8. Two weeks ago we
discussed watching and
praying (not date setting)
concerning the Rapture.
Remember the wart on the
end of your nose thing?
9. Satan wants to use the
“date setters” to cry wolf
so many times that you
decide to quit paying
attention (quit watching
and praying) – Y2K,
Mayan calendar, etc.
15. Luke 21:36 KJV
36Â Watch ye therefore, and
pray always, that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall
come to pass, and to stand
before the Son of man.
16. Watching for what?:
Our own spiritual growth
Aware of Scriptures (Isa. 17)
World events - Israel
The Jewish Feasts
Astronomical events
18. Genesis 1:14
14Â And God said, Let there
be lights in the firmament of
the heaven to divide the day
from the night; and let them
be for signs, and for seasons,
and for days, and years:
26. 46Â And when Jesus had
cried with a loud voice, he
said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my
spirit: and having said
thus, he gave up the
ghost. Luke 23:44-46 KJV
28. Jesus died on the Feast of
the Passover,
He was buried during the
Feast of Unleavened
Bread,
He was raised on the
Feast of First Fruits.
29. Revelation 12:1-2 KJV
1 And there appeared a
great wonder in heaven; a
woman clothed with the
sun, and the moon under
her feet, and upon her
30. head a crown of twelve
stars:
2Â And she being with
child cried, travailing in
birth, and pained to be
delivered.
Revelation 12:1-2 KJV
31. That celestial arrangement
occurred when the Word
became flesh and dwelt
among us (John 1:14) and
the next time it occurs is
September 23, 2017.
32. Joel 2:31 KJV
31Â The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before
the great and terrible day
of the Lord come.
33. Acts 2:20Â KJV
The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before
that great and notable day
of the Lord come:
34. Revelation 6:12 KJVÂ
2 … And I beheld when
he had opened the sixth
seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and
the sun became black as
sackcloth
38. A blood-red moon
The moon may turn red or
coppery colored during
the total portion of a lunar
eclipse.
39. A blood red moon is
possible because while the
moon is in total shadow,
some light from the sun
passes through Earth's
atmosphere and is bent
toward the moon.
40. While other colors in the
spectrum are blocked and
scattered by Earth’s
atmosphere, red light
tends to make it through
easier.
55. There were no tetrads in
the 1800's or the 1700's or
the 1600's.
56. The tetrad event only
occurred once in the last
century (1900’s).
57. Those occasions were in
1967 and 1968 when the
four total lunar eclipses
occurred in succession on
The Passover April 24th
1967, and then during
The Feast of Tabernacles
58. on October 18th 1967;
then The Passover again
on April 13th 1968, and
The Feast of Tabernacles
on October 6th 1968.
59. The point that is of
interest in this connection
is that the tetrad of lunar
eclipses in the 20th
century surrounded the
return of the Old City of
Jerusalem to Jewish
60. control on 7th June 1967,
which itself was a
fulfillment of prophecy
(Psalm 102:12-22 and
Luke 21:24-25, 32).
61. This lunar tetrad event
coupled with Jewish
feasts only occurs once in
this present century,
namely in 2014-2015.
63. There is a tetrad of total
Lunar eclipses starting
again on The Passover
on April 15th 2014,
followed by The Feast of
Tabernacles on October
8th 2014;
64. then again on The Passover
April 4th 2015 and The
Feast of Tabernacles on
the 28th of September 2015
followed by the Day of
Atonement on September
23, 2015.
65. The total solar eclipses
also feed into these rare
occurrences.
The first total solar eclipse
being March 20th 2015
(Nisan 1), and Rosh
Hashana on 9/14/2015.
68. So there is a culmination
of significant astronomical
events in September 2015
with a total solar eclipse
for Rosh Hashana just a
few days before the key
Day of Atonement
76. “In the Old Testament,
there are twenty times as
many prophecies about
Jesus’ second coming as
there are about His first
advent.
77. In the 260 chapters of the
New Testament, the
second coming is
mentioned 380 times.
The second coming is
truly a most important
topic.” Bob Brasset
85. John 1:35-40 KJV
35Â Again the next day after
John stood, and two of his
disciples;
36Â And looking upon Jesus
as he walked, he saith,
Behold the Lamb of God!
86. 37Â And the two disciples
heard him speak, and
they followed Jesus.
38Â Then Jesus turned, and
saw them following, and
saith unto them, What
seek ye?
87. They said unto him,
Rabbi, (which is to say,
being interpreted,
Master,) where dwellest
thou?
88. 39Â He saith unto them,
Come and see.
They came and saw
where he dwelt, and
abode with him that day:
for it was about the tenth
hour.
89. 40Â One of the two which
heard John speak, and
followed him, was
Andrew, Simon Peter's
brother.
John 1:35-40 KJV
91. Andrew comes from the
Greek word meaning:
“manly”.
He was a disciple of John
the Baptist and became
the first follower of Jesus
to be identified by name.
92. Hometown:
Bethsaida (house of fish).
Occupation: fisherman &
apostle of Jesus Christ.
Family Tree:
Father - Jonah
Brother - Simon Peter
103. Andrew lived in the
shadow of his more
famous sibling, Simon
Peter.
104. After leading Peter to
Christ, he then stepped
into the background as his
boisterous brother became
a leader among the
apostles and in the early
church.
105. Peter and Andrew were
part of Jesus' inner group.
However, Peter, James
and John were in a closer
circle to Jesus than
Andrew was.
106. The Apostle Andrew is
mentioned fourth in the
list of disciples, indicating
he stayed close to Jesus
even though he had
accepted a “second fiddle
position”.
109. Andrew went to the "land
of the man-eaters," in
what is now the Soviet
Union.
Christians there claim him
as the first to bring the
Gospel to their land.
110. Andrew preached to the
Scythians [modern day
Georgia in southern
Russia] and Thracians
[modern day Bulgaria].
111. Andrew's weakness:
Like the other apostles
(except for John), Andrew
abandoned Jesus during
his trial and crucifixion.
112. Andrew’s death:
After being whipped
severely by seven soldiers,
they tied Andrew’s body to
an X-shaped cross with
cords to prolong his agony
and crucified him
113. at Patrae (or Edessa), a
town of Achaia [Greece];
and there too he was
buried.
Date of martyrdom:
70 A.D.
114. His followers reported
that when he was led
toward the cross, Andrew
saluted it in these words:
“I have long desired and
expected this happy hour.
115. The cross has been
consecrated by the body
of Christ hanging on it.”
He continued to preach to
his tormentors for two
days until he died.
119. An apostle was one of
Jesus Christ's 12 closest
disciples, chosen by Him
early in His ministry to
spread the Gospel after
His death and
resurrection.
120. In the Bible, they are
called Jesus' disciples
until the Lord's ascension
into heaven, then they are
referred to as apostles.
122. The Greek-English
Lexicon of the New
Testament argues that its
Christian use translated a
Jewish position known in
Hebrew as the “sheliach”
(SCHLEE – ah).
123. In the synagogue, an
important official was the
sheliach, meaning
"to be sent."
124. These sheliach carried the
collections taken up in
Babylonia and Jewish
colonies of the Roman
empire to Jerusalem for
the support of the Temple.
126. The Temple priests were
sent each year apostles
from Jerusalem to the
different synagogues of
the world to bring
greetings from their
brethren in Judea, and to
127. see that the synagogue
worship was rightly
observed in these distant
lands.
128. Apostolos (Apostle) has a
stronger sense than the
word messenger, meaning
one who is entrusted with
a foreign mission, with
the authority of a
delegate.
129. The English translation is,
"I am sent to you . . .", or
"I have been
commissioned to give
you . . ."
130. This ecclesiastical
meaning of the word was
later translated into Latin
as missio, the source of
the English “missionary”.
131. What happened to the
twelve apostles?
1) Judas went and
hanged himself.
2) Andrew was crucified
in Edessa, Greece.
133. 3) Bartholomew was
beaten and then
crucified in India.
4) James the Great, older
brother of John,was
beheaded by Herod in
44 A.D. in Judea. Acts 12
134. 5) James the Less was
beaten, stoned, and
then clubbed to death at
age 94 in Jerusalem.
6) Jude, brother of James,
was crucified in 72 A.D.
in Edessa, Greece.
135. 7) Matthew was killed
with a weapon that had
a blade and spike in
60 A.D. in Nadabah.
8) Matthias was stoned
and then beheaded in
Jerusalem.
136. 10) Peter was crucified
head down by his
request as unworthy to
die in the same
position as his Lord, in
Rome.
141. Stephen was stoned to
death in 34 A.D. in
Jerusalem.
Paul was beheaded with a
sword in Rome.
142. Luke was hanged on an
olive tree in Greece.
Mark was dragged to
death in Alexandria.
143. The deaths of the Apostles
increase the certainty level
of the historicity of the
resurrection to a level that
is beyond excuse for
disbelief.
144. People do not die for their
own lies, half-truths, or
fabrications.
Since the Apostles died
proclaiming to have seen
Christ dead then alive
again and ascend into
145. heaven, Christ is Who He
said He was, God
incarnate Who came to
take away the sins of the
world.
Why does God allow
these things to happen?
147. Hebrews 11:1, 4-6 KJV
Â
1 Now faith is the
substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things
not seen.
148. 4Â By faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent
sacrifice (behold, the
Lamb of God) than Cain,
by which he obtained
witness that he was
righteous, God testifying
149. of his gifts: and by it he
being dead yet speaketh.
150. 5Â By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not
see death; and was not
found, because God had
translated him: for before his
translation he had this
testimony, that he pleased
God.
151. 6Â But without faith it is
impossible to please Him:
for he that cometh to God
must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder
of them that diligently
seek Him.
153. Hebrews 11:33-40 KJV
33Â Who through faith
subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness,
obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of
lions.
154. 34Â Quenched the violence
of fire, escaped the edge
of the sword, out of
weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens.
155. 35Â Women received their
dead raised to life again:
Group B
and others were tortured,
not accepting deliverance;
that they might obtain a
better resurrection:
156. 36Â And others had trial of
cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover
of bonds and
imprisonment:
157. 37Â They were stoned, they
were sawn asunder, were
tempted, were slain with
the sword: they wandered
about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute,
afflicted, tormented;
158. 38Â (Of whom the world
was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and
in mountains, and in dens
and caves of the earth.
159. 39Â And these all, having
obtained a good report
through faith, received
not the promise:
160. 40Â God having provided
some better thing for us,
that they without us
should not be made
perfect.
Hebrews 11:33-40 KJV
162. 19Â If ye were of the world,
the world would love his
own: but because ye are
not of the world, but I
have chosen you out of
the world, therefore the
world hateth you.
163. 20Â Remember the word
that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than
his lord. If they have
persecuted me, they will
also persecute you; if they
have kept my saying, they
164. will keep yours also.
21Â But all these things will
they do unto you for my
name's sake, because they
know not him that sent
me.
165. 22Â If I had not come and
spoken unto them, they
had not had sin: but now
they have no cloak for
their sin.
23Â He that hateth me
hateth my Father also.
166. 24Â If I had not done
among them the works
which none other man
did, they had not had sin:
but now have they both
seen and hated both me
and my Father.
167. 25Â But this cometh to
pass, that the word might
be fulfilled that is written
in their law, They hated
me without a cause.
168. 26Â But when the Comforter
is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth,
which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of
me:
169. 27Â And ye also shall bear
witness, because ye have
been with me from the
beginning.
John 15:18-27 KJV
173. Why a Millennium?
Does Jesus really need to
return to earth to reign?
by
Dr. David R. Reagan
174. "What purpose does the
Millennium serve?"
The Word clearly teaches
that the Lord is coming
back to this earth to reign
for a thousand years.
But, "Why?"
175. Why would the Lord
want to come back to this
rotten world?
What could possibly be
His purpose in returning
to this world to reign for a
thousand years?
176. Why does the Lord or the
world need a
Millennium?
God has several vitally
important purposes for
the Millennium.
177. Promises to the Jews
The first reason there
must be a Millennium is
that God has made
promises to the Jews
which He will fulfill
during that time.
178. God has promised that He
will gather to the land of
Israel the remnant of Jews
who accept Jesus as their
Messiah at the end of the
Tribulation (Ezekiel 36:22-
28 and Zechariah 10:6-9).
179. He will pour out His Spirit
upon this remnant (Isaiah
32:15;Â 44:3), greatly expand
their numbers and their land
(Ezekiel 36:10-11;Â 48:1-29),
and make them the prime
nation in all the world
(Isaiah 60-62).
180. They will serve as an
object lesson of the grace
and mercy which God
bestows upon those who
turn to Him in
repentance:Â "And it will
come about that just as you
181. were a curse among the
nations, O house of Judah
and house of Israel, so I will
save you that you may
become a blessing"
(Zechariah 8:13).
182. Zechariah says the
blessings of God upon the
Jewish remnant will be so
great in those days
that"ten men from all the
nations will grasp the
garment of a Jew saying,
183. 'Let us go with you, for we
have heard that God is with
you'"Â (Zechariah 8:23).
184. Promises to the Church
A second reason for the
Millennium relates to a
promise which God has
made to the Church.
185. God has promised that
the Redeemed in Christ
will reign over all the
nations of the world.
186. This promise was given
through the prophet
Daniel in the following
words:Â "Then the
sovereignty, the dominion,
and the greatness of all the
kingdoms under the whole
187. heaven will be given to the
people of the saints of the
Highest One; His kingdom
will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all the
dominions will serve and
obey Him"Â (Daniel 7:27).
188. In the New Testament,
Paul repeated the same
promise in the simplest of
terms:Â
"If we endure, we shall also
reign with Him"Â
(2 Timothy 2:12).
189. Jesus affirmed the
promise in His letter to
the church at Thyatira
when He wrote:Â
"And he who overcomes, and
he who keeps My deeds until
the end, to him I will give
190. authority over the nations;
and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron...“
(Revelation 2:26-27).
191. When John was taken to
Heaven for a visit to the
throne room of God, he
heard a heavenly host
singing a song that
contained the following
verse:Â "And Thou has made
192. them [the Redeemed] to be a
kingdom and priests to our
God; and they will reign
upon the earth"Â
(Revelation 5:10).
193. This promise to the
Church of worldwide
dominion is going to be
fulfilled during the
Millennium.
194. That is what Jesus was
referring to in the Sermon
on the Mount when He
said,Â
"Blessed are the gentle, for
they shall inherit the
earth"Â (Matthew 5:5).
195. Jesus will reign as king of
the world from Mt. Zion
in Jerusalem (Isaiah
24:23 and Zechariah 14:9).
196. The Redeemed, in their
glorified bodies, will help
Him with His reign by
serving worldwide as
administrators, judges,
and spiritual tutors to
those who enter the
197. kingdom in the flesh —
and to their children
(Daniel 7:18,27;Â Jeremiah
3:15;Â Luke 19:11-17).
198. Promises to the Nations
God has promised that a
time will come when the
nations will be provided
with their greatest dream
— namely, worldwide
peace.
199. This has been an
international dream since
the beginning of time, but
it has proved to be
impossibly elusive.
200. Peace conference after
peace conference has been
held.
Multiple treaties have
been signed.
World organizations have
been formed.
201. Yet, war continues to
ravage the nations.
God has promised to give
Mankind and the earth a
rest from its wars.
202. But that peace will not come
until the Prince of Peace
returns.
Only then will the
nations "hammer their swords
into plowshares, and their
spears into pruning hooks."
203. Only then will we realize
the dream of a world
where "nation will not lift
up sword against nation,
and never again will they
learn war"Â (Isaiah 2:4).
204. God has promised that He
will flood the earth with
peace, righteousness, justice,
and holiness:
"The earth will be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea"
(Isaiah 11:9).
205. Even the bells on the
horses bridles and the
pots in the kitchens will
bear the inscriptionÂ
"Holy to the Lord"Â
(Zechariah 14:20, 21).
207. Promises to the Creation
God has also made
promises to His creation
which He will fulfill
during the Millennium.
208. God has promised to
remove the curse which
He placed upon the
creation due to the sin of
Man.
209. He has promised to
deliver the Creation from
its bondage to decay and
to restore it to its original
beauty, balance, and
peace (Romans 8:18-23).
210. The carnivorous animals
will become herbivorous
(Isaiah 11:6).
The deadly animals will
cease to be poisonous
(Isaiah 11:8-9).
211. The plant kingdom will
flourish and produce
bountifully (Isaiah 35 and
Ezekiel 34:25-31).
212. The land of Israel will be
so radically transformed
that visitors will proclaim
in amazement:
"This desolate land has
become like the garden of
Eden" (Ezekiel 36:35).
213. Promises to Jesus
The most important
reason for the Millennium
is that God is going to use
it to fulfill promises which
He has made to His Son.
214. God has promised Jesus
that He will be glorified in
history to compensate in
part for His humiliation in
history.
215. The Bible says point blank
that Jesus will return to
manifest His glory
(Isaiah 24:23; 66:18-19;
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
216. God also has promised that
He will give Jesus dominion
over all the world and that
He will reign over the
nations from Mt. Zion in
Jerusalem (Daniel 7:13-14;
Isaiah 2:2-4;
Zechariah 14:1-9).
217. Psalm 2 presents a good
summary of these
promises.
It begins by surveying the
rebellion of the world's
political leaders against
God and His Son, referred
218. to in the passage as "His
Anointed" (verses 1-2).
It describes their
contempt for the Lord
(verse 3).
219. But the psalm says that God
sits in the heavens and
laughs and scoffs at them
because He has appointed a
day of reckoning when He
will "terrify them in His fury"
(verse 5).
220. That will be the day when
He installs Jesus as "King
upon Zion" (verse 6).
221. Jesus then speaks and tells
of the promise that His
Father has made to Him:
"I will surely tell of the
decree of the Lord: He
said to Me, 'Thou art My
Son, today I have begotten
222. Thee. Ask of Me, and I will
surely give the nations as
Thine inheritance, and the
very ends of the earth as Thy
possession. Thou shalt break
them with a rod of iron...'"
(Psalm 2:7-9).
223. It must be kept in mind
that Jesus is currently a
“King-in-waiting."
224. Like King David, who had to
wait many years after he was
anointed before he became
king of Israel, Jesus has been
anointed King of kings and
Lord and lords, but He has
not yet begun to rule.
225. He is currently serving as
our High Priest before the
throne of God
(Hebrews 8:1).
226. He is waiting for His
Father's command to
return and claim all the
kingdoms of this world
(Hebrews 2:5-9 and
Revelation 19:11-16).