December 31
Revelation 19:1-22:21
Pastor Skip Heitzig writes in "You Can Understand the Book of Revelation", "The final chapter of the Bible brings God's book full circle. Scripture begins in a garden and ends in a city with a garden-like environment. Genesis 1 describes the creation of the heavens and the earth, While Revelation 22 sees God creating a new heaven and a new earth. In the beginning, God distinguished the day from the night; at the end, there is no night, only light. In Genesis 3, the curse is pronounced; in Revelation 22, the curse is removed. In Genesis 3, man is driven from the tree of life and the paradise of God; in Revelation 22, the tree of life is restored in the paradise of the New Jerusalem. In other words, what Adam lost, Christ regained...and then some." As we come to the conclusion of the Bible, there is no doubt that God's perfect plan will happen, the question is where do you fit in this scenario? We are either in Christ, and thus in the Book of Life or we are not. This comes down to a decision on our part, it is not based on being a "good" person. For any who want to hold onto that erroneous notion, please ask yourself, if you could be good enough, then why would God have sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins if there was another way. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, we read in Matthew 26:42, "Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”" This cup was the cup of God's wrath poured out on the sins of the world. Only Jesus' perfect payment could take God's wrath from us, the sinners that we are.
We get a good glimpse of eternity in Jesus' description in Luke 16:19-31, in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. This is not a parable, but an actual story and description. At the present time no one is actually in Hell. Those who have died in Christ, who are His bride are at the present time enjoying life in heaven with Him. Those who have not made this choice are living in Hades, which is Hell-like, to the point that the Rich Man begs Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool off his tongue. This is eternal torment. The first three inhabitants of Hell, or the Lake of Fire are the Antichrist and the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20-21), followed a little over one thousand years later by Satan (20:10). But take note of the Great White Throne Judgment in 20:11-15, "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. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire." We, the Bride of Christ, will not take part in this judgment, we will be judged at the Beema Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15, 2 Corinthians 5:9-11). At our judgment, our destination will not be in question as our Advocate, Jesus Christ, will state that all of our sins have been applied to His account. What we have done in this world will be brought to light, but only in terms of receiving crowns for what we have done in the name of Jesus Christ. For everyone else: atheists, "good" and "moral" people who trusted in their own goodness, sadly their names are not in the Book of Life and they will reside with Satan in the Lake of Fire. If any deem this unfair, what else would you ask from God since He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be sacrificed for you.
With such a profound culmination to the greatest book ever put forth, The Bible, we are left with an invitation in Revelation 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life." As said earlier, every single prophetic prediction will indeed come true exactly as stated forth in this book. The only question remains is where do you wind up. Therefore, the invitation. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, that those destined to heaven are very few in number compared to those on that wide road leading to Hell. If we were honest, we are all surrounded in our families, among our friends, in our neighborhoods, at work, etc. by people who are pleasant enough but we know have never made that decision to empty themselves of their pride and repent or change their minds of their sins, and submit and accept Jesus' payment for them. There simply is no other way. So as the heat is being turned up in our society, may our invitations be heard loud and clear, before it's too late.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: