see the fulfilment of God’s eternal plan of salvation – “the Lamb slain …
“These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ... The Lamb in the center near the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life, and God will wipe every …
Every church in every nation and every generation has so much to learn from ‘what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29). Christ is to be our ‘first love’. We are not to ‘abandon’ Him. We are to ‘keep right on to the end of the road’ - ‘faithful until death’ (Revelation 2:4,10). We …
Continue reading Let Your Commitment To Christ Be Very Definite.
Real gold and fool’s gold: What a difference there is between the two! In Revelation 8:3, we read about real gold. In Revelation 9:7, we read about something which ‘looked like crowns of gold.’ There is a difference between the real thing and the counterfeit. There is a challenge for us here, in connection with …
Revelation 13:18 tells us that "the number of the beast is 666." The Word of God contains another - very different and very much better! - 666. It's Psalm 66:6 - "God turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot - come, let us rejoice in him." How good it is to …
Continue reading Another – very different and very much better! – 666
Christ invites us to ‘come’ (Revelation 6:1; Revelation 6:,3; Revelation 6:5; Revelation 6:7) and look at things through His eyes. With Him, we look at earth. With Him, we look at heaven. Troubled world, tremendous worship: These are the things we see when we look through the eyes of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our world …
Continue reading Looking At Things Through Christ’s Eyes (Revelation 6:1 … )
Revelation 10:1-11:19 ‘Take the little scroll and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey’ (10:9). We are to feed on God’s Word - the difficult parts as well as those passages which make us feel good. God’s Word speaks about judgment as well …
Continue reading Feeding On All Of God’s Word (Revelation 10-11)
‘In heaven’, there’s ‘an open door’(Revelation 4:1). Who has opened heaven’s door for us? - Jesus Christ: ‘He only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in’, ‘Jesus loves me! He who died heaven’s gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in’(Church Hymnary, 241,418). From …
Revelation 14:1-15:8 With ‘patient endurance’, we are to ‘obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus’ (12). This will not be easy. Satan will do all that he can to defeat us. How can we be ‘victorious’ over him? We must rejoice in all that God has done for His people, Israel. He delivered them …
Continue reading Through Christ, We Are “More Than Conquerors.”
Jesus was a Man with a purpose. He was opposed by evil men. He faced their opposition with the confidence that God was leading Him on to a glorious future. this glorious future is described for us in the words of Revelation 21:2-4. This is the glorious future towards which God is calling His people. …
"They will look on Me, the One they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). "These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled ... ‘They will look on the One they have pierced’" (John 19:36-37). "They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for …
Revelation 1:1-20 This is ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1). It comes from Him and it speaks of Him. Christ ‘loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood’ (5). We rejoice in Him. Christ is ‘coming with the clouds’ (7). We must get ready for Him. ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ’ …
‘In heaven’, there’s ‘an open door’ – This is the great declaration with which Revelation 4 begins. This ‘open door in heaven’ speaks to us of the great love God has for us. We sing about the opening of heaven’s door when we sing the well-known hymns, There is a green hill and Jesus loves …
Our love for God is grounded in His love for us. Elisha was ‘the man of God’ (2 Kings 6:6, 9, 15). This was the important thing about him. More than anything else, he was ‘the man of God’. We find the same phrase in 1 Timothy 6:11 - ‘But as for you, man of …
'“I am the Alpha and the Omega, (A and Z)” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”' (Revelation 1:8). Here, we read about the eternal God. He has no beginning. He has no ending. He is the eternal "I am": "God said to Moses, “I am who I …
Continue reading God is so much greater than all of our words about him.
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). What are we to say about this? What can we say? We must surely say that this lies way beyond our line of vision. It is beyond our horizon. When we try to predict what the future may hold for us, we have to …
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