Archive for The Gathering Place "The Gathering Place" is a web community where people can gather and make new friends, share ideas, enjoy a few laughs and learn about many interesting things together. It is a safe place where friends can correspond with each other about what they love.
BEWARE OF SCAMMERS ASKING FOR ADMIN ACCESS. WE NEVER ASK FOR ACCESS.
God does not want us to be afraid of the future. Therefore, there is no need to approach the book of Revelation with fear. After His death, and whenever Jesus appeared to His disciples, He entered into their presence with words that immediately calmed their fears, "Do not be afraid" (Matthew 28:10). "Peace be with you" (John 20:19). These were words that signaled His understanding and comfort.
This is the same approach He uses in the book of Revelation: "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades" (Revelation 1:17–1.
Christ’s death and resurrection signaled the beginning of "the end times." (Hebrews 1:1–2) Jesus is the revelation of God’s eternal love and forgiveness. When He died on Calvary’s Cross, the temple veil, which was a thick curtain separating man from God’s presence, was torn. There was no longer a separation between God and man. Christ had paid the price of our sin, and God eagerly embraced us with an eternal love that could not be destroyed.
God’s presence and redemptive plan is revealed to us through His Word. In the book of Revelation, He reveals even more about His desire to save mankind. This time there are no drawn curtains or instructions to seal a book. God’s truth is available to all who read the words He spoke to John.
John records these words and images given to him by God’s messenger—an angel—in the form of a letter. Then he sends this apocalyptic account of God’s truth to the seven churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
His revelation message is timeless. It did not reach its final destination by being delivered to these churches, just as it has not met its end throughout generations. The message of Revelation is one of eternal hope because it outlines the glorification of Christ, which will be revealed to all people.
It speaks personally to each believer because it describes God’s eternal triumph over Satan. "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10). More importantly, the book of Revelation gives us a clear, concise description of the new Jerusalem. John records what God has shown him, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away. . . .
"And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and 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; the first things have passed away’" (Revelation 21:1–4).
Tribulation and suffering may be a part of this life, but neither of these are a part of the eternal life that we one day will share with Christ. Most certainly, we also will be with Jesus in Paradise.
There will be a new beginning for the saints of God. For now it may appear to the unsaved world that the church of Jesus Christ is defeated, but from God’s perspective, eternal victory is drawing near. If you have never taken time to hear John’s account of the Revelation given to him by God’s messenger, this is a great time to do it.
God has a message that He is proclaiming to the world—"I am coming again." Are you ready for His Second Coming?
.