1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,120 Well, I can see I better leaf that subject and get down to the root of our reason for 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,380 being here. 3 00:00:09,380 --> 00:00:15,680 So would you join me please as we turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,440 You landscape grace church, is that right? 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,680 Praise the Lord, good. 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,640 Thank you for your ministry today, both of you. 7 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:32,160 First Corinthians 15, we are going today to take an excursion from the verse by verse 8 00:00:32,160 --> 00:00:36,000 exposition that we've been giving through 1 Corinthians. 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,960 Today in chapter 15 we're going to review a couple of verses that will lead us to the 10 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:44,400 subject we want to talk about today and next week too. 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:51,460 In verse 51 we review from last week where it says, listen, I tell you a mystery. 12 00:00:51,460 --> 00:00:58,240 We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an 13 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,480 eye, at the last trumpet. 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:09,120 For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. 15 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:15,560 For an elaboration on these words turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where we have the 16 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:23,960 fullest prophecy of this coming event which we refer to as the rapture. 17 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:29,240 First Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13, says, Brothers, we do not want you to 18 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:37,560 be ignorant about those who fall asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no 19 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,040 hope. 20 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,640 We believe that Jesus died and rose again. 21 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:49,240 So we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 22 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:55,520 According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left 23 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:02,200 till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 24 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:08,480 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the 25 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:15,760 archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 26 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:23,260 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds 27 00:02:23,260 --> 00:02:25,740 to meet the Lord in the air. 28 00:02:25,740 --> 00:02:29,400 And so we will be with the Lord forever. 29 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,160 Therefore encourage each other with these words. 30 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,560 Well, let's pray together now, shall we? 31 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:41,680 Lord, we thank you for the blessing of this service and for each one who has come. 32 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,680 And now I pray that as we look into your holy word, that our hearts will be instructed and 33 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:52,120 encouraged as they ought to be in this matter of the Lord's soon return. 34 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:57,440 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 35 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:02,600 In the passages that we have read, we are assured of the future resurrection of the 36 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:10,440 dead and of the expectation that we have who will be alive in that day that our Lord Jesus 37 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,160 comes for the church. 38 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:20,040 There is confusion in the evangelical world regarding the timing of this future event 39 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,800 which we refer to as the rapture. 40 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:28,040 There really are three positions, two of which are more prominent. 41 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:34,520 There are those who are called pre-tribulational in their view, teaching that before the tribulation 42 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:40,080 period comes upon the world at the end of this age, the rapture will occur. 43 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:44,520 Then there are those that are referred to as mid-tribulationalists, who teach that the 44 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,080 Lord's coming will be in the middle of the tribulation. 45 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,920 And then there are those who are called post-tribulationalists, who teach that the Lord's coming for his 46 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,760 church will be after the tribulation period. 47 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:03,240 The church will be here through the entire period that is called the tribulation. 48 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:11,440 Now, because there are good men who are divided in their conviction over this particular matter, 49 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:17,480 it is fair to say, I think, that there is no clear, crystal clear and precise statement 50 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:23,280 in Scripture that says the church will be taken out of the world before the tribulation 51 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,680 comes upon it. 52 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,800 Does that then leave us, though, to be confused about this matter? 53 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:37,320 Are we able to discern from Scripture's evidence that will give us the right interpretation 54 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,920 and understanding of when the rapture will occur? 55 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,880 The answer to that, I am convinced, is yes. 56 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:49,280 Yet we can know, on the basis of the evidence of Scripture, when the Lord Jesus will come 57 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:52,840 back for his church. 58 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:58,560 We take the position that the coming of our Lord for the church will occur before the 59 00:04:58,560 --> 00:04:59,560 tribulation period. 60 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:05,520 In other words, we would be classified, if that's what we should do, to be classified, 61 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:10,440 as pre-tribulationless in our view of our Lord's return for the church. 62 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:19,200 Now, that is not to suggest that those who might hold another position are heretics. 63 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:24,100 It does not mean that they are wicked and ungodly, because they have a different position 64 00:05:24,100 --> 00:05:27,440 that we might on the timing of our Lord's coming. 65 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,440 All believe that the Lord is going to come. 66 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:34,000 It is simply a matter of when he is going to return. 67 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,760 But as I have stated, I don't believe we are left to uncertainty and confusion in this 68 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:38,760 matter. 69 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:41,760 There are those who are content to say, well, whenever the Lord comes, he comes. 70 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,160 I'm not going to worry about it. 71 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,760 But because I'm rather involved in this matter of the rapture of the church, because I'm 72 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,480 a part of it through faith in Jesus Christ, I'm kind of interested to know when it's 73 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:52,480 going to happen. 74 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,520 Am I to look forward to a period of suffering and tribulation upon the world, through which 75 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:00,280 I will endure? 76 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,960 Or do I have the hope of Christ coming for me before that tribulation period occurs? 77 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,200 That's the question. 78 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:12,600 After a careful analysis of the data that is given to us in the Bible, I believe that 79 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:17,320 we can speak with assurance and with confidence that our Lord's coming is in fact going to 80 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:22,480 be before the tribulation period comes upon the world. 81 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:28,080 Now, before we go into the reasons as to why we take that position specifically, it's 82 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,760 important for us to understand some basic terms that we're going to deal with. 83 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,320 Thus, on the outline that you were given as you came in this morning—I hope that you 84 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:41,520 got one at least—you'll notice that the first point is defining the terms. 85 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,320 There are five terms or phrases that are very important to understand if one is going to 86 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:53,500 interpret the Bible, whether it comes to prophecy or other important areas. 87 00:06:53,500 --> 00:07:03,320 These five terms are Israel, the Church, the Tribulation, the Rapture, and the Second Coming. 88 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:08,720 Now, frankly, there's a lot of confusion in the evangelical world because these terms 89 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,640 are not clearly understood and differentiated. 90 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,560 If we can understand what these terms refer to, then it will help us to understand what 91 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,520 the Bible is teaching us about them. 92 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:23,000 Let's talk first about Israel. 93 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,680 What do we mean when we refer to Israel? 94 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:29,760 That is a name that is seen in the newspaper every day of the week. 95 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:36,320 Now it refers to a political entity, a nation of people, in the Mideast, and we read about 96 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:43,240 the hotly contested land upon which they have established their nation. 97 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:49,100 These people who inhabit that land—the Jewish people, the Israelites—are the descendants 98 00:07:49,100 --> 00:07:52,920 of one who first bore the name Israel. 99 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,360 Would you turn please to Genesis chapter 32, where we have the record of this name being 100 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,400 given by God Himself. 101 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:08,040 Genesis chapter 32, verse 28, this is the record of Jacob's wrestling match with the 102 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,640 angel of the Lord at a place called Peniel. 103 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:21,080 This angel of the Lord is actually a pre-incarnate appearance of God the Son. 104 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:27,120 As Jacob wrestles, he is wrestling not with just a man, but with God Himself. 105 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,740 God has confronted Jacob. 106 00:08:29,740 --> 00:08:33,840 Jacob asks for God's blessing. 107 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,000 He responds, what is your name? 108 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,680 Jacob says, Jacob. 109 00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:45,680 The man said, your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled 110 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:50,320 with God and with men and have overcome. 111 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,280 The name Jacob means what? 112 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:57,000 It's a planter or deceiver. 113 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,000 Jacob had to confess that that was his name. 114 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,400 But then the Lord marvelously says to him, well, no longer will you be called supplanter 115 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,120 or Jacob. 116 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,400 From now on you will be called Israel. 117 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:19,200 The name Israel means one who struggles with God or having power with God or some say a 118 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,640 prince with God. 119 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:27,080 It is an exalted name that is given to this man at this point in his life, and from this 120 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:32,320 time on he frequently is called by the name Israel. 121 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:36,120 The name came to apply to his descendants after this. 122 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:41,720 Now some 3700 years later we talk about the Israelites. 123 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:44,880 They are the descendants of Jacob. 124 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,520 But more than that, they are also the descendants of Abraham, aren't they? 125 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,600 Because Jacob came from Abraham. 126 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:59,760 In Genesis 12 we have the record of God calling out from the world this man, Abraham. 127 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:01,400 The calling of God was by grace. 128 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:06,200 There was nothing in Abraham that necessarily promoted him before God. 129 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:12,240 But God, out of his grace and his purposes, chose Abraham. 130 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:15,280 Abraham responded in faith and believed God. 131 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:21,040 It was counted to him as righteousness. 132 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:22,400 Abraham had a number of sons. 133 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,560 The first one was Ishmael. 134 00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:27,720 Ishmael was called the son of the flesh. 135 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,160 God had promised a son to Abraham. 136 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:38,320 Ishmael was the product not of faith but rather of Abraham's scheming to have a son. 137 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:43,480 But then God did fulfill his promise to Abraham by the birth of Isaac. 138 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:50,480 When he was too old to have a son, and when Sarah was too old to have a child, they bore 139 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:53,560 a son by the miracle of God. 140 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:55,520 That was the child that God promised them. 141 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:02,480 It was through Isaac then that the promise was to come upon Abraham and his descendants. 142 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:08,960 Then Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. 143 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:15,320 It was God's pleasure to choose Jacob as the one through whom the blessing would come. 144 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,600 Then Jacob had a large family with many sons and daughters. 145 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:25,840 It is to the sons of Israel or the tribes or the families of Israel that the promises 146 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,120 have fallen out. 147 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:36,260 We see that the Israelites are named after Jacob, but they are rooted back to Abraham. 148 00:11:36,260 --> 00:11:41,680 They are the heirs of the promises given to Abraham. 149 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:48,200 It is also important to understand as we talk about Israel that it is of Israel that Christ 150 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,880 came according to the flesh. 151 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:55,680 He is the promised Messiah of the Israelites. 152 00:11:55,680 --> 00:12:02,360 At the present time Israel has been set aside because of her rejection of her Messiah. 153 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:12,720 In Romans chapters 9, 10, and 11 we have recorded for us the theology of God setting aside Israel 154 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,680 and choosing out a new group of people in this age called the church. 155 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,840 We'll talk about that in a moment. 156 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:28,560 During this age Israel has been spiritually shunted aside because of her unbelief. 157 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:36,160 But as the apostle clearly points out in Romans, the Lord is not through with Israel. 158 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:42,600 At the present time Israel has been broken off and we who for the most part are Gentiles 159 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:49,640 and who make up the church have been grafted in to the promises of God. 160 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,960 But there is a time coming when Israel, this branch that has been broken off the tree, 161 00:12:54,960 --> 00:13:05,160 will be put back into the tree and will find all the promises of God given to her fulfilled. 162 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:11,080 God has not failed yet in fulfilling a single promise and he will never fail. 163 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:17,760 Israel set aside temporarily will be brought back into the fullness of God's blessing. 164 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,680 And then let's talk about the church. 165 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:24,940 We've already suggested that the church is a group that God is calling out during this 166 00:13:24,940 --> 00:13:25,940 age. 167 00:13:25,940 --> 00:13:29,280 It is a group that is distinct from Israel. 168 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:34,200 One of the mistakes that is sometimes made is to link Israel with the church and to say 169 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,320 that the church is just the outgrowth of Israel. 170 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:45,880 There are those who say that Israel has been permanently set aside and that all the promises 171 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:52,240 given to Israel in the Old Testament should be spiritualized and applied in a spiritual 172 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,360 way to the church. 173 00:13:54,360 --> 00:14:00,560 In other words, for example, the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants 174 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:04,280 will not ever really be given to them. 175 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:09,800 But rather we spiritualize that concept and say, well, that's the blessings that we have 176 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:15,300 now in the church age. 177 00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:20,840 To not make a difference between Israel and the church leads to confusion in understanding 178 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,960 and interpreting the Bible. 179 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,920 There are parts of the Bible that are written to Israel and which do not directly apply 180 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:29,480 to the church. 181 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,160 And the opposite is also true. 182 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,000 The church is an elect group that God is calling out. 183 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,080 It is composed of both Jews and Gentiles. 184 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,760 Perhaps one of the finest summaries of the whole doctrine of the church is found in Ephesians 185 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:47,560 chapter 2, and I would ask you to turn there with me. 186 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:58,080 Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11. 187 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:04,180 You have to keep in mind that there was a lot of friction and tension in the early days 188 00:15:04,180 --> 00:15:11,920 of the church between Jews and Gentiles that existed before our Lord even came. 189 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:20,840 There has been through the centuries hostility between Jew and Gentile. 190 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:26,160 Even after the church began to be formed, there was still tension between the two groups. 191 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:32,080 There were some Jews who felt that for a Gentile to be saved, he had to first become a Jew 192 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:40,040 to submit himself to the ordinances and the rituals of Israel in order to become a Christian. 193 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,720 Now the apostle refutes that whole idea entirely. 194 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:47,260 And he shows in the verses that we are going to read that actually God is calling some 195 00:15:47,260 --> 00:15:54,720 from the Jews and actually many from the Gentiles and is composing a brand new entity called 196 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:55,720 the church. 197 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:03,560 Notice he says in verse 11, Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth 198 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:09,920 and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, that done in 199 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:17,040 the body by the hands of men, remember that at that time, before you were saved, you were 200 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:23,960 separate from Christ, excluded from the citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants 201 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:29,040 of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 202 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:36,160 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the 203 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:39,480 blood of Christ. 204 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:48,400 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two—that is, Jew and Gentile—one, 205 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:55,740 he has made the two one, and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 206 00:16:55,740 --> 00:17:01,760 by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. 207 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:11,960 His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and in 208 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:19,400 this one body to reconcile both of them, Jew and Gentile, to God through the cross, by 209 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,760 which he put to death their hostility. 210 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:29,400 He came and preached peace to you who were far away, Gentiles, and peace to those who 211 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,400 were near, Jews. 212 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:38,080 For through him we both have access to the Father by one spirit. 213 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:43,120 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's 214 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:49,720 people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets 215 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:54,160 with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 216 00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:00,720 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord, 217 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:06,920 and in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by 218 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,200 his Spirit. 219 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:09,200 What is Paul saying here? 220 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,880 Well, God has done a marvelous thing. 221 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:16,120 In this age, God is building a brand-new temple in which he is to be worshiped. 222 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:20,040 Now, when the Jews heard the word temple, what did they think of? 223 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:25,640 They thought of that building in Jerusalem with the holy place and the holy of holies 224 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:29,680 and the ark and the mercy seat and all the rest. 225 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,880 What the apostle was saying is that God is building a brand-new temple. 226 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:40,200 It's not any longer a physical material building in Jerusalem, but now God is building a spiritual 227 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,520 temple. 228 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:46,720 It is composed of people, Jews and Gentiles. 229 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:52,080 He is saying it's something brand-new, and in chapter 3, verses 1 to 13, he elaborates 230 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:53,080 even more on this. 231 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,320 We don't have time to read it, but he calls it a mystery. 232 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:03,280 By that he means that this doctrine of the church, this brand-new body of people that 233 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:09,760 God is calling out, is something that has not been revealed before this time. 234 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:16,440 Jesus spoke about it in Matthew 16 when he said, I will build my church. 235 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,680 He anticipated the building of the church. 236 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:19,880 It's future tense. 237 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:21,440 He wasn't building it then. 238 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:26,960 He was dealing with Israel at that point, but because he was God, he knew what was going 239 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:27,960 to happen. 240 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:32,320 He said, I will build my church. 241 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:38,800 That construction literally began on the day of Pentecost when, according to the promises 242 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:45,720 of God, the Holy Spirit came down and for the first time indwelt all believers. 243 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:50,600 That's one of the distinguishing marks between those who are in the church and those who 244 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,880 a couple of thousand years ago were part of Israel. 245 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,680 At that time, the Holy Spirit would come upon people for a period of time to accomplish 246 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:06,440 certain things, but the Holy Spirit did not dwell in each individual believer in Israel. 247 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:10,040 But in the church, the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within us. 248 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:15,280 First Corinthians 12, he abides within us. 249 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:22,600 The wonderful mystery is that now in the church Christ is in us, in us literally, and that's 250 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:25,520 our hope of glory. 251 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,280 So that's the church. 252 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,560 In the book of Acts, you see this church unfolding. 253 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:36,160 At first, of course, the church was entirely Jewish, but very shortly there were half-Jews 254 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:37,160 who were saved. 255 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:38,160 They were called Samaritans. 256 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:43,880 And by Acts 10, there were people who were full Gentiles who were being saved, and they 257 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:48,360 were receiving the same Holy Spirit that had been given on the day of Pentecost to the 258 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:52,720 Jews, and yet they were not becoming Jews to get the Holy Spirit. 259 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:54,960 Obviously, God is doing something brand new. 260 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,880 It was hard for the Jews to understand that. 261 00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:05,320 It continued to be a point of tension until Acts 15. 262 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,840 By that time in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas had been out on a glorious 263 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:14,240 missionary journey throughout the Roman Empire. 264 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:21,160 Thousands upon thousands of pagan Gentiles had been saved, as well as many Jews. 265 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:23,720 They had believed on their Christ. 266 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,640 And as they came back to Jerusalem to give a report of that, oh, there was a problem. 267 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:34,760 And they called together a big church council, and all the apostles were there, and James, 268 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,640 the Lord's brother, was the moderator. 269 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:41,960 And there were some who stood up and said, no, these Gentiles have to become Jews. 270 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,280 They have to be circumcised. 271 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:50,760 They have to go through the ritual of the Jewish faith in order to become Christians. 272 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:56,560 And Paul stood up and said, no, God has already evidenced the fact that something new is happening. 273 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:01,160 And Peter then got up and confirmed what Paul was saying. 274 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:08,400 And then James stood up and, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, he outlined a 275 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:17,560 compromise between the two sides so that biblical doctrine was not sacrificed and yet there 276 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,200 could be unity in the church. 277 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,360 A marvelous passage in Acts 15. 278 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:27,200 Well, that was the unfolding of this doctrine of the church. 279 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:32,520 Jesus anticipated it, but it was not fully revealed until the epistles and especially 280 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,960 the writing of the apostle Paul. 281 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:40,320 Now let's talk about the tribulation. 282 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:47,320 The tribulation is a period of time that has set aside the conclusion of this age for two 283 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,360 purposes. 284 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:57,000 First, to bring Israel to repentance of her unbelief. 285 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:05,680 Israel became an entity in 1948, but Israel did not go back to her land in faith. 286 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,640 Even today, most of the Jews are practicing atheists. 287 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,800 They are culturally Jews, but religiously they are nothing. 288 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,420 They don't believe in God. 289 00:23:17,420 --> 00:23:22,820 At the end of this age, there is a time coming in which God is going to very strongly again 290 00:23:22,820 --> 00:23:30,240 deal with Israel and bring her to repentance so that that nation can be restored to him 291 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:33,400 and his promises will be fulfilled. 292 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:40,320 A second purpose of that period of time coming is so that God can judge the Gentile nations 293 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,280 and all people who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. 294 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:51,240 Now that period of time is spoken of in one place in Matthew 24 verses 15 to 21. 295 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:52,240 Don't turn there. 296 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:53,440 We don't have time to read it. 297 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:59,240 But I will ask you to turn to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. 298 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:10,320 Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. 299 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,000 We have an amazing prophecy. 300 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,560 Of course, if you know the book of Daniel, you know that there are a number of amazing 301 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,480 prophecies in this book. 302 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,600 And here's an example. 303 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:27,820 In Daniel 9 verse 24, it says, 70 sevens. 304 00:24:27,820 --> 00:24:33,560 The word weeks there literally means sevens. 305 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:40,160 It could be seven days, seven weeks, seven years, and we know from our perspective that 306 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,680 it refers to a period of years. 307 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:50,720 He's talking about 70 periods of seven years literally are decreed for your people and 308 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,920 your holy city. 309 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:56,340 That is for Daniel's people, the Jews, and for Jerusalem. 310 00:24:56,340 --> 00:25:02,920 To finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in 311 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:11,220 everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. 312 00:25:11,220 --> 00:25:14,640 Know and understand this. 313 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:16,200 Look at verse 25. 314 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:23,880 From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed one, 315 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:30,160 the ruler, comes, there will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens. 316 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:36,560 In other words, a total of 69 of these periods of seven years. 317 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,460 That total is 483 years. 318 00:25:40,460 --> 00:25:45,240 Now from the perspective that we are looking back upon these things, we see how precisely 319 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,440 God has fulfilled prophecy. 320 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:59,200 The decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem went out in 445 B.C. from our exerxes. 321 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:10,120 Exactly 483 lunar years after that, in 32 A.D., the Lord Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem 322 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:16,160 in his triumphal entry and proclaimed himself as the king. 323 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,440 He said on that day that if the people were not crying out, Hosanna, blessed is he that 324 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:26,360 comes in the name of the Lord, the stones themselves would cry out, for he was the king 325 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,240 and he was presenting himself to his people. 326 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:36,520 So in exactly 483 years, that prophecy was literally fulfilled. 327 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:41,280 That's 69 now of the total of 70 periods of seven. 328 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,440 That leaves one period of seven years that has not been fulfilled. 329 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,160 Just keep that in mind. 330 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:53,440 Now it goes on to say here in verse 25, it, the city, will be rebuilt with streets and 331 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,520 a trench but in times of trouble. 332 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,920 We'll go back and read Nehemiah if you want to know about that. 333 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:05,880 He says, after the sixty-two sevens, which come after the first seven sevens, the anointed 334 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:14,020 one will be cut off and will have nothing, referring to the crucifixion of Christ. 335 00:27:14,020 --> 00:27:17,760 He will be cut off and will have nothing of the regal splendor and glory that belongs 336 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:18,760 to him. 337 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:28,360 Then he says, the people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. 338 00:27:28,360 --> 00:27:32,040 Now who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple? 339 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,040 The Romans. 340 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:37,520 In 70 AD, General Titus marched into the city. 341 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,600 They surrounded the city, besieged it, and the city ultimately fell after a long siege 342 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:46,080 and the city was absolutely destroyed. 343 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:53,240 Now Daniel says, God says through him, that it is the people of the ruler who will come 344 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:54,240 who would do that. 345 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,920 Now who is this ruler who is to come? 346 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:01,520 He's the same one who's called the little horn in Daniel chapter seven. 347 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:06,720 In the New Testament, he bears the name Antichrist. 348 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:12,760 He goes on to say, the end will come like a flood, war will continue until the end, 349 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,680 and desolations have been decreed. 350 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:24,680 He, that is this ruler who will come, Antichrist, will confirm a covenant with many for one 351 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:25,680 seven. 352 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,280 And there's the seventy-seventh. 353 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:35,360 But in the middle of that seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. 354 00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:36,960 Now what's he saying? 355 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:44,680 Well, he's saying that this ruler who's to come out of revived Rome will make a covenant 356 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,440 with many, that is with the Jews. 357 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,680 Part of that covenant will be that they can reestablish their worship in Jerusalem and 358 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,440 have a temple again and they will jump at that chance. 359 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,920 They would do it today if there was a way to do it. 360 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:04,400 But Daniel prophesies in the middle of that period of seven years, in other words after 361 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:14,280 three and a half years, this ruler will completely change his approach to the Jews. 362 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,800 Instead of being a friend to them as he will pretend to be, he will suddenly turn and be 363 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,200 their most fierce persecutor in history. 364 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:26,880 And he will cause their sacrifices to stop, that's what he says. 365 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:34,800 And he will cause desolation, he calls it the abominations of desolation. 366 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,440 We don't have time to go a lot into that. 367 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:42,600 It simply means that Antichrist will set up himself in the temple in Jerusalem as deity 368 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:49,560 and will show himself to be God by miracles, deceitful miracles that he will perform. 369 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,060 That will be at the three and a half year point. 370 00:29:52,060 --> 00:29:59,520 And then for the remainder of that 70th week, that last period of seven years, the Jews 371 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:03,340 will be horribly persecuted. 372 00:30:03,340 --> 00:30:05,980 That is the tribulation period that is to come. 373 00:30:05,980 --> 00:30:12,560 The thing I'm trying to point out to you is this. 374 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:17,800 The tribulation period is primarily a Jewish time. 375 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:26,800 It relates to God's completion of his dealings with Israel, the people of Daniel. 376 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:32,960 In Jeremiah, Jeremiah said that this period will be known as a time of Jacob's sorrow 377 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:33,960 and trouble. 378 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:36,400 It's a Jewish period. 379 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,560 Now we've talked about the rapture last week. 380 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:45,720 It is that time when the Lord will come in the air and will catch up the saints to be 381 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,040 with himself. 382 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,360 Let's go right on to the fifth one, the Second Coming. 383 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:57,160 Let's turn to one final passage in Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus describes the Second 384 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,040 Coming. 385 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:08,200 It's important to understand that Matthew chapters 24 and 25 are given in specific response 386 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:14,080 to questions that are asked of our Lord in verses 1 and 2. 387 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:19,360 Our Lord is not dealing in these chapters at all with the Church. 388 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:25,000 The Church is not even on the scene at this point and is certainly not revealed. 389 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:30,720 Jesus had spoken a word about it in chapter 16, but that was all there was. 390 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:35,200 Chapters 24 and 25 deal with Israel. 391 00:31:35,200 --> 00:31:44,240 Jeremiah says in verse 29, immediately after the distress or the tribulation of those days, 392 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,680 described in the previous verses, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its 393 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:53,920 light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 394 00:31:53,920 --> 00:32:00,520 At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of 395 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,800 the earth will mourn. 396 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:10,640 They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 397 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:15,680 He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from 398 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:20,640 the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. 399 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:24,360 Because a trumpet is mentioned and the word elect is mentioned in verse 31, there are 400 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:27,800 those who assume that this refers to the rapture. 401 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:28,800 It does not. 402 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:34,760 He is talking about the calling together of the Jewish people after the tribulation has 403 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:36,920 come to its climax. 404 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:40,960 He calls them together, his elect, from the four winds of the earth. 405 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,800 This does not refer to the rapture of the church. 406 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,360 He is talking here about his second coming to the earth. 407 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:52,480 The day the Lord Jesus left the Mount of Olives and went up and was taken out of the sight 408 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:59,480 of the disciples, two angels spoke to the disciples as they watched Jesus disappear. 409 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,160 And they said, Why stand you here gazing up into heaven? 410 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:08,960 This same Jesus will still come again in a like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. 411 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:09,960 What are they saying? 412 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,760 He is going to come back out of the clouds and come back down to the Mount of Olives. 413 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,240 And when is he going to do that? 414 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,600 Well, when these words here are fulfilled. 415 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:24,360 Zechariah says that his feet will touch the top of the mountain, the Mount of Olives, 416 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:26,560 and it will cleave in two. 417 00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:32,840 The topography of Jerusalem will be rearranged on that climactic day as our Lord returns 418 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,440 to the earth. 419 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:39,200 Now so that we can see how all of this falls out, I am going to ask you to turn your attention 420 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,920 up here for a moment to this overhead. 421 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:49,880 And you may want to get your note paper out and draw this line and bring it with you again 422 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:54,040 next week because it will help us. 423 00:33:54,040 --> 00:34:01,800 We will put a line on here to represent a schedule of events that are to occur on the 424 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:02,800 earth. 425 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:10,880 We want to divide the line according to the Old Covenant or the Old Testament and the 426 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,400 New Covenant, the New Testament. 427 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:17,640 The Bible makes that division in God's dealings with man, and the thing that makes the difference 428 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:20,720 is the cross, isn't it? 429 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:27,400 Now there are those who decry the use of the name dispensationalists. 430 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,840 There are some who feel that that oversimplifies the Word of God, but it seems to me that if 431 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:36,240 a person so much as sees the difference between the covenant of the law and the covenant of 432 00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:46,280 grace and how God deals differently with Israel over here and the church here, he is in some 433 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:53,300 form a dispensationalist, for it simply means that God deals with his people based upon 434 00:34:53,300 --> 00:34:54,880 a certain covenant. 435 00:34:54,880 --> 00:35:01,480 Israel, the covenant of the law, the Old Testament, the church, the New Covenant of God's grace 436 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,560 established in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 437 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:09,200 It is, as I say, the cross that makes the division here. 438 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,040 Now we've talked about the seventy weeks. 439 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,920 Let's put that on here, 445 B.C. 440 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:22,080 That was the decree of our exerxes to rebuild Jerusalem. 441 00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:30,680 The Lord says there would be seventy, or rather sixty-nine sevens that would occur, 483 years 442 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:39,120 in other words, until the Messiah would come and would be cut off, referring to his crucifixion, 443 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:40,680 32 A.D. 444 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,760 That's when that occurred. 445 00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:58,160 So we have the exact fulfillment of that prophecy from Daniel chapter 9. 446 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:07,760 This is the age of the church here, and at the conclusion of this age will come one more 447 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:15,240 week or one more period of sevens, so that the seventy of them will all be fulfilled, 448 00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,320 one seven or seven years. 449 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,680 There's this period that is referred to as the tribulation. 450 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:29,480 Let me just write in trim there and abbreviate it. 451 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,880 What concludes the tribulation? 452 00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:34,200 How is it marked to be over? 453 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:39,680 Well, the scripture is very clear that the Lord Jesus Christ will come back and the great 454 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,040 battle of Armageddon will be fought. 455 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:45,320 That will conclude the tribulation. 456 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:52,300 And then will begin what is called the one thousand year reign of Christ, the millennium 457 00:36:52,300 --> 00:36:53,300 in other words. 458 00:36:53,300 --> 00:36:57,520 That will be fulfilled. 459 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:03,800 The question we are talking about in these days is when does the rapture of the church 460 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:05,600 take place? 461 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,200 Does it occur in the middle of the tribulation period? 462 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:15,080 As some teach, does it occur simultaneously with this coming to the earth of our Lord? 463 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:19,600 Our response is no to both of those questions, but rather that the Lord's coming for the 464 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:27,520 church is a separate event that occurs before the tribulation period. 465 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:33,960 That's why we say that we believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. 466 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,240 The tribulation is a period that deals with Israel. 467 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:44,200 It's the fulfillment of God's promises back in chapter nine of Daniel to that people. 468 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,760 Before that begins, the church will be taken out. 469 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:51,960 Now I've made that statement, and obviously the question is why do you believe that? 470 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,320 Well come back next week and find out. 471 00:37:55,320 --> 00:38:00,520 It's time for us to conclude for today. 472 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:06,280 So last week I heard J. Vernon McGee preach and he was preaching through the book of Ruth, 473 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,960 which is one of his specialties. 474 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,680 Every time he quit he said I'm going to leave you on a cliffhanger so you'll come back next 475 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,080 week or next to the next service. 476 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,040 So we're going to leave you at the cliffhanger.