For the past six thousand years, the current heavens and earth have been subject to God’s curse because of mankind’s sin. Since Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, all creation “has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth” (Romans 8:22) as it awaits the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan of redemption, which is the New Heavens and the New Earth.

This event comes after the rapture of the Church, after the tribulation, after the Lord’s second coming, after the millennial kingdom, after the final rebellion, after the final judgment of Satan, and after the Great White Throne Judgment. The current heaven and earth will be replaced by the new heavens and new earth. At that time, the Lord Jesus will ascend to His throne, He will remove the curse of sin, and He will make all things new. The new earth will be free from sin, evil, sickness, suffering, and death. It will be similar to our current earth, but without the curse of sin. It will be earth as God originally intended it to be. It will be Eden restored.

We will explain this further in our final sermon in this series: “A New Heaven and a New Earth.”

A 2010 survey showed that about 40% of Americans believe that Jesus is likely to return by 2050. However, according to the Pew Research Center, a January 2023 survey showed more than half of all Americans now believe Jesus will return to earth, and even soon! To be precise, 55% of all American adults aged 18 and over, and 92% of American Evangelicals believe Jesus will return to Earth, possibly in our lifetime.

Given how rarely Bible prophecy is taught in churches these days, and how many Americans are drifting away from the Church, that really is a shocking number. Why do so many Americans believe we’re living in the last days – and that Jesus is coming back to Earth, possibly in our lifetime? I believe the Holy Spirit has opened their eyes to the vanity of this world, and He is stirring people’s hearts to long for the day the Messiah will return to make all things right.

We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “When Jesus Comes Again.”

The Bible says as this age comes to a close, there will be three attempts to destroy the nation of Israel.

The Psalm 83 war – Israel’s neighboring nations will attempt to “destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:4)
The Isaiah 17 war – Syria will provoke Israel to completely destroy the city of Damascus “from being a city; it shall be a ruinous heap.” (Isaiah 17:1)
The Gog-Magog war – the largest military force to ever come against the nation of Israel will ascend upon them “like a cloud to cover the land,” but God will show His “greatness and His holiness” in such a way the whole world will know that He is Lord. (From Ezekiel 38-39)

In our next sermon in this series, “God’s Unfolding Drama of Redemption,” we will look at “The Repudiation of Gog and Magog.”   

The purpose-driven, seeker-sensitive, fad-driven, easy-believism, cheap-grace philosophies of church growth caused such spiritual blindness, the average Christian knows nothing about Bible prophecy. Therefore, they do not see the sure signs of our Lord’s soon return FOR His church, and seven years later WITH His church. However, Bible prophecies written 2700 years ago are falling into place with incredible speed.

· Those who are not saved, those who are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, see these events through the lens of fear, and they should.

· Those who are saved, those who know this world has nothing to offer us compared to what Jesus has promised us, see these events through the lens of our faith, and we say, “Maranatha” – even so, Lord Jesus come.

Even before He created the world, God set a date on His prophetic calendar for His Son to enter humanity and give His life to redeem us from sin. He also set the date for His Son to return to this earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and establish His kingdom on this earth, and while we cannot know the specific date, He has revealed the “season” of His return:
· Through the seven Jewish Feasts.
· Through the spiritual characteristics of the Seven Churches of Asia.
· Through the decay of society, as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24, the Apostle Paul predicted in 1st and 2nd Timothy, the Apostle John predicted in his three minor epistles, and finally in the book of Revelation.
From a human perspective, we are living in uncertain times and society is falling apart. From the biblical perspective, we are living in the most certain times of our history as the end-time events are falling into place, just as God ordained them to be at this time. We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “The Beginning of the End.” (Part # 2)

According to the Scriptures, the closer we get to the end of this age, the more ungodly our society will become.

· From a human perspective, it will appear that we are living in uncertain times and that our society is falling apart.

· From the biblical perspective, we are living in the most certain times of our history as the end-time events are falling into place, just as God ordained them to be at this time.

God is shaking His people up to wake us up, to get us to grow up, look up, and then to speak up, for even many of God’s people are losing their hope.

We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “The Beginning of the End.” (Part # 1)

The Rapture of the Church is not just the Christian’s “Great Escape” from tribulation, as some believe. The rapture is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to the church of Philadelphia, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” (Rev. 3:10)

That “hour of trial” is the seven years of Tribulation when God will pour out His wrath upon those who rejected Jesus as the Christ and instead embraced the Antichrist. Since, by definition, Christians have already confessed Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the wrath of God that we deserved was satisfied by our faith alone, and in the Person and work of Christ alone.

However, before we are given our harp and assigned our cloud, (wink, wink) each Christian “must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We will explain this further in our next sermon entitled “The Judgment Seat of Christ.”

Biblical eschatology contains the message of God’s irrevocable love for those who received His Son as their Savior, as well as God’s divine justice for those who did not receive Him.

In our study of biblical eschatology, if we only focus on those prophecies that tell us of God’s judgment to come, our desire to learn all we can about the future will be diminished. However, if we focus on a new heaven, a new way of life on this earth for 1,000 years, with Jesus Christ as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and then our eternal life on a new earth and in a new heaven, world without end, how can we help but want to know all we can about this One who loves us so?

Perhaps the main event for Christians will be the rapture of the Church. We will explain this further in our new series of sermons on the Glorious Return of Christ. In this second sermon, we will explain the next event on God’s prophetic calendar, “The Rapture of the Church.”

In his farewell speech to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul told the elders:
• He had lived among them and taught them the Holy Scriptures with humility. Historians believe Paul was in Ephesus for a little over two years.

“….98, 99, 100 – Ready or not, here I come!” Wouldn’t you love to play “Hide and go seek” again? Today’s children don’t know how to have real fun!!
However, Jesus says the same thing to us today, “Ready or not, here I come!” There are no more prophecies to be fulfilled. First, Jesus will come FOR us, in what is called the Rapture of the Church, to deliver us from the wrath of God that will be poured out on this earth during the Tribulation. Then He will come WITH us to rid the world of sin and remove those who rebelled against Him and His Son.
Jesus is coming soon; are you ready? We will explain this further in our next sermon from the gospel of Mark: “The Glorious Return of Christ.” The sermon study guide is attached.

Without controversy, Christians believe Jesus lived a perfect life, died an atoning death, and rose from the grave to prove His death was sufficient to pay the wages for our sin. However, had Jesus not ascended back into the heavens, from which He had been sent by God the Father, His perfect life, His atoning death, and even His physical resurrection from the grave would not have been sufficient to obtain our eternal salvation.
However, because He fulfilled His mission to redeem us from our sin, after His resurrection, as the Apostle Peter said in Acts 2:14-36, “Jesus was exalted at the right hand of God.” Having finished the work the Father had sent Him to do, the Father highly exalted Him, and now the one and only true “God-Man” reigns in heaven as Lord of all.
We will explain this further in our next sermon from the gospel of Mark: “The Ascension of Christ.”