Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 30, 2022 | End Times: Follow the Signs with Patty Diliberto - Session 9: The End and The Beginning

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March 30, 2022 | End Times: Follow the Signs with Patty Diliberto - Session 9: The End and The Beginning · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

0:00
SPEAKER_00: There's so much that we have to look at tonight.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be talking as fast as I can.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, this lesson is like the others.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: I wish that we had weeks to unpack this and not just one week.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: But I didn't realize how much information would truly be every week that we would have to digest.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: But my goodness, this is not a 10-week study.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: It's just not.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: But I'm doing the best.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: We're doing the best we can.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: So let's pray and ask God to help us.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Father, we just thank you so much.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: We're so grateful that you have given us your word and that you want us to know, you want us to be informed.
0:45
SPEAKER_00: And so, God, we we ask you to come and unpack this for us for whatever level that we are at that we could understand and take it in.
0:55
SPEAKER_00: And we need your spirit to do that because it's just beyond us in so many ways.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: And so we do ask that you would come and manifest yourself here with us.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: That you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you want us to hear.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: And we pray this in Jesus' name.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay, what we have seen up to this point.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, no, just actually last week.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: I should preface that.
1:20
SPEAKER_00: Last, well, the last two weeks.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: We saw the seal judgments.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Remember all of that, and all of the turmoil, all of the plagues, all of the everything that is happening during that.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Then we saw the trumpet judgments, more of the same, just um calamity on top of calamity.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Then we saw the bold judgments.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: That was last week that we looked at that.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: And it really is disaster upon disaster, and then it's picking up in intensity, and it's just picking up and picking up.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: And now, after all that happens, and that happens in about a three to five year period, probably more like a three-year period, is where all of those things are happening.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: But we don't know specifically when the SEAL judgments start.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: But can you imagine how totally traumatized the people are going to be at this point?
2:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, talk about PTSD.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: PTSD, yes.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: PTSD, yes.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: I said that right.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: But uh how how amazingly hard and difficult this is gonna be.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: And now, after all of that, there's a rumor and talk of a large-scale invasion about to happen.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: War is imminent for these people.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: I just can't even imagine.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: We'll look at the last battle, Armageddon.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Something I didn't realize before I started studying this is that Revelation 16, 16 is surprisingly the only place in the Bible where the word Armageddon is used.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: How many of you knew that?
3:02
SPEAKER_00: Wow, Elizabeth knew that.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: Good job.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: I never, I did not know that.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: It's such a popular term, and everybody kind of knows it, that you would expect that it would be it would be mentioned in there.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Now the war and the battle is talked about, but it the word is not is not used.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: It is a name that originates in the Hebrew, and it's the word harmegedto, and har means mount, and Meghetto means slaughter, so the mount of slaughter is the meaning of the word.
3:31
SPEAKER_00: And typically most theologians say that this represents the valley of Meghetto, about 80 miles north of Jerusalem.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Um, but in the Unseen Realm, Michael Heiser's book, he makes a defense for that the battle takes place in Jerusalem.
3:48
SPEAKER_00: And wherever it starts, it ends up in Jerusalem.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: And it may, in fact, the whole battle may be in Jerusalem.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: The Antichrist, who is the self-appointed ruler, who we have seen before, begins to lose popularity at this point.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: And the world becomes increasingly dissatisfied with him and are ready to turn against him.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: He will have gone back on every promise that he made, of course, because he's a liar and his father is a liar.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: As a result, different parts of the world are fed up with him and they muster their armed forces to rebel against the Antichrist.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: As we read, we read about this in Daniel 11, 40.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him, Antichrist, that's Antichrist, in battle, and the king of the north will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Theologian John Wolver says that a great army from Africa will attack the Middle East from the south.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: And at the same time, Russia and other armies from the north, probably the Allies up there, from the north, will mobilize to descend on the Holy Land and challenge and challenge the world dictator.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: Although Russia will have had a severe setback four years before that, she will have been able to recoup her losses enough to put another army in the field.
5:21
SPEAKER_00: That's John Wolver.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Mark Hitchcock says Armageddon is not a single battle.
5:27
SPEAKER_00: People refer to the Battle of Armageddon as if it's one single conflict, but it is actually a war or campaign involving a series of battles in the land of Israel.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Scripture does not say why a massive army assembles in Israel, but we know Satan's plan is to try to finally eradicate the Jewish people in this climactic war at the end of the Great Tribulation.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: We know that's his agenda, right?
5:53
SPEAKER_00: He's tried every way all through history to do it.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: But God, however, has the upper hand as he always does.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: And we read about it in Revelation.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
6:08
SPEAKER_00: Yep, okay, let me just read it.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: Revelation, oh, Revelation 14, 17 through 20 talks about an angel with a sickle that comes down to the earth and gathers the enemies of God and throws them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: Remember those verses?
6:28
SPEAKER_00: This campaign is energized by Satan and will be his last ditch effort to get rid of the Jews and to thwart God's promises from finding fulfillment, right?
6:40
SPEAKER_00: Because he's always wanted to thwart God's promises and God's agenda.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: He knows Jesus is coming.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: He knows, he knows truly how short his time is now.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: And he knows that Jesus is about to come back and set up his kingdom.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: So Satan is feverishly working to hinder that from happening.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want to lose his kingdom here on earth, which he knows he will.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: Putting all of the major pieces of the Battle of Armageddon together in chronological order is really difficult because there's just really not enough information that's given.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: There's so many unknowns.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: But this is how it could transpire, okay?
7:24
SPEAKER_00: But no one knows for sure.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: The first phase, the Euphrates River, dries up.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: We know that happens, and that's with the angel, the sixth angel who comes and pours out his pours out his his bowl on the land.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: And the Euphrates runs throughout the Muslim territory, right?
7:48
SPEAKER_00: To the east of Israel, and so these armies could represent modern-day Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and even as far east as China.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: This could be where China invades them.
8:02
SPEAKER_00: The second phase is Antichrist allies assemble to annihilate the Jews once and for all.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: The third phase, Jesus Christ returns personally to the Mount of Olives.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: And the fourth phase, Christ destroys the armies gathered against Jerusalem in the valley of Jehoshaphat.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: That's in Zechariah 12, 1 through 9, is what explains that.
8:27
SPEAKER_00: Mark Hitchcock again says, earlier, when the Antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel and sets up the abomination of desolation, a third of the Jewish people will flee to the hills and to the wilderness, where they will be supernaturally protected by God for three and a half years from the ravages of Antichrist.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: And at that time, the scriptures seem to indicate that it's at the rock city of Petra where they flee to, which is in modern Jordan.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: And so this is, you know, this is the time in Matthew 24 where Jesus is telling them, don't go back into the house to get anything, take anything, you know, don't take your phones with you.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say that, but don't take your tracking devices with you so that nobody can find you.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: But that's what he means.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: That's that section.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: So this campaign starts at, I believe it starts at different places, but that it does end up in Israel, in Jerusalem, I'm sorry, in Jerusalem.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: And the whole thing could even take place there.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: John Phillips describes the end, the Armageddon campaign.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: I thought this was so interesting.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: He says, with pomp and pageantry, the armies march across the plains of Galilee, file through the passes, and deploy to the fertile fields of Meghetto.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: Then suddenly it will be over.
9:52
SPEAKER_00: In fact, there will be no war at all in the sense that we think of war.
9:57
SPEAKER_00: There will just be a word spoken from him who sits astride the great white horse.
10:02
SPEAKER_00: Once he spoke to a fig tree, and it withered away.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Once he spoke to howling winds and heaving waves, and the storm clouds vanished, and the waves fell still.
10:13
SPEAKER_00: Once he spoke a word to a legion of demons bursting at the seams of a man's, a poor man's soul, and instantly they fled.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: Now he speaks a word, and the war is over.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: The blasphemous, loudmouthed beast is stricken where he stands.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: The false prophet, the miracle-working windbag from the pit, is punctured and still.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: The pair of them are bundled up and hurled headlong into the everlasting flames.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Another word, and the panic-stricken armies reel and stagger and fall down dead.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Field marshals and generals, admirals and air commanders, soldiers and sailors, rank and file, one and all they fall.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: Thus ends the Battle of Armageddon.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that cool?
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: He gets the victory just with one word.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: I love that song, one little word shall fail him.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: Satan, Satan.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: At or around this time, we don't know when, we're not sure when, but Israel is going to experience a spiritual rebirth.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Are these people going to be miserable or what?
11:55
SPEAKER_00: After two days, he will revive us, and on the third day, he will restore us that we may live in his presence.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Let us acknowledge the Lord.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Let us press on to acknowledge him.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: As surely as the sun rises, he will appear.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that cool?
12:18
SPEAKER_00: They are going to recognize, recognize Jesus.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Chronologically, it could happen, it could happen this way: the armies are amassing and surrounding Jerusalem in Israel.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: The Israelites will confess their national sin.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: That's what we saw in Hosea 5.15.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: They will recognize Jesus as Messiah and they will be saved.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Zechariah 12.10.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: We're in the age of grace, remember, of grace and supplication.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: And then they will plead for Messiah to come and rescue them, and he does.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Matthew 23, 39.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's what they will say.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Baruch Habashem Adanai.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: Everything God has been attempting to do through all of the plagues, through the hundred and forty four thousand and the two witnesses, and this imminent battle all has its desired outcome.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: And finally, finally, finally, they come to Jesus and are saved and restored and rescued.
13:54
SPEAKER_00: So picture this.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: You are a believer who's made it all the way through to the end of the tribulation.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Because there will be some.
14:05
SPEAKER_00: You know you are getting close to the end because you can literally count down the days.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: You have lost so many friends and loved ones from the past seven years.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: You have endured the greatest catastrophes the world has ever seen.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: And as you approach that three and a half year mark, the anticipation builds, and so does the distress.
14:28
SPEAKER_00: All of the armies of the world who are left are moving into position for the final battle to take place.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: And those who are not believers do not know what is going to happen.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: But you know.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: You keep watching the sky and you keep encouraging others to hang in there just a little bit longer.
14:48
SPEAKER_00: In your hunger, in your thirst, in your debilitating fatigue, the hope of his soon return is all that is getting you through.
14:57
SPEAKER_00: And then suddenly he is there.
15:01
SPEAKER_00: Coming with thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Their brilliant white horses and clothing shatters the darkness that has hung heavy over the earth for months and months.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: You have been rescued.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: The one you love is here to deliver you from evil.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: He is here to wipe the tears from your face and to bring you home.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: That is what awaits our brothers and sisters in Christ who make it all the way through to the tribulation.
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Now we look at the second coming.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: There is nothing more clearly stated in the Bible than the fact that Jesus Christ is coming again.
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Nothing.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: This emphasis of the second coming is evident in these statistics.
15:51
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' return is explicitly referred to 1,845 times in the Bible, 1,527 times in the Old Testament, and 318 times in the New Testament.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: The Second Coming is mentioned in 23 of the 27 New Testament books.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Out of the New Testament's 260 chapters, there are 318 references to the second coming.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: On average, the second coming is referred to more than once a chapter.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Jesus' second coming is mentioned eight times for every reference to his first coming.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: For every mention of the atonement of Christ on the cross, his death on the cross, in the Bible, there are two references to his second coming.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself promised to return to the earth.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: One night before his betrayal, Christ said in John 14, let not your hearts be troubled.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: Believe in God, believe also in me.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: In my Father's house are many rooms.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
17:01
SPEAKER_00: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: This is how he returns.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: He will return personally and physically.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not going to send some emissary like some leaders do around the world.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: He's going to come himself.
17:26
SPEAKER_00: And his physical coming back to the earth contrasts with how he left.
17:32
SPEAKER_00: We read about it in Acts 1, 9 through 11.
17:35
SPEAKER_00: After he had said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood before them.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Men of Galilee, he said, Why do you stand here looking into the sky?
17:52
SPEAKER_00: This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: The physical return of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives will um will fulfill this new this Old Testament prophecy from Zechariah chapter 14, verse 4.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: Oops, going back.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: On that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Jesus physically ascended to heaven.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: He's going to physically come back.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: He will return visibly.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 1:7.
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: And all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: So shall it be.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus Himself emphasized this in Matthew 24.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: He says, immediately, after the distress of those days, then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: He will also come suddenly.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: For as he says, Jesus says this, as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 3:3, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpectedly as a thief.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: He will come gloriously.
19:31
SPEAKER_00: Second Thessalonians, this will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire and with his powerful angels.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: And he will return triumphantly.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: Jesus will come back as King of kings and Lord of Lords.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Riding on a white stallion.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: And he's coming to take over.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: That's you and me.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 19 for the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called faithful and true.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.
20:25
SPEAKER_00: That fine linen represents or identifies them as the wife of the Lamb.
20:31
SPEAKER_00: And the fact that the Lord is returning with his bride, the church, shows that the bride has already been making herself ready up in heaven.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: That's how I interpret that.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: And what a day that will be.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: In Revelation 19, we see four hallelujah statements.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: Hallelujah means praise the Lord, right?
21:16
SPEAKER_00: The only four times this phrase is seen in the New Testament are right here in Revelation 19, verses 1, 3, 4, and 6.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: The first hallelujah says, Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: The fourth hallelujah says, For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: After hearing these praises, John falls down to worship the angel that's telling him this and proclaiming this.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: And the angel's like, No, no, no, don't do that.
21:52
SPEAKER_00: Worship God.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: He says, I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: To the testimony of Jesus.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: I just want to remind us of how much worship and adoration is going on in heaven during all of these things that are taking place here on earth.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: There's so much going on in heaven of that.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: We only have the earthly perspective down here, right?
22:24
SPEAKER_00: And we can only understand some things, but not all things.
22:28
SPEAKER_00: But from the heavenly perspective, it's much different.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: From their perspective, they know everything, how God conquers everything.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: The earthly perspective is revealed but also hidden.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: We can understand some but not all, and the heavenly perspective is clear and it is unhindered.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: While these end-time things are taking place down here, there's much rejoicing going on up in heaven.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: And in heaven, it will all make sense, right?
23:02
SPEAKER_00: Because our perspective will completely change from an earthly perspective to a heavenly perspective.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: And we'll totally get it.
23:09
SPEAKER_00: The believers during that are living during the tribulation will have an even better perspective than you and I have.
23:17
SPEAKER_00: They will have a totally different perspective than we will.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Still not a complete one, but a better one.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: After the Lord Jesus' second coming, some interesting things take place.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: Evidently, the millennium does not start immediately after the return of Christ.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: I always thought it did.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: Now I don't think so.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: The tribulation for Israel will last 1,260 days, which is three and a half years, right?
23:46
SPEAKER_00: Daniel 12, 7 says it will be for a time, times and half a time when the power of the holy people, that's the Jews, has been finally broken.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: All these things will be completed.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Daniel 12, 11 and 12.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, that's at the midpoint of the tribulation, there will be 1,290 days.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: And that's another says, Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of 1,335 days.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: So what is going on here?
24:27
SPEAKER_00: The 1,260 days span the second half of Daniel's 70th week, the second half of the tribulation.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: The 1,290 days is 30 days after the end of the tribulation, and the 1,335 days takes us, gives another 45, which takes us to 75 days after the tribulation is ended at the second coming until the millennium begins, which is so interesting.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: What's going to happen during those 75 days?
24:57
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot that's going to happen.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Here are some of the things that might happen.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Again, we don't know exactly, but Revelation 20:20, the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet, the two of them are thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: The satanic duel will still be in the lake of fire 1,000 years later, which shows us that consignment to the lake of fire does not mean annihilation.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: They're still going to be there.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, Revelation 20, verse 1 through 3, and I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the keys to the abyss, and holding in his hand a great chain.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: He sees the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Notice all those names, the dragon, the serpent, the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: After that, he must be set free for a short time.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what Sonic Light has to tell us about that.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: Because immediately you're asking, why does he have to be brought back out after the millennium?
26:13
SPEAKER_00: We all want to know that.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Sonic Light says, because no one has yet experienced the lake of fire, it is difficult to portray in human language the awful nature of that punishment.
26:24
SPEAKER_00: The figure of a burning lake is God's chosen imagery for visualizing eternity separated from him.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: One should remember that figures of speech are always less than the reality, not more.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: That wasn't what I wanted to point out, but it's somewhere here, so we'll find it in a minute.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: Why isn't that there?
26:47
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: Next.
26:52
SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Number three, he will judge those living on the earth.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: Daniel 12, 1 through 2.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: But at that time your people, everyone whose name is found written in the book, will be delivered.
27:03
SPEAKER_00: Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will wake, will awake, some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: Number four, the Old Testament and tribulation saints are resurrected and rewarded.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 20, verse 4.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: They had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: And then governmental structure for the Millennium Kingdom could be happening.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: And those who have died that were martyrs during the tribulation, they will be ruling and reigning with Christ during the millennium time.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: And so it would take some time to appoint them.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: And then the marriage feast of the Lamb begins on earth, which would be the highlight of that 75-year period.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: I think that that then moves up to heaven, but I'm not sure when.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot going on during this 75-day time period of time.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: And then the millennial reign of Christ begins.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 20 mentions six times that this is going to last for a thousand years.
28:22
SPEAKER_00: And the word millennium is from the Latin melee, or however you say that, and it means a thousand, and anum means years.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: Charles Ryre says, the millennium is the period of 1,000 years of the visible earthly reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, after his return from heaven, will fulfill during that period of promises contained in the Abrahamic, the Davidic, and the New Covenants to Israel.
28:49
SPEAKER_00: He will bring the whole world to a knowledge of God and will lift the curse from the whole creation.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that cool?
28:56
SPEAKER_00: He's going to fulfill all of those covenants for Israel.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Satan will not have access to the people during the millennial reign.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: Remember, he's going to be in prison until he is set free.
29:13
SPEAKER_00: And so all the um it seems that all unbelievers will be destroyed when Christ comes back.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: They will all be killed.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: However, babies are going to be born to the believers who make it through the tribulation.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: So people are going to make it all the way through the tribulation.
29:32
SPEAKER_00: They're going to live for a thousand years.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: And so there's going to be many, many, many children that are populating the earth during that thousand years because people are going to be living much, much longer than they do now, more like they were in Eden than how we have experienced it.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Sonic Light says, the children who are born during the millennium will need to believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, but some of them will not do so.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: This large group of people born throughout the thousand-year period will likely constitute the unbelievers whom Satan will lead in rebellion at the end of the millennium.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: God will release Satan out of divine necessity in order to fulfill his plans for the thousand years.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Here's the point I was going to make just a minute ago, but it wasn't there.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: It's here.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: It says, the final answer as to why God sees this rebellion as a necessity is hidden in the counsels of God.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: It's hidden.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: We don't know why he's going to do it.
30:40
SPEAKER_00: Scripture just tells us he is.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: Yet one purpose may be a partial answer.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: Through his release, the whole universe will see that after the thousand years of his imprisonment and an ideal reign here on earth for the people, Satan is incurably wicked, and men's hearts are still perverse enough to follow him to gather an army of such an immense size.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: How crazy is that! That after they have lived here on through the millennium with God, in God's presence, that they would not choose him and that they would rebel against him.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: And then we see this rebellion.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: To be honest, no one has an adequate understanding of why this rebellion occurs, right?
31:29
SPEAKER_00: It seems so crazy to me that this would take place, but it does.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 20, 7 through 9 says, When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of earth, gog and magog, and to gather them for battle.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: In number they are like the sand of the seashore.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand that either.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: But two things become really clear from this rebellion.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Satan is incapable of reform.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: It's never going to happen.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: And even with a thousand-year time out, it's not going to happen.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: And secondly, humanity is totally, truly depraved apart from Christ.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: That's people are still depraved at this point, and they're going to choose Satan over God.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: And the millennium is going to prove that even the best conditions, thousand years of peace and prosperity and safety and long life and health and abundance cannot change the wickedness of an unredeemed heart.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: Only the Lord Jesus can do that.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: And if they don't choose him, they don't have it.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: A perfect environment cannot produce a perfect heart.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: Those people will need Jesus just as much as we do.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: And then we come to the great white throne of judgment.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 20, verse 11 through 15.
33:11
SPEAKER_00: Then I saw a white throne, and him who sat on it, who was seated on it, the earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: This great throne is great because it's the last judgment.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is final, and it is white to represent purity or holiness and righteousness.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: This is the end of God's dealing with the earth as we know it.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: This is the end.
33:38
SPEAKER_00: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: Another book was opened, which is the book of life.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: And the book of life contains the names of the people who have believed in God, so the elect.
33:51
SPEAKER_00: The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.
33:55
SPEAKER_00: The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: And each person was judged according to what they had done.
34:05
SPEAKER_00: This judgment is based on their works, but specifically the work of salvation.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: Have they received Jesus Christ?
34:14
SPEAKER_00: That's the whole basis for this to determine.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: And since it seems that the deeds that maybe in hell there's varying degrees of punishment, just like there's varying degrees of rewards in heaven, but who knows.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Then Hades, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: The lake of fire is the second death.
34:44
SPEAKER_00: Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: So as you can see in this chart, and this chart is on the back of your sheet there, too.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: But Hades is the temporary dwelling of unbelieving spirits, unbeliever spirits until the great white throne of judgment.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: So, and apparently Hades has two compartments.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: It has paradise, also called the Abraham's bosom, and then it has Guiana, which is the place of torment and anguish for unbelievers.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: And Hades in the New Testament is the word that is used for this place, but Sheol is the word that is used in the Old Testament.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, we see the new heaven and the new earth.
35:33
SPEAKER_00: Revelation 21, 1 through 4.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: They will be his people, and God himself will be with and be their God.
36:08
SPEAKER_00: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and too true.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: He said to me, It is done.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: The judgments of the tribulation, the old creation is accomplished, it's finished.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: He's the originator and the terminator of all things.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: To the thirsty, I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Those who are victorious, every believer in Christ, will inherit all of this.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: And I will be their God, and they will be my children.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: That is our heritage.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Throughout the book of Revelation, John is attempting to describe things that are indescribable, right?
37:12
SPEAKER_00: What a difficult task.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to see why we have difficulty understanding it.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: Because how can we truly grasp all of it?
37:22
SPEAKER_00: We can't.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: Does any one person know when these events are going to take place?
37:28
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: Does anyone know one person know how all of these things are exactly going to come about?
37:45
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely not.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: We don't know.
37:50
SPEAKER_00: Does anyone living today have insider information?
37:54
SPEAKER_00: Information that's not in Scripture?
37:57
SPEAKER_00: No.
37:58
SPEAKER_00: No.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: In time, more and more things will become clear, but there will still be mystery.
38:06
SPEAKER_00: There will still be things we don't grasp.
38:08
SPEAKER_00: The beautiful thing is that we don't need to understand it all.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: To be settled in the truth that God is in control, right?
38:18
SPEAKER_00: Total, absolute control.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: So what do we need to do?
38:23
SPEAKER_00: Jesus told us, he said, see to the see to it that you are not alarmed.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: He definitely wants us to be informed, right?
38:32
SPEAKER_00: Or he would not have given so much detail in the book of Revelation.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to be informed, but he does not want us to be alarmed.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want this information to lead us to anxiety or worry or fear.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: And instead, he wants us to understand that everything is in his control.
38:56
SPEAKER_00: So what's our job?
38:57
SPEAKER_00: What's our job here now?
39:00
SPEAKER_00: We need to trust God.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: We need to cling to Jesus with all of our heart and mind and soul and strength, like we have never ever done before.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: We need to trust not only in our knowledge of the end-time events, but our our we need to trust our trust worthy, sovereign God.
39:22
SPEAKER_00: But this knowledge should also motivate us to tell others, right?
39:27
SPEAKER_00: It should motivate us to want to bring other people with us to heaven.
39:34
SPEAKER_00: Because that's what he wants.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me in this study.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: It's been really hard, but it's been really good.
39:46
SPEAKER_00: Really good to be with you.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: So let's pray.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: Father God, again.
39:51
SPEAKER_00: We are so grateful that you have given us this information.
39:58
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we we acknowledge it is overwhelming.
40:01
SPEAKER_00: And there's just so much of it, and there's so much we don't understand and can't understand, and that's okay.
40:08
SPEAKER_00: But thank you for letting us know it.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you are 100% trustworthy.
40:19
SPEAKER_00: That everything the way that you have purposed it will come to fulfillment.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: You you will bring it about.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: And and Lord, we our hearts just cry out and say, do it soon, do it soon.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: But we trust you, Lord.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: And in the meantime, while we're still here and while we still have breath, God, give us opportunity.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: Give us opportunity to tell others about how wonderful and glorious you are.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: Please empower us to do that, to be witnesses, good witnesses for you and for your kingdom.
40:59
SPEAKER_00: And we thank you and pray all of these things in the name of the reason, Lord Jesus Christ.