Not hurt at all by the second death.
Not hurt at all by the second death.
"I will give some of the hidden manna." The manna is the body and blood of Christ. It is given on a regular basis, but only to those who are gaining the upper hand over all willingness to disobey the Lord Jesus.
A white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. Can you see how Jesus works with individual believers?
Authority over the nations—that one "will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery."
The morning star. The Morning Star is Christ in us. We are to prayerfully take heed to the Scriptures until we can be guided by Christ in us, which is the new Covenant. However, it is my opinion the Scriptures always will be necessary.
Walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. This means that the believer walking in victory in Christ is a member of the Priesthood.
"I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels." It is important for our well being that our name is known in Heaven."
Christ sets before His champions an open door. No one can close that door until God's will has been completed.
Keep you from the hour of trial. This does not mean to carry us to Heaven, as some teach. It means to guard us during the hour of trial.
"The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name." This means the believer who lives in victory will represent God and Christ throughout the creation. They will be known as "the priests of the Lord."
And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. (Isaiah 61:6)
"If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." This is our inner communion with Christ. He will dine on our obedience and worship. We will dine on His body and blood.
"I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne." Here is the ultimate promise. In each victorious saint, God will find a home; an area of rest; and a place in which to establish His Throne.
The victorious saints will inherit all that God is making new in Christ.
Such are those who shall be gathered to Christ when the trumpet sounds. They shall be changed into immortality in the twinkling of an eye, and caught up together with those who have returned with Christ to the station in the air where the Lord and His armies will assemble. From there they shall descend and install the Kingdom of God on the earth.
In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (I Corinthians 15:52)
If I am correct, in our day, it is assumed that everyone who "accepts Christ" will fly up to Heaven when the trumpet of God sounds, and the world will continue as always. To teach such a thing is to invite spiritual delusion, a false sense of security.
In fact, when Lot left Sodom, destruction fell on the cities of the plain. In like manner, when the victorious believers are changed and caught up to Christ's staging area in the air, the vials of wrath will be poured on those who are left in the earth.
Since the return of Christ is to install His Kingdom on the earth, is it sensible to teach that the casual believers of today are qualified and competent to work with Him in this endeavor? This absolutely is ridiculous!
Now let's take a look at the "rewards" to those believers who do not choose to make the effort to defeat the enemies of God and Christ:
The danger of losing their testimony of Christ.
No access to the Tree of Life. This means they must remain in their adamic state.
They can be hurt by the Lake of Fire.
Some will suffer intensely.
They will not govern with Christ.
Christ will come to them like a thief.
They will not wear the robes of the priesthood at this time.
They remain in danger of having their name blotted from the Book of Life.
The Lord views them as wretched, poor, pitiful, blind, and naked.
The worst outcome of their casual approach to the Christian life is that they will not receive the increments of fellowship with God and power and authority that the dedicated saints will receive.
People speak of "going to Heaven." What do they imagine Heaven will be like? A fantasy world of no responsibilities and no suffering?
Notice that the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation do not present this kind of a world after our death. The Divine endowments assigned to those who are overcoming the accuser are abilities given to a governing priesthood, not playground equipment for today's pleasure-loving church-goers.
The Scripture states that Christ and the members of His Body will bring justice to the nations, not play happily in Paradise chasing butterflies!
After the Kingdom of God has been established, and people are living on the new earth, then the "sheep" will be living in a wonderful world, much like we imagine Heaven to be. They will be supervised and blessed by the Lord's priests.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. (Isaiah 65:22)
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
But at the present time we may be about halfway through the struggle to cleanse God's creation of evil. The battles are not over as yet. So Heaven and the physical creation will be areas of war and tumult until every person who is disobedient to Christ has been incarcerated in the Lake of Fire, along with the disobedient spirits.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
Notice in the passage above that it is not just sins that are consigned to the Lake of Fire, but people who have permitted themselves to be conquered by these sinful forces.
There lies ahead of us a tremendous task. It is to rid the creation of all evil, of every person and spirit who will not obey Christ, which is to not obey God. God has called out a Church from the members of mankind who will master the principles of iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to God.
The Church will be divided into two parts, just as the Tabernacle of the Congregation was divided into a Most Holy Place and a Holy Place.
The Most Holy Place is represented by those who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, of Revelation, Chapter Fourteen.
The Holy Place are "little sisters of the Bride, in the present hour. But they will be ministered to, while residing in Mount Zion, during the thousand-year Kingdom Age. Perhaps some of the hundredfold saints will work with them at that time. (Song of Solomon 8:8,9)
The new Jerusalem, which is the Bride of the Lamb, will not descend from Heaven until every member of the Bride, the Royal Priesthood, the entire Tabernacle of God, has been brought to full maturity in Christ. Then the holy city will descend from Heaven and be installed on the new earth.
This delay is necessary, because there can be no member of the Priesthood who is not mature in Christ and equipped to bring the will and blessings of God wherever there is a need among the "sheep" who have been saved from the nations.
There it is! An easily understood design conceived in the mind of God even before Satan fell, as God knew he would. It is a plan worthy of the God of Heaven. Since God sent forth His will, and then rested, He has been watching over His Word to perform it.
Let every one of us Christians dedicate ourselves every moment of every day and night to entering that "rest" of God, obeying every wish of our Lord Jesus Christ, promptly, completely, and cheerfully.
We are to cease from our own works, choosing instead to press forward in the destiny engraved for us in God's will.
To attain to the early resurrection, one must be involved with the world only as much as necessary; have put to death the urges to sin in their flesh; and always obey Christ promptly, completely, and cheerfully.
To the reader, this may sound impossible. It is not. It is our part to pray, obey, asking God to make this state of sanctification true of us.
It is God's part to make such holiness a reality in our life.
And He indeed shall do this if we pray and obey faithfully.