The role of a pastor is to encourage people to move forward in their journey towards eternity with Christ, and along the way, come into depths of God and receive all that He has planned for their lives. Sadly, not everyone wants to go on, and some will become stuck as they come up against the same barrier time and time again. It might be hidden sin, or going after selfish desires or pleasure. In whatever form it may be, it cannot go unaddressed; these are the things that rise up against God, against a work, and will deprive us from knowing the fullness of His goodness and blessing. As we go further on in our walk, the requirement to deny oneself can become a stumbling block. It is not easy to die to our own will and desire, our very nature opposes the things of God because we are a fallen people.
 
This temporal life is tarnished by sin and fraught will all manner of difficulty and darkness. But, Hallelujah! For we can look forward to a life where there is no sin, sickness, or demonic power, only goodness and glory in eternity with Christ. It is a place not bound by time, and we will be given a new heavenly body, a glorified body just as that of Christ after His resurrection. It was a body given to Him by God Himself, and we too will have a new body that reflects the glory of God and is not ravaged by the effect of sin. Our new body will be clothed in an array of fine linen according to our righteous acts.
 
We, the bride of Christ, will be in eternity clothed by the righteous acts that we have done. This tells us that in this temporal life there are acts that we as individuals are responsible for, that are counted as righteous under God’s will and plan. The Holy Spirit has wrought these works in us while we are on earth. We can of course choose not to do these things in the here and now, but we will be disobeying God’s instruction, and could find ourselves almost naked rather than adorned in righteous robes for all eternity.
 
God cannot work in our lives if we persist in rebellion, not only may we lack garments of saints in heaven, but we won’t fulfil the plans He has for us now, or worse we will slowly wither away from Him completely.
 
Christ imputed His righteousness to us, and it is through this that we are looked upon by God, but what we are talking about here is different, it is the responsibility of us, as saints, to carry out righteous acts under God, and as instructed by Him, in this life, for which we will be clothed accordingly in the next. These acts will be different for each of us, and though we may attempt to make excuses to deceive ourselves and others, we know deep down when our heart has hardened towards Him.
 
What acts of righteousness have you done this week? Can you say that you will be adorned in an array of fine linen in eternity?
 
Philippians 2:12-13
 
‘’Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.’’
 
Let us go forward righteous unto God as He looks upon us with pleasure preparing fine linens to adorn us with for all eternity.