Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, December 31, 2024. The church in Babylon, what does that mean?
Good Morning, Good Morning my brothers and my sisters!
We are back and today we begin a discussion of what it means for the church to be holy.
We will be using the text of 1 Peter that was written while Peter was in Rome (Babylon) to the churches suffering persecution in the empire.
Today we define our terms and get the ball rolling. This should be an interesting study.
Enjoy, and as always – keep looking up!
This is a video recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, December 31, 2024. Watch here via the YouTube link!
This is an audio recorded copy of the FaceBook Live event of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, December 31, 2024. Listen here or through your favorite podcast app!
This is a transcript from the audio of this episode of Turning on the Lights! – Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Good morning. Good morning, my brothers and my sisters. There is the altar of the church of the Church Town Church of God. You might notice something a little different. The communion table is in the middle. Little reading lamp is there. We’re going to be up there in a minute talking to you, but that’s where. We are going to be reading the entire New Testament beginning at midnight tonight. Well, just after the bells ring midnight tonight, the bells will chime out all blank sign. And then we will begin live streaming on our YouTube channel. The reading of the New Testament, how about that? Check in anytime for a little encouragement, a little time in the word. Today, we’re going to be talking about the church. We talk a lot about the church here on turning on the lights, the church universal. We’re going to talk about the church visible and the church invisible and the difference between that. And we’re going to talk about where we are today. So that’s what we’re going to be doing today. I hope you are all doing well on this last day of 2024. I’m doing okay. I woke up a little groggy. There it is. There’s the little reading station. Of course, this chair will be up there. Here’s the little reading station. There’s the camera that’s going to live stream the reading of the New Testament. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season. It can certainly be a difficult season for many. Lots of mixed emotions and that sort of thing. I’m doing okay. Let’s see what we got here. Because I had to change my setup. Let’s take a look at where I am. Oh, my goodness. I’m way too high. There we go. We’ll figure this out. We’ll figure this out, mate. Let me try something else. Good morning, Daniel. Going to move you guys back here. I don’t like being messed with. Although this is a good reason to be messed with. Let’s try this on the same level. There we go. We’ll be all right with this, won’t we? There we go. So let’s define our terms. Father God, thank you for the opportunity to be together this morning. Thank you for our time in the word. May your word penetrate hearts and minds and may your kingdom grow in Jesus name. Amen. One thing I needed for Christmas is a new phone case. This one’s all cracked and messed up. Didn’t get one. I have to get it myself. Anyway, last week was I just needed to focus the beginning of the season. It was Sunday Thanksgiving Eve, first Sunday of Advent and at the and then followed by the hymn sing. And then on the last week of Advent, it was Sunday Christmas Eve, followed by Sunday. So I just took my time last week and focused on that. And of course, we had family and Christmas and all of those things. I would have loved to have taken a day off, but Sundays for some reason don’t stop happening. You can’t just say, hey, let’s not have a Sunday this week. You got to get back to work and the Lord knows that I love. I’m called to do what I do and I love doing what I do, but it is I don’t know the human. I don’t want to insult the Lord, but it is a grind like any other type of a vocation of a job. Good morning. You know what I mean? It’s like Sundays over. Guess what? A hundred and sixty seven hours from now. You’re going to do it again. So get back to work and that happens regardless. Whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year’s or whatever, it’s going to happen. So that’s what one part of the reason why I took off last week from the live stream, just to give myself a little bit of space and be able to do what I do. So let’s define our terms as we go into this week. The first turning on the lights will be in 2024. The second turning on the lights will be in 2025. The reading of the New Testament should take about 18 hours, roughly as we mapped it out and we have 20 plus volunteers to come in beginning at midnight. I’ll be reading from my wife and I will be reading from 2 to 4 p.m. Tomorrow afternoon. Could be wild man. It’s gonna be interesting. So we want to talk about Babylon. We’re going to define three terms this morning as we get into this study. I’m going to be in first Peter here at the church all month long. I’m going to be in first Peter here in the good book on turning on the lights for a while. And I want to define three terms to begin with one. We talked about in church Babylon. In the New Testament, the word Babylon, the designation Babylon, becomes a metaphor for the secular world. In more detail, it becomes a metaphor for all of the wickedness of the secular world. You can go into the secular world as you very well know, and people are kind and they do nice things and all of that is still Babylon, according to this metaphor, but really when Peter talks about it, when Paul talks about it, all of that, where they’re talking about the worst of the secular world. It, of course, the Israelites were were carted off to Babylon and the Babylonian Empire and all of that wickedness that where they were in exile for 70 years, etc. So that idea becomes the metaphor, the word that is used for at the time the Roman Empire. But we still use that term today. There are many books out there, the church in exile in Babylon, right? The speaking truth in Babylon. I’ve read that the term is still used today by New Testament Christians to designate the secular world. And when we read in Revelation, one of the reasons why is because we read in Revelation, you know, the great prostitute, which is Babylon, right? And the church goes into the great prostitute, read into that as you will, and we got problems. The church has become United with the secular world. And as we read in Revelation, as judgment falls upon the world, judgment falls upon the church. And one of the things that the church is judged on is its relationship with the world. Has the church remained holy and pure or has the church been seduced by the great prostitute? That is the vision that is used in Revelation, and it is a very useful vision. And very useful thing to think about when we talk about the church today, because the church today is not unlike the church at any other time in history. And a good portion of the Bride of Christ, if you will, has been seduced by the great prostitute. That is the secular world. We look at all kinds of things all over the place from stage shows to whatever, churches that do will not profess the Trinity to churches that welcome all kinds of sin and you know, all of that. To and you want to you whenever you hear the word relevant, that should be an ear perking red flag relevant. Good morning, Megan. When the church desires to be relevant to the modern world, the church probably has made great compromises to the modern world, given up on the idea of being holy of being separate of being different. So there’s the first term Babylon. We’re going to talk about Babylon because Peter in his first letter says, I am writing from the seat of Babylon. No, he’s not back in history in the Babylonian Empire. He’s in Rome. And this is how that metaphor is created. The second term that we’re going to talk about is the church invisible. The church invisible is the spirit driven spirit in dwelled people of God. The church invisible is when we proclaim that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. We can be anywhere. They are among us all over the place. We walk in and out of the lives of non-christians on a regular basis. We are in dwelled by God’s Holy Spirit and we attempt as we give ourselves over to his Holy Spirit to do his will here on Earth. I don’t necessarily know as I’m walking through a crowd of people at Target who are who all are Christians and who all are not. But the church invisible is everywhere to be sure. We know that and we’ve had really wonderful signs of that lately, which have been very encouraging and my mind goes to professional athleticism. More and more athletes who have a platform is what they call it today. Get interviewed before and after games have different press conferences and that sort of thing. Give glory and honor to Christ. If they had not said a word, they that would be the church invisible. That would be a man or a woman behaving according to God’s will. As they are interviewed as they are saying things and we would none be the wiser, but they would be behaving in such a way that was in accordance with God’s holy will. When they now this is I guess this is a good metaphor because when they open their mouths and they give glory and honor to Christ, they become the church visible. The church visible really is individuals proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The church visible are the church buildings and the congregations that gather and have no problem talking about worshipping, singing, praying to the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the church visible and this is what gets us in trouble because oftentimes what is being portrayed as the church visible is garbage. That’s what makes news, right? No, no, there are going not going to be any news cameras here at Church Town as we submit ourselves to the Lord’s will and we pray for his guidance and we and we serve him in prayer and in song and in the word and in fellowship. No cameras are going to be there. But if we were to be a congregation of some sort that is proclaiming anti-this, anti-that, anti-this, anti-that or you know, doing something outrageous, then you’re going to get news cameras in there saying, look at these Christians. Well, those chances are those people are not Christians. That is what the church is the church visible and those proclaiming to be the church visible. Really, that’s what’s out there. Is that so? I hope that that all makes sense. We’re going to be talking about these things over the next few times together here on turning on the lights. Dry air, dry hands. Oh my gosh, dry cracked skin. How about you? And then you get that the period where it’s like 61 the other day and muggy and then dry and cold. Oh my goodness gracious. So that sets the stage for Peter. The first letter of Peter goes out from Rome to churches in the Roman Empire. And the first letter of Peter goes out to Christians in the Roman Empire who are experiencing blood martyrdom. Persecution unto death. This is written under the auspice of the reign of Nero. Nero was one of the most wicked individuals to walk the face of the planet. And the only way that he could try to draw his empire together was to create some sort of common enemy. That was the Christians. Now, if you know your history, this is a common tactic. Many rulers, Emperor’s, dictators, i.e. Hitler, through their country, their nation, their empire together by creating an enemy for everybody to hate, an enemy for everybody to oppose. Nero did this with the Christians. Just at random. Destroying people, destroying families. There are horrible accounts, right? Christians being thrown to animals for the animals to tear them apart. Christians like a hundred Christians and three unarmed Christians and three gladiators. And then people would wage make wagers. I know, right? I have one in my bedroom like it helps. And they would make wages on how many Christians each gladiator would kill. Christians being stuck on the tops of poles or pikes as they’re called, set on fire in the evening to light the city. This is what persecution looks like. And it’s not far from the persecution today. Usually they only they usually use automatic weapons, right? If you’re going to be a church in the Middle East or a church in Africa, Northern Africa, perhaps, or a Christian Church in India, perhaps, or a Christian Church in Russia, perhaps, you’ll get locked inside your church and burnt to death or armed militia, if you will, will come in and just massacre you. So it’s nothing new. Proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. We are so blessed in this nation to still be able to do that. Even our brothers and sisters in the north. Right in Canada, they experienced this sort of political persecution. Shut your church down. If you say anything about our government, shut your church down, right? And then we saw that during covid, shut your church down forcibly by force of arms. Man, that name of Jesus holds so much power. That it really triggers to use the language, the Antichrist. It triggers the anti-christian. So Peter’s here in Rome, and he’s writing a letter of encouragement to those in the Empire. This letter will circulate throughout and many people in these churches, right? The church visible, the church invisible, many individuals who will read this church invisible, many congregate, it will be read to many congregations, the church visible. And it is a letter of encouragement. It is simplistic in its nature, but it really draws upon the simple power of God. So let’s open up with this because just a couple of minutes here. So there’s everything for today. And I want you to take that with you today, right Babylon, the church visible, the church invisible, and how much things change. They really stay the same, right? The power in the name of Christ. Triggers the enemy of Christ. It simple fact, it’s been happening since the very beginning. The very early church right from the very beginning, experience fissures and fractures and false teachers and lies and the enemy pushing in to corrupt the church. When we read a lot of Paul’s letters, that’s what it’s about. And he says time and time again, remember what you were first taught. And then since we just got done reading Revelation, you read the first few chapters of Revelation and Jesus Christ himself says, this is what I have against you. You forgot your first love me. Not me, Christ, because Christ is speaking. You forgot your Cornerstone. You once had faith in Christ as a Cornerstone, but you strayed into Babylon. You wanted to be relevant. You did not want good morning. You did not want to exercise any form of Holiness, otherness. You didn’t want to stand out. You didn’t want to look different. This letter is from Peter and Apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Those are all parts of the Roman Empire. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago and his spirit has made you holy. That’s another word that we should probably define. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more peace. That introduction alone is so simple, yet so incredibly pure and powerful. You are a child of God. You are indwelled by the very Holy Spirit of God. You are living in an anti-Christian world. But you are called to be holy. And the prayer then is may the God of all creation grant you more and more peace. That is powerful stuff. Called to be holy in an anti-Christian world. Does that sound familiar in America today? We’re not people like to say, oh, it’s post-Christian. No, it’s not just post-Christian. It’s anti-Christian and we know that. And again, we see glimpses of people who are not afraid to behave as a holy people, which is wonderful. And we thought we challenged ourselves at Church Town last week. Will we behave as a holy people? What does that mean? It means you’re called out of Babylon. It means that you are called to live according to God’s world with word, which will, yeah, both, which will make you look different, sound different, be different. Are you afraid to do that? Even though Scripture repeatedly says, do not be afraid. Do you not trust in the Holy One who has redeemed you? Do you not believe the power of God alone is enough for you to thrive? Dear Christian, now is the time to be Christian. Not the time to dive into Babylon and try and be as. Those outside of the kingdom are. Now is the time to be a light in a dark world. Peter says this and he says, you know, you’re called to be a holy people and may the God of all creation grant you more and more peace. And this is so powerful. It sounds beautiful and I can say that anytime to any Christian. He’s saying it to Christians who are being martyred and killed and murdered. That’s what really makes that statement powerful. So we’re going to get into more of that on Thursday. Once again, I encourage you to check in with the reading of the New Testament. It will be on our YouTube channel at Church Town Church. You go that to at Church Town Church and subscribe right? You hit the subscribe. Then you hit the notification bell and you’ll get the notifications whenever we’re on YouTube. And that will be starting at midnight tonight and going until we’re done with the New Testament. Sounds like fun. I hope you check in. I hope that you are encouraged. Good morning, Dale farmer, Dale. Check in our YouTube channel starting at midnight tonight for a reading of the New Testament. Dale. Not that you haven’t read it, my brother. I’m just saying it’s gonna be pretty cool. Father God, we pray that your word will continue to penetrate hearts and minds. Leading to repentance. The indwelling of your Holy Spirit Redemption, dear Lord, and the growth of your kingdom here on Earth. May we never be afraid to be a called Holy people. In your sweet name, Jesus, may we live as you command. Amen. God bless you guys. Good Lord willing. And the river don’t rise. We will see you on Thursday. For turning on the lights.
0 Comments