BOOK OF REVELATION

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04600640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>BOOK OF JOB</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BOOK OF JOB"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Content"><U>My Content</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Album"><U>Photo Album</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Favorite Links"><U>Favorite Links</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="JOHNS GOSPEL"><U>JOHN'S GOSPEL</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="PSALMS"><U>PSALMS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" 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HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IJOHN"><U>IJOHN</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IIJOHN"><U>IIJOHN</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="IIIJOHN"><U>IIIJOHN</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>BOOK OF REVELATION</I></div> <div> BY PASTOR GLENN PEASE</div> <bR> <div> THE BEGINNING OF THE END  Based on Rev. 1:1-2</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      The Apostle John is the patron saint of everybody, for he is the hero of young and old alike.  Jesus called him to be His disciple when he was likely in his late teens.  He was the youngest of the 12, and is an example of the faith that Christ had in young people.  John also lived the longest of the 12.  He was used of God for service right to the end, and so he is also an example of the value of older people in discipleship.  God  used him to write down the last of the books of the Bible.</div> <bR> <div>      When the government looks for a man to go into space they select a man of maturity, but not a man of old age.  When God sought for  a man to travel to heaven and see mysteries beyond what any astronaut has ever seen in space, He choose a man well past our retirement age.  John was a senior citizen, but it was no rocking chair for him.  He had an assignment far bigger than anyone ever had.  He was to be the recorder and reporter of the greatest revelation every given.  God does not discriminate against the aged.  God is an equal opportunity employer.  He uses young and old alike.  He has no retirement requirement, but will go on using a person as long as they live.</div> <bR> <div>      Your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams is the word of the prophet.  Nobody is to be left out in the task of fulfilling God's plan.  This last book of the Bible is an encouragement to all to plan to be used of God at any age.  We should expect to do something great for the Kingdom even when we are old.  Alexander Maclaren wrote his famous Exposition of Holy Scripture after he was 80.</div> <div> DaVinci was 77 when he painted the Last Supper.  Tennyson was 81 when he wrote Crossing the Bar.  The world is full of great works done by those who were old, and we are studying one of the greatest of these works of the aged as we study Revelation.  John was an old man, but still a capable instrument in the hands of God.   </div> <bR> <div>      The first lesson we learn from this last book of the Bible is from the author.  We learn that every year of our lives should be a year of labor for the Lord, and a year of expectation that He will use us for His purpose.  The rest of life can be the best of life is to be our motto at any age.  Studies reveal that the reason people get tired and fatigued in old age is not because of exhaustion but because of stagnation.  Life demands labor and expression.  If we settle down to do nothing, we stop the springs of energy and lose our motivation.  If we keep on going and doing things, the waters of life's energy keep flowing.  John never stopped being active.  He was always available for God's service and the result was, he was used to his dying day.  </div> <bR> <div>      John is not only a great example of love, but a great example of labor.  He never did retire from Christian service, and God used him to give the world this greatest of books-The Revelation of Jesus Christ.  In these opening verses he tells us of the source of the revelation; the subject of the revelation, and the servants to whom the revelation is given.  Let's consider first-</div> <bR> <div> I.  THE SOURCE OF THE REVELATION.</div> <bR> <div>      Notice it is not from John as the title in the King James Version might imply. It is not the revelation of St. John the divine.  That title was added by man.  John tells us it is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him.  In other words, the ultimate source of this revelation is God the Father.  He gave it to His Son and His Son gave it to His angel, and the angel gave it to John, and John gave it to us, the body of Christ.  We see here a 5 rung ladder, as when an owner gives a plan to his son, and the son takes it to the manager, and the manager gives it to the foreman lays it out for the workers.  God may use many means to communicate with man, but he always begins with His Son who is the Word.  He is the first and the last, the alpha and omega.  Everything God does begins and ends with Jesus.  </div> <bR> <div>      This book is not what John the Apostle is teaching us, but what our Lord, the master teacher, wants us to know, for it is the revelation of Jesus Christ.  We must approach this book with minds focused on Him, and with the prayer in our hearts that He will teach us.</div> <bR> <div>           Hushed by the noise and the strife of the schools,</div> <div>           Volume and pamphlet, sermon and speech,</div> <div>           The lips of the wise and the prattle of fools,</div> <div>           Let the Son of man teach.</div> <bR> <div>           Who has the key to the future but He?</div> <div>           Who can unravel the knots of the skein?</div> <div>           We have groaned and have travailed and sought to be free.</div> <div>           We have travailed in vain.</div> <bR> <div>           Bewildered, dejected and prone to despair,</div> <div>           To Him, as at first, do we turn and beseech</div> <div>           Our ears are all open, give heed to our prayer,</div> <div>           O Son of man, teach.  </div> <bR> <div>      As mysterious as is much of this book, the main concepts can be grasped by everyone.  Jesus is the door that invites us in, and not a door that locks us out. A revelation means an unvailing of what is hidden.  In this book Jesus opens up the door to the future and lets us see what His plan and purpose is, and how He intends to wrap it all up.  It tells us how He will reward His bride and judge those who serve the cause of evil.  It is a revelation of  how men will journey through history to either heaven or hell.  Genesis tells us how Satan began his work on earth, and Revelation tells us how he will end in doom.  Genesis tells us how sin brought man's fall, and Revelation tells us the ultimate consequence of sin.  Genesis tells us how everything got started, and Revelation tells us how everything will end.  It is a fitting climax to the Bible. </div> <bR> <div>       We need to keep before us, that the source of this revelation is God, and it is a revelation of Jesus Christ, and so our first objective is not to know the future and satisfy our curiosity.  Our first objective is to know Christ.  This revelation is to primarily lead us back to the source and draw us near to Him who gave it.  Our prayer should be-</div> <bR> <div>                Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me</div> <div>                A living, bright reality;</div> <div>                More present to faith's vision keen</div> <div>                Than any outward object seen;</div> <div>                More dear, more intimately nigh</div> <div>                Than even the sweetest earthly tie.</div> <bR> <div> II.  THE SUBJECT OF THE REVELATION.</div> <bR> <div>      To show to His servants what must soon take place.  The subject than, is the future.  We are dealing with prophecy and the prediction of what is to come.  Henry Swete says, "Revelation is the converse of concealment, the process of casting aside the veil that hides a mystery."  We could never know the things in this book if God had not revealed them.  Everyone likes to be in on a secret, and Jesus is letting His people in on the secrets of the future.  Not all secrets are sweet however.  Some of them are bitter such as the revealing of God's wrath and the terrible judgment ahead.  Even the negatives can be an encouragement, however, if we see them properly.</div> <bR> <div>        This is illustrated by the two Rabbis who approached Jerusalem and saw a fox.  Rabbi Joshua began to wept and Rabbi Eliezer began to laugh.  "Why do you laugh?" asked Joshua.  "Nay, but why do you wept?"  came the reply.  "Because, I see the prophecy of Lamentations fulfilled."  "Because of the Mount Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it."  Eliezer said, "For that same reason do I laugh, for when I see with my own eyes that God has fulfilled His judgments to the letter, I have thereby a pledge that not one of His promises will fail, for He is even more ready to show mercy than judgment."  Even the negative fulfillment's remind us of the certainty of His promises.</div> <bR> <div>      Many times I have used the saying that we don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future.  This is true in terms of our own personal lives, but when it comes to events which affect the whole world, we do know what the future holds, for that is what this revelation is all about.  John stresses two things about these future events.  </div> <bR> <div> 1.  THEIR NECESSITY.  </div> <bR> <div>      He says they must soon take place.  This is not a revelation of what ought to be, or of what God hopes will be.  This is a sure thing , and it must come to pass.</div> <div> This is not a series of predictions like you read in one of the papers by a contemporary psychic.  They make a lot of educated guesses and a few wild ones for publicity, and once in a while they get one right.  The test of any prophecy is, if it does not come to pass it is false, and the prophet is a false prophet.  Any careful study of the so called prophets of our day show them to be false.  If John's prophecy is truly from God, then it will not be 60%, or even 99.9% correct, but completely 100% accurate.  John says these things must come to pass-it is a necessity.  </div> <bR> <div> 2.  THEIR NEARNESS.</div> <bR> <div>      They must soon come to pass.  This word soon is the basis for the first debate over the book.  Since many Christians feel most of the book is yet to be fulfilled in the future, they give the word soon a different meaning here than its usual meaning.  They say that since from the Lord's point of view a thousand years is as a day, that means it has only been a couple of days since this revelation was given.  So that leaves several thousand years yet for the fulfillment to come even in what would be only one week from God's perspective.  That is very soon to Him.  Others say the word means speedily, for it is used this way in Luke 18:8 where it says, "He will vindicate them speedily."  They stress that when the Lord begins to fulfill these prophecies they will come in rapid succession and soon be fulfilled.</div> <bR> <div>      Many others resist trying to get around the plain meaning of the word.  They prefer to take is as it stands and see that John is saying to the Christians of his day-these things will take place in your lifetime.  After all, the other two great Apostles, Paul and Peter, said the same thing.  Paul in Rom. 13:12 wrote, "The night is far gone, the day is at hand."  Peter wrote in I Pet. 4:7, "The end of all things is at hand."   There is not way to escape the fact that the Bible authors felt the end is near, and that Christ would soon return.  </div> <bR> <div>      We are caught, therefore, in a dilemma.  It is clear that the word soon meant soon to John and the early Christians.  Yet, we know that the end did not come, and 2,000 years later we have not come to the end.  What are we suppose to think?  The solution is ready quite simple.  You merely recognize that both views are right, for it is a part of the nature of Biblical prophecy.  George Eldon Ladd, the prophetic scholar wrote, "It is the nature of Biblical prophecy to make it possible for every generation to live in expectancy of the end."  Each generation of Christians can see the events of this book fulfilled in their lifetime.  History goes in circles until one day the final round will be made, and the literal end will come.  No generation knows for sure that it is the last, but each one could be. </div> <bR> <div>      As we study this book we first of all must try to see what it meant to the Christians of the first century.  Then we must try to see what it has meant to Christians through history.  And finally how does it apply today, and what does it mean for its final fulfillment at the end of history which could possibly be in our lifetime.  The reason this revelation causes so much debate is because so many Christians want to take it for themselves and leave all other generations of Christians out of it.  They want it to be for the first century Christians, or for the Christians of the last day only.  These exclusive theories are not wrong, for both are right, but it is just that they are too narrow and limited.  </div> <bR> <div>      As we read through the book, we will be following those who see this as a revelation to all God's people with meaning to every generation from the first to the last.  This means that soon means just that in every generation.  The events of this book are always just around the corner for every generation.  Jesus could have returned in any century.  If this was not the case, then the waiting Christians who have lived in expectation for centuries have been deceived.  The Bible says they were right to have been watching, for His coming is always near.</div> <div> The third thing we want to look at is-</div> <bR> <div> III.  THE SERVANTS TO WHOM THE REVELATION IS GIVEN.</div> <bR> <div>       This revelation was not given to idle curiosity seekers, but to those who are servants of Christ. It is a servants manual and not just a guide to prophecy nuts who love to get into speculation  about all the details of the future. It is primarily practical in its purpose. It is to aid Christians in their service for Christ. It is to be a blessing to those who keep what is written says John. If one does not serve Christ and live a more practical life of benefit to others because of this book, he has missed the purpose of it, and poverty of purpose is worse than poverty of purse. Only those who serve can really see the future and be motivated by this revelation, for they alone can see that their labor is not in vain in the Lord.</div> <bR> <div>      Barclay rightly says, "No man can be anything greater than a servant of God." This is the name first given to Christians in this book and it is the title that John and all of the Apostles proudly wear. God lets his servants in on his plea for the future, for if they are going to suffer for His Word and even give their lives in His service, it is only right that they should share in knowing the outcome of it all. The Christians who will get most out of this revelation are those who are most anxious to serve Christ in the world, and keep the things written in this book. Frank Laubach said something so simple yet so profound:  "It would be better for us to throw away 99% of our learning and of our tangled philosophy and stick to just one single thing for our daily life-to keep asking God, who needs me next, Father!"</div> <bR> <div>      Whatever we learn from the study of this book will be worthless if it does not make us better servants. If growing in knowledge does not lead to growth in service, we will have missed the whole point of this book. On the other hand,, if we fail to grasp some of the mysteries and are wrong on some of our interpretations, but we are motivated to greater service, we will have accomplished the primary purpose for which this revelation was given. So our prayer should be, Lord, help us to see and then obey, as we launch into this study of the beginning of the end.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE BLESSED LIFE  Based on Rev. 1:3</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The famous medical missionary Dr. Grenfell of Labrador once came to John Hopkins Hospital in America looking for a head nurse to go back to Labrador with him.  He made this appeal: "If you want to have the time of your life, come with me and run a hospital next summer for the orphans of the Northland.  There will not be a cent of money in it for you, and you will have to pay your own expenses.  But I guarantee that you will feel a love for life you have never before experienced.  It's having the time of anyone's life to be in the service of Christ."  The nurse who responded wrote this after she came back to America:  "I never knew before that life was good for anything but what one could get out of it.  Now I know that the real fun lies in seeing how much one can put into life for others."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     She learned that the blessed life is the life of the servant.  This is one of the major truths of the Bible, and one that John stresses in this book of Revelation.  The first chapter and the last chapter have the same emphasis:  This is a revelation to servants, and blessedness is found in the keeping of what is revealed.  Listen to Rev. 22:6-7 which shows you how the last chapter sounds so much like the begining of the first chapter.  "And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to sow His servants what must soon take place.  And behold I am coming soon.  Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."  From beginning to end this book is for servants, and the blessing is found in doing.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>      In this third verse of the first chapter John spells out most fully the actions that lead to the blessed life.  The three things you can do with this book that leads to blessings are:  You can read it; you can hear it, and you can keep it.  Readers, hearers, and keepers, are the three kinds of servants who will reap the benefits of this revelation.  Before we look closer at these three actions, we need to look at the implication of this verse as a whole.  This verse makes this the most unique book in all the Bible.  All Scripture is profitable, therefore, there is a blessing connected with reading, hearing, and obeying any part of it, but this is the only part of Scripture where it is plainly stated. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This is the first of seven beatitudes in the book, and is the most comprehensive.  Every Christian in history has this blessing as a potential for his life.  There are exceptions, like the thief on the cross, who never had a chance to even see the book, and likely there are many others in history who also did not have a chance to see it.  But the fact remains, Christians of every generation have had the chance to enter into this blessing.  This makes the interpretation of this book, by necessity, a book that has to be a meaningful one to every generation of Christians.  If it is not, this promised blessing is a farce and a mockery.  If only the first Christians could understand it, then the blessing is meaningless to all the Christians since.  And if only the last generation of Christians can grasp it, then this blessing has been meaningless to all the Christians through history.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     There is just no alternative to this conclusion:  If we are to take this blessing as a legitimate promise to all readers, hearers, and keepers, then it must be a revelation that is relevant to all Christians of all time.  How can you keep what has no meaning to you?  How can you be blessed by reading what makes no sense because it is not meant for you, but for Christians of some other age?  There is only one way you can do justice to this third verse, and that is to recognize that it makes this book a now book for all time.  The very first Christians who received it entered into the blessed life, and the very last who receive it will enter into the blessed life.  The blessed life is not all out there in the future when the world is coming to an end.  The whole point of a revelation of the future is to bring the blessings of the future back into the present so we can begin to enjoy them now.  The best is always yet to be, but the better is always near for those who know what that best to be is.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Realized Eschatology is what the scholars call it.  It simply means that the future can greatly influence the present in the lives of those who live now with eternity's values in view.  They begin now to experience in some measure the blessings that God has prepared for those who love and serve Him.  If a man gets a letter telling him that the girl he loves is going to say yes when he proposes next week, that knowledge of the future affects how he lives that week.  He is already enjoying the future.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This verse says that the blessed life is now.  The overall theme of the book is the conflict of Christ and Satan, good and evil, light and darkness.  We don't have to wait until the battle is over in enjoy the fruits of victory.  Christ wants to live in us and gain victories now over the forces of evil.  We might even become martyrs in the conflict, but this book makes clear that if we do, it only leads us more quickly to be crowned, and to join the battle in the spiritual realm even nearer to Christ.  No matter how firece the conflict, and no matter how rough the perscution, Christians must recognize that the blessed life is now.  Any interpretation of this book that robs any Christian of any age of this opening blessing is missing the mark.   We are dealing with a perpetual now book, and the important thing about this revelation about the future is, how does it affect our now?   How does our knowledge of God's plan and purpose for the future alter our present character and conduct?  The first thing we have to do to allow the future to change the present is to enter into the three-fold blessing of this verse.  The first blessing is on-</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I.  THE READER.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The first thing we need to observe is that this blessing is designed to fit the specific situation of the first century Christians.  The reader is singular.  "Blessed is he who reads."  The hearers, however, are plural, for it is they that hear.  We have a clear picture of the public service where one reads the Word and the congregation listens.  </B></div> <div> <B>The reading here is not the private reading in your home, but the public reading in the church.  In the early church where there was only one copy of the book, no one had a copy to read at home in private.  It would have been meaningless to offer a blessing to those who read the book to themselves at home, for no one could do that.  The Living Bible; the RSV, and other modern translations stress the public reading by translating:</B></div> <div> <B>"Blessed is he who reads aloud."  It is not a silent private reading that being referred to here.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The implication of this is clear.  This book is meant for a group experience.  It is guide for the body in its decisions and strategies for doing the will of Christ in history.  It is not designed as a devotional guide for personal devotions like the book of Psalms or Proverbs.  It is to be a public standard for the guidance of the church as a whole.  In verse 4 John addresses the seven churches of Asia, and the second and third chapters deal with Christ's view of the church.  What this means then, on the practical level, is that the principles of this book are to guide us as a body.  This book is to be more important to us as a local congregation of believers than our constitution.  Here we have a revelation of how our Lord, the Head of the church, feels about what goes on in His church.  He is to determine what theology we teach; what actions we take, and what attitudes we express toward our world.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     In order to guarantee that the Lord's view of the church might never be lost, He made it a blessing for churches of all ages to have this book read and heard publicly in the worship service.  This does not mean there is no value in reading the book in private.  It is just that the blessing is designed to keep this book as an open and public guide to the local church all through history.  The leader or reader may be a pastor or a layman who keeps this guide before the body by reading it in public, and he is blessed for doing so.  The other two catagories of blessing are really one, for to be a hearer and not a keeper of the Word is a curse rather than a blessing, and so we can link them together and call them-</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>II.  HEARER-KEEPERS.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>      The obvious reason why it is a blessing to hear this book read is because you thereby become informed on the mind of Christ.  You are then able to live in obedience to His will.  The reverse truth is also obvious.  It is a curse to be in the dark and not know what your Lord's will is.  To be in a battle and not know what your commander's goals and objectives are is to be and aid to the enemy, and a stumbling block to your fellow soldiers in the faith.  If we are ignorant as a local church as to what Christ expects of us, we can burn up all of our energy doing things that do not accomplish His purpose.  As we shall see, it is possible for a local church to be in just that kind of situation.  To avoid it we must be hearers of this portion of the Word and doers.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The ear gate was the primary means of receiving the Word of God in the early church, and the preached Word is still the main means for most Christians to be exposed to the truths which Christ wants the church to hear.  This means that good listening habits are important for Christians to develop.  Bordom is not always the fault of the speaker.  Quite often the listeners are lathargic.  They do not take the message seriously enough to overcome the distractions and the tiredness that makes the mind drift and sink into a stupor where the message does not penetrate.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This verse is saying, it will be a blessing for those Christians who take this revelation serious enough to fight all obstacles to good listening so that they can hear what Christ has to say to the church.  Over and over we will see the phrase in chapter two and three:  "He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches."</B></div> <div> <B>In other words, you can have an ear and still not hear.  It is the hearing that leads to understanding and obedience.  The good listener is one who is always asking questions about what he hears.  How does this apply to me and my church?  What can we do to live up to this ideal of Christ?  You must be looking for insights as you listen.  Those who do listen will hear what the inattentive will miss and lose their blessing.  Good listening enables you to find gems of truth that the speaker is not even talking about.  Good listening will enable you to see things that the speaker doesn't see such as, implications that apply to you that the speaker knows nothing about.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Our understanding and interpretation of this revelation may be immature, but that is part of the process of growing.  We must see on a lower level before we can see on a higher level.  Our interpretation will become more clear as we respond in obedience to the highest we can grasp at the time.  Child like misunderstanding will be corrected as we share what we see and hear.  Our own experience will be corrected by the wider experience of the body.  A little boy visiting the farm walked through a flock of chickens, and suddenly the rooster flopped his wings and let forth with a crow.  The boy ran to the house and gave this interpretation of his experience:  He said the rooster spanked himself and then cried.  From his perspective that seemed the most logical interpretation of the event.  It was not accurate, but as he listened to others explain he would grow in his understanding.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The point I am making is, the blessing of this book revolves around a group experience.  The important thing is not what I learn, or what you learn, but rather, how does this revelation affect us as a church?  How will we respond to what we learn about Christ's will for the local church?  It is a body-life experience.  We must share how we feel about what is revealed to us, for only as we do can we keep what is written.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     In 1959 Hans Kraus bought a 13th century copy of Revelation for $182,000.  That was a world record, and doughtless Hans will keep that copy after he reads it, but that is not the kind of keeping John has in mind.  Hans may be blessesd to have that 13th century copy of the book, but that is not the blessing John speaks of here.  Keeping means doing, or acts of obedience because of what is written in this book.  This means the goal of this book, like the goal of all Christian education, is to change conduct so that it conforms to the will of Christ.  This means the book has principles that are universal for all Christians in every age.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     A Mrs. R. L. Bartlett received a postcard 42 years after it had been mailed from only 6 miles away.  It said, "Will be down Monday about 5:00 P.M.  Do not stay at home on my account.  Hope your cold is better."  It was totally irrelevant when she got it, and of less value than yesterday's paper.  The point is, once a message no longer fits the situation in which you live, it is a worthless message.  The book of Revelation is not like the paper.  Some say it is as current as the daily news.  Not so!  It is far more relevant than that.  The daily news is only relevant for a few hours, and then it is obsolete.  Revelation is relevant always to all believers in all churches, for the principles of life it reveals can be kept by all who will choose to do so at all times.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Satan will be delighted if our goal is only to satisfy our curiosity about the future.  C. S. Lewis in Screwtape Letters has Satan telling one of his demons how to succeed in deceiving a Christian:  "The great thing is to prevent his doing anything.  Let him do anything but act.  No amount of piety in his imagination and affection will harm us if we can keep it out of his will-the more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."  If Satan can get us to feel excited about his book so that we are content with just feeling good because we are learning more, but keep us from changing our lives in response to what we learn, he will have succeeded in robbing us of the promise blessing.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     G. K. Chesterton, the great Catholic author,  scolded the church of his day in poetry because of their failure to take practical action to meet the needs of the community.  He wrote, </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>               The Christian Social Union here</B></div> <div> <B>               Was very much annoyed;</B></div> <div> <B>               It seems there is some duty</B></div> <div> <B>               Which we never should avoid,</B></div> <div> <B>               And so they sing a lot of hymns</B></div> <div> <B>               To help the unemployed.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     To keep what is written in this book is to be practical.  To remember the Sabbath and keep it holy was not just a motto to the people of God in the Old Testament.  In order to keep it holy they had to do many things, or refrain from many things.  To keep the Sabbath was primarily a matter of conduct.  To keep the things revealed in this book is likewise a matter of conduct.  We are not true believers of what we hear revealed until it affects our lives.  Paul Johnson put it:  "A belief is a faith not merely when it is accepted as true, but when it determines what one shall live for and shapes the way of living."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Adoniram Judson in 1812 sailed to Burma to carry the Gospel there.  He suffered greatly as he was imprisoned for two years.  Starved and beaten, yet he survived, but with his hands and feet marred by the chains.  He went to the king of Burma and asked permission to preach.  The king responded, "I am willing for a dozen preachers to go, but not you.  Not with those hands.  My people are not such fools as to take notice of your preaching, but they will take notice of them."  Judson way effective, and is now a famous hero in the history of missions because he was a keeper of the things Christ revealed to His church.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This last book of the Bible starts with the same principle with which the book of Genesis starts.  It is a test of obedience.  Will Adam and Eve keep the will of God by obedient conduct?  They did not!  Now, each member, and each church in the body of Christ has the same option.  Will we, or will we not, keep God's Word by obedient conduct.  The promise for those who do is an entrance into the Blessed Life.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE SEVEN CHURCHES  Based on Rev. 1:4</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     A math teacher asked one of her less enthusiastic students, "If I take 23 away from 30, what is the difference?"  He responded, "That's what I say, what's the difference?"  In other words, it made no difference to him.  Not everybody enjoys math and working with numbers, and  you certainly do not need much knowledge in this area to understand the Bible.  John was no great mathematician, but there is one number he used over and over again, and that was the number 7.  The whole book of Revelation is built around the number 7.  It is used 54 times in this book, and is the key number that forms the structure of the book.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     John was not the first to use 7 this way, for 7 has been the number of perfection and completion all through history.  The Greeks and Romans considered it a sacred number, but long before them the Chinese divided their empire into 7 provinces.  In India the earth was divided into 7 divisions, and they had the 7 rivers of Hindustan, and 7 celestial mountains.  The Babylonians made much of the number 7, and they refered to all gods as the 7 gods, and their 7 story tower was symbolic of the whole universe.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The idea of 7 being symbolic of perfection and completion is almost universal, and, therefore, it is the easiest of all symbolic numbers to understand.  It usually means all of the category being dwelt with in the context.  God has built this right into creation.  </B></div> <div> <B>7 days make a complete week.</B></div> <div> <B>7 colors make a complete rainbow.</B></div> <div> <B>7 whole tones make a complete scale with the 8th a repetion of the first.</B></div> <div> <B>7 seas, 7 wonders of the world, 7 years and the body is renewed.</B></div> <div> <B>7 days of rest.</B></div> <div> <B>7 day feast.</B></div> <div> <B>7th day for circumcision.</B></div> <div> <B>7 fold sprinkling of blood on the day of atonement.</B></div> <div> <B>7 branch candlestick.</B></div> <div> <B>7 times dipping of Naaman.</B></div> <div> <B>7 years labor for Rachel.</B></div> <div> <B>7 years of famine and 7 years of plenty.</B></div> <div> <B>7 last words from the cross.</B></div> <div> <B>7 baskets of fragments.</B></div> <div> <B>7 husbands of one wife.</B></div> <div> <B>7 demons cast out of Mary Magdalene.</B></div> <div> <B>7 deacons.</B></div> <div> <B>7 parables of Matt. 13.</B></div> <div> <B>7 woes on the Pharisees.</B></div> <div> <B>7 times 70 for forgiveness.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     We could go on and on for there are 600 references to the number 7 in the Bible.  There is no point in trying to prove what is obvious to everyone.  7 is a symbolic number which stands for totality.  It gets this meaning because it is a combination of three and four.  Three represents the trinity, or heaven, and four represents the earth because of the four directions and four seasons.  7 is the combination of heaven and earth, or the total reality. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This means that when John in verse 4 addresses the 7 churches in Asia, he is addressing the total church, or all churches for all time.  These 7 actual churches of his day are representative of all the local churches that will exist through all of history.  Just as the 7 spirits before the throne represent the Holy Spirit in the fullness of all his functions.  One of the popular systems of interpreting the book of Revelation is the symstem that sees the whole book as 7 great visions, each of which starts at the first coming of Christ and ends with the second coming.  Whether this theory is correct or not I cannot say, but it definitely has some truth to it which we will observe as we go through the book.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Another popular method of interpretation based on the number 7 is that each of the 7 churches represents a period of history.  Again, there is some truth to this theory, but to press it only leads to a lot of contradiction, for no two who follow this theory seem to be able to agree on what period of history each church represents.  It is wise just to recognize that in every period of history the church falls into one of the 7 categories represented by the 7 churches.  In fact, the church today world wide has local churches that fall into everyone of the 7 kinds.  The idea that all churches of any age fall into the same category is based on ignorance of church history.  The church may be dead in one part of the world, and in great revival in another part.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Some people get so excited about numerology that they go to extremes.  I have several books in my library devoted to finding 7's in the Bible.  This is an old hobby and goes back into ancient Judaism.  They actually get down to the very letters of the Hebrew and Greek.  For example, Gen. 1:1 has 7 Hebrew words made up of 28 letters, or 4 times 7.  The first three words have 14 letters or 2 times 7, and the last 4 words have 14 letters or 2 times 7, and on and on it goes with dozens of combination of 7 right in the first verse of the Bible.  They go on through the whole Bible finding 7 absolutely everywhere.  Some men have spent their whole life finding the 7's in the Bible in every conceivable combination; all of which is much adue about nothing.  J. B. Segal writes, </B></div> <div> <B>"Statistics of the Bible,  like the calculations of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, have a fatal attraction for cranks and crackpots, and even for wisemen in their less guarded moments."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     We must beware of the danger of getting all excited about numbers, for as John Davis points out in his Biblical Numerology, the Bible no where tells us that it has any special hidden meaning in numbers.  He feels that the number 7 is the only significant symbolic number in Scripture, and it has a clear and obvious meaning to all-completeness.  Even here we need to remember that it can also mean completely evil and does not always mean perfect in a good sense.  In 13:1 the great beast has 7 heads, and so 7 can be complete for either good or evil.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     As we focus our attention on the 7 churches of Asia who first received this book, we need to remember that though they are representative of all churches, they were also real churches.  This book is anchored in history.  No interpretation can be very convincing if it does not face up to the fact that is was originally given to the 7 historic churches.  The fact that there were other well known churches in the same area, such as Colosse, Galatia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Antioch, and Miletus, makes it clear that 7 is used symbolicly for all churches.  We are not opening and reading other people's mail, therefore, but just as Paul wrote his letters to 7 specific churches which are guides to all the churches of history, so this revelation to the 7 churches is for all the churches of history.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     As we look at the greeting of John to the churches, it is a typical greeting of the New Testament Epistles.  Grace and peace are the two things all of need perpetually.</B></div> <div> <B>The fact that we even need God's grace is evidence that apart from God's favor we can never make our own lives meaningful and effective.  The fact that we need His peace is evidence that we live in a disturbing world where nothing is ever alright.  This life is a battle-field in contrast to the joy, victory, and peace of the new heaven and new earth.  The book of Revelation does encourage us to look ahead to that great eternal peace.  Grace Crowell in Songs Of Hope wrote:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>                Lift up your hands, make straight the paths,</B></div> <div> <B>               Though dark the way may seem,</B></div> <div> <B>               Ahead are the orchards bright in the sun</B></div> <div> <B>               Where the golden apples gleem.</B></div> <div> <B>               Let no bitterness trouble your heart,</B></div> <div> <B>               For after the night is passed,</B></div> <div> <B>               The gold and the scarlet, rain-washed fruit,</B></div> <div> <B>               Of peace will be yours at last.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This is a legitimate hope of the believer, but John in this greeting is saying, the grace and peace of God can be ours now.  We can have some of the future in the present because the God of the future is also the God of the present.  John describes God as the one who is, who was, and who is to come.  Anytime and anywhere, one thing is sure, God is there.  This first description of God in the book also anchors this book in history, for it describes God as the God of history.  He is the God of the past, the future, and the now.  History is God centered, but this is not always clear except to those who have this revelation of how God is active in history.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Note that God is on a throne.  It is referred to here in verse 4, but in chapter 4 we have a description of God on His throne.  This becomes a basis for the church to enter into the grace and peace of God now, even before the final victory over evil.  This message of peace in a world of turmoil, due to the fact that God is on the throne, is to many, the key purpose of this whole book.  It was written to strengthen and encourage Christians going through persecution by making it clear to them that no matter how bad things get on earth, God still is on the throne, and whether we live or die we are in his hands.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     William Justice in his book Our Visited Planet tells of the physics professor describing to his college class the laws of motion.  He described how each of the planets with their moons were in regular motion around the sun; how the earth itself was spinning on its axis over 1000 miles per hour, and at the same time sailing around the sun at 18 and one half miles per second.  While this is going on, the sun itself if speeding on its massive flight through space at the velocity of 43,000 MPH carrying all the planets, their satelliltes, thousands of asteroids, a thousand comets and millions of meteors with it toward the great star Vega. The class was almost frightened with all of this movement, but he said ever this does not exhaust the matter. The Milky Way, our own galactic sysstem, which is 100,000 light years across is turning as an incredible speed about an axis located in the direction ;of the constellation Sagittarius. This system is so immense it takes 200,000,000 years to rotate once on the axis. At this point the professor pused and with impressive solemnity said, "Young ladies and young gentlemen, every object in the universe known to man is in motion except the throne of God."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     What that professor stated is one of the key truths of the book of Revelation, and because it is so, the peace of God is possible for the believer to experience in the present.  Again, let me remind you, this is a now book for all Christians of every age because it is a revelation of the God who always is.  Because he is the God who is, He is always involved in history.  R.T. France calls Him the Transcentdental Interferer.  He means by that, that God is a Living God-a God who does not ignore history, but a God who gets involved in history.  A God of the New Testament is the same God as the Jehovah of the Old Testament.  He is going to be present in history leading His people to accomplish His will in the world.  He also has His hand on non-Christian people's, and works out His will through them as well, even as He did in the Old Testament.  It was not just Israel that God delivered.  In Amos 9:7 God says, "Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?"  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Any view of God that limits His imovolvment in history to His own people is too narrow to be Bibical, and is not worthy of the God of history.  God tells us in the Old Testament that He was just as much the God of the nations as He was the God  of Israel.  In Isa. 10:5 He calls Assyria, "The rod of my anger."  He used Assyria to judge His people in Israel.  In Jer. 25:8-9 God says, "Nebuchanezzer the king of Babylon my servant."  The reason I stress this Bibical truth at the beginning of our study of Revelation is to caution you against any interpretation of the is book that sees it only from an American perspective, as if what happens to us is all that really matters to God. I am rather inclined to believe Wilbur Smith, the great evangelical scholar in the area of prophecy, who says in his book You Can Know The Future, "I am sure that there is no particular prophecy about the U.S., although many books have been written on this....." We must see God as the God of all history and not limit Him to our experience of history, or our knowledge of history. He is theGod of all history.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This three-fold description of God, plus the mention of the three Persons of the Trinity in verses 4 and 5, brings us to another favorite number in numerology.  God has built this number into His creation also.  Time is three fold with past, present and future.  You have earth, air, and water; mother, father, and child;</B></div> <div> <B>length, breadth, and depth; day is divided in morning, noon, and night.  You have right, middle, and left; you have high, medium, and low.  There are numberous threes that deal with completeness and totality just as the number 7 does.  The Bible has many series of threes.  The three sons of Noah that populated the whole new world; the three friends of Job; the three night watches; the three tempatations of Jesus, and the three prayers in Gethsemane, and three disciples and the inner circle; the three denials of Peter; the three fold holy holy holy of the Saraphim; the three graces of love, hope and faith; the three languages above the cross; the three hours of darkness on the cross; the three days and nights in the grave; etc.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The practical value we can get from numerology is the assurance that our God is able to handle the problems that plague us and make life such a mystery.  He is pictured here in Revelation as both three-fold and seven-fold:   The two numbers that represent perfection and completeness.  God is lacking in nothing, and faith in such a God says, even though I do not grasp what is happening in history, I trust in Him who is over all, and He will make sense of it all to those who do trust Him.  Donald Gray Barnhouse points out that this is the only place in the Bible where the order of the Trinity is not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Here it is Father, Holy Spirit, and in verse 5, the Son.  It is clear why this is the case, for John to goes on to say much of the Son.  The Father and Holy Spirit are just mentioned here, but the rest of the of chapter deals with the Son.  The focus of this revelation is on the Son.</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>JESUS IS EVERYTHING  Based on Rev. 1:5</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Toscanini, the world famous conductor, worked his orchestra so hard at rehersals.  Once, after performing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in concert, the first violinist said to the second violinist, "If he scolds us after that supurb performance, I will jump up and push him off his platform."  But Toscanini did not scold.  He stood silent and then with rapture on his face and a spirit of utter contentment said, "I am nobody, you are nobody-Beethoven is everything."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     This is the attitude that John conveys about Jesus right from the start of this Revelation.  He is but a servant, and all Christians are servants, but Jesus is everything.  He is the Faithful Witness, the first born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.  Many see in this three-fold description of Jesus the perfect fulfillment of the three great roles of Prophet, Priests, and King.  If you classify the great men of God in the Old Testament, you discover most all of them fall into one of these three categories.  Jesus became the supreme example of each, and, therefore, He is literally everything to us.  As Prophet He is the source of God's Word to us; as Priest He is the mediator who alone can offer an acceptable sacrifice to God; His being the first born is proof that His sacrifice was accepted, and as King He is the Lord and Soverign over our total life.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The point we need to stress here is that Jesus is all of these things in His humanity.  It is as the second Adam that He is a faithful witness.  The first Adam was unfaithful and bore witness to man's depravity by his disobedience.  Jesus bore witness to our potential perfection by His perfect obedience to the Father while living in the flesh of His manhood.  He was the first born from the dead as a man.  Other men who were raised from the dead did not conquer death, but were only granted a temporary release from its collections.  Jesus rose and conquered death permanently because it had no right to hold Him.  He now, as He says in verse 18, has the keys of death and is in control.  His reign as King goes even beyond that of earthly rulers.  He is King also of the powers and dominions of the unseen world.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The point we are making here is, He is King, not just in His deity, but in His humanity.  In His pre-human state before the incarnation, Jesus was equal with the Father and all powerful.  He was already the soverign ruler of the world.  The Old Testament makes this clear.  Arthur Pink in Gleanings In The Godhead gets very close to anger as he describes the weak and pathetic image so many Christians have of God.  He says the God of many pulpits and Sunday Schools is an idol, for He falls so far short of the God of Scripture.  He writes, "The most dehonoring conceptions of the rule and reign of the Almighty are now held almost everywhere."  He goes on to quote I Chron. 29:11-12, "Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as Head above all...And Thou reignest over all."  Note, he says, that God reigns now and not in some far distant future.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     II Chron. 20:6 says, "Dost Thou not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations?  In Thy hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand Thee."  No power in heaven and on earth or under the earth is superior to the power of God in the Old Testament, or to the Son in the New Testament.  Any theology that even hints otherwise is not consistant with the clear revelation of Scripture.  The point we are getting at is that Jesus, before the incarnation, was already soverign.  What then is the big deal about emphasizing that Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father?  He could not get any higher than He was before.  That is true as the Son of God, but when He took the throne after His resurrection, He did so as the Son of Man.  The new thing about the New King on the throne is that He is not only deity, He is man.  It is the exaltation of man to the throne of the universe that makes Him the most exciting King ever.  God has always been on the throne ruling the nations, but now a man is there:  The Son of David-the Son of Man.  In the accension Jesus did not just return to the throne as He was before the incarnation.  In welcoming Jesus to sit at His right hand, God welcomed humanity into His family, and opened the door for all who bow to Christ to enter His kingdom and reign with Him.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Jesus is, therefore, indeed, everything to us.  He is Prophet, Priest and King in His humanity, and because He is all of these in His humanity, all who follow Jesus can be prophets, priests and kings, which is what John says in verse 6 where the priestly and kingly role of the believer is noted.  This three-fold description of Jesus lays emphasis on the three major events in the life of Jesus in terms of fulfilling God's plan of redemption, and openly the door for man to be one with God.  The faithful witness stresses the cross; the first born of the dead stresses the resurrection, and the ruler of kings on earth stresses the ascension.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Before we look at each of these, it is of interest to note that the one thing the Prophet, Priest, and King had in common was that each of them had to be annointed to the office.   Christ means Annointed One.  Jesus was, in His humanity, annointed to all three of these offices, and, therefore, is the ultimate and everlasting Anointed One. He, and He only, is the Christ. In as catechism of the Eastern Orthodox Church the question is asked, "Why is Jesus called the Anointed?" The answer given is, "Because to his manhood were imparted without measure all the gifts of the Holy Spirit; and so he possesses in the highest degree the knowledge of a prophet; the holiness of a high priest, and the power of a king." Lets look at each separately.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I. THE FAITHFUL WITNESS</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The Greek word for witness is martus from which we get the word martyr. A martyr is one who bears witness to his faith even to the point of death. In this sense Jesus was a martyr. He could have escaped the cross, but he went all the way as a faithful witness proclaiming his faith in God. He was convinced God would accept his sacrifice for the sin of the world, raise him from the dead, and save for ever all those who trusted in his death. Jesus bore witness, not only to his own faith and trust in the Father, but he bore witness to the love of the Father for lost men. If we want to know how God really feels about anything, we turn to Jesus, for he alone is a faithful witness. He alone is an infallible guide as to the will and plan of God.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The world has always been filled with boices telling men what is rilght and wise. Many of these voices have spoken truth but have not lived up to what they spoke. Others lived well but did not speak in accordance with the mercy of Jesus. Jesus alone, of all witnesses in the world, had been faithful and perfectly consistent in both doctrine and deed, in word and walk. He alone has been faithful so that we can trust and follow his example in all he said and did. a witness tells what he has seen and heard and the judge and jury make their decision on the basis of what they feel is the trustworthiness of the witness. John is telling us from the start of this Revelation that Jesus is the source of this revelation, and you can count on it. It is reliable and trustworthy. It comes from Him who is the Faithful Witness.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     When Jesus said, "I am the truth," He was just using different words to describe His role as the Faithful Witness.  Jesus said to Pilate in John 18:37, "For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth."  It was on the cross that Jesus bore the greatest witness and fulfilled His purpose for coming.  We now know, because of His witness on Calvary, the truth about sin and salvation.  We now know all that we need to know to be saved, because Jesus was the Faithful Witness.  Secondly, John says Jesus was-</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>II.  THE FIRST BORN OF THE DEAD.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Jesus is the first man to begin living in the state of everlasting life.  He was already eternal as God before the Incarnation, but His manhood was real flesh and blood subject to death.  When He rose in His body from the grave that was the beginning of man's entrance into eternal life where death is conquered forever.  The first man to be totally saved was Jesus.  He is both Savior and saved.  The reason we stress the manhood of Christ at this point is because that is the stress of the New Testament.  Listen to Paul in I Cor. 15:20-22:  "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Jesus in His manhood has reversed what Adam did.  He has regained for man the control of life beyond death.  He now has the keys, and He is Lord of death as well as life.  Death no longer has control of the destiny of men, but man in Christ has control of the destiny of death.  It is the last enemy to be destroyed, but it will be destroyed.  Jesus was the first to conquer death as a man that He might be the leader and Lord of men as a man.  As God He always was Lord, but He only became Lord of men as a man when He rose from the dead and ascended to the Father's right hand.  Now He is the number one man in the universe.  Paul stressed this in Col. 1:18, "He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything He might be pre-eminent.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Nobody is first but Jesus.  Nobody is number one but Jesus.  In this world there are dozens of competitive battles to be number one at something, but for the Chrisitan there is only One who always has that spot locked up, and that is Jesus.  It would be good to get the pre-eminence of Christ so ingrained in our minds that we can relate all great claims to Him.  Some examples would be:</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like Ford-He has a better idea.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like Coke-He's the real thing.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like PanAm-He makes the going great.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like Pepsi-He's got a lot to give.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like American oil-you expect more from Him and you get it.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like Hallmark Cards-He cares enough to send the very best.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like tide-He gets the stain others leave behind.</B></div> <div> <B>Jesus is like frosted flakes-He is grrrrrrrreat.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Keep your mind open for others, and the advertising of this world can even be a means of praising Jesus and making Him pre-eminent in our thinking.  Because He is the first born from the dead, we who trust Him will be later born and rise from the womb of the tomb to live forever.  As the first-fruits from the grave Jesus transformed the desert of death into a glorious garden from which new and beautiful life can spring.  As thr first-born son takes over the inheritance, so Jesus as the first born from the dead takes over all that death controlled, and He now, rather than death, determines the destiny of men.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>       Jesus is, therefore, now, the perfect High Priest, for He does not have to offer sacrifice continually.  His resurrection was evidence that His once of all sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for all sin of all men for all time.  Now He ever lives to make intercession for us.  As a man He is our representative before God, and our Mediator who alone has power to gain our pardon and save us from the consequence of sin which is death.  There is only one Mediator between God and man, and it is the Man Christ Jesus.  It is also as a man, the Son of David, that He reigns as King of kings.  God has made a man co-ruler with Him over this universe.  God and man are not only reconciled, they reign together as One.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     You can see how encouraging these titles of Jesus would be to Christains all through history who had to face persecution for His sake.  What He is makes any price worth paying to follow Him faithfully.  All the powers of earth and hell are nothing compared to Him who is everything.  So wonderful is the theology of the titles John has given us that He does an unusual thing in the next phrase.  He starts a doxology.  Usually you save the doxology for the end, but John is saying things about Jesus so profound and marvelous that he cannot refrain from a doxology at the beginning.  What Jesus is demands praise.  There is no way we can honestly grasp who Jesus is and not have a heart that praises Him.  John directs his praise to Jesus first as-</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     TO HIM WHO LOVES US.  The KJV has the wrong tense which all of the modern versions have corrected.  It is not to Him who loved us-past tense, but to Him who loves us now-present tense.  This is a now book and it is from Jesus who is always the contemporary of all His people in every period of history.  His love is not a once for all act.  He did not just love us on the cross when He died for us.  He loves us now and continously.  His love is rooted in the past, but the fruit of that past action of love is perpetual, and we must always think of Jesus as our present Lord and not just as a past hero of history.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Theodore Ferris in The Image Of God taught his students this lesson by telling them to suppose they were at a rehersal of a play.  As they watched the play they are impressed and desire to meet the author.  They asked someone where the author is, and no one seems to know.  They go off to the wings of the stage expecting to see him, but he is not there.  They check back stage, but still no sign of him.  Finally, they check the seats in the auditorium thinking he must be there as a spectator.  When that fails to produce the author they conclude he is not present.  People look for God and Jesus the same way, and often conclude that the author of the play called history is just not present.  The problem is, they are looking in the wrong place.  If you want to find the author, you look on the stage, for he is not an observer only.  He has written himself into the play, and is a major actor on the stage.  The greatest love story is not over, but goes on running to the end of history, and the star of the play, the greatest lover in all of history, is Jesus Christ.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The love of Jesus for His Bride, the Church, is a romance beyond anything man has ever produced on stage or screen.  No TV series can boast a running of almost 2000 years with constant growth.  The love of Jesus is always present to His Bride.</B></div> <div> <B>It is the warmth she needs in a cold world; the light she needs in a dark world; the joy she needs in a sad world.  John was the one whom Jesus loved in a special way.  John laid his head on the breast of Jesus.  Now John is in excile on an island, and has gone through a time of tribulation he says in verse 9.  But John does not speak of Christ's love as past.  He does not say that he remembers the good old days.  John refers to Jesus as the One who loves us.  No matter how rough the way and tough life gets on this earth, Jesus is the One who loves us.  The song, "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so," has for its basis this text right here.  Every generation can sing it, for Jesus is the ever contemporary lover of the church, and to the church He is, and ever will be, everything.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B></div> <div> <B>WHO IN THE WORLD IS KING? Based on Rev. 1:5</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Queen Victoria if England often expressed her wish that Christ would return before she died so that she could cast her crown at His feet.  When she did die, her son Edward VII ascended to the throne as king.  He had been a rather wild man in his younger years.  A man by the name of John Knox McEwen was concerned about the king enough to write him a letter asking him if his majesty was born again in Christ.  He received a gracious reply in which the king said he was the first man in all of England to expresss any concern for his soul, and he gave a simple testimony of how he had, like his mother, surrendered his heart and life to the King of kings.  John McEwen was 70 years old, and at 93 he was still telling others of his letter from the king. </div> <bR> <div>       John the Apostle is also in his 90's as he tells us about his letter, not from the king who bowed to the King of kings, but from the King of kings before whom he bowed.  John says in verse 5 that Jesus is the ruler of kings on the earth.  </div> <bR> <div>      The Hapsburg family once ruled half of Europe.  Today, only one Hapsburg still rules over the tiny land of Leichenstein.  It is a 61 square mile country, and is the 4th smallest in the world.  Jesus, however, has gone from a carpenter who didn't even own a plot of ground to be buried in to the ruler of kings on earth.  You talk about a success story.  There is not another to match this one.  We can think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but we can never exalt Jesus beyond what he is worthy.  We too often do not exalt Him to the place He should rightly have in our minds and hearts.</div> <bR> <div>      If a hunter got out of a car and asked you to do something, you would  not respond with the same enthusiasm as you would if a ruler or dignitary asked  you for service.  The higher the authority the more we respond, and that is why it is important to stress the Lordship and Kingship of Christ.  It is easy to see why the world does not acknowledge Jesus as King.  Jesus is a total mystery to the world, and His success story is beyond their comprehension.  Helen Kramer expressed it so well in her play title is For Heaven's Sake.  Two well dressed business men with attache cases meet in a bar.  One has just been handed a track with the title Carry Christ Into Your Work.  He looks at it and sings this song of bewilderment.</div> <bR> <div> He was a flop at 33!  His whole career was one of failure and of loss,</div> <div> But the thing that so distressful  Is He could have been successful,</div> <div> But instead of climbing up, He climbed a cross!  </div> <bR> <div> He was a flop at 33!  He jumped from carpentry to preaching to the mob.</div> <div> He never was adjusted  So He spent His whole life busted,</div> <div> And He never got permoted on the job!</div> <bR> <div> He never saved a single cent, </div> <div> And Dun and Broadstreet wouldn't list Him on their list,</div> <div> He could not establish credit  And you might as well be dead</div> <div> At 33 as have your credit not exist!</div> <bR> <div> He spent His time with fisher folk,</div> <div> When there were more important contacts to be made.</div> <div> He would contemplate on flowers  And ignore the cocktail hours.</div> <div> Its no wonder that He never made the grade!</div> <bR> <div> Now you and I have never flopped,</div> <div> And yet our names are never dropped</div> <div> The way that they've been dropping His since He's been dead!</div> <div> We've fought our way to the top.</div> <div> We're both established as successful men of worth,</div> <div> So the thing that puzzles me,</div> <div> Is why that flop at 33</div> <div> Is called the most successful man to live on earth?</div> <bR> <div>      It is easy to see why Jesus is a mystery to the world.  But it is hard to grasp why even Christians sometimes ignore or deny the Kingship of their Lord.  Many commentators just skip over these words of verse 5 like they are a mere minor matter of no great significance.  John says that Jesus is three things here.  He is the Faithful Witness, the first born from the dead, and the Ruler of kings on the earth.  The first two are handled quite well by most commentators, but the third one is so radical and shocking in all of its implications that men are afraid to look at it honestly.  Many just skip over it in embarrassment.  The Living Bible robs it of its force by saying, "He is far greater than any king in all the earth."  That is a weak translation, for John says, "He is the ruler of the kings of earth."  </div> <bR> <div>      Hal Lindsay in There's A New World Coming says, yes, He is what John says He is, ruler of the kings of the earth, but He is not now exercising His authority.  In other words, He is a ruler who is not ruling.  That is like saying somebody is the king of comedy, but he is just not telling any jokes  now.  It is absolutely amazing how many different ways men try to find to avoid the truth of the present Lordship of Jesus Christ in history.  The big question the book of Revelation answers is the question, who in the world is in charge?  Who is in control?  Is history run by evil forces or good?  Will light truimph, or darkness?  John says  right from the start that Jesus is Lord and King, and only those who submit to His Lordship will come through as victorious winners.</div> <bR> <div>      After His resurrection Jesus said it as plain as human language can say it:  "All power in heaven and on earth is given unto Me."  All we have to decide is  whether Jesus just exaggerated, or did He really mean it?  I believe He said what He meant and He meant what He said.  When He ascended in His glorified humanity to the right hand of God He became the supreme ruler of men.  He is not going to be the ruler of kings on earth, He is now the Kings of kings.  The fact that His Lordship will be clearly manisfested to the nations in the future is no reason to deny the present reign of Christ.  The fact that so many do, however, is the reason I  reject all man made systems of interpretation as absolute guides.  All of them have values, but  none of them are absolute and infalible.  Those who lock themselves into any one system are forced to do too many foolish things with the Word of God.</div> <bR> <div>      For example, the reason why so many refuse to see and rejoice in the present Lordship of Christ in history is because, if they do, it will support a postmillennial emphasis.  The postmills stress that Jesus is Lord of history and that He will work through His church to take the Gospel into all the world and win this world out of darkness into light.  Many of the greatest theologians of American history were postmills.  The first president of Bethel was postmill, and Augustus Strong, whose Systematic Theology has been the standard text in Baptist schools and seminaries all over the land, was postmill.  </div> <bR> <div>      When the two world wars of this century shook man's faith in the progress of history the Postmill view was forsaken by a great many Christians who became premills.  The big mistake of the premills, however, was in assuming that everything in the Post-mill system had to all wrong.  The fact is, they had an emphasis that is so Biblical that to deny it is to close your eyes to the light of the Word.  They emphasized the present Lordship of Christ in history that gave the church encouragement and strength to keep fighting for victory with assurance that whatever the cost and however great the odds, they would be victorious.  This positive Biblical attitude is far more beneficial to the church than the negative pessimistic attitude that evil is supreme in the world, and the forces of darkness are overwhelming everything, and, therefore, about all we can do is hope the ship doesn't sink for us before the Lord finally comes to rapture us out of this hopeless mess.  This kind of theology has left many Christians paralyzed.  They become indifferent to missions and any effort to change the world, for why fight a losing battle?</div> <bR> <div>      This is not the theology of the book of Revelation.  I am not a Post-mill, but when they emphasize what is a Biblical truth, then that is the fountain I drink at.  Why should we care which system is the best?  What we should care about is what is the Bible saying, and the system that brings more light out of  any verse is the system I will follow on that verse.  On this verse 5 many of the pre-mills, which we will be following most of the time, have really missed the boat.  Part of the problem is the self tendency to ignore all other Christians of history and interpret this book in the light of your own limited concern.  </div> <bR> <div>      Can you imagine how important this revelation of the present Lordship of Christ in history meant to the first Christians who received it?  They had to bow to Caesar, or in  many cases die.  John is saying here that Jesus is Caesar's king.      Do not fear Caesar, and bow to no one less than the supreme ruler of men-Jesus Christ.  What an encouragement to those who had to die in the battle of light against darkness.   It is so much easier to die when you are assured you are under the supreme authority.  In verse 18 Jesus tells John to fear not.  He says, </div> <div> "I have the keys of death and hades."  In other words, as King of kings, there is no force on earth you need to fear, for I am Master of all, and whatever they do to you will not take you out of my control.  That may not be a crucil issue for us, but it has meant everything to millions of Christians who have faced perscution down through the centuries.</div> <bR> <div>      Ellicott in his commentary says, "The disposition to dwell on the future and more visibly recognized reign of Christ hereafter, has tended to obsure the truth of His present reign."  The wise Christian does not pick one of the two and ignore the other.  He prefers to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and not every other word.  And so He emphasizes both reigns, and could not care less which system is being supported.  Paul said that Jesus must reign till all enemies are put under his feet.  He is reigning now, therefore, but not all are submissive to His Lordship.  That is why history is a battleground of light and darkness.  Nevertheless, the king of light is the Supreme and Soverign Ruler, and when it is all over, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is indeed what the Bible claims that He has been all along-the Lord or Ruler of kings on earth.  </div> <bR> <div>      You do not have to know much about history to know that Jesus Christ has been the greatest influence in history.  There has never been a ruler that has ever been anything but a loyal, or rebellious, servant of Jesus.  The kings and rulers of the world date all their documents by the date of the birth of their Soverign-the Lord Jesus.  Napoleon wrote, "An extra ordinary power of influencing and commanding men has been given to Alexander, Charlemagne, and myself.  But with us, the presence has been necessary, the eye, the voice, the hands.  Whereas Jesus Christ has influenced and commanded His subjects without visible bodily presence for 1800 years."  Napoleon admitted in his writings that Jesus was the greatest ruler ever.  What ruler has ever lived with such world wide power, and with such a vast army of soldiers willing to die for Him?</div> <bR> <div>       Charlotte Kruger spoke her allegiance in poetry:</div> <bR> <div>                Beautiful Savior, Thou art my King,</div> <div>                Sharon's sweet Rose and the Lily of spring,</div> <div>                Star of the morning, fairest of fair,</div> <div>                Light of this world in its gloom and despair.</div> <bR> <div>      The world is full of beautiful poetry that acknowledges Jesus Christ as King, but the danger is that we will, as Christians, limit His kingship to being the head of the church.  John gets into that in depth later on, but here in verse 5 the stress is on the fact that Jesus is the Ruler of the Kings on earth.  He does not limit it to godly kings, but makes it a universal statement.  It is so easy to spiritualize this idea and rob it of its literal meaning and impact.  Terese Lindsay wrote-</div> <bR> <div>                  He built no kingdom, yet a King from youth</div> <div>                He reigned, is reigning yet; they call His realm</div> <div>                The kingdom of the truth.  </div> <bR> <div>      This is true.  Jesus is the King of truth, and also the King of love, hope, light, and any number of other virtues, but none of these cover what John is saying when he says, "Jesus is the Ruler of Kings on earth."  What John is saying is that Jesus is right now the King of kings.  We don't have to wait until the future for Jesus to be Lord, for He is Lord now.  It is foolish to reject this clear revelation of the New Testament just because we have the hope of a visible reign of Christ in the future.  So many Christians feel obligated to ignore the present reign of Christ because they are looking to a future reign.  This is to ignore a major New Testament emphasis.  What did Peter emphasize on the day of Pentecost in his great sermon?  He stressed the fact that in the resurrection and ascension Jesus ascended to the promised throne of David, and that He was right then the reigning King.  </div> <bR> <div>      Acts 2:30 says of David, "Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he forsaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ...."   Peter clearly proclaims that Jesus has ascended to the throne of David, and he concludes his sermon in verse 36, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."  Peter did not say, He will make Him Lord and Christ, but He has made Him Lord and Christ.  He is right now, and was from His ascension, Lord of all. </div> <bR> <div>       The Apostle Paul also makes clear that the future reign of Jesus is no reason to reject or ignore His present reign.  He stresses both the future and the present Lordship of Christ in Eph. 1:19-21.  "And what is the inmeasureable greatness of His power in us who believe, according to the working of His great might which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come."  </div> <bR> <div>      Peter, Paul, and John all say Jesus is King of kings now, and in the future there will be a visible manifestation of what is already a reality.  Commentators who stress one or the other only, not only fail to be Bibilically balanced, they destort the truth by saying half the truth is the whole truth.  Since most systems of interpretation do this, I reject them as adequate guides in all understanding of this book, and choose to listen to the Bibilical text, and get all the light possible from it without concern as to which system it supports or hinders.  The goal is to get light and not to bolster any system of men who tend to ignore the light that does not fit their system.  </div> <bR> <div>      This truth of the present reign of Christ can transform our motivation and make us optimists no matter how powerful the forces of evil.  Jesus is a King who does not conquer the world by force, but by the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit.  The New Testament tells us that members of Herod's and Caesar's household were active in the early church.  In more modern times we can look at Stalin, that godless and ruthless ruler who was responsible for the murder of millions, and see that even evil at its worse cannot keep the power of Christ from working.  His daughter, Svetlana, who escaped to America wrote in her book Twenty Letters To A Friend, "I was brought up in a family where there was never any talk of God.  But when I became a grown person, I found that it is impossible to exist without God in one's heart."  The kingdom of Christ was present even in that life surrounded by darkness. </div> <bR> <div>      The universe is foolproof.  Many fools come onto the stage of history and say in their heart there is no God.  They start wars to try and take control of history out of the hands of the Lord of history, but in the long run we always see history crush these tyrants, and like Satan, the first rebel against the King, they fall.  In spite of all the godless rulers of history, nearly a third of the human race closes their prayer in the name of Jesus; a name that right now is already a name above every name.</div> <bR> <div>      When Elizebeth II of England was crowned at her coronation at Westminister Abbey these words were spoken as she received her crown:</div> <div> "Receive the orb set under the cross, and remember that the whole world is subject to the power and empire of Christ our Redeemer."  The sun never use to set on the English Empire, but like many of the past empires, it too has now been diminished from its glory.  Only the kingdom of Christ shines with its original glory, for His Kingship never fades or diminishes.  He has been; He will be, and He is now the Ruler of kings on the earth.  Dr. Robert Mounce, who was my professor at Bethel, wrote a commentary on Revelation and he writes, "Although there will be a outbreak of satanic activity in the last days, history remains under the soverign control of God.  Redemption has already been won by the Lamb, who conquered through death..."  To hear and heed this truth is to know the secret of optimism in a dark world.</div> <bR> <div>      Rita Snowden expresses the whole of the message I am conveying in her poem Through Open Windows.  </div> <bR> <div>                Life can never be dull again</div> <div>                When once we've thrown our windows open wide</div> <div>                And seen the mighty world that lies outside,</div> <div>                And whispered to ourselves this wondrous thing,</div> <div>                We're wanted for the business of the King.</div> <bR> <div>       Who in the world is the King?  The Lord Jesus Christ is right now the King of the world.  We are not waiting for a king, for we have a King, And how we live reveals just how much we really believe it.  </div> <bR> <div> <B>THE KING IS COMING  Based on Rev. 1:7</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      Joanna Baillie, and English dramatic poet of the last century, told the touching tale of a maiden whose lover had gone off to the Holy Land.  The report had come back that he had been slain.  She refused to believe he would not return to her, and so every night she kindled a fire on the shore of the Mediterranean and watched for his return to take her to be his bride.  </div> <bR> <div>      The story is a parable of the church and her lover, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He too has gone away, but He promised to return, so the church waits in expectation for that day when the shout will be heard, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh," and she will be taken as a glorious bride to His mansion in the sky.  </div> <bR> <div>      This theme of waiting for the return of one's lover is an ancient one.  Homer in the Odyssey tells of the hero Ulysses who went off to the war of Troy, and spent ten adventurous years trying to get back home to his waiting wife.  She was wealthy and the result was many men wanted to marry her.  They insisted that her husband was dead, and that she was foolish to wait.  She had to endure enormous pressure, but she remained faithful to her husband, and finally he did return to wreak vengeance upon those wicked men who sought to take advantage of his wife.  </div> <bR> <div>      Again we see a parallel of what the church must endure as it waits for the return of Christ.  The world says forget this Jesus you wait for, and come make love with us.  He is gone, and you are foolish to wait for Him, and miss the love of the world.  Peter warned the early Christians about the world's attack on the hope of the second coming.  In II Pet. 3:3-4 he writes, "First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the father's fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."  By their scoffing they hoped to cause the Christians to give up their hope.  </div> <bR> <div>      The Lord will return and wreak vengeance upon those who seek to entice His bride away.  Those who try to lure the bride of Christ into the arms of the world need to hear the warning of the Word, for their will be hell to pay when the Bridegroom comes.   II Thess. 1:6-10 says, "...God deems it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant rest with us to you who are afflicted, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance upon those who do not know God and upon those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They shall suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might, when He come on that day to be gloried in His saints, and to be marveled at in all who have believed."  </div> <bR> <div>      The second coming will be both a day of great joy, and a day of great judgment. The Bible alternates between these two pictures depending upon whose point of view by which it is seen-the Bride or the world.  Christians are warned over and over again to watch for the coming of their Lord, for carelessness in this area can lead them to get so involved with the world that that day will come upon them like a thief in the night, and they will be caught naked and ashamed at His coming.</div> <bR> <div>      In other words, if the Bridegroom comes and finds His bride flirting with the world and embracing another lover, it will be a day of judgment rather than joy even for those believers who are not found faithful.  But Jesus says in Luke 21:37, "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching."  In order to motivate us to watch, we want to focus on this great text where John emphasizes these two aspects of the second coming.  First we see-</div> <bR> <div> I.  THE REALITY OF HIS RETURN.</div> <bR> <div>      Behold He is coming says John.  The faithful bride never questions the promise of her bridegroom to return and receive her unto Himself that where He is she might be also.</div> <bR> <div>                He'll come again, </div> <div>                And prove our hope not vain.</div> <div>                We wait the moment, Oh, so fair;</div> <div>                To rise and meet Him in the air,</div> <div>                His heart, His home, His throne to share,</div> <div>                O wondrous love!  </div> <bR> <div>      This has been the blessed hope of the church from the day of its birth.  This is the goal of history.  It is the final leg of the tripod of history:  Creation, crucifixion, and coming again.  The prophets predicted it; the Lord Himself promised it, and the Apostles fervently preached it.  The New Testament refers to the second coming 318 times.  Everybody who truly believes the Bible believes in the second coming, for to deny its reality is to deny the validity of Biblical revelation.  Christians in every denomination, and people in every cult that studies the Bible, believe in the reality of Christ's return.  </div> <bR> <div>      You would have a very difficult time finding anyone who rejects the second coming, except those who do not believe the Bible.  The problem today is not unbelief, but too much belief.  Modern Christians have developed so many different ways of looking at the second coming that it gets very confusing, not just to laymen, but even to the scholars.  I have known pastors who became  nervous wrecks over the doctrine of the second coming because there was so much truth in different systems in interpreting it.  All the different views are held by outstanding leaders of the evangelical church.  A whole new phenomenon is taking place.  New books are coming out all the time with all of the views being presented by well known authors in the same book.  This is a clear sign that Christians are finally becoming aware that it is likely that no one view has all the answers, but that there are values and insights in all of them that need to be considered by the whole body.  </div> <bR> <div>      Charles Erdman in Remember Jesus Christ wrote, "...while there should be no doubt as to the reality of the personal glorious return of  Christ, much diversity of views, regarding details and circumstances must be allowed."  Those who go on dogmatically insisting that their view is the only true one only reveal their own intellectual dishonesty.  I have studied all of the views and find Biblical values in each of them, and find that none of them is complete and without problems.  There are so many passages in the Bible that deal with the Rapture, the Resurrection, and the Return from the point of view of the world, the church, and Israel, that nobody has ever been able to put them all together into a simple chart that explains them clearly.  </div> <bR> <div>      So many things, both good and bad, are going to happen when Jesus returns that it is futile to try and get all of the events organized.  Those who think they have done it only aggravate those who know the complexity of the second coming is beyond the charting of the human mind.  Listen to the greatest Baptist preacher of all time, who read more widely possibly than any man who ever lived-Charles Haddon Spurgeon.</div> <div>             </div> <div>           As for the Lord's second coming, we know not when it</div> <div>           shall be.  Shall the world grow darker and darker till</div> <div>           He comes?  It may be so.  There are passage of Scripture</div> <div>           and signs of the times which may be taken to indicate it.  </div> <div>           On the other hand, shall the age grow brighter and brighter</div> <div>           until He appears to bring the perfect day?  Through the </div> <div>           preaching of the Gospel shall there be periods in which </div> <div>           multitudes shall be converted, and whole nations saved?</div> <div>           I do not know:  there are texts that seem to look that way,</div> <div>           and many a brave worker hopes as much.  There are </div> <div>           brethren who can map out unfulfilled prophecy with great</div> <div>           distinctness; but I confess my inability to do so.  They get</div> <div>           a  shilling box of mathematical instruments.  They stick </div> <div>           down one leg of the compasses and describe a circle here</div> <div>           and a circle there, and they draw two or three lines, and </div> <div>           there it is.  Can you not see it plainly?  I am sick of diagrams;</div> <div>           I have seen enough to make another volume of Euclid.  My</div> <div>           impression is that very little is learned from the major part</div> <div>           of these interpretations.  </div> <bR> <div>      We could quote hundreds of the greatest minds of Christiandom who stand with Spurgeon.  They recognize there is probably an aspect of truth in almost everything that can be said about the second coming, and that is why they reject any narrow and limited man made scheme that pretends to lock Christ into a specific schedule.  Some of the old prophetic preachers were very bold and dogmatic, but the wiser modern prophets have learned they cannot program God to do things their way, and so if you read their books today you will read a lot of maybe this could be, or possibly this could mean, or probably this indicates.  There is a great caution today because too many godly men have made too many wild guesses in the past and have been wrong.  Our blessed hope is not a hope of producing a perfect chart and schedule of the events of His coming.  Our blessed hope is the reality of His coming. </div> <div> Behold He is coming says John.  </div> <bR> <div> II.  THE RESPONSE AT HIS RETURN.</div> <bR> <div>      This text emphasis the main reason for the return of Christ, which is to judge the world.  Every eye will see Him, and even those who pierced Him, and there will be a response of universal wailing.  This picture of the coming of Christ as judge is the main theme of the Creeds of Christiandom all through history.  The Apostles' Creed declares that Christ "Ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead."  The Nicene Creed affirms that Christ "Sitteth on the right hand of the Father.  And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead."  In the Athanasian Creed, the confession is similar:  "Christ sitteth on the right hand of the Father from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead."  Dr. James Denny out of  lifetime of study of the Word said, "If we are to retain any relationship to the New Testament at all, we must assert the personal return of Christ as Judge of all."  </div> <bR> <div>      The articles of religion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also the fourth of the 39 articles of the Church of England read this way:  Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again His body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, where with he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until He return to judge all men at the last day."  </div> <bR> <div>      The Augsburg Confession of 1530 reads, "..in the consummation of the world, Christ shall appear to judge, and shall raise up all the dead, and shall give unto the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joy; but ungodly men and the devils shall He condemn with endless torment."  The New Hampshire Baptist confession of 1833 says, "We believe that the end of the world is approaching, and that at the last day Christ will descend from heaven and raise the dead from the grave to final retribution; that a solemn separation will then take place."  </div> <bR> <div>      John seems to focus on the judgment of the world only, but the creeds and testimony we have just read stress that the judgment includes the believers as well as the unbelievers.  In other words, this day of the greatest joy possible for Christians will be a day of wailing for many, for they did not give heed to the Word, but let themselves be enticed by the world.  The result of their not watching will be that they will, along with the world, be caught naked when Christ comes as a thief in the night, and they will be ashamed at His coming.  There is no way to escape this conclusion as you read the warnings of the New Testament to Christians about being ready.  </div> <bR> <div>      Paul wrote to Timothy in II Tim. 4:1-2 in the Living Bible, "And so I solemnly urge you urge you before God and before Christ Jesus-who will someday judge the living and the dead when He appears to set up His kingdom-to preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not.  Correct and rebuke your people when they need it, encourage them to do right, and all the time feeding them patiently with God's Word."  Paul is saying, the whole Christian ministry is to be performed in the light of Christ's coming as the Judge.  To be ready for that day is the reason behind so much of what we do as a church.</div> <bR> <div>       Jesus has all power, and as King of Kings He could chose to just end history and judge the world and the church, but He does not chose to do it that way.  He chooses to come back into history to vindicate those who have been faithful, and to make sure that total justice is accomplished.  Jesus will not end history with any loose ends, but all will be wrapped up with neatness and order.</div> <bR> <div>        John stresses that every eye will see Jesus when He comes.  Phillip Mauro, the great layman Bible commentator, whose many books on the last things are some of the best, says, "It is a part of God's plan for the future that every child of Adam's race shall have at least one look at Him who gave Himself a ransom for all." Mauro is taking John literally here that every eye will see Him.  It is hard to avoid taking this statement literally, when he goes on to say, even those who pierced Him will be among those whose eyes will see Him.  Those who pierced Jesus have long been disintegrated into dust.  Their last sight of Jesus was His dead body being taken from the cross.  John says that even those eyes, long blinded by death, will also behold His return in power and glory. </div> <bR> <div>       John was the only disciple at the cross.  He saw the cruelty there as none other did.  He alone tells us of the piercing of Jesus.  It is likely that John in telling us that those who pierced Him will see Him along with the whole world, is emphasizing the universal justice that Jesus will bring as the Judge.  Christians had to suffer so much injustice in John's day, and like Jesus they were unjustly condemned to torture and death.  John comforts them by assuring them that every injustice will be brought before the Judge; even those who pounded the nails in His hands, and who pierced His side, will stand before Jesus as King of Kings.  </div> <bR> <div>      This text of Rev. 1:7 gets us into the whole area of the resurrection of dead, and that of both believers and unbelievers.  It is the unbelievers who are more in John's mind here, for he stresses the presence of those who pierced Jesus and the universal wailing.  For every eye to see Jesus means that even the dead of all time will see His coming.  When Jesus comes again there has to be a resurrection of all who have ever lived, or we could not take this text literally.  </div> <bR> <div>      A seventh day Adventist view is that those who pierced Jesus are raised in a  special resurrection to see Jesus coming, but they will die again and be raised later. This is not impossible, but it seems rather a strange thing for God to do, and it is extreme speculation.  We are on safer ground to look to John to guide us and grasp more clearly what he is revealing.  If we go to John's Gospel to a passage where he is dealing again with the coming of Christ in judgment, we get a confirmation of the fact that John means for us to take him literally when he says, every eye will see the Lord when He returns.  This means that all who have ever lived and died on this planet will in on that climatic event of history.  It is beyond our comprehension to grasp the magnitude of this event, but John leaves us in no doubt that this is the case in John 5:28-29:  "Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment."</div> <bR> <div>      Every person who has ever been will be beholding the Man of Glory when He comes in the clouds.  As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall be made alive says the Apostle Paul.  Does he really mean all?  Yes!  Even the most godless will see the second coming for the all who die in Adam is all inclusive, and so the all who will be made alive in Christ is also all inclusive.  Hitler and Stalin will be there, and their eyes will behold Him and every knee will bow to His Lordship.  All those who pierced Him will be there, and not just the Roman soldiers who sphere went through His side, but Nero who pierced the body of Christ time and time again as he martyred the early Christians.  Thousands upon thousands of tyrants will there to witness the triumph of Him whom they mocked, and whose people they martyred.</div> <bR> <div>      No one will fully know what hell is like until this day when they see that the one they rejected is in reality the Lord of Life.  No wonder John says there will be world wide wailing.  It does not take much imagination to picture the reason why wailing will cover the face of the earth.  Can you imagine the depth of the shock and sorrow that will grip those who had a chance for eternal life in Christ but instead trampled under foot the blood of the Savior and rejected this Jesus who now appears before them as the Ruler of the universe.   The second coming will be literal hell on earth for those who do not love His appearing because they do not love Him.  </div> <bR> <div>       Those who are not saved will be raised to life to see the Lord of Glory, but they will then be judged and cast into the lake of fire, which is called the second death. The second coming means the second death to those who are not ready, and that is why it is a time of wailing.  Perfect justice will be done by the Judge of all the world.</div> <div> On the cross Jesus paid the penalty for the sin of all men.  When He comes again He will reward those who accepted His sacrifice with the gift of eternal salvation.  His condemnation will fall upon those who rejected it, and they will have to pay their own penalty.  In the light of these truths we should be ever aware of this revelation that the King is Coming.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>RETURN TO FIRST LOVE    Based on Rev. 2:1f</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      O Henry tells a short story of the lad who grew up in a small village and sat next to a lovely young lady so innocent and sweet.  He left that village for the big city where he got in with the wrong crowd and became a thief and a pick pocket.  One day as he was working the crowd, doing quite well, he saw that girl he sat by back in the village.  She was still the same fresh, innocent, and sweet girl.  He did not want to be seen by her, so he hid, but he was overwhelmed by his memory.  He remembered what he had been, and realized what he had become.  He leaned his head against the lamp post and said, "God, how I hate myself."  That was his turning point.  He had the choice to go back to what he once was, or to go on to be more what he was becoming, and that he hated. </div> <bR> <div>       The Prodigal Son came to this point and said, "I am going home where I was."  That is what repentence is!  It is responding to what you remember as a better day, and a better way, and chosing to stop departing from it, but to go back to what was.  Repentence is admitting that you once were on a better path that you have now forsaken, and chosing to get back on that better path. We tend to think repentence is for those only who have never been saved, but Jesus makes it clear, repentence is as much for Christians as it is for those being saved for the first time.  Christians need to constantly consider if they were once on a better road that they need to return to.  They need to ask with William Cowper-</div> <bR> <div>                Where is the blessedness I knew,</div> <div>                     When first I saw the Lord? </div> <div>                Where is the soul-refreshing view</div> <div>                     Of Jesus and His Word?</div> <bR> <div>      Revival; renewal, and repentence:  They are all the same experience of getting back to first love-to the love that puts Jesus in the center of life.  This is not a rare need, but a constant need, because we, as Christians, tend to decline.  The idea of perpetual growth does not fit reality.  We are usually the best Christians we will ever be when we first fall in love with Jesus.  Maybe we are not very sharp in our theology, and wouldn't know a false prophet if we heard one.  Maybe we would not spot a heresy if it sat on our nose.  But we had a fervent love for our Savior, and we long to make that love known.  The best witness for Christ comes from new converts.  They don't know how often people don't want to hear their good news, and so they share it with enthusiasm.  It is only after a lot of rejection that a Christian tends to withdraw from the sharing of his or her faith.  That is why Jesus says we need to become as little children to enter the kingdom of God.  It is getting back to the simplicity and enthusiasm of our new birth days that is really the high point of our Christian life.  To be childlike in Christ again with a fervant love is the ideal.</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus is not anti-maturity, for that is a vital part of the Christian life, but we need to keep going back to that first love and keep it alive as we grow in maturity, or the maturity itself is much ado about nothing.  When we first become Chrisitians we are the most normal.  We soon grow out of this normalcy and become abnormal.  That is why we need revivals to get back to normal.  Vance Havner said it as only he could in his book Repent Or Else!  </div> <div>           </div> <div>           "Revivals should not be necessary.  God intended that His people</div> <div>           Should grow in grace without periodic spells of backsliding and </div> <div>           repenting.  But so long as we have such a malarial brand of </div> <div>           Christianity, a fever and a chill, a fever and a chill, we shall need</div> <div>           revivals.  Nor is a revival a mere emotional upheaval.  The way out</div> <div>           of a stupor is not by getting into a stew.  God does not intend that</div> <div>           we live in a fever of excitement all the time.  The farmer must break</div> <div>           up his fallow ground, but if he did only that he would never plant or</div> <div>           cultivate or reap.  Surgery may be necessary at times but it is not </div> <div>           normal to live in a hosptial.  What we call revival is simply a return</div> <div>           to normal New Testament Christianity.  Most of us are so </div> <div>           subnormal that if we ever became normal we would be considered</div> <div>           abnormal!"</div> <bR> <div>      Older Christians acting like younger Christians would seem abnormal, but the fact is, that is what Jesus is looking for in His church.  He wants mature Christians who still have the fire of their first love.  Jesus does not grow cold in His love for His bride.  He does not love His church less now than when He chose to lay down His life for her.  He loves her fervently, and He wants that kind of love in return.  The idea of love growing dim and fading is based on our weak human nature, and what we experience because we let love slide.  Jesus says this is not only not necessary, it is stupid.   Love is the best thing we have going for us in any relationship.  To just let this decay and grow old and cold is as dumb as catsup on corn flakes.  If you are not so dumb as to put catsup on corn flakes, why would you be so dumb as to let love grow cold?</div> <bR> <div>      It is stupid, but we do it all the time.  We do it with marriage; friends, and with the Lord.  We let the most valuable and treasured possessions we can ever have rust away for lack of use, and all because we foolishly buy into the lie that it is normal for love to fade and decay.  Jesus says it is not so.  First love is capable of being kept alive permanently.  You don't have to decline to second love, or third love, and down to a level where love is in the pits.  First love can be last love as well.  The ideal Christian life is one where the old saints love the Lord just as much  as they did the first year of their Chrisitan life.  That is what Jesus expects, and not a love that declines so that He ends up far down on the list of priorities.  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus is not interested in being one of your possessions you just had to have, and then after the novelty wore off, got stuck in the garage or attic where it sits neglected because your love has found other objects to entice it.  He expects to be on a first love basis with His bride, or she will be set aside.  This is exactly what God expected from His people in the Old Testament, and why many of them were set aside, and only a remnant being used to fulfill His plan.  In Jer. 2:2 God says, "Go and shout this in Jerusalem's streets:  The Lord says, I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago and how you loved me and followed me even through the barren deserts."  God remembered those good old days, but they did not.  They took after other gods and lost their first love, and God had to send them away into exile.  </div> <bR> <div>      The number one cause for all failure in life is the forsaking of first love.  People fall in love and life is grand, but they don't stay there, or come back to that love when they drift away.  They just keep on going and their love dies.  They fall in love with God and the Lord Jesus, but then they get all tied up with many other things, and their love for Jesus is pushed to the back burner.  The world is full of use-to-be Christians.  They have now found other loves, and have lost their first love.  The strange thing is that they are not necessarily no longer part of the church.  These Ephesians were still going strong in the church, and they had all kinds of qualities, but they had forsaken their first love.  Good Christian people who seemed to be busy as can be in church work can still be a victim of this dread disease of loss of first loveitis.  </div> <bR> <div>      Love never fails, but lack of love sure does.  In fact, lack of love is sure to fail, and this can happen to the best of Christians.  Here is a good orthodox church.  They were zealous and hard working, and ready to endure hardship for Christ, bu they were about to be set on the shelf because of their loss of first love motivation.  They do not lose their salvation, but they lose the chance to be used, because without love a church is just not a useable channel for Christ.</div> <bR> <div>      How in the world can this be?  We can assume it is a fairly common problem, for it is the first problem Jesus deals with, and it has the most servere threat of any of the problems.  The removable of the lamp stand is the most radical warning Jesus gives to the seven churches.  We can assume that over the centuries Jesus has closed up shop in many churches because they forsook their first love.  How does it happen?  Most see the issue here to be one of competition where good things become so dominant they choke out the best.  We are deceived if we think that it is only evil we need to be aware of as an enemy.  The good can be the worst enemy of the best.  Many Christians lose their effectiveness for Christ by pursuing good things at the expense of the best.  The best  is love for Christ on the level  of first love intensity.  There is no value more pleasing to Christ, and more useful for both the church and the world.</div> <bR> <div>      The good, in the case of the Ephesians, seems to be there pre-occupation with orthodoxy.  They have tested those who claim to be Apostles and have found them false.  They have also been very intolerant of wicked men, and they hate the practices of the Nicolaiatans.  They are doctrinally and morally sound, and this is a good thing to be.  But apparently they have let these good things rob them of the best, for they have in their diligent pursuit of doctrinal and moral purity let their first love decay.  They now have more enthusiasm for being doctrinally correct than they do for loving Christ and those He died to save.</div> <bR> <div>      What are they suppose to do?  Are they to let a few heritics in once in awhile, and tolerate a little immorality in the church?  Of course not!  That is not what Jesus is seeking.  He commends them for the good goals they have reached.  It is just that they have paid too high a price to reach them.  You can stay doctrinally correct and morally pure without becoming so fanatical that you forget your calling is to love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself.  It is life's easiest mistake to make, and that is why we are all guilty of making it.  We let the good rob us of the best.</div> <bR> <div>      G. Campbell Morgan, the prince of expositors, told of a friend of his who loved to  spend time with his daughter.  They just enjoyed each others company, and then suddenly she was too busy for him, and always made excuses to avoid their usual walks.  He was puzzled and grieved, but said nothing.  Then came his birthday, and she gave him an exquisitely worked pair of slippers.  "Darling," he said, "It was so good of you to buy me these."  She said, "Oh, father, I didn't buy them, I made them for you."  He said, "Is this why you have been so busy the last three months?"  "Yes," she replied.  He said, "My darling, I like these slippers very much, but next time buy the slippers and walk with me.  I would rather have my child than anything she can make for me."  She had robbed him of the best for the sake of the good.  If you think only bad stuff is the enemy, you will be easily deceived.  It is usually something good that is the enemy of the best.  </div> <bR> <div>      Every neglected child and mate is usually neglected for something good, and every Christian who forsakes his first love usually does so for the pursuit of what is good, true, and beautiful.  But it is not the best and what the Savior most desires.  The poet David G. Ganton wrote:</div> <bR> <div>                O church of Christ, </div> <div>                Of native love bereft,</div> <div>                Come back again</div> <div>                To that first love you left.</div> <bR> <div>                Your prudent works</div> <div>                You have not failed to do,</div> <div>                But you have left</div> <div>                The love which once you knew.</div> <bR> <div>                Your purity, </div> <div>                And zeal for truth and right,</div> <div>                Your patient care</div> <div>                Are worthy in His sight.</div> <bR> <div>                But all is vain</div> <div>                Unless impelled by love,</div> <div>                Thrice-pledged, to Him</div> <div>                Who lives and reigns above.</div> <bR> <div>                Repent, Oh church,</div> <div>                And seek again to know</div> <div>                That first constraining love</div> <div>                Of long ago.</div> <bR> <div>      Knowing how to hate evil is good, but it is not the best.  Knowing how to spot a phony apostle is good, but it is not the best.  Hard work and perseverance is good, but it is not the best.  Enduring hardships for Christ is good, but it is not the best.  There is only one best, and that is first love, and without that all the good in the world will not make you qualified to represent the Christ who revealed just how much God is love.  Christian zeal can lead to the same things as happens to the workaholic.  The father and husband goes off to work to provide for family. It is the labor of love, but soon he is in love with his labor, and before long he is neglecting the family he is laboring to provide for, and he can get so obsessed with his job that he even loses that family for which he went off to work.  It can happen to the Christian.  He or she can get so into Christian work that they begin to neglect Bible study and prayer, and even church attention.  They are working like the devil for the Lord, and they do not realize they are serving the devil rather than the Lord because they have let their love for Christ grow cold.  </div> <bR> <div>      How would you like it if you worked on your master piece for 35 years and then showed it to the queen, and she said, "It is awful, amusing, and it is artificial."  Well, that is exactly what happened to the great artchitect Sir Christopher Wren.  After he labored 35 years to rebuild St. Paul's Cathedral in London, after the great fire of 1666, he escorted her majesty Queen Anne through his life's work and waited breathlessly for her response.  And, believe it or not, he was pleased when she said it is awful, amusing, and artificial.  Had the years of labor relieved him of his senses?  Not at all!  This was back in 1710 when these words still had their original meaning.  Awful meant awe-inspiring.  Amusing meant amazing.  Artificial meant artistic.  She was complimenting him. </div> <bR> <div>       That is what John Claypool was doing too when he said, "God is an amateur.  People were shocked and felt it was a putdown, but they were reading into the word amateur something that was not there in its original meaning.  Amateur goes back to the Latin root amore which means to love, and originally it rerferred to a person who did something for the love of it. They did not sign a contract and get big bucks. They did not have a court order forcing them to do it. They did what they did because they loved to do it. They did it freely and for free out of love of the sport or whatever.</div> <bR> <div>      God was not forced to create the universe.  God was not paid to provide a Savior for the human race.  He was not coerced by a greater power to send His Son into the world.  Why did He do it then?  It was because He wanted to.  It is was because He loved to do it.  God does everything, not because He has to, but because He wants to.   Nobody pays Him for anything.  He is an amateur who does all He does because He loves to do it.  The Gospel is not, God felt so obligated; God felt so duty bound; God felt so pressured, but rather, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.  He did it out of love.  That is what God wants in return from His children.  He does not want slaves who feel bound to obey.  He does not want pros who only do His will for a price.  He wants amateurs who will do it because they love it, and it is their pleasure and joy.  </div> <bR> <div>      When the Christian loses this amateur status and goes pro, he has forsaken his first love, for first love is amateur love.  It is love that says, "I serve Christ and His church because I want to.  I read the Bible because I want to.  I pray and strive to witness for Christ because I want to.  I do all a Christian should do because I love to do it."  That is what a amateur is:  One who does what he does for the love of it.  But that can change, and the amateur Christians can soon be saying, "I have to go to church tonight.  I have to study my lesson for tomorrow.  I have to write out a check for the church.  All of the sudden the Christian life is not lived for the love of it, but out of duty and obligation.  The Christian slips back under law and now is a pro under contract with God.  Everything is now part of a deal.  I'll do this for God if He will do that for me.  Such a Christian can do work for the kingdom of God, but as Jesus makes clear, if that is the kind of Christian he wanted, he never would have bothered to replace the legalistic system with the grace of the New Testament.</div> <bR> <div>      God had all the pros He could endure in the Scribes and Pharisees.  He wanted amateurs who would live for Him and obey Him just for the love of it.</div> <div> Lose that amateur status and you are facing being taken off the team, for he who does not serve Christ for the love of it will not be a witness to the grace of God.  He will more likely convey to the world that God is law, and not that God is love.</div> <div> When a candle begins to give off more black smoke than light, it is time to remove it.  So Jesus says that He will remove that church which does not get back to being amateur for Christ.  </div> <bR> <div>      The problem with hating evil is that we get so good at it that we don't even need the Lord.  We can forsake our love for Him and forget His goal was to seek and save the lost, and get so wrapped up in fighting some evil cause that we totally forget why we are even here as the church.  It is one of the of the high risks of Christians getting involved in any attack on evil.  Jesus did not say don't do it, but He said to these Ephesians that it is in their favor that they do hate the Nicolaitans.  But the fact is, they were pre-occupied with their hate and had forsaken their love. The end result is they lost their battle with hate also for they would be removed from the battle.</div> <bR> <div>      The bottom line for the church is never what are you against, but what or who are you for? A church that does not love is a failure no matter how much evil it hates. Though I hate all the heresy of our day, and though I despise the false cults and abhor the immorality of the culture, if I have not love, I am nothing:nothing that matters in the long run, for hating evil does not have the power to save anyone. God will judge all evil, and your hatred of it will add nothing to that judgement. Only love can save and make an ultimate difference.</div> <bR> <div>      Every Christian need to examine their emotions in the light of Christ's words here. Is my hate a flame that burns brightly where all can see while my love is a burnt out lamp? If hate is ever brighter than love, you have forsaken your first love. Love should always be conspicuous over hate.  It is love that covers a multitude of sins.  First love forgives and labors to keep the path smooth.  Only when it fades does the flame of hate take presedence, and then one becomes very critical and no longer forgiving.  The negatives of life form a team and life revolves around the negatives.  This is why marriages fail.  This is why churches fail, and this is why Christians become a pain in the world rather than a power to make a difference.  </div> <bR> <div>      What is the answer to all the lack of love that spoils marriages and the ministry of the church?  Jesus says the solution starts with remembering the height from which you have fallen.  You remember what was; you repent for what now is, and you return to what ought to be.  Here are the three R's for all renewal:  Remember, repent, and return.  These are three things all people can chose to do.  You don't need any magic formula or religious ritual, you just do it.  You start with remembering.  Remember when your love for Christ was sacrificial and not superficial.  You were willing go out of your way to serve Him.  You would go the second mile.  You were glad to be a servant of Christ.  </div> <bR> <div>      Remember the good old days when He was the central motivating love of your life.  When  you remember this, you will recognize that you have let Him, who was the center, slip out to the edge of your life.  Jesus will not tolerate being just one of many comittments.  He expects to be number one on any list.  Remember what is once was and get back there.  This is a dear John letter in reverse.  He is not saying, "Dear Ephesus I have left you, but, dear Ephesus you have left me.  Get back to your first love, or I will leave you."   </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus expects comittment to be taken seriously.  Jesus is saying to His bride, "I miss the honeymoon where you were so devoted to me."  The Lord is longing for that first love.  This church is apparently so busy fighting evil they have little time for loving and worship.  Maybe that is why the book of Revelation is so full of the scenes of worship in heaven.  Jesus does not get much on earth, and He reveals to His bride how the angels of heaven adore Him, and they were not even redeemed by His blood.  How much more ought Christians to adore the Lord who bought them by His sacrifice?  Jesus not only longs for the love of His bride, He demands that they remember and return to their first love.</div> <div>      </div> <div> <B>THE PRIORITY OF LOVE  Based on Rev. 2:1-7</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      If someone asks you, "What is the modern name of the country where Paul was born?"  Would you know?  </div> <div>      If someone asked you, "What is the modern name of the country where Christians were first called Christians?"  Would you know?</div> <div>      If someone asked you, "What is the modern name of the country where Noah's Ark landed and the new world began?"  Would you know?</div> <div>      If someone asked you, "What is the modern name of the country which became the center of Christianity after the fall of Jerusalem, and which became the center of world power and spread of Christianity for 16 centuries?"  Would you know?</div> <bR> <div>      The answer to all of these questions is the same:  It is the land of Turkey.  I must confess I had no idea that Turkey was a major Bible country, but the fact is, it is.  All 7 of the churches Jesus sent letters to in this book of Revelation were in Asia Minor, which today is Turkey.  The Hittites of the Old Testament developed this land.  Abraham came here on the way to the Holy Land.  It was famous in Greek history as the land where they deceived the city of Troy into taking their wooden horse in which were hidden some of their soldiers.  They took this famous city, and the story is recorded in Homer's famous Iliad.  </div> <bR> <div>      Turkey is the bridge between Europe and Asia, and it is famous for more than most of us realize.  This is where Florence Nightingale paved the way for modern nursing.  This is where Hippocrates the father of modern medicine came to work centuries before.  Dr. Luke got his training here, and Paul spent most of his life here, and a great deal of his ministry was in this area.  John the Apostle served the churches here, as did Timothy.  Mary the mother of Jesus lived her last days and was buried here.  When Constantine the Roman Emperor became a Christian he transferred the capital of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople in what is now Turkey.  For 7 centuries, which is three times as long as the United States has existed, this was the center of world and Christian power.  </div> <bR> <div>      The first ecumenical council where Christian leaders from all over the world met was in Nicaea in 325 A.D.  There they established basic Christian doctrine held by all Christians to this day.  Not only is a good portion of the New Testament written to churches in what is now Turkey, but out of that area has come the theological foundation for all the creeds of Christiandom.  Everyone of us has been greatly influenced by what happened in the land of Turkey.  The reason I share this is two fold.  First, because most Christians never think of it or hear of it.  It is lost knowledge because we don't know history.  Second, it becomes a startling piece of evidence as to the consequences of not listening to Jesus when he speaks to the church.  Jesus warned these churches that if they did not listen they would be removed, and would no longer be lights in the world, and that is exactly what happened.</div> <bR> <div>       This center of the Christian faith was destroyed, and today it is 98% Moslem, and the Christian church has very little influence.  The churches and even the cities are nothing but rubble and wasteland because the church stopped listening to her Lord, and went her own way just like the people of Israel did, and the glory of the Lord departed as it did from the temple of Israel.</div> <bR> <div>      The messages to the seven churches are vital to the survival of the church in any part of the world at any time in history.  The lights of the church go out all through history and produce dark ages when Jesus is not heard and heeded.  This background should make us realize how seriously we need to give heed to these letters of our Lord to the church.  Most all of the churches of Turkey have been turned into Mosques or museums because they had ceased to listen.  History teaches us that Jesus says what He means and He means what He says.  We want to look at what He says to the first church-the church of Ephesus.  This letter is really second Ephesus, for Paul wrote one of his most impressive letters to this church several decades earlier.  It was a great church in a great city.  </div> <bR> <div>      In the original list of the seven wonders of the world which goes back to the second century B.C.  The second one on the list was the temple of Diana in Ephesus.  Pliny the Roman Historian called it, "The most wonderful monument of Grecian magnificence.."  It took a 120 years to build it.  It was 425 feet in length and 225 feet wide with 127 60 foot columns, each given by a different king so that all of Asia joined in the building of this temple to their favorite goddess.  The Greeks called her Artemis.  Diana was her Roman name.  </div> <bR> <div>      Ephesus was the city of greatest renown, and it was wealthy because people came from all over the world to see the temple.  It was the Orlando, Florida of Asia Minor.  Paul almost started a riot in Ephesus because one of the silversmiths by the name of Demetrius made silver shrines of Diana and sold them to the masses of tourists.  Paul came along and said manmade gods are not gods at all.  Demetrius, fearful of losing his money machine, stirred up the people and the whole story recorded in Acts 19 says the crowds became furious for  two hours as they shouted, </div> <div> "Great is Diana of the Ephesians."  The officials finally got them quieted down, but this gives you a glimpse of what life was like in the city of Ephesus.  It was a pagan capital of worship, and with a temple which was awesome.  In the shadow of one of the seven wonders of the world Paul establishes one of the seven churches in Revelation.  </div> <bR> <div>      Ancient writer after ancient writer raved of the magnificence of Ephesus.  It was the home of the world's most popular goddess.  She had an army of priests and prophetesses, theologians, choristers, and even acrobats.  What chance did a handful of Christians have in that environment.  It would be like setting up a tent along side a great Cathedral and trying to compete.  Paul knew it would be tough, and it was.  He spent three years in a lecture hall having discussions everyday on the Christian way.  The Apostle John followed Paul and gave leadership to this church.  That area became the nursery of Christiandom.  After the fall of Jerusalem, Ephesus became the new center of Christianity.  </div> <bR> <div>      Diana is a mere record of history known only to scholars, but the letter of Paul to the church of Ephesus, and the letter of Jesus to Ephesus are read and studied by people all over the planet.  The once proud city is now a heap of ruins, and the church is gone, but the messages it brought forth from Paul and Jesus live on to challenge and change the church the world over.   </div> <bR> <div>      Ephesus was the first of the seven churches to be addressed by the Lord of the church.  It was the closest to the island of Patmos where John received the revelation.  The seven churches were key churches in the area, but they were not all the churches that were there.  There were many others, but these seven represent the total church as seven represents totality all through the book of Revelation.  Jesus begins His revelation of the plan of God from the first century to the last century of history, and on into eternity with these messages to the churches.  The reason is, the church is His key tool to change history and get people ready for His coming and the eternal kingdom.  He does not have another plan.  His church is His body, and by means of it He will fulfill His plan for this world.</div> <bR> <div>      The amazing thing we see in these letters is that they are far from being perfect instruments.  Jesus was the perfect man and he fulfilled the will of God perfectly in His death and resurrection.  But now as the Lord of the church He has to finish His work in history by means of His church, and it is still made up of people who live in a fallen world and who are yet far from perfected.  All of the churches have defects, </div> <div> problems, and weaknesses.  If you feel the church is not all it should be, that is not surprising, for Jesus felt the same about the early church.  They had all kinds of problems, and some of them quite serious.  Jesus was very critical of His churches, but it was always with the goal of getting them to repent, change, and become what they  had the potential of becoming.</div> <bR> <div>      The first thing we need to learn from these letters is that the church needs to be in constant renewal, for it is a fallible human organization, and thus, it is in constant decay.  It is a tool that is getting dull all the time and needs perpetual sharpening if it is to get the job done that Jesus left it here to do.  These were the cream of crop churches, but they had plenty of problems and were in need of revival.   Every Christian alive is to be a overcomer, for that is a major theme in these letters.  In Ephesus they were growing cool and losing their first love.  Jesus says in verse 7, </div> <div> "To Him that overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life."  Problems and bad attitudes of believers can be overcome and reversed.  That is why these letters exist:  To bring that very thing about, and make Christians of all churches perpetual overcomers.</div> <bR> <div>      At the conclusion of each of these letters you read of a reward to be given to those who are overcomers.  Overcoming sins and weaknesses is what being a Christian is all about.  It is basic ministry of the church to be ever engaged in overcoming all of the things that make Christians less than the ideal tool Jesus needs to get His purpose done in this lost world.  Even to the most deficient church of the  lot-the church of Laodicea, which was making Jesus sick so that  He was about to spit them out of His mouth, He concludes in 3:21, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to set with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."  The worst can still have the best.  The church, no matter how short of the mark, can still be an overcomer and succeed in fulfilling the purpose of Christ in the world.  </div> <bR> <div>      The Lord of the church is optimistic about the church and its potential for perpetual renewal.  It is always going to the dogs, and Christians are cooling off and following some fool fad or heresy, but Jesus is ever ready to forgive and restore and use this fallible tool for His glory and the salvation of the world.  Jesus never gives up on the church, for it is a living organism, and it can listen, respond, repent, change, and get back on track, even when it goes astray and is part of the problem instead of part of the solution to this world's mess.  </div> <bR> <div>      The church is just people, a great variety of just ordinary people.  There are people with varied gifts and personalities, but everyone of them not yet perfected.</div> <div> So when you get a number of them together they do not create perfection.  If two wrongs don't make a right why should 200 make a right?  Church is never wholly right or ideal and free of defects.  If you find one you should let the Lord know right away because He never found one in His search.  There are no perfect churches in the New Testament, and it is safe to assume there never has been such a church.  Every church can be criticized,  and it is valid to do so, but to be Christlike about it the goal of the criticism is to be constructive so as to  help them to be overcomers. </div> <bR> <div>      You do not forsake your yard because weeds or dandelions began to take over.</div> <div> You work to make it better.  You do not throw away your car when it gets dirty and tires get worn.  You seek to wash it and replace the tires.  So it is with your house and your body.  If people abandoned their body every time it developed a defect that made it not function as it was designed to function, the suicide rate would be almost 100%.  We do not abandon the body even though we get very critical of it.  We seek to make it better and restore it to health.  That is how Jesus deals with His body-the church.  He seeks to restore it to health when it is sick.  To be Christlike is to be ever seeking for ways to help the church be healthy.  If you cannot stand an imperfect church, you are in the wrong world because that is all there is in this world.  I love the way Eugene Peterson says it in his book Reversed Thunder.  </div> <bR> <div>      The churches if the Revelation show us that churches are not </div> <div>      Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and</div> <div>      ready for guests.  They are messy family rooms.  Entering a</div> <div>      person's  house unexpectedly, we are sometimes met with a</div> <div>      barrage of apologies.  St. John does not apologize.  Things are</div> <div>      out of order, to be sure, but that is what happens to churches</div> <div>      that are lived in.  They are not showrooms.  They are living</div> <div>      rooms, and if the person's living in them are sinners, there</div> <div>      are going to be clothes scattered about, hand prints on the </div> <div>      woodwork, and mud on the carpet.  For as long as Jesus </div> <div>      insists on calling sinners and not the righteous to repentance-</div> <div>      and there is no indication as yet that he has changed His policy</div> <div>      in that regard-churches are going to be an embarrassment to</div> <div>      the fastidious and an affront to the upright.  St. John sees them</div> <div>      simply as lampstands:  They are places, locations, where the </div> <div>      light of Christ is shown.  They are not themselves the light. </div> <div>      There is nothing particularly glamorous about churches, nor,</div> <div>      on the other hand, is there anything particularly shameful </div> <div>      about them.  They simply are. </div> <bR> <div>      The body does a lot of things even when it is sick or defective.  It is inadequate, but it still works and loves, and makes a difference in the world.  So the defective church is still the church.  It's light is often dim, but its still points people to the light of Christ.  It has plenty of sin of its own, but it still leads people to find forgiveness of their sin.  Christians are often more concerned about their crabgrass than a lost world.  But the lost are still won by a world wide outreach.  </div> <bR> <div>      At a church supper there may be more gossip than casseroles, yet people are loved and cared for, and they get support to survive one crisis after another.  Christians may be more interested in the sports world yet the Word of God does get through, and there is a measure of growth in having the mind of Christ.  Christians want to be in an atmosphere of the holy with little interest in being holy themselves. </div> <div> You can go on and on about the defects of Christians, and all of it is true, but none of which is a valid reason for forsaking the church.  Jesus knew that the critics of the church would be correct.  He is the first and the greatest critic of them all.  But He also makes it clear that a critic whose goal is not to help the church overcome its defects does not have his mind toward the church.  </div> <bR> <div>      Look at the shocking criticism He levels at the church of Ephesus.  He has just said, I am impressed with your deeds, hard work, and perseverance.  You have been orthodox in your theology, and have not grown weary in enduring hardships.  Jesus really butters them up as being a great church.  But then in verse 4 He says,</div> <div> "But there is this one thing I hold against you.  You have forsaken your first love."</div> <div> He just as well have poked them in the eye with the golden lampstand, for this was a devastating accusation.  What good is all the rest without love?  Everything minus love equals nothing.  If you lack the basic thing, what good is it that you have a lot of lesser things?  Jesus admits this is the basic thing to have love, for He makes it clear if they do not repent and get restored to their first love, He will remove their lampstand.  In other words, they will cease to be His light in the world.  A church without love is like a candle without a wick, a flashlight without a battery, a bulb without electricity.  There can be no light where there is no love.</div> <bR> <div>      Here we see the bride and the groom when the honeymoon is over and the hot summer has changed to winter, and just when they are most needed, the coals of fire have grown cold.  First love is honeymoon love.  It is the love that warms life and makes people happy to be alive.  Jesus loves this kind of love too.  The radiance of the real hot romance is everybody's favorite kind of light.  Jesus is a jealous groom, and He wants His bride to keep that romance alive and not let it grow cold.  It is of interest to note that the problem in our relationship to Christ is the same as our problem in relationship to our mates.  We let the flame go out and try to live by the ashes of yesterday's fire.  In our romantic and religious life we become cold and dull, and just follow a routine.  Mates can often adjust to this and live together for 40 years after the fire is out.  Jesus is not content with this sort of relationship.  He expects to be loved today just as He was yesterday, and as He expects to be loved forever.  </div> <bR> <div>       The fascinating thing here is Jesus says it is a matter of the will.  You lose your love because of choices you make.  You can choose to remake these choices and get back to your first love.  Love is not just an emotion, love is a choice.  Jesus says you can repent and stop doing what you are doing, and start doing again what you did at first.  First love is a priority, and it is a choice you can make.  People act like love is some outside force like a flying saucer, and unless one hits you you cannot do anything to make it happen.  But love is not so, it is an inside job.  It is what you choose to do with your life and energy.  We choose to love or we choose not to.  It is not an external that we have no control over.  It is an internal we have full control over.  Jesus says you forsook your first love.  It was your choice.  Now make another choice to get back to it, or you are no longer a part of my team, and you will be sidelined for good.</div> <bR> <div>      They had some good things going for them, but it was like a car that has run out of gas.  It will keep going for quite a ways because of the momentum of past power.</div> <div> They were sort of coasting along not realizing they had run out of the fuel of love, and would soon come to a halt.  Jesus says, get back to your fuel supply of love, or you will be going nowhere.  It is interesting to note that he says in verse 6 that they still had their hate working.  They hated evil and that was good, but their love had </div> <div> conked out.  Hate of evil is easier to keep going than love for people and the Lord.</div> <div> You find Christians who are powerful haters of evil who have lost their love for the evil people they so hate.</div> <bR> <div>        Hate of evil is good Jesus said, but it cannot be the  light that represents Him in the world.  Their hate is going strong, but if they don't get back to their first love, they will be removed.  No church can be moved by hate of evil alone and be what Christ  needs in this world.  Without love the best hater is of no ultimate value.  Hate of evil by itself is worthless for the purpose of Christ.  Hate only has value when it is a servant of love.  Show me a Christian who is a great hater, but who is not a great lover, and I'll show you a Christian whose light is about to go out, for such a Christian cannot represent Christ in the world. </div> <bR> <div>      Augustine of Canterbury insisted that the 3,000 monks in Bangor Wales strive to evangelize the Saxons.  "No way," said the Abbot, "We will not preach the faith to this cruel race...who have treacherously driven our ancestors from their country..."  Augustine said, "Since you will not show them the way of life, I am sure they will show you the way of death."  Not many years later Ethelfrid invaded Wales and many of these monks were massacred.  They were excellent haters, and possibly even the best ever, but that did not prevent their light from being snuffed out.  Hate does not shine, only love does.  If love does not shine, hate will not save the day, for it can never be a substitute for love.  There is no substitute for love.</div> <bR> <div>       The world needs saving more than it needs condemning.  The truth is not God so hated the world that He planned to judge it, but He so loved the world He gave His only Son to save it.  The Bible makes it clear that to God the priority is love.   </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> RICH IN POVERTY   Based on Rev. 2:8-11</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      One of the great paradoxes of life is the fact that the poor can be richer than the rich.  Poverty is no necessary hindrance to being wealthy.  Wealth, on the other hand, is no guarantee of being truly rich.  Even rich Christians are often not rich just because they have wealth.  Charles Schultz, the richest cartoonist in history, with his comic strip Peanuts has terrible limitations in spite of his wealth of many millions.  He can afford to go anywhere anytime, but he has a form of agoraphobia that makes him fear to go places.  The very thought of walking through a hotel lobby makes him sweat with fear.  He has his own jet, but he avoids travel and spends a lot of time just being depressed.  All his millions do not make him happier.</div> <div> He is in a sort of perpetual state of grief, but it is called good grief, for out of his sadness he is able to produce laughter, for he can see the funny side of failure, which he is constantly depicting in the life of Charlie Brown who fails in romance, sports, flying kites, and life in general.  Losing is funny when it is happening to Charlie Brown and not to us.  This laughter at life's misfortunes has made Schultz a fortune, and he is good at portraying it because he lives it.  </div> <bR> <div>      When he portrays Lucy saying to Charlie Brown, "Don't let you team down by showing up," he is expressing what he experienced in his own childhood.  His father's barbershop was where O'gara's is now on Snelling Ave. in St. Paul, MN,   and he writes of his experience there as a child.  "I remember when I use to go into my father's barbershop for a hair cut.  If a paying customer came in while I was in the chair, I 'd have to step down and wait for my father to cut his hair.  There I would sit, with half a hair cut, feeling ridiculous."  We could go on and on about his feelings of rejection and failure which he cannot escape even as one of the richest people in the world. </div> <bR> <div>       The point his life illustrates is one of the major points of the Risen Lord to his churches.  Poverty and wealth are very relative terms, and people with riches can be poor, and people with little wealth can be rich.  It works both ways for Christians also, for Jesus says to the church of Laodicea in 3:17, "You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do  not need a thing.  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor blind and naked."  There are rich Christians who live in utter poverty says Jesus.  But to the church in Smyrna He says, "I know your afflictions and your poverty-yet you are rich!"  So you have in the judgment of Jesus your poor Christians who are rich, and your rich Christians who are poor.</div> <bR> <div>      In other words, Jesus had a different standard of values than the world.  Christians are pretty much a product of their culture, and most cultures judge riches by material possessions.  The church with the biggest buildings and most land, and where the parking lot is filled with the most expensive cars is the rich church.  It would be folly to assume that every church like that is in reality poor in their spiritual wealth, but it is equally folly to ignore Jesus and assume that sort of wealth makes a church spiritually rich.  It is also jumping to conclusions to assume that the poor struggling church is a gold mine of spiritual wealth.  The only thing we can know for sure is the value of any church to Christ is not one that can be determined by its net worth in dollars.  </div> <bR> <div>       Jesus is saying that richness is more a matter of attitude than accumulation.  He is not saying accumulation is evil, but He is saying it is meaningless without the proper attitude.  If you have a wrong spirit that is not pleasing to Him, you can have gold plated pews and diamonds studded hymnals, and you will still be poor to Him.  On the other hand, you can have wood pews and hand me down hymnals and be rich if your attitude is one that pleases the Lord of the church. Jesus just loved this church of Smyrna. He had not a critical word for them which he had for the others. It was a suffering church; a persecuted church; a church where loyalty to Christ could very well mean death. Jesus loved it, but American Christians hate this kind of church. Vance Havner wrote, "It is not easy to preach on Smyrna nowadays.  The average American congregation is in no mood to appreciate such a church.  It is a day of quick prosperity and give-away shows, it is not easy to interest a well-fed, well-clothed, well-housed Sunday morning crowd in the Smyrna brand of loyalty.  We are more like Laodicea, rich and increased with goods and needing nothing.  It does not cost much to be a Christian now.  </div> <bR> <div>      We do not have to pretend we would love to be a part of a suffering church.  But we do have to quit pretending that peace and prosperity is an environment which makes us better Christians.  The whole health and wealth Gospel, so popular in America, is a mockery of Christ and this church He so loved.  Any teaching that says you are spiritually blessed of God and superior because you have abundance of things, peace, and prosperity, is a rejection of the words of Christ.  This church that He favored was poor.  The word is actually beggary.  They had no luxuries and not even all the necessities.  They were not popular in their culture.  They were despised and hated and persecuted.  Yet they were a successful church, and Jesus says they were rich, because in spite of all they suffered they were faithful to Him. </div> <bR> <div>      Sometimes that is all a Christian or a church can do-be faithful to Christ.  They could not win the masses, and they could not build a big church there to the glory of Christ.  They could not even necessarily survive, for some would not.  All they could do was be faithful through it all, and yet Jesus calls them rich.  This was a successful church in His eyes, but to most culture enslaved Christians this was a total flop of a church.  We need to learn from this evaluation of Christ that it is not very wise for us to judge the value of churches.  How can we know that the big wealthy church is nauseating to Christ, or that the little country church is a precious diamond to Him?  We can't know how Jesus feels about any church.  All we can do is make sure we are, as members of the church, making it a body that is rich in His eyes, because no matter what the circumstances we are faithful and loyal to Him.  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus loved this church and called them rich because they were willing to pay the cost of being faithful to Him even to the point of death.  You have got to be rich in faith to cover that kind of costly loyalty.  None of the churches suffered like Smyrna.  Jesus says they are to suffer and the devil will put them through terrible times of persecution, and some will even die.  Why?  Are they bad kids deserving of such painful discipline?  Are they being judged for their failure?  Not at all!  This was one of the best  of all the churches, and yet they suffered unjustly.  Jesus does not promise escape or even protection.  He only promises the reward of the crown of life and the assurance that they will never suffer again, and not be hit by the second death which will be the lot of those who make them suffer in time.  There will be reward and judgment, and they will come out winners, but there is no offer of escape.</div> <bR> <div>      The message of Job is taught again.  Bite your tongue if you feel the impulse to judge suffering churches like Job's friends judged him.  It is easy to jump to the conclusion that churches that get burned out or blown down by storms, or which get persecuted are under the judgment of God.  Not so says Jesus, for the suffering church may in fact be one of His favorites instead of a rebel being punished.  There are a lot of mysteries in the realm of suffering, and one of them is why the best and most favored, who least deserve suffering, often suffer the most.  </div> <bR> <div>      This does not fit well with the American perspective.  We do not suffer like the churches in other parts of the world.  Therefore, we feel we are the best and the most blessed.  I cannot escape this conclusion in my thinking, and I am grateful to be a part of the church in this land of liberty and freedom from persecution.  Nevertheless, I have to see that from the perspective of Jesus the church in those lands where they have suffered for their faith may in fact be the best and richest churches in the world.  I would not want to move out of Laodicea and move over to Smyrna and endure their suffering.  I love being in a suffering free church, but I ought not to let that deceive me into thinking that it is the best church, and most loved church.  The point is, let's try and see the church from the point of view of Jesus and not our own.  We think because we don't suffer for Christ we are the most blessed, but this may not be true from Christ's point of view.  It is not their suffering that makes them the best, but their faithfulness in suffering, and faithfulness is an issue we need to consider.</div> <bR> <div> FAITHFULNESS.</div> <bR> <div>      Christians tend to be strong in the areas that are a strong part of their culture and upbringing.  The people of Smyrna were noted for being faithful to their commitments.  More than all of the other cities they were loyal to Rome.  They never wavered in their fidelity.  Cicero called Smyrna, "One of our most faithful and most ancient allies."  They were so patriotic that when the Roman soldiers were losing a battle in the far East the people of Smyrna stripped off their own clothes to send them to the Romans who were cold and suffering.  Smyrna was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma, and to the spirit of Rome in 195 B.C.  In 26 A.D. it was chosen over Ephesus and all the other cities of Asia Minor to be the place of erecting a temple to Tiberius.  Rome honored her for her faithfulness.  The point of all this is that Christians are influenced by their culture.  A Christian takes on the virtues that are popular in his secular environment.  A Christian who grew up as a non-Christian in a good solid home where mom and dad loved and were faithful to each other is more likely to be a faithful mate than one who grew up with an environment full if infidelity, lies, and deceit.  </div> <bR> <div>      The Christians of Smyrna were faithful whatever the cost because that was a strong virtue in their lives even as non-Christians.  The non-Christian culture is not irrelevant to Christ and His church.  Those cultures where there are godly virtues are far more conducive to building strong Christians than those where ungodliness is the chosen life-style.  There are Christians who can say, thank God for the strengths of my non-Christian heritage.  Others cannot say that, for theirs was mostly bad.  Christians in Smynra could be grateful, for without that heritage they may not have been able to be faithful to Christ under the pressure they had to endure.  Some of these Christians will be crowned and reign with Christ because of the teaching and training they got from their pagan teachers.  If you think all that is non-Christian culture is worthless or evil, you are rejecting the Biblical truth that God is working in all cultures to prepare the way for the Gospel.  In Him we live and move and have our being is what Paul said to the pagans on Mars Hill.  It is Christian pride that refuses to accept the reality of virtues that can be taught and caught in non-Christian cultures.  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus is deeply impressed with these Christians who can be faithful when it was so costly.  Anyone can be faithful when it is an honor to be a Christian, but when one is hated and persecuted it takes a special commitment to be faithful.  Not all Christians have what it takes to be faithful in hard times.  They fall away and cease to take a stand for Christ when the cost gets too high.  All of the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested.  Peter was particularly brave, but under pressure he folded and denied his Lord.  Paul had the same experience and lost disciples right and left when the going got hard. When  the going gets tough the faithless got going in the other direction. Paul complained in IITim., "Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world." He became faithless and forsook Paul, as did others. Paul was often alone for nobody would stand with him and pay the cost of imprisonment. Even John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, bailed out of following Paul when the going got rough.</div> <bR> <div>      Faithfulness is a virtue so pleasing to Christ, and it is a key to any lasting relationship. There is a direct correlation between the weakness of Christian commitment and the breakdown in marriage in our culture. People who cannot be faithful when faithfulness is costly will not be able to keep any relationship going very long. It is the nature of all relationships to face testing and only the faithful will be able to survive the test. I love the radical way Shakespeare has a faithful wife express her strong desire to above all else be faithful.</div> <bR> <div>           Chain me with roaring bears;</div> <div>           Or shut me nightly in a charnel house,</div> <div>           O'er covered quite with dead men's rattling bones,</div> <div>           With Reeky Shrouds with yellow chapless skulls;</div> <div>           Or bid me go into a new-maid grave,</div> <div>           And hide me with a dead man in his shroud,</div> <div>           Things that, to hear them told, has made me tremble.</div> <div>           And I will do it without fear or doubt,</div> <div>           To live an unstained wife of my sweet love.</div> <bR> <div>      That is the kind of faithfulness Jesus is looking for in His bride-the church:</div> <div> A faithfulness that will keep her steady and loyal to Him, even when it is not pleasant, but very painful to be so.   It does not take much character to be faithful when all is well and life is full of joy and pleasure.  But when the pain and suffering come in any relationship, that will be the test of true faithfulness.  Is it a mere cobweb easily broken by pressure, or is it a steel cord that will not break regardless of the strain?  We do not face martyrdom, or even persecution in our day, but the fact is, this is still a key virtue for us, for no church and no Christian can be pleasing to Christ without faithfulness.  Shannon said, "One faithful, loyal soul is of more value to a church, to a business, to a home, than a dozen rapid starters-and starters."</div> <bR> <div>      Be faithful even to the point of death said Jesus, and I will give you the crown of life. It is no good to be 90% faithful, for if you are not 100% faithful you will stop short and miss the crown. You have to be faithful all the way. The idea that you can be a faithful husband if you only have one affair is nonsense. It is not faithfulness if you are not one hundred percent.  You cannot be a little bit unfaithful and still be faithful.  I heard a crazy story many years ago about a dog that got his tail cut off by a lawn mower.  The dog's owner buried the tail in the back yard, but a few hours later the dog was scratching at the door, and he had his tail in his mouth.  He had dug it up and brought it to the house.  The owner dug a deeper hole, but some hours later the dog was again at the door with his tail.  The owner was deeply impressed for he realized he had a dog that was faithful to the end.  </div> <bR> <div>      It is a silly tale, but it is the message of Christ to His church.  He longs for a church where Christians are faithful to the end.  He wants to see Christians whose lives show what their lips say when they utter the words you are Lord.  Is it any wonder that the church fails to do the will of Christ in the world when Christians are unfaithful.  They let their love grow cold; they let heresy and immorality into the church; they sleep while the world perishes and are indifferent-neither hot nor cold.</div> <div> Theses are the problems Jesus had with the first century church, and He still has them with the church of today.  The greatest need of Christ in any age is faithful Christians.  They are the key to a church being pleasing to Christ.  </div> <bR> <div>           In every church, in every climb,</div> <div>           When there's some work to do,</div> <div>           It very likely will be done</div> <div>           By just the faithful few.</div> <bR> <div>      Dean Stanley said, "Give me a man or woman, young or old, high or low, on whom we know we can thoroughly depend, who will stand firm when others fail-in such a one there is a fragment of the Rock of Ages."  John Knox was just such a man.  He heard the Reformation message of justification by faith, and he put his faith in Christ, and refused to surrender that faith even when he was forced out of his professorship at the University of Rome.  Even when he was sentenced to exile.  Even when he was forced to galleys, and for 18 months was chained to the oars.  He was offered a bishopric if he would compromise, but he refused.  He went to Scotland and became a leader of the church there, but then came persecution, and he had to renounce his faith or die.  In 1572 he was faithful even unto death.</div> <div> His people were strengthened by his faithfulness, and though they had to meet in the mountains they never missed a service.  Many were caught and killed, but they did not cancel the service.  Many were sent as slaves to the West Indies, and before it was over 28,000 Scottish Christians died for their faith.</div> <bR> <div>                 There preacher silenced and deposed;</div> <div>                The house of prayer against them closed.</div> <div>                They on the mountain heath reposed,</div> <div>                     But though in great perplexity.</div> <bR> <div>                There harps were not on willows hung,</div> <div>                But still in tune and ready strong,</div> <div>                Till mountain echoes round them rung,</div> <div>                     To songs of joyful melody.</div> <bR> <div>                Though from their friends and home exiled,</div> <div>                Love wanderers in the desert wild,</div> <div>                The wilderness around them smiled,</div> <div>                     For heaven approved their faithfulness.</div> <bR> <div>      William of Orange came to their rescue and Scottish Christians have been free every since the 18th century began.  Christians there have never had to face that same test, just as we do not in America.  So the fact is, most Christians in history do not have to be faithful unto death.  It has been a minority, but it is foolish to think that this makes faithfulness any less necessary for those who live in lands of peace and freedom where it costs nearly nothing to be a Christian.  The majority of Christians have the harder test of being faithful when it is so easy to be unfaithful, and put the will of Christ as second, third, or tenth place in their list of priorities.</div> <bR> <div>      It is one of the paradoxes of history that this small church which was hated and persecuted is the one church out of the seven that survived.  The others had so much more going for them in terms of wealth, acceptance, and more people.  But this church alone survived and has been the scene of active missions in the 20th century.  Jesus, by His providence in history, is saying that the one virtue that He treasures over all others is faithfulness.  He will be faithful to those who are faithful to Him.  </div> <div>                </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE CAPITAL OF HELL  Based on Rev. 2:12-17</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      Is there any truth to the popular idea that hell is right here on earth?  There were a lot of Minnesotans who believed it in Jan. of 1873.  The morning of the 8th was beautiful and the snow was melting.  Masses of people made plans to travel, visit, and shop.  But about 4 in the afternoon the wind came blowing in, the temperature dropped 40 degrees in one minute, and the worst blizzard in Minnesota history had begun, and it wouldn't stop for 3 days.  Hurricane winds driving the snow forced all living things to find shelter or perish.</div> <bR> <div>      A youth in school in New Ulm only had to cross the road to his house, but his body was later found 8 miles away.  Some buried themselves in snow drifts and survived.  William Trier and his bride and father were returning home to Fergus Falls.  The men got out of the sleigh to look for shelter and perished.  The bride stayed in t he sleigh and lived.  A St. Peter woman was just out feeding her chickens and died trying to find her door step.  Many died within feet of their own houses because they could not find them in the blinding blizzard.  Thousands of people narrowly escaped death, but 70 people actually died in this hellish storm.  If you took a pole then, the hell on earth would have won by a landslide.  People always tend to associate the hell on earth idea with terrible suffering and hardship.  This is legitimate, for that is what we see in the church at Pergamum.  They were having tough times, and at least one by the name of Antipas had died for his faith.  </div> <bR> <div>      I want to call your attention to the fact that Jesus says in verse 13 that the throne of Satan was in that city.  He ends the verse by saying Satan lives there.</div> <div> So here is the city where Satan lives, and where he has his throne.  This is none other than the capital of hell.  If the devil has his home and his office there, he does not commute from hell to do his dirty work.  He can do it all right there in Pergamum.  So there is truth then to the idea that hell is right here on earth.  Now this does not sound like the best place to start a church.  This is like trying to start a Sunday School class for the hell's angels.  But Jesus started His church there, and the Christians were remaining true to His name.  They were not renouncing their faith even though the pressure was on.  </div> <bR> <div>      Why would Pergamum be any more the capital of hell than any of the other cities?  It had been a capital city for almost 400 years.  Pliny, the ancient, called it,</div> <div> "The most famous city in Asia."  Sir William Ramsay, the modern traveler and scholar wrote, "Beyond all other cities in Asia Minor, it gives the traveler the impression of a royal city, the home of authority."  There were a number of reasons that Pergamum was the capital of hell.  It was the center of Caesar worship.  In 29 A. D. a temple to the godhead of Caesar was erected there.  People had to call Caesar Lord or risk death by the sword.  The Roman governor had the power to kill anyone on the spot with his sword if they did not conform to the law of Rome.  That is why Jesus starts this letter by reminding them that He has the sharp two edged sword, and He will have the final word on who lives or dies.  Hell's headquarters has some tough swordmen, but their swords will be no match for the sword of the Savior.</div> <bR> <div>      Satan knows that power corrupts, and that is why Pergamum is his capital.  It was the capital of the seleucid kingdom back in 282 B.C., and it had remained a capital for nearly 4 centuries.  Where there is power to rule and make policy, and establish values, you can count on it, Satan will be present.  The implication is clear.</div> <div> Any capital where the forces of power operate is a capital of hell, for that is where Satan can get most of his agenda accomplished the quickest.  Satan can get more evil done through those in high places than he can by means of the poor sinner who has no power.  But get evil into the laws that govern a nation, and then you have a real impact for the goals of hell.  Satan is no political dunce.  He knows where to set up his office.  </div> <bR> <div>      Not only does he know the best place for getting his agenda done is where the power is, but he knows the best place is where the education is.  Pergamum was famous for its 200,000 volume library.  It was second only to the largest in the world in Alexandria, Egypt.  The king of Pergamum bribed the librarian of Alexandria to leave there and come to Pergamum.  He did and this enraged the king of Egypt when he lost his outstanding scholar Aristophanes.  He put embargo on the export</div> <div> of papyrus to Pergamum.  If they had no paper, they could not have books.  But the scholars of Pergamum invented parchment made of skin, and this was better and more lasting for books, and it made papyrus obsolete. </div> <bR> <div>       Pergamum became a center for learning and culture, and that too is why Satan made it hell's headquarters.  It was the center of the latest fashions also.  You can get a lot more evil done with educated sinners.  Educated sinners can foul up whole nations and lead them astray.  Power and brains together can cook up schemes that the devil can really delight in.  The brilliant and powerful Nazi party was filled with educated and cultured people.   They did more evil than millions of poorly educated sinners could ever do.  Show me a center of power and learning and I will show you a capital of hell.  </div> <bR> <div>      Pergamum was also the center of religious worship with temples to Zeus, Aphrodite and Aesculapius, the god of medicine.  Jupiter was supposedly born in Pergamum.  So if you add up power, education, and religious worship, you see why this was the capital of hell.  Politics, education, and religion are three of the most powerful tools in the world for evil.  This is why the church was there also, for these are three of the most powerful tools for good and the achieving of the will of God.  It was not just the capital of hell, it was heaven's headquarters as well.  Just because the devil uses something for his cause does not make it an evil tool.  Jesus can and does use it as well, and the church is to be as wise as that old serpent the devil, and use power, learning and the religious nature of man for the glory of God.  The church and hell are in the same town because they are competing for the same tools to be used for the cause of good or evil.</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus did not say to the church of Pergamum, "I am sorry I didn't realize I set you up in the capital of hell.  It's no place for a nice girl like you.  I'll relocate you in a better setting where you won't have to contend with the devil."  Jesus did not pull out for a better location.  He said stay there, keep up the fight, and be overcomers.  The church is not to run from evil, but stand fast and try to take that territory for the kingdom of God.  It is sword against sword-the Sword of the Spirit against the sword of Satan.  The Christian with the sword of the Spirit has the power of life and death.  It is this sword of the Word that Jesus used when He faced Satan head to head in the wilderness, and it is the sword by which the church still conquers and overcomes the temptations of Satan.  How do you fight evil power in government, education, and religion?  There is only one Christian weapon, and that is the sword of the Word.  It can succeed even in the capital of hell.</div> <bR> <div>      They were like Daniel in the lion's den with Satan going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but his mouth can still be shut by the power of the Word.  He can be overcome even in his home court and capital city.  The gates of hell will not prevail against the church said Jesus, but by the use of the Word of God as the churches battering ram they can even penetrate his capital and claim it for the kingdom of Christ.  The church does not reject political power, learning, and religion, but rather, he links all of these tools to the Word of God and invades the capital of hell and turns it into a capital of heaven.  Don't give up any tool just because the devil uses it.  Use it for his defeat and be an overcomer of evil by the use of that same tool.</div> <bR> <div>      The problem with the Christians in Pergamum is they were themselves falling for some of Satan's clever tricks.  In the Old Testament they were represented by Sodom, and in the New Testament by the Nicolaitans.  It was a single teaching that seduced God's people in both Testaments.  They taught that God's people should use the same tools as the world does.  The difference is, they taught they should use them the same way as the world does, and not according to God's Word.  They said religion is good and so go along with the religions of the world.  They said sex is good and so go along with the sexual practices of the world.  A little idolatry and a little immorality will help you fit into the culture and be accepted.  This sounded good to many Christians who felt being Christian in a pagan culture put to many limits on life.  Sex with temple prostitutes was popular and God's people reasoned that there was no harm in a little recreational sex.  Nobody gets hurt and it makes you more hip and acceptable to your pagan neighbors.</div> <bR> <div>      If you are 90% Christian and only 10% pagan, that should be good enough they thought.  This kind of thinking ensnares Christians all through history, and does so today.  All of us are in some sort of battle to overcome this subtle satanic logic that makes us part time servants of his kingdom.  Popular sins in any culture are always somewhat popular even with Christians.  The problem is not that power, money, sex, or any other tool of Satan is in itself evil, but he entices men to use them in evil ways.  All of these tools can be used in a way consistent with the word and plan of God.  </div> <bR> <div>      The big danger of the Christians in Pergamum was self-centeredness.  It is one of Satan's best weapons.  Get Christians to so enjoy the pleasures of life that they not only become like the world in sensuality, but they forget the cross completely and its meaning for life.  Jesus, who had infinite joy and pleasure for all eternity, gave it up and entered a world of suffering to endure the cross, and all that Satan can throw at Him.  He experience hell on earth because He did not grasp at equality with the Father, and His right to escape all pain and suffering as the perfect Son of God. </div> <bR> <div>      To be Christlike means to give up our right to be equal to the world in self-centeredness and self-indulgence, and be willing to suffer, at least to some degree, for the benefit of others, and to take up the cross and follow Jesus denying self for the benefit of others.  This is hard even for Christians because we are conditioned by our culture to focus on self.  Jesus does not like it when His people are unwilling to suffer, but only striving to get pleasure.  This lust for pleasure leads Christians to fall for Satan's snares and become so worldly they no longer know how to bare the cross.  It just does not fit their life-style.  It was a problem in the early church and it is a problem today.  </div> <bR> <div>      None of us are free from this defect, and the call to be overcomers is one we need to heed and work at or risk loss of great reward.  Crossless Christians are suckers for the schemes that are concocted in the headquarters of hell.  The more we can take up the cross and follow Jesus the more we can add the light of heaven in that hellish darkness.  Jesus commended the Christians in Pergamum, for many were being faithful in that hell hole, and Antipas even died for his faith.  Why should a good and godly man have to die?  Why is the world full of unjust suffering and the innocent dying because of the folly of man?  </div> <bR> <div>      E. Stanley Jones tells of the soldier who asked the chaplain to pray for him to get back safely as he went out on a dangerous mission.  The chaplain said, "No I won't do that, but I will go with you."  That is the answer of God to man's cry-why?</div> <div> I won't guarantee you safety in this battle with the capital of hell, but I'll go with you.  Jesus endured the worst that hell could design for the totally innocent.  Jesus came into the capital of hell and suffered its worse to set up the kingdom of God in that very place.  And He calls his church to fight the forces of evil and help rescue others from the schemes of Satan.  We are to take the risk and pay the price, and be willing to suffer so that others might discover that hell on earth can become heaven on earth by finding Jesus as their Savior.  </div> <bR> <div>      We began this message with how horrible weather convinces people there is hell on earth.  We want to end with an equally strong illustration of  how bad weather is a sign of the kingdom of God on earth.  It was Christmas night in 1776.  George Washington faced a crisis.  Most of his army had  not reinlisted and they were due to go home at the end of the year just a week away.  The morale was as low as it had ever been.  There was lack of ammunition and division among the generals.  The fight for independence seemed to be going down the drain.  Washington needed a victory or all was lost.</div> <bR> <div>      He reasoned that the Hessian guards would likely have been drinking heavily on Christmas, and so he decided to attack in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 26.  Just as he did, the most violent snow storm came up reducing the visibility to zero.  It was just what Washington needed.  In a 45 minute battle in that storm he took nearly a thousand prisoners while losing only two of his own men with three who were wounded.  This startling victory changed the whole war.  The moral was sky high, and volunteers came pouring in, and the war was pursued.  The British were saying it was hell on earth, but the Americans in gratitude for that same storm were saying, it is heaven on earth.  They were both right, for wherever you find the capital of hell, there you will also find the capital of heaven.</div> <bR> <div>       These letters to the churches make it clear that sometimes the forces of evil are clever enough to overcome those who are supposed to be the forces for good.  Many Christians fall for the propaganda coming out of the devil's headquarters, and they are not just neutralized but actually become a tool of the kingdom of darkness.  These letters are orders from the heavenly Pentagon from our Commander in Chief to do an about face, and stop marching to the drum of the enemy, and become again a soldier of the kingdom of light.  </div> <bR> <div>       Jesus knows that some Christians live in places that are harder than others, and the pressure to conform is greater.  He knows what a clever opponent Satan is, and why Christians are deceived.  They are no less responsible, however, because of it. </div> <div> In any warfare some soldiers have the worst of it and have to confront the enemy at his strong point.  Others get to face the enemy at his weak point.  Their task is the same, and that is to be faithful and be overcomers whatever the foe throws at them.  </div> <div> We each need to commit ourselves to fight for the victory of Christ even in the capital of hell.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE ROAD OF REPENTANCE.  Based on Rev. 2:18-29</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      For decades the American people have been lulled into complacency by hearing the Gallop Pole say that over 90% of Americans believe in God.  This led to a false security that we were a godly nation.  But now Gallop decided to get more specific, and he discovered that only 10% of Americans are really committed Christians who take Jesus seriously, pray, and live the Christian life.  The vast majority of Christians in America are indistinguishable from the non-Christians in their life-style and values. </div> <bR> <div>      The church has contributed to this by a non-virtous toleration, and permissiveness that says as long as you help us meet the budget, do as you please, but if you get caught, don't say where you attend church.  Now I must confess that I am by nature a permissive person.  I was raised by permissive parents and I loved it.  I was free as the breeze, and did as I pleased from kindergarten on.  I was downtown in Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota, as a mere kid from 6 to 9.  I was shining shoes and going to shows until dark.  I played on railroad tressels, and by the dangerous falls.  I went skinny dipping with the older boys and loved my childhood years.  Because of that I became a permissive person.  I loved the freedom and I survived, and so I just follow the golden rule and give others the same freedom.</div> <bR> <div>      I have to remind myself that how I turned out had nothing to do with the permissive life-style I had, but with the grace of God.  All three of my closest friends in those permissive years ended up in the state penitentiary.  I escaped that destiny only by the grace of God.  I found Christ as my Savior at age 9, and this made a radical difference in the way I used my freedom.  I choose not to steal with my friends.  So what I know from my own experience is that freedom is great, and if you use freedom to choose good rather than  evil, then permissiveness is a virtue.  But if you use freedom to do evil it is a vice.  So what you have is some people who will use their freedom for folly, and you become foolish for allowing them so much freedom.  But others will use it for positive and healthy adventure, and you will get credit for being so bold as to allow such freedom.  </div> <bR> <div>      What is needed then is discernment as to how individuals will use their freedom.  If you have a child who will use every opportunity to do something dangerous and stupid you need to be more intolerant of their freedom.  If they are responsible and can make wise use of freedom, then you can take more risk.  Risk is what it is all about.  God took a risk in letting Adam and Eve have access to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and it was a high risk.  They failed the test and fell.  You can argue that God was too permissive, but that is the only way to find out how people will use their freedom.  If you allow your child to go off to college, you are taking a high risk.  They can use that new found freedom to become irresponsible and damage their lives.  But if you don't take the risk, you can never know what their potential could be.  Freedom is scary, and it is a gamble, yet there is no choice if you want the best.</div> <bR> <div>      So what does this have to do with the letter to the church in Thyatira?  Everything!  The main vice in this church is their permissiveness and the damage it is doing to the church.  The other churches have had external problems and pressure from the community, but this church has an enternal problem, and their corruption is an inside job. </div> <bR> <div>      The problem was a woman named Jezebel.  It is symbolic name, of course, for nobody names their little girl Jezebel.  The Jezebel of the Old Testament was a pagan who became the Queen of Israel by marriage to Ahab in about 884B.C.   She killed the prophets of God and brought idolatry and immorality into Israel.  She was one of the most wicked women in history.  She is the only woman I know of in history who was so evil that she became dog food after her violent death, and dogs ate her body.  It was a gruesome judgment and ever since her name has never been found in those books of names for your baby.  That name really went to the dogs, and so the only time you use this name is when you want to express contempt.  </div> <bR> <div>      The orginial Jezebel was not a believer in the God of Israel.  She was said to worship Baal, and when she came to Israel as queen she brought 800 priests of Baal with her.  She was a missionary and was determined to promote her religion, which was soon quite popular because sex was part of the ceremony.  The more you sowed your wild oats the better your crops would be was the bottom line of this fertility cult.  Sex was a part of magic that made nature happy to cooperate.  This sexual worship went over big in Israel, and was so successful that Elijah the prophet felt that he was about the only man alive in Israel who was not worshiping Baal.  God had to assure him there were 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal, nor kissed him.  7,000 is a lot more than one, but it is a small percentage of a whole nation, and so Elijah was right.  It was discouragingly successful to mix sex and religion.  </div> <bR> <div>      So when we come to the New Testament we discover that there were Christians even who thought it was a good idea to mix sex with their faith.  It is probably fortunate that we do not know exactly what this Christian Jezebel was teaching, for if we did it would probably be popular today.  All we know is that she was a Christian leader who claimed to be a prophetess, that is one who brought a message to God to His people.  Her message was persuading Christian people to practice idolatry and immorality as a legitimate part of their Christian worship.  The woman was a teacher in the church and one who professed the gift of prophecy. </div> <bR> <div>       Gifts are truly wonderful, and are the key to getting God's work done in this world.  But lets face reality:  They are also a key problem in the New Testament.  People can be gifted by the devil too, and the gifts are often the biggest problem in the church, as we see in the church of Corinth, and here again in Thyatira.  This woman was gifted and persuasive.  She was charismatic and verse 20 says she was misleading the servants of Jesus.  We see that true Christians can be so gullible that they can be manipulated by clever and gifted people into just about anything, including so-called sacred sex.</div> <bR> <div>       It was because so many Christians were buying into this "Sex for the saints" package that the church as a whole was tolerating it.  Not all in the church were buying her theology, and they were staying pure in their marriages, but they were not being intolerant of other Christians who were indulging.  Here you have a case where Christians are deeply divided on a moral issue.  It was hard to take a stand, for it could be your own brother or sister, or even  your parents, or child, who was persuaded that Jezebel was a spiritual genius.  For the sake of unity you don't want to rock the boat.  Jesus does understand the dilema of the faithful Christians, for He does not pronounce judgment on them, but only on Jezebel and those who follow her.  The tolerant and permissive Christians who just passively let this immoral behavior happen without protest, he does not like, but he does not condemn them, but just urges them to stand fast, and not give in on their position.  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus recognizes that sometimes a Christian is in a catch 22 ethical dilema, and does not know what to do, and all he or she can really do is not cooperate with those who teach and practice what is not God's will.  Jesus did not expect the faithful Christians to change things, but just to keep pure themselves.  He would have to deal with these deceived Christians Himself.  </div> <bR> <div>      The mercy of Christ is overwhelming in this letter.  We tend to see only the judgment, for it is severe, and capital punishment is even involved.  But look at verse 21 where Jesus says, "I gave her time to repent, but she was unwilling."  The patience and tolerance of Jesus is a wonder.  Here is a Jezebel who is using her gifts to dishonor Christ and lead His servants astray, and yet He does not strike her with lightning and quickly bring her to judgment.  He gives her time to repent instead.  He is ready to forgive and restore even this Jezebel to a place of honor and service in the church.  His mercy is beyond our comprehension.  Most of us would go full speed ahead on judgment, but Jesus gave her another chance.  It is a text like this that makes me very tolerant of fallen Christians.  If a Christian has been awful, and has fallen into the pit, but has repented and experienced the forgiving grace of Christ, I see no valid reason for not using that Christian in any way Christ has gifted them to be used.  If Jezebel had repented she could have been an honored leader in that church.  </div> <bR> <div>       In verse 22 Jesus deals with those who commit adultery with Jezebel, and He says they too will suffer intensely unless they repent.  Again, I am overwhelmed by the grace of Christ.  I am a permissive person by nature and experience, but I do not think I could be as permissive as Jesus is here.  He will permit these Christians who have deliberately committed adultery with Jezebel to escape judgment if they repent.  I am permissive in the sense that I love to give people freedom, but if they abuse and misuse that freedom, I feel they need to pay a penalty.  It is only right that there is a cost for violating the law of God.  There is a penalty for violating the laws of men, and so why not more so when we break God's commands?  Jesus says judgment is going to fall, and each will be repaid according to their deeds.  That only seems right, but Jesus throws in a way of escape by means of repentance.  You can seemingly get by with murder if you take this road, for Jesus will permit just about anything if there is repentance.  </div> <bR> <div>      Every sin Jesus condemns in these 7 churches is neutralized by repentance.  Seven times Jesus calls Christians to repent and escape judgment.  We tend to think repentance is a word for non-Christians, but this is a major misconception.  It was one of Jesus' favorite words to Christians.  Jesus cannot tolerate the sins of Christians, and so He warns of judgment to come, but He can tolerate everything if Chrisitans will repent.  The number one way for Christians to escape judgment and stay in fellowship with their Lord is to repent.  This means every Christian ought to know everything there is know about repentance.  You remember the commerical that said, "Orange juice isn't just for breakfast anymore."  Well, we can say on the basis of these letters to the 7 churches, "Repentance isn't just for unbelievers anymore."   Christians need to learn to repent to taste the full grace of our permissive Lord. Ignorance here can make you suffer great judgment, and knowledge can lead to a crown.</div> <bR> <div>      Before we learn what repentance is we need to understand why it is seldom to never a popular subject on which to preach.  The world is so full of neurotic Chrisitans who are feeling guilty about everything under the sun.  Nobody wants to add anymore burden to these poor souls who will not step on a crack lest they break their mother's back.  Pastors are fearful of attacking immorality less they make Christians feel guilty about the legitimate joys of sexual passion.  Virtue and vice are often so close they seem like twins, and people cannot tell them apart, and so we tend to leave the weeds alone lest we pull up the wheat along with them.  </div> <bR> <div>      There are so many Christians who feel sinful and guilty about a host of acts an attitudes that are legitimate that it seems cruel to add to their load, and so to be sensitive to these fragile Christians we have gone to the other extreme of hardly ever refering to the real sins of Christians.  Jesus, however, does not hesitate to deal frankly with Christian sins, and threaten severe penalty to those who do not repent.  I am not interested in adding to the false guilt Christians feel, but these are clear violations of God's will that we ought to feel guilty about, for if we do, we can still escape the judgment by the road of repentance.  </div> <bR> <div>      Repentance is not a negative thing, but  a very positive attitude.  It is an awareness that your behavior is not acceptable to God.  It is harmful to yourself and others, and is a part of the kingdom of darkness.  The examples Jesus uses in these letters of things Christians were guilty are:</div> <div> 1.  Forsaking first love, and ceasing to do what you once did for the kingdom.</div> <div> 2.  Sexual immorality and idolatry.</div> <div> 3.  Tolerating these things openly taught and practiced.</div> <div> 4.  Becoming dead, and forgetting there is a job to do for the cause of Christ.</div> <div> 5.  Getting so caught up in the things of the world you  become indifferent.</div> <bR> <div>      You will notice that the majority of Christian sinfulness is in bad attitudes, and not in wicked acts.  We focus so much on sinful acts that we neglect the primary area where most Christians fail.  We get so caught up in the immorality of the few that we don't even see the sins of the majority, which are bad attitudes of indifference, complacency, and just plain lack of love for God and neighbor.  Jesus, however, calls Christians to repent of all these, as well as those guilty of immorality.   We get some satisfaction out of Christians who fall into conspicuous sins, because we have not so fallen totally.  We forget that our sins may be just as serious to Jesus even though they are only attitudes that make us worthless tools for accomplishing His will in the world.  We need to get it straight in our mind that repentance is not just for Christians who have committed some clear violation of the ten commandments.  It is for all of us who are in any way hindering the church from being all that Jesus wants it to be.  We need to repent and become an asset rather than a liability to the church.  This covers just about all of us in some way, and so we all need to know more about the road of repentance.  The first thing we need to know about this road is:</div> <bR> <div> I.  EVERYONE IS FREE TO TAKE IT.  </div> <bR> <div>      It is not a toll-way, but a freeway, and there is no discrimination.  All races, classes, sexes, and a ages are equally welcome.  In this way God is absolutely permissive.  He will permit anyone to travel this road and escape the wages of sin.  To our natural pharisaical mind this often seems unfair.  That rascal, the Prodigal Son, went off and had his fling with wine, women, and song, and yet he was permitted to travel the road of repentance and come home.  It did not seem fair to the older brother, and it doesn't seem fair to many of us, but if you want fair, you are under the law.  Grace is not fair.  It is mercy and forgiveness given to those who do not deserve it.  If they deserved it, it would be fair, and a clear matter of the law.  But since all have sinned and nobody deserves eternal life, there can be no salvation under the law.  If anyone is to be saved there has to be grace.  </div> <bR> <div>      There are going to be tax collectors and prostitutes in heaven said Jesus.  There will be fine religious people who spent their life trying to obey the law who won't make it.  That is not fair, but it is the fact, for the law condemns the best of men, and grace saves the worst of men.  If you are under the law, you are sunk no matter how good you are.  If you are under grace, you have hope no matter how bad you are, for you can travel the road of repentance.  </div> <bR> <div>      What we need to see is that it is not only for the Prodigal Son, but for the elder son too.  If he had traveled this road and repented of his self-righteousness, he too could have been a jewel instead of a jerk.  It is a road for the good guys as well as the bad guys.  It is the road everyone not only can travel, but must travel to be in a right relationship with Christ.  The second this we need to see is:  </div> <bR> <div> II.  IT IS A ONE-WAY ROAD.   </div> <bR> <div>      Repentance means to change your direction.  It means to turn around and go the other way.  To be out of God's will is to be going the wrong way on a one way street.  Repentance means to recognize this folly, see the danger of it, and turn around and go the right way; the way that God wills you to go.  We think that repentance is just feeling sorry for going the wrong way, but this does not fit the Biblical concept of repentance.  You can feel terrible for going the wrong way, but if you keep going that way you have not repented.  Repentance means to change the way you are going, and go the right way on the one way road.  Feeling bad and sorry is certainly a start, for there is not likely to be a change in direction if one feels just fine about the way they are going.  But feelings won't cut it.  No matter how awful you feel about going the wrong way you have not repented until you change the way you are going. </div> <bR> <div>      Have you ever been on a road you thought was taking you to  a certain destination, and then you get doubts because it seems to be taking you the wrong way?  The further you go, and the more desolete the area, the more likely you feel you are on the wrong road.  If you are super stubborn you will persue that road even though it takes you down a mud road.  But most people come to a point where they realize this cannot be the right way.  They find a way to get turned around and head back to find the right way.  That is what repentance is.  It is accepting the fact that you made a mistake and are taking the wrong way.  You feel bad that you have wasted the time and the gas, but you realize wasting more time and gas is not the solution.  You have to admit you blew it and turn around to find the right way.  </div> <bR> <div>      The negative feelings are the acceptance of the bad news that you are on the wrong road.  The bad news does come before the good news.  You have to be convinced you were going the wrong way before you will have any motivation to turn around and find the right way.  The sinner has to feel lost before he feels any need to be saved.  The Chrisitan needs to feel bad about his coldness and indifference before he will repent and seek the filling of the Spirit and a flame of concern for a lost world.  We don't want to minimize the need for feelings in repentance, for they are vital, but they are not enough.  The bottom line is still a choice of the will to turn around and go the right way.</div> <bR> <div>      Change is the essense of repentance.  It is to stop doing what you are doing that is not making you an effective Christ-pleasing Christian, and to start doing what does make you that kind of Christian.  It is not enough to just feel bad that you are not growing, serving, witnessing, and not being the disciple Jesus needs to touch lives that only you can touch.  You have to change and start doing those things that make you a true disciple.  Billy Graham says there are three elements in a Christians repentance.  Conviction:  a clear sense that I am going the wrong way.  Contrition:  a feeling of sorrow for the mistaken choices that have led me this wrong way.  Change:  if there is no change in the behavior and attitude there has been no true repentance.  What was the main concern of Jesus in these letters to the seven churches?  The answer is in one word-change.  He wanted every Christian in every church to be an overcomer, and to in some way change their attitudes and actions to conform to his will.  </div> <bR> <div>      </div> <bR> <div> NATURE AND WORSHIP  Based on Rev. 4:1-11</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      In our 5,536 mile trip to Santa Clara and back, we saw the incredible handiwork of God like we never saw it before.  The Grand Canyon was so awesome and scary to me with my fear of heights.  All of my pictures have the railing in them because I could not get close enough to lean over it.  We saw the beauty of the mountains and forests around Lake Tahoe that make it such a popular place.  We saw the painted desert and the petrified forests, and the great variety of flowers and palm trees of California plus the vast fields of grapes.  We saw the wonders of mans creativity also in the most unusal city we have ever seen-Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We saw there the oldest house and church in the USA.  </div> <bR> <div>      Everywhere we went there were masses of other people trying to see what they have never seen before.  That is what travelling is all about, and that is why tourist traps are so prevalent.  People want to see something.  When we got back we took our grandchildren to the science museum in St. Paul, and it was a mad house as multiplied hundreds of people pushed their way passed each other to see the man made dinosaurs.  People long to see the unique and the spectacular.  This is what motivates people to travel and go to new places.  In Glendale, California people were even flocking to Forest Lawn Cemetary to see the wonder of the Lord's Supper in living color, as well as a host of other examples of great art and sculpture.  Eyes are made for seeing, and man has a perpetual desire to see.  It is his adventure; his entertainment, and his education.</div> <bR> <div>      According to Bernard Shaw, seeing God's handiwork was of the very essence of life to Joan of Arc.  When her judges sentenced her to perpetual imprisonment she responds, "Send me to the stake rather than that.  To shut me from the light of the sky and the sight of fields and flowers; to chain my feet so that I can never again climb the hills-this is worse the furnace 7 times heated.  Without these things I cannot live; and by your wanting to take them from me, I know that your counsel is of the devil, and that mine if of God."  Her conviction was that God wanted her to see His creation.  Seeing is the daily bread of the eyes.  God made the eyes, and He expects us to use them to see what He has made.  He even gives us glimpses into what we will see when we leave this world of wonders to enter the world of His presence and even greater wonders.  </div> <bR> <div>      If prizes were given out for the greatest seer of unique and unusal things, the Apostle John would take first prize.  Paul was caught up into heaven also, but he does not tell us what he saw, but John does.  He was given the greatest vision of God's throne, and all that surrounds it, of any person who has ever lived.  He saw awesome things that makes all other visions trivial by comparison.  The thing that caught my attention about John's fabulous vision of heaven is that the key theme of Rev. 4 is the Creator and His creation.  In other words, John's trip to heaven was much like the trips we take on earth to see the handiwork of God.  He saw from the heavenly perspective, but the dominate theme of this chapter is the seeing of nature and its worship of God as its Creator.</div> <bR> <div>      This heavenly vision is amazingly worldly.  Look at the worldly symbols:</div> <div> 1.  The rainbow around the throne.</div> <div> 2.  The glassy sea.</div> <div> 3.  The four living creatures with faces of lion, ox, man, and eagle.</div> <bR> <div>      In almost sounds like John is in a celestial zoo.  The scene around God is so nature oriented, and the songs of 24 elders who represent all of God's people for all time is not a song about redemption, but about nature and God as the Creator of all things.  There is no escaping the primary message of this first vision of John.  God wants to be worshipped as Creator.  God is proud of His roll, and He has made the wonders of the world.  All that we see that amazes us is His doing, and He expects us to praise Him for His wisdom, power, and cleverness in making what He has made. </div> <div> If God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, then God's people will be a people who, like the saints in heaven, honor and glorify God as Creator.</div> <bR> <div>      A woman who has sewn or knitted, or crochet a thing of beauty is delighted when you acknowledge that it is worthy of praise.  People who make things of beauty enjoy their works being enjoyed by others.  That is what creativity is all about.  If you appreciate a work of art, you should let the creator of it know, for that is the joy of creating.  God feels the same as any artist or creator of beauty.  He wants to know if other minds can see and appreciate what He has done.  A major part of our worship is to  honor Him, thank Him, and praise Him for the wonders of nature.  The Christian is to be a student of nature, for the reason that when it is known better, you know God better, and you will be in a state of worship.  </div> <bR> <div>      The Christian has no quarrel with science, for it is but the study of that which God has made.  It has a quarrel, however,  with that which leads men to worship the creation rather than the Creator, but there is no quarrel with science as such.  The songs of heaven are songs of praises for God's creativity.  If God made it then it is worthy of study, for all God has made will lead us to praise Him when we see His wisdom in it.  Psa. 104:24 says, "How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all."  </div> <bR> <div>      When we came across the salt flats heading to Salt Lake City we saw what looked like glaciers of salt coming through the mountain passes.  God made so much salt in this world.  But what it truly amazing is that every grain of that salt, be it in the ocean, lakes, or under the earth, is a perfect square to the millionth of an inch.</div> <div> How it can possibly be is mind boggling, but that is the way God made salt; it is always square.  Sugar on the other hand is never square, but always irregular in shape.  Why?  Because God made the world with design, and clear signs of His creative mind.  There is order an design everywhere so that any who want to see can see and worship the Creator.  </div> <bR> <div>      There are fifteen largest pages filled with Bible texts that deal with all aspects of nature.  I suspect no man could ever live long enough to study in depth all God has said about nature in His word.  Everything that science studies is in the Bible.  As we traveled, we saw vast fields of crops all in beautiful rows.  We knew it was no accident they were so orderly.  Miles and miles of grapes in beautifully organized fields didn't just happen.  That order was designed by intelligence.  We knew it, and when you study the crops themselves, you know they also came from intelligence.</div> <bR> <div>      Jesus said the fruitful Christian would reap, some 30 fold, some 60, and some </div> <div> a hundred fold.  It was no accident that Jesus used only even numbers to illustrate, for He made all seed bearing plants to have a even number of seeds.  If you check</div> <div> a field of poor wheat, you will find the stocks with 28, 30, or 32 grains.  If you check</div> <div> a field with a good crop you will find stocks with 58, 60, or 62.  If it is a bumper crop you will find 98, 100, or 102.  But always you will find and even number of grains.  God made all seed bearing crops so they always have a even number of seeds.  That is designed and order and it is to make us lift our voices in praise to the Creator of such order.  If the farmer is to be praised for the order He has created in the planting of the crops, how much more the Creator of the order in the crops He plants?  </div> <bR> <div>      No matter where you look, in the starry heavens above, or in the deep seas below, and everywhere in between, you see that which makes the honest observer say, "The word chance doesn't fit-there is mind in that."  Nature and worship go hand in hand to those who see nature as God intended it to be seen:  As a symbol of His power and wisdom.  Thomas Edison said, "One thing is certain, the universe is permeated by intelligence.  I tell you no person can be brought into contact with the mysteries of nature, or make a study of chemistry, without being convinced that, behind all, there is a Supreme Intelligence.  I am convinced of that.  I think I can, perhaps I may sometime, demonstrate the existence of such intelligence with the certainty of a demonstration in mathematics."  </div> <bR> <div>      John's vision is not of any scientific experiment or mathematical proof.  He sees four living creatures which are symbols of all nature glorifying and worshipping God.</div> <div> Most commentators will agree that these four living creatures are representative of all nature.  The lion is supreme among wild animals; the ox is supreme among tame animals; the eagle is supreme among the birds, and man is supreme among all the creatures of earth.  As Swete and Barclay state, "These four beings stand for the noblest, strongest, swiftest, and wisest of God's creatures, and they lead the way in the worship of their Creator."  The best of nature are not objects of worship, but are themselves leaders in worship. </div> <bR> <div>       When God created all of nature, He said it was very good, and in the new heaven and new earth it will be very good again.  Creation is seen here as God intended it to be:  A tool that leads His people to worship. What is nature for?  Its chief end is to glorify God and lead men to do the same.  Psa. 103:22 says, "Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion."  All of creation is to praise God, and in so doing be a witness to man of the importance of worship.  God wants to be worshipped as our Creator even in heaven.  He will be our Creator forever, and His creation will forever praise Him.</div> <bR> <div>      Some people ask, will there be animals in heaven?  The answer is, if God is going to redeem His creation from the fall, and this is the clear revelation of the Bible, then there will be animals in  heaven, and there will be everything else in heaven that is a part of God's creation, and forever they will aids to the worship of God as Creator.  Chapter 5 is about the worship of God as redeemer, but before God became redeemer He was Creator, and He wants to be worshipped as such.  Even redemption is a second work of creation.  It is a plan by which fallen man and nature are recreated to be what God intends.  </div> <bR> <div>      This revelation is to cause the Christian to be one who looks at all of nature as a guide to worship God as Creator.  Our perspective is to be:  All that God made is like a choir director leading us to praise its Maker.  Sometimes this is easy, as when you are standing gazing out over the Grand Canyon.  At other times it takes effort to see how nature glorifies God.  Isa. 6:3 says, "The whole earth is full of His glory."  But you have to look harder some places to see it.  Take the wilderness for example:  </div> <bR> <div> THE WILDERNESS.</div> <bR> <div>      As I drove for hours seeing nothing but wilderness and desert sage, which amazed me with its ability to survive in such a place, I wondered over and over again what good is all this wasteland?  It seemed so worthless, and I wondered why God made so much of it.  As we saw a ranch off in the distance from time to time we could not help but feel sorry for the people who have to live in such isolation from the world. </div> <div> Some had their large TV dishes, and so we knew they could lighten up their solitude with the blare and glare of civilization, but many had no TV, and when we turned on the radio we found places with no stations at all, and many with only one.  The very thought of living in such isolation was a burden to us.  </div> <bR> <div>      Then, when I read the Scripture I was reminded that these people  had the potential of developing very Christlike qualities by living there.  John the Baptist, </div> <div> of whom Jesus said that he was the greatest born of woman, lived in the wilderness.</div> <div> Jesus also often went into desolate places to pray and be alone with His heavenly Father.  Luke 5:16 says, "And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness and prayed."  Luke 6:12 says, "..He went out into a mountain to pray..."  Mark 1:35 says, "..rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed."  </div> <bR> <div>      David Douglas in Christianity Today says he can identify with this, for in Santa Fe, New Mexico he is ever near the wilderness, and he says it motivates one to pray, for the solitude and the wonder of nature dominate the mind.  It makes one feel alone with the Creator of it all.  He says the vast wilderness makes one feel totally inadequate.  Pride vanishing and one is filled with a sense of dependence upon God.</div> <div> I've only sipped at this cup from which he has drunk deeply, but I can, after seeing the wilderness, believe what he says is true.  God does not speak to us more clearly in the wilderness, but we are more likely to listen there.  That is the problem, that we are too busy, too preoccupied, too distracted by all the realities of life to listen to the Creator of all that really matters.</div> <bR> <div>      Being alone in the wilderness of God's creation makes us listen, and thus, makes us pray, and thus, it is a major aid to worship.  Douglas writes, "On hiking trips I have taken alone, often into the desert canyons of the Southwest, prayer has become a virtual companion.  I have walked for miles passed cliffs of burgundy sandstone, the walls suspended like five hundred-foot-high tapestries embroidered by waterfalls, and come across no one for days.  I have found myself praying on scores of occasions in that solitude, prayers of petition for my continued well being, prayers of thanks for my sight and mobility.  Normally merely dutiful and absent minded, my prayers in the wilderness have become expressions of impassioned clarity."  </div> <bR> <div>      In our gardens and our parks we can forget God, for even though He alone can make the flowers, trees, and plants, we are conscience also that we have helped make the order and beauty.  But in the vast wide open wilderness we are over whelmed by the reality that we are not the Creator.  We are nothing, and He is everything.  All the so-called wasteland is not wasted at all, for it is one of the most powerful tools for making man conscience of God.  John Muir made the claim, "While God's glory is written all over his work, in the wilderness the letters are capitalized."  Anything that helps us worship God is a great value, and in John's vision we see it is the forces of nature that help all of God's people to worship.  Therefore, the realm of nature is to be treasured as a friend that leads us to God.  </div> <bR> <div>      The word of God says listen to the works of God, for day and night; perpetually, and without end, they call us to worship.  There is a time and place for everything, and the time for worship is anytime, and the place is anyplace, for nature leads the way, and nature is like God in this respect:  It is always present.  The heavens declare the glory of God day and night.  But so does every animal, every flower, and everything made that only God can make.  Sheldon Vanauken wrote of an experience most all of us have had:  Of suddenly being surprised by the sight of a cardinal in all of its red brilliance.  He wrote, </div> <bR> <div>                This is no chance,</div> <div>                This bird of flame</div> <div>                That grips my glance:</div> <div>                I see God's name</div> <div>                In scarlet flight</div> <div>                And know that he</div> <div>                Along the light</div> <div>                Is hailing me.       </div> <bR> <div>      We get so familiar with our surroundings and the nature in the context of where we live that we do not think of it as a symbol calling us to worship its Maker.  This is one of the values of travel.  We saw things that God made so radically different that it made me look more closely at the beauty of what we have in our own environment.</div> <div> It made me more thoughtful of creation.  I don't know how long I can be influenced by what I saw in the West, or by what John saw in heaven, but the goal of every Christian is to be ever thoughtful of nature so that it might lead to worship.  Max Mullen wrote, "The eyes of a thoughtful man forever behold the face of the Creator beaming in love from the midst of his works."  </div> <bR> <div>      Beauty is a link to God.  Some of the beauty of nature is so fleeting it is hard to capture.  We were pulling up a hill in the painted desert, and on the ridge of a bare hill to our right was a large deer standing like a statue in the morning sun.  I wanted Lavonne to get  a picture of it, but we went around a bend and the vision was gone.  It was a fleeting scene of impressing beauty we could not capture, and there are so many of these.  But each one can cause you to praise God, for He is the author of that beauty.  We often got up at 5:00 in the morning to drive, and we saw the sun come up over the mountains.  The sun is the source of so much of the beauty of God's handiwork. </div> <bR> <div>       Gloria Gaither in Joys and Sorrows tells of how she came close to missing a chance to worship God, and strengthen her relationship to her son.  It was a hectic day and she was busy in the kitchen when Benji hollered, "come here mom!"  "I can't" she hollered back," I've got to finish these dishes.  You will have to wait."</div> <div> Knowing that sunsets do not wait for busy mothers he said," okay, but you'll miss it," and he turned and walked out.  It dawned on her that this could be an important moment, and so she went out behind him and saw the sky a riot of crimson.  It was breathtaking with the light reflecting off the creak where they live, and geese flying across that crimson sky.  Her son said, "Mom, I'm glad you came."  She was glad as well, and felt bad because she almost missed this gift from God for a sink full of dishes.  She still had to do the dishes, but it was easier after she had spent those moments in worship.</div> <bR> <div>      Nature is to be a source of constant messages that bring us out of self, work, and even play to worship the One who made it all.  Day and night nature worships God as its Creator, and if we are alert, we can by day or night see that which will motivate us to join in on their song of praise.  We are not Tazans and Janes.  We do not live close to nature every day.  The lion and eagle we rarely see, and for most of us even the ox or cow is a rare sight.  But remember, man is a part of nature.  Man is one of the wonders of God's creation.  We can see people every day, and if we see them as God's works of art, we can see enough daily to make us join all nature in the praise and worship of God our common Creator.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>        </div> <div> WORTHY OF WORSHIP based on Rev. 5:1-14</div> <div> BY PASTOR GLENN PEASE</div> <bR> <div>      Back in the early part of this century when Billy Sunday was drawing thousands to his meetings, a new song was introduced that became very popular. It become so popular that Homer Rodehaver, the great music man of the day, wrote a history of its influence. He traveled around the world and found it being sung in the French Foreign Legion even. Missionaries reported that it was sung by children in the remote interior of Siam. From around the globe came stories of its impact on all classes of people.</div> <div> This new song, published in 1918 was the simple song, Brighten the Corner Where You Are. Mrs. Ogden, who wrote it wanted to do something great for God in the world, but like most people she had to live her life in the small world of her family and community. Then one day she wrote a song that expressed her own insight into God's will for her and all His children. The first stanza goes-</div> <bR> <div>                Do not wait until some deed of greatness you may do.</div> <div>                Do not wait to shed your light afar,</div> <div>                To the many duties ever near you now be true,</div> <div>                Brighten the corner where you are.</div> <bR> <div>      The paradox is, she did just that and wrote her song for her own corner, but the light of it spread around the globe. You never know what a new song will do.  It may die in birth or become a giant best seller.  The world and the church have this in common:  They are ever looking for a new song to convey a message, and capture the hearts and minds of the masses.  </div> <bR> <div>      As we gaze into heaven with the Apostle John we discover this goes on right into eternity, and there is ever a new song.  John hears the whole kingdom of God, that is all of the redeemed, and all of the animal kingdom, joining in a new song of praise to the Lamb.  The paradox of this new song is that, though it is new, it is still a song of the old old story of Jesus and His love.  The theme of heaven is the same as the theme of the church all through history.  In the cross of Christ I glory.  The cross and what Jesus accomplished there will the theme of endless songs in eternity.  When we experience the fullness of all He saved us for, we will never cease to sing a new song.</div> <div> Here we are to pray without ceasing.  There we will sing without ceasing, and the one word that stands out as the defining word of all this praise is the word-worthy.   Of the 7 uses of the word worthy in Revelation, 4 of them are right here.  </div> <bR> <div> In verse 2, the mighty angel asked the question, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"  </div> <bR> <div> In verse 3, John weeps, for no one in heaven or earth was found worthy.</div> <bR> <div> In verse 9, The new song sung by the 24 elders begins with the words, "You are worthy."  </div> <bR> <div> In verse 12, The angelic hosts of heaven join in the song making it completely universal, and they sing, "Worthy is the Lamb."  </div> <bR> <div>       The theme of eternal and universal music will be Jesus is worthy of worship.  You only worship what is worth it.  What is of ultimate value is what is worthy of our worship.  All of life for the Christian is, in a very real sense, choir practice, for the grand performance of singing this eternal new song-worthy is the Lamb.  We need to learn to do now what we will do forever, therefore, we need to understand all we can about the worthiness of our Lord.  As we examine this heavenly scene the first thing we see is-</div> <bR> <div> I.  THE REQUIREMENT OF WORTHINESS.</div> <bR> <div>      The scene opens with the focus on a scroll in the right hand of God.  It is a very long scroll with writing on both sides, but it is not readable because it is sealed with 7 seals which means it is so totally sealed it is as good as locked up in Fort Knox.  Even that does not convey its secrecy, for there has never been a more top secret classified document in history.  The only one who had access to this scroll was one who was worthy.  This is the one requirement that would allow anyone to see this information. </div> <bR> <div>      Yet, with only one requirement there was no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth who could even look inside, let alone open the scroll.  You can't make any less than one requirement, but this one was too many for all the beings in God's creation.</div> <div> Gabriel or Michael, the great archangels of the Bible, did  not step up and say I qualify.  They were sinless beings who never disobeyed God, and they served Him faithfully, and worshipped Him consistently, and still even these highest of holy angels could not meet this one requirement.  They were not worthy to open the scroll, and if they were not worthy, then there is no point in looking on earth or under the earth. </div> <div> If you can't find jewelry in a jewelry store there is not much point in searching a hardware store.  If none in heaven can meet this requirement, then the search is over.</div> <div> Worthiness at this point is the most scarce commodity in the entire universe.  It is a sad lack too, for here is one of the most fascinating books in all the universe, and nobody will ever get to read it, for nobody is worthy.</div> <bR> <div>      John felt the frustration of this hopeless situation, and he burst into uncontrollable</div> <div> sobbing.  You would think going to heaven would be more fun than this, but here is John bawling his eyes out in heaven because the scroll is worthless without someone</div> <div> who is worthy.  John knew he was looking at the rarest book in history.  How many books does God ever hold in His right hand?  This was a one of a kind rare volume, but rarer yet John thought was someone worthy to open it and reveal its contents.  So the scene produces tears in heaven.  It is good for men like John to learn to cry to relieve their stress and frustration.  But, on the other hand, these tears were unnecessary, and all John needed was a little patience.  </div> <bR> <div>      After all, he ought not to have expected a rush of applicants who would have the audacity to say I am worthy to peer into the heart of God's diary, and read of His plan for the world.  Who was worthy to open the diary of any man or woman, let alone the diary of God?  John is devastated by the lack of worthiness in the universe, but what did he expect.  Did he expect God to lower His standard and ask, is anyone 75 to 80% worthy?  Then maybe an archangel or two would have stepped forward to open the scroll.  But God required 100% worthiness, and John is depressed by God's standard.  You can even get depressed in heaven as God's guest if you don't learn to accept God's standard, and have the patience to wait for His solution to the impossible.  </div> <bR> <div>      John is still the impatient son of thunder who wants a quick and easy answer to everything.  How do we deal with Samaritans who will not accept Jesus as the Messiah?  We will call fire down from heaven to consume them.  That was his quick and easy solution.  Jesus rebuked such nonsense, but it is hard to change  your personality, and here we see John weeping crocodile tears in heaven because no one is rushing up to open the scroll.  Finally, one of the elders takes compassion on this impatient weeping saint, and points him to the solution for his problem.  </div> <bR> <div>      He says to him, do not weep, there is one who is able to open the scroll, and it is</div> <div> the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.  John looked and saw the Lamb of God; the Lord Jesus; the crucified Savior.  The famous painting of Salvidor Dali called, The Christ Of St. John Of The Cross, hangs in the Glasgow art gallery.  It pictures the cross of Christ being lifted right off the earth, and ascending into the sky.</div> <div> It has ceased to be merely an earthly event.  It has become a cosmic event.  That is the message of Revelation 5.  The cross of Christ, and the Christ of the cross are the central theme of heavens new song because the crucified Savior is the only one in the universe who is worthy to open the scroll.  </div> <bR> <div>      He alone is worthy because He alone has done what is necessary to fulfill the purposes of God that are written in the scroll.  No one else could bring to pass the things that God has decreed.  The salvation and the judgment of mankind all hinge on the work of the cross.  Nobody else died for the sins of the world, and nobody else was worthy to open the scroll.  Only one could meet the requirement, but one is all that is necessary.  One is enough when the one meets the requirement of worthiness.</div> <div> Jesus achieved this status of being worthy the old fashion way-he earned it.  It is was not a gift of the Father.  Jesus had to shed His blood to purchase men from every tribe, language, people, and nation.  He earned the right to open the scroll and see the destiny of the mankind for whom He died.  Nobody else ever did anything that </div> <div> meant everything for the destiny of everybody.  Jesus is one of a kind Savior, and, therefore, worthy of worship.  The second thing we see is-</div> <bR> <div> II.  THE REWARD FOR WORTHINESS.</div> <bR> <div>       When the Lamb took the scroll from the right hand of God, the first reward for His worthiness was-WORSHIP.  All living beings fell down before the Lamb and worshipped the one, and only one, who made it possible for them to be a part of the kingdom of God, and to be in the presence of God.  They worshipped the Lamb by singing a new song.  All through history and into eternity, singing is a major part of worship.  </div> <bR> <div>      I think it is important that we take note of the fact that they worship with a new song.  It has been a problem in Christian worship through the centuries that Christians resist new songs.  We get locked in to certain songs, and get lazy, and refuse to learn new songs, and it is new songs that keep our worship alive, fresh, and vibrant.  </div> <bR> <div>      One Sunday after the morning worship, Isaac Watts complained to his father about the dull and lifeless Psalm-singing in the church.  His father said, "If you don't like it, give us something better."  Isaac went home and opened his Bible to Rev. 5, and put this new song of heaven into his own words for a new song on earth.  This is what he wrote:</div> <bR> <div>                Behold the glories of the Lamb</div> <div>                     Amid His Father's throne,</div> <div>                Prepare new honors for His name,</div> <div>                     And songs before unknown.</div> <div>                Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood,</div> <div>                     And set the prisoners free,</div> <div>                Hast made us Kings, and Priests to God,</div> <div>                     And we shall reign with Thee.</div> <bR> <div>      This new song was sung at the next service in the Southhampton church, and it was so well received they encouraged Isaac to supply more new songs.  That began the career of Isaac Watts, the father of English hymnology.  This new song of heaven inspired the new song on earth that changed the whole history of the singing of the saints on earth.  Heaven's praises have had a powerful influence on earth, for Watts went on to write 700 hymns, and after him many more began to write to them.  Because Jesus was worthy to open the scroll.  He has been praised with literally thousands of new songs.</div> <bR> <div>      Songs are a vital part of worship in heaven and on earth, but it was not easy to change the tradition of singing only the old songs of the Psalter.  The Baptist were among the resisters.  Benjamin Keach, a Baptist pastor in London, tried to introduce a new song in his church.  He argued for it for 14 years before he was allowed to use a new hymn in the regular service, and then it was to be at the end of the service so members who opposed it could leave first.  Some were so upset they did leave, and never came back.  They started a church of their own where hymn singing was strictly forbidden.  Thank God such nonsense will over forever in heaven, and every tongue will join in the new song of praise to the Lamb who is worthy of worship.  This  will be just part of the reward for His worthiness that He will be the theme of eternal praise.  </div> <bR> <div>      Peter Machenzie was a miner in Durham, England, who helped evangelists draw crowd.  One day he got the crowd gathered, but the evangelist did not show up.  And so he had to preach himself.  He was not prepared so he said to the crowd, give me a subject.  Someone shouted out, "What do they do in heaven?"  He paused for a moment and said, "One thing they do is sing.  Singing is a basic part of the joy of heaven, and I hope to be leading a choir.  I'll probably say turn to number 749, My God and Father While I Stray.  And the angels in the choir will say, Peter you are in heaven, you can no longer stray.  And I'll say, then turn to 651, Though Waves In Storm Beat Or My Head, and the whole angelic choir will be on their feet again reminding me this is heaven and we need fear no more storms.  Then it will finally dawn on me that other themes will end but the new songs of praise will be the endless theme of our songs, for Jesus will always be worthy of our praise."  </div> <bR> <div>      There are few things we can do in life more important than that of praising our Lord.  It is His reward to be praised because He is worthy, but it leads to revival in the lives of those who sing His praises.  St. Augustine in his famous Confessions tells of how he was changed by the new songs that Ambrose introduced into the church of Milan.  He writes, "How abundantly did I weep to hear those hymns and canticles of thine, being touched to the very quick by the voice of the sweet church song.  Those songs flowed into my ears and the truth streamed into my heart so that my feelings of devotion overflowed, and the tears ran from my eyes and I was happy in them."  Here were tears on earth, not like John's tears because no one could open the scroll, </div> <div> but just the opposite-because he who did open the scroll is worthy of worship.</div> <bR> <div>     </div> <bR> <div> WORTHY IS THE LAMB  Based on Rev. 5:1-14</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      Colonel John Howard was ordered to retreat in the Revolutionary War.  But as he did, the British started to charge, and he decided to surprise them.  He ordered his men to attack.  They did and won a smashing victory for which he received great honor.  But General Morgan reminded him, had  his plan failed he would have been shot for disobeying orders.  His decision could have led to disgrace rather than honor.  Opposites can be so close, and in the case of Jesus as the Lamb of God, these opposites comes together as one.  The disgrace of the cross became the basis for Jesus to be honored, not only for all history, but for all eternity.  A song we will never cease to sing is the song, Worthy Is The Lamb Who Was Slain.  Every joy and every pleasure of the eternal kingdom will be ours because of his sacrifice for us.</div> <bR> <div>      After ten billion years we might forget every aspect of the history of earth and time, but we will never forget this song.  Rev. 5 is the worthy chapter of the book.</div> <div> Out of 7 uses of the word in Revelation, 4 of them are here in this chapter, and they all refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God who died for the salvation of a lost world.  This song of heaven exalts Jesus in a way no other does, for it is not just the redeemed humanity that prays His worthiness, but the angels, and all the beings of creation.  We are focusing on verse 12 which is the angelic chorus portion of this grand universal musical.</div> <bR> <div>                  The whole creation joined in one,</div> <div>                     To bless the sacred Name,</div> <div>                Of Him that sits upon the throne,</div> <div>                     And to adore the Lamb.</div> <bR> <div>      I think the church has underestimated the roll of angels in the whole plan of God.</div> <div> This text tells us they are together as a multitude beyond number praising the worthiness of the Lamb just as loud, if not louder, than the redeemed.  I fear we have underestimated the cosmic consequences of the cross.  We are told that angels cannot know what it is to be redeemed by the Savior, and there is  no doubt truth to this, for they were never lost.  But Christians have gone to far in separating the angels from the joy of salvation.  They know and feel more than we realize.  They are the ones who rejoice over every sinner who repents.  They are the ones who sing of the Lamb being worthy of 7 things:  Power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise.  Seven being used all through the book for completeness and totality.  In other words, there is nothing imaginable for which Jesus is not worthy of honor.</div> <bR> <div>      The angels actually know more about what Jesus deserved and merits for His sacrifice than do the redeemed.  We tend to want to make salvation man-centered, but the fact is, the Bible expands the picture to include all of creation, and the angels are deeply affected by this.  It is superficial, therefore, to put the angels down as does Anna Grannis in her poem:</div> <bR> <div>                There's a song the angels can never share</div> <div>                While the endless ages roll;</div> <div>                The song of one who has been redeemed,</div> <div>                The song of a ransomed soul:</div> <div>                Shall we sing it together, thou and I,</div> <div>                With the wondering angels standing by?</div> <div>                Shall we sing it there in the courts above-</div> <div>                The heaven gained through redeeming love?</div> <bR> <div>        Our text tells us it is not so.  The angels are not just standing by.  They are singing just as loud as the saints.  They understand that Jesus deserves every honor that heaven is capable of bestowing.  To be worthy is to deserve what you get.  We are not worthy of the least of His favors.  We are saved totally by His grace.  But Jesus is exalted as King of Kings and Lord of Lords because He earned that honor.</div> <div> He deserves it, and every knee will bow to Jesus because He is worthy.  Aristotle said three hundred years before Christ, "Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them."  The whole point of heaven's praise is that the Lamb of God deserves all the honors He receives.  The greatest rewards in heaven will be given to Jesus, for He alone deserves them.  We can't consider all 7 of His honors but I want to select three to focus on that all began with the letter W.  Worthy is the Lamb to receive Worship, Wealth, and Wisdom.  These represent all of which He is worthy.  The first is the word praise which is the same as worship. </div> <bR> <div> I.  HE IS WORTHY OF WORSHIP.</div> <bR> <div>      We need to grasp this basic truth that praise or worship is not to be founded on the worthiness of our circumstances alone.  When all is well and we flourish under showers of blessing, we naturally praise our Lord with hearts full of thanksgiving.  </div> <div> But we can easily let this lead us to conclude that our blessings are what makes Jesus worthy of worship.  The fact is, He is just as worthy when we are up to our knees in mud, because the showers of blessings have become a cloud burst of calamity.  </div> <bR> <div>      His worthiness does not hinge on our well-being.  That is a great aid in helping us praise, but we need to see Jesus as worthy and richly deserving of praise even when we are going through terrible days.  Sammy Tippit, founder and president of God's Love In Action, and international evangelistic ministry, tells of his discovery of this truth in his book, Worthy Of Worship.  He was leaving for Romania where he had preached before and saw many come to Christ.  The night before his flight he had an accident in which he totaled is car.  No one was injured, but he had to board the plane with a heavy heart, for he was leaving his family without transportation.  He felt down and lonely.  The next day he joined two friends in Budapest and boarded a train for Romania.  When they arrived at the border, soldiers came aboard and said, "Mr. Tippit, please take your luggage and come with us."  He tired to ask what was happening, but got no response.  The train pulled out with his two friends looking out the window.  He felt so bad the tears began to well up in his eyes.  He was tired and lonely, and felt God-forsaken.  But in that dark moment the Holy Spirit brought to his mind the song, Great Is Thy Faithfulness.  He began to sing it.  Great is thy faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see.  All I have needed thy hand hath provided.  Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me." </div> <bR> <div>      The guards looked at him like he was crazy.  It didn't make sense to him either, for his feelings were not in conformity with those words.  He had to make a choice:</div> <div> Do I follow my subjective feelings, or the objective revelation of God?  He decided to praise the Lord for who He was, and not focus on the mess he was in.  He began to sing praise songs, and had a private worship service.  His feelings began to lighten, and a sense of peace and joy replaced his sense of defeat.  His crisis did end, and he was on his way,  but he learned a vital lesson for life.  Jesus is worthy of praise, not just in good times, but always.  When we practice this truth we will find our bad times are easier to endure.  Paul and Silas were praising the Lord at midnight in a dungeon locked in stocks.  It is not the environment that is likely to produce praises, but the never changing reality that Christ is worthy, regardless of the setting, made them sing to him who is ever worthy of our praise.</div> <bR> <div>      Tippits experience again illustrates the point.  He was in a small village in a mountainous part of Germany.  He went jogging even though a fresh foot of snow had fallen.  For the first half hour it was complete drudgery, for he kept his eyes on the ground.  He was getting exhausted as each step became more difficult.  Then he looked up and saw a view that was magnificent as the mountains and trees sparkled in the sunlight.  It was awesome, and he decided to slow down and look at the splendid scenery.  His run was now and immense delight, and he enjoyed renewed vitality because of where he placed his focus.  Again, the lesson is, look to Jesus and get your eyes on the glory.  If you look at the hard road and the heavy load life can be a burden.  But get your focus on the brightness of His glorious whiteness, and the unchanging worthiness of his praise, and the burdens grow lighter, and this world becomes brighter.  </div> <bR> <div>       The basic issue in worship is not, is the choir worthy, is the soloist worthy, is the organist or pianist worthy, is the pastor worthy-the issue is, is Jesus worthy?  And if He is, then we can worship and praise Him regardless of all other short comings.  They are aids to worship, but if the aids fail to achieve the goal appointing us to Jesus, then we have an obligation to look beyond the aids to Him who is worthy, and let His worthiness alone be our aid to praise.</div> <bR> <div>      The point is, there is never an excuse to fail in worship.  No human defect, or flaw in the circumstances, can rob us of our joy in praise if we look to Jesus.  There is no end to what is not worthy of praise in even the best efforts of men to glorify God.  If the works of men are your focus, you will be a complainer and a disturber of the peace.  But if your focus is on the works of Christ, you will be an never ending praiser and distributor of peace.  You have a choice in  life as to where you will put your focus.  If you choose to focus on what is bad in the body, you will be dominated by negatives, for the body has endless defects.  But if you chose to focus on what is good in the Head, you will dominated by positives, for the Head has endless perfections.  It's a matter of, heads you win and tails you lose, for the body is often not worthy, but the Head is never not worthy of worship and praise.  Next, we note of the Lamb of God that-</div> <bR> <div> II. HE IS WORTHY OF WEALTH.</div> <bR> <div>     In other words, if anybody in history is worthy of being rich forever, it is Jesus.  There are a lot of people who are rich who do not deserve to be.  They have acquired their wealth at the expense of the health and well being of others.  By drugs or pornography, or even by murder, there are those who are millionaires.  There status as rich will be very temporary, however, for they are not worthy.  </div> <bR> <div>      Others have produced products that are of great value to life, and they became wealthy in a way that is deserving.  Firestone made a tire that race track drivers trusted with their lives.  From 1920 to 1966 every winner of the Indianapolis 500 came in on Firestone tires.  People made him a rich man because they said it's worth the price for his product, and so he is worthy of wealth.</div> <bR> <div>      When the doctor has the skill to save  your life you are grateful, and you pay your bill feeling they are worthy of wealth, for they have restored you to health.  There are many who receive riches who are deserving of them.  How much more the Great Physician who has found a way to heal all our diseases forever?  He alone has the cure for that which robs us of health and wealth, and our relationship to God.  Sin robs us of our identity as children of God.  Sin is a plague that is so devastating it makes all the other plagues of history look like acne in comparison.  Find a cure for sin, and you have the greatest hero of history, for he will be the benefactor of all mankind, and the entire creation of God.  </div> <bR> <div>      That is what the song is all about.  The Lamb who was slain was that hero, and He is, therefore, worthy of wealth.  The richest person in eternity will be Jesus, and rightly so, for he did what no other could do.  Isaac Watts expressed it in his hymn-</div> <bR> <div>                Not all the blood of beasts</div> <div>                      On Jewish altars slain,</div> <div>                Could give the guilty conscience peace,</div> <div>                      Or wash away the stain.</div> <div>                But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,     </div> <div>                       Takes all our sins away.</div> <div>                A sacrifice of nobler name,</div> <div>                       And richer blood than they.</div> <bR> <div>      Nobody will ever walk down the golden streets of the New Jerusalem and complain, "How come the Lord Jesus has a palace the size of the Mall of America, and the rest of us only get these 50 room mansions?"  No one will ever envy the fact that Jesus will be the riches being in the universe with more jewels on the doorknob of  His palace than are in all the crown jewels of Europe.  There will be no envy of the luxury beyond our wildest dreams, but rather a sincere song of praise acknowledging that He, and He alone is worthy of such wealth.  We will love the lavish luxury of our Lord, for we know there is no way we can adequately reward Him for what He has done for us.  Thank God the Father that He has a way of richly rewarding His son even in a context where all will be rich forever.  </div> <bR> <div>      Have you ever thought of it:  If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you can tell people that you have an older brother who is richer than the richest men in the world.  There are billionaires, but I haven't heard of any trillionaires yet.  But even trillionaires are not in the class with our older brother in the family of God.  If  Jesus gets the wealth He deserves, then He inherits all the riches of God, and as King of Kings and Lord of Lords possesses the wealth of the universe.  We are talking about figures so astronomical  that in comparison the combined wealth of all the nations of the world is equivalent to the value of the mineral deposits under your little finger nail.  </div> <bR> <div>      That is why heaven is so full of the songs of praise.  That is all you can give to the man who literally has everything.  There is nothing we can add to the wealth of Jesus.  All we can offer Him is the sacrifice of praise.  That is why we will enjoy the angels in all creation in singing forever-worthy is the Lamb to receive wealth.  Next we see-</div> <bR> <div> III.  HE IS WORTHY OF WISDOM.</div> <bR> <div>      Solomon was the wisest man in history, but that was due to God's grace, and not his worthiness.  He became very unworthy of God's favor and suffered judgment.  But a greater than Solomon is here as the theme of heaven's song.  Jesus was the wisest man in history, and will be for all eternity, and He deserves it.  He earned His degree in the school of hard knocks, and is worthy to have the very mind of God knowing all that can be known, and having the wisdom to use that knowledge for the good of all, and the glory of the Father.</div> <bR> <div>      No one else in all the universe was worthy to open the scroll of heaven and see the future.  The spotless angels who never fell were not worthy.  The geniuses of history who were already in heaven were not worthy.  Only one being existed worthy of sharing the very mind of God.  He only had the wisdom to look beyond the moment and obey God at any cost.  This is where all others have fallen short of being worthy.  Lucifer could not see the glory of the long-run.  He wanted the glory of the moment, and so in folly he fell from grace.  Adam and Eve could not see the glory of obedience to God, even when they did not understand.  They grasped for the glory of the moment and they fell.  It is the story of all God's creatures, but Jesus came on the stage of history and was offered fame and fortune and power if He would bow to Satan, but He had the wisdom to say no to the glory of the moment so that He and we might enjoy the glory of forever.  Nobody else ever had that kind of wisdom.  His ability to see the long-run, and the long range picture, is what made Jesus the wisest man to ever live, and thus worthy of wisdom forever.  </div> <bR> <div>      If that is heaven's estimate of Jesus, then we need to enter into that estimate on earth and recognize Jesus is worthy of our best.  He is worthy of our best thinking and planning, and worthy of excellence in all that we do.  We are to love Him with all of our mind, and give heed to Paul who says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."  We are to be wise and not foolish.  We are to live and think and create on a level of excellence that conveys this conviction-worthy is the Lamb to receive wisdom.  He does not receive it from God the Father, but He only receives it from us when we are conscience of His worthiness and present ourselves, body, mind, and spirit, as living sacrifices for His glory.  </div> <bR> <div>      He is worthy of our best now and for all eternity, because He alone had the wisdom to figure out how to turn filthy ragged sinners into white robed saints.  J. W. Ham tells of his wonder at visiting a paper mill where he saw a huge pile of dirty rags thrown into a vat and made into pulp.  Then chemicals were added, and this stuff was rolled out into pure white paper for people to write messages of love on, and send to loved ones.  Man is deserving of honor and reward for the wisdom of this process that benefits us all.  How much more the Lamb of God whose wisdom devised a way to turn the filthy rags of our righteousness into the white robes of redemption, making us acceptable in the presence of God?  </div> <bR> <div>                Wise are we who will not wait</div> <div>                To in His praise participate,</div> <div>                But right now on this present date</div> <div>                Join all heaven to celebrate.</div> <bR> <div> Let us never cease to sing, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive worship, wealth, and wisdom, and every other  honor conceivable.   As part of the Bride of the Lamb, this is our song now and forever-worthy is the Lamb.</div> <div>       </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> A PAIN FREE PARADISE  Based on Rev. 21:1-8</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      If you are rich enough,  you can even enjoy your own funeral.  Colorado farmer Jim Gernhart proved this over and over.  It all began in 1951 when he decided to rehearse his own funeral.  He rented the Armory in Burlington, Colorado, hired a pastor, and had a lavish display of flowers and a good meal for 1,000 mourners.  It cost him over 15,000 dollars for this mock funeral.  But he so enjoyed it that for the next 22 years he had an annual funeral until he died at age 97.  He earned the nickname, the living corpse.  This is certainly covering the theme-prepare to meet thy God-to an extreme.  </div> <bR> <div>      For most people, even the rich, this would be a pain rather than a pleasure, to go through 23 rehearsals for your own funeral.  But the story does reveal the complexity of dealing with the whole issue of pain and pleasure.  God tells us in Rev. 21:4 that there will be no pain in heaven.  This is certainly among the greatest hopes that the mind of any man or woman can hold.  But it is a challenge to the mind to deal with all the implications of this one promise of God.  It raises many profound questions like:  1.  If pain is done away with, does this mean pain is evil in itself?  2.  If there is no pain in heaven, does this mean all the saints will love and enjoy the same things, and the diversity of time will be eliminated?  Right now it is a pain for many to sit through a symphony, while others consider it one of their highest pleasures.  Some Christians enjoy certain types of food which others find distasteful.  Diversity covers many areas of life.  Will all  this be gone in heaven, and all Christians be alike?  </div> <bR> <div>      Pain and pleasure are subjects that every human experiences, but they do not necessarily do a lot of thinking about them.  I want to challenge you to do so, for they are Biblical subjects and subjects that are relevant to every life.  The first thing I want to consider is-</div> <bR> <div> I.  THE PARADOX OF PAIN.</div> <bR> <div>      Pain is both a burden and a blessing.  We don't have to spend much time establishing the negative side, for all of us have had pain that was pure agony, and with no value of which we are aware.  If we go back to the earliest records we have of human writing, we go back to the cuneiform writing on clay tablets from Nippur, and we read this prayer of the daughter of the king of Babylon:  "Pain has seized my body.  May God tear this pain out."  The study of man is the study of how to triumph over pain.</div> <bR> <div>      Pain entered this world through sin.  When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they turned a paradise of pleasure into a place of pain, for God's judgment was that Eve would have increase pain in childbirth, and Adam would have to suffer in painful toil to produce food from the cursed land.  Pain was the beginning of the end of paradise, and all through the Bible and history we see the damage that pain does.</div> <div> Find one man or woman in the Bible who did not suffer negative pain.  It is so universal that it goes even one step beyond sin.  When we talk of sin there is always one exception-the Lord Jesus.  But when we talk of pain He is no longer an exception, but rather, a prime example of the curse of pain.  He suffered the very pains of hell, as well as the pain of human rejection and cruelty.  </div> <bR> <div>      You cannot study any life in history where pain has not played its evil role.  </div> <div> Columbus had his painful attacks of gout.</div> <div> Luther and Calvin both had such migraine headaches they could scarcely speak.</div> <div> Napoleon's gastric problem made him write, "The pain cuts like a knife."</div> <div> Beethoven suffered horribly from gull stone colic.</div> <div> Moliere had such pain while performing his own play that he died hours later.</div> <div> Maupassant inhaled ether during his attacks of headache.  </div> <bR> <div>       The list could go on endlessly, for there are no famous people who have escaped the curse of pain.  But the paradox is, pain can also be a blessing, and this too is universal.  The pain of childbirth is negative, yet none of us would be here, and none of us would have the joy of children and grandchildren without this pain.  The very blessings of life, love, and family, come to us by means of the painful route of childbirth.  </div> <bR> <div>      Pain is also the route by which we grow.  We call them growing pains.  It is the pain of stretching the muscles that makes them better muscles.  It is by the pain of exercise that we become stronger and healthier.  When I play a couple of hard sets of tennis, I usually suffer pain, but it is a sort of pleasurable pain, for I know my body is better for the exercise.  There is no progress in any respect without pain, and so the pain is a form of pleasure, for pain is a symbol of progress.  Pain is the price paid for progress in freedom all through history.  The Colombian National Anthem has this line, "In furrows of pain, good now germinates."  Every good thing we enjoy has come out of the pain of those who have gone before.  The pain of high risk and hard work.   If not for the pain of the founding fathers, and the pilgrims and pioneers, we would not have a long list of things for which to thank God.  If it was not for the pain of Christ and His church through the ages, we would have nothing for which to give thanks.  </div> <bR> <div>      Positive pain has played a major role in everything we call our blessings in time.</div> <div> Our life, our freedom, and our salvation are all based on the pain of others.  Pain has many positive purposes in time.  </div> <div> 1.  It teaches compassion.  It is  your pain that helps you identify with, and have </div> <div>      sympathy for others in their pain.  The very reason Jesus entered into the pain</div> <div>      of human flesh is that He might understand and feel the infirmities of the flesh,</div> <div>      and thus, sympathize with our weakness.  </div> <div> 2.  It teaches humility.  Paul was given the pain of the thorn in the flesh because he</div> <div>      had such a lofty experience of seeing the third heaven that he could be carried</div> <div>      away thinking he was like a god.   The pain kept him humble and human.</div> <div> 3.  One of the greatest purposes of pain is the power it generates in men to triumph</div> <div>      over it.  Most of the great victories over pain have come because pain moved its</div> <div>      victims to seek a way to help others escape it.  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus suffered the pain of the cross for the ultimate goal of ridding the world of all pain.  There will be a painless paradise just because of the pain He suffered, and he suffered it because He could not love man and let him go on enduring all the pain that sin had brought into the world.  When He walked this earth, almost all of His miracles were pain-killers.  He came to destroy the works of the devil that brought so much pain to man, and He did so by healing, forgiving, and by raising from the dead.  Ever since the mind of Christ has influenced history, and millions have given their life to fight pain.  It is the task of the church, the medical profession, and even the government to fight pain.  Every victory over pain is a foretaste of heaven.</div> <bR> <div>                See the wretch, that long has toss'd</div> <div>                     On the thorny bed of pain,</div> <div>                At length repair his vigour lost,</div> <div>                     And breath and walk again!</div> <div>                The meanest flow'ret of the vale,</div> <div>                The simplest note that swells the gale,</div> <div>                The common sun, the air, the skies,</div> <div>                To him are opening Paradise.</div> <bR> <div>      </div> <div>      A major portion of all human energy and human resources are directed at relieving pain, and a large portion of our prayers as Christians are for this very thing as well.  The poet prays:</div> <bR> <div>                Dear Lord, for all in pain</div> <div>                We pray to Thee;</div> <div>                O come and smite again</div> <div>                Thy enemy.</div> <bR> <div>                Give to thy servants skill</div> <div>                To soothe and bless,</div> <div>                And to the tired and ill</div> <div>                Give quietness.</div> <bR> <div>                And, Lord, to those who know</div> <div>                Pain may not cease,</div> <div>                Come near, that even so</div> <div>                They may have peace.  </div> <bR> <div>      The paradox is, it is because pain is so terrible that it  moves people to such wonderful acts of love and service to conquer it.  The very evil of it is the source of so much good.  Almost all of the good things we treasure about civilization would not exist if there was o pain to conquer.  The result is, pain is a necessary evil in this life, and we must both hate it and love it, fight it and be thankful for it.  In heaven we will not have this paradox, for it will be gone and good riddance, but in this life we can not escape the paradox of pain, and the ambivalence of loving and hating it.</div> <bR> <div>      The poet captures this paradox:  </div> <bR> <div>                The cry of man's anguish went up unto God,</div> <div>                     "Lord, take away pain!</div> <div>                The shadow that darkens the world Thou hast made;</div> <div>                     The close-coiling chain</div> <div>                That strangles the heart; the burden that weighs</div> <div>                     On wings that would soar-</div> <div>                Lord, take away pain from the world Thou hast made,</div> <div>                     That it love Thee the more.</div> <bR> <div>                Then answered the Lord to the cry of His world:</div> <div>                     "Shall I take away pain,</div> <div>                And with it the power of the soul to endure,</div> <div>                     Made strong by the strain?</div> <div>                Shall I take away pity that knits heart to heart,</div> <div>                     And sacrifice high?  </div> <div>                Will ye lose all  your heroes that lift from the fire</div> <div>                     White brows to the sky?</div> <div>                Shall I take away love that redeems with a price,</div> <div>                     And smiles at its loss?</div> <div>                Can ye spare from  your lives that would climb unto mine</div> <div>                     The Christ on His cross?"</div> <bR> <div>      Pain is so much like the opposite sex:  You can't live with it and you can't live without it.  It is a pain that it is so, but it is so.  The presence of pain in time is as necessary as its absence is essential to heaven.  There are some extreme views of pain.  We will look at several of them.</div> <bR> <div> 1.  There are those who say pain is good, and it is always good.  It is warning  system that tells us that something is wrong so we will get it fixed.  This is true, but there are many cases that the pain if severe and hinders the healing process.  It breaks the spirit and robs people of hope and in no way is of value.  If pain did not  have an evil side to it, there would be no pleasure in seeing it will be eliminated from heaven.  </div> <bR> <div>      Nothing good will be denied the saints in heaven, and so pain is not good in itself.  It is a relative good in measure because of the nature of the present world and our fallenness.  As soon as it goes beyond a proper measure we do all we can to eliminate it.  The whole medical profession exists to fight pain.  Amy Charmichael, author of many beautiful poems, went through a very painful experience and she wrote, "Never before had I realized how much concentrated anguish a few square inches of flesh could contain."  She went on to write, "The ministry of doctors and nurses appeared to me more than ever before as a divine thing then, and I felt that our Lord Jesus, beholding them, must love them, and greatly desire to work together with them, laying his hand upon theirs as they work..."</div> <bR> <div>        The goal is to eliminate pain.  It can be used for good, but in itself it is evil and the thing to get rid of.   We do not want to deny the many values of moderate pain.  Lucy, a Canadian, was born with no sense of pain, and as the result she was in constant danger.  She is mass of scars and bruises.  She has several severe burns because she could not feel her flesh burning.  Very few people have this curse of feeling no pain, but it is just that-a curse.  It is good to feel pain.  Lepers lose their fingers because they do not feel pain, and they wear them off.  It is our sensitivity to pain that keeps us from many injuries to our body every day.  We cannot deny the value of moderate pain, but it is blindness to reality to think all pain falls into this category.  Milton saw reality and wrote, "But pain is perfect misery, the worst of evils, and, excessive, overturns all patience."  To think otherwise would lead to the conclusion that torture was good.  </div> <bR> <div> 2.  There are those who say pain if not real, but it is all in our heads, and we are deceived by the forces of darkness to believe in pain.  It is surprising how many people believe this and call pain an illusion.  This is a difficult position to hold when confronted with the reality of pain.</div> <bR> <div>                  There once was a faith healer of Deal</div> <div>                Who said although pain isn't real,</div> <div>                     When I sit on a pin</div> <div>                     And it punctures my skin</div> <div>                I dislike what I fancy I feel.</div> <div>                </div> <div> For the majority of people this is an unrealistic view of pain.</div> <bR> <div> 3.  Hindus and Christian Science say that pain is an illusion.  They spend their mental energy in denial of the reality of pain, and it is about as futile as the unrealistic efforts of the man in the old joke.  Three men were arrested in Russia, and before they knew it they were in front of a firing squad.  A blindfold was given to the first two and they eagerly put them on.  But the third man refused his.  His comrade at his side whispered, "Take the blindfold Manny, don't make trouble." </div> <div> When you are being shot it is to late to avoid trouble, and when you are hurting it is to late to pretend pain is an illusion.  </div> <bR> <div>      Whether you ever sing it or say it, everybody at some point feels it:  Rain rain go away come again another day.  Rain is good and essential, but when it rains on our parade we feel cheated and offended.  It is a good thing at the wrong time.  Rain so seldom seems convenient, and so rain is often a pain, but a necessary one, and life if full of just such paradoxical pains.  </div> <bR> <div>      Learning is good but often painful.  Even Jesus learned obedience by the things he suffered.  It was a painful experience to be tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.  It was painful to be despised and rejected of men.  It was painful to do good, and be judged evil.  It was painful to give and get no return of thanks.  It was painful to be misunderstood, and to be forsaken by those who cared for you.  The life of Jesus was pain filled, but it was for the joy that was set before Him that He endured it all-even the pain of the cross.  It was worth it all because He knew the end result was a painless eternity where not a pinprick of pain would ever rob His bride of one second of joyous bliss.  </div> <bR> <div>      All the heroes of the Bible are heroes because they overcame pain and pressed on to joy.  Joseph got to the throne where he saved people by the thousands, but the road was rough through the pit, the prison, and the persecution.  This is the road that many must travel.  Mary Verghese, a young medical doctor of India, was severely crippled in a car accident.  She suffered through one operation after another with almost unbearable pain.  At first she gritted her teeth and endured the pain.  Gradually, however, she came to the conclusion that she could do better than that.  With God's help she could use the pain to make her a better doctor.  From her wheelchair Mary operated on hands crippled by leprosy.  </div> <bR> <div>      Now she had a deeper understanding of her patience.  She had not only learned to endure pain, she had also learned to use it for the benefit of fellow sufferers and the glory of God.  "I did not understand depressed people when I was busy, happy and enjoying life.  Not until I walked through a dark valley of depression myself was I able to understand people and lend them a sympathetic ear and hand." Out of her pain came the pleasure of serving and being caring. Pain and pleasure are not always foes, but are friends. That is why we risk the potential of pain, for it is often necessary for pleasure.  </div> <bR> <div>      Charles Allen tells of his love for roller skating.  When his children grew up he bought them skates so they could enjoy what he did.  They fell and got hurt and cried, but he did not feel guilty for causing his children this pain, for it was worth it for the family pleasure they would enjoy together.  Every pleasure carries with it the risk of pain.  The joy of victory is in every sport, but so is the agony of defeat.  </div> <div> The class yell in the school of experience is Ouch!  It is painful and costly even to have fun in this world.  Art is painful too.  Michaelangelo had to suffer many years of pain and misery that millions might get pleasure from his sculptures and paintings.  </div> <bR> <div>      If you enjoy a good book, it is because an author went through the enormous pain of creativity, and the practical pains of work and negotiation.  Pleasures are not pain free in this life:  They are often purchased by pain.  Pain was the price paid for our perpetual pleasure.  The cross was the paradoxical pursuit of pleasure by means of pain, and by it Jesus purchased for  us a painless forever.  Next we see-</div> <bR> <div> II.  THE PASSING OF PAIN.</div> <bR> <div>      Whatever the values of pain in this life, they are no longer needed in the life to come, for life will be at its best and without pain.  That means no aspirin, no pain killers will be in the New Jerusalem.  There will be no pharmacy at all, for medicine will be obsolete where there is no sickness or pain.  The new resurrected body does not need any warning system, for nothing can ever go wrong.  It will be pleasure without pain just as God promised, pleasure at his right hand forevermore.  </div> <bR> <div>      If pain were allowed in heaven, it would make it hell, for the higher a being climbs in sensitivity the greater the pain.  Animals suffer more than plants, and people more than animals, and people who rise in their sensitivity suffer more than those who are dull.  The ear that is trained to listen to good music is offended by discord more than the uncultivated ear.  The eye trained to see beauty is irritated more by an ugly scene than those who are partially blind to its ugliness.  As life advances in quality it is more easily wounded by lack of quality.  This means that in our perfected state it would be torture to have to endure what we do in this fallen world with all of its imperfections.  God has promised us an environment to fit our new and perfected nature.  There will be nothing in heaven to cause physical, mental, or spiritual pain.  </div> <bR> <div>      Howard Thurman tells of visiting with a friend when they heard the baby cry.  It became quite intense and so they went to see.  The child had thrown off the covers and had his big toe in his mouth and was chewing on it.  The pain he was inflicting on his own body made  him cry.  He did not know he was causing his own pain, and often this is the case all through life.  We suffer because of foolish things we do to ourselves, and we don't even know it.  This will never happen in heaven, for with pain, all that causes pain will also have to go.  All the negative realties that make this a fallen world will be gone.</div> <bR> <div>      Robert Ingersall, the famous skeptic, once said, "If I were God, I would make health contagious and not disease.  I would see to it that laughter was infectious and not sadness."  God has revealed that to be precisely what He intends to do in the new heaven and earth.  The only reason it is not true on this earth is because of man and his foolish choice to disobey God.  All pain has been brought on himself.  But in the new heaven and earth the possibility of sin and disobedience is gone.  There will never be a time when God has to discipline one of his children and cause pain.  There is a lot of this in time, but never again in eternity.  The whole purpose of the good pain of time, like the cross, was to secure a life where no pain is necessary to achieve God's purpose and experience His best.</div> <bR> <div>      There will be many in heaven who suffered tribulation on earth, and many who were martyred, and many who just had a poorly put together body that suffered a lot.  Catherine Booth, the mother of The Salvation Army, was in pain most of her life.  She had tuberculosis and curvature of the spine.  She said she could not recollect one single day when she was free from pain.  Yet she used that pain-filled body to touch our world for Christ.  She will enjoy the fruit of her painful sacrifice for all eternity.  The point is, it is worth suffering to do the will of God, for as Paul says in Rom. 8:18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."  Paul's hope of a painless eternity helped him cope with the pain of time.</div> <bR> <div>      The health and wealth gospel is just too much too soon.  Those who preach that God wants us all in perfect health and blest with abundance are right, but they are ahead of their time.  We have to live in a fallen world until we get to heaven, and in a fallen world nobody escapes the present sufferings.  No matter how healthy or wealthy you are, you are not yet in heaven, and you will have pain of one kind or another.  </div> <div>   </div> <div>      A military plane crashed at an Airforce base in Greenland killing 22 people.  It was a grizzly sight with body strewn over the runway and field.  Each body had to be identified, and it was a long gruesome task.  It was after midnight before they were done.  The base chaplain said that even at this late hour someone was knocking at his door.  It was a young Lieutenant who had helped him with the task.  He said nothing, but just stood there and began to weep.  The chaplain could not control himself, and he broke into tears as well.  They stood with their arms around each others weeping.  Edward Beckstrom, the chaplain, writes this of what then happened.</div> <bR> <div>           After some moments, the lieutenant finally spoke through his tears.</div> <div>      "I realized," he said, "As we were picking up pieces of bodies today,</div> <div>      that the only other people out there with us were the people who go to</div> <div>      church here.  I've always been an unbeliever, and I use to ridicule these</div> <div>      same people who were out there with us.  Yet they are the only ones </div> <div>      who would, or perhaps could, do what we had to do today.  It must </div> <div>      have been a great act of faith that could help them see beyond the</div> <div>      gore-to a hope."  </div> <div>           That tragic day turned around the life that young lieutenant.  As </div> <div>      he readily admitted, he had never been religious, had seldom gone </div> <div>      to church except for weddings or funerals, but from that time on he</div> <div>      was a new man.  He took an active part in the Christian ministry of</div> <div>      that base.  He began attending church regularly, singing in the choir,</div> <div>      and becoming totally involved.</div> <bR> <div>      The point is, those who have hope of a painless paradise can better cope with this world of pain, and offer to a lost world the Gospel of hope in Jesus Christ.  Escape from pain and enjoyment of pleasure is what drives all people, and we have the ultimate  drive in Jesus.  Let this hope affect how you cope with pain, and let it motivate you to want others to be in on this greatest news in history-a pain free paradise.</div> <div>      </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>THE PRESENCE OF GOD  Based on Rev. 21:3</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      A four year old attended a prayer meeting with his parents,  and that night when he knelt to say his prayers before going to bed he prayed, "Dear Lord, we had a good time at church tonight.  I wish you could have been there."  The child was not critical of the church as being godless, he was merely expressing a childlike literalism concerning the presence of God.  To be present to a child is to be seen, touched, and heard.  To be present to a child is to be available to the senses.  Even an amateur theologian could quickly set the child straight and point out the reality of the presence of things unseen and unheard.  Numerous verses of Scripture could be quoted to assure him that God is always present.  He has promised to be with us always, and to never forsake us.  Where two or three are gathered in His name Christ said He would be present in their midst.  The historian could point to the experience of the saints down through the centuries who were aware of the presence of God at all times, even when they were not gathered with two or three.  </div> <bR> <div>      Madam Guyon could set in prison and write:</div> <bR> <div>                My Lord, how full of sweet content,</div> <div>                     I pass my years of banishment.</div> <div>                Where'er I dwell, I dwell with Thee,</div> <div>                     In heaven, in earth, or on the sea.</div> <bR> <div>      David said that God is  so persistently present with the believer that there is  nowhere to go escape His presence.  In Psa. 139:7-10 he writes, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit?  Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me."  What a contrast this is with the testimony of the first Russian cosmonout who ascended into the heaven's and said he saw no God.  What a contrast to the dark conclusion arrived at by Jean Paul Richter the German skeptic of the last century.  He wrote, "There is no God.  I have traversed the worlds.  I have risen to the suns, I have passed athwort the great waste places of the sky.  There is no God.  I have descended to the place where the very shadow casts by Being dies out and ends.  I have gazed into the gulf beyond and cried "Where art thou, Father?"  But no answer came, save the sound of the storm which rages uncontrolled.  We are orphans, you and I-Every soul in this great corpse-trench of the universe is utterly alone."  </div> <bR> <div>      Here was a man who experienced the real absence of God as deeply as believers experience the real presence of God. To some God is nowhere present; to others God is everywhere present.  Ralph Cushman could write: </div> <bR> <div>                I met God in the morning</div> <div>                     When my day was at its best,</div> <div>                And His presence came like sunrise,</div> <div>                      Like a glory in my breast.</div> <div>                All day long the Presence lingered, </div> <div>                      All day long He stayed with me,</div> <div>                And we sailed in perfect calmness</div> <div>                      O'er a very troubled sea.</div> <bR> <div>      There is an obvious conflict of experience.  The child and the skeptic experience the absence of God, whereas the saint and poet experience the presence of God.  The believer recognizes that the child and the skeptic are victims of the same misconception.  They are both looking for a physical and visible presence rather than a spiritual presence.  They want an objective presence rather than a subjective presence.  We know that as the child matures and develops a spiritual maturity he will become aware of unseen values.  He will learn to appreciate the reality of God's presence in spirit.  We know that if the skeptic would open his heart to Christ, the eyes of his soul would lose their scales, and he too would be enlightened as to the reality of things unseen.</div> <bR> <div>      What we seldom or never stop to realize is that it is the child's and the skeptic's longing for the visible presence of God that is the ideal.  The experience of the mystic who is caught up into a trace and senses his oneness with God is not the ideal experience of the presence of God.  The ideal is not that of being aware of the peace and power of God within your life giving you strength and guidance.  As precious as these experiences are, they are temporal and fall short of the eternal experience John describes here where we will dwell with God and He with us, and we shall fellowship with Jesus in physical form.  </div> <bR> <div>      Faith is essential but not eternal.  Faith is not the ideal.  We walk by faith now, but the ideal and ultimate will be to walk by sight in the new heaven and new earth.  The ideal will be when all of our senses are as relevant in spiritual experiences as they now are in physical experiences.  Paul said, "Now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love."  Why?  Because love alone is eternal.  Faith and hope will be no more when we reach the ideal and dwell with God and He with us.  Love, however, will continue for all eternity.  Love is the greatest thing in time and eternity, and it is the perfect link between the two."</div> <bR> <div>      It is love that longs to experience all that can be experienced of the presence of God within time.  The ideal of both the Old Testament and the New Testament is to enter the presence of God to the highest degree possible.  The ultimate goal being  to be in His objective presence.  The two fold ideal for time and eternity is illustrated in the 23rd Psalm where the Psalmist says he can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil for God is with him.  The presence of the Lord as his shepherd gives full assurance under any circumstance.  Augustus Toplady put it:</div> <bR> <div>                Lord!  It is not life to live</div> <div>                     If thy presence thou deny;</div> <div>                Lord!  If thou thy presence give,</div> <div>                     Tis no longer death-to die.</div> <bR> <div>      When the Lord is near there is no fear.  This is the testimony of the Psalmist as his journey through time, but what does he say concerning the end and goal of the journey?  He says that after goodness and mercy follow him all the days of his life, he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  We have no idea how much this eternal dwelling in God's house meant to the Old Testament saint, but surely it is clear that he recognized and even greater presence of God to come then the presence he experienced in the valley.  The final and highest goal of man is to dwell with God.  Jesus assured His disciples that His Father's house had many mansions, or rooms, and that they would be received into that dwelling with Him.  The goal of Old Testament and New Testament saints is the same:  To dwell in the very visible presence of God.  </div> <bR> <div>      In the Garden of Eden God walked with Adam and talked with Him, and was visible in a form, and audible as a voice.  Enoch walked with God, and Noah did also even after the fall.  We do not know if God was still manifesting Himself in visible form, but it could well be, since as late as Abraham's time he appeared in the form of a man to Abraham, and later to Moses.  We have so trained ourselves in spiritual thinking that the physical prsence of God seems like a childish idea, and we think it is primitive.  But, as a matter of fact, it is the most advanced concept possible, and here in Revelation we are told that when paradise is regained we shall regain with it the face to face fellowship with God.  John says elsewhere that we shall see Christ as He is and be like Him.  Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."  </div> <bR> <div>      The seeing of God has a spiritual interpretation, and we tend to stress that and ignore a literal interpretation, for it seems impossible.  At least this is so with Protestants.  I have never read a Protestant sermon on the saints vision of God as they dwell in His very presence, but the Catholics make a great deal of this which they call the Beatific Vision.  It is interesting to consider a Catholic's criticism of the Protestant view of heaven.  It could very well be that we have something to learn from their emphasis.  A Jesuit, P. J. Boudreaux, in his book The Happiness Of Heaven, has a chapter on errors to be avoided in meditating about heaven.  </div> <bR> <div>      His first point is this:  "The first error consists in ignoring or making little of the Beatific Vision, after the resurrection, and letting our mind pass from creature to creature, gathering exquisite pleasures from each, until practically we make man's happiness in heaven come almost exclusively from creatures.  This is substancially the view which Protestants take of heaven.  They have written books on the subject in which they speak eloquently and even learnedly on the joys involved in the mutual recognition of friends and kindred, on the delights we shall enjoy in our social intercourse with the saints and angels, in the music that shall ravish our very souls, and other things of that nature."  He continues: </div> <bR> <div>      In the Protestant view of heaven, the Beatific Vision is either entirely ignored, or, if mentioned at all, it is explained so as to mean next to nothing, at least, it does not appear to add anything to the exquiste happiness already enjoyed in creatures.  In their view heaven is really nothing more than a natural beatitude, such as might have been enjoyed even in this world, if Adam had not sinned.  We must, therefore, be on our guard against any view of heaven which would make its principle happiness come from creatures.  We must ever remember that no creature, either here or hereafter, can give perfect happiness to man.......................This, then, is the first error to be avoided, and with much care; not only because it is untrue, but because also it lowers the beatitude of heaven, which consists essentially in the vision, love and enjoyment of God Himself."  </div> <bR> <div>      We could counter this criticism by showing him our hymn, I Want To See My Savior First Of All, but our defence would be weak.  Just about every book I could find on the vision of, and presence of God was written by a Catholic.  This may appear to be a minor area of theology, but it is a part of the ultimate goal of the believer, and, therefore, we ought to take the criticism of our neglect in this area seriously.  If we take the ideal seriously, we will also be more diligent in seeking to experience the partial, but real, presence of God now.</div> <bR> <div>      Phillips Brooks, one of America's greatest preachers, said about 100 years ago, "The greatest danger facing all of us....is not that we shall make an absolute failure of life, nor that we shall fall into outright viciousness, nor that we shall be terribly unhappy, nor that we shall feel life has no meaning at all....not these things.  The danger is that we may fail to perceive life's greatest meaning; fall short of its highest goal; miss its deepest and most abiding happiness; be unable to render the most needed service; be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God....and be content to have it so.....that is the danger."  </div> <bR> <div>      I think if we are honest with ourselves we will have to admit that we not only neglect the idea of the ultimate vision and presence of God, but we also neglect to practice the presence of God in our daily lives. We do not have to reject great truths to lose their value. We need only neglect them.</div> <bR> <div>      In the Old Testament God dwelt in the temple, or before that, in the Tabernacle. His presence was to be found in a place. In the New Testament all this is radically changed and the physical temple in destroyed and the people themselves become the temple of the presence of God. It is not longer in a place but in persons. The presence of God takes on new dimensions in the New Testament. The Son came down and tabernacled with men. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down and indwelt men. The final step is that revealed here by John. God the Father will dwell with men. This will be the fulfillment of the hopes of all the saints of all time. Meanwhile it is our privilege and responsibility to be persons of the Presence and temples of the Spirit.</div> <bR> <div>                     Not in temples made with hands,</div> <div>                          In shrine or altar there,</div> <div>                     God hath chosen to abide</div> <div>                          The Scriptures plain declare.</div> <bR> <div>                     In the hearts of men who love</div> <div>                           Their neighbors, He abides.</div> <div>                     In His Spirit's fullness here,</div> <div>                           Richly  Christ resides.</div> <bR> <div>                     Let our hearts, O loving God,</div> <div>                           Thy living temples be.</div> <div>                     May our neighbors in our love</div> <div>                           Thy presence ever see.</div> <bR> <div>      Let us be determined to give more conscious thought to this whole matter of the temporal and eternal presence of God.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>NO COWARDS IN HEAVEN Based on Rev. 21:7-8</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     On January 18, 1912 Captain Robert F. Scott and four campanions at last reached the South Pole only to discover that they had been beaten by another explorer named Amundsen.  It was a terrible disappointment, for they had gone through unbelievable hardships to get there.  The return journey was even worse.   The blizzards were so bad, and the cold so bitter, they made little progress.  This led to their running out of food, and you can imagine the rest.  Ten months later recuers found their bodies and Captain Scott's diary.  One of the last things he wrote with his cold and weaken hand was this:  "I do not regret this journey...We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Here were men who died heroes because they were willing to take risks to reach their goal.  No man can ever be truly successful without taking risks.  One must risk the possibility of failure in order to succeed.  No ball player ever stole second without risking being thrown out.  Progress and advancement on every level of living demands risk taking courage.  Those who always play it safe are never the heroes in the battle of life.  In fact, some studies indicate that they live in greater danger than the risk-takers.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Dr. E. Paul Torrence, a university of Georgia psychologist, studied U. S. Ace Flyers during World War II.  He discovered that the ace flyers who took all kinds of risks actually suffered fewer casualties in combat than the pilots who were inclined to play it safe.  He discovered that the risk takers kept testing the limits of their abilities and, therefore, kept growing and learning new skills.  The more cautious stop short of their best and were sunk in a crisis beyond their experience.  Playing it safe led to their defeat.  Dr. Torrence said, "Living itself is a risky business.  If we spent half as much time learning how to take risks as wer spend avoiding them, we wouldn't have nearly so much to fear in life."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Some of you may be wondering, what does this have to do with heaven?  That is certainly one goal we can arrive at without any risk.  Jesus already paid the price did He not?  If He is our Savior then we have the hope of heaven guaranteed.  Certainly no one has to be a hero to get to heaven.  At least this is the common understanding among Christians.  But I wonder if we do not take too much for granted.  The black Chrisitans back in the days of slavery use to sit around their humble dwellings on the plantation and sing, "When I get up to heaven I'm gonna put on my shoes, I'm gonna walk all over God's heaven."  Then they would look up to the mansion and sing, "Everybody talkin bout heaven aint goin there."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>      They had their conviction about who was not going to make it.  The Apostle John had his convictions also, and he tells us by revelation just who isn't goin there.  The amazing thing is that the very first kind of person he lists as being excluded from heaven is the one who plays it safe and fears to take a risk.  John says in verse 8 that the fearful, or the cowardly as the Greek means, will be the first to be cast into the lake of fire.  In verse 7 he says that it is the overcomer, or the conquerer who shall inherit heaven.  There is no way to escape the truth of what John is saying.  The principle of success through risk taking is not just for earthly goals, but for all goals, even including the goal of heaven.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>      Heaven is for heroes only, so there will be no cowards in heaven.  All cowards will be cast into the lake of fire which is the second and final death.  They played it safe and took no risks for Christ, and like all safety first people, they end up as total failures.  Think of Pilate for example.  He was so merciful until it became to risky.  He wanted to do what was right, but when setting Christ free threatened to cost him his position of power he turned coward and sent Christ to the cross.  He had the chance to be one of the greatest heroes of the New Testament, but he played it safe, and lost the key to heaven's door.  All he will see of heaven is the sign saying, no cowards allowed.  How many others will there be who drew back from the challenge to take up the cross, and who will lament with the poet who wrote:</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>          I dreamed of a faith for heroes,  But a hero I refuse to be.</B></div> <div> <B>          I fell back from the cross.  Such faith would cost.  </B></div> <div> <B>               The risk was too much for me!  </B></div> <div> <B>          Now, the years are gone, And I have come to see</B></div> <div> <B>          That the risk I shunned Is the risk that made of someone</B></div> <div> <B>               The hero I had wanted to be.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Pilate's type of fear is a good example to illustrate what John is saying here, for not all fear exlcudes from heaven.  The foundations of the Holy City have on them the names of 12 men who were fearful on more than one occasion.  The same word that John uses here was used by Jesus when He asked His disciples why they were so fearful when the storm threatened to sink their boat.  Fear of storms and drowning is not the kind of fear that excludes from heaven.  We can dismiss all the fears of life that make us cowards before the manifold enemies of our peace and tranquility.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The cowardice that excludes from heaven is the cowardice that refuses to take the risk involved in being identified with Christ.  It was dangerous to be a Christian when John wrote this book.  Christians were being martyred constantly.   You didn't raise your hand; go forward, and live happily ever after.  Your stand for Christ was often the signing of your death warrant.  You risk your business, your home, your family, and everything, when the Romans began to persecute Christians.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Masses of people who professed to be Christians in times of peace and safety denied Christ and forsook the church when it involved risk.  All they wanted was a religion that promised them good things.  They wanted fire insurance to keep them out of the flames of hell, but they were not going to burn at the stake to collect it benefits.  They refuse to pay the premium of risk, and, therefore, their insurance is cancelled says John, and the lake of fire is their destiny.  "He who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom," said Jesus. </B></div> <div> <B>The coward who forsakes Christ when the heat is on literally leaps out of the frying pan into the fire.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The language of revelation is strong and frightening because it is addressed to those in the midst of great spiritual warfare.  The commander does not say to his troups as they face the enemy attack:  "Any of you guys who cannot take it, just fall back and trucks will be ready to take you off the field of battle."  No!  He says, "I'll shoot the first man who turns his back to the enemy."  Rough words, and seemingly cruel, but there is no alternative if the battle is to be won.  So it is in the Christian battle.  No person should ever become a Christian with the idea in mind that Christians receive special permission to cop out of life's battles.  Jesus says, "Take up the cross and follow me."  Paul says, "Put on the whole armor of God."  No where do we read that Christians are free to go AWOL because Jesus paid it all.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The completed work of Christ is what assures us of victory even if we fall in the battle, but it does not remove us from the battle.  The cross does not relieve us of our duty to fight against the forces of evil.  An article in Christianity Today suggested that one of the reasons youth are rejecting the church today is because the heroes of today are not coming from the church.  The dangerous business of fighting the forces of evil is being done by non-Chrsitians, or people not connected with the church.  Christians are taking no risks and are not involved where they might get hurt.  In the words of Dr. Harpur, youth know "...that the average church goer blends into the background of suburban conformist society as neatly as a snowshoe rabbit in a drift in January."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Does this mean the average church goer is cowardly and faces exclusion from heaven ?   I'm not sure what it means, but I know Jesus said that if we are ashamed of Him before men, He will be ashamed of us before His Father in heaven.  Anyway you look at it cowardice is going to cost plenty in the long run.  No wonder Paul was so concerned about being bold for Christ.  He asked for prayer that he might be bold in his preaching of the Gospel.  He was not an automatic hero.  He had to fight off the fears of the flesh like every hero.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Arthur Koestler said, "Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears."  Paul had the fears of the flesh like any man, but he acted on faith and not fear.  His faith led him to risk everything for Christ, and the result was he had absolute assurance of receiving the crown of  righteousness, for he fought a good fight.  Paul also writes, however, of those who make shipwreck of the faith.  They do it, not because they commit themselves to battle the storms, but because they try and play it safe.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     John Logemann told of how he and his wife were invited to take a cruise in the Caribean with some friends in their cabin sailboat.  On the second day out they ran into heavy seas and learned that a tropical storm had developed just ahead of them.  They turned back, and with auxiliary engines running full speed they raced for their home port.  They were within a mile of the entrance to their harbor's shelter and safely when the storm caught them.  Thank heavens we're almost there Logemann thought to himself, but then to his astonishment the skipper turned the boat around and headed into the center of the storm.  Logemann could not control his fear and began to protest.  "Sure its risky," yelled his skipper friend, "But its better than breaking up on those rocks."  Hours later when they had ridden out the storm and surried into port, Logemann saw what he meant.  Wreckage was everywhere.  The harbor was a shambles of boats that had been smashed against the docks and rocks.  The skipper had learned from experience that sometimes you have to take a risk for the sake of safety.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     What is true for sailing is true for all of life, and for the hope of eternal life.  Heaven is open wide for those who launch out into the deep, but for the fearful and cowardly who hung the shore and take no risk for Christ, there is only a cowards reward.  This is certainly what Jesus had in mind when He said, (paraphrase)  "If you lose your life for My sake, you shall find it.  But for those who save their lives because they play it safe, they shall lose them."  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The only way to win in the game of life is to be a risk taker for Christ.  It is important that we get this straight that it must be for Christ.  Just as fear will not keep us out of heaven, so foolish bravery will not be of any value.  If I risk going through a red light at 50 miles per hour, I may get to heaven even sooner than I expected, but it won't be because of my bravery, but rather in spite of my folly.  The boldness and courage the Scripture demands is that which leads us to take risks for the name and the glory of Christ.  To be a fool for Christ's sake is not to be foolish, but to risk all for Christ so that the world looks upon you as a fool, because to them Christ is not worth the risk.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     Frances Schaeffer in his book The Church At The End Of The 20th Century hits hard at the Evangelical Christian cowardice in facing the world's needs.  Few are willing to be fools for Christ.  Compassion is costly, and he tells what it cost him to love sinners.  In his world famous retreat called L'abri in Switzerland, known to Evangelicals all over the world, and from which he has written his many best selling books, he opens the door to all.  The all includes drunks who vomit on his rugs, and prostitutes and drug addicts who ruin his sheets and burn holes in everything.  Blacks and Orientals, and everyone eats at his table.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>       Why does he risk the dangers and diseases these people can bring?  Because he believes this passage of Scripture which says such people will be excluded from heaven unless they can be won to Christ.  He knows that only a love that takes risks can ever win them, and he asks, do you really believe that people are going to hell?  "We Evangelicals will fight the liberals when they say there is no hell, but we don't want to take the risk of opening our homes to those who are going there, in an effort to rescue them." He is saying that we deny Christ, not verbally, but by failure to do what He desires. We want a risk free faith that costs nothing.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     It is obvious that there are many true Christians who fail Jesus at this point. All of us are cowards at some time or another, and are fearful to witness. Certainly not every act of cowardice and fear will keep us out of heaven. The implication of what John says here is that the perpetual coward is just not a true Christian. Christ cannot really dwell in the life of a person who never takes a stand for Chrilst. No lperson can truly be born again who does not openly identify himself with Christ at some point.  But since such cowardice is a guarantee from heaven, any cowardice and fear of risk taking for Christ by true Christians will certainly also be a basis for loss of reward.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     The point is, if God hates cowardice the same as murder and whoremongering, and all the other horrible sins that lead to the lake of fire, then it cannot help but be a curse in anyone's life, and in any degree.  What a challenge this becomes for each of us to join Paul in his constant prayer for boldness.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B>THE MOUNTAIN PERSPECTIVE  Based on Rev. 21:9-14</B></div> <div> <B>By Pastor Glenn Pease</B></div> <bR> <div>      Mary Crowley is one of the richest women in America.  She is founder and president of the multi-million dollar empire of Home Interiors And Gifts Inc.  She was the first woman to sit on the board of directors of the Billy Graham Assoc.  In reading her book Think Mink, I discovered she has a retreat center in the mountains of Colorado.  She brings all her displayers there for training, because her business is helping people make their environment beautiful, and she knows no better way to get her sales people inspired with beauty than to spend some time in the mountains, where God has designed the beauty of the environment.  </div> <bR> <div>       She has a full length window for them to gaze out on the golden sunrise from 9,000 feet up on the 14,197 foot Mt. Princeton.  On the back of her calling card are these words:  "Every morning lean thine arm a while upon the window sill of heaven and gaze upon thy God.  Then with that vision in thine heart, turn strong to meet the day."  </div> <bR> <div>      She gets gold from the mountains, but she never digs an ounce.  Her gold comes  from their inspiration.  Listen to the testimony of Dr. N. A. Woychok in his book Building Gold, Silver And Precious Stones.  He has always wanted to see the sunrise from Pike's Peak in Colorado.  </div> <bR> <div>           "We arose at 2:00 A.M.  Higher and higher we climbed until </div> <div>            the peak was reached, not without dizziness and "fear tremors."</div> <div>           Slowly dawn's rosy steps were advancing on the Eastern sky,</div> <div>           until the few broken clouds, hanging above the horizon as if </div> <div>           purposefully for effect, were gloriously lighted up into a fuchia</div> <div>           red against a background of brilliant blue.  And then "Old Sol"</div> <div>           tipped the horizon and presently came forth ablaze with divine </div> <div>           glory, adorned as "a bridegroom coming out of his chamber."</div> <div>           </div> <div>           "Standing there on an elevation almost three miles above sea</div> <div>           level, we scanned the horizon some one hundred twenty-five</div> <div>           miles away and actually looked down upon the sun.  I gazed</div> <div>           upon this beauty with an indescribable inner exhilaration, as</div> <div>           if under the spell of some strange magic.  My mind, soul, and </div> <div>           spirit feasted sumptuously.  The vision inflamed my imagination</div> <div>           and became a permanent part of my life, just as much as if some</div> <div>           special "tabernacle" had been built to preserve it.  It became a </div> <div>           thing of beauty whose loveliness increases, and it shall never </div> <div>           pass into nothingness."</div> <bR> <div>      We only spent four days in the mountains of Colorado, and though we had been there before, they fill you with awe because of their massiveness and majesty.  It makes sense why God does so much of His business with men on the mountains.  They are a fitting environment for man to confront the majesty of their Creator.  God began the new world after the flood on Mount Ararat where the Ark landed.  The second half of Exodus all revolves around Mount Sinai where God gave His law to His people through Moses.  </div> <bR> <div>      There are dozens of mountain scenes. For example,  where Abraham offers up Isaac on Mt. Moriah; where Lot flees to the mountains; where Jacob offered sacrifice on the mountains.  Aaron died on Mt. Hor and Moses on Mt. Nebo, and Saul on Mt. Gibbon.  Elijah won his great victory over idolatry on Mr. Carmel.  In the New Testament Jesus did so many special things on mountains.  His most famous sermon is the Sermon On The Mount.  On Mt. Tabor He was transfigured.  On Mt. Calvary He died for the sins of the world.  On the Mt. of Olives He ascended into heaven where He reigns on Mt. Zion, the name of the New Jerusalem, or heaven.  We sing about marching upward to Zion the beautiful city of God.  </div> <bR> <div>      There are hundreds of verses on mountains in the Bible, but we want to focus on the last mountain in the Bible.  It is a mountain so high that John could see heaven from it.  Rev. 21:10 says, "He carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."  Seeing heaven from a mountain top was the unique experience of the Apostle John.  Millions have seen the glory of earth from the mountain, but only John saw the glory of heaven from the mountain.  Moses was allowed to see the Promise Land from Mt. Nebo, but only John saw the Eternal Paradise for all God's people from the mountain top.  This was the ultimate mountain top experience.</div> <bR> <div>      God is saying something to all His people by revealing so much of His will and truth from the mountain top.  What He is saying is that our perspective determines our perception, or, in other words, our stand point determines what we see.  Why do men and women climb mountains?  It is not just because they are there, but because of what they can see from there.  Why do men and women blast off into space?  It is because they can see the whole world from a unique perspective.  They can see how the laws of nature work differently in that weightless environment.  Everything looks different from the heights.  </div> <bR> <div>      Little Zacheaus climbed up a sycamore tree because he could see Jesus from a new perspective, and that climb gave him a glimspe that changed his life forever.  Seeing Jesus from a more loftly height is a life-changing perspective.  Mountains give us two different perspectives that help us see life differently.  When you are high in them, you can look down and see the awesome scene below, and when you are below you can look up and see the awesome scene of their heights.  Either way you look, up or down, you can see what cannot be seen the same from any other perspective.</div> <bR> <div>      Now this is not entirely true, for if you fly you can get a perspective from the heights that changes everything.  I once flew over Pittsburgh in a small plane.  On the ground you can drive in that city and be convinced they just put a snake on a piece of paper and let it crawl to plan the roads.  But from the plane I could see a pattern and an order that could not be seen from the ground.  Everything was different.  Out over the country side too every plot of land was uniform and there was order that could never be detected from the ground.  You could see the parts in the context of the whole and get a view of reality that was only available from the heights.</div> <bR> <div>      The reason God wants His people to climb to greater heights is because they can see what is not visible in the low lands.  Isa. 40:31 says, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles..."   The poet wrote:</div> <bR> <div>                Rise and soar into the sunlit ways,</div> <div>                Using both the wings of prayer</div> <div>                     and praise;</div> <div>                Mount like eagles-higher in the </div> <div>                     sky,</div> <div>                And you'll find things look so</div> <div>                     different when you fly.</div> <bR> <div>      This is why people fly and why they climb mountains.  They want to see things differently.  If you can just get high enough you can see from heaven's perspective, and from that viewpoint you can always be optimistic.  Poor John was in exile on the island of Patoms.  He was a prisoner and at the mercy of anti-Christ powers.  It would be easy to be pessimistic, for the facts were very real, and very gloomy.  But God took him to a mountain where he could see the final destination, and he became the world's foremost optimist.  </div> <bR> <div>      Mountains do this to you.  They help you see the potential of the future because of the vast possibilities that still exist.  Every time I drive in the mountains I look off into the vast spaces of them and wonder if any human being has ever been there.  There has to be millions of square miles where human feet have never been.  There is no end it seems to the possible resources not yet discovered.  People are going off and finding precious stones all the time.  The world is full of treasure that is not yet been found.  There is still gold in them thar hills.  Out on the prairie it seems almost every inch of the land is accounted for.  It is fenced off and planted, and being used for some purpose.  But the mountains are filled with endless unused areas, and nobody yet knows their potential.  </div> <bR> <div>      They make you realize the best gold nugget may not yet have been found.  The best gemstones could be in any of those mountains just waiting to be discovered.  Mountains give you the perspective of hope, for there is so much yet to be discovered.  The mountain view of life makes you realize that the world is still full of opportunities.  None of us has yet discovered all the treasure God has for us.  We are like mountains.  We have gifts not yet discovered, developed, and dedicated to the glory of God.</div> <bR> <div>      In a men's Bible study we took a test, and men were discovering they had potential in all sorts of areas where they did not think they did, and would never have said they did.  We only scratched the surface, but we learn that there is likely potential gifts in all of us that lie buried like gold and precious gems in the mountains, where no one has ever yet explored.  </div> <bR> <div>      A mountain perspective on life will make us see ourselves and others as people with hidden potential.  Even greatly gifted people do not always have their gifts on their lapel like a name tag.  They are hidden and need to be discovered.  When Giuseppe Verdi applied to the Conservatory of the Milan to be a student of music the school officials were not impressed with this 18 year old.  They rejected the greatest musician who ever applied for entrance to their school.  Later, of course, after his successful career they changed the name of their school from the Conservatory of Milan to the Verdi Conservatory.  They only saw his gift when it was full blown, and so conspicious that everyone could see it.  The mountain-like perspective would have enabled them to see his potential in his early stages.  How do you see people?  You get what you see type perspective, or who knows what hidden potential is in this person?  </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus did not choose His 12 Apostles based on what they were, but based on what they could potentially become.  To Him they were like unexplored mountains with unmind caves filled with undiscovered riches.  John himself who was seeing heaven from a mountain top was a hot headed son of thunder who wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume those who did not conform to his ideal.  Jesus chose this man to be a disciple.  This looked like chosing Mt. St. Helens for a children's theme park, but Jesus saw the potential of this hot head, and John became the great Apostle of love. </div> <bR> <div>      Jesus was always going up into the mountains to pray.  Most all of the references to mountains in the Gospels are of Jesus going there alone, or with a few disciples.  Jesus was the main mountain climber of the New Testament.  He saw life from a mountain perspective, and he saw people that way as well.  He saw their hidden potential to climb far higher than where they were.  We are to have the mind of Christ Paul said, and that means a mountain top perspective on life and people.  </div> <bR> <div>                The best poem has not yet been written.</div> <div>                The best song has not yet been sung.</div> <div>                The best drum has not yet been smitten.</div> <div>                The best bell has not yet been rung.</div> <bR> <div>      In a mountainous world the best is always a hidden potential.  I was so impressed by Thompson Road Canyon but I drove and hour out of my way to go through it three times.  The first time I went through it I was young and had never seen a mountain before.  I was so fearful that I could not enjoy it.  I had to hold the steering wheel with all my attention focused on the road.  This last time I could enjoy the awesome work of God and man.  God made the mountains, but man blasted a path through these mountain cliffs and made a road through this solid rock.  Only God can make the mountains, but only man would make a road through them.  </div> <bR> <div>      The combination of the creation of God and the creation of man is a double awesomeness that we see God Himself appreciates, for in this describtion of the eternal Holy City we have the Revelation in verse24-"The kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it."  And in verse 26, "The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it."  All of the marvels of history made by man are not junk to God.  He made man in His image with the potential of creating wondrous things, and God will treasure these man made creations forever.  Just as parents love to see their children become creative, and they put their works of art on the wall or shelf for display, so God will decorate the eternal city with the glorious works of men. </div> <bR> <div>      If you never travel to all the wonders of the world of man's creativity, do not feel bad , for you will see them all in the New Jerusalem.  Anything worth seeing will be a part of the enjoyment of our eternal environment.  The golden age is not behind us, but ahead in that golden city John saw from the mountain top.  Sometimes Christians get pessimistic and wonder what the future holds.  What will it be like for their children and grandchildren?  If  you see life from the mountain perspective you can say amen to the poet who wrote:</div> <bR> <div>                Mourn not for the vanquished ages</div> <div>                With their great historic men,</div> <div>                Who dealt in history's pages,</div> <div>                And live in the poetic pen.</div> <div>                For the greatest days are before us,</div> <div>                And the world is yet to see</div> <div>                The noblest work of this whole earth</div> <div>                Is the men and women that are to be.</div> <bR> <div>      The mountain perspective makes you optimistic about God, and about what He can do in an with your life.  After you drive through Iowa, South Dakota,  and Nebraska on the interstate you have forgotten that God is a master artist, for even a child can make a flat mud pie.  But when you hit the mountains of Colorado your perspective is radically changed, and you have it thrust into your soul that God is the artist par-excellence.  </div> <bR> <div>                The gorgeous grandeur;</div> <div>                The breath-taking beauty;</div> <div>                The gigantic gorges into the depths;</div> <div>                The piercing pinnacles that penetrate the clouds!</div> <div>                The endless panorama of rocks and trees!</div> <div>                Picture postcard settings in every direction!</div> <bR> <div>      These scenes liberate you from all doubt:  God is indeed the master Architect and Artist.  Not only is God magnified by the mountains, but so is the potential of man.  The mountains are a visual reminder of what God can do in any life.  It is amazing to see the trees that cover the mountains like a garment.  They seem to grow out of solid rock.  A seed falls into a crevice with a small bit of soil, and it grows into a majestic tree right on the side of a rocky cliff.  God made life in the mountains with such tenacity that is is determined to hang on and be beautiful for His glory regardless of the limitations.  </div> <bR> <div>      So often we, as God's children, feel so inadequate. We lack resources and opportunity, and gifts, and so we focus on our limitations. The mountain perspective willl change our focus and help us see God does not need a lot to work with to produce beauty. He makes life to flourish in hard places. So if you thing you are bound by limits and have but a mere sp;eck of soil to grow in and no support from your environment-go to the mountains and see what God is doing all the time with that kind of meager resource and hostile environment. Whatever you have is enough for God to us to add beauty to life.</div> <bR> <div>      The point is, John saw heaven's glory from a mountain top, and all of us can enjoy that revelation with John, but we can also see that God is always revealing His best from the mountain top, and the more we can see all of life from the mountain perspective, the greater will be our optimism about the future, and about our potential to be used for the glory of God and His kingdom.</div> <bR> <div>      Leonardo DaVinci was inspired by the mountains to do creative works. William Douglas of the Supreme Court aid he never knew a mountain climber who ws a mean or dishonest man. He felt the mountains had a very positive influence on man's character. All the great men of the Bible seemed to be mountain climbers.  They went up on mountains to confront God and be motivated to do His will. I have only climbed one mountain myself, and it was a mere hill compared to reall mou;ntain climbing, but it was a terribly exhausting experience for which I was not in shape. I can sweat just reading about Edward Whymper, the English artist, who tried to climb the Matterhorn in 1861,62,63, and after 7 failed attempts, tried on the 8the time in 1865. With 7 men he finally made it and they became the first men to conquer that mighty peak. They looked down and saw tiny dots moving up the slopes. They had just beaaten a party of Italians. Four of the seven died on the way down. Coming down can be even more dangerous than climbing up.</div> <bR> <div>      Sir Lester Stephen said, "I believe that the ascent of mountains forms an essential chapter in the complete duty of man, and that it is wrong to leaave any district without setting foot on its highest peak." He meant it literally as a fanatical mountain climber, but if you take it spiritually he has a point. It is a Christian obligation to see life from the mountain perspective and see it from the highest peak, for only then can you have the mind of Christ, who sees all from the heights. The hills are indeee alive with music from that highest perspective. In Isa. 44:23 we read, "Sing for joy, o heavens, for the Lord has done this: shout aloud, o earth beneath, burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory iln Israel." In 49:13 he says again, "Bulrst into song, o mountains, for the Lord comforts his people."</div> <bR> <div>      We are to join the mountaint in everlasting praise, and strive to ever see all of life from that high perspective where we are motivated to walk with our Saviour on a higher level. May God help us to feel what the poet conveys in these words:</div> <bR> <div>                I'm going by the upper road,</div> <div>                     For that still holds the sun.</div> <div>                I'm climbing through nights pastures</div> <div>                     Where the stormy rivers run.</div> <div>                If you should think to find me</div> <div>                     In my old dark abode,</div> <div>                You'll find this writing on the door,</div> <div>                     He's on the upper road.</div> <bR> <div>      May God find us all there ever climbing to see life from the mountain perspective.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> FOLLOWING IS A BOOK OF SERMON ON HEAVEN, AND MOSTLY FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>        WINDOWS</div> <bR> <div>             INTO</div> <bR> <div>          HEAVEN</div> <div>  </div> <bR> <div>                                 BY</div> <bR> <bR> <div>                      GLENN PEASE</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>               TABLE OF CONTENTS</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  1. THE BEAUTY OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  2. THE CLOTHES OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 7:9-17</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  3. THE COLORS OF HEAVEN based on Rev.21:9-21</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  4. EATING IN HEAVEN based on Rev. 22:1-6</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  5. THE GLORY OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:22-27</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  6. THE GOLD OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  7. HUMOR IN HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:4</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  8. THE JEWELS OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER  9. OCCUPATIONS IN HEAVEN  bases on Rev. 22:1-5</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER 10. THE LOCATION OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:1-8</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER 11. THE MUSIC OF HEAVEN based on Rev.15:1-8</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER 12. THE ORDER OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER 13. RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN  based on Luke 16:19-31</div> <div> CHAPTER 14. THE RIVER OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 22:1-2</div> <bR> <div> CHAPTER 15. THE SUN OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:15-27</div> <bR> <bR> <div>                     CHAPTER ONE</div> <bR> <bR> <div> THE BEAUTY OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <div>      Among the world's famous short stories is the one called, The Lost Words Of Love, by the French writer, Mendes. It is the fascinating tale of how an evil spirit sought to ruin man by stealing three words out of his vocabulary. The three words were, I love you. The spirit succeeded in this vicious vocabulary vanishing trick, and the results were tragic.  Friends drifted apart, couples broke up, and quarreling and depression spread like a plague.  People stopped singing, poets stopped writing, and it appeared that hell on earth would soon be a reality.  The story ends happily, however, because the spirit himself falls in love, and the world recovers the lost words of love.  </div> <div>      It may sound weird, but it does have a message of profound truth.  For if you destroy man's love he is as good as in hell, and without love there can be no heaven.  In verse 8, John lists for us those who are excluded from heaven and cast into the lake of fire.  They are all products of hatred.  They hate God, and do not believe; they hate man and thus they murder; they hate what is pure, and thus they polute and corrupt the beauty of human love; they hate the truth and thus they are habitual liars.  Hatred on earth is the beginning of hell, just as love on earth is the beginning of heaven.  Love and hate--heaven and hell, are almost parallel phrases. </div> <div>      The ugliness of hate is what will determine the environment of hell.  Earl Panzram murdered 23 people, and was excuted in 1930.  His last words were, "I wish the whole human race had one neck and I had my hands around it."  God will cleanse the new heaven and the new earth of all such hate.  The world itself will be cleansed by fire, and all that blots the beauty of God's creation will be eleminated.  Love only, will be allowed in heaven, and they result will be beauty beyond our wildest dreams.  Love will reign supreme and no evil spirit will be able to rob men of it.  D. L. Moody recognized the connection of love and beauty in heaven.  He wrote, "Heaven is the only place where the conditions of love can be fulfilled."  Then he quotes the poet-</div> <div>                Beyond these chilling winds and gloomy skies;</div> <div>                     Beyond death's cloudy portal,</div> <div>                 There is a land where beauty never dies- </div> <div>                     Where love becomes immortal.</div> <div>      Heaven began in the beauty of God's love.  John 3:16 begans with God's love, and ends with God's heaven--everlasting life.  In between is the gift that links us to both His love and His heaven--God's Son.  He is the source of all that is beautiful in both time and eternity.  Just looking at the beauty of this fallen and this sin stained world, is enough to make us marvel at what the beauty of heaven must be.  Someone looking up at the stars said, "If the the suburbs are so beautiful, how beautiful the city of heaven must be.  All of our enjoyment of the beauty of this world is a mere faction of the creative work of God.  Much is never seen by anyone.</div> <div>                Full many a gem of purest ray serene</div> <div>                The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;</div> <div>                Full many a flower is born to blush unseen</div> <div>                And waste it's fragrance on the desert air.</div> <div>      Since we know this to be true, we know by God's own handiwork that He is a lover of beauty.  This means, even if the Bible had nothing in it about heaven, we would still know that James Montgomery spoke true theology when he wrote--</div> <div>                If God hath made this world so fair,</div> <div>                     Where sin and death abound,</div> <div>                How beautiful, beyond compare</div> <div>                     Will paradise be found!</div> <div>      The Bible tells us much about the beauty of heaven.  John was caught up to see it for himself, and he tells us much of what he saw.  First of all, he compares the holy city to a bride in verse 9.  Back in verse 2 he had stressed the beauty of the bride by saying she was adorned for her husband.  The bride adorned is the universal symbol of beauty.  She represents not only the beauty of love, but the beauty of the physical.  Her gorgeous gown and magnificent jewlery set her apart as the object of adoration.</div> <div>      All commentators agree that the bride represents the church in it's ideal state.  This being the case, the beauty of this heavenly bride is revelant to all believers.  They will be a part of the beauty of heaven just as the lost will be a part of the ugliness of hell.  The eternal destiny of all men is either beauty or ugliness.  It is safe to say that every Christian will be eternally beautiful.  The Bride of Christ will be without spot or wrinkle.  No Christian will bear any defect of any kind.  Paul will not longer have his thorn in the flesh, and every physical problem will cease to exist, when we receive our resurrected bodies.  Joni stresses her hope of being rid of her wheel chair and dancing with the angels.  There is no reason to doubt that her hope will be fulfilled.  </div> <div>      Imagine what this hope must have meant to the first readers of the book of Revelation.  Christians were of the poor class.  Many were slaves, whose bodies revealed the lack of adequate food and care.  The hard life of millions of Christians left them scarred and maimed.  Like Lazarus at the gate of the rich man, the only medical care they had was that of the dogs, who came and licked their sores.  What a glorious hope heaven was to them.  Even with all our progress in medical care, we still experience enough of the problems of the flesh to appreciate John Mason Neal's joyful poem of heavenly expectation--</div> <div>                O how glorious and resplendent,</div> <div>                     Fragile body, shalt thou be,</div> <div>                When endued with heavenly beauty,</div> <div>                     Full of health and strong and free,</div> <div>                Full of vigar, full of pleasure,</div> <div>                     Thou shall last eternally.</div> <div>      No one in the Old Testament was allowed into the presence of God who had any bodily defect.  No sacrifice was acceptable that had even the slighest blemish.  All of this was to stress that God is a God of beauty and perfection.  Nothing short of perfect beauty can please Him.  This being the case, all who love His Son are assured of being perfectly beautiful forever.  If Christ is our Saviour, we will be a part of this lovely bride adorned for her heavenly husband.  We may not always appreciate our photograph now, but we shall all be satisfied when we awake in His likeness.  Meanwhile, with all of our defects, we can still let the beauty of Jesus be seen in us, if we heed the wisdom of Paul and focus our minds on what is true, noble, and lovely.  Christian people should have the highest standards in every realm of life.  Quality and beauty should characterize all that they appreciate.  Margerie Holmes writes, </div> <div>                Lord, let me take time for beauty.</div> <div>                   Time for a jug of flowers on the table, or a plant if flowers</div> <div>                arn't in bloom.  Time for a dap of lipstick or a fresh blouse</div> <div>                before the family comes home.  Don't let me settle for the</div> <div>                dingy, the shabby, the ugly--either with myself or with my</div> <div>                house, just because I'm too lazy to make the effort.  </div> <div>                   Give me the energy and the will to provide a bit of beauty.</div> <div>                </div> <div>                   You've made the world so beautiful, Lord, let me take time</div> <div>                to see it.  Even as I'm rushing to the market or driving children</div> <div>                to their destinations, let me be aware of it:  The glory of hills</div> <div>                and woods and shining water.  The colors of traffic lights and</div> <div>                yellow buses, of fruit stands and lumberyards, of girls wearing</div> <div>                bright scarves that dance in the breeze.  </div> <div>                </div> <div>      She goes on to describe the beauty in her own back yard, the beauty of her children, the beauty they see in nature, and the beauty everywhere that we tend to ignore.  She closes with this prayer--</div> <div>                Dear God, to live at all is such a miracle--whether as bug</div> <div>                or bird or creature of any kind.  To come into existence upon</div> <div>                this planet and be able to witness it's beauty is such a </div> <div>                privilege, especially for human beings.  </div> <div>                    Help us to cherish and be a part of that beauty.</div> <div>                    Let me take time for beauty, God.</div> <div>      What you focus upon, is what you become, and this is preparation for being a part of the beautiful bride of heaven.  All the beauty of nature, family, marriage, and all of life that we can experience in time is a taste of heaven.  We are not to wait until heaven, but we are to start living a life of beauty in all areas now.  </div> <div>      The next thing we want to notice is that the environment of heaven is beautiful.  The beautiful people will have a beautiful place in which to dwell.  In verse 11 John says the holy city has the very glory of God.  It radiates with the brightness of beautiful jewels--like  Jasper, as clear as crystal.  In verse 18 we see that the whole city was pure gold, and verse 19 says the walls were adorned with every jewel, and verse 21 says the gates were of solid pearl. Whatever else this description may mean, all agree that it means the dwelling place of the Bride of Christ--the Church--will be a place of unmatchable beauty. All the splendor of the royal courts of Babylon, Egypt, and Rome cannot match the magnigicent marvels that will surround the saints in heaven.</div> <div>      Again, can you imagine what this meant to the poor and persecuted Christians of the first centuries?  They lived in poverty and were often oppressed by the wealthy. The only time they ever saw the glory of gold and precious stones in when they were brought before royalty to be condemned. The message to them, from Jesus, was to be faithful even unto death, and they would receive the crown of life. This crown of life involved a quality of life the was far superior to that of Caesar himself.</div> <div>      Their is no way to escape the physical appeal of heaven. Christians long to have nice things, and to live on the level of the highest quality. They do all they can to beautify their environment.  They carpet their floors, put art on their walls, and decorate with things of beauty.  They enjoy the plush motel as much as anyone. The desire for beauty is natural and is a part of the image of God in us. It can easily be perverted and become idolatry, but in itself, it is a good thing to love beauty. God dwells in glory and splendor. Jesus said he was going to prepare a place in the Father's house for the redeemed. Can you imagine the work of  this divine architect being less plush than that of the best on earth? Can you imagine some of the saints in heaven saying, "This is nice, but I stayed in a luxury motel in Florida that was even nicer."  What Jesus has gone to prepare will be beyond comparison with the best of time.</div> <div>      Billy Graham, in a sermon on heaven said, "Very few people have their homes as beautiful as they would like to have them, but everyone in heaven will find it beautiful beyong every imagination. Heaven could not help but be so, because God is a God of beauty."  Christians were the underdogs, who first read this book, and many have been that all through the ages, but their destiny is to be eternal dignity and wealth. Christians will be rich beyond measure, with none of the vices that go with riches in this life.</div> <div>      This truth about heaven is to have practical effects in time. We are not to grieve as those who have no hope, when we lose the treasures of time. We are to lay up treasure in heaven that can never be lost. D. L. Moody tells of how John Newton, author of Amazing Grace, once called on a family that lost all in a fire. He said to the mother, "I have you joy madam." She was surprised, and said, "What? joy that all my property is consumed?" He replied, "O no, but joy that you have so much that fire cannot touch." He was urging her not to forget he tremendous treasure in heaven just because she lost her trivial treasure in time. We all tend to do this because of our thoughtlessness about the riches of heaven.</div> <div>      The great saints of the Bible kept their eyes on the things above. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that faith in God's ultimate reward is what made the great men of God great. Abraham was rich, and could have built a city, but he dwelt in tents and was satisfied. Heb.11:10 says, "For he looked forward to the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God."  Moses has the chance to dwell in the royal palace of Egypt, and to enjoy the riches of royalty, but he gave it up to lead the slaves to freedom. Heb.11:26 says, "He considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward." We so often try to be more spiritual than the Bible. We fail to appeal to man's God-given nature which desires riches and reward. It is true, this can be a dangerous appeal to what is perverted, but you can't escape the fact that it can also be an honest appeal to what is God-like in man. Heaven appeals to our desire for the very best.</div> <div>      Jesus promised his disciples that they would receive ten times whatever they gave up to follow and serve him. Heaven is pictured as so beautiful, to encourage God's people to be willling to make sacrifices for Christ, so as to lay up treasure in the New Jerusalem. We only deceive ourselves if we pretend we have no desire to be rich, and to dwell in great splendor. God is the author of our nature, and the expert on psychology, and he appeals to our love of beauty and wealth. If our hearts have no desire for God's best, then their is something wrong with our hearts, and we will not be looking for the coming of our Lord to take us to the mansion he has prepared.</div> <div>      The good, the true, and the beautiful are three goals man has always sought. All three will be achieved and fulfilled completely in the Holy City. H.C. Stanton said, "Christ loves beauty, otherwise He would not be forever creating it." If we lack a love for beauty, their is something wrong with our love for the author of all beauty. Love and beauty go together, and they will for all eternity.</div> <div>      An old English story tells of how the Lord of Burleigh found and won the heart of a simple village maiden. She had no idea of his position and wealth. After the wedding she expected to be taken to his cottage. They passed one beautiful dwelling after another until--</div> <div>                 ......a gateway she discerns</div> <div>                with armorial bearings stately,</div> <div>                And beneath the gate she turns,</div> <div>                Sees a mansion more majestic</div> <div>                Than all those she saw before;</div> <div>                Many a galant gay domestic</div> <div>                Bows before him at the door.</div> <div>                And they speak in gentle murmur,</div> <div>                When they answer to his call,</div> <div>                While he treads with footstep firmer,</div> <div>                Leading on from hall to hall.</div> <div>                And while now she wonders blindly,</div> <div>                Nor the meaning can divine,</div> <div>                 Proudly turns he round and kindly</div> <div>                "All of this is mine and thine."</div> <div>      She was suddenly, by marriage, Lady of Burleigh, a women of great dignity and wealth. So it will be for all who are a part of the Bride of the Lamb. Every dream, and every fantasy of having all the resources possible for happiness, will suddenly be a reality in the mansion Jesus has gone to prepare.  This means, the ugliest thing a person can do is to refuse to receive Jesus as Saviour, and the most beautiful thing a person can do is to receive him as Saviour. This is the only way to be a part of that Bride who will enjoy unmatched glory forever,  in the beauty of heaven.</div> <bR> <bR> <div>                    CHAPTER TWO</div> <bR> <bR> <div> THE CLOTHES OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 7:9-17</div> <div> By Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      A taylor who used an apple as a trade mark was asked why he used that particular symbol.  He replied, "If it hadn't been for the apple, where would the clothing business be?"  He had a good point.  The clothing business did start in the garden of Eden because of sin, and the need to cover the bodies of those who had started sin by eating of the forbidden fruit.  Clothing is not a part of the origin of sin, but rather, a necessity to overcome the emotions set loose by sin.</div> <div>      God was the first taylor to create garments for man.  Adam and Eve had sewn fig leaves together to cover their bodies, but shortly thereafter we read in Gen. 3:21, "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them."  From that point on, clothing has played a major role in the life of man.  Scripture is literally packed with references to clothes and their significance.  </div> <div>      Man is the only creature that God created who has a desire to adorn itself with clothes.  No animal has any appreciation for styles, and for a variety of clothing, or for jewelry.  Males often wish God would have made females more animal like in this respect.  Wilfred Funk calls the daughters of Eve the Insatiable Sex.  He goes to great extremes to express himself in poetry.</div> <div>                If I scaled the heights of Venus</div> <div>                     And ransacked ten million stars</div> <div>                Of their fineries--Orsinus,</div> <div>                     Mercury, Arcturus, Mars.</div> <bR> <div>                Plucked the pleiades and hung them</div> <div>                     Flaming on your ivory breast,</div> <div>                With the shining moon among them</div> <div>                     As a diadem and crest.</div> <bR> <div>                Seized the Milky Way and tore it</div> <div>                     From the skies to make a gown</div> <div>                For you, dearest, and you wore it</div> <div>                     With Orion as a crown--</div> <bR> <div>                Would it help you?  Would you try a</div> <div>                     Little thrift then?  No! my guess is</div> <div>                You would merely go and buy a</div> <div>                     Dozen other hats and dresses!</div> <div>      Most of the humor directed at clothing is connected with women, but the facts of history reveal that men have been just as involved in the fashion fuss, vanity, and folly connected with clothing.  The history of men's pants is a joke if there ever was one.  Battles have raged over them from ancient Persian times.  Church councils have met, sermons have been preached, and pamphlets have been written declaring them to be designed by the devil.  A ruler in Germany in 1790, ordered all criminals in chain gangs, working on the roads, to be clad in long trousers, in order to deride and discredit the fashion.  In 1820, it was forbidden in England for any clergyman to wear long trousers in the pulpit.  Nothing could stop the onward march of a good idea, and so, we all now feel perfectly comfortable in what has become a traditional garment with us.  </div> <div>      Men, of course, did not wear pants in Bible days, but they wore what we would call a robe.  They were as proud of their robes however, as the modern man is of his suits.  Joseph had a robe of many colors.  It made him the best dressed man in his big family.  It was a garment of great value and was an expression of his fathers affection.  </div> <div>      Wealth was often determined by the number of garments a man possessed.  Samson is usually protrayed as half bare, to show his great muscles, but his goal was to become the best dressed man in Israel.  In Judges 14, he made a deal with 30 men at a feast.  If they could guess his riddle, he would give them 30 linen garments and 30 festal garments.  If they failed, however, they would give him the 60 outfits instead.  Samson was confident that he would start out married life with a huge wardrobe.  It turned out, he lost, and had to pay them their 60 garments.  The whole transaction reveals that clothes mean a lot to men, just as they do to women.</div> <div>      Clothes mean a lot to God as well.  Numerous are the references to the holy garments that God ordained for the priests to wear, and to the beautiful jeweled garb of the high priest.  Several references are even made to the garments of God.  We read in Psalm 93:1, "The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, He is girded with strength."  In Psalm 104:1-2 we read, "O Lord, my God, Thou art very great!  Thou are clothed with honor and majesty, who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment."  Looking at God's wardrobe is like looking into the sun.  Don't you wonder what kind of clothes we will wear in the presence of God?  If He demanded holy garments on those who served Him here on earth, what will he demand when we are before Him in heaven?   The book of Revelation answers this question for us, not just to satisfy our curiosity, but because clothing has such important symbolic meaning.  </div> <div>      John makes it clear, that there is no going back to Eden's innocent nudity, but a moving ahead to cosmic clothing and divine dress.  The future fashion will be garments of glory.  Jesus modeled this garment briefly when He walked the earth, His daily garments were, doubtless, of fine quality, and He had a special robe of unique value.  The soldiers at the cross gambled to possess His robe rather than throw it away.  Even His daily attire had to be attractive, to convince the seriously sick woman that a touch of the hem of it, could heal her.  </div> <div>       His earthly clothes were of fine quality, but they were still earthly clothes.  Only briefly did He model the garments of glory.  This He did on the Mt. of Tranfiguration.  We read in Mark 9:3, "...his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them."  White was the common color, and so a lot of bleach was used in that day, but no bleach could create the whiteness the disciples saw that day.  You favorite detergent could not match the whiteness produced here, for it was not due to any miracle product, but to a literal miracle.  Christ was suddenly clothed with the garment He will wear in glory.  Mark 17:3 says, "His garments became white as light."  Only one other time did the disciples ever see clothing so white, and that was when they saw visitors from heaven.  In other words, angels also wear these bright white garments of glory.  In Matt. 28:3, the angel at the tomb is described like this-"his raiment was white as snow."  If white is the color that always describes the garments of heaven, then we could guess that white is what we will wear also.  There is no need for guessing, however, for Scripture makes it clear, white will be the color of our garments of glory.  </div> <div>      This fact has much meaning, or otherwise, it is hard to understand why the book of Revelation stresses it over and over.  I counted 17 uses of the word white in this book.  Jesus promises, that those who conquer, will walk with Him in white.  In our text, twice the vast multitudes of heaven are described as being clothed in white robes.  If we are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, white is to be a part of our spiritual menu.  The white garments are a way of saying, we will be partakers of the divine nature, and will share in the very glory of God.</div> <div>      There are many things in nature more beautiful than man.  Jesus said even Solomon in all his glory could not match the beauty of the lilies.  Isaac Watts lamented the fact, that man cannot make any clothes to match the beauty that God has given to lower creatures.  He wrote, </div> <div>                The Tulip and the butterfly</div> <div>                Appear in gayer coats than I.</div> <div>                Let me be dressed as fine I will,</div> <div>                Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me still.</div> <div>      This will no longer be true, however, when we get our garments of glory.  We will then possess the beauty of the Creator of all beauty.  Let's focus on these garments of glory and consider the reasons for their whiteness.  The first reason most commentators suggust is-</div> <div>      I.  WHITENESS SYMBOLIZES PURITY.</div> <div>      Eccles. 9:8 says, "Let your garments be always white."  To keep unspotted by the world is the Christian ideal, but it will never be completely accomplished until we become the Bride of Christ, without spot or wrinkle.  The only clothes we will ever have that never need washing will be the bridal gown of heaven.  No sin will ever stain this garment again.  Charles Spurgeon preached one of the greatest sermons I have ever read on these white robes.  He says they refer to the actual character of the saints.  They are not symbolic of the righteousness of Christ, for his righteousness is not washed in the blood of the Lamb.  It is the righteousness of men, which once was filthy rags, but now has been washed in the blood of Christ, and made perfect.  What is now inputed, will there, be imparted.  </div> <div>      He points out that white is the union and blending of all the colors of light.  White is the symbol of perfection, because it is the perfect combination of all colors.  Spurgeon says, "In the character of just men made perfect we have the combination of all virtues, the balancing of all excellencies, a display of all the beauties of grace.  Are they not like their Lord, and is He not all beauties in one?"  No color but the combination of all colors, could express the balance and completeness of our perfection in heaven.  </div> <div>      These garments of glory are our assurance that in heaven we will be able to stand before God, and not feel guilt because of our sinful past.  They are to challenge us to keep unspotted by the world in this life.  Peter, after saying we look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells, says, in II Peter 3:14, "Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by Him without spot or blemish."  The Christian is not to look back at his spotted past, but to look ahead to the pure white garments of the future.  The poet said, </div> <div>                Waste no tears</div> <div>                Upon the blotted record of the lost years,</div> <div>                But turn the leaf, and smile, oh, smile to see</div> <div>                The fair white pages that remain for thee.</div> <div>      For the Christian, the future is always bright, and we will walk forever with Jesus in white.  The second reason white is stressed is-</div> <div>      II.  WHITENESS SYMBOLIZES JOY.</div> <div>      It is no accident that wedding gowns are white.  White is a universal symbol of the joy of marriage.  No other color can protray the joy of love between two people.  No other color can convey the joy of the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride.  These beautiful garments of glory are to fill us with anticipation.  </div> <div>      All through history, generals have ridden into conquered cities on pure white horses, to symbolize they are victors.  Jesus is pictured as riding on a white horse as He rides to victory.  The great White Throne Judgement symbolizes the victory of God over evil.  White it the color of joy because it is the color of the victor.  When the enemy runs up the white flag they are saying, we surrender, you win.  </div> <div>      These white robes are to fill the Christian with the joy of anticipation.  Just having such a future to anticipate is the basis for Christian joy.  The English novelist, C. P. Snow, was asked what he regarded as the main difference between the world in which he grew up, and the world we share now.  His immediate response was, "The absence of a future."  That is one of the problems, in the thinking of man, that leads to the devil may care attitude-let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.  Where there is no future, nothing matters but the now.  The lack of a future robs man of a motive to live with eternities values in view.  </div> <div>      The Christian has future goals that radically affect his present behavior and joy.  They can be sumed  up in these three statements-</div> <div> 1.  To be in Christ.</div> <div> 2.  To be like Christ.</div> <div> 3.  To be with Christ.</div> <div>      All three of these involve the color white.  To be in Christ  is to be forgiven and delivered from sin.  It is to be given the spotless robe of His righteousness.  To be like Christ, is to keep unspotted from the world, and to stay clean by confession and forgiveness.  To be with Christ, is to walk with Him forever in white.  All of life is a sort of getting dressed for the greatest of all parties.  </div> <div>      Karl Olson, in his book, Come To The Party, expresses the fact that the Gospel is like an invitation to a party.  When the Prodigal Son returned, the father was concerned about the clothes he was wearing.  He said in Luke 15:22, "Bring quickly the best robe,  and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet."  After he was dressed for the occasion, they began to make merry.  Beautiful clothing and joyful times, go together.  </div> <div>      The message of the Gospel is the good news that God has a great party planned, but only those who are dressed properly can get in.  Unless you are clothed in the bright white garments of glory, you will be excluded.  There is only way to get your garments white enough to be fit for this party.  All the soap in the world will fail; all the scrubbing of good works will fail.  Only those who wash there robes in the blood of the Lamb will  have a whiteness fit for the joys of  heaven.  </div> <div>      That is why the song of the saints gives all the glory to God and to the Lamb.  They are not congratulating themselves on being clever spot removers, but recognize that all the whiteness of their garments is due to grace alone.  The white robes are symbols of the joy and the victory of the cross.  No words can describe the total victory over sin like the message of these white garments.</div> <div>           They are whiter than snow, or the feathers of a dove.</div> <div>           They are whiter than the lilies below, or the clouds which are above.</div> <div>           Whiter than is a  moonlit sail, whiter than the foam of the sea.</div> <div>           Whiter than fleece or chalk or hail, lime, cotton, or pearl or ivory.</div> <div>           No whiteness man has ever seen on earth or in the skies</div> <div>           Can match the whiteness of the garments of glory we'll wear in paradise.</div> <div>      The most important thing you can do in life is to get ready for that party, and the only way to do it is to put your trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.  When you do this you are ready to wear the garments of glory.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>                     CHAPTER THREE</div> <bR> <bR> <div> THE COLORS OF HEAVEN based on Rev.21:9-21</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Mr. Jones was having her living room painted, and she was explaining to the unsympathetic painter just what she wanted. "I want a light green blue, which will be sort of a cross between a darker blue and a light bluey blue", she said. The painter replied, "Lady, there ain't no such color. What you are describing is nothing but a pigment of your imagination." Colors may exist in our minds that do no exist in reality. But God is an artist who invites us to use our imagination to try and conceive of the beautiful colors of heaven.</div> <div>      You can go into most any jewelry store and see many of the gems that are seen here in the walls of the Holy City. The colors are very bright and beautiful. I bought Lavonne a pink ice ring recently, and when the sun hits it just right, it startles me with it's beauty. In the shade it is just a dull piece of matter, but in the sunlight it is a sparkling piece of beauty. This is the picture we get of heaven, and the New Jerusalem. It is transparent like glass, and there is brilliant light bouncing off millions of jewels. The beauty of this scene is beyond our grasp. Man would need all the jewels of the world just to copy a fraction of the jeweled wall described here. Dr. Criswell, who was for many years the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, tries to describe the color of heaven, in these words-</div> <div>                What a proliferation of color! What </div> <div>                incomparable, brilliant iridescence it</div> <div>                possesses! It looks like frozen light</div> <div>                in diamonds, sapphire, ruby, emerald</div> <div>                and pearl. It looks as if God were</div> <div>                mingling together the azure blue of</div> <div>                the sky, the surf of the sea, the</div> <div>                rainbow of autumnal glory, and</div> <div>                the fire of an august sunset.</div> <div>      There is no eloquence adequate to describe the color of heaven. Probably, the best we can do is to compare the experience of the 18 year old boy who was born blind, but who by surgery was made to see for the first time at age 18. One year later, reporters asked him what the most wonderful thing about seeing was, and he replied, "Color." He said he never dreamed  that color was so beautiful. He had always thought of it as being like our conception of black and white with contrasts and highlights. He said the beauties of the various colored flowers fascinated him beyond all human imagination. He said everything in this world was more beautiful than he ever dreamed.</div> <div>      So it will be for us in heaven. It will be like the blind seeing for the first time. The colors will be brighter and more beautiful than the brightest rainbow we have ever seen in time. We will say, as did the Queen of  Sheba, when she saw the glory of Soloman's empire, the half was not told me. We will say, more than likely, the hundreth or the thousandth, was not told me. But, since God has revealed some of the glory of the colors of heaven, we should do our best to try and see it as He wants us to see it.</div> <div>      The first thing we want to observe is the color of the people. Heaven is the ultimate in the melting pot of colors. This is implied in the gates of the New Jerusalem that face in every direction. People from every direction are welcome to enter these ever open gates, and this implies universality. But we do not need to depend upon symbolism. In Rev.7:9 we read, "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." It is not a matter of speculation or inference, it is a Biblical fact, stated clearly, that every color of skin will be a part of the eternal kingdom of God. Colors are not just temporary and incidental accidents of time, they are part of the color scheme of God's eternal city. The song, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight, is right, and not a poetic fiction. Any color that you try to imagine is not in heaven, is a pigment of your imagination.</div> <div>      A church hired an artist to paint them a  picture of Jesus with little children. When he finished it, he felt it was his best work ever. He could almost hear them singing, "Glory! glory! glory be to God on high." He was so pleased that he called the committee from the church to come and see it the next day. That night he had a dream, and saw himself walking into his studio and finding a stranger with his thumb through his artists palette painting on his picture. He rushed over and cried for him to stop for he was spoiling his work. The stranger said, "No, you have spoiled it. You have 5 colors on your palette, but you have used only one on the faces of the children. I have used the other 4 colors, for these little ones have come from many lands in answer to my call." "What call?" he asked. The stranger responded, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Then the artist knew it was the Lord, and he suddenly awoke. He rushed to the studio, and saw all the faces were still white. It was only a dream. But he knew it was a dream with a message. He took his palette and began to paint with all the colors. When the committee came to see it they loved the picture. It was just what they wanted, something that represented the whole family of God. It takes all colors to do that.  No one will feel they are the wrong color in heaven for heaven is the color of God's people, which means, it is all colors. This truth inspired me to write the poem, Heaven Is The Color You Are.</div> <div>                     </div> <div>                </div> <div> WHAT COLOR IS HEAVEN YOU ASK</div> <div>    TO ANSWERS A COMPLEXING TASK.</div> <div> THE REASON IS SIMPLY QUITE PLAIN</div> <div>    IT WILL EVERY COLOR CONTAIN.</div> <bR> <div> THE RAINBOW OF COLOR THAT'S THERE</div> <div>     MAKES HEAVEN A PLACE OF SUCH FLAIR,</div> <div> OUR EYES WILL FOREVER ENJOY</div> <div>    A VISUAL FEAST THAT WILL NOT CLOY.</div> <bR> <div> II.</div> <div> THE COLOR OF GOD WE WILL SEE</div> <div>    IS WHAT ANY COLOR CAN BE,</div> <div> FOR ALL COLORS COMBINE IN WHITE,</div> <div>    AND GOD'S NATURE IS, GOD IS LIGHT.</div> <bR> <div> GOD IS LIGHT AND THUS HE IS WHITE,</div> <div>    WHICH IS EVERY COLOR IN SIGHT.</div> <div> THE ANSWER IS VERY CLEAR THEN,</div> <div>     HEAVEN'S COLORS COVER ALL MEN.</div> <bR> <div> III.</div> <div> WE SING RED, YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE</div> <div>     THAT ALL ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT,</div> <div> SO NO ONE ON COLOR NEEDS SPAR,</div> <div>    HEAVEN IS THE COLOR YOU ARE.</div> <bR> <div> HEAVEN IS THE COLOR YOU ARE</div> <div>    THE MOST COLORFUL PLACE BY FAR,</div> <div> FOR THERE EVERY COLORS A STAR</div> <div>    HEAVEN IS THE COLOR YOU ARE.</div> <bR> <div>      Keep in mind, the New Jerusalem is a symbol of the people of God--The Bride of the Lamb. The 12 tribes and the 12 apoltles represent the O.T. and the N.T. people of God. That is why the 24 elders are considered as a symbol of the total people of God. I looked up the 24th element in the building blocks of the universe, and I discovered it is chromium. What is of interest is this is called the color element. It comes from the Greek word for color because it is the element which gives color to the jewels we so much treasure, and which are a part of the color of heaven. The emerald, for example, is green because of this 24th element. The ruby is red because of it, and the sapphire is usually blue because of it.</div> <div>      The basic compounds of many gems are colorless. It is the chromium that gives them their color. Many of the paints you buy are red, green, yellow, and orange because of chromium. Almost every color possible is determined by the quantity of chromium that is mixed with other elements. If God follows the natural laws He has formed for time, in eternity, the 24th element will go on forever being the source of color and beauty in our heavenly environment.</div> <div>      If 24 is the color element, not by accident or coincidence, but by the design of God, then we can see the possibility of the Bride of Christ being the source of color for much of the beauty we will see in heaven. The people of God will represent, not just the red and yellow, black and white, but every imaginable color, and millions we can't imagine. One thing is for sure, heaven will be the most colorful place we will ever be. The light of God will bring out every color the mind of God can conceive. It is always light, and never night, and this means never ending color and beauty. Spurgeon wrote,</div> <bR> <div> "Light is the cause of beauty. That is obvious to you all, Take the light away,</div> <div>  and there is no beauty anywhere. The fairest woman charms</div> <div> the eye no more than a heap of ashes when the sun has de-</div> <div> parted. Your garden may be gay with many coloured flowers,</div> <div> but when the sun goes down you cannot know them from the grass which borders them. You look upon the trees, all fair with the verdure of summer, but when the sun goes down they are all hung in black. Without light no radiance flashes from</div> <div> the sapphire, no peaceful ray proceedeth from the pearl. There</div> <div> is nought of beauty left when light is gone. Light is the mother</div> <div> of beauty. In such sense the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb</div> <div> are the light of heaven; that is to say, all the beauty of the</div> <div> saints above comes from God incarnate."</div> <bR> <div>      I love the prayer poem written by Harold Kohn, which he calls, The God Who Loves To Color.</div> <bR> <div> O God,</div> <div> In whose colors</div> <div>    of sunrise and sunset,</div> <div>     golden day and black night,</div> <div> Yellow wildflower and red garden rose,</div> <div> Rich, brown soil and white mantle of snow</div> <div> We delight,</div> <div> Forgive us</div> <div> Where we have rejoiced</div> <div>     in all the glorious hues</div> <div>            of Thy world </div> <div> Excepting</div> <div>    the</div> <div> skin-color</div> <div>        of</div> <div>            Thy</div> <div>                children,</div> <div> Father of us all,</div> <div> Forgive                             </div> <div> If we have dared despise</div> <div> The pigmnents of skin</div> <div>     that</div> <div> Thou hast honored</div> <div>   with Thy creative care,</div> <div>      Thy loving touch,</div> <div>         and with the indwelling</div> <div>            presence</div> <div>               of</div> <div>                  Thy Spirit.</div> <div> Bless</div> <div> All Thy colored ones, O Father.</div> <div> May they,</div> <div>   and we,</div> <div>   with Thee,</div> <div> Rejoice in the beauty</div> <div>          of</div> <div> Their blackness,</div> <div>           brownness</div> <div>           and yellowness.</div> <div> Let them,</div> <div> Let us altogether,</div> <div> Praise Thee,</div> <div> The God who loves to color</div> <div> the heavens,</div> <div>            the earth,</div> <div>            and even</div> <div> Thy</div> <div>   children.</div> <div>              -AMEN</div> <bR> <div>      Let's face it, heaven will be a place of incredible color, with people of all color ,and gems of color, and a rainbow of color, and a God who loves to color. Infinite color is what we are trying to grasp here. The pracitical implications of this are that we as Christians are to be people who love color. We have gotten away from the black only Bibles, and the black only at funerals, but few have written so boldly of their color-filled hope as Gertrude Knevels.</div> <div>                Shall I wear morning for my soldier dead-</div> <div>                I, a believer? --give me red;</div> <div>                Or give me royal purple for the King</div> <div>                at whose high court my love is visiting;</div> <div>                Dress me in green for growth, for life made new;</div> <div>                For skies his dear feet march, dress me in blue;</div> <div>                In white for his white soul; robe me in gold</div> <div>                For all the pride that his new rank shall hold;</div> <div>                In earth's dim gardens bloom no hue too bright</div> <div>                To dress me for my love who walks in light.</div> <div>      Here is a woman who takes the colors of heaven seriously, and wants to bear a clear witness to her faith in the God of all colors. My godly aunt had it arranged, so that at her funeral, many colored balloons were released, and we watched them soar up into the sky. It was a symbol of her conviction that we should be joyful, and even in a mood of celebration, when we enter God's presence, and when a loved one does so. Color is a part of celebration.</div> <div>      The reason man could not be content with black and white television is because it is not natural. Real life is in color, for God made color a basic part of His creation, and no scene is complete without color. Because man is made in the image of God, he can never be satisfied without color.  Charles Goff in, A Better Hope, quotes Criswell who said, "God must like color.  For example, do you ever see the sunset in the evening when the clouds are burning with fire and there is gold, crimson, orange, blue, all the riot of the rainbow in the sky?  Is there a man who ever lived who could tell us any earthly, utilitarian use for a sunset?  Do you hug them, can you plow them, can you water with them?  What good are the colors of the sunset?  Just this, that God loves color and things beautiful.  So ii is with His holy city.  Beyond imagination is the flooding of color in that incomparable city.  All of these stones named here are exquisite with color."  </div> <div>      T. DeWitt Telmage, the great preacher in the early part of the century, said in one of his sermons, "I think heaven must have a material splendor as well as a spiritual grandeur.  Oh, what grandeur....when that divine hand which pludges the sea into blue, and foliage into green, and sets the sunset on fire, shall gather all the beautiful colors of earth around His throne."  </div> <div>      J. Vernon McGee in his famous Through The Bible series says, "The New Jerusalem is a city of light and a city of color.  God is light and He is there.  All of this color will be coming out and flooding God's universe."  He sees the light of God creating more colors than we find in time.  He writes, "The light shining from within through the Jasper stone, acting as a prism, would give every color and shade of color in the rainbow--colors that you and I have not even thought of yet."  </div> <div>      In a book of children's prayers, I read this one from Eugene--"Dear God, I didn't think orange went very good with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday.  That was cool."  The ulitmate in cool will be the niagra of color that will pour into our eyes in the New Jerusalem.  </div> <div>      We could go on quoting the hopes and visions of the saints, but the question is, does this colorful hope of heaven have any practical value for us time, beside the thrill of anticpation?  The answer is yes!  God made color to play a more important role in life than we realize.  Color plays a major role in your physical, mental, spiritual health.  Studies show that people who live in a drab world, devoid of pretty colors, get depressed with life.  People flock out to see the country side in the fall, because it is uplifting, and gives one a feeling of optimism and well being.  The bright colors are a form of therapy that brings encouragement.  Man is learning that he can be healthier by changing the colors of his surroundings.  </div> <div>      The Bristish airways had a high number of passengers suffering from air sickness.  They changed the color inside from yellow to sky blue, and there was an immediate improvement.  The colors in your environment affect you for good or bad.  Color makes everything more fun, enjoyable, and romantic.  Color is one of God's best gifts for the joy of life.  </div> <div>      Al Koran has a chapter on the magic of color.  He writes from a secular perspective, but if you listen to what he is saying, you can see what a powerful impact the colors of heaven will have on our eternal health and happiness.  He writes,     </div> <bR> <div>  Do you wear colored shoes? Have you a colored um-</div> <div> brella, pair of gloves, or coat? Do you cook in colored sauce-</div> <div> pans, drink from colored glasses, wash with a colored sponge,</div> <div> and dry yourself with a colored towel? Do you sleep between</div> <div> colored sheets? Are your nightclothes bright, and your slip-</div> <div> pers gay? Is your car and your traveling case a color that</div> <div> cheers? There are thousands of people wanting to be a men-</div> <div> tal magician, but few of them turn to color. Your day should</div> <div> be full of fascinating colors, your favorite color predominat-</div> <div> ing. Have you seen the sun shining through colored glass</div> <div> ornaments? It is beautiful. Colored glass attracts the light</div> <div> with a brilliance undreamed of, and these colors help to</div> <div> bring magic into your life.</div> <div>      One of the reasons Christmas is such a joyful time of the year is because it is the most colorful time of the year.  A merry Christmas is greatly aided by the lovely colors everywhere.  The New Jerusalem will be lit up like a perpetual ice palace, with sparkling jewels reflecting the light of the Lamb, and with color greater than any Christmas display we have ever seen.  Color and joy are linked in time and eternity.  </div> <div>      Color has an effect on our emotions.  We say he is seeing red, to convey his anger, or he is feeling blue, to convey his depression, or he is feeling green with envy, or purple with rage.  He may be feeling in the pink, or be in black depression.  If he does you a kindness, that is white of him.  If he refuses to take a chance, you think he is yellow.  Color is a part of the psychology of life.  Faber Birren, the color expert, in his book, Color In Your World, writes, "My profession is color, I use research to measure human preferences in color trends in consumer goods.  I decorate factories, offices, schools, hosptials, stores, not merely to make them more attractive, but also to acheive practical ends--to increase production, lower accident rates, aid convalescence,  relieve psychological and physical fatigue, and of course to promote business."  </div> <div>      Studies show red light increases blood pressure, respiration rate, and muscular tension.  Blue light, on the other hand, will retard them.  Red will arouse, and blue will calm.  The person who wants to have a wild time will want to be surrounded by red.  The one who wants to relax will prefer a blue setting.  </div> <div>      Mary Crowley, the first woman to be on the board of the Billy Graham association, and the founder of the multi-million dollar business, Home Interiors, wrote in, Women Who Win, "God instilled in every human being the hunger for stimulation, excitement, and romance.  That's why He created the world in color!  He could have made it in black and white, and it would have functioned just as well, but God knew that this aesthetic creature called man would need color and beauty to inspire and excite him.  What wonderful things God has given us for pure enjoyment!"  </div> <div>      The first words of God in the Bible are, "Let there be light." That was also the beginning of color. Creation began in a blaze of color, and the consumation of God's plan will also be an everlasting blaze of color. Those who do not receive Jesus as their Saviour will have a colorless eternity of darkness. Where there is no light, there is no color, and hell is darkness. Those who do take Christ as Saviour will dwell in eternal light and color that never ends. In Jesus there is the promise of everlasting joy and happiness in the color of heaven.</div> <div>  </div> <div>        </div> <bR> <div>                        CHAPTER FOUR</div> <bR> <bR> <div> EATING IN HEAVEN based on Rev. 22:1-6</div> <div> By Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Benjamin Franklin formed a very close friendship with a Frenchwoman, who was 40 years younger than himself, when he was the American Minister in Paris. They wrote numerous letters to each other and though she refused all his proposals, she did finally agree to marry him in heaven, and live on roasted apples. If that was the best he could hope for, he wrote back and endorsed the plan. In the next world he said, they would eat the apples of paradise roasted with butter and nutmeg and they would pity those who were not dead.</div> <div>      People tend to get fanciful in romantic settings, but the question we want to focus on is this-will the pleasure of eating be one of the pleasures that we enjoy at God's right hand forever? Will there be literal eating in the eternal kingdom? Most people who give the matter any thought feel it would be a shame to waste one of God's best ideas-the sense of taste. This is the sense that gives us, here in time, a great deal of pleasure. The average person eats about one ton of food a year, and this means taste is a ton of pleasure a year. If the other senses will be a part or our resurrection bodies, then why not this one? We will certainly be able to see and enjoy the jewel-splendored New Jerusalem, and hear the joyous praise of the angelic choir. We will be able to touch the golden streets of gold as we walk with our Lord, and smell the perfume of heaven, referred to in Rev.8. Why should it be doubted that we will enjoy the sense of taste?</div> <div>      The reason for doubt is the powerful anti-body influence that began in the 4th century. The heroes of the Christian faith were, at that time, those who were ascetics. They denied the body the pleasures of life, and devoted themselves to a focus on the soul. They renounced sex and stayed celibate. They wore drab clothes, and ate only basic foods, avoiding anything fancy or too tasty.  The better saints lived on bread and water.  The body was the enemy, and the source of all our sins.  To deny it was the  highest virtue.  This movement within the church got it's greatest spokesman with the conversion of St. Augustine.  He was a wild liver, satisfying his lust with every woman he could.  He lived with a woman who bore him a son, and he wrote in his confessions, that he had descended to the dark hell of lust.</div> <div>        When he was converted, he discovered that segment of the church that stressed the evil of matter, and especially the body.  The flesh was carnal, and the goal of the Christian was to escape all it's carnal desires.  This led to his thinking about the joy of heaven as being anti-sensual.  The joys of heaven were to be pleasures of the soul, and not of the body.  The mystical was the essence of heaven.  It was eternal meditation and spiritual ecstasy, with the body ignored.  </div> <div>      It makes sense why this happened, for if the physical pleasures of the body were seen as evil, how could they preach that they would all become good in heaven?  Christianity had taken a radical turn toward rejecting the body and it's senses, as having an eternal place in God's plan.  Christians were to focus on spiritual beauty.  The goal was to set the soul free from the body and it's senses.  St. Augustine said the mental and the spiritual is all that matters for eternity.  This had a powerful impact on the history of Christian thinking about heaven.  The ideal life was an escape to the monestary, where you denied your body to develop your soul.  For centuries, through the dark ages, Christianity became an anti body religion, totally contrary to the revelation of God's Word.  The very idea of physical pleasure in our resurrected bodies was a scandal.  This has influenced Christians to this very day.  </div> <div>      St. Augustine was a slave to his lust, and it was God's will that he be saved from his body-centered life style.  The body is the tool Satan uses to lead us into temptation.  The flesh does war against the spirit.  The body does need to be controlled, or it will lead us astray.  But to throw out the baby with the bath water is folly.  The goal of salvation is not just to save the soul, but the body as well.  The body is to be delivered, sanctified, and glorified.  </div> <div>      The resurrection of the body is what sets Christianity apart, as unique, in the religions of the world.  Christianity says that the body is good.  It is made by God, and He said it is very good.  His Son took on a literal body in the Incarantion.  He raised up His body and took it to heaven in the Ascension.  His plan is to raise up all the redeemed in their bodies.  The body is a key part of God's plan for man.  God intends to save the bodies of men forever.  </div> <div>      The value of looking at a subject like eating in heaven, is that it helps us get back to a balance view of the role of the body in God's plan.  All through history Christians are influenced by the times, culture, the circumstances, and their own personality, to teach things that are not Biblical.  That is why the Bible has to be our soul authority for faith and practice.  Even the best of godly men can be led astray if the Bible is not the foundation for their views.  So let's look at the Biblical evidence to support the idea that the resurrected bodies will enjoy the pleasure of eating.  </div> <div>      The most conspicuous evidence is the tree of life.  Verse 2 says it bears 12 crops of fruit, a new crop every month.  The implications are numerous.  We will stay on the yearly cycle in heaven, with 12  months in a year, and we will all belong to the fruit of the month club.  Will we get to eat this fruit?  That is what it says in verse14 where we read, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life..."  It is not much of a right if you don't get to eat this heavenly fruit.  Even if we did not have this verse, it would be a logical conclusion that we would enjoy this fruit, for it keeps growing a new crop every month, and, therefore, it must be harvested and eaten.  If this was not the case, the new Jerusalem would be a  heaven for fruit flies only, for it would become a garbage pit.  </div> <div>      The tree of llife grows on both sides of the river, which flows down the middle of the great golden street.  That is 1,400 miles on each side, which means an orchard 2,800 miles long, producing a new crop of fruit every month.  This is a flow of fruit that would feed multiplied billions every month.  This whole picture is meaningless if this fruit is not enjoyed by the saints in glory.  The picture conveyed here is that we will enjoy the best of both worlds-the city life developed by centuries of civilization, and the ideal environment of the orginial paradise in Eden.  The city and the country lovers will all be satisfied.</div> <div>      To add to this picture, we have the wedding supper of the Lamb in Rev. 19, which is the way heaven will begin.  A wedding feast with all the color, music, and luxury that is worthy of the Son of God being united with His Bride-the Church.  It is hard to get excited about a wedding supper if there is nothing to eat.  We have no reason to reject the idea of literal feasting, for the Bible clearly reveals that the resurrection body can enjoy the consumption of food.  Jesus ate in His resurrection body on at least two occasions.  He even made His disciples a fish breakfast one morning on the beach.  He not only ate in His resurrection body, He taught that eating and drinking would be a part of the eternal kingdom.  In Matt. 26:29 Jesus said, after instituting the Lord's Supper, "I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."  Beyond the cross and the grave, Jesus said I will again enjoy with you the pleasures of the table.  </div> <div>      Will the apostles go on eating and drinking in their resurrected bodies?  It is a matter of clear revelation.  Jesus said to them in Luke 22:28-30, "You are those who have stood by me in my trials.  And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel."  It is a rejection of Christ's promise to deny the reality of eating  in heaven. Jesus enjoyed eating in time, and He will go on eating with his own for all eternity. He was not embarrassed about the image of heaven as a feast. He said in Luke 13:29, "People will come from the East and the West and North and South, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus told parables depicting the Kingdom of God a a great banquet. Jesus was not anti-body at all. He had no place for a heaven without the body.</div> <div>      On the first Easter evening, when He appeared to the disciples, they were fearful and thought they had seen a ghost. Jesus cleared this us immediately and said in Luke 24:39-43, "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, do you have anything her to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence."</div> <div>      Eating was the final proof that Jesus was no ghost, but a real live body. By His Easter eating, Jesus proved the resurrection is not just a spiritual event of the soul, as heretics all through history have tried to teach. It is a physical event of the body, and thus, the body will be a part of the eternal kingdom of God. The disciples could accept that Jesus returned as a ghost, that is, a disembodied spirit. This has been a universal belief. But the message of the resurrection is not about the immortality of the soul, but it is about the immortality of the body. No man is fully Christian in his thinking until he believes in the resurrection of the body. It sounds spiritual to be concerned only about the soul, but that is being more spiritual than Jesus was, and this means it is really being unspiritual, for anything that is not Christlike, is unspiritual.</div> <div>      When Peter shared his testimony of experiencing the reality of the resurrection to the Gentiles, he made a point of telling of the food they enjoyed with Jesus after His return from the grave. In Acts10:39-41, we read, "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree. But God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people. But by witnesses whom God had clearly chosen-by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead."</div> <div>      What was the key evidence of the reality of the physical resurrection of Christ's body?  It was the fact that after He died He came back to eat and to drink again-the main acts of a living body.  The resurrection body is a body that eats and drinks.  We do not know how many meals the disciples shared with Jesus, but in 40 days we can assume it was quite a number.  It is folly to spiritualize the resurrection, as many have done.  It is a flat rejection of God's Word to do so.  The resurrection body is physical, and it enjoys the physical pleasures of eating and drinking.  Since every picture we have of heaven includes feasting, there is no logical reason to deny that we will enjoy the pleasure of eating forever.</div> <div>      In the first letter of the seven letters to the churches, Jesus gives the first of His promises to the church of Ephesus.  We read in Rev.2:7, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."  This is not a very inticing offer if it is only symbolic, but there is no reason to doubt it is literal.  </div> <div>      In Rev. 7:16 we are told that those who suffered great tribulation will never again be hungary, and never again suffer thrist.  The spiritualizers say it is because they no longer have taste buds, and no longer a need for water.  The literalists, who take the Bible at face value, say it is because there will be abundant provisions to meet their needs forever.  The Shepherd will lead them to springs of living water and they will feast at His table forever.</div> <div>      Jesus protrayed the rich man in hell, as having the compacity to enjoy a drop of water on his tongue. What a paradox that would be if He gives those in hell bodies with taste buds, but denies them to the saints at the wedding feast in heaven.  One of the great values of the heavenly hope of enjoying food forever, is that it makes it easier to face our limitations in time.  We all know we have not tasted all of the delights God has created in this world.  There are thousands of dishes we have never had a chance to try.  There is every reason to believe that in heaven we will be able to taste everything God has created, not only on this planet, but everywhere else in the universe.  </div> <div>       Are there foods in the universe, which are not on this planet?  The Bible reveals there is at least one.  Psalms 78:23-25 has this fascinating account, "Yet He gave a command to the skies above and opened the doors of the heavens; He reigned down manna for the people to eat, He gave them the grain of heaven.  Men ate the bread of angels;..."  The grain of heaven, and the bread of angels, could just be poetic language, but it also could point to the reality of foods in heaven.  Maybe we will enjoy a real angels food cake in heaven.  It is likely that we only know a faction of the foods that God has made possible in this universe.  For all we know, none of the 12 fruits on the tree of life will be fruits that we have tasted.  They could all be new ones, just made special, for the Bride of Christ.  Would anyone dare to say that God exhausted His creative ability, when He made this universe.  The Bible tells us it is but the work of His fingers.  What might God be able to make with both hands?  The point is, it is a foolish limiting of God to think that eternity will lack abundance and variety beyond our imagination.  The Bible says we only have a taste now of the things to come.  The best is yet to be.  </div> <div>      The disciples did not fast when Jesus was with them, but Jesus said they would when He, the Bridegroom, left them.  Fasting is not approriate for a time of joy, which is to be a time of feasting.  Those who protray heaven as an eternal fast have missed the whole point.  It is an eternal feast, for we will be with the Bridegroom forever.  </div> <div>      The communion table is symbolic of the hope of believer's to one day be with Jesus, at His table in the Father's house.  This symbolic meal shows forth His death till He comes.  It is but a taste of the good things to come.  It is of interest that Jesus wanted us to remember Him always, by means of this symbolic meal.  Eating with Jesus in heaven will be the fulfillment of all that He did for us on the cross.  </div> <div>      Charles Spurgeon preached, "Heaven is a place where they shall eat and drink and rejoice together.  Heaven is the meeting place of those that triumph, and the state room of them that feast.  All the enjoyments that can be imagined, and more, belong to the beatific state of the glorified."  Horatius Bonar put it in poetry-</div> <div>           Feast after feast thus comes and passes by</div> <div>           Yet, passing, points to the glad feasts above,</div> <div>           Giving sweet fortaste of the festal joy</div> <div>           The Lamb's great Bridal feast of bliss and love.</div> <div>      If God surprises us with something we cannot now conceive, that is all the better, but until then, the literal hope of the enjoyment of eternal eating is, not only legitimate, it is demanded by the revelation of God's Word.  Until someone can explain just what that greater pleasure would be, that is symbolized by eating, we have an obligation to thank God and rejoice in the hope of eating in heaven.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>                      CHAPTER FIVE</div> <bR> <bR> <div> THE GLORY OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:22-27</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Try to picture in your mind a cake of ice one and a half mile square.  Just imagine a total square mile of ice, and half of the next mile, and then imagine that enormous block rising into the sky, not just to the height of an ice cube, not even to the height of the Empire State Building, but rather, to the height of 93 million miles.  In other words, from the earth to the sun.  Scientists have calculated that this gigantic cake of ice could be completely melted in just 30 seconds, if the full power of the sun could be focused on it.  </div> <div>      This is power so staggering that almost anything you can say about the sun is an understatement.  It's like the guy who watched the first atomic bomb test, and said after the explosion, that stuff is dynamite.  The sun is so powerful we do not have terms to describe it's energy.  At it's core, where the temperature is 13 million degrees centigrade, 4 million tons of hydrogen explode every second.  Man has not, since the dawn of civilization, used that much energy.  The sun does this every second of every day, and has done so since God created it.  </div> <div>       Believe it or not, the children of God will go on shining and radiating with even greater energy than the sun, even after the sun has passed away.  John says in verse 23, that this great light will not be needed in the new Jerusalem-the heavenly city.  The glory of God is so great that no created source of light is necessary.  Neither sun nor moon are needed, for there will never be a night.  There can be no darkness in the presence of God. </div> <div>      Here we see an example of how the final paradise is not a replica of the first paradise.  We are not just getting back to Adam and Eve in Christ.  Salvation is much more than mere restoration.  The first paradise was far from perfect, for it had in it the potential for the fall.  In Christ we go forward to perfection, and to the fulfillment of God's ideal plan.  The first paradise did need the sun and moon, for God had not revealed His full glory, as He will in the final paradise.  The poet has said, </div> <div>           No need for the sun in that glory-filled land,</div> <div>           The sun would itself there be dim!</div> <div>           That land where the shadows or twilight ne'r come,</div> <div>           Where the light and the glory are "Him."</div> <div>      This was the glory the prophet Isaiah promised to Israel in Isa. 60:19, "The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night, But the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory."  There will be no dark ages in the New Jerusalem, as there was in the old Jerusalem.  Many of God's people have had to endure seasons of darkness, but never again in that city, for as verse 25 says, there shall be no night there.  </div> <div>      He who is the Light of this world, and the Creator of all light, will be the lamp of the city.  He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, and thus, He becomes the Lamp of God that takes away the darkness forever.  There can be no night in His presense.  </div> <div>           There is no night of things unknown, uncertain, </div> <div>           Things which now try the heart to make it strong.</div> <div>           There is no night-there is no veiling curtain, </div> <div>           Just light, and bliss, and joy, and endless song.</div> <div>      Take away the sun from our solar system, and we are plunged into endless night.  So will it be, for those who are not in the holy city.  Hell is always pictured as a place of darkness, in contrast to heaven where there is only light.  There are only two destinies-light and night.  The persecuted Christians, who first read this book, and who lived in the darkness of Catacombs of Rome, would be so encouraged to know that their future would be one of never ending light and glory.  </div> <div>      John lists all kinds of things that will not be heaven, for there is no way to describe the positives, except by the absence of their opposites.  What will not be there is enough to boggle the mind, and give us endless motivation to speculate on what it must be like to be where no evil can ever be.  </div> <div>      Not all that is absent from heaven is evil.  There is nothing evil about the sun or the moon, and even night is a blessing in this world where we need sleep.  It is not just the bad that is gone, but even the good, when it is not the best.  Many good things will be absent just because the good is not necessary in the presence of the best.  If you are in a dark room, because the storm has knocked out the lights, you are grateful for the candle.  But when the lights come on again, you do not continue to burn the candle.  It was good, but it was not the best.  It goes back into the drawer, for when you have the best the good is not needed.  </div> <div>      This is illustrated by John telling us in verse 22, that there will be no temple there.  What a vacumn this would have created in the old Jerusalem.  It was the most dramatic tradegy in Judaism when the temple was destroyed.  Christians did not need to get bent out of shape over it, however, for John makes it clear, the temple is not eternal, but only temporal anyway.  It was only a means to an end, and when the end is achieved, the means are no longer necessary.  When the building is completed the scaffolding is removed, and nobody misses it, for it is no longer needed.  The phone is an excellent means of communicating with someone, but if that person is present, the phone is no longer a help, but a hindrance.  The phone is good, but the presence is best, and when the best is here the good is gone.  </div> <div>      In heaven there is no need for a place to go to worship God.  He is everwhere present to all His people.  God and His Son are the temple, and they are everywhere.  There is no need for a special place to go to be in their presence.  We will dwell in that presence, and there will no longer be a distinction between secular and sacred.  The temple, therefore, becomes totally obsolete in heaven.  Here is a great city that needs no church.  In heaven we never have to go to church, for there is no church to go to.  This may be a real appeal to many-no more church forever.  But keep in mind, the reason you never have to go to church is because you are always in church-that is, you are always in the presence of God.  </div> <div>      The temple was the center of worship in Israel, but in Christianity the center is a person, and not a place.  Jesus Christ becomes our center of worship, and so the church becomes a transition between Judaism and the eternal kingdom.  The church never completely gets away from the idea of place, however.  The building, the church worships in, becomes known also as the church, and so the place still is a vital part of the concept of church.  In heaven, the place will fade completely, and the person will be all in all, for there will be no place-no temple, in which worship takes place.  Heaven is Christianity finalized and fulfilled.  </div> <div>      This has a powerful lesson for time.  The goal of history in God's plan, is to eleminate the distinction between the sacred and the secular.  In heaven we do all for the glory of God.  If it be eating at the marraige banquet of the Lamb, or enjoying the fruit from the Tree of Life, or admiring the jewels sparkling in the city walls, or serving God in manifold ways, all is sacred.  The more we can bring the two together now, the more we will enjoy a truly spiritual life.  To be able to enjoy the secular life as a part of the sacred, is the ideal.  We need to learn to do all that we do for the glory of God.  Our secular tasks will then be a part of our spiritual life.  </div> <div>      When we get to heaven, all that was symbolic of the best to come, will be gone.  You do not cling to the picture of a loved one, when the loved one walks into your presence.  Symbols will no longer be needed, and that is why the temple will be no more.  On the cross, Jesus removed the veil in the temple.  When He comes again, and receives us to Himself, He will remove the temple itself.  No one will ever have to come to God again, for God has come to all.  Christians argue a lot about whether or not the temple will be rebuilt, but there is no doubt, the temple will not be a part of the eternal Jerusalem.  It will be  a templeless eternity, because it will be a Christ-centered eternity.  Spurgeon wrote,  "What a glorious hour when God and not His creatures, God and not His works, but God Himself, Christ Himself, shall be our daily joy!  Plunged in the Godhead's deepest sea, and lost in His immensity."  Such will be the glory of heaven.</div> <div>   </div> <bR> <bR> <div>                      CHAPTER SIX</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> THE GOLD OF HEAVEN  based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      On our vacation in South Dakota, we stopped in the small town of Keystone.  Almost every store in town had a variety of Black Hills Gold on display.  Seeing all this gold made me want ot study gold in the Bible.  The streets of the New Jerusalem are to be made of pure gold, and that means gold will be a part of the eternal environment.  </div> <div>      There are at least 367 references to gold in God's Word.  The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states, "No metal has been more frequently mentioned in Old Testament writings than gold, and none with more terms applied to it."  There are about a dozen different words for gold in the Bible.  In the New Testament gold is mentioned 41 times, with 21 of them in the book of Revelation.  16 of the 21 are very positive, with only 2 negative, and 3 are neutral.  </div> <div>      The first reference to gold is in Gen. 2:11-12.  The first river that flowed from Eden wound it's way through the land of Havilah, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good.  The first reference to gold in the Bible, and the last, refer to it as a good thing.  It is the first and last precious metal mentioned in the Bible, and all through the Bible gold is a symbol of glory and wealth.  </div> <div>     Every major kingdom in history, in an out of the Bible, was noted for it's abundance of gold.  This is why the final kingdom of God's people is pictured as one of pure gold, for that has been the test of the glory of all the kingdoms in history.  If God's people are to have the best in the end, then gold streets are a necessity to make their city the greatest ever.  </div> <div>      In Athens, the most renowned sculptor of Greece, Pheidias, made a 38 foot ivory and gold statue of Athene, the patron goddess.  It was completed in 438 B. C., and looked out over the city from the Parthenon, high on the Acropolis.  More than a ton of gold was in robes alone.  Next, he made a 60 foot statue of Zeus, which sat on a throne of gold, and wore a golden crown, held a golden sceptre, and wore golden sandals.  </div> <div>      Alexander the Great conquered the  world in search of gold.  He first conquered Egypt, with it's vast wealth of gold.  Then he marched to Babylon, where gold was so abundant their chariots were trimmed with gold.  The Bible always pictured Babylon as a city full of gold, but where it was greatly abused, and worshipped as a idol.  Gold was the god of Babylon.  The great image that Nebuchadnezzar sit up was a gold image 90 foot high and 9 foot wide, according to Dan. 3:1.  The only negative references to gold in the book of Revelation are those dealing  with the idolatry of Babylon.  Alexander captured all this gold, and most of the gold of the rest of the world, but he died at 33 in Babylon, and was buried in a gold coffin.  </div> <div>      Rome was the next gold hungary empire, and Caesar soon had the gold of the world flowing into Rome.  Augustus Caesar had so much gold he decided to sit up a mint, and make coins of it.  The mint was set up in the temple erected to Juno Moneta, and the coins made there became known as "money."   When Nero came to  power, he was a gold fanatic, and built himself a palace called The Golden House. At the entrance he had a statue of himself complete with golden curls 120 ft. high. It was so heavy  that it took 24 elephants to drag it away, when a later emperor wanted it removed. The Golden House had over 100 rooms and gardens, and a pool so large it was more like a sea. Guests washed heir hands in water that flowed from golden taps.</div> <div>      The point of all this is to show that the world of the early Christians was full of public gold.  If John would have had a vision of the eternal city that was less impressive then that created by scoundrals like Nero.  The Christian message would have lost it's credibility.  If God can not create a richer, more beautiful environment than the emperor, why should people give up emperor worhip to follow Jesus?  </div> <div>     We need to see the golden city of Revelation as a legitimate appeal to the materialistic heart of man.  Man is a gold hungary creature.  He desires wealth and luxury, and all the beauty and glory that comes with gold.  This is not a bad thing, for if it was, God would not appeal to this desire by giving us this description of beauty beyond our imagination.  The gold, the jewels, the beautiful garden fruit trees, and the clear flowing stream from the throne of God, are all a part of the final paradise.  Peace and prosperity forever is just what man most craves.  That is what the search for gold has always meant to people.  To get enough gold, so as to have complete security in a fallen world, is the hunger of every human being.  That is why the lottery is so popular.  </div> <div>      The Gospel is the good news that this hunger can be satisfied through Jesus Christ.  He is God's gold that will make you rich forever, and guarantee you a place in the eternal city of gold.  This Gospel in gold is not my idea, but comes from the very lips of the Lord to the church in Laodicea.  In Revelation 3:17 Jesus rebukes these Christians by saying, "You say, I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Jesus is saying even good Christians can be blinded by the wrong kind of wealth. My godly grandmother had a plaque on her wlll for years that inpressed me as a child. It said, "all is not gold that glitters." She was never wealthy in this world's gold, but grandma had the riches of Christ.</div> <div>      Bob Ricker, the president of the Baptist General Conference, spoke at an annual meeting, and he said his father made a statement that he never forgot. He said, "I'm so glad I didn't waste my life making money." He did, as we all do, spend a lot of his life making money, but that was not the primary value for which he lived. There is greater treasure in life and the Laodaceans were missing it. Listen to what Jesus says to them in verse 18, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich." Gold refined in the fire is pure gold. All the impurities are removed by the fire. Jesus is the greatest gold dealer in the world, and he has a monopoly on this absolutely pure gold that makes you rich forever.</div> <div>      The point of Jesus is that these Christians has riches, but they were not the real thing. They had fools gold. We saw all kinds of this is the Black Hills. You could buy chunks of it for 30 cents. It glittered and was shining and attractive, but it was of no value. Early gold miners were fooled into filling ships with this stuff, and sailing back to Europe only to be told they were not rich, but poorer than ever, for all they had to pay to transport this worthless rock. Jesus is saying, all the wealth of the world is fools gold. It is not the way to true riches. Only the gold He can give will make you rich forever.</div> <div>      This text should create a Christian gold rush, for Jesus is telling His church the way to get gold that will provide for eternal luxury. We need to get as excited about this gold as men get about the gold of earth. The gold rushes of history have made people willing to risk everything for what gold could provide. When the great 1849 gold rush to California started, the laborer in the East was making about a dollar a day. No wonder they left by the thousands. 35,000 chosse to sail around South America to get there. This 18,000 mile journey took 5 months. Others crossed the Isthmus of Panama and risked tropical fevers and poisonous snakes. 50,000 chose the overland route, and faced the mud of the prairies, and waterless deserts, steep mountains, and Indians. The routes were littered with abandoned wagons, the carcases of animals, and rough crosses, marking the graves of those who did not make it. They were ofter the fortunate ones, for those who made it did not find paradise, but a purgatory.</div> <div>      The towns were crowded, and the prices were sky high.  The average family could only afford to eat flapjacks. One egg cost a dollar, and a candle for light at night sold for 3 dollars. A comb to comb your hair would set you back 6 dollars. The 49'ers were a very unhealthy lot, and most of them died poor. If they worked from sunup to sundown, they could average 12 to 16 dollars worth of gold a day. It was just enough to survive. The stories of the few who made it big, spread, and kept the myth alive that brought a steady stream of people from all over the world to California.</div> <div>      In  1897, when the rush to the Klondike in Alaska began, men faced temperatures so cold that many died. Others lost limbs, and others went blind, but gold motivated them to take any risk. 3000 horses and mules died trying to get men to the Klondike. Still, 33,000 people made it because of the powerful lust for gold. The stories of suffering and sacrifice to get gold are almost endless. Then, of course, there are others that are remarkable for the ease with which some got rich.  </div> <div>      On Feb.15, 1869, John Deason and Richard Oats were returning to their cabin with a cart load of provisions.  They got stuck in a mud hole, and cursed their rotten luck.  In digging out they hit a rock that glittered like gold, and to their amazement, it was the largest nugget ever discovered-200 lbs.  It was so heavy it broke down their cart.  This happened in the gold rush in Australia.  But this was a rare story.  Many paid with their lives and their health to find this precious ore.  </div> <div>      By 1939, the U. S. had more than half of the world's gold stock--17 billion dollars worth.  That is why they had decided to build Fort Knox 30 miles south of Louisville, Kentucky  to house and protect all this gold.  It was completed in 1936.  The vault door weighs over 20 tons, and to open it takes several people with combinations known only to them.  If there is any tampering the door releases poisonous gas.  </div> <div>      The largest storage of gold, however, is five stories beneath the New York Federal Reserve Bank.  Here, the gold of other nations is stored.  It is protected by a 90 ton revolving steel door.  By 1949 the U. S. had three quarters of all the world's gold stock.  The hording of gold is not just the practice of governments, however, for in much of the world, gold is the only security for the individual.  </div> <div>      Women are loaded with gold jewelry, because if their husband dies they have no social security, no medical coverage, and no savings account.  She has only a legal right to her own jewelry, and this is what she will need to save her and her children from starvation.  It is a paradoz, but the poor of the world are the great horder of gold.  Their stock pile of just a few hundred dollars each accounts for over 13 billion dollars of the world's gold.  </div> <div>      The more we understand the history of gold, the more we will impressed by the New Jerusalem being a city of gold, with streets of solid gold.  God is saying, the best of this world's values will be commonplace for God's people.  They will be rich with values that go beyond literal gold, for gold will be to them as abundant as dirt is in time.  </div> <div>      It is of interest that Jesus says I command you to buy gold from me.  His salvation is free, but for his gold their is a fee.  Jesus not only wants you saved, He wants you rich.  But there is a price to pay to be rich.  He paid it all for you to be saved, but you have to pay to be rich.  The cost is obviously not money, or only those already rich could afford it.  This text is like Is. 55:1-2, which says, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters:  and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare."  This is a parallel to our text.  Buy the best and be rich.  The best is to listen to God, and eat His Word.  That is just what Jesus is saying.  In verse 20 He says, "Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me."  That is the way we buy His gold-not with money, but with a willingness to listen to His voice and let Him into our lives.  The richest people in the world are not those who eat in swanky resturants, but those who eat with Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  </div> <div>      The gold of Jesus is communion with Jesus.  It is sharing with Him in consuming the Word of Life.  Everywhere, God's Word is considered to be better than gold.  It is God's gold that will last forever, when heaven and earth have passed away.  Ps.19:7-11 says, </div> <div>                The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.</div> <div>                The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, </div> <div>                making wise the simple, </div> <div>                The precepts of the Lord are right,</div> <div>                giving joy to the heart.  </div> <div>                The commands of the Lord are radiant,</div> <div>                giving light to the eyes.  </div> <div>                The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.</div> <div>                The ordinances of the Lord are sure</div> <div>                and altogether righteous.  </div> <div>                They are more precious than gold, </div> <div>                then much pure gold; </div> <div>                they are sweeter than honey, </div> <div>                than honey from the comb. </div> <div>                By then is your servant warned;</div> <div>                in keeping them there is great reward.</div> <div>      Love for the Word of God does not just happen.  It costs time, effort, and commitment.  There is a price to pay to buy this gold, but the payoff is you build what will be lasting riches.  Ps.119:72 says, "The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold."  The real gold with eternal and infinite value is found in the wisdom of God's Word.  In Prov. 8:10-11 wisdom says, "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her."  Then, in verses 17 and 18 she says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.  With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity."  </div> <div>      This is what Jesus is urging us to do-get rich forever by paying the price to enrich your life by consuming the wisdom of God.  Every Christian who wants to be rich needs to be in some kind of Bible study.  This is the essence of what it is to be buying gold from Jesus.  All the wisdom you gather from the Word will be the gold you take into eternity, and this will determine the role you play in God's eternal kingdom.  This gold will be your reward.  May God motivate us to get involved in the gold rush to obtain the gold of heaven.</div> <bR> <div>                    CHAPTER SEVEN</div> <bR> <bR> <div> HUMOR IN HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:4</div> <div> By Pastor Glenn Pease</div> <bR> <div>      W. Douglas Roe pastored a large Baptist church in Philadelphia, where he had a weekly radio broadcast.  He was also going to seminary, and the load became to heavy, and he had a breakdown.  He was out of the pulpit for many months.  He had to learn to relax, and so he became a sort of comedian.  He discovered his sense of humor, not only saved him, by bringing healing, but it was a useful tool for saving others for eternity.  </div> <div>      He was asked to speak at a noon service in a large industrial plant.  He was told about a certain worker who was a ardent atheist.  He would never attend the service.  Roe deliberately walked up to this man's bench, just before the meeting, and said to him, "Did you ever think how much  we have to thank God for?"  Before he could respond, Roe continued, "Take your nose for example.  If anyone else but God had given it to you, it might have been turned  upside down.  Then if it rained, you would drown, and if you sneezed, you would blow your hat off."  Roe just walked on up to the pulpit.  The man was so intreagued by his humor, that he stayed to listen.  He heard the Gospel, and made a decision for Christ.  Humor became his first step on the way to heaven.  Humor never saves, only Christ does, but humor may bring one to Christ.  </div> <div>      A study of the great preachers of history, and the most popular in our contemporary world, will reveal that humor is a powerful tool in bringing people to Christ, and thus to heaven.  Spurgeon used a lot of humor, and he wrote, "It always makes me laugh when I am called a sour Puritan, because you know there is nobody with a quicker eye for fun, or with a deeper vein of mirth, than I have."  D.L. Moody loved to get together after an evangelistic service, and relax by telling jokes.  A lady once asked him how he could laugh so soon after the serious labor of dealing with souls.  He said, "If I didn't, I'd have a nervous break down at the pace at which I live."  </div> <div>      Calvin and Luther, and even Jonathan Edwards, the hell-fire preacher, had a keen sense of humor.  Some of the great Christians of history had to learn to control their sense of humor.  David Livingston, who opened up Africa to missions, and who suffered enormous hardships,  said to his wife, more than once, as they would recover from their fits of laughter, "Really, my dear, we ought not to indulge in so many jokes.  We are getting to old.  It is not becoming.  We must be more staid."  It is almost universally accepted as a fact of life, that it is a great virtue to have a sense of humor.  The question is, will we go on in enjoying a sense of humor in heaven?  Will we laugh forever, or will laughter be to earthly to be a part of the perfection of the holy city?  </div> <div>      The Bible is our only source for reliable information on heaven.  Let me share with you those texts which convince me that humor is not merely temporal, but eternal.  I am convinced that humor is a part of the image of God, and that it is not the result of the fall.  Here in Revelation 21:4, John tells us plenty about what will not be heaven.  There will be no tears, no mourning, no crying, no pain, and death will also be no more.  The whole point of these negatives,  is for the purpose of magnifying the positives.  If death is gone forever, then it follows, life is present forever, for there can be no end to it with death gone.  If tears and mourning and crying are gone forever, it follows that there opposites, joy and laughing, are free to be experienced forever.  There need be no fear that some sudden tradgey will turn our laughter to sorrow, as is the case in time.  </div> <div>      If it can be established that laughter and a sense of humor is good, then it follows, naturally, that they will be a part of eternal life, for nothing that it good will be eliminated from heaven.  Jesus settles this issue for us in Luke 6:21 where he says, "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh."  Jesus could not have called laughing a blessing if it were part of the kingdom of evil.  It is, therefore, a part of the goal of Jesus, for the redeemed to cease all weeping, and to enter into laughter.  The weeping prophet Jeremiah will weep no more, but enjoy the laughter of heaven's final victory over all evil.  Weeping and nashing of teeth is reserved for those in hell.  It is over forever, in heaven.  This promise of Christ can only be perfectly fulfilled in heaven.  Many who weep do so in time of persecution, and they are killed as they weep.  There's no way this promise can be kept unless there will be laughter in heaven.  Deny it, and you empty the words of Christ, of all meaning, to those who die in sorrow.  </div> <div>      Laughter must be a part of heaven, just as weeping will be a part of hell.  They are opposities, and what is absent from one is present in the other.  Rob heaven of laughter, and you drag it nearer the abode of the lost.  If God laughs, why should His children be deprived of laughter in His presence.  Luther said he would not wish to go to  heaven if God did not understand a joke.  The Bible reveals that God does laugh, and laughter is already a part of heaven.  Look at the three references to God's laughter in the Psalms.  </div> <div> 1.  Psalm 2:4 "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision."</div> <div> 2.  Psalm 37:13 "The Lord laughs at the wicked, for He sees that his day is coming."</div> <div> 3.  Psalm 59:8 "But Thou, O Lord, dost laugh at them...."</div> <div>      God laughs in scorn at the pathetic folly of puny men trying to outwit Him, and challenge His authority.  It is the laughter of great superiority.  Men trying to plot against God are as silly as nats plotting to attack a tank.  It is a joke.  It is funny when the weak do not recognize their weakness, and try to use it, as if it were a strength.  We have here the humor that makes the husband laugh when his wife tries to overpower him.  I have exploded in laughter, as Lavonne, in grim determination, has tired to push me onto the bed, or into a pool.  It is the laughter of a parent, when a small child tries to, by sheer force, get it's will done in defiance of theirs.  It tickles the funny bone, and you cannot help but laugh.  </div> <div>      God cannot help but laugh at the folly of men trying to defy His power.  This kind of laughter will cease, for men will no longer be trying such folly in eternity.  But the point is, it reveals God's nature, and a sense of humor is a part of it.  God is not a machine or a stone.  He is a person, and is affected by the reality of humor.  God never changes in His nature, and thus we know, He will have a sense of humor forever.  In Eccles. 3:4, it says there is a time to weep and a time to laugh.  In this life the times vary and alternate.  But John says there will be no more weeping in heaven.  Therefore, it will be a time for laughter.  This does not mean we will spend eternity in laughter, but it does mean, we will spend it in a state of joy, where laughter is always potential.  </div> <div>      Humor has been abused and vulgarized by the sinful nature of man.  But the abuse of anything is not to be allowed to rob us of it's proper use.  Sam Shoemaker in his book, Under New Management, writes, "How many of you still have a sneaking suspicion that religion and humor don't mix-that you can be humorous until you mention God, but then you must be solemn?  This is heresy-but there are thousands who believe it, and by their solemn piety drive people away from the stream of life!"  </div> <div>      We need to think more seriously about the nature of humor to grasp it's importance in the nature of God.  If I can laugh at the monkey's, little children, and other funny things of life, but God cannot, then it would mean, I have a positive quality of character that God does not have.  This, of course, can never be, for I am made in His image.  Laughter must either be a part of that image, or be a result of the breaking of that image in the fall.  Since all agree that a sense of humor is a positive quality in man, we have to conclude, it is a quality of God's nature, and will be eternal.  </div> <div>      If the angels rejoice over every sinner who repents, I am sure that God the Father and the Son do not sit in solemn silence, but join the celebration.  The father of the Prodigal Son called for a celebration when his son returned, and they began to make merry.  If that father could go out and sulk with the elder son, and not enter into the joy and laughter of the party, then we would have a picture opposite of what Jesus gives us.  He portrays this father, who represents God, as entering fully into the joy and laughter of the celebration.  It can be assumed that God will do so in the eternal celebration of heaven.  </div> <div>      I link laughter to joy, because it is almost impossible to conceive of a joyous banquet, where there is no laughter.  Laughter is a part of a joyous time.  It is not likely you would call any occasion joyous, if there was no laughter.  If you could sit at the marraige supper of the Lamb, and never laugh, you would be able to say, this is great, but I remember a time on earth that was even greater.  You can count on it, there will be no memories in heaven, that recall times on earth of greater joy and laughter.  If laughter is not a part of heaven, it will lack a value we all teasure in time.  This can never be.  </div> <div>      Jim Elliot, the missionary martyr, wrote in his diary, when he was a senior at Wheaton, "God has blessed me with a queer twist that makes me laugh at almost anything."  Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, the great preacher and author, wrote, "There is no objection to laughing at something funny.  I read some magazines just to laugh at the cartoons, and then throw them down without reading any of their articles or stories."  One of Wesley's favorite sayings was, "Sour godliness is the devil's religion."  Proverbs 15:15 says, all the days of the afflicted are evil, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast."  Because this is so, we should be a people who long to develop our sense of humor, and pray with the poet-</div> <div>                Give me the gift of laughter, oh, I pray</div> <div>                Though tears should hover near;</div> <div>                Give me the gift of laughter for each day-</div> <div>                Laughter to cast out fear.</div> <div>      This is a worthy prayer, and the good news is, it will one day be fully answered, and all God's people will laugh and enjoy forever the humor of heaven.  </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>                    CHAPTER EIGHT</div> <bR> <bR> <div> THE JEWELS OF HEAVEN based on Rev. 21:9-21</div> <bR> <bR> <div>      Henry Schober of Edmonton, Canada, was cutting a loaf of bread to make a sandwich, when he his amazement he found a diamond engagement ring.  It was later appraised at $700.  As a result of a lot of publicity, the owner of the ring was found.  It is not likely that gem favored bread will ever catch on, but the fact is, there are many gems in the Bread of life--the Word of God.  Not just gems of truth, but actual literal gems.  There are hundreds of verses in the Bible dealing with over 50 jewels and precious stones.  It would take hours just to read all that the Bible has to say about gems.  The KJV has an atstonishing total of 1,704 references to gemstones and minerals under 124 Greek and Hebrew names.  You could devote a life time to the study of this subject.  </div> <div>      There are three main lists of gems in the Bible, and one of them takes us back to Eden where we thought the only clothes worn were drab animal skins.  But there is a lot we do not know about what was going on in the heavenly realm at that time.  It seems that the archangel Lucifer was rebelling against God in pride, and was cast out of heaven before he came to deceive Eve through the serpent.  What is amazing is the beauty of this servant of God.  Satan is the first being that we have any record of who was clothed with precious stones.  In Ezek. 28, he is described as the model of perfection in beauty.  Then in 28:13 we read, "You were in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyz and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl.  Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared."  </div> <div>      This verse makes it clear that jewlery was not man's invention at all.  God was making jewlery of great beauty, with gold and precious stones, before man was ever created.  He made Satan a fabulous garment of jewlery when he was created, which was long before man was created. So the study of jewelry is not only pre-historic, but pre-existence of the universe. In other words, jewels existed in God's realm of existence  in eternity before God created what we know as the universe.  Jewels are heavenly elements that existed before the universe, and will be a part of heaven when the universe, as we know it, is no more.  There are fascinating histories of great jewels, and how they have been passed down from one royal family to another for centuries.  All of them will end up in the royal family of God, who will, in eternity, possess all the jewels God has ever made.</div> <div>      God was a jewler before He created our world, and thus we see from the start, God is a great lover of jewels.  This explains why He is so extravagant with them in the walls of the New Jerusalem.  If artists and architects got together to plan the New Jerusalem, they may have thought that a crown of diamonds and rubies over each of the twelve gates would give an elaborate and luxurious look to it.  Who would ever dream of twelve strings of precious stones circling the entire 5,600 miles of the city walls.  I have catulated that this is equivalent to a necklace which is 67,200 miles long.  You don't have to get out your Guiness Book of Records--I can assure you that this is the longest piece of jewlery ever created.  It would stretch over two and one half times around the world.  </div> <div>      So let's face this fact--God is fanatical about jewels.  If you think it is a waste of time to study jewels, you are mistaken.  God loves us to study them, just like anyone enjoys people who learn to love their hobby.  </div> <div>      God made jewels play a major role in the life of His Old Testament people, in the second great list we see this.  The high priest was to wear a special breastpiece when he came into the presence of God.  It was to be a marvelous work of art made of gold and fine linen.  Then we read this in Ex. 28:17-21, "Then mount four row of precious stones on it.  In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; in the second row a turquiose, a sapphire and an emerald; in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper.  Mount them in gold filigree settings.  There are to be 12 stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the 12 tribes."  </div> <div>      God's people had to know their gems in order to obey God, and make this very unusual garment.  The high priest would go into God's presence with these 12 shining jewels, and by means of them, God would reveal His will to the high priest.  I visualize it  as a sort of code.  The high priest would ask God questions and God would light up the jewels in a pattern to give him the answer.  It was like a computer that God spoke through.  God used jewels as a practical tool for communication to lead His people.  This was probably the most practical piece of jewlery ever created.  </div> <div>      Jewels are universal symbols of beauty and wealth.  God considers His people His jewels, and His goal is to beautify them that they might shine as jewels, and be as durable as jewels.  The prophet Zechariah describes the day of God's coming to rescue His people in Zech. 9:16-17, "The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of His people.  They will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown.  How attractive and beautiful they will be!"  I don't know how beautiful the crowns of kings were in Bible times, but the crowns of royalty in modern times are awesome in their beauty.  Imagine the glory of God's people, when they are finally saved from all that hinders them from being fully the reflections of God's image.  They will be the crown jewels of the King of Kings.  </div> <div>      When God wants to describe how precious His people are to Him, He uses jewel imagery.  We read in Is. 62:3-4, "You will be a crown of spendor in the Lord's hand, a royal diadam in the hand of your God.....  The Lord will take delight in you."  God delights in His people, as men do in their most precious jewels, because they are beautiful and valuable.  Jewels are more beautiful when they reflect light.  The more light a gem will disperse, the more color it conveys to the eye, and thus the greater it's beauty.  God's people are to be lights in the world conveying the beauty of God's love for a lost world.  Christians who will shine as God's jewels forever, are to shine in time reflecting the light of His love in a dark world.</div> <div>      Ernestine Ramaboa, in May of 1967, was panning gravel in South Africa.  For five years she and her husband had been working there 30 foot square diamond claim.  They averaged 25 to 30 cents a day finding rice size diamonds.  But this day was different--as different as rice is from eggs, for on this day she unearthed an egg size diamond.  They only had $4.00 between them, so they could not afford the $19.50 air fare to the city of Moseru.  So Petrus, her husband, put the egg in his pocket, and they walked for 4 days over the dirt roads.  It was well worth their effort, for it was the world's 8th largest diamond.  They received $302,400 for it.  It was sent to New York City where it was sold for $649,000.  That was quite a nest egg for an egg size jewel, but that is how precious a stone the diamond is.  Many feel the jasper in the walls of the New Jerusalem is the diamond.  If so, the city is primarily a city of diamonds and gold.</div> <div>      What is fascinating is the fact that jewels are glorified commonplace matter.  They represent what God can do with just plain stuff.  They are symbolic of the redemption of sinners--the lowly fallen man made into a gem of infinite worth.  The diamond is merely glorified carbon.  The ruby, topaz, and sapphire are glorified aluminum.  The opal is glorified sand, and so on.  C. J. Baldwin says, "Indeed, the jewels that glitter in the regalia of a Queen, have the same ultimate origin with the stones that lie beneath her feet in the road."  Jewels are the flowers of the mineral world.  They rise out of the soil of the commonplace with a superior beauty, because of the chemistry of God's creativity.  </div> <div>      All of this is introduction to our look at the jewels of heaven.  In the light of what we have seen, it ought not to be a surprise that God would lavish the Bride of His beloved Son with more jewerly than all mankind combined has ever processed.  I always thought heaven was depicted with gold and jewels, because these are great values to man, but the more I study, the more I see it is full of gold and jewels, because these are of great value to God.  Man came to value these things, because God valued them first, and made them scarce.  The beauty of heaven is not just for us, it is for the aesthetic pleasure of God and the Lord Jesus, and as we have seen, their taste for jewels was established before man was ever created. The jewels of heaven are for God's pleasure, as much as for ours. God loves jewelry and He uses it to glorify all that He exalts and honors.</div> <div>      God made man in His image, and one of the ways this is manifested is in the desire of man to create the same things God loves to create. In the area of precious stones, man has come a long way. He can now make many fine and flawless jewels synthetically.  Man can make a beautiful ruby made of the same material as a natural ruby, and make it flawless 500 times less expensive than mining, polishing, and cutting the natural ruby.  Today, man can make many of the jewels that God has enjoyed making, even before time began.  This is an area of aesthetics which God and man have in common, and will  have in common for all eternity.  Jewel making will likely be one of the jobs that some of the redeemed will enjoy doing forever.  </div> <div>      Chemistry will also be an eternal subject.  The jewels of heaven tell us that the same laws of chemistry that are in time will go on in eternity.  Every one of these jewels is a result of a chemical formula.  The more complex the formula the less hard the jewel.  The reason the diamond is the hardest jewel is because it consists of just one element--carbon.  The ruby and sapphire are the next hardest, with two elements--aluminum and oxygen.  The beryls with four elements are softer yet.  The study of jewels tells us a lot about God, for they are a study in order.  </div> <div>      The book of Revelation revolves around 7's, and all jewels do, as well.  Everyone of them falls into one of 7 categories.  </div> <div> The diamond is cubic.</div> <div> The emerald is hexagonal.</div> <div> The ruby is trigonal.</div> <div> And so on for 7 different types.  7 is God's perfect number, and He created all jewels to fall into 7 categories, which reveals His love for order,  which is part of the beauty of His creation.  Beauty and order will characterize the eternal environment of the New Jerusalem.  </div> <div>      Jewels have always been a sign of favor, and therefore, it makes sense why the Bride of Christ would receive the most elaborate jewels the universe has ever seen.  This royal rainbow of 12 colors encircling the Bride is a fitting symbol of the King's love for this one He has chosen to be His eternal Queen.  In England, when the Queen is crowned at her coronation, the ArchBishop of Canterbury pronouces these words, "O God, the Crown of the faithful, who on the heads of Thy saints placed crowns of glory, bless and sanctify this crown, that as the same is adorned with divers precious stones, so this Thy servant wearing it, may be replenished of Thy grace, with the manifold gifts of all precious virtues, through the King Eternal, Thy Son and our Lord,  amen."  </div> <div>      If the precious stones are symbolic of the precious grace of God, that bestows on the wearer, His virtues, then the Bride of Christ is endowed with infinite grace and virtue, making her worthy to be the everlasting Queen of the new heaven and earth.  When God wanted to convey to His people Israel that His love, as her husband, would never cease, He used jewerly to convey this idea of permanence.  In Is. 54:11-12 God says, "I will build you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires.  I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels and all your walls of precious stones."  </div> <div>      The Old Testament imagery of jewels makes it clear what the jewels of heaven mean.  They are symbolic of the fact that the Bride of the Lamb need never fear divorce or separation.  God is committed to eternal love.  He will not tire of this Bride anymore than He will tire of His eteranl love for precious stones.  I would love to see the model that has been made of this jewel-ringed Bride.  And eminent English jeweler displayed it in London.  One who saw it wrote, "Though, to some minds, the Johannine description seems grotesque and incoherent, the remarkable thing was, that when the various elements of the description were gathered together into a unity, a singularly beautiful and charming model was the result,--a model which gathered round it's thousands of distinguised critics, who pronounced it about as perfect a reproduction in precious stones, pearls, gold, and crystal as it was possible for human hands to frame."  </div> <div>      If man can make a model so beautiful, what will the reality be like, made by the Master Jeweler Himself.  Some of these jewels could very well be the very ones that beautified Lucifer before he fell.  The church will be victor over all the powers of Satan, and she will possess the very beauty and power that he lost.  </div> <div>      But again, the question comes, is there any practical value in all of this?  God says we are to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth.  If He has given us hundreds of words dealing with jewels, we can count on it, there is practical value in the study of jewels.  Paul urges us in Phil 4:8, to think on things that are pure, lovely, and admirable.  Why?  Because the Christian who has a focus on the beautiful will be a better reflection of the beauty of heaven, on earth.  Show me the happiest Christians, and I'll show you people who think about lovely things.  So, the first practical value of jewels is their psychological effect.  They are examples of order and beauty that motivate us to lives of greater order and beauty.  The more you look at the things God loves and appreciates, the more you adore the God who loves such loveliness.  </div> <div>      Horace Mann, who is known as the Father of American Public School, and who was elected to the American Hall of Fame, had a love for education, like few people in the history  of our nation.  He said something that illustrates why Christians should be students of all forms of beauty. </div> <div>                         "Surely He who created the frangrance and flowers</div> <div>           and music of paradise;...... Surely He who created </div> <div>            all colors, and has mingled them together in the petals</div> <div>           of flowers, in the armatuare of insects, and the plumage</div> <div>           of birds, and has blended lily and rose in the cheek</div> <div>           of youth; He who has strewed the bottom of the ocean</div> <div>           with pearls, and sowed jasper and amethyst and </div> <div>           chrysolite among the rocks,--was no contemner</div> <div>           of adornement."  </div> <div>      This revelation of the jewel bedecked Bride of Christ makes it clear God is, was, and ever will be a God of perfection, who loves the good, the true, and the beautiful.  His goal is a universe where these things are permanent.  This means the goal of the Christian in time is to be every striving to add to a world in chaos, order, quality, and beauty.  If it disappoints me when I see Christians being sloppy, careless, and indifferent to a life of order and beauty, how much more does it disappoint God?  </div> <div>      God's purpose in giving us this revelation of the New Jerusalem is to captivate our imagination.  If  your imagination is filled with the glorious destiny God has prepared for you, and you visualize yourse