And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.  This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyones name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. - Revelation 20:10; 14-15 ESV.  

At first glance, these words are a terrifying glimpse of our fate apart from the work of Christ.  As I have read these verses over and over again however, I have realized the incredible amount of information that we learn about God and His plan of salvation in Revelation chapter 20.

What has struck me today is the extent to which God hates sin.  God’s wrath is not a popular topic today, yet it is His wrath against sin which informs us greatly of His holiness.  We worship a holy God.  We worship a God who is “separated from sin and devoted to seeking His own honor” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology).  This is so crucial to who God is, that we should be constantly striving towards a deeper understanding of what it means that God is holy.  When we understand what it means that God is holy, we will worship Him not in spite of, but BECAUSE OF His wrath against sin.

These verses in Revelation 20 also remind me of the incredible mercy of God.  I deserve to be thrown into that lake of fire.  You deserve to be thrown into that lake of fire.  Many theologians and pastors have described hell as “separation from God”.  Often they describe hell as such to make it less offensive.  But hell is described in the bible over and over again, as a real physical place, where those opposed to God are forever tormented.  The thought of hell as God teaches it, is terrifying to me.  It causes me to shudder.  But what should bring me to my knees in fear and trembling is the fact that this is where I deserve to suffer for eternity.  I have stood opposed to God.  I have offended Him.  I have profaned His holy name.  When I am asked by skeptics why anyone deserves to go to hell, I ask them, why does anyone deserve to go to heaven?  The truthful answer to this is, no one.  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).  By GRACE I have been saved from eternity in the lake of fire.  By grace YOU have been saved.  It is not because of our good works, or our obedience to the law, or by anything but this, GRACE!  Our God has had mercy on me, a sinful and wretched man.  Praise be to God for His immeasurable mercy.

And finally, God knows those whom He has chosen.  Their names are written in a great and awesome book.  And we who have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ, can now have confidence that our names are written in that book.  How great is our God?

There are many people alive today, whose names are also written in that book of life, and who desperately need to hear the good news, that “Christ was slain, and purchased for God with His blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation”. (Revelation 5:9 NASB).  I have heard it said that we should “respect” people of other faiths, and therefore should not preach “our faith” to them.  However, if you saw someone standing in the middle of the road with a bus heading straight towards them, what would be your response?  Would you “respect” their decision to stand there, and allow them to be killed?  Would you not yell at them to move?  If they were deaf, would you not even push them out of the way?  When we understand what it means to be thrown into the lake of fire, the most respectful and loving thing we could ever do would be to share the gospel with that person.  This should motivate us to live as missionaries, wherever and whenever God has placed us.  “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15).

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15).

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. - Revelation 17:14 ESV.  

This is the 44th week that I have written this blog post.  Some weeks it has been very easy for me to write, and the words have come to me quite naturally.  Other weeks I have struggled, and it was not until I spent time in prayer, asking for words, that the Lord gave them to me.  This has been one of those weeks.  And so I have asked the Lord what I am to write.  And He has responded that it does not matter what I write, or how eloquent I am, or how creative my writings are, because I have been “called” and am “chosen” and am “faithful”.

Revelation 17 is a great reminder for me of my identity in Christ Jesus.  What joy it gives me to hear these words from my Lord, that I am “called and chosen and faithful”.  What incredible freedom we have to know that the One we serve is the Victor.  And since we are His, and because He is victorious, we are victorious too!  He will never leave us or forsake us, for we are “with him”, and we are “called and chosen and faithful”.

And what a great King we serve!  He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, yet He laid down His life, as a Lamb, as one who “is led to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).  “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8).  And truly He was “wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5).  What kind of king would do this?  Only One.

And now, because He was the propitiation for our sins, we can be “with him”.  We are “called and chosen and faithful”.  This causes great celebration within my heart.  This causes my heart to swell with joy, and hope, and faith, and such love for my God who would do this for me “the worst of sinners”.

We continue to live in a time of war.  And those opposed to Jesus will make war on the Lamb, but we have nothing to fear, for “the Lamb will conquer them”.  And not only will He conquer, but because we are His, and are “with him”, we too will be victorious.  “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith” (1 John 5:4).

This week I hope that you will spend time meditating on your identity in Christ Jesus.  I hope that you will remember daily who it is that we worship.  And I hope that you will rejoice greatly, with exceeding joy, that you are “with him” and that you are “called and chosen and faithful”.

Thank you Jesus.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!  The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.  His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.  He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.  And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.  From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.  He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.  - Revelation 19:11-16 ESV.  

What kind of man do you picture when you hear the name Jesus?  Do you picture a humble, yet weak man?  Do you picture a pacifist, carrying a peace banner?  Do you picture a kind and gentle teacher of morality?

Let me tell you what the bible tells us about Jesus.  He is a warrior.  He has a sword coming out of his mouth, sharp enough to strike down the nations.  His eyes burn with the fire of God’s wrath.  He comes to judge, and He comes to make war.  His robe is drenched in blood.  He is followed by the most powerful, and fearsome army you could ever imagine.  He has tattooed on his thigh this name, “King of kings and Lord of lords”.

For too long, Christian churches in America have watered down the Jesus of the bible, in the name of making him “more accessible”.  As I try to reconcile this watered down version of Jesus, with the Jesus spoken of by God in Revelation, I want to vomit.  I am disgusted by the multitude of churches that have turned Jesus into a pathetic spineless hippy.  I am disgusted by all the churches that refuse to even mention the wrath of God, and that would never suggest that Jesus Christ will return to judge and to make war.

We should today (and every day) stand in awe and fear of the Jesus Christ of the bible.  He is Faithful, and He is True, and He is coming to judge and to destroy those opposed to Him.  And he is coming to set free and to reign over and to protect forever those who have believed in Him.  Let us understand who this Jesus is that we are believing in.  He is awesome!

And let not a single day go by, when you do not remember that this great and mighty and sovereign warrior king laid down all of his weapons and all of his power and then laid down His life .... for you.

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead” (Revelation 1:17).

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  - 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV  

Jesus Christ will return to earth.  We know this to be true because He has promised us this:  “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).  For what purpose will He return?  “To unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10).  Jesus will return in triumph and in glory to restore all things to Himself.

Restoration of this fallen world on which we live is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Restoration is the great climax to the history of redemption.  Restoration is our doctrine of future hope.  Our knowledge of and understanding of the coming restoration is critical to our knowledge of and understanding of who God is, and what He is doing, and what He will do.

I am writing this blog post from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  All around me is poverty.  In two weeks I will return to my comfortable home in Bellingham, but these people will continue to live in poverty.  This morning I visited a hundred orphans, being fed by the hands of a man and woman who understand that Jesus Christ will one day return to restore all things to Himself.  Their hope is not found in their government, who has let them down time and again.  Their hope is not found in the charity of westerners.  Their hope is not found in their own labor to help the needy orphans of Ethiopia.  Their hope is this, that one day, Jesus Christ will return, will restore and will renew all things.  Their hope is found in the knowledge that one day Jesus Christ will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God (what a terrifying and glorious sound that will be!).  Their hope is in the fundamental truth that Christ will one day put an end to poverty and hunger and despair, and that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things (will) have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

How then are we to live now?  “We are live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13).  We are to live our lives based upon the hope of the gospel, the WHOLE gospel, including the promise of restoration by Christ for His people.  We are to walk in faith, to labor for those in need, and to preach the gospel to those who are perishing.  And we are to expect His return at any moment.  And we are to long for His return at every moment.  Let us not forget that He has testified, “Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20).

Jesus Christ WILL descend from heaven at an hour and a day that no one knows (Matthew 24:44), and it will be terrifying and awful for those who have rejected Him (see Matthew 25:41).  And it will be more glorious and wonderful than you could ever imagine, for those who have accepted Him (see Matthew 25:34).

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25).

If you are interested in supporting Yezelalem Minch, the above mentioned orphan care project in Ethiopia, please visit: www.futurehopecampaign.org

But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.  “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household,( to give them their food at the proper time? ) Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.  But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 24:43-51.  

It may be hard for you to believe this, but writing this blog does not pay very well.  In fact it pays nothing (at least nothing monetarily speaking).  So I have been forced to find other employment in order to pay my bills and feed my family.  I am an anesthesiologist.  Towards the end of medical school I began interviewing for a residency position in anesthesiology.  At one of my interviews I was asked what I believed to be the most important quality in an anesthesiologist.  I answered “vigilance”.

It has often been said that being an anesthesiologist is not unlike being a pilot.  It is 99% boredom and 1% terror.  That 1% however is the reason it takes 12 years of higher education to become an anesthesiologist.  That 1% is the reason I continue to have to study, and train.  That 1% is the time when an anesthesiologist’s intervention is the difference between life and death.

In Matthew 24, we likewise are called to remain vigilant.  This is to be part of our identity as a people waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  To not be vigilant is to be neglectful, or apathetic.  And it is during times of apathy that sin creeps in like a thief, to rob us of our faith and of our hope.  Satan loves an apathetic Christian.

I believe that if you asked most evangelical Christians today if they believed that the Lord would return before they die, although they may answer yes, they truly believe the answer is no.  I confess that I too have often struggled to believe that Jesus is truly returning soon, as His word says He will.  And yet here we have His word which tells us that He is coming soon, and that we are to remain vigilant for His coming “at an hour you do not expect”.  So what are we to do?  We are once again to humble ourselves beneath the Word of God, which we know to be true and faithful, and to obey what He has commanded us to do, to be a people waiting for His return, waiting vigilantly.

And we are not only to be vigilant in our waiting, we are to eagerly long for His return.  We are called “to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:12-13).  The more I grow in Christ, the less attached I am to this world, and the more I look forward to His return, as I await my blessed hope.

Let us, as a church, remember today that we are called to be a people waiting for the return of our Savior Jesus Christ, and that we are called to be vigilant in our waiting, knowing that His return will come at an hour we do not expect.  And it will be glorious, and terrifying and so very wonderful for those who have believed in Him.

“Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

So we exult in hope of the glory of God.  And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:2-5 NASB; 1 Peter 1:13 NASB  

“Any person who only sticks with Christianity as long as things are going his or her way is a stranger to the cross” - Tim Keller.

Before I became a follower of Jesus Christ, suffering had no meaning for me.  It seemed to me nothing more than "bad luck".  It claimed innocent victims and consumed them, often leaving them helpless, hopeless, and broken.  I resented it as something that did not belong in this world.  Praise God, that now, He has revealed to us that suffering does not go wasted.  He allows these tribulations, for the sanctification of His people, and ultimately for the glory of His name.  We must hold tight to what we recently heard from our departed brother in Christ, that "God is God, and God is good".  THERE is your hope when you are suffering tribulation.  THERE is your hope when you are persecuted.  THERE is your hope when it may seem as if your hope has left you.  It has not.  God is doing a good work in you, and here in Romans He has revealed what that work involves.  It involves the strengthening of your perseverance.  It involves the molding of your character, that it may be proven, that you may be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29).  And ultimately, it strengthens our hope in the glory of God.

I have shared previously on this blog about the period of my life which I most clearly remember as "tribulation".  It was the week my daughter Ella was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on her kidney.  That week drove my wife and I to a place we had not previously been.  It drove us to complete dependence on God.  We were helpless.  We could not heal our daughter.  We could not remove the suffering she would soon go through.  We were at a crossroads.  We could abandon our hope, or we could run to our Savior.  We chose to run to Him, choosing to believe that "God is God, and God is good".

Looking back on that week (as I still frequently do), I see the good work which God was doing.  God used that tribulation to drive us near to Him, to strengthen our perseverance, our character, and ultimately our hope.  He painfully, and effectively reminded us of where our hope was invested.  I look back on that week with a strange mix of emotions.  I remember vividly the pain, and the fear.  But I also remember the sweet communion I had with God that week.  I remember the warmth of the Father's love, hearing Him speak in a way I had not heard Him speak before.  Those times were also some of the sweetest memories I have of my time with my wife and with my daughter Ella, lying next to her in that hospital bed, being so very thankful for the gift from God that she is in my life, and knowing that she too is loved by Him.

Our early church fathers knew tribulation in a way that few of us know.  Our brothers and sisters living in closed countries today know tribulation in a way that few of us know.  So what are we to do?  We to prepare our minds for action.  We are to keep sober in spirit.  And we are to fix our hope completely on the grace brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  We are to fix our hope upon the cross of Jesus Christ, where tribulation brought forth glory.  Our hope is in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Abba, let us never forget the cross.  When our faith is tested through tribulation, let us run toward the cross and cling to it, with the knowledge that we are called to place our hope in the atoning work of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).