One Nation, Under Who?

A promise:

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:17 (emphasis added)

And a warning:

"But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them-- that is why he brought all this disaster on them.'" 2 Chronicles 7:19-22 (emphasis added)

In the chapters preceding these verses, we see Solomon build the temple and then dedicate it to God. The entirety of chapter six is Solomon's prayer to God, a plea and an oath, both seeking God's protection and provision, but also stating rather matter-of-factly the inevitable judgment that will befall them should Israel turn away from God.

Solomon is unmistakably aware of the fact that ALL GOOD THINGS COME FROM THE LORD!

He knows that nothing they possess or could ever hope to accomplish would even be remotely attainable were it not for the direct willful blessing of the God who created them and promised to protect them. And he also knows that every one of these blessings can be just as easily stripped away in an instant if God so chooses.

He knows this. He acknowledges this, both before God and before men. And he accepts the consequences, be they ever so severe, should Israel ever turn away from God again.

And God does not take such promises lightly. If you make a commitment to God, you had best intend to keep it.

We know from studying history that they do indeed turn away from God yet again, and they do indeed reap the painful consequences.

The standards that God held for the Israelites were different from those he held for the rest of the world. They were his children, his own special possession. God disciplines those he loves. A parent doesn't discipline a child that doesn't belong to them; you discipline your own children, for their own good.

But the Israelites are not the only group of people who God has called his own. When Jesus Christ came to this earth to pay the penalty for all sin, anyone who would believe was immediately adopted into this Jewish family. We are now sons and daughters of God. We are his special possession as well, and because He loves us, our God will discipline us. He now holds us to the same standard that he has always held Israel. Those same promises and warnings now apply to us: Our God has promised to protect us, to provide for us and to heal our land when we repent and turn back to him. And likewise, should we turn away from him, we should not be surprised when two things happen: 1) His provision and blessing cease; and 2) His hand of protection is lifted, and we are allowed to endure pain and suffering.

And while the bride of Christ, the Christian church, is spread throughout the world, there is one nation in particular which is by definition, a Christian nation: The United States of America. While you might be hard pressed to find any evidence of that long-forgotten fact, this country was indeed founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was established as a place where individuals would be free to worship God in spirit and in truth, uninhibited by the religious demands and persecution they were facing at home. Its laws were founded on the principles of God's laws. And, most importantly, it was dedicated to God, just as Israel once was.

In 1789, for the first time ever, our nation had a functioning government, and upon being inaugurated as our first president, George Washington gave the first inaugural address. In it, he gave this prophetic warning:

"...it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect... No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency...; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." (emphasis added) (George Washington's inaugural address can be read in its entirety here.)

And were it not enough that our government was birthed with these words, George Washington, along with a group of our very first political leaders, marched from their present location to a little chapel called St. Paul's Chapel to pray and to dedicate this nation to God. Just as Solomon made vows to God, so our founding fathers did no less.

And all of this took place not in Washington, where our government functions today; at the founding of our nation, the capitol was not Washington D.C.-- it was in New York. George Washington was inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City. And the chapel that these men walked to after the ceremony, the very site where this nation was ceremonially dedicated to God was at the corner of Ground Zero. And when the attack happened on 9/11, the only thing left standing was this little chapel.

The Lord gave us this land. He has blessed us exceedingly. We committed it to Him. We dedicated it to Him. And we have since turned our backs on Him in ways that aren't even numerable. And on September 11th, 2001, God lifted his hand of protection.

"For this is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. I will shake all the nations..." Haggai 2:6

Our world is shaking, and it's only going to shake harder until the day Christ returns. But this nation has a hope and a promise! God has not forgotten the foundations that we were once built on...

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

This promise is as much ours as it is Israel's. It's time to wake up, pay attention to the shakings, and get serious about surrendering our lives to Christ. I'm not talking to unbelievers here! Absolutely, I pray that those who are lost would be found, but this verse is not written to the unbelieving people and nations of this world. It says my people, who are called by my name. WE have gone astray. WE have tossed God aside to worship worthless idols. WE are the ones who need to throw our precious lifestyles out the window and GET ON OUR KNEES!

More on how we can tangibly do that in the next post...

*This fascinating bit of information about the founding of our nation is just one tiny piece of wisdom and insight that Rabbi Jonathan Cahn shares in his book The Harbinger. It is written in the form of a fictional story, but within it are FACTUAL details, outlining the message that he believes God is sending us. I posted a video interview that he did a while back, here. I highly recommend that you watch the video and get a copy of the book. It will boggle your mind to discover all the detailed ways in which the events of 9/11 literally parallel the warning signs God sent to Israel.

Putting An End To Satan, Once And For All

When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison... Revelation 20:7

For the past 1,000 years, the earth will have been enjoying near perfect paradise. Jesus will have been living and ruling here on earth from Jerusalem, with the church at his side. We will have been experiencing an earth that is like the garden of Eden from top to bottom, with not a single trace of unpleasant weather or uninhabitable terrain as far as the eye can see. There will have been no hunger, no fear, and almost no death at all, much less premature death. However, I say "near" perfect, because the propensity for sin will still exist, not in those who have already come to know the Lord either before or during the tribulation, but in the generations who will be born during the Millennial Kingdom to the Jews and Gentiles who accepted Christ during the tribulation. And it is this propensity for sin that will sadly give Satan one last foothold before he is done away with for good...

He will go out to deceive the nations--called Gog and Magog--in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for a battle--a mighty army, as numberless as the sand along the seashore. Rev. 20:8

There are two separate battles which are referred to as the war of Gog and Magog. One is the attack that will come against Israel, as described in Ezekiel 38-39, which we discussed in a previous post. The other is this battle at the end of the 1,000 years. Though we see that, much like the quickly thwarted attack of Ezekiel 38-39, there isn't much of a "battle" to speak of here either...

And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God's people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. Rev. 20:9

And what of Satan?

Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Rev. 20:10

Forever and ever! Those words are SO important! It is of course a great comfort and joy to know that Satan will no longer be a threat to anyone ever again and that his fate is sealed; he will spend eternity in hell. BUT, it is so important to understand that this place of very real, excruciating, unending torment, which was created NOT for people, but solely for Satan and his demons, will also be the final destination for anyone who chooses, either by outright opposition or passive indifference, to reject Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books... And all were judged according to their deeds... And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:11-15

To be judged according to your deeds is not a balancing game of weighing the "good" against the "bad" and hoping you measure up enough to get into heaven. Without Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you can do no good. Heaven cannot be bought or earned. It can only be accepted as a free gift from Jesus Christ. To not take this seriously, or to reject it entirely, is foolish beyond explanation. Don't wait a moment longer to make this decision for yourself OR to share your faith with the world around you, starting with your closest family and friends. We just never know how much time any of us have left on this earth.

As we near the end of this series, I encourage you to take a look back through any of the posts that you may have missed under the label prophecy. I also encourage you to share this series, or maybe just one post, with anyone in your life who is feeling the weight of the times in which we are living and is wondering what it all means. 


If you have doubts or questions about whether or not hell is real and what the Bible has to say about it, I encourage you to check out the book Erasing Hell by Francis Chan.

The weight of hell and the reality that many of our loved ones may face can be overwhelming. "But take heart!" Jesus tells us. "I have overcome the world!" John 16:33. Next week, we see the new Jerusalem and the beginning of eternity in heaven with Jesus!

Always Have Been, Always Will Be...

It is the Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea into roaring waves.

His name is the Lord of Heaven's Armies, and this is what he says:

"I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to abolish the laws of nature!"

This is what the Lord says:

"Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored, I will not consider casting them away for the evil they have done. I, the Lord, have spoken!" Jeremiah 31:35-37

Much of the church today, predominantly in certain denominations, has adopted an unbiblical, false doctrine, which many refer to as "replacement theology". Some churches may teach this as an outright fact, while others may simply, though just as dangerously, allow the attitudes and ideas of it to subtly seep into their teachings and belief systems. Either way, it has permeated so deeply into the hearts and minds of a frighteningly large portion of believers today that many of us have accepted these attitudes toward Israel and the Jewish people as normal. The result is, at best, a disinterest or slight annoyance with the "problems" that Israel seems to pose to our world today geopolitically, and at worst, a disgust or even hatred for a nation that God has clearly called His own. What this theology teaches is basically that all of the promises which God made to Israel somehow transferred to Christians, or the church, because of Israel's rejection of Jesus; essentially, this means that we must discard the entire Old Testament, or at least, insert "the church" into the promises of God anytime He addresses Israel. I'll leave the doctrinal research to you, and simply say for now that this idea is completely ludicrous; God made specific promises TO Israel, and He intends to fulfill every single one of them WITH Israel.

In the last post, we took a look at what the Millennial Kingdom, the 1,000 year period following Christ's return to earth, will look like. Now, I'd like to outline for you a few highlights concerning God's special plans and promises for Israel. Remember, anyone who enters into the Millennial Kingdom, whether Jew or Gentile, HAS accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Simply being Jewish does not entitle a person to the fulfillment of these promises; they must accept Christ, just as the church has had to do...

First of all, here's a quick outline of what the ruling structure will look like during the millennium:

1. Jesus Christ: Jesus will rule over the entire world.
1. The Gentiles, ruled by the church (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
1. "Kings" will be ruling over the individual nations of the world.
2. The Jews, ruled by King David (Ezekiel 34:23-24)
1. The 12 disciples (with the exception of Judas, who will be replaced by someone who has yet to be revealed) will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:27-28, Luke 22:28-30).

In Ezekiel, over the course of several chapters, as well as throughout the majority of the Old Testament, God lays out a very detailed description of the future plans for Israel. Here is one small window into those plans:

My servant David will be their king, and they will have only one shepherd. They will obey my regulations and be careful to keep my decrees. They will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where their ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren after them will live there forever, generation after generation. And my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I will give them their land and increase their numbers, and I will put my Temple among them forever. I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy. Ezekiel 37:24-28, emphasis added

It doesn't take a bible scholar to figure out that the Israel described here has NEVER existed. This has NOT happened yet, but it will! During the 1,000 year reign of Christ, this Israel will be a reality!

It's also interesting to note that during this time, as Ezekiel 40-48 and other passages describe to us, the practices of temple worship and temple sacrifices will be reinstated. We must understand, however, that these sacrifices will NOT be atoning, as they were in their early days; these sacrifices are a symbol that point back at what Christ did on the cross, just as the original atoning sacrifices pointed toward what he would do in the future. These sacrifices will be a type of memorial of Christ's blood spilled on the cross, similar to what we practice when we take communion. We, the church, will not take part in offering these sacrifices, but we will help administer and serve during the process.

While we certainly don't need to go out and start participating in animal sacrifice, it would probably do us all a world of good to reconnect with our Jewish roots in some way. Perhaps a study about Jewish holidays and what they mean. Maybe participating in a Seder dinner. Maybe celebrating Chanukah this year. Remember that we are adopted into this Jewish family when we become a follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. There is so much richness to be found in the Hebrew traditions. All of these seemingly tedious rites and rituals that God required of the Jews were each a unique, poetic foreshadowing of the beautiful relationship that we would one day have with Jesus Christ, Yeshua, the Messiah! Learning about and participating in these practices now only give us a deeper, more intimate view of the sovereignty and intricacy of an Almighty God. How can we truly understand the God we serve if we deny or simply ignore the culture through which He chose to enter this world?

Ultimately, regardless of how much we understand or participate in the traditions of the Jewish people, we MUST remember God's warning to anyone who would threaten to harm them:

I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. Genesis 12:3

There I will judge them for harming my people, my special possession, for scattering my people among the nations, and for dividing up my land. Joel 3:2 

The Lord is going to judge those who seek to divide the land of Israel. Does this sound familiar right now? Where do you stand on a Palestinian state? How is that affecting your voting? your prayer? your support or lack thereof of this special nation? I have made the comparison before of a bystander who sees a bully tormenting his victim and watches idly from the background; the bystander is just as guilty as the bully himself. We have to stand visibly, vocally, prayerfully, financially, spiritually, and in every other possible way with Israel. These ARE God's people, and so are we, if we love him and obey his commands.

The Harbinger by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn's book, The Harbinger, comes out January 2012. Listen to this INCREDIBLE 2-part message about the nine specific harbingers (or warnings) that God gave Israel thousands of years ago, and has recently given to America in stunning parallel. We can't afford to miss it when God speaks to us.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Matthew 11:15 NKJV

The Millennial Kingdom Continued: Who? and What?

"Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!" Isaiah 65:17-18a

In the last post, we learned why there will be a millennial kingdom. Now, we'll take a look at what it will be like. The Bible offers such a significantly VAST amount of information on this future time period that, in the interest of at least attempting to be brief, I will list some scripture references at the bottom in case you would like to do further study on your own. Here's just a little taste of what God has given us:

For starters...
Who will be there?

• The church- We will have been with Jesus in heaven as the tribulation was happening on earth. The moment we were raptured, our bodies will have been transformed into what the Bible calls "glorified" bodies, just like that of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)! When we return with Jesus, we will be coming back with these immortal, indestructible, pain-free, nearly limitless bodies, unrestrained by the current laws of nature that have plagued us on earth. We will no longer be married or bear children. We will now have a new purpose. This includes all believers, past and present.
• The gentiles and Jews who were saved during the tribulation and their future descendants- Those who accepted Jesus during the tribulation will be resurrected (Revelation 20:4-6), as most of them will have likely been martyred for their faith, and they will enter into the Millennium along with the church. These people will have new bodies, and they will benefit from the near perfect environment that God is creating, but they will still be mortal, as will their descendants be, as they will quickly repopulate the earth. When the Millennial Kingdom begins, everyone present will be a follower of Jesus. These people are eternally saved; they cannot lose that security and salvation. However, the generations that will follow must accept Christ at some point in their lives just as all of us have had to do. 

What will it be like?

• Despite the fact that future generations will be required to make a heart choice to love and obey God inwardly, which sadly some will not, everyone will obey Him outwardly. Zechariah 14:16-19 tells us that there will be INSTANT judgment against disobedience. Justice will be served and evil will not be tolerated. This same passage also tells us that temple worship will be reinstated during the millennium, something we'll get into more in the next post, as we take a look at God's special plans for the nation of Israel.
• Isaiah 65:19-25 gives us a beautiful picture of what to expect:

• No more crying. (v.19)

• No infant mortality. No premature death of any kind. (v.20) This verse clearly indicates that there will still be death, just not in the way that we're used to seeing it now.

• Tremendous blessing produced by the work of our own hands. (v.21)

• No theft and extremely long life. (v.22)

• God will respond to the call of every person on the earth before they even finish speaking the words, perhaps before they even finish a thought. (v.24)

• Perfect peace and perfect protection. (v.25)

• Isaiah 29:17-21 tells us that the land will be fertile, the deaf will hear, the blind will see, there will be no more scoffers, no more arrogance, and those who plot evil will be destroyed. The innocent will no longer be falsely accused and justice will no longer be perverted. 
• And good news for anyone who's sick of Arizona summers or Nebraska winters! The whole world will be a perfect paradise, unaffected by harsh seasons or uninhabitable terrains. Right now, only small portions of this enormous earth are truly inhabitable. In the millennium, that will no longer be a problem. (Isaiah 35:1-2,6-7)
• What will we do? We, the church, will be ruling along side Jesus, our King (Revelation 5:10, 20:4). We will rule over the gentile world, while King David, under the rule of Christ, will govern the Hebrew people. We also learn from 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 that we will have a hand in judging the world.

As wonderful as all of this sounds, the point is not how amazing our world will be; the MOST IMPORTANT part is the fact that we will be with Jesus! We will be living in the very midst of God himself. We will be able to see him, talk to him, touch him... This is what should drive us forward. It's what should give us hope for the future, and it is what should be our joy and comfort now, in this life!

Jesus is not a means to an end. He IS the end! He IS our prize! He IS our answered prayer!

Is Jesus your "end"? Or is he just the means by which you hope to receive some other blessing, financial, relational, professional, personal? If you aren't satisfied with Jesus now, you won't be satisfied with him later. He has to be your everything!

Next time, we'll take a look at God's special plans for the nation of Israel. The Jewish people have always been and always will be his chosen people. They must accept Jesus Christ as their savior, just as the rest of the world is required to do, but God has not forgotten them, despite their rejection of him, and during the millennial kingdom, he will fulfill every last promise he has ever made to them. 

**For further study: Zechariah 14; Also, take a look at the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, and Revelation, just for starters! 

1,000 Years of Perfection... But Why?

This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." Matthew 6:9-10 NIV

God's will. His good and perfect will. The way it has always been in heaven. Coming to earth! This prayer that we have been praying for centuries is about to come to fruition on this earth.

We saw in the last post the return of Jesus to earth, with the church following behind, and the banishment of Satan to hell. Now, as we continue reading in Revelation, we learn of the 1,000 years that are to follow. Some have argued that the Bible is not speaking of a literal 1,000 years, but the Scriptures really don't leave us any room to believe anything but that. The Bible should always be taken literally unless it tells us not to, through obvious imagery and the use of phrases such as, "it was like such and such." But, here in Revelation 20, we are given reference to an exact number, and we see it multiple times in just a few verses:

"... --and bound him in chains for a thousand years..." (v. 2)

"... Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished..." (v.3)

"... They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years." (v. 4)

"..., but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years." (v.6)

"When the thousand years come to an end, ..." (v.7)

Clearly, God is speaking of a literal thousand year period, the Millennial Kingdom, during which Christ will rule on earth as King, with us, his bride, ruling at his side. The book of Revelation itself doesn't have a whole lot to say about what the Millennial Kingdom will be like, but God has given us plenty of other details throughout the rest of the Bible. In the next few posts, I'll outline some of the details that we're given in Scripture of our future on earth. For starters, WHY?

What's the point? What is the purpose of Christ's thousand year reign on earth? Why this gap between life as we know it and eternity? Here are six points, as outlined by Pastor J. Mark Martin of Calvary Community Church in Phoenix:

1. To fulfill promises: Throughout the Bible, God made specific promises to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), to Isaac (Genesis 17:19), and to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15) to give them the land of Israel. Throughout history, the Jewish people have never truly had full possession of the land, and in fact were driven entirely out of it for the last 2,000 years, up until the rebirth of Israel after WWII. To this day, the land that God promised them is still not safely and undisputedly theirs. During the Millennial Kingdom, that promise will be fulfilled. Also, God made promises to King David that he would be given an everlasting throne (2 Samuel 7:8-16). During the Millennial Kingdom, that promise will be fulfilled as well. Later, we'll take a look at the ruling structure that will be in place during the Millennium. There will again be a division of Jews and Gentiles, with the Jews living in their own land, ruled by King David, and ruled ultimately by Jesus Christ.
2. To fulfill prophecy: Simply, because God said so! The Bible is teeming with prophecy, some of which has been fulfilled throughout history, and much of which is still to come. God keeps his promises. If he says it's going to happen, it's going to happen.
3. To reward saints: A "saint" is not a person who has somehow earned a position of praise and importance as a result of good works. We all, who have believed in Jesus Christ, and have been covered by his blood, are considered the saints. Those of us who have believed now, those who will believe during the tribulation, and those who believed in the messiah to come, before Christ came to earth, are all going to be rewarded during this time on earth.
4. To answer prayer: As I stated above, this time on earth is God's answer to the prayer that we have all been praying for centuries. It is God's will finally come to earth, as it has always been in heaven.
5. To free creation: We read in Romans 8:20 that we are under a curse. Our world and our bodies have been in a cursed state of decay and deprivation ever since Adam and Eve sinned. During the Millennium, that curse will be lifted. This earth will be renewed. It will be nearly perfect in every way. There will be no hunger, no fear, no suffering. We won't have to pray and wait years for an answer. We will be living in the midst of God himself. We will have everything we could possibly need or want. It will be the garden of Eden all over again, this time without the serpent to get in the way.
6. To show the TRUTH: This thousand year period is going to demonstrate once and for all God's perfect righteousness and man's utter depravity. For 1,000 years, the world will live in perfect peace and harmony, with want for nothing. No longer will it be a matter of faith without seeing. You doubt the existence of God? Go look at him! He'll be right there. He'll give you everything you could possibly need. People like to complain now that the reason no one believes in God or obeys God is because of all the evil and sin in the world. If God would fix everything, then they would believe. If they could see and touch him, then they would believe. If He didn't allow so much suffering, maybe they would believe that He's out there and that He's good. But even after 1,000 years of perfection, there will be MANY (of those who are born after the start of the Millennium) who will turn against him and forfeit eternity with him in order to assert their own wills and their own egos (Revelation 20:7-10). It is ONLY by the grace and mercy of a perfect, loving God that we have any hope whatsoever of possessing even the tiniest, remotely redeeming quality. The Millennium will prove that.

More to come...

No More Suffering Servant

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.  Revelation 19:11

The time has finally come! The church has been "raptured", or "harpazo"(ed) as we see in the Greek; for seven years, the bride of Christ, or the church, has been fellowshipping with Jesus at the marriage feast of the lamb and has been awarded many crowns for their service to the King during their time on earth; during the same seven years, the rest of the world has been experiencing the most horrendous time of tribulation on earth from the terrifying reign of the Antichrist as well as the outpouring of the full and final wrath of God on an unrepentant world. Now, we are going to see the end of Satan's reign on earth and the return of Jesus with us, his bride...

When Jesus came the first time, he came as a small child, humbled by the human experience, being fully God, yet fully human. He suffered, he served, he was mocked, he was spit upon, he was beaten, he bled, he died so that we wouldn't have to, and then he rose from the dead. And this time, he is not coming back as the suffering servant; this time, he is coming back as the conquering king!

Revelation 19 continues to describe him for us... "His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God." (v.12-13)

And we, his bride, are not far behind...

The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. (v.14)

Jesus has finally drawn the line in the sand. He has waited ever so patiently for as many people as possible to let down their pride and come lay at his feet. And finally, he has said, "enough is enough."

From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. (v.15-16)

Of course, Satan will not give up without a fight...

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. (v.19)

...though it will not be much of a "fight" to speak of...

And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet... Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies. (v.20-21)

It's a gruesome scene to be sure, and one that our gracious God would desire no one to experience. He calls us NOW to repentance. He calls us to stop, recognize the sin in our lives, beg for forgiveness, and come running back in the opposite direction, straight into his open arms. But we have to make the choice now.

And what of Satan?...

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon-- that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan-- and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Revelation 20:1-3

Finally, Satan has been put where he belongs and will stay there for 1,000 years. In the next post, we'll take a look at what those glorious 1,000 years hold for us...

What Can I Offer You, My King

The incorruptible crown. The crown of life. The crown of exultation. The crown of glory. And the crown of righteousness. These five crowns are some of the potential prizes that await us in heaven if we strive to earn them according to the rules of the race that have been laid out for us in scripture.

But what's the point? Isn't it a bit mercenary to expect "prizes" or rewards once we get to heaven? Isn't heaven itself and eternal life with Jesus enough?

PICTURE THIS...

And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones-- like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.

Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.

From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. 

And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God. In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. Revelation 4:2-6a

In these verses, God is giving John a vision of heaven. The scene that unfolds is unlike anything we could possibly imagine, and even with the incredible imagery that John attempts to give us, we cannot possibly even begin to wrap our heads around the magnitude of it. But someday, we're going to be there!  Someday we will see these wonders with our own eyes... and we will hear and participate in a worship scene that has been going on in heaven for ages...

In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.

The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.

Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty-- the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come." Revelation 4:6b-8

These four living creatures are like the living Bose system of heaven. Their sole job is to proclaim the name of Jesus, to SHOUT his holiness. They are like the "worship leaders" of heaven, and there won't be any problem following along. Notice also that it says that they repeat these words "day after day and night after night." These guys don't take a break. This is what they were created for. This is what they do. They do not cease to give praise to the King. And it isn't hard to imagine why. As they stand in the presence of Almighty God, how could they help but praise his name? All they can say is "holy, holy, holy..."

Notice the response of the 24 elders as this worship scene continues... (We do not know who the 24 elders are, but we do know that they are men; they are not angels.)

Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever).

And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,

"You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased." Revelation 4:9-11 (emphasis added) 

The elders lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus.

It's not about the crowns; it's about what those crowns represent. For us, those crowns, the five mentioned above, are the result of years of selfless service to our master. They represent a life devoted to valuing righteousness and holiness above comfort and status and "happiness". It is ALL that we bring to heaven, and it will be the ONLY thing we have to give back to the one who gave all to us.

And it's not a one-time act of worship that will take place when we get to heaven and then be forgotten about as we continue into eternity. Notice that the scripture says, "whenever the living beings give glory..." This happens over and over and over again. It has been happening for ages and it will continue to be repeated throughout the ages to come. This is a form of worship which we will take part in, and the level to which we are able to participate will be determined solely by what we have put into it in these few short years on earth. We don't get a second chance. We don't get a do-over. And we don't get to keep earning rewards after we get to heaven. They must be earned now. And they will be a means with which we will forever worship our King.

But as long as we are on this earth, it is never too late to start! Maybe you have lived many years and have just now come to know the Lord. Do not feel defeated or hopeless, like you could never "catch up" to someone who has been walking with the Lord for years. Commit now to live the rest of your life in the sacrifice and service of your Savior! He knows your heart!

While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has." Luke 21:1-4

*Remember, the rewarding of the crowns, and the worship and celebrations that have followed, have all been taking place in the time after the rapture, during the tribulation. Next, we will see what we can expect as we return with Jesus to earth to rule and to reign, and to watch as He puts an end to Satan and to the Antichrist, and restores the earth after the devastation of the tribulation. The sun is coming up...

Death Is Gain

And now the prize awaits me-- the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me, but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Tim. 4:8

This fifth crown, the crown of righteousness, is for those who are looking forward to Christ's return. I referenced this briefly in a previous post, as I shared what it means to honestly have a heavenly mindset, one that sincerely longs with an unquenchable ache to be physically present with Jesus and to leave this world behind without ever looking back. When your heart and mind are aligned with Christ's, you understand what Paul meant when he said, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21) or as the New Living Translation puts it, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better." How many people do you know that could honestly say they look forward to death because it means life with Christ? Could you?

Pastor J. Mark Martin of Calvary Community Church in Phoenix explains that people who are sincerely looking forward to the return of Christ do these three things:

• They see the invisible: Those who are aware of the reality of who God is and what he is capable of understand that there is far more to this world than what we can see with our eyes. There is a very real spiritual world, as we are told in Ephesians 6:12, one made up of both angels and demons. There is a true battle going on around us. And as Elisha so boldly reminded his servant in 2 Kings 6:16, as they were seemingly alone, surrounded by the enemy, we need never fear, because God is ALWAYS with us!

When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Oh, sir, what will we do now?" the young man cried to Elisha.

"Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes and let  him see!" The Lord opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. 2 Kings 6:15-17

• They hear the inaudible: They cultivate an ability to "hear" from the Lord. God may not speak to us audibly the way he used to in the Old Testament, but He absolutely still speaks. However, it most likely will not be a shout, but rather, a gentle whisper...

"Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13 (emphasis added)

Learning to listen for that gentle whisper takes a willingness simply to be still and to be quiet. And it takes the obedience to pour yourself fully into His Word. The Bible is the living, breathing, direct word of God. It is His love letter to us. It is how He speaks to us. Every word, from Genesis to Revelation, is inerrant, infallible, and unshakably applicable to every person and every life! God WILL NOT contradict his word; if you feel that God is telling you to do something or giving you "permission" to do something that does not line up in any way with any part of scripture, then it is NOT a word from God. We must learn to listen AND to obey.

• They embrace the imperishable: With seeing the invisible and hearing the inaudible, comes the ability to see and respond to the world through God's eyes. We need to be able to see everything and everyone for what they really are. There are only two kinds of things and two kinds of people in this world: there are "things" that will last forever and things that will soon be gone; and there are people who know Jesus and people who don't. It needs to be our mission to understand the difference and to look at the world through that lens. It all comes back to what is eternal and what is not. When we stand before Jesus, what will merit one of these heavenly crowns, and what will be burned up and blown away with the chaff? And how many people who we knew on this earth will be standing there beside us? How many will not?

Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord! Lord!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.'"

A Leader Worth Following

And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly-- not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor. 1 Peter 5:1-4

The next crown in this series is the crown of glory, also known as the shepherd's or elder's crown. This crown is for those who have served as leaders within the church, such as pastors and elders, as well as for those who have been committed to supporting and lifting up those leaders.

Just like any other crown that we've seen thus far, there are certain criteria and standards that people who receive this crown must have strived for. Simply being in a position of leadership within your church will not entitle you to this crown; you must aim to be the type of leader that God calls you to be. We can't fool God. He sees the heart, and he is a just God. He isn't going to pat us on the back and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" if we didn't do anything in our life worthy of that commendation.

1 Peter 5:1-4 gives us a few criteria for our leaders (and supporters) to follow in order to earn this crown:

1. "A witness to the sufferings of Christ" (v.1): As a leader in the church, and as one who actively supports our leaders, we all need to be prepared for the trials and tribulations that WILL come. It's not a matter of if, but of when and how. The way that we respond to those attacks when they come will be what determines how effective we are as leaders. As someone in a position of leadership, many eyes will be on you, watching and waiting to see whether or not you practice what you preach when that loved one gets sick, when the money just isn't there, when the enemy wrecks havoc.

2. "Care for the flock... willingly, not grudgingly-- not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God." (v.2): Be a willing servant-- The Lord loves a cheerful giver! Our leaders need to have hearts that are excited to be doing what they're doing. This doesn't mean that you don't have hard days, that you don't get tired, that you don't ever need a break... but leaders in the church need to be joyful in what they are doing. And they can't be motivated by human praise, popularity or position. As always, in everything we do, we need to be doing everything unto the Lord, for His praise and approval, for His eyes only, for Him to reward in His time. Remember that whatever praise we receive now will be all the reward we get for that service. It's the ones that get neglected, looked over, ignored, and forgotten that God has seen and that God will reward!

3. "Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example." (v.3): It can be very easy to allow a position of leadership to go to your head, causing you to feel a sense of superiority. We have to be careful to remember that we are all sinners, we are all broken, and we are all redeemed by nothing but the blood of Jesus. The ground is level at the foot of the cross! It is not our job to make people into what we think they should be; it is the job of leaders to set a righteous example. And, ultimately, in following the footsteps of Christ, we MUST be servants if we ever expect to be effective leaders! "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matt. 20:28

So, what about the rest of us? What if we're not in a position of leadership? Here are some simple ways we can offer support to those in leadership over us:

• Pray! As always, prayer is a mighty weapon against the enemy, and our leaders, more than anyone, desperately need our prayer for protection, provision, and encouragement!
• Give! Financial giving is a wonderful form of worship, and it doesn't have to stop with "tithing". Give as the Lord leads you. Maybe he's leading you to give to a specific ministry. Maybe he's leading you to give a little extra anonymous gift to your pastor or another leader in your church.
• Serve! Serve in the church through an organized ministry. Or maybe God is calling you to serve your pastor and his wife by cleaning their house, by babysitting their kids so they can go on a date, by cooking them a meal... the possibilities are endless!

If we are faithful, as leaders AND as supporters, to follow these criteria in all that we do in support of the church, we can rest assured that "when the Great Shepherd appears, [we] will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor." Now, that's something to get excited about!!

The Ultimate Joy

After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns? It is you! Yes, you are our pride and joy. 1 Thess. 2:19-20

These words from Paul, addressed to the church at Thessalonica, reveal the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that he, Timothy and Silas feel about the work that they have completed in the lives of these people. They have wholly invested their time and energy into fulfilling the great commission: they have shared the gospel with them, they have made disciples of them, and they have reaped an eternal reward in them. We can have that same reward if we also are willing to commit our lives to the work of the gospel. The third crown in this little series-within-a-series is the crown of exultation, and it is for those who have spent their lives fulfilling the great commission (Matt. 28:19-20).

Daniel 12:3 says, "Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever."

So, how do we fulfill the great commission?

• Physically, verbally tell people about Jesus. Share the gospel with as many people as possible. You don't need special training or unique skills to do this. If you are able to speak, you are able to share the gospel.
• Become a missionary, wherever God has called you. Begin in your home, and go out into your neighborhood, your city, your state, your country, and throughout the world.
• Support those who are missionaries. Give financially to those who are out on the front lines. God hasn't called every single person to travel to the remote parts of the world, but if you can afford to buy Starbucks once a day, you can afford to give financially in support of the people who are called to that life. God will reward your faithfulness to support the work of missions as much as he will reward those out doing the ministering.
• Pray! Pray for the missionaries. Pray for the lost. Pray for the salvation of the world. 
• Disciple. God didn't call us to make converts; he called us to make DISCIPLES! As new people, who have just accepted the Lord, begin to show up at your church or at your campus ministry, take them under your wing and teach them how to read their Bible, how to live out their new faith, how to be the church, so they don't end up just going to church, or worse, end up fizzling out and returning to their old life.

And what's the result?

• Ultimately: More people in heaven. Fewer people in hell. 
• More people living abundant lives here on earth, rather than just "getting by".
• More people who are turning around and finding more people to share the gospel with and to disciple themselves.
• More glory to God as lives are transformed and the enemy is defeated.
• And personally: a lasting joy in heaven for each person who has been obedient to fulfill this calling. Notice that Paul said that the people would be their joy in heaven. When we get to heaven, part of the joy that we experience will be the actual people whom we have affected for Christ in this life. Every time we share the gospel with someone, a seed is planted. They may receive Christ at that moment, or it may happen 10 years down the road and we may never know. But one day, we will finally see the effect of a seed-planting life, when we learn that that one person who we shared the gospel with years ago, never saw again and thought would never come to Christ, actually did, and as a result, ended up sharing Christ with hundreds more people. One day, we'll finally get to see just how big (or how small) of a ripple we really caused in this world. 

You know, it's so easy to allow our past mistakes, failures, and missed opportunities to cripple us, making us feel like we are incapable of doing better or like we just don't deserve another chance. We're afraid that people could never take us seriously after the way we used to live our lives, so why bother trying. We dwell on the failures and allow it to keep us from living up to our potential. But God didn't call the equipped; he equips the called. And he has called you!

Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

If you have placed your trust in Jesus, then your past mistakes have been erased. You don't have to worry about working your way out of the pit of your failures; Jesus did that for you on the cross. All you have to do now is get walking. And you can start by telling someone about Jesus!

A Crown Won Through Pain

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:2-3

It's definitely easier said than done, and we all know that hindsight is 20/20. It's so easy to look back at a trial that we've come out of and readjust our attitudes once we've had time to lick our wounds. It's easy to watch someone else suffering through a trial and offer sound biblical advice about what the appropriate godly response should be. But in the moment? That's not quite so simple.

Sometimes we'll get it right. Sometimes the truth will win out and we'll find ourselves living out Christ the way we ought to. A rude driver will cut you off in traffic and you'll simply slow down and let him pass. You'll get the news at work that you're getting laid off and you'll thank God for removing you from a job that he clearly does not want you at anymore, joyful at the thought that whatever he has next for you is exactly what you need, regardless of how comfortable or appealing it may or may not be. A friend or relative will say something hurtful and you'll respond in love, recognizing that you have no right to be angry and remembering that no matter what anyone says or does to you, they can never wrong you more than you have wronged Christ. Sometimes, you will... and sometimes, probably a lot of times, you won't. I certainly have not, far more times than I care to admit. But we all keep running back to the word, asking God for the same forgiveness that we have been unwilling to give others, and He stands us back up so we can try again...

And for those times when we do get it right, for those times when we face pain, suffering, wrongs, and hurts, particularly when it is a direct result of the fact that we follow Jesus, and we do respond correctly, we do use it as an opportunity to draw closer to God, we do persevere, and we do turn those blows from the enemy into an opportunity for praise, then we will reap an eternal reward: the crown of life.

This second crown, the crown of life, also known as the martyr's crown, is for those who have endured pain and suffering in this life and have reflected Christ through the midst of the trials. It is first and foremost for those who have suffered the ultimate persecution, martyrdom, for their belief in Jesus Christ and their refusal to deny him, no matter the cost.

But this crown is not limited to those who have died for Christ. It is reserved also for those who choose to truly live for him. The Lord knows that sometimes it is harder to live for Him than to die for Him. And he has this crown waiting for all who choose to do so. We can choose to live in the moment, seeking the thing that will give us instant satisfaction: a snap back after a hurtful comment; a spiteful attempt at "getting even"; an outburst; or simply a refusal to make sacrifices out of a desire to live a "comfortable" life rather than one devoted to honoring God in everything we do, no matter how awkward or inconvenient it may be. OR, we can choose to give up our "rights" and allow God to seek justice in his time, to do his will in our lives, and to reward his children when and how he sees fit.

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 2 Corinthians 4:17

A Wake-Up Call

This event happened live on 9/11/11 and served as a wake-up call for Israel and the church. It was hosted by Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, and Joel Rosenberg, author and founder of the Joshua Fund. The link will be live for about 3 months, so jump over there and make sure to watch it. If you miss it, the video will be available for purchase on DVD or audio CD.

Check it out here:

http://mediasuite.316networks.com/player.php?p=i0yi846u

A Crown That Lasts

And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 1 Corin. 9:25 NKJV

In the previous post, we talked about what it means to live a "memorable" life and about the reality of there being rewards in heaven. When we live our lives in a way worthy of reward, our heavenly Father will be faithful to acknowledge each and every faithful deed and reward us accordingly. And it is important to remember that in order to receive a heavenly reward, we need to be sure to not seek an earthly one. Any "reward" or recognition we receive now is all the reward we are going to get. Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

But for the rest, for all of those moments that seem to go unnoticed, God has seen every one of them and has stored up an eternal treasure for us in heaven. And one tangible way that we will be rewarded is with heavenly crowns. There are five that the Bible speaks of. The first one is mentioned in the verse above. Bible teachers refer to it as the "winner's crown", also the "imperishable" or "incorruptible" crown. This crown is reserved for those who have run the race with faithfulness and endurance, as seen here:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me-- the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing. 2 Tim. 4:7-8 NLT

He has fought the good fight: Fighting the good fight means living that "memorable" life that we talked about last time. It means putting Christ first, putting others ahead of ourselves, laying aside our own desires, ambitions and comforts and living with the sole purpose of serving others and glorifying God. Philippians 2:3-8

He has finished the race: Living the Christian life isn't a one-time decision to accept Jesus as our savior. It is a daily, hourly, even minute by minute choice to submit to Christ and surrender your will to his. And it is a struggle, as sin wars within us against our calling to obey (Romans 7:14-25), that we must continue to fight until the day we meet Jesus face to face. It is a life-long choice to abandon everything that our human nature and the world we live in would urge us to pursue and to instead run after the not-so-popular life that Christ modeled for us. Romans 12:2

He has remained faithful: Faithfulness is something that has become almost a lost concept in our society. Don't like your job? Get a new one. Don't love your wife anymore? Get a divorce. Not having fun anymore? Move on to something that's more "entertaining". Don't like something your pastor said on Sunday? Find a church that suits your taste better. In a world where our attention span and capacity for true loyalty to anyone or anything is about as long as a 30 second sound bite, the idea of staying fully committed to a god that we cannot see or touch is nearly non-existent. Our God requires the kind of faithfulness that says, "I will love you, praise you, and serve you when I'm having fun, when life is going great, when I lose my job, when my husband or child dies, when everyone at work thinks I'm weird and crazy for talking about Jesus all the time, when I'm tired, when I can't do anything else." It is the kind of loyalty that says "for better or worse" and truly means it.

The prize is for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing: When your heart aligns with Christ's in such a way that allows you to fight the good fight, to finish the race, and to remain faithful, then your one and only desire will be to run into the arms of the one person who makes all of that possible, and for that day to come as soon as possible. The longing for heaven and for the company of Jesus should be so strong within you that there is an actual battle raging within you. Just as Paul was so painfully conflicted between his desire to depart and be with Christ and the need of his brothers and sisters for him to stay (Philippians 1:21-24), so we should be equally torn. Notice, however, that Paul's struggle was not, "I love my life. I want to experience all that life has to offer before I go. I want to enjoy what I have while I have it. I want to try new things before I die, etc." The source of his struggle was not in what he could gain, but in what others needed of him and how Christ could potentially use him to serve others and to further God's kingdom. This should be our struggle. If your struggle lies in not being ready to give up what you have here on earth, then you must reevaluate where your priorities lie. We need to be able to say, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus! There is nothing here for me." We need to be able to run after him and never pause for a moment to even look back. Genesis 19:26

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33

So many times in life, it can feel like we are fighting a losing battle, like the whole world hates us and everything that we stand for, like the world is out to get us, and all truth and justice have been abandoned. When you feel like you no longer belong to this world and are truly an alien in a hostile battleground, you will know that you are truly fighting the good fight, finishing the race, remaining faithful, and eagerly awaiting his return.

And once you know this, then you will know that when no one else around you sees or acknowledges your faithfulness, God sees it all, and He is keeping a record. He has seen every act of kindness, heard every prayer, and witnessed every secret moment of service. The one who is worthy of all praise has seen your heart and is eagerly preparing to place a crown upon your head.

Forget-Me-Not

And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones-- like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Rev. 4:2-3

Christ is seated on the throne, and this dazzling sight is going to be our introduction to heaven when the church is "raptured". The throne that we see here is not the "great white throne", the throne of judgment and condemnation that the world will face (Rev. 20:11-15). For the world, a day of judgment is coming; that moment is still looming in their future. But for those who believe in Jesus now, that day is in the past. We have been judged and found not guilty, covered by the innocent blood of Jesus Christ. We will not face the great white throne, but we will come before another throne...

At the rapture of the church, we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, or the Bema seat. The Bema seat refers to the type of platform that the Roman Olympic judges would stand on as they awarded the competitors with their winners' crowns. It is a judgment of commendation, NOT condemnation.

1 Corinthians 9:25 tells us, "All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize." The verse just before this one tells us, "Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!"

Some might say that heaven and eternal life with Jesus is all the "reward" they could ever need, that to want anything more than that is greedy and mercenary. But to believe that you will be content with the bare minimum is as naive as a 6 year old declaring that he loves his little toy car and never wants another car for as long as he lives. In about 10 years, as his maturity and awareness grow, his tune is going to change. Jesus spoke profusely about rewards in heaven. Heaven itself is not a reward. You cannot earn heaven. Heaven is a gift. We have to live our lives in such a way that we will have stored up an eternal reward once we get there. Right now, in our present spiritual state, we are like that little boy, so naive and unaware of the magnitude of what awaits us. Don't arrive at heaven, not having taken the race seriously and be disappointed when the person next to you is driving a Mercedes and you're still playing with your Hot Wheels. Don't be fooled into believing that the prize isn't real or that you don't have to work to get it. Eternal life is a free gift, and you cannot lose your salvation. But the rewards that await you once you get there must be earned.

"Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown." Rev. 3:11

As believers in Jesus Christ, we will NEVER be judged for our sins. Romans 5:1 and 8:1 assure us that every moment of weakness, every moment of selfishness, every moment of self-promotion, self-centeredness and pride will be erased. God promises us that our sins will be fully and completely forgotten (Hebrews 8:12, Micah 7:19, Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 31:34). While that thought is unbelievably comforting, as it guarantees that we won't have to suffer the punishment that we deserve for the many sins in our lives, I believe it will also be a bit of a rude awakening for some.

We are all aware of the "obvious" moments of failure in our lives, but I wonder how many paths were pursued, how many "good" deeds were done, how many "accomplishments" were achieved in life that we thought were important or valuable, and in reality held absolutely no eternal value. They may have enriched our lives or the lives of others in the moment, but when we stand before God on our day of "judgment", how many of those moments that we took pride in and treasured so much in this life will suddenly be as if they never existed? And likewise, once the fire has destroyed all of the worthless moments of our lives, how much will remain? Will there be a great wealth of eternally enduring righteous deeds, worthy of remembrance and reward? Or will we look back and realize that we have missed the point entirely, having made it into heaven "like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames"?(1 Corin. 3:15)

Jesus promises to wipe away all of our tears, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be a moment of recognition when we finally come face to face with him. It is reasonable to believe that there will be a moment of truth when all the dark little areas that not even we were fully aware of are brought to light(1 Corin. 4:5). A moment, perhaps, when we suddenly remember and must acknowledge everything that we could have done for him, but didn't. Sadly, there will be many who live their lives for themselves, never truly sacrificing their own desires to serve God, and will be sorely disappointed when they realize how much those "intangible" eternal rewards are really worth.

You can live a forgettable life, one centered around making yourself "happy", "fulfilled", "comfortable", "accomplished", "known", "successful", and "content". Or you can live a life worth remembering, one lived in the unashamed and self-sacrificing slavery and service to the King, one centered around making Jesus known, glorified, and famous.

What kind of life will you live? Will you be famous here on this earth and forgotten for eternity? Or will you give up your rights in this life and be remembered throughout the ages?

Option Two: The Royal Wedding Reception

In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (Jesus to his disciples) John 14:2-3 NKJV

Option one is the horrific scene we have seen played out in the last few posts. The tribulation, God's wrath poured out, and ultimately eternity in hell is the default option. It is our birthright. As humans, we are born into a fallen world, with lost and depraved souls, bound for the only just and fitting fate, eternal separation from God.

BUT... There is another option! Option number two allows us to become part of the collective "church", the bride of Christ. Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; Matt. 22, 25; John 3:29) It is his "bride" that is the collective "you" in the verses above, and it is this bride that will be raptured before the beginning of the tribulation, carried to safety from the coming judgments, and will partake in the grandest wedding feast in the history of the universe.

Option one is seven years of literal hell on earth. Option two is a royal marriage banquet...

When Jesus said those words above to his disciples, it was all the promise they needed that he would be back one day. For them, it was the perfect parallel to a traditional Jewish wedding of the time. For us to understand what Jesus was promising them, and has promised us, we need to understand the context in which it was given. Let's look at the culture that surrounded it and see how God revealed his perfect plan of salvation through this special ceremony.

The Five Parts of a Traditional Jewish Wedding:

1. Selection of a partner: These marriages were arranged; the father of the groom would select a bride for his son. Much the same way, our heavenly Father, the father of Jesus, our bridegroom, chose us. Remember that He chose you; you did not choose him. This does not mean that some were "forced" to receive Christ and others were rejected or never given a chance. Without getting into a full discussion on predestination, let it just be understood that God "chose" us based on his foreknowledge (1 Peter 1:2) that we would choose him. Pastor J. Mark Martin explains our "election" as described in Ephesians 1:3-4 this way: that we are chosen "in him" as the text says, that the "elect" or the "predestined" are in Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ is the only one who is elect, and that once we become a Christian and are now "in him", we also become elect in him. 
2. Betrothal: At this time, the groom leaves his father's house, goes to the home of his prospective bride and does two things: 1. Asks her father for her hand in marriage and 2. Negotiates a price. At this point, the bride is set aside exclusively for this man. Unlike our society, where engagements can be easily made and broken, this betrothal was essentially marriage. The only difference between this stage and marriage was that the couple did not live together or consummate their union. But in order to break it, they would need an actual divorce. Likewise, Jesus left his Father's house, came to earth as a human being, to serve and to "woo" his prospective bride. And the price that was set was death on a cross, a price he willingly and lovingly paid. Also, though we as a church are only in the "betrothal" stage of our relationship with Jesus, we are fully his; we are bought and paid for. It cannot be broken.
3. Separation: Once the betrothal was official, the groom would return to his father's house and would prepare an addition to the home, a place for his bride. The groom would not be allowed to return for his bride until his father determined it was time to go. During this time, the bride would be preparing herself for her groom, knowing that he could return at any time. She would be doing everything she could to learn more about her future husband from friends and relatives, his likes, his dislikes. She would be preparing herself to be a wife that could please her new husband. The verse above, John 14:2-3, is this very stage of the relationship. Christ was about to leave. He was returning home to his father's house. And he is there now, preparing a very real and literal place for each one of us. He is coming back, though we do not know when. Only the Father knows, and when he determines that it is time, we had better be ready. We need to be devoting all of our efforts to learning to love what our bridegroom loves, and hate what he hates, to make ourselves into the bride that he desires us to be. We must use this time to grow in love for Jesus, even though we cannot see him. (1 Peter 1:8)
4. The return: When the time would come for the bridegroom to return for his bride, he would show up nearly unannounced. The bride's only indication of his arrival would be the sound of the processional that would be accompanying him. She would quickly ready herself and would go out and meet him in the street. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever." (NLT) Jesus is coming back unannounced. We won't have time to "get ready" so we need to be ready at any moment. As a bride awaiting her wedding day adorns herself with a garment of jewels and pearls and lace, so we need to be adorning ourselves with righteousness (Titus 2). Every righteous act of obedience and service to God is like a new pearl that has been added to that "gown". You won't have time to clean up at the last minute. Make sure you are ready to meet him now.
5. The marriage banquet: Finally, the two would be joined in marriage and they would retreat to consummate the union. Afterward, the husband would emerge and a 7-day wedding feast would begin, during which time the bride would remain hidden in her chambers. At the end of the 7 days, the bride would come out and the groom would present her, unveiled, to everyone, as his wife. The 7 days of the marriage banquet will be the 7 years of the tribulation. As the world is experiencing an outpouring of the wrath of God, those who are a part of the bride of Christ, will be safely hidden in the home that our bridegroom has prepared for us. We will partake in a marriage feast unlike anything we could ever imagine. And at the end of those 7 years, Christ will return to earth with us, his bride, standing at his side. 

It's quite a stunning picture of the love relationship between Jesus and the church. And it's a future that we can count on as surely as the sun rises every morning. Jesus is coming back for us. And when he does, it won't just be seven years of feasting. The Bible, and Jesus in particular, talks profusely about rewards in heaven. Heaven itself and eternal life with Jesus are not a reward; they are a gift, something that is given freely according to the grace of God and cannot be earned or merited. But once we get there, we will be rewarded according to our works (Rev. 22:12). In the next few posts, we are going to take a look at this short period of time in heaven before we return with Christ to rule on the earth. We'll see the rewards that are waiting for us, the purpose for the rewards, and some incredible worship scenes that would put the loudest concert you can imagine to shame. 

Now for the fun stuff...

*For a full teaching on this topic, check out this link: The Wedding Feast.