LUKE 21:24 reads,
“Jerusalem will be trampled under the feet of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
1. THE JEWISH NATION WAITED AND DANIEL INTERPRETED DREAMS
ISAIAH 41:10-12 tells of the promises God wanted to bestow upon the Jewish people:
“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. And those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.”
God also wanted the Jewish nation to give His blessings to the world, and He was going to protect Israel while they did it..
GENESIS 12:1-3
"The LORD said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
For centuries, they waited to see God in person; to see the supreme warrior-king they thought He would be; the worldly protector they wanted. But when He came, He introduced Himself through Jesus Christ. And through the chosen disciples, He introduced Himself to the world.
And God wanted the Jewish people to introduce His plan of salvation to the world, but the nation of Israel summarily rejected Him, so He turned around and offered that plan to the Gentiles, or the rest of the world. And the first thing God did was to bring judgment upon His chosen people, Israel, for their rebelliousness against Him. He took His divine protection off of them and let them be overrun and captured, taken as slaves to Babylon.
It was during this time, 605BC - 536 BC (or 69 years) that God showed the prophet Daniel about His future plan to use Gentiles for His glory. God raised up Daniel, a young Jewish boy to have influence over the king of Babylon by letting Daniel be able to correctly interpret dreams, which greatly influenced King Nebuchadnezzar. And it was the interpretation of one of the king’s dreams that changed the course of history forever for the Jewish nation.
The king had a dream where there was a big statue of a man. the statue was made of metal mixed with clay. And then a big rock came and smashed the statue. The rock then expanded and became a huge mountain that covered the entire world.
DANIEL 2:31-34 tells us about it.
"You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth."
Daniel told the king that the statue was about the future. He told the king what each part of the statue meant, how it described kingdoms that would rise and then fall. But for now, I want to pay close attention to one part in particular; the feet. They were made from a mixture of iron and clay. God later revealed to Daniel that the feet represented ten nations that were unified. This union would rise up out of the Roman Empire. And it would serve as the base for the eventual rule of the Antichrist.
That 10-nation union would expand its control until it controlled the entire world, but only for a short period of time. Eventually, that union of nations would be crushed by a super-natural force. We know that force to be Jesus Christ.
Forty-eight years after this dream, God gave Daniel another vision. This one had no statue in it, but there were wild beasts that fought with one another and ate each other. The first beast was Babylon. It was a lion, but it had wings like an eagle. The second beast was a bear and it was raised up on one side, as if trying to hit something with an extended paw. Then, the third beast was a leopard that also had wings, and then there was a fourth beast. The fourth beast was terrifying and had big iron teeth.
Daniel describes the beast in DANIEL 7:7.
"After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.”
The prevailing belief today is that the teeth represent either the European Union, or a union of nations that is spawned from the EU. It will expand its control over all nations and crush any that offer resistance so that it will be the ultimate authority in the world. This will be one-world government.
While Daniel was looking at this terrifying fourth beast, a little horn grew out of its head. That little horn was the Antichrist. It took time for the beast to grow the horn and eventually that horn ruled the beast. In Daniel 7:26, we are told how long that kingdom will last - . We know by our studies of Scriptures that the EU (or whatever nation it is) will grow and eventually rule over the earth. From this union, the Antichrist will appear 3 ½ years after it begins, and at this time, the Antichrist will go into the Temple and sit on the throne and declare himself as God and demand that everyone bow down and worship him or die. From this point on, for all practical purposes, the union’s real authority is destroyed and replaced by the dictatorship of the Antichrist.
This later vision that Daniel had with the beasts corresponds directly to his earlier vision of the great statue. Why did he receive two separate visions about the same thing? The first vision saw the prophecy from mankind’s perspective; something powerful, huge, strong, and beautiful. The second vision was seen from God’s perspective; something terrifying, cruel, ruthless, and filled with hate.
But in both visions, it showed the evil empire, which served the Antirchrist, as suddenly being destroyed, and that destruction would bring about the end of times.
Again, let me quote LUKE 21:24.
“Jerusalem will be trampled under the feet of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
The "day (or time) of the Gentiles is when Jesus comes back at the end of the 7-year tribulation and takes His seat on the Throne. It refers to the end of this age. It began in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and it continues today, and will end when Jesus comes back to earth. And when Jesus comes back, He, and He alone, will be the one-world ruler. But before then, and during the last days, the world will be ruled by the Antichrist.
During our history, many small kingdoms have tried to rule the world, but all have failed. The One who will succeed is still in the future and is still yet to come, but is also right around the next corner. We have been building up to this Antichrist-led one world government for many years now. Have you paid attention to any of the headlines or news reports in the last few years? It is commonplace nowadays to hear phrases like, "NEW WORLD ORDER" or "THE REUNIFICATION OF EUROPE", or even "GLOBAL MONETARY FUNDS." the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already printed this global currency and it is sitting in the vaults of the Federal Reserve ready to be dispensed at the proper time.
Let me interrupt my message long enough to give you another truth. The Federal Reserve is in charge of our entire monetary supply in America. One would think it is part of the federal government, but it is not! The Federal Reserve is a private company that has branches in every nation around the world. The Federal Reserve (a private company) is in charge of all the money in the world. They are the ones who control the ebb and flow of currency. And who do you think controls politics and everything else? You’ve heard it said that the one who controls the money controls everything else. The one-world monetary fund is quickly approaching!
Here is a quick overview of what we are looking at: The Antichrist will be a charming man who is very charismatic. People will adore him, and he will represent hope and change for mankind. People will let them ... no, let me rephrase that ... people will beg him to rule over them. He will seem to have all the right answers for every problem we encounter. He will unite us into one political, economic, and spiritual entity. He will quickly rise to a height of never-before-seen political power.
Here is what I personally think. The church will be gone due to the Rapture when this man comes into full power. I think God has allowed us to see "how" it will take shape by giving us a micro-view through how Barack Obama came into power. A man came from nowhere, with an invisible past, to rise quickly to a height of power that promised "hope" and "change." He had never-before-seen charm and charisma. People begged him to be the president. But halfway into his rule, things began to fall apart.
3. NOW, LET’S DISCUSS THE END TIME CHURCH
The false prophet (or religious leader) will control all religions. And that religion will not be established so it can worship God through Jesus Christ. Its main goal will be to appease all people and make them feel good about themselves. That will serve two purposes. The first purpose is to get everyone’s minds away from the real God, and it will also make them easier led. When a soldier has a full stomach, he is much less likely to fight. And the bottom line, people will think they are being Godly, because they will hear what they like hearig; they will think they are saved because their religious leader will tell them they are; and they will be happy because nobody will tell them they are doing wrong.
Doesn’t that sound a lot like many churches today? Their number one focus is not on getting people to know and accept Jesus, but on numerical growth; the churches do not tell people what sin is or what its consequences are because they want their people to be happy; and they talk about everything BUT Jesus Christ as the Savior to mankind. And as we get closer to the end times, this will get even worse and be much more prevalent. Get used to it, understand it, and avoid it for the hell it represents!
These churches will not understand what happened when the Rapture occurs and some of their members are missing. Most of these churches will have but one or two gone! It has been asked that, if the Rapture occurred next Sunday, how many churches would notice anyone being gone? Sadly, the answer is, they would only hurry up to find new people to replace those few who are missing so their tithes and offerings would not suffer. God! Please forgive us for what we continue to do against You!
This apostasy will continue until Jesus comes back, and when He does, this evil sin of religion will be destroyed once and for all. Jesus will ten set up a new one-world governmental authority; His kingdom. And He will rule justly and peace shall be His fruits. This should show us that the only real "hope" and "change" will be found through Jesus Christ, not man.
The "day of the Gentile" is quickly coming to a close. It was hurried in 1948, with the third establishment of Israel as its own nation. And all this talk about "the new world order" is nothing but lies. The truth is it will really be "the worse world order" that is being tried again. If you go back to the beginning of man, you will see one constant thing happening: Satan tries his best to copy Jesus; to imitate everything Jesus does; and it always fails.
We have been led to believe that during these end times, all Christians will be unified and feeing glorious. I do not believe that for one moment. The Bible says that Jesus said many will fall away during this time. Paul said the church will be racked with apostasy then.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:3 tell us,
‘Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed ….’
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-13 has this to say about those days:
"But 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, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived."
The apostasy from God’s church stated almost at the time the real church began, but it got a boost in the mid 1920’s in Germany. People were being taught that the Bible must be read, not as a book of worship, but as a book of literature and of history. Again, in the 1970’s here in America, and in Canada, we were told to stop being afraid of God and approach Him as your personal friend. To stop looking at God as this entity sitting on a throne, but as a regular person just as you are a regular person. The feeling was that if we felt that comfortable with God, we would follow Him much easier. The problem with that theory is that we cannot take God off His throne, we are the ones who must move toward Him rather than having Him come to us. He has already done so in the form of Jesus Christ. Also, the moment we stop fearing God is the same moment we start walking away from Him, and when we do that, we will eventually learn that should be our biggest fear of all.
And that leaves us where we are today: believing whatever we want for the moment, and feeling it is okay to do so as long as we are "sincere" in our belief. What people do not reality is there really is a literal hell, and some very sincere people will be there for eternity - all because of their apostasy. And this will only get worse as the Day gets closer to us. We are seeing more and more evidence of what Paul warned Timothy of in -
1 TIMOTHY 4:1,
"The Spirit says that in the Last Days, some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons"
People have an instinct to worship God but when they deny the real God, or when they leave the real church, they will invariably create false churches. These churches are known as "cults." A cult will copy the rituals of a real church; the praise and worship, Sunday school classes, sermons, etc., but just like when the devil tries to imitate the Lord, it is always a failure. These churches might make people content and happy, but they will never make anyone eternally safe. You can always tell a cult by who they say Jesus Christ is. If they deny that He is the only savior or if they claim He is only a prophet, they are distorting the truth of God and are identifiable as a false religion.
Another area the church will suffer in is in the area of confusion.
2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4 says,
"For the time will come when the church will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will surround their selves with teachers who will preach what they want to hear, and they will turn away from the truth so their itchy ears can hear what they want to hear.”
People who leave the real church of Jesus Christ are confused and will believe anything someone tells them that sounds plausible and does not offend them. Every cult practices this. They will explain the Bible in ways that "seem" like the truth but isn’t. And the way it is presented will never offend anyone.
In ACTS 20:29-31a, Paul warns the church;
"I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And men from among yourselves will rise up with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them. Therefore, be on the alert ....."
The church is being assaulted at record levels and Christians must be aware of this and be very careful not to be swept away by false teachings. And another thing Christians must realize is that this wave of materialism that is sweeping through our churches is helping to destroy us. Our lives are not about how many toys we have, where we can go on vacations, or anything else. It is only about how much we honor Jesus by trying to make ourselves think like He does. Christians are trying harder than ever today to go through the motions of serving God as long as they don’t have to completely let loose of the world why they do it.
In the book of Revelation, there are seven churches mentioned. Each church represents one of seven church periods, too. The church of Laodicea is the last one - the one we are in today. And the description of the problems that church had accurately describes a great many of today’s churches, too. And in the End Times, the church will not be a picture of love and unity, it will be a picture of upheaval, chaos, and confusion. It will be filled with ungodly teachings and materialism.
Too many Christians today try to walk with Jesus with only one foot. They like to keep their other foot firmly planted in the world. And too many people go to church and sing, "Wherever I lead, He will follow." And the number of these people are increasing daily. We are using our eyes to focus on ourselves and what we want, not to focus on Jesus and what He wants. What hardly anyone is thinking of anymore is that we will all be taken to task tomorrow for the choices we make today.
The message of church prophecy could not be made any clearer. We must remain fully aware and keep scripturally immersed; every day; every moment.
4. BUT DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED AND DISHEARTENED
We have covered the bad news of church prophecy, but there is good news, also. God promises us that during the END TIMES, He will pour out His holy Spirit to encourage those who will listen. Something is happening lately. We don’t know what it is, and we cannot describe it, but we all feel it, don’t we? It is a sense of something about to happen.
Violence is increasing upon the earth daily, but everything keeps moving as if everything is normal. In our society, we are noticing that what was right is now wrong and what was wrong is now considered right. It is in justr such a time as this that Jesus said He will return.
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, marrying and being given in marriage up to 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. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
Look around us at world events. Every nation is in absolute turmoil. Most Middle East nations have openly rebelled against their governments Hatred is running rampant and violence is thick in the air. And while all this is going on, too many churches are pulling inward rather than reaching outward. And more people are perishing because other people are forgetting the call of Jesus.
Israel is hated by everyone, even some Jews. And just like Zechariah predicted, parts of Jerusalem is on the auction block, ready to be given to enemies for a peace treaty. And within all of this fabric of hatred in the world, I see two things happening: One bad and one good. I see the world lining up with more and more nations coming against Israel, and I see the true remnant of believers in Jesus Christ getting stronger in His Word.
Get ready, church! It is almost here!
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for more sermons on Revelation & the End Times, go to our website at -
http://www.bruceballministries.com/d_revelation_series.html
