Last week we covered the twenty-four elders around the Lord’s throne in Revelation 4 and what they represent. The twenty-four elders are mentioned four more times in Revelation, and each time they fall on their faces to worship the Lord. This is a crucial picture of godly authority—they are worshippers. The greatest prophetic model of the Messiah in the Old Testament is King David, also one of the greatest worshippers in Scripture. Being devoted to worship is fundamental to those who would walk in godly authority.

One of the great prophetic challenges in Scripture is Isaiah 6:1-3:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the LORD sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.

Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Detrich Bonhoeffer is one of my favorite authors. He was a true prophetic voice during the first part of this century. He stood against the greatest darkness of his time without compromise, and died because of it in a Nazi concentration camp. In one of his books, Life Together, he made a bold and shocking remark, stating simply: "God hates the visionary." The translation of this from the German language that he wrote in may be a little stronger than he intended, but there is some truth to this that we should understand.

         To understand and pursue the high calling of God in Christ, we must understand that we will constantly be given choices. Those who are given to fatalism will have a hard time comprehending this, much less liking it, but it is true and is actually very much a part of every Christian life. This is why the Lord put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden. It was not to trip up Adam and Eve so they would sin, but there could be no true obedience unless there was freedom to disobey. There can be no true worship unless there is freedom not to worship.

         When we start to see that God’s basic purpose until the end of the millennium is restoration, and we take on His mind and heart for restoration, everything that is happening in the world and in our own lives begins to take on great clarity. In this way, we can see the ultimate goal of our maturity, and we can also see the next step. We can also see the next step for those around us, and we can help them along the way.

The famous quote from Walt Kelly is, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" I think that is true for a lot of people who want to blame everything on the devil, or want a one-time deliverance session and expect to be totally set free from their carnal nature and be instantly made perfect. However, in this case, we have met the enemy, and he is the enemy.