There are so many beautiful things in these chapters to enjoy and to contemplate: God will dwell with His people, He will wipe away tears, death will no longer exist, no mourning, crying or pain.

The New Jerusalem is described as an amazingly beautiful city. But one thing will be missing – a temple. There will no longer be a need for that building since we will be able to be in the very presence of our God. No need for sunlight or light bulbs – The light of God will illumine as will the Lamb.

Pure water flows in a river, no more pollution or plastic bags hanging in tree branches. Trees producing fruit will grow alongside the river.

Jesus tells John not to seal up the book but let people read it. Jesus wants His people to know what will happen. We are reminded again, that our Lord is coming back. As the Old Testament saints had to exercise faith the God would one day send the Messiah to earth, so we must exercise faith that Jesus will come again and take us to forevermore with Him.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

Jesus enters the scene riding on a white horse. He is prepared for battle with his army behind him clothed in white linen. An angel cries out to the birds to get ready for a feast for the enemies of the Lord will die in battle. The Beast and the False Prophet are captured and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. Satan, bound, is cast into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.

Jesus takes his place as ruler for 1,000 years. Believers will rule and reign with Him. What a marvelous time that will be.

After the 1,000 years, Satan will be freed for a short time and then his fate is sealed in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. For the others whose names were not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, they were also thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Those who had their names written in the Book would be with the Lord forever. What an amazing series of events. Because our future as believers is secure for all eternity, we have nothing to fear. Jesus already has the victory. We know how this all ends. God has shared that with us so that we would not fear but rejoice in Him.

A sealed Book is revealed, but only someone who is worthy will be able to open it – for a moment, it is as though everything stops. John weeps at the possibility there no one will be able to open it. Then in happens! The Lion of Judah, the one who has overcome, steps forward and takes the sealed Book from His Father. He is worthy! (I wonder if Handel’s Messiah comes close to what the angels sounded like. Oh, to be a part of that choir!)

The Book is opened and there is a series of judgments revealed:

The false Christ is revealed (takeover of the nations)

1. War
2. Famine
3. Death
4. Martyrdom
5. Earthquakes, darkness, stars falling….

The sad commentary on this is that there is no repentance. The people want to hide from God and be spared His wrath, but they will not humble themselves and repent (6:16)

However, not all is doom and gloom. There are those who do turn to Christ during the Great Tribulation – from every nation, tongue and tribe (7:9) They are given white robes and will serve their Lord. We are told that they will hunger and thirst no longer and the tears will be wiped from their eyes.

What a great God we serve, extending grace and forgiveness to the end of human history.

As you look at the chart, you see that all but one had something they were doing right. The Laodecian church was indifferent; they were very wealthy and thought they would be able to handle everything on their own. They are told to repent because Jesus’ heart is to sit down with them and have a good meal (3:20). Jesus wants fellowship with His people.

There are two churches who have no criticism, Smyrna and Philadelphia – what a wonderful testimony to the grace of God on these two assemblies. The others had varying issues; however, they were not left to guess what they needed to do to fix the problems. Instruction was given. Again, the Lord is so faithful and gracious to not write off these churches but to point out the problem and give them a solution. His desire is to have those that call Him Savior show that they love Him by their attitudes and actions.

Praise God for the faithful in the church then and now. They each received a promise. We have a promise as well. We who believe will be forever with the Lord! Thank you, Lord for being so gracious that you choose to instruct and restore.

The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse

Taken from the Nelson Study Bible

John was exiled on the Island of Patmos because he unashamedly preached the Gospel. The first several chapters are historical in nature, they deal with churches that were in existence at the time and located in Asia Minor.

Opening with words of encouragement, grace and peace (in the midst of persecution) from Him who is, who was, and who is to come – the I AM (1:4) come from John. The Savior is coming! (1:7).

Commanded by God to write down what he sees in the vision, John sees the Lord. This amazing sight causes John to fall on his face. John knew Jesus well but when seen in all His glory, the response is to worship. Sweet Jesus touches John and tells him not to be afraid. Isn’t that just like our Lord – giving the believer peace and comfort. Writing what he is told, John records that Jesus is the “first and the last” and “He was dead but now is alive” – the keys of death and Hades are in His hands. Jesus controls the end time events!

John began to record the events that are (chapters 1-3) and the events that are yet to come (chapter 4 and following). Seven churches in Asia Minor are going to be evaluated, if you will, and we can use this evaluation to be sure that we are doing what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

Heaven is a glorious place! Even so Lord, come quickly!

Abide is a word used frequently in this passage and it has the meaning of: to stay, to remain, to continue – also active. God abides in us (4:11); We abide in Him (4:13); Whoever confesses Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him (4:15); God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God and God abides in him (4:16).

As believers abiding in God’s perfect love, there are things we cannot do – the one stated here is, we cannot hate our brother. We may not always get along with our brothers and sisters, (what family always gets along?) but we must never hate them.

We have the Holy Spirit living in us (4:13) and God Himself abides in us (4:11). We have to learn to let His love permeate our being. As James said show me your faith by your deeds, John says, show me your faith by your love.

Love is active, abiding is active. God calls us to be active in our faith.

Trials stretch us, they perfect us, and as a believer they also give us a history with God. As a result of coming through a trial, we can glorify God because of His faithfulness.

There are several themes in these verses:

God cannot tempt us to sin – He tests to prove His faithfulness to us

Be careful what you say and how you say it – that reflects back to God

Be doers of the Word – not hearers only; Live out your faith

Watch your tongue

Take care of those who cannot care for themselves

Don’t play favorites

The last section of our reading deals with faith versus works. Many have misread James intention. He is not saying that you must work for your salvation. He is saying that if you are saved, your actions should show it. There should be evidence in a believers life that shows that they are different.

A poor example might be that we align ourselves with a sports team. We wear a jersey with their logo on it, put a sticker on our car that tells everyone we are a fan, hang a flag in front of our house, go to their games, and talk to other fans about the players and the plays. People observing us would know we like that team. The question then becomes, do people know we love Jesus? Do they see us living godly lives?

Rich Mullins has a great song about faith and works. One line says, “Faith without works is about as useless as a screen door on a submarine”. Faith and works go hand in hand. As a result of our faith we do good works and praise God He has allowed us to serve Him.

Screen Door

Rich Mullins

It’s about as useless as

A screen door on a submarine

Faith without works baby

It just ain’t happenin’

One is your left hand

One is your right

It’ll take two strong arms

To hold on tight

Some folks cut off their nose

Just to spite their face

I think you need some works to show

For your alleged faith

Well there’s a difference you know

B’tween having faith and playing make believe

One will make you grow

The other one just make you sleep

Talk about it

But I really think you oughtta

Take a leap off of the ship

Before you claim to walk on water

Faith without works is like a song you can’t sing

It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine

Faith comes from God

And every word that He breathes

He lets you take it to your heart

So you can give it hands and feet

It’s gotta be active if it’s gonna be alive

You gotta put it into practice

Otherwise….

It’s about as useless as a screen door

On a submarine

Faith without works, baby

It just ain’t happenin’

One is your right hand, one is your left

It’s your light, your guide

Your life and your breath

Faith without works is like a song you can’t sing

It’s about as useless as a screen door

On a submarine

Peter is most likely writing this letter from Rome and he wants to assure those in Asia Minor that Jesus is Lord and that eternal life is theirs in Him. Notice the beauty of verse four – Because of the great mercy of Jesus Christ, being born again is possible and since Jesus was resurrected from the dead, the believer has and an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and will not fade! It doesn’t stop there – that inheritance is reserved in heaven for each believer. Therefore, do not be afraid of what happens to this temporary body. Be obedient to the Word, have integrity.

Their lives and ours should not harbor wickedness or lying, hypocrisy, envy or slander. Live rightly before God regardless of the situation around you.

We may not be called to suffer persecution as those in biblical times or even today in other countries. But we have been called to live a life of integrity so that others can see that the standard we hold to is so much higher than the world’s standard. Thank God for His grace that gives us the ability to live rightly before Him.

So much of what we have around us is temporary, but our life in Christ is eternal. Since we are eternal beings we need to focus our attention on what is eternal. The main point would then be to please God.

Although we as believers will never face the wrath of God, nor can our salvation be lost or taken away, we will give an account for our actions to the Lord (5:10). Paul was an evangelist. He spent his time spreading the Gospel and teaching the Word so that it could be taught by others properly.

We may not be called to a foreign or domestic mission field per se, but we can minister to our families, friends and contacts on Facebook. We can share our worldly possessions with those who have little. We can write or call and encourage someone God brings to mind or we can help a neighbor weed a garden….the list can go on and on. None of this should be done out of fear that we are not doing enough to please the Lord, but from the great motivation of love. God loves us and because we love Him, the natural outcome is to want to please Him. It seems that Paul is encouraging the Corinthians (and us) that whatever is done, it should be done to please the Lord.

There are plaques with “Love Never Fails” (verse in most Christian Book Stores and that is a good phrase to remember, however, we need to concentrate on making the love we have consistent with verses four through seven.

Love is: patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not arrogant, not selfish, not easily provoked, forgiving, doesn’t rejoice when bad things happen to bad people, rejoices in the truth, bears all, believes, hopes and endures That is quite a list.

The greatest example of this kind of love is wrapped up in the person of Jesus. Jesus’ love can be described by all the words in this chapter. Paul exemplified great love during his life and so many others did as well.

When we go to be with the Lord or the Lord comes to get us, the quality that will last for eternity is love. Prophecy will be fulfilled, so there would no longer be a need for that, tongues will no longer be needed and the inferior knowledge we gained here on earth will pale in comparison to what we will learn from our Master.

Faith and hope will be a thing of the past since we will see Jesus “Face to Face”! There is a hymn we sang years ago that shares the yearning to see Jesus, enjoy the lyrics.

1. Face to face with Christ, my Savior,

Face to face—what will it be?

When with rapture I behold Him,

Jesus Christ who died for me.

o Face to face I shall behold Him,

Far beyond the starry sky;

Face to face in all His glory,

I shall see Him by and by!

2. Only faintly now, I see Him,

With the darkling veil between,

But a blessed day is coming,

When His glory shall be seen.

3. What rejoicing in His presence,

When are banished grief and pain;

When the crooked ways are straightened,

And the dark things shall be plain.

4. Face to face! O blissful moment!

Face to face—to see and know;

Face to face with my Redeemer,

Jesus Christ who loves me so.

Lyrics by Mrs. Frank Breck