Three weeks ago, I started this series on End Time Prophecy to bring us all a little closer to being comfortable with such a little known subject. I pray that you are curious enough now to be able to go in and discover some previously hidden information for yourself regarding End Times.
I began by asking the question: ‘Is America Found in the End Time Prophesies?’ I answered that by saying, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’: ‘No’, because there is no direct reference to anything that can be clearly construed as America in Scripture, and ‘Yes’ because I believe we are the new workers in God’s vineyards.
Today, I would like to bring this series to a close, and to leave you with some knowledge that, perhaps, you did not have before; and to leave you with enough curiosity to continue studying End Time events on your own.
The twenty-four thousand dollar question is, ‘When will Jesus return to Rapture His church?’ Of course, the answer to that is, ‘We aren’t supposed to know.’ But that hasn’t stopped every generation since Jesus from expecting it during their lifetime. And we expect that, too, don’t we?
But there is a difference now. Things are finally falling into place, and now all we are waiting for is His return. So, let’s spend a few moments and see what Jesus says how we can tell when the time gets close to His return.
1. JESUS GAVE US FOUR SIGNS
In MATTHEW 24:3 Jesus’ disciples asked Him,
’Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and the end of the age?’
In MATTHEW 11:5, he went a step further.
‘Watch out that no one deceives you. For many false prophets will come in my name. Saying, I am the Christ, and they will mislead many. Then, many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.’
FALSE TEACHERS AND PROPHETS
There has always been false teachers, but who can deny that everywhere we look today, we find lies and deceit becoming more pronounced with each passing day? If Satan cannot get people to outright rebel against God like he did, he will then get them interested in some kind of false doctrine to lure them away from God.
It has been said that a new cult, or new religious belief, springs up every month in the United States, and people are so hungry for spiritual needs, no matter how fantastic and fanciful the cult’s teaching may be, there are always some who are willing to be deceived.
WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS
In MATTHEW 24:6-7, Jesus gave another hint at when He will return.
‘You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen before he end comes. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.’
Thanks to today’s media, we know the exact moment something happens across the globe. There are several wars going on at this very moment, and even more wars are on the horizon. We are fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq; Russia invaded Georgia and has been talking about the possibility of going to war with America; Venezuela threatens its neighbors; and on and on it goes.
FAMINES
MATTHEW 24:7 also tells us,
‘There will be famines.’
Jesus tells us that we will see many people going without food. We have seen more famines in the last 30 years than at any other time in modern history, and the number grows with each passing year. Tens of thousands have starved to death Darfur and in other parts of Africa.
EARTHQUAKES
And in Jesus ends Verse 7 by saying,
‘There will be earthquakes in various places.’
We have more earthquakes with each passing year, also. There were over 800 earthquakes reported in California and Nevada since the beginning of the year. Now they were not major, but they are expecting a major one in California at any time. Also, Memphis and St. Louis sits atop a major fault that is on the timetable to occur at any time. And there are even more earthquakes overseas on a regular basis. Jesus said we would see a drastic increase in all these things just before He returns.
Jesus was giving us prophetic promises. He loves us enough to tell us before hand what will happen and how we can get ready for them.
So, Jesus gave us four signs to let us know when the time would be getting close at hand. And later …
2. THE APOSTLE PAUL GAVE US TWO MORE SIGNS
GODLESSNESS
In 1 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 & 7, Paul writes,
‘But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.’
In the last days, people will not care about others because they will be focused only on what they want. We will be greedy and proud, not caring who we put down or how we do it. We will be disobedient in every way and we will think nothing of lying whenever it strikes our fancy. We will have a form of Godliness, but it will only look like we are, because it will not be focused on God, but on our own selfish desires to make us feel good.
Can we see these things happening around us today?
For anyone who has watched television newscast or read a newspaper, it’s obvious this prophecy has been totally fulfilled in our generation. Our leaders are often corrupt; our society is filled with crime, and we glorify the very name of ‘abortion.’
I know several people who claim to be Christians and they go to church regularly, but the one thing missing in their lives is the Bible. There are so many people who read all kinds of books ABOUT the Bible, but do not read the Bible. This is a form of Godliness that has no real power.
Paul also talks a great deal about ...
THE APOSTATE CHURCH
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2 reads,
‘The Spirit clearly says that in the later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.’
When we talk about the Apostate church, we are talking about apostasy to Christ. That means a falling away from the truth to pursue the untruth. And when we do that, we fall away from God altogether.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, one of the most influential leaders in England, has publicly said that there was no virgin birth and there was no resurrection of Jesus. He says these things are ‘symbols’ to help us understand the concepts of God. Talk about apostasy to the faith of Jesus Christ!
In the Church of Scotland more than 30% of their leaders also deny the virgin birth. The second highest leader in the Church of England said that England is no longer a Christian nation, as it is led by a diversity of beliefs.
Denominations across America are rushing to allow homosexual preachers to be in charge of their churches. Now the very moment a church body thinks it is okay to twist the message of God as it appears in the Bible to suit man rather than please God, that body is guilty of apostasy, or purposely walking away from the teachings of Jesus Christ.
More and more churches today are finding it much easier to embrace the New Age beliefs of the world around them to the exclusion of remaining true to their faith in Christ. They are the Apostate Churches that Paul talks about.
They spend so much time teaching people to be politically correct and accept absolute diversity among beliefs, that they are starting to teach and preach things that are outright lies and that are in total opposition to what the Bible says. One example is that they teach there are many roads to heaven, and everyone will eventually go there – as long as they truly believe in ‘something.’
And they do this in under the guise of being politically correct. They apparently think it is better to tell a lie than it is to upset somebody with God’s truth! And people follow them to hell by the millions!
By now we should all realize that God gave us biblical prophecy for a specific reason; to let us know what lies ahead and how to get ready for it. We also know, even though Jesus didn’t tell us exactly when, He did tell us what to look for so we could know when it was getting close. And we read where the Apostle Paul gave us two additional signs on top of what Jesus gave us.
So we are to take all of this information and learn what it means to us as Christians. And to do this, I would like to focus in on the very reason we have prophecy; to focus on the bottom line of what it means to be a Christian; and on exactly what is going to happen to us the moment Jesus comes in the clouds.
While on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Ernest Shackleton left a few men there while he went back to South America to restock his ship. He told the men he would be back in due time to pick them up, and for them to explore until he got back.
It took two months before he could come back, and when he did, he found that large icebergs had totally blocked any entrance to get his men. He waited in the water for nearly a month, and then all of a sudden, the icebergs drifted away from one another and opened up a channel big enough for him to sail in and collect his men.
When he got there, they were all packed and ready to go! When he got on board, he told them it was a good thing they had been ready. They replied that they got ready every day, in case it would be the day the ship arrived.
No sooner did they sail back out to sea, the icebergs once again drifted together to block any entry.
This illustration is an excellent picture of what I want to talk about next. I want to talk to you about the rapture of the church. Now, this is alien territory for many Christians because they have never been exposed to this subject in their churches. In the last couple weeks, I have tried to open this door to understanding the End Times just enough to peak your curiosity and desire to know more.
Let’s spend a few minutes talking about …
3. THE END RESULT
There are many instances in Scripture reminding us that our walk with Christ is similar to a foot race that is ran by men.
CORINTHIANS 9:24
’Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.’
A track star keeps his focus on winning the race at all costs. Christians are called to do the same. We run our race as best we can, walking with Jesus on a daily basis, but unlike the foot race, if we do not finish first, at least we finish, and the prize is still Heaven.
But all too often, we let the world steal our focus away. Something comes up and our attention is ripped away from following Jesus and changed to wanting whatever it is we see in the world. We are warned about this, too.
GALATIANS 5:7
’You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?’
What I am trying to point out is that everything we do, as Christians, should be geared toward our eventual meeting with Jesus Christ. And every one of us is going to meet Him, to be sure. It will either be when we die and go before Him in judgment, or when He comes back and raptures the church out of the world.
I have said many times that no matter which way we meet Him, very few of us will really be totally ready for that meeting. Most of us will want a little more time to ‘finally get ready.’ The problem is we will not be given more time, as we will have had our whole lives to prepare for Him.
Since we have been discussing the Rapture of the church, we should understand exactly what it is. To put it in simple terms, the rapture of the church is when believers will be taken out of the world to meet their Lord and Savior in the air. It is when Jesus comes to take His faithful home. In the twinkling of an eye, all born again Christians will suddenly be transformed out of our human bodies and will rise up into the air to join Jesus Christ.
With the sound of a heavenly trumpet, the Lord will descend with a shout. So I think we will hear both the trumpet and our Savior’s voice calling to us. Who will hear this? Will every human on earth hear this, and just the believers will understand it, or will only believers hear it? All I can say is that we will know for sure when it happens.
In 1 THESSALONIANS 5:28, Paul tells us,
‘After that, we who are still will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever.’
Notice two very important things Paul says in this verse. He says we will be caught up in the air to meet Jesus. And then he says we will then be with Jesus forever!
I explained last week that the Rapture is about seven years before His Second Coming. In the Rapture, Jesus will not come to earth. He will call us up to Him. At the Second Coming, He will descend to earth on the Mount of Olives. This is when He will defeat the enemy and regain total control of His throne.
We rejoice at that, because we will be with Him, but there should also be a great sadness and burden on our hearts, too. We should rejoice at the fact we will go with Jesus, but we should mourn at the fact that many of our loved ones will not go with Him. And that should urge us all the more to start taking their eternity seriously and start preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
My belief is that Christians would have it made in the shade if they could just get over two problems. The first problem is how easily we get distracted from Jesus and onto the world, either through ‘stuff’ or ‘other people’. The second problem we have is that we do everything we can to NOT tell others about Jesus.
We are so afraid of offending them that we end up disobeying God’s command to go and tell. We make up reasons to justify our fear, too. We say that if we talk to them, we might get them mad and then they will never be willing to hear about Jesus. Well, may I say, “Duh?’ If we aren’t telling them now, what makes you think they will wake up some morning and run to somebody to hear about Jesus?
There is the story of a woman who felt compelled to tell a coworker about Jesus, but she was always a little scared to do it. She thought she might get in trouble for talking about Jesus during work hours, or she might get the woman mad, or she kept telling herself she’d do it when she had more time.
She did the same thing we do, didn’t she? She made up excuses to keep from doing what she knew she should do.
On her way to work one morning, she vowed that she would talk to her and tell her about Jesus. She got to work, but didn’t see the lady that morning. At lunchtime, she asked the boss if that lady had called in sick that day. The boss said she hadn’t called in sick – she died the evening before.
Can you imagine how this lady felt? She knew God wanted her to talk to the woman, but she also realized that she had coped out of it. I urge you to talk to those you love, even if they get mad at you. And if they do, talk to them again later. Never shove Jesus down other people’s throats, but never shy away from urging them to get to church, either. In other words, don’t let them control your life; let Jesus control it by being obedient to Him.
So, once again, let me explain that the Rapture is when Jesus calls us up out of the earth to meet Him in the sky. And then we shall all go home with Him to be with Him forever.
Seven years later, He comes back to the earth and defeats Satan and all the evil forces in the Battle of Armageddon, or the very last war. Once He wins, Jesus will enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate and reclaim His rightful throne. From that point on, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Every government will bow down to His authority.
You might be wondering why Jesus would go to all the trouble to Rapture us. Let me give you a few explanations as found in Scripture.
REVELATION 3:10,
‘Because you have kept my command to persevere, I will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world.’
1 THESSALONIANS 1:10,
‘... Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.’
ROMANS 5:9,
‘... having been justified by His blood, He will save us from the wrath of God.’
And finally, 1 THESSALONIANS 5:4-9,
‘For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who dies for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.’
My God is a very loving and patient God, and He does not want anyone to perish or spend eternity separated from Him. But He is also a righteous and just God who will bring judgment upon those who have been so hard hearted that they have rejected His Son.
But just as He has promised to judge those who have rejected Him, He has also promised to save those who have accepted Him. He does this because He loves us. He loves us enough to give us several promises.
···· He promises to forgive our sins and make us as white as snow.
···· He promises to give much needed rest to the weary, or to the sinner.
···· He promises to make a place for us in Heaven, and to take us there.
And He tells us He is coming quickly. So we had better make our selves right with Him, for when He comes, most will have waited too long to get ready.
And He gives us one final promise; He says, ‘Come’, because His most pressing desire is to love you and have you love Him.
As we go into this time of invitation this morning, won’t you come? Won’t you come to the altar and receive your Jesus?
INVITATION
* This sermon greatly inspired by Mrs. Amy Bickel’s tremendous studies on End Times Prophecy.
