Hey Family,

Part of our study on current events and biblical prophecy involves unpacking the pre-tribulational view that FBC embraces (and that I personally hold), regarding Christ’s rapture of the church. It’s important for you to understand as we continue in our journey of exploring how Biblical prophecy and world events converge. But can I also whisper something hopeful to you? It’s important for you to understand because I believe the Bible’s teaching about the rapture of the church is meant to deliver a fresh wind of comfort and courage to the core of your being.

In this post, I’m putting a resource in your hand that sets up a framework and a context for understanding the timing of the rapture of the church from a pre-tribulation perspective.

Below, I’ve included a basic timeline as well as the key scriptures that describe each end-time event. These are definitely not exhaustive; my greatest hope is that this will be a springboard for you to dive into God’s Word on your own and continue your personal study.

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THE RAPTURE

KEY TEXTS: John 14:2-3, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

DESCRIPTION: A signless, imminent event when all believers will be transformed and taken instantly to meet Jesus in the air.

• PRE-TRIBULATION VIEW
  Those who hold to a pre-tribulation rapture believe that Christ will return to rescue His church before the 7-year tribulation period begins, sparing the church fully from its judgments and persecution.

• MID-TRIBULATION VIEW
  The mid-tribulation view places the Rapture at the half-way point of the 7-year tribulation. In this view, Christians would be subject to the first half of the tribulation turmoil, but spared from the escalated suffering of the “Great Tribulation” in the second half.

• POST-TRIBULATION VIEW
  Those who take a post-tribulation approach believe that Christ will rescue His church at the end of the 7-year tribulation period, and that the church would remain present during the full extent of persecution on earth. This view pairs the rapture of the church with Christ’s second coming.

THE GAP PERIOD & EZEKIEL 38 WAR

KEY TEXT: Ezekiel 38-39

DESCRIPTION: A period between the rapture of the church and the Antichrist’s signing of a peace treaty with Israel. Some theologians believe that the Ezekiel 38 War reasonably fits in this gap.

THE BEGINNING OF THE TRIBULATION

KEY TEXT: Daniel 9:27

DESCRIPTION: A world leader (The Antichrist) will rise to power and broker a deal between Israel and “many” which will officially begin the 7 years of Tribulation.

THE MIDPOINT OF THE TRIBULATION

KEY TEXTS: Daniel 9:27, Daniel 12:1-2, Revelation 13:11-18

DESCRIPTION: The Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel, defile the temple by putting up an image (many believe, an image of himself), and force everyone to worship the image. He will also initiate a world-wide globalism and require every man, woman, and child to take the mark of the Beast.

THE RETURN OF CHRIST

KEY TEXT: Revelation 19:11-21

DESCRIPTION: Christ will physically return to earth followed by the raptured church-age believers and the angels.

The Millennial Kingdom

KEY TEXT: Revelation 20:1-6

DESCRIPTION: Christ will reign from His throne in Jerusalem for 1,000 years. Satan will be bound for the 1,000 years and then be released for one final battle against Christ, where he will be quickly defeated and thrown permanently into the lake of fire…Then comes…

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT

KEY TEXT: Revelation 20:11-15

DESCRIPTION: An event when all nonbelievers throughout all of human history will stand before God to be judged and, sadly, thrown into the lake of fire. Believers will not stand before God at this judgement because we have been covered by the atonement of Jesus - that is, Christ has paid the entire penalty of our sin with His blood and clothed us in His spotless robes of righteousness. When God looks at us, He sees the perfection of His Son.

The New Heaven and New Earth

KEY TEXT: Revelation 21

DESCRIPTION: The place where we will spend eternity with the Lord. This is the realm where we will enjoy the fullness of Christ’s promise, “I make all things new!”

In Him,
Pastor Phil

We’re bringing you “Part 2” of Sunday, January 16th’s teaching! There were 2 points that we didn’t make it to that Sunday morning, and Pastor Phil would like to unpack those with some teaching below. (Serious note-takers, you can breathe a sigh of relief!!) First, we’ll give a quick recap of points 1-4.

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HAVEN’T LISTENED TO PART 1 YET…or NEED A REFRESHER?

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Luke 21:28, 31

“So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!…When you see all these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near!”

1. The Super Sign (Ezekiel 36:24, 37:21-22)

   The “Super Sign” refers to Israel’s becoming a nation again. It has been prophesied (and Jesus foretold) the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersement of the Jewish people all over the world, which happened in 70 AD. Nevertheless, God had promised His people hundreds of years before, “I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.” (Ezekiel 36:24) A fulfillment of this happened on May 14, 1948! All major “end-times” scriptures require of Israel:

   1. To become a literal nation again (This took place in 1948.)

   2. To be in control of Jerusalem (This took place during the 6-day war of 1967.)

   3. To rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (This will occur between now and the midpoint of the Tribulation.)

   For over 1800 years, there were almost no Jewish people living in Israel, a drought having turned Israel into a virtual wasteland. But, soon after Israel’s rebirth, weather patterns “miraculously” changed, technology was developed, and Israel is now a lush and fruitful land again.

In Summary: All the end-times signs hinge on this “Super Sign”, which indicates that we are living near the end of the Church Age!

2. The GEOPOLITICAL SIGNS (EZEKIEL 38)

Ezekiel 38 prophesies a great war against Israel after her rebirth. It describes in great detail the alignment of nations, like Russia, Turkey, and Iran, who will lead a coalition of other nations in a war against Israel. Now, more than ever, the stage for this event is fully set. Many people believe this attack on Israel will take place in a gap period between the Rapture of the Church and the start of the Tribulation Period. Other geopolitical signs can be seen in:

• The growth of The United Nations, World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, and European Union

• The growing strength of superpowers like China

• The decline of American strength and influence

3. The Natural Signs (Matthew 24:7-8, Luke 21:11)

Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the end-times include prophecies of “earthquakes, plagues, terrifying things, and great miraculous signs from heaven.” We are seeing this all around us in the form of wildfires, locust invasions, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Extreme weather and seismic activity are the natural results of a sin-cursed planet, not carbon emissions! Scripture calls them the “groanings” of a planet longing to be set free from sin’s curse (Romans 8:20-22). These will increase as we come near to the end. Those who warn about a planet with a short life-expectancy may be speaking in direct alignment with Scripture!

4. The Cultural Signs (Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:28-30)

Jesus said that the time period before His return would be just like the days of Noah and Lot. In other words, the end-times are characterized in Scripture by increased violence and extreme immorality. Sexual immorality and violence have always been a part of our culture, but not at the levels we see today. From the late sixties until today, we’ve watched the world plunge into the depths of sexual depravity described in Romans 1.

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HERE’S THE REST OF THE SERMON!

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5. The TECHNOLOGICAL SIGNS (DANIEL 12:4, REVELATION 13:16-17)

Daniel 12:4
”But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

Daniel had no idea what he was writing about! How could he? Today, every technology needed to fulfill end-times prophecy exists…and all of it has come within the past 100 years! We’ve gone from riding horses to traveling in space…from knowing little about biological design to mapping our DNA!

One of the specific technological systems required for end-times prophecy to be fulfilled is “Mark of the Beast” technology.

Revelation 13:16-17
”He (the beast) required everyone - small and great, rich and poor, free and slave - to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number representing his name.”

For this to happen, technology must be able to merge biometrics, a biological tracking system, a cashless/digital currency system, and a global database with a super-processing system to manage it all. Guess what…all of these technologies exist today!

6. The SPIRITUAL SIGNS (MATTHEW 24:14)

Matthew 24:14
"The Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”

With the internet now reaching almost every area of the globe (even the middle of the bush in Africa!), The Gospel is literally being preached throughout the whole world. Revival is EXPLODING in some of the darkest places and most oppressive countries on Earth! Thousands are coming to Christ in Iran and China. At the same time, and in typical satanic fashion, we see a rise, and will continue to see an increase of, false Christs, apostasy, the occult, wide-spread deception, and persecution.

All of this is happening, and will continue to happen, because it’s been prophesied that it would! The fact that every single end-times sign is in active play in our day should get our attention. They mean we are very close to the Rapture of the Church and the Return of Christ!

Again, let’s turn our attention to 2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-14.

“I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own evil desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”…But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about His promise, as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, He will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in His sight.”

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I don’t know about you, but it’s both riveting and so exciting to be immersed in what God is unfolding right before our eyes. Remember, these prophecies weren’t recorded to produce fear in our hearts, but rather, a confidence that God has secured the final victory (that also belongs to us as His children)! The task (and really, the honor and privilege) before us, is to tell those who don’t know Him, about the urgent and good news of the Gospel of Jesus while there is still time! We carry the BEST news on the planet!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Phil

In January 2022, we jumped into a brand new series: “What In The World!?” The Convergence of Biblical Prophecy & World Events”. As a supplemental resource, Pastor Phil wanted to provide a “starter pack” of helpful information from our series introduction, as well as a list of the resources he has personally found beneficial while leading us through this critical - and complex - topic.

SOME FACTS & FIGURES ON BIBLICAL PROPHECY:

• There are 8,000 prophetic verses in the Bible.

• One out of every 30 verses in the N.T. contains prophecy.

• 23 out of 27 N.T. books mention the second coming of Jesus.

• For every time the first coming of Jesus is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned 8 times!

• The first prophecy concerning Jesus is in Genesis 3:15 (thousands of years before His arrival)!

• There are 333 prophecies about Jesus…Only 109 have been fulfilled through His first coming…There are still 224 prophecies yet to be fulfilled!

“Every single prophecy will be fulfilled;
the Bible is batting 1000.”

BIBLICAL PROPHECY & ISRAEL

• The dispersement of the Jewish people in AD 70

• Their mistreatment and preservation

• The desolation of their homeland

• The return of the Jewish people

• The rebirth of Israel as a literal nation

• The ensuing attacks from border nations

• The growing financial and military strength of Modern Israel

• The global obsession with this tiny nation

• The exact geographical configuration of the Middle East today

• Over the past 120 years, more than 3.5 million Jews have changed their citizenship and have immigrated back to Israel.

…All of these are foretold in great detail through various prophecies that were written thousands of years ago!

PASTOR PHIL’S RESOURCES

The path that Pastor Phil chose to walk on through this study comes from Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, “Where Do We Go From Here?”. This resource is referenced often throughout this sermon series. If you would like to dive into deeper study on your own, Pastor Phil invites you to use this resource, as well as 3 more he has selected:

“Where Do We Go From Here?”
Dr. David Jeremiah

Description:
Today’s headlines shout of modern plagues, social tensions, economic crises, and rampant depression. Many are asking, what day is it on God’s prophetic calendar? Trusted Bible teacher and Pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah opens up the Word of God to reveal what it has to say about the days we are living in.

“The Prophecy Pros’ Illustrated Guide to tough questions about the end times”
Jeff Kinley & Todd Hampson

Description:
In a field often clouded by confusion and sensationalism, keeping track of what the Bible says about the end times can be challenging even for seasoned believers. That’s why the bestselling authors behind the Prophecy Pros Podcast are here to bring you a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the most need-to-know facts about what is to come.

“Fault lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe”
Voddie T.Baucham Jr.

Description:
In this powerful book, Voddie Baucham, a preacher, professor, and cultural apologist, explains the sinister worldview behind the social justice movement and Critical Race Theory—revealing how it already has infiltrated some seminaries, leading to internal denominational conflict, canceled careers, and lost livelihoods. Like a fault line, it threatens American culture in general—and the evangelical church in particular.

“Understanding the times: The collision of Today’s Competing Worldviews”
David A. Noebel

Description:
This book is a landmark guide to understanding the ideas and forces that are shaping our times. From Christianity to Islam to Humanism to Marxism to the New Age to Postmodernism, Understanding the Times provides Christians with a readable, comprehensive treatment of the most significant religious worldviews operating in Western Civilization.

REMEMBER THIS…

“God knew all of this would happen…
God told us all of this would happen…
God has a plan for you and me in the fulfillment of it all!”

Here are a few lock screens to download to your phone and use as a reminder this week!