Revelation 7:15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. (ESV) Because they have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, they are able to be before the throne; and not only that but are able to serve Him day and night. We often think of God as being accepting of anything we are able to give but in actuality He is a Holy God who requires holiness from His people. Jesus had spoken about what it takes to be one of His disciples. He says things like, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”, and “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” This word “after” is interesting in that it always means behind, or after as in following after. So the message of Jesus is to follow Him. We must be willing to follow Him or else we end up like the devil, thinking of ourselves as higher than the Son. Jesus had even told Satan/Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. This word behind is the same one as used before and this rebuke is in reference to them saying Jesus should/will not die. So when we take the same stance, that surely God has better things in store for us than He had for His Son, of whom He was pleased to crush, then in that our words become as foolish as those of Satan and we are not His disciples. Now it MAY not come to that degree, but we are certainly in need of purification such as these souls who were once under the altar have gone through, and as His disciples we must prepare ourselves in accepting that this is expected of us. For in that same Luke passage He says, “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish.’” Have we actually counted the cost of becoming His disciple and what it will take to stand before the throne or have we just gone as far as laying the foundation and really have no interest in building upon it? If we do this we do not carry the name of Jesus well, for we will be mocked by all who look upon our folly. But this is not so with those who have found themselves before the throne, they are faithful servants of God, serving Him day and night. Therefore they will be sheltered by the very God they have served unto death. ref: Luke 14:25-33; Matthew 16:23 #RevelationofJesusChrist
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000
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