Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Psalm 96:1-5 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.  Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day.  Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.  For the LORD  is great, and greatly to be praised: he  is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations  are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. Good morning to all.  This text from Psalm 96 is a good way to begin this post regarding the church at Pergamos.  This particular church was surrounded by devilish religion but the Psalmist reminds us that no matter how dark it gets where we live and worship, we will sing unto Jehovah.  We sing to the God who is living in eternity and who has come to this earth in the work and person of Jesus Christ.  He brought salvation and gives eternal life to all who believe.  The Psalmist reminds us that we must declare His wonderful name among the heathen because they worship lifeless, powerless i

Psalm 97:10-11 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.  Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. May we all enjoy a blessed Lord's Day on this Sunday.  This quote from Psalm 97 seems appropriate to share as we consider the letter to the church at Smyrna.  God's people should hate evil and place full trust in the God who can preserve their soul.  Jehovah is faithful to grant deliverance from the hands of the enemies.  He will give us light in our soul and gladness in our heart.  What do we know about Smyrna? There is far less archaeological evidence because the site of the New Testament city has been more or less continuously occupied and much of the ancient city is buried.    The photo below shows some of the ancient ruins of Smyrna. Smyrna was typical of the cities where each of the seven churches was established.  It had a large population es

Psalm 98:2 The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. The Psalmist is declaring that Jehovah intends to bring His salvation to the Gentile peoples of the world in addition to the Jewish nation.  I think that this verse goes along well with what we know historically about Ephesus.  Paul spent considerable time ministering in that city and he wrote one of the most sublime declarations of the Christian faith in his letter to the Ephesians.  However, we saw in the last post that  the last surviving Apostle John writing around 95 AD that this church had developed some serious problems. I think it is helpful to go back to pick up some of the truths from the book of Ephesians to help us see the history of gospel impact upon this church.  Economic prosperity A combination of factors propelled Ephesus into a role as the chief city of the province Rome named Asia Minor.  Ephesus had the best deep-water harbor in the re

Psalm 97:10  Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.  Greetings to everyone.  The text above is really relevant to our study in this post.  The born again child of God should hate evil and should love Jehovah because He has saved us and preserved our souls.  Yet, our love is often imperfect and transitory.  Other things clamor for our attention and affection and slowly we may drift away from a close walk with Christ.  The letter of Christ to His church at Ephesus is full of warnings for us today.  We must have willing hearts that will hear and heed what He is telling us this day.  The photo below is a picture of the stadium at Ephesus where the Ephesians rioted in protest of  Paul preaching the gospel in that city (Acts 19:21-41). The Letter of Christ to Ephesus Revelation 2:1-7  “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right

Psalm 99:5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool;  for he  is holy. Greetings from our home to yours!  This text is a call to worship for the redeemed sheep of Jehovah's pasture.  We are called to exalt Him and this means lifting Him up, elevating Him with joy and confidence and magnifying or highly esteeming God.  In essence, exalting our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will shape how we think, what we say and determine the choices that we make.  This is truly a worthy pursuit for the born again believer. Exalting Jehovah will lead us to worship Him in Spirit and truth.  We will want to sit humbly at His footstool like a servant waiting to do his Master's bidding.  We will be overwhelmed with the beauty of His holiness.  We will fall down before the God of Glory and praise Him.  May this become the attitude of our hearts toward Jehovah. Caught in the power of the Holy Spirit, John was suddenly whisked up to heaven and brought into the presenc

Psalm 101:1-3 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.  I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside;  it shall not cleave to me. Good morning.  The Psalm above goes with our new study of the letters to the 7 Churches of Revelation.  David is longing for his LORD to come and he has resolved to walk before Him with a pure heart.  May this be our prayer in these dark days that we might live with great anticipation of Christ's return for His bride, the Church.  I would like to take a break from our previous study on the work and person of the Holy Spirit and look at the first 3 chapters of Revelation.  Churches of 7 different cities received a letter from the Lord Jesus Christ through the Spirit guided writing of the Apostle John.  The word "revelation" means an unveiling