Category Archives: Jesus (Christology)

“Church at a Crossroads: Jesus’s Letter to the Church at Pergamum” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

We’re continuing in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming. We took a break for our He Who Promised is Faithful readings during Holy Week but are glad to be back at it. Today, we will be diving into Jesus’s letter to the church at Pergamum. Once again, I am thankful for Jamie Harrison and the opportunity to do this study together. This week’s passage is Revelation 2:12-17:

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
13 “ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’”[1]

Keith Harris:      
Greetings, Sojourners,

Today’s letter to the church at Pergamum is tough, Jamie. And, so speaking, I turn it over to you because this is a lot.

Jamie Harrison:
It is a lot, so y’all buckle up and stay buckled up – especially if you are driving and listening to this Bible study. No reading while driving.

Keith:                   
Click it or ticket.

Jamie:                  
Yeah, I’ve heard that somewhere.

Just a quick reminder of the similarities between each letter. Each letter is going to start with that same salutation. Write to the angel of the church, this week in Pergamum. Then we’re going to look at what Jesus says about Himself, His attributes. Then we’re going to get maybe something about their works, some praise and then admonition – something they need to work on (in all but two of the churches). Then, that same universal admonition to let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Finally, we’ll get a promise.

Before we start, in the first letter, we really talked a lot about listening to what the Spirit is saying, not just to the church at Ephesus or Smyrna, now Pergamum, but what He is saying to the Church today as a whole and to our local church body. What is He saying? And as a part of your local church body, what is He saying to you?

Keep those things in mind as we dive into this letter because I think this letter hits on a lot of stuff that’s probably affecting us today. So, here we go.

Jesus starts off by saying something about Himself does not have the best positive connotation to it.

Keith:                   
Yes, it is not the portrait of Jesus people would like to paint. But, nevertheless, it’s the one He gives us here.    

Jamie:                  
In the letter to Smyrna, we get that He is the first and the last. In the letter to Ephesus, He’s the One who holds the seven stars and who walks among the golden lamp stands. In Pergamum, all He says about Himself is, “Thus says the One who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (v. 12)[2], which again, does go back to ch. 1:16 where He had seven stars in His right hand and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. I think it’s interesting that the sword comes from His mouth because I want to – I’m kind of jumping ahead of myself real quick. Turn to Revelation 19:19, and I’m going to read a couple of verse, actually starting in verse 11 of Revelation 19 (and go through v. 13):

11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God.

If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because, again, in Revelation 1, that’s how He is described. He is called the Word of God. We know that the sword is the Word of God.

Keith:                   
Yeah, Hebrews 4:12, Ephesians 6….         

Jamie:                  
Right. Ephesians 6, right. Continuing in Revelation 19 in verse 14-16:

14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And then we get this horrible supper of God where all these people are wiped out who were gathered together. And then in verse 21, it says,

The rest were killed with the sword that came from the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds ate their fill of their flesh.

So, this sharp double-edged sword that comes from His mouth is what eventually will end everything. That’s the sword He chooses – that’s, excuse me, the attribute He chooses to describe Himself with here (in the letter to the church at Pergamum). So, if you’re listening to this, and you’re in Pergamum, this is not good news. It’s terrifying.

Keith:                   
I mean, there is the admonition opportunity for repentance, but their current standing without repentance is not good at all. That sword Jesus speaks of is pointed at Pergamum.

Jamie:                  
It is pointed at Pergamum.

He goes from there to the works and the praise that He’s going to give. He tells them (in v. 13), “I know where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me.” Please don’t mistake that when He says, “where Satan’s throne is,” to think He means hell. Satan wasn’t (isn’t) cast into hell yet. That has not happened. He was cast down to earth.

Keith:                   
And hell doesn’t have a throne. Satan is going to be inmate number one there.  

Jamie:                  
That’s correct, and we’ll see that actually in Revelation 19 and 20 when we get there, that he’ll be one of the first couple beings cast into hell. But what it’s talking about when it says that the satanic throne – Satan’s throne…. Literally, during this time, Pergamum was considered the headquarters of Satanic opposition. That would have been a literal thing. It was a gentile base for false religion. They had a throne there that was a throne-shaped altar that looked like Zeus at the acropolis, the city’s highest peak, a throne-shaped altar to Zeus.

Then a lot of people from all over the [Roman] empire at that time would come to a palace that was built for Asclepius – the god of healing. His symbol was a rod in his hand and a snake wrapped around the rod, kind of like what we see on the back of ambulances and things like that today. That was what he held, that was his symbol, the snake-wrapped rod. People would come from all over the empire to sleep in his temple to get touched by one of the numerous non-venomous snakes that would be slithering around on the floor. Just to repeat, they would intentionally and willingly sleep on a floor that was covered in snakes in hopes that a snake would slither on them. Just because they are non-venomous doesn’t mean they don’t bite. They thought this would heal them.

So, that’s where Satan’s throne comes in. Because literally, that’s what it was considered to be during that time – not a good place to be. I would imagine if you were a Christian there at the time, and Jesus says “yet you are holding on to my name” and “did not deny [their] faith in [Him], even in the days of Antipas…who was put to death” among them. That’s a big deal. It’s really cool, like, hey, these awful things are going on around you…. We understand how easy it is now to get drawn away or moved away from Christ – we have to say this is ok because it’s what everybody says, and I don’t want to offend anybody…. These guys didn’t do that. They stuck with Jesus. They didn’t deny their faith even though all these things were going on around them. Even though it might seem easy that a snakebite might heal you, they trusted in Him.

Keith:                   
Well, it’s like how sometimes people want to take things into their own hands. In our churches today, there’s no Christian culture in the world. Everything is in the realm held by, how does Paul say it in Ephesians 2? The prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)? I imagine this was a really terrible things because I know when we have conversations with people about what the Bible says about things, people find great offense.

This isn’t a pastor, this isn’t a Christian, this isn’t some church guy, preacher saying, hey, I think the worldliness you are involved in is satanic. This is Jesus. He says that this whole idea there, whether it’s Zeus or Asclepius, what you’re dealing with here is Satan. This is heavy. This is not, oh, well, I just believe something different. Jesus says He is the only way and everything else is opposed to me. He ain’t playing here.

Jamie:                  
Let me interject here. I was having a conversation with a young man who had been talking to one of his buddies who claimed to be a Christian who said at the same time said he doesn’t believe everything the Bible says. Well, it’s either all or none. There’s no in between. I think me and you – or it might’ve been me and Kevin one, I can’t remember…but if there’s anything in the Bible that you’re not going to believe it would be the resurrection of Christ because that’s the most far-fetched thing, right? Jesus rose again. That’s the basis of Christianity. If you believe that, everything else is believable. So, with the Bible, it’s either all or it’s nothing. We can’t add. We can’t take away from the Word of God. He wrote it. All Scripture is breathed out by God. All of it. So, I just wanted to interject that before we move forward.

Keith:                   
I mean, the sword coming from His mouth is what He said. I think this is a very good example that sometimes – and I don’t even want to use sometimes because it sounds like I’m trying to make it more palatable – Jesus doesn’t speak on a basis of what’s going to make us more comfortable or happy or what’s going to fit in, He’s God. He’s the Creator. He’s the Author of life. He speaks and it is – or it ain’t.           

Jamie:                  
Yeah. So, there’s not your truth or my truth. Is that what you’re saying?

Keith:                   
We don’t have to say what I’m saying. The whole idea is what Jesus said. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father but by me.” So, when He is talking here to the church at Pergamum and telling them what they’ve experienced and that He knows their living in a terrible place – that this is where the throne-shaped alter is, again where Satan dwells. Jesus tells them they’ve done well despite all of that, but that there’ve been casualties as well, which is I think that’s where you are headed next.

Jamie:                  
Yes. So, the very next thing He says, is but I have a few things against you. With Ephesus, He had one thing: they had lost their first love. With Smyrna, they had nothing. Now we get to Pergamum, and it’s like, hey, here are a few things against y’all. So, let’s go through these.

He says that there are some who hold to the teachings of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites, to eat meat sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. What He’s talking about there is the story of Balaam. If you go back to Numbers 22-25, you’ll get the whole story. Balaam was this guy who was called a seer of the gods – kind of like a pagan divination expert.

Keith:                   
And just to clarify, I had heard Balaam – the story of Balaam and the donkey – preached many times in my childhood. I was a grown man before I read it fully for myself, which is on me, but Balaam was always treated like a hero in those sermons. Balaam was not of God’s people (Numbers 22:5–6). Balaam was not a prophet of the God (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14). He was a mess (Numbers 31:16).

Jamie:                  
Mmm Hmmm. I firmly believe that he would have absolutely cursed Israel had God allowed him to (Numbers 22:12, 20–22; Numbers 23:11). So, that’s what you get when you read the story. You get introduced to Balaam. He comes and is asked to curse Israel (Numbers 22:5–6). He gets on his donkey, and there’s an angel in the way who is about to kill him (Numbers 22:21–23). The donkey just quits (Numbers 22:24–27). He beats the donkey (Numbers 22:27–28). Then the donkey talks to him; that’s where you get that whole conversation from (Numbers 22:28–30). That all happened to remind Balaam that God is in control and that he should do what He said (Numbers 22:31–35).

Keith:                   
It doesn’t matter where the money is, where the fame is, where the fortune is…. When the God speaks, the lowercase g gods have to bow in subjection.

Jamie:                  
Right. So, in looking at the oracles that Balaam gives, he gives three different ones, and in all three he ends up blessing Israel because the Lord will not allow him to curse them (Numbers 23:5–12; 23:16–24; 24:2–9). The first one was at a place that was known as the high places of Baal—a cultic center for the worship of Baal (Numbers 22:41). The second oracle takes place atop Mt. Pisgah, and so that is where all the heavenly omens were made or astrological observations were made—things like that, everything that people would have looked at during that time to see signs and things of that nature (Numbers 23:13–14). If that sounds familiar.

Keith:                   
It unfortunately does.   

Jamie:                  
The third place is on Peor, which is another cultic center of worship (Numbers 23:28). So, all three places he takes him, where Balaam tells him to meet him, are places of Baal—places that are against God (Numbers 22:41; 23:14; 23:28). What you end up happening is Balaam advises Balak to be friendly to Israel, share his women with them, things like that (Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14), and…

Keith:                   
And if you draw them in, you’ll destroy them from the inside out.

Jamie:                  
That’s right, and Israel ends up following along. By the way, you can check out Numbers 31:16 to see where Balaam tells him to be friendly with them and Numbers 25:1-9 you get this horrible story of Israel having sexual relations with these Moabites and eating meat sacrificed to idols. These Moabite women are encouraging them to do it. As we were just talking about before we got started, they make it all the way to the entrance to the tabernacle.

Keith:                   
One guy is planning on taking his Moabite cult prostitute right up inside the tabernacle to show Israel what’s up.

Jamie:                  
That’s right, and at that point, a plague had started because of what was going on. That is until Phineas drives a spear through the man and the woman and ends the plague. 24,000 Israelites are killed in this plague.

So, when Jesus tells the church there that they are holding to the teaching of Balaam (Revelation 2:14), Balaam taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites (Numbers 31:16). It’s like they were telling folks that they see they follow Jesus but add this or take away this (Galatians 1:6–9). We could name so many examples of this, but none of it is ok. If you are placing a stumbling block in front of people—placing something that is not biblically accurate—you are causing them to fall away (Romans 16:17; Matthew 18:6–7). I think that’s part of why James says that not everyone needs to be a teacher. You’ve got to be careful (James 3:1).

Keith:                   
It’s definitely why Jesus says you can’t serve two masters.

Jamie:                  
That’s correct. Especially when you’re teaching children. If you don’t know God’s Word and you’re not studying God’s Word, don’t teach children – don’t teach adults for that matter, but definitely don’t teach children.

Keith:                   
That’s another reason, and I know we said this in the first or second part of this study, if you don’t know, say, “I don’t know.” There’s no shame in saying that you have to look something up because you don’t want to cause somebody to stumble.

And I mean the issue here is you have two pictures. They could very well have that zeal of Phinehas—not saying go run people through with spears, but God Himself said that Phinehas was jealous with His jealousy (Numbers 25:10–13). You can dwell where Satan’s throne is. You can dwell where Satan dwells and hold fast to the name of Christ and not deny your faith even when people are getting killed (Revelation 2:13), or you can go the way of Balaam and go along to get along (Revelation 2:14; Numbers 31:16). I think there’s probably—and I’m definitely not welcoming terrible persecution—but when persecution sets in, those who have faith in Christ hold fast unto death, like we saw with Smyrna last week (Revelation 2:10), or they cut bait and fish. They either join the culture or go further into Christ. What he’s telling the church at Pergamum is that they have some folks playing with some stuff they don’t need to be playing with, telling them specifically to go back and test the Scriptures and see what happened to Balak and Balaam (Numbers 25:1–3; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11).

Jamie:                  
It didn’t work out so well. Specifically, what was going on during that time in Rome – to help make this understandable, is you’ve got – in order to join the guilds or unions like we were talking about in Smyrna, you would have the people in Rome and in Pergamum having to take a little pinch of incense and put it on the altar to affirm their loyalty to Caesar, the emperor. And that is spiritual fornication, obviously, because when you do that, you’re saying Caesar is lord. Then they would be able to have a job and things like that. So that’s what was specifically going on, but not only were they committing spiritual fornication, they were committing adultery, too. It says, “In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans” (v. 15), which we mentioned back in the letter to Ephesus was a group of people who believed in giving in to sensual pleasure, basically elevating what they want over anybody, anytime, whoever, whenever, type of thing – as long as it feels good to you, it’s good.

If it feels good, it’s good. That’s not the case because what feels good for 20-30 seconds is not always good for you. I think it’s pretty clear here that God has a design, God has a way, and specifically, God Himself – Jesus – is talking to these folks telling them that this is not they way He called them to be. Come to Him. Don’t go toward Balaam or Nicholas. Follow Him, not the world. You can’t serve both.

You start to notice a common thread here through these letters, and you’ll see it in the next one to Thyatira, is sexual immorality. Think about how this applies today with easy access to pornography. You know when I was coming up and computers first came out, we got one in our house, and I remember everybody at school saying you have to have a subscription to look at that type of stuff. They will talk about it. Now you just click on there and you can look at whatever you want. Pick your own category – whatever you like to see.

Keith:                   
At the time we are recording this, this is the week after Twitter, or X, decided to be a pro-porn platform, and the comment on that is, in the state of Mississippi as well in some other states in the United States, there’s been some legislature that was meant to make it more difficult for people to access porn so that people, especially in their formative years, aren’t building pathways in their brains looking at this stuff. Now, one of the big three social media platforms (out of the originals) is allowing people to be free to put porn on there. It is their right as American citizens – as part of their freedom of speech… but I guess the word from Jesus would be to those who have ears to hear would be to ask what rights do you have in Christ. It may be permitted by the government, but what honors Him? What glorifies Him?

This is the kind of crossroads they were at. It’s where we are right now.

Jamie:                  
That’s right, and there’s a lot more we could say on that. I guess we shall digress at this time.

Keith:                   
Because of the same opportunity that’s given to the church at Pergamum, if we’re going to talk about the things today, the same opportunity is offered to people today: repentance.

Jamie:                  
Exactly. That’s exactly what the next verse says. Repent! Man, if you’re addicted to sexual immorality type stuff, be it literally, physically, or just emotionally – whatever the case is, repent. Now does that mean that after you repent, you’ll never fall into that temptation again? No, it doesn’t. Then, you repent.

Keith:                   
What did John the Baptist tell the Pharisees? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:8)?

Jamie:                  
That’s right. It’s constant vigilance. That’s part of sanctification, becoming more like Christ. He tells them repent or else He will come to them quickly and fight against them with the sword of His mouth. Look again, fight against them with the sword of His mouth. We just read in Revelation 19 where basically He just speaks a word.

Keith:                   
The ESV says, “war against them.” That word is what we’re alluding to.

Jamie:                  
One word and they’re done. That’s how serious it is. Repent. Otherwise, if you don’t, this is what is going to happen. Jesus is going to come quickly and take them out. I mean, there’s no nice way to say that, but it’s exactly what He’s saying here. And if there’s ever been anything to fear, it would be Jesus with a sword out of His mouth.

Keith:                   
He’s very effective in His warfare.

Jamie:                  
He is. 100% accuracy. And that’s real warfare, not video game warfare. It’s real life.

Keith:                   
This isn’t figurative. We’ve been talking about not being able to serve two masters. What Jesus is telling them – and us – is that you’re either of His Kingdom or of the kingdom of the world. That doesn’t mean anyone is going to lose their salvation, but sometimes we have these warnings from God’s Word that show us that it takes more than saying some words or “making a decision” or an emotional response and not confessing Jesus as Lord. Jesus being Lord means endure unto death. It doesn’t mean sinless perfection. It does mean bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. This is where the church at Pergamum was. They were at a crossroads. They either keep heading toward the throne of Satan, the side he is dwelling on or change. We’ll see when we get to Revelation 19 and 20…I think the words of the hymn by Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”: “one little word will fell him”. When Jesus speaks – that is when He says it is finished, nothing can stay His sword.

Jamie:                  
That’s heavy. Heavy.

So, after this admonition, we get the universal admonition: Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. We asked at the beginning what the Spirit is saying to you now. Remember these letters are to us now as well as to these churches. Where are you at? Have we allowed stuff to come in that shouldn’t be there? Do we need to clean house, so to speak? And if you do, man, repent. Don’t be embarrassed of it. Don’t let your feelings of guilt hold you back. Repent.

Keith:                   
That’s right. There’s no condemnation on the other side of repentance, but only condemnation without it.

Jamie:                  
So then we get to our final promise to the one who conquers. Remember 1 John 5:4-5 there. The one who conquers being those who are saved.

He says He will give some of the hidden manna. What’s He talking about there? John 6:35 – Jesus declares Himself the Bread of Life. He gives salvation. He says He will also give the one who conquers a white stone with a new name inscribed on it that no one knows but the one who receives it. That’s cool. Now I’m going to tell you guys really quick that what the stone that has a new name that nobody knows. No, I’m not. It says nobody knows it. So again, if the Bible doesn’t give the answer, we’re probably not meant to know the answer.

Keith:                   
The one who receives it. I just think about the beautiful picture there of the new beginning, that clean slate – literally, in this case. And the God who saves is the God who adopts and the things that came before are done away with. He has borne the wrath we deserve. He bore our sin on the cross that we deserved. He adopts us and gives us a new name. We’re His.

Jamie:                  
Amen. And that white stone, I want to point out really quick. They used to hold the games in Pergamum back then, so win athletes would win, they would be given a white stone as part of the prize. That white stone was their admission ticket, so to speak, to the winner’s celebration after the games were over. So, you know, whether that is what Jesus is what Jesus is referencing here or not – I don’t know. Historically speaking, it’s possible. I just want to point out how cool it is. If you think about this, put together, if He’s giving us a white stone with a new name that no one knows but the one who receives it, that’s our admission ticket – our ticket to get into eternity with Him. He gives us salvation. He gives us eternal life with Him. He’s going to adopt us in like you said – as His children, as co-heirs with Christ. That is awesome. That is good news. And I like ending on good news because this letter did not have a whole lot of good news in it except in the end when Jesus told them that despite all the bad, they could repent and spend eternity with Him. That. Is. Good. News.

Keith:                   
Amen.

Well, we will continue this next time with the letter to the church at Thyatira. I hope that this has been fruitful for you and given you more than food for thought. Again, just to reiterate, admonitions are painful and uncomfortable, but the admonition to repent, just as Jamie said, is good news. Dear Sojourner, we leave you. Have a good week and God bless!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 2:12–17.

[2] Jamie – unless he states otherwise – uses the Christian Standard Bible (copyright © 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers).

Holy Saturday | “Waiting in the Dark”

Lamentations 3:21-26 —

21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”

25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

The Original Context

Lamentations is a book of grief written in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction. It gives voice to the sorrow of a people who had lost everything – temple, city, freedom. 

Lamentations 3 is a turning point where there is a flicker of hope in the midst of lament. In the middle of darkness, the character of God shines forth: steadfast love, daily mercy, and great faithfulness.

These verses are not spoken from comfort but from ruin. They don’t deny suffering; they declare hope despite suffering, despite crying out in lament. Waiting quietly for the Lord’s salvation was not easy, but it was the only way forward.

Fulfillment in Jesus

Holy Saturday represents the in between. Jesus’s body lay in the tomb. His disciples were scattered and silent. The heavens were quiet. From the outside, it looked like all hope had been buried.

But even in silence – in the in between, God was faithful. Jesus had already promised that after three days He would rise (Mark 8:31). Even when the world couldn’t see it, God’s mercies were not on pause. His redemptive plan was still unfolding.

Holy Saturday reminds us that waiting is part of redemption. Jesus entered the grave, but He wouldn’t stay there. Sunday was coming.

Hope for Today

Many of us live in “Saturday” seasons – waiting for prayers to be answered, healing to come, or joy to return. The silence of God – the in between – can feel unbearable. But Lamentations gives us a word for these moments. God’s mercies never end. His faithfulness is great. And even when we wait in the dark, we wait with hope. 

So today, rest in the character of God. Remember His past faithfulness. Trust in His promises. Wait quietly – not because you see the answer yet but because you know and trust that Jesus will bring it. 

Sunday is coming.

The tomb is not the end.

And even in the waiting God is at work.

Good Friday | “Pierced for Our Transgressions”

Isaiah 53:3-6 —

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

The Original Context

Isaiah 53 is one of the clearest prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming of a Suffering Servant – One who would be rejected, bear sorrow, and ultimately carry the guilt of others. Verses 3-6 portray this Servant as misunderstood and mistreated. The people saw His suffering and assumed it was punishment from God for His own sins, but Isaiah pulls back the curtain: the Servant wasn’t suffering for His own wrongs – He was bearing the griefs, sorrows, transgressions, and iniquities of others. 

This wasn’t punishment for failure. It was substitution. God laid the guilt of His people on this Servant. He was pierced, crushed, chastised – not because of what He had done but because of what we have done. It’s the language of atonement. It is one life being laid down to bring peace and healing to many.

Fulfillment in Jesus

Jesus is the Suffering Servant who Isaiah foretold. He was despised and rejected by His own people. He wept over the unbelief in Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), was betrayed by a friend (Luke 22:47-48), and was abandoned by His disciples (Matthew 26:56). He was beaten, mocked, and crucified – pierced by nails and crushed under the weight of humanity’s sin and the wrath of God against that sin.

But this was neither accidental nor tragic. Jesus didn’t die a victim of injustice but as a willing substitute, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). It was the purpose for which He came: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). At the cross, Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Our rebellion against God became His burden. The punishment that brought us peace was laid upon Him. And by His wounds, we are healed – not just physically or emotionally, but spiritually and eternally.

Hope for Today

Good Friday is not a tragedy – it is a triumph through sacrifice.

Good Friday reminds us that salvation isn’t something we earn but something we receive. The weight of our guilt was laid on Jesus. Our wandering hearts find a home in Him who died that we may live.

We are all like sheep – wayward, distracted, self-reliant (or trying to be), but the Shepherd became the Lamb and was led to the slaughter for our sake. If today feels heavy, let it. The cross was no small thing. But don’t stop at sorrow – look through it to see the love of God on full display.

If you have ever felt too sinful to be forgiven, too broken to be loved, or too far gone to be reached – Isaiah 53 is for you. Your sin is not too much for the Savior. The Servant of Isaiah 53 – Jesus Christ – came for sinners just like me and you. 

You are not alone in your brokenness and sin. You are not stuck in your guilt. You are not without hope. Jesus was pierced for you. And those who put their faith in Him are forgiven, healed, and brought near.

So come and behold the Lamb – despised and rejected yet full of mercy and grace. Let your heart rest in the peace He purchased with His blood.

Come to the cross.

Let your heart be pierced by His mercy.

Marvel that God would do this for you.

And remember: while Good Friday ended in death, it opened the door to life because Sunday’s coming!

Holy Tuesday | “A House of Prayer for All Nations”

Isaiah 56:6-8 —

6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
8 The Lord GOD,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”

The Original Context

Isaiah spoke these words to Israel during a time of spiritual renewal, casting a vision of God’s heart for the nations. In contrast to the idea that Israel alone was God’s chosen people, Isaiah announced that foreigners who loved and followed the Lord were welcomed into His house.

This radical promise highlighted something about God’s covenant: His salvation was never meant for Israel alone because God was gathering worshipers from every tribe and tongue to find joy and belonging in His presence. His temple was never meant to be a barrier but a beacon. 

Fulfillment in Jesus

When Jesus entered the temple in the final week of His life, He saw that its courts – meant for Gentile worshipers – had been turned into a marketplace. In righteous anger, He drove out the merchants and quoted Isaiah 56:7 in Matthew 21:13:

“My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers.”

Jesus was restoring the temple to its true purpose. And ultimately, He became the new and better temple (John 2:19-21). In Him, all who trust and follow God, all who confess Him as Lord and believe in their hearts He is risen from the dead – regardless of background or nationality – are brought near (Romans 10:9-13, Ephesians 2:11-22). 

Hope for Today

Jesus is still gathering outcasts. He is still welcoming foreigners. He is still saving sinners. And He is still building a house of prayer for all peoples.

If you’ve ever felt like an outsider – too far off, too broken, too different, too sinful, too shameful – know this: there is room for you in God’s house. The joy of His presence is not reserved for some select few who have it all together or who have the right genealogy, but offered to all who come to Him through Christ.

This Holy Week, let your prayers rise in confidence and hope. Jesus has not merely opened a way for people to come to Him, He IS the Way (John 14:6), and He prepares a place for Him in His Father’s house for all He saves (John 14:2-3). If He has saved you, you belong there; you are home with Him. And through Him, your worship is welcomed with joy. 

Songs for Sunday, April 6, 2025 @ Christ Community Church

Sunday’s coming — the LORD’s day, and I’m excited!

Every Sunday is a celebration of the goodness and grace of God, reminding us that He not only died for us but that He raised from the dead and LIVES for us! This Sunday at Christ community, we are going to sing about His goodness and grace and remember His mercy and how He saves.

In Titus 3:4-5a, Paul gives us one of the clearest, richest summaries of the gospel:

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy….”

Let’s break that down and take it to heart:

“But….”

This is a very important conjunction. It takes everything before, cancelling it in favor of what comes after. In the context of Titus 3, what came before is what we once were: “once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing out days in envy, hated by others and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). BUT Jesus cancels that out in favor of His salvation.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared….”

Paul is reminding us that salvation starts with GOD — not with us, not with our efforts or any righteousness of our own. The word “appeared” points us directly to Jesus’s first coming — God in flesh. He didn’t send a proxy or representative. He didn’t send salvation. God showed up Himself.

Jesus is the visible expression of God’s goodness and loving kindness, because He Himself is God being good and loving. He didn’t wait for us to climb up to Him (which we can’t do — remember, not with our efforts); He came down to us. His goodness and light broke into our sin and darkness.

“…He saved us….”

These three words change everything. God didn’t tell us what we could be doing better. He didn’t merely advise or improve us — He SAVED us. That speaks of our reality and need. we were lost, helpless, and dead in our sin, but HE acted. He rescued. He redeemed. These three words are a beautiful reminder that salvation is not self-help but divine deliverance!

“…not because of works done by us in righteousness….”

This part humbles us. There is no room for pride or patting oneself on the back in the gospel. We can’t earn our salvation by cleaning up our act or doing good deeds. There are no scales that we can balance by heaping service and good deeds; in fact, if there is a scale, our sin has it solidly weighted down unless Jesus acts upon the other side. We can’t impress God into loving us. All our best works can’t bridge the gap between our sin and His holy, holy, holiness.

“…BUT according to His own mercy….”

There’s another “but” here. It takes the false hope of our own righteousness and cancels it out with the hope of God’s own mercy. This gets at the heart of the gospel: God saved us because He is merciful. That’s who He is. Mercy means that He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Instead, He pours out grace through Jesus — grace that cleanses, restores, and makes us new.

That’s good news!

And that good news — that gospel — no, “our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” is who we are going to read, sing, and preach about this Sunday. We’re going to sing of His mercy.

Songs like “Holy Water” and “Washed Clean” will remind us that Jesus’s grace is what refreshes our hearts and keeps us coming back to Him in gratitude and worship. Then, we’ll read Philippians 2:5-11 and lift our eyes to Jesus, declaring His beautiful and powerful name — the name that is above every other. We’ll sing “Your Great Name” and “What a Beautiful Name” as a response to the Savior who stooped low to save us and is now exalted on high at the right hand of the Father.

If you have been saved by Jesus in His mercy, come ready to rejoice!

And if you haven’t yet trusted in Jesus, know this: His goodness and loving kindness have appeared. He is still saving. He is still merciful. Come lay your burdens on Him. Come and receive the mercy that never runs dry. Come to Him.

Won’t you join us?

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing and regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Songs for Sunday, March 16, 2025 @ Christ Community Church

Sunday’s coming, and I’m excited!

Every Sunday, we gather to worship Jesus — the One who has rescued us from darkness and brought us into His glorious Kingdom. We sing to Him and about Him because He alone is worthy!

Colossians 1:13-14 declare this good news:

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This is the heart of our worship. We don’t sing to check a box or go through religious motions. We sing because Jesus has saved us! He is the One who gave His life to redeem us, the One who forgives our sins, and the One who rules over all things (Colossians 1:15-20).

This Sunday at Christ Community, the substance of our songs and the sermon John preaches will proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord, the only hope for the world.

And YOU are INVITED to gather with us!

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

  • Scripture | Colossians 1:13-20 —

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

  • Scripture | Colossians 2:13-15 —

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

“Jesus & His Church: Context for the Letters to the Churches” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

We’re continuing in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming. Today, we will be diving into the context of Jesus’s letters to the seven churches (and to us). Once again, I am thankful for Jamie Harrison and the opportunity to do this study together. This weeks passage is Revelation 1:9-20:

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.[1]

Keith Harris:      
Greetings, Sojourners,
We’re about to dive into the meat of the book of Revelation, looking here at the background. The cool thing about this, Jamie, that I like is there are places in Revelation that you have wonder Does this symbolize something? or Is this ___?, but if you look at this in a Bible with red letters for the words of Jesus, you notice that in this section Jesus Himself explains what elements like the lamp stands and stars are – He tells us here what they symbolize so we don’t have to wonder.

That’s good news for us because Jesus gave these letters to specific churches – and they even may apply to us today.

Jamie, take it away!

Jamie Harrison:
Alright. Last week, I did say at one point that we were about to pray, and I never did. So I apologize for that and want to start with prayer before we jump in:

Lord, thank You. Thank You for being our Father. Thank You for loving us. We just give You praise. We give You honor. And, Lord, we pray that You would open Your Word to us as we read today and discuss. We pray that it would be only truth that comes out, not conjecture. God, I pray that if anybody is listening and they don’t know You that through Your Word and Your Word only they would come to know You. Lord, we just thank You and give You praise. In Jesus’s name, Amen.     

So, let’s start in v. 9. We won’t really discuss v. 9 too terribly much; I just think it’s interesting that v. 9 is one of several verses in the Bible that show that the prosperity gospel[2] is incorrect. It says,[3] “I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, Kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus…” and then goes on to explain where he (John) is because of the “testimony” of Christ. That he’s on an island, and he’s doing backbreaking work everyday.

Keith:                   
…exiled, imprisoned….  

Jamie:                  
…completely. And an island meaning it’s surrounded by water so there’s nowhere to go except death. He’s there because of this testimony.

I just want to point out, y’all, that if you’re listening to people preach or whatever, and they’re telling you that if you’re not doing this and you’re not doing that you must not be right with God [regarding your health or your financial status or how prosperous you are on earth]…know that’s dumb.     

Keith:
Right. This is John, the gospel writer, the disciple whom Jesus loved. You would think that if there is a prosperity track, he’d be on it. But considering how this is so different, like you said, from the prosperity gospel, how he is in this place that no one would sanely want to be in and he received this treasure, these visions. It’s such a cool thing.      

Jamie:
That’s how it starts there. And then it goes into (v. 10) “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet….” And I do think that’s cool. Again, I won’t spend a whole lot of time [on trumpets right now], we will moving forward…, but trumpets were used back in the Old Testament for like a warning, a call to war, and things like that, right?

Keith:                   
And heralds.      

Jamie:                  
So, this is like a voice saying, hey, you better listen up.    

Keith:                   
It obviously got his attention.

Jamie:                  
Right. So, here, Jesus gets his attention telling him to write down what he sees and send it to the seven churches, specifically naming them. The seven churches, you know, people try to make some kind of symbolic thing about them being seven of them and this and that, but this really is a logistical thing. These cities were not too terribly far apart. They were all along kind of the main routes where people would travel.

The churches at that time, I guess you could say that they were really the center point of the dissemination of information. Information kind of went from these hubs out to the rest of the world.                

Keith:                   
And you know Laodicea was a sister church of Colossae, and so on.          

Jamie:                  
Right, right. Notice when it says when John looks (in v. 12). This is one of those things – “Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me” – that reminds us that the timeline of Revelation is what John saw next. He hears the voice, turns, and sees (vv. 12-13) “seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man”. Then he goes on to give a description.

At first you look at it and think, well, there’s seven lampstands; what in the world are those seven lampstands? Again, it’s like Keith said earlier, it’s really cool because the Bible always is going to confirm what the Bible says. It’s going to give us the answer if we’re meant to know the answer. 

Keith:                   
If we are meant to know.             

Jamie:                  
That’s correct. And right there in v. 20 of Revelation 1, the second half there, it says, “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” So, literally, when he turned, what he was the seven churches – the seven golden lampstands. And then he sees Jesus. He’s dressed in a robe with a golden sash….

Keith:                   
That’s the part that really hits me. In this, as Jesus is walking in the midst of them…. We know that Adam and Eve had a very special thing that was squandered there in the garden where God came and walked in the garden with them in the cool of the day, but when Jesus before His ascension says, “and, lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), He is in the midst of His churches – in the midst of the presence of His bride here on earth.

                               
It kind of makes me think He’s disseminating information, like you say, but He had something specific to say to these churches. It’s to us all generically, but to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to all those specifically, He had a word that He wanted those churches, those local congregations to hear.

Jamie:                  
That’s right. And that being said, I think it begs the question: is Jesus walking through our churches today? I think that’s something to think about. If he’s not the center of the body, then we’ve stepped wrong somewhere.        

Keith:                   
Well, that question kind of builds into: is your church His – or yours?       

Jamie:                  
Yeah, that’s tough.

I saw a clip of a guy preaching the other day, and he said [to his congregation] that he had asked them for a watch a year ago and that they hadn’t bought him that watch yet. He asked why they were still broke and poor and busted – busted, that’s his word, what he said. That’s false gospel and has nothing to do with the Bible. That has nothing to do with anything. It’s supposed to all be about Jesus, and He isn’t at the center, then we really got to do something different.               

Keith:                   
That’s got me thinking about the way that some of these foolish false preachers – the way they talk to their church. That’s not how Jesus talks to His Bride. We’re going to get into these letters and see some tough stuff that He says to them – and thereby us – but, man, it’s for a purpose.

The guy you spoke of called them broke, busted, ignorant, all these things. Jesus – He says to the church at Laodicea (in Revelation 3:17) that they thought they were rich, that they thought they were prospering. He tells them they aren’t looking for Him and that they’re really wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Jesus isn’t trying to bust them down and get a namebrand watch – not trying to get rich off them. The church is rich because of Christ. Or it’s poor and bankrupt without Him.             

Jamie:                  
Amen.

So, let’s jump into the description of Christ here. It says He’s dressed in a robe with a golden sash around His chest – that’s kind of like a high priest, or someone with authority. Jesus is the high priest. So, that’s the idea there.

And then, his hair (v. 14) – the hair of his head was as white as wool, white as snow. His eyes like a fiery flame. That’s a little scary, almost. I mean we know the white represents purity, holiness, wisdom, all these things. But that flame of fire, you know, His eyes like a fiery flame, that one should kind of set us down a little bit – the omniscience of God, He’s all knowing, all seeing. Hebrews 4:13 would be a good verse to look at.

But think about it like this when it talks about these eyes like a fiery flame. What we’re seeing is…. Picture this person that you’ve come into contact with in life that just has the look. You know the parent look, the coach look that has….   

Keith:                   
…gravitas….       

Jamie:
That’s it. They just have this look, and it seems to literally reach into the depths of your soul and you feel like you’ve got to look away. You can’t look at them. Jesus’s look here is like that on steroids.                

Keith:                   
I read where a preach said that’s why you should wear a suit and tie. It gives gravitas. Jesus didn’t get His gravitas in this scene because of the sash around His chest or His hair. It’s who He is. It’s His presence.           

Jamie:                  
That’s it. And it is not only gazing into the depths of our soul, but think about it bigger picture: it’s this penetrating gaze into the depths of His church, which is us as individuals but joined together. I think it’s important to bring that out that He is looking at His bride. He is looking at His church like we were discussing earlier. And He’s looking and going, well, they’re doing really great in these areas…look at that endurance…and look at these people what they’re doing for Me…. Then, (as in the case of the letter to Ephesus) He’s like but you’ve lost your first love.

This gaze is extremely uncomfortable and should make us step back and rethink things and lead us to repentance.      

Keith:                   
That’s the thing: lead us to repentance. He’s not tearing them down. He’s not tearing them up. He’s building them up because His people will recant. His people will change and follow Him. If not, then you get the other things He promises….

Jamie:                  
Right, right – which is nothing good.

So, in v. 15: “His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, and His voice like the sound of cascading waters.” Just kind of think about that for a second – that fine bronze. The alter of burnt offering (in the tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament) are covered with bronze, and it’s this divine judgment idea. This divine judgment on the church.

And His voice like the sound of “cascading waters” – think about that for a second. Everybody knows what that sounds like. Like you’re at a waterfall or something and hear that water. Think about it from John’s perspective. He’s on an island. These waves are crashing into the rocks of the island. That’s kind of his background noise all day long. That’s the idea here. This is what it sounds like.

It says in v. 16 that “He had seven stars in His right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth, and His face was shining like the sun at full strength.” Which…let me back up and not get too far ahead of myself. So, we’re going to find out in just a minute that the “seven stars in His right hand” – He tells us in v. 20 – those are the angels of the seven churches, those are the pastors. The right hand of course is considered the hand of might, power, and strength.     

Keith:                   
The word “angel” there (in v. 20) means messenger (and can refer to people as well as heavenly beings – context helping you see the difference). So it’s not saying that these people who have been adopted into the family of God and charged by Him to care for a local congregation have been demoted to angelic beings. He’s saying that they are His messengers.

That’s something to consider, again, when asking whether Jesus is walking in the midst of your church. Is your pastor giving the information from the Word of God that Jesus – the Word of God – has give for His church, or is he giving some other message? That’s a tough question. 

Jamie:                  
It is. To hit on that for a minute, I know when I started preaching I thought I had to have all the right words and say all the right things to get people to come to know Christ – and almost like a play on emotions type of thing, you know? Set the mood just right. All that stuff, right? What I’ve learned as I’ve grown in Christ is, first off, I need to ask forgiveness from some people for some people for some of the stuff I said and did as a “young” preacher, but the fact is that the Word saves (Romans 10:17), you know? If we’re preaching and people aren’t hearing more from the Word than from us, we’ve got it backwards. The Word speaks for itself. The Word builds up.

Keith:                   
Which is the purpose of having pastors if you look at Ephesians 4.             

Jamie:                  
So, I just challenge you guys as you’re listening: surround yourself with people who are in the Word. Make sure you are in a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church. Not a manipulative thing.              

Keith:                   
And if you listen to this and you’re a pastor. I think that the way our lead pastor at Christ Community (John Goldwater) put it when we were talking a couple weeks ago is that if you win someone with an argument, you’ve got to keep them with an argument. You win somebody with emotion, you’ve got to keep them with emotion. But if you see someone won to Christ, then He will keep them.

So, when we see here that He’s got these stars, these pastors, who He’s got.

Jamie:                  
That’s it. So, after it tells us about the pastors (stars) being in His right hand, it says that this “double-edged sword” came from His mouth, which we will actually get to later in Revelation when we discuss the final battle. We have a few cross-references for it Ephesians 6:17 and Revelation 19:15. Check those out. But that sword is the Word of God in His judgement, and it’s going to be the Word of God…

Keith:                   
…Hebrews 4:12-13….

Jamie:                  
…and that is how He is going to pronounce His final judgment with that double-edged sword – with the Word – coming from His mouth. Again, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We’ll get there.

It says His face is shining like the sun at full strength. Now, we can’t even fathom this and imagine this because we can’t look into the sun for too long because we’ll go blind.  

Keith:                   
Let us clarify. Disclaimer: don’t look into the sun.              

Jamie:                  
That is correct. Please don’t try it. I tried when I was younger. That’s probably why I squint when I look at things now. Or it just could be that I’m getting old – not as old as Keith, but I am getting old. He is definitely older than I am.

So, looking into His face there, shining like the sun at full strength. Think about this magnificent glory of God – this magnificent brilliance and radiance that’s so glorious it can’t be concealed. It’s shining like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Think Matthew 17:1-13 at [Jesus’s] Transfiguration and what they saw, but this is that on…I don’t even know, right?   

Keith:                   
In person. In it’s fullness.             

Jamie:                  
I always go back to Moses in Exodus 34:29-35 where, you know, he sees the glory of God. But he only sees Him from His back. After seeing Him, though, [Moses’s] face is so bright the Israelites make him put a veil over his face because they can’t handle [the brightness of Moses’s face after his even glimpsing God]. We can’t look on the glory of God. It would kill us. It would legitimately kill us. We can’t handle that.            

Keith:                   
And so to this extent, the Moses example is the moon. Jesus here in Revelation 1 shows the real source of the light on his face. Jesus is light.

Jamie:                  
And we say all that to say this: when you’re looking at somebody like this – which again we can’t fathom – the One who is about to speak has 100% authority. We know that it’s Jesus who is about to speak. When John sees Him, his immediate reaction is to fall at His feet like a dead man.

Keith:                   
This is different when you see people in the Bible encounter angels. They cower in fear, but John just fell as if dead. His entire living faculties fail him.

Jamie:                  
I think it’s the expression. When we look at, you know, our wife or I’m going to specify here: if you’re a husband looking at your wife or a wife looking at your husband. When you say, oh, they took my breath away. [Seeing Jesus like this] took his breath.       

Keith:                   
All of it. Here’s the deal, too, though. John knows Him, right? So, the husband/wife analogy is so much clearer because this isn’t John seeing some amazing creature and being afraid. He’s looking face-to-face at Him who died and said “behold, I am alive forevermore” (v. 18). This is a huge deal, especially for John late in his life, outliving most, if not all, the apostles, and now he sees his friend. He sees his Lord. That’s huge.           

Jamie:                  
That’s exactly it. Jesus looks at John and is like, hey, don’t be afraid; I’m the first and the last, the living One.

Check out Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, 48:12, but again, some of these things it’s hard to even talk about. The first, the last, the living One. The last time a lot of people that were around and saw Jesus, He was dying on a cross. Not everybody saw Him after He was resurrected.   

Keith:                   
Many did, but not all.    

Jamie:                  
So, He’s declaring Himself [as] the living One. I was dead, but look, I’m alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and Hades. You could have a whole conversation on [these keys]; if anyone ever tells you they have [these keys or any like them], they’re a liar. Jesus has the keys to death and Hades. Jesus has the keys to the house of David (which we’re going to see later on in Revelation).            

Keith:                   
If anyone claims to have something that belongs to Jesus only they are not one of the stars (pastors) of the church. They’re definitely false teachers. They’re wolves who are in sheep’s clothing, trying to look like a pastor but leading to the devil whose goal it is to steal and kill and destroy. So, in the context of this conversation [and looking at the description of who Jesus is and the power He alone claims], any who claim what Jesus alone has is dangerous. They are of their father, the devil, and are a liar like him. They are not to be trusted. They are to be avoided at all costs.

That’s a tough statement to make because when you have conversations like this, people want to say, well, you can’t judge. Well, you judge not lest you be judged. Jesus Himself said they are ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. The devil is prowling like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour, who he can destroy…. You want to avoid what Jesus says avoid, what the Bible says avoid.      

Jamie:                  
You’re supposed to test the spirit by the Spirit. I think that’s where a lot of people – like the video I mentioned a little while ago, the pastor was saying y’all want to buy me a watch. The really disturbing thing about this video – and the dude points it out – there’re people in the background going, “Amen”, “Come on”, “Preach it”, like…get out. If you’re saying “Amen” to that, the spirit that is within you is not the spirit of God, it’s the spirit of man. And that’s what Keith’s saying: we are supposed to test the spirit by the Spirit; we are supposed to look at the fruit that’s coming off the tree.

Look, if somebody’s supposed to be your spiritual leader…. So many are supposedly spiritual leaders who are beating their spouse and doing crazy stuff – like, how can you lead me if you’re not following Christ yourself? The Bible specifically tells us that’s how it’s supposed to be.

I know we were going to go through (and it was actually my idea to try to get through) the letter to Ephesus, but we’re probably at a good place to stop in just a second.

Keith:                   
I think we are at a good place to stop. And not because we don’t want to get to the letter to Ephesus, but because there’s a reason this part of Revelation 1 is here. It’s not just exposition to help you understand the rest of it. It’s part of the revelation – part of understanding whose the churches are, whose the pastors are – or whose they aren’t.   

Jamie:                  
A good place to end this today is going to be those last three verses [in Revelation 1]. Where we’re starting at the end of v. 17 where Jesus says,

“Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look – I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. Therefore write what you have seen, what is, and what will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

We’ve discussed that already, but I want to go back to the way Jesus describes Himself: “I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look – I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Philippians 2:9-11 say:

“For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”   

I really want to press this home. This whole revelation is about Jesus Christ. This whole revelation is supposed to make us look towards Jesus Christ, and if it makes you look anywhere else, then we’ve got to start over from the beginning. Jesus’s name is the name that is above every name. It is the name. And at His name every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.

Watch this, now, this is important; we’re going to go to Romans 10:9-13. This is our favorite verse at Christ Community. We make sure we say it every time that we’re gathered together. People often ask and say that they’d like to have a relationship with Christ – how does that happen? Romans 10:9-13 tells us how:

“If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame,, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Now, let’s put all this together from what we just read in Revelation where Jesus says He’s the first and the last, the living One. In other words, He’s saying I was dead but I’ve come back to life now. That’s the key to salvation. If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead – without this there is no Christianity. Without the resurrection it’s pointless – a waste of our time.

Here’s what I want to point out to everybody listening, ok? Whether you want to or not, at some point in your life, you are going to confess that Jesus is Lord. You are going to confess that He was raised from the dead and He’s alive forevermore.

Keith:                   
…because you are going to be faced with Him – irrefutable face-to-face evidence              

Jamie:                  
That’s exactly right. And that’s what Philippians 2 tells us. It doesn’t say every believer will confess. It says everyone. Everyone.

Keith:                   
…on the earth and under it….

Jamie:                  
And that’s everybody who is, who was, and who ever will be. So, I challenge you to look at these verses, Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord – which means giving everything over to Him, trusting in Him completely to lead, guide, and direct you in the right way. To say that you’re going to trust Him with every little thing that’s going on in your life. And that you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. That’s how to be saved.

Keith:                   
That’s the faith we talked about – that trust.

Jamie:                  
That’s it. And, honestly, it’s one of two choices. You can say it because you want to or….

Keith:                   
…because you have to and it’s out of subjection that the King has come.

Jamie:                  
And He is coming.

Keith:                   
I think that’s a good place to stop. I urge you to check out…the Scripture references for yourself, and as we prepare to look at these letters to the churches over the next few weeks, be prepared to examine your own heart – not to be critical but to be biblical.

And we’ll catch you with the letter to the church at Ephesus next week! Thank you and God bless!

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 1:9–20.

[2] A religious belief that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for faithful Christians

[3] Jamie – unless he states otherwise – uses the Christian Standard Bible (copyright © 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers).

“Preparing for the Coming King” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

Greetings, Sojourners, and welcome to this week’s Refresh & Restore Bible study!

We’re kicking off a new study today through the book of Revelation, but it’s not going to be a typical study of the book of Revelation. I’ll be going through it conversationally with Jamie Harrison, and we’re calling it The KING is Coming.

Today, we’ll be opening with Revelation 1:1-8 to introduce and open the study:

1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

4John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”[1]

Keith Harris:
Jamie Harrison is with us, and he’s going to talk to us about the book of Revelation. We will be doing this, as I said earlier, conversationally. I am as curious as any to see how this is going to go.

Jamie Harrison:
Same here.       

Keith:
So, Revelation – The KING is Coming….   

Jamie:
Revelation. I love the fact that you say Revelation and not RevelationS. That’s a common misconception with the book of RevelatioN. If you look, and I’m pretty sure any translation of the Bible, it’ll say Revelation is singular.

I love the way John MacArthur puts it in his Revelation Bible study. He says,

“Revelation depicts Jesus as the risen, glorified Son of God, ministering among the churches as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of Earth as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, as the first and the last, as the Son of Man, as the one who was dead but now is alive forevermore, as the Son of God, as the One who is holy and true, as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, as the Lamb in heaven with authority to open the title deed to the earth, as the Lamb on the throne, as the Messiah who will reign forever, as the Word of God, as the majestic King of kings and Lord of lords, returning in glorious splendor to conquer His foes, and as the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star.”[2]

What does all that mean? That the Revelation is Jesus.

I think it’s important to start off with the fact that the book of Revelation is oftentimes misunderstood as a book of something we’re supposed to guess about and put together conjecture….     

Keith:
…a code to break….        

Jamie:
That’s right. And draw pictures of what this might be and what that might be.

The book of Revelation is about Jesus. The whole Bible builds up to this book, right?

Keith:
Which is why it’s last in the canon[3] – because it’s supposed to be.            

Jamie:
That’s correct!

A couple of things before we get started, just so everyone knows what we’re not doing in this study. We’re not speculating about whether Jesus might come back on this day or on that day. We’re not debating on which theory is right or wrong. We’re not getting into the whole pre-, mid-, post-trib thing – anything like that; we’re going to present those as common approaches as to when Jesus is going to come.

Keith:
Acknowledge them, but if I remember when we first talked about this, the goal was a verse-by-verse study of the book of Revelation, like one studies the other sixty-five books of the Bible.

Jamie:
That’s correct. I think that’s it.

I think the best approach to the book of Revelation, because so many people that listen to this and so many of the conversations I’ve had with people over the years we’ve been doing this study at our church – if you have pre-conceived notions of anything in the book of Revelation, I genuinely pray that you approach it with the Holy Spirit as our teacher (John 14:26). We must have total dependence on Him. Total. Dependence. On Him.            

Keith:
I think this is a good time to reference that as we do these Bible studies, as we seek to be refreshed and restored – not just in the Revelation study but in all of them, this is not self-help; it’s not a magic pill or some sort of sorcery or incantation. The Holy Spirit is your teacher if you have faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation comes by grace through faith in Him alone. If He has saved you, He is your teacher.

If not, we invite you to confess Him as Lord, to believe in your heart that He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day, and that by putting your faith in Him by asking – calling out – to Him, trusting that He will save you (Romans 10:9-13, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

If that’s the case, the book of Revelation will be good news. If it’s not the case, there will be several places in this study that will not be good news.              

Jamie:
That’s correct. One of the things that has kept coming up in our Bible study at church is that, man, it seems Revelation is full of bad news all the way through, but then, all of a sudden, you know, if you really pay attention every time something “bad” is given, it is followed up by something that’s awesome!          

Keith:
The King IS coming! That’s what all the “bad” is going to culminate in – the most awesome.

Jamie:
And He’s coming whether you want Him to or not.

The last thing before we get into it is to talk about the timeline of Revelation real quick, just because a lot of times when you read Revelation, you automatically think: OK, well, we’re reading this in order – you know this happens, then this happens. But the fact is, the timeline of Revelation is what John saw next.

A couple of examples of that is in ch. 1:12 (CSB)[4], it says,

“Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands….”

So that’s what he saw when he turned. It doesn’t mean it was in order (chronologically) of what he just said. Chapter 4:1, another good example:

“After this I looked….”

So, after what he had just talked about – after he had received the letters to the churches, he looked and there in heaven was an open door. It doesn’t mean that he received the letters and, then, that’s what happened next. This is what he saw next.

Keith:
A timeline for us to plan this all out isn’t part of the goal.

Going back to what you said earlier, the goal is for us to see Jesus Christ revealed – as He revealed this to John.  

Jamie:
That’s it. That’s correct. Just don’t get caught up trying to figure out when Jesus is coming. The fact is…we don’t know. And if anyone tells you different, they’re a liar – a false prophet.             

Keith:
Because Jesus says it cannot be known (Matthew 24:36).              

Jamie:
That’s right. The only inclination we’re given is in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 where we’re told that believers will be able to tell that the tribulation is happening. They will understand it by things that are going on because they’ve read the Bible and they’re filled with the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t mean they’ll know when Jesus is coming. That just means they’ll understand the times that are going on.               

Keith:
When you look at a lot of the people who are trying to narrow it down to a date – that’s often for their own glory. You think of Harold Camping who had one date, then other date, and then kind of just goes into relative obscurity because he didn’t get (it right) or the glory he was looking for. It’s about the coming of Jesus, not the one who can pinpoint the date. It’s about Him, not setting up some fruitful and enriching – monetary or otherwise – eschatology[5] ministry for people who are afraid to kind of twist them or turn them whichever way (2 Timothy 3:6-7, Romans 16:17-18, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Jude 4, Ephesians 4:14).         

Jamie:
That’s right.

Now, with all of that being said, let’s jump into it.            

Keith:
Sounds good.    

Jamie:
So, we started in v. 1. And this is to just reiterate how we started, it says:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His servants what must soon take place.”

According to v. 1 – let me see how to phrase this – the Bible gives all the answers, right? If you can’t find the answers in the Bible, then the answer is “I don’t know”. 

Keith:
Right, and that’s a very good answer because it’s always better – and especially if people ask you, dear Sojourners, something that you don’t know, it’s better to tell them that you don’t know and that you’re willing to seek it out in Scripture than to make something up. (Making up answers) has never served Christ well or built up His Church. So, Jamie and I are fans of “I don’t know”.     

Jamie:
Yes, big fan. Those are three of my favorite words actually.

So, v. 1 gives us the answer to this revelation is an unveiling of. Revelation is an unveiling, a revealing, of all these things we are about to read about. There was what these people looked like and these animals look like and all these things – what in the world is that? None of that, in the end, matters. What matters is the unveiling – the revealing – of the revelation of Jesus Christ. We’re given that answer right here at the beginning.

The next thing we find here is the chain of communication. We’re told how it was made known to the rest of us. There in v. 1 it says He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John. Who sent it to the angel? God did. So, God sent the revelation to the angel, the angel gave the revelation to John, and John gave the revelation to us.             

Keith:
To the seven churches and then to the rest of us through John.

Jamie:
That is also an important thing to look at because people will say that this was just a man writing this book. Who is he? Why should we believe what he says? We’re told right from the beginning that this revelation comes from the mouth of God, as does all Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21).              

Keith:
That’s the argument that people commonly want to make. Oh, a man wrote this. Part of the Holy Spirit being our teacher if we are saved is believing that the Bible doesn’t contain God’s Words, it is God’s Word that He breathed out through these people who wrote it down, and He is faithful.               

Jamie:
Amen.

Off of that, who is this revelation for? This is written to seven specific churches. Is it for them, us – who is it for? Again, the Bible gives us the answer. Look at v. 3:

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.”

Again, the Bible gives us the answer. Who is this for? It is for those who read it aloud, those who hear the words of the prophecy and those who keep what is written in it.

That’s who it’s for: everybody. If you read it – if you keep it, it’s for you.

Keith:
And, I do think it’s important to clarify since there are so many – you can almost throw a rock in some towns and hit a church that’s “preaching” through Revelation – but so much of it is about their theories and conjectures. It needs to be important that, even and especially with our words, our commentary, our discussion of this, that it’s the words from the Bible that hold the power, that hold the weight.

And you don’t hear that in some of these eschatology, end-time studies. They are promoting their view.  

Jamie:
That’s such a big word you used there. What does eschatology mean?    

Keith:
Eschatology is the study of the end times – of what is to come.   

Jamie: [joking]
That’s for us simple-minded people.       

Keith:
I’ve seen over the last few weeks on social media – ads of various big-name, popular preachers – where you can get their fold-out guide to the apocalypse or you can get their timeline where they lay it out and say “This is the only way….” It’s free, but you click on the link and you’re selling a lot of stuff. Jesus’s revelation was freely given – good news and bad news – for the churches, for us to take heed of.      

Jamie:
So, we’re not selling this Bible study?     

Keith:
No, this is not a money-making venture. That has not been my experience.              

Jamie:
Apologies, I thought we were going to get rich quick.      

Keith:
No. In fact, I was hoping some money would fall out of your pocket while we were recording – that was my only chance.         

Jamie:
Coincidentally, I left my wallet in the truck.         

Keith:
So, we digress…back to the revelation.   

Jamie:
Here in vv. 4-6 we get to a description of the Trinity. It says,

“John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the One who is, Who was, and Who is to come, from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father – to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

So, you get this really awesome description of the Trinity here, the One who is, was, and is to come. Obviously referring to God the Father from the seven spirits before His throne, referring to the Holy Spirit. That seven number there, Keith, I don’t know I you want to hit on it or just for our purposes say seven means (represents) fullness?

Keith:
Right. Completion.          

Jamie:
That’s right. That’s the idea there. And then, finally, from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. I do think that’s important to talk about real quick. Faithful witness, meaning that if he says it you can take it to the bank. Everything Jesus has ever said – when He was here on earth or things that He’s revealed through His Spirit – has been accurate, has been true. And not only that, He’s a faithful witness because He was there from the beginning.    

Keith:
I think that’s very important to say because, a lot of the time we see the word “witness” in the New Testament, it’s the Greek word from which we get our word “martyr”. He was faithful with His life from before the foundation of the world all the way to His incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension, and always will be because he’s an eternally faithful witness because He was and is and is to come.   

Jamie:
That’s right. John 1 speaks to that. It says in John 1:14:

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed His glory, the glory as of the One and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

So, the Word became flesh. Ok, now watch this. John 1:1:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

He was with God in the beginning, so John 1:14 tells us the Word became flesh – obviously referring to Jesus – He was there from the beginning. When creation happened, Jesus was there. And don’t get that confused. He wasn’t somebody randomly created along the way.

Keith:
He is God because He wasn’t created.

And don’t expect a explanation of the Trinity here because, well, let’s be honest. If someone could fully explain all of who God is then somebody made Him up. I think it’s C.S. Lewis – what’s that book we read? Mere Christianity. He said the way the Bible presents things is just odd enough that man couldn’t have made it up.[6] It’s so different – and in some places unexplainable that dome dude didn’t think of it. That’s good news!          

Jamie:
It is. Amen.

The other part here, of vv. 5-6, that I want to point out is you get this spontaneity of praise that happens. It’s just this seemingly random, you know, we’re getting a description here when all of a sudden he goes into this praise moment where he’s like “the faithful witness, the first born of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth”. Think about that for a second. “To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood”. This moment of praise for salvation for being made into a kingdom and priests to God – “glory and dominion forever and ever”. Amen. What I want to point out about this is when we’re going through our everyday life – when we’re going to work, when you’re dealing with whatever, all the issues, all the problems, whatever, we should have moments every day where we stop and for whatever reason it just hits us and we stop and say thank you to Him. Now, I’m not saying you’re in the middle of Walmart and you all of a sudden start shouting and running the aisles and doing all that. That would be glorifying yourself not the Lord.          

Keith:
Attention to you rather than Him.           

Jamie:
That’s right. What I’m talking about is a moment where you just sit back and you go, “Thank you, Lord, for saving me. Thank you for choosing me. Out of all the people in the world, you chose me.”         

Keith:
And those won’t be moments where you’ve done something great. I know when they come in my life that it’s done that is boneheadedly stupid – sin that I know better than to commit, or that I willingly committed knowing full well it was sin, and then it hitting me, the impact that He has freed us from our sins by His blood that…. Was it Romans 5:8?

“…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It’s that realization that I can’t believe He would want to love me. It’s just such a…. It’s that He is praiseworthy. Not because of what He’s done for us, but because He and His character would do something like that for people like us.

Jamie:
That verse always reminds me of that movie about emotions. [Inside Out] In the movie joy and anger and all those things, they’re trying to get back to the headquarters because Riley, the main character is going through puberty or whatever and has moved. She’s about to, you know, her emotions are going crazy – much like my middle school students I work with every day. Anyway, that verse reminds me of that because it says [in Romans 5:8-11]:

“God proved His own love for us, and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. How much more then, since we have now been [declared righteous] by His blood, will we be saved by Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.”

It reminds me of [Inside Out] because there’s all these fake people in their head – it’s an imagination thing – where these characters in her head would like die for Riley…. My point is the Bible [in Romans 5:7] asks how often someone would really be willing to die – even for a just person. Maybe for a good person somebody might die….       

Keith:
Somebody who you dearly love and has significance to you personally.   

Jamie:
But not some random person on the street who’s done you wrong. That’s the enemy – the language it uses in Romans 5:10-11. We’re talking about the person who hates you – strong word, but hates you and you know they do. Maybe they’ve messed you out of a job or whatever. You know they did something to you. Christ died for them.

Keith:
I mean, that’s the context back in Revelation 1:7 – some of those He is “coming with the clouds” to get will include “even those who pierced Him”. There’s some bad news that there are “tribes of earth” that will wail on account of Him, but just like the Centurion standing at the foot of the cross who was one of the ones presiding over His execution (Matthew 27:54, Mark 14:39, Luke 23:47) said, “Surely this was the Son of God!”

Jesus saves sinners. Prior to coming to Christ, enemies – everyone is affiliated. There’s no unaffiliated random innocent person out in some jungle. All “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). There’s enmity between us and God because of our sin, and He, willingly, because of His great love and mercy, died for even me.  

Jamie:
And that’s the second half of v. 5: “To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood”.

A couple of cross-references for you real quick – I’d be remiss to not give these. Verse 7:

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
And all the tribes of the earth,
will mourn over him.’
So it is to be. Amen.”

Some cross-references for that are Isaiah 19:1, Zechariah 12:10, John 19:34-37, Genesis 12:3, Genesis 28:14, Zechariah 14:17. I just encourage you to go through those and read those because the Bible confirms the Bible. There’s nothing in the Bible that’s not going to be confirmed by something else in the Bible. And, if you’re reading something in the Bible and you think it means something that cannot be confirmed through other Scriptures, you might want to rethink that.

Keith:
And you can look in the footnotes as well as in the parenthetical (in parenthesis) references and check what we say. You don’t need to take our word for this.

I’m not saying we’re not trustworthy. I’m saying we are fallible. We can misspeak and misunderstand from time to time. But God’s Word that is infallible.

Jamie:
Before we finish up, here are some other verses from the spontaneity of praise in vv. 5-6. Y’all check out Revelation 4:9-11, 5:13, 7:11-12; Ephesians 3:20-21; 1 Timothy 1:17; Jude 24-25. There’s a whole lot more; that’s just some. But as you’re reading the Word every day, there should be this moment where you just stop and praise the Lord. Like, [reading His Word] overwhelms you and His being Almighty.

I think one of the big questions from vv. 1-8 should be whether reading the Word leads to a moment of praise. And if it doesn’t, then we need to rethink and maybe rework why we’re reading the Word (and the way we’re reading the Word). You know, I like to turn my Bible plan on and hit play and listen to it while I’m getting ready in the mornings, but if that’s not leading me to a moment of praise then I need to rethink how I’m doing it because it’s not getting through, I’m just playing it to play it.

Keith:
You’re getting through the Bible, not getting the Bible through you.

Jamie:
That’s it.

Then, finally, the last two verses – what we just read in v. 7 and then in v. 8. I love this v. 8. In it, Jesus says,

“I am the Alpha and the Omega…the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This is a cool moment. The Lord introduces Himself as the Alpha and the Omega – which means the beginning and the end, the first and last letters (of the Greek alphabet – essentially the A-Z), the one who is, who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.

Now, in Revelation 22:13, Jesus says,

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

So, the way Revelation starts is the way Revelation ends, letting us know that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega.

Keith:
Letting us know He is the God who has always been. He is the God who is speaking, and as we’ve said throughout, He is the King who is coming! That gives me chill bumps!

Jamie:
Yeah, and it’s not cold in here.[7] That’s a Holy Spirit bump, I would say.

Keith:
Don’t miss this as we wrap this study. This is the first of however many it takes for us to get through this.

Jamie:
Hopefully not as long as it’s been [in the church study].

Keith:
As I’ve said, Jamie, it takes what it takes, but the idea here is to keep our focus on Jesus returning, Jesus coming back, because He has promised that He is.

Jamie:
Hey, let’s talk about that for a second – just for a second. In vv. 7-8, talking about He’s coming back and we know He’s coming. We’re told at the end of v. 3 “because the time is near”, and I know everybody looks and they freak out because this was way back then the time isnear. All that means is God’s time frame is near because God’s time frame and our time frame are two different things, ok? You know, just keep that in the back of your mind.

I want you to understand that from the beginning of the Bible in Genesis to the end of the Bible in Revelation, it all leads up to this moment: He is coming, coming as the conquering King. He is coming as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

And, I’m sorry – I’m going off on a little thing here, but y’all just really think about this for a minute when it says every, single one, I want you to think about all the people around the world. Right? People – we always go to political leaders and stuff, and I was trying not to name drop anybody because, I just don’t like doing that, but I guess I’m about to anyway. But just think of people like Vladimir Putin – who is an atheist, right? Totally against God, and, man, when Jesus comes back, his knees are going to bow, his tongue is going to confess.

I think of – what was the real famous atheist that just died? The science guy in the chair? Stephen Hawking. He was totally against God – and clarified that he was going into nothingness. His knees are going to bow. His tongue is going to confess.

And, again, this has been from Genesis all the way to the end of Revelation. So, here are some verses to check out: Genesis 3:15, Matthew 24:37, Luke 19:13, John 14:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Philippians 3:20-21, Hebrews 9:28, and Jude 14 – again, there are more, but that’s just an idea how from the very beginning in Genesis to the very end in Revelation, the entire Bible leads up to this moment when the King is Coming.

Keith:
And I think that’s a good spot for us to get to today, not timewise but just thoughtwise. Sojourners, while we are recording this podcast, my nine-year-old (at the time) son is sitting in our living room is waiting on someone to pick him up – a friend who has asked him to hang out. And he’s been up there – it’s currently 10:15 in the morning, and he’s been up since before 7:00a in expectation – because it’s something he’s looking forward to. He is not anxious. He’s not disappointed in the wait. There’s an expectation, though.

And so we talk about every knee bowing, what you have to ask yourself is what heart-position is going to accompany your bowed knee. When it says that we know Jesus is coming as the conquering King, are you kneeling in subjection, in recognition that you have been conquered because the King of kings and Lord of lords has won the day? Or are you doing it in worship of the King who you have longed for His return – that He who is on the throne is coming, and there will be a Day when you get to stand before Him? When He pulls you from your knees. When He exalts you as it says in 1 Peter 5:6 by the mighty Hand of God and get pulled into an embrace. That’s the expectation. Or if that’s not it, then we definitely have some soul searching we need to do.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Re 1:1–8.

[2] NEED THE EXACT QUOTE/REFERENCE FOR JOHN MACARTHUR HERE.

[3] Footnote on the canon?

[4] Jamie – unless he states otherwise – uses the Christian Standard Bible (copyright © 2018 by Holman Bible Publishers).

[5] Eschatology will be defined later on.

[6] Mere Christianity publication info and actual quote?

[7] Fun story: it really was not cold the morning we recorded this first Bible study for Revelation. In fact, we didn’t know it but my air conditioner when out while we were recording!

“Paul’s Final Greeting & a Tale of Two Legacies” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

7 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I have sent him for you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. 
10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions – if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hieropolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” 
18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Colossians 4:7-18

"Light Momentary Afflictions, Eternal Weight of Glory" (Refresh & Restore) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

In this Refresh & Restore Bible Study, we look at suffering, weakness, and hope through the lens of Scripture. Life is full of limitations, burdens, and afflictions, but for those who belong to Jesus, suffering is not the end of the story.Hebrews 12:1–2 reminds us that there is a race set before us and that we run by laying aside every weight and looking to Jesus. Philippians 4:10–13 shows us that Christ strengthens us in abundance and need, not by making us self-sufficient but by teaching us to depend on Him. And 2 Corinthians 4:7–18 reminds us that we are jars of clay, weak and breakable, so that the surpassing power would be seen as belonging to God and not to us.Our afflictions may feel heavy now, but in Christ they are light and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory He has prepared for His people. Jesus is the joy set before us, the strength within us, and the One who keeps us from shattering.If you would like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with Scripture references, you can find it here.
  1. "Light Momentary Afflictions, Eternal Weight of Glory" (Refresh & Restore)
  2. "Worthy is the Lion, the Slain Lamb Who Lives" from Revelation 5 (The KING is Coming)
  3. "Before the Throne of God Above" from Revelation 4 (The KING is Coming)

Greetings Sojourners!

We have made it – the end of our study of the book of Colossians! I have enjoyed getting to study and write about this letter and hope it has been helpful for you. It is good for us to spend time studying His Word and especially good for us to truly understand that Jesus is indeed over all.

Our passage today is often just tacked on at the end of an expository book study (preacher language for preaching and teaching through a book, verse-by-verse) as a sort of wrap up. But I want us to see that this passage, like all of Scripture, is breathed out by God and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). I think it serves as a good reminder that this was an actual letter to a real church. The church at Colossae – and all of the churches in all of the cities Paul visited on his missionary journeys and wrote to – was a real church filled with real people. Paul’s close to this letter is similar to the rest of his letters as he and those present with him greet the recipients of the letter. There are also specific greetings, similar to how in modern speech, say a phone call to family or friends you haven’t seen in a while might say, “Tell your folks I said, ‘hi’” or “tell Aunt So-and-So I love her”. It’s personal.

At the same time, this letter – and the other letters/epistles in the New Testament – are more. They are Scripture because, as I mentioned above, the Holy Spirit breathed out this letter through Paul. He chose to use Paul’s writing to this church, to these real people, to write to our churches and all the churches in the years between and beyond until Jesus returns to gather His people to Himself. In a sense, these letters are as much from God’s Spirit to His people as it ever was Paul’s to the church and people he cared for in Colossae.


So we are going to look at a couple of the guys Paul mentions at the close of his letter and find some application for our lives. Before we do that, though, I want us to briefly review some big takeaways from our Jesus Over All study of Colossians.

Nine Takeaways from Our Previous Bible Studies in Colossians 

Each of these takeaways come from early Bible studies in our Jesus Over All study and serve to help us wrap our minds around the whole book in context. Let’s dive in. 

  1. Jesus is enough, and His gospel transforms lives (1:1-14).

Paul reminds us that Jesus is sufficient to save and especially against all false teachings. When He saves people, His gospel bears fruit of that salvation in their transformed lives. This is the kind of growth we should seek after, and it should drive us to pray, rely on God’s power, and exhibit gratitude for our redemption in Jesus.

  1. Jesus is supreme over all creation and reconciles sinners to God through His blood on the cross (1:15-23).

Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is both Creator and Redeemer, holding all things together. His being preeminent as well as the Savior who sacrificed Himself for our sins forms the foundation for our faith, securing our hope in Him alone and calling us to believe what His Word says about Him.

  1. God can use suffering to strengthen His Church, and His Word is the foundation for spiritual maturity (1:24-2:10).

Paul’s endurance for the gospel challenges us to view our own trials and difficulties as a means of growing in Christ. If we are rooted in Him and His truth, we will – through His power and Spirit – be able to stand firm against deception and grow in our faith, walking in Him with gratitude and confidence.

  1. Jesus frees us from spiritual captivity and forgives sin through His victory on the cross (2:8-15).

False teachings seek to deceive us, but Jesus seeks to give fullness of life and freedom. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus cancels the debt of sin and triumphs over the forces of evil, securing an eternal salvation that cannot be taken away.

  1. True faith rests in Christ alone, not human traditions of religious practices (2:16-23).

The equation is simple: Jesus + nothing = everything! Paul warns against adding rules and regulations to the gospel, reminding us that only Jesus can save. False teachings want distort and confuse, but they lack the power to bring any true or lasting change. 

  1. Believers are called to set their minds on Jesus and live for His Kingdom (3:1-4).

Having been raised with Jesus, our focus shifts. We no longer need to be distracted by things on earth because our eyes (and lives) should be focused on the eternal hope of Christ in glory. Our identity is not wrapped up in earthly things but hidden in Christ. This means that our lives should reflect Jesus’s rule over us – He is Lord, after all.

  1. Be killing sin in your life, or it will be killing you (3:5-11).

Sin in our lives needs to be put do death, reminding us that Jesus’s redemption frees us from sin’s power. Being born again in Jesus means living as new creations and calls us to cast off our old selves and embrace being renewed in His image.

  1. Christlike character leads to unity, love, and peace in the church and is exhibited in worship that exalts Christ, is rooted in His Word, and overflows into real, every-day life (3:12-17).

As God’s chosen people, we are called to put on compassion, kindness, humility, patience, and love. These are more than mere actions because they are fruit of having new life in Jesus. They are part of our worship of Him. Worship, then, is more than personal preference because it is shaped by His Word, instructing our hearts and all we do in His name – every word, song, and action.

  1. Every aspect of life – home, work, and speech – should reflect Jesus’s rule in our hearts (3:18-4:6).

We see here again that Jesus saving us is to impact our real, everyday lives – how we live in all aspects of our lives. Whether in our families, jobs, or conversations with people, those Jesus saved are to live in a way that honors and points to Him. Walking in wisdom, speaking with grace, and serving others faithfully are a few ways Paul uses to show how our lives are to display Jesus’s lordship in all things.

One Final Takeaway: Learning from the Lives and Legacies of Mark and Demas (vv. 10, 14)

All of the people mentioned in this last section mattered to Paul. He wasn’t idly name-dropping or merely recognizing acquaintances. These were men who were involved in Paul’s ministry or had specific messages for the Colossian church. The emphasis in Colossians 3:1–4:6 on how being in Christ should impact real life was not just religious talk—it had shaped Paul’s life, and it was shaping the lives of those he wrote to as well.

Tychicus and Onesimus (vv. 7-9) hand-delivered this letter to the Colossian church. They had additional information about Paul’s circumstances and were sent to serve and encourage the believers.

Aristarchus, Mark, and “Jesus who is called Justus” (vv. 10-11) were with Paul in his imprisonment. They were the only Jewish believers remaining in Rome with Paul, ministering to him and taking part in the kingdom work happening from his prison cell. Paul says that they were “a comfort” to him, and they sent their greetings to the Colossians.

Epaphras (vv. 12-13), the Colossian church’s pastor, also sent greetings. Though he was on mission in Rome, ministering to Paul, he was still “struggling” for the Colossians in prayer, asking that they “may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God” (v. 12). Paul testified to his continual labor in prayer, not only for his own church but also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis (v. 13).

Luke, “the beloved physician” (v. 14)—who would later write the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts—also sent his greetings, along with Demas.

Paul extended his greetings to the church at Laodicea, particularly to Nympha and the church meeting in her home (v. 15). Though this letter was addressed to the Colossians, it was meant to be read in Laodicea as well. Paul also had a specific word for a Laodicean believer named Archippus, encouraging him to “see that [he] fulfill the ministry [he had] received in the Lord” (v. 17).

These were real people whom Paul loved and cared about. He wanted them to know that, which is why this final section was written with great effort in his own handwriting, even as his hands were bound in chains (v. 18).

So, what does this mean for us? Paul didn’t mention any of you dear sojourners who I care about today. There were no personal greetings to future churches in yet-undiscovered or unsettled regions of the world. What are we supposed to take from this?

I’m glad you asked.

Our final takeaway from this study in Colossians is to consider the lives of two men Paul mentioned in this section: Mark and Demas.

Mark, also known as John Mark—the writer of the Gospel that bears his name—had a complicated history with Paul. That’s why Paul included specific instructions that the Colossians should welcome him. Mark’s cousin, Barnabas, had been Paul’s partner in his first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3), and Mark had joined them. But after facing hardships, Mark abandoned the mission and returned home (Acts 13:13). Paul took this seriously. So, when Paul and Barnabas were preparing for their second journey, Barnabas wanted to bring Mark again (Acts 15:37). Paul disagreed, believing it was unwise to take someone who had withdrawn from the work (Acts 15:38). Their disagreement was so sharp that Paul and Barnabas parted ways—Barnabas took Mark to Cyprus, while Paul took Silas and continued elsewhere (Acts 15:39-41).

Yet here, years later, we see Mark restored. Not only was he no longer a liability, but he was one of the few Jewish believers standing with Paul in his imprisonment. The same man who had once quit now endured alongside Paul in even greater trials. God had grown and matured him. The Holy Spirit had worked in him, and Paul recognized that. Paul wanted the Colossians to know that Mark was no longer the same man he had once been—he was to be welcomed as a fellow laborer in the faith.

Then, there was Demas.

We don’t know Demas’s backstory, only that at the time Paul wrote to the Colossians and to Philemon, Demas was counted among his fellow laborers (Philemon 24). Paul took seriously those who ministered alongside him, and Demas had been part of his team. Like Luke, he had the privilege of sending greetings to the churches.

Yet, by the time Paul wrote 2 Timothy—his final letter, written as he awaited execution—Demas had abandoned him. But unlike Crescens, Titus, and Tychicus, who had left to serve elsewhere (2 Timothy 4:10-12), Demas had left for another reason: he was “in love with this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10).

Read that again. Paul was on death row, awaiting execution, and Demas deserted him—not because of a call to another ministry, but because of love for the world. This wasn’t just a personal disappointment for Paul—it was recorded as Scripture, meaning the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write it (2 Timothy 3:16).

But in that same chapter, we see something else. Paul, who had once written Mark off as unfit for ministry, now told Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).

What a contrast!

Wrapping Up

I suppose this is where we try to bring everything together, but in truth, the contrast between Mark and Demas does much of the work for us. Their lives illustrate the heart of what we’ve seen throughout Colossians—Jesus is over all, but will we live as if that’s true?

Both of these men participated in ministry and mission. Both walked alongside Paul. Both had moments where they turned away. But what set them apart was not just their failures—it was where they turned afterward. Mark, despite quitting early on, was restored. He grew. The same gospel that Paul proclaimed in Colossians transformed him, matured him, and drew him back to faithfulness (Colossians 1:6). By the end of Paul’s life, Mark was a trusted and needed partner in ministry (2 Timothy 4:11).

Demas, however, loved this present world. That love pulled him away. We don’t know how his story ended, but we do know that he abandoned Paul in his greatest hour of need (2 Timothy 4:10). And that leaves us with a question: when trials come, when the cost of following Christ feels too high, when the comforts of the world beckon—who will we be? A Demas, in love with the world? Or a Mark, restored by the grace of God?

The entire book of Colossians has pressed us to consider the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ. We have seen that Jesus is enough, that His gospel transforms lives (Colossians 1:13-14), that He holds all things together (Colossians 1:17), and that His rule should be evident in our everyday lives (Colossians 3:17). We have been reminded that true faith rests in Christ alone, not in religious performance (Colossians 2:16-17). We have been challenged to put sin to death (Colossians 3:5), to walk in wisdom (Colossians 4:5), to love and serve in His name (Colossians 3:12-14), and to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-2).

So, as we conclude, the real question is this: Do we believe it? Is Jesus truly over all in our lives—not just in theory, but in how we live, work, worship, and relate to others? When hardship comes (Colossians 1:24), when the world entices (Colossians 2:8), when following Christ requires sacrifice (Colossians 3:3-4), what will our response be?

I don’t know your story, but I do know this—God is faithful. He is patient. He is at work in you just as He was in Mark, just as He was in Paul, just as He has been in all who are His (Philippians 1:6). The same Jesus who rules over creation rules over your life (Colossians 1:18), and He is able to strengthen you, sustain you, and keep you until the end (Jude 24-25).

Sojourners, it has been a privilege to study Colossians with you. I pray, like Epaphras prayed for the Colossians, that you “may stand mature and fully assured in the will of God” (Colossians 4:12). May we live as people who truly believe that Jesus is over all. And may He be glorified in our lives, both now and forever.

“Preaching Truth to Yourself When Your Soul is Downcast” from Psalms 42 & 43 (#dailyPSALMSchallenge)

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.

Psalm 42:5-6a, 11; 43:5

Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 are deeply connected, forming a single lament that expresses the struggle of a soul longing for God in the midst of despair. 

Psalm 42 opens with vivid imagery: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (v. 42:1). There is a beautiful hymn based on this image, but for those who are crying out to the Lord, it is often anything but beautiful. Picture a deer being hunted, running from a hunter or predator, panting and out of breath and seeking a cool stream to provide sustenance and relief. Such is the plight of the sons of Korah in these psalms. They are spiritually thirsty, longing for the presence of the living God (v. 42:2), yet instead of refreshment, they find themselves overwhelmed by sorrow, being fed by tears (v. 42:3) and haunted by the taunts of people mocking their faith by asking “Where is your God?” (vv. 42:3, 10)

This spiritual turmoil is compounded by distance from the place of worship or from the joy accompanying better times of leading God’s people in His praise and worship (v. 42:4). They remember what it was to joyously lead God’s people in worship at His tabernacle but now feel cut off and alone. The lament deepens as they describe being overwhelmed by waves of suffering, described a waves of the sea crashing over them (v. 42:7). Yet, even in their distress, they cling to this foundational truth: “By day the Lord commands His steadfast love, and at night His song is with me” (v. 42:8).

Psalm 43 continues their cry for deliverance, shifting from lament to pray to God for vindication. They plead for God to “send out [His] light and…truth” to lead them back to worship at His altar, where they may rejoice in Him again (vv. 43:3-4). But there is beautiful solace to be found in their refrain found in vv. 42:5, 11 and 43:5 that not only asks their own souls “why” they are “cast down” and “in turmoil” within themselves but points to the refreshment they know their panting souls will receive by saying, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

This refrain teaches us the discipline of preaching the truth to ourselves in the face of despair. Instead of passively listening to their own troubled thoughts, they preach to their own souls, reminding themselves of who God is and where their hope must rest. This does not change their circumstances but points them to the God who provides hope in the midst of circumstances. He is faithful. He provides rest. He provides solace. He IS their hope.

Seeing Jesus in Psalms 42 & 43

These psalms find their fulfillment in Jesus, who fully experienced the anguish of a downcast soul. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus echoed the sons of Korah when He said, “My soul is very sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). On the cross, He endured the mockery of His enemies jsut as they did (vv. 42:3, 10; Matthew 27:39-43). Yet, even in His suffering, Jesus fully entrusted Himself to His Father’s will and endured the full weight of God’s wrath against sin – our sin – that we might never be truly abandoned.

The sons of Korah longed for God’s presence, and through Jesus, that longing is ultimately fulfilled. Jesus Himself is the “light and truth” that leads us to God (v. 43:3; John 8:12, 14:6). He is Emmanuel, God with us, who will never leave nor forsake His people. And because of His resurrection and promised return, we can confidently hope in God, knowing that no matter our circumstances we too will “again praise Him” (v. 43:5).

Reflection

Can you identify with the sorrow and despair found in Psalms 42 and 43? If so, I hope you see the promise of hope and relief found in Jesus. He bore our shame and sin and adopts us into His family.

There is coming a day when the tears that flow ever so easily here in this fallen world will be wiped away for the last time by His nail-scarred hand when He comes to dwell with His people – where death will be nothing more than a fading memory – where there shall be no more “mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

In the meantime between that promise and its fulfillment, there is a lot of despair and downcast souls and pain and sorrow. There is a lot of panting for streams of relief. But, oh, there is so much hope to be found. May we not be left in the question of why our souls are downcast but let us preach the beautiful truth of the psalmists refrain: “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God”!

Here’s a song inspired by Psalm 42:

The #dailyPSALMSchallenge gives us the opportunity to start 2025 in God’s Word by digging into a psalm a day. Each day will identify a key passage for us to meditate on as well as seeking to help us see Jesus in the psalm and reflect on what we have read.

Won’t you take the challenge?