December 29
Zech 14:1-21 | PS 148:1-14 | Prov 31:8-9 | Rev 20:1-15
Augustine said, "If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself." Satan fell from heaven because his desire was to supplant God and assume God's throne (Isaiah 14:12-15). Most people would not be so bold as to make a comment like this, but sadly this is where most people truly are. First of all, if we have even the slightest bit of self-awareness we truly know our own thoughts, our own motives, our own actions when no one else sees, and must come to the conclusion that we just are not that good. Yet so many question the fairness and goodness of God, choosing things that they agree with and things that they disagree with. God is right every time. Every word in the Bible is correct. Whenever we lift our opinions and take a different position other than God's, whether one wants to admit this or not, that person has elevated themselves above God. Just pause for a moment and consider the audacity of this stance. This is a very scary place to be. In our days of seeming social awareness, political correctness, cancel culture, etc. many, even those who deem themselves Christians, are reconstructing God into a God of their own making who is not God at all. God does not give a wink to this. This is what Satan did, and Satan will be judged. We need to approach Him in humility. Whenever our thoughts differ from what Scripture clearly dictates, we are wrong every time. We must worship God in totality, not in partiality.
Choices must be made. We arrive in Revelation 20, after the Battle of Armageddon in chapter 19, and there are only two sides. Satan who saw himself more than he was, is seen in 20:2-3, " He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished...". Then there are those who submitted to God, even at great earthly risk while the Antichrist seemed to be in charge in 20:4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Lastly, we see the vast group of individuals, some obviously evil, but others who would be seen as good by many, who just elevated themselves above God, who "simply" differed from God on a few points in 20:11-15, " Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."
This is not some academic game. This is not a matter of moral relativism, where many try to get by with believing that there are merits on both sides of the discussion. God is absolute. His rulings are fair. His ways are correct. We, on the other hand, are not always correct and our logic leaves much to be desired. People like to quote data, or quote "experts", etc. In the end, this means nothing, for your data and "experts will be shown to be incorrect if they stand in opposition to what God has clearly stated in Scripture. It is time that each of us take a stand. Do we accept God, in everything that He stands for? No, we will not live perfectly this side of eternity, but we who are in Christ, feel the sting when our thoughts and actions differ from what is clearly outlined in Scripture. He is our model, and His Book, the Bible, is our guidebook to offer us clarity on everything. He is just as relevant now as when the words of Scripture were first written. May we never forget this.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: