Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Sabbath, July 27, 2019

Audio Link: http://bit.ly/ThoughtsinWorship

Today’s Scripture Focus: Revelation 20:11-15

We are focusing on sin recovery principle number four of 12: “We are submitting to an honest self-inventory as the Holy Spirit makes us more aware.”

God’s judgment is no small matter. Do you agree? It’s no small matter because His character is being observed as He determines who will live and who will die in the grand scheme of things. As we talked about extensively in our devotional thoughts on the book of Revelation between August and October of 2015, the Bible teaches that God’s judgment is conducted in three phases. During phase one, God has welcomed people into His family to live with Him forever. Those who accept the invitation and continue to experience the power of His sanctifying Spirit, continue to have their names indelibly etched into the Lamb’s Book of Life. Conversely, those who despise God’s loving entreaties and either choose not to accept His initiation, or decide to take off the righteous character/covering of Jesus in exchange for their own, will have their names blotted out of the Book of Life and their evil deeds will be revealed to all the saints during the thousand years following Jesus’ return. Then, unfortunately, they will be destroyed in the lake of fire when the thousand years are finished.

The Lord has been so gracious to give everyone who has ever lived the opportunity to live up to all He has revealed to us as individuals. And based on our responses to that personal revelation of His will, each of us learns to grow in His strength and knowledge of Him, or we grow apart due to an attitude of rejection. This may seem oversimplified because there are so many details related to upbringing, genetics, locale, pervasive culture, the era in which we were born, governmental influence on religion, etc., but the blessing is that God sees and knows all.

In Romans chapters one through three, Paul teaches the varying levels of God’s revelation to us. There are some who may only have even known what God revealed of Himself through the creation. He teaches much of His invisible essence through the visible world. And each observer, whether they fully understand the fact or not, who is guided by the Holy Spirit can learn about creation’s God.

There are others who begin to understand God more through the law He has written on their hearts and through which the Spirit educates their consciences. They understand the principles of right and wrong and will be judged based on that revelation.

And the most obvious of all revelations God has manifested is through Jesus Christ Himself, the Living Word of God. Those of us who have had the privilege of living during a time and in a place where the revelation of Christ has been available, will be judged based upon our response to Him. Do we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour? Do we keep faith in Him knowing that all we do and all we are must be submitted to His will? Do we love to serve Him and help others serve Him too? If you are reading or hearing this thought today, you are among those who have access to the full revelation of Jesus Christ. On this basis, you will be judged.

Now that I have oversimplified this reality, the question we all must answer is whether we are honest with ourselves and God. Are we living up to all the light He has shed on our path? Only you and God know the answer to this question. The blessing is that no matter what your answer is, you have the opportunity right now to yield yourself to Him. You can choose to confess your sins, turn from them in the power of the Holy Spirit, and live in harmony with God from now on. This is a daily opportunity. God is ready, willing, and available to strengthen you...