Future Events As I See Them Clearly Revealed In the Old and New Testaments.
While time goes on, whether Christ reigns in Heaven
or Palestine, death will continue to terminate the union that holds the souls
(or non-physical parts) of human beings to their physical bodies. As surely as
Christ reigns, in Heaven, with absolute authority over every Being and
creature, except God, the Father, and over every area of Heaven, Earth and
Hades; so death will assert its killing power over all things physical, with
Christ's authority and always only within the bounds that He sets, until the perishable
elements of all created worlds, creatures and other things will either be
eliminated from existence forever, or be transformed into indestructible
essence, to go on eternally to serve the purposes of grace or righteous
judgment endlessly. (See Rom. 5:12-21; Job 30:23; Ecc. 8:8; Heb. 9:27; 1 Cor.
15:50-57; Rom. 8:19-23 and 2 Pet. 3:7-13). While time goes on, human beings,
who were chosen of God, redeemed by Christ and entrusted to the Holy Spirit,
will leave their non-functional bodies and go, as spirit beings, to be with
Christ, in sweet fellowship and useful service and rejecters of light, as
abusers of grace, will also have to abandon their bodies, in response to
death's eviction notices, and will go to their temporary place of detention,
as evil doers who are not fit to remain where mercy and grace are held in
perpetual contempt. The last and greatest of all death's strokes of power will
be when everything physical will cease to be what it now is and will become
whatever God has appointed it to be for eternity.
Christ's Coming, The General Resurrection and Immortalization of all Human Bodies
Without a moment's special
warning, at the time of God's appointment, Christ will leave the Throne of
Glory, the angels will gather His people from all over Heaven's infinite
reaches, Christ, His angels and all His hosts in Glory will come to Earth's
suburbs, the area referred to as "the air," the damned will burst
from their prisons and the bodies of all, both saved and unsaved, will rise
instantly with imperishable essence and in the same second of time, the bodies
of all who are still here will be changed into the eternal state, that will
suit the state in which they will exist and either rejoice, or sin and suffer
forever. At that same point, time as we know it will cease, the whole created
Universe will burst into a molten mass of fire and the process of final
reducing of all resistance to God will start.
In order that you may have these Scriptures to read
in their places, we give them and others like them all here.
"And then shall He send His angels, and shall
gather together His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the
earth to the uttermost part of heaven. " (Mark 13:27)
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the
coming of the son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that
Noe entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all
away: so shall also the coming of the son of man be." (Matt. 24:37-39)
"But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest
answered and said unto Him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us
whether thou be the Christ, the son of God. Jesus saith unto him, thou hast
said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the son of man
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."
(Matt. 26:63 & 64) "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the Kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 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." (1 Corinthians 15:50-53) "And he shall send Jesus
Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:20 & 21)
"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in
the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. " (1 Thess. 4:14-17)
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in
the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. " (John 5:28 & 29)
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord, and from the glory of His power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. " (2 Thess. 1:6-10) "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Phil. 3:20 & 21)
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape. " (I Thess. 5:2 & 3) "And I saw
another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud:
and a rainbow was upon
his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the
sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a
lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when
the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: And I heard
a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven
thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the
sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by Him that
liveth for ever and ever, and Who created heaven, and the things that therein
are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the
things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days
of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of
God should be finished, as he hath declared to His servants the prophets."
(Rev. 10:1-7) "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night:
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. " (2 Pet. 3:10-13)
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye
shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of earth shall
wail because of Him. Even so. Amen. " (Rev. 1:7)
"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. " (Rev. 22:12)
The Covenant Made With
Abraham and Christ
The most difficult problem
for many, including some who differ strongly with millennialism in general, has
to do with the covenant found in Genesis 17:8, and repeated in essence on other
occasions. It says, "And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after
thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God." Paul says the beneficiaries of that
bequest were Abraham and Christ. Two facts and two questions relate to this
pledge. FIRST FACT. Abraham saw this promise in more than one way, as time
passed and his understanding increased. He probably thought of it as applying
to Palestine, though he laid claim to none of the land on the basis of that
testament. He lived all his life as a pilgrim, an unnaturalized sojourner, and
even bought and paid well for the field of Machpelah for a burying place for
his family. Paul says he became heir of THE WORLD, by faith, that is as a
result of appropriating a larger title, (SEE ROM. 4:4-16) and then Hebrews 11
tells us that his real joy was born out of his assurance of an unchangeable title
TO HEAVEN (SEE HEB. 11:8-16). Why must we make so much fuss about that little
piece of perishable real estate, about which Abraham cared so little? FACT
NUMBER TWO. Christ's specific references to Palestine or particular parts of it
were all to the effect that its time of special favour was about at an end when
He was here. Note His curses upon the main cities of Capernaum, Bethsaida,
Chorazen and especially Jerusalem. (SEE JOHN 4:19-24). Please check also Matt.
11:20-24; Luke 19:41-46.
QUESTION NUMBER ONE. How can you prove that the
covenant of Genesis 17:8 included not only Abraham and Christ but also some
one, future generation of Jews or so-called Jews, that may be here as a
distinct remnant of the nation, sometime in the unknown future? Do not hang so
dependently on Romans 11:26. The whole context of that verse shows that the,
"all Israel" there refers to all the elect of Israel, not to the
nation as a whole or any complete generation of the nation. See Romans 9:6-16;
and verses 22-33; Read and consider also Romans 10:12-21, and chapter 11:1-8
and verses 25-29.
QUESTION NUMBER TWO. If Abraham and Christ as well as
one or more generations of Jacob's natural descendants are to go back to the
first definition and dimensions of the promise, what set of conditions and
rules are to apply during that special one thousand year period? I know some
will say that, "The Sermon on the Mount is the law for the Kingdom."
We fully agree, but we believe it refers, in both its requirements and its
promises, to the Kingdom that now is. Those who holler about our trying to
cheat Israel out of their national heritage and who do not know what of the
benefits of the Abrahamic and the Mosaic Covenants have been extended to elect
Jews and chosen Gentiles, should read the Sermon on the Mount, Galatians
3:8-4:31 and Hebrews 8:1-10:25, and see what Dispensationalism does by way of
trying to cheat both Jewish and Gentile Christians of rightful, blood-bought
enlightenment, directives and enriching promises, which belong to all believers
now in Christ. We take nothing from Jews who were chosen of God as real
Israelites, who are and ever will be heirs of every benefit, in either the Old
or New Covenants, which were ratified by Christ and which are kept, as Peter
says, (See 1 Pet. 1:1-5) by the power of God, as an incorruptible legacy that
will be fully revealed at the last time, when we all shall see what we shall be
and have, in our glorified state and eternal habitation.
The really bad anti semitics are Christians who
profess to love Jews but who deepen their deception and hasten their doom, by
leading them to cherish false hopes, such as John the Baptist denounced and
still denounces in Matthew 3:7b-12, when he says, "0 generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore
fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves. We have
Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to
raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of
the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance:
but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to
bear: he shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly
purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire." (Matthew 3:7b-vs. 12)
The Mosaic Covenant only condemned or helped sincere
sinners to cry for help in undeserved mercy, so it was cancelled by God, so far
as its promises of life were concerned, but Christ answered for all God's
chosen, of all nationalities, so far as their failures were concerned, so that
He and His merits are all that ever stood in God's sight, or that ever will
stand, as the basis upon which eternal salvation and the benefits of Christ's
services as King, Priest and Shepherd are guaranteed and granted. Since the
ageless or eternally new Covenant is based and made sure only by the Members of
the Godhead, then Godhood only could determine and declare what benefits
promised, at any time, should be secured and on what terms the beneficiaries
should receive them. Hence, God did not always require that faith should be
shown in the same way, or that proper obedience should express itself in the
same kinds of actions; but He always required the same qualities of repentance,
responsive faith and dependent reliance on vicarious merits. Failing in these,
men of all times and places, were lost and by the exercise of these, as God
made it possible, chosen children of Adam from every part of the race and every
place in the world were saved.
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