The Plan of Salvation was built on the call to repentance. The conclusion of the April-May 2024 Newsletter, this devotional reading looks at how God is continuing to call His Church to repentance.
At the end of last year when I was getting ready to start posting the devotions in the On the Day of the Lord theme, I was emailing back and forth with one of my readers. He was strongly encouraging me that I needed to take a love-and-reward only approach to how I presented the material in Revelation.
I didn’t feel that was the way God was calling me. If Revelation was only about our reward for being disciples, why has God been telling Pastor Steve that the Church has been missing Jesus? That we are ignorant and apathetic?
That tells me that the call of repentance is still the focus. We don’t get the reward if the repentance hasn’t occurred.
Making the Connections #4
Call for Repentance
Each letter had a call to repentance. Only one was marginal.
- God, in His love and mercy, calls all sinners to repent.
- We have to ensure that we are saved by the name of Jesus Christ and following God’s laws and commandments as He intends. If we aren’t, we need to repent.
- God will not tell anyone that they can disregard His laws and commandments. If we think something doesn’t apply to us, we are wrong. False teaching would not be permitted. Tolerance of sin would not be permitted.
- Even after conversion, disciples are going to sin. We will still need to repent and turn from our sinful ways.
- Turning from our sinful ways means that the purpose for our lives changes. We are no longer to follow the worldview’s standards. We are to follow God’s laws and commandments.
- We have to turn from our love of the world to making God our priority.
- Hopefully, we don’t abandon God’s Word. That would have been worse than forgetting it. Forgetting is an unconscious decision. Abandonment is a conscious decision.
- The consequence for not repenting and turning back to God will be the removal of the church’s lampstand and our spiritual death. We send ourselves to hell by not repenting of our sins and following Him.
- God does not want anyone to perish. They will if they refuse to repent. Man, woman, senior, adult, or child. We must choose God.
- Only if our spiritual condition is right are we called children of God. Our good actions toward others will not be substituted for submission to God. Commendations do not negate the condemnation. We either repent or face judgment.
- God isn’t going to accept our request for salvation if we don’t repent. Repenting is all about our acknowledging that we have sinned against God. We must show Him that we have the faith to make the needed transformation.
- We cannot be lax in our treatment of sin. We have to try to rid the world of sin. God will punish those who are trying to undermine His Church.
- We need to repent quickly because we don’t know when Jesus will judge us for our sins. None of us know how much of a future we have. This may be our last day in this world. Jesus may call us home individually or as a Church.
- God’s Word will be used to judge us. In it are all the laws and commandments by which we will be judged. But we won’t be judged on whether we have done the do’s and not done the don’ts.
Making the Connections #5
Closing Remarks to the Faithful
- We must overcome sin and love God to gain eternal life.
- We not only have to hear God’s Word, but we also have to listen and implement it into our lives. Our response should be to hear, listen, and obey.
To the One Who Conquers
- We are told to overcome temptations.
- Our attitude matters when we are experiencing trials. Are we content in whatever situation God puts us in, or are we kicking and screaming for whatever reason? We are told to patiently endure.
- What we cannot forget is that we were not the one to overcome. Jesus is.
- Don’t miss the significance of the word overcome. Our spiritual lives — therefore our physical lives — are not meant to be a walk in the park. We are to expect persecution, not a rose garden.
- Still, we are to be faithful until death.
- When not all the congregation buys what the false prophetess was selling, they will not be punished for the sins of others.
Rewards
- Eat from the tree of life – have eternal life. It is okay for mankind to live forever once we have accepted the payment for our sins. We will no longer be impure creatures when we receive our new bodies. We will be in perfect fellowship with God. Also, it shows how God’s plans always come to fruition. He sets the path, and it happens regardless of how many centuries the fullness of His time takes.
- The crown of life – a victorious life with our perfected — mature — character. The crown of life is a life of self-control. God wants our sinful nature cut out of us. No one else can take away our salvation. We have to listen for opportunities to serve. If we miss that opportunity and someone else comes in and does it, they will “take” the crown that was originally meant for us. It would diminish our final crown, but we would still get the crown.
- Escaping second death – escaping spiritual death. Enduring might include physical death, but enduring cements our eternal life.
- Receiving hidden manna – understanding God’s Word that has been hidden from us. The meaning of Jesus’ words is hidden to those who did not believe. When we seek God/eat the manna, we grow to understand Him better and gain faith, our reward. Our faith is only sustained through the reading and study of God’s Word. Only through meditating on it and applying it to our lives do we stop our spiritual death.
- Given a white stone – a sign of acquittal or innocence or an admission ticket. When we apply that to our spiritual condition, the white stone means God has forgiven us of our sins and we are released from the guilt. I can see that as a symbol needed for our admission to Heaven. It was divided and the names of each party written on them. No one else knew you had a tessera with someone else’s name on it.
- Doing the works – not having the right mind and heart is as bad as not doing them at all.
- Hold fast to what we already have – means endure. Salvation is worth the struggle.
- Authority over the nations – We don’t know what authority Jesus is going to delegate to us. Whatever it is, disciples will not be tolerant of sin in Heaven. We will rule with an iron staff to enforce the God’s laws.
- Morning star – salvation. Each and every one of us is called to salvation (the dawn). However, we don’t all accept the gift. Only those who open the eyes of our hearts receive the day-star (faith).
- White garments – symbolize our character. The white garments show we have been justified by Jesus. They symbolize purity in God. We get purity in God through salvation, not doing works. Our works can be a costume to cover up the fact that we don’t have white clothes — a real relationship with God. If we are doing the works with the wrong motivation, we are Matthew 7: 21 people, who end up being goats on Judgment Day. The only way we gain the white garments is by conquering sin. The only way we conquer self and sin is by putting our faith in Jesus and imitating Him.
- Pillar in the Temple – the stones on which the Church is built that form the pillars that support the building. We are all living stones. But these are special load-bearing pillars. They would have seen pillars that stood firm – and pillars that buckled under the shaking. Jesus would never have been talking about an unreliable pillar holding His Church.
- Write on Him – write God’s name on us. It will be permanently written on our hearts. It shows God’s ownership of us.
- Sit on My Throne – will have control of the heart. We are going to participate in the kingdom. We will be right there with Jesus.
Tying It Up #1
There comes a time when we have to quit waffling and make a choice.
We think God is always going to give us opportunities to choose Him. Whether we are choosing to submit to Him or rededicate our lives to Him, we think we should have all the time in the world too make our decision.
That may have been the case in the past.
God has given us everything we need to make the decision. We are either with Him or with Satan.
When we get to the Day of the Lord, there will be no time to choose. The choice will be made.
Choose wisely.
Tying It Up #2
Jesus told us that we are to be in the world but not of it. That puts us in the spiritual world, even now. Though we may feel small and unworthy, we will always be worthy when we are faithful.
- God doesn’t want us to remain in sin. The Plan of Salvation was designed so that we would repent, turn away from our sins, and live as God would have us live.
- The Lamb gave His life before we even knew of the concept of sin, salvation, forgiveness, and redemption.
- This correction has one goal – to make us more like God. That can only be done by finding forgiveness for our sins.
- If we are growing closer to God, then we are drawing away from the present world. If we are entrenched in this world, then we are drawing away from God.
- We only get to conversion when we see our need and see that Jesus is the only One Who can address that need.
- Our response should be one thing – repentance. When we truly repent, we turn away from our sins and don’t commit them again.
- We have to make a commitment to become responsible and engaged to grow in holiness. We have to adore and love God with an intensity. We become new creations in Christ when we have the habitual holiness with the passion for God.
- Acceptance or rejection of the Plan of Salvation is up to us.
- So, if God and Jesus are supposed to be living in our hearts, why is Jesus outside knocking on our hearts? Jesus stands at our hearts’ doors, implying waiting. It doesn’t say He comes and goes to check in to see if we are ready.
- There is only one way our heart-doors are opened. We open them. Jesus allows us to open the door to Him.
Tying It Up #3
- Jesus will always steer us to God. He will guide us to believe and act according to God’s Will. When Jesus loves us, He will be right there when we call on Him to save us.
- We can have good things going for us but not be in God’s Will.
- We don’t want to give up God’s mercy and grace. Neither should we want to give up God’s laws and doctrine.
How Do We Apply This?
- Hold fast to God by getting our submission to God down to the heart level through fortifying our faith to believe in Him through thick and thin.
- Put on the white garment, a symbol of the righteousness we are given at salvation.
- Rely on Jesus instead of ourselves and others.
- Don’t be happy with what we’ve got, especially if God isn’t in it.
- Don’t think we know everything and don’t need God.
- Begin seeing God clearly.
- Genuinely put our trust in Jesus and not engage in hypocrisy.
- Constantly devote ourselves to being obedient to Him.
- Engage in consistent and persistent effort through repentance to obey God’s laws and commandments.
- Exhibit courage when we experience trials and tribulations.
- Endure to the end.
- Make sure our outward actions align with our hearts.
- Don’t let this world intimidate us, rather to stand strong in our beliefs in God’s doctrine.
- Be in the world but not of the world by not buying into its baloney.
- Follow God’s laws and commandments to learn His character, which we are to imitate.
Resource
To read devotions in the On the Day of the Lord theme, click the button below.
Devotions in the The Letters to the Congregations series