Sunday’s coming, and I’m excited. And on this Palm Sunday, we remember our King.
Psalm 118:19-29 gives us the language of a people longing for salvation and rejoicing in the One who brings it: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Psalm 118:26). It’s a song/psalm of victory, rescue, and the steadfast love of God that endures forever.
The people cried out “Hosanna!” to Jesus, which is the Hebrew word used in Psalm 118:25 that is translated, “Save us, we pray”. In the time between Psalm 118 being written and Jesus’s Triumphal Entry, “hosanna” had shifted from “Save us, we pray” to a cry of praise to the Lord who had saved them time and again and whose track record led them to believe He would and could save them in their time of need.
While they were crying out “Hosanna”, they also quoted Psalm 118:26: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” They laid down palm branches and their own cloaks as they cried out to Jesus with joy, welcoming Him as King. What Psalm 118 anticipated, Jesus was fulfilling right before their eyes (Luke 24:44).
But something even greater was happening.
Psalm 118 speaks of the festal sacrifice being bound with cords to the horns of the altar (Psalm 118:27). Yet when Jesus came, He wasn’t bound or forced. He came willingly, submitting to His Father’s redemptive plan. He is the true and better sacrifice — the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world (John 1:29), the propitiation, atoning sacrifice, to bear the wrath of God on behalf of those He saves (1 John 2:1-2, Romans 3:25). The King they proclaimed was riding into Jerusalem to be the Savior they needed on the cross (Luke 19:10).
Essentially, this is why we gather in worship — not just to remember or commemorate a moment but to respond to Jesus (Romans 12:1). He came to seek and save the lost, to bear our sin, and to make a way for us who are far off to be brought near (1 Peter 2:24, Ephesians 2:13). We get to fix our eyes on our King (Hebrews 12:2) and cry out “Hosanna!”, praising God for saving us by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9)! Palm Sunday is not a mere holiday (or holy day) but a reminder of who Jesus is, what He has done, and call us to faith in Him (John 20:31).
That’s also why these “Songs of Sunday” posts exist — to help us prepare our hearts to gather in worship. As we read, reflect, and sing ahead of time, we’re asking the Lord to ready our hearts to worship, to receive His Word, and to respond with faith and joy.
Sunday’s coming.
Jesus is coming again.
Let’s be ready to welcome our King, not just with our lips but with our lives, trusting, rejoicing, and worshiping.
Come and gather with us. Lift your voice and sing out to the Lord. Listen as John points us to Jesus in the Word. Let’s make much of Jesus together.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21 I thank you that You have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. 27 The LORD is God, and He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar!
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to You; You are my God; I will extol You. 29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!
32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be moving out of the letters from Jesus to the churches and into the rest of the Revelation of Jesus Christ with Revelation 4:
4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”[1]
Keith Harris: Greetings, sojourners. We have a lot to dive into today, and frankly I am excited. I’m beside myself — and also beside Jamie. Jamie, talk to us about Revelation 4. Yes, yes — threw you off with that.
Jamie Harrison: Yes, yes you did. So we have here — just to get started — to remind you the timeline of Revelation from this point forward. So we finished the seven letters to the churches, and from here on out we have to understand that the timeline is what John saw next. So does this mean historically this is what did happen or will happen, or whatever is happening right now? No. It’s just what John saw next.
Keith: So does it mean it’s not?
Jamie: No — it’s just what John saw next.
And so it starts by[2], “After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door.” And we learned just a couple of weeks back that Jesus is the one who opens doors. So Jesus opens this door, and the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet — now we know that that first voice he heard was Jesus way back in chapter 1, verse 10 — and he speaks to him again in a voice sounding like a trumpet. And he says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
And so again, what John saw next — this is what’s going to take place after this. After what? We don’t know. We have no idea. But what we do know is what’s going to take place next — right, at some point.
And so just to hit real quick on the trumpet deal — because of what’s coming up in Revelation — the idea of a trumpet in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, would have been something that was used to signal a warning. Like a warning that maybe there was an enemy approaching and a war was about to happen. Sometimes they would blow a trumpet to signify that the Lord had delivered a message, and then they would deliver the message.
Keith: And so I know those are both really negative sounds, and this isn’t necessarily one of those, but it kind of makes me think about in today’s time like a tornado siren or the sound your phone makes when an emergency alert comes through. And again, I’m not saying that it’s exactly that — those are very negative in our minds — but they get your attention.
You know, when you hear those, stop what you’re doing. Listen.
Jamie: That’s right. And so that’s the idea here. And again, in every single letter that we read — all seven letters — it was “For those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
And so here again Jesus is saying — voice like a trumpet — you better listen. I’m trying to tell you.
And so immediately John is in the Spirit, and there’s a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. So he is taken to the throne room, which is pretty awesome — somewhere that I look forward to seeing one day, whatever that’s going to look like. Jesus will be there. I’ll be there. It’s going to be pretty awesome.
And so what we do know is that from here on out the focal point of the book of Revelation is the throne room. Every time something happens we’re going to be taken back to the throne room. Something will happen — we’ll be taken back to the throne room.
Fourteen times in chapters 4 or 5 — fourteen times in just chapters 4 and 5 — the throne room is talked about. In the rest of the book of Revelation, forty-six times the throne room is mentioned, with God the Father of course being the one sitting on the throne.
And so again, just to help you understand that: what is the setting of the rest of this book of Revelation? It’s the throne room. It’s centered around the Godhead.
Keith: And one thing, just as you were describing that — you know a lot of times in literature or movies, if you’ve got a king and a battle is going to be waged, the throne room is kind of like that last resort, like a place of safety. But we also know the throne room is at risk.
None of those times in the book of Revelation is the Godhead in the throne room hiding. Nothing’s — there’s no catapult of hell, so to speak, in danger of reaching them. God is so high and lifted up and unapproachable.
And so God — this is a place of safety and security beyond our greatest fears. God’s in no danger whatsoever. And so in that case, even despite worldly danger, that tells us the things in here that frighten us — we’re safe in the arms of Christ.
Jamie: And so John goes into a description of what he sees. And again, so many times in Revelation we get descriptions of things, and it’s just the best John could do to describe what he saw. I think some of these things he probably didn’t have words for, and so this is the best thing he could compare it to.
And so he tells us that the one seated on the throne — verse 3 — had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone, and a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.
And so the jasper and carnelian stone of course were in the breastplate of the high priest back in Exodus 28 — you can see that. Jasper being a crystal-clear gem, diamond-looking, reflects all — refracts all — the colors of the spectrum in wonder. It’s brilliant.
So just think about that for a second — refracting all of these colors of the spectrum in this brilliance is what it looks like to him.
Keith: So more shiny and shining than the shiniest, brightest thing we can come up with.
Jamie: That’s right. And carnelian stone — or sardius stone — which is a fiery, bright ruby-looking red stone. So you put all that together, and so far that’s the description we have of what he sees when he looks at God.
And then you get this rainbow that has the appearance of an emerald — of course an emerald being like this cool green hue — dominates the rainbow that he sees that is surrounding the throne.
And remember that a rainbow back in Genesis is the sign of God’s faithfulness to keep His word and His promise that He gave to us then. And so I want to just kind of stop there for a minute and point out that what he’s seeing here is God’s glory. He is seeing the glory of God and describing it the best way that he possibly can.
But you have this rainbow that surrounds the throne. It’s not a half rainbow like we see — this is the full rainbow. This is the complete promise of God. This is the complete fulfillment. This is His mercy even in judgment. This is all of these things completed around Him.
And I’ve got Keith who’s going to read this cool deal from the Jesus Storybook Bible. And if you want to kind of talk about it and then read it.
Keith: Yeah. The Jesus Storybook Bible is not a translation of the Bible, but it’s where Sally Lloyd-Jones has tried to communicate through all the parts of the Bible to children who God is in Christ. And so this is from the chapter on the flood.
“The first thing Noah did was to thank God for rescuing them, just as He had promised. “And the first thing God did was to make another promise. ‘I won’t ever destroy the world again.’ And like a warrior who puts away his bow at the end of a great battle. God said, ‘See, I have hung up my bow in the clouds.’ “And there, in the clouds – just where the storm meets the sun – was a beautiful bow made of light. “It was a new beginning in God’s world. “It wasn’t long before everything went wrong again, but God wasn’t surprised; He knew this would happen. That’s why, before the beginning of time, He had another plan – a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world but to rescue it – a plan to one day send His own Son, the Rescuer. “God’s strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more – but not on His people, or His world. No, God’s war bow was not pointing down at His people. “It was pointing up, into the heart of Heaven.”[3]
Jamie: So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room — His complete promise, His glory.
So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room: His complete promise, His glory.
And I want to read a little excerpt from a book by Paul David Tripp called Do You Believe? This is from pages 69 and 70. I think that covers us on copyright stuff. Is that accurate?
Keith: Yes. And then write this stuff — we’re quoting it.
Jamie: This is quotation marks.
“Glory is not a thing like a shoe, a steak, a candle, or a cottage. Those are particular physical things that can be carefully described by words so that you would immediately have an accurate picture in your mind of what is being talked about. One could draw a picture or take a photograph of a shoe, and you could see it and know what it was, but glory is not like that. No single picture could ever capture glory. Glory simply cannot be photographed. Glory is not so much a thing as it is a description of a thing. Glory is not a part of God; it is all that God is. Every aspect of who God is and every part of what God does is glorious. But that’s not even enough of a description of God’s glory. Not only is He glorious in every way, but His glory is glorious. “Scripture does, however, put the hugeness of the glory of God into the smallness of human language so that we can at least get some sense of what it’s like. For example, the prophet Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 40, stretches human language in order to give us a little glimpse of God’s glory. ‘Who has measured the water in the hollow of his hand?’ Imagine how much water you could hold in the palm of your hand, then consider that God could hold all of the liquid in the universe in His hand and not spill a drop! ‘Who has…weighed the mountains in scales? … Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket [to God]. … He spreads [the heavens] like a tent to dwell in’ (Isa. 40:12, 15, 22). Isaiah is employing incalculably huge word pictures to help us to have even a twinge of understanding of how glorious God is. Yet even these very picturesque and helpful descriptions fall miserably short of capturing the awesome glory of God. “We cannot gain a full understanding of the glory of God from a few passages, because the reason glory is glory is because it lives above and beyond that kind of description and definition. You can say for sure that God is glorious, because your Bible declares He is, but you cannot accurately and fully describe in words the glory that Scripture declares. Perhaps the only workable path 9into some understanding of the grandeur of the glory of God is to read the entire Word of God again and again, looking for divine glory. Why? Because the glory of God isn’t hidden in His Word; no, His glory is so grand that it splashes across every page of His book.”[4]
Keith: One thing’s for sure — there’s awe in everything John writes. Like, this is John, good friend to Jesus on earth. And he’s not saying, “Hey, that’s my buddy.” That’s my God. That’s the throne. That’s — it’s amazing, glorious.
And again, there’s nothing we can say that’s going to do it justice.
Jamie: That’s right. And you can go to Revelation 21:9–27 and look at New Jerusalem. That’s what heaven will be — what it will look like. And it talks about God’s glory and how glorious it is.
But again, it’s something that is indescribable — or undescribable? Is that the — it’s both of them.
Keith: It’s both of them.
Jamie: Yes, it is. I wasn’t sure if that was even a word until just then. So John moves on and he says in verse 4:
“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes with golden crowns on their heads.”
And these twenty-four elders throw a lot of people off. You know — who are they? What are they? What do they represent? Are they really twenty-four people?
And the answer is: we don’t know. Because it doesn’t tell us.
You know, I can tell you that in Revelation 21:12–14 the Bible talks about the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. And it could be that these twenty-four elders are literally those people. It could be that they’re representation of those people. It could be that they represent the fact that every human being — despite race, despite ethnicity, despite whatever you want to fill in the blank with — will be in heaven if they have a relationship with Christ.
It could represent that — so to speak — the complete church.
Keith: It could be representatives from the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: If you’ve got that many “could be’s,” then we need to look at what can we know for sure.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: That’s the big deal with the study of Revelation — or any sort of prophetic book like this. We want to find our favorite preacher guys or writers to tell us definitively, because we get comfort from it.
I get comfort from having a God who’s so big that He doesn’t need me to know everything. That kind of tells me in some cases — if you’ve got something that’s completely explainable by the mind of man, some dude made it up, right?
And this is so otherworldly that, like Jamie said, John’s doing the best he can.
Jamie: The absolute best he can.
And now on that thought, we do know in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 9 where God sits down on His throne, and you look around — there’s other empty thrones around Him in Daniel. And now when John sees them, there are twenty-four people sitting on them.
Keith: So what was empty is, at this point, going to be full.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: Now full with who?
Jamie: Again, we don’t know. And I think that’s okay.
Keith: Well — and well, I know that’s okay.
When you look at this, the point of them — just like when you see angels in Scripture — they’re very quick to say, “Hey, don’t worship me. I worship the One worthy of worship.”
Their whole everything is to say, “Look — look to the throne. Look to Jesus.” They’re not in any sense saying, “Hey, we’ve arrived. Look at how good we are.” They lay their crowns down. They are continually in worship of the One.
So who the twenty-four are — they would say very clearly, “We point to Him.”
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: And so I think that’s enough for me.
Jamie: And when we see them, we see that they lay their crowns down before the throne.
Keith: That’s exactly right — which the only reason we know they have crowns is because it tells us they have them.
Jamie: That’s right.
Keith: And then it tells us they lay them down.
Jamie: That’s right.
And so it goes on from there in verse 5: flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne.
And this reminds me of Exodus 19 and Exodus 20 where God speaks through the thunder right before He gives the laws and punishments. So kind of another idea of God speaking here.
Flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder come from the throne. And then if you look further in Revelation — Revelation 8:5, 11:19, and 16:18 — that lightning and thunder is a sign of the fury of the judgment to come.
So it’s kind of like God is about to speak, or God is speaking through this to help us understand, to get ready for the fact that His judgment is coming. His judgment is going to be complete, and it is going to be furious.
And we’ll get there in a few chapters. But it is — it’s intense, I think may be the best word I can think of.
And it goes on — same verse, verse 5 — seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And we know that to be the Holy Spirit, as we’ve talked about before.
Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.
And notice he says “something like a sea of glass.” So is it a sea of glass? No, it’s not. It’s something like that — meaning that it’s some type of crystal-clear pavement that’s around God’s throne that looks like some kind of glistening sea.
A lot of the commentaries that you read say that this is a symbol of God’s holiness. And I’m — you know — I’ll go with those guys. They’re a lot smarter than me.
But we do know that Revelation 15:2 and 21:1 say there’s no sea in heaven. So it’s not a literal sea, but it is some type of idea of His holiness and that it’s around His throne.
But again, I think it just goes to the fact that there are these things that are indescribable that John’s doing the best he can to describe.
Keith: Well, and employing language that we use — and again this is an English translation of the Greek — but that’s the language we use when we don’t know how to describe something. We use similes.
And he says, “as it were a sea of glass like crystal.” He’s literally trying to describe this.
But again he keeps making a beeline back to the throne, back to God, back to the praises — because a lot of the stuff that we very easily get caught up on are trappings, wall hangings, adornments, decorations. Jesus is the main thing.
Jamie: That’s exactly right. And so he goes on again in verse 6 to talk about four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back, and they’re around the throne on each side. And that’s kind of a freaky—
Keith: Yeah.
Jamie: —I wouldn’t think about these as Precious Moments cherubim. And then he describes the four living creatures. And now remember, before we go into this, that we’ve already got the rainbow surrounding the throne, which is going to be your Noahic covenant.
And now here we go. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
Now if you’ve got your Bible with us, turn to Genesis 9 — going almost all the way back to the beginning here — Genesis chapter 9. And we look at verses 8 through 11 and it says:
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And you notice every single thing that is listed here is exactly who these four living creatures appear to be in Revelation. So it tells us in Revelation that one looked like a lion, and this covenant is with the beast of the earth — or the wildlife of the earth. In Revelation it says one looks like a calf. Well here you have that — it tells us livestock or cattle. And in Revelation it says the face of a man. Well it tells us that with you, Noah, and your descendants after you — that’s man. And then you have like a flying eagle, and it tells us with the birds or the fowl.
And so it appears as though these four living creatures would be representative of this Noahic covenant. In other words, His promises that He is not going to flood the earth again. In fact, He’s going to send His Son to die on a cross, to be raised again three days later so that we could be saved.
And so all of this again going back to Jesus — every bit of it. Did you have something you wanted to add there?
Keith: No, just a thought — or take away. I thought of a phrase from Scripture. I don’t have the address right off the top of my head, but it says, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” He’s not going to flood in wrath anymore, but instead with His glory.
And we’ve already said that it’s incalculable, indescribable. But at this point we just see Him better. Again, if you can look in Revelation 4 and go back and see ties to Genesis, there’s a reason God does that — and it’s to show us He’s got this.
He knows what He’s doing. He’s not saying stuff by accident. He’s got a definite plan that has already been fulfilled and victorious while we’re waiting for it to pan out. He’s 100% sure on it. He sat down, right?
If we’re looking at creation — seventh day is a day of rest. We’re reading about Revelation wondering what’s going to happen this day, that day, this year, that year. God’s already said it and sat down.It’s finished.
Jamie: And I think on that note it’s cool to point out — which I feel like this is related here — but in the temple, the Holy of Holies, all of these things that they built in the Old Testament and performed sacrifices in… what’s the one piece of furniture that wasn’t there?
Keith: Nothing to sit on — except for the mercy seat.
Jamie: That’s right. There’s no chair for the priest — the high priest — because those sacrifices were never ending. They continued on and on and on. But once Jesus raises again three days later, what does He do?
Keith: Sits down.
Jamie: Sits down.
Keith: Well, I know this doesn’t directly tie, but thinking about who’s sitting on those twenty-four thrones — we ain’t got to worry about it. We don’t need to be looking for a place to sit down. It’s occupied.
Jamie: That’s accurate. And so what are these four living creatures doing while they’re in heaven? Verse 8 says each of the four living creatures has six wings. They’re covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop saying:
Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying,
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, who is, and who is to come.
Keith: And that’s the address I was looking for earlier — Isaiah 6. That’s what the angels there are saying in the throne room.
And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Jamie: And to what Keith spoke about earlier, the next couple of verses say that whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne — the One who lives forever and ever — which we know is day and night, they never stop saying it.
It says the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne and worship the One who lives forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne and say:
10 …the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,
11 Our Lord and God,
you are worthy to receive
glory and honor and power,
because you have created all things,
and by your will
they exist and were created.
And so I think it’s just awesome to think about heaven for a second, right? This throne room — you’ve got these four living creatures constantly crying out to the Lord. You’ve got these twenty-four elders constantly crying out to the Lord and worshiping the Lord and praising the Lord. And His glory and His brilliance is there, and this rainbow is there. Just how awesome it’s going to be if we have a relationship with Him.
Keith: And again that’s the kicker. When we look at these things, a lot of time is spent in the world today — more “Christian” books written on the end times than any other particular subject — because people want to know what Jesus says cannot be known. He doesn’t know the day or the hour. And if Jesus isn’t read in on it, there’s not a soul on the earth who’s going to be like, “You know…”
Because here’s the thing: what we can know is Jesus is worthy. Jesus is God. And when we see these descriptions we should be moved, at the very least, to be like Isaiah in his vision of the throne room:
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
When we look at these we need to be moved to worship. It should drive us to our faces. It should drive us toward His throne. It should drive us — for all the things that we think we have that are of worth, which is nothing comparable to a crown of an elder with a throne around His throne — to focus on the worthiness of Him.
When we move forward in Revelation that is a consistent theme: the glory of God on full display. Him being God, being all powerful, not being in danger. War being made against Him and Him being able to fell all the forces of evil with a word. It’s not going to be a battle. It’s not going to be a fight. We’ve got a toothless lion seeking to devour and destroy. But as we’ll see next week, seated on the throne—
Jamie: —Is the Lion.
And I want to just say this before we close out, kind of to piggyback on what Keith said. I think it’s important to note that these elders and these living creatures aren’t worshiping God because of what He did for them. They’re not worshiping Him because of what He can offer. They’re not worshiping Him because He filled their bank accounts up or He did this or did that or whatever. A lot of times as believers — I’m not going to say a lot of times — sometimes we get caught up in that. “Well, God blessed me with this,” or “God’s given me that.” But we worship Him because He is who He is.
Keith: And the Bible does describe being thankful and grateful in our worship to Him for what He’s done — yes. But if He had done nothing for us, He’s still worthy.
Earlier we mentioned Philippians 2 — that because Jesus is who He is and He’s done what He’s done, God has bestowed on Him the name that is above every name.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
These are people who didn’t want Jesus, don’t want to fool with Him, aren’t bowing in worship — they’re bowing in submission and subjection because He is the King. And when it’s time to bow, you bow.
So whether it be like the elders casting their crowns before the throne, or those under the earth bowing in subjection — Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. He lives forever and ever. He is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. He created everything. It’s by His will they exist. It’s by His will that we were created. By the word of His power that it’s all held together.
And He is thrice holy. Holy, holy, holy.
How will you stand — or kneel — in response to the King?
39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. [1]
Merry Christmas, Sojourners!
As we move deeper into this Advent/Christmas season, I keep coming back to the way the Lord trains our hearts through the gifts He gives. He doesn’t just announce that His Son has come – He teaches us to receive Him.
In our first study in this series, we focused on hope – the kind of hope that doesn’t rest on circumstances but on the faithful God who keeps His promises, even through brokenness and waiting. In the second study, we turned to peace – not a thin calm or temporary quiet, but the steady peace Jesus secured by entering our darkness, reconciling us to God, and holding us fast through every season.
Now, we come to joy – and we pause. We need to know what it is – and what it isn’t.
Biblical joy is deeper than a mood or feeling. It’s not the fleeting and ever-changing “happiness” our world tries to chase and manufacture. In Scripture, joy is gladness rooted in God – gladness that can exist even when life is still hard, even when answers are still unfolding. The New Testament word often translated “joy” can describe the rejoicing God inspires, and it can even describe the occasion or grounds for joy – what joy is built on and rises out of (Luke 2:10, Romans 14:17).[2] That’s why biblical joy isn’t fragile. It isn’t dependent on a perfect day or easy circumstances. It grows where mercy takes root, where pride is lowered, where need is admitted, and where God is trusted.
We can miss it if we move too quickly through the Christmas story. In Luke’s Christmas narrative, joy arrives before the word shows up when the shepherds hear “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Months before Bethlehem, joy is already stirring in the hill country of Judea. A baby, filled with the Holy Spirit, leaps for joy in the womb (Luke 1:44). A woman, filled with the Holy Spirit, blesses the mother of her Lord (Luke 1:41-43). And that young mother, Mary – lowly, standing at the beginning of a road she doesn’t yet understand – rejoices in God her Savior (Luke 1:46-47). Joy was already breaking through the darkness, because Jesus was already there!
Luke 1:39-56, our passage for today, shows us that the joy of Christ is grounded in God’s unfolding mercy – mercy that humbles the proud, lifts the lowly, feeds the hungry, and keeps covenant promises stretching all the way back to Abraham (Luke 1:50-55; Genesis 12:1-3, 17:7; Micah 7:18-20). We see this joy in the song Mary sings. The song is deeply personal but not small. It echoes the hope of Hannah long before her (1 Samuel 2:1-10), and it reaches forward to the Kingdom her baby will grow and usher in – a Kingdom where God’s grace reverses what sin has marred, and where the Savior lifts those who put their faith in Him (Luke 4:18-19, 6:20-23; Isaiah 61:1-3).
In Luke 1:39-56, we’ll see that joy is not something Mary manufactures or inspires in others – it’s something God gives as His mercy begins to unfold. We’ll begin by looking at the original context and setting of Mary’s visit to her relative Elizabeth, where joy first breaks through the silence in unexpected ways. Then we’ll listen carefully to Mary’s song – known as the Magnificat, where joy rises from a heart overwhelmed not with herself, but with her God and His mercy. From there, we’ll see how this song points beyond Mary to Jesus Himself – the coming King who fulfills God’s promises and brings lasting joy. And finally, we’ll consider what this passage teaches us about the gift of joy God gives to the lowly and the lifted, to those who know their need of Him and trust His Word.
Original Context & Setting: Joy Breaks the Silence (vv. 39-45)
Luke tells us that “in those days” Mary rose and went “with haste” into the hill country of Judea to visit her relative Elizabeth (Luke 1:39). This small phrase links what follows directly to the angel’s announcement (Luke 1:26-38). Mary doesn’t linger in Nazareth to sort out the social consequences of her pregnancy or demand clarity about her and the baby’s future. Instead, she moves forward in faith (v. 38). She goes to see the sign God Himself had given her: her much older relative Elizabeth, once barren, is now six months pregnant by God’s grace and power (Luke 1:36-37).
Their meeting is inconsequential by worldly standards. No crowds gather. No rulers take notice. Yet this is one of the most theologically rich encounters in all of Scripture. Two miraculous pregnancies meet. Two stories of God’s mercy intersect. And joy erupts before a single word is spoken.
When Mary greets Elizabeth, John the Baptist leaps in his mother’s womb (v. 41). Luke – the physician – is careful to explain that this is no ordinary movement, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, interprets it for us: “the baby in my womb leaped for joy” (v. 44). Even before his birth, John fulfills his calling to prepare the way of the Lord as he recognizes and announces the presence of the Messiah in utero (Luke 1:17, 76; Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3). Joy breaks out not because circumstances are easy, but because Jesus is near.
Elizabeth is then filled with the Spirit herself and cries out in a loud voice, pronouncing Mary “blessed among women”, not for who she is but because of the Child she carries – “blessed is the fruit of your womb” (v. 42). Then, Elizabeth goes further calling Mary “the mother of my Lord” (v. 43). This is a staggering confession. Months before Bethlehem, months before angels sing to shepherd, Jesus is confessed as Lord by a Holy Spirit-filled woman and acknowledged by a Spirit-filled unborn child. The joy here is deeply Christ-centered, not found in Mary but magnifying the Son.
Finally, Elizabeth speaks a blessing that turns our attention to Mary’s response to God’s Word: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (v. 45). That emphasis on faith matters, especially when we remember that this moment follows a season of silence brought on by unbelief. The Spirit-inspired words spoken through Elizabeth stand in quiet contrast to her husband Zechariah’s earlier doubts, which left him unable to speak until God’s promise began to unfold just as He had said (Luke 1:18–20, 64).[3]
At this point in the Christmas narrative, Mary doesn’t yet see the full shape of God’s plan, but she trusts the God who spoke. And in a time when God had been silent for centuries, His Word breaking forth again was no small thing (Amos 8:11-12). Even though Mary didn’t know how all of this would work out, God was already showing her that He was with her on the journey (Matthew 1:23). We begin to see here that joy doesn’t wait for completion or a finish line. It doesn’t require resolution. It doesn’t depend on our full comprehension of what’s going on or how things will turn out. Joy springs up where God’s Word is believed (Psalm 119:111, Jeremiah 15:16).
Now, the word “joy” doesn’t appear here, but it is already present – present in the leaping child, the Spirit-filled confession of Jesus as Lord, and in Mary’s quiet faith in God’s promise. And it is out of this joy that Mary’s song will rise – not as a sudden emotional outburst, but as a thoughtful, Scripture-shaped response to the mercy of God at work in her life.
The Joy of God’s Mercy in the Magnificat (vv. 46-55)
When Mary finally speaks, she doesn’t begin with explanations, questions, or fear. She begins with worship. Luke tells us, “And Mary said…” (v. 46), and what follows is not a spontaneous emotional overflow but a carefully shaped song, steeped in Scripture and centered on God. This song, as I have mentioned, is known as the Magnificat, named after its opening word in Latin, drawn from Mary’s opening declaration: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” And that opening line sets the tone for everything that follows.
Mary’s joy in this song is not focused on herself. She’s not magnifying her experience, her obedience, or her unique role in human and redemptive history. She magnifies the Lord. Her joy is vertical before it’s personal. She magnifies her Lord and her “spirit rejoices in God [her] Savior” (vv. 46-47). In humility, she calls God her Savior, acknowledging her sin and need for God’s mercy. Joy grows where pride is lessened and God’s grace is welcomed.
She goes on to explain why her soul rejoices: God has looked upon her “humble estate” (v. 48). Mary wasn’t wealthy, powerful, or impressive by any worldly standards. She was young, obscure, and vulnerable. Yet God has seen her. The joy she experiences isn’t rooted in her being chosen because she was worthy, but in being shown mercy despite her lowliness.
From there, Mary’s song widens. What God has done for her personally reveals something true about His character universally. “Holy is His name,” she declares, and “His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation” (vv. 49-50, Exodus 34:6-7, Psalm 103:17). Joy, in Mary’s song, is never detached from who God is. It flows from His holiness, His power, and especially His mercy. This isn’t a one-time act of kindness but a continuation of what God has been unfolding throughout history and continues to unfold today.
As the song continues, Mary celebrates the great reversal God brings—scattering the proud, bringing down the mighty, exalting the humble, filling the hungry, and sending the rich away empty (vv. 51–53, 1 Samuel 2:6-8). These words are not political slogans or rhetoric but theological declarations. Mary rejoices in the way God’s mercy turns worldly values upside down (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). Joy comes not to those who trust in their own strength—because human strength fails and fades—but to those who know their need and look to God to strengthen and save.
Finally, Mary anchors her joy in God’s faithfulness to His promises. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering His mercy “as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever” (vv. 54-55; Genesis 12:1-3, 22:17-18). Her joy rests in God’s covenant faithfulness to His people (Deuteronomy 7:9). God was doing in Mary what He had promised long ago. The mercy unfolding in her womb is connected to promises stretching back generations, all the way to Genesis and Abraham. And she rejoices in the assurance that the God who spoke to her keeps His Word.
This is what makes the Magnificat so magnificent. Mary’s joy is deeply personal but not private. It’s shaped by Scripture, grounded in God’s mercy, and oriented toward His purposes and plan rather than her own. She doesn’t rejoice because she experienced an influx of health, wealth, and prosperity as some falsely promise; she rejoices because God is doing exactly what He said He’d do. And this kind of joy – joy rooted in mercy and tempered in humility and faith – prepares us to see the true significance of the Child she carries. Because Mary’s song does not end with her; it presses us forward to the work this Child has come to accomplish.
Fulfillment in Jesus, the Coming King
In the last two weeks, we’ve looked a lot at Old Testament references in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus and in the prophecy from Isaiah. It took some work to flesh out the promises of God and show their fulfillment in Jesus. Luke 1:39-56 is much easier because Jesus is already there in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:31-33, Galatians 4:4).
The promises Mary celebrates are no longer distant or abstract. They aren’t waiting centuries to be fulfilled. They are present, personal, and alive in the Child she carries. The mercy she sings about has taken on flesh (John 1:14). The King she rejoices in is not merely promised – He is already at work, even before He is born (Luke 1:35, Matthew 1:21).
This is what makes Mary’s joy so striking. She’s not rejoicing in who Jesus will one day become, but in who He already is. The reversals she proclaims – the proud scattered, the lowly lifted, the hungry filled – are not wishful thinking or poetic exaggeration but the certain outworking of God’s mercy now embodied in her Child. Luke has already told us who this Child is. The angel Gabriel announced that He would be given “the throne of His father David”, that He would reign forever, and that “of His Kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32-33, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 9:6-7). Those promises stand quietly behind every line of the Magnificat. When Mary sings of God helping His servant Israel and remembering His mercy (v. 54), she is rejoicing in the arrival of the long-awaited King who would finally do what no earthly ruler – even her ancestor King David – could: bring salvation, righteousness, and lasting joy (Jeremiah 23:5-6, Zechariah 9:9).
Jesus fulfills everything expressed in Mary’s song. The proud are scattered as human self-sufficiency is exposed by grace (Luke 18:9-14). The mighty are brought low as the true King enters the world unnoticed and lives a life culminating in the cross (Luke 19:38, 23:33; Philippians 2:6-8). The hungry are filled as Jesus offers Himself as the Bread of Life to those who know their need (Luke 6:20-21, John 6:35). And those who cling to wealth, status, and self-righteousness are sent away empty because they refuse to partake of the mercy He so freely gives (Luke 12:15, 18:24-25).
The mercy Mary rejoices in here reaches its fullest expression at the cross, a reality that would one day pierce her own heart (Luke 2:34-35). There, the lowly are lifted, sinners are forgiven, and the proud illusion of being able to earn righteousness collapses. Jesus is not a mere announcement of God’s mercy – He becomes its means, bearing sin and the wrath of God due for it, and reconciling sinners to God (Luke 22:19–20, Romans 5:8–11, Isaiah 53:4-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21). Mary’s joy isn’t sentimental; it’s anchored in the coming sacrifice of her Son.
Thankfully, the sacrifice she would later witness was not the end. The resurrection she would also witness confirms that her joy was well-founded (Luke 24:1-8, Acts 1:14). God keeps His promises (Hebrews 10:23). The King lives. Jesus rises, reigns, and continues to extend the mercy she sang about – gathering the lowly, forgiving the guilty, and bringing true joy to all who trust in Him. This means Mary’s song was not simply a celebration for what God had done for her, but a declaration of what God had begun to do for the world. The Child in her womb is the King who fulfills every promise, secures lasting joy, and proves once and for all that God’s mercy never fails.
Wrapping Up
We’ve talked a lot about joy today, and, if I’m honest, I find myself longing to feel more of that joy myself. Thankfully, biblical joy is more than a feeling. Feelings ebb and flow, changing with circumstances and surroundings. But joy, biblical joy, is found – just as it was with Elizabeth, John the Baptist, and Mary in Luke 1:39-56 – in the presence of Jesus. It is found fixing our eyes on Him and lifting our entire worldview toward Him, seeking what is above rather than being hijacked by all of the bad this fallen world has to offer (Colossians 3:1-4, Hebrews 12:2).
The joy found in Jesus is available today. He brings joy for the lowly and the lifted.
The lowly are those who know their need – who don’t pretend to have it all together, who feel the weight of weakness, guilt, grief, and sin. Like Mary, they may feel insignificant, overlooked, or uncertain about the road ahead. But as Mary taught us, God looks upon our humble estates. He fills the hungry. He draws near to those who fear Him and trust His Word. For the lowly, the joy of Christ isn’t ignoring or denying hardship or difficulty – it’s the assurance that God sees, God keeps His promises, and God is at work even when we can’t see the outcome.
If that’s you today – if you feel lowly, burdened, or aware of your need – Scripture holds out a clear and gracious invitation. The same Jesus who brought joy to Elizabeth and Mary calls you to confess him as Lord and believe that He is who God says He is in His Word. Romans 10:9 makes this clear: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” It’s not complicated. It’s not earned. It’s trusting Him. It’s faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). And just as it was for them, Jesus is enough.
The lifted are those God raises up by grace. To be lifted by God is not the same thing as being elevated by the world. The lifted are not those who boast in strength, status, or success but those who have been brought low enough to receive mercy. They are forgiven, reconciled, redeemed – and they know that this status is a gift from God by grace through faith in Jesus (Titus 3:4-7, Colossians 1:13-14).
If you find yourself here today – resting in Christ, walking in forgiveness, knowing the mercy He has shown you – this passage invites you not to move on from joy but to return to it again and again – to ask the Lord to remind you of what He has done, to renew your wonder in worshiping Him, and to meet you each day with new mercies (Lamentations 3:23, Hebrews 4:16). Joy deepens as we remember what Jesus has done and entrust ourselves to Him daily.
Joy is not something we can manufacture. It’s something we receive. And it grows wherever Jesus is trusted. May the joy of God’s mercy – secured by Christ our King – take root in your heart and rise in praise, just as it did in Mary’s song.
[3] Zechariah questioned how he could be sure God would give him a son citing that he was “an old man” and Elizabeth was “advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Because he didn’t believe the angel’s word, he was made mute until “the day that these things take place” (Luke 1:20), and his speech returned when John was named, just as God had promised (Luke 1:57-64). Although the text makes no reference to it, Zechariah would have been mute during the entirety of Mary’s visit to their home.
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming — and that’s reason to rejoice!
As we move deeper into the Advent season, this week joy is our focus. This joy was first announced by the angels on the night of Jesus’s birth as “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). From the beginning, Christmas joy has never been about circumstances — it has always been about the Savior.
The book of Hebrews helps us see just how deep that joy runs. We are told in Hebrews 12:2 to fix our eyes on Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Advent joy is rooted in the finished work of Jesus — the King who came, suffered, and now reigns. It’s a joy that is stead and secure because it rests on what Jesus has already accomplished.
Earlier today, our pastor, John Goldwater, shared his excitement about preaching this Sunday and encouraged us to read Hebrews 10:1-18 to prepare our hearts. That passage reminds us that Jesus is the true and final sacrifice — the King whose once-for-all offering truly cleanses us and brings us near to God. So, let’s read it and meditate on it, preparing our hearts to gather and worship JESUS:
1For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,But a body You have prepared for Me. 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’” 8Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will,O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”18Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
This sort of preparation gets at the heart of these “Songs for Sunday” posts. We share them to help Christ Community folks prepare — to read the Scriptures ahead of time, to become familiar with the songs we’ll sing, and to come ready to worship together. Lord willing, we’ll gather as a people prepared — full of joy, fixed on Christ, and eager to make much of Jesus the King, the One who has come and who is coming again!
We’d love for you to gather with us this Sunday at Christ Community as we sing, read God’s Word, hear God’s Word opened in preaching, and rejoice together in Jesus.
Won’t you come?
Here are our Scriptures, songs, and Advent readings:
Advent Reading | Joy —
The candle of joy reminds us of the angels’ announcement of “good news of great joy” at Jesus’s birth (Luke 2:10), and we see in Hebrews that the fullness of that joy is found in Jesus. We are told in Hebrews 12:2 to fix our eyes on Jesus “who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame”, and who is now “seated at the right hand of the throne of God”. The joy of Christmas is rooted in the finished work of Jesus, the God who saves. In a world of temporary happiness and shifting circumstances, the joy found in Jesus is steady and secure. His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection inspire and instill a joy that no situation can take away. As this candle shines, let us turn our eyes from things that fade and fix our eyes on Jesus and find joy in His salvation.
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Sunday’s coming, and I’m excited — really, it’s the season that has me excited this week, thinking back on Jesus’s first coming and longing for His return.
Some call this the holiday season, referencing the ever growing plethora of holidays ranging from late November to early January. Others call it the Christmas season, stemming from their clear desire to make sure folks know that Jesus is the reason for the season. The older I get, the more I think of the season leading up to the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas as Advent.
The Church has called this season Advent for centuries (stemming from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming” or “arriving”), meditating on the coming and arrival of Jesus. And that’s the heartbeat of these weeks leading up to Christmas: Jesus has come, and He will come again.
Advent has a way of slowing us down just enough to remember what matters most. It invites us to look back with gratitude and forward with expectation — back to God becoming flesh and dwelling among us, back to when God kept His promise and sent His Son, and forward to the day when the very same Jesus will come again in glory.
In recent years, we’ve marked these weeks with the lighting of candles to help us focus on Jesus’s past and future advents. The first one — the candle of hope — reminds us that the hope with have in Jesus isn’t some vague wish but an expectation anchored in God’s faithfulness and eternal nature.
All of our readings this year will be based out of the book of Hebrews that we’ve been studying together this year. Hebrews tells us that God confirmed His promise with an oath “so that we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18). The hope He gives is “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19) because it doesn’t rest on us at all but entirely on God’s strength and faithfulness.
As we ponder on the hope we have in Jesus in this Advent season, we are reminded that God keeps His promises. Every prophecy, every shadow, every longing of the Old Testament finds “yes and amen” in the first coming of Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And because God proved Himself faithful in that first coming, we can trust Him with every promise whose fulfillment still lays ahead.
Earlier, I remarked about the differences in the way some people refer to the season; a lot of that is driven by sentimentality. The hope we celebrate in Advent isn’t sentimental. It’s not rooted in changing seasons or circumstances but in the unchanging character of our promise-keeping God. Because He sent His Son just as He promised for millennia, we can “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
This is the good, gospel news Advent holds out to weary people: Emmanuel (God with us) has come. And Emmanuel will come again. The One who fulfilled every word of prophecy in HIs first coming will do the same at His return. That’s why our hearts can sing with confidence the longing woven into “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”:
“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel…shall come again with us to dwell!”
What began in Bethlehem will end in glory. The God who came near has promised to come again and make all things new. And in these early weeks of Advent at Christ Community, as we worship, pray, and sing together, we do so with the steady, joyful hope that the King who came once will surely come again — because He who promised is faithful.
Since this is true — and it is — we need to understand that Advent isn’t just a season to observe but a season pointing to the Savior we can come to ourselves. The same Jesus who came once in humility and will come again in glory invites you now to draw near to Him in faith.
If you are weary, come to Him.
If you feel the weight of sin or sorrow, come to Him.
If you’re longing for something more solid than the shifting foundations of this world, come to Him.
The anchor of hope that Hebrews tells about is not an idea but a Person, and His name is Jesus. He’s strong enough, faithful enough, and near enough to hold you fast. I want to invite you to seek Him this Advent season. Bring your questions, your needs, your joys, your burdens. He’s a truer hope than anything this world can offer, and He delights to meet His people when they come to Him.
And I also want to invite you to gather with us this Sunday at Christ Community. There’s something uniquely beautiful about joining our voices together, singing the hope of the gospel, praying with expectation, and sitting under John’s faithful preaching when He opens the Scriptures and points us to Jesus — our living hope, our faithful High Priest, our soon-coming King.
So, come.
Come behold the One who came for us, who is with us, and who will come again for His people.
Here are our Scriptures, songs, and Advent readings:
Advent Reading | Hope —
Lighting the first candle of Advent reminds us that our hope is not a vague wish or a fragile feeling—it is anchored in the unchanging promises of God. Hebrews tells us that God “guaranteed” His promise with an oath so that we might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:17–18). This hope is “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,” firm because it rests on who God is and what He has already done for us in Jesus Christ.
Advent reminds us that God kept His promises in sending His Son. Everything He foretold in Scripture—every shadow, every prophecy, every longing—was fulfilled in Christ. Because God proved Himself faithful in Christ’s first coming, we can trust Him with every promise still ahead. As we enter this season, let us cling to the confession of our hope without wavering, for “He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).
17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Every Sunday, our faith family at Christ Community gathers for one reason: to worship and glorify our resurrected King, Jesus Christ. We don’t meet out of routine or ritual or religion but in response to the good news that Jesus lived, died, rose again, and reigns forever!
This Sunday (like every Sunday), the songs we sing and Scriptures we read will walk us through the gospel story. Let’s take a look and prepare our hearts to gather and worship.
The Mind and Majesty of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-11) Paul tells the Philippians — and us — to adopt the mindset of Jesus (v. 5). This isn’t some moral challenge but a call to reflect the heart of our Savior. Though He was truly God (v. 6), Jesus didn’t grasp at His heavenly privilege but rather chose the path of humility.
He made Himself nothing — not by ceasing to be God, but by becoming human and taking on the nature of a servant (v .7). God Himself put on flesh and stepped down into our broken world (John 1:14). He lived a perfect, sinless life, obeying the Father perfectly, even to the point of death — “even death on a cross” (v. 8). This crucifixion was not just excruciating; it was humiliating and degrading, the lowest form of execution reserved for criminals. But Jesus bore it willingly for us.
Because of His humility and obedience, “God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name” (v. 9). One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord, all to the glory of God the Father (vv. 10-11). The One who stooped low to serve and to save now reigns on high as King of kings and Lord of lords.
But if we stop there, we might miss the full weight of what happened on the cross. That’s why Isaiah 53, written hundreds of years before God became flesh and dwelt among us, speaks so powerfully into what Jesus endured.
The Suffering Savior (Isaiah 53:3-6) Isaiah paints a vivid picture of the Servant who would come — not with power and acclaim but with sorrow and rejection (v. 3). Jesus wouldn’t just brush up against human suffering but enter into it fully, yet while people dismissed Him, thinking He was being punished by God (v. 4), Isaiah prophesies an important truth for us to understand today: when Jesus was “pierced”, it was for “our transgressions” — when He was “crushed”, it was for “our iniquities” (v. 5).
Jesus didn’t suffer for His sins because He had none. He suffered for ours. And His “punishment…brought us peace”, and “His wounds” brought us healing (v. 5). The wrath of God fell on His spotless Son so that mercy could be poured out on us.
Just as we’ve read in Philippians 2:5-11, the cross wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t injustice. It was God’s plan to redeem sinners through the willing sacrifice of His Son. And that’s good news for sinners like us.
That’s why we can sing “King of Kings”, the story of Jesus’s humility, crucifixion, resurrection, and glory. It’s why we can sing “Man of Sorrows” and “Jesus Paid It All”, recognizing that Jesus endured sorrow, pain, and death to pay the price for our sin. It’s why we can sing “What a Beautiful Name” — because He is the One who has been given a name above all names and exalted above everything that is.
That’s why we sing. That’s why we gather. Jesus is God, and He is worthy. He bore our griefs, carried our sin, paid our debt with His life, rose from the grave, and now reigns forevermore, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
This is the Jesus we gather to worship.
This is the gospel — the good news — we proclaim and rejoice in.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
3He 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.
4Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5But 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. 6All 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.
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.
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!
Let me clarify, specifically, what I’m thinking about Sunday coming being good news. I’m talking about the Lord’s Day, but I’m also talking about the Day of the Lord when He comes and gets His people.
This world is hard and full of tribulations and sorrows. There is good, and that can only be attributed to Jesus, but there is a lot of…well, a lot.
There’s a lot of pain. A lot of questions. A lot of reasons to feel weary, overwhelmed, or even undone. But Sunday is coming — JESUS is coming. And that’s good news.
It’s good news for us because Sunday is the Lord’s Day — the first day of the week when we remember that Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over sin and death. It’s also good news because it reminds us that the Day of the Lord is still ahead — when He will come again, right every wrong, wipe away every tear, and bring His people home.
Until that Day comes, we live in the tension, in a broken world with hopeful hearts. We are people who still struggle. We still suffer. And unfortunately we still sin. Yet by grace we have a great high priest — Jesus Christ — who not only reigns from the throne but invites us to draw near as we see in Hebrews 4:14-16:
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This is the throne of the King of kings, the One who is seated high and holy (Revelation 4), yet He still welcomes sinners and sufferers who have been saved by grace through faith in Him to come boldly. We don’t draw near because we’ve got it all together—we draw near because Jesus does.
This Sunday at Christ Community, Lord willing, we will lift our eyes to the throne, beginning with Psalm 24, asking “Who is this King of Glory?” and joyfully answering, “The LORD of hosts, He is the King of Glory!” (Psalm 24:10)
And then, together, we’ll join the worship of heaven found in Revelation 4 and 5 where saints and angels cry out that Jesus alone is worthy of worship and “holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”!
You may not feel worthy to approach His throne—I know I don’t. So let’s settle that here: we’re not. But He is. He is worthy of worship, worthy of being sought, worthy of glory, praise, and honor. And He, the Worthy One, has invited us.
He wants us to approach. Because He “has passed through the heavens” (Hebrews 4:14) and sympathizes “with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). Because He loves us and cares for us and wants to give us the mercy we need and to help us find the grace we need “to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
He wants us.
And because He does, we can approach His throne with the confidence of a toddler approaching their mommy or daddy’s bed to ask for water at three in the morning. If earthly parents and caretakers can show grace like that, how much more will our “great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)?
So let’s approach together. Let’s lay our burdens down. Let’s seek Him and make much of Him. We may not always feel like it. Everything in life may seem to be pulling us back. But we get to do this. And we need to—if for no other reason than that He wants us to.
1The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2for He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
3Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in His holy place? 4He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah.
7Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. 8Who is this King of Glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! 9Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in. 10Who is this King of Glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of Glory! Selah
8And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
8And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
11Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Sunday is the Lord’s Day – Resurrection Sunday, and I am excited!
The original resurrection Sunday, when Jesus walked out of the tomb alive and well, is the day that changed everything.
Why? How?
At the heart of the Christian faith is one message – the proclamation of the gospel message – that Paul calls “of first importance – a message that holds the power to give life, forgive sin, and secure eternity with Jesus:
“…Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures….”
This is not just an inspirational story or some religious tradition. It is the true, good, victorious news that Jesus died for sinners like us, was buried in a borrowed tomb, and rose again just like the Scriptures said He would.
Yes, Jesus died for our sins – taking our punishment and paying our sin debt.
Yes, He was buried – truly dead, wrapped in grave clothes and laid in the silence of the grave.
But praise God, HE IS RISEN!
When the women arrived at the tomb that first Resurrection Sunday morning, they heard the words that still echo throughout history:
Jesus always – ALWAYS – keeps His word. And His resurrection proves it. It proves His power over sin and death. It proves His identity as the Son of God – as God incarnate. It proves that all who trust in Him can have a living hope, an unshakable promise of eternal life.
This Sunday at Christ Community, we’ll gather not just to remember an empty cross or to commemorate an empty tomb. No, we’ll gather to worship our risen and resurrected King! We’ll sing “King of Kings” and “Holy, Holy, Holy (Jesus Reigns)” because Jesus is alive and reigning even now, interceding on behalf of those He saves at the right hand of the Father. We’ll celebrate our “Living Hope” and declare that “Ain’t No Grave” able to hold Jesus or those He gives eternal life!
John is going to open the Word of God and point us to our resurrected Lord and King, our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
All in all, we’ll embody the truth of the beloved hymn “Because He Lives”. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because He lives and we know that He holds the future in His hands, life is worth living. Jesus has changed everything because He lives!
So, come and worship. Come and believe. Come and rejoice in the Savior who died, who was buried, and who rose again – just as He said.
Most Sundays, we list out the Scriptures and songs we’ll use in our worship gathering to help people prepare their hearts. These posts are typically titled “Songs for Sunday”.
Here are our Scriptures and songs for Sunday, April 20:
1Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!
With those words, the grave was silenced, death was defeated, and hope reigned eternal.
Long before that first Resurrection Sunday morning, Job declared through tears and pain, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25). He didn’t have all the answers, but he held onto the living hope that one day, beyond death and decay, he would see his God for himself. That hope was not misplaced.
Because Jesus lives, we can face anything – even death – with confidence. The Redeemer Job longed to see is the risen Christ who lived on earth, bore our sorrows unto death, and now lives reigns in glory. And as surely as He rose, He promises that all who trust in Him will rise too (John 11:25).
Today is not just a celebration of what happened – it is a declaration of what is to come. Our Redeemer lives! And one day, with resurrected eyes and glorified bodies, we will see Him face to face.
Let your heart rise with resurrection hope. Jesus is not here. He has risen just as He said. He ascended back to heaven and has promised to return to gather His people to Himself.
Just Keith Harris 