Tried With Fire

In order to get thoughts out of my head, I dashed off a post. Some of it was in righteous anger but some of it was not. The following is much better than anything I could have written because it directs my desire for justice to the One who is just and the One who will make all things right. Come, Lord Jesus. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4 (NASB)

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Revelation 22:21. The grace of that wondrous person who is God and man in one person and whom we call Lord, is now solemnly invoked upon you. Read the text again and pause a while in the middle to enjoy, “The grace of our Lord.” Whatever familiarity we have with Him, we call Him Master and Lord, and He says, “You do well, for so I am.” Let us never forget that! The grace that comes from His majesty, the grace that comes from His headship, the grace that comes from His divinely human supremacy over His Church, which is His body—this is the grace which we desire for you all! Read the next word, “the grace of our Lord Jesus”—may that be with you—that is to say, the grace of our Savior, for that is the meaning of the word, Jesus. All His saving grace; all that which redeems from guilt, from sin, from trouble—all that which saves us with an everlasting salvation—may that be yours to the fullest! Then comes the other word, “the...

The full glory of His person as Son of God and Son of man shall be manifested when He shall be beheld upon the throne of God. He who once appeared as the sacrificed and slaughtered Lamb shall reign with supreme authority—the blessed and only potentate, king of kings and Lord of lords! It is the throne of God and of the Lamb. The power thus conferred upon Him, the Lamb, not only possesses by right and title, but He exercises it in deed and in truth. “All power,” said our risen Redeemer, “is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” He rules now with unlimited sway and the scepter of His kingdom is a right scepter. As Joseph was exalted in Egypt and Pharaoh said, “See, I have set you over all the land and the people cried before him and bowed the knee; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt,” even so we read of Jesus, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and that every tongue should confe...

There was a time when the book of Revelation was my least favorite book of the Bible. I thought its main message was to foretell all the horrible things that would happen before Jesus comes back, and those horrors would be my fate unless I achieved a certain level of spirituality whereby God would deem me mature enough to escape them. Cold comfort, indeed! At least, Revelation was at the end of the Bible so I could avoid reading it as long as possible. But what a terrible state to be in. I had no assurance as to my salvation. God and His gospel seemed weak and ineffectual, and I was afraid to read part of the Bible. But I couldn't be more wrong. The gospel isn't the power of God to just get me in the door and then the rest is up to me. What Christ has accomplished covers the beginning, middle, and end of my Christian life. I am not living in a dualistic Star-Wars-like universe where good and evil battle one another on a level playing field. Who in his right mind would cont...

“They shall see His face.” The word, “see” sounds in my ears with a clear, full, melodious note. I think we see but little here. This indeed, is not the world of sight—“we walk by faith, not by sight.” Around us all is mist and cloud; what we do see, we see only as if men were trees walking. If ever we get a glimpse of the spirit-world, it is like yonder momentary lightning flash in the darkness of the tempest which opens for an instant the gates of heaven, and in the twinkling of an eye they are closed again. And then the darkness is denser than before, as if it were enough for us poor mortals to know that there is a brightness denied to us as yet.  The saints see the face of Jesus in heaven because they are purified from sin. The pure in heart are blessed, they shall see God, and none others. It is because of our impurity which still remains, that we cannot as yet see His face, but their eyes are touched with eye salve, and therefore they see... But up yonder they no...

My pastor has been preaching through the book of Revelation. We're still in the first few chapters where Jesus is commending and correcting the churches. While these letters were written to real churches in existence in John's lifetime, these letters are for all true churches throughout time. These letters are for us. For me. In the letter to Ephesus, Jesus commends this church, but He also admonishes them that they have lost their first love. This could mean love for God, love for believers, and love for the lost. According to my pastor many commentators have different views as to which love. But who amongst us would dare say that we love God, believers, and the lost as we should? Who doesn't need to grow in all three areas? My mind is still reeling from the election. My heart is also grieved for believers and unbelievers alike as we seem to more divided than ever. So my prayer for myself and for the church is that we would regain our first love. - Love for God that...