Bethel Baptist Church

Scripture Reading: Revelation 11:15-19 In the middle of the horrendous judgments that John is describing in Revelation, he gives his readers a glorious preview of what will take place after God's justice has been fully meted out on the inhabitants of the earth.  It is a foretaste of the coming kingdom of Christ, in His reign on this earth. In John's wondrous declaration, there is a stark contrast...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 11:1-14 This chapter in Revelation is one of the places in the book in which the interpretive principles of the commentator show through very clearly.  Over a century ago, Henry Alford, a reputable New Testament scholar and commentator, wrote that Revelation 11 is "undoubtably one of the most difficult [chapters] in the whole Apocalypse" … and "no solution has ever be...

  Scripture Reading: Micah 5:1-5a There are many prophecies in the Old Testament regarding the coming of Jesus Christ in His first advent, beginning with a very early reference in Genesis 3:15.  One of the wonderful predictions of the coming of Christ is found in Micah 5.  Micah lived and wrote 700 years before Christ, during a time of rampant wickedness . . . idolatry (Mic 1:7), greed (2:2), thie...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 10:1-11 The context of this chapter is the interlude between the sounding of the sixth trumpet … in chapter 9 … and the sounding of the seventh trumpet … in the middle of chapter 11. As there was an interlude between the breaking and opening of the sixth and the seventh seals … Revelation 7 … so there is an interlude between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trump...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 9:13-21 This passage contains another description of the horrors brought to humanity during the coming time of tribulation.  The sounding of the sixth trumpet will bring the death of a third of the earth's population (Rev 9:18).  Like the fifth trumpet, this judgment will be effected by a demonic host that will be released on the earth.  The description of these being...

Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 28:11-19   Origin and fall of Satan Ezekiel 28:11-19   Names and titles of Satan Satan ('adversary') - Job 1,2; 1 Chr 21:1 Devil  ('slanderer') - Mt 4:5; 1 Pet 5:8 Beelzebul ('lord of flies') - Mt 12:27; Lk 11:15 Belial ('worthless') - 2 Cor 6:15 Serpent - Gen 3:1; Rev 12:9 Evil One - Jn 17:15; 1 Jn 5:18 Accuser of the brothers - Rev 12:10 Prince of the power of the air...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 9:1-12 The seventh seal on the great heavenly scroll introduces the seven trumpets of judgment.  The seventh trumpet introduces the seven bowls of final judgment.  The first four trumpets bring calamity on earthly elements … land, sea, rivers, and light.  The fifth and sixth trumpets … the first two of three ominous 'woes' … unleash demonic powers of destruction. Remi...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 8:1-13 The opening of the seventh seal on the heavenly scroll, leads to seven trumpets of increasing divine judgment on the people of the earth … which, in turn, lead to seven bowls of further divine fury of God's holy justice against earth's wicked rebels.  With the opening of the seventh seal, Revelation 8:1 says, "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour....

Scripture Reading: Revelation 7:1-8 In Revelation 7, we have an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals.  The chapter has in mind two groups of Christians … 144,000 servants of God who are given His seal, and a "great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages." A literal and future interpretation of the 144,000 servants sees this as Jewi...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 7:9-17 Since 1996, one Sunday in November has been designated the "International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church."  Exact statistics are hard to determine, but continuing into the 21st century, worldwide, even on the low end of estimates, tens of thousands of Christians are killed every year for the Christian faith … in places like Pakistan, Sudan, North Korea...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 6:9-17 In this passage, the fifth and sixth seal of the great scroll are opened, and the unleased suffering on the earth continues.  The fifth seal reveals that, during this time there will be an extensive martyrdom of Christians.  In this heavenly scene these martyrs are praying for God's justice to be brought, in full, on His enemies. The sixth seal releases both co...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 6:1-8 The focus in the book of Revelation changes sharply from chapter 5 to chapter 6.  Chapters 4 and 5 pictured the throne of God in heaven, but in chapter 6 the scene shifts to the earth.  There is a stark contrast between the glories of God's presence and the darkness of His wrath, beginning now to be described in chapter 6. Most of the remaining chapters in Revel...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 5:1-14 One thing that is revealed to us in Revelation 4,5 is this … at the center of the universe, the Almighty is seated on His throne, ruling over everything He has made.  The world we live in is filled with horrors of every kind.  And yet, God is governing everything that happens in the world, so that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the hand of a sove...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 4:1-11 In Revelation 4, the entire focus of the book changes … from the churches that existed during John's day, to the events which will take place in the future, indeed, at the end of human history.  Before John writes about what will take place at the end of time, he describes for us the glory of God in heaven, as he saw the throne of the Almighty in his vision.  R...

Scripture Reading: Exodus 3 Have you ever thought of what preparation might go into meeting someone new? After providentially blessing and multiplying his people for some 430 silent years in Egypt, God re-introduces himself to Moses and to the people of Israel that have now multiplied to some 2.5 million people. How does He describe Himself in this re-introduction? God reveals Himself as a holy Go...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:14-22 If ever there was a church in the Biblical setting which mirrors the church in America today, it is the church in Laodicea.  Laodicea was a wealthy city, with a clothing industry, a flourishing money changing trade, and a famous medical school which was known for the development of ointment for the eyes and the ears.  Banking, industry, medicine, education … L...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:7-13 We live in an age in which profit margins and statistical analyses are the methods by which almost everything is judged.  Bigger is better.  It is a world of Apple and Microsoft and Amazon … a world in which larger companies swallow smaller companies … a world in which something is deemed wrong if this year's numbers are not higher than last year's numbers.  Al...

Scripture Reading: Acts 20:17-38 The account of Paul's exhortation to the elders of the church at Ephesus is one of the more moving stories in the Bible.  It contains not only the evidence of Paul's love for his Ephesian brothers, but an insight into the ministry of the apostle.  What we have here is a detailed description of what Paul did in serving Christ as well as the manner in which he accomp...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:1-6 The letter to the church at Sardis is the fourth letter of seven letters Christ spoke to these select churches.  The problem in the church at Sardis was spiritual deadness, even though they appeared to the observer to be a church brimming with vitality.  ". . . you have a name that you are alive, and you are dead" (Rev 3:1). This passage cuts to the very nature...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira was not a magnificent city in antiquity and was relatively obscure compared to Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum.  It was known for the manufacture of purple dyes and the making of cloth.  In Acts 16, the first convert in Philippi was Lydia, a seller of purple fabrics, from the city of Thyatira (Acts 16:14). The commendation of the church in Thyatira is g...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:12-17 The third church in the letters of Christ to the seven churches was in the city of Pergamum.  Like Smyrna, it was a center for emperor worship.  There was a temple dedicated to the worship of Augustus (and subsequent Caesars) in Pergamum as well as the renowned Altar of Zeus. Christ lauds the Christians in Pergamum for their willingness to suffer and display f...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:8-11 Smyrna was a city of 200,000 people in the first century.  It boasted a stadium, a library, and the largest public theater in Asia Minor.  The sizable Jewish population and the high level of allegiance to the Roman state made it difficult to live in Smyrna as a Christian.  The Jews, in particular, led the way in persecuting the Christians there.  As a result of...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 2:1-7 In AD 61 or 62, the apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus. It eloquently plumbed the depths of salvation in Christ and called the Ephesians to zeal and truth.  Some 30 years later the apostle John wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus as well, recorded in Revelation 2:1-7. John's letter included a commendation of the church and a grave warning. ...

Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:9-20 The description of Jesus Christ, given in the first chapter of Revelation, is one of the most majestic pictures of our Savior found in the Scriptures. The awesome imagery is taken mostly from Old Testament passages and is meant to evoke from us the same reaction that this vision produced in John. While banished to the island of Patmos, John had the wondrous vis...

Bethel Baptist Church is pleased this Sunday to host Stephan and Ginger Jordan.  The Jordans are transitioning from their previous decades long ministry in the Phillipines to a new opportunity with Ethnos360:  Ethnos 360 - Stephan Jordan