117 Revelation the 144,000 Elect

John sees the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. With him are the 144,000 Elect. They're the only ones that can learn a special song the Lamb is singing. Then, John hears several angels. One tells them all to fear and worship God, otherwise there is going to be some serious judgment going on. Another tells them that Babylon has fallen. A third one lets everyone know that the people who worship the Beast are going to burn. Next, John sees someone who looks like the Son of Man floating down on a cloud. He's wearing a gold crown and holding a sickle. He takes the sickle and swings it to reap all the faithful people from the Earth. Another angel comes down with a sickle and reaps all the not-so-faithful people. Then he throws them into a wine press of God's wrath. It squirts out blood all over the place.

118 Revelation - Seven Bowls of Wrath

After this, John sees seven angels carrying seven plagues. He also sees that the people who brought down the Beast are sitting by a sea of glass playing harps and singing songs of praise to God. Then John notices that one of them gives the angels seven golden bowls filled with hot steamy portions of God's wrath. The time has come. All Non-Beleivers.. look out!

A voice tells the angels to go ahead and serve up a heaping helping of that wrath on the Earth. So, the angels pour out their bowls one by one. The first angel dumps out his bowl, and all the non-believers who have the mark of the Beast on them break out in painful sores. The second angel turns the sea into blood. The third angel turns the rivers into blood. The fourth angel turns up the heat on the sun and burns all the people. The fifth angel plunges the entire city of Rome into darkness. The people there curse God, because they're still not getting the clue. Repent or there's worse to come. The sixth angel dries up the Euphrates River. The seventh angel pours his bowl out and a voice tells everyone that, "It is done." But, wait. There's still lightning and thunder. Oh, and an earthquake. An earthquake that splits Rome into thirds. And destroys every nation on Earth. Oh, and hailstones. They're so big they end up crushing people. And yet, the people still don't get it. They just keep cursing God and going about with their non-believing ways.

119 Revelation Whore of Babylon

Next up, John gets to see the Whore of Babylon. She is a woman riding the Sea Beast (except this time it's scarlet-red) dressed in red and purple robes and dripping with gold and jewels and pearls. On her forehead, she has written: "Babylon, the great, mother of whores." John tells us she's been drinking the blood of the faithful. John is pretty amazed, but one of the angels asks him why. He has seen some pretty amazing things up until now. The angel then goes on to explain what the deal is with this woman. Basically, the short version is this: the woman represents Rome who seduces everyone with its beauty and charm, but is really just a prostitute. The Beast she rides on is Rome as well, specifically one of its emperors, Nero, who was especially nasty to Christians and liked to have them executed.
John sees yet another angel coming down from Heaven. This angel announces that Babylon (i.e., Rome) has fallen. However, some of the non-believers on Earth are too busy mourning the loss of Rome. Kings are sad because Rome was so mighty. Merchants and shopkeepers are bummed, too, because they really liked selling their goods to Rome. Sailors are also feeling a bit melancholy because they were making a lot of money by working with Rome.

120 Revelation - Jesus returns on a white horse

Everyone in Heaven is losing their minds rejoicing and praising God for all this. In the midst of the celebration, John sees a white horse with Jesus riding out on it. Again, he's got the flames for eyes and the sword coming out of his mouth. But this time, he's wearing lots of crowns and his robe is dipped in blood. All the heavenly armies are there, too. They've got their white clothes and white horses and they're following Jesus in triumph. John spies the Sea Beast and his armies. Jesus and his heavenly squadron get rid of the Beast pretty quickly. They toss him into a Lake of Fire. All the other baddies are killed with Jesus's sword. Heavenly fighters: 1,000,000,000. Beast army: 0.

121 Revelation Millennium and Judgment Day

John sees that another angel has gotten hold of the Dragon and locked him in the bottomless pit. He's going to stay there for 1,000 years. After that, he'll be let out for a little while. So then John sees thrones with people seated on them. These people get to judge. Obviously, anyone who has kept faith, believing in Jesus is good to go. They will get to reign on earth for 1,000 years. But remember, once that 1,000 years is up, the Dragon is going to be let out of the pit and gather another army to destroy Earth. But, don't worry, this war is going to end a lot like the first one—with the Dragon as the big loser. Except this time, he'll be thrown into the Lake of Fire for good.

Once this happens, everyone is going to be judged by God. Even people who have been dead for years are going to have to answer for their actions on Earth. God will open up his Book and look over his records and give you either the thumbs up or the thumbs down. Fear means to reverence, or to stand in awe of someone. Glory means to consider God to be above all other things. Grace is now gone, and judgment is God’s next action. Since men dwell on the earth, which was created by God; and sail in ships upon the seas, which were created by God; and gaze at the luminaries of the heaven, which were created by God; and drink water from the fountains of waters, which were created by God; then men should worship him that made all these wonderful things and gave them to men as a blessing? If God realizes you're not in his Book, it's the Lake of Fire for you, too.

122 Revelation The New Jerusalem

After all the pesky non-believers and manifestations of extreme evil are gone, it's time to bring about a new Earth. John sees it happen—a New Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to Earth. And, no surprise, it's terrifically awesome. The Elect will live there with God. No one will ever mourn or die or be in pain. It will simply be God and his children living together forever and ever. But people who haven't led such upstanding lives will get thrown into the Lake of Fire. The city of New Jerusalem itself is probably the most incredible thing John has seen so far. John sees that the whole city is made of gold and glitters with all different kinds of jewels and gemstones. It has twelve gates (with the names of the tribes of Israel written on them) and twelve foundations (with the names of the apostles written on them). This New Jerusalem doesn't have a temple, though, because God himself is the temple. They also don't have to worry about lamps, because the presence of God provides all the light they need. It's always sunny in New Jerusalem. Crime is also non-existent, because no one ever does anything even remotely bad there.
An angel shows John a beautiful river flowing from God's throne. It's the water of life flowing in it. On the banks of the river is the tree of life, which grows twelve kinds of fruit. Nothing bad is ever going to happen in this new city. Everyone will just hang with God and rejoice and love each other all day. Heaven will be here on earth.

The angel assures John that everything he's seen and heard is true. All of this is actually going to happen. He also tells John to go ahead and share all this with the world. After all, Jesus will be coming very, very soon. People need this information because they need to do the right thing. God's judgment is coming. People who lead good lives will be able to live inside the walls of an awesome city made of gold. People who don't will get to take a little swim in a Lake of Fire… for all eternity. John also tells us that if anyone changes what he's written down, God is going to include them in all those terrible plagues. Jesus is coming soon, John tells us. He ends the book with this hope and a short prayer for the faithful.

123 Revelation Conclusion

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? If so, you have nothing to fear from God’s judgment of the world as described in the Book of Revelation. The Judge is on our side. Before the final judgment begins, we must witness to others about God’s offer of eternal life in Christ. The events in this book are real. We must live our lives like we believe it so that others will notice our joy about our future and want to join us in that new and glorious city. They will no longer be influenced by the pull of human nature, or by the world and its religions. They will be totally committed to the cause of God.

Regardless of when it occurs, there will be people who express disdain even as the very time approaches. No matter how difficult things look, some will assure everyone that man has everything under control. Tragically, such assurances will do nothing but provide a false sense of security, leading people to foolishly continue to trust in human ability rather than in God. The only wise action for anyone who understands what is coming is to turn to God with repentance and obedience. Our main focus should be to seek God and to be spiritually prepared for the times that are coming. “But keep on the alert at all times,” said Jesus, “praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man”

A passage in Revelation indicates that God plans to spare His people, granting them His protection during the 3 ½ years of tribulation and wrath that will come on humanity (Revelation 12:14). This is affirmed in other prophecies (see Zephaniah 2:3; Revelation 3:10).

Jesus’ dark prophecy about the climactic events that will rip the world apart just before His second coming is prefaced with a positive statement to His followers: “Pray that your flight [their escape ] will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened ”

Heaven facts

I imagine our first glimpse of heaven will cause us to gasp in a similar way—with amazement and delight. That first gasp will likely be followed by many more as we continually encounter new sights in that endlessly wonderful place. Whenever you talk about living forever somewhere, it would help to know for sure where you are going. After all, if you're wrong about heaven, you're going to be wrong for a long, long time. No one goes to heaven by accident. Heaven is God's prepared place for prepared people. We prepare for heaven and then God prepares heaven for us.

Here are 5 things we know God’s Word says we can expect: No more night, a glorious body, a dwelling place for you, no more death, tears, mourning, crying or pain...

NO MORE NIGHT.
“And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” – Revelation 22:5

A GLORIOUS BODY.
“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” – Philippians 3:20-21


A DWELLING PLACE FOR YOU.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” – John 14:2-3

NO MORE DEATH, TEARS, MOURNING, CRYING, OR PAIN.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4

THE THRONE OF GOD, AND OTHER BELIEVERS.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” – Revelation 22:3

If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I look forward to seeing you there!

Though most of us are in no hurry to get to our final destination, we all have questions about it. After in-depth study of the Scriptures, here are some of the most frequently asked questions.

1. We won't miss our old lives.
Have you ever bought an economy ticket for a flight, but because of overbooking, been upgraded to first class? Did you regret the upgrade? Did you spend your time wondering, What am I missing by not being in the back of the plane?

The upgrade from Earth to Heaven will be vastly superior to that from economy to first class. If we would miss something from our old lives, it would be available to us in heaven. Why? Because we will experience all God intends for us. He fashions us to want precisely what He will give us so what He gives us will be exactly what we want.

2. We won't become angels.
People often ask if people, particularly children, become angels when they die.

The answer is no.

Death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another. The place changes, but the person remains the same. The same person who becomes absent from his or her body becomes present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). We won't be angels but we'll be with them.

3. We won't be tempted.
People ask if we will ever be tempted to turn our backs on Christ. The answer is no. What would tempt us? Innocence is the absence of something (sin), while righteousness is the presence of something (God's holiness). God will never withdraw His holiness from us; therefore, in heaven we cannot sin.

We'll never forget the ugliness of sin, however. Having known death and life, we who experience life will never want to go back to death. We'll never be deceived into thinking God is withholding something good from us or that sin is in our best interests.

We'll always know sin's costs. Every time we see the scarred hands of Jesus, we'll remember. We'll see sin as God does. It will be stripped of its illusions and will be utterly unappealing.

4. We will have work to do.
The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people. Yet Scripture clearly teaches it. When God created Adam, he "took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). Work was part of the original Eden. It was part of a perfect human life.

God Himself is a worker. He didn't create the world and then retire. Jesus said, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working" (John 5:17). Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. "‘My food,' Jesus said, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work'" (John 4:34).

We'll also have work to do, satisfying and enriching work that we can't wait to get back to, work that'll never be drudgery. God is the primary worker, and as His image-bearers, we're made to work. We create, accomplish, set goals and fulfill them—to God's glory.

5. We will still experience emotions.
In Scripture, God is said to enjoy, love, laugh, take delight and rejoice, as well as be angry, happy, jealous and glad. To be like God means to have and express emotions. Hence, we should expect that in heaven emotions will exist for God's glory and our good.

We know that people in heaven have lots of feelings—all good ones. We're told of banquets, feasts and singing. People will laugh there (Luke 6:21). Will we cry in heaven? The Bible says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying or pain" (Revelation 21:4). These are the tears of suffering over sin and death, the tears of oppressed people, the cries of the poor, the widow, the orphaned, the unborn and the persecuted.

Such crying will be no more.

We might, though, shed tears of joy. Can you imagine joy flooding your eyes as you meet Christ, for example, and as you're reunited with loved ones? I can.

6. We still won't know everything.
God alone is omniscient. When we die, we'll see things far more clearly, and we'll know much more than we know now. But we'll never know everything.

In heaven we'll be flawless, but not knowing everything isn't a flaw. It's part of being finite. Righteous angels don't know everything, and they long to know more (1 Peter 1:12). They're flawless but finite. We should expect to long for greater knowledge, as angels do. And we'll spend eternity gaining the greater knowledge we'll seek.

7. We will recognize one another.
Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. Paul anticipated being with the Thessalonians in heaven, and it never occurred to him he wouldn't know them. In fact, if we wouldn't know our loved ones, the comfort of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, would be no comfort at all. In heaven we probably won't fail to recognize an acquaintance in a crowd or forget people's names.

8. What will we do to avoid boredom?
People sometimes say, "I'd rather be having a good time in hell than be bored in heaven."

Note the assumption: sin is exciting and righteousness is boring.

Believing in this assumption means you've fallen for the devil's lie. In reality, sin robs us of fulfillment. Sin doesn't make life interesting; it makes life empty. When there's fulfillment, when there's beauty, when we see God as He truly is—an endless reservoir of fascination—boredom becomes impossible. In heaven we'll be filled—as Psalm 16:11 describes it—with joy and eternal pleasures.

9. If our loved ones are in hell, won't that spoil heaven?
In heaven we'll see clearly that God revealed Himself to each person and that He gave opportunity for each heart or conscience to seek and respond to Him (Romans 1:18-2:16). Everyone deserves hell; no one deserves heaven. Jesus went to the cross to offer salvation to all (1 John 2:2). God is absolutely sovereign and doesn't desire any to perish (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9). Yet many will perish in their unbelief (Matthew 7:13).

In heaven, we'll embrace God's holiness and justice. God will be our source of joy. Hell's small and distant shadow will not interfere with God's greatness or our joy in Him. All of this should motivate us to share the gospel of Christ with family, friends, neighbors and the whole world.

Here is one of my paintings