The End of Time
Jesus Christ will return to the earth one day to judge the nations and to gather his elect (his saints) for the wedding supper of the Lamb, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. He will also come to set up his kingdom reign on the earth for a period of 1,000 years (whether a literal thousand I know not). He will rule the nations with an iron scepter, and his saints will rule and judge with him.
He will capture the beast, and with him the false prophet, and he will throw them alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. An angel from heaven will come down, will seize the dragon, Satan, and will bind him for the thousand years of Jesus Christ’s reign. He will throw him into the Abyss, lock it and seal it, and there he will remain until the thousand years are ended. He will be kept there to keep him from deceiving the nations.
After that he will be set free for a short time. He will be allowed to go out and deceive the nations, he will gather an army together with him for battle, and he will surround the city of God, i.e. the saints of God, but God will send down fire from heaven and will devour the armies which are coming against God’s holy ones. Then, the devil will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, “where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Then, everyone will be judged according to what he or she has done as recorded in the books. If anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, he will be thrown into the lake of fire.
Old and New
Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth, because the old order of things will have passed away. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, the saints of Almighty God will come down from heaven from God as a bride prepared for her husband. Then God will dwell with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and he will be their God. I really love this part: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” (Rev. 21:4). I look forward to that! Most of all I look forward to being with my Lord God forever and to never having to face the temptation of sin or the taunts of Satan ever again.
After God/Jesus had shown all of this in a vision to John, he told him that he is making everything new. And, he told him to write down what he said next, “for these words are trustworthy and true” (Rev. 21:5). He said to John:
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Rev. 21:6-8)
Jesus is Coming!
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” (Rev. 22:12-16)
What you Have Done
The reality of all of this is that we serve a God who is gracious and loving, but is also just and righteous, and he will judge people, and he will send people to eternal punishment and suffering for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because our God is just and because he is righteous, he sent Jesus Christ, God the Son, to the earth to suffer as we suffer, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and then to die on the cross for our sins in our place so that we could be set free from this judgment of the lake of fire, and so we could be free from the power and control of sin over our day-to-day lives, and so we could be free to walk in fellowship with, and in faithful obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. The way in which we receive his payment for our sins, as applied to our lives, is by us coming to him in faith, trusting him to be our Lord (master) and Savior of our lives.
So, what does it mean to receive Jesus Christ by faith? Jesus said that “to him who is thirsty” he will “give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.” Yet, he adds that he who overcomes will inherit all this, and that the cowardly, unbelieving, vile, sexually immoral, idolaters and liars will not inherit this, but their place is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. In the White Throne judgment, people will be judged according to what they had done. And, when Jesus spoke of his second coming, he said that blessed were those who had washed their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life. And, then he let us know that those outside this Holy City are the sexually immoral, the murderers, idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
What I take away from this, which is based upon the teaching of the whole of the New Testament (in the Bible) is that we cannot do anything to earn, work for or deserve salvation. Our good deeds will never outweigh our bad deeds. The cost of salvation is death, and Jesus Christ paid that cost when he died on the cross for our sins. So, salvation is a free gift to us in that we don’t have to work for it and we can’t earn it. Yet, it is not entirely without cost. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Christ. Whoever would hold on to his old life of sin would lose his life, but whoever would give up his old life of sin would find his life in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 4 we learn that the way in which we come to know Christ is by putting off our old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and by putting on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We cannot do this in our own flesh. This is the working of the Holy Spirit of God in regeneration, yet we must willingly yield to God and his work.
In 1 John we learn that if we claim to have fellowship with God, and yet we continue to walk (lifestyle) in darkness (sin), we are liars. We know we have come to know Christ if we obey his commands. If we claim to know Christ, but we don’t obey his commands, we are liars. If we claim to be in the light, but we hate our brother, we are still in darkness. If we love the sinful passions of this world, the love of the Father is not in us. If the truth we heard from the beginning remains in us, then we will also remain in the Father and in the Son. If we continue in willful and unrepentant sin (lifestyle; continuous), we have not seen God and we don’t know Christ. If we don’t love others, we don’t know God. This is the practicality of the truth that Jesus taught concerning our need to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily and follow Christ, and that whoever would hold on to his old life of sin will lose his life, but whoever loses his old life of sin and self for the sake of Christ will find his life.
So, if you have prayed a prayer at an altar to receive Christ, but you have never turned from your sins, and you are not walking in obedience to Jesus Christ, it is entirely possible that you never really did receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. True faith in Jesus Christ involves turning from sin, and turning to walk in faithful obedience to Christ. It does not mean you will live in sinless perfection, but it does mean that you will no longer live a sinful lifestyle without regard for God and his commands, and that when you do sin, you will repent so that Christ can restore you back to a right relationship with him. I pray that all of us today will take the words written for the church in the book of Revelation to heart, and that we will choose today to turn from all our sins and to follow Jesus Christ in full surrender and obedience. Overcomers will inherit eternal life. Overcomers defeat the enemy of their souls in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit within them. Let us all be overcomers!
Fit for Service / An Original Work / October 5, 2011
Holy Spirit, come within us.
Cleanse our hearts,
and from sin free us.
Make us holy vessels fit
for service to the King.
Fill us with Your love and power.
Anoint us within this hour
To be living witnesses
For Jesus Christ, our King.
Our praise to Him bring.
Father God, our heart’s desire,
Come and speak to us in power.
Revive our hearts to obey You;
Live for You always.
May we love and serve You only,
Walking with You;
Not a phony.
May we always tell the truth,
And show integrity.
Your true servants be.
Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.
Purify our hearts within us;
Be transformed into Your likeness,
Holy unto You.
May we always listen to You
Speaking Your words
Now within us.
May we heed Your counsel to us;
Follow You today.
Do all that You say.
http://www.godcares.tv/video/1242/Fit-for-Service
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3BcCHKADr4
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