King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Chapters: Revelation 19-22
Message: An Expected End
Hello My Friend,
The last day of 2024, praise God we made it! I only pray that God gives me a double portion of His mercy and grace in 2025, God willing that I should make it that far. My husband said that he asked God for patience so He sent him a mother-in-law. I laugh as write this, but God certainly is using this trying time in our lives to teach us a little more than patience, perhaps to trust Him more, to lean on one another, and by far to let go some pride that everyone of us in this house was struggling with. A passage comes to mind as I think about this and read the chapters for today.
[Jeremiah 29:10-13 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.]
It does not matter where we are in life, those who put their faith and trust in Christ as their Saviour have the promise from God Himself that we will come out of this world and live forever with Him just as He intended for us from the very beginning. As we come to the end of the reading of Revelation, we learn of the reason why we whom have accepted Christ as their Saviour stay faithful to Him, even if the only thing we have in this life is our salvation. John, continues to tell of the vision that he saw of what happened after the Great Tribulation and all the earth was basically destroyed by Satan and his beasts.
[Revelation 19:1-3,6-7 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.]
When all the pain and sorrow of this life has come to pass, after we shed our souls of this sinful flesh and get new glorified bodies, there will be the expected end of eternal life, which will be the beginning of our new lives as the Bride of Christ. Praise God! And to understand this we need to think spiritually and not physically, [Luke 20:35-36 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: 36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.]
This is where a lot of people have questions in regards to the new earth, future, and while I myself have all sorts of scenarios in my head about what it will be like, it is not for us to know what exactly will happen because that is for another time. God, gave us His Word so that we can know what pertains to this earth, what He did before us and what He will do after us is not for us to be concerned about, what we are to be concerned about is now. Becoming The Bride of Christ is not something that anyone wants to pass up.
[Revelation 19:8-9 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.]
When all the pain and sorrow has come to pass, after we shed our souls of this flesh and get our new glorified bodies, there will be the expected end of eternal life, which will only be the beginning of our new lives with Jesus, [1 Corinthians 15:52-53 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.]
In this world, we are always going to face challenges just for our faith, some with great force, but the pain we suffer in this life will all be over when Jesus reigns as KING. Now, Jesus reveals His glorious return, and we too will be with Him.
[Revelation 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.]
That sharp sword in none other than the Word of God, and that is all that Jesus will use to judge the people. Notice something else from Jesus that we did not see when He was here the first time, He is not the meek and mild man that He was, He is coming with a vengeance.
[Revelation 19:17,19-20 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.]
This is the second death for all whom have never accepted Christ as their Saviour or their faith was not counted as righteousness as they awaited Christ. Regardless of whether or not we were brought on this earth before Christ’s passion or after, salvation has never been about ones works, it has always been about ones faith in the LORD as their Saviour, [Romans 4:2-3 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.]
Jesus Christ Himself, the Word of God made flesh, after He casts the Antichrist and false prophet into the lake of fire will cast the devil in prison for a thousand years, and remove every bit of evil from the earth. This is when the bottomless pit will be opened and Jesus would reign.
[Revelation 20:1-2,4-5 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 4 And I saw thrones, and they 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. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.]
This can be a little tricky to understand, the dead are not Christ’s saints as they will have already been resurrected and will actually reign with Him along with those who were martyred during the tribulation. This is the first phase of resurrection of the dead, where those who died during the tribulation will be judged along with the wicked who killed them. There will be the second phase of the resurrection of the dead, which will be the final judgment of all the dead. We who are saved can rejoice in the fact that the second death has no power over us. However, after the thousand years are over, Satan will be released and one final battle will take place.
[Revelation 20:6-9 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 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. 9 And they went up on the breadth 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.]
As soon as this great army is gathered together, God will send fire down from heaven and devour them all, and Satan himself will get cast into the lake of fire, [Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.]
Eternal death, it is nothing to rejoice over, and we that ought to be enough to bring one to believe in Christ and receive Him as soon as they know about Him. Remember, we will all stand before Jesus, but those who died without knowing Him as their Saviour will resurrect also for one final judgment, this will be the second phase of the resurrection of the dead and their judgment.
[Revelation 20:11-15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 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. 13 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. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.]
All in one swoop, all of those unsaved will get cast into the lake of fire. This includes those who trusted their religion to save them, and those who were ignorant to the truth of the Gospel and refused to listen when they had several opportunities. It does not matter if we know Jesus as the Angel of the LORD, [Exodus 3:20], the Son of God, [Daniel 3:25], or Emmanuel, [Isaiah 7:14], we must know Him as LORD and Saviour or our names will not be written in the book of life. Now, Jesus shows John one more vision. Remember when Jesus said that He was preparing a place for us? [John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 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. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.]
Well, this is the new heaven and earth, and it will where we will remain with Him for eternity, [Revelation 21:1-4 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 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. 4 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 God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;] And there you have it, we can rejoice in the fact that we whom have received Christ as our Saviour not only receive eternal life, we will live forever in our new bodies that will never feel one ounce of pain ever again.
[Revelation 21:5-8 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am 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. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 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.]
This is the expected end and new beginning to everyone who receives Christ as their Saviour, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more sin, and no more death. We cannot say that for the dead, they will be cast into the lake of fire. Without Jesus, none of this would even be possible, we would still be sacrificing animals and hoping that we have not missed confessing that one sin that could be the end of us, [Romans 5:8-9 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.]
We, who are saved need to remind the world of the most amazing miracle that ever took place and that was Jesus, who was born to die for us. That is something that we are to never take lightly. Well, the new earth will literally come down from the heavens, ready and prepared for His bride to dwell there forever.
[Revelation 21:10-12,14,18 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, 11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.]
Have you ever seen a clear ice cube? There was no frost, it just looked like clear see through glass? This is a good image of what the city will look like. Since there will be no need for silver and gold, or even money as everything will be provided for us freely, there is no better place for gold. There is something else that will not be needed anymore and that is a temple.
[Revelation 21:22-27 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27 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.]
Finally, the earth that God intended for His most precious creation to dwell will be a new place where we will live forever. This is where I always start to wonder what it will be like on the new earth, but as you can see the trinity of God will be there in all His three persons.
[Revelation 22:1-5 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.]
This is not for the curing of diseases, it is for the preserving and continuing health of the people of God in this state. As the tree of life in Eden’s garden was for the preservation of the health and life of Adam, we will have the tree of life that will sustain us. We do not have to be afraid of what the future brings because Jesus is already there, and an everlasting state of perfect peace and happiness is reserved for all whom endured to the end.
[Revelation 22:6-7,10-12 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.]
This is why I say that those who received Christ as their Saviour, even if that is all they do, will not face the same judgment as the unbelievers. Since we all receive the same gift of eternal life and no one will be above one another, our judgment comes before we get to heaven. In fact, I believe it is the suffering that we face right now that will be our judgment.
[Revelation 22:13-17 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.]
When Adam broke his commandment, he was driven from the tree of life. Those who keep Christ’s commandments, meaning those receive Him as their Saviour while in our present state will have the right to eat from the tree of life. No one who is not saved will be able to enter this kingdom. God’s judgment and wrath upon the world is more than His anger toward sin, it is for vengeance on His people too. In this world we are always going to face challenges just for our faith, some with great force, but the pain we suffer in this life will all be over when Jesus reigns as KING.
[Revelation 22:18-20 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.]
All who believe in and ask Christ to save them will get to be a part of Christ’s Kingdom. Praise God! There is a stern warning here to all those who have taken out or added words to His book, and there will be hell to pay for it. As much as we would all love to accomplish some things in this life before Jesus returns, the sooner He sends for us the better. I for one, with each passing year, realize that the best thing we can do in this life is to live for Christ, [2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving those whom have truly accepted and received Your Son eternal life and victory not only over death, but the devil’s attempts to destroy our faith in You. Lord, as we head into a new year, Lead us and guide us, give us Your power and strength to endure every struggle as we await the expected end when Your bring us home. Let us never give up on You, no matter what we face, with the reminder that we will endure, we will resurrect, and we will live with You forever on the new earth. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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