Laying the foundation,
Part 8 - All the end of time So now we’ll come to our proclamation. This one is taken from the last
two verses of the epistle of Jude. Very familiar words to many because
it’s often used in church services. Now unto Him who is able
to keep us from falling and to present us faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy to
the only wise God, our Savior be glory and majesty,
dominion and power both now and forever. Amen. Just think, that He’s able to present us
faultless before the presence of His glory. What a wonderful God we serve. Now, I have dealt in the previous
sessions with the first four of the foundation doctrines.
Let me see if I can recapitulate them. Repentance from dead works, faith
toward God, the doctrine of baptism and the laying on of hands. Now, my message this morning was
entitled ‘Transmitting God’s Power,’ and it dealt with that specific
issue of laying on of hands. I’m sure to some of you
it was quite a surprise to discover what an important
part laying on of hands plays in the work and life of the church. We have two remaining doctrines,
very exciting ones. The resurrection of the dead
and eternal judgment. But before I do those, I plan
to do them in the next two sessions I want to do this one on a theme
that I’ve called ‘At The End of Time.’ Because you have to understand
that when we come to these final two doctrines, they take us
out of time and into eternity. That is one of their important functions, that we should not focus only on this life. I find so many Christians today only think in terms of what God
will do for them in this life. That’s just a tiny fraction
of all that God has for us. I want to read a Scripture
from Revelation 10. I have to be very careful because
with my background in philosophy I can sometimes get taken over
by certain thoughts. This speaks in Revelation 10:5-6 of an angel: who lifted up
his hand. And swore by Him who lives
forever and ever, that’s God, who created heaven and
the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, the sea and the things that are in it,
there should be time no longer. Now, all your versions will say
‘there will be no more delay' which may be the correct meaning
but what the Scripture actually says is: ‘there shall be no more time.’ And we are coming to a point, sooner
or later in every one of our lives when there will be no more time. Somebody has said the clock
behind all clocks is the human heart and, when the human heart ceases
to beat all clocks cease to tick. Each of us individually passes out of
time into a new realm, an eternal realm. Remember, eternity is not
just a very long period of time. It’s a total different realm of being,
one that we can scarcely understand. I really appreciate the statement ‘the mystery that God has created’
because time is a mystery. This is something that I
was deeply involved in as a philosopher more
than fifty years ago but it appeals to me because the Bible
says it so clearly. Time is a mystery. Physicists tell us that if some scientists could get on board a spaceship
that travels maybe at half the speed of light and visit a distant planet or star
and come back, by their time they would have
been two weeks on the journey but by earth’s time it would
have been two generations. When they come back they’d
meet their great-grandchildren. That boggles our minds, doesn’t it?
You see, time is a mystery. Let me say something else
about the measurement of time. As we understand it,
it depends on a human observer. For instance, a scientist might say:
Because of the accumulation of a certain deposit on a certain
stone or valley, whatever it might be or the accumulation of atomic dust, we believe that
one million years have passed. I could say I believe that, too,
but I believe it happened one million times faster than you say.
So, only one year passed. There would be no difference
whatever in the evidence. In other words it’s the input of a personal
observer that makes time what it is. I’m content to say it’s a mystery.
But bear in mind, one day we’re going to pass out
of time into eternity. Second Corinthians 4:17-18 speak about the difference
between the eternal and the temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. Paul says:
For our light affliction which is but for a moment. When you think of all
that Paul went through. When he speaks about a light affliction, my dear brother and sister,
what are you worrying about? What have you got to compare with that? Don’t tell us about your deep afflictions
until you’ve measured yourself by Paul. Don’t let me speak about my afflictions. For our light affliction
which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. Always bear that in mind when
you’re under pressure. It’s doing something for you. It’s working a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. In Hebrew the word for weight and the
word for glory are essentially the same. So Paul is thinking as a Jew in Hebrew he’s speaking about a weight of
glory which God is preparing for us. Then he says: While we do not
look at the things which are seen but at the things which are
not seen. Bear that in mind affliction only works good in your life
while you keep your eyes on the eternal. If you take your eyes off the eternal
and just focus on your problems and start to feel sorry for yourself your affliction is not doing you
any good. It only works for you, for us: While we look not at the things
which are seen but at the things which are not seen, for the things which
are seen are temporary but the things which
are not seen are eternal. So, Paul puts before us two different
realms: the realm of what is visible what is physical and material,
and what is temporary the realm of what invisible,
what is spiritual and what is eternal. And remember everything that
we encounter in this life in the stream of time is temporary. We are headed for
something that’s eternal. It’s very important
to bear that in mind. I read just recently in a little
devotional book that Ruth and I share a very simple statement.
It says we live in a fallen world. I said to myself that is true. And if we are objectively honest,
in the world as we know it today there’s much more misery
than there is happiness, there's much more strife
than there is peace, there is much more
sickness than there is health. Don’t let’s be painting a pretty picture
of the world because it’s not like that. We live in a fallen world, a world that
has been marred through and through corrupted, tainted by sin.
And that’s where we are. Thank God our final destiny
is not in this world. Paul said something which has really
impacted me in 1 Corinthians 15:19. I’ve thought about so many
of the Christians I meet. If in this life only
we have hope in Christ we are of all men the most to be pitied. Ponder that for a moment. If all you’re
expecting from Christ is in this life you are of all the most pitiable.
And yet, I meet so many Christians who seem to be totally preoccupied
with what happens in this life. Their concept of Christianity is getting
something from God in this world that is absolutely alien to
the picture of the New Testament. It’s very, very healthy for us to
be pressured by the Holy Spirit into considering the end of time
and the beginning of eternity in the life of each one of us. In Hebrews 13:14 the writer says: We have no continuing city here but
we look for the one which is to come. Now, is that true of you? Where is your permanent
life? Is it in this world or do you realize that
this is only temporary? We’re just passing through. Our
permanent destination is in eternity. If you only can see the things of time and
eternity you will be an unhappy person, you'll be a frustrated person. You will always be complaining,
It's not going the way I want. God isn’t answering my prayers. The reason is you have
the wrong perspective. You have to look at the
point of view of eternity. I’ve come to this conclusion
that God will not sacrifice the tiniest portion of eternity
for the greatest length of time because time is not
permanent, eternity is. I would ask you, how much are you
building in your own life for eternity? Scripture says that God
has given us, through wisdom in the book of
Proverbs, enduring riches. I’ve spent a lot of time saying to
myself what are enduring riches? They’re not money in a bank,
they’re not stocks and shares, they’re not the fancy car we drive, the
home we live in or the swimming pool. None of those are enduring riches. What are enduring riches? Jesus said: Sell what you have and give it to the poor
and you’ll have treasure in heaven. That’s enduring riches. Jesus sais: whatever you give to the
cause of the gospel, God will give it back a hundredfold in eternity.
That’s ten thousand percent. How many businessmen would turn down the
opportunity of ten thousand percent? One more thing which to
me is very important. Our gifts will cease when life ends. All our spiritual gifts, our prophecy,
our miracles, our words of knowledge, they’ll come to an end. We will not take them with us; they’re
only for this world, only for time. But one thing we will take with us,
do you know what that is? Our character. Character is permanent. What we are in our character will determine
what we will be throughout eternity. That’s lasting, enduring
riches, the building of a pure, strong, godly,
Christian character. Now we’ve got to come
back to this theme. I next want to point out to you
that it’s very important that we have a basic
understanding of biblical prophecy. Unfortunately, so many people
have been turned off by false flashy, shallow
interpretations of prophecy and they’ve really lost confidence.
Well, don’t let that happen to you. Don’t let the misuse of something good
turn you away from something good. For instance in my lifetime,
which has been quite lengthy, I’ve seen all the gifts of the Spirit
misused at one time or another. But that has not caused me
to despise the gifts of the Spirit. It just makes me more
careful as to how I use them. The same is true of biblical
prophecy. We need it. Without it, I’ll show you
we’re stumbling in the dark. We need to be careful how we apply it.
Now I’m going to turn to 2 Peter 1:19-21. We also have the prophetic
word made more sure. The ‘prophetic word’ is the prophecies
of the Bible, the written prophecies. We’re not talking about the
gift of prophesying now although it's placed in out lives but I’m talking
about the written prophecies of the Bible the written Word made more sure: Which you do well to heed as a light
that shines in a dark place. Notice that. You cannot afford to despise
the prophetic Scriptures because Peter says you do well to
give heed, to pay attention to them because they’re a light
shining in a dark place. The world in which we live today
is undoubtedly a dark place. Furthermore, it’s getting darker. We need a light that will
guide us through the darkness. The light that God’s provided is the
prophetic revelation of Scripture. Now, you can be wonderfully saved and
a good Christian but be walking in the dark because you haven’t used and availed
yourself of the light of prophecy. If you walk in the dark you’ll stumble
over things you needn’t run into and you won’t really know
where you’re going. You won’t really understand
what’s happening all around you. That’s through failure to
apprehend the truth of the prophetic word.
It is extremely important. And then Peter says we need to give
heed to it: Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. That’s not the coming of Jesus. This is an
inner, subjective personal experience where the morning star that
immediately precedes the rise of the sun shines in our hearts. And you know what it does? It tells us Jesus
is coming back. And we get excited. If you’ve never been excited about the
return of the Lord it hasn’t meant much to you. It’s the only hope for humanity. Nothing else can ever meet all the
desperate needs of the human race. People talk about this as pie in the sky. I don’t believe it. I believe
it’s totally realistic. In fact, I believe it’s
utterly unrealistic to expect politicians to solve
the problems of humanity. They’ve been trying a long time and it seems
to me the mess is worse than it used to be. I think it’s unrealistic to expect a human
solution to the problems of humanity. That is the teaching of humanism but
humanism is an anti-Christian force which is at work in most
world governments today. So we need prophecy. All right? Have I convinced you of that? Peter goes on to say it doesn’t originate
with men but it comes from God. Now let me quickly give you two keys
to understanding biblical prophecy. The problem with me in this is if I get
into it I find it hard to get out of it. But in Deuteronomy 29:29 Moses said to the children of Israel: The secret things belong
to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. So there are two kinds of
things, the secret things and the things that are revealed. The secret things belong to God.
Nobody can understand them. The things that are
revealed are for us to act on. I think the main reason why people
mess up the study of prophecy is they’re trying to understand the
secret things and at the same time they’re not
obeying the things that are revealed. When I speak on prophecy almost always
somebody comes up to me afterwards and says Pre-, mid- or post-?
You know what that means? Pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation,
post-. Do you know what I answer? I don’t know. I’m not ashamed.
Furthermore, I don’t believe anybody knows. I don’t believe even Jesus knows because it says that day and hour no one
knows, not even the Son, only the Father. So if I don’t know something that Jesus
doesn’t know it doesn’t embarrass me. The problem is people wanting
to know things that can’t be known. And do you know what the
motivation behind that is? Pride. That’s the most dangerous
of all motivations. If we have revealed truth and
obey it, God will give us more. If we don’t obey it
He won’t give us any more. You say, God please
show me next. He says, you haven’t acted on what I’ve already
shown you. Why should I show you any more? So that’s the key to the effective
use of biblical prophecy. Get to know the things that
God wants us to understand and don’t bother God about the things
that He doesn’t want us to understand. And secondly, whatever God
reveals to you, obey it, act on it. In my opinion one clear revelation of biblical
prophecy is contained in Matthew 24:14: This gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all
the nationsand then the end will come. So when will the end come?
When this gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations. Who's job is that? Ours.
I’m glad you said that. If we’re not working on that, if we’re not obeying that revelation
why should God tell us any more? But you begin to work on that revelation,
you begin to devote yourself in whatever way to getting
the gospel of the kingdom out to all nations, you’d be surprised
what God will show you next. If you haven’t acted on that why
should He show you any more? He won’t. We’re going to come back
to a picture of the close of this age. I’m going to make general statements about
the kind of things that will be going on as this age comes to a close. I believe
we’re very near the close of the age, that’s my personal opinion.
I don’t want to set dates but I could believe that within the next fifty
years everything that’s written in the Book will have happened. I’m not saying it will, I’m saying
I could believe it could. I want to take certain features
of the close of the age. I’ll give you three significant
Scriptures. Isaiah 60:1-2. Isaiah 60. What I want to say is
as the age comes to a close righteousness and wickedness
will both be on the increase. Righteousness will flourish
and so will wickedness. Light will shine and there
will be great darkness. We’ve got to get adjusted to this
antithesis between these two things of light and darkness,
righteousness and wickedness. In Isaiah 60:1-3 the Lord is speaking
to His people and He says: And He says: Arise, shine, for your light has
come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the
earth and deep darkness the peoples but the Lord will arise over you
and His glory will be seen upon you. Nations come to your light, kings to the brightness of your rising. A
promise for God’s people at the close of the age. The glory of God will shine upon us and
in the midst of the dense darkness that is surrounding us on all sides,
that is covering all nations those who have a heart for truth
will come out of the darkness to the people of God to seek the light. But don’t expect the darkness to end.
It will continue and it will grow deeper. But, the light will get brighter. There’s
one wonderful fact about light and darkness which goes right
back to the creation. Wherever light meets darkness,
who wins? Light, that’s right. Just bear that in mind.
We win if we’re the light. Then the parable of the wheat and
the tares. I won’t go into that reading from it because
time is running out but the parable is about a farmer
who sowed good seed in his field and then in the night an enemy came
and sowed tares, weeds, that apparently looked like wheat but there’s
just one thing, they don’t have any fruit, they don’t produce anything
that’s worth having. The workers in the field said:
Shall we go and pull up the tares? The farmer said, No, because when you try to pull up the tares you
may pull up some of the wheat. Let them both grow together to harvest. And then in interpreting the Scripture
Jesus says the harvest is the end of the age. He says at the end of the age
the angels will come forth and sever the wicked
from among the righteous. The wicked will be bound up in
bundles and cast into the fire, the righteous will shine as sons
in the kingdom of their Father. But bear in mind that right
up to the close of the age the wheat and the tares will
be growing up side by side. That’s not speaking
about the pagan world, this is speaking about
professing Christendom because that’s what it’s talking about. In that situation both wheat
and tares will grow side by side. If you want to be sure you’re wheat
and not tares, check on the fruit that you’re producing
because that’s the difference. The church is not going to be fully
purified until the end of the age. And then we’re not going to do it.
I’m glad I don’t have to do it. The angels are going to do that. And then in Revelation 22 right
near the end of the Scripture, a word from Jesus Himself. Revelation 22:10-12: He, the angel that brought
the revelation, said to me: Do not seal the words of the
prophecy, for the time is at hand. He who is unrighteous, let him be
unrighteous still; Who is filthy let him be filthy still; who is
righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still. That’s a remarkable statement since it
comes from God. God is saying, in effect: If you want to be unrighteous, go on,
you don’t have long, live it up. If you want to be filthy,
be still more filthy. But if you’re righteous
be still more righteous, if you’re holy be still more holy
because this is the parting of the ways. And then Jesus says in the next breath:
Behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give it
to everyone according to his work. So this is immediately
before the return of the Lord. The wicked and the
righteous are side by side. The wicked getting more wicked;
the righteous getting more righteous. Let me say in the spiritual light
there is no standing still. You cannot remain static. You have to
be either going forward or backward. The pathway of the righteous
is like the shining light which shines more and more unto the perfect
day. Righteousness is not a standstill, it’s a pathway.
It’s something you move in. If you’re moving in that the light
is getting brighter every day. If you’re living today by yesterday’s light
you’re beginning to be a backslider. You’re not in the pathway
of righteousness. All right. So those are two things. Then in the midst of all this Jesus offers
us some beautiful words of comfort in Luke 21:25-28. Luke 21:25-28, speaking
about the close of the age: There will be signs in the sun, in the
moon and the stars, on the earth distress of nations with perplexity,
the sea and the waves roaring. Men’s hearts failing them for fear and the expectation of those things
which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.
The whole globe is going to be shaken. Then they will see the
Son of man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.
That’s the coming of Jesus. Now this is what He says;
He’s speaking to His disciples: When these things begin to happen,
look up and lift up your heads because your redemption
is drawing near. So how do you react to
all the turmoil and the conflict? Do you get depressed and discouraged or do you say: Praise God,
our redemption is very near? You see, your reaction
tells you where your heart is. Jesus spoke about
birth pangs of a new age and He described them in Matthew 24.
We may look there a little later. They’re very unpleasant.
I’ve never given birth to a baby but I understand it’s never
an easy experience. Birth pangs are associated with it.
The question is do you want the baby? If you want the baby,
you’ll put up with the birth pangs. No birth pangs, no baby. So again you can check your
own attitude by how you respond. If you say things are getting worse and worse:
This is depressing, I feel miserable. Where is God? I don’t
see Him doing anything? you’re rejecting the birth pangs. What it really means is you’re
not waiting for the baby. What is the baby? It’s the birth
of the kingdom of God on earth. It won’t come without birth pangs.
The birth pangs are guaranteed. What we have to determine is
how we will respond to them. Meanwhile, as
I’ve said, in all of this the church has a task to complete.
What is that? I didn’t hear you. Proclaiming the gospel
of the kingdom to all nations. Let’s look at the picture of the birth
pangs in Matthew 24, verse 7: For nation will rise against nation -
ethnos against ethnos, ethnic conflicts kingdom against kingdom. There
will be disasters in various places. All these are the beginning
of birth pangs. You see? So, you want the baby? You have to endure the birth pangs.
There’s no alternative. And then Jesus says and
there’s a series of thens. Then they will deliver you up to
tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations
for My name’s sake. Who’s you? I didn’t hear you. That’s right, you is us.
That’s not good grammar but it’s the truth. They will deliver you
- is you and me, Christians. We will be hated by all nations
for the sake of Jesus’ name. Verse 10: Then many will be offended and
will betray and will hate one another. Many who? Many Christians. The pressure will be too
great, they’ll give up. To save their own skins
they’ll betray their fellow believers. This has been happening in China and the Soviet Union for a generation or
two. It’s not confined there, believe me. Verse 11: Then many false prophets
will rise up and deceive many. And believe me, the world
is full of false prophets and a lot of them are inside the church. We won’t go into that. I’ll just make
that statement for you to ponder on. And because lawlessness will abound
the love of many will grow cold. Do we see lawlessness increasing
in the world today? Yes or no? I don’t think anybody would say no. That’s what Jesus said. Lawlessness
will abound. What's the result? The love of many Christians
will grow cold. The word for love there is agape,
the word used for Christian love. So, under the pressure of the lawlessness
in the world some of us will let our love grow cold. The next verse is very
significant, verse 13: But he who endures
to the end shall be saved. Actually the Greek is more specific, it
says: He who has endured to the end shall be saved.
So how do you stay saved? You have to endure, that’s right. You’re saved now but to remain
saved you have to endure. I tell people, and nobody
really blesses me for saying this: There’s only one way to learn to endure
and that is enduring, that’s right. If you’re in the midst of enduring right
now, bear in mind God is training you to live it through to the end of the age. Then it says: This gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. You say,
when times get easier we’ll go out and preach the gospel. No, no, no! Times are
going to get harder and harder and harder. It’s going to take guts to go
out and preach the gospel. Do you like that rather vulgar
word guts? It’s very American. Do you know the American translation
of that? Intestinal fortitude. That’s what we need:
Christians with guts. The situation is not going to get
any easier; it’s going to get harder. You think it’s too hard now, well
move in quickly before it gets harder. The church that Jesus wants is not going to
be deterred by opposition or persecution it’s committed to Him and to
His purposes and to His tasks. Now, let’s go on to the events that are associated
with the return of Jesus. I’ll give you a little list of events,
not necessarily in the correct order. Do you know why? Because I don’t
really know what the correct order is. I’ve met some Bible scholars that believe
that they did know the correct order. The trouble is they didn’t
agree with one another so they couldn’t both be right. I’m
prepared to leave it with the Lord. See? I’m not a busybody; I don’t
badger God for answers. David said at one point, My soul
is like a weaned child within me. Let Israel hope in the Lord.
He said other things I can’t solve. This is so vivid to me;
I hope you won’t think I’m vulgar. But years ago I used to preach
regularly to large audiences of Africans. The front two rows would be
occupied by nursing mothers and whenever the baby started to squawk the mother would begin to nurse
it right there in front of me. So, I learned to look
over the first two rows. But you know what I noticed? An unweaned child just makes
a fuss when it wants food, but a weaned child waits for
the mother to prepare it. David said, My soul is like a weaned child.
I don’t badger God with my problems. I just let Him show me the
things He wants to show me. The key to understanding biblical
prophecy is to let the Holy Spirit focus your attention on the things He
wants to show you at any given time. Don’t be an unweaned child. All right.
Now here are some of the events. The resurrection and judgment of true
Christians. First of all, the rapture. How do you feel about the rapture? 1 Thessalonians 4. Some Christian scholars will tell you the word
rapture isn't found in the New Testament. That’s rather a naive statement because
it depends on what translation you use. I could use a translation that
contains the word rapture; it would be a perfectly
accurate translation. This is what the Lord says
through the apostle Paul. 1 Thessalonians 4:15: For this we say to you by the word
of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep, those who have died. In other words, the fact that
we're alive when the Lord comes will not mean that we get there sooner than
the ones who’ve died. On the contrary, Paul says: For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God. I don’t know how people
believe in a secret rapture. To me it is nothing is more public than something that’s announced
from heaven with a shout, the voice of an archangel and
the trumpet of God. I mean, what secrecy is left at the end of that? And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Before we who are alive are changed. Then we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them. Now ‘caught up’ could perfectly
well be translated ‘raptured.’ The word rapture comes from a Latin word
which means ‘to seize something forcibly.’ And in the Greek it’s used
of a thief entering a house and stealing something. It’s used
of a wolf coming amongst sheep and taking a sheep from the flock. It basically indicates a
sudden, forceful grab. That’s what the rapture will
be like. Jesus will grab us. He’ll reach down and
take us suddenly, forcefully. There’s just one difference
between Jesus and the thief. Do you know what that is? The thief
takes what doesn’t belong to him. Jesus will only take those who belong to
Him, those who are His at His coming. Then we who are alive
and remain shall be caught up. And Paul says elsewhere
we’ll be changed in a moment,
in the blink of an eye. This is very exciting to me. If you don’t
get excited,that’s your problem. Here we are, we’re sitting in this
meeting, looking at one another. Warren is looking at my wife and he blinks.
Suddenly she’s totally changed. She’s a glorious, gorgeous,
shining creature. He’s changed, too. She looks at him in
amazement. It doesn’t take a long time. In a moment, the twinkling of an eye,
we shall be totally transformed. Do you believe God can do that?
I do. I think it’s exciting. If you don’t get excited I don’t
really know what’s wrong with you. The rapture is followed
by the judgment of Christians. Some Christians don’t realize it
but we will be the first to be judged. Peter said judgment must
begin at the house of God. What is the house of God? The church. 2 Corinthians 5:10. We’ll come back to this when
we speak about eternal judgment but let’s look here for a moment. 2 Corinthians 5:10: For we,
Christians, must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. The word translated appear
means actually ‘to be made manifest'. I think it’s a very frightening word. Everything about us will be
totally known, there’ll be no secrets. We’ll all be made manifest before
the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat in Greek
is bema; it’s what a Roman official sat on when he conducted
judgment. That’s what Pontius Pilate sat on when he judged Jesus. There’s a different scene
there’s a great white throne for the judgment of the remainders. This is the judgment of Christians.
And please bear in mind, Romans 8:1: There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
It is not a judgment of condemnation. It is a judgment to assess
the quality of our service and to give the appropriate rewards. Paul says we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ: That each one may receive
the things done in the body according to what he has done,
whether good or bad. And notice there are only
two categories, good or bad. John says in the first epistle
all unrighteousness is sin. Anything that is not righteous is sinful. It’s like if somebody asked you
to illustrate the word crooked. The way I would do it is this;
I’d show them a straight line and say anything that deviates
from that line is crooked. It may deviate by one degree or it may
deviate by ninety degrees but it’s crooked. And that’s how it is with righteousness.
Anything that is unrighteous is sinful. Anything that is not good is bad.
There’s no middle ground. This is a deception of the enemy
which he has foisted upon the church: Well, I’m not doing what’s right
but I’m not really doing what’s bad. That’s not possible.
It’s one or the other. This is the judgment seat of Christ.
Then we come to the overthrow of the antichrist and his forces. Now, in 1 John 4 John speaks
about antichrist in three ways: the spirit of antichrist,
many antichrists and the antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is the spirit
that operates through every antichrist. The many antichrists have been
here since the second century A.D. One of the most significant was Bar
Kochba who claimed to be the messiah and led the Jewish people in the final revolt
against Rome which was utterly suppressed and the whole nation was either
killed or taken into captivity. There was another one called
Shabbatide Spee, in the 17th century, who claimed to be the messiah and said he would take the Jewish
people back to the Middle East and plant them in their land. He went to the
Middle East, was arrested by the Turks and converted to Islam.
So that was a disappointment. The Jewish encyclopedia
records about forty false messiahs that have come to the Jewish
people since the time of Jesus. Jesus said, Many will come in my name saying,
I am the messiah and will deceive many. So there have been many antichrists
and a lot of antichrists in the church, we don’t need to be
too specific about that. But the antichrist has not yet come. I personally believe his shadow has
fallen across the stage of human history but he has not emerged. He will be the final
embodiment of all that is evil and satanic. When he rules humanity, which he
will for about three and a half years that will be the worst
period in human history. God will permit this because He says to the
human race: Well, you’ve made your choice. Now, see what you’ve chosen. You’ve rejected me, you’ve rejected
my Son, this is the alternative. Help yourself. Have you ever discovered that God
doesn’t teach just in theory? No. You can say, God, I really
learned that principle. That’s fine, God says: now let’s
see it worked out in your life. That’s going to be true of humanity.
Humanity is going to get the most terrible lesson
that humanity has ever had. You see, Pontius Pilate brought before the
Jewish people two men, Jesus and Barabbas. Barabbas was a criminal,
a violent man, an agitator. He said, Which of these will I release? And they said, Give us
Barabbas and crucify Jesus. At the end of this age the human
race will do something similar. They’ll say, We don’t want this Christ,
give us the leader of our choice. This brilliant, talented, supernaturally
empowered man, we want him. And you know what happened,
the Jewish people got him. They also said to Pilate,
We have no king but Caesar. It’s an amazing thing for Jewish people
to say, and for nineteen centuries they’ve been ruled by the Caesars and the
Barabbases have been turned loose on them. That’s really the essence
of Jewish history. The same thing is going
to happen to the human race. We’re going to get what we choose. Those of us who choose Jesus
will be under His government. Those of us who reject Jesus will be
under the government of the antichrist. I have to go on. The overthrow of the antichrist,
Revelation 19:19-21 This is where Jesus appears from
heaven riding on a white horse. Do you believe there are horses in heaven? I do. Whether you do or not
that makes no difference to me. The One who sat on him
was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and
makes war. Notice, Jesus makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire and on his
head were many diadems (royal crowns). And then it says in verse 15:
Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule
the nations with a scepter of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of
the fierceness and wrath of God. He has on His robe and on
His thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is Jesus coming forth as God’s appointed ruler
to deal with the wicked. And then it says a little further
on in that chapter, verses 19-21: I saw the beast,
the name of the antichrist. It’s quite interesting, Revelation,
the final book of the Bible, has two characters that are
set in opposition to one another. One is the Lamb, the other is the beast. The Lamb is Jesus.
The beast is the antichrist. The word ‘the Lamb’ occurs twenty-eight
times in the book of Revelation. The beast occurs thirty-three times
in reference to the antichrist. This is the end time conflict. It's between the beast and the Lamb. And you know who wins?
The Lamb, that’s right. And that’s a lesson for us
because we don’t win by violence, we don’t win by hatred,
we don’t win by being tough. We win by laying our lives
down like Jesus. In the fifth chapter of Revelation John was weeping because no
one was there to open the scroll? One of the elders said:
Don’t weep, it’s all right. The Lion of the tribe
of Judah has prevailed. Bear in mind, dearly beloved, that Jesus
still is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. You know what name
we get from Judah? Jew. So He’s still a Jew. He didn’t
become a Jew just for thirty-three years. He identified with the tribe
of Judah for time and eternity. Bear in mind when you get mixed up with
the Jews you’re getting mixed up with the brothers and sisters
of Jesus. You’d better be careful. The beast and the kings of the air
and their armies gathered together to make war against Him who sat
on the horse and against His army. The beast and the false prohet
were captured, who worked signs by which he deceived those
who received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast alive into the
lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest of their followers were killed with the sword which preceded
from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were
filled with their flesh. That’s God’s garbage collection system. It’s the birds. They’ll clean up everything.
All they’ll leave is clean bones. You find in Ezekiel they’ll have a system of burying
those bones.We won’t go into that. But all that is ahead.
Now, in the midst of all this Israel, the Jewish people who’ve been
displaced from the center of history for nineteen centuries,
are coming back into the center of history. I don’t know whether you’ve ever
noticed. Israel today is a very small land. It’s smaller than Wales, smaller
than the state of New Hampshire, has about four million Jews
and about one million others. And yet, it’s almost in the news
every day, even here in New Zealand. Ruth and I have noticed scarcely a day
passes without a report from Israel. Do you know why? Because Israel is coming back
into center stage for the climax of the age. That’s where they’ll be
when the climax comes. Now, Romans 11 contains
a very important revelation. Romans 11:25-26 These words are addressed by Paul to
Christians from a Gentile background that is, non-Jewish. How many of you
know that most of you are Gentiles. I’m a Gentile, Warren is a Gentile.
Ruth is a Jewess, see. But she’s in a minority. The people
who are not Christians are pagans but the people who
are not Jews are Gentiles. This is difficult for some
people to apprehend. Paul is writing to Christians from a Gentile
background and this is what he says. Romans 11:25 I do not desire, brethren, that you
should be ignorant of this mystery, this secret that God has been keeping, lest you should be wise in your
own opinion. Don’t get conceited. Don’t think of yourself more
highly than you ought to think. What is the mystery? That hardening in part
has happened to Israel until the full number of
the Gentiles has come in. Notice it’s hardening in part. The whole Jewish people has
never been totally hardened. There’s always been Jews in every
generation who believed in Jesus. Sometimes a very small minority. But hardening in part has happened to
Israel not forever but until. Until what? The full number of the
Gentiles has come in. Until the church has done its job and proclaimed this gospel of
the kingdom to all nations. And meanwhile the Lord
has begun to gather in the Gentile harvest. I believe myself
the greatest harvest the church has ever seen is still ahead of us. I believe millions of people are going
to come into the kingdom of God. But bear in mind that’s preparatory
to the restoration of Israel. And then Paul goes on to say in
verse 26: So all Israel will be saved. Israel is the only nation of which the Bible
predicts that all the nation will be saved. It doesn’t say all
New Zealand or all Britain. Not all America, all Russia,
but all Israel will be saved. On the other hand,
you have to bear in mind that all Israel is not all the
Israel that’s alive now for in Romans 9:27 Paul
quotes Isaiah. He says: Though the number of the children
of Israel be as the sand of the sea the remnant will be saved.
The remnant is the remnant God has foreknown
and chosen for Himself. So it’s not all the Jews that are
presently alive in Israel, but it’s the remnant that God will
bring through great tribulation testing and suffering to make them His. Then will come Jesus
judging the Gentile nations. This is pictured in Joel 3:1-2. This is very, very important for us
who are not Jewish to understand. Joel 3:1-2: For behold, in those days
and at that time (God is speaking) when I bring back the captives,
or exiles, of Judah and Jerusalem. In the days in which we are living when God is bringing back Jewish exiles
from more than one hundred nations to their own land. God says: I will also gather
all nations (Gentile nations) and bring them down to
the valley of Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat means in
Hebrew: The Lord judges. And I will enter into
judgment with them there on accountof My people,
My heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered
among the nations. They have also divided up My land.
That is extremely important we need to understand.
God is going to judge the nations on the basis of how they’ve
treated the Jewish people. And particularly He’s going to judge them
for one thing; they’ve divided up His land. What’s the modern political
word for dividing up? Partition. That’s precisely what the nations have
done and are busy trying to do now. God is angry with them. We who love our nation
need to be in urgent prayer that our nation will not
be aligned against God’s purposes for Israel. Now, it doesn't say there'll be
any Jews judged there. My opinion is because the Jews will have
already passed through their own judgment, the great tribulation. Somebody said years ago
something worth considering: God blesses the Jews direct. He blesses the Gentiles through the
Jews. God judges the Gentiles direct. He judges the Jews
through the Gentiles. I think this has been worked out
in history time and time again. So, Israel will pass through their
judgment in the great tribulation. They will have been judged but then the
nations that persecuted them will be judged. In Matthew 25 Jesus says I'll read those words, because it’s so clear
that this is Joel 3 in the New Testament. Matthew 25. The last part of the chapter. Verse 31: When the Son of
man comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. This is the same scene as in Joel 3:1. All the nations (the Gentiles) will
be gathered before Him and He will separate them from one another as
a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. If you’ve studied that chapter you’ll
find the basis of the division is how they’ve treated
the brothers of Jesus. So, the nations need to know.
We need to keep our nation informed. We need to speak out and warn our
nations, You’re going to be judged by the way you have dealt with
God’s people and God’s land Israel. Now, following that ,Christ’s kingdom
on earth will be established. Whenever you pray the Lord’s Prayer,
which you probably do often you’re praying for the establishment
of Christ’s kingdom on earth. The first petition is ‘thy kingdom come.’ That takes precedence
over all other petitions. When you’re praying that you’re praying for
the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom on the earth.
Whether you know it, or not. Now this is described in Isaiah 24:19 You see how important it is to have
a knowledge of biblical prophecy? Isaiah 24:19, this is, in a sense,
the climax of the age. It’s reduplicated
many times in Revelation. This is the picture: The earth is violently
broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken exceedingly,
the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and
shall totter like a hut. Its transgression shall be heavy
upon it and it will fall and not rise again. That’s the earth,
the planet on which we live. It shall come to pass that the Lord will
punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth.
The Lord will deal with two kingdoms. Satan’s kingdom in the heavenlies and the kingdom of man on earth.
He will punish all those who refuse His righteous government
in the person of Jesus. They will be gathered together as prisoners
are gathered in the pit (or the prison) and will be shut up in the prison. After
many days they will be punished. Now I like this verse, this is the climax: Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun
ashamed, for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
and before His elders gloriously. The Lord’s kingdom will
have been re-established in its capital which is Jerusalem. Why should the sun be ashamed
and the moon disgraced? This is something that I
believe I have the answer to. In Luke 9:26 is a description of the return of Jesus. Luke 9:26, Jesus said: For whoever
is ashamed of me and my words of him the Son of man will be ashamed
when He comes in His own glory in His Father’s glory and the glory
of the holy angels. Just think of that. Jesus is coming in His own glory, the glory of the Father and
the glory of the holy angels. The brilliance of that glory is something
that we cannot even begin to imagine and yet it will not hurt our eyes. But then the sun and the moon will
have to take a back seat and say: The light we offer is nothing compared
with what comes with Jesus. That’s why they’ll be ashamed.
I’ve got to go quickly and I’ll just give you the references,
I don’t have time to turn to them. The next thing that will happen
is Jesus will establish His kingdom for one thousand years. A thousand
years, the Bible says, is as a day. So, it’s one day in the Lord’s reckoning. Then Satan will be released
from his prison briefly and go out and stir up rebellion
in the nations which is his job. The Lord will intervene and bring
final judgment on the nations and Satan will be thrown into the
lake of fire together with the antichrist and the false
prophet, who are already there. The present heaven and
the present earth will pass away and a new heaven
and a new earth will come forth. All the remaining dead will stand before
the great white throne of God for judgment. Now tomorrow, God
helping me, if God wills and we live we’ll deal with the
eternal judgment of God. The Lord bless you.
