the Lord will preserve His servants

Revelation 7

v3

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

There are many troubles we could be upset about, and overwhelmed, but it is a great encouragement to know that the Lord will preserve His servants. Let's just make sure that we are faithfully serving Him, and trust Him to protect and deliver us from whatever may come.

Hebrews 6:10

For God [is] not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

patience for the promise

Hebrews 10

v36

For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

This is an encouragement that the Lord will keep His promises and bless us, and we should just stay strong and patient, and be diligent to follow Him.

1 Peter 5 - Key

v9

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Sometimes the devil uses afflictions (troubles) and suffering for a little while (see v10). The way that we are supposed to resist him is by being steadfast, having faith, and remembering that the problems we face are common to all of the brethren.

Application

I'm having major problems with my car, so instead of getting worried and upset, I'll just do what I can to take care of it, and trust the Lord to work the situation out.

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1 Peter 5 - Outline

v1-4

there is a great reward for faithfully serving the Lord

v5-7

we should be submissive to each other, humble ourselves, and be clothed with humility

v8-9

steadfast faith is the way to resist the devil

v10-12

God is all about grace

v12-14

it is important for us to greet each other

there was a big change

Hebrews 9

v8,9

The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

Which [was] a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;

Continuing through these chapters in Hebrews, I continue to see this series of passages clearly teaching that our covenant with the Lord has changed. We are not supposed to have exactly the same kind of approach to the Lord, now that Christ has come, died on the cross, and risen again. The old covenant was temporary and incomplete, and the new covenant is different and meant to supersede it.

v8 said, ...the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest... That means that, living under the old covenant, you wouldn't quite get the whole picture, yet. The old covenant was not perfect and complete by itself. v9 says it [was] a figure for the time then present..., which means that the old covenant was temporary, and it is not supposed to be imposed on us any more today. It was not the actual substance but it was just a figure. The old covenant ...could not make him that did the service perfect... like we can be perfectly cleansed from sin by the blood of Christ today.

So this means that we definitely need see that there has been a big change since the Old Testament, and a new way has been revealed to come to God by faith in Christ. Beware that you don't try to have the traditions of the Old Testament laws (only eating certain kinds of food, observing holy days, having a line of human priests, etc.) imposed on your life in an attempt to be justified to God. That would be using those things wrongly, because they were meant to be symbolic, and they have been fulfilled in Jesus.

serve God day and night

Revelation 7

v15

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

It talks about God, how the multitude would serve him day and night. Do we serve God like that? Or do we, for example, serve Him during the day and then, at the end of a long day, get lazy and let our behavior slip instead of doing what is right?

Serving God for us today, could mean something as simple as going to bed on time at night instead of staying up too late wasting time so we won't be able to get up and be ready for work the next morning.

prepare to serve through great tribulation

Revelation 7

v14

And 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.

There will be this great multitude who went through great tribulation, and it sounds like they died for their faith in Christ. With this new year upon us, it is an opportunity to think about what the future holds. If the future holds tribulation like this for us, then we need, all the more, to be ready. Let's make sure that we are being the Lord's faithful servants despite any trouble or hardship that might come upon us, and let's be prepared to face it if or when it does.