Tag Archives: revelation

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

June 1, 2021Bible Studymessage, mystery, revelationLuella Campbell

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

“Now to Him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.” Romans 16:25-27.

What a magnificent doxology and ending to this superb letter! In Paul’s characteristic style, and in one long sentence, he encapsulated the gospel.

The gospel – what is it about? It is the message Paul proclaimed about Jesus Christ. He is the good news; His birth, foretold by the prophets in detail – who He was, His ancestry, the circumstances of His birth; His life, His character and His works; His death and resurrection; His rule and His coming kingdom – it’s all there in the Old Testament and fulfilled with precision and to perfection by His coming.

The good news, hidden from men’s understanding in the past but revealed in Jesus Christ, is that God’s mercy is for the whole world, not just for the Jews. The prophetic message was that the Gentiles would have a share in this salvation. The Jews thought that God was exclusively for them. The Gentiles were despised and side-lined in their estimation, but they missed the plot. They were to be the vehicle of God’s revelation to the world so that the Gentiles also should come to the obedience of faith.

The purpose of the gospel, and Paul never lost sight of this, was that God’s glory would be revealed to all of creation and, in the process, the usurper, the devil, would be publicly unmasked, disarmed and judged for who he was, once and for all – a liar, and a fraud, claiming the title of “Lord” which belonged to only one person, the Son of God.

God chose a drastic but effective way of exposing him; He put His own Son in the firing line. Jesus – as a human being – faced the worst that the devil could inspire humans to throw at Him, betrayal, injustice and execution in the cruellest way possible, without retaliating. He absorbed it all and then bounced back – alive and free to claim His title because He had earned it by the life of a perfect son, and the death of a perfect Lamb.

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what He suffered.” Hebrews 2:10.

Could there have been another more effective way to show God’s love for all mankind and to reveal His wisdom than by the plan He devised? He punished His own Son for guilt that was not His so that the guilty might go free. Perfect justice and perfect love!

What comfort for his readers to know, and for all readers down through the ages, that this God who accomplished this magnificent salvation, is also able to establish weak, frail and fallible humans in the truth so that they will both stand and persevere until the moment they are removed from the presence of sin into the glorious presence of God forever!

Paul’s reassurance must have meant much to these people who lived under the constant threat of death at the hands of ruthless persecutors. Like believers in the Middle East today who have the sword hanging over their heads for no crime other than claiming that Jesus is Lord, many of the faithful men and women who heard Paul’s words would perish under cruel persecution, but God had established them and they were safe anyway.

To this God, who planned salvation, carried it out and rescues those who believe in Him, goes all the glory and honour. Through the message of salvation, He revealed to all mankind who He really is – not some far off, indifferent or callous tyrant but a God who came near, lived and died and returned in victory to proclaim liberty to the captives.

To Him, and Him alone be the glory! Amen.

Acknowledgement

A SURPRISING REVELATION

January 26, 2021Bible Studyplain on tablets., revelation, write downLuella Campbell

A SURPRISING REVELATION

Then the Lord replied, ‘Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright – but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness -” ‘ (Hab. 2: 2-4).

God’s reply to Habakkuk’s dilemma was not only for him and for his time but also for us and for all time. Perhaps the prophet was expecting something more precise than the answer God gave him. But what could be more specific than the eternal principle He uttered?

When God speaks, He need not give long explanations. A few words are sufficient to awaken the heart to a world of meaning. But God does not often communicate with words. He speaks by impressions that are difficult to express in words but convey to the heart everything one needs to know. How many times God has spoken to me a wordless message with a world of meaning!

Before His revelation came an instruction: Wait for it and when it comes, write it down. This message is not only for you; it is also for the whole world, and especially for those who fall into the same category as the godless Babylonians. This message is not only for now; it will also finally happen at the end of time; when the books are opened and the time for judgment comes.

This is God’s answer for the “why do you do nothing?” question when the wicked seem to prosper and the godly suffer. There is an answer but it is not for now. This is the difficult part for us because we demand justice, and we want it now. We are forced to view each situation from God’s perspective. No, He is not indifferent. No, He has not forgotten us. He has a different timetable for a different reason from our “I want you to do something now” mentality.

In this prophecy, God divides the whole world into two categories: Those who are “puffed up” and those who are “righteous”. What does it mean to be puffed up? It means to be full of “wind”. The Hebrew word ruach can be translated “wind” or “spirit”. Jesus compared the Holy Spirit – pneuma, the Greek equivalent – to the wind in John 3. When ruach is used of God, it means “spirit”. When it is used of man, it refers to his pride. A proud person is full of “hot air” or wind.

The Babylonians were a proud people. They relied on themselves for their accomplishments. They had no time or place for God. Their greatest king, Nebuchadnezzar, epitomised the attitude of the nation. He forgot his dream and the warning that came with it (Dan. 4: 4; 24-27; 28-37) and went insane. For seven years he lived like an animal until he came to his senses and acknowledged that, after all, he was not God!

But the prophecy was even more personal than that. In a nutshell, every single person will have to face God and give an account of his life. This is not about nations. This is about individuals. God is inescapable and in the white light of His holiness, every heart will be exposed. This is about every person’s eternal destiny. This is about who will live and who will die.

The righteous person, by comparison, will not only navigate this life by his trust in God but will also enter the next and continue to live forever through the everlasting life God gives to those who trust in Him. God reckons those righteous who rely on Him for the forgiveness that takes care of their sin, and the grace that provides help for their weakness. They are filled with God’s Spirit, not the hot air of their own self-sufficiency.

Each Babylonian soldier who took part in the campaigns to capture and destroy nations would have to account for his actions and his motives. Each person who ever lives and who has ever lived with stand before God and give an account of his life. On the Day of Judgment, the books will be opened.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. . . . Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 11-12; 15).

God’s response goes way beyond the Babylonian issue. God’s answer to Habakkuk embraces His rule over the whole world. He will come, and He will judge the earth in righteousness. All those who have not entrusted themselves to His mercy will perish. No contest!

THE PRAYER OF POWER

November 14, 2020Bible Studyprayer, revelation, wisdomLuella Campbell

THE PRAYER OF POWER

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better (Eph. 1: 15-17).

Much is spoken and written about the power of prayer, but what about the prayer of power? Paul knew how to pray the prayer of power.

If you were in his shoes, what would you have prayed for these infant Ephesian believers? They had been steeped in superstition, witchcraft and idolatry. They had believed and faithfully adhered to the myths and legends surrounding their beloved Diana, and worshipped her with the fervour of religious devotees.

Suddenly, their world was transformed. When they heard the message of Jesus, which was no myth but the truth, based on historical fact. His life and death had happened within their lifetime, and they embraced the message willingly. But what were they to do with the religious “junk” that had filled their minds from birth?

It was a wonder to Paul that they had believed his message and turned away from their belief in idols and their horrible lifestyle to worship God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He could not stop thanking God for the miracle. Wouldn’t you? But how would they stand up to the pressure of the Roman government? They were the targets of terrible cruelty because they refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord. How could they, not even to save their lives, because they had confessed Jesus as Lord.

Paul could have pleaded with God to protect them from their persecutors, to keep them safe and to “be with them” wherever they were. These are familiar words, aren’t they? We have prayed prayers like this for our friends and family, haven’t we? How powerful is this kind of prayers? The Apostle John wrote:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5: 14-15).

In their circumstances, what do you think God’s will for them would be? To save them from being persecuted? If that were so, why were so many of them put to death, and by cruel torture?

Why did He not stop the persecution and deal with the bloodthirsty Nero who ordered it? Is it not possible that God had a plan, even when man’s plan was to exterminate the believers? A quote from one of the church fathers confirms that persecution did not get rid of the problem but fuelled the flames of evangelism and faith.

The 2nd-century Church Father Tertullian wrote that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” implying that the martyrs’ willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_martyrs – retrieved December 2015.

The prayer of power does not focus on the comfort or safety of the ones for who we pray. It centres on God and what He desires through the trials we endure. What does He want for His people? Jesus summed up the Father’s desire in His high priestly prayer recorded in John 17.

Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17: 3).

Do you think God would answer a prayer like that? Of course, He would because He wants us to know Him and His Son, Jesus. He longs for us to experience Him, His love and His mercy, in the fullest way possible. We can only know Him when we open our hearts to Him and allow Him to reveal Himself to us in and through the circumstances of our daily lives.

Unfortunately, we interpret God through our circumstances, and end up accusing Him of not loving us, of being indifferent or even punishing us for something we may have said or done. He wants us to understand our circumstances through Him and to respond in faith in Him no matter what happens, because He has promised that He will make everything that happens to us work for our good.

When we really know God, when we are willing to trust Him when everything seems dark, when we are convinced that He loves us, no matter what happens, then the trials we face can never destroy us because He has promised that nothing can separate us from His love in Christ Jesus.

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3, eBook 978-4828-0511-6

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or Kindle version, on www.takealot.com or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

My second book, Learning to be a Disciple – The Way of the Master (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing), a companion volume to Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart, has been released in paperback and digital format on www.amazon.com.

A Surprising Revelation

May 5, 2015Bible Studyappointed time, end, plain, puffed up, revelation, righteousLuella Campbell

A SURPRISING REVELATION

Before His revelation came an instruction: Wait for it and when it comes, write it down. This message is not only for you; it is also for the whole world, and especially for those who fall into the same category as the godless Babylonians. This message is not for now; it will happen at the end of time; when the books are opened and the time for judgment comes.

The righteous person, by comparison, will not only navigate this life by his trust in God but will also enter the next and continue to live forever through the everlasting life God gives to those who trust in Him. God reckons those righteous who rely on Him for forgiveness which takes care of their sin, and grace which provides help for their weakness. They are filled with God’s Spirit, not the hot air of their own self-sufficiency.

Available on www.amazon.com or www.kalahari.com in paperback, e-book or kindle format, or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my blogsite at www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com

Right About Turn

October 9, 2014Bible Studychurch of God, gospel, persecuted, please people, revelationLuella Campbell

RIGHT ABOUT TURN!

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

“I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” Galatians 1:10-14.

How much zeal and energy Paul poured into this letter! He knew he was in a life-and- death struggle for the souls of the believers in Galatia. He would use every possible means to persuade them that they had been fooled.

Perhaps he had been accused of being a people-pleaser. But it was quite the opposite. Preaching the cross of Christ was offensive to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. Who would want to follow a fellow who had been crucified by the Romans? He must have been a lawbreaker. How could He be a god worthy of worship? It was unthinkable that God’s Messiah could have been put to death like a common criminal. After all, He was supposed to be their king and deliverer.

Paul had been hounded from city to city by the Jews for daring to invite Gentiles to believe in their God. Gentiles were dogs and scum and Jews did not associate with them. That Gentiles were included in God’s covenant with Abraham was unthinkable. Paul not only taught that but he also went as far as teaching that Gentiles who believed in Jesus were spiritual children of Abraham while Jews who did not receive Jesus as their Messiah were excluded from the covenant. How was that for being a people-pleaser!

Paul’s history also made it impossible to think that he had invented the gospel he preached. He had been a vicious persecutor of those who followed Jesus. He was determined to stamp out this new religion, even if it meant exterminating every follower, one by one. He went to every city and town where they were, arresting and dragging them off to Jerusalem to be tried by the Sanhedrin.

He had not reckoned on Jesus or His purpose for him. Jesus was not fazed by Paul’s zeal for the tradition of his fathers; not for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, mind you! Had he been zealous for their faith, he might have acted differently. In typical Pharisee style, his hatred for followers of Jesus did not take into account that he was not acting like the patriarchs who loved and trusted God rather than murdering those who did believe as they did! Just like his fellow Pharisees who were children of the devil, according to Jesus, Paul had been a murderer and the followers of Jesus were his target.

How did Saul, hater and murderer of Christians become Paul, loyal follower of Jesus and preacher of the good news about the cross and resurrection of the very one he had persecuted? Only God could do that! And only Jesus could explain it to Paul by revelation so clearly that he could write the kind of things he wrote without qualms. He did not sit at the feet of Peter or get the message from John. He got it from Jesus Himself in the years he spent in solitude in Arabia.

No one as zealous or fanatical as Paul can make a right-about turn by himself. It has to be a work of God and a revelation of grace. From one who pumped the law the way Paul did to one who preached the sufficiency of Christ’s work which actually cancelled and did away with the law, took a powerful and life-changing encounter with the one he had rejected and refused to believe.

Paul had a very strong case for the source of his gospel. Unlike the Judaizers who were building on tradition, and defending their position with the might of the Jewish hierarchy behind them, Paul based his case on the authority given to him by God and the revelation of the truth from Jesus Himself. How could they argue against the transformation of the messenger of this good news?