Epiphany - January 6

first posted 01/05/05

Isaiah 52:7-10,      The salvation of our God
Revelation 21:22-27,     New Jerusalem
Matthew 12:14-21     The Lord’s Servant

How beautiful are the feet of the messenger who brings good news; who announces peace; who proclaims salvation; who assures Zion (God’s people) that their God reigns.  Their watchmen rejoice and shout, because they see the return of the Lord to his people. “Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord has redeemed Jerusalem (the city of God on earth; the Church). The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:9-10).

In the New Jerusalem in Heaven, there will be no temple, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus) are its temple. There won’t be any need for Sun or Moon, because the Glory of God and Jesus will provide its light. “By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of earth shall bring their glory into it” (Revelation 21:24).

The gates of the city will never be shut, and there will be no night. “They shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations” (Revelation 21:26). Only those who are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life will be allowed to enter. Nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination (sin; what is loathsome to God) or falsehood, will be allowed to enter.

The Pharisees (legalistic Jewish religious leaders) were plotting to destroy Jesus (because he had challenged their narrow, hypocritical interpretation of the Law; Matthew 12:1-13). Knowing this, Jesus left the area, and many people followed him, and Jesus healed them all, and ordered them not to publicize Jesus’ healing miracles.

Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Jesus was fulfilled: Jesus was the Lord’s servant, chosen and beloved by God. God had put his Spirit upon him and Jesus proclaimed justice to the Gentiles. Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would not be a “fire-brand” or “rabble-rouser,” inciting the masses to civil unrest. “He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope (Matthew 12:21).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News! In Jesus we have peace with God and salvation from eternal punishment through the forgiveness of our sins. God is the sovereign ruler of the universe. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in victory to save his people and to judge the earth (Matthew 25:31-46).

The desolate who have trusted and obeyed the Lord can rejoice because their redemption draws near. God has revealed his mighty arm and his salvation through Jesus Christ before all the nations of the earth.

Believers have an eternal city awaiting us in the Promised Land of Heaven. There won’t be any need for a temple, or for sun and moon, because the presence and light of the Lord fills Heaven. Creation will be restored to paradise, because sin and falsehood will be banished. All the glory and honor of the nations and the kings of earth will be given to it, but only those who have been cleansed through faith (trust and obedience) in Jesus Christ by his indwelling Holy Spirit will be allowed to enter.

Jesus is the promised Messiah! Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word. Jesus heals all who follow him; but he didn’t come primarily to heal our physical diseases. He came to heal our spiritual illness. Physical disease may lead to physical death. Jesus can raise the dead. Spiritual illness unless healed by Jesus Christ, leads to certain, eternal death.

Many people came to Jesus just to receive physical healing. If that is all they received, they would miss out on eternal life. Jesus invites us to come for spiritual, eternal healing. If we are bruised reeds, he won’t break us, but will restore us to soundness; if we’re smoldering wicks he can re-kindle us and make us light-producers instead of smoke- and darkness-producers.

Jesus is the hope of the Gentiles; the hope of all the nations of earth. Jesus is our only hope for salvation (spiritual healing) and victory over physical death by resurrection to eternal life (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

Today is designated by the Church as the day of Epiphany, commemorating the visit of the Magi [“Wise Men,” or “Kings” (Matthew 2:1-12)] which is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus is the hope of the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles will honor and glorify him. Wise men (and women) still seek him, and still give him honor and glory.

Epiphany - January 7

posted 01/06/05

Isaiah 52:3-6,   My people shall know my name
Revelation 2:1-7,   Letter to the Ephesian Church
John 2:1-11      Wedding at Cana

The Lord declared that his people had been sold (into oppression) for nothing, and God will redeem them without money (by the precious blood of Jesus). God’s people were enslaved in Egypt; later the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the Southern Kingdom was oppressed by them. (This portion of Isaiah, Ch. 40-55, was written during Judah’s captivity in Babylon).

God’s people have been stolen from him, and the oppressors disrespect and despise the name of the Lord. Therefore the Lord declares that his people will know his name (more than just his appellation; his character and person). “In that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I” (Isaiah 52:6 RSV).

John was instructed to write the words of Jesus to the church in Ephesus: The Lord Jesus knows and commends their works, labor, and patient endurance. He also commends them for not tolerating evil people, and for their discernment in avoiding false apostles. They are persevering and enduring patiently for Jesus’ name’s sake, but they have lost the love they had when they first came to faith in Jesus.

The Lord admonishes them to remember how they were when they first believed, and to repent; to change their ways, and do the things they did when they were new believers, and a new church. Otherwise the Lord will “remove your lampstand (representing the Church at Ephesus) from its place” (among the churches; Revelation 2:5).

The Ephesian Church is commended for rejecting the false doctrine of the Nicolaitans [which taught false freedom from self-discipline; i.e., licentiousness; “cheap grace” (see also Sunday, 11 Pentecost even year): the false doctrine that we are saved by grace (as a free gift) without the requirement of discipleship or obedience]. We are warned to listen and apply what the Spirit is saying to the Church. Those who persevere and reach the goal will partake of the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Soon after his baptism by John, Jesus attended a wedding in Cana in Galilee with his disciples, and his mother was also present. The host had run out of wine, and Jesus’ mother, Mary, told Jesus. Jesus asked her why she was telling him, because Jesus’ time for self-disclosure (which would be determined by God alone) had not yet come. His mother told the host’s servants to do whatever Jesus told them.

There were six stone jars nearby for the Jewish ceremonial purification ritual. Each jar held thirty or forty gallons.  Jesus told the servants to fill the jars to the brim with water, and then he told them to draw out some and take it to the steward of the feast. When they had done so, the water had become wine.

Since the steward didn’t know where the wine had come from, although the servants knew, the steward called the bridegroom and told him that usually the good wine is served first, and then the wine of lesser quality, but this bridegroom had apparently kept the good wine until now. This is the first of the “signs” (works which reveal who Jesus is) which Jesus did, manifesting his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

God had brought his people out of slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the Promised Land. But God’s people forgot the lessons of trust and obedience to the Lord which they had learned in the wilderness. God allowed the Northern Kingdom to be carried off to oblivion by the Assyrians because of their disobedience to God’s Word and their refusal to heed God’s prophets. The Southern Kingdom of Judah similarly suffered oppression from the Assyrians and was later carried into exile in Babylon because of their failure to trust and obey the Lord.

Israel’s failure to trust and obey the Lord caused his name to be disrespected by the nations of the earth. At the time of this prophecy Judah was in exile in Babylon, and God promised that he would redeem his people; that he would reveal himself to his people; he would be among them and they would hear his voice.

John was given a revelation of God’s word through Jesus Christ to the Churches. Of the seven types of Churches represented in Revelation 1:20, Ephesus is representative of the “faithful” Churches. They have rejected false teachers and false doctrines, and they are enduring and persevering in faith, but they need to reclaim the zeal for the faith and the love they once had.

They are in danger of becoming “lukewarm.” If they don’t heed the word of the Holy Spirit to repent and revive their first love, they will be removed from the Churches of the Lord. Those who persevere and overcome will share in eternal life in Heaven with the Lord.

In God’s timing, in fulfillment of God’s Word, God has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the fullest revelation of God’s name, person, presence, character, and voice. Jesus revealed himself, not to please his mother, but in obedience to God the Father, in God’s timing. But Mary believed that Jesus would reveal himself and would change the water into wine.

She was so sure that she told the servants to be ready to do whatever Jesus told them, even though Jesus had told her that it was not yet time for him to be revealed. Mary knew her son’s character personally and intimately. Jesus’ disciples had just met  and begun to learn from Jesus, but they saw what Jesus did and recognized that he was the Christ, the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit calls the faithful Churches to return to their first love and zeal for Jesus, and to reclaim the faith they once had. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, believers can come to the kind of intimate, personal relationship with Jesus that Mary had for her son.

If we are willing to be Jesus’ disciples and follow Jesus in trust and obedience, he will reveal himself to us (John 14:21); we will see his power at work in the world, and we will come to know him personally through the indwelling Holy Spirit which he gives to his disciples, who trust and obey him (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). The Holy Spirit is the "New Wine" (Matthew 26:29; Acts 2:13 RSV) which is better than the wine of this world; not which makes us drunk, but which gives life, spirit, joy and celebration to 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 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)?

Epiphany - January 8

posted 01/07/05

Isaiah 59:15b-21,     God’s Judgment
Revelation 2:8-17,     Letters to Smyrna and Pergamum
John 4:46-54     Jesus and the Gentiles

The Lord saw that there was no justice among men. There was no person to intervene for justice, so the Lord himself intervened. Righteousness and salvation are his armor; vengeance and fury are his garments. He will repay each individual according to his deeds. He will punish his adversaries and be avenged upon his enemies.

All people will fear the name of the Lord and he will be glorified throughout the earth. “He will come to Zion (God’s chosen people; the City of God) as Redeemer” (Isaiah 59:20) to those who turn from their transgression (i.e. repent). God’s covenant with them is that his Spirit, and God’s Word which he has put in their mouths, will not depart from them for evermore.

John was commanded to transmit Christ’s word to the Churches (Revelation 1:17b-20). The Church at Smyrna (40 miles northwest of Ephesus on the western coast of present-day Turkey; modern-day Izmir) is representative of persecuted churches. The believers commended for their perseverance in tribulation and poverty (although rich in spiritual blessings).

They were apparently having considerable opposition from the Jewish community. They were about to experience particularly difficult troubles, with imprisonment of some of their members, but were assured that the tribulation would be relatively brief, and urged to persevere. Those who remain faithful unto death will receive eternal life. Those who succeed in remaining faithful until (physical) death will not suffer the second (eternal) death (which is the final punishment of sinners).

The Church at Pergamum (north of Smyrna, on the west coast of Turkey) was in a city noted for wickedness and idolatry. Antipas, a Christian, was martyred there for the faith.  Pergamum was commended for their faith in the midst of persecution, but they were rebuked for tolerating the false teachings of Balaam [Balaam was a God-fearer living among idolaters; Israel blamed Balaam for attempting to seduce Israel into apostacy through intermarriage with Moabite women (Numbers 25:1-2, 31:16)].

The Lord also rebuked the Church at Pergamum for tolerating the false teachings of the Nicolaitans [who taught false freedom from self-discipline; i.e., licentiousness; “cheap grace” (see also Sunday, 11 Pentecost even year): the false doctrine that we are saved by grace (as a free gift) without the requirement of discipleship or obedience]. Both false doctrines lead to apostasy and immorality.

The Lord warned them to repent or the Lord would attack them with the Word of God. Those who conquer (resist idolatrous influences and false doctrine, remaining in true faith until the end) will receive “hidden manna” (spiritual sustenance; the bread of eternal life; John 6:32-35) and a new name (Isaiah 62:2).

Jesus had returned from Judea to Cana (where he had turned water into wine). A Gentile military officer at Capernaum had a son that was very sick and on the verge of death. When he heard that Jesus had returned to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. Jesus said to him, “Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders you will not believe” (John 4:48). The officer just repeated his plea for Jesus to come before his son died. Jesus told the officer his son would live, and the officer believed and went on his way.

The next day his servants came to the officer and told him his son was recovering. The officer asked his servants when the child had begun to get better and they told him it had been the seventh hour (1 p. m.) of the preceding day. The officer knew that was when Jesus had told him his son would live. Consequently he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second sign (miracle revealing who Jesus is; the first miracle was turning the water into wine) which Jesus did (since he had begun his public ministry).

Through the prophet, God promised to execute justice; to reward everyone according to their deeds. God promised to come as the Redeemer to those who turn from their transgressions. He promised to establish a covenant with the redeemed; he promised to fill them with his Spirit and enable them to speak God’s Word, and that this covenant would be for eternity.

John is an example of the fulfillment of that promise. Through trust and obedience to Jesus Christ, John had been filled with the Holy Spirit and he had been given the Lord’s Word to proclaim to the Churches. He accomplished that ministry even though exiled on a tiny island in the Aegean Sea.

John was sharing in the tribulation and the patient endurance required of the churches (Revelation 1:9). His message to them was to hang on to the scriptural, apostolic (as taught by the Apostles) faith; not to tolerate false teachers and false doctrines. He warns that God will punish and condemn God’s enemies and adversaries. The repentant who hold on to true faith and endure to the end will receive “hidden manna.”  

In a sense the Holy Spirit is that hidden manna; it is the Spirit of the risen Christ who is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives us eternal life, and which sustains and strengthens us in the wilderness of this world.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts Chapter 2) was the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise in Isaiah 59:21, to put his Spirit within the redeemed and put God’s Word on their lips. Jesus fulfills that promise; Jesus is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:31-34; Matthew 3:11).

Only those who are disciples of Jesus, who trust and obey him receive the indwelling Holy Spirit (Isaiah 42:5e; John 14:15-17). It is the indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9b) who opens the minds of disciples to understand the scriptures and opens their mouths to proclaim it (but that doesn’t mean that every one who claims to preach God’s Word is filled with the Holy Spirit).

Jesus warns us not to base faith on outward “signs and wonders” (John 4:48). We need to know God’s Word by studying the Bible and by seeking a personal relationship with him through the indwelling Holy Spirit, so that we can recognize God’s Word and God’s voice, so that we can differentiate from false teachers and false doctrine.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise through Isaiah to come among us to intervene and establish justice, and to redeem those who repent and turn from their sins to trust and obedience in Jesus, the Redeemer.  We are all sinners who fall short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23). The penalty for sin (disobedience of God's Word) is eternal death (Romans 6:23).  Spiritually, sin is a terminal illness; Jesus is the only one who can heal us spiritually (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

Jesus has promised to return to judge the earth (John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46).  He will judge everyone according to what they have done. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus will receive eternal life in Heaven with the Lord; those who have rejected Jesus and refused to obey him will receive eternal destruction and death in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Is Jesus your Lord? Are you Jesus’ disciple? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first 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)?  

Epiphany - January 9

Isaiah 63:1-5,       God’s vengeance and redemption

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

John 5:1-15,     Healing a lame man on the Sabbath

The prophet is the watchman on the walls of Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. Someone is approaching from Edom and Bozra (Edom and Moab; Israel’s historic enemies). He is clad in fine crimson clothing, marching in great strength.  The watchman challenges the approaching person to identify himself. The person replies that he is mighty to give salvation and vindication (i.e., God’s promised Savior, Jesus Christ).

The watchman asks why the person’s apparel is crimson, and he replies that he alone has trodden the wine press (of God’s wrath); no one else was able to help. His garments are stained with lifeblood, from trampling the grapes of wrath. His heart was committed to the (brief) day of (God’s) vengeance, and the (long) year of his redemption (of his people) has come. There was no other one to help, so his right arm, God’s supernatural power, fulfilled and embodied in Jesus Christ, fulfilled God’s will.

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;” Revelation 22:16).

At a pool in Jerusalem where the sick came to seek healing, Jesus saw a man who had been waiting for healing there for thirty-eight years. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. He answered with an explanation of why he had not yet been healed. Jesus told him to rise, take up his pallet and walk, and the man did so and was healed.

Since it was the Sabbath, the Jews (religious authorities) rebuked the man for breaking the Sabbath Laws by carrying his pallet. He answered them by explaining that the man who had healed him had told him to do so. They asked him who this was who had healed him, but he did not know, for Jesus had withdrawn.

Afterward Jesus found him in the Temple, and told him to sin no more, that nothing worse befall him. “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him” (John 5:15).

The prophet of God is the watchman of this world, who sees and announces the approaching return of Jesus Christ and the Day of Judgment. Jesus is the only one who is completely sinless and obedient to God unto death on the Cross, and therefore the only one who is qualified to administer God’s judgment of the world. He is completely committed to execute the brief day of God’s vengeance and the long, eternal “year” of God’s redemption of his people. Jesus is returning to bring his people salvation and vindication, and condemnation and punishment for the enemies of God and God’s people.

The Church at Thyatira is like the nominal Church today. There are those within the Church who are genuine disciples, who are living according to Christ’s teachings, loving one another, trusting and obeying Jesus commands, seeking and serving God’s will and Christ’s mission, and patiently enduring in faith and scriptural, apostolic doctrine, despite worldly temptation and persecution. But there are also false prophets and false doctrines within the Church, and there are those who follow them.

The Lord rebukes the Church for tolerating false prophets and false doctrines and those who follow them within the Church, and warns that he knows each individual’s heart and mind, and will reward or punish each individual according to what each has done individually in this life.

The Lord implicitly warns that each person who claims to be Christian and claims to be within Christ’s Church is responsible to know and follow Christ’s teachings, as recorded in the Bible. Salvation is only by faith (obedient trust) in Jesus Christ; we are not saved by belonging to a particular congregation or denomination, and we are not saved by believing some minister or teacher. Christians must be disciples of Jesus Christ.

Those who have not been misled by false prophets and false teachings, but have held firmly to scriptural, apostolic faith will share in Christ’s messianic reign and in personal fellowship with Christ.

In a sense, we are all spiritually ill (Romans 3:23), and unable to heal ourselves. We are spending our lives beside the pool. Jesus comes to us, and asks us if we want to be healed. Some deny their spiritual illness (1 John 1:8-10). Some insist on obeying “religious authorities.” Some insist on saving themselves by their works; they think they’ll some day be able to get into the pool at the right time. Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness, and salvation from eternal death (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

The only way to be spiritually healed of our eternally fatal illness is to trust and obey Jesus (but understand that we cannot believe every spirit: 1 John 4:1; Jesus will never tell us to do what is contrary to God’s Word or which will harm ourselves or others). Jesus won’t force us to accept his healing; if we want to waste our lives living (spiritually dying) by the side of the pool we’re free 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)?

Epiphany - January 10

Isaiah 65:1-9,       God’s chosen people
Revelation 3:1-6,       The end is near
John 6:1-14,       Feeding the five thousand

This is the Lord’s answer to the prophet’s intercession for the return of the people of Judah (the remnant of Israel) from Babylonian exile and the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple. The Lord said he was ready to be sought and found by his people, but they didn’t call on the Lord or seek him. The Lord invited them to come to him, but they were rebellious against God and preferred to live unrighteously, according to their own desires.

God’s people had provoked God by their idolatries, sacrificing and burning incense to idols, seeking guidance from spirits of the dead, and worshiping in pagan shrines. They had engaged in sorcery, violated the Jewish dietary laws, and had preferred consecration by some idolatrous rite, instead of the sanctification of themselves by God.

God warns that he will answer, with punishment within their innermost being (their immortal soul), according to their wickedness and sins, those who didn’t want to hear God’s Word. They will be repaid according to their deeds. As good wine is produced by selecting good clusters of grapes and rejecting inferior clusters, so God will select the righteous from the unrighteous.

God will not destroy all Israel, because God’s blessing of forgiveness and salvation is to come to the world through Israel. God will preserve a remnant of his people who are his chosen servants. God promises to bring forth from Israel (through Jesus Christ) descendants who will serve the Lord and will inherit the Promised Land, the mountain of God; the eternal City of God in heaven.

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.

Jesus took his disciples off to a place where they could be alone, to the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. A multitude followed Jesus because of his reputation for performing healing miracles. Seeing the multitude coming, Jesus asked Philip, one of the disciples, “How are we to buy bread so that theses people may eat?” 

Jesus had asked Philip in order to test his faith; Jesus himself knew what he was going to do. Philip replied that it would cost a lot of money to provide even a small amount of food for each one. (The amount was equivalent to a laborer’s wages for two hundred days work.) Another disciple, Andrew, volunteered that there was a boy among them with five barley loaves and two fish; but that they would not go very far among so many.

Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down. There were about five thousand. Jesus took the boy’s bread and fish, and when he had blessed the food he distributed it to people, “as much as they wanted” (John 6:11b). When they had eaten their fill, he had the disciples gather up what was left over, and they filled twelve baskets. When the people realized what Jesus had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14b).

Throughout the history of God’s dealing with Israel, his people kept turning away from obedient trust in God. Then God would punish them to bring them back to obedient trust in God. Judah was already the remnant of Israel, since the fall of the Northern Kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. Judah hadn’t learned from the example of the Northern Kingdom, and consequently God withheld his protection and allowed Judah taken captive and exiled in Babylon.

A remnant of Judah returned to the Promised Land, fulfilling God’s Word, but it was a renewed, revived people. God’s Word spoken by his prophets has been fulfilled over and over, and it continues to be fulfilled as the conditions for its fulfillment are met.

God’s selection process continues now and his Word addresses the same situation in our world today. Exile in Babylon is also intended to be a parable, a metaphor, for life as God’s people in this world, and the return of his renewed, revived servants to the eternal Promised Land in the kingdom of Heaven.

God’s intention, from the very beginning of Creation has always been to create an eternal kingdom of his people who choose willingly trust and obey God and serve him. This temporal life is our opportunity to seek and find God and come to a personal relationship with him (Acts 17:26-27).

We are all sinners (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10), and the penalty for sin (disobedience of God’s Word) is eternal death (Romans 6:23) Jesus is God’s only provision for our forgiveness from sin, salvation from eternal death, and restoration to fellowship with God (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

God gave us free choice, knowing that we would have to learn by trial and error, and would all need forgiveness, so God created this world with Jesus Christ as Savior from the very beginning (John 1:1-5, 14). We become his “chosen” people as we choose to trust and obey God’s Word, fulfilled, embodied and demonstrated in Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 14).

The history of God’s dealing with Israel is intended to be an example for us. All of us are God’s people, since he is our creator. In another sense Christian nations, particularly America, are the “New People of God” and the “New Promised Land.” In another sense, the Church is the “New Israel.”

There has never been a time in the history of this world when God’s Word has been more urgently relevant in each of these three spheres. God has promised that if we seek him he will be found by us (Matthew 7:7-8), but are we seeking the Lord in obedience to his Word? Jesus is God’s invitation to come and live eternally in Heaven, but have we accepted?

God’s Word warns that there is a Day of Judgment coming when everyone who has ever lived on Earth will be accountable to him for what they have done in this lifetime. Those who have trusted and obeyed Jesus Christ will receive eternal life in God’s kingdom and presence in Heaven; those who have rejected Jesus and have refused to trust and obey Jesus will receive eternal condemnation and death in Hell with all evil (Matthew 25:31-46)

The Church at Sardis represents the spiritual condition in much of the Church, and in the American and other “Christian” cultures today. In too many instances the culture’s main interest and pursuit is luxury and licentiousness, and “members” bring that with them into the Church. The culture has a reputation for being “Christian,” which is no longer true, and in many instances Churches which are spiritually dead are unaware.

Both the Church and the culture need to hear God’s call to wake up and be revived by God’s Word and his Spirit! We need to remember the Gospel which we received and repent! There are a few Christian disciples who have kept the scriptural, apostolic Gospel faith, and those who hold fast to that faith until the end of this present age will be saved.

Jesus wanted to spend time alone with his disciples, “mentoring” them, but crowds followed him seeking physical healing. Jesus didn’t turn the crowd away; he welcomed them, had them sit down, and gave them a meal. It’s an illustration of the fellowship of the Lord in heaven, which begins now in this world in Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper; the Eucharist) for Christian disciples.

Jesus also did miracles of physical healing and feeding as signs that he can heal and feed spiritually, which is our true eternal need which only Jesus can satisfy. Jesus also used it to teach his disciples that they can meet seemingly overwhelming spiritual needs in the people of this world by the power of the Lord within them through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit.

The people in the crowd had come because they had seen the physical healing he did; and as they continued to seek him, Jesus revealed himself to them in the breaking of bread (compare Luke 24:30-35), and they grew in their understanding of who Jesus is.

Jesus is the illustration of the Lord who wants to be found by those who seek him. Jesus promises that he will manifest himself to his disciples who trust and obey him (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)?

Epiphany - January 11

Isaiah 65:13-16,       God’s name will be a blessing

Revelation 3:7-13,      Letter to the church at Philadelphia

John 6:15-27,    Jesus walks on the Sea

The servants of God will be spiritually nurtured but the enemies of God will be spiritually starved. God’s servants’ spiritual thirst will be satisfied, but God’s enemies will spiritually thirst. God’s servants will sing, rejoice and be happy, but the enemies of God will wail in pain and anguish in their spirits.

The name of God’s enemies will become a curse and God will eternally destroy them, but God will give his servants a new name. In the new land any blessing will be made in the name of the God of truth, and any oath will be secured by the name of the God of truth. God will forget those who rebelled against him.

This is the word of the Lord [the holy one, and true one, who has the key of David (symbol of authority)], to the Church at Philadelphia, a small town in Lydia in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). The Lord declares that he has provided an open door of opportunity. He commends them for their obedience and faithfulness. The Lord will cause them to be exalted by those who claim to be people of God but are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.

Because they have been obedient to the Lord with patient endurance, the Lord will keep them from the tribulation which will come to try all those on earth. The Lord exhorts them to hold fast to their faith. To those who persevere, he promises an important and permanent place in the presence of God in his heavenly Temple and in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) of the heavenly kingdom.

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus, realizing that they were about to come to force him to be their king, withdrew into the hills by himself. His Disciples set out across the Sea of Galilee in the boat without him. It was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea arose because a strong wind had come up. They had rowed about three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the sea. They were frightened, but Jesus spoke to reassure them. He got into the boat with them and immediately they arrived at their destination.

The multitude which had been fed had remained on the other side overnight. They had seen the disciples leave without Jesus, but since boats from Tiberias came near the place and Jesus was not there, they got into boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they asked him when he had come there.

Jesus replied that their interest in him was because he could provide food. They had focused on the material element, and had missed the spiritual significance of what Jesus had done. Jesus admonished them to seek spiritual food which nourishes unto eternal life, which only Jesus can provide, rather than simply satisfying their physical hunger, since both physical food and physical bodies will pass away.

God spiritually nurtures and sustains his servants, but those who hate God and rebel against him will starve spiritually unto eternal death. God’s servants will have eternal joy, but God’s enemies will have eternal agony and torment. In the new Creation, the new eternal kingdom, every blessing will be given in the name (character and authority) of the God of truth, and every promise will be secured by the name of the God of truth.

Jesus is the name of the Lord, the holy and true one, who has received the “key” of David; he alone has the power and authority to lock up and to set free. Jesus is the “open door” to the new eternal kingdom. No one can enter eternal life except through Jesus (Acts 4:12; John 14:6; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right). This lifetime is our opportunity to enter eternal life through Jesus.

The Church at Philadelphia is the faithful, obedient Church, the true people of God, in contrast to the nominal “Church,” who claim to be the Church and God’s people, but actually serve Satan. The Lord promises his true Church that because they have been obedient to the Lord with patient endurance, they will have an important and permanent place in God’s eternal kingdom.

The five thousand came to Jesus because they had seen his ability to physically heal the sick. Jesus did miracles of physical healing and feeding as signs that he was the Son of God, and to reveal that he could also heal and feed spiritually. When they saw his ability to supply free bread and fish they were ready to make him their king (John 6:15), because of what he could do for them, without commitment to serve Jesus.

God is God, whether we acknowledge and serve him or not, but he has no obligation to be all that a good, loving God implies to those who refuse to love and serve him. If we will be his people, he will be our God.

We need to examine ourselves and consider whether we truly worship, pray (see Conditions for answered prayer, sidebar, top right), and seek to serve the Lord, or if we go to Church to be “entertained” (we might prefer to say “inspired;” “enlightened”) and whether we seek and pray only for what the Lord can do for us.

The disciples in the storm-battered boat are an illustration of “unregenerate” (not “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8) “Christians.” They’ve gotten into the boat according to Jesus’ command, but without Jesus in the boat, they labor long and hard without getting anywhere.

If we’re committed to obeying and serving Jesus, he will get into our boat with us and the storm will be calmed, and our destination will be reached through his power within us by his indwelling Holy Spirit. He can come to us even though the situation seems humanly impossible. We need to invite him to come in and to provide the strength and resources to accomplish his purpose.

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)?

Epiphany - January 12

Isaiah 66:1-2, 22-23,      New heavens; new earth    
Revelation 3:14-22,       Church at Laodicea
John 9:1-12, 35-38,     The man born blind

God declares that Heaven is his throne and Earth is his footstool. The creator of Heaven and Earth does not need mankind to build him a house. All Creation belongs to God, so how can we give him a house? Instead of trying to manipulate God with gifts from the work of our hands, let’s try humility, contrition and respect of God’s Word.

God is going to create a new eternal heaven and a new earth (a completely new Creation). God is eternal and the new Creation will be eternal. God’s people will be eternal and remain forever in God’s presence. In the new Creation God will be continually worshiped and praised!

Jesus Christ is the “Amen” (“so be it;” i.e., completely obedient to God’s Word); Jesus is the one faithful and true witness (of God and the Gospel); the beginning of God’s Creation (John 1:1-5, 14). Jesus knows the deepest thoughts and motivations of each one of us (John 1:48; John 4:16-18, 29).

The people of the Church in Laodicea were spiritually “lukewarm.” God has more respect for those who hate him than for those who are “lukewarm;” at least his enemies believe passionately in something! Lukewarm “Christians” think they are spiritually rich and spiritually prosperous, not realizing how spiritually wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked they truly are!

The Lord advises them to buy “gold refined by fire” (the true spiritual riches) so that they may be truly spiritually rich, to obtain white garments (of Jesus’ righteousness through their obedient trust in him) to clothe their spiritual nakedness, and the spiritual salve of the Holy Spirit to anoint and heal their spiritual blindness (Luke 24:45; 2 Corinthians 3:13-16).

God chastens and reproves those he loves (like a good father), so we are advised to be zealous for God’s ways and repent of our disobedience. Jesus calls, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat (share a meal) with him and he with me. Jesus promises to give those who overcome the temptations to sin the authority to reign with Jesus in the coming eternal kingdom, as Jesus overcame temptation by obedient trust in God and was given authority to reign with God on God’s throne.

Jesus encountered a man who had been born blind, and Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus whether the man’s blindness was caused by his own sin or the sin of his parents. Instead of placing blame, Jesus taught his disciples to see this as an opportunity for the works of God to be revealed in the man. Jesus told his disciples that we must do the works of God while we have the light of God. Jesus declared, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).

Jesus made mud of dirt and spittle, in the manner of healers of that time, anointed the blind man’s eyes, and told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam (Siloam means “sent”). The man did as Jesus had told him, and he came back with his vision restored.

Some of his neighbors and those who had known him as a beggar recognized him (and realized that he was no longer blind) but others thought the man just resembled the blind beggar. The man testified that it was indeed he, who had formerly been blind.

The people asked him how his vision had been healed, and he told them that Jesus had anointed his eyes with mud and told him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and his vision had been restored as he did as Jesus had told him. They asked where Jesus was, but the man did not know.

The Jewish religious leaders excommunicated him from the synagogue for proclaiming that Jesus had healed him. When Jesus found out, he went to the former blind man, and asked if he believed in the Son of man (Jesus). The man asked to identify who Jesus was referring to so that the man could believe in him. Jesus told the man that he was seeing and hearing the Son of man, and the man said “Lord, I believe,” and worshiped Jesus.

Jesus declared that he had come into the world for judgment, to heal those who recognize that they are spiritually blind, and to reveal the spiritual blindness of those who deny it. Some Pharisees (a faction of strict, legalistic Jews) heard Jesus say this, and asked Jesus whether he considered them “blind.” Jesus declared that if they had acknowledged their spiritual blindness they could have received forgiveness and healing, but because they denied their blindness, they remained guilty.

God has created the entire universe of this Creation, including ourselves, and yet humans think that we, individually, are the “center” of the universe. We’re arrogant about what we think we can do. We’re not doing God a favor by listening to him; it’s in our own very best, eternal interest. Our human arrogance is because we don’t see ourselves or God in proper perspective; we think too much of ourselves and too little of God.

Instead of trying to manipulate God to do our will, let’s try being humble, contrite and respectfully seeking to know and do his will. Jesus is the example of humble trust and obedience to God. Jesus is God’s anointed King of kings and Lord of lords, in whom the fullness of deity dwelt bodily (Colossians 2:8-9) but he humbly served us and obeyed God, instead of exalting himself, like worldly people do.

Unbelievers and lukewarm (unregenerate; nominal) “Christians” do not realize how spiritually poor, wretched, pitiable, blind and naked they are. God’s word urges them to spend their time and resources seeking and obtaining the true spiritual riches, instead of squandering their physical lives pursuing what is going to pass away.

Jesus promises that he is at the door of our souls; if we listen and hear his voice and invite him to come in, he will do so and we will have fellowship with him (and the Father; Revelation 3:20; John 14:21-23). Jesus comes into our souls through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit, which only Jesus gives (John 1:31-34), only to his disciples who trust and obey Jesus (John 14:15-17).

The Holy Spirit is the true spiritual riches; the righteous clothing, and the spiritual healing ointment we must have to live eternally with God in the new eternal Creation in heaven. The Holy Spirit is the refiner’s fire, which purifies us. 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).

We’re all born spiritually blind; we’re all born in sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10). Jesus does not place blame on us or on our parents; instead it is an opportunity to glorify God through us, as we accept God’s free gift of salvation through obedient trust in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; see God’s Plan of Salvation, sidebar, top right).

The blind man was healed as he trusted and obeyed Jesus’ instruction to go to the pool of Siloam and wash his eyes. The healed blind man testified to others what God had done for him; that he had been transformed by the word of Jesus Christ.

The “religious authorities” excommunicated him for proclaiming Jesus, but Jesus came to him and asked if the healed man believed in the Son of man (Jesus). Having already experienced the power and faithfulness of Jesus, the man was ready to do whatever Jesus told him. He asked Jesus who the Son of man was, so that he could believe in him, and Jesus identified himself. The healed man declared his faith, and worshiped Jesus.

This is the pattern of Christian discipleship. If we acknowledge our spiritual blindness, and trust and obey Jesus words, Jesus will heal us. As we experience his power and faithfulness, we grow spiritually to trust and obey him completely and to praise and glorify the Lord.

As we trust and obey Jesus he will come to us and reveal himself to us through the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:21), and we become spiritually “born-again” (John 3:3, 5-8). Then in the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit we are to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ to bring spiritual light and salvation (from eternal death) to a blind and dying world.

The Jewish religious leaders are examples of nominal “people of God,” like lukewarm “Christians.” They considered themselves experts in the scriptures, and righteous by their works and their position within the “house of God.” They were thinking about how much they had done for God, instead of thinking how much God had done for them.

They were using “religion” to build themselves up instead of glorifying God and building up God’s eternal kingdom. They built God a physical house, instead of building an eternal spiritual dynasty. Their pride prevented them from recognizing their spiritual blindness, and prevented them from receiving the spiritual healing only Jesus can provide.

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)?