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Newington Three Angels Church

Last Day Events

Eric Walsh

A World in Crisis

We've been talking for a while about our series on last day events and so we start today.

I've solicited your prayers and I'm very happy for them as we get into this and since Time is well spent, we'll just jump right in.

2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 1 was our scripture reading today.

It says, this know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come.

Our message for this Sabbath is entitled, A World in Crisis, Last Day Events, Part 1.

Let's pray, Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study your word.

We thank you, Lord, for your protection, your guidance, and your truth.

Once again now, Lord, I ask that you just make me a nail on the wall, a rusty, sorry nail, Lord.

But upon that nail now, Lord, I ask that you hang a portrait of Jesus Christ.

Instead, Father, we're asking for a special word from you.

This is our prayer in Jesus's precious and holy name.

We are living at a time when many are suffering from anxiety and distress over what's going on in the world.

Even with all of the technological advances, all of the globalization, with all that is going on in the world, it seems people are more concerned, more uncertain about what's going on than ever before.

As Christians, we have somewhere to turn.

And it's not CNN, it's not Fox News or MSNBC.

And as you go into the word of God, there is a confidence that is produced that we should have in these end times that the world may not have.

Romans chapter 8 and verse 22 tells us that This uncertainty isn't new.

The truth of the matter is that upheaval and trial and difficulty are really the products of sin.

Romans 8.22 says, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

It talked about nature, but what we get is just a glimpse of what nature would have looked like had sin not entered the world.

And so to this point, all of creation is groaning under the weight of man's disobedience.

1st John 5 and verse 19 says, and we know that We are of God and the whole world lies in wickedness.

That's the condition of the world we are in.

And there are those who think, why do I need a savior?

We have to be taken out of the current state of the world, a world so wicked that people will just walk into a building and shoot up people they don't even know, people they're not even mad at.

In Luke chapter 21, there are 3 chapters where Jesus, who is the greatest of the prophets, never forget, in Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13, he really gives a summation.

He gives the overview, timeline of what is to happen at the end of the world and we'll be using those 3 chapters as we plug in Daniel and Revelation and Old Testament prophets as we go through the series.

So understanding those 3 chapters is important.

Luke 21, 25 says, and there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars and upon the earth.

Look what it says, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Before Jesus returns, 1 of the signs, we'll talk more about this in a minute, is that men will be afraid.

It's not a coincidence that as a physician, as I, when I go to work, 1 of the primary reasons people seek medical attention in the United States of America is actually for anxiety and depression.

I want to submit to you that while there is a clear neurochemical component to it, there's a lifestyle component to it, there are emotional component to it, as to what people have gone through, what modern science often forgets is that there's also a spiritual component to it.

We have basically created a world where people have nothing to rely on nothing to believe in Except to tell them that they are the answers to all their problems And so when life gets hard and they can't figure it out Men's hearts begin to fail them for fear and literally heart disease is the number 1 cause of death.

So we are speaking to the time of the end.

When I was a kid and we we talk about this sometimes it was a little spooky and so you've got to be careful how you present this because it can get scary But I hope when we're finished here you start to realize that you have nothing to fear If you are in Christ Jesus, in fact, you can be encouraged.

So to get really into this, I wanted there are 3 people that we'll look at.

Daniel, when he writes the chapter we're about to look at is at the end of his life and has suffered great persecution for his beliefs.

In fact, some of you remember, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions.

I don't know about you, but that'd have been a tough fall going into that lion's den.

And I really love lions, but I don't really want to spend the night with 1 of them.

The other person we're going to talk about is John, who was, they tried to actually martyr John.

They tried to kill John, but they couldn't kill him.

And so all they could do with John is send him to the Isle of Patmos.

They basically quarantined him off on a prisoner's island so that he would be no more damage to the Roman Empire.

And the other gentleman we're going to talk about, who also gives these end time prophecies today we're going to talk about, is the Apostle Paul.

And when you start to do it, and when I studied public health, 1 of the things we talk about is triangulation.

When you start to look at these things from these different angles of 3 dimensional, I'd almost argue a 4 dimensional picture of what's about to happen begins to arise.

And if you can understand that, there's so much power in it for us as Christians, meaning that 1, we don't have to live in fear of what's happening around us, but 2, we can be prepared for what's about to come.

And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince, which stands for the children of your people.

And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time, and at that time, thy people shall be delivered, every 1 that shall be found written in the book.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament.

And they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.

It's a, that third verse there is a foreshadowing to me of the power that goes with those who go to proclaim the 3 angels' messages.

But as you look at it, Michael stands up, and we're going to talk about who Michael is.

A lot of folk don't know who Michael actually is.

When he stands up, there's going to be a great time of trouble.

We're going to have a 1 whole message just on that.

There are phases of this time of trouble.

It speaks about the resurrection, many of us sleep in the dust of the earth, which is talking about then the second coming itself, and that they shall shine.

Verse 4, but thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, "'even to the end of time.'" When is the book sealed until?

The book of Daniel in his own prophecy is stated, "'will not be fully understood until the end of time.'" 1 of the ways you'll know when the end of time has come is your ability to understand the prophecy, specifically the 2300 day prophecy, which we'll also talk further about as we go through the series.

And I'm gonna start to hang things on, the prophecy you can hang things on so that as you move towards the end of time, you understand when it is.

And we're going deep, deep on that a little bit today.

He says, shut up the words and seal the book even to the end of time, many shall run to and fro.

And 1 of the characteristics of the end time is that knowledge shall be increased.

I'm gonna show you graphically and pictorially that that prophecy has been more than fulfilled.

And it'll correlate exactly to the time the Bible tells you the end of the time begins.

And 1 of the reasons I tell you all the time, 1 of the reasons we study prophecy, it isn't so that we kind of have some just simply so we have an understanding of what's going to happen, but in the studying of prophecy, you gain a confidence in the word of God that you will otherwise not have.

When you study prophecy and see how the Bible predicted future events, precisely, you can trust that if the Bible could predict the baptism of Jesus, accurately, hundreds of years in advance, when it says that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It gives you courage to believe in him and in his word.

Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other 2, the 1 on the side of the bank of the river and the other on that side of the bank of the river.

And 1 said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders?

And here he starts to ask, when is the end coming?

And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swear by him that lives forever that it shall be for, watch this, for a time, times and a half.

At the end of this very kind of vague set of times that tells us when the end of time is coming.

If we understand that, you should get a precise time when the end of time began.

In other words, when the last days started.

And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.

During that time, something would happen that would scatter the power of the holy people.

And I'm gonna show you as we go through this series that during that time, times and a half, is exactly what happened.

The Christians in the world were scattered all over the world.

True Revival and Reformation

It is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me.

The difference between Christianity and every other religion really is.

Tied up in the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ.

As we will talk about today, Christianity is unique in all the world.

1, because only Christianity has a founder, a Savior, a Messiah who is still alive.

If they could find Jesus's body in a tomb in Israel today, next week, every church in the world would be empty.

They have been looking to find his body for over 2, 000 years.

Even at the height of Roman power, the tomb was empty.

If what we believe is a farce, I want to submit to you that there would be mountains of evidence to its contrary.

That's why it is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me.

We're gonna talk today very strong on this issue as we deal with the second part of our series on end time events.

Our scripture reading was wonderfully done by our young sister, and we're gonna read John 17, 15 through 17 again.

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil.

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

He says, sanctify them through thy truth.

Our message this Sabbath is entitled true revival and reformation.

Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study your word.

Once again, Father, I pray that you make me just a nail upon the wall.

But I ask, Lord, that you hang a portrait of Jesus Christ upon that nail.

Instead, Father, let us hear a word from the throne room of grace.

There's our prayer in Jesus's precious and holy name.

So in order to hit end time events, 1 of the places you have to go is to Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

If I had time, or if we were doing a Daniel and Revelation seminar, I'd literally go through every single 1 of these churches, the time periods they cover, and I'll show you that in a minute, but in each of the phases, what that represents and what it means.

I'll just kind of give you the spoiler alert that it is the seventh church, the church of Laodicea, that actually applies to today.

And it is that church where Jesus prescribes for us what it means to have true revival and reformation.

Now, there's a lot we're going to cover in End Time Events, but before we go too deep into it, 1 of the most important things to get is that What ultimately matters is that as we go through these signs as we see persecution rise as we go through calamities in the world and all of the difficulties that we see in the world, as that is happening, the church is supposed to be transformed.

There will be a shaking where the church will be shaken and those who are half-hearted will walk away from the church.

But those that remain and those that join will be purified.

That is the true revival and we're talking about this at prayer meeting on Wednesday, and if you're missing prayer meeting, you miss a lot of good stuff.

We've been going through the book, Christ Object Lessons, but 1 that's the great signs of Christ's return is the character condition of his church.

We look for earthquakes, because they are a sign.

But it is that ultimately it is the character of the people of God that will pull the trigger for Jesus to return.

Revelation chapter 3 and verse 14, and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things say of the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.

So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you, I will spit you out of my mouth because you say I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed Jesus then gives 1 of the most pointed verses, and we'll go deeper into this later, most pointed verses in all of scripture in my opinion.

He says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.

Verse 20, he says, behold, I stand at the door and knock.

"'If any man hear my voice and open the door, "'I will come into him and will sup with him "'and he with me.'" Then he finishes the whole section on the 7 churches with these verses, Revelation 3, 21 and 22.

To him that overcomes, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his throne he that has an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches There were 7 churches what's interesting is that you can you can list them here Ephesus Myrna Pergamos Thyatira Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea all of these were ancient churches Interestingly, they all existed in what is now modern-day Turkey And there are you can actually go and visit many of the ruins.

These pictures here are some of the pictures of the ruins from the actual Laodicea.

So you can actually go to where Laodicea was and this map shows you where all of them were.

Laodicea was the southernmost of all of the 7 churches.

And interestingly, as you study the verses on Laodicea, you find Laodicea was also the only church that there's no mention of it having been persecuted.

It is 1 of the churches where it was known, there's no mention of it being persecuted, number 1.

And number 2, it is a church that sat, that was made up of people who were quite wealthy, as we'll see.

So let me show you a little bit about the 7 churches so you get why this is a last day events topic and why it fits even this particular weekend.

So you can see All of the churches had their time periods.

This author put faces to it and show you the different people who would have been significant as you transitioned historically.

So the way most Christians, Adventists or not, they all look at the 7 churches as covering different time periods in church history since the death and resurrection of Christ.

So each 1 of them represents a time period.

For us, Laodicea starts in 1844, at the time when we believe Jesus left the holy place in the heavenly sanctuary and went into the most holy place and began the investigative judgment.

As I will show you, Laodicea literally means a people being judged.

So this is the time, that last time from 1844 till today, to give you an idea of how little time we have left on Earth.

When judgment was called on the antediluvian world and Noah was called to build an ark, how much time did God give at that time when Noah was called?

We are on borrowed time, probationary time.

So you can look at all the different 7 churches, each of them gets a compliment except Laodicea.

There's no real compliment, but Laodicea is a message of great hope, as I'm going to show you.

And there are some churches that have no complaints.

But you can see that the churches are of different characteristics.

And if we had time and we're going through all of them, I could show you how their weaknesses and strengths are applicable to Christians even to today.

So here are more of those ruins from Laodicea.

The name has been defined as meaning judging the people or a people adjudged.

There was a king and he names the city after his wife, Laodice, and the name means judging the people or a people adjudged.

So as you look at this message, take it in the context that a judgment is going on in the world and God is now going through the books of heaven.

Now, the Laodiceans lived in a very interesting place.

As you can see from the map here, here's Laodicea.

Here's Hierapolis and Colossae, which is where the church of the Colossians was from.

And Paul actually tells them to make sure to deliver letters to Laodicea when they get them.

But there were hot springs in Hierapolis, 6 miles to the north, and cold from Colossus, 9 miles to the east.

There was an aqueduct, so that when you read the thing about Laodicea it makes sense, there was an aqueduct that brought water to Laodicea that would have sat likely in a tower and been lukewarm.

So Laodicea, unlike the other 2 cities, Hierapolis, people came from all over the Roman Empire to sit in the baths.

The America of Prophecy

Here comes from Revelation chapter 13 verses 11 and 12.

The Bible says, And I beheld another beast come up out of the earth, and he had 2 horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed a message for this Sabbath is the America of prophecy.

The America of prophecy is our last day event series part 3.

Father God, we thank you for this opportunity to study a word.

Lord, this is a heavy subject matter, so I'm asking Lord for an extra outpouring of your Holy Spirit.

Lord, I pray that the words spoken would not be mine but yours.

Father God, the Holy Spirit would go ahead of me, ahead of my voice, I should say, Lord, and begin to prepare hearts and minds for these truths.

Lord, I ask now that you just humble me and help me to do your will.

So 1 of the things that is fascinating about prophecy is that there are people who have different views.

Like I always say, prophecy, 1 of the main reasons we study prophecy is because it allows us to gain a confidence in God's Word that you would not get otherwise.

I do not believe the Bible blindly, but because as I study the prophecies and study the Bible, the more I understand it, the more I learn of it, the more I realize I can trust it.

1 of the verses of scripture that are dear to me in a way after the last couple presidential elections is found in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21.

Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21, as Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, he says this about the God of heaven.

Daniel 2.21 he says, And he changeth the times and the seasons, he removes kings and sets up kings.

He gives wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding.

My Bible teaches that God removes kings and he sets them up.

No matter how crazy the world may appear, early in the book of Daniel, just like early in the book of Ezekiel, God establishes a through vision and prophecy that he is infinitely in control.

Once you understand that, your anxiety about in time issues should come down.

Because you're not just a part of some chaotic drama unfolding all around you, you are a part of God's great plan.

And your role first and foremost is the choice you make for or against the God of heaven.

All right, so let's go to the prophecy at hand.

We're gonna go back to the book of Revelation.

Remember Daniel and Revelation go together.

1 day we'll do a Daniel and Revelation seminar, but Revelation chapter 13 and verse 11 says this.

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth.

And he had 2 horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.

I'm gonna read the whole section and then we'll go through it in more fine detail.

Verse 13 says, and he does great wonders so that he makes fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men.

And he deceives them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles that he is able to do.

By means of those miracles we had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Verse 15, And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.

And that no man might buy or sell save that he had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name here is wisdom let him that understand let him that has understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is 603 score and 6 The Bible here lays out the last great empire, nation, kingdom that would be on earth.

To understand who this is, is important, number 1.

To understand why and what this empire, this kingdom, this nation is going to do is also important.

Now, I wanna start when I was at Oakwood University, undergrad, and we had an amazing preacher by the name of E.C.

He was the pastor of a college church, it was a college at that time.

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Series

Last Day Events

The Rise of the Remnant

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

A World in Crisis

1h 4m

True Revival and Reformation

1h 2m

The America of Prophecy

1h 6m