Begin with the title: Have you ever felt unworthy before God? In the presence of Jesus glorified in an apocalyptic vision, John fell at the feet of Jesus as though dead. Jesus laid His hand on John and comforted, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Rev 1:17). God’s holiness has a presence of fearful conviction and yet overwhelming comfort.
    The prophet Isaiah recounted a vision of God on His throne high and lifted up. Isaiah saw God having a robe with a train that filled the temple (Isaiah 6:1). Angelic beings called seraphim covered their faces to their feet with their six wings (6:2). In Isaiah’s vision, the angelic beings called to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.” God is holy and separate from the heavenly creatures. However, God’s glory filled the whole earth (6:3). The voice of God trembled the foundation of temple, and the smoke of God’s presence filled that spiritual house (6:4). Isaiah’s vision captured God’s glory invoking fear.
    Before God’s awesome presence, Isaiah exclaimed distress and grief because of his own sinfulness. The prophet expressed, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (6:5). The prophet saw God’s holiness and knew that he was not clean. The prophet realized his wickedness and those of all flesh before God. How could he even speak? Isaiah experienced this vision to hear the voice of the Lord call for whom to send to Israel, and God sent Isaiah (6:8).
    Many of us have felt unworthy and unholy before God like Isaiah. The Scriptures depict a sense of sinfulness and humiliation that overcomes all who experience God’s presence. In God’s presence, humanity realizes its uncleanness and shame. God’s holiness exposes the wicked works of humanity (John 3:19–21). Job heard and saw God, and for this reason, Job despised himself and repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:5–6). Jesus commanded Simon’s boat to cast their nets on the other side, and they caught so many fish that two boats could barely hold them. Peter declared to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8).
    Why do we experience great fear and humility before the greatness of God? God’s holiness is absolute contrast to evil. God’s nature is counter to the filthiness of sin. The basic problem for humanity with holiness is that God is holy and He desires fellowship with sinful humanity living in a fallen world (cf. Hab 1:13). Because God cannot become less holy, humanity must become holy by way of being made holy — sanctification (1 Thess 4:1–8).
    Every one of us has been alienated and hostile in mind toward God in doing evil things (Col 1:21). However, through Jesus’s death in the body, He makes those who continue in the faith holy and blameless before Him (Col 1:22–23). In Christ, the faithful will put of the works of the flesh being buried with Christ in baptism, so the faithful are raised with Christ by God’s powerful working and made alive having received the forgiveness of sins (Col 2:12–13).
    Furthermore, John wrote of continual fellowship with God stating, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:6–7). Thank God that you can have fellowship with Him and receive the cleansing of ALL sin by the blood of Christ.
 

Moses stretched his hands over the Red Sea and the waters of the sea came back upon the Egyptian army destroying every one of them. Thereby, God saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. Israel saw God’s power, and they believed in the Lord. For this reason, Moses and Israel sang, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11 ESV). The basis of God’s holiness is that no one is like God.

            God is holy as His works reveal the attributes of His nature. God is the source of holiness. God makes holy. When God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, God called, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Exod 3:5). God’s presence makes holy as God’s presence made the inner room of the sanctuary to be the holy of holies. God is set apart from all other peoples and their gods, and even more so, God’s presence makes a place holy set apart from all others. However, God is present throughout the earth by His Spirit (Ps 139:7–12). God makes a place holy by His presence in the sense of revealing Himself and His message to humanity in that place.

            God decides what He makes holy. In Genesis 2:3, God made the seventh day marking His rest as a holy day by blessing it. The Sabbath day is consecrated and special. How does God resting make a day holy? In the seven days of creation, the seventh day was set apart as God rested meaning that He ceased from all of His work in creating the universe and all life. The seventh day marked the completion of creation. God spoke from Mount Sinai to Israel revealing, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11).

            What do we do with what God has given us to keep holy? Do we keep our spouses and children holy (1 Cor 7:14)? Do we keep our bodies holy (1 Cor 6:19–20)? Christians must keep holy what God has set apart to be holy. The church are His people to be unlike others and separated from wickedness and sinfulness of the world. God has called all believers to “be holy for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16).

            When each Christian consecrates his or her life, the believer will not tie oneself together with unbelievers (2 Cor 6:14). They are sacred and have no partnership with Satan (2 Cor 6:15). Concerning the church, Paul observed, “For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,’” (2 Cor 6:15b–17; cf. Lev 26:12; Isa 52:11).

Many people speak of God as just another man rather than the eternal Being and Creator of the universe. By definition, God is beyond the universe as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The cause of the universe must be transcendent of everything and thus metaphysical and supernatural. This uniqueness separating God from all creation and existence is God’s holiness.

            His holy nature is pure, right, loving, and just. Isaiah’s rhapsody reflected that God shows Himself holy in righteousness (Isa 5:16). Because of God’s holiness, the Psalmist called for exaltation and worship of God (Ps 99:9; cf. 1 Chr 16:29). According to the Song of Moses, God’s majesty displays in His holiness (Exod 15:11).

            God has called all believers to “be holy for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16; cf. Lev 11:44–45; 19:2). According to 1 Peter 1:14–16, God is the standard of holiness in righteousness. To live holy lives is to live in the likeness of God. Peter urged Christians not to conform to passions of lust but Christians must become holy in all conduct and behavior. This is why obedience to God is essential. Peter further revealed that Christ ransomed Christians by His blood as He is without spot or blemish (1 Pet 1:18–19). Despite sins, everyone can pursue a holy and righteous life with God through Jesus Christ.

            Hannah professed in her prayer, “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God” (1 Sam 2:2). God is totally set apart from all evil. The Hebrew for holy is godesh meaning “apartness” or “sacred.” The root idea of holiness is separation. That separation of holiness is a divine quality of God’s righteous nature (Isa 5:16). Holiness is godliness.

            Holiness is one of the greatest moral attributes of God by which believers commune with God. Unlike divine attributes that are maximal as God such as being almighty and all-knowing, humanity can share in God’s holiness and must to be saved (Heb 12:10). Holiness is both transcendent in God and yet morally applicable for humanity made in His image.

            As one scholar noted, God’s holiness is comparable to the rooms of the tabernacle. The first room of the tabernacle is the “holy place” dedicated for priests to serve God daily. However, the veil separated the priests from the most holy place (Exod 26:33). The most holy place is separated from evil and sin as the Holy of Holies that contained God’s commandments within the Ark of the Covenant. God’s separation from sin demonstrates His complete righteousness. David expressed, “And who shall stand in His holy place?” (Ps 24:3).

            The writer of Hebrews revealed, “For the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (12:14b). The holy nature of God demands a people who are holy, consecrated, pure, and set apart from the defiling acts of the world (1 Pet 2:5, 9; cf. Exod 19:4–6; Josh 24:19–20).

            Thank God that He has made the faithful holy, because people cannot make themselves holy. Paul revealed, “He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him,” (Col 1:22). Paul also declared, “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1).

Many churches teach the need for multiple baptisms including a spiritual baptism, a water baptism, and a Holy Spirit baptism. Why does the Bible teach “one baptism” and yet many churches teach the need for more than one (Eph 4:5)? The answer is that the leadership of these churches have been breaking the one baptism into parts and forming other baptisms. Furthermore, many people do not like water baptism as the Pharisees who rejected the baptism that John taught (Luke 7:30).

            What is the one baptism in the Bible? The one baptism must be the baptism that Jesus commanded in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit when He resurrected from the dead (Matt 28:19–20). As Jesus commanded, baptism is in His name, which is baptism in water, throughout the Book of Acts (Acts 10:47–48; cf. 8:38). No one receives salvation without the work of the Holy Spirit by being washed in Jesus’s name (1 Cor 6:11; cf. Rom 8:9–10). The one baptism must include the blessings that Jesus promised to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 1). Peter preached the one baptism in Jesus’s name for the forgiveness of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

            The power and authority of baptism comes by the command of Jesus Christ not man. The Bible never calls baptism a work of man. However, God works salvation raising the repentant believer from baptism into new life (Col 2:12–13). God accomplishes all the work of forgiveness through baptism (Col 2:13).

            Baptism partakes of the power of God for salvation in the Gospel (Rom 1:16). Of first importance to the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that saves the believer (1 Cor 15:1–4). Baptism symbolizes the burial of the believer with Christ as the believer dies to oneself in repentance and is immersed in water uniting with Christ (Rom 6:3–5). For this reason, Christ revealed, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).

            As the believer becomes a disciple by baptism, God adds the baptized to His church. In the Book of Acts, Luke reported that those 3,000 baptized were saved and added to the body of disciples — the church (Acts 2:41, 47). Likewise, Paul agreed when he wrote of the one baptism that is by the Spirit and joins the believer to the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13).

            What should believers do about churches teaching more than one baptism? They should seek out the church that Jesus built and who teach the truth (cf. Matt 16:18). Jesus is the head of the body, His church (Eph 1:22–23). Disciples of Christ will seek out of the church of Christ.

            For the unity of all saints in the church, Christians can unite and teach with one voice as Peter declared, “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” (1 Pet 3:21; cf. 1:3). By baptism, believers appeal and call to God for forgiveness and salvation.

            To all who love Christ and have yet to be baptized, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).

As followers of Christ, our hearts hurt to see others fall away from the faith. What did they not know, believe, or practice? What shame upon on us if we do not finish making disciples by teaching them and we do not continue living as disciples by observing all that Christ commanded.

            When Christ rose from the dead and was about to ascend into Heaven, He left instruction for the disciples to make disciples by teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded (Matt 28:19–20). When Paul faced His death, he instructed Timothy to continue in what he learned by knowing the sacred writings and all the God-breathed Scriptures that profit for doctrine and equip one completely for every good work (2 Tim 3:14–17). As Peter came near to death, he wrote the churches throughout the Anatolia to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18 ESV).

            The common instruction through the Scriptures is that Christians are to grow by remaining in God’s Word. Jesus revealed, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31a–32 ESV). That freedom is to be free from the slavery of sin (John 8:34–36). How can the followers of Christ abide in His word? The apostle Paul noted that he wrote Scripture for believers to read and know the mystery of God revealed by the Holy Spirit to His apostles and prophets (Eph 3:3–5).

            As disciples of Christ, believers should commit scriptures to memory upon the heart so as to meditate and dwell upon God’s Word (Heb 8:10). “Let the word of God dwell in your richly” (Col 3:16a). The Psalmist expressed, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Ps 119:11). How else is the mind to be renewed and the life transformed? The apostle encourage, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2 ESV). Anyone who wants to see transformation in their life must commit the Word of God to their hearts and minds.

            How can Christians encourage one another to keep reading the Word? They all need the encouragement of other believers (Heb 3:13; 10:24). With 260 workdays in the year, Christians can at least read 5 chapters a week and read all 260 chapters of the New Testament in a year. People keep what they learn when they use what they learn. The Christian needs to share their reading, study, and memorization with others whether they meet with brethren in the church or with others at work or in the community. Sharing what you read with others is going to make disciples and open doors for others to understand the gospel and obey it. Furthermore, Christians can share their reading and study with their family encouraging salvation and growth. In fact, the overflow in one’s own life will make a great difference.

“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” (Ps 1:1–3).

“Is there an afterlife?” Everyone faces this question when a person considers one’s coming death. Many people conclude with a pagan picture of afterlife thinking that they will be spirits living in ghostly bodies and in a state or place of heaven much like Elysium believed by the ancient classical world.

            How real is eternal life and the world to come to you? Many of the descriptions of the heavenly kingdom and eternal life have become unclear. Do you look forward to being transformed into a glorious body to live in a heavenly kingdom (Phil 3:20–21)? Christians should anticipate the one hope of eternal life by the redemption of the body (Rom 8:23–25; Eph 4:4).

            Many if not most believers are hesitant of what to accept as literal or figurative in the Book of Revelation. Revelation includes promises to the faithful including the gift of a morning star (Rev 2:17, 28; 3:5). Is the text describing reality? Sadly, many revert to the common perception of “heaven” within their imaginations. However, knowledge and understanding of other books of the Bible help readers to understand Revelation especially its picture of eternal life. Biblical texts like the Epistle to the Hebrews describe the reality of the heavenly country.

            In Revelation 20, John saw earth and heaven move away (Rev 20:11). After God’s judgment of the world, He also saw “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). According to Hebrews, the heavens and earth will perish and yet change (Heb 1:10–12; cf. Rom 8:19–23). Hebrews calls this “the world to come” (Heb 2:5; cf. 6:5). Peter predicted the new heavens and new earth when he described the reality of the Creation, the Flood, the coming destruction of the heavens by fire, and fire exposing the earth (2 Pet 3:5–12). Peter added in declaration, “But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:13 ESV). The reality is that God promises a better country that is heavenly for the faithful to live eternally (Heb 11:16; cf. 2 Tim 4:18; 2 Pet 1:11).

            John also reported of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God (Rev 21:2, 10–14). Hebrews affirmed that God has prepared a city for the saved (Heb 11:16). Revelation symbolically describes the city as Christ’s bride, the church, and yet alludes to a real city. John saw the city surrounded by 1,380 miles of walls foursquare and made of reddish jasper with 12 open pearl gates, and within its streets of glassy gold, the river of life flowed through the middle and the tree of life bore its fruits on each side (Rev 21:15–22:4). Revelation captures the glory of God’s eternal city whether the details are figurative or not. The reality is that God has a city for His people. According to Hebrews, Abraham looked forward by faith to “the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). The writer encouraged Christians as they have come “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” where angels are in festal gathering with God and Christ (Heb 12:22).

            Jesus will bring His people into His glory (Heb 2:10). For this reason, Revelation displays the wonder of God’s promises in astonishing words, and texts like Hebrews attests to the reality of God’s eternal blessings. All of this is recorded for the earnestness and full assurance of hope until the end (Heb 6:11–12). “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:22–23).

Everyone wants to see justice done. Many people wonder about the justice of God. However, no one can escape God’s just wrath without Christ appeasing justice and making one just before God (Rom 3:23–25). God’s justice toward all does not negate the Christian from desiring justice toward the wicked. The Book of Revelation teaches believers how God brings judgment.

            John’s Revelation depicted the first-century enemies of the church as two beasts. One is is “the Beast” a ruler of Rome and the other beast is “the False Prophet,” the false media promoting worship of the Beast (Rev 13). Because of their wickedness upon the earth, a voice called for God’s wrath to pour upon the earth (Rev 16:1). Plagues described as 7 bowls of wrath came upon the earth. God’s justice came upon the people who worshiped the Beast and bore the mark of the Beast (16:2). In the third plague, an angel declared, “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due” (Rev 16:5–6 ESV).

            After enduring the plagues, the wicked did not repent and glorify God but cursed God (Rev 16:8–9). Likewise, humanity endures today the consequences of sin and many curse God instead of turning to God. In the fifth plague, God exercised His wrath against the throne of the Beast plunging his kingdom into darkness. That wicked kingdom gnawed in anguish, did not repent, and cursed God again (16:10–11). The faithful can expect that many in the world would rather rail against God than submit to God’s love and justice.
            Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet deceived the kings of the nations to go to war for threat from the east (16:12–14). Their army of the nations assembled at Armageddon meaning “Mount Megiddo” (16:16). The valley of Megiddo is notable for its fertility providing crops and for being a place of battle. Most notably, Mount Carmel overlooks the valley and is where God demonstrated His power by consuming Elijah’s offering with fire and allowing Elijah to slaughter 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18). God’s justice comes to those in obstinate rebellion.

            The nations gathered for war at Armageddon, but God gathered them for judgment. John reported that a great earthquake from God concluded the Battle of Armageddon before it started. In this symbolic presentation, God overcame the nations and the city of Rome (Rev 16:17–21). Furthermore, John saw the city of Rome as a prostitute drunk on the blood the saints and witnesses of Jesus (17:1–2, 7, 18; cf. 18:24). As the nations with the Beast made war on Jesus, Christ conquered them as the Lord of lords and the King of kings (17:14). God put it into the hearts of the nations that their kings turn against Rome to devour and burn Rome (17:16; cf. 18:8, 17–18). Rome falls by the violence it stirred (18:21).

            In Revelation, John revealed Christ leading His army to Armageddon where Christ came conquering with a sword from His mouth and ruling with a rod of iron (Rev 19:11–16). The Beast and the armies of the nations that gathered for a battle never engaged, yet God had already won. Christ’s army captured the Beast and the False Prophet and cast them into the lake of fire (19:17–21). “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31).

            Living by faith through difficult trials includes trusting and having confidence in God who will work justice now and on judgment day. No matter who is ruling in this world, “Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments” (Rev 16:7).

The novella, “The Wreck of the Titan,” eerily depicted an account of an ocean liner striking an iceberg and sinking in the north Atlantic 14 years before the actual sinking of the Titanic. The author, Morgan Robertson, denied any extrasensory knowledge of the future but perceived the probability of such an accident from his maritime knowledge. Some people have tried to predict the future. Most have failed. Some predict in vague words so others reinterpreted in hindsight.

            The predictions of the Book of Revelation are so astounding that opponents of the Bible assert that a man named John must have written the book after the historical events that it claims to predict. Revelation predicts a great persecution of the church, tribulations upon the rulers of Rome, and the Beast ruler who would persecute Christians and justly die.

            In Revelation 11, John revealed that the nations would trample the holy city outside of the temple (Rev 11:2). In AD 70, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the physical temple. However, John prophesied that the nations would not destroy the temple of God. John must have referred to this temple as God’s people — the church. In Revelation 1, John revealed that the churches form a kingdom of priests meaing from the Greek word for priest that they must serve in a temple (1:6). The Scriptures reveal that the church is now the temple of God (1 Cor 3:16–17; Eph 2:19–22; 1 Pet 2:5).

            The Book of Revelation prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem and yet gives no indication that the Romans had already destroyed the physical temple. No New Testament book revealed that Jerusalem’s destruction had already occurred during or before its writing. Any book of the New Testament with modest length would most likely have mentioned this event if written after AD 70, because Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in detail (Luke 21; cf. Matt 24; Mark 13).

            The destruction of Jerusalem was no small event. The Emperor Domitian honored his brother Titus for his siege of Jerusalem by constructing “the Arch of Titus” to commemorate the conquest. That arch stands today. The first-century Jewish historian, Josephus, was an eyewitness and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in detail for the Romans. Christian writers would not likely have ignored the event when they believed Jesus predicted it. In the fourth century AD, the church historian, Eusebius, recorded that all Christians escaped the destruction of Jerusalem because of Jesus’s prediction.

            No one can predict the future without a supernatural guide. No other religion or text have made such predictive claims. Unbelievers go to great lengths to try to explain prophetic predictions away. However, critical scholars admit that Jesus did predict the destruction of Jerusalem. They recognize that Jesus asked His disciples to pray the event not come in winter when Jerusalem’s destruction occurred in August indicating that the event had not yet occurred by the writing of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 13:18). Furthermore, the Book of Acts concluded before Paul’s death in AD 65 — five years before the destruction of Jerusalem. Acts dates its prequel, the Gospel of Luke, to about AD 60–62 confirming Jesus’s predictions of Jerusalem’s destruction that Luke recorded from witnesses in Luke 19:41–44 and 21:5–24.

             Those honestly seeking the truth are amazed at the revelation of God. Therefore, Christians can stand with boldness and declare the course of history has fulfilled God’s predictions in the Bible. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom 11:33)

Many often recognize an imbalance in their lives between home and work or between children and spouse. People strive to balance their diet and sleep. The church faces a great struggle for balance between compassion and standing for truth. Often, elders must make hard decisions for which some quickly criticize for being too strict or too permissive. Christians would be better to avoid such opinionated judging and give grace to their leaders.

            Do churches of Christ need to repent? Some needed to repent in the first century, and some need to repent today. The church at Corinth had a long list of sins, but the apostle Paul still identified them as a church of Christ (1 Cor 3:23). First Corinthians helps demarcate when a church is drifting from Christ as members within the body are falling asleep and dying spiritually.

            The first churches of Christ had problems much like churches today. In John’s Revelation, Jesus instructed the apostle John to write to seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:4, 11, 19). Christ called five of the churches with sinful problems to repent (Rev 1:10, 13, 17; 2:7).

            Jesus’s words to the church at Ephesus included commendation and addressed issues that many churches have today. In Revelation 2, Jesus revealed that He knew their works and endurance for His name’s sake (Rev 2:3). Christ commended them for not bearing with those who were evil and falsely called themselves apostles (Rev 2:2). They rightly did not tolerate false teachers in the church. Jesus also hated the evil works of these heretical teachers (Rev 2:6). Jesus revealed to another church at Thyatira that they sinned by tolerating such seducing doctrines (Rev 2:20). Jesus referred to these false teachers as Nicolaitans who like Balaam who deceived believers to accept sexual immorality and eat what was sacrificed to idols (Rev 2:14–15; cf. 2 Pet 2:14–15).

            Jesus called for the church at Ephesus to repent. While they did well in opposing false teachers, they had abandoned their first love by not doing their first works (Rev 2:5). Scholars continue to discuss what the first works were that the church at Ephesus left. Evidently, the description of love and first works is not opposing false doctrines along with avoiding sexual immorality and mingling the Christian faith with other religions. This leaves Christians with a general definition that this sin is what new churches and new Christians do in abundance and yet the church at Ephesus abandoned.

            Today, believers of Christ must balance between doctrine and good works. While Christians oppose fallacious beliefs, the faithful need to continue to love in service. The church of Christ at Ephesus was imbalanced like many believers today who may spend too much time arguing over beliefs and not enough time uniting in service and sharing the gospel. For repentance, Jesus concluded His message to Ephesus by encouraging them, “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev 2:7b).

Days mean significant things to certain people. Most of the world marks birthdays and anniversaries for important events in their lives. Nations recognize special days that are noteworthy to their people. For most people in the States, Mondays represent the beginning of work for the week. Wednesdays are “hump day,” and Friday marks freedom and rest from a long week. However, many put Sunday in “the weekend” not recognizing the historical and biblical importance of the first day of the week.

            Christians call the first day of the week “the Lord’s Day.” Why? Should not Christians recognize every day to the Lord (Rom 14:5–6)? In the Bible, Christians did see the first day of the week as important to their faith. The only day attributed to Jesus is the first day of the week, because Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:1–2; cf. 1 Cor 15:3–4). While some may consider Sunday to be “the Christian Sabbath,” the only “Christian Sabbath” in the Bible is eternal rest with God (Heb 4:1–11).

            The Book of Revelation reveals reasons that Christians identify the first day of the week as the Lord’s Day. John recognized “the Lord’s day” specifically to the Lord — Jesus Christ. John wrote to the seven churches of Asia while he was in the Spirit on “the Lord’s Day” (Rev 1:10). The identification of the Lord’s Day as the first day of the week comes from clues within the text. The adjective “Lord’s” is only found in one other passage in the New Testament that referred to “the Lord’s Supper” in 1 Corinthians 11:20. In Acts, Christians partook in the breaking of the bread “on the first day of the week” (Act 20:7; cf. 1 Cor 10:16). Furthermore, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians for order in the assembly, the fruits of Jesus’s resurrection, and then noted the collection on the first day of the week (1 Cor 14; 15; 16:1–2). Paul connected assembly, Jesus’s resurrection, and the first day of the week together.

            In Revelation, John recorded that he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven lampstands on this Lord’s Day (Rev 1:12–13). John revealed that the lampstands represented the seven churches of Asia (Rev 1:20). In other words, Jesus was “in the midst” of the churches on the Lord’s Day. “In the midst” is the same phrase that Jesus used in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (translation). Jesus declared that He is “in the midst” of a gathering in His name (Matt 18:17–19; cf. 1 Cor 5:4).

            Peter’s preaching of the gospel on the Day of Pentecost established the church of Christ in Jerusalem. “Pentecost” means fifty in Greek referring to fifty days after the last Sabbath day of Passover (Lev 23:15–16). In other words, Pentecost was always on the first day of the week. The Holy Spirit came upon Christ’s apostles and the gospel began to spread to the world on the first day of the week (Acts 2).

            What should Christians do with the Lord’s Day? The church does not need a command to recognize the first day of the week as the ideal time for the assembly. The church of Christ can see the biblical examples and find no better day to gather and partake in the breaking of the bread. Thank God for Lord’s Day! Christ arose!