I was listening to a sermon yesterday and the pastor was reading from Isaiah 6:1-9. In these verses the prophet Isaiah is describing a vision he had of God enthroned in heaven. I can sense Isaiah's struggle to put into human terms what the glory and majesty of the Most High King was like.
Verses 3 and 4 says, speaking of the antiphonal seraphim, "And one cried to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!' And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who had cried out, and the house was filled with smoke."
The pastor pointed out that, in Hebrew, when something is stated more than once, it adds weight or importance to the statement.
God isn't just holy.
He isn't just completely holy.
He is absolutely completely holy.
Holiness is a word, and concept, that people use almost flippantly today. The word is used to add emphasis to an exclamation or to denote anything as religious.
God is neither of those.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as this: exalted and worthy of complete devotion, as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.
Wow! That doesn't sound like anyone I've ever met!
But it does sound like God.
God's holiness isn't just a lack of evil or an absence of anything impure, though that would be amazing enough. God's holiness is the opposite of that. He IS everything that is pure and true and good and righteous and lovely. James says, "...there is no variation or shadow of turning." Psalm 40:10 speaks of God's faithfulness, salvation, compassion, and truth. He is the source of His own holiness and needs no outside affirmation.
When the seraphim proclaimed God's holiness throughout all of heaven, the very structure was shaken and smoke billowed all around Isaiah. He suddenly saw himself for what he really was- filthy. Isaiah is one of the most famous prophets in the entire Bible, the one through whom came many of the prophecies about the Messiah, and he called himself filthy in the presence of God's holiness.
What do you call yourself when you're in God's holy presence? Do you hand Him your report card of good deeds and long prayers, tax-deductible donations, and impeccable church attendance? Or do you recognize that you are made of dust and instead proclaim the holiness of the One Who gives you breath?
When I finally began to grasp what God's holiness is like, it made the sacrifice of Jesus all the more precious to me. The God Who is holiness put on humanity to save me from myself. That is love I cannot comprehend. The mixture of love and holiness is a perfect balance. Though God loves us as a father and wants to have a personal relationship with us as His children, we must never forget that the One we call Father is also a consuming fire of holiness.

As the world continues it's downward spiral and becomes increasingly evil, I've noticed that the response of many people, Christians included, is fear and worry. Though End Times prophecies and Rapture predictions have been around since the days of the Early Church, they seem to be very numerous these days, and perhaps rightfully so. After all, we are closer to the End of Time now than we were yesterday!
But I'm not here to tell you my timeline for the end of the world as we know it. I am here to tell you something I've learned about how we as Christians should conduct ourselves in times of fear and uncertainty.
The rapture of the Bride of Christ is coming but it's not up to us when it comes, only that we're ready when it does come.
Live like the Rapture could happen tomorrow.
You won't die and have time for a deathbed speech or have a funeral where people remember all the nice, good things you've done. You'll just be here one minute, going about your life and the next second... you'll be in the Presence of God. No time to make up with someone you've held a grudge against for years; no will to donate your money to a worthy cause; no time to do what you always meant to do. Just you and God and your life as it is. Is your life rapture-ready?
Living rapture-ready also takes away any fear you might have over what will happen to you or your family during the End Times. Reading Revelation, Daniel, parts of Ezekiel, and other places in Bible about the end of time- there's some pretty intense stuff there. But read it carefully. Who orchestrates it all? Who plans it all? Who decides when/who/how/why/how long?
God.
Yes, God.
This is not something too big for Him to handle. This is not something He's worried about it going the way He wants it to. He isn't waiting in trepidation for the day of the antichrist.
He already has it all planned out.
From the first to the last, He has planned out the events of history just the way He wanted them.
Whether the Rapture happens in our lifetime or not, God calls us to be vigilant against evil and to prepare for the Day of the Lord.
We in the 21st century stand on the shoulders of thousands of years worth of Godly men and women who impacted their cultures and give us guidance along our journeys of faith. There could yet be thousands of years more. What are you doing to build up the next generation? Whose shoulders will they stand on? Perhaps in their lifetime the end will come and they will be faced with things you can't imagine. How are you helping them prepare for their role?
Zecheriah says, "Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days." Don't let fear of the future rob you of the strength that God gives. "Who by worrying can add one cubit to his life?" asks Jesus. No matter if you live during the tumult of the End of Time or in relative peace and security, you are still priceless in the sight of God. In fact, the only thing that was costly enough to purchase you, was the blood of His very own Son.
So let your hands be strong in these days. The patriarchs and the prophets died in faith, not having received the promise- the Messiah. Yet they foresaw His coming and believed. We have the promise- the Messiah. He has come and we have obtained through His blood eternal life. The part of the promise yet to be fulfilled is that which will take place at the end of all time. So we too, seeing that day approach, rejoice with joy inexpressible.
"Now unto Him Who is able..."

Captive

"Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope..." (Zech. 9:12) What is prisoner of hope?? To be a prisoner means you are held captive. Not always unwillingly, though that's what most people think of first. Some people are willingly held captive to their circumstances saying, "It's just the way things are." Others are held captive to their emotions, unwilling to step outside of them to gain a new perspective. Still others are held captive by expectations, either of their own making or by those put upon them by someone else.
Captivity is usually thought of as something negative while hope is a positive thing. How then can you be negatively positive?
I Peter 1 has the answer. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."
That verse is laden with amazing, beautiful truths.
"...who according to His abundant mercy..." God our Father is never done with us. His mercy is new every morning and His compassion is unending. His mercy is the foundation of our hope.
"...has begotten us again..." Our Creator designed us in His image to bring glory to Himself. By our sin we corrupted our glorious design and now seek our own glory. But, through the Lamb slain since the foundation of the world, we are given a new identity as sons and daughters of God.
"...to a living hope..." To me, that is one the most beautiful phrases in the Bible. A living hope does not die. A living hope has been in eternity past and will be in eternity future. A living hope does not wither when the hot winds of persecution and trial blow. A living hope infuses energy into a weary soul. A living hope is a constant reminder that this beautiful world is only a shadow of the splendor that is to come.
"...through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..." The resurrection of our Savior is the source of our hope. Jesus is alive! He passed through the very depths of Hell in the blackness of our sin and returned victoriously to His Father in the heights of Heaven. And He will return when the appointed days have been completed. He has gone but He will return. Our bodies He will redeem from the corruption of death and our souls He will restore to the original purpose for which they were created: To glorify Himself.
When I take a long look into the hope that Jesus has made available to me... I am captivated. The longings of my soul- to belong, to have peace, to see an end of pain and suffering, to see with my very own, brand-new kingdom eyes, the face of my God- are fulfilled in the Person who inhabits this living hope Peter speaks of. The glorious beauty of that promise causes me to willingly bind myself to the source of that hope, Jesus Christ. I am kept, by the power of God, in the stronghold of faith and am willingly held captive to the hope for which Jesus died.
I become a prisoner of hope.