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Psalms
90:1-17 A Prayer Of
Moses the Man of God. LORD, You
have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were
brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from
everlasting to everlasting, You are
God. You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of
men." For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood; They are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: In the morning it
flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers. For we have
been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set
our iniquities before You, Our secret sins
in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your
wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason
of strength they are eighty
years, Yet their boast is only
labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power
of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so
is Your wrath. So teach us
to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How
long? And have compassion on Your servants. Oh, satisfy us early with Your
mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Make us glad according to
the days in which You have
afflicted us, The years in which
we have seen evil. Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to
their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And
establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.
Father
God, we give you all the Glory, Thanks, Praise, and Honor. I ask that you bless
all of those that read these messages around the world and to bless their loved
ones. Open our hearts to comprehend your words, our ears to hear your words,
and our minds to be changed from any false beliefs to the truth that lies in
your words. I ask that the truth that is in your words of the Bible penetrate
the heart of all that read it and hearts will be changed and made new. In Jesus
name I pray. Amen!
Revelation 2:8-11 NKJV
Last
week we studied about Ephesus and this lesson will cover another church. Were
you able to relate personally to the message to the church of Ephesus? Do you
do a lot of good deeds and helping with church functions, and no time in prayer
or studying the Word of God? Have you lost your first love? What about modern day churches? Do you know of
any churches that devote all their time to doing good deeds for the community
and raising money for the church, and forget about teaching through Bible
Studies and holding prayer meetings, if so, they have lost their first love?
Let’s see what messages Jesus has for the churches and us in this lesson. We
will be studying the church of Smyrna this week.
8 "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, 'These
things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:
The angel referred to here
is the pastor of the church of Smyrna and the First and the Last; who was dead
and came to life, is of course Jesus our Saviour. Smyrna was located north of
Ephesus, it was nicknamed "Port of Asia" because it had an excellent
harbor on the Aegean Sea. It existed in the time frame of approximately 100
A.D. to 325 A.D.
9 "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you
are rich); and I know the
blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
I
know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); This church was doing good works and
because of their good works they were suffering persecution from their fellow
Jewish kinsman. Every true believer will suffer some type of persecution from
unkind words in the USA, to death in other parts of the world. If one has never
experience any type of persecution, then one must ask, why? Am I walking and talking
what I believe or just saying I’m a Christian with head knowledge, and not
heart knowledge?
Good works of course is
referring to spreading the Gospel and doing what needed to be done out of love
for Jesus, not to earn Godly merit. This church was also poor and struggled
making ends meet, but this was only in the physical realm of earthly life.
Jesus tells them they are rich, meaning rich in spiritual rewards that they
would someday be able to cash in. If they keep their eyes on the finished work
of the Cross they will be rewarded when they leave this earth. So, do your riches lie in worldly
matters, material things, fleshly pleasure, things that will be left behind, or
in the rewards of God’s Heavenly Kingdom?
Remember these are
messages to our modern day churches also. How does the church you attend fit in
with what Jesus is saying? Is it doing good works, is it being persecuted for
standing up for the Gospel, is it using its financial resources to help the
needy of their parish, is it reaching out to the lost and unsaved with Bible
Studies and Evangelism, is it showing love to other denominations that claim
Jesus to being their Saviour, etc,? If not, which of these seven messages
pertain to the church that you attend?
And
I know the blasphemy of those
who say they are Jews and are not, but are
a synagogue of Satan; What
Jesus is saying here it that God doesn’t consider Jews who reject Christ as
being a true Jew. In other words they belong to the church of Satan. Substitute
the word Christian in place of Jew and now this verse applies to us. Many
people claim to be Christians but only with words. Their heart is far from
Christ just as the Jews that wouldn’t believe in Jesus. So a self proclaimed
Christian that lives a life of foul language, using God’s name as a common
ordinary word without meaning, always wanting more in life, using drugs, etc., are
deceiving themselves into thinking they belong to Jesus church, but in reality
belong to the synagogue of Satan. James
1:26 If anyone among you thinks he
is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this
one's religion is useless.
Mark 7:6 He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is
written: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME
Galatians 6:3-5 For if anyone thinks himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But let each one examine his own work,
and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each
one shall bear his own load.
Hmmmm, these are very strong words from Jesus and the Apostles. I know a lot of
churches only preach the loving side of Jesus, but it is out of love that these
things are being said by Jesus and the Apostles. They are actually calling
their kinsman hypocrites and any one that proclaims to be a Christian with lips
only, as hypocrites. Again I must ask, where is your faith, is it grounded in
the finished works of the Cross, do you give it all to Jesus, or is it in
worldly matters and yourself to get through life here on earth?
10 Do not fear any of those
things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may
be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and
I will give you the crown of life.
Do
not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer; Jesus is forewarning the church of
what was coming and He is speaking of the time frame that the church was
entering, that being 100 A.D. to 300 A.D. The country was under the rule of the
Romans and the geography of the Roman Empire was basically all of the inhabited
land. All the churches of this time period would suffer great tribulation, but
the churches that fall into the same category of the Church of Smyrna would
suffer greater persecutions due to their faith.
Indeed,
the devil is about to throw some
of you into prison, that you may be tested; We have talked about the testing of our faith in past
lessons and here it is again. God allows these things to happen to see if we
will stand fast and true. God doesn’t want phony people in Heaven with Him he
wants true believers. These tests can produce many results depending on what is
going on in our life at the time. These tests could be in the form of something
happening to a nonbeliever to bring them to Jesus; they could be something in a
new believers life to keep them on the straight and narrow; they could be for a
seasoned believer to show him where he is failing an losing their first love; they
could be to see if we honor with our hearts and not our lips. There are many
different results and many different trials as we go through life, and what we need
to be aware of whenever things happen to us, is that it isn’t coincidence,
luck, or bad luck because God is in control and He allows things to happen to
us in hopes that we will sit up and take notice and come to Him for all of our
needs. We need to ponder these things that happen to see if God is trying to
tell us something.
You
will have tribulation ten days;
This phrase may mean one of several things which we don’t know for certainty of
what. It is possible Jesus is talking of one being thrown in prison and a trial
lasting 10 days resulting in death; it could refer to a ten day testing like
other passages in the Bible like, Daniel
1:12 "Please test your
servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to
drink. Gen_24:55; 1Sa_25:38; Dan_1:14;
more than likely it is
referring to the trials and tribulations the church would face from 70 A.D to
325 A.D. In 70 A.D. the temple was destroyed by the Roman government and from
that time to approximately 325 A.D. the church endured ten major persecutions
from the Roman government. Just go on the internet and you can discover some of
these persecutions by following the early leaders and believers lives which
normally ended with death.
These persecutions came to
a close with the Roman Emperor Constantine legalizing Christianity around 312
A.D. and then in 323 A.D. he declared it to be the religion of the empire in
other words the State Church. With this declaration the persecutions stopped,
but where did all the true believers go? Just because Constantine legalized
Christianity that doesn’t mean all became true believers, it merely means that
the killings ceased. I’m sure the true believers still suffered trials and
tribulation from their kinsman and some probably ended in death, but the bad
times were over.
Now that you know a little
about the history of the early true believers, then why do we have so many
religions today that proclaim they are the true religion/church? Could it be
that those in charge of church matters, put into place there human beliefs, and
not God’s Holy Words after Constantine’s declaration? Did the Roman Government
assign roles and positions in the State Church. Was this the birth of the Roman
Catholic Religion? Did all other religions evolve from the Roman Catholic
Religion, if so, why did people branch off and start new religions? Did Satan
realize he wasn’t having any success in destroying all true believers, so he
changed his tactics? I believe this is what is going on then and now. He
couldn’t destroy all from the outside so he is doing it from the inside through
religious denominations, by diverting people away from the Gospel of Truth, the
Word of God, and Jesus by getting people to know Jesus with head knowledge and
not heart knowledge. Many Religions/denominations of today have their own books
of doctrine made up of human thoughts and reasoning’s of faith that contradict
what God’s Bible states. They also teach from books other than the Bible. Many
religions are using psychology like, speak it into existence, and if it feels
good it’s ok. By this means, one is taking their eyes off of Jesus and what He
did on the Cross for us and placing their faith in self. If a religion doesn’t
use the Bible as their only means of doctrine, and their doctrine contradicts
God’s Word, then that denomination is living by false doctrine.
Be
faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life; If we remain faithful until we die
then we will receive the crown of life, eternal happiness. This statement from
Jesus refutes the belief that if one is saved they will have eternal life and
they can’t lose it. Speaking from my experience I believe if one is truly saved
and has experienced a change in one’s lifestyle, as the Bible teaches, then it
would be very difficult to fall from God’s grace, but I also believe a person
can fall from God’s grace if they so desire. Just as it is a person’s choice to
give their heart to Jesus and live by His doctrine and not mans doctrine, they
can also decide to go back to their old lifestyle. This is why we have free
will, we can live for Jesus, His kingdom, and eternal life, or to please our
self here and now, that will end with death, eternal pain, suffering, and
torture. 1 Corinthians
9:24-27 Do you not know that those who
run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you
may obtain it. 25 And
everyone who competes for the prize
is temperate in all things. Now they do
it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore
I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have
preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
11 "He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not
be hurt by the second death." '
Here again Jesus is
telling us to do a reality check in what we are believing in and practicing. If
one realizes they are listening, believing, and practicing false doctrine,
meaning what is not substantiated in the Bible, they need to turn from that doctrine.
If a person does this and comes to Christ, they will be overcomers and not
spend eternity in Hell. The second death is referring to non-believers, they
will have a physical death and then a spiritual death, Hell. In other words one
can be born twice (physical birth and spiritual birth) and die once (a physical
death with spirit going to Heaven) or born once (physical birth only) and die
twice (physical and spiritual death resulting in Hell). John 3:3-7 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a
man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb
and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
Romans 1:16 For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…...
Psalms
51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit
within me.
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I
say to you,
unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who was Agee?
Answer: Agee was the father of Shammah, one
of David’s great warriors. Shammah’s one man stand at Lehi won the day against
the Philistines. 2 Samuel 23:11
This week’s Trivia: Who was Ahikam?
