Participants: Ed Reid
Series Code: 17SCM
Program Code: 17SCM000021A
00:14 Welcome to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting 2017.
00:19 Exposing the Counterfeit. 00:25 Hello, and welcome once again to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting 00:28 and we have here people that have come 00:30 from all over the States 00:32 and even other parts of the world 00:34 to receive the blessing that God has for us here 00:37 on the 3ABN Camp Site 00:39 and we praise the Lord that you are here. 00:41 If you've been blessed, would you say amen? 00:43 Amen. Praise the Lord. 00:46 You know, one of the topics 00:48 that is of most interest to people 00:50 is the secret rapture and the title of today's, 00:55 this moment's, this hour's message is 00:57 Will There be a Secret Rapture? 01:00 It's in the form of a question and I praise the Lord 01:03 that we have Pastor G. Edward Reid with us 01:07 who will be representing this topic. 01:09 If you know Pastor Reid, you will understand 01:13 that he does thorough research, Amen? 01:15 Amen. 01:16 And he has conviction as he presents the message 01:19 that God has given him. 01:22 So in a moment, he will be coming forward. 01:24 I'd like to tell you a little bit about him. 01:26 He has served the Lord 01:27 in different aspects of ministry 01:30 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:32 including evangelism, pastoral ministries, 01:36 but also he has authored several books 01:40 including Sunday is Coming, anyone read that one? 01:43 Yes. Even at the Door. 01:45 Yes. Almost Home. 01:48 Currently, he serves the Lord as assistant to the president 01:51 for Adventist World Radio in planned giving. 01:55 So Pastor Ed Reid is prepared, has been praying, 02:00 and I'm sure the Lord will use him 02:02 to bring a message from heaven to us. 02:04 Before that, we are blessed to have two young ladies 02:09 that will be sharing with us, mother and daughter, 02:12 Celestine and Farrah Barry. 02:15 And they will be bringing us to God's throne of grace 02:18 in a hymn entitled, 02:19 The Savior is Waiting. 02:21 Immediately after this, 02:23 we will have the message 02:26 that God has for us through Pastor Ed Reid. 02:28 May God bless each and every one of us. 02:52 The Savior is waiting 02:57 To enter your heart 03:02 Why don't you let Him 03:06 Come in? 03:11 There's nothing in this world 03:15 To keep you apart 03:20 What is your answer 03:24 To Him? 03:29 Time after time 03:33 He has waited before 03:38 And now 03:40 He is waiting again 03:46 To see if you're willing 03:50 To open the door 03:55 Oh, how He wants 03:58 To come in 04:16 If you'll take one step towards the Savior 04:21 My friend 04:24 You'll find 04:26 His arms open wide 04:32 Receive Him 04:34 And all of your darkness will end 04:40 Within your heart 04:43 He'll abide 04:48 Time after time 04:52 He has waited before 04:56 And now 04:58 He is waiting again 05:05 To see if you're willing 05:09 To open the door 05:14 Oh, How He wants 05:17 To come in 05:35 To see 05:37 If you're willing 05:40 To open the door 05:49 Oh, how He wants to 05:56 Come in 06:25 Amen. 06:34 Good afternoon, saints. Good afternoon. 06:37 What a busy day. Yes. 06:39 It's been a good day. Yes. 06:42 Well, I have the opportunity of talking about something 06:45 that's rather unique and like my other topic, 06:47 it's believed by lots of people, 06:50 but the idea is will there be two Second Comings, 06:53 one that's a secret and one that's visible to everyone. 06:56 So there's a lots of people who believe 06:58 that but I'm going to have a word of prayer 07:00 and ask you to bow your heads as we begin. 07:02 Heavenly Father, 07:04 I thank you for your love and blessing to each of us. 07:06 We thank you for your word to guide us. 07:07 We thank you for the blessings that we've received from you 07:09 and we pray that you help us to be faithful to the Word 07:12 and be students of it. 07:14 We pray that you will bless us as we study 07:16 this important topic this afternoon. 07:18 Guide our minds, help us to see these things clearly 07:20 in Jesus' name, Amen. 07:21 Amen. 07:24 Well, as I told you the last time 07:26 I spoke yesterday afternoon that the more evidence 07:28 you need to prove a point, 07:30 the weaker your argument, right? 07:31 Right. 07:33 So how many points do you think I'm going to give you today? 07:34 Seven. No, only five. 07:39 Because that's the less evidence, 07:41 the more we need, right? 07:43 Pretty interesting. 07:44 "The Second Coming of Christ 07:45 is going to be the most cataclysmic event 07:47 to occur on the earth since the creation 07:50 including the world-wide flood 07:51 that happened about 4,500 years ago. 07:53 A short time 07:55 before the Second Coming of Christ 07:56 maybe about two weeks or a little more 07:58 the seven last plagues will be poured out on the earth 08:01 and upon those who have the mark of the beast. 08:03 The results of these plagues 08:05 will be the death of millions of people 08:07 and virtual destruction of earth's surface 08:09 as we know it." 08:10 It will not be a secret. 08:12 As a short peak of what we will discuss 08:14 in the presentation, 08:15 I'm going to tell you 08:16 that before the Second Coming of Christ, 08:18 the world's oceans 08:19 will have been turned into blood, 08:21 thereby killing everything in them. 08:23 The greatest earthquake to occur on the earth, 08:25 a massive 10 plus earthquake 08:27 will destroy every city on the earth. 08:30 Islands will disappear into the sea, 08:31 into the bloody mess 08:33 and the great mountains of the earth 08:34 will also drift down into the landscape. 08:38 Many of the great mountains will settle into the earth 08:40 likely causing tremendous tsunamis 08:43 that impact the coastlines of the continent to be swept 08:45 over by waves of blood and dead animals. 08:48 Now, I'm going to ask you a question, 08:49 does this sound far-fetched? 08:50 No. 08:52 Well, the Bible says that and I believe it, 08:54 the time period, 08:55 the out pouring of the seven last plagues 08:57 is often referred to as the tribulation. 08:59 So I'm going to give you 09:00 a little insight today into this 09:02 so you can understand 09:03 why people believed in the Word, 09:05 the ideas came from. 09:06 Between 1995 and 2007, 09:09 the late Tim LaHaye 09:11 and his co-author Jerry B. Jenkins 09:13 wrote and published a series of 16 best-selling novels 09:17 that were called Religious Fiction novels. 09:21 Did you guys get that part? Yes. 09:23 Religious Fiction novels. 09:24 Now this is interesting because they presented 09:28 what we call the dispensation was pre-tribulation, 09:31 pre-millenial picture of the biblical apocalypse 09:33 which means that God is going to come 09:36 before the tribulation and before the millennium 09:38 and the books are known as the Left Behind series. 09:41 The book series had been adopted 09:43 into four separate feature films 09:45 including the 2004 film 09:48 starring Nicholas Cage in a movie titled Left Behind. 09:52 The Left Behind series was so popular 09:54 that the total sales for the books 09:56 have passed 45 million copies. 09:59 Excuse me, the answer is 65 million copies. 10:02 Seven of the sixteen books reached number one status 10:04 on the best seller list by the New York Times, 10:07 The USA Today and Publishers Weekly. 10:09 The late Jerry Falwell 10:10 who used to be a quite popular person 10:12 started Liberty University 10:14 and so on said of the first book 10:15 in that series, 10:16 "In terms of its impact on Christianity, 10:18 it's probably greater than 10:19 any other book in modern times outside the Bible." 10:22 Now why were these books so widely popular? 10:24 Well, the interesting thing is the answer is quite simple. 10:27 People like to avoid pain and discomfort. 10:29 Amen. 10:30 These books convey the idea 10:32 that God's people will be secretly snatched away 10:33 from the earth, 10:34 be with God during the difficult times 10:36 at the end. 10:37 Then they are going to come back 10:38 with Jesus after seven years 10:40 to reign with him on the earth for a thousand years, 10:41 the peaceful millennium. 10:43 Now, Tim LaHaye has passed away of course, 10:45 but they still have Tim LaHaye Ministries website. 10:48 And if you were to go to the website, 10:50 they have their doctoral statement 10:51 which is just very short 10:53 and I'm going to read it to you. 10:54 "We believe that Christ 10:56 will literally rapture his church prior 10:58 to the 70th-week of Daniel," now this is amazing. 11:01 "Followed by His glorious, 11:03 premillenial arrival on the earth 11:04 at least seven years later to set up 11:07 His 1,000 year kingdom rule from Jerusalem over the earth." 11:12 Now what this statement is saying is that 11:14 there will be a secret Second Coming 11:15 and this happens prior to the 70th week 11:18 of Daniel's prophecy. 11:19 Jesus comes again in a glorious manner 11:21 after seven years to set up a thousand year reign 11:24 and the big question is, 11:25 is this true according to the Bible? 11:28 Well, the short answer is no but for seven reasons. 11:30 So I'm going to present five reasons to you. 11:33 I believe they're sufficient to help you understand 11:35 how this is so significant. 11:37 The first one is that, 11:39 "To many it is shocking to discover 11:41 that neither the word rapture 11:43 nor the teaching of the secret rapture 11:45 is to be found in any Bible translation." 11:47 In addition, the secret rapture is not even mentioned 11:49 in any Christian literature before the year 1830. 11:53 So what is the idea of this prophetic... 11:57 Secret rapture idea come from? 11:59 Well, my second point is the idea 12:00 of the secret rapture 12:02 is of questionable suspect origin. 12:04 So I'm going to give you a little bit of history, 12:06 so you will understand why this is important. 12:08 "During the time of the reformation, 12:10 most of the protestant reformers identified 12:12 papal Rome as the antichrist. 12:15 Of course, this was not well received 12:16 by the papacy. 12:17 Rome countered 12:19 with a new interpretation of prophecy 12:20 in order to turn attention of the people 12:21 away from the notion that it was the antichrist power." 12:25 So everybody understands what October 31 is, don't you? 12:29 Yes. It's not Halloween. 12:32 It's Reformation Day. 12:34 This year is the 500th anniversary 12:36 Theses of the nailing of the 95 12:38 to the church doors, Wittenberg, Germany. 12:42 Kathy and I have just returned from Germany and saw that, 12:46 not that particular when we've been there before, 12:48 but to worms and I'll share a little bit with you. 12:50 Pope Leo the X, 12:52 was the pope of Rome at that time 12:55 and he had issued the 1517 indulgence. 13:00 Now indulgence as you can pay for forgiveness of sins 13:02 as you understand, 13:03 they are still being offered by the church by the way. 13:05 And it is interesting that this was the one 13:08 that was designed to be the sale of the proceeds 13:11 to help build St. Peter's Basilica in Rome 13:13 because of lavish parties with great huge birthday cakes 13:17 out of which jumped little naked boys, 13:19 this is in Leo's time, and wild boar hunting parties. 13:23 He had gone through the resources 13:25 of the Pope of the Vatican 13:27 so that the construction was halted 13:30 but not to worry, 13:31 they could go to their main money getter 13:32 and that was to sell indulgences. 13:34 So the 1517 indulgence was the greatest indulgence 13:37 that has ever been issued by the Roman Catholic Church. 13:40 It allowed you to be forgiven of all of your past sins, 13:43 all of your future sins, 13:45 the sins of all of your relatives, 13:47 if you worry enough of this, 13:48 and it was so expansive 13:50 that even forgive adultery with the Virgin Mary 13:52 if this was possible. 13:54 That was in the indulgence. 13:55 Now this is incredible. 13:56 So a man named Johann Tetzel under the direction of Pope Leo 14:00 the X came to Germany to start selling these indulgences. 14:03 And it is interesting to understand 14:05 that when the sale came to Wittenberg, 14:08 a number of people having heard 14:10 that you would spend time in purgatory, 14:12 no one ever knew how much 14:13 but you could get years off, if you get these indulgences, 14:16 but this one was different because they would forgive 14:18 every sin, no time in purgatory. 14:20 When you died, you went straight to heaven. 14:23 Now the interesting part about that is when Martin Luther 14:25 was the pastor of the Wittenberg church, 14:27 some of his members were buying the indulgences 14:30 and he was very upset about this. 14:31 So he went to his study and wrote down 95 bullet points 14:35 against the sale of indulgences. 14:37 Does everybody understand that? 14:39 Now here's what you may not know. 14:41 When he nailed them to the church door, 14:43 this is interesting because he was not desecrated 14:45 in the church that was the place in town 14:47 where you would post things of interest to people. 14:50 But they were written in Latin and no one knew Latin 14:54 except the priest and the educated people. 14:57 So he was just trying to get a discussion 14:58 going among the leaders of the church 15:00 about why this was wrong. 15:03 Someone took them down and translated them into German 15:06 and some German guy by the name of Gutenberg 15:08 had recently perfected the printing press 15:10 and they started printing 15:12 these in the German language and sent them all over Europe. 15:14 Martin Luther without intending 15:16 it became the best-selling author 15:17 in Germany almost overnight. 15:19 And this is incredible when you understand 15:21 how this all happened. 15:22 Well, the interesting thing because of it, 15:24 Pope Leo was ticked... 15:26 That's the modern term, I often think what he said. 15:29 But he decided to counsel with Luther 15:34 by some of his emissaries to retract his statements. 15:37 When he would not do it, in January of 1521, 15:41 this was 4 years after nailing the 95 Theses, 15:43 Martin Luther was excommunicated 15:45 from Roman Catholic church. 15:46 Now this is interesting because most of us have no idea 15:49 what that means. 15:50 But to a Roman Catholic it meant, 15:52 you were bound for hell 15:53 and you were going to burn in eternity 15:54 for the rest of your life. 15:56 You could not be buried in the church cemetery. 15:58 No one can have any communication with you 16:00 and so on. 16:01 Martin Luther promptly burnt the papal bull 16:04 because he had lost his fear of Rome 16:06 which was very interesting. 16:07 But it's interesting also 16:09 that he was asked later that year 16:12 probably around April to come to a diet in Worms, 16:15 Germany to give a testimony for his faith 16:18 before the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. 16:22 Now, this was interesting because remember 16:24 no one was supposed to have anything to do with him 16:25 after he's excommunicated 16:27 but still he's now giving his testimony. 16:29 Now, I wish I could do a fair job 16:32 of giving you Luther's statement. 16:34 Surprised to say 16:35 that after failing to recant his books 16:38 and his message, he said, 16:41 "Here I stand. 16:42 I can do no other, may God help me." 16:44 Amen. 16:46 That was not politically correct in anyway 16:48 as you can imagine. 16:50 He was standing before 16:51 the most aghast leaders on earth. 16:55 Did you guys hear what I just said? 16:56 The leaders of the church, the leaders of the State. 16:59 Now he was, because he said he wouldn't recant, 17:02 the church leaders ran to Charles 17:03 the V who was there in room and said, 17:05 "You've heard him. 17:06 This guy is a heretic. We need to kill him." 17:08 But Charles the V had said, "I'm giving him a safe conduct. 17:11 He's going to at least get home first." 17:13 Well, you guys know what happened next. 17:15 Frederick, the Electoral Saxony 17:17 had some of his men secret him away 17:19 to the Wittenberg castle 17:20 where he was stayed for over a year. 17:22 Then he translated the New Testament into German 17:25 and that was circulated all over. 17:26 People began reading the Bible in their own language 17:27 for the first time in their lives 17:29 which is really, really quite incredible. 17:31 Now the most amazing thing is that in 1530, 17:38 Charles the V 17:39 with so many people going after reformation, 17:43 there is a point to all of this 17:44 and I'm going to get to it in just a second. 17:48 He called the diet in Augsburg Germany 17:50 and he said, "I want to hear from you guys, 17:51 why you're going with a reaffirmation 17:52 and leaving the Roman Catholic Church." 17:54 So the German princess and the leaders 17:55 of the free cities of Germany came and gave 17:58 what we call the Augsburg confession. 18:01 Ellen White says of the Augsburg confession, 18:03 It was the most glorious day in all of reformation history 18:06 and all of Christianity, 18:07 maybe of mankind in the great congress. 18:10 I think it's about page 230. 18:12 It's very, very interesting to see that. 18:14 The Augsburg confession, 18:15 by the way, contains 28 articles. 18:17 Article 28 was about Ecclesiastical power. 18:19 By the way, you can Google this 18:20 and have it up in a minute on the internet, 18:22 but you can go down to article 28 18:24 and then point 33 and this was talking about 18:27 why they were going with Luther 18:29 instead of Roman Catholic Church 18:31 and it says, 18:32 "They've taken on 18:33 too much authority for themselves. 18:35 They are boasting about changing the day of worship 18:36 from Saturday to seventh day of the week to Sunday 18:38 to first day of week, 18:39 violating the Decalogue, as it seems. 18:41 Then that's in there and this is the Lutheran creed 18:42 by the way, 18:44 most of them don't even know it's in there. 18:46 So I'm going to tell you another thing now. 18:49 The reformation was spreading so fast 18:51 that the church decided 18:53 they must do something about this 18:54 and so they created the Jesuit Order. 18:57 This is the Counter Reformation group. 18:59 Ellen White gives two pages in The Great Controversy 19:01 about the Jesuits as you can remember. 19:03 But a man named Ignatius Loyola 19:06 and another one Francis Xavier started 19:09 the Jesuits in 1540 and their job 19:12 was to overturn the reformation. 19:15 This is very interesting because they decided... 19:18 Well, I'll give you a little indication. 19:20 You remember hearing about the Council of Trent. 19:22 The Council of Trent lasted for many years 19:24 because they were trying to figure out 19:25 what to do with the reformation. 19:27 And the leaders of the church have said to their scholars, 19:30 "Take your Bible and prove Martin Luther wrong." 19:34 They kept coming back and saying, 19:35 "If we take the Bible, he's right. 19:37 So what do we do next?" 19:39 Well, that's when, you know, they came out with... 19:42 The church has more power than the Bible 19:44 because it's changed the day of worship. 19:45 It's from the council of Trent. 19:47 At any rate, 19:48 I'm going to tell you something interesting now. 19:50 In order to turn attention away from the papacy 19:53 during this time, 19:55 two main Jesuit leaders 19:57 who were theologians wrote some new theology stuff. 20:02 I'll just tell you what it is. 20:03 The Joseph Tanner in his book Daniel 20:05 and the Revelation was printed in London in 1898 stated, 20:10 "Two of her most learned doctors 20:11 set themselves to the task of being counter reformation. 20:15 One named Luis del Alcazar devoted himself 20:18 to bringing into prominence 20:19 the Preterist method of interpretation 20:21 to show that the prophecies of the antichrist 20:23 were fulfilled in the past." 20:25 Before the pope's ever ruled at Rome 20:27 and therefore could not apply to the papacy. 20:28 This is the Antiochus Epiphanes people, 20:30 you know, all that stuff. 20:32 This is the predator's method. 20:33 On the other hand, 20:35 Jesuit Francisco Ribera tried to set aside the application 20:37 of these prophecy to papal power 20:39 bringing into notice of people 20:41 what we call the futurist system 20:43 which asserts that these prophecy refer 20:45 to some time way down in the future 20:47 where some individual yet to appear 20:48 will continue for three and half years 20:50 and this is called the futurist situation. 20:54 Now here is a sad, sad statement. 20:57 It is true today. 20:58 Joseph Tanner who I just told you 21:00 wrote the book Daniel and Revelation 21:01 in London 1898 concludes his description 21:04 of these two people coming out 21:05 with new methods by saying this. 21:07 "It is a matter of deep regret that those who hold 21:11 and advocate the futurist system 21:12 at the present day. 21:14 Protestants as they are for the most part, 21:15 are helping to screen 21:17 the papacy from the detection as the antichrist." 21:20 Isn't that incredible? 21:21 I'm going to read that again. 21:23 "It's a matter of deep regret that those who hold 21:25 and advocate the futurist system 21:26 at the present day, 21:28 protestants as they are for the most part, 21:30 are helping to screen the papacy 21:31 from detection as the antichrist." 21:33 So this dual coming, Second Coming, 21:35 futurists theory takes the 70th week 21:37 of Daniel 70-week prophecy 21:39 and takes some 2000 years down in the future 21:41 and puts this number away down there. 21:42 And you only know when it begins 21:44 when the rapture occurs of course. 21:46 The tribulation to the Second Coming 21:48 was introduced around the world 21:50 to Protestants by two pastors in Great Britain. 21:53 A Scottish pastor named Edward Irving 21:56 and a John Nelson Darby, 21:57 a preacher and writer from England 21:59 were responsible for introducing 22:00 the new teaching on a larger scale. 22:02 Now here is something 22:03 that most of you are probably aware 22:05 of but the secret rapture theory 22:06 spread to the United States starting in the 1850s 22:09 where they received big boost 22:11 when Cyrus Scofield incorporated 22:13 the secret rapture ideas into his notes 22:15 in his famous 22:16 Scofield Reference Bible published in 1909. 22:19 Now most of you have 22:21 either seen the Scofield Reference Bible 22:22 or you have one. 22:23 But I'll just tell you that on a typical page, 22:25 the top half is the Bible 22:27 and the bottom half is Scofield notes 22:29 and most people who read 22:31 that believe that's part of the Bible. 22:32 When we've given bible study to people 22:34 who have these Bibles, 22:35 they will not believe anything different 22:37 than what they read in the Bible 22:38 in their Scofield reference Bible. 22:40 Now, this is interesting. 22:41 Since that time, 22:43 the theory has been widely accepted 22:44 often by people 22:45 who are unaware that this concept is not taught 22:47 in the Bible 22:48 therefore was not believed by the early Christian church 22:50 or by the Protestant reformation or reformers. 22:53 Oswald Smith was a prominent minister 22:55 in Toronto for many years. 22:57 He was the pastor of the People's Church 22:58 in Toronto, died in 1986. 23:01 He wrote 35 books and was well-known 23:03 around the world for his scholarship. 23:05 He was a prominent pastor and he wrote a book called the, 23:08 one of his 35 books, The Tribulation or Rapture. 23:11 And he stated 23:12 that he had once believed this theory 23:14 but when he began to search the scriptures for himself, 23:16 praise the Lord, he discovered 23:17 that there was not a single version 23:19 for the Bible to uphold this view. 23:20 Then he said, 23:22 "I had been taught that the Greek word 23:23 "Parousia" always referred to the rapture 23:26 and that other words were used 23:28 for the coming of Christ in glory. 23:29 But I found the idea is not true. 23:31 We might go through 23:33 all the writers of the New Testament, 23:34 we would fail to discover any indication 23:36 of the so-called two stages of our Lord's coming. 23:39 That theory had to be invented by man." 23:42 It was, I just told you how it went. 23:44 Amen. 23:45 Search and See, He says there is no verse in the Bible 23:48 that even mentions it. 23:49 So we're going to do 23:51 something interesting right now. 23:52 I want to tell you something amazing. 23:54 This is the third point and we've gone 23:58 through the first two rather quickly 23:59 because the third, fourth and fifth are more extensive. 24:02 "The great Messianic Prophecy of Daniel, chapter nine, 24:04 does not support 24:06 the seven year tribulation view." 24:08 Here is the pre-tribulation statement. 24:11 I think I've read it early but I'll just tell you. 24:13 We believe that I tell you about the tribulation statement 24:17 from, from, you know Tim LaHaye website. 24:20 Well, I'm just going to read it again, 24:22 so you'll see it. 24:23 "We believe that Christ 24:25 will literally rapture His church 24:27 which is a term not used in the Bible. 24:29 Prior to the 70th week of Daniel, 24:31 followed by His glorious premillenial arrival 24:33 on the earth at least seven years later 24:35 to set up His kingdom, 24:36 his 1,000 year kingdom rule from Jerusalem over the earth." 24:39 Now does anybody know how many times 24:41 the name Gabriel appears in the Bible? 24:46 You got to have heard of Gabriel. 24:47 Yes. Okay. 24:52 Well, there's probably a number of times 24:54 where he has actually referred 24:55 to but he is only named four times. 24:58 Now, this is interesting. 24:59 Two of them before the 70th week prophecy 25:01 and two of them 25:03 when it's about to be fulfilled. 25:04 This is amazing. 25:06 God entrusted this awesome prophecy 25:07 with the age of Gabriel. 25:09 So let's take our Bibles and we'll look at it, 25:11 we're going to look at first Daniel 8:14 25:13 and through 16. 25:16 And you're going to see this, 25:17 the first two that are mentioned. 25:21 Daniel 8:14-16. 25:25 Now as I told you yesterday, 25:26 I have the Bible verses typed into my notes 25:28 so I am just referring to my notes 25:30 as I look at it. 25:32 "And he said unto me, 25:33 unto two thousand and three hundred days, 25:35 then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 25:36 Everybody got that part? Amen. 25:38 Now this is interesting 25:39 because what I'm going to tell you now 25:41 is something very amazing 25:42 and you'll be able to understand it. 25:44 Whenever you see a part-time prophecy in the Bible, 25:46 a big prophecy all the little prophecies 25:49 are meant to be part of inside of that. 25:51 I'll read it to you as a statement 25:53 the in just a moment. 25:54 Because some people say, 25:55 "Well, we know when the 70th week prophecy starts 25:57 but we don't know when the 2300 days start. 25:59 So here it is. 26:01 Look at verse 15 now. 26:02 "And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, 26:04 had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, 26:05 then, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 26:08 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, 26:10 which called, and said, Gabriel, 26:12 make this man to understand the vision." 26:13 So that's the first time Gabriel is mentioned. 26:15 What was his purpose, to do what? 26:18 Understand the vision. 26:19 So now, we're going to go to 9:21. 26:22 Just probably turn to page in your Bible 26:23 and you'll be able to see it. 26:28 This is the most significant Messianic Prophecy 26:30 in all the Bible 26:32 and it's very, very incredible that we see or hear. 26:35 So it says, starting with verse 21, 26:37 this is Daniel 9:21. 26:38 "While I was speaking in prayer, 26:40 even the man Gabriel, 26:41 whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning," 26:43 that's in Daniel 8 of course. 26:45 "Being caused to fly swiftly, 26:46 touched me about the time of the evening oblation." 26:48 Or the evening worship. 26:49 "And he informed me, and talked with me, 26:50 and said," now who's coming? 26:53 Gabriel, God's trusted servant if you please. 26:57 "Touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 26:58 And he informed me, and talked with me, 26:59 and said, now I'm coming to give you skill 27:01 and understanding and so on." 27:02 Let's go to verse 24. 27:04 "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people 27:07 and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, 27:10 and to make an end of sins, 27:11 and to make reconciliation for iniquity, 27:13 and to bring in everlasting righteousness, 27:14 and to seal up the vision and prophecy, 27:15 and to anoint the most Holy." 27:17 So within 70 weeks 27:18 all that was supposed to happen. 27:20 Now this is interesting 27:21 because I'll just go along with you. 27:23 It says, the next one, now therefore, 27:26 "I understand from the going forth 27:27 of the command to restore and build Jerusalem." 27:29 By the way, we have all the stuff nailed down. 27:32 I was talking to somebody early today. 27:33 When you study the Adventist message, 27:35 the deeper you dig, 27:36 the more solid the foundation is. 27:37 It's just incredible. 27:39 You don't find a bunch of goofy stuff. 27:40 We got real foundation here. 27:42 So here it is. 27:43 "Know therefore and understand that there is going to be," 27:45 what? 27:46 "Seven weeks and three score and two weeks, 27:48 the street shall be built again even in troublous times. 27:51 And after threescore and two weeks 27:52 shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: 27:55 and the people of the prince 27:56 that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." 27:58 And so on. Now look at verse 27. 28:01 "And he shall confirm the covenant 28:02 with many for one week: 28:04 and in the midst of the week 28:05 he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease." 28:08 Now we all understand what happened 28:09 in the middle of the week, don't we? 28:11 We're going to see this in just a minute. 28:12 This is a little bit technical but I'm going to tell you 28:14 how important it is in just a second. 28:16 Let's go to the third time that Gabriel came. 28:20 Anybody know what that would be? 28:23 Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. 28:25 This is the story of the birth of Jesus. 28:28 But first of all, we're going to look 28:29 at the birth of John the Baptist 28:32 because his job was to introduce Christ, right, 28:35 as the one who's anointed. 28:38 So Luke 1:11 to 19, "There appeared..." 28:42 By the way, 28:44 this Zacharias ministering in the temple, 28:45 father of John the Baptist. 28:47 "There appeared unto him an angel 28:48 of the Lord standing on the right side 28:49 of the altar of incense. 28:51 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, 28:52 and fear fell upon him. 28:53 How I'd like to be doing your work, 28:55 your shopping or your kitchen and look up 28:57 and there is an angel standing there. 28:58 And this guy didn't know what to do. 29:00 He's a man on the cloth of course, 29:02 but it's kind of interesting that here is this angel. 29:04 So "The angel said to him, fear not Zacharias, 29:06 for your prayers are heard and your wife Elizabeth 29:08 will bear thee a son 29:09 and thy shall call him name John." 29:11 The accolades that John will get here 29:14 are just tremendous. 29:15 "Thou shall have joy and gladness 29:17 and many shall rejoice at his birth. 29:20 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, 29:24 and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, 29:26 and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, 29:27 even from his mother's womb. 29:29 Many of the children of Israel turn 29:31 to the Lord their God." 29:32 And verse 17, 29:33 "he shall go before him 29:35 in the spirit and power of Elias, 29:36 to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, 29:37 and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, 29:39 to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." 29:42 So that's very interesting how this all happened. 29:45 Then, we're going to turn the same chapter, 29:48 excuse me, verse 19. 29:51 "The angel answering said unto him, 29:53 I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God, 29:55 and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show these things." 29:57 So Gabriel is coming to talk to Zachariah, 29:59 that's the third time in the Bible. 30:01 The fourth time is same chapter Luke 1: 30:06 26-33. 30:10 "And in the sixth month, 30:11 the angel Gabriel was sent to a city of Galilee, 30:15 named Nazareth." 30:16 So here's Gabriel again. 30:17 " To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, 30:20 of the house of David, 30:21 and the virgin's name was Mary. 30:23 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, 30:25 Hail, thou that art highly favored, 30:26 the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." 30:28 And so on. 30:31 "And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, 30:33 and cast in her mind 30:34 what manner of salutation this should be." 30:37 So verse 30. 30:38 "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, 30:39 Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 30:41 And, behold, 30:43 thou shall conceive in thy womb, 30:44 and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. 30:46 He shall be great, 30:47 and shall be called the Son of the Highest 30:48 and the Lord God shall give him 30:50 the throne of David, his father. 30:51 He shall reign over the house 30:52 of Jacob for ever, 30:54 and of his kingdom there shall be no end." 30:56 So Gabriel comes 30:57 at the beginning of this 70 week prophecy twice 31:00 and at the end twice. 31:01 Anybody see that? 31:02 That's very interesting because this is the most precise 31:05 and significant Messianic Prophecy 31:06 in the entire Bible that outlines the timing 31:09 and of the Lord's anointed at his baptism 31:10 and his death three and a half years later 31:12 followed by the last three and a half years 31:14 of the final ministry for Israel. 31:15 Now the Bible says, 31:17 "The 70 weeks started with the going forth 31:18 of the command to restore Jerusalem 31:20 in the fall of 457 BC." 31:22 Now, it doesn't say 457 BC unless you have one Bible 31:25 that has, you know, things at the top. 31:27 But it says in Ezra 7:7, 31:30 that it'll be the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 31:33 While, we know that Artaxerxes is, 31:36 you know, I'm not, I guess, I'm a collector, 31:37 I still have some of my college, school notes 31:40 but somebody's got to collect all these stuff. 31:46 Not, not from my perspective. 31:47 But you know, 31:49 there's a archive in statistics, 31:50 department of general conference, 31:51 they have all the list, 31:53 all the meetings and minutes 31:54 of all the committees and all of that. 31:56 But anyway, we know that Artaxerxes began his reign 31:58 in 464 BC so seven years later would be what? 32:02 457, pretty interesting. 32:04 So we got that one pretty well nailed down 32:05 and we'll show you that in just a minute. 32:08 "Gabriel divided the 490 years into three segments." 32:12 What are they? 32:13 "Seven weeks, sixty two weeks, and one week. 32:16 Right, there they all are. 32:18 The first seven weeks 32:19 were the 49 years needed to complete 32:21 the restoration of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, 32:24 then they were finished in 408 BC. 32:26 The second period of 62 weeks 32:28 or 434 historic years immediately followed. 32:31 There together these first to periods total 483 years. 32:35 "Starting the fall of 457 BC, they reached to 27 AD." 32:39 So listen carefully. 32:41 "Gabriel states in God's inspired word 32:43 that Messiah the Prince 32:44 would appear in the fall of 27 AD." 32:47 Now, let's take our Bibles again 32:49 and look at Luke chapter three. 32:53 Many of you have your Bibles open 32:54 but I'm just going to add in, I didn't type in my notes. 32:56 So I'm just going to find it quickly 32:58 and read it for you. 33:00 Did I say which chapter? Three. 33:02 Chapter three. Okay, we're going to go there. 33:05 You're going to see something amazing. 33:08 Whenever we take a trip, 33:09 we take a longer little trust instrument, 33:10 we call the GPS. 33:13 A lot of the time when we fly into airports, 33:15 the rental cars are in parking garages 33:17 and when you turn on the GPS that you have with you plugged 33:21 into the cigarette lighter, it will say, "Are you inside?" 33:26 In other words, you can get the satellites. 33:28 So interestingly enough once you get outside, 33:30 they will start seeking for satellite. 33:33 So I'm going to show you something amazing here. 33:36 How many satellites does it take for you 33:37 to be located on where you are? 33:40 Three. Three. 33:41 How would you like to be located 33:42 by seven satellites? 33:44 I mean that will show you within a couple of inches 33:45 where you are, right? 33:47 So look at this. 33:48 This is one of the most amazing historical facts in the Bible. 33:52 So Luke gives us these events. 33:55 So it says, 33:56 well, I'm reading chapter 3 of Luke verse 1 and 2. 34:02 "Now in the 15th year of the reign 34:04 of Tiberius Caesar, 34:05 "so here, you know what, 34:06 Tiberius Caesar reign is 15th year. 34:09 "Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea." 34:11 Another satellite, 34:13 "Herod being tetrarch of Galilee," 34:14 another satellite, 34:15 "And his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea," 34:17 another satellite, "region of Trachonitis, 34:18 and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene," 34:19 and the other one. 34:21 "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests." 34:23 Two more satellites. 34:24 "The word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias 34:26 in the wilderness. 34:27 And he began in region around Jordan, 34:29 preaching the baptism 34:31 and repentance for the remission of sins." 34:34 And this is really, really interesting 34:35 because if you look at verse 21, 34:37 something amazing happened. 34:38 Most of you probably are not aware 34:40 that John the Baptist was a very, very unique person. 34:45 His public life only lasted for six months. 34:49 Three months, he was doing his public preaching 34:51 and baptizing near the Jordan river, 34:52 the last three months of his life, 34:54 he was in solitary confinement, 34:55 and then his head was chopped off. 34:59 Jesus said of him, 35:00 "No person born of a woman 35:02 is greater than John the Baptist." 35:03 He had a job to do and he did it. 35:05 Amazing man, absolutely amazing. 35:08 So let's look at verse 21. 35:10 "When all the people were baptized, 35:11 it came to pass, 35:13 that Jesus also being baptized, and while he prayed, 35:15 the heaven was opened. 35:16 And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape 35:17 like a dove and a voice came from heaven, 35:19 which said, You are my beloved Son, 35:20 whom I am well pleased." 35:22 This is the anointing of Jesus. 35:23 Now, I'm going to give you a list of little more details 35:25 and then show you why this is so important. 35:29 To me, it's interesting because we have now heaven 35:35 and oh, I should tell you, 35:37 all these seven satellites point 35:39 to one only. 35:40 In other words, the only year 35:41 that's common in all these people is 27 AD. 35:44 So you got history and prophecy both pointing to 27 AD. 35:48 Jesus stepped out of the river, the Father testified, 35:50 this is My Beloved Son. 35:51 So God identified 35:52 and all the people assembled there 35:54 and to the universe, 35:55 the divine prince predicted by Daniel. 35:57 So heaven and history show us the date of 27 AD. 36:00 But what do we have left? 36:02 Remember, we have seven weeks and 62 weeks. 36:04 We have just one week left. 36:06 Now remember something amazing. 36:08 The secret rapture people want to take 36:10 that week associated with the 69 week, 36:12 take it 2000 years down in the future. 36:15 But I'll just kind of read to you 36:17 something interesting. 36:18 "When Hebrew chronologers mention 36:20 the duration of an epoch," 36:22 which in this case is 70 weeks, 36:24 "and then followed by shorter listing, 36:26 shorter segments, 36:27 they understood to fall within the total span. 36:29 Therefore the 70 weeks of years must include the final week." 36:33 I mean, that's just very simple. 36:34 So the interesting things 36:36 Gabriel described two acts the prince will carry out. 36:37 He should perform the covenant 36:39 with many for one week or seven years, 36:40 and in the rest of the week, 36:42 he should cause the sacrifice and tribulation to cease. 36:44 Now, when you study carefully in the Bible, 36:47 you find out something amazing. 36:49 The gospels mention that Jesus observed 36:51 four Passovers. 36:53 Everybody aware of that? 36:55 These are called three, four years. 36:57 So the final week of seven years began 36:59 in 27 AD at Christ's baptism 37:01 at the time the priest of tabernacles. 37:03 His first Passover occurred 37:04 in the spring of 28 AD six months after his baptism. 37:08 He was crucified at his fourth Passover 37:10 in the spring of 31 AD 37:12 exactly three and a half years 37:14 after He began His ministry at his baptism 37:16 in autumn of 27 AD. 37:19 He died exactly in the midst 37:21 of the week predicted in prophecy. 37:24 So the reason I mentioned 37:25 all these stuff is for this reason. 37:28 "To take the last week of the 70 week prophecy away 37:30 and move it some 2000 years later 37:32 to the end of time completely destroys 37:34 the significance of the Messianic prophecy 37:37 and makes no sense mathematically, prophetically, 37:40 historically or theologically." 37:43 It is plain foolishness. 37:45 "Therefore, one of the foundation points 37:47 of the secret rapture theory 37:49 is historically and biblically untrue." 37:52 Because you need that 70th week to understand. 37:54 But it belongs way back to time of Christ. 37:56 And this is really interesting 37:57 because one of the secret rapture ideas 38:00 is that it's completely 38:03 separated down in the future. 38:05 By the way, 38:06 it's to predict Christ not the antichrist. 38:09 That's the 70th week as you know. 38:11 Okay, now, 38:13 much of this is pulled out of thin air. 38:15 But there are two Bible verses that give some idea 38:18 that there maybe a secret rapture. 38:19 So we're going to look at those two. 38:20 So you can see 38:22 that I might have written in my notes here, 38:23 so you can look them up as I tell you about them. 38:24 The first one is Matthew 24:37 to 41. 38:30 But what I want to tell you is that, 38:32 "These two frequently quoted sub passages 38:34 to support the Secret Rapture, 38:36 do not actually support it 38:37 when you read it in its context." 38:39 You guys heard the term context? 38:40 Yes. 38:41 Yeah, that's what we're looking at here. 38:43 Okay, so this was Matthew 24:37 to 41. 38:48 "But as in the days of Noah, 38:50 so shall also be the coming of the Son of man." 38:53 We talked about Noah, 38:54 the flood this morning a little bit in Sabbath School. 38:56 Now you understand something. 38:57 The people that were left behind were all dead. 39:02 Is it true? Yes. 39:03 Drowned. Okay. 39:05 " For as in the days that were before the flood 39:07 they were eating and drinking, 39:08 marrying and giving in marriage, 39:09 until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39:11 so they knew not until the flood came, 39:12 and took them all away, 39:14 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 39:16 Nobody was dog pedaling for the how many days 39:19 the rain is coming down, you understand? 39:21 Everybody died. That was on the outside. 39:25 Now, then it says, 39:26 "They knew not until the flood came, 39:27 and took them all away, 39:29 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." 39:30 Now, here is what people get this idea 39:31 there is some secret. 39:33 Then shall two be in the field, 39:34 one shall be taken and the other left, 39:36 two women should be grinding at the mill, 39:37 and the other shall be taken, 39:38 one shall be taken and the other left. 39:40 Now it just says, in the context of Noah, 39:42 that's the way it's going to be at the second coming of Christ, 39:44 the ones that are left behind are dead. 39:47 Okay, we're going to look at one more. 39:49 Luke adds even more details. 39:50 This is Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17. 39:57 And we'll start with verse 26. 40:04 Everybody there? Luke 17:26. 40:07 "As it was in the days of Noah, 40:09 so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 40:12 Because they ate, they drank, they married wives, 40:14 they were given in marriage, 40:15 until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 40:16 and the flood came," and did what? 40:18 Destroyed them all. 40:20 "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, 40:22 they did eat, they drank, they bought, 40:24 they sold, they planted, they built, 40:25 But the same day 40:26 that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire 40:28 and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 40:31 The people left behind are dead. 40:34 Okay, very interesting. 40:35 This is where he says, remember Lot's wife. 40:37 Now there's one other interesting thing 40:38 and I'll point this out to you. 40:40 Look at verse 37. 40:41 Well, first of all, I want to tell you, 40:43 we should look at where they get these verses? 40:46 Look at verse 34. 40:47 "I tell you, in that night there shall be two men 40:49 in one bed, the one shall be taken, 40:50 and the other shall be left. 40:52 Two women shall be grinding together; 40:53 the one shall be taken, and the other left. 40:55 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, 40:56 and the other left. 40:57 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? 40:59 And he said unto them, wherever the body is, 41:00 thither will the eagles be gathered together." 41:01 Now, I'm going to tell you, 41:03 we're going to look at Jeremiah, 41:04 the fourth chapter in a few minutes 41:06 where it says, the birds of heaven, 41:07 they are all fled. 41:08 Now some of you are bird watchers. 41:10 Kathy and I have tried to be bird watchers sometimes. 41:11 We used to be more than we are now. 41:12 But I can tell you that I know enough 41:14 about birds to know that certain birds 41:15 have certain characteristics. 41:17 We have wild turkeys where we live in Tennessee. 41:19 They come right in our yard. 41:20 The interesting thing about... 41:22 You rarely see them fly but they can fly, 41:24 they can fly quite well. 41:25 They even roost up in trees, big tall oak trees. 41:27 They can fly right to the top. 41:28 If they are scared, they can fly 41:30 but most of the time they are on the ground. 41:31 Quail are on the ground. 41:32 You know, those kinds of things. 41:34 They are bush birds like brown thrashers 41:35 and towhees and those kinds of things. 41:37 The birds that fly around, 41:38 I have a tractor, 41:39 Frequently I'm mowing my fields, 41:41 the little barn ones come and try to catch insects 41:46 that fly up, you know. 41:47 Because they catch all the food in the air as you know. 41:50 But the great soaring birds, 41:51 the ones that the Bible talks 41:53 about like the eagles and the vultures 41:55 are all have one thing in common 41:57 and that is they're carnivorous. 41:59 They pick the bones of the wicked. 42:02 It's mentioned three times in the Bible. 42:04 Here fourth chapter of Jeremiah in the 19th chapter Revelation 42:09 as you likely know. 42:11 The amazing thing is that neither Matthew 24 42:14 nor Luke 17 indicate 42:15 that those who are left behind are engaged 42:17 in any activity after Coming of Christ. 42:19 In fact, the Luke passage declares 42:21 those who are left behind are destroyed 42:23 and their bodies are eaten by eagles. 42:25 So with so many texts that are misused, 42:27 we must examine carefully the context of the passage. 42:30 So I'm going to give you a 5th point now 42:32 and then we're going to look at some amazing things 42:33 what it would really be like at the Second Coming. 42:37 So the Secret Rapture theory fails to do justice 42:42 to the plain statements of scripture 42:44 that describe the final tribulation 42:46 and the Second Coming. 42:47 So here is, I'm just going to go down 42:48 through this in bullet points 42:50 and you can see some of them on the screen, 42:51 a few bullet points in summary fashion. 42:53 Bible doesn't say to people, 42:54 things are going to get better on the earth. 42:56 It says, there will be wars and strife will increase, 42:58 air goes up. 43:00 Natural disasters will increase in frequency and intensity. 43:03 Immorality will increase. 43:04 You guys think we're living at the end? 43:06 Yes. 43:07 The image to the beast will be formed. 43:09 The sea beast and the land beast 43:10 of revelation 13 cooperate. 43:12 The papers in the United States work together. 43:14 Churches, state force worship 43:15 on people contrary to God's Word. 43:17 The gospel goes to all of the world. 43:18 Praise the Lord. 43:20 The devil personates the coming of Christ as a great deception. 43:24 Jesus finishes his work of inner session 43:25 where he stands up and states, it is done. 43:29 Finally, there are fulfilled 43:31 the words Revelations 22:11, 12. 43:33 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: 43:35 and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, 43:37 and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, 43:39 and he that is holy, let him be holy still." 43:40 These words signal something amazing 43:42 and that is the close of probation. 43:46 At that time, Daniel 12:1 says, "Michael stand up, 43:50 the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: 43:52 and there shall be a time of trouble," 43:54 just like World War I. 43:57 that's what it says? 43:59 "Like there never was since there was a nation 44:01 even at the same time." 44:02 Nothing is ever compared to it. 44:04 "And at that time, the people shall be delivered, 44:05 every one that shall be found written in the book." 44:07 Now the Book of Revelation describes God's last appeal 44:09 and we're going to look 44:11 at the three angel's messages real quickly 44:12 and then I'm going to talk to you 44:13 about what the situation will be 44:15 when we go through before Jesus comes. 44:17 Please understand something interesting. 44:20 Before Jesus comes, 44:22 everybody who leaves this earth alive 44:23 is going to go through a time when you cannot buy or sell. 44:26 You believe that's true? Yes. 44:27 Bible says it's very, very traumatic. 44:29 We have a whole presentation on that topic 44:31 but I just want to tell you something very interesting. 44:32 Don't think we're going to have 44:34 a veggie burger supper and popcorn 44:35 and the next day, you know, Jesus coming. 44:36 It's not going to be like that. 44:38 Your popcorn is not going to be sure, 44:40 just your bread and water. 44:41 That's what we're talking about here. 44:43 Okay. 44:46 Okay, let's go to Revelation 14:6-12. 44:49 I just want you to see something amazing here. 44:51 We all know 44:53 this is the three angel's messages. 44:54 But we all don't understand something interesting. 44:57 The Bible says, well, 44:59 I'll just read it from the Bible. 45:01 "I saw another angel flying..." 45:02 We're in Revelation 14 verse 6. 45:04 " in the midst of heaven, 45:06 having the everlasting gospel 45:07 to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 45:08 and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 45:10 and people, 7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, 45:11 and give glory to him; 45:13 for the hour of his judgment is come: 45:14 and worship him that made" what? 45:15 "heaven, and earth, and the sea, 45:17 and the fountains of waters." 45:18 So that's talking about the creation 45:19 of the Sabbath weekly cycle. 45:21 "And there followed another angel, saying, 45:22 Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 45:24 because she made all nations drink 45:25 of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." 45:27 And verse nine is interesting." 45:29 The third angel followed them, 45:30 saying with a loud voice, 45:31 If any man worship the beast and his image, 45:33 and receive his mark 45:34 in his forehead, or in his hand. 45:35 The same person shall drink of the wine 45:37 of the wrath of God, 45:38 which is poured out without mixture." 45:40 And what is without mixture mean? 45:41 Full strength. 45:43 We're talking about... 45:44 Some of you... 45:45 You're interested like I am in spraying weeds 45:48 along your fence, roads and so on. 45:50 Well, you can get watered down weed killer 45:54 or you can get full strength stuff. 45:56 It rarely do they recommend full strength 45:58 because it is really powerful. 45:59 The single thing would crash on top of you 46:01 almost when you spray on there. 46:03 But anyway, this is without mixture. 46:05 Now, I'm going to... 46:06 This is to those who receive the mark of the beast. 46:08 So I'm going to tell you this interesting. 46:10 These three messages 46:11 of Revelation 14 are significant. 46:12 They convey that their message 46:14 will go to every person on earth. 46:15 They direct attention worship back to the Creator. 46:18 They state that the judgment has begun 46:20 and the church has apostatized and become Babylon. 46:23 Then comes the warning of those 46:24 who follow Babylon receive the mark of the beast 46:27 and will be recipients of the wrath of God. 46:29 Very interesting, full strength. 46:31 After the three angel's messages, 46:32 God sends one final message of warning 46:34 and that one is included in Revelation 18. 46:38 We're going to look at just the first three verses. 46:40 Then I'm going to want you to see something 46:41 first four verses perhaps. 46:43 Revelation 18. 46:44 The first angel's message is said 46:45 to come with loud voice. 46:47 The same is also said of the third message 46:49 but the fourth angel which is Revelation 18, 46:51 instead of flying in the midst of heaven, 46:53 it's said to come down from heaven. 46:55 This could likely mean the great outpouring 46:57 of God's Holy Spirit referred to in the Bible 46:58 as the latter reign. 47:00 The fourth angel comes with a message 47:02 that's more pointed and direct 47:03 and it has a great power 47:05 and the earth is lightened with his glory. 47:07 No such description of any message 47:08 from heaven to man 47:10 has ever found anyone like this in the Bible. 47:12 This is God's last warning message 47:14 to the world and it comes with great glory and power. 47:18 It's an awful hour in which the world's destiny 47:20 is about to be decided, 47:22 a solemn crisis 47:23 when the entire contemporaneous generation 47:26 of the human family is to pass the bounds of probation 47:29 and the last note of mercy is sounded. 47:31 So let's look at Revelation 18:1-4. 47:33 "And after these things, 47:35 I saw another angel come down from heaven, 47:36 this is not flying in mid heaven, 47:38 this is coming to the earth from the heaven, 47:39 having great power, 47:41 and the earth was lightened with his glory." 47:43 Was it just in our neighborhood? 47:45 No. On whole earth. 47:46 This is pretty amazing. 47:47 "Then he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 47:50 Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 47:51 and is become the habitation of devils, 47:53 and the hold of every foul spirit, 47:54 and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 47:57 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath 47:58 of her fornication, and the kings of the earth 48:00 have committed fornication with her, 48:02 and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich 48:04 through the abundance of her delicacies." 48:06 You know, verse four is very amazing. 48:08 "And I heard another voice from the heaven 48:10 saying come out of her." 48:11 What's the next two verse? 48:13 "My people." Very amazing. 48:15 Does God have people in Babylon still? 48:17 Yes. Yes. 48:18 "So you be not partakers of her sins," 48:20 listen carefully "and that ye receive not of her plagues." 48:24 So this is amazing but you don't. 48:26 You got to come out and you're going to get 48:27 to plagues. 48:28 So I was in the capital at the General Conference 48:32 one day with Pastor Finley walking through, 48:35 getting our lunch and a lady came up and says, 48:36 "Pastor Finley, where do you think 48:38 we are in prophecy?" 48:39 And you know, the Book of Revelation 48:41 has like the seven churches and you go through, you know, 48:44 from the very beginning to later and then you start 48:46 all over again, do something different, 48:47 seals and so on. 48:49 And he said to this lady, 48:51 "I believe in Revelation chapter seven 48:53 where the angel is holding back the wings of strife 48:56 because if the angels won't do it, 48:57 then all hell will break loose on this earth." 48:59 Isn't it true? You understand. 49:00 So let's look at Revelation 7:1-3. 49:04 "And after these things I saw four angels 49:06 standing on the four corners of the earth, 49:07 holding the four winds of the earth, 49:09 that the wind should not blow on the earth, 49:11 nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 49:14 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, 49:16 having the seal of the living God: 49:18 and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, 49:20 to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, 49:22 Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, 49:25 till we have sealed the servants of our God 49:27 in their foreheads." 49:28 Now this is interesting. 49:30 What happens in the sculpt of The Great Controversy 49:32 after God's faithful people are sealed? 49:34 Something interesting. The answer is very simple. 49:37 The wrath of God is poured out unmixed with mercy 49:40 full strength on those who have the mark of the beast. 49:42 This is a signal of the close of probation as you know. 49:45 Revelation six closes with these words, 49:48 "For the great day of wrath is coming, 49:49 who shall be able to stand?" 49:51 Now I believe that God's people will be alive on the earth 49:54 during the seven last plagues 49:55 and I'm going to show you why right now. 49:58 For example, something interesting 50:01 just before the deliverance of God's people, 50:02 the last time from their Egyptian bondage, 50:04 God sent ten dreadful plagues upon Egypt, real plagues 50:07 and real people were involved. 50:09 Everybody believe that? Yes. 50:11 And I'm just going to go through them real quickly 50:13 so you remember. 50:15 I have these PowerPoint 50:16 but there's too many things to put up. 50:17 So you can find this from Exodus chapter 7 50:20 through 12 and make a note for yourself. 50:23 The book of Exodus 7:12. 50:26 The first plague, "All the rivers and streams 50:28 and bodies of water in Egypt will turn to blood. 50:30 All the fish died and the whole thing stank 50:32 and it lasted for seven days." 50:34 That's in Egypt. 50:35 The second plague was frogs by the zillions 50:38 came out of the river and covered 50:40 the whole landscape of Egypt. 50:41 The frogs came into the homes of the people 50:43 and into their kitchens, their bedrooms 50:44 even into their beds. 50:45 They came on to people. 50:47 How would you like to feel something on you 50:48 and a big frog is looking at you? 50:51 I don't think they were tree frogs. 50:52 I'm talking about, we at Tennessee. 50:53 We got some big frogs, great big bull frogs, you know. 50:57 Wouldn't that be something? 51:02 Moses interceded for the Egyptians 51:04 all the frogs died and was wrapped in huge heaps 51:06 and they stank. 51:08 The third plague was lice by the zillions 51:11 came from the dust of the ground. 51:12 I said zillions, by the way jillions 51:14 and zillions are both in the dictionary. 51:20 Now, that I've used it, I think they'll put it in there. 51:24 I really did look it up and they are in there. 51:28 But these lice came from the dust of the ground 51:30 and covered men and animals. 51:31 Apparently, so they could also know what was going on. 51:33 The first three plagues of Egypt also happened 51:36 in the land of Goshen as you may know. 51:38 So they would know what was going on. 51:40 But from there on they didn't. 51:41 The fourth one is swarms of flies 51:44 entered the homes of the Egyptians 51:46 unto the people on the ground where they walked, 51:48 and Moses interceded the flies, all left in one day. 51:53 The next one is very interesting as well. 51:55 Much of the livestock belonged to the Egyptians 51:57 died in one day. 51:59 Their cattle, their horses, their donkeys and so on. 52:01 Boils broke out on men is number six. 52:03 Number seven, a great hailstorm with thunder and lightening. 52:06 It was the biggest and most damaging storm 52:07 ever to occur in the history of Egypt. 52:09 Number eight is the locust covered everything. 52:11 They ate all the green, everything green 52:13 in all of Egypt. 52:14 All the trees, all the plants on the field. 52:15 Number nine was the darkness. 52:17 Couldn't see another person's face. 52:18 No one left their house for three days. 52:20 Number ten, this one is incredible 52:22 as we referred to it today already. 52:23 The death of the firstborn of all the people and animals 52:25 in Egypt except those who had the blood 52:29 on the lower lantern or on the doorpost, 52:31 you understand, the Passover lamp. 52:33 These ten plagues were not just an allegory 52:36 and I believe that in like manner, 52:37 the deliverance of God's people at the end of the world. 52:39 The seven last plagues will be poured out on the earth. 52:41 These plagues will specifically target those 52:44 who have the mark of the beast 52:46 and it will not be a pretty sight. 52:48 But I want to tell you that God's people will be here 52:51 to witness the tribulation 52:52 but they will not have it on them. 52:55 Jesus told the disciples great tribulation will come. 52:58 John said, be of good cheer, in the world 53:00 you have tribulation but I have overcome the world. 53:02 And in Acts 14:22. 53:06 "We must come through great tribulation." 53:08 And something interesting in the Book of Revelation, 53:10 there is these people with beautiful white robes 53:12 on the heaven and someone ask who are these people? 53:14 And you remember this it says in Revelation 7:14. 53:18 "These are they which came out of great tribulation, 53:19 and have washed their robes, and made them white 53:21 in the blood of the Lamb." 53:23 It's interesting that Apostle Paul tells 53:26 of his own tribulation in 2 Corinthians 11 53:28 when he says, I was beaten, I was stoned, 53:31 I was imprisoned and much more. 53:33 And he writes to the young Timothy 53:35 from his prison cell just before he was beheaded. 53:37 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus 53:38 shall suffer persecution." 53:40 It's 2 Timothy 3:12. 53:43 Now, during the time of the great inquisition, 53:46 this was 1693, a songwriter Thomas Shepherd 53:49 penned these words. 53:50 Must Jesus bear the cross alone, 53:53 and all the world go free? 53:54 No, there's a cross for everyone 53:56 and there's a cross for me. 53:58 And this is interesting. 53:59 I want to tell you about the seven last plagues quickly 54:01 as our time is running out here 54:02 but you'll be able to see them quickly. 54:04 The first plague is sores like boils 54:06 or shingles on people. 54:07 Urgent care facilities and hospital emergency rooms 54:09 will be swamped. 54:11 The second one is that the seas and oceans 54:12 turn to blood. 54:14 The Bible says the blood of the dead man 54:15 which is really clotted, congealed, and putrefying, 54:18 everything in the sea dies. 54:20 And then the next one is 54:21 the rivers and springs turn to blood. 54:23 The third plague, for they have shed the blood 54:26 of saints and prophets and thou has given them blood to drink 54:28 for they are worthy. 54:29 This is Revelation 16:6. 54:31 The fourth plague, the sun is given power to scorch men. 54:34 The sun which is so necessary for life 54:36 is now scorching men with extreme heat. 54:39 Many people die of heatstroke 54:40 and those who don't blaspheme God. 54:43 The fifth plague is dense darkness 54:44 on the seat of the beast. 54:45 Very interesting. 54:47 And it's interesting also that the sixth plague 54:49 is the drying of the river Euphrates 54:51 where it says that the support of Babylon 54:54 will be taken away. 54:55 You can read it for yourself Revelation 16:12-16. 55:00 And the seventh plague is very, very interesting 55:03 because it is a great thunder and lightening storm 55:05 and hailstorm with stones weighing 75 pounds a piece. 55:09 And some of you are old enough to remember 55:10 as I vaguely do as a little boy 55:12 that people frequently had iceboxes 55:15 instead of refrigerators years ago. 55:17 You put a big chunk of ice like 25 pounds of ice in there. 55:20 25 pounds is a big chunk. Think of 75 pounds of ice. 55:24 This is incredible, 75 pounds each. 55:27 The most severe earthquake accompanies that 55:28 to ever occur on the earth. 55:30 This is interesting because hailstorms weighing about 55:32 75 pounds, the earthquake is a ten plus. 55:35 The Bible says, every city on earth is destroyed. 55:39 This is Revelation 16:20. 55:42 The earth surface is totally wrecked. 55:44 The plagues will not fall on earth in secret. 55:46 It will be headline news worldwide. 55:48 The devastated earth will be no place 55:50 for an earthly temple of millennium 55:52 for a thousand years. 55:53 At this point, the earth will be uninhabitable. 55:56 That's why the period of time is so short as you know. 55:58 Now I just want to tell you there is much more 56:01 I can share with you but I want to tell you 56:03 in the last few minutes here that God has promised 56:05 to be with his people during that time. 56:08 Psalm 91:7-10, 56:11 "A thousand shall fall at thy side, 56:12 and ten thousand at thy right hand, 56:14 but it shall not come nigh thee. 56:15 Only with thy eye shall you behold 56:17 the reward of the wicked, because you made the Lord, 56:19 which is my refuge even the most high the habitation. 56:21 There shall no evil befall thee nor any plague 56:24 come nigh thy dwelling. 56:26 Now it's also interesting when the waters of the earth 56:28 are all failed and the food delivery system has collapsed. 56:30 God says, your bread and water will begin. 56:33 Your water will be sure. This is Isaiah 33:16. 56:36 I'm not sure it's gluten free but God will take care of us. 56:42 Now I want to tell you one final thing. 56:45 The Bible says the second coming of Christ 56:46 will be all inclusive. 56:48 "All the holy angels come from heaven," Matthew 25. 56:51 Did you hear what I said? All the angels come. 56:53 Every eye will see him, 56:55 all nations will be gathered before Him 56:57 and every man receives his award of the Lord. 56:59 All twice, every twice. 57:00 You see what I'm saying. This is amazing. 57:02 And then to make it even more exciting, 57:04 the Lord Himself will descend from heaven. 57:07 He's not giving this to the angels. 57:09 He's coming down and then he says 57:10 these amazing words, awake, awake, 57:13 you that sleeping in the dust of the earth 57:14 and He calls forth the righteous saints. 57:16 And then people begin to levitate up 57:18 from their graves and the righteous join them 57:19 to go to be with the Lord in the air. 57:21 It's an awesome time to be alive. 57:23 Thank God. Let's pray. 57:25 Our Heavenly Father, we thank You 57:26 for Your love and blessing in our lives. 57:28 Help us to be faithful to you. 57:29 Help us to not be deceived by these things 57:31 that have concocted now, our eyes away from truth. 57:33 Bless each one has been here and Your Holy Spirit guide 57:37 our lives in Jesus name. 57:38 Amen. |
Revised 2023-05-02