Author: Don Guthrie

Don Guthrie is the Senior Pastor at FBCSA.

With authority

Re:Verse reading–Mark 1:21-39 (day one)

“The people were amazed at his teaching, because He taught them as one who had AUTHORITY, not as the teachers of the Law.”–v 22.

People noticed it.  So did demons.  Jesus was different.  Not like other religious leaders. He taught WITH AUTHORITY.

The Greek word (exousia) means, “out of his being” (ek=out, ousia=being)  His words came from who He was.  From His relationship with the Father.  They carried more weight than the opinions or ideas of other people.

For 13 weeks we will study the life of Jesus Christ as recorded by John Mark. Such privilege!  As we do, please remind yourself that, for the first hearers, what He said was inseparable from what He did.

“God after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets. . .in these last days has spoken to us in HIS SON.”–Hebrews 1:1

This is no ordinary man!  He should not be listened to with ordinary ears.

What will I carry away?

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 21:1-8; 22:1-7,16-17 (day seven)

Important question.  What will I carry away from the study of Revelation?  We have spent 13 weeks, what will I remember next week, a few months from now?  What truth will change me?

I know the answer, at least part of it.  I will, going forward and with God’s help, live with “that day” in my mind.  That day of His return.  That day when he judges.  That day when He brings the Universe back into harmony with His clear, clean will.  That day when every eye will see Him.

I will evaluate my decisions against it.  I will care less that people judge me, more that He will (1 Corinthians 4).  I will join the blessed, joyful group that Paul describes in 2 Timothy 4, “those who LOVE His appearing”.

I will, God helping me, pray more often, and with more heart.  “Even so, COME Lord Jesus!”

You?  What will you carry away from the Revelation?

Enduring to the end

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 21:1-8; 22:1-7,16-17 (day one) 
“It is done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega. . .HE WHO OVERCOMES will inherit these things.”–21:6

“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”–Jesus (Matthew 24:13)

In the end, the story will have perfect symmetry.  Unspeakable beauty.  God who created the world in supernatural fiat, will also judge and restore it.  The narrative is not evolution.  It is faithfulness and fulfillment.  Justice and peace.

Patience is required.  None of us knows the day or the hour of the Lord’s return.  None of us controls that calendar.  His value, then, is on perseverance.  A daily assignment to overcome all challenges that hinder or prevent our faithfulness to Christ.   Overcoming doubt and temptation, prayerlessness, fear and pride. doubt.

What Goliath stands in your path, this day?  What challenger forbids your progress?  The fight required to defeat him will be well worth the price.  What must you overcome in order to endure?

A name only He knows

Re:Verse reading–Revelation 19:11-21, 20:1-10 (day seven)

“He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.”–19:12

It teaches humility.  Requires it, actually.  We “see through a glass, darkly”, said Paul as he reflected on this same reality.  What we know of Christ, we know truly, but not completely.

It will still be true when the Lord comes.  We will “see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).  See His glory!  Know His names, “Faithful and True, The Word of God, King of Kings”.

Even so, there will be a unsolved mystery.  A depth and identity for the Son of God that no one can grasp.  How could it be otherwise?  An infinite God/Man must always be larger than our logic and understanding.

When He comes, we will marvel!  We will praise and adore!  But, even then, we will not fully understand.  It will humble us and make us rejoice all the more in our sufficient and infinite Savior.

Faithful and True

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 19:11-21, 20:1-10 (day one) “And I saw heaven opened up, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True.”–19:11.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ is faithful and true to the promises He made.  None of His declared purposes will fail.  He will “FULL fill” them all.

“I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”–John 14:2-3  Faithful and true to that promise.

“When the Son of Man COMES IN HIS GLORY and all the angels with Him. . .He will separate (the nations). . .the sheep on the right, the goats on the left.”–Matthew 25:31-33.  Faithful and true to this one too.

Over time, some will begin to doubt.  Bad idea.  When He comes, the world will recognize that He has kept His promises.  All of them.

Satan’s strategy

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 17 – 18 (Day seven)

“You surely will not die”, said the snake. (Genesis 3:5)

It is a long strategy of our Enemy.  Time-tested.  He convinces men that there is no danger.  “You are a good person.”  “No one believes anymore in a God who sends people to Hell.” ” I have received Christ”.  Swallowing the bait, we ignore God’s word, God’s warning when it comes.  Never even consider it.

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”–Philippians 2:12.  What could that possibly mean if (as Satan whispers) there is nothing to fear?

“Do not be deceived ( seeing the pattern?) God is not mocked!  Whatever a man sows, this we he also reap.”–Galatians 6:7.

Today, we read Revelation 17 and 18.  As promised, Rome falls!  What else would we expect?  Immorality, cruelty, unbelief, self-glorification reaches beyond the mercy of God.

Lord, give us ears and urgency and the courage to act!  Our enemy has deceived many, saying that there is nothing to fear.

Scarlet woman

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 17 and 18 (Day one)

Revelation 17 and 18 serve as a parenthesis.  In Chapter 16, we hear that the wrath of God is finished.  In Chapter 19, we see the long-anticipated return of Christ in glory.  Between these two events, God pauses to say again, “Babylon has fallen”.

John describes her as a woman dressed in scarlet and purple.  Rich.  Arrogant.  A harlot. Her name is Babylon.  Who is she?  Scholars have long debated the answer.

Some mark her as the apostate Roman Catholic church.  For long periods, history confirms,  she rode the beast of Roman power.  Corrupted by wealth and power,  she “drank” the blood of the martyrs.  Others see her as a future “church” rising up in support of the Anti-Christ.

The angel tells John the answer.  “The woman. . .is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”  (Revelation 17:18)  Those being persecuted needed this assurance. Someday, this powerful, wealthy, cruel city would be judged and destroyed.

Finishing what He started

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 15 and 16 (day seven)

“These are the last (plagues) because in them the wrath of God is FINISHED.”–15:1.

It is not like God to start something and not FINISH it.  Like me, maybe, but not like Him.  He is faithful.  To promises. . .to purposes.  If He is Alpha, then He will also be Omega.

For 2000 years the church has given testimony to this truth.  A universe with a supernatural beginning (God as creator) will have a supernatural end (God as judge).

The prophets predicted it speaking of”the day of the Lord”.  Jesus spoke of “the day of judgment”.  The Spirit bears witness to it.  Our task is to embrace and believe this powerful truth.

Christian faith causes a person to FINISH his own work because he serves a God of the same character.  Paul said , “I have finished the race.”  What do you need to do today to get God’s assignment for you closer to completion?

 

Crystal sea

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 15 and 16 (day one) 

“I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire”  v 2.

Ever see “Jaws”?  Even without the movie, ancient Hebrews regarded the ocean as a dark and dangerous place.  As John watched in wonder, the Revelation of Christ included a picture of a new ocean.  People were standing on it, and, not only was it solid, it was crystal clear!

For John, it meant that all things that were fearful in this present life would not be in the next. Not for God’s redeemed people!  Even the ocean–“clearly” safe, no hidden dangers.

Interesting, he does note that it is “mixed with fire”.  A testimony that the purity of the coming world will not be achieved without God’s wrath.  God offers no apology.  None is required.

“Yes, I’ll sing the wondrous story, of the Christ who died for me.  Sing it with the saints in glory, gathered by the crystal sea.”

A choir of “all in” men

Re: Verse reading–Revelation 14 (day seven)

John saw some amazing things as he stood in “awesome wonder” receiving the Revelation of Christ.  Some were terrifying.  An angel calling, “those who worship the beast. . .will drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger.”  (v 10)  It’s hard to imagine more sobering words.  Will you read these words again?  Many in our day deny the coming wrath of God. What did John believe/preach?

Some of the sights John saw were encouraging.  A choir of men.  Completely satisfied in Christ.  Joyful.  Transparent. Strong.  They are “all in” for Christ and without any regrets.

As history draws to a close, the separate roads that men will take–toward God in worship or away from Him in pride–will get further and further apart. Different roads.  Different outcomes.  May this warning/this promise give each of us a desire to join that coming choir!