How to Overcome the Devil: End Time Events

Hey everybody, you're listening to A New Beginning, which is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners.

If this program has impacted you, I'd love to hear from you. So just send an email to me at greg.harvest.org. Again, it's greg.harvest.org.

You can learn more about becoming a Harvest Partner by going to harvest.org. Pastor Greg Laurie is leading our study of the turmoil of the Great Tribulation, but we'll see today there's good news amidst all the bad. These are dark times coming in the Tribulation period, but in the midst of this darkness, God is going to raise up two bright lights. We call them the Two Witnesses, two men that will be raised up by the Lord to minister truth to people for three and a half years.

Now, who are they? This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Again you hear all the angels are singing. This is the day, the day where life begins. Glad you're along for A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie, speaker of the Harvest Crusades.

Coming to Angel Stadium in Southern California a week from Sunday. Find out how an unbelieving friend or loved one can hear a Gospel message that can change their life. Details at harvest.org. But today Pastor Greg brings a compelling study of Bible prophecy. We're examining God's end times plan as recorded in the final book of the New Testament. In our series on the book of Revelation, we are now officially at the halfway point here in chapter 11. And by the way, there is a shift in the narrative that takes place in the book now.

Let's compare it to a movie. It's sort of like John has been watching a movie, if you will. He is there on the island of Patmos where he's banished for his faithful proclamation of the Gospel. The Lord comes to him and gives him the revelation, the unveiling of the future, the unveiling of heaven and the supernatural world. So he's sort of catapulted into the future. And up to this point John's been an observer. He just tells us what he sees, what he observes. But all of a sudden he goes from an observer to a participant. So coming back to the movie analogy, maybe you have a favorite film and you've wished you could be that person. The main character that you connect to and you ask yourself, what would I do if I was facing the circumstances that they're facing? So here's John watching the scene unfold before him and all of a sudden he's in the story.

He's right there as a participant in it. As we come to Revelation chapter 10, a powerful angel appears to John and gives him a little scroll. We could call it a little book. And the angel says, I want you to eat the book. Eat the scroll.

Interesting request. And so he eats the little book or the scroll and it's sweet going down and then it's bitter. It gives him a stomach ache. It's sort of like when you go to Krispy Kreme donuts. They're great going down. You know I think my record is six of them.

By the way they're a little smaller so don't judge me. And I've eaten six, washed them down with some cold milk and they're great going down but a little bit later, oh what was I thinking? So here's John. He eats a scroll or little book so to speak.

It's sweet at first and then it's bitter. And this scroll most likely was the message that was to be delivered and it was a message of judgment to the people. So let's pick the story up now in Revelation chapter 11 verse 1. John writes that I was given a reed like a measuring rod. This is John saying it was given to me. And the angel that stood there said rise and measure the temple of God the altar and those who worship there but leave out the court which is outside the temple. Don't measure it for that's been given to the Gentiles. And they'll tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months and I will give power to my two witnesses and they'll prophesy 1260 days closed in sackcloth.

By the way that's three and a half years. They are the two olive trees and the two lamb stands that stand before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemy. And if anyone wants to harm them they must be killed in this manner. They have power to shut heaven so no rain falls and they have power over waters to turn them to blood and they strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. Interesting chapter 11 of the book of Revelation opens with a mention of the city of Jerusalem.

Think about this. This was written some 2,000 years ago and John is telling us that the end times events are going to revolve around the city of Jerusalem. So here we are as usual the Middle East Israel and specifically Jerusalem is in the news. Jerusalem ironically means the city of peace.

Yet more wars have been fought at her doorstep in any other city in the entire world. But Jerusalem would be at the center of the end times events in Zechariah 12 3. It says on that day when all the nations of the earth are gathered together against her I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations and all who try to move it will injure themselves. But for this prophecy that we're reading about now to be fulfilled some things have to take place. One has taken place the others haven't. Number one Jerusalem has to be in Jewish hands and it is.

But that didn't happen until quite recently. In fact it was a six-day war in June of 1967 that Jerusalem came once again under the control of the Jewish people living in their homeland of Israel. Secondly the third temple must be rebuilt because John is describing a temple. There is no Jewish temple in Jerusalem today. The first and second temples are gone.

They have not rebuilt the third one. And so here this is something that still has to happen in the future. But what does the Bible tell us? It tells us that this coming world leader known as the Antichrist will help the Jews rebuild their temple and then he will desecrate it. And this is called the abomination of desolation which happens at the halfway point of the seven-year tribulation. Remember the great tribulation period starts peacefully as Antichrist or the beast emerges on the scene with overtures of peace and and treaties that are signed and actually are followed for a certain period of time.

A new economic system no man can buy or sell without his mark. I'll get into that when we come to Revelation chapter 13. So he rebuilds a temple but here's what Jesus said about it in Matthew 24 verse 15. When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains pray that your flight would not be on Sabbath day for then great tribulation will come upon the world that has not seen it since the beginning of time nor ever shall be. So what is the abomination of desolation?

Here's what it is. Antichrist rebuilds a temple but then he erects an image of himself and commands people to worship it so he desecrates the temple showing his true colors. Commenting on this in second Thessalonians 2 4 we read these words. Antichrist opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshiped so he is as God sitting in the temple of God whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and pretended miracles all of them are lying wonders.

So any movement toward rebuilding the third temple should be observed and noted by the Bible student and it would seem to me that this event of the rebuilding of the temple would happen in the early part of the tribulation period and before that can happen the church must be caught up to meet the Lord. Yes it's through peace that Antichrist is going to deceive people. There's a great cry in our world today peace at any cost. People don't want any more wars. We want globalism. No walls.

No borders. This is a cry of so many. Even if tyranny reigns or people are oppressed or freedom is taken away we want to have peace. People say well Antichrist will give them what they want.

In First Thessalonians 5 3 it says when they shall say peace and safety sudden destruction shall come upon them as a woman ready to give birth. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We're back. SoCal Harvest. Join us Sunday October 3rd at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Pastor Greg Laurie will bring a message of hope and music of hope for King and Country and Phil Wickham. SoCal Harvest October 3rd 7 p.m. at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

To me I feel it's a snapshot of heaven. SoCal Harvest with Greg Laurie. Details harvest.org slash SoCal. Well Pastor Greg is presenting an eye-opening series in Revelation. Today we're in chapter 11 and he goes into much more detail in his new book A Commentary on Revelation.

Details later on or get them now at harvest.org. These are dark times coming in the tribulation period but in the midst of this darkness God is going to raise up two bright lights. We call them the two witnesses. Two men that will be raised up by the Lord to minister truth to people for three and a half years. Now who are they?

They're not identified by name but I think we might be able to figure out who they might be. Look at Revelation 11 6. It says they have power to shut heaven so no rain falls in the day of their prophecy. They have power over waters to turn them to blood and they can strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. By the way that would be kind of a cool superpower to strike with plagues when you desire. You know someone cut you off in the freeway. It's like okay I'm sending you a plague. Your car will be filled with frogs. That would be a bad thing to do.

They won't do anything like that of course. But they can stop rain, turn water in the blood, strike the earth with plagues and bring fire from heaven. Well two guys come to my attention and that would be Moses and Elijah. Of course Moses was the one that touched his staff to the Nile River and it turned to blood. Moses was the one that brought plagues upon Egypt through the power of God. Elijah was the one that said it would not rain but according to his word Elijah was the one who called fire down on Mount Carmel in his contest with the prophets of Baal.

So needless to say you wouldn't want to mess with these people. There's a story in 2 Kings about Elijah. There was a new king who took the place of King Ahab and he fell out of his bed effectively and was injured. And so he sent his servants to go to the prophet of the false gods to get some direction and they encountered the prophet Elijah. And he said what are you guys doing? Why are you going to some false temple?

Is there not a God in Israel that can speak to you? So they go back to the king. They said king we were running your errand.

We ran into this guy that said this. And the king said what did he say? He said wasn't there not a God in Israel that you can call him? The king said what did he look like? They said well king he was sort of hairy. Ah the king says it's Elijah. And so he says go get Elijah. So a captain with 50 soldiers goes and finds Elijah sitting up on on a little hill and he says the king says come down immediately oh man of God. Elijah says if I'm a man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.

Hmm guess what? Elijah was a man of God. They're torched. Now a second captain of 50 comes and says oh man of God the king wants you to come down right now. Elijah says if I'm a man of God let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 soldiers. And again the fire fell. Third guy comes along also with 50 soldiers says oh man of God uh I'm a family man.

Here's some pictures of my family. Pretty please come down. The Lord says go down with him. But my point is you didn't want to mess with a prophet like this. So the Lord has brought Elijah back. By the way Elijah never died.

Elijah was caught into a chariot of fire. As you will recall some think one of the witnesses might be Enoch who also did not die. We don't know with certainty but my opinion is it's probably Moses and Elijah.

One other detail on that. Remember when Jesus was transfigured two prophets appeared with him. Who were they? Moses and Elijah. Moses representing the law and Elijah representing the prophets. Well we read that in verse six they have the day of their prophecy. Now prophecy in the New Testament does not always refer exclusively to predicting the future. Its primary meaning is to speak forth or to proclaim or to preach. So effectively these two witnesses are going to preach the gospel and bring God's truth to people for three and a half years and they're under divine protection.

No one can stop them. Enter the anti-Christ. Look at Revelation 11 verse 7. When they finish their testimony.

You might underline that phrase. When they finish their testimony the beast. By the way this is the first time he's referred to as the beast. The beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them overcome them and kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where our Lord was crucified. Well we know the city is Jerusalem.

That's where Jesus was crucified. The beast or the anti-Christ strikes out at these two prophets and he succeeds. But notice it's not until they have finished their testimony. It looks like these two witnesses have been in God's witness protection program up to this point.

And by the way you are too. You will not die a day before the appointed day that God has selected. And we're indestructible as I've said to you before until we're finished with what God has called us to do. So anti-Christ kills the two witnesses and lays their bodies in the streets of Jerusalem for the whole world to see. Look at verse nine.

Revelation 11. Those from the tribes and peoples and tongues see the dead bodies for three and a half days. And he will not allow their bodies to be put into graves. So anti-Christ is so angry at these two prophets who have spoken up fearlessly for the truth.

He lays their bodies out on display effectively desecrating them and the whole world is watching. I read a book a commentary from a hundred years ago and the commentator was wondering how this could ever happen. He said how could all of the world see something at the same time. Well we know the answer today because we have something called a cell phone. And we carry them around in our pockets. 96 percent of Americans have cell phones. And I read that 17 billion mobile devices will be in use by 2024. So you can pretty safely say most people either have a cell phone or they have access to a cell phone. So it seems to me like these prophets are laying there in the streets and everyone can watch them.

They can observe them. Maybe everybody will have free internet at that time. Maybe the anti-Christ will bring free wi-fi for everyone. Who knows. But listen this gets even stranger. Verse 10. The people take the tragic death of these two men of God and turn it into this twisted celebration.

Look at what it says. Those that dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and send gifts to one another because the two prophets that tormented them who dwelt on the earth. Tormented them.

How did the two prophets torment them? They just told them the truth. Well the truth is tormenting to people who don't want to hear it. Just try speaking up for what is right. Try quoting the Bible to a group of people that don't believe it.

They'll say stop. We don't even want to hear it. Who are you to say this to us?

Why are you judging us? And they don't want to hear it at all going back to that little scroll or book that John was told to eat. It was sweet and then it turned bitter. You know the Word of God is sweet to the Christian but it's bitter to the non-Christian. But it's interesting that the people accused the prophets of tormenting them. That is what King Ahab said to Elijah when he approached him. He says oh here's the one who troubles Israel. Elijah didn't trouble Israel. The king did and they reap the consequences of their sins.

The ironic thing is people will break God's commandments, face the consequences that come with breaking those commandments, and they get angry at God about it. And so this gets even stranger. They're giving gifts to one another. It's like an upside down Christmas. It's sort of an anti-Christmas you know. You have Christmas and it's anti-Christmas. They'll sing we wish you an anti-Christmas. We wish you an anti-Christmas. Or maybe they say happy dead prophets day.

I got you this gift. And they're celebrating it. It's like a party. Everyone just having a great time you know partying away. All the prophets are dead.

We don't have to listen to them anymore. Then God interrupts their party. Look at verse 11.

After the three and a half days the breath of life from God enters them and they stand on their feet. So everyone's watching. It's on screens. It's in the bars. It's in the homes.

Everyone's laughing having a great time. Look at them laying there dead. And all of a sudden they stand up again and everybody freaks out. In fact we read that the people were afraid. They were afraid. Great fear fell upon them. And then there's a loud voice from heaven saying come up here. And they ascend to heaven in a cloud and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake.

And a tenth of the city fell in the earthquake. Seven thousand people were afraid and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. This reminds me a lot of the story of Belshazzar in the Old Testament book of Daniel. Belshazzar was a young man who ascended to the throne.

He had no interest in following the God that had humbled his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar. And in fact Nebuchadnezzar came to faith and believed in God and proclaimed it to his whole kingdom. But Belshazzar the boy king he just wanted to party. So one day he had the bright idea of taking those special instruments and cups and plates and such that were used by the Jews in their worship of God. He said, hey let's fill them with wine and let's worship our false God.

So he had all these people gathered together. They're having a big party mocking God. They were going out of their way to mock God.

Listen to me. The Bible says don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that will he also reap. Are you mocking God?

That is a really bad idea. Because as Belshazzar is mocking the Lord and having a great old time all of a sudden the Bible says suddenly a hand appeared riding on the plaster of the wall. And it wrote these words many many tekul.

You fasten which means you've been weighed and the balance is and you've been found lacking. And I love the verse that describes the king's reaction. Daniel 5 says when he saw that his face turned pale with fright and his knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

So imagine he was just terrified. See so the party was over and one day the party is going to be over for a lot of people who have rejected Jesus Christ. Important words of warning today from Pastor Greg Laurie. Currently here on A New Beginning we're considering the difficult days coming during the Great Tribulation. And Pastor Greg will have more insight as this study continues. But listen if you missed any part of today's portion of our Revelation series you can hear what you missed by going online to harvest.org. Just look for this study called How to Overcome the Devil or any of our previous studies.

Or subscribe to our podcast by going to Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And then we want to mention Pastor Greg's new book that springs from this series. It's called Revelation a Book of Promises. You know Pastor Greg some people have a rather cloudy understanding of prophecy.

You know they're not sure of the terms. Right. And some prophecy is just so rich in symbolism that they wonder where they can get a decoder ring. You remember a decoder ring? I do. Do you ever have a decoder ring? I don't know if I ever got one but I was very aware of them and I wanted one.

Do you have an extra? Well for your gift of any size. Okay. So is your book sort of a literary decoder ring as it were for all of us to understand what Revelation means and how we're supposed to employ that insight today?

Yeah you know I think that's good description. You know my objective as a pastor, as a Bible teacher, as an evangelist is make things understandable to people. I don't see any value in speaking over someone's head and using theological terminology that people don't understand. The Bible says of Jesus the common people heard him gladly.

Which simply means regular rank and file people understood what Jesus was talking about. So the book of Revelation. This is a book many people are fascinated by but it's also a book many people are mystified by.

And there is a decoder ring or as I describe it early in the book a password. A password or an encryption key that will help you understand the book of Revelation and it's found right in the first chapter. I think you're going to be surprised by how understandable this great book of the Bible is.

I write in a way well it says oh we're just sitting down over a cup of coffee and we're just reading the verses together and we're talking about them together and I'm trying to explain to you with simple analogies and other scriptures commentating on scripture and showing you how these great truths apply to you. So it's in a brand new book that just came out and I'm very excited about it and I want our listeners to have a copy. Again it's called Revelation a Book of Promises and we'll send it to you for your gift of any size. Now some can only give a little we'll send one to you some can give more of course we'll send one to you but whatever your gift is large or small we will use it to continue to teach the word of God and proclaim the gospel. So get your copy of Revelation a Book of Promises and we'll rush it to you. Yeah that's right it's brand new be one of the first to own a copy of this new hardcover commentary from Pastor Greg. Hey Dave let me jump in really quick and not only are we offering this new book Revelation a Book of Promises but we have this really cool graphic bookmark that we have put together that gives you that gives you a timeline of end times event. So you probably wondered okay I know I've heard about the rapture and the tribulation period and the anti-christ and the second coming what happens when?

Well this very beautiful little visual bookmark sort of lays it out for you that's included in the book you're talking about right now. Yeah that's right so we hope you'll get in touch today and ask for Revelation a Book of Promises. We'll send it to say thank you for your donation just address a letter to A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call us anytime 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300 that's 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and then be sure to join us a week from Sunday for So Cal Harvest at Angel Stadium, Pastor Greg's first live evangelistic event since the pandemic. On October 3rd he welcomes Phil Wickham and For King and Country and presents a powerful gospel message. If you're here in Southern California be sure to join us in person and of course bring someone who needs to meet the Lord. Elsewhere be sure to tune in online and invite someone who needs to meet the Lord to watch along with you.

You can get all the details at harvest.org slash So Cal. Well next time Pastor Greg brings us more from Revelation 11 and 12 and his message how to overcome the devil. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. Thanks for listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for daily devotions and learn how to become a Harvest Partner at harvest.org.