“In My Father’s House are many Mansions.” - Author and Writer Ronald Nelson

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“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 14:2

ENCOURAGING WORD:

With the twenty five years or more that I have been studying the Bible, I have come to a very good understanding of what this verse is referring to. What is disturbing to me is this, the first forty years of attending a denominational church, I never heard this verse taught even once. To me, this is one of the most comforting verse in the scriptures if you are a true Born-Again Christian.

We read the rest of this verse in John 14: 3-6; “And if I (Jesus) go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

If you read these verses and take them literally, they are very clear. Jesus is clearly declaring that if you have received Him as your Lord and Savior, He is going to come and take you to where He is! (Which is Heaven.) And this is not after the Tribulation; it is referring to the rapture of the church. Think about this, why would Jesus take His true church (The Born-Again believers) and put them through the worst time in human history. The true church is also referred to as the Bride of Christ. Ladies, how many of you would marry a man who would allow you to be beaten and tortured seven years before the wedding? If you believe that Jesus will allow His chastened bride to be put through this horrible time, then you don’t know the Jesus of the Bible. The tribulation is for judgement on an unbelieving world and to bring the Jews to their knees. It is then that their eyes' will be open and they will realize and understanding that Jesus Christ was their long waiting Messiah all this time. The tribulation is also known as "The Seventieth Week of Daniel" that was clearly spoken of in the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel is a complete study in and of itself that really lines up with the book of Revelation. Jeremiah referred to this time as the “Time of Jacobs Trouble” not the churches trouble, the true church will not be hear.

We read this truth in Jeremiah 30:7; “How awful that day will be! (The Tribulation) No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, (Israel, not the church) but he will be saved out of it.”

The Bible is very clear what the tribulation is for. Once again, it is not for the church, the true believers in Jesus Christ. It is the last seven week period of life as we currently know it, where God will judge those that have rejected Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. He will then set up His one thousand year reign on earth from the Throne of David from Jerusalem. I believe this seven year period is on the very near horizon. All the greatest prophecy scholars all agree that the next major prophetic event will be the rapture of the church. After that, if you are left behind, you can expect one of two things. During this seven year period, if you become a believer in Jesus Christ, you will be put to death, but know this, you will immediately be taken into heaven as a martyr for Christ. If you go through the tribulation still rejecting Jesus Christ, you will face the wrath of God. God’s wrath will be more severe than anything thing that you could imagine. I’m not going to get into the details, other than to say this, you don’t want to be here, but the choice is yours.

While all this is going on, the Jews will be put through a time that will be worse than the Holocaust. During the holocaust, one out of three Jews were killed. In the tribulation, two out of three Jews will be killed. Just so you know this is Biblical, let me share with you the following Bible verse.

In Zechariah, 13:8; we read, “In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it.”

This is in reference to the Jews during the second half of the tribulation. The one third that will be saved through the tribulation will enter the Millennial Kingdom that was promised to the Jews thousands of years ago. If you do not believe this truth, then you are calling God a liar and a covenant breaker. Be careful who’s name you slander. I don’t think you want to stand before God and call Him a liar!

The problem in interpretation of end times lies in the false belief of "Replacement Theology." Replacement theology essentially teaches that the church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. Those that support replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel. This is why those that don’t believe in the rapture feel the church will go through the tribulation. If you believe in replacement theology, you have to allegorize all the end time teaching in the Bible. Just a quick Bible verse that should put an end to this ridiculous false doctrine.

We read in Romans 11:1-2; “ I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.”

Do you believe the Word of God or do you believe the false interpretations of the scriptures. This verse is the Apostle Paul reassuring the Jews that God has not cast off His chosen people. They were temporarily, spiritually blind until the fullness of the Gentiles come in as we read in

Romans 11: 25-27; “ For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Which is the Rapture of the Church) And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.”

How does your pastor explain this verse away? Once again, do you believe what the Bible teaches, or do you believe in Man-Made religions? You’re not going to have the excuse that you were mistaught by whoever to trust, God will hold you accountable for what you believe regardless of who taught you, so why not let the Holy Spirit guide you through all truth, after all, The Holy Spirit inspired every Word in the Bible.

Let me share a couple very controversial verses that once again are very clear to me.

1 Corinthians 15:52-54; “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

The description that the dictionary gives for the word “Twinkle” is (the time required for a wink.) I’ve heard a couple Bible scholars say, it is even quicker than that. In the denominational church’s, they refer to this verse as the second coming, where Jesus comes to the earth instead of the rapture. In the rapture Jesus gathers His church in an instant, and meets them in the clouds in the twinkle of an eye. When Jesus comes to the earth at the second coming it will not be in the twinkling of an eye, all eyes will see Him coming, as we read in,

Revelation 1:7; “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen”

When Jesus comes for the church in the Rapture, only those who are saved will see Him. “For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we (the saved) shall be changed.”

This is an event that only pertains to those that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When Jesus comes after the "Seven Year Tribulation," then all eyes will see Him, and judgement will come to those that have rejected Jesus Christ.

This teaching is sadly rejected by most mainline denominational churches even though it is crystal clear in the scriptures. God gave us all a mind of our own and it is up to each one of us to search out the scriptures and hear what the Holy Spirit has to say to us.

John 8:44; “You are of your father the devil, (Speaking to the Pharisees) and the desires of your father (Satan) you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

It doesn’t sound too much to me like Jesus was being politically correct, but yet today many church leaders have to tip toe around everybody’s feelings instead of telling them the truth. I’m sorry if this sounds too harsh, but I see far too many people being lied too, and mislead down the path of destruction. The Bible clearly states that in the last days there will be a falling away from the true doctrine of salvation and we are seeing this on a grand scale. If you do not want to accept what the scriptures plainly teaches, that is your choice, but I urge you to at least search the scriptures for yourself to be sure. I’m not asking you to take my Word for it, ask the Holy Spirit into your heart and let Him guide you in all truth as I believe He has done for me. So, I know right about now, I know that some of you might be upset by this truth, but once again, let me remind you of what the following Bible verse has to say about this.

John 15:18-23;“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (Speaking of those that serve Jesus) Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.”

Most people in the end times are going to scoff and mock those that share the truth of the Gospel. As a matter of fact, the Apostle Paul warned us in his letter to Timothy about this in the following Bible verses.

We find these words in, 2 Timothy 4:3-4; "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

We also read a similar message from Peter in 2 Peter 3:1-4; "Beloved, I now write to you in this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?"

I know that I am despised by many for telling the truth of the Bible, just as Peter and Paul warned would happen in the end times. So, I can accept it. I won’t deny what the Word of God teaches and what the Holy Spirit has put in my heart and soul. I won’t conform to any man made religion nor anything that can’t be supported without scripture. This is why you need to read and study the Bible so you can discern what is truth and what are lies. The only way for you to know the truth is for you to ask the Holy Spirit into your heart and have Him reveal to you all truth. That is the only way for you to know for sure. Don’t take my word for it as it says in Acts 17:11; It say we should be like the Bereans on that day. We need to Be like the Bereans and search the scriptures daily to know for certain if what I am teaching is the truth or not. Your eternal dwelling will determine what you believe. Wouldn't you agree, that reading Gods word is the most intelligent thing you can do? Jesus Christ is the one that you will stand before when you face the final judgement!

I know this teaching can be hard to swallow to those that haven’t heard it before, but to those that have been led by the Holy Spirit, they know exactly what I am saying.

Matthew 7:14 tells us this, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

There are very few people in comparison to the world population that know and believe this truth, and they are the ones that also have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Let me finish with this comforting message. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and have become Born-Again, then you are saved. Only Jesus Christ can save you, there is absolutely nothing that you can do to earn salvation. You can know the Bible inside and out, but if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, you will hear the following Words when you strand before Him at the “White Throne Judgement.”

Matthew 7:21-23; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I can say this, when you understand the events that the end days are speaking of in the Bible and then you see them line up with what is going on in the world, it gets very exciting! What is happening in the world is not to be feared if you are saved, it is reminding us of the soon appearing of Jesus Christ and The Blessed Hope that the Bible speaks of that will come to all those who truly believe. Jesus has prepared a place for you, but it is up to you whether or not you want to claim residency.

Acts 16: 25-31; ”About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Notice, it says nothing about belonging to any religion or any works of the flesh. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Pretty simple, but what do religions say, They say, Do this, Do that, what does Jesus say, It is done, nothing else we can do, it is finished. All we need to do is accept the free gift of grace, become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit and if your confession of faith is sincere, you are saved.

If you are saved, then there is a beautiful mansion waiting for you in heaven. One more thought, God created the universe in six days, He had six thousand years to prepare your heavenly home. Why would you not want to spend eternity there? Paradise or the Lake of Burning Fire. Two choices, you will end up in one of these two dwelling places for all eternity. And once again, it is your choice where you choose to spend eternity.

So now, may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

May God continue to bless you in all you do, and take care!