The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Mfano

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

Martin Luther said, ‘Scripture is the manger in which the Christ lies.’  As a mother goes to a cradle to find her baby so the Christian goes to the Bible to find Jesus.  Don’t let us inspect the cradle and forget to worship the baby.

In today’s passages we see how Jesus Christ is revealed not only in the New Testament, in the book of Revelation, but also in the Old Testament – in Proverbs and Zechariah.

Proverbs 30:1-10

1.  The name of Jesus

Is there any evidence for God? 

‘The sceptic swore, “There is no God! 
   No God! – I can do anything I want! ...
I see no evidence of a holy God” ’ (vv.1–3, MSG). 

The sceptic goes on to ask five questions (v.4):

• Who has gone up to heaven and come down? 
• Whose hands have gathered up the wind? 
• Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? 
• Who has established all the ends of the earth? 
• What is that person’s name, and what is the name of that person’s son?   

The New Testament reveals that the answer to each of these five questions is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.  It is Jesus who ascended on high (see, for example, Ephesians 4:8–10).  It is through Jesus that the whole world came into being (John 1:1–3).  He is the name above every name (Philippians 2:9).  The evidence for God is found in Jesus.

The New Testament reveals that the name of God is Jesus.  The writer of Proverbs cares deeply about ‘the name of [his] God’ (Proverbs 30:9).  He asks for ‘neither poverty nor riches’ (v.8).  He fears that riches may make him disown the Lord and poverty might make him steal and thereby ‘dishonour the name of [his] God’ (v.9). 

Lord, I come today to worship the King.  I worship you Jesus, the name above every name.  I bow my knee before you.  You are the one who has descended to this earth and ascended to heaven after your death and resurrection.  You are the one who has created this entire universe.  You are the King over the whole earth.  You are the one Lord.  Your name is the only name.  I worship you.

Revelation 2:1-17

2.  The words of Jesus

These words of Jesus (‘The First and the Last, who died and came to life again’, v.8) to the seven churches are hugely challenging.

• Don’t lose your first love
  Do you remember what you felt when you first encountered Jesus?  Perhaps you experienced joy, peace, a new sense of meaning and purpose, and an excitement.  Did you ‘fall in love’.  Was there a ‘honeymoon period’.

As life goes on it is easy to lose our ‘first love’.  Other things creep in – our work, the busyness of life – or even our ministry – can lead us away from the passion of our first love.

Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus is to praise them for their ‘hard, hard work, your refusal to quit.  I know you can’t stomach evil ... I know your persistence, your courage in my cause, that you never wear out’ (vv.2–3, MSG).

However, he challenges them about their love.  ‘You have forsaken your first love’ (v.4).  These are haunting words.  What are we to do if this has happened?

First, Jesus urges us to remember our first love – to remember the height from which we have fallen (v.5).  We must never lose our first love, enthusiasm and excitement about Jesus.

Second, we need to repent and clean up our act.  If we have slipped into complacency or compromise we may need to get rid of the dross.  As we read in Zechariah, ‘I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people”, and they will say “The Lord is our God” ’ (Zechariah 13:9).

If you are in a time of testing and trial in your life, God will use the heat of the fire to refine you.

Third, we need to return to doing the things we did at first.  ‘Do the things you did at first’ (Revelation 2:5).

Lord, may we never lose our first love for you.  Help us to remember the height from which we have fallen.  We want to repent of any dross that has crept in.  Thank you for your refining fire.  Help us to return to our first love and do the things we did at first.

• Stand firm in the face of persecution
  Pastor Nadarkhani was imprisoned in Iran for no other reason than his faith in Jesus Christ.  He was sentenced to death.  As a result of international pressure he was released and reunited with his family.  I had the privilege of interviewing him at HTB.  We were all inspired by his faithfulness and courage.

Only two of the seven churches are not faulted by Jesus – Smyrna and Philadelphia.  Smyrna is spiritually rich in spite of the persecutions and material poverty: ‘I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich!’ (v.9). 

Jesus’ words to the church are not ‘repent’ (as so often was the case with the other churches), but rather, ‘Do not be afraid’ (v.10).  Like the persecuted church today, they faced prison, persecution and even death.  But God has set a limit (‘for ten days’) and promises, ‘I will give you the crown of life’ (v.10b).

Lord, thank you for the inspiring example of the persecuted church.  Thank you for their faithfulness and courage in the face of prison, persecution and even death.

• Fight for the truth
  The church in Pergamum was living in the most worldly place on earth – ‘where Satan has his throne’ (v.13).  Yet Jesus says, ‘You remain true to my name’ (v.13).  They have not renounced their faith in Jesus in spite of persecution.

Nevertheless, Jesus challenges them about holding to false teaching (vv.14–15): ‘You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality’ (v.14).  Truth matters.  He calls them to repent (v.16), and promises that if they overcome he will give them food that feeds the soul (‘the hidden manna’, v.17) and eternal security in Christ.

Lord, we live in a very permissive society and it is easy to follow suit as the church in Pergamum did.  Help us to hold on to the truth in spite of the views of the world around us.  Help us to be faithful to you and faithful to the truth.    

Zechariah 12:1-14:21

3.  The grace of Jesus

God promises his people: ‘I will pour out ... a spirit of grace and supplication’ (12:10).  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace and supplication.  He pours into your heart God’s grace (his undeserved love for you) and helps you to pray (see Romans 8:26–27).  The Holy Spirit is at work in your thoughts – prompting you to pray for people and situations.

How is all this possible?  Zechariah continues, ‘They will look on me, the one they have pierced’ (Zechariah 12:10).  Who is the one they have pierced?  The apostle John gives us the answer: ‘One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear … These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled … “They will look on the one they have pierced” ’ (John 19:34–37).

What is the result?  ‘On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity’ (Zechariah 13:1).  This is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through his death, through him being pierced for you, he makes it possible for you to be cleansed from sin and impurity. 

Jesus seemed to have this passage in mind when he was thinking about his own death.  He quoted Zechariah 13:7 when predicting that upon his arrest the disciples would desert him: ‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’ (v.7; see Matthew 26:31,56). 

The words of Zechariah 14 can be seen as looking forward to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and also to his return: 

• Jesus is the one whose feet would stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4; Matthew 21:1). 
• He is the one to go out and fight against the nations in the day of battle (Zechariah 14:3; Revelation 20).
• He is the one out of whom living water would flow (Zechariah 14:8; John 7:37–39).
• He is the one who will be worshipped as king (Zechariah 14:16; Revelation 5).
• He is the one who makes it possible for ‘HOLY TO THE LORD’ to be inscribed on everything (Zechariah 14:20).
• He abolishes the distinction between the secular and the sacred.  The cooking pots were the most common household vessels, yet they too had the words ‘HOLY TO THE LORD’ inscribed on them.

Lord, thank you that you promise to pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on us.  Thank you that you were ‘pierced for our transgressions’ (Isaiah 53:5).  Thank you that you opened a fountain to cleanse us from sin and impurity.  Cleanse me today and fill me again with your Holy Spirit, I pray.  Help me to love with all the enthusiasm of my first love for Jesus and help me to bring honour to your name.

Pippa Adds

Revelation 2:1–17   

‘To the church in Ephesus ... in Smyrna ... in Pergamum’

I wonder what Jesus would say about our church.  Maybe all the things we think we do rather well, he wouldn’t be impressed with.  He would probably be pleased with the small acts of faith that we don’t particularly notice.

Notes:

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.