Our Conqueror Will Rule

Satan defeated, unbelievers judged, God's kingdom come.

Revelation 20:10-15 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from His presence, but they found no place to hide. 12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.

14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:1-3 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.

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In the daily grind and weariness of life it may seem that our prayers are never going to be answered, it seems that "thy kingdom come" is never going to happen. Because of the delay there are many people that have given up on his second coming. They fail to realize that the Bible proves over and over again that God's timetable moves very slowly and it isn't a sign that his promises will not come true.

We don't like delay anymore than God's children in the Bible. Noah thought the first ever boat would never be completed, Abraham thought that he would never have an heir, God's children thought that they would never stop being ruled by various world leaders.

It is easy to think that God is late and his second coming will never happen. Jesus will return and stop the plans of Satan, the people of Satan's kingdom will be judged and the children of God's kingdom will finally be satisfied forever.

For every time the first coming of Christ is mentioned, the Second Coming is mentioned eight times. And the Lord Himself refers to His coming twenty-one times and over 50 times we are exhorted to be ready for that great event. 

-John MacArthur

This event is so important that scripture makes it clear that we can trust God to come through on the Bible's promises about the second coming. The first coming miraculously fulfilled hundreds of prophecies so we can have confidence that the second coming which is predicted much more often than the first is sure to take place.

Jesus will begin his rule by defeating all of the opposition to his kingdom. 

World leaders will fight “against the Lord and against His anointed” but they will all be defeated. Their weapons prove to be worthless against the sword of the Lord. God created by speaking and it instantly happened and by the sword of his mouth his enemies will be defeated. (Psalm 2:1-3, Hebrews 4:12)

The beast, the false prophet and Satan are all doomed, first the beast and false prophet are cast into hell, then after the thousand year millennial reign Satan will follow them to the same fate. (Revelation 20:10)

The next defeat will happen to all those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life. The sad reality of everyone that loved their life on earth too much to be concerned about what would happen in the next life. At the great white throne, there will be a Judge but no jury, a prosecution but no defense, a sentence but no appeal. God's answer will be final! (John 12:25, Revelation 20:15)

The prayers of God's children throughout the ages will finally be answered. The longing for "they kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" will be fulfilled! All of the earthly kingdoms, no matter how good some of them are, will all be gone.

Jesus has told us how to avoid defeat as a citizen of his kingdom.

You don't have to go down in defeat. if you make the wise choice and you are ready for the king that is coming then you will be a citizen of the new kingdom with the only perfect king. There will not be any illegal immigration into God's kingdom.

The Bible is the story of God restoring the kingdom that was lost back when God walked with man in the Garden of Eden. The story continued as God abides with Israel in the tabernacle and later in the temple. Jesus came to earth and “tabernacled” among us and now lives within us. At the end of time the kingdom will be fully restored and God's children will take their place in this better country that they have been longing to see. (John 1:14 / Hebrews 11:16 /1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

When we enter the kingdom we will enjoy God's presence even more fully than Adam and Eve did in the garden. We will finally be home enjoying the presence of our father.

Are you a friend of the conqueror? You can find peace with God.

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Our Conqueror Will Return (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

Truth For Life

We can build our life now and our eternal future on something solid.

 

2 Peter 1:16-19  For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We saw His majestic splendor with our own eyes  17  when He received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy."  18  We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19  Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place--until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

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Peter wants us to know about God's power and glory that has the power to change lives, Peter feels that it is crucial for us to know about the power of God that he has experienced first hand, at the beginning of this chapter Peter told us that this power and glory provides us with everything we need to live above the moral decay that we see all around us.

Peter wants to be sure that we understand that this is real, he wants us to have faith that is solid, when you are putting your confidence in something that is a matter of life and death you don't want any doubts.

Our God is personal and loves relationships, He gives us a great amount of information about who He is, unlike the Muslim view of Allah which teaches that he is unknowable and your standing with him can not be determined until after you are dead. There is some amazing evidence that we can believe in the only true God.

We Can Believe God Because Of:

✔  The Transfiguration

Jesus deity and glory were covered by his humanity, He looked just like any other man except for one occasion when three of his disciples were allowed to see his other other side, a small glimpse of his deity was allowed to be seen.

We cannot imagine what this looked like or how much it would affect our life but I am sure that it was an experience that would change your life forever. Every time that a man has witnessed the God side of Jesus their life is never the same. (Acts 7:55-56, 9:3-8  2 Corinthians 12:4, Revelation 1:12-20).

✔  The Prophets

Unlike the transfiguration which is a single event, the prophecies about Jesus are numerous and they provide clear evidence that Jesus is God in a body, the promised Messiah that had been talked about for hundreds of years.

The prophets told us that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), of the lineage of David (2 Samuel 7:16), in the city of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). His ministry would be introduced by a forerunner, who would speak in the spirit and power of Elijah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5; Isaiah 40:3-5). Other prophecies speak of His ministry, His miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6, 42:1-4; 61:1-2), and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (Zechariah 9:9)

✔  The Scripture

Peter tells us that the disciples didn't get together and make this stuff up but there are people that will try to deceive them. Peter will discuss false teachers in chapter 2, they have been around ever since the snake in the garden and just like that snake, they are all tricking you for their own gain. (2 Peter 2:1-10)

Since the Old Testament prophets accurately predicted Jesus first coming we should pay close attention to the rest of the story found in the New Testament. We should be motivated to live in harmony with the truth that God has given to us.

These truths give us a solid rock to build our lives on! We don't have to wonder about the validity of one revelation about God, he has given us overwhelming evidence about who he is and what he wants us to do.

Know The Lord
Hosea 6:3  Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring."

God is knowable and he desires relationships and He will bless those that reach out to Him. We can build our life now and our eternal future on the truth that God has given us, He has made it plain and obvious, and He has given us plenty of reasons to trust and develop a relationship with Him.

As I build a deeper relationship with Him I should praise Him for the great gift of being able to be His child, I should ask for His blessing in my life and ask for wisdom. I will need his wisdom to help me live for Him and know Him beyond human understanding.

Are you growing to know God personally through Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him to you through His Word? Is spending time with God in His Word a priority to you?

One Month To Live

Scripture

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Luke 17:26-30  "When I return the world will be as indifferent to the things of God as the people were in Noah's day. 27 They ate and drank and married--everything just as usual right up to the day when Noah went into the ark and the Flood came and destroyed them all.

28 "And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot: people went about their daily business--eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building-- 29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Yes, it will be 'business as usual' right up to the hour of my return.

Luke 21:34-35  "Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don't let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking, and occupied with the problems of this life, like all the rest of the world." 

Observation

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We don’t know how many days that we have on this earth or if the Lord will return before we leave this world but either way we need to live beyond the ordinary. We need to live above the mediocre and “careless ease and preoccupied with the problems of life”.

I get discouraged when I see the apathy and numbness to God especially in the men of our churches. But it isn’t anything new to God, he has been treated that way since the beginning of time. I suppose that even Adam didn’t have the passion for God and was unconcerned when he compromised. The great men of the Bible lived with passion for God and were not afraid of what the world might do to them, the life of ease that we have breeds the sin of apathy that we must rise above. How would we live if we only had one month to live?

Business as usual is how we conduct our lives and it is how we do church. Our mediocre routines attempt to keep our lives simple and easy which is what we desire when we are “occupied with the problems of this life.”

Application

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I want to live my life above the ordinary and live above the problems of this life.

Prayer

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I pray that I will live above the ordinary as if it were my last day. I pray for the men of our church, that they will lead their families beyond the ordinary. Please give us a passion for you!