Every time a young boy went over to his friend’s house to play, he saw his friend’s grandmother sitting quietly reading her Bible. He asked his friend why she was always reading it, and the friend said he didn’t know for sure, but thought that she might be studying for her finals.
It is my desire to give you information that might help you start studying for your real final test. Of course, I am talking about getting familiar with the Bible; and increasing your understanding of what God wants you to know. And like I said last week, it is every Christian’s responsibility to know something about the End Times, for how can you properly get ready for something that you have no knowledge of?
With that in mind, I would like to approach it the same way many books approach learning something new about a variety of subjects. We have all heard of those books entitled, ‘Such and such for Dummies’ haven’t we? Let’s approach our study of End Times, or Bible Prophecy with that same concept and see what we can learn.
LUKE 17 is perhaps the most prophetic parts of the New Testament. That is because Jesus, Himself, speaks about His Second Coming. But to do that properly, we must first define some of the often-used words in prophecy, so that we fully understand the context in which they are used.
‘APOCALYPSE’ means to ‘unveil’ or to ‘reveal’. In other words, when we speak of Apocalyptic Writings, we are talking about writings that reveal previously hidden meanings.
When people talk about End Time Prophecy, most often they are speaking about Apocalyptic Writings, or passages that, by studying them, we find out more information about End Times.
‘ESCHATOLOGY’ is another big word that many Christians and scholars use. It simply means ‘a study of the Last Days.’ So any study of the Last Days is called eschatology.
‘THE DAY OF THE LORD’ refers to all events associated with the return of Jesus. It is not a 24-hour period, but a period of time at the very end. And it covers a multitude of events, all pertaining to His return.
If we say we live in the day of cell phones, we are talking about an era, and that is the same with the Day of the Lord.
That gives you a basic background of what Bible Prophecy includes. Now, let’s switch modes and talk about God’s Prophetic Agenda, or the things He has planned.
‘RAPTURE’ means the moment that Christians will be caught up in the clouds to be with the Lord Jesus. This is different than the 2nd Coming, because in the Rapture, Jesus will not come to earth, but will call us into the air to meet Him. And then He will take us back to heaven with Him.
Now, there has been happenings throughout history that were on God’s agenda. To name a few: Creation; the Flood; and the first appearance of Jesus on this earth. The next thing on God’s agenda, according to the Bible is the Rapture. And that is a prophecy, too, or a statement of what will happen before it happens.
‘THE TRIBULATION’ means the seven years between the Rapture and the 2nd Coming. As we discussed last week, the first half of this period will seem like Heaven on earth, but right in the middle of it, the Antichrist will go into the new temple that will have been built and he will declare to the world that he is God and everyone will honor and worship him.
From that point until the 2nd Coming, things will be worse than ever before in the history of the world. Earthquakes, floods, diseases, wars, sickness, and all kinds of evil and hatred will happen. And Christians will be hunted down and killed like rabid dogs. That is why it is so important to be ready before the Rapture, so you don’t have to go through any of that. The Bible says it will be the worse period in all of history.
We know from both DANIEL 9 and REVELATION 6:18, this is when God will pour out His judgment on sinful mankind.
DANIEL 9:11 talks about this judgment.
‘All of Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You. Therefore, the curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against God.’
It will be a time when all of mankind will suffer for their sins. A time so bad that we cannot even begin to imagine what it will be like. How many warnings do we need before we start heeding them? Again, that is why it is so important for you to be ready before the Rapture, so you don’t have to go through any of that.
‘THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON’ is the war that will take place at the end of the Tribulation Period, or the end of the terrible 7-year period. This is when the Antichrist and all the armies that he commands will march against Israel to destroy it.
REVELATION 19 prophesies that Jesus will return and defeat those armies. ZECHARIAH prophesies that Jesus will then enter Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate and set up His earthly kingdom.
Now, armed with that preliminary information, let’s see what Jesus said about His return.
Jesus said we will not be able to tell when it will be. He said people will run around saying they are the Christ, but we are not to listen to them. Then He tells us how He WILL return.
LUKE 17:24
‘For the Son of Man, in His day, will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.’
Then He tells us how mankind will be when that day happens.
LUKE 17:26-30
‘Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating; drinking; and marrying up the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
‘It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting, and building things. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.’
Jesus is giving us a warning, not what ‘might’ happen, but what WILL happen when He returns to call us up. And embedded in that warning, He gives us a prophetic promise: Some will be taken and some will be left.
Now those who will be taken are those who have dropped the stubbornness of their hearts and have truly surrendered to the will of Jesus before that time. Those who will be left will be those nice people who have never surrendered their will over to Jesus.
The message here is that no matter how nice we are; no matter how much we go to church; the only things that gets us to heaven is to truly give up our pride and humbly accept Jesus as our Master. Absolutely nothing less is good enough.
As I attempt to simplify this information for you, let’s notice five teachings about the future. I ask that you pay close attention because there will be a test. Not today, and not tomorrow maybe, but eventually. And you will certainly want to pass it when you take it.
1. GOD’S KINGDOM
The Pharisees, or the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, thought the kingdom of God would include a military king to protect them and lead them. They expected the Messiah to come and reestablish the kingdom that David and his son Solomon had, where they enjoyed 1,000 years of peace and prosperity.
There was a time when the Pharisees were talking to Jesus, and they asked Him when the kingdom of God would come. Jesus answered them in –
LUKE 17:20-21
’The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, or will people say, ’Here it is’, because the kingdom of God is within you.’
Many scholars have interpreted that passage in different ways. Some say that everyone has the kingdom of God in them. Here is what I believe.
Jesus meant it two ways. First was that Jesus was with them, or within their society. Here He was, God in human form standing right before them and they could not recognize Him.
The second way is that there were believers then, too, and it may have been that He was talking about the kingdom of God being in their hearts. But no matter how Jesus meant it, the Pharisees’ hearts were so hardened on what THEY wanted; they had no room to realize what Jesus wanted for them.
Here is an easy way to understand the kingdom of God. A kingdom is a place that controls everything around it. The one thing every kingdom needs is a king. Now, when you have crowned Jesus as King of your life, and have submitted to His rule over you, you enter into the kingdom of God in a spiritual sense.
Make no mistake about it, though; there will be a literal and very real, kingdom of God in the future. And from this kingdom, Jesus will rule over all nations at all times.
When Gabriel told Mary Jesus would be born, He made several announcements about Jesus. He said that the baby would be called Jesus and that He would save His people from their sins.
But Gabriel also predicted something else. He predicted a time when ‘the government shall be upon Jesus’ shoulders.’ That hasn’t happened yet, but will happen at some time in the future.
Can you imagine the UN Security Council meeting to discuss Iraq? On television you see them getting on their knees and they say, ‘Jesus, the government is on your shoulders, so tell us what to do.’ Don’t hold your breath, but that day WILL come when all governments actively look to Jesus for guidance and leadership.
I have said over and over that it is every Christian’s duty to know something about prophecy and End Times. But don’t get too wrapped up about the future, because our job today is be good subjects in the present Kingdom. The Christian life is NOT just about pie in the sky, by and by, and the glorious crossing of the River Jordan. It is also about obeying God while you are here and studying His word; spreading the Gospel; and distancing yourself from the things of this world.
2. BE PREPARED FOR THE FLASH
Jesus wanted to make Bible prophecy simple. He used metaphors so that anyone could understand, such as the word ‘lightning’. How is that important?
First of all, when does lightening strike? It always strikes when there is a storm. Remember when Jesus will be coming back; at the beginning of the worst period of time in human history. So be a storm watcher! Look for escalating economic, military, and political storms. Watch for the dividing lines between good and evil getting wider.
How fast is lightning? It can go from sky to ground and back again in less than 1/10,000th of a second. When Jesus comes, He said He will come as a flash of lightning, and Paul said it will be in the twinkling of an eye. How fast is your blink? In other words, Jesus’ return will be so fast nobody will have time to prepare for it.
I think we would all agree that lightning possesses some very awesome power. During that 1/10,000th of a second, the air is instantly heated to about 1,400ºF. That is power no matter how you describe it. It is this sudden expansion of energy that causes the molecules in the air to collide into each other with such force that it causes thunder that can be heard for up to a mile and more away.
The raw energy released in one single flash of lightning is enough to lift your car over 50 miles straight upward.
The first time Jesus came, He came as a Savior. He came as a Lamb of God. He was meek. He came to bear the sins of this world so we wouldn’t have to.
But when He comes again, it will not be as the nice, meek person He was the first time. When He comes again, He will come as the all-powerful King of Heaven. He will be the mighty Lion of the Tribe of Judah!
And we never know when He will make His appearance. When He does, the whole world will hear the thunder and see the flash of His presence. But most of the world will not be ready for it and they will not go with Him. These people will stay here and have to endure the Tribulation period. And so we see again just why it is so important to make sure we belong to Him now, because we won’t have time to do it later.
Paul tells us how Jesus’ return will be. He said it will be like ‘a thief in the night,’ totally unexpected and so quick most people won’t know what happened.
I had a person break into my home about 30 years ago. It happened in the middle of the night, and I will tell you that is the worst way to wake up. You wake up instantly, and into a scared and super-alert state – all because you aren’t prepared or expecting it.
And that is how it will be when He calls us up at the Rapture. Most people will not be ready because they simply won’t be expecting it.
3. WHAT WILL YOU BE DOING?
Nobody knows the day or the hour of His return. It always amazes me to hear preachers and teachers on TV or read something they wrote saying they know when Jesus will return. Or, they say they know the month and year of His return.
These men are otherwise very intelligent and well-studied people. But Jesus warns us against making such assertions, and we must be obedient and not make them.
Let me go on step further. Even if they are otherwise fine men of the Bible, if you hear anyone setting a definite date for the return of Jesus, you know immediately they are a false prophet. You can’t know the exact date, but like I have said, if you know your Bible and its prophecy, you can discern the season, or the general time.
Jesus prophesied that when the conditions of the world matched those that were in Noah’s day and in Lot’s day, God’s judgment would soon follow. Two important conditions existed during the days of Noah and Lot.
First, during the time of Noah and Lot, there was extreme immorality and wickedness.
In GENESIS 19 we read how perverted sexual behavior was widespread in Sodom and Gomorrah. When the two angels (who looked like men) visited Lot’s house to warn his family to leave, the homosexual men of the city wanted to have them.
In GENESIS 19:5 it says the evil men gathered and called out to Lot –
‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.’ Lot went out and begged the men of the city not to do this “wicked thing’. Then they got angry at Lot and shouted, ‘Who do you think you are? How dare you say what we do is evil! It’s our right to act this way if we want. You are an intolerant religious fanatic!’ When they tried to rape Lot, the angels had to supernaturally intervene and rescue him.’
So the first condition was extreme wickedness. A second condition existed. While they were surrounded by immorality and wickedness, the people lived their lives as if nothing was wrong. They accepted that kind of behavior as normal. Instead of the public being alarmed or outraged at the wickedness, Jesus said they kept on eating and drinking, saying those things were not only normal, whoever opposed them was evil and hateful.
My question to you is this: Doesn’t this sound just like America today? We live in a time when homosexuality is not only accepted; it is honored as being normal. If you even hint that it might be wrong, you are hatefully labeled a ‘hate-monger’ and can even be criminally tried under the federal ‘hate crimes act.’ And that isn’t all our society does. We praise the name of abortion! And anyone who takes a stand against it is classified as a radical and evil person.
And today’s people say it doesn’t affect them if others sin, so they don’t see the need to get involved. Let me say this as plainly as I can: If you ignore it, you are guilty of it, too. No matter what you cannot do, you can always pray about it. And if we do anything less, we have failed.
I want to say this, too, because people sometimes don’t separate it. We are commanded to not hate those who do these things. We are to show them the love of our Lord. Not acceptance, not tolerance, but love.
That means we don’t make sinners our best buds and hang out with them. It means we cultivate relationships with believers that will take the place of those we had in the world. And as much as we must condemn the action, we must be very careful not to condemn the person.
Why would I say that? Because as sinful as we are, Jesus said he came, not to judge but to save. And if He didn’t judge people, how can we do it? By judging a person, it doesn’t mean saying what they are doing is wrong. As long as we can back it up scripturally, we can and must point out their sin. But we don’t do it in a hateful manner, and we don’t say they are going to hell. That is the job of Jesus, not us.
The New Testament prophesies that in the last days there will be a great rise in immorality.
In 2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5, Paul writes:
‘Mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy…conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power.’
If that doesn’t describe America today, nothing does. We have seen a rise in spirituality, but not of Godliness. Look at Oprah’s New Age movement. She says we are really God. That is the same lie the devil told Adam and Eve. No, we may have the Son of God in our hearts; we may have the Spirit of God indwelling our souls; but we are far from being God.
Jesus said when we see these conditions; it is time to be ready. May alarm to you is to get ready. Don’t fall for the old trap of thinking it isn’t necessary, or that you have a lot of time to do it. It is urgent you get ready now.
CONCLUSION
There is one reason to be filled with joy.
Bible Prophecy sometimes seems to be a message of doom and gloom, but it is really a story of deliverance, because God always cares for and finds a way to save His elect Children.
It is a story about being told what is going to happen; how to get ready for it; and how to be safe from it.
I remember when I was a kid. My brother and I had just had a big argument and since he was older, he got his way. I was plenty mad. Well, it was in the middle of the winter and we had about a foot of snow on the ground.
Later, I was outside playing and noticed a patch of ice just in front of the porch steps. I noticed it because when I walked out, I stepped on it and fell down. My evil mind quickly came into play and I covered the ice again with snow. Then I patiently played and waited for my brother to come out.
But instead of him coming out, my mom and dad came out. I yelled and told them to watch out for the ice. Why did I warn them? I warned them because I knew what was going to happen and I loved them too much to see them get hurt.
God loves us also. He loves us too much to sit by idly and see us get hurt. So He gives us warning to help us keep safe. Our problem, by and large, is that we are so consumed with what we want; it doesn’t dawn on us to listen to His warnings.
God did not spare the sinful people when He brought the flood, but He did save the one righteous family that existed. He did not spare the sinful people of Sodom and Gomorrah, but He did safe the one righteous family there, too.
And He will not spare those today who refuse to follow Him. But He promises to save those who are righteous. That would not be those who depend on their church for their salvation but those who depend on a closeness with Jesus for their salvation.
Before the Tribulation, Jesus is going to come and rapture His church out of this world. Even though we live in a wicked world, like Noah and Lot, God is still delivering His own.
A Sunday school teacher told the story of Lot’s wife her class. She explained how she looked back as she was running and turned into a pillar of salt. One little boy said, “That’s nothing, last week, my mom looked back while she was driving and she turned into a telephone pole!”
In GENESIS 19 we learn even after the angels warned them to leave, Lot and his family hesitated. So the angels forcefully put their hands on them and dragged them out of the city. God said let it go … don’t even look back. But Mrs. Lot couldn’t totally let go of the world, so she looked back and … POOF! She was a salt lick.
I’m sure Mrs. Lot was a good person, the salt of the earth, so to speak. And I am sure all of us are good people, too. God says to not love the world or anything in the world. That means when we come to Jesus, we must be willing to let go of everything we love in this world.
Why would He expect us to do that? Because if we don’t let go of it, it will eventually grow in our lives and drive us apart from the Lord.
There was no record of Lot being married prior to moving to Sodom. If Mrs. Lot grew up there, she would have loved her hometown. And that would mean that Lot would have relaxed his beliefs enough to allow her to have her own beliefs. Today, our society is calling for diversity in religions and for everyone to accept everybody else’s beliefs as valid, too. The problem with that is when we do that, we are showing our own beliefs in Jesus are not that strong or valuable to us.
Mrs. Lot is a sad reminder of how people will be separated at the rapture. One will be taken and the other one will be left. A husband and wife will be asleep. He will awake to find himself utterly alone, to endure the worst time in human history.
The purpose of Bible Prophecy is not like a game where you are given a few clues so you can figure out the mystery. The point of Bible Prophecy is to warn you that Jesus is going to return, and we don’t know when, so you had better give your heart to Him, now!
Think about the ugly consequences: If Jesus did come back today, would you go with Him or would you really be left behind? For your sake, and the sake of your loved ones, I urge you today to make that choice. Make the choice to surrender to Jesus. Put yourself aside and ask Him to help you. And He will.
Will you do that today?
INVITATION
* This sermon leans heavily on ‘Bible Prophecy for Dummies’, written by David O. Dykes
