Countdown
Notes
Transcript
What Jesus Began to Do
What Jesus Began to Do
When Jesus arrived on the earth, the Countdown to the end began.
All of humanity faces the final judgement
And what is the end?
The final judgement where all of humanity faces final judgement. Where everyone will stand before God and give an account of their lives in Rev 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Let me make this promise to you.
You don’t have that much time!
You don’t have that much time!
You only have the time that you are alive on the face of the earth.
The most often quoted length of life is based on the (rebellious) children of Israel that wandered in the desert after God led them from slavery in Egypt, they had 70-80 years from Psalm 90:10
Psalm 90:10 (KJV 1900)
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
But God had previously said in Gen 6:3
3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Our life span could easily be one hundred and twenty years.
But no one knows the day or the hour so Psalm 90:12 says.
Psalm 90:12 (KJV 1900)
12 So teach us to number our days, That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
We are on the clock, but not the next birthday clock.
We are on the countdown to the end clock!
Jesus said this to the Jewish people
Jesus said this to the Jewish people
in Luke 13:22
Luke 13:22–30 (KJV 1900)
22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, 24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Jesus spoke this everywhere he went: “through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem”
When He was asked, “are there few that be saved”
He answered, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able”
He told these people, the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, “when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out”
But there were others that would come in, gentiles, “they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God”
It was unthinkable for the Jewish people that gentiles would find a place in God’s kingdom but Jesus said, “there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last”, there will be gentiles first and descendants of Abraham last.
Jesus was talking about the Church that would follow after His death, burial and resurrection
The Church
The Church
The word for church, as it appears in the New Testament, means an assembly.
11 Charles C. Ryrie, The Final Countdown: God’s Blueprint for Future Events, (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1982), 67.
But this is not just a town meeting.
Usually, in the New Testament the word more commonly understood as the church, has several meanings.
For instance, the church is spoken of as the body of Christ as in Ephesians 1:22–23
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
This is the universal body of believers, All who are “in Christ”
Also, Colossians 1:18
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Describes Jesus Christ as the first raised from the dead. He is the head of the church, the head of the body.
Then in 1 Cor 12:12-13, the church is said to include all “baptised”
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
All of the one spirit the Holy Spirit.
The “church” in the New Testament usually refers to what most of us think of as “a church”
That is, an assembly of people who call themselves Christians.
The Bible speaks of the church at Corinth 1 Cor. 1:2
The churches of Galatia Gal. 1:2
The church in the house of Nymphas Col 4:15
And the church in Philemon’s house Phile. 2
These “churches” are all local congregations in certain places.
Using this definition, many members of the body of Christ have already died and are with the Lord in His presence, but some are still alive.
Some members of the body are living holy lives; other are carnal Christians.
Some are members of local churches; some may not be.
The members of the body are scattered throughout the whole earth, but all of them have been born again
Not everyone would agree on characteristics that are essential, but some things are always true about the church:
For one thing, it includes only living people.
For another, there may be “professing” Christians in a local church—people who do not have eternal life.
The True Church
The True Church
The Bible clearly outlines the future for those who, through believing in Christ, belong to the true church:
Those in this group who die before the Lord comes will be taken immediately into His presence to be with Him forever.
Their bodies will be buried, but they themselves will go immediately to heaven.
To depart this life and to be with Christ is far better Phil. 1:23
and to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5:8.
The bodies of these believers, whether placed in the grave the day before or hundreds of years earlier, will be raised when the Lord returns, and each will receive a new body in which he will live for all eternity. This is the prospect for those who die as members of the true church.
Some true believers will be living on the day Christ comes back. They will be changed, given new bodies, and taken to be with their Lord forever.
This is the event which brings to an end the history of the true church on earth.
What About Those That Don’t Believe?
What About Those That Don’t Believe?
The Bible describes apostasy as those that deny Christ. This denial includes three main areas:
1. Denial of the doctrine of the Trinity in 1 John 2:22–23
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
In John’s day this denial focused on the relation between the Father and the Son, the First and Second Persons of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit did not enter the discussion).
This was a denial of the union of true manhood and full deity in Jesus Christ
and was a denial of the essential relations between the Father and the Son.
This includes any denial of the trinity, or three part nature and being of God.
2. Denial of the incarnation of Christ 1 John 2:22
22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Any denial that Jesus Christ took on flesh to dwell among us. This would also deny that he had a life to give up for us, a denial of the sacrifice of His blood for us.
7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
The union of full deity and perfect humanity in the one person of Jesus Christ is a cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith
Its denial is, according to these Scriptures, a characteristic of apostasy as promoted by antichrists.
Apostates may deny either the deity of Christ or, as in John’s day, the true humanity of the Son of God.
Why is this so significant? Simply because the God-man is essential to the work of salvation. If the Saviour was not truly a man, He could not save, for God could not truly die.
On the other hand, if the Saviour was not truly without sin (God), His death would have been to no avail. The death of a mere man cannot take away another man’s sins; only a sinless sacrifice can do that. Therefore, the Saviour must be a God-man. The denial of this truth by apostates strikes at the heart of the Christian faith.
3. Denial of the doctrine of the return of Christ 2 Peter 3:4
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
People often accept the idea that since everything has been going along in the same manner for centuries past, it will continue to go on.
Some people affirm belief in the return of Christ, but they do not mean a visible, bodily return—the sort of event that would be reported in the newspaper.
That, in effect, is a denial of His return.
Apostasy always results in a decline in morals
Apostasy always results in a decline in morals
Because it is separation from, moving in the opposite direction from the fruit of the Holy Spirit
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
These 18 characteristics are the result of separation from, denial of the true character and nature of God
love of self
love of money
a spirit of pride
blasphemy
disobedience to parents
lack of thankfulness
lack of holiness
lack of natural affection
unceasing enmity, so that men cannot be persuaded to enter into treaties with each other
slander
lack of self-control
savagery (the word means untamed, wild, fierce)
opposition to goodness
traitors
headiness (rash, headstrong, recklessness)
highmindedness (the word literally means to raise a smoke)
love of pleasure
a pretense of worship but without any godliness of life
These people that are not a part of the Church are lost and without hope in the world.
Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost
Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost
Jesus said He came to seek—what a great word—and to save the lost in Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
He is still seeking them today. He is on a quest. Let Him use you to satisfy His seeking heart!
Speak this truth to your heart every day.
Go to sleep at night thinking about it.
The whole world is lost, cut off, separated from God.
This is why Jesus came. Jesus came in John 12:47
47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Jesus isn’t condemning, judging, but he is reaching out to save
Jesus is doing what His father sent him to do in John 3:17
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
God did not send the Son to judge the world, the time for judgement will come.
Our actions while living on the earth will determine that judgement.
Jesus said in John 8:15
15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
“I judge no one”, but how often do we judge those around us.
We are not to judge
We are not to judge
Jesus said to us in Matthew 7:1
1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Do not judge lest you be judged also means we cannot hold a judgement against anyone.
We cannot hold a grudge, but must forgive.
It says this also in Luke 6:37, do not judge and you will not be judged
And in James 5:9
9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Who are we to judge others?
This list goes on.
let us not judge one another (Rom. 14:13)
who are you to judge your neighbour? (Jas. 4:12)
he who speaks against his brother judges the law (Jas. 4:11)
if we judged ourselves we would not be judged (1 Cor. 11:31)
do not judge before the time (1 Cor. 4:5)
mercy triumphs over judgement (Jas. 2:13)
I refuse to be a judge of these matters (Acts 18:15)
it is a small thing to be judged by you (1 Cor. 4:3)
let no one judge you regarding food and drink (Col. 2:16)
he who abstains should not pass judgement on him who eats (Rom. 14:3)
in Romans 14:4 who are you to judge another man’s servant? (Rom. 14:4)
4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
so, again, who am I to judge you or anyone?
why do you judge your brother? (Rom. 14:10)
I do not judge myself (1 Cor. 4:3)
The Hour is Coming
The Hour is Coming
Jesus Christ will return, maybe in our lifetime, but maybe not.
The time is short. We only have today to accept Jesus Christ and declare Him as our Lord and saviour.
Many people see Church as rules and condemnation but what God says is in John 5:22
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
And Jesus did not come to condemn but to save.
Have you accepted Him?
Will You accept Him?
Today is the day, Now is the time
The Great White Throne
The Great White Throne
Finally, we come around again to Rev 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
This is the Final Judgment.
At the conclusion of Satan’s last revolt, a great white throne will be established in space, for the present earth and the starry heavens will have been replaced.
The Judge who will sit on this throne will be Christ (John 5:22). Those who appear in this judgment will be the unsaved dead of all time. All the redeemed will have been previously raised (Rev. 20:6) and been previously judged.
The wicked dead will be judged on the basis of their works (vv. 12–13).
When the Book of Life is opened, it will be seen that no name of anyone standing before the throne appears in it.
Rejection of the Saviour, apparently, excludes men’s names from the Book of Life.
The works that these men have done in life, as recorded in God’s record books (v. 12), will prove on their own terms that they deserve eternal punishment.