Entering the Sanctuary (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.”
Psalm 15:1-2 NLT

David asked the question, “Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” There is of course two scenarios – one in this life and the other in the life to come. In this life we believers want to worship the Lord wherever we can find Him. It doesn’t have to be in a Temple, or on Mount Zion, or even in a church. He can be found anywhere and everywhere. And in the life to come we will be in God’s presence and will join with the angels and all the saints in worship so incredible that it will be nothing like we have ever experienced.

But consider that the sanctuary David wrote about was Heaven, where the Lord will be worshipped, and where there will be no soul present that is still polluted with the stains of sin. We pilgrims know that one day we will join the Lord there because we responded whole-heartedly to the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus and all He did for us at Calvary. In Heaven the worship of the Lord will be absolutely amazing and we who worship Him in this life look forward to it. Sadly, there are many people, however, who don’t lead blameless lives and, in fact, don’t know Jesus at all, but they think they will end up in Heaven when they die. Will those people still find themselves able to worship the Lord, or will they be somewhere else?

Anyone who goes to a funeral will often find many who are deluded in their thinking. They have come to believe that their departed loved ones are in Heaven with the Lord and they find comfort in the thought that they will also join them there one day. They even go further and think that their loved ones are benignly looking down on them, pleased or otherwise about what they are doing. The departed spirits will go somewhere of course, and they may even be looking down at those left behind, but I always come back to the story Jesus told of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Luke 16: 22-23, “Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place of the dead. There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side”. The souls of our departed loved ones, and everyone else come to that, end up in one of two places. Those that know and love Jesus, those who are His wholehearted followers, will end up in a place called Heaven, or Paradise (look up the conversation the thief on the cross next to Jesus had with the Lord). Those who are unbelievers, the agnostics, the atheists, followers of other religions or those who don’t believe that our souls will survive death, will end up in the place of the dead, called Hades or Sheol in the various Bible translations. We know from the Luke 16 account of the resting place of the Rich Man that the place of the dead will not be a pleasant place. But it is logical really. David asked “Who may worship in Your sanctuary, Lord?” Those who don’t know the Lord will not really want to worship Him. What would be the point?

Jesus was asked a question about eternal life which we can read in Matthew 19:16, “Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”” Jesus replied to the young man who asked the question with an answer outlining the commandments that must be followed. We read the man’s reply in Matthew 19:20, ““I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?”” Jesus’ reply was for him to sell his possessions and give away the proceeds to the poor, something, as it turned out, that he was unable to countenance. In the subsequent conversation with His disciples, they said it was impossible to achieve a life spent in the presence of God by human efforts alone. Jesus agreed, and we read in Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible””.

David asked the question, “Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?” The same question still hangs in the air today and we should perhaps ask a similar question of those we meet, “Where will your soul go when you die – the place of the dead or will it join the Lord in Heaven?” In this life we have a powerful choice between being a believer in Jesus, with all that that means, or being against Jesus as an unbeliever. Making the right choice is the most important decision we can make in our lifetimes because it determines where we will spend eternity. Jesus was very clear. In John 14:6 we read, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me”. The times are short and many of my friends are reaching the age in life when this question needs to be answered soon. Remember, those who fail to make the decision for Jesus will end up in a place they find they don’t want to be by default. 

At the end of Revelation 20 we read, “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire“. Why did people have to be “thrown” into that place? Because when they saw what was coming they recoiled in horror and did everything they could to avoid going there. But it was too late. Their resistance had to be overcome with force. A stark and horrible warning that we pilgrims have to be clear about when we share our testimonies of what Jesus has done for us. There is a time coming when the results of a person’s choice will be realised. There is no escape. There is no third way. And we pilgrims have been entrusted with a Gospel that not only presents God’s love, but also His judgement. 

Father God. We have reviewed some sobering thoughts this morning and we pray for Your love and grace to flow even more in our lives and the lives of those we meet. Please help us present the Good News about Jesus to those who are heading for a lost eternity in a way that exposes Your heart for them. We love You Lord and always will. Amen.

The 144,000

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of mighty ocean waves or the rolling of loud thunder. It was like the sound of many harpists playing together. This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. They have kept themselves as pure as virgins, following the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been purchased from among the people on the earth as a special offering to God and to the Lamb. They have told no lies; they are without blame.” 
Revelation 14:1-5 NLT

In parallel with the global events under the control of the beasts, John’s vision panned across to Jerusalem, the location of Mount Zion. Jesus was standing there, and there were a lot of His people with Him. 144,000 in fact. They had the name of the Lamb of God and His Father written on their foreheads. Back in Revelation 7:4 we read, “And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel.” We now also now know what the mark, the “seal of God” was, though it wasn’t clear in Revelation 7. So this event involving Jesus and Mount Zion must be confirming His second coming. Now we know that Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives from Acts 1:12, where Luke recorded, “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile“. And the angels present at that event, as the disciples were straining to see Jesus’ ascent through the clouds, said, ““Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!” So here we are, blessed and encouraged, because Jesus has done exactly what He said He would do – return to earth a second time.

It is interesting that the 144,00 Jewish believers were present as the End Time Tribulation was unfolding (just before the seventh seal was broken in Revelation 7). And in spite of the devil’s best efforts, with all his mayhem setting up the Antichrist and an evil world governmental system and religion, the 144,000 were still there. The devil failed in his attempts to eliminate them. How encouraging is that? They showed that it is possible to stand firm to the end. Also, the Jewish believers must have been followers of Jesus, because they were standing there in Jerusalem with Him. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus will rule and reign from Mount Zion. We read, “Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people“. (Isaiah 24:23). 

Do we pilgrims, not counted amongst the 144,000, feel a bit insecure? The Bible version we have used today, the NLT, records that these Jews were “purchased from among the people on the earth”. Other versions describe them as being the “first-fruits”. But whatever they were, these were God’s holy people with a special mission. Their purity was faultless, they were unstinting followers of Jesus, they had never told lies, and the verses today record them as being a “special offering to God and to the Lamb“. But as for us Gentile believers, where do we stand in the End Times vision? Perhaps we will be counted in the number in Revelation 7:9, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.” But whatever happens, those who stand firm to the end will one day be with our loving Heavenly Father, and His Son Jesus, in Heaven. Jesus’s said to the repentant thief on the cross next to him, “… I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭23:43). God will never reject a truly repentant sinner from entering His presence.

Father God. We bow before Your throne this morning with deeply grateful hearts. Only You have the words of eternal life. Only You hold the keys to eternity. We worship You today. Amen.