5 - God's Glorious Coming

•Some years ago,

•the writer William Saroyan,

•was interviewed

•shortly before he died.

•Knowing he was dying,

•he said to the Associated Press,

•"Everybody has got to die,

•but I've always thought

•that an exception

•might be made

•in my case."

•And then he asked

•an interesting question.

•"Now what?"

Now there's a question.

Now what?

What happens

when you die?

•Tonight we look

•at that question,

•a question that actually

•has a major bearing

•on how we live.

•You know

•as well as I do

•that people have

•many different ideas

•about this.

•Some believe:

•Heave or hell

•purgatory.

•that's it – nothing

•reincarnation.

•pray to the dead.

•How can we know?

•What really happens

•when a person dies?

•The Bible,

•unravels the mystery of death.

•In the Book of Revelation,

•this is major issue

•shortly before the close of time.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Revelation 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

•Just about every religion

•asks two questions:

•“What happens

•to the dead?”

•and

•“What will happen

•at the end?”

•Christianity is no different,

•and the Book of Revelation

•highlights these two topics.

•“What will happen

•to the dead?”

•and

•“What happens

•at the very end

•of the world?”

•William Saroyan asked.

•"Now what?"

•The best way to understand

•a person's end

•is to understand

•a person's beginning.

•Let’s to the beginning:

•Genesis.

GENESIS 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

•God took:

•the dust of the ground,

•and added to it

•the breath of life.

•The result was

•a human being,

•or as the Bible says,

•“a living soul.”

•What you notice is:

•God did not

•create the man

•and give him a soul.

•What He created

•was a living soul.

•Biblically speaking,

•a person is a living soul,

•and that’s very important.

•The Bible speaks

•about death a lot.

•It’s an intruder

•into this universe,

•an uninvited guest,

•one that brings

•deep pain and anguish.

Psalm 146:4 "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”

•Notice something there.

•According to the Bible,

•when a person dies,

•that person’s thoughts perish.

•So put very simply,

•the dust of the ground

•plus the breath of life

•is what makes

•a living soul.

•When a person dies,

•that breath

•goes back to God.

•And what is that breath?

•It's not something

•living or conscious.

•It's not something

•capable of thinking.

•Remember,

•at Creation human beings

•were not given a soul.

•A person is a living soul.

•In the book of Acts

•you read that

•3,000 souls were baptized

•in one day.

•Luke wrote

•of 276 souls

•being in a boat.

•Revelation speaks of

•a time when

•“every living soul

•died in the sea.”

•We're not talking about ghosts,

•but living creatures

•in which is the breath of life.

•You might refer to

•Auntie Ethel and say,

•"Auntie Ethel

•was a dear old soul."

•And you mean

•she was a sweet lady.

•Correctly understood,

•a soul is a living being.

•A soul isn’t something

•you possess.

•Well,

•if we don't have a soul,

•what do we have then?

•Do we have a spirit?

•Let's find out.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 says: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it."

•Now upon a cursory reading,

•one might come to

•the erroneous conclusion

•that we have a spirit

•that leaves our bodies

•when we die

•and goes back to God.

•But look at what

•Job 27:3 says.

•It says,

"All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils."

•We see that

•when the Bible talks about

•our breath going back to God

•and our spirit going back to God,

•it's referring to

•one and the same thing.

Ruah -

means

spirit

breath

•A man who dies

•is said to have

•“breathed his last.”

•So where does

•the breath go?

•Strictly speaking,

•it just goes

•out into the air.

•Symbolically speaking,

•that breath goes

•back to God.

•That breath,

•that spirit,

• that life spark ...

•When you die,

•God retains that,

•and He has the ability

•to make you live again.

•If we take our equation

•and we flip it over,

•we see that

•the dust of the ground

•minus the breath of life

•leaves us with

•a dead body.

•Where's the soul?

•The soul has simply

•ceased to exist.

•Now as plain as this is

•in the Bible,

•it can be a challenge

•to get your head around

•because of what

•you might have been

•taught as a child.

•Many of us

•were raised to believe

•that we possess

•“an immortal soul.“

•But in the Bible,

•you won’t find

•any mention anywhere

•of an immortal soul.

•No place.

•In fact,

•the Bible says

•in 1 Timothy 6,

"He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see."

•Only God has immortality.

1 Timothy 1:17: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

•Only God is immortal.

•It wouldn't be possible

•for you or me

•to have an immortal soul.

•Because if we did,

•then we would be immortal.

•The Bible says

•only God has immortality.

•You will find the word

•"soul" or “spirit”

•in the Bible 1,500 times,

•but never do you read

•about it in the context

•of the soul being immortal.

•In fact,

•Romans 2:7 tell us

•that immortality is something

•that we seek after.

•If we had it already,

•we wouldn't seek after it.

•Ezekiel 18:4 says,

•"The soul who sins shall die,"

•not live on.

•Not keep thinking,

•but die.

•God was so strong

•on this,

•he repeated Himself

•16 verses later

•in verse 20

•and said again

•that the soul that sins

•will die.

•How then did we

•get to the place

•when so many people believe

•that when you die,

•you go on living?

•They believe

You go to

•heaven

•or hell

•or limbo

•or purgatory

•or you're reincarnated.

•How did we get here?

•That’s the way

•it’s portrayed

•in the media

•and in pop culture.

•People living

•after they die,

•dying and going to heaven,

•ghosts coming back

•and communicating with the dead.

•Where did it begin?

•It began

•in the Garden of Eden,

•when Lucifer said to Eve,

•"You will not surely die!"

•Unfortunately,

•you have people who

•base their beliefs

•on their experiences

•or the experiences of others

•more than on the Word of God.

•The Bible makes it very clear

•that human beings are mortal.

•But you’ve heard of

•out-of-body experiences,

•or near-death experiences?

•It’s often said

•that these experiences

•are evidence that

•we have a soul

•that can depart our body.

•One young lady

•told about a time

•when she and some friends

•were doing drugs,

•and she passed out.

•Her friends thought

•she was dead

•and dumped her body

•behind a hedge.

•Good friends, I suppose.

•She said

•while she was behind the hedge,

•her soul left her body

•and she looked down on herself

•and she could see

•what was going on.

•Somebody else told me

•about being in an accident

•and then loaded into

•the back of an ambulance.

•He said that

•on the way to the hospital

•his soul left his body

•and followed the ambulance.

•He could see

•everything that was going on.

•These out-of-body experiences,

•these near-death experiences

•occur and people say,

•"Here's the evidence.

•I experienced it myself,

•and so it must be true.

•We have a soul

•that leaves our body.”

•Now one thing

•that I would like

•to point out

•is that people who

•have near-death experiences

•typically have them

•when they're under great stress—

•on a hospital table

•in the operating room.

•Maybe their body is

•being pumped full of drugs,

•their life is hanging

•by a thread,

•and they have a

•near-death

•or out-of-body

•experience.

•Pilots in centrifuges,

•under tremendous

•amounts of g-forces,

•have been known

•to have these

•out of body experiences.

•Stimulate a certain region

•of the cerebral cortex

•and you can have

•an out of body experience.

High school Passing each other out.

•But you never hear

•of anybody who was

•on the beach in Cancun,

•sunglasses on,

•sitting back in a reclining chair

•with a multicolored drink

•with a little umbrella in it

•and having an

•out of body experience.

•You never heard

•a librarian say,

•“Well, it was a particularly

•quiet Thursday morning,

•and then I had an

•out of body experience.”

•It's people who are under

•great stress who experience this.

•What does that tell us?

•Look at this statement

•from The Washington Post.

•It says,

"A new study suggests these ‘out-of-body’ and ‘near-death’ experiences may be influenced by a portion of the brain misfiring under stress."

•If I ate a lemon

•hear in front of you.

•Everyone’s mouth

•would start watering.

•Why?

•You are not tasting it.

•We all know that

•people's minds can do

•strange things to them.

•Under certain circumstances

•you can sense the strangest things.

•The brain is

•a marvelous organ.

•If you just put it under

•the right or the wrong conditions,

•the result is out-of-body experiences.

•It does not suggest

•to us that we have

•a soul that leaves

•our body.

•It's simply the brain

•playing tricks on you,

•and that would be consistent

•with what we read

•in the Bible.

•Let's dig

•just a little deeper

•in the Bible

•about the mystery

•of death.

•We must understand it.

•Peter was preaching

•at Pentecost,

• and said under the inspiration

•of the Holy Spirit of God,

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day." (Acts 2:29)

•Let’s stop right there.

•So where's David?

•In the ground,

•dead and buried.

•He’s in his sepulcher.

•Then verse 34

•says these words.

•And this is Peter,

•the spirit of God

•is moving upon him,

•and he says,

•“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand.’”

•I'd be willing to at assume

•that you're expecting

•that when you get to heaven,

•you'll see King David there.

•Yet Peter said

•David isn't in heaven,

•but he’s in the grave.

•At funerals you’ll hear it

•said that you can

•be happy because

•“Grandpa is in the presence of God

•and he's praising the Lord.”

•We might like that thought,

•but it's not biblical.

•In fact,

•it's directly opposed

•to what the Bible says.

Psalm 115:17, says, "The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence."

•The Bible says

•it's quiet down there

•in the grave.

•Not one whose funeral

•you have attended

•is praising the Lord.

•So what are they doing?

•Let's find out,

•as Jesus Himself

•clarifies the mystery of death.

•Jesus is with his disciples.

•Word has come

•that his good friend,

•Lazarus is sick.

•In speaking to the disciples,

•the Bible says,

“These things He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’”

•How did the

•disciples respond?

“Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’" However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead."

•Notice,

•Jesus equated death

•with sleep.

•When we die,

•we don't immediately

•go to heaven,

•nor do we immediately

•go to hell.

•Instead,

•we are,

•as it were,

•resting in the arms

•of Jesus,

•waiting for the resurrection.

•This is a comforting thought.

•Lazarus was resting

•Waiting for the resurrection.

•Now I understand

•why someone

•would want to believe

•Grandma is in heaven.

•But if you stop

•and think about it,

•that's not as comforting

•a thought as

•you might want.

•How much joy

•would Grandma get

•out of seeing Grandpa

•battling a debilitating disease?

•Heaven wouldn't be

•very heavenly

•if you have

•to behold everybody's problems

•on the Earth.

•You might see

•your children throwing away

•their lives from

•your place in heaven.

•No, God has

• a better plan.

•So let’s see

•what happens next.

•They come down

•to the tomb of Lazarus.

•Jesus asks them

•to open it.

•They say,

•it has been 4 days

•it will stink…

•But they do it

•because Jesus

•asked them to.

“Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’”

•Where was Lazarus?

•In the tomb.

•Not in heaven;

•not in hell;

•in the tomb.

•Jesus said,

•"Lazarus, come forth,"

•and he did.

•This was a foreshadowing

•of what would happen

•in cemeteries

•all around the world,

•when graves

•will burst open.

•Can you imagine

•what that will be like?

•Death cannot stop

•the great gettin’-up-morning

•that will happen

•when Jesus returns.

•There's a great Physician

•and His name is Christ.

•He is the cure

•for death.

•1 Corinthians 15 says,

•"The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”

•Death is an enemy.

•It will take us all

•if Jesus does not

•come back,

•in spite of

•our best efforts.

•The longest life

•lived in recent years

•has been 122 years—

•a lady in France.

•Lately,

•no one's gotten close.

•And that doesn't seem right.

•God created us

•to live forever.

•Death gets in the way.

•But Jesus will return,

•and the dead in Christ

•shall rise because Jesus says,

•“I am the resurrection

•and the life."

•Notice what David said in

•Psalm 17:15. He said,

•"I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness.”

•He knew that

•he was going to sleep

•between this world

•and the next.

In Daniel 12:2, we read,

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

•This is why Paul says,

•"Behold, we shall not all sleep. I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them which are asleep."

•In fact,

•in more than 50 places,

•the Bible calls death

•a sleep,

•and this brings peace.

•And keep this in mind.

•The person who dies

•is unaware of

•the passage of time.

•When you go to sleep

•the next thing you’re aware of

•is the alarm sounding

•or the rooster crowing.

•You don't say,

•"Oh, man.

•That took a long time."

•You are more likely

•to say,

•"Where did the time go?”

•Time flies

•when you're sleeping.

•The next thing

•a person who dies

•will be aware of

•is the return of Jesus.

•The Word of God says in

Ecclesiastes 9:5, "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten."

•The dead die.

•They sleep,

•totally ignorant of

•everything that's

•going on six feet above.

•The living know

•that they will die,

•but the dead

•know nothing.

•You see,

•the devil is a deceiver.

•Jesus called him

•“a liar and the father of lies."

•Spiritualism is

•the idea that

•when you die,

•you go on living

•in another form,

•or you come back,

•or you're floating

•out there some place,

•or you communicate

•with the living.

•Spiritualism is

•one of Satan's greatest deceptions.

•He lied to Adam and Eve

•in the Garden of Eden

•when he said,

"You will not surely die!"

•Today a lot of people,

•even people in the church,

•side with the devil

•on this one.

•They don't believe

•that when you die,

•you're really dead,

•but instead

•when you die,

•you go on living

•in some form.

•This is why people

•participate in a séances.

•They think they're

•going to talk to

•their loved ones.

•They think the dead

•are still alive.

•People believe that

•the dead go back

•to their homes

•and dwell there

•and inhabit them

•and visit their family members.

•But that's not true.

•That cannot be right.

Job 7:9–10 (ESV)

As the cloud fades and vanishes,

so he who goes down to Sheol does not come up;

he returns no more to his house,

nor does his place know him anymore.

Sheol...

Hebrew word

untranslated

what does it mean

Few versions

translate to English

accurately, I add:

Job 7:9–10 (NIV)

As a cloud vanishes and is gone,

so one who goes down to the grave does not return.

He will never come to his house again;

his place will know him no more.

Sheol = grave

some have created

weird ideas

about where people go

because of this word.

Center of earth

limbo

p… (catholic church)

•This bible verse

•is clear.

•People who die

•don’t go back

•to their house.

•There is no such thing

•as house haunted

•by a dead person.

•On the other hand,

•because Satan wants

•to deceive,

•it is possible that

•Satan could “haunt” a place.

•Which makes you wonder

•about Halloween,

•doesn’t it?

•You might call it

•just harmless fun,

•but in reality

•it’s a gigantic celebration

•of spiritualism,

•instilling in people

•the idea that when you die,

•you're not really dead.

•And all that does

•is lead people to

•believe a lie,

•and open people up

•to deception.

•The book of Revelation

•makes it plain,

•when you get down

•to that last days of Earth's history,

•there is a massive deception

•that's going to take place.

Revelation 16:13 says, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

•There will be

•a monumental deception

•in the end of time.

•Can you think of

•a deception more powerful

•than having someone

•come back from the dead,

•especially as the entire world

•has been conditioned

•to believe this.

•Imagine a departed child

•running to a parent.

•"Daddy, daddy,

•God has a message for you.”

•If you were in

•that situation,

•imagine how convincing

•it would be.

•According to what we see

•in the Bible,

•spiritualistic manifestations

•will be prevalent.

•If we believe

•the dead don't die,

•we have set ourselves up

•to be deceived.

Those with the correct

understanding about death

will not be deceive

as easily.

•In the apocalypse of Matthew

•Jesus describes

•the last days.

•In the chapter

•five times he says,

•“do not be deceived…”

•That must mean,

•there will be

•a lot of deception

•going on in

•the last days.

•I suggest,

•at least part of it,

•will have to do

•with this misunderstanding

•about the dead.

•The Bible says,

•we can be sure,

•the dead are sleeping.

•They are waiting for,

•the resurrection.

•But,

•When does that all happen?

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

•Continue.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

•According to this passage,

•the resurrection happens

•at the second coming.

•But, what will

•the second coming

•be like?

•Right before

•leaving this earth,

•Jesus gave us

•a clue about what

•His second coming

•would be like.

•This is what happened

•at His ascension,

•when He left to

•go back to heaven.

Acts 1:9 says, "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

•Keep those two words,

•cloud and sight,

•in mind.

“And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

•That's clear.

•The first thing

•that we learn

•about the 2nd coming is:

•The return of Jesus

•will be a literal event.

•It will really be Jesus.

•He will really

•come back.

•Just as He went,

•He will return

•the same way.

•It's literal.

•The cloud took

•Him up out of their sight.

•Notice Revelation 1:7,

•which says,

"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him."

•Notice that.

•He's coming with clouds.

•He went up with clouds.

•He's coming back

•the same way he went.

•And it also says

•very clearly

•that every eye

•will see him.

•The return of Jesus

•is going to be

•a visible event.

•Matthew 24:30 says,

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

•Notice:

•They see Him,

•and there are clouds.

•Sometimes,

•where there are clouds,

•there are other

•additional exciting

•atmospheric phenomena.

•Matthew 24:27 says:

"For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

•Can you miss lightning?

•You'll even see it

•in the daytime.

•You can even see it

•with your eyes shut.

•There's no way

•you're going to miss

•the return of Jesus.

•The return of Jesus

•is going to be

•literal and visible.

•We already read

•this verse but

•we are going to

•read it again.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 says: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

•That passage we

•just read could be

•the noisiest passage

•in the entire Bible.

•The Lord comes back

•with a shout,

•not a whimper or a whisper.

•What instrument is

•He portrayed as playing?

•The trumpet.

•A loud instrument.

•The return of

•Jesus will be

•literal,

•visible,

•audible.

•You will hear

•the return of Jesus.

•But it gets better.

•The Bible says

•in Psalm 50:3,

•"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him."

•When Jesus comes back,

•it will be literal,

•it will be visible,

•it will be audible, and

•it will be glorious.

•What an event

•this is going to be!

•The world will see

•Jesus come back!

•The cosmos

•will be shaken,

•and a people

•who have waited

•so long to see

•their Savior are going

•to see Him come back

•in power

•and in majesty.

•What a wonderful thing

•to look forward to!

•We don't know exactly

•when He will return,

•but Jesus did give us

•some clues about

•what it will be like

•when he does.

•There is a teaching

•that says there is

•really two phases

•in which the people

•leave this world

•and go to heaven.

•They say,

•the first phase

•people who are ready

•to leave this world,

•are secretly raptured

• from this world.

•Then the 7 year

•tribulation begins.

•Then everyone else

•has a second chance

•to come to God.

•Then God finally

•comes back in glory.

•This theory has been

•popularized by books

•such as the

•Left Behind Series.

•According to their

•own advertisement,

•it has sold over

•15,000,000 copies.

•But here is a question:

•“How does it stack up

•to the world of God?”

•People that support

•this theology

•use two groups of

•verses to support

•their ideas.

•There are numerous verses

•that talk about the

•Day of Jesus coming

•being like a

•thief in the night.

•Lets take a sampling

•of them and see

•what they say

•and

•what they don’t say.

•Remember

•we have already learned

•that Jesus coming is

•LITERAL,

•VISIBLE,

•AUDIBLE,

•AND GLORIOUS.

•How do we relate this

•to the concept

•of a secret rapture?

•In Matthew 24:42

•Jesus said,

"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

•If you know

•when the thief is coming,

•you watch, don't you?

•This passage speaks

•to us about

•not the timing

•of Jesus’ coming,

•but it tells us

•to watch and be ready,

•whenever it is

•that Jesus returns.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 says,

"For you yourselves know perfectly that the DAY of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night."

•How does a thief come?

•Does he call first?

•No,

•in the same way,

•God is not going to

•pronounce to anyone

•the day or the hour

•of His coming.

•If you really want to know

•how the Day that Jesus

•“as a thief”

• let’s read the next verse.

2 Peter 3:10. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up."

•According to this,

•what happens

•when Jesus comes?

•As a result of Jesus coming,

•“the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

•That does not sound

•very secretive to me!

•It is only like a thief,

•because we don’t know

•the day or the hour!

•Back in Matthew 24

•Verse 36 says:

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."

•This is the other verse

•that people use

•to teach the rapture.

•They say,

•“see, they were together,

•then one just disappeared.

•That is how

•the rapture will be.”

•But, is that really

•how it happened

•in the days of Noah?

•In Noah's day,

•everybody was invited

•on the ark.

•Nobody mysteriously disappeared.

•A few got on,

•but most did not.

•Those on the ark

•were safe and saved.

•Those not on the ark

•were lost, tragically.

•Jesus said,

•"As it was in the days of Noah, that's how it's going to be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man."

•Two in the field.

•One taken, one left.

•Luke’s version explains:

Luke 17:34–37 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”

And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

•They ask where?

•Where are they taken?

•Jesus answers:

•corpses eaten

•by vultures.

•Those taken

•are destroyed.

•Taken to death.

•You may be wondering,

•where do people

•get the idea

•that there will be

•a 7 yeartribulation from?

•In our last meeting

•we studied Daniel 9.

•It talks about

•a prophecy of

•the coming Messiah.

•It describes how

•Jesus would die

•in the last seven years

•of the prophecy.

•Some people take

•this exact same chapter

•and apply it to the

• end of the world.

•Thy say,

•the first 69 weeks

•talk about the coming

•of the Messiah.

•Then they insert

•a huge gap

•of over 2000 years.

•They say,

•the last week goes

•to the end of time.

•They say it

•has to do with

•the second coming.

•They apply

•the last week

•to the antichrist

•instead of Jesus Christ.

•They teach,

•the rapture happens

•before the

•7 years of tribulation

•People are left

•on the earth

•for second chance.

•This is very interesting.

•If you ask,

•“where do you get the idea

•that there is a gap

•in the prophecy?

•The answer is…

•No where…

•It is not in the Bible!!!

•It comes from

•their theology –

•Dispensationalism.

•It teaches

•Jews were God’s people.

•They are the

•first dispensation.

•But in the NT

•the Christian church

•is God’s people.

•They teach that

•there are lots of promises

•God made to

•the people of Israel

•that were not yet fulfilled.

•So, at the end of time,

• God will restore

•His original people

•– the Jews –

•to their original position.

•During the last 7 years

•the temple will be rebuilt

•and there will be peace on earth.

There are a few problems with this.

1.The second coming is not secret.

2.There is no reason to insert a gap.

3.The apocalyptic prophecies do not talk about peace on earth in the sense they are talking about (tomorrow we are going to explain the prediction of peace on earth from Revelation chapter 20).

4.The prophecy was a prediction of probation for the Jews. It does not talk about them getting a second chance.

5.The bible does not teach the idea that people get a second chance at the end of the world.

6.People like the rapture theory because it means God’s true people don’t have to go through the final tribulation.

•There are some lessons

•we need to get

•from the bible

•about tribulation.

•Did God keep

•Shadrack, Meshack, and Abed-nego

•from going into the fire?

•No he protected them

•through the fire.

•Did God keep

•Daniel from being thrown

•into the lions den?

•No,

•He protected Daniel

•through it.

•Did God keep

•his saints from being martyred?

•Not always.

•But he was

•with them through it.

•There is absolutely

•no promise in the Bible

•that God’s people

•will not go through

•the last days.

•On the contrary,

•the Bible talks repeatedly

•about God’s people

•going through tribulation.

Daniel 12:1 “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

•This is not talking

•about being delivered

•from tribulation

•but through tribulation.

•When Jesus comes back,

•there'll be two groups

•on Earth.

•One group has

•given their life to Christ.

•One hasn't.

•If you read

•in Revelation 6,

•one group of people

•calls out to the mountains and rocks,

• and they say,

•“Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

•Then there's another group.

•They have come

•to know Jesus personally.

•And you can be

•in that group!

•Rich or poor,

•black or white,

•intelligent or not,

•educated or uneducated.

•What makes the difference

•is whether or not

•you have faith in Jesus.

•This group of people

•has faith in Jesus,

•and when Jesus

•comes back,

•you know what they say?

Isaiah 25:9 It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

•What group will

•you be part of?

•Will you decide

•with me tonight

•to be part

•of the group

•that are ready?

Closing Song

Decision Card

Closing Prayer

Refreshments