25 Pentecost

25 Pentecost - Sunday

Zephaniah 1:1-6, The Day of the Lord

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, The way of love

Matthew 18:21-35 Forgiveness

Zephaniah was a prophet during the reign of Josiah, king of the southern Kingdom of Judah, probably in the decade before Josiah’s reforms in 621 B.C. (2 Kings ch. 22 & 23).* The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah. The Lord declared that he would utterly destroy every living thing on earth. The wicked will be overthrown and all mankind will be removed from the earth. The Lord will punish Judah because of their spiritual adultery with the idols of the surrounding cultures (Canaanite, Ammonite, and Assyrian). The Lord will remove from among his people idolatrous priests and all who worship idols, those who attempt to serve both God and idols, and those who have turned back from following the Lord and from seeking his will.

Paul described the Church figuratively as the body of Christ. As a physical body has many members with different functions working together for the common purpose and good, so it should be with the members of the Church. Paul described a hierarchy with apostles at the top, then prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in “tongues.” Not every member has every gift, but members should earnestly seek the higher gifts. The greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is the love of God, (which we are to follow and share).

If one speaks in the tongues of men and angels (the spiritual gift of tongues) but have not love, the result is irritating noise, rather than being spiritually uplifting and enlightening. The greatest prophetic powers, spiritual enlightenment, and faith (more spiritual gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12) are all ineffective without love. The greatest sacrifice and martyrdom count for nothing if done for self-aggrandizement, for example, instead of love. Love is patient, kind; not jealous, boastful, arrogant or rude; not selfish, irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in what is right. Love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things.

Love is eternal. Tongues, knowledge, prophesy (the spiritual gifts) will all pass away, because we are not yet perfected. Spiritually we are like children; our spiritual ways are not fully mature. We won’t be fully mature until we enter Heaven. Now we have only partial understanding; now we see only a dim reflection. In Heaven we will attain the perfection of understanding, and we can take comfort in knowing that God has that kind of perfect understanding of us now. Faith, hope and love are eternal, but the greatest eternal value of all is love.

Jesus had just told his disciples how to deal with grievances among themselves (Matthew 18:15-20). Peter wanted to know if one should forgive an individual as many as seven times. Jesus replied that one should forgive a person every time, as many times as necessary; true forgiveness doesn’t keep score.

To illustrate forgiveness, Jesus told a parable about a king settling accounts with his servants. When the king began the accounting, a servant was brought before him who owed perhaps ten million dollars. The servant could not pay, so the king ordered the man, his wife, children and all his possessions to be sold to satisfy the debt. The man pleaded with the king to have patience, promising to repay the debt. The king had pity on the servant and released him and forgave the entire debt.

As the servant left the accounting, he passed a fellow servant who owed him twenty dollars. The forgiven debtor grabbed his fellow servant by the neck and demanded immediate repayment. The fellow servant asked for patience and promised to repay, but the forgiven debtor had his fellow servant put in prison until he should repay the debt.

The other servants of the king were distressed by the forgiven debtor’s harsh treatment of his fellow servant, and complained to the king. The king summoned the servant he had forgiven and told him that since the king had forgiven him all his large debt, that he should have shown mercy to his fellow servant concerning his much smaller debt. The king reversed his decision to forgive the debt, and threw the wicked servant into jail until he could repay his debt. Jesus warned that God will do likewise to those who do not truly forgive others.

There is a day of accounting coming for everyone who has ever lived on earth. The Lord is the king of all Creation, before whom we will be held accountable (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus Christ is the standard by which all will be judged. Those among God’s people who have been spiritually unfaithful, who have attempted to trust and serve both God and idols, or who have turned back from trusting and obeying God’s word and example in Jesus Christ will be destroyed along with the wicked unrepentant sinners.

The Church is the “New Israel,” the “New Jerusalem.” God’s word is eternally true, and it applies as much to the Church today as it did to Judah (the remnant of Israel) and Jerusalem in the days of Zephaniah and Josiah. Idolatry is the love of anything as much as or more than the Lord. Modern examples of idolatry are “science,” “technology,” “humanism,” “government,” “career,” “money,” “success,” “pleasure,” and “home and family.” God’s people are called to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first, before those worldly things and goals (Matthew 7:31-33), or we will miss what is truly eternally important.

Paul was following Jesus’ teaching and example, making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to trust and obey all that Jesus teaches. He told believers to seek and use the spiritual gifts. The most important spiritual gift is the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is through the indwelling Holy Spirit that we receive and know God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, and through whom we are empowered to share that love with the spiritually lost and dying in this world. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to disciples of Jesus Christ who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17), and are intended to be used to accomplish the ministry intends for us to fulfill. The spiritual gifts are apportioned to each believer to work in harmony with the other members of the body of Christ, not for individual status and distinction or rivalry within the congregation.

Paul taught that discipleship is a process of spiritual growth to spiritual maturity at the Day of the Lord’s return. Spiritual growth begins with the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and is guided and facilitated by the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to live in obedience to God’s word and his Holy Spirit, and this lifetime is our only opportunity.

We have all sinned (disobeyed God’s word) and fallen short of his righteousness (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our forgiveness, salvation from eternal death (Acts 4:12; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right) and restoration to fellowship with God (John 14:6).

In Jesus Christ God forgives the entire great debt we owe him, but he expects us to respond in gratitude by sharing that love and forgiveness with those who owe us. How can the debts others owe us compare to the gift of forgiveness, love, salvation and eternal life in God’s heavenly kingdom?

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Introduction to Deuteronomy p. 214, New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.

25 Pentecost - Monday

Zephaniah 1:7-13,       The Day of the Lord
Revelation 14:1-13,       Announcement of coming judgment
Luke 12:49-59,      The end of the age

The prophet calls us to be silent before the Lord God, for the day of his judgment is at hand. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and has consecrated his guests (to the feast accompanying the sacrifice). On the day of the Lord’s sacrifice he will punish all the officials and leaders who “array themselves in foreign attire” (Zephaniah 1:8c; perhaps adopted pagan customs). Those who have followed superstition (Zephaniah 1:9a), and those servants who have committed violence and fraud in their master’s house will be punished.

On the Day of the Lord the alarm will be sounded from the Fish Gate (in the north wall of Jerusalem). Merchants and traders (those who resided in Jerusalem for economic rather than spiritual benefit) will be cut off. The Lord will search with the “lamp” of his righteous judgment and punish those who are spiritually indolent (apathetic). Those who deny the Lord’s power to reward or punish will suffer the plunder and loss of their material treasures and their houses. They will labor to build houses but will not be able to inhabit them; they will plant vineyards, but never drink the wine from them

John (probably the Apostle) received a series of visions from God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit (Revelation 1:1; “angel” can indicate “spirit;” “ghost;”consider Acts 12:15). In this vision he saw, on Mount Zion (the high place on which Jerusalem was built; the City of God in heaven), the Lamb (Jesus Christ) and with him the hundred and forty-four thousand (Revelation 7:4-8; a symbolic number of multiples of twelve, indicating the completeness of the entire number of the redeemed; the Church).

They were figuratively marked (“sealed;” Revelation 7:3-4) on their foreheads with the name of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. The redeemed were singing a ‘New Song” (see Revelation 5:9-10), which only the redeemed were able to learn and sing, at the throne of God. The redeemed are spiritually “chaste” and “virginal;” they follow the “Lamb” (Jesus) wherever he goes; they have been redeemed from all mankind, like an offering of first-fruits to God and Jesus. They are spiritually spotless and free from any falseness.

An angel proclaimed to all people on earth that the hour of God’s judgment has come. The angel warned everyone to fear, praise and worship God, the creator of heaven and earth. A second angel followed, announcing that “Babylon,” the worldly kingdom which had polluted the nations through sin, had been defeated. A third angel followed, warning that anyone who worships the “beast” and its image, and receives the mark of the beast on his forehead or hand will receive the undiluted wrath of God, and be tormented eternally in the fire and molten sulphur in hell.

Those who have worshiped and served the beast and have been marked with his name will have no rest ever, day or night and will be in eternal torment. The saints must be steadfast in their endurance to obey God’s word and keep the faith (obedient trust) in Jesus. Those who are in the Lord when they die (physically) will be blessed and will rest from their labors, “for their deeds follow them” (Revelation14:13).

Jesus declared that he had come to bring “fire” (a symbol of God’s judgment) upon the earth and longed for it to be accomplished, but he had a mission to accomplish and was constrained until it was fulfilled. Jesus warned that he had come not to bring peace on earth but division. Jesus acknowledged that he would cause division even within houses (including "churches") and families.

Jesus told the crowds who had gathered to him that people can predict the weather from the direction of the wind and from clouds in the sky, but they were oblivious of the signs of spiritual crisis all around them. If they can foretell the weather, why can’t they recognize from the spiritual signs God’s coming judgment? If they were aware of the approaching Day of Judgment they would be wise to negotiate a settlement with their accuser on the way to “court” to avoid condemnation and imprisonment.

The Lord has declared that he will judge this world, and the Day of Judgment is at hand. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice which has been offered to God once for all time for the forgiveness of our sin (disobedience of God’s word). The Lord will punish the leaders of the people who have allowed the people to turn away from obedience to the Lord, and all who have adopted the ways of the world, rather than following God’s word.

In a sense, the entire creation is the Master’s house, and we are all his servants, and we will all be held accountable to him for our stewardship of his “house.” In another sense, it is the Church which is the Master’s house, and his servants will be accountable to the Lord for their stewardship of the House of God. In both cases, the Lord will punish those who have pursued material, rather than spiritual benefits. The Lord will punish people inside and outside the Church who have neglected worship and service to God. Those who think God doesn’t have the power or authority to reward and punish will be devastated.

Jesus is the sacrifice the Lord has prepared for the forgiveness of sin, and the feast is the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion; the Eucharist), which Christ will celebrate with his disciples (“born-again” Christians; John 3:3, 5-8) in the kingdom of God (Mark 14:25). Born-again Christians are his consecrated guests. Born-again Christians are to be an offering of themselves to God; the “first-fruits;” his portion of the “harvest” of this Creation.

John, the revelator, had a vision of the coming Day of Judgment, announced by an angel. All the people of Earth should fear, praise and worship the Lord God, their creator. The present world order ruled by Satan has been overthrown (at the Cross of Jesus Christ). We all must choose whether to worship and serve God or Satan and the ways of this present world.

We will either serve the Lord and receive his “seal,” or we will serve Satan and receive Satan’s mark. The Holy Spirit is the seal and guarantee that one is in Christ and has eternal life (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14; Romans 8:9b, 11, 15-16). In the Day of Judgment, those who are marked with the indwelling Holy Spirit will live eternally in God’s kingdom in Heaven; those who are marked with Satan’s seal will spend eternity in torment in Hell.

Jesus is the standard of judgment by which all people who have ever lived will be judged. All people will be divided by him into one of two categories: “saved” or “lost” (see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Even now in our world, our nation, and even some “churches” and “church members,” people are divided over faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Jesus warns that not everyone who calls him Lord (or calls themselves “Christian”) will be saved; only those who do God’s will; who obey God’s word through Jesus Christ, who is the revelation and embodiment of God’s word in human flesh (John 1:1-3, 14).

The world, the nations, particularly America, and the nominal “Church” are in much the same situation as

Israel

and Judaism at the time of Jesus’ first coming. There are many signs of spiritual crisis all around us, but many, even within the “Church,” seem oblivious.

Jesus warned that he would return to judge the “living” and the “dead” (in both the physical and spiritual sense; Matthew 25:31-46). The Day of Judgment is at hand. Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Obedient trust in Jesus is not a punishment but a joy. Fellowship with the Lord and true, eternal life begins now, in this world, and we can have the certainty that we will be united in heavenly paradise for eternity. It would be wise to accept the terms of God’s settlement now, on the way to Judgment Day, while there is still time to do so.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

25 Pentecost - Tuesday

Zephaniah 1:14-18, The day of God’s wrath

Revelation 14:14-15:8, The seven plagues

Luke 13:1-9, Repentance and commitment

The day of the Lord is near and approaching fast. The day of the Lord will be bitter; great men will weep. It will be a day of wrath, distress, anguish, ruin, devastation; a day of gloom, clouds, and thick darkness; a day of trumpet calls and battle cry against the defenses of the worldly kingdoms. God will cause such distress that sinners will walk as though blind, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured and their flesh scattered. Their silver and gold will not deliver them from God’s wrath. All earth will be consumed; all the inhabitants will come to a full and sudden end.

John, the revelator (probably the Apostle), describes the vision of the Final Judgment, given to him from God through Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1). John saw a “son of man” (Jesus Christ), wearing a golden crown and holding a sickle, coming on a cloud (compare Acts 1:9-11). John also saw an angel with a sharp sickle representing the spiritual harvesting of the world. The angel harvested the grapes of the vintage of the earth and put them into the winepress of God’s wrath. The grapes were pressed, and the blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse’s bridle for two hundred miles.

Then John saw seven angels with golden bowls holding seven plagues which end the wrath of God. John saw the redeemed holding harps of God standing by a sea of glass and fire. They sang the song of Moses, God’s servant, and the song of the Lamb (Jesus). Their song glorified Lord God the Almighty, king of eternity, whose works are great and wonderful, just and true. Who would not fear and glorify the Lord? He alone is holy. All nations will come and worship the Lord, for his judgment has been revealed.

Some in the crowd that had gathered around Jesus reported that Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, had killed Galilean Jews as they were offering sacrifices. Jesus asked them if they thought the Galileans thus martyred were more sinful than any other Galileans. Jesus said those martyred Galileans were not worse or more deserving of death than anyone else, but unless we repent we will all suffer a similar spiritual fate. The real spiritual catastrophe is dying without having repented and without having received forgiveness and salvation from spiritual, eternal death. Life is uncertain; no one can be sure that they won’t die suddenly and unexpectedly.

Jesus told a parable about a fig tree. For three years the owner came expecting to gather its fruit, but it had produced none. The owner told his gardener to cut it down and use the ground for something more productive, but the gardener convinced the owner to give the fig tree one more year. The gardener promised to cultivate the ground around the tree and fertilize it well. Then if the tree produced fruit the owner would be pleased and satisfied, but if it still was unproductive the fig tree would be cut down.

The Day of Judgment is near and approaching fast. Christ has promised to return to judge the physically and spiritually living and dead (Matthew 25:31-46). The standard of judgment will be God’s word, manifested, fulfilled and embodied in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3, 14). Wealth, worldly power and material resources will not protect worldly people from the wrath of God’s judgment. People will be fainting with fear (Luke 21:25-27). This present world will come to a sudden end.

John had a revelation of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Day of Judgment. For “born-again” (John 3:3-5-8) Christian disciples, it will be a day of rejoicing, but for those who have rejected Jesus or refused to trust and obey him, it will be a day of carnage. It will be a day of God’s wrath poured out upon the wicked and unrepentant. The redeemed will worship and glorify the Lord.

God’s judgment and salvation have been revealed. He has given the world warning of judgment and the promise of forgiveness and salvation from eternal destruction through his Word, the Bible, and Jesus Christ the living fulfillment and embodiment of God’s Word. Who would not fear and glorify the Lord? Only those who are spiritually blind, ignorant, foolish, and deceived, who are perishing, would not be willing to fear and glorify the Lord. We need to reconsider our concept of the meaning of the words “God, “Lord,” and ultimate sovereign “King of kings.”

Jesus said that natural catastrophes are not God’s judgment against the wicked. The people who die in catastrophes are no more guilty of sin (disobedience of Gods word) than those who escape. But God does use natural disasters to teach us that we need to repent and seek security which only God can provide, or we will come to eternal spiritual disaster. God has revealed in his word, over and over in his dealing with Israel, that when his people turn from obedient trust in him and ignore his word and his prophets, the Lord lifts his protection and providence, so that they will learn that the good things they’ve enjoyed have been by the providence and protection of God.

America has been abundantly blessed by the Lord as the “New Promised Land” and the “New People of God.” But how many Americans still acknowledge that we have reached this success and affluence by God’s providence and protection, and not by our own power and ability? We urgently need to hear the call to repent and return to obedient trust in God’s word in Jesus Christ. Do we think God cannot withhold his blessings until we realize our need for his help and protection?

The entire world is God’s garden and we are each, one of his fig trees. God has given us life in this world, his “garden” so that we can produce the “fruit” of his kingdom. God’s plan has always been to create an eternal kingdom of his people who willingly choose to trust and obey him. God has given us the freedom to choose whether to trust and obey him or not, and God knew that we would all have to learn trust and obedience by trial and error. According to his word, we are all sinners (Romans 3:23; 1 John; 1:8-10), and his penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). Jesus is God’s only plan for our forgiveness and salvation from eternal death (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

In order to have eternal life in God’s kingdom in paradise in Heaven, we must come through obedient trust in Jesus Christ. God is patient and loving, and he allows our disobedience while he continues to provide his blessings, in hope that we will come to realize that he has been good to us. But his patience and forbearance will not continue forever. “Fig trees” which do not produce the “fruit” of obedient trust in Jesus Christ, will be cut down and burned in the eternal fires of Hell with all the wicked. Does the Lord not have the right to decide who he will permit to live in his “garden?”

25 Pentecost - Wednesday

Zephaniah 2:1-15,     God’s judgment against the nations
Revelation 16:1-11,       Plagues poured out
Luke 13:10-17,       Healing on the Sabbath

Shameless nations are urged to come together to take council before the wrath of God is poured out upon them and they are blown away like chaff. Those who are humble and obey God’s commands are urged to seek humility and righteousness in hope that they may be protected in the day of God’s wrath.

Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron (Philistine cities) would become deserted; their people driven out. Philistines and Cherethites, Canaanites, who inhabited the Mediterranean coast west of

Judah

, will be destroyed, because the word of God is against them and the land will become pasture for God’s people, and they will dwell in the Canaanites houses, because he will remember and restore his people’s fortunes. The people of Moab and Ammon (regions east of the Jordan River, south of Gilead) would be destroyed because they had taunted and reviled God’s people. They will be utterly destroyed, as Sodom and Gomorrah were. Their land will become a wasteland forever, consisting of nettles and salt pits. The Moabites and Ammonites will be plundered by the remnant of God’s people, because they were arrogant and scoffed and boasted against God’s people. The Lord will starve all the idols of the Earth, and all the nations will worship and serve the Lord.

The Ethiopians (nations south of Israel) will be destroyed, and Assyria and Nineveh (modern-day Iraq and

Iran

will be destroyed and desolated, a desert wasteland. The only inhabitants will be wild animals, because of their arrogance and pride against God. So will be the fate of those who think arrogantly that they are the center of the universe and only their will and desires matter.

In a revelation of the Final Judgment which John (probably the Apostle) received from God through Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1), the voice of the Lord came from his temple in heaven, commanding the angels with the seven bowls of God’s wrath, seven plagues, to pour them out upon the earth.

The angel with the first bowl poured out a plague which caused foul, evil sores on the flesh of those who had the mark of the beast (the antichrist; Satan) and had worshiped it (who had cooperated with the present wicked world system for material benefit).

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and caused it to become like the blood of a dead person. All living things in the sea died.

The third bowl was poured out upon the fresh waters of rivers and springs and they turned to blood. The angel who had power over the fresh water declared that the judgment of God, the eternal one, was just and fair, because the people of earth have shed the blood of Christians and prophets, so the Lord has given them blood to drink. From the altar, a cry was heard, declaring that Almighty God’s judgments are true and just.

The fourth bowl was poured on the Sun, causing it to scorch humans with the fierce heat and fire. The people of earth cursed God who has power over the plagues, instead of repenting and giving God glory.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, whose kingdom was turned to darkness. People chewed their tongues in anguish, and cursed God for their pain and suffering and did not repent and give God glory.

Jesus was teaching in a synagogue one Sabbath, and there was a woman who for eighteen years had a “spirit” of disability of her back, making her walk “hunched-over” and unable to stand up straight. Jesus saw her and called to her, declaring that she was freed from her disability. Jesus laid his hands on the woman and immediately her back was straightened, and she praised God. But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, and told the crowd that they should not come to Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.

Jesus replied calling those who agree with the ruler of the synagogue hypocrites because they feed and water their livestock on the Sabbath. Jesus pointed out that the woman was a descendant of Abraham (and one of God’s chosen children) whom Satan had oppressed for eighteen years, and that it was appropriate to free her from bondage to Satan on the Sabbath. Jesus’ adversaries were put to shame and the people rejoiced the glorious things Jesus was doing.

The Day of Judgment will be a day of eternal rejoicing and thanksgiving for God’s people, but it will be a day of eternal disaster for those who have resisted and opposed God’s will. Worldly nations which have shamelessly done what is contrary to God’s word should take council to humble themselves and turn to obedient trust in God’s word now, while there is still time to save themselves from God’s wrath.

As Israel was a nation of God’s people surrounded by pagan people, so Christians in the world and in America today are surrounded by pagan cultures, even within

America

. Those who oppose and defy God’s word will be destroyed. Those who taunt and revile God’s people and those who scoff and boast against God’s people will be eternally punished. Those who seek for themselves the throne which belongs to the Lord will be condemned. But the Lord will remember and restore the fortunes of his people who trust and obey him.

As God afflicted with plagues the pagan cultures which enslaved and persecuted his people in

Egypt

(Exodus 7-12), God will do to the pagans and godless of the world on the Day of Judgment. John’s vision is of a polluted world no longer able to absorb the byproducts of human selfishness and greed. We’re already seeing signs of these plagues beginning.

The world order is increasingly pagan, and there are many examples of secular society discriminating against and persecuting Christians in our world and our Nation today. God’s word is a warning to those who cooperate (the “mark of the beast”) with that pagan worldly system to achieve worldly success and material wealth.

It’s God’s world; he created it and gave us life in it, and yet many people want to seize it for themselves. The word of God is against them, but they stubbornly refuse to accept God’s word, and instead of accepting God’s gracious (undeserved) love and forgiveness, and giving him thanks for their life and all their blessings, they curse him and refuse to obey. They refuse to repent and give him glory.

Jesus came to offer forgiveness, love and spiritual healing to this fallen world, but his own people opposed, rejected and crucified him. The leaders of the people tried to enforce worldly rules on God’s people. They wanted people to obey worldly rules instead of God’s word. They were using God’s word and “religion” to support and uphold their worldly system. They used God’s word selectively to do their own will, instead of seeking to do God’s will.

God’s word declares that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Proverbs 9:10a, Psalms 111:10). The fear of God means having a healthy respect for his supernatural power and supreme authority over us. God has the power of eternal life or death over us. There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who imagine that they have the wisdom and strength in themselves to oppose and overthrow God, and those who recognize their human limitations compared to the Almighty God, and submit in obedient trust to the Lord. We will either serve the Lord and live eternally with him in heavenly paradise or we will serve Satan, and die eternally with him in hell.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

25 Pentecost - Thursday

Zephaniah 3:1-7,       Woe to Jerusalem
Revelation 16:12-21,    The Battle of Armageddon
Luke 13:18-30,        Parables of the kingdom

Through his prophet, God warns those who are rebellious and defiled (by sin: disobedience of God’s word). The rebellious do not listen, accept no correction, do not trust and seek fellowship with God.

The officials within the oppressing city are like roaring lions, her judges are like evening wolves, devouring during the night and leaving nothing till the morning. “Her prophets are wanton (impure) and faithless; her priests profane what is sacred, they do violence to the law” (Zephaniah 3:4). Her Lord is righteous, good, just and faithful, but the unjust do not recognize and acknowledge their shame.

The Lord has destroyed and made desolate nations and cities, and hopes that the rebellious and oppressing city would learn to fear the Lord, accept his correction, and remember his commands. But the rebellious people were eager for more and more corruption.

In the revelation to John (probably the Apostle) of the Final Judgment, The angel with the sixth bowl of God’s wrath poured it into the Euphrates River, causing it to dry up to prepare for the kings of the east to cross and assemble for the Battle of Armageddon.

John saw demonic spirits, like frogs, coming forth from the mouths of the dragon (Satan), the beast (Antichrist), and the false prophet. The demonic spirits went forth to the kings of earth, to assemble them for battle on the Day of the Lord. Jesus has promised to return on the Day of Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) and his return will be sudden and unexpected, like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Revelation 3:3; 2 Peter 3:10). The Lord declares that those who are “awake” (alert and watchful), who keep their garments (the righteousness and salvation of Jesus Christ) will be blessed. The kings of Earth will assemble (at the plain of Megiddo, the historic battlefield of

Israel

).

The seventh angel in John’s vision poured the bowl of the seventh plague into the air and the voice of God from the temple declared that the pouring out of God’s wrath was done. There was great thunder and lightening, and the greatest earthquake in the history of mankind. The great city (the “New Babylon,” at that time, Rome) was split into three parts. The cities of earth fell, and God remembered the wickedness of “Babylon,” and made her fully drink the cup of God’s wrath. Islands and mountains disappeared. Great hailstones as large as a talent (MKJV; about 76 U. S. pounds) fell from heaven upon people, and they cursed God for the plague of hail.

Jesus used several parables to illustrate the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is like a tiny mustard seed which grows into a supernaturally large tree, becoming a nesting place for birds. The kingdom of God is also like a small amount of yeast placed in dough and allowed time to permeate and affect the whole loaf.

Jesus was heading for Jerusalem, and on the way someone asked him if only a few people would be saved (i.e. enter God’s eternal kingdom). Jesus replied that one should earnestly endeavor to enter because the door to God’s kingdom is narrow, and many will try to enter and will not be able. Once the owner of the house has risen and closed the door, people will knock and ask to enter, but the owner will deny knowing them. They will say, “we ate and drank in you presence and you taught in our streets” (Luke 13:26), but the owner will deny knowing them, condemn them as evildoers and command them to depart from him. Those who are denied entry will have great anguish and grief when they see the patriarchs and prophets in God’s kingdom while they are among the lost and are rejected. People from the farthest places on earth will come to the heavenly banquet. But Jesus warned that “some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (Luke 13:30).

God has intended from the very beginning of this creation to establish an eternal kingdom of people who willingly trust and obey him. God created this temporal creation allowing people the possibility and freedom to choose whether or not to obey God’s word. He knew from the beginning that we would have to learn by trial and error to trust and obey him, and that we would all need forgiveness and salvation from sin (disobedience of God’s word). By God’s word, the penalty for sin is eternal death (Romans 3:23), and we have all sinned (Romans 6:23; 1 John 1;8-10). Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our forgiveness and salvation from sin and eternal death. Jesus Christ is not an afterthought. God has built his plan of Salvation into the very structure of this Creation (John 1:1-5, 14; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

The purpose of life in this present world is the opportunity to seek and come to fellowship with God (Acts 17:26-27), through Jesus Christ, by the gift of his Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:32-34) only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).

God’s word through his prophets is a warning to those who continue to rebel against God’s word, who refuse to listen, refuse to accept correction, and do not trust and seek fellowship with the Lord.

The “oppressing city,” originally apostate Jerusalem, also represents the “New Babylon,” which in the revelator John’s time was Rome, and now represents the present secular world order, including secular American culture, and Satan is the ultimate ruler, behind the nominal worldly leaders. Her leaders are roaring lions devouring her people to satisfy their own appetites; her judges uphold the kingdom of darkness rather than the kingdom of light. Her prophets do not themselves obey God’s word and preach what the people want to hear, rather than the faithful and accurate word of God. Her priests are corrupt, profaning what is sacred and not upholding God’s law. God is the example of righteousness, goodness faithfulness and justice, but the unrighteous do not recognize and acknowledge their failure to measure up to God’s standards, and are not ashamed of their shortcomings.

God’s punishment of wicked nations and cities should be a warning to the rebellious and oppressors to teach them to fear the Lord, to accept his correction, and to obey his commands, but the rebellious continue seeking greater and greater corruption.

In John’s vision of the Final Judgment, worldly kingdoms, the “New Babylon,” gather together, by demonic influence, to oppose God’s authority and purpose for creation. They imagine that they can prevent Christ’s triumphant return to subjugate the world to himself. Christ’s return will be sudden and unexpected, and Christians are exhorted to be spiritually alert and ready, being careful to stay in the “garment” of righteousness and salvation which we have by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. The Day of Judgment will be accompanied by great disruptions in nature (compare Matthew 24:29-31). “Babylon” will be fully punished for her deeds.

This creation belongs to its creator, the Lord God Almighty, but rebellious humans attempt to seize it for themselves (see Luke 20:9-19). Rebellious people try to force their own rules upon it, but it is God who sets and enforces his rules. There aren’t many ways to forgiveness of sin, salvation from eternal death and restoration to fellowship with God in his eternal kingdom; there is only one way, and that is through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. To the worldly, that seems narrow-minded, but it is God’s creation, it is God’s eternal kingdom, and it is God who makes the rules.

Jesus warns that not everyone who claims to be Christian and claims Jesus as Lord will be saved, but only those who are truly his disciples who trust and obey God’s word (Matthew 7:21-27) fulfilled and embodied in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3, 14; John 14:10b; John 14:15-17).

The “mustard seed” is the “yes” of faith in response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which grows to spiritual maturity through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit within us. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be yeast within us, transforming us in every area of our lives to spiritual maturity. After being “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8; compare Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5, 8), Christians disciples are called to be “yeast” in our world to spread our influence to those around us by the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit within us.

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?

25 Pentecost - Friday

Zephaniah 3:8-13, Conversion of the nations

Revelation 17:1-18, Fall of Babylon

Luke 13:31-35 Herod’s threat,

God’s people are to wait for the Lord to arise (return) to judge the nations and kingdoms of earth. He will assemble them and pour out his wrath upon them; all earth will be consumed in the fires of God’s wrath.

At that time God will restore the universal language (lost at the TowerBabel; Genesis 11:1-9) so that the people can worship and serve the Lord with one accord. The people of God who have been dispersed will return the Lord presenting offerings. of

On that day, the people of God will not be put to shame for their rebellion, because God will remove arrogant and haughty people from them. The remnant of God’s people will be humble and lowly. They will seek refuge in the character and power of the Lord. They will do no wrong, tell no lies and practice no deceit, and they will, like sheep, find pasture and rest.

John (probably the Apostle), had a vision, from God through Jesus Christ, of the fall of Babylon (at the time of writing, Rome, the city of seven hills, symbolizing the secular kingdoms of earth who persecute Christians). The nations and kings of earth have committed spiritual fornication with her and have become drunk with the wine of her fornication. John had a vision, described symbolically, of a woman (Babylon) in a wilderness, sitting on a scarlet Beast (the Roman Empire), filled with blasphemous names (Roman emperors took divine titles). The woman was arrayed in elegant clothes and jewelry. She had a golden goblet in her hand filled with abominations and impurities of her harlotry. On her forehead was the name: “Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth’s abominations” (Revelation 17:5). The woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus Christ.

The angel explained the mystery of the woman and the beast to John. The Beast represented, at the time of writing, Emperor Nero, who many believed would return to life. People who are not recorded in the Lamb’s (Jesus’) Book of Life (i.e., not “born-again” Christians) will marvel at the Beast for rising from the dead. He is one of the seven kings during his earthly reign. He will reign again briefly as the eighth king, before being sent to Hell. The ten horns represent ten kingdoms yet to come which will join with the Beast and give their kingly power and authority to the Beast. Their reign will be very brief. They will make war on the Lamb, and will be defeated by him, (Jesus) the Lord of lords and King of kings.

The many waters where the harlot was seated represent the people and nations of earth. The Beast and the ten kings will hate and destroy the harlot. They will accomplish God’s purpose to destroy Babylon in fulfillment of God’s word. Babylon represents the great city of earth (the secular world order, ruled by Satan).

Some Pharisees tried to warn Jesus to leave because Herod was seeking to kill Jesus. Jesus called Herod a fox, and told the Pharisees to tell Herod that Jesus would continue to follow God’s will and fulfill his mission today and tomorrow, and would finish his mission on the third day (Jesus mission was fulfilled and confirmed by his resurrection on the third day after his crucifixion). Jesus declared that he must continue his ministry in Jerusalem (regardless of Herod). Jesus declared that the Jews would not be saved until they recognized and acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah, who comes in the Lord's name (his power and authority).

Babylon represents the secular worldly culture where, after the flood destroyed the first wicked civilization, humans began to assert their self-will over obedience to God. God confused the language of the world because the people of Babylon built a tower from bricks, and began to think that they and their technology could rival and oppose God (Genesis 11:1-9). They wanted to “make a name for themselves” in this world (Genesis 11:4b).

God promised never again to destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:11); this present creation awaits destruction by the fires of God’s wrath (2 Peter 3:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10) on the Day of the Judgment at the Lord’s return. God’s people are to endure and persevere in faith (obedient trust) in Jesus, awaiting their vindication and judgment against their enemies by the Lord.

On the Day of the Lord, his people won’t be ashamed of their rebellion against God, because they will have learned to trust and obey the Lord, and those who refuse to submit humbly to the Lord will be removed from the congregation of God’s people. God’s people will seek refuge in the name (character, power and authority) of the Lord, rather than seeking to make a name and a refuge for themselves on earth. The Lord will restore the universal language he confused at Babel, and he began this restoration on the Day of Pentecost to those who were “born-again” by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-11). God’s people will return to him from their dispersion on this earth, bringing him worship and offerings.

Rome and Nero represent the continued arrogance and defiance of God by worldly people first evidenced in at the building of the tower at Babel. After Christ’s earthly life, crucifixion, and resurrection worldly people were still trying to assert there own self-will in opposition to God’s word. They were still trying to make a name for themselves, and to provide for their own security.

God intended from the very beginning of creation to establish an eternal kingdom of his people who would voluntarily choose to trust and obey him. He knew that we would have to learn to trust and obey him by trial and error. He made disobedience of God’s word sin, with the penalty eternal death (Romans 6:23). We have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish eternally (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8), so God has designed creation with Jesus Christ “built into” the structure of creation (John 1:1-5, 14; see God’s plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). Jesus is God’s one and only provision for our forgiveness and salvation (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

In order to provide free choice whether to trust and obey Jesus, this present creation is built to allow the possibility of sin and evil. There is Jesus Christ, the Savior, but there is also the Antichrist; there is God, opposed by Satan; there is God’s word and false prophecy; there is divine wisdom, and there is worldly wisdom; there is Truth and there is error; there is the City of God, the Church, and there is Babylon, the worldly city ruled by Satan. There is the true resurrection of Jesus Christ to eternal life, and the false resurrection of the Beast to eternal death. Jesus Christ defeated Satan and his worldly kingdom at the Cross. Satan couldn’t destroy Jesus, but Jesus can and will cast him and all the wicked into the Hell of fire (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Herod represented the king of the worldly kingdom under the power and influence of Satan. Herod had made a name for himself, but he was no match for the name (power and authority) of Jesus. Herod was unable to fulfill his will to kill Jesus, except by the will and timing of God to accomplish God’s purpose. Herod was able to kill Jesus physically, but powerless to prevent Jesus from rising to eternal life and accomplishing God’s plan of salvation. Jesus warns us not to fear those who can kill us physically; instead we should fear and submit to the Lord who alone has authority to destroy both our physical body and eternal soul in eternal fire in Hell (Matthew 10:28), or give us eternal life in paradise in Heaven.

We’ve been given life in this temporal world to have the opportunity to choose where we will spend eternity; to seek and come to know God personally (Acts 17:26-27) which is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ, by the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, who only Jesus gives (John 1:32-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey him (John 14:15-17).

25 Pentecost - Saturday

Zephaniah 3:14-20, The glorious gospel of salvation

Revelation 18:1-14, The fall of Babylon

Luke 14:1-11, Healing on the Sabbath; humility

The prophet exhorts Israel to rejoice in her salvation. The Lord has taken away the judgment against her. The Lord, who gives the victory over sin and death, is in her midst. The Lord will remove disaster from her, so that she will not bear reproach. At that time the Lord will requite the oppressors of his people, save the lame, gather the outcast, and will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. The Lord will restore the fortunes of his people.

John (probably the Apostle) had a series of visions, from God through Jesus Christ, of God’s Final Judgment of earth. In this vision he saw the fall of “Babylon,” the wicked worldly society of the present age. An angel from heaven with great glory and power announced that Babylon has become the dwelling of demons and evil spirits. All the nations of Earth have drunk the wine of her wickedness and impurity. The rulers of Earth have committed spiritual adultery with her, and worldly merchants have grown rich from the profits of her immorality.

A voice called from heaven for the People of God to come out of the doomed city, to avoid participating in her sin and share in her punishment. Her sinfulness is as high as heaven, and God will not overlook her sin; he will repay her double for her sins, and will give her a double drink from the cup she has mixed. As Babylon glorified herself and indulged her passions, she will be repaid in torment and mourning. Babylon thinks she is a queen and not a widow, but plagues will come upon her suddenly, in a single day, and she will be deposed and bereft, burned by the fires of God’s judgment.

The worldly leaders who committed spiritual fornication with her will weep and wail over her destruction and the smoke of her burning. They will mourn from afar. The merchants of earth will mourn her because there will no longer be a market for her goods. All the material treasures which worldly people longed for will no longer be obtainable or desirable.

Jesus had been invited to dinner one Sabbath at the home of a Pharisee where Pharisees and scribes were guests, and Jesus was aware that the Pharisees were watching him critically (looking for something they could use against him). One of the guests had dropsy (a condition causing swelling of the body with fluids). Jesus asked the Pharisees and lawyers present whether it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, but they kept silent, so Jesus healed the person. Then Jesus asked those present, who among them would not immediately rescue his livestock from falling into a well on the Sabbath? Those present again declined to answer.

Jesus told a parable about social status at banquets. When one is invited to a banquet he should not take the seat of honor, since a greater person might have been invited, and he and the host would be embarrassed to ask the person to give up the seat of honor to another. Instead it would be better to take the lowest seat. Then the host and this guest would be pleased to ask him to take a seat of greater honor. Jesus’ point is that the humble will be exalted, but the proud will be humbled.

Christians are the “New Israel;” the Church is the “New Jerusalem.” The people of God can rejoice in our salvation. In Christ we have victory over sin and death. The Lord will gather his people, heal their infirmities, and restore their honor and their fortunes. Jesus taught by word and example that those who humble themselves before the Lord will be exalted, but worldly people who exalt themselves to the Lord will be humbled.

“Babylon” is the worldly culture presently ruled by Satan, behind the nominal leaders. Babylon glorifies herself and indulges her passions now, but the Lord will bring torment and mourning upon her in the Day of Judgment. Babylon considers herself queen now, but she will be widowed, deposed and bereft suddenly. God’s people are warned to keep themselves separate from the worldly system to avoid participating in Babylon’s sin and punishment.

There is a day coming when the worldly things humans have worked and struggled to obtain will no longer be available or desirable. Lives spent pursuing worldly things will have been wasted. Jesus taught his disciples to seek God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness first (Matthew 6:33) and we will have the worldly necessities as well.

The Pharisees are examples of worldly “religion.” They considered themselves righteous, authorities on God’s word and leaders of God’s worship. Their righteousness was based on worldly standards, and their “wisdom” was worldly (in contrast to divine wisdom; 1 Corinthians 1:17-24; 2:4-8). They exalted themselves over the Son of God. They gave up the opportunity for a personal relationship with Jesus, the promised Savior and eternal King of Israel, to hold on to their worldly status and “religion.” They lost the opportunity for spiritual healing which only Jesus can provide. They were more interested in worldly approval than God’s approval. They were pursuing their own “kingdom” and their own “righteousness” rather than the kingdom and righteousness of God which we receive through faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ. Worldly “religion” will lead to eternal destruction.