Last summer, I attended the North American Christian
Convention with my family. Each morning, some
college/preacher friends and I attended a Bible
study led by Dr. Mark Scott. He took us through the
imperative verbs of the Book of Revelation.
What are Imperative verbs? They are "bossy" words.
They are commanding and
demanding words. They give us orders to live by as
we wait for the second coming of Jesus. We could
call them our Exit Strategy.
It was during this study we were inspired to do a
series together. Our church is one of several from
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and
Kansas studying the Revelation Mandates.
There are about 29 different com-mands in the Book
of Revelation. Some are statements like, "Do not be
afraid.” “Do not weep." “Do not seal up the words of
this prophecy.” Others are one word commands like,
“come, keep, worship, and rejoice.”
There is more to Revelation than just looking at it
like a manual for end time specu-lation. Paying
attention to the commands can help us stay alert and
ready for the sec-ond coming. And they can help keep
us from shipwrecking our lives in these last days.
A convention speaker a few years ago told of going
to a major university to give a speech. Those in
charge asked him not to mention or to use the Bible
in his lecture. He said it seemed such a strange
request, because just the day before he was speaking
in a prison, and the warden asked him, "As you speak
to the men today, will you please make sure you use
the Bible? The men really want to hear what God
says."
Now that seems a little backwards, doesn't it? We’re
not supposed to teach God's Word to impressionable
college students, but once a person has made a mess
of their life, well, then it's okay to talk about
scripture. That's like building a hospital at the
bottom of the cliff instead of installing a fence at
the top!
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No
question about it, the sometimes “bossy” commands of God are more
like a fence than anything. As believers, we should appreciate that
God did that for us. However, more and more people, including some
Chris-tians, are losing interest for the Bible.
In the 1700’s, the French Philosopher Voltaire made this prediction:
“100 years from his death the Bible would no longer be on this
earth.” However, just 50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible
Society bought the home in which he grew up in and lived, and used
the same presses that he used to print his atheist material to start
printing copies of the Word of God! They have been doing so ever
since.
Jesus also made a prediction, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but
my words will never disappear."
Which of these two predictions would be truer of your life right
now? Maybe, we should get back to a deep study of God’s Word. I
invite you to join us on Sunday morn-ings or on our website as we
study the Revela-tion Mandates.
[Ron Otto, Lincoln Christian Church]
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