| March 11, 2001 | The Day Of The Lord | Rev 19 & 20 |
As I read through the chapters and looked at all the various topics
that get covered, I realized that if I do it in detail, we'll
be in Revelation until this fall. And I am not sure that we need
to figure out all the detail as much as we need
to have the big picture. So that's what we are going to do.
Before we do that, let me do a thirty second review of what we
have seen so far. The first three chapters of the book of Revelation
summarizes what the church has been like since the first century
until now. Then the church is out of the picture because Jesus
comes for His church before the tribulation begins, He takes believers
to heaven, we are not part of the action.
In chapters four and five, we see Jesus reclaim the title deed
of the earth, Satan has had it since the Garden of Eden. Here,
Jesus takes it back. In chapters six through eighteen, we see
the earth being judged for it's rejection of God. Some chapters
are part of a time line, events are sequential. Other chapters
are like a detail view, they are not part of a sequential narrative.
By the end of the tribulation, we have seen the rise and fall
of a false church, and the rise and fall of the world's final
empire, both of which the Lord refers to as Babylon, two different
aspects of the same system. During the tribulation, we see one
third of the world's Israelites recognize Jesus as their Messiah.
An incredible number of people all over the world recognize and
receive Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. Most of them are martyred
for their faith. But the world as a whole rejects God, and rejects
Jesus Christ. And that brings us up to where we are now.
If you have your Bibles with you today, and I hope you do, turn
to Revelation chapter 19, verse 1.
"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour,
and power, unto the Lord our God:
Rev 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath
judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
Rev 19:3 And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up for
ever and ever.
Rev 19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell
down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen;
Alleluia.
Rev 19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our
God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and
great.
Rev 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude,
and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,
saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
In chapter 18, all the earth dwellers, all the unsaved were wailing
and crying at the destruction of Babylon. Here we see things from
a different perspective. This is what things look like in heaven
when the false religious system and the false world system is
destroyed, a lot of rejoicing. Everyone in heaven is glad to see
this evil system destroyed from off the earth.
Back in the gospel of Luke, when Jesus went into the desert to
be tempted of the Devil, it said: "And the devil, taking
him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms
of the world in a moment of time." Satan told Him: "All
this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is
delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give it."
(Luke 4:5,6) Guess what? It's not his anymore, Satan just lost
it. The Lord God omnipotent is taking it back, Jesus Christ Himself.
Verse 7: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to
him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready." The word "marriage"
here in this verse is a sort of ambiguous word in the Greek, it
also means "marriage supper," and it says that in verse
9.
Verse 8: "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed
in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints."
We have read before that Christians symbolically
receive a robe of righteousness and garments of salvation from
God. God provided Adam & Eve with coats of skins symbolizing
His covering them with a substitutionary sacrifice back at the
garden. Isaiah spoke of garments of salvation, Jesus told the
parable of the man who came to the wedding without having on a
wedding garment. Clothing in the Bible is frequently used to symbolize
righteousness before God, and when it does, it refers to garments
that God gives us. Not something we
go and get for ourselves. In verse 8, we see a variation on this
theme. After the church is raptured, Christians
stand before the judgement seat of Christ for rewards.
And don't confuse the Judgement Seat of Christ, for Christians,
with the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of the world,
they're not at all the same. If we as Christians have done righteous
things in our Christian lives, good works proceeding out
from our salvation, following our salvation,
God call those things gold, silver, precious jewels.
Here we see another example of that same idea, the bride is wearing
fine linen, which is called the righteousness of the saints. When
we become Christians we get a robe of righteousness from
Christ, and here, we learn that also get a similar garment, something
to wear to the banquet, as it were, that reflects what we did
for Jesus after we got saved. This is not
the robe of His righteousness, which He covers us
with when we get saved, this is the robe of our
righteousness, which speaks of what we did for Him out of love
after we got saved.
Bottom line: we don't get saved and then kick back and goof off.
You want to look decent at the wedding, after you've
received Christ for salvation? Then go out in the leading and
power of the Holy Spirit and minister to some one else.
Verse 9: "And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are
they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."
Let's stop here and review how a Middle eastern marriage was traditionally done: the boy and girl are betrothed when they are still kids, and usually there is a dowry involved. If the marriage fails to come about, there needs to be a writing of divorcement, because the marriage contract was legally binding. After the bridegroom comes of age, he builds the bride a home, usually adjacent to his fathers house. When the time comes for the wedding, the bridegroom and his friends travel to the bride's house, usually at night, the bridesmaids light their lamps, and go out to meet him. Then he takes the bride back to his house and consummates the marriage. The next day comes the wedding supper. Depending on the wealth of the bridegroom, it can last from a day to several weeks. Who attends the wedding supper? Realtives, the bride and bridegroom, and the friends of the bridegroom.
Do you see the analogy between this situation and what Christ has done relative to His church, His bride? "In my fathers house are many mansions, and I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Then comes the rapture for the church, and the church is gone from the earth curing the tribulation period. Then comes the marriage supper of Christ and His church, and the friends of the Bridegroom will be there.
What group of people would get invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb? Who are the friends of the Bridegroom? The Old Testament saints. Think about it: believers in God prior to the beginning of the church at Pentecost are not part of the bride of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ, the Old Testament saints are not. For instance: John the Baptist is not part of the church, Mary Magdalene is. Do the Old Testament saints get raptured when the church gets raptured? No.
But just because they are not part of the bride
of Christ, doesn't mean that they won't still be there for the
wedding supper. They are called the friends of the Bridegroom,
and they will be present at the wedding supper.
Their physical resurrection is at the end of the tribulation,
along with the resurrection of believers who died or were martyred
during the tribulation. Got it?
Verse 10: "And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he
said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and
of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God:
for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Two things about this verse: one, God's holy angels will not accept
human worship. Satan is a fallen angel, and wants to be worshipped,
but God's holy angels refuse to accept it.
Second, if you want to know what Bible prophecy is all about,
if you want to understand what God's plans and purposes are, this
is the key. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
One way or another, all prophecy centers around Him.
The next section of this chapter is the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ in glory, verse 11: "And I saw heaven opened, and
behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were
many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but
he himself.
Rev 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and
his name is called The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Rev 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with
it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God.
Rev 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."
This is the end of the Tribulation period, this is the end of
Antichrist's war against God. The Bible has literally hundreds
of prophecies of the Messiah coming to rule and reign over the
earth, and this is it.
This is a different picture of Jesus Christ than we usually have.
Probably most of us think of Him as our Friend, our Shepherd,
our Savior, one that does us only good and never bad. When the
world thinks of Jesus Christ, they tend to dismiss Him as irrelevant.
This is a totally different picture.
Jesus has always had the power to rule by force, but He also has
exercised the grace and the mercy not to. Back before Joshua attacked
Jericho, an interesting thing happened: Joshua met Jesus. The
Scripture says: "And it came to pass, when Joshua was by
Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there
stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand:
and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us,
or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD
am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did
worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua,
Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest
is holy. And Joshua did so."
If you ever have occasion to think that Jesus is really easy going,
and being a Christian means that you can be real casual in your
relationship with Him, remember: he is the Captain of the Host.
He sends us out to get the victory in His name, but meanwhile,
He stands off to the side with a drawn sword, and we do well to
give Him full honor and respect.
Exodus 15:3 tells us: "The LORD is a man of war",
and also in Isaiah 42:13 "The LORD shall go forth as a mighty
man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war:
he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies."
And here in Revelation, that is exactly what happens. Notice that
His saints come with Him, but they carry no shields or swords,
He alone is the Avenger, not us.
Verse 17: "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he
cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the
supper of the great God;
Rev 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of
captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses,
and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free
and bond, both small and great.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat
on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped
his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning
with brimstone.
Rev 19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that
sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and
all the fowls were filled with their flesh."
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heaven is followed by the great
supper of God on earth. What a contrast. I bet the Marriage Supper
in heaven is a hundred times greater than we could possibly imagine,
and all the Old Testament saints are invited. Adam, Eve, Moses,
it's gonna' be great. Back on the earth, it is all the fowls of
the air that are invited to come and eat the bodies of those that
think to destroy Jesus Christ and His people.
How amazing to think that men would imagine that they could destroy
God! It seems to me that if God has the ability to create the
world, and everything in it, if God has the power to create the
universe, then it would be impossible for anyone, man and fallen
angels together, to stand against Him. But then, the world no
longer believes that God created everything, the world believes
that it was all just an accident, it happened by evolution.
Do you see how believing one lie lays the foundation for believing
a bigger lie?
We start with God as creator. Then
we can understand and accept that God is also Savior
and Judge. But if we deny that God is the Creator,
then we might reasonably question His right to judge, or
His need to save. Do you see why secular public education
pushes evolution so hard? It is the foundation that all other
Godless systems of thought are built on.
Back to the text. If you want a detailed description of the battle,
it is in Zechariah 14, here we are simply told that the antichrist
and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire and all their
followers are destroyed. Those that set themselves up against
Christ are so foolish and evil that God does not even show them
the dignity of giving any real account here of the battle. The
bottom line is, the war is over, and those that oppose God are
buzzard buffet. A very disgraceful end to the greatest rebellion
in history. The good part is, things begin to rapidly get much
better.
Chapter 20, verse 1: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which
is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that
he must be loosed a little season."
This marks a major change in the history of the earth: Satan is
out of the picture for the duration of the millennium. And that's
not all: something that God has promised Abraham, Isaac, and David
was that one day they would possess all the land promised to Abraham,
that David's offspring and Lord would rule it in peace and glory,
and that the effects of sin and the fall of the whole world into
sin that started back at the Garden of Eden would be made radically
different.
Keep your place in Revelation and turn to Isaiah 65:19. Isaiah
describes a change in earthly conditions that means God has physically
changed the earth itself.
"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice
of crying.
Isa 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days,
nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall
die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred
years old shall be accursed.
Isa 65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they
shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Isa 65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall
not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are
the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy
the work of their hands.
Isa 65:23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble;
for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring
with them.
Isa 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I
will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
Isa 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and
the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the
serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain, saith the LORD."
Prior to the time of the flood, the Bible records several people
that lived for more than 900 years, and many people that lived
almost as long. Apparently God will do something during the millennium
to restore the physical conditions of the earth to be like the
Garden of Eden. The earth will become very much like a paradise
at that time. What else happens during that 1,000 year period?
Turn back to Revelation 20, verse 4: "And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon
their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:
on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests
of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
Let's focus in here on this first resurrection,
we want to get a good handle on this part. A few minutes ago,
we read about the marriage supper of the Lamb, and we said that
there were two groups of believers there, the Bride of Christ,
the church; and the friends of the Bridegroom, the Old Testament
saints. That includes all believers from the time of creation
up until the rapture, but we still need to account for those that
came to Christ during the Tribulation period, and this is
where they come in.
Verse 4 speaks of thrones with someone sitting on them. Remember
what Jesus told His disciples: "And Jesus said unto them,
Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the
regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his
glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel."
Also in the same verse we see mention of those that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, for the word of God, and for refusing
to take the mark of the beast. We are told that they live and
reign with Christ for the duration of the thousand years, so I
believe that this is when the Old Testament saints and the tribulation
martyrs are resurrected and get their glorified physical bodies.
Immediately at or after the second Coming of Christ.
This is a good time to ask the question: just who is alive on
the earth immediately following the tribulation, who is alive
on the earth for the thousand years, and who is resurrected and
has a glorified body during the thousand years? Let's do the second
part first: the Old Testament saints are resurrected and reign
with Christ during this time, they have glorified bodies, and
are called the Friends of the Bridegroom. This would include King
David, and there is reason to think that he might very well rule
over Israel from the city of Jerusalem.
There is the church: all believers in Jesus Christ since His church
began in 33 AD have resurrected and glorified bodies and rule
and reign with Jesus Christ at His return. There are the martyrs
that got saved during the Tribulation and died for the sake of
Jesus Christ during that seven year period. They have resurrected,
glorified bodies, and they also rule and reign with Jesus Christ.
There will be a great number of saved people that come out of
the Tribulation. They escape the beast, they do not take the mark,
some of them are jews, some of them are gentiles. All of them
go into the millennium in their natural bodies. They still have
normal, natural bodies.
However, there is a special blessing that God gives to them. During
the millennial reign of Christ as God over the world from Jerusalem,
God tells how He will give the Israelites a new heart, and they
will walk in His laws and ordinances with a perfect heart,
filled with the Holy Spirit. During the millennial
period, all believers will be continuously filled with the Holy
Spirit, but especially God's people Israel. During
the millennium, the nations of the gentiles will serve and honor
the nation of Israel.
During the millennium, the whole earth will be at peace. It will
be a time of joy and holiness, there will be no sickness. They
will be full of the knowledge of God as the Holy Spirit teaches
people His ways.
There will be children born during this time, and they will still
need to trust and receive Jesus Christ as their savior. There
will be another temple built in Israel during the millennium.
It will be in a different place than all the previous temples,
it will have a different type of service, some of the feast days
will be different. During the millennium, God's people will once
again keep the Sabbath, instead of the Lord's Day, it's in Ezekiel,
look it up.
There is another group of people that make it through the tribulation,
and we haven't talked about them yet, the unsaved. There will
be unsaved people that survive the tribulation, what will happen
to them when Christ comes to rule and reign over the earth? Keep
your place in Revelation and turn to Matthew 25, verse 31:
" When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited
me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee
? or
thirsty, and gave thee
drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee ?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily
I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and
ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when
saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it
not
to one of the least of these, ye did it
not
to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
but the righteous into life eternal."
Is the Lord telling us here that during the tribulation, some
people get saved by doing good works, and others go to hell because
they didn't do good works? No, not at all. Like it says in the
book of James, these are the people who demonstrate their faith
by their works, they are the sheep. And others demonstrate
their lack of faith by their works, they are the goats.
The point of all this
is, at the beginning of the millennium, as near as I can tell,
everyone on earth is a believer. Those believers that are still
in their natural bodies go into the millennium in those natural
bodies. Also present, are the believers that have been resurrected
from the dead, both from Old Testament times and the tribulation
martyrs. Also, those that were part of the church, those who were
raptured before the tribulation. These are all the ones that are
alive and present at the beginning of the thousand years. Some
of them are in natural bodies, some are in glorified bodies.
There are a few more things we need to sort out, verse 5: "But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection." Referring
to the resurrection just completed.
Verse 6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall
be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in
the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them
together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came
down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."
During the thousand years of the millennium, the earth will be
an almost perfect place. Those that receive Christ as Savior will
be filled with the Holy Spirit in an unmistakable way, it will
be a time of peace and health and prosperity, a time of justice
and goodness. But there will still be children born, and they
will still have a sin nature, and they will still need to get
saved. Many of them will reject God's salvation during the most
perfect time imaginable, and after 1,000 years, God will put them
to the test.
For 1,000 years, there will no devil to blame things on, he will
be locked away. There will not be any demons to afflict people
and lead them astray, man will have nobody to blame but himself
when he sins. Man will not be able to blame his environment, because
it will be perfect. Man will not be able to blame society, because
when the millennium starts, everyone on earth will be saved, and
filled with the Holy Spirit. But the heart of man will still be
wicked, and after 1,000 years, Satan will be released for a short
while, and he will find a following. Verse 8 says
they will be as the sand of the sea, they will cover the earth,
hating God, hating Jesus Christ, hating all those that love and
follow God. Their doom only takes ten words: "And fire came
down out of heaven and devoured them." After a thousand perfect
years, there will still be people that refuse to get saved. That
tells us something about human nature. Under any circumstances,
under all conditions, man is sinful and hopeless without Jesus
Christ and His salvation, and this proves it.
For thousands of years, Satan has rebelled against God and told
him that He was not capable or qualified to run the universe.
For thousands of years God has let Satan try to prove his case,
and Satan has tried to prove that he can make God drop the ball.
Game's over.
Verse 10: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever."
Satan is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false
prophet are. Notice that the beast and false prophet
have not been not consumed by the fire. If they had been consumed,
it would say "where they were," but it doesn't. It says
"where they are." Let me read it again, and I want us
to just think about it a minute. "The devil that deceived
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day
and night for ever and ever." Serious stuff. And
it doesn't quit with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet.
Verse 11: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat
on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them." This is the Lord Jesus.
The one that hung upon the cross for man is now the One that sits
upon the throne, judging those who reject His salvation.
Verse 12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which
is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life
was cast into the lake of fire."
Verses 5 and 6 spoke of the first resurrection. Everyone that
had a part in the first resurrection was a believer. Everyone
that had a part in that first resurrection was resurrected to
life, and there is no more judgement that ever concerns
them, their situation is settled, they are secure forever.
This is the second resurrection, and it is
not a resurrection to life, it is a resurrection to judgement.
Every soul that has ever lived could be classed into one of two
categories: One, people that had received Jesus Christ as Savior,
and were made alive and would stay that way forever. Or two, people
that had rejected Jesus Christ for salvation, died in their sins,
and would also stay that way, conscious, aware of their situation,
forever.
Only one thing will matter on that great day: is your name written
in the Lamb's book of life? When those books are opened, all of
us that have received Jesus Christ as Savior will have our names
written in that book of life. Some of those names will have been
in there for a long time. For others, the ink will be just barely
dry. Having your name in there is all that counts.
Everybody else is judged according to their works.
Some people have been sweet little old grannies, others have been
Hitlers, and their judgement will be according to their works,
but all of them will end up going into the lake of fire.
Are you saved today? Have you ever personally, specifically received
Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you are not saved, why are you
putting it off? Maybe there is someone that is important to you,
and they are not saved, and you have been meaning to tell them
about Jesus, and how He saved you, but you just keep putting it
off? Tell them, they need to know.
When I first moved up here from Georgia, there was a guy that
I worked with who always seemed to be worried about the
unpardonable sin. I guess it was something that his church
talked about, but he was always worried trying to figure out what
it was, and how to make sure that he didn't commit it. Let me
tell you something: if you have your name written in the Lamb's
book of life, you can quit worrying about it. And if you don't
have your name written in the Lamb's book of life; that's
the unpardonable sin you need to be worrying about right now,
because procrastination on this matter will doom you!
If you have your name written there, everything else can be sorted
out, everything else can be dealt with. If your name is not written
there, nothing else matters. Nothing else matters.
Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you don't, or if there
is any doubt in your mind, you come talk to me today and we'll
get it settled.
I give you the same invitation today that God gave Israel 3500
years ago: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against
you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life..." Have you ever chosen Jesus Christ
as your Savior? Today is as good a day as I could think of to
make your salvation a sure and accomplished reality.
Stand with me, take your hymnbooks and turn to number 187, Just
As I Am, and if God has spoken to you this morning about your
need for a relationship to Jesus Christ, come to the altar and
get it settled right now.