The devotional is from GraceGems, a site stuffed with goodies from the past. Much to read and be edified by there.
Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day. I pray you have a good church to attend. Gather with the saints in fellowship to worship, pray, sing, learn. This world wearies us, this is where we go to drink the Living Water, be refreshed, and go on in the week proclaiming His excellencies. Sunday is a day of rest, and don’t you feel rested after resting in Him? And just think of the eternal rest we will be given by our gracious Savior. DO think of home more often!
Tim Challies posted this from Dan Doriani:
Now on to James Smith’s devotional-
James Smith, (1802—1862) “A Devotional Glimpse at Psalm 23“
“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!” Psalm 23:6
Notice, David’s expectation for eternity. Not in the sheepfold in the wilderness, but in the house of the Lord! The dwelling-place of God, the family residence of the Father of mercies and His beloved children. In that house, we shall have . . . all our desires gratified, all our prayers answered, and our highest expectations more than realized!
There we shall dwell in peace, united to all the saints, and enjoying the society of all the ransomed brethren! All friendship will be unchangeable, and fellowship perpetual and pure.
There we shall dwell and worship–and our worship will be spiritual, pure, and perfect!
There we shall dwell and enjoy–and our enjoyments will be dignified, delightful, and eternal.
There we shall dwell and obey–and our obedience will be perfect, hearty, and perpetual.
There, we shall dwell and rest–and our rest will be sweet, refreshing, and satisfying. There will be no wilderness storms there. There will be no cruel, crafty, malignant foes there. O glorious prospect! O sweet anticipation!
In our Father’s house are many mansions; and all those mansions will be occupied, for . . . every one beloved and chosen by the Father, every one for whom Jesus became a substitute and sacrifice, every one ever born of the Spirit, will be there!
All God’s children shall be there–not one of them lost! All God’s sheep shall be there–not one hoof left behind!
There the Eternal Father will be surrounded by, and enjoy the society of all His happy family. There the glorious Savior will see of the travail of His soul, and be fully and forever satisfied. There the Holy Spirit will fill all His temples, and enjoy His divine workmanship, and the presence of all whom He has prepared for glory. There, Jehovah, at home with His people–will manifest forth His glory, and pour floods of light, love, and blessing upon them forever!
Well then may the Psalmist say, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures!”
Let us often think of home! This vain world is not our rest. Here on earth, we have no continuing city. Home, the home of the believer’s heart, is in the skies . . . where Jesus is, where Jesus reigns, where love is perfect, where there is always a full tide of joy, where God displays all his glory, where grace satisfies the utmost desires of every renewed soul!
SYNOPSIS: Are we consumed with storing up treasure here on earth, or are we prioritizing investing in the kingdom? In this essay, I look at earthly ‘treasures’ and ponder what the treasures in heaven could possibly be.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal …” (Matthew 6:19-20).
That is a familiar passage to us. We know what it says. We understand that we cannot serve two gods, mammon and Jesus. We comprehend that the love of money is the root of all evil. We all feel sad when the Rich Young Ruler turned away from Jesus, rejecting eternal salvation because he clung to his earthly wealth.
But what does treasure in heaven truly mean? What are the treasures in heaven, specifically? (Answer, no one is exactly sure, but here are a few ideas…)
Matthew Henry says in his Whole Commentary on the Bible, “A treasure is an abundance of something that is in itself, at least in our opinion, precious and valuable, and likely to stand us in stead hereafter.”
SYNOPSIS: Whoever thought of the phrase “You’re so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good” should be flogged with a wet noodle. While it’s true that we are busy here on earth, we should never be so busy that we fail to persistently contemplate the love and blessedness awaiting us in our heavenly home. Jonathan Edwards knew this.
Will today be the day my faith becomes sight? Will today be the day I am reunited with my Savior and Lord to worship Him perfectly? Will today be the day I see his glory? Will today be the day I sing praises to Him with the angels and the multitudes? Will today be the day I am glorified and my struggle against sin ends forevermore? Will today be the day I see the place He prepared for me? Will today be the day I step through the veil and enter eternity? Will today be the day I stand by the Crystal Sea? Will today be the day I see His face? Will today be the day I praise Him at His feet for saving me? Will today be the day I understand fully, knowing even as I am known? Will today be the day the tears will be wiped from my eyes? Will today be the day I come into my inheritance? Will today be the day I thank my ministering angels? Will today be the day my faith becomes sight?
Do you have this fervency in your heart? Do you pray these things every day? Are you eager to put aside this tent, this life, these earthly concerns, in anticipation of His call? He rewards this eagerness:
“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
Earth is our temporary home. It is roughing it here. We put up with what we have to put up with in the way of trials, diseases, persecution, even inconveniences… because the real home awaiting us when we return to it is so fabulous. When you were at camp during the summer or on a sleepover you had a good time but weren’t you happy to get back to your Mom & Dad? Your own bed?
Jesus came to earth to die, as the atoning sacrifice for sin of the world, to be resurrected by the power of God, proving He is God, and lives in heaven now, waiting for the time He will call His bride to Him. He came “To guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79b). We are at peace, knowing we are reconciled to Him, no longer His enemy but His children.
That is how we should feel. This is not our home. When will we see our real home? I don’t know. Will today be the day?
A reader asked about the spiritual realm. She wisely noticed that though the Bible is clear that there is a spiritual realm, she was hesitant to delve into its study because of all the wacky, outlandish and downright bizarre books and posts about it.
It is a huge subject! Angels are interesting, and I am like my reader, wondering why not many preachers preach on the subject. Though, if you are fortunate to be in a church that preaches expositionally (verse by verse through a book of the Bible), then perhaps the preacher will credibly address it when it naturally arises. It IS a legitimate feature of most Systematic Theology divisions, it’s called Angelology.
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What ARE Angels?
Angels were created by God before He created the world. We know this from Job, because the angels shouted with joy when God did create the universe and worlds. (Job 38:6). In Genesis 1:31 by the end of creation week they had not fallen and were still holy, because God declared everything at that point, “very good”.
They are spirit beings, but they have a personality and a personal will. Some are named in the Bible- Michael and Gabriel for sure, probably Lucifer (Satan), and possibly Apollyon/Abaddon. The mentions of “The Angel of the LORD” are usually interpreted to be a pre-incarnate Jesus.
Then the 6-day creation happened, including earth and God making man. By the next verse after the 2 humans He made, Genesis 3:1 shows us a cunning serpent, which most take to be satan, questioning God’s goodness with the woman. So, by then, some angels had fallen into sin and rebelled. Satan visited the woman in the garden, and Adam was with her. We do not know exactly how long between the end of creation day 6 and the angels’ fall happened, just we know between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 things were not ‘very good’ any more because the serpent duped the woman by questioning God’s standards. Satan (a title meaning Accuser or Adversary) was one of them who fell. Most theologians believe his name is Lucifer. According to most interpretations of Revelation 12:3–4, satan convinced about a third of the created holy angels to follow him into rebellion against God, now becoming unholy, AKA demons.
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Lucifer was found to have sin in his heart. (Ezekiel 28:15). This is how we know angels have a personal will. He was discontent, and started up rumors doubting God’s goodness. He was internally filled with violence (Ezekiel v. 16). His desire and intent is mentioned in Isaiah, a section known as the “5 I Wills”. Isaiah 14:12-15 says-
Ezekiel 28:12-16 mentions satan as one of the highest cherubs who became proud and fell.
“How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who defeated the nations! 13“But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15“Nevertheless you will be brought down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.”
Lucifer/Satan and his cohorts are now unholy angels, or better known as demons. The demons oppose God by attempting to thwart His plans. They incite sin, make war, lay traps for the unwary, foment chaos, hinder God’s holy angels as one of them did to Daniel in Daniel 10:13 by preventing the angel to reach Daniel in answer to Daniel’s prayer, and more. They also have the ability to possess an unsaved person’s body (they cannot possess a Christian, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, (Ephesians 1:13-14; 1 John 4:4).
What do angels do?
What do holy angels do? A LOT! I was surprised when I heard a sermon by John MacArthur and he outlined all the things angels do and I had not known how busy they are! Did you know they execute judgment? They brought the Law? They are priests to God, they minister to God’s people, they bring messages, comfort, and more. They worship God in the temple, they guard things, like the entrance to Eden. John MacArthur preached on what the angels do in a 3-part series I linked below. Once you listen to that and then see in the Bible how much angels do and how much they are around, you can’t unsee it!
Angelology and Demonology are fascinating subjects, but a student of Jesus is wise to be cautious about what is real and what is not. Both those subjects, particularly demonology, have a LOT of crazies preaching wrong stuff. Those subjects seem to invite a lot of extra-biblical speculation, experiential anecdotes, and just plain weird doctrines that have no place in any serious discussion.
John MacArthur preached for nearly 60 years, actively. He said there were only two times he came across a demon-possessed person. John Piper preached for nearly that long, and encountered a demonic possession only once. We cannot see demons, they are spirit beings. If a ministering angel incarnates and walks among us, we most often are unaware of their presence (Hebrews 13:2), but there seem to be rare occasions that a person could detect him. If so, it’s most likely an unholy angel, since the holy angels obey God and as Hebrews says, we are unaware of entertaining them.
There seemed to be a lot of demonic possession in the Bible but you see that the demons intensify their activity when God’s plan is coming to fruition. For example, in Genesis 6, during the time of the Prophets, and especially during Jesus’ earthly ministry. They will again be given opportunity to do their worst during the Tribulation of the last of the last days. But demonic possession is not rampant and most Christians never encounter it.
Demons ONLY do as much, no more or less, than Jesus orders them to. When God told satan he could harass Job, satan was also told not to take Job’s life. Satan obeyed that command. When the legion of demons in Gadara met Jesus they begged Him not to send them into the pit (which they knew He could.) They didn’t demand, they begged. He sent them into the pigs instead. Demons only do what is in God’s plan. A few early on that disobeyed His orders were locked up in the abyss (Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4).
So demons are allowed by God to do certain things as part of His desire to push forward His redemptive plan, to test Christians, to sanctify us through trials, to hand over the sinning ungodly to His wrath, and so on.
Angels have incredible power
2 Thessalonians 2:9 says of the Antichrist, that “the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders”
Satan has power to deceive the elect, if that is possible (Matthew 24:24), with his lying signs and wonders. Remember, the magicians of Pharaoh, named in the New Testament as Jannes and Jambres, kept pace with God’s signs done through Moses, until the plague of gnats. There, they failed, their power unable to match the increasing complexity of the signs. They eventually conceded that God is the greater power, but failed to convince Pharaoh.
Spiritual battles take place every day, but normally a battle is against our own sin and against the world that wants us to sin. We defeat sin by refusing to sin, praying, relying on the Holy Spirit, and staying in the word of God.
We may at times be influenced directly by a demon, but more likely they influence us in general by formulating false societal constructs (‘love is love’, feminism, liberal theology, etc.), tempting us with porn, putting ungodly television shows on, inserting ungodly ideas into books, and so on.
If someone says they have seen a demon, perhaps they are making it up. Or sometimes it can be seemingly real to the person but they are being influenced by books or movies, or dreams that seem real.
Occasionally we hear of outbreaks of alleged demonic possession. These are called “mass hysteria outbreaks”. They almost affect females of adolescent age. Malaysia is a Muslim country with Islam being the state religion. It’s called the mass hysteria capital of the world. The BBC wrote this article about demonic outbreaks:
An outbreak of mass hysteria usually begins with what experts call an “index case”, the first person to become affected. In this story, that is Siti. “It doesn’t happen overnight,” says Robert Bartholomew. “It starts with one child and then quickly spreads to others because of an exposure to a pressure-cooker environment of stress.” And all it takes is a major spike in anxiety in a group situation, like seeing a fellow classmate faint or have a fit – to trigger a reaction in another person.
In Salem, the location of the famous witch trials of the late 1600s, an indigenous slave who dabbled in sorcery had filled some adolescent girls’ heads heads with stories and showed them how to perform certain magic. One story goes of how the witch hysteria began was that several of the Puritan adolescent girls tried repeating what the slave, traditionally named Tituba, had shown them. When they were caught, they accused Tituba of bewitching them. The events ran from there. As it went along, the girls had to keep up the story and a mass hysteria event spread, all from the girls aged 9-20. They fell down, had fits, barked, and other displays of alleged demonic possession, whether real or imagined,
There are many reasons to be cautious about any tales of the demonic.
Conclusion
There are numerous holy angels and fallen angels. Myriads upon myriads, an uncountable number to the ancients, are said to have been created. The holy angels work for God diligently and worshipfully. The fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire forever after being judged.
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? (1 Corinthians 6:3).
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary says of the verse: “judge angels—namely, bad angels. We who are now “a spectacle to angels” shall then “judge angels.” The saints shall join in approving the final sentence of the Judge on them.”
The church is one body, formed by the Spirit, who places each believer intentionally. Like a pointillist painting, individual lives lived further afield may seem indistinct, yet from God’s perspective every placement contributes to a unified, beautiful masterpiece completed in heaven according to His sovereign design.
The discussion revolves around whether pets will be present in heaven, from a Christian perspective. Although humans uniquely reflect God’s image, there is speculation about the fate of animals post-New Earth. The article emphasizes God’s care for animals and suggests trust in His intentions, ultimately asserting joy in heaven will be fulfilled in Christ.
Am I going to write a book about it? No. A book has already been written about what I saw there. It’s called the Bible.
I’m fascinated with glimpses of heaven. I love to read the visions Ezekiel had, and Isaiah, and John. (Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6, Revelation 1, 4, etc). Interestingly, the details all three men recorded are consistent with each other. None of the details that other alleged visitors to heaven who allegedly visited there are consistent with each other nor with the Bible.
I read and re-read those glimpses because that is our home! It is where we believers are headed and will dwell for eternity. Be heavenly minded. It’s more than OK.
Though I’ve read through Exodus before, I had not previously ‘seen’ this little nugget nestled in Exodus 24:9-11.
Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, And they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
WOW!
Well how beautiful, another glimpse of His holy habitation! Jamieson Fausset Commentary says,
“sapphire—one of the most valuable and lustrous of the precious gems—of a sky-blue or light azure color and frequently chosen to describe the throne of God.”
Let’s compare that scene with Ezekiel’s in chapter 1:26,
And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
Barnes notes says of the Exodus scene, “The pure blue of the heaven above them lent its influence to help the inner sense to realize the vision which no mortal eye could behold.“
When I read these and get to the jewels part it’s hard to visualize (how did he know it as sapphire when it’s clear?) but I envision sparkle, brightness, and purity. With the world becoming more and more wretched, I delight to ponder the purity that awaits.
One final thought, Nadab and Abihu saw, supped, and were blessed to behold. Yet that was not enough! They still failed to do as the LORD commanded and they offered strange fire in worship. They got lazy and would not worship as He had commanded. Perhaps they took their eyes away from the LORD, though it’s so hard to believe, since they had seen Him, or at least, His majestic abode.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10:1-2).
How easy is it for us to do the same, we who have not seen? O, keep your eyes on the Lord! Behold Him always. And when you need a pick-me-up, read of the visions of heaven as recorded in the Bible. What a wonderful day awaits us believers!
I reflect on my fascination with glimpses of heaven through biblical accounts from Ezekiel, Isaiah, and John. I illustrate their consistency. I contrast these with other modern claims of heavenly visions which are not consistent. I rejoice in the excitement and purity of heaven as believers’ eternal home.
the-end-time.org 