Participants:
Series Code: DPM
Program Code: DPM000006A
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00:10 Heavenly Father,
00:13 tonight we find ourselves 00:14 coming together to study the Book of Daniel. 00:19 Father, we come here just as we are. 00:22 We don't hide our mistakes. 00:24 We don't hide our weaknesses. 00:26 But we need to see a picture of Jesus. 00:30 As we open up Your prophetic Word, 00:32 we are asking for hope, 00:34 we are asking for encouragement, 00:36 we are asking for the answers 00:38 that we know Your Word gives us. 00:40 So we pray for the Holy Spirit. 00:43 We ask the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, 00:46 and to give us ears to hear. 00:48 This is our prayer in Jesus name. 00:51 Amen. Amen. 00:53 Throughout the Bible, there are literally 00:56 hundreds of different prophecies 00:58 that have foretold future events. 01:00 And when you compare the prophecies of the Bible 01:04 with history, you discover very quickly 01:06 that the prophecies of the Bible 01:08 have never, ever failed. 01:10 In fact, prophecy is there 01:13 in order to strengthen our faith in the Word of God 01:16 and to show us that we can trust the Bible. 01:19 That's why Peter has said that prophecy is like a light 01:24 that shines in a dark place. 01:26 It helps us to understand the past, 01:29 it makes clear the present, and it helps us 01:32 to understand the future. 01:34 So tonight, we're going to take a look 01:36 at a very specific prophecy 01:38 in the Book of Daniel. 01:40 It is known as the 70 Weeks Prophecy. 01:44 And it's really one of the most dramatic ones 01:46 you will find in the Old Testament. 01:48 And here's why. 01:50 This prophecy pinpoints the exact time period 01:54 when Jesus would come as the Messiah, 01:57 the first time and it pins points 01:59 the every time 02:01 when He would die 02:02 on the cross of Calvary for our sins. 02:04 There is no other prophecy 02:06 that I know of in the Old Testament 02:08 that uplifts Jesus Christ more, 02:10 and unmistakably identifies Him as the Son of God. 02:15 So I want to invite you to take your Bibles 02:17 and go ahead and turn with me to Daniel 9, 02:21 because we're going to be there for quite a while. 02:24 You want to go to Daniel 9, 02:26 so Daniel 9. 02:30 Now, before I start reading, 02:32 I actually want to give you the background 02:34 of what is happening 02:35 during this period of earth's history. 02:37 Because if we wanna understand a prophecy in the Bible, 02:41 it's always good to get its context. 02:43 Can you say amen? 02:45 Here in Chapter 9, it's somewhere around 500 BC. 02:50 The Jewish nation and the Prophet Daniel 02:53 are living in captivity to the Persian Empire. 02:57 What empire did I say? 02:59 Persian. Persian Empire. 03:01 You see, years before that God had spoken through Jeremiah 03:05 and many of the other prophets, 03:07 warning the nation of Israel 03:09 that if they continue to be unfaithful, 03:11 if they continue to worship other gods 03:14 and get involved in sexual immorality 03:16 with other nations, 03:18 that in order to wake them up, 03:20 God would allow a foreign power 03:22 to conquer them and to take them captive. 03:25 And unfortunately, in 586 BC, that's exactly what happened. 03:31 King Nebuchadnezzar and the Kingdom of Babylon 03:34 came down from the North and conquered 03:38 and besieged the city of Jerusalem, 03:40 partially destroyed it and tore down the walls. 03:43 And they took many of the people captive, 03:46 as you can see in the picture on the screen above me. 03:50 And one of the men who was taken captive 03:52 was the Prophet Daniel, 03:54 who was probably just a teenager at that time. 03:57 So, now you fast forward a few years, 04:00 probably 70 years, 04:01 and Persia has now conquered Babylon. 04:04 They are the dominant power in the world. 04:07 So the Jewish people are now 04:09 living in captivity to the Persian nation. 04:13 And Chapter 9 opens up 04:16 with one of the most sincere prayers 04:17 you will ever see or hear in the Bible. 04:21 Daniel is praying for his people. 04:24 Daniel is praying and asking, 04:26 "O Lord, when will You deliver us? 04:30 When will You save us 04:31 and allow us to go back to Jerusalem? 04:34 When can we rebuild our city 04:36 and rebuild our walls and be free again?" 04:39 And Daniel confesses the unfaithfulness 04:42 of his people. 04:43 I want you to pick it up now. 04:44 I'd like to read verses 4-6, 04:47 so that you can get a picture of the humility 04:50 that you see in Daniel's character. 04:52 Daniel 9:4, 04:55 the Bible says, 04:58 "And I prayed to the Lord my God, 05:01 and made confession, and said, 'O Lord, 05:05 great and awesome God, 05:08 who keeps His covenant 05:09 and mercy with those who love Him, 05:12 and with those who keep His commandments.' 05:14 " Now notice verse 5, "We have," what? 05:18 "Sinned and committed iniquity, 05:21 we have done wickedly and rebelled, 05:23 even by departing from Your precepts 05:26 and Your judgments. 05:27 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, 05:30 who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, 05:34 to our fathers 05:35 and all the people of the land." 05:38 Do you sense Daniel's sincerity? 05:41 Yes or no. 05:42 Now, I want you to notice something 05:44 in this prayer. 05:45 Daniel does not have a judgmental critical attitude 05:49 toward his people. 05:51 He does not come across it in a holier than thou manner 05:54 because the truth is, 05:56 Daniel's not the one that was unfaithful. 05:58 He's living in captivity because of the faithfulness 06:01 of other people in the Jewish nation, 06:04 but Daniel doesn't cop an attitude. 06:06 He doesn't say, "Oh, Lord, these wicked people, 06:09 and these unfaithful rulers of ours, 06:11 they've caused all this to happen. 06:13 But Oh, Lord, I have been faithful." 06:16 He doesn't do that. 06:17 You notice the pronoun that Daniel uses. 06:21 He says, "We have sinned. 06:23 We have rebelled." 06:25 He puts himself right there with his people, 06:29 the nation of Israel. 06:30 And you see the humility of Daniel, 06:33 that's why God could use him. 06:34 Can you say amen? 06:36 And it's really a lesson for us. 06:38 I mean, sometimes we see people 06:40 who are not acting properly in church or in our families, 06:44 or maybe our neighborhoods, 06:46 and we're sometimes 06:47 tempted to have that judgmental attitude, 06:49 that holier than thou attitude. 06:52 You know, like the Pharisees who said, 06:53 "Oh, Lord, I thank You 06:54 that I'm not like this tax collector publican." 06:57 But what God would want us to do 06:59 is to have the attitude of gentleness 07:02 and humility to remember. 07:04 Yes, that person may be struggling. 07:07 But you know what? 07:09 We have our own issues, don't we? 07:11 Why look for the log in someone else's eye, 07:14 when there is a speck in my own. 07:16 God can always use a humble and a gentle attitude. 07:21 Can you say amen? That's what you see in Daniel. 07:23 Daniel then ends the prayer in verse 19, 07:26 where he says, with much emotion, 07:29 "O Lord, hear! 07:31 O Lord, forgive! 07:33 O Lord, listen and act! 07:36 Do not delay for Your own sake, 07:38 my God, for Your city 07:41 and Your people are called by Your name." 07:45 That's the sincerity of Daniel's prayer. 07:48 And then what you notice is right away in verses 20-21, 07:52 God hears that prayer, 07:55 and He sends the Angel Gabriel 07:58 to give Daniel a prophecy of hope. 08:02 So let's pick it up now beginning in verses 21-23. 08:07 Notice what Daniel writes. 08:09 Verse 21, the Bible says, 08:12 "Yes, while I was speaking in prayer, 08:15 the man Gabriel, 08:18 whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, 08:21 being caused to fly swiftly, 08:23 reached me about the time of the evening offering. 08:27 And he informed me, and he talked with me, 08:31 and he said, 'O Daniel, 08:33 I have now come forth 08:35 to give you skill to understand. 08:38 At the beginning of your supplications 08:40 the command went out, and I have come to tell you, 08:44 for you are..." 08:45 What's that next phrase? 08:47 "Greatly beloved, therefore consider the matter, 08:52 and understand the vision.' 08:55 " I have got to stop there. 08:56 Before we jump into the prophecy, 08:59 there is some really neat messages, 09:01 lessons in that passage. 09:03 Notice, at first it almost appears like, 09:07 wow, Daniel praise one prayer and boom, 09:09 the angel Gabriel was there to answer his prayer. 09:13 And we might be tempted to think, boy, 09:15 I wish it happened like that for me. 09:17 Because I can tell you when I pray about something, 09:21 very rarely, in fact, never has an angel 09:23 just appeared in the spot to answer my prayers. 09:25 Has that ever happened to anyone here? 09:27 It rarely happens that way. 09:29 But you have to understand something. 09:32 Do you think this is the first time 09:33 Daniel prayed that prayer for his people? 09:36 I highly doubt it. 09:38 Daniel had been in captivity almost 70 years by then. 09:41 Daniel prayed that prayer probably every day, 09:45 every week, every month, year after year, 09:48 he was persistent. 09:50 And see that's the lesson God wants to teach us so often, 09:54 you know, we may pray about something one time 09:56 and then forget about it. 09:58 Of course, God hears those prayers, 10:01 but think about your children, 10:02 you take a walk through Toys 'R' Us. 10:05 And for those who may watch this video, 10:06 perhaps from another country 10:08 Toys 'R' Us is a very big toy store here 10:10 in the United States. 10:11 And your child sees that special toy 10:14 that Hasbro has made 10:16 and seen the commercial on television, 10:18 they want that toy. 10:19 Now, if they only bug you 10:21 about it for three or four days, 10:23 and then you never hear about it again. 10:25 You know, it's just a passing fad. 10:27 But if they bring it up over and over and over again 10:31 over a period of weeks and months, 10:33 you know, they're serious about it. 10:36 In a sense, that's how God wants 10:37 our prayers to be consistent and persistent. 10:41 Not that we have to convince God 10:43 to hear and answer our prayers. 10:46 But God knows, the more persistent we are, 10:50 the more we daily bow before Him, 10:53 it is going to strengthen our personal relationship 10:56 with Christ. 10:57 So God wants us to be persistent, 10:59 just like Daniel was in praying for his people. 11:03 The other thing you see here, notice the angel says, 11:06 "Daniel, your prayers have been heard, 11:08 you are greatly beloved." 11:11 What would that be like? 11:13 To hear one of God's angels say, 11:15 "You, Perry or Mark or Bob or Christine, 11:20 you are greatly beloved, 11:22 your name is known in heaven." 11:25 How many people think that would be awesome? 11:27 Can I see your hands? 11:28 Well, I got good news for you. 11:30 God's already said that about you. 11:31 You say, really, 11:33 what book of the Bible is it in? 11:34 It's on the cross of Calvary. 11:36 Because when God sent His Son, 11:39 Jesus Christ to die on Calvary, to give you His righteousness, 11:44 that was God saying to you and me, 11:46 you are greatly beloved, in my sight, amen? 11:49 Amen. 11:50 Now, the angel begins to give Daniel a prophecy 11:54 that will answer his questions. 11:56 What's gonna happen to his Jewish people? 11:59 What does the future hold? 12:01 So let's pick it up, beginning in verse 24. 12:05 And right now I'm kind of gonna turn this 12:07 into slow gear, 12:09 because we're gonna go 12:10 through this one verse at a time. 12:13 Daniel 9:24, the angel is speaking. 12:18 The Bible says, "Seventy weeks are determined 12:23 for your people 12:25 and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, 12:30 to make an end of sins, 12:33 to make reconciliation for iniquity, 12:36 to bring in everlasting righteousness, 12:38 to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." 12:44 Now, we have to stop there. 12:45 Obviously, you see 12:47 where they get the 70 weeks from? 12:48 It's the angel says, "Seventy weeks 12:50 are determined for your people, Daniel, and the holy city." 12:54 So let's answer a simple question. 12:56 If Daniel is a Jew, 12:59 what people is the angel talking about? 13:03 The Jewish nation, Israel, and what is the holy city? 13:07 Jerusalem. 13:09 So, whatever these 70 weeks are about, 13:12 we know that it has something to do 13:14 with the Jewish nation and the holy city of Jerusalem. 13:19 If that makes sense, could you say amen? 13:21 Angel clearly outlines that. 13:23 But now the question is, well, 13:25 what's supposed to happen during those 70 weeks? 13:29 We notice what verse 24, it says. 13:31 We have outlined this on the screen. 13:33 During the 70 weeks 13:34 they are to finish their transgression, 13:37 make an end of sins, so that God can bring 13:40 in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy. 13:45 You say, "Well, great, well, what does that mean?" 13:48 You have to keep in mind. 13:50 Did God have a purpose for the nation of Israel? 13:53 Yes or no? 13:54 He did. 13:56 His purpose for them was to be a light to the world. 13:58 God wanted to have a nation 14:00 or a people that would live according to His laws. 14:04 Live according to His principles 14:06 and His commands, 14:07 so that they could be an example 14:09 to the rest of the pagan world. 14:11 What a blessing it is 14:12 to serve the true God of heaven. 14:15 And His purpose was that when the Messiah came 14:19 that Israel would accept Christ as their Messiah. 14:22 And they would be the ones 14:24 that take the gospel to the world 14:26 and introduce people to Jesus. 14:28 That was God's original plan for Israel. 14:32 But there's a problem because right now 14:35 Israel is living in apostasy. 14:37 They've been worshipping foreign gods, 14:40 they've been ignoring the commandments of the Lord. 14:43 They've become like the other pagan nations. 14:45 That's why they're in captivity. 14:48 And you see God wants to bring the Messiah Jesus. 14:52 But He can't do that 14:54 while Israel is living in unfaithfulness. 14:57 So in a real sense, the rest of the pagan world 15:00 is having to wait for the Messiah to come. 15:03 And so God is basically 15:05 saying to the Jewish nation and to Daniel, 15:08 "I'm giving your people 70 weeks of probation, 15:12 70 weeks to start keeping 15:14 your end of the covenant to the faithful 15:17 so that you will be a light to the world 15:19 and I can bring the Messiah." 15:22 Does that make sense? 15:23 That's what the 70 weeks are for. 15:26 You say, "Okay, I can understand that." 15:29 But now let's go a little farther. 15:31 This is where I need to introduce you 15:33 to that prophetic principle of interpretation 15:36 known as a day for a year. 15:39 In the symbolic portions of Bible prophecy, 15:43 there is a principle that almost all scholars 15:45 of various denominations agree upon. 15:47 And that is, one day symbolizes one year. 15:52 I want you to say that with me, one day symbolizes what? 15:56 One year. One year. 15:57 Now that's only in the symbolic portions 16:00 of prophecy, 16:01 that's not referring to the narrative portions 16:03 of Scripture. 16:04 You say, "Well, what's a narrative?" 16:06 That means, the stories. 16:07 In other words, when it says the King David 16:08 ruled for 33 years, that literally means 33 years, 16:12 you know, 24 hour days. 16:13 The seven days of creation, 16:15 that literally means 7x24 hour days. 16:19 It's only in prophecy, when there's a beginning date 16:23 and an ending date 16:24 that you apply the principle a day for a year. 16:27 Now, real quick, I just want to show you 16:29 where scholars get this from the Bible. 16:31 I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time on it. 16:33 But you remember that story 16:34 when Moses and the Israelites 16:36 were on the border of the Promised Land, 16:38 they had been wandering in the wilderness. 16:40 And so Moses sent how many spies 16:43 to go into the Promised Land and check it out? 16:45 Do you remember? 16:46 They sent 12 spies, and their job was to go 16:50 throughout the land, 16:51 see what it looked like and what were the people like 16:53 they were going to have to conquer. 16:55 And after they spent 40 days spying out the land, 16:59 they came back and presented a report 17:01 to the rest of the encampment of Israel. 17:04 And 10 of them presented what kind of report? 17:07 A bad one. 17:08 "Oh, we'll never conquer this land. 17:11 It's a beautiful, glorious land. 17:14 But the people are tall. 17:15 They're like giants. 17:17 They're mighty warriors." 17:19 And they started to say, 17:20 "Oh, we should have never listened to Moses. 17:23 We should have stayed in Israel 17:24 where we had been better off." 17:26 And they forgot everything God had done for them 17:29 as they wander through the wilderness, 17:31 all those miracles. 17:33 And there were only two who gave a faith report 17:36 and encouraged the people, listen, 17:37 God brought us this far, 17:39 by His power we can take this land. 17:41 Remember who those two were? 17:44 Caleb and Joshua, but you know who the people listened to? 17:48 The majority. 17:50 See, the majority is not always right. 17:52 And they listened to those ten and said, 17:54 oh, they were ready to stone Moses. 17:56 And God finally said, "You know what, 17:58 after all that I have done for you, 18:01 and you still don't trust Me." 18:03 God says to them, right here in Numbers 14:34, 18:06 "According to the number of the days 18:08 in which you spied out the land, forty days, 18:12 for each day you shall bear your guilt," 18:15 how long? 18:16 "One year, namely forty years, 18:18 and you shall know My rejection." 18:20 In other words, for every day they spent 18:23 complaining against God as they spied out the land 18:26 that was 40 days, they would spend another year 18:29 wandering in the wilderness, which ended up being 40 years. 18:32 That's one of the verses 18:34 that present the day for a year principle. 18:37 And you see the same thing 18:38 even in Ezekiel 4:6. 18:42 So now, if we apply the day 18:46 for a year principle to the 70 weeks, guess what, 18:49 we have to do a little calculation. 18:51 I bet you never knew 18:53 when you did your math class in high school, 18:55 that this will become helpful 18:56 when you study the prophecies of the Bible. 18:59 So here's what we have do. 19:01 How many days are in one week? 19:04 Seven. 19:05 So if I want to know how many days 19:07 are in a 70 week period, 19:08 what must I do? 19:10 70x7, when you do that, it equals 490. 19:15 So those 490 days in a 70 week period. 19:19 But when I apply the day for a year principle, 19:23 it's not really 490 days, it's 490 what? 19:28 Years. 19:29 So God is saying to Israel, 19:31 I'm giving you 490 years to start being faithful to Me. 19:36 Keep my laws and commands, be a light to the world. 19:40 But after the 490 years, 19:42 if you have not kept your end of the covenant, 19:45 if you have rejected the Messiah 19:48 when He comes, God is saying, 19:50 "I'm going to have to go on a different path 19:53 to take the gospel to the world." 19:56 So God is giving Israel 490 years. 20:01 Now, we understand that thus far, 20:02 70 weeks or 490 years. 20:06 But here's the question. 20:07 We're still missing something important, 20:09 and what is that? 20:11 A starting date. 20:12 Well, when does the 70 weeks begin? 20:15 When are we supposed to start this 490 years? 20:18 Now we got to go to verse 25, 20:20 and the prophecy gives us a clue. 20:23 Verse 25 of Chapter 9 in Daniel. 20:28 The Bible says, and this is the angel speaking, 20:31 "Know therefore and understand, 20:34 that from the going forth of the command to restore 20:38 and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince..." 20:43 Now, I'm gonna stop there 20:44 and I know it's only halfway through the verse. 20:46 We're gonna break that verse up into two here, 20:48 because there's a lot in it. 20:50 Notice the angel has said 20:53 that the beginning date of this prophecy 20:56 is when a command goes forth 20:59 to restore and build Jerusalem. 21:01 Did you catch that? 21:02 In other words, when the Persian Empire 21:05 puts forth a decree that allows the Jews 21:07 to go back to their homeland in Jerusalem, 21:10 rebuild their city, their wall, etc., 21:13 whenever Persia orders that decree, 21:15 that's the beginning date for this prophecy. 21:18 So the question is, did Persia do that, 21:21 and if so, what was the date? 21:24 And when you go back in history, 21:26 you know what you find? 21:28 There are actually multiple dates. 21:31 You say, "Oh, great, which one?" 21:34 Cyrus made one in 537, Darius made one in 520, 21:38 Artaxerxes made one in 457. 21:41 Now, I suppose we could vote and do the majority rules, 21:44 but that won't necessarily mean that we have the truth. 21:48 We could, I suppose, flip a coin, 21:52 but the best way to do it is by the Bible. 21:55 So let me ask you a question. 21:58 The one we actually want is Artaxerxes 22:00 because if Cyrus' decree was powerful enough. 22:03 Would you need a second one by Darius? 22:06 No. 22:07 If Darius' decree was powerful enough, 22:09 would you have needed Artaxerxes? 22:11 Artaxerxes decree is the one 22:13 that allowed any Jew who wanted in the Persian realm 22:17 to go back to Jerusalem, gave them permission 22:20 to rebuild the city, rebuild the torn down wall 22:24 as well as the temple and even begin 22:26 their own civil government again, 22:28 it gave them a large measure of freedom. 22:32 Now they were still under Persian rule, 22:34 but they were given much of their freedoms back, 22:37 and Artaxerxes' decree is the one 22:40 that is recorded almost word for word in the Bible. 22:44 If you were to read Ezra Chapter 7, 22:46 I'm not gonna do that right now. 22:48 But in Ezra Chapter 7, 22:49 you can read Artaxerxes' decree in the Word of God. 22:52 And what's amazing is, do you think 22:55 it would cost money for all those people to go back 22:57 and rebuild their city, what do you think? 22:59 Yeah. 23:01 You know, who paid for it? 23:03 Artaxerxes. 23:04 Now you tell me 23:05 if that's not a miracle from God, 23:08 that the Persian king gives them permission, 23:10 and he finances the trip. 23:13 That is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. 23:17 So Artaxerxes is the decree we want, 23:20 that's 457 B.C. 23:22 So now what we have to do, 23:23 and you can either look at the chart 23:25 on the screen here, 23:26 or you can look at the one 23:28 that you have in your hands. 23:29 If 457 is the beginning date, 23:33 if I add 490 years to 457 B.C., 23:38 it's going to tell me when the 70 weeks 23:41 or the 490 years has ended when probation is done 23:46 for the Jewish nation. 23:47 And if you do the addition, 23:49 do you know what year you come to? 23:52 Of course, I have it on the screen there. 23:54 34 A.D. 23:58 God is saying by 34 A.D., 24:03 if my Jewish people 24:05 have not kept their end of the covenant, 24:07 if they have not accepted their Messiah, 24:11 God is saying, I'm going to have to go 24:13 on a different path 24:15 to take the gospel to the world. 24:17 So the Jewish nation has 24:19 until 34 A.D. 24:23 And do you know what happened in 34 A.D. 24:26 that sealed the Jewish nation's rejection 24:30 of the gospel, 24:32 of the covenant and of the Messiah Jesus? 24:37 In 34 A.D., 24:39 the first Christian martyr was stoned 24:43 at Jerusalem or just outside the gates 24:45 of Jerusalem. 24:46 It was Stephen. 24:49 I want to read this to you from the scriptures. 24:51 It comes from Acts 7:54. 24:55 Now this is somewhat lengthy, 24:56 but I just want to read the Bible's description 24:59 of what happened at the end of this 70 weeks. 25:02 The Bible says, "When they heard these things 25:06 they were cut to the heart, 25:09 and they gnashed at him with their teeth." 25:11 You see, Stephen was preaching a burning sermon, 25:15 showing from the scriptures, 25:17 and from the Old Testament prophecies 25:19 that this Jesus who was crucified 25:21 was the Son of God. 25:22 And it says, when they heard these things, 25:23 they were cut to the heart. 25:25 Now, if you're cut to the heart with something, 25:26 what does that mean? 25:29 You're convicted. 25:30 And this is their response. 25:32 "They gnashed at him with their teeth. 25:35 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, 25:39 gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, 25:42 and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 25:45 and said, 'Look! 25:47 I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man 25:50 standing at the right hand of God!' 25:53 " He was equating Jesus with God. 25:56 Of course, we know that to be true, 25:59 but the Jewish leaders and nations 26:00 did not want to hear that. 26:02 The Bible goes on to say, "Then they cried at him 26:05 with a loud voice," and did what? 26:08 "Stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord, 26:12 and they cast him out of the city 26:14 and stoned him." 26:16 Now notice, 26:18 "At that time a great persecution arose 26:22 against the church," which was in what city? 26:25 What's this prophecy about? 26:27 "Jerusalem. 26:29 And they were scattered 26:30 throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, 26:33 except the apostles. 26:34 As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, 26:37 entering every house, and dragging off men and women, 26:41 committing them to prison. 26:43 Therefore those who were scattered 26:44 went everywhere preaching the word." 26:48 You see, the Bible was describing for us 26:50 what happened at this time period. 26:54 For years, they had listened about the preaching of Jesus. 26:58 They had seen Jesus, they had watched His miracles 27:01 even after He died on the cross. 27:03 The Bible tells us 27:05 the apostles still mainly stayed in Jerusalem 27:08 trying to reach their own people. 27:10 But by 34 A.D., unfortunately, 27:13 Israel was so tired of hearing the gospel message 27:16 about Jesus, 27:18 that now they started killing and stoning the Christians. 27:23 And when Stephen was stoned, it says at that time, 27:27 a great persecution broke out in Jerusalem, led by what man? 27:33 Saul, who would later become Paul, 27:35 and Saul literally went outside of Jerusalem 27:38 to all the different cities to drag believers back 27:41 to their death. 27:43 And so at that point, it broke God's heart. 27:48 But His own people had rejected His covenant. 27:52 They had rejected their Messiah and their savior. 27:55 And even though 27:57 it was not part of God's original plan, 28:00 God knew that if the rest of the pagan world 28:02 was to be saved, 28:04 He was going to have to go to a different plan 28:07 to introduce Jesus to the world. 28:09 And that's where 28:11 He started using the Christian church 28:13 to take the gospel all over 28:15 the then known world. 28:19 In fact, Jesus even alludes to this 28:21 as sad as it is, 28:22 if you read Matthew 21:43. 28:26 During the last week of Jesus' life on earth, 28:30 He spent a lot of time in 28:32 and around the temple at Jerusalem 28:34 because the Passover feast was going on. 28:36 And in a controversy and conflict 28:39 with the Jewish leaders and rulers, 28:41 Jesus made this statement, 28:44 He said, "Therefore I say to you, 28:47 the kingdom of God will be taken from you 28:52 and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it." 28:56 Now, Jesus didn't say that with anger. 28:58 I'm sure He said that with tears in His eyes. 29:02 He knew that Israel had rejected Him. 29:06 Oh, yes, there were a few who believed in Him. 29:09 But overall, the leaders, the Pharisees, 29:12 the government rulers had rejected their Messiah, 29:15 He knew they were gonna nail Him to the cross, 29:17 He knew they were gonna 29:19 persecute His disciples afterwards. 29:22 And Jesus said to them, "The kingdom of God, 29:24 the gospel is gonna be given to another people." 29:28 That other people will be the Christian church 29:32 made up of all different nations 29:34 from around the world. 29:36 Because later on Jesus said to them, 29:37 when He walked out of the temple courts that day, 29:40 remember the words He uttered? 29:42 He said, "Your house is left unto you," 29:44 what? 29:46 Desolate. 29:47 And the Spirit of God departed from the temple in Jerusalem. 29:51 That's why Paul wrote 29:53 what he did after his conversion, 29:55 and he began to understand things better. 29:57 In Galatians 3:28, Paul wrote, 30:00 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, 30:02 there is neither slave nor free, 30:04 there is neither male nor female, 30:07 for you are all one in, who? 30:10 Christ Jesus." 30:11 And in verse 29, 30:12 He says something important we normally pass by, 30:15 He said, "If you are Christ's, then you are," what? 30:21 "Abraham's seed, 30:22 and heirs according to the promise." 30:25 Do you understand what that saying? 30:28 That saying to be part of God's chosen people. 30:30 You don't have to be a literal, 30:32 ethnic Jew that's born in Jerusalem. 30:35 If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior, 30:38 you are Abraham's seed. 30:40 That's what Paul is saying. 30:41 You are what's called a spiritual Jew, 30:44 not a literal one born ethnically in Israel. 30:48 But anyone who accepts Christ as Savior 30:51 can receive all the promises 30:53 made to Israel in the Old Testament. 30:56 You see, the covenant is not gone, 30:58 God is still gonna fulfill those promises, 31:01 but it's not gonna be too literal Israel, 31:04 it's gonna be to spiritual Israel, 31:06 all those who have chosen to accept 31:08 Jesus Christ as their Savior. 31:10 That means, it could be Americans, 31:12 it can be Russians, it can be people from Finland, 31:16 it doesn't matter what language you speak. 31:18 It doesn't matter the color of your skin. 31:21 It doesn't matter what country you're from. 31:23 If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed. 31:27 And all those promises made to Abraham 31:30 will be fulfilled to God's Christian people today. 31:33 Can somebody say amen? Amen. 31:36 Now just to make sure we don't misunderstand. 31:39 Sometimes we get an attitude with the Jewish nation 31:41 and say, "Well, if I had lived back then, 31:43 I certainly wouldn't have crucified Jesus." 31:46 We need to make sure we don't have 31:47 a holier than thou attitude, 31:49 because that kind of attitude 31:51 is also what started anti-Semitism, 31:54 particularly during World War II. 31:57 Yes, the Jewish nation made a mistake. 32:00 But can you and I sit here and say 32:02 we've never made a mistake? 32:04 There are Protestant churches today 32:07 that have made mistakes 32:08 and wish they could do things different. 32:10 I'll give you one example. 32:12 I don't wanna get too far off track. 32:13 You know, 50, 60 years ago was the civil rights era. 32:17 And they were Protestant churches 32:18 who claim to follow the Bible, who would turn a person away 32:22 from their church 32:23 because they were a different color of skin. 32:26 Or they would say, sorry, you've got to sit on the floor, 32:29 because we're the superior race, 32:31 or you've got to go to the church down the street. 32:35 Was that according to the Bible? 32:37 No. 32:38 Does that believe in what the Bible says, 32:39 all men are created equal? 32:42 That was a mistake that Protestant churches made. 32:45 Many of us wish we could take that history 32:48 and do away with it, and they've repented of that. 32:50 So we have to understand no nation is perfect. 32:53 No church is perfect. 32:56 In fact, in Romans 11, 32:57 it says that God's Jewish people 32:59 can be grafted back in again. 33:01 That is they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. 33:04 The promises are available to them once again. 33:08 And you see that happening today? 33:09 It's in the Messianic Jewish movement, 33:12 that many Jews today are seeing that 33:14 their forefathers made a mistake. 33:16 And they are now choosing to accept 33:18 and follow Jesus Christ as their Savior, 33:21 because we're all one in His name. 33:23 Amen. 33:24 So that's what you see going on in this prophecy. 33:27 But now, we need to go a little farther 33:31 because in verse 25, it's going to talk about 33:34 a 69 week period. 33:36 Now this whole prophecy covers what time period? 33:39 Seventy weeks. 33:41 But in verse 25, the angel says 33:44 something important will happen after 69 weeks. 33:48 Let's pick it up again in verse 25. 33:51 The Bible says, "Know therefore and understand, 33:55 that from the going forth of the command 33:58 to restore and build Jerusalem 34:02 until Messiah the Prince, 34:05 there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, 34:08 the street shall be built again, 34:11 and the wall, even in troublesome times." 34:14 Now I'm gonna stop there, 34:15 because depending 34:17 what version of the Bible you have, 34:18 it's worded differently, 34:19 but it all actually calculates to the same. 34:21 Notice it says that in 69 weeks 34:25 from the beginning of this prophecy, 34:26 who's going to come? 34:29 Messiah, the Prince will begin 34:31 His ministry on this earth, His coming the first time, 34:34 not the second time. 34:36 Now, I wanna put something on the screen. 34:39 If you're using the King James Version, 34:41 it says seven weeks threescore and two weeks. 34:44 If you add all that up, it's 69 weeks. 34:48 The New King James version that I'm using says, 34:50 7 weeks and 62 weeks. 34:52 Well, what 62 plus 7? Sixty nine. 34:55 So it doesn't matter 34:57 what version of the Bible you use, 34:58 it all equals 69 weeks. 35:01 So now we've got to apply the day for a year principle. 35:05 How many days are in one week? 35:07 Seven. 35:08 So if I want to know how many days are in 69 weeks, 35:11 what must I do? 35:13 69 time 7. 35:15 When you do that calculation, 35:18 there's 483 days in a 69 week period, 35:22 apply the year for a day principle, 35:25 and what it's saying is, 35:27 in 483 years 35:31 from the beginning of this prophecy, 35:33 Messiah, the Prince will come and begin His ministry. 35:39 You say, wow! 35:41 Was it fulfilled? 35:43 It was because if you add 35:46 483 years to 457 B.C., 35:50 do you know what year you come to? 35:53 27 A.D. 35:57 You say, "Well, what happened in 27 A.D.?" 36:00 According to the scriptures, 36:02 that's when Jesus came to the River Jordan 36:05 to be baptized by John the Baptist. 36:08 That's when He began 36:10 his public ministry on this earth. 36:13 Because think about it. 36:14 Before He was baptized by John, 36:17 He never once preached a sermon, 36:19 never proclaimed Himself the Son of God, 36:22 never healed anybody, never did a miracle. 36:25 He waited until 36:26 He was baptized in 27 A.D., why? 36:30 Because Jesus knew this prophecy. 36:33 Jesus was a student of Bible prophecy. 36:36 Can you say amen? 36:37 And he knew the Messiah was not supposed to come 36:40 until 27 A.D. 36:42 And that doesn't mean when He was born. 36:44 That means when He would publicly begin 36:46 His ministry of proclaiming Himself as a Messiah. 36:50 Now some may ask the question, 36:52 how do you know it was 27 A.D.? 36:54 Let me show you something awesome. 36:57 In Luke 3:1, it says that Jesus was baptized 37:02 in the 15th year of Tiberias Caesar. 37:05 He was the Roman Emperor at the time. 37:08 And if you go back to the secular history books, 37:11 just take a guess 37:13 as to when the 15th year of Tiberias Caesar was? 37:17 27 A.D. 37:22 Jesus came right on time. 37:27 That's why Jesus always said things like, 37:30 "My time has not yet come. 37:31 My time has not yet come." 37:33 What time? 37:34 He was referring to this prophecy. 37:36 He knew 37:37 when He was supposed to come forth 37:39 and begin His ministry, just like Daniel said. 37:43 This was prophesied hundreds of years 37:46 before Jesus was ever born. 37:49 This gives us the confidence that Jesus Christ, 37:53 this man of Nazareth 37:55 that history says died on a cross. 37:57 He is certainly the prophesied Messiah 38:01 of the Old Testament, 38:02 there is no doubt about it. 38:05 He came right on time. 38:09 But now, if this is a 70 week prophecy, 38:14 and the first part talks about 69 weeks, 38:17 how many weeks do we have left? 38:19 One week. 38:20 So, let's talk about that for a second. 38:22 Actually, let me read you something in verse 26. 38:26 In verse 26, it says, 38:29 "After the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, 38:32 but not for Himself, and the people of the prince 38:36 who is to come shall destroy the city 38:38 and the sanctuary." 38:39 You say, "What is that referring to?" 38:41 It saying sometime after the 62 weeks, 38:43 Messiah will be cut off. 38:45 That's referring to His crucifixion 38:47 on the cross that Israel would reject Him. 38:50 And where it talks about the people of the Prince 38:52 destroying the city and the sanctuary, 38:55 this is referring to the Roman armies 38:58 who would come into Jerusalem, years down the road in 70 A.D., 39:02 destroy the city of Jerusalem 39:04 and tear apart that Holy Temple. 39:07 Because remember, 39:08 that was part of the retribution 39:11 of rejecting their Savior. 39:14 Jesus said, "Your house is left 39:15 unto you desolate." 39:16 In fact, He said, 39:18 "There will not be one stone left upon another." 39:20 And do you know 39:21 when Rome destroyed that temple, 39:23 they started a fire inside of it, 39:26 and it burned that gold and melted it 39:28 so that it got in between the cracks 39:30 of those huge stones. 39:32 And those Roman soldiers wanted that gold. 39:34 So you know what they did? 39:36 They tore that temple apart, 39:38 rock by rock to get that gold until literally, 39:43 there was not one stone left upon another. 39:48 But now let's focus on verse 27. 39:50 Because now we're gonna come 39:52 to the last week of this prophecy. 39:55 Now let me ask you a question. 39:57 How many days are in a week? 40:00 Seven. Seven. 40:02 And if we apply the day for a year principle, 40:04 this is talking about 40:05 a seven year period this last week. 40:08 This last week has been 40:09 a source of controversy in the Christian world 40:12 because there are different doctrines 40:13 that surround it. 40:15 But let's go back to the Word of God 40:17 and let the scriptures give us the answer. 40:20 Let's read verse 27. 40:23 The Bible says, 40:26 "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many," 40:29 for how long? 40:31 "One week, but in the middle of the week, 40:34 He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering." 40:38 Now I'm gonna stop there. 40:41 The big question is this. 40:44 Who is the "He?" 40:47 Who's the "He" that confirms this covenant? 40:50 Who's the "He" 40:51 that brings an end to sacrifice and offering? 40:55 Now let me ask you something. 40:57 Who is this whole prophecy centered around? 41:01 You tell me. Jesus Christ. 41:04 It prophesized when He would come 41:06 and begin His ministry, 41:07 it talks about Messiah, The Prince. 41:09 So the "He" in verse 27, is clearly Jesus. 41:14 Now, sometimes popular theology says, 41:17 "Oh, that's antichrist." 41:19 But when you look at the context, 41:21 clearly this is talking about Jesus. 41:24 And you know what's amazing? 41:26 When Jesus was on this earth, 41:28 He mainly worked for His Jewish people, 41:30 because He knew it wasn't until 34 A.D., 41:35 that the nation would reject that covenant. 41:38 And in verse 27, when it says that, 41:41 "The He whoever He is, 41:43 it says in the middle of the week, 41:45 He brings an end to sacrifice and offering." 41:48 Do you know what happened in the middle 41:50 of that 7 year period, from 27 A.D., to 34 A.D.? 41:55 Jesus was crucified 41:57 on the cross of Calvary around 31 A.D., 42:01 right in the middle 42:03 of that 7 year period that last week. 42:06 And when Jesus died, 42:09 He put an end to the entire sacrificial 42:12 and offering system. 42:14 Because remember, 42:15 God had instituted sacrificing lambs, 42:18 and goats, and doves. 42:19 All that was to point forward to what? 42:22 Jesus Christ, the real Lamb of God. 42:25 So now that Jesus has died, 42:27 that system is no longer necessary. 42:31 That's why Hebrew said, 42:32 "We don't put our faith 42:34 in the blood of lambs and goats, 42:35 but in Jesus Christ Himself." 42:38 And that's why Matthew 27:51, 42:40 says that, when Jesus died on the cross, 42:42 the veil in the temple that separated the holy 42:45 from the most holy place, it was torn into 42:48 from the top to the bottom signifying 42:51 that this system of sacrifices is now done away with 42:55 because the true Lamb of God has died 42:58 for the sins of the world. 43:01 The He is Jesus. 43:04 The prophecy tells us when Messiah would come. 43:07 The prophecy tells us 43:08 when Messiah would be crucified on the cross. 43:11 Jesus came and died right on time. 43:17 I mean, think about it. 43:18 Why did Jesus allow Himself 43:20 to be taken to the cross in 31 A.D.? 43:23 Did they tried to kill Him before that? 43:25 Yeah, they wanted to stone Him, 43:27 they tried to push Him off a cliff. 43:28 What did Jesus always say? 43:30 My time has not yet come. 43:31 My time has not yet come. 43:32 What time? 43:34 The time of His prophecy, He knew, 43:36 He was not to die on the cross 43:37 till around 31 A.D. 43:42 Now, I do have to address this. 43:44 I don't wanna spend a lot of time on it. 43:46 But it may raise a question in your mind 43:48 because you may ask. 43:50 Well, I've always heard that that last week 43:52 that seven year period represents something else. 43:56 Because see one of the popular doctrines 43:58 that is in the Christian world today says, 44:01 that that 7 year period is broken off 44:04 from the prophecy in Daniel, and thrown 2000 years 44:09 into an ambiguous future at the end of time. 44:12 And at the beginning of the seven years, 44:13 that's a secret rapture of God's saints, 44:16 that they He who comes in the middle is antichrist. 44:19 And then at the end of the seven years, 44:21 that's the coming Kingdom of God 44:23 where people will have a second chance. 44:26 And here's what's always important to do 44:28 if you forget anything, remember this principle. 44:31 We never base a doctrine on that which is popular. 44:36 We never base it on how many books 44:38 has been written about it, 44:39 you always base a teaching on what? 44:42 What the Word of God says. 44:45 And clearly the Word of God tells us 44:48 that last seven years is not to be broken away 44:51 from the prophecy. 44:52 It's part of uplifting Jesus. 44:55 And it's amazing to me 44:57 that we can take a prophecy that completely glorifies Jesus 45:01 as the savior of world twisted and change it around. 45:04 And now instead of uplifting Jesus, 45:06 we're uplifting antichrist. 45:09 Any prophecy, any doctrine that throws 45:11 Jesus out the door and starts to uplift antichrist 45:15 ought to raise a red flag in our minds? 45:19 You see, well, let's just look into this 45:21 a little bit farther 45:22 because you know, that's only fair. 45:23 It's not fair to only look at one side 45:25 and then ignore the other. 45:26 So let's look at some things. 45:28 The idea of a secret rapture theory basically says this, 45:32 "Jesus will come secretly 45:34 and snatch away only the saints. 45:36 After that is seven years of tribulation. 45:39 In the middle of those seven years 45:41 antichrist appears. 45:43 And during the seven years, 45:44 those who missed that rapture 45:46 have a second chance to get right with God." 45:50 The question we have to ask is, 45:52 is that according to what the Bible teaches? 45:55 I'm gonna give you a polite challenge. 45:58 Do you know that 46:00 there is absolutely no place in the Bible 46:02 that uses the phrase seven year tribulation? 46:07 Get a Concordance and try to look up 46:09 seven year tribulation, you won't find it anywhere 46:11 from Genesis to Revelation. 46:14 You say, "Well, really, where does it come from?" 46:16 It comes from taking 46:17 the last seven years of this prophecy 46:19 and breaking it off into the future. 46:22 But you will never find that term used in the Bible. 46:27 Is it really? Where did it come from then? 46:29 I just wanna briefly give you the history, 46:31 I don't wanna go into too much detail. 46:33 But if something is not based in the Bible, 46:35 it might be important to understand, 46:37 where is the source of it? 46:39 It actually comes all the way 46:41 back from around the 1500s 46:43 when the Reformation is going on, 46:45 and we're gonna talk about that later in the seminar 46:47 because I believe the Reformation is symbolized 46:50 in parts of the Book of Revelation. 46:52 Martin Luther and the reformers 46:54 were preaching that people can come to Jesus 46:56 directly for salvation, 46:58 that it's not necessary to do indulgences, and penances, 47:01 and things like that. 47:03 And since Rome was the persecuting 47:05 power of those days, unfortunately, 47:08 the reformers were preaching that Rome is the antichrist 47:11 and beast of Revelation 13. 47:13 And see that made the Reformation 47:15 gained steam at that time, because you know, 47:18 Rome was persecuting those who wanted to follow 47:21 or even translate the Bible. 47:23 So what Rome did at that time, 47:25 and I'm not saying this to be down 47:27 on any particular group of people, 47:28 I don't believe that God is pleased 47:30 when we speak of others in a denigrating way. 47:33 This is only to show what has happened in history 47:37 and how Bible prophecy has been fulfilled. 47:39 What Rome did 47:41 is they commissioned a Jesuit scholar 47:43 named Francisco Ribera. 47:45 Then they said to him, listen, we need you to come up 47:48 with a different interpretation about antichrist. 47:51 Luther and the reformers are saying that, 47:53 you know, we're the beast of Revelation 13, 47:55 and people are following them and believe them 47:58 come up with a different interpretation. 48:00 And so Francisco Ribera wrote a commentary 48:03 that said antichrist would be one person 48:06 who only rises at the end of time. 48:10 And that was the beginning of what was known as futurism. 48:14 As time passed, 48:16 another Jesuit named Manuel Lacunza, 48:19 he wrote a manuscript called, 48:20 "The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty." 48:23 He started writing about antichrist being one person 48:26 at the end of time. 48:28 His manuscripts were published in different countries 48:30 in various parts of the world. 48:32 And what eventually happened is a protestant preacher 48:35 named Edward Irving, 48:37 a very popular preacher in the 1800s. 48:40 He translated Lacunza's work into English 48:44 and a book that has a rather long title. 48:47 They gave him long titles back then, 48:49 it was called "The Coming of Messiah in Glory 48:52 and Majesty with a Preliminary Discourse." 48:55 And so now, Edward Irving 48:57 start to preach this in the 1800s. 48:59 Then John Nelson Darby, another popular preacher 49:03 puts together the secret rapture theory 49:06 and starts to teach it. 49:07 And eventually it made its way 49:09 into the Scofield Reference Bible 49:11 into the footnotes of that Bible. 49:13 And it has become popular ever since. 49:17 But the truth is, before the 1800s, 49:21 the idea of a rapture or snatching away, 49:25 was never taught by any Protestant Church. 49:29 It's actually a new theory that's only developed 49:32 in the last 200 years, 49:34 it goes all the way back to Rome in the reformation, 49:38 to take the heat off of them at that time. 49:41 And when you realize it's simply comes 49:43 from man's theories, 49:45 and it doesn't come from the Word of God, 49:48 it should raise a little red flag in our minds. 49:51 Because if you were here, 49:52 when we studied the second coming of Jesus, 49:54 we did that I think it was last Sunday night. 49:56 You remember what we learned? 49:58 All the verses said that we'll see Jesus in the clouds 50:02 that He comes with power and great glory. 50:05 Trumpets are blowing, 50:06 tribes of the earth are mourning, 50:08 the Lord descends with a shout, 50:10 the voice of the archangel was heard, 50:12 the dead in Christ rise, the sky recedes as a scroll. 50:16 Mountains and islands are moved out of their places. 50:20 Does that sound like something that would be sacred? 50:23 Not according to the Word of God? 50:25 You see, where does that idea 50:27 come from then? 50:28 I'm just gonna show you two things in the Bible 50:31 that are sometimes taken out of context. 50:33 And I do wanna spend just a few minutes on this, 50:36 because it illustrates an important principle. 50:39 You never take a verse out of its context 50:43 and build a doctrine around it. 50:45 Let me give you an example. 50:47 2 Peter 3:10, the Bible says, 50:52 "But the day of the Lord will come as a," 50:54 what? 50:55 "Thief in the night." 50:57 Now if I just took that part of the verse, 50:58 honestly that almost does make it sound like 51:00 it's kind of secret. 51:02 But if I read the rest of the verse, 51:05 instead of just taking half a verse 51:07 out of its context, it clarifies it. 51:09 Because the rest of the verse says, 51:12 "In which the heavens will pass away with," what? 51:15 "A great noise, and the elements will melt 51:18 with fervent heat, both the earth and the works 51:21 that are in it will be burned up." 51:25 I say, okay, but what about in Matthew 24:40? 51:28 What about that phrase that says, 51:30 "Then two men will be in the field: one is taken, 51:33 the other's left. 51:34 Two women will be grinding at the mill: 51:36 one is taken and the other's left." 51:40 If I just take that two verses, 51:42 I can see how a sincere person would think, 51:45 wow, that must be sacred. 51:47 But remember, you always have to read 51:49 the verses before and the verses after 51:52 to get the context. 51:54 So let's do that and see what it's really saying. 51:56 Let's start in verse 36. 51:59 Jesus says, "But of that day 52:02 and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, 52:05 but My Father only." 52:07 Now notice what he says. 52:08 "But as the days of Noah were, 52:11 so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. 52:15 For as in the days before the flood, 52:17 they were eating and drinking, 52:20 marrying and giving in marriage, 52:23 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 52:26 and did not know until the flood came 52:29 and took them all away, 52:31 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 52:35 Then two men will be in the field: 52:37 one will be taken and the other left. 52:39 Two women will be grinding at the mill: 52:42 one will be taken and the other left." 52:44 And then Jesus summarizes, "Watch therefore, 52:48 for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." 52:52 You see Jesus is comparing His coming to the time of Noah, 52:55 now think about that. 52:57 When Noah preached, that a flood was coming 53:00 and build the ark, how long did he preach? 53:03 Was there any secret about that? 53:04 He preached it for 120 years. 53:07 And so when the flood finally came, 53:10 did everybody know when the rain started coming? 53:13 Sure, that wasn't hidden. 53:14 And so what does it say? 53:16 Some were on the ark and they were saved, 53:20 those who were left behind, what happened? 53:23 They perished. 53:25 There was no second chance, they perished. 53:29 And so when you realize that the Bible is using that term, 53:32 two men will be in the field, one is taken, 53:34 they're meeting the Lord in the air, 53:35 the other's left behind to perish. 53:38 It's comparing it to the time of Noah. 53:42 And that's why Jesus says, 53:43 "Watch therefore because you don't know 53:46 what hour He's coming." 53:48 It's not that it's secret. 53:50 He knows that the world will not be 53:52 paying attention and for some, 53:55 it will come unexpectedly. 53:59 You see, the reason, the rapture theory 54:02 as wonderful as it may sound, 54:03 the reason it could be dangerous is this. 54:06 Because I've heard people say, "Well, you know what? 54:08 I'm just going to wait 54:10 until people are suddenly snatched away 54:12 and planes crash and cars drive into a ditch. 54:15 Then when I see that happen, 54:17 then I'll get serious with God." 54:20 So you can cause people to be lackadaisical 54:23 about their relationship with Christ. 54:25 Because if I live my life, delaying my decision, 54:29 because I think a second chance is coming, 54:32 but when Jesus comes, 54:34 I find out there is no second chance 54:35 what's gonna happen to me. 54:37 I will be lost. My second chance is now. 54:42 Our second chance was the cross. 54:45 That's why Jesus said or Hebrews said today, 54:48 if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart. 54:53 You see, folks, 54:55 this is the most glorious prophecy 54:56 in the Old Testament. 54:58 It prophesized when Jesus would begin 55:00 His ministry and Messiah would come. 55:03 It prophesied when He would die on the cross. 55:05 It tells us that Jesus came 55:08 right on time. 55:12 That's why John wrote, "But these are written 55:16 that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, 55:19 the Son of God, and that by believing 55:23 you may have life in His name. 55:26 Amen. 55:28 Friends, I don't know what your life has been like. 55:31 I don't know what tragedies have come your way. 55:34 I don't know what path life has taken you on. 55:38 In your life right now and in mind, 55:40 you may be struggling with guilt 55:41 because of the past. 55:44 You may be struggling with a sense of unworthiness 55:46 because you can't change the choices that you've made. 55:50 You may be struggling and you may feel 55:52 enslaved by addictions. 55:53 You may feel trapped by habits and you begin to wonder 55:56 can Jesus really love me? 55:59 Can I truly be saved? 56:02 But this prophecy tells me there is a savior. 56:06 This prophecy tells me there is a substitute. 56:09 That there is someone who trod this earth for 33 56:13 and a half years, 56:15 that there is someone who loves me, 56:18 who died for me that there is a redeemer 56:21 who will take His righteousness and put it my record book. 56:27 It says, He was wounded for our transgressions, 56:30 by His stripes we are healed. 56:35 And so whatever your struggles may be, 56:37 Jesus just invites you to come. 56:41 That's why the Book of Revelation 56:43 ends with this invitation. 56:44 Jesus says, "Let him who thirsts come, 56:49 and whoever desires, 56:51 let him take the water of life freely." 56:56 Whatever's going on in your world, in your life, 56:59 Jesus says, "Come to Me as you are, 57:01 I will forgive you. 57:03 I will cleanse you. 57:05 I will change and transform you. 57:08 I will make you free." 57:11 All we have to do 57:13 is simply come tonight. 57:18 If you're willing to say in your heart, Lord Jesus, 57:20 I believe that You are the Son of God. 57:24 And I want to spend eternity with You. 57:27 I'd like to invite you to stand with me as I pray. 57:31 In your heart, if you can say, 57:32 I believe Jesus is the prophesied Son of God, 57:35 and I desire to be in heaven with Him. 57:39 I invite you to stand as we close in prayer. 57:44 Heavenly Father, we are excited 57:47 about the prophecies of Your Word. 57:51 We are awed that You would love us so much 57:54 that You would predict when Jesus would come 57:56 so that we could identify Him. 57:59 But the most of all, You would invite us 58:02 to come as sinful as our life may be. 58:06 Thank You, Lord, for sending Jesus. 58:09 And whatever decisions we need to make, 58:12 we pray that You would give us the power 58:14 and the courage to follow the Messiah 58:17 with all of our heart, 58:18 and all of our soul, and all of our minds. 58:22 These things we ask and pray in Jesus' name. 58:27 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2019-11-07