October 29, 2006
Could we look at a passage in Revelation: chapter 19; when I think of Revelation, I think of a book filled with a great deal of judgement that will leave your heart heavy. However, this chapter has a great deal of worship. As a matter of fact, in the 6 vv. we have the word “Alleluia”, or it could have been translated hallelujah, four times. (In the Old Testament, it is usually translated “praise ye the Lord”.) Let’s read v. 1: “And after these things …” What things? This is after the prophecy of the destruction of Rome. “ … I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia …” What is this praise for? “Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.” So we see that this judgement brought praise to God in Heaven. “And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia” (vv. 3 & 4). We have not seen the four-and-twenty elders since chapter 5, but they are worshippers. “And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him” (vv. 5-7b). What is this loudest of shouts of worship for, this thundering? “for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Oh, what hallelujahs! Just think of how the Lord went into such poverty for us, to raise us to riches. He died to redeem us for glory. So the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is on: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (v.8). Fine linen is usually a type of Christ. Here, the bride is like Him: “clean and white.” Oh, to think that the scars and indelible dye of our sins have been completely erased in the blood of the Lamb and now we are pure and righteous. Does is seem too good to be true? Well, the angel dictating this to John has him add this in v. 9: “These are the true sayings of God.” How precious to think of the riches in store for us. In oneness with Him, we will be his bride and co-heirs, sharing it all. “Rich in glory, Lord with Thee.” Wondrous; may we shout our hallelujah.
EG Hymn 347 – Jesus, when he left the sky, Prayer • There are 5 offerings explained to us in Leviticus: 1) the Burnt Offering, 2) The Meat (or meal) Offering, 3) the Peace Offering, 4) The Sin Offering, and 5) the Trespass Offering. All of them describe the Lord’s death to us in a different way. Five is the number of human weakness; the Lord became a man, but was still perfectly God. Last time, I began to look at the burnt offering, and I want to continue on it today. Leviticus 1:4 says that the offerer was to put his hand on the head of the animal. I mentioned this last week; it is the main point, the whole crux of this offering. The Lord dealt with our sin on the cross, and when we “put our hands on” Him, we are accepted in the Beloved. I also mentioned v. 6, where they cut the animal. Then they put the fire in the altar and laid the wood on the fire—in order. God is orderly, as we can see from all of creation and even the death of the Lord Jesus. In v. 8, they laid the animal pieces in order on the wood. The first part was the head, the seat of the intelligence, showing that the Lord knew what he was doing when he went to the cross. Then they put on the fat; the fat speaks of energy, the energy that the Lord had to go to the cross even when there was suffering and pain. The inwards and the legs were washed before they went on. The inwards were considered unclean and the legs touched the cursed earth. Then they burnt it all; the Lord gave his whole self. Since He did this, should we not give our whole lives to God? Jesus bore the judgement for all our sins, and this ascended as a sweet savour to God. And we are made rich in Christ, far richer than anyone in the world. May we see the value this has—both to God and ourselves.
Hebrews 12 • When we come to Hebrews 12, we come to the practical part of the epistle, the exhortation, encouraging us to be active as the Lord’s people. The thing that we must note is that Hebrews is a wilderness book, and now we are reminded that we are running a race through the wilderness. If we read Ephesians, we are pictured as seated in Heaven, but here, we are on our way there. The chapter begins with the word “Wherefore,” (or “Therefore” in Darby). “Wherefore” is a connecting word that, in this case, connects us to the end of chapter 10. In the last verse of chapter 10 we see that we are not among those who draw back unto perdition. Those who we have been looking at in chapter 11 are referred to as a “great cloud of witnesses.” There are two meanings to the word witness. For example, say you are walking down the street and you see a car accident happen; you witnessed it. Then there is a court case about the accident and you are called in to witness to what happened at the accident; you relate the details of it. We might picture ourselves in the world, running our race, while these people are in heaven witnessing out lives. That is not what it means. Rather, they are witnessing to us of faith, they are a testimony. Here, too, we have another “let us.” It exhorts us to run the race that is set before us. We are racers. The thing is, in this race, there are things that hinder us—weights and sins. What is the difference? One way to describe a weight is a circumstance—for example, infirmities, health, or sorrow—that, if we allow it to become too much of a focus, will hinder us in the race. If you do not have all the gifts that another has, is that a reason to drop out? No, we are exhorted to rise above our circumstances and difficulties; they can get you down, but you must look up. Verse 2 tells us to be “looking unto Jesus.” If we look at ourselves, we can’t do it. When we allow the weights of life to get on top of us, we can’t run on and live for the Lord. Then we have sin, which is “against the rules.” Sin breaks our communion; but I John 1:9 says the Lord will forgive us if we confess our sins. Then in Psalm 23:3, it says, “He restoreth my soul.” Confession is one thing, restoration is another. We have a new nature which helps us to lay aside sin, the sin that entangles us, like vines and bush hold a person back, not allowing him to make progress in a forest. And that is why we are encouraged to run with patience, or endurance, to keep on keeping on. Satan does not want us to make progress, so he plants snares, weights, and temptations. We need to endure. EG Hymn 258 – Many sons to glory bringing, Prayer