Hey, podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash podcast and click the donate button or follow the link in our show notes. Now here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory.
Thanks to the horrific attack on Israel. I've written a brand new book called Are We Living in the End Times? Go to ptv.org to order your copy. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. If you're a bit puzzled by the terms surrounding Bible prophecy, well, you're not alone.
Many Christians have a hard time remembering the details of how the end times will unfold. Well, today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress provides a clear and comprehensive summary of the seven major events of the end times. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's podcast.
To introduce today's message, Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome to a brand new week of Bible teaching on Pathway to Victory. Over the next five days, I'll be addressing a question many people are asking right now.
With all the turmoil in the Middle East, many want to know, are we living in the end times? Well, in addition to this brand new teaching series, which concludes on Friday, I've also written a new book for you. And there's a complete chapter that's devoted to the topic that I'll answer today. That question is this, what are the major events of the end times?
If you're a bit puzzled by the terms we use for Bible prophecy, you're not alone. And in my new book, I'll help you get acquainted with events like the rapture, the tribulation, and the second coming of Christ. Now, this is the last week to request your copy of my best selling book, Are We Living in the End Times?
So be sure to get in touch with us today. A copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. This is also the final week to request a complimentary copy of Pathway Magazine. Pathway Magazine is one of the most popular resources offered by Pathway to Victory. It's full of daily devotionals and inspirational articles on Christian living, and it's printed in a convenient size so that it's easy to carry with you.
To sign up for your first issue of Pathway Magazine, just follow the simple instructions at ptv.org. Now, we have a full agenda for this week, so let's get started. I titled today's message, What Are the Major Events of the End Times? We've seen so far in our study that we are not technically living in the period of time the Bible calls the end times. Instead, we're living in the period that precedes the end times called the last days. Nevertheless, it'd be helpful for us to get an overview of where we are in our study of the last days and the end times. You see there that first of all, I marked for your consideration the church age.
That's the age we are clearly in right now. The next event that we're awaiting, the next event is the rapture of the church. What is the rapture?
Here's the definition. The rapture of the church is the snatching away to heaven of all Christians from the time of Pentecost until the tribulation. Now, people say, well, the word rapture is never found in the Bible.
Wrong and wrong again. Let me show you where it's in the Bible. First Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 to 17. Paul is writing to a group of Christians who were concerned that the Lord did not come back yet, had not come back. They were concerned about their loved ones who had died. Are they going to miss out on the coming of the Lord?
Not at all. He talks about the rapture beginning in verse 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up. There it is. Arpazzo in Greek, raptured, snatched away together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord.
Where? In the air, and we shall always be with the Lord. Now, will you notice the four components of the rapture, the four things that are going to happen? Number one, Christ will descend from heaven. Secondly, the dead in Christ will be resurrected. That's the second component of the rapture, the dead in Christ. And then thirdly, all living Christians will be removed from the earth. The dead in Christ shall rise first.
Their bodies are removed first. And then we who are alive and remain shall be, and there's that word, verse 17, caught up, Arpazzo, to meet the Lord in the air. The fourth component of the rapture is that our bodies will be transformed. We're going to be changed in the moment in the twinkling of an eye.
Why is that? Because our bodies, whether dead or alive, are not suitable for the next world that God has planned for us. That's the rapture of the church, and the one word that describes the rapture best is imminent. That means it could happen at any moment. There are no prophecies that have to be fulfilled for the rapture to occur. Now, there are several prophecies related to the second coming seven years later, like the rebuilding of the temple, the regathering of the people in Israel, some of which we've seen take place, some of which are yet to take place. But there are no prophecies that are left unfulfilled for the rapture. It could happen before we finish the message today. Now, at the end of the rapture, I believe that is when we experience the judgment seat of Christ that 2 Corinthians 5 talks about, the bema seat, as it's called.
It's not for non-Christians. It is a judgment of rewards for Christians, and I think that occurs, 2 Corinthians 5, 9 to 10, after the rapture. Now, what happens after that? What happens after the rapture? The church age, the time of the Gentiles is over. God is now ready to finish his dealings with Israel during a period of time we call the tribulation. Here's the definition for you to write down of the tribulation. It is the seven-year period of time that begins when the antichrist signs a peace covenant with Israel and ends with Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
Now, will you stay with me for five minutes? I'm not saying that's how long the sermon has, but the next five minutes, we're going to get into some deep stuff real quickly from Daniel 9, but it's key to understanding this period of time called the tribulation. You may remember this from our study of the book of Daniel, Daniel 9, verses 24 to 27. Daniel prophesied 600 years before Christ, so we're talking about something that happened more than 2,600 years ago. The children of Israel were captive in Babylon. Daniel lamented the Israelites' slavery and cried out before God, God, when are you going to put an end to this? When is this deportation to Babylon going to be over?
Give me some hope. And so God gave Daniel more than he bargained for. He sent Gabriel, the angel, to reveal the total panorama of God's remaining dealings with Israel. And remember, Gabriel said, Daniel, God has decreed 70 weeks. He was talking about weeks of years.
It's strange to us, but that's how they sometimes talk. A week of years, 70 weeks of years. Now, if one week is seven years, 70 weeks, 70 times seven would be 490 years. Gabriel said God has 490 years left to finish his dealings for Israel and to usher in the long awaited kingdom of God. Now, he went on to tell Daniel that those 490 years would be separated into two parts. The first 483 years, 69 weeks of years, and then the final week of years, the final seven years.
There would be a gap between the two. How would Daniel know when the stopwatch started, the countdown of those 490 years? Gabriel was very specific. He said from the time that the decree is issued for Israel to rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince will be 483 years. Now, when did that decree go out to rebuild Jerusalem? Many people erroneously say, oh, that was when Cyrus the Great, the Persian King, issued the decree. No, that was in 536 BC.
It doesn't work out. If you start with Cyrus, Cyrus didn't issue the decree to rebuild Jerusalem. He issued the decree to rebuild the temple.
It was Artaxerxes Longinanus. We actually know the date in history, March 14th, 445 BC, that he issued the decree to go and rebuild Jerusalem. And Gabriel prophesied from that moment until Messiah the Prince.
That's referring to Jesus. When was Jesus recognized temporarily, very temporarily, as Messiah? It was when he was on that donkey and was entering into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Did you know we know that date as well?
April the 2nd, 32 AD. My old seminary professor, Harold Honer, did a chronology where he shows exactly how to the day that was the fulfillment of the vision given to Daniel by Gabriel. The time from the decree going out until the time Messiah arrived in Jerusalem was 483 years, but then God stopped the stopwatch. There are seven years yet remaining on it, and there were many things that would happen in that gap. Messiah would be crucified, cut off. Thousands of years of the church age would collapse.
All those things would happen. God still has seven years to finish his work with Israel, and that's what the tribulation is all about. The tribulation is that final seven years of God fulfilling his promise to Israel. What is the purpose of the tribulation?
Twofold. Number one, the salvation of Israel. Many Israelites will become Christians during the tribulation through the witness of 144,000 Jewish evangelists, as will many Gentiles as well.
They'll suffer great persecution to become a Christian, but they will do so. But the second purpose of the tribulation beyond salvation is the condemnation of unbelievers when God pours out his judgment on the world. Now, the climax of the tribulation will be the fourth event, Armageddon and the second coming of Christ.
Here's the definition. The war of Armageddon is the final world war that will be fought in Israel and would result in the visible return of Jesus Christ on earth. The world forces will be assembled on the plain of Megiddo.
They will be waging war against the dictator when suddenly the skies will open, the trumpet will sound. The Lord Jesus, along with his army, the church, will return triumphant. And that will be the end of the great tribulation. We'll talk in depth about the second coming of Christ and why it's important next week. And then that leads to the millennium. Remember, the tribulation is filled with pain, the birth pains that will increase in frequency and intensity. But that pain produces something good. And in this case, that good is the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ, when Christ will fulfill all of the promises that God made to Abraham and to believing Israel.
Here's the definition. The millennium is the thousand year reign of Christ on earth that will occur after the second coming. The Bible uses the phrase a thousand years five times in six verses in Revelation chapter 20. And notice one key component of the millennium. John says, I saw the angel coming down from heaven, holding the keys of the abyss, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old who is the devil, and bound him for a thousand years. During this time of Christ's reign on earth, Satan will be bound. And that will have a great effect on the earth.
It will involve a partial renovation and a lifting of the curse against the world. Isaiah 65 describes that time and says, during that time of the kingdom, no infant will die. There'll be no such thing as infant death for a baby that's born. He says, if anybody doesn't make it to age 100, he will be thought to be a curse, so there'll be a longevity of life.
Now, I'm thinking person would say, well, wait a minute. You mean there's going to be birth and death in the millennium? I thought in heaven, nobody is born and nobody dies. We're all in these bodies that don't procreate. Well, that's in heaven, but this is on earth.
And this is a partial renovation of the earth. Who is it that is going to be born and who is it that's going to die if only Christians enter into the millennium? Remember, there will be people, all the saved people in the world will be raptured at the rapture, but some people will be saved during the tribulation, though they'll suffer to do so. Some will be executed, but some people will survive the tribulation and are believers, and they will be welcomed into the millennium, but they will be in their natural bodies.
You and I, since we were receiving our new bodies at the rapture, will enter the millennium in our resurrected bodies. We don't reproduce, but those Christians who are in their natural bodies will reproduce. They will have children.
They will live a long time, but they will die as well. But most importantly, they will have to make a choice. Those children of the tribulation saints will have to make a choice of whether they're going to serve Christ or not. And that is why the Bible says in Revelation 23 that after the millennium, Satan must be released for a short time. Why does Satan have to be released?
In order to give those born during the millennium an opportunity to make a choice. Everybody has to choose whether they're going to serve God and His kingdom or the devil and his kingdom. And amazingly, people who have lived under the benefits of the reign of Jesus Christ, some will choose in the end to follow after Satan. And that's when God calls an end to humanity, the world as we know it. Revelation 20 says after that short term rebellion, the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he and the false beast and the false prophet are also. They were cast there a thousand years before this at the beginning of the millennium, but they still exist and they are being tormented day and night forever and ever and ever. And now that they are done with, it's time for the final judgment, the great white throne judgment of all unbelievers who have ever lived. The Bible says Hades, the temporary dwelling place of the unsaved was emptied and everyone stood before the great white throne judgment. And the Bible says, and every person was judged by his works.
Now people wonder about that. They think, well, I thought our works don't matter to God. Well, think about it. Somebody who is unsaved is somebody who has said, I don't need God's forgiveness. I don't need God's grace. I'm good enough to get into heaven. I'm better than these Hamas terrorists.
I don't behead babies. Surely God's going to welcome me into his kingdom. I'll just take my chances and let God judge me by my works. And so God says, okay, if you want to be judged by your works, we will judge you by your deeds. Revelation 23, every one of them was judged according to his deeds. But as God examines the deeds, there may be some wonderful things you have done, but it's not enough. For you see, the standard by which God judges our deeds is not other people. It's by his perfect son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in comparison to Christ, nobody measures up. The Bible says in Romans 3, there is not one righteous among us, no, not even one for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says if any man's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20, 15, not to be destroyed, but to suffer, to be persecuted like Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet, day and night, forever and ever.
That is incomprehensible when you think about it. The worst excruciating pain you've ever had, think about it. At least there was some relief.
It might have come in an hour, a day, a week, or a month, but there's been some relief. Think about the worst pain you have ever felt and think about experiencing that day and night, forever and ever. The awful truth about hell, ladies and gentlemen, is this. When we have spent three billion, trillion years in hell, we will not have reduced by one second the time we have left to spend there.
If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. And once that happens, the present heaven and earth will be destroyed, as 2 Peter 3 tells us. By his word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. And that leads us into the final event in the end times. We call it eternity future. Eternity future is the permanent, underline that, state of both believers inhabiting the new heaven and of unbelievers inhabiting the lake of fire.
The key is, once your eternal destination is fixed, there is no changing of it. And then after the present heaven and earth were destroyed, John saw something else in Revelation 21. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
We've talked about this before. People think heaven is up there someplace. We're going to be floating around on a cloud, plucking a harp, and that's eternity. Does that appeal to you?
It certainly doesn't appeal to me. Being around up there floating around, that's not what John saw. He saw a new heaven, but a new earth. When we spend eternity in our new bodies, we're going to be on this earth the way God intended it to be. Just like Adam and Eve experienced before the fall, that is the place we're going to be. There is going to be a city, a large city, the new Jerusalem that comes out of heaven to the earth.
But it's coming to the earth. We don't go up to the new Jerusalem floating around up there. What are we going to do for all eternity if we're not plucking a harp? Well, we're going to worship God.
We're going to experience worship like we've never had it before. We're going to work. Work? That sounds like hell to me. Work? What do you mean?
I thought I was through with all of that. We were created in God's image to be workers. The only reason we don't enjoy work right now is because of the restraints of working in this world. But tired bodies, strained relationships, unfair treatment, none of that will be present in the new heaven and new earth. We'll enjoy work and accomplishment like God intended. We'll have new bodies. The words cancer, stroke, dementia, those won't be in the dictionary of heaven.
We never get sick. Nor will we ever have to experience alienation from loved ones, broken relationships, divorce, or standing over the grave of a loved one saying goodbye. None of that will be a part of the new heaven and new earth. Instead, John said in Revelation 21, 4, on that day, God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. And there shall no longer be any death, no longer any mourning or crying or pain, for the first things will have passed away. That is the forever future of those who know Christ as Savior.
God never intended for His children to be perplexed about the future. When we become a student of God's Word, we begin to understand the amazing events that fall onto His timeline. My brand new book on Bible prophecy contains a chapter with more details on these future events. It's the chapter that's titled, What are the Major Events in the End Times? Plus, my new book, Are We Living in the End Times?
addresses six other questions as well. And I'm pleased to send you a copy of my new book to your home when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. The full title of my brand new book, which is already a bestseller, is this, Are We Living in the End Times?
The subtitle is Biblical Answers to Seven Questions About the Future. I want you to know how deeply I value your generous support of Pathway to Victory. In fact, did you know that Pathway to Victory has developed a process to honor those who give on a monthly basis? We call these friends our Pathway Partners. This growing circle of friends has become significant to us, and as such, Pathway Partners are entitled to some exclusive benefits. Well, we've been praying that God would raise up friends like you so that we might add 1,200 Pathway Partners to the team this month. Now, that's a big goal, but God is opening doors for expanded outreach in 2024, and we cannot move forward without the necessary support from our Pathway Partners. David will explain how to become a Pathway Partner today, or you can expedite the process by going directly to ptv.org. Thanks for your generous spirit toward Pathway to Victory. Together as partners, God is using our combined gifts to pierce the darkness with the light of His word.
David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. To become a Pathway Partner, just follow the easy steps to sign up online at ptv.org, or call us, 866-999-2965. Now, when you give your first monthly gift or when you give a one-time gift to support Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you the brand-new book by Dr. Jeffress, Are We Living in the End Times? And when your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the complete collection of audio and video discs for the brand-new teaching series, Are We Living in the End Times?
Plus, we'll send you a copy of the popular book, The End Times Illustrated. Call us at 866-999-2965 or give online at ptv.org. You could write to us, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Join us next time when Dr. Jeffress answers the question, What is the difference between the rapture and the second coming in the end times? That's coming up Tuesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. In response to the alarming war in the Middle East, Dr. Robert Jeffress has written a brand-new book for you. It answers pressing questions like, Are We Living in the End Times? In this time-sensitive book, Dr. Jeffress answers seven questions about the future, such as, What are the major events of the end times? Request a copy right now by going to ptv.org.
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