Revelation

Be the Town Crier (Psalm 130:5-6)

/ The Pastor

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
[Psalm 130:5-6]

Is your soul more confident of the Lord’s return than some night watchmen standing on the city wall, protecting the city, and waiting for the morning sun to come up?

Is your soul more excited about the Lord’s return than some night watchmen standing on the city wall, protecting the city, and longing to return home at day’s first light?

Is you soul more hopeful of the Lord’s return than some night watchmen standing on the city wall, protecting the city; knowing that the sun will rise in the morning?

Does your soul wait for the Lord?
Is your hope in the Word of God; promising salvation through faith in Jesus?
Do you long for the Lord’s return, so much so, that your soul aches to be away from the Lord?

I don’t know about you, but there are times that I find myself sitting in my quiet living room; listening very carefully. What am I listening for? I am listening for a trumpet. Nope, not the local high school marching band, but THE heavenly band announcing the arrival of our Lord and King. I am waiting for the trumpet blast that will signal me to run outside to watch our Lord returning on the clouds.

And what a scene that will be.

I can hardly wait for that day. I can hardly wait for Jesus to establish God’s Kingdom here on this earth. I can hardly wait for Satan, sin, evil and death to be done away with. I can hardly wait for God to wipe my tears away.
[Revelation 20 & 21]

I can hardly wait to reside in God’s holy kingdom where the gate never needs to be shut because there is no night; where there is no sun because the glory of God is the light and where there is no temple because God Almighty and the Lamb is it’s temple.
[Revelation 21:22-25]

I can hardly wait for all things to be made new.

In the mean time, our souls wait because that’s all we can do. But don’t be idle; just sitting around waiting. Don’t just be a night watchman waiting for the sun to rise so you can go home. Be the town crier; announcing the arrival of the King. Wake people up so they too can run outside and watch their Lord and King arrive on the clouds.

Praise be to God!

Heavenly God and King, we anxiously await the day when Your son returns to establish Your kingdom. In the mean time stir our hearts to be criers; announcing and preparing people to receive Your son. May we not be idle but active in our anxious waiting. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

666

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

There’s that number ~ 666.

In this particular context, though, it represents how many posts I have published on this blog.  For many people it is the number of the beast from Revelation 13:18.  Maybe this number makes you a little nervous when you see it or maybe you just make a passing observation when it shows up and then brush it away.

Me…

…I don’t get nervous or put a lot of stock in that number but I thought I would still post something in “retaliation”, so to speak, since this is post #666.  So in “retaliation” I decided to go to the Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) book; to hymn #666 which is “What Wondrous Love Is This” 🙂  Just soak in these lyrics for a moment:

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What
wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this
that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my
soul, for my soul, to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down, when
I was sinking down, sinking down, when I was sinking down
beneath God’s righteous frown, Christ laid aside his crown for my
soul, for my soul, Christ laid aside his crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb I will sing, I will sing; to
God and to the Lamb I will sing; to God and to the Lamb,
who is the great I Am, while millions join the theme I will
sing, I will sing, while millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on; and
when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on; and when from death I’m free,
I’ll sing God’s love for me, and through eternity I’ll sing
on, I’ll sing on; and through eternity I’ll sing on. 

Isn’t that beautiful?

I just love it because in the end it is all about the wondrous love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The number 666 is just a number.  “The Beast” has been defeated.

GOD is the one who should be feared (because of His awesome holiness).
GOD is the one who should be praised and glorified.
GOD is the one who reigns on high.

So because of that…let’s sing on…and praise the LORD 🙂

edh -|—