“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Revelation 20:4
Sometimes we look at the world situation around us and despair. Lawlessness is increasing, hatred of God’s truth is on the rise, the number of genuine believers is minuscule, the government is reprobate and determined to reward evil over righteousness. Sometimes what we face seems overwhelming.
The problem with what is above is not that we are misreading
the facts, it is that we forget God. The Bible is filled with prophecies
of the end times. God told us what mankind would become (read
2 Timothy 3) and how God would be forgotten (read Jude 1:18) and
the church would become lukewarm (read Revelation 3). Our
Situation is no surprise to God (neither was the situation at the time
of the flood, Nebuchadnezzar’s captivity of Jerusalem or the death and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ). What is distinctive about all these situation is that with God there is hope at the end of the darkness. Think about that truth in terms of the age we live in.
The rapture could occur at any moment. With each day that goes by we are one day closer to that event which God has promised will come. We do not know when it is schedule but God has a time
appointed on His calendar when He will turn and say to His Son, “It is time to get your bride.”
When that happens we will spend 7 years in heaven at the Bema Seat as each believer is judged for how we served the Lord after salvation. This is not judgment of our sin, that was paid for in full at the cross. This is the assessment of the fruit we have produced for Christ here on earth.
While we undergo that final purification process the world experiences God’s wrath as He fulfills the 70th week of judgment on the nation of Israel. As that seven years of judgment ends, the
Messiah comes to earth, with His bride – the church – to set up His 1,000 year millennial reign. This is the time when believers will rule, under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, the nations
of the earth.
What can we learn? As we see evil grow on this earth, believers must keep in mind the hope that is in Christ Jesus. We could be only seven years away from ruling in a world with no curse on it. Seven years – the time it takes a child to go from birth to second grade; less time than it takes to go through middle school and high school. The message for every believer in Christ is Perhaps Today!
This is a promise that is nearer to fulfillment in our lives than it has ever been in history. Why is that important? There is a tendency for believers to think like the world. We see dire circumstances and think they will never end, there is no hope. For one generation, and it appears to be one very soon, they will move from trails, persecution and tribulation of this world to meeting Christ in the air, being rewarded for their service and then returning to rule with their Savior on this earth in a breathtakingly short seven year period. That gives us great hope but it also creates great urgency. The harvest is coming to an end. There is urgency to redeem the time while we still have opportunity. Only seven years away, an amazing thought!