Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 8:1-5 is about the opening of the seventh seal.
Revelation 8:3-4
8:3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.
8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
The prayers of all the saints before the throne refer to worship prayer.
There are two things that we learn from the worship prayer as follows:
God blesses you.
Revelation 8:1-5 is about the opening of the seventh seal.
Revelation 8:3-4
8:3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand.
8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.
The prayers of all the saints before the throne refer to worship prayer.
There are two things that we learn from the worship prayer as follows:
- The Golden Altar of Incense [Revelation 8:3].
The fleshly sinful man cannot easily repent, serve, minister, and worship God. Therefore, he must be overlaid with pure gold or the power of Holy Spirit, so he can repent, serve and minister to God seriously and with a broken heart. He will answer the prayers. - The censer.
Exodus 30:34
30:34 And the LORD said to Moses: "Take sweet spices, stacte,and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincensewith these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each.
There are four kinds of Ingredients of the incense or the worship prayer as follows:- The stacte or myrrh.
The stacte is taken from a tree whose skin is hurt or slashed. It refers to the blood of Jesus.
The signs are as follows:- The taste is bitter. The aroma is sweet, and the price is expensive.
The taste of stacte is bitter but the aroma is sweet. It refers to the blood of Jesus as the sign of His love to men through His sacrifice on the cross. His sacrifice on the cross was bitter for the flesh but it saves the sinful man. It refers to the sweet aroma. - The price is expensive.
How great a man in the world is, he is priceless before God if he does sin; even he is the same as dog and swine. Therefore, he must be redeemed by the expensive blood of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:18-19
1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
1:19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The sacrifice of Jesus until He sheds His blood and dies on the cross is an expensive sacrifice to save the sinful men who are not worthy, but the same as dog and swine, so they can be very precious and expensive before God.
Being precious and expensive means that we live in righteousness and holiness. It is the same as being the sweet-smelling aroma before God.
It encourages us to worship God.
- Giving the expensive price for salvation, so we willingly suffer in flesh to live in righteousness and do not want to return to sin.
- Giving the expensive price for holiness and perfection, so we willingly suffer in flesh to receive the sword of the hard true teaching Word to sanctify us.
- Giving the expensive price for the calling and choosing of God or the ministry, so we willingly suffer in flesh to keep our ministry.
- The taste is bitter. The aroma is sweet, and the price is expensive.
- The onycha or shell.
How does the onycha become the incense?- It is pounded or milled into powder.
- It is burnt to produce sweet-smelling aroma.
Luke 22:42-43
22:42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done."
22:43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
Saying "Abba Father" means that we obey the word of God until the flesh does not speak anymore, so the door of heaven is opened. We experience the angel's power or the heavenly one to preserve, protect, and fight for us. - It is pounded or milled into powder.
- The galbanum.
The taste is bitter but it has sweet-smelling aroma and can heal.
So, the worship prayer refers to the suffering, torment, and bitterness for flesh. Nevertheless it is useful as follows:- It gives freshness for our soul and spirit namely we can always give thanks to God and testify the things that God has done in our life spiritually such as the sanctification and renewal and physically.
- It heals or makes our spirituality healthy. It means that we can love and prioritize God, the service, and ministry more than anything. We can love other people like we love ourselves. We do not harm other but we can love our enemy and repay good for evil.
- It gives freshness for our soul and spirit namely we can always give thanks to God and testify the things that God has done in our life spiritually such as the sanctification and renewal and physically.
- The frankincense.
The frankincense which is used to be the ingredient of incense is the white one. The white color refers to the holiness which is done by the work of the sword of the true teaching word which is sharper than any two-edged sword that sanctifies our life. The sanctification begins from the heart, deed, and words.
Matthew 15:19
15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
The heart of men consists of seven evil, unclean, and bitter desires. It is the same as the quenched lamp and dark heart and eyes so they cannot see God. In consequence, their life is blind until they fall in sins up to the peak and he will be destroyed forever.
But, if we want to hear and obey the word of God, we will be sanctified from the evil, unclean, and bitter desires. As a result, the eyes of our heart shines and our lamp is burning, so we can see God.
Matthew 5:8
5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,For they shall see God.
30:35 "You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.
All of the incense must be salted.
Mark 9:49-50
9:49 "For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
9:50 "Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."
The salt refers to the anointing of Holy Spirit. We must always reconcile, confess, and forgive one another, so the blood of Jesus cleanses our sins and we experience the anointing of Holy Spirit or the salty salt. The worship prayer is lasting and we really see God.
Hebrews 12:14
12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness,without which no one will see the Lord.
After our heart is holy, we can see God, speak with Him honestly, and stretch our hands to Him. It is the worship prayer. We can see Jesus as the High Priest and King of all kings and worship Him with "Alleluia"
Psalms 96:9-10
96:9 Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
96:10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."
Zechariah 14:17-18
14:17 And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.
14:18 If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Revelation 19:6-7
19:6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
Jesus as the High Priest and King of all kings will open the door of heaven to pour out the rain of Holy Spirit and His blessing.
Isaiah 44:3-4
44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;
44:4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.
As a result, Holy Spirit will water the servant and the minister of God who are dry and weak by the rivers of Babylon.
Psalms 137:1-4
137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion.
137:2 We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it.
137:3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song, And those who plundered us requested mirth, Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
137:4 How shall we sing the LORD'S song In a foreign land?
The facts found in being by the river of Babylon are as follows:- The servant and minister of God whose heart is dry and not peaceful. They are in weariness, heavy burden, difficulties, tears, suffering, murmuring, disappointment, and hopelessness.
- The servant and minister of God who serve and minister to Him only to look for physical or fleshly things and show the power of the flesh.
- The servant and minister of God who sacrifice the spiritual things to get the physical ones.
If we who are like the weak and dry are watered by Holy Spirit, we will be the servant and minister of God who are strong and courageous. We have peaceful heart and we do not feel what the flesh feels. We are in peace and always give thanks to God. Our face is cheerful and all things are easy and light.
One who is strong and of good courage is by the river of life. We are faithful and fervent in spirit in service and ministry to God until the end line.
Isaiah 43:15-16
43:15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."
43:16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters.
The King will open the doors in the world, so all of impossible problems are finished by Holy Spirit. There are the reservation and protection of God until the time when Antichrist rules over the world for three and a half years. There is beautiful and successful future life until the door of heaven is opened.
Luke 23:40-43
23:40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
23:41 "And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."
23:42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
23:43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
Isaiah 44:5
44:5 One will say, 'I am the LORD'S';Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The LORD'S,' And name himself by the name of Israel.
The criminal can enter Paradise if he confesses his sins honestly. The King will open the door of paradise for us. It means that there is renewal of life from the criminal to an honest man like Jacob. Jacob means liar. He can be changed into Israel or the house of prayer. Someday, If Jesus comes for the second time, we will be changed to be perfect until we do not stumble in words anymore but cry out "Alleluia" to welcome His second coming. The door of heaven or paradise is opened for us and we can worship God on the throne of heaven forever. - The stacte or myrrh.
God blesses you.