The word of the Lord that came to me, from the prophet Micah in the days of Trump, 2020 A.D.. It was a time of uncertainty. There was a global pandemic of a Coronavirus. People were dying. People were getting sick. People lost their jobs. Some showed their faith through their actions. The “ISMs” that separate people returned (racism, cronyism, nepotism, nationalism, separatism, paganism) The way of life for many had changed. The nation was divided. Foreign powers had succeeded in fueling mistrust and anarchy through the use of arrogance, ignorance and social engineering.
During this time, I got the opportunity to be the worship leader and preacher of the Gospel at St. Matthews Baptist Church, in District Heights, Maryland. The new church was empty. Except for security, the trustees, the audio-visual engineer and those that rendered the music. The choir and the musicians struggled to deliver what sounded beautiful in the sanctuary to the limitations of the internet. Technical problems abounded.
The Pastor, a brilliant and humble servant of God, was invited to share at a neighboring church which gave me my first chance to stand in. Since his installation, he has worked tirelessly to grow and prepare the church for the way things are becoming. It has not gone without challenge.
The threat of COVID -19 shut down traditional church services, celebrations, annual events and things people took for granted in the old Baptist church traditions. In an instant, leaders had to become televangelist, using the internet instead of the TV. The need for tech, monitors, WIFI and new procedures had to come fast. Social distancing, and medical precautious had to be combined to limit exposures and sickness. Not everyone is onboard.
So this pastor of an internet based churched called Speak Life Church, Incorporated that has been prepared for this online situation since 2007, got the opportunity to preach in an empty building, with an outstanding choir, expert musicians that didn’t sound as heavenly as it did it person online.
This week we’re going to start with a little introspective thinking. I want the Lord to walk with you and walk with me. We’re going to conclude the Church of Philadelphia in the Book of Revelation and start on the Church of Laodicea. All that and more, coming up next.
This week we’ll be finishing up with the Church of Philadelphia, Christ’s counsel and His commendation to that church. And also, I just want to break from the norm, and just tell you a couple of things.
First, I’m really, really happy that you’re here. I mean, there are a lot of podcasts out there. There are a lot of people who are preaching the Gospel, and that’s a good thing, but I’m glad that you’re here with me. You make a difference. You.
Yeah. I don’t even know your name sometimes. There’s maybe ten people who I have correspondence with, on occasion. There’s a few that have emailed me, that have called me. There are three I have actually seen on our live chat we had that one time, but the power of the Spirit is everything.
As I start this week, I want to start it in a spirit of thanksgiving. I got a chance to see somebody, personally I know who is Covid positive, got sick from the coronavirus. It was my son, and I watched the power of God heal him. Two weeks in quarantine, our family, he was in isolation, and he’s okay now. Only God can do that.
When I look back at my life, which has been pretty…..pretty eclectic, pretty active, pretty busy. I’ve done a lot of stuff, not all good, but God has saved me from myself, allowed me to come back from it all.
Twenty-nine years of marriage, not twenty-nine all solid, good years, either. There were some hard-earned dog years in there where I gave me wife Hell. I learned from her. Her faith, strong. Her conviction, strong. She taught me. I’m still the same guy I was twenty-nine years ago, but wiser, smarter, trying to be more like Jesus. That means a lot.
That means I’m trying to walk humbly, show mercy, show justice, live this faith thing. I don’t think myself higher than I am. I make sure that I season all of my words so that it uplifts and helps somebody else. It’s made me a quieter person because I want to make sure that I listen and don’t miss what God is talking about today, what God has for me. If I can help somebody along this journey, then my living will not be in vain.
Sometimes the Lord allows you to be in situations that you’d rather not be in, but while you’re there, you get the chance to minister to somebody. You get the chance to encourage to somebody, and it always backfires and encourages and motivates you right back.
The gift of giving is as cool as I don’t know what. There are a lot of people trying to get somewhere. Where I want to get is with God. I am thankful for my daughter who lives with me. She is an excellent chef, so even though in this quarantine, I’ve been eating like a king. My wife makes sure that we walk and exercise and do physical stuff so that the weight is not there. She makes sure that I am not looking like my Dad used to look, like he was about ten-months pregnant.
I miss my Dad, and I’m quite sure there’s somebody in your life that has transitioned on and no longer here that you miss. But, while we’re down here, how about we live? How about we do the best that we can do? How about we do better, physically? How about we do better, mentally? Look in the mirror. Take a checkup from the neckup. How is your attitude? How are you taking every day? Is it doom and gloom? Are you subscribing to the same misery as the rest of social media? Or are you doing better for yourself, improving your mind, improving your spirit, improving your body? Have you got a couple of Covid pounds? A whole bunch of stuff starting to look like a triangle? That’s on you. How about if you tried to lose a few pounds for your health? How about physically, have you had some checkups from physical, medical stuff?
Sometimes marriages wane because we are no longer physically appealing to one another. That’s normal, but you’ve got to admit it and work through it. I’m not saying go on a crash diet because your husband or wife doesn’t like the way you look. I’m saying, how about ya’ll actively work together, or admit that there are some issues? Talk that thing out. Talk it through. Don’t let it be festering in your head. The worst thing you can do is let stuff fester, let it grow. How about you just say, “Hey, I’m husky. I’m fat.” You might find out that your spouse doesn’t really care about your butt being big or whatever, your stomach, your gut, but they do have a thing with your arms, or they do have a thing with your endurance. It’s usually something else that’s not physical, not visible, but if you don’t talk it out, you can work out the wrong thing. You can go on a diet and be skinny lookin’ like a bone, and nobody really cares about that, but you have to talk it out with the other person. Once it’s out, it on them. And, the same thing goes for finances, past issues that we try to cover up by either drinking, smoking, druggin’, somethin’.
We all try to hide stuff — our own pains. How about talking that thing out while we’ve got time. We’re still on lockdown. We still can’t do stuff. You might have lost your position. You might have lost your job. Something has changed. 2020 has changed awhile lot of things, but there is always opportunity in change. There’s opportunity to talk, opportunity to get closer, opportunity to love, opportunity to grow, to try new things. There’s opportunity to look a different way at the same problem.
Time is equal to everybody. How are you using yours? Since you don’t have much to do, you could be planning for 2021, ’23, ’24, ’25. This could be the season of planning. You could be writing down some stuff, some goal setting. This is a good time to get out of your funk. Let this be your launchpad year. You don’t have anything holding you back. There’s nothing keeping you down except for you. What’s in your head? The Lord shines on the just and the unjust equally.
If you were to open your Bible up to the third Book of John, chapter two, you’d find something that says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospers.” What does that mean to you? Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health, just as your whole life is going well. That’s what I’m saying. And, if not, what are you keeping yourself from it? Think on that today. Make a move. Make a change. Get out of your own way.
Let us pray.
Eternal God, our Father, it is the Name of Your Son, Jesus that I ask that You would forgive me of everything I’ve done contrary to Your Will. I ask, Lord, that You would hear my prayer. Somebody right now is contemplating horrible things. Somebody is thinking the worst they can think. I’m asking, Lord God, that You will refresh their minds, that You will clear their spirit. Allow them rest when they sleep. Allow them, Lord God, to have a moment of peace so that they can get some clarity. The enemy is trying to kill, steal, and destroy. The enemy is trying so much to keep them frustrated, to keep them down, to keep them behind the bunker so that they can’t see the Light. Father, I ask just for a little bit of peace for them so they can rise above, so they can see the Glory of the Lord, so they can see the blue sky, so they can enjoy the darkness that the night has. Even in the darkest night is when you can see the stars. I’m praying for peace, for a mindset of peace in the midst of a storm. Father, I thank you for blessing me. I thank You for keeping me. I thank You, Lord God, for rescuing me. Thank You for all that You have allowed me to do. Thank you for those who are here. You know what they are standing in need of. If it be in Your Will, please, grant it. This is Your servant’s prayer, in Jesus’s Name. Amen.
Alright, we are in the Book of Revelation, chapter three, and we were talking about the commendation, the condemnation, the counsel, and the challenge of the church that Christ loved: The Church of Philadelphia. Today, we’re going to start at Christ’s counsel for this church and the church age. He said, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown.” Our Lord’s counsel to the Church of Philadelphia is based on the promise of His Coming. It is interesting to note that the challenge is made on the basis that the Church of Philadelphia will be in existence at His Coming. It is clear from history, that this church age — now, almost 300-years-old — is one of the shorter periods of church history. Christ’s counsel to them is to hold fast to what they’ve already been doing, and to continue faithfully until the end. The Church of Philadelphia is characterized by a spirit of revival that promotes evangelism and a missionary-minded church. You know, there are three basic essentials for building a spiritual church: evangelism, missions, and good, Bible teaching. Did you get that? If you want to build a strong, spiritual church, it has to be strong in evangelism, mission work, and Bible teaching. Churches that follow this formula are growing, even in Covid-times. Now, this is in sharp contrast to Sardis and Laodicean churches, which are having a hard time maintaining the status quo, and many are losing more members than they are taking in. Their problem is that they have not “kept His Word” and they “have denied His Name.” The emptiness of our civilization these days is because of its atheistic, humanistic philosophy. Mmm-hmm. That has given the Philadelphia churches the greatest opportunity in their almost 300-year history to harvest. For the first time in centuries, the human races is not only philosophically empty, but also aware of that emptiness. Faithful churches with a Bible-teaching, evangelistic, missionary-minded ministry are leading the way. Christ’s challenge to this church, those who are born again, is three-fold. First, He said, “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the Temple of My God. Never again will He leave it.” A pillar speaks to stability. Christians have stability in this life only in Christ. They are often buffeted and rejected for their faith, but, in life to come, we will not be outsiders, but we will be in with the relation to Christ. Number two, “I will write on him the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of Heaven from My God.” This writing of the Name of God is indicative of the fact that true believers are identified with Christ by a seal of the Name of God, which entitles them to have entrance into the City of God. Christ promises to prepare a New Jerusalem that will come down to the New Earth, and you’ll see that more when we read Revelation 21:9 and 22:6. And three, “I will also write on him my New Name.” Believers of the Church of Philadelphia may not only have the Name of God, which entitles them to entrance into the City of God, but also the Name of Christ which, according to Revelation 22:3-4, entitles them to be “His servants.” They will see His Face. One of the blessed promises in the Word of God to us is that one day we will see the One who is the object of our affection, the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom we have worshipped in Spirit and in Truth through this Word of God. So, we will see Him face-to-face. This is the exclusive experience for all those who are overcomes. Those who are just hearers of the Word of God are not justified before God, but those who have received the Lord Jesus and are prepared to meet Him at His Coming, are justified before God. You got that?
Revelation 3:14-22 talk about the Church of Laodicea.
The last of the seven churches is the most disappointing. In fact, it is disgusting. Our Lord compares it to the nauseating experience of drinking anything lukewarm. In this sense, it is a graphic prophesy of the modern day apostate church. Laodicea was a wealthy, inland city, about forty miles from Ephesus. It was big in Greek culture and learning. It was a thriving center of commerce and industry, and the local church must’ve been wealthy as evidenced by the fact that among present day ruins are three churches dating back to early days of Christianity. But, in spite of her wealth, nothing is known of the ministry of this church in preaching the Gospel.
{weird mechanical sound heard} I can’t believe that sound just popped up. In preparation for this message, I got hit with all kinds of interruptions, but I digress. Please continue to pray for our church, this one! Please pray for this Pastor, that I not fall, that I not fail, that I not forget, that I do not forsake, that I keep on going if it be His Will. Amen?
The apostate church or the people’s church, in this church age which is from 1900’s to the tribulation age itself, for the commendation, the condemnation, the counsel, and the challenge, there was nothing that Christ commended this church for. Not one word. It was condemned: “So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot, nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich. I have acquired wealth. I do not need a thing,’ but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” That’s pretty harsh, right? He counsels them. He says, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the Fire so that you can become rich and white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so you can see.” There’s some preachin’ stuff right in there.
The challenge, though: To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My Throne. The Laodicean Church Age is now, actually, when there are a lot of churches that are apostate. It should be kept in mind that the first three church ages differ from the last four in that each of the former stopped at the beginning of the next church. Ephesus was replaced by Smyrna, Smyrna by Pergamum, and Pergamum by Thyatira. A look at how this thing works will show that we have Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia with us at the present time, and Laodicea adds to this church age by arises from the three that preceded it.
The Laodicean Church Age began around 1900, I said, and it’s increasing in intensity at a breakneck pace. The characteristics of a Laodicean Church Age can best be seen by a detailed examination of what Christ condemned her for. What was that? Do you remember? Being lukewarm. Aren’t there a lot of lukewarm churches right now? And, I’m going to stop right there. Why?
Because the Spirit told me to. Let’s pray again.
Heavenly Father, I’m asking, Lord God, that You allow the person listening to me right now to feel Your Presence. Help us, Lord God, to be in one accord. Forgive us of all our sins. Bring us closer to You. You know what we need. We are asking for that. You know what we want. If it be according to your Will, please grant that, too.Father, help us in our unbelief. Help us to be stronger. Help us to be more forgiving — of both to ourselves, and to what others have done. Give us a brighter outlook on tomorrow. Help us to be as You called us to be. We thank You, Lord God, for answering prayer, for saving us from ourselves, for giving us another chance to get it right. We bless Your Name. We thank You, Lord. We thank You for Your Son, Jesus The Christ. Amen.
Well, that’s it, my friend. Until next time, may the Lord continue to bless you and keep you. May heaven’s face continue to smile upon you and give you great peace. Until that great day when there is no dawning and there is no sunset, I will see you at the Feet of Jesus. Thank you for being a part of Speak Life Church online. If you’d like to contribute, there are links on the show notes. God bless you.
I received this Message from the Lord this week. It hit me kind of hard and I didn’t know how to use it. I found out Sunday afternoon that I will be preaching it to a church congregation as well next week. You got it first.
What does God want from us?
This week has been an interesting episode because I’m being attacked as I try to present this to you. Yeah. A little bit about Micah the prophet, a short message, music created from the Psalm of David, and the continuation of our study of the Book of Revelation: The Church of Philadelphia.
This week I want you to go to the Book of Micah. He is the sixth of one of the twelve minor prophets. Micah 8:6 says, “He hath showed thee, old man, what is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.” So, who was this guy? He was a prophet from a place called Moresheth-Gath, which was southwest, about twenty-five miles southwest, of Jerusalem. It’s mostly an agricultural part of the country, and he lived outside big government powers, and he had a strong concern for the regular person, the less fortunate of society, the lame, the outcast, the afflicted. So, most of his prophesy was toward the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, respectively.
Micah was different because he prophesied about Jesus Christ’s birth, seven hundred years before it happened. Surrounding Micah’s prophesy of Jesus’s birth is one of the most lucid pictures of the world’s future under the Reign of the Prince of Peace. His future kingdom, which scholars call the Millennial Kingdom, will be characterized by the presence of many nations that live with one another in peace and security, and coming to Jerusalem to worship the Reigning King, that is, Jesus Himself.
Because these events have no yet occurred, we look toward that Millennial Kingdom at some undetermined time in the future. Much of Micah’s book revolves around two significant predictions: One, of judgment on Israel and Judah, and the other, the restoration of God’s people in this Millennial Kingdom. Well, that’s some of the biblical study for this.
Micah chapters 1-3 talks about Micah’s vision in God’s grief over Judah and Israel’s evil deeds, their coming destruction, and, later, how He delivers them, the capture of Jerusalem and the future Arrival of Jesus the Christ. Micah chapters four and five discuss the key events: the capture of the City of David and the Coming of the Son of David. Micah six and seven, Micah addresses God’s case against Israel and His compassion for the people. And, as he does so, his confidence grows. There are only seven chapters in this book, but it’s a powerful book of prophesy. I need you to find Micah 6:8, and I have three points in this message for this week.
“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
It’s as if somebody asks, “What does God want from me?”
Well, the first thing is to do the right thing. Act justly. Be fair. Be morally right. Be deservedly.
You know, if I were to just put that into perspective, it’s as if you were a husband, if you’re a married man, do the right thing. Be fair to your wife. What does that mean? Well, the longer you are married to somebody, the less they might look like a supermodel, but to be fair, either are you, but this world judges beauty and all of that, and it can get us caught up in a trick bag, as we would say back in the 70’s, that double standard. And you’ll start looking elsewhere, and that’s not right. It’s not morally right. You should be more deserving.
Act justly. Have more compassion, more forgiveness, more grace, more pity. That’s the second part. And then thirdly — walk humbly, unpretentious, modest, lifting up your spouse. You know you can get more things being sweet than you can being sour. If you would invest just a “hello” or a smile or a touch or do something for somebody else, you can life up somebody else in more ways than just financial. If you want to have a happier home, if you want to do better, don’t be just the only one who’s contributing to the relationship. Do the right thing. Do it justly. Love mercy. Be compassionate. Be forgiving. Have some grace. Have some pity, and walk before the Lord humbly, because He sees everything that you’re doing. You know, you can’t be one-sided. It can’t all come from one side. It has to be both of you, so what does God want from you? Well, somebody asked this of Jesus, too, and He said, “Love God with all your heart, and love each other as you love yourselves.” You know, that’s easy to say, but sometimes I’ve noticed in this world, we don’t love ourselves that much. We drink too much. We smoke too much. We don’t take care of our bodies. So, when you’re talking about loving somebody as much as ourselves, you’ve got to love yourself more than you have been. You’re letting yourself go. You’re letting yourself fall away. You’re being self-destructive. That’s also a negative. There’s a message in here somewhere. I’m hoping that you hear what I’m saying. The Great Commandment is what? You’ve heard me say it already: You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all of The Law of the Prophets. I’m saying, if you want to do better this week, think about Micah 6:8 — Do the right thing. Love mercy. Walk humbly with thy God. Love the Lord with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And love yourself, and your neighbor, your wife, your husband. If you’re not doing a good job on yourself, fix that because you can’t repair things with broken tools. You need to do better with what you have. That is what God requires of you this week — Micah 6:8.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I ask that You would forgive me of my stammering lips, that You would allow the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart to be acceptable, even though something is hindering me. I ask that the Holy Spirit will not hinder Your Message. Allow it got go forth. Father, forgive me for everything I’ve done that’s against You. Forgive us as we bow our heads, as we think about You, about Your Greatness, about Your Goodness, about all the things You’ve blessed us with. Help us, Lord God, to do what You’ve called us to do. Help us to obey You, to trust You, to love You. How can we say we love You and we can’t see You? But the person we have in our life, we’re not doing the right thing with, and that You’re judging us based on that. Help us all to understand that. I’m praying for marriages right now. I’m praying for relationships right now. I’m praying for those who are seeking to be loved. Father, clear our hearts and our spirits from past hurt and pain. Allow us Your Grace and Your Mercy to abide so that we can love again, hear again, walk again. Father, I don’t even know who I’m praying for right now, but You do. Touch them in a mighty way. Heal their pain. Bring the spark of love back to their life, to their lives. It’s in Jesus’s Name that I ask this. Amen.
Bible Study
Alright, let’s go to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. If you get the chance, please read that ahead this week. We’re not going to get all of it today, but Revelation 3 is interesting, and I’m having trouble speaking today. Maybe I’m just fired up, I don’t know. You know, the name Philadelphia literally means “brotherly love.” Our Lord selected that church to describe the kind of church age that was initiated around the year 750 and will continue to the Tribulation. Just as Sardis came out of Thyatira, so does the Philadelphia Age come out of Sardis.
The Reformation Church, as we read and heard before, became dead and cold as a state church. Philadelphia was marked by vitality of life. In this church age, God worked in a manner that produced revivals in Europe and the British Isles, spreading even to America. These revivals, in turn, produced what is now known as the Modern Missionary Movement. It was this moving of the Spirit of God on the part of His people that caused an English shoe cobbler to become so burdened for the lost of India, that in 1793, he became the first foreign missionary. His name was William Carey.
William Carey was followed by other young people whom the Spirit of God touched and thus the present day Faith Missionary Movement was begun, and it is our Lord said, “I have placed before you an open door.” This open door found such men as Adoniram Judson, David Livingstone, Jonathan Goforth, and thousands of people going out to Africa, China, Japan, Korea, India, South America, and the islands of the sea.
The Church of Philadelphia was located in the center of Greek civilization. Founded only 189 years before Christ, the city had a surprising influence on the area of the ancient world. This church must’ve been vital for Philadelphia to remain the independent Christian city until the close of the 14th century when it was conquered by the Turks. The church Christ loved, it’s commendation, is: I know your deeds. I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My Word and have not denied My Name. The condemnation of the church: not one word. The counsel for this church: I’m coming soon. Hold onto what you have so that no one will take your crown. The challenge: He who overcomes I will make a pillar in a temple of My God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the Name of My God and the name of the City of My God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God, and I will also write on him my New Name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Now, compared to the other churches that we talked about, this one you might want to be a part of. You know there are two reasons for the Missionary Movement: One, The Bible was printed by that time in regular languages around the world.
So, when a young guy, by the name of William Carey, read Our Lord’s Command to go into the world and preach the good news to all creation, it was easier to do! Secondly, the Missionary Movement was happening at the same time as the turn of the century, so folks were kind of thinking it was coming now. Like 2020, folks are looking at things thinking, “Man, I bet you it’s coming now.” We’ve always been looking for Christ’s Return in trouble, in bad times like now, but no one knows the hour or the day. One of the things I like about this passage of Scripture is that our Lord commended the Church of Philadelphia for four things which, in turn, invoked a promise from Him.
Number one, He said, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut,” and this refers to the doors of opportunity opened to them for the proclamation of the Gospel, one of the chief characteristics of faithful service throughout the church age.
1 Corinthians 16:9 indicates that the apostle Paul considered an open door an opportunity for Christian service. Number two: You have little strength. This refers to the minority status of the believers in Philadelphia. Except for some churches in America, the Philadelphia church age is characterized by smaller congregations which, according to human standards, are weak.
This, of course, is real strength, for as the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” which is a plus for me because sometimes I’m thinking that because I’m in this world with you that couldn’t I do better, maybe, with a larger group? But, I was reminded when talking to my pastor buddy this week when we were walking that somebody has to go after the one. The one is very important to God. When you’ve got the groups that are out there in masses, it’s quite often that the one wanders off and can get snatched by the enemy. I like being the one who can go find the one. And smaller things are often stronger.
Think about how potent cologne and perfumes are in their original forms. You have to thin it out a little. It’s a little strong on the nose. Nitroglycerin is very powerful, and it’s really small. Some of you ladies, physically, are small, but you’re, yeah. You get it.
Number three, He says, “yet you have kept My Word.” You see, this church not only believed the Word of God, it obeyed It. The Reformation churches, past and present, believe the Word of God, but are not characterized by obedience to It. The Church fo Philadelphia, a fitting contrast to this pattern, is characterized by obedience to his Word. Number four, “and you have not denied My Name.” Satan always counters an effective work of God, and that’s one of the things I was telling a married couple earlier.
As soon as you said, “I do,” and that you want to be a Christian marriage, a holy matrimony, you are a huge target to the devil. So, don’t think that the stuff that’s happening to you is just because. It’s bigger than you, and you have to learn to what? Do the right thing. Have some grace, some compassion, and to walk humbly. At the same time, when the church was growing and doing the right thing, it was also the increase of false christ and false religions.
One characteristic of this church age is that is refused to deny the Name of The Lord, thereby offering a challenge that needs to be presented to every faithful Christian as he or she approaches the end of the age. Christ gives a promise to this church, which comes down to two things: vindication and preservation. He says, “I will make those who are of the synagogues of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not but are liars, I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”
Christ promised that all the false religionists, imposters, and false teachers and antiChrists, those who claim to be Jews but are not, would someday be subdued before them. Their heretics will realize that in persecuting the faithful church of Christ, they have turned their backs on Him. On the preservation piece: Since you have kept My Command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. The world has never known a universal period of tribulation. What we’re going through right now is not it, but we’re getting close. This passage is obviously in reference to the Tribulation period of seven years that will be covered extensively when we get to, like, Revelation 6-18.
This promise, though, is to the Church of Philadelphia, that she will be raptured before the Tribulation begins. It seems difficult to understand why some false teachers suggest that the church must go through the Tribulation in view of this clear-cut statement of our Lord to keep you — in this case, us — out of the hour of trial which must be understood in light of Jesus’s description of that period in Matthew 24:21: There’s a time when there will be great distress unequal from the beginning of the world until now, and never be equalled again. Obviously, that period has never historically happened yet. Many believe, as we will see, that such a time of Tribulation will not commence until the anti-Christ signs a covenant with Israel for seven years.
The rapture of the church, which we’re going to talk about soon, will proceed after that covenant signing, and this explains why many of us think that the next thing on the prophetic agenda is the Rapture of the Church. And, we’re going to get more into it later. Amen?
That part was so heavy, I had to stop! I mean, it’s just, like, I don’t know, it’s like I need more strength to get into this. The Spirit was holding me back. So, whatever the thing is that’s going on right now, continue to pray for your strength and mine, for this church, for our ministry, for something that you do to be done better. Amen? Amen.
You might not know it, but we had our first Zoom prayer meeting this past week, and I was so nervous, but it turned out pretty good actually, so I want to thank all those who made it. Shout out to Teyonna and Sarah and Jon.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord’s Face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His Countenance unto you and give you that peace. And until that great day when there is no dawn and there is no sunset, my friend, my brother and my sister, I will see you at the Feet of Jesus. Until then, God bless.
And Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Welcome to the Speak Life Church Podcast. I’m Reverend Kenn Blanchard, and this week, we’ve got a message about control, Bible study about the Book of Revelation — we’re going to be ending the Church of Sardis, finishing that up —and, we’ve got music from Sister Sarah. All this and more, coming up next.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18 and 21, that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Here, we choose to speak life. We are a 100% online ministry created to restore and strengthen the family, provide hope for those in need, and offer a nontraditional place of worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, using technology to be anywhere. All are welcome, including those souls still searching for what they believe in. My name is Kenn Blanchard. Welcome.
This week I’ve got a message about control. You know, control kind of is a huge thing for everybody. You might not think it’s you, but I can guarantee there is some elements of it that even you want. It’s a life thing. It’s a normal thing. Many of us are unhappy right now over many things. I’m not going to say anything that will change that except for maybe that “God Is.”
Happiness is dependent upon what it happening now in your life. It’s temporal. It’s temporary. It’s fleeting. Some of us are waiting for things to change. Others are changing the things that we can — little things like cleaning up around the house, painting, building things, practicing new things.
Straighten the stuff out. I’m in that boat. I’m practicing more with my new guitar. I’m trying to finish and write a book about the joy that God gives. I’m taking advantage of this teleworking option. I’m a little bit anxious, worried that I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know holds tomorrow. I’m mending fences and reaching out to people I haven’t spoken to in awhile — politics aside, social media aside.
Believe it or not, your current situation isn’t unique. Would you believe that you’re not alone in the way that you feel if you’re feeling some kind of way right now? We may not all be in that same boat, but we are all in the same storm. After years of filling my cup with more and more, trying to control the matters of my life, I’ve realized that I’ve got to learn how to stop and let go, and let God. I am so much more at peace, so much happier, so much “stress-less” knowing that God has my tomorrow.
Control. Anybody got control issues? Control is typically a reaction to the fear of losing it. People who struggle with the need to be in control often fear being at the mercy of others, and this fear may stem from something that happened to you in your past when you were totally helpless and vulnerable. Maybe you just got some disproportionate and unhealthy issues that you want more of everything. Sometimes, those of us that experienced some abuse, some neglect, look for ways to reign in control of that so that it doesn’t happen again.
So, it can be from traumatic or abusive life experiences. It can be from a lack of trust. It can be from just plain old anxiety which happens if you breathe, fear of abandonment. You might have some self-esteem issues. There might be some personal beliefs, some values that you don’t have, some lack of faith. Maybe you’re trying to be perfect. Perfectionism and the fear of failure run hand-in-hand. And maybe you’re just emotionally sensitive to some stuff that’s going on. And there’s a lot of stuff that’s going on. You want to micro-manage and orchestrate something in other people.
Maybe you want to get a little bit more rigid in your routine. You want to change your diet. You might want some more order. Those are all things that have control in them. Psalm 33:8-22 says, “the Lord watches over those who obey Him.
Those who trust in His constant love. He saves them from death. He keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our Protector and our Help. We are glad because of Him. We trust in His Holy Name. May Your Constant Love be with us, Lord, as we put our hope in You.” (I believe that’s the New Living translation.)
The wise among us recognize your struggles because we had them, too. The wise among us seek to share advice, probably unsolicited, because we care, but believe it or not, there is nothing new under the sun. King Solomon had that totally right. But, who controls this dag-gone storm? You know the answer. God. Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” For those who have been to church a few times, I’m sure you’ve heard the story of when Jesus was in a boat and a storm came up. You’ll find it in Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, and Luke 8:22-25.
It sounds a little something like this:
On the same day when evening had come, He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side.” Now, when they had left the multitude, they took Him along, in the boat, as He was. Other boats were also with Him, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, but He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. They awoke Him, and said, “Teacher! Do you not care that we are perishing?”
Then, He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace. Be still.” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm, but He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And, they fear exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be that even the wind and sea obey Him?”
They said to each other, “What kind of man is He? He speaks to the wind and the waves and they obey Him.” Matthew 27 says, “but the men marveled (in the King James version) saying, ‘What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
How cool is that?
See, what we really need to do right now in our situation is to stop striving and start abiding. You know what the truth is. You know who God is. You know how you are in the world. You know how far you’ve fallen. You know where you’re at. There’s no joke. Right now, we all crave control, but the remedy for all of that is to be with God, to pray, to be honest, to tell Him how you feel, to say what’s wrong and confess that you like being in control. After all, you are made in His Image. But, you’re not Him, are you?
No. You’ve got to recognize who you are, too. I know you want to please Him, because I do. I had to recognize that I need Him in my life. I’m not going anywhere without Him. Lord, help me and us to surrender control to You each and every day. Help us to trust You deeply. Help us, Lord God, not to fear surrendering control. Help me to remember that You hold everything in Your Hand.If you’re having trouble surrendering through prayer alone, I find out that you can try by taking a piece of paper and writing down the things that are holding you down, holding you tightly. Once you get all that stuff out of you, pray about them individually. You know, trusting in God is a lifelong process.
You don’t get wise without being stupid first. You don’t get wise without having experiences first. You don’t get wise that you can sit back and share information, unless you’ve done some stupid stuff that God has allowed you to come back on. Like so many things in this Christian faith, there’s a choice that we make everyday. We have to learn how to let go of figuring out all the “whys” of life and just trust God and understand Him more and more than we ever could. And, after you let go, I guarantee you’ll feel better. You will be that happier that you’re looking for. You will see how far you have to go, though, once you let go. Once you get closer to God, you will see all your imperfections and it will make you humble, but humble, being in true humility, is a good thing because God resists the proud.
So, once you let yourself hang out there, that you’re not all that and a bag of chips, that you got some stuff wrong with you, folks will look at you strangely because you’re honest. They’ll look at you strangely because you admitted it. They’ll look at your strangely because you’re self-deprecating, but they don’t matter because they don’t have a Heaven to kick you out of or a Hell to put you into. Being closer to God is all that matters in this world. The song says: When we walk with the Lord in the Light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His Good Will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Let us pray.
Eternal God, our Father, Heavenly Father, the only One True God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Lover of our souls, it’s in the Name of Your Son, Jesus that I bow before You now, that I close my eyes and lower my head before You, that I ask, Lord God, You will forgive me of everything I’ve done and allow your servant to be heard. Somebody right now is seeking help, and may they, through this time, find it through You. Bless us, Lord God, and keep us and we will be kept. Touch us, and allow Your Presence to be felt now. Somebody is lonely. Somebody is anxious. Somebody is frustrated. Somebody is angry. Somebody is mad. Somebody is going through a tough time, and they need You, Lord God. They’ve tried everything else, but You. Help us to trust You and obey. Help us to let go of the control issues that we have and to trust You. Heal the brokenhearted. Put a smile back on our face. Give us the joy that has nothing to do with this world. Give us the joy that surpasses all understanding. Give us Jesus. Holy Spirit, lighten our burdens. Lighten our eyes. Lighten our spirit. This is Your servant’s prayer for Your people. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I ask this thing. Amen.
That was a group I snagged off of Youtube called, Kaoma Chende. I am hoping that you have the chance to check out speaklifechurch.net this week or last week, or maybe even today. It’s our website and the home of all of our stuff. Facebook is cool and all, but you know, sometimes they can censor you how you get to things, and before you know it, you never get to the website. So, if you’re looking for the show notes, they are provided for you at speaklifechurch.net.
Also, I want to invite you to our very first Zoom prayer meeting, which is going to happen on the 14th of October, 2020 at 8:30p.m. EST. The invite can be found on Facebook and on the show notes for this episode. And, if you don’t get any of those, you can call me and I will send it to you myself: (202)579-9435. But, I’m hoping that I’ll get at least one or two of you. We’ll pray. We’ll talk. We’ll laugh. We’ll share what God has done for us, have a little testimony time, only thirty minutes. It’ll just be our trial under fire using technology, to reach out, maybe I haven’t talked to you in person before. I would love to see you. I’m looking forward to this time. October 14th at 8:30p.m.
And, if you can’t make it, it’s okay, just send me a note though, and let me know that you would like to. We just pulled this date out of the air. It’ll be after work, for most people, and maybe you can make it. If there is something you would like me to pray for in the interim, feel free to send me an email, to call me, or maybe you’re ready to make a move right now, and come to God. I know you’re not with me right now. You don’t see me right now, but did you know that if you would confess with your mouth — that means say it out loud — that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, and believe in your heart that God raised this Man from Nazareth from the dead, that you will be saved.
For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confessions are made unto salvation. You could never be saved by trying to be a good person. Nor can you be saved through any other amount of good works and things that you do here in this world. The Bible tells us that for by grace we have been saved by faith, and not of ourselves. It is a Gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
You and I can only be saved by confessing our sins and placing our faith in God’s Son, Jesus, who died for us and paid for our sins on the Cross. We must surrender our lives to Him, placing Him in charge of every area of our lives because we now belong to Him.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself began their preaching with the words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” To repent means to change one’s mind or to turn. You know, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. No matter which direction you’re going in, to turn around only takes one. I’m asking you right now, that if you don’t have Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, if you don’t know about this God thing that I’ve been talking about, if you don’t understand but you want a change, you want something to happen in our life, that you would stop right now, and ask God to hear your prayer.
Ask Him to forgive you of everything you’ve done, and allow the Holy Spirit to come into your life. Ask Him for the free gift of eternal life. Say, “I believe in Your Son, Jesus. I don’t really quite understand all this stuff that’s been said to me over and over and through life, but I believe that You exist. I believe that You sent Your Son to die for me.” See, God promises that all who receive Him, that those who believe in His Name, He gives the right to become Children of God. God does hear and accept all who come to put their faith in Him.
There is no more need to fear death because Jesus broke that whole thing. He paid it all. Jesus didn’t remain in the grave. He rose from the dead after three days. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. You will be a new creature. Old things will pass away.
All things will become new. Your faith will come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. All the stuff I’ve just said prior and always through this thing are the Words of the Lord. If you prayed, if you decided to follow God, if you decided to allow Jesus to be your Savior, then your journey as a Child of the King of Kings has just begun. God bless you. Looking forward to speaking with you in the future.
{Hymn “Softly and Tenderly” sung by Sister Sarah here}
Thank you, Sarah.
Let’s go to the Book of Revelation. We’re talking about the Church of Sardis — Revelation 3:1-6. You know, Christ’s nature was reveled to Sardis. Time period wise, this was the capital city of Lydia, Sardis was. After the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, in this book, in Sardis, this church, he reveals two characteristics of Himself. He calls Himself The Seven Spirits and The Seven Stars. The Seven Spirits refer to the Holy Spirit who Jesus said is Truth.
The Stars are the angels of the churches. This church had more than adequate opportunities to know the truth and to obey the Lord if they had heeded His warning. The natural explanation of the deficiency appears to be that they preferred to trust the state instead of God. The Church of Sardis received the shortest commendation from our Lord than any of the other churches. In fact, some biblical scholars do not include any commendation for this church, but lists the commendation as a condemnation because of the way it ends. It says: “I know your deeds.” This may well refer to the early stages of the Reformation when Martin Luther and others chose to defy Roman authority, even at the risk of their own lives, to obey the Bible’s teaching on salvation by faith. “You have a reputation,” it says, probably referring to the fact that the Reformation Church had a reputation, as a faithful church particularly in the early days of the movement, of being “alive,” in the case there was some life in the church. If you remember, last week, I talked about my own experience with my church that it wasn’t always dead.
Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ made the church alive. It should be noted, though, that the act of placing one’s trust in Jesus Christ and receiving His Salvation does not guarantee us consistent obedience to the Holy Spirit. It’s a daily thing you have to do. I mean, you can wake up some days and just be disobedient. You can wake up some days and just be in the flow. It’s a work in progress. You have to submit, personally, to the Will of God. We have so many choices, and it’s really easy to somebody, even a church person, to go off kilter. Christ did condemn this church, though. He says, “but you aren’t dead.” I already said that, but I got good news for you, yes, I do. There are five things that God says that if you do them, He’ll make you acceptable again.
The first is to wake up! It’s an expression that points to a serious deficiency in the teaching of some of the early church people. The word our Lord uses here is used in other passages of Scripture to indicate the attitude of life that should characterize His children in view of His Promise to return. We should be talking more about Biblical prophesy and separation. Prophetically instructed Christians are more apt to be separated, consecrated Christians, than those unaware of the promises of our Lord’s Second Coming. We’re talking about this Revelation piece right now because from all intents and purposes, things look a little closer today than they did twenty years ago, that the Lord is coming back.
Number two: strengthen what remains. This is a no-joke kind of thing, like, duh! There’s a whole bunch of depravity right now, number three, we need to lean more on the Authority, on the Word of God. Number four is we need to remember, therefore, what we have received and heard. We need to obey, as we spoke about earlier, and number five is we need to repent. So, the five things are:
Wake up.
Strengthen what remains.
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard.
Obey it.
Repent
Repentance not only involves an act of turning to God, but of having a submissive heart. See, it’s one thing that after He slaps you down, you fall on your face that you say, “Alright! I surrender!” It’s a lot better if you do that before that happens, seeking His Will and His Teaching in all truth.
Christ had a big warning to Sardis. He said, “If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know of the time I will come to you.” One of the worst things that can happen to us here, is that we think we have all the time in the world. “I’ll get my life together when I get older.” “I’ll get my life together after I get married.” “I’ll get my life together after I get through school.” “I’ll get my life together after I get a house.” Whatever you put before God is a bad thing. You don’t know when He’s coming. You don’t know when your life will end. You don’t know that you could live a whole lot better if you would just give your life to God now. How much joy are you missing? How much pain are you enduring that you don’t have to?
I’m not saying that you won’t have some stuff happen to you after you give your life to Christ, because all the Christians listening to me right now know that in this world, you will have tribulations. You’re going to have some stuff, but it’s a whole lot better to go through it with God than to go through it without. And, like my church, He says to this church, “Yet, you have a few people in Sardis who have now soiled their clothes. They will walk with Me dressed in white for they are worthy.” There are some individuals, even now, who remain faithful even through all the crazy stuff that’s going on. I want you to be like that, to be faithful to God regardless of what’s going down. The Lord has promised that all who are faithful to Him during persecution will “walk with Me dressed in white for they are worthy.”
A lot of us have never tasted the sting of persecution for the cause of Jesus Christ. We’ll stand aside and be thrilled at the Judgment Seat of Christ when those who have endured are rewarded.
Christ’s challenge to Sardis, as to all the others, is directed to the individual. He or she who overcomes, as we have already seen, is a direct reference to those who have been born again by faith in Christ. I want you to check out 1 John 5:1-4: He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. It refers to the righteousness of Christ with which we are clothed when we are born again (2 Corinthians 5:21). Scripture says, “I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels.” This indicates the security with which a believer is held against the Day of Judgment that’s described in Revelation 20:11-15 that we haven’t gotten to yet. That Book of Life is the book that contains the names of all living individuals. It is possible to have one’s name blotted out in that book for three reasons.
One, sinning against God.
Two, not being an overcomer, which is synonymous with being born again, or putting one’s trust in Christ, and three, for taking away from the words of the prophesy of Revelation. In short, anyone who has sinned against God has his or her name blotted out of the Book of Life upon death. And then our Lord concludes, in this book,
“He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Whether or not you have heard is determined by whether or not you have heeded His warning to be born again.
The way to guarantee that — that your name will never be blotted out of the Book of Life — is to get on your knees and ask God, right now, to cleanse you of your sin and save you as we asked earlier and gave you the opportunity. It’s not too late. Still think about it if you’re not.
Next week, we’re going to hit the Church of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13.) Amen? Wow! Time is flying. Thank you for listening, downloading, and subscribing to the Speak Life Church Podcast. I’m Reverend Kenn Blanchard, and I want to thank you personally for listening and for your prayers. I’m hoping to meet you online on the 14th of October, if you can. Now, unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May Heaven’s Face continue to shine upon you and give you great peace. Until that great day when there is no dawn and there is no sunset, my friend, my sister, my brother, I will see you at the Feet of Jesus. Until next time, God bless.
This week on the Speak Life Church Podcast, we’re going to end our chapter two of last week, start chapter three of the Book of Revelation — the Church of Sardis, I’m going to share with you a little about my journey, and talk about the Lost Books of The Bible.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18 and 21, that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Here, we choose to speak life. We are a 100% online ministry created to restore and strengthen the family, provide hope for those in need, and offer a nontraditional place of worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, using technology to be anywhere. All are welcome, including those souls still searching for what they believe in. My name is Kenn Blanchard. Welcome. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His Presence with singing. Enter into His Gates with thanksgiving, and into His Courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His Name, for the Lord is good. His Mercy is everlasting, and His Truth endures to all generations. Welcome to Speak Life Church.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we come before You to say Thank You for this day — a day that we have never seen before. Somebody comes, Lord God, for the first time. I ask that You would touch them right now, allow their ears to hear, their heart to hear what You say. Your servant seeks to lift You up now. Hear my prayer, oh, Lord. Use me in a mighty way to do what You called me to do. I bless the one who has returned and is calling themselves a member of this church — this church without walls, this church without a physical location, but that’s seeking to be a church called by You. Help us to do Your Work. Thank You for all of those who are a part of this family. Thank you for those who are a seeking a church home. Help me help them in whatever they need. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy Sight, oh, Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.
All right, last week we were talking about the Church of Thyatira in the Book of Revelation, chapter two, right? Man, I’m so deep in this thing we haven’t even moved! We’ve got a whole bunch of stuff. It makes me wonder, “How long do I do this?” Are you ready for some uplifting, different topics for the Speak Life Church? Let me know. Send me a note. Holla at your boy. We’re going to continue with Christ’s counsel. There are like four pieces that happen in all of the Church — the commendation, the condemnation, the counsel, and the challenge. We’re going to talk about the counsel — what Christ told this church, this pagan church. All right? We all back in touch? Back where we are at? Our Lord counsel to this Church of Thyatira was apparently directed to the faithful individuals within that church who rejected the false doctrines. He said, “Only hold on to what you have until I come.” That refers to the fact that many during the Tribulation refused to go under the false religious system also known as the Prostitute (Revelation 17). The challenge that Christ gives this church, this pagan church, He says, “To him who overcomes and does My Will to the end, I will give authority over the nations.” There are two aspects of the challenge of our Lord to the individual overcomer of this period. One, he will give such an individual a position of leadership and authority during the millennial age if he or she is faithful in this age. Two, he will also give them the Morning Star. This is a beautiful title which is clearly understood here among scholars to be the light of our Lord’s Word in Revelation 22:16 where He explains that He is the bright, morning star. This promise is clearly the promise of Christ to come and abide if you overcome. So, who is an overcomer? First read John 5:1-4 and it clarifies that. That’s everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ.
All right, we are finally going to hit on the Church of Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)!
This is the church that I kind of came from. I might’ve talked about it in the past. I was the pastor of this church, and it was killing me. Why am I calling the church where I was like the Church of Sardis? Listen, and you shall hear that there is nothing worse than a dead church. It’s like a man dying of thirst in the desert who sees a well in the distance only to find after he gets there, that it is bone dry. Many thirsty stumble through the desert of this world and they finally get to see what they think is a hope in the form of a church only to find that by entering it that it is completely dead. Well, that was the Church of Sardis and the age that she represents — the Age of Reformation.
Sardis, the place, the capital city of Lydia was prominent in Asia Minor. It was noted for its carpets. It was a wealthy city that was finally destroyed by an earthquake. The local church there seems to have had an acceptable name in certain areas, but it was still DEAD. This is tragic in view of the fact that life is a characteristic of the born-again Christian. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the fullest.” (John 10:10) There were, however, a few faithful believers in the Sardis Church who may not have soiled their clothes. The dead church is in the time period of 1520A.D. up until the Tribulation. Here are the commendations, the condemnations, the counsel, and the challenges:
• The commendation: “I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive.”
• The condemnation: “but you are dead. I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of God.”
• The counsel: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die. Remember, you have received and heard. Obey it, and repent. But, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
• The challenge: “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels.”
Sardis itself means “the escaping ones” or “those who come out.” This name, together with the Lord’s condemnation of the church, provides a perfect description of the Reformation Churches, the Protestant Reformation developed as a result of the continued emphasis by the Church of Rome on pagan doctrines rather than adherence to Scripture. The basic emphasis of the Reformation Churches originally was from Martin Luther’s watch word taken from Scripture: But the righteous will live by faith (Romans 1:17). Now, they have recoiled from trying to make salvation the result of works and sparked the resurgence of interest in studying the Scriptures, but the tragedy of the Reformation Churches that earned for the them the condemnation of the Lord of being dead is twofold. First, they became “state churches.” Luther, for example, sought the approval of the political leaders, and eventually, the Luther Church became the state church of Germany, as did others throughout Europe. The danger of this is that the Church then includes the entire population thus eliminating the need for personal acceptance of Jesus Christ and an emphasis on the individual’s relationship to God. Another danger is the tendency to please the government rather than God. Secondly, the Reformation Churches did not sufficiently change many customs and teachings of the Church of Rome. Baby baptism was continued in spite of the fact that there is no scriptural verification for it. Sprinkling was also continued in ritualism including some elements of sacraments was perpetuating. Ritual and formality, characteristics of pagan forms of worship, are not conducive or genuine in they worship for they appeal to the sensuous human nature. That’s the whole big fuss about other doctrines. A lot of the stuff that we like in church is because we like it, not because it’s in The Bible, not because God asked us to do it. It’s that we’ve always done it that way. We never looked to see what was wrong with it. We just continue because that’s the way we like to worship, but you’re not putting it to the One who asked for it. Just saying. The Bible teaches that God must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Ritual that comes from paganism cannot be of the Holy Spirit and does not convey truth. The main, main purpose of a church is the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This should be done in song and in word. If people leave a church with the mysterious feeling of worship, but have not been face-to-face with Jesus Christ in a personal way, then they have been worshipping a dead church.
Let me tell you about the church that I was a pastor of. My church had been operating for years. They were an affluent African-American congregation. Everybody in the church had been somebody. They were doctors, lawyers, senators. We had an astronaut in there. There was a whole bunch of people, and they were proud of their lineage and their heritage and their name, and they all got together, and it was like a social thing. They would meet and do business. They would make sure that they only talked to other people who they knew were affluent like them. They were snobby, and they broke off. Their pastor died, and they raised up this younger guy to become their new pastor. He was like the worship leader, the younger youth pastor, and they sent him to Harvard and Howard and all these acclaimed schools so they could brag that their pastor was highly educated. They paid for his whole education, but in his learning, he learned about true worship. He learned about God, and he learned that some of the stuff that they were doing was ritualistic and paganistic and it wasn’t of God. When he became pastor, he sought to change everything, and they went crazy. The church split. About two hundred of them left and started their own church. They changed the name just slightly, and they took a bit of their wealth and money with them, and they continued their practices, but they couldn’t find a pastor, so they found another young guy who didn’t have a church, and they made him like a master of ceremonies. They wouldn’t called him “pastor.” They just kind of put him on salary, and his job was to preach occasionally, not too many times, and they would find other pastors, other preachers to fill the pulpit because they didn’t want anyone to lead them. They had their own business. They were older people. All of them were 65+ and I got in that group of ministers that would come quarterly to preach. I was a newly ordained minister. I wanted to practice my craft, and every time I got in front of these 35-40 people, the Lord had me say some pretty harsh things to them. The Lord spoke through me, and the next thing I knew, I was there permanently. But they told me right off that I was not going to be “it” because I was not their “kind of person,” but they were glad I would stick around until they found it. The Lord had others things for them.
I became the pastor after two years of serving there, and for the next five years, we fought, and we changed. We got the church to grow and we did a whole bunch of stuff, but they, in their hearts, were dead. They did not want my change. They did not what what the Lord had for them. They fought it at every avenue, so with straight reservation and no backing, no support from any other ministers I knew, I resigned, and they cheered. They were glad, and they sought to find somebody they could mold and make in their own image. They stumbled for a couple of years, but then they found somebody, and as soon as he got his credentials that he had been pastor for two years, he left and went back to the church he was trying to get all along. That church, right now, is empty. It was a dead church. Most of them are still around, but they had to go worship at another church, and some other stuff has happened to them. It’s a strange world out here, but at the same time, I didn’t stop. I’ve been preaching on the corners, preaching at gun ranges, preaching everywhere I can go, wherever folks will listen, and then I found that the Internet allowed me to do this from my basement. I could actually do what I’ve been called to do. When I needed to go out somewhere, BAM! There I go. So, now I’m actually working at a church as an associate of the associate who was working with me! He is now pastor and I’m making sure that I take some of the hits and fiery darts that are thrown his way, and shield him, uplift him, and help him when I can which is always, and help him right his ship, help him do his job, and I’m feeling blessed for it all. That’s enough for the Church of Sardis and Kenn Blanchard today. We’re going to hit more about this church next week, all right?
In my last job, I was a supervisor of armed security officers and we used to just sit around and talk about all kinds of things, stuff that was inappropriate for the job, just typical security guard/law enforcement chatter, and one of the things that was a hot topic was faith and religion. Folks knew that I was a pastor, so they would cautiously and tactfully ask a question that starts a mess to see where people would go. One of the newer guys, one of the nicer guys, had just recently found his faith and he was working with this church, which I think was kind of a cult. They had gathered some extra books and made their own bible, pretty much. And he said it was the Lost Books of the Bible. Have you ever heard of that? “What about the Lost Books?” Has that ever come up into your vernacular, into your mind? See, this question relates to the subject of canonicity. When somebody speaks of the canon of Scripture, they are referring to the collection of sixty-six recognized books that have come to be known as The Holy Bible. The word “canon” means “measuring rod,” actually. And Christians believe that The Bible is the measuring stick God has given us for evaluation of what is true or false, right or wrong. Just as a ruler helps the carpenter saw the board at the right length, our spiritual measuring instrument, the canon, helps us get things right according to what God wants for us. But how did the volume of Scripture get compiled? Why did some ancient religious books from that era not make it in? And, for a whole bunch of reasons, Christians accept that God determined through his prophets this canonicity. Over time, the people of God discovered which of these books were prophetic and therefore canonical. During the time of Jesus, the Jewish Scriptures that made up the Old Testament had long been collated and recognized. The last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was complete 400 years before the birth of Christ. About 250 years before the birth of Christ, the Septuagint, the rendering of the Jewish Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek, was translated. Historically, by the time of the early church, the inspired writings that would ultimately make up the New Testament began to achieve circulation. During this time, there was also writings in circulation that Christians recognized were not from God, and those were rejected for this canonization. Books from the Old and New Testament eras that were not recognized as belonging to the God-ordained collection of Scriptures, came to be known as apocryphal, meaning “hidden.” Somebody by the name of Origen, who lived around 185-254A.D. may have been the first scholar to use the word “apocryphal” in alerting early Christians to the questionable value of this non-inspired writings. Depending on how one divided the chapters, sections, there are a dozen apocryphal books that exist from the Old Testament era, and about fifteen from the New Testament era. So, the questions becomes: Why should the apocryphal books be rejected as uninspired and therefore not part of the biblical canon that we all know as The Holy Bible, the sixty-six books? Well, here’s the reason: Unlike the actual biblical books, no apocryphal writing claims to have been penned by a prophet in the case of the books from the Old Testament era or by one of Christ’s apostles regarding the writings from the New Testament era. Also, the New Testament quotes Old Testament books but never quotes any of the apocryphal writings except in one instance and that’s in Jude, chapter nine, which does not contradict the Old Testament. Also, Jesus and the apostles never quoted from any of the apocryphal books. Few early church leaders ever referenced any of the apocryphal writings the way they canonical Scripture. Early church leaders who did not consider the apocrypha to be canonical Scripture include Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Origen, and Jerome, a 4th century biblical scholar and translator of Latin. But, wait! There’s more. In the 2nd century, A.D., the earliest copies of the Peshitta, the Syriac bible, did not contain any of the apocryphal writings. When the Dead Sea Scrolls — (now, we’ve heard about that before, right?) the collection of more than nine hundred ancient texts — were discovered at a place called Qumran in the mid 1940’s, included were commentaries of all of the Old Testament books. Within a cache of manuscripts, were some fragments of Jewish apocryphal writings. However, while there are commentaries accompanying all the Old Testament books, there were no commentaries written on any of the ancient apocryphal books leading many to conclude that the ancient scholars from that area, known as the Essenes, didn’t view the apocryphal writings as being on the same plane as Scripture. One of the most respected Dead Sea Scrolls scholars, a guy by the name of Millar Burrows, said, “There is no reason to think that any of these works were venerated as sacred scripture.” So, when somebody’s talking about apocryphal writings and the canonical Bible as we know it, the comments and writings of notable leaders from the early Christian era are worth noting. Philo, who lived 20B.C to 48A.D was a Jewish teacher from Egypt. He quoted the Old Testament prolifically, citing virtually every canonical book, however, he never once quoted from the apocrypha as inspired. Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived from 30A.D to 100 referenced the same thirty-nine books that we know as the Old Testament, and through demonstrating familiarity with them, he never quotes any apocryphal books as Scripture. The Westminster Confession of Faith written in 1647 said, “The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are not part of the Canon of the Scriptures, and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any otherwise approved or made us of than any other human writings.” So, the wrap-up is: I can be confident that the Scripture that you know as The Holy Bible, the sixty-six books, is complete. Regarding the New Testament, Jesus alluded to the closing of the Canon by the authority He appointed to His apostles of all whom died before the end of the first century. You can check out John 14:26, 15:27, and 1Corinthians 2:13. And what I have known personally is that people will often cite these other books as being “the stuff they don’t want you to know.” It’s like click bait. It makes you want to read, and it also gives you pause to think you’ve been cheated or left out, or that you’ve been missing something. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and correction, for instruction in righteousness. I believe that the apocryphal books, the story of Enoch, and there’s a whole bunch of other stuff in there, are interesting, but they are not God-breathed. They are not inspired by God. They are not profitable for your doctrine, for reproof, or correction., They will not give you instruction in righteousness. So, at the job, when we were talking, and folks were saying, “See! This part they don’t want you to know! And this right here, what do you think about that, Rev?!” And, I’d just shake my head, “No.”
And, in the words of Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”
All right, let me tell you what’s going on with your friend and your brother from another mother, the Reverend Kenn Blanchard: I am building the Youtube channel for us, and I’ve decided, through divine intervention, to try to do some children stuff on the website. So, keep me in prayer, as I am going to try to do four-five minute videos for the young at heart, and it will be like a children’s Bible thing in addition to everything else I’ve got going on. Why, Lord, Why? But, it’s a work in progress as I try to figure it out. I’m over the video thing now. I’ve got to worry about the editing and trying to make it sound halfway decent and be entertaining and be understood, all of that. That’s going to be on Speak Life Church Youtube channel. They’ll be link on the show notes for this week. I need to try to build at least one hundred people there. I might try to do the podcast on there as well. That would be different, but I might just put the audio there. I think that’s what will happen because it’s just too much. I can’t, with any accuracy or to the best of my ability, do a 35-40 minute show while the camera’s going and try to make it okay, so, that’s just a bit much for your homey.
The website is up! Please go to speaklifechurch.net and we are making in-roads to making it better for you. Fall is here, officially here, at the time of this recording, and we are hitting October now, and the leaves are starting fall, and it’s still raining. It’s still moist, and trees are falling, and it’s kind of beautiful outside, actually, during this pandemic time. This reminds me of one of those quotes about finding beauty in everything. Somebody once said that life is what you make it, and beauty can be found in anything that you make. If you find the beauty in your own life, you will find beauty in everything, even in the ugliest of times, Right now, some of you are going through a rough time, physically. I am praying with you. Some of you are going through a tough time, financially. I am praying with you. Some are going through a tough time, spiritually. I am praying with you. And, if you don’t believe that, call me, email me, Instagram me, contact me, and we will pray right then! That’s why I’m here.
(Transcriber interjection: He really means this, people. One day, I texted him to please pray for my husband. A few minutes later, I received an audio text of our Brother praying for my husband by name and in detail and at length. He means it. Reach out to him! Ok, that is all. Thank you. -Sister Sarah)
This isn’t just a podcast to be on Pandora somewhere like the rest of them. This isn’t just a podcast to pontificate religious niceties. This is not just a podcast that makes you feel good because you didn’t go to a physical church, No! This is a part of the Kingdom of God. This is a part of the Church. This is a part of the Kingdom, and my job is to help you. My job is to inspire you. My job is to help you worship the Most High who doesn’t need a brick-and-mortar building, the Most High who desires to be a friend of yours as He is a friend of mine, the Most High, the One and Only True God who loves you so much that He let a pirate like me work for Him. And, we have not got a date yet for our first meetup online, and if I had announced it today, I’d probably have just two people. So, do you want to do it on Facebook? Do you want to do it on Zoom? Do you want to do it on a gotomeeting platform? I need some feedback, ya’ll. Please, give me a call. Leave a message or something! (202)579-9435. You can leave a message 24-hours-a-day. Let me know your preference, how you would like to reach out, how you’d like to connect with your friend and your brother from another mother, the Reverend Kenn Blanchard who’s trying to do what thus saith the Lord. So, we got the new Youtube channel coming. There’s going to be a section for the kids. There is the new site. Please check it out. There is a membership signup on that, so I can send out newsletters. Look for that newsletter link in the widgets on that page, and what else? I think that’s it. Thank you so much for being a part of this ministry and allowing me to serve you. If there is anything I can do — oh, yeah, we still got the Facebook page, too. We got two, the Speak Life Facebook page, and the Speak Life Church Podcast page.
You matter, just in case you didn’t know that. Oh, yeah! Just a reminder in case your mind is playing tricks on you. You matter. You are important. You’re loved. God loves you. And, your presence on this earth makes a difference, whether you see it or not. This past weekend I went to Hersey, Pennsylvania, and I got a chance to do a wedding of two soldiers — a young man and a young woman. They met in Korea, or Ft. Huachuca, I think that’s where it was they met, and they had all their families assembled together, and it was a big wedding for this pandemic time. I had to keep praying — I’m still praying — I didn’t catch nothing, but I got my Covid test scheduled for Monday, and I’m trusting in the Lord. I social distanced as much as I could. I stayed with one of the families and met a nice brother up there who’s like my new family member, actually. He does all the stuff I wish I knew how to do. He’s a hunter and a fixer, a manly man! Former Army dude, does gunsmithing, does everything. Cool guy. So, I’ve been taking pointers from my younger big brother mentor now on some stuff. Looking forward to that. I’ve got a new fishing buddy, whenever we can get around to it. He doesn’t live, like, next-door, but I will make the trek back to PA to find him. And, although I haven’t mentioned it in a couple of weeks, I want to thanks those who are considering donating and keeping the podcast rolling. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Thank you for your encouragement, in both word and financially. The giving links will be on the show notes, as they always are. I’m not pushing the money thing. God always provides, and if He doesn’t, then, that just tells me something else, right? Roll on, Brother! Do somethin’ else! It’s good though. We’re doing good. We took an extra expense to get the transcripts, and that’s going to be a positive, so I’m not even taking it as an expense. It’s like a needed thing. We needed to make sure that some people could read what I’ve been mumbling, in case you missed a point. So, to God be the glory for that.
Now, may the Lord bless thee, and keep thee. May the Lord make His Face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. May the Lord life up His Countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Just in case I don’t see you again on this side of the river, friend, family, my brother and my sister, I will see you at the feet of Jesus. Until next week, shalom, baby. God bless.
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Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His Presence with singing. Enter His Gates with thanksgiving, and into His Courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His Name, for the Lord is good. His Mercy is everlasting, and His Truth endures to all generations.
Hi. This is Reverend Kenn Blanchard. Welcome back to Speak Life Church. This week we’re going to be hittin’ the Church of Thyatira in the Book of Revelation. And, I got some apologetic questions I’m going to answer. It might be kind of hostile, but that’s not my intention. I’m just sharing, but you’ll see what I mean when we get there. Amen? This show is dedicated to you in the hopes of encouraging your spirit, feeding your faith, and blessing your life.
Heavenly Father, somebody came to listen to a word. Somebody came for a message. Somebody came to hear from You. Somebody came to learn more of You. Somebody needs You, right now, Lord God. We need You right now. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy Sight, oh Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer. Father God, I just thank You for today. I thank You for all that You have let my eyes see and my ears hear. Help us, Lord God, to hear from You today. Help us to feel Your Presence. I humbly ask that You forgive us of all of the things we’ve done against You in Your Sight. Help me to do Thy Will today. Help me to reach out to somebody new. Help me to encourage somebody old. Help me, Lord God, to do what You’ve called Your servant to do. This is my prayer. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, The Christ I pray. Amen.
Good people, I am just so happy to be back on the microphone, and hopefully, it sounds even better than last week. I’ve got some more gizmos that I plugged into it, and I’m diggin’ the sound. I don’t hear the hiss I was hearing before. You might’ve never heard it, but…..I’m becoming an audio snob. Now that I’m working on becoming a voice actor, I’ve learned some stuff. I’ve got a couple more classes left, and a coach, and a demo tape to do. I’m kind of excited about it. Sarah, if you’re listenin’ —and I know you are — she’s been doing a cracker-jack job in our transcribing, and you can now go to speaklifechurch.net and get the show notes following the episode. It might be a few days or a week after, but the site has been updated, and I’m hoping you will find that there is a new subscription link where I’m asking all of us to sign on so that I can send you out collective newsletters and emails and prayer requests and things like that, as a church, all right? Because one of the things I want to do in October is get us together for a Zoom call, a prayer thing, a talk-and-answer just to share. We’re going to use technology to the next level. I’ll need your email addresses for that. So, go to speaklifechurch.net and sign up!
All right, this week, we’re talking about the Church of Thyatira: Revelation 2:18-29. The city of Thyatira was probably founded by Alexander the Great some 300 years before Christ. It was a wealthy city in Macedonia noted in the ancient world for its outstanding color dyes. Yeah, for the color it made for clothes. It has been suggested that the city was evangelized by the Ephesian Church or perhaps by Paul’s first convert in Philippi named Lydia. You’ll find that in Acts 16:14. The main characteristic of this church seems to be its works towards people rather than its doctrinal belief. In fact, as we will see, it was indicted for permitting a false teacher to spread her “soul-damning heresy.” It’s known as the Pagan Church. It happened in 606 to the Tribulation, so we could be in the Dark Ages, or the Pagan Church Age, right now. If you’re reading the text, it says, “I know your deeds, your love, and your faith, your service, and your perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” That’s the commendation that Christ gives. The condemnation is, “You tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teachings, she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols.” His counsel: “Only hold on to what you have until I come.” The challenge: “To him who overcomes and does My Will until the end, I will give authority over the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He will dash them to pieces like pottery just as I have received authority from My Father. I will also give him the morning star.” All right, I said the Church of the Dark Ages, which indicates that the program I’m merging paganism with Christianity, which began under the Church of Pergamum increasingly emphasized paganism in which is darkness. The Light Jesus Christ has and entrusted to His Church all but flickered out during the Dark Ages, and was not rekindled until the Day of the Reformation. If you continue the history of the Church where we left off with the Church of Pergamum, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that happened, that was added to the “church” during this period from 606A.D. up until 1965A.D. Want me to tell you what they are? Here’s some stuff that was added to the “church”:
607A.D. — Boniface III was made the first Pope
709A.D. — kissing the Pope’s foot
786A.D. — worshipping of images and relics
850A.D. — the use of holy water began
995A.D. — the canonization of dead saints
998A.D. — fasting on Fridays and during Lent
1079A.D. – celibacy of the priesthood
1090A.D. – prayer beads
1184A.D. – the Inquisition
1190A.D. – sail of indulgences
1215A.D. – transubstantiation (Communion “blood” becoming true blood of Christ)
1220A.D. – adoration of the wafer host
1229A.D. – Bible forbidden to laypeople
1414A.D. – the cup forbidden to people at Communion
1439A.D. – Doctrine of Purgatory decreed
1439A.D. – Doctrine of Seven Sacraments affirmed
1508A.D. – The Ava Maria approved
1534A.D. – Jesuit order founded
1545A.D. – church granted equal authority with The Bible
1546A.D. – Apocryphal books were put into the Bible of this church
1854A.D. – the Immaculate Conception of Mary
1864A.D. – the Syllabus of Errors was proclaimed
1870A.D. – the infallibility of the Pope was declared
1930A.D. – public schools condemned
1950A.D. – the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
1965A.D. – Mary proclaimed Mother of the Church
Since all of the stuff I just said can be substantiated by history, it seems ironic that the Church of Rome today likes to boast that Rome is always the same. The tragedy is that in spite of the drastic changes I just mentioned, many believe that to be true.
Thyatira comes from two words meaning “sacrifice” and “continual.” Continual sacrifice. This introduces the central heresy that has produced other false doctrines, that is, the Church of Rome denies the finished Work of Christ, but believes in the continuing sacrifice that produces such things as sacraments and praying for the dead, burning candles and stuff. All of these were borrowed from mystery Babylon — the mother of all pagan customs and idolatry, none of which is taught in the New Testament. During this period between 607A.D. up until today, the universal — dare I say it? — Catholic Church headquartered in Rome gradually became more Babylonian than Christian. Heresy falls into one of two basic categories: a false concept of the personal deity of Christ or mixing works with faith. The Church of Rome can scarcely be accused of teaching a false concept of the personal deity of Christ, however, their emphasis on the continual sacrifice and rejection of our Lord’s Finished Work breeds a concept that causes people to try to earn their own salvation by works, penance, indulgences, and many other Satan-like conceived ideas — labeled by our Lord in Revelation 2:24 as “Satan’s so-called deep secrets.” One of the dangerous trends during the 20th century in the Church of Rome is the elevation of Mary to a status just short of deity. News media reports indicate that millions have petitioned the Pope to declare her a member of the Trinity, though the official line is that that is not going to happen….yet, although she is referred to as the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven, and in some instances appears to be the Dispenser of Salvation — which contradicts many Scriptures. Notice Jesus’s own Words in 14:6 — “I Am The Way, and The Truth, and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” So, to even suggest that anybody, even his Ma, participates in dispensing the gift of eternal life is not only heresy, it’s blasphemous. As the apostle Peter was speaking exclusively of Jesus as the official dispenser of salvation said, “There is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Scripturally speaking, there is only one person under Heaven who dispenses salvation to humankind, and it ain’t Mary. And, for the record, if you happen to be Roman Catholic and listening, I don’t know what to tell you other than I’m not assaulting you. I’m just giving you what I know. If you ever go to Mexico City, and you get the chance to see the largest Roman cathedral on the North America continent — it’s called the Shrine of Guadalupe — you will see some seriously Pagan rituals being done there. They’ve got a thing called penance, and when it happens, people crawl around on their hands and knees for hundreds of yards on concrete, which causes gashes and blood on their knees and hands, in an effort to punish themselves, whereas the Scripture teaches “for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and it’s not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The room in that church, too, is so dark that photographs can’t be taken, and everything is in a gloomy state. The Bible says in John 3:21, “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.” It’s always mysterious, right? The mysterious nature of the service could be seen in the fact that individuals could not understand the Latin being spoken during the mass, and no message was given in any language they could recognize. Parents came to the glass-encased form representing a dead saint thinking that, by rubbing the casket or placing an offering in the slot provided, they could rub blessings on the forehead of their infant children or other loved ones. In contrast, the Lord Jesus talked about those who hear the Word and understand it in Matthew 13:23. Idolatry, straight up.
Prominently located on every wall were idols representing Christ, the apostles, or other saints. You could see lots of them — seventeen! And though idolatry is typically a pagan worship, it is forbidden in The Bible. All the way back to Exodus 24 where it says, “you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below.” Chanting, during the service, much chanting was performed by the priest. Individuals who had come to worship prayed by saying the same word, over and over again, whether they knew its meaning or not. And, by contrast, our Lord has warned, “when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7) The cross, the crucifix well-known in Roman forms of worship, was all that could be seen of our Blessed Lord. Whereas the Scriptures speak not of “continuing sacrifice” but in the words of Christ Himself speaking of the sacrifice, “It is finished,” He said. The Angel on the Day of Resurrection, “He is not Here. He has risen just as He said.” (Matthew 28:6) Oh, that these people might recognize the principle conveyed in the Words of our Lord: I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold, I live forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Revelation 1:18) One of the obvious differences between Catholics and Protestants is the Cross they use to symbolize their faith. The Catholic cross usually depicts Christ on the Cross, commemorating his continual sacrifice for our sins. The Protestant Cross is empty, depicting that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) In this text, the character of Christ was revealed. It says, “These are the words of the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and his feet are like burnished bronze. Our Lord’s selection for the title, Son of God, for Himself is the most instructive when compared to chapter 1, verse 13 where He selects the title, Like a Son of Man. These titles are synonymous or interchangeable. It should be born in mind in this day when false teachers are prone to advocate the human nature of Christ at the exclusion of His Divinity. Also, it is instructive to those in the Church of Rome who are prone to think of Him as the Son of Mary. Eyes like blazing fire and feet like burnished stone denotes that Christ is looking with piercing judgment on the Church because she has permitted false teaching to creep into her midst and mislead His servants.
Christ’s commendation of Thyatira comes in the form of six words. (Revelation 2:19) He commends them for their deeds, that’s the first part, indicating that many through Rome’s long history have been faithfully serving Jesus Christ as a result of receiving Him. Two, love — a love for humankind characteristic of this Church. For, in ancient times, hospitals and sanitariums were almost exclusively the work of the church through its nuns and priests. Three, faith. Although it’s not given the prominence of works and love, it nevertheless is a characteristic of that age in church with the main exception noted. Number four: service means ministry. Five, perseverance. It means endurance and speaks of a long time period of this church. Six, “now, doing more than you did at first,” the good works of the Church of Rome — except for those appearance of the Inquisition when many were wantonly murdered — are commendable. It should be born in mind also that the majority of members have been held in ignorance and darkness. Many have been faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some outstanding products of that period are John Wycliffe, John Hus, Girolamo Savonarola, and many others who earned the Crown of Martyrdom because they refused to give up their adherence to the Word of God and Christ Jesus the Lord. In fact, one of the bleakest marks on the history of the Church of Rome was that it burned at the stake men like Wycliffe and Hus, whose only sin was trying to translate The Bible into the mother tongue of the common people. Historically, no jailor has ever kept a prisoner in total confinement the way the Church of Rome kept The Bible from God’s people for over a thousand years. No wonder this age has been called the Dark Ages. The Bible is the light of the world. It is the church’s commission to let that light shine.
Christ’s condemnation in this section says, “Nevertheless I have this against you. You tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teachings she misleads My servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” Out Lord’s condemnation of the Church of Thyatira took two forms. One, He condemned her for permitting a false teacher to enslave or to lead astray His servants, and two, He condemned her for not repenting when she had the opportunity. Who is this Jezebel chick? The Lord reaches back into the Old Testament for the name of a woman who brought Baalism into Israel and perverted the nation, using her as a point of comparison to those who brought paganism and this devilish teaching into the church. Whenever a woman is used symbolically to convey a religious teaching, she always represents a false religion. Our Lord’s parable in Matthew 13:33-35 concerning the woman who took leaven, a symbol of evil, and hid it in three measures of meal “until it worked all through the dough,” is a prophetic glimpse of what took place during that false teaching of this period. The teaching of the false prophetess Jezebel took two forms. The first, by her teachings she misleads my servants into sexual immorality which is a symbol of the idolatry brought in during this period, and two, the eating of food sacrificed to idols, a symbol of the union of the church with the world. During this time, Rome sought to bring the kingdom of the world under the domination of the Pope in Rome, though contrary to the teachings of our Lord who said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) Church leaders at the time seriously attempted to make her the kingdom of this world. There was an opportunity to repent. It says, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.” Plenty of opportunity was given to this church to repent. Almost a thousand years was granted. Yet, she is unwilling. Christ’s future judgment of this church: I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely unless they repent of her ways. Our Lord, here, predicts that this church and those that are persuaded to follow her false teachings will go into the Great Tribulation, when she will, according to Revelation 17, be the Church of Tribulation. This warning should speak to every Bible-believing Christian in the world about having an entangling affiliation with the ecumenical movement that Pope John, the 23rd made popular through his ecumenical counsel on the concept that all of them will be one. Protestant unbelievers and heretics are advancing this program on every hand. God’s faithful followers should be careful to measure everything according to the stated Word of God, and, if need be, stand by your lonesome. That stuff was just heavy, so I’m going to let that go for the rest of the day. Feel free to rewind and listen again in case I missed some points, and I’m ready for questions if you want to hit me back, attack me, disagree, I can show you where I got it from. Amen?
Christianity is monotheistic. Christians believe in an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. We also call him Jehovah. God is a spiritual being who is personable and knowable. God is One, yet existing in three distinct persons: God, the Father. God, the Son. That’s Jesus Christ. And God, the Holy Spirit. Referred to collectively as The Trinity. Jehovah God is said to have many attributes with the most important being love. Christians believe that God speaks to His People, makes promises to His people, and reveals Himself to people. God and the universe are not seen as one. God is believed to be the Creator of the universe and all that is within it. It is also believed that, while God is sovereign and permits evil, He is not its direct cause. The Holy Bible is the divine and inspired Word of God. There are two main divisions in The Bible, the Old Testament and the New. The word itself, “testament” means “covenant” or “agreement.” The Old Testament is an account of a nation, Israel, while the New Testament is an account of a man, Jesus the Christ. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. According to The Bible, men and women are created in the image of God to share in His Glory. God gives mankind free will. As a result of Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God, sin and rebellion entered into the human race. The Bible teaches that this rebellion separates individuals from God. Because God hates sin yet desires to have a relationship with us, He had to deal with the sin problem. The only way sin could be permanently dealt with was through the Person of Jesus. Jesus was punished and died on a cross to pay the penalty owed by mankind. As a result of His sacrifice, individuals could receive forgiveness for sin. For salvation and freedom from sin, evil, and guilt, one needs only to trust in Jesus the Christ for eternal life. Christianity teaches that no amount of good deeds carried out in this life can help a person gain salvation and eternal life. It is believed that salvation is a gift from God, and to receive this gift, the individual must accept it by faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain for what we do not see, as Hebrews 11:1 says. We read The Bible to learn about God. We believe that God is passionate about every aspect of our lives. The Bible is full of instructions about each area of living — outward and inward. God is believed to forgive anyone who repents. The Bible teaches that salvation is rooted in the grace and love of Jehovah God. Christianity is unique in teaching that a person cannot do anything to win a place in heaven, but rather must accept what Jesus Christ has done on his or her behalf. It is believed that there is hope for everyone, but to receive this gift of salvation and eternal life, we must accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in Him by faith.
The word “Christianity, “ the religion of it, teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to a relationship with God. Individuals are given the freedom to make a choice for or against Christ. If anyone chooses Jesus the Christ, salvation is secure. If not, the individual makes his or her own choice to not receive salvation and is doomed for Hell. Being a Christian means acknowledging that you have sinned and are in need of God’s forgiveness, and accepting that forgiveness freely offered by Jesus. I’m going to hit you now with some of the most popular question people ask who are skeptic about this whole Christianity thing.
1. Can we really be sure that God exists?
Well, see there are ample proofs in nature that there is a creator, and the evidence for the truth of The Bible assures us that this Creator and God, Christians worship and serve. Theism, the belief that a creator exists who not only made the world but who also has acted in this world, is defensible on philosophical, historical, scientific, and experiential grounds. All the possible objections against the existence of God can be sufficiently answered. Based on these lines of evidence and the absence of legitimate counter evidence, it is rational to conclude that God certainly must exist.
2. What does God say about profanity?
After all, they’re just words, right? Well, let me make sure we’re meaning the same thing by “profanity.” Strictly speaking, profanity means to take God’s name in vain, to profane it. God’s command is that we do not do this because His Name is holy, and should be respected. A lot of what today is called profanity is actually just vulgar speech. It’s really more a matter of propriety that we not speak in that way, and the apostle Paul commands us to avoid “coarse speech” and joking, just in case you wanted to know.
3. I’m a spiritual person already. Why do I need to be a Christian?
Well, being spiritual is not enough. Besides, what do you even mean by “spiritual?” Christianity doesn’t ask us to be spiritual, it demands we obey God while continuing to live as physical beings in the physical world He created.
Okay, now that I’ve officially stirred up the pot, and got you thinking, or maybe gave you exactly what you needed for this week, it’s time to go. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Just in case I don’t see you again on this side of the river, I will see you, my Brother and Sister, at the Feet of Jesus. Amen. God bless you. Talk to you soon.
This week, the Church of Pergamum in the Book of Revelation, and some teachings about the church, Jesus the Christ, and where we are at right now.
2 Peter 1:20-21 — Above all you must understand that no prophesy of scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, for prophesy never had this origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, Lover of our souls, we thank You for this opportunity to come before Your Throne of Grace. We ask for Your Mercy. We ask that you would cover us with Your Blood, that You would allow us, Lord God, to approach Your Throne. Hear our prayer, oh, Lord, Most High God, Creator of everything, Lover of life, Maker of Heaven and earth, the only one true God. Father, we ask that You would forgive us for all of the things we’ve done against You that would keep us from being close to You. Help us, Lord God, when we don’t believe. Help us to understand the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart. Let these things be done as You say, according to Your Will. Help us to grow closer to You. Help us to defeat the enemy in this time period, in this season of our lives. Help us to overcome our struggles no matter what they are. In the name of Jesus, we pray — Amen.
Last week, my friend, we were talking about the Church of Smyrna, and the challenge of Christ to those who have spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and there is a challenge to overcome. As you’ve already heard, this is dependent upon one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that he who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. We’re already heard in the vision of the Christ of the churches of Revelation 1:18 that Christ holds in His Hands, the keys to Hell and death. God’s children have Christ’s personal promise that they will never be hurt by the second death that’s described in Revelation 20 as “a time when Hades the present abode of the unbelieving dead and death are cast into the Lake of Fire.” This Lake of Fire is the second death. We’ll talk about it when we get to chapter 20, verse 14. Understand what the Bible means by the second death. It is the Bible’s term for the complete ruin of a person’s life so that they can never fulfill God’s Plan for their life, which is eternal. We think linearly, in a straight line. We think what we can see, feel, touch, hear. There’s much more to this world. Death occurs when a person is forever separated from God instead of being united with Him as is His intention. The second each is that stage when people who have died in unbelief are resurrected, and cast alive in an eternal separation from God in a place called the Lake of Fire — not the Ring of Fire that Johnny Cash sang about, but the Lake of Fire. This second death need never cause the child of God to fear for it will have no power over them. I made sure I said that again because sometimes, this stuff makes you think that you’re doomed. And, if you’re listening to this, if you’re a child of God, then you’re good to go! The Church of Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17), have we talked about this yet? Well, let’s get on down to it, all right?
Pergamum was the capital city of Asia until the close of the first century. It was a dirt given over to the worship of Greek idols. We haven’t changed too much. You know, a local Roman rulership, unable to cope with the multitude of religious differences in the city, demanded cooperation of all the groups. So, two of the most prominent religious systems of that city were the worship of Bacchus, the god of revelry and parties, basically, and the worship of Asclepius, the god of healing. If you look at verse 13 in chapter 2 in the Book of Revelation, verse 13 twice refers to the city as the place “where Satan has his throne,” or “where Satan lives.” A detailed commentary on this condition can scarcely be given with accuracy for we don’t have access to this thing. We were never there, right? But, we can say that the following conjecture to a large degree is representative of the truth: Satan has a kingdom. Babylon, from the earliest times, has been considered the capital of his kingdom. Idolatry gained its start in Babylon through Nimrod and his mother, inspired by Satan. As long as Babylon was a dominate world power, it made a pretty good headquarters for Satan’s attack on the human race. However, when Babylon’s glory began to decline, and it was left desolate, Satan looked for another location. He selected Pergamum because of its strong idolatrous religions. Missionaries have been in this area so pagan in its religions, that it seemed as though the very atmosphere was charged with the presence of Satan. No doubt that these were the conditions in which this little church in Pergamum was faithfully preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It reminds me of when you see a little storefront church next to a liquor store, or in a really bad part of town, and it’s struggling — whether it’s like five or ten members to do what saith the Lord. They called the Church of Pergamum the indulged church. The actual church was around 312 to around 606A.D. The commendation that Christ gave this church was: I know where you live, where Satan has his throne, yet you remain true to My Name. You did not renounce your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death in your city where Satan lives. He did have something to condemn in this church, though. He said, “nevertheless, I have a few things against you. You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols, and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teachings of Nicolaitans. The counsel, repent therefore, otherwise I will soon come to you and fight against them with the Sword of my Mouth.”
The challenge here, for this church: “to him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden mana. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” You know, as soon as you say the words “Satan” and “church,” folks’ ears perk right up. I mean, it’s like, “oh, man, he’s talking about some good stuff today!” Why is that? I don’t know. Maybe we like being scared, or nobody else is talking about this stuff. They called this the indulged church because Satan learned from his attack on the Church of Smyrna that persecution only causes the church to flourish and continue in a perpetual state of revival. After the Diocletians’ unsuccessful attack on the church, Constantine seceded him as Emperor of Roman. Constantine’s ascendancy to the throne was not without controversy, and it had far-reaching affects on the Christian Church, way back in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. Now, Roman history tells us that Constantine contended for the throne with Maxentius after the death of Galerius, and both Roman history and church tradition indicate that Constantine, already attracted Christianity, allegedly saw a vision of a fiery cross in the sky, and saw the words, “in this sign, conquer.” Constantine believed his vision was a message from God, that if he would embrace the Christian religion, he would be able to conquer his enemies. He accepted the Christian faith, and declared himself to be its defender and protector.
There are some who accept this as a bona fide conversion on the part of Constantine, however, a careful examination of his life indicates that he either he had a poor concept of Christianity, or he had never been truly born again by the Spirit of God. One commendable thing he did, though, he ordered his bishop Eusebius to supervise the production of fifty copies of the Holy Scriptures to be used by the churches. Some of these manuscripts are the oldest existing copies of God’s Word. When Constantine became Emperor of Rome, he became the virtual emperor of the western world. As the self-styled protector of the Christian faith, he issued an edict of toleration for Christianity, and showered many favors on the Christian Church. The government provided money for the operation of the church, and many of the pagan temples were taken over by the Christians. To please the emperor, these leaders adopted customs that were parallel to pagan practices. And, this right here, is really going to mess some of you guys up. One compromise invariably leads to another, and what seemed at the start to be a great blessing, ended up to be a great curse. During the seceding three centuries of this period, many anti-Christian practices of pagan origin were adopted, which robbed the church of its fire and its evangelistic fervor. Now, what am I saying? There was this church that went around the world in the sign of the Cross, and it would meet other religions, pagan religions, and instead of casting them out or changing them, it would say, “all right, we’ll just name your god, Boo Boo Boo Boo, the Virgin Mary, and we’re going to build a church here over on top of your other temple.” That happened throughout the world. The influence of Paganism on the church increased over the years, step by step. The church began to shroud itself in a “mystery and ritualism that had a strong resemblance to Babylonian mysticism.
The Greek Tao, which is the elevation of the large T at the end of a pole, was changed to the sign of a Cross. The rosary of pagan origin was introduced. Celibacy of priests and nuns, which has no scriptural verification, finds a counterpart in the vestal virgins of Paganism and was conceived. I can give you a list of non-scriptural changes introduced during this age. Gradually, these changes became more prominent than the original teachings of Christianity. In 300A.D., Prayers for the Dead. Also, the making of the sign of the Cross. 375A.D., the worship of Saints and Angels. 394A.D., mass was first instituted. 431A.D., the worship of Mary began. 500A.D., priests began dressing differently from lay people. 526A.D., extreme unction. 593A.D., the doctrine of purgatory was introduced. 600A.D., worship services were conducted in Latin, and in 600A.D., prayers directed to Mary. From 312A.D. on, the church became more Roman and less Christian in its practices. The Roman Catholic Church of today is hard-put to trace its ancestry beyond 312A.D. Until that time, the church was an independent collection of local churches working together whenever possible, but not denominated by a central authority.
The name Pergamum literally means “marriage” or “elevation.” As the church became married to government authority and elevated to a place of acceptance, it declined in spiritual power and blessing. You know how everybody talks about the imminent return of Jesus? Well, that was big in the first three centuries, and it produced evangelism, it consecrated and made a fervent church, but that changed when Christianity became a state religion, a countrywide religion. As the church became rich and powerful, it was suggested that the world was getting better and better, and that Christ’s Kingdom was already ushered in, and that He would come at the end of the thousand-year reign. This demanded a reinterpretation of the status of Israel, which was accomplished by suggesting that Israel had been cast off forever, and the promises of Israel now applied to the Church. It was not until 1,400 years later that the coming of Christ was reemphasized, and with that came a return to evangelism. Whenever a local church or denomination has maintained a strong emphasis on the second coming of our Blessed Lord, it has been an evangelistic, missionary-sending station. Where this doctrine has been neglected, the church becomes cold, old, indifferent, and worldly. Just sayin’.
You know, the nature of Christ is revealed in Pergamum. Scripture says, ‘these are the world of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.” We had previously heard that Christ selected one of the aspects of his nature as revealed to John in his vision, and presented it to each individual church. To Pergamum, he revealed the sharp, double-edged sword, which, without question, is the Word of God. The cure for the problems of the local church at Pergamum, of the Pergamum-age of the church, or any church that is of God, Christ used that word to sanctify His Churches, as in John 17:17, to cleanse it in 15:13, to bring it joy in 15:11, and to bring it peace in 16:33. Had the church, or any church of Pergamum, heeded the Word of God, the evils of the dark ages could well have been avoided.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You said in Your Word, “be still and know that I Am God.” There are so many things going on right now where we need to hear that more and more. There is nothing that You can’t stop, that You can’t fix, that You can’t help, that You heal. We ask, Lord God, that You would help us to move towards You so that we can hear Your Voice, follow Your lead, and get the blessings that we desired. Thank You for everything. It’s only in the matchless and wonderful Name of Your Son Jesus that I ask this thing. Amen.
There’s a common phrase that you’ll hear almost on any news station or any talk radio thing where they say, “speak your truth.” That’s a load of crock. That’s some B.S. That’s some bovine excrement. If all truth is subjective, everybody must be right, no matter how ridiculous, perverse, or immoral their beliefs are. You know, back in the day, back in the 70’s, a lot of R&B songs, there was a phrase that we used to say: Yo, man. Everything is everything. Well, today, they say, “speak your truth.” If all beliefs are true, then non-beliefs are false. How could anybody learn anything in the scheme of things? Also, if true is subjective, then we can hardly attempt to challenge or correct somebody else. Everybody would be just as right as the next person. Logically speaking, it’s only the absolutist who can actually challenge a belief or philosophy, and that’s because the absolutist believes people can be wrong in their beliefs. If truth is relative, it includes all moral truth, which means no one should complain about robbery, murder, or slander by those who have the moral right to do so.
See, one big problem we have with relativism is that no one can live it out consistently. So, in essence, it is much easier to consistently accept the idea that absolutes do exist in the sphere of morality and truth. How does this relate to religion? All religions claim to be the truth, even scientific ones. And, as a result, a lot of people are confused. Of course, not all religions can be fully true since they clearly contradict one another in spite of a few similarities. I always say that all of us — every religion, every faith, every belief — have some commonalities and at least one thing that is right. So, how does one know which religion is really true? Well, to answer this question, one would need to consider the claims made by each religion. Any religion claiming that it, alone is fully true and produces solid evidence to that affect is worth serious consideration for that reason alone. Of all the world religions, biblical Christianity is the only religion that makes the claim it does.
In fact, Christianity makes bold claims that other religions do not, including salvation and forgiveness of sin based on grace not merit or deeds, assurance of salvation and eternal life through faith and belief in Jesus Christ, and in Jehovah God being the only one and true God, Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. Either Christianity is the greatest thing for mankind or the biggest lie ever told to mankind. What really makes Christianity unique among world religions? Jesus. If you want to see how everybody is rollin’? Ask them what the Jesus thing is in their faith. Who is Jesus to you? That separates everybody. You want to draw a line? Bring up Jesus. So, why is it that you can talk about God, and nobody gets upset, but as soon as you mention Jesus, people want to go and stop the conversation? Why don’t the names of Buddha, Mohammed, and Confucius offend people? What makes Jesus so different from other religious leaders? I’ll tell you what. These others didn’t claim to be God, but Jesus did. That is what makes Him so different. For many people, this claim is too exclusive, too narrow for them to want to believe, as if one’s belief is the key element. See, that’s not so for Christianity. One’s belief is important, but not the key element. Christians do not accept the cliche that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe it enough.
The Christian faith is an objective faith, therefore it must have an object. Jesus Christ is that object. For the Christian, the value is not in the one believing, but in the One who is believed in. Faith’s object: Jesus Christ. The issue is not what we want to think or believe, but rather who Jesus Christ is, and who He claimed to be. You follow me so far? I’m going to try to tackle at least one big, audacious subject like this every week, if I can.
One of the things that happened, and one of the things that is a big misconception is that folks say that Jesus didn’t really claim to be God. They try to find an out. One assumption is that those who lived at the time of Christ misunderstood Him as we are misunderstanding Him today. In other words, Jesus didn’t really claim to be God. But, He did. Jesus not only claimed equality with God as His Father, but He also asserted that He was the one in essence or nature with God. Go to the Gospel of John. Jesus continually spoke of Himself as being One with God. In the Book of Mark, Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sins, which, according to Jewish Law, only God could do. Folks were ready to stone Him every time He brought this up. The Scriptures attribute characteristics to Him that can be true only of God — self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, possessing eternal life. And the Gospels present Jesus as the actual embodiment of truth and love.
It’s important to understand than an attribute isn’t something that is a part of God, but something that is true of God. How about the trial of Jesus? Unique among criminal trials is this one, which, not by the actions, but by the identity of the accused. That’s the issue. Jesus was tried for blasphemy. In most trials, people are tried for what they have done. Jesus was tried for what he was claiming to be. You see, the people of His day, were highly cultured and intensely religious people. They did not misunderstand Him, just as we are not misunderstanding Him today. The references are abundant and their meanings are clear. In Mark 2:10, Jesus claimed to be able to forgive sin. He said that He was Lord over the Sabbath. That’s in Mark 2:28. In Mark 14:62 and Luke 22:66-71, Jesus called Himself “I Am,” the name God used of Himself in Exodus 3:14. Jesus said He was the one who sent prophets to Israel in Matthew 23:43. He referred to Himself as fulfillment of the Scriptures, like, a few times. Luke 4:21, and John mentioned it in 5:39. He claimed that to reject Him was to die in sin. Ain’t my words, it comes right out of the Book, in John 8:24. In the Book of John, chapter 8, verse 51, Jesus said that those who kept His Words would never see death, and in a few verses later in verse 58, He attested to His own eternalization. In John 10:30, He claimed to be of the same nature as the Father. He claimed to be Lord in John 13:13, and the only way to God (John 14:6), which people just go crazy over. And in John 14:9, Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Equally significant, though perhaps not as noticeable to our 21st century Western minds, our Jesus’s repeated references to Himself as the Son of Man. More than eighty times, Jesus uses “Son of Man” as a title for Himself. Jesus’s use of the term was referenced to Daniel 7:13 and 14 in which the prophet speaks of “one like a Son of Man seated with the Ancient of Days who presided with authority over the world and all its people.”
See, Jesus’s listeners would have known that passage as well. We find one such use of this title, Son of Man, during Jesus’s exchange with the Jewish high priest in the Book of Mark, chapter 14, verses 60-64. The New American Standard version says, “The high priest stood up and came forward to question Jesus saying, ‘Do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you?’ But, He kept silent and did not answer. Again, the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am. You shall see the Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of Heaven.’ Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. How does this seem to you?’ And, they all condemned Him to the deserving of death.”
The reason they called for Jesus’s execution was because, in their minds at least, He had committed blasphemy. He said that He was God. And, that is why nobody wants you to say that Jesus word.
This week on the Speak Life Church Podcast, I’ll rant about an educated skeptic. We’re talking about the book of Revelation, chapter 2: The Church of Smyrna. And, I have a handful of questions I ask you during this episode, which is a little longer than usual, but I want to hear from you.
1 John 5:14 says, “and this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His Will, He hears us.”
[Rev. Kenn praying]
Heavenly Father, Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Lover of my soul, thank you for the promise of Your Word that tells me that when I call on You, You will answer me and show me great and mighty Things. This wonderful promise inspires me to learn to pray more effectively and to experience all that You have for me in prayer. I thank you, Lord God, for the confidence that I have in You – that if I ask anything according to Your Will, You will hear me. And because I know You hear me, I know I will receive whatever petitions I ask of You. Your Word reveals Your Will to me, therefore I will pray according to Your Word. Your Word is filled with so many precious prayer promises. Thank you, Father, for each one. As I meditate on these promises and learn to pray Your Word and Your Will, I know Your Word will never return until You void. You will always accomplish Your purposes. Help me, Father, to be in Your Will. Help me to study Your Word. Help me not to be so selfish and so self-focussed that I forget that there are others who stand in need of help. Help me to pour out Your Love to other people. Give me the joy that surpasses all understanding, the happiness that only comes from You by helping other people. Help me, Lord God, to feel Your Presence today. Somebody listening right now has had a rough time. They need a word. They need a touch. They need Your Presence, Lord God, in their life. They don’t know that You are right there. Help them to feel Your Presence. Help them to see You — like the air that we can’t see, but we know is there because we’re still here. We’re still breathing. The Holy Spirit helps us. Help us to understand those things that are so misunderstood, to trust what we cannot see. Help us to trust the Holy Spirit to lead God in every area of our lives. Father, I thank You for teaching me what’s important — opened my eyes and my ears to see Your Work, to see Your Creation, the miracles that are happening all around me. Give me an appreciative heart, a heart of gratitude, a heart of love, a heart that still can be receptive in a hard time. This is Your servant’s prayer. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Before we get into Revelation this week, I want to talk about the educated skeptic — you know, that person that’s just so smart, they don’t believe what you and I believe, or maybe somebody listening is considering, “maybe this stuff is okay for you, but I don’t really get it yet.” Perhaps you’ve met that person already, the guy who is too smart to be a Christian: “Oh, sure! Christianity is fine if it gives you comfort.” But, you know better. You know that there’s really nothing to it — sort of like there’s nothing to Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Those are just stories we tell people until they’re old enough and smart enough to know better. A lot of times, the educated skeptic is a college student home from their first year of college. They’ve been exposed to a lot of new ideas and levels of learning they’ve never experienced before. A good example of this is from a story from the guy who created the Life Without a Net website that caters to skeptics and atheists. His name is Bill Hamby.
Hamby says he was raised in an evangelical home and he recalls his college days. He said the first thing that happened was he took a course in evolutionary biology. “I took a course concurrent with geology. I began to see that the world was not 6,000-years-old. I had been trusting a very old book, the Bible, when I ought to be trusting new science. Then, I took some classes in ethics. I began to see that you can establish a system of ethics without relying on authoritarianism.” That’s a word for you. He goes on to say, “You don’t need a guy with a stick holding it over your head. I do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.” That, in a nutshell, is how a lot of educated people become skeptics.
Someone once complained about the argumentative, know-it-all friend: “I’m not bothered by what he knows. What bothers me is what he knows that ain’t so.” That’s often the case with the educated skeptic. He or she might be very well-educated with a bunch of degrees on the wall, but educated in some matters doesn’t mean educated in everything, and an educated skeptic might be smart in some matters without realizing they aren’t smart in the terms of Christianity. It’s not that what they know about biology, geology, or any number of other topics – it’s what they know about Christianity just ain’t so. They often have a bias against Christianity. In other words, they didn’t become a skeptic by examining the evidence and coming to a conclusion. No, often they’ve been led in that direction by things they’ve read, people they’ve talked to, and things they’ve heard. They often take pride in their level of education, and can become totally unaware of their prejudices or the prejudices of those they read. They don’t see the walls they have erected, or the gymnastics they have employed to reach this conclusion about Christianity. You know, when you’re dealing with an educated skeptic, it’s probably not wise to try to convince them that they’re wrong about things that ultimately have no bearing on the truth of Christianity. You might be very smart when it comes to such matters. I say, engage them on those things they know ain’t so. Let’s take this guy, Bill Hamby, for example, who wrote this blog post. One of the first teachings of Christianity that he called into question was the claim that the Earth is 6,000-years-old. His study of biology and geology seemed to provide evidence that the Earth and the Universe are much older, so he figured that there must be something wrong with the Bible. The problem is, nowhere does the Bible teach that the Earth is 6,000-years-old. There may be some Christians who believe that though, but nowhere are you going to find it in the Book.
So, here’s one strategy for dealing with the educated skeptic. Make sure you clarify what Christianity teaches versus what they think it teaches. The 6,000-year-old-Earth idea originated with the Bishop James Ussher back in the 1500’s and 1600’s. He was a prelate of the Church of Ireland. Ussher postulated that God created the Earth at nightfall preceding Sunday, October 23rd, 4004B.C. Yeah, I know. For real. Ussher was a well-educated man, not some guy making guesses. He arrived at this date by looking at the historical events in the Old Testament that we can reliable date by going through the various genealogies in both the Old and New Testaments.
This process required great depth of learning in history, including knowledge about the ancient Persians, Greeks, and Romans, as well as expertise in the Bible — biblical language, astronomy, ancient calendars, and chronology. Ussher’s methodology worked to a point, that is to give just a couple of examples: He accurately placed the death of Alexander the Great in 323B.C., and the murder of Julius Caesar in 44B.C. But the problem for Bishop Ussher was that he didn’t have access to all of the archaeological research and scholarship that we have available to us now. Remember, this was the 1500’s.
For example, few biblical scholars today believe that genealogies in the Bible mention every single person in that line of descendants. For various reasons, including cultural and symbolical, the writers of these genealogies skipped some generations, in order to, for example, emphasize certain persons in a lineage. In other cases, if you add up the generations listed, you’ll find that they are all multiples of the number seven, which was considered the number of perfection. I’m not saying that these genealogies were made up, metaphorical, or otherwise not true. I’m just saying that the writer had a purpose other than the literal, straight-line listing of every person in a given genealogical line, and it is work of hermeneutics to discover this. (Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpreting scripture.) I’m not arguing here for an old Earth or a young Earth.
The important points are is that the Bible doesn’t teach that the world is 6,000-years-old, and that many Bible-believing Christians come down on different sides of this issue. Help your educated skeptics understand this is not a nonnegotiable point of Christian doctrine, and therefore not a compelling reason to reject the Christian faith.
The second reason Bill Hamby has for becoming a skeptic: He says, “I began to see that you can establish a system of ethics without relying on authoritarianism. I do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.” There are several problems with this statement. Let’s start with the first one — Hamby misunderstood the source of our understanding of good and evil. He sees God as really commanding a thing because He wills it to be so. So, in effect, in Bill Hamby’s view, God says, “Do it, or else I’ll smash you. Either now, or in the afterlife, or both.” And, this makes God arbitrary and authoritarian.
You’ll often hear skeptics throw out other things like Plato’s dialogue. Socrates asks his young questioner — I think his name was Euthyphro — whether an act is good because God wills it, or if God wills it because it is good. If an act is “good” merely because God wills it, then He is arbitrary. Morality has no root beyond God’s Will and the power to enforce it. So, as one atheist website puts it: “If God can define good and evil however it likes, then of course, there is no problem with God always being good. Good is whatever God does, by definition. But, now we simply have the ultimate case of ‘might makes right.’ There’s no real difference between a speed limit of 55mph and ‘thou shalt not kill,’ except, presumably, God enforces its rules better. You could say, ‘no, an act is not simply good because God wills it,’ thus dodging the arbitrary-ness problem, but if God wills it, it is because it is good. Now, you’ve hit the second horn of the dilemma: If God wills it because it is good, then there are some standards outside or before God that defines ‘good’ — something that God Himself must conform to. This means that God is not Sovereign, but rather subject to something outside Himself.” A famous mathematician and atheist, Bertrand Russell, makes an argument similar to that one. He said, “The dilemma can be stated this way: Either God is not good, or He is not sovereign.
Either option conforms to classic Christian teaching, and here’s the way out. You arrive at this dilemma only by asking the wrong question. The correct answer to Euthyphro’s dilemma is ‘none of the above.’ Morality is neither something arbitrarily commanded by God, nor something outside of God to which He is, too, subject.” Real morality is rooted in God very nature. He didn’t make up this thing or get it from somewhere else. Good is what comports with God’s nature. Evil is what goes against it. God cannot sin — not because He has superior will power, but because it would violate His nature, and He would then cease to be God. When I was taking philosophy class, this stuff made my head go ‘round in a circle. And, I watched other students who were trying to just suck up to the teacher, and I saw people lose their faith in seminary. I really did.
I watched folks try to pick a side, and wanting to sound important and smart, and quite a few who couldn’t explain themselves just decided that maybe this stuff was made up. The educated person — not just a college student; it could be anybody. There’s quite a few pastors I challenge today — well, it’s not up to me actually. It’s God, Himself that will challenge them. They’re highly educated.
They have doctorate degrees, but they act as if God doesn’t exist when nobody’s watching. What I’m trying to say is education doesn’t help your faith sometimes. We go back to the statement this guy Hamby made: “I do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. Right. Right as compared to what? Wrong as compared to what? If there is no objective standard to measure against, what does it mean to say right or wrong? Let’s look at it this way: In tennis, the umpire can say the ball hits on the wrong side of the line because A. there is a line painted on the court and B. the objective rules of tennis say that the ball must land on one side of the line to be in, and anything else is out.
Morality is the same way except the line is God’s Law written in our hearts, and the rules are what conforms to God’s intrinsic nature. Being created in God’s image, we instinctively all know that. So, when this guy talks about right and wrong, we all have a general understanding of what these terms mean. The problem for this guy and other skeptics though, is that they have no basis for saying no.
Here’s the big thing: Without God, we have no way to judge if something is good or evil.
Just by chance, if I’ve touched a nerve with you, and you want to get more into apologetics, which is the study of defending your faith, then let me know. Then I can pray on it and get deeper into it so that I can actually come correct and say the right things, and we can have some good dialogue so that you’ll be able to defend the faith better, which might not be a bad idea. Let me know where you are on this whole thing, and I’m hoping I didn’t just take you right off the charts with this little division or derision I took here, but something was pushing so I thought I would just go with it, talking about the educated skeptic because sometimes, we can be too smart for our own damn good.
And I think, I really think the reason this was tugging on me is probably coming from a conversation I had with someone not too long ago, and this thing didn’t get resolved, so it was sticking in my head. Matthew 18:3 says, “Verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Why would a grown person want to be like a child? I am reminded of when my son was small, and I had to bend over to pick him up, and he’d just kind of put his arms up in the air and move his hands to get my attention. That meant, “Daddy, pick me up!” He trusted me to pick him up without saying anything. It was a nonverbal thing between us, and I automatically knew that I was going to pick him up, no matter what the deal was. You want to have that same kind of faith.
You want to be able to look up into Heaven with your arms outstretched and have your Daddy, your Heavenly Father pick you up. That doesn’t require a PhD. It doesn’t require you to jump through any hoops, just the acknowledgement that God is your Heavenly Father, the Creator of all things, the Master and Lover of your soul, and when you trust Him, He will always be there. He shall be.
If you grab your Bibles and go to the New Testament book of Revelation, chapter two, we will hit verses eight through eleven this week. We’re talking about the Church of Smyrna — not Smyrna, Georgia, but the Church of Smyrna. Amen? “Until the angel of the church of Smyrna write, the first and the last who was dead and has come to life, say this: I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich, and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan, do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the Crown of Life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches: He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.” The church in Smyrna was a much persecuted church in a wealthy city that had little time for Christians. The city itself, founded about three centuries before Christ was a well-planned accomplishment of Alexander the Great. The commercial center of Asia Minor, it was on the direct trade route from India and Persia to Rome. The large variety of coins found by archaeologists in the city clearly indicate that it was a wealthy city. The Jewish segment of the population seems to have been the most irreligious and neglectful of spiritual things. Few specific details are known of the history of the Smyrna Church, other than what is given in Scripture and text. It can be safely deduced, though, that it was a most faithful church in the face of persecution. From this account, the known characteristics of the condition in the Church of Smyrna indicate that the Judgment Seat of Christ will reveal this church to be one of the most outstanding local bodies of believers in all of church history. It was the persecuted church. The commendation of this church: “I know your afflictions and your poverty, yet you are rich.” Condemnation: Not one thing. The Counsel: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Be faithful even to the point of death.” And the challenge to this church: “He that overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” The Smyrna Period of church history is probably the greatest time of persecution the Church of Christ has ever known. Satan unleashed a violent attack on the church in an effort to obliterate it, for it became evident to him that the Apostolic church, because of its faithful preaching of the Gospel, had become a serious threat to his worldwide Godless empire. That he was unsuccessful in this attempt is easily seen in a study of church history. For God overruled and Satan learned a valuable lesson: The more he persecuted the church during this period, the more the church overcame the one condemning characteristic of the Apostolic Age — that of having lost his first love. Not one word of condemnation was hurled by Christ at this church. So, from this, Satan learned a great secret: Persecution will not stamp out the Church of God. Consequently, the age ended with the easing of persecution when Satan used which turned out to be his most effective weapon to weaken the Church: Indulgence. Or endorsement. You know, one of the things we do as students of The Bible is look at the types of these churches that are talked about in the Book of Revelation. See their characteristics, and see if the churches you are in now, or that you were a part of, have some of those characteristics. So, what I just said was, when the church didn’t have a lot of money or material wealth, but were rich in character and personality, they were getting abused by the Devil, attacked by the Devil, they were persecuted, but folks hung in there. The Devil understood that if he attacks the Church directly, we will dig in. But, if we let folks get puffed up in themselves, full of themselves, if he actually endorses the Church, if he actually encourages some of our foolishness, then we self-destruct. Those are some of the lessons in the Church of Smyrna.
The Synagogue of Satan piece pops right at your face, right? Let’s talk about that for a minute. Satan has his own religious faith. He also has his church. It’s called Synagogues of Satan. Any church that preaches a gospel other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is a Synagogue of Satan, regardless of what it’s called. Many so-called “Christian churches” today are just like the Jews at Smyrna. They are not Christians at all, and are condemned by the Savior Himself because they preach a message other than the one laid down in the Word of God. In reality, they are the Synagogue of Satan, not the Church of Jesus the Christ. That’s heavy, right? I know. I know. But, you see, the two basic heresies that come from the Synagogue of Satan in the name of Christianity were apparent before the end of the second century. In fact, they existed at the time Christ gave His Message to the Churches of Ephesus and Smyrna. These heresies are a false doctrine of Christ in mixing of law and grace. The latter was the work of the Judaizers condemned by the Savior in verse ten.
Practically every false religious system and cult coming out of Christianity can be traced to one of these two heresies. Either people are confused about the personal deity of our blessed Lord, suggesting though He was a good man, He was not a virgin-born Son of God who lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, rose bodily from the grave, ascended physically into Heaven, and promised to return physically to this Earth someday. Or the add-to-salvation by grace through faith saying than in addition to believe on Jesus, we should also see the Sabbath, observe certain rites and ceremonies, eat or not eat certain types of food, etc. The church of the first three centuries in large measure successfully withstood these two insidious teachings that are still deceiving many people today in one cult or another. I almost want to do a mic-drop, but I just got this microphone, so I’m not dropping it. And, here’s the challenge that Christ gave us — to those of us who have spiritual ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and it is a challenge to over come. As you already know, this is dependent upon one’s personal faith in Jesus Christ. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. We have already seen, in the vision of Christ and the Churches in Revelation 1:18 that Christ holds in His Hand the keys of Hell and death. God’s Children have Christ’s personal promise that they will never be hurt by the second death described in Revelation 20. There will come a time when Hades, the present abode for the unbelieving dead, will cast the dead into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death (Revelation 20:14). You have to understand what the Bible means by “death.” It is the Bible’s term for the complete ruin of a person’s life so they can never fulfill God’s Plan for their life which is eternal. Death occurs when a person is forever separated from God instead of united with Him as is His intention. The second death is that state where people have died in unbelief and are resurrected and cast alive into an eternal state of separation from God in a place called the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). The second death need never cause a Child of God to fear. We’re not going there, so, no sweat! But, if you’re not in Christ, then I might worry. Heavy, right? This is the short part of Smyrna, but man, it’s full of stuff! I know. Next week, we’re going to do the Church of Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17).
I just want to say thank you, again, for listening, for being a part of this church, being a part of my prayer circle. I’ve been praying mightily for quite a few of you because you’ve called me, you’ve sent me emails, you’ve let me know how you’re feeling. I just want to give a quick shoutout to Sarah who will be doing some work with us, helping print some of these notes, so that you can back it on up, and get the details of the stuff I’ve mumbled through and said, get some clarity from her. She’s going to put this to text, and you’ll be able to find these show notes on speaklifechurch.net once I get that all rockin’ and rollin’. And, no pressure. It’s going to happen. The church is on the move. We’re doing some good stuff. I’m rockin’ a new microphone right now from Heil, the company. They make some pretty good stuff. It’s a gain-hungry thing, so I’m hoping you don’t hear too much of a hiss in the background. Let me tell you how I got this thing. My microphone, the old one, the rubber just fell off it, and the thing was dangling. It was kind of embarrassing, but it was a twelve-year-old microphone and a setup I’ve just been moving around. I called on a friend, a believer, and asked him if he knew anyone who wanted to donate a microphone to a brother. This was the one I wanted. I’m not going to mess around. I’m going to ask for this one right here. I sent him a little link from Amazon, and he got back to me in about fifteen minutes. I was expecting him to tell me, “Man, you got some cajones to be askin’ like that!” But, he said, “Continue to do good work. It should be there in about ten days. I just ordered it.” Man! You could’ve knocked me over with a feather. Look at God! Thank you for being a part of that same spiritual power. Your prayers, those who donate, those who work for this virtual church. We were doing this virtual church before corona, and I do believe we may be doing some Zoom stuff in the future. If you would be interested in doing that, let me know. It won’t be every Sunday because I couldn’t handle it, but once a month, how ‘bout we get together and do a Zoom meeting? Let me know what you think about that too. So, I’m going to give you a couple of questions and calls to action, and I’d love to hear from you. My email is [email protected] or [email protected] Let me know what you think about any of those questions I asked you today. I think one of them was, basically: How you doin’? Simple. I would like to hear from you. The second was: Would you like us to talk about apologetics? Would you like us to get deeper into the subject of this week, The Church of Smyrna? I think I asked you about my new microphone: Is it okay? Can you hear me okay? Is there too much hissing or background noise? Do you hear anything extra that I should be working on? And, I’m just looking for conversation, to touch bases with you. You matter. Yeah, you. You and me, in this thing together. Don’t think you’re by yourself. I want to hear from you this week.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, God of Israel, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Father of us all, Father, please forgive me and us for everyone we’ve done against You. Please, hear my prayer. Allow me to approach Your Throne of Grace. I plead the blood of Your Son over my life, over my words. Cover me so that I may approach Your Throne. Have mercy on us as we look to the future and seek to do right in Your Eyes. Help us to seek You first in all that we do. Help us lean not on our own understanding. Help us to walk upright before You. Help us to do Your Will. Help us to do what You asked — to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to honor our parents. Help us to turn away from evil. Help us to focus on what is good and acceptable. Help us to love our spouses. Help us to be better stewards of all the things you’ve given us, starting with our very lives. Help us to listen more and talk less. Hear my prayer, oh, Lord. I recognize and acknowledge what I am to You. I acknowledge what You have done for me, and that is everything. I acknowledge what You have provided for me, what You have blessed me with, delivered me from. I stand before You only because You allow it. I bless You, Lord God, for where You have taken me and kept me from. Thank You for leading and guiding me thus far. Thank You for feeding me, clothing me, being a roof over my head, and keeping the Death Angel away from my door. If I had ten thousand tongues, Lord, I couldn’t say “thank You” enough. This is Your servant’s praise and prayer. Amen.
I want to thank you for being a part of my life and this ministry. Thank you for your support financially. Thank you for your support spiritually and your prayer. Thank you for your encouragement online. Thank you for all the things you, personally, have done for Speak Life Church.
Now, may the Grace of God, and the Sweet Communion of the Holy Spirit rest, rule, and abide with you both now and forevermore. Just in case I don’t see you on this side of the river, I will see you at the Feet of Jesus. Until I hear from you, or until next week, God bless you.
This I believe. I believe in heaven. I believe in God. I believe each of us has a soul that after death resides with God and angels and the souls of countless others in eternity. I believe that angels exist, reside in eternity and are God’s messengers to we dwelling on Earth. I believe that any creature capable of loving, caring and having feelings for others has a soul that too, after death, resides in heaven. That goes especially for animals.
I am also a Catholic
I am a mightily disturbed Catholic over the public outing of those miscreants who call themselves priests.
I have countless times over my adult years said “I’m a Catholic in spite of the Church.”
I identify as a Catholic mainly from communal, social, and family reasons. I’m from a half Italian, half Sicilian family. The distinction is verification that I know the difference. I went to Catholic elementary school, Catholic high school and a Jesuit college (the distinction is intentional as many within the church cast a skeptical eye towards Jesuits, even calling the head of the order “the Black Pope”.) My relatives are Catholic. For the most part, my friends and classmates are Catholic. I attend Catholic Sunday services. Quite unintentionally I’m a founding Grand Knight of my parish counsel in Maryland. I consider myself part of my new Texas Catholic parish community.
Being Catholic is part of my identity. I would not feel comfortable or honest to say otherwise.
The Catholic religion is based on faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a legitimate part of what followers call Christianity. We don’t worship statutes as some think. We don’t worship angels. We don’t worship Saints. We worship one God and it doesn’t, to me at least, matter what anyone calls the Supreme Being, even using the Hebraic phrase that acknowledges God but refuses to use a name to that effect.
I also need to be very clear that I really bridle at being asked if I’m a Christian. If you can’t tell what I believe from the way I act then I don’t deserve to use that description anyway.
Another reason I don’t subscribe to the “have you accepted Christ” club is that I find it a tad insulting and just as offensive as Muslims demanding fealty to Mohammad’s cult of belief. I say cult because any group that believes “others” who, for whatever reason, refuse to join that group deserve death is no fellowship that worships the true God.
If, as many claim, Mohammed was an impressive and quite successful plagiarist of world religions his epic work’s most despicable admonishment that non-believers must be slain can be traced to an equally disgusting era of intolerance of those from whom he borrowed ideas including the Catholic Church. The Inquisition was one. Oliver Cromwell and his Roundhead Generals genocidal slaughter of Irish Catholics as compelled by “the wrath of God” is another. Witch trials were part of that horrid mindset.
The idea of any one religion claiming exclusivity to (pick a name) heaven, paradise, nirvana, or whatever the name du jour for eternal happiness might be is utter, egotistical bull.
My attitude is simply that what I practice as a form of worship is none of your business. As I said, my life is my membership card and if that’s not good enough for you…that’s your problem, not mine.
That said I have a very real problem with the historical and present Catholic Church, the regal structure of the clergy and the offenses against God and mankind that follow.
I can’t stand anything that walks like, talks like or has pretensions of royalty. I’m sure it’s due to equal parts of my Sicilian/Italian genetic disdain for overbearing authority and the intrinsic importance of independence to being American. Bow to a King or Queen or kiss a Cardinal’s ring…thank you no. I’ve shaken a few Presidents’ hands but taking a knee to anyone or any group is out of the question. We are all the “Chosen.” Why else would we be here? We all deserve equal respect until we prove otherwise. And, we are all servants no matter if others call us by any exalted title.
In my seven decades as a Catholic I’ve encountered priests who understand their role as servants of God and their fellow humans, and I’ve known many who posture as divine arbiters of human behavior. I’ve found Irish Catholic priests more often than not tend to act like petty tyrants who demand the faithful follow their every idiotic command as coming directly from the mouth of God.
The recent, but by no means new, revelations of the wholesale sexual depravity of some Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania and elsewhere were not shocking. They didn’t shake my faith or cause me to jettison my identity as a Catholic. The horrific sexual predator practices among scores of priests in Pennsylvania is but one of the most recent in a long-standing history of that abomination. Not that such damnable behavior is restricted only to the Catholic clergy.
Catholicism to me is not an exclusive club, nor the only community whose membership enjoys favor with the Divine although church figures throughout history would beg to differ. I do not hold the Catholic clergy or their hierarchy of pretentious titles – monsignors, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, even the Pope – in any particular awe. They are just men doing a job who tend to wear funny outfits. Respect I give for the individual on a sliding scale depending on their dedication to service to all of us, humans and animals alike.
There is but one God. To me, it does not matter the flavor of believe espoused: Christianity, Islam, Protestant faith etc. with which one identifies. (Islam is mentioned here with a figurative cautionary asterisk attached.)
A great lesson was taught me when my wife and I sought a cleric to preside over our marriage ceremony. We made inquiries of a wide range of religions. The local, Maryland Catholic priest declined. He said our previous, less than successful forays into domestic disfunction, required the past unions to be annulled. The idea that children even those from the worst parental pairings would be, in theory, the offspring of a newly deemed non-existent union was pretty offensive and insulting. Even a minister whose website proclaimed theirs was a community of progressive thinking, acceptance, and quite “universal” that met in a glorified tree house said “no.” One man, whose initials begin with “Kenn,” stepped forward. I believe his background was Baptist…and definitely former Marine.
Attending the event were many Catholics including two nuns. One of the nuns approached me once the vows were made and documents signed and said that the Reverend’s service was the single most spiritual she’d ever seen. No robes, no altars, no organs accompanying vocalists singing hymnal or Hollywood songs. It was a spiritual event orchestrated by a true clergyman saying true words in honor of the true God.
So,in spite of the church and too many predators in priest clothing, I remain a Catholic but my form of worship is grounded in how I live my life, embrace others, open my heart to the companionship of those who passed before me and accept the many gifts, both positive and painful, the Divine One allows me to experience during my journey here.
One of the most troubling reasons people give to deny the existence of God is “why does God let bad things happen to good people?” Why war? Why the Holocaust? Why cancer? Why abusive parents, teachers, preachers, cops, national leaders, and spouses? Why babies with massive birth defects?
My starting point to answer that question is the idea that God is not the kind of parent who believes in spoiling the child. Nor does God punish. God lets each of us work through the perils, pitfalls and blessings of our own life. God is an equal opportunity deity. The rich, beautiful, talented, athletic, well-born and perfect in every physical way among us have as many problems as the rest of us who are not rich, beautiful, endowed with genius intelligent quotients and maybe have a physical problem or two.
The reason the opportunities God provides everyone are misinterpreted, overlooked or ignored by most is simple. Each, whether benign or harsh, is an opportunity or option left for us to decide how to respond in order to become a good and decent person.
The idea behind the above interpretation of God’s relation to human life isn’t new or unique. In fact, it begins with conception and birth. Life, every aspect from the time the fastest swimming sperm cell enters the egg to life’s last breath, is a crap shoot. We don’t know from one moment or one day to the next what’s in store for us to encounter and decide how to respond whether it will be something to be enjoyed, feared or conquered. There are no guarantees. No set of instructions on how to deal with each: birth, disease, the journey to adulthood, or death. What happens and how we deal with it is the measure of whom we are.
A gift from my son, Tommy, provides a decent starting point or background against what I’m about to try and say. It’s a very simple, short, clearly written and thought-provoking book by Sebastian Junger called “Tribe.”
Towards the latter third, Junger explains the difference between people who correctly understand the way we best fit into the universe and those who wander about in a state of self-absorbed idiocy. Somewhat counterintuitively, Junger uses the bonds formed by civilians and military enduring the real dangers of being in the midst of combat to illustrate the finer qualities of life.
He describes life during the London Blitz of World War II and the more recent genocidal Bosnian War. The daily reality of random death from a bomb or sniper’s bullet, the lack of safe shelter, sufficient food and water did not lead to cultural chaos. Depression and suicide were not the n norm for individuals. Looting, raping and thievery did not characterize societal behavior. Quite the opposite. The awful burden of war brought people together. They helped each other and shared what little they had. War, as horrific as it is, brought the values of tribe to the fore.
When peace and prosperity returned, society descended to the depths of depravity. People forgot the bond of the tribe and became self-absorbed, greed driven individuals. Depression and suicide rates rose. Those who lived through the war years yearned for the time when they laughed more and were their happiest.
Once done with his wartime examples, Junger’s prose slides onto the subject of “litter.” Those who toss a cigarette butt or candy wrapper or plastic water bottle to the ground are clueless about why we inhabit the earth. They think only of themselves. They have no connection with others, with humanity, with nature. Those who don’t ignore others or community or nature, who pick up the trash strewn about by others do connect. They understand that we are part of a “tribe” in the broadest sense of the term. They strive, without seeking honor or praise, to live as decent, caring humans…as God hoped we would.
Let me tell you about the church that I was a pastor of. My church had been operating for years. They were an affluent African-American congregation. Everybody in the church had been somebody. They were doctors, lawyers, senators. We had an astronaut in there. There was a whole bunch of people, and they were proud of their lineage and their heritage and their name, and they all got together, and it was like a social thing. They would meet and do business. They would make sure that they only talked to other people who they knew were affluent like them. They were snobby, and they broke off. Their pastor died, and they raised up this younger guy to become their new pastor. He was like the worship leader, the younger youth pastor, and they sent him to Harvard and Howard and all these acclaimed schools so they could brag that their pastor was highly educated. They paid for his whole education, but in his learning, he learned about true worship. He learned about God, and he learned that some of the stuff that they were doing was ritualistic and paganistic and it wasn’t of God. When he became pastor, he sought to change everything, and they went crazy. The church split. About two hundred of them left and started their own church. They changed the name just slightly, and they took a bit of their wealth and money with them, and they continued their practices, but they couldn’t find a pastor, so they found another young guy who didn’t have a church, and they made him like a master of ceremonies. They wouldn’t called him “pastor.” They just kind of put him on salary, and his job was to preach occasionally, not too many times, and they would find other pastors, other preachers to fill the pulpit because they didn’t want anyone to lead them. They had their own business. They were older people. All of them were 65+ and I got in that group of ministers that would come quarterly to preach. I was a newly ordained minister. I wanted to practice my craft, and every time I got in front of these 35-40 people, the Lord had me say some pretty harsh things to them. The Lord spoke through me, and the next thing I knew, I was there permanently. But they told me right off that I was not going to be “it” because I was not their “kind of person,” but they were glad I would stick around until they found it. The Lord had others things for them.
