Remember Lot's wife! (Luke 17:32—NIV)
Remember Lot's wife! (Luke 17:32—NIV)
A little reflection will point out that out of the millions of church-goers of our day, there may not be five thousand who are living in such close fellowship with the Lord Jesus that they would drop everything and look to see where they were supposed to go as the trumpet blasts continued.
Would they be selfish if they did not stop and try to bring someone with them? Would they really? Did the wise virgins assist the foolish at the critical moment? Lot's beautiful wife was turned into a pillar of salt because of her concern for her neighbors. A pillar of salt!
I asked the Lord if I could give of my "oil" to someone when the great announcement came. He replied, "You will have just enough for yourself!"
Perhaps some mother reading these words would say to herself, "I could never leave my toddlers at home with a babysitter if I were downtown and heard the trumpet blast announcing the coming of Christ.
If a mother is living close to Jesus, He will speak to her about the time of His coming so she will keep her children close to her. Then, when the trumpet sounds, she and her children will go to where the Lord Jesus is gathering His people.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. (I Thessalonians 5:4 —NIV)
We are not allowed to look back, and so the Lord will tell us when He is coming. We then can journey straightforwardly to the place nearest to us as the trumpets direct.
So the people of the world, and most of the professing Christians, will remain behind while the prepared believers go to wherever Christ directs them. Then the prepared believers will be filled with incorruptible resurrection life, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." This is the first resurrection.
Now, all those who have received incorruptible bodies, the saints who have come with the Lord Jesus plus the newly transformed people living on the earth at the time, will enjoy the greatest and most joyous fellowship of all time.
God will set a table full of good things in the very presence of our enemies.
When Jesus deems it to be time, to the sound of glorious, heavenly music, the prepared believers of the earth and those who came from Heaven with the Lord Jesus will slowly begin to arise from the earth—and this in the sight of those remaining on the earth.
They all will be caught up to meet Christ at His staging area in the air.
There they will be helped to mount a white war stallion and directed to their place in the army of saints. They will look about in amazement at the army of mighty warrior angels, holding their spears in readiness for the charge.
There is nothing those left behind can do other than rage and fume in their anger.
As soon as the Lord's prepared saints leave the earth to go to be with the Lord, terrible judgments will fall on those who remain.
But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:29)
These are the bowls of wrath, spoken of in the Book of Revelation.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth." (Revelation 16:1)
The bowls of wrath are to prepare the world for the coming of Christ and His two armies. Believe it or not, it will require this much Divine fury to deal with the sinful behavior and self-centeredness that characterize so many people of today; to prepare them for the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and His saints.
As soon as the bowls have been emptied on the earth, the Lord Jesus will appear at the head of the saints and angels.
I wonder if most of us really understand the severity of God. God is exceedingly distressed because of homosexual behavior, a behavior that prevents the reproduction of God's image as portrayed in man from the beginning of time. The Bible states that homosexuals shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, (I Corinthians 6:9----NASB)
Down through the clouds will hurtle the invincible saints in their incorruptible bodies, along with the army of warrior angels led by Michael the Archangel.
At the head of the charge will be He whom evil, jealous men crucified, now on His great white war-stallion.
The armies of Antichrist will be destroyed, Antichrist and the False Prophet will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. One angel will wrap Satan in chains and throw him into the Bottomless Pit.
After this the Lord Jesus and His armies will go through every city, town, and village on the earth and destroy all the works of Antichrist.
A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste—nothing escapes them. (Joel 2:2,3—NIV)
The wicked will be slain. Those whom God has chosen to save will be kept safe in their homes until it is time for them to go to Jerusalem to be directed to the area assigned to them.
After the Lord Jesus has told them where to go, they then will be sent out from Jerusalem to various areas of the earth. Accompanying them will be their king and other officers, and holy angels, whom the Lord Jesus Christ has selected for them.
This is somewhat different from reclining on a couch in Paradise. But these Christians are more excited about bringing God's will into the earth, and their inheritance of people, than they are at the thought of dawdling about in Heaven, doing nothing of significance for eternity.
How about you and me? What sort of future would we prefer? God will look to see what it is and will cause it to happen. He will give us the desire of our heart.
The Coming of Christ at the End of the World to the People of the Nations
The purpose of Christ's appearing to the people of the nations is to separate the people who have shown a positive attitude toward Christ's disciples, His brothers, from those who have scorned the disciples and refused to assist them in any manner.
Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." (Matthew 25:34—NIV)
Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41—NIV)
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:12—NIV)
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15—NIV)
It is interesting, isn't it, that the Kingdom of God, from the creation of the world, was prepared for the "sheep" of the nations.
It may be true that numerous Christians believe that God's plan of redemption is for their benefit, so they can go to Paradise and enjoy their mansion.
This is why the doctrine of the "rapture" appeals to them. "We can forget about the people of the world. Let them kill each other in their ignorance."
But the Kingdom of God, from the creation of the world, was prepared for the people of the nations, who are not members of the Royal Priesthood, but who did what they could to assist Christ's brothers.
Next Part "God so loved the world"!