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Home , Millennium, Prewrath, Stage (stratigraphy), Timeline

End

CCC August 30, 2020

Visuals – Across the signage. Four signs representing each . Three cutouts – One of , one of Coming, one of

Introduction – Quick show of hands. How many people have ever found end times stuff to be Confusing? If your neighbor just raised his/her hand, say to them “I knew you were confused.” How would you like to have a quick handle on what is going to happen when Jesus comes back again? Today, I am going to try to make that happen in under 40 . So lets pray. Seriously…

Pray

OK, so the end times are so crazy partly because of terminology. Partly because of theological positions. Partly because the Bible is crystal clear on some things – like Jesus is coming back. Unclear on other things – like what is the order of events. And downright intentionally obtuse about other things – like when the rapture will take place. So I am going to run after this with a really clear statement up front.

“I might be wrong.” I know… a shocking thing for a pastor to admit. Now raise your eyebrows and turn to the person next to you and say – he might be wrong. (really, I wont do that all message). I have studied this for 30 now and changed my mind a few times. I may change it again in five years. I may have never been right on some aspects – so I’ll do my best to share multiple views and my personal opinion… but just so you know that I know that this is complex stuff that will come down in the – and I am approaching it all with humility – and I’ll let you know if I change my mind. Fair enough?

One last disclaimer. This message is thick with content. It is more informational than inspirational. It is more likely to give you a migraine than to make you cry tears of joy. But we need to do this as it lays the groundwork for understanding everything that is to come. It is also the kind of message that is good to twice. I’d encourage you to re-do this later this as you’ll be bound to catch things the second because we are putting so many pieces together.

Outline – See your guide pages70-71…Picture of the entire timeline on screen. I modified this timeline from the work of a lawyer named Robert Van Kampen. For the sake of terminology (which I’ll explain later) it is a premillennial, and pre wrath rapture view. It is a picture of the end times. So keep this open. It is likely the single diagram you will come back to the most…

1) Four big parts – If you can master these four sections, you can enter into any conversation about end times – or – with confidence. And I want you to do that. Ready to roll? a. I have a sign for each one and I want you to imagine the stage as a timeline. And the timeline matches your handout… b. lets take them one at a time – in order of easy to hard.

2) Easy part 1 – Grace Age a. This Age is defined by Jesus first coming and his death and resurrection. Jesus crashed into this sin scarred world as a little baby. Despite the fact that he travelled only by foot, that he never wrote a book, that he never held office or commanded an army, this lone life towers as the most influential person in all of world . We still our checks and write our papers according to his birthday. His life splits B.C. and A.D. b. You see buildings dedicated to his worship on every corner. His values have transformed business and government and society. He is the reason that women are honored in Western Culture, that babies and children are valued, that efforts to heal the sick, love the homeless, and share with those in need are so high. c. And his kingdom is growing on this planet to billions of followers who do his bidding of right and good. It is the age of Grace. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Ephesians 2:8 d. So for now, we are Trapped between the ‘already’ of Jesus first coming and the ‘not yet of Jesus . e. In between the Beauty of Eden and the beauty of the , is this sin scarred mess – being redeemed by Jesus. And he is with us to transform this crazy planet in his name. f. And lo, I will be with you – even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 KJV Easy, right?

3) Easy part 2 – New Heavens New Earth a. Revelation 21-22 plus Isaiah 66 and other passages - Our ever after, our . b. Not the classic picture of “Heaven” of disembodied with wings – floating with harps, but the reality of a coming down from heaven. A place where the tree of life grows next to the river of life. A place where there is no more sickness, or dying or mourning or pain. It is a place of massive transformation. c. Everything recreated and made new. Presence of God. Beauty. Order. Abundance. d. It is our eternal final home – full of work and worship and dimensional beauty and pleasure that we cannot even fathom. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Cor 2:9.

4) Hard part 1 – Millennium – Verses a. When we are talking about the millennium, we are not talking about the group of people who came of age around the 2000… those are millennials. It is not the spaceship that Han Solo swindled in a _____ game… that is the millennium falcon. Nor are we talking about a concert arena… that is Millennium Park. The millennium is the 1000 year reign of Jesus. It is the time that he reigns over a golden of blessing, peace and abundance here on planet earth and it is described in Revelation 20. i. Revelation 20: 1-6 20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 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. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

ii. 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They[a] had not worshiped or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. iii. Lots of OT passages relate to this , but in Revelation, these are the key verses. You can see some key things from these verses: It is 1000 years – maybe a literal 1000 years or 1000 years as symbolic of a very long time. Satan (the dragon) is locked up. The saints are reigning with Jesus. It is a good for planet earth… not the best day… but a good one. Here is where it gets thick. Smart Christians disagree on where the Millennium goes in relation to the tribulation and rapture. Three big views are held… let me walk through them, but also let you know they are summarized on p. 72-73 Millennial Views. in your guide. b. PreMillennial – and diagram – please keep this up through the entire explanation i. Just the logic of Revelation – in order. It is the most straightforward view Biblically. ii. Assumes chronological. If the Tribulation is in chapter 6-18 of Revelation, and the victorious return of King Jesus is Revelation 19 and the Millennium is in chapter 20, then it just makes sense that the Tribulation/Return of Jesus is before the millennium. Thus, a premillennial perspective. Also, it assumes that today, Satan is not bound and roars around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. iii. Some people match this up with a glorious return of Israel -Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, the peace of the middle east, blooming of the desert, and return of the people of God to Israel. The passage blow this up big. iv. The premillennial position is the position that I hold personally. It is also the position of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Every pastor and elder of this church has signed off on a statement that includes this point. v. However, it is not the only orthodox Christian viewpoint. I’ll tell you the other views just for your information. c. Post Millennial – and diagram i. Assumes not chronological. The world gets better and better under the kingdom and Jesus comes back when it is really really good. The view is that currently the kingdom of God is beating back Satan and that the second coming will happen after we, here on earth, have defeated Satan. ii. For me, this is challenging to believe because it is just a different order of events than you see in Revelation. It also does not make sense that Satan is bound while we are fighting him or that Jesus rules before his final victory. iii. This is not a commonly held view today, but there are soms strong voices in history who believed this. d. Amillennial- and diagram i. Assumes that the millennium is symbolic. Literally it means “Without Millennium”. ii. The millennium is Not a literal kingdom on earth. And it is not a literal 1000 years. In fact, the Amillennialist would argue that we are living in the Millennium right now. iii. Jesus now reigns at the right hand of the father. 1000 years is “a long time”. Jesus reign with God is now. We will go straight from the tribulation to the NHNE. iv. There are outstanding Christians who hold this view including most Presbyterians, RC Sproul, Martin Luther and Augustine. v. For me, it is difficult to swallow because it presumes that Satan is currently bound up and therefore inactive in this world currently. I do not know of beheaded saints who have been through the tribulation that are reigning with Jesus. It also assumes that all of the promises made to Israel in dozens of will never come to pass because of Israel’s unfaithfulness. I tend to think that God is faithful to his promises – even when we are not – to individuals, to the church and to Israel. vi. But I love and respect and work closely with Amillennial people all the time and don’t think it is a critical issue to get the job of reaching the world done. e. OK, so from this point, for the next ten , we are going to work from the Premillennial position – a position that the Tribulation happens BEFORE the Millennium. Are you tracking with me? If so, say we are premillennial!

5) Hard part 2 – Tribulation a. Jesus said that there is a time coming of “Great Distress – This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again” - :21 MSG b. It is known in Daniel, Zechariah, Zephaniah, Joel, the gospels and the writings of Paul. It is called “A time of distress and anguish, A day of darkness and gloom, , and the Destruction of the almighty. It often times comes with a sign in the sun moon and stars. c. A basic outline of the tribulation – A 7 year period of intense suffering for planet earth. It starts bad “The tribulation” then it gets really bad “The ” and then super bad “The Wrath of God”. d. We get seven years first from the 9:2-27. “Daniel 9:26-27, Matthew 24, Revelation 6-18” A about the final “Week” or seven year period of this age. He says it will be cut in half – 3 1/2 years and 3 ½ years. With an in the middle called the Abomination of Desolation. e. Jesus, in Matthew 24, reinforces this view with a prediction of a great tribulation and an abomination of desolation with a sign in the sun moon and stars. f. Then Revelation speaks many times about these 3 ½ year periods, although it calls them by different names. For example: 42 , Times, Time and half a Time and 1260 days. 3 ½ years = 42 months = Times, Time and a Half = 1260 Days. Now I know some mathematician is already calculating and saying – you know, 3 ½ years is actually 1277.5 days! So, you are wrong and so is the Bible. Just remember, we are talking about the Jewish – which had a 360 day year.. g. This much so far is fairly non-controversial. Trouble is coming and it will last 7 years. What IS controversial is the timing of the rapture and the second coming.

6) 2 appearances of Jesus – Did you know that these are separate events? a. Second Coming and Rapture – Not the same! What are the key contrasts? i. The Rapture will happen when those alive and dead in Jesus are risen to meet Jesus. The Second Coming is Jesus returning to earth to conquer evil once and for all. ii. In the rapture, we will all meet Jesus in the air – all living and dead Christians. In the Second coming, we will return to earth with him. iii. In the rapture, earth is not judged. In the second coming the earth is judged iv. The rapture could happen any moment, the second coming has clear signs v. The rapture is ONLY in the New Testament. The second coming is both old and new. vi. The rapture is for believers, the second coming affects every person. vii. The rapture is before the wrath of God, the second coming is after viii. The rapture has no reference to Satan, the second coming concludes with Satan being bound for 1000 years. b. Zombie Joke c. Timing of Second Coming – This is not too hard or controversial. Jesus is coming back to reign at the end of the tribulation. Here is how it is described in Revelation 19. d. 11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war… 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations…. 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh Revelation 19:11, 14-15, 19-21 Whoa… Jesus coming on the white horse for Justice and peace. And that is how in the end, Jesus wins! It will be after the tribulation. People agree on that much! 7) Rapture – far more controversial is the dating of the Rapture. It is the time when we are all caught up in the air to meet Jesus. While it is clear that there WILL be a rapture, it is not crystal clear in Scripture when it happens. So strange. And there are three possibilities worth mentioning. Here is how Paul describes this cool moment in 1 Thes 4:16-17 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. a. Pretribulation – The Rapture is BEFORE the tribulation – Verses that go with it i. Largely based on the idea that God’s people will not experience God’s wrath! In other words, God has good plans for his kids, which does not include suffering his wrath. So, we will meet Jesus in the air! ii. Hope this is the right one! b. Post tribulation – the Rapture is AFTER the tribulation i. The church WILL enter the tribulation ii. Matthew 24: 29-31 - First, the abomination of desolation, then The Sign of the son of Man appears in the sky. Then the angels will gather his elect from the four winds iii. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 – The rapture will not happen until the man of lawlessness is revealed and the abomination of desolation iv. Revelation 7:9-17 and Revelation 13:1-18 – In one, the church has come out of the Great Tribulation… in the other they are in it. c. Prewrath – The Rapture is after the tribulation begins, but before God’s wrath is poured out i. Affirms both concepts of pre and post 1. We will exist until sometime the midpoint of the seven years. 2. We will not face the wrath of our loving father… therefore, we will miss the worst of the tribulation. ii. Works with of Daniel, Jesus and John 1. So, lets be clear in walking through this. There is a start to the tribulation. It is in Daniel 9:27 when the makes a covenant with the many (which most think is a peace treaty between Israel and several nations.) 2. After 3 ½ years of trouble, the Abomination of Desolation is set up in the temple. Now… there is currently no temple in Jerusalem and has not been for 1950 years. But the Abomination of Desolation assumes a Temple if it is a literal prophecy. If it is figurative, it may mean something else 3. During this time, the tribulation gets worse and worse… but not at its destructive peak. And shortly after the midpoint, there is the sign of the sun moon and Stars – the kickoff of the day of the LORD foreseen by Joel, Jesus, and John. Immediately following that, Jesus says, the rapture happens. 4. Revelation 14:16 is the rapture according to this view. It is the great harvest of Jesus – and it happens Just before the wrath of God is poured out on planet earth. 5. From this point, the wrath of God is poured out. There will be death and destruction such has never been seen before… but you will not be here for that part. iii. So, if you are still awake right now, you are probably pretty disturbed. You are thinking “Are you telling me that I will live through part of the tribulation? Over 3 ½ years?” Does that mean that I will suffer? I will be persecuted? I could be killed for my faith or my kids could be? Yes. Yes. And Yes. iv. Now I hope I am wrong… cuz I don’t like pain. I want pretrib… just like Left Behind! I want to be zapped out of my jammies and never be seen again! v. But as I study the Bible… I am just compelled to believe the pre wrath position. I’d challenge you to look at the passages in your outline… put them up against each other and decide for yourself. I put them all down on colored post it notes and rearranged them before I put together my adapted timeline. And if I am right – and I may be wrong – If I am right, then you may have some suffering coming.

8) Prepare to Suffer a. Honestly, most Americans don’t like the idea that suffering may be coming. But around the world it is normal. Every day, 8 Christians worldwide are killed for their faith. Every week 182 churches or Christian buildings are attacked. And every , 309 Christians are imprisoned unjustly. For most of the world, suffering for the faith is normal. And it may become normal for us in the Tribulation too. Maybe this is why John said this to the church at Smyrna. b. Smyrna Verses - Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Revelation 2:10 c. Those verses are for the ancient church of Smyrna in the face of Rome… they are for the church of Jesus today who are persecuted around the world. They are for the church of the future who will face part of the Tribulation. d. Some of us will be starving. Some will be threatened. Some will be martyred. But can I give out some hope today? e. When you go through it… if you don’t bow to the Jesus will give you strength… You will never be alone.

Stand with me now…

Music Starts Here… building and triumphant

You see… God has this amazing plan for this world and the next. He is reclaiming as many people as will call on him for as long as he can. He gave everything… even his son to accomplish this. And the pain of the planet is on this increasing note and tension. Your job and my job is to live in the pain and be the ones who bring a second chance to those who need it. Who tell them about hope. Who tell them about the New Heavens and the New Earth… who invite them in.

And as pain increases and persecution is on high, we GET to be the ones to point people to Jesus! We GET to be the ones who will be strong to the end. And some of us will GET to die as martyrs – just as Jesus died for us – while faithfully representing the one who loves our soul.

The tension will mount until it hits a fever pitch… we will be zapped out of the equation in the rapture, Gods wrath will be poured out in destruction on all of the filth and evil and rebellion that would not turn… even through massive appeals… and as this planet is scrapped, the new heavens and new earth will be the recreation of the old.

And when we are victorious, when the new Heavens and New Earth comes to pass God will put a white robe on you – representing the purity of Jesus. You will eat from the tree of life. You will swim in the river of life. You will be a pillar in the temple of God. God’s name will be written on you… and you will sit on the throne with him forever and ever! Someone say Hallelujah! He’s coming back!

• Daniel 7:25, "time, times and a half". • Daniel 9:27, "half one set of seven". • Daniel 12:7, "time, times and a half". • Revelation 11:2, "42 months". • Revelation 11:3, "1260 days". • Revelation 12:6, "1260 days". • Revelation 12:14, "time, times and a half". • Revelation 13:5, "42 months"