Saturday, March 29, 2008
Bruce Milne writes,
Every kingdom work, whether publicly performed or privately endeavored, partakes of the kingdom's imperishable character. Every honest intention, every stumbling word of witness, every resistance of temptation, every motion of repentance, every gesture of concern, every routine engagement, every motion of worship, every struggle towards obedience, every mumbled prayer, everything literally, which flows out of our faith-relationship with the Ever-Living One, will find its place in the ever-living heavenly order which will dawn at his coming(1).These acts will become deeds of gold, silver and precious stones in God's eyes for "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes" says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." Revelation 14:13. NIV.
Dear Christian; are heaven and hell real to you? They are just as real as the words on this screen; just as inevitable as the sunrise and sunset. The final victory is assured for those who know their God as heavens battalions gear up for the final battle at His second coming.
The battle cry of a hundred million warriors erupted from one end of the heavens to the other. There was war on the narrow isthmus between heaven and hell, a planet called Earth. The air was filled with the din of combat--wails of the oppressors being slain and the joyous celebrations of the oppressed, rejoicing that at long last their liberators had arrived.
Some of the warriors sang as they slew, swinging swords to hew the oppressors with one arm and, with the other, pulling victims up onto their horses.
The long arm of the King moved with swiftness and power. The hope of reward that kept the sufferers sane was vindicated at last. No child of heaven was touched by the sword this day, for the universe could not tolerate the shedding of one more drop of righteous blood. The King said Enough! I will wait no longer!
Heaven released fury. Earth bled fear. The world's last day had finally arrived.
At the Lion's nod, Micheal raised his mighty sword and brought it down upon the great dragon. His muscles bulging at the strain, Michael picked up his evil twin and cast the writhing beast into a great pit. The mauler of men, the hunter of women, the predator of children, the persecutor of the righteous shrieked in terror. The vast army of heaven's warriors cheered.
The battalions gazed upon the decimated face of the earth, the scorched soil of the old world. Nothing had survived the fires of this holocaust of things. Nothing but the King's Word, his people, and the deeds of gold and silver and precious stones they had done for him during the long night since Eden's twilight.
Soldiers dropped their weapons, the crippled tossed their crutches and ran, the blind opened their eyes and saw. They pointed and shouted and danced, throwing their arms around each other, for each knew that any now left on earth were under the King's blood and could be fully trusted. The King gathered children upon his lap. He wiped away their tears...
The sound of a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and loud peals of thunder, shouted, "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns! Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory. For the wedding of the lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready"...
All eyes turned to the king. The entire universe fell silent, anticipating his words.
"I will turn the wasteland into a garden," the King announced. "I will bring here the home I have made for you, my bride. There will be a new world, a life-filled blue-green world, greater than all that has ever been. The Shadowlands are mine again, and I shall transform them. My kingdom has come. My will shall be done. Winter is over. Spring is here at last!"
A great roar rose from the vast crowd of saints. The king raised his hands. Upon seeing those scars, the cheering crowds remembered the unthinkable cost of this great celebration, for the King had bled, and died, rose again to redeem every last one.
Warriors of the kingdom slapped each other on the back. The delivered hugged the deliverers, enjoying a great reunion with those once parted from them.
The multitudes innumerable began to sing the song for which they had been made, a song that echoed off a billion planets and reverberated in a trillion places in every nook and cranny of the creation's expanse. Audience and orchestra and choir all blended into one great symphony, one grand cantata of rhapsodic melodies and sustaining harmonies. All were participants. Only one was an audience, the Audience of One. The smile of the King's approval swept through the choir like fire across dry wheat fields.
When the song was complete, the Audience of One stood and raised his great arms, then clapped his scarred hands together in thunderous applause, shaking ground and sky, jarring every corner of the cosmos. His applause went on and on, unstopping and unstoppable.
Evey one of them realized something with undiminished clarity in that instant. They wondered why they had not seen it all along. What they knew in that moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in every fiber of their being, was that this Person and this Place were all they had ever longed for... and ever would. Eden recreated in all it's splendor. A new earth and heaven once again united. Sin and death obliterated forever.(2)
And I saw and new heaven and new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write for these words are faithful and true.
And he said unto me, It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God...
And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21:1-8, 10, 27. KJV
Is your name written in the Lamb's book of life? Do you want to be a part of the victory celebration when the Christ the King returns? Then I suggest you read the following: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Johm 3;16, Romans 10:8-10 and verse 13, Romans 12:1-2.
One day when Christ returns and judges the nations, all who are alive and those asleep (died) will rise to face judgement.
"But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, (dead)wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew in the morning; the earth will give up her dead. Isaiah 26:19.NIV
"Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened which was the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades (hell) gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 11-15 NIV.
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.From this passage we can see that Hell is real and that it is a place of eternal torment.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him. 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received bad things, but now his is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' Luke 16:19-28 NIV.
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(1)Bruce Milne, The message of Heaven and Hell (Downers Grove, Ill.:InterVarsity, 2002), 257.
(2)Paraphrased from Randy Alcorn, Safely Home (Wheaton Ill.: Tyndale, 2001), 394-395.
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