COLLEGE DROPOUT Judas spent three years attending Jesus University. His mind was full of biblical truth. Judas heard all the parables and teachings of Jesus. He knew more about what Jesus taught than we do because only a small percentage of what Jesus did and said are in the Gospel accounts. Judas’ problem wasn’t information, it was transformation. He hadn’t been transformed. John 13:18-30; 36-38.
We live in a wicked world today. But can you imagine how wicked this world would be if suddenly there were no churches? There is moral corruption everywhere, but we’re the salt of the earth. Salt was used to preserve fish and to slow down decay. Our presence in the world today is slowing down the process of moral decay. There is spiritual darkness everywhere, but we’re the light of the world. Imagine the chaos and wickedness when the light is turned off.
Throughout this series I’ve said that unless there is a spiritual awakening, America will face the judgment of God. In some ways, we are already experiencing His judgment in these very days. He doesn’t have to send some supernatural visitation from heaven to judge us. We are simply reaping the bitter fruit of six decades of pushing God off the public square in America.
Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was a living parable of God’s relationship with Israel and with any nation that wanders from Him. Hosea is preaching came from his own personal experience of love, pain, and redemption. He told the Israelites that, like an unfaithful wife, they were guilty of spiritual adultery. Hosea could say with passion and honesty, “I know how God feels, because I felt the same way. You have broken the heart of God who loves you!”
The Bible calls the light that led the magi a star, but that’s what most people call every light in the sky except the sun and moon. There has been endless speculation trying to explain the nature of this light. Some say that it was the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, which astronomers calculate happened around 7 B.C. Others say it was a comet, or a supernova, an exploding star. But I think the scriptural evidence refutes all of these natural explanations. They saw the star at times, and then it’s apparent they didn’t see it when they stopped in Jerusalem, and then they saw it again and were overjoyed. The language says the star moved ahead of them and then stopped over the house where Jesus was. This would preclude the possibility of it being an actual star. I believe this was simply a unique light God provided for this special occasion—and it wasn’t the first time God used a light as a guide.
Four hundred prophets were saying, “Go to war and you’ll win.” Micaiah had the courage to stand up and speak God’s truth. He had to go against the crowd. He faced peer pressure just as we do today. Peer pressure starts when we are young. We want to “be like” everyone else and we want to “be liked” by others, so we tend to go along to get along.
As horrifying as the physical agony of the cross was, the spiritual and mental agony of carrying the sins of the world was much worse. Jesus literally endured hell for us. When Jesus took our sin in His own body and experienced the hell of separation from God. He experienced the darkness of hell for us. He experienced the agony and torture of hell for us. As He moved closer to death, death must seemed to be as pleasant as a warm blanket on a cold night. Praise God, His suffering was over!
Pastor David Dykes explains wonders 5-7 of the Seven Wonders contained in Bible. Most people will never see all seven of these natural wonders, but anyone with a copy of the Bible can experience the seven wonders of the Word of God. When you get a firm grasp on the Bible and start applying it to your life, you’ll find Jesus on every page.
When you read the words of Jesus, you are going back to the future. He spoke of an event that hasn’t yet happened–His return to this world. Will you be ready? You can’t say it’s unexpected, because the signs are everywhere. Jesus warned the worst thing that could happen would be for the Day of His return to come on a person unexpectedly, like a trap.
Many of the ancient Greek philosophers, especially the Stoics, taught that like a wheel, history repeats itself. Some said each cycle lasted 3,000 years. They really believed “What goes around comes around.” But the Bible doesn’t teach History is like a circle. The Bible teaches all of history is moving in a linear direction toward one final cataclysmic event.
When Jesus returns, He won’t come as gentle Jesus meek and mild–He will come as the all-powerful King. He came the first time as the Lamb of God to bear the sin of the world. But when He comes again, He will be the mighty Lion of the Tribe of Judah!
The Bible says nobody knows the day or the hour of Jesus’ return. You can’t know the exact date, but it’s possible to discern the season, the general time. Jesus predicted when world conditions match those during the time of Noah and Lot; we should start paying attention, because God’s Judgement will happen soon. Two important conditions existed during the days of Noah and Lot: Extreme immorality and wickedness.
Some of you think you can live with one foot in the world and with one foot in the kingdom of Jesus. You have two lifestyles, one for church and one for the rest of the time. As we get closer to the end, this option will disappear, like a boat drifting away, and you have one foot on the dock and one foot in the boat, you are going to have to decide: Jesus or this world? The boat is moving away, and if you don’t decide–splash!–you end up all wet!
We also have an enemy who stands in our pathway of progress. We must understand the real battle takes place in prayer. We have a spiritual weapon with “divine power to demolish strongholds.” Are you using this weapon? Prayer is where the real battle takes place when we get up off our knees, then we go out to enjoy the spoils of battle.
Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9 is neither a vision nor a dream. There are no strange symbols of animals or statues. It is a direct message to the prophet from God, delivered by the angel Gabriel. This is the same angel that appeared to Joseph and to Mary, as recorded in the opening chapters of the New Testament. The angel Gabriel was sent to the prophet Daniel to give him a clear and undisguised look into the future in answer to a prayer of the prophet.
This message should demonstrate to you the absolute reliability and infallibility of the Word of God. When we see things predicted in the Bible that have already come true, it gives us great assurance that those things yet to happen will also come true. An examination of Daniel’s prophetic dream and how it came true.
The most important question we can ask ourselves is, “Is my name written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life?” But can we know for sure? Yes you can. That’s why Jesus said to “rejoice because your names are written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” He wouldn’t be so cruel to tell us to rejoice over something you can’t be sure about. Is your name in the Book of Life? Are you sure?
The image of the statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is still standing, because we are living in the time of man’s kingdoms. But there was more to the dream! There was a stone—a rock that was cut out of a mountain without human hands. That rock came hurtling toward the feet of the statue and demolished it. It became dust and is blown away. What is that all about? Obviously, the rest of the Bible identifies that rock as Jesus.
Where are we now in the book of Revelation? A lot of people think the book of Revelation is a very serious, hard to understand book, but in essence it’s not. It is shrouded in mystery, but tonight when I share with you the key to understanding the book of Revelation, I think you’re going to be amazed at how simple it is to understand the totality of it.
One source of frustration in the church is that people are trying to do the wrong ministry, play the wrong instrument. That is tragic. But do you know what is even worse than that is having your instrument, but refusing to play it. Everybody in this church has been given a special gift that nobody else has, when you mix it with your personality and your own gifts and abilities. If you are just sitting there with your instrument, refusing to play it, there is a part of the symphony that is missing. You need me. I need you. We all need to be playing together. No person is a one-man band.
I believe there is a spiritual gift of speaking in tongues. However, I do think it is much misunderstood, abused and misused today. In fact, in my experience I would have to say I believe about 90% of what is passed today in speaking in tongues is not what the Bible teaches about it. A message about what the Bible has to say about speaking in tongues.
Have we ever lived in a world and do we live in a world right now where all the governments of the world are upon the shoulders of Jesus? When the Security Council of the United Nations meets in New York do they fall on their knees and say, “Lord Jesus, this is your world and what do you want us to do”? Of course not. That hasn’t happened yet–but it will! Why do you think Jesus told us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven?” I believe the Bible teaches the time will come when Jesus will live and reign on Earth and we’re going to reign with him!
A lot of people get confused about the dual aspect of the return of Christ because some say, “I thought the Bible says that when Jesus comes back he’s going to come back like a thief in the night, suddenly, silently, secretively.” What we are studying today and elsewhere in the Bible says when he comes, he’ll come in mighty power and every eye will see him. Which one is it? because it certainly can’t be both. It IS both, because when Jesus comes to rapture the church–which could happen at any moment–he literally won’t come to planet Earth. The Bible says we’ll meet him in the clouds and all the true Christians will be caught up to be with Jesus. We’ll be in heaven from that time all the way during the Tribulation and that’s when he is coming silently, secretively, like a thief in the night but at the end of this Tribulation he will come like we are talking about today. This is when he is coming in power and might and majesty and every eye will see him.
There’s going to be a marriage made in heaven and a wedding in heave–and you and I are going to be there. In fact you and I are going to be part of the wedding. Do you know what’s going to be different about this wedding in heaven? In heaven, the focus is not going to be on the bride–the focus is going to be on the bridegroom–Jesus!
What we see in chapter 18 is not the fall of religious Babylon; it is the failure of economic Babylon. “Babylon” is a godless world system led by the Antichrist. The first thing we see is the cause of the destruction. Why is this future commerce system going to fall? Our world is definitely moving toward a unified economic system. If they could, those in high places would make the entire world a one monetary system one system of exchange, because, let’s face it when you are trying to do business in another country, you have to consider the fluctuating exchange rates and there are people who keep talking about the “New World Order” where economically there will be one monetary system. This scripture envisions a time when that has already taken place under the leadership of the Antichrist. However, the time is going to come when it is going to absolutely fall apart.
The main part of this message deals with the strategy of judgement. The seven-year period of Tribulation follows a chronological framework of the three series of sevens. There were seven seals, seven trumpets and now we come to the third series of sevens: The seven bowls (or vials) of wrath that are going to be poured out. What are these seven bowls of wrath?
Earlier in our study of Revelation we were introduced to these 144,000 individuals. Who are they? Throughout history there have been many groups who have claimed to be this 144,000. When we studied about them before, I told you they are 144,000 Jewish evangelists who go about during the time of Tribulation preaching the gospel of the kingdom. We studied that 12,000 of them come from each of the 12 twelve Jewish tribes, and while the Antichrist and the false prophet are spreading their doctrine around this world, these 144,000 Jewish evangelists are spreading all over planet earth the gospel of the kingdom of God.
When Jesus died on the cross it was not God’s afterthought. It wasn’t a “plan B” It was something God planned from the very foundation of the world. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. The Antichrist is going to blaspheme God. He’s going to stand on the earth and stand in the temple in Jerusalem and shake his fist at God and say, “God, if you are God destroy me right now. There is no God! Worship me instead!” He’s even going to blaspheme those who are in heaven.
Some people have the weirdest ideas about Satan. They really Satan is some guy in red longjohns down in Hell with a pitchfork and a whip cracking a whip over people shoveling coals into some furnace. The Bible says Jesus, said Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels but he is not there yet. The Bible calls Satan, “The Prince of the Power of this Air.” Jesus calls him, “The God of this world.” The Bible says he roams about seeking whom he may devour. You see that’s where he is right now but the time is going to come when he is going to be cast out of his access to heaven.
Somebody needs to tell Indiana Jones he will never find the Ark of the Covenant, because it is in heaven. How did it get there? I don’t know but the Bible says there it is! The beautiful thing about the temple is that this temple in heaven is the dwelling place of the power of God but the glorious news about the temple is this all of this is in the future. The temple John measured at the beginning of the book is going to be in Jerusalem; the temple we see at the end of this chapter is in heaven but right now there is a temple of God.
How do you think people on earth are going to react judgement after judgement after judgement after judgement? Thousands of people are killed. There are signs in the sky. There is environmental damage there are all kinds of disasters happening. What do you think is going to be the reaction of mankind?
In the Bible there is a highly organized strata and structure to angelic organizations. We don’t get all the details about it, but anytime you read the words “principalities and powers” that’s a word that means ranks of order, both the good angels and the fallen angels. In Ephesians chapter 6 when it says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers.” Have you ever wondered what those words meant? It means against the organized, structured ranks of demons. God’s angels are organized with archangels and the other angels we are talking about. So these seven trumpet angels appear and they are going to be the ones who blow these trumpets to announce judgment on the earth.
What’s it going to be like the first Sunday after Jesus raptures the church? We make jokes about it and say things like, “Mostly deacons will be there in church and most of the choir will be there,” but I want to tell you the first Sunday after Jesus raptures the church, the church buildings are going to be PACKED, because there are going to be some people who know and have heard all about this and when it happens, they are going to realize they were counterfeit Christians and never were saved and now they have been left behind and what a terrible, terrible time it’s going to be!
Has there ever been a time in the history of the world when it was technologically possible for there to be a one-world ruler? Never before today! But with communications and transportation it could happen today. Every time you hear somebody in government start talking about a global economy, global politics, or one-world government, they don’t even know they are setting themselves up. I’m not saying everybody that says that is the Antichrist. All I am saying is the system is in place and many people want to see it happen.
The word of God, the Bible, is a total completion; it is a unit. It is not 66 disjointed books. There is a marvelous unity to the word of God that begins with the book of Genesis and ends with the book of Revelation. Even though they were written thousands of years apart, Genesis and Revelation are sister books. For instance, in Genesis we read about the creation of the first heaven and the first earth. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In Revelation, the first heaven and the first earth pass away and we read about the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. That’s the parallel.
