The I Am Teachings Of Jesus
Or
Learning From Jesus – Lesson 11
Scripture To Consider:
“And behold, I [Jesus] am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his [or her] work. I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
“Blessed are those who do [keep and obey] His [God’s] commandments, that they [doers of the Word and not hearers only] may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” Revelation 22.12-15
Something To Consider:
In our Scripture to consider, Jesus promises and proclaims, “And behold, I am coming quickly.” I must admit, this I am teaching of Jesus has always been my favorite! But someone else might ask, but can we really think 2,000 years constitutes coming quickly?
My first response would be what we read in 2 Peter 3.8. “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In other words, from Jesus’ perspective it has only been a couple of days since His ascension into heaven!
Or is there more to this statement than we first are able to see clearly? Jesus adds to His assurance that He is coming quickly with these words, “And My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his [or her] work.”
Follow this thought for a moment! Jesus came to the only son of a widow in Nain who had died in Luke 7.11-17. Jesus came to a dead daughter of a rich ruler named Jairus who worshipped Jesus in Matthew 9.18-26, in Mark 5.21-43, and in Luke 8.40-56. Jesus also came to his close friend Lazarus, the dead brother of Mary and Martha in John 11.1-44.
These previously dead individuals were raised to life by Jesus miraculously reversing the cycle of life and death for them to reveal the power of God, and to give us an earthly example of eternal life after death. In other words, through our eventual experience of earthly death, Jesus fulfils His prediction in our Scripture to consider today, in which He declared; “And behold, I am coming quickly.”
Something Else To Consider:
If Jesus comes to us quickly after or at the point of death, what greater reward could a person request or look forward to. The apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in 2 Corinthians 5.8; “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body [to be dead] and to be present with the Lord.” Now let us allow that to sink in before moving on. To be met with death in this life, is actually our meeting with the Lord in the presence of eternal life.
Paul continued, beginning in verse 9 of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, by further stating; “Therefore we make it our aim [our spiritual goal] whether present [or alive] or absent [to be dead], to be well pleasing to Him [God]. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he [or she] has done, whether good or bad.”
For some, those words are extremely comforting. But for many, those words are extremely convicting. What is it that becomes the first impression upon our hearts and minds when we read or hear those words? Be careful how quickly we respond. God already knows the real answer!
Something More To Consider:
In our Scripture to consider, Jesus repeats Himself from an earlier I am teaching when He proclaimed, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” This should leave no doubt of Jesus’ being involved in the creation of the world and in His being able to predict with precise clarity, the future of the world and future end time events!
Therefore, we should be at complete peace as we consider life and death issues, eternity, and our being present with the Lord due to our being absent from the body by way of death. And yet, these things trouble so many so-called believers in Jesus. But it does not have to be so! Jesus would ask of us, “Where is your faith”?
We can be blessed according to Jesus even knowing death may be around the corner of time at any given moment. Therefore, Jesus acknowledged; “Blessed are those who do [those who keep and obey] His [God’s] commandments [those commandments contained in the Word of God“.
Therefore, are we keeping the Word of God? Are we obeying the Word of God? Or are we to be found by Jesus to be hearers only of the Word of God? Or do we desire to live godly lives and therefore, we continue to study God’s Word in order to not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ and the gospel of enduring to the end of our lives or to the end of this end time age.
Something More To Consider:
According to Jesus, all doers of the Word of God will be given access to the tree of life after death or after the coming quickly of Jesus Christ. Also, according to Jesus, all doers of the Word of God will be allowed entry and exit passes into the future celestial city that surrounds the throne of God. How glorious it will be and how glorious it is to know these things that God has preserved down through the centuries of time for true believers to truly believe!
But also, according to Jesus, “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexual immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” These rejecters of God and of His Word, will not be allowed into the kingdom of God, but will suffer forever for the foolish choices their hardened hearts have made!
A Few Final Words:
What is it that we love and practice? Be careful in not answering too quickly. Do we love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and soul? Do we love His written and preserved Word of God? Do we love God’s amazing grace that was established on a hill called Calvary by way of the sacrificial atoning death of Jesus Christ upon an old rugged cross?
Or do we prefer to practice a lie? Do we prefer to believe the lies of the father of lies? I thank the Lord for the exact use of the word practices. For according to Jesus, “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”
If we were truly honest, we would admit that we are all guilty of lying or of not exactly telling the truth 100% of every day of our lives. But practicing lying on a constant basis without ever being convicted and repenting of our lies, that is different.
In other words, thank God He tied the word practices to the sin of lying. For to practice is to habitually commit sin over and over with no repentance and no guilt after being convicted by the Holy Spirit of God.
In Closing:
Thank the Lord there is a difference between falling into sin and practicing sin. Thank the Lord we continue being sinners saved by His grace until our being absent from this body and being present with the Lord.
Let’s Pray:
Our Father in heaven, thank You for allowing Jesus to instruct us that His reward will be with Him at His soon second coming immediately after the tribulation that must come first. May our works be of such that we can be rewarded by Jesus. And thank You Father that You and Jesus are our great and exceeding eternal reward. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
According to Jesus 