Seeing the Invisible (2)

 

 

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).

 

As mentioned in our first reflection, I want to connect 4:18 with 4:6 and with 5:16, having done that we will, the Lord willing, work our way outward into the other sections of 2 Corinthians.

 

“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

 

To what is Paul referring in quoting God?

 

Of course he is directing our attention to Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.”

 

Did you notice that Paul’s quotation is slightly different in form than Genesis 1:3? In Genesis 1:3 we read, “Let there be light.” In 2 Corinthians 4:6 it is, “Light shall shine out of darkness.”

 

I don’t know if someone has tracked down another version or a variant to reconcile the two verses, but I don’t think they require reconciliation because while the form of the quotation may be a bit different, the content is the same. Genesis tells us that there was darkness, that God said, “Let there be light,” and that God separated the light from the darkness. Paul’s quotation, “Let light shine out of darkness,” gets to the heart of the matter.

 

We ought to take note of this, for we want to learn to look beyond the outside of the seed, outside its form, and look inside; we want to learn to look beyond appearances and see the heart of the matter.

 

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

 

It should not surprise us that Paul writes, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6) and that he does this in 2 Corinthians, in which he writes that we are not to look at what is seen, but what is unseen.

 

Why does Paul direct his readers’ attention to Genesis 1:6? He does so because the Genesis Creation narrative is our narrative in Jesus Christ, it is our story as new creations in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the Word, created all things, He is the Light of the world – He is the very Light that shines in darkness! “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overpower it” (John 1:1 – 5!).

 

As the earth came out of the waters in Genesis, so you and I come out of the waters of baptism as new creations in Christ Jesus.

 

Note that Paul continues the Creation narrative in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; new things have come” (5:17).

 

In 2 Corinthians 4:2 – 4 we see darkness, in 4:6 we see Light. Is it the Light we expect? That is, are the results of the “Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” what a reasonable person might anticipate?

 

Verse 7 begins with a BUT, and what a BUTit is!

 

Paul immediately reminds us that the treasure of the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ is found in earthen vessels, frail vessels, vessels subject to breaking, shattering, cracking, leakage. What does being a New Creation in Jesus look like?

 

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who live [that is, we who have the Light of Christ and the glory of God!] are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:8 – 12).

 

Sounds like a good time, doesn’t it?

 

Is this not one of many reasons why Paul writes that he and his friends don’t look at what is seen but rather at what is unseen? To read 4:8 – 12 and not to see beyond the outer cover of the seed being sown, is to despair, to be confused, to even perhaps reject the Cross which we are to daily embrace and to love.

 

We are going to return to this passage in our next reflection in this series, but for now, I hope we will see that when Paul reads Genesis Chapter One, that he sees beyond the outer, beyond the visible, and he sees Jesus Christ; he sees the story of our becoming new creations in Jesus Christ. Paul sees, in Genesis, the process of transformation into the image of Christ which he portrays in 2 Corinthians, for example in 4:7 – 5:15, what we might term sanctification and spiritual formation. (He introduces Eve and the serpent in 2 Cor. 11:3!)

 

When Paul reads and ponders Genesis Chapter One, he sees the invisible.

 

After God said, “Let there be light,” there was still work to be done. After God says, “Let there be Light in Susan, John, Christine, Pete, Martha, and Patrick, there is still work to be done.

 

As we ponder the invisible and as we learn to see it and live in it in Christ, let us recall:

 

“The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18).

 

What does this transformation look like?

 

It looks, in part, like 2 Corinthians 4:7 – 18.

 

 

 

Which Direction?

 Here is a quote from T.S. Eliot's Play, The Family Reunion.

Which direction are you taking?

Your family?

Your church?

"In a world of fugitives, the person taking the opposite direction will appear to run away."

Seeing the Invisible (1)

 

 

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

 

There is a sense in which the Christian life is life lived seeing the invisible. Preeminently, in this sense, it is life lived seeing the invisible God, living in Him as He lives within us. Hebrews 11:27 tells us that Moses “endured, as seeing Him who is invisible.”

 

This can be a hard thing to think about and experience in our materialistic society and church, nevertheless it is the life in Christ to which we are called. It is the life of faith in Jesus.

 

What is it to live “looking at the things which are not seen”? What is it to look through and beyond the visible world? I’d like to explore this with you through the lens of 2 Corinthians, beginning with three verses and working our way outward from them, to see what we can see. These verses are 4:18; 4:6; and 5:16.

 

Let’s read 4:18 again, but this time we’ll add a portion of its immediate context:

 

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 4:16 – 51).

 

It will be helpful if you will read at least 4:13 – 5:10 to better see the immediate context, I have quoted just a few verses since this is a blog and space is limited. 

 

How do you think 4:18 relates to its context?

 

In other words, how do Paul and his friends view the “momentary, light affliction” they are experiencing? How do they “see” the “decaying” of the “outer man,” their “earthly tent which is their house”?

 

To put it another way, how do Paul and his friends view hardship and tough times? How do they think about death, whether it is death due to persecution, or death from their bodies simply wearing down and giving out?

 

We may not need much help in thinking about the good times in life (though how we think of them is more important than we realize), but most of us would likely agree that we can use help thinking about tough times, including that great unknown for many of us – perhaps for all of us in one degree or another – death.

 

If we only see what the natural eye sees and what the heart and mind convey to us through natural seeing, then what might we expect as we approach death? If the experience of our physical senses is our sole experience, then what might we expect when we face sickness or hardship (physical, emotional, psychological)? That is, how do we think about these things? How do we react to them? How do we help others facing suffering and death?

 

We don’t normally think about these things in our society, which is driven by sensuous appetites and pleasures. Paul warns of false teachers in the church who are “enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:18 – 19).  

 

Regarding suffering and persecution, when Paul looked at them in the invisible, he saw “an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). Paul saw through suffering, he saw beyond suffering, to the glory of God which was being produced in him, and which was awaiting him in eternity. As he writes in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us.”

 

Paul was not hoping what he was writing was true, he knew it was true because he saw it; in a sense he could touch it, taste it, smell it, breathe it. Paul and his friends were not looking at things that were seen, but at things which were unseen – and the things that were unseen by the natural eye were things substantive (Heb. 11:1), more substantive than anything that could be seen by the natural eye for they were eternal.

 

No wonder Paul prays for the Ephesians that, “The eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18 – 19).

 

Of course, this is how Jesus viewed the cross, “Who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). Jesus saw through the Cross, beyond the Cross, to the joy that awaited Him in the Father’s presence with us around Him – He saw us as the fruit of His suffering and death…and of His resurrection (John 12:24).

 

The mocking crowd, the leering religious leaders, the Roman soldiers, saw the Cross one way, Jesus saw it another way. Even the dear weeping women and other disciples at the Crucifixion saw the Cross one way, while Jesus was seeing it another way. Jesus was seeing the invisible, while others were seeing what their eyes saw – some as a tragedy, others as the successful result of their conspiracy, others as just another day at work.

 

What can we learn about seeing the invisible from 2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:10?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (10)

 

Revelation – Letter to a Friend (10)

 

“This in-between time [between the first and final comings of Jesus] that John calls “the tribulation” is a battle for “the soul of the world” that will “shock God’s people out of their complacency.” (The Revelation of John, James L. Resseguie, page 72).

 

“Christians are part of a countercultural kingdom that opposes the ways of the dominant culture represented by Babylon.” (italics mine).  (Resseguie, page 73).

 

This can be a difficult message for professing Christians in America to comprehend, indeed, we can react strongly against it – for our core identity is not found in an exclusive and monogamous relationship with Jesus Christ as His Bride, but rather in a culture dominated by nationalism, economic success, pleasure, entertainment, athletics, and personality (as opposed to character). Since we have been raised in this environment, both within and without the “church,” how can we possibly know anything different?

 

Some of us may wonder at the atheism of certain philosophies and political systems, but we do not question our own syncretistic idolatry. Is it better to believe in no god or in a false god? Is an Imperial Cult better than no cult? Does it really make any difference how our souls are poisoned? Babylon has many faces, as does the Beast.

 

I’m not sure about God’s People being “shocked out of complacency,” would that it was so. Those “Christians” who profess a high view of Scripture seem to be leading the way into the depths of Babylon, or else are passive observers – I suppose fearing to speak a prophetic and timely “Word”.  Strangely, when insightful words are spoken, they tend to come from those who are not associated with the Evangelical movement. (Has this movement become a Nehustan?)

 

“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

 

It is natural to want to be accepted, to be successful, to be affirmed by others, to avoid conflict, to live in peace (at least for most of us). However, if our hearts and souls and bodies belong to Jesus and to Jesus alone, then it is more natural to desire to please Him, to be faithful to Him, to share Him – regardless of the outcome. If we live for Jesus there will be conflict, there will always be conflict – and the absence of conflict means the absence of faithfulness to Jesus our Bridegroom. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

 

On page 73 Resseguie writes that “patient endurance” is the “essential virtue” we need in our countercultural lives of faithfulness to Jesus Christ, calling it the “main Christian virtue” while citing seven passages in Revelation to support this thinking; 1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 14:12.

 

“It is not “dumb passivity,” but active resistance to the battle lines drawn by the beast and Babylon who require assimilation to their values, norms, and beliefs” (Resseguie, page 73, italics mine).

 

“Patient endurance is never a miraculous escape from the ordeal but faithful perseverance through troubled times” (Resseguie, page 73, italics mine).

 

Active resistance takes the form of obedience to Jesus. We offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices, allowing Him to transform our souls – not conforming ourselves to the world but to Christ and His Kingdom (Romans 12:1 – 2).

 

“Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).

 

Friends, resisting the world, Babylon, and the Beast means that in our obedience to Jesus Christ we are conformed to Him, and Him alone. We are not to be transformed into the image of a Conservative, Progressive, or anything in-between. We are not to be conformed to Fox News, CNN, MSNBC or any other form of media or personality. Nor are we to be conformed into the image of politicians, national or local “leaders,” national or economic agendas (as they are normally expressed). If we are not going against the grain of the movements swirling around us – red, blue, and purple, then we are wearing their colors in some fashion. The only color we are called to wear is the white linen of the righteousness of Jesus Christ – any other color pollutes our souls and destroys our testimony to Jesus Christ.

 

The Son of Man and His Body, the Church, has no political or national or economic or social place to lay His Head on this earth (Matthew 8:20); this was true of Jesus Christ, and it is true of us, His People…assuming we truly are His People.

 

The Scriptures speak of perseverance and endurance, because this is what is required of us to reject the mark of the Beast and follow Jesus.

 

“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 24:11 – 14).

 

O dear friends, false prophets are not limited to those who make no pretense to follow Jesus, they are of little threat to professing Christians. False prophets include those who outwardly use the name of Jesus, who carry Bibles, who use the language of the Bible, who use the form of prayer to propagate their agendas of death, destruction, and hatred. False prophets are popular with professing Christians for they give them what they want, while blaming others for the world’s problems, while sowing division and hatred and violence and pride and arrogance among their followers.

 

And here is the thing, many pastors who recognize false prophets within the professing church dare not speak about them, dare not warn their people, for they know (or are pretty sure) that their people will reject them while continuing to follow the false prophets. I do not excuse these pastors, but I do feel sorry for them – very sorry. I know the dilemma myself – it is heartbreaking to see people you are trying to serve in Christ rejecting Him and following the airwaves and demagogues and attempting to conform Jesus into the image of political leaders, a nation, and the Almighty Dollar.

 

 I once asked a congregation why we, American Christians, don’t stop kidding ourselves and replace the Cross with a Dollar Bill. They probably didn’t appreciate the question.

 

It is hard to live among a church and in a society that has lost its mind, that embraces moral, ethical, spiritual, national, and international lawlessness. It is hard to see the spirit of the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3 – 12) embraced by professing Christians and our nation. It is heartbreaking to see the disenfranchised, the alien, the poor, the sick, the homeless, and so many others preyed upon by those who manifest the characteristics of the beasts of Daniel and Revelation. What can we say to the “bodies and souls of men” which are sold in the name of commerce and riches and wealth and pleasure? If it doesn’t affect us, we don’t care.

 

But of course it affects us, either we weep for others, or we offer our souls on the altar of the Beast and Babylon.

 

God tells us to flee Babylon (Rev. 18:4 – 5) and yet we justify her sins, making her sins our sins.

 

Either we will be molded into the image of Jesus Christ through the Word of God, or we will bear the image of the Beast and its mark. God’s Word, the Bible, as it is written (not as the false prophets would have us read it!), is our refuge, our defense and our offense – as we actively obey God’s Word in Christ, as we follow the Lamb we resist  the world, the flesh, and the devil – we reject the Beast and Babylon.

 

There is never any neutral ground, never; there has never been neutral ground in all the history of mankind and there never will be. We are either living for Christ and others, either loving Christ and others…or we are giving our souls and those of our families, those of our children, to the fires of Satan.

 

The Lamb or the Beast?

At whose altar are you worshipping today?

 

 

 

 

The King and His Bride...and the Shepherds: Conclusion

 

Months passed into years…and then one cold and snowy night, with the wind howling and the temperature plummeting…in a wooden house with rags stuffed between holes in the walls and small fire in a cast iron wood stove…with men and women and children huddled under worn quilts and blankets…with the Betrothed between two grandmothers to give her warmth…there is a knock at the door.

 

An aged and stooped pastor slowly rises and makes his way to the door…and then…and then…as he opens it…light fills the room, falling on the faces of all and warming them…caressing them with tenderness, and transforming them from weary to hopeful, from hopeful to joyful.

 

The Betrothed has her eyes closed, her face is wrinkled, her pulse weak, she sleeps in sorrow. A resplendent figure enters the room, and the eyes of all but the Betrothed are fixed on Him…and they know…they know who He is. With rising anticipation, they watch Him quietly walk to the Betrothed between the two grandmothers. The grandmothers? Well, they feel like giddy teenage girls again, for they know what is coming.

 

The King nods to the two grandmas and they leave Her side. Gently the King lifts the old quilt from his soon to be Bride.

 

He whispers, “Ishshah, My Beloved.”

 

“Come my dear, we have work to do.”

 

 --------------------------------------------------------

“Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, they have trampled down My field; they have made My pleasant field a desolate wilderness” (Jeremiah 12:10).

 

“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture! Declares the LORD” (Jer. 23:1).

 

“I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding" (Jer. 3:15).

 

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2 – 3).

 

Well pastor, elder, deacon, trustee, teacher, small group leader, which will it be?

 

Which shepherds will you be found among when the King returns for His Bride?

 

Robert L. Withers, May 2, 2026

Ezekiel 33:1 – 9.

 

 

 

 

The King and His Bride...and the Shepherds: Part Three

 

From this point forward every day brought new delegations to the pastors, new offers for them to lend the future queen to various ventures (all of course with the very best intentions, for the greater good; and if the pastors should benefit, well, so much the better.)

 

The pastors formed their own company, King and Queen Enterprises. They had a marketing department, a fashion department, they launched a music industry, a construction company, an entertainment division, an investment firm. They used the images of the King and Queen to be on their letterhead and marketing material.

 

They kept the betrothed so busy and in motion that she could no longer think, all she could do is what she was told to do, with the learned pastors saying, “We know best. Trust us, we know best.”

 

Her ladies-in-waiting, who served out of love for both her and the king, were replaced by women from the City of Fashion, the City of Marketing, the City of Politics, and the City of Dollar. Her food was laced with sedatives one meal and stimulants the next meal. She was never allowed to rest. She was never allowed to contemplate the return of her beloved King. Her heart was never permitted to behold Him.

 

As the pastors’ wealth and power accumulated, they became convinced that the king would not return, at least not in their lifetime. Why not align themselves with the political and national and military powers of the region? Why not endorse them – of course endorse them in the name of the King – why not insist that all people give their hearts to power and might and national identity – rather than allegiance to the King of kings?

 

Well, dear reader…again, my heart breaks.

 

Now to be sure not all pastors and shepherds got caught up in the insanity, but if you had traveled to this land you will not have found them at the royal court – which had become an Imperial Court with an Imperial Cult, with its leader from the City of Dollar and its council from the cities of the World.

 

The faithful pastors could be found walking the streets and looking for the disenfranchised, the hurting, the sick, the refugee, the hungry, and those who remembered the good and kind and gentle King (Matthew 12:18 – 21). These pastors were binding up wounds and carrying the hurting to the inn for healing at their own expense (Luke 10:30 – 37).  These shepherds were giving their lives for the sheep (John 10:1 – 18).

 

And the bride-to-be? She was cast out of her royal lodgings in rags after she was used up by the faithless pastors (they had no shortage of women to replace her as a figurehead). She wandered the streets, eating from dumpsters, sleeping under bridges in cardboard boxes.

 

Yet, as the Father of the Great and Good King would have it, she was discovered by some nondescript faithful pastors in their search for the untouchable and unlovable, and they and their little flocks brought her in and clothed her and fed her and gave her shelter and love and care. Most importantly of all they spoke of her beloved, of the Great and Good King…for they loved Him with all that they had and all that they were.

 

The King and His Bride ...and the Shepherds: Part Two

 

Soon a delegation from the great city of Dollar arrived to speak to the pastors of the royal court. The rulers of Dollar had heard of the betrothed’s appearances at regal balls in the surrounding lands and they had a request. They were not requesting the beloved’s attendance at a ball, but rather a trade festival, for their city was all about commerce and making money – they loved money. They thought that if the queen-to-be would attend their upcoming trade festival that it would attract people far and wide.

 

They also had another request; they had brought with them various products their city was known for and wanted the young woman to try them and to endorse the ones she liked. In return, the leaders of the city would make a payment to the pastors.

 

By this time, the pastors were accustomed to displaying the betrothed to others, and they were enjoying the attention they received when they brought her with them to grand functions. Furthermore, compared to the pastors she was a child, and a trusting child at that. She was convinced that these learned men whom her beloved husband-to-be had entrusted her to meant the best for both her and the king.

 

The pastors saw no problem with the offer from the City of Dollar, instead they saw opportunity!

 

Needless to say, the Festival of Dollar was a great success for the merchants and manufacturers and…to the pastors. Within days of their return to the royal residence in the land of the great and good king a delegation from another city arrived to seek audience with the pastors; they were from the City of Fashion.

 

The City of Fashion was having its annual grand festival in just a few weeks and having heard of the astounding success of the City of Dollar, they had an offer for the pastors that shouted of innovation and opportunity. They would triple the payment the pastors had received from the City of Dollar, plus give the pastors a percentage of the profits from the sale of every dress and gown the betrothed modeled at the City of Fashion.

 

Furthermore, in order to ensure that the young woman displayed fashion in its best light, they brought make-up artists with them, and dress designers, modeling coaches, and dance instructors.

 

The offer was immediately accepted.

 

However, this time there were questions from others within the royal court. While there had previously been murmurings, now the questions were louder, the concerns more forcibly expressed. Why were the pastors doing this? Why were they putting themselves and their agendas ahead of the king and his beloved bride-to-be? What were they doing to her? Why were their bank and investment accounts growing? Why were they not being transparent about their finances? Why were they not paying attention to the welfare of the people? The poor, the widow, the immigrant seeking refuge, the sick, the prisoner, the hungry?

 

The pastors had a stock response, “You don’t understand. These things are best left to us” (John 9:34).

 

To those who continued to protest, the pastors and their servants paid them special visits and suggested that perhaps they would be better off moving to another land, to another kingdom; they need not think about returning.

 

Well, dear reader, my heart breaks as I write this, the visions in my head make me sick as Daniel was sick (Daniel 7:28; 8:27). For by the time the betrothed walked down the runways of the City of Fashion you could not recognize her as the innocent young woman who had once faithfully endured the imprisonment of the evil prince, she no longer looked and moved as the bride-to-be of the great and good king – I will venture no more description – considering our own society it probably would not shock us, but it should.

 

The King and His Bride...and the Shepherds: Part One

 

The King and His Bride…and the Shepherds

 

There once was a great and good king who was engaged to be married.

 

When his betrothed was younger, she had been kidnapped by an evil prince, taken to a far-off land, and imprisoned and tormented in an effort to force her to marry the evil prince. However, the great and good king disguised himself, traveled to the far-off land, and after many trials and privations, fought the evil prince and his wicked servants, freeing his beloved betrothed, and bringing her safely back to his Kingdom.

 

Before the wedding date, the good king had to leave on an urgent matter on behalf of his people. Keeping in mind the horror of the kidnapping, he called together a cohort of trusted servants, known as shepherds or pastors, and placed the safety and welfare of his bride-to-be in their hands. The great and good king was confident that these men would faithfully care for his beloved and that he need not be concerned for her well – being.

 

As for the betrothed, as she looked at the kindly faces of the shepherds, she was certain she had nothing to fear and that she could spend her days and nights looking forward to the return of her husband-to-be and preparing herself for that great wedding day and their marriage supper.

 

After the king departed, the first few weeks were quiet and restful. The betrothed enjoyed spending time with her ladies in waiting, gardening, walking in forests and by waterfalls and gently running brooks; and of course she was preparing, always preparing for the return of the king and the much-anticipated wedding day.

 

As for the pastors, at first they were content with fulfilling the king’s charge to them, but the longer the king was gone, the more restless they became.

 

“How long will he be gone? When will he return?” they asked one another.

 

As the weeks became months and as the months multiplied, they asked, “Why hasn’t he returned? Perhaps something happened to him? Maybe he is ill. He could have died of sickness or even been killed in battle.”

 

At one time these pastors spoke of the king and only the king. They talked to the bride-to-be of the king, they talked to the people of the king, they taught the children of the land about the king.

 

Then one day a messenger arrived from an adjacent land. The ruler of that land was giving a ball and was extending an invitation not only to the pastors, but also to the king’s betrothed; he wanted the pastors to bring her with them.

 

Such a thing was unheard of in all the history of the land of the great and good king. From time immemorial kings would only dance with their spouses or their intended spouses, and queens and queens to be would only dance with their husbands or husbands to be. The eyes of kings were only for their queens, and the eyes of queens were only for their kings.

 

The pastors thought, “Even though such a thing is unheard of, the king has been gone far longer than we thought he would be. He may come back, or he may not. The young woman must be bored waiting for him, we certainly are. If the king does return, would he not be pleased to know that we had brightened his betrothed’s life by taking her to a grand ball where she could shine before others? He would certainly appreciate our efforts.”

 

And so it began, for as word spread abroad that the beautiful betrothed of the good and great king was being escorted by the king’s pastors to balls and festivals invitations deluged the royal court. The shepherds convinced the young woman, after prolonged argument with her, that even though such a thing had never happened before in their kingdom, that these were exceptional times and that the king would not only understand, but that he would approve.

 

150 Stories to Live, 150 Parts to Play

 

Today is April 30. This morning I’ve read and pondered Psalms 30 and 60. I did this on January 30 and, the Lord willing, I will do so on July 30 and October 30. If I live through 2027, the Lord willing, I will read Psalm 30 and 60 on those dates as well. Perhaps when I arrive in the glorious City I will ask, “May I please have a Bible and a calendar?” Well, maybe not, but you get my point.

 

My Bible reading rhythm has changed throughout the years, according to my season of life, according to my sense in the Holy Spirit. I realize that we are all different and that what appeals to me may not be comfortable to you – and yet I do think there are attitudes and practices that ought to be common to us all. I am not a believer in doing what I “feel” like doing. I am very much a believer in being led by the Holy Spirit, recognizing that being led by the Holy Spirit includes being taught disciplines and practices and ways of living in Christ Jesus, after all…we are supposed to be disciples, and I don’t think we can separate the words disciple and discipline.

 

Well, as I’ve pointed out, today is April 30. As some of you know, since March 10 Vickie and I have been in challenging waters, waters in which I almost lost my dear wife. While we are no longer in the heart of the storm, we continue to sail in uncharted waters and must pay attention to the skies and the currents – we must be attentive.

 

If you ask me what psalms I read on March 10 I can tell you. If you ask me what psalms I read on March 29 I can tell you that. I don’t need to look at a calendar, for I’ve been reading the same psalms on March 29 for a long, long time.

 

Every psalm is a friend to me, every psalm is a story, every psalm invites me to play a part in it. When I opened my Bible this morning and began Psalm 30, I could say, “Ah, it’s you old friend. Good morning.”

 

As we were exiting the hurricane a few days ago, I realized how the Psalms have been an anchor of my soul in our dear Lord Jesus, keeping me steadfastly “within the veil” (Heb. 6:19). Whether or not I read anything else on a particular day of our testing, I read the Psalms, and in the Psalms I found Jesus, I found comfort, I found hope, I found His Presence coming to me, always coming to me and to my dear wife.

 

There are normally a few balls in the air in my Bible reading, meaning that I am usually reading in a few places, but the Psalms are the constant, always the constant.

 

In Psalms we find the human condition, and we also find our dear Lord Jesus with us in the human condition. In Psalms our condition is transformed into His image, and His Presence envelopes us, enfolds us, sings to us, caresses us, weeps with us, and rejoices with us. We suffer in the Psalms, and we find healing in the Psalms, we experience the Cross and the Resurrection; we know temporary defeat and eternal victory.

 

When our souls are anchored in God’s Word, God’s Word is anchored in our souls.

 

 

 

 

Revelation - Letter to a Friend (9)

 

 

“To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood – and He has made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father – to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5 – 6).

 

“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5 – 6).

 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

 

What do we “see” when we read these passages?

 

“The result of liberation from sin is that Christ has established a counterkingdom – a kingdom opposed to the influence of the dragon and the beast, the Pharaohs of the narrative…Like the Israelites, the hearers/readers of this book are on a new exodus to a new promised land. Along the way they encounter other Pharaohs (the dragon and the beasts) and are tested with idolatrous distractions in their wilderness sojourn – namely, the temptation to settle down or compromise with Babylon. The plot of Revelation is the story of how the Lamb leads His people out of slavery and exile into the new promised land, the new Jerusalem” (The Revelation of John – A Narrative Commentary, James L. Resseguie, pages 67 – 68, italics mine).

 

If we have learned to read Revelation through the lens of the entire Bible, then what Resseguie writes make sense, we say, “Of course!” However, if we have been seduced by purveyors of teaching on prophecy who make a sermon or book out of every current event and headline, who focus on what the natural eye can see as opposed to the eternals (2 Cor. 4:18), who would have us compromise with the beasts of this world – to the point of teaching us to align ourselves with the kingdoms (or a kingdom) of this world, who would have us believe that some “special” nations are the equivalent of the Kingdom of Christ; if this is the way we see life and the world, then we will not likely “see” what Revelation 1:5 – 6 is about, we will not understand Resseguie.  

 

Since Revelation is a recapitulation of the entire Bible, since its plotline is that of the preceding 65 books, since its focus is Jesus Christ the Lamb, since it is calling us Home to that City which all of our spiritual fathers and mothers have sought (Hebrews 11:8 – 16), it is a tragedy when those to whom it is written do not “see” what they are reading and hearing. It is a double tragedy when those who do not see nor hear, align themselves with the beasts and whores of Revelation, when they insist on not only ignoring God’s call to come out of Babylon, but teach that we should participate in her sins (Rev. 18:4 – 5).

 

Revelation is not only first and foremost the story of the Lamb, Christ our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), it is also the story of His People, but it is not only the story of His People, it is also my story and it is your story. It is the story of our marriages, our families, and our congregations.

 

A question is, of course, “What does my story within this Story look like?” Where am I in this story? Where are my marriage and family in this story? Where is my congregation in this story? Where are my friendships in this story? What does my vocation and education look like within this story? Am I taking the mark of the beast as my way of life so that I may buy and sell and be successful in the eyes of the world, or am I following the Lamb wherever He goes?

 

If we read Revelation chapters 2 and 3 honestly, where do we see ourselves, our families, our congregations? What sin and idolatry and complacency and self-absorption are we practicing and promoting in our lives and churches? How are we justifying our abandonment of the Lamb? Are we wedded to the Lamb or to the world, the dragon, and the beasts?

 

Are we so foolish as to push chapters 13, 17, and 18 (indeed the entire book) into the future, and not “see” that it is true in every generation – and therefore for us it is particularly true?

 

Let me share a little “secret” with you, let me tell you what you can anticipate should you live in the Lamb, follow the Lamb, and speak the truth of the Lamb. You can expect to be persecuted as the saints in Smyrna (Rev. 2:8 – 11) and tested as those in Philadelphia (3:7 – 13). You can look forward to joining that blessed multitude who suffer for the Lamb (7:9 – 17) and who follow Him wherever He goes (14:1 – 5). Why you may even have such a testimony that when the world thinks it has silenced you that it will throw a party (11:10)!

 

Such is the Way of those who overcome the dragon and the beast and who come out of Babylon, such is the Way of those who overcome “because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the world of their testimony, not loving their lives even unto death” (12:11).

 

But there is more, so much more, for to those who “go outside the camp, bearing His reproach, knowing that here they have NO lasting city" (Hebrews 13:13 – 14) the glorious New Jerusalem, the Mother of us All in Christ (Galatians 4:26), welcomes them. God Himself will be their God, and they will inherit all things as they see His Face (Revelation chapters 21 – 22; Romans 8:17, 32).

 

O dear friends, those who will know the Light of Lamb today are those who will bask in His Light tomorrow (Rev. 21:23).

 

I cannot emphasize this enough – it is a matter of life and death. We must live in the light of the Lamb and only the Lamb. The Father says again and again and again, “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well – pleased; hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5).

 

Elijah did not die for us, Moses did not die for us (Matthew 17:4) your favorite preacher did not die for us, a venerable historical figure did not die for us, an entertaining teaching on prophecy did not die for us, a doctrine of “your best life now” did not die for us – and for sure no political or social figure died for us, nor did a nation or political movement purchase our salvation nor does it have a right to claim our souls – Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone deserves and demands our allegiance, our hearts our minds our souls our very bodies – and we are called to live in His Light and only His Light.

 

O dear friends, let us recall that Satan and his angels manifest themselves as agents of light (2 Corinthians 11:13 – 15). Our Christianity is entertaining us at the cost of our souls, it is leading us away from the Cross and the Ark, we are throwing a party as a prelude to our own death…unless we are following the Lamb!

 

Well, I guess we have two possible parties we can choose from. We can either join the party of the world and a professing church that rejects the Way of the Cross, or we can have such a passionate testimony for Jesus that when we die or are silenced – that the world will throw a party (Rev. 11:10) - but we will join the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).

 

Which will it be?

 

Which will it be pastor? Which will it be husband and wife? Which will it be parent? Which will it be elder and deacon? Which will it be…you who claim to follow Jesus?

 

Which will it be for me?

 

Which will it be for you?

 

 

 

The War Prayer - Part II

 

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside – which the startled minister did – and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

 

"I come from the Throne – bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import – that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of – except he pause and think.

 

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two – one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this – keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

 

"You have heard your servant's prayer – the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it – that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory – must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

 

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it – for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(After a pause)

 

"Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits."

 

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

The War Prayer Part I

  

As I witness many professing Christians and their so-called leaders buying into, and propagating, the Imperial Cult, I am encouraged by Pope Leo – who seems to remember that he serves Christ and not man, that he serves an everlasting Kingdom and not one built on historical myth.

 

“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” Pope Leo.

 

I am also reminded of our nation’s past, when religion was a tool to subjugate others (giving us precedent I suppose) – for the Cult has always been with us and will be with us until our dear Lord Jesus returns. In particular I am thinking of our subjugation of the Philippines in the wake of the Spanish – American War, a war which we sold as a war of liberation, but which turned out to be – for the Philippines – a war of conquest. Few Americans know that about 100,000 Filipinos perished as a result of our refusal to grant them independence (they fought us as we fought the British – ours was a rebellion, theirs was a defense of their land), what was good for us in 1775 did not apply to them; how foolish of them to think so. Sadly, many American religious leaders bought into the Imperial Cult…as they always seem to do. There were even congressional hearings over our treatment of Filipinos, including what can only be described as massacres and treachery.

 

Our religious hypocrisy included viewing our conquest as a means of evangelization – where have we seen that before in history?

 

It seems that Romans 3:23 applies to everyone but us and our Imperial Cult – we get a pass, we always get a pass. One day we will have no pass, one Day we will stand before Christ, and those pastors who have sold their people an Imperial lie will be held accountable, those who have knowingly allowed their sheep to drink from toxic wells will stand before the One who charged them to be faithful, those who should have spoken up but didn’t will be asked where their voices where. Ezekiel 33:1 – 9.

 

The War Prayer

By: Mark Twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

 

It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

 

Sunday morning came – next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams-visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! – then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation – "God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!"

 

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever – merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory.

 

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there, waiting.

 

With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, “Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

to be continued....

 

The Great Falling Away and Our Great Hope (4)

 

 

“Behold, a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly. Each will be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry country, like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land” (Isaiah 32:1 – 2).

 

This passage reminds us that our calling in Christ is to be a place of refuge for others, a shelter from the storms of life. The Living Water of Christ is to flow from the depths of our being out to those around us (John 7:27 – 39) and we are to bear fruit for the healing of the peoples (Rev. 22:1 – 2). Rather than being overcome by evil, in Christ we overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21). We are to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Rom. 12:14).

 

We are to love our enemies and pray for those who oppose us, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:43 – 48). Remembering that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” nor are the “weapons of our warfare of the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:4).

 

If we become entangled as participants in the conflicts of the world, if the source of our life is rooted in the agendas of the world, the powers of the world, the values of the world, then we will have little in Christ to share with the people of the world; the water that flows from us will be polluted.

 

We must see ourselves as strangers and pilgrims, as citizens of heaven, resisting the pressure from without and within the professing church to identify with the world system (Hebrews 11:8 – 16; 1 Pt. 2:11). We are called to bring others with us on our journey to the City of Christ, the City of Light, the City where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the only Light and where we are the Temple of God.

 

Are we standing with the Jesus who says, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36)?

 

Or have we abandoned Jesus Christ and do we now identify with earthly powers who have deceived us and many of our leaders into prostituting the Bible for their own ends? Have we given ourselves to earthly powers who use Scriptural language (but not the Biblical teaching of Jesus Christ) to utter prayers of hatred and destruction?

 

This does not mean that we ignore the people of the world, on the contrary, it means that we love them and share Jesus with them, it means that we seek to show them the Way of the Lamb, it means that we give our lives for the people of the world just as Jesus gave His life for us…even when we were His enemies (Romans 5:1 – 11). It also means that we are willing to be “considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Rom. 8:36).

 

Wherever we are, we are to be the Presence of Jesus Christ, shelters from the storm, places of refuge, Living Water in a parched land. In Christ, we are to offer peace, hope, love, grace, mercy, and healing. To do this we must abide in the Vine and allow the Vine to live His Life in us and through us (John 15:1 – 5). To do this, we offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1 – 2; John 17:17 – 19).

 

What color is the water which people drink from us? Is it red or blue or purple? Is it green, the color of American money? Is it red, white, and blue?

 

Or is it “clear and bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:1)?

 

 

 

 

The Great Falling Away and Our Great Hope (3)

 

 

While on the one hand we cannot deny the darkness around us, darkness must not define us nor mold us in any fashion, for we have a high calling in Jesus Christ to be the Light of the world, calling others out of darkness into Jesus Christ. Yes, we ought to be aware of the inexplicable evil propagating itself, embedding itself in the United States (and the world) and sadly in the professing church, but we should be careful not to be obsessed by it – otherwise it will poison our souls. This can be a challenge, let us not minimize the challenge.

 

I am reminded of Betsy ten Boom, who saw her imprisonment in a concentration camp, with her sister Corrie, as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus to the brutal and hateful guards. Her words to Corrie are woven into my soul, “If they can be taught to hate, then they can be taught to love.”

 

Over the years I have found two passages in Isaiah especially helpful in remembering our calling in Christ, Isaiah 60:1 – 3 and 32:1 – 2. Let’s ponder the first of these now, and we’ll return to the other in our next reflection, the Lord willing.

 

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear to you.”

 

A tsunami of darkness is an opportunity for the Light of Christ to shine upon, within, and through His People. It is an opportunity for us to be who we truly are in Christ, to be beacons for the people of the world, to bear witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. As the storms of hatred, violence, and deceit beat upon houses build on sand, we offer a refuge to those around us, for our lives on built on the Rock who is Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus says that we are to “prove faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). We learn to overcome Satan, “the great dragon” (Rev. 12:9), “by the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of our testimony, not loving our lives even unto death” (Rev. 12:11).

 

We maintain the testimony of Jesus Christ, not the message of the Imperial Cult in the image of Revelation chapters 17 and 18, not the message of a promiscuous religious system which foolishly thinks it can partner with the Beast (Rev. 17:16); our hearts and minds and souls belong to Jesus and only to Jesus and we follow the Lamb wherever He goes (Rev. 14:1 – 5).

 

Let us recall what Paul wrote to Timothy in the midst of a hostile culture, a culture of violence and idolatry:

 

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24 – 26).

 

Titus is charged by Paul with teaching his people “to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men” (Titus 3:2).

 

To the Philippians Paul writes, “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men” (Phil. 4:5).

 

Is it not strange, very strange, that so many pastors and “Christian” leaders are selling their people into the hands of those who propagate violence, fear, intimidation, and war?

 

What kind of shepherd allows his (or her) flock to drink from a polluted well? From a river of toxins? What shall we say of shepherds who lead their flocks to feeding and water troughs of death?

 

All the more reason to remember who we are in Christ, and who He is in us. All the more reason to encourage one another in the Narrow Way which is Jesus. All the more reason to live lives separated unto God for the sake of others. All the more reason to lay down our lives for others (John 15:12 – 13; 1 John 3:16).

 

The creation is groaning and travailing for the unveiling of the sons and daughters of the Living God, knowing that as we come into our inheritance in Christ, that it will be set free from the bondage of death and corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:12 – 25).

 

This is not a time to be fearful, but to rejoice. This is not a time to withdraw from others, but to touch them, by the grace of God, with the love of Jesus. This is not the time to revert to the weapons and ways of the world, but to overcome as the Lamb has overcome, by laying our lives down for Christ and others.

 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).

 

This was written to disciples in the city of Rome. We, in America, need to hear it today.

 

Even though we are as lambs led to the slaughter, we overwhelmingly conquer! (Romans 8:31 – 39). What a high calling and privilege to know Jesus Christ in the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His sufferings! (Phil. 1:10).

 

Let me tell you a little something to keep in mind, those who lose their lives for Jesus Christ are the ones who will find Jesus waiting for them…not sitting…but standing…standing to receive them into His glory! (Acts 7:56).

 

Jesus Christ stands up for those who stand up for Him.

 

Are you hiding, sitting, or standing?