I. Intro & Recap.
A. Recap pf Part I.
1. The bible teaches a personal, visible and bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 1:9-11)
2. Jesus gave us signs to be watching for. (Matt 24, Luke 21)
a. False teachers, false messiahs, false prophets
b. Wars, rumors of wars (threatening), nation vs nation, kingdom vs kingdom
c. Famines, plagues, earthquakes
d. Persecution, betrayal, lawlessness
e. The Gospel preached to every nation
3. As we get closer to His return, the signs become increasingly drastic.
a. Sun & moon darkened, stars falling from heaven, oceanic disturbances
b. Govt’s have no solutions
c. The sign of the Son of Man, the sound of a trumpet.
4. In the face of all these signs and the difficulty of these times, the Lord says
a. “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”
b. “By your patience possess your souls.”
c. “Look up, your salvation is almost here.”
B. Recap Part II.
1. Jesus has promised to return and gather us to Himself. (John 14:1-3)
2. Scoffers will arise in the last days who will doubt the Lord’s return and criticize those who believe. (2 Peter 3:3&4)
3. 1 Thess 4: 13-18 teaches us that the resurrection of the saints, the rapture and the Lord’s return all happen in the same event.
4. The Lord Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, the voce of an archangel and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ will be resurrected, we will be caught up in the air with them to meet the Lord as He comes, and all of us will be changed in a millisecond as our bodies are transformed from physical bodies to spiritual bodies.
5. From this moment on, we will always be with the Lord and with one another. So even though we grieve the loss of our loved ones, we grieve with hope, because we know we will see them again.
6. And while we await the return of the Lord in this life, we know that our loved ones are now with the Lord in glory, fully conscious and awake.
C. Intro to Part III.
1. In Part III, we’re going to look at the three main purposes that God is working in this age.
a. The gospel preached to every nation.
b. The restoration of Israel to their land and their Lord.
c. The preparation of the bride to spend eternity with Jesus.
2. We will look at how to join the Lord in working out His purposes and the rewards for this work both in this life and in the age other come.
3. And we’ll also identify some of the tactics of the evil one to keep us ignorant and ineffective in the work of the Lord.
4. ONE THING TO KEEP IN MIND… these are all ongoing works. We tend to look for a single event to be the definitive signpost, but the reality is that these works are ongoing and each is getting closer to fulfillment.
II. The Three Main Purposes of God in this Age.
A. The Gospel preached to all nations.
1. This age began with the Great Commission to preach the gospel, and when that task is complete, the end will come. (The Lord intended this work to continue until His return.)
a. Matt 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
2. Jesus never intended for the GC to be carried out by just the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The GC is not for the ‘professional’ Christians but for every believer.
3. The essential activities of carrying out the Great Commission: (1) Go (2) make disciples (3) baptize (4) teach them and also from Luke 24:48 & Acts 1:8 (5) bear witness to what God has done in Jesus Christ.
4. Go: intentionally move towards another person and proclaim the gospel.
a. At home or abroad, move towards someone
b. proclaim, don’t explain or entertain
c. Matt 24:14 “…this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world and the end will come.” preached= proclaimed, declared (kerryso)
d. We don’t have to expound on it, give a theological discourse or even convince them to believe, we simply declare the gospel.
5. Make disciples: make followers of Jesus, not of yourself.
a. 1st be a follower, practice the walk, then teach them to follow the same way.
b. How to pray, read the Word, etc.
6. Baptize them:
a. Jesus didn’t baptize, He had His disciples do it, so you can too;
b. Don’t forget baptism or downplay it, baptism is a spiritual truth, obey in faith.
7. Teach them: teach them the way of the Lord, how to take refuge in Him, etc.
8. Witness: share what god has done for you.
9. Remember the Gospel preached in every nation is a decisive sign of the end of the age.
a. Matt 24:13&14
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. 10. “…all the world…” no people group will be left out. Rev 7:9&10 reveals that heaven contains people from every nation, tribe and tongue.
B. The restoration of Israel to their land and their Lord.
1. The Lord has revealed in the bible that in the last days Israel will be restored to their land and to Him.
2. Ezekiel 37:21-28
21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 24 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”
a. This was written approx. 400-500 years after King David died.
b. He shall be their Prince forever, sanctuary in their midst forever
c. The nations have no doubt that God has done this.
3. Romans 11:25&26 reveals that the Jews were blinded in part until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, but after that all Israel will be saved.
a. Luke 21:24 “Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
b. Some say the time of the Gentiles was fulfilled in 1948, some say 1967, some say this has yet to be fulfilled.
c. But in any case, the prophecy of Israel being restored to the land is fulfilled.
d. What remains to be fulfilled is for the remnant of Israel to be saved.
4. Romans 9:27 (quoting Isaiah) states “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved.”
5. The final showdown between Jesus and the antichrist, or false christ, is because of the dividing of Israel, God’s land, and the persecution of the Jews. (Joel 3:1-2)
6. What can we do? Pray for the salvation of the Jews and share the gospel with them.
C. The preparation of the bride.
1. Revelation 19:6-8
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
a. “…the marriage of the Lamb…” is the coning together of Christ and the church (His bride) for eternity.
2. Revelation reveals many contrasts. In this case it helps to examine the contrast between the Bride of Christ and the Harlot of Babylon.
3. When we have an eternal perspective on these things, we see that history is proceeding to these two outcomes:
a. eternal union with Christ for those who submit to Him and prepare themselves
b. eternal judgement for those who rebel against Him and serve themselves
c. We should notice that the difference between each of these is increasing.
4. The part of the GC after “GO”, the part where Jesus says “make disciples of all nations” and that we should teach them all that He taught us, that is our part in the preparation of the bride.
5. Some commentators believe that the Bride of Christ speaks of the believers who are alive at the coming of the Lord and the New Jerusalem speaks of the righteous saints who died in Christ. Whenever or not this is correct, we should all prepare for the wedding of the Lamb.
a. If Christ returns in our lifetime, we must be prepared for the wedding.
b. If Christ does not return, we must prepare the next generations for the wedding.
6. What would we think of a woman who is betrothed/engaged to be married but refused to prepare herself? (Keep in mind, this was written to a primarily Jewish audience.)
7. So how do we prepare ourselves and teach others to prepare?
a. total loyalty to Jesus
b. heartfelt yearning, eagerly expecting His return
c. righteous acts- fine linen
8. One final preparation of the heart: intimacy with God.
a. The Lord has chosen the bridal metaphor on purpose to describe the quality of relationship that He wants to have with us.
b. As we near the culmination of history, the final generation of believers will be marked by a passionate love of the Lord.
c. We should develop this heart attitude now, in anticipation of His return.
d. We should never forget that our preparation as the bride of Christ is the inner preparation of the heart.
III. Now that we know these things, what do we do about it? What does the Lord expect from each of us? What part do we play?
A. These three purposes are the workload of every disciple.
1. In our day, we tend to specialize and compartmentalize, etc. We think preaching is for the pastor, etc. In our culture we go to school or learn trade/skill and specialize in it. This was not the case in the culture of the Lord’s time on earth.
2. Every believer should be able top articulate the gospel and testify to what Jesus has done for them.
a. 1 Peter 3:15 “…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts & always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness & fear…”
3. ANALOGY: talking about a personal interest to another person.
4. Every spiritual gift, every talent and skill that God has given us is to be employed in fulfilling these three purposes. Our gift is not a work in itself, an end in itself. (Prophecies will cease, tongues will cease, etc.) So we should use our gifts with these three purposes in mind.
B. We were created for work.
1. Work was part of Adam’s commission, not part of the curse. The curse affected the work and made it harder, but work came before the curse.
2. These three purpose of God are food for our soul.
a. Jn 4:34 “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me.”
b. Jn 6:27 “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
3. Matt 25:14-30 The reward for good work is more work. (Parable of the Talents.)
a. To the servant with 5 and 2 talents He said “‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
b. To the one who hid his talent, He said “29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
C. How do we work without feeling overwhelmed?
1. Make it a lifestyle. Our faith should not be a separate part of our life.
2. Start using what you have with what is right in front of you. Do what you can with what you have in the time that you have. (This includes Sunday school.)
3. Don’t despise the one talent God gave you and hide it, start to invest it in other people for the Lord’s return.
IV. Some common tactics of the evil one to keep us unfruitful.
A. Cultural sensitivity.
1. This is the idea that we should not impose our spiritual beliefs onto someone else but instead we should respect their own beliefs and let them practice their own cultural religion.
2. This is flagrantly disobedient to the Lord’s command to take the gospel to all nations, it assumes that we are wiser and more sensitive than Jesus and it makes us an accessory to their eternal judgement.
3. For sure, sharing the gospel does not mean to make the world American, or white, etc., Jesus was not suggesting that we sue the gospel to conquer natives.
4. But to go to the opposite extreme and refuse to share the gospel out of a perceived ‘sensitivity’ is not loving and at best only gives lost people false hope on their way to hell.
B. Feeling inadequate to share the gospel.
1. No one is adequate. No one is qualified.
a. 2 Cor 3:5&6
“5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant…”
2. It requires more boldness than brains.
C. The belief that since you don’t feel any special stirring, you must not be called to this.
1. The Lord isn’t asking us, He’s telling us. We don’t need a special personal prophetic word to share the gospel because He has already told us in His Word.
2. Proverbs 10:5 “He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.”
3. 1 John 2:17 “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
D. The belief that one of these purposes is more important than the other two.
1. To some of the Messianic people, we’re not Messianic enough. To some of the missionaries, we’re not evangelistic enough. Both of those groups tend to frustrate me because they are often lacking in teaching and community.
2. I say this as someone who was in YWAM and has experience in missions.
3. All three of these purposes are important and equally valid. We should support one another in our efforts to fulfill them.
E. The Seven Mountains false doctrine.
1. The Seven Mountains ideology is the belief that God has commissioned believers to “take” seven key areas of societal influence and instill them with Christian values. These areas are:
a. religion
b. family
c. education
d. government
e. media
f. arts & entertainment
g. business
2. This is big in Charismatic/Prophetic/Pentecostal denominations. Lance Wallnau is probably the biggest proponent of it today.
3. Origin: Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Lauren Cunningham (YWAM) and Francis Shaeffer all said they received a similar message from God that became a strategy for evangelizing and influencing the world. People who ascribe to this teaching believe that the best way for the church to be effective is to instill Christian values in these seven areas of society.
4. They point to Isaiah 2:2 which says “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.”
5. This scripture is referring to the Millennial Reign of the Lord. Notice there is only one mountain mentioned here. (See also Dan 2, the stone cut without hands that became a mountain.”
6. The only reference to seven mountains in scripture are the seven mountains that the Harlot of Babylon is enthroned on in Rev 17:9.
a. The seven mountains refer to world systems
b. These systems are ruled by the spirit of antichrist
c. They are all destroyed and only the kingdom of the Lord remains.
7. Am I being nitpick here or is this a valid problem?
a. #1: We should already be talking the gospel into the workplace.
b. #2: It only confuses the clear mission of Jesus and distracts us from it.
c. #3: Pursuing success and personal influence is a work of the flesh.
d. #4: It’s focus is dominion, not love. (Where is the preparation of the bride? Where is Israel?)
V. Closing.
A. The fact is that the Lord Jesus will return, and we should be busy when He arrives.
1. Matt 24:45-47
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give
them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so
doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
B. Let’s keep it simple.
1. Start where you are, with what you have with whomever is right in front of you.
2. Always be ready to witness to the goodness of God in your life.
C. Most importantly… stay in love with Jesus.