Matthew 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
Jeremiah 25:31 “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.”
Jeremiah 25:32 “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.”
Jeremiah 25:33 “And 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.”
Revelation 19:17 “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.”
Revelation 19:18 “That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.”
Revelation 19:19 “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.”
Revelation 19:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
THE END, WHAT THEN?
Through the above scriptures we have just learned what the end of the wicked will be, which answers the question of the disciples in part as they asked Jesus, “What shall be the signs of His coming and the end of the world?” The great question remains to be answered as to what becomes of the righteous, “What will usher in the coming of Christ and bring an end to the wicked?”
Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come."
The Gospel of the Kingdom is the home of the saints. When it has been preached to all nations Christ will come to receive His own and the wicked will come to their end. Notice carefully: The Gospel of the Kingdom is to be preached to all nations first; then Christ comes.
ARE THE DEAD SAINTS IN HEAVEN?
John 13:33 “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go ye cannot come; so now I say to you.”
The verse we have quoted teaches us that Heaven is a forbidden place to the children of God.
As we did not come from Heaven we should not expect to go to Heaven, as Jesus said no man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven.
John 3:13 "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."
WHERE WILL JESUS LOCATE?
Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”
Zechariah 14:8 "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be."
Zechariah 14:9 “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”
We have now learned where Jesus will locate when He comes. He will locate on the east side of Jerusalem.
In Luke 1:32 Gabriel declared to Mary “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.”
David’s throne was never in Heaven. David’s throne was in Jerusalem where Jesus will reign when He comes to gather His own.
Let us read Luke 1:33: “And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
The house of Jacob was never in Heaven and never shall be. When Jesus comes He will reign over the house of Jacob.
In John 14:2 Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Notice: Jesus did not say, “Where I go ye can come” but He said, “Where I am there ye may be also.” Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives when He made those promises. Jesus has gone to prepare a place, but as He stated in John 13:33, “Whither I go, ye cannot come.” He will locate on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem, as He said, “Where I am, there ye may be also.”
PAUL’S TESTIMONY
I Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
Notice carefully: The dead saints shall arise, including the disciples, by the trumpet of God.
I Thessalonians 4:17 “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
The dead saints and the living saints will be caught up together in the air, in the clouds, but nothing is said about going above the clouds. The clouds always remain below the sun, moon, and stars. We will locate with Jesus east of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, where He will reign on David’s throne and over the house of David and so shall we dwell with the saints of the Lord for ever and ever. It is well for us to note at this junction that the saints of God are awakened by the trumpet of God and caught up to meet the Lord, which proves that the saints of God did not come from Heaven with Jesus. They have been left remaining in that sleep to be awakened by the trumpet of God. They have never been in Heaven as some claim.
STEPHEN’S TESTIMONY
Acts 2:34 “For David is not ascended into the heavens...”
If David is not in Heaven as Stephen declared years after Jesus ascended to Heaven, why should we expect the saints of God to fly to Heaven as soon as they die? David is still asleep in the dusty grave until Jesus comes to sweep the cemeteries and claim His own.
Acts 13:36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption.”
This is another proof that David is not in Heaven. If the saints of God were in Heaven as so many teach today, there would be no need for Jesus to come again.
DANIEL’S TESTIMONY
In Daniel 2:1-49 as the angel interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel:
"And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.
8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.
10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.
13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
46 Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Make note of Daniel 2:44 Daniel said, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
Notice carefully: The Kingdom of God will be set up in the days of the wicked kingdoms. It will consume the kingdoms of the world. For the above reason there is no possible chance for the saints of God and Christ to go back to Heaven for seven or a thousand years. Christ will reign over the House of Jacob on the throne of David which will take place in the days of these kings.
In Daniel 2:45 as Daniel saw the stone coming down out of Heaven cut out of the mountain without hands, it broke to pieces and consumed all these kingdoms. It did not bounce back to Heaven but it grew and filled the whole earth. The stone represents the Kingdom of God which will grow and fill the whole earth when Jesus comes. That stone was not made of rubber. Nothing is said about it bouncing back to Heaven.
JOHN THE DIVINE
Revelation 11:15 “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
The seventh trumpet is the trumpet that awakens the saints of God and causes Christ to come and claim His own. There is not one scripture in all the Bible that gives men any promise of going to Heaven.
Proverbs 10:30 “The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.”
If the righteous are never to be removed they will remain forever, even though they are caught up to meet Jesus in the clouds they do not leave this world any more than Lindbergh when he flew above the clouds: he was still in this world.
DAVID’S TESTIMONY
Psalm 37:9 “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.”
Psalm 37:29 “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.”
Psalm 37:34 “Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.”
Genesis 8:21-22
"21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
The Lord promised Noah He would never smite every living thing as He had done: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
The Lord had reduced the human family down to eight souls during that great flood. The Lord promised He will never reduce the human family to eight souls again. Neither will the wicked ever see a total crop failure as God has said, as long as the earth remaineth, there shall be seedtime and harvest.
In Matthew 6:10 "Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Jesus said for us to pray for His Kingdom to come, thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven. This has been the prayer of the saints for years. We are still praying for His Kingdom to come. We will continue to do so until Jesus comes, when the trumpet of God shall sound; the saints in their graves will come forth to meet Jesus in the clouds to locate east of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, where He will reign on David’s throne and over the House of Jacob.
In Matthew 5:5 Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
Many saints of God have gone down and not inherited any part of this earth.
Stephen declared Abraham did not get as much of this earth as to set his foot on. Acts 7:1-5.
"Then said the high priest, Are these things so?
2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child."
Still the Lord promised Abraham in Genesis 12:7 and Genesis 13:14-18 that this world was to be his and his seed’s.
Genesis 12:7.
"And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him."
Genesis 13:14-18.
"14 And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord."
These promises Christ will verify when He comes. Abraham did not look for a trip to Heaven, but for the Son Jesus to come and set up His Kingdom and to restore all things.
THE WEDDING SUPPER
In Luke 13:28-29 Jesus said, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.”
The patriarch and the prophets will not be coming from Heaven above but from the four quarters of the earth. The sinners will be able to behold them with their own eyes. The wedding supper of the Lamb will take place on this earth and not in Heaven, as the saints of God will not go above the clouds. Jesus comes to set up His Kingdom in the days of those wicked kingdoms. May God help us to pray and to look to that end when Jesus will come and reign on David’s throne.
See in Revelation 20:1-10.
" And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 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 fulfuilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magag, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
The Devil will be chained and will be cast into a bottomless pit and a seal will be placed upon him. Those that come forth in the first resurrection will be made priests and kings for Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 5:10 “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
This should forever brush away the thought of going to Heaven, as we will reign with Christ on earth forever.
In Isaiah 11:6-9 the Lord has promised that “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”
The Lord will take away the blood thirst from the wild animals, their food will be as the food of a cow, and the mother with the suckling child shall not fear that the animals will devour her baby.
Revelation 21:4 “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
THE LAST MESSAGE
In Matthew 24:14 Jesus said, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
This is the last message, and this message when it has circled the globe will usher Jesus in. If men believe His message it carries with it life eternal and a home in the Kingdom for those that accept it; destruction for those that reject it. For those that are unwilling to hear, the Lord has said they would be destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Hosea 4:6.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."
Everyone that received this message will pass it to others and by so doing we will hasten the coming of the Lord. As Peter declared in II Peter 3:12 “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.”
In Revelation 19:7 those words will come to pass, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
Revelation 19:9 “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they that are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”
May God bless these words that they may find a lodging place in the hearts of men as they are the true sayings of God.
Jesus will become our King and will reign on earth when sinners will become food for the birds, in the days when the Lord shall reign on David’s throne over the House of Jacob. If the reader desires further information kindly write to the pastor of the Church of God, Body of Christ.
CHURCH OF GOD, BODY OF CHRIST
Oakland, OR