Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Dec 30th, 2010 Even So, Come, Lord Jesus

Today’s Reading – Revelation 20 – 22

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)

First of all, I want to congratulate those of you who have journeyed with us this year through the Bible. Reading the Bible through each year is quite an accomplishment, but it is also very rewarding. Some who are reading this post have not been completely faithful in your reading; maybe you were hit and miss. I have often been there myself. Don’t be discouraged! Try again this year. Our new journey begins January 1^st in the Book of Genesis. I am excited also to offer a “Second Milers” program this year for those who desire to take their walk with God to a higher level. You will find more information on this program on the new page entitled “Second Milers”

Just a quick though from our reading today that is similar to what was posted a couple of days ago regarding invitations. Here at the very end of the Bible is another invitation for people to come to Christ. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Have you received that new birth that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 3?  Jesus loves you very much, and desires for you to come to Him. He won’t force anybody to come; but as you can clearly see from the verse above, He invites you to come. All throughout the Bible, God has always offered an opportunity for people to turn from their sin unto Him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, He still desires a relationship with you.  Mind boggling, isn’t it. Why would God desire us? Maybe you’re a Christian, and you have strayed away from God’s will. God invites you too to come back to Him. He never stopped loving you either, no matter how far away you’ve wandered.

A final note to those of you who are doing well spiritually: God wants you to come in a little closer. John tells us in his gospel that God wants us to have “life more abundantly”. Very day our life ought to be more abundant than the day before. Why? Because every day we ought to be drawing closer to Him. Make 2011 the year that God gets all of you, the year that you surrender more fully to the will of God; the year that you are wholly yielded to the Spirit of God. Who knows, this may be year that Christ comes to take us home to Heaven. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. What a blessing it is to be a child of the King!

Dec 29th, 2010 Supper Is Almost Ready

Today’s Reading – Revelation 16 – 19

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Revelation 19:9

I must confess that I really don’t understand all that is going to take place during that period of time called the Great Tribulation. I know that it will be a horrible time for those living on the earth for both the saved and the lost. I know also that it will be a time of rejoicing and receiving in Heaven. You might think that those words are not exactly adequate to describe what will take place there in that day, but maybe after I explain, you will understand what I mean.

The rejoicing part is rather self-evident. We will do a lot of rejoicing in Heaven. In chapter 19, we see the words, Alleluia, Amen, and Praise used repeatedly. The angels will be rejoicing, as well as the Saints. We will probably get a little glimpse as to what is going on in the earth while we are in Heaven awaiting the end of the Tribulation. We will see the destruction of God’s enemies. We will watch the destruction of Babylon, with all of the political power and false worship that it represented. God will win. We know that now through faith in his Word. I remember hearing a song years ago entitled, “I Read The Back of the Book and We Win”. That’s the truth! We are reading about it prophetically now, but someday soon we will see it. We should probably learn to rejoice now, shouldn’t we?

The Tribulation period will also be a time of receiving for those who are experiencing the events from Heaven. What will we receive? Well, for one, we will receive rewards for the works that we did for the Lord while we were on earth. The Bible calls those rewards crowns. I don’t know if I will receive any rewards or not, but one thing I know – I really don’t deserve any. Jesus deserves all the glory. Anything I did for His Kingdom that was of any value, He did through me anyway. I guess that is why the Bible says that we will cast those rewards back at the feet of Jesus.

What else will we receive? Well, I believe that all throughout the Tribulation Period we will be receiving new saints in Heaven. Saints that have made their robes white in the blood of the lamb through martyrdom. I believe that many will be saved during this period, but I also believe that most of those that get saved, will be martyred. We don’t know much about persecution in the time that we are living in today, especially in America; but most of these Tribulation saints will be faithful unto death. Every day, more will arrive. Heroes of the faith that chose death rather than live in allegiance to Satan.

Then, we will receive some supper. It is called a supper isn’t it? I wonder what we will eat? Can you imagine sitting at a table with the Lord and all of the saints? As I said before, I couldn’t possibly know all that will happen, but I do know that it will be wonderful, because everything He does is wonderful.