Rev. {14:5} And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
No guile.
guile (gìl) noun
1. Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
No deceit before the throne of God.
There will be a people that stand before the throne of God without fault, without any deceit. What does that mean? That there are also going to be a people- those not standing before the thrown of God that are at fault and are filled with guile- filled with deceit.
In a world where lying is acceptable as long as no one really gets hurt, as long as you can get away with the lie and all, how many people are filled with deceit? Seriously. White lies, harmless lies, lies that hurt no one, lies that would prove more harmful if not told- these are lies we accept; we even say we understand usually when a person confesses that lie later adding I didn't want to hurt you. We understand. Why do we understand? Because we find ourselve lying the same way and understand another's seeming need to do so. Because it's wrong to hurt someone isn't it? So the choice between hurting someone and lying is made and the lying considered the lesser of two evils.
Lying, deceitfulness.
To stand before the throne of God there will be a people that have no guile in them.
Impossible we say because we know all seem to lie in one way or another.
Not impossible with Christ.
Do you think Christ ever lied to save someone from a painful truth? No. Do you think Christ lied and decieved so that he'd be accepted? Do you think our Lord and Savior had anything deceitful in Him? Anything? No. The truth was considered better than a lie any day, the truth better than deception.
Only Christ can save us, only Christ. And those who stand before the throne of God without guile, without fault only do so because they are His and He claims them as being His. When we are Christ and take on HIS righteousness we can have hope of standing before the throne of God, we can't stand there at all in our own filthy garments, in our own filthy world of deceits and lies.
By the grace and mercy of Christ may we be found in HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, knowing we have none of our own, none.
Amen.
9/3/10 Our Creator's Rest
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
9/3/11
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the
seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things
which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect
before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis
which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for
they are worthy.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be
clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches.
There are various
beliefs on when the historic time period of the church takes place. I've been
doing more studying and in truth the various beliefs all have merits of their
own. Because this IS prophetic, a book of prophecy we are reading we know that
there are prophetic meanings throughout this entire book.
This is Jesus'
prophecy to His people.
Jesus wants
people to understand throughout time until He returns that they will face many
things. He didn't give the prophecy to a single church, a single people that are
His, but rather to His people in various places, and prophetically in various
times, and uniquely to all. Those who read this prophecy a thousand years ago
could find meaning throughout all the messages to the seven churches, just as we
a thousand years after them could find meaning. So pinpointing the historic time
periods can be useful to a certain extent here, but it's not something I
particularly am going to concentrate on right now. I read some that stated this
period of time starts after 1798 (something I related in a previous study a few
days ago) and I read something else that stated it is during the 1500's. I see
validity in both views but there's where prophecy can be very confusing. At this point I'm going to concentrate
LESS on the historic time periods and pray that God opens my heart to the truth
He would have me comprehend. I do NOT want to get caught up in any lies, in any
deceptions that Satan is trying to bring my way.
May GOD lead me in this study and may the Holy Spirit give me all
understanding that I'm to have in the eternal way of things.
We studied this
yesterday but I feel the need for more-
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the
seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things
which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect
before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis
which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for
they are worthy.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be
clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Remembering how
we received.
Remember how we
heard.
We are told to
remember. How important is it to
remember some things in life? Critically important, yes? Life or death
important, yes? Seriously. If you take a little bit of time and think about it
there are things in life that need to be remembered or it can cause our own
death, or death of others. A surgeon in the middle of surgery needs to remember
the proper way to operate. A person driving a car needs to remember how to
drive. A person dependent upon medicine needs to remember to take that medicine
or they die. Why is it so strange to us who believe in God to understand that
we need to remember God's ways? How do we dare to believe that we can do
anything that we want to no matter what it is and forget that God gave us moral
laws. How can we trample those
laws as if the end effect is as simple as forgetting to take out the garbage, no
harm-no foul, a minor forgetfulness without any critical results. Why do we
treat choosing not to remember God's laws as if it's really no big deal at all
whatsoever, that our very LIVES do not depend upon remember the things our GOD
has told us to remember.
Right in the
moral laws of God we are told to Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Here in the prophecy of Jesus we are
told to Remember how we receive, to Remember how we heard.
I'm not sure
people actually understand the importance of this remembering. Clearly the
majority of people have no problem whatsoever with forgetting because so few
choose to remember and to live their lives in that remembrance.
In remembering we
need to HOLD FAST.
In remembering we
need to REPENT.
We can't afford
to hold loosely, we can't afford to no hold on tightly to what we remember. We
most assuredly cannot afford to simply not repent as we recognize the sin in
our lives- daily, minutely, hourly, whenever it is in our hearts convicting us
we cannot ignore the need to repent and seek forgiveness in our Savior.
IF we choose to
forget the love of our Savior, if we choose to forget the message our Savior
took on flesh to bring to us and allowed Himself to suffer the cruelest of
deaths, then just like a thief robbing us blind- we will be caught unaware and
robbed of eternal life.
Have you EVER
been robbed? Some of you will be able to answer- yes, others will answer -
no. Think about it- have you ever
been unjustly, unexpectedly defrauded in any way at all?
Try to remember some form of completely unexpected offense against you.
Surely most all of us have had some form of UNEXPECTED betrayal in our lives,
perhaps in a tiny way, from family, from friends, or strangers.
Because not all have experienced having their house robbed we need to
think on a different level so we can try to fully comprehend the idea behind a
thief taking us unaware and then we HAVE to understand that if we do not hold
fast to the admonitions and the teachings of our Savior, and our Savior alone-
and we do not repent we will be caught totally off guard and we will lose the
most precious gift of all- a life of eternity in the presence of our Lord and
King, our God, our Savior, the Father, the Son!
May the Holy
Spirit keep us in love, in the purest love with our Savior. May the Holy
Comforter sent by God to us keep us in remembrance of ALL that we are told to
remember and help us to follow the laws of our God as He would have us follow
them. May the Holy Spirit keep us in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of our Savior, in HIS
love always!
We MUST
remember.
Here are the
lyrics to a song I truly like--
"We
Remember"
How
could we forget
When
You touched the earth on that starry night
Angels
sang glory to God on high
We
remember
How
could we forget
The
moment the water became wine
Stories
of men leaving all behind
We
remember
The
story burns upon our hearts
A
beautiful and binding scar
Forever
we will
Forever
we will think of You
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
How
could we forget
There
in the garden You cried for it
The
city that cursed You and turned You in
We
remember
How
could we forget
Death
has no power and we are free
The
good thought of us there on calvary
We
remember
The
story burns upon our hearts
A
beautiful and binding scar
Forever
we will, forever we will think of You
Oh
think of You
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
Oh,
the the things that You have done
And
great things You've yet to do
Oh,
Jesus, we remember You
How
could we forget
The
moment Your love rolled the stone away
Our
hearts were opened our lives were changed
We
remember
How
we could forget
The
promise of hope and that trumpet sound
We'll
see Your glory roll back the clouds
We
remember
We
remember You, O Lord
We
remember You our King
We
remember You the son of God
Who
came to set us free
How
could we forget
When
You touched the earth on that starry night
Angels
sang glory to God on high?
Pasted
from <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/newsboys/weremember.html>
By the LOVE of
God now and forever and always in all things!
Amen!
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
9/3/11
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the
seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things
which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect
before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis
which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for
they are worthy.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be
clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches.
There are various
beliefs on when the historic time period of the church takes place. I've been
doing more studying and in truth the various beliefs all have merits of their
own. Because this IS prophetic, a book of prophecy we are reading we know that
there are prophetic meanings throughout this entire book.
This is Jesus'
prophecy to His people.
Jesus wants
people to understand throughout time until He returns that they will face many
things. He didn't give the prophecy to a single church, a single people that are
His, but rather to His people in various places, and prophetically in various
times, and uniquely to all. Those who read this prophecy a thousand years ago
could find meaning throughout all the messages to the seven churches, just as we
a thousand years after them could find meaning. So pinpointing the historic time
periods can be useful to a certain extent here, but it's not something I
particularly am going to concentrate on right now. I read some that stated this
period of time starts after 1798 (something I related in a previous study a few
days ago) and I read something else that stated it is during the 1500's. I see
validity in both views but there's where prophecy can be very confusing. At this point I'm going to concentrate
LESS on the historic time periods and pray that God opens my heart to the truth
He would have me comprehend. I do NOT want to get caught up in any lies, in any
deceptions that Satan is trying to bring my way.
May GOD lead me in this study and may the Holy Spirit give me all
understanding that I'm to have in the eternal way of things.
We studied this
yesterday but I feel the need for more-
Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in
Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the
seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead.
Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things
which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect
before God.
Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will
come upon thee.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis
which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for
they are worthy.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be
clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of
life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Remembering how
we received.
Remember how we
heard.
We are told to
remember. How important is it to
remember some things in life? Critically important, yes? Life or death
important, yes? Seriously. If you take a little bit of time and think about it
there are things in life that need to be remembered or it can cause our own
death, or death of others. A surgeon in the middle of surgery needs to remember
the proper way to operate. A person driving a car needs to remember how to
drive. A person dependent upon medicine needs to remember to take that medicine
or they die. Why is it so strange to us who believe in God to understand that
we need to remember God's ways? How do we dare to believe that we can do
anything that we want to no matter what it is and forget that God gave us moral
laws. How can we trample those
laws as if the end effect is as simple as forgetting to take out the garbage, no
harm-no foul, a minor forgetfulness without any critical results. Why do we
treat choosing not to remember God's laws as if it's really no big deal at all
whatsoever, that our very LIVES do not depend upon remember the things our GOD
has told us to remember.
Right in the
moral laws of God we are told to Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Here in the prophecy of Jesus we are
told to Remember how we receive, to Remember how we heard.
I'm not sure
people actually understand the importance of this remembering. Clearly the
majority of people have no problem whatsoever with forgetting because so few
choose to remember and to live their lives in that remembrance.
In remembering we
need to HOLD FAST.
In remembering we
need to REPENT.
We can't afford
to hold loosely, we can't afford to no hold on tightly to what we remember. We
most assuredly cannot afford to simply not repent as we recognize the sin in
our lives- daily, minutely, hourly, whenever it is in our hearts convicting us
we cannot ignore the need to repent and seek forgiveness in our Savior.
IF we choose to
forget the love of our Savior, if we choose to forget the message our Savior
took on flesh to bring to us and allowed Himself to suffer the cruelest of
deaths, then just like a thief robbing us blind- we will be caught unaware and
robbed of eternal life.
Have you EVER
been robbed? Some of you will be able to answer- yes, others will answer -
no. Think about it- have you ever
been unjustly, unexpectedly defrauded in any way at all?
Try to remember some form of completely unexpected offense against you.
Surely most all of us have had some form of UNEXPECTED betrayal in our lives,
perhaps in a tiny way, from family, from friends, or strangers.
Because not all have experienced having their house robbed we need to
think on a different level so we can try to fully comprehend the idea behind a
thief taking us unaware and then we HAVE to understand that if we do not hold
fast to the admonitions and the teachings of our Savior, and our Savior alone-
and we do not repent we will be caught totally off guard and we will lose the
most precious gift of all- a life of eternity in the presence of our Lord and
King, our God, our Savior, the Father, the Son!
May the Holy
Spirit keep us in love, in the purest love with our Savior. May the Holy
Comforter sent by God to us keep us in remembrance of ALL that we are told to
remember and help us to follow the laws of our God as He would have us follow
them. May the Holy Spirit keep us in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of our Savior, in HIS
love always!
We MUST
remember.
Here are the
lyrics to a song I truly like--
"We
Remember"
How
could we forget
When
You touched the earth on that starry night
Angels
sang glory to God on high
We
remember
How
could we forget
The
moment the water became wine
Stories
of men leaving all behind
We
remember
The
story burns upon our hearts
A
beautiful and binding scar
Forever
we will
Forever
we will think of You
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
How
could we forget
There
in the garden You cried for it
The
city that cursed You and turned You in
We
remember
How
could we forget
Death
has no power and we are free
The
good thought of us there on calvary
We
remember
The
story burns upon our hearts
A
beautiful and binding scar
Forever
we will, forever we will think of You
Oh
think of You
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
We
remember
We
remember You, Oh Lord
Oh,
the the things that You have done
And
great things You've yet to do
Oh,
Jesus, we remember You
How
could we forget
The
moment Your love rolled the stone away
Our
hearts were opened our lives were changed
We
remember
How
we could forget
The
promise of hope and that trumpet sound
We'll
see Your glory roll back the clouds
We
remember
We
remember You, O Lord
We
remember You our King
We
remember You the son of God
Who
came to set us free
How
could we forget
When
You touched the earth on that starry night
Angels
sang glory to God on high?
Pasted
from <http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/newsboys/weremember.html>
By the LOVE of
God now and forever and always in all things!
Amen!