Ready to Die: The Story of Joseph

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

The story of Joseph (Gen. 37-50) is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It’s a tale of tragedy and triumph, punishment and pardon, incarceration and exaltation, abandonment and reunion, fear and power, famine and plenty, deep sadness and unrestrained joy. We are introduced to Joseph as the favorite son of Jacob, a preference that spurs jealousy and betrayal in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers, who opportunistically sell Joseph into slavery and then soak his robe in animal blood in a ruse to fake their brother’s death.

Joseph ends up in Egypt in the home of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guards. Potiphar sees that the Lord is making Joseph successful. So, the Egyptian officer makes Joseph his personal attendant and places everything in his household under the young servant’s authority. 

Joseph captures the eye of Potiphar’s wife, who makes repeated sexual advances towards the strapping young man. When Joseph rebuffs her siren calls, she falsely accuses him of attempted rape, which lands him in jail with Pharaoh’s prisoners. Again, the Lord grants Joseph favor, this time with the warden, who puts Joseph in charge of all other captives. This includes Pharoah’s imprisoned cupbearer, who later secures Joseph’s release by telling Pharaoh of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams. 

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I Will Never Erase His Name: Revelation 3:5

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 16: I Will Never Erase His Name: Revelation 3:5.

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels” (Rev. 3:4-5).

Christ’s letter to the church in Sardis echoes a troubling thought proclaimed in other Scriptures: the possibility that certain people may have their names erased from the book of life. Jesus tells believers in Sardis that “the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life” (Rev. 3:5). 

Is Jesus simply reassuring the faithful in Sardis that their names are securely recorded in heaven? Or is Jesus hinting that it’s possible for genuine believers to lose their salvation? 

If believers may lose their salvation, how and when might it be lost? Can they get it back? Under what circumstances is the golden chain of redemption, which Paul reveals as God’s saving work across time and eternity, broken (Rom. 8:29-30)? Put another way, is it possible for the redeemed to sever God’s foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification? If so, does human freedom trump God’s sovereignty?

These are challenging questions that confront the doctrine of eternal security. So, we might ask: What point is Jesus trying to make in his message to the church in Sardis?

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Jesus Warns Us to Be Ready

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

Famous last words. William Brahms catalogued the final sayings of 3,500 prominent figures in his work, Last Words of Notable People. Other researchers also have captured the pithy statements of people on their deathbeds. A sampling:

  • While slipping towards the end of his life, Irish wit Oscar Wilde expressed disdain for the surroundings in his Paris hotel room. “Either that wallpaper goes, or I do,” he blurted. Wilde went first, but hotel management noted his grievance and later refurbished the suite.
  • Standing before a firing squad, convicted murderer James W. Rodgers was asked if he had a final request. His reply: “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”
  • With death drawing near, television announcer Charles Gussman quietly removed his oxygen mask and whispered, “And now for a final word from our sponsor .…”
  • Leonardo da Vinci, who gave us such masterpieces as the Mona Lisa, was awkwardly modest as he faced death, saying only, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” 
  • Drummer Buddy Rich, being prepped for a major surgical procedure he wouldn’t survive, was asked by his nurse, “Is there anything you can’t take?” His response: “Yeah, country music.”
  • Finally, Karl Marx reputedly offered these last words: “Get out of here and leave me alone. Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough already.”
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A Festive Gathering

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 15: Assembly of the Firstborn: Hebrews 12:23.

In previous posts [read #1; read #2], we spent considerable time exploring John’s vision of New Jerusalem, which the writer of Hebrews describes as “Mount Zion … the city of the living God” (Heb. 12:22). Now, with this setting in view, we may better envision the inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem.

First, we see “myriads of angels.” The Greek word translated “myriads” is myrios. It may mean “ten thousand,” as in Jesus’s parable of the unforgiving servant, who owed his master ten thousand talents (Matt. 18:24). It also may mean a large number, as in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, where he tells them, in exaggerated terms, they may have “countless instructors” (myrios paidagogos; 1 Cor. 4:15). Or it may mean a number so large, it cannot be counted; this seems to be the application in Hebrews. 

Angels are created spirit beings who dwell in the unseen realm. Holy angels surround God’s throne in heaven, battle fallen angels in the heavenlies, and come to earth at God’s command as “ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14). In his vision of heaven, John sees a vast host of angels: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands”(Rev. 5:11). Moses tells the Israelites that God came to him from Mount Sinai with “ten thousand holy ones” (Deut. 33:2).

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Can Christians Hasten the Return of Jesus?

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

Is it possible for followers of Jesus to hasten his return? In seeking to answer this question, let’s examine two seemingly paradoxical New Testament passages regarding the coming day of the Lord.

First, Paul ends his address on Mars Hill with these words:

Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead (Acts 17:30-31, emphasis added).

Not long before his death, in seeming contrast to Paul, Peter writes:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells (2 Pet. 3:10-13, emphasis added).

So, Paul tells us God has set a day for the judgment of all people, while Peter seems to imply that Christians may “hasten” that day. Are Paul and Peter at odds in their understanding of God’s revealed plan for the ages? Both apostles claim divine inspiration for their writing. So, why do they seem to take different approaches to the Day of the Lord?

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