Thine The Kingdom, Thine The Prize

In earlier chapters of Revelation we have heard about and seen great conflicts between the forces of Christ and the dark powers of the devil, the beast and this dark world. As we move now into the next chapter The Revelation pauses once more to assure us of victory. Those on Mt. Zion with the Lamb are singing for joy as angels proclaim that Babylon the great is fallen and the worshippers of the beast and its image will drink the wine of God's wrath.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" - Rev 14:12-13 ESV

As I write this post the funeral celebration of a sainted pastor whose funeral celebration I attended just yesterday is fresh in my memory.  And though stories of war, starvation, suffering and countless thousands dying or exiled across the world still fill the media, we could celebrate and look forward in hope. The final victory is not yet, but we know it is coming. So we all enter another year of worship, believing that the King who once came in humility as a newborn Child to Bethlehem is coming again as the victorious Lamb to set His people free.

In the words of one of my favorite hymns, on that great Day all the saints of OT times and those of NT times (symbolized by the 12 tribes of Israel x 12 apostles x the perfect number 10 cubed = 144,000), all of them will join in the great celebration. So the hymn writer Herbert F Brokering teaches us to sing with the words of  his great hymn, Thine the Amen, Thine the Praise (Lutheran Service Book, 680):

Thine the kingdom, Thine the prize, Thine the wonderful surprise, 

Thine the banquet then the praise Then the justice of Thy ways, 

Thine the glory, Thine the story, Then the welcome to the least, 

Then the wonder all increasing at Thy feast, at Thy feast. 

Thine the glory in the night, No more dying, only light, 

Thine the river, Thine the tree, Then the Lamb eternally. 

Then the holy, holy, holy Celebration jubilee.

Thine the splendor, Thine the brightness, only Thee, only Thee.  Amen! 

The Blessing Of Faith In The Risen Christ

In the past week I commented on the physical resurrection from the dead promised by and through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is such an astounding promise that many have a most difficult time accepting. Just as they struggle with the idea of a virgin birth, so they seriously doubt the return of our bodies from the dead. Would the Lord God give this promise to such a sinner as I? Does He truly care enough to rescue me? Why then does He permit this grief and pain into my life? Why does God seem so incapable of answering my prayers?

So go the doubts and struggles. Thomas, one of Jesus' Twelve Apostles, also had such doubts. His name in Aramaic (Tau'ma - תאומא) means twin. In Greek it is Didymus. If Thomas was indeed a twin we know nothing about his twin. Some have suggested that his wavering back and forth in his initial inability to accept the witness of the other Apostles earned him this name. In doubting, however, he was not completely different from the other disciples of Jesus.

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe." - John 20:24-25 ESV

When Jesus appeared among them eight days later, even though they were behind locked doors, he offered them Peace (Shalom in Aramaic or Hebrew) —a word that fulfills all the promises of eternal forgiveness and oneness with him and with his Father. Then he turned at once to Thomas,

The Incredulity of St. Thomas by Caravaggio

"Put your finger here," he said, "and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
- John 20:27-28 ESV

Thomas' doubts were gone. His senses of touch and sight confirmed what the others had said. Jesus was indeed alive, returned from the grave. He was indeed Thomas' Lord and God. Like the other Apostles, Thomas went out into the world to proclaim the Gospel of the Risen Christ. Legend has it that he was martyred in India in the year 72.

But note then Jesus' other words to Thomas and to all who struggle to cling to faith.

"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." - Jhn 20:29 ESV

As I've pointed out numerous times before, faith in Jesus as Savior and Risen Messiah is a gift of God, a blessing granted by the Holy Spirit. Paul emphasizes again and again that no one—including Thomas—can say "Jesus is my Lord" except in the holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Before Jesus' resurrection Peter had acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of the living God. To that Jesus said,

"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. - Mat 16:17 ESV

Blessings are always gifts from the LORD, gifts poured out by the Holy Spirit at work in and through God's Word. Paul also emphasized this as he said,

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. - Rom 10:17 ESV

When you doubt, cry out. When you are afraid, reach out for help. Jesus will always meet you at your deepest point of need. He will grant you the most precious gift of His Spirit. He will come to you to speak to your heart. He will take up residence in your soul and give you life. He will grant you faith in His love and hope in His promises. He will give you living water to drink (John 4:10; 7:37).

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" - Luk 11:9-13 ESV

As the Psalmists said so long ago,

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! - Psalm 40:4 ESV

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple! - Psalm 65:4 ESV

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. - Psalm 84:4-5 ESV

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, - Psalm 146:5 ESV

Pet Names For God's People

In one of the Bible verses Jesus referred to in his promise to pour out his Spirit upon those who believe in and trust him (John 7:37-38) the LORD calls Israel by a sort of pet name, Jeshuran.

Did your parents or siblings give you a pet or nick name when you were a child? Sometimes parents simply shorten a child's name. Nathan becomes Nate and Jeffrey becomes Jeff, William is Billy and James is Jimmy. At other times they use endearing terms like Sweetie, Snookums, Honey or Blossom. My mother called her twin Little Lally although her given name was Elma.

That's what the LORD did when he called Israel Jeshuran, "the righteous or straight ones" (Isa. 44:2-3). Greek speaking Jews translated the name into their language as Epagamenos, meaning "most beloved". One English speaking translator tried to pick up the sense of the Hebrew by calling them the righteous little people. What I sense the Heavenly Father does in this verse is simply to say, "I want you guys to know that I really, really love you!"

So having used that pet name for the Children of Israel, He promises,

I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my 
Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's and name himself by the name of Israel. - Isa. 44:3-5

Willows by the river

This is a beautiful image of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People so blessed will be like willows by flowing streams of water. Willows love water. They flourish and grow beside rivers and streams. That's how Psalm 1 describes the man who delights in God's Word.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Ps. 1:3 ESV

Of such men and women Psalm 92 says,

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, - Psa 92:14 ESV

No matter how old their bodies get to be, they still have that fresh, invigorating stream of God's Spirit flowing through them, filling them with new hope and power to praise God. That's what Jesus was getting at on the final day of the Feast of Booths as he cried out to the people in the temple.

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. - Jhn 7:37-39 ESV

The feast was technically only seven days. But on the eighth and final day, the Great Day, Jesus promised to give God's people the Holy Spirit. John says this proclamation pointed forward to what was to happen after Jesus was glorified. What great honor and praise was bestowed upon him by his heavenly Father? Why was the Father so pleased with him? Because he freely offered himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all men. And then on the Great Day, the eighth day, the heavenly Father honored Jesus and confirmed the sacrifice by raising Jesus from the dead. The sacrifice was complete. Forgiveness and life were now available to all (John 19:28-30; Acts 3:13-15).

Now the Holy Spirit is freely poured out like a flowing stream, speaking to the hearts of God's people, saying, "You are My beloved, forgiven and righteous children, My sweet little ones. I love you, dear ones, and will never ever let you go." These words invigorate and renew like no others can. They fill even old people with peace and hope.

May it ever be so for you no matter what your age.