Harvest Ministries and Pastor Greg Laurie recommend a new book by Max Lucado called "Unbreakable Courage." He explains, "Unbreakable carries the implication of steadfastness. That when the waves crash against a rock, it is the waves that come apart, and not the rock." That's right. Max Lucado discusses these insights and a whole lot more in his brand new book, "Unbreakable Courage." Yours for a gift of any amount at. Harvest. dot org.
So, I want to talk to you about what Jesus said about the end times in Luke chapter twenty one. It's actually an answer to a question from his disciples. And by the way, it's the longest answer he gave to any question that was ever asked of him. And the question was, "What will be the sign of your coming?" Now, the end of the world. People are asking this very question today.
What are the signs of Christ coming? Is the end of the world near? A lot of people want to know more about the Antichrist. I'll get to him in a few moments, but in our time together, I want to focus on why we should even talk about this.
So, why should we talk about the end times? Answer: Because twenty-five percent of the Bible is prophetic.
So it's not some obscure side note. The Bible literally oozes with the return of Jesus Christ. In fact, the New Testament contains over three hundred references to the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
So, if the Lord talks about this a lot, shouldn't we be talking about it as well? Shouldn't we be paying attention to it?
Some people say, "Well, it's so hard to figure it all out, and it's hard to understand." I understand that, but listen. It's not God's desire to conceal, but to reveal. In fact, the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. The word actually means the unveiling. When Jesus talked about the abomination of desolation, he added this word of commentary: "Let the reader understand." In other words, he's saying, "Here, as I'm talking about these end times events, I want you to understand these things." When the apostle Paul was addressing the topic of end times events at First Thessalonians, he said, "I would not have you ignorant, brothers." Sister, so hey.
We can, we must know about this, and we can understand it. I heard a story about a guy who just loves studying the Book of Revelation. And some academics came up to him, and they considered themselves far more intelligent than he was. They were great theologians, and they said to this guy, "Why do you read the Book of Revelation all the time? No one can understand that book.
It's an enigma." The guy says, "Well, I love to read it." And I do understand it. I said, "Oh, do you?
Okay, well then, explain the Book of Revelation to us." And the guy said in response, "It means we win in the end. You got it right. We are going to win in the end. The Bible promises us.
So why should we study Bible prophecy? Why should we know more about end times events? Answer." Understanding Bible prophecy brings hope in a hopeless world. Let me say that again. Understanding Bible prophecy brings hope in a hopeless world, and that is why the Bible calls it the blessed hope.
In Titus two thirteen, Paul writes, "Looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." And by the way, that word "blessed" can be translated happy.
So we could say it's a happy hope. It's a happy thing to realize that Jesus could come back at any moment. Martin Luther said, and I quote: "There are two days on my calendar: this day and that day." In other words, he's saying there's the damn living in right now, and there's that day, the day of the Lord's return. Another reason it's a good thing to study Bible prophecy is it unravels the mystery of history. You know, we ask the question, why is there so much evil in the world?
When will right prevail over wrong? When will Satan finally be judged? Answer: When Christ comes back and establishes. His kingdom isn't that what he taught us to pray, and what we call the Lord's prayer? He says, "After this manner, therefore, you should pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Another reason we should study Bible prophecy is it brings sense to our suffering. Because we ask questions like, "What do you say to someone who has suffered a great tragedy?" "What do you say to someone who has been going through life with a severe disability?" "What do you say to someone who has lost a loved one?" "What do you say to someone who is weeping with grief?" You would say this is not God's final plan. You would say there's coming a day, according to Revelation twenty one four, when God will wipe every tear from our eyes, and there'll be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, for those things are gone forever. What do you say to someone who has lost a loved one?
Well, if that loved one has died in faith, you come back to the words of the Apostle Paul when he is writing to the believers in First Thessalonians 4, who had lost loved ones, and he said, "The Lord Himself is going to descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the clouds." And so shall we ever be with the Lord. That's what you say. You see, you tell them if your loved one died in faith, you're going to see them again. You're going to be reunited with them again. They're not just a part of your past.
They're also a part of your future. And that is why Paul adds this statement after he talks about the Lord's return, and that statement is therefore. Comfort one another with these words. Whenever you see the word "therefore" in the Bible, find out what it's there for. Paul's drawing upon what is said.
He's saying, in effect, Christ is coming. You'll be reunited again with your loved ones.
So, comfort one another with these words. Another reason we should study Bible prophecy is it causes us to live a godly life. The more we think about the future, the more we'll be motivated to live right in the present. Whenever you read what the Bible says about the future, there is usually an exhortation to live a godly life attached to it. As an example, Second Peter three eleven says, "Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this." What holy and godly lives you should live, and then in First John it says, "He that has this hope and is the hope of the Lord's return purifies himself, even as he is pure." So, in closing, why should we study Bible prophecy?
Well, Bible prophecy is not given to scare us. But to prepare us, it's not given to make us argumentative. It's given to make us evangelistic. We should not be focused on who the antichrist is. We should be focusing on who Jesus Christ is.
The Bible does not tell us to look for antichrist. It tells us to be looking for Jesus Christ. Hey, everybody! Thanks for listening to my podcast. Before you go, I wanted to let you know about the important work we're doing here at Harvest.
You know we've had the same goal these last 50 years, which is simply this: we want to know God, and we want to make Him known, and we do that in a lot of ways—documentary films, animation, radio, television, large-scale evangelistic events, and more. If you want to be a part of what we're doing to fulfill the Great Commission, you can support us with whatever you can give at Harvest.org/slash. Donate again. That's harvest.org/donate, and thanks so much.
