28th September 2020 Daily Discovery Devotional – Signed, Sealed, Delivered
TOPIC: SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED
Opening Prayer: Be my King today, Lord Jesus. Show me Your ways as I read Your Word.
Read Revelation 14:1–13
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.
3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Footnotes
a Revelation 14:8 Isaiah 21:9
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect: 28th September 2020 Daily Discovery Devotional
What would you like engraved on your gravestone?
All God’s people, those who follow the Lamb, the redeemed from all the earth who are purchased from among humanity, are sealed with an identifying mark—just as in chapter 13 Satan put his mark on his followers. The number, 144,000, is part of the symbolism of this kind of writing. It means “all God’s old and new covenant people, who are too many to count.”
I have vivid memories of walking through the graveyard of St. Peter’s Parish Church in my hometown in Yorkshire. It was part of the shortcut from the bus stop to our house every day I came home from primary school. “Not dead but sleeping.” “Gone to their eternal rest.” “At peace.” These phrases, moss-covered and weathered at the edges, were engraved into the sandstone of my childhood.
Indelibly engraved into your identity are the names of the Father and of the Lamb, who was slain and is now alive. It says, “You are mine; no other can claim you.” It says, “You are mine; nothing can destroy you.” It says, “After struggle and pain, rest.”
That’s God’s gift to you. Signed in blood-red ink, sealed into your very being, delivered by God when you die. Jesus won. You’re in him. You will win.
Apply: Pause. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. “I belong to Jesus. Forever.” Say it a few times to let it sink in. Stay in that moment of assurance and thankfulness for a full minute. Yes, a mere 60 seconds.
Closing Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that I belong to You and nothing can separate me from Your love.
Through the Bible in One Year
Isaiah 55,56 / Hebrews 9
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