Revelation 15 - God Opens Doors
God provides the way. He opens the doors and gives us the responsibility to walk through. God reveals to us the inheritance waiting for those who love and trust Him. Normally when someone dies their estate goes to the beneficiaries in their last will and testament. Many people hope and pray for such a windfall here on earth. We dream of building empires and companies with our names on them. In God’s economy, He reveals to us that He is the eternal Source of every good thing. And God Almighty reveals to us that what we do and believe here on earth has eternal significance.
God says that those who had been victorious over Satan by trusting in the Lamb of God have an eternal inheritance (14:5 and 15:2). Our inheritance is not of this world. Yes, it matters as the Parable of the Talents explains the impact of how we live our lives here and how responsible we must be with the opportunities and resources God provides in this life (Matthew 25:14-30 - remember, five, two, and one talent given and a responsibility to steward well).
However, this concept of treasure, time, and talent investment is explained further in Revelation. It matters greatly what we believe and continue to believe. And it matters what we do. In this respect, the old adage that ‘You can’t take it with you’ isn’t true. The Bible says that indeed, we take our ‘good deeds’ with us. It matters greatly today what we say and do - it matters that we build others up and serve as Christ commands. Many who serve themselves and their clique with selfish ambition will find themselves like the servant who failed to invest the one talent the Master gave him (Matthew 25:30). Ironically the servant with five talents ended up with 11 talents at the end of the parable and was the one who truly feared and obeyed God.
The wages of sin and love of this world are death and eternal separation from God. That is what we earn if we do not fear God and obey His command to love and serve others in good deeds in this life.
The good thing is that God’s way is a rich life. Serving Him is the most fun, the most rewarding, and the adventure beyond all others. We gain everything by following Jesus. In this life, and in eternity.
Revelation reminds us that God Almighty’s works, ways, justice, and plan are great and marvelous (15:3-5). God reveals His righteous judgment against those who rejected His Son and those who worship themselves, the devil, and the things of this world.
I’ve been fortunate to have known many interesting people through our travels. One of my buddies is a former city administrator in Calgary. Another is a retired crude oil trader in Montana. Just yesterday I met a former fighter pilot turned entrepreneur and a former pastor turned tech executive. What a blessing to meet those growing in Christ. What makes people most interesting is how they have grown in God and how they love Jesus and serve other people - how they put God first.
There is a great responsibility on those of us who teach. Good, that’s God’s way. May God raise up an army of good teachers who faithfully teach His word. May God’s church grow today, exponentially.
Every day we grow more like Christ - the alternative is growing in worldliness. The devil has his men who lead people away from God - they deceive themselves and they are focused on deceiving others. I’ve worked with far too many of those men. I pray that God will get a hold of their hearts and turn them to Him.
The reason Christians have hope is because we’ve seen the emptiness of a life without God. We see sin and shame the bonds of wickedness and the strong cords of oppression resulting from our natural desires. We have heard of God’s love for us and His supernatural plan of redemption. True freedom may only be received through Jesus Christ.
We trust God’s rescue plan because we’ve tasted by faith His grace. God’s perfect Son came to earth to tell people the truth that God is faithful and that we can put our hope in Him. Our only way out of death and the result of our sin is through faith in Jesus. God paints a victorious picture for us in Revelation. It is a picture of Jesus, King of kings, and Lord of all.
God imparts His grace to the believer by faith. We are marked as the redeemed, those who have broken the cords of slavery to sin, by trusting in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to put an end to the kingdoms of this world and Satan’s grip and authority, and to establish an eternal Kingdom. It is to that Kingdom to which we belong.
Once you’ve found the treasure of God’s Kingdom, once you know the Truth you have a responsibility to decide what to do with it. It’s God’s way of responsibility. Get up, you gotta walk through that door.
Yet we are not alone in this great adventure of God. We have the Spirit of Christ and we follow the example of men and women of faith. Peter and Paul showed us in their writing and their testimony about Jesus. They showed it in how they discipled others and fought God's battles well. But they also showed us their faith example the way they died at the hands of Nero’s butchers. They were faithful to the end - and now they are victorious.
Choose wisely today; walk wisely. May the answers we give to explain God’s eternal plan be given with gentleness and respect. God forbid we are arrogant and rude for God has nothing to do with such postures. May we say only what helps build others up. May we truly help someone today - giving them the word of encouragement or deed that they need. And may we be kind and forgiving. Just as Christ Jesus is kind and forgiving to us. Amen.
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