Tag: released

34.s. “The Lord will judge all people.”

 

 Matthew 27:24  So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

 Jeremiah 2:35    you say, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.’ Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’

 2 Corinthians 5:21    For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 Hebrews 10:29-30    How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

“Oh, the daring of Pilate thus in the sight of God to commit murder and disclaim it. There is a strange mingling of cowardliness and courage about many men; they are afraid of a man, but not afraid of the eternal God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Spurgeon)

Vain hope pulls many into believing their heart is pure and their conscience is clear of wrong doing. In this hope many find ways to justify their words and actions that neither honor and glorify Jesus Christ or are in line with godly living. Being negligent in God’s Word does not free a person to say my heart is pure and conscience clear for lack of knowing. By the very fact they intentionally choose to neglect God’s Word or have any desire to hear Him speak into their lives, is as if they are saying you are not worthy of my interest, my time, my all. Like Pilate, they wash their hands of any responsibility for their lack of desire to live for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. No excuse can be made on judgement day for neglecting Jesus Christ and living for Him. What will a person say? I was busy. I went to church. I lived peaceably. I was kind. I was generous. I was not as bad as other people. It was just to hard to understand. 

On judgement day every thought, word, and action the heart and mind of a person has taken, in an instant, they will become aware that it all was exposed before the eyes of God before it even happened. What will a person say at this time of Judgement? They will know without any doubts that they have disregarded, rejected, and denied God, the Word of God, and Jesus Christ. There will be no excuses residing in their mouths for they shall see clearly the Son of God they have cast away as not worthy of their thoughts or time. 

Trying to justify ourselves before God is to put ourselves and things we do ahead of Jesus Christ. Our hope is in what we have done or are doing. Our justification is in Christ alone. Period. He is the author and finisher our redemption, salvation, forgiveness, and hope of eternal life.

Do not think you can wash your hands of neglect, complacency, denial, rejection, or whatever else is contrary to living for the single purpose of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in all we think, say, and do. 

8.n.And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations

Revelation 20:7  And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Why is Satan imprisoned for a time and then released? Why not cast him into hell before the 1,000 years? Joseph A. Seiss writes, “God uses even the wickedest of beings, and overrules the worst depravity, to his own good and gracious ends. He allows Satan liberty, and denies him liberty, and gives him liberty again, not because the Devil or the Devil’s malice is necessary to him, but to show his power to bring good out of evil, to make even the worst of creatures praise him, and to turn their very wickedness to the furtherance of the purposes they would fain defeat” Phillips, Rob. The Searcher’s Guide to the Apocalypse: A Verse-by-Verse Quest to Understand the Book of Revelation .

Perhaps Satan’s release serves as final proof that the heart of man is desperately wicked and can be changed only by God’s grace. Imagine the tragedy of this revolt: People who have been living in a perfect environment, under the perfect government of God’s Son, finally show their true colors and rebel against the King. Their obedience during the 1,000 years is false humility and feigned submission, not true faith in the Messiah. “This rebellion proves that a rule of perfect law cannot change the human heart; sinners would rather follow Satan,” writes Warren Wiersbe

Many commentators say that Satan is loosed so that those who grow up during the millennium, under the perfect and righteous reign of Christ, have the chance to choose between good and evil, between God and Satan. Satan is loosed and immediately plays the tempter’s role. Though bound in prison for a thousand years, he is as vile and as subtle, as merciless and as ruthless, as diabolical and as evil, as he was in the beginning. He has not changed. And, sadly, mankind has not changed either.

But who are these followers of Satan? Premillennialists like J.F. Walvoord and R.B. Zuck say they are survivors of the tribulation. They enter the millennium in their natural bodies, bear children and repopulate the earth (Isa. 65:18–25). Under ideal circumstances in which every person knows about Jesus Christ (cf. Jer. 31:33–34), many will outwardly profess faith in Christ without actually placing faith in Him for salvation. The shallowness of their professions becomes apparent when Satan is released. The multitudes that follow Satan are evidently those who have never been born again in the millennial kingdom

8.m. Key to the bottomless pit

Revelation 20:1   Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The accuser and slanderer, the one who deceives and leads people and nations on destructive God-denying, Jesus rejecting, self-centered, self-worthy, and self-satisfying paths straight to hell is bound and cast into a pit reserved for Satan and his followers.  There is no battle or prolonged fight where the victor is determined by will power and skill to overcome their opponent.  No there is Almighty and All-Powerful Jesus Christ who defeated death and holds the key to the bottomless pit, who by the word of His mouth sends an angel with the key to bind Satan and cast him in.  Satan has no power but what is allowed by God and at His word alone can be taken away in the blink of an eye.

So it is, Jesus is returning personally, visibly, and physically one day to set things right; He will raise the dead and judge them in righteousness; He will separate His own from those who have hung their stars on the prince of darkness; He will redeem our sinful and fallen world from the effects of the fall, resulting in new heavens and a new earth; and we will delight in His personal presence forever and ever.  All believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of our lives. This judgment does not determine our eternal destiny, for that is fixed on this side of death with the believer’s decision to trust in Christ. (Phillips, Rob)

There is a time fast approaching when the end times will come upon the earth.  It is important to know this prophetic ending but not near as important as knowing, surrendering, relying on upon, trusting in, following, believing in, and obeying Jesus Christ while you still have breath this side of eternity.  If you die without repenting of sin, trusting in and complete trust and humble service to Jesus Christ – Hell awaits you with deceitful, lying, open arms, welcoming you to eternal destruction.

Now is the time of salvation.  Now is the time of redemption.  Now is the time to repent and turn away from self-centered, self-satisfying, and self-reliant lies and deception of Satan.  Jesus awaits you, just as you are with wide open arms to welcome you into life with Him now and for eternity forever and ever.