Bourland Family Blog

“And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in the realm of the dead, Hades] was able to open the scroll or to take a [single] look at its contents. And I wept audibly and bitterly because no one was found fit to open the scroll or to inspect it. Then one of the elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said to me, Stop weeping! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root (Source) of David, has won (has overcome and conquered)! He can open the scroll and break its seven seals!” Revelation 5:3-5 ->me: I spent a lot of time on this passage last night; looking through the commentaries trying to get a grasp of the symbolism John uses here. First thing that jumped out at me in verse 4:1 was that the scroll was “on the hand” of the One Who sits on the throne (not in the hand); meaning that it was likely laying across the palm of His hand. Second, verse 2 says that a “strong” angel called out in a loud voice asking “Who is worthy to open the scroll?”; I take it that it is not ‘might’ alone that can open the scroll. Then John says that ‘no one’ was able to open the scroll; no one on earth, in heaven, or in death/hell was able to take and open the scroll. My mind keeps going to this period (maybe several moments – enough time to make John cry in sadness) where no one came forth…until one of the Elders around the Throne calmed John down and told him to look. Alright, so takeaways -> Only God the Father possess the future and this is backed up by Jesus when He says “only the Father knows” in Matthew 24:36, but Jesus is the only One Who can bring the end about. Additionally, the timing and worthiness of Jesus is perfect and there is no other who is qualified to open the seven seals. It is comforting to know that the One Who was thinking of eternity with me (the joy set before Him – Hebrews 12:2) when He paid the price of my sin on the cross, is the same Who executes the ushering in of that same eternity.

“The twenty-four elders (the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin) fall prostrate before Him Who is sitting on the throne, and they worship Him Who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, crying out, worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.” Revelation 4:10-11 ->me: In this vision given to John of the Throne Room of God the Father there are so many things that are so crazy awesome -> the Throne of Jasper and Sardius Stone, a halo of emerald (like a rainbow), the glassy sea of crystal in front, and the four beasts full of eyes ever praising God…but the most impactful part of this passage for me is the 24 Elders who throw themselves prostrate before God, on the throne, and cast their crowns at His feet…an act so appropriate for someone who is surrendering all status and worth to the only One Who deserves our worship.  In 1 Corinthians 9:25, Philippians 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8, James 1:12, and 1 Peter 5:4, God, through the New Testament writers, speaks of many crowns we can earn – Crown of Eternal Blessing, Crown of Victory,  Crown of Righteousness, Crown of Life, and Crown of Glory.  So, when I read of these heavenly Elders and what they do time and time again, I must see it as an activity I not only can do when I enter into eternity (with any of the Crowns I might earn on my entry to heaven) but I can do it now…I can throw my Crown of Self-Importance, my Crown of Position, my Crown of Advancement, my Crown of Wealth, my Crown of Independence, etc at the feet of the cross.  I can bring glory to my God in heaven today!  I can lay prostrate in my prayer closet and say “worthy are You, my Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.  TODAY, I give you what I have.”

“AFTER THIS I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future.  At once I came under the [Holy] Spirit’s power, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne!” Revelation 4:1-2 ->me: I now start to tumble into the amazing symbolism and vision of heaven given to John.  ‘After this’ – the transcribing of Jesus’ letters to the 7 churches.  John says he saw ‘a door standing open IN heaven’; not TO heaven.  Meaning that this is glimpse at something even doubly hidden.  Again he hears the same voice as earlier (the one that was heard behind him in 1:10) and this time asking John to ‘come up here’ into the door where he will be shown ‘what MUST take place in the future’.  This ‘MUST take place’ caught me off guard – Strong’s says that this word (dei) in the Greek means “it is necessary”.  Our God is deliberate, intentioned, and will not be deterred from His plan.  We can take solace in this truth…I am part of His plan and as long as I am following Him (heeding His word and obeying His commands) I can trust that I am exactly where He needs me to be.  This has given me such comfort in the last year or so.  There is so much happening now, right were I am, that if I would have tried to take things into my own hands I am quite sure I would not be sitting in His waterfall of blessing.

“Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude]. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.” Revelation 3:19-20  …so what does it mean to be hot?  From pouring over this letter it is several things that I must take to heart.  1) I must understand that I am nothing without My Savior.  To recognize that this life under the sun is futile when spent serving my own needs and believing that my career and possessions bring me hope and  joy…a hope and joy that only God can bring.  2)  To cling to a faith refined by fire and to accept the trails in my life as either opportunities to learn what the Lord is teaching me or a path to perseverance, character, and hope…a hope that does not disappoint (Romans 5:3,4, & 5).  3) To be totally immersed in God’s Word with an open mind to hear and respond to the discipline the Lord teaches from His amazing book.  Through prayer and supplication listening for the knocking of my Savior, speedily inviting Him in, ready to hear what He has to say, and eager to pounce on whatever He calls me to do (my QT verses today).  THIS is what it means to be ‘Hot’ and not lukewarm.

“These are the words of the Amen, the trusty and faithful and true Witness, the Origin and Beginning and Author of God’s creation: I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!” Revelation 3:14b-16 ->me: The Amen -> ‘So be it’ | ‘May it be so’ | etc. I love that Jesus describes Himself this way! Meaning that as the Amen (The God of Truth), what He does, just is…and we need to be good with that. Jesus is the ultimate witness because He sees my heart. It isn’t what I do but why I do it that is important to Him. This overflows into so much.   Looking back at last Friday’s QTVOTD (We have it too good), this rolls in as a complement. God does not like people who just skate through life. Yes, we live in virtual luxury compared to other Christians in the world. I can easily sit back on my deck with my tea or coffee in my hand and breathe deeply knowing I don’t have a care in the world. The other night I was sitting up at my desk in our bedroom and my prayer went something like this…”Lord God in heaven, Mighty is your Name. I sit here humbly before You to receive the teaching of your Holy Spirit…here in my comfy bedroom, with carpet, at my desk with a fancy computer, with 4 different highlighters, in a warm house with the most comfortable bed I have ever had waiting for me to get a full nights sleep in it.” It just dawned on me how easy it is for me to become lukewarm, apathetic, satisfied in my surroundings, and comfortable with my life in this world. I definitely do not want to be cold so what does it mean to be hot? More on that tomorrow…

“He who overcomes (is victorious), I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God; he shall never be put out of it or go out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends from My God out of heaven, and My own new name.” Revelation 3:12 ->me: Jesus says ‘My God’ four times in this verse and the four promises are fantastic!  There is a lot of thinking on the ‘make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God’ but the sentiment is the same and hearkens back to Psalms 27:4 ‘one thing I seek…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life’ and to never have to leave.  Then to have 3 names written upon me -> God’s name (YAHWEH – to Whom I belong), God’s city (the New Jerusalem – where I belong), and Christ’s own name (the one we do not know yet – to Whom I love and serve).  When one bears these names there is no mistaking who they are, where they live, what they stand for, and Who they serve.  What a beautiful picture of God’s adoption of us.  So the goal is to have a faith that prepares me to receive these names, to stand permanently in the Temple of the Lord.  To bear a life that begets a smile on my Lord’s face as He descends through the clouds when He comes.

“I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name.” Revelation 3:8 ->me: These are the words of Jesus to the church at Philadelphia.  In verse 7 He outlined His authority and petition for the church to listen to the only 100% reliable source of truth.  This verse (vs 8) is an answer to prayer.  This last Thursday I had the honor of praying and pouring over the effects of busyness on our lives with 5 other men at church.  One of those men also works at Microsoft and we began a discussion about starting up a regular lunch at work where we could invite others to join and pray for our co-workers and be ready to seize opportunities to win others Christ and build up those who starting out or languishing in their Christian walks.  Ok, there was the preamble – now the meat.  I like to read the above verse with the third sentence first.  As Christians at MS we are few and therefore our power/strength of influence is light, but we stay true.  We do not denounce our Savior and we keep His word and message. [now onto the first sentence] Jesus knows of what we have done and what we are currently doing.  I have set a door before you wide open which no one is to shut.  We are to move forward and if Jesus has opened the door then there is a mission to be done!  This is answered prayer and I can’t wait to talk more about this on our first lunch together this coming Wednesday!  Here are some more supporting scriptures I found regarding this door being opened – Acts 14:27, 1 Corinthians 16:9 (so good!), and 2 Corinthians 2:12.

“Yet you still have a few [persons’] names in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy and deserving. Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:4-5 ->me: Oh to be counted in the number of ‘those who have not soiled their clothes’! Right now I am also reading ‘A Call to Prayer’ by J.C. Ryle (really good short read!). What Ryle is asking in his book is “Do you pray?'” -> he adds that in all of his study it is clear that prayer is necessary for salvation…how else would you ask Jesus into your heart? We all sin and the only way to keep our garments clean is to confess our sin and repent; through prayer. [Going to be careful here] I am learning that ‘walking with Jesus in White’ is a constant state of ‘justification’ only achieved through prayer. I am not ‘worthy or deserving’ on my own accord but ONLY through the shed blood of my Savior on the cross and the application of my sins on Him by the Father. Additionally, the only way to conquer is to fight! I am pretty sure that anyone who stands idle on the battlefield will not be determined to be a conqueror.   All right, here is the roll up – In order to be clad in white garments I must be clean. I can not clean my garments myself but I have access to the one who can wash the soiled bits with the perfect blood only He shed. That access is through heartfelt and deliberate prayer. The battle over my purity is fought in the bounds of my prayer closet, so I must spend time there to be victorious. Jesus then promises that my name will not only be indelibly written in the Book of Life but my name will be acknowledged by Jesus before His Father and the angels. Note: notice He does not say ‘before My Father [in heaven]’ like He does in Matthew 10:32? Because He is saying these words, alive and well, from His position in heaven!!

“So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent. In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come.” Revelation 3:3 ->me: This is the following verse to yesterday and I think encompasses, again, an application to our comfy lives here in the US. WE HAVE IT SO GOOD!…TOO GOOD. One of the scariest prayers I pray is for God to help me see how much I need Him. Am I ready for what that might mean? Am I ready for God to put me in a circumstance where it is clear that all I can do is lean on Him? So, what do I do so that this is not a necessary avenue that the Lord must take with me? I must remember and hold fast to the teachings of His word through not only the reading the bible but also through the instruction of my pastors and spiritual leaders. It’s not good enough that I just remember…I must also obey and continually repent. Tonight before my quiet time I got down on my knees next to my bed and let the Lord know how thankful I am for the gift of His Son, that I feel the cleansing power of His blood, that I recognize that He chose to give up everything in heaven to come down, suffer, and be my sin bearer by dying on a tree and having all of God’s wrath laid down on Him…yet, I still sin. So…I must confess and repent…everyday. The coming of Christ as a thief is used to denote ‘unexpectedness’. The last thing I would want is to be in a valley of sin, a period of faith without works, or in a mindset of apathy when my Savior returns. What a devastating state of embarrassment that would be knowing all that He has done for me.

“I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead. Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.” Revelation 3:1b-2 ->me: This is the sharp condemnation of Sardis and I think this might be how God sees most of us American Christians who have become slack in our walk; we are too comfy. This was me for 33 years! Sardis had been overthrown twice before the birth of Jesus. The city was built on a hill so steep that its defenses seemed impregnable. On both occasions enemy troops scaled the walls by night and found that the overconfident Sardians had set no guard. So Jesus’ words here to ‘rouse yourselves and keep awake’ would mean something to this church. The church in Sardis may have pleased men but it did not please God. Nothing it did was complete in the sight of “My God”; its works were not brought to fulfilment. Why did both Jews and Romans leave this church undisturbed (unlike some of its neighbors [Pergamum and Thyatira])? The answer is probably its lack of aggressive and positive Christianity. The church didn’t do anything with conviction that would draw attention to itself and therefore not worth persecuting. I can’t allow myself to ever get here again – that place where I am so secure and comfortable where I am lulled into living a life that bears no fruit for His Kingdom. Lord, please help me to never be called out by you like this.