Memory Text: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12, NKJV).
Alternate Memory Text: “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgement is come.” Rev. 14:7
How do we go about fearing and glorifying God, given that we are living during the investigative judgment in Heaven, the final event to take place before Christ will return in the clouds of glory?
We are living in the anti-typical day of atonement. On the typical day of atonement which came once a year, Israel was ordered to “aflict your souls.” Lev. 16:29. What does it mean to aflict one’s soul?
To this day, believing Jews still observe the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, and still wrestle with what it means to aflict one’s soul. They go to synagogue, pray, and fast until sunset. Self denial is an important part of the observance of the Day of Atonement.
We who understand the solemn spiritual truths the earthly Day of Atonement typifies should be living lives of prayer and self-denial. We should be confessing our sins, overcoming them and putting them away with God’s help, and relying on the grace of Jesus Christ to blot them out of the books of heaven when our case comes up for review.
Fearing and glorifying God means, at a minimum, obeying His commands: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:13-14.
We should be living a God-centered life. Even though we have to live in the world and we must earn a living, making a living must not preoccupy us and become our sole focus. Rather we should seek first God’s righteousness and His kingdom: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Mat. 6:33.
Whatever we do should be done for the glory of God, including what we eat and drink: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31 “ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:20.
Glorifying God means worshiping God, not least with our minds. God made us intelligent creatures and He expects intelligent worship, not just emotional, ecstatic or spiritual worship. “Come let us reason together,” says Christ. Isa. 1:18. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil 2:5.
Worshiping God with our minds means meditating on good, praiseworthy things: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.” (Phil. 4:8, NKJV).
Glorifying God with our minds means that the products of our minds should glorify God, and be based upon the spiritual realities that God has revealed to us in His word. That means that any ideology we subscribe to must not be founded upon atheism or any other satanic lie—which excludes Marxism, or any variant or outgrowth of Marxism or cultural Marxism. We cannot glorify and worship God with our minds, if our minds are occupied by the construction, study, or teaching of anti-God ideologies such as Darwinism, Marxism, Freudianism, etc.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Rom. 12:1