The end times will be chaotic, to say the least. In fact, it will be such a time of confusion and uncertainty that the people will long for a leader who can restore peace and security in a time of fear and apprehension. Those people will get their wish as a powerful, charismatic leader spouting peace and unity will come on the scene. But he will turn out to be much more than they bargained for. He will be a dictator whose cruelty will be more than any other the world has ever known. He will be the Antichrist, the man who will rule the world and be worshipped as Christ.

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “The Age of Apocalypse: The Number of the Beast,” based on our study of Revelation 13:11-18

The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to the Christian faith. It is crucial to our understanding of God, how He has revealed Himself to us, and how we are to relate to Him. While we cannot fully understand everything about the Trinity, it is imperative that we get a solid grasp on what this essential doctrine means, for it affects our worship, our prayers, and our witness.

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “This I Believe; In the Triune Nature of God.”

Since he was not able to destroy the Promised Seed at Jesus’ birth, Satan set his life purpose to destroy those who believed in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Revelation 13 describes the events Satan will use during the seven years of tribulation to bring the whole world under his control, including severe persecution and martyrdom. 

However, Satan’s rule will not be for long, for when the Lord returns, all of the kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdom of our Lord, and Satan, along with the Beast and the False Prophet will be cast into the lake of fire.

While Christians will not see the rise of the Antichrist, the study of this passage should inspire us to share the gospel with those with whom we want to spend eternity.

Years ago, Dr. R.C. Sproul said, “The greatest weakness in the church today is that almost no one believes God invests His power in the Bible. Everyone is looking for power in a program, in a technique, in anything and everything except where God has placed it: His Word.”

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “This I Believe: The Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith – God’s Revelation of Himself to man.” based on the Epistle of 2 Timothy 3:13-17.

The seven trumpets of Revelation are seven horrible judgments that will impact Earth during the great tribulation. These judgments will devastate the ecosystems of this planet so completely that Earth will not be able to recover.  

Thousands of cities will be destroyed by fire and water.
Twenty-five percent of the world’s population will die during the first few weeks.
Global communication, travel, banking, manufacturing, and shipping will all but disappear.
God’s judgments will impose great tribulation on everyone.

In the midst of this world-wide confusion, a man will rise, empowered by Satan, and assume the position of the leader of the world. His name is Antichrist. We will explain this further in our next sermon, “The Age of Apocalypse: The World Ruled by Satan,” based on our study of Revelation 8:1-12:17 

The Apostle Paul said, while the whole church age would be plagued with doctrinal and theological division, near the end of the church age, such activity would increase in its intensity, and we can see that today through the efforts of Progressive Christianity.

   Sadly, the church in the West has been lulled to sleep with songs of high praise, amateur theatrical performances to garner man’s applause, and short sermons of pop psychology laced with pious platitudes and twisted scriptures. To use Shakespeare’s analogy, “they strut and fret upon the stage as idiots full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” and we wonder why our youth and children have no hunger for the things of God.

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “This I Believe: The Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith,” based on the Epistle of 2 Timothy 3:1-17.

According to the news articles I read today, this year’s “October Surprise” may very well be WWIII. While Russia is moving some of its nuclear weapons toward Ukraine, the US is pumping more money and guns into Ukraine, and there is new evidence to suggest the United States was behind the Nordstrom gas leaks. Are we deliberately poking the bear?

While I never say “this” is “that” until it happens, in light of everything else going on in the world, it is interesting that the four horsemen that will be released right after the rapture of the Church bring world war, disease, famine, and death. This is the topic of our sermon from the Book of Revelation: “The Age of Apocalypse: The World Ruined by Man.” This sermon is based on our study of Revelation 6:1-7:17.

  In his book, “Saving Christianity? The Danger in Undermining our Faith and What You Can Do About It,” Pastor Michael Youssef said today’s pastors are turning their back on the fundamentals of the Christian Faith by watering down the gospel to make it more palatable for today’s culture, and in so doing, “they are leading the church into that great apostasy Paul said would occur just before the rapture of the Church and the return of Jesus Christ.”

   I agree with Pastor Youssef, and I join with him in warning the remnant that we are entering one of the most challenging times in the history of Christianity.  If the current trend continues, the true, Christian Faith, as we define it, will not survive another 20 years, but it will be replaced by a lesser form of the gospel based upon inclusion and love.

   Progressive Christianity has nothing to do with the Gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. It is primarily concerned with the issues of social and racial justice, which the Bible does not address, but it neglects the far more fundamental issue of God’s justice – how a holy and just God deals with sinful man. Progressive Christianity has cropped up in the seminaries and infiltrated the pulpits across America, and the real danger is that the acceptance of this deception can send a person to hell!

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “This I Believe; The Essential Doctrines of the Christian Faith,” based on our study of the Epistle of Jude.

There are several things I hope you will learn from this study:

Regardless of the human leaders who think they are in control, God rules, and nothing can happen without His expressed permission. God has not changed, and the plans He ordained to bring this age to an end will be carried out according to His design. Even the evil of man is under the sovereignty of God.
Therefore, we should not fear what man can do to us, but rather we should fear (respect) the Holy God who is in charge of all men. Sadly, even most Christians seem to have a greater fear of any form of temporal suffering than they do of eternal separation from God.
Finally, thank God the Lamb (the Lord Jesus) is worthy to open the seals and bring this age to a close. Otherwise, life in the future would be just like life today, ad nauseum, from generations to come.

The Feast of Tabernacles is symbolic of Christ’s Second Coming, when He will establish His kingdom on this earth for 1,000 years. Just as God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt through their faith in the shed blood of a lamb, protected and provided for them during their wandering in the wilderness until they entered the Promised Land, so will He deliver those of us who believe in the shed blood of the Lamb of God to deliver us from our bondage to sin, protect and provide for us while we are in the wilderness of this world until He returns to tabernacle with us on this earth for 1,000 years. Maranatha!

We will explain this further in our next sermon, “The Feast of Tabernacles,” based on our study of Leviticus 23.