Again, Do Not Fear

Matthew 24:6 - And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

This life is temporary. Our eternal life is forever. We can have the assurance of this eternal life while we live in this physical world. Not everyone has this assurance. Some fear death. Some are never sure if they are good enough. God has all the answers for all these fears, His Son, Jesus Christ, through a relationship with Him.

The verse above speaks of wars and rumors of them. If God tells us this about wars, it can be for any circumstance in our life. 

Reminds me of this advice:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

I posted something like this on Facebook. I received a comment: A war of Matthew's time is not comparable to a nuclear war of the 21st century.

I answered: Doesn’t matter. We still need not fear if we are in Christ. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

Oh, the promises of God to those who love Him, who trust in His name. This life is temporary. Life after this is eternal.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2Corinthians 4:16-18) In the grand scheme of things, the afflictions we will encounter in this present life in this present body, are but for a moment and of light affliction, while they may not seem to be at the moment. ...may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1Peter 5:10)  Eternal hell will be real affliction.

If you want to know that you will be able to withstand anything this world can dish out you need the power and strength only our God has. Many put their trust in man. Government can’t save us. Looking to any man or organization can't ultimately save us. But there is One who can. His promises are sound and filled with truth. It’s all I have to say. 

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

Psalm 118:6,8 - The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Revelation of Jesus Christ

Revelation‬ ‭1:1-3‬ - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

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I am beginning a formal, 32-week study on the Book of Revelation. I'm sure I will share bits and pieces as we move along. You can bet 32 weeks will be detailed and in-depth...and fully Bible oriented; no extra-curricular books necessary! 

What was pointed out in this week's lecture and the lesson from last week, and I promise not to go through all our lessons, was how Bible prophecy has set the stage for this book. If you notice the scripture above, you'll see what the book shows itself to be. 

I have always said it's all about God. No church, no religion, no works can get us eternal life. Only God can do this. It was done 2,000 years ago through His Son Jesus Christ. No other man can do this for us. It is our decision to choose Christ. It is about our seeking God...directly. 1Timothy‬ ‭2:5 tells it like it is: For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus...  No one else. The entire Bible points us to Him. The prophecies point to His first...and second...coming. 

During the lecture portion of last week's and today's study we were told that the Book of Revelation has yet to happened. Through prophecies there is eventual evidence of what has happened. Those fulfilled prophecies give us assurance that what God has revealed to us through God-appointed prophets, have and will happen. So, we can trust that what Revelation says will also occur. We can be certain of it. Certain. It's all about the truth of God's Word from Genesis to Revelation. Amen! 

The word revelation means: something to be revealed, something coming or appearing; a disclosure of truth, concerning things before unknown, manifestation. The revelation of Jesus Christ mentioned above means it is His prophetic word given to the Apostle John about the things to come. It might also mean, based on the definitions, the revealing, the manifestation of Himself when He returns again...the truth that has been doubted by some. 

So, as we see an unsettled world, if we believe, know and trust Jesus and all He has told us, we need not fear the future. There will be some difficult times. But, again, if we know Jesus as Lord and Savior, we have the assurance He has our backs. He will provide the strength and all other things we need to get through. We do not need to have a timeline, we just need to have faith...and go forth and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's all about that bottom line...Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to be the light in a very dark world, to seek and save the lost through His very own Gospel of repentance for sin, to show us what truth is, give us eternal life, and in the end to judge all people in total righteousness. He became that Mediator on that cross and opened the way to the only Father in heaven when the veil was torn in the temple at the time of His death. 

Revelation points to Christ too. He was in the beginning, is now and will be in the future. He has never changed and never lied while the world seems to be. If we can grasp the importance of knowing Him, we will be in very good hands.

Not to spoil the end of the book, but to be an encouragement:

Revelation‬ ‭22:20-21 - He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

THE Resurrection and Life

John 11:17-29

So when Jesus came, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 

Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.


Ah, the stage is still being set regarding Lazarus. Jesus still has a few words to say. He has arrived where Lazarus died. He continues to encourage Martha, who by all accounts truly believes in Him. She knows there will be a good end to her brother. She is just saddened that Jesus had not come sooner to heal him.

In Martha's eyes her brother is dead. But she knows that because Lazarus was a believer like she and Mary, they will be reunited on the last day. They understood to some degree the principle of eternal life. But she had no idea what was yet to happen.

Jesus was setting the stage.

We can have the same assurance as Mary and Martha that we and our loved ones will be reunited on the last day. As Jesus tells Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall never die." He asks us all, "Do you believe this?" He so wants us to believe. He has so shown us through His life, death and His own resurrection. So why is it still so difficult a concept?

We can do nothing to be assured of eternal life with God on our own. We must believe and receive Him. There's no other way. He is the only Way, Truth and Life. No one goes to the Father on the last day apart from Him. We must have the faith to believe in Him. Believe Him for everything in our lives. He must be the first and the last in our lives, not just Someone we worship one day a week...or not at all.

When life throws us difficulties, we must trust Him. We must rely on Him, seek Him for our strength and peace. If we don't we are relying on the little strength we have on our own which does not sustain.

When I see or hear people who do not have Christ struggle with life's situations and hear in their voices how difficult it is, how so unprepared they were for these times, I am saddened. We will all go through difficult times despite knowing the Lord, but there will still be an underlying peace. It's sad when others don't have this peace. Martha experienced this...sadness, yet peace.

Martha made sure Jesus knew that she was certain had He been there sooner He would have saved Lazarus. That was very clear. But she also knew though Lazarus had not survived that he, as we hear so often whether rightfully so or not, "he's in a better place." I'm sure Martha was a bit confused at this point why Jesus hadn't gotten there sooner. But there was a reason...

Here's an opposite view for us. Jesus is holding out for some people. Holding out that they might receive Him. That they might believe in Him...as HE has called us to do. Not that head knowledge that so many think will save them but the heart knowledge that sends them to their knees in repentance for their lives without Him. None of us are are good enough on our own to enter heaven. Again, Jesus says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. There is no other way. Only through Him will resurrection and eternal life be received.

Romans 10:8-11 - But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."