We Must Be There.

 

*******

'Our Future Heavenly Home-

A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for them in the Father's house. Those who accept the teachings of God's word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. And yet, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1179 Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite

 1179 1 Cor. 2:9

mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God. In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country.1180 There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.

“My people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.” “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” “They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them, They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shalt not plant, and another eat:... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” 1181 There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree.” 1182 “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; [676] ... and a little child shall lead them.” “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,” 1183 saith the Lord. Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be no more tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, ... for the 

1180 Heb. 11:14-16. 

1181 Isa. 32:18; 60:18; 65:21, 22. 

1182 Isa. 35:1; 55:13. 

1183 Isa. 11:6, 9; 33:24; 62:3; 65:19

former things are passed away.” 1184 “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” 1185 

1184 Rev. 21:4, 11, 24, 3

1185 "   "  '

The Great Controversy  - EG White'

*******

"We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

(Excerpt continued)

The Place of Gathering- has nothing but attraction. Jesus, the fairest among ten thousand, is there. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Job, and Daniel, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, the perfection of heavenly society, will be there. Visions of beauty are there, flowers that never fade, streams that never dry, products in variety that never ends, fruits that never decay, crowns that never dim, harps that, know no discord, and all else of which a taste purified from sin and raised to the plane of immortality can form any conception or think desirable, will be there. 

We Must Be There-

We must bask in the forgiving smiles of God, to whom we have become reconciled, and sin no more; we must have access to that exhaustless fount of Vitality, the fruit of the tree of life, and never die; we must repose under the shadow of its leaves, which are for the service of the nations, and never again grow weary ; we must drink from the life-giving fountain, and thirst nevermore; we must bathe in its silvery spray, and be refreshed; we must walk on its golden sands, and feel that we are no longer exiles; we must exchange the cross for the crown, and feel that the days of our humiliation are ended; we must lay down the staff and take the palm branch, and feel that the journey is done; we must put off the rent garments of our warfare for the white robes of triumph, and feel that the conflict is ended and the victory gained; we must exchange the toil-worn, dusty girdle of our pilgrimage for the glorious vesture of immortality, and feel that sin and the curse can never more pollute us. O day of rest and triumph and every good, delay not thy dawning! Let the angels at once be sent to gather the elect. Let the promise be fulfilled which bears in its train these matchless glories.

"Even so, Come, Lord Jesus"

(End Excerpt)

Tree of Life, Will You Eat of This Tree?

 Do You Want the Right to the Tree of Life?

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 

Blessed are they that do his commandments. The commandments are the royal law and all commandments of Jesus stem from them. 

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Sin is a transgression of the law.

If sin still exists, the law still exists. You can't have sin without the law to sin against.

We can't do away with the law, the royal law, the ten commandments that hold all the love of God, if we do, then we embrace sin wholly whether we comprehend this or want to believe it or not, it's truth. 

The first and great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind-- these four laws expound upon that first and great commandment.

1   I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

2  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

3  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 

4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

JESUS kept all these laws perfectly. He had NO new laws to keep. He was there when the TEN commandments were given.

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

Christ was THERE! You cannot divorce Christ from the Royal Law, the Ten Commandments. Christ did away with the sacrificial law, the sacrificial services that all pointed to Him, He did NOT destroy the ten commandments at all whatsoever, but Satan would have men and women believe that He has. Satan wants people to believe that Jesus destroyed the ten commandments and replaced them with a more superficial broad spectrum just love concept that holds them to know true standard. FROM love we keep each commandment, if we keep any of the commandments without love we aren't keeping them at all whatsoever. LOVE is of God, God created the laws, the laws are love! To say the ten commandments are not love is to say God created laws that aren't perfect. 

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

 5 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 

6 Thou shalt not kill. 

7 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

8 Thou shalt not steal. 

9 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 

10 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. 

Love of others, the perfect law embraces this, Christ expounds on all His laws, but never destroys them, never does away with them, only fulfil each and every one of them as we are to fulfil them as well. 

To hold up the ten commandments and say Christ did away with them, that Christ replaced them, that Christ changed them is a LIE. Christ lived each law perfectly and because of this HE was able to defeat Satan and save us! Satan would have had the victory over Christ if Christ could not have kept the royal law perfectly, because Christ would have sinned if he'd broken any of the laws, in any way, the heart of each and every law was kept by our Savior and He wants us to keep them too, and will enable us to do so through the Holy Spirit!  Christ in us our Hope!

*******

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 

Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

Rev 22:3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 

Rev 22:5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 

*******

"We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

(Excerpt continued)

The Goodly Land 

There is a land which stands in a wonderful contrast to this. "Oh, how unlike the present world Will be the one to come!" 

There are fields smiling in living green, trees majestic in their wealth of verdure, flowers dazzling with their rainbow hues, and on neither field nor tree nor flower is there the touch of frost or the pale hand of decay. There are no footprints of the curse, no scars of sin. No pestilence walks in darkness, nor destruction wastes at noonday. There are no forms distorted with pain, nor brows furrowed with anxiety and care. I see no mournful shafts, telling where weary forms and sad and broken hearts have in darkness moldered into dust. There are no painful messages passing over that land, telling that a friend, a brother, a fellow-laborer has fallen beneath the cruel stroke of a relentless foe. There is no darkened room where the tide of a precious life is ebbing slowly away. There are no bosoms heaving with anguish, no badges of mourning, no funeral trains, no yawning, insatiate grave. But, on the other hand, there is a glorious company, who bear bright palms of victory over death and the grave. 

There every eye is sparkling with the fulness of the joy that reigns within. On every cheek is the bloom of eternal youth and everlasting health. Every limb is lithe and. strong. The lame man leaps as an hart. I see the blind gazing with rapture on the celestial glory. I see the deaf listening enchanted to the heavenly melody. He who was once dumb joins with loud voice in the anthems of praise. The mother clasps to her bosom the children she had lost awhile in the land of the enemy, but now recovered forever. Long-parted friends meet in eternal reunion. There is the river so pure and clear, so charged with every element of refreshment and life that it is called "the river of life." One overarching tree is so healing in its leaves, so vivifying in its fruits, so potent in its ministry, that it is called "the tree of life." There is the great white throne, in whose effulgence there is no need of moon or sun to give us light; and from its center a voice is saying to that victorious company, "This is your rest forever, and you shall no more be acquainted with grief; for there shall be no more pain or death, and sorrow and mourning have forever fled away." And in all the universe there is thenceforth no trace of sin or suffering, but from every world and from every creature rises a joyous anthem, like the sound of many waters, going up to God; and they say, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever."

'Amen. Even So, Come, Lord Jesus.'

 Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice

Marvel not.

Marvel not.

Marvel…not.

When you marvel you are amazed and awed at something, yes? When we aren't marveling it means we shouldn't be surprised, awed, amazed. We aren't to marvel that a time will come when ALL that are in the graves will hear the voice of Jesus!

I just put an exclamation point at the end of that, what does that indicate? 

Marveling. 

That hour hasn't come yet, but it is still coming. The Bible is filled with prophecies that take years, sometimes thousands of years to come to pass. Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it's not going to happen, IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, nothing can stop it from happening, not a single thing.

One day, the LORD is going to return and He is going to CALL all from their graves. 

What does that mean? Being called from the grave? What do you think it means. Does it mean what is sounds like it means? 

We see movies and such all the time depicting zombies rising out of graves, but it won't be like that at all. 

All those in the grave, how many is that? Too numerous to count isn't it? We're talking all that went to the grave since sin caused the first death. We can't count that number, but God knows. Jesus will call ALL from their graves. 

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 

Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. 

ALL who have ever died when our Savior calls them from the grave will come forth from those graves, the good and the evil-- to live forever, or to live to die the second death. 

Where do the dead in Christ come from when He calls them upon His return? You just read the words, from the grave. If you die, if you have any loved ones who have already died, you enter the grave. The grave is your death, If people start up about the myriad ways a person dies that leaves no actual grave-burial place, if they talk about their loved one in a jar on the mantel, or in the closet, it doesn't matter, their grave is the fact of their death- no matter where the physical remains are. If they are scattered in the ocean in a million little pieces, it doesn't matter. The God who made the first human from the very dust of the earth will call all the matter that made up each individual who died, this is not beyond our Creator in any way- this is the wonder, the majesty, the glory, the honor, the power of our God in action. Only our Creator could call us from the grave and He will! 

The wonder, the miracle of it all is just mind-boggling and that's what Satan wants us to believe, that is it so mind-boggling that it's unbelievable, impossible. Satan has concocted a whole different scenario about death, and he doesn't have any of the dead in their graves where CHRIST says they are until He returns. Satan has dead people living immediately upon taking their very last physical breath- when that breath has returned to God who gave it. Satan has made up lies about immediate life, he told Eve and Adam that they would not die if they disobeyed God, and they believed him. Satan has mankind believing they go directly to heaven for their reward, or to hell for their punishment- but the Bible tells us this isn’t so! 

Jesus will call ALL from their graves. 

Jesus will call ALL back to life , because they are NOT already alive, the dead are all in the sleep of death knowing nothing until they are called to life by our Savior who will then and only then reward those who are His with eternal life. 

May God help us ALL be His at His return, may we either hear Jesus' call to life from our graves or call to rise into the air to meet Him if we are still living! All by His amazing, wondrous grace, His all undeserved mercy towards us! May we be HIS now and always!

Amen!!!!!!!

*******

"We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

(Excerpt continued)

A Glorious Climax of the Plan of Salvation

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen." Rev. 22:20, 21.

The Word of God is given to instruct us in reference to the plan of salvation. The second coming of Christ is to be the climax and completion of that great scheme. It is most appropriate, therefore, that the book should close with the solemn announcement, "Surely I come quickly." Be it ours to join with fervent hearts in the response of the apostle: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." 

Thus closes the volume of inspiration, closes with that which constitutes the best of all promises, and the substance of the Christian's hope, the return of Christ. 

Then Shall the Elect Be Gathered  - and bid a long farewell to all the ills of this mortal life. How rich in all that is precious to the Christian is this promise! Wandering in exile in this evil world, separated from the few of like precious faith, he longs for the companionship of the righteous, the communion of saints. Here he shall obtain it; for all the good shall be gathered, not from one land only, but from all lands; not from one age only, but from ages,

the great harvest of all the good, coming up in long and glorious procession, while angels shout the harvest home, and the timbrels of heaven sound forth in joyous concert; and a song before unheard, unknown, in the universe, the song of the redeemed, shall add its marvelous notes of rapture and melody to the universal jubilee. So shall the saints be gathered, to be joyful in each other's presence forever and ever, "While the glory of God, like a molten sea, Bathes the immortal company." 

This gathering has nothing in it but that which is desirable. The saints can but sigh and pray for it. Like Job, they cry out for the presence of God. Like David, they can not be satisfied till they awake in His likeness. In this mortal condition we groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon We can but be "upon tiptoe" for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body. Our eyes are open for its visions, our ears are waiting to catch the sounds of the heavenly music, and our hearts are beating in anticipation of its infinite joy. Our appetites are "COME, LORD JESUS, COME QUICKLY. No news more welcome than the announcement that the command has gone forth from the Lord to His angels, "Gather together unto Me My elect from the four winds of heaven."

(to be continued) 

We Would See Jesus.

 "We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

(Excerpt continued)

JESUS

"The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels." Matt. 13:30.

Only those who love and prepare for His appearing will then rejoice and be saved. 

"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4:8.

"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.

"And I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him." Isa. 8:17.

"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.

The righteous are then taken up to meet Christ in the clouds, who takes them to the city, New Jerusalem, which He has prepared for the saints. 

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." John 14:1-4. 

All the living wicked will also see Christ when He comes in glory, but they will see Him with anguish, and will then be destroyed. 

"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7. 

"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:14-17.

For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Isa. 66:15, 16.

He Will Come for His Own

"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels." Mal. 3:17. 

He comes not as a thief in the sense of stealing in stealthily and quietly upon the world, and purloining goods to which He has no right. But He comes to take to Himself His dearest treasure, His sleeping and living saints, whom He has  purchased with. His own precious blood, whom He has wrested from the power of death in fair and open conflict, and for whom His coming will be no less open and triumphant, too. It will be with the brilliancy and splendor of the lightning as it shines from the east to the west. Matt. 24:27. 

It will be with a sound of a trumpet that shall pierce to earth's lowest depths, and with a mighty voice that shall wake the sainted sleepers from their dusty beds. Matt. 24:31, margin; 1 Thess. 4:16.8

He will come upon the wicked as a thief, only because they persistently shut their eyes to the tokens of His approach, and will not believe the declarations of His Word that He is at the door. 

(End excerpt) 

A Moment In My Life 40 Years Ago.

 40 years ago this August, the 28th, my life was changed. How do I know this? 

Today as started studying the Bible - old school- with a real Bible in hand not an electronic one, I opened my old Bible from - you guessed it - almost 40 years ago.  When I was looking at the old tattered and very worn Bible, there I saw the inscription my Great Aunt Alberta wrote. The Bible was not intended for me. The inscription read-  'To: Floyd and Shirley Pope From: Your Niece, Alberta.' Yeah, she got the niece part wrong, she was Shirley's (my mother) aunt, my great aunt. My Aunt Alberta was quite old at the time of writing the inscription.  The date inscribed- August 28th, 1982.  

How did the Bible end up in my possession?  After my Aunt Alberta returned home (she came to visit  from Rhode Island to New York for a family reunion) she left a lot of various Biblical material around and it piqued my curiosity. I wasn't in a very good place in my life (19 years old) and desperately needing some guidance. I picked up the book, 'Steps to Christ' and therein began my journey. I wanted to look up Bible references and having no Bible of my own I asked my mom if I could have that Bible, and she said I could. 

Almost 40 years ago, the length of time the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, I first opened that Bible. A generation of time. So much has happened since I began that journey. 

Today's following excerpt is about witnessing the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ as He comes to redeem His people, living and dead and take them to heaven-- 40 years ago I believed it was happening any moment, and guess what? I still do. 

I'm not prophet, and I know there are things in the Bible I don't have full comprehension of. I do know my Savior told me to watch and pray as I wait for His return. My Savior gave me signs to look for. My Savior is going to return for me, I believe this as much now as I did 40 years ago. By His grace I will be redeemed, not because I'm worthy, but because He is worthy and He forgives me my sins, He creates in me a new heart, He makes my life here worth living, He gives me hope that there is so much more, a real life, a life how it was originally intended, all waiting for me, for you, for all of us! This awful world we live in was not Jesus' home, not the home of any of those who are Christ's- we are just pilgrims here, strangers passing through as we wait for our real home, our heavenly home and our eventual new heaven and earth home. None of the agonies of this life, and none of the supposed superficial treasures of this life are what matter, they will pass, they will all disappear and what will remain is our heavenly treasure, our Savior and the life He longs for us to have with Him. This is truth, not fantasy, all facts. The historical prophetic word of our God, the Bible proves this to be so beyond any doubt whatsoever! 

40 years in August…perhaps it ended up being September when I actually took possession of that Bible- I don’t know the exact day, but it was that year. The next year, January 1983, I was baptized. I still remember, I'd asked my dad to come to my baptism and he said he'd try, but wasn't sure he could make it. When I saw him in the congregation I was thrilled! At the small reception after the baptism I can still remember hugging him tightly and thanking him, telling him if I never get married that this was that special of an occasion for me and I'm so glad he was there for it. Such a wonderful memory. Two short years later my dad passed away into death's sleep and never did get to see me get married, but he was there when I gave my life to Christ as I symbolically died and rose in that baptismal water up into a new life in my Lord Jesus- the most important day of my life. 

I praise God for salvation through Jesus Christ my Lord, all glory, honor, praise and honor to Him always! Come, Lord Jesus, come! I long to see Your return! I long to meet You! I long to be with You and never part from You again! I love You, Lord! Thank you for loving me first!

******* (Excerpt continued)

AND, EVEN SO, WE WOULD INDEED SEE JESUS

"We shall see Him as He is; 

Sweeter promise is there none

Than is given us in this,

For Christ's friends to think upon.

Though we walk in darkness here,

With the fogs about our face,

All the mists will disappear

When we gain our resting-place."

The Scriptural Foundation for This Blessed Hope

Christ has been here on earth once, and He has promised to come again. "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28.

"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3.

"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11.  

The second advent of Christ is clearly foretold in the Old Testament, as follows -

(a) Enoch prophesied of Christ's coming in glory. "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." Jude 14.

(b) Job believed in the coming of Christ at the last day. "For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger [mar-gin] ; though my reins be consumed within me." Job 19 :25-27.

(c) David spoke of Christ's coming to gather His saints. "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."  Ps. 50:3-5.

(d) Isaiah prophesied of Jesus' coming to save His people and to destroy the wicked. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall he said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:8, 9.

"For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many." Isa. 66:15, 16.

Christ's coming will be personal, in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see Him. 

"Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11.

"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21:27. 

"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7. 

"Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:26, 27.

"Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said; nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62. 

"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." Mark 13:26.  

"For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy  angels." Luke 9:26.

He will come with all the holy angels, and will then gather the saints. "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." Matt. 25:31. 

 

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 24:30, 31. 

(Excerpt "We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones) To be continued…

I'm Not Going to Heaven...

 

Happiness is For Heaven, An Unpopular Belief.

 Condemnation. This is a word we do not like to entertain. We want to believe that Jesus condemned no one because we've been taught condemnation is not of love. Did Jesus offer forgiveness to all? Yes. Jesus associated with all manner of sinners, and the sinners He saved from their sins, He did not save the in their sins. More than once He told them to go and sin no more- didn't He mean what He said? He did not forgive them and encourage them to keep sinning, not ever. He forgave over and over, but never to condone the sin saying the sin was okay to commit. He knew our frailty and even said to forgive seventy times seven times, but He did not say to sin. We are to turn from sin, strive against sin, not embrace it, not call it good just because we are too weak to keep from sinning. We don't want to feel the weight of guilt which can be heavy, so very heavy, so we in turn try to make our sins acceptable. Sin can never be acceptable, never. We are corrupted beings, sinful beings filled with lusts without number, and Christ would have us be His, not filled with self. He was NOT filled with self, and we are not to be filled with self. He did NOT please Himself, and we are NOT to please ourselves yet for some reason we think that's ALL we are to do, live to be happy, live to be pleased, live to enjoy ourselves, live to feel good about ourselves. We feel slighted and robbed when we aren't happy. Our happiness is to be found in CHRIST! Our treasures are to be in HEAVEN, yet we want our treasures now and we want them right here on earth. The treasures of happiness, pleasure, self-satisfaction, self-indulgence, self-everything, we want it now. We want to feel GOOD about ourselves, not self-loathing and when we loath ourselves we despise that loathing thinking we should be happy with ourselves. We've made it ALL about ourselves! When we think of Christ even then we think in terms of - are we pleasing Christ, are we failing Christ, that WE is SELF! LOVE CHRIST in spite of EVERYTHING - good, bad and all in between! 

Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. 

Christ did NOT live a life of selfish pleasure in lusts, nowhere in the word of our God will we find any selfish lust being fulfilled by Jesus, nowhere! So WHY WHY WHY do we believe we are to live to be self-serving, why? Why? Because Satan has corrupted us into believing that we deserve to be happy here and now in ways that our personal lusts whatever they may be, will be fulfilled and give us happiness and pleasure as if this is what our happiness should be found in… self-pursuits. These are ALL UNPOPULAR truths! So unpopular they have been discarded by the vast majority of people. And those who uphold the truths are UNPOPULAR as well. We are called liars, haters, Christ-less- because Christ is all about LOVE not hate and people say we hate when we don't condone their choices. 

Christ was unpopular… the rich young ruler left unhappy… not ALL who encountered Jesus accepted His truths especially when they were contrary to the self-serving, pleasure seeking, parts of them. God help us ALL to live for HIM and not for ourselves as we are prone to do. 

CHRIST first, not SELF first, TRUTH first… Christ is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE.

All through our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRSIT NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!! Amen!

*******

"We Would See Jesus"  A. T. Jones

"And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast; the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus."

The desire of these Greeks was certainly a very natural one. They had come up to Jerusalem to worship, and had found the name of Jesus upon everybody's lips. From the highest to the lowest, from the proud and courted Pharisee to the outcast leper, from the high priest and the chief priests, supposed to be the purest in the nation, to the abandoned sinner, all, all were talking about Jesus.

Of course, all were not praising Him; all were not glorifying Him; the chief priests and the Pharisees were most bitterly opposed to Him, and were only waiting impatiently for an opportunity to kill Him, while the common people were anxious to make Him a king. But whether it was to praise or to condemn, whether it was to kill or to make a king, the sole subject of it all was Jesus, and it was the most natural thing in the world that these Greeks should want to see the Person about whom so much was said.

The Name of Jesus

From that day to this the name that has been used most in this world is the name of Jesus. The one Person about whom more has been said, and of whom more has been made, than of any other person this world ever saw, is the Man Christ Jesus. True, as at the first, some have praised Him, and some have cursed Him; some have worshiped Him, while others

have sought to kill Him, and often He has been wounded in the house of His friends; still the name more than all others that is used in the wide world to-day is the name of Jesus. And with those Greeks of old we now say, "We would see Jesus;" not, however, as they, simply because much is said of Him, either for or against Him; not because there are even now those who would kill at least His name out of the earth; nor yet because there are those, as the religio-political reformers, who would take Him by force and make Him king of earthly governments. Not because of any of these things would we see Him. But we

would see Him as He is.

We Would See Him, for We Love Him

For even as saith the Scripture, having not seen Him, we love Him (1 Peter 1:8); and, because we love Him, we would see Him. Having not seen Him, we love Him, because He first loved us. We love Him because He loved us and gave Himself for us. We love Him for His gentle pity for sinners such as we are. We love Him for His cheerful mercy to men so fearfully undeserving as are we. We love Him because, in "the great love wherewith He loved us," He "His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." We love Him for His lofty humanity. We love Him for His "profound reverence for infinite goodness and truth." We love Him for the moral

force and the benign influence of His mighty character. We love Him for His perfect goodness. For this cause would we see Him. We would see Him because of the character He bears, And all the forms of love He wears." 

Yet We Would Not Now See Him as He Was 

We would not now see His visage so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. We would not now see Him a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We would not now see Him oppressed and afflicted. We would not now see Him taken as a lamb to the slaughter. We would not now see Him in His travail of soul. We would not now see Him in His dreadful agony on the cruel tree.

No; We Would See Him as He Is 

We would see Him "that liveth," though once dead, yet now "alive forevermore, Amen," and who has "the keys of hell and of death." We would see Him as the disciples saw Him, "His face did shine as the sun," "and His raiment became shining," "white as the light," "exceeding white as snow, so that no fuller on earth can white them." We would see Him as Stephen saw Him, "in glory, standing on the right hand of God." We would see Him as Paul saw Him, shining in light "above the brightness of the sun." We would see Him as John saw Him "His head and His hairs white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes as

a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace;  and His voice as the sound of many waters;" "and His countenance as the sun shineth in his strength." We would see Him as Isaiah saw Him, "sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," and the train of His glory filling the heavenly temple, about Him standing the bright seraphim shading their glorious faces from His ineffable glory, and crying one unto another, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Isa. 6:1-4 with John 12:41.

We Would See Him Coming in the Clouds

...in heaven with power and great glory, and would hear His mighty voice saying to His angels, "Gather My saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." And then and there, in the midst of the church, would we see Him and hear His glorious voice singing that song of promised praise to the Father. Heb. 2:12. Oh, 'tis thus that "we would see Jesus"! 

And we thank God, not only for the hope that we shall see Him as He is, but also that the signs are abundant all about us that soon this "blessed hope" shall be fulfilled.

And We Shall Be Like Him

And the blessed promise is that we shall not only "see Him as He is," but "we shall be like Him." "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." We would see Jesus. In this hope we live. For its fruition we wait. But, while so living and waiting, we would never for a moment forget that he "that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John 3:2, 3.