Liza

We are to stand out of the evil and godlessness like lights in the darkness, and we are called to be salt in that we are involved like Jesus in the lives of people who are sad and hurting. Our walk and talk should set us apart as God

Worship is about focussing on God and the Lamb. It is about forgetting all about ourselves, for we deserved nothing of what He has prepared for us, and seeing all that He is worth. A lot of the songs that I have thought of are mentioned. One particularly is

I think it is mainly because we are not taught enough about consequences

They are faithful to the Lord God alone, and have not served other gods. Their speech and conduct is pure. They obey the Lord Jesus Christ and are completely dedicated to Him. They are blameless, cleansed by the blood of Jesus. This is something all Christians should emulate, because they are prepared for the Lamb

The Beasts, the Antichrist & the False Prophet are all symbols of what stands against God and Jesus. They try to destroy what is good and pure by bringing a counterfeit in order to mislead the people

They overcame Satan by the blood (they had repented and their sins were washed away) and spoke their faith. They loved Him who loved them first more than their lives. When we love our lives, we compromise very often, to the point of compromising our faith, our life and even denying Christ. The church is called to stand in the face of persecution.

From the very birth of Jesus, Satan has known that his days are numbered, he has waged war on Jesus (Herod killed all the male children in Bethlehem), and the persecution still goes on today. Divine safety has always been provided

They are prophetic (warn the world to take the right path) clothed in sackcloth (mourning) olive trees (emboldened by Holy Spirit) lampstands (lights to the world) before the Lord (believers) fire from mouth (power of the Word) power to shut up sky (boldness of Elijah) power

The judgement of God is bitter

They are from all countries, tribes, languages. They are innumerable and clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and they can only praise the One seated on the throne. They have nothing to boast in, they have a Lamb whom they can boast in. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Grace is what makes us sing so joyfully

God protects His own. He will keep all His own safe. This reminds me so strongly of the Israelites who celebrated Passover in Egypt

Persecution is there for sure. These souls are in the presence of the Lord. They have been sacrificed for the sake of the Gospel

The Lamb initiates the destruction represented by the 7 seals. I believe it is directed against those who are not believers. I think it is because God always gives us problems so that we can seek Him. Unfortunately we often refuse to turn to Him. Here we can see the same thing happening

We should take care of our Church as our body. That also means that we do not spend time running down the members or faults of our Church, but pray and believe that we are on our way to being that beautiful, glorrious Church. We need to treat her better - I need to - and especially repent of seeing her as a Church without power. The true Church has power, and is being prepared for her Groom. We need to believe that and think, act and pray accordingly.

'to present her to himself' - The Church which is described is the glorified Church, but is also so spiritually today - we are cleansed, clothed in garments of righteousness (white robes) and when we walk in obedience to Jesus daily we keep ourselves from being spotted by the world (the sin). There is also some striving in this age as we need to keep ourselves holy, we need to stand out as bright lights in the darkness, we need to show the world Christlike love and living. But ultimately, this is how beautiful the glorified Church will be.