Unshakable Week 7 (09/13/2020)

Unshakable Week 7 (09/13/2020)

September 19, 2020

The purpose of prophecy is 2-fold:

  1. To prepare us for the future

Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7 NLT)

  1. To build our confidence in the Bible

I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe. (John 14:29 NLT)

God is not trying to hold back on us. He wants us to know and understand what’s coming ahead of so that we can be prepared and remain UNSHAKABLE!

QUESTION: How many of you would love to know what the end of times would be like and what are the signs of Jesus’ coming?

How do we know Jesus is coming back? John 14:1-3 “I am going to prepare a place for you.When everything is ready, I WILL COME AND GET YOU, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

How is He coming back? The same way He went up. Acts 1:9-11 gives us a picture as Jesus on the Mount of Olives is ascending. “He (Jesus) WAS TAKEN UP INTO A CLOUD while they (the disciples) were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, BUT SOMEDAY HE WILL RETURN FROM HEAVEN IN THE SAME WAY YOU SAW HIM GO!

Will you see His return? Yes! His first coming was in secret, but His second coming will not be. It will be visible and audible.

VISIBLE: “Look! HE COMES WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.  And EVERYONE WILL SEE HIM— even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. (Revelation 1:7 NLT)

AUDIBLE: “For the Lord himself will COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN with A COMMANDING SHOUT, with the voice of the archangel, and with THE TRUMPET CALL OF GOD. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NLT)

STATEMENT: Church that’s great news. When all the mess hits the fan, we won’t be here.

The big elephant in the room has always been -When! Jesus told us that no one knows the day or hour but we would certainly recognize the signs and the seasons. Then Jesus said “watch therefore”. This is not a metaphor– watch means to physically and spiritually look, see, observe the signs. What are the signs?

  • Wars and rumors of wars – As of 2020, we have 9 countries with nuclear weapons: US, Russia, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, N. Korea.
  • An increase in natural calamities. Just in the 1st 6 months of 2020, there has been 207 recorded natural disasters worldwide.
  • A global rise in infectious diseases and viruses– Need I say much about this one. A global health security system is being development where our movement can be traced and tracked.
  • Global financial crisis– a total collapse of all financial institutions
  • Increase in lawlessness and anarchy– Today we have Marxist groups walking freely in our streets and promoting lawlessness and anarchy.
  • When all of this have reached a boiling point, there will be the appearance of the antichrist.

In Matthew 24:15, Jesus makes this statement taking us back to the Book of Daniel

15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about …(Reader, pay attention!) (Matthew 24:15 NLT)

Why do we study Daniel? Jesus told us to!

OPENING SCRIPTURE: Daniel 7:1-8 (The Vision of 4 Beasts)

Earlier, during the first year of King Belshazzar’s reign in Babylon, Daniel had a dream and saw visions as he lay in his bed. He wrote down the dream, and this is what he saw. In my vision that night, I, Daniel, saw a great storm churning the surface of a great sea, with strong winds blowing from every direction. Then FOUR HUGE BEASTS came up out of the water, each different from the others.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The interpretation of the dream in verses 1-8 is given in verses 15-27. For the sake of time and also for ease of understanding, I have condensed the two.

The first beast was like a lion with eagles’ wings. As I watched, its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing with its two hind feet on the ground, like a human being. And it was given a human mind.

  • Statues of winged lions represented the Babylonian Empire. If you have the opportunity to visit the National British Museum in London, they have a section dedicated to the Assyrian where you can see a lot of the artifacts, murals with lions with wings from the Babylonian empire. The tearing off of the wings represented the season when King Nebuchadnezzar was insane and had the mind of an animal. Then was restored back with a human mind.

Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying to it, “Get up! Devour the flesh of many people!”

  • The bear represented the Medo-Persian empire. The bear lopsided represented the Persia overshadowing Media. The 3 ribs in its mouth represented their 3 major conquests: Lydia or Turkey (546 BC), Babylon (539 BC), and Egypt (525 BC)

Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard. It had four bird’s wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.

  • The leopard represented the Greek Empire. The wings of the leopard symbolizes the swiftness by which Alexander the Great conquered the entire Medo-Persian Empire between 334-330 B.C. The Greek language and culture will begin to permeate the entire empire. People in Greece will speak Greek, but also the people in Turkey, Egypt and Babylon will speak Greek. Greek will become the language of culture, commerce, and education. Greek will eventually be the language used to record the New Testament. The 4 heads represented the 4 parts of the Greek empire divided after the death of Alexander the Great.

Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns.

  • This 4th beast is not given a specific animal description, but we know from verses 23-25 that it will be a kingdom that will subdue the previous 3. The only empire that was able to do that was the Roman empire.

Daniel’s vision in verse 8, something weird caught Daniel’s attention:

As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were torn out by the roots to make room for it. This little horn had EYES LIKE HUMAN EYES and A MOUTH that was boasting arrogantly.

  • Daniel here had a vision of the antichrist.
  • Now what do we know about this character? No it’s not your mother in law or your boss. The reality is that there have been so many speculation over his identity. The Antichrist may or may not be alive today. In the 16th century, Martin Luther was convinced that the pope was the Antichrist. In the 1940s, many believed Adolph Hitler was the Antichrist. Then in our current times, has been Vladimir Putin, Prince William, Mahmoud Ahmadi- Nejad, and or former President Barak Obama, etc.

So who is this Antichrist

  • Now little horn with Eyes signifies that intelligence. He will be an intelligent man that will be leader of global stature.
  • Mouth signifies articulate speaker with a global audience.
  • Revelation 13, 19 tells us that he will be a world leader, a magnetic and heroic figure, and people will feel they can trust him.
  • He will great words of wisdom and will draw non-Christians to worship him
  • The antichrist is not satan but he will be energized by him.
  • For the antichrist to appear, there must be a breakdown of the world system as we know it now: in currency, in law and order, in power structures, in the events of a nuclear war.

Why is all of that important? The revelation of the identity of the antichrist will trigger the 2nd coming Jesus Christ.

Here’s the bottom line: One day, the Antichrist will be revealed. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4: “don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day (the coming of Jesus) will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

  • Since the antichrist is known as the man of sin and lawlessness, what do you think he will use to push in his agenda? Sin and Lawlessness
  • In these last days, we will see an acceleration of sin and lawlessness

In that same crazy, beastly vision, Daniel saw as a vision of hope for us. He saw the Ancient of Days. Unshakable hope in the Ancient of Days!

13 As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed…. 18 BUT IN THE END, THE HOLY PEOPLE OF THE MOST HIGH WILL BE GIVEN THE KINGDOM, AND THEY WILL RULE FOREVER AND EVER.” (Daniel 7:13-14, 18 NLT)

  • It speaks of God’s absolute sovereignty, absolute dominion all kings and kingdoms.
  • You and I will one day rule with Him forever and ever
  • We are just passing through here- Heaven is our ultimate destination.

DON’T LET YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED. TRUST IN GOD, AND TRUST ALSO IN ME. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”

WHAT DO WE DO WHILE WE WAIT:

  1. Don’t fear!- Go about your daily lives by remaining faithful to your assignment here on earth
  2. Trust God!- Put your trust in God’s words and nothing else

When you put the 2 together you will be Unshakable in the end times!

CONCLUSION:

  • What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

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