bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Revelation 3
3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Imagine being the Disciple John in old, old age.
John arrived on Patmos after surviving an event recorded on papyrus fragments and also a complete history. This papyrus (interpreted by Victor of Capua) might very well have originally been written by Polycarp, the disciple to John. According to Dr. Bob Thiel, of the Washington Post, these fragments are John's disciple Polycarp - recording the cruel boiling oil as an historical event from John to Polycarp as John's own account.
A Historian, lawyer and married to a Christian wife - Tertullian disliked mysticism and wrote this was fact that John was boiled in oil and unharmed by Emperor Domitian intended the death of a man worshiping Jesus as God. Tertullian's book is The Prescription of Heretics. The precise written event - John was banished to Patmos after being plunged into boiling oil in Rome and suffering nothing from it. Tertullian wrote the whole audience of the smaller games area than the Colosseum was converted to Christianity upon witnessing this miracle. The smaller arena was used because, first, the dogs refused to attack John in the larger Colosseum. Dogs were deemed less grand than lions. The smaller arena was packed for the second oil boiling event. This event would have occurred in the late 1st century.
Polycarp and Tertullian wrote of John's grave as a fact containing John's body. They wrote of seeing a High Priest in the town near John's new grave. A High Priest was seen and both men did agree - John was indeed a High Priest. It would be more likely they had seen something of what Abraham encountered in Melchizedek. Or the people who awoke after the first Easter.
We recognize, without doubt, we are to follow Scripture. Yet we ignore our brains not to be stirred by what Tertullian wrote about in building the faith of the believers.
Faith stirs us to acts of Faith. We follow Jesus Christ the Lord and His Acts - not people. Scriptures give us examples of people, all show flaws and weaknesses. The majority of the Words are about God and His encouragement of His People.
Communities of faith are called for. If we remain safely at home, not being buffed and rubbed, hassled and cajoled by the faithful, we surely are not growing. My dog was mistakenly injured by me as I trimmed his nails. I was advised by a physician to place his paw in Diatomaceous Earth. This product is put out to kill snails, it is made up of tiny flour like fossils. We are healed to be challenged, not condemned.
How does Revelation 3 affect us today? For one, you'd think people would run from calling anything the name "Sardis." My grandmother lived near a Mississippi Lake Sardis and I had one near us in College Station, Texas.
Which is exactly why places are named Sardis, today. John wrote of the problems of the beginning the Church continuing to the end of the age. John wrote the Truth. Of course, of course and of course the Holy Spirit was teaching John from the lessons he would understand. Heaven is a glimpse we can comprehend - God is the Creator. So Revelation is True of God and taught to John by what God could teach John from John understanding his soul to his brain. God does not change. We need God.
Genesis 15:6
And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith.
Romans 4:3
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
This Salvation is only from God in Jesus Christ.
We must only depend on the Lord Jesus. No one escapes needing Jesus. Not one of us is righteous enough to raise our hands and say "I'm Good as the Gospel."
We want to be on God's upward path saying to God in prayer "I believe You Lord Father God and want the Promises given to me by Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me my sins. For the sake of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Help us, Father God, to live to stir others to understand how Loving You are. Please guide, lead and protect us to go further to please You in Love. Amen."
I am so blessed to be part of a community who believes Jesus is Lord. God's Word is written for us Today. God forgives sins and calls us to live in His Grace and offer back to Him belief, gratitude, prayer and our hearts.
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