Christ Church

Bible Challenge

Bible Challenge #33
Christ Church on April 17, 2018
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Grace & Peace: Revelation 94

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given
unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat,
and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and
they repented not to give him glory (Rev. 16:8-9).

As we have already seen, the judgments of these bowls are amplified versions of the trumpet judgments. The fourth trumpet had caused the sun to dim, along with the moon and stars.

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise (Rev. 8:12).

But now, with the judgment of the fourth bowl, the heat of the sun was ramped up such that men were scorched by it. In the historical documents of the Jewish War, we dont have any records of extraordinary heat from the sun, and so our attention turns to a possible symbolic interpretation. This judgment is a covenant judgment, falling upon Jerusalem and Israel, just as the curses of Deuteronomy had predicted.

The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation *and fiery heat*, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish (Deut. 28:22 ESV, emphasis added).

The striking thing about this judgment is that as this harbinger of Hell was approaching, the men under judgment did not consider repentance. Rather, they blasphemed the name of God, and they did not repent in such a way as to give Him glory. The fact that this is mentioned indicates what the appropriate response to such a judgment should have been.

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Bible Challenge #32

Becky Pliego on

¡Hola, hola! Welcome to week 31 of our Bible Reading Challenge, Friends! Thank you for following along and for all the encouraging comments we keep receiving from you. It is a wonderful thing to hear week after week how the Lord continues to bless His Word in our lives. Soli Deo Gloria!

Some of you have asked if we are planning to continue doing the challenge after this round, and the answer is a resounding “Yes!” You will be happy to hear that we are currently working on the summer reading plan and we know that you will be thrilled when we release it.

We have been reading several Proverbs and will continue to do so next week. So I want to take a minute to share with you some hints on how to read Proverbs. First keep in mind that in the introduction of the book we read that these are “riddles.” Proverbs is filled with principles, which are not promises. We know that not everything in life happens according to Proverbs (we have read enough stories in our Bibles, and lived enough in this world to know this to be true), but we want to read them in order to become wiser, to train ourselves to discern and to judge situations better. We have proverbs, for example, that tell us to give answers and others that tell us not to give answers at all. And the wise woman, the one who fears the Lord and is in the Word, will learn -through practice- to discern the different seasons and apply these two different proverbs in different situations wisely. So as I said, life doesn’t always happen according to the principles in Proverbs, but we must strive to live according to these principles ourselves.

We must also keep in mind that the only way to truly live wisely in this fallen world is fearing the Lord and depending on the Holy Spirit to make us wise. The Lord Jesus is the wisdom of God, and we know that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things (Jn 14:26). Wisdom cannot be obtained apart from God’s mercy. He is the only One who can make us wise -and that should be enough to keep us humble.

So as we open our Bibles, let’s ask God to make us wise, and as we face our daily routine, let’s be ready to apply the principles we learn in Proverbs by faith. God will have mercy on us and will indeed give us wisdom when we ask for it.

Reading Jeremiah has been great, right? It amazes me how in the middle of the book we find the hinge on which our Christian life revolves: forgiveness of sins. That is the heart of the New Covenant, and of the Gospel. If God doesn’t have mercy on us and lead us, in Hs kindness, to repentance and forgiveness, we are doomed to eternal damnation. But God’s steadfast love is higher than the heavens and His mercies endure forever, so He is always willing and ready to forgive us when we come to Him and repent of our sins. No sin can keep us away from His love but the one that we don’t confess and don’t repent of.

So the heart of the Gospel is that in Christ there is forgiveness of sins, right? Now what about forgiving each other as God in Christ forgave us? Can we forgive those who say they don’t know what they were thinking when they offended us? Can we forgive and never use the sin we forgave against that person? Do we forgive and seek restoration? Remember, the heart of the gospel is forgiveness of sins all the way through.

Sometimes we are like the false prophets in the book of Jeremiah: we proclaim to ourselves, “Peace!” when there is no peace. We try to cover our sins and excuse them when the Hoy Spirit is bringing conviction to our hearts. We despise the Word of the Lord and choose to trust in the externals -in vain. Friends, let’s trust that the Lord will bless our coming to His Word this week and that He will help us see the sins in our lives that we need to repent of. Let the Word of God pierce your heart and soul, let His Word tear down the high places in your life so that He can start rebuilding and restoring you. He is our righteousness!

Friday we have a catch-up day and my suggestion is that you read Colossians and 1 John, since both letters emphasize forgiveness of sins.
On Saturday we will read Lamentations, a collection of five poems by Jeremiah. In this book we can learn how God is holy and righteous and how He always remains true to His character.  It is our aim to see Jesus on the pages of the book as we remember what Isaiah told us in chapter 53: Our Lord Jesus is the Man of sorrows.

The Psalms we will be reading are so incredibly comforting. Read them and pray them, and mediate on them. Let them become yours and give you hope.

May our prayer this week be, “Help me remember your Word, your deeds, your mercy, Oh Lord, and bring them to mind so that I may have hope.” (Lam.3:21)

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 93

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments (Rev. 16:4-7).

Now comes the time for third bowl of wrath to be poured out upon Jerusalem. The previous judgment was upon the ocean; with this plague the sentence falls upon the fresh water. Again, with the trumpet judgments, the affliction was partial. Now comes the end, when the sentence is final. So in this segment, the third angel empties his bowl of wrath. Far from objecting, another angel, the angel of the waters, declares that the judgment is righteous. The Lord is righteous, and He is the one who was, is, and is to be. *He* is the one who has determined this calamity. The next statement by the angel of the waters helps to confirm the place where this sentence must fall. As a city, the murder of prophets was characteristically Jerusalems signature item (2 Chron. 36:15-16; Luke 13:33-34; Acts 7:52). When it came to prophets and saints, this was a bloodthirsty city, and so it was fitting that God turned all their fresh water to blood.

Jerusalem richly deserved to have this happen to them. Jesus had predicted this would happen, and He said that the murder of prophets over generations is *why* it would happen.

“Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation” (Matt. 23:31-36).

Earlier the martyrs had cried out from under the altar, seeking Gods vengeance on their behalf (Rev. 6:9). The tribulation of the trumpets began to answer their cry for justice, and now the finalization of justice is imminent. And so it is that another voice comes from the altar, echoing the sentiments of the angel of the waters*. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.*

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Bible Challenge #31

Becky Pliego on

¡Hola, hola! Week 30 is here! Woohoo! And how wonderful it is to know that the Lord has helped us to persevere and not lose heart. For all of us working behind this project it is a great joy to hear from you and know that the Lord is doing a mighty thing in your lives and communities as you open the Word and read it. Our God is faithful and His Word is sure!

I have been thinking this week about the – very simple but nonetheless amazing – fact that when  we take the Book of God and read it, we are opening the same book that all of the Redeemed of the Lord have read through the ages all over the world. The same message that sustained them sustains us. The same Truth that has shaken the world before, is the same Truth that is shaking ours today. We are truly united by the same living Word to the family of God through time and space.

All of this thinking gave me the idea to share with you some advice from the Saints from long ago regarding the Scriptures, especially advice on how to read and approach the Scriptures (this explains why our email is longer this week).

John Newton, in one of his letters wrote, “If you sincerely seek the Lord’s direction by prayer, you will of course make use of his appointed means of information, and search the Scriptures. Give me leave to offer you the following advises, while you are reading and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. First, Not to lay too great stress upon a few detached texts, but seek for that sense which is most agreeable to the general strain of the Scripture. The infallible word of God must, doubtless, be consistent with itself: if it does not appear so to us, the obscurity and seeming inconsistency must be charged to the remaining darkness and ignorance of our minds. As many locks, whose wards differ, are opened with equal ease by one master-key; so there is a certain comprehensive view of scriptural truth, which opens hard places, solves objections, and happily reconciles, illustrates, and harmonizes many texts, which to those who have not this master-key, frequently styled the analogy of faith, appear little less than contradictory to each other. When you obtain this key, you will be sure that you have the right sense.”[1]

Spurgeon delivered a wonderful sermon on how to read the Bible[2], and I will share his main points here: 1) Read and depend on the Spirit of God: “Look up, reader! The next time the book is in your hands, look up before you open  it—and while your eyes are running down the page, look up and pray that God would shine upon it! And when the chapter is finished and you put the book away, take a minute, again, to look up and ask His blessing. If by reading the Scriptures we were  only always reminded of the Holy Spirit. If we got no other good from the Scripture, itself, except the turning of our souls to think upon that divine and blessed one, that would be, in itself, an inestimable blessing! Do read, then, thoughtfully remembering the great author.”  2) Read and meditate: “I like to turn it over and over again in my mind, for any one text of the Scriptures you will find to be like the kaleidoscope. Turn it one way and you say,“What a fair truth of God is this!” Turn it another way and you see the same truth, but under how different an aspect! Turn it yet once more—and keep doing it all day—and you will be amazed and delighted to find in how many lights the same truth will appear and what wonderful permutations and combinations you can find in it!” 3) Read and apply: “Endeavor in  reading  a page of  the  Scriptures,  always  to  see how much it belongs to you…Ask God not to let your Bible be another man’s Bible, but your own Bible. 4) Read and practice. 5) Read and pray: “A passage in Scripture will often open up when you pray over it…we  should  pray  over every passage in order that we may be enabled to get out of it what God would impart to us. A text is like a treasure chest which is locked—and prayer is the key to open it—and then we get God’s treasure! The text is God’s letter, full of loving words, but prayer must break the seal.” 6) Read and try: “Scripture is not to fit your opinions, but your opinions to conform to the blessed word!” 7) Read and tell out: So you, Christian, who are the noblest work of God, should not be satisfied unless your life is continually spreading around of the truth of God which has been made vital to you and will be new life to others!”

Thomas Watson has some advice on how to read the Bible[3], but I will mention only two points: 1) He encourages us to “get a fervent love for the Scriptures,” and he continues saying, “Prizing refers to the judgment of a man, but love means also the affections. We should delight to be in the pages of God’s Word; we must learn to delight in its comforts and in its reproofs and corrections.” 2) Watson also chooses to encourage those who struggle to profit from their reading saying, “You can profit from reading the Scriptures even if you do not attain to the level of others. Do not judge yourself according to the standard of others.”

I hope you also find encouragement in these words and that you continue to strive to abide in the Word of God:

This week we will read Jeremiah, 2 Timothy, Proverbs 22 and 23, and Psalms 48, 49, 52. And I am sure you will find this to be a banquet that will satisfy your soul.

May our prayer this week be, “Lord, teach us to pray as we read the Word and mediate on it as we pray and work.”

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and Ladies Fellowship Team from Christ Church

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