1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning in to our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,080 about important issues facing your life that can guide you 6 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:20,760 according to the Bible. Well, I just want to welcome 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,400 everybody to this session. And for those of you who are 8 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,400 listening online, I'd appreciate so much you listening to these 9 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,560 podcasts. I've appreciated the feedback 10 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,360 from this and then also our Walking in Prayer podcast. 11 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,160 We've been recording those almost weekly now. 12 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,400 Pastor Jordan and I recorded a a really fun one. 13 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,440 It'll be up in a few weeks to where we were talking about how 14 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,160 do we walk in the word? How do I pray Scripture into 15 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:48,120 people's lives, into my own life and into other people's lives as 16 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,280 part of my prayer life? And again, those are are helpful 17 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,480 if you're walking around the neighborhood or if you're 18 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:55,240 driving. You could listen to them while 19 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,720 you're driving or just in your quiet time at home to use to 20 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:00,360 help this kind of a guided prayer time. 21 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,760 So I hope that you'll check those out as well as this core 22 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,080 training. Let me give you a couple of 23 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,800 heads up. So our next session together, 24 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:11,960 next time we'll actually be talking about, I'm going to be 25 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:13,400 talking about the problem of evil. 26 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,400 Why does evil exist? Why do bad things happen? 27 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,080 What causes that? What allows that? 28 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,080 And so it's a question that a lot of people will have. 29 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:25,880 Who's to blame, who's not to blame, those kind of ideas. 30 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,320 Why did this person get healed and another person not get 31 00:01:28,320 --> 00:01:29,360 healed? We're going to talk about some 32 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:31,760 of those things at our next time together. 33 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,400 And then in about two episodes from now, I'll be talking about 34 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,120 spiritual gifts and whether all the gifts still exist today or 35 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,640 whether some of them have ceased. 36 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:46,560 You call that cessationism or continuation ISM And was having 37 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,920 a good conversation earlier today about that. 38 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:52,360 And so those are coming up as well. 39 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,720 And, and, and hope that you'll, you'll be here for that. 40 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,880 So tonight we're going to talk about, you know, the, the fancy 41 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:04,000 word is eschatology, but the, the, the common word is the 42 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,160 second coming of Christ and some of the things that surround 43 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,160 that. One of my former administrative 44 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:15,360 assistants at the seminary, he and I were comparing the role of 45 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,840 a pastor to that if his father, his father is a high school 46 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,920 football coach And, and, and this is what we decided. 47 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,440 He we decided that people are extremely happy with you if you 48 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:31,240 run the exact plays they think you should at the exact moment 49 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,880 they think you should. And their child is the star 50 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:38,200 athlete and you win every game. Otherwise they have opinions 51 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,080 about every decision you make. They tell the coach about how 52 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,920 they ran a play once on Madden football on their Xbox or 53 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,480 watched an NFL game once, or how they played themselves back in 54 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,240 the day and and what worked while they're wearing their high 55 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:54,520 school leather jacket at 45 years of age. 56 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,160 So of course they know better than you could ever know as a 57 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,000 coach because there's no way even with your training and 58 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,040 experience that you could know what you're doing and might just 59 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,120 have some young players who need developing. 60 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,960 But, but if you do not abide by the booster club feedback, off 61 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,480 you go. And it's fascinating how most 62 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,680 never question or argue with their CPA or their doctor, but 63 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,440 with their pastor, I mean coach, they all know better. 64 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,080 So this is kind of one of those nights you just watch. 65 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:30,880 So we've been working through a series and the fancy words for 66 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,280 it are theological triage. In other words, how do we 67 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,240 prioritize our beliefs? There's some beliefs that we 68 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,200 must believe. If we don't believe certain 69 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,120 things, we're not a Christian. There's certain things we're not 70 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,680 going to heaven, certain things we wouldn't be saved. 71 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,240 And then you get into what we would call secondary levels or 72 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,600 tertiary third level areas to where some of those secondary 73 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,160 certainly divide denominations and can be very serious 74 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,040 disagreements and there can be real reasons for those 75 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:00,720 disagreements. And then you get down to the 76 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,880 some of the, the third level to where even in one church, you 77 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,200 could have people in the same small group, but they would have 78 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,880 different interpretations of, of difficult passages or, or 79 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,320 passages that have various options. 80 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:15,840 So how do I know which ones are the primaries? 81 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:17,920 Which ones are the secondaries and the tertiaries? 82 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,160 And, and what are some of the ways in which we can still have 83 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:22,960 different interpretations and get along. 84 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:24,440 So that's what we've been talking about. 85 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:26,840 If this is the first time you've joined us. 86 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,600 And ironically, one of the problems or just one of the 87 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,240 truths is often we tend to prioritize more time and energy 88 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:40,320 arguing about the secondary and the tertiary levels rather than 89 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,080 focusing upon the primaries. And that's often what divides 90 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,200 Christendom. Christianity gets divided by 91 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:50,560 these arguments that we have on these lower levels and and 92 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,240 fighting over tertiary issues, especially that third level is 93 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,880 unhelpful. But fighting over that third 94 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,840 level or tertiary issues while some simultaneously neglecting 95 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:04,080 the primary issues is is even worse. 96 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,640 And so we need to be careful because Christians divide over 97 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,760 several things and, and some of those are even the beginning of 98 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:16,400 time and the end of time, believe it or not. 99 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,960 And you might think that those are, are both primary issues and 100 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:22,880 there are primary issues involved in both of those. 101 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:27,040 But then there are also some subsets of, of secondary and 102 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,840 tertiary issues that often divide Christians. 103 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,840 And so the interpretation of the days of creation in Genesis 1, 104 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,360 and we're not talking about that tonight necessarily, but are 105 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,600 those literal days 24 hour periods or are they periods of 106 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:48,440 time, time and and etcetera. And then we can just say the 107 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:52,880 word Millennium in Revelation 20 and all kinds of disagreements 108 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,120 can start there. And so the, the interesting 109 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,920 truth about what's called protology, that's first things. 110 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:02,960 Creation protology is the name of that doctrine. 111 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,400 And one version or eschatology last things and don't let these 112 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:12,280 words throw you, is that they both contain significant primary 113 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:16,680 issues, but they also can contain tertiary issues. 114 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:22,200 And so we must believe certain things about both and, and, and 115 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,640 yet we can have different thoughts about both at the same 116 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:27,640 time depending upon what a part of it we're discussing. 117 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,200 And we're going to look at some of that tonight. 118 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,280 But tonight we're going to focus on end times. 119 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,640 We don't have time for both. We barely have time for an 120 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,480 overview of this. And so this is what we're going 121 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,080 to look at. One of the theologians that I've 122 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,320 quoted off and Gavin Ortland says this many evangelicals 123 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,560 focus more on the timing of the rapture, the identity of the 124 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,000 Antichrist, and the nature of the Millennium than they do on 125 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,920 the second coming of Christ, the final resurrection, or the final 126 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,080 judgement. All, in my view, first rank 127 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,760 doctrines. And so some would rather frankly 128 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:04,720 engage. And I'm not saying anybody I 129 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:11,840 know here at Inglewood, but some people I know and obviously 130 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:16,640 other places, but not here, but several other places that I've 131 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,680 been, would rather engage in a hot blooded debate over 132 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:23,400 interpretations of eschatology and then frankly go show the 133 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,520 gospel with their lost neighbor. So we need to be careful. 134 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:32,080 We need to begin by recognizing the true primary doctrine in 135 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:36,880 this area and then acknowledge the the large continuum, whether 136 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,720 you believe there's one or not, there is of secondary and 137 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,240 tertiary beliefs that many would hold. 138 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:49,800 So Jesus will return bodily, He will take his people home. 139 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:52,920 He will judge the nations and the lost. 140 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,480 Those are primary issues. And if and if you don't believe 141 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,520 in that, you're going to struggle with all of Scripture. 142 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,640 We have to believe those things. Another theologian, Christopher 143 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,440 Morgan I this is good. Listen to this. 144 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,520 He says the whole Bible, culminating in the end of the 145 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:15,160 story, exalts God himself, the creator, the sustainer, the 146 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,320 Redeemer, and now the consummator. 147 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,600 In the grand finale, God wins. And in all of this, he will 148 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,400 glorify himself. So the scriptural storyline thus 149 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,520 ends wonderfully with God on his throne, evil banished from his 150 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,799 eternal Kingdom, and all of us who are his children reigning 151 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,080 with him and resurrected bodies on the new earth. 152 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,039 And that's primary. We must believe that Jesus is 153 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:41,880 going to return and it's a physical return. 154 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,600 But the range and frankly, the hybrids, because there are a 155 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:50,480 bunch of them, the hybrids of secondary and tertiary beliefs 156 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,040 include things like views of the rapture, views of the 157 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,680 tribulation, views of the Millennium or the millennial 158 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:03,040 reign, the timing of the second coming versus a rapture, the 159 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,480 role of the church and the overall role and significance of 160 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:07,840 Israel. And we're going to talk about 161 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,600 define several of these issues as we walk through this tonight. 162 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,120 And some believe that their view must be the only view. 163 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,840 And they wear it kind of like that old high school leather 164 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,800 jacket and, and proudly display it. 165 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,240 And frankly, to be honest with you, and I've run into this in 166 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,080 many places, some have only heard one view. 167 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:31,560 They've never heard any alternatives. 168 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,400 All they've ever been taught is 1 perspective. 169 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,200 And so they assumed that that's the only one or that it's the 170 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:39,840 right one. So they dogmatically demanded to 171 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,320 be the one. And what's interesting is that 172 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:47,000 some of the views, listen to me, this important sentence that 173 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,600 some of the views held most dogmatically today in some 174 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,560 churches are actually very recent in church history and 175 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,160 were not the most prominent views in the early church. 176 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:01,320 And that will be difficult for some people to swallow who 177 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:05,400 believe there's only one view and that they're that view they 178 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,320 hold is the only view. When in fact, some of those 179 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:12,040 views are actually developed within the last century and a 180 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:15,160 half. And we're really not a part of 181 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:20,520 much early church history. So I want to focus again just to 182 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:25,560 make sure we're clear on a, on a couple of things to make sure 183 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:29,880 that we recognize that I'm very confident, extremely confident, 184 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,400 exceedingly confident, almost omnipotently competent, 185 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,800 confident that I'm not going to satisfy most or perhaps any of 186 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:40,640 you with one lesson on this subject. 187 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,200 OK? That's really not my goal 188 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,040 tonight, not for what we're doing in here. 189 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:50,560 Sometime down the road, we'll have to have another study. 190 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,120 I would prefer to actually do it as we study books of the Bible 191 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,120 and preach through books because I I want to be a biblical 192 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,880 literalist. I don't know how else to 193 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,160 describe it. And I want to present the, for 194 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:03,640 example, the Book of Revelation as the Book of Revelation 195 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:08,640 actually reveals itself. But tonight, I will do the best 196 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,640 I can to make all of you angry and and disagree with me. 197 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:16,320 And just remember, the e-mail address for those of you who are 198 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,000 listening or those of you listening online is 199 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:27,840 c.taylor@englewoodbaptist.com. So get prepared to all be ready. 200 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,480 You ready, Get geared up, get all revved up to begin to tell 201 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,560 me what I should have said. As soon as we're done here, I 202 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:40,320 want to focus on some key concepts related to the end of 203 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,520 time. And, and then frankly, you, we 204 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,840 need to study, you need to study and we need to discuss this 205 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,520 doctor more in our small groups, additional sermons, additional 206 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,120 studies, perhaps an entire study just on that subject matter 207 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,160 where we can hit many of these angles. 208 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,240 And we'll, we'll do that down the road. 209 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,280 But let's talk about the primary doctrine again. 210 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,120 First, just to nail this down, let me quote from the Baptist 211 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,640 Faith in Message 2000, which again is a, is a doctrinal 212 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,280 summary that this church adopts officially. 213 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,760 And so this will tell you what where Inglewood is officially on 214 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:14,440 paper, and it states this about the end of time, God, in his own 215 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,280 time and in his own way, will bring the world to its 216 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,920 appropriate end. Now that sentence alone drives 217 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,960 some people crazy. According to his promise, Jesus 218 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,240 Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the 219 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:30,480 earth. The dead will be raised and 220 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,960 Christ will judge all men and righteousness. 221 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,480 The unrighteous will be consigned to hell, the place of 222 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,080 everlasting punishment. The righteous and their 223 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,800 resurrected and glorified bodies will receive the reward and will 224 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:44,720 dwell forever in heaven with the Lord. 225 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,720 So it's interesting to me though, because through the 226 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:54,080 years this phrase that God in his own time and in his own way 227 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:55,640 seems to really frustrate people. 228 00:12:56,560 --> 00:13:02,040 And I have a file full of charts and predictions sent to me of 229 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:05,080 when Jesus is going to return. I have books that were written 230 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,240 on the why Jesus would return in a certain year. 231 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,680 And then when he didn't, I have a follow up book of why Jesus 232 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:14,200 didn't return in that year. That's no joke by the same 233 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,040 author. I thought that's a brilliant 234 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,960 financial marketing plan for publishing a book. 235 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,320 You could do that just about anytime you wanted to. 236 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,880 But it's always interesting to me, even though Jesus himself 237 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:30,640 said in Matthew 2436, but concerning that day and hour, no 238 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:39,000 one knows, just got a pregnant pause, not even the angels of 239 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,400 heaven nor the Son, but the Father only. 240 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,120 So I'm not sure why people still try to figure out a win. 241 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,920 And yet I've, I've been in classes and conferences and 242 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:53,080 conversations where people got it all mapped out and they know 243 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,880 exactly when, even though Jesus says, no, you don't, no one 244 00:13:56,880 --> 00:13:58,800 does. So it's always interesting to 245 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:01,000 me. So the challenge of the Gospels 246 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,120 in the New Testament, don't misinterpret them. 247 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,040 The, the challenge and the, and the, and the message of the 248 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,360 gospels in the epistles is not one of prediction. 249 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,520 It never has been. It's one of obedience and 250 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:15,480 discipleship. It's believing he will return in 251 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,320 his time and we have a certain life to live until that occurs 252 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,560 or we die. And, and that's the message of 253 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,280 the New Testament. So the the job of the church, 254 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,360 our job is not prediction, our job is proclamation. 255 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:32,720 And we need to be careful about that. 256 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,560 It doesn't mean that it's not OK to talk about because we are 257 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,200 certainly studying God's Word together and we want to do that. 258 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,480 But you also have to remember the context of many of these 259 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,840 passages that we're going to read here in a minute, that in 260 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:50,200 the New Testament world, this pre Christian Pagan world of the 261 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,920 early church. Let me say that again, because I 262 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,280 believe today we live in what I refer to as a pre Christian post 263 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,520 post modern culture. And it's much more similar to 264 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,560 the pre Christian Pagan world that the early church lived in. 265 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,040 That's one of the differences of our culture compared to some of 266 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,680 the some of the generations that you some of you grew up in is we 267 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,960 now live in a world that's much more like a pre Christian world. 268 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,160 I don't ever use the phrase post Christian because Jesus will 269 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:19,640 always sit on his throne. There's no such thing as post 270 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,200 Christ, but there's a pre Christian. 271 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,240 They don't know, they don't care, they have no knowledge of 272 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,520 they're, they're focused on other things. 273 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,920 And, and, and, and so this is, this is not a Christian culture, 274 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,400 so to speak. And so we live in a post 275 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:39,760 postmodern, pre Christian or pre Christian postmodern culture. 276 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,680 And it's much similar to the New Testament pre Christian Pagan 277 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,720 world of the early church. But one of the key things you've 278 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,040 got to know about these passages is that the majority of the 279 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,160 people in this world of the early church did not believe in 280 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,880 or had no hope for life after death. 281 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,920 And so a lot of these passages that are talking about certain 282 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,880 things, this this audience that he's right, Paul's writing to 283 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,920 and some of these places had a very Pagan backgrounds and 284 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,920 surroundings. They had no hope, no knowledge 285 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:15,720 of any life after death concept. And so that shapes a little bit. 286 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:21,800 It was a very fatalistic, very works based, fear based, Pagan, 287 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:27,360 superstitious and religious world that the Gospels that the 288 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,240 gospel floods with this new message of peace and promise. 289 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:33,680 And it's one of the reasons it was so revolutionary. 290 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,640 And so this is a radical shift in worldview for many who 291 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,120 received this message, especially in the letters of 292 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,920 Paul. So Paul wrote, for example, and 293 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,560 there's a, a primary part of, of Scripture that we often go to in 294 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,200 the New Testament when we're talking about the second coming. 295 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,240 And that's the book of First Thessalonians. 296 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,720 And Paul writes to this church in Thessalonica to help these, 297 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:02,000 the the very first gatherings of these brand new Christians to 298 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,119 understand concepts of life after death, because that was 299 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,880 not their background at all. And you can't separate 300 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,560 Scripture. You can't remove Scripture from 301 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,800 its original context. If you want to have healthy and 302 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,560 accurate hermeneutics, if you want to have a healthy 303 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,319 interpretation of Scripture, you can't just radically remove it 304 00:17:21,319 --> 00:17:24,560 from its original context. You've got to understand who 305 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:29,120 these first hearers were. And so this church had great, 306 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:33,680 you can understand this now had great concern for believers who 307 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,680 had died so that because they don't know what's going to 308 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:38,640 happen to him, because they don't understand life after 309 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,160 death. And so part of what Paul's 310 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,080 writing about when he talks about some of these second 311 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,600 coming passages is actually this encouragement about those of you 312 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,400 who've lost loved ones, right? And some of you will know some 313 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,880 of these verses. So will will they miss? 314 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,520 Will they miss his second coming, which which they also 315 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,920 believe would take place in their lifetime because they've 316 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:02,920 already died? The people who've already died, 317 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:04,840 if they already missed out, because as far as their 318 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,960 background was concerned, they're dead. 319 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,200 And so are they going to miss the the idea of the second 320 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,640 coming I'm hearing about? Because that could happen now? 321 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:14,640 I mean, in their world, it was like it was going to happen, 322 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,440 especially in Thessalonica. They thought it was going to 323 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:17,560 happen. In fact, they had a problem with 324 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,360 some of the Thessalonicans of quitting work and going kind of 325 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:22,240 sitting out there on the hillside and staring up to the 326 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,600 sky because they thought it was going to happen that day. 327 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:30,560 So we, and so we have the whole Bible to help us. 328 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,200 We have the whole Bible to help us understand, but they just 329 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:35,520 didn't, they didn't have all that. 330 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:40,160 So that's the true context of this passage, not some 21st 331 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,440 century attempted predictions. So we get, we need to be 332 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,000 careful. So listen to 1st Thessalonians 333 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:50,240 chapter 4, verse 13 and, and you'll see this, this will make 334 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:51,960 see how this verse really makes sense. 335 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,720 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about 336 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:00,000 those who are asleep or who are dead, but that you might not 337 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,720 grieve as others who do, who have no hope. 338 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,480 Now, I was sharing that passage with some folks who are here 339 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:09,440 today with us, who just lost a loved one. 340 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,440 They're here with us right now. I was sharing part of that. 341 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,360 We were talking about that concept today that we grieve. 342 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,520 But we get to do it with what hope. 343 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,520 Because we know we know right when believers die, what happens 344 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,400 but you can understand this is brand new to these people, man. 345 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,640 They've got no clue they're they're learning this for the 346 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,040 first time. This is discipleship point O1 as 347 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,320 they're just learning this right. 348 00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:37,800 And so he says this, but I we do not want you to be uninformed 349 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,400 brothers about those who are asleep that you may not grieve 350 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,400 as others do who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus 351 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,280 died and rose again. Even so, through Jesus, God will 352 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:51,240 bring with him those who have fallen asleep and the man. 353 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,400 If that was the end of it, that would still be confusing. 354 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,800 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who 355 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,560 are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not 356 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,600 precede those who have fallen asleep. 357 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:07,000 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry 358 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,400 of command, with the voice of an Archangel, and with the sound of 359 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:13,560 the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise 360 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,280 first, then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up 361 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,680 together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. 362 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,400 And so we will always be with the Lord. 363 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,240 Therefore, encourage one another with these words. 364 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:29,840 I mean, what a radical thing for them to hear for the first time, 365 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,120 really. So let's just think through a 366 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:34,720 couple of things here. First, let's talk about the 367 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,520 comfort of Christ's coming. We don't want you to be 368 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,600 uninformed about this. We want you to be aware. 369 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,080 We don't want you to be ignorant. 370 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,000 We want you to have not all about what that about those 371 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,600 believers who have already died. That's the conversation here. 372 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,840 You have loved ones who believed in Jesus and they've died before 373 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,840 Jesus came back. What's going to happen? 374 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,280 So don't be like the pagans around you, or like you used to 375 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:03,480 be, who have no hope for the dead, for you and for us. 376 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,960 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, there is hope. 377 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,520 A hope based totally upon the fact that what Christ has 378 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,280 already done for us and will also do for us when He returns. 379 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:18,480 So we have both the past hope and promise of the cross and the 380 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,520 resurrection. We have the future promise of 381 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:24,160 His return, both of which give us hope. 382 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,440 And those who have fallen asleep don't get into so sleep. 383 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,360 I don't have, I don't have 4 hours to talk about so sleep. 384 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:34,680 But this is not about so sleep. So sleep is not a good doctrine. 385 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,600 It's not an accurate doctrine. The rest of the Bible, and I'll 386 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,040 show you that in a minute, Testify. 387 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,720 In other words, it doesn't mean their soul just went to sleep at 388 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,760 death. In fact, Paul encouraged the 389 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,800 Corinthian church about this in Second Corinthians 5/8. 390 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,320 Yes, we are of good courage and would rather be away from the 391 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:58,760 body and at home with the Lord. So those believers who have died 392 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,280 are presently and instantly with the Lord. 393 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,960 The body may be waiting. The final state of the body, the 394 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,760 resurrected body, is not complete yet, but they are 395 00:22:12,360 --> 00:22:14,840 because we're all going to receive new resurrected bodies, 396 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,080 which I'm excited about and thankful for. 397 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:24,800 I hate steps, but our soul, our spirit, who we really are is 398 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,800 immediately in the presence of God in a very real and real and 399 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,840 conscious way. So, so you someone may say with 400 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,600 a loving heart and mean will after you lose a loved one. 401 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,400 I'm sorry for your loss. And you're sitting there going, 402 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:40,560 well, I haven't lost her. I know exactly where she is, 403 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,120 right? I mean, I, you know, I 404 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:45,560 appreciate the sentiment. I'm not, you know, appreciate 405 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,240 the kindness they're trying to display. 406 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:50,760 I mean, what a comfort, what a difference that makes. 407 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,520 I was having this conversation this last week with someone else 408 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:56,960 who lost a loved one. And we were just talking about 409 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,720 the, the fact that over the years I've done 300 and 410 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,200 something funerals and, and, and I've done many, many funerals 411 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,200 for people who were not a member of the church, who had no 412 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:12,360 church, who were not saved. And, and this the difference in 413 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:16,040 a funeral where there is no salvific hope, there is no 414 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,000 thought of Christ versus a known believer who, you know, the 415 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,160 going home celebration of a, of a believer who's lived a life. 416 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,600 I mean, it's just such a stark contrast. 417 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,840 And why in the world you want to go through that like this when 418 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,160 you can go through it like a believer can? 419 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:36,520 You know, it's crazy. But Jesus is either is going to 420 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,960 come back and he's either going to come with us or for us. 421 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,400 Basically this passage says either he's going to he's going 422 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,480 to come for us or come with us. And it's not going to be subtle. 423 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,720 It's not going to be quiet, it's not going to be unnoticed again. 424 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,480 416 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry 425 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,040 of command, with the voice of an Archangel, with the sound of the 426 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:59,720 trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 427 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,160 And I don't know about you, but I long to hear the powerful cry 428 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,680 of command from King Jesus. I'd love to hear what the voice 429 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,080 of an Archangel sounds like, and I'd love to hear how loud the 430 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,560 trumpet of God is. The other morning we woke up at 431 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,920 5:00 in the morning because they decided to pour semen into a new 432 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,840 house right next door to us, right outside my bedroom window. 433 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,360 And it, it's kind of shaking the walls and the, and the glass was 434 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:28,880 moving a little bit as they had a 2 cement trucks and a boom. 435 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:33,320 And it was not subtle. It was not, it was not, it woke 436 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:34,640 us up. I thought I was going to shake 437 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,840 me out of bed. I, I was about to look up to the 438 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,840 sky and, and look for Gabriel or Michael, you know, but anyway, 439 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:47,280 it was just the cement truck. So, so, so you got to remember 440 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:49,360 that this is not an imagery here. 441 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:51,200 Trumpets were used to declare war. 442 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,680 Trumpets were used to declare a special event. 443 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:58,400 They're also used, obviously, to announce the arrival of somebody 444 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:02,800 really important royalty. The king is coming and, and here 445 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:08,640 all three are going to take place war upon evil, incredibly 446 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,280 special event and the arrival of the king. 447 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,560 And then Paul also writes that the body and soul will reunite 448 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,560 in this new glorified way, this this resurrected body. 449 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:21,800 Listen to a couple of other passages as he writes to the 450 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,080 church at Philippi in Philippians 3, he says, but our 451 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,640 citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await A Savior, the 452 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,920 Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be 453 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,400 like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to 454 00:25:38,400 --> 00:25:41,760 subject all things to himself. So we know that our resurrected 455 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,160 body is going to have a lot of similarities to the resurrected 456 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,720 glorified body of Christ. We know that and and again in 457 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:51,840 First Corinthians to that church he writes, he says in first in 458 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,360 chapter 15 I tell you this brothers, flesh and blood cannot 459 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:59,080 inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the 460 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,280 imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery and 461 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,480 this is the themes, the theme verse for every church nursery. 462 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:11,080 We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a 463 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,120 moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. 464 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,520 For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised 465 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,640 imperishable and we shall be changed. 466 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:24,600 And so we recognize that this is, this is a, this is a sudden, 467 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,520 this is an unexpected, this is a noticeable. 468 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,200 It's not going to be subtle. You're not going to wonder 469 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,440 whether or not the rapture took place or whether or not the 470 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,320 second coming took place. We're going to talk about the 471 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,480 difference in those two things and whether or not they are the 472 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,760 same thing in a minute. And I know somebody already has 473 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,280 opinions, easyseetaylor@inglewoodbaptist.com. 474 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,400 We will be transformed in the in a moment, in the twinkling of an 475 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,640 eye, right? And it's going to be a glorious 476 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:53,520 resurrect. It's going to be a 477 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,000 metamorphosis, right? It's going to be, it's going to 478 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:02,000 be really, really something. Jon Patton or Peyton was a 19th 479 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,720 century missionary from Scotland. 480 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,960 And and there's a great quote by him because people in Scotland 481 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,680 were were telling me, you know, you don't you go, don't you go, 482 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,320 you're going to he was going to go preach to what were then 483 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,760 cannibals in some of the island Pacific nations. 484 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,440 And they said, you know, don't go there, don't go there. 485 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,840 You're going to get eaten by by the cannibals. 486 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,560 In fact, one will meaning church member moaned loudly in the 487 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,000 service. The cannibals, the cannibals, 488 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,600 you'll be eaten by the cannibals. 489 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,200 What an encouragement to the commissioning service of your 490 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,960 missionary. But without hesitation. 491 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,720 Peyton said this, he says, I confess to you that if I can 492 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,320 live and die serving my Lord Jesus Christ, it makes no 493 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,440 difference to me whether I'm eaten by cannibals or by worms. 494 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,680 For in that great day of resurrection, my body will rise 495 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,480 as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. 496 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:55,960 And so just to recognize what what's going to happen, that 497 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,560 miracle that takes place at that moment. 498 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,640 Well, Paul continues with the Thessalonians and 1st 499 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:07,440 Thessalonians 4 again, verse 17. Then we who are alive, who are 500 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,880 left, we'll be caught up together with them in the clouds 501 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,760 to meet the Lord in the air, And so we will always be with the 502 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,360 Lord. Therefore encourage one another 503 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:22,160 with these words and the idea of caught up here, your translation 504 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,360 might actually have different words there caught up means to 505 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,600 catch up quickly. It's not a subtle word and in 506 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:31,560 English sometimes just didn't have the punch of of you know, 507 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:35,680 Greek is a very descriptive, vivid language, which I think is 508 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:38,240 one of the at Christmas I'll probably preach about this. 509 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:43,520 The one of the reasons God chose to send Jesus at the time he did 510 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,880 because linguistically Koine Greek was just one of the 511 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,400 wonderful way to express so many things, because it just 512 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,320 describes things much more vividly. 513 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,040 Often we'll have one word in English for something and Greek 514 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:55,880 will have 20 words for the same thing. 515 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,440 And so one of the things that this means, it means to seize by 516 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:02,160 force. This is not a subtle thing. 517 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,600 This is not like I'm catching a softball out in right field 518 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:07,120 because I can't play anywhere else. 519 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:11,000 So they put me in right field. So it it, it, it means that 520 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,880 you're seizing something by force to claim, to move to a new 521 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:19,560 place, to rescue from danger is what this word can mean. 522 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,480 And so again, all of this is happening. 523 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:28,440 How quickly twinkling of an eye, faster than a faster than a 524 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,000 blink and the twinkling of an eye. 525 00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:34,200 So Paul declares again, remember the context. 526 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,360 See, there's no need to worry for your beloved who've died. 527 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,160 There's nowhere for these believers who've passed away. 528 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,520 Don't worry about them. Be comfortable because Christ is 529 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,160 going to come and there's going to be this incredible, not only 530 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,920 resurrection and reunion and, and, and transformation that 531 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,200 takes place. So we can rest and, and be 532 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:58,640 assured and comforted by the idea of the second coming of 533 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:00,800 Christ. But secondly, let's talk about 534 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,240 the certainty of Christ's coming. 535 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,920 Then let's just nail this down and then we're going to get to 536 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:06,360 what you really want me to talk about. 537 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,600 Probably. But in First Thessalonians 538 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:13,720 chapter 5 verse 1, he says not concerning the times and the 539 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,800 seasons. Brothers, you have no need to 540 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,360 have anything written to you. We don't need to be consumed 541 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,720 about the timing of his coming. I promise you I'm not kidding. 542 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,040 I have all kinds of cool color-coded charts. 543 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,480 Every generation believes or has believed it would probably be 544 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,880 during their time here on Earth. I've heard that for decades upon 545 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:39,840 decades, you know, Jesus is going to return anytime. 546 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:41,160 Jesus is going to return anytime. 547 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:42,640 Jesus is going to return anytime. 548 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,600 And I would even say to you, there would have been moments in 549 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,320 history before I was alive to where I could have said, boy, 550 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,920 that seems like a time. Like you think about World War 2 551 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,560 and some of those moments you could really have thought, man, 552 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,840 this is it, isn't it? But the win is not the biggest 553 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:01,920 issue. I'm not saying it's a sin to 554 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,600 think about those things and to enjoy studying those things, but 555 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,600 that's not the biggest issue. Now listen, the bigger issue is 556 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,600 the why and the how. Those are more important. 557 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,520 So quit sending me charts. e-mail them to see 558 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,520 taylor@englewoodbaptist.com. So First Thessalonians chapter 559 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,960 5, verse 2. For you yourselves are fully 560 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,760 aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the 561 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,320 night. While people are saying there is 562 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,720 peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them 563 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,800 as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will 564 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,600 not escape. For you yourselves are fully 565 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:45,760 aware. Paul had, obviously, and this is 566 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,560 something you got to recognize. He had obviously already done 567 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:52,520 some teaching while he was there with them in Thessalonica. 568 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:54,560 So there's some things that he'd already told himself. 569 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:56,520 I've already told you this or she'd all be aware of some of 570 00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,880 this already. Paul saying the day of the Lord, 571 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,760 This imagery is a very Old Testament image. 572 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,120 This is the image of a day of judgement. 573 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,960 The day of the Lord is a popular Hebraic phrase in the Old 574 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,760 Testament to where it's it represents judgement and that 575 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,040 day will be extremely unwelcomed by many. 576 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:18,200 In fact, listen to the Book of Revelation. 577 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,240 It says in Revelation 1615, behold, I am coming like a 578 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:24,720 thief. Blessed is the one who stays 579 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,400 awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go naked and be 580 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,840 seen exposed. It's going to be sudden. 581 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:32,960 You're not going to be able to escape it. 582 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:34,680 You're not going to be able to hide from it. 583 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,560 And for those who know him, it will be powerful. 584 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,680 And for those who do not know him, it's going to be painful. 585 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,840 In fact, listen to Matthew chapter 24. 586 00:32:45,120 --> 00:32:48,240 But concerning that day and hour, no one knows. 587 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:50,720 I don't know how many times I got to say that out loud, but 588 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,400 because concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the 589 00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,120 angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 590 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:02,000 So don't ask me when he's going to come back. 37 For as were the 591 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,400 days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 592 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,120 For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and 593 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,280 drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah 594 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:16,320 entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and 595 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,560 swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son 596 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,920 of Man. Then two men will be in the 597 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,400 field, one will be taken, one left. 598 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,520 Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and 599 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,720 1:00 left. Now certainly there are signs, 600 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:34,040 and we can recognize certain signs that that life's going to 601 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,200 be moving along in a pretty sinfully normal way right before 602 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,480 the 2nd coming. But you think we what, what this 603 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,000 ought to do to us is because of the suddenness, because of the 604 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,440 normalcy of life, right? It's unexpected. 605 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,640 Part of what this ought to do is it ought to motivate us to share 606 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:57,280 the gospel with the lost people around us because this could 607 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,000 happen to them. And we, we have the 608 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,640 responsibility of helping them know the truth so that they can 609 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,800 avoid the painful part of this and they can enjoy the powerful 610 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,040 part of this, right? And so we need to be more 611 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,000 burdened about what they face at the end and then what they think 612 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:14,719 of us today. Because when they're saved, I 613 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,960 promise they'll thank you one day for that, right? 614 00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:21,960 But let's get to #3 the classifications of Christ's 615 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,679 coming. And here's where the bulk of our 616 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:28,320 time will be spent. Because one of the things that 617 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,440 I'm learning is that some, and, and sometimes I use words that 618 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,880 need definitions. And so I want to make sure I, I, 619 00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,280 I don't want to ever assume that people already know things. 620 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:40,440 Now, there are some of you in here. 621 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,199 And I know that because we've had conversations that, that 622 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,239 like to study eschatology and you know, all these terms and 623 00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,880 you have, you have your, your, your clear interpretations of 624 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:51,400 some of these terms. I don't mean that in any 625 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:54,080 negative way whatsoever. You, you feel real certain about 626 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:57,080 your Bible study and that, and I'm not arguing with that, but 627 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,160 there are other people in this room who have no idea what these 628 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:03,240 terms mean, right? And so we want to make sure that 629 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:05,560 we're, we're including some definitions here so that 630 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,800 everybody's clear. When somebody says the word 631 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,360 Millennium or premillennialism or just dispensationalism, what 632 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,080 does, what does that mean? I hear these words. 633 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:14,600 I have no idea what that means, right? 634 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,000 So let's, let's help you. Let's make sure, let's clear 635 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,000 that up. So, so most of the secondary, 636 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,680 that second level and and third level discussions in 637 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:29,320 eschatology, they revolve around the when and the how and they 638 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,720 lead to this entire Dictionary of questions and terms and 639 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:35,480 positions. For example, this is a 640 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,800 rhetorical question. I don't need you holding up 641 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,920 signs with answers. Will Jesus return physically and 642 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:43,880 reign on the earth for 1000 years? 643 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,560 That would be a question. Will Christians go through a 644 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,000 seven-year tribulation? That would be a question that my 645 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:53,080 people might have. Will the second coming of Christ 646 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,680 occur at the same time believers meet Christ in the air during a 647 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,560 rapture? In other words, is the second 648 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,320 coming the rapture? Are they the same thing or not? 649 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,120 What does the nation of Israel have to do with end times? 650 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,320 These are the kinds of questions that often revolve around these 651 00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:14,600 kinds of conversations. And in due time, I promise that 652 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:18,160 we'll come back and we're going to walk through some of these 653 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:21,040 details. I, I'm going to have to be a 654 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,400 little general tonight, as I warned you at the beginning, 655 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:29,640 because there are exceptions and hybrid beliefs to many of these 656 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:32,120 interpretations. I promise you, I know the 657 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,400 details and I assure you, but I want to remain a little more 658 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,160 focused on some primary issues for this session. 659 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,600 And I know that disappoints 95% of those of you who are 660 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,240 listening. And the other 5% don't know what 661 00:36:45,240 --> 00:36:46,440 I just said. So that's great. 662 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:50,840 So let's just talk about some of these terms. 663 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:53,200 Let's talk about what the rapture is. 664 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,040 So this is actually a word for it's a Latin, it comes from 665 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,880 Latin, the word rapture, and it means to carry away. 666 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,360 It means to take away, to carry off. 667 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:05,520 That's what the word rapture means in Latin. 668 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,720 And it refers to the time when Jesus returns for his people. 669 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:14,600 Now, there are people, many people in fact, who don't 670 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:19,840 believe there's such a thing that the rapture isn't an event 671 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:21,840 by itself. So you just need to know that 672 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:23,680 you are sitting down in here. That's good. 673 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:26,000 Those of you listening online, sit down because I don't want 674 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,920 you to faint while you're walking or or driving. 675 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:33,280 Don't hit anybody. Most believe, most who believe 676 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,840 in a rapture believe it's described in some of these 677 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:40,200 passages we just read right? And so depending upon your view, 678 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:44,440 it can either be at the same time together with the second 679 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:49,480 coming, that's all one big thing, or they're actually two 680 00:37:49,480 --> 00:37:52,520 different events that happen some time apart. 681 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:54,480 We're going to talk more about that, don't worry. 682 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,120 And so beliefs also range. Now see if you can follow this 683 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,240 for a minute because this will give you some of this language 684 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,160 that you might hear in second coming talk. 685 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:09,200 So it beliefs range from when it occurs, does it occur before the 686 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,600 great tribulation, which we'll define next? 687 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:15,520 Does it happen in the middle of the great tribulation or does it 688 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,400 happen after the great tribulation, Right? 689 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:24,240 So you have pre Trib, mid Trib and what would that last one be? 690 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,720 Post Trib, right? And so and you have Christians 691 00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:31,800 in all three categories, You have scholars in all three 692 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:33,080 categories. OK. 693 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:38,000 And so all three of those, I'm not just saying that there are 694 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:39,720 people who believe this. So what is the great 695 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:42,400 tribulation? Well, the great Tribulation is a 696 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:46,880 time when great disasters take place and those who believe in 697 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,720 Christ are going to suffer great persecution. 698 00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:56,320 So various views occur all over the place with the tribulation 699 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:59,560 at different times, that this will occur at different times. 700 00:38:59,880 --> 00:39:03,520 Some believe it lasts for seven years because of what the Book 701 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,240 of Revelation would suggest to us in Revelation 7. 702 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,160 There are others who don't believe that. 703 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,160 Others believe it's symbolic or others believe it's already 704 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,320 happened. So there's actually an entire 705 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:20,440 sub doctrine called preterism that believes that most of the 706 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,840 prophecies about the end times actually took place in the 1st 707 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,120 century. That it was referring to Nero as 708 00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:29,880 the Antichrist. That the Jewish war and 709 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:34,200 destruction of the temple in AD 70 by Rome is actually the 710 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,360 tribulation. So all this language that we 711 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:41,480 attribute to being in the future for some actually already took 712 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,840 place and they believe it already took place in the past. 713 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:46,760 So just be aware that these different views exist. 714 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:51,840 Others see the whole idea of the tribulation is more symbolic. 715 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,000 So it represents all of the persecution and all of the 716 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,800 suffering Christians have faced throughout church history so 717 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:03,400 that it really isn't a future seven-year period that you can 718 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,320 pinpoint in your newspapers and in the news media. 719 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:09,760 But it's actually something that is just from the very beginning 720 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,120 of Christianity, still going on today every time Christians are 721 00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:16,280 persecuted, because I do assure you, Christians are being 722 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,000 persecuted today in great numbers. 723 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,480 In fact, more people are being martyred today than perhaps any 724 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:26,040 other time in recent history. Still others I'm not done, 725 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,040 sorry. Still others would say the Great 726 00:40:29,040 --> 00:40:33,200 Tribulation is prior to the second Coming, and others say 727 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,560 it's at the end of the second coming. 728 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:38,400 So you'll have those who believe in what's called 729 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:45,080 premillennialism and post millennialism based upon what 730 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,760 the Millennium is, which is our next definition so that these 731 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:50,960 getting good. So you can be post Trib, mid 732 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:55,920 Trib, or a pre Trib, mid Trib, post Trib, and also pre pre 733 00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:58,960 millennial or post millennial. Isn't that good? 734 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,600 We need T-shirts. We need T-shirts. 735 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,920 We just need to all wear labels so we can really have great 736 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:07,600 discussions together in the lobby. 737 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:14,120 So to best understand, and I do mean this part, to best 738 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,160 understand what the Bible teaches about the great 739 00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:21,760 Tribulation, I really do advise you to study not just passages 740 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:25,440 about the end times, but to help you, you could study the 741 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:28,320 doctrine of suffering and persecution, which is a doctrine 742 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,800 in and of itself throughout Scripture and to see, and then 743 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,440 you'll be able to, I think tell better, is this the same thing? 744 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:36,560 Is this a different thing or not right? 745 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:39,640 And it kind of will help you with some of those views. 746 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:45,000 So are all passages referring to persecution or suffering about 747 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:47,960 the end of time? Or are some about what the 748 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:51,560 disciples alive at the time of Jesus would face in their own 749 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:55,640 lifetimes and or what the early church would experience during 750 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:59,640 his first, say, 2 centuries? And, and the answer is, you 751 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:01,040 know, in my mind, it's a both an and. 752 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:04,680 And it will help you to study the both an to kind of help 753 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:08,440 separate some of these things out because we sometimes 754 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,360 interpret things, I think to relate to us. 755 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,440 This is a a normal and we're going to have a host study on 756 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,160 this someday about how to interpret Scripture. 757 00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:20,800 We're going to do some podcasting about that as well. 758 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:24,720 How do I study the Bible? Well, because one of our one of 759 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:29,480 our faulty interpretation problems or what we would refer 760 00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:33,080 to as a faulty hermeneutic is that we often interpret 761 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:37,640 Scripture for us instead of in a, in a more objective way. 762 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:42,440 What does Scripture really say? And we often, we often are so 763 00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:44,800 hard. We related to us so much or we 764 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:46,720 can also do that eschatologically where 765 00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:50,080 everything's about something when it's not necessarily about 766 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,960 that. And so when they actually some 767 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,520 of these passages related to others in the past. 768 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,200 But that's not to say that current and future persecution 769 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:02,760 is yet to come and promised in Scripture as well. 770 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:04,040 So again, there's kind of a both ends. 771 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:05,840 You got to kind of work there. I'll move on. 772 00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:09,200 So then what's the Millennium that was referred to pre 773 00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,120 millennialism, post millennialism? 774 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:15,000 So the Millennium is 1000 year reign of Jesus on earth. 775 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:19,640 You'll see this in the Book of Revelation with a billion 776 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:23,440 different views, maybe not a billion, but several. 777 00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:27,600 And these are some of the words that some of you might know or 778 00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:30,680 you've heard of. Most of these have to do with 779 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:35,040 the way the Millennium works in relationship to the rapture or 780 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:38,560 the second coming or the tribulation and how all these 781 00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,680 pieces kind of tie together. So one of those is called 782 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:47,320 dispensationalism. Now I know that some of you are 783 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:49,480 dispensationalist because you told me you are. 784 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,560 That's not a guess. And many of you were likely 785 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:57,040 raised in a church that believed in a very straightforward 786 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:01,480 dispensational premillennialism. Now that's a that's a there's 787 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:03,760 some some words, aren't they? For some of you, you're like, 788 00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,960 what did he just? And so and what that teaches is 789 00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:11,400 that the rapture's going to occur before or maybe midway 790 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:16,160 some of your mid Trib, but probably before the seven-year 791 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:18,760 great tribulation that the that most believers are getting 792 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,800 raptured out, then the tribulation hits. 793 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:25,680 That's a common, not always, but a common dispensational 794 00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:29,600 premillennial view. You can also have dispensational 795 00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:38,480 mid Trib premillennialism. Sorry, but the idea here is this 796 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:42,480 position also holds a very strong view of Israel right? 797 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,920 And sees the church as kind of an in between dispensation. 798 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:51,080 The word dispensation, the easiest way to describe it would 799 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:55,280 be a, an age of time, so a section of time. 800 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:59,320 So you have, you have this dispensation and this, for 801 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,280 example, you have the church age, which we're in right now 802 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:05,600 according to dispensationalism. So it's a, it's a, it's a period 803 00:45:05,600 --> 00:45:09,680 of time. And for true dispensationalists, 804 00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:13,560 God's working through Israel, you have this church age time 805 00:45:13,720 --> 00:45:15,960 and then God's going to come back to Israel at the end of 806 00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:18,280 time. So the view of Israel is very 807 00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:21,360 important to dispensationalists, all right? 808 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:27,040 And some who hold this view have never heard any option because 809 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:30,520 it was the normative teaching where you grew up, and it was 810 00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:35,000 probably the only way many of you were ever taught about the 811 00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:38,520 second coming. Now, don't throw things at me. 812 00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:42,680 E-mail c.taylor@englewoodbaptist.com 813 00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,040 because you need to be aware that that does not mean that 814 00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:51,560 most of Christianity hosted this view, because it does not. 815 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,240 And this actually didn't become popular till about 1860. 816 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:01,160 And then it grew very rapidly in the very first part of the 20th 817 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:03,640 century. I'm not not, I'm not saying it's 818 00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:05,680 wrong. I'm just saying that that's just 819 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:08,960 a historical truth, OK? So just recognize that that 820 00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:12,440 wasn't always the view of the early church fathers and early 821 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:14,720 churches, right? And so beware. 822 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:18,560 So open yourself up to some both ends, maybe a little. 823 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,880 Another common view is what's called historical 824 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:28,240 premillennialism, which teaches that Jesus will return to earth 825 00:46:28,240 --> 00:46:31,320 after a time of tribulation, but before the Millennium. 826 00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:34,920 Most historical premillennialists, though not 827 00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:37,480 all, because there's not an all in any of this. 828 00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:41,440 You got to understand there are exceptions to every single slice 829 00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:46,240 of this, but most historical premillennials believe that 830 00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:49,240 Christians remain on earth through the tribulation, that we 831 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:53,080 actually go through the tribulation, and then Christ 832 00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:56,240 comes back. And whether the tribulation is a 833 00:46:56,240 --> 00:47:00,280 short intense period or it occurs over a long period of 834 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:05,880 time that's debated throughout church history, post 835 00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:09,160 millennialism teaches that Christ will return to earth 836 00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:13,120 after a Millennium time, 1000 year reign, when the 837 00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:16,120 overwhelming majority of people throughout the world embrace the 838 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:19,440 gospel. So the world's going to be saved 839 00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,480 and then he comes back. And after he's reigned in that 840 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:25,480 millennial reign, the great tribulation occurred either in 841 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:28,440 the 1st century or will be a brief time of persecution 842 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:30,000 immediately before the Millennium. 843 00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:35,040 This view, although it's gaining ground today, frankly was 844 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:38,360 popular, but I'll be honest with you, World War One and World War 845 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:41,960 2 beat it out of most people because there's a, there's a 846 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:44,920 version of this view that says people are going to get better 847 00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:46,440 and the world's going to get better. 848 00:47:46,720 --> 00:47:50,080 And then Jesus comes and most people aren't buying into that 849 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,200 too much anymore, right? Although it's gaining ground 850 00:47:53,200 --> 00:47:55,880 again. I'm millennialism. 851 00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:57,560 This will really make some of you angry. 852 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,200 Teaches that there's no physical millennial reign whatsoever, 853 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:05,560 that the Millennium is right now, that the spiritual reign of 854 00:48:05,560 --> 00:48:09,400 Jesus and his people, the Church, that is the millennial 855 00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,760 reign and Jesus could return at any time. 856 00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:16,600 Now, all of these views, if they're orthodox, believe that 857 00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:19,720 Jesus is going to return. Again, that's a primary issue. 858 00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:22,640 They believe in that. That's not the issue. 859 00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:27,000 It's how and when and what the state of the Christians on earth 860 00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:28,920 are going to be when he comes back. 861 00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:32,720 Those are the different things. So in that view, the tribulation 862 00:48:32,720 --> 00:48:34,840 is when Christians are persecuted, when wars take 863 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:38,040 place, when disasters happen. It's just the state of our 864 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:40,760 normal life that I'm going to talk more about next week or 865 00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:44,560 next episode. So then you have the whole idea 866 00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:47,520 of the second coming. Now you might think, well, 867 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:49,520 that's the same thing. Well, not to everybody. 868 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,800 So the second coming, depending upon what your view is about the 869 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:58,680 Rapture and the Millennium is, is this marks the final return 870 00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:03,320 of Christ to reign and judge. But is that the same time the 871 00:49:03,320 --> 00:49:06,880 rapture occurs? Is that all one thing or is it 872 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:10,120 two different things? Most dispensationalists would 873 00:49:10,120 --> 00:49:11,560 believe it's two different things. 874 00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:16,240 You have a rapture, you have some some leftover the either 875 00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:19,080 the whole tribulation or part of the tribulation, you'll have A 876 00:49:19,640 --> 00:49:23,440 and then you'll have a return in a millennial reign, etcetera, in 877 00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,800 some order. And so, but for others, they 878 00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:31,240 think it's all one thing. I, I've got a friend who passes 879 00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:35,320 at church not far from here. They will not sing the song I'll 880 00:49:35,320 --> 00:49:39,160 fly away. That's actually a conversation 881 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:45,120 he and I had not long ago. You also have pan millennialism, 882 00:49:45,120 --> 00:49:47,240 which is where part of you wish you were tonight. 883 00:49:47,240 --> 00:49:49,000 And that is it all pans out in the end. 884 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:53,480 And who really cares? That's not an official doctrine, 885 00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:57,200 but it's probably the most popular one among some people. 886 00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:02,880 So as I stated earlier, there are, these are extreme 887 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,800 summaries. I mean extreme summaries of 888 00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,240 views with many subsets and hybrids. 889 00:50:08,200 --> 00:50:11,880 I personally have never fit neatly into any category. 890 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:14,000 So I'm a hybrid in and of myself. 891 00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:18,840 I have, I have pieces of more than one view that I tend to 892 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:21,720 hold to. And that's not because of my 893 00:50:21,720 --> 00:50:25,360 study of, of books or anybody else's opinions. 894 00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:27,240 It's because of the, my study, the Bible. 895 00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:32,160 And so it's, it's, it's the literal readings that I walk 896 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:34,520 through that lead me to my conclusions. 897 00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:38,080 And I promise we will come back to this and do some of that. 898 00:50:38,080 --> 00:50:40,800 OK, So don't worry about some of the details. 899 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:43,080 And I know some of you are disappointed in me for not 900 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:47,600 spending an hour and a half and Daniel or Ezekiel and others are 901 00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:50,000 probably disappointed I didn't spend time in the newspaper 902 00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:53,240 because that's what some folks are doing all the time. 903 00:50:53,240 --> 00:50:55,680 And I, and I, and I'm not, I'm not trying to mock that because 904 00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:58,560 I, I, I'm not saying it should be an awareness. 905 00:50:58,560 --> 00:50:59,800 I'm not saying, boy, look at this. 906 00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:02,320 Could this be a sign of something that's a discussion 907 00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,960 worth having? It's just don't let that be your 908 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,120 primary. Don't let that be your primary 909 00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:09,480 source. You make sure you're in the 910 00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:13,560 word. And in the meantime, we, we have 911 00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:16,080 work to do. So as I stated earlier, most 912 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:20,640 secondary and tertiary discussions revolve around these 913 00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:25,880 ideas of when and how. But let's make sure we go back 914 00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:29,920 to the primary for a moment because that really is what we 915 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:32,360 need to emphasize. Delay this foundation, and then 916 00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:34,960 we can dive into some of these other things at another time. 917 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:39,040 Doctor Mohler, Al Mohler, my friend and former boss, says 918 00:51:39,120 --> 00:51:41,520 this. He says Christians who affirmed 919 00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:44,720 the bodily, historical, and victorious return of the Lord 920 00:51:44,760 --> 00:51:49,280 Jesus Christ may differ over timetable and sequence without 921 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:51,040 rupturing the fellowship of the church. 922 00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:53,520 That's a good sentence. I mean it. 923 00:51:53,520 --> 00:51:55,600 It's fine. For we can sit in the same small 924 00:51:55,600 --> 00:51:58,480 group and somebody be a dispensationalist, somebody a 925 00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:01,120 historical premillennialist, and have extremely lively 926 00:52:01,120 --> 00:52:03,800 conversations and both of them still think the other one's 927 00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:05,600 going to be in heaven. It's just they're going to say 928 00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:07,240 you're going to be surprised when you get there how that 929 00:52:07,240 --> 00:52:09,200 really works out. You know what I'm saying? 930 00:52:10,720 --> 00:52:14,440 And so we affirm the bodily, historical, and victorious 931 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:16,760 return of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's primary. 932 00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:19,000 We may differ on timetable and sequence. 933 00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:22,320 Christians may find themselves in disagreement over any number 934 00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:24,880 of issues related to the interpretation of difficult 935 00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:28,760 texts or the understandings of matters of common disagreement. 936 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:32,800 Nevertheless, standing together on issues of more urgent 937 00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:35,880 importance, believers are able to accept one another without 938 00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:38,720 compromise. When you're on 3rd order issues 939 00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:41,840 and that are in question, we always got to remember that 940 00:52:41,840 --> 00:52:44,240 these kinds of things don't need to divide the church. 941 00:52:44,520 --> 00:52:47,160 We need to have great discussion, great Bible study, 942 00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:51,000 do the best we can to come to biblical conclusions and then 943 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:54,440 hug each other and and eat ice cream or something. 944 00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:59,400 So let me just talk about the challenge of Christ coming. 945 00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:03,320 So the primary doctrinal issue, obviously, that we've been 946 00:53:03,320 --> 00:53:06,000 trying to point out tonight is that Jesus is returning for 947 00:53:06,000 --> 00:53:08,760 those who believe in him and will judge those who do not. 948 00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:12,960 And, and we must be living in such a way as to be ready. 949 00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:18,360 I, I, I, we got to drive this home because regardless of how 950 00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:23,480 and when you, you got to be ready before this happens, it's 951 00:53:23,480 --> 00:53:26,600 too late after it happens in a sense. 952 00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:31,840 And so when First Thessalonians 54, it says, but you are not in 953 00:53:31,840 --> 00:53:36,440 darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 954 00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:41,440 Now they once were because they were pagans, but now you're not. 955 00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:43,080 Now you're not in darkness anymore. 956 00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:45,080 So this shouldn't, this shouldn't catch you. 957 00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:47,640 This, this doesn't have to surprise you like a thief. 958 00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:50,600 For you are all children of light, children of the day. 959 00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,120 We are not of the night or of darkness. 960 00:53:53,440 --> 00:53:56,760 So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake 961 00:53:56,760 --> 00:54:00,000 and be sober for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those 962 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:03,280 who get drunk or drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, 963 00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:06,160 let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and 964 00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:08,720 love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 965 00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:11,200 Boy, it sounds like almost Ephesians 6:00-ish, doesn't it? 966 00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:14,680 With the armor of God. And so he challenges us that in 967 00:54:14,680 --> 00:54:18,160 the word sober in this translation, in its original 968 00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:20,080 version, it really means to be alert. 969 00:54:20,080 --> 00:54:23,120 It means to be village vigilant. It's not just talking about 970 00:54:23,120 --> 00:54:25,960 don't be drunk with alcohol or something, even though that 971 00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:27,960 wouldn't obviously affect the state. 972 00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:31,520 It's the idea of being vigilant and watchful. 973 00:54:31,680 --> 00:54:34,080 I'm watching for this. I'm aware of this. 974 00:54:34,160 --> 00:54:37,720 So it's I may not be spending all day long predicting and and 975 00:54:37,720 --> 00:54:40,280 highlighting everything that I can find to try to figure out 976 00:54:40,280 --> 00:54:42,840 when it's going to happen. That may not be my 100% 977 00:54:42,840 --> 00:54:45,520 occupation, but at the same time, I'm not unaware either. 978 00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:49,760 And I'm alert, I'm aware and I'm ready. 979 00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:54,600 So we live in the light we can see and we're looking forward to 980 00:54:54,600 --> 00:55:01,280 his return and and we do so by being equipped with faith, love, 981 00:55:01,720 --> 00:55:06,480 hope and salvation, right. And then listen to the gospel. 982 00:55:07,080 --> 00:55:10,360 Listen to Matthew 24 again. That whole chapter would be an 983 00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:13,480 interesting one for you to read. Says Therefore stay awake, for 984 00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:16,040 you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 985 00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:19,760 But know this, that if the master of the house had known 986 00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:22,560 and what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have 987 00:55:22,560 --> 00:55:26,240 stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 988 00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:30,000 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is 989 00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:33,200 coming at an hour you did not expect. 990 00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:36,040 So if you expect him right now, you're wrong. 991 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:45,280 It's kind of like, you know, it's, I often use the, the idea, 992 00:55:45,280 --> 00:55:47,480 you know, because of my travels, I used to be gone all the time. 993 00:55:47,480 --> 00:55:49,440 It's kind of like kind of like waiting for somebody at the 994 00:55:49,440 --> 00:55:51,400 airport that's been gone for a long time. 995 00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:55,560 Teresa is going to go visit our family in Oklahoma because our 996 00:55:55,560 --> 00:55:58,280 grandson, our oldest grandson just graduated from Air Force 997 00:55:58,280 --> 00:56:00,280 Tech school and he's getting ready to be deployed to South 998 00:56:00,280 --> 00:56:02,440 Korea and he's going to be home for a few days. 999 00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:04,480 And so Teresa is going to go back to see everybody to see 1000 00:56:04,480 --> 00:56:06,480 him. And so it'd be like, it'd be 1001 00:56:06,480 --> 00:56:09,720 like our grandson coming back from deployment, been gone for 1002 00:56:09,720 --> 00:56:13,120 years or something on to South Korea and Okinawa, which is 1003 00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:14,080 where he's going to be ending up. 1004 00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:16,480 But somebody been gone for a long time and you're standing 1005 00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:18,600 there at the airport in the old days, you can stand right by the 1006 00:56:18,600 --> 00:56:20,080 plane. You remember that, that they 1007 00:56:20,080 --> 00:56:22,480 messed that all up. And now you've got to stand way 1008 00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:24,760 out there, wherever that is out there in that area where you 1009 00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:27,120 can't go past the person or you're going to tase you or 1010 00:56:27,120 --> 00:56:29,240 something. So you're out there and you 1011 00:56:29,240 --> 00:56:31,720 know, people are holding up signs and think about, think 1012 00:56:31,720 --> 00:56:34,840 about, think about a spouse and their children waiting on the 1013 00:56:34,960 --> 00:56:37,200 the other spouse. And the little kids got signs 1014 00:56:37,200 --> 00:56:39,720 they made for daddy or mommy. And they're sitting there and 1015 00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:41,800 they're looking and they're straining their necks and they 1016 00:56:41,800 --> 00:56:44,680 just can't wait to even get a glimpse of their loved one. 1017 00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:47,480 And then as soon as you can, you go rush to meet him and you hug 1018 00:56:47,480 --> 00:56:50,040 them. That's the church waiting on the 1019 00:56:50,040 --> 00:56:55,600 bridegroom. So we're watching and we're 1020 00:56:55,600 --> 00:56:59,800 aware, so we embrace the certainty of Christ coming 1021 00:56:59,800 --> 00:57:03,560 because that's how we're saved through Him. 1022 00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:05,640 We love him and we can't wait to see Him. 1023 00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:10,960 And so First Thessalonians 59 says, for God has not destined 1024 00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:14,960 us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus 1025 00:57:14,960 --> 00:57:19,560 Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, 1026 00:57:19,560 --> 00:57:22,240 we might live with him. It doesn't matter if I'm alive 1027 00:57:22,240 --> 00:57:26,680 or dead when he comes back, it's going to be glorious. 1028 00:57:27,280 --> 00:57:29,680 Now I I think it'd be so cool to be alive. 1029 00:57:29,680 --> 00:57:33,400 I think it'd be so cool to see it and to hear it. 1030 00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:37,120 But but for those of us who believe death is also just 1031 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:39,240 incredible doorway. What a promise. 1032 00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:42,000 So verse 11 goes on. He says, therefore, encourage 1033 00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,280 one another and build one another up just as you were 1034 00:57:44,280 --> 00:57:46,600 doing. So we keep encouraging the the 1035 00:57:46,720 --> 00:57:48,440 verbs here is a continuous action. 1036 00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:51,880 So keep on doing this, keep on encouraging, keep on edifying, 1037 00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:54,200 keep on building up. That's what we need to be doing 1038 00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:55,640 in the meantime. That's what we're doing in the 1039 00:57:55,640 --> 00:57:57,440 meantime. We're waiting, we're watching 1040 00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:00,240 and we keep on edifying. We keep on building, we keep on 1041 00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:02,080 encouraging. We're also going to keep on 1042 00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,880 reaching. So I, so I want us to be careful 1043 00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:08,560 that we don't lose our focus on times and, and necessarily on 1044 00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:14,320 the wind as much as, as the why and, and the the reality of its 1045 00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:16,600 truth. Revelation 33 says, remember 1046 00:58:16,600 --> 00:58:18,200 then what you've received and heard. 1047 00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:22,160 Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will 1048 00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:24,760 come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will 1049 00:58:24,760 --> 00:58:27,520 come against you. So you also have this challenge. 1050 00:58:27,560 --> 00:58:30,520 The King of Kings is coming and that's a fact. 1051 00:58:31,400 --> 00:58:34,720 And the question then becomes twofold, am I ready? 1052 00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:38,080 Am I ready for him to return right now? 1053 00:58:38,080 --> 00:58:40,600 Am I ready for that is my life? Am I saved? 1054 00:58:40,800 --> 00:58:43,800 Am I walking with him? Am I who I need to be and am I? 1055 00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:46,800 And then the second question, am I living in such a way that if 1056 00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:49,160 he were to come today, would it please him? 1057 00:58:49,960 --> 00:58:54,120 Would my life right now please him in the way that I'm living 1058 00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:57,880 for him? Peter writes about it. 1059 00:58:58,240 --> 00:59:03,080 Listen to second Peter 3. The Lord is not slow to fulfill 1060 00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:06,760 his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards 1061 00:59:06,760 --> 00:59:10,080 you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should 1062 00:59:10,080 --> 00:59:14,560 reach repentance and we often will use that verse and that's 1063 00:59:14,560 --> 00:59:18,720 all you know he wants everybody to be saved, but listen to the 1064 00:59:18,720 --> 00:59:20,200 context. Keep going. 1065 00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:26,760 Verse 10 But the day of the Lord but but contrast. 1066 00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:30,520 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the 1067 00:59:30,520 --> 00:59:34,040 heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies 1068 00:59:34,040 --> 00:59:37,200 will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that 1069 00:59:37,200 --> 00:59:40,760 are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus 1070 00:59:40,760 --> 00:59:44,680 to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives 1071 00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:49,000 of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the 1072 00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:52,000 coming of the day of God? Because of which the heavens 1073 00:59:52,000 --> 00:59:55,360 must be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly 1074 00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:59,200 bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we 1075 00:59:59,200 --> 01:00:02,400 are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which 1076 01:00:02,400 --> 01:00:07,880 righteousness dwells. This stuff's all temporary, and 1077 01:00:07,880 --> 01:00:10,080 we get ripped. We get awfully wrapped up in the 1078 01:00:10,080 --> 01:00:13,640 temporary right. For so perhaps instead of 1079 01:00:13,640 --> 01:00:17,880 worrying and fretting over what our life is like here now, we 1080 01:00:17,880 --> 01:00:20,760 need to be more focused and living obediently toward our 1081 01:00:20,760 --> 01:00:25,680 life. Then a favorite, you know it is. 1082 01:00:25,800 --> 01:00:30,040 Corey 10, Boom. Who if I've quoted 4265 times 1083 01:00:30,040 --> 01:00:34,080 since I've been in Inglewood at least a couple of times. 1084 01:00:35,360 --> 01:00:38,120 If you don't know her story, she survived the terrors of the Nazi 1085 01:00:38,120 --> 01:00:42,960 concentration camp during World War 2, lost much of her family, 1086 01:00:44,280 --> 01:00:45,760 she said. She shared this. 1087 01:00:46,200 --> 01:00:50,280 She says, look around and be distressed, look within, be 1088 01:00:50,280 --> 01:00:54,320 depressed, look at Jesus and be at rest. 1089 01:00:55,880 --> 01:00:58,400 Luke 19 says this. And they as they heard these 1090 01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:01,200 things, he proceeded to tell the parable because he was near to 1091 01:01:01,200 --> 01:01:04,960 Jerusalem and because they suppose that the Kingdom of God 1092 01:01:04,960 --> 01:01:08,280 was to appear immediately. And he said, therefore a 1093 01:01:08,280 --> 01:01:11,840 nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a Kingdom 1094 01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:15,240 and then return calling 10 of his servants. 1095 01:01:15,240 --> 01:01:18,760 He gave them 10 miners and said to them, engage in business 1096 01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:22,760 until I come. Another translation, which is my 1097 01:01:22,760 --> 01:01:26,200 favorite says Occupy till I come. 1098 01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:29,240 That's her job. It can. 1099 01:01:29,280 --> 01:01:32,240 It means to invest until he returns. 1100 01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:35,920 There's our job. We've got to share this with 1101 01:01:35,920 --> 01:01:37,960 other people. We've got to continue. 1102 01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:40,160 We're going to see five people baptized on Sunday. 1103 01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:45,520 We're going to see a statistical anomaly on Sunday in the fact 1104 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:47,960 that there's going to be somebody over 80 years of old 1105 01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:53,920 age baptized on Sunday. You almost never see that and so 1106 01:01:55,200 --> 01:01:57,280 and then we're going to see a couple of younger couples and 1107 01:01:57,280 --> 01:01:59,680 it's just going to be a fun day and what we'll observe the 1108 01:01:59,680 --> 01:02:01,880 Lord's Supper. I think I get to preach for 45 1109 01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:03,880 seconds now. It'll be good. 1110 01:02:03,880 --> 01:02:05,320 It's going to be all fun. It's going to be great. 1111 01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:09,960 But but just the fact that we need to keep sharing and keep 1112 01:02:09,960 --> 01:02:12,560 sharing and keep sharing. I, I got to share the gospel 1113 01:02:12,560 --> 01:02:14,880 with somebody yesterday in my office. 1114 01:02:14,880 --> 01:02:17,040 And so the Lord's just providing opportunities. 1115 01:02:17,600 --> 01:02:20,320 You know, many of you know that I lived in the Philippines for a 1116 01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:24,040 while when I worked with the the mission board. 1117 01:02:24,080 --> 01:02:29,640 And, and because of that, Filipino lore and history are 1118 01:02:29,640 --> 01:02:33,040 something that I've read about. Some of you would know some of 1119 01:02:33,040 --> 01:02:35,480 these stories from World War 2 as well. 1120 01:02:36,400 --> 01:02:39,720 The most famous perhaps being that General Douglas MacArthur 1121 01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:44,000 who had to leave Correhidor Island when it was being 1122 01:02:44,000 --> 01:02:47,480 attacked by the Japanese as they advanced on Manila Bay. 1123 01:02:48,160 --> 01:02:51,720 And he went to Australia. And of course there's a famous 1124 01:02:51,720 --> 01:02:54,720 line by MacArthur. When he got to Australia, you 1125 01:02:54,720 --> 01:02:58,240 know, he, he got on the radio to back to the Filipinos and he 1126 01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:02,800 said, I shall return. And in October 20th, 1944, he 1127 01:03:02,800 --> 01:03:06,640 waded ashore in the Lathi Gulf. I've been to that place where he 1128 01:03:06,640 --> 01:03:09,920 walked ashore as American troops landed to retake the 1129 01:03:09,920 --> 01:03:12,160 Philippines. And then again he got on the 1130 01:03:12,160 --> 01:03:14,320 radio and he addressed the Filipino people. 1131 01:03:14,560 --> 01:03:18,000 I have returned. Listen to this I have returned. 1132 01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,400 We have come dedicated and commitment committed to the task 1133 01:03:21,960 --> 01:03:25,320 of destroying every vestige of enemy control over your daily 1134 01:03:25,320 --> 01:03:29,480 lives, and of restoring upon a foundation of indestructible 1135 01:03:29,480 --> 01:03:31,280 strength the liberties of your people. 1136 01:03:31,720 --> 01:03:33,800 The hour of your redemption is here. 1137 01:03:34,080 --> 01:03:37,400 That no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled. 1138 01:03:37,600 --> 01:03:40,160 The guidance of divine God points the way. 1139 01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:46,520 And may we as a church see our spiritual warfare just as real 1140 01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:49,680 as our Great Commission fulfilment, and that we might 1141 01:03:49,680 --> 01:03:56,000 engage, we might invest and we might occupy until he returns. 1142 01:03:57,040 --> 01:04:01,400 But we've got a world to warn. We've got a world to help set 1143 01:04:01,400 --> 01:04:04,000 free. There's a world out there that 1144 01:04:04,000 --> 01:04:06,000 needs liberation and restoration. 1145 01:04:06,000 --> 01:04:10,040 They're broken, they don't know, and we've got to tell them. 1146 01:04:10,960 --> 01:04:13,960 So I pray that we'll take that very seriously as we ourselves 1147 01:04:14,200 --> 01:04:19,440 discuss, even debate, even argue a little bit about what, when, 1148 01:04:19,440 --> 01:04:21,840 and how. And we'll talk a whole lot more 1149 01:04:21,840 --> 01:04:23,600 about that down the road, I promise. 1150 01:04:24,440 --> 01:04:27,920 But also that we love one another, and we bind together 1151 01:04:27,920 --> 01:04:32,720 with the hope and the truth that Jesus will return for US one day 1152 01:04:33,360 --> 01:04:38,280 and take us home. And we'll be together forever in 1153 01:04:38,280 --> 01:04:43,000 a new state, in a resurrected, glorified, transformed state 1154 01:04:43,520 --> 01:04:46,880 with our Lord and with our loved ones who have gone on before us. 1155 01:04:46,880 --> 01:04:48,320 And he'll join us in that moment. 1156 01:04:48,960 --> 01:04:53,640 And I look forward to that time. So let's pray together. 1157 01:04:54,360 --> 01:04:57,920 Father, we thank you, Lord. Father, I thank you even for the 1158 01:04:57,920 --> 01:05:00,320 difficult details of certain doctrines. 1159 01:05:00,320 --> 01:05:03,360 And I know, Lord, that we really didn't dive deeply enough for 1160 01:05:03,360 --> 01:05:06,360 some here tonight. But Father, we'll get back to 1161 01:05:06,360 --> 01:05:10,360 that as we study your Word systematically, we study the the 1162 01:05:10,360 --> 01:05:13,120 books of the Old Testament and the Gospels in the Book of 1163 01:05:13,120 --> 01:05:15,760 Revelation together. We'll look at these things in 1164 01:05:15,760 --> 01:05:19,000 detail and talk about them as deeply as we possibly can. 1165 01:05:19,840 --> 01:05:22,480 In the meantime, Father, thank you for this overview, this 1166 01:05:22,480 --> 01:05:27,360 challenge to just give us hope. The fact that we don't have to 1167 01:05:27,360 --> 01:05:32,280 fear death, we don't have to fear eternity, but that Father, 1168 01:05:32,280 --> 01:05:37,200 we can know, we can be certain, we can be comforted that Lord, 1169 01:05:37,200 --> 01:05:41,000 you're going to return and you're going to take us home and 1170 01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:44,240 that we're going to be restored and transformed in a way that we 1171 01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:48,160 probably likely can't even imagine with our finite brains 1172 01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:50,920 here. But Lord, in such a glorious 1173 01:05:50,920 --> 01:05:53,200 way. And Father, we just thank you 1174 01:05:53,200 --> 01:05:56,120 for the promises. We thank you for the promises 1175 01:05:56,120 --> 01:05:59,840 that say things like like Jesus says that he goes to prepare a 1176 01:05:59,840 --> 01:06:05,000 place for us and that one day we will be with him there and to 1177 01:06:05,000 --> 01:06:08,960 think about our great intercessor preparing a perfect 1178 01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:12,280 place for us. And Father, I thank you, Lord, 1179 01:06:12,280 --> 01:06:15,080 for the many from every tribe and every tongue and every 1180 01:06:15,080 --> 01:06:17,560 nation that will be there. And the way we're going to 1181 01:06:17,560 --> 01:06:20,480 celebrate together in a great throne room to bring you 1182 01:06:20,480 --> 01:06:24,480 incredible glory as you fulfill your mission and you fulfill 1183 01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:27,400 your purpose. And we walk with you in a new 1184 01:06:27,400 --> 01:06:30,400 way. And father, I thank you for the 1185 01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:33,160 old friends that we'll see. I believe with all my heart. 1186 01:06:33,160 --> 01:06:35,920 The Bible indicates in many places that we're going to be 1187 01:06:35,920 --> 01:06:37,920 able to recognize and know each other. 1188 01:06:38,560 --> 01:06:41,640 We, we may look differently, we may be completely different, but 1189 01:06:41,640 --> 01:06:44,120 we're going to have a, a recognition of one another. 1190 01:06:44,840 --> 01:06:47,560 And father, the Bible just shows us that over and over again. 1191 01:06:48,400 --> 01:06:51,800 And so, Father, in that wonderful time to see relatives 1192 01:06:51,800 --> 01:06:56,040 and friends, Father, heroes, people, we've only read about 1193 01:06:56,640 --> 01:07:00,000 people from the Bible, Lord, to be able to, to see them and know 1194 01:07:00,000 --> 01:07:03,680 them and, and hear from them and walk with them, Lord. 1195 01:07:04,280 --> 01:07:08,320 But Father, far more important than that, far outweighing any 1196 01:07:08,320 --> 01:07:14,920 of that, Father, far, far greater, is to be able to be 1197 01:07:14,920 --> 01:07:21,160 there with you, to see the Lord Jesus, to see you in all your 1198 01:07:21,160 --> 01:07:26,360 glory, and to be able to worship you, to walk into, sing with 1199 01:07:26,360 --> 01:07:31,080 angels to your glory. Father, that ought to change the 1200 01:07:31,080 --> 01:07:34,160 way we live. That ought to change the way we 1201 01:07:34,160 --> 01:07:35,800 think. That ought to change the way we 1202 01:07:35,800 --> 01:07:39,240 hope that our way that change, that ought to change the way we 1203 01:07:39,240 --> 01:07:42,480 invest and engage. We need to occupy till you come 1204 01:07:42,480 --> 01:07:45,960 back. We have so much work to do, or 1205 01:07:45,960 --> 01:07:50,080 there are thousands and thousands and thousands of 1206 01:07:50,080 --> 01:07:52,520 people right around us who don't know any of this. 1207 01:07:52,880 --> 01:07:57,080 Don't believe any of this. And Father, we have it and we 1208 01:07:57,080 --> 01:07:59,680 know it. We have to authentically, 1209 01:07:59,680 --> 01:08:04,640 relationally share that with them, lovingly to them so that 1210 01:08:04,640 --> 01:08:08,480 they might come and join us to study your word, to worship you, 1211 01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:12,200 to pray, to serve so that we might be ready. 1212 01:08:12,800 --> 01:08:16,240 And Father, we're watching, we're hoping, we're expecting. 1213 01:08:17,359 --> 01:08:19,359 Lord, it would be great if you return tonight. 1214 01:08:20,080 --> 01:08:22,840 Be great if it happened tomorrow, but Lord, if we're 1215 01:08:22,840 --> 01:08:25,680 still here, that means that there are others we must tell, 1216 01:08:26,319 --> 01:08:28,000 and there's still a job to get done. 1217 01:08:28,760 --> 01:08:31,040 So Lord, as long as we're here, let us work. 1218 01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:35,279 Work to fulfill your mission. Thank you, Father, for these 1219 01:08:35,279 --> 01:08:36,800 truths. Thank you for the hope and 1220 01:08:36,800 --> 01:08:39,479 comfort it must have brought to those original brand new 1221 01:08:39,479 --> 01:08:44,000 believers in Thessalonica, and the very same hope and joy and 1222 01:08:44,000 --> 01:08:49,000 comfort it brings to us today. So, Father, thank you and bless 1223 01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:51,040 us. Please look forward to what's 1224 01:08:51,040 --> 01:08:53,520 happening this Sunday. And I pray, Father, if anybody's 1225 01:08:53,520 --> 01:08:55,800 listening to this and they don't have a church on, they'll come 1226 01:08:55,800 --> 01:08:58,080 to Inglewood and see what you're doing because you're doing 1227 01:08:58,359 --> 01:09:01,279 you're doing here at Inglewood. And we're just trying to stay 1228 01:09:01,279 --> 01:09:04,120 out of your way. And then and Father, be used by 1229 01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:09,359 you and bring you glory in Christ's name, Amen. 1230 01:09:09,640 --> 01:09:14,880 Thank you all so much. Thank you so much for listening 1231 01:09:14,880 --> 01:09:16,479 today. And I also hope that you'll go 1232 01:09:16,479 --> 01:09:18,720 to ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 1233 01:09:18,720 --> 01:09:21,760 as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless 1234 01:09:21,760 --> 01:09:23,960 you and your families. Thank you once again.