Losing Loved Ones - 2025

Video: Losing Loved Ones

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23 AKJV)

God’s Mercy will be Seen in 2025

It will be important to keep principles in mind in the years to come. More than two billion people will perish starting in 2025. This is almost 900 times the number of people who died from COVID-19 related deaths. These four types of attacks will be unleashed upon the people of this Earth:

• War: May not significantly affect North America

  • The number of Christians beheaded in the Middle East will increase

    • Only legal execution in Saudi Arabia

• Famine: Nigeria and other African nations, China, India, Russia, Ukraine

• Death: Suicide and unexplained death, which may include a plague.

• Wild animal attacks: This will affect the nations with large wild animal populations more.

Two billion people may not be removed in a single year, but it will occur over the next several years. The average worldwide mortality rate will begin to rise then, eventually skyrocket.

God’s Grace and Mercy will be Seen in 2025

God’s grace and mercy show up in unexpected ways. To understand what will happen, we must first understand God’s grace and mercy and how it manifests in our lives.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Leviticus 17:11 ESV)

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:22 ESV)

God tells us that life is in the blood. It takes blood to redeem or atone for our sins so that our souls can go to Heaven. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:27-28 ESV)

He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us). (Hebrews 9:12 AMPC)

On the last night with His disciples, Jesus declared that His blood would be applied to a new covenant. The word covenant means testament or agreement. The Old Testament is the old agreement God had with His people. The New Testament is the new agreement we have through Jesus.

Because the blood of Jesus is perfect, it was used in an agreement, once for all sin. The perfect blood of our savior also brings God’s grace and mercy to us.

• Grace: Getting something you don’t deserve.

• Mercy: Not getting the punishment due to us.

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Latin: Calvary; Hebrew: Golgotha], there they crucified Him, and [along with] the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus prayed, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do... (Luke 23:33-34 AMPC)

And to Jesus, the Mediator (Go-between, Agent) of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance]. (Hebrews 12:24 AMPC)

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17 ESV)

When Jesus was placed on the cross, as His blood was sprinkled on the ground, He cried out for mercy for those who didn’t know what they were doing. As Christians, we are not under the Law of Moses, so we don’t go to Hell because of our sins. When the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about who Jesus is and what He has done, when we take Him as Lord, we receive grace for our sins so that we can go to Heaven.

…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10 ESV)

This is the basics of the Gospel: God sent Jesus to us through His grace, even when we didn’t deserve it. The sacrifice of our Lord provides mercy so that when we believe in Him and take Him as our Lord, we get to go to Heaven. This is the greatest gift we can receive, given to the world because our Heavenly Father wants His children to be with Him in Heaven.

Losing a Loved One

When someone we love; a dear friend, a relative, or a child, departs from this Earth early in life, we know the enemy has won a battle.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12 KJV)

In our life today, the true battle is with an unseen force, a war that is taking place in the spirit realm. This war began when Lucifer, that old dragon, Satan, rebelled against God:

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13-14 AKJV)

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth... (Revelation 12:3-4 ESV)

Satan wishes to take God’s place, to rule over us. We battle in this lifetime against him and his minions: one-third of all God’s servants followed Satan’s lead and are rebelling against our Heavenly Father. The spiritual war is not for our life, here on this earth, but for the eternal destiny of those created by God to be His children. As Christians, we should desire that our loved ones will be with us in Heaven for all eternity more than anything else.

…What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:14 ESV)

When we are young, the days from one birthday to the next seem to take forever. As we age, we gain perspective on life, each year seems to pass more quickly. We will exist for all eternity: that is time without an end, an infinite number of years. This life is as brief as a misting vapor: it is but a blink of an eye compared to the length of time we will exist. We want our loved ones to be with us in this life, but our primary concern should be whether or not they will be with us forever in Heaven.

One of the hardest challenges to endure is the loss of a child. Many Christian parents have stood on God’s word concerning the life of their children:

But thus said the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save your children. (Isaiah 49:25 AKJV)

Be assured; an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered. (Proverbs 11:21 ESV)

The Lord will contend for us and the children of the righteous will be saved. However, this does not always mean they will live a long life. Sometimes it means they will be removed from pain and suffering that only God knows will occur. Or perhaps they would not make Heaven if God doesn’t take them early. Of course, if they are under the age of eighteen, it could also mean that the enemy is attacking us by removing them.

Regardless of the cause of the removal of a child from this earth, we should rest assured that they are in a better place. Their salvation has been accomplished. This cannot be said for all of humanity.

Salvation Can be Lost

John, the one whom Jesus loved, was the only one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples who lived a long life. He received a vision from God, which is the Book of Revelation. This prophecy about Jesus’ return is still valid today because Jesus isn’t ruling from the Earth yet.

There were more than seven churches when John received the Revelation prophecy, yet God chose to speak to seven churches with distinct attributes. These seven types of churches will exist at the return of the Lord. Here is what Jesus is saying to one church:

And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Sardis write: These are the words of Him Who has the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit] and the seven stars: I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead. Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.’ ” (Revelation 3:1-2 AMPC)

There is part of the Body of Christ who thinks they are just fine, they are spiritually alive and headed for Heaven, but really they are on the point of dying. Metaphorically speaking, dying means spiritual or eternal death: going to Hell instead of Heaven. How do we know this is about a spiritual death? Because of the reward for overcoming this problem.

Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels. (Revelation 3:5 AMPC)

The reward for being “alive” is not having your name blotted out of the Book of Life. This means that your name has been recorded in a particular book in Heaven.

Book of Life

According to a conversation God has with Moses, sin removes us from His book in Heaven:

But the LORD said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. (Exodus 32:33 ESV)

Before God created the Earth, He wrote the name of every person He would create in a book, the Book of Life. Sin causes us to be removed from that book. Jesus is the Lamb, and He has the Book of Life. When Jesus becomes our Lord, He writes our name in the Lamb’s Book of Life. However, according to Revelation chapter three, if we are not doing what our Lord wants us to do, after a period of time, our names can be blotted out of that book. Other scriptures in Revelation support the importance of our name being in the Lamb’s Book of Life:

And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15 AMPC)

But nothing that defiles or profanes or is unwashed shall ever enter it, nor anyone who commits abominations (unclean, detestable, morally repugnant things) or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:27 AMPC)

If our names can be blotted out of the Lamb’s book, then we can miss Heaven. The Bible does not support the idea of “Once saved, always saved.” Other scriptures also urge us to turn from sin so that we will not lose our salvation.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:26-29 ESV)

We have a new covenant, a new agreement. We have been bought and purchased through the blood of Jesus. If we do not learn His ways and seek to do the will of our Lord, there are dire consequences. No one is perfect, and every human being sins; however, if we deliberately continue sinning, not caring about our sin, we are in danger of losing our salvation!

…I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead. Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; (Revelation 3:1-2 AMPC)

As we continue in sin, we die a little at a time, weakening our branch which becomes less attached to Jesus, the Vine. Our Lord spoke of this when He was on the Earth:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned… If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:5-6 & 10 ESV)

Abiding is to continually hold on to something, to obey the rules of someone or something: it is an ongoing process. We must do what our Lord tells us to do: to abide in Jesus. If we do not, then we are cut off from Him. Fire represents correction and burning is destruction. Without the Lord, we are in a place of correction and destruction.

Jesus gave a parable about seeds thrown on a path that demonstrates this gradual process of a withering branch as well:

Now the meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. Those along the traveled road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and carries away the message out of their hearts, that they may not believe (acknowledge Me as their Savior and devote themselves to Me) and be saved [here and hereafter]. (Luke 8:11-12 AMPC)

The seeds sown are the Gospel. Some won’t believe it and devote themselves to Jesus as their Lord. The rest of the parable addresses those who are saved. Two types of Christians are in danger of losing their salvation:

Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. (Luke 8:13-14 NIV)

Some will fall away from Jesus because of testing and hard times. For others, the faith in salvation will be slowly choked out by worries, or trusting in riches, seeking pleasure. These are the Christians on the point of dying.

If your loved ones are not strong in the Lord, and they have a righteous parent, if they are on the point of dying and losing their salvation, it is God’s mercy to take them early in life. It may be the only way we can be truly “saved” and reach Heaven.

We must remember that many Christians will be removed from the Earth because they would be unable to enter Heaven otherwise; that is true grace and mercy. God is speaking now because of His great love for us; to give you time to prepare. Respond to this warning carefully:

• Don’t try to force God upon those you love.

  • It is by our actions that God will be revealed to others.

• Only apply pressure to loved ones in your life when the Holy Spirit tells you to.

  • Otherwise, it may backfire.

The best way to help your loved ones is to strengthen your walk so that you are righteous (in right standing) before God. This way you can hear from the Holy Spirit and He can move through to reach them. You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be willing!

• Are you willing to keep the commandments of your Lord, Jesus?

• Are you willing to learn God’s ways?

Come and learn at the free online classes. There is free tutoring and free prayer. This way God can help you to reach others in your life!