Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 7:01 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Unless You Are Born Again.” Speak,
Lord, your words to my heart. I read Revelation
7 (Select vv. NASB).
The Bond-Servants of God (vv. 1-4)
After this I saw four angels standing at the four
corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind
would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel
ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he
cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm
the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees
until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads.”
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one
hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel…
What is a bond-servant? A
bond-servant is “someone who belongs to another; a bond-slave, without any ownership rights of their own.
Ironically, 1401 /doúlos (‘bond-slave’) is used with the highest dignity in the
NT – namely, of believers who willingly live under Christ's authority as His
devoted followers” (http://biblehub.com/greek/1401.htm).
When we believe (believing)
in Jesus Christ as Lord, and as Savior of our lives, we are sealed in Christ
with the Holy Spirit, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance (Eph.
1:13-14). Yet, even before the world was created, God chose us in him, that we
should be holy and blameless before him (Eph. 1:3-4). So, there are people
alive today who have not yet believed in Jesus Christ, yet they were chosen by
God to be his bond-slaves even before the creation of the world. A term used
for this is “the elect.” And, they will receive Christ one day. At least, this
is my understanding.
This seal (guarantee) of God
for the salvation of the elect must be in place before the judgments of God can
come. The elect are to be most certainly spiritually protected during this time
of judgment, i.e. so that they are not under the condemnation of God along with
the world with regard to their eternal destiny. Some people believe God will
also protect them from the tribulations to come upon the earth. He may. I don’t
know that for sure. But, from what I read in scripture, we are destined for
tribulation, trials, and persecution, so there is no guarantee that we won’t
have to go through a time of tribulation, because many, many Christians already
have, and there is evidence here that the saints of God will be persecuted
during this time.
A Great Multitude (vv. 9-12)
After these things I looked, and behold, a great
multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and
peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in
white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a
loud voice, saying,
“Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to
the Lamb.” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the
elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the
throne and worshiped God, saying,
“Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
I believe that scripture
teaches that Christians will go through the time of tribulation to come on the
earth, which has already come in so many respects. I mean, if you live in the
Middle East, and everywhere you go there is war, and Christians are being
hunted down and killed for their faith in Christ, and foreign powers (the USA,
for one) are coming into your country confiscating property, killing innocents,
pillaging, and taking control, you are going to definitely feel as though you
are going through what Revelation prophesies is going to take place in these
last days. The things described in Revelation 13 have been going on for a long
time, so maybe the 7 years are not 7 literal years. It is just American Christians,
I think, who believe they will be raptured and that they won’t have to suffer
such persecution.
I also believe that during
this time of tribulation that many people will come to faith in Jesus Christ as
the gospel goes forth throughout the earth. And, I believe, as God judges his
adulterous and complacent church, that many will repent of their sins and will
be restored to fellowship with God before the time of the end. Yet, they will
go through much tribulation and persecution, and many will be martyred for
their faith in Jesus Christ and for their testimonies for the gospel of our
salvation.
Thus, we have this great
multitude of people clothed in white robes who have come out of the great tribulation,
who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (v. 14).
And, maybe this includes all tribulation, i.e. all the saints of God who have
overcome persecution, hatred, physical and/or emotional abuse, and false accusations,
etc. for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of their faith in Jesus
Christ. These are not just those who are now serving God in heaven, but who now
serve him faithfully on this earth, even if it is at the very last minute, but
who will one day be in heaven (Beulah Land), and who proclaim the salvation of
our Lord Jesus Christ. One day they will be among that throng in heaven. Amen!
They proclaim the salvation
of the Lord and give him praise because he rescued them from their sins and
from the dominion of Satan over their lives so that they have heaven now as
their eternal destiny. They tell of how Jesus died, not just so we could escape
hell and go to heaven when we leave this earth, but that he died that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. They proclaim the praises of him who
called them out of darkness into his wonderful light, and for delivering them
out of Satan’s clutches so that they can serve their Lord and follow the Lamb
wherever he goes. And, the words they proclaim do not return empty. They will
have their full effect in people’s lives as God has planned for the salvation
of human souls.
Before the Throne (vv. 13-17)
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These
who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come
from?” I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the
ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before
the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who
sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no
longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;
for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide
them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their
eyes.”
This morning, before I woke
up, the Lord gave me a dream about me arriving at Beulah Beach Camp Grounds (on
Lake Erie) in Ohio. I entered from the right, and then I got in a long line, at
the end, of a large crowd of people who were all facing to the right. I was
feeling that I wanted to get closer to my Lord. I remember this camp from when
I was a youth. The back of the line would have been near to the front of the
building where the church services were held, and the front of the line would
have been near to being in front of the dining hall. I believe the camp
represents heaven, and the dining hall symbolizes the wedding supper of the
Lamb, and the people in line are all the saints of God who have gone to heaven
before us who are waiting until we all show up and then we will have that
wedding supper.
Then, I looked up the word “Beulah.”
It literally means “Thou art married.” And, it is often considered a symbol of
our heavenly dwelling with our husband, Jesus Christ. We are his bride, and he
is our husband. The word is found in Isaiah 62:4, which says, “Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall
thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and
thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be
married.”
When we go through the
various trials and tribulations and persecutions we go through on this earth,
we will be forsaken by others, even by those whose responsibility it is to love
and to protect us. Many of these persecutors do not know Jesus as their Savior,
though some do. They were never turned from darkness to light. They were never
born again, and so they still walk in the darkness, largely because that is
what they love, and so they will not come into the light. So, they are
antichrist, and as such, they hate and persecute those who truly have been born
of the Spirit of God.
So, this is an encouragement
to us who are born again of the Spirit of God and who are among the abused,
persecuted and abandoned of the world. Jesus has not forsaken us. He is our
husband – our protector, our shepherd, our Lord. And one day we will get to be
with him and we will no longer be forsaken and mistreated, for we will be with
our Lord, and he will wipe every tear from our eyes, because he delights in us.
Amen! This is our hope!
Unless You Are Born Again
An Original Work / November
3, 2013
Based off John 3:1-21
Nicodemus came to Jesus.
He acknowledged God was with
Him.
Jesus said, “You can’t see
heaven
Unless you are born again.”
“How can a man be born when
he’s old?
Can he enter into his
mother’s womb?”
Jesus answered, “Flesh is
flesh,
So of the Spirit, you must
be.”
Jesus said to Nicodemus,
“You’re a teacher, and yet
you don’t
Understand of what I tell
you,
Because you will not believe.
“For God so loved the world
that He gave
His one and His only Son for
your sin.
So, whoever believes in Him
Has eternal life in heav’n.
“Light has come into the
world,
But human beings love the darkness,
Because their deeds are so
evil,
So in truth, they stand
condemned.
“Everyone who practices evil
Fears that the Light will
expose his sin.
Yet, whoever lives his life
by the Light
Does so through his God.”
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