The Events of the End Times (With Greg Laurie and Don Stewart)

good to see you nice to be here now down here you're sort of ight you know you have these books that you've written this as a series you call it the afterlife series correct here's one called what happens one second after we die right I'm going to ask you that question you can I'm sure you have an answer for it you wrote a whole book on yeah can I see the book yeah no you can't cheat that should come from your mind okay here we have one in resurrection in judgment what awaits those who have died and then another one living in the light of eternity and you have some with you now to turn with you but they can get these at amazon.com as well correct well I want to talk tonight down about the future and you know the future in this life and then of course the future and the next life I mean so much has happened since we talked last credible you know in fact our last conversation was it about a year ago or maybe longer that's about a year I think it was on our radio show today a new beginning I didn't even know was going to air today but it happened to air did any of you hear it on any beginning do you listen how many of you listen to our radio show okay quite a few of you well actually the reason it air today was because it was one of our top 10 program really of the year so we're sort of airing our greatest hits if you will at the end of the year and people really enjoyed that program so hopefully this one will be helpful to people this will make the cut for next year I don't know it depends how well you do honestly it's really up to you it's height everything it takes two to tango well that's true but I'm just kind of feeding you the questions and you're there and I'll chime in here and there but you know talking about the future and all that's going on see us Lewis you've heard this quote before he said the future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes per hour whatever he does whoever he is you know so the future is coming and we look at our own country right now and we look at Islamic terrorism which which has just gotten so bad every time we turn around well as a matter of fact today there was another terrorist attack only one guy walked into a police station with a meat cleaver and looked like a suicide vest he was killed but in this reminds us of of the attack in Paris not that long ago and now it's come to our shores in San Bernardino have you ever heard of a guy named Sebastian Gorka he's an expert on Islamic terrorism and he's done a lot of the atrocities but he meet some interesting statements he works very closely with the US Army Command and in the intelligence community he says that Isis is more dangerous than any other terrorist group including al-qaeda of course al-qaeda took down the World Trade Center he says it's a richest group of its type in human history they have the equivalent in cash of sixteen hundred 911s their ability to recruit is mind-boggling because they're doing something that's never been done before al-qaeda never did this it's through social media totally they're recruiting through social media and there was a report on CNN that said they have the most sophisticated propaganda machine of any terrorist organization a global communication strategy that is stumped coward counterterrorism officials while making significant inroads among US sympathizers and this digital age helps these terrorists to do a better job of recruiting members and they're able to do it through encrypted technology you know so they can't monitor it they can't track it mixing you know you have a radicalized person why do you think the media is reluctant to even use the term radical Islam or Islamic terrorists why do they want to back away from that term I think there's a couple of reasons great number one they want to be politically correct they don't want to sound like they're bigots number two I think there's a fear factor too because if we can make nice with these people maybe they'll like this maybe Iran won't build a bomb and blow us up but see they don't understand the mindset of Islam so they think if we're just good to them if we're just nice to them then they'll be nice to us but they don't understand like what Isis is doing what Iran is doing yeah and therefore there's this ignorance there that a balance in the Western world really is yeah Isis I read an article in the paper couple days good said headline was Isis planning to slaughter thousands in 2016 this is interesting they want to spark a final panel with the West I don't think people understand what these terms mean when they read them there's there's a method to this madness one expert said that they're taunting the enemy to fight the final battle and it reminds me of what we've talked about in Joel Rosenberg who's going to be here in a couple of weeks affect you not this coming Sunday but the following sorry Joel will be here in Joe's a friend of both of us great prophecy expert the best and lives in Israel now as a matter of fact but you know he pointed out that the objective is to serve Mahdi and annihilate judeo-christian civilization and establish God's kingdom on earth known as a caliphate so sometimes people don't know what these terms mean Mahdi Caliphate what is all this about Kay the Caliphate is like a worldwide rule Islamic rule that is the goal of Islam it's to go of Sunni Islam and a goal of Shia Islam but they're going about it two totally different ways fine with the differences who is who all right Iran is Shia Islam okay about 10% of the Muslims of the world are she at ninety percent Sunni the Islamic state are Sunni Muslims and they've been killing each other since the seventh century because each of them believes they're the rightful successor heir to Mohammed they have two different views of end times but bottom line is they both think they're to get the same place Islam will rule the world yeah so we're dunking in times here but it's their version of anti right they believe in sort of final battles similar to what we believe but their Messiah is not the Lord Jesus noise who is this Mahdi in their estimation will he be a physical person that would come yes the 12th Imam is called the final Mahdi the one that Allah will bring basically to bring Islam to rule the world and they think for example Iran believes they have to participate in help in this by destroying the Great Satan of course that's us in a little Satan Israel yeah the atomic state has a whole different view of doing it by boots on the ground and starting with Iraq and Syria and moving out but bottom line is the same they're going to have a deliverer that comes in their own final days view and they're going to take over the world and is it not their belief that they want to establish almost a chaos just sort of set the scene for Mahdi - return - so we sometimes we don't understand these acts of terrorism where they're willing to you know kill themselves in the process and but actually that's part of the plan is it yeah in fact Iran in particular that's one of the reasons they're working on the nuclear weapons to bring a chaos there they wouldn't mind they said if they want to lose 18 million of their own people and some type of nuclear exchange because that type of chaos when they kill Christians and Jews will bring this final deliver this Mahdi into the world so now the reason we're talking about this is the Bible is address these topic Euler the Bible is not specifically mentioned Islam but there are things that the Bible has said about the endtime so looking at this scenario that we're talking about terrorist organizations hell-bent on destroying people committing acts of horrific violence with their focus against the nation of Israel using modern technology are there any things that the scripture has said about this kind of activity big-time in the last days people's heart to be failing them for fear Jesus in Matthew 24 said unless he intervenes Grieg he said no flesh would be saved in other words he makes the it gives the the view that the world was in the position where litter could destroy itself yeah and so we see you know people's hearts failing them for fear and all these other signs that it gives at the end that's right in fact this last at the end of the of this last year 2015 you know the big concern of many people prior to the terrorist attacks was the economy but now all of a sudden its terrorist attacks in the air fear is in the air and all it takes is just another attack and and there's more fear you know and it just continues on but a really key passage on all of this is of course Ezekiel 37 38 and 39 so kind of do maybe a flyover for us of what what those passages are saying about the regather ahjusshi people in their homeland why that's significant and then talk with us a little bit about the this force coming against Israel gog and her allies this is a tremendous three chapters here Greg in Chapter 37 it talks about Israel coming back to their land after being gone for a long period of time to a land that's desolate a land that's been destroyed by wars and they will build it up and make it wealthy wealthy to the place that in Ezekiel will come back now in the last days yeah Ezekiel 38 and 39 says these countries that won't invade seven or eight depend how you divide them up because Israel has something not only they want but something that they need and they will attack from all four sides and then the God God gets them when they get into the Promised Land that's when he destroys them so Ezekiel 3839 talks about this huge battle that's gonna I'm not much of a battle I mean they invade but God wipes them out as soon as they get there they start killing one another so it's predicting in the last days in fact one versus twice the last day is the latter times these armies will come north south east and west to attack this little tiny nation Israel Israel is so small that in the map of the Middle East you can't even write the name in the in the country you have to write it out in the Mediterranean Sea it doesn't literally doesn't fit and yet you've got millions of square miles of these other nations coming out this little tiny nation has something they want something they need in the last days and we've seen it happen exactly as the Bible predicted the Israelis came back to the land from a modern state in 1948 they've been growing they've got tremendous wealth and we've got some possibility even greater wealth and so we mean by that it was just October 7 just a couple of months ago the announcement was made that in the Golan Heights an oil reserve was found that literally could sustain Israel for centuries it was said really yeah usually it talks about the oil there the depth of it's like 35 meters deep they said this one's possibly 350 meters deep a third of the Golan Heights with possibly billions of dollars worth of oil there to be extracted now what's interesting about this the Golan Heights are in an area that's disputed it was Syrian territory till 1967 at now it's Israeli territory stearic Syrians still claim it and who was right there working with Syria Iran and Russia were part of the invading force according to Ezekiel 38 right there in the country of Syria fighting for Siri in a land that they say is theirs in the is a very recent development because here is Ezekiel how many years ago is not 2,600 2,600 years ago here's this Hebrew prophet talking about this force called Gog marching on Israel who've been scattered regathered and then he goes out on the limb of all times and says one of her allies is Persia right now of course Iran was it 1935 changed her name to show you Iran so I mean this this I mean we can say that we believe Russia is Gog right and maybe it is I think you can make a pretty good case where God is the leader right from the land of Magog Russia would be rushed there yeah rosh is a product now and talked about the nation of the far north of israel right so and her ally is persia correct and iran in so this alliance that has been coming together in the last few years but really now with the meltdown of syria and and now we have you know russia aligning herself with syria we're seeing this a you know come to pass right in front of our eyes here's the thing it's so amazing this is incredible because we always knew according to zekiel 38 there would be this last days invasion but see russia and iran are a long way away from israel and to do an invasion Greg you know satellite technology you're going to see when they gather together it be something that you can prepare for now they're on the syrian-israeli boarded about 140 miles from Israel in Syria they're already there they've got in both Syria and Iran four different military bases Russia had the largest submarine in the world parked outside of the Syrian coast of 120 nuclear weapons on it they've got missiles Tomahawk missiles that can shoot tactical conventional weapons or tactical nuclear weapons right now and Iran is there also with some of its most elite troops so they're right there on the Israeli border right now so they're knocking at the door literally and here in this strange alignment we are in a way aligned with Iran yes and we have never been further in diplomatic relations with Israel than we are at the moment and so what a strange thing what we're actually releasing billions of dollars to Iran trusting their word when I read an article the other day where it said that their already ramping up their missile program they've already violated this treaty but we're not doing anything to enforce it and they've made no secret about their desire to wipe Israel out still exactly and yet we do nothing except turn our back on that and we're a laughingstock in the Middle East we're a paper tiger but see this is predicted in Scripture one of the signs of the end is there's no superpower who can it's true help Israel because Israel has no one to help them none whatsoever and that means the US has to go down and power it's exactly what we see it's almost like we're there but we're not quite there but it's like you can see how close we are right to that scenario that wouldn't even seem that believable maybe you know 10 years ago because we've always been such a staunch ally of Israel yeah we have it but in the last few years Greg it's really change and it's really sad because as we as we go towards Israel so does the United States go down and we've been down morally economically spiritually militarily in the last seven eight years has been horrible why should the United States stand by the nation Israel okay couple reason number one they're the only democracy in the Middle East yeah number washer number two you know our heritage is there a judeo-christian ethic we you know our religion our Jesus Christ came from Israel our the Ten Commandments you know which is the basis of you know everything that here we have in the Western world so Israel has a very special place in our heart plus the fact you know we know when God's program they have a place in the end times big time they do and there's a blessing there isn't there big blessing bless those that bless curse those accursed you that was given to Abraham and his descendants so I don't think it's a stretch for us to say as we stand by the nation of Israel the Jewish homeland that there's a blessing on our country for it I think one of the reasons God has blessed the United States is because we have stood by Israel totally Genesis 12 1 2 3 is still on still applies I'll bless those that bless I'll curse those that curse right and it still still true today look at the nations of the world that have tried to eradicate the Jewish people they sit on the ash heap of history you know you can go back to Babylon you can look at Egypt you can look at Rome others that tried to eradicate the Jews Germany more recently and and you know that they really did face a certain judgment for that yeah exactly we think of the people in biblical times once the last time you saw an Edomite it's true a Moabite yeah am i right termite oh I've seen those okay but you know but they're but they're not there anymore because they made the mistake of attempting to eradicate Israel and gods I'm going to curse those that curse they are not around today but what's interesting Greg the Bible assumes at the end of time there's still a nation of Israel that existed in them in the last days functioning as a political entity and is exactly what we see you guys tracked it with this is this boring yet okay tour not be all right okay now here's some new developments at just in the last few days we have a conflict now between Saudi Arabia and Iran news articles said a conflict has been raging for days between the Shiite Muslim power Iran the Sunni Kingdom since Saudi Arabia executed cleric Nimr al-nimr I don't know if I'm pronouncing that properly but this was a big deal to the Iranians do you know anything about this guy he was a very outspoken critic there of the Saudi government he was in Saudi Arabia he was a political activist Saudi Arabia's is you know Sunni Muslim but they have there have she is there yeah and he was just fomenting you know the the people there and they threatened for years to execute him in Iran thought now they'll never do it and the Saudis felt strong enough what we can do it you know because then the two big dogs fighting for the Middle East they're Saudi Arabian Iran so they did it and literally it's caused all sorts of problems because people are now dividing up the countries on one side or the other this is huge because according to Ezekiel 38 you got two things going on you got an invasion that near an and Russia air part of it so you got people sitting on the sidelines with Saudi Arabia's part of the Bible predicts that and now if this isn't bad enough we have North Korea fire enough now they said it was a hydrogen bomb but now since our government has said it wasn't a hydrogen bomb we'll listen it was a big bomb with a big it was some kind of nuclear weapon because it caused a 5.1 magnitude earthquake chime so I mean you know these guys are developing you know inter ballistic missiles obviously to move these weapons and they've threatened us before is there any kind of an alliance or relationship between North Korea and Iran big time they've been helping each other sharing technology back and forth and there's a there's a very close connection there Gregg because remember in the Clinton administration with Madeleine Albright we made an agreement with North Korea which they wouldn't develop nuclear weapons we have peace in our time and everything's going to be fine and yet now we're a couple decades later they've gone back on it because we think these sanctions or the sanctions have been lifted but now these sort of restrictions that were holding the Iranians to will keep them from getting a nuclear weapon yet at the same time their North Koreans have been sending you know advisers over there to Iran they could basically sell them anew or give it to them but they want to do and here's a nation that is very in a very outspoken way said they want to eradicate Israel the ayatollah said israel must be annihilated he tweeted that yeah yeah what kind of a tweet is that you know a bad one yeah that's not a good but it's true to form and it shows where they're at okay so I think when we talk about things like this people sometimes can't see the forest for the trees so let's try to kind of put it together it's like a puzzle you know we put all the pieces on the table and we're trying to figure out what fits where so let's maybe establish sort of a timeline okay okay so we're talking about Israel's regathered in the land that's been fulfilled we read about this force from the north coming with their allies and attacking earth that's still in the future we know Antichrist is going to eventually emerge we know there's going to be a one-world government a cashless society and we also know somewhere in the mix there's going to be a rapture yes and we'll talk about that a little bit more as well but maybe just give us a bird's eye view or a flyover of the order of the events as you best see the okay as we best see them the first would be the rapture of the church the Lord would take the church out you like that idea first okay good good yeah and here's the good news that could happen any moment any time he takes us out two things happen rapture means to catch up our odds oh and Greek its repair II is the Latin where we rapture from as we're caught up we are changed the living believers the dead in Christ rise first and the body of Christ is complete after that a number of things happen now he read called the great tribulation of the seventh week of Daniel takes place and probably one of the first events will be this Ezekiel 3839 invasion and then let's just slow down for take a Great Tribulation Period okay Antichrist emerges on the scene oh he's coming after that he's coming as yeah he's coming first as a man of peace yeah so that's why I was going to ask because as the tribulation starts if you don't know your Bible and you haven't been raptured you might think this is a good guy yeah he's the best cuz in Revelation he's right in the white horse he's sort of been you know because anti is against but also instead of he's a false Christ he's going to help the Jews rebuild their temple right but then something happens called the abomination of desolation what's that yeah that's when it changes that's the last three-and-a-half period your period begins called the Great Tribulation Matthew 24:21 and Jesus said he didn't return maybe no flesh saved that's where the temple will be rebuilt sacrifices offered right this man comes stops the sacrifices puts idols of himself in the Holy of Holies declares open season on the Jews and then claims to be God himself forces people to worship Him as God yeah so we've got okay rapture of the church we've got a Anti Christ emerging as a man of peace we have the tribulation period in play now what else happens in the tribulation param Indus judgment 6 through 19 where the wrath of God is poured out on the face of the earth and you read some of these judgments if they're literal and we believe they are you know a third of the humanity is destroyed by some of these judgment God pouring his wrath out is something really really horrendous yeah the good news is Christ comes back at the end of it to set up his kingdom as king of kings and Lord of lords but during this period great revival happens because your people will wake up they're called the tribulation Saints because they'll see that what we've been saying all this time is true well I don't think we're nuts right now but when we're gone they'll they'll wake up yeah there's 144,000 there jehovah's witnesses it's right 12,000 of each Jehovah Witness no there's a lightsaber efficient yeah note what yeah who are the hundred and forty four thousand twelve revelation seven twelve thousand of each of the twelve tribes of Israel you've got they will be witnessing for the Lord all right you've got also according to Revelation 11:2 witnesses like possibly Moses and Elijah that will come is that who you think they're Elijah's probably wanted Moses good good we don't or could be just cuz they have the power to you call fire down from heaven that's an Elijah marital and yeah yes so anyway check out the 144,000 the two witnesses then in Revelation 14 six to top it off and angel flies all around the world preaching the everlasting gospel in every language telling people it's time to repent cuz the end is near so god there's not gonna be anybody who's ignorant yeah everybody's going to know what the score is at that time it's like an angelic mop-up operation indeed it is I'm going to put one drop in my eye cause I'm wearing two contact line okay no problem feel much better okay so we've got the Tribulation Period in full force right we've got 144,000 who are actually protected by God until their job is done exactly we've got the angelic mop-up operation for claiming the everlasting gospel and then it's building and we read about the Battle of Armageddon is there a battle singular or are their battles of Armageddon and why is it called Armageddon yeah okay Armageddon is Hebrew for the mountain of Megiddo and the ghetto is of course you know a mountain there in Israel yes an ancient tale or a mound that has something like 26 civilizations built one on top of another you've got a valley there this is the most lush Valley you've ever seen right now the valley of Israel and where that's where the battle will be fought many battles were fought there in the past Deborah the judge true fought one napoleon fought one there true but in Armageddon there he said it was one of the finest battlefields he's ever seen exactly and it's a when you're there you've been there you know you look at it you can almost visualize it all hatching right there but it'll happen it's going to be a campaign where all these armies come together and that's when the Lord will intervene and wipe out the armies of the Antichrist and come back okay so we've been raptured right so what goes up must come down we're coming with Christ at the second coming we sure are and the second coming is the is at the end of the Tribulation Period and it's different from the rapture as it is yet people get confused about the - yeah because the Lord comes for his church the rapture comes with this church the second coming right in the rapture it's every time the rapture is mentioned in Scripture it's always a blessing it's always anything joyful yes every time he talks about the second comings in judgment and so you have two totally distinct events and so now the church returns with Christ and what follows this now when the church returns with Christ as the judgment of the nation's Matthew chapter 25 verse about 31 and following the nations are judged those who are still alive all right will be judged and the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats the sheep are the ones that entered the kingdom of God the Millennial Kingdom millennium is Latin for a thousand thousand year reign of Christ on earth the goats will be taken away to judgment so there will be people alive believers and unbelievers when the Lord comes back with the church not us because we're already caught up we've been changed at this time so that's the future there when he comes back the second time puts his foot on the Mount of Olives it splits in two and he's back on earth so that's the Millennium correct and then at the end of the millennium which the word millennium means a thousand right so it's a thousand year reign of Christ that's where the wolf is with the lamb right and the little child leads them and so forth and Christ rules but there's non-believers who the descendants of the descendants of survivors I suppose of the tribulation that we're ruling over in the Millennium and unbelievably with Christ Himself ruling there's still a final rebellion at the end of the millennia there's another Battle of Gog a dog is a title and there's a rebellion there and a great number of people will follow this Gog and we'll fight and Satan is loosed to to gather the people together and it's one final battle and after that the Lord wipes them out you've got the great white throne judgment the Last Judgement those whose names are not written in the book of life are thrown in the lake of fire yeah then eternity begins new heaven and new earth and like they say we live happily ever ever after forever and ever and ever presidents of the King and I great that's right and so done there's different views on the rapture for starters some don't even believe in the rapture I put a little phone number in fact I think that number is on the screen maybe that people can text yeah you see that right there if you text that number right now I may get it here on my screen and completely ignore it no I'll keep my eye my screen and I may read your question so if you have a question text it to the number on the screen it'll pop up here on this iPad but one person asks a little bit earlier is there a rapture I don't clearly see in the Bible that indicates that it seems as though we're seeing signs that we're going to go through the tribulation as Christians and so why what would your response be to this person about is there a rapture and then what about going through the tribulation period as a Christian alright the Bible says in 1st Thessalonians 4:17 uses the word rapture they're not in English but we will be caught up caught up to meet the Lord near let's take it through 1st Thessalonians the first letter that Paul wrote verse 10 of chapter 1 we're waiting for the Lord from heaven who will deliver us from the wrath to come the coming round how is he going to deliver us 1st Thessalonians 4:13 through 18 the rapture of the church taking us out and then 1st Thessalonians 5:9 he said he's not appointed us to wrath but to salvation through Jesus Christ our deliverance so the rapture of the church is based on what the scripture has to say the word is there inscriptions a biblical word yeah but what we find of a number of places now there's not one verse it says it one way or another but you put the passages of scripture together we're not there because this period of time Greg is the wrath of God on the basis of this not persecution of Christians is God's wrath through an unbelieving world and you don't really have an instance in scripture when God poured his judgment out where he poured it out on his people okay some point when the judgment of the earth came through water in the days of Noah he got Noah and his family in the art safely out and in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah with the case of lot and his family he had them get out of the city right where the judgment came down kind of underscoring that point you made if God has not appointed us to wrath but some will say yes but you know the Bible Jesus said in the world you will have tribulation but there's a difference between personal tribulation Christian's do go through and the Great Tribulation Period yeah it's called the time of Jacob's trouble in other words at a time Israel I have it's the most difficult time in their history also the 70th week of Daniel and of course the Great Tribulation and like Jesus said unless he returns humanity would destroy itself but fortunately he returns before that happens here's a good question just came in why is everyone trying to destroy Israel ah great question yes it's something who has that question raise your hand up thirty hands they might be out there might be well it's over there very good great question moved to the front of the class okay anyway you know this is something supernatural well people hate Israel why do they hate the Jews because God chose them as the chosen people to come to get his word to the world and see if the enemy could wipe out Israel when God's promises would not be fulfilled if Israel ceases to exist then God's promises to Abraham Isaac Jacob would be no good so the enemy from day one Greg has tried to wipe out the nation Israel and so there's a supernatural holy hatred for Israel in fact the Bible says sign 14 of my 14 signs of the end is Israel will be on its own at the last days all by itself and that's what we're seeing right now being isolated from the world the whole world will be basically against it what is the term preterist what is a preterist because some will say well these events have already happened they were all fulfilled already and we shouldn't be looking to the future for the villany of these events yet preterists is the Latin word for past many of the events most events in the book of Revelation were fulfilled in AD 70 with the destruction of Jerusalem yeah they're fulfilled in the past what Jesus was talking about is not his second coming literally to the earth but the destruction of Jerusalem and so they think the book of Revelation was all fulfilled by the year ad 70 and you know except of course someone will give the second coming of Christ is still in the future but it's one view of Scripture the Predators point of view and we don't hold that we don't know we think it's problems another good question that just popped up can you be saved if you're left behind so let's say there's a person they've heard the gospel they've rejected it and all over their Christian friends disappear and they realize oh man it's all true now they're in the tribulation now of course it's the beginning and we have a peaceful entry so-called of the Antichrist but we know bad things are coming can you still be saved during the Tribulation Period yes you can but if you're listening you don't want to you want to be saved now can be theoretically but please don't do that there'll be a great revival that happens but yes but the Bible says interesting in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 there be a strong delusion that is sent to people who take pleasure in wickedness and they no matter what happens they won't believe but there's others it'll come to their senses but it's not something you want to do because it's a the darkest time in the history of Earth you don't want to be around at that time and the good news is great today nobody has to as we come to faith in Christ here's an often asked question will all children be raptured will all children be raptured children believers yes children believers were not told we don't know why okay why would you say that the child of a believer would be raptured and the child of a believer you're not saying they won't be we're saying we don't know but why would you say the child of a Christian would be raptured and the child of a non-christian perhaps will not be because first Corinthians chapter what is it 9 yeah it tells us that in some sense the believe the anybody who's a believer in the family sanctifies or sets apart the other members of the family and that would include the children but think of it this way Greg know the rapture is the Blessed hope what blessed oak would there be if you got caught up your child was left behind that wouldn't be something to look forward to so in some sense we sanctify our set apart our children by believing in Christ ok we did this before but it helps people to kind of wrap their mind around it we'll do a lightning round oK we've been doing one what's that just kidding would you say I said haven't we been doing one so far a lightning round was this too fast for you no knots not fast enough actually yes get that lightsaber it's a lightsaber round it's a lightsaber yeah let's do it ok so just like maybe two like two sentence explanations of these terms rapture of the church it's the catching up of believers are alive on the earth ok tribulation period seven-year period divided into two parts the glass part called the Great Tribulation the Antichrist he is a person in place of or instead of Christ a human being a Gentile from the old Roman Empire the false prophet he was like his the Baptist probably Jewish she performed signs and wonders calling people to worship this final Antichrist the Battle of Armageddon it's a campaign that it's at the end of time there in the valley of Megiddo in the nation of Israel plaintiff is Raylan where all the armies of the world at that time will gather together for one final battle one hundred and forty four thousand twelve thousand of each of the 12 tribes of Israel revelation 7 and 11 in and out burger it's the place what's the hamburgers all about ok very good that's what a hamburgers all about it okay sorry you get a need on Stuart Thank You Grigory you know we were in class to the kids you know I would be the guy in the back of the room making jokes being sent to the vice principal's office and you would have been in the front of the room as a teacher's assistant I don't know about that well I got I got in some trouble too did you oh yeah you did you got in trouble mm-hmm I was in Markovic a smart aleck before I can tell or you yeah you can me know I before I came to Christ yeah I really was Ison and I was an athlete you still are a little bit too quite a bit actually as am i yeah well yeah like we said the other day to each other quirky minds think alike yeah we came up with the same thing independently as interesting on a other issue is funny okay so let's shift gears now look from the prophetic events just to the afterlife in general in your book living in the light of eternity you talk about the value of talking about death and you know it's interesting in our culture today it seems like this is a topic we avoid you know in the past in other cultures death would be talked about more openly in fact ancient merchants would write the words memento mori over a document it could be an accounting document and it just meant think of death like hey reality death will come eventually so just remember this but in our culture today we don't want to talk about it anymore but actually in your book living in the light of eternity you meet some really good points and so I'd like you to sort of elaborate on these are you talked about why it's important to talk about the afterlife and it just doesn't have to be a morbid subject doesn't know where I'll go in there these bodies aren't made to last forever sooner or later we're going to be face to face with the Lord it'd be nice to know where we're going and we can know so it's the subject the Bible says so much about and we need to know about it yes okay so here's some point you make studying the afterlife will help us to maintain the proper perspective in this life elaborate on that okay this life is not all that there is we live with eternity values in view in other words we think about eternity and we do things here on earth first Timothy 6 says we can't take it with us we come into the world with nothing we live with nothing so we have eternity in our minds at all times so thinking about the afterlife help us to live right down here in this life yes I think it was SES Lucis it's something along the lines loose paraphrase those that think the most of the next life do the most in this one you know the idea of you know Christians are always the ones that are the first ones to respond whenever there's a crisis or a calamity because people will say oh you're so heavenly minded you're no earthly good nonsense not at all those are the most heavenly minded are the greatest earthly good uh here's another thing you say it gives us a motivation for godly living yeah it does because we're going to meet the Lord face to face someday and he's going to judge is he's going to evaluate us and reward us based on how faithful we've been after we've come to Christ so there's a reason you know there's a motivation we have to live godly because we know this life isn't all that there is when we close our eyes and depth we will wake up in the presence of the Lord so we know we're going debts just leads to a destination so it motivates us to live godly in this life and that you can also apply that to your belief in the imminent return of Christ because some would say does it really matter if you believe in the soon return of Jesus or not well actually it does Jesus talks about the wicked servant who says my lord delays is coming and then John tells us he that has this hope that is of the return of Christ purifies himself so not only believing the eternities clothes but knowing that Christ could come back exactly we want to be living a godly life yeah definitely can you also say it will give us great comfort and encouragement when believers die this is very important it is because we've all been touched by it by having leaves as always most of us have that having people that we know we love pass away we know if they're in Christ Paul says in first Thessalonians 4:18 comfort one another with these words because he talked about a great reunion we're going to have Sunday and so when a believer dies the words never goodbye we'll see you later see you sometime in the future and it's so practical Gregg because death hurts is a loss we mourn for but we don't mourn as those that have no hope and that's what Paul said yeah you know Don if it wasn't for the the hope of what we find in Scripture I don't know how I would have survived having my son dying it you know it still to this day is still very painful for us and I miss him with all of my heart but you know as Paul says we don't grieve hopelessly as those that have no hope so we still grieve as Christians but it's hopeful grieving you can be sad and have hope simultaneous Linde and it's a go ahead you know it's a real hope a genuine hope it's not something false if we've talked herself into that's the good news based on what Christ has done for us and remembering the Lord could come back at any time and also we turn to these clothes you said we'll give believers compassion for those who are lost big time because you see people lost remember Jesus when he saw the multitudes they were cast down like a sheep without a shepherd I know that's how you see it your evangelistic crusade you're praying that you see people out there that have no direction they're lost and we have the message in our hand that gives them self that gives us direction that's why we're doing you know this big event harvest America on March 6 at AT&T Stadium it's the biggest thing we've under 2 ever undertaken but we just believe that the Lord is coming back we believe life is short and we want to reach as many people as we can with the message of the gospel and we all need that urgency in our lives don't we do we do indeed yeah I like this point this is a good point Don you said we realize that justice will eventually be done in the universe you know people believe in Hell they just believe it's for someone else never for them but there is a sense in in many people maybe most people that there's not justice in this life there are things that happen that are wrong unjust things but there's a final Court isn't there that's the wonderful thing in fact that's one of the most appealing things about it the some day all the wrongs will be made right some day the things that were never found out will be found out and God will make it rightly and those that have been wronged will be you know will be straightened out it's wonderful yeah and there's also rewards for Christians sometime yeah well that's a whole big time what say something about well it's big oh well how much should we say okay well okay we're gonna get okay let's go back to heaven for a moment okay we have the rapture we're in heaven there's a judgement seat of Christ right he also called the Bema seat right so and sometimes people might confuse this with the great white throne judgment which is very different exactly talked about that judgment seat of Christ and the giving out of rewards to Christians in heaven okay look at it this way the Baima seat was a raised platform it was used in the Olympic Games in Athens in the first century to give out rewards like gold silver bronze medals now so the person that Cavin first got a gold medal the person came in second wasn't hung they were given a silver medal in the third a bronze medal and so at the Baima seat of Christ Christians will be rewarded based on how faithful we been as the commandments of Christ after the time we've come to know him and so to believers Judgment Day is reward day we will be judged in the sense of rewards unbelievers will be judged the sense of being condemned and so for us all we're looking forward to is hopefully building our foundation on gold silver precious stones as 1st Corinthians 3 says we will be rewarded on how faithful we been to what the Lord's put in front of us so the judgment seat of Christ is really almost like an award ceremony time where the but the great white throne judgment if you end up there and they open up the books and then the book of life is open and your name is not found written there is there a way out of that can you talk God out of this is that's the sad thing Greg that's the unbelievers are thrown on the lake of fire and that is the final judgment the final resting place or as it were of the wicked it's horrific thought to think of but this is what the Lord says the lake of fire according to Matthew 25:41 was prepared for the devil and his angels Jesus said but unfortunately humans will go there by not accepting Christ of course immediately some people are going to say well how could a God of love create a place called hell and how could a God of love send people to hell what would you say to that well God sends no one day off people send themselves their God the God of love has died in their place they don't have to go there he's taken their game guilt their shame their penalty on himself so they can go and be with the Lord if people reject that since we've been made here's the thing we've been made for eternity each of us now all of us either with God or without him we're not going to disappear we're not going to you know vanish we're not going to be annihilated so we have to go somewhere we don't go to heaven there's only one other place and that's the judgment that like a fire do you think life and death are in the hands of God totally and do you think that there's an appointed day for us to die yes but we don't know what the Lord knows that he hadn't told us yeah I think so because it seems to be that way that there is an appointed time we you know he knows what it is obviously we don't that's why we have to live each day as though or our last if I went one of the great preachers John Wesley said to young preachers he said preach every sermon as though it will be your last one day you'll be right and so we need to live every day as though our last and one day will be correct that's right you have this book here what happens one second after we die yep so what does happen for the Christian one second after the second Corinthians 5:8 absent from the body at home with the Lord immediately were in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and we'll be there forever and ever and ever that's initially what happens when we come to Christ so when a Christian dies there obviously the body goes into the ground but then their soul goes into heaven and they're with Jesus now when they get up there do we know we're going to get our resurrected body later yeah but what is there an intermediate body or what there's three views some people argue for an intermediate body some people the glorified bodies they're at you know a media upon death I think the best view is we are queer spirits disembodied spirits remember angels are spirits they don't have any physical form God is spirit they do well in the unseen realm thank you and so we will - so we'll be spirits but we'll have it'll be us will be alive in a sense we're cognizant it's were there but we will be in some type of temporary form because intermediate means in between state in between this life and in between then the resurrection and the judgment one person asks this question my father died years ago from his life's testimony he went to heaven if that's true is he in the ground dead waiting to meet Jesus or in the air or did he go to heaven immediately after death when we die did we go to heaven or just stay in the grave everybody that dies some day one the moment they die is it believers immediately in the presence of the Lord he is in heaven he's been in heaven he's rejoicing in heaven body in the ground yes spirit the real hymns in heaven and someday there's going to be reunion of the two the resurrection the dead when the body and spirit joined together and that's what happens at the time of the rapture of the church that happens first then the living believers caught up to meet the Lord in the air you know it's an interesting phrase we find used often in Scripture about death for the believer and this is only for the believer is it they fell asleep yeah you think about Stephen the first martyr of the church he died a violent death told he was stoned for his bold preaching and and as he's there dying of course he looked into heaven and what did he see he saw he says I see the heavens are open and Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father but then when I find amazing about that story it says he fell asleep interesting he died a violent death yet he fell asleep what does that phrase why do you think that phrase is used fell asleep because the Bible talks about those who are in the presence of the Lord are at rest their souls are at rest he's now at rest the labor is on this earth are now over no more persecution no more pain the body ceases to function he's now at rest in God's presence so in a sense his body fell asleep but his spirit was never more alive than that time you know I don't know about you done but as I get older I like falling asleep I'm doing it more and more to act and you find out this I like now I do to long necks just short now of course ten minutes all you yeah not even that long it's okay I mean I know a little short nap oh so you know the idea you know your little kid and your parents would say go take a nap oh then when you're older and your wife says go take a nap yeah yeah short nap though so we fall asleep but okay then some will take from that idea this idea of soul sleep what is soul sleep and why is that not biblical yeah it's some people call it soul extinction in other words when you die you don't exist any more than God recreates the soul the moment you you know at the resurrection of the Dead but the Bible talks about sleep in the sense that you know it's the body's it looks like it's sleeping ceases to function you know when you're asleep but the idea of sleep is someday you'll wake up but scripture says the body stops functioning but the Spirit is alive with the Lord again absent from the body at home with the Lord Jesus told the criminal next to him on the cross today he'll be with me in paradise even though his body was going to be dying - what about the teaching of purgatory but what is it and why is it not biblical yeah number reasons purgatory is a kind of halfway place between Earth and heaven sort of like Barstow so yeah you're in the middle of you place in there - in-between yeah okay yeah in but sorry from Barstow no just get an eternal stop okay yeah okay yeah purgatory purgatory is a non-existent place that was invented by the Roman Catholic Church as a place to get people prepared for heaven other words they're not bad enough for help but not good enough for heaven but they're on their way to heaven so they get purged perd of their you know impurity so they can get into heaven anyplace depends who you listen to any time from a couple hours to a few thousand years depending how bad you've been yeah but it's not biblical because the sacrifice of Christ was complete he did everything if you believe in a purgatory that means you have to earn your own salvation or work for it he said it's finished he did it all we just leave what he has done plus the fact that you know if we're if we believe in a purgatory we're saying that get not only Christ finish the work but it's literally up to us to get to heaven and if there's one thing Greg as you know as you preach we can't do anything to please God all we can do is believe because our works are you know filthy rags or righteousness is that way so purgatory is a place again a non-existent place that denies the sacrifice of Christ was sufficient that basically was use money to get from the people that you have to pray their relatives out of there because if you're in purgatory you can't do anything for yourself your relatives here have to do it for you so that's where they can pay money have masses prayers by the priests to get you out of there but just don't exist one person asks this question well we know our loved ones in heaven my daughter passed away as a baby or will she still be a baby and what she know I'm her mommy well she know her siblings well I know my husband yet sweet ain't it wonderful yeah first Corinthians 13 says we will know even as we are known yeah in other words our knowledge will be full it was the great preacher G Campbell Morgan that was asked the question dr. Morgan well I know my loved ones in heaven and he said ma'am I don't expect to be a bigger fool in heaven and I am here on the earth and I certainly know who my loved ones are here on the earth so yeah of course we will she also asked an interesting question so if the baby dies did they remain a baby in heaven no probably not we'll probably all be you know again we don't age in heaven so it would be all mature in heaven now what will look like and that the age that we'll be at you know we won't age as it were but know the wall be you know very similar that way but we'll know each other just think of the Transfiguration great Moses and I just showed up there wasn't any receiving line they'd have a t-shirt said Moses I'm Elijah I welcome here you know one of that they just knew and it's kind of like that do you think in the glorified state everyone will be bald like I am be careful I answer that well I don't answer I had a couple lines but I won't use it you know I think when you lose a loved one unexpectedly or even expectedly you know you have no way to mentally prepare for what that's like and you know I know a person who just lost a loved one and they were doing really well in the immediate aftermath my thought you know hard days are coming for me because the reality sets in and that person is no longer there even if you knew they were going to die even if they were on their deathbed when they're finally gone it's so hard and this the result of this is sometimes people try to have communication with people on the other side you'll even hear things said like well I know my loved one is still with me I sense their presence or or even something like they speak to me and they guide me oh why is this a dangerous thing for anyone to do much less a Christian yeah you can't reach your love when the loved one is beyond your reach if you reach anybody it certainly won't be your loved one there once we're once a person is dead there in the unseen realm and they cannot come back they don't come back and haunt they don't come back and communicate not at all and the Bible gives the strongest of warnings in Deuteronomy 18 don't learn the way of the heathen which they try to do is communicate with the dead because we won't we will talk to somebody but it certainly won't be that dead relative we're talking to they can't tell us what's going on because the Lord Jesus has given us enough in fact Gregg second Corinthians 12 Paul was you know caught up into heaven he wasn't allowed to say anything he said he don't even know if he's in the body or out of the body so we better be very careful about trying to do something like that exactly right now we've talked about what happens to a Christian when they die now what happens to a non-christian when they die yeah read Luke 16:19 231 and you find out what happens to a non-christian there's an account Jesus gave of a rich man who would did very well in this life and who died who was conscious who was in torment he knew who he was he knew who Lazarus the poor man was he knew Abraham was he knew he had five brothers he knew where he was conscious he was conscious he knew why he was there it was inflamed he was in torment and yet he knew he couldn't get out of it and he knew he had the chance to believe in this lifetime but then he was told no one can come back and even and talk to somebody on the other realm so he was stuck there and you know his whole life he could think for all eternity and regret what he did or what he didn't do yeah and you know I think that sometimes people will well think that well there's chances after death that there are no chances after death Hebrews 9:27 one death per person then comes the judgment so after death comes judgment and then of course eventually the resurrection of the Dead resurrection and judgment and coming back to what you said about what Jesus said about Lazarus the rich man you know some will say well that's a parable but what's interesting is uses a named Lazarus yeah this name is imperil never and also the all the parables were about this life this story is about the next slide yeah again drew yeah and even if let's say for sake of argument was a parable Jesus gave all these specific details you think he gave him to miss Aleta so what the afterlife is like I don't think so I think he wants us to know what's going on there and he remembered Greg he said there's a great chasm a great gap between those believers and those who are unbelievers and you can't cross over one to the other side so I go behind the scenes look every afterlife and it's not pretty if everybody hold back yep yeah and that's why we want to believe in Jesus now Kay let's shift gears we're almost done here I'm going to ask you some personal question okay Don Stuart what's your favorite bible verse you probably have a lot but if you had to pick one what's your favorite I when I am at others tool can I have two yes okay when I'm asked to write in a Bible young I write second Corinthians 5:7 and that it says this we have this treasure in earthen vessels yeah so the excellency of the power may be from God and not from us in other words we're just clay pots any power we have is from God and my favorite one is for Samuel 2:30 where the Lord says I will honor those that honor me Wow and that was from the movie membered sure it's a farce and I just that one is always met if we honor him he'll honor us and if we can remember that life will be a whole lot better than man yep so here's some here's a profound question what's your favorite kind of food Don Stuart I'm working on a diet right now oh you're okay yeah I'm trying yeah okay I'm up I actually wrote a book called I'm going in a diet tomorrow and other lies we tell our cities yeah yeah yeah you know I'm one of these people as you I've traveled everywhere only what's it put in front of me I don't really care I don't have we needed a Mexican restaurant we do I like that that place we meet it's yeah that's good food there so you can pay for it sometime one one day that's my resolution here's the biggest question I have for you okay why do you like cats okay cuz you have a cat oh you post pictures of your cat or you've sent me pictures of react effect you send a picture of your white cat and he had my book read the color of Christmas which was white and red and the like the cat was reading it and I just looked at it and thought why would you have a cat first okay a couple points first of all I don't have one cat I have five oh my okay number one okay hmm two rabbits we're about to get a dog we have rabbits do ya we're going to Pomerania we're gonna get a dog too oh yeah and we got outside cats we feed strike cats are called skunks we feed them it's close to being weird you know I know a look my wife and I we really love animals nature and all that we like to do this do any of your cats come when you call them like here kitty kitty did he come yes the white one the one that loves you like cats like that yeah that well the cat will come to me I like the cat if you come to my house that cat will greet you and we'll sit I want to meet this cat okay what's that cat's name vanilla do you feel embarrassed as a man having a cat named vanilla my youngest daughter named her I didn't John okay I know how that is my grandkids name their cat they have a rabbit they named him fuzzy then they had a rat named strawberry yeah these things they come up with okay now this little more serious I will bring this to a close if you were going to give one last sermon you know only one sermon you had to pick a text and this is your final message what would your text be and what would your message be no question about it it's actually the first sermon I ever gave when I was starting to preach and that was from second timothy chapter 4 paul swansong the last words he gave to timothy where he said i fought the fight I've kept the faith I finished the course now there lays up for me a crown in heaven not for me only but also to those who love his appearing and I would look at the audience I would say this have you fought the fight have you finished the courses or crown laid up for you there will be if you trust Christ and would be what Paul's last words were knowing he was about to die his one song his dying declaration that is exactly what I would preach that's a good question that's a that's a good question actually end andante ask that question to the folks here the folks listening I do you know that you would go to heaven how can a person know a certainty that they can say like Paul in that final day I've fought the good fight I kept the faith to finish the course what do they have to do in this life to be sure they'll make it not just to the next life we're all going to go to the other side there is an afterlife for everyone but what do we need to do to make sure we go to heaven and not end up in Hell first John 5:12 and 13 says those that have the son of God have life those that don't have the son of God do not have life then John said and 5:13 these things have I written that you might know that you have eternal life if you believed on the name of the only begotten Son it's not a hope so it's not a thing so it's a no so because God's Word says so so that's right yeah so there's somebody there's somebody here maybe visiting for the first time or someone listening that's never heard this before and they hear you say whoever has the son has life what does it mean to have the son very simple to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God the son who died in our place who died for our sins to believe in him to believe we can't make it to heaven on our own that he has done everything in our place and all we have to do is accept and reach out accept that free gift and believe in him because he's done all the rest amen let's think Don for coming tonight thanks Don done will be done we'll be signing some of his books after the service but I would just like to just close with those thoughts that Don was just sharing about having the Son of God in your life you know you can't be born a Christian you have to be born again that's what Jesus said and we're all separated from God by our sin now granted some of us may send more than others but one sins enough to keep you out of heaven and that's why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us because he and he alone was uniquely qualified to satisfy the righteous demands of God and he died in our place and he grows again from the dead and now he stands at the door of every one of our hearts and he knocks and he says if you'll hear my voice and open the door I will come in you know being a Christian isn't being a religious person frankly I don't want to be a religious person I'm not interested in religion being a Christian is a relationship with God with Christ living inside of you and I ask you tonight do you have that relationship with him say well I think maybe I do Greg you know what if Christ lives in you you'll know and if you don't know maybe he doesn't so why don't we get that resolved right now he's just a prayer away and I would like to close our time together by giving you an opportunity to ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin so you can know that you'll be ready for eternity and so if the Lord comes for us you'll be ready to be caught up in the air to meet him and you won't have to face this tribulation period that we've been talking about these horrible times that are coming for planet Earth but maybe even he doesn't come in your lifetime if death comes sooner than you expect it it is going to come to everyone but when it comes you don't have to fear it because you know God in a personal way but if you've not asked Christ to come into your life you can do it right now and we're going to pray and give you an opportunity to believe in Jesus so let's all just bow our heads for a moment and father I pray for any person here any person watching or listening that does not know you I pray Lord that you will help them to see their need for you and help them to come to you and believe and be forgiven of all of their sins now what our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together how many of you would say tonight Gregg I want to go to heaven when I die I want to be sure I'll get there I don't want to go to the Tribulation Period I want to be ready for Jesus when he calls his people home I want to be one of those Christians caught up to meet the Lord in the air pray for me I'm ready to say yes to Jesus if that's your desire if you want Christ to come into your life if you want him to forgive you of your sin if you want to go to heaven when you die would you raise your hand up right now and I'd like to pray for you god bless you anybody else raise your hand up I can see it I'll pray for you come bless you as well anybody else just raise your hand up god bless you too god bless you anybody else raise your hand now just raise it up god bless you see over there yes amen sure raise your hand up God's Holy Spirit is speaking to you tonight don't ignore him the Bible says harden not your heart if you could hear his voice anybody else you want to get right with God you want your sin forgiven you want to go to heaven you want this relationship with God raise your hand up I'll pray for you god bless you as well anybody else raise your hand now I'll pray for you all right god bless you up here in the front now I'm going to ask God bless you there - I see you behind the camera there I'm going to ask all of you if you would please that have raised your hand I want you to just stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer stand up if you just raise your hand even if you didn't raise your hand but you want Christ to come into your life you want him to forgive you of your sin you want to be ready for his return just stand up and I'm going to lead you in a prayer god bless you that are standing so if you stand you're not alone others are standing anybody else stand now you want to get right with God god bless you I'll wait in another moment anybody else stand now let me lead you in this prayer this would be the greatest moment of your life as you asked Christ to come in anybody else stand up and we'll pray together oh wait one more moment just stand now anybody else god bless you anybody else stand now all right you that are standing and I want to pray this prayer and I would ask you to pray it out loud after me and in this prayer you're asking Jesus to come into your life again as I pray pray this out loud after me okay pray this out loud after me now Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead Jesus come into my life be my Savior be my Lord be my god I choose to follow you from this night forward in Jesus name I pray amen amen god bless you guys god bless all of you is the Lord I'll thanks Jeff you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 314,028

Rating: 4.6005979 out of 5

Keywords: greg laurie, revelation, bible study, bible, end times, God, Jesus, Harvest OC, book of revelation, greg laurie sermons, events of the end times, how to be saved, bible prophecy 2020, bible prophecy update, bible prophecy, how to spot the events of the end times, prepare for the events of the end times, prepare for the the end times

Id: w7Sr6lTohuc

Length: 63min 57sec (3837 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 04 2016