Philippians 3:20-21

20 But we are citizens of the state (commonwealth, homeland) which is in heaven, and from it also we earnestly and patiently await [the coming of] the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [as] Savior,

Through the power of the Holy Spirit we know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are citizens of Heaven right now. We know that we do not have to wait for the benefits of our citizenship. 

We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one. And we [have seen and] know [positively] that the Son of God has [actually] come to this world and has given us understanding and insight [progressively] to perceive (recognize) and come to know better and more clearly Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true--in His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). This [Man] is the true God and Life eternal. 1 John 5:19-20

Now because we are and forevermore citizens of Heaven, we can have perfect peace with what our citizenship brings us.

Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]-- To the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity). Amen (so be it). Jude 24-25 

21 Who will transform and fashion anew the body of our humiliation to conform to and be like the body of His glory and majesty, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself.

Our bodies may be weak and dying now, but that in no way means that we are blemished and faulted. Jesus will return and when He does this mortal flesh will be changed, but currently our spirits and souls are enjoying all of the power that Heaven has to offer.

Yet the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen [you] and set you on a firm foundation and guard you from the evil [one]. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do the things which we suggest and with which we charge you. 2 Thessalonians 3:3-4

In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. Ephesians 6:10

End Times Matthew 24:1-2

1 Jesus departed from the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the buildings of the temple and point them out to Him.

2 But He answered them, Do you see all these? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

Many believe that the Jewish Temple must first be rebuilt before Jesus will return. But Jesus tells us that the Temple in Jerusalem, that has been made with hands, will be completely destroyed, and that temple has been. As we will go on and study in this Chapter, Jesus never tells us that it must first be rebuilt before He returns. Many believe that the Jewish Temple must be rebuilt because we are told that the anti-christ will set up his throne in the temple.

Who opposes and exalts himself so proudly and insolently against and over all that is called God or that is worshiped, [even to his actually] taking his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:4

But the glorious Truth is that man is now the Temple of God, not any building.

What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 2 Corinthians 6:16

When the anti-christ sets up his throne, it will be in man, not in a building. The anti-christ will not be human, but he will take on the form of man, thus setting up his throne in the temple. We are told that he is a being that comes up from the Abyss. So this being is allowed by our Father to take on the form of man, thus setting up his throne in what appears to be the true Temple of our Father, which is man. 

The beast that you saw [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is going to come up out of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and proceed to go to perdition. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they look at the beast, because he [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is [yet] to come. Revelation 17:8

We also know that the anti-christ will not be human because when our Father is done using him, he is thrown right into the Lake of Fire. The anti-christ, or the beast, will never come up for judgment. We are told that all men will be present on Judgment Day, Revelation 20:12-14, but the anti-christ will not be there, he will have been destroyed by the Lake of Fire a thousand years before Judgment Day. 

And the beast was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone. Revelation 19:20

So do not look to a physical rebuilding of the Jewish Temple as a sign of our Lord’s return. 

Revelation 21:4

4 God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.

Here is the Truth about the Lake of Fire being an eternal suffering place for the unsaved. We have been shown that our Father will make His abode among men, remember Jesus said men, not just saved men. We are shown that our Father wipes away every tear from men, there is no more death with men, there is no anguish among men, no sorrow, mourning, grief, or pain among men. We are shown plainly that the old conditions will pass away. So all pain, grief, sorrow, anguish, mourning, and tears shall be done away with after Judgment Day. If this verse is true, what are men suffering in the Lake of Fire? All of these things have passed away from mankind, not just saved men. If someone is thrown into the Lake of Fire, do they become something other than a human?

The Truth is the Lake of Fire destroys spirit, soul, and body. Anyone or anything that is thrown into the Lake of fire is totally done away with. This is why Jesus told us that we are to fear Him Who is able to destroy body and soul, Matthew 10:28. We are only shown that satan, the anti-christ, and the false prophet suffer eternally in the Lake of Fire, and they do, because they are not human! 

It is a great study, and I highly recommend that you do it. Go and read just what the Bible teaches on the eternity of Hell and the lost. If the lost were to suffer eternally, it would be a suffering that did not include tears, pain, mourning, grief, or anguish. And they would have eternal life, and Jesus tells us that the only way that a person could have eternal life was to be born again of Him, John 6:51. There cannot be an eternity in the Lake of Fire for men and these verses still be true.

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (the place of the dead) shall come up no more. Job 7:9

Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them. They cannot even deliver themselves from the power of the flame [much less deliver the nation]. There is no coal for warming or fire before which to sit! Isaiah 47:14

Such people will pay the penalty and suffer the punishment of everlasting ruin (destruction and perdition) and eternal exclusion and banishment from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 (Our Father is Omnipotent. How can someone be cast out of His presence? They only can if they cease to be.) 

FOR BEHOLD, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1

Revelation 19:3-5

3 And again they shouted, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! The smoke of her [burning] shall continue to ascend forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).

We are shown that the worlds economy will never be again. Our Father will provide directly and the nations of the earth will live in the peace and prosperity of His might. The Truth is our Father provides now, most just aren’t aware of it. Everyone will have true fellowship with our Creator and He will have true unbroken fellowship with all of His children. As He is, so will we be, 1 John 4:17. 

We are told that the smoke of Babylon’s torment will arise forever. This has to be figurative because how can you burn greed, pride, ego, selfishness, and idolatry which are the power of the Harlot? Or is the earth going to burn forever? So as we live on the new earth the old one will always be there burning? The reason that I make this point here is the term, “the smoke of torment arising forever,” is also used to describe Hell. The saying means that the things that our Father throws into the Lake of Fire will never come back. The sentence of those things is final. It does not mean that the things thrown into the Lake of Fire are burning forever. It means that they are destroyed never to return. The things that are thrown into the Lake of Fire are cast from our Father’s presence, 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Our Father is Omnipotent. So they must cease to be or else our Father would not be Omnipotent.   

4 Then the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] and the four living creatures fell prostrate and worshiped [paying divine honors to] God, Who sits on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! 

5 Then from the throne there came a voice, saying, Praise our God, all you servants of His, you who reverence Him, both small and great!

Ask yourself this, doesn’t everyone serve our Father? We are told that every knee will bow and every tongue will confesses that Jesus is Lord, Romans 14:11. Our Father used Pharaoh and he didn’t acknowledge that he was being used. Our Father used Pilate and Herod and they were unaware of it, Acts 4:27-28. The Truth is that all things exists by our Father, for our Father, and through our Father, Colossians 1:16. So whether we are great in Him or small in Him, we all serve Him! Everyone will rejoice because Jesus is that successful. Our Lord has been given all flesh, John 17:2. Jesus will not lose any that He has been given, John 6:39. So many people believe that our Father will lose most of His children. That would make Him a terrible parent. That would make Jesus a terrible Shepherd. That would make what satan did far more successful then what Jesus did. There is a reason that we are told that only one was cast out of the Marriage Supper, Matthew 22:11-12, and it is because our Father gets what He wants and our Father wants all men saved and He wants all men to come to the knowledge of the Truth, 1 Timothy 2:4. 

We are able to rejoice not because millions of people get destroyed and thrown into Hell. We are able to rejoice because the thing that has caused billions of people to be deceived is eternally destroyed! The chaff will be burnt, but the glorious fruit of all men shall be saved! 

Revelation 18:6-7

6 Repay to her what she herself has paid [to others] and double [her doom] in accordance with what she has done. Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed [for others].

7 To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled in her wantonness [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that measure impose on her torment and anguish and tears and mourning. Since in her heart she boasts, I am not a widow; as a queen [on a throne] I sit, and I shall never see suffering or experience sorrow--

People believe that America is great because of its free market economy and so many believe that it will always stand. China is now even trying free markets, so is Europe, and most of the world. But free markets are very fragile and the weakness of putting ones faith in the world’s economy will show plainly when our Father orders Babylon to fall! 

Here is another sign of the end. Business and the economies of the world will be enjoying skyrocketing profits and growth right before our Fathers begins to pour out His wrath! Man will believe that his regulations and ideas have finally come into maturity. People who trust in the world and themselves will believe that they have finally developed the right mix of business and regulation and they will be arrogant about it. They will believe that it never will fail. People who have been falsely claiming to be saved will leave the church in droves to follow a man who claims that man is the engine that drives faith. They will leave for the anti-christ’s church that seems so hip and has such a great leader, who can speak so greatly. The Roman Catholic Church at this time will even bring in other cultures. They will see a sound economy and see a Pope who is uniting the world and they will leave Jesus for it. Jesus will be passe, He will not be needed, there will be a great falling away, and people will persecute and ridicule those who they believe are uneducated and so simple to believe in Jesus. They will proclaim that we are hate mongers, and bigots because the Holy Spirit will cause us to speak out against what they are doing. We will be looked upon as fools and people will leave Christ. But amen, Christ will not leave them! They may have never been chosen to be His Bride, but Jesus has been given all, John 17:2,  and He will not lose any that He has been given, John 6:39. Our Father will clean His house during this time of preparation for harvest!

Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), 2 Thessalonians 2:3

But always remember this glorious Truth, that all who our Father has given to Jesus will come to Him, John 6:37 and Jesus has been given all, John 17:2. Our Father will burn away the chaff that covers up the wheat, Matthew 3:12, but He will not burn away the wheat, 1 Corinthians 3:15.

Revelation 14:11 Part 2

11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no respite (no pause, no intermission, no rest, no peace) day or night--these who pay homage to the beast and to his image and whoever receives the stamp of his name upon him.

This is a great place to go and study the Truth about Hell. Many will use verse 11 to teach that people who are sent to Hell will suffer for all of eternity, because our Father had it written that “the smoke of their torment ascends forever.” This teaching is false and once our Father teaches you the Truth about Hell, it will remove a great deal of fear and dread that so many in religion try and place on us. 

Hell is very real. In Revelation it is called the Lake of Fire. Death and Hades will be thrown into it, Revelation 20:14. The angels that rebelled will be thrown into it, 2 Peter 2:4. The anti-christ and the false prophet will be thrown into it and those who take the mark of the beast will be thrown into it. The Bible is very clear about these. But here is the thing, just because the smoke rises forever, does that mean that the people who are thrown into it suffer forever? Here are some verses that address it.

Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away. Revelation 21:1-4

But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke] and as the glory of the pastures. They shall vanish; like smoke shall they consume away. Psalm 37:20

FOR BEHOLD, the day comes that shall burn like an oven, and all the proud and arrogant, yes, and all that do wickedly and are lawless, shall be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1

And you shall tread down the lawless and wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 4:3

Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them. They cannot even deliver themselves from the power of the flame [much less deliver the nation]. There is no coal for warming or fire before which to sit! Isaiah 47:14

As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol (the place of the dead) shall come up no more. Job 7:9

Drought and heat consume the snow waters; so does Sheol (the place of the dead) those who have sinned. Job 24:19

Such people will pay the penalty and suffer the punishment of everlasting ruin (destruction and perdition) and eternal exclusion and banishment from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 2 Thessalonians 1:9

There is a Hell and our Father tells us that some people will be thrown into it. My hope is that it is only one person as Jesus alluded to in His parable of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Matthew 22:11 and John 17:12. The things and people that are thrown into the Lake of Fire cannot suffer forever because our Father does away with all suffering when He comes. Their punishment is eternal, these people can not come back into being, that is why the smoke of Hell is eternal. Those who are cast into the Lake of Fire are eternally cast out of the presence of the Lord, Who is omnipotent, so they have to just cease to be, or our Lord would not be omnipotent. So there is a Hell and the punishment is eternal, but the idea of the people who are thrown into it being eternally aware and tormented does not fit with the scriptures about Hell. Nor does it fit with what we have ever seen from our Lord, Who alone holds the Keys of Hell, Revelation 1:18, and Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 13:8.  

Revelation 13:14

14 And because of the signs (miracles) which he is allowed to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, he deceives those who inhabit the earth, commanding them to erect a statue (an image) in the likeness of the beast who was wounded by the [small] sword and still lived.

People will see miraculous things that they have never seen, while at the same time they are experiencing horrors as they never have before. They will believe that these miracles are showing us that the anti-christ is of God. They will be looking to man’s abilities to move God, and the anti-christ and false prophet will be telling them just how great they are with God. They will be telling the lost to just look at what God does for them! The anti-christ will have statues of Mary, Peter, Paul, and Jesus. He will tell you to pray to them and bow before them. And the world will believe that this man is as great as any of them, so why not make a statue to him as well? They will fall down before him; they will believe that surely this pleases our Father, they will justify this false belief by looking at the miracles of the false prophet. All along they will be blaspheming our Father, by glorifying man. They will have a form of godliness, but they will be denying the Truth.

These people will see a Pope that speaks so wonderfully. They will want to be part of this popular movement. The lost will marvel at how quickly the Pope, this religious guy, who was always just kind of there, but never had any real world power, came to such great power, and the world will marvel! 

After people have seen and experienced the natural disasters that are our Father’s wrath, they will be so desperate for a sign. Anything that looks like it will bring about peace and safety during this time will be heralded. How easy it will be to force the earth to follow what America believes will bring about stability. The two witnesses of God will be showing signs that hurt people, these two will be showing signs that seem to help. The world will hate the two who are truly of our Father and love the two who are not. 

Also, this is a great place to talk about the false teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture. There will be a great falling away of false believers during the end times, 2 Thessalonians 2:3. These people who will un to the anti-christ and away from the Truth will be many of those who believed in a pre-tribulation rapture. Actually they will probably still believe in a rapture and they will just believe that it hasn’t happened yet. They will be blinded to the Truth of the anti-christ. They will believe that the last Pope cannot be the anti-christ because Jesus still has them here on the earth. So they will praise God for the miracles of the anti-christ, who will be glorifying man and man’s efforts. They will do this because for most people who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture that is what they do now. They glorify themselves for prophesying in Jesus’ name. They glorify themselves by saying that they do mighty works in Jesus’ name, but the Truth is that Jesus does not know them, Matthew 7:22. Jesus doesn’t know them because these people believe that they do things first, so that our Father can then do something. They confess that we have to accept or that we have to have faith, not that our Father is causing us to have faith, Hebrews 12:2. We act only because Jesus first acts through us, without Jesus we can do nothing, John 15:5. 

Revelation 8:4-5

4 And the smoke of the incense (the perfume) arose in the presence of God, with the prayers of the people of God (the saints), from the hand of the angel.  

5 So the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Then there followed peals of thunder and loud rumblings and blasts and noises, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Fire is the power of the Holy Spirit operating in our life’s. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, which is power, the power of God Himself! 

“John answered them all by saying, I baptize you with water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of Whose sandals I am not fit to unfasten. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16 

We are shown here that the power of our Father is poured out on His children who have been sealed and that He will use us as He never has before! Our prayers are answered beyond anything that we could think of or ask for here, just as the Holy Spirit had Paul write in Ephesians Chapter 3. I believe that we are going to be one body as never before during the end times, because we are told that there is going to be a great falling away of all of the fake believers. 

“Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition),” 2 Thessalonians 2:3. 

Our Father will use us during the last three and a half years of this world, as we now know it, to do the works that Jesus did and even greater works, John 14:12. The Holy Spirit had John write in 1 John 4:17, that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. The Truth is that we are more than conquerors through Christ Who loves us, and Greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world! And here we see that during the Great Tribulation there is only going to be hot or cold, the lukewarm will have been separated from the true chosen ones. And with the power of our Father comes lightening, thunders and earthquakes. Read Psalm 18 and you will see how our Father reacts when His children call upon Him and here in Revelation we read a very similar description of our Father coming to our aide.

Also, remember the parable that Jesus showed us about the wheat and the tares, how the tares must be separated and burned first. This separation occurs during the Great Tribulation, the false Christians and the disobedient are removed from the chosen and called, and they are burned, they are consumed by the wrath of our Father.

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Matthew 13:30

Before the trumpets were allowed to sound, the angel had to pour out the power of our Father upon Jesus’ Bride. Just as before the four winds were allowed to come, we who were chosen had to be sealed. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is our power and He is our strength. The Holy Spirit clearly shows us things to come, and He teaches us all things, as He causes us to remember everything that Jesus has spoken. But for the tares there is only destruction and ruin. The wicked are first bound up and removed from the earth. The wicked are the fake religious leaders who have made merchandise of us and who have laid burdens on us that they would never even attempt to keep themselves, Matthew 23:4. The wicked are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, they are the leaven, and the whoremongers who have had a form of godliness, but who have denied the power of our Father, 2 Timothy 3:5. 

Revelation 7:16

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any scorching heat.

Jesus told the woman at the well that if she drank the water that He provided, then she would never thirst. And He told her that if we eat the Body of His flesh, then we shall never be hungry. These Truths also hold true for these people who come out of the Tribulation, they were lost, but now they are found. So because of Jesus and our Father’s Grace they will hunger and thirst no more as they are allowed to stay in eternity as our guests!

The Four Winds and the Seven Trumpets will sound during the Great Tribulation and there will be no peace in this world for the disobedient. The sun will be scorching the earth, the waters of the earth will be turned bitter, and a third of the population will die by drinking the bitter waters. Yet Jesus will cause His Bride to be fed, the suns heat will not hurt us, and we shall have clean water to drink. We will not just have enough food and water for ourselves, we will have enough to provide food and water to our guests, Matthew 24:45-46. The end times are a time of our Fathers wrath and we are not appointed to His wrath, but to His righteousness, 1 Thessalonians 5:9. 

Can you see why all the nations of the world will hate us during the Great Tribulation. They will think to themselves, these people are not better than us, why do they not suffer. So when we are truly used by our Father, the jealousy of the fake religious people of the world will be even greater than it was when Jesus was here. Rulers will fear us, as they are desperately trying to have all the answers, so that they can maintain their power. This is a great time for us to be used by our Father to show just how great He is. No one will be able to say that they did not know the Truth either, for the Gospel will be preached to every nation with great power and demonstration! 

But before this can happen, the great apostasy of the false Christians must take place. Many who have played around with Christ will fall away. 

Let no one deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the apostasy comes first [unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come], and the man of lawlessness (sin) is revealed, who is the son of doom (of perdition), 2 Thessalonians 2:3