Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

December 31, 2021

12/31/2021

Keep Turning Your Eyes Upon Jesus

        Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29.

    We have spent a year beholding the Lamb. Our theme song for the year has been "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." There is no better place for our gaze. During our final time together let us sing through its chorus one more time:

                "Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
                        Look full in His wonderful face;
                  And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
                        In the light of His glory and grace."

    We have turned our eyes upon Jesus as the eternal God, the incarnate Christ, One who ministered on earth, the crucified Lamb, the resurrected Lord, the coming King, and our personal Savior. Also, we have looked upon Him in His weakness and His strength, in His humility and His glory, and as the Babe in Bethlehem and the infinite God of the universe.

    We have looked. That is true. But we also need to keep on looking every day until He returns in the clouds of heaven. Then we need to keep on looking at Him throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

    But with that looking comes the need to do something with this Lamb who died for each of us. In the end we each face the question that Pilate put to the Jews: "What shall I do with the man whom you call the King of the Jews?" (Mark 15:12, RSV).

    I see you fidgeting over there. But let's face it; fidgeting doesn't solve the issue. What are you going to do with the salvation through Jesus that you have meditated upon for the past 365 days? What are you personally going to do with Jesus?

    The answer of the Jews to Pilate was loud and clear: "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" And Pilate did. That is still a live option for us. The other option is that we will let Him crucify us and resurrect us to a new way of life in Him.

    God is waiting for our response. He realizes the depth of our need. But He also knows the depth and height and breadth of His grace provided through the Lamb of God who died to take away the sin of the world.

    Not only do we need to keep on every day turning our eyes upon Jesus, we also must daily make Him the ruling Lord of our life.

    Today, Father, we thank You for Your greatest gift. But more than that, we want to recommit our lives to walking with our resurrected Lord each of our days here on earth that we might continue to behold Him throughout the eternal ages. Amen!

December 30, 2021

12/30/2021

Jesus' Final Invitation

        "I Jesus have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. Rev. 22:16, 17, RSV.

    The book of Revelation is all about Jesus. It begins with Him as the Lord of the churches as He walks among the candlesticks. From there it moves on to His heavenly coronation as the Lamb of God and the Lion of the tribe of Judah in chapters 4 and 5. And after featuring Him in world history it concludes with a vision of His coming in the clouds of heaven as a glorious conquering King who spends eternity with the redeemed of all ages.

    Near the end of the book we find His last invitation to you and me. It is a simple "come," made more profound by repetition in the context of a hushed universe before whom He highlights the fact that He is "the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star."

    Near the beginning of Revelation we also find an invitation from Jesus. "Behold," He says, "I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev. 3:20-22, RSV).

    In response to that invitation Ellen White writes that "Jesus is daily saying to you, 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock....' Jesus has given His precious life for you, that you may become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Then give yourself to Him as a pledge of grateful love. Were it not for the love freely given us of Christ, we should now be in hopeless despair, in spiritual midnight. Thank God every day that He gave us Jesus" (Sons and Daughters of God, p. 238).

    It all sounds so deceptively easy--"come," "open, "give." And it is simple.

    You and I have choices. We can have a life without hope or we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, give our lives to Him, and walk with Him every day of our lives.

    The choice is simple, but also individual. Don't just look at Jesus, my friend, but do something about it. Right now!

December 29, 2021

12/29/2021

Where to End?

        Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21:25, NIV.

    We began this year's journey of turning our eyes upon Jesus with the question of "where to begin?" And that certainly is a problem. After all, if we had begun it with His birth in Bethlehem we would have missed most of the story.

    We now face the same problem at the journey's conclusion. Where to end? is a question that must be asked. How do you bring to completion a life that resurrected from death, a life that has the keys of death and the grave and continues on eternally?

    The answer, of course, is that there is no ending. The story of Jesus goes on and on. And like a mighty river, it picks up strength and added texture as it flows from eternity in the past to eternity in the future.

    The apostle John helps us catch a glimpse of the problem of even chronicling the events and teachings of Jesus' earthly life, stating that if the whole story were told, "even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." John himself had opened up new realms in the life of Jesus that the other Gospel writers had neglected. Even a casual comparison of the fourth Gospel with the other three helps us see how much material he added to our store of knowledge. And yet that is only one little step toward what could be added to even our understanding of Jesus' earthly life. And even a full accounting of those 33 years would be hardly the tip of an iceberg compared with a detailed narrative of His eternal existence.

    Such unwritten "gospels" will be part of our study for eternity. Meanwhile, in what the four evangelists have provided for us we have all we need to know for salvation.

    How to end the story for now is the problem. Perhaps the best way is with the final paragraph in The Great Controversy, which reflects a complete atonement: "The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love" (678).

    Not a bad ending for a story that has no end.

December 28, 2021

12/28/2021

Jesus the Eternal and Omnipotent

        "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Rev. 1:8, RSV.

        And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Rev. 21:6, 7, NKJV.

        Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Rev. 22:12, 13, NASB.

    One of the more interesting titles of Jesus is the fact that He is "the Alpha and the Omega." But is He? In the first use of the term in Revelation it seems to be referring to God the Father. But in the last Jesus uses it of Himself. We have something precious here in the full equality of Jesus and the Father. Both of them are the Alpha and the Omega. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega the last.

    The Jews had a similar saying. The first letter in the Hebrew alphabet is aleph, while the last is taw. The rabbis said that Adam transgressed the law, but Abraham kept the law from aleph to taw. Again, they declared that God had blessed Israel from aleph to taw. That expression, like "the alpha and the omega," indicates a completeness that lacks nothing. When used of Deity it means that God and Christ are complete--that They lack nothing.

    That is the kind of infinite Jesus whom we serve. Like the Father, He is one "who is and who was and who is to come." He is "the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

    Both of those expressions signify the absolute eternalness of Jesus. Thus He was before time begun, He is now, and He will be through the ages without end. He is One in whom people trusted in the past. Now He is one in whom we can put our trust at this present moment. And there can be no event or time in the future in which He will let us down.

    Another description used of God the Father and Jesus in the alpha and omega passages is that They "are Almighty," a phrase used numerous times in the New Testament, almost all of them being in Revelation. Our lives may look weak. And even the church may appear insignificant compared with the forces of the world. But those things are not where we are to focus. "Almighty" describes God and Jesus as Those who control all things, who hold all in Their grasp.

    We serve a Lord who is not short of power. He is still "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).

December 27, 2021

12/27/2021

Heaven: A Positive Perspective

        Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. Rev. 22:1-5, RSV.

    Eden restored is the best way to describe the re-created earth on which the redeemed from all ages will spend eternity. And the best thing about it will be the presence of Jesus Himself. He may be in a spiritual sense the light of our life during our present earthly journey, but there His glory will literally be all the light we need. Now, I have to admit that I do not fully understand such things. But I look forward to learning about them in the heavenly school.

    Isaiah presents a peek into heavenly conditions in a way that we can understand. His word pictures have been some of my favorites from the beginning of my Christian walk.

        "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
            and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
            and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
            and a little child shall lead them.

        The cow and the bear shall feed;
            their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox....

       They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
            for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
            as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11:6-9, RSV).

    Again we read: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" (Isa. 35:5, 6, RSV).

    Here we have a snapshot of the heavenly new earth of the saved. No wonder Isaiah tells us that "the ransomed of the Lord shall...come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; [and] they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (verse 10, RSV). All I can add to those word pictures is a heartfelt Amen!

December 26, 2021

12/26/2021

Heaven: A Negative Perspective

    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev. 21:1-5, RSV.

    Jesus has returned (Rev. 19) and taken His people, who have been caught up in the air to meet Him, back to heaven with Him (1 Thess. 4:17; John 14:1-3). There they spend the 1,000-year period known as the millennium fellowshipping with God and one another and becoming absolutely convinced that God had done the very best thing in the face of the crisis caused by sin (Rev. 20:4-6). When all are satisfied, sin and sinners and Satan himself are put to rest in what John the revelator calls "the second death" (Rev. 20:7-15).

    It is at that point in time that the new Jerusalem descends to a re-created earth (Rev. 21:1, 2 Peter 3:13). The book of Revelation describes that re-creation as the restoration of Edenic conditions. Sin is only a memory as God's saints who have been saved through the varied work of Jesus spend the eternal ages headquartered on Planet Earth.

    One of the most interesting things about that heavenly place is that Jesus reveals it to John in the negative. There is a good reason for that. Part of it is that the human mind with its limited experience cannot grasp the glories of God's realm. It is beyond the scope of their thinking and thus impossible to describe.

    But we earthlings do know what we have to face in this earth and what we would like to escape from.

    As a result, we find the book of Revelation telling us that the heavenly realm will have no more tears, or any pain or death or mourning. It even tells us that there will be no more sea (Rev. 21:1)--representing in symbolic terms that the entire earth will be agriculturally fruitful--that there will be no more hunger.

    I am glad for the negatives. I look forward to an existence not bounded by death and not interrupted by illness. But such negatives provide only the slightest glimmer of what awaits those who choose to live with Jesus throughout infinite time.

December 25, 2021

12/25/2021

Being Ready for Jesus to Come

        The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [conduct] and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt away with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 2 Peter 3:10-14.

    What kind of person should I be in the face of the unprecedented events coming upon the earth? Jesus tried to tell us the answer to that question when He ministered on earth for those three years. We find it in the Sermon on the Mount in His call for His followers to be humble, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and individuals who hunger and thirst after righteousness more than anything else in their lives (Matt. 5:3-9).

    Another part of His answer appears in His response to the lawyer about the greatest commandment of all. I still need to hear His words more fully and apply them to my life: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40, RSV), including the Ten Commandments, which are extensions and applications of the two great commandments (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14).

    And yet another aspect of how to be ready occurs in the parable of the sheep and the goats, in which we discover that the last judgment centers upon our acts of mercy and justice to those who need help the most in this life. The caring, giving life of the servant is the life that Jesus modeled in His earthly existence. And it is those characteristics He will be looking for in those He takes to heaven with Him.

    We are, to be sure, saved by His grace. But that same grace transforms His followers and step-by-step forms them into His likeness. What kind of people do we need to be like on "that day"? The short answer is that we need to be like Him.

    Father in heaven, I look forward to the coming of Jesus. Help me, Father, to let You change me from the inside out so that I might be ready to stand on "that day."

December 24, 2021

12/24/2021

December 24                                Immortal Saints

        Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Cor. 15:51-54, NKJV.

    Nothing captures this scene more vividly than a passage from The Great Controversy: "Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightening, and the roar of thunder, the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the righteous, then, raising His hands to heaven, He cries: 'Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!' Throughout the length and breadth of the earth the dead shall hear that voice, and they that hear shall live. And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding great army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From the prison house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying: 'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?' 1 Corinthians 15:55. And the living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of victory....

    "All arise with the freshness and vigor of eternal youth. In the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God, not only in character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated the divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost. He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All blemishes and deformities are left in the grave. Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will 'grow up' (Malachi 4:2) to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will appear in 'the beauty of the Lord our God,' in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager anticipation, but never fully understood" (pp. 644-645).

    Some may speak of immortal souls, but the Bible is clear that immorality is a gift bestowed at the Second Advent. Until that time the dead sleep in their graves. But when He comes again, He will complete His victory over death with the resurrection of those who have accepted Him and the transformation of their bodies and the granting of immortality. Such is the victory of the followers of Him who has the keys of death and the grave (Rev. 1:18).

December 23, 2021

12/23/2021

The Not-So-Secret Rapture

        For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump[et] of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

    In these verses we find the Bible's most vivid description of the rapture. Paul writes that "we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thess. 4:17, RSV).

    The words to watch are "caught up." The Greek word behind the translation means "to seize," to "snatch away," and to "transport hastily." It has worked its way into English as "rapture" through the Latin rapio. So when Paul speaks of the end-time rapture he means the event in which God's people are "caught up," or raptured, at the Second Advent to meet Him who is coming in the clouds of heaven.

    With verse 17 in mind, it is little wonder that Christians like to talk about the rapture. But what is inconceivable is that some have concluded that it would be secret.

    Paul tells us just how secret it is. First, he ties the rapture to the Second Advent. That is, it will take place at the same time that Jesus returns. And how hidden is His coming? According to Jesus Himself, it would as visible as the lightening that flashes across the heavens (Matt. 24:27). And the book of Revelation tells us that when He returns "every eye will see him" (Rev. 1:7, NKJV).

    But Paul adds to that lack of secrecy when he tells us that "the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God" (1 Thess. 4:16, RSV). All the noise and calling and victorious trumpeting have the effect of awakening those asleep in their graves. The coming will be just as audible as it will be visible.

    The rapture and the Second Advent are the opposite of secret. They will be accompanied by a massive shout, the voice of an archangel, the blaring of a trumpet (verse 16), a heavenly display that will be as visible as lightening illuminating the sky (Matt. 24:27), something so widespread that every eye will see it (Rev. 1:7), and around the entire world the opening of the graves and resurrection of the dead who had accepted Jesus as their Lord (1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:52).

    It appears that the not-so-secret rapture will indeed be the greatest show on earth. I look forward with all my heart to that day!

December 22, 2021

12/22/2021

A Tale of Two Ascensions

        For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall be always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thess. 4:15-18, NASB.

    With verses 15-17 we come to one of the most insightful pictures of the return of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. As we read these verses we need to remember that Paul's purpose in writing is pastoral. Some of the believers have been disoriented by the death of others in the church, and he responds with words of comfort and assurance.

    We have seen in verses 13 and 14 that the apostle did not want them ignorant on the topic, and that just as Jesus rose from the grave so would His followers. Now in verses 15-17 Paul states plainly what he had only hinted at in verse 13.

    And his words of hope must have been extremely comforting to the distressed believers. For one thing, in verse 15 he lets them know that those who had died and were sleeping in their graves would have absolutely no disadvantage at the Second Advent. To the contrary, they would have the honor of firstness. The apostle notes that the living "will not precede those who have fallen asleep." He goes out of his way to emphasize his point by using an emphatic negative. The more accurate is "most certainly not" rather than merely "not." He wants them to have complete assurance on the point that is troubling them.

    With verse 16 we can feel the excitement building up in Paul as he describes the Second Advent itself. Not only will the Lord return from heaven, as He had promised His earliest disciples (Acts 1:11; John 14:1-3), but He will do so with glory and fanfare as the trumpets blare and the archangel shouts as He calls the dead from their graves.

    But for those living at the return of Jesus the best is yet to come. In verse 17 Paul adds that "we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them [those who have been resurrected] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."

    What a promise! Just as Jesus arose from the dead, so will those who believe in Him! And just as He ascended to heaven, so will all of those who have trusted in Him! They will be caught up in the clouds to meet Him in the air!

    As Paul tells the story, the "blessed hope" just gets better and better.