| SEEING WILL BE BELIEVING!
If there is a choice offered at that time, to me it indicates that some people will choose what's right when they are presented with a full knowledge of the Lord, the personal appearance of the Lord and His angelic, mighty, supernatural power, the proof of His existence and authority! After all, how much more evidence could anyone ask than what there will be during the Millennium, when man will be able to see the visible power of God through you and me, and the visible, personal embodiment of God in Jesus Christ as King of kings and Ruler of the Earth!
Then, instead of believing being seeing--God's motto for His children today who "walk by faith and not by sight" (2co.5:7)--Seeing will be believing! They will be given the opportunity to believe by actually being able to see the Kingdom of God and Christ on Earth and His Saints in power and ruling the World, so that it should be much easier for them to believe and receive under those conditions. However, they will not be as honoured or blessed as those who are now believing and receiving and obeying by faith, without seeing. DOUBTING THOMASES
Jesus said to doubting Thomas, "Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed."—And I believe the Millennium is going to be designed, in a sense, for the "Doubting Thomases" whom God's going to give a chance to see and to believe. But He then said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed!" (Jn.20:29.) We are the more blessed category, who believe by faith even though we haven't seen!
So it looks to me like that's what it's going to be, a sort of doubting Thomas program for all the unbelievers who need to be convinced and need to be shown. God, in a sense, is going to do for the World in the Millennium what He did for Thomas! People today say, "Show me!" Well, He's gonna show'm! And those who were honest about it and really meant it--"Lord, if You'll only show me, I'll believe!"--will believe! FIRST CHANCE FOR SOME AND LAST CHANCE FOR OTHERS.
No doubt, many at this time will at last see and understand and know and believe and receive and obey and enjoy the beauty of His Kingdom, the restored Garden of Eden on Earth in the beautiful Heavenly Paradise of the Millennium!--That's why it's going to be like Heaven on Earth, thank God, because the vast majority of the people will receive it and will yield to the Kingdom of God.
So this period seems to be necessary, by God's own creation and design, to give some folks their first chance and others their last chance, to give everybody a chance before the final Judgement of God at the end of the Millennium, which we'll cover in detail in our next lesson. And I believe that some are going to be, you might say, good people, and some really bad people. Because He definitely indicates in the Scriptures that some will rebel and be cursed while others will obey and be blessed.
God's going to give them all a chance under the most ideal conditions to believe and to accept and to receive and to obey! And if they do believe when they see, then why shouldn't the Lord bless them somehow?--Maybe not with our kind of salvation, but at least with some kind of salvation, reclamation, reconciliation and reward in the next life, in the final fulfilment of it all, the New Heaven and New Earth, which Age the saved will all enter after the 1,000-year Millennial period is over and the great final White Throne Judgement has taken place! BLESSED ARE THOSE THAT HAVE NOT SEEN
So these people in the Millennium who do believe and repent and receive, are they going to be saved like us?--Well, maybe so, maybe some. But even if they're not saved like us, at least they will be somehow improved and certainly have a better chance. He said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (Jn.20:29.) Well, in the Millennium they're going to see and believe. So they might not rate as A-Plus-Number-Ones like we who believe purely by faith today, because we were willing to believe without seeing.--But they will believe having seen, like Thomas. But the Lord didn't completely condemn him for it, in fact He let him see to help him believe!
So I believe God's going to give them a chance, I really believe it! And although the Scripture's not too out in the open and clear about it, I think it certainly indicates that He's going to give them another chance--maybe not at the same reward or salvation, but in a sense, a second chance to at least better themselves and be better off than they would have been.
I used to think that there was no place within the eternal Holy City for people who got saved during the Millennium, that surely they couldn't be in the same class as us and would have to be outside the City.--After all, we're saved now! But who knows?--If they never heard and they never really had a chance and they finally got saved when they did hear during the Millennium, why shouldn't they have as much right to the City as we?
So maybe some people will be saved during the Millennium and will be allowed into the Holy City too if they believe in and receive Jesus! Maybe they'll receive Him then as their personal Saviour and have faith in His blood and believe, even as we do today, because they will have seen! Maybe they're not going to be as blessed as us! Maybe they'll still get in, but maybe they'll be down in the basement somewhere or the lower levels. You are going to be more blessed, because you, though having not seen, believed! NEXT
STILL REBELS
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