No one else can learn that song.
No one else can learn that song.
We Christians are not accustomed to God exalting part of the Church to a state not available to most believers. We are going to have to get used to this.
There are numerous ranks and positions of authority and glory in the Kingdom of God. Three were invited to the Mount of Transfiguration. One shall sit on the right hand of Christ in His Kingdom, and one on the left. To one man, Paul, was given the ability to describe the transition from the Law of Moses to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ.
And many who are first in time shall be last in the Kingdom, and the last shall be first.
God the Father does as He pleases, and Jesus does as the Father commands. If we are going to be sons and daughters of God, we are going to have to be obedient, as the Lord Jesus always is, and give praise to God no matter what He does.
No other attitude is acceptable in the Kingdom of God. We need to ask the Lord Jesus to give us such an attitude!
Those who strive to be great in the Kingdom are not wise. It is best to accept the position in which we have been placed, and serve Christ faithfully in that role. If Christ chooses to exalt us, He will; and no one can prevent Him from doing so.
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. (Verse Four)
Since the Book of Hebrews tells us that the marriage bed is undefiled, I do not believe Verse Four (above) is speaking of ordinary human relationships.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4)
The Spirit of God would not say "marriage should be honored by all," and then turn around as say marriage is a defilement. But certainly adultery and sexual immorality are defiling.
If any believer has committed sexual immorality, and now has repented and is seeking the Lord Jesus with all his heart, he should take the matter up with the Lord if he or she is desirous of being a member of the Lord's Firstfruits.
Sexual immorality is a grievous sin and Christ means exactly what He says when He declares, through the Apostle Paul, that they who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But I am not here to say what Christ will do with someone who genuinely repents.
The expression, "These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes," reminds us of Chapter Four of First Thessalonians: "So shall we ever be with the Lord."
It is my point of view that the passage we are reviewing is speaking of those who will be resurrected and ascend to the staging area in the air when Jesus appears. Whereas today it is understood generally that the entire group of Christian believers will be "raptured" to Paradise when the Lord is revealed.
The majority of Christians of today are not successfully appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ and entering the rest of God, free from all sin and self-will, which is required for those who would be resurrected in this first resurrection.
It is being taught that no Christian can live on the earth and not sin.
But look what the Apostle John claims:
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. (I John 3:6)
What is being taught today that we have to sin while we are in the world is not scriptural. If we will look to the Lord Jesus, now that He is standing with His Firstfruits, He will help us drive every particle of sin and self-fill from our personality.
Otherwise, First John, 3:6 should not be in the inerrant Word of God.
If we are not living in the rest of God, free from the bondages of sin and self-will, we are not eligible to participate in the first resurrection—that which will occur when the Lord Jesus appears.
I believe the coming moral and physical chaos in the United States will press many casual Christians closer to the Lord Jesus so they will choose to live as true disciples, and will follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
"They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb."
What a sublimely powerful statement the above is! It scarcely seems real that a part of mankind would be offered as a Firstfruits to God.
A Firstfruits of what? Certainly of mankind.
But I think also that they are a Firstfruits of the Christian churches.
There a major types in the Bible that tell us the Christian Church, the Bride of the Lamb, will be divided temporarily into a warlike company and then the rest of the elect.
One example of the numerous symbols is Gideon's army. Another is the partial rule of David before all Israel came under his scepter.
It is my personal belief that the thousand-year Kingdom Age, while the victorious saints govern with the Lord Jesus, is for the purpose of giving the majority of the saints in the heavenly Zion to come to maturity in Christ.
Not all Christians live a victorious life in Christ. But the promises of life and authority are given to them, according to the Scriptures.
No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. (Verse Five)
The Firstfruits to God and the Lamb are not blameless because they are "saved by grace." They are blameless because "no lie was found in their mouths."
The teaching of "grace," as it currently is presented, has just about destroyed any hope of spiritual maturity in the majority of God's elect, the Christian believers.
"Grace" is thought of as the means we have of pleasing God, and going to Heaven, without being a follower of the Lord Jesus. There is no need for us to purify ourselves, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit because the Lord Jesus did it all for us on the cross.
We will be welcome in Paradise even though we are self-centered babies, because of "grace." Such a "grace" would be the enemy of God and His Lamb.
There is a lie in our mouth. The lie is that we can say "I accept Christ."
After having done that, we safely can ignore all the Apostles had to say about godly living and growth in Christ. We are saved by "grace."
That this is a lie is an understatement. It may be true it is the greatest, most destructive error in human thinking in all of history.
"They are blameless." Are they blameless by "grace"?
How ridiculous, but that is what is taught as being the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
It is true rather that they have become new creations of righteous, holy behavior as they, with the assistance of the Lord Jesus, have driven all sin and self-will from their personality.
Is this possible?
Next Part Try it and see.