PRO:The Return of Christ (a pessamistic view)

   Introduction

   Since the Lord's Ascension, there has been many speculations about
His imminent return. But only in this generation has every single event
that the Bible identifies with the approach of the end of time
materialized. They are:

   1. Most people now scoff at the idea that the world could come to an
end anytime soon (II Peter 3:3-7).

   2. National Israel, which is symbolized in the Bible by the fig tree
(Jer.24), became a political nation again in 1948 (Matt. 24:32), but
has persisted in unbelief over the past 40 years (21:18,19).

   3. False prophets featuring signs and wonders have been spreading
like wildfire throughout the world since the 1950s (Matt.24:24).

   4. There has been a phenomenal surge in worldly knowledge and in
people travelling to and fro in recent decades. Spiritually, there has
also been a sharp increase on the part of many Christians in the
knowledge and understanding of end-time prophecy, as they go "to and
fro" within the Bible comparing Scripture with Scripture (Dan.12:4).

   5. The gospel is now being preached to all the nations through radio
(Matt.24:14).

   6. If Romans 1:24-32 is talking about the final tribulation and
Judgment Day, then in AIDS, a key prophecy of God's judgment on the
wicked is being fulfilled (Rom.1:27).

   7. Recent improvements in the U.S.-Russia relationship has led
people to say "Peace and Safety" in the physical world; while the
growing popularity of the New Age movement has induced many to believe
that all is well with their souls (I Thes.5:3). Misleading myth.

   Today's most widely accepted doctrine on eschatology is
pre-millennialism. That a given doctrine is popular, however, does not
necessarily mean that it is the right doctrine. Otherwise, there would
not have been any Reforma tion. The fact is, the pre-mil view
contradicts clear-cut statements in the Bible regarding the Lord's
return. We need to search for the truth from the Scripture.

   In Amos 3:6,7, God promises that He will not cause any disaster
without revealing His plan to His servants. As the world approaches the
end, therefore, we can expect Him to give new understanding of His Word
to those who seek that truth with an open mind.

   By understanding the nature of the final tribulation, the period
that immediately precedes the Lord's Return, we will be better equipped
to stand firm, endure and encourage weaker brothers.

   Matthew 24:1-3; Mark 13:1-4; Luke 21:5-7

   The great majority of theologians regard the prophecy Jesus made in
these passages as having been fulfilled in A.D.70, when the Romans
destroyed Jerusalem. This view is not satisfactory because:

   1. Jesus speaks in parables (Matt. 13:34). Note that when He said,
"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days" (John
2:19), He was talking about the spiritual temple even though He made
that statement right in the physical temple court after He had cleared
out the merchants.

   2. If "not one stone upon another" is to be understood literally,
then it was not ful filled in A.D. 70. Today, the Wailing Wall, which
was an inte gral part of the temple, is still standing in Jerusalem.
There are also parts of the temple foundation where stones are on top
of others.

   3. In these chapters about end-time events, Jesus was answering the
disciples' questions. They first asked, "When shall these things be?"
According to Mark 13:4 and Luke 21:7, they then asked for the sign of
the same "these things". The antecedent of "these things" is the
not-one-stone-upon-another remark by Jesus. So, the disciples knew that
the prophecy was not about the physical temple.

   4. Instead of the sign for "these things", Matt 24:3 says they asked
for the sign of "thy coming, and of the end of the world". In other
words, the Bible itself defines "these things" for us, confirming that
the not-one-stone-upon another prophecy has something to do with the
end of the world.

   What, then, was Jesus prophesying? Again, let's compare scripture
with scripture.

   In Luke 19, Jesus also uses the phrase "not one stone left on an
other", but in an altogether different context. A careful study of that
passage, verses 41-44, will give us an insight into what Jesus has in
mind when He uses that phrase. This prophecy is also widely believed to
have been fulfilled in A.D. 70. So, let's first consider these
questions:

   1. Would Jesus really weep over a physical city (v.41)?

   2. Could something be hidden from a physical city that cannot see or
hear (v.42)?

   3. How could a physical city have "children" (v.44 KJV)?

   4. How could a physical city recognize the time of God's
"visitation" (v.44)?

   Conclusion: Again, Jesus is talking about spiritual things, not the
physical Jerusalem. As He did in the temple court, He was using the
earthly structure in sight to introduce a spiritual truth.

   Parabolically, the Bible often uses the word "city" or "Jerusalem"
to symbolize the church (Rev.21:9,10), Christ Himself (Isa.60:14), or
na tional Israel (Isa.1:21). In this context, Jesus is re ferring to
national Israel.

   I Peter 2:5 describes the church as living stones built together
into a spiritual house. Thus, "not one stone left on another" in
dicates that the spiritual house is no longer intact; it has lost its
usefulness.

   What Jesus was prophesying in Luke 19, then, was that national
Israel, because it had failed to recognize the arrival of the Messiah
(v.44), would no longer be useful as the earthly

   representation of Christ's kingdom. They failed because the gospel
that could bring them peace with God had been hidden from them (v.42).

   This prophecy was fulfilled at the Cross, when the curtain of the
temple was torn in two from top to bottom (i.e., by God). National
Israel had lost its usefulness and have since become God's spiritual
enemy ("whoever is not for me is against me").

   Hundreds of years earlier, God was taking through the prophet
Jeremiah about the eventual defeat of Israel by the Babylonians. Note
that in verse 14 of chapter 30, God also describes Himself as Israel's
enemy.

   Back to Luke 21, verse 5 talks of the temple being adorned with
goodly or beautiful stones and with offerings or gifts. Why did God put
that in the Bible?

   In Revelation 21, God talks about the New Jerusalem -- the bride of
Christ -- as being "garnished with all manners of precious stones".
These stones symbolize the body of believers.

   The Greek word translated "gifts", or "offerings" in some versions,
is anathema. This is the only place in the Bible where that word is
used. For the dozens of times where "gift(s)" and "offering(s)" appear
in the NT, the Bible uses other Greek words.

   The Holy Spirit no doubt picked this particular word here for a
special reason. Note that it is almost identical to anathema, which is
from the same Greek root and which means "accursed". Through this
verse, Luke 21:5, the Bible is telling us that the spiritual house to
which Jesus is alluding in this prophecy is the corporate church, not
the body of true believers. Unlike the invisible church, the physical
representation of the church comprises both believers and unbelievers
(who are accursed).

   That the corporate church body, as well as individual believers, is
spoken of as God's temple is reflected in Ephesians 2:11-22. With Luke
19 in mind, we thus know that when Jesus looks at the temple and says
"not one stone upon another", He is saying that the visible church,
like national Israel, will at some point cease to be of use to God.

   Matthew 24:1-3; Mark 13:1-4; Luke 21:5-7

   That the corporate church will lose its usefulness prior to the last
day is also indicated, among many other places in the Bible, in
Revelation 11.

   1. The two witnesses, identified as the two olive trees and the two
lampstands (v.4), represent the church.

   2. As we learned before from our earlier study of Daniel 9, three
and a half years, 42 months and 1260 days (vv.2,3) all represent the NT
period during which the church evangelizes the world. (See "The 70
Weeks of Daniel 9" below.)

   3. When the two witnesses have finished their work, they are killed
(v.7). Meaning when all the elect will have been saved, the church will
become useless in its evangelistic work. God will let the corporate
church be overrun by worldly church leaders. (We are already seeing
that. Increasingly even in fundamental churches, pastors are more and
more eager to please their congregations than to truly worship God.)

   4. The three and a half days during which they were dead represents
the Final Tribulation. (This symbol will be explained later when we get
to study that period.)

   5. After that, believers in the apostate church come back to life
and are raptured (v.12).

   The 70 Weeks of Daniel 9

   In Daniel 9:24-27, God gives us two time paths that lead to the
Messiah's two comings. Both of them involve 70 "weeks" (which means 70
times 7 years, or 490 years) and both start from "the going forth of
the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem" (v. 25).

   In the Old Testament, there were two commandments or decrees issued
that had to do with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem.
(Nehemiah's return to rebuild the wall doesn't count. There was no
command involved; he sought and received permission to go.)

   In 537 B.C., King Cyrus of Persia, responding to a command from God,
directed the Israelites in his country to go back and rebuild the
temple. Some 50,000 Israelites did return to Jerusalem and lay the
foundation of the temple. But there is no possible way to relate 537
B.C. to the coming of the Messiah on a 70-week basis.

   In 458 B.C., King Artaxerxes commanded Ezra to reestablish the law,
to resume offering sacrifices and to resupply the temple in Jerusalem
(Ezra 7:12-25). This date works out perfectly.

   The Cross. The first path is given in verse 24: "Seventy weeks are
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation
for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up
the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

   This prophecy was fulfilled at the Cross. By dying there, Christ put
an end to our sins and transgression, reconciled us to God, brought to
us His everlasting righteousness, and put His seal on the prophesied
salvation plan. And He, the most Holy, was anointed the King of kings
and the Lord of lords as a result.

   When was Jesus crucified? We know from Luke 3 that He was baptized
in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar's reign. Tiberius had begun his
reign in A.D. 14. So, Christ's baptism took place some time in A.D. 29.
Then, from the Gospel of John, we know that the Lord was crucified
three and a half years after that, and it was in the spring (Passover).
That puts the Cross in A.D. 33, and Christ's baptism in the fall of
A.D. 29.

   From 458 B.C. to A.D. 33, there are exactly 490 years (see
calculation shown in the graph on page 7).

   Jubilee period. The second path is spelled out in verses 25-27,
where God breaks the 70 weeks into three segments: seven weeks,
sixty-two weeks and one week.

   The reason why God set the last week apart is easy to understand. At
the end of the 69th week, verse 25 prophesies, "the Messiah the Prince"
will come and "the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in
troublous times". And verse 27 deals entirely with the final week.

   But we wonder why the first seven weeks are separated from the 62
weeks.

   Well, in Leviticus 25:8, God specifies that there are to be 49
years"seven times seven years"between Jubilees. I believe the first
seven weeks in Daniel 9 is alluding to that. Not coincidentally, 457
B.C., the year after King Artaxerxes issued his decree, was a Jubilee
year (so was 407 B.C., 50 years later).

   By setting the first seven "weeks" apart, God is telling us to begin
counting the 62 "weeks" (or 434 years) after these Jubilee years. And
434 years after 406 B.C. is A.D.29, the very year Christ was baptized
and began His work as Messiah. He came to rebuilt God's holy city in
troubled times, fulfilling thereby the prophecy of verse 25.

   Victory by death. Verse 26, "And after threescore and two weeks
shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the
Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary "
Indeed, after the 62 weeks (after A.D. 29, that is), Christ was
crucified. He was not cut off for Himself, but for the sins of
believers.

   Who are the people of the Prince? The Romans that destroyed
Jerusalem in A.D. 70? No, they were not the people of the Messiah. The
Jewish people were. Notice what God says in John 1:11, "He (meaning
Jesus, the Prince) came unto his own, and his own received him not."

   And the city and sanctuary they destroyed is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the head of the holy city, the body of believers; and He is the
sanctuary, the temple He said He would rebuild in three days, if
destroyed (John 2:19).

   Satan destroyed. The last part of verse 26 reads, "And the end
thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations
are determined." This refers to Christ's victory at the cross. He
warred against Satan and in the end, as Hebrews 2:14 says, destroyed
the devil by His death.

   The flood epitomizes God's judgment, the decreed wrath that was
poured out at the end of the war. We read in Revelation 12, "And there
was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and
the great dragon was cast out into the earth" (vv. 7,9).

   Last "week". The 69th week ends with the baptism of Christ in A.D.
29, and that's when the last week of verse 27 begins. That verse reads,
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the
midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation (that
is, the offering) to cease "

   The much circulated idea that the last week represents the final
tribulation period and that the "he" in this verse is the Antichrist
has no Biblical support.

   In the context of verses 24-27, the antecedent of the pronoun "he"
is clearly the Messiah. Jesus is the one who came to confirm the
covenant of grace with many. "Many" refers to all those who are to be
saved. Matthew 20:28 declares that Christ came "to give his life a
ransom for many".

   And it was three and a half years later"in the midst of the
week"that Christ was crucified. Being the Perfect Sacrifice, the Lamb
of God, His death brought an end to all blood sacrifice and burnt
offering. Since the Cross, ceremonial sacrifices and offerings have
meant nothing to God.

   Symbolic. The second half of verse 27 reads: "and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."

   This is referring to the end of time. Because of the overspreading
of abominations in the final tribulation period, Christ will return in
power and glory to punish the Antichrist, to consummate God's salvation
plan and to pour the decreed judgment upon Satan, who has caused the
desolation.

   Note that although both paths are based on 70 weeks, they lead to
two events that are separated by some 2000 years. This, together with
the fact that it was not God's purpose to reveal the year of His
return, requires the use of a symbol for the period between the Cross
and the end of time. And that period is represented by the remaining
three-and-a-half years of the last "week".

   This observation is confirmed by Revelation 11-13. In those
chapters, God uses the figure of 3-1/2 years (or 42 months or 1260
days) to represent the whole New T

   Matthew 24:4-8; Mark 13:5-8; Luke 21:8-11

   An Overview of These Parallel Passages

   Verse 8 of both Matthew 24 and Mark 13 underscores that the events
listed here in these passages -- wars, famines and earthquakes -- are
but the beginning of travail, or birth pain. They will therefore take
place throughout the New Testament time.

   Moreover, as in the case with birth pain, their frequency and
intensity will increase with the passage of time, culminating in the
birth of the new heaven and new earth.

   The second half of Luke 21:11 also talks about pestilences (in
divers places) and terrors and the collapse of the universe. The
ensuing verse then begins with the phrase "But before these things".
Implication: Unlike the three phenomena spoken of in all three of the
synoptic Gospels, these added events refer to the end of time.

   In these verses and many other parts of the Bible, the Lord
repeatedly warns of false "christs" coming to deceive people. This is
an increasingly serious problem. We will devote our next lesson
entirely to this subject, and will therefore limit this study to the
other birth pains.

   People we witness to often ask: Why would a loving God allow or
decree disasters to kill so many people. Why did He allow ancient
Israel to massacre their enemies? In fact, if God is love and if He is
unchangeable, why then will He send billions of people to hell on
Judgment Day?

   These questions have arisen because too many Christians are saying
"God loves you" out of context. The fact is, the Bible never teaches
that God loves everyone. It presents a consistent message of salvation
by grace for the elect.

   Discuss the real meaning of "God so loved the world" of John 3:16,
"who wants all men to be saved" of I Tim. 2:4, and "not wanting anyone
to perish" of II Peter 3:9 in the light of other statements in the
Bible.

   The truth is, God hates sinners, not just the sin of sinners as some
rationalize. The only sinners He loves are those whom He had chosen to
save before time began. Read Psalm 5:4,5 and 11:5. Then read Matthew
1:21 and John 17:9.

   Study Romans 9:10-13 regarding "Esau I hated" and God's own
elaboration on what He means by "hate" in Malachi 1:2-5. Until you
thoroughly understand this truth, we will never fully appreciate how
merciful and gracious God has been to us. Jesus does want us to love
our neighbors and even our enemies, however. Our love and good deeds
will help save the elect and result in the unsaved glorifying God on
the Last Day (I Peter 2:12).

   Wars and Rumors of Wars

   As prophesied, wars have gotten more and more violent in the past
2000 years. World War II was by far most destructive and involved the
largest number of countries ever. These conflicts are the outgrowth of
the human sinful nature (James 4:1-3). Their growing intensity may be a
reflection of the increasing sinfulness of mankind.

   But strangely, well over 40 years have since passed and the
much-feared Third World War has never come. No, men have not learned to
live in peace, nor are they capable to do so on their own. Psalm
55:19-21 tells us that men "never change their ways" and that "war is
in his heart". Rather, God has kept a nuclear holocaust from taking
place.

   With the deadly weapons that have been developed and deployed in
recent decades, the next world war could well destroy all mankind. Such
an eventuality would not be in accord with God's plan. The world cannot
be destroyed until all of God's elect have been saved.

   Once the church is completed, however, God will put into motion His
end-time program. He will destroy not only the earth, but the whole
universe, and will then create the new heaven and the new earth for His
people (II Peter 3:10-13).

   Actually, Judgment Day will come at a time when most people will be
highly complacent, saying boastfully, "Peace and safety" (I Thes. 5:3).
Quite likely, the era of accelerating wars has already climaxed. This
is another indication that the end is near.

   Famines and Earthquakes

   Natural disasters have all resulted from Adam's fall. Man was
destined to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28), which was perfect after it
had been created. But after he had sinned, mankind was condemned. To
keep His decreed line of authority intact, God had to curse the earth
as well (Rom. 8:19-22).

   The deterioration we've been seeing in the quality of water, air,
earth, ozone layer, etc. and the erosion of arable land are all in
accord with God's plan. Environmentalists who are trying to reverse the
trend are fighting a no-win cause.

   All of these disasters have been caused by God (Amos 3:6). He uses
them to remind mankind of His wrath and His power. Significantly,
modern scientific advances notwithstanding, the world has not been able
to stop or even forecast such disasters.

   Pestilences

   Pestilences are plagues. There have been many outbreaks of plagues
in the world over the ages. But until recently, they had not gotten
progressively worse. Modern medicine has made so much headway in
stopping or curtailing them that, unlike wars, famines and earthquakes,
they have not followed the pattern of birth pain. This confirms our
understanding of Luke 21:11 that pestilences "in divers places" are an
end-time development.

   Now, AIDS is spreading all over the world. It is the fulfillment of
what Romans 1:27 warns. Study verses 18-32. This passage describes the
downhill path of mankind throughout time. Like many other prophesies,
it is put in past tense because it was decreed by God before the
foundation of the earth. Verse 27 was never fulfilled until recent
years.

   Terrors and heavenly signs

   The terrors spoken of in Luke 21:11, which are described in
Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible, are those to be experienced by
the unsaved when Christ returns. The heavenly signs, as amplified in
verses 25 and 26, mark the beginning of the end of the universe.

   Both of these events are addressed by Jesus later in this discourse,
when He talks more specifically about the end of time. We'll study them
when we get to those verses.

   Matthew 24:4,5; Mark 13:5,6; Luke 21:8

   We glossed over these verses in our last lesson so that we can
devote a whole study to this much repeated warning by the Lord Jesus
Christ: "Take heed that no man deceive you."

   Who Are the Deceivers?

   In the original manuscript, verse 6 of Mark and verse 8 of Luke do
not have the word "Christ" or "he" after "I am". So, the deceivers are
in fact saying "I AM", claiming, in other words, to be God. This
indicates that they are all controlled by Satan himself.

   Study Isaiah 14:12-17. Note how Satan wanted to be God. Verse 16
calls Satan "a man". He is the "man of sin" spoken of in II Thes.2:3,
the one who, according to Revelation, will be loosed for a "season"
just before Judgment Day; and who, according to Daniel, will cause the
abomination that causes desolation. We will document all this with
Scriptures later in another lesson. Just as Babylon was used by God to
punish the apostate Israel in the OT and was itself judged by God
afterwards, Satan will be used by God to take over the apostate church,
and then be finally defeated by Christ at His return.

   Only Satan, a spirit, can be the Antichrist. I John 2:18 says he
existed when John wrote that letter and will continue to exist
throughout time. He controls all the antichrists that have come to
deceive the world. Verse 19 notes that antichrists "went out from us";
they work within the church.

   Satan wants to stop Christ from building His church because he knows
that when all the elect will have been saved, he will be sent to hell
forever. In a sense, he is currently in chains already. See Matt.8:29,
Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10; Jude 6, II Peter 2:4.

   Most false prophets -- and, for that matter, most of the unsaved --
are serving Satan without knowing it. See Ephesians 2:2. Satan works
through all religions.

   Verse 5 of Matthew does have the phrase "I am Christ". So, Satan
will be especially deceptive when his workers infiltrate the church.
These counterfeit Christian ministers claim that they represent Christ.
Most of them are so deceived by Satan that they believe it themselves.

   This involves much more than the obvious cults, the Catholic church
and the liberal Protestant churches. Study II Cor.11:13-15. Also
Matt.7:15 re sheep's clothing. The false prophets that Jesus repeated
warns us against are extremely dangerous and hard to identify.

   Beware the Sugar-Coated Gospels

   Among the most dangerous deceivers are those who offer easy
salvation. Many have already been tricked into thinking that they are
saved just by "receiving" Christ or answering an altar call. They are
going through the "wide gates" that will only lead to destruction,
Matt.7:13,14 warns.

   Actually, of those who have been actively serving in fundamental
churches, a great many are still unsaved. Study Matthew 7:21-23 very
carefully. Rejected by God are "many" who called Christ "Lord", who
"prophesied" and even did miracles in the name of Jesus Christ.

   Many others have been deceived into believing that just because they
acknowledge Christ to be the Son of God is enough to make them a
Christian. Note James 2:19. No one can afford to be complacent or
close-minded when it comes to his salvation. If we have been deceived
into thinking that we are saved on a "gospel" that comes short of the
whole counsel of God, then it's better for us to find out now than to
hear from Jesus on Judgment Day, "I don't know you".

   Samples of "Processed" Gospels

   1. There can be no salvation without repentance. Read Matt. 28:18-20
and Luke 24:46-49. This is what the ministry of John the Baptist is
pointing to. Repentance is how we prepare the way for the Lord to enter
our hearts. No one can repent until he knows what he is to repent for,
or what he is to turn away from.

   Many modern-day evangelists, however, have failed to tell, or
purposely avoid telling, the unsaved that their current behavior is
sinful and is subject to eternal damnation in hell. Notice what God
said to Ezekiel: "When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,'
and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways
in order to save his life, the wicked man will die for his sin, and I
will hold you accountable for his blood" (3:18).

   2. Study Luke 14:25-36 carefully. The true disciple or follower of
Christ denies himself and takes up the cross daily. Those who are
unwilling to do so, Jesus says in Matthew 10:38, are not worthy of Him.
Few preachers bother to point out how important it is for a person to
die to himself, his plans, his ambitions, his everything in order to be
worthy of Christ (v.39).

   3. Study I John 2:15-17 and Luke 16:1-13 carefully. The true
believer is not to love the world or things in this world. Many
churches, especially those in affluent areas, condone the unbiblical
belief that one can have salvation through Christ and still love the
things of this world to a substantial degree.

   How Can We Tell If We Are Really Saved?

   In other words, how can we be sure that we have not been deceived?

   Based on what we've just learned from Matt. 7, we know we cannot
tell by whether we have decided to accept Christ nor by how active we
are in the church. It's a fact that lots of people go to church
religiously, read the Bible and pray, teach Sunday School, sing in the
choir, do charitable work, and even become nuns and missionaries, but
are still unsaved.

   To determine if we are truly saved or not, we need to strip away all
the reli gious facade and examine our own heart, because God looks at
our heart.

   We are God's children only if we are born of the Spirit. The Holy
Spirit lives in us and sanctifies us. So, until we can clearly see the
result of His sanctifying work in us, we cannot take for granted that
we are indeed saved.

   We will not be perfect in this life, of course. And we will suffer
spiritual defeats from time to time. But the child of God should see
distinct spiritual growth in their lives in the

   following areas:

   1. Galatians 5:22. To start with, we should show the fruit of the
Spirit. Do you find yourself becoming more and more loving, joyful,
peaceful, patient, kind, etc. (Incidentally, Matthew 7:15-20 teaches
that we can detect the false prophets also by their fruit In other
words, no matter how eloquent an evangelist is, if his lifestyle does
not reflect the fruit of the Spirit, he is a false prophet.)

   2. Matthew 6:19-21. Where is your heart? Do you have a desire to
devote more and more of your time, energy, and possessions to serving
Christ and building His church?

   3. Luke 16:1-10. Have you been trustworthy with "very little"? Our
health, wealth and abilities are the "very little" that God has
entrusted to our stewardship. Are you using more and more of your
worldly wealth to gain heavenly friends?

   4. Hebrews 11:13; Luke 16:13. Are you more and more concerned with
the condition of a person's soul than his physical well-being? When you
pray -- either for yourself or for others -- do you ask more and more
for spiritual blessings and less and less for health, wealth or
physical things?

   5. Romans 8:23. How eager are you awaiting for the completion of our
salvation? Are you looking forward to the return of Christ, or are you
much interested in righting the wrongs of this world? The two are not
compatible. The Bible tells us that just before the Lord comes back,
the world will have become extremely sinful.

   6. John 14:23,24. How much do you love Christ? Do you have an
increasing desire to obey Him, and to find out from the Bible what He
teaches so that you know what to obey?

   7. Matthew 18:21-35. The Lord Jesus died to forgive our sins? Do you
increasingly appreciate Christ's death for you so that you find it
easier and easier to forgive those who sin against you?

   8. Matthew 18:3,4. Have you really changed and become childlike,
humbling yourself before Jesus? Are you gradually letting Christ take
full control of your life, truly believing that your heavenly Father
will never forsake you?

   9. Luke 9:26. Are you "ashamed" of being a Christian? Or are you
getting bolder and bolder in letting the world know that you are a
believer? Are you more and more interested in pleasing God than winning
the praise of men?

   10. Matthew 5:21-28. Christ considers our thoughts as important as
our deeds, if not more so. Are you increasingly aware of Christ's
ever-presence and want to please him even with your thoughts?

   Don't Be Deceived

   These are just some areas in which every true believer becomes
progressively conformed to the image of Christ. The pace of growth
varies from one believer to another. Still, be absolutely honest with
yourself. Faith without works is dead (James 3:17). Don't deceive
yourself or let anyone deceive you into believing that you can be a
carnal or a backsliding believer.

   If you fail to find much evidence of the sanctification work of the
Holy Spirit in your heart, then thank God that today is still the day
of salvation. Repent, then sincerely call on Christ to be your Lord and
Savior. To believe in God is to trust, obey and depend on Him totally.

   On the other hand, if you do see sustained progress in these areas,
rejoice! You are a child of God, and nothing can separate you from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

   Matthew 24:9-14; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19

   One reason many Christians are fearful of the Final Tribulation is
that they fear the persecution described in these passages here.
Actually, like wars, earthquakes and famines, the persecution
prophesied in these passages is a normal development for the entire NT
period, not an end-time phenomenon. Note the starting words of Luke
21:12.

   Moreover, Jesus used the same language when He talked to the twelve
apostles in Matthew 10:16-22. That talk had nothing to do with
end-time. Quite the contrary, the Lord was sending them forth to preach
the gospel for the very first time.

   A Firm Commitment

   Why, then, is Jesus repeating in His discussion of the end of time
something He said at the start of the evangelistic outreach? The answer
is implicit in Mark 13:10 and Matthew 24:14. These verses emphasize
that the gospel must first be preached to all nations before the end
comes. In other words, Christ wants to make it clear that He will not
return until all of His elect shall have been saved.

   These passages emphasize three truths. (1) God is faithful to His
salvation plan; (2) Christians should anticipate opposition from the
world as they carry out the Great Commission; and (3) true believers
will be able to endure to the end.

   The fact that God has a plan to save His chosen people, who have
been scat tered among all nations, was prophesied frequently in the OT.
Ezekiel 34:1-16 is one beautiful example. Compare that with John
10:1-18.

   In stressing that Christ won't return until all the elect have been
saved, God indicates that He will be faithful in carrying out His
entire salvation plan. This also underscores God's election plan.

   Tribulation and Persecution

   Read John 16:33;15:18-21. As we help to build God's church, Satan
will try to undermine our efforts. Among other things, he will use the
world to persecute us.

   The warning presented in Mark 13:9 and Luke 21:12,13 was already
experienced by the original apostles. A great many Christians have
since been martyred throughout the world.

   That some Christians will keep on being martyred until the end of
time is in dicated by Revelation 6:9-11. When believers show that they
are not fearful of death, they underscore Christ's victory over death,
and thereby glorify God.

   As these verses warn, much of the opposition would come from the
corporate church body itself. This has been true throughout the NT
period.

   The prophecy of Mark 13:11 and Luke 21:14,15 -- that the Holy Spirit
would speak through believers -- was also fulfilled literally by the
apostles after Pentecost. Read Acts 4:1-13.

   After the Bible was completed, however, the Holy Spirit has helped
believers prophesy in a different way. God no longer brings new
revelation by putting words in their mouths (Rev. 22:18). Rather, He
helps them remember and under stand what they have read in the Bible.

   As time progresses, God also gives believers new insight into His
written Word.

   Division in the Family

   Mark 13:12a; Matt. 24:10 and Luke 21:16 warn that following Christ
could result in our breaking with family members and friends. See Luke
12:51-53. When that happens and we are forced to take sides as a
result, we must stand up for Christ. This is what Luke 14:26-35 is all
about.

   Jesus Himself endured painful separation for His own people; they
hated Him. And one of His own apostles betrayed Him. Similarly, the
Apostle Paul was much hated by his fellow Jews. See what he went
through for Christ in II Cor. 11:23-33.

   Mark 13:13a and Luke 21:17 further warn that we will be hated by all
men for God's name sake. The Lord explains why that is to be so in John
15:18-21. God puts these strong statements to emphasize that true
believers cannot ex pect to live harmoniously in both worlds. We must
not compromise our stand to placate the world. Note Luke 6:26 and James
4:4.

   On the other hand, read the promise given in Matthew 5:10-12 and
demonstrated in Acts 5:17-41.

   False Prophets Again

   Matthew 24:11 is the second time in this chapter when the Lord warns
us about false prophets. Later in the chapter, He will do it once more.
All this em phasizes how seriously God considers this problem to be.

   Unlike the first and the third warnings, the reference here has no
mention of false Christs. Moreover, it comes in the context of the
world obstructing Christian evangelistic work. Thus, God is warning
people against being de ceived by other religions as well as by false
Christianity.

   In our generation, for instance, we have seen the growth of a number
of Eastern religions, humanism, and, more recently, the New Age
movement. Like the traditional false Christian churches and
denominations, they all serve to detract from the real salvation
gospel. We have also witnessed the increasing popularity of those
health and wealth gospels. There is a parallel of the latter in the OT.
Read Jeremiah 23:9-24.

   Matthew 24:12 teaches that whenever other religions gain ground,
wickedness will increase and love will decrease. Only God is love, and
therefore true love for God and for fellow men can only come from the
indwelling Holy Spirit. The love stressed by other religions are
self-centered, and often even sensuous in nature.

   Eternal Love

   Since Christians are actually being martyred, how are we to
understand Luke 21:18? Not literally.

   God is stressing the difference between our physical bodies and our
real selves. Satan and the world can hate, hurt or even kill our
bodies, but we, as believers, will not perish. On the Last Day, we will
have a resurrected, glorified body with all its hair, figuratively
speaking, fully intact.

   Hence, Mark 13:13b, Matt. 24:13 and Luke 21:19 tell us to endure and
be patient. We are not to compromise with the world. Of course, if we
are truly saved, we will be able to endure. God will give us the grace
to do so. Read Romans 8:28-39.

   Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14a; Luke 21:20

   Though the Lord is answering questions about the signs of His return
in these chapters, He has so far told us mostly where not to look for
such signs. He reveals that wars, famines and earthquakes, like labor
pains, will occur at increasing frequency and intensity throughout the
NT time. During this whole period, Christians should also expect to be
persecuted and hated by the world.

   Now, the Lord at last begins to tell us in more detail about His
coming and the events that will immediately precede it. The words
"therefore" in Matthew 24:15 and "but" in Mark 13:14 and Luke 21:20
mark the transition.

   In both Mark and Matthew, Jesus tells us that the "abomination of
desola tion" spoken of by Daniel is the sign to watch. He indicates
that the abomination, which means something or someone detestable to
God, will be "standing in the holy place" (Matt.24:15), "where he ought
not" (Mark 13:14). So, we know it will be someone doing something to
the church, where he shouldn't be. Remember, since the Cross, the
church, not the Jewish temple, has been the holy place in God's eye.

   The desolation will also have something to do with Jerusalem
(according to Luke 21:20), which may refer to national Israel, or the
church (which is spiritual Jerusalem), or both.

   In the Book of Daniel, we find references to end-time
"abomination(s)" and "desolation(s)" in Chapters 8 (v.13), 9
(vv.26,27), 11 (v.31) and 12 (v.11). To find out more about what the
Lord is telling us to watch for as the key sign of His return, we need
to study those passages.

   DANIEL 8

   First read verses 1-14. Then notice that both verses 17 and 26
emphasize that the vision concerns "the time of the end".

   God's Explanation

   Now, read God's own explanation of the vision in verses 19-25.

   Daniel saw the vision while Babylon was still in power; it had
previously destroyed Israel. The Medes and the Persians later conquered
Babylon. Alexander the Great was the first king of Greece who then
defeated the Medo-Persian empire.

   There is much speculation about who the four kingdoms that followed
were. But they cannot be literally four political kingdoms. Verse 23
states that the stern-faced king will arise "in the latter part of
their reign" (NIV), or "the latter time of their kingdom" (KJV).
Implication: those four post-Alexander kingdoms from which the
stern-faced king will arise will exist at the end of time. No physical
nation can fit that requirement.

   In the vision, the four kingdoms are symbolized by four horns
growing to ward "the four winds of heaven" (v,8). Matthew 24:31 says
that when Christ returns, He will send his angels to gather His elect
from "the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other". Since that
phrase obviously means believers from all over the world, "the four
winds of heaven" must repre sent the entire globe.

   Spiritual Book. Actually, the Bible hardly talks about any political
kingdom other than Israel and those countries that interacted with
Israel. That's because the Bible is the means by which God tells us
about the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. It records and prophesies
selected earthly developments only to reveal His salvation plan and how
He deals with His chosen people and the unbelieving world (I Cor.10:6;
Heb.4:11).

   Note that the Roman Empire, by far the most powerful nation yet when
the NT was written, is mentioned only incidentally. Instead, the Bible
uses "the Greeks" in the phrase "the Jews and the Greeks" to represent
all Gentiles.

   Thus, we are on sound Biblical ground to conclude that the four
kingdoms growing toward the four winds of heaven stand for all
political nations ex isting between Alexander the Great and the end of
time -- in other words, the Satan-controlled world that hates Christ
and His followers.

   Stern-faced King. In verse 23, God identifies the little horn that
will do the terrible things described in verses 9-12 as "a king of
fierce counte nance, and understanding dark sentences" (KJV).

   The only other place in the Bible where the term "fierce
countenance" is used is Deuteronomy 28. In verse 50, God warned Israel
that if it should ever become disobedient, He would send "a nation of
fierce countenance" to destroy it.

   In 587 B.C., the then disobedient Israel was overtaken by Babylon,
which, therefore, is that nation of fierce countenance. In Revelation
17 and 18, God reveals that Babylon is a type of the dominion of Satan.
Hence, "a king of fierce countenance" is a figure for Satan.

   Dark Sentences. What are the "dark sentences"? God tells us in Psalm
49:4; 78:1,2 and Matt. 13:35 (all KJV) that they are parables, the
spiri tual meaning of which is normally hidden from the unsaved. This
verse in Daniel is warning us that, unlike other false prophets, the
end-time emis saries of Satan will have a good knowledge of the Bible.

   Verse 24 reassures us that the success of Satan and his false
prophets has nothing to do with their own power. Like Babylon of old,
they will be raised up by God to carry out His divine will to
disfranchise the corporate church. This is the same truth shown by
Revelation 9:1,2; 11:7 and 20:1,2,7,8.

   Verse 25 indicates that Satan's false prophets will be so successful
in de ceiving people (and themselves) that they consider themselves
superior Christians! Satan will even try to take on the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, but he will be destroyed by divine forces.

   Daniel's Vision

   Now that we have God's explanation, let's go back and decipher
verses 3-12, where Daniel describes his vision. Verses 3-8 refer to the
succession of nations that would affect Israel. The fact that they have
all come to pass guarantees that the next part of the vision will also
materialize.

   Little horn. The word "horn" is often used in the Bible to represent
strength. As Christ is the great horn of salvation (Psalm 18:1,2), God
uses "a little horn" (KJV) to represent Satan in verse 9. (This
definition given by God is useful in understanding the "horns" in many
other visions recorded in Daniel and Revelation.)

   As we have previously learned, Christ is identified with the east;
and Satan, the north (Isa.14:13). So, this verse is talking about Satan
gaining ground toward the church, the "Beautiful Land", the corporate
representa tion of the kingdom of God.

   The starry host in verse 10 represents people in the local churches
(Rev.1:20); so does the sanctuary, since Christians are temples of God.

   Light of the world. In verse 11b, the word "sacrifice" after daily
was not in the original manuscript, and probably shouldn't have been
inserted by the translators. Reasons:

   (1) Ever since the Perfect Sacrifice was offered at the Cross, the
need for daily sacrifice has been permanently abolished (Heb.10:11-14).
To suggest that sacrifice will yet be reinstated in a temple in
Jerusalem is to deny the Supreme Sacrifice of Christ.

   (2) The word "daily", standing by itself, is more consistent with
the con text of the passage. The Hebrew word "TAMID", translated
"daily" here, is used 103 times in the OT, and in 86% of them, it is
translated "always", "continual" or "continually". And it is used in
Leviticus 24:4 to describe the "lamps" that burns continually in the
tabernacle. Those lamps, of course, were symbols of believers, who
continually bring light to the dark world.

   Why is Leviticus 24:4 relevant here? Because Daniel 8:26 identifies
this particular vision as "the vision of the evening and the morning"
(KJV). This phrase "the evening and the morning" is seldom used in the
Bible. But in Leviticus 24:3, God commanded that the lamps be lit "from
the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually".

   So, verses 11b-12 is prophesying that toward the end of the church
age, Sa tan will remove the the light from the church and throw the
true gospel to the ground.

   Verse 13 then describes this particular period as "the rebellion
that cause desolation". In a similar context. Daniel 11 calls this turn
of events "the abomination that causes desolation", the sign that Jesus
tells us to watch for.

   Conclusion

   The abomination of desolation, then, is a spiritual condition -- a
period when control of the corporate church will be taken over by false
prophets. These prophets know the Bible well, so they are hard to
distinguish from the real one -- e.g. Judas. But because they do not
preach the whole coun sel of God, no one will be truly saved by their
message. Many of the un saved will be deceived into believing that they
are saved, though. Those believers who enters this period already saved
will remained saved, of course.

   Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14a

   DANIEL 11

   The "abomination of desolation" that we are to watch for as the
beginning of the end of time is described in much detail also in Daniel
11.

   This is a difficult chapter to interpret on a verse by verse basis.
Those passages pertaining specifically to the abomination, however, are
relatively more understandable.

   With what we have learned from Daniel 8, we can safely conclude that
the first four verses are talking about Persia, the rise and fall of
Alexander the Great, and then all political nations through the end of
time. In verse 4, the phrase "his kingdom...shall be divided toward the
four winds of heaven" is similar to "the great horn was broken...toward
the four winds of heaven" in Daniel 8:8.

   As in Daniel 8, the rest of Daniel 11 talks about the spiritual
battle between Satan's empire and the Kingdom of God. Verses 16 and 41,
speaking of the king of the North invading and establishing himself in
the Beautiful Land, are similar to Daniel 8:9. From Isaiah 14:13 (KJV),
we have learned that the king of the North is a figure for Satan or his
kingdom. The Beautiful Land is, of course, the kingdom of Christ.

   The individual events presented in verses 5-28 are hard to identify,
but the gist of the whole passage is reasonably clear. The king of the
South represents the kingdom of God -- not the invisible church of
Christ that comprises all believers, but the corporate church that
institutionally represents God's kingdom.

   This whole section prophesies the interaction between the church and
Satan's empire from Daniel's day through the end of the world.
Sometimes the king of the South battles against the king of the North;
other times he enters into an alliance with the latter. Meaning: the
church (including national Israel before the Cross) vacillates between
being faithful to the Lord and being apostate.

   Verse 29 talks about the appointed time of Satan's return, which
corresponds to the release of Satan from the "Abyss" or the "bottomless
pit" about which we previously read in Revelation 11 and 20. Unlike
earlier attempts, this time he will have total victory.

   Verse 30 states that "the ships of Chittim shall come against him".
As Isaiah 23:1-14 reveals, Chittim (or Kittim in the NIV) is closely
related to Tarshish. And the ships of Tarshish represents the unsaved
world, especially the rich and the proud (Isa. 2:12-18; I Kings 10:22).

   This verse is saying that while the world powers oppose Satan's
latest scheme, Satan will attack the church of Christ by helping those
professed Christians who "forsake the holy covenant" -- unsaved church
goers who are not obedient to the law of God.

   The Abomination

   Verse 31 repeats the prophecy of Daniel 8:11 in similar language.
Satan's armies (false prophets) will pollute the sanctuary (infiltrate
the church), take away the "daily" (remove the light of the true
gospel), and bring about "the abomination that maketh desolate".

   Verse 32 further reveals that the false prophets will deceive people
with "flattery", which means "smooth" or "slippery" talk. In other
words, they will sweeten the gospel, remove commands that they thought
might offend some people and say only what the congregation likes to
hear.

   Paul has warned of this eventuality in II Timothy 4:3. "For the time
will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

   By way of contrast, when the apostle himself was bidding farewell to
the elders in Ephesus, he said: "Therefore, I declare to you today that
I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to
proclaim to you the whole will (counsel) of God" (Acts 20:26,27).

   The reference to his being "innocent of the blood of all men" ties
back to he command God gave Ezekiel (3:18; 33:7-9). In other words, the
commandment that the wicked of the arold are to be warned of the coming
Judgment Day by God's spokesmen has not been rescinded.

   Back to Daniel 11, verse 32 notes that "the people who know their
God", i.e., true believers, will resist the false prophets' efforts to
exploit people by changing the salvation message and other teachings of
the Bible.

   Verse 33 also tells us that "those who are wise" -- those who have
the wisdom of God -- will continue to instruct people on the Word of
God. But they will be overwhelmed and beaten down by smooth-talking
false prophets. Their arguments will be destroyed "for a time" until
Christ returns.

   Verse 34 (KJV) reiterates that true believers will be helpless in
their efforts to revive the church. Instead, many more will be
deceived; they will cleave to those who come with sweetened salvation
messages.

   Verse 35 reassures the true believers that, like their other trials
and tribulations, their frustration during this period is a part of
God's plan to refine and strengthen their faith. Believers will be
impotent only until the appointed end comes for Satan and the world.
God promises that the decreed Judgment Day will definitely come.

   The rest of the chapter elaborates on the apparent success of the
false prophets in taking over the church just before the end of time.
Satan will seem to be in total control of the world. But he will be
destroyed by Christ.

   Conclusion: Daniel 11 confirms that the corporate church will be
overrun by false teachers just before the end of time. This is the
abomination of desolation the Lord Jesus tells us to watch for.

   DANIEL 9

   Chapter 9 verses 26 and 27 is the third place in Daniel where the
abomination of desolation is mentioned.

   When we studied Revelation 11 back in lesson 2, we went through
verses 24-27 of Daniel 9. That passage gives us two "70-week" time
paths that end at the Cross and Judgment Day, respectively. We
determined then that the final week of the second path represents the
period from the baptism of Jesus to the end of time. Thus, the middle
of that "week", or seven years, is the Cross. The crucifixion of Christ
put an end to sacrifice and offering.

   Then, verse 27 ends by talking about an "overspreading of
abominations that causes desolation" that will last until the
"consummation", or the completion of God's timetable for the world.
Then God will pour His wrath on Satan. Conclusion: Same truth as that
which we saw in Daniel 8 and 11, and elsewhere.

   DANIEL 12

   The last mention of the abomination of desolation in the Book of
Daniel is verse 11 of chapter 12. It is used as a time reference and
gives no added information.

   Matthew 24:16; Mark 13:14b

   Now the Lord tells believers what they should do when they see
Satan, using his false prophets, starting to take control of the
corporate church body, where he ought not to be.

   First, He says, "let them that are in Judea flee unto the
mountains." The Judea here could be taken literally or spir itually.
Mark 13 and Matthew 24 are both talking about a spiritual condition,
and after the Cross, spiritual Judea represents the church -- either
the invisible church, which is the body of Christ, or the visible,
corporate church.

   (The "Judea" in Luke 21:21, like the word "Jerusalem" in verse 20,
may well carry both meanings. Luke has not re ferred to the Daniel
passage nor to the abomination specifi cally. We will consider the
possible literal meaning after we have studied the spiritual
implications.)

   Who are called Jews?

   People from Judea are called Jews. And the Bible defines

   spiritual Jews and non-Jews as follows: "A man is not a Jew if he is
only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely out ward and physical.
No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and the circumcision is
circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such
a man's praise is not from men, but from God" (Rom.2:28,29).

   Remember this important and clear-cut statement. It is one of those
"mysteries" which God hinted in many OT passages, but revealed clearly
only in the NT. It is confirmed by Galatians 3:26-29, which declares
that there is no longer any difference between Jews and Greeks
(non-Jews); only believers who are in Christ are "Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise".

   Read also Galatians 6:15-16, which declares: "Neither circum cision
nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. Peace
and mercy to all who follow this rule, even to the Israel of God." Who
have become "a new cre ation"? He who is in Christ (II Cor.5:17) So,
believers are the Israel of God.

   Though God nullified the ceremonial laws and changed the definitions
of many OT terms in the New Testament, there will be no other changes
in the Word of God henceforth. The Bible has since been completed. God
has stated that there will be no additional revelation. The latest
revealed truth will stand forever.

   Moreover, God had always meant to save His elect from all nations.
Way back in Genesis, the Lord already declared that "all nations on
earth will be blessed" through Abraham's seed (22:18). In Deuteronomy,
God promised to circumcise the "hearts" (30:6) of those whom He shall
gather from all na tions. And in Jeremiah 4:4, God warned the
Israelites that His wrath will come upon them unless their "hearts" are
cir cumcised. In short, God always had in mind that believers are the
only Israel of God.

   Judea

   Now, if we are the Jews that God is concerned with, then the Judea
that God is talking about in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 has to be the place
where believers should normally belong. And we normally should be a
member of a corporate congregation. So, God is telling us here that
when we see that our churches, where Satan "ought not be", are no
longer faithful to the whole counsel of God, then we are to flee from
it.

   The Mountains

   In the Bible, mountains are used to symbolize many things. Very
often, it represents the kingdom of God or Christ Him self. In Ezekiel
36, for instance, God promised "the moun tains of Israel": "I will
cleanse you from all your impuri ties and from all your idols. I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you" (vv.25,26). Meaning:
the moun tains here represent the kingdom of God.

   The same truth can be seen in Isaiah 52:1-12. In Psalm 125:2,
"mountains" are directly correlated with the Lord Je sus Christ; and
"Jerusalem", the church.

   In other words, then, to flee from Judea unto the mountains means to
flee from Satan-controlled churches to God Himself for truth. It's a
repeat of the earlier command, "let him that readeth understand". To
avoid being deceived by false prophets in the church, we are to find
truth and comfort in Christ, the Word of God itself.

   LUKE 21:20-24.

   The first part of verse 21 -- "Then let those who are in Judea flee
to the mountains" -- is the same as the Mark and Matthew verses we
studied in the last lesson. And Luke 21:23 -- re pregnant women and
nursing mothers -- is the same as Mark 13:17 and Matthew 24:19, which
we'll study when we get to them.

   By these similarities, we know that this passage in Luke is talking
about the same spiritual event toward the end of time. When we see that
most churches are no longer preaching faithfully the whole counsel of
God, we should go directly to the Word of God for truth.

   From Psalm 125:2, which we looked at in the last lesson, we know
that Jerusalem represents the church. We can see that symbol also in
Jeremiah 3:17-18 and Revelation 21.

   So, in Luke 21:20, the Lord is telling us that at some point, the
church will be "surrounded by armies" or "compassed with armies (KJV)".
To find out what those armies represent spiritually, let's read
Revelation 20:7-9. This again underscores the coherency of the Bible
and why we should let the Bible interpret figurative lan guage for us.

   Gog, Magog and Armageddon

   Revelation 20:8 talks about Gog and Magog and identifies them
specifically as "the na tions in the four corners of the earth" that
were used by Satan to battle against the church. The language is
somewhat similar to "the four kingdoms towards the four winds of
heaven" that we read in Daniel. But whereas both typify the world under
Satan's control, the context here shows that Gog and Magog relate
particularly to the world near the end of time, when Satan is loosed.

   It is important for us to remember this Biblical definition of Gog
and Magog, because Ezekiel 38 and 39 refer many times to Gog and Magog.
And many popular books on end-time suggest that these two chapters are
referring to Russia and other political nations that will eventually
invade Israel. We'll study those chapters in our next lesson in light
of Revelation 20:8, and see how misleading those books are.

   The battle described in Revelation 20:8 is also talked about in
Revelation 16:16, where the word "Armageddon" appears in the Bible for
the one and only time. We know they are prophesying the same spiritual
battle because both events will be followed immediately by the judgment
of God that culminates in the destruction of Satan (Rev. 17:8; 20:10).

   Here again, much has been written about the War of Armageddon that
is purely unbiblical speculation. Yet, it is widely accepted and even
taught in churches.

   "Let those in the city get out" (Luke 21:21b), like the first phrase
of this verse, again tells us to leave churches that have been infil
trated by false teachers. And the last phrase, "let those in the
country not enter the city", tells us that when false prophets dominate
the corporate church, it will be useless for anyone to become members
of a physical congregation.

   Verse 22 declares that the long-prophesied time for punishment, or
days of vengeance (KJV), will at this point be fulfilled. God is
finally coming with His judgment. But this is not Judgment Day for the
whole world yet. It will begin with the family of God (I Peter 4:17),
punishment for those unbelievers in the church that have perverted the
gospel.

   Luke 21:23 is the same as Matt. 24:19 and Mark 13:17. We will
discuss it later when we get to those verses.

   Luke 21:24 talks about certain people being led captive into all
nations. This is opposite to the language the Bible uses to de scribe
our salvation -- the chosen from all nations are freed from captivity.
Unbelieving people in the church will be taken as prisoners, or
deceived by Satan. Just as the Word of God, which brings us the Gospel,
is the sword of the Spirit, the sword in this verse refers to false
gospels.

   Two-stage Judgment Prophesied

   The prophesy given here parallels the information we previously
learned from Daniel 8, 9 and 11, and Revelation 11, 16 and 20.

   A parabolic preview of this sequence of events is given in Jeremiah
25:15-38. Note especially verse 29, where God says to the unsaved
world, "See, I am beginning to bring disaster on the city that bears my
Name, and will you indeed go unpunished?" The city that bears His name
is the end-time church, not ancient Israel, be cause later in that same
verse, God says He is "calling down a sword upon all who live on the
earth". Only on the Last Day will all people on earth be judged.

   Matthew 13:24-43 also indicates that the unsaved within the
corporate church body will be punished first. That's the reason why God
will loosen Satan for a season.

   Read II Thessalonians 2:5-12. Some people have suggested that the
man of sin was the Catholic Pope when that church had great power, or
many other individuals in the past. But as we learned from I John 4:3,
he is Satan because only Satan could be in the world when I John was
written and still be in the world at end-time.

   How long will this condition last? Luke 21:24 says, "Until the times
of the Gentiles be fulfilled." That is, until the Gentiles -- the
enemies of the true church -- will have succeeded in their conquest.

   Mark 13:15-17; Matthew 24:17-19; Luke 21:23

   In our last lesson, we learned that God defines Gog and Magog in
Revelation 20:8 as "the na tions in the four corners of the earth",
which will be used by Satan to war against the church. With this in
mind, let's study Ezekiel 38 and 39, the only place in the Bible where
there is much reference to Gog and Magog.

   We also learned in our last lesson that the word "Armageddon"
appears only once in the Bible and that is Revelation 16:16, although
much has been written about the War of Armageddon. According to most of
those books, Russia will lead a great many nations to attack Israel
from the north. Then on the plain of Megiddo, an area in Israel, the
Jews will win such a decisive battle that they totally destroy Russia.

   Actually, the word Armageddon means "hill of Megiddo" or "top of
Megiddo". A commentary of this battle is found in Judges 4 and 5. The
battle fought there is symbolic of the final confrontation between God
and Satan. As 5:19-20 indicates, the winning forces came from heaven
above.

   Housetops and Fields

   Back to the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, the verses we are now
studying are God's instructions for believers who are living near the
end of the world. We may well be them because we are seeing the
overspreading of abomination in the holy place.

   Who are those on the housetop, and what are they doing there? See
Matthew 10:27. They are believers who have been given the Great
Commission. Then read Luke 17:28-32. Note the reference to Lot's wife.
Lot was a righteous man (II Peter 2:8), but his wife was not. She
appeared to have been saved, but was not; God condemned her because she
still had a longing for the things of this world.

   This passage is warning believers not to go back to the world even
when their efforts to witness no longer bear fruit during the final
tribulation period.

   The same warning applies to missionaries, those who are in the field
harvesting for the Lord. Though they will have done their work, they
are to wait patiently for the Lord's return and not go back to the
world.

   Mothers of Infants

   Why "Woe to them with child..."? First, for the unsaved, this
emphasizes that God's judging is coming. Read Hosea 13.

   For the meaning for believers, read Jeremiah 16:1-4, Luke 23:28-30
and Revelation 6:12-17. In other words, woe to parents who at that time
will know that their children are destined to be condemned to hell.

   Mark 13:18; Matthew 24:20

   What does winter have in common with the Sabbath as far as
Christians fleeing back to the Bible is concerned?

   The context of these chapters and particularly the verses that
follow the ones we are now studying indicate that both "winter" and
"Sabbath" as they are used here refer to the Great Tribulation.

   First, just as night is the opposite of day, winter is the opposite
of summer. In the Bible, day represents the time when the gospel is
being sent forth (John 9:4), and sum mer represents the time when fruit
is produced and harvested (Jer. 8:20; 40:10; Amos 8:1,2). So, winter,
like night, stands for the period when no one can be saved. The Lord
Himself alluded to this in Luke 23:28-31.

   (Incidentally, Luke 23:29 at least suggests that toward the end of
time, when the cho sen will substantially have been saved, God will
bless His daughters by closing their wombs. This would be consistent
with the "woe unto them that are with child..." state ment in Matthew
24:19.)

   Acts 27

   Secondly, the Greek word for "winter" also means "foul weather" or
"tempest". In fact, the very Greek word appears in Acts 27:20, where it
is translated "tempest" in the KJV and "raging storm" in the NIV. Not
coincidentally, Acts 27 is a historical event that is used by God as a
parable of the Great Tribulation.

   Before we study that chapter, let's look at John 6:16-21, which is
another historical event that anticipates the end of time. Notice the
word "imme diately" in verse 21. It's a miracle that points to our
rapture. Those who insist on interpreting the Bible literally can't
understand its significance.

   In Acts 27, verse 9 reveals that the storm took place after the
fast. Remember God's definition of fast in Isaiah 58:6-9? In other
words, it took place after God's evan gelistic work has been completed.
The ship represents the corporate church in this context. It could no
longer find safe harbor and it could no longer anchor to the rock. So,
it was wrecked. Verse 20 says that it has no hope of being saved.

   But verse 22 reaffirms that while the ship will be wrecked, true
believers in the church will survive. The number of people saved was
276, which is 12 x 23. Twelve represents all believers, as we've
learned before. And as we will see in a fu ture study, 23 is a number
that relates to the Great Tribulation. Hence, 276 indicates that all
believers will come out of the Final

   Tribulation.

   Why not the Sabbath?

   The "Sabbath" in Mark 13:18 and Matthew 24:20 refers to the Sabbath
rests enjoyed by the land. Read Leviticus 26:27-35 and II Chronicles
36:15-21.

   Normally, the promised land provided food -- milk and honey -- to
the people of Israel. But because Israel persisted in rebelling against
God, they were carried into exile to foreign lands. During those 70
years, the land rested, it no longer provided food for the Jews. That
Sabbath is thus a figure of the Final Tribulation, when the church,
controlled by Satan and his false prophets, will no longer bring
salvation to the unsaved.

   In short, these verses tell us to pray that we won't be here on
earth when the Great Tribulation comes. (We read about a similar
expression of God's mercy in II Chronicles 34:1-28).

   You see, we can normally leave an apostate church and go to one that
is faithful to the Word. But to varying degrees, all churches will
depart from the whole counsel of God at the end of time. They will
teach what people like to hear (II Tim. 4:3). We'll have to find truth
and strength from the Bible on our own.

   Mark 13:19; Matthew 24:21; Luke 21:23b

   The Lord now tells us why we should pray that our flight be not in
the winter or the Sab bath. He says in Matthew 24:21, "For then there
will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until
now -- and never to be equaled again."

   Reading these verses, most people immediately think of mass
persecution and torture of Christians, a nuclear holocaust, or a
worldwide catastrophe of some sort. Hence, when someone came up with
the idea that believers will be raptured before this Great Tribulation,
most Christians and theologians quickly embraced it.

   Business as Usual

   But to suggest that the end-time period will be characterized by a
major persecution of Christians, nuclear holocaust or some major
catastrophe would contradict what the Bible says elsewhere. Remember,
the Bible is the coherent Word of God and our God is not one of
confusion and contradiction.

   We learned a couple of lessons ago from Luke 17:28-32, for example,
that the Lord's re turn will be like the days of Lot, when it was
business as usual for the unsaved world. Reaffirming that point, verses
26 and 27 of Luke 17 declare that people were eating, drinking,
marrying and being given in marriage and then the flood came and
destroyed them all.

   That the period immediately before Judgment Day will be business as
usual is also spelled out in greater detail in Revelation 18,
especially verses 9-20, and in I Thes salonians 5:1-5.

   Mass Persecution of Christians?

   But couldn't there be unusually severe and widespread persecution
against believers while the unsaved world goes through the great
tribulation business as usual? Actually, the language of Matthew 24:21
and the parallel verses in Mark 13 and Luke 21 indicates that the final
tribulation will be quite different in nature from what the world has
ever experienced, and during Nero's days, there already was very severe
persecution of Christians.

   Moreover, to anticipate a still worse persecution also would not be
in harmony with the rest of the Bible.

   In Matthew 24:24 we read, "there shall arise false Christs and false
prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it
were possible, they shall de ceive the very elect." This verse is
addressing one of the major characteristics of the final tribulation
period: the mushrooming of false prophets that feature signs and
wonders. Other than their signs and wonders, they look so much like
true prophets that even true believers would be snared by their
teachings, had God not protected them.

   Once again, let me emphasize that false prophets are not limited to
the obvious cults. II Corinthians states that they masquerade as
apostles of Christ. Judas was a false prophet. For these false prophets
to operate at end-time extensively in the churches where believers
normally are, both the world and the church must be relatively free
from persecution. In a climate of severe persecution, false prophets
would be hindered just as much as true prophets.

   Nevertheless, Revelation 8 and 9 do contain language that

   suggests unusual torment for certain people. We'll study those
chapters in our next lesson. Meanwhile, please read them during the
coming week, keeping in mind that the book of Revelation is written
primarily in symbolic language, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you
understand those symbols.

   Mark 13:19; Matthew 24:21; Luke 21:23b

   In our effort to find out the nature of the Great or Final
Tribulation, we have applied the process of elimination. We have
learned from a number of clear-cut statements in the Bible that it will
be a business-as-usual period, at least for the unsaved. That rules out
massive wars or major disasters.

   And because false prophets will be masquerading as "angels of light"
and will have heavily infiltrated the church, they will look very much
like real minis ters; their followers will resemble the true believers
that remain in the church. So, it will be impossible for the unsaved
world to tell the differ ence between true believers and false
believers. Therefore, there cannot be any un usual persecution of just
Christians alone either.

   Revelation 8 and 9

   Nevertheless, Revelation 8 and 9 -- which, according to

   Revelation 7:1-3, describe specifically the Final Tribulation and
Judgment Day -- do paint a picture of horrible torment for mankind. How
do these chapters harmonize with the passages we have previously
discussed?

   Earlier in Revelation 6, six seals had been opened, and Revelation 7
is an interlude where God talks about those who have been saved.
(Incidentally, notice from verses 9 and 13-14 of Revelation 7 that the
great multitude in heaven, wearing white robes, are from every nation
and every people, and that they came out of the great tribulation, not
before.) Now, the seventh seal, which is subdivided into seven trumpet
blasts, is being opened in Revelation 8 and 9.

   Many commentaries of recent decades, interpreting these prophecies
literally, conclude that these two chapters are talking about a nuclear
holocaust. That, of course, would contradict the clear-cut statements
we've seen in other parts of the Bible. If indeed a nuclear war causes
two-thirds of mankind to be killed (Rev. 9:15,18), not to mention all
the other horrifying phenomena, how could the other third continue to
eat and drink, and marry and be given in marriage and say "Peace and
safety" (I Thes.5:3) just before Judgment Day comes?

   Visions. The fact is, God has made it clear in the first chapter of
Revelation that John was recording in this book a series of visions
that he saw. Except when God tells a specific person to carry out an
immediate task -- such as His telling Ananias to go to the blinded
Saul, and telling Paul to bring the gospel to Macedonia -- the Bible
has no record, to my knowledge, of any vision that is to be interpreted
literally.

   Such visions as Jacob's ladder to heaven, Moses' burning bush,
Jeremiah's boiling pot and baskets of figs, Ezekiel's dry bones,
Daniel's four beasts and the ram and he goat, Amos' plumb line and
fruit basket, Peter's sheet from heaven, to cite just a few, must all
be understood spiritually.

   In visions, as in parables, God typically presents spiritual truths
with figures and symbols that have little to do with their literal
meanings. This is God's way of hiding truth from the non-elect. He then
unveils the spiritual meanings to believers according to His own
timetable.

   Interpreting the visions in Revelation literally, therefore, will
end up with wrong conclusions. Revelation 8:7 says, for instance, "a
third of the trees was burned up, and all the grass was burned up." But
in Revelation 9:4, the locusts "were told not to harm the grass of the
earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of
God on their forehead." These verses contradict each other literally.
Our God is not one of contradiction.

   Actually, Revelation 9:4 is most reassuring to believers. It tells
us that God will not allow His children, who are sealed with the Holy
Spirit, to be harmed during the Final Tribulation.

   The Third Part. Once again, we should rely on the Bible itself to
interpret those symbols for us. In Revelation 8 and 9, we see the
fraction one-third over and over again. And one-third is what God often
uses to represent the church. This is most clearly reflected in
Zechariah 13:8,9. But II Samual 8:2 and II Kings 1:3-15 also give us
accounts where two-thirds of the people were killed, and one-third
saved. These symbols are not to be taken literally.

   (Incidentally, I believe this also explains the number 666 in
Revelation 13:18. Of 1,000, a number used in Revelation 20 and
elsewhere in the Bible to represent the totality of God's plan,
two-thirds is 666 in round number.)

   The corporate body. Note that like the fraction one-third, all the
other symbols used in Revelation 8 also picture the church. For
example, Trees represent believers in Psalm 1 and Isaiah 60:13; and
green grass is linked with believers in Revelation 9:4. The living
creatures of the sea are fish, which again symbolizes believers; and
ships in the Bible often represent the church.

   The sun, moon, and stars refer to the light that believers give to
the dark world. And the rivers and springs of water refer to the living
water (the gospel) that the church is commanded to send forth; it turns
bitter because it will be substituted by false gospels.

   Remember, believers are not to be harmed during the Final
Tribulation. That which will be killed, then, is the corporate church.
In other words, Revelation 8 prophesies the very same event described
in Daniel 8 and 11 and other passages -- that God will allow Satan's
false prophets and false Christians to dominate the local churches.

   Deceiving the world. Revelation 9 then prophesies that God will
allow Satan to deceive the unsaved world as well. Verse 5 states that
"they (the unbelievers) should be tormented five months." The flood of
Noah's day lasted 150 days. The symbol five months, therefore, probably
indicates that the deception will be world-wide in character.

   The 200,000,000 mounted troops emphasizes that the success of the
false prophets in all the local churches (symbolized by the number 200)
and also throughout the non-church world (e.g. humanism and new wave
movement) is totally in accord with God's plan (1,000 x 1,000).

   To underscore the difference between the local church and true
believers, God started the Book of Revelation by giving messages to the
seven churches. Even as He warns that He will remove the candlesticks
of those local churches that are guilty of the things He is against, He
reassures true believers in those churches that they will be saved. In
the Final Tribulation period, all local churches will be guilty of one
or more of the sinful practices that God enunciated in Revelation 2 and
3.

   Summary

   The final tribulation is different from all prior tribulations in
that for the first time in history, it will be a period when no one
will be saved. The night has come, when no man can work (John 9:4).
With all the elect having been saved, God will hand over the corporate
church to Satan.

   This period will be super-stressful for us believers because
although we ourselves will not be harmed, it will be most distressing
to find our church infiltrated or assaulted by those promoting false
gospels, and to know that our unsaved loved ones and professed
Christian friends will no longer have any chance of becoming saved.

   Concurrently, the temporary loosening of Satan will torment the
unsaved all over the world in that the latter will be so deceived by
false gospels and their own complacency as to ensure their condemnation
on Judgment Day. God will have sent them "a powerful delusion so that
they will believe the lie" (II Thes. 2:11).

   Mark 13:20; Matthew 24:22

   God is now giving us some information concerning the duration of the
final tribulation. We need to understand what days will the Lord
shorten, and what flesh will He save.

   Seventy years? A few studies ago, we saw that both winter and
Sabbath represent the final tribulation, and that Leviticus 26 and II
Chronicles 36 define as Sabbath the 70-year period when Israel was
under the oppression of the Babylonians because the land rested during
that period.

   If the final tribulation indeed lasts 70 years, then no flesh --
that is, no believers still living in the flesh -- would be left when
Jesus returns at the end of that period. All of the believers that
enter the final tribulation will have died in Christ during that long
period, and there won't be any new believers to replace them.

   But I Corinthians 15:51 states that we will not all sleep. And I
Thessalonians 4:16,17 tells us that when Christ comes with a loud
command and the sound of a trumpet (no secret rapture), the dead in
Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive will be caught up
with them in the clouds.

   So, to ensure that some believers will still be living in the flesh
when He returns, God will shorten the period to less than 70 years.
What will He shorten it to?

   Seven years? Most theologians teach that it will be 7 years. That
teaching, ostensibly based on Daniel 9:27, has no Biblical validation.

   Back in Lesson 2, we learned that Daniel 9:24-27 gives us two time
paths leading to the two comings of Christ, and that the 70th "week"
had nothing to do with the final tribulation. In the middle of that
period, the verse says, sacrifice and offering ended. They were
abolished when Christ died on the Cross as the Perfect

   Sacrifice and Offering.

   Twenty-three years? Actually, besides 70 years, there are two other
time periods God uses in the Bible to represent the final tribulation.
The first is 23 years.

   The destruction of Israel began in 609 B.C., when King Josiah died,
and was completed in 587 B.C., when Jerusalem and the Temple were
utterly destroyed. That period lasted 23 years inclusive. It represents
the final tribulation because, in II Chronicles 34:28, God identifies
it as the period when He would bring disaster to Judah, the then
earthly representation of God's church.

   The number 23 appears also in the NT in connection with the final
tribulation. As we noted in an earlier lesson, the shipwreck recorded
in Acts 27 is a picture of the final tribulation, and the 276 people
stand for all the believers that come out of the great tribulation. The
number 276 is the product of 12 times 23.

   Read also I Corinthians 10:1-13. Significantly, verse 8 says that
23,000 people were killed in one day, while back in Numbers 25, where
the account of the plague is recorded, 24,000 are said to be killed.
Remember, the Bible never contradicts itself. We must conclude,
therefore, that 23,000 were killed in one day and the remaining 1,000,
in another day or days.

   So, in I Corinthians 10, God focuses on the number 23. Even as that
plague had occurred just before Israel entered into the promised land,
the final tribulation will take place just before our salvation is
completed.

   Three-and-a-half days? God uses another number to typify the final
tribulation in Revelation 11. Verse 7 tells us that the two witnesses,
a picture of the church, will be killed after they have finished their
testimony -- that is, after all the elect will have been saved. Then,
verses 8 to 12 talk symbolically about the final tribulation and the
rapture. There, we see the expression 3-1/2 days twice.

   This 3-1/2-day symbol can only be found in the OT. Like Daniel 8,
which we recently studied verse-by-verse, Daniel 7 also prophesies the
end of time. Parts of this chapter are hard to understand, but let's
just read verses 21-22 and 25-28. As it refers to the same event as
Revelation 11, the phrase "a time, times and half a time" in Daniel
7:25 no doubt also means 3-1/2 days.

   (Incidentally, don't confuse the three-and-a-half days here with the
three-and-a-half years, or 42 months or 1260 days, in Revelation 11, 12
and 13. That period represents the NT era.)

   Eighty-four? Why has the Bible given us three distinct types of the
final tribulation period: 70 years, 23 years and 3 1/2 days? Because
the three have a common denominator in the number 84. Seventy years
comprise 840 months; and 3-1/2 days have 84 hours. And 23 years have
exactly 8400 days (23 x 365 days + 5 leap-year days = 8,400 days)!

   This is not a coincidence. The mathematical odds for all three time
periods God uses to represent the final tribulation to have a common
denominator in 84 are too great to be accidental. Rather, it goes to
show how wisely and carefully God writes the Bible to reveal truths to
us.

   Eighty-four is the product of 7 times 12. Symbolically, 7 often
stands for the perfection of God's work; and 12, the fullness of God's
chosen people. Thus, 84 represents the perfect conclusion of God's
salvation plan for all the believers. That, of course, is the end of
time, when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.

   Since the final tribulation will not be as long as 70 years, will it
be either 23 years or three-and-a-half days? Since Satan's success
during the final tribulation period will be highly visible, it will not
be as short as 3- 1/2 days. So, 23 years seems to be a distinct
possibility.

   Twenty-three hundred days? But God is merciful, He will shorten
those days even more "for the elect's sake". Actually, the Bible itself
tells us exactly how long the final tribulation will be. Daniel 8:14
reveals that it will be two thousand and three hundred evenings and
mornings. Without departing from the three numbers He uses as types,
God shortens the period to 2300 days. The phrase "evenings and
mornings" implies that God is not talking figuratively here; He means
literal 24-hour days. Thus, the final tribulation will last a little
less than six-and-a-third years.

   Mark 13:20 not only declares that God will shorten those days for
the elect's sake, but identifies specifically that the elect are those
whom He has chosen. I Peter 1:2 describes us believers as the elect;
and Ephesians 1:4, the chosen. Note that both I Peter and Ephesians
were written in the first instance to Gentile believers.

   All this further belies the common teaching today that Gentile
believers will be raptured before the final tribulation, and that only
Jewish believers are to be raptured at the end of time. Such teaching,
of course, fulfils the prophecy we just read in Daniel 7:25. To wit, as
the church turns apostate toward the end of time, it will "try to
change the set times and the laws".

   Mark 13:21,22; Matthew 24:23,24

   Having alerted us to the nature and the duration of the final
tribula tion, God now tells believers how Satan, by permission of God,
will take over the corporate church. Specifically, his false prophets
will come with signs and wonders to deceive people.

   To better understand what "Lo, here is Christ, or there" means,
let's read Luke 17:20-24 and see the context in which God uses a
similar expression. There, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom
of God would come, and Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come
with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or
'There it is,' because the Kingdom of God is within you."

   Invisible. By that statement, the Lord establishes an important
truth: The kingdom of God cannot be observed with human eyes even under
careful ob servation. It does not come with outward visibility.

   Remember, while the corporate church is an outward representation of
the kingdom of God, it includes unbelievers. (In fact, it will comprise
mostly unbelievers as we approach the end of time.) The eternal kingdom
of God is within the believer's heart. Hence, Jesus told the Jews not
to expect people to say "Here it is" or "There it is".

   But toward the end of time, Jesus warns, many people will indeed
say, "See, here is the Christ", or "Look, there is the Christ". In
other words, "Look, this church is where you can find Christ because
you can see the ec stasy experienced by those congregating there"; or,
"See, there is a true church of Christ because you can see His
disciples healing and doing miracles performed."

   Christ tells us here to "believe it not". There is no such thing as
a church or a denomination where you can visibly see the presence of
God.

   Wicked generation. In a sense, the kingdom of God was visible when
Christ was on earth. He performed many miracles, which no one on earth
can du plicate today. But He made it clear even then that "a wicked and
an adulter ous generation asks for a miraculous sign" (Matt.12:39). And
in Matthew 11:20, "Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of
His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent." While
miracles and signs fasci nate people, they do not save souls. Believers
are saved by faith, and are commanded to walk by faith, not by sight
(II Cor.5:7).

   The Book of Acts records that these apostles who were hand-picked by
Christ did some signs and wonders for a short period. Those activities
were meant to give the apostles a special identity (II Cor.12:12).
After their au thority was established, even they eventually lost their
supernatural power. Note that Paul did not miraculously heal
Epaphroditus' serious illness (Phil.2:27), nor Timothy's stomach
problem (I Tim.5:23).

   In Matthew 7, Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By
their fruit you will recognize them" (vv.15,16). In other words, false
prophets may look and preach very much like true prophets, but their
behavior won't reflect the fruit of the Spirit. They and their
followers typically seek supernatural power for their own benefit. True
believers that show the fruit of the Spirit, in contrast, humbly offer
themselves to serve their Savior.

   Satanic activities. Other than the miracles performed by Christ and
the early apostles, references to signs and wonders in the New
Testament all pertain to the end of time and they are all attributed to
Satan. (Being a spirit, Satan can do supernatural things.) We see these
references here in Mark 13 and Matthew 24. Now read II Thessalonians
2:9-12; Revelation 13:11-13; 16:14-16; and 19:20.

   To be sure, God does perform miracles, the greatest of which is the
changed lives of Christians. And He performs miracles in the physical
realm as well; God heals, sometimes miraculously. But God does not do
so in re sponse to the command or prayer of any specific individuals.

   Since the mid-1950s, there has been a sharp increase in the number
of false prophets who come with signs and wonders. This growth is
evidenced all over the world. In light of what Jesus is telling us
here, these false prophets can be expected to dominate the corporate
church before long.

   Among the most common signs and miracles practiced by these false
Christs are supernatural healing and tongues. We will discuss these
signs in our next lesson as we examine the statements of faith of the
Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal Church regarding these activities.

   Fire from heaven. Another sign that is much featured in these false
churches is that of people falling over backwards. Supposedly, when
that hap pens to a person, he is "slain in the spirit". There is no
record in the Bible of believers having to be slain in the spirit.

   We read earlier in Revelation 13:13 that the beast that arises near
the end of time will perform "great and miraculous signs, even causing
fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men". In the
Bible, fire com ing down from heaven is a sign of someone being slain
by God.

   For example, when the wicked king of Israel sent two captains of 50
men to take Elijah in II Kings 1, Elijah called down fire from heaven
which de stroyed those captains of 50 men.

   Similarly, falling backward is a sign of God's judgment. Read Isaiah
28:12,13 (KJV) Note that those who take God's Word "here a little and
there a little" will "go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared
and taken." Read also I Samuel 2:29-34; 4:12-18, and note that as a
result of God's judg ment, Eli fell backward and broke his neck and
died.

   When the Jews who came to arrest Jesus asked, "Are you Jesus?", and
He answered, "I am", they fell backward to the ground. It was time for
Christ to be surrendered to Satan, but still He demonstrated His power
to judge by causing those men to fall backward.

   So, while they themselves are deceived by Satan, those false
Christians causing others to fall over backwards are in fact the beast
described in Revelation 13:13.

   The good news. While professed Christians as well as unbelievers can
be snared by these false prophets, true believers won't. Mark 13:22 and
Matthew 24:24 note that the false prophets would try to "seduce, if it
were possible, even the elect." But Jesus promises that "All that the
Father gives me will come to me...I shall lose none of all that he has
given me" (John 6;37,39), and "My sheep listen to my voice; and I know
them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never
perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand" (10:27,28).

   Mark 13:22; Matthew 24:24

   Among the signs and wonders that are being performed in the
charismatic churches are faith healing and speaking in tongues. Let's
examine the official position of the two principal charismatic
denominations -- the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal Church of
God -- regarding these activities.

   PHYSICAL HEALING

   The charismatic position.

   The following are quoted verbatim from the statements of faith of
(A) the Assemblies of God and (B) The Pentecostal Church of God:

   (A) [Article 12. Divine Healing]

   "Divine healing is an integral part of the gospel.

   Deliverance from sickness is provided for in the atonement, and is
the privilege of all believers (Isa. 53:4,5; Matt.8:16,17; James
5:14-16)."

   (B) [Article 11 - DIVINE HEALING]

   "Healing is for the physical ills of the human body and is wrought
by the power of God, through the prayer of faith, and by the laying on
of hands (Mark 16:18; James 5:14,15); it is provided for in the
atonement of Christ, and is available to all who truly believe."

   The Biblical Truth

   We do read in Matthew 8:16,17 that Jesus healed all the sick. But
that was just an historical account of what Jesus did on earth. It is
not a promise of physical healing for all the sick.

   Even now, of course, God does heal, sometimes miraculously. But He
no longer gives any individual the special gift of healing people
physically, nor should believers regard healing as a part of the
gospel. God heals Christians and non-Christians alike.

   If anything, Psalm 116:15 states that "Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints." Reason: When a saint dies, he goes to
be with the Lord, "which is better by far...(than) to remain in the
body" (Phil. 1:23,24).

   Besides healing, Mark 16:18 also states, "when they drink deadly
poison, it will not hurt them at all." No Pentecostal pastors or elders
have demonstrated that ability. That fact is, this verse must be
interpreted spiritually. (Mark 16:17, which talks about driving out
demons as well as speaking in tongues, is also written in parabolic
language.)

   James 5:14-16 must be understood spiritually as well. It is talking
about sickness of the soul. Note that verse 15 speaks of the
forgiveness of sin, and verse 16, the confession of sin. Over the past
1900 years, hardly have elders been able to heal sick people by just
praying over them and anointing them with oil. To interpret this
passage literally is to declare that the Bible is not trustworthy,
which would be heretical.

   Isaiah 53 is a chapter that prophesied the coming of the Messiah to
save us from a destiny of eternal damnation. Within that context,
verses 4 and 5 are talking about the healing of our soul, not our body.
Otherwise, the very fact that most believers have died of sickness
would mean that the atonement provided by Christ's death on the Cross
was ineffectual. Any such suggestion would be gross heresy. This
finished work of Christ on the Cross was perfect.

   TONGUES

   The charismatic position.

   (A) [Article 7. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost]

   "All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and
earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Ghost
and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was
the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it
comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of
the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry (Luke 24:49; Acts
1:4,8; I Cor.12:1-31). This experience is distinct from and subsequent
to the experience of the new birth (Acts 8:12-17; 10:44-46; 11:14-16;
15:7-9). With the baptism in the Holy Ghost come such experiences as an
overflowing fullness of the Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 4:8), a deepened
reverence for God (Acts 2:43, Heb. 12:28), an intensified consecration
to God and dedication to His work (Acts 2:42), and a more active love
for Christ, for His Word and for the lost (Mark 16:20)." [Article 8.
The Initial Physical Evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Ghost]

   "The baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost is witnessed by the
initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of
God gives them utterance (Acts 2:4). The speaking in tongues in this
instance is the same in essence as the gift of tongues (I Cor.12:4-10,
28), but different in purpose and use."

   (B) [Article 8 - BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST]

   "The baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire (Matthew 3:11), is a gift
from God, as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers in this
dispensation, and is received subsequent to the new birth (John
14:16,17; Acts 1:8; 2:4,38,39; 10:44-48). The Baptism of the Holy Ghost
is accompanied with the speaking in other tongues as the Holy Spirit
Himself gives utterance, as the initial physical sign and evidence
(Acts 2:4)."

   The Biblical truth

   Nowhere in the Bible is there any reference to the baptism in, or
of, the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit). Rather, John the baptist states
that Jesus "shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost" (Matt.3:11; Mark
1:8; Luke 3:16). After His resurrection, Jesus also told the disciples
that "you will be baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:5). The Bible
also talks about our being baptized by the Holy Spirit.

   Speaking about all believers, Ephesians 4:4,5 declares: There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Similarly, I Cor.12:13
states, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body."

   Meaning: There is only one baptism. Every believer is baptized by
Christ with the Holy Spirit and fire. "If anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ" (Rom.8:9). Hence, to
suggest that there is a second baptism in or of the Holy Spirit
subsequent to the new birth is heretical.

   The baptism by Christ with the Holy Spirit, which began on
pentecost, was prophesied, among other places, in Ezekiel 36:25-27. The
context of Ezekiel 36 shows that it is directly associated with
salvation.

   Different tongues. In the New Testament, two different kinds of
tongues are recorded. In Acts, when some -- not all -- people became
saved, they spoke in a foreign language. These phenomena took place in
Jerusalem (Acts 2:4), Caesarea (10:46), and Ephesus (19:6). God used
those three isolated occurrences to show that the gospel has indeed
come to people "in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends
of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

   In the days of the church of Corinth, God gave certain people the
gift of receiving messages from Him in absolutely unknown languages
called tongues. And He also gave others the gift of interpreting such
divine messages. These gifts were among many, many different spiritual
gifts listed in I Corinthians 12. Verse 11 emphasizes that God gives
them to each one just as He determines.

   Even then, the church of Corinth abused that spiritual gift. Through
the Apostle Paul, God thereby laid down specific rules by which tongues
may be used in the church. Read I Corinthians 14. Verse 22 specifies
that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. This parallels what Jesus
himself said about signs and wonders in Matthew 11 and 12.

   In I Corinthians 13:8, God tells us that tongues would be stilled.
Indeed, until recent decades, there had been no such phenomenon in the
church for some 1,800 years. Moreover, the Bible indicates in I
Corinthians 13:11 and Revelation 22:18 that once ceased, the phenomenon
would not return.

   When the Corinthians were receiving messages from God through
tongues, God was still in the process of revealing truth to His people
through visions and other supernatural means. But when God came to the
last chapter of the last book of the Bible, He declared in verse 18:
"If any one adds to the words of this book, I will add to him the
plagues written therein."

   By this warning, God has established the Holy Bible as the only
authority for the church. He is warning in effect that any supernatural
messages received thereafter would not be from Him, and that those who
claim to receive them are false prophets.

   And these false prophets, according to Matthew 24 and Mark 13 as
well as many passages in Jeremiah, Daniel, Revelation and elsewhere in
the Bible, will dominate the corporate church in the final tribulation
period. They will therefore continue to be the great success story in
Christendom in the years ahead.

   Matthew 24:25-31; Mark 13:23-27; Luke 21:25-28

   In the verses that we have studied in the last several lessons, the
Bible has revealed to us that the final tribulation will be
characterized by the widespread appearance of false Christs and false
prophets. Satan, having been loosed for a season, will be allowed to
take over the corporate church. His hold on the unsaved world will also
become stronger.

   Recent developments strongly indicate that we are rapidly
approaching that period. The worldwide growth of the charismatic
movement (false Christs) has been nothing less than phenomenal;
concurrently, other religions (false prophets) like the Muslim and the
New Age movement -- have been spreading like wildfire as well.

   Forewarned

   In Matthew 24:25 and Mark 13:23, Christ puts us on notice that He
has now warned us beforehand. We have no excuse for not recognizing
"the sign of His coming and of the end of the age". We must not make
the same mistake as that of the Israelites. Read Luke 12:54-57.

   In telling all this to us ahead of time, God is fulfilling a promise
made in Amos 3:6-8. The word "trumpet" in that passage indicates that
God is talking about the end of time, and "city" symbolizes the
corporate church. He has now revealed His "secret" (KJV) to us, His
servants. Christ having spoken, dare we not fear; dare we do anything
"but prophesy"?

   In fear and trembling, our calling now is to warn others about these
false prophets. We should not be upset by the evil we see around us,
knowing all this is a part of God's end-time plan. We must be watchful
and abide with the Word so we won't get snared nor be used to serve
Satan's cause. And we need to encourage one another, as Hebrews 10:25
commands.

   While today is still the day of salvation, we need to pray for our
unsaved loved ones, because at some point, it will be futile to pray
for those who have fallen for the "false Christs". Read Jeremiah 7:1-20
and II Thessalonians 2:8-12.

   End of time and space

   Matthew 24:29 states that the final tribulation period will be
followed immediately by the end of the world.

   The darkening of the sun and the moon underscores that it is the end
of time. Those two "lights" will no longer mark seasons and days and
years as God originally purposed them to do (Gen.1:14). The falling of
stars indicates that the whole creation is collapsing; it is the end of
space. Thus, the Last Day will develop into eternity.

   This conclusion of time and space is also discussed in Revelation
6:12-17. Notice from verses 15-17 that it will also be the great day of
the wrath of the Lamb, which is Judgment Day for the unsaved.

   We believers, on the other hand, should "look forward to the day of
God and speed its coming" because God will give us "a new heaven and a
new earth, the home of righteousness" (II Peter 3:11-13). Meanwhile, we
need to ask ourselves the question stated in verse 11, "Since
everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you
to be?"

   The Climax

   Mark 13:26,27; Matthew 24:30,31; and Luke 21:27,28 reveal that the
Last Day will not only bring time and space to an end and Judgment on
the unsaved, it will also be the time when Christ comes to gather His
elect. Among other passages that confirm this supreme truth are:

   Luke 17:29: "But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down
from heaven and destroyed them all."

   Genesis 7:11-13: "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the
seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the
great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very
day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife
and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark."

   I Corinthians 15:51,52: "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not
all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." See also Revelation
11:15,18.

   Matthew 13:30,38-39,49: "Let both grow together until the harvest.
At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and
tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it
into my barn. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the
sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the
enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,
and the harvesters are angels. This is how it will be at the end of the
age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous."

   John 5:28,29: "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when
all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who
have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will
rise to be condemned."

   John 6:39,40,44,54: "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I
shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the
last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son
and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day...No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me
draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day...Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at
the last day."

   John 11:24: "Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day.'"

   John 12:48: "There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does
not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at
the last day."

   Daniel 12:1,2: "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects
your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has
not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time
your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be
delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."

   All these Scriptures belie those who claim that the rapture can
occur at any moment, and will then be followed by Judgment Day at least
a thousand years later. These theologians insist on interpreting the
1000 years of Revelation 20 literally, but refuse to accept "the last
day" in the Bible to mean literally the last day, even though that
"1000 years" is used in the context of a vision which is recorded in
symbolic language, whereas "the last day" in the above verses is used
in every case as a direct statement.

   The term "last day" appears also in John 7:37 and Nehemiah 8:18. In
those cases, it is not talking about the end of time, but the term
still refers to a particular day, not to some ambiguous period.

   Actually, the feast of tabernacles, of which both John 7 and
Nehemiah 8 speak, is also called the feast of harvest. It commemorates
the completion of the entrance of Israel into the land of Canaan, which
is a picture of the completion of our salvation. Thus, the term "the
last day" in John 7 and in Nehemiah 8 also alludes to the end of time.

   Same blindness

   Why are so many pastors and well-known seminaries teaching the
pre-mil view? For one thing, that's what the "itching ears" of their
congregation like to hear (II Tim.4:3).

   For another, like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, they interpret Old
Testament prophecies without taking into consideration New Testament
commentaries and explanations.

   That the Kingdom of God is spiritual and not of this world, that it
sees no difference between the Jews and the "Greeks", and that the
kingdom will culminate in a new heaven and a new earth are all
"mysteries" revealed by God only in the New Testament.

   For that reason, in the Old Testament God typically used earthly
symbols to describe His everlasting spiritual kingdom, symbols simple
enough for human minds to grasp. Those earthly symbols must be
interpreted figuratively.

   Our next and final lesson in this series will discuss Christ
returning on the clouds of glory. Suffice it to say here that to
suggest that the Lord of lords and King of kings will yet spend 1000
years on this earth is to over-emphasize the importance of this earth
and to deny the magnificent exaltation of Jesus after His Ascension.

   Matthew 24:27-31; Mark 13:26,27: Luke 21:27

   How will the Return of Christ be like? From the above passages, we
learn that the Lord will return with "power and great glory". It will
be "as the lightning shines from east to west". Everyone on earth will
see Him.

   Such a spectacular return seems to contradict what we read in Acts
1:9-11. There, the two angels told the disciples, "This Jesus...will
come back in the same way you have seem him go into heaven." The
Ascension was a low-key, private affair; it was observed only by a
small group of disciples.

   Since the Bible never contradicts itself, we need to determine what
did the angels mean by saying that Jesus will come back "in the same
way".

   Glorified Body

   Will Christ come back in the same body as the one He ascended in?
No. During the 40 days after His Resurrection, Christ had a human body.
Mary Magdalene mistook Him as the gardener when she first saw Him near
the tomb, and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus initially thought
that He was just another man. Also, Jesus showed Thomas His
nail-pierced hands, and implied that His side showed signs of having
been speared.

   In order to prove to His disciples that He had risen, so that they
could witness to others, Jesus had to re-appear in His human body. But
that's not the body He has in heaven. It should be closer to the
description of Revelation 1, although that, too, is a vision and is
therefore a symbolic picture. Read verses 12-16. Incidentally, note
from verse 10 that the trumpet we'll hear on the last day will, in
fact, be the voice of Jesus.

   But doesn't the fact that Jesus could enter a room with a locked
door mean that He was in His glorified body after the resurrection? Not
at all. The Lord had been able to go through crowds (John 10:24,39) and
walk on water (Matt. 14:26) even before He went to the cross. He was
able to perform many miracles in His human body because He was God.

   Spiritual Body

   When Jesus comes back, He will be in a spiritual body. Read I
Corinthians 15:35-49. His spiritual body will be even more glorious
than the one revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Apostle John
was one of the three who saw the transfigured Christ, yet he says in I
John 3:2 "what we will be has not yet been made known. But we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is."

   In Acts 1, therefore, the angels were not referring to the Lord's
appearance. "In the same way" could mean that just as clouds had
"received" (KJV) Him at His Ascension, clouds will be featured at His
return. And like His Ascension, the Lord's return will be visible by
human eyes. Normally, we cannot see God because He is spirit. Anyone
seeing Him in a substantial form would be consumed by His glory. Read
Exodus 33:18-23 and 34:29-33.

   But believers will be able to see Him when He comes back because
they themselves will have been glorified. Just how the unsaved can look
upon Him without being consumed has not been disclosed by the Bible.

   Every knee shall bow

   Matthew 24:30 says, "all the nations of the earth will mourn"; and
Luke 21:25,26, "On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity
at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror,
apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies
will be shaken."

   The same picture is painted by Revelation 11:11-13. That's because
they will know belatedly that it is the day of the wrath of the Lamb.
It is Judgment Day.

   The phrase "coming in clouds with great power and glory" is
explained in Revelation 14:14-20. It points to the fact that Christ
will be coming as the Judge.

   The elect

   For the elect, Luke 21:28 says, "When these things begin to take
place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is
drawing near." Who are the elect that will be gathered when Christ
returns? Those who teach that Christians will be raptured before the
tribulation say that the elect are the Jews that shall become saved
during the millennium. But that is not supported by what the Bible
teaches.

   The following are all the New Testament verses (other than the ones
in this lesson) that contain the word "chosen" or "elect" with
reference to salvation:

   Matt. 22:14: "For many are invited, but few are chosen."

   Matt. 24:24: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and
perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that
were possible.

   Mark 13:22: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and
perform signs and mira cles to deceive the elect--if that were possible.

   Luke 18:7: And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones,
who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?

   John 15:16: You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you
to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give
you whatever you ask in my name.

   John 15:19: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its
own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

   Rom. 8:33: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has
chosen? It is God who justifies.

   Rom. 11:5: So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by
grace.

   Rom. 11:7: What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not
obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,

   Rom. 16:13: Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has
been a mother to me, too.

   Eph. 1:4: For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to
be holy and blame less in his sight.

   Eph. 1:11: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined
according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity
with the purpose of his will,

   Col. 1:27: To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles
the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory.

   Col. 3:12: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience.

   I Thess. 1:4: For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen
you,

   II Thess. 2:13: But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers
loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the
truth.

   II Tim. 2:10: Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the
elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
with eternal glory.

   Titus 1:1: Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for
the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to
godliness--

   James 2:5: Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who
are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit
the kingdom he promised those who love him?

   I Pet. 1:1: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect,
strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,

   I Pet. 1:2: who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for
obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace
be yours in abundance.

   I Pet. 2:4: As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men
but chosen by God and precious to him--

   I Pet. 2:9: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people be longing to God, that you may declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

   I Pet. 5:13: She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends
you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.

   II John 1:1: The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I
love in the truth--and not I only, but also all who know the truth--

   II John 1:13: The children of your chosen sister send their
greetings.

   Rev. 17:14: They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will
overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with
him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.

   Note that in all instances, they refer to all those who have been
chosen by God to be saved. The elect that are to be raptured on the
last day, therefore, are all believers from all nations.

   Eternal home

   What will our heavenly home be like? Will the new earth be similar
to the present earth prior to Adam's fall? No. The original earth was
created in anticipation of Adam's fall. The Lamb was slain before the
creation of the earth (Rev. 13:8). That's why God saw fit to put the
Garden of Eden even in the then not-yet-cursed earth to symbolize the
kingdom of Christ amidst the dark world.

   Adam was made of clay; he had an earthly body of flesh and blood.
And we have learned from I Corinthians 15 earlier that after we have
been transformed, we will have a spiritual body. To accommodate our
spiritual bodies, the new earth will also be spiritual in nature.

   There is no way our human mind can picture what our spiritual home,
as well as our spiritual body, is like in eternity. Remember, the Bible
tells us that our spiritual body will be as different from our human
body as a plant is different from its seed. The same, therefore, will
no doubt be true of our new home. It will be in an altogether different
dimension.

   However, God does want to give us some idea of what our blessed hope
is all about. He has therefore painted a few pictures with earthly
symbols to give our finite mind a hint of heaven. Some of these
pictures are in Isaiah 65:17-25 and Revelation 21:1-4; 22:1-6.

   As we read these passages, we must remember that they are in
parabolic language. Because God had not yet revealed the "mystery" of
an eternal kingdom in the Old Testament, the language used there is
more earthly than that of Revelation. That's why the Jews of Jesus' day
were still looking for an earthly kingdom. But even the desciption used
in Revelation is symbolic in nature.

   Despite this limitation, God assures us through these passages that
heaven will be super-magnificent. Praise the Lord that we are
approaching the end of time! Our Lord Jesus Christ will come back for
us soon!
