Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 7:13-15
7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
7:14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
7:15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
Who wears the white robes, stands before the throne of God, and serves to Him day and night?
The servant of God who comes out of the great tribulation wears the white robes, stands before the throne of God, and serves to Him day and night.
There are two kinds of the great tribulation as follows:
ad. 2. The great tribulation from now on.
If we experience the cross or the death with Jesus, we will experience the resurrection and glory with Him.
The attitudes towards the cross or the death experience can be as follows.
Luke 6:20-23
6:20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
6:21 Blessed are you who hungernow, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weepnow, For you shall laugh.
6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
There are four kinds of joy in Luke 6:20-23 as follows.
Thus, we get the heavenly joy from the cross. Our logic may not understand it. It must be received with our faith.
The faith is in the higher level than the logic. Thus, what the faith can understand will be understood by the logic.
John 19:30
19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus drank the sour wine mingled with gall upon the cross. It means that on the cross, He has born all sins and the curses which make men suffer and live in bitterness. Not only that, He has also given the sweet wine or the heavenly joy.
The facts found in experiencing the heavenly joy are as follows.
God blesses you.
Revelation 7:13-15
7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
7:14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
7:15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
Who wears the white robes, stands before the throne of God, and serves to Him day and night?
The servant of God who comes out of the great tribulation wears the white robes, stands before the throne of God, and serves to Him day and night.
There are two kinds of the great tribulation as follows:
- The great tribulation when the Antichrist reigns over the world for three and a half years.
Ones who worship God must get the great persecution until being beheaded, but they will be resurrected in the body of glory and taken up to heaven. They wash their robes in their own blood. - The great tribulation from now on.
The true attitude is washing the robe in the blood of the Lamb. It is the same as undergoing the sprinkling of blood or the suffering in the flesh with Jesus.
ad. 2. The great tribulation from now on.
If we experience the cross or the death with Jesus, we will experience the resurrection and glory with Him.
The attitudes towards the cross or the death experience can be as follows.
- The wrong attitude:
- Murmuring, grumbling, being disappointed and hopeless, as well as leaving the Lord.
- Looking for the way out which is not in line with the Word.
- Murmuring, grumbling, being disappointed and hopeless, as well as leaving the Lord.
- The true attitude, namely learning from Mary.
Matthew 27:61
27:61And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
She sat opposite the tomb while others had gone. It means that she did not want to go away from the cross or the death experience with Jesus quickly as follows.- Being patient in the death experience or waiting for the time of God.
He will make all things beautiful in His time. - Enjoying the cross or the death experience with Jesus. As a result, we get the heavenly joy.
- Being patient in the death experience or waiting for the time of God.
Luke 6:20-23
6:20 Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
6:21 Blessed are you who hungernow, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weepnow, For you shall laugh.
6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
6:23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
There are four kinds of joy in Luke 6:20-23 as follows.
- Blessed are the poor. It is related to the characteristic of Jesus as a King.
- Blessed are those who hunger. It is related to the characteristic of Jesus as a Servant.
- Blessed are those who weep. It is related to the characteristic of Jesus as a Man.
- Blessed are those who are hated because of Jesus. It is related to the characteristic of Jesus as the Son of God.
Thus, we get the heavenly joy from the cross. Our logic may not understand it. It must be received with our faith.
The faith is in the higher level than the logic. Thus, what the faith can understand will be understood by the logic.
John 19:30
19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus drank the sour wine mingled with gall upon the cross. It means that on the cross, He has born all sins and the curses which make men suffer and live in bitterness. Not only that, He has also given the sweet wine or the heavenly joy.
The facts found in experiencing the heavenly joy are as follows.
- Blessed are the poor. It refers to Jesus as the King of kings.
2 Corinthians 8:9
8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Jesus as the King of kings is very rich, but He willingly becomes poor so that we, who are poor, can be rich in the liberality.
2 Corinthians 8:1-3
8:1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:
8:2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
8:3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,
Being rich in the liberality means liking to give.
Luke 12:18-21
12:18 "So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
12:19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'
12:20 "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'
12:21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
It begins from returning the tithes and offering that belong to God or giving to His work. Then, we can give to others who are in need until we can give our whole life to God.
2 Corinthians 9:7-8
9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
The requirement of giving is with willingness and joy, without being forced, and not of necessity.
The results are as follows:- We receive the grace of God which is able to supply everything we need until we can say "I shall not want".
- Moreover, we have the abundance for every good work. It means that we can do good and righteous deeds until we can repay good for evil. We can feel more joyful to give than to receive.
Revelation 19:8
19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Finally, we receive the clean and bright fine linen or the garments of the bride.
- We receive the grace of God which is able to supply everything we need until we can say "I shall not want".
- Blessed are those who hunger. It refers to Jesus as a Servant.
Luke 6:21a
6:21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled.
The duty of a servant is pleasing the heart of his master.
Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights for doing the will of the Father in heaven or for satisfying His heart.
Now, we must also serve to God with hunger. It means serving to God with a need, not with the feeling that we are needed.
The sign is not getting bored. There is no need to be commanded. We can be faithful and responsible, faithful and righteous; and faithful and good in the service and ministry to God.
Isaiah 11:5
11:5 Righteousnessshall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulnessthe belt of His waist.
Luke 17:8
17:8 "But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?
Serving to God with faithfulness and righteousness is the same as girding ourselves or giving food and drink to the Lord to satisfy His heart.
As a result, our food and drink become God's business. He will satisfy our life and give the joy of heaven.
Jeremiah 2:32
2:32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, Or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number.
The faithfulness and righteousness as well as the faithfulness and obedience are the ornaments of the bride. - Blessed are those who weep. It refers to Jesus as a Man.
Luke 6:21b
6:21 .... Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.
Jesus wept when He was a baby and Lazarus died. He also wept over Jerusalem.
Likewise, we must weep over our life more now. It means weeping over our sins. We realize, regret, and confess our sins seriously to God (vertical line) and others (horizontal line). After being forgiven, do not commit sin anymore!
Psalm 32:1,11
32:1 <<A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.>>Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
32:11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
We must live in righteousness and honesty. That is the heavenly joy.
We must be honest in the matter of the true teaching Word, marriage, money, and all things.
The honesty becomes the voice of the bride. Say "yes" if "yes" and "no" if "no" until someday we do not stumble in words. We only say "Alleluia" to welcome Jesus' second coming.
Psalm 32:3-4
32:3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.
32:4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
The false attitudes are as follows:- Keeping silent or not confessing sin. It means that the marrow is dry. The marrow is inside the spine. If it is dry, one cannot stand uprightly anymore because there is no supporting bone.
- Smiling in sins. In such condition, one will weep in the hell forever for sure.
- Keeping silent or not confessing sin. It means that the marrow is dry. The marrow is inside the spine. If it is dry, one cannot stand uprightly anymore because there is no supporting bone.
- Blessed are those who are hated because of Jesus. It refers to Jesus as the Son of God
Luke 6:22
6:22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
This refers to the sprinkling of blood.
Why does God let us experience it?
1 Peter 4:12-14
4:12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
4:13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
4:14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of gloryand of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
He lets us experience it so that we get the Spirit of glory or Shekinah Glory.
The functions are as follows:- The Spirit of glory gives the heavenly joy which cannot be influenced by the world.
- The Spirit of glory changes us from the fleshly man to the spiritual one like Jesus. We can welcome His second coming as the King of all kings and the Heavenly Bridegroom on the glorious clouds.
Matthew 24:30-32
24:30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
24:31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
24:32 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
The hard heart must be changed into the meek one that gets smaller until being like a baby who only cries to God.
A baby is the smallest and meekest person. Nevertheless, he gets the biggest attention from God.
King Hezekiah was a great king, but had to undergo the sprinkling of blood through the two things as follows.- Total economy crisis.
Isaiah 36:1,12
36:1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.
36:12 But the Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?" - The statement of his death.
Isaiah 38:1-3
38:1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'"
38:2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,
38:3 and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- Tearing his clothes. It means confessing the nakedness and sins.
Isaiah 37:1
37:1 And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. - Worshiping God for an hour, fasting, and praying all night-long.
Isaiah 37:14-15
37:14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
37:15 Then Hezekiah prayedto the LORD, saying:
In the worship prayer, we keep silent before God. We do not rely on anything in the world, but God. - Being a baby who only hopes the great mercy and grace of God.
Isaiah 38:3
38:3 and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
The more we become meek and little, the more we feel the great merciful hands of God carrying our life.
- God makes war instead of us. The great problems are made as corpses.
Isaiah 37:35-36
37:35 'For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'"
37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses--all dead.
The hands of God are able to preserve and protect our small and powerless life in facing the difficulties in the world.
The hands of God surround us as with a shield, so we can feel peaceful. All things become easy and light. - The merciful hands of God make the dead alive, the sorrowful joyful, and the rotten fragrant and beautiful. The destroyed things can be good. There is nothing impossible for God.
Isaiah 38:3-5
38:3 and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
38:4 And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying,
38:5 "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.
It continues until we can welcome Jesus' second coming on the glorious clouds. We stand before the throne of God and serve to Him day and night forever.
- The Spirit of glory gives the heavenly joy which cannot be influenced by the world.
God blesses you.