Don Stewart // God Knew The Future

are you guys Sunday morning awesome I'm really excited I get to sit here let's do a Bible study have a great time Don Stewart is like one of my favorite Americans it's he's uh he's an apologist he's had a long apologetic ministry been and been involved with well I don't want to drop names but big names like Oh forgot his name Josh McDowell it's in books with Josh McDowell and he's been a kind of a Calvary centered guy ever since I've known you know he grew up in Calvary Costa Mesa really one of those guys that actually knew Chuck Smith he's been involved he's still involved in pastors perspective and to every man an answer and 70 books just you know he's a great guy and he knows his stuff and so we're just privileged to have Don Stewart so if you'd welcome [Applause] all right thank you Steve morning everybody it is so nice to be back here in the tri-cities I as I mentioned before my um my mother's family is from Yakima and so I'm almost you know native here so I'm from Southern California as many of you are right that moved up here to get away from all that nonsense but okay I understand I understand I understand but anyway the Lord is the Lord is good he's so good I'm so thankful that Steve's here because every time I come usually he is off somewhere speaking that's why I get invited but it is exciting yeah really well but it's nice that he can sit in on the study we had a great time yesterday doing the one our Facebook answering questions and let me tell you guys I've told you every time you were so blessed to have him as your pastor you really really are believe me there are so many churches around this country around this world that would give anything to have a pastor like you have so I'm sure you pray inform and thankful for the Lord form we do as many of you know not only pastors perspective but I do a program on his channel wws channel comm called breaking news and I think the last time I was with you we did it we're doing it three days a week Monday I camera which days they were I'm I'm now doing five days a week five hours a week an hour a day Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 11:00 and basically look at what's going on in the world looking at the issues that are taking place the stories that are in the news and how they fit with the last day's Bible prophecy I get five hours a week to do this and yet I ended it last month August what's something like I think was 239 stories I didn't get to that's how much is out there it's absolutely mind-boggling what we see so if you're interested in this subject again every day 10:00 to 11:00 we do if you can't watch it live the good news is you can watch it on video on demand and find out what's going on because we live in some very very very very exciting time so it's and along that line we're going to talk today about what in the world is going on you know let's talk about a crazy world it was crazy last year when I was speaking to you and now it's got crazier it's like how do we how do we you know figure out what's going on what I'd like to do is sort of put Bible prophecy as it were into perspective and the totality of the teaching of the word of God so we'll put it in the put the totality of the teaching and basically we're going to talk about three specific areas since I was within the last time I got two books on the subject we're going to take a little bit of all three of them and what we're gonna do is kind of lay it out for you so at the end of this talk if you do not believe in the God of the Bible I think beyond any reasonable doubt you're going to see that the evidence is so overwhelming that not only God exists he knows the future he's in control of the future that you know he will say you know Here I am Lord Jesus that's kind of the goal what we're doing here alright so basically what we're gonna talk about first and foremost God claims to be the one that knows the future he claims to be the one that's in control of the future and he wants us to know the future - he's laid it out for us now we have a past record of him making predictions that have been literally fulfilled showing he has the qualifications but also now there are prophecies being fulfilled the stage is being set right now where we live so three areas he makes the claims that he knows the future he's in control of all things he has a track record of being 100% right 100% of the time in the past and then he tells us what's gonna happen in the future we see the stage being set right now but he does indeed want us to know the future now there's unique claims in the Bible like that so we want to start out with that I'm gonna I want to go to two different passages the first one if you have your Bibles when you turn me to the 46th chapter of Isaiah Isaiah chapter 46 we're gonna read verses 9 and 10 and we're gonna set out you know a couple of passages where God makes these claims about the future isaiah 46:9 and 10 that should be somewhere in the middle more or less than your old testament there Book of Isaiah and Isaiah chapter 4 it actually Isaiah 40 through 48 the Lord is talking about his the distinction between him and the gods of the ancient world they non existent gods and he has the ability to tell the future in fact in Isaiah 41 24 he says to these gods set forth your case tell us if you exist show us that you know the future show us some past predictions what nothing there you know and basically you know because he's making fun of these gods that Israel was serving at this time so when contrast to the non-existent gods look what he says in verses 9 and 10 I'm reading here from the new English translation the net Bible he says remember what I accomplished in antiquity truly I'm God I have no peer I am God there is none like me well how so here we go who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what he what has not yet occurred who says my plan will be realized I will accomplish what I desire all right now we look at this passage we can make four different observations number one the Lord claims it's not our claim since his claim that he is the only God who exists he has no peer no rival well how do we know this we're told specifically again this is 2700 years ago about 700 years before the time of Christ he tells the people to remember what he's already accomplished in the past what he's already accomplished in the past number three namely he has told certain things beforehand that are going to happen that are going to take place and they have come to pass in other words he had already had a track record at the time of Isaiah and so the result is his plan will be realized it will come to pass and so these this passage here tells us the the claims of the God of the Bible again we're not making this up it's very important that we know this this is not something Christians are foisting on the Bible it's the claims the scripture itself now you turn over a page or so to Isaiah 48 verse 3 and gonna continue the thought here at Isaiah chapter 40 verse 3 and the Lord is making further claims about himself here so we want to put this in perspective and again this is just two of many we could refer to here but here's his claim he says I announced events beforehand I assured the decrees and made the predictions suddenly I acted and they came to pass I did this because I know how stubborn you are your neck muscles are like iron and your forehead like bronze I know a few people like that anyway I announced them to you beforehand before they happened I predicted them for you so you could never say my image did these things my idol might cast image to creed them now verse 6 is the punchline here so if you like right in your Bible underlining the yellow marker this is the key and I like the way the new English translation puts it you have heard now look at all the evidence will you not admit that what I say is true you have heard now look at all the evidence will you not admit that what I say is true and as we again go over this some of the evidence today I believe this is gonna be your you know conclusion also so this passage what do we see all right let's make a few observations here number one again he has announced events beforehand before they've taken place the Lord has made certain decrees certain predictions again he's reminding the people of that number two the predicted events have always come to pass always come to pass furthermore he gave predictive prophecy because Israel the people were stubborn people and the reason they were stubborn they would actually give credit to gods these false gods that they made that they created and the Bible makes it clear like we just read there's only one God that exists and so the Lord is contrasting himself for these false gods but again the punchline is you have heard now consider all the evidence won't you admit that what I say is true and so what we find here in this first section that we deal with is that the God of Bible and there's other passages we could go to many other ones has made certain claims about himself and one of the claims he makes is number one he's the only God that exists number two he knows the future at number three he's in control of the future he knows that he's in control of it and therefore he tells us certain things that are going to happen in the future so we could know that he does exist now let me say this at the whenever I talk about this subject it's not just to give us you know kind of an insight and to what's gonna happen in the future that's part of it of course but it's to show that there is a God that exists and he's in control of all things including your life and my life so to me this message is always very very practical because what it tells me is we serve a God who does exist the evidence is there we're not making this stuff up this is not a fairy tale and he is in control of all things so this is very important all right now let's move to our second point his claims are validated you know examples of fulfilled prophecy in history and we could go on and on with that we're gonna just mention one particular subject here and just real briefly to show that he has a track record here and that is the time of Jeremiah remember Jeremiah the Prophet the weeping prophet he is told to tell the people that the city of Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed the people will go into captivity and you know and he's the prophets gonna announce their doom and so from the Book of Jeremiah we have a number of specific predictions that Jeremiah makes okay number one he says the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed this is one prediction that he makes very specific even though the false prophets were saying no that won't happen number two he also says the Temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed the city and the temple will both be destroyed again specific predictions here now he also said the people would be taken captive to Babylon not only the city and temple destroyed that be taken Catholic captive to a specific place the city of Babylon all right and then he said specifically they're going to remain there for a very specific period of time for 70 years 7-0 years and then after the 70 years they would return now when he's making these predictions all of the false prophets and this isn't going to happen just isn't going to happen you know you're God's people fact one false prophet named Hananiah said even though there was already one deportation to Babylon and Hananiah said no now they're gonna come back in a couple years years so it's all gonna be fine God's not gonna destroy the city he's not gonna destroy the temple Jeremiah is a false prophet so Jeremiah made another prediction and he said Hananiah let me add one more thing to this you're gonna die within a year that's the specific prediction all right well Jeremiah did pretty well because the city of Jerusalem was destroyed 586 587 BC just like the he predicted the temple was destroyed number two number three the people were taken to Babylon number four didn't happen forever it was only for 70 specific years and then at the end of the 70 years they did return just like Jeremiah said oh and by the way Hanna and I of the Prophet did die within the year - and so everything that he predicted came to pass literally just as he had said and so what we have here are number one God's claims number to pass predictions that have been literally fulfilled now with this in mind let us now go into the future and talk about the present-day and ask ourselves well is he doing anything today and of course the answer is indeed yes as we look at our twenty five signs he is near the end now we're gonna do this by talking about the prophet Ezekiel let me give you a little background of what's going on here about six years ago six seven years ago I did a class on Monday nights at Calvary Chapel in Tustin in Southern California about Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 the predictions that are there it lasted about 18 months and I ended up with over 200 pages of notes over 200 pages of notes there and it was it fast who actually started chapter 33 to get the background there 33 through 39 it was a fascinating topic I never studied it before I'd ever taught on it so it was a learning time for me and so it was a really fascinating interesting experience that I had at that particular time and basically Ezekiel just - you know I was a I was a priest in Jerusalem he's taken to Babylon and the first deportation becomes a prophet and then he heard of the literal fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy you know that Jerusalem be destroyed so God turned his II kiyul into a prophet not only predicting the same thing Jeremiah predicted but also into the way far distant future that the people would basically be taken captive and returned a second time so he's in Babylon doing this anyway and chapters 38 and 39 there's a lot of debates about different areas that are a Bible prophecy that are debated about what's gonna happen about this chapter 38 39 invasion so anyway I talked about that you know I did this about a year and a half two hundred pages of notes so a church asked me to come and speak on the subject but to do a one-hour talk one hour okay I know I talk fast but I can't get 200 pages dinner an hour alright so one hour talk on this prostate conference so I'm thinking what in the world do I do what do I do so anyway I I came up with this idea now I want you to turn no Daisy Keogh 38 verses 8 and 9 and I want to read kind of like the punchline there that should be near the prophet Isaiah Ezekiel Daniel Isaiah Jeremiah somewhere around there okay ezekiel 38:8 9 as we talk about this particular passage and then we're going to talk about the 38:39 invasion that the Bible speaks of because the topic is certain specified nations will invade Israel in the last days and we're gonna look at that now in context but in 38 8 & 9 here's the key this verse here these these 2 verses the key now he's talking to this person agent named GOG GOG he's the leader of this invading force and here's what he says and again reading off out of the new English translation after many days you will be summoned in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war with many people gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins its people were brought out from the peoples and all of them will be living securely you will advance you will come like a storm you will be like a cloud covering the earth you and all your troops with you all right so I use that as my base so here was the plan I came up with all right I wanted to do such that ever done of talk on the subject ever ever asked to do one and have all these notes I didn't want to that I'd do something out of the box I was trying to think of doing something different so here's what I did I said okay I'm gonna do this before I and my talk was based on this I'm gonna read start with Ezekiel 37 when this kind of all starts and go through chapter 39 and I'm gonna do two things number one I'm gonna write you know every what the Bible assumes at the time of the end will happen because this verse we just read 38 a two times in the same verse this final last day's invasions gonna happen at the time of the end so I thought okay I'm gonna do two things I'm gonna make one list of things that the Bible assumes are in place when this invasion happens what the world's gonna look like at the time of the end member Ezekiel's writing about twenty six hundred and fifty years ago what the world's gonna look like number one and then number two what's going to happen during the invasion and the aftermath all right what's gonna take place during the invasion the aftermath now again what's true beforehand you know and what's gonna happen now this is not rocket science anybody could do something like this because all I did is take my yellow pad out I'm going through the verse I just wrote down okay this is gonna happen this what the world's gonna be like before and it's gonna be in place it's gonna be in place then once the invasion took place okay this and this is gonna happen well anyway what I came up with were twenty specific things twenty specific things ten things that will happen before the invasion and ten things that will happen during the invasion in the aftermath and again this again not rocket side he's got this reading you know what the text says so I'm making a list and saw a figure I'll count do a talk based on the list here and it was fascinating subject so what I'm gonna do is go over the different points here and then we'll go back and explain them all right sound good okay number one before the invasion ten things were assumed to be true ten predictions there in this particular passage number one prediction the nation of Israel will exist in the last days that's prediction number one they will exist in the last day now remember Ezekiel's doing this from Babylon where they're in captivity in Babylonia is telling them this all right that's assumed to be true obviously it's assumed to be true because I'm gonna get invaded in the last day so they still must exist right that's kind of a no-brainer and then number two they will have been scattered throughout the world though they exist in the last days that will have been scattered throughout the world we read this in the passage okay they have been scattered throughout the world in fact that's what the passage just says we just read number three though however at some future time the people of Israel will return to their ancient homeland okay they exist they've been scattered but at some future time the specific prophecy says they will return to their ancient homeland but very specifically here this will be at the time of the end in the last days I could actually made that a separate point but we'll make that under number three the people of Israel will return to their ancient homeland but only in the last days okay the fourth prediction is they will have been away for a long time from their homeland in other words it's not East this is not the 70 year Babylonian captivity a specific time a long time it will be away from their ancient homeland he makes that prediction also here in the context number five when they do return their numbers will be large in other words it won't be just some small little group they will have large numbers as from Ezekiel 37 like an army we're told they're returning numbers will be but number six something very interesting the land they'll return to in the last days will not be a land of milk and honey it will be a land that has basically been decimated decimated by war war is taking its ravages on the land so Ezekiel says when they return their ancient homeland in the last days this huge number of people like an army they're coming to a land that's basically been decimated by war now though they return to a desolate land they will come back to that lad and here's another specific prediction they will create great wealth great wealth and this is one of the reasons for the invasion as we'll find out because they have created great wealth here in these last days when they come back now when they do return they will form some type of modern state some type of political entity in other words they won't just be a mob of people that come back to the promised land there'll be a functioning you know a political entity or state because you're attacking an entity here not just a group of people living in a part of the land but some type of modern state or political entity in the last days and then we're also told something real interesting too it's when the armies get into the borders of Israel's land is when God decides to destroy them well their borders will include the mountains of Israel very specific borders borders will include the mountains of Israel see why that's important a little bit but number 10 when they do come back they will come back in unbelief still of Jesus as the Messiah when they come back they'll come back and unbelief in Jesus as the Messiah because what we find as we'll see in the battle in the aftermath once God supernaturally destroys all these armies then they'll start to begin to believe that the God of Israel is in control so anyway we have these ten specific things and you know I just again I just got them from reading these chapters and you know anybody can do it just make your own list write down this is what's gonna happen before this invasion okay but then during the second set of 10 is the invasion and the aftermath okay once the invasion takes place what's going to happen well it's gonna be seven or eight modern nations that are going to invade Israel we say modern nations because when Ezekiel is telling us you know about five hundred and fifty years five hundred eighty years before the time of Christ he tells us the nations names at that particular time so we have to go to the map and the geography and we have you know we put in the ancient names but we it's not the names it's where they're coming from so we find out in modern times who are these nations gonna be and depending how you divide it seven eight or nine nations is a couple ways to divide it but the modern nations we know who they are they're going to invade these different areas actually from the north south east and west now what's interesting here too it's back on what we said previously the reason for the invasion little tiny Israel has something these people want as well as something that they need thing they want as well as something that they need all right now what's also fascinating about the prediction when you look at the map all right and you got this invasion taking place none of the nations mention specifically border Israel in other words even though the nations that border Israel are their enemies or you know at least not their friends none of the nations in this invasion our boat are right on the border of Israel which is sort of fascinating in other words Syria Lebanon Jordan and Egypt they're not part of this very interesting all right I will go over again these the leader of this coalition named gog gog that is his title alright he's gonna desire to take something that doesn't belong to him this is the reason for this invasion Disick leader GOG is his evil thought I'm gonna take something that doesn't belong to me alright now when this happens this invasion will raise a protest from certain nations around basically the Gulf states the modern Gulf states are ancient sheba and dedan and the time of ezekiel sheba indeed an lived on the persian gulf and that's the Gulf states today of Saudi Arabia and Oman Qatar and that all right so they're gonna have they're gonna protest they're gonna protest but they're not going to get involved at all with this invasion now the invasion will take Israel another point by surprise they're gonna be living confidently in the land securely or confidently and a relative peace not expecting it's gonna happen so in other words they're gonna be caught unaware when this takes place okay now the next one is the one that really got me between the eyes because I'm I'm going through this you know I'm reading this through and I'm thinking ago wait a minute now there's something missing here something that's very important that on this prediction this evil person GOG invades Israel and you got a protest from some of the nations you know in the on the Gulf but you got nobody coming to the aid of Israel and he's not worried about anybody coming to the aid of Israel so my question was where is the United States of America I mean if this happened today this this was they would they would invade in other words there be someone standing up for Israel so there will be no superpower here's the next prediction who can or will intervene on behalf of Israel then that one really hit me you know where's the superpower where is someone to help Israel well know what they they're not there okay and so which brings up a bunch of question well where are we all right but what happens is the Israel didn't need the superpower when the nations enter the promised land God will supernaturally destroy the armies that come in and also - we're told he's going to not only destroy the armies the main structures of the other countries that sent them there command and control centers their mosques their you know military bases of seats and authority authorities wipe them all out God's gonna do that and then at that particular time the people will realize that the God of the Bible does exist he's working on the side of Israel all right this in a nutshell is what the Bible says Ezekiel the Prophet in Babylon about five hundred and seventy years or so before the time of Christ predicting what will happen according to ezekiel 38:8 in the last times at the very time of the end all right well here we are in 2019 let's see how God did and you know God did pretty well on this if you want to summarize now if you were paying attention here and this is what's mind-boggling remember we gave you ten things that are assumed to be in place when this happens when this last days invasion occurs here we on 2019 what do we find every single one of them is now in place Ezekiel was ten for ten every single one twenty-six hundred years after the fact let's go down the list okay number one the nation of Israel does exist in the last days of course they do we know they exist today they've always existed as a nation they've been a nation an exile but they do indeed exist humanly speaking there was no guarantee this would happen because what happen place at this time they were captives in Babylon and in the history of the entire world never has a nation been removed from their homeland and ever come back never when he made this this prediction once a nation remove they never come back you know someone else takes over and yet here they are today you know in the year 2019 so the nation of Israel does indeed exist in the last days number two the people had been scattered throughout the world the people had been scattered throughout the world well this is literally true there's scarcely a nation that does not have or has not had descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob if you remember the last time I was with you I talked about this about while the nations were the nation of Israel was scattered throughout the world there were people Bible commentators who took the scripture seriously and predicted their return now they didn't have the signs we have today remember we said of the 25 signs we have they only had one and two but the sign that they did have was this which was very interesting even though Israel was scattered throughout the world they kept their unique identity in other words they were wherever you go read the quotation man named JC rile writing in the middle of the nineteenth century wherever you go hot countries cold countries you find Jews there you find him everywhere but there's something unique about them and it used England as an example where he was from after you know a hundred years couple generations all the people Dane Saxons Germans French and whatever it might be they come to England they're part of the British Empire this set this happened every people group except for one except for the Jews they never were absorbed among the nations and here's what these commentators all saw wherever you looked in the world this is again 19th century 18th century wherever you looked in the world there were Jews but they always kept to themselves okay they kept the same laws they kept the same traditions in other words they never became part and parcel of another nation so these Bible commentators looked at that and say well you know even though they've been gone for like sixteen or seventeen hundred years look at this they're there as a unique distinct people because God has set the stage for some day they will indeed come back to their ancient homeland which brings us to number three they did indeed May 14th 1948 the modern State of Israel was reborn they have come back to their ancient homeland when we talk to you last time about this last year we gave I think there are seven specific predictions about that actually eleven I didn't have time to get through all I'm 11 specific predictions about the Bible telling us that they're going to come back to their ancient homeland the Jews in the last days and they did return against literally all odds of history again never happened once in the history of humanity happened not once but happened twice once after 70 years the Babylonian captivity and once after almost two thousand years coming back destroyed in AD 70 the city and the temple the second time came back the second time and formed a modern state some 71 years ago now which brings us to our next point the people had been away for a long time all right it was almost 1900 years they're scattered throughout the world so this is not the Babylonian captivity this is a second exile an ace and a second return okay so somewhere in the distant future is zekiel 2,600 years ago plus is saying they're gonna return in the last days being scattered throughout the world that'll be away from their home line for a long time but as he predicted they will come back number 5 in large numbers like a large army there's almost 7 million Jews in the Holy Land to date almost 7 million that are there now the next couple ones are there all these are all mind-boggling to me but the next couple ones are literally amazing and that is the land to which they have returned will have been decimated by war in other words it's not gonna be the Holy Land anymore it is but I mean it's not gonna look like the holy land now we read this to you the last time about the situation in the 19th century in the Holy Land when I was doing 2017 the you know breaking news there was a bunch of in 2017 a bunch of anniversaries and one of the anniversaries was the hundred and fiftieth year of a book called the innocents abroad written in 1867 by Mark Twain who visited the Holy Land and what I didn't know because I would I would quote up in quote in the book for years but I had no idea until 2017 when the Jewish people brought up in many stories editorials this book actually got in their minds got the people thinking it's time for us to go back to our promised land so God used the secular atheist author Mark Twain to get the Jews interest now why did he do that what happened what was it specifically well he goes to the you know to the promised land and here's how he describes it he says a desolate country whose soil is rich enough but given over wholly to weeds a sign silent mournful expanse a desolation we never saw a human being on the whole route never hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere even the olive tree and the cactus those fast friends of worthless soil had almost deserted the country so in 1867 the Holy Land was a country with desolate no humans no vegetation the Jewish people started reading this and realized this was exactly what the Bible promised desolation judgment for rejecting the god of scripture but also they remembered something else that God said he was going to bring them back in the last days and they're going to create great wealth and so they saw the passages about desolation but something started welling up in their hearts to want to come back and specifically come back in you know you know starting in 1867 if we had time there's so many things that took place there is a Congress in 1897 the first scientist caught a conference which was a hundred and twentieth anniversary in 2017 about potato hair it's all I think we mentioned to you this the last time he he was a reporter he had seen the anti-semitism there in France so in Basel Switzerland he met he'd say look we got to go back to her ancient homeland we have to have a Jewish state because we're being persecuted all around the world and he wrote in his diary in 1867 me in 1897 in Basel I have founded the Jewish state maybe in five years but in 50 years for sure there will be a Jewish state back in our ancient homeland and what's interesting it was almost 50 years to the day the 1947 the United Nations voted the General Assembly for two before the Jews to come back to their ancient homeland two different groups a Jewish state and an Arab state there in the holy Lance almost years to the day he predicted there was a Jewish state in you know 1947 the Jew and General Assembly allow for that and 48 it became a reality but anyway the descriptions of Jerusalem got these people thinking wait a minute this is God's judgment but also there's more we're gonna come back someday and they did come back and once in the land they did create great wealth just like the Bible says now to compare it with what was before Lenin let me read you I have this one author writing in 1840 I want you to listen to his logic here because remember these people are reading the Bible believing that God has a future for Israel they haven't been in their land for eighteen hundred years they're scattered throughout the world they're a nation and exile there nothing is being fulfilled but they can see wherever they go these Jews are a separate entity you know setting the stage for coming back in the last day a man named Hugh McNeil writing about the present condition of the Holy Land how it's barren here's what he says and this we recognize a literal fulfillment of that cause of profs prophecy which predicts desolation in other words a it's been fulfilled the desolation there and from the next Clause of the prophecy we confidently anticipate a literal renovation of beauty and fertility accompanied by a multiplication of beasts upon it as well as people to consume its produce in other words well we have the first prophecy fulfilled about the desolation so the people have to come back multiplying and turn the land into something wealthy so he said this is we're just waiting for the next part to happen he said in the present condition the Jewish people divided and dispersed we recognize the literal fulfillment of those claims of prophecy which imply division and dispersion and from similar clauses similarly interpreted we confidently anticipate a similar literal fulfillment of the promised restoration and return he wrote that in the year 1800 and 40 in other words he says look the first parts been fulfilled someday the second part is gonna be fulfilled they're gonna come back to the land and what they're gonna do they're gonna create great wealth in it and again as we just read in Ezekiel that'll be the cause for this last days invasion all right well this has been literally fulfilled I think I don't matter we mentioned this to you last year at the time recently it's been in the last year Ezreal has been recognized the little nation that's always been existing for 71 years as the eighth most powerful country in the world it's the now of the eight most powerful country in the world only been here for 71 years when it comes to technology they're number five in the world when it comes to entrepreneurship they're in the top ten when it comes to medical you know you know basically discoveries they're in the top ten all so you can just go down the list in the invention whatever it might be this little tiny nation that's only been in existence 71 years as a modern state is now a country with great great wealth that they've created great great wealth and so this was the prediction that they're gonna come back and of course we know the modern state fulfillment 8 was formed a modern state for may 14 1948 the miraculous nature of their return there they've formed the modern state now what's really interesting here ix fulfillment the borders now included the mountains of Israel the borders now include the mountain would include the mountains of Israel now I think we talked to you about this last time but in 1948 when the modern State of Israel was reborn they didn't have the mountains of Israel under their control they had only a little tiny bit of territory but they you know did form a modern state so careful Bible stood and said hey there's got to be another war in this next war what happens they have to capture East Jerusalem because Jerusalem's divide it right down the middle they have to capture the Temple Mount they have to capture you know the Mount of Olives the Judean Hills and the Golan Heights and all that because the scripture says when they enter the mountains of Israel that's when God destroys these armies so it means it has to be under Israeli control but that wasn't the case now oftentimes what we do and we continue to do we say look we're not prophets we're not sons of prophets but the Bible says Jerusalem has to be United they have to eventually build a third temple sometime the Jews and unbelief of Jesus in their history so they have to have that real estate back so people at that time careful Bible students said there's got to be another war and in the next war they'll have to you know unite Jerusalem take the Golan Heights the Mount of Olives and the such like well check it off 19 years later in the six-day war June 67 that's exactly what took place we've just had the 52nd anniversary of that where the city of Jerusalem has been United so now the stage is set for this to happen as it has been since nineteen hundred and sixty-seven the territories and their hands just as scripture said and so the borders now include the mountains of Israel we're not prophets we're not sons of prophets we're gonna just tell you what it's what the Bible says and finally they have come back and unbelief of Jesus many of the Jews today are secular having no form of a religion whatsoever in fact it's interesting this latest election that they just had on the 17th of September the party that got the most seats at least you know the one the most seats in the Knesset their Parliament the blue and white party they're very secular party they want they were part of their platform which they said we want to run the nation with no ruler no religious party on it that on the other side of the coudé party Netanyahu's party had two different religious factions we don't want any of that we want to have a non-religious a secular government so that's this is part and parcel of Israel to this day what's what's happening right there so anyway they have come back and unbelief of Jesus I don't believe in the God about Abraham Isaac and Jacob much less than Jesus so to summarize let's take a step back and think about this all right here's a man 2600 years ago writing he's in Babylon in captivity there's no hope even humanly speaking for them ever to come back to their land yet as Jeremiah predicted they'd come back and they did come back but before they got back there he said this is what's gonna happen at the very end of time is iike 38 8 9 there's gonna be an invasion and it's gonna be invading a people who've been gone for a long time but eventually come back and we go through the whole list 10 specific things all 10 literally fulfilled right now in our year 2019 okay we've gone down the list let me ask you something you think that's all a coincidence it just happened to be fulfilled mmm I don't think so and now let's think about it another way what are the odds this could have happened by chance you ever think about this we talked about the last time remember God said Israel and Egypt would be two nations that would exist to the time of the end and God mentioned five specific people groups that wouldn't exist remember the Philistines the Moabites Amalekites ammonites and they're not going to exist now as we talked to you last time and shared they don't exist anymore they don't exist as distinct people groups yet two groups will exist the Jews and the Egyptians and they still exist to this day so God very specifically is telling us look I'm telling you what's gonna happen in the future are you paying attention are you listening just look around you know I was telling Steve yesterday oftentimes when I do the breaking news and you see these things fulfilled minutely miraculously I look at the camera say you know you can't make this stuff up this is precisely what we would expect to see if we take the Bible seriously and we see it happen right in front of our very eyes okay so the you know basically the stage has been set now a couple things about the invasion that's going to take place we want to talk about this and I want to make it very very practical teach and every one of us we just don't do it just to tickle the ears and say this what's gonna happen you know so we're almost like you know just looking at this there's a very practical side of this and let me just back up and tell you what it is in the sense when Jeremiah was giving these prophecies these people needed hope now at first they didn't believe in him remember they all rejected what he's going to say but when the city and temple were destroyed when their card off to Babylon they remembered that Jeremiah predicted these things the death of Hananiah all these things they remembered that they're going to be there for 70 years and when the 70 years well took place and they were you know fulfilled they did come back and so it was something that gave the people hope Ezekiel now writing into the way distant future gave the people hope even till the time of the end because remember not only they're gonna be scattered but they will return and they have returned just like the Bible said so one of the things Bible prophecy does is not only tell us the lord exists not only tells us he has a perfect track record past and present but also to us to give us hope about our own lives because it's the same God who controls you and who controls me he gives us hope for the future because he is the one in control so far be it from just laying out a bunch of facts of historical things what happened to pass happening right now this is a message about hope a realistic hope and also a message to that what we're believing is the truth again we are not assassinating our brains we're not you know you know living in under some fantasy that what we believe or what we see in the Bible may happen or may not it's happening right now in front of our eyes let's go now to the things they're setting the stage where I have the tenant they're in place but all these other things are taking place seven or eight nations we talked about to be the prediction that will invade Israel seven or eight nations now the nations that are mentioned in Scripture when we put the modern countries in there three of them come to the forefront Russia Iran and Turkey all right very specific that was going to be there given the name rosh there in Ezekiel 38 death toll Garmin go Maris Turkey and Iran was Persia that was actually the name of Iran till nineteen thirty five and Iran is actually the Persian name for persian farsi name for Persia anyway these three nations are going to be part of the last days invasion now again you can't make this stuff up who indeed is now there on the border of the Holy Land on the border of Israel's northern border knocking on the door to get in Iran Russia and Turkey how in the world had all this happened and see this is how God works amazing ways you go back to 2013 and you had what was called in a JV group Isis - the Islamic state that's not gonna do much there in the Middle East we don't have to worry about them but at one time they had 20,000 square miles under their control in both Syria and Iraq well coalition of forces came in and knocked up my often they've basically there they're gone out of the land now they have no Caliphate there that they're going to have of you know when starting their Islamic rule around the world it's gone all 20,000 square miles are gone yet the people that invaded there excuse me the people that fought to get these invaders out they decided to all right remain and to wit you've got both Iran and Russia as we mentioned yesterday when Steve and I did that the Facebook video what's amazing there you go to Israel today and you go to the northern border of Israel in the past you can look across and is really a sleepy trip and the Golan Heights and that because there was nothing there nothing to really happen until recently today you look across the border and what do you see you see Russian soldiers there just on the other side of the border Russia has eight outpost on the Syrian border looking towards Israel Iran has you know if they keep trying to move closer and closer they're supposed to putin said to netanyahu this last week well you spoke we're gonna try and back up back them up ninety kilometers away from the border what he forgot the syrian army though on the border but the syrian army is not the syrian army the syrian army are Iranian stress to Syrians that you know Islam the Hezbollah the party of God they're from Lebanon the Islamic Jihad in other words these terrorist groups are there on Israel's northern border they're ostensibly to guard it there but eventually to invade there is a land bridge that is now being made all the way from Tehran Iran through Iraq through Syria through Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea that Iran wants to build wants to control it's basically there so they can rebuild Syria okay nation-building after Syrians seven years civil war so these people are coming in and they're planted right there right above Israel's northern border now we had no idea this is how what's gonna happen but it fulfills the scenario of what will take place at the time of the end and again you can't make this stuff up we knew they're gonna get there some way so Israel again has something that these nations want and something that they need remember the late Pastor Chuck Smith used to say when it talked about Israel you know they come to Israel to take a spoil that's what the King James says there these nations this leader dog he says he he think should take the first two letters off spoil and that's what they want to come and get they want the oil that's out there you've got a natural gas field out in the Mediterranean Sea that's worth untold billions of dollars I think we mentioned to you last time there's a potential oil disc oil discovery there in the Golan Heights the Golan Heights is a disputed territory it was in serious control until 1967 when the Israelis and the six-day war took the Golan Heights the United Nations still says it belongs to Syria Russia fighting for Syria what do we find there an oil field that supposedly discovery discovered there of enormous potential again remember they're going to come down to take a spoil Israel has created great great wealth this little tiny nation about the size of New Jersey so small on the map you always have to write Israel out in the Mediterranean Sea the name you can't even write it in the country it's so tiny there and yet here they are and here we are in 2019 every single cent every single thing is set up just as the Scriptures mention now I want to deal with one of the issues we've raised earlier and that is all right no superpower in the world no superpower and this is where it really gets interesting for some reason when this invasion takes place at the time of the end there will be nobody who can or will you know stand up for them that is not the case right now if Israel believe me if this invasion took place the United States would be on it right there fact our fire powers if there's a story yesterday that President Trump has moved to Saudi Arabia you know some munitions some ships some some weapons of warfare just in case they need to use this against Iran so no we would we would definitely do this if this ever happened but sometime in the future we will not do it so what in the world does that mean well the you know we I think we've talked about this before the view I like and Steve average I have to mention yesterday of when we were doing the Facebook program is would it be wonderful if something will happen in this country a great revival or you know people just turn and in repentance to Christ and so when the rapture the church take place there wouldn't be any harm anybody left in the country that's why we're not players because we're not here when that's that's still that's the scenario I like however there's other possible scenarios and let me tell you the way we're going it is it seems very likely this is what is going to happen I'm always an optimist I want to see the first one but realistically speaking you know when I talked to you last year we're talking about a little bit about the degradation of the country I had no idea what what happened how bad it would get it is absolutely absolutely mind-boggling to see how quickly how fast our country is going south turning its back on not only how this country was founded but upon the God of the Bible and about anybody who is a Bible believing Christian or has any type of morality believes in the Ten Commandments we're considered Neanderthals today and we just need to be gotten rid of now there's so many things we can go on about this one of the things though that is sort of a harbinger of what's gonna happen they had if you recall most of you know Friday the worldwide climate protests you know the climate change started by Greta tune Berg member last year she did this in Europe you know you did school one day and you protest that you know the the destruction so-called coming destruction of the planet well there were scenes from all over the world but there was one scene in particular that of course MSNBC had to highlight I don't did you see it in Hamburg Germany they did a mock hanging of three people who were climate deniers a mocked hanging of them in other words this is gonna be your destiny if you deny what we are trying to do and what they are trying to do is take total control of your life and my life where we can live what we can eat what we can drive or not drive or whatever and it's AB gaunt absolutely in sane there is an article I mentioned at the program on Friday I've got another one I'm gonna do tomorrow it's even better since 1969 I believe it was maybe back - yes 69 there have been 42 specific predictions of what's going to happen to the world because of the climate problem well there been a hundred percent correct they've been wrong on every one they're over 40 - none of this has ever ever happened every single one you go back to Paul air like the biologist in the 60s I remember reading that right out of high school in college the Population Bomb the hunger bomb all this gonna happen then this global cooling is gonna happen there's gonna be a short ice age all this was predicted all this doomsday it's been predicted you know and you know for the last 50 years yet none of it's happened yet today you've got this absolute hysteria so we have to change everything in the way we you live it's to control you and to control me let's go to globalism globalism basically says there's no such things as borders we're all big one rule here in the world and so borders are something they're insignificant borders or things that are basically not to be not to be seen anymore well you know if you say that think about it for a second alright so no country has sovereignty but if you believe this you know what else you're saying you're saying the God of the Bible is wrong because the God of the Bible predicts and tells Israel there are certain borders of a promised land that he has given that belongs to you so by saying there's no such things as borders in the world you're denying the you know the claims of the God of the Bible who decreed this lands belong to Israel forever he told that to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and we go on and on with this but here's the bottom line what we see today is the stage being set for these things to take place and again even after being gone with you for about a year and the changes that have happened in the last year the absolute hysteria that we've seen it doesn't really bode well for our country now that's the bad news but the good news is we know what's gonna happen the end right we know we win you know because we've read we Christians are gonna win but it's a battle until that time so just to encourage you in a couple ways here it's gonna be a battle it's gonna get worse and worse we're gonna be the ones that are gonna be set out as the you know climate deniers the Neanderthals the people stopping progress our governor Newsom in California you know what he calls us the regressives they are the progress since we are regressive because we want to go back to the path of a morality Bible Ten Commandments so us regressives have to be put in our place and it depends you know who you talk to what place we're being put in but the bottom line is this we live in a world which rapidly quickly changing but it's been predicted by scriptures so we're not caught by surprise with any of this and the good news is we know how that how the play is gonna end like just even I talked about yesterday we know how it's gonna end now we don't know how we're gonna get there but we're getting there but we know how it's gonna end and that is what the Lord Jesus Christ coming back and ruling is king of kings and Lord of lords you know we have yeah you might have noticed we're into a political season anybody notice that yet okay you have everybody's got their own platform what they're gonna do if they're elected but I have ever never yet heard a politician say if you vote for me if you vote for me I will rule in righteousness you ever heard that as a claim no because they'd be liars cuz they're not gonna do that Hebrews 1:8 says when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back he's gonna rule this world and righteousness and that a wonderful thought and that a great thought well that's that's gonna happen in our future and so here's where at right now but remember God's told all of this to us ahead of time so we're not surprised by it we're heartbroken were not surprised but we know he is going to guide us he's gonna be with us through these times and not only us as a nation and as a world but each of us as individuals Philippians 1:6 confident of this very thing if he began a good work he's gonna complete that work in your life and mine til the day of Jesus Christ Jesus said if I start with a hundred sheep I'm gonna end with a hundred sheep and so as his sheep he's gonna get us there it's gonna be a rough road but the good news is we're gonna get there and we're gonna be with him forever and ever and ever that's the message today there is a God who exists he's in control he's told us these things gonna be tough but he's gonna pull us through and at the end of the day he's gonna come back and we will rule and reign with him let us pray Heavenly Father thank you thank you thank you for giving us all these things ahead of time all these truths and your word about what the world will look like in the last days and Lord thank you for the world we're here to see it we can see what you're doing in this world we can see precisely what's going on we can see literally fulfill we're amazed our minder Bob is boggled by the fact that these 10 things Ezekiel predicted so long ago have all been literally fulfilled setting the stage for this and seeing all the other things taking place we pray for our country Lord that it will turn to you and repent but Lord we thank you for the believers that are here that are standing strong for the truth of the word of God God give us the grace to be faithful believers in these days to stand up for the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and even though we know it's going to be a more difficult time to realize it some day seemingly in the not-too-distant future the Lord God Himself will come and reign as king of kings and Lord of lords thank you for your word thank you for telling us ahead of time what's gonna take place so we know that you can exist you do exist you are in control of all things and you've got our back you're watching over us during all these difficult times we praise you and thank you for it in Jesus precious name Amen all right Steve that is an example of you know obviously Don's been around for a long time I love this guy but that is an example of some of the stuff that just blew me away when I first became a Christian the way that Don goes through and he just lines out what the Bible has to say 2600 years ago about events that are happening around us and when I first became a believer one of the things actually before I was even a believer I realized I had a 2,000 year old book in my lap and I did not understand how it could be doing the things that it was doing as far as speaking into my life how can it be relevant to me and as far as this this whole thing with Biblical prophecy I've told you some of my background I used to be into Nostradamus and all this nonsense I had a you know a bunch of the cult stuff that was going on in my household and in comparison with what the people in the cults are doing the people in the altars are doing it does not even compare to what you have sitting in your lap it does it's not even close this is amazing to me it's amazing we're living in amazing times where God is fulfilling prophecy all around us like almost literally on a daily basis very cool times and so we need to tell people about Jesus right right let's all step

Channel: Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities

Views: 31,026

Rating: 4.8622952 out of 5

Keywords: Gospel, The Bible, Jesus, God, Calvary Chapel, Good Bible teachers, Don Stewart, God Knows The Future, Biblical Prohecy

Id: L_Sr6b12jd0

Length: 58min 48sec (3528 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 30 2019