The new “Left Behind” movie -- Five Questions about Bible Prophecy

The  new “Left Behind” movie is a remake of the 2000 movie series based on the book series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.  The following is a link to a movie review http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/left-behind-2014.aspx.

The following is a message on Bible Prophecy. Instead of the usual outline only, I thought the text of the message might be helpful.

Five Questions about Bible Prophecy

Titus 2:11-14; Matt 24:1-3

Sometimes making decision would be easier if we knew the future. Two or three years ago my sister-in-law sold her house. At the time I thought she should have kept it, but by selling when she did, she is much better off now.

Knowing the future can be overrated.

Would we avoid difficult things in life?

Many times it is our response to difficulties which help us to grow in our relationship with the Lord.

How could we truly please could if we did not have to walk by faith?

We don’t know the details of our immediate future.

But people like to read their horoscope, visit with psychics, all in an attempt to know and meet the future. Why have we not ever read, “Psychic wins lottery”?

Years ago I bought a National Inquirer with various psychic predictions for the following year.  I saved it and a year later I looked through it with a good laugh. But these attempts to know the future by psychics, horoscopes, the National Inquirer are futile.

It is better to be prepared for the future by knowing and loving God. By walking in faithful obedience to God you will be better prepared for life and eternity than by anything else you can imagine.

The book of Revelation paints a broad picture of the future. It should give us confidence that God is in charge and He wins. Since He wins, we as His people also win.

The Title of today’s message is “Five Questions about Bible Prophecy”

I.  Why Study Bible Prophecy?

1.  God thinks it is important because it is a major theme of the Bible. There are many prophecies in the Bible; therefore, it is important to God. 

2.  Prophecy  teaches us that we have an eternal hope. There is more to life than whatever time God gives you on earth.

Titus 2:11-14 (NIV) 11 ... the grace of God.... teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

3. Prophecy  helps to give us purpose and direction in life.

John 14:1-4 (NIV) 1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."

4. Prophecy gives comfort in the face of the unknown. God is powerful enough to bring good out of evil.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  

5. Studying prophecy helps us to practice praising God.

Revelation chapters 4 and 5 give us a glimpse of praising God in eternity and it helps us to praise God now.

II.  What is the Second Coming?

The second coming is the doctrine that Jesus Christ, who left earth and ascended to the Father, will one day return to earth.

After Jesus had spoken to His disciples after His resurrection...

Acts 1:9-11 (NIV) 9 .... he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

The Rapture is described in

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NIV) According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.   17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  

This describes the Lord Jesus coming for His people.

This is the next event in the prophetic calendar.

After that the coming event is known as Great Tribulation: A seven year period of great difficulty which we will look at with the next question.

In words spoken to Christian churches, we are told that we will not experience the Great Tribulation.

Revelation 3:10  Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.  

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ...to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.  

1 Thessalonians 5:9  For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  

After this Seven year Tribulation period, Jesus comes with His own, after having come for His own .

Matthew 24:30 (NIV)30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.  

More details are given in Revelation 19:11-20:3 where He then comes to defeat the Antichrist and bind Satan.

There are two distinct events/stages

When Jesus comes for His own.

When Jesus comes with His own.

III.  When is the Second Coming?

There have been lots of predictions about the Second Coming.

September 6, 1994

Harold Camping, he predicted that Christ would return in September of 1994. He wrote, “When September 6, 1994 arrives, no one else can become saved, the end has come.”

September 12, 1988

Edgar Whisenant said Christ’s second coming would occur in 1988. “88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988".This was big when I was in seminary.  Well, that didn’t happen, so a year later he had 89 reasons why it would happen in 1989.

1914 was one of the more important estimates of the start of the war of Armageddon by the Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). When 1914 passed, they changed their prediction; 1914 became the year that Jesus invisibly began his rule.

While we are to pay attention to the signs of the times,

Matthew 24:3 (NIV)3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"  

           

 

While we are to pay attention to what it is going on, we have to avoid Date Setting.

Matthew 24:36 (NIV) "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  

Acts 1:7 (NIV)7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or  dates the Father has set by his own authority.  

Studying prophecy can help to keep us alert to the times we live in without the danger of setting dates.

IV.  How does the Great Tribulation fit in?

The universal church has always experienced varying degrees of tribulation. We can see this from persecution around the world.  The great tribulation refers to a time of unparalleled trouble at the end of time.  It will be initiated by the abomination of desolation spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24:15 referring to Daniel’s prophecy (Daniel 9:27;11:31;12:11). It will be concluded 7 years later by Christ’s Second Coming.

The Great Tribulation is a time of God’s wrath and judgment.

Matthew 24:21 (NIV) 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now--and never to be equaled again.  

Revelation 7:14  I answered, "Sir, you know."  And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These are people who became believers during the great tribulation.

V.  How are we to Live NOW in light of the Second Coming of Christ?

 1.  We are to devote ourselves to His service.

I Cor 15:58  “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

2. . We are to watch out for those who attempt to deceive us.

Matt 24:4   “Jesus answered: Watch out that no one deceives you.”

3.  We are to stand firm.

Matt 24:13  “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

4.  We are to keep watch for His return.

Matt 24:42  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will return.

5. We are to eagerly await His return.

Phil 3:20  “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

6. We are to live a godly life. NOW

Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “NO” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we await for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,”

Conclusion

A Daily Bread writer...

A friend of mine who has lived all her life in California goes to sleep every night with her shoes and a flashlight under the bed. When she was a child, her father required every family member to be ready to leave the house if an earthquake were to come during the night.

"During a tremor," my friend says, "windows shatter and electricity is lost. With shoes I can walk on broken glass and with a light I can find my way in the dark. I never go to bed without them. I'm ready."

When Jesus spoke to His followers about His return, He said,

"Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Luke 12:40).

What does it mean for a Christian to be ready for Christ's return?

Jesus said that instead of worrying about material things, we are to trust God's provision and make His kingdom our priority (vv.22-31).

Instead of fear that grasps, we are to demonstrate faith that gives (vv.32-34). Like faithful servants, we should expect our Master at any time, because He will return at an unexpected hour (vv.35-40).

Jesus promised to return and told us how to live as we wait for His coming. Our lives, more than our lips, are to say, "I'm ready!"

DCM