THE MASTER DOORKEEPER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:”

“These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.”

Revelation 3:7-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Inventor Alexander Graham Bell once said, "When one door closes, another one opens", and life can kind of seem this way, right? As we transition from one stage of life into another, we move from one to door to another to another. Sometimes, it even feels like we are held hostage inside a revolving door, seemingly never able to move forward because we are perpetually stuck in one place.

Does this sound like your experience?

If so, then today’s two scripture verses will be important to you as we find Jesus speaking words to John so he could write them down and provide to the church of Philadelphia, the sixth of the seven letters found in chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation. Here’s how Jesus opens up this letter:

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:”

“These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.” Vv.7-8

Feeling caught up in the revolving door of life?

Maybe it’s time to go to Jesus, the One who is the Master Doorkeeper, the One who is “holy and true”, the Holy Savior who wants to guide you to the ultimate door, the last door you will need to pass through, the door that leads to eternal life. On the way to that final door, Jesus explains in our scripture passage that "He opens” doors that “no one can shut" and "shuts” doors that “no one can shut." In other words, Jesus is in complete and utter control of all things in life. We can try our best to control our respective destinies and the direction of our lives but the truth of the matter is that we can’t open or shut a single door unless Jesus wishes for it to be open or shut first.

So what do we need to do to make sure the doors we want to travel through are open?

Well, Jesus’ words to the church in Philadephia can help answer that question. For we read that they had done what they needed to do to gain their Lord’s favor and escape His wrath. Such was the quality of their service as Jesus praised them saying:

“I know your deeds...I know you have little strength, yet you have kept My Word and have not denied My Name.” You see, Jesus requires us to be obedient and faithful to Him and, in return, He will open the ultimate Door, the Door to Heaven which “no one can shut”.

Question: Are you trying to open and close your own doors in life, finding yourself dissatisfied with the direction your life is taking?

If so, today is the day to turn to Jesus who longs to be your personal Master Doorkeeper, always guiding you to and through the right doors all the way to everlasting life with Him and God, His Father and ours. If you’re stuck in a rut in life, get out of the revolving door and start moving in the direction that Jesus leads. If you do, I assure you that you’ll never go back to your old ways, leaving closed the old doors that were only leading you to destruction and Hell.

Thanks be to God for the indescribable gift of His Son (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

DEAD OR ALIVE?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:”

“These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

“Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with Me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3:1-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Chapter 3 of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus continues having John write down letters to the seven churches and with four churches down (Ephesus, Sardis, Pergamum, and Thyatira), we find Him shifting His attention to the church of Sardis. Look again at that letter here, comprised of the first six verses of this chapter:

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write:”

“These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

“Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

In this letter, we find Jesus sharing His concern over the lifestyles of the Sardis believers. Specifically, the people had turned away from living their lives for Him for He knew their deeds, deeds that were “unfinished” in the “sight” of God, and although the Christians in Sardis appeared “alive”, they were really spiritually “dead”.

Now, this problem of dying away spiritually was not a new one. Jesus forecast it would happen as He instructed His disciples (and us as well) through His words found in the 15th chapter of John’s Gospel. There, we read this in verses 3 through 6:

“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.”

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

Our Savior makes it clear that a disciple will only stay spiritually alive if they stay connected to Him, like a branch connected to vine. Every Christian needs to stay tethered to His every Word while seeking and carrying out His will and way.

The scriptures make it clear regarding the dangers of living in the world and adopting its ways, ways that will always run counter to the Lord’s desires. Indeed, this world we live in entices us to chase after its pleasures, seeking to pull on our branches with the hope of separating us from the Vine. Unfortunately, many branches are removed every day and lose their source of spiritual life, withering and dying apart from the One who is the Life (John 14:6).

Self reflection moment: Are you attached to the Vine or have you allowed yourself to be disconnected from Jesus? Are you spiritually alive in Christ or spiritually dead like many of the believers in the church of Sardis?

If you have allowed yourself to stray away from Jesus, preferring the ways of the world instead, listen to the words He sent to the Sardis Christians and hear them as words spoken to you as well. For Jesus said:

“...what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.”

The New Living Translation puts it this way:

“Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again.”

Here, we find the Savior of the world calling for the Christians in Sardis (and believers today as well) to get back to basics. He’s calling them (and us) to go back to the root of the Christian belief system, the very Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Friends, real life, now and after death, only comes through Jesus our Savior, who is always ready to welcome to reconnect a branch to His vine if they would simply “repent”, leaving the sinful ways of the world, going back to what they had “heard and believed at first”, and turning to Him again. If one of His strayed followers refused to turn back, choosing the world over their Savior, then Jesus promised swift and unpredictable judgment as He would “come like a thief” at a time that would be unknown.

Contrast this with the eternal reward Christ promises for those who have remained faithful to Him, those who had “not soiled their clothes”. For Jesus promises that they will one day “walk with” Him, worthy of having their name in the book of life and living with Him forever.

So where are you today as you read this?

Are you in a place where you need to turn back toward Jesus because you’ve allowed yourself to die away spiritually?

Or are you firmly attached to Jesus, the Vine, and living in obedience to Him and His will for your life?

Every single person in the world is either walking dead toward Hell or alive on the road to Heaven and the determining factor is where they stand in their relationship with Jesus. My prayer today is that you will choose Christ because your very hope of an everlasting life in Heaven is through your belief and trust in Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

AN INCREDIBLE GIFT OF AUTHORITY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

To the one who is victorious and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from My Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:26-29

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In most countries in our world, one person holds a position of ultimate authority, ruling over a given populace within set geographical boundaries. Typically, these leaders are solely responsible for what is happening within their borders and the scriptures make it very clear that they all are accountable to God, the One who blessed them with their opportunity to lead (Romans 13:1-2).

Given that there is a finite number of people who would ever qualify or find themselves in a position to govern a nation at the highest level, the average person wouldn’t ever get the chance to experience what that would be like. But as we see in today’s passage, Jesus, the Savior of the world (John 4:42) who is one with His Father God (John 10:30), can make the seemingly impossible possible. Look again at his closing words to the Christians in Thyatira at the end of Revelation, chapter 2:

To the one who is victorious and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from My Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Vv.26-29

Yes, the church of Thyatira was under attack by Satan and the false teachings of Jezebel and those who prescribed to her lies but note here that a great reward awaited them if they would just hold on and stay true to Him to the end, carrying out His will along the way. To those believers and the multitude of Christians who have followed them, Jesus promised to “give authority over the nations” just as He had “received authority” Himself (Matthew 28:18-20). They would rule all countries of the world “with an iron scepter” and would possess the power to “dash them to pieces like pottery”. Additionally, He would give them the “morning star” which meant He was giving them Himself (Revelation 22:16).

This delegation of might was also mentioned in Paul’s second letter to his ministry protégé and partner, Timothy. In the second chapter, we read this in verses 10 through 12:

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. 2 Timothy 2:10-12

Those who endure through life and remain steadfast in Jesus will also “reign with Him” and it is this reigning that we find Jesus underscoring at the end of his letter to the Thyatira church and its believers.

Jesus never promised that life as His disciple would be easy. Rather, He said that if He was persecuted and hated, even to the point of being murdered, than His followers could expect the same experience. The believers in Thyatira and all others in the first century knew this all too well and here in the 21st century, persecuted Christians all over the world can relate as well for we can’t turn a blind eye to the truth that millions of Christ believers face danger and even the threat of death for their faith in Jesus.

Yes, being a Christian comes with an associated great cost but as we see today, it also brings an incredible gift of authority, one that has the disciples of Jesus ruling the nations along with Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUST HOLD ON

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”

Revelation 2:24-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live in an increasingly evil world. Sin isn’t just running rampant, out of the dark recesses where it used to lurk and into public view on a consistent basis, it’s right in our faces, every single day.

All this might lead us to believe we have a sin problem but if we believe this, we are missing the true and proper source of the world’s maligned condition. For this world doesn’t have a sin problem. It’s got a godlessness one.

Indeed, since the advent of mankind, those who willingly chose to walk away from God have ended up in partnership with Satan. That’s the way it works because any one person can only be partnered with one or the other.

Adam and Eve decided that eating forbidden fruit, an act encouraged by the enemy who took the form of a serpent, was more important than obedience to God. And with their act of insolence, sin would infect the DNA of every single person afterwards.

We quickly saw the horrific impact of this as Cain, jealous over the Lord’s favor falling more on his brother than himself after each gave Him offerings, murdered Abel after ignoring God’s warnings about what could happen if he didn’t give attention to “sin crouching at his door”, sin that desired to “have” him (Genesis 4:6-7).   

Godlessness will always produce behavior defined by wickedness and this fact has been proven time and time again since the days of the first family to present.

Over the past couple days, we have been looking at Jesus’ letter to the church of Thyatira and in yesterday’s message, we found the Savior condemning the congregants of tolerating the sinful teaching of an evil female prophetess named Jezebel who was in their midst. After she refused to repent, He promised judgment on her and anyone who would align themselves with her teaching and beliefs.

As for those who shunned the godlessness of Jezebel, we find Jesus providing them guidance as to what they were to do in the midst of the evil around them and His words serve as important direction for us today as well. Let’s look at His words again here:

“Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’” Revelation 2:24-25

While some Christians in Thyatira had fallen prey to Satan’s work through Jezebel, much like their progenitors, Adam and Eve, there was a segment of the church who refused to “hold to her teaching” and therefore reject “Satan’s so-called deep secrets”. For them, Jesus promised not give them “any other burden” except to do one thing.

They were to hold on to what they had until He would come.

Through His words, Jesus was telling the believers in Thyatira to just hold fast to Him, to His strength and power, and to His words which contained promises they needed to cling to during times of trial, promised that included His assurance that He would come back to save them and bring them to eternal life.

This statement from Jesus was meant to bring comfort and peace to His disciples in Thyatira and they still speak to us today here in the 21st century. Yes, we are living in an increasingly dangerous world where iniquity is embraced and treated as being acceptable but Jesus would tell us not lose heart but to just hold on for He is going to return and take us to a place where evil will exist no more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

SINFUL TOLERANCE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads My servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

Revelation 2:20-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live in a world that seems to scream out for tolerance on a regular basis. It’s a tolerance which has seemingly no limits to it and thus is the challenge for Christians.

It’s not that the Bible teaches in tolerance. That couldn’t be further than the truth because one of the fruits of the Spirit is forbearance and a quick look at the definition of that word renders the following:

If you say that someone has shown forbearance, you admire them for behaving in a calm and sensible way about something that they have a right to be very upset or angry about.

In other words, when Christians exercise forbearance, they do so out of a sense of grace and mercy and forgiveness, the same grace and mercy and forgiveness God has shown them in life.

So where is the line drawn where tolerance is condemned?

We find the answer in today’s passage draw from our continuing study of Jesus’ letter to the church of Thyatira as found in the second chapter of Revelation 2. There we read the following:

“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

In the opening verses leading into this passage, we found our Savior actually praising the Thyatira believers for doing more in the way of deeds, service, love, faith, and perseverance than they had done at first (Vv. 18-19). But note that all wasn’t well inside the congregation and Jesus doesn’t hold back in rebuking them for it.

Prior, He reminded His Thyatira disciples that He knew everything that they were doing, and everything means everything, good or bad. And so He was fully aware of how some congregants had actually tolerated a wicked false female prophet by the name of Jezebel, a woman who Jesus called out for the following acts of wickedness:

1. She had misled His servants through her teaching.

Jesus had no tolerance for those who spread falsehood, especially when it came to adversely influencing His disciples. He knew Jezebel was doing just that.

2. Through her false teaching, she convinced the Thyatira Christians to engage in “sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols”, neither of which are approved by God nor His Word.

Jesus had no tolerance level for such behavior but note that He did withhold His judgment on Jezebel while giving her a chance to “repent of her immorality”.

Did I mention that our Lord is a Lord of grace, mercy, and forgiveness?

Here, we find Jesus clearly showing this but unfortunately, Jezebel turned down the opportunity to change direction, leaving Jesus no other recourse than to punish her for the sins she committed within His church.

The consequences weren’t pleasant for we read where Jesus cast Jezebel onto a “bed of suffering” and hold anyone accountable who chose her ways and committed “adultery” unless they would “repent” of following “her ways”. Additionally, Jesus vowed to “strike” Jezebel’s “children dead”. There would be no future bloodlines associated with her.

In this message, we find Jesus validating that not all behavior is tolerable, not for Him nor His disciples. The line is drawn at blatant, willing sinful behavior which is unacceptable to Jesus and it should be unacceptable to anyone who is saved in His name.

So do we see the Christian church today speaking about sin...or tolerating it?

Unfortunately, the answer is, “It depends.” For there is Bible believing churches that will not waver in their resolve that God’s Word is inerrant and the ultimate authority regarding Christian conduct and the Gospel responsibility of the church with Jesus as the Head. But then there are a multitude of churches who cater to the world and its ways, so much so that you can’t see any distinction between the church and the world itself. Behavior that the scriptures clearly call sinful is embraced and accepted without any need or call for repentance.

It leaves me to wonder what Jesus thinks as He looks down on His churches but my wondering is put to an end when I read these following words that close out our verses for today. For there we find Him say this:

“...all the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

In other words, Jesus makes it clear to the church of Thyatira (as well as any church today) that He will bring correction to any Christian or body of Christians who tolerate sinfulness without taking action and as we saw in yesterday's message, He sees and knows everything. No one should want to be counted in that number.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

HE KNOWS US

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.”

Revelation 2:18-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you know anyone in your life who knows every single thing about you?

I mean everything.

There isn’t anyone on this earth who has this power but as we see in today’s scripture verses, we learn that Jesus isn’t like any typical person who has been in the flesh and in human form. Through His very words, He tells us that He knows all that a person does.

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” Revelation 2:18-19

The first thing I want you to see here is that Jesus is addressing the fourth of seven churches specifically addressed in the early chapters of the Book of Revelation. So far in chapter 2, we have looked at his letters to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. Today, we move to the church in Thyatira, also located in the Roman province of Asia, today modern day Turkey. As we have seen, these churches formed a quasi-circle and the letters have followed this circle in a clockwise fashion.

Now, with this we turn to the words of our Savior as He identifies Himself as the Messenger right away, “the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze”, references to the power, might, and majesty that Jesus held. As the One who God had granted authority over all things. With this, when He spoke, the churches and their believers were to take notice and pay heed to everything He had to say.

So what did He have to say to the Christians in Thyatira?

The message was pretty clear right from the start for Jesus made sure that the believers there were fully aware that He knew everything about them. This included:

1. Their deeds.

Not one thing that the believers in Thyratira did was unknown, nothing in public and nothing in private. Jesus knew every single action, every single deed.

2. Their love.

When asked about the greatest commandment, you’ll remember that Jesus said it was to love god with every fiber of one’s being, mind and heart and soul. He then called on His followers to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Love was central to who Jesus was and He expected that it would at the center of all His disciples as well. He is always watching to see that this is happening.

3. Their faith.

Jesus expected His followers to be dedicated to Him and Him alone, trusting Him in every way and in every circumstance. Their faith was to be steadfast and He if it wavered, He wanted His followers to know.

4. Their perseverance.

We have seen that persecution of the early Christian church was a main theme in these letters and here we find Jesus touching on the matter of standing strong in the midst of those who would stand against the Gospel and mistreat those who followed it. Jesus would know if the church failed to stay strong against its opposition and encouraged believers to persevere.

As Jesus finishes this first section of this letter, He validates the fact that He knew what the Christians of Thyatira were doing because He commends them for “now doing more than you did at first.” To this point, it appears Jesus somewhat pleased with this church but as we’ll see in tomorrow’s message, all was not well in Thyatira and Jesus will show that He knew all about it. But before we turn that corner, some self reflection questions:

1. As Christians, do we live our lives as if Jesus is watching our every move? How does this change the dynamics when it comes to how we choose to behave within every day we’re blessed with?

2. Since Jesus knows your every action, how would He grade the way that you behave, love, show faith, and persevere?

Jesus gives us His words so we can grow more in our knowledge of Him and this in turn helps us know how we’re to live because to be Christian is to be Christ-like. Let us all use this message today to examine ourselves and change whatever is needed to ensure our life glorifies and honors our Savior.

Remember, He’ll know whether we do or not.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GIFTS FOR THE VICTORS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at

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** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Revelation 2:17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I watching a football game the other night and the cameras flashed to someone attending the game who was allowed field access. This person just so happened to be an American athlete who competed in the Summer Olympics this year in Paris and won a gold medal, the medal traditionally given to the first place finisher in the event. This prize earned by the athlete had major significance because it showed that they had triumphed and gained a reward for their victory.

This imagery lends itself to the closing words of Jesus’ letter to the church in Pergamum, the third letter of its type found in the second chapter of the Book of Revelation, preceded by ones to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna.

Prior to the verse we will be looking at today, you will recall that this letter had good news and bad news from Jesus to the Pergamum Christians.

The good news was that they were remaining true to His name, not renouncing their faith in Him despite being in a place where persecution was running rampant, a place where Jesus said Satan lived and had his throne established.

And as we saw in yesterday’s message, the bad news was that there were some within the church who were holding to pagan beliefs and teachings similar to the sinful Old Testament prophet Balaam and the Nicolaitans, an influential ungodly group in first century A.D. If the Pergamum believers didn’t repent and turn back to Him, Jesus promised to come and fight against them with the sword of His mouth (verse 16).

This brings us to verse 17 and our text for today as Jesus shifts His words toward those who are victorious, those who placed their belief in Him as Savior and gifts He would ensure they have. Let’s look again at His words here:

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.

Here, we find Jesus sending a message that applied to all the churches and we can broadly apply this to Him speaking to the church today as well. This message makes a promise and we know Jesus has never broken a promise nor is He capable of doing so as He is perfectly honest and true in every way. This assurance is centered on two gifts for the victors and let’s look at each of them now.

1. The hidden manna.

The first clue to what Jesus is talking about here is the physical manna that His Father God sent to the Israelites as they traveled from their deliverance from Egypt to the Promised Land. We read about this in chapter 16 of the Book of Exodus as God sent “bread from Heaven” six days of the week to ensure they were fed and able to finish their journey to Canaan.

So how does this manna relate to Jesus?

We find the answer in the Gospel of John and one of the seven “I am” statements made by our Savior.

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Then Jesus declared, “I am the Bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” John 6:32-35

Here we find the concept of manna, the bread from Heaven, being applied to a spiritual truth. For just as sure as the manna sustained the Israelites across their long journey to God’s Promised Land of Canaan so too does Jesus, the true Bread of Heaven sent by God the Father, the Bread of life, sustain ever single person who places their belief and faith in Him for salvation, those who are counted among the victorious. He and He alone is the One who can get someone to the eternal promised Kingdom of Heaven and a life forever with God (John 14:6).

2. The white stone with the believer’s name written on it.

The meaning of this gift is less clear but the larger belief is that it is derived from athletic games that the Romans were so famous for. During those competitions, when someone won a particular event, the victor would receive a white stone with their name written on it and it was that stone which served as the proof of victory needed to get into the grand celebration and banquet thrown for all the winners.  

Like the manna prior, the white stone with the believer’s name written on it is a metaphor for what awaits the Christian when Jesus returns. For it’s then that we know the Book of Life will be checked to see the names that are written in it and only those will gain access to the ultimate victory party, the everlasting splendor and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven that every believer will call home.

Today and every day, let us remember this single verse, a verse which reminds us that through Jesus Christ, we have guaranteed gifts as victors over sin, death, and the grave, all because of our belief in Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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