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Resurrection, What is God Like?

Is He, Or Isn’t He?

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A Critical Question About Jesus

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I didn’t know my journey would start when I was so young….

My parents divorced when I was six, and my brother was barely two. I remember when my dad knelt, held me close, and said,

“You can call me uncle now.” 

I had no idea what this meant, but I knew it hurt.  Soon, my mom, brother, and I moved in with my grandmother.   During those early years, my grandmother had a great influence on me for God, but an elder in her church would turn me to atheism even though he thought he was doing the opposite. The questions about God began at age eight.

Mom began working full-time as a switchboard operator for a trucking company. So, for about four years, Ronnie (my brother) and I were raised by our sweet grandmother, whom we called “Mamaw.” She fed us, bathed us, and loved us. Though it seemed large then, the house had only two bedrooms and two showerless bathrooms. I slept in Mamaw’s bedroom on a cot beside an unused fireplace; Ronnie and Mom were in the other bedroom, which was part of an open duplex or apartment.

 In her room at night, just before we all retired for the evening, I heard my grandmother talking to God.  It frightened me initially, but after a few nights, I felt comfortable listening to her talk to her God as if they were close friends, unlike the elders of her church who prayed to Him with choice, carefully enunciated flowery words.

Though I never looked at her praying, I imagined her sitting on the floor with Jesus as they discussed her family and their problems.  As the oldest grandson, my name came up near the end of the lengthy conversation.  I could “see” my name floating to the throne room of God the Father, bore on the wings of the Holy Spirit.  I liked the God of my grandmother; He seemed likable, but I would meet a new god at Vacation Bible School a few years later.  This god, I did not like.  He scared me.

Vacation Bible School was fun.  I especially liked the crafts.  On the last day of VBS, all of us children waited anxiously for our parents to arrive so we could show them what we had made during the week. I had painted a King Edwards cigar box black and put decals and shells on it.  It made a perfect jewelry box.  My mom loved her jewelry.  But, before the moms, dads, and grandmothers arrived, we all met in a little room to hear an elder tell us about the upcoming service and how we could participate.  He wanted us to be baptized, so he began to tell us how much Jesus loved us.  I knew this God!  My grandmother talked to Him every night!

Then, the elder told us what would happen if we were not baptized.  We would go to “hell” and burn forever.  He described hell in disgusting detail. This didn’t sound like the God my grandmother talked to each night!  Something was wrong here. It was my first step toward unbelief.  No one, especially my grandmother’s Jesus, could be so cruel as to let all this happen!  Was my uncle in hell because he didn’t believe in Jesus but was a good husband and father?  Later in my journey, I would figure this out through scripture alone. 

Time marched on for my brother and me. I went through elementary school, high school, and eventually to college. In an ancient history class, I learned more than history; I learned about atheism directly from an atheistic professor. He made sense to me as I considered the contradiction of the two gods I had met when I was younger: one very loving and the other watching to ensure I was good or I would burn forever.

At age 18, I married a sweet, petite Christian gal.  We had three lovely children, but before that, we had some tough times and separated for a while.  When I returned, she (Julie) had been attending some “evangelistic” meetings.  I instantly began to make fun of her, telling her how silly it was to believe such nonsense.  I harassed her so much that she threw a dare at me.

“Eddie, if I am wrong, take this Bible and my notes and prove me wrong.”

My snarky response was, “Sure, this will be easy.”

For months, I went to the library for secular information (no web back in 1975) and began to read the Bible and her notes.  Quickly, I realized my attack had to be on this character, Jesus.  He had made some bold claims about Himself.  So, it came down to three questions: 

1.)  Did He exist? That was an easy question, even in secular history. 

2.) Was He all He claimed to be? and

3.) What was I going to do with what I learned? I had no idea. 

The primary and most critical question was, “Is He, or Isn’t He?  The following is just a small portion of my journey to know for myself about Jesus without the influence of denomination, tradition, or opinion.  The result?   I fell in love with Jesus and was baptized into His church, His body. Julie was right.  I was wrong.  My personal story is in my second book, “The Pig Returns To Its Mud.”

 Along the way, I realized that, as followers of Jesus, we must be united on the core beliefs based on God’s grace, compassion, and love expressed perfectly through Jesus. This is where God’s power is most effective. People can know the real Jesus for themselves if they only take time to look and hear. Too many beliefs, opinions, and traditions block out the sunlight of truth as found in Jesus. 

I will likely step on some toes in this book, but I pray that the initial pain will turn into something that will help the reader understand Jesus, as revealed by the prophets, kings, disciples, and apostles. This is my source material. While other “holy books” are written by one man, the story of Jesus is written by 35 to 40 men throughout thousands of years. That should tell us something.

I have settled these questions about Jesus. My atheism changed to a full-fledged believer in Jesus because I searched for the truth, and God directed my paths. He does this for everyone who will search with “all their heart.” It is not a casual search.  There are obstacles along the way. 

The journey continues. I am by no means perfect, but He is! He is worthy. I am not.  I hope that as you read this, you will discover Jesus’ reality and His faithfulness, whether you are a believer or not.  The reward will be greater than you can imagine.  Thank you, Julie.  May you rest in peace knowing God Himself directed your dare.  He knew what I needed.

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” John 17:3 NLT

Introduction

The world is full of, to use an old Yiddish word, “Shysters.”  There are a multitude of con artists, liars, and cheats who are typically motivated by money, fame, self-gratification, or even worship! The knowledge of a person’s true identity can have life-and-death outcomes.

As I write this, countless writers and speakers are making money and fame from conspiracy theories, health-related topics, and merchandise that have no basis in facts, science, or common sense. They exist off the pocketbooks of the naive, uneducated, and those without critical thinking abilities. Deception includes marketing products, broadcasting news, education, music, and, of course, philosophy. These “industries” make billions of dollars of their victims each year.

Recently, I heard of a woman whose name I will not mention. She writes books and charges money to her fans to listen to her speak on various naturalistic remedies for almost every ailment, including cancer.  You would think she would be a doctor or someone with excellent credentials and that her presentations would include facts and figures to demonstrate her success rate.  On the contrary, this person failed in the medical industry and has been banned in several countries because of her unfounded and often dangerous instructions.  What confounds me is that she packs the house whenever she speaks!  Those in her audience are the anti-doctor, anti-vaccine, anti-science, anti-everything they don’t like.  In my opinion, it would seem that if we want something to be correct, we can find those who will help us feed our disillusionment.  Instead of searching for truth systematically, they search for confirmation from flawed information, reasoning, or feelings. This routine has been going on since the beginning of time.

Then comes Jesus onto the scene. In one of His prayers, he boldly states, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 A knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ leads to eternal life. If this is true, we need to know if He is true. Is He, or isn’t He?

He walks, talks, teaches the ordinary people, and tries to reach the religious people who feel they have everything to know about Jehovah.  The religious leaders, the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees prided themselves in thinking they had God all figured out and processed the authority to speak on behalf of God and express His will.  But Jesus claimed to be four things. He states, without hesitation, that he is “ The way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father (Jehovah) except through me (Jesus).”  John 14:6

       The question is, “Is He? or Isn’t He?  Is Jesus like one of the many Shysters of history and today that prey on the naive, uneducated, and those without common sense? Either Jesus is all He claims to be, or He is not.  His statement in John has no middle ground or room for compromise.  He is either the only way, or He is not.  His disciples took three and a half years to conclude that Jesus was real. What convinced them to die for their faith in Jesus as “… the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16 was not in wars between cultures but at the hands of those of their culture who hated them.  What convinced them should also convince us, although we aren’t able to physically handle and touch Him as they did.  They could rightly say, we have “…heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—” 1 John 1:1We cannot.      

However, others existed before Jesus was born who never saw or touched Him but saw Jesus in the future. These were the many prophets, kings, and inspired writers of the Old Testament. On the other hand, modern society has had all this testimony from people for many generations. Those before Jesus looked forward in faith; the disciples and apostles lived by faith at the moment, and we today live in faith, looking back at the record of those before us. There is a need to study these patriarchs to determine Is He, or Isn’t He.  As we discover Jesus, our faith will grow in Him.  Therefore, we can say, “Little time with Jesus and the Bible will result in little faith in Jesus.  Conversely, much time with Jesus and the Bible will result in much faith in Jesus.    “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”  Romans 10:17

After the resurrection of Christ, Jesus first saw Mary and then showed up on a dusty road talking with two men who thought he was a stranger who just happened to walk up and begin a conversation.  They were walking away from the discouragement and sorrow of Jerusalem on a journey to a new beginning in Emmaus,

 As they walked along, Jesus gave them a study from the scriptures.  What is unusual about this study was that there was no New Testament pocket Bible for Jesus to pull out of His robe because printing, as we know it, had not been invented. Still, even more important, the New Testament had not been written yet!  So, this was a “Scripture” study from what we call the Old Testament and what the modern Jews call the Tankah.  It contains the writings of the many prophets and inspired writers.  Something happened to these men that greatly increased their faith in Jesus and set their hearts on fire: “Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27. Jesus did this from memory! 

The men were familiar with these writings, but now they had meaning about Christ (the long-awaited Messiah).  Their eyes were opened, and their hearts were greatly encouraged by Jesus because they had heard Him and later looked across the table at Him!    They were so amped up that they ran back the seven miles to Jerusalem to find the other eleven disciples behind closed and locked doors, afraid of what might happen to them. (A side note from a former runner:   If they were seven miles away and ran back within the hour (Luke 24:33), this was equivalent to less than a seven-minute mile pace.  That is fast!  I’ll bet today’s runners could not do that in a robe and sandals!) 

When these two speed-runners made it back to Jerusalem and found the original disciples, they noticed they weren’t gathered to conduct Sunday worship in honor of the resurrection.  No!  They were in a state of disbelief and thought that the body of the One they loved was dead in a tomb in the beginning stages of decay (John 20:9).  Just as our two runners show up, Jesus pops into the sealed room.  The disciples think He is a spirit! (Luke 24:37).  After inviting them to touch him, He said some critical words for us to hear that I will discuss later.  “Look at My hands and My feet. See! It is I, Myself! Touch Me and see for yourself. A spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have.” Luke 24: 39

Then, Jesus did something that conflicted with their expectations of a resurrected immortal body: He asked for food, and they gave him fish and a honeycomb, and he ate it in front of them! (Luke 24: 42, 43).  What does that say about our resurrected immortal bodies and our heavenly experience?  At the very least, we will have bodies that enjoy eating, and we will live in flesh and bone bodies!  Our bodies will be just like His!  I don’t know about you, but that is much more exciting than sitting on a cloud plucking a harp as a ghost! “…we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  1 John 3:2

So, after the short meal, Jesus conducts the second Scripture study of the day. This time, He has the eleven disciples plus the two believers who ran back to Jerusalem from seven miles away in less than an hour. Wow! I’m still amazed by their athleticism, but I digress. 

Jesus expands the scripture study to include the Psalms (These are the poetic books of the Bible that include Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.). From these writings of thirty-five men, he showed them “all the things that must be fulfilled” about Him! Luke 24 44, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” Luke 24 45.  After this study, Jesus covered all of the Old Testament divisions: The first five books of the Bible (Law of Moses), the major and minor prophets (the Prophets), and the poetic books (Psalms).  Jesus is there in those many books!  How could we miss that?  It may be because we are not looking or want it to be true.    

Is He or isn’t He all those things written in the Scriptures and the eyewitnesses of the New Testament?  For us to know that Jesus is all He claims to be, our eyes must be opened to understand the scriptures.  Otherwise, we will be like the pious religionists who knew and practiced religion the way they desired it to be, with all the trappings of pride, power, and control.  They didn’t want Jesus to be faithful.  They wanted a king to come riding on a white horse into Jerusalem with a giant sword, chopping off the heads of the Romans whom they despised. 

There is danger in creating a Jesus we want rather than what He really is.  What He is can be found in the Old and New Testaments, not by a popular speaker, philosopher, or even our particular religion/denomination or set of beliefs. 

I take this journey as a person wanting to discover the depth of the Jesus of Scripture, not of my denomination (not that they are bad) nor of what I want Him to be.  At whatever point I am along the way, I desire to feel the presence of Him in my life.  That is enough even if I never have enough time to reach my literary and study goals, I hope you will join me in this Jesus Journey and that Scripture and the Holy Spirit will lead us into a deeper understanding of the One who claims to be the way, the truth, and the life.

Personal Journey With Jesus

A Praying Woman is Powerful

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My mom, younger brother, and I lived with my grandmother from the time I was five years old until I started the 5th grade at ten years old.  As my two cousins will testify, “Mamaw” knew The Lord in a very special way.

My sweet Grandmother had a habit of kneeling beside the bed at night and praying to her Savior. She often prayed softly but loud enough so that I heard my name being presented to the throne room of Heaven. There were times I felt if I opened my eyes, I would see Jesus and her having a cup of tea while they talked.

Her prayers affect me to this day even though she died Christmas Eve 1976. This was only four months after my conversion from atheism to a follower of Christ. My first wife, who had just given her life to the Lord, challenged me to study her notes and prove her wrong.  After months of study, I proved myself wrong and gave myself to the work of the Lord Jesus.

As my dear grandmother lay in the hospital bed that silent night, I asked The Lord to let her sleep so she would not be in pain and the confusion of Parkinson’s disease.  I got news of her death after I left the hospital and arrived at home, where my wife and 2-month-old daughter waited for me.

That exact prayer for God’s mercy would be repeated years later for my saintly mother, who died from a lung infection.  My prayer was, “Lord, let her sleep to escape the pain of death.”  The doctors asked the family to say our goodbyes.  When it came to my turn, I trembled.  My mother had been praying for ten years for my return to the Lord.  After eighteen years of service and following Jesus, I asked God to go away.  I had lost faith due to tragedies in my life in 1994. 

Mom often asked me when I was going to come back to the faith I once knew.  Lately, I had begun to feel that familiar pull of the Holy Spirit to repent of my sins and receive forgiveness.

 The Lord was knocking hard on the door of my heart. A lump the size of my fist was stuck in my throat as I approached this beautiful woman who had given me life.  Like my Grandmother, my Mom knew the Lord and was close to HIm.    Icema Pappas was the sweetest, non-obtrusive woman I had ever known. She was only moments away from the penalty passed upon all….death.  We would be separated, perhaps forever.

Years earlier, after my conversion, she and I had studied the Bible about the resurrection and the coming of Jesus.  It was in this study we saw the plan for those who die in Christ.  The clearest verse is found in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18 (GW)

The Lord will come from heaven with a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the dead who believed in Christ will come back to life.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive will be taken up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. In this way, we will always be with the Lord.  So then, comfort each other with these words!

When I leaned in close to my Mom, who seemed to be at peace but under the influence of the drugs to help soften the sting of death, I said these words through wet tears dripping on her hand. I held her soft, sweet hands close to my face.

 “Mom, I will see you resurrection morning.”

Immediately, I felt a squeeze of her hand! Twice! That tightening of her hand had strength despite the drugs and impending death.  It communicated the unspoken words,

“You better be there.”

Even in death, her humor and concern for me came through loud and clear through that grip!

Like those who see their life pass before their eyes when they think they are about to die, I recounted my fall from grace.  My fall had been dramatic, just like my conversion.  When converted, I was compelled to teach others about what I had learned.  I became a Bible teacher with a very large class.  I got involved in prison ministry and a world-wide magazine did a story on my ministry.  A Christian brother (Charlie) and I began a radio ministry called Answers from Scripture.  When Billy Graham came to town, I participated in training to become a counselor.  For several nights, I had the incredible experience of working next to Jesus and the Graham team to help people start their “Jesus Journey.”

Jesus did things through me I never dreamed possible or likely.

But, a series of events in 1994 had me shaking my fist at God.  I felt He had forsaken me.  I turned back to the world and began to drink for the first time in my life.   After several years,  I became an alcoholic after feeling the deep pain of a sick child with a rare disease, a surprise divorce, losing my job unexpectedly, and the death of my father in a car wreck. Looking back, I should have pleaded with God, but I took the self-pity route.

I was so low that I could not feel God’s presence any longer, but He was there protecting me and hearing the prayers of these two powerful women in my life….not to mention many others in my church and my family.

This experience with my dying mother would only make that “still small voice.” louder.    Later that year, I would return to the Lord like the prodigal son…dirty, broke, and doubtful.  That is a story unto itself.  My God had not forsaken me!  He allowed me to waste my inheritance for the salvation of my soul.

My experience with my Creator is now stronger than ever before….in Christ, but I know that the prayers of these two beautiful women (and my ex-wife) interceded for me and stood in the gap by praying in my stead when I could not or would not do so.

(For my three-part conversion story, click here:)

A Clean Pig Returns to the Mud-Part 1

A Clean Pig Returns to the Mud-Part 2

A Pig Washed A Second Time-Conclusion

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Last night (New Year’s Eve 2015), I had the same feeling of hearing my name being presented to The Lord just like I heard from my grandmother and my mother years before.

My beautiful wife of almost two years (Judy) has a tradition of praying at midnight each new year. (What a contrast to the parties and drinking that I once indulged.)  I tried to stay up till midnight, but we both fell asleep.

I was awakened by a soft touch on my arm and the sound of my beloved wife praying for me at midnight. She said The Lord woke her at 11:55 PM to pray.

There is nothing more powerful than a praying and believing woman! During Christ’s time on earth, it was the women who were closer and more loyal than the fearful men.  These women dared the enemy of man and his agents by standing at the foot of the cross to comfort the dying Savior.  Except for John, the disciples had all fled.

I am blessed by the prayers of four women in my life:  My Grandmother, Mother, first wife (Mother of my children), and now my wife of two years, who encourages me along in my “Jesus Journey.” Also, those two female cousins I mentioned at the start also pray for me as I do for them!

Thank you, Judy, for carrying the prayer torch into another year and for praying for me…and my children.  May I come to know the Lord like the women in my life!

Yes, I am blessed by the women who love me.  But I bet you are, too!


“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous (woman) avails much.”

James 5:16

Death and Resurrection, Truth About the Deceased, What is God Like?

WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM!

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There she was, lying in a hospital bed with crisp white sheets and monitors beeping all around.   Just a few weeks ago, she was up and doing her normal routine.  Today, she was lying on her back with an oxygen mask forcing her to breathe.  Icema Pappas, my Greek Mom, never liked anything over her face.  Like me, she was claustrophobic.

Mom was an attractive woman.  Some said she looked like Elizabeth Taylor when she was younger.  But what made her special was her kind, quiet spirit.  Everyone who ever met her liked her immediately because she liked people.  She was a praying woman like her mother before her. Even though I was in my Godless decade, having shaken my fist at God, telling Him to go away, I could feel His Spirit coming through her. I had not prayed in 10 years, but I felt moved to comfort her in some way through the God she loved.

My beautiful mom had been fervently praying for me for the last ten years, but I could not find a prayer within me.

They had done everything they could.  She was dying before my eyes.  My heart was breaking for her.  The air seemed to be leaving the room. I asked the doctors and nurses to make her comfortable.  She settled down as the morphine took over.

One by one, the family was called in to say their goodbyes.  She was only 73 years old. 

My parents divorced when I was six and my brother was two.  She had to return to work as the switchboard operator at a trucking company. My Mom, Ronnie, and I lived with my grandmother in a small one-bedroom apartment in a section of the house.  Two very loving women of God raised me.  Both were good Baptists but followers of Christ first. 

When I became a follower of Jesus some twenty-eight years earlier, after studying the Bible to prove my newly baptized Christian wife wrong about the whole religious thing, I shared some of the things I had learned from the Bible with my sweet mom and grandmother.  The passages on the state of the dead, the second coming, and the resurrection were fresh and new to them. 

They listened closely and asked questions.  They found comfort in the return of Jesus, the comparison of sleep with death, and the resurrection, just as Paul instructed in 1 Thess 4: 18 (Comfort one another with these words). They, indeed, found comfort in God’s word.      With a hopeful voice, I described going to sleep in death, but, in a flash, our next view would be of Jesus coming in the clouds; then we would rise above the earth with all the others who loved Him to meet Him there before going to where He promised to take us.

It was my turn to say goodbye to my beautiful, sweet mom, whose brown eyes glowed when she talked to me.  That is what I remember about her.  Her eyes.  Sometimes, it was like Jesus conversed with me…even joking around and laughing with me through those eyes! They were closed now.

I was not sure she could hear me because of the morphine.  She was quiet and not moving as I listened to the heart monitor, beginning to slow.

I took her hand like the young people shake hands by wrapping my fingers around her thumb.  I felt the soft flesh of her hands, which had brushed the hair back from my eyes and wiped the tears away from my face when I was young.    I leaned in to make sure she heard the last words she would hear from me.  “Mom, I love you.  I will see you resurrection morning.”  Suddenly, I felt those sweet fingers squeeze three times.  She had heard me!  Her spirit was saying playfully…”  “You better be there!”

As the heart monitor went silent, so did those in the room.  I looked out to watch the beautiful sun setting in the west.

I had made a promise to her to be there on resurrection morning.  The only way I could keep it is for God to have mercy on His prodigal son.  I was dead in sin.  But, praise God, I was resurrected a few weeks later. 

It is a spiritual truth that we can’t feel our sinfulness until we ask God to take over.  We are like a dead person that feels nothing.  When the Spirit of God convicts us at the request of sweet moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, friends, or strangers. We come alive to our situation, our fate of eternal death; then we die to ourselves, pleading for God’s forgiveness.  Then Jesus comes into our hearts and mind, and the Spirit gives us a new birth, a new way of thinking and feeling.  We are changed miraculously.   

As Mary said in the series The Chosen, “I was one way…now I am completely different, and the thing that happened in between was Him.”

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Even though my mother and grandmother were Baptist, They believed what I am about to bring you from God’s word.

The resurrection from the dead is the most important promised event in our spiritual lives! Without the resurrection of Jesus, you and I have no resurrection, and our faith is worthless.  I didn’t say it, Paul did.

1 Corinthians 15:14, 18-19

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty… And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Let’s consider the event that turns us from mortal to immortal, from death to life.

I’ve heard many accounts of heaven, but what will we look like? What will our bodies be like?  Will we be just a wispy spirit floating on a cloud and plucking a harp? Will we be an angel?    

We Will Be Like Him

“…we know that when He is revealed, WE WILL BE LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2

What was He like physically?

The disciples, who were eyewitnesses of Jesus’ post-resurrected body.  They tell us their account of a real Jesus, not a spirit.  When the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost, He said,

“Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a SPIRIT DOES NOT HAVE FLESH AND BONES as you see I have.”  Luke 24:39

Will we have flesh and bones? Yes! A real person! Then he asked for something to eat!

“But while they still did not believe for joy and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Luke 24: 41-43

Will we eat in our glorified bodies?  We will have an appetite!

Jesus had flesh and bones (unlike a spirit), and He ate fish and honey in His glorified body (post-resurrection).  We, too, will have a glorified body with flesh, bones, and an appetite.  We will get a signal from our body that it is time to eat.

The third time Jesus appeared to the disciples (after His resurrection), he returned the favor and cooked them fish and bread!

“Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught…This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.”  John 21: 9-10, 14

Movement by Thought

Our bodies will be like His… Our mode of travel will be walking because we will have legs, but we will be able to think our bodies somewhere, as did Jesus in a room behind locked doors. This is the spiritual side of us.

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” Luke 24:36

Even though we will have real bodies, it will be fashioned after Jesus, not Adam.

The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.  1 Corinthians 15: 47-49

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When Do We Get Real Bodies?

We will get real bodies, but when does this happen?

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We are changed at the last trumpet, which is the second coming of Christ. Continuing with Paul’s description of the second coming, he says,

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?” 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55

Where I am!

 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so,  I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14: 1-3

So when He comes, he takes us to where He is now!  The City of Heaven, the mansions,-The New Jerusalem.  Streets of God, the river that flows from God., and the Tree of Life on both sides of the River.

But we don’t stay there forever after 1,000 years.  The redeemed of all ages return to this earth.  We will get to watch God recreate this earth. (See 1,000 years for more detail.)

Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 21:2

New Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah, Peter, and John describe the abode of the redeemed. 

…we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13

After Jesus makes a new earth, the meek will finally inherit the earth.  We will have active lives and live forever!  We will continue to have worship services!

They shall build houses and inhabit them;

They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit …And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain, Isaiah 66: 21-23

After working for six days, we will attend worship, not as different denominations, but as those who belong to Christ.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth

Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,…And it shall come to pass, that from one New Moon to another,

And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord.”  Isaiah 66: 22: 23

Can you see it?  Time will still be measured in 7 days.  On the 7th (Sabbath), people will come to the throne of God in the city, and our hearts will be filled with joy to sing and worship the one who made all this possible!

Brothers and sisters, we will be like Him but retain our different personalities and features.  We will have real bodies with flesh and bones; We will enjoy eating and drinking the wine Jesus said he would not drink again until we see Him in the Kingdom (Matthew 26:29).  We will have a city home (Mansions) and a country home (Earth), where we will work and enjoy the work of our hands.  Once a month and weekly, we will travel worldwide by thought and attend worship services as one body of believers.

Yes! Eternity is real! But even all that is disclosed in scripture it is just the beginning of what God has prepared!

“The eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

I want to be there!  Don’t you?

Do you love Him? 

HE Loves you!  He doesn’t want any to perish but all to come to repentance. This is the whole gospel in three words.  God is love!

To say “God is love” is to say the whole truth all at once. Everything after that is exposition. Everything contrary to that is heresy. Ty Gibson

It is because of His love that he comes back for us.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

1 Thess 4: 16-18

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Yes, one day, I will keep my promise to my Mom at resurrection morning, but I can’t do it myself.  I must trust Him alone!  Not my work, not anything I have done or will do.  I will meet my Mom and Dad in the air as the power of Christ draws us to Him.  The redeemed of all ages will gather together and go to where Jesus is simultaneously.  What a day that will be! What a family reunion!

Will you be there too?  How can you know for sure?

First, you must acknowledge that only He can get you there!

if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9

 While you were yet a sinner, he came running after you.  You can’t get there by your parents’ experience with Christ; You must have your own experience.  You can’t get there by church membership, not your education, or anything but Christ.  It is only through Jesus.  Jesus does not save groups or denominations; He saves people as individuals.

There is no other name among men whereby we are saved.

Jesus tells us we must be born again.  Reborn of the Spirit.  Have you been reborn?  You will know by your love for others and the peace of knowing Jesus personally.

Salvation in Christ is about letting go to the pull (drawing) and convicting power of the Spirit to acknowledge your sins and shortcomings and let Him be your all and all.  It is about asking Him to take over your life.  It is about trusting Him every day.

The enemy will try to make you selfish and unbelieving, but stay close to Him, and no man can pluck you out of His Hand.

Won’t you talk to God today and receive eternal life?  Will you be like Him?

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! Job 19: 26-27

Resurrection

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESURRECTION!

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The resurrection of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief of the Christian Faith: Paul said, without it, all the preaching is empty and futile. So is your faith in Christ. Further, we are still under the curse of sin (death). In one short sentence he gets his point across:

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty…And if Christ has not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!

1 Corinthians 15: 14, 17

Paul then states that everyone, including those who have died (fallen asleep), is forever gone (perished), and we are pitiable (worthy of pity).

Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable

1 Corinthians 15: 18, 19

The understanding of the teaching and reality of the resurrection is an all-or-nothing situation for the follower of Christ.

The New Testament alone uses the word “resurrection” (anastasis) 51 times. It means “rising from the dead. ” But it is also described in the Old Testament as well. Other related words such as “rise,” “risen,” and “raised ” double the number of times this topic appears in the Bible. Here are a couple of examples.

“Martha said to Him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’”

john 11:24

She had her theology right.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:44

John’s theology was also correct. In the 6th chapter, John uses the phrase “raise him up’” three times in connection with those who “believe Him,” those “drawn to Jesus by the Father,” and those who symbolically “eat his flesh and drink his blood.” Just as daily food and drink gives life, a daily relationship with Jesus gives eternal life.

A pastor should be able to preach a sermon on this topic of resurrection every week for two or more years! So why is it, basically, only taught once a year at Easter?

It is because the focus of Easter programs are on the resurrection of Jesus only. Just as important, but rarely taught correctly, is our hope of being resurrected just as Jesus. This is our only hope of living forever.

The resurrection occurs at the literal return of Christ. Paul said this was His hope.

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and [the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;  if somehow I may attain (achieve at succeeding) to the resurrection from the dead.

Phil 3: 10-11 (NKJV)

At another time,, Paul said this was not only his hope but also for those who look for His appearing (second coming):

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:8

The Cross and the Resurrection are the bedrock of the Apostle’s teachings because they had seen both events with their own eyes. They were eyewitnesses.

… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

The resurrection has been watered down by pagan beliefs that the soul is immortal and will live somewhere forever. The picture of the soul floating away at death to its reward is highly unbiblical and, quite frankly is for ghost stories and Halloween, not for the reality or resurrection of the body and the soul at the time of Christ’s return. The immortal soul teaching negates the need for a resurrection or even the second coming of Christ.

Probably, the most desperate attempt to make sense of the importance of the resurrection and an immortal soul flying away to heaven at death is the teaching that we all come back for our bodies. This contradicts Paul’s discussion on receiving immortality and changed bodies at the return of Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 51-55).

The Bible plainly teaches that death is exactly what the word means and is an enemy to both the body and soul. Jesus said,

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 10: 28

There is no such thing as an immortal soul on this side of the return of Christ. It does not appear in the Bible. The person who sins is subject to the death of the soul:

“The soul who sins shall die.”

Ezekiel 18: 4, 20

We are not given immortality at death but at the resurrection. Paul describes it very clearly in the entire 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians.

“The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”

1 Corinthians 15: 16

When is death destroyed? At the Second Coming of Christ! When the trumpet will sound, and the dead are resurrected. It is then that we receive new bodies not subject to corruption, decay, or death.

 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 

1 Corinthians 15: 51-52

It is at this point that we receive immortality of both body and soul, and death is never more for the redeemed.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15: 54

What a great thought! When Jesus returns, we all go to meet Jesus in the air. A spectacular family reunion of all those who sleep in Christ! Angels delivering long lost loved ones, babies returned to the arms of mothers and fathers!

How important is the resurrection? It is everything to the Christian. Jesus has the keys to death and the grave and one day He will unlock it!

Jesus demonstrated the possibility and the hope of our resurrection when He returned by His own resurrection. We become the fruits of His resurrection. He was the First Fruit!

“But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

1 Corinthians 15:23

Until next time, blessings as you consider these things. May it bring comfort to your soul. Comfort one another with these words as Paul instructed the disheartened people of Thessalonica:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thess. 4: 16-18

A Week Before The Resurrection

8 DAYS AFTER THE RESURRECTION-A DOUBTER

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“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!”

John 20:26

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Introduction

This account is from the eyes of Thomas, who separated himself from the other disciples after the betrayal by Judas in the garden. He did not see them again for eight (8) days after Jesus appeared to the others.  Thomas became disappointed and did not want to see anyone.  Doesn’t that sound like many of us when we are discouraged?  We stay away from those who could help encourage us.

The meaning of the cross, the resurrection, and the words of Jesus were just starting to come together for 10 of the original disciples, plus the women who proved to be more committed and braver than the men who watched the crucifixion from a distance (except James and John).   The disciples had seen Jesus on the third day after his death (1st Day of the week-Sunday).  Jesus began to build up their faith by appearing to them alive and teaching them from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) about Himself.  These are the books of the Bible we call the Old Testament.  

“Then He (Jesus) said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”

Luke 24:44-45

Their faith, indeed,  began to grow as they heard Jesus give them a Bible study on how it was fulfilled in Himself, but Thomas was not with them and missed this important revelation.  Choosing, perhaps, to reevaluate everything that had happened.  He, like the disciples earlier in the week, was terribly disappointed and depressed.  He had hoped Jesus would save Israel and himself.  The cross seemed to dash all hopes of any deliverance!

How often do we miss the blessing of Bible study due to our depression and desire to be alone?  May Thomas’ story teach us to believe and trust and not to doubt.

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A Doubter

Greetings.  I am Thomas, one of his original 12 disciples.  I was commissioned by Jesus to do mighty works for the kingdom of God, but I am confused and skeptical, just as you may be.  Allow me to tell you what I know.

I have not seen the other disciples since the night of the Preparation Day.  We had eaten the Passover supper and looked forward to a festive weekend.

But most of us were scattered like sheep without a Shepard when Jesus was taken at the garden and then sent to trial and was crucified.  I saw Peter on the other side of the hill weeping on that horrible day.  My own tears were bitter and soaked my garments as they took that precious innocent man I had come to love and nailed him like an animal to a cruel wooden cross.

I know that Jesus is dead!  I saw him beaten, scourged, and eventually expire on a Roman cross. He was a bloody mess after the all-day cruelty and beatings.  He died on the afternoon of the Preparation Day.  This is the day you Gentiles call Friday.  It is the day us Jews and some of the converts prepare for the Sabbath, a day of rest and worship.  I have always enjoyed the Sabbath, especially with Jesus, but this Sabbath was different.

We all retreated to a secret spot to literally rest from the exhausting events of the previous 24 hours, but our souls were not at rest.  The women had seen the body of Jesus and were resting according to the Sabbath commandment.  Their plan was to go to the tomb of Jesus at the rising of the sun on the First Day of the week to prepare his body for burial.

The Scribes and Pharisees wanted Jesus dead because they said He claimed to be God and that he could tear down the temple and build it again in three days.  Often Jesus would say things like this that made little sense to me. But, later, he would explain it to His followers, and we could see its true meaning.

Since the religious leaders didn’t want Jesus and the two thieves hanging on the cross during the Sabbath, they broke the legs of the thieves to hurry the death process.  When a man is hanging on the cross with broken legs, he is unable to push up against the nails in his feet and its platform to get a breath.  The diaphragm will collapse in such a way that they gasp for air and suffocate.

Such a disgusting and uncomfortable slow death! But since the Sabbath was only a few hours from starting, the three on the hill, called Golgotha, were fortunate and did not have to suffer for days… as have many others.  The Romans are so cruel! But I don’t blame them.  It was our own religious leaders that pushed and pushed until they finally got what they wanted…the scourging and death of Jesus.

But, when the soldiers came to Jesus, they noticed He was already dead and did not break His legs but rather took a sword and pierced His side just to make sure.  Blood and water came forth.  I saw it even though I watched from a distance to protect myself from the same fate.   It was horrible!  It took the air out of me (so to speak) and made me wonder why I followed Jesus in the first place.  So, I know Jesus to be dead, even as the women when they went to His tomb that Friday afternoon to look at his body and to prepare spices to anoint Him early on the 1st Day of the week (Sunday morning).

It has been reported that Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus had cast out 7 demons, said she had seen Jesus at the tomb with two angels.  But I don’t know about her.  She did have demons, didn’t she?  Jesus cast out her demons, but maybe one was leftover and it is making her mad.  The whole city must be mad because it is also reported many people who were dead were resurrected and appeared to many!  I have not seen any, but I must admit I have not been going out much lately. I feel lost and with no purpose or direction.  I just want to sleep.

Then I heard that about eight days ago, on the day you Gentiles call Sunday, Cleopas and his friend were on their way to Emmaus and had an encounter with a spirit or something. It was reported to me by the other disciples that a stranger spent a good three hours giving a comparative study of the writings of the Tanakh, or the Old Testament as you call it.  As they walked down the dusty road towards Emmaus the stranger told them about how Jesus could be found all through scripture.  As they began to understand from the Tanakh about Jesus.  They could see why He had to die on the cross,.  It is reported they said, it made their “hearts burn within them.”

I do remember Jesus saying something about dying and being resurrected, but it was so far from my thinking that I put it out of my mind.

Cleopas (one of the two men on the road to Emmaus)  reported that when they reached their destination, they begged him to stay and tell them more of what he knew.  But, the stranger turned out to be Jesus himself!  They apparently recognized him as He broke bread and then He disappeared.  Can you imagine that?  He just disappeared!

They then raced the 7 or 8 miles back to Jerusalem with the news of what had just happened.   But the disciples were skeptical, as I am.

Now the other disciples are claiming Jesus showed up at their meeting and that He also gave them a comparative study from the Tanakh about Himself.  He then asked for something to eat and he ate some fish.

So that is what I know so far.  It is all only rumor and wishful thinking as far as I am concerned.  Tragic events like this can lead you to think weird things.

 I think I will walk over and see how my friends are doing. The last time I saw them, they were fearful and unbelieving as I am, but something has come over them this last week.  They swear they have seen Jesus.

As I walk in, I notice the doors are not shut and there is a certain confidence in the countenance of each one.  Peter rushes over to me and says,

“We have seen the Lord!”

My response is quick and to the point,

“Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

I am serious too!  His death has been difficult to both understand and accept.  My mind begins to fall back to those final moments before he died.  He said,

“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

What did He mean by this?  Is there more to this than forgiveness?

As I am thinking about this, I look up, and right there in front of me is Jesus!  But….Jesus…you….are… Am I seeing a spirit?  I don’t believe in ghosts!  Then I hear His voice and His words:

Thomas…. “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here,and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

I take my trembling finger and place it on the place where the nails were…both hands!  It is strange to feel a scar where I saw nails piercing his skin only a week or so ago.   I reach out and put my hand inside His robe and feel the warmth of His skin and the scar where the sword had been.  I then look up at His eyes, and I see the kindness and royalty of a wise and gentle king and savior.  He IS alive!  I fall at his feet and say in remorse and acknowledgment.

“My Lord and my God!”

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Conclusion

Jesus told Thomas these important words:

“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20: 29

How Important is the Resurrection in your life?  How important is studying the Old Testament to find Jesus?  Has your search for Jesus been confined to only a small portion of God’s word?

We will never have the experience (before Jesus returns) that Thomas had when he touched the risen and glorified body of Jesus.  But we can still find evidence which will result in faith to believe that Jesus is alive and is preparing a place for those who believe and love Him.  You see, faith is based on substance and evidence.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

If Christ was not raised, then the disciples are liars we have no hope and we are not saved from anything.  Those who have “fallen asleep” in Christ have perished.  And when we sleep in Christ, there is no resurrection for us.  If we only have a Christ that died and did not come back to life, He is just like every other person who claims to be God.  Follow the logic of Paul’s argument in the following portion of scripture:

“Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  1 Corinthians 15:  12-19

Here is the logic:

If Resurrection is not possible, nor important, then Jesus has not been raised.

If Jesus has not been raised then preaching and teaching is in vain.

If Preaching and teaching is vain then faith is empty (It has no substance-nor basis).

If faith is empty then that means the disciples are false witnesses because they said they saw him alive.

If the Disciples are false witnesses then Christ is not risen.

If Christ does not rise then our faith in Christ is futile. All those who have died have perished.

Since there is no hope of a resurrection, we are of men, most pitiable.

Paul told us that he did not want us to be ignorant about the resurrection and those who have fallen asleep (died).  If we are ignorant about it, we will sorrow like everyone else that does not have hope.  But, the fact that Jesus died and was resurrected gives us the hope of one day coming back to life through the resurrection: Our hope is that Jesus is all that He claimed to be.  He claims to have the keys of the grave and death (Revelation 1:8). He claims to be the resurrection and the life and even though we die, we will live again. John 11:25

“ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring (resurrect) with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13, 14

Paul goes so far as to provide us with the clearest passage in the Bible about the day when all who have died in Christ will be resurrected.  It will happen this way: The Lord will descend from heaven.  It will be loud because there is a shout and a loud trumpet.  Also the sky will be lit up with the angels and the glory of the Jesus and the Father.

Those in the grave will hear his voice and will meet with those who are alive at the 2nd coming and meet them in the air.  This is the start of eternity with Jesus.  This picture described by Paul is the comfort us who are to be resurrected one day; we will all be reunited with those alive at His coming.  Not at any other time, but at His second coming:

“For this, we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

I Thessalonians 4:15-18

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Matthew 16:27 (Note: our reward is when he comes)

Then 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. Matthew 25:31

So how important is the resurrection?  It is critical to our salvation:

 “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9

Why is the resurrection not discussed more?  It is the bedrock of the faith we follow regarding Jesus.

Many of the writers of the Bible believed in and put their hope in the resurrection.  Here is but a few:

Job:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25-27

Isaiah:

Your dead shall live;

Together with my dead body they shall arise.

Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;

For your dew is like the dew of herbs,

And the earth shall cast out the dead. Isaiah 26:19

Daniel:

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Daniel 12:2

David:

 “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” Psalm 17:15

Abraham:

Of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called:

Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead Hebrews 11:18

There is no precedence for the resurrection except for Jesus. No other person has raised themselves from the dead. Jesus said this about the resurrection:

Jesus said,

“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”  John 11:25

“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40

Until the Lord returns, the dead sleep and wait for the last day when Jesus will raise them up.  What a day that will be!

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,  who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Philippians 3: 20-21

Look again at the resurrection of Jesus and His body.  Here you will see what our bodies shall look like.  As the verse above , and many other,  tells us:  We “wait” for that glorious day when He returns and changes us.  It is not until that day that we can say,

 “Oh death, where is thy sting?  Oh grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:55

We cannot say this at a funeral.  The context tells us, these words cannot be said, until our risen Savior returns and changes our bodies like to his risen body:

 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 

 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? :1 Corinthians 15: 51-55

In conclusion, let us not doubt, as did Thomas, but believe the miracle of Christ’s resurrection.  Without it, your faith is futile. We are promised a blessing if we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and that He can do the same for us!  He has promised to do that very thing when he returns.  Oh, what a day that will be!

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Inspiration, Reasons to Believe

THE THREE MOST POWERFUL STATEMENTS EVER MADE

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“IT IS FINISHED”

Jesus-John 19:30

These last words of Jesus nullified Satan’s plan to take the place of God and rule according to the laws of selfishness. Christ’s prophesied death on the cross ensured that the price of sin (death) had been paid for everyone through the sacrifice of God Himself. Even though the law of sin required death for everyone. The way to eternal life was solidified for any who would accept God’s gift of life.

Summary Verses:

Isaiah 14:12-14-Satan’s plan to replace God

John 3:16-God’s character of love and sacrifice to give eternal life to all who would believe (trust)

John 6:37, 45-All that come to Him will not be cast out.

“He Is Risen!”

An Angel and the women at the empty tomb Matthew 28:5-8

”Satan and a Roman guard of one hundred men tried to secure Jesus’ tomb, but they were struck down by the brightness of only one angel who rolled back the stone.

An angel, at the empty tomb, told the women, who came to prepare the body of Jesus for burial, that He was not there. They left with different work and mission. Their new goal in life was to tell the disciples and the world that “He is risen!” They were some of the first human eyewitnesses. The guards were the first to understand the power of the risen Savior.

Many, including Thomas, doubted the women, but Jesus appeared to them while they were gathered behind closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” They had not assembled on this first day of the week to worship but rather because of fear for their lives. Thomas was not with them. Perhaps he was grieving alone. But eight days later, he was with the disciples, and Jesus appeared to the disciples again. This time doubting Thomas was invited to touch the nail scars on Jesus’ hands and touch His side to feel where the sword had pierced His side. He fell at the feet of Jesus and proclaimed, “My Lord and My God.” John 20:28

Jesus asked the disciples for something to eat. This indicated that our resurrected body would be real (not a spirit). It will desire food and drink. It is at the marriage feast after Jesus comes again that we will eat bread and drink the vine’s fruit. Jesus has not touched the fruit of the vine since that Thursday night before his death, promising not to do so until he returns and takes us where He is now. Matthew 26:29.

Without the resurrection of Christ, our faith is futile, those we love that had died have perished, and the cross would mean nothing.

“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” 1 Corinthians 15: 17-19

Summary Verses:

Matthew 28: 1-4-Guards struck down at Jesus’ tomb

Matthew 28: 6-He is risen!

John 20:19-Doors shut for fear of Jews.

John 20: 24-28– Thomas with disciples after eight days.

John 20:29-Blessed are those who have not seen but believe.

Luke 24:39-43-Jesus showed He was not a spirit. He ate broiled fish and honeycomb.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55 When Jesus returns, we shall be resurrected like Jesus…very real bodies

“I have the keys to death and the grave.”

Jesus-Revelation 1:18

The entire Christian faith and eternal life rise or fall on the resurrection of Jesus. As shown in Paul’s argument for the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, if Jesus was not resurrected, neither will we be. But, praise God, Jesus returned from the dead and will do the same for those who accept His gift of salvation.

Jesus told John that He has the keys to unlock the grave and destroy death forever. He will bring this reward of eternal life when He returns. Like Paul, “those who love His appearing will be given the crown of life when He returns.”

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Jesus will resurrect everyone who ever lived and died on planet earth. In the first resurrection, it will be those who died knowing Him. The second resurrection of condemnation, He will raise all who have ever lived and rejected Him 1,000 years after the first resurrection. But, this lost cursing group stands before the descending New Jerusalem with all the saints therein. They will be deceived by Satan to take the city with the Tree of Life inside. If they can get do that, they will live forever. Satan has so deceived himself to think he can actually do this! What madness!

All of mankind will be together simultaneously to understand their fate: Either eternal life or eternal death. Then, because of the reality of the situation and the beauty of God’s presence, every knee will bow and every tongue of those in heaven and those on earth confess that ” Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.“

Summary Verses:

Revelation 1:18-He has the keys!

2 Timothy 4: 7-8 The crown of righteousness will be given only to those who love his appearing.

Revelation 22:12–He brings His reward with Him!

Phillippians 2:10-11-Every knee will box and every tongue confess.

Revelation 20:5-6–Blessed are those who are part of the first resurrection. You will never die again! Those who die after being resurrected in the second resurrection 1,000 years after the first resurrection will die forever (The second death).

The Complete Gospel

The revelation of Jesus Christ, given to John in vision, is not just scary symbols and beasts but the complete gospel and revelation of Jesus Christ.

The complete gospel is in the outline of these Three Most Powerful Statements Ever Made. It is the good news of the many prophecies of His first coming; His sinless life; His death for our sins that would have led to eternal death; His resurrection: His ascension to mediate for us; and finally to resurrect us (if sleeping in the grave) and lift us all to Him in the air. Then He will take us to where He is now (John 14: 1-3).

Conclusion:

All three of these powerful statements rise or fall together. If one is not true, then all is lost, but they are true! Eyewitnesses, time, history, and testimony have provided more than enough proof.

Won’t you believe Jesus today? Confess your sins and weakness and begin to learn of Him through the Bible and other sincere believers. Seek Him every day, and let your requests be known to Him. He will give you rest and peace now and forevermore.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

Remember: When Jesus comes with all of heaven emptied to rescue us. He will do the following as we begin eternal life. Lord, we will need it as we consider those we loved who chose the temporary pleasures of sin for a little while rather than eternal life.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4

Hell, Rapture, The Soon Return of Jesus, The Truth About The Fate of The Lost, Truth About the Deceased

FINAL FATE OF ALL ON PLANET EARTH

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God will not allow us to destroy the earth. He will destroy the planet while we are nearing self-annihilation.

And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18 b

The preceding verses here in Revelation 11:18 describe the earth’s condition when we are near destroying ourselves through atomic weapons. John had to write this verse in faith because he could probably not imagine such power man would possess to literally destroy the entire earth. But we have arrived just in one generation.

The nations are angry, and so is God!

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,  Revelation 11: 18

God has reserved the destruction of the earth for Himself.

But the heavens and the earth, which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition (destruction) of ungodly men. 2 Peter 3:7

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Before we move along, let’s review a key component of this coming destruction. It begins with the return of Christ.

In the last article, we clearly answered the following question from the Bible, “Doesn’t Matthew 24:37-41 Say One Is Taken (Raptured) and the Other Left Behind?”

God’s word precisely describes the following about the second coming when Jesus appears in the sky and “every eye shall see Him.” Note: I am not addressing the tribulation in this article. That topic will be for another time.

The Literal Return of Christ Summary:


1.) It is not a quiet or secret event. It is a powerful rescue of God’s people! Every person alive (whether lost or saved) sees Him coming (Rev. 1:7)

2.) It is a destructive event. God destroys the earth and its contents by fire. (2 Peter 3: 10-13)

3.) There are two different responses to the second coming: The response of God’s people and the response of the wicked. The wicked run and hide (Revelation 6:16). The redeemed rejoice! (Isaiah 25:9)

4.) All can hear it! He descends with a shout and a loud trumpet. (1 Thess 4:16)

5.) Jesus’ literal return is the keeping of a promise He made and is the hope of His followers. I go and prepare a place…I will return again. His rescue is not in two parts. (John 14: 1-3)

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To this point in this review, we have primarily shown that when Christ returns, there are two classes of saved people:

1.) The saved alive who will not see death.

2.) The saved of all ages who are “dead in Christ.”

Both classes are given immortality here and rise from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. It is here that eternity begins. There are two very clear verses that support this clearly:

 For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. *Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

Notice the key statements:

1.) Lord Himself comes down with a shout, voice, and a trumpet (you can hear it). So can the lost, as we will see.

2.) The “dead in Christ” rise first. Graves open up, and out come the saved of all ages.

3.) Then those who are alive who were protected by the Lord during the tribulation rise to meet those who were resurrected and the Lord in the air. Notice the word “remain.” Some translations use the word “left.” This alludes to the fact that they were left or remained after the plagues that hit the earth. An example: If a house burns down that has a full library. There might be some books that were destroyed and some that were in a safe which were “left” or untouched by the fire.

4.) From this point forward, the redeemed will spend eternity with the Lord

*These are the words (as described in 1 Thess 4: 16-18) where we are to find comfort. Why is this verse hardly ever mentioned at funerals? Instead, the pagan idea of the bodiless soul going immediately to heaven is described, yet there is no biblical evidence of this. That falsehood contradicts both 1 Thess 4: 16-18 that we just read and Paul’s further details found in the 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians:

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

Again, notice the key statements:

1.) Not all will sleep (die)

2.) The saved are “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Note: it is the change that is very fast…not the second coming.”

3.) The dead (in Christ) are raised incorruptible (No longer subject to decay)

4.) God gives (puts on) the redeemed incorruption and immortality to their resurrected bodies in a flash.

5.) When this change to our bodies is made, it is then that the saying “Death is swallowed up in victory.” can be made. It cannot be made at the grave site or at a funeral. It is only when Jesus returns.

Somehow, we have made dying the gateway to immortality, but without the return of Christ and our resurrection, we are all lost. We might as well live it up, for tomorrow, we die forever.

For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable…If the dead do not rise, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

1 Corinthians 15: 16-19, 32b

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What Happens to the Lost at the Return of Christ?

We have already seen “that every eye” will see the return. The wicked cannot stand to see Jesus when He comes. They run anywhere to hide from the face of the Lamb:

They Can’t Stand the Sight of His Coming

 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6: 15-17

The key points are:

1.) Every person who does not love Jesus’ appearing on the earth, (regardless of their economic status) cannot stand the sight and try to flee to dark places. They ask a question that is answered in the next chapter of Revelation: “Who is able to stand?”

a.) The sealed of Israel. This is not literal Jews, but those who are “in Christ. A study for another time.

b.) The vast multitude of those who are alive and survived the great tribulation through the power of God. “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7: 14

Some have suggested that the 144,000 and the vast multitude are the same group of people. Another study for another time.

They Are Destroyed By The Brightness of His Coming:

As far back as the Old Testament, the fate of the lost has been described. Here is a clear example:

“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.…You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 4: 1,3

Key Points:

1.) That day will be like an oven

2.) All who do wickedly will be like stubble and will be burned up

3.) Burned up means nothing left (neither a root nor a branch left)

4.) They shall be turned to ashes

Paul describes the same event in 2 Thessalonians:

 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-11

Key Point

1.) As shown earlier, Christ’s return is destructive. God destroys the “lawless one” (aka Antichrist) and those who perish with “him” because they did not love the truth. They chose the convenience and selfishness of a lie.

What are the Second Death and the Second Resurrection?

Both Jesus and John talk of two resurrections:

Jesus clearly states that all who are in the graves will be resurrected. But the resurrections have two different results: life or condemnation.

 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. John 5: 28-30

John, who recorded Jesus’ statement above, adds more detail about the timing of the two resurrections. They are separated by 1,000 years:

And they (the saved) lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Revelation 20: 4-6

Key Points as we compare with previous verses:

1.) When Christ returns, those in the grave are resurrected. They are in the “first resurrection.”

2.) Those in the first resurrection (along with those who were alive at the return of Christ) live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. A lot of our questions are answered during this time.

3.) The second death has no power over those who are reigning with Christ for this 1,000 years.

4.) Those who were wicked and dead when Christ returned were not resurrected until the end of the 1,000 years. Those who were wicked and alive were destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s return. Both the wicked dead and the wicked destroyed are raised at the second resurrection at the end of 1,000 years.

5.) The wicked at the return of Christ die twice! One on earth and again for eternity after their judgment. The second death is forever with no hope. Fire comes down and devours them. “And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” Revelation 20:9

6.) The ultimate fate of the unbelievers is “perishing,” as John described in that famous verse John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Notice the fate of the lost: “Perish.” It is contrasted with the believers’ gift of everlasting life. The lost do not have everlasting life in a burning place.

For more on hell, see these two articles:

1.) Hell-Let Us Reason Together

2.) Lord Teach Me About Hell Part 1

3.) Did Jesus Really Teach More About Hell Than Heaven?

Christian, Do you really want to believe in a God who so loved the world that He would burn the lost or quad trillions of years without mercy? This is a horrible picture of burning people in some corner of the universe. Do you really know Jesus if you believe this pagan picture?

At the end of the 1,000 years, John describes (in the next Chapter 21) the “New Jerusalem” coming down out of heaven. It is at this point that God creates a new heaven and a new earth. The saved of all ages spend eternity with sin and death destroyed forever. God dwells with His people in the new dwelling place of God…with His people who have been redeemed

 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21: 1-4

Key Points

1.) Like John, the redeemed will be witnesses to God creating a new heaven and a new earth! Praise God! What a sight!

2.) The New Jerusalem, currently residing in heaven, will come to this new earth!

3.) God will reside with us here on the new earth!

4.) All tears, sorrow, crying, and pain will be eliminated…gone forever. Praise our Holy God!!

One last picture. Each month and each week, we will be worshiping together. Congregating will be continued on the new earth!

“For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
From one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:22-23

Just as the Sabbath of the 10 commandments commemorated the creation of the earth, this “new” Sabbath will honor the new earth…a new creation. And as on the first earth, we will work six days and then worship on the seventh day.

They shall build houses and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
They shall not plant and another eat;
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people,
And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Isaiah 65: 21-22

Heaven, as we call it, will be a real place on a real earth.

Summary of the Fate of all People

In this simple chart, we see the fate of everyone who has ever lived on this planet. There are only two places: eternal life on a new planet or eternal death. You can have the promise of eternity today through Jesus. Will you repent of your sins and turn to Him? He will gladly save you from yourself and the wiles of the enemy.

RedeemedLost
Both dead and alive, go where Jesus is now at His second coming.Destroyed by the brightness of His coming
Spend 1,000 years in New Jerusalem-A Honey Moon of sortsLay in the grave for 1,000 years
At the end of the 1,000 years, the redeemed come down in the New Jerusalem with JesusAre resurrected in the resurrection of the condemnation.
Resurrected and then try to attack the New Jerusalem. God sends fire down from heaven. This is the second death for the wicked. They died once on earth and once at the end of the 1,000 years. They perish for eternity.
The redeemed enjoy eternity without any more pain or death. They build houses and plant vineyards and enjoy the work of their hands in immortal bodies. They worship on the Sabbath.Like Satan, never shall they be anymore. Ezekiel 28: 18-19
Questions About Bible Text, Rapture, The Soon Return of Jesus

Doesn’t Matt. 24: 37-41 say one is taken (raptured) and the other left behind?

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In a previous article, I wrote regarding the Second Coming made simple. This question came up regarding the rapture and those left behind. We will examine this passage closely, comparing it with Luke’s parallel passage of the same event. But, first, a quick review of just a few clear passages from the Bible about the return of Christ.

The disciples of Christ understood the clarity of the events of Jesus’ return. They never contradicted each other. They only added clarity. So it is with the question today. Taking each disciple’s description into account, we can get a clear picture. Today’s Bible passage (Matthew 24:40-41) is often used to support the secret rapture and left-behind theory. Books and even movies have built a picture that is not entirely accurate. We will examine the question of the day from two different disciples and find out exactly what is being described.

As we study the return of Christ, we begin to understand that,

1.) It is not a quiet or secret event. It is a powerful rescue of God’s people!

John described the brightness of the event that is seen by all who are alive at that time, including the wicked and those who are ” dead in Christ.” As John describes it,

“He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.” Revelation 1:7

2.) It is a destructive event

Peter describes this very clearly. heavens pass away with a great noise. Even the elements (including the earth) melt with fervent heat.

 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up… the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 

2 Peter 3:10, 12

3.) There are two different responses to the second coming:

The unprepared or lost cry for the rocks to…“Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” Rev. 6:16

The prepared cry out,

“Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.“

Isaiah 25:9

4.) All can hear it!

Paul described the event as loud (shout and voice of an archangel, and a trumpet of God). All can hear it! Even those who died in Christ!

For the Lord, Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thess 4: 16

5.) Jesus’ literal return is the keeping of a promise He made and is the hope of His followers

The hope He gave you and I was that He would go away and prepare a place and then return to take us where He is now. This does not happen at death but when He returns.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

John 14: 1-3

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Let’s take a look at the passage today and see if it supports the “left-behind” theory of the rapture despite the clear picture painted by the disciples regarding Jesus’ return.

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

Matthew 24: 37-41

Here is a list of the key components of this passage:

  • Matthew compares the second coming of Christ to the days before the flood. This context helps us understand the events of the second coming.
  • He states that the flood came and took the unprepared away. Notice it is not the saved (i.e., Noah and his family) that were taken away.
  • Matthew says it will be the same on the day of Christ’s return, i.e., The unprepared are going about the routine of life, not expecting the end of time and the return of Christ. But on that day, the unprepared die in the flood waters. You would have to really add to this passage to say, they are left behind to endure the tribulation.

So Matthew is saying that those unprepared at the second coming will be like the unprepared of Noah’s time, who were “taken away” by the flood waters and died.

Luke’s account adds clarity to this in his description by not using the “took away” phrase but rather the clearer word for modern ears, “destroyed.”

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Luke 24:26

Matthew and Luke describe the exact same thing but use different words (“took away” is the same as “destroyed.”)

So this fits perfectly with the other disciples who described the second coming as a “destructive event” for this sinful earth and the wicked who have turned their back on God.

Please notice that there are 4 classes of people at the return of Christ mentioned in our passages today:

1.) Those who are alive and saved (they meet the Lord in the air.)

2.) Those who are dead in Christ and saved (they are resurrected and meet the Lord in the air.)

3.) Those who are alive and lost. (They are destroyed by the brightness of His coming.-See 2 Thess 2:8)

4.) But the 4th group, those who were already dead and lost; what happens to them?

The simple answer is they are resurrected too, but not for a thousand years. This we will study next time.

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished….Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power.

Revelation 20: 5, 6

Jesus said there are two resurrections which John also described here in Revelation. This we will examine next time:

Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

John 5:28-29

What is this second death, and what happens to the lost who were destroyed at Christ’s return and the lost dead that come up in the second resurrection after the thousand years?

Death and Resurrection

Halloween, Spirits, Death, Jesus, and Resurrection

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Halloween is approaching…that great holiday of celebrating ghosts, spirits, and gore. Get out the candy, costumes, and crazy thoughts about ghosts and wispy spirits from the dead. Why does this fascinate us? It may be because there are so many unreliable ideas about death, spirits, and the afterlife. Subconsciously, perhaps, we want to be able to communicate with the dearly departed.

Mystery of Life and Death

Probably the greatest mystery about life is death. It falls upon all rich, poor, blind, healthy, black, white, tall, short…you name it. It will get everyone regardless of their culture or color. It does not discriminate! This we understand, albeit reluctantly. We push back against dying, we try to postpone it, but eventually, it will win.

What happens at the moment of death and beyond remains a mystery to most people despite the subjective, anecdotal experiences of people who claim to have seen the great beyond (light, heaven, or hell). They write books and give TV interviews. Are they giving false hope to everyone about communicating with the dead and their soul living forever regardless of the life they lived on this planet? Is eternal life for everyone? Is it true, as the scary preacher warns, that everyone will live forever in one of two places-heaven or a place of torture called hell?

These are questions that often run through the minds of human beings, but firm answers seem to be impossible to know.

There has been a multitude of books, movies, ancient philosophies, and personal experiences on death and beyond, but somehow, they fail to give a consistent description of the other side satisfactorily. How can we put stock in those people who “died” for only a few seconds or minutes before the defibrillator jumped-started their hearts, returning oxygen-deprived brains? Or the preacher who wants to scare and threaten you into a saving relationship with Christ?  Isn’t death scary enough?

The only people who know about death and then live again are those described in the Bible. They were not dead for just a few seconds or minutes but extended periods:

1.) Jesus- 3 days; (John 2: 19-21)

2.) Lazarus- 4 days; (John 11:17)

3.) Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter- the Bible doesn’t disclose the time she had been dead. (Mark 5: 21-43), but Jesus walked to Jarius’ house and stopped to heal a woman, so it had to be more than a few minutes.

4.) Widow of Nain’s son-(Luke 7: 11-16). He was already in the casket!

5.) Many of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Matthew 27:51). They had likely been dead for some time.

But, all of these did not write a book or have their words recorded by other writers about the “afterlife.” Why? The answer is revealed by Jesus and His disciples.

Opinions and Philosophy

Human beings have varying opinions and philosophical reasoning about death; but how does that compare with God’s word? Do we believe the great philosophers about death as a “friend”(Socrates 470 BC – 399 BC, dead at age 71) or his student Plato (427 BC – 347 BC-dead at age 80) who taught that the grave is a step to a higher existence? A promotion, as it were, from the pain of physical presence to the carefree joy of a spiritual reality. Or do we believe Paul, who said that death is the last enemy and it will one day end? (1 Corinthians 15:26)

How about reincarnation or the nihilist’s view? A nihilist proposes that our existence has no particular reason or purpose. Their approach to death would be pretty different from that of Plato or Socrates. Nihilists don’t expect to move up to another plane of existence. They don’t expect to go anywhere at all. Their mantra would be,

“Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

This seems to be the attitude of most people, including atheists. But in our hearts, we feel this is just not right. Death seems to be an unplanned invader of life.  There must be more.

Vain Philosphoses have entered the Christian church. It is as subtle as the often-used words,

“He is in a better place,” or those who say,

“we will never see them again.”

Even the idea that we have an immortal soul that will live somewhere forever comes from ancient Egyptian teachings.

It is sad to hear a preacher describe what the dearly departed are doing in heaven at this very moment. They don’t know. With good intentions, they attempt to comfort the bereaved by saying that they are looking down on them. I’m not sure how that is heaven to the one looking down.  Where is the Biblical evidence?   This idea of immortal souls opens wide the door to Spiritism and unclean deceiving spirits (Revelation 16:13). The idea that we can talk to the dead has its roots in the first lie of the Bible…”You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4)

God forbade His people from such people who claim to have this power. Instead, He asked them to seek Him.

‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God…..And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God?

Leviticus 19:31 and Isaiah 8:19

Interestingly, the phrase “immortal soul” is not found in the Bible. Actually, it says the opposite:

“…the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23

“The soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4.

God can (and does) destroy the soul of the unrepentant and lost (Matthew 10:28).

Nevertheless, Jesus gave hope of eternal life with a real body, God has the best plan. “He doesn’t want any to perish…”2 Peter 3:9. Perish is the operative word here that is also included in that famous passage of John 3:16, where “perish” is the penalty for unbelief. One last question before we turn to the Bible for answers: How does the second coming of Jesus fit into all this? Does it, as some suppose, reunite the body with their spirit/soul?

Comfort About Death

The comfort for the living over the loss of a loved one is found in the Bible in the words of Jesus, the prophets, and the disciples. In their united context, they give satisfaction and consistency to the truth of death and the afterlife. God’s revealed truth about death is troubling. But there is comfort and hope in God’s word, unlike any philosopher or skewed religious thinking. 

Death and the Resurrection

While living a decade in Mississippi, I attended a few funerals.  They are included comforting words for the bereaved.  Most were not Biblical, and most excluded the resurrection and the second coming of Christ.  They ranged from a combination of truth and untruths to the ridiculous. 

“They are resting peacefully. They are watching over you.” 

How can that be?  Resting in peace and actively observing all your movements?

“Old Uncle Harry is up there right now enjoying his favorite cigar and hunting with his best dogs.” 

While people laughed, it was a poor attempt to comfort the family of a man who never indicated a desire to know Jesus, much less follow Him.  Heaven has become a place where any person can indulge in the human activities of worldly happiness.  This raises the question of what the saved will be doing in eternity.  Playing harp on a billowy cloud forever is not very interesting to me. Next time, we will explore the Bible to understand a few things God has revealed about activity in heaven, the new heavens, and the new earth.

Biblical Comfort for the Bereaved

The Apostle Paul gave words of comfort and hope to a group of mourning believers in the Corinthian church.  They were concerned that the brothers and sisters in Christ, who were dying, would miss the second coming.  He told the truth about those deceased followers and ended with this phrase: “comfort one another with these words.”

It all centered on the return of Christ and the resurrection.  Paul recorded letter to the Thessalonians gives us one of the most straightforward descriptions of the return of Christ as found anywhere in the Bible.  Listen closely and imagine the scene of Christ’s return.  It is plain, simple, and addresses their concerns.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring (raise up) with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thess 4: 13-18

 Paul wants the brothers and sisters to be informed.  This would mean they didn’t understand the return of Christ and the condition of those who had died.  He encourages them not to grieve like those who go to funerals with no hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.  Then he begins to describe that glorious scene of Jesus’ return found many places in the Bible (another study for another time). 

Then he uses an interesting phrase, “…will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.”  “Precede is an interesting word.  It answers the Corinthian believers’ questions about the timing of eternity for everyone.  The Greek word (phthanō) has been translated as “precede” or “prevent.”  It means “to come before.”

This answers the implied question about some getting to heaven before others. Paul describes a grand reunion of the dead (those fallen asleep) and those alive when at Jesus’ promised return.  Both groups are “harpazō,” translated as “caught up” or lifted up and carried off to meet in the air and be with the Lord! 

What a great reunion day that will be!  No one “precedes” or comes before the other; we all go to the Lord and eternity at the same time….” We will be with the Lord forever!” starting then. 

Another interesting phrase not often discussed is “we who are still alive and are left.”  The coming of Christ is destructive (See especially 2 Peter 3, especially Verse 7).  The lost are being “kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”  So those who are “left” are similar to a library fire.  Some books are burned, and there are those remaining (KJV) and those “left” or left over…not left behind as some would try to teach.

If a pastor wants to comfort those who have lost a loved one, use the words of Paul that he told would give comfort in 1 Thess. 4:18.

“Therefore, comfort one another with these words.” 

Jesus said it too!  He doesn’t want our hearts to be troubled, so he describes the many rooms and points us to the fact that he is preparing a spot for each of us, and He is coming back to get us in the future at His second coming!  Those mansions must wait until He returns, but what a glorious hope we have!

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14: 1-3

The return of Christ is the comfort and hope of all Christians!  No other imagined words can comfort like the truth of Jesus’ return to unite both the living at that time and the dead of all ages and take us as one group to where He is now. 

Rest in Peace.  Death and Sleep

Both Jesus and Paul describe the dead as “asleep.” This is radically different from the ancient philosophers who saw the soul leaving the body to a higher plane…an ancient serpent’s lie. Sleep seems to be Jesus’ and the disciples’ favorite description of death.  This, my friends, should comfort us to know that death is like an unconscious state where the passage of time is a mere wisp of a second, and then Jesus takes us out of our graves to be with Him. Below are some of the Bible references to death:

  1.  Matthew 9:24, Luke 8:52- The little girl that had died, Jesus described as sleeping
  2.  Matthew 27: 51- The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;  
  3.  John 11:11- Jesus describes Lazarus as sleeping, then He plainly says, “he’s dead.”
  4.  1 Corinthians 11:30- Paul describes the sick and those who sleep (dead)
  5.  1 Corinthians 15: 6- Over 500 hundred who had seen Jesus were still alive, but some had “fallen asleep.” 
  6.  1 Corinthians 15: 18- Those who have “fallen asleep” have perished if there is no resurrection.
  7.  1 Thessalonians 4: 13- Paul doesn’t want us to be ignorant about those who have fallen asleep.
  8.  1 Thessalonians 4:14 and 15. Those who sleep waiting for the return of Christ
  9.  Acts 7:60- Stephen was stoned and fell asleep
  10. 1 Corinthians 15:20 -Jesus has become the “first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

In 2004, I had to have open heart surgery. When they wheeled me into the operating room, they hooked up the anesthesia that would put be asleep during the procedure. Just before the nurse injected me, she said,

“Good night Mr. Armstrong.”

In what felt like a nanosecond, I heard,

“Wake up, Mr. Armstrong,”

I asked,

“When are you guys going to start the procedure?”

The nurse replied,

“Honey, you have been asleep for over two hours!”

This is what death is like for those who have died, regardless of how long they have been dead.

The After Death Experience of A Man Dead Four Days

The story of Lazarus, Martha, and Jesus in John Chapter 11 gives us insight into the state of the dead and what transpired for Lazarus for those four days he had been dead (sleeping).  It also provides us with the hope that Jesus gave Martha.  Jesus had told the disciples that Lazarus was sleeping and that he would wake Him up.  They were confused, and Jesus finally told them He was dead. Verses 11-14.  Again, Jesus’ favorite description of death, i.e., sleep.

Let’s focus on the comfort Jesus gave Martha starting at verse 21:

 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask.”  Verse 22

Martha was so glad to see Jesus.  If He had been there, Jesus could have healed her brother.  Martha also had great faith and hinted that God could bring Lazarus back to life if Jesus asked God the Father.  Then Jesus pointed her to the great resurrection day at the end of time as a source of comfort:

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Verse 23

Martha understood, from the teachings of Jesus, about the resurrection at the end of time. 

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Verse 24

Her theology was correct.  There is a resurrection of those who have fallen asleep in Christ on the last day.

Jesus then reminds her that He is the one who will give life to the dead on the last day:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Verses 25 and 26

Look closely at Jesus’ words. It almost seems like a contradiction. Even though they die, they will live again, but then He says if you believe in Him, you will never die. So what is it? Die or never die? This becomes clear when you understand that we are all subject to death, but for those who don’t believe, they die forever (the second death) after their resurrection of the condemned that Jesus spoke of in John 5:29. John makes it even clearer when He was inspired to write these words:

There are two resurrections! You are blessed if you are in that first one because you will live forever. But in the second one, you die twice. The second death is eternal.

Now back to our story…

Martha then acknowledges her belief in the identity of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah and the power of Jesus to raise people back to life:

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Verse 27

Jesus looked upon the people weeping and felt their sorrow for the dead and rotting Lazarus. Jesus called out with a loud voice.

 “Lazarus, come forth!”

Here is what Jesus did not say:  Lazarus come down or back from heaven.  If Lazarus was in heaven, how cruel would that be to snatch him out of paradise back to a sinful, dying planet?  If Lazarus was in heaven, we should have a book of Lazarus describing the place of angels and the throne of God.  But Lazarus is silent, as were the others raised from the dead during Christ’s time on earth.  Why?  Because they were in an unconscious state of sleep.  They knew nothing as one of the wisest men in the Bible (Solomon) stated:

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten….Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Ecclesiastes 9: 5,10

In Peter’s sermon to the Jews about the Messiahship of Jesus and His resurrection, he told them this:

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day… “For David did not ascend into the heavens,

 Acts 2: 29, 34

Peter didn’t say David was in heaven…and he was not on the throne that Jesus now occupies because He had been resurrected, and the disciples were eyewitnesses of it. (verse 30:31)

Our Faith is Futile Without the Resurrection

Paul argues that if we don’t believe that Jesus was resurrected, we are wasting time with our belief in Him.  His resurrection gives us hope in our resurrection when He comes.  Follow Paul’s logic to the Corinthian church and group of Sadducees) who say, “there is no resurrection” (See Matthew 22: 23). 

“But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if, in fact, the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.  If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”  1 Corinthians 15 12-19

So, here are the consequences of what Paul is saying if there is no resurrection:

  1.  Paul’s preaching is useless, as are all preachers
  2.  Our faith is useless
  3.  The Apostles and disciples were all liars
  4.  Your faith is futile
  5.  You are still in your sins (lost)
  6.  Those who have fallen asleep (dead) are lost for eternity.
  7.  This type of Christ (non-resurrected) means He is dead, and we should be pitied for our belief!

Sadly, the resurrection is hardly mentioned in our churches anymore.  In many churches, Easter is the only time to talk about the power of resurrection, and the emphasis is only on Christ’s resurrection.  Our own resurrection through the power of Christ at the end of time is minimized, at the least, or ignored at the most. 

Instead, churches have adopted the pagan idea that the soul is separate from your physical body.  They claim the soul is immortal and goes to one of two places when you die (heaven or hell).  These are the teaching of that ancient Serpent who lied when he said, “thou shall not surely die.”  This theme has been around a long time and promoted by Greek philosophers like Hermes Trismegistus, Socrates, and Plato.

The Bible clearly teaches the opposite of Satan and those misguided philosophers who ignored the truth of the Bible.: You will surely die:

From Dust, We Were Taken

“For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19

“All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.” Job 34:15

“You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.” Psalm 104:29

All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. Eccl 3:20

But praise God, He can take the dust of the ground, rebuild that which was lost, and give that person immortality at the second coming.  Even the oldest book of the Bible acknowledges this great hope.  Hope in the coming of the Lord.

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me! Job 19: 26-27

Here is my hope, joy, and comfort.  God has a crown of eternal life waiting for me, not just me, but all those who love His appearing.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8

Eternal life cannot be separated from the second coming of Christ. He is the life giver. At His return is when we receive immortality and not before. The mystery of death is solved. We sleep, awaiting Jesus’ return.

 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible (not subject to deay), and we shall be changed. For this corruptible (subject to decay) must put on incorruption, and this mortal (subject to death) must put on immortality (no longer subject to death). So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54

We can never say, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” until Jesus returns. But hallelujah! Glory to God!.. Jesus has demonstrated the power and given us the proof that He will bring us out of the dust of the ground and breath into us the breath of life when we are resurrected. He will not forget you! Then we will be with Him forever and countless others who have put their faith and life on the line for Jesus. What a day that will be!

Next time, we will talk about what the Bible says we will be doing for eternity on the new earth that the meek inherit.

Daniel and Revelation, Reasons to Believe

Revelation-The SEVEN CHURCHES

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“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1: 17-18

Overview

Encouragement of the Resurrection

The first main section of the book begins with the seven churches.  It has two distinguishing imageries:  1.) Christ glorified and 2.) the seven messages to the seven churches.  But before it embarks us on the journey, it starts with these encouraging words:

 “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1: 17-18

Here is a clear reference from Jesus to His resurrection and the fact that He has keys to death and the grave points us to this comforting conclusion.  Even though we die and are buried in a grave, Jesus is able to raise us up from the dust of the earth and give us eternal life. 

When Jesus was talking with Martha about the death of Lazarus, she understood that Lazarus would be resurrected on the last day.  This was her hope and is the same for all who have a relationship with Jesus.

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” John 11:24

Jesus then reminded her that he had the keys of death and Hades.  He described Himself as the Resurrection:

 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11: 25-26

At first brush, Jesus seems to be contradicting Himself.  Lazarus obviously died, but as a believer in Christ, He would never die…but he was dead.  How is this justified?  As our study continues in Revelation, we will discover there is the death all men must experience, but there is another death, avoided by the believers, the word used is called, in many places, “perish.”  This is an eternal death with no hope of ever living again. In these opening verses of Revelation, we are to find comfort that Jesus can unlock the place of death and raise us up to immortal life (See 1 Corinthians 15: 51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18).

Seven Churches Geographical Order

The road connecting these seven churches was a Roman road that connected each church beginning at the writer’s location, i.e., Patmos.  From John’s island prison, the nearest church was Ephesus.  Some 30 miles away to the north, the next church was Smyrna and then Pergamum.  The circuit ran in a clockwise semi-circle with 30 to 40-mile intervals.  John’s seven messages came in this exact order.

If a mailman were delivering to these locations, he would have taken this route.  There is order and relevance to this circuit and the seven messages.  It reflects the church in its journey through history.  Further, the messages are in a chiastic order similar to the position of lamps of the seven-branched lampstand located in the old sanctuary ministry.

Chiastic Messages

At the start of our journey in revelation, we identified an ancient way of writing.  Most movies and books have a beginning, a middle, and an end in the modern world.  It can be expressed this way:  A, B, C order.  But in many places in the Bible, The order is A, B, C, B, A.  The climax or ending is in the middle.  This will become more apparent as we move through Revelation.

The Messages to the Seven churches have this exact order.  The middle church is Thyatira. God says good things about Thyatira.

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” Revelation 2:19

The commendable traits of this church are love, faith, service, perseverance, and progression (Doing more than they did at first.).  I am sure God would have all the churches like this one.  But, there appear to be two groups within this praiseworthy church. One group tolerates a false prophet.

 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching, she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:20

But God takes on the responsibility of taking care of the problem.  He ends with the message to the ones who tolerate this false prophet:

I will repay each of you according to your deeds. Revelation 2:23

To the second group who rejects the teaching of the false prophet, His message is less ominous: He promises to not impose any burdens on them except that they should “hold on” until Jesus comes.

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’ Revelation 2 24: 25

This message is God’s desire for His people.  We are to “hold on” until He comes and reject teachings that lead to sin and discouragement.