If you get to heaven before I do...

The Word for today:
Revelation 10

mark this: Revelation 10:6-7
"There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."



When we were kids at Camp Kenan, we used to have a lot of fun singing a song that went like this:

If you get to heaven
Before I do,
Just drill a little hole
And pull me through.

Kind of a cute song. But even more fun was when we belted out the verse that followed:

If I get to heaven
Before you do,
I'll drill a little hole
And spit on you!

We sang that second verse with great gusto and a perverse glee, as you can imagine!

I still smile over that song, whenever it rolls across my mind. But lately the song hasn't been altogether funny or silly, because our number could actually come up soon.

There are certain segments of time that are marked out in the Bible. Right now, we are in "the church age," so called because the hand of God is moving through the church (the body of Christ) and not--for the time being--through the nation Israel, as was the case in the Old Testament.

At the same time, we are also in "man's day," spoken of by Jesus as "the times of the Gentiles." (Luke 21:24)

But there will come the day when a page of God's calendar will turn, and "man's day" will give way to the Day of the Lord (1).  Having been granted his little say, man's little day will be done.

The Day of the LORD opens with the Great Tribulation Period (see Stand in the Rain from January 8) and includes the Millennial period, when Christ returns to put down rebellion and establish his reign on earth. Nobody, spelled n-o-b-o-d-y, knows exactly when "that day" will arrive (2).

But there is no biblical reason why the Day of the Lord might not be here tomorrow. There are no prerequisite prophecies which must be fulfilled before that day can arrive. To be sure, that day could be thousands of years away, as well. But the point is that there are no unfulfilled scriptural pre-conditions which stand between today and that "tomorrow."

So keep your drill handy.  And you'll want to make sure it's the cordless kind.

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(1) Joel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zephaniah, and Zechariah all refer to the day of the Lord, calling it "that day." The New Testament refers to the day of the LORD in 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10;
(2) Mark 13:32

Stand in the Rain Bible Class - Audio File 1/9/2011

Listen to the audio from the January 9th 2011 Stand in the Rain Bible Class which covers:

Revelation 3:14 – 9:21  "in the twinkling of an eye"

maybe it's maybelline

(written by Pastor Joe)

The Word for Today: Revelation 9

From the dark underbelly of the advertising world, three particular commercials reached me as a kid growing up. Despite having no need or desire to use any of these products, they, for whatever reason, got stuck in my head. The first two involved shampoos: Pantene and Denorex. I would drive my parents crazy by going around and saying: "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful" or "On this side, I can feel a tingling sensation" over and over. But the one phrase I remember joking around with the most was "Maybe its Maybelline" because, no matter the situation, it applied to my junior high mind. We would blame every success or failure around us on poor old Maybelline: if someone spilled their milk, made a free throw, got in trouble, passed a test. Maybelline was always the real culprit.

"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline" In a strange bit of irony, that company used commercial after commercial full of women who were definitely "born with it" to convince the rest of those who were not that the only possible solution was their product. But this silly phrase is very appropriate in helping us to understand the human heart.

Over the past two days, we've been reading through some downright terrifying passages describing the Great Tribulation. Starting in chapter 8 and right through today's reading, we see the following consequences occur, related to the 7 Trumpets:

- Trumpet 1: 1/3 of the earths vegetation is burned (8:7)

- Trumpet 2: 1/3 of the sea, sea creatures and sea vessels are destroyed (8:9)

- Trumpet 3: 1/3 of fresh water becomes poisonous (8:11)

- Trumpet 4: the radiance of the sun, moon & starts diminish by 33% (8:12)

- Trumpet 5: the Abyss is opened and creatures torment mankind (9:1-12)

- Trumpet 6: 1/3 of mankind is killed by destroying angels (9:13-19)

Its hard to even the imagine the scale and suffering of such horrors. But even more amazing to me is the reaction found at the end of this chapter. Consider vs. 20-21:

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent

of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols

of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood--idols that cannot see or hear or walk.

Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual

immorality or their thefts.

Each person has all the evidence they need to demonstrate their utter need for God.

But instead of seeking Him for refuge, they still cling to all the practices that got them

into this mess in the first place. The problem is not in the mind but in the heart.

We saw this kind of insistence of doubt in the Israelites as they wandered in desert.

Every day they experienced God's presence in the Pillar of Smoke and Fire, and God's

provision in the manna he gave them. But this was not enough. "In spite of all this,

they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe." (1)

That is true of mankind today. All the evidence in the world cannot move a hardened

heart. Believers and non-believers alike have this tendency to blame any and

everything for our circumstances and problems, except ourselves. We have the

tendency to trust in any and every possible solution, except God. We are not

that different than the unrepentant people of Revelation 9 or the unbelieving Israelites.

And so the Word of God, here, as well as in numerous other passages, tells us the true

conditions of our hearts. He warns us of our almost limitless capacity to deceive

ourselves. These people serve as an example of what happens when we harden our

hearts towards God

Today's passage is a spiritual stress test on our hearts. So how is yours?
Instead of blaming God or the church or hypocrites or Maybelline, what we ought to do

is come to the understanding that maybe we are born with it. Maybe the problem is

really us. Maybe we are by nature "children of wrath" and "dead in our sins" (2)

Maybe we really are still in need of a Savior- to save us not only from hell, but to also

save us from ourselves.

And its only from this place of total need that we begin to see the real Revelation of

Jesus Christ.

*************
(1) Psalm 78: 21. Read all of Psalm 78 for a short and sad summary of this thought.

(2) See Ephesians 2:1-10

The Great Tribulation: a cavalcade of evil

The Word for today:
Revelation 8

mark this: Revelation 6:1 & 8:1-2
As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll...
When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets...


Have you ever been in trouble?

Certainly you have. We are born to it:
Man is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly upward. (Job 5:7)

In our reading of Revelation, we have entered the Great Tribulation Period. (Described in chapters 6-19, the Tribulation will involve the whole earth. See Revelation 3:10.)

"The Great Tribulation" sounds like a phrase invented by some stern fundamentalist preacher.

But, in fact, the term was originally spoken by Jesus Christ:
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)

Jesus first used that specific phrase, but this period of great trouble had been prophesied throughout scripture. The Old Testament described it as the time of Jacob's Trouble:
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is the time of Jacob's trouble. (Jeremiah 30:7)

The Tribulation is a seven-year period, the 70th "seven" as predicted by the prophet Daniel.  (For further information about this pivotal prophecy, found in Daniel 9:27, see the "Stand in the Rain" article of December 15, 2010).

***

American English has a figurative expression which, if spoken literally, precisely describes what the Great Tribulation will be like:
All hell breaks loose.

God does not initiate, generate, or instigate the tragedy and terror which will ensue. He has been restraining evil since the Garden of Eden in order that the Good News of salvation through Christ could be effectively proclaimed (1).

But in the Great Tribulation, the restraints God has placed upon evil are going to come unsealed. When they do, in Revelation 6, a cavalcade of evil is loosed--and the Great Tribulation has begun:

The first seal: false "Christ"
The second seal: war
The third seal: famine
The fourth seal: death
The fifth seal: martyred believers
The sixth seal: cosmic disturbances
(The opening of the seventh seal ushers in the seven "trumpet" judgments of Revelation 8-9.)

Evil has an energy, a momentum. The consequences of evil actions, words, or intentions ripple outward from their point of origin. God has, to a great degree, contained or curtailed the immediate consequences of evil.  And judgment has been delayed or deferred.  (That's why "lightning" doesn't strike the sinning soul on the spot.  Good thing for me!)

But in the Great Tribulation Period, the pit bull, so to speak, comes unchained.

***

While the book of Revelation is an apocalypse--an unveiling--of Jesus Christ, the Great Tribulation Period is an apocalypse--an uncovering--of the human heart of darkness, which scripture so succinctly described long ago:
The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

It is imperative, as the Bible student reads this horrific expose`, that (s)he understand this:
God didn't cause Jacob's Trouble. He didn't cause my trouble, and he didn't cause yours.

And he didn't cause the parade of evil which passes in review during the Great Tribulation.
He just stopped stopping it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) see 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7

Trans-cultural Orchestra

(written by Pastor Joe)

The word for today: Revelation 7

Mark this: v. 9-10
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."

Culture is the defining characteristic for most of the earth's people. How can it not be? It is the very air that we breathe, the food we eat, the way of life that shapes us.

A paragraph found in the blog from back in January 30, 2010 sums this up:
"Geography isn't everything- but it almost is. In other words, you are not defined by where you were born or live, but those places have a huge role in your life. Think, for example the difference of being born in Medina, NY verses Medina, Saudi Arabia Or ponder the difference between growing up in Calexico, California verses its sister city, Mexicali, Mexico. (Just two miles and two worlds apart). "

This also applies to the religious beliefs from around the world. Generally, we are told that if you want to find out a person's faith, all you have to do is find out where they were born. If it is Rio de Janeiro, then they must be Catholic. If its New Delhi, then they must be Hindu. If its Dubai, they must be Muslim. If its Sri Lanka, they must be Buddhist.

But as we look at today's passage, you will see that God has much bigger aspirations than just a particular country or continent. In the Bible, even as God worked through specific people (e.g Abraham) and specific nations (i.e. Israel); the whole purpose of those interactions as seen here and in Revelation 5:9 was to, with Christ's blood, purchase "men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation."

I praise God that the good news of Jesus Christ, the Gospel message, is so much bigger than any culture or country or even continent. The Gospel is indeed "trans-cultural" in ways that no other belief system is. Islam is locked into the Arabic language (of which only 5% of the world's population can read). Hinduism is locked into its own caste system. Every other belief system has major limitations by its geography and culture.

But the Word of God is not limited by such distinctions, because the person of Jesus is bigger than any man made categories. This revolutionary message was preached by the apostle Paul as he wrote: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) That is why the Gospel applies to the young and old, the rich and the poor, the educated and uneducated, and everyone in between.

We don't preach a color or race or culture or language or location or geography or class or caste or birthplace. We preach Christ crucified for everyone who has ever set foot upon our little planet- because He alone is bigger than everything that divides and categorizes us. Wherever you go, whoever you speak to, Jesus Christ applies. And you can't say that about anyone else.

what you see is what you get

The Word for today:
Revelation 6

In the picture above, some see a young lady, while some see an old lady.  No matter which one you see, you are right.  They are both there to be seen.

What do you see when you look at the cross?
Certainly we see love there; no greater love has ever been seen. How unspeakably beautiful. (1)

But what else can be seen? Look carefully.
You see the most exacting and severe judgment that the world has ever known. How utterly terrifying.

The fact that two people can look at the cross and see exact opposites will begin to explain the world's reaction to Jesus, the Lamb in Revelation 6.

Jesus did not change. He's still the same Lamb, the one that so many call Savior.  But the saved have been removed from the earth and those left behind are terrified of this Lamb:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"   (2)

Call Jesus whatever you will, and that's what he becomes for you:
If you call him your Savior, he saves you from sin.
If you call him your Leader, he guides you.
If you call him your Strength, he sustains you.
If you call him your Rock, you will not be moved.
If you call him your Shield, he will position himself between you and death.

But should you call him inconsequential, then the consequences of sin fall to you.
Should you call him a liar, then his promises, for you, are annulled. (3)
Should you find him poor, then you are left to pay the wages of sin for yourself. (4)

***

The cross, where some were born, is just a gallows to others. And what is Good News to some is an obituary to others:
Now wherever we go he uses us to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing. To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume. (5)

So, is that a young lady or an old lady at the top of this page? 
Yes and yes.

Is that the Lion of Judah or the Lamb of God who opens the seals in Revelation 5:5-10? 
Yes and yes.

Is the cross all about love or judgment? 
Yes and yes.

In the Kingdom of God, what you see is what you get.

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(1) John 5:13; (2) Revelation 6:15-17; (3) see Mark 6:3-6; (4) Romans 6:23; (5) 2 Corinthians 2:14-16/NLT

Rapture: a dream come true

The Word for today:
Revelation 5

(This is the second of two articles concerning the Rapture of the church.  Yesterday's article outlined the scriptural basis for the Rapture, as well as the derivation of the word rapture itself.  The reader who is not familiar with Rapture basics should begin there.
Today's article will attempt to envision the Rapture from "the far side"--from God's point of view.)

***

Suddenly, at the beginning of Revelation 4, John is transported to heaven. Moreover, the church--which is the entire subject of chapters 2 and 3--is gone, in the twinkling of an eye (1), from the Bible!

(The church will re-appear as the Bride of Christ in chapters 19 and 21-22.)

John, then, like Enoch and Elijah in the Old Testament, is a pre-figurement of the Rapture. When he is called out of the world, he is the church (the ekklesia,which means "called out") in microcosm. In the same way, the calling forth of Lazarus from the grave (John 11) is a picture of those believers who died prior to the time of the Rapture.

Just before the onset of the Great Tribulation, the Groom is going to sweep the bride off her feet and carry her over the threshold into the new home he has been preparing:
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.   (John 14:1-3)

While theologians quibble over the technical details of the Rapture, Jesus spoke of it, and thinks of it, in terms of romance.

That's why our term --"Rapture"--so wonderfully captures its essence. In fact, our terminology comes closer to the essence of the Rapture than our theology does!  We technicians have managed to sweep the romance right out of the skies.

The Rapture, as presented in God's Word, is so beyond our experience that it takes on dream-like qualities: it derives from somewhere beyond the boundaries of our imaginations; almost, it seems, from the realms of magic, where--poof!--the rabbit disappears.

The Rapture, impossible but inevitable, has the aura of reverie, as if it were conceived in the daydreams of a carpenter while toiling over many mansions. As he does, he pictures her, his bride to be, as if in an album of photos yet to be taken:

there she is, in their new home, radiant and lovely in her new dress;
and there she is with her new name and her new life;
and there she is, singing her new song under the untarnished stars.

Beaten and bloodied, he'd saved her while suspended between heaven and earth.  How perfect it would be, he muses, to segue into their new forever by meeting her in mid-air, now risen just like him!

***

It's all so strange that it strains our credulity--until we recall whose word and whose dream it is:

because the truth of a word isn't in the word, the truth of a word is in the speaker;
and the truth of a dream isn't in the dream; the truth of a dream is in the dreamer.

The Rapture was conceived when longing and desire met in an untarnished heart. A heart so holy, holy, holy that it spoke the cosmos into existence will--verily, verily, he says unto us--see his dream come true. (2)

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(1) see 1 Corinthians 15:50-52; (2) Revelation 4:8; see John 5:24-29/KJV and 1 Thessalonians 4:16