Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 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 are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation marks a special period in the end times, one where the evil that had plagued the earth from the time of the Rapture on to include the evil work of Satan, the great beast of the sea (aka the antichrist), and his accomplice, the false prophet, will be gone, the latter two for good while Satan will reappear for a short time (20:3b) before being committed to Hell forever.
This period of time, known as the Millennial Reign of Jesus, will take place for 1,000 years, a time of peace and righteousness, unmatched by any other time in the world’s history. We find out more about it in today’s passage while also looking at the fifth of seven beatitudes found in the Book of Revelation. Look again at these words here:
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 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 are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.Vv.4-6
Here we find that Jesus will not be reigning alone during the thousand years. For John shares where he “saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge".
Who would occupy these thrones?
The scriptures tell is that they would be “the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, the ones who were martyred for their faith because “they had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands”.
These martyred souls would be resurrected, brought to life so to reign “with Christ a thousand years”, an even referred to as “the first resurrection”. The second resurrection would come later when “the rest of the dead” would “come to life” after “the thousand years” reign had ended.
So while Jesus’ faithful disciples met a horrific, terrible end to their lives at the hand of Satan and his evil accomplices, they ultimately are rewarded and honored in a special way, elevated to rule the world with the Savior they placed their hope and trust in.
This is why we see the fifth beatitude applied here for those brought back to life during the “first resurrection” will be “blessed and holy”, now set apart as “priests of God and of Christ”.
This scene is a reminder of the blessed victory over death and the grave that all believers – past, present, and future – have today through faith in Jesus. For no matter how this life ends, whether through natural failure of the human body or a tragic unexpected death by some means, we have the wonderful guarantee that life is not finished but only beginning in a way more incredible and glorious than we can imagine, and that life, the best life ever, will be eternal.
As we read in our text for today, blessed are those who share in the first resurrection and get to reign with Jesus for 1,000 years but blessed also is anyone who has placed their belief in Jesus for they will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
Can I pray for you in any way?
Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
In Christ, Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk
** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn
** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 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 are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4-6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation marks a special period in the end times, one where the evil that had plagued the earth from the time of the Rapture on to include the evil work of Satan, the great beast of the sea (aka the antichrist), and his accomplice, the false prophet, will be gone, the latter two for good while Satan will reappear for a short time (20:3b) before being committed to Hell forever.
This period of time, known as the Millennial Reign of Jesus, will take place for 1,000 years, a time of peace and righteousness, unmatched by any other time in the world’s history. We find out more about it in today’s passage while also looking at the fifth of seven beatitudes found in the Book of Revelation. Look again at these words here:
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 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 are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.Vv.4-6
Here we find that Jesus will not be reigning alone during the thousand years. For John shares where he “saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge’.
Who would occupy these thrones?
The scriptures tell is that they would be “the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, the ones who were martyred for their faith because “they had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands”.
These martyred souls would be resurrected, brought to life so to reign “with Christ a thousand years”, an even referred to as “the first resurrection”. The second resurrection would come later when “the rest of the dead” would “come to life” after “the thousand years” reign had ended.
So while Jesus’ faithful disciples met a horrific, terrible end to their lives at the hand of Satan and his evil accomplices, they ultimately are rewarded and honored in a special way, elevated to rule the world with the Savior they placed their hope and trust in.
This is why we see the fifth beatitude applied here for those brought back to life during the “first resurrection” will be “blessed and holy”, now set apart as “priests of God and of Christ”.
This scene is a reminder of the blessed victory over death and the grave that all believers – past, present, and future – have today through faith in Jesus. For no matter how this life ends, whether through natural failure of the human body or a tragic unexpected death by some means, we have the wonderful guarantee that life is not finished but only beginning in a way more incredible and glorious than we can imagine, and that life, the best life ever, will be eternal.
As we read in our text for today, blessed are those who share in the first resurrection and get to reign with Jesus for 1,000 years but blessed also is anyone who has placed their belief in Jesus for they will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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