Religion, Prophecy and the Return of Christ

[Music] [Applause] [Music] you know we're living in very interesting times i think that's probably an understatement whenever you look at what's happening in what in the world a lot of things are happening we're living in a very interesting time from the standpoint of history and bible prophecy because it appears we're very we're living in very significant times when it comes to bible prophecy it's interesting too i think that living in a time when prophecies are appear to be coming true that in our personal lives we're living very frantic lives very hectic lives just think about it a little bit some of the terms that we use for our week how was your week that was a rat race yeah i feel run down i'm out of gas i'm frazzled because we're living in such a rapid pace today and we talk about living life in the fast lane where we try and do everything at once let me think about it we don't just drive today we drive and we talk on our cell phone we listen to the radio we watch our gps and if you're a mother you're probably solving problems in the back seat between the kids we're trying to do all these things at once i can remember sitting in my office talking on my landline and cell phone rings i've just been in the middle of answering emails and sending emails and then somebody knocks on the door and you think now what do i do i remember a story told one lady one time she was carrying a portable phone from upstairs to downstairs and the phone rang she heard the thing ring in the house so she lifted up the phone had been unplugged lifted up the phone say hello but life just goes so fast i think we all understand that we don't just watch television a pro a television program in the evening we might watch two or three football games at the same time and then during the commercial breaks we watch the weather and then we check on an auto race that's going on i mean we do all these things at once this is the world we live in we don't just go for a walk we go for a walk with a walkman sticking in our ears or an ipod or something and with our cell phone attached to our belt so that we're ready for whatever happens you know this is the world we live in today this is not god's world the bible says this is satan's world and he's got us all running around in circles he keeps our minds so busy that we don't really take time to think or we don't have time to think that true you know it is i found that weddings and funerals especially funerals when someone dies you do have a few moments to talk with people about some of the most important questions in life you know why are we here what is the purpose of human life where am i going where am i going to be ten years from now do the priorities i have today will they make any difference at all 10 years from now you know these are things we need to think about these are neat things we need to think about about things that really matter you know about 25 or 30 years ago mr armstrong the man who was very instrumental in raising up the modern era of the church of god was saying things before he died one of the themes that you may remember if you were around at that time was we need to simplify our lives here was a man who was born before the wright brothers flew their first airplane flight before radio became a big thing before television became a big thing before the internet and there really was a world before the internet before the space shots here was a man who watched these things happen and he saw the consequences of those things happen and he said against that backdrop we need to simplify our lives and he was not talking just about eliminating things he was talking about focusing on those issues that really are important what is really important in your life think about it what are some of the most important things in your life and one of the reasons people don't think about these questions that much is because the world has been told that there are no answers to questions like that we don't know what truth is we don't know what the purpose of life is we don't know what the future holds there's a book that reveals the future there's a book that talks about the purpose of life there's a book that talks about what is important in life about 25 or 30 years ago i went back to school in a master's program study health education public health we're dealing with human behavior why do people do certain things how can you influence human behavior how do you influence people's values one of the concepts i came across in one of the classes that i took was an exercise at that time called 20 loves i would retitle it today called 20 goals but i would encourage you to think about doing this in your own life i've done it from time to time list the 20 most important things in your life right now go home do this 20 of the most important things that you would like to do during the rest of your life 20 of the most important goals that you might have 20 of the most important things you might want to say to someone make a list think about it i'm giving away the punch line so it's going to take away some of the the punch so to speak but make a list of 20 things things you'd like to accomplish do or say the 20 most important things in your life then ask yourself another question if you only had one year to live would you rearrange how would you arrange your priorities list the 20 most important things and then ask yourself the question if i only have one year to live what's going to be the most important things i need to do then ask yourself another question if i have one month to live would i change my priorities how would i adjust my priorities then ask yourself another question if i have one week to live how would i adjust my priorities it's a value clarification exercise to help a person kind of focus on what really is important in one's life i think it's a sobering exercise it's it's a positive exercise to get us to think about what is really important and to prioritize our goals our hopes and our dreams that we can do this from a human standpoint i mean what's the most important thing to you as a human being but you might ask the question what is the most important thing from god's perspective what are god's priorities and how will his priorities affect my priorities we're going to talk about bible prophecy a little bit today how will certain bible prophecies impact your life and your priorities will have an any impact or will they have a big impact what is really important to you think about that you know these are things that god is concerned about talks about pondering the path of our feet where are we going in life what are your priorities you know the sabbath is a time when we understand it that god has given us to actually back off from this rat race and stop and think about what is really important god gives us that time one of the reasons that we don't think about these big things is because we have forgotten a very fundamental principle that god has given us in the sabbath well i'm too busy i've got things to do i've got this to do god says knock it off take some time to think he says do that every week analyze your priorities think about it god gives us the holy days to remind us of his plan and his purpose and i've encouraged people over the years at the feast go take a walk by the ocean think about why are you here where are you going to be next year what will a year's difference make in your life what goals do you want to set in the feast or the put us this way the holy days of god give us an opportunity to ask questions of ourselves am i planning my life in light of god's word and in light of god's plan yeah will i be ready when jesus christ returns because that's what the feast of trumpets pictures am i preparing for the coming kingdom of god or am i doing other things will i be ready you know the sabbath is not a burden and some people think today is really a blessing but you know working very hard i got good grades then i learned about the church and about the sabbath and that meant taking one day off a week because my first year in graduate school first well about the first year i think i tried to study seven days a week and i found after about a month or two of that i couldn't put any more into my head after about six days when i started keeping the sabbath i thought well i'm not going to be able to do this and and pass these classes well when i took friday night off and saturday off sunday i was ready to go whereas before i was running out of gas on sunday because you can't just stuff more and more in and i found it really did work to take time off time to think time to plan time to focus i want to talk just a little bit about the sabbath because god has given this to us as a blessing to actually take some time to think to take some time to think i want to run through this rather quickly so you can jot down some notes if you want but i think many of you will follow in your mind in genesis chapter 2 verses 1 through 7 god created the sabbath day at creation by resting he created it by resting he stopped working he rested and the bible says he sanctified the sabbath he set it apart for special use and then the bible explains how to use the sabbath he rested from all his labors it mentioned you know as human beings i think we've all had this experience i think many of you probably have if you have rearranged your house if you have uh re-landscaped your property if you've washed the car you've baked a cake you've made a dress or something what do you do with it when you're done throw it in the closet and forget no you admire it you admire it there's a certain amount of satisfaction looking at what you've done i remember when our boys were little i don't know probably seven eight nine was a sunday afternoon or sunday morning they want to go play football in a neighbor's yard i said let's let's not play football yet i'd like you to stay here and we're going to clean up underneath this big deck that we had oh dad no we want to go play football i said look i was going to make them do it and i realized they're not going to do it by themselves so i said lets us clean up under the deck so we worked together and we cleaned it out and when it was done one of the boys said dad that really looks good it really looks good they had this feeling of satisfaction considering what they've done when god was done creating the earth he rested and he said this is good nebuchadnezzar looked out over babylon he said look what babylon that i have done now god was working with him he was focused on his accomplishments and that was quite the wrong wasn't quite the right approach but there's nothing wrong with pausing and reflecting you know on your family on what you've done through the week not only reflecting what you've done but where are you going where are you going from here so this is the blessing that god really gives us a chance to reflect to savor to consider what we've done exodus 20 says remember the sabbath don't forget it think about it plan for it look forward to it it's a time when you close the drawer and you think about other things and if you do that every seven days you're going to be able to stay focused he says don't do routine work on the sabbath take a rest leviticus 23 verses 1 and 2 talks about the sabbath being a holy convocation now a convocation is a commanded assembly whenever i went to college we had a required assembly it was called a convocation presbyterian school every wednesday we had to be there we were given three unexcused cuts in a semester after that they began to lower our grades by a letter they meant you to be there it was required assembly it was a convocation god says the sabbath is a holy convocation it's a worship service to worship god to keep us focused in the right direction isaiah 58 verses 13 and 14 very interesting couple of verses it talks about the sabbath is a delight it should be a delight when our boys were growing up you know we didn't you hit them over the head with the bible all the time on the sabbath sit down shut up don't breathe this is the sabbath oh great what a wonderful blessing no sometimes we get downstairs and wrestle on the floor for a little while and we talk about biblical principles my wife would make a pleasant dinner we tried to make it a delight we tried to make it a delight you know if you take time on the sabbath to think about where am i going why am i here and you get focused or refocused you're going to come out of that sabbath feeling like all right let me go now i've got to focus i've got a direction and god gives us that opportunity if we'll take advantage of that i want you to notice something let's turn to psalm 121 david is called a man after god's own heart now david was a shepherd he spent time in the fields watching over sheep you know driving across kenya we were talking about that in the announcements uh mr mathama said he traveled 420 kilometers from nairobi that was not over four lane interstate roads that was traveling over two lane roads and you look over the edge where the shoulder should be and you drop off about six inches and you hope and pray that the bus coming down in the middle of the road going like this will slow down to let you by without having to go off on that shoulder because you may drop six inches off the shoulder and then as the road has been built up you'll roll six more feet down the hill so those are the type of roads that they travel over there but traveling out to western kenya we went through some of the maasai country and you'll see some of these guys standing there in the field with one foot up on their knee like that and their spear and their blanket over their shoulder and they're watching the sheep to keep animals away david had plenty of time to think when he was watching sheep but notice what he thought about and this is what i want to focus on in psalm 121 verse 1 he said i will lift up my eyes to the hills and ask the question from once comes my help my help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth this last week we took some of the grandkids to a a a planetarium there we go senior moment but we looked at the heavens through the telescope and watched what was happening up there i can remember doing this a number of times through my life walking out on a dock one time by a lake and looking up stars and it really tends to put you in your place you see this heavens that goes on forever and you realize i'm just a little thing down here on this earth you get up 35 000 feet in the plane you look down all these little ants running around down there big semis look like a big ant you can't even see the people and yet we get carried away sometimes by our own importance god sees from a a distance in space for whence comes my help my help comes from the lord who made the heavens roll them out and the earth he will not allow your foot to be removed he who keeps you will not slumber behold he keeps israel and shall not slumber or sleep david was focused on god his creation being in contact with his creation helped him to understand god and appreciate god you know if all we do is ride in our car back and forth to work watch a tv monitor and send emails and stuff like that we're going to lose sight of god it's not going to be a real world you know we need to get out and walk and and have contact with the the creation of god let's go back also to psalm number one maybe as you read some of the psalms do this periodically think about the mind and the perspective that david had what did he think about what did he talk about what did he write about psalm number one blessed is the man or the person who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly blessed means to be envied things are going to go better for the person who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful we've got a lot of scornful people today you believe in god you believe the bible come on this is the world we live in let's be honest about it but his delight this person is in the law of the lord he's in the law of the lord the laws of god that are there for our benefit and in his law he meditates day and night he'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water we've seen what's happened to trees around here when they weren't watered last couple of years they dry up and die this is the analogy david's talking about down in verse 4 the ungodly are not so in other words they're not blessed they're like the chaff which the wind drives away therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment and there is a judgment coming nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous this was just one of the things david was focused on psalm 8 verses 1 and then three and four these are some of the things david thought about when he was watching the sheep he wasn't just sitting there sleeping he was writing psalms this is where his mind was o lord our lord how excellent is your name and all the earth you who set your glory above the heavens verse three when i consider that your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man who are we as human beings what is man that you're mindful of him why do you care about us why have you given us your laws what's the purpose of human life and the son of man that you visit him for you've made him a little lower than the angels you've crowned him with glory and honor you've made him to have dominion over the works of your hands you put all things under his feet paul quotes these verses in hebrews it makes the statement we don't yet see all things under our feet that's coming that is coming here jesus inspired john in the book of revelation that we're going to be kings and priests and reign on this earth do you believe that you're excited about that the apostles were but a lot of people today don't even know it's there because these are things that are not being spoken about today i think a number of ministers and people that hope to be ministers are going to have a lot of things to answer for because they're not preaching from the word of god but this is what david was focused on i lift up the hills or lift up my eyes to the hills when do you do that you don't do that when you're fighting traffic you do you're going to wind up in somebody's trunk you've got to pause and reflect and look upwards and outwards remember a number of years ago we were chaperoning a women's club and a men's club up around lake arrowhead about 50 kids and they'd rented this big chalet and when we got up there one of the friday evening one of the students came up and said could we play some some sabbath music i said well sure is it time to relax and rest and i noticed the after the first record had played the next one wasn't quite so sabbath in in uh tone i thought i'm just going to leave this go and see what happens a little bit so the next one was different the next one was different the next one was different the next morning it was still different at about two o'clock we had a bible study and i said you know you guys have lost out you have missed an incredible opportunity said you came up here to get away from things and you brought your music with you and before you went to bed last night it was that type of thing i said you could have walked out on the deck watched the moon come up over the lake listen to the wind blow through the trees and had a totally different experience you could have got up the next morning watched the sun come up burn the mist off the lake listen to the birds and the trees and everything as they woke up so you could have had a totally different experience that would put you in contact with god in his creation i said you missed out after the bible study nobody went near the record player but i wanted them to learn a lesson rather than me up there preaching at them you know sometimes we learn when we lose something or miss something but this is what david was thinking about he was thinking about looking up getting in contact with god's creation and with god he was focusing on the bigger issues of life you know jesus got up mark chapter 1 verse 35 early in the morning well before day found a quiet place and prayed to make contact with god so that he could make it through the day now do we do that we have the opportunity to do that but jesus was focused on big issues in acts chapter 16 interesting concept i want to introduce here because it's talking about apostolic christianity how the apostles functioned what they did how their lives were organized acts chapter 16 paul and his party sailed from trois to samuth race and then came the next day to neopolis and from there to philippi philippi was a major city in macedonia in verse 13 it says on the sabbath day we went out of the city to a river where prayer was customarily made apparently there was no synagogue in philippi you had to have at least 10 male heads of households to have a synagogue so apparently nothing there but what did they do on the sabbath they went out by a river what do you do when you're by a river you sit down you think and you watch the water go by you can meditate you get closer to god that was what they did they found some other people there and they talked about god's way of life in acts chapter 17 verses one and two actually point verse two this says then paul as his custom was went into them uh for three sabbaths and reasoned with them it's a synagogue full of jews paul as his custom was was following the example of jesus christ kept the sabbath it was a worship day it was a day to think a day to focus you know many people today that don't bother with the sabbath but the early apostles did these things were changed a couple hundred years later let's go next to luke chapter 4 verse 16 because luke has written both the book of luke and the book of acts and he uses this phrase once in the book of luke and once in the book of acts to basically send a message in luke 4 16 it mentions that jesus came to nazareth where he'd been brought up and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day paul was following the footsteps of jesus christ that's why he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day but i want to notice here what did jesus do when he went into the synagogue he was handed a book of the prophet isaiah and when he opened up the book he found a place where it was written he says the spirit of the lord is upon me and is quoting isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2. because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he sent me to heal the brokenhearted to preach deliverance to the captives the recovery of sight to the blind and to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to preach an acceptable year of the lord this is towards the very beginning of jesus ministry but what was he talking about well god loves you and i love you no he was talking about prophecy he says the scriptures that i'm reading these prophecies that i just read notice in verse 20 that he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and all the eyes were on him he began to say today this scripture this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing his message was about bible prophecy he said what i just read to you is being fulfilled right in front of your eyes jesus talked about love he talked about forgiveness but here in a sermon towards the very beginning of his ministry he's talking about prophecy and prophetic events that are coming to pass right before their eyes in john chapter 14. this is the scripture we normally read on the passover jesus told his disciples had them focus on big things focus on the future in verse three he said if i go i excuse me and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again i'm going to come back douglas macarthur when he left the philippines he said i will return you know in january i had a chance to stand by that statue by the dock where he left the philippines and he came back and was involved in the liberation of those islands jesus christ told his disciples i'm going to prepare a place for you and i am going to return i'm going to come back many people don't believe that today well it's it's it's metaphorical it's just symbolic well what do you believe you can go to acts chapter 1 and verse 11 the two angels that were with the disciples whenever christ ascended into heaven they said you're going to see him come back in the same manner in which he left they saw him leave matthew 24 indicates people are going to see him return it's going to happen and it's going to shake people i think to the core of their being when they see these things but focusing on big issues what do you believe about that is it metaphorical is it just a story or does the bible mean what it what it says jesus said i'm coming back i'm going to prepare a place for you we heard in sermonette there's going to be a crown there is a crown reserved for you you know when i was being fired a number of years ago i poked the guy in the ribs and told me i was being fired it was kind of like you can't have my crown that was what i was thinking when i was being relieved but these are things we need to think about prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes today jesus said i'm going to return let's know to go to mark 13 which is one of three chapters in the new testament to talk about events that are going to take place before jesus christ returns the last couple of chapters of mark 13 it says one thing to give your heart to the lord it's one thing to trust god it's another thing to trust what god has said jesus said in verse 35 watch therefore for you don't know when the master of the house is coming using that analogy in the evening and morning or at the crowding of or of the crowing of the rooster lest coming suddenly he finds you asleep the implication is jesus christ is going to return when people are not expecting his return he's going to come suddenly why aren't they expecting his return oh you don't believe the bible do you you don't really think that's going to happen do you that's the atmosphere today especially in academic circles you don't believe that book do you you don't believe it really means what it says do you you find that in the media today this is why people are going to be surprised they're going to find out the bible actually means what it says again how does that going to affect your priorities when you think about these things what we're told is jesus christ is going to return he's going to return suddenly especially in the world's concept of ideas well i've been busy on my job i've been busy doing this busy doing that i i wasn't expecting this to happen a lot of times we don't expect things to happen but they do god loves us that's why he's given us these prophecies to understand what's coming so we can think about those things matthew 24 let's go there and then we'll begin working from there jesus has told his disciples i'm going to return i've gone to prepare a place for you there are crowns reserved for you the 12 of you are going to sit on thrones ruling the 12 tribes of israel what was their response oh jesus tell me another one no their response was when are you coming and how will we know when you're coming read it for yourself matthew 24 verse 2 jesus said to them do you not see all these things talking about the temple the time is going to come when one stone is not going to be sitting on another one now as they sat on the mount of olives again when you get up on a hill you can look out over things you can begin to see a bigger picture and we all need to do that from time to time get up on a hill and look around and think about why am i here where am i going what is happening around me we actually had a chance of sitting on the mount of olives at one point in time in the past very inspiring to be in places like that now as he sat on the mount of olives his disciples came to him privately and said they didn't say jesus tell me another one these are good stories you know these are very humorous things no tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age how are we going to know that we're getting close now jesus did not say oh bless your little hearts just trust me and it'll all work out you know it might be tonight it might be tomorrow night it might be a hundred years from now it could be a thousand years from now just just be positive no he went down through a list of things a list of things i want to start with the top of the list and we'll probably not get any further because i want to focus on the top of the list i want to focus on some religious events that the bible said would occur before jesus christ returns many people criticize this section of scripture and say look we've always had earthquakes we've always had famines we've always had you know racial problems and things like that well there are religious events taking place today that we i haven't always had there are things taking place today that the bible has talked about for centuries and they haven't happened before but they are happening today and this is where we need to focus because if we don't we're going to be caught short what is one of the first things or the first thing that jesus mentioned verse 4 and 5. he says jesus answered and said take he that no one deceives you for many will come in my name saying i am the christ i am a christian i am a minister of god i am this or that and will deceive many this is the first thing that he mentioned i know critics say today well this little church of god the other people are they're silly you know they're they're deceived well that doesn't fit with the scriptures jesus said many will come in my name and deceive many the assumption is mainstream christianity is okay catholics protestants orthodox they're all right but is this these little fringe groups are just right off jesus said many are going to come in my name dr meredith has used this analogy the church of god is like a half of a peanut shell in the pacific ocean we're tiny but there are two billion christians in the world revelation 12 9 says satan has deceived the whole world that would include 2 billion christians that include about 4 billion non-christians who believe in anything and everything see that is a much clearer fulfillment of what the scriptures say than just this little group of people that are deceived you know he came up and came across the book somebody ordered it here mr ames was that you that somebody did entitled pagan christianity authors are frank viola and george barnett barton has done a lot of studies these people have nothing to do with us the sub-caption on the back this book makes an unsettling proposal most of what present-day christians do in church each sunday is rooted not in the new testament but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles we've been saying that for 50 or 60 or 70 years here's somebody else saying the same thing i'm surprising what he doesn't talk about he gets baptism right pretty much he said the early church didn't baptize infants they baptized adults he says nothing about christmas nothing about easter he doesn't really get into doctrine that much but he's got a catchy title and his title is correct but he doesn't begin to to elaborate where he could but jesus talks about religious events and i want to look at some of these religious events because things are happening today that are sobering they're exciting in one sense but they're also very sobering because the bible has talked about these events for years and they're coming to pass today as i mentioned mainstream christianity assumes that you know we're wrong we're we're weird because we're this little group and yet when you follow the biblical instruction paul mentions in first thessalonians 5 21 to prove everything to prove it look into it check it out and then hold on to what's good and right and true you know when you study the name of the church i think most of you know these things what is the biblical name of the church not roman catholic not first methodist not seventh-day adventist it's called the church of god first corinthians three or four times paul said i've persecuted the church of god and he wrote to the church of god at corinth the church of god at thessalonica we went through the old church up in newport rhode island what did they call themselves a church of god or a church of christ now they're referred to today as seventh-day baptist but that's not what they refer to themselves they didn't come up with that name until about 1820 something like that but you can identify people that appear to be part of the church by their doctrines and in part by their name the early church the apostolic church kept the sabbath they kept the holy days they tithed they did those things it wasn't until after the apostolic period that these other practices came in and this is a matter of history and it's there for anybody that wants to dig into it the church of god in the new testament is called a little flock a little flock a persecuted group of people not a big world girdling organization now that's the scriptures these are things that we can look into and prove but notice again take heed that no one deceives you the implication is there's going to be many people that believe they're right but they are deceived and this can be proven then it goes into wars and rumors of wars and so on but what else does the bible tell us about these religious events that are going to be taking place just as we approach the end of the age let's go to revelation chapter 6. again when you read commentaries about the book revelation especially catholic commentaries i remember i got one one time and basically they reprinted the text of the book of revelation with some stained glass pictures and that was their correspondence course on the book of revelation didn't explain anything you just got to read it with stained glass picture pictures on the same page it didn't explain anything and some people say well you can't understand the book of revelation well you can understand it revelation chapter 6 talks about the four horsemen that are going to precede the coming of jesus christ these four horsemen can be matched up with the events that jesus talks about in matthew 24. the first sign that we're given in matthew 24 is false teachers coming in the name of jesus christ and deceiving many the first horsemen that we read about here in chapter 6 of revelation verse 1 then i saw the lamb open the seals heard one of the four living creatures saying with the voice come and see and i looked and behold a white horse and he who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went out conquering and to conquer you can go to the bible handbook some commentaries and some will say well this this is jesus christ trying to convert the world that's not what the book says you know when you begin to look into this the writer is on a white horse has a crown but he has a bow jesus christ is not described in the bible as having a bow and arrow but there is an individual who is described that way in ephesians chapter 6 and i believe it's in verse 16 it talks about satan has fiery darts that he fires so the bible has a very different description of these events in hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 and also revelation chapter 19 verse 21 it talks about christ having a sword and the sword comes out of his mouth and the bible is a two-edged sword so the rider on this horse has a bow and arrow not a sword this is not jesus christ this is a person or an organization that is deceiving people and claiming to be a representative of jesus christ now you look at the pope as he walks around he wears this big crown a lot of descriptions begin to fit these a lot of events begin to fit these biblical descriptions it's going to conquer the implication this is going to be a militant form of christianity you don't go along with the program you're going to answer you're going to suffer a militant form of christianity so this is something that we need to be watching for a militant form of christianity that's going to begin to persecute persecute people that are preaching the truth preaching things that are different preaching things that are biblical let's go to ii timothy i was listening to a sermon about a year ago by a colleague he used to work with as a minister a very interesting sermon it was about prophecy he said i've read through the new testament and there's just not much prophecy there and i thought what new testament have you been reading what is matthew 24 mark 13 and luke 21 all about we're going to read a couple of chapters here in timothy and thessalonians and what's the whole book of revelation about there's quite a bit of prophecy in the new testament and it amplifies what is in the old testament and it can be understood more better better when we use the old testament so if we go to second timothy chapter 3 paul is talking about the end of the age so know this in the last days perilous times difficult times stressful times troubled times will come and talks about people will be lovers of themselves lovers of money boasters proud blasphemers disobedient to parents unthankful and holy unloving unforgiving slanderous but down in verse 5 it says they will have a form of godliness they will have a form of godliness they talk about jesus they talk about doing good things but they deny its power the word of god doesn't have any power today i remember reading about this episcopal bishop that was ordained as a her fellow was an ordained as an episcopal bishop up in new england new hampshire vermont somewhere up there and he was gay and had an interview with him and he said look there's only a few scriptures in the bible that talk about this subject but we need to push on through we just need to push on through and you need to get to know me i'm a wonderful person but god says this stuff is an abomination to god you know it totally perverts a concept of marriage but he's saying you just just just don't worry about that get to know me see the scripture said they will have a form of godliness but they'll deny its power oh you don't believe in bible prophecy do you that hocus pocus stuff now it mentions in first what is it first thessalonians 5 19 don't despise prophecy don't take it lightly don't despise it learn from it but says the last days perilous times will come they'll deny the power they'll deny the authority they'll deny the reality of the scriptures it does mean what it says but the time is coming paul mentioned that we're they're going to deny all of this don't pay any attention to it this is the world we live in today this is the world we live in today where these things are taking place you know the bible talks about remember the sabbath the pope is telling people remember sunday remember sunday those laws are on the book in europe today and all they need to do is activate those things and people are not going to be able to work on sunday they'll have to work on saturday these things are happening today second thessalonians chapter two wait a minute let's go to one other ones here first testament first thessalonians 5 verses 1 through 8. another one of these new testament chapters almost it talks about prophecy and the second coming of jesus christ chapter 5 of first thessalonians notice what paul zeroes in on but concerning the times and the seasons brethren you have no need that i should have to write to you for you yourselves know perfectly so they must have been talking about these things the day of the lord will come as a thief in the night and when they say peace and safety and you can go back to jeremiah where he talks about at the end of the age or talks about uh you know people be saying peace peace but there is no peace what do you hear on on television well peace conference here peace conference there but it's not happening it's not happening when they say peace and safety then suddenly or then sudden destruction comes upon them as a labor pains on a pregnant woman if you're waiting to have a baby you know you have certain dates in mind but once the pain start coming and they start coming regularly i remember whenever it was our second child i was trying to mow the grass while my wife was preparing for the baby and i'm out there trying to get this grass done and all of a sudden she had been on the on the couch kind of watching all of a sudden she disappeared i realized things were happening better quit mowing the grass to get inside but christ uses the analogy then suddenly these things are going to happen he says but you brethren are not in darkness you shouldn't be surprised you've been told these things it's all there in front of you verse six paul is saying the same thing jesus christ said therefore don't go to sleep as others do but let us watch and let's be sober because talking about this day is going to come suddenly let's go now to ii thessalonians very interesting chapter paul talks again about the coming of jesus christ he says now brethren concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and his gat and our gathering together to him we ask you do not be shaken in mind or troubled if you get a letter that purportedly comes from us as though the day of the lord has come don't let anyone deceive you christ said the same thing for that day will not come unless two things happen two major events have got to take place before jesus christ returns it says unless there's a falling away comes first and a man of sin is revealed the son of perdition now these are two things to watch for and paul says christ is not going to come until these things happen to major events now the idea has circulated i think within the church of god that the the falling away could be the 100 000 people that are not here you know we had 150 000 people or so that kept the feast uh prior to 1995 after that our numbers are running maybe 30 000. okay was that the great falling away could be your time will tell we'll have to see i think it's interesting though if we look at the whole context of verses here as dr meredith mentioned if we are one half of a peanut shell in the pacific ocean the world is not going to notice what happened within our organization could the falling away within the church of god be a foretaste of something that's coming a forerunner of something that's coming on an even bigger and massive scale i think we need to think about these things and not get locked into one particular view if you look at this term falling away in the word is apostasy and i think internally we tend to think with the apostasy they're leaving the truth but look up the word apostasy means a falling away it could mean a rebellion it could mean a rejection of the authority of god a rejection of god's way of life it can also mean abandoning a previous position it could mean a number of those things but the point i want to make here is christ is not going to return until there's two very conspicuous events occur a great falling away of final falling away a great rebellion and a man of sin being revealed an implication is that man of sin is going to be involved in this this falling away some people felt mr dekach was the man of sin and he led this rebellion well when i heard that i thought come on that's that's not quite big enough to to have this kind of an impact but notice some of these things the son of perdition who exalts himself above all that is called god and his worship so that he sits as god in the temple uh it talks about uh this lawless one in verse eight a person that's not following the laws of god they're doing other things the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of satan satan is going to be behind this person with all power and signs and lying wonders and it appears these powerful signs and lying wonders are going to contribute to this movement of people in a direction away from god away from god i had a chance to be in fatima a couple years ago with mr hernandez and back in i forget the dates on these things what 1820 or something like that they had a vision a couple of these girls shepherd girls had a vision and they saw a vision of mary and lights and stars were spinning and various things and every year on the anniversary of that sighting they get thousands of people thousands of people come to fatima to hope to see another vision when mr hernandez and i were there they were just completing or working on a a 10 000 seat auditorium with underground parking and everything else they're they're preparing for something up there if these things begin to happen people have another sighting at fatima and maybe some other sightings in poland on the wall of a barn or something over there you've got both sides of europe begin moving together and the implication things are going to happen satan's going to be behind these things and it appears these powerful signs and wonders are going to lead people in a certain direction this appears to be something we need to think about because they will be rebelling against god if they start following the pope and rejecting the sabbath moving towards sunday and a bunch of other things when the world begins moving in that direction we need to think about these things with all unrighteousness verse 10 and deception among those who perish because they did not receive a love of the truth if we ask another question who's going to be preaching the truth at this time it's going to be the church of god it's going to be the two witnesses and by rejecting what they're saying people may move in this direction you know nimrod led a rebellion against god at the tower of babel and they decided to do things their way instead of following god's way so we need to think about it what we're told is christ is not going to return until these two major events happen now what happened within the church of god may be a foretaste of something even bigger they're talking today about we may see a reversal of the protestant reformation the protestant reformation was a landmark of history major division in the church and if we see a reversal of that which we're seeing today this is going to have an impact all around the world major things so this man of sin is going to be doing lying wonders deceiving people people are going to if they follow that they're going to have to reject god's way or reject god period because they're going to be worshipping another person who claims to be god let's go to revelation 13 quickly revelation 13. this is talking about two beasts one comes up out of the sea one comes up out of the land the sea beast appears to be a revival of the roman emperor empire but the point i want to focus on in verse three it says the world marveled and followed the beast the europeans putting together the eu when they formulated the legislation for the euro they did that in my in uh in in aachen germany which was one of the headquarters of uh charlemagne and they said we felt like romans we felt like romans the day that we signed this agreement angela merkel was really was recently given the charlemagne prize this past year of the person who has done the most to unify europe they're living with traditions over there and those traditions are very much alive but it says the world marveled and followed the beast they're going to have to follow the beast because if you want to trade in europe you're going to have to follow the administrative rules that the europeans have put together they know that they know that the world is going to have to follow them in that sense so they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast and worshiped the beast now the second beast i want to focus on quickly verse 11 saw another beast coming up out of the earth having two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon he exercises all the authority of the first beast and causes the earth and those who dwell on it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed he performs great signs this is the guy that was talked about in second thessalonians chapter two and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs if the pope begins doing things like this well people are going to look to him because nobody else is going to be doing things like that except two witnesses that will be doing something very similar verse 15 he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast and the image of the beast should speak and cause as many as not worship him to be killed now they may have a statue that may speak but that's probably the small part of that this is talking about an individual an organization that promotes the beast that makes it come together you know if the europeans can't pull things together the pope is in the background he's offered numerous popes have we are here at your service we have something to offer you we have the glue that will hold you together it's going to be interesting to see where that come where that goes but it's talking about these two beasts it talks about a mark of the beast that'll affect their right hand and their foreheads you know we've said over the years we've not been the only ones that this mark of the beast may be may involve sabbath observance because this is what has happened historically the 300s and 400s easter was introduced uh sunday worship was came along a little bit earlier but those people that wanted to continue keeping the sabbath after a couple of those church councils were not allowed to hold property their property was confiscated they either went along with the system or they lost so it speaks like a lamb but it acts like a dragon well let's all be together you guys that aren't in real churches which is what the pope is saying today you need to come with us let's dialogue but if you don't you know off with your head this has happened before and implication is going to happen again quote i came across a number of years ago the guy said history repeats itself but not until after it changes a costume it was not exactly the same way but it does repeat itself sunday observance may be part of this mark of the beast um you know various uh protestant leaders down through history luther and calvin felt that the pope and the papacy were this second beast here many christians today believe that this protestant minister down in texas john hagee had been preaching that that the pope was actually the harlot of revelation the papacy in the catholic church apparently he backed john mccain and then he was called in the carpet to do you really believe that and he didn't want john mccain to lose so what did he do well we don't really understand that verse he backed off he backed off from preaching what i think he really does believe is the truth you know god told isaiah one of the prophets he said you cry aloud you spare not you show my people their sins what's god going to do with the guy who knows what the truth is well we're not quite sure what that verse means so you know they backpedal god can't use a person like that even though they may know the truth but they're not preaching it revelation 17 quickly and this gets to the some of the verses that mr hagee was involved with talks about the judgment of a great heart harlot who sits on many waters over many many people with the kings of the earth committed fornication the a number of articles that you can read about the diplomatic core of the vatican the diplomatic core of the vatican they've got ambassadors that go various places said the three leading people in the downfall of the russian of the communist communist russia was the pope it was margaret thatcher and ronald reagan but pope was listed as the leading person see they have been involved over the centuries with the kings of the earth and they're going to continue to do that with whom the king of the earth has committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth have made drunk with the wine of her fornication her doctrines her teachings so he carried me away in the spirit in the wilderness saw this woman sitting on a scarlet beast here you know all the cardinals of the catholic church wear scarlet it's not hard to figure out what this is talking about the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones if you go through some of the treasuries of the cathedrals in europe what do you see you see the robes of the bishops and what do they look like they're studded with precious stones and gold and jewels and things like that you know we don't wear things like that but the catholic bishops down through history have the pope today wears those things these scriptures come alive woman's were aiding scarlet and all these precious things on her forehead was written mystery babel and the great the mother of harlots or if you're a mother of harlots who are the daughters if you study protestant church history the mainstream denominations of protestantism call themselves the seven sisters sisters have a mother their daughters where did they come from they came out of the catholic church these are things that the bible talks about let's look at one other concept and then we'll begin to close this mother of harlots is going to be doing things towards the end of the age in isaiah 47 it talks about a daughter of babylon many of you that came into the church years ago read a book entitled the two babylons and showing the parallel between the catholic church and the religion in ancient babylon but in isaiah 47 it talks about this daughter of babylon and what that daughter of babylon is going to be doing isaiah 47 verse 1 come down sit in the dust o virgin daughter of babylon sit on the ground without a throne in other words it's going to have a big come down one of these days verse 5 sit in silence and go into the darkness or daughter of the chaldeans for you shall no longer be called the lady of kingdoms there was a catholic chapel at the airport in ireland and there was a title for the the name of the chapel was i think the lady of kingdoms it was there you take a picture of it who's this talking about many of the practices were based on a mother goddess in central europe verse 7 you shall and you said you shall be a lady forever your rome is called the eternal city verse 8 therefore hear this now you who are given to pleasures who will who will dwell securely who will say who will say in your heart i am and there is none else besides me you know the pope issued a statement was last year sometime said that protestant churches are not real churches they're not real churches the catholic church is the only real church these are things that are happening today if we can just grasp these things realize these things are real they're happening they're coming to pass you will say there's none other beside me i will not sit a widow nor shall i know the loss of children not going to know a loss of children the implication this is going to be an effort to bring everyone back together we don't have time to go through a whole lot of these clippings but if you just notice what's been coming across the news services the pope calls for religious exchange the pontiff to attend inter-religious meeting pope benedict says interreligious research and dialogue are not mere options they are vital today we have got to get everyone back together it says the russians are suddenly accepting vatican delegations that were cold shouldered in the past greek patriarchs are approvingly citing pope benedict the 16th and evangelical christian leaders applaud his writings this is what's happening today but benedict met with the prelates of the uh must be the eastern orthodox church here in belgrade to remind him that christ wanted his church to be open to everyone another clipping says christ wants one church today these things are happening it meets with the greek orthodox patriarch jewish leaders meet with the pope another one here in cairo cardinal visited the grand imam who is acknowledged as the highest religious authority of nearly a billion sunni muslims and this representative is meeting with the pope this is what's happening today some other clippings here talks about the pope demands respect for sundays so you've got to keep sunday not the sabbath another one from israel a recent poll found 56 percent of people in israel support the uh 56 among the israelis for proposed legislation making sunday a day of rest and allowing the public some sort allowing public transportation and entertainment on the sabbath in israel this blows your mind there's a time magazine article march 21 2005 hey o mary catholics have long revered her but now protestants are finding their own reasons to celebrate the mother of jesus you can't believe these things are happening i want to conclude with one very interesting source what is happening in protestant circles today there is a movement to unify the protestant organizations with the catholic church this came from uh there was some several articles in christianity today talked about an ancient future faith what they're saying is the future of christianity involves going back to the past and pulling things from the past incorporating that into our church so that we can grow in the future they look at church history very differently than we do this particular one of these authors says that uh through about six eras of church history the first was primitive christianity the apostles but ancient and classic christianity spans from about 100 a.d to about 700 a.d and that is what they're talking about going back to when they talk about going back to original christianity not not apostolic as we talked about as one protestant author mentions here he says they're introducing mystical practices to develop a deeper level of spirituality a number of the books that are on the market today since that time of these publications of these books the race has been on to return protestants to the mother church the distinctions that have been recognized between conservative protestant and roman catholic and eastern orthodox churches since luther and calvin have been rapidly disappearing in other words what set them apart is churches they're sweeping under the road the mood of the moment is not only that the three traditions this is catholic protestant ethanol orthodox can learn from each other but that they can be reunited how so certainly not through returning to the bible in biblical doctrines because that will keep them separate but if we can put our doctrines on the back burner and see them as secondary issues at best the return to ancient practices and creeds prayers confessions lent whatever we can recognize our commun our communality in the ancient church we will therefore be able to identify with each other as brothers and sisters in christ despite insurmountable doctrinal differences don't worry about what the bible said just push on through and let's talk about our traditions and we can all be together the point i want to make brethren this is happening today this is happening today religious issues that jesus said would dominate the end of the age are taking place today the sabbath is a time to think about what is happening around us where are these things going and i would encourage you to ask some questions of yourself where am i going to be in five years where am i going to be in 10 years if these things really do come to pass as it appears today how is that going to affect your priorities and your goals for the next couple of years let's look at one scripture and can close matthew 24 towards the end of that chapter after jesus talked about this sequence of events that is going to take place before jesus christ returns he offers several warnings for those that have ears to hear for those that have eyes to see matthew 24 beginning verse 32. now learn this parable of the fig tree when his branches have already come tender puts forth leaves you know the summer is near so you also when you see all these things an ecumenical movement developing an emphasis on sunday a revival of the roman empire economic conditions that could change tomorrow so also when you see all these things know that it is near that is the time the return of jesus christ is near and at the very doors assuredly i say to you this generation the people that are alive today will by no means pass away till all these things are fulfilled what do we do when we see these things coming to pass you might want to go back and read acts chapter 2. because the people that peter was speaking to on the day of pentecost had seen and heard jesus christ in the apostles preaching they saw him crucified they saw him resurrected and they said to peter what do we do where do we go from here peter said repent get your life in order think about the big things in life because these things are coming to pass brethren the sabbath is a time to think about the big things in life marriages are wonderful times the funerals are times to get together they're times to socialize and these are all good but the sabbath is also a time to think about the big issues of life why are you here where are you going where do you want to be when jesus christ returns will you be ready you

Channel: Living Church of God

Views: 2,790

Rating: 4.9120879 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: E8GBIJ2uAcY

Length: 81min 50sec (4910 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 27 2015