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So as that was being read there, Revelation 22, I chose that chapter on purpose just because it's the last chapter of the Bible. I'm starting a new series when I'm not preaching for Genesis and the new series will be on the end times. I don't know if you're familiar with the term eschatology. It's a very fancy word for the study of the end times. So if you ever look up, you know, if you're looking up YouTube or just Googling, if you type in eschatology, you'll tend to find a lot of end times teaching. Alright, so the title for the sermon tonight is the importance of end times study. The importance of end times study. And if you look at verse number 16 there, Revelation 22, 16, it says I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Brethren, this is the final command of Jesus that you read about in the Bible. You know, we talk about the final command before you send it up to heaven. He gave the great commission, right? We're commanded to do the great commission. But when it just comes chronologically reading through your Bible, the last thing he says here is that the teachings of this book, of the book of Revelation, has to be testified unto the churches. Of course it says that he sent his angel, and that angel of course is the apostle John. John is the one that wrote the book of Revelation. And so John is being used to write these things to the churches. Of course, you're already familiar with the beginning of the book of Revelation, we have the seven churches. And so hey, new life after the church is a church as well. This is a teacher, this is a doctrine that needs to be taught in the churches. And another thing you might have remembered when we went through the seven churches of Revelation, the Lord would refer to the pastor, the bishop, the leader of the church, as his angel to that church as well. And so this instruction, yes, is given to John to testify to the churches, but it also has to do with the pastors. The church pastors are to take the end times and teach it to their church. And this is such a strange thing, because this is the only book I know of, I mean it's the only book in the Bible, where Jesus specifically says this book, end times, teaching, and the book of Revelation, 90% of it is on the end times. This has to be taught in the church. And I'm telling you, pastors are afraid today to teach on the book of Revelation. Now look, I haven't taught too much on end times, not because I've been afraid to tackle it, honestly just because there were so many other things to teach, and I feel like I needed a bit of a rest from end times, from when we first started this church, and I'm excited to get back into it now. It's such an important topic, it needs to be taught. And here's the thing, a lot of pastors either neglect it, or they just teach the first few chapters, where it talks to the seven churches, neglect to teach the rest of it. They might even turn around and say, hey, those other chapters in Revelation, that's not for you, that's not for the New Testament church, that is dispensationalism, that's often what they think of. They don't think those chapters have any benefit or any merit for the New Testament church. Or, you'll find some other churches, they'll get in the prophecy expert. Because it's too hard for the pastor. He can't find the pre-tread rapture in his Bible, he starts sweating, how can I teach on this? I'll just get the expert. Everyone will believe him because he's got doctor before his name. And because he's got DR before his name, they're going to believe what he says instead of reading it for themselves in the Bible. Listen, I'm not afraid to go into the end times. And what I want to do with this series, we're not going to speed through it. Normally when I preach on the end times, I'm preaching on the rapture, I'm just speeding through it, just verse after verse after verse. That's not my goal in this series, I want to go in a much slower pace. Much slower pace, break it down. And what I would really like is your feedback at the end of every sermon. If I didn't make something clear, or if you got other questions for me, that's something I can add to subsequent sermons in this series so I can answer those things for you as best I can. But notice this has to be testified to the churches. Now, like I said, a lot of pastors are afraid to tackle this topic. Because like I said, they're not well studied. They don't know how to teach it from the Word of God. They don't know how to prove what they believe from the Word of God. But here's the thing, brethren, we're commanded, we're commanded to teach these things. It's a doctrine that must be taught. I would rather just go into this. Do I know every verse on the end times? Am I going to have perfect understanding of everything? No. But I would much rather just be obedient to Christ, teach it, even if I make some unintentional mistakes. I'd rather make some unintentional mistakes as I teach this through the Word of God than to avoid it completely. Because we're commanded to teach this, to teach this book. And when you think of the book of Revelation, I'm not going to go chapter by chapter through the book of Revelation, but the word revelation is to reveal. God wants us to know about the end times. He's revealing this truth. And as we get closer to the latter times, as we get closer to the end times, as we get closer to the return of Christ, this is going to become more and more clearer to the believers as we go on in time. Today, we have a better understanding of the end times than the believers did 100 years ago. You know what? And if the Lord doesn't come back for 100 years, the believers 100 years later will have an even better understanding of the end times than what we do. It's something that is learnt through as we get closer to the return of Christ. I'll show you that a little bit later as well. Now, I got excited as a child when I first heard about the end times. I was in my Baptist church and I got a prophecy expert, like I said, to come and preach on the pre-tribulation rapture. And I was excited because I hadn't read my Bible cover to cover as a child. And I remember just thinking that the world would just go on forever. Just the way it is. You know, born, get married, we die, next generation, next generation, next generation. Just continue, you know, maybe advancement in technology, advancement in knowledge. But I just thought the world was just going to go on forever and ever and ever. People get saved, they go to heaven. People don't get saved, they go to hell. And I just thought that's the process for all eternity. So I remember when I first heard about the end times and this expert came to preach, I was so excited. There's an end to it all. There's an end. Jesus is coming back? That's exciting, right? Not only did he come 2000 years ago to die for my sins, but he's got this bigger plan as well when he comes back and establishes his kingdom, all these things. And so I get excited when I think of the end times. And I hope I can sort of pass on some of this excitement onto you. But you know, the other thing that we need to remember is that when it comes to the end times, believing that Jesus Christ is coming back is actually a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. If you deny the return of Christ, you're not even a Christian. Like you can't even claim Christianity. And you know, so what I want to do right now, if you guys can go to verse number 12 in the same chapter, Revelation chapter 22 verse 12, you know, Jesus Christ is coming back. This is an important doctrine. This is a doctrine that all Christians should believe. And I'm telling you, if someone denies the return of Christ, they're not saved. They're not a Christian. If they deny it. I'm not saying they're ignorant of the knowledge like a child was, even when you have to learn these things. I'm saying if you deny the return of Christ, you're not even saved. This is a fundamental doctrine that any saved person can believe because it is so clear in the Bible. Look at verse number 12. What does Jesus say? He says, And behold, I come quickly. Hey, where was Jesus when he said these words? He was in heaven. He wasn't on this earth. He already had ascended up to the Father. He says, I come quickly. And my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. So why is Jesus coming back? Number one, because Jesus told us he will. If I'm going to believe anybody, anybody's words in the Bible, it's definitely going to be Jesus Christ. He promised us that he was going to return. Can you please go to John 14 for me? John 14, verse 1. John 14, verse 1. And this series will feel a lot more like a Bible study than just preaching. We're going to go through this slowly, break it down, try to answer as many questions as you guys may have. To the best of my ability anyway with the help of the Holy Ghost. But John 14, verse 1, Jesus says, Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also. So again we see Jesus Christ confirming that he's going to come back. He says if I leave, it's guaranteed that I'll be coming back. And what's Jesus going to do? He's preparing a place for us. His Father has many mansions. Now we know that Jesus Christ worked the trade of a carpenter. He followed after his stepfather's business, right? Carpentry there on the earth. Well guess what he's doing in heaven? A bit more carpentry work. Building up those mansions, getting them ready. You serve Christ, you do great works for God. I need to add a room to brother so-and-so's house. Brother Sam gets a whole bunch of people saved. Brother Sam, I need to work on a bigger kitchen. So the Lord is there in heaven. That's what he says. He's preparing a place for us. He's furnishing it. It's going to match. You don't have to worry, is my sofa going to match with my bookshelf or whatever. I don't know what we're going to have. Jesus has it all laid out. He's doing everything where he can. He said, why hasn't Jesus come back yet? Maybe he's fixing up your house. I'm excited to see what place we have prepared for us as we serve our Lord God. But he promises us that he's going to return. Please go to Acts chapter 1 now. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Did you also notice that, you keep going there, but it says, that where I am, there ye may be also. Why is Jesus Christ coming back? Because he wants us with him. What an amazing thing. Jesus Christ wants to fellowship with us. He wants us to be in his presence. He wants us to serve him and to worship him. Such a great promise that, hey, by him coming back, this confirms that we are going to be with Christ for all eternity. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. Acts chapter 1 verse 8. These are the words of Jesus as he was ascending, or just before he ascended. He says, but ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up with a cloud, and a cloud received him out of their sight. So he's been received, he's been taken up. What was the promise he said before? If I go up, he's going to come back, right? So we see this playing out now. Verse number 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why send ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen him go into heaven. All right, so not only did Jesus tell us he's coming back, but these two angels, or it says they're two men. The authorities there, were they angels, or were they just regular men? I believe these were angels of heaven, just because the Lord specifically says about their, or it's mentioned here that they're in this white apparel. So they're standing out. They're in this clothing, white and clean, so they're definitely heavenly messengers. They're certainly messengers that are coming here and confirming that Christ is coming back. But what did they say? It's right at the end of verse number 11. It says, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner. Like manner. How was Jesus Christ being taken up? It said there, in verse number nine, a cloud received him out of their sight. So when Christ comes back the next time, he was taken up into a cloud, how's he going to come back? He's going to come back in the clouds. He's going to come back with the clouds, okay? That's important for other sermons in the series. But I just want to show you, Jesus confirmed that, that he's coming back. These angels confirmed that he's coming back. Now if you can please go to 1 Thessalonians now. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. 1 Thessalonians chapter four. All I'm doing right now, guys, is just showing you that Christ is coming back. This isn't some, you know, this isn't some cloudy doctrine. This isn't something that you should debate. This is simple. Any child can read these verses and understand, oh, Christ is coming back, okay? But while you're going to 1 Thessalonians four, I'll just read to you from Revelation 1 seven. It says, Behold, he cometh with clouds. Hey, that makes perfect sense. The angel said, in like manner, that he was taken up, he's going to come back. He was received in the clouds. When he comes back, he cometh with clouds. And every eye shall see him. Every eye. Not a secret rapture. Everybody's going to see him when he comes back. And it says, And they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth, shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. Even so, amen. Hey, that's the truth, says the angel John, right? As he gives us this truth. And I'll also read to you in Colossians 3 four. It says, When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory. So is Christ going to appear? Yes. It's not a secret rapture. It's not, you know, just some people see him. There's an appearance. Every eye will see him and is coming in glory, and we're also going to be received up with him into his glory. And we're going to have new glorious bodies at the resurrection, but that's for another time. You guys are in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 14. The Bible reads, So let's stop there for a moment. Not only is Jesus Christ coming back, but there are others coming back with Jesus. What did it say there? Even so them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him, with Jesus, okay? The saints that have gone before us, those that have died in Christ, hey, maybe us. Maybe we won't make it to the last day of the resurrection, you know, in this life, but we may pass away, we may die, but you're not going to miss the rapture because you're going to come back with Christ. You're going to be there from the beginning. You're going to experience the entire thing. So not only does Christ come back, they have come with him, or they have passed away with him, or in him I should say. Verse number 15, So what is this called here in 1 Thessalonians 4? This is a passage about the rapture, the resurrection, but here it calls it the coming of the Lord, okay? The Lord coming back, amen. Very clear in the Bible. It's confirmed for us. You know, I've always told you guys if we're going to stand on a doctrine, we need to get those two or three witnesses, right? And there are some things that we believe or maybe, you know, we sort of think about, and we can't always find those two or three witnesses. I mean, how many witnesses have we got so far of the coming of Christ, that he's coming back? This is a black and white scripture. This is why it's a fundamental doctrine of the faith. This is why someone that doesn't believe in the Holy Spirit of God, he cannot even understand what the Bible clearly, clearly says, right? And please also now go to Matthew 24. Matthew 24, verse 30. Matthew 24, verse 30. Just to confirm this one more time, Matthew 24, verse 30. Say, why are you going to Matthew 24? That's not for the church. Well, are you sure? Matthew 24, verse 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. Who's the Son of Man? Jesus. That's a name that he gave himself. And then shall appear, the appearance, we read about that in Colossians, you know, that he will appear. Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. Where do we see that? Revelation chapter 1. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds. Where did we read about that? In heaven, right? We saw that in Revelation when he's coming back in clouds. In the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The glory that has been referred to once again with the coming of Christ. The Bible is not only telling us about his coming, it's confirming it to us over and over and over. You cannot read the New Testament without coming across this doctrine over and over again. But I love the consistency. The clouds, you know, the glory, all the eyes will see him, the tribes of the earth will mourn and wail, all these kinds of things. It's so straightforward. I don't know why people make this complicated, okay? But I'm not teaching on the rapture right now. Of course, when we talk about the end times, your immediate thought, obviously, with many believers is to go straight to the rapture. I don't want to go into that teaching right now. But now please go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3. You say you're harping on about, you know, this is such a clear doctrine. I'm not saying that. You know, you're preaching to the choir. But here's a warning in 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3, please. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 3. 2 Peter 3, 3. Knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers are asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. This is why it's important for us to understand that this is a black and white teaching in the Bible. It's because there are going to be scoffers in the last day. And listen, brethren, we're not talking about scoffers. I mean, obviously, we're talking about unbelievers here, obviously. But I truly believe these scoffers are going to be in our churches. Okay? I believe these scoffers are going to be the pastors, the preachers, the false prophets. They get behind the pulpit and they're telling their congregation, they're telling their church that Christ is not coming back. Where's the promise? Are you sure he's coming? And there's going to be doubts as we get into these latter times. Yes, true believers of Christ will start seeing the signs, will start seeing things will become more obvious about Christ's return. But at the same time, there's going to be the reverse taking place. There's going to be these scoffers of the last time telling people that Jesus Christ is not coming back. So what do you think our job is then, brethren? If we're guaranteed here that in the last days there's going to be these scoffers denying the return of Christ, doesn't that mean our mission, every day that goes past as we get closer to the return of Christ, doesn't that tell you how important our mission is? To win the lost? To preach the gospel? Because the more, as we get closer, the harder it's going to be, the more confusion there's going to be, the more false prophets there's going to be denying the return of Christ. And we need to get out there with the light of the gospel, with the light of the scriptures and show people, no, Christ is coming back. And it's going to be so exciting because we're going to be forever with Him, in those mansions that He's prepared for us. So the next thing I want to talk about here, brethren, is if you can go to Daniel chapter 12. Go to Daniel chapter 12 in the Old Testament. Christically, Christ is coming back. Jesus said it, the angels said it, it's confirmed for us, multiple scriptures, that's men moved by the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is telling us Christ is coming back. We see scoffers are the ones that are denying the return of Christ, or mocking the return of Christ, okay? And I want you to be careful because I've heard this saying, and this saying is true, that eschatology can make a fool out of you. You know, it makes a fool out of prophets and teachers and preachers of the word of God. Because there are so many people, I don't know what the obsession is, but there are so many people that want to set a date. I don't know what it is. I'm even talking about saved brethren. They just think they can figure it out, okay? And I'll show you how foolish this is. We shouldn't be date setting. You know, we shouldn't be thinking, you know, that, well, you know, planning as though Christ was going to come back on the day you think. You've got no idea, right? Look at Daniel chapter 12 verse 1. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, that's a time of tribulation, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time, and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book, and many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth. What did we say about those that sleep in Jesus? Some to 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 for ever and ever. But look at this, first number 4. But thou, O Daniel, now before I keep reading it, this is the book of Daniel, half of the book of Daniel is about the end times. And 50% of this book is about the end times. And Daniel's the one writing this. Daniel's the one being moved by the Holy Ghost. He's got the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Right? As he pens these words, and it says, God says to Daniel, but thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. So when it comes to Daniel, God says, look, shut up the words, seal the book. Hey, there's a seal on the book of Daniel. Okay, what that means is, when Daniel was writing this, he did not fully understand, fully grasp what's going on. This is something that's reserved to the time of the end. As we get closer to the end times, you know, understanding the book of Daniel will become a lot more obvious to us. And of course, we've been given the book of Revelation. Daniel did not have that at his disposal. So we can then understand the book of Daniel in light of the book of Revelation that Jesus Christ has given us. Look at verse number 8 now. Same chapter, Daniel 12 verse 8. It says here, Now Brevin, if you say to me, I really want to know at the end times, I'm hearing things, but I'm just struggling to understand. Look, you're in good company. Even the prophet Daniel was struggling to understand some of the things that he had written. Then he goes, look, So he's asking, Lord, can you tell me what I just wrote? What is it that you're revealing to me? Verse number 9, Alright? Why is it foolish to set dates? It's foolish because not even Daniel who wrote the book about the end times in the Old Testament, not even he could fully understand. How can he give us a date? I mean, what makes you think you can give us a date when the prophet Daniel himself could not even come close to understanding? You probably know already more than the prophet. Of course you do, because you've got the whole Bible. You've got 66 books of the Bible. You've been given the book of Revelation. Say, well, maybe, well, you know, Daniel's in the Old Testament times. You know, I'm living in the New Testament times. Maybe I can work it out. You know, maybe I, you know, come on. Because of years since Daniel, we can work it out. But what did Jesus, if you go, you can go there please. Matthew 24, go to Matthew 24, verse 36. Matthew 24, verse 36. Because we are going to be in Matthew 24 a little bit now. Matthew 24, verse 36. What did Jesus say? In Matthew 24, verse 36. These are the words of Jesus. But of that day and hour knoweth no man. You think you can work it out? These people that set dates, they think they can work it out. I mean, how can you not understand what Jesus Christ just said there? And look, there are many false prophets as well. In fact, the false prophets love to date set. I mean, the JWs, the Jehovah Witnesses, how many times have they set a return of Christ? And they failed every time so far. All right, I mean, you would think the people of that church would be like, this is stupid. This is a dumb church. I've got to get out of there and get myself into a Baptist church. You'd think that's what they would say. We'll have a look at this soon, right? But he says, look, of that day and hour knoweth no man, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Look, not even Jesus when he was walking the earth 2,000 years ago, not even Jesus knew when he was coming back. He says, only my Father knows. Hey, is Jesus the Father? If Jesus was the Father, you know, he couldn't say that, right? He says, no man knows, not the angels in heaven, only the Father knows. Now, it's probably very likely Jesus knows now, okay, that when he will be coming back, because he ascended up to heaven. And of course, you know, when he came as a man, he was limited as well in his full, you know, in Christ. He humbled himself as a man. He limited himself in his knowledge. As he was being assisted by the Holy Ghost. And so, look, if Jesus says these words, not even the angels in heaven, no man knoweth, how can you possibly think? Brethren, I don't want you to be foolish. I don't want you to have some stupid idea and think I can work this out and try to work it out from the Bible. Look, you're wasting your time, okay. You're just going to show your foolishness and not even have some doubt about your salvation, honestly, if you think you can work it out when so clearly Jesus says there's no man and no man knows it, okay. And this is why, you know, some people think, well, it could be my lifetime. I don't know, it could be 100 years from now. It could be 500 years. We don't know. We don't know. And this is why end times can make a fool out of you. Because you go back and read the books. Just go back to the 80s. Go back to reading the end times books before the millennium. So many people are saying, well, Christ can come back now. It's 2,000 years. I mean, 6,000 years. Or, you know, the nation of Israel was established in 1944, and we know one generation, because, you know, it lasts about 20 years, so Christ is probably going to come back in the 60s. And then it was put off to the 80s. And it's like, well, it didn't happen in the 80s. I guess it's going to happen in the millennium. You know, it makes a fool out of people, okay. Let's just, we don't know. But we need to study it. It's important, okay. Christ has given us so much in His scriptures for us to know about the end times. Now, why is it important, though, Brevin? Why is it important? Yes, we believe Christ is coming back. We don't want to be fools and think we can figure it out, okay. But why is it important to learn about the end times? Look at verse number one, Matthew 24, verse one. And Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him, for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? The disciples have good questions here. They recognize the sign of his coming and the end of the world, things that come hand in hand, right. And then look at verse number four. Why is it important? Verse number four, And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Why should we know about the end times? Why should we learn about this? Because there are deceivers, right. There are people trying to deceive you about the end times. And many of my Baptist brethren have been deceived about the end times. Okay, many of them have been deceived. And it's important that we spend our times in the scriptures, seeing just what are the scriptures clearly saying. You know, what can we, you know, nail down, you know, and say this is going to happen, these are the events, how they're going to play out. This is why it's important for us to do a series on the end times and not to rush it, to spend our time and understand it fully. I don't want you to be deceived. I don't want to be deceived. Why would anyone want to be deceived? But there are deceivers out there, brethren. The JWs, we just talked about them. They've been deceived. I mean, they're so deceived, when they're lied to, they still can't get out of the church. And even my Baptist brethren, they believe in the pre-tribulation rapture. Can you show me that in the Bible? It's the gist of the Bible. You know, it's the expectation that we would know that. Where is it written in the scriptures? Isn't that how we always build our doctrine? Isn't that what our pastors say? Hey, don't believe what I'm saying behind the pulpit. Go and check it out for yourself in the Bible. Isn't that what we teach? Well, guess what? It's not there. You know, and if you're a pre-trib believer right now, look, I don't hate you. I love you. You're my brother in the Lord. But listen, if you can't read it in your Bible, it's time for you to go back and study because you've been deceived. Alright? And we can't be people that have been deceived. Christ warned us to not be deceived. Then why are we allowing ourselves to be deceived when Christ warned us to not be deceived? You know, so it's important for us to understand the end times because there is deception out there. Alright, look at verse number 42. Same chapter, Matthew 24 verse 42. Why else is it important to study and understand the end times? Verse number 42. It says here, Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth come. Number two why it's important for us to learn about the end times is because we're commanded to watch. Whether you understand what the benefits are or not, we're just commanded to do it. Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth come. We ought to be watching. We ought to be studying the Bible. We ought to be seeing how this world develops and see how it ties in to the Bible. But brethren, let me just be very clear about this. Don't look at the governments of this world. Don't look at the, you know, the nations and then interpret your Bible in light of what's going on in this world. No, no, no, no. Take your Bible first and then you can understand what will happen, what will develop, okay? That's how you're going to prevent yourself from being deceived. Watch, learn what the Bible says and then you can have a better understanding of what's going on in this world. Look at verse number 43. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. So we're commanded to watch by Jesus Christ. You know, when I started this church, someone said to me, just, he says, don't focus on the end times. It's too controversial. There are too many opinions out there. You know, why waste your time on that when, you know, there's so many other things to be taught in the Bible? And look, if all I was doing, you know, every sermon was taught at the end times, that would be a big imbalance, right? I mean, obviously, there's a lot in the Bible. But we can't ignore the end times. You know, I mean, it's a commandment. Watch. I'm the pastor. I'm supposed to be the overseer of your souls. You know, I should be watching and I should be telling you to watch. I should be telling you to study, to learn, to go. Don't be deceived. You know, everything I say, you go back to the scriptures. Don't go back to YouTube. Don't go to a false prophet. Don't go to someone that just tells you what the end times is instead of showing you from the word of God. Go back yourself. If you're saved, you have the Holy Spirit of God in you. Go back and read the Bible yourself and prove me wrong. And if you prove me wrong, praise God. Okay, because I'm not perfect. You know, show me where I'm wrong. Show me where the scripture says something else, contrary to this, because I don't want to be deceived. And I don't want to be deceiver either, okay? And so it's important for us to understand and we're commanded to learn about the end times. Please go to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2 verse 11. Titus chapter 2 verse 11. Why else should we learn about the end times? It says here, Titus 2, 11, For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, look at this, with nighing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a powerful verse there, right? What is Jesus Christ called there? The great God and Savior. This is a powerful verse for the deity of Christ. He is the Son of God. He is God. He is the great God. And we're here waiting for that glorious appearing. Not a secret, brethren. It's a glorious appearing. Every eye will see. Look at verse 14. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Why else should we be studying about the end times? Why else should we understand that Christ is coming back to be motivated to live a godly life? What did it say there? Denying ungodliness, denying the worldly lusts. We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world as we're looking forward to that blessed hope. Hey, the return of Christ is called the blessed hope. When we're living in those last days, there's going to be nothing that you're going to hope for more than the return of Christ because it's going to be a tough time for Christians. It's not a bed of roses as it leads up to the return of Christ. It's going to be a time of tribulation. It's going to be a time of persecution. And then you can understand why it's such a great hope, why it's such a blessed hope to be waiting for the coming of the Lord to be delivered from those hardships to come. And again, we're going to go into that as we get into the series. But what did it say there? Who gave himself, verse 14, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity. You see, when it comes to the coming of Christ, yes, we're saved. Yes, all our sins have been paid for on the cross. Yes, God sees us perfect in the righteousness of Christ, but don't we need to keep living in these fleshly, sinful bodies though? Aren't we sinning till the day we die? Yeah, but there's a coming of time. The other promise of the return of Christ is that we're going to be delivered from all iniquity. After the coming of Christ, Brevin, you're never going to sin again. There's going to be no more iniquity. That's another motivation. So in light of that, in light of Christ's coming, the blessed hope, we're never going to commit iniquity again. We're never going to commit sin again. Then we should live today in light of that truth. Because that's the true nature. That's the true us. You know, the one we've had iniquity, the one that is in Christ, then that should motivate us to give up those worldly lasts, to give up the things of this world, the sins that please us for this, you know, a temporary time. We need to work to live a godly, righteous life to serve the Lord. So it's there to motivate us to know that Christ is coming back, zealous of good works. And I'll just read to you from 1 John 2.28. It says, Listen, when Christ comes back, we don't want to be ashamed. We want to be, you know, we want to be those Christians that are just serving Him with our life. We don't want to be the Christians that are afraid. We don't want to be the Christians that are still stuck in those old sins. We don't want to be the Christians that still haven't given the gospel to anybody. We don't want to be those Christians that haven't read our Bibles cover to cover. We don't want to be those Christians that aren't attending a good church. We don't want to be ashamed of the coming of Christ, right? This is to motivate us so we can be at the best place, we can be at our peak in our Christian life, as much as we can in this earth, so we will not be ashamed. They're going to be Christians that are ashamed when Christ comes back because they haven't been serving him with their life. They haven't been doing the most basic things, maybe not even praying, not even opening up their Bibles. We don't want to be that way. So we don't want to be ashamed. It's a motivation, the coming of Christ, a motivation to live a godly and righteous life. Please go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 19, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 19. Why else is it important? Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 19. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing? So the Apostle Paul is saying, what are we hoping for? What gives us joy? What makes us rejoice? He's talking about this crown. I believe this is a crown as well, the treasures of heaven. What is it? He says, are not even ye? Who's the ye? The Thessalonian church. Right? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? You know, the Apostle Paul was excited to show Jesus that he's coming, hey, look at the Thessalonian church, Lord. That's what he's excited about, to present that church to the Lord. Hey, look at the Thessalonians, look how they're going. You know, he didn't want the Lord to be ashamed of them. So the next point of the end time, why is it important? So we can prioritize soul winning and church planting. Soul winning and church planting. What is he rejoicing? He says, look, are not even ye, you are the ones, the reason I'm rejoicing. Because when Christ comes back, I can show them, hey, these are the souls that got saved, Lord. These are the souls that got plugged into a good church. These are the souls that served you in the local body of Christ. Hey, that should motivate us then, brethren. We want new life after this church to be here until the coming of the Lord, amen. No matter what generation it takes, you know, we want this church to last. I want to present this church to the Lord, and it's going to be our crown of rejoicing, brethren. You know, and to show the Lord, hey, these are the souls that were saved on the Sunshine Coast. These are the souls that joined us in the body and continue doing the work for the Lord. Hey, this coming of Christ should motivate us as well, and to prioritize soul winning and church planting, starting other churches. That should be our goal as well, to establish other bodies out there, to do the work of God in other areas in Australia or even other places in this world. Okay, we're a young church, you know, we're not fully doing that well. We did start one in Sydney, but that should be our goal. As time goes on, as we grow in the Lord, as we grow as a church, we should be thinking of expanding. We want to rejoice at these other churches, at these other saved, brethren, at the coming of the Lord. Please go to James chapter five, James chapter five now. James chapter five verse one. Why else is the coming of the Lord so important? Why else is studying the end times so important? James chapter one verse five. It says here, James basically ripping into rich people. It says here, and wicked people, it says, go to now, you rich men, weep and how, for your miseries that shall come upon you. I won't read all the verses, but he's basically just going, just criticizing these rich people Why? Look at verse number six. Ye have condemned, these are the rich, unsaved people. Ye have condemned and killed the just, and he doth not resist you. So we have people in power, people in authority that seek to kill the just, that seek to kill believers. We're talking about persecution here. Real persecution. I'm not talking about persecution of someone at the door saying I'm not interested. You know, cussing at you, you know, maybe bringing up their voice and threatening you slightly. That's not persecution. Listen, if you're facing death, that's real persecution, right? If believers are being put to death, that's real persecution. And so he's condemning these rich men. Look at verse number seven. Now it says to us, be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold the husband man, waiter for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord, Jor-El-Nim. The other reason it's important to learn about the end times and the coming of Christ is to be able to get through trials and persecution. To get through it. If we're facing real persecution on this earth, you know, maybe we're being put to death for the cause of Christ. You know, what's going to keep us getting through that? What's going to keep us to serving the Lord and not giving up? Well, I know the Lord's going to come back. The Lord's going to come back and He's going to reward us for our service. The Lord's going to come back and take vengeance on these wicked people. You know what's exciting about the end times though? You know, I'm a bit off topic now, but you know how they're going to take the mark of the beast? And those that take the mark of the beast, their part is going to be removed from the book of life. So they're reprobated. They cannot be saved. Now here's the thing. When Jesus was put to death, what did He say? God forgive them, right? What did Stephen say when he was put to death, when he was stoned to death? He was asking for forgiveness as well, right? But here's about the end times, guys. If you're being put to death by reprobates, you don't have to say, Father, forgive them. They're unforgivable. They're reprobate. You say, Father, take full vengeance on these wicked people. All right? That's what it's going to be like in the last days. God's not going to forgive the reprobate. He's not going to forgive these wicked people that take the mark of the beast and worship the beast and the devil. Anyway, that's just a bonus, guys. What passage were you guys in? Sorry, guys. I've lost my spot. Sorry? Are you guys in James 5? All right. Can you please go to Revelation chapter 1? Ah, yeah, Revelation chapter 1. Yeah, please go there once. Revelation chapter 1. Why else should we study the end times? Revelation chapter 1, verse 3. The Bible reads, blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Why else should we learn about the end times? Why else should we read the book of Revelation? Because it says here, blessed is he that readeth. You're going to receive a special blessing from God if you can read and understand the book of Revelation, which is, again, 90% end times prophecy. Also, if you guys, just go back to Revelation 22 as well. Revelation chapter 22, verse 7. Revelation 22, verse 7. What does Jesus say? He says, behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. There's a blessing at the beginning of Revelation. There's a blessing at the end of the book of Revelation. When God repeats something twice, you know it's something you need to pay attention to. You know it's something that's important. You know, when God says something once in the Bible, it's important. How much more important than is it when he says it twice, when he says it three times, when he says it four times? There is a special blessing. You say, what is that blessing? I don't really know, okay? But there is a blessing, and I don't want to miss out on it, brother. I don't want to miss out on it. I want to read the book of Revelation. I want to study the book of Revelation. I want to teach it. I want to understand it, and I hope you participate in this series, right? I told you guys, pay attention. If you have questions, bring it to me. I want us to learn together. I want us to increase in knowledge together as we go through this series because it's a blessing, and I want that blessing, okay? Not only is the end times exciting, hey, that's an easy way to get blessed by God. You know, when we get to heaven, we can ask God what that blessing was, but I'm sure when we get there, we'll be happy to have received that blessing. We'll be happy that we didn't miss out on that blessing. So those are the reasons why it's important not to avoid it because we might be afraid. It's important for us to learn the end times for all those reasons, to get us through serving the Lord, to get through trials, to get through persecution, to receive that blessing from God, and just because Jesus commanded us to watch, so we should be people ready for the end times. Now, please go to Revelation chapter 20, just a couple of chapters behind, back where you are, Revelation chapter 20, verse 1, Revelation chapter 20, verse 1. I'm almost done now, but I just want to end on this because when it comes to the end times, there are different views on what that is, and it begins with what people believe about the millennium. Now, that word millennium is not in your Bible, but it's used to describe a thousand years. When we say a decade, what are we talking about? Ten years. What's a hundred years? A century. So what's a thousand years? A millennium. So when we read about the millennium here, a thousand years, you know we're talking about the millennium. Revelation chapter 20, verse 1. Now I want you to notice every time the Bible says a thousand years, okay? And then I'll explain why we're reading this. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. So that's the first mention there. Verse number 3. This is the first resurrection. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Did anyone count how many times a thousand years was mentioned? Six times. In such a short passage, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years. Listen, if God wants us to pay attention when he says something twice, what about when he says it six times? Do you think it's important? Absolutely. This is where we get the teaching of the millennium. There's a thousand year period to come where Satan is taken and he's chained up in the bottomless pit for those thousand years, and then he's loosed for a little season at the end of those thousand years. And we also saw that those that partook of the first resurrection are going to rule and reign with Christ for those thousand years, okay? Why are you telling us this? Because what you believe about the millennium is going to change the way you understand the end times. Now brethren, six times, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years, you think there's a literal thousand years to come. I expect you to believe that, all right? If you don't, I'll be slapping you if you don't believe that. There's a thousand years to come, right? Now listen, when you read your Bibles, you should start with a literal reading of the Word of God. Whatever you read, you should say, well, this must be literal. Just start with that thought. And then obviously not everything in the Bible is literal, right? I mean, there are many things that are not, you know, I was teaching down in Sydney about the armor of God. You know, it's not literal armor to put on. It's not like a piece of clothing that you have to put on on your body. Obviously, the armor of God is a spiritual thing, right? It's not something to be taken literally, but it's a spiritual lesson of the things that you need to put on in the Christian life, okay? So when you read your Bibles, you start with a literal view. And when it's obviously not literal, you know, this must be spiritual. It must be, you know, maybe an analogy or something, right? Well, there are some Christians, and I don't even know if they're really Christians. I don't know if they're really saved. I can't tell you, you know, but they believe that these thousand years are not a literal thousand years. They believe it's some spiritual thousand years. It's something that's not really necessarily even a thousand. Now look, I can kind of understand a little bit, a little bit, if you lived in the first thousand years after Christ's resurrection. I can kind of understand if you might have a slightly different view. Let me share what those views are. Now as a church, we believe, we are pre-millennial, pre-millennial, okay? As a church, what does that mean? What does pre mean? Before. Before the millennium is our position. What does that mean? It means that we believe Christ is coming back before the millennium, okay? That's what we believe. Before the millennium comes, Christ is coming back. That's what makes us pre-millennial. We believe Christ is coming back before the millennium. But there's other positions out there. One is called post-millennialism. What's post? After. There are some Christians that believe that Christ is coming after the end of the millennium, okay? But they do not believe in a millennium the same way we do, all right? They believe that Christ will return after the millennium kingdom. And what they believe is Christians today will convert the entire world to Christianity. That we're just going to have this success. Everyone's going to get, at least the vast majority of the world is going to get saved. And they believe we're going to create this Christian utopia. It's going to be like a perfect Christian world. And that perfect Christian world that we create with all these salvations, everyone's in church, you know, we convert all the Muslims, we convert all the Jews, we convert all the, you know, atheists. They believe that's the millennium, okay? And once we reach that level of millennium, whatever that is, that's when Christ comes back, is what they teach. Because you'd be stupid to deny that Christ is coming back. They believe Christ is coming back, but they believe it's after the millennium. That's why they're post-millennial, okay? But, I mean, there's many ways to disprove post-millennialism. And basically, you know, the Bible tells us many times that this world will just wax worse and worse. It doesn't sound like, and I don't have time to go through this today, maybe we'll spend some time in another sermon, but obviously it's very clear that in the latter days it's going to be a very wicked time. It's going to be, there's going to be so many false prophets, there's going to be so many deceivers, just the hearts of men are just going to wax worse and worse, okay? It doesn't sound like a utopia to me. I mean, that's just a foolish doctrine to believe we're going to be able to do that. I mean, Jesus Christ always said it's the few that get saved anyway, okay? It's never the majority. It's always the righteous few, okay? So we don't believe in the post-millennium. The other position that's out there is called amillennialism. What's amillennialism? Well, think of an atheist. We're theists. We believe in God, okay? That's what theist means, that you believe in God. And our theists, they put the A before that, is they deny God. They deny that He exists, right? Well, they believe that they don't believe that God exists. We know that they believe God exists, but that's what they, they lie to themselves, right? And so there are atheists who are millennialists, deny the millennium. They don't believe in a literal millennium like you and I do. They don't believe that Christ is going to come back and establish His kingdom for a thousand years. And what they actually believe is that after the ascension of Christ, after Christ was resurrected from the dead and He ascended to be with the Father, they believe that's when the millennium started. So it's not Christ ruling on this earth for a thousand years. They believe Christ was ruling from heaven for a thousand years and that the millennium is just Christianity for a thousand years. Now again, I guess if you were there for the first century, you can maybe have that view, right? Well, you know, we're still in that first thousand years, but what about when the thousand years was over, brethren? Wouldn't you think, man, I'd better drop this belief? I mean, it's been over a thousand years. Maybe I've got to time it a little bit different. Maybe I'll time it from 70 AD. Oh no, I don't know. Whatever people do, right? They find some other date. I'm sure once they cross that date, they're like, man, this is a stupid doctrine. But it's crazy, brethren, because, you know, stupid doctrines remain, all right? Stupid teaching from the JWs about the coming of Christ, they're still going to the JW kingdom hall. I mean, people are stupid. When they don't have, when they're not saved, when they don't have the Spirit of God in them, they're easily deceived, and they'll just easily believe a lie. It's almost like they want to believe a lie. The amillennious, man, they had a thousand years, you know, but now it's just an embarrassment. In fact, it's not even that prevalent of a position these days, but there are still some that claim to be Christian that believe this position. So they believe the first, you know, they believed that, well, now because the thousand years has ticked over, now they'll say, well, it's just a spiritual thousand years. It's not really a literal thousand years, but, you know, maybe a thousand years, you know, a thousand years is like a day to the Lord, one day is like a thousand years. You know, maybe it doesn't really mean a thousand years is what they believe now. You know, it's just a stupid doctrine. Please never be deceived. I mean, that's such a ridiculous thing. The fact that Christ, the word of God has to tell us six times a thousand years. I think it's a thousand years. I think it's a literal thousand years, Christ. So this is important because we're not post-millennial, we're not amillennial, we're pre-millennial. Okay? Now, in the pre-millennial world, and again, I'm going to save this for the next sermon, but in the pre-millennial world, there are basically two schools of thought. One is called the historic pre-millennialism. That's what we believe. Okay? And essentially, it's the belief that there's really no major difference between Israel and the church. Okay? Or, you know, some people say this is replacement theology where God, you know, no longer is dealing with a physical nation of Israel, but God now in the New Testament is dealing with a spiritual nation of Israel, the Israel of God. Okay? That's the historic position. Right? That the Old Testament Israelites were the church in the wilderness, and we're just now local churches throughout the world, you know, in the New Testament times. You know, where there's really no difference. The saved of the Old Testament are part of the same body, the same makeup of the saved that are in the New Testament. That's our position, the historic pre-millennial position. The other school of thought is what's become very prevalent in the last 100 years, and that's dispensational pre-millennialism, okay? And this started with John Nelson Darby. This position was not held by anybody until John Nelson Darby. Now, what he did was basically say, no, there's a complete separation between a physical nation of God, Israel, and the spiritual people. There's totally nothing to do with one another, and what they believe is that at the end of the Old Testament, they don't even believe that the Old Testament has really ended. They believe when Christ brought in the New Testament, he took Israel, the physical nation, set it aside, and God is now just dealing with the New Testament church. And at the coming of Christ, God is going to set aside, let's pretend the hymnbook is the New Testament church, where God's going to set aside the New Testament church, all right, I'm done with you, and for the next seven years, I'm going to go back and deal with the physical nation of Israel. That's what they believe. That's the dispensational pre-millennial view. I haven't got time to go through that today. I'll go through that probably Sunday afternoon, but there are two schools of thought. Most of the independent Baptists, most of our brethren believe in the dispensational pre-millennial position, okay? And so my goal in the next sermon is to basically break down the differences and why we hold to a historic pre-millennial view, all right. So brethren, I just want to wrap it up there. I hope that was helpful for you, and again, if you have any questions for me, please let me know, but is the end times important? Yes. Do you want to read the book of Revelation? Yes. Okay, grow in knowledge, learn of the end times, look forward to the coming of Christ because it's going to come back, and it wants to reward us, and it's going to give us those new bodies, how exciting, where we would never have to sin again. We will never have iniquity in our bodies again, and by focusing on the return of Christ, by knowing that promise, it's going to help you live godly. It's going to help you live righteously. Let's pray.