The Blessed
“Blessed are they that do his commandments.” (Rev. 22:14.)
What should our goal be at this time of world chaos? Our goal should be to put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ and to obey Him. We must be His army. “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” (Rev. 22:13.) These are awesome words. Jesus says that He has always been there. In the Old Testament He protected the Israelites and they are now redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is a holy God and we must be in wonder of Him. We must know and honour God to love Him and if we love Him we will keep His commandments. It must be a reciprocating love. Those who trust and obey Jesus are truly blessed.
This Laodecian age has many believing that they can still do whatever they want as long as they go to church and say that they love Jesus. This is not what the Bible says! Jesus himself says in John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” and John 15:10 “If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” Jesus says that He kept His Father’s commandments and received His love, so why do we think that we do not have to keep God’s commandments as well? We are such a stiff-necked people. We always want things our own way, even if they lead to our destruction. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. ( Rom. 1:25.)
We are fortunate though that we have a loving and merciful God who will chastise us enough to bring us back to Him. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son who he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6.) Fathers discipline their children when they disobey, and so our Heavenly Father will discipline us when we disobey. He does it for our own good because He loves us and wants to bless us. He will not give up on us. “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” (Isa. 49:15-16.)
Our Israel nations are now suffering under the weight of our sin. God cannot bless us because we have abandoned Him. He has left us to our own devices and we are failing miserably. God is allowing all of our current turmoil and distress to discipline us and bring us back to Him. It will continue and only get worse until we fall to our knees in repentance. “And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.” (Isa. 60:10.) “Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcas s es were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. (Isa. 5:25.)
World events are bringing us closer and closer to the great and terrible day of the Lord. The stage is being set. We must be ready. We must be busy. We must rekindle the fire in our people. The Lord wants us to work for Him and to have no fear of what man can do to us. He is asking us to be His army. “And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible and who can abide it? Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” (Joel 2:11-13.)
The time is short. We must do all that we can to awaken our people to the coming judgment on the earth. Jesus is coming and He is bringing His rewards for those who have been faithful and whom He loves. Jesus says:
“Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” (Rev. 22:7.)
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12.)