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SEEING WILL
BE BELIEVING!
If there is a choice offered at that time, to me it indicates that
some people will choose what's right when they are presented with a full
knowledge of the Lord, the personal appearance of the Lord
and His angelic, mighty, supernatural power, the proof of
His existence and authority! After all, how much more evidence could anyone
ask than what there will be during the Millennium, when man will be able
to see the visible power of God through you and me, and the visible,
personal embodiment of God in Jesus Christ as King of kings and Ruler
of the Earth!
Then, instead of believing
being seeing--God's motto for His children today who "walk
by faith and not by sight" (2co.5:7)--Seeing will be believing!
They will be given the opportunity to believe by actually being able to
see the Kingdom of God and Christ on Earth and His Saints in power and
ruling the World, so that it should be much easier for them to believe
and receive under those conditions. However, they will not be as
honoured or blessed as those who are now believing and receiving
and obeying by faith, without seeing.
DOUBTING
THOMASES
Jesus said to doubting Thomas, "Thomas, because
thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed."—And I believe the Millennium
is going to be designed, in a sense, for the "Doubting
Thomases" whom God's going to give a chance to see and to believe.
But He then said, "Blessed are they that have
not seen, and yet have believed!" (Jn.20:29.) We are the more
blessed category, who believe by faith even though we haven't seen!
So it looks
to me like that's what it's going to be, a sort of doubting Thomas
program for all the unbelievers who need to be convinced and need
to be shown. God, in a sense, is going to do for the World in the Millennium
what He did for Thomas! People today say, "Show me!" Well, He's gonna
show'm! And those who were honest about it and really meant it--"Lord,
if You'll only show me, I'll believe!"--will believe!
FIRST
CHANCE FOR SOME AND LAST CHANCE FOR OTHERS.
No
doubt, many at this time will at last see and understand and know and
believe and receive and obey and enjoy the beauty of His Kingdom, the
restored Garden of Eden on Earth in the beautiful Heavenly Paradise of
the Millennium!--That's why it's going to be like Heaven on Earth, thank
God, because the vast majority of the people will receive it and will
yield to the Kingdom of God.
So this period
seems to be necessary, by God's own creation and design, to give some
folks their first chance and others their last chance, to give everybody
a chance before the final Judgement of God at the end of the Millennium,
which we'll cover in detail in our next lesson. And I believe that some
are going to be, you might say, good people, and some really bad people.
Because He definitely indicates in the Scriptures that some will rebel
and be cursed while others will obey and be blessed.
God's going
to give them all a chance under the most ideal conditions to believe and
to accept and to receive and to obey! And if they do believe when they
see, then why shouldn't the Lord bless them somehow?--Maybe not with our
kind of salvation, but at least with some kind of salvation, reclamation,
reconciliation and reward in the next life, in the final fulfilment of
it all, the New Heaven and New Earth, which Age the saved will all enter
after the 1,000-year Millennial period is over and the great final White
Throne Judgement has taken place!
BLESSED
ARE THOSE THAT HAVE NOT SEEN
So these
people in the Millennium who do believe and repent and receive, are they
going to be saved like us?--Well, maybe so, maybe some. But even if they're
not saved like us, at least they will be somehow improved and certainly
have a better chance. He said, "Blessed are they
that have not seen, and yet have believed." (Jn.20:29.) Well,
in the Millennium they're going to see and believe. So they might not
rate as A-Plus-Number-Ones like we who believe purely by faith today,
because we were willing to believe without seeing.--But they will believe
having seen, like Thomas. But the Lord didn't completely condemn him for
it, in fact He let him see to help him believe!
So I believe
God's going to give them a chance, I really believe it! And although the
Scripture's not too out in the open and clear about it, I think it certainly
indicates that He's going to give them another chance--maybe not at the
same reward or salvation, but in a sense, a second chance to at least
better themselves and be better off than they would have been.
I used to think that
there was no place within the eternal Holy City for people who got saved
during the Millennium, that surely they couldn't be in the same class
as us and would have to be outside the City.--After all, we're saved now!
But who knows?--If they never heard and they never really had a chance
and they finally got saved when they did hear during the Millennium, why
shouldn't they have as much right to the City as we?
So maybe some
people will be saved during the Millennium and will be allowed into the
Holy City too if they believe in and receive Jesus! Maybe they'll receive
Him then as their personal Saviour and have faith in His blood and believe,
even as we do today, because they will have seen! Maybe they're not going
to be as blessed as us! Maybe they'll still get in, but maybe they'll
be down in the basement somewhere or the lower levels. You are going to
be more blessed, because you, though having not seen, believed!
NEXT
STILL
REBELS
Art
& Texts © Copyright 1999-2001 Beyond
the Stars Productions
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