DID JESUS COME TO START A RELIGION?

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No, He did not. He came to set up a Kingdom and the only prayer He taught us to pray is

“Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven“… only then do we ask for our daily needs.

“And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:29-34

Next on God’s agenda for His Earth is for Jesus to set up a Kingdom on Earth where Jesus and the glorified Saints will rule and reign for 1000 years. God’s Word tells us exactly how Satan’s rule comes to an end. He is bound in the Abyss for most of Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom. He is released at the end and is still able to raise an army like the sand of the sea to come against Jesus and the Saints. I am reminded here of the time before God destroyed all of mankind except Noah and his family.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” Genesis 6:5-6

How many churches are preparing believers for Jesus’ coming Millennial Kingdom on planet Earth? I would say very few, they are not even preparing them for the coming tribulation. The seven churches in Revelation represent the church in each of the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return and God pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (7) and Bowl (7) judgments. Also, the six seals show us what will happen on Earth during the last seven years. Let us look at the Sixth Seal and the Sixth Church.

SIXTH SEAL: The celestial signs in the sky that precede the Rapture of the Saints and God pouring out His wrath upon the Earth. The Rapture happens at the trumpet blast and the opening of the seventh seal.

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12-17

SIXTH CHURCH (Church of Philadelphia – Philadelphus means “love of the brethren“) This is the church that God is going to rapture

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:7-8,10

The seventh church (Laodicea means “judgment of the people,”) This is the church God is going to spit out of His mouth. They will face the wrath of God but note, that God still calls them to repent (Rev. 3:14-22).

“They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

WHAT’S NEXT FOR PLANET EARTH ON GOD’S AGENDA?

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We already know how the next few years will play out. Why? Because the Bible, God’s Word is largely a book of prophecy. There are more than 1,000 Bible prophecies about Jesus’ second coming to Earth so I am sure God wants to prepare us for this event. Sadly, the religious leaders of the time of Jesus first coming to Earth misread it totally, not because of what the Scriptures said but because they wanted a Saviour from their Roman oppressors. They did not want the suffering servant depicted in Isaiah 53. What about the religious leaders of our day? Well, the Bible tells us that there will be a great falling away from true faith in the last days (apostasy) before Jesus returns. We see that already happening as many of the denominational/institutional churches have accepted gay marriage, and homosexual pastors/leaders. Look what Jesus told us would happen in the end times:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:9-12

Are you taking these words of Jesus seriously? You should, because the re-establishment of the nation of Israel 75 years ago was the first major end-times prophecy fulfilled. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus’ second coming to Earth is to rescue the nation of Israel at the battle of Armageddon when all the armies of many nations come against Israel. Israel did not exist as a nation prior to 1948 so all the end times prophecies which are Israel and Middle East-centered made no earthly sense. Its rebirth was miraculous and God has sustained it miraculously ever since despite Satan’s desperate efforts to destroy it.

The good news is that what’s next for this planet is Jesus’ Millennial reign on this earth for one thousand years, The earth will then have had six thousand years of man’s rule under Satan’s dominion. It is still to have 1,000 years with Jesus ruling the nations with the glorified Saints so that the covenants God made with Abraham, David, and the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) can be fulfilled. Israel will finally be the leading nation in the world with its Messiah ruling from a magnificent new Jerusalem.

During Jesus’ Millennial reign, Satan is bound in the Abyss but God allows him to come out at the end of the thousand years and he is still able to gather an army whose number is like the sand of the sea. I often wondered why during Jesus’ Millennial reign, He and the Saints have to rule the nations with a “rod of iron” until I read the following Scripture.

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10