FIRE ESCAPE




, By We’d better invite Jeremiah, John the apostle, and of course the Holy Spirit into this one, a startling panorama of Hebrews 12:14. Grab your Bible and read that verse carefully--maybe several times! Then find a mug of strong McCafe or hot chocolate with marshmallows. This piece is real, radical, and right- now relevan First, though, read Jeremiah 23:28. This passage states if a prophet has a dream, let him tell it as a dream. So let me say up front I’m persuaded that God gave me a vivid, Scriptural, picturesque revelation in the form of a dream. Its tenet is the solid substance of Hebrews 12:14: “Follow . . . holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Inversely, Christ reveals via John’s script the Essence of God’s Ultimate Reward for holiness: “My reward is with Me!” -- Revelation 22:17. That’s an equation, a promise! God’s greatest reward is being with Jesus! It’s God’s Word, His promise to Christians who choose to live a holy life close to Jesus here on earth. Now for that dream. Therein I saw a brilliant, joy-filled, gold- gleaming Light filling the entire picture. Heaven! All saved people will reside there. Those who choose for whatever reason, not to accept Jesus as Personal Savior send themselves to the torture of a burning hell and later, to the eternal lake of fire.-- Revelation 20:15. The dream’s single scene featured an old-fashioned fire escape structured on the side of a gleaming, gold-filled banquet hall that emanated a kind of Supernatural Light; music; laughter; and indescribable joy. Jesus Himself was just inside That Room! apes on Waco’s downtown ox’s Department Store? With steps from the store’s flooring down to street level? If not, ask your great-aunt or grandmother! In the dream I noticed a crowded fire escape that held countless frustrated, disappointed, even seemingly desperate . . Christians! Those folks, all born- again believers in Heaven, pushed and shoved and grieved--without tears-- because they could not see the Bridegroom Christ just inside that window! So close but so impossible! The Marriage Supper of the Lamb afforded glorious, even resplendent, music and glimmering streams of beautiful Light. Worship music like no other. The Marriage Supper of the Worthy Lamb of God! As close, as safe and secure as those disappointed Christians were, they couldn’t quite see their Savior! Fire escape? Yes. They stood firmly upon it. But fulfillment? Their failure to choose a holy earthly life had eternally separated them of seeing the Lord. If you’re like me, the salient question here is “What is holiness?” In a word, it’s obedience. Fire escape or the Marriage Supper With the Lamb? Take it or leave it. While it’s still called today. . .