Such is the new Jerusalem.
Such is the new Jerusalem.
Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? (Acts 7:49)
To the one who is victorious, 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. (Revelation 3:21)
The Throne of the Lord Jesus Christ is the highest throne in the universe. The saints who choose to live in victory will sit with the Lamb on His Throne.
In time past, Heaven has been the Throne of God. Now God has placed the Lamb on the highest of all thrones, and His Bride sits on the Throne with Him.
No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3,4)
I do not know about anyone else; but it is clear to me that we pastors and evangelists need to change our preaching from the simple "accept Christ" and you will go to Heaven, to informing the converts that they are an elect; and if they choose to live a life of victory through the Lamb, they will inherit the wonderful promises included in the new world of righteousness to come.
Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:7)
My guess is that if God does not take the necessary steps in the near future, the present generation of Christians in America will never grow in Christ to the point that they are competent and eligible to be inducted into the army of the Lord when Jesus next appears.
They are trusting that an unscriptural rapture will carry them to Heaven any day now. All they have to do is say they "accept Jesus," and all else will be done for them. They believe God loves them so much He has had Jesus do all the work for them.
This is dreadfully unscriptural! Where would they be placed in the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation? They are not prepared to descend with Christ and drive the spirits of darkness from the earth.
They are not prepared to govern the nations of the earth with Christ, disciplining them with the rod of iron righteousness of behavior.
The are not prepared to teach, govern, and bless the people from the nations whom God has chosen to bring over as citizens to the new earth.
And they certainly are not prepared to be the eternal dwelling place of God. That position is reserved for those who have been conformed to the likeness of Christ.
Numerous people who attend Christian churches have no idea what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Since by definition a Christian is a disciple, many churchgoers of our day have no idea what it means to be a Christian, a member of the true, eternal Israel.
They are not members of the Wife of the Lamb because they do not live by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. They do not eat His flesh and drink His blood because they are not leading a victorious life.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)
The "hidden manna" is the body and blood of Christ. It is given only to those who are pressing forward in the victorious Christian life to strengthen and encourage them in their quest.
Those who do not pursue victory in Christ, since their ministers are not teaching them the necessity for living in victory over sin, will not be permitted to don the white robes of the Royal Priesthood.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)
I have mentioned previously that the immature Christians will be ministered to during the thousand-year Kingdom Age until they are competent to serve as members of the Royal Priesthood.
However, many churchgoers do not use the talents given to them to build the Kingdom of God, and their destiny will be the Outer Darkness.
Also, the Christian who sows to the sinful urges of their flesh will reap corruption in the Day of the Lord.
The following two verses were written: "To the churches in Galatia." I add this warning because the lying prophets of our day will claim, "These two verses were written as a warning to the unsaved."
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7,8)
The churchgoer who lives according to the urges to sin that dwell in the members of their body will reap destruction in the Day of Christ.
The churchgoer who carefully follows the Spirit of Christ, from that Spirit will reap eternal life, and all the marvels described in the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation.
As the Apostle John warns, "Do not let anyone deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous as the Lamb is righteous."
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. (I John 3:6,7)
Some of the watchmen on the wall are not warning the churchgoers of the coming of the enemy. When there is no rapture, and the persecution of Christian people fills the United States, and the people turn on the watchmen, what will these false shepherds do?
That day surely is coming, and then we will find out what the deceivers will do, who have lived according to the dictates of their belly.
We in America have a nation of deceived churchgoers who are trusting in a lawless grace and an unscriptural "rapture" to take them to their unscriptural "mansion" in Heaven.
Perhaps if we pray earnestly, God will help many to turn to true faith in the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.