Overview of Eternal Rewards - Part 1 (3 of 12)

Mike Connell

That's an extraordinary thing to consider. If you look at the paper, you see all these people, and you see their pride, the arrogance, the posturing, the manipulation - you see all the injustice. But there is a time when all will yield to His authority... or face consequences!

Psalm 110:5 - "The Lord is at your right hand. He shall execute kings in the day of his wrath."

That means: if leaders of nations won't yield, they'll die!

Psalm 110:6 - "He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries."

Notice that He's talking there about, not the aspect of God which is the kindness and mercy and compassion. He's talking now about how He's coming to impose His kingdom in the earth. He's coming to exercise His right to rule. He won the right to rule - first by creating. He won the right to rule by His death on the cross; and by God honouring Him, and giving him that right. He holds it back to grow a people who will work, be prepared ready for Him. And int that time in His coming, there's going to be manifestations of power we haven't seen before.

That brings us to the next thing, point #3. He says: before His coming there'll be a time of great tribulation on the earth.

Matthew 24:6-8 "You will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not come. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. These are just the beginning of the sorrows. For then there'll be great tribulation, such as never been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, and shall never ever be."

He's saying that, before His coming, there will be a period of vast destruction; and suffering in the earth, before He comes. The Bible describes in Revelation: He will open seals in heaven, and this will unleash on the earth all kinds of devastation. The Bible talks about a third of the earth's population being destroyed by the things that come on the earth. Now that's another whole teaching of its own, when we teach about the day of the Lord.

It's hard for us to comprehend that, until you go into the Bible, and see. Have these things ever happened before? When you go back and ask: did these things ever happen before? Did God ever bring judgements into the earth like that? The answer is: yes, He did! In the days of Noah, which is also a picture of the coming of the Lord - "As in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man." He said: "the flood overtook them all". In the days of Noah, the whole earth was covered with a flood, and a handful were saved. There are other examples of that as well. Because there's a period of vast destruction, there's going to need to be a period of restoration - that's where we come in. We are part of the judgements in the earth; and we're part of the restoration!

When Jesus returns, as I mentioned before, He'll come as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelations 5:5). In the Book of Revelation, it describes Him coming.

Revelation 19:11-16 - "I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse and He who sat on him was Faithful and True (that's Jesus), and in righteousness He judges and makes war."

So when He comes back next time, it won't be peace to all men - it is war! So, good to be on His side; not good to be not on His side. He said: His eyes were a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew except Himself; clothed with a robe dipped in blood, His name is called The Word of God. See - it's very clearly Jesus!

Now look at this: "...The armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses". The armies of heaven, white linen, clean and white - that's what the bride is given, in Revelation 19. "...Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword (that means: His word), that He should strike nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron." That means His rule will be unbending, people will have to yield to it. "He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God. He has a robe and on His thigh a name written: Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords".

Notice then, He's saying: there will be an inevitable confrontation, and conflict with anyone who resists Him. When He came the first time, it was to demonstrate the 'lamb' nature - meekness, humility, the suffering servant. When He comes back again, He will come as the 'lion'. He will come to confront kingdoms; He will come to transform the earth.