[Note: Katrina is home and we're hoping for a speedy recovery. Thanks for your prayers!]

How to Eat a Book

In Revelation 10, John took and ate a scroll from the angel’s hand. It tastes sweet as honey, but left his stomach feeling bitter (representing the fact that the Bible is sweet to believers, but gives us a message of judgment for the world). This is one of several passages comparing the Bible to food, and Bible study to eating.

When God created the physical and spiritual realms, He used the same grid. That’s why we can illustrate spiritual truths by their corresponding physical realities, as Jesus did when He used the story of the sower to illustrate the spreading of the Gospel.

In the physical realm, we need food. God could have made us so we recharged with sunlight like solar panels, or we replenished our strength by plugging into some kind of power supply. But he gave each of us a mouth, a set of teeth, an esophagus, a stomach, and a digestive system. We have supper, chew it up, and swallow it; and it satisfies our mouths and stomachs. Then our digestive system goes to work, and this satisfying meal is broken down to its smallest parts, transferred through our bloodstream, and carried to every last place in our bodies.

This is why nutrition is so important. Our bodies temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are what we eat. You’ll never be any healthier than your diet.

The same is true mentally and spiritually. What do most people devour today? Entertainment and a constant diet of pure secularism. But Jesus said, “May shall not live by break alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” To trace this through the Bible, see:

• Ezekiel 2:9 – 3:15 (notice the resemblance to Revelation 10)
• Job 23:1
• Psalm 19:10
• Psalm 119:103
• Jeremiah 15:16
• Hebrews 5:11-12
• 1 Peter 2:1-2

 If you want to study the Bible on a daily basis here is a simple, workable seven-step plan. Here’s how to eat a book.

1. Select a book of the Bible to study. Perhaps Philippians, for example.
2.  Jot. Read every day where you left off the day before, using a pen or pencil. You can either underline and circle and make marginal notes as you read, or you can jot down observations in a small notebook. It’s amazing how a pen helps the mind to focus on the passage being studied.
3. Consult. Read the explanatory notes in a good study Bible. Study Bibles have been around since the Geneva Bible of the 1500s. The best study Bible available today is the ESV Study Bible. It’s like a seminary sown up between the covers.
4. Cross-Reference. Follow the cross-references in the margins of your study Bible.
5. Ponder. Find a key verse from the passage and ponder it. This is what the Bible calls meditation.
6. Pray. Turn the passage or verse into a prayer for yourself and others. Try this and you’ll find it an indispensible part of your daily study time.
7. Align. Look for practical ways to bring your life into alignment with the passage.

  Katrina is starting to look and act more like her old self (not that she’s old!) We’re not sure when she’ll be home from the hospital, but she’s in good spirits. Most heart patients are on their feet by now. For several years Katrina has been unable to walk due to MS and has relyed on her arms to hoist her and propel her. Now she can’t put any weight on her arms, so she’s fairly immobilized. This is the biggest problem. We’re just hoping she’ll not lose too much mobility before she’s healed. The good news is that she’ll likely have more strength in the future. What I had thought was advancing MS now appears to have been a matter of a bad heart. Her weakness was caused by insufficient blood flow. With her heart working so well now, we’re convinced her strength will return better than ever. Thanks for continuing to pray for her. She’s greatly encouraged by all the support.

Now to last night’s KALEO study of Revelation 10:

Introduction: As the book of Revelation outlines it, the Great Tribulation is based around three series of events, which are described as seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wreath. We’ve looked at the seven seals and we’re currently working our way through the seven trumpets. Six of them have already sounded. As we come to chapter 10, we’re waiting for the seventh trumpet, but we have another parenthetical passage. This is one of the shortest and most interesting chapters in Revelation – the big angel with the little scroll. It’s a prelude to the sounding of the seventh trumpet, designed to impress on John the gravity of the message he is being given.

V. 1: Some people identify this “mighty angel” as Christ, but there are better reasons to identify him as one of the mighty angels that do God’s bidding in Revelation. The word “another” implies that this is an angel like the ones blowing the trumpets, and the fact that he swears by one greater than himself in verse 6 also identifies him as an angel, not as the Lord Jesus. His description, however, is glorious with great authority and rank.

V. 2: This mighty angel holds a small scroll. We aren’t told the contents of the scroll, but whatever its specific contents, it represents the Word of God.

V. 3-7: Apparently this angel was about to unleash another (a fourth) series of judgments – thunder judgments – but God tells him this information is still “classified” and is to remain top secret.

V. 8-11: John is told to take the scroll from the angel’s hand, to eat and digest it. He does so and finds the scroll as sweet as honey through it leaves him feeling bitter. This passage is based on Ezekiel 2:9 – 3:15, where the same thing happened to Ezekiel. Our Bibles are sweeter than honey to us, but they do contain a bitter message of judgment for us to proclaim as a warning to the world

Conclusion: The analogy of the Bible as food is seen throughout Scripture. In a supplemental blog tomorrow, I’ll survey these passages and tell us “how to eat a book.”

  Katrina is doing very well. She has just been moved from ICU to a regular room, and she’s well enough now to complain about the hospital food (“disgusting,” she told the nurse). Otherwise she’s in good spirits. They’ve disconnected most of the tubes, wires, pumps, monitors, pipes, and jumper cables (except for her heart monitors). She hasn’t experienced much pain (though she’s still on some pain-killers), and she seems to be regaining strength. The doctor said there is a world of difference in the way her heart sounds; so we are hopeful she’ll recover with new strength and vigor. They are talking about releasing her the first of the week, probably to go straight home. Katrina has drawn a world of encouragement from the notes, calls, e-mails, facebook posts, visits, card, and assurances of prayer; so thank you so much!!

Katrina’s surgery was successful, and the doctor determined that her faulty heart valve was defective at birth. He replaced it, and she did fine. Her “tissue is soft,” he said, due to longterm MS medication, so they are watching her carefully for bleeding and brusing. But we can see her in a couple of hours and expect a normal recovery. The MS department will work with her to minimize immobility. Everyone at Vandy has been great, and we are so grateful for everyone’s prayers and support.

Katrina got checked into Vanderbilt yesterday and met the the MS doctors prior to today’s surgery. She spent a restless night, but was in good spirits this morning as they prepped her for surgery. She rolled off toward the surgery theater about five minutes ahead of schedule. The doctor said that the main aortic valve will clearly need replacement, but her other leaking valve will need little or no repair. It’s not as bad as first thought, and repairing the main aortic valve will take pressure off the others. He said he might “tighten it up a little” while he’s in there. Her surgery should be starting anytime now, and I’ll post an undate later in the day. Thank you for your prayer.

{Note: Katrina is checking into Vanderbilt Hosptial today for MS evaluations prior to her open heart surgery tomorrow. I will post updates here on this blog. Thanks so much for your prayers and concern. In the meantime, here are my teaching notes from Sunday night’s study of Rev. 9}

Introduction: Even as a child, I didn’t like going to horror movies. We’d sometimes go to movies at the old Bonnie Kate Theater in Elizabethton, taking big grocery bags of popcorn. I seem to remember hiding my head in those popcorn bags when the previews of horror movies came on. And those horror movies were old black-and-white silly things with actors like Vincent Price. He starred in “House of Wax” and “The Fly” and became famous for all his primitive horror films. I can’t imagine what horror movies are like today, but they cannot be good for us mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. Wikipedia describes the horror film genre like this:

Horror films are unsettling movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, disgust, panic, alarm, shock and horror from viewers through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres…. Horror films center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with the viewer’s nightmares, vulnerability, hidden worst fears, alienation, revulsions, terror of the unknown, fear of death and dismemberment. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, any film with a morbid, gruesome, surreal, suspenseful or frightening theme may be termed ‘horror….’ Its plots often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, sometimes of supernatural origin, into the everyday world.

Well, there is one chapter in the Bible that resembles the script of a horror movie better than any other, and it’s Revelation 9. It describes the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments.

Review: In thumbing through the chapters of Revelation, we see that chapter 1 is the initial vision of the glorified Christ, which sets the stage for the entire book. Chapters 2 and 3 are a series of miniature epistles addressed to the church regarding their own spiritual life in the last days. In chapters 4 and 5, the scene shifts to heaven where we attend a great worship convocation that launches the events of the Second Coming. Chapters 6 – 18 are a graphic play-by-play description of some of the events that will occur during the Great Tribulation—the seven-year period of time preceding the return of Christ. There are three great series of events that will unfold during this time. They are symbolized in the book of Revelation as Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Bowls of Wrath. Chapters 6 and 7 describe the seven seals. Chapter 8 describes the first four trumpets, and we’re coming now to chapter 9, which describes the next two of the seven trumpets (the seventh and last trumpet judgment occurs at the end of chapter 11). These last three trumpet judgments are unlike anything we’ve seen so far and are right out of a horror movie. This chapter describes the unleashing of virulent predatory demons in large numbers on planet earth. In verse 1, we come to the fifth trumpet judgment.

These last three trumpet judgments are described as “woes” in Revelation 8:13. Judgment must inevitably occur, but God always warns. He warned Adam. He warned the people of the days of Noah. He warned the ancient Israelites in the days of the prophets. He warns and warns and warns of coming judgment. Even here in the book of Revelation, there is a cry of warning before the intensity of the last three trumpet judgments.

V. 1: The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.

In this passage, a great angel (probably Lucifer or one of his demonic archangels, see below) has fallen from the sky. This is past tense; something that has already happened. This evil person is described as a “star,” but the word “star” doesn’t seem to be a literal star but a person. Even in today’s terminology, we call those who excel in sports or entertainment – stars. Several times the Bible rather mysteriously compares angels with stars: Job 38:7; Isaiah 14:12-14; Matthew 2:1; and the seven stars that are “angels” in the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 1-3. Also see Luke 10:18. Here in Revelation 9:1, the reference seems to be to an angel, and almost certainly to Satan himself (See again Isaiah 14:12-14 and Luke 10:18).

Here in this passage we’ve come to the point where the devil is given the key to hell to unleash all the demons that are imprisoned there. The old translations said that this “star” had the key to the “bottomless pit.” The actual Greek word is “abussos” (a-bu’-sis), which is transliterated into our English word “Abyss.” The Greek word refers to an extremely deep place. Luke 8:31 uses this word when the demons beg Christ not to send them to the “abussos.”

Demons are a mystery to us, but they seem to be angels who follow Lucifer in his rebellion against God.  See Isaiah 14:12-14. We believe that perhaps a third of all the angels of heaven follow him (Revelation 12:1-4).

Some of these demons are free and roaming the world, causing trouble (Luke 11:24-26). They showed up in force during the ministry of Christ; they seem to be the lurking forces behind the conflicts of earth between the nations; and they can oppress and possess human beings. Paul encountered a demon-possessed girl in Acts 16. But other demons, perhaps the most virulent of them, are imprisoned. See Luke 8:26-31; 2 Peter 2:4-9; and Jude 4. Now the prison doors are going to be opened and all these dangerous swarms of demons are going to attack the earth.

V. 2:  John describes the sight of these demons swarming up from the Abyss as making the air as thick as smoke.

V. 3: He describes these demons using the images of locusts and scorpions.

V. 4: This is really a very encouraging verse for believers. The demons cannot and are not permitted to hurt anyone bearing the seal of God. In chapter 7, we read about the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who were sealed with the sign of God’s protective ownership. The demons are unable to touch them. There is a shield of grace around them; and I think the same is true for Christians today. We are covered with the blood of Christ and protected from the evil one (see John 17:15).

V. 5: Even with the unbelievers, the demons are not able to destroy as they would like. There is restraining grace. This demonic swarm will last for five months and will inflict pain. The description here is like constant invisible tasers.

V. 6: During these five months, the pain and terror will be so great that people will wish they were dead.

V. 7-10: As John sees these demons he describes them in figurative language. Whether this is both a literal and symbolic description or just a symbolic description, I don’t know.

V. 11: The words “Abaddon” and “Apollyon” mean “destroyer.” This is probably a biblical title for Satan, although it could be referring to a satanic archangel.

V. 12: Next comes the sixth trumpet judgment (the second “woe”).

V. 13-16: This is another maximum security prison in the spiritual realm (perhaps located in an invisible realm in Iraq or ancient Babylon near the Euphrates River, near where the Garden of Eden once existed—the site of the original sin and the historic center of so much opposition to God’s plan, see verse 14). Another set of demons is released. These have four terrible commanders and the “troops” under them number two hundred million. This time, the demons can inflict death, resulting in a third of earth’s remaining population being slain.

V. 17-19: These verses contain another vivid and graphic description (symbolic and perhaps literal, too) of the appearance of this army of demons.

V. 20-21: In spite of these horrific terrors, the humans on earth during the Great Tribulation refuse to repent. They are so hardened in their hearts that nothing can move them to repentance. They persist in their demonism and their endless worship of idols, and in their murders, magic arts, and sexual immorality (sounds like our culture today, doesn’t it?)

Conclusion: Reading on, we’ll see that in chapters 10-11a, we have another interlude, another parenthetical explanation of these events. The seventh trumpet sounds at the end of chapter 11. But if you want to end this chapter on a note of encouragement, look at Revelation 20:1-3 and 10. At the end of the story all the demons along with Satan himself will be herded back into the Abyss and locked up forever and ever, never more to trouble the earth or the people of God.

[Note: From the very beginning of my pastoral work, I've prepared manuscripts of my Sunday morning sermons, which we publish at TDF as "Pocket Papers." But for the next four weeks, due to a busy summer and Katrina's upcoming surgery, I'm going to speak extemporaneously from the four chapters of Philippians, one of my favorite books of the Bible, one chapter per week. Pocket Papers will return for the MOSAIC series from Exodus 1-20, beginning Augut 22. In the meantime, here are my preaching notes from today's message from Philippians 1.]

Opening Text: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain – Philippians 1:21

Introduction: Everyone is under pressure today – time pressure, financial pressure, family pressure. We all need strength, and we need to be strength-spreaders. The right word at the right time can do much good. Here’s an examples. Recently my son-in-law and I visited Canterbury, in Kent, in southeast England. The British Isles were originally evangelized in the first century, when Britannia was conquered by the Roman Emperor Claudius. It’s likely that British soldiers were the first to take the Gospel to Britannia. The church evidently grew there and flourished. But when the Roman Empire collapsed, Roman forces were withdrawn from Britain and the islands were invaded hoards of barbarians, including the Saxons. The nation destabilized, and Christianity to a large extent collapsed in the ensuing chaos.

In in the 500s, the Roman Bishop Gregory saw some Anglo-Saxon boys in the slave market in Rome. They were blue-eyed and blond and had faces like angels. Gregory developed a burden for the Anglo-Saxons and he worked hard to recruit a team of missionaries to travel to the British Isles to reclaim the land for Christ.

Putting together a large missionary team (about 40), he tapped for their leader a man named Augustine. (This isn’t the famous St. Augustine from North Africa; this was a man who was named for that St. Augustine. We call this second man Augustine of Canterbury.)

So the delegation set out, and it was a hard trip. They sailed from Italy to a spot somewhere near the French Riviera not far from Aix-en-Provence, then trekked due north right through the middle of war-torn France. They had to zigzag at every point because of Civil wars ravaging the area, and it was an exhausting trip. Somewhere along the way they lost their nerve. They became completely overwhelmed with dread and fear. They were attacked by the devil. They had heard from a reliable source that the Anglo-Saxon tribes cut the throats of those who entered their territories, hung the victims upside down until all the blood drained out, and then drank the blood. The missionary band did not know the language to those they were hoping to reach. The group faltered and sent word back to the bishop of Rome, telling him they could not go on.

The bishop sent back one of the most important letters in Christian history. He told them by no means should they quit, but they should instead rely on the Almighty. He said, in effect, that it would have been better never to have started out than to start out and quit. He told them, in effect, to finish what they had started with the help of their Almighty God who was going with them.

That letter infused them with strength and they went on, got to the English Channel, and crossed over into Kent. The king of that area was a man named Ethelbert who ruled from the town of Canterbury. Somehow they overcame the language barrier, and Ethelbert listened to their message while sitting under a large oak tree. Shortly afterward he was converted and then hundreds of Englishmen began coming to the Lord. It marked the revival of Christianity in England, and Canterbury has been called the “cradle of English Christianity.”

We need to be the kind of people with the kind of spirit that can infuse others with strength. That’s what the apostle Paul does in Philippians 1. Though he was imprisoned in Rome (probably in AD 62), his outlook was so bright that he wrote an inspiring letter to his supporters 800 miles away in Philippi. In chapter 1, we can pick up these clues from him about being strength spreaders in our own day.

1.  Be Prayerful

• Philippians 1:1-10
• Paul started off with reassuring prayer for the Philippians, assured that the God who had started working in their lives would carry it on to completion (verse 6), and praying specific for a particular chain reaction to occur within the church: Love, leading to knowledge and insight, leading to discerning what is best and making wise choices, leading to purity and blamelessness, leading to a fruitful life until Christ returns (v 9-11). If you are worried about someone for any reason and want to find the most powerful thing you can do for both you and them, buy a little journal and every morning or evening find a passage of Scripture to write out as a prayer on their behalf. Having written it out, kneel and offer it earnestly to the Lord. There is great power and strength in this practice, which is exactly what Paul did here in Philippians 1 to spread strength to the Philippians church.

2. Stay Positive

• Philippians 1:11-26
• There is no whining in these verses. Paul openly discusses his problems, but without any self-pity or woe-is-me. He is looking at everything with gratitude. Though imprisoned, he is having a fruitful ministry right where he is. He reassures the Philippians by his spunk and spirit. If you want to be a strength to others, cultivate a thankful attitude and remain positive about your own circumstances, whatever they are, knowing God is in control. That not only relieves them of worrying about you, but it provides an example for them regarding their own trials.

3. Keep Preaching

• Philippians 1:27-30
• “Whatever happens,” Paul told them, “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” He told them to “stand firm in one spirit.” He exhorted them. He gave them the truth lovingly and confidently. We need to preach to each other in more confident and effective ways. When someone comes to you wanting you to follow them into a sinful or careless or compromised situation, we’re prone to go rather than confronting them. We allow them to pull us down. How much better to exhort them. “You can do whatever you want to do, but I’m not going with you. It would be a violation of my commitment to Christ, and I would like to encourage you to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Stand firm for him. Whether or not they listened to you at that moment, the long-term result would be spreading strength for both you and them.

  Last month, my lovely wife, Katrina, suffered acute chest pains, and subsequent tests showed that she had two faulty heart valves. This Wednesday, she is scheduled for full-blown open-heart surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center. She’s checking in on Tuesday and the operation is planned for eight o’clock Wednesday morning. If all goes well, she’ll likely be in the hospital several days, followed by several months of recovery. The complicating factor is her multiple sclerosis, because whenever she is immobilized for a period of time she tends to lose whatever strength, flexibility, and mobility she has; and it’s difficult to get it back.

She and I, after having discussed it at length, have decided to assume the best. Once her heart is functioning well again (the doctor is amazed she’s not had fainting spells due to insufficient blood getting into the heart) and with her new MS medication, we’re just going to assume she will bounce back with a level of strength she’s not had for several years.

We think that, as a general rule, faith in the Lord translates into assuming the best on earth, with an awareness that He works all things for good whatever the outcome.

Many people have asked how they could help. I honestly don’t know. But we are so grateful for everyone’s prayers and loving support. I’ll use this blog to post her updates. Thanks for your prayers for her on Wednesday.

Yesterday as I traveled back from San Diego, my first flight was delayed because of mechanical problems and I missed my connection in Dallas. My second flight was into a storm, and we circled around Nashville skimming the thunderheads for an hour before the pilot found a little window through which we could land. I’ll have to say that I was nervous and prayerful. But we made it safely, praise the Lord.

My son-in-law Ethan is being crammed into cargo planes as he slowly makes his way home from Iraq. My daughter Victoria is on her way to Jackson, Mississippi, with half her kids (the other half are with Katrina and me). And our daughter Grace and her family are in Florida on vacation, and traveling later in the week to Roan Mountain for a few days.

As so many of us are on the road, I’m reminded of an old phrase once widely used among Christians: “Traveling Mercies.”

Let’s bring it back. Some of these old phrases from prior generations are still apt for us in the 21st Century. May the Lord grant us all “traveling mercies.”

Psalm 121 is called the Traveler’s Psalm.  It ends with the words: “The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

God, grant it.

What a great writer is Jan Karon. But my favorite book by her is one she didn’t write and which, I suspect, has not received adequate attention. It’s a compilation of her (and Father Tim’s) favorite quotes, entitled A Continual Feast. Here are some samples I pulled from the book in the general category of thanksgiving, attitude, and contentment.

To live content with small means; to see elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common – this is my symphony. – William Henry Channing, clergyman & reformer (1810-1884)

Remember this—that very little is needed to make a happy life. – Marcus Aurelius

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has – Epictetus