Hope Secured

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, “Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.”  So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.  Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse.  And everything in the sea died.  Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they became blood.  And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, “You are just, O Holy One, who is and who always was, because you have sent these judgments.  Since they shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, you have given them blood to drink.  It is their just reward.”  And I heard a voice from the altar, saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just.”  Revelation 16:1-7

The last several days we’ve looked at our hope in Jesus Christ.  Hope, as a noun or verb, is an expectation; we either expect something will happen, or want it to happen.  This is the perspective of our last three devotions, hope anew, hope renewed, and hope shared.  These are matters of faith, as we place our faith in Christ, have it renewed through this life of trials and fears, and as we share faith’s hope with others. 

In today’s passage, we step from faith in this life, to fulfillment of our hope, the consummation of God’s promises, as He pours judgment on evil in the truest and most just of recompense.  Angels, in perfect obedience to the Father, pour out the stored reprisal of every evil thought, or brutal deed.  Those who have rejected Christ and God’s offer of forgiveness meet the horror of God’s wrath.

Those who mock God in this life caricaturize any mention of Judgment Day, or sin, or any allusion to God’s authority as “fairy tales” or a naïvely ignorant, preacher’s manipulation.  But in that day, when the hope of the faithful shall become sight, all will see His glory.  Those who refuse to bend a knee now will have no choice but to kneel then!  Apostle Paul wrote:

…for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.  So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.  Romans 14:10b-12^(KJV)

In that day there will be no excuses, for even those who, in their unbelief, mock and profane the name of God will see Christ and His Father, who by the Holy Spirit unveils the glory of Heaven…and they will fall to their knees and confess that He alone is God.  Those who have chosen in this life to deny Jesus, the hope of God’s glory, will in that day have their choice granted…eternally…in the lake of fire.  That is a sad, but solemn part of our hope in Jesus Christ; he will right every wrong against God, and reward every sacrificial service or suffering in the name of Jesus.  God will not do this lightly or with any degree of spite or enjoyment.  But the ultimate character of God is to be holy, and entirely righteous.  And in that holy righteousness, God will judge sin.  Those who have trusted in Christ will be gathered like a hen gathers her chicks, or a mother bear protects her cubs.  Those who have trusted in themselves, refusing Christ’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life, will experience an eternal death without God.

For You Today 

A preacher friend of mine once summed-up God’s offer to be saved from our sinful wickedness.  He said:  The wages of sin is death[1] and those wages must be paid.  We can let Jesus’ death on the cross pay for our sin now, or we can pay for them later when we stand before God at the judgment seat!  My friend was telling it like it is.  Trust God, place your faith in the secure hope of Christ!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Romans 6:23

Ready?

 

Title and other images:  Pixabay.com

At this point in our study of Revelation, the record of prophecy about the end of the world abruptly comes to a halt.  The apostle has recorded all we need to prepare for the second coming of Jesus. 

A semi-wise pastor once said it’s Biblical that Christians ought not to think too much about such things, because it could hinder the return of the Lord:

... the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Matthew 24:44

There was a poster outside an English church at a bus stop that read: 

Where will you be on the Day of Judgment?  Someone scribbled on the wall under the poster:  Still here, waiting for a bus. 

So much has been written about the end times and Jesus' return.  At times it becomes important to stop and review the facts.  In our text the angel underscores what John has seen in this vision of visions....namely the revelation of Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He has seen  the Master of all life, death, time and eternity.  He is revealed not only as King of the universe, but as the embodiment of the Word of God Almighty. 

What we are given here are ASSURANCES about that Word.  We see two assurances that strengthen us due to the awesomeness of the facts they represent about the Word.  First, the Word of God is:

Eminent Truth

Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.”  Revelation 22:6

There is much truth to be known.  I am a father, a husband, a son.  These are truths.  But eminent truth is truth that takes first place in importance.  Note the word faithful means being convinced.  The truth of God about Jesus can be put to the test.  It will never fail.  But the word "true" literally means unconcealed.  The fact is that God has totally revealed His nature to us in the being and character of Jesus Christ.  And you can depend on Him.  So when John says that the Word of God is faithful and true, he is assuring us that truth revealed from above can be counted upon.

During the Civil War era Jeb Stuart, in his communications to General Robert E. Lee, used to sign them yours to count on.  It is that way with the Word of God.

Now, what that means for us is that a God who spoke to the world in creation, and in the ancient prophets, and eventually in a cross, is a God who is going to live by His Word. 

The phrase in verse 6..the things which must shortly be done., tells us that God confirms a promise that His Word issues.  What are those promises?  All throughout the scripture there are two basic promises; and they are as unchanging as the God who issued them:

   A - The redeemed shall be received with great gladness.

   B - The enemies of God shall be defeated and silenced forever. 

Now the world may point to the existence of this world, and the apparent lack of judgment.  But the day shall come.  It is God who has spoken.  On a night in March 140 years ago the great Niagara Falls stopped flowing.  It just stopped.  Anyone who has slept in the country with the crickets knows how deadly silent it can be when all the night noise stops.  Imagine what it must have been for the thundering of the mighty Niagara to suddenly cease, like someone turned off the switch.  People were so startled they ran to the river with torches.  The next morning, and all through the night the nearby churches were jammed with people praying and trembling over the "end of the world."  A little over 30 hours after the river ceased movement, just as suddenly it began again.  The explanation?  A heavy wind had set the Lake Erie ice field in motion and tons of ice had jammed at the river's entrance near Buffalo.  It had dammed the river up, until the ice shifted and let the water flow once again. 

Someday it won't be a natural explanation, but a supernatural fulfillment of the eminent truth of God, that He is going to bring time to a standstill; He will end time and begin eternity.  And those who have lived their lives without God will find that eternity will be the same way.  This is eminent truth...

Secondly, Notice that the Word of God is

Imminent Treasure

“Look, I am coming soon!  Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”  Revelation 22:7

The angel quotes Jesus saying I am coming soon, imminently.  This news can be either treasure or tragedy.   It depends on the state of the one for which Jesus comes.  I do not want to be cute with words here.  The outcome is too serious. 

Again, the world looks around (and even some church members) and they say:  Well, it's been 2000 years.  Is He really coming soon?  The word means effectively, or at the right moment.  G. Campbell Morgan translates it:  Behold, I come on time.  I like that translation.  God has never missed a deadline.  At least, He's never missed one that HE set!  Many times in our prayers we let God know just exactly how and WHEN He should do something.  But God not only knows what we need; He knows exactly WHEN we need it as well!

What is He coming for?  He's coming to be two things:  judgment and blessing.  Several weeks into a trial, the defendant came forward to plead guilty.  Why didn't you plead guilty at the start and save us all a lot of time? asked the judge.  The defendant replied: I thought I was innocent.  But that was before I heard the evidence against me.

How sad that there are so many good and moral, upstanding, wonderful people who just have never given their hearts to Jesus who are going to hear in that day:  Depart from me, I never knew you.

You see, you don't have to be a murderer, or a child abuser, or some other heinous type to go to hell.  All that’s required is to ignore the call of God on your life…which is to reject Jesus, the imminent, on-time coming king, who said:

I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man, no woman, no child…nobody comes to God the Father in His heaven, except through me.  John 14:6[1]

Blessings, says the angel, come to the ones who will keep (or obey) these words of the prophecy.  The word keep comes from a military expression, meaning to keep watch.  Having spent some time in the Army I know all about keeping watch.  I can tell you that there was a difference between guard duty in Fort Gordon, Georgia, and keeping watch in Kontum, South Vietnam in 1967.  The difference wasn't just in keeping a few rules...it meant the difference between life and death.  

It is that way with what you do to keep watch over the imminent treasure of Jesus Christ in your life. 

Again, G. Campbell Morgan says this about the words of the book, and what the angel says to assure us:

This…emphasizes the fact that a study of this book is only of value in so far as the vision of the Lord in His glory, His grace, and His government reacts upon life in such way as to produce the attitudes and activities which, recognizing the glory, appropriate the grace, and yield to the government. 

In other words...You square your life by the words of this book.  You commit yourself.  That makes the imminent, effective, on-time coming of the Lord Jesus a real treasure.

A young man was afraid to make a commitment to get married.  He wrote to an advice columnist.  She answered him:  You fall in love, but you back away before marriage.  You say you won't commit because you view life like a buffet; if you fill up your plate with lettuce at the front of the line, you may not have room for the boiled shrimp that could be at the end.  My friend, she said, You are going to end up with an empty plate.

What shall we do with this Palm-Passion Truth?

When you know the divine, eminent, all-important truth of God's love in Jesus Christ, and you have experienced the imminent treasure of having Christ in your life, what is the appropriate, acceptable response?  Share it!

·       Mahatma Gandhi once said:  If Christians would really live the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today. 

·       Mormons have a commitment that means they give two years of their life in missionary service....without pay! 

·       Members of Alcoholics Anonymous will go anywhere, any time under any circumstances to help another alcoholic. 

It should come as no surprise to Christians that our mission is more than coming to church and dropping a few dollars in the offering plate.  Our mission is to receive the eminent truth....the Word of God, and take this imminent treasure to the ends of the earth, starting with our next-door neighbor. 

The question is:  Will we go around the block to share this with a neighbor?  Or even in our own home?  Behold, says Jesus, the eminent, imminent One, I come on time...are you satisfied that you're ready to greet me?                 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!  

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[1] My paraphrasing

Listen Closely

 

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

On July 31 of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God….  “Stand up, son of man,” said the voice. “I want to speak with you.” 

Ezekiel 1:1, 2:1

Ezekiel was thirty years old and he heard the voice telling him to snap to attention; he was about to hear something important.  In my mind’s-eye I can see Ezekiel jumping to his feet to listen closely, as if his father had just called him by his full name. 

I know that voice; it sounds just like my mother when she used my full name:  Russell Jay Brownworth, pay attention!  My Mom never took me to the woodshed (we didn’t have one, but you know what that means). 

There were times to push the envelope in seeing how much extra time you could get playing outside – and there were times to stand up and be quiet, or, as we liked to call it, listen or die!  This was one of those times for Ezekiel.  When the voice of an angel speaks, humans need to snap-to-attention. 

Angels are messengers (that is the strictest sense of what the name implies, God’s messengers).  They have no message of their own, they are a delivery system to convey God’s message to humanity.  And this angel’s message to Ezekiel was God’s Word, prepared for a very stubborn-minded group of people.  Ezekiel was to be faithful in delivering it, and even if they disobeyed, this message would stand as evidence to their stubbornness.

I’ve always had a bit of stubborn in me.  That may be why I developed a little deafness when it came the use of my full name.  It’s not that I didn’t pay a price.  As I said, Mom never took me to the woodshed for correction, but she knew my father’s full name, and he didn’t hesitate to make sure I understood the importance of listening closely to what Mom had to say.  It’s no wonder I always thought of my Dad as something of God’s messenger in our house!

For You Today

Evidence of God’s messages is all around us, in every part of creation, and in every relationship, and thought.  Sometimes you just have to stand up and listen closely!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

Evil Growing Stronger

As if the most powerful, nastiest group of angels being let loose on the world out of hell's pit, to wreck devastation and ruin isn't enough – God now instructs the sixth angel to unchain a demon infested army to bring more havoc. 

And so we continue with the judgment theme of Revelation.

The Unstoppable Demonic Army

The language that follows is very symbolic, allowing for many different interpretations. 

A word of preparation is in order.  J. Vernon McGee quotes William Newell:

Believe, and you scarcely need any comment.  The problem with men who come to Revelation and say that it is difficult to understand and impossible to interpret is that they do not believe it.  If you simply believe it and read it, it is very clear.  Hellish forces will be at work during this period.^[1]

The matter of belief should not be all that difficult.  If a person accepts the first four words of the Holy Bible, In the beginning, God..., the rest of it is His too. 

And when God says there will be a demonically-inspired army after the sixth angel gets to work, we ought to be sniffing the air for signs of smoke, not creating doubt.  That’s Satan’s work, carried out by his followers.

DEMON INSPIRATION

The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!  Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God.  And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.”  Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth.  Revelation 9:12-15

The time frame is easy enough to understand, 13 months and 25 hours. 

The question about the place (Euphrates river area) may raise a question.  However, the explanation is quite clear.  The Euphrates is a natural border of Israel, according to God's promises in Gen 12.  The reason judgment is focused on this area is because it is the place of beginnings for evil in the world.  These evils included the first sin, the first murder, and first recorded idolatry (Nimrod, Tower of Babel). 

God may take His time in bringing judgment, but He always brings it about properly.  All the different kinds of evil in this world are staggering to the average person. 

We wonder how God can sort it all out – especially if we have felt its sting. 

When I was serving in Gainesville, Florida, there was an assault on our church buildings one night.  Fortunately no one was there,  but the gang left the place, including my study, in shambles.  There were satanic symbols painted on the walls, and things broken everywhere.  The Chief of Detectives was a member of the church, and assured me it was the same as some other Satan-worshipping rituals he'd seen.

Another church I served had the copper tubing stolen several times from the air conditioner.  We finally had to encase the A/C unit in chain-link fencing, like a dog lot.  They stole the chain link fencing!

But that’s small stuff compared to the real depth of evil.

How deep does evil run?  According to an Associated Press Report^[2] in Medellin, Columbia, the home base for the billionaire drug barons of Columbia, their most vicious weapons are the sicarios, hired assassins, who, with shotguns, pistols, and icepicks have killed presidential candidates, judges, a newspaper publisher, an attorney general, assorted army personnel, and at least forty police officials.  These sicarios are children recruited as young as six years old and trained to be professional killers by age fourteen.

It takes demonic inspiration to bring children to this level.  We are not yet in that time, yet we see the seed being planted.

DEMON OPERATION

I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.  And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them.  The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow.  The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths.  One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses.  Their power was in their mouths and in their tails.  For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.  Revelation 9:16-19

If you are a normal human being, you ask:  What in the world is all this for?  The answer falls under the general heading of the judgment of God – but there is a purpose under which Satan will be operating.  During the Great Tribulation Satan will amass an army that is large enough (and mean enough) to kill one-third of the world's population.  The purpose in that is simply to gain control – to establish his earthly power grab by force. 

Satan’s front man is called the Beast elsewhere in Scripture.  The Beast will be controlled by demonic forces to bring evil to its full potential on the earth.  This will be entirely permitted by God’s own choice, and the evil Satan and his followers crave will be the very weapon of their own destruction.  It will be like a madman dictator who gets a nuclear bomb and pushes the red button on his own head.

The world is being conditioned today, even as we gather here today, to accept the ways Satan's henchman, the Beast operates.  Evil is growing stronger in this world. 

·       Men's minds, under the inspiration and direct operation of the Enemy, are up for grabs. 

·       Technology is influencing the minds of tomorrow's world leaders. 

·       The rise and plummet of the world’s economic disasters and control by the greed of world leaders is paving the way for a one-world leader.

·       All the conditions of the prelude to the Great Tribulation are ripening under the direction of Satanic inspiration.

And God is allowing it because it will serve the purpose of letting evil be the designer of its own punishment.

Consider MTV as a micro-cosmic example:

A recent self-promotional ad in an advertising trade publication bragged:                               

Any channel can deliver eyeballs. But how many can include hearts and minds?

In another ad, MTV calls itself not a TV channel, but a cultural force."

Still another and perhaps even more revealing ad shows a young man relaxed in an armchair with his remote control. The ad copy tells us this man is …the opinion leader among his friends. The headline declares:  Buy this 24-year-old and get all his friends absolutely free.^[3]

If simple media applications on the screens of children and youth (and unsuspecting adults) can condition us to spend half our waking hours looking at glowing screens, does it surprise us to hear that our minds can be so easily turned away from God?

It is impossible to gauge the amount of influence cultural giants like MTV will wield in the Great Tribulation.  But, just the same, I'm glad God is still in control, and He will allow Jesus to pluck the church out of this world before that all starts.

The Unrepenting Human Survivors

War is seldom the war to end all wars.  But this one is getting close. 

Under the holocaust of the fourth seal[4], one fourth of the population died.  In this chapter, under the sixth angel's trumpet, one-third of those survivors now die.  You would think Hell's Angels and maybe even Madelyn Murray O'Hair would get religion after that!  But the delusion of man’s invincibility marches on!

DELUSION'S STUBBORNNESS

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.  They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!  Revelation 9:20

The people left on earth, rather than repent and give glory to the true living God,  simply become hardened, and turn even more so to their material gods and devil worship.    

A man wrote to the Dear Abby column.  He asked:  Dear Abby, I am in love, and I am having an affair with two different women.  I can't marry them both.  Please tell me what to do, but don't give me any of that morality stuff. 

Abby's answer is classic.  Dear Sir:  The only difference between humans and animals is morality.  Please write to a veterinarian. 

It is indeed an amazing thing that people would worship nutty things like crystals, ouija boards, Psychic Friends goofiness, and the like, rather than a God who came right to us, and died for us, and rose again so we could too!  Yet, that is exactly what they do.  And they get angry at anyone who tells them the truth. 

It is reported that in Germany there are more registered fortune tellers than pastors.  Satan worshippers all over the world pray to the devil for him to break up the marriages of pastors.  Just a faint shadow of delusion's real stubbornness, which will show up when the Beast is in charge.

And delusion leads to many unintended consequences, least among the intention is to be lost for eternity.

DELUSION'S LOSTNESS

And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.  Revelation 9:21

What a picture of a crime-oriented culture!  Man has finally arrived at his goal – a government and culture in which permissiveness is the accepted norm and where all kinds of deviation and misbehavior are applauded and encouraged, a government presided over by  fascinating but foul individual called the man of sin.^[5]

Up to this juncture the seals and trumpets have been judgments of God's allowance.  This judgment indicates the progressive nature of sin and its consequences – this time the judgment is by God's activity!  It is the wrath of God that is beginning to fall.  And in the day of God's wrath, who can stand?

Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.  Ephesians 5:6
And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”  John 3:36
God is an honest judge.  He is angry with the wicked every day.      Psalms 7:11

These judgments could tend to depress you – if they didn't scare you to death and make your heart pound! 

I am glad that God waited at least until 1956 to begin the Tribulation and His judgments.  That was when I was saved, and sealed against the day of judgment the world is going to go through.  

It was a simple prayer by a 9-year-old boy riding his bicycle down the dirt road in front of our house....who finally got it – that which he heard from his Mom and Dad, Uncle Sid the Sunday School teacher, and Pastor Olson…sin is on the side of evil; salvation is God’s gift; trust Christ and be saved.  I asked, Lord, please forgive my sins, and save me; I’ll be yours and do what you lead me to do.  And if He will save me, He will save ANYBODY! 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved!  

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture from The New Living Translation 

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[1]J. Vernon McGee quoting William R. Newell, Through the Bible With J. Vernon McGee (Pasadena, Ca, Through the Bible Radio, 1983), 971

[2] Associated Press  5-30-90

[3]Advertising Age, 7/28/93

[4] See Revelation 6:7-8

[5] John Phillips, EXPLORING REVELATION, (Neptune, NJ, Loizeaux Bro, 1993), 137

 

A Little Lower Than the Angels

[1]

Thursday, June 14, 2018

And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about.  For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him?  Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them authority over all things.”  Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out.  But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority.  What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.”  Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.  Hebrews 2:5-9^(NLT)

I love this picture of an angel covering a city for two reasons:

a.      It displays God’s design for angels to protect God’s creation

b.      It shows the angel as Scripture depicts them, strong, warrior-like, and not effeminate little wimps, like a Hallmark™ Christmas ornament

Now, don’t get me wrong (save the cards, letters, and emails), I, who have zero artistic abilities, would not willingly trample the artistic interpretation of those who do possess such gifts; it takes a lot of time and talented skill to create pictures or sculptures.  But this is just one of those theological pet-peeves of mine.  How can you assign gender to that which God hasn’t?

Gender is a base, necessary to reproduction here on earth, but not in heaven.  Just as God is without bodily gender distinction, the angels neither marry, nor procreate.  No amount of text-proofing can change that.  But all that attention to whether (or not) angels interacted with female humans to create a race of giants in pre-recorded history misses the point.  Angels are God’s servants.

So, what is it like to be a little lower than the angels?  Look in the mirror!  Our flesh, including its limitations and its dependence on gender for reproduction, along with those human frailties (just to mention a few, there is age, our bodies need sleep and food, susceptibility to disease, and let us not leave out the big one – death,) are what’s lower in the sense of physical prowess; the angels need none of this.  But the redeeming, set-apart quality humans possess is that stamp of God’s image on our souls, that which possesses free will.  In this, the angels can only wonder.

And therein is the glory and the rub.  Our free will opens the possibility of pathos, feelings and deeds of love or hate.  Angels aren’t exactly automatons, incapable of independent action (remember Lucifer was an angel who led a third of the heavenly host in a rebellion against the Father).  But angels who rebel are not quite free agents like humans, but also, those who serve at the throne above are not touched by the darkness of sin, as are we sons and daughters of Adam.

In all, Scripture declares humans a little lower than the angels…for the time being.  The writer of Hebrews declares that in the order which is still to come, angels will not rule with Christ; those humans who have given their hearts to follow Jesus will be transfigured, changed in the twinkling of an eye to be with Christ, and also rule with Him.  The angels will be a little lower than the redeemed of God’s family.  Considering the picture that we see of this mighty angel standing guard over the city, that’s going to be quite a change!

For You Today

Your day will include some kind of training that God has laid-out for you to be ready to be just a little higher than the angels.  Don’t waste it!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

He is NOT Here; He is Risen

[1]

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.  Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.  On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.  When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side.  The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed.  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead!  Look, this is where they laid his body.  Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.  You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”  The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.  Mark 16:1-8^(NLT)

After six weeks of Lenten season focusing on fasting, praying, and facing the cross, it is now an incredible lifting of a weight to bask in the resurrection.  Beating, blood, and a borrowed tomb are left behind; with death eternally-defeated, we embrace the living Lord in His majesty and honor.

This scene, with the women discovering an angel sitting in the tomb, where they expected to find Jesus’ body, and them mistaking the angel for a young man always brings an ironic smile to my face.  I’ve never been accused of being a radical feminist, but considering it was a male-dominated society, it has always amused me that the men were in hiding while the women went to respectfully honor the body of their Lord.

Even more ironic is how much this scene highlights the distance our culture wants to put between itself and the truth.  For instance, if you shop online, or go to retail stores to look for “angels” you will find something like 99.999% of the statues have a feminine, almost dainty appearance.  That is a far cry from the warrior-like beings you actually encounter in Scripture.

But…I digress…this isn’t about an angel, or even the women, per se; this is all about a missing body.  But, once again putting aside this culture’s fascination with bodies that should be in a grave, but are The Walking Dead, Jesus was not that…at ALL!!! 

If you noticed, at the end of this encounter with the angel, the women, having just been told Jesus is walking around alive, do not immediately assume he has become a zombie.  They’re overwhelmed, because dead men DON’T walk!  And they’re so overwhelmed, they keep this news to themselves.

And this brings us to the rub of it all…when it comes to the resurrection:

·       it’s ok to be overwhelmed – it is overwhelming to leave death behind

·       it’s ok to tremble – it is frightning to see the natural and expected overturned

·       it’s ok to wonder and ponder over such monumental considerations – it’s confusing (at the very least) to entertain the idea of eternity!

The one thing NOT alright when you encounter the resurrection is to keep it to yourself.

For You Today

You’ve been somber for six weeks, fasting, praying and facing the cross.  There was blood, a body, and a borrowed tomb.  It’s about time we do with the Good News of resurrection what Jesus said about Lazarus coming out of that tomb:

Take the wraps off this Good Gospel News…Loose it…let it go!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com