Kingdom Ready

Introduction

One of the most well-known passages in the New Testament describes the “sheep and goats” judgment. That is one of the judgments that Jesus will carry out, after he returns to the earth. Here is the passage in question:

Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV):

Introduction

One of the most important subjects described in Scripture is: the return of Jesus to the Earth. Unfortunately, that is a rather “hazy” topic to many Christians. Basically, many Christians have heard something to the effect that Jesus will one day return; but they do not have many “details” about that event.

This is not very surprising; because most mainstream Christian denominations put all of their emphasis on “going to heaven when you die”. In other words, most Christian churches assert that when a Christian’s body dies, his “immortal soul” leaves his body, and goes to heaven – 3d vr glasses and his soul then lives in heaven, with God and Jesus – forever.

Note: this is the second part of a two-part blog post. The first part can be found here.

Question 3:Cheap Cleveland Browns Jerseys What will happen to unbelievers who die during the tribulation?

As mentioned in part 1 of this post, it appears that the tribulation period will last for seven years - with the second half of the tribulation being much worse than the first half.

It turns out that some Christian denominations have a very specific belief about the tribulation. This belief deals with people who die, during the tribulation period.

Introduction

One of the concepts that is described in Scripture is the idea that there are two primary “ages” – or periods of time – during which people will live. The first of those ages is our current age - i.e., the period of time that we are living in now. The second age is the age to come – i.e., a period of time that will take place, in the future.

There are a number of passage in Scripture that mention both this current age, and the age to come. Here are just a few of them:

Matthew 12:32 (ESV):

A Witness Unto All Nations

Matthew 24:14 – And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

There are about 200 nations in the world today, and there are Christians in every one of these nations. But Jesus was not talking about today’s political entities, nor was he talking about the kingdoms of his day, most of which no longer exist.

The Greek word for nations in this verse is ethnesin, derived from ethne, which is the root of the English word “ethnic.” This word means more than simply “nations” in the political sense. It refers to ethnic and cultural groups – groups of people who share a distinct ethnicity, language, and/or culture. Anthropologists simply call these groups “people groups.”

Introduction

A rather intriguing set of passages is contained in Revelation chapter 7. The first eight verses of that chapter refer to a very specific group of individuals. Those individuals are referred to as “servants of God” – and they are subsequently “sealed”  by an angel of God. Here are those eight verses:

Revelation 7:1-8 (ESV):

To understand this term, one must also seek to understand other closely related phrases, like sons of men and children of men. Firstly, all of these terms are applied to mankind in general. These terms indicate the difference between God and the human race. The phrase son of man is the strongest way to distinguish between deity and humanity!

Psalm 115:16 (usage – children of men)
Consider the contrast between God and mankind: God dwells in heaven; man dwells on the earth.

Psalm 145:10 – 13 (usage – sons of men)
Here’s another contrast between God and mankind: God is big, strong, powerful and eternal; man is small, weak and temporal.

Matthew 22:1-14 ( NASB)

Introduction

A number of passages in Scripture indicate that during the “end time” – i.e., the period of time which immediately precedes the end of this age – Israel will be completely alone.

In other words, at that time, no other nations will be willing to assist Israel at all. The following two passages appear to indicate that rather explicitly:

Zechariah 12:1-5 (ESV):

The Kingdom in the Prophets (Continued)

Jerusalem has been under the control of the Gentiles since the time of Daniel, as illustrated by his visions of the successive Gentile empires. But a time will come when it will be trodden underfoot, and Israel will turn back to God, at which time the Gentile kingdoms will be subdued by God’s Kingdom.

Matthew 23:
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.