All Pain: What if We Do Nothing?

I do not mean to preach these truths abstractly, because the Bible is describing real events with real-life consequences that will occur to people we know and love. Our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues…maybe even your children.

VIEWING THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IMPACTED BY THE TRIBULATION PERIOD IS THE ONLY LENS THROUGH WHICH WE SHOULD VIEW THE END-TIMES.

ILL. Angelina in Bethlehem- cufflinks- Where are you from? Nashville. I would love to go to Nashville but I cannot. I’m a prisoner. MEETING Angelina personalized the Arab-Israeli conflict like nothing else had ever done before. When Marie and I looked into her tear-filled eyes, I started thinking less an less of what I had heard or seen on the news and thought more about what it would be like to be Angelina— to suffer without any hope of escape.

That is what it means to view end-times, and hopelessness is what it looks like for those for whom we do nothing!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:13,“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

THINK FOR A MOMENT TODAY ABOUT SALT. SALT PRESERVES FROM ROT AND RUIN, BUT IT MUST COME IN CONTACT WITH AN AGENT IN ORDER TO BE EFFECTIVE.

all salt— no agent— no effective

some salt- more agent- impactful

BE CAREFUL HERE….too much agent and not enough salt— will spoil

no salt- all agent- ruin will be quick and rancid

What’s the World Coming To?

a rejection of Jesus Christ

Jesus in 4 and 5-

Jesus in Revelation 19:11–16 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

THAT’S WHO HE IS!

The world is turning from the knowledge of God. Three stages to secularism:

Mohler

impossible not to believe

possible to not believe

impossible to believe

Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”

Carl Henry said in 1983, “The alternatives are clear: either we return to the God of the Bible or we perish in the pit of lawlessness.”

WE MUST NOT GIVE UP! MOHLER: “Explicit truth-telling is the church’s reason for being. The God of the Bible has sent his church into the world to tell the truth about Himself— about his laws and commands, about his grace and love, and most important, about the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

an acceptance of false Christs

a rider on a white horse-

sits on a white steed- symbol of power to conquer

has a crown- symbol of dominion

a bow and no arrow- symbol of power

THIS IS NOT JESUS!

This is false Christ!

anti-

1 John 2:18 “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

1 John 4:3 “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

pseudo-

Matthew 24:24 “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”

Mark 13:22 “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.”

THIS FALSE CHRIST IS NOT THE RIDER IN REVELATION 19…

ANTICHRIST- comes in on a peace program and goes on a war campaign

Jesus- comes in on a war campaign and goes out on an eternal peace program

Adrian Rogers: He will be Satan’s superman and will be all of the Caesars, Napoleons, Hitlers, Stalins, Sadam Husseins all rolled into one.

John 5:43 “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”

WHAT WILL THIS NEW WORLD LOOK LIKE?

Four Horsemen:

white- crown- 1st seal- 6:1-2- ANTICHRIST-

Revelation 13:16–18 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

red- sword- 2nd seal- 6:3-4- ENMITY AND WAR

Matthew 24:6 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”

Ezekiel 38:21-23— And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

YOU CANNOT HAVE PEACE WITHOUT JESUS!

black- balances- 3rd seal- 6:5-6- FAMINE Writing in this newspaper, A. Barton Hinkle noted that “while the Soviet Union is no more and communism has been discredited in most eyes for many years, it is hard even now to grasp the sheer scale of agony imposed by the brutal ideology of collectivism.” Indeed. “The Black Book of Communism,” a postmortem of communist atrocities compiled by European and American academics in 1997, concluded that the human cost of genocides, extrajudicial executions, deportations, and artificial famines stood at over 94 million. Professor Mark Kramer from the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University edited “The Black Book.” Subsequent research, he told me, suggests that “the total number (of people) who died unnatural deaths under communist regimes … (is) upward of 80 million.””

Pale- death and hell- 4th seal- 6:7-8 25% OF POPULATION WILL PERISH!

5th seal- eradication and martyrdom- 6:9-11

souls saved during the Tribulation

Matthew 24:9 “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”

decapitation, Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

2 Thessalonians 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:”

souls will be saved in Tribulation but those living under grace and exposure to the gospel will not be saved in Tribulation

If you hear the truth and turn away from it, YOU WILL BELIEVE A LIE

6th seal- unraveling- 6:12-14

earthquakes

sun turned off

moon will hang like a clot of blood

stars will fall

asteroids will hit the planet

HOW? JESUS IS NOT HERE HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER!

Colossians 1:16–17 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Make Christ personal

There is a great tribulation coming, but there is a way of escape and His name is Jesus!

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Don’t trust Him because you want to escape judgment; trust Him because He is the way of God, the truth of God and the life of God! Don’t trust Him because you think you might need Him then— trust Him because you need Him now!!!!

preach Christ passionately

model holiness purposefully

holiness is NOT the enemy of evangelism: compromise is!

ILL. LBS AND JEWISH SCHOOL- we didn’t think you guys were like that!