I confess.  I enjoy the movie, “League of Their Own”.  One of the best quotes, and there are several, “There’s no crying in baseball!”, said by the male coach who does not have it all together and does not understand what is going on, but the women knew what to do with passion and emotion.  There is SO much going on in this movie.  It’s a good study of humans navigating difficult circumstances during a war. 

Being a woman who has worked and served alongside men in various business, education and ministry occupations, I respect those women who have gone before me.  My mentors, male and female, have helped me to understand how to navigate being less than equal in the workplace without drawing attention to yourself as a woman.  “Above all, serve God”.  Great advice!  So, I’ve always had the attitude that if we are fully devoted to the One who saved us and calls us His own, He upholds His promise to guide and protect us no matter what is going on around us.  We respect our earthly authorities for sure, but ultimately, we serve God heart, mind and soul in whatever vocation we are in at the moment. 

To serve God is worship to God.  Paul teaches the church, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”  Romans 12:1-2, The Message

John gets a front row seat in the culmination of the promises of God to His servants who worship God by giving their lives to the One and Only!  Remember when Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:2-4

Did John remember writing this in his gospel at the time of this vision? 

In the same passage in John 14, Thomas, a disciple, wanted clarification by asking Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

To which Jesus replied, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7

Now, we see how God provides for His Servants!  “The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes.”

THIS is the place Jesus was talking about!

There’s no crying in heaven around the throne of God! 

No need for crying there!  Only joy, pure joy forever!

REVELATION—JESUS IS COMING BACK!

Revelation 7, The Message

The Servants of God

Immediately I saw Four Angels standing at the four corners of earth, standing steady with a firm grip on the four winds so no wind would blow on earth or sea, not even rustle a tree.

^2-3 Then I saw another Angel rising from where the sun rose, carrying the seal of the Living God. He thundered to the Four Angels assigned the task of hurting earth and sea, “Don’t hurt the earth! Don’t hurt the sea! Don’t so much as hurt a tree until I’ve sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!”

^4-8 I heard the count of those who were sealed: 144,000! They were sealed out of every Tribe of Israel: 12,000 sealed from Judah, 12,000 from Reuben, 12,000 from Gad, 12,000 from Asher, 12,000 from Naphtali, 12,000 from Manasseh, 12,000 from Simeon, 12,000 from Levi, 12,000 from Issachar, 12,000 from Zebulun, 12,000 from Joseph, 12,000 sealed from Benjamin.

* * *

^9-12 I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing, dressed in white robes and waving palm branches, standing before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing:

Salvation to our God on his Throne!
Salvation to the Lamb!

All who were standing around the Throne—Angels, Elders, Animals—fell on their faces before the Throne and worshiped God, singing:

Oh, Yes!
The blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving,
The honor and power and strength,
To our God forever and ever and ever!
Oh, Yes!

^13-14 Just then one of the Elders addressed me: “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where did they come from?” Taken aback, I said, “O Sir, I have no idea—but you must know.”

^14-17 Then he told me, “These are those who come from the great tribulation, and they’ve washed their robes, scrubbed them clean in the blood of the Lamb. That’s why they’re standing before God’s Throne. They serve him day and night in his Temple.  The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life. And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes.”

THOUGHTS FOR PONDERING…

In Scripture, a seal indicates ownership and protection. Today, God’s people are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13–14). This is God’s guarantee that we are saved and safe, and that He will one day take us to heaven.

Matthew 24:14 also indicates that the 144,000 will witness for the Lord during the tribulation.

Protected from these awesome judgments, the 144,000 will be able to do their work and glorify the Lord.

You cannot read the book of Revelation without developing a global outlook, for the emphasis is on what God does for people in the whole world. The Lamb died to redeem people “out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev. 5:9). The great multitudes pictured here came from “all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9).

Third, servants are rewarded for pure worship in serving. They had the privilege of being before God’s throne and of serving Him. When God’s people get to heaven, there will be work to do! We shall be able to serve Him perfectly! The Lamb will shepherd us and satisfy us with every good thing (see Isa. 49:10; Rev. 21:4).

In the heavenly city (Rev. 21—22), all distinctions will cease and we shall all simply be the people of God in glory.  What a day, glorious day, that will be!

“The opening of the seventh seal will introduce the seven “trumpet judgments” (Rev. 8—11) and the wrath of God will increase both in intensity and scope. But before that occurs, we are assured that in His wrath, God will remember mercy (Hab. 3:2). Despite the wrath of God and the terror inspired by Satan and his helpers, multitudes will be saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. No matter what the age or dispensation. God’s way of salvation has always been the same: faith in Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.”

Warren Wiersbe, Commentator and Theologian

LAST THOUGHTS…

If you have never trusted the Savior, do so now.

If you have trusted Him, then share the good news of salvation with others that they might be delivered from the wrath to come.

Come, Lord Jesus, and take us to where you are.  No more crying there, only joy in worship of you!  In Jesus Name, Amen