The Doctrine of the Second Advent
as it relates to the Christian Soldier. Part 3.
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Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!
Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).
1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND
If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.
John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]
Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.
John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV
Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:
Study to show yourself approved to God!
Grace Bible Church
Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
STUDY TITLE:
The Doctrine of the Second Advent
as it relates to the Christian Soldier. Part 3.
as it relates to the Christian Soldier. Part 3.
We will conclude our study on the Second Coming or the Second Advent this morning by a summary of what is going to happen during the end times concerning the Tribulation Period which is followed by the millen¬nial reign.
The Second Advent is the second time the Lord Jesus Christ comes down on earth as a member of the human race and He returns with the Church-age believers, the royal family of God, with special emphasis on winner believers and the invisible heroes.
1Th 3:11-13, Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus [And who does He come back with?] with all His saints.
He comes back with all His saints and Rev 19:7-14 tells us that this is followed by the closing arguments and summary which includes the Millennial rule of Jesus Christ on the earth. So, we read in Rev 19:7, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” How does the Bride or the Church make herself ready? She dresses and adorns herself with the righteous acts she has performed as a member of the Church or Royal Family of God.
Rev 19:8-10, And it was given to her [the privilege] to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, “Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” And I fell at his feet to worship him.
This was an angel that John met and whom he tried to worship, but the angel would have none of that and so he said to the apostle John, And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; WORSHIP GOD. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Notice that the angel would not receive worship from men, he would only allow the Lord Jesus Christ to be worshipped.
The same thing happened to Thomas. In John 20:26-28, And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace {be} with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed {are} they who did not see, and {yet} believed.”
Notice that the lord Jesus Christ would receive worship from Thomas because Jesus Christ is God and as God worship is due to Him.
Back in Rev 19:11-16, And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteous-ness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many dia¬dems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Now, after the Bride makes herself ready or adorns herself then there is a time of 1000 years of perfect environment on the earth. And now comes the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man who rules the earth like Satan was unable to do. This duplicates the conditions before the fall of Satan and before the fall of man in the garden of Eden. It’s interesting that there are three areas of perfect environment that are actually taught in the Bible.
1. One is prehistoric perfect environment which occurred and existed prior to Satan’s fall and the angelic revolution, Eze 28. The perfect environment continued until the satanic revolution.
2. Then when man was created to duplicate the same conditions, perfect envi-ronment was provided on the earth, according to Gen 2-3. And man’s revolution destroyed perfect environment.
3. In the last 1000 years of human history, there will be perfect environment, and yet even though perfect conditions exist, at the end of the Millennium, there is a final revolution, Rev 20.
And we learn something from these three areas of perfect environment, we learn that rational creatures including angelic and humans, are no better off in perfect environment than in any other environment. In fact, perfect environment is never the solution to the problems of life.
And of course, at some time in your life, as we all have, you have probably tried to envision perfect environment, for some people they think of marriage, becoming successful, or doing great things in some way.
But it has been demonstrated time and time again, that the accomplishment of these things does not bring the happiness that most consider to be a part of perfect environment. It just simply doesn’t work that way. So we learn the wonderful lessons, that Bible doctrine in the soul is what gives a person happiness. Why? Because Bible doctrine gets rid of the garbage in the soul. Bible doctrine gives you contentment, tranquility and peace. Bible doctrine allows you to share the happiness of God, one of the problem solving devices.
Prov 3:1-6, My son, do not forget my teach¬ing, #But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life, And peace they will add to you. Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Listen for the voice of God in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.
Prov 3:7-9, Do not be wise or conceited in your own eyes [don’t assume you know it all]; Fear or respect the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body, And refreshment to your bones. Honor the Lord from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce;
Honor GOD with everything you own; give him the first and the best. I think if we all did that we wouldn’t always have needs in the Church.
Prov 3:10-18, So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will over¬flow with new wine. My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord, Or loathe or sulk at His reproof, For whom the Lord loves He reproves, Even as a father, the son in whom he delights. How happy is the one who finds Lady wisdom, And the one who gains understanding or Madam insight. For its profit is better than the profit of silver, And its gain than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her. Long life is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, And all her paths are peace She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast.
Satan cannot interfere or interrupt this argument of the prosecution called perfect environment because he is incarcerated during the Millennium. The closing argument and summary of Satan in the appeal trial of the angelic conflict occurs at the end of the Millennium when Satan is released from his prison. As the defense attorney, he has one more argument.
Satan’s closing argument is the Gog revolution at the end of the Millennium. What is the Gog revolution?
Rev 20:7-8, And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
Satan is released from his imprisonment and he is permitted once again in his final appeal to pass through the earth and to arouse discontent against the perfect environment that has existed for a thousand years. He is released from his prison and as the defense attorney, he has one more argument. Remember in the garden of Eden, Satan came in the form of a serpent, it was demon possession of an animal. The serpent was the most beautiful animal in the garden for Adam and the woman. And Satan did not attack the man, the one who was in charge. If he had, it would have been no contest.
The woman would have always had an excuse. She could have said to God, “I did what my husband told me to do.” I don’t know how many times women have said that by the way, but I’m sure that it’s been said from time to time. It’s always music to the ears of the husband. But the point is, Satan didn’t attack Adam. Adam was not deceived, the woman was. And it isn’t just the woman in the garden who is said to be susceptible to deception, all women are according to the Bible.
This is why we read in 1Ti 2:11-14, Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.
And so let’s note the chronological order of the events that take place after the Second Advent or Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are involved in something that is an extension of something that is far greater than our own personal circumstances. Our own personal goals.
Something that is far greater than who and what we are. Something is far more magnificent.
We are being watched by angels.
Now, when Satan revolted against God in prehistoric times all of the angels were created beings from the hand of God and therefore they were all perfect. And, when Satan first entered the picture with mankind, he found two perfect people, Adam and the woman were created perfect.
So when we get to the perfect environment of the Millennium, think of it…..1000 years of no war. 1000 years of no one suffering. No one deprived, no poor people! Everyone is in a perfect environment! Everyone has everything. During that time there’s great evangelism but not everyone believes in Christ, nevertheless they are still living! The only ones who die in the Millennium are those who die because of capital punishment.
Satan is released from his prison and he goes through the land and he is visible. He is visible with all of his beauty. With his magnificent personality he persuades literally hundreds and thousands of people to revolt against God and revolt against perfect environment. It’s again the same choice that the angels made, Jesus Christ on the one hand or Satan on the other hand!
The revolt against perfect environment is the same pattern as the revolt in heaven in prehistoric times. It’s the same pattern on a limited basis but the same pattern as existed in the fall of Adam and the woman.
Rev 20:1-2, And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss [the fourth compartment of Hades, the prison for fallen angels] and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
You would think that anyone who went to jail for a thousand years would learn something?
However, let’s see!
Rev 20:3-4, and [he] threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them [this is a Millennial reward for Tribulational martyrs]. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
These are the winner believers who were willing to be martyred for the cause of Christ during the Tribulation period.
Rev 20:5-7, The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed [this is a reference to the second resurrection of unbelievers referred to here]. This is the first resurrection. Blessed or happy and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power [this is when unbeliev¬ers are raised from the dead and they stand before God and then are thrown into the eternal lake of fire], but they [Tribulational winners] will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
Satan has been in prison for a thousand years and during that thousand years on earth, perfect environment has existed as we have noted. Everything was absolutely perfect. There’s no such thing as a person who doesn’t have everything in life. There’s an abundance of wealth and success for everyone. The only thing that is not quite perfect are the people. People still have old sin natures, everything else is perfect.
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.
The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.
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