Monday, March 13, 2017, 8:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Is He Satisfied?” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Revelation 22
(Select vv. NASB).
Awesome!
(vv. 1-5)
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear
as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its
street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds
of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for
the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne
of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they
will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no
longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the
light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign
forever and ever.
Doesn’t this just move you to
tears? It does that to me. All the heartache, sadness, hate, bigotry, lies,
deceptions, wars, murdering of innocents, abuse, and adultery caused by sin in
this world is just devastating! Jesus hates sin because of what sin does to human
lives. It destroys them! Yet, through salvation we can be healed, and when this
life is over we can be completely healed to where we feel no more pain, sorrow,
and suffering. There will be no more curse. Sin will be no more! Yay!! We will
be with Jesus face-to-face. Amen! And, Satan and sin will no longer be able to
touch us.
Faithful and True (vv. 6-7)
And he said to me, “These words are faithful and
true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to
show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.
“And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who
heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”
We can count on God’s Word to
us to be completely true, and on him to be fully faithful in all that he does,
and in all he has said he would do. The words of human beings can be flawed,
though, and often, more than not, they are not to be counted on because people
lie. They deceive. They say one thing and do another. But, when God says
something, we can take it to the bank (an expression meaning we can count on it).
If we have trusted in Jesus
Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and we are walking in the Spirit,
and not according to the flesh, because we have been born again of the Spirit
of God, we can be assured of these promises. But, we can’t just make a
profession of Christ as Savior and then live however we want and think these
promises apply to us. They don’t! We are blessed if we heed (if we are keeping)
God’s Word, i.e. if we are preserving his Word in our hearts, and if we are
obeying them, not just listening to them. This is not saying we will never sin.
This is talking about making obedience a lifestyle (a practice) of doing what
the Word of God teaches us we must do. If we do not, the Bible says we don’t
really know God.
Shortness of Time (vv. 10-15)
And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the
prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still
do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is
righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep
himself holy.”
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with
Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and
the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they
may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the
city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the
murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
“Sow an act—reap a habit: sow a habit—reap a
character: sow a character—reap a destiny.” (Charles Reade)
This is the picture the Lord
is giving me here. The law demands that we pay for our sin. It demands death. So,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for us on a cross. He took our punishment
for us so we could go free from the curse of sin and free from slavery to sin.
We are now free from the law of sin and death if we are believing in Jesus
Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, having been crucified with Christ in
death to sin, and having been resurrected with Christ in newness of life to be
lived to his righteousness.
This is called grace because
we did nothing to earn it or to deserve it. It is a free gift of God to all who
would receive it. Even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift from God, i.e.
it is God’s divine persuasion of us as to his will for our lives. Yet, there
are those who would have you believe that God’s grace, because it is free, requires
nothing of us, and this is wrong teaching. God’s grace, which brings salvation,
teaches us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live godly,
upright and self-controlled lives while we wait for Christ’s return (Tit.
2:11-14). God’s grace to us is not a free license to continue in sin, for his
grace delivers us FROM bondage to sin.
This false grace is akin to
the law, though, for they both produce death. Neither one can save you. One
shouts out that you must pay for your sin, while the other tries to bypass God’s
laws entirely and says you can live however you want and still go to heaven
when you die. Yet, Jesus says that if we want to come after him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily and follow (obey) him. He said that if we hold on
to our old lives of living in sin we will lose them for eternity, but if we
lose our lives (die with Christ to sin) we will gain eternal life. Paul said
something similar when he said that if we walk (conduct our lives) according to
the flesh that we will die in our sin, but if by the Spirit we are putting the
misdeeds of the flesh to death, we will live with Christ for eternity (See: Lu.
9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14).
This idea that we can just pray
some words after someone and then have salvation and heaven guaranteed is just
not biblical. The Bible is real clear in its teaching that if we walk in
(practice) sin, we will die in our sin. But if we walk in the light as He is in
the Light, his blood cleanses us from all sin. God’s grace gives us the faith
to believe, and it grants us repentance, and it empowers us to live godly and
holy lives while we live on this earth. Through faith in Jesus Christ we can be
delivered from bondage (addiction) to sin. Those who would try to convince you
that this is works-based salvation are lying to you. The law telling you that
you must pay, and the teaching that gives carte blanche (free rein) to continue
in sin, both result in death!
So, Jesus Christ, who
suffered the penalty for our sin, is calling out to the people of this world,
and to those who think they are saved but who have not truly repented of their
sin, and he is telling them that if they do not believe in him with repentant hearts,
and they continue in their sin, that they will face punishment. No matter how
many tears they have cried, or how many confessions of sin they have made, or
how many Bible verses they know, if they do not accept what Jesus did for them
in dying so they could be delivered from slavery (addiction) to sin, then they
are numbered among those on the outside who love wickedness and who practice
lying.
Yet, many are not listening,
but they are continuing to go their own way. They are running around being
deceptive, lying and evasive, trying to hide their sin so that no one will find
out. Yet, they must realize that time is not on their side. If they do not turn
away from their sin and obey God, they will have to pay for their sin. God says
it, so it is true. And, he is faithful.
Come! (vv. 16-17)
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these
things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright
morning star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one
who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who
wishes take the water of life without cost.
So, Jesus is saying “Come” to
him, listen to what he is saying, and don’t turn a deaf ear to his calls. Don’t
run after things which will never satisfy. Come to Jesus and trust him with
your life. Turn from your sin and turn to follow him from this day forward if
you want to be free. If you don’t, then all you have to look forward to is
death, hell and punishment for eternity.
IS HE SATISFIED
words and music by A. Hamblen
Do you ever search your heart
As you watch the day depart?
Is there something way down
deep you try to hide?
If this day should be the end
And eternity begin
When the book is open wide
Would the Lord be satisfied
Is he satisfied, Is he
satisfied?
Is he satisfied with me?
Have I done my best?
Have I stood the test?
Is He satisfied with me? …
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