End Times 101 Series

The end of the world, in one way or another…is on your mind. We watch movies about it, we read books about it, we watch TV shows about it, we’re well aware of the interest involving the Mayan calender and the year 2012. There is NOTHING to the Mayan theory, an asteroid is NOT going to end human civilization. Nuclear was is NOT going to end humanity. It only makes a good story.

To ALL of our campuses and those watching around the world: What you saw a few moments ago, is GOING to happen.

Scare tactics? Friends, it is the way God painted the picture. It’s unsettling. Yet the study of the end times (eschatology) is probably one Mega Theme in the Bible you most want to hear about. It fascinates us. It frightens us. It draws us closer to trusting the Lord. It ties the entire Bible together: the story of perfection, sin, loss, redemption, salvation and judgment into a perfect painting by the Creator. God Himself.

The Bible ends with GRAVE implications. The greatest book EVER written, ends with the most frightening chapter we can possibly imagine. The end of humanity, authored by God.

End times in 30 minutes? Impossible. I want to give you an overview as a resource. Share it. Study it, prepare for it.

Biblical Prophecy is 100% proven all over scripture. The detailed accounts of what is yet to come are NO exception. It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, it’s imminent.

The leadership here at CedarCreek.tv hold a view of these end times that is called ‘Dispensational Premillennialism’. Simply put:

We believe Jesus will rapture the living Christians on earth from the sky in a split second, like a thief in the night at some point in the future. Every single Christian will vanish in an instant to be with Jesus, those who have died throughout history that accepted Jesus as Lord will be resurrected to meet with Him in the clouds, leaving the world speechless.

We believe the Bible teaches those left behind will endure a literal 7 year tribulation period of untold horror and destruction unpatrolled to anything we could imagine. This is finalized by the battle of Armageddon when Jesus returns for His second coming, defeats all evil and binds Satan.

We believe after this tribulation Jesus Christ will physically resurrect those who were martyred during the tribulation along with Old Testament Saints and will reign as King over a peaceful and perfect earth with 144,000 of His chosen Jews and those Christians who survived the Great Tribulation.

Following this 1000 year Millennium period, Satan will be temporarily ‘loosed’ to lead the hoards of Gog and Magog against the church, where Jesus Christ will destroy them and cast Satan into the bottomless pit for all eternity. This is followed by the resurrection of all those throughout history who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment and those whose names are found in the Lambs Book of Life (Christians) will remain in Heaven for eternity and those who did not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior will be cast to Hell for eternity. *8

Easy enough? Ha…There are many views of what’s going to happen in the end times. I interoperate the Bible literally unless it contextually leads me NOT to. If God wanted to create the universe in 6 days like the Bible says, I believe it. If God wants fire-breathing locusts in the end times, He’s got them. He is God and He revealed to us in scripture all that we need to know about the end times.

Let’s quickly and easily break down the main components to the end times according to the Bible…the Rapture, Tribulation and Millennium before we move on to current events…as you can NEVER use current events to decode the Bible….the Bible dictates current events, if you get that turned around, you become a paranoid, scare monger televangelist☺ And we’ve got enough of those in this world.

THE RAPTURE – is mentioned a few times in scripture.

Matthew 24:30 All people on earth will see Jesus in the sky coming with great power and glory

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 Jesus comes in the air, there’s a shout from the archangel, the sound of a trumpet and those who have died throughout history who were Christians will be resurrected into the air, while those Christians on earth at that moment will be seized up to be with Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Says it will happen in the blink of an eye.

CLAP LOUD …BOOOM! Every Christian on earth is gone, planes crashing, cars piling up, governments collapsing, hospitals overrun, the world….has NO answers. (besides aliens) ha

When will the rapture happen? Great question. Matthew 24:36 we learn NOT even Jesus knows. God alone knows. There is a countdown clock ticking this very second. It could happen NOW.