Revelation 3:20: Hello, is anybody in there?

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 30 August 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

We’ve been walking down ‘Romans Road’ this summer in the hopes that as a congregation we may memorise some of the verses we’ve looked at and use them as a tool to share our faith with people. The verses we’ve looked at – the stops we’ve made along Romans Road - are as follows.

(We remember that the first one we looked at wasn’t exactly on Romans Road but I thought we needed to have it before we embarked on this journey.)

1) Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”[1]

2) Next stop, Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”[2]

3) Then we stopped at Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

4) This was followed by Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[3]

5) Others stops on the road include Romans 10:13: "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved", and

6) Romans 10:9,10: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation".

We also made a couple of extra stops that aren’t usually made on the Romans Road, such as Romans 5:3-5: “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”[4] And Romans 13: 11-14: “… The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed … clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Today we are not looking at Paul’s letter to the Romans at all. Actually, we aren’t even looking at anything even written by Paul. Today, we are looking at letters within a letter ascribed to ‘John the Revelator’: in the book of Revelation. But in so doing, as strange as it may sound, we actually are continuing our walk down Roman’s Road today. (The seven churches mentioned in Revelation are along a physical Roman Road in the Roman province of Asia).[5]

7) The last stop on Roman’s Road is in Revelations 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

One thing you’ve probably already noticed is that every once and a while parts of scripture remind me of comics that I used to read as a kid and that now actually my own children read. I thought I would share some comics with you here from Bill Waterson’s ‘Calvin and Hobbes’. These comics we’re about to look at how the boy Calvin reacts when he is expecting his babysitter, Rosalyn (whom he doesn’t like) to come spend the evening with him. This is quite a long story line and where we pick it up is after Rosalyn has already arrived at the house and has been knocking at the door, ringing the doorbell for quite a while….

Revelations 3:20 (Like Rosalyn): “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

These comics are not actually too far off from what today’s passage of scripture is talking about. We’ll come back to that in a little bit. First, I think we need a little context for the book of Revelation and even more so the pericope in which this verse is included. Revelation is an account of the apocalyptic vision of ‘John the Revelator’ (Rev 1).[6] It is full of imagery. Some people consider that its prophecies relate either to John’s time or even to the ultimate end of times. Others see it quite reasonably as a critique of the superpower of John’s day (Rome) or even a condemnation of any earthly empire or superpower for that matter.[7] It certainly contains elements of this but one thing that is for certain is that Revelation is meant as an encouragement to the faithful (Rev 2:2, 19; Rev 3:10; Rev 13:10; Rev 14:12; cf. also Luke 8:15; 21:19; Rom 2:7; 1Cor 13:7; Col 1:11). Revelation is meant to spur us on to be faithful to the end – even unto death[8] - so that indeed we can claim the prize (see also 1 Corinthians 9:19-27, Philippians 3:14, Colossians 2:18).

When Revelation, the Apocalypse, begins after a brief introduction, in verse 4 John receives a message from our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of letters for seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia is modern day Anatolia (Turkey) (Revelation 1:4-20).



These seven letters written to the different churches all have some basic features in common: each letter is addressed to an angel (even though John was asked specifically to address them to the churches); each letter mentions the city to which it is addressed; each one follows a prophetic messenger formula; each contains a Christological ascription; followed by praise and a promise or blame and a threat; each then has a call to obedience; and an eschatological promise for the victors.[9]

Some of the recipients of these seven letters fair better than others: Good things are said about six (6) of the seven churches (Revelation 2:2, 10, 13, 19; 3:4, 10): Laodicea is the seventh. Smyrna and Philadelphia even receive significant praise (Revelation 2:8, 3:7)! Laodicea, however, receives the most negative of all the letters. Laodicea receives no praise at all. It is the angel and the church of Laodicea that it seems are in the most trouble and it is the angel and the church at Laodicea that we are looking at today.

Revelations 3:20: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Laodicea was a city of Asia Minor situated in the Lycos valley in the province of Phrygia. It was founded by Antiochus II (261-246 BC) of Syria, who named it for his wife Laodike, and populated it with Syrians and Jews from Babylonia. Though Laodicea stood on the great highway at the junction of several important routes, it was a place of little importance until the Roman province of Asia was formed in 190 BC. It then suddenly became a great and wealthy centre of industry, famous especially for the fine black wool of its sheep and for the Phrygian powder for the eyes that was manufactured there (compare Rev 3:18). In the area was a renowned medical school. In the year 60 AD, the city was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake but as (the Roman senator and historian) Tacitus records, its citizens were so wealthy that they actually rejected the aid offered by Rome and quickly rebuilt at their own expense (compare Rev 3:17).[10] Loadicea was a city of great wealth, with extensive banking operations (compare Rev 3:18).[11] Rich, cultured, pluralistic - this church became so self-satisfied and worldly that it seems to have ostracised Christ completely.[12] It was neither cold nor hot; it was nauseous to God: it was a church which considered itself rich and in need of nothing but that was instead wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.[13]

This was the church to whose angel John wrote the letter (3:14-18):

…These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Let me interrupt the letter here. This is significant. What is the sin of the angel of Laodicea? They are rich but they are poor (v. 17, cf.1 Timothy 6:3-10). This is not unlike our own nation today. We know that one cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13; cf. Hebrews 13:5, 1 Peter 5:2). We know that our country has an economic system (capitalism) that by definition serves money (and we have seen some of the serious temporal consequences of that in the last 100 years: depressions, wars, recessions, crime, unemployment, etc.) We know that it is more difficult for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:23, Mark 10:23-24, Luke 18:24-25) – and when was the last time we saw that! We know that even the poorest of Canadians today are amongst the wealthiest people who have ever lived on this earth. King Solomon could never have even dreamed of the luxuries that we have today: cars, microwaves, centralized heating and air-conditioning, TV, food and junk food galore!

Laodicea had become so rich in the things of this earth (Luke 12:21) that they did not realise that they were spiritually ‘wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (V.17; cf. 1 Timothy 6:17, James 2:5).’ In Canada we were founded (arguably) as a direct rebuke of the earlier atheistic/deistic revolutions: we were intentionally founded upon scripture (Psalm 72) but as we have grown richer in this country, complacency, crime, pornography, atheism, and self-reliance have sprung up like so many weeds attempting to choke out the Word of God and in Canada. Like Laodicea, we have become so complacent and so trusting in our earthly riches it seems that we are turning further and further away from God.

Laodicea was rich in material wealth but Laodicea lacked the good water that her neighbouring cities had: Hieropolis had great hot mineral springs and there was also the clear cold waters of Colossae in contrast to the poor water of Laodicea, which was piped to the city through crusty aqueducts. Laodicea was rich in money but poor in the water it needed to survive. [14] Likewise, Laodicea was rich in temporal wealth but was poor in living water, which we all need to survive. If only Laodicea was spiritually as hot as the waters of Hieropolis or as cool and refreshing as the waters of Colossae! (Important: This passage is NOT referring to ‘spiritual hotness’ and ‘spiritual coldness’ as we would think of those terms today. That idea would have been a foreign analogy in the first century!) [15]

This is what John is talking about. Loadicea may have wealth but they lack spiritual wealth. They have both the good hot water and the good cold water being poured into them but when they mix together in their wealthy city this becomes useless lukewarm water. John doesn’t stop here; he continues (vv. 19-22). This is significant.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

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Even in this state of wallowing in their riches while people in their world starve to death; even in our state of wallowing in our riches while people in our world starve to death; even in this state of not having spiritual strength equivalent to relaxing hot springs of Hieropolis or the religious zeal equivalent to the clear, cold waters of Colossae, God does not give up on them. God does not give up on us. It says that he stands at the door and knocks. This is significant. It isn’t a casual knock at the door and seeing that the people of Laodicea are too busy to hear him, he goes away – this is a persistent knock. The word here in the Greek refers to a continual knocking[16] but the people of Laodicea seem to be hiding. It is like this – Calvin and Hobbes again:

Calvin is hiding but Mom doesn’t give up. It is also like this after his parents had gone and he had locked his babysitter out of the house:

The Laodiceans – like Calvin and not unlike many Canadians - are even taunting the Lord and deceiving themselves into believing that we can survive on our own without Him. But we can’t; there are consequences. Here is Calvin and Hobbes while they are ignoring their babysitter who is locked outside:

There are consequences…

There are consequences for not opening the door but God doesn’t give up (cf. Romans 3:3,4). He is more persistent than the babysitter. He is more persistent than an unwanted salesperson or a family member that you just don’t want to see. He is like the person with a political pamphlet, vacuum, or encyclopaedia set who is pounding on our door and not going away. With Him, He has His Word of Truth and He is calling out. He is crying out. “Hello. Is anybody in there? Hello, is anybody in there?” And the more he yells for us in this country to open the door, the more we seem to turn up our TV sets so we can’t hear him. “Hello, Hello, Hello,” He still yells because he wants our attention, “Is anybody in there?” But we – in this country - seem to duck beneath the window and hide ourselves in our work or our entertainment or even in our sin that we keep deep inside ourselves because we don’t want to see Him. We turn up our radios, we put on our washing machines; we do anything we can to ignore our Lord and Saviour it seems. But He is still calling. He is still calling at the door because He loves us. He knows that we are in here. He knows that the Angel is hiding behind the door of Laodicea. He knows that you and I are tucked away behind the affluence of Canada and He is calling. He is calling us each out by name, ‘Susan’, ‘Michael’, ‘whoever’… He is calling us, begging us to turn down the distractions provided by our wealth and let Him in. Please let us let our dear Saviour in because we know, that just like the six year-old Calvin can’t survive without the protection of his babysitter, mother, or father so also no matter how self-sufficient we think we are, in reality we cannot survive without the protection of our own Heavenly Father.

So let us today, as Jesus is still knocking, let us look out the windows of our own souls, let us see Him and let us invite Jesus into our own lives to eat with us so that indeed we can all dine with him in His Kingdom to come forever and ever. Amen.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Captain Michael Ramsay, "Romans 1:16: I am not ashamed of the Gospel!" Presented to Swift Current Corps, 05 July 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/07/romans-116-i-am-not-ashamed-of-gospel.html
[2] Captain Michael Ramsay, "Romans 3:22b, 23:There is no difference, for all have sinned…" Presented to Swift Current Corps, 12 July 2009. Available on line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/07/romans-322b-23there-is-no-difference.html
[3]Captain Michael Ramsay, "Romans 5:8: while we were still sinners Christ died for us…" Presented to Swift Current Corps, 26 July 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/07/romans-58-while-we-were-still-sinners.html
[4] Captain Michael Ramsay, "Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an Angel on the Downtown Eastside", Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on 20 April 2008 and Swift Current on 09 August 2009. 2008 version available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html Also Captain Michael Ramsay, "Romans 9:30-10:4: The Law through the Looking Glass", Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on 04 May 2008 and Swift Current on 02 August 2009. 2008 version available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/05/romans-930-104-law-through-looking.html
[5] Revelation 2:1-3:22 even though it is not in the book of Romans, addresses seven churches whose address as it were are on the same physical Roman Road.
[6] Cf. Alan F. Johnson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Revelation/Introduction to Revelation/General Nature and Historical Background of Revelation, Book Version: 4.0.2: Revelation is also commonly viewed as belonging to the body of nonbiblical Jewish writings known as apocalyptic literature. The name for this type of literature (some nineteen books) is derived from the word "revelation" (apocalypsis) in Revelation 1:1 (q.v.). The extrabiblical apocalyptic books were written in the period from 200 B.C. to A.D. 200.
[7] Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology, ‘Revelation as a Critique of Empire’ Vol. 63 no 1, January 2009, has a number of really good articles on this topic.
[8] Cf. Alan F. Johnson,The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Revelation/Introduction to Revelation/General Nature and Historical Background of Revelation, Book Version: 4.0.2
[9] M. Eugene Boring, ‘Revelation’ (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1989), 86-90.
[10] Tactius ‘Annals’ 14:27: “One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in the same year overthrown by an earthquake, and without any relief from us, recovered itself by its own resources.” Cited from Simon J. Kistemaker, ‘Exposition of the Book of Revelation’ (New Testament Commentary: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 167.
[11] Cf. also Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1998 by Biblesoft. Available on-line:http://www.pilgrimtours.com/greece/info/laodicea.htm
[12]M.F.U. (From The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.) Available on-line: http://www.pilgrimtours.com/greece/info/laodicea.htm
[13] 'For Deliverance and Freedom: The Biblical Doctrine of Repentance' by WILLIAM DOUGLAS CHAMBERLAIN Interpretation 4 no 3 July 1950, p 271-283
[14] John E. Stanley, Interpretation 42 no 2, April 1988, p 212. Review of: Hemer, Colin J, d 1987. Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting. 338 p. Sheffield : JSOT Pr, 1986. Journal for the study of the New Testament supplement ; 2.
[15] Alan F. Johnson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Revelation/Exposition of Revelation/II. Vision of the Son of Man Among the Seven Churches of Asia (1:9-3:22)/B. The Letters to the Seven Churches (2:1-3:22)/7. To Laodicea (3:14-22), Book Version: 4.0.2 : Their deeds were "neither cold nor hot." The expression "cold nor hot" may refer to their lack of zeal (v. 19) or their uselessness, for Christ says, "I wish you were either one or the other" (lit., "either cold or hot"). There is good reason why we should not try to take both of these words as if Christ meant I wish you were either spiritually cold (i.e., unsaved or hostile) or spiritually hot (i.e., alive and fervent). In the first place, it is inconceivable that Christ would wish that people were spiritually cold, or unsaved and hostile. Furthermore, the application of "hot" and "cold" to spiritual temperature, though familiar to us, would have been completely foreign to first-century Christians.
[16] RCH Lenski, ‘The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation’ (Minneapolis Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963),162.

Romans 9:30 –10:4: The Law through the Looking Glass.

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on May 04, 2008
and Swift Current Corps on August 02, 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Have you ever noticed that there are times when it doesn’t matter how hard you want something or how much you think you deserve something that it just is not to be? Have you ever worked really hard for that trophy or job only to see it go to someone else? Or there’s the other side of that as well: have you ever really attempted to avoid a responsibility or attention for something but no matter how hard you try and avoid it, there it is?
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Once upon a time I was a teacher and, well, I was actually involved in many aspects of education for a long time. I remember there was this high school student, Alan, in the last months before his graduation: the school is getting ready like all schools do and all the boys are preparing to rent their tux’s and the girls are preparing to get their dresses made and the million and one other things it seems they have to do – which seems like quite a lot more than the boys actually. The atmosphere around the schools at this time of year is always really charged with excitement. The students have to vote on everything from what to do on grad night to what song they will play as they march into the auditorium.
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Most of the kids are all getting really excited to find out who is going to do this and who is going to do that at grad and some of the students are even campaigning to represent their class on Grad Night. Being Class Rep is a really big deal for some people - but not for Alan. Alan is really not into the whole school scene. He is graduating and he isn’t even sure if he wants to go to the graduation ceremonies led alone to bother to vote for a favourite song or who should represent his class on grad day. He doesn’t want anything to do with it.
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So when the big day comes where the school is supposed to vote for who will represent the class, Alan, along with some of his closest friends decide not to participate. They sneak out the back door and down the stairs and almost get away but the vice principal spots them and marches them unceremoniously into the gym - where they are just finishing the nomination process and all those who have been campaigning are sitting on stage and - now just when everyone is about to vote, someone notices Alan and the others being dragged in and yells out as loud as she can. “I nominate Alan!” Soon the whole student body is cheering – except for those who actually running and except for Alan. Alan is overwhelmingly elected.
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Now when Alan tells me the story, he tells me too, that not only didn’t he want the position, but he would have refused it if the Vice Principal didn’t come up to him after the vote and try to convince him to step down. So now he has this responsibility. He has won this prize but it’s a prize that he didn’t even want.
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This is a little bit like the story Paul is relaying to us in Romans Chapters 9-11 and if you have your Bibles with you, I encourage you to keep a finger in Chapter 9 verse 30 through to 10:4.
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I’ll read some of it again for you now (9:30-33) Verse 30: “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
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The Gentiles (and by Gentiles here, Paul simply means non-Jewish people) the Gentiles, weren’t campaigning to be class representative or anything (they weren’t seeking Salvation) and as far as many of the Jews[1] were concerned, the Gentiles were outside the promise when the election occurred but Paul here is letting the Romans know that indeed they snuck in at just the right time[2] and they were elected and whether they previously wanted it or not and even more than that…
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Paul has some not very good news for those who were actually trying to obtain their position. He says, paraphrasing Isaiah (Isa 8:14, 28:16), in verse 33, “…See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock [Jesus Christ] that will make them fall…(Cf. also Psalm 118:22-23)” Paul says, verse 31, that the Jews, that the chosen people, that Israel, – though striving for righteousness they did not obtain it. They did not get it. They now find themselves on the outside looking in.
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Jesus even, in Matthew 21:42-44, says very bluntly, “… the kingdom of God will be taken away from you [Israel] and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.” ‘The kingdom will be taken away from you,’ Jesus says.
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So this isn’t really good news for some who are reading or listening to this letter in the first century and maybe it isn’t such good news for some today either. After all, now like then, some mistakenly thought that Israel was exclusively elected for salvation by God. They didn’t realise, as we know, that the purpose of the their election was (for God) to bring salvation to the world[3]. They didn’t understand and through of this ignorance of God some actually rejected the promise. Some rejected their election. They are crushed. The kingdom is taken away from them.

Now Paul loves his countrymen (Israel) and knowing this problem, 10:1&2, Paul cries out "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." The nation of Israel, in Paul’s time (and in our time too, actually) the nation of Israel, verse 33, strove for righteousness and did not obtain it.
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Now this raises a series of serious questions for us: why did they not obtain it?[4] And can we strive for God’s righteousness and not obtain it? Can we seek ye first the Kingdom of God and not find it (cf. Matt 7:7ff)?[5] Can we strive for righteousness and not obtain it? Can we try to get to heaven and be turned away at the gates? Can we? Maybe the answer is ‘yes’ (but cf. Matt 6-7)...
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Romans 10:2-3: “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.”
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These people then, though they are zealous for God, try to develop their own righteousness and in the process reject Jesus as God and therefore cannot know God and, as a result, they do not win the prize. They reject Christ, they reject God, and they reject His righteousness.
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It seems like (if anyone remembers) the classic story, ‘Alice through the Looking Glass.’ At a point in that story there are two groups of people: those who are determined to reach a goal (like Israel here in our story) and those who are not. Now those who are most determined to reach the goal walk towards the mirror where it is reflected but – of course – the never reach it because its not there – only the reflection is there. The ones, however, who turn (repent) and walk in the opposite direction are the one’s who in the end actually did find it.[6]
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It’s like us as we are looking a mirror. We can never grab a reflection in the mirror no matter how hard we try because it is not a real item: it is just a reflection. This is like the Law was to Israel – you see, the Law is a reflection of God. It is not God and as long as one is just reaching for His reflection (The Law), one can never grasp God. As long as one is just reaching for His reflection rather than for Jesus himself - even though He is standing right beside you – as long as you are just reaching for his reflection you will never reach him.
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Now are there anyways that we can be tempted to do this? Are there ways in our own lives when we are tempted to ignore God and try to grasp an image, a rule maybe, or a ritual instead? Are there times when we, like first century Israel, might rely on our own righteousness and in the process actually turn our backs on God?
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I think that sometimes in our very churches we make this mistake. I think sometimes some of us might be tempted to believe that if we come to church once a week (or even less in some people’s cases) and sing songs we’ll be saved. Do we sometimes think that the fact that we don’t swear or drink or smoke or gamble or whatever else we don’t do that we’ll be okay? Are we fooled to believe that if we are nice and don’t hurt anyone else then we deserve to go to heaven…I have heard that very sentiment at funerals - and it’s tragic. I have even heard alleged clergy suggest that anyone will be in heaven as long as they were just liked by someone.
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Well if any of us are hoping to get to God by being liked, by being nice, or on our own righteousness, then we will be disappointed because good personality, good works, or our own righteousness are nothing more than grasping towards a shadow, an image in the mirror.
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But lest we get too depressed here, there is some very good news for us all. 10:4 : Christ is an end to the Law. We no longer need to be deceived by that particular reflection (and indeed many people are not) anymore: that mirror is finished and there is more good news even: 9:33, those who do actually trust in Jesus, we will never be put to shame. We don’t need to look at anything else; we don’t need to be deceived by any other mirror or pale reflection. We don’t need to. Jesus is standing with us and he will never leave us nor forsake us.
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So this is it – this is the gospel – this is the real thing –so listen up: Jesus died, rose from the dead, and He’s coming back. Jesus died, rose from the grave, and he’s coming back and whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). This is good news, this is the real deal and this is what we will see when we stop looking in mirrors of self-righteousness, rules, regulations, and traditions (as good as they may be at best they are only reflections of God). The real good news is what we see when we just turn to talk to Him, when we just (repent) turn to Him through praying and reading our Bibles.
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It is this very simple truth that Paul tells us (Romans 1:16) that the Gospel has the power to transform us. Even before we knew Him, he knew us. Even before we sought Him, He called us. He is standing with us right now. He just wants us to turn and - through prayer and Bible study - enjoy His open embrace.
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This is good news. He offers salvation to all of us. He is the whole of Alan’s Grade 12 class from our opening story. Remember our opening story? He’s the whole of the Grade 12 class chanting your name. He wants you to be His representative, so don’t turn your back on Him. Don’t reject your election. Instead turn around from the mirror of our other analogy, turn around and experience the Lord’s loving embrace.
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Let us pray.
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Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
[1] Not all by any means. Certainly some of the Pharisees were certainly evangelistic and probably the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8) whom Phillip baptised and possibly even the Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10) whom Peter met, to name a couple were already Jewish Proselytes at the time they ‘came to faith.’ Cf. Robert W. Wall, Acts. (TNIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002),162 and William Neil, The Acts of the Apostles. (TNBC: Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1981), 138 and Michael Ramsay “Acts 10:1-16 Interpretation: The Intentional bringing of the Gospel to the Gentiles,” available on-line at: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Acts%2010:1-16.
[2] Of course the Gentiles were never outside of the promise. God promised Abraham that “...all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Gen 12:3)”
[3] rather than for them to be saved at the expense of the Gentile world
[4] There is, of course, ambiguity in this sentence as well. Some such would argue that Paul is meaning here that the Jews were seeking righteousness: EP Saunders Paul the Law and the Jewish People. (Philladelphia: Fortress, 1983), p. 43. Others would argue that this is not necessarily the case: NT Wright. NIB X: Romans (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), p.648.
[5] The answers are not all ‘yes’ to these questions. They are food for thought though. We cannot seek first the Kingdom of God and not find it (cf. Matt 7:7ff). We can however strive for righteousness and not secure it.
[6] Cf. NT Wright, p. 649.

Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an Angel on the Downtown Eastside.

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on April 20, 2008
Swift Current Corps on August 09, 2009
Corps 614 Regent Park on May 15, 2016

Alberni Valley on February 16, 2025
By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the original, to view the 2025 version click here: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/02/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html 

As many of you here know when our children were just little (not that they’re so big now), we sold our home and our businesses and moved into North America’s poorest postal code - Vancouver’s downtown eastside - as full-time urban missionaries with The Salvation Army.

We have shared with many of you the excitement from our time there as we saw people who were turned from their addictive, destructive ways of life; transformed into new creations by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was exciting to open up our home and our lives to the miracles that indeed the Lord is still performing today and were, oh, so evident in that environment. We met people who have been cured of cancer, cured of AIDS, and completely cured of diabetes. We have seen and experienced the power of God (cf. Romans 1:4, 1:16, 11:23, 15:13, 15:19-20) first hand.

Our time there, as you can well imagine, wasn’t always rosy though. I remember one day – one morning, I was mugged. I knew better but I wasn’t paying attention. It was early in the morning and I was right on Main and Hastings – the most infamous intersection in this most infamous neighbourhood and I was on the pay phone with Susan who was out of town at the time.

Someone came running up behind me, grabbed my briefcase and tore down Main Street. In the briefcase was my laptop and all the information for the summer school programme I was running for the kids in the area; so, like anyone mugged in the depths of skid row, I’m sure, I…well, I chased the mugger.

I followed him down Main Street through Chinatown across busy streets and around the myriad of mazes that are Vancouver’s back alleys. Scaring rats, jumping over sleeping street folk, I pursued my assailant. When I was within reach of him… I fell right in front of a bus and though I escaped from in front of the bus with my life, the mugger escaped with my briefcase, my laptop, and the programme files for the kids.

It was when I was walking back, completely distraught and despondent from this incident, that I experienced the miracle that happened: I encountered an angel, a messenger of God, in the back alleys of Vancouver’s storied downtown eastside. I can still remember vividly; he looked like a ‘dumpster diver;’ he prayed with me and he offered me these words of encouragement from Romans 5:3,4 “...but let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Inside I sighed. I knew he was right. God gave me these words to encourage me.

When the Apostle Paul recorded these words circa 55 AD in his letter to the Romans, he himself had already seen much suffering - he has already spent so much time under arrest, so much time in prison and even now he will be ultimately killed for his faith and tradition suggests that he was even beheaded by the Romans themselves.[1]

In the first few verses of what we now know as Chapter 5 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul was not only warning the Romans about the persecution and suffering that was coming for him but he was also warning them about the suffering that was coming for them and ultimately the suffering that may be coming for us as we do the Lord’s bidding as well.

Now you’ll notice from our text today, that not only are we to endure our suffering but Paul says, depending on your translation, we are to rejoice and even boast in our suffering (cf. Phil 2:17; 1 Pet 4:6, 4:13). 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states that we are even to give thanks in all circumstances (cf. Phil 4:11) and Paul in Philippians 4:4 says, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.’

So this is important: we aren’t supposed to lick our wounds when we suffer for doing the Lord’s work but we are to rejoice. Now we should think about what exactly God and Paul are saying here in the Bible for a moment because it does go against a lot of popular culture and indeed seems to oppose the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’ that is ever so prevalent in our affluent North American culture.

This prosperity heresy - the idea that wealth, health and prosperity come to those whom God loves but trials, tribulations and suffering on this earth come to those whom God hates - this prosperity heresy was apparently alive and well in Paul’s day as well but just like it was a lie then, it is not true now.[2]

Paul says that we should rejoice in our suffering because - if indeed our suffering is for the gospel of which Paul is not ashamed (1:16) -our suffering will produce perseverance (endurance) and you know what perseverance (endurance) is good for right? It gives us the ability to get through more suffering and difficult times and you know why God gives us that ability to get through more suffering and difficult times, because we’ve got more difficult times to get through still. So as we rejoice in our perseverance through these times we can rejoice because we will be ready for – the even more difficult times that are still to come but there is even more than that.[3]

Paul says that through this perseverance we will also develop character. And what is character? Character is what you get when you survive suffering (joyfully?)

Here are some comics that give us Bill Waterson’s perspective:[4]




Character is what you get when you survive suffering (joyfully?)

…in my home growing up the phrase ‘It will build character’ was the answer to the question. “Why should I do that? It’s not fair? Why do I have to …rake the leaves, mow the lawn, clean my room, take grade six band? ...It will build character. Well more or less this is what Paul is saying.

Paul, however, really does say that we should enjoy our character building experiences. (They are a means to the strength of the Lord.) In Philippians 1 Paul says that whatever happens, everything will be okay indeed as living is Christ and even to die is gain because there is the resurrection ahead. We have nothing to lose right? To die is gain and to live, to live is Christ! (Phil 1:21).[5]

Now Paul had a lot that was building his character between all his time in jail and the Roman Christians had great opportunity to develop character as they faced the lions in the Coliseum[6] and my mugging on the downtown eastside wasn’t our first experience with loss nor was it our last but it was directly related to our work for the Lord and this period was extremely significant in our lives and its results echo to this day in our souls.

When I was mugged and my laptop containing all the information for The Salvation Army’s tutoring ministry was stolen it was only the beginning. My foot was also injured, my hands were inexplicably painfully swollen, my eye was injured (so painfully that I couldn’t even get up for days) and it was later re-injured too- I required surgery; Sarah-Grace, who had recently turned 2, suffered seizures in front of our eyes, our car stopped working, a person in our home was struggling with heroin addiction, the police visited our home and encouraged a roommate of ours to leave, my in-laws’ computer and camera were stolen on subsequent nights spent in our home and this last event unleashed a revealing chain of attacks straight from the Enemy and his servants. We were serving the Lord, openly and abundantly and we were suffering as we did so and there was more to come (cf. Mark 3:20-35).[7]

And knowing all this was still to come, after my mugging the Lord sent His messenger - the angel in the form of a downtown eastside resident - to encourage me to endurance, to perseverance. He told me specifically from Romans 5:3,4, to “...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

So what is Paul saying about suffering here? He is saying we have to rejoice in it but is he talking about any kind of unpleasant event? Any suffering? Not necessarily. The Greek word here (thlipseis) refers to, more literally, ‘pressure’ that is applied to Christians from the world, from God’s opponents (cf. John 15:18, 16:20).[8] John Stott writes that Thlipseis is “almost a technical term for the suffering which God’s people must expect in [these] last days.”[9] This suffering is something that we can expect as we do the will of God in the last days before the end.[10] When we serve the Lord, there is opposition both spiritual and practical and though the war is won, the battle rages fierce.

As we fight in this battle that is our life, there are people, powers and principalities who oppose us. As we fight in this battle, it develops our perseverance, it develops our character, we become like battle-hardened veterans experienced in engaging the foe.[11] We are no longer green. Our character is being built. We know that we can endure. We know that we may live up to what has already been obtained (cf. Phil 3). We can be bold for the gospel (cf. Phil 1). We know we can be counted on to persevere through even more of whatever opposition, whatever pressure the enemy throws our way. We know we can, like Paul says here, we can have hope - because God will never leave us nor forsake us.

Jesus Christ himself suffered and he rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ himself endured and he is the reason for our hope? What is this hope? This hope through Jesus Christ is indeed in the power of the gospel which is the power to transform us all (1:16), our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ who will never leave us nor forsake us and our hope through the cross and the empty tomb, our hope is in the resurrection of the dead.

Paul knows, as we know, that when our bodies fade away it is not the end. Indeed we will be in paradise with our Lord. Indeed there is the hope of the ultimate resurrection of the dead. We will rise again.

And as the Lord has conquered Sin and Death, He will indeed continue to conquer our own sins that lure us to death and we can have confidence, we can have faith, we can have hope in the resurrection.
But even more than that - now I know that there are some serious struggles that each face us each here today. The other day there were some serious losses in Nipawin here as a father and son perished and a family lost their home in the explosion and resulting fire. There is uncertainty in our daily lives. (The explosion from the leak could have happened in any of the downtown businesses.) There are questions and we don’t necessarily realise what the Lord is doing but no matter how bleak things seem we can still have that hope.

Now our pets are often a source of comfort to many of us. Our cats and dogs offer us comfort when we are in times of need. The family whose house was lost in the explosion, they had a dog. The dog didn’t escape. The house exploded and fell in on him. The fire raged and ravaged the site all day and in the night. In the morning at just before 7am when I was bringing the firefighters and SaskEnergy people their coffee, we heard it – barking. The dog was barking. You should have heard the firefighters cheer. You should have seen the excitement on their faces. They pulled the dog from the rubble and he wasn’t even hurt, not a bit. The Lord saved the dog. This provided hope for the fire fighters, hope for the SaskEnergy guys, hope for the Emergency Operations Centre staff, and comfort and hope for this family who had already suffered such loss. The Lord provides hope in our suffering.
We have received serious, vocal, practical and even litigious opposition from the Enemy through people very close to us not only when we were on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside but also when we were in Winnipeg’s North End and now that we are in Nipawin and Tisdale. We have had to consciously protect even our children from harm as the foe is relentless. The enemy continues to attack us through whatever Thlipseis (pressure) he can muster.

The Enemy does and will attack those of us here that serve the Lord. There is pressure but we must not give in to the temptation to surrender to the pressure. We must not surrender. Instead we must boast in our sufferings, experience our new found endurance and character so that we too will continue to experience the faith, the joy, the hope that is in Christ Jesus.

Let us all, as Romans 5 says, “...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” And this hope will never disappoint us (v.5).

Let us pray.
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[1] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible - commentary on Acts 28:31. Cited on-line 14 April 2008: http://www.biblestudy.org/question/sauldie.html Cf. also http://misslink.org/chapel/askaminister/bible/paul.html
[2] Cf. The entire book of Job. See also Paul J. Achtemeier, Interpretation: Romans. John Knox Press, 1989. P 92. and John Phillips, Exploring Romans. Moody Press, 1969. P.90.
[3] Cf. RCH Lenski, St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. P 338.
[4] From http://enthronedarkness.blogspot.com/2005/06/building-character-yet.html
[5] Cf. Michael Ramsay. “Be Bold for the Gospel: a look at Philippians 1:1” in The Journal of Aggressive Christianity. Issue No. 54: April – May 2008. Available on-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/jac.html Cited 16 April 2008.
[6] Tactius: "Nero punished a race of men who were hated for their evil practices. These men were called Christians. He got a number of people to confess. On their evidence a number of Christians were convicted and put to death with dreadful cruelty. Some were covered with the skins of wild beasts and left to be eaten by dogs. Others were nailed to the cross. Many were burned alive and set on fire to serve as torches at night." Cited On-line. 16 April, 2008. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/rome_and_christianity.htm
[7] Cf. Michael Ramsay. “On the Job Experience.” Available on-line: www.sheepspeak.com/job.htm. Cf. also Michael Ramsay’s “The Family of God.” Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/mark-320-35-family-of-god.html
[8] RCH Lenski, p. 336.
[9] John Stott, Romans, IV Press 1994, p. 140.
[10] NT Wright, NIB X: Romans. Abingdon Press, 2002. P. 516: “The NRSV’s ‘endurance’ and the NIV’s ‘perseverance’ both bring out aspects of the same idea, which is not so much of a pressing ahead in adversity as simply staying put without dismay”
[11] RCH Lenski, p. 336.

Victory: The Final Whistle (Romans 13:11-14)

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on December 02, 2007
Presented to Swift Current Corps on August 16, 2009
Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park on February 07, 2016
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Last weekend something happened…something exciting happened… Blue Bombers fans you may wish to cover your ears…the Riders won the Grey Cup. This was exciting. I know some of you probably didn’t get to see the whole game because you were in church like us or doing other things but on the way home in the car, when I turned on the radio, the Blue Bombers were up 3 to nothing. When they made it seven to nothing, I felt quite alone as the 5 and 6 year-old in my backseat erupted into a chorus of “Go Winnipeg Go!” I had faith, though - though it was mixed with a little doubt – I had faith that the victory we’ve been waiting for here for 18 years was finally coming through and –as we all know now my faith, my hope was not in vain. The cup returned.

I don’t know if you remember but in the last couple of minutes of the football game, right after that interception near the end, you could see the anticipation as the cameramen zoomed in on the players’ faces. They knew the game had been won already but it wasn’t over yet. The game had been won. They wanted to celebrate but it wasn’t over yet. The game had been won already and it took everything for the coach to keep the players on the sideline and staff off the field because the game wasn’t over yet. They knew that it had been won but the game wasn’t over yet. The anticipation was written on the Riders’ faces as they knew that the game had been won but it wasn’t over yet….

This is exactly the situation that our text is talking about today. I’ll read part of it for you again:

Ro 13:11-12 "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here...."

It says that the night is nearly over! In verse 11 it says that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed! Now the Apostle Paul, in his numerous letters, uses the word ‘salvation’ in a number of ways. One way he uses the word is to refer to how we can be saved from the normal course of events in our lives (cf. Philippians 1:19).

Indeed we ourselves can be saved from daily events such as happened to me a few weeks ago when we were driving back from Winnipeg, we were pulled over; the officer however decided not to issue us a ticket: we were saved that expense. The other day Susan was going to walk back from dropping off our car to have winter tires put on. An employee at the store, however, offered her a ride; she was saved the walk. This is a common way that we are saved everyday and this is one way that Paul does indeed use the word ‘salvation’ but this daily salvation is not exactly what Paul is talking about here.

Paul speaks at times also, in other places in his letters - such as in 2 Corinthians 6:2 – about the ‘day of salvation’ and that ‘day of salvation’ is already here. It is not still to come; it has arrived but in verse 11 of our text today it says that our salvation is still to come: it says that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed so how can that be?

How can our salvation be both now and still to come? How can it be both near and here already. This is an important concept to understand (theologians refer to this concept as a ‘prolepsis’) because our Salvation, as it is, has indeed already been achieved. It was achieved when Jesus died and then won the victory through rising from the dead. Paul himself acknowledges this in other places in the scriptures: 2 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 15:2, Ephesians 2:8 and the Apostle Peter talks about just this sort of thing in 1 Peter 1. So then Christ has already won the victory but the final reward of Salvation is yet to come. The Game is won but the final whistle has not been sounded yet and the great cup is still be presented.

It is very much like our roughriders game. When the player went down on one knee to run out the clock at the end there was no way that they could be defeated. The Rider nation, as it were, the Roughrider fans were already victors with the team, just like we are already victors with Christ.

When Christ died on the cross and then rose from the grave, Death was dealt its deathblow, so to speak: Christ intercepted the pass and ran for the final touchdown to put the game out of reach. There is no way now that sin and death can ever come back and win the game but the thing is that that final whistle hasn’t gone yet[1] and this is exactly what Paul is speaking about in our text here today.

In this passage in Romans, Paul is speaking about salvation as if it were that final whistle. Sure the Riders had won the game with 20 seconds left to go but they did not get to hold the Grey Cup until after the final whistle had sounded.

The analogy Paul uses to make this point is quite neat – and for those here who aren’t Riders’ fans or aren’t football fans, I imagine a new analogy is a bit of a welcome relief right now. Paul refers to our salvation as the daytime that is almost here. This is exciting actually because, just as with the game that is out of reach, there is nothing that we can do to stop the daytime from coming, there is no such thing as a night that never ends; for that to happen the earth must stop spinning and then we would have a lot more problems than just a lack of light. Day hasn’t arrived yet but there is nothing we can do to stop it from coming.

That being said, Paul has some words for us. He says that we should wake up (verse 11)! We don’t want to miss it. Wouldn’t you hate to be a Riders fan who, after 18 years in waiting, slept through the awarding of the cup. It wouldn’t change the outcome of the game but it would sure affect you. Paul says wake up, you don’t want to miss the finish. You don’t want to miss the dawn but he says even more than that.

He says that since the darkness is fading (verse 12), we should no longer live like we are in the darkness. It is like ‘regime change’ such as we’ve heard so much in the news the last couple of years and there is a good example of this from historical England actually.

There was a time in England’s history when she had neither a King nor a Queen. Parliament had won the war against the monarchy and that is arguably the darkest period in all of English history. The rules of their society changed so drastically: it became so repressive without the king to look out for the interests of the common people that they eventually begged the son of the king to come back to rule over them again – but, even then, it takes a while and people have to be convinced to act the way the new regime wants. Just ask the Americans how well their governments in Iraq and Afghanistan are going…it may be a new day there but many people are still not choosing to living under their authority.

It is the same in our world of the text today. When Christ died there came about a regime change – the King is back. The Son of the King has come and he is indeed coming back and as this is the case, it is time to stop acting as if he is not.

Daytime is arriving so we should stop doing all of those things that people like to do in the night. Some of these things that we should stop are listed in our text today: it says in verse 13 that we should not engage in sexual immorality and debauchery; we should not engage in dissention and jealousy. Doing so, acting on our own selfish desires, would be like swearing allegiance to the darkness, to the old regime, the defeated regime; it would be like paddling out to join the Titanic as it’s going down or buying shares in Eaton’s as it goes ‘belly up.’ It would not be prudent. It would not be smart.

This is important. You see when we focus on ourselves rather than God and others (see verses 8-10; Matt 7:12, 22:40), we are serving the defeated regime and don’t be mistaken, even though it is defeated, it is still fighting and even though darkness has lost, people are still dying.

This is very much like the battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. I don’t know how much you know about that battle or that war but it is very significant. You see the War of 1812 began when England was busy trying to contain Napoleon as he was bringing war to every corner of the planet he could reach. England was very busy trying to stop him so the Americans thought this would be a good time to conquer Canada so like they did many times before, they invaded – only it didn’t go so well. They lost. We were saved. They failed to conquer Canada and they were forced to send their agents overseas to sue for peace.

While on December 24, Christmas Eve, 1815, the war ended; but there was no long distance telephone, e-mail, or other way to tell the troops in the field this quickly in those days and so on January 8th a terrible thing happened. General Pakenham took the initiative on his own and invaded New Orleans. The enemy had already been defeated, the war had already been won but there were over 1700 casualties that day. The war had already been won but many people still perished in the battle that followed.

This is what it is like for us today. Even though the victory has been won already, people are perishing everyday. If we follow our own selfish desires, even though the war has been won…not everyone has been delivered from the darkness. There are still people perishing everyday.

How many of us, like General Pakenham’s troops are perishing when they don’t have to. How many of us are acting on our own instead of submitting to God? How many in this world – how many of us, our friends, or our family, still give in to drunkenness or debauchery and sexual sin? When we do so we are serving the darkness, the old regime, the defeated regime.

How many of us still give into quarrelling and jealousy? They are the same as the former sins, you know. And so when we do, we are serving the darkness, the old regime, the defeated regime. If you break one aspect of the law you transgress the whole thing (Gal 3). In the eyes of the Lord sin is sin and the consequence of sin is the same as it was for those poor people who marched to their graves in New Orleans even though the victory has been one. The wages of sin are death (Ro 6:23).

So why would we commit sexual sin or quarrel with each other? Why when we know that that is submitting to the old regime, the defeated government? Why? Why are we content to live in the darkness?

Why not rather strap on the armour of light like it says in verse 12. Actually this is neat too. Did you know that the word translated as ‘armour’ here (and in Ephesians 6 too) –‘hopla’ - is probably better translated ‘weapons.’[2] This designates much more than just defending oneself with amour. This refers to going out and seizing the foe. We should not just hide from the darkness we must wage war against it.

It says in verse 14 that we must put on Jesus Christ himself and make no provisions for our own selfish desires and really that is what the answer to everything is isn’t it? As we put on Christ, we can engage the world and not succumb to it. When we have Him as our armour nothing can slay us – He has no Achilles heel.

So it is to this end that I exhort us today. The game has been won, the foe has been defeated; therefore for us to be engaged in selfishness now would be like if in the last minute of play one of the roughriders switched to join the Blue Bombers, why when the victory is already won would anyone want to forfeit their prize before it is awarded? Why would we want to reject our salvation now that the daylight is coming?

So today, I leave us with this encouragement. Sin is already defeated. Death is dead and the darkness is fading so let us, like Jesus said to the lady accused of adultery (John 8:10), let us go and sin no more so that we may be there to hoist that great cup high with Christ who has already won us the victory.

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To view the 2016 Toronto version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2016/02/romans-1311-14-really-super-bowl.html 

[1] - just like with injury time in soccer, only the ref knows when it will but nonetheless the game is out of reach.

[2] NT Write, Romans NIB: 728; the word is ‘hopla’