Jesus is Coming- Part III

 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven(mentioned 100”s of times in the Bible, JESUS IS COMING) 

with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage one another with these words. I Thessalonians 4:16-18 NIV

 Just to recap, this conversation takes place on the Mt of Olives the last week of Jesus’s life.

 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2“Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:1-7

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

 The white space betweenVs 14 and 15, is called the Rapture.

 15“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ a spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.

 RUN! Previously he says stay, give testimony, the Holy Spirit will give you the right words in the hour of need.

 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant womenand nursing mothers! 20Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. Matthew 24:14-21

 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 1 John 2:18 NIV, I John 2:22, I John 4:3, II John 1:7 

He will rule during this 7-year period called Tribulation 

• Day of the Lord (Isa 2:12)
• Day of the Vengeance of God (Isa 34:8; 63:1-6)
• The Time of Job’s Troubles (Jer 30:7)
• The Seventieth Week of Daniel(Dan 9:24-27)
• The Time of the End (Dan 12:9)
• The Great Day of His Wrath (Rev 6:17)
• The Hour of His Judgment (Rev 14:7)
• The End of the World (Mt 13:40,49)
• The Indignation (Isa 26:20; 34:2)
• The Desolation of Abomination (Dan 9:27)
• The Time of Troubles as never before (Dan 12:1)

 How awful that day will be! There will be no other like it! It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30:7 CSB

 This is how he starts out.

 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Daniel 9:27 NIV

 We see him first appear in Revelation 6

 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. Revelation 6:1-2 NIV

 Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.3Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.Daniel 7:2-3 NIV

  “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. Daniel 7:4 NIV

  “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’ Daniel 7:5 NIV

  “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. Daniel 7:6 NIV

 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns. 8“While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8 NIV

 “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me. 16I approached one of those standing there and asked him the meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:17‘The four great beasts are four kings (Kingdoms or Governments) that will rise from the earth. 18But the holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.’ Daniel 7:16-18 NIV

 1. He persecutes Christians

 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them,Daniel 7:21 NIV  He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. Daniel 7:25 NIV

 2. He rules by charm, deceitful speech, and force when necessary.

  “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. Daniel 7:23-24 NIV

 3.He changes the calendar and seasons.

 He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. Daniel 7:25 NIV

 4. He is a medium.

 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,shall stand up. 24And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. Daniel 8:23-24 KJV

 5. He is a dictator.

  “The king will do as he pleases." Daniel 11:36a NIV

 6. He considers himself a god and so does the world.

 "He will exalt and magnify himself above every god..." Daniel 11:36b NIV

 7. He is a blasphemer.

 "...and he will say unheard-of things against the God of gods." Daniel 11:36 NIV

 8. He will have no respect for family or tradition.

 He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all. Daniel 11:37 NIV

 9. He will worship military might.

 Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his ancestors he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. Daniel 11:38 NIV

 10. He claims deity.

 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction. 4He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NLT

 11. He does miracles

 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 NLT

 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Matthew 24:24

 12. He is from the abyss.

 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers.2But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.3And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

 They are “the two olive trees” (Zechariah 4:3) and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”   

 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rainduring the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into bloodand to strike the earth with every kind of plagueas often as they want.

 7Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss(Luke 8:30) will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9For three and a half dayssome from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. 11But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.13At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.Revelation 11:1-13 NIV

 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Revelation 12:7-9 NIV

 The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.Revelation 13:1 NIV

 13. He is empowered by Satan.

 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragongave the beast his powerand his throne and great authority. Revelation 13:2 NIV

 The DNA or the characteristics of all of the beast as described in Daniel  7.  World governments

 14.He is assassinated and resurrected

 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. Revelation 13:3 NIV 

 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. Revelation 13:12 NIV

 Unholy trinity, the antichrist, the false prophet and Satan.

 15.He will demand worship

 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?” Revelation 13:4 NIV

 16. He is the epitome of pride and power

 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. Revelation 13:5-7 NIV

 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” Revelation 14:9-12 NIV

 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Revelation 19:19-20

 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 DON’T WORRY

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worryabout your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you needthem.

 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NLT

 BE READY.

 “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” Revelation 16:15 ESV

 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20 ESV