A Reminder For Those Who Might Have Forgotten
I saw a video clip of a pastor who was talking about the Glory of the Lord returning to the temple in Jerusalem. He said that the Muslims built a cemetery at that gate and walled it up with 16 feet of block wall to prevent the Lord from coming through the gate. The cemetery was built because of the Hebrew law. they wanted to make sure that when Christ returns he can't get in. When I heard this, I laughed out loud. The vanity of man to think that 16 feet of block and a cemetery will stop the God of the Universe from fulfilling his word! Of course the pastor's point was this, the Muslim's know Jesus is going to return, why aren't Christians proclaiming it?
The more I thought about the futility of trying to stop God the more humorous it became to me. This is the God who created the sun, moon, stars, earth, heaven, and everything that is in them. This is the God who stopped the sun in the sky and in fact moved it backwards for a time. This is the God who gives life, takes life and has conquered death. A cemetery would no sooner stop him than a 357 magnum, or even a nuclear bomb.
In the last few days I've listened to the book of Revelation numerous times. I love it! Do we realize that this is the JUSTICE we long for? The evil we see every day that seems to go unpunished will not escape God. Those who seem to just keep getting rich while they destroy the lives of others will be punished once and for all. It is the same evil that has been around for thousands of years. The same evil that caused man's fall and put this wicked curse on all of us. God wins. It is just that simple. He already has. Everything he tells us that he will do he is faithful to do. We have this assurance that his word is true. There is nothing we should fear.
When I was listening to the narrator read the book of Revelation one thing struck me about the letters to the 7 churches. If you read it, you will see it too. Each church, while it was an actual church one time, I believe is representative of different attitudes of various churches of today. Churches that are luke warm and content to stay that way. Churches that have allowed sinful practices to be elevated and accepted in their leadership. Churches that have lost their passion for the things of God. Churches that are sincere and will be counted worthy to suffer. I can clearly see where different churches of today fit into these seven categories.
Notice that at the end of each letter he says "whoever has ears let them hear what the spirit of the Lord says to the churches." Are we listening? Do you know what church you belong to? No one wants to suffer, but the promise to those of the church of Smyrna is life! I don't think we have to identify to one church type or another. I think what these letters show us is that we are not all in the same place spiritually. We are not all lead by Godly pastors. It gives us a picture of what is wrong or right with these different attitudes. Are we listening? Are we choosing to be like the church of Philidelphia? The promises to the faithful are great! The warnings to the compromised are equally great.
There is such hope in the book of Revelation. We so often see it as a book of death and destruction, but it is so much more. It is a warning to the modern church to get up and be the representatives of God. It is a warning to those who are evil that judgement is coming. It is a comfort for those who have gone before and are waiting for the resurrection. It is testimony to the faithfulness of God. We only need to trust that it is in HIS time when these things will happen. Much of what we see happening is preparing us for these times to come to pass. None of this should scare the child of God. It should excite us and ignite a fire in us to warn others and prepare for the coming of Jesus!
I don't know about you, but I really can't wait to see Jesus face to face. Imagine Jesus on a white horse leading an army into battle. An army that cannot and will not fail. Victory is secured before the battle starts. That is amazing and very reassuring. It won't be like watching a movie where the end is hidden from us. Will the hero live or die? Well, that's silly Jesus conquered death already so the hero will live and so will we!
We are living in amazing times. When you look back at where the world has been over thousands of years of history, it is all culminating in the final chapter. In order for the new heaven and new earth to be possible, the old has to be completely purged of evil. The process is spelled out. The plan is clear. We each have a choice to make. Everyone born into this world has had this choice. Serve God or serve Satan. If you serve God you are on the winning side. If you serve Satan the end for you is the same as it is for him. There is no middle ground. You are either all in for God or you are left out.
Do not be so foolish to think as the Muslims do that 16 feet of block wall can stop God. In the case of most people they believe that if they were good in this life that is all that matters. Not according to my Bible it isn't. If you reject Jesus, you reject God because Jesus is the free Gift of God. He is the payment for your sin. He is the ONLY way to be saved. Salvation from what? Read Revelation. There is no escape. We will ALL see the Judgement of God. Those who love Him will not fear it. Those who reject him will wish they had another chance.
I look up every day and Imagine Jesus coming for his church. The Bible tells us that the first resurrection of the saints will happen. The Apolstle Paul writes about it like this, "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Are you encouraged? You should be! Yes, we will see the words of Revelation played out, but we will be with Jesus as His Bride! So much for 16 feet of block wall and cemetery!
Revelation 3:7-13 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
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