Chapter 13.

Soon,

You Will Meet the Risen Lord

 

 

 

Your Days Are Numbered.

 

When we compare the duration of our lives to the breadth of eternity, we see how few our days are.  When God formed you in your mother’s womb, He knew how many times your heart would beat before you pass away.  In Psalm 39, David talked to the Lord about this matter.  He said ... 

Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.  (Psalm 39:4-6 NIV)

 

 

 

When You Die,

You Will Be Judged.

 

When your brief life is over, you will be judged immediately.  The writer of Hebrews states ...

... it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment  (Hebrews 9:27)

The unsaved go directly to Hell.  The saved go to Heaven.  This is taught by Jesus in the 16th chapter of Luke.  There the Lord tells the true story of an unbelieving rich man and a believing beggar named Lazarus.  When both died, the unbeliever went to Hell, and the believer was saved from that fate.

We must heed the lesson Jesus taught.

 

Our funerary practices ameliorate the shock of losing a loved one.  The flowers, the gathering of friends and family members, and the religious rites we observe help us deal with our loss.  But, long before we assemble for the wake, the judgment of that soul has transpired.  No matter what we say or do, that soul is in Heaven or Hell already.  The contemplation of death is sobering.  Death is God’s loudest sermon.

 

 

 

You Will Live Forever.

 

Where you find yourself when you die is where you will be forever.  No one can work his way out of Hell, and the saved do not fall from grace and drop from Heaven to Hell.  John spoke of the permanence of life in Heaven in John 3:16.  He said ...

... God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16 NIV)

The word, “eternal”, in this verse implies a blessed and everlasting existence.  That will only be found in Heaven.

 

In stark contrast, Matthew reveals the fate of those who are consigned to Hell.  He records Jesus’ teaching regarding the “Great White Throne Judgment”.  This Judgment Day will take place at the close of the Millennium.  That Day, God will gather every soul that has ever lived into one huge venue.  Those who have been dwelling in Hell will be brought there and placed to the left of the Throne.  Those who have been living

in Heaven will be stationed on the right.  And, those souls that have survived the Millennial Age will be set before the Throne to be judged by Jesus.  He will separate the saved from the lost.  The saved will be moved to the right of the Lord.  The lost, to the left.  Matthew reveals ...

Then shall he [Jesus] say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels ...

And, Matthew declares ...

... these [the unsaved] shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

(Matthew 25:41,46)

The good news for the saved is that they will live forever.  The bad news for the unsaved is that they will live forever.

 

 

 

Your Future

 

We conclude this chapter, this book, and this set of books with a brief glimpse into your future as we see it.  The events mentioned here have been fully documented in prior portions of this work, so the following sweep through the future, without the recitation of supporting Scriptural passages, is meant to be clarifying and awe-inspiring.

 

 

Soon, You Will Be

Absent From Your Body.

 

You are a triune being, comprised of a body, soul and spirit.  When your body dies, your invisible parts, your soul and spirit, will be clothed with a new exterior.  The saved will exult in beautiful bodies like that of the Risen Lord.  The lost will grieve in dismal bodies ... described as “worms” in multiple Bible verses.

 

 

You Will Dwell

In Pre-Millennial Heaven or

In Hell.

 

Were you to die today, you would go to Pre-Millennial Heaven or to Hell.  We use the phrase, “Pre-Millennial Heaven”, since, as we shall see, when the Millennium ends, the saved will move into the New Heaven and the New Earth.

 

 

The Saved Will Participate

In the Rapture.

 

On one auspicious and celebratory day in the future, Jesus will gather all the saved souls residing in Pre-Millennial Heaven and lead them into the upper atmosphere of planet Earth.  From there, He will issue a command to the earthly remains of the souls He has brought with Him, saying, “Come forth!”, and the earthly remains of every soul with Him will be resurrected and glorified.  Immediately, these bodies will fly away to join the assembly in the sky.  And, in some miraculous way, these newly resurrected bodies of the saints will merge with their Pre-Millennial bodies.  And thus, each saved soul in the sky will be clothed with its eternal body.  Then, the bodies of all the saved souls on Earth will be changed in a flash into eternal bodies, and these will fly away to join the crowd in the sky.  And then, the whole congregation will return to Pre-Millennial Heaven.  There they will rejoice together for the next 7 years ... a period known as the “Tribulation Age” ... awaiting the dawning of the “Millennial Age”.

 

We note that not one iota of any believer’s earthly body will remain with planet Earth.  Remember, while Jesus’ slain body lay in His tomb for 3 days and 3 nights, He wore a beautiful, interim body and visited with the saints in Paradise.  Then, on Easter, He merged His interim body with His earthly remains to form His glorified, eternal body and left no remains on Earth in His tomb.

 

 

On Earth,

The Tribulation Age Will Unfold.

 

Suddenly, millions will be missing.  It won’t take long for those left behind to determine who were raptured away.  They’ll see the empty Church buildings.  They’ll notice that the Christians have vanished.  And, some of them will have enough familiarity with the Scriptures to know that the Bible had predicted the Rapture for centuries.

 

Events will swirl.  The Bible and its prophecies will garner much attention.  Television specials, books, and movies will explore Rapture explanations from every angle.  Many will develop a saving faith.  If you’re on Earth in those days, we pray you will become a believer.  Briefly, Christianity will blossom.

 

Simultaneously, a charismatic politician will attract worldwide attention.  His speeches will move multitudes to support him.  His themes will be “peace” and “security”.  Indwelt by Satan and a multitude of evil spirits, this popular man will become the leader of one nation ... then, others ... and finally, all the nations of the world.  Sadly, the unholy dream of many pernicious, political philosophers will become a reality.  Reviving the spirit of those who championed the “Tower of Babel”, all of humanity will fall under one government, headed by one ruler.

 

During his ascendant years, this wicked dictator will feign friendship with Christians and other practitioners of religion.  Amazingly, he will help the Jews rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem.  His policies and programs will seem to be moving mankind into a golden age.  Then, as he exudes a phony charm, he will consolidate his power by disarming the citizenry.  Only his international police force will have armaments.

 

After 3 1/2 years, when he feels he has complete control of mankind, the dictator will reveal his true nature.  He will stage a massive press conference in the Temple in Jerusalem, and standing in the Inner Sanctum, he will declare, “I am god!  The only god!  Worship me!”  He will outlaw the worship of anyone or anything but himself, and with the aid of Satan, he will perform miracles to bolster his prestige.  Most on Earth will bow before him.  He will slaughter those who don’t.  In secret, Christians will call him the “anti-Christ”.

 

The next 3 1/2 years will be the most troubled era mankind will ever experience.  The anti-Christ will be eradicating Christians and any other citizens who reject his divinity.  And, in retaliation to the proclamations and actions of this Satan-filled tyrant and his followers, God will pour out devastating judgments on the planet and its people.  As it was in the days of Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt, so it will be again.  Over and over, plagues and violent storms will wreak havoc on mankind and the Earth.  And, a massive comet will collide with the planet, destroying billions.

 

During this turbulence, the believers who are still alive will furtively flee to Jerusalem.  The anti-Christ will be determined to snuff them out.  He will bring all his military forces into the Holy Land and prepare to crush the Holy City.  As he invades, Jesus will return to Earth with the hosts of heaven, and after driving the anti-Christ and his troops back into the Valley of Armageddon, He will annihilate them.  The souls of the anti-Christ and his retinue will be cast into the Lake of Fire in Hell.

 

 

The Millennial Age

Will Flourish.

 

At the end of the Tribulation Age, the Earth will be a shambles.  But, Jesus will have returned to Earth to establish His wondrous, worldwide Kingdom.  What we have prayed for so often ... “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth” ... will commence.  This age will last for 1000 years, so we call it the “Millennium”. 

 

At the onset of the age, in a dazzling, creative act, Jesus will regenerate the ecological systems of the planet.  Once again, the ambiance everywhere will be that of the Garden of Eden.  However, some artifacts of  humanity’s past will still be visible.  The Bible says that the inhabitants of the globe during the Millennium will rework swords and other weapons into agricultural implements.  What a privilege it will be to reside on this planet during the Millennial Age. 

 

Who will inhabit the Earth in those days?  Well, some folks will survive the Tribulation Age.  They will be there.  In this passage, we will call them “conventional citizens” or just “conventionals”.  Also, Jesus will be there, ruling the planet from Jerusalem.  And, all the saved souls who had been living in Pre-Millennial Heaven will be there.  They will serve as priests, instructing and evangelizing the conventional citizens ... hoping to convert them into Christians.

 

Many conventionals will find faith.  But, amazingly, even though the conventionals will be living in lovely, Eden-like surroundings, with Jesus reigning from Jerusalem, and millions of priests in glorified bodies urging them to worship Jesus, some conventionals will resist and drop into Hell when they die.  If you are there, as a conventional, at that time, we pray you will come to believe that Jesus is your Lord.

 

Satan won’t be there.  During the Millennium, he will be incarcerated in a bottomless pit.  But, at the end of the age, he will be released and allowed to rally unbelievers to his side.  He will amass a great, heathen horde and lead it against Jerusalem.  Again, the attack will come from the Valley of Armageddon.  And again, Jesus will crush the rebels.  Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire and his followers will be dispatched to Hell.

 

 

From a Great White Throne,

Jesus Will Bring the Human Era

To Its Close.

 

The final moments of the human era will not take place on Earth.  Somewhere in God’s vast Universe, a huge venue will materialize.  A surface large enough to hold every human that has ever lived will be formed.  Myriad angels will move a Great White Throne with 2 chairs to one end of this gigantic stage.  They will hover above it and around it.  It will float on a cushion of mysterious fire that glows but does not consume.  An emerald rainbow will arc above the Throne.

 

The angels will place every lost soul in Hell, clothed in its dismal body, to the left of the Throne.  The saved, wearing their beautiful, glorified bodies will be placed on the right.  The eternal destiny of these souls will be known already.  They were judged at the moment of their death.  Next, the humans who will have survived the Millennial Age will be gathered before the Throne.  Billions of souls will be there ... the saved ... the lost ... and the, as yet, unjudged.

 

High in the sky, planet Earth will shimmer ... a large,  brilliant, blue sphere, floating in the blackness of outer space.  Suddenly, it will flee away.  All about, the heavens will dissolve with a great roar and planet Earth will melt away with fervent heat.  A hot, shock-wave will sweep over the startled assembly.

 

Then, with perfect pomp and ceremony, a majestic train of angels will usher the “Ancient of Days”, the Triune God, to the Throne.  The Father and Jesus, the Son, will be seated, and the Holy Spirit will manifest Himself as 7 lamps of fire before the Throne.  Heavenly music will fill the site, and marvelous hymns will be sung.  The most wonderful worship service humans have ever experienced will transpire.  The attendees will be overwhelmed with awe.  Everyone present will kneel before God.  Every tongue there will confess that Jesus is the Lord of all. 

 

Jesus, the Word of God, will rise to tell the true story of mankind.  He will speak of creation, the faith of the patriarchs, the ancient, animal-sacrifice system, His Ultimate Sacrifice on the Cross, the growth of the Church, the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the Millennium.  He will emphasize all the ways He has reached out to the souls of mankind ... how He wanted every soul to become a believer and spend eternity in Heaven with Him.  He will express His disappointment with those who have chosen unbelief.

 

Then, He will separate the survivors of the Millennium as a Shepherd separates His sheep from His goats ... the saved from the lost.  The lost will be clothed with dismal bodies and placed with the other lost souls on His left.  The saved will be transformed into eternal creatures, wearing glorified bodies.  They will join the congregation on the right.  Every soul there will know for certain that God is good and that He has dealt fairly.  The saved will be sent to Heaven to await the coming of the “New Heaven and the New Earth”.  The lost will be placed in Hell and left there forever.  The human era will come to an abrupt end.

 

 

The Saved

Will Populate

The New Earth.

 

At the Great White Throne gathering, the saved will witness the annihilation of our present-day heaven and Earth.  From there they were shepherded to Heaven to await the arrival of the New Heaven and the New Earth.  At some glorious moment in the future, if you are there, you will see the New Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from above and resting upon a New Earth.  Immediately, you and the rest of the saints will enter a new reality.  And, the Triune God will welcome you there.  It will be a permanent home, designed by God for those whose names, by then, will have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

 

Life in this new reality will be quite different from life on today’s Earth.  There will be no death there . ... no sorrow ... no crying ... and no pain.  Everything there will look new and stay new.

 

The new Jerusalem and the new Earth will be huge.  Many of the saved will dwell in the city, but some will form principalities elsewhere on the planet.  There will be lots of land there.  The surface of the planet will be vast, and there will be no seas upon it.  The enormous Holy City will be walled, four-square, and as high as it is long ... 1500 miles East to West ... 1500 miles North to South ... and 1500 miles tall.  That’s massive!  The highest mountain on today’s Earth is about 6 miles high.  The walls of this city will be 250 times higher than that.

 

Every side of the city will have 3 gates, each one named after one of the 12 tribes of Israel.  So, the walls will have 12 foundations, 4 supporting the corners and, on each side, 2 more foundations, separating its 3 gates.  The foundations will be named after the 12 Apostles.  The walls will be 216 feet thick, and they will sparkle, since the walls and the streets of the city will be made of an other-worldly gold that resembles clear glass.  And, the foundations will be garnished with all manner of precious stones, arranged in attractive, geometric patterns.  The gates will be made from 12 great pearls.  They will never be shut.

 

There will be no Temple there.  The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb will serve as its Temple.  There will be no need of the sun or the moon.  The glory of the Triune God will enlighten the Holy City.  And somehow, that glory will reach to all the nations on the Earth.  So, there will be no night.  The kings of these nations will bring their glory and honor into the city when they come to visit.

 

Within the Holy City, there will be an expansive Plaza with the Throne of God at one end of it.  Worship services and celebrations will be held there.  A pure, crystalline “River of Life” will gush forth from beneath the Throne.  On either side, the river will be flanked by golden streets, overhung by beautiful branches of the “Tree of Life”.  This Tree, like some of today’s fig trees, will have many trunks along both sides of the river.  It will stretch for miles and produce 12 kinds of fruit.  Its leaves will be used to brew a delightful tea.  The fruits and tea leaves will be consumed worldwide as health-sustaining foods.  How splendid it will be to stroll along these thoroughfares.

 

If you are there, you will feel an intimate connection to the Lord God Almighty.  You will have personal time with Him, and He will signify His love for you by placing His name, artfully, on your forehead.  Forever and ever, you and all the other saints will serve the Lord and dwell in bliss.