July 2019 – Page 2 – See you in Heaven

Clearing up the Confusion about the Millennial Kingdom

There is a lot of fuzzy thinking about heaven today. Ask the average Christian and you’ll get a variety of answers. Yet the Bible clears up a lot of this fuzziness when we take the time to study it. For example, did you know that the Bible says believers will experience heaven in three stages?

1. With Christ in heaven after the rapture (I Thessalonians 4:13-5:11). At any moment the Lord Jesus could come for His church to snatch it off the earth to be with Him in heaven. Following the removal of the church, there will be seven years of terrible tribulation on the earth (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 6-19). At the end of the Tribulation period…

2. The Earthly Kingdom of Christ will be established when we will return with Christ and be on the earth for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6). At the end of that thousand years there will be a…

3. New Heaven and New Earth where you will be with Christ for eternity if you have put your trust in Him for eternal life (Revelation 21-22).

By far, the most is said in the Bible about the second stage, the earthly kingdom – that earthly reign of Christ that precedes the New Heaven and New Earth. We call this earthly reign of Christ the Millennial Kingdom. In this article, we are going to answer four basic questions about the Millennial Kingdom – What is the Millennial Kingdom? Why must there be a Millennial Kingdom before the New Heaven and New Earth. Why study about the Millennial Kingdom? What will the Millennial Kingdom be like in general?

WHAT IS THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM? The Millennial Kingdom is the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. The Millennial Kingdom is a real, earthly kingdom. Remember Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a statue in Daniel 2 ?

God told Daniel that the Statue represented six kingdoms. The head of gold represented the Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon. The chest of silver represented the inferior kingdom to follow called Medo-Persia. The belly and thighs bronze represented the third kingdom to rule called Greece. The legs of iron represented the fourth kingdom that crushes and eventually is divided known as ancient Rome. The feet of iron mixed with clay represented the fifth kingdom mixed with strength and weakness known as the Revived Roman Empire. The Stone that grows into a mountain and crushes the kingdom of iron and clay represents the sixth kingdom that is established by God and shall replace all human kingdoms. This is the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.

The first four of these kingdoms were literal and are now historical. The fifth kingdom is described in Revelation as literal and in the future. Why would the sixth kingdom not be literal and historical? Daniel 2:44 says, “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

WHY MUST THERE BE A MILLENNIAL KINGDOM BEFORE THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH? Why not have Christ return to earth, judge all people, begin eternity future, and be done with it all? Why is the thousand-year kingdom on earth necessary? To answer this, let’s first look at God’s Plan in History:

It begins with Creation (Genesis 1-2)…Sin and Death (Genesis 3)…All Men Destroyed (through a global flood), but One Family Saved (Genesis 4-9)… All Nations Dispersed (at Tower of Babel) (Genesis 10-11)…One Family Chosen (the nation of Israel) (Genesis 12-50)… One Nation Adopted (Exodus – Malachi). God spent most of the Old Testament era of history dealing directly with the nation of Israel in preparation for the giving of God’s Son, Jesus – One Son Given (Matthew – John). After Christ’s First Coming and the calling out of a special group of people – One Body of People Saved (called the church) (Acts – Revelation 3). God will once again deal directly and openly with the nations of the world. After the Rapture of the church (Revelation 4-5), God will intervene in world affairs to redeem His people Israel – One Nation Redeemed (Revelation 6-19) during the Tribulation period. At the Second Coming of Christ, God will rescue the repentant nation of Israel, conquer the armies of the world at Armageddon, bind Satan and remove his influence, and set up a perfect government on earth so that All Nations are Blessed (Genesis 12:3; Revelation 20:1-10)…At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, God will crush a worldwide rebellion led by Satan, proving that apart from God’s transforming grace people are rebels at heart to the very end, even after a thousand years of living under a perfect government and a perfect King. Then Sin and Death will be No More (Revelation 20:1-6)…and there will be a New Creation (Revelation 21-22) to enjoy with Christ for eternity.

WHY MUST THERE BE A MILLENNIAL KINGDOM BEFORE THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH?

1. To allow God to gradually reverse, restore and redeem everything that was lost or defeated in past history. When you look at God’s plan in history, you can see how He does this step by step. Just as He narrowed His dealings from all men to all nations to one nation to Christ, so as history winds up, God broadens His dealings from one nation to all nations to all men. According to I Corinthians 15:24-28, Christ must rule until every enemy is put down, including death. This thousand-year reign of Christ on earth is the capstone of God’s dealing in human history where God will finally reverse the effects of sin and death forever. What the Bible says about the future is how God sets out to straighten out the mess His creation caused by sin. This is not an overnight “fixit job,” but a grand plan and program that God has been at work on for thousands of years. To send Christ back to earth, merely to raise the dead and judge them and begin eternity is insufficient in God’s plan to take care of all the problems. God has too much invested in His people, Israel, and in the nations for such a blithe scenario.

2. To reveal and demonstrate God’s character and righteousness in human form to all mankind.

3. To enable God to fulfill His promises to Israel, including the fulfillment of their destiny as a light to the nations, especially those nations to which Israel has been subject for thousands of years.

4. To bless all nations and nature itself while the human heart is still fallen and in need of a Savior. God’s desire has always been the salvation of as many millions of people as possible – the Millennial Kingdom, with its population explosion and universal opportunity, will be the greatest time of soul winning the world has ever seen.

WHY STUDY ABOUT THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM? In His famous Sermon on the Mount the Lord Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, the kingdom to which Jesus is referring is the Millennial Kingdom. “¹⁷Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). When does heaven and earth pass away? At the end of the Millennial Kingdom when the new heaven and new earth are ushered in.

Also in Matthew 6, in the famous Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it isin heaven” (Matthew 6:10). God’s will being done on earth is fulfilled when God’s kingdom comes to the earth. So in Matthew 6, we are not only told to seek His kingdom, we are also told to pray for His Millennial Kingdom. If we are to seek and pray for this Millennial Kingdom, then we also know we are to live for this Millennial Kingdom. Since we are to seek, pray and live for this Millennial Kingdom, then we need to know something about it. What we believe about the future influences how we think, feel, and live in the present.

WHAT WILL THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM BE LIKE in general? Under this I want to ask four questions. 1. When will it be? 2. Who will be there? 3. What will it be like? 4. How can I prepare for it?

1. When will the Millennial Kingdom be? In Revelation 20:6, we read, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation is a chronological development of God’s plan for the ages. See chart below.

Revelation 1-3 describes the church age from the time Revelation was written until the Rapture described in Revelation 4-5 which pictures the church as the twenty-four elders raptured and rewarded. Sometime after Rapture will be the 7-year Tribulation described in Revelation 6-19. When we come to the end of Revelation 19 we read of the Second Coming of Christ to earth with His church. Then when we come to Revelation 20 we see the Millennial Kingdom. After the Millennial Kingdom is the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). The Great White Throne Judgment is the judgment of all unbelievers. It will be demonstrated to the unsaved that they have not trusted in Christ as their only hope of heaven and their works will be revealed to determine the degree of punishment they will receive in the Lake of Fire. Then all the unsaved will be cast into the Lake of Fire. The final event of God’s plan is seen in Revelation 21:1: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” This is the New Heaven and New Earth where believers in Jesus will live for eternity with King Jesus. So the Millennial Kingdom takes place after the return of Christ to earth with His church at the end of the sever-year Tribulation period.

2. Who will be there?

A. Those who live in resurrection bodies.

a. Jesus Christ (Revelation 20:4c).

b. Church saints(I Thessalonians 4:17). When Christ returns to takes us in the Rapture we will be with Him forever. And then at the end of the Tribulation, Christ will return to earth with His Church (Revelation 19:7-21). Jesus said in John 14:3: “Where I am, there you may be also.” This includes the thousand years on earth.

c. Tribulation saints (Revelation 20:4). During the seven-years Tribulation, the beast (Antichrist) will demand people take his mark or be beheaded. Believers who do not bow down to Antichrist will lose their lives. It says in Revelation 20:4 they will be resurrected and reign with Christ a thousand years.

d. Old Testament saints. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life” (Daniel 12:2). At the Second Coming of Christ, Old Testament saints will be resurrected and be with Christ for a thousand years.

A second category of people who will live in the Millennial Kingdom are

B. Those with mortal bodies. Where do those with mortal bodies come from? In Matthew 25:31-46 we are told that when Christ returns to earth He will judge the Gentile nations. In this judgment,

a. Those believers who survived the Tribulation, will enter the Millennial Kingdom in their mortal bodies. However, those who did not trust Christ during the Tribulation will be cast off the earth into the everlasting fire.

b. Offspring of believers who survived the Tribulation. Isaiah 65:23 speaks of these: “They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.”

C. What will the Millennial Kingdom be like?

1. Satan will be bound so he won’t be able to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1-3). Will there still be sin? Yes, because there will be people in mortal bodies who have the conscious choice to sin just like Adam and Eve did before they sinned. James 1:13-14 tell us we are tempted and carried away by our own lust. We don’t need Satan’s temptation to sin.

2. We will be in resurrected bodies. “²⁰For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21). Our bodies will be like the resurrected body of Jesus Christ. Christ’s resurrection body was…

a. Recognizable– our risen Lord was recognized by His voice and appearance.

b. Real– Jesus’ resurrected body could be felt – flesh and blood of a different kind – resurrected and eternal. Not subject to aging or decay. Christ’s body could appear and disappear instantaneously and go through walls, etc.

c. Resistant to sin– we will no longer sin in our resurrected bodies. We won’t even be tempted.

3. There will be universal peace. “³Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”(Isaiah 2:3-4). Differences between nations and people will be resolved by King Jesus.

4. There will be changes to the animal kingdom. The Bible says,“⁶The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. ⁷The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. ⁹They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah11:6-9). Man will be at peace with the animal kingdom. Imagine having a tame lion in your house?! Animals will be vegetarians. Even snakes will be harmless to people.

5. There will be topological changes to the earth. Jerusalem will be changed with new mountains and valleys. A river will flow from Jerusalem to both the Mediterranean and Dead Sea (Zech. 14:3-9). Deserts will be transformed into gardens; the territory of Israel will be transformed into a place of remarkable beauty reflecting God’s glory (Isaiah 35:1-7).

6. Longevity of life will return as in the early years on the earth. Scripture tell us, “No more shall an infant from there live but a fewdays, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old”(Isaiah 65:20). People will live longer. When a man dies at one hundred years of age, he will be considered just a child. People may live to be a thousand years old like people before the Flood lived close to that age.

7. There will be industry and development. The Bible says, “²¹They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²²They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (Isaiah 65:21-22). After the terrible tribulation and Armageddon, much rebuilding will need to be done. There will be time to do things you have wanted to do: other careers, exploring, developing relationships. A renewed earth will more than adequately provide for the population.

8. There will be profound worship. A new millennial temple will be built (Ezkiel 40-46). People will come from all nations to Jerusalem to worship King Jesus. Animal sacrifices will remind everyone of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon the cross. Everyone will have a knowledge of the Lord.

9. There will be perfect government and swift justice.

a. King Jesus will rule all the nations from His throne in Jerusalem. God the Father says, ⁶“Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. [Where is Zion? Jerusalem.]⁷I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You areMy Son, today I have begotten You. ⁸Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth forYour possession. [Christ will rule the nations] ⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel’ ” (Psalm 2:6-9). Sin will be dealt with swiftly as Christ rules with a rod of iron.

b. David shall rule over the Jewish branch of government as the prince (Ezkiel 37:23-24). King David will be resurrected and serve as the prince over the Jews who yields to the Kingship of Jesus. For example, just as a governor of a state is under the authority of Presdent Trump, so Christ will be the King over all nations, whereas David will be the ruler over Israel.

c. The Twelve Apostles shall rule over the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:27-28).

d. There will be a king over each Gentile nation (Psalm 72:10-11). King Jesus will reign over all nations, but each Gentile nation will have their own king who reports to Jesus.

e. Faithful Christians shall rule with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12; Rev. 2:25-27). The apostle Paul writes, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us” (2 Timothy 2:12). If believers endure in their profession of faith, what reward will they receive? Ruling with Christ. If believers deny Christ their endurance, what will He deny them? The reward of ruling with Him.

In the Millennial Kingdom there will be many opportunities to rule with Christ. Some will hold positions of authority like Presidents, Governors, Mayors, City Council Members, Judges, Senators, Representatives, and the like. There may also be transportation companies, publishers, developers, utilities, entertainment, and sports companies, and so on. All of these businesses will need people in various levels of management. We can have one of those positions of authority if we live faithfully for the Lord until we go to be with Him.

The Christian life is like a long, grueling race (cf. Hebrews 12:1-2). You may be running that race now…But what about 10 or 20 years from now? Will you keep living for the Lord even when life gets really tough? Will you finish strong for Him? Knowing what God has in store for us in the Millennial Kingdom, should motivate us to live for Him until we go to heaven. Together with Christ we can finish strong if our trust remains in Him.

How do we share the gospel with intellectual unbelievers?

“Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30

When the apostle Paul preached to “Epicurean and Stoic philosophers” (atheists and pantheists) in the idolatrous city of Athens on Mars Hill (17:16-22), he began by acknowledging that they were “very religious” (17:22b) which expressed their longing to connect with their “UNKNOWN GOD…whom” they “worship without knowing” (17:23). Paul masterfully begins with God as everyone’s Creator (17:24-29) and then brings His audience to God as everyone’s Judge (17:30-31).

As their Creator, “God…made the world and everything in it, since He is the Lord of heaven and earth” (17:24). He sustains “all things” and is not dependent on anyone for His needs (17:25). The true God is the source of all people whom He “has made from one blood” [Adam] to dwell on all the …earth,” having “determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (17:26). God’s sovereign control over the times and locations of people was so they “should seek the Lord…and find Him” (17:27).

Paul then cited two of their Greek writerswho said, “For we are also His offspring” (17:28). Since God created people, then it is illogical to conclude that God can be made from materials like “gold or silver or stone” (17:29).

As their Judge, “God overlooked” these “times of ignorance” when He had not revealed as much about Himself before Christ (17:30a). “But” now that God has revealed more of Himself to people through Jesus Christ, He “now commands all men everywhere to repent” (17:30b). Paul invites them to “repent” (metanoeō) or change their mind about Christ and see that He is the One who “will judge the world in righteousness” (17:31a). The proof that Jesus is qualified to judge humanity is that God raised “Him from the dead” (17:31b).

This is what makes Christianity distinct from all other religions. The founders of all other religions are still in their graves, including Mohammed of Islam, Buddha of Buddhism, Confucius of Confucianism, Joseph Smith of Mormonism, Charles Taze Russell of the Jehovah Witnesses, Rubin Ecleo of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Assoc., and Felix Manalo of the Iglesia ni Cristo. But Christians worship a Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and remains alive today!

Christianity is reasonable because it is based upon historical facts. There are a number of very strong evidences for the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

1. The historical record. The Bible explains Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God with power… by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:3-4). The proof that Jesus rose from the dead was that He was seen alive after His death by over five hundred eyewitnesses (I Corinthians 15:3-8). Just as history proclaims that Ferdinand Marcos was the President of the Philippines (1965-1986), so history proclaims that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is the most attested fact of history.

Thomas Arnold authored a three-volume history of Rome and was appointed to Oxford’s Chair of Modern History. Concerning the evidence behind the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he said, “I have been used for years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than that Christ died and rose from the dead.”

Frank Morison, a British trial lawyer, vowed to write a book disproving Christianity and committed to base his book on a collection of facts. Using a critical method of evaluation and despite his initial beliefs, he concluded that Christianity is true. The resurrection convinced him, and he wrote a book entitled Who Moved the Stone? which begins with the chapter, “The Book that Refused to Be Written.”

Intellectual atheists such as Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel set out to disprove Christianity only to be persuaded that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true! They have written books containing the strong evidences that persuaded them to become Christians (see The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (1999) and Evidence for the Resurrection (2004) by Josh McDowell and The Case for Easter (2004) and The Case for Christianity (2014) by Lee Strobel. Another proof of Jesus’ resurrection is…

2. The change in the lives of the disciples. These disciples were not shrewd men who figured out some weird way to start a new religion. They did not say, “Let’s get our Leader killed off. Then we’ll go hide out in an upper room and then all of a sudden we will have a new hope.” These were depressed people. They were hiding for fear of the Jews (cf. Mark 16:14; Luke 24:11; John 20:19). All of a sudden their lives were changed overnight! And they went out preaching the gospel without fear (Acts 2:14ff). What happened to them? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. The third proof of Jesus’ resurrection is…

3. The silence of Jesus’ enemies. If you are one of Jesus’ enemies (the Romans or Jewish Pharisees), and you have the disciples going around saying Jesus is alive and it’s bringing people away from your faith to a new faith, what would you do to stop them? Go find the dead body of their leader. “If I could find the dead body of Jesus Christ, it would bring this entire movement to a stop.” But they couldn’t find the body. Why? Because there was no dead body to be found because Jesus rose from the dead! We will never hear a news report saying that they found the dead body of Jesus Christ because He is risen, and He remains alive today (I Corinthians 15:1-8)! The fourth proof of Jesus’ resurrection is…

4. The changed lives of people today. Because Jesus Christ is alive today, He changes sinners into saints, promiscuous people into pure people, hateful people into loving people, greedy people into generous people, impatient people into patient people. But sometimes, an unbeliever will say, “I believe in this Eastern mysticism philosophy. It has changed my life just like your belief in Jesus Christ. What is the difference?” The difference is an empty tomb. The difference is we have a reality behind our faith. It’s not just a philosophy. We have evidence for our minds.

When Paul’s audience “heard of the resurrection of the dead… some mocked” ( Acts 17:32) but “some men joined him and believed” in the risen Lord Jesus Christ (17:34).

When sharing the gospel with intellectuals, begin with what is familiar to them and then share the truth of the gospel with them, citing sources that will encourage them to agree with the truth. Give them evidence for their minds. Christianity is reasonable because it is based upon historical facts. Let the Holy Spirit persuade them to change their mind about Christ (repent) so they can believe in Him for His gift of everlasting life (cf. 17:30, 34).

When Paul said God “overlooked these times of ignorance” (17:30) when people had limited revelation before Christ came to earth, they were still guilty as sinners before a holy God and would be separated from Him forever if they did not believe in Jesus (cf. John 3:36; Romans 5:12-14). This reminds us of an important truth: when greater revelation of God is given to us through Jesus Christ, there is now greater responsibility for both believers and unbelievers (cf. Matthews 12:38-42; 23:14; Mark 12:40).

For Christians, this means we must take the gospel to everyone because God “commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30a). But people everywhere cannot repent or change their mind about the greater revelation of Jesus if believers do not go to them and share Christ with them (cf. Romans 10:14-15). Likewise, now that Jesus has come, God will hold non-Christians more accountable for responding to Jesus in faith. The key for non-Christians is to respond positively to the light or revelation that God has given to them so that He will give them more light, including the gospel of Christ (cf. Romans 1:18-24). Then they can believe in Him.

Restoring Mankind’s dominion over creation

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?” Psalm 8:3-4a

King David began this Psalm by focusing on the majesty and splendor of God as Creator (8:1). As he gazed at the night sky, He was reminded of God’s greatness which is seen in “the work of” His “fingers” (8:3). Like a sculptor whose care and skill is seen in the work of his fingers, so God’s care and skill is seen the work of His fingers which placed “the moon and stars” in the sky. It was as easy for God to create the universe with His fingers, as it is for a sculptor to make something with his fingers. God spoke and brought the universe into existence (cf. Genesis 1:14-19).

As David looked at the night sky, he was amazed that God would even be “mindful” of insignificant people compared to the vast universe He had created (8:4). God is not some impersonal force who is beyond the reach of His creation. No, He is always thinking of the people He made and is moving toward them. And not only this, God has “crowned” people “with glory and honor” by entrusting them “to have dominion over the works of” His “hands,” including “all sheep and oxen— even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea” (8:5-8). God created people to rule over the animal kingdom, not the other way around.

Unfortunately, many people value animals more than people. They are trying to raise money to save animals from being killed, yet money is also being sought to murder unborn children in abortion clinics. Tragically, society has lost sight of how valuable people are to our Creator God.

This reminds us that the first man and woman that God created (i.e. Adam and Eve), failed to do what God created them to do. God placed all living creatures under the control of Adam and Eve before the Fall, and when they disobeyed God, He did not withdraw this privilege (cf. Gen. 9:1-3, 7). But because they sinned, mankind has never been able to fulfill the destiny for which God created him, namely, to be king of the earth (cf. Genesis 3:1-6; Hebrews 2:6-8). Mankind’s responsibility is to rule over creation, not to let it rule over him. People may use any animals, domesticated or wild, for their purposes, including food (Gen. 9:3; 1 Tim. 4:3-5). Human beings have tamed and even domesticated many kinds of animals, but they find it impossible to control themselves without God’s enablement (James 3:7-8).

The good news is that Jesus Christ, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47), will fulfill mankind’s destiny when He returns to earth and brings all creation under His rule (1 Cor. 15:27-28; Hebrews 1:8-13; Revelation 20:1-6). Christ is the only One qualified to do this since He “was made a little lower than the angels” in His incarnation so that as God and Man (John 1:1, 14), He could die for mankind, resulting in being “crowned with glory and honor” through his resurrection and ascension to the right hand of God (Hebrews 2:9; cf. Philippians 2:5-11). It was appropriate for Christ to suffer and die for mankind because He would bring “many sons to glory” and be the Captain “of their salvation …through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:10). Before Jesus could lead His “many sons” to glory, He had to be made “perfect” for this role “through sufferings.” Since His brethren would have to suffer, He would have to as well in order to give them the kind of help they would need (cf. Hebrews 2:18; 4:14-16).

This “salvation” in Hebrews 2:10 is the deliverance from the loss of dominion over creation due to the Fall. Man lost his glorious dominion over creation due to the Fall, but now he can regain that“glory” by being faithful to Christ (Hebrews 2:10; cf. 1:8-9; 3:1, 14). So the glory in Hebrews 2:10 is not common to all Christians, but only to those who are faithful to Christ to the end of their lives on earth (cf. Matthew 19:27-29; Luke 22:28-30; Romans 8:17b; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 1:8-13; 3:1, 14; 10:35-36; Revelation 2:25-27; 3:21).

What this means for those who are unsaved, is they must recognize they are sinners who cannot save themselves (Romans 3:23; 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9) and that Christ died in their place and rose from the dead (I Corinthians 15:1-6). Then they are to believe or trust in Christ alone to save them from hell forever and give them everlasting (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). After they believe in Jesus, they can begin to follow Him as His disciple the rest of their lives to be able to rule with Him in His coming Kingdom (cf. Matthew 4:19; 19:27-29; 28:19-20; Luke 22:28-30; Romans 8:17b; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 1:8-13; 3:1, 14; 10:35-36; Revelation 2:25-27; 3:21).

How can I resolve my anger?

“Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.” Psalm 4:4-5

The apostle Paul quotes the phrase “Be angry and do not sin” (Psalm 4:4a) in Ephesians 4:26 when he is talking to believers about not grieving the Holy Spirit with their communications towards one another (cf. Ephes. 4:25-32). Psalm 4: 4-5 teach us some important principles for dealing with our anger:

1. Admit and feel your anger (“Be angry and do not sin” – 4:4a). The feeling of anger is not wrong in and of itself. Even God feels anger (cf. Exodus 4:14; Number 11:10; Deuteronomy 7:4; Mark 3:5; John 2:13-16; 3:36; Romans 1:18; 12:19; Colossians 3:6; Hebrews 3:11; 4:3; Revelation 6:16; 19:15; et. al). What we do with our anger can be sinful. When we admit our anger, we begin to take control of it. It is important to use “I feel…” statements which take responsibility for our own anger. Example: “I feel angry when you…” But spiritual perfectionism says, “I’m not angry.” Shame-based statements use the word “You.” Example: “You make me feel so angry!” The last two examples do not honor what God is saying here – “Be angry and do not sin,” because they do not acknowledge or take responsibility for one’s own anger.

2. Talk to the Lord until you can be still (“Meditate [talk] within your heart on your bed, and be still”– 4:4b; cf. 4:3). As we talk to the Lord He can help us identify the source of our anger – Is it selfishness or perfectionism? Or is it because we have been wronged?

3. Do what is right which includes forgiving others and yourself (“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness– 4:5a). Sacrifices were offered in the Old Testament as a means of forgiveness (cf. Hebrews 9:22). As God shows us the source of our anger, we can seek forgiveness if we were being selfish or perfectionistic (I John 1:9) or we can extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us (Ephesians 4:32).

4. Trust the Lord with the situation (“And put your trust in the Lord”– 4:5b). Many believers struggle with the first two steps the most and skip right over them to forgive and trust the Lord without acknowledging or processing their feelings. But if we do not admit our anger or hurt and turn it over to the Lord, it is very difficult to forgive “from the heart” (cf. Matthew 18:35).

Somehow Christians are not comfortable admitting their deep hurt and anger. Perhaps it is due to the perfectionism that is taught in churches today. But if we are to be more like Jesus Christ, we can learn to admit our anger and release it to God, so He can use it the way He intended – to accomplish His righteousness (cf. Mark 3:5; John 2:13-16; James 1:19-20). If we refuse to address our anger God’s way, it will result in more brokenness in the body of Christ because we are giving the devil an opportunity to lead us into greater sin (cf. Ephesians 4:26-27). But if we do deal with our anger God’s way, we can experience what David did,“I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

If you only have 60 seconds to live, what does the Bible say you must do to go to heaven?

The answer to this question can be found in Acts 16:25-31 where a prison guard thinks he has a short amount of time to live. Missionaries Paul and Silas had been thrown into prison and as they were praying and singing to God, there was a great earthquake which caused all the doors of the prison to be opened and everyone’s chains to be loosed (16:25-26). The jailer awoke from his sleep seeing the prison doors opened, and assuming that the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself (Acts 16:27). Under Roman law, a prison guard who allowed his prisoners to escape was liable to the same penalty the prisoners would have suffered – death by execution. So to avoid the shame of a public execution, he was about to commit suicide.

Paul and Silas showed great love and concern for the jailer both by remaining in prison when they could have escaped and by preventing the jailer from committing suicide (Acts 16:28-29). This love for the jailer seems to have won him over. Thinking he only has a short amount of time to live, he asks them, “Sirs what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

Do Paul and Silas tell him to confess his sins? Be baptized with water? Turn from his sins? Obey God’s commands? Give his life to Christ? Surrender to the control of Christ? Ask Jesus into his heart or pray the sinner’s prayer? No. They said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

The reason a person must believe or trust in the Lord Jesus alone is because we all have a problem called sin (Romans 3:23) that separates us from God (Romans 6:23). Because all of us have sinned against God, we all deserve to die forever in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15). But God does not want us to die forever in the Lake of Fire, so He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, Who lived a perfect life and died on the cross for all of our sins and rose from the dead, proving that He is God (John 3:16; Romans 1:3-4; I Corinthians 15:3-6). Jesus is alive today and He has the power to save us from hell forever and give us eternal life which can never be lost (John 10:28-29). He now invites everyone to believe in Him for His gift of everlasting life (John 3:16). No amount of our good works can save us from the Lake of Fire because they are all stained with sin (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). Only Jesus can take away our sins (John 1:29). Believe in Him and the Bible guarantees “you will be saved”(Acts 16:31).

If you only have 60 seconds to live or 60 years to live, the Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31) and you will go to heaven when you die. Nothing more and nothing less. This is good news! Please believe it and share it with others.

What happens to a believer who falls away from the Lord?

^“4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:4-8

The author of Hebrews is referring here to genuine Christians who have been “enlightened” by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:32; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:3-6), which leads to “tasting” or receiving the gift of eternal life (John 4:10; Rom. 6:23; cf. Hebrews 2:9), which makes possible partnership (Hebrews 1:9; 3:1, 14) with the Holy Spirit, under Whom they feed on the Word and taste God’s power (Hebrews 6:4-6). Only a believer can “fall away” from the Lord. One cannot fall away from the Lord unless he has the Lord. This “falling away” refers to casting away their Christian hope (2:1; 3:13-14; 10:26) or apostasy. These Christians were in danger of returning to animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins instead of holding fast to the all sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:1-18; 3:12; 7:11-28; 10:1-18).

It is humanly “impossible… to renew” a believer who has fallen away from the Lord to repentance or a change of mind so that they come back to the Lord. Why? Because they have approached Christ the same way His enemies did who crucified Him – they put Him to “open shame” by rejecting Him (6:6b). But what is impossible for people is not impossible for God (Jeremiah 32:17; Luke 18:27). The believer who falls away from the Lord is not in danger of damnation.

We have Jesus’ guarantee that if a person comes to Him for the bread of life he or she will never need that bread again: “And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst’ ” (John 6:35). Christ promises that those who come to Him in faith will never hunger or thirst for everlasting life because it is permanent and cannot be lost.

We also have Jesus’ word that those who come to Him in faith will never be cast out of God’s family because Jesus is determined to do the will of the Father: ^“37All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.³⁹This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6:37-39). The believer will never be cast out under any circumstances because Jesus is determined to do His Father’s will which is that He loses no one. Jesus has never lost a believer and He never will.

But someone may say, “Well, I guess it really doesn’t matter what we do once we get saved. Throw your faith away and mock Chrstianity, and you will still go to heaven!” The writer of Hebrews is telling us, “Oh yes it does matter if you throw away your Christian faith!” The apostate believer may be safe from the fires of hell, but he or she is not safe from the fire of God’s discipline as verses 7-8 teach:

“⁷For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; ⁸but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” Hebrews 6:7-8

The writer of Hebrews uses an illustration from nature to summarize the consequences of pressing on to maturity as opposed to denying Christ. The field that produces according to the intention of the farmer is blessed, but the field that produces thorns and thistles is burned. So when a Christian is properly fruitful, God blesses. But when a believer produces a bad harvest, he is disciplined. This idea of blessing obedience and cursing disobedience is seen in Deuteronomy 27-28 as well.

When we become Christians by believing in Christ alone for His gift of eternal life, we are a lot like a plot of ground that belongs to God. And God has poured out His grace upon us like rain from heaven. And He has a right to expect that our lives will be fruitful, productive, and useful to Him and to other people. And when they are, God blesses that life. But if after we have received the blessings of His matchless grace, we produce briars, thorns, and fruits of a sin-cursed world, then God rejects that kind of a life and it falls under His temporal curse. And its destiny is to suffer the fire of His discipline.

The “thorns and briars” have worthless results (and harmful ones) of departure from the faith. Such land is disapproved (cf. I Corinthians 9:27). In this ancient practice after the land was burned, it was replanted. So even though burning is a picture of temporal judgment of the apostate, it also offers hope because of the purifying effect of the land. Just as the burning of a field was temporal and did not destroy the ground, so God’s judgment on His people is temporal and its purpose is to destroy their fruits, not them, so they can be productive once again for the Lord (cf. I Timothy 1:18-20). Keep in mind, however, that this judgment could lead to physical death (cf. I Corinthians 5:5; 11:30; I John 5:16).

But the writer of Hebrews does remind us that there are worse punishments than a sure, quick physical death as in the Old Testament. “²⁸Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” (10:28-29).

For example, King Saul suffered a worse punishment than death as he went through prolonged manic-depression and paranoia. He also was consumed by fear and hatred (I Samuel 13:8-28:25), yet he was saved since Samuel said he would be with him after death (I Samuel 28:19). Also King David should have been killed for his adultery and murder (cf. Exodus 21:12-14; Deuteronomy 22:22), but instead he went through the prolonged agony of God’s discipline for almost a year (cf. Psalm 32:3-5; 51:8). This included physical weakening and inward grief. This “worse punishment” may also have come upon some of the Corinthians who were “weak”and “sick”and eventually died (I Corinthians 11:29-32; cf. 10:1-13). The wrath of God is not limited to non-Christians, as believers can also experience God’s present-day wrath (Romans 1:18-32; 5:9-10; 13:4-5) whereby He gives the disobedient over to the consequences of their sins resulting in self-destruction. Believers can be saved from this wrath through the life of Christ living through them (Romans 6-8).

The reasons for such a punishment are found in Hebrews 10:29 above. The apostate “has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” His apostasy is an unruly trampling on the dignity and claims of Christ (cf. 6:6). He regards the sanctifying blood of the New Covenant, which sanctified him, as impure or unholy. Notice this apostate has been “sanctified” by the blood of Christ which in the author’s mind is the same as justification (cf. 2:11; 10:10, 14).

The reason it is impossible for us to renew an apostate back to repentance is because God reserves that believer for the fire of His discipline (6:8). And if repentance is ever going to happen in this life, it will only happen after they have gone through the scorching heat of God’s temporal judgment. Hebrews 10:30 says, “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’” This verse does not say God will judge the unsaved. It says “The Lord will judge His people.”

Rather than teach that a Christian who falls away from the Lord loses his salvation or was never saved in the first place, Hebrews 6:4-8 affirms the eternal security of the believer but also warns of the dangers of departing from our Savior.

What we focus on influences how we live

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1

The Psalmist describes two paths of life in this Psalm: the path of the godly and the path of the ungodly or wicked. “Blessed” or “happy” is the godly person who avoids the way of the wicked or ungodly person (1:1). Notice the progression of verbs in this first verse: “walks…stands…sits.” Departing from the Lord begins with casually listening (“walks”) to “the counsel” or wisdom “of the ungodly.” As they are influenced by that counsel, they begin to slow down (“stands”) enough to pay attention to “the path of sinners” who are separated from God. While spending time in the company of sinners (“sits”), they become more deeply involved with “the scornful” who mock God and ridicule what is godly.

“Blessed” is the godly person who avoids every form of wickedness in every place the Psalmist says (1:1). Instead of focusing on the way of the wicked person, the godly person focuses (“meditates”) on “the law of the Lord” (God’s Word) throughout all his waking hours (“day and night”) which produces a healthy root system or stability (“planted”) that nourishes (“by the rivers of water”) his spiritual life so that it “brings forth its fruit” at the proper time (“in its season”) and endures (“whose leaf also shall not wither”) times of spiritual dryness (1:2-3a). What we focus on will influence how we live our lives. We can focus on God’s ways and Word which benefits us and others (“whatever he does shall prosper”- 1:3b), or we can focus on the way of the wicked which embraces evil (1:1) and provides temporary pleasure only to be destroyed in judgment (1:4-5, 6).