Where will Christ take those redeemed ones who meet Him in the clouds? To the mansions of His Father where He has prepared a place for us. Can there be any doubt as to where He ascended after leaving this earth? Peter had been curious and actually questioned the Master about those mansions and that place. Jesus was answering Peter's question in John 14:1-3. Go back three verses into the previous chapter: "Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards." John 13:36.

Here is interesting proof that Peter will someday go to the place where Jesus was about to go. And where was that? Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." Did He not ascend to His Father's house, in the heavens, where the mansions were? Christ told Peter that he could not follow Him then, but that someday he would follow Him where He was going.

There are those who say that no one from this earth will ever go to heaven, but this would be contradicting the words of Jesus. It would also be contrary to John's description in Rev 19:1: "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God."

John's vision of the future places the saints in heaven. That is where Jesus promised to take them--to His Father's house and the place He had prepared. This will not be the permanent home of the saved, but it is surely the place where Christ takes them to spend a thousand years with Him.

Now, let us find out what happens to all the wicked when Christ returns. We have already established that the wicked dead do not live again "until the thousand years are finished." They simply remain in their graves during the millennium. No changes takes place for them until a thousand years later.

But what about the wicked who will live until Christ's return? How are they affected? Paul answers: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints." 2 Thes 1:7-10.

Notice what happens to sinners at the same time the saints are glorified. Sin cannot exist in His presence and the wicked are destroyed by His glory. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thes 2:8.

John describes the desperate attempts of the wicked to escape from Christ's presence when He returns. They will hide in the dens and rocks of the mountains, and pray, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev 6:16,17.

The sinners will be cut down by the bright glory of God as though a thousand volts of electricity had fallen upon them. Jesus spoke of that moment in these words: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered together." Matt 24:27,28. Christ indicated that the bodies of the wicked dead will be scattered as a result of the blazing glory of His return.

John described the wicked who survived the battle of Armageddon. "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev 19:21. His words parallel those of Jesus. The bodies of the lost will be food for vultures, immediately upon the appearance of Christ in the heavens.

Now we are prepared to answer a question that has puzzled many people. Can anyone repent and be saved after the coming of Jesus? Absolutely not. The Bible is very explicit on this point. John records the actual words of a mighty decree which Christ declares just before His return to this earth. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev 22:11,12.

This indicates that every case has been settled for eternity. Probation is ended. Christ lays aside His priestly robes and leaves the heavenly sanctuary where He has been interceding as our great High Priest. Now He returns as King of kings to execute judgment. There can be no more opportunity to repent. All will remain as they have been found in the books of heaven. In fact, who could repent and be saved during the millennium? The righteous are already immortalized in heaven, and the wicked are all dead. It would be just as logical to think of someone rising up in the casket and repenting, as to think of anyone turning to God after Jesus comes.

Jeremiah beheld this earth in vision following the return of Christ. He described it thus: "The slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." Jer 25:33. Of course, they won't be gathered. Nobody is here to do it. No one can weep for them, because the earth is entirely emptied of all its inhabitants. The dead bodies of the wicked will be scattered all over the earth, in the same places where they were cut down by the glory of God's presence.

The Earth in Ruins

The earth itself will be a shambles during the thousand years, as a result of the devastating earthquake which attends the coming of Christ. "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great...And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Rev 16:18,20.

The physical results of this convulsive earthquake are alluded to by both Isaiah and Jeremiah. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste...The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word...The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly." Isaiah 24:1,3,19.

The shocks and the after-shocks of that earthquake will spread desolation to every corner of the earth. Inhabited islands will disappear into the sea; great mountain chains will disintegrate and vanish. Jeremiah wrote: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by his fierce anger." Jer 4:23-26.

At the coming of Jesus every work of man will be humbled to the dust. Skyscrapers are leveled to the ground, the sky darkens, and even the birds disappear. The righteous are removed from the earth and all the wicked are slain. No wonder the Bible says that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. To be unprepared in that day is the greatest tragedy to be imagined.

Satan Bound

Now, the question arises, "Where is Satan during all this great manifestation?" Going back to Rev 20:1-3 we read about the Devil during the millennium: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." What an amazing scene! The Devil is bound for that thousand years and cast into the bottomless pit.

Fortunately, we do not have to speculate about the location of that bottomless pit. The Bible makes it very clear. The original Greek word for "bottomless pit" is "abussos," from which we get our English word "abyss," meaning "a deep place." That same word is used again in the Greek version of Genesis 1:2: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The word "deep" here is the Greek word "abussos" which is translated as "bottomless pit" in Rev 20:1. In other words, this earth was called the "abussos" after God formed it; before He called order and design out of it. Lying in disorganized darkness it was referred to as the bottomless pit.

During the millennium this planet will revert to a similar state of desolation and chaos. Jeremiah describes it in the very same words, "without form and void." Again, it is designated by the prophet John as the "abussos," or "bottomless pit." Satan will be confined right here on this torn-up, destroyed world for a thousand years while the saints are in heaven.

Someone may ask, "But what about the chain?" Just remember that Satan is a fallen angel, and spiritual beings cannot be bound with literal chains. The Bible speaks about the evil angels being bound with chains of darkness. The purpose of the binding is "that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled." The only possible way to accomplish this is to take Satan away from all the people, or take the people away from him. Even putting him into a deep, literal pit would not prevent him from deceiving the people, because he has millions of imps to carry on his work.

The fact is that the Devil is bound by circumstances which forbid him access to any human being during the thousand years. Recently, a man told me that Satan is already bound and has been ever since 1914. That struck me as one of the most incredible of all statements. Surely if he is bound today, somebody is doing his work for him. And if the world is in this shape without his evil scheming, we had better pray that he doesn't get loose, or we really are in for trouble. If he is bound now, it would have to be with a rubber chain that stretches from New York to Moscow and all around the circle of the earth.

No, he is not bound today, but he will be while this earth is in confused disorder. Unable to deceive a single soul, he will inhabit this desolate planet for a thousand years contemplating the havoc his program has produced. The righteous are in heaven, the wicked are all dead, and he has no one to work on till the end of the millennium.

Click here to continue.

 

 

 

Have You Counted the Cost? Midi