by David Scott Robertson
"Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, betwen those who serve God and those who do not" (Malachi 3:6).
The difference between the righteous and the wicked is as vast as the difference between daylight and dark. The difference is so profound, that it is almost indescribeable.
The fact that human beings are grouped into one of two camps is a theological certainty. We are not talking about Republican and Democract, conservative or liberal, pro-life or pro-choice, American or foreigner...no, we are talking about the righteous and the wicked, the saved and the lost, those who believe in Jesus Christ as God's remedy for sin and those who do not.
Those who choose to accept God's plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ inherit eternal life in heaven. Those who choose to reject God's plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ inherit eternal damnation in hell (the lake of fire). That's about as different as it gets.
The paradox here on earth in this present life is that while both the righteous and the wicked occupy the same planet, each live in opposite worlds. Let me explain.
In the world of the righteous, to acquire wealth you give what you have away. To gain a promotion, you humble yourself. To become an excellent leader, you learn to become an excellent servant. To live an abundant life, you deny selfish ambition and shoulder the burden and reproach of the cross. To gain your life, you lose it.
Indeed, the world of the righteous - its ideals, its philosphies, its theology - is catagorically opposite of the wicked person's world. They are as far apart as the east is from the west.
Spouses, children, friends, neighbors, and co-workers can share the same name, address, employer, email account, favorite football team and presidential candidate, but they can be as different as night and day when it comes to the issue of Christ Jesus as Messiah, Savior, Lord, and soon coming King.
Still, it is remarkably interesting that there are times when it seems difficult to distinguish between the righteous and the wicked. Jesus told a parable one time about an enemy sowing "weed seeds" into his wheat crop (Matthew 13:25-30). The farmer instructed his field hands to allow the weeds to grow up along side of the wheat and at harvest time the two would be separated with the wheat being brought into the barn and the weeds being thrown into the fire.
Sometimes in our present day, the lines get blurred a bit when we see the righteous suffer, when bad things happen to good people, when terrorists surface to destroy innocent lives. For those that occupy the place of the uninformed, this enigma breeds doubt, confusion, and an unhealthy and distorted view of God.
But for the righteous person caught up in sometimes impossibly difficult situations who nevertheless holds fast to the profession of their faith in Christ, the mystery of suffering breeds faith, purity, and a healthy and proper fear of God.
Perhaps the most amazing difference of all in the lives of the righteous and the wicked doesn't manifest in this life at all, but only after life on earth is over. Then, think of it you who are saints of God Most High, then comes to pass the saying...
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
Here, at the funeral, in the heart and mind of the persons standing over the casket in grief, grappling with sorrow and bereavement, here is the most astonishing difference between the righteous and the wicked; between those who fear God and those who do not.
It is here, at the point of death, that a believer can rejoice in hope! Hope that their dearly departed loved one has gone from life to greater life! They know in their heart of hearts that they have gone to a better place, safe in the very presence of God. What comfort!
Not so for the wicked! Their brief time on earth, to be sure, is the only taste of "heaven" that they will experience. Those from the camp of the wicked fear death and have no hope or assurance that they will be received into the loving arms of a living Savior when they exit this life.
So while there will always be things that both the righteous and the wicked have in common (like both love their children and can't stand hypocrites), the fact remains that the righteous and the wicked are as different from one another as night and day.
Living life apart from God is really not life at all. It is a poor substitute for what God intended a life span to be. It is a tragic mockery and nothing could be further from the truth.
DSR
1/26/04
Monday, January 26, 2004
Monday, January 19, 2004
Moving On With Jesus
by David Scott Robertson
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE ON!
To move on into the role that you have prepared for me to play in the end time harvest.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE IN!
To move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. To move in the direction of separation from wordly carnality and into personal holiness. To move in the power of the anointing of God's Spirit.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE UP!
To move up from low living. To move up beyond mediocrity and compromise. To move up to the level of abundant life that you have orchestrated for me and my house to enjoy.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE OVER!
To move over from the land of unfulfilled dreams to the a land flowing with milk and honey.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE MOUNTAINS!
Mountains of procrastination - mountains of fear - mountains of anything that hinders God's will and plan from operating in my life. (Zec 4:7 NIV) "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel [and David Scott Robertson] you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'"
DSR
1/19/04
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE ON!
To move on into the role that you have prepared for me to play in the end time harvest.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE IN!
To move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. To move in the direction of separation from wordly carnality and into personal holiness. To move in the power of the anointing of God's Spirit.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE UP!
To move up from low living. To move up beyond mediocrity and compromise. To move up to the level of abundant life that you have orchestrated for me and my house to enjoy.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE OVER!
To move over from the land of unfulfilled dreams to the a land flowing with milk and honey.
Lord, I'm ready to MOVE MOUNTAINS!
Mountains of procrastination - mountains of fear - mountains of anything that hinders God's will and plan from operating in my life. (Zec 4:7 NIV) "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel [and David Scott Robertson] you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'"
DSR
1/19/04
Monday, January 5, 2004
The Fate of Satan
by David Scott Robertson
"Then I [John] saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon - that old serpent, the Devil, Satan - and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:1-3).
One angel. One chain. One hand. That's how Almighty God has decreed that the Devil, Satan, that old serpent, should be bound and put away for a Millennium.
In this prophetic preview of coming attractions, we see the Devil put in his place - a place God has reserved for him from the foundation of the world.
Here the prideful arch angel who fell into God's disfavor, who was cast down from heaven to the earth, will eventually fall, fall, fall for a period of thousand years. How low can you go at that rate? Lower than any creature has been in the history of the world.
When a man dies, his physical body is buried "six feet under" ground while his spirit either ascends to heaven or descends to hell. But in this passage from Revelation we see Satan fall far below the underworld of hell. That's a long plunge from the highest place of honor in the angelic hierarchy as an arch angel to the lowest place in existence - the bottomless pit.
What rivets my attention, though, is the manner in which Satan is escorted from the earth. One angel. One chain. One hand. How completely humiliating this will be for the one who aspired to be God. Think of it! One angelic being, single-handedly (literally) takes him out! I can't help but wonder about the identity of this angel who gets to rid the earth of the father of lies. I wonder which angel is it whom God awards the unprecedented honor of binding the creature that bound billions of others created beings?
- Could it be the warrior arch angel, Michael, Lucifer's nemesis?
- Could it be the famous messenger angel, Gabriel, who makes some great announcement as he tosses the Devil into the Abyss?
- Could it be the same angel whom God sent to strengthen Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ faced the cross?
- Could it be the least senior angel (if that's how it works in heaven) and Satan knows all too well the significance of this particular angel doing the deed?
I suppose we could speculate long and hard on the matter but to no avail since the Bible is silent on the matter. All we do know for sure is that one angel with one chain uses one hand to bind the chief enemy of mankind and rid the earth of him for a thousand years. Very dramatic stuff!
I don't know about you, but if I were an angel, I'd want that job! I'd want to be the one responsible for working with God to render the devil harmless and remove his influence from the world.
I'm not an angel, I'm a man. A born again man. As a Christian believer, God has deputized me with authority to bind the devil here and now (Matthew 16:19; Luke 10:19)! As Christians, we don't have to wait for this epic future event to take place in order to see Satan's power bound and his overpowering influence mislead those we love.
Through faith in Jesus and His awesome Word we can wield spiritual power today to bind the Devil just like that one day, one angel, with one chain, will use one hand to put the Devil away!
DSR
1/5/04
"Then I [John] saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon - that old serpent, the Devil, Satan - and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished" (Revelation 20:1-3).
One angel. One chain. One hand. That's how Almighty God has decreed that the Devil, Satan, that old serpent, should be bound and put away for a Millennium.
In this prophetic preview of coming attractions, we see the Devil put in his place - a place God has reserved for him from the foundation of the world.
Here the prideful arch angel who fell into God's disfavor, who was cast down from heaven to the earth, will eventually fall, fall, fall for a period of thousand years. How low can you go at that rate? Lower than any creature has been in the history of the world.
When a man dies, his physical body is buried "six feet under" ground while his spirit either ascends to heaven or descends to hell. But in this passage from Revelation we see Satan fall far below the underworld of hell. That's a long plunge from the highest place of honor in the angelic hierarchy as an arch angel to the lowest place in existence - the bottomless pit.
What rivets my attention, though, is the manner in which Satan is escorted from the earth. One angel. One chain. One hand. How completely humiliating this will be for the one who aspired to be God. Think of it! One angelic being, single-handedly (literally) takes him out! I can't help but wonder about the identity of this angel who gets to rid the earth of the father of lies. I wonder which angel is it whom God awards the unprecedented honor of binding the creature that bound billions of others created beings?
- Could it be the warrior arch angel, Michael, Lucifer's nemesis?
- Could it be the famous messenger angel, Gabriel, who makes some great announcement as he tosses the Devil into the Abyss?
- Could it be the same angel whom God sent to strengthen Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as Christ faced the cross?
- Could it be the least senior angel (if that's how it works in heaven) and Satan knows all too well the significance of this particular angel doing the deed?
I suppose we could speculate long and hard on the matter but to no avail since the Bible is silent on the matter. All we do know for sure is that one angel with one chain uses one hand to bind the chief enemy of mankind and rid the earth of him for a thousand years. Very dramatic stuff!
I don't know about you, but if I were an angel, I'd want that job! I'd want to be the one responsible for working with God to render the devil harmless and remove his influence from the world.
I'm not an angel, I'm a man. A born again man. As a Christian believer, God has deputized me with authority to bind the devil here and now (Matthew 16:19; Luke 10:19)! As Christians, we don't have to wait for this epic future event to take place in order to see Satan's power bound and his overpowering influence mislead those we love.
Through faith in Jesus and His awesome Word we can wield spiritual power today to bind the Devil just like that one day, one angel, with one chain, will use one hand to put the Devil away!
DSR
1/5/04
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