Christocentric

When you read Revelation 2-3, you are sure to notice a repetitive pattern, a skeleton that supports each letter. Recognizing these patterns can help you understand these passages more clearly. So then, briefly, here is a discussion of the “shape” of the letters to the seven churches.

1. Salutation (Command to write): “To the angel of the church in [city] write.” If you compare these introductions with other New Testament letters you will notice some differences, but within Revelation 2-3, each is identical.
2. Vision of Jesus: “The words of.” The second component, common to every letter, but unique from church to church, is a description of Jesus. These descriptions are drawn from the vision of Jesus in Chapter 1 and are uniqely suited to the problems faced by each church. They show how Jesus is sufficient to meet the needs of each congregation.
3. Commendation: “I know.” Thirdly, Jesus commends, praises, or affirms the good work performed by each church. It is telling that this commendation is absent from the final letter (Laodicia).
4. Accusation: “But I have this against you.” The fourth section is normally an accusation due to sin within the church. Neither Smyrna nor Philadelphia face accusation; they were faithful.
5. Call to Repent: This call to repent may take the form of a warning or of an encouragement.
6. Exhortation to obedience: “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The goal of “hearing” is more than auditory stimulation, it is obedience.
7. Promise of Reward: “To the one who overcomes.” These promises, like the visions of Jesus, are drawn from other chapters in Revelation, and are particularly appropriate for each individual congregation.

New Testament scholar Greg Beale points out an even bigger “shape” within the letters. He sees these letters arranged by groups:

A. Ephesus: In danger of losing its existence.

B. Smyrna: Faithful.

C. Pergamum: Some who are faithful, some who are not.

C. Thyatira: Some who are faithful, some who are not.

C. Sardis: Some who are faithful, some who are not.

B’. Philadelphia: Faithful.

A’. Laodicia: In danger of losing its existence.

This pattern is known as a chiasm, from the Greek letter Chi (X), and is often used in the Bible to show totality.I hope that you will take notice of these “shapes” in Scripture and that they aid your study of Scripture.

—

Beale, G. K. The Book of Revelation. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999. See pp. 224-28.

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In preparing a sermon on Revelation 2:8-11 for New Hope Baptist Church (Greenville, IN, USA), I was reminded of one of the most powerful testimonies of faithfulness to Jesus outside of the Bible: Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (d. A.D. 155).

What we know about this man comes from a few sources: Ignatius of Antioch mentions him in two letters - Magnesians and Ephesians, and addressed a third letter to him directly - Polycarp. We know that he was martyred in A.D. 155 and that he reckoned his own age as “Eighty and six years” (Martyrdom of Polycarp IX), which would place his birth around A.D. 69. What we know about his death has been preserved by the ancient Historian Eusebius Pamphilius (Ecclesiastical History IV.XV) and in a letter from the Church in Smyrna to the church in Philomelium (Martyrdom of Polycarp).  I encourage you to read the full account of his martyrdom.

The narrative begins with the arrest and public torture of a group of Christians, of whom Germanicus, an elderly believer, was killed by wild beasts, prefering thier ferocity to apostasy from the gospel.  The blood-crazed crowd then demanded that the authorities hunt down the bishop Polycarp.  Upon hearing the news that he was a wanted man, Polycarp sought to continue his ministry, but yielded to the requests of others to flee, and took room with certain friends for a period of time.  During his hiding, Polycarp had a vision which he interpreted as a call to martyrdom, and resolved to hide no more.  When his hiding place was discovered, he made no further attempt to run, but confronted his pursuers calmly, asking for a final meal and time to pray.  He was then taken away to the stadium.

Upon entering the place which would be the last on earth that his eyes would see, Polycarp was encouraged by a voice that spoke, “Be strong, and show thyself a man, O Polycarp!”  He confessed to the procounsel upon his interrogation that he was indeed the man being sought, and resisted his inducements to turn from the faith: “Swear [alegiance to Caesar] and I will set thee at liberty; reproach Christ.”  To which Polycarp replied:

“Eighty and six years have I served Him, and he never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”

The procounsel threatened him with wild beasts, but seeing that he was not afraid of them, he sought to turn him by burning him alive.  Polycarp said:

You threaten me with fire that burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly.  Why are you waiting?  Bring what you will.

Polycarp was then formally sentenced for execution by fire.  As the pyre was constructed, he allowed his hands to be bound, prayed, and entered the fire.  He was preserved miraculously for a time and was thus stabbed to death and his body consumed by the flames.

Perhaps Polycarp, as a young man, heard and was encouraged by the words of Jesus to the church at Smyrna:

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10, ESV).

May we be found faithful as well.

There is no doubt that this has happened to you before. You are normal. You are human. What am I speaking of  you may ask? Here is the scenario: it is Tuesday morning and you are in a conversation with a coworker who is a Christian. Then, they ask the question. "What did your pastor preach on Sunday?" You sit there…with that blank look on your face…wracking your brain trying to remember the sermon from last Sunday morning. Isn’t this embarrassing?

Do not fret. This has happened countless times before and to countless people before you. However, this is a situation that needs to be remedied. I trust that the following will be beneficial to you, your spiritual walk, and the lives of your family members as you seek to benefit from your pastor’s preaching.  There are five things that I believe need to be implemented in your attendance in preaching and then afterwards in your home.

First, you must learn to listen well.  This is a discipline just as praying is a discipline.  As with most things that are done in life that provide some benefit, listening must be done with intent.  The book of Proverbs informs of this concept at least three times within the first five chapters.  We are told that we must listen to the wisdom of God for His instruction and so that our days will be without disaster.  We are also told to heed the warning of not listening to His instruction.  (Cf. Proverbs 1:33; 5:7; 5:13)  When one comes to the time of preaching and is sitting under the instruction of their pastor, they must be intent in listening to their pastor deliver God’s Word to God’s people.  This will take practice, as do all things that are worth doing.  But do not be discouraged; listen to God’s Word, intently.

Second, you must learn to take notes while you are listening to the preaching of God’s Word.  Taking notes will force you to listen well.  However, this is not the only reason to take notes.  Below, I will talk about two ways in which your notes should be used, but now the question remains, how do I take notes?  Or, what should I write down?  For starters, you want to right down all the main points that your pastor preaches from the text for that sermon.  You would also want to include supplemental texts that he may refer to during the sermon.  As well, you would want to write down, in a brief sentence, the main points of applications - things you must do or put into practice.  These are the core items you want to jot down.  Anything above and beyond this you want to include would only be to your benefit.

Third, review your notes with your family, especially if you are a father.  It is without doubt that if our memory is to serve us well in anything we do, the process of reviewing what is learned is a necessity.  This is no different in the development of your relationship with God.  I would encourage you, if you are not already doing so, to sit down with your family on Sunday afternoons and discuss the sermon that you heard that morning.  Pull out your notes and talk about the main points of the sermon.  Keep in mind that this is a conversation that is to be edifying to your family members and to yourself and to be glorifying to God.  In other words, this is not a time to talk about the deficiencies of your pastor’s preaching or to critique is style.  This is a time that is to be centered on God and His growth for you through the preaching of His Word.

Fourth, refer to your notes to make constant application in your life.  Maybe there was one point of application that your pastor really hit home on concerning your life or sin in your life.  Review that point from your notes often throughout the week, prayerfully asking God to show you how to draw closer to Him through the preaching of His Word and the application made to your life through it. 

Fifth, and perhaps most importantly, to benefit from your pastor’s preaching, pray for him.  Each and everyday, lift your pastor up before the Lord that he would be diligent in his study each day, that the message in God’s Word would be applied to his own life each day, and that he would be faithful in preaching what God’s Word says and only what God’s Word says.  As a pastor myself, I can honestly say that we covet the prayers of our people.  And as well, when you are praying for him, your own heart will be placed in submission under him who is under the authority of God’s Word. 

This may sound like a lot to do.  But again, do not be discouraged.  Start applying these principles even now.  Write these principles down, review them with your family, apply them one by one, and right now start praying for your pastor.  Maybe this Sunday will be different and maybe next Monday or Tuesday when you are asked the question of what your pastor preached on, without hesitation you will be able to answer properly and to the glory of God!

One of the most important spiritual exercises in which Christians are called to participate is that of reflecting on God’s Word through biblical meditation.  This article is the first in a series that will introduce you to the basics of reflecting on Scripture.  We meditate on God’s Word when we think deeply about what it is that we read.  We’ll have more to say about this definition in future articles, but perhaps no place is a better starting point for illustrating this truth than Psalm One.

The first Psalm contrasts two people: the godly and the wicked.  In the first three verses we learn that the secret of the godly person’s spirituality is a delight in God’s Word that shows itself by time spent reflecting upon it.

“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; 
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
   and on his law he meditates day and night. 
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” (Psalm 1:1-2, ESV).

The godly person doesn’t take the advice of criminals, nor does he imitate their lifestyle, nor does he reject turining to God, but instead, according to this Psalm, he delights in God’s Word and meditates on it continually.

We delight in those things which meet our needs and bring us joy.  If you are married, think back to the time when you and your spouse were dating - remember how happy you were just to hear their voice on the telephone, or to receive a note from them in the mail?  It is also true that we think often about those things which bring us joy.  Returning to your dating days, do you remember how difficult it was to function when the two of you were apart?  Do you remember how often you thought about the one you loved?  When we delight in God’s law, that is, His instruction, we think about it all the time.  This is one example of what it means to meditate on God’s Word: thinking about what we read night and day.

According to this Psalm, the person whose delight in God’s Word is expressed in meditation is like a tree that grows strong becuase of the constant nourishment it receives: its leaves do not wither and it produces fruit.  If you want to see spiritual fruit in your own life, then you must be connected vitally to the source of life-giving power, God, and the roots of your connection run through His Word.

There are many activities in the world that are called “meditation,” but that will not connect the believer with God, in fact, they will do quite the opposite.  How can you spot these counterfits and avoid their spiritual starvation?  We’ll answer those questions in Part 2 of this article.

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone).

Reading the Bible can be an intimidating experience, especially if you haven’t grown up with this practice.  Right from the start we have several factors working against us: first, reading the Bible daily requires a commitment of time.  Although we each have 24 hours in the day, it seems like that time slips away more and more quickly.  Second, the Bible is a book that is foreign to us: literally!  The Bible was written thousands of years ago by people who didn’t speak our languages and who lived quite differently than we do.  Third, the Bible is a big book, larger than many books we will ever read.  As you’ve probably discovered already, reading the Bible can be a challanging task, but daily time reading God’s Word is essential for growing in your faith.

We can know some things about God simply by watching the world around us, but we learn far more about God when we read the Bible, becaus it is here that God tells us who He is, what He has done, and what he requires of us.  It is in the Bible that we learn about Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection.  It is the Bible that teaches us what the church should be like and what its mission is in the world.

The purpose of this article is to equip you with a plan to read the Bible daily.  For hundreds of years, Christians just like you have made this a priority and have told of the remarkable difference daily time in God’s Word makes on one’s life.  Many believers have also thought through the task of reading the Bible and given us helpful tools for following in their footsteps.  These Bible reading plans are helpful reminders that you can use to chart your journey and remember your progress through God’s Word.  Be encouraged, Christian, you can read the Bible!

Bible Reading Plans

Read the Bible in a Year

By reading in four places in Scripture each day, you can read the entire Bible in less than one year.  The following plans offer time-tested, helpful reading schedules:

• Discipleship Journal’s Bible Reading Plan.  Using this plan, you will have twenty-five “reading days” per month, allowing you room to catch-up for missed days.  This plan is written in Microsoft Word.
• Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Plan.  Developed by a young Scottich pastor in 1842 to help his congregation read the Bible, M’Cheyne’s Bible reading plan has helped countless Christians to read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice each year.  Offered in Adobe’s PDF format.
• Don Whitney’s Five-Part Daily Bible Reading Plan.  Don Whitney’s favorite plan involves reading an equal number of chapters in five places each day.  This plan offers a great deal of variety in daily reading.  Written in Microsoft Word.
• Read the Old Testament in 180 Days.  This reading plan, suggested by Pastor Jim Elliff, allows you to read through the entire Old Testament in six months.
• Read the New Testament in 90 Days.  Following Pastor Jim Elliff’s reading plan, you can read the entire New Testament in only three months.
• Read the New Testament in 60 Days.  This accelerated reading plan will guide the reader through the New Testament in only two months.

We hope you find these Bible reading plans useful.  Rememebr, the goal of reading the Bible daily, just like any other spiritual discipline, is to become more like Christ in attitude and action.

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)