Revelation tells us of the 24 elders who symbolize those who believe in Christ during the age of the Church. There are 144,000 Jewish converts who will believe in Christ during the hour of the Great Trib ulation. There are also millions of Gentile converts who will believe during this time of unprecedented sorrow and trouble because of the witness of these Jewish evangels. While at times it may seem that there are very few who know the Lord in our neighborhood or com munity, relatively speaking, the Bible says that the number of be lievers forever is going to be tre mendous and even innumerable. Remember that all of the Chris tians in this world are not neces sarily the Christians that you and I have met or seen. There are mil lions of believers in the world to day, all over the world. One day we are going to be with them forever and forever. Do not ever be discouraged about being a Chris tian. There are many about whom you and I know nothing about. Take heart and remember that in a coming hour you will link hands and hearts with billions of other people who love and serve Jesus Christ, as well as those faithful ones who, across the ages, have died and gone to glory. No one can fully appreciate what a tremen dously great day is now coming. There are several verses in our study in Philippians which have caused some misunderstanding and confusion. Paul writes, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
spectrum. Finally, Philippians 2:9- 11 tells us that this confession will result in the ascription of all glory to Cod the Father. While an indi vidual may not now bow volun tarily, his knees will bend in the acknowledgement of Christ as Lord in a day to come. The confession here means that Jesus is the sovereign God. The word "Lord" has overtones of rul- ership and leadership. Consequent ly, Christ is the One who does what is right and possesses power to carry out all His decisions. I am sure that all of us as believers are looking forward to that day when Jesus Christ will be Lord of lords and King of kings. This is an acknowledgement of what has al ways been true. This confession is to be made by every order of intelligent being. Notice that the little word "thing" is italicized in the authorized ver sion. This means it has been added to the English by the translators to give a better understanding to something that has no correspond ing word in Greek. The context here reveals that the reference here is to personalities and people, rath er than to inanimate objects. The picture is of angels, men and de mons in their respective spheres. Both Enoch and Revelation refer to the myriads of angels who will join with believers in voicing praise unto Cod. Think of the fact that our feeble voices will be swelled by millions of angels who have seen the great drama of salvation unfold over the ages and now sing out of their great wonder and vast experience. The confession is also made by those on the earth. The book of
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