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Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201639A
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01:31 >> It has stood the test of time -- God's Book, the Bible -- 01:38 still relevant in today's complex world. 01:42 ♪♪ "It Is Written," sharing 01:46 messages of hope around the world. 01:50 ♪♪ ♪♪ >> Dear friends, in our program 02:04 today, I'd like to start with some review. As we consider the appointed 02:08 time, we have seen throughout the Scriptures that God has used this phrase "the appointed time" 02:15 to help us, as a people, understand some very important principles in the plan of 02:21 salvation. We have seen that God had appointed times to fulfill His 02:25 promises. We've also seen that God has appointed times where we ought 02:29 to remember our deliverance from sin. God has appointed times that we 02:33 are to wait upon Him. God has appointed times for us to be cleansed and renewed in 02:39 Him. God has an appointed time when His Son, Jesus, came to this 02:43 Earth the first time. All of those are in an effort to prepare for us for the 02:49 appointed time of Christ's return. Now, today we will take a look 02:55 at the prophet Jeremiah and some of the things that he wrote that are very interesting and have 03:01 significant implications for us living today. In Jeremiah, the 8th chapter, 03:09 beginning in verse 5, it says these words. 03:16 "Why has this people slidden back, Jerusalem, in a perpetual 03:21 backsliding? They hold fast to deceit, 03:24 They refuse to return. I listened and heard, 03:27 But they do not speak aright. No man repented of his 03:32 wickedness, Saying, 'What have I done?' 03:35 Everyone turned to his own course, as the horse rushes into 03:39 the battle. Even the stork in the heavens 03:42 knows her appointed times; And the turtledove, the swift, 03:46 and the swallow observe the time of their coming. 03:49 But My people do not know the judgment of the Lord. 03:52 How can you say, 'We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with 03:56 us'? Look, the false pen of the 03:59 scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, 04:04 they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; 04:08 So what wisdom do they have?" In a fascinating illustration, Jeremiah outlined God's people 04:17 falling away, backsliding from Him, and then compares them to birds. 04:24 The stork of the heavens, to be specific, it says, "knows her appointed times. 04:31 The turtledove, the swift, and the swallow observe the time of their coming." 04:35 What is it that Jeremiah was getting at? What is that that God was 04:40 sending through the prophet Jeremiah? Well, you see, each of these 04:45 birds knew that there was a time -- a time for migration, to move from one place to 04:52 another. They knew those times in which they needed to prepare to go 04:57 and eventually go. They understood, so to speak, the times in which they were 05:04 living, and those birds acted upon it. But here, the Lord says his 05:13 people, they don't listen. They don't know the times, and specifically, they don't know 05:19 the time of the Judgment of the Lord -- the appointed time of the Judgment. 05:25 Now, in newer versions of the Bible, it says that they do not know the requirements or 05:30 ordinances of the Lord. But this Hebrew word which occurs over 400 times in the 05:35 Old Testament is translated, in 296 of those times, to "judge" or "judgment" or "justice." 05:42 Clearly, what the Lord is saying here, what He's getting at, is that, while these creatures 05:49 of nature understand the times, His people do not. And He's calling upon His people 05:57 to know and remember that there is an appointed time for Judgment. 06:04 Ecclesiastes 3:17 says this. "'God shall judge the righteous 06:16 and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.'" 06:25 What is God's Judgment? Is it something to be feared? How and when is the Judgment 06:32 performed? Now, to help us understand this, we need to go to the 06:36 Book of Daniel. And there in Daniel chapter 7, Daniel sees a vision of four 06:41 beasts, which represented the empires that had reigned on the Earth. 06:46 And then, in Daniel 7:9-10, Daniel sees something rather profound. 06:54 Daniel 7:9-10. "I watched until thrones were 07:03 put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated. 07:06 His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was 07:09 like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, 07:12 its wheels of burning fire. And a thousand thousands 07:16 ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand 07:19 stood before Him. The court was seated, 07:22 and the books were opened." This throne-room imagery reminds us, as we see what's happening, 07:32 of the sanctuary. This throne-room scene, which is reminiscent of the Old Testament 07:38 sanctuary, is where Daniel says the Judgment will commence with books being opened. 07:44 Now, let us go to the last book of the Bible. And in Revelation, the 14th 07:49 chapter, we see something fascinating. It is the first amazing message 07:55 of God's final call to people on the Earth in the Last Days. And in verse 6, it says these 08:02 words. "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having 08:06 the everlasting gospel, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the 08:13 hour of His judgment has come.'" "The hour of his judgment has come." 08:20 Throughout the Scriptures, my dear friends, the Bible is clear. 08:23 There is a Judgment. The purpose of that Judgment is made clear in Revelation 22:12, 08:29 where it records Jesus saying, as he returns to Earth, "My reward is with me to give 08:34 everyone according to his work." I don't want you to miss this. Jesus is coming at the appointed 08:41 time, but before He comes at the appointed time, He has an appointed time for Judgment. 08:46 And the Judgment will determine who is and who is not worthy to go to Heaven with him. 08:56 Now, too often, when we talk about the Judgment, it makes us very scared. 09:01 However, when we understand the Judgment more completely, there is nothing for us to fear. 09:08 In Daniel chapter 8, Daniel was given another vision. It's a vision that follows the 09:14 same pattern of Daniel chapter 2 and Daniel chapter 7. And there, in Daniel chapter 8, 09:20 Daniel was shown some beasts which represented kingdoms. And then Daniel was shown 09:24 a Judgment scene. And after that Judgment scene comes the Second Coming. 09:30 In Daniel 8:14, there is a phrase -- a sentence that helps us understand more clearly 09:35 the Judgment hour. Daniel wrote these words. "For 2,300 days, then the 09:41 sanctuary shall be cleansed." Now, the sanctuary of the Old Testament was a symbol of 09:47 the plan of salvation and Jesus' atoning for our sin. Sin was judged, and forgiveness 09:53 was dispensed from the sanctuary. Now, the 2,300 days of Daniel 8 09:58 is a time prophecy. It shouldn't be missed, though, how the Bible talks and how 10:04 critical the sanctuary was. The Bible talks about how there is a sanctuary today. 10:09 And it's important for us to understand that there is a sanctuary today. 10:13 But that sanctuary is not on the Earth. That sanctuary that exists today 10:19 is in Heaven, and it is a vital place for Christ's ministry to us and for us today. 10:27 Now, after Daniel heard this vision of Daniel 8:14, Gabriel the angel visitor explained, 10:33 in part, what the vision meant. He said, "So, he came near where I stood, and when he came 10:38 to me, I was afraid and fell on my face. But he said unto me, 10:41 'Understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.'" Daniel didn't understand the 10:48 vision entirely, but he did understand this -- the vision is for the time of the end, 10:55 and it spoke of the sanctuary being cleansed. Now, Daniel would have 11:04 undoubtedly known that this referred to the heavenly sanctuary. 11:07 Now, you might say, "Well, why is that?" Well, because there was 11:10 no sanctuary in existence in Daniel's time. Remember, the sanctuary was 11:14 destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies. And so Daniel, when he heard 11:19 these words, would have had his mind drawn to the heavenly sanctuary. 11:23 Daniel would have also understood that this represented a symbolic time period, because 11:28 it referred to the time of the end. And Daniel knew that he was not 11:33 living in the time of the end. So, Daniel, though, longed for an answer. 11:37 He longed for what the vision meant. But he did not receive an 11:42 answer to understanding the vision for 13 years. It wasn't until 11:48 Daniel chapter 9, which occurred 13 years after Daniel chapter 8, that Daniel 11:54 was praying, and there he received an answer. 11:58 In verse 1 and onward of Daniel 9, it says this. 12:03 "In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the 12:06 lineage of the Medes, who is made king over the realm of the 12:09 Chaldeans in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood 12:14 by the books the number of years specified by the Word of the 12:18 Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would 12:20 accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Now, Daniel was specifically 12:27 praying about the prophet Jeremiah's message that, for 70 years, Israel would 12:32 remain captive in Babylon. Those 70 years were coming to an end, and Daniel prayed about 12:38 their ending. And in Daniel 9:23, the Bible says that an angel visitor came 12:44 and gave a message to Daniel. "'At the beginning of your supplications'" -- a word for 12:50 "prayer" -- "'the command went out, and I have come to tell you, you are greatly beloved. 12:56 Therefore, consider the matter, and understand the vision.'" Now, without a doubt, this angel 13:02 visitor was coming to help Daniel understand the vision that he didn't understand. 13:06 And the vision that he didn't understand was the 2,300-day prophecy. 13:11 So, in Daniel 9:24, the angel visitor Gabriel spoke, saying this. 13:15 "'70 weeks are determined for your people and for your city.'" Daniel's people were the Jews. 13:22 Daniel's city was Jerusalem. And they were given 70 weeks. Now I want you to think about 13:32 this. Daniel was given a vision of 2,300 days, but now he was given 13:37 a vision of 70 weeks. Daniel's people, the Jews, had 70 weeks determined from 13:42 them. Literally, in Hebrew, the word "determined" means to be 13:46 cut off from a larger piece. The 2,300 days represented a larger piece of prophetic 13:52 history, from which would be cut off 490 days specifically for the Jews. 13:59 Now, some of you are saying, "Wait a second. 490 days?" Very simple. 14:03 70 weeks times 7 equals 490 days. The 2,300-day prophecy has 14:09 something to do with the time of the end. It has "heavenly sanctuary" 14:14 message and language and imagery. But 490 of those days are 14:20 cut off specifically for the Jews. Now, remember, this cannot be 14:23 speaking of literal days, because it referred to the time of the end. 14:27 Now, to help us with our journey, we must look at one of the most accepted biblical 14:32 principles of interpretation of time prophecy. It's found in both Ezekiel 4:6 14:37 and Numbers 14:34. And this is what the Bible says. "For each day I have laid upon 14:42 you a year. I have laid on you a day for each year." 14:47 Quite simply, in biblical interpretation of prophetic time, one day equals one year. 14:53 And so 2,300 days would be 2,300 literal years. Daniel 9:25 continues with these 15:03 words then. "'Know, therefore, and understand that from the 15:07 going-forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem...'" The word "command" literally 15:15 means, from the original Hebrew, a decree. So we have a time prophecy, 15:21 but we don't have a starting point. But here in Daniel 9:25, we are 15:26 given that starting point. Ezra 7:12-13 records the decree of restoration 15:34 that was needed. This is what it says. "'Artaxerxes, king of kings, 15:42 to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of God of Heaven, perfect peace and so forth, 15:48 I issue a decree that all of those of the people of Israel and the priests and the Levites 15:53 in my realm who volunteer to go up into Jerusalem may go with him.'" 16:00 Artaxerxes' decree allowed the Jewish people to go back to Jerusalem and begin to 16:04 rebuild Jerusalem. The date of that decree was 457 B.C. 16:09 And it gives us the starting point of our prophecy. Now, going back to Daniel 9:25, 16:14 "'Know, therefore, and understand, from the going-forth of the command to restore and 16:19 build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and 16:22 62 weeks.'" 7 and 62 is 69. 69 weeks from 457 B.C., or 16:31 483 prophetic days, 483 literal years. If you add 483 to 457 B.C. -- 16:39 and there is no year zero, remember -- it takes you to 27 A.D. 16:44 So, is there anything in prophetic time that happened in 27 A.D.? 16:48 Well, as a matter of fact, Luke chapter 3 begins with these words. 16:52 "Now, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar..." Now, the 15th year of 16:57 Tiberius Caesar just so happens to be 27 A.D. Immediately following that 17:04 passage in Luke 3:1 is verse 21. And it says this. 17:10 "When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized." 17:16 And Acts 10:38 speaks of that baptism by saying, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth 17:21 with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were 17:25 oppressed by the devil." The Holy Spirit fell upon Jesus at his baptism. 17:30 Jesus was anointed as Messiah when the Holy Spirit descended upon Him at that baptism. 17:37 The Book of Daniel predicts, with absolute reliability, the year that Jesus would be 17:43 baptized or anointed as the Messiah. Jesus was baptized on time -- 17:47 at the appointed time. Then, Daniel 9:26 goes on to say, "'And after the 62 weeks, 17:55 Messiah shall be cut off... Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; 17:59 But in the middle of the week, He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.'" 18:04 So, in the middle of the week. Seven prophetic days or seven literal years, in the midst of 18:09 that, the Messiah would be cut off, and the sacrifices would be brought to an end. 18:17 3 1/2 years after 27 A.D. would take us to 31 A.D. And in 31 A.D., Jesus was 18:23 crucified exactly on time. When Jesus was crucified, when Jesus died on the Cross, 18:29 the veil of the temple was torn from the top to the bottom, and with it, ended the 18:34 sacrificial system, exactly as predicted, in the midst of those seven years. 18:39 But what about the second 3 1/2 years? That would take us to 34 A.D. 18:44 And in 34 A.D., the deacon Stephen came before the religious council. 18:49 Stephen gave them a sermon on the history of Israel and their continued rejection of God's 18:54 plan and his prophet. Stephen pled with the Jews, as a nation, to confess Christ 19:00 and be maintained as God's special people. However, the record of Scripture 19:05 is that they rejected him and they stoned Stephen in A.D. 34. And ultimately, in doing so, 19:12 they rejected God. And with it came and ending to Israel as a nation, 19:17 as God's special people. And now the Gospel went in full force to the Gentiles. 19:23 490 years were cut off from the -- cut off for the Jewish people in that 2,300-year 19:31 prophecy. There remains 1,810 years. If we simply add this onto 19:37 A.D. 34, it takes us to the year 1844. Now, if you take some time to 19:46 understand history and the history of Christianity, the 1840s were very important. 19:51 Something very special happened. In the early 1800s, people began to re-engage with the 19:56 Book of Daniel, and a great awakening occurred. This was vital because, 20:01 in the 18th and 19th century, much of North American Christianity believed in 20:06 something called postmillennialism. They basically believed that 20:09 the Earth was getting better and better and better and better, and finally, Jesus would come 20:13 and reign over this utopian state that had been achieved through human intervention and 20:18 human goodness. But as people began studying the Book of Daniel all over the 20:22 world, they read Daniel 8:14, and they understood that only God's divine intervention 20:29 could bring about perfect harmony on the Earth. They began to identify 20:33 Daniel 8:14 as the Second Coming of Christ. And while Jesus said that no man 20:38 knows the day or the hour, they believed that those words were applicable only for the time of 20:43 Jesus, but now God was revealing to them the date of His coming through Daniel 8:14. 20:49 Seemed logical, and it was exciting. And these God-fearing people 20:54 began preaching, all over the world, the message of Christ's soon return, proclaiming that He 20:59 would return sometime in the mid-1800s. There was an explosion in growth 21:04 in Christianity, called the second great Advent Awakening. It happened all around the 21:10 world, but with especially great power in North America. In fact, some identified a date 21:17 for the return of Christ. They identified that date as 1844. 21:24 I want you to imagine with me for a moment. Think about it -- how exciting 21:29 it must have been to live in a time and believe you knew the date of Christ's return. 21:34 People were excited. They gave their businesses away. They let their crops go 21:39 unharvested. They were going to the Promised Land. 21:42 They had no need of any of it. But Jesus did not come in 1844. There was a massive 21:50 disappointment. I want you to imagine in your mind how disappointing it would 21:55 have been. But there were some who re-examined that prophecy. 22:00 They went over their calculations. The timeline was right, as we 22:04 just studied that timeline. Here's the challenge that they had. 22:09 The event that they predicted was wrong. So, in their study, they finally 22:14 saw the connection of the sanctuary, the Day of Atonement, and the Day of Judgment 22:20 in the Old Testament to that cleansing of the sanctuary. 22:24 You see, in 1844, nothing happened on the Earth. But something very important 22:30 happened in Heaven. There in Heaven, Christ transitioned His ministry from 22:34 a ministry of simply redemption to a ministry of redemption and judgment. 22:39 This new phase of His ministry began in 1844 -- the Judgment. 22:48 Why is the Judgment going on? Because, as we have seen, it is vital. 22:52 Before Jesus comes at the appointed time, there is an appointed time of Judgment. 22:56 The cleansing of the sanctuary was symbolic of that Day of Atonement. 23:00 The Day of Atonement was a Day of Judgment. It was a time of preparation of 23:05 solemnity, in which God's people prepared to meet God in a special way. 23:11 And so it is today that we, too, are living in the prophetic Day of Atonement. 23:16 And the cry of God is that He is pleading with us to be ready for the appointed time of 23:23 Jesus's return. My dear friend, Daniel was accurate about the baptism of 23:27 Jesus. He was accurate about the crucifixion of Jesus. 23:30 And he was accurate about the stoning of Stephen. And the reality is, he is 23:34 absolutely accurate that the Judgment hour began in 1844. But here's the beauty 23:42 of why we do not need to fear the Judgment. 1 John 2:1 -- 23:50 one of my favorite verses of the Bible says these words. 23:56 "My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. 24:04 And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, 24:10 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also 24:14 for the whole world." This word here, "propitiation," literally means "the atoning 24:20 sacrifice." Here is the amazing truth about the Judgment. 24:24 Christ's atoning sacrifice is for our sins, and not for ours only but for the whole world. 24:29 But I want you to notice, the Bible says that Jesus is also our advocate. 24:34 That word "advocate" means that He is on our behalf. He stands there next to us. 24:38 He is our encourager. He is our comforter. Jesus is there to lift us up 24:42 when we fall down. But the Bible also says that in the Judgment, 24:46 Christ is our propitiation. He's our sacrifice. He's the one that paid the 24:51 price. But then, to make it all even the more amazing, the Bible 24:56 tells us that Jesus is our judge. You know, too often in 25:04 Christianity, the Bible is presented as a book of rules and regulations, with the goal of 25:09 narrowing down, limiting, and keeping people out of the Kingdom of God. 25:14 But Jesus contradicts this idea. He says that's not what the deal is. 25:20 "I came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Me. 25:24 I came to this world as a human being so, that way, I could sympathize with what's happening 25:29 in your life. You're going through difficulties. 25:31 I went through those difficulties," is what Jesus says. 25:34 Are you experiencing loss in your life? Jesus experienced loss in His 25:38 life. Are you experiencing rejection in your life? 25:40 Jesus experienced rejection. Jesus has experienced everything, in principle, that 25:45 we experience. And the Bible says that Jesus is our high priest -- the one 25:49 who can sympathize with us. He's our judge. He's the one that looks at the 25:53 account of our life. But when He looks at the account of our life, He is the one that 25:58 advocates and stands next to us and encourages us. And He is the one that, when we 26:02 sin, has paid the price for our sin. And in paying the price for our 26:06 sin, He has paved the way for us to go to Heaven. Christ our judge, Christ our 26:11 advocate, Christ the one who's paid the penalty. The question which we must 26:17 wrestle with today is, "What more could have Jesus done?" The story of the Bible is 26:28 the story of God's relentless pursuit to save us through having appointed times in our 26:32 lives to prepare us to be ready so that He can take us to our rightful home. 26:38 He never intended for economic decline and people could be bankrupt. 26:42 He never intended for people to die of cancer. He never intended for people to 26:45 die of old age. He never intended for there to be hip surgeries. 26:49 He never intended for there to be hospitals. He never intended for there to 26:53 be rejection in relationships. He never intended any of that. And so Jesus is coming soon, 26:59 at the appointed time, to make all those wrongs right. Jesus is doing all He can in the 27:05 sanctuary to save each and every one of us. Will we today make the decision 27:10 to accept the work He is doing? We don't have to fear the Judgment. 27:14 God has an appointed time for the Judgment. The Judgment is not something 27:19 we must cringe at. The Judgment is God's appointed time -- his appointed time to 27:25 prepare His people. It's something we can take joy in, because we know that, just 27:31 as Jesus has transitioned His ministry in the year 1844, it means one very simple thing. 27:38 We are in the final hours of Earth's history. We don't know exactly when He's 27:43 coming. But this is what we do know -- we are in those final hours. 27:48 God has an appointed time of Judgment, to prepare us for the appointed time 27:54 of His return. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that in the midst of 28:01 the appointed time of Judgment, that you have appointed Jesus as our judge, as our Savior, 28:10 as our comforter. And, Lord, today we give our lives fully to You 28:18 and ask that You would save us and prepare us for the appointed time. 28:24 We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Dear friend, the Judgment is 28:32 nothing that we need to fear. In fact, it is an opportunity for us to stand before God. 28:40 And Jesus, as our judge, as our advocate, as our sacrifice, demonstrates that we 28:48 are ready to go to Heaven with Him. It is vital that we give our 28:54 lives to Him. And so today I want to offer you the book 28:59 "Pending Your Case in Court." This little booklet will give you information that you need 29:07 to prepare for that day. Here's the information you need 29:10 to receive today's offer. >> To request today's offer, 29:15 just log on to www.itiswrittencanada.ca. 29:19 If you prefer, you may call toll-free at 1-888-CALL-IIW. 29:26 >> Dear friend, we want to be prepared for the appointed time. 29:29 I invite you to go to our website, itiswrittencanada.ca. 29:33 And there you'll find resources to grow in your spiritual life. 29:36 Also invite you to like us on Facebook or follow us on 29:40 Twitter. There, you'll receive 29:42 inspirational quotes to help you draw nearer to Jesus. I hope this program inspired you 29:48 to be a follower of Jesus today. I invite you to join us again next week. 29:53 Until then, remember, it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 30:00 that proceeds from the mouth of God." 30:04 ♪♪ ♪♪ |
Revised 2018-01-23