10 Reasons for Reading your Bible in 2014

Christmas is over, thank goodness. Isn't it a minefield of custom and etiquette? Did we send an appropriate card to this or that person? I hope they didn't feel it was preaching at them. On the other hand, I do hope it wasn't too frivolous, was a clear “witness.” Did someone we sent a card to not send one back? Did we get a card but forget to send one? Is anyone coming off our Christmas card list? (No one comes off mine)

And gifts! Does anybody understand this new technology that seems to be obsolete as soon as it hits the stores? A book is still the safest bet in my view. You don't have to switch it on, it won't run out of power, it will pass airport security without any trouble, and you don't need teenagers to show you how it works.

A friend wishes you a merry Christmas and you shake his hand in a manly fashion, but what about his wife? Do you simply nod, shake hands in a manly fashion, or do you kiss her? Do you kiss her, or does she kiss you? Is it a peck on the cheek, an air kiss, and how many? One, two three? How many is polite and how many is bordering on predatory?

And the greeting! How are we to greet each other? If you say “merry Christmas” you simply know someone is going to look disapprovingly at the connotation in that word “merry.” “That’s the kind of Christmas you have is it? And you an elder of the church!” On the other hand, if you say a sober “happy Christmas” someone is bound to reply with a loud, “Merry Christmas!” as though to make the point, “cheer up you miserable so-and-so.”

Do you think we might be worrying about the wrong things though? The best place in my Christmas was the carol services. They took me away from the hurly-burly of Christmas mania and focussed my mind where it should always have been. Thank God for his church.

New Year Resolutions

But it is over for another year. Although, we now have New Year's resolutions to contend with. I expect the diet companies will get a sharp rise in membership in January followed by a depression by March, in more ways than one. Gym membership will rise for a bit, but how long will it last? The roads of hell are paved with good intentions. Are we thinking about this in the wrong way as well? Is there a better way of finding resolve, of making and keeping the promises we foolishly make to ourselves this time of year?

I have one piece of advice when it comes to New Year's Resolutions – don't make them!!! “From now on...” statements just rise up and embarrass us, remind us of our folly and failures.  The problem is that once we tack a resolution to a day and time it becomes absolute and we are so discouraged the moment we fail because the failure is absolute.

“I said I would do this ‘from now on without fail,’ and I have failed, and what a miserable, discouraging experience it is.”

My advice to you is, don't make this type of resolution. Can’t we find different, more realistic, reasons altogether for adopting the disciplines that so often evade us?

Some of you will decide to follow a Bible reading plan in the coming year.  With the right motivation we can start a plan any time, resume it with renewed resolve when we fall down, and witness real progress even as we occasionally fail. Reasons that have nothing to do with the date but everything to do with how we benefit from reading our Bibles.

Let me share some thoughts on why starting a Bible reading plan – any time – is a good idea and give you reasons for persevering, guilt free, in that plan.

1. Encouragement

I am encouraged to read that the apostle Paul needed to encourage his young charge, Timothy, in applying himself to reading and teaching the Bible. In one of his letters to  Timothy Paul writes this familiar text,

As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim.3:16)

Even church leaders need to be reminded to read, teach and live the Scriptures. This should encourage us to persevere, knowing we are in good company when we sometimes struggle. In persevering we can be a blessing and encouragement to others – even our leaders.

2. Blessing

There is blessing in reading and obeying the Bible. God said of Abraham,

I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." (Gen.26:4)

How did Abraham hear God? You might be surprised to know he read God’s word. We like to think of those times when Abraham heard directly from God but he also had a written record of God's statutes and commandments. The word translated statutes means a written record, an engraving in fact. Certainly, written records go back that far and further. So Abraham read and obeyed God's written word and, we are told, there is blessing in hearing and obeying God. Following the example of the “father of the faithful” includes Bible reading.

3. Personal Application

The Bible is for us and applies to us personally.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb.4:12)

What's on your heart today? What is burdening you? A good place to start is with God's Word, which can help straighten out your thinking, read your heart and show you a way through. Look again at that note from Paul to Timothy:

As for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim.3:16)

How often have we thought how we would like to have spiritual wisdom, to know thorough equipping, and to grow in the things of God? What better motivation could there be for opening our Bible to read in the coming year?

4. Inheritance

We are charged with faithfully passing on Bible truth. King David, in his old age, wrote:

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. (Ps.71:15-18)

Scripture tells us this is what Abraham did, “Abraham gave all he had to Isaac” (Gen.25:5) Just like Timothy, Isaac had learned and inherited God's truth from childhood. In the Bible we see God’s truth being passed on from one generation to the next. From Abraham to Isaac  to Jacob, to Moses and the prophets, to David and from him to those that followed and to Timothy from his mother. We too have inherited that same truth from our spiritual parents. What better way to do the same than by the good example of faithful Bible reading?

5. Covenant

We are told in Exodus,

Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. (Ex.24:4)

Just as with those people of God in the desert, when we become Christians we enter a covenant relationship with God and the terms of that covenant are recorded in the Bible. Why wouldn’t we want to read that exciting account of God’s dealings with his people, of God’s promises to us and ours to him?

6. Tradition

We read of the first Christians that “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42)

As we read, ponder, set our minds and hearts on the word of God we are doing what was done by our spiritual forebears in the early church. In the privacy of our room, in our quiet times, as we read, ponder and apply the word of God to ourselves we are following in that unbroken tradition given us by God.

Do you want to know what it is to be a biblical people, to be “church?” It starts right here, with Bible reading.

7. Prophecy

Before he ascended to the Father Jesus said to his disciples,

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Lk.24:44-45)

Warning his disciples of false Christs Jesus said, “But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” (Mk.13:23) The things that happen to the people of God are the fulfilment of the purposes of God. Have you ever thought of that? Ours isn't a blind faith but an informed faith, wonderfully informed beforehand by Scripture. Who wouldn’t want to delve into God’s declared purposes?

8. Instruction

Paul reminds us in his letter to Christians in Ephesus,

You also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph.1:13-14)

Did you get that? You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, when you believed. Now look at what John says in his gospel about believing,

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

In the Bible we have that “word of truth” and in believing that word we are included in God’s great plan for mankind, sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Why wouldn’t we want to open up the book and read what God has to say to his people?

9. Example

Writing about the experiences of rebellious Israel Paul wrote,

Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (1 Cor.10:11)

Some people are in the Bible as an example, others as a warning. This is instruction to us as we anticipate Jesus coming again. Why not learn from the wisdom and folly of others, reading their stories, allowing their lives to either guide us on or warn us?

10. Assurance

Finally, in a glorious description of the City of God, John writes,

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed-- on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls.

The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.

The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.

The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there.

They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev.21:10-27)

You see, there is another book and our names are recorded in it as citizens of God's city and kingdom. We are written there if we have believed and obeyed, like Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, John, Paul, Timothy...who believed because they read and trusted God's word and walked by its light (Ps.119:105)

Who wouldn't want to read the Bible this coming year, to be reminded of God’s sure promises to those who trust him? And if, like Timothy, we need encouragement, if we get distracted, who wouldn't be encouraged to take up the word again, persevere and continue in trusting and obeying, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [pressing] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php.3:13-14)

Happy New Year, and may God draw us ever closer as we devote ourselves to his word in the Bible and allow it to shape and mould our lives, to his glory.

Why I Left the Mormon Church

In a comment on Monday's post Dayanna asked me about why I left the Mormon Church. Monday's post wasn't about Mormonism and I thought I would post my testimony here and then if there are follow-up comments and questions they will relate directly to Mormonism.

I was a member of the Mormon Church for 14 years, and find myself frequently disappointing people when I tell them that I enjoyed being a Latter-day Saint. You will understand that people expect to hear a little scandal with my kind of testimony, but I have none to offer. My wife was a member for 18 years in all, and we left together in August of 1986. Our time in the church was mostly happy. We started a family there and have much for which to be thankful, and very many happy memories. The church was good to us, being supportive through some very difficult times.

I served in various capacities including various clerical duties. I served as Sunday School teacher, Seminary and Institute teacher, teacher in both Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood quorums, and Ward Missionary Leader. At the time of my leaving I was Elder's Quorum President. Up to the time of my leaving I was a temple recommend holder and regularly attended the London Temple (right).

Why I Joined the Mormon Church

I remember my first contact with Mormonism, and the elders who taught me. I remember vividly the conviction with which I embraced the church and it's teachings. I recall experiencing a burning in the bosom, not just once but many times, and can picture to this day where I was kneeling when it first happened. I could barely contain my excitement as I discovered more through the missionary discussions. This revolutionary message that the heavens were not sealed and that God spoke again through living prophets. I recollect my baptism  at the District Centre then, before Wales had a Stake; It has two now.

In the Mormon church I met some of the most wonderful people you could wish to know. I remember my wife and I being prepared for our first visit to the temple by one of the counsellors of the District President. He was a lovely man, larger than life and full of love and encouragement. I remember the young people we grew alongside in the church and the times we had at District and Stake meetings, Gold and Green balls, temple trips, Fathers and Sons camps, even a visit to London to see Spencer W. Kimball (left). We married and grew up and had families and knew tragedies and triumphs, disenchantment and inspiration.

When we left, we left behind a full life, cherished friends, and good memories. Believe me when I say that our decision to go was not made lightly. And unlike some you might come across, we had nothing against the church, no complaints. Our friends were shocked at our leaving - so were we.

It took less than a month for us to make our momentous decision and, whilst this may seem hardly enough time to fully consider the issues, I assure you we were convinced and had no doubts. I realise now that that month was the culmination of a longer period of questioning and seeking. In the end ours was a real "road to Damascus" experience and, like Saul, it was as if scales fell from our eyes.

Contrary to what you might think, I am not part of an anti-Mormon group. I am not an anti-Mormon at all but a Christian. I am a member of a local Baptist church and my life is taken up with full involvement there. My time is not spent pouring over anti-Mormon literature, nor is it spent finding ways to "get at" Mormons. I do, however, share my experiences and findings with others in the same spirit in which Mormon missionaries go around the doors. I have found the truth and, especially in relation to Latter-day Saints, wish to share it.

I am sometimes asked why I now "fight" the Mormon Church. Mormons I meet ask why I try to convert church members who are, after all, already Christians. I might ask the same question of Mormon missionaries. When they find a Christian on the doorstep do they back away saying "Oh, you already know Jesus"? They do not, because they believe that there is no salvation outside the Mormon church. I believe there is no salvation inside the Mormon church and so, by the same token, I proselyte Latter-day Saints.

Why I Became a Christian

I have already said that I was happy as a Mormon and that I have no complaints about the way the church treated me. The inevitable question is, "Why, then, did you leave? There must have been something wrong".

I recall it was one Friday evening, the children were in bed, and there was a quiet moment when we looked at each other apprehensively. We had not been discussing church, either that evening or that week, except in the general way. I remember how we tentatively but finally agreed that there was something wrong. There was an unspoken, undefined, significance to that word "something" precisely because we had nothing to complain about.

One of us, I don't now remember who, said, "It's not working, is it?", and the other one agreed. Again an unspoken understanding of something we had never discussed or given the vaguest expression to, yet we each knew what the other meant. Our faith was not "working". What did we mean by that? We didn't then know or understand, but we felt an earnest desire to put right whatever it was we felt was wrong because our church membership was important to us.

It was then that we made a decision that, to this day, makes people stare. We turned to a Christian friend. It seems almost inconceivable, especially since we had no reason to shun our church friends, that we should do such a thing. I believe God was in all this. Of course I would say that, wouldn't I?

I believe our friend John could barely contain his excitement at being presented with such an opportunity. He did hold himself back, however, and simply invited us to church. "Come and see" he said to us. It was in that church that we experienced such a love for God that we were left wondering what it was that we thought we had been experiencing for all those years. Don't misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that Mormons are loveless, or that they have no genuine desire to serve God. But this was different.

So far we had seen something special in our friend John, something that had caused us, inexplicably, to trust him. We had experienced something amongst John's friends - an intensity of love and devotion that was so new to us as to be heady, like new wine. Now we wanted to understand. If this was right how did it square with what we had experienced and understood until now? If this was wrong how did these poor people come to be so deceived?

John gave us a modern translation of the Bible (NIV) and encouraged us to read it without any commentary or Bible study aids. He suggested we start with Paul's letter to the Romans. It was important to us that we should gain an understanding of things and so we now decided to review what we had already experienced, and what we could say for sure we knew, before we went any further. We had already agreed that God would not condemn us for honestly seeking his face and striving for a better understanding of his will. We now agreed that we would trust God to answer our prayers and resolve for us the, so far undefined, misgivings we had about our faith. Not about the Mormon church, but about our faith.

A Message of Grace

The thought that the Mormon Church might not be true had never entered our minds. No-one had spoken against the church in our hearing and we had not looked at any anti literature. Our struggle was not over doctrine. It was about our experience of God. In this spirit, then, of seeking God and trusting him for direction in a very personal pilgrimage, we read his word. It was here we discovered grace.

For all the Mormon church had going for it there was one area in which it singularly failed me. I was looking for something when I joined and I began to see that it was the one thing the church was incapable of delivering. Peace with God. When my wife and I became troubled we really did not understand why. We just knew - I knew - that something fundamental was missing from our spiritual experience. It was only as we began seeking with a determination we had never known before that we saw how radical would have to be the change in our lives if we were to go on with God.

When I set out to read Romans I was looking for a solution to the problems of my faith as a Mormon. I was not trying to sort out the Mormon Church. I was trying to sort out Mike Thomas. I wanted to get right with God so that I could be a better Latter-day Saint. Now you might say that I had a peculiar way of doing this. After all, going to a non-member etc. But God was in this from beginning to end so how could I do otherwise?

It was now that I did the one thing I had never done before. I knelt before God and asked Jesus to be my Saviour. I had believed in him for years, but I had been taught that the way to salvation was by obedience to the Mormon church. The church had effectively stood between me and God.

I came to see that there is only one mediator between men and God, the man Christ Jesus. I realised that the head of every man is Christ, not an organisation. I saw that all who came to him would not be condemned but would receive eternal life. I had an assurance of eternal life, something I had never known before, something no Mormon knows because the Mormon church teaches that salvation is by obedience, and so it is arrogant and presumptuous to say that you know. The Bible told me that I could know, the Mormon Church told me that I couldn't. I chose to believe the Word of God.

Now I was faced with a dilemma. Could I give up all those things that had been my life up to now? Leave my church friends? People think that obedience is all about the ten commandments and that sort of thing. Really it is about attitude. What really is the most important thing in your life? Put like that there was no other choice. I left the Mormon Church and embraced my newly discovered joy. My life since really coming to know Jesus bears no comparison to all those years when I only thought I knew him. Iremember the sobering realisation of what was happening when my wife one day said, "You realise we can't go back?"

I made the right choice and discovered a God who truly proves his faithfulness. So many scripture promises came true for me when I sought him and and discovered that "if you seek him, he will be found by you" (1 Chron.28:9). Coming from a system that saw obedience to law as the way to God I was brought to rejoice in the fact that "a righteousness from God , apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify" (Romans 3:21). The assurances of God's Word are a blessing to me beyond anything I could hope or ask. I know that through faith in Jesus I have eternal life as a present possession and a guaranteed inheritance (John 5:24). I just thought you would like to know.

What we Discovered in Romans

What did we find in our reading of Paul's letter to the Roman? We travelled what we later found was called The Roman Road. It is one of many journeys through the Bible designed to help us understand the fundamentals of God's Word. I reproduce it here:

THE ROMAN ROAD


This is a simple explanation of the gospel, using scriptures from the Book of Romans - hence the name. It can be easily marked in your Bible by writing the first reference at the beginning of Romans, and then in the margin by each reference writing the reference which follows. Thus when you want to share the gospel message from the scriptures, you do not need to remember a string of references, you just need to look at the book of Romans and follow the road through it. The references and a brief description follows. Feel free to explain them in your own words.

3:10 - There is no-one righteous, no matter how good we are or how hard we try.

3:23 - All have sinned and fallen short. It is impossible for us to measure up to God's standard.

5:12 - Death came to all men, because all sinned. It is our nature to sin.

5:8 - Because of God's love for us, he sent Christ to die for us - while we were still sinners, not because we had done anything to earn it.

6:23 - The wages of sin is death - wages are what you earn as a result of what you do. The gift of God is eternal life - you do not earn a gift, or deserve it. God gives the gift because He loves us. We do not need to work for it, only accept it.

10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, regardless of who they are or what they have done. You only have to call.

10:9,10 - True, heart-felt confession of faith in Jesus is what it takes to be saved, not works.

Dear Saints - Wake Up!

Wake Up! (Revelation 3:1-6)

A parable is told of two angels travelling on the Lord’s business. They sought shelter for the night and, seeing two cities on a plain, noted that one of the cities was watched over by a demon, the other by a legion of demons. The less experienced angel suggested they stay in the first but the more experienced angel insisted on staying at the second. Surprised, the young angel asked why his companion wanted to stay where there were so many demons and the older angel explained that the righteousness of that city was great, as evidenced by the fact that so many demons were trying to corrupt it, while the other city was so spiritually complacent that it took but one demon to hold demonic sway. This describes somewhat the city of Sardis.

Complacency was endemic in Sardis and was to be its downfall on more than one occasion. It was a wealthy commercial centre and at one time the capital of Croesus, last king of Lydia (560-546 BC), who was so rich and powerful that his name became proverbial for wealth – “As rich as Croesus”. He was finally overthrown by Cyrus of Persia (2 Chr.36:22). Built on a hill that seemed impregnable and enjoying fabulous wealth, its citizens appear to have entertained an overconfidence that was to be their downfall, being conquered in 549 BC by Cyrus and again in 218 BC by Antiochus.

It is a pity that there are Christians who convince themselves that, in the new life they have in Christ they remain untouched by zeitgeist, or the general spirit of the society and age in which they live. That was the trouble at Sardis. John does not mention anything like the persecutions and error typical of other of his letters, giving the impression that the church had not suffered such disturbances. Rather, the problems appear to have stemmed from within, from their sheltered and relatively safe lives. The Christians of Sardis were typical of the citizens of Sardis!

You can see how people in such circumstances might be very busy, managing their church, enjoying fellowship, congratulating each other on how the Lord is surely blessing their lives, but John writes:

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up!”

There was no shortage of ‘stuff going on’ and Jesus saw this activity, but he was not to be fooled. Christians here were slack – “I have not found your works complete” - and, what was worse, the majority fell into this category. John writes, “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.” This was a reference to an ancient belief that dirty clothing was held to dishonour the deity. These people “will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy”. This does not mean that they have merited justification but that they have walked according to the justification they have in Christ. What does that walk look like? This is vital because Jesus promises, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.”

It is popular these days to think that such a church needs a ‘shot in the arm’, a ‘blessing’, a ‘revival preacher’ to bring ‘refreshing’. John’s prescription for this church is somewhat more – basic. There are three things prescribed in John’s letter for those whose faith is complacent and whose walk is incomplete:

1. “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard”

This means ‘bear in mind’ rather than ‘recall’. They hadn’t forgotten so much as failed to keep in mind the things of God, how they had heard the good news and from whom these things had come. If you have ever questioned the worth of regular Bible reading, Christian fellowship and mutual encouragement consider how God directed the church in Sardis.

2. “Obey it”

This is more in the sense of ‘keep’, making it a continuing activity; a constancy in attending to the things of God. Novelty is no solution to complacency but faithfulness.

3. “Repent”

There is an urgency in this word and we can see why when we read, “Strengthen what remains and is about to die.” Paul tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are ‘in the faith’. Such self-examination will make us aware of where we need to strengthen what we have.

It is easy when involved in ‘doing good’, running programmes, doing ‘deeds’ to forget why we are doing it and what we have heard and received; to have the appearance of life while being close to death, and sometimes it is good to be challenged to “Wake up!” Only those who pay attention to such things will be acknowledged by Jesus before the Father and his angels and only those who know this are truly equipped to reach out to the lost.

Previous Posts in this Series:
A Message of Hope
Remember Your First Love
Be Faithful
Be True

Hold On!

Dear Saints - Hold On!

Hold onto what you Have (Revelation 2:18-29)

It is a problem that has faced Christians through the centuries; how do I get on in the world while keeping my Christian principles? I know I am not to be of the world but cannot deny that I am in the world and retreating from the real world is not an option (although many have tried); as a Christian I am supposed to engage with the society around me, of which I am a part, but how am I to do that while remaining unsullied by contemporary standards?

Paul’s advice to the Roman church was, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Ro.12:18). He goes on in Ro.13 to write about being submissive to authorities, paying taxes and giving honour where it is due, but how far does this accommodation with the world go before it becomes compromise?

Some Christians will insist on an uncompromising stand on every single issue, even going so far as to separate into communities that remain as exclusive as possible, keeping themselves untouched by anything to do with the world. Paul addresses something of this kind when he deals with meat sacrificed to idols in 1 Cor.8 and makes clear that, in many such instances, it is the individual conscience of ‘the weaker brother’ that is the only consideration.

Some Christians get along so well with the world, however, that we can begin to doubt their credentials as Christians and that is the problem facing believers here. Thyatira was a small but busy centre of commerce, the smallest town among the seven to whom John writes. As a thriving commercial centre it entertained many trade guilds, including wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers (Lydia was originally from Thyatira, Acts 16:14), leather-workers, tanners, potters, bakers, slave-dealers and bronze-smiths.

It would have been very difficult for any Christian to make a living without belonging to one of these guilds and that would mean eating at trade banquets where meat offered to idols was served up and the religious elements of such an offering perhaps included in the banquet. Whoever Jezebel may have been it seems that she convinced some that this was alright. But it didn’t stop there and such banquets could degenerate into parties of the kind Christians should not been seen attending.

Having someone who is considered a prophetess to condone such things leant weight to the argument that “while in Rome” etc. and being so encouraged Christians would very quickly lose sight of their identity and, more importantly, whose they were. Jezebel also offered secret knowledge to those who followed her, what Jesus calls ‘Satan’s so-called deep secrets’.

This is a heady mix of ambition, pleasure and esoteric insight and not so far removed from the problems facing Christians today, certainly in the developed world. The world seems preoccupied with itself and its ambitions, is increasingly liberal and experimental in enjoying pleasures and seems willing to follow anyone promising them initiation into the meaning of life (preferably secret) and the secrets of success. Prophets and prophetesses abound and the truth available to anyone willing to pay their dues and join up.

Jesus’ answer to all this, his counsel to Christians concerned about these things is simple:

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first...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” (VV19, 24-25)

This is the burden of the concerned Christian, to hold on to what you have, “guard what has been entrusted to your care” (1 Tim.6:20); “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Tim.1:14). God’s promise is, “I will impose no other burden on you”; other than what? No other burden than the Christian service and faithfulness to truth already enjoined on us. This is our burden as it has been the burden of all believers in all ages; may we bear it faithfully because:

“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 sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’ – just as I have received authority from the Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”

Previous Posts in this Series:

A Message of Hope

Remember Your First Love

Be Faithful

Be True

A Meditation and Devotional for Christmas

Reading – "Sovereign Lord, as You Have Promised...” (Luke 2:29-32)

The Promise to Eve

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Ge.3:15, c.f. Lk.2:7; Gal.4:4; Rev.12:5)

The Promise to Abraham

“Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed through him” (Ge.18:18, c.f. Mt.1:1; Lk 3:34; Gal.4:4)

The Promise to Jacob

“A star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth” (Nu.24:17, c.f. Lk 3:34; Mt.1:2)

The Promise to Judah

“The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet. Until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his” (Ge.49:10, c.f. Lk. 3:33; Mt.1:2-3)

The Promise to David

“Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Is.9:7, c.f. Is.11:1-5; Mt.1:1,6)

The Promise to Bethlehem

“But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times” (Mic.5:2, c.f. Mt.2:1; Lk.2:4-7)

The Promise to the Virgin

“Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel” (Is.7:14, c.f. Mt.1:18; Lk.1:26-35)

The Promise to Galilee

“Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honour Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan – The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned” (Is.9:1-2, c.f. Mt.4:12-16)

The Promise to God’s People

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers, you must listen to him” (Dt.18:15, c.f. Jn.6:14; 1:45; Ac.3:19-26)

The Promise to Sinners

“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Is.53:4-5, c.f. Mt.8:16-17; Ro.4:25; 1 Cor.15:3)

The Promise of Victory

“When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious – that you, O Lord God, might dwell there” (Ps.68:18, c.f. Lk.24:50-51; Ac.1:9)

God’s Promises are ‘Yes’ in Christ Jesus

“As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you...was not ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, but in him it has always been ‘Yes’. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor.1:18-22)

God Who keeps His Promises

Moved by the Spirit, [Simeon] went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, “as you have promised”, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, “which you have prepared in the sight of all people” a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to tour people Israel” (Lk.2:27-32)