Tuesday, August 14th | Into the City

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Monday, August the 14th. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right. You guys can help us keep this conversation going by supporting the podcast, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from Matthew, chapter seven, verses one and two. Judge not that you not, I'm sorry, judge not that you be not judged. That old English will get you, bud. It'll get you, trip you up. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

This is something that I've always wondered about when it comes to the Bible and how to live a Christian life. I'm still not super clear. Maybe this is something we can ask Dr. Shah about. Don't judge. What does that mean? We take it to mean, you are not allowed to think less of me. You don't know my circumstances.

You don't know my life. You don't know what made me who I am, so you can't judge me. What we mean by that when we say it is, you don't get to think any less of me. You have to show me respect and honor, or else that's judging. I know that's not what Jesus means, but I also don't know what he does mean.

Yeah, so Dr. Shah has actually preached on this concept a couple times. It's with the measure that you judge people. That's what you're going to be judged with. That's why we say things like show mercy to people and be compassionate and be kind. The Bible does not ever say, only God can judge people.

That's not in the Bible. Dr. Shah pointed that out. The measure that you use, we should absolutely judge people.

We just need to know that that's the measure that is going to be used against us, as well. Shen, what do they mean by judge? Does it mean what you think of someone? The esteem that you hold that person to? Assessing a person. Is this person harmful? Is this person helpful to me? Does this person seem like a good example or a good role model?

Is this person being disobedient to God? We have a lot of opportunities to look to people for influence, but we have to make sure that we are looking to the right people for influence. This is something that I talk to our students about a lot, is that you've got a lot of opportunities to look up to people, make sure you're looking up to the right kind of people. That's true. And part of that is judging people.

You have to judge whether or not this person is a good influence. But that same strictness is going to be applied to you. I like that. I like that. I've been playing a lot of video games lately, because school is over, for me, at least, not until the next semester, so I've finally got... We're kind of in a lull on the album a little bit, because now we're sort of scheduling the next batch of recording and mixing what we've got. So, we've got a couple of weeks where I'm going home and I'm playing a lot of games. Well, not a lot of games, but I'm playing some games. I've been playing a lot of RPGs. They just announced- I love RPGs.

I do, too. They just announced Super Mario RPG a few weeks ago for the Nintendo Switch. It hasn't dropped.

It's going to drop later this year. I love an RPG. But getting ready for it- Slap those letters on any game? Yes. Mm-hmm. That is my jam. I love turn-based combat.

I love all that stuff. And so, I got to thinking, if you were a summons for an RPG... For those who don't play video games, RPGs are like role-playing games, like fantasy games. Turn-based combat is really common in that. And with that, you get these powerful things called summons. And what that means is, you can pay components ... Like, I'm going to pay a star piece. I'm going to pay, I don't know, some mana.

I'll pay something. And this really strong character will come in, attack my enemy, and he'll jet. So, if you were an RPG summons, Ryan, what components would the player have to pay to get you to appear? I love this question. That's a fun one.

I love the Opa Guardian forces in Final Fantasy style. If I was an RPG summons, I think that the components necessary to summon me would be coffee- Okay. Check. Mark that off. Mm. Peanut butter. You like peanut butter? I love peanut butter. Anything peanut butter. Okay. Okay. Coffee, peanut butter, and...

I'm going to go for three. Coffee, peanut butter, and let's say... a Christmas tree. Yeah. Yeah. You love Christmas.

Coffee, peanut butter, and a Christmas tree. Okay. I think if you paid those three components- You would appear. Here I am, baby.

Yeah, you would appear. And you're locked and loaded. You're locked and loaded, ready to go. I think my- Ho, ho, ho, I'm ready to go. My three would be, I think, a plate of spaghetti. Head tracks. Maybe... Let's see.

You'll have to cut some of this. I think a bunch of books, maybe some books. Okay. Some science fiction novels.

Okay. And I guess my armchair. My chair. That chair specifically. Yeah, those are the things that I just really love in life, and those are things that someone would have to pay.

Maybe it's just a comfortable chair, a comfortable place to sit down and rest. You pay those three components and I would appear. Ding. Yeah. Ding. Yeah.

That's a good question. I like that. What would your three be, David?

For me, I think it would be probably a premium leather Bible. Yeah. Okay. A- Goat skin. Goat skin. Yeah.

I'm actually currently looking into an ostrich skin Bible. My goodness. Anyways, that- So exotic. Yeah.

That's banter for another day. A casein protein and a barbell. And a barbell.

Yeah, you pay those three components. And here's David. And here you are. Here comes David. I love it. Here's your holy paladin.

I love it. You've got to fight a bison. Pay those three components and David's your guy. Yeah. The strength of a bison. Too funny.

I really want to know, Dr. Chaz, what would those three components be? We're going to start the show in just a second, but if you have any questions or suggestions, or let us know your three components, what would people pay to summon you in an RPG video game, text us at 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be back after this. Well, good morning, afternoon, evening Clear View Today listeners. My name is Jon. And I'm David. And we just want to take a quick second and let you know about another way that you can keep in touch with Dr. Chaz's work.

And that is his weekly podcast series, Sermons by Abaddon Shah, PhD. As a lot of you may know, or maybe some of you don't know. If you don't know, you do now. And if you don't know, then maybe just hop off the podcast. David, hop off the podcast. I'm just playing.

I'm just playing. Keep listening. Dr. Shah is actually the lead pastor of Clear View Church in North Carolina. Every single weekend, he preaches expository messages that challenge and inspire us to live God-honoring lives. One of the four core values of Clear View Church is that we're a Bible-believing church. So every sermon is coming directly from scripture, which is great because that guarantees that there are timeless truths that are constantly applicable to our lives. This is a great resource because whether you're driving, whether you're cleaning the house, whether you're working out, you can always benefit from hearing the word of God spoken into your life. And God's word is always going to do something new for you every time you hear it.

Sometimes it's conviction and sometimes it's encouragement. But know that every time you listen to God's word, you're inviting the Holy Spirit to move and work in your life. You guys can check out the Sermons by Abbadon Shah PhD Podcast. First and foremost, check it out on our church app. That's the Clear View app. You can get that in the Google Play Store. You can get that on iTunes. But you can also find the podcast on the Apple Podcast app or on our website at ClearViewBC.org. And listen, if you've got a little extra time on your hands, you just want to do some further reading, you can also read the transcripts of those sermons.

Those are available on Dr. Shah's website, AbbadonShah.com. And we're going to leave you guys a little link in the description so you can follow it. But for right now, David, let's hop back in.

All right. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

That's right. And if today's your first time ever visiting us here on the Clear View Today Show, we want to welcome you, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadon Shah is a Ph.D. in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show.

You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadonShah.com. That was a very exuberant intro. Bro, I'm...

It was like radio announcer voice. I am hyped up. We went to Busch Gardens this past weekend. Me and Dr. Shah, we were like daredevils, dude. We were standing in line for Dippin' Dots. We were like taking our picture outside the gift shop. I was in my roller coaster stories.

Oh, no, I'm not doing that. No, we were like in the gift shop. My wife did. Yeah? Yeah.

I know Nicole is a big roller coaster fan. Yeah, I'm not. I used to be. I did back in the day, you know, when I was in college, living near Six Flags in Georgia over Atlanta. Oh, yeah. And so, did a lot of roller coasters, did the Mindbender, Z-Force, but I had enough of that. We've had enough. I've never, ever been into roller coasters at all.

But you know what's a truth that I knew once, a truth that I once knew but chose to forget? Amusement park food. Number one, it's so outrageously expensive. It is very expensive because they literally have you hostage.

Like, what are you going to do, leave? Yeah. And it's also enormous. We went to a show and there was like pizza slices about as big as this laptop. Good. They were just draped over the plate. I didn't get one, but they had like dessert. They had a cake. Do you remember when David got the cake?

I couldn't believe he got it. Yeah. It looked like a regular big cake, like a birthday cake. So I'm like, what is that? So that's my cake. So the cake was, how big do you think that cake was, David? It was enormous for a single slice of cake. It wasn't as big as a whole cake, but it certainly was like way too big to be one slice. Exactly big.

It was probably as big as like two regular sized bricks. Yeah. Yeah. I would say that. Yeah. Maybe he's exaggerating just a little bit.

But it's close. But it was enormous. And the thing is, he did this thing where he bought the cake and then he brought it to the table and was like, hey, does anybody want cake? And everyone's like, ah, no, thank you. He's like, oh, oh, but I bought this for everybody. And he had like a bunch of forks. He was like, I bought this so that we could all share. And we were like, ah, no, thank you. So now he's stuck here with this enormous wedge of cake.

Bruce Bontrader style. But Nicole had some. Nicole had a little bit. And then your son Gavin had some. Yeah, Gavin was like, I'm down for cake. I've always been a cake boy. I was like, Gavin, you're not getting any cake until you eat your lunch. I want one.

He was like, I want one. I also bought a cup of grapes to balance out the cake. Yeah, I forgot about the, I forgot about the grapes. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And he didn't even eat those grapes.

No, no. They threw them away. The cup was like a little baby cup of grapes. So the giant slab of cake canceled out by the Dixie cup full of grapes. And the Coke Zero I drank.

Explain that food math to me. And then Ellie sees it and is like, I think I want something sweet. I'm going to go get a cheesecake and a cookie. I was like, there's an enormous cake here. Just eat this big cake. She's like, I'm going to go get my own dessert. But also, I hate to keep telling on myself, but I did not only eat that cake, but that night we stopped at Five Guys.

Oh my goodness. We got a French toast crumble cookie, which was so good. We did not eat well that whole night.

No. It was awful. It's difficult to eat well in like a theme park. Theme park.

Food. It's funny because we were like leaving and Dr. Shell was like, all right, so where do you guys want to go for dinner? I'm thinking there's a, and I somehow I knew, like I just caught a glimpse of his eye contact and then I looked away. He was like, I think there's a Five Guys.

I was like, the whole group is like, yeah. Anytime Five Guys is an option, that's the option. Burgers and fries. You can't go wrong. It's just the best. You can't go wrong. It's just the best.

So good. We are picking up today in our discussion from last week, from Friday, we've been talking through the churches in the book of Revelation. We are talking about the church in Philadelphia, not Pennsylvania. We talked about that on the last episode, but the church in Philadelphia had a problem. They were fearful.

Yeah. They were living in fear. Geologically, they were living fearfully because of being in a seismically active zone. That's where they were living.

Philadelphia was sitting on this, it's still sitting on top of this Anatolian plateau, which is constantly moving and being crushed from the top, from the bottom, from the side. And so they had that problem, but also because they were being persecuted by the Jewish community. Now keep in mind before you say anything, they were also Jewish, right? The first church is made up of Jewish background believers, but their own families who did not receive Jesus Christ as the Messiah promised in the scriptures.

And then when he came, he fulfilled all those promises. They refused to accept that. And Paul talks about them in Romans chapter nine, that there's a veil before their eyes. And so they were being persecuted.

Just like the apostle Paul persecuted Christians. Who were these Christians? They were Jewish background believers.

They were his own people that he was dragging with these letters from the chief priests and the high priest to go and capture these heretics, so to speak, or these sectarians and bring them back to be decided to be judged or kill them. And so they were facing a lot of persecution. And so when we think about earthquake, keep in mind that there's also a different kind of earthquake they were facing, different kind of tremors, different kind of aftershocks, and they were persecutions. All these different factors are kind of playing into who this church in Philadelphia has become. So on one level, think about them living out in the fields, afraid to get back into their homes, afraid to come inside the city, but also think of them as living in a safe zone so they don't have to face persecution at the hands of their own people. Or even the pagans, the Gentiles, because of the gospel, the temples are now empty. And so it's an earthquake on two different levels.

Wow. That's a great way to put it, an earthquake both physically and then that spiritual sense of religious persecution, an earthquake in their spiritual life as well. What do you think about people who get that way, where something genuinely terrible happens to them in their life, and then it seems like they can never move on from that? They're stuck in place, whether it's paralyzed by fear or trauma or victimhood or whatever.

It's like they can't move forward with their life. Christ has a way of doing that. And if you're in ministry and you have been hurt by people, you want to do great things for the Lord. You want to build his kingdom. You want to reach your community. And then there are people in the church who will not just douse your fire, but they may also say things about you. And it's very easy to say that your motives are wrong. Now, I know he talks about the gospel or he wants to build a church, but it's all too to feed his ego. And somehow that word gets back to you.

How does that impact you now? Next time you want to announce a revival meeting or let's go ahead and blanket this community with the gospel, you're going to think twice because it's like, I don't want to be misjudged. So there are various applications here because we get scared.

We get afraid because we don't want to go back and relive that situation, that past. And so these Christians in Philadelphia were struggling, they were paralyzed. So the question for us, just like for the Philadelphian church, is why are you content to live in the fields?

Why are you content to live under the radar instead of becoming open and courageous and bold regarding your faith in the Messiah? I even think about it in the context of serving in the church. It's so easy to go into a church, especially a church of our size, and go and sit in the back and never talk to anybody and never meet your pastor. There are people who go into churches, I mean, big churches, small churches, who have never met their pastor once, never talked to him, never shook their hands. Because they've been burned, they've been hurt.

And I get it. And they're looking for a place where they will not be hurt, or I'm going to make sure I don't get hurt anymore. Well, have you, several things in here.

Number one, have you considered that maybe there are things in your life you need to clean up? You're always blaming somebody else for hurting you? Could it be that you might be the common element? All right, let's consider that. Maybe not.

Maybe you're not the common element, you were genuinely hurt by people. So what? Jesus gave his life for us.

Paul was beheaded, Peter was crucified upside down. So this is part of ministry, you cannot stay under the radar, you cannot just stay out in the fields. That's right.

You have to get out and go where people are. That's right. So then he says in verse eight, for you have a little strength, means you're not just dying out.

I will build some life in you. Verse eight, have kept my word and have not denied my name. So one thing commending this church is that they're still maintaining their identity as Philadelphians. They're still maintaining their identities as the followers of the Messiah. And then Jesus tells them, Revelation 3.9, indeed, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie, indeed, I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Wow. Yeah, he's really taking the attacks against his people very seriously.

And I hope this is all making sense, because we're trying to explain to you what these letters mean, what they meant, what they mean today, and how they apply to us. So right there, they're afraid of the Jewish people, their own families, who are meeting in their synagogues, but Jesus calls them a synagogue of Satan. Let me emphasize that again. Jesus calls them a synagogue of Satan. So don't go around saying that, because this is Jesus saying it. This is not for you to go around saying the Jewish people meeting is a synagogue of Satan. That's right. It's not for you. That's called antisemitic behavior.

Don't do that. When the king of the universe does it, someone who is Jewish himself, and he also created everything. He's calling his own people out. Yeah, he can do that. And then he says, I'm going to make them come and worship before your feet.

Yeah, I was wondering about that. That line caught me a little bit. I didn't know exactly what he was saying there. I think of the Apostle Paul. On the way to Damascus, he is struck. He is on the ground.

He's blinded. Has to be let in. And there, Jesus sends that man, Ananias, who comes and says, Brother Paul. And Paul, in a sense, is bowing before him. The very person that he was hunting down to kill is now standing before him and the only source of life.

So what God is telling, what Jesus is telling this church is, the people that you are afraid of will now bow before you to hear the truth from you. That's awesome. That's a really poetic way. I wasn't quite sure on that, but then it definitely makes sense with the Paul parallel there.

Yeah. And to know that I have loved you. Because God loved his people, Malachi, right?

Talks about Esau, I have hated, but Jacob, I have loved. But here now, God is saying, Jesus is saying, you people who believe in the Messiah, who believe in me, are the ones who are loved, not the ones who rejected me. And then in verse 10, because you have kept my command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.

What is a great trial? I would say maybe the tribulation. To be kept from the hour of trial, could it be rapture? I know some people say, oh, I don't believe in the rapture.

OK, that's fine. Somehow God will protect you through the trial. John 17, 15, Jesus said in his high priestly prayer, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. So whether you believe in the rapture or not, I lean towards the rapture.

I believe there is a strong evidence for Jesus coming to remove the church before all hell breaks loose. When God gathers his people, the Jewish people, I would say the people of Israel, and begins to work through them, 144,000 at least, who will have the same power and anointing like the apostle Paul. And that's a significant clarification that you made, is that it's the people of Israel, not the church.

Right. I mean, the tribes are mentioned in Revelation, so how can I say that's us? The names of the tribes are given, and so yes, he'll gather all his people, but out of them, there'll be the 144,000 who will go out like stall-fed calves. Malachi talks about them, means they will be strong, they'll be powerful, they'll be anointed by God to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ during the tribulation, and many will be saved. I know some people say, oh, well, are you sure people are going to be saved in the tribulation? Well, the book of Revelation says that, that's right, so I don't know what else I can say. That's some pretty strong evidence for that. Yeah. But they will be like Peter on the day of Pentecost, they'll be like Paul in Ephesus, they'll be like John talking to these churches, I mean, so they'll be powerful people who will go out and share the gospel.

But let's set that aside for a moment. Our point here is to say, Jesus says in verse 11, behold, I am coming quickly, hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. So when is Jesus coming? Quickly. Quickly.

Very quickly. We're living in the last days, 2000 years, yes, but still the last days, and he can come not only quickly, but imminently, any moment. You've said this before, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there are no prophecies yet to be fulfilled before Christ comes back. That's right. So just kind of knowing that, I mean, it could happen before we finish this radio show.

Absolutely. It's crazy because people think that they can somehow predict it because he said, I'm coming quickly, but it's been 2000 years. So I mean, clearly he's not coming quickly, but 2000, what is 2000 years?

You know what I'm saying? Here's the exciting thing is that every moment is one moment closer. Is one second closer. So it's not like we're getting any further away, it's just we're inching closer and closer to whenever that day is, if it's now, if it's tomorrow, if it's 1000 years in the future, every moment is one step closer. And we're so desperate to make it not be in our lifetime that we rationalize.

It's almost the opposite of that. It's almost like the further away we get, the less likely it seems. It's like, no, it's the complete, exactly what you said, the further away we get from when he said that, the more likely it is that it's going to happen. We're just closer to it. And it may be another 1000 years before Christ coming, maybe 500, maybe 50, it may be five minutes. Yeah.

We don't know. Yeah. But he is coming. That's right. He came the first time as promised. And there are plenty of prophecies and promises in the old and new that he is coming back, which means if he came the first time, he's coming again.

He's coming the second time. That's right. Those are the things we have to remember. And then the letter ends like this. This is to the Philadelphians. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go out. No more. No more. I hope all this earthquake, all these explanations are beginning to make sense, like pieces of a puzzle.

They're coming together. You know, when the August 2011 earthquake hit, it did some damage, but it was not as substantial. But the one monument that did get damaged was the Washington monument.

I remember that. In Washington, DC. All the pillars. The pillars, because they are standing out there in the elements and they are so susceptible to the movements and there's nothing blocking the wind or the force. So they're easy to be damaged. Guess what?

The Washington monument was damaged. But here, what God is promising, what Jesus is promising is that I will make you a pillar, not just out there in the fields, but in the temple of my God. Now apply that to ourselves. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So you will be established as a people. And people will be able to see that you withstood all those trials and all those tribulations. And you are precious and you will last. You will have a legacy.

Even if at the moment it doesn't seem like it, even if it seems fearful to come inside the doors, do it because you will be made a pillar in the temple of God. And then it says, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. Remember Philadelphia?

Yeah, that's incredible. I just saw that in my mind's eye, like a city coming down out of heaven. Philadelphia was the city where everywhere you turn, you see some damage from some earthquake at some point. This is a city coming down from heaven. And as Hebrews talks about it, is that the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and you will be part of that city.

So on one level, it is that earthquake analogy, but on a different level, it is so rich. When you enter into the temple of God, when you enter into the city, when you come inside, which is not staying under the radar, but beginning to obey God and serve him and share the gospel, it may be difficult. But in the process, you will be established and in the process, your name will be in the new city. So now Philadelphia, the name was changed several times. At one time, it was Neo-Caesarea to honor Tiberius, because he helped in the AD 17 earthquake. And then Flavia, it was called Flavia to honor Vespasian, who helped in the AD 69 to 79 earthquake. But here what Jesus is saying to them is, look, I'm going to give you a city whose name is not going to change. And that city is New Jerusalem.

And you'll be part of that city if you obey me, come inside. That's worth it. That's 100% worth it. Absolutely.

If you're in fear, come inside and let God establish you into that pillar. Such a great picture for us. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, if you have questions or suggestions for new topics, send a text to 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com and join with us in sharing the gospel with the nations. Partner with us by clicking that donate link at the bottom of the page. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clear View Today.