The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Last week we met the Risen Lord Jesus, portrayed in Revelation 1. He’s introduced, and takes front and center position as the revealer of this vision and mystery, and as the central character. His resurrection victory promises His victory to extend to all believers. In Revelation chapters 4-5, we see one of the most exalted worship scenes in all the Bible unfolding. The scene takes place at the throne of God in heaven, surrounded by four angelic, living creatures, and 24 elders, or honored saints, who worship and praise God. God, exalted in all His glory, and surrounded by worship, holds in His right hand, a special scroll, sealed with seven seals. This scroll contains a message that is vital for the church on earth to learn—but no one is found anywhere in heaven or on earth, or under the earth, who is worthy to open it, and access its message. No one, until one of the elders announ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Unbelief is really the chief and greatest sin of all, and the hardest sin to overcome. When we think of what the worst sin might be, our mind rarely lands on unbelief—but unbelief is really the sin against the first commandment. God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Believing in God is the first and most important command. Unbelief shows itself in a variety of symptoms, ranging from outright rejection or anger toward God, to making substitute gods or idols, to take the place of the One True God, or hardness of heart and distrust. The last one, hardness of heart, is the core problem in today’s reading. What does the Bible say about hardness of heart? Frequently in the Old Testament, this is described as a sin that is common to rulers and kings. Pharaohs, Kings of Israel, and Kings of Babylon all suffered from this sin. They became proud in their spirit, stubborn and ...

The readings I selected for this midweek service are: Isaiah 46:3-13, Luke 1:67-79, and Psalm 77 spoken responsively. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. How does forgetfulness affect your life? There could be many different answers. Whether it’s our forgetfulness, or someone else’s—forgetfulness can be large or small—major or minor. While forgetting some trivial piece of information might be totally harmless; forgetting an important appointment, a special anniversary, or remembering to finish an important job or task, all might have major consequences. But what could be even worse than forgetting all these? In many passages through the Old Testament, this refrain echoes: that God’s people have forgotten the Lord their God. They have forgotten His mighty works and wonders. This kind of forgetfulness has much higher stakes. To forget God and His works is to forget our Lord and Savior. Quite often, the reason for this f...