As the Waters Cover the Sea

Jeremiah 31:34 "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Without a doubt, you have, at one time or another, heard someone ask the question, "If God is real and he's so loving, how come there's so much violence and suffering in the world?" How can he allow such things to go on?" This is a question that's almost as old as human history and one that has a very simple answer. The answer is sin. Since the fall in the garden of Eden, Satan has been the god of this world and he walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is the father of lies and is the architect of every wicked contraption.

I Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

When Jesus went to calvary, he paid the sin debt of the world. When he entered the center of the earth, he stripped Satan of all authority once and for all. When he rose from the dead three days later, he took the keys of hell and of death with him. Satan has been defeated once and for all and soon this architect of rebellion will take up his eternal abode in the lake of fire. The only thing that he can do presently is play the role of "spoiler." The devil and his minions work tirelessly to keep folks from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, thereby inheriting the eternal fellowship with God that they forfeited. This dispensation will soon end at the battle of Armageddon when Jesus returns in the clouds of glory. The beast and the false prophet which, by this time, will have deceived the whole world, shall be cast into the lake of fire. Satan will be bound for a thousand years in the bottomless pit during which time he will be unable to deceive the nations.

Something that is never talked about much, because it's more than a thousand years away, is that Satan will be loosed for a little season following the millenial reign. He will go out and deceive the nations one final time and folks who never before experienced temptation will begin to think evil thoughts against God and the saints. Many of them will rebel and compass the saints about. At this time, fire will come down from God out of heaven to devour them and Satan will join the beast and false prophet in the lake of fire. The telling of the millenial reign of Christ, the short season of temptation, and the white throne judgment can be found in Revelation chapter 20.

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Councellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

This verse prophesies of the coming of Messiah and gives us a picture of just what kind of a ruler he will be when his kingdom is established on the earth. Today, in the world, you find heads of state which have differing agendas. Some are socialistic and some have a theocratic view. Some ask for "clarification" of the Geneva Convention, while others are "classic despots." There are a few who are ligitimately concerned for those under their authority. When Jesus rules, he will be the perfect King. (He is perfect in every way) He was tempted in all points as we are and yet never sinned. He is pure, just, and truly loves us. If you read the sermon on the mount in Matther chapters 5 through 7, you gain incredible insight as to the nature of God and a good picture of what the millenial reign will be like with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in complete control. Can you imagine for a moment, what it would be like to have a president with such qualities? We've never had one because all have sinned, including politicians. (really? lol) The whole world will operate on the basis of the two great commandments which are as follows.

Matthew 22:37-40 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Ponder that for a moment. Each person loving their neighbor just as they do themselves. No more "It's all about me" attitude; no more incidents of people securing selfish desires at someone elses expence. EVERYONE will love their neighbor as themselves. It sounds too good to be true, but when Jesus rules and Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, this will be the reality of life on earth. I know that in these posts I talk often about the coming tribulation. I do this because very few are even "thinking about," let alone "preparing for" the deceptive times ahead. In this post, however, I want to focus on the time just after the tribulation because it's going to be beyond awesome.

I Corinthians 2:9-10 "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

The more that you think about the goodness of God; the love that he has toward us and the incredible times to come, this world, with all of its empty promises becomes increasingly strange and "desolate." You begin to feel like a sojourner who's just passing through; looking for a city "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." The frivilous things of this life lose their appeal as you begin to grasp the concept of the world to come. Forever with Jesus who gave his life for us so that we could be with him for all of eternity.

Revelation 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

The overcomers; those remnant saints who remain faithful to the Lord Jesus despite all of the deceptiveness of this world, will reign with Jesus during this time. This is why I consistantly talk about having our affections on the world to come and not loving this present world. It's not a matter of legalism or that of trying to bring folks under control. It's a matter of life and death; not only in this world, but in the world to come. If you love this world, you'll sell your birthright for a morsel of bread. Loving this world not only seperates you from the supernatural joy of being in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, it hinders your ability to make proper choices in the times of temptation. I would encourage every saint to lay aside every weight and sin and to make your calling and election sure.

Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

During the millenial reign of Jesus, there will be no need for missionaries or evangelists as the knowledge of the God of heaven will be everywhere. There is one thing that will need to be taught to those who are born during the time of the millenium. These folks will never face temptation as you and I do. To them, thoughts of rebellion will be totally alien and they will need to be aware that a time will come in which such thoughts will enter into their minds. I want to cover this briefly, although, as mentioned earlier, it's over a thousand years away.

Revelatio0n 20:7-9 "
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the bredth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

From these verses, it sounds as though most of the population will fall for the deceptions of Satan and will rebel against the wonderful kingdom that has been in place for a thousand years. They will rebel against the rule of Christ and set themselves in array against the saints. This will be the absolute final rebellion as Satan is cast into the lake of fire along with the beast and false prophet, who up until now, were the only two in there. Following this will be the great white throne judgment.

Revelation 20:12-15 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

All of the things of this life that men hold in high esteem will amount to nothing on that day. It wont matter how popular you were or how much education you acquired. It wont matter how much money you made or how big your house was. The only thing that will matter on that day will be "DOES YOUR NAME APPEAR IN THE BOOK OF LIFE?" If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, PLEASE do it today. Tomorrow is not a promise and eternity is a long long time to be sorry. Nothing in this world is more serious than your standing with the God of all eternity. He will save you if you ask. Jesus died to save you, but he can only save you if you ask him to. PLEASE CHOOSE WISELY.

Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."