Today we will look at Revelation 14:7
"Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
What does it mean to "fear God". The answer is pretty simple. It does not mean to be afraid of Him. It simply means to reverence Him, "and give glory to Him".
When one goes into the courtrooms of the world, whether they are defending themselves, whether a juror, and even just a spectator, they usually present themselves clean and orderly. Some go a far a putting on their "Sunday best". I was actually in a court room where the court clerk call up an individual and presented him with a paper, with the charges on them, and had him sit back down. One of the court officers whispered something to the clerk, and the clerk told that same person, who had shorts on, to go home and change his pants. That was done in reverence for the judge. There is no talking, no chewing of gum, there is nothing that is disrespectful to the judge, allowed to go on in that courtroom.
But, we come into the house of God, into His Courtroom, His Sanctuary, with all kinds of noise, all kinds of manner of food items, all kinds of, just total disrespect and honor, to the one we claim to love and follow. The meaning of, "take off your shoe because you are on Holy ground", is totally gone from our minds. All manner of conversation is going on, "in His presents", without remorse.
What are we to do? We are to "fear God, and give glory to Him", just as we do when we come into the presents of a worldly judge. Even more!
With the "everlasting gospel", the power of God unto salvation, and the fact that we are living in the judgement time, "for the hour of His judgement is come", that is what will bring us into unity with the first angel that said to fear God and give Him glory. God, allowing His Son to die for us, that we may live, is what should bring us together to love Him. The point that Jesus has move from the Holy, to the Most Holy place of the Heavenly Sanctuary, should move us to get right with God, now.
"When the twenty-three hundred days closed in 1844, Christ entered the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. When this change was about to take place in heaven, God commissioned an angel to fly earthward with a message to mankind that would prepare the human heart for the closing work on the earth".
Steven N. Haskel, Seer of Patmos, pg. 253
This is the time when our hearts are to be prepared for the judgement of God.
"The message itself sheds light as to the time when this movement is to take place. It is declared to be a part of the "everlasting gospel;" and it announces the opening of the judgment. The message of salvation has been preached in all ages; but this message is a part of the gospel which could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it be true that the hour of judgment had come. The prophecies present a succession of events leading down to the opening of the judgment." GC 356
We are now living in the "day of atonement". What is the day of atonement?
The most important part of the daily ministration was the service performed in behalf of individuals. The repentant sinner brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle, and placing his hand upon the victim's head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. By his own hand the animal was then slain, and the blood was carried by the priest into the holy place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which was the ark containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was, through the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary. In some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place; but the flesh was then to be eaten by the priest. . . . Both ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the sin from the penitent to the sanctuary.
Such was the work that went on day by day throughout the year. The sins of Israel being thus transferred to the sanctuary, the holy places were defiled, and a special work became necessary for the removal of the sins. God commanded that an atonement be made for each of the sacred apartments, as for the altar, to "cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel." Lev.16:19.
Once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, the priest entered the most holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. The work there performed, completed the yearly round of ministration. . . . FLB 198
Are you ready to be judged by God?1 Corithians 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
"By the inspiration of the Spirit of God, Paul the apostle writes that "whatsoever ye do," even the natural act of eating or drinking, should be done....to the glory of God." Every part of the man is to be guarded; we are to beware, lest that which ....shall banish from the mind, high and holy thoughts.
May I not do as I please with myself? ask some, as if we were seeking to deprive them of a great good, .... and conforming all their habits to the laws God has established. There are rights which belong to every individual. We have an individuality, and an identity, that is our own. No one can submerge his identity in that of any other. All must act for themselves, according to the dictates of their own conscience. As regards, our responsibility and influence, we are amenable to God as deriving our life from Him. This we do not obtain from humanity, but from God only. We are His by creation and by redemption. Our very bodies are not our own, to treat as we please, to cripple by habits that lead to decay, making it impossible to render to God perfect service. Our lives and all our faculties, belong to Him. He is caring for us every moment; He keeps the living machinery in action; if we were left to run it for one moment, we should die. We are absolutely dependent upon God.
A great lesson is learned when we understand our relation to God, and His relation to us. The words, "Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price," should be hung in memory's hall, that we may ever recognize God's rights to our talents, our property, our influence, our individual selves. We are to learn how to treat this gift of God, in mind, in soul, in body, that as Christ's purchased possession, we may do Him healthful, savory service. CD 56
To God be the glory.
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