There
is a smile that comes to my heart when my morning time in the quarry of God’s
word yields that treasure of wisdom and knowledge that is just what I needed to
hear. It is special because of the way the words of the Lord minister to my
heart; and it is special because it is the Holy Spirit’s work to teach me all
things, and remind me of those things I have already been taught.[1] It
feels very personal to experience the opening of my heart and mind to the
unlimited thoughts of my heavenly Father.
This
morning I continued my very cautious meditations on the significance of the
144,000 who are sealed before terrible destruction is unleashed on the world.[2] While
there seems to be no end of ideas on what God meant by this symbol, something
stood out today that put my heart to rest with absolute confidence that I
understood the word of God.
Today’s
lesson revolves around three subjects of the book of Revelation that all center
on the same person: God. The three subjects by themselves leave far too much
reason for insecurity. Make these three things about God, and suddenly the
whole world is secure for the believer in Jesus Christ.
Subject
One: “the seal”.[3] A
seal is used to set someone or something apart. A seal tells us to whom that
person or thing belongs. A good king seals his documents in the same way as a
bad king, but the content of the sealed document differs based on the one who
sealed it.
When
John clarifies that the subject is, “the
seal of the living God,”[4]we now measure this seal by the whole nature
and revelation of God. No matter what this seal is about, it is not of the
world, the flesh, or the devil. It is something God seals, indicating that it
is his. Whatever, or whomever, we are talking about, it, or they, will have the
distinction of sealing by God.
Subject Two: “the
servants”.[5]
Servants serve. They serve somebody. They are dependent on a Master, and their
lives are about this Master. If the Master is good, the servants are in a good
place; if the Master is bad, the servants are in a bad place. The servants
serve, no matter what. Whom they serve determines if this is a blessing or a
curse.
In this case, the servants have the secure designation, “the servants of our God”.[6]
This means these are not servants of the world, the flesh, and the devil, but
those set apart as the servants of God. This is not the drudgery kind of
servanthood that would belong to a wicked taskmaster. It is the devoted,
delighted, servanthood that has more to do with being cared for by the Master
than anything these servants could possibly do to serve him. God makes these
servants the safest, most beloved people in the whole wide world.
Subject Three: “The
revelation”.[7]What
we are given in Revelation 7, as incredible and wonderful and strange as it may
appear, is part of the gift of God contained in this whole book of Revelation.
As the many interpretations suggest, there is no security in knowing we have a
revelation. The world quite happily prints off whatever faddish revelations are
given through the flesh and the devil. Worldlings are quite happy to receive
revelations as long as they are godless in their nature. God and his servants
see things quite otherwise.
So, when John speaks of the revelation, he seals it with
the description: “The revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave him”.[8]
The revelation we are talking about, the one that contains the further
description of the seal and the servants, is the revelation that belongs to Jesus
Christ, as given to him by his Father.
The overwhelmingly wonderful conclusion is that the
revelation of God tells us that there is a seal of God for the servants of God.
While all the world, the flesh, and the devil, unleash their fury against the
children of God, burning down their churches, throwing them in prison,
threatening execution for believing in Jesus, disowning them from families, or
whatever other horrendously painful things the red dragon dreams up, the
believer in Jesus Christ is secure.
One of the most beautiful and personal descriptions of the
children of God receiving the seal of God is stated like this:
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his
glory.”[9]
The church, the servants of Jesus Christ, as settled by the
revelation of God through the apostle Paul, have already been sealed by the Holy
Spirit, once promised by revelation, now realized by experience, so that the
rest of our inheritance, also promised by revelation of God, is as secure as if
we have already acquired possession of it.
Whatever else I learn of the sealing of the 144,000, I take
great comfort in today’s lesson in the quarry of God. Today’s digging yielded
the security-building treasure of clarification that everything for the
children of God is in God their Father. His words are true; his promises
trustworthy. And, to settle our hearts in whatever troubles we may face today,
he gives us a picture of sealing his servants as his forever, before the world
gets what is coming to them.
What is coming to God’s children is a kingdom that cannot
be shaken.[10]God has given us everything we need to handle
everything we face in worship that is characterized by reverence and awe. At
the very least, that is the way he made me feel this morning. And thankful, of
course.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment