Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

December 21, 2021

12/21/2021

Resurrection Hope

        For since we believe that Jesus died and rose, even so God will take with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 1 Thess. 4:14, my translation.

    The "for" at the head of verse 14 refers us back to verse 13, which noted that Christians are not like those who have no hope in the face of death. Why? "For," or because, "we believe that Jesus died and rose" and that "God will take with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus." Thus Paul builds the Christian case for hope in two propositions: (1) Jesus died and rose, and (2) because He rose, those who have accepted Him will rise also.

    Jesus is coming again. That is the primary "blessed hope." But now he adds breadth and depth to that hope in his discussion of the promised resurrection. To the apostle these teachings stand at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the one who died and rose again that we might share his victory (1 Cor. 15:1-3, 22, 23).

    The perceptive reader will have noted that I did not use one of the standard translations for today's reading but substituted my own translation. Let me explain the implications here.

    Every published translation that I consulted renders the verse something like this: "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus" (NKJV). The word we want to look at is "bring." I translated it as "take." The Greek word includes both of those meanings, and either is a permissible rendering. But the two translations have quite different meanings: either Jesus will "bring" with Him those who supposedly went to heaven at death, or Jesus will "take" to heaven those whom He resurrects at the Second Advent.

    The reason that nearly all translations render ago as "bring" is that they truly believe that people go to heaven when they die. My translation, of course, holds that the dead are asleep in their graves until Jesus returns.

    Here we have a problem. Is the correct translation merely my theology against theirs? The good news is that the context solves the problem. Verse 16 clearly teaches that all are asleep (dead) in their earthly graves until the wakeup call on resurrection day. Martin Luther, the fountainhead of the Reformation, explains that truth when he writes that "we are to sleep until he comes and knocks on the grave and says, 'Dr. Martin, get up.' Then I will rise in a moment and will be eternally happy with him."

    Thank You, Father, for the extensiveness of the blessedness of "the blessed hope."

December 20, 2021

12/20/2021

More on "Hope"

        But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 1 Thess. 4:13.

    With today's verse we come to Paul's most extensive treatment of the Second Advent. And in terms of the details about the resurrection of the saints it is the most complete in the New Testament, with 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 coming in as a close second.

    The apostle begins his discussion with a statement regarding "hope." We have already seen how Paul viewed the Second Advent as "the blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). But here in 1 Thessalonians he expands on that hope and makes some of its implications explicit.

    The recently converted believers in Thessalonica needed such hope. The death of some of their number had caught them by surprise. Undoubtedly they had assumed that all believers would live until Christ returned.

    But some hadn't made it, and the Thessalonica church members had had the sorrowful task of burying them. What would become of such individuals?

    Here is a problem that troubles people in every generation. After all, none of us escapes death. So what is the meaning of death, or even of a life destined to end in such a useless manner? It is a question that has challenged philosophers and theologians and ordinary people across the ages. Paul's answer is the most satisfactory ever given.

    He writes that he doesn't want them to be ignorant about those who were sleeping in death. The apostle didn't want the death of loved ones to shatter the faith of those he was writing to. He didn't want them to be people of "no hope."

    "No hope" are the words that set the apostle up for the discussion of the resurrection of the saints, a topic he begins to undertake in 1 Thessalonians 4:14.

    But before moving to his presentation we will examine Paul's understanding of Christianity as a religion of hope. In his letter to the Romans he refers to God as the "God of hope" (Rom. 15:13) and notes that as Christians we "rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God" (Rom. 5:2, RSV).

    Hope in the Bible, I should point out, is not wishful thinking but a knowledge that something will happen. And confidence about what God will do in the future rests upon what He has done in the past. Therefore, Paul writes, "whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4, RSV).

December 19, 2021

12/19/2021

Earth's Greatest Supper

        Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." Rev. 19:6-9, RSV.

    Earth's palaces throughout history have seen a lot of famous suppers, which people anticipate with enthusiasm and expectation. But none will be greater than the marriage supper of the Lamb, at which time Jesus receives His kingdom, figuratively described in Revelation 21 as the "new Jerusalem...prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:2, RSV).

    Here we have a banquet rooted deeply in biblical history. The prophet Isaiah spoke of it 700 years before Christ's incarnation: "On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things....He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, 'Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation' " (Isa. 25:6-9, RSV).

    And Jesus prophesied of that feast when He said that "many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 8:11, RSV).

    The great supper of the ages has arrived in Revelation 19. And, as in the parable of the 10 virgins, it portrays the waiting saints as guests invited to the wedding (Matt. 25:1-10). They are not only invited, but Revelation 19:8 has them properly clothed for the occasion. Saved by grace, that same grace has made a difference in their lives as they lived for God and His principles. Thus not only is their King represented as coming on a white horse, but their glistening robes are described as "bright and pure" linen consisting of "the righteous deeds of the saints" (RSV). God's saving, transforming, empowering grace has made a difference in their lives, and they are ready for earth's greatest supper--the climatic feast of the ages.

December 18, 2021

12/18/2021

The Kingly Lamb

        After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God for his judgments are true and just."...Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse? He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself....And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses....On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords. Rev. 19:1-16, RSV.

    How does an earthly writer describe a heavenly coming? How does one imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos write about glory and victory? Not very easily. John's language is symbolic throughout Revelation 19 as he seeks to portray the majestic return of the humble Lamb of God who has become the majestic "King of kings and Lord of lords" to rescue His people and destroy those who have wreaked havoc on the earth.

    A lot has happened in the life of John. He first knew Jesus as a humble man who healed the sick and fed the multitudes-- man who submissively went to the cross. But now, some 60 years later, that same John receives a glimpse of the humble Galilean in all of His glory.

    And here it is that we find the Messiah King that John, Peter, and the Jews in general expected at the First Advent. Deep in Jewish history, as we have seen many times during the year, was the Bible-based belief in a Christ who would come to rescue His people as a conquering David--a Man of war who would release His people from oppression and bondage.

    That is what the disciples fully expected of Jesus back in His earthly journey. Their minds had collapsed His two comings into one, and they were totally bewildered when their Christ was led to the cross as a lamb.

    But now it is clear to John. The Christ had to become the sacrificial Lamb before He could in righteousness and justice and love assume the role of the conquering King of all nations. At last the fullness of the kingdom has come.

    The One who is called "Faithful and True" is returning to fulfill the promises He made on earth. The white horse symbolizes both purity and conquering royalty. And God's people both in heaven and on earth are filled with praise as their Lord at last puts an end to sin.

    As the old song goes, "What a day of rejoicing that will be" when we see our personal Savior coming to take us home. I want to be ready to meet my Lord on that day. I look forward to it with all of my heart.

December 17, 2021

12/17/2021

The Wrath of the Lamb

        And [they] said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Rev. 6:16, 17.

    Who has ever heard of a wrathful lamb? The two words don't even seem to go together. But then neither do the descriptions in Revelation of Jesus as both the Lamb of God and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Perhaps we need to take a second look to see what John is reporting.

    Most people see "wrath" as a nasty word. And many theologians have worked hard to remove all divine wrath from their teachings. But what is unpopular with them is quite popular with God. The number of Bible references to God's wrath exceeds 580. Writers have utilized barrels of ink to explain away God's wrath, but in the final analysis the Lamb of God and the Lion of the tribe of Judah will act to end the problem of sin.

    But let's not go astray here. God's wrath is not an emotional anger comparable to human rage. To the contrary, it is a function of His love. God hates the sin that continues to destroy the lives and happiness of His created beings. He is weary of dead babies, cancer, and blindness; rape, murder, and theft; holocausts, Rwandas, and Iraqs.

    In His timing God will respond to the souls under the altar whom John pictures as crying out, "O Sovereign Lord...how long" before You put an end to the mess we call world history (Rev. 6:10, NLT)? As W. L. Walker declares, "God's wrath only goes forth because God is love, and because sin is that which injures His children and is opposed to the purpose of His love." And Alan Richardson points out that "only a certain kind of degenerate Protestant theology has attempted to contrast the wrath of God with the mercy of Christ."

    God, as the Bible portrays Him, cannot and will not forever stand idly by while His creation suffers. His reaction is judgment on that sin that is destroying His people. We should see that judgment as the real meaning of biblical wrath. God condemns sin in judgment and will eventually eradicate it completely. The first step takes place at Jesus' second advent. The second will occur at the end of the millennium according to Revelation 20:11-15.

    The plain fact is that if we have only the Lamb of God who died for us, we have only half a gospel. The Lamb has been slaughtered, yet God's children continue to suffer. The climatic phase of the Lamb's work is His function as the Lion of the tribe of Judah at the end of time.

December 16, 2021

12/16/2021

"Fear" Is More Than Respect

        When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong; slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?" Rev. 6:12-17, RSV.

    As I noted a few days ago, I want to be seated in the right section when the world sees Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven. Not all will be filled with joy when that happens.

    The biblical descriptions of that day itself beggar the imagination from both the perspective of glory and from that of disaster. In today's passage John seems to be struggling with how to depict earth's end. Nothing will remain untouched.

    The description reminds me of that day when I stood at ground zero in Hiroshima, Japan--the very spot above which the first atomic bomb used in wrath detonated. The impression in my mind was one of awe and fright as the destructive forces of even that simple (in the light of modern capabilities) bomb impressed themselves upon my mind. Yet that explosion is as nothing compared to what will happen at the end of world history.

    "Fear" is the only word that we can use to capture the reaction of those who have chosen to live by destructive principles opposed to God and His kingdom. All they want to do is to escape from the Lamb. But that is nothing new. They have rejected Him throughout their lives.

    When many modern people read that one of the Bible's last warnings is to call men and women to "fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come" (Rev. 14:7, RSV), they interpret fear merely as "respect." It is respect, but, as today's passage makes clear, it is much more than that.

    When dominion gets reversed at the end of time many of those who created fear in others during their lives will suffer from fear themselves as they see their kingdoms and ways of life brought to an end.

    This is not the Bible's most pleasant teaching. But it is an important one as we line up for seats in what will truly be "The Greatest Show on Earth."

December 15, 2021

12/15/2021

Dominion Reversal

        Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth." Rev. 11:15-18, NKJV.

    When the seventh angel sounds, the chain of events pictured in Revelation's seven trumpets reaches its climax and earth's history rushes to an end.

    That time will be one of power reversal. One of the key words in Bible prophecy is "dominion." That is particularly true of Daniel 7, which predicts a future time when the dominion of the devil and his agents will be "taken away" (verse 26, RSV) and given to Christ (verse 14). And "his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away" (verse 14, RSV).

    The focal point of Bible prophecy in Daniel and Revelation is dominion. It centers on the question of who is in charge. Thus the great panoramic vision of Daniel 7 (and its parallels in both apocalyptic books) features a sequence of earthly rulers, including Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the power that would make great claims for itself, who seeks to change God's law, and persecute God's people throughout much of Christian history (verse 25).

    But those earthly rulers were really only a front for Satan, who sought to control world events from behind the scenes. It was the devil himself who claimed dominion over this world. Paul referred to that reality when he spoke of "the world rulers of this present darkness" (Eph. 6:12, RSV) and "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2, RSV).

    God has permitted the forces of darkness to run the earth, utilizing their own principles. And human history demonstrates the destructiveness of that rule. The final judgment is not merely about humans, but about God and His justice.

    God allows history to play out until the principles of the two kingdoms are visible to the heavenly hosts. And then, with the approval of the angelic multitudes, Jesus resumes His rightful place as the true prince of our world.

December 14, 2021

12/14/2021

"The Greatest Show on Earth"

        As the lightening comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man....Then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt. 24:27-31, RSV.

    One thing is certain about the second coming of Jesus--everybody will know when it takes place. Some things happen in secret, while others are public. Jesus Himself describes His return as the most public event in history. The timing may be a secret, and the event will sneak up on the world like a thief in the night, but the experience itself will be spectacular. All eyes will see it, whether we want to or not. The Second Coming, when it takes place, is not an option for viewing. You can't switch channels or turn off the set. It is the historical event that will end history. As such, it will affect every person living on the earth at the time.

    From our earthly perspective it may seem that time is stretching indefinitely from the past into the future, but that is merely an illusion. With the "sign" of Jesus' appearing in the clouds of heaven with a host of angels, it is all over. Time may seem to be dragging on, but when Jesus comes He will, as He claimed in His last words to the church in the Bible, do so "quickly" (Rev. 22:7, 12, 20).

    We need to look again at the descriptions of that return that Jesus used in today's verses.
        * It will be like lightening flashing across the heavens.
        * It will take place with dynamic power.
        * It will be an event of great glory.
        * A multitude of angels will accompany Jesus.
        * A loud trumpet call will rattle the heavens.
        * And there will be a gathering of the elect from all across the face of the earth.

    Some years ago I saw a movie called The Greatest Show on Earth. It featured the circus in its heyday--a time everybody in town showed up for the circus parade as it headed toward the fairgrounds where the great tents were pitched.

    "The Truly Greatest Show on Earth" is yet future. Nothing will be able to compare with it in terms of brightness and glory.

    That is one show I want to see. But, I should add, from the right seat.

December 13, 2021

12/13/2021

Why Jesus Waits

        But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:8-10, RSV.

    Surely I am coming soon" (Rev. 22:20, RSV). The last words of Jesus in the Bible, we find them repeated three times in Revelation 22. When I get to heaven I want to ask Him what He meant. After all, it has been more than 2,000 years. And, no matter how patient you are, that is hardly soon.

    Peter, a man not always known for his patience, may have been asking himself the same question. I don't know what he was thinking, but I do know that he has provided us with an inspired answer.

    He handles the topic on two levels. The first is that God doesn't have the same level of impatience as humans. In fact, He doesn't even view time as we do. Our personal lives are bounded by birth and death. In between we may have 60 or 70 or even 100 years. But when death comes, time is over for us. We are very conscious of time and its shortness. As I grow older I find myself taking a greater interest in obituaries. My consciousness of the time I have remaining becomes more acute with each passing decade.

    But what if I existed from eternity in the past through eternity in the future? Time would take on new meanings. So it is with God. The time panic of humans does not cause Him to forget His ultimate purpose on earth.

    And that purpose is Peter's second response to God's delay in returning. Namely, He allows time to go on because He desires to give as many people as possible a chance to repent and enter His kingdom. From that perspective, the delay itself is an act of mercy.

    Yet the end will come, and when it does it will happen spectacularly with loud noises and fire and earth-shaking events.

    But the Second Advent itself will arrive like a thief to a scoffing world lulled by its amusements. And here we have another possible meaning for Christ's final words in Scripture. The word used for "soon" also means "quickly." When the clock of heaven signals the end of time, Jesus will quickly come in the clouds and earth's affairs will wind up rapidly for both scoffers and believers.

December 12, 2021

12/12/2021

Our Doubts Don't Change God's Plans

        Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 2 Peter 3:3-7, ESV.

    Doubting comes easy, especially when it involves the Second Advent. Day follows day and year follows year and the flow of history goes on and on. And with the lulling passing of time the return of Christ falls into the background of our thinking--transformed into a bit of New Testament mythology or perhaps a pious wish that we think about when we are ill or lose a loved one. But once the crisis is over, our thought patterns get back to "normal" as we plow all our resources into making our earthly future bright and happy.

    I remember how vivid the promise of the Second Coming was when I first became a Christian at the age of 19. I was sure I would never reach the age of 30. In fact, I did my last two years of college in one so that I would have a chance to preach before the end.

    That was more than 50 years ago. And time still continues relentlessly. Down through history that perception has led many people to scoff at the Bible's teaching on the Advent and to live according to "their own sinful desires," noting that things are as they always have been.

    It is at that point that the aggressive Peter jumps into action, noting that the earth-centered philosophy of uniformitarianism overlooks two major facts. First, that there was a beginning when God created the earth. And second, that there had been a massive flood in the time of Noah that had destroyed the civilization of that day. Both of those facts, Peter claims, God brought about by His intervention in history. They were divine actions impossible to predict from the viewpoint of the evolutionary flow of time. And just as certain, he asserts, is the second coming of Jesus.

    For Peter, following the teaching of his Lord, the Second Advent is a certain event. And all the doubting and scoffing and wild living by humans will not change that fact.

    His words are a wake-up call to all of us. We need to be preparing our lives for more than just a comfortable retirement with our grandchildren. The fact of the Second Advent is just as certain as the reality of the earth on which we live and the air that we breathe.