Duly Dividing
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.'” – C.S. Lewis
The reading of Revelation reveals two groups of people,
Those with dirty hands and feet, far from shadows of steeples.
They distinctively display the mark of the lamb, outwardly,
The others cave, taking the mark of the beast, cowardly.
Those in perpetual poverty prosper, they overcome
Those whose need is worldy riches, live in spiritual slums.
It’s not God’s will for any to perish, but to change their mind,
He shakes the heavens and the earth, so that himself they might find,
The Lord leaves them to wander in the wilderness in tents
Pouring on them hail, wind, rain and scorching sun that is intense
Yet, Still they do not repent and give glory back to the lord
The grapes are trodden; outside the city, blood is poured.
Until his wrath is finished, the world is comprised of two camps
These are two cities: those with the mark of the Lamb, they are lamps
But those who take the mark of the beast, will cling to the darkness
And will follow the beast wherever he goes, nevertheless,
The gospel is eternal and will snatch some souls from the fire
Revelation warns the city of God that we mustn’t tire,
In refining ourselves in Spirit and in preaching the truth
And to be content in everything while we dwell in this booth
Not to be like Israel who quarreled with God and Moses
And constantly complained; to the Lord and stuck up their noses
Tribulations come and persecution as well, but take heart
They are to show the separate cities–telling is our part
We are to endure until the end in joy, singing God’s praise
And on the very, very, very last day, his city he’ll raise.
Those dead and those alive that are in Christ at that time will see
All that they had been hoping for throughout all of history
The presence of God and the Lamb in the true city of peace.
With darkness removed and the light from the Lamb will never cease
However the ones with the mark of the world, that is the beast
Follow the form of Satan and are not invited to feast
At the marriage supper of the Lamb, which is invite only
But they go to the outer darkness, weeping, gnashing, lonely
And for now God shows mercy, but then he will show no pity
Because there are two types of people and there are two cities
The city of God and the Lamb; and the one of the dragon
Those who follow the Lamb, or in contrast, have followed Satan.
“Did you really have to die for me?
All I am for all you are
Because what I need And what I believe
Are worlds apart
And I pray; Take my worlds apart” – Jars of Clay
The two Cities are the two worlds.”Come out of her my people!” Declares the Lord;
or store up treasure on earth, “where the grapes of wrath are stored?”
Constant caring–selflessness;
or self–serving, self-righteousness?
Seeking God’s will;
or one’s own thrill?
Following the Lamb wherever he goes;
or Following the beast through rain and snow?
Hope in heaven for all it’s worth;
or helplessly bound to wander the earth?
I’m stuck in two worlds or cities it seems;
but I am realizing that there’s no in between.
“When the day of recompense comes, our only regret will be that we have done so little for Him, not that we have done too much.” – George Muller
The mirror of Revelation reflects my true self,
I embrace the world and put God on the shelf
I have done more for my self and less for the Lord
Sure, I have sang a few songs and strummed a few chords
But in the greatness of his power, that causes great quakes
I have done less for the gospel, and made more mistakes
If I were put on trial for following the Lamb
Would I be convicted for my forehead and my hand?
Or found not guilty on lack of confirmation?
“Evidence there; but need more information!”
I talk a good a good talk, yet still say all the wrong things
And I fake a good walk but what benefit does that bring?
Service isn’t in song, it isn’t guitar strumming
It is in the ones who are happy at Christ’s coming.
Not because he saved us from future Tribulation
Or that we’ll be having some heavenly vacation
But those who persevered will be joyful to be
Serving the Lord…For all of eternity!
Why is the second coming of Christ important? First, it gives us hope — hope that someday all the sin and evil of this world will be banished, and peace and justice will rule.” – Billy Graham
“Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Who raised the first man with only his breath?
Who will come to restore the city that fell?
Who will come to restore the garden as well?
Who will restore paradise that held the tree of life?
Who will put an end to all of the discord and strife?
Who will reign with justice that’s pure and undefiled?
The very same one on whom our sins have been piled
“A great reformation and revival-it will happen the same way the early Christians conquered Rome. Their program of conquest consisted largely of two elements: gospel preaching and being eaten by lions, a strategy that has not yet captured the imagination of the the contemporary church.” – Doug Wilson
We don’t get it: Revelation that is
It’s Jesus’ book, like all others, It’s his
We need to see Christ within the content
And see him throughout the Old Testament
In the beginning he created the earth
But man ruined that–so he gave us new birth
We see symbols within Revelation’s pages
That span many epochs and different ages
That is; that it is timeless, from paradise lost
Until paradise is restored Jesus blood was the cost
The tree of Life too, was found in Eden’s garden
The other tree tested man–then God had to pardon.
In Revelation the tree of Life still exists
But the tree of knowledge, it does not persist
The symbolism is clear to those willing to see
It’s not about clouds or the earth and the sea
But about a loving God and the Lamb that’s his son
And two cities of people and two wills to be done
The will of the man whose focus is on the earth
And the man whose focus is on the gifts of rebirth
God shakes the two cities while growing together
But will separate them in time, breaking the tether
Who is your king, is the question God asks?
We can not fool him by wearing a mask
The mark shines through tribulation and trials
The mark which never ends with Christ denials
Burned in fire, boiled in oil, or to lions they’re fed
Preaching the gospel–so that others were led
Only to Christ would these followers bow
They had it much worse than we do right now
Why therefore, do we seek a secret rapture?
While we’re on this earth, one thing’s for sure
Trials and testing, refining by the lord, God
The lack of trials is what should seem odd
If we truly want revival and not the status quo
Jesus summed it up when he told us to go
But we create gospel ghettos, pleasing our ears
Not noticing the lost man drowning in tears
We park in the pew at our place in the Parrish
While a waiting world, ripe, is destined to perish
We will study the Bible in our Sunday School classes
But afterward, God wants us to get out of our Masses.
And fight the good fight, running the race to win
But I honestly don’t know where to begin
So I write rigorously to stimulate our senses
Agree or disagree, there is no sitting on fences
“We don’t have time to share the gospel with people around us. We do, however, have time to say, ‘That’s wrong.'” – Voddie Baucham
Remove the log from my eye
Cast it into the sea
Be my judge, Father
And give me eyes to see
That redemption is your way
And sharing that is our call
To the great and privileged
But even greater, to the small
The two cities collide
We are in the world
We need to see your power
Revelation is the scroll unfurled
And the veil pulled back
For followers to gaze
At your power over life
It never ceases to amaze!
I make time for trouble
I have time to play
Therefore I have time for testimony
And I have time to pray
“Far from minimizing biblical truth, metaphors serve as magnifying glasses that identify truth we might otherwise miss.” – Hank Hanegraaff
The voice of the Lord is like many waters
His eyes flames of fire
The feet of him are burnished bronze
And the devil is a liar
His voice is like a dragon’s call
His head full of horns
In him we see the nations rave
In Jesus–some reborn
He carries them up on eagles wings
He causes nations to rise
And in him the dead come back to life
Yet the devil, he still lies
Fortune and fame promised by him
Hope without heaven, he claims
Trust in me, all will be well
Come out! Jesus proclaims
The Lamb of God on Zion stands
And on his throne he sits
He is walking amongst the lampstands
The devil? He just won’t quit
His enormous tail sweeps down stars
His angels waging war
From the ends of the earth his fury unleashed
While Jesus stands ashore
He harkens his followers in Spirit and Truth
Giving pure water to drink
Promising a portion in the New Heavens and Earth
Satan stands on the brink
His time grows short and panic sets in
One to devour, he seeks to be found
But in the Kingdom of the believers
Jesus has him bound
“Where is the person whose heart is so passionately in love with the promised glory of heaven that he feels like an exile and a sojourner on the earth?” – Sam Storms
We are looking forward to an earth that is new
Not staring up, looking to Jesus for a rescue
Our hearts are in heaven, but our bodies are here
He who hears, that person has an ear
And sees the church as also the Lord has seen
He is patient with us, to make our robes clean
To change our minds and to do his will
“On earth as it is in heaven” and yet still,
We don’t cling to the things that are ours
Given by Christ, awaiting the final hours
We shelter ourselves in the shadows of the steeple
To keep ourselves from preaching to the people
Singing a song no one likes, putting on a play
Truth caged within our walls, what would Jesus say?
Go and tell, being sure to baptize them
I have longed to gather, like a mother hen
He wrote Revelation, parchment and pen
But metaphor and simile are lost on this generation
“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.” – John Piper
Get out of your pews
Shut off Fox news
Your love; God wants to restore
When we like wheat
Are dried by heat
And tossed on the threshing floor
We tweet our mood
Facebook our food
But glory to God is not found
The Spirit is strong
It’s we who are wrong
In our lives Satan is bound
It’s not assault
It’s the “church’s” fault
Why can we not see that?
We say “I’m right”
Are willing to fight
But our attempts always fall flat
Where is the love
The Innocence of doves,
But the shrewdness of serpents?
Tweet out your story
Overcome by testimony
You may find some will repent
You’ll be thought insane
Or beat with a cane
But God promises it’s all good
Tweet nothing but Christ
His grace will suffice
Facebook the true Spiritual food
“Jesus taught us that instead of beheading our enemies, we are to pray for our enemies, do good to them, and ‘turn to them the other cheek’ when they mistreat us (Matthew 5:39).” – Michael Youssef
Love my neighbors, Lord, have you met them before?
They’re sinners, awful and loud, I hate to open my door
I know; I will write a blog calling for the church to repent
I will stir them all up because it’s them that you have sent
I will use your words mixed with mine to get them to go
While I sit in my chair writing about all that I know
I can tell the church what you would have them do
Because I have studied your words for you
Don’t send me out there, I can’t do it Lord
Not without a really big shield and an even larger sword
And the Lord responded out of the whirlwind and said,
I am alive, though once I was dead
I’m sorry, where were you when I set the earth?
You know all this because prior was your birth?
I will ask you like a man and you tell me
Who is my servant and who is my enemy?
I gave you a shield, it’s a gift of faith, use it
I gave you armour and I know that it fits
You claim to know the words I have said
Put then the helmet of salvation on your head
And your sword is my words, maybe too heavy for you
You claim to have studied them, so you know what to do!
As for your writing son, look at your stats
One reader last week, which was actually a cat
“For a Christian to be a Christian, he must first be a sinner. Being a sinner is a prerequisite for being a church member. The Christian church is one of the few organizations in the world that requires a public acknowledgement of sin as a condition for membership.” – R.C. Sproul
Study with me if you will, knowing we all are sinners
If you haven’t, waltz with me in Revelation, it’s what’s for dinner
Start in the beginning with an open mind
Because a drastic change in the brain is what one may find.
Start from the beginning or you may get lost
And on waves of doubt your ship will be tossed
If you have waltzed with me up until this point
and I haven’t caused your brain to be out of joint
Join me in Matthew because I think we’ll see
Jesus as true Israel and author of all history.