2 Advent - Monday

first posted 12/07/03

2 Advent - Tuesday

first posted 12/08/03

Amos 7:10-17   Amos and Amaziah
Revelation 1:9-16   The vision of the Son of Man  
Matthew 22:34-46   The Great commandment; David’s Son

Amaziah, the Priest of Bethel, “the king's sanctuary and temple of the kingdom” (Amos 7:13), under Jeroboam II, King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, told Jeroboam of Amos’ prophecy against him (Amos 7:9). Amaziah told Amos to flee to Judah, and never again prophesy at Bethel, but Amos answered that he was not a professional prophet, nor a member of the prophetic community, but a layman whom the Lord called and sent to prophesy to the people. Amos prophesied against Amaziah for trying to prevent Amos from speaking the Lord’s word.

John, the revelator, a believer who was in exile on the island of Patmos because of the gospel, was in the Holy Spirit (filled with and fellowshipping with the Spirit of the risen Jesus), worshiping on the Lord’s Day (Sunday), when he had a vision of the risen, exalted Jesus, standing in the midst of the churches [represented by the lampstands; seven represents completeness (Revelation 1:20). Jesus' attributes of royalty, wisdom, eternity and immutability are suggested by means of symbols. He heard a command to write what was revealed to him, and send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey): Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

A Jewish religious expert in the Law asked Jesus which was the greatest commandment. Jesus answered that that the greatest and first commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37), and the second great commandment is to love others as yourself (Matthew 22:39). Jesus declared that if one truly keeps those two commandments he will satisfy all the requirements of the Law. Then Jesus asked them a question about whose son they thought the Christ to be. They said “The son of David,” so Jesus asked them why then that David called him Lord, quoting Psalm 110:1, and they were unable to answer him, or ask any more questions.

Amos was a layman (not a professional religious leader), a sheepherder, probably (Amos 7:14), but God called him to declare God’s word. Amos faithfully declared God’s word, even though it put him in jeopardy because it made powerful people uncomfortable. Amaziah, the priest of King Jeroboam, told Amos to get out of the country, and never to prophesy again in Bethel (or elsewhere in Israel). Amos wasn’t intimidated, and kept on prophesying, beginning immediately with a prophecy against Amaziah, the priest!

John, the revelator, was a believer, probably the Apostle, he was basically a layman who responded to God’s call to declare God’s word. He apparently had already gotten into trouble (Revelation 1:9) for making powerful people uncomfortable by his preaching of God’s word: He was exiled on the rocky little island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea by Roman Emperor Domitian around A.D. 90. Even in exile, God used him to declare God’s word, revealed to him, which he wrote down for all the churches of Jesus Christ for all time, and which became the final book of prophesy in our Bible.

Professional religious experts in Jewish Law thought they could entrap and discredit Jesus with a question about the Law (which was originally God’s Law, given through Moses). These religious experts had elaborated God’s Ten Commandments into a large and complicated set of rules with all sorts of conditions and exceptions and still couldn’t keep them. Jesus’ answer simplified the Ten into two, and was irrefutable. Then he asked them a question which exposed their hypocrisy; they didn’t know as much about God’s word as they thought they did, and they were unwilling to admit the real and obvious conclusion that the Christ was Lord and the Son of God; God in the flesh. (Jesus referred to himself as the Son of man, which emphasized his humanity, and also referred to the messianic figure in Daniel 7:13-14. Jesus answer was intentionally ambiguous, so that his hearers were obliged to decide for themselves who he was.)  Jesus was ultimately crucified because he made powerful people uncomfortable by his gospel. 

Jesus is the cornerstone of the foundation of the Church (Matthew 16:15-18), and the solid rock on which individuals must build, if they hope to receive eternal life and to avoid eternal condemnation and destruction at the Last Judgment (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus is the Rock of Destiny: “Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘Behold I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and he who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ To you therefore who believe, he is precious, but for those who do not believe, ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has be come the head of the corner’ and ‘ A stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall’; for they stumble because they disobey the word (of God)...”(1 Peter 2:4-8).  Jesus is the word of God in the flesh; Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:1-5, 14; Colossians 2:8-9). Do you know Jesus?

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)?

2 Advent - Wednesday

first posted 12/09/03

Amos 8:1-14   A basket of ripe summer fruit

Revelation 1:17-2:7    The letter to the church at Ephesus

Matthew 23:1-12   Putting faith into practice

Amos saw a vision of a basket of summer fruit, symbolizing the nearness of the Day of Judgment. The Lord will overlook Israel's sins no longer. The Lord condemns greed and selfishness, and abuse of the poor. The Lord also condemns those who would disregard the Sabbath in their greed for economic gain, who sell shoddy materials, and use unfair measures and weights and other deceptive business practices in their lust for wealth. The Lord will punish their evil deeds. The Day of Judgment will be a terrible and bitter day of mourning. In that day people will seek God’s word but will be unable to find it. Those who put their trust in idols will be going to eternal destruction (Amos 8:14).

The Holy Spirit of the risen Jesus directed John, the revelator, to write to the seven churches in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). In the first letter, to the church at Ephesus, the Lord commends their zeal for good works, their patient endurance, and their discernment and rejection of false teachers, but he criticizes the Ephesian church for having become complacent in their faith. The Lord admonishes them to remember the love and enthusiasm that had characterized them at first, and promises that those who overcome the challenges to their faith will receive eternal life in heaven with God.

Having been questioned by scribes and Pharisees who were looking, unsuccessfully, for ways to trick Jesus into saying something they could use to destroy him, Jesus told the crowds to obey what they taught, because they taught the word of God, but not to do what the scribes and Pharisees did, because they did not practice what they professed. The scribes and the Pharisees used their religious practices to gain status by impressing other people; their motivation was wrong. True worship reverences God alone as Father, and Christ alone as Master (Lord), and elicits our humility and servanthood toward others.

Amos’ prophecy was against the God’s people for having been seduced by greed and selfishness to disregard God’s word. God commands us to “remember the Sabbath to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8), and not to steal or covet (Exodus 20:15, 17); to love others the way we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Those of God’s people who disregard God’s word will go to destruction along with the godless pagans (Matthew 25:31-46; Matthew 7:21-23). All those examples of sinfulness that the Lord condemns are rampant today, and the Lord hasn’t changed his mind!

The Lord admonishes his church not to become complacent; to be vigilant and diligent in following the Lord’s will and obeying his word. Those who overcome the temptation to relax their obedience will be rewarded. The Lord praised the Ephesian Church for her discernment of and rejection of false teachers.

Since the very beginning of the Church, there have been false teachers, and two major heresies attacking the Church. One is the represented by the false doctrine of “Legalism,” the “Judaisers,” the “Circumcision Party,” who asserted that Gentile Christians must be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. The other false doctrine is called “Cheap Grace,* which is the assertion that salvation (from eternal condemnation) is by grace (unmerited favor; free gift) without the requirement of discipleship or obedience to God’s word. Both these false doctrines are refuted in the New Testament.

The remedy for false teaching is knowledge of the Bible. That knowledge does not require formal education in the Scriptures. Sadly, many “Christians” haven’t read the Bible, although average readers can easily read the Bible in one year, and there are numerous one-year plans available. Now is the time to seek God's word, while it can still be found (Amos 8:11-12). 

Jesus criticized the religious leaders of his day who had lost sight of the goal of the worship of God and had perverted religion into self-gratification; the worship of self. Jesus condemns those who profess but do not put their profession into practice.

The Lord is calling his Church to repent and rediscover her zeal to keep (obey; practice) God’s word. Those who are in the Church need to pay attention to the warning. Those who reject the Lord and reject his word are also warned. Woe to those who love themselves and the praise of this world or its wealth more than they love God or their neighbors.

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)?

*See: The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY 1963 ISBN 0-02-083850-6

2 Advent - Thursday

first posted 12/10/03

Amos 9:1-10   No escape from the Lord’s judgment
Revelation 2:8-17   Letters to the churches
Matthew 23:13-26   Woe to scribes and Pharisees

Amos had a vision of the Lord standing by the altar declaring judgment from which no one will escape. Even death is no refuge from the Lord’s judgment. The Lord will destroy every sinful kingdom, and all sinners, but he promises to save a remnant of his people.

The letter to Smyrna commends the church for her perseverance amid tribulation and poverty and the slander of those who falsely claim to be God's people. There will a short period of testing which they must endure. They are exhorted to be faithful unto death, and promised that they will receive eternal life as their reward. He who triumphs over tribulation by faith and perseverance will escape the final condemnation of sinners, which is eternal death.

The letter to Pergamum, a center of idolatry, commends the church for her faithfulness in persecution, but chastises her for tolerating some false teachings regarding the practice of religion involving the eating of food offered to idols and participation in sexual immorality. The Lord calls them to repent or suffer his condemnation. Those who endure and overcome the obstacles will be sustained by God’s unlimited providence, and will receive victory and a new life.

Jesus declares woe to religious leaders who do not preach what they practice; who do not enter the kingdom of God themselves (because they’re unwilling to do what is required), and prevent others from entering (by their teaching, either by word or example). Woe to blind guides who subvert the word of God by inventing all sorts of exceptions based on semantics, or subtle distinctions in the meanings of words. Woe to hypocrites who scrupulously keep small details of the law to acquire the appearance of righteousness, but utterly disregard the major principles of justice, mercy and faith.

There is a Day of Judgment, when everyone on earth will be held accountable to the Lord God. There will be no escape; no avoidance. Those judged righteous will receive eternal life in heaven with God. Those who are judged sinners (unrighteous) will receive eternal death and destruction in Hell with Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:28-29; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Believers are called to hold fast to their faith unto death, repenting of and rejecting false teaching, and enduring tribulation with perseverance. Those who persevere in faith are promised that they will escape the final condemnation of sinners (Revelation 2:11) and will receive the victory crown (or wreath; i.e. "reward") of eternal life (Revelation 2:10). (The white stone suggests a “marker” in a drawing of lots, as in determining a question by random drawing; the white stone signifies a winner, a black stone would designate a looser.)  

Jesus is warning those who fail to practice and teach obedience to God’s word.

Jesus is the standard by which we all will be judged. Jesus is God’s only provision for our salvation (Acts 4: 10-12; John 14:6). All of us have sinned (Romans 3:23). The punishment for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23; 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10).  God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish, but to have eternal life with him (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8). Salvation is the free gift of God which is received by faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:12; Revelation 3:20). It’s not enough just to claim that Jesus is Lord; those who believe Jesus is Lord will do what he commands (Matthew 7:21-23; John 14:21).

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)?

2 Advent - Friday

first posted 12/11/03

Haggai 1:1-15   Neglecting the House of God

Revelation 2:18-29,      Letter to the Church at Thyatira 

Matthew 23:27-39   Woe to Scribes and Pharisees

When King Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon, he allowed the exiled Israelites to return to their land to rebuild their temple. The people returned to Israel, but they delayed rebuilding the TempleTemple.  while they rebuilt their own homes. Through Haggai, the Lord told them to notice how they had fared. Because they had put their own desires first, they had worked hard but had little to show for it. What they had accomplished didn’t satisfy. The Lord had not blessed their activities, and had withheld the produce of the earth from them. The people listened to the voice of the Lord and repented. The Lord reassured them that he was with them, and the Lord stirred up the spirit of the people and they came and worked on the

The Lord commended the church at Thyatira for her works, love, faith, service and patient endurance, but rebuked her for tolerating a false prophetess who resembles Ahab’s wicked idolatrous queen. The Lord will punish her and those who follow her teachings unless they repent. The Lord knows our hearts and minds and rewards and punishes each according to his works. To those who have not strayed into heresy he exhorts them to hold fast to their faith until the end, and he promises that those who persevere will share in Christ’s Messianic rule, and share in the fellowship with Christ himself (the “morning star”).

Woe to scribes and Pharisees; hypocrites, who are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but full of death and corruption inside. They appear righteous on the outside, but inwardly are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to them, for they build monuments to the prophets and adorn the graves of the righteous, claiming that they would not have participated in murdering the prophets, but they admit to being the descendents of those who did (therefore proving that they share the same sinful nature). Those who reject the evangelists and missionaries sent by God to proclaim the Gospel will be held guilty for all the blood of the righteous ever shed on earth.

When the exiles returned to Israel, they set about rebuilding their own houses first, before they considered rebuilding the Temple. From a worldly point of view it made practical sense, but they found that the Lord withheld his blessings, so that they had to work harder, and yet had little to show for it. Jesus says “…Seek first his (God’s) kingdom, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matthew 6:33). Seek God’s kingdom first, because he is able to provide abundantly for our needs, and because if we don’t seek his kingdom first we’ll never get around to it. If we attempt to provide for our own security first we’ll never achieve it. My homeland America, in particular, needs to consider whether we aren’t working harder and longer trying to acquire our own security while neglecting the House of the Lord, only to find that we have less and less.

Don’t our churches need to be restored and revived? There are faithful people in the churches today, just like there were in Thyatira, and they’re to be commended. But many have neglected the Church; there are those who think they’re righteous because they are church members, sing in the choir, or teach Sunday school; and there are also false teachers and false teachings being tolerated. Sexual immorality is being tolerated in our churches.

The Lord has some hard words of condemnation for religious leaders and churches that look righteous on the outside but are full of corruption and sin inside. The Pharisees thought that they were righteous; that they wouldn’t murder the prophets like their fathers had. Those same Pharisees crucified the Messiah, the Son of God! Jesus tried to tell them that they were no different than their fathers, but they wouldn’t listen.

We want to think that we’re good people, but the truth is that we’re all born with a sinful nature. Left to our own natures, we will always love ourselves more than we love God or other people. Left to ourselves, we’ll always seek our own satisfaction before we seek the kingdom of God. All have sinned (Romans 3:23). God’s verdict for sin is eternal death (Romans 6:23). God loves us and doesn’t want us to perish (John 3:16; Romans 5:8) God’s only provision for our salvation is Jesus Christ (Acts 4:10-12, John 14:6). Jesus paid the price on the Cross for our sins so that we might not have to. Salvation is the free gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We must receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior and obey him (John 1:12; Revelation 3:20; John 41:21). 

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)?

2 Advent – Saturday

posted 12/12/03

Haggai 2:1-9,     The restoration of Israel
Revelation 3:1-6,     The end is near
Matthew 24:1-14,     Let our eyes be opened!

The Lord promised the returned exiles, since they had repented and obeyed his will (Haggai 1:12), that he would be with them to prosper them (Haggai 1:13) as he had been with them when he brought them out of Egypt. There were some of the exiles still alive who had seen the glory of Solomon’s Temple.

The Lord declared that “Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.”(Haggai 2:6). The Lord promised that, although the present building looked like nothing, in comparison with Solomon’s Temple, the Lord would “shake all the nations so that the treasure of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:7) so that the new temple would be greater than Solomon’s Temple.

The Church at Sardis, known as a center of luxury and licentiousness, is chastised for being dead although she has a reputation of being alive. The Lord calls her to awaken and revive what is on the point of death; to remember the gospel that she received and repent. Otherwise, the coming of the Lord will be like a thief in the night and will catch them unprepared. There are a few members of the church at Sardis who have kept the faith and will be judged righteous. Those who hold fast to the faith and persevere to the end will be saved.

Just a few days before his crucifixion, as Jesus and his disciples were leaving the Temple, the disciples commented on the buildings of the temple; its wonderful buildings (Mark 13:1) and  how it was adorned with wonderful stones and offerings (Luke 21:5). Jesus told them that the Temple would be destroyed. The disciples asked him when that would be, and what would be the signs of Jesus’ return and the end of the age (i.e. of human history).

 Jesus warned that many false Christs and false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Jesus said that there will be wars, earthquakes and famines, which will only be the beginning of the suffering.  There will be great persecution of believers, and many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Wickedness will multiply, and there will be emotional coldness and lack of love among many. But those who endure (in faith) to the end will be saved. The Gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.

When the returned exiles repented of putting their own interests ahead of God’s will and became obedient to the Lord, the Lord promised to be with them and prosper them (Haggai 1:1-15). The Temple is an earthly representation of the heavenly house of God. Those who repent and obey God’s word will enter into his Glory in heaven. The shaking of heaven and earth (Haggai 2:6-7) refers to the immediate context of prospering the Temple of Zerubbabel, but also to the Day of Judgment. (See Hebrews 12:25-28).

The Church at Sardis was full of “nominal” Christians; they called themselves Christians, but their walk didn’t match their talk. They weren’t really practicing discipleship. Just attending church, perhaps teaching Sunday school or singing in the choir doesn’t make one a Christian. A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact all followers of Jesus were at first called disciples, and only later, at Antioch were they for the first time called “Christians” (Acts 11:26).

Anyone who believes that one can be a Christian without discipleship is mistaken. The Lord calls “nominal” Christians to wake up and start being disciples, and following his words, or they will be caught unprepared on the Day of Judgment. If our dead churches and nominal Christians will heed the call to wake up and revive, the Lord will fill our houses of worship with his splendor (Haggai 2:7b).

Building fine church buildings is not the goal of the Gospel, although that’s what a lot of congregations seem to do best. Many churches seem to put most of their effort into building buildings, and give very little thought and effort to making disciples. The Great Commission was given to disciples to go into all the world and make disciples (not church buildings) (Matthew 28:18-20). Note that it takes a disciple to make a disciple.

One cannot learn discipleship from a “nominal” Christian. Nominal Christians who repent and start being real followers, obeying Jesus words, will be saved; but those who don’t heed the Lord’s warning will be caught unprepared and unworthy on the Day of Judgment. “For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the impious and sinner appear?’” (1 Peter 4:7-18).

 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)?