Good morning. Let's open our Bibles to the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter four. Before we begin, let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to meet here today. We would ask your blessing upon us today and upon your Word. Allow our minds, Lord, to be open to the guiding of your Spirit, but also allow us, Lord, to love you more through the preaching of the Word and the study of your Word. And we would ask that you would bless us today in this reading. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Are we ready to start in Revelation 4? As an aside, my wife, when I told her I was going to be teaching on this, she said, Revelation 4. It's the gateway to the forensic study of the rest of the Book of Revelation. Good luck.

So let's do a quick overview of the Book of Revelation so far. Who documented the Book of Revelation? You guys can speak up, by the way. John, right? He was one of the 12 apostles. He's the one in the Gospels that was said, the one whom Jesus loved. He personally knew Jesus on the earth, in the flesh, and he was there during his entire ministry.

What were the circumstances of which this was written? The when, the where, And what were the conditions that John lived in? Anybody? Island of Patmos, right? It's off the west coast of what is now modern-day Turkey. It's basically a group of islands, but the one main one he was on. And it's a very rocky place. Probably lived in a cave. And that island was basically a Roman prison island. And the date was around 95 AD, as some people have placed it. John was in his late 80s, probably into his 90s at this point. So he's not a spry chicken.

But the amazing thing to me is God still provided him with parchment paper, a quill, ink to write on, because he asked him to document this to the seven churches. But even more amazing is it was transported. These scrolls must have been transported. They must have been copied. And they must have been protected throughout time. And they were eventually translated into what we have today in our Bibles. You have to understand in those days forward, if you had portions of the Bible, you could be tortured and even put to death. And that's true even today in some parts of the world. So the fact this was preserved is pretty amazing.

As a believer, where will we eventually end up in the future? and the presence of God, right? As 2 Corinthians 5.8 references, it says, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And another example of that, you might say, is remember when Jesus was on the cross, the thief, who was on the other cross beside him, who obviously believed at that point, That was in Luke 23, 43. What did Jesus say to him? He said, truly, I say to you, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. So the words paradise and heaven are kind of synonymous in the Bible. And so it indicates that when a person dies, their spirit would be transported to heaven. and be in the presence of God.

So as to reference the outline of the chapters in our study book, which Brad Ray actually showed us last week. Thank you, Brad. So I decided to steal that today. But he mentioned that there's a couple of things we should review here. Chapters one of the book of Revelation says, had to do with the things which you have seen, which was the past, in John's day. And chapters two and three had to do with the things which are, or the present day. Some people like John MacArthur say that's the church age. And today, we're gonna look at chapter four. But chapter four onward, it's, and the things which shall take place after these things, which is the future. Chapters four and five are pretty closely aligned. It's kind of like, that's the setting for the rest of the book of the Bible, or, I mean, of Revelation. But it, It has to do with the future judgments that are gonna be poured out on the earth because of sin. But it also talks about our current creation's destruction. It talks about that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. And it'll also talk about a new Jerusalem. that will be lowered down from heaven. And guess what? That's where we will dwell. And that dwelling place will be dominated by the Lord Jesus Christ. So, the new earth will be reclaimed.

So let's read today's actual passage. Revelation, I'm gonna just keep reading, but it's four, one through 11. 

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. 

Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. 

Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting. clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. Out of the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 

And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion. The second creature, like a calf. The third creature had a face like that of a man. And the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 

And the four living creatures, each one of them had six wings full of eyes around and within. And day and night they did not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. 

And when the living creatures gave glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they will worship Him who lives forever and ever. and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and because of your will, they existed and were created."

So does everybody have a good mental picture of what this is? Yeah, some people are going, no. Yeah, I don't either. But you've heard the phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? It definitely might help here, but I don't think it would be possible to capture or even comprehend.

So Revelation 4.1, It says, after these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. So, this person speaking to John was identified in chapter one as being the Lord, the second member of the Godhead, right? He had a loud voice like a trumpet. He is calling John up to come to heaven to show him future events.

Now, the Greek term here is, I don't know how to pronounce it, maybe you can help me, but it's D-E-I? Day, okay. It's used here, it means that the events must occur. It indicates not only the future events in John's time frame, but likewise to the sovereignty of God's will.

So in Revelation, now we'll kind of continue, in verse two, it says, immediately I was in the spirit and behold, the throne was standing in heaven and someone was sitting on the throne. In several translations, the word spirit here is capitalized. that indicates that the Holy Spirit is involved at the work of bringing John's spirit up to heaven.

So one might think that John's spirit was literally transported, not his physical body, but his spirit, to stand in the presence of God. His physical body wouldn't have been able to make the journey. It's bounded, it's constrained. But in Exodus 33, 20, when Moses asked God to show him his glory, but he said, you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live. Or John 1, 18 says, no one has seen God at any time, only the begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father. He has explained him. So being in the presence of God in this case, in physical body, you'd be consumed.

Now in the Old Testament, whenever he appeared to man, he was veiled. Man was protected from his true glory.

So indulge in engineering mind for a few minutes as we continue. I know some of you knew this would happen. So it appears that John's spirit is being transported to heaven, which is outside of our creation. It's a spiritual realm. It's occupied by things that have a spiritual nature. Space, matter, time, just to name a few, do not equate in heaven to what we experience here on earth. but somehow God has based what we can experience in our reality to what has a similarity of perception in the spiritual realm. You've heard the phrase, as on earth as it is in heaven. God modeled what we are based upon things that are in his realm.

I remember When I used to help teach the kids' class for over a decade with Jim Worson, he'd say, we are the way we are because of the way Jesus Christ was to become. Very true. Very true. The other thing I should mention about Jim, as in the class, he would always find some way of bringing in creation. Usually he would reference Genesis in the first part of the study. At first I didn't understand that, but I learned there was great wisdom in that.

So how many senses did John and Ezekiel relate in their spiritual experiences in heaven? they experienced hearing. But in heaven, there are no physical molecules that vibrate against the physical eardrum. But yet God allows something similar to be experienced. Revelation chapter one, he experienced touch. But in heaven, there are no nerve endings on physical skin in heaven. In Ezekiel chapter three, one through four, he experienced the taste like honey when he was fed the scroll, remember that? But in the spiritual realm, there are no physical nerve endings on a physical tongue. They experience sight, but in heaven, there are no physical eyes.

I'll take another detour here. It's my engineering side. When I was growing up, I started learning about the eye back when I was like six years old. one of the issues about being raised in a medical household. But later on, when I was in high school, I did underwater photography. And then later on in my work, I worked on systems. I architected one system. We had three cells per line. Each system had basically four different computer sets of hardware, each running a different operating system, each running a different set of software on top of that. But part of that system had five vision cameras on it, each having unique lens combinations, lighting, high-frequency ballasts, When we turn the system on, we could do 40 inspections in less than a second.

But that system doesn't even compare to the human eye. It self-repairs. It grows. It lasts far longer. But to get back to this, as a matter of fact, there is, but those systems are basically modeled after the eye. Every part of it, if you think about it. Cheap copies.

But if you think about it, there is no light as we know it in the spiritual realm either. In our realm, it's composed of both frequency spectrums and quantized energy packets, which we know as photons. This reflected light, so it shines on a surface, and what's not absorbed in that frequency, it reflects back into our eyes. It goes through essentially a physical lens of an eye, an aperture, that image is flipped and comes on the back of the retina, on the back of the eye, and that sends electrochemical signals via a physical biological process through a series of nerve pathways to our brain, and everything is interpreted, stored, and what eventually forms our thoughts.

But none of that back-end mental processing exists in physical form in the spiritual realm. So here's where we deviate. In the spiritual realm of heaven, sight seems to work differently than this. What if theologians were not thinking that these were merely describing metaphors? What is seen may actually be attributes or characteristics of what is being viewed. That would explain how varied some of these things are, especially the angelicos, without having physical form and associated functionality.

But this concept is especially evident when regarding the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is first seen as a rather unique man, emanating light from his person, from his eyes, and has a two-edged sword proceeding out of his mouth. And then as a lamb, and then as a lamb that was slain, and then as a lion. Or what may be identified as God the Father on the throne in his appearance. Or the Holy Spirit as seen as seven lamps of fire before the throne.

You may have heard the phrase, you can't judge a book by its cover. But in this case, seeing with spiritual vision, you can see what's inside the book. Attributes and characteristics contained in the book are clearly, plainly seen by its cover. But this type of spiritual sight can only be given to someone if allowed by God. Otherwise, we cannot perceive or see the spiritual realm, whether on earth or in heaven.

But it's likely they can see our physical realm. we are being observed. Think about in 2 Kings 6, the city of Dothan, where Elisha and his servant were surrounded by an entire military force by night. The next morning, Elisha's servant was alarmed and brought it to Elisha's attention. What was Elisha's response? In 2nd Kings 6, verses 16 through 23, it talks about it. I'll just read 16 and 17.

So he said, do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh Yahweh, I pray. Open his eyes that he may see. And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So God enabled Elijah and his servant to see into the spiritual realm around him. These chariots of fire were angelic beings sent by God for their protection that were far greater than the military force surrounding the city.

We all know the story of how Elijah prayed. The military force was blinded and then led by Elijah to Samaria. Elisha then prayed and they regained their sight and found themselves in the midst of Israel's opposing army as captives. When asked by the king of Israel, Elisha gave advice not to kill them, but to show them mercy by giving them food and drink and then sent them back to their king.

Now we'll go and look at verse three of Revelation four. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.

I didn't know that John was a gemologist. In Exodus 39, these two stones are mentioned. The sardius is the first stone in the first row, and jasper is the last positioned in the fourth row, attached on the breast piece worn by the priest. Each of the 12 stones were engraved with the name of one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

The Hebrew term for sardius mentioned in Exodus is odum, which means redstone. which was sometimes associated with the tribe of Reuben, and was mined near the city of Sardis. It varies from a deep red to a reddish-brown in color. Some associate the color with God's divine judgment. This is also similar to a carnelian, which is sometimes also referred to here. It is more of a translucent, orange-red quartz appearance. So overall, you might think of the stone more like a red ruby.

The Jasper stone can be cloudy, but in this case, it's probably very clear, which is another version of the same stone. But it's also mentioned in Revelation 21.11, which would be more like a diamond in clarity. Some have linked this to God's purity. The stone would also be associated with the tribe of Benjamin.

Revelation 21 also mentions these 12 types of stones. They will have a place as the foundation stones of the wall of the New Jerusalem. Each one will have the names of the 12 apostles of the land. The 12 gates of the city will also have the names of each of the 12 tribes inscribed on the gates of the city. There are so many uncanny references to Israel and the church, it's hard to ignore. These things mentioned indicate that God is faithful to his promises regarding Israel and his church.

And around the throne was a rainbow emanating greenish color like that of an emerald. Some commentators have suggested that this represent the concept of mercy.

So the main thing that has overwhelmed John's notice was the throne of God and he that sat on the throne. That was his primary focus. We will notice that in our study that most of the revelation is focused around the throne. He who is associated with it, what is proceeding from it.

Notice also that there is no sun or darkness or shadow in the spiritual setting. All light seems to be proceeding out of the throne and the person on the throne. In Revelation 21, even in the New Jerusalem, this is stated, there will be no night or sun. It says there will be no need to close the gates of the city at night because there will be no night. The person of God will be illuminating this New Jerusalem. The building structures will allow this type of light to be seen throughout. Don't ask me how that'll happen. Not necessarily good from a hermeneutical point of view, but James 1, 17 states, every good thing is given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Let's go to Revelation 4, 4 now. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads.

This took me a lot of time to go into. As you can imagine, I can't imagine John trying to take this all in and then sitting and counting 24. of what's going on around him. But who were they? Who were these 24? That's a huge crux to this and to the rest of Revelation, by the way.

And I apologize to others who will be covering future parts in Revelation, but I have to go into their teaching, but some additional scripture may be required. So in the Old Testament, some of the options were that the 24, there were 24 priests. assigned in 1 Corinthians chapter 24 by King David of attending to the service in the temple on a rotation basis.

Some say the 24 refers to those who have passed away from either the Old or the New Testament time period, or both. I would, but it would not be representing Israel at this point. They're not complete. The 144,000 to be raptured hasn't occurred yet, which we will later see in the study in Revelation 14 and beyond.

Some say that the 24 is made up by the 12 patriarchs. of the Old Testament, representing Israel, plus the 12 apostles representing the New Testament, or the Church Age. But that probably wouldn't be because John was there. He would have seen himself. And Israel still isn't redeemed.

So some would indicate that they are part of the angelic host, representing the Church. This view was held by the late S. Lewis Johnson, who some of us have known personally, and who was one of the seminary professors of our previous pastor, L. Dwight Custis. As a language scholar, his viewpoint was formed on how Revelation chapter five references certain Greek words, and he was on the committee for originally translating the NIV.

Chapter 5 talked about how a new song is sung. The NIV reads, and I've highlighted some of the words in question here, and when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 424 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God. Now, persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.

The King James Version indicates that members of the redeemed church would be singing this, but a more personalized song. It would read, has redeemed us. instead of person or them, and we shall reign on the earth instead of they. Seems to be a minor difference.

So the King James Version indicates that, well, I should say both views sing that Christ is the Redeemer. Both the elders and the angels sang this new song. The view that they are angelic beings is not specifically called out or prevents the elders from being from the redeemed church. The word elder typically is used by someone who is older and more experienced or has been associated with elders in the New Testament church, yet they could sing either version of this song. I should also note that angels don't age. Do angels have more experience with sin and being redeemed than elders in the church? Have there ever been any angels that have experienced redemption? 

And angels in heaven have never been, at least in heaven, have never been described as wearing white robes. They may be oftentimes white. oftentimes representing purity, but not white robes. And then, correct me if I'm wrong, by the way, but, or wearing crowns. But redeemed men have been described that way. Also, the 24 elders were initially seated, unlike the angels, which are described as either in motion or standing or waiting for instruction. For those reasons, I tend to lean toward the view that the elders are representatives of the redeemed church. 

By the way, this is also held by John MacArthur. This would indicate that the church at this point in John's observation from heaven would have been raptured. This would be prior to chapter four starting. Verses 144, the Jewish origin and those converted after the seven year tribulation has begun. It's not mentioned clearly anywhere else in Revelation from this point on when the rapture might occur for the church. It's absent. 

Now we'll move on to verse five. Out of the throne came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. I should also note that in Revelation 7.15, it indicates that this throne is located in a sanctuary or a temple, which is commonly a place to worship God. 

How many of you have experienced thunderstorms up close? Anybody? And lightning? Yeah. It's rather amazing. And if the lightning is particularly close to you, the thunder is a fraction of a second afterward and it shakes you. The difference is that the speed of light is much faster than the speed of sound. That's why you see the flash and then hear the sound later. What naturally happens when small children and animals hear it? What's the natural response? What emotion do they feel when that happens? Typically fear. It makes you feel small, doesn't it? The presence of something more powerful in the presence, you feel insignificant. 

A person naturally feels that way when exposed to God's creation, like during a significant earthquake or in a very stormy sea. I've experienced those and same response. There is another sense though that we can experience that isn't clearly stated, but it's implied in scripture. That is what you would experience in the presence of God, but it's an overpowering feeling. It's not just something that is conveyed by sight and sound. It's an additional sensory feeling. One that we typically don't have senses to detect unless God allows it. but it is conveyed in what John and Isaiah experienced as they saw the throne of God and were in his presence spiritually. 

God is set apart. He's not just some clumsy, some chummy friend. He is completely different and being before him should evoke fear and awe in us. That is what happened when John was in the presence of Jesus in Revelation 1 and I'll read 17 and 18. 

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me saying, do not fear. I am the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead and behold, I am alive forever and ever. And I have the keys of death and Hades and of Hades.

Or when Isaiah saw him in Isaiah six, one through five and the year of King In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above him, each having six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. and the foundations and thresholds shook at the voice of him who he called, while the house of God was filled with smoke. Then I said, woe is me, for I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of Hos.

And then if we look at Ezekiel chapter 1, 26 through 28. Now above the expanse that was over their heads, there was something in the likeness of a throne, like sapphire stone in appearance. And upon the likeness of the throne high up was the likeness of one with the appearance of a man. Then I saw from the appearance of his loins and upward something like gleam, the gleam of glowing metal and the appearance of fire all around within it. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw something with the appearance of fire. And there was a radiance all around him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of a likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I fell on my face and heard the sound of a voice speaking.

If you have ever experienced the presence of God, it can be overwhelming. You realize that God is unlike anything in this earthly realm that you could ever experience. He is powerful. He is pure. He can see right through you. And I'm talking about the Holy Spirit here. There is nothing like Him. You understand the concept of what the Bible says when it says He is a part. Normally you would think of the word holy as being perfectly righteous or perfect in other ways, but the overarching impression you experience is that he is set apart from anything else. That type of experience helps you to understand the term holy. It also helps you realize why the angels were primarily extolling this in heaven. He is unlike them. They are created, he's not. He doesn't have a beginning or an end.

So in Philippians 2, verses 10 and 11, it says, so that the name of Jesus at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So even the most stiff-necked sinner, when standing in the presence of God, will not be able to prevent doing this. just like our natural reaction to thunder and lightning as a child. The natural response to his presence is what God has baked into his creation.

So getting back on track, most theologians think that the seven lamps are referring to the Holy Spirit. Some associate it with the seven attributes of God that are associated sometimes with the Spirit, while others think that it is referencing the Holy Spirit's direct association with the seven churches mentioned in chapters two and three. I won't go into that in detail. But Revelation 4, now we'll go through six through eight, And before the throne, there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion. The second creature like a calf. The third creature had the face of that of a man. And the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. And day and night they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. 

Where else in scripture have we read of similar descriptions in this heavenly scene? We won't have time to read all of the scriptures relating to these four creatures. They're special angels. around the throne, but there's a very detailed description in Ezekiel chapter one, verses four through 28. The difference between Ezekiel's account and John's was that he saw each one of them having four faces and four wings, not six as in John's account. And when I say four, I mean they were four 90 degrees apart. One face is forward, one is to the left, one is to the right, and one is behind. In John's account, he saw only one of the faces of each angel. Everything else was virtually the same. 

These are some of the interpretations for what the faces represent the angels. Full of eyes. Some have associated that with awareness or knowledge. But again, these are angelic beings that are not omniscient. God is omniscient. The creative being is not. But the lion, some have said it represents strength or power. The calf, in Ezekiel's version, it was an ox. But basically, some have equated that with service. The face of a man, sometimes associated with intellect or rational thought. The eagle, speed. So these creatures had the attributes or the characteristics of all of these things in one. Pretty amazing. 

So the differences between the two accounts that are very similar, virtually identical. For instance, may have been because the other two wings may have been beating so fast he may not have seen them. Or John may have only been looking at one side of the angels and not seen their other faces or that they might have been covered by their other wings that were covering their faces as described. But very similar, these are the same entities. I find it odd that people that are so far apart in time could have the same identical view. But that tells me it's real. It's not a metaphor. 

So there's a lot of descriptions in the Bible for what seem to be different ranks of angels that God has created. They all serve God, but they also serve as watchers and protectors of God's chosen. I should say one thing, because angels are created. Who's one of the most beautiful angels that's ever been created according to scripture? Satan. He fell. He took a third of the host with him in rebellion. 

So if we continue on in Revelation, let's look at nine through 11. And when the living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and they will worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and because of your will they exist and were created. In verse nine, John sees the four living creatures worshiping God on the throne and proclaiming his eternal nature. Then the 24 elders fall down and worship him, proclaiming his eternal nature as well. I should note that in the rest of Revelation total, there's six times this occurs where the 24 fall down in worship. But additionally, they will cast their crowns before the throne saying how worthy their Lord God is to receive glory and honor and power. They state he created all things because his will they existed and were created. So the 24 elders are acknowledging God as the creator.

But what would be significant about the crowns? Especially if the crowns represent something they are awarded for their achievements. They would basically be giving God the credit for anything they have accomplished. They would not do something like this if it were not 100% true. After all, this is heaven. The Greek word for crown used here is stephanos. It's commonly associated with a prize in Greek Olympic style games, athletic games. It could be thought of as an award in the form of a wreath worn on the head. based on some personal athletic achievement. Here it might be interpreted as a reward for righteousness. But it was not the Greek word associated with a crown for a king, translated diadem, which is a royal crown that a king would wear.

But if a crown is considered as a reward for righteousness, who is righteousness? Whose righteousness? Can any human live righteously by God's standards from our own efforts? What does scripture say about our best efforts? Isaiah 64, six. For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment. Of what value will our accomplishments be? Will they remain or be burned out? Do you think any rewards in heaven will be for things that we did out of our own sinful fleshly desires or human achievements? If no, then shouldn't our efforts and thoughts be on doing things for God's kingdom? Otherwise, they will be worth nothing.

In Ephesians 2, verses six through 10, it says, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, so that no man, so that no one may boast. For we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them. So everything that we are awarded in heaven for accomplishing on this earth of eternal value and even our salvation was all of God.

Should we be wasting our time and efforts on things in life that will not matter from an eternal perspective? Seek the Lord each day and ask him to prioritize your efforts in life that have eternal value. With that, let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to look into your word today. I pray, Lord, that we can live more and more to please you. because of a growing love for you. We would ask your blessing upon us in this next hour. And for the rest of the day, we give you thanks. In Jesus' name, amen.