Titles for Christ in the Revelation

I have been doing a lot of preparation for our Wednesday evening Bible Study in Revelation. My main resource, besides the Bible itself, will be Glenn Bourne’s personal class notes and his book Tower of Truth. Another good resource, which I will use, is The Seer, the Savior and the Saved. You may recognize the author of that book: Dr. James Strauss.

In Dr. Strauss’ book, he has a special study in it entitled Titles for Christ in the Revelation. It is not an exhaustive study, but may make a good sermon series in the future. Based on the titles, it is no wonder that Revelation 4:11 reads, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Here are a few of the titles that Dr. Strauss lists in his book:
· Jesus Christ (1:1, 5)
· Jesus (1:9; 12:17 and other texts)
· Christ (20:4, 6 and other texts)
· The Lord Jesus (22:20-21)
· The Lord (1:10; 14:13 and other texts)
· The Lord’s Christ—also God’s Christ (11:15; 12:10)
· The Son of God (2:18)
· The Son of Man (1:13; 14:14)
· The Word of God (19:13)
· The King of Kings and Lord of Lords (19:16)

Dr. Strauss calls these the “simple designations”.

He then lists several “descriptive designations”:
· Him that loved us and loosed us from our sins by His blood (1:5)
· The Lamb that hath been slain (5:6, 9, 12; 7:14; 13:8)
· The Lamb (5:8, 13; 6:1, 16; 7:9-10, 14, 17; 12:11; 14:1, 4, 10; 15:3; 17:14; 19:7, 9; 21:9, 14, 22, 27; 22:1, 3)
· The First born of the dead (1:5)
· The Faithful witness (1:5)
· The Faithful and True (19:11)
· The Amen (5:14; 18:4)
· The Beginning of the Creation (3:14)
· He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the keys of David, He that openeth, and none shall shut and that shutteth and none shall open (3:7)

There are many other “special designations”, but this gives you a hint of what is to come in our study beginning January 7, 2009. Dr. Strauss ends this special study with these words: “There is some great biblical preaching to be done on the great names of Christ. They describe His person and function of His work. The imagery is not hard to communicate in preaching and teaching”.
I pray that as we study through this great book, we may draw closer to our great Savior and Lord!

(The Seer, the Savior, and the Saved, pp. 333-338)

Shepherds in Their Fields at Night

We all know the REAL Christmas story, as it is recorded in the Scriptures. Forget this “Happy Holiday” thing—”MERRY CHRISTMAS” - but that is a whole different newsletter article.

In this newsletter space I wanted to take a look back at those shepherds who received the announcement about the promised Messiah. Luke 2:8 reads, “In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night”. There are so many things we can learn from each of the characters in the nativity scene. Let me share a few we can learn from these shepherds.

First thing we learn is right out of Luke 2:8. The Shepherds stayed with their flocks! Simple lesson, but it also teaches us a little about the sheep. The sheep NEED the shepherds! The sheep needed guidance. And the sheep needed to be fed. As I think about the shepherds here at South Side (our elders, overseers or pastors), I am reminded how much we need their wisdom within the assembly.

A second lesson we can learn comes out of that same eighth verse. Luke records that the shepherds were out there even at night. They watched their flocks by night to protect the flock. Wild animals and thieves could break in and try to steal the sheep. But not these Christmas shepherds—they stayed with their flock even at night. Again, reflect on the eldership here at South Side. One of their roles as the pastors of the flock are to protect us from any false doctrine or false teachers who might enter the flock and try to steal the sheep.

Luke 2:9 gives us the next lesson I would like to bring out. As the angels appeared to them, the text says that the shepherds were “terribly frightened”. I hope I am not stretching this, but let me suggest that these Christmas shepherds were humble shepherds. We have the greatest example of a humble shepherd when we look to the Good Shepherd—Jesus—who laid down His life for His sheep. All one has to do is read Philippians 2 to read about the great humility of Jesus! James 4:10 reads, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you”. Humility is truly a quality of the shepherds here at South Side.

For the fourth lesson, we need to drop down to Luke 2:15 after the angels had left. The shepherds said among themselves, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us”. These Christmas shepherds did not trust their personal experience—they wanted to see for themselves! Same way “doubting” Thomas wanted to see for himself the resurrected Christ—I personally am glad he “doubted” - I want my faith to rest on the eyewitness testimony! Our shepherds are firmly planted on the eyewitness testimony of the Bible!

The fifth lesson, is that the shepherds told others about what they had seen. Luke 2:17 says that the shepherds “made known the statement which had been told them about this Child”. What a great example for our shepherds, and each one of us! Each one of us, our pastors included, are commissioned by Christ to go and share the message! May we at South Side learn from the Christmas shepherds to present the Gospel!

The final lesson (and I am running out of space) comes from Luke 2:20 which says, “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen”. Shepherds spend time glorifying and praising God! In caring for the flock, the shepherds become examples to the sheep for worshiping and praising our God.

In conclusion—I am thankful for our shepherds—all six of them! Len, Lawrence, Larry, Denny, Myreon and Dick are all to be commended on their shepherding the flock here at South Side! I know they won’t mind me saying that I am thankful for someone else even more. I am most thankful for the Chief Pastor (or Shepherd) because when He returns, I will “receive the unfading crown of glory”. (I Peter 5:4).

Bridling the Tongue

We did it! Yes! We pulled off a surprise for Stella Good and her 90th birthday! What a wonderful day for South Side as we honored one of our many faithful Christian women!
It was great to hear Stella talk briefly after lunch about her church family. It was also nice to hear her talk about her husband, who served as an elder here at South Side.
In honor of Stella and her faithfulness to our Lord and Savior Jesus, I am reprinting an article published in a 1967 Side Lites by her husband, George Good.
As an evangelist, I am always humbled by the perseverance of people who have been in the Lord’s assembly for a good part of their lives. I am humbled even more when I realize some of the battles these saints have been through (both physical and spiritual) . Life is full of many ups and downs—and persevering can be quite challenging at times. Life can even be tougher when one stands firmly on the Word of God.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this month—lets remember to thank the Lord for the many faithful Christians—those who have fought the good fight and the many who are still fighting the good fight right now. Thank you Stella Good for your godly example to our church family. Thank you for your continued faithfulness.

Your evangelist,

Kevin


Elders Speak
“Bridling the Tongue”
By George Good
Otherwise be swift to hear and slow to speak. We are not to be teachers unless we know what to teach. The teacher does not have power of life or death over the listener, he does have the power of eternal destiny.
All men make mistakes, only One was perfect—Jesus the Christ, the Saviour of men.
If we are able to master our tongue, we can master sin. The head controls the tongue and the tongue has tremendous power. The horse is controlled with one little piece of iron, just as a bit is small, it does control the horse. Even the small rudder controls the great ship. And the tongue, tho small, can control us—note it’s power:
James in 3:6 identifies the tongue with fire! Money and the tongue seems to be our difficulty. The tongue represents the unrighteous world in our members—the tongue can defile the whole body. The tongue setteth on fire the course of nature. No one can tame this little organ in the mouth. Notice what is done with it—With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse! Can we bless and curse at the same time? Not if we have faith and love for our fellow man and for God.
Those who truly worship and honor God will be afraid to speak slanderously against men or God. Can blessings and cursings come from the same mouth? It cannot be for the Christian. A fountain cannot send forth sweet and bitter water at the same time. It is against nature to do this. A tree does not grow grapes and a vine figs. To one who knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)
Plan your life with God. If you are sinning, God has all power over sin. Remember James 3:7-8.

Side Lites, March 24, 1967