Something to Ponder

God’s Overpowering Purpose

By Oswald Chambers

I have appeared to you for this purpose… —Acts 26:16

The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was not a passing emotional experience, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him. And Paul stated, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). Our Lord said to Paul, in effect, “Your whole life is to be overpowered or subdued by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine.” And the Lord also says to us, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go…” (John 15:16).

When we are born again, if we are spiritual at all, we have visions of what Jesus wants us to be. It is important that I learn not to be “disobedient to the heavenly vision” — not to doubt that it can be attained. It is not enough to give mental assent to the fact that God has redeemed the world, nor even to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did a reality in my life. I must have the foundation of a personal relationship with Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim. He was brought into a vivid, personal, overpowering relationship with Jesus Christ. Acts 26:16 is tremendously compelling “…to make you a minister and a witness….” There would be nothing there without a personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person, not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s. He saw nothing else and he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Scripture Thought for the Day

John 15:12-16—"Here is my command. Love each other, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than the one who gives his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. "I do not call you servants any more. Servants do not know their master's business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. "You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you to go and bear fruit. It is fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name.

Comments

• Jack: You all were so kind to send this book The Untold Story of Jesus. Of all the subjects Larry has written about, this is the best work he's ever done. This is and was an unexpected blessing. So, what? You've saved the best for last!? Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
• Dick & Dottie: Dear dedicated workers at Wake Up America Seminars, may God richly bless the ministry to reach as many as you can with His last day soul-winning messages.
• Carolyn: A sweet lady called into the office for the first time this week to order a couple of copies of No More Delay. She found us recently while searching the internet for more information on the millennium. She was so excited to find the wealth of information on the website!!!

Prayer Requests

• Carolyn: Pray for Carolyn as she continues to study Bible prophecy.
• Dottie: Please pray for Dottie’s health to continue to improve.

WUAS News

• • WUAS Million Dollar Giveway!! Last Week of January Specials
    • You have one week left to take advantage of any special offer that we have listed since June 2019. These special offers are available to reach as many people as possible. We have heard countless testimony’s of people that weren’t initially interested in Bible Prophecy study but kept a book by Larry Wilson anyway, then one day they read it and were transformed in the understanding. Here are some of the specials:
      • Larry’s latest book! The Untold Story of Jesus book by the case or 8-pack
      • Booklet #12—Is the Rapture a Hoax
      • Booklet #10—Salvation: Faith? Grace? Works?
  • Q&A on the Millenium: Here are the questions that Carolyn emailed in to the office and Marty’s answers to her questions.
    • Carolyn’s questions: Who are the people living in the Millennium and where did they come from? At the end of the Millennium, where did the nations come from? Will people be working and having offspring? I understand the risen Christians will be judging the Angels and there will be levels of Christians according to their talents. What else will be going on before the end of the 1000 years? Thank you, Carolyn
    • Marty’s answers to Carolyn’s questions:

  Thank you for contacting us with your questions about the Millennium.  You have asked some excellent questions and I will try to answer them in an understandable manner.  Before I begin with the individual answers, I would like to give you an overview of how the answers were developed.  One of the rules we use in interpreting Bible prophecy is that an apocalyptic (related to the time of the end) prophecy has a beginning point in time with a sequence of events that occur in the order given in the prophecy until its ending point in time.  This may seem quite logical, but this brings a whole new perspective to the prophecies.  We have identified seventeen prophecies in Daniel and Revelation that follow this type of sequence.

  We believe that Jesus will be coming very soon to take the people who have accepted his offer of salvation and return with him to heaven.  The text I like that describes this glorious event is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17: 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

  So, according to this verse, when Jesus comes the second time, the righteous dead will be raised from the dead and then the people who are alive at that point will join the Lord in the air.  The Lord will take those individuals with him to heaven, leaving the earth desolate. The people who have accepted the mark of the beast will be killed by when Jesus returns. (Revelation 6:16 & Revelation 19:21) So, the saints will be with Jesus in heaven during the 1,000 years.  You referenced 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 which stated that people would be judging the world and angels.  This judgment occurs while the saints are in heaven.  They will be determining the amount of punishment each of the individuals who did not make it to heaven as well as Satan and his evil angels during this time.

  At the end of the millennium, the Holy City along with the saints will return to earth.  Jesus will raise all the dead who were not saved in this second resurrection. (The first resurrection occurs at the second coming.)  After they are raised, Jesus will review each individual’s life and give an account showing their rejection of Jesus' offer of salvation.  This is called the great white throne judgment. Every person who has ever lived on earth will be alive at this time.  The saints in the Holy City and those who rejected Christ outside the city.  Everyone will bow to Jesus. The saints will realize in wonder what Jesus did for them to save them in spite of their sins. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross provided them their opportunity for salvation. The evil ones outside the city will bow when they realize what they rejected and how much Jesus actually did to try to save them.  However, after realizing there penalty will be eternal death, "the nations" will attempt to attack the Holy City.  Their attack will be ended when Jesus calls fire from heaven to destroy them.  Their penalty based on the sins will be the length of time they suffer.  Satan's penalty of course, will be the longest.  However, their torment will not last forever.

  During the millennium, I am sure there will be much learning about what Christ has done for us as well as much rejoicing.  It is hard to imagine all that will be going on, but it will not be boring, I'm sure.

  There are three prophecies in Revelation that cover the time period of the Millennium.  Here are some links to charts that cover the time periods along with relevant texts.

  https://wake-up.org/charts/page16.png

  https://wake-up.org/charts/page17.png

  https://wake-up.org/charts/page18.png

  Here is a link showing all the charts in this series.

  https://wake-up.org/end-of-time-charts/daniel-revelation-prophecy-charts.html

  A series that may help you is at this link.

  https://wake-up.org/second-coming/are-you-ready-for-the-second-coming.html

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Diana Johnson

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• Newswatch - December 7, 2016