Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 7:15-17
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.
7:16 "They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat.
7:17 "for the Lambwho is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The activities of God on the throne of heaven are as follows:
ad. 2. Leading us to the throne of heaven.
John 10:3-5
10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
10:5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Our attitude is following the leading of the hand of the Great Shepherd through hearing His voice or the true teaching word which is repeated and running away from the strange voice or the one which is not the same as the voice of the shepherd like the false teaching, gossips, or the fleshly voice. It deceives or turns the direction of our following Jesus, so we do not aim at the throne of heaven anymore but the destruction forever.
Matthew 8:18-20
8:18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher,I will follow You wherever You go."
8:20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
So, the Shepherd's voice is able to increase our following God as follows:
The meanings of the body's following the Head are as follows:
God blesses you.
Revelation 7:15-17
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.
7:16 "They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat.
7:17 "for the Lambwho is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
The activities of God on the throne of heaven are as follows:
- Dwelling.
- Leading us to the throne of heaven.
ad. 2. Leading us to the throne of heaven.
John 10:3-5
10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
10:4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
10:5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Our attitude is following the leading of the hand of the Great Shepherd through hearing His voice or the true teaching word which is repeated and running away from the strange voice or the one which is not the same as the voice of the shepherd like the false teaching, gossips, or the fleshly voice. It deceives or turns the direction of our following Jesus, so we do not aim at the throne of heaven anymore but the destruction forever.
Matthew 8:18-20
8:18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher,I will follow You wherever You go."
8:20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
So, the Shepherd's voice is able to increase our following God as follows:
- A son's following the Father. It must be increased because there is the lost son.
- The relationship between student and teacher, but they still can be separated.
- A sheep's following the Shepherd, but there is still the lost one.
- The top of our following God is in the saying "I will follow You wherever You go." It is the body's following the Head which cannot be separated forever.
The meanings of the body's following the Head are as follows:
- We must enter the edifying of the perfect body of Christ that begins from the marriage, shepherding, inter-shepherding, until Israelites and the Gentiles become one perfect body of Christ.
The requirements are as follows:- Living in holiness by the work of the true teaching word which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
Ephesians 4:11-12
4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
After living in holiness, we will be equipped with ministry and the gift of Holy Spirit which are entrusted by God to us. - [Matthew 8:18] Departing to the other side means sacrificing. We must sacrifice our time, energy, finance, thought, et cetera, even our whole life to God. All things must be sacrificed to the ministry of the edifying of the perfect body of Christ except the true teaching word.
Departing to the other side also means going forward. So, we must be faithful and fervent in spirit to serve and minister to God.
- Living in holiness by the work of the true teaching word which is sharper than any two-edged sword.
- We must make Jesus as the head.
The facts found in it are as follows:- There is no more fear about daily life and the future.
Matthew 6:31-34
6:31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?
6:32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The worry is the characteristic of the Gentiles which is ingrained in them.
The consequence of the worry is being unfaithful in the service and ministry. One cannot prioritize God. He also cannot live in righteousness and obedience, so he has blemish or cannot be perfect.
Proverbs 12:25
12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
Worrying is the same as being bent over spiritually. The sight is only to the fleshly things, until sacrificing the heavenly ones to get the physical things in the world. One cannot glorify God. Consequently, he is stamped by Antichrist with the seal 666.
We must make Jesus as the Head. It means that there is no more fear, so we can stand uprightly and not be bent over anymore.
Luke 13:13
13:13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Standing uprightly means that we can prioritize God more than anything and glorify Him.
It also means holding fast to the true teaching word. - [Matthew 8:20] We must be set free from the wolf and bird or Babylon.
Revelation 18:2
18:2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
The wolf refers to the evil spirit, namely the desire of money which makes one stingy and greedy. He serves and ministers to God only to look for the blessing or the physical things.
The bird refers to the unclean spirit which aim at the sins of eating and drinking such as smoking, getting drunk, and drugs abused and the ones of marrying-being given in marriage or adultery. It also refers to hatred, and bitterness.
After being set free from the spirit of evil, uncleanness, and bitterness, we become the temple of God or the place of Holy Spirit. So, we can love one another, even our enemy. - There is tight relationship between body and the Head namely the neck. It refers to the worship prayer. It must be our main need or our breath.
Romans 8:26
8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The flesh cannot worship God. It often slumbers and gets bored Holy Spirit helps us to pray with a broken heart and surrender fully to God.
The facts found in the broken heart are as follows:- Being silent and quiet.
Isaiah 30:14-15
30:14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter's vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern."
30:15 For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." But you would not.
Being silent means doing the introspection in our life by the sharpness of the sword of the word of God or repenting. If we are not wrong, do not defense ourselves.
Being quiet means controlling our life so that we do not hope to other but only God, so we cannot sin.
As a result, the sea which is shaken by wind and waves becomes calm, peaceful, easy, and light. The impossible problems are finished by God, the destructions are healed to become good, and all things are beautiful in due time. - Being honest and obedient.
Romans 8:15
8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
We stretch out our hand to God.
The results are as follows:- The widow of Zarephath was honest and obedient. So, God stretched out His merciful hand to preserve her abundantly.
His merciful hand is able to preserve us until the time when the Antichrist rules over the earth for three and a half years. - Exodus 14:21
14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
Moses was honest and obedient. He surrendered and cried out to God, so God stretched His hand to divide the Red Sea. God determines our death and life and there is successful and beautiful future life. - John 21:18-19
21:18 "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
21:19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
Peter was afraid until he denied Jesus. After he was shepherded, he became honest and obedient. He was changed to have the fear of the Lord and not to sin although he had to die. God stretched His hand to renew Peter from fleshly man to the spiritual one. When Jesus comes for the second time, we are changed to be perfect like Him and worthy to welcome His second coming.
- The widow of Zarephath was honest and obedient. So, God stretched out His merciful hand to preserve her abundantly.
- Being silent and quiet.
- There is no more fear about daily life and the future.
God blesses you.