(#024) - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?The Truth comes to light in a way that can't be ignored.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church
Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that Jesus Christ is God. As Lord He is 100% Deity…He is God the Son. He is also 100% human just like you and me and His name is Jesus Christ. The Lord…God the Son…became flesh…Jesus Christ...and lived among us. He is the Sovereign God of the Universe…He is the Savior of the whole world…and He is the Jewish Messiah.
Those who make Barah Ministries their spiritual home are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is a relationship…not a religion. As Christians, we have a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ is a Person. He’s not a thing, and He’s not a concept. Just as we do with any person we love, we spend time getting to know the Lord through the study of His Word because you can’t get to know the Lord without knowing His mind. The Bible is His exact thinking.
Second Peter, Chapter 2, Verses 20 and 21 say…
SECOND PETER 2:20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own private interpretation…
SECOND PETER 2:20 …for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will…but men carried along by God the Holy Spirit spoke directly from the exact thinking of THE God…the Lord Jesus Christ.
At a time when we need truth more than ever, the Bible is proving itself to be the Voice of Truth. There is nothing we need more right now that the comfort provided by the truth from the Word of God.
Barah Ministries makes a difference by teaching the Word of God from the Lord Jesus Christ’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective. We search the Scriptures to learn who the Lord is as a Person, and to learn what our God has to say about Himself, about His plan for all mankind, and about His personal plan for each of us. We are here to look at our lives from His perspective. We are here to learn how to enjoy the sphere of grace, forgiveness and unconditional love in which we believers in Christ stand, especially in the midst of the complete chaos engulfing the world right now. Welcome to a place of peace!
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?
LESSON INTRODUCTION
Friends have teased me over the years for being “religious” … I am not. They have teased me for being a Pastor … and so I am. Yet in crisis, there is no teasing. These same friends are wondering if this is the end of the world. In today’s lesson, we’ll overview the divine sequence of history and remind ourselves where we are in the progression of God’s plan for mankind.
SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s hear some music! In Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 11, the apostle Paul gives us the antidote for crisis…
PHILIPPAISN 4:11b …I (Paul) have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
We can relax in a crisis because Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, Verse 8 says…
DEUTERONOMY 31:8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you…He will be with you…He will not fail you or forsake you…so do not fear or be dismayed.”
As you put one foot in front of the others in these days of uncertainty… here’s hoping you can think what June Murphy is about to sing…IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL. God has got you!
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL June Murphy
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father, thank you for upholding us with your righteous right hand as we desperately long to know what the future holds for us…thank you for being an ever-present help in times of trouble…thank you for the comfort of the Word which soothes our souls, even if only for the minutes when we are listening to it…
Father, bring to our minds regularly to the suffering of Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ…help us to reflect on the hostility He endured on our behalf at the Cross…keep us from fainting in our souls…help us not to lose heart as we endure with perseverance the trials you have placed before us right now…and let these trials have Your intended effect…that we learn perseverance, and proven character, and hope…and that most of all we learn to count on You, and not to lean on our own understanding…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?
Make no mistake about it. The world as we know it will end. Revelation, Chapter 21, Verses 1 to 5 tell us…
REVELATION 21:1 Then I (the apostle John…author of the Book of Revelation) saw a new heaven and a new earth…for the first heaven and the first earth passed away…and there is no longer any sea in the new heaven and the new earth.
REVELATION 21:2 And I (John) saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned (beautifully dressed) for her husband is made ready.
REVELATION 21:3 And I (John) heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God the Father (the Lord Jesus Christ) is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God the Father Himself will be among them…”
REVELATION 21:4 “…and God the Father will wipe away every tear from their eyes…and there will no longer be any death…there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain…the first things (the old order of things) have passed away.”
REVELATION 21:5 And He who sits on the throne (the Lord Jesus Christ) said, “Behold, I am making all things new (not a renovation of old things).” And He said (to me…John), “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
The end is coming, but it is a long way off.
We’re pausing our study of the fourth passage of the apostle Paul’s first letter to a church he established in Corinth to give you an educational message about the state of the world from the biblical perspective.
There’s a big part of us that wants to believe that what we see is what we get. For example, in an intimate relationship, we’d like to believe the other person is on our side. We don’t want to believe the other person is not on our side, and that the other person has an intention to betray us. We want to believe that when a newscaster reports a story to us, there has been quite a bit of objective research behind the scenes to ensure the accuracy of the story. We don’t want to believe that a group of people has been sitting in a room conjuring up a completely false story, a lie, that is designed both to deceive us and to scare us. We’d like to believe that the government we select has our best interest in mind. We don’t want to believe that there is a shadow government behind the scenes that is manipulating results to benefit themselves while simultaneously hurting us.
We're naïve, and frankly, we prefer it. In relationships, there are divorces. People do betray each other. Some news stories are fabricated. We've heard of tabloids. Today, our “mainstream media” is tabloid. We've caught reporters in lies. Government officials are found to be corrupt. We probably don't ever hear the depth of the corruption, but we hear just enough to know that corruption exists. We willingly go to casinos knowing that the odds are stacked so heavily against us that the chances of winning are almost non-existent. We go anyway because we say, "You never know!" Well, we do know.
We're naïve because we would prefer to think that evil doesn't really exist in the world. Yet it does. And the depth to which evil will sink cannot be underestimated. Frankly, we don't want to hear these kinds of things from anyone, much less from a Pastor, because it forces us to look at the truth about our personal life experiences. We prefer the fantasies we create to anesthetize us from the reality that exists. When someone introduces a possibility that is a bit too real, we call it a “conspiracy theory.”
Human history was created by God to resolve a prehistoric conflict between the Lord, God the Son, and his bodyguard…formerly known as “the anointed cherub who covers” … in Ezekiel 28:14 … now known as the devil and Satan and the enemy of God, among his many functional titles. This is NOT a theory. We don’t just come together to study the Bible…we come to learn about this hidden warfare that is occurring in the spiritual realm. Why? Because the very same warfare is playing out in our own lives every moment of every day. One day, the entire truth will come to light in a way that can’t be ignored. For now, we’ll have to take God’s Word for it that this spiritual warfare exists, and it is a very present part of our lives. Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verses 10 to 12 give us a hint concerning the spiritual warfare we are part of…
EPHESIANS 6:10 Finally, be strong in union with the Lord and in the strength of His might (His divine power which overcomes all resistance).
EPHESIANS 6:11 Pick up and put on the full armor of God (the panoply of divine resources) … so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
We are here to arm ourselves with truth so that we can withstand this spiritual battle effectively. Without the armor of God’s truth, we will be deceived, just as we prefer.
EPHESIANS 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (it is not of the HUMAN realm…a realm that is seen) … but our struggle is against the demon rulers and against the powers…and against the dark forces of the world…against the SPIRITUAL forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (in the unseen realm).
The Bible informs us that there is a Creator-creature conflict playing out…Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 25…
ROMANS 1:25 For unbelievers exchanged the truth about God for a lie…and worshiped and served the creature (Satan) rather than the Creator (the Lord…God the Son) … the One who is blessed forever. Amen.
The conflict plays out during a series of divine time periods. The Lord’s apostles were obsessed with learning about these time periods. Acts, Chapter 1, Verses 6 and 7…
ACTS 1:6 So when they had come together, the apostles were asking Jesus, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
ACTS 1:7 Jesus said to them, “It is not for you to know times (the chronology) or epochs (the divine eras) which God the Father has fixed by His own authority…” The Lord was telling the apostles not to obsess about how and when the time periods would unfold. They did it anyway! Actually, the Lord was always teaching them about time periods to keep them aware of the big picture. As a Pastor, I regularly zoom you into the human problems in a place like Corinth, for example, as we study First Corinthians…yet I don't want you to ever forget the big picture…the unseen warfare you are a part of that is raging in the heavenly places. Two hours a week is hardly enough time to keep you tuned in to the context of the spiritual life.
Let’s take a look at the chronology of divine history so that we know the end of the world is not imminent. This is a subject that takes years to teach, so realize we are just taking a high-level look at the chronology.
The Divine Plan for Mankind
There are seven stages of the divine plan for mankind.
The Age of the Gentiles extends from the Creation of Adam to Moses and the Exodus. It includes Abraham and The Jewish Race and a series of promises made to Abraham by God that absolutely will come true.
The Age of Israel is a four-hundred and ninety-year period extending from Moses and the Exodus to the Virgin Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. It includes the formation of The Jewish Nation and the revelation of The Mosaic Law. This age is paused after four hundred and eighty-three years when the Lord, God the Son, becomes flesh and tabernacles among us.
The Age of the Hypostatic Union extends from the Virgin Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ to Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. It is commonly known as The Incarnation, the thirty-three years when the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, lived on the earth.
The Church Age, also known as The Age of the Gentiles and The Age of Grace…it is the age that we live in, right this moment…and it extends from Pentecost to the Rapture…the exit resurrection of Church Age believers. The Rapture is the time when all believers in Christ will be plucked off the earth by God. There is a period of time left in The Church Age. After this age is over, the world as we know it has at least 1007 years remaining according to the Bible. The end is of the world is coming, but it is a long way off.
The Tribulation is a seven-year period that is the completion of the Age of Israel. The Tribulation extends from the Rapture to the Second Coming of Christ. It is the worst period of time in human history.
The Millennium is the thousand-year period where the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on the earth in Person. The Millennial Reign of Christ extends from the Second Coming of Christ to the Last Judgment.
When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take your offering, and then we’ll get a bit of biblical proof concerning these time periods.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK NOBODY Casting Crowns
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?
On Friday, I had the pleasure of giving the gospel message to a new friend… a young man who has been in my life for about a year. He returned the gift by listening attentively. He wasn’t resisting…he was just listening…asking questions…taking the gospel message in…and storing it so that he can make a decision about it. The gift of listening is the gift of intimacy.
When you give to Barah Ministries, you make it possible for us to give the gift of the gospel message to people all over the world through the magic of the internet. Especially now, people are listening attentively. Thank you for supporting this ministry with your generosity. Please pass along the gift of listening to those who are near you right now…it’s an intimate thing to do…and keep on giving generously…your unselfish giving is a reflection of our God, and it gives people around the world a chance to respond intimately to a life-giving message…the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
FIRST THESSALONIANS 5:8-9 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. // For God has not destined us for wrath…but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…
OFFERING SONG THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU David Bauer, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?
SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s hear some music! As believers in Christ, we are IN the world… Satan’s kingdom…but we are not OF the world. Our citizenship is in heaven. In John, Chapter 16, Verses 32 and 33 the Lord says, on the night before he is to be crucified…
JOHN 16:32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you apostles to be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me (the Lord Jesus Christ) all alone…and yet I am not alone, because God the Father is with Me.”
The Father will NEVER fail us or forsake us!
JOHN 16:33 “These things I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have spoken to you, so that in union with Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage…I have overcome the world.”
In One name, we believers in Christ have love, and joy, and hope, and victory. Here’s Jesus Culture to remind us this unconditional LOVE HAS A NAME. What name? Let’s listen…
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
LOVE HAS A NAME Jesus Culture
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Is it the End of the World as We Know It?
The Divine Plan for Mankind Slide
There are seven stages of the divine plan for mankind. Each stage begins and ends with a miracle. In the time we have left we’ll focus on the Church Age…next week we’ll take a look at the subject of divine time periods in more depth.
The Church Age, (depicted in green in the middle of the slide) also known as The Age of the Gentiles and The Age of Grace extends from Pentecost to the Rapture…the exit resurrection of the Church. There is a period of time left in The Church Age. After this period is over, the world as we know it has at least 1007 years remaining according to the Bible...the tribulation period, and the Millennium, the reign of Christ on the earth. The end is of the world is coming, but it is a long way off.
The Church Age is the era immediately after the Cross. It is the current age. What the Lord is communicating to us with the Church Age is that He was willing to do more for us after the fall of mankind than He did for us before the fall of mankind. The Cross changed everything! The magic of the Church Age is what Christ does for us during this age…Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 24 to 27…
COLOSSIANS 1:24 Now I (Paul) rejoice in my sufferings for your sake…and in my flesh I do my share of suffering on behalf of His body, which is the Church…in filling up what is lacking in service in illuminating Christ’s afflictions.
COLOSSIANS 1:25 Of this church, I was made a minister according to the dispensation from God the Father bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God…
COLOSSIANS 1:26 …that is, the (revelation of the) mystery (something previously concealed and now revealed) which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints…
COLOSSIANS 1:27 …to whom God the Father willed to make known what are the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles…which is Christ indwelling you… the hope of glory (the absolute confidence of your future glorification).
By indwelling His believers, the Lord made it possible for us to never fall again. THAT is unspeakably amazing…it is a power beyond our wildest dreams that is spite of our best efforts to the contrary, we CANNOT screw up our eternal future.
The Church Age begins at Pentecost. The miracle of Pentecost is the descent of God the Holy Spirit on all believers as promised by the Lord in Acts, Chapter 1, Verse 5…
ACTS 1:5 “…John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with God the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Church Age ends with the Rapture…the exit resurrection of Church Age believers…First Thessalonians, Chapter 4, Verses 16 and 17…
FIRST THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven (from His seat at the right hand of God the Father) with a shout…along with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God…and the dead (Church Age believers) in union with Christ will rise first (will be resurrected from the dead).
FIRST THESSALONIANS 4:17 Then we believers in Christ who are alive and remain on the earth will be caught up (rapturo in Greek) together with the dead Church Age believers in the clouds…to meet the Lord in the air…and so we shall always be with the Lord.
“In the clouds” distinguishes the Rapture from the Second Coming of Christ, where the Lord will touch down on the earth.
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Nope. There are at least 1007 years left in human history.
The Divine Plan for Mankind Slide
There is an eternity left in divine history. Relax. God has got you. In the chaos of this time, just don’t forget that you are part of an intricate plan that God is unfolding before your eyes. None of this is a surprise to Him…and He has made perfect provision for you to thrive in what seems to you to be uncertainty. I’m certain that God has got you, and the abundance and the magnificence of His unconditional love for you will become clearer and clearer to you in the coming days. Until then, rest in His love, and watch His love for you unfold.
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
The closing moments of our study are for the benefit of anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.
What does God want for you? Two things. First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST TIMOTHY 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior…the Lord Jesus Christ…
FIRST TIMOTHY 2:4 …who desires all men to be saved and for all men to come to the knowledge of the truth.
First and foremost, GOD WANTS YOU TO BE SAVED. Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 affirms His intentions for you…
SECOND PETER 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of...instead He is patient toward you unbelievers…not wishing for any of you to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all of you to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).
This immutable and irrevocable fact may contradict the thoughts placed in your head by God’s enemy, Satan, who contends that God is always looking for ways to come down on you.
Are you saved?
Second, GOD WANTS YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH. So, God provides you with the Bible…which contains the absolute truth…His exact thinking. John, Chapter 20, Verses 30 and 31…
JOHN 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book (the Bible) …
JOHN 20:31 …but these things written here (in the Bible) have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (The Jewish Messiah) … the Son of God in human form…and that by believing in Him you may have the resurrection life in His name.
Do you know the truth, especially the truth about who God is as a Person, and the truth about what He has done for you?
Maybe you don’t believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Maybe you don’t think He is God! Maybe you don’t think the Bible is His exact thinking. Maybe you don’t even think you need to be saved. The Bible says that being saved…salvation…is exactly what ALL humans need from the moment of physical birth. Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verse 1…
EPHESIANS 2:1 At physical birth, all mankind was born spiritually dead in trespasses and sins…
First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…
The Bible says all who are spiritually dead need to be saved…they need spiritual life. The Lord Jesus Christ volunteered for the task of saving you. Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 4 and 5 say…
EPHESIANS 2:4 But God the Father…being rich in mercy…because of His great unconditional love with which He loved all of us…
EPHESIANS 2:5 …even when we were spiritually dead in our transgressions…made us believers in Christ spiritually alive in union with Christ…by His grace you have been saved…
When you were spiritually dead, as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers, here’s what God the Father gifted to you…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
ROMANS 5:8 But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (as spiritually dead, ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers), Christ died as a sacrifice for us.
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance what I also received (the gospel message)… that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Scriptures…
Because of the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, right where you sit right now, you can have eternal life…the resurrection life…by taking the suggestion in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
You would also do well to heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
If you reject a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, eternity will not go well for you. Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12 tells you who saves you…
ACTS 4:12 “…there is salvation in no one else…for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”
You don’t have to work to be saved…it’s a free gift from a gracious God… Titus, Chapter 3, Verse 5…
TITUS 3:5 The Lord Jesus Christ saved us…not on the basis of deeds which we have done in self-righteousness…but according to His mercy…by the washing of regeneration and through the renewing by God the Holy Spirit…
There is no excuse for not knowing how to be saved. It’s SO simple. Why? It’s simple because God does the saving for you. All you have to do is invest your gift of faith…a gift you received from a loving God…and place that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Do it now! There is no time to waste.
SONG INTRODUCTION
Nothing we idolize is as great as the Lord according to Jeremiah, Chapter 10, Verse 6…
JEREMIAH 10:6 There is none like You, O Lord…You are great…and great is Your name… there are none that compare to you in might.
Here’s June Murphy to sing about our Great Shepherd…our Mighty Counselor…our Prince of peace in the song HOW GREAT THOU ART.
CLOSING SONG HOW GREAT THOU ART June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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