Monday, August 26,
2013, 9:04 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:
Grace Greater than
Our Sin / Julia H. Johnston / Daniel B. Towner
Marvelous grace of our
loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our
sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s
mount outpoured,
There where the blood
of the Lamb was spilled…
Grace, grace, God’s
grace,
Grace that will pardon
and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s
grace,
Grace that is greater
than all our sin!
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Revelation 14:1-13 (ESV).
Not Defiled
Then
I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who
had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a
voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud
thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their
harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four
living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the
144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled
themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb
wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and
the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
We have here a scene of Mount Zion – our heavenly Jerusalem;
the bride of Christ; the kingdom of heaven; the gospel of Christ and the life
of Jesus Christ from eternity. The Lamb - Jesus Christ - and all those who have
the name of Jesus Christ, the Son, and that of the Father written on their
foreheads, stood on Mt. Zion, the Holy City – the spiritual city of our God,
the body of Christ. I believe they stood as conquerors and victors over their
enemy, Satan. A new song was sung, and the only ones who could learn the song
were these who had not defiled themselves with other lovers, i.e. they were not
idolatrous or spiritually adulterous in their relationships with Jesus Christ,
but were willing to suffer for his name.
They are the faithful; the committed; and the obedient
servants of our Lord. They are the ones who listen attentively to his words,
who learn what he teaches, and who apply his words to their daily lives, though
not with absolute sinless perfection. Yet, they have been cleansed in the blood
of the Lamb, thus they have given themselves to spiritual and moral purity, and
they do not follow after the lies of Satan, nor are they those who make a practice
of lying and deception. They certainly have not bought into the lie of the
beast and they do not bow to or worship his image. They are followers and
seekers and supporters of truth, and they seek God’s truth in their own lives,
humbly willing to receive divine correction, to repent of all sin, and to
confess any known wrongs to those whom they have wronged. They follow Jesus
Christ wherever he leads them, even if it means being hated, rejected, despised
and even killed for their faith (see 2 Thess. 2:11-12; Heb. 11:25-26).
Give Him Glory
Then
I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to
proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language
and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory,
because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and
earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
“Fear God and give Him
glory” – what does this mean to you? The Lord Jesus gave me an illustration
of this principle last night and again this morning as applied to his church
here in America today. What he showed me is that a good number of professing Christians
today, although they have been given the word of God – God’s letter to us that
should be written on our hearts – do not honor God and give him glory, because
they don’t even acknowledge to him what he has written. Scripture teaches that “every
spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” He spoke to them in
the letter about this lack of respect and honor, and how they do not trust him
with their lives, or how they fail to trust him in matters that are difficult
to understand, or how they are not willing to see him at work in their life
situations, believing that he truly is in control. Yet, they have still failed
to respond.
Jesus wrote this letter a long time ago. For many of us, we
have had it in our possession since our physical birth, i.e. we have been
exposed to its truths from infanthood. We have been richly blessed, and yet
many take that for granted. We have the written word of God (the Bible), but we
also have the WORD living within us, i.e. we have the person of Jesus Christ
living within us in the person of his Holy Spirit, continually speaking his
truths to our hearts and reminding us of all he taught us, if we are genuinely
his true servants. He convicts, counsels, guides, directs, empowers,
encourages, gives hope and healing, teaches, corrects, rebukes and restores. He
also speaks to us through nature, i.e. through his created works and through his
earthly and heavenly messengers who go throughout the earth proclaiming the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and yet many are slow in responding to all that they
have received. They want more time, and yet time is not on their side, perhaps.
These same professing Christians, who do not acknowledge
Jesus’ words to them, and who have not yet responded to his messages to them,
and who want more time, may speak about him, though, to the people of the
world. They may give lip service to Jesus, in other words, but their hearts are
far from him, so they betray him with their lips. Although they speak about
him, they do not really commune (fellowship) with him with true listening ears
to hear what he says; to acknowledge his messages through surrender, obedience
and submission to him and to what he teaches us; and to respond to those
messages through following Him wherever he leads us. In fact, they listen more
to the world than they do to Jesus. They have the appearance of godliness, but
they deny its power in their lives. They may even feel as though they have good
intentions, but good intentions are not good enough if they are not followed
through with genuine faith – repentance and obedience.
This grieves the Spirit of God, who tests our hearts. He
longs to gather us in his arms as a mother hen gathers her chicks, and yet many
are not willing, because they are not willing to listen (and heed) his voice. They
already have their minds made up, and/or they fail to communicate with God in a
way that shows they truly want to know him. So, they keep their distance from
Jesus. Oh, they are not completely opposed to him, nor are they on fire for
him. They are like the lukewarm Christians of Laodicea. They are casual
Christians who lack passion, heart, commitment, earnestness and zeal for their
Lord and for his service. They may talk to him, but they don’t really listen.
So, they don’t really know him.
Jesus said to Philip: “Have
I been with you so long, and you still do not know me?” I believe he is
saying that to many in the church here in America today.
Fallen is Babylon
Another
angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she
who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”
And
another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone
worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his
hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the
cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence
of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their
torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these
worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its
name.”
Endurance of the
Saints
Here
is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of
God and their faith in Jesus.
And
I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may
rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
The end of time is drawing near. The Lord’s true disciples,
servants, followers and witnesses will be persecuted severely because of their
testimony for Jesus Christ and for his gospel of salvation. Many are being
presently killed for their stand on “Mount Zion,” yet they are blessed. Many
more will be martyred for their faith, or will be hated, rejected, betrayed,
beaten, imprisoned or harassed at every turn, or even have false accusations
made against them. The battle between the woman and the dragon is still going
on. Brother will betray brother to death, scripture says. Yet, the sacrifice we
make for the sake of the name of Jesus and for his gospel and for the salvation
of souls is not meaningless, and it will not go without fruit for that labor in
helping to prepare Christ’s church for his soon return.
Great is The Lord!
/ An Original Work / June 12, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures – Ps. 57:10; 89:1; 145:3;
Jer. 32:19;
La. 3:22-24; Da. 9:4; Lu. 21:27; Ep. 1:19; Tit. 2:13; 1
Jn. 3:1 (NIV ’84)
Great is the Lord!
He has done wondrous
things.
Great is His love
Reaching up to the
heav’ns.
His faithfulness
reaches
Up to the skies.
Of His great love,
I will sing evermore.
Great is the Lord
And most worthy of
praise!
Truly His greatness
No one comprehends.
Great are His
purposes;
Mighty His deeds.
His eyes are open
To the ways of man.
Great is the Lord!
His compassions ne’er
fail.
Great is His
faithfulness.
I’ll wait for Him.
He keeps His covenant
Of His great love
With all who love Him
And do what He says.
Great is the Lord!
He is coming in pow’r.
His saints will wait
for Him;
Their hope secure.
How great His love
He has lavished on us,
That we should be
called
The children of God.
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