Darleen Nelson

Those who have not accepted Christ and His offered salvation will not be a part of this "new creation". They will be lost forever. Holy living is a part of accepting Jesus just as acccepting a person or an idea affects your natural life. No one contnues in a way of life that is offensive to a truly loved friend and no one will refuse to follow the standards of living a Godly life once they accept His gift of salvaiton.

Christ sees the Church as spotless, washed clean by His blood. She is perfect in every way just as when created by God.

The water represents eternal life just as it did when Jesus told the Samaritan woman about it. It is the fullness of life with God and the eternal blessings this contains. The invitation to come to recieve this blessing has been placed in our hands and we must see it is delivered. People must be told so they can respond and receive thier salvation.

No one will be seeking God as many do now but His physical presence will be right in the midst of us. God actually will communicate with His creation as He has always wanted to. I will be happy with the earthly things being removed particularilyl this pain I have seena and even what I have experienced. I will praise Him particularily for the absence of pain.

It would affect me just as it does now as I believe there is a good chance He will be coming in my lifetime. I want to keep my relationship with Hm active and remain close. I really don't think I would do anything differently but perhaps more intently, with more determination. I would share the joyful expectation that He will soon return.

The Bible tells us if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him withour mouth we shall be saved. This is just the beginning. If we believe and are saved we will act like it. We will walk the walk and talk the talk. We will carry out the great commission, "Go and teach all nations". We will put God first in our lives and make all decisions based on the Word. We will love as He loves, help as He helps and walk in the way He walks. Our first and last and every thought of the day should be "What does God's Word tell us about that?" All decisions should be made based on the Word and after prayer. To my mind theree then is no question of where my name is written.

The things surrounding us are passing and should merit little attention. People who are not under God's grace and protection will discover all the things they have counted on and trusted in are gone. Those who have accepted Jesus as "King of kings and Lord of lords will be secure in the only thing that counts in the New World, faith in God and the salvation He has provided through His Son which is available for the taking.

We are admonished to be ready if we want to be included in the wedding feast. Our garments must be the righteousness of God in order to be accepted as a bride. The wedding supper is the climax of a life lived for God and the result of the salvation provided by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection.

It is frightening because it is so final and unchangeable. Everyone is held accountable for things they could have changed if they had only listened. People want to believe a kind and loving God would not punish in this way but the knowledge of this punishment is widely spread, the solution proven and the results predicted.

I think we need to live in this world bearing our banners as being one of those who stand out as being different. I don't think we should isolate ourselves from the world but use our lives to show unsaved people what the difference is between a believer and a non-believer. I am reading Jerry Jenkins' book "Soon"where the Christians, in order to remain living and working for God, had to go underground. Tthey had powerful forces looking for them in order to destroy them and their testimony. The way the world explains away God's miracles in the book make for intersting reading. I am wondering though how long I could hide my Christian beliefs. My esponse of "Praise the Lord" when I hear a good report would have to be changed. My response to a need "Would you like me to pray with ou" would have to be curbed. I would have to hide or give up my 15 to 20 Bibles. Actually the focus of my life would be moved and the adjustment would be difficult. My prayer is "Come soon Lord Jesus".

Everlasting punishment is so difficult for us Christians to accept because we are created in God's image and from the start realize there is something missing in our lives if that void is not filled. You may try other things but there is a God spot in your spirit which is not satisfied with anything else you may try to put in there. The idea of being forever separated from God is something we cannot comprehend. The portion of the spirit which is seeking God will never be filled in any other way except by acceptance of Christ as our Savior and God as our Father. In this life there is always the chance to repent and get in right standing with God, but in eternity this chanceis gone. Everyone is given the chance to choose Jesus but after death it is too late. You have no more choices.

The 140,000 represent those who endured persecution and came out victorious and are now ready to enjoy the fruits of their faithfulness. Their robes have been washed clean in the blood of the lamb. They are spiritually pure as they remained to Jesus and have received God's reward for faithfulness which is available to all who believe and receive.

Worship should life up the name of the Lord, the Words and meaning should be clearly understandable not like some of the contemporary songs where the words are underplayed and the music takes over so they can't even be heard. The songs that come to my mind are Holy, Holy, Holy; How Great Thou Art; Love Lifed Me; Oh, God our Help in Agest Past, O Come all ye Faithful, I Come to the Garden Alone; Rock of Ages. There really are too many of them to list. Many of the new choruses and praise songs will fit in this category also. Songs that lift your Spirit and draw you closer to God.

Throughout time there have been those who were hostile to everything God stands for. We must not label any person as the antichrist or try to predict Crist's return as even Christ doesn't know. No one knows but the Father when this will be. We must be ready daily for Christ's return We have no need to fear what lies ahead as long as our faith is strong and we know that our hope is that ultimately God's control over the atnichrist will win out. False miracles wll draw non-believers in their web and cause them to trust in the antichrist. satan will use this power to lead people away from God. If people say no

To the Christian death is victory. We are removed from this world to live in the Heavenly realm. What greater victory can there be? It is the blood of the Lamb which gives us our passagge way to Heaven. Our natural instinct is not to leave family and frieds but what a better place we go to. And to th ink of all the old friends we will se again what a glorious day it will be.

The woman represents the faithful people of God. We have been faithfully waiting for the Messiah. God aided the women as He does all believers. Satan has always attacked God's people and God has always protected them. God may allow Satan to work in the world but God is still in control. Satan continues to battle daily but this victory is already determined. God will win the victory but we decide where our indifidual soules will end up. God had prepared the victory for the woman and the earth comes to her assistance. When the devil is proved unable to defeat the woman he turns after the other parts of God's kingdom.

The two are very powerful characters with many displays of the power coming from their bodies. They had great power over anyone who wanted to harm them. The people are pleased when they die but when they are unexpectedly raised from the dead three and a half days later they are not so pleased. In the "Left Behind" book the descriptions by Tim LeHay and Peter Jenkins are wonderful and make you realize how great the characteristics of these two men were. This may be fiction but it is very Biblical.

God's Word is sweet to believers because it is full of encouragment for them but the coming judgement is a sour thought and everyone must go through it.

Tghe multitude in heaven is made up of all the faithful so there may be all of those martyrs described in 6:9 or the 144,000 mentioned in 7:4 but they wil grow to include every true believer who remains faithful to God throughout the generations. They are there to serve God and live happily in His presence. There will be no hunger, thirst or suffering of any kind.

We learn that God will keep the seal from being opened until His people are safe. The number 144,000 is an arbitrary number and does not mean only that many will be saved. The seal identifies believers and protects them while they ares tillon earth. God is long suffering, holding His punishment until all have had a chance to be saved.

We learn about the martyrs of the church who were persecuted for their beliefs. Their souls were under the altar where the animals were sacrified for securing of forgiveness and commemorating other acts of God such as thank offerings. The proximity to the altar shows they were sacrificed because of their strong beliefs about God and His relationship with them. The cry for revenge is in line with God's warning not to touch his annointed or do them any harm. The white robes signify purity. The command to wait shows that God's time is not the same as our time and we must allow Him to do things at the time that is right for His plans.

Christ, Himself, set it in motion by breaking the first seal. This will bring about the beginning of the end of human history. This is just as people have been forewarned for thousands of years that there would be just such a day of reckoning and they weren't listening or many believed a loving God would not do such a thing. These people do not understand God's kind of love. Loving is not allowing people to go on sinning for generations with no time of facing their sins. Pray and witness that many will repent and not be included in this final distruction.

There is no difference between the worthines of the Father and the Son. They are one and as such should be worshipped as one. We will be one iwth them and become priests and reign with them.

Acceptance of Christ's sacrifice puts us equal to Him as children of God, the Father. Through Jesus we are made worthy to reign with Him. Just as He is an intercessor so shall we become priests along side Him. We are a kingdom of corporate believers dependent on each other and working together in the new heaven and new earth. Each of us must be a building stone. a part of the completion of the kingdom of God.

Jesus' work included His death as a ransom through His blood for all people to receive salvation. He gathered the people into His kingdom where they became priests and were appointed to rule on earth. Jesus paid the full penalty for sin. He performed the ultimate sacrifice which opened th way for salvation for all who receive the gift He has provided.