I teach. Some of you have taught. You know what happens when a teacher tells the students that there will be no test.
Nothing.
The book of Revelation is timely antidote to this problem. If the present life is a training ground for the life to come, then it is inevitable—there will be a test. Maybe we can fool others, maybe even fool ourselves, but there will be no fooling God when the day comes. Games, lies, and clever tricks—the bread and butter of every schoolboy dropout (at least when there were dropouts)—these will have run their course, and now the question will only be whether we have done the work.
The book of Revelation is one of the least preached on books in the church today, in part because many of us have come to believe that the present life is a rather boring class in which there is no final exam. We make spit-wads, giggle and gossip, skip out on our homework, exploit ourselves and one another, and suppose all the while that, when the day comes, we will pass with a tolerably good score because, after all, the teachers is a nice man, and… well geeze, does it all
really matter anyway?
Meanwhile, our country, our schools, our churches, and our families fall into decay, but we don’t much notice until it begins to affect our pocketbooks and individual freedoms, and then we say, “Hey, what’s going on here?” What greater revelation could there be? When money and convenience are involved, we all become quite serious. Otherwise, it’s fun and games till kingdom come.
Well, the kingdom is coming, but the real question is whether you and I will be a part of it, and no statement of faith is going to pass as guaranteed admittance into that throng when the saints go marching in (anymore than a schoolboy can get an A on his test because he has a certificate saying he knows his algebra). The real question is whether you know the material, and not because you’ve copied it out of the back of the book, but because you are able to SHOW YOUR WORK! Granted, Christians aren’t saved by their works, but they can show their work, just as any good student can show his.
There are no cheat sheets for admittance into heaven, and the book of Revelation reminds us that this is so. Those who feel they’ve got it in the bag, let them show their work. In the words of the Apostle Paul:
God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:6-8).
Behold, he is coming with the clouds. There will be a test!
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