Are
You Protected?
"Come, My people,
enter into your chambers and shut your doors about you. Hide yourself as it were for a little moment,
until the indignation be over." (Isaiah 26:20)
Here
the prophet Isaiah points down the ages to our time. The "indignation" here mentioned is
the time when God's mercy, so long rejected by mankind, is finally being
withdrawn and His Righteous Indignation against sin is being revealed.
But
not just the judgments against sin is here spoken of, but the wrath of the
devil spoken of in Revelation 12:17 is also included. He knows his time is short, so he increases
his attacks against those who are following God in an effort to wipe them off
the earth. Also he has more control over those who are rejecting God's
salvation. Because they have rejected God, Satan is free to exercise his
destructive power over them more than ever and he seeks to destroy as many as
he can lest they see their error and repent.
So what
is the protection God wants us to take advantage of? What are the "chambers" we are to
enter? How can we hide ourselves in
these days? The word has the idea of an
apartment, an inner chamber, a small room that can be closed off from the rest
of the house.
In
John 10:9 Jesus tells us He is the door, the only door by which we can enter
the (sheepfold) protection God provides. In Revelation 3:7 Jesus presents
Himself as the One who opens or closes, and that there is a door He wants His
people to go through.
Look
at Revelation 11:15-19. The seventh
angel announces that the final events in the plan of salvation have arrived. Verse 18 presents the time of
"indignation" is here, and verse 19 tells us a new chamber has been
opened in the heavenly temple. When
Jesus went back to heaven, he entered the temple to appear "now in the
presence of God for us".(Hebrews 9:24) But in 1844 he entered a new, and
final, phase of work. The time of
judgment began with Jesus and the Father entering the second part, the most
holy part, of the temple. (Daniel 7:9-14) In this area special attention is
called to the "ark of His testament".
This is where the 10 commandments are kept. This is where the final work of atonement is done. Jesus invites us to enter into
this most holy place, this most holy experience, with Him!
The
invitation from Isaiah is meant for us.
It is God's invitation. How do we
enter into the Holiest with Jesus? Proverbs
28:13: "He
that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes his
sins shall have mercy."
Notice it is a two part process. 1).
We must confess our sins. This confession must be specific and
personal. We must confess "in that thing" (Leviticus 5:5) None of this "forgive me all my
sins" stuff. When you have
confessed the specific sins you can think of, then ask forgiveness for
the ones you can't, but also ask the Lord to bring them to mind if it is His
will so that you can be sure you have not only confessed, but also forsaken.
This brings us to the second part. 2).
"...and forsakes...." In the power of Christ we must forsake
our sins. This is why confession must be
specific. We cannot forsake something
unless we consciously know what needs to be forsaken. This is also why we must ask for God's help
to know what our sins are. We easily
overlook our faults, shortcomings, and sins.
But both confession and forsaking must be done if we are to be hidden in
God's protecting chamber and be ready for Jesus when He comes again.
Let us enter the compartment in the
heavenly temple containing the holy law of God, and look deeply into its sacred
depths. Let us repeat the words of Jesus
as found in Psalm 119:10 - "With my whole heart have I sought
You. O let me not wander from Your
commandments." Come into the heavenly chamber where Jesus is. Close and
bar every avenue the devil uses to try and gain entrance to your mind. Show everyone you come in contact with that
your attention is focused on God and heaven, and urge them to come along with
you in obedience to Jesus.
