Source of Security
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Key Verse: “I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Selected Scripture: |
THERE IS A CLASS mentioned in the Scriptures, which we refer to as the ‘great company.’ They, we are told in our text, will come out of a time of ‘great tribulation’ and wash their robes and make them clean in the ‘blood of the Lamb.’ Their robes need to be washed because they have been spotted by contact with the world, the flesh, and the Devil. This may be due to their unfaithfulness, or by carelessness and worldliness. It points out to us the danger of being partially filled with the spirit of the world, which leads to not being counted as overcomers of the world. It should be pointed out that they have passed the various stages of making a consecration, Divine acceptance and the begetting of the Holy Spirit. Unlike the bride class, they do not fully take hold of the promise in Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.”
These are seeking to be followers of Christ and followers of “mammon” (Matt. 6:24), seeking to please the Lord in some things, having some of the Spirit of the Lord, yet also having a love of fleshly things, and worldly ambition. They are not rendering themselves to the admonition by the Apostle Paul, “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) He goes on to further emphasize his point, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”—vs. 2
In this text from Romans, we have implied an important aspect of our Christian walk, which is sacrifice. The term ‘sacrifice’ is translated from the Greek word thusia, and refers to a slaughter; it implies a giving of our all in service to our Heavenly Father. It shows that we must not only abstain from sin, since all were born in sin and “shapen in iniquity” (Ps. 51:5), but having made a full consecration to God, give everything that we have to give, even life itself. We are told in II Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,” or a New Creation who will attain the Divine nature—glory, honor, and immortality. (Rom. 2:7) To be a New Creature then, one has to present his justified life as a ‘living sacrifice,’ including human hopes, will, and ambitions.
Failing to live up to their covenant of complete sacrifice, those described in our lesson for today must endure great tribulation. They will have special and severe testings, which will definitely demonstrate their character, and provide lessons for them to all eternity. In their sufferings they will learn to appreciate as never before their relationship to the Lamb of God and to his atoning merit. This class, then having proven their faithfulness through obedience to God, will receive the great blessing of a heavenly reward. They will receive palm branches, having gained a victory, and will appear “before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.”—Rev. 7:15