Episode Transcript
Are you ready to experience the amazing love of God and his plan for your life? Are you curious about the fast fulfilling Bible prophecies? Amidst the rapidly changing world, secrets of prophecy is your gateway to unlocking these exciting realities. Join Pastor David Price on a journey of discovery that will not only transform your life, but will equip you with inner peace and an unshakable hope to face the future. My pleasure to welcome you to secrets of prophecy and I'm so glad that you could be with us in this session.
Session number three. We are going to discover amazing things about how the world will actually end. So thank you for joining together with us.
We're going to have an awesome time. When we think about the end of the world, there are all sorts of nightmare scenarios that come to mind. And here are some that have been predicted by some of the gurus of this world.
Nuclear war, an asteroid destroying the planet, all sorts of diseases, global pandemics sweeping the earth, our planet being ejected actually out of the solar system. We'll share more about that later and perhaps a new version of the Big Bang that goes completely wrong. So, in session number three, how will the world end? We're actually going to answer these questions.
This is a Bible study and we're going to deep dive the Bible tonight, the ancient biblical writings and we're going to find out how can we be certain that Jesus Christ will actually return to planet Earth? Number two, how will Jesus return at the end of this world? Exactly how does it happen? Number three, will Jesus Christ's return be like a secret or a silent event? Number four, will there be any deceptions regarding the second coming of Christ? And number five, will every christian believer be saved at the second coming of Christ? So if you're joining us online on YouTube, this study guide is downloadable under the description bar at the top. If you have a look under there, then click on the show more. Then under that, at the bottom will be the study guides, the one for the lesson, and there'll be another one for the lesson for the following session.
So that tells you how you can access this amazing study guide. Secrets of prophecy session number three, how will the world end? It's time to pray. Gracious heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
It's powerful. It tells us about your love for us and that Jesus is coming back soon. Please bless, guide and direct through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This session we ask in Jesus Christ's powerful name. Amen. So it's my pleasure to welcome you to secrets of prophecy session three.
How will the world end? I'd like you to direct your attention to the screen. I'm going to share from the study guide. You can watch this without having the study guide.
All the questions and answers and scriptural references are actually on the screen. Let's get started. In their book, the Life and Death of Planet Earth, two astrobiologists from the University of Washington claim the world's future is bound by an internal time clock.
Firstly, they say, the age of plants and animals will be over. Then the ocean will be lost in space, and eventually the entire planet will devolve into a burned out cylinder as the sun swallows it up in about 7.5 billion years.
Astronomer Robert Smith from the University of Sussex agrees with this prognosis and suggests that our only hope may be to build a fleet of interplanetary life rafts. These rafts would need to manoeuvre themselves away from the reach of the sun, but still stay close enough to use its energy. Here are some other bleak options for how our world may end.
Number one. A global nuclear war will occur with only the survivors being able to get through it. And the only survivors would be cockroaches.
These cockroaches will be the seed that evolve into the next intelligent species in 100 million years or so. Or another doomsday scenario is that an asteroid will hit the planet and destroy humanity. According to the Near Earth Asteroid tracking cloud project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, there are between 501,000 large near Earth objects that could accomplish this objective.
Or another fatal scenario. A pandemic or disease will sweep the Earth, wiping out all humanity. This could be an alien microorganism or a man made disease through biotechnology, such as an airborne version of the Ebola virus.
Or one of 10 million black holes within the Milky Way will move towards Earth, resulting in our planet being ejected from the solar system and hurtled into a frigid fate in deep space. Or experiments with the large hadron Collider will go wrong. And instead of recreating the big bang, 21st century scientists will turn the entire planet into a fine cloud of particles.
So, friends, some other nightmare scenarios are, if they weren't bad enough, USA Today said a dozen ways life on Earth could end. We won't go through all of these, but one is the eruption of a super volcano. There are many of these around the world, and, of course, if they block out the sun, this creates problems with air travel and also the production of food, which leads us into the one that we know a lot about.
Catastrophic climate change. I think everyone has heard about that. Did you know the world's population has now tipped over 8 billion people? And so, once again, overpopulation is causing stress on water and food and areas where man can populate the earth.
Another scenario is a supernova or a star that goes exploding very close to earth. Another one is biological weapons that are unleashed upon the earth. Another scenario is a killer pandemic that wipes out 30% to 50% of the world's population.
And then maybe one you haven't thought about is a robot. Apocalypse now. Years ago, we thought this was science fiction.
But many of you now know, with AI, artificial intelligence, that we are moving into the fourth dimension. So preparing for doomsday, the end of the world, is now very big business. In fact, there are survival guides, there are programmes on television where people are showing their bunkers and how they're going to be able to protect themselves during some nuclear apocalypse or some meltdown of law and order in our society.
Now, another interesting fact is that the billionaires are building great bunkers out of former nuclear bunkers. And this is especially true in America. This article says how the world's billionaires prepare for the apocalypse.
It says some of these doomsday bunkers come equipped with a cinema, a spa, a fully stocked gym, a garden and a pool. Doesn't sound too bad to be locked down in a place like that. Here's another article.
The top ten luxury perks of the swankiest doomsday bunkers. Billionaires are prepping for the apocalypse. Do they know something? Demand for underground bunkers, of course, soared during Covid-19 and then the final headline at the bottom the end of the world.
Business is booming. It says coronavirus is just a spark. But one doomsday prep supplier said what's really driving sales is the fear of what's to come.
Another sign of where we're up to is the bulletin of atomic scientists. The doomsday clock have moved the clock forward. So two years ago, it was 1158 and 20 seconds to midnight.
It's now moved ahead to 1158 and 30 seconds to midnight, meaning just 90 seconds to go. The doomsday clock is a metaphor that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. So, friends, is the future really this gloomy? That's pretty dire, isn't it? The question comes is there any hope for planet Earth? Or are we doomed to an eternity of oblivion? This study guide will document the prophecies of the scripture that clearly outline how this world will end.
And I want to tell you, it's a lot more positive than these nightmare scenarios dreamt up by men will ever be. If you've got your study guide there, please join me halfway down page three. We're in session three of the Secrets of Prophecy seminar series, and we're looking at how will the world end? Thank you so much for joining us.
It's great to be together. I'm really looking forward to unpacking the word of God with you tonight, for it is powerful. Let's go to question number one.
It says, what hope is there for the future? In those scenarios when we just went through, there wasn't a lot of hope, was there? We go to Titus, chapter three and verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So, friends, the ancient biblical writings tells us that the end of the world actually comes with the second coming of Christ. There's a second text that we are referred to.
We're going to go to revelation 21 four. It says, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, speaking about the people on planet Earth. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.
There shall be no more pain. Yea, for the former things have passed away. Friends, that is a world that sounds too good to believe, but that is what the God of the ancient biblical writings has told us.
So the future life will be full of new beginnings. Can you just imagine it? No more broken relationships, no more cancer, no more depression, no more loneliness, and no more youth suicide. The power and effect of sin and death will be gone, and they will be replaced with health, with happiness, and with peace.
All right, I'm asking you to join us at the top of page four. And question number two, what event will begin this new life of unending hope and happiness? We go to Hebrews chapter nine and verse 28. To those who eagerly wait for him, that is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He, Jesus Christ, will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. So we know that the first time that Jesus Christ came, he came as a little baby, don't we? So the next time he comes is the second coming of Christ, when he comes to rescue us from planet earth. And so, friends, the second coming of Jesus Christ brings victory and salvation to the followers of Jesus and an end to this world in its present state.
This event is so important that it's mentioned over 1000 times in the Bible. In fact, in the New Testament alone, one in every 25 verses speak of the return of Jesus Christ. That will surely bring us some hope.
Question three is an important one. It actually asks, can we be certain that Jesus Christ will actually come back again? We're going to John, chapter 14, and verses one to three. These are the words of Jesus, and this is what he said.
And if I go, meaning back to heaven and prepare a place for you, I will come again. Surely these are the four greatest words of scripture. The promise I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Friends, this is wonderful news. Jesus gives us his word that he will come again. Not maybe or should, or I hope to, but he actually says, I will come again.
If there is one thing we can be absolutely certain of, it is the second coming of Jesus Christ. Notice also the main purpose of the second coming is to receive us to himself and take us back to heaven. Now, some might ask the question, can we really trust Jesus Christ's words? Well, let me refer you to a scripture that's not in the study guide.
In numbers 20 319, Moses writes in the Old Testament these words about the trustworthiness of our God. Moses wrote, God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good? Well, that's a pretty tough judgement on humanity, isn't it, that we're liars.
But the good news is that our God is not a liar. We're going to question number four and we're asking exactly how will Jesus Christ come again. Let's go to acts 1911.
The actual situation here is Jesus is about to leave planet earth and go back to heaven. And so in acts chapter one, Luke is describing as Jesus ascends into the heavens. Now, when Jesus had spoken these things, acts 1911.
While they watched the disciples, Jesus was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel. And the commentary is very clear.
These two men in white apparel are descriptions of angels, these angels who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Here's the important verse in verse eleven. This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. So, friends, it's very clear that evidently when Jesus Christ comes back, he will come back in exactly the same way that he left.
That is, he'll be coming back literally and personally, not figuratively. Or spiritually or metaphorically, he'll actually be there in person. Do you notice in this text all the visual words? We won't take time to read the text again.
But the disciples were watching. The disciples looked steadfastly as he went up. Behold, two men.
Another word about visuals. Then the angel said, why do you stand gazing into heaven? Then it says, the same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner, the same way as you saw him go into heaven. So did you notice that the visual words watched, looked, behold, gazing and saw are all there to tell us it's literal.
Just like those apostles, we will be able to look up into heaven and actually see him come back to this earth. And it will be this same Jesus who returns. Not a ghost, not a spirit.
But jesus comes back in bodily form exactly as he left. Let's go to question five at the bottom of page five. Who will be with Jesus when he returns? We're going now to Jesus words.
In Matthew 25 and verse 31, Jesus said, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, I want you to remember who comes with him. Then will he sit on the throne of his glory? So all the holy angels come with him. In revelation 511, it speaks about 10,000 times.
10,000 and thousands of thousands. Some have calculated 100 million squared of angels. I'll let you work out how many that is.
Can you imagine the enormity of the second coming of Jesus Christ? Jesus will be coming down out of heaven, sitting on his throne, accompanied by perhaps billions of his angels. Question number six. Who will see Jesus when he returns? We'll go again to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 30, the great chapter on the signs and the second coming of Jesus.
In Matthew 24 30, Jesus said, then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven. Friends, the sign of the Son of man that appears in heaven is that jesus comes back in the clouds with the angels. That is the main sign of his coming.
He doesn't come any other way. He doesn't come in a jet aircraft. He doesn't come in a spaceship.
He doesn't come in a submarine. He comes back in the power in the clouds with power and great glory. Let me share it with you.
Jesus himself said in Matthew 24 30, then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, meaning all the nations of the world, and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Why are they mourning? Because the vast majority of people down here do not want to be a part of the kingdom of God.
And so they are mourning, and they are not rejoicing. Let's go to question number six. We're asking again, who will see Jesus when he returns? We go to revelation, chapter one and verse seven.
John the Revelator, one of Jesus disciples, John the Younger, wrote this. Behold, Jesus is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him. Who's going to see him? It's very clear, isn't it? Every eye will see him.
What does that actually mean? Friends, the second coming will be a global event seen by everyone, good and bad. Every eye will see him. No one will miss it.
And Jesus actually compared his coming to a huge electrical storm flashing from one side of the sky to the other. And he said that in Matthew 24 27, if you want to look it up, question seven. Will the second coming of Jesus Christ occur secretly, or some faiths actually teach this? Let's see what the Bible says.
We'll go to the words of Jesus, who are speaking here in the Gospel of John, chapter five, verse 28 and 29. These are Jesus words. And he said, do not marvel or don't be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice.
Jesus speaking here about dead believers in Christ. So all who are in the graves will hear Jesus voice, and they'll come forth, those who've done good to the resurrection of life, which takes place at the second coming, and those who've done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation, that takes place at a different time after that. We're asking, will the second coming of Jesus occur secretly? We go to one.
Thessalonians 416. Let's notice what's going on. At the same time, to determine if it's secret or not.
Here, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Greece and Thessalonike, he said, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the Trump or the trumpet call of God. Friends, this sounds pretty noisy to me. This is a audible noisy coming.
It's not secret. It's not being done in the background. It's been done for everybody to see and hear.
So there'll be nothing secret or silent about the second coming of Jesus. Even the dead will hear the voice of Jesus with words such as shout, voice and trumpet. God wants to make sure we were absolutely clear that the second coming will be an event.
Everyone will hear. So friends, just to summarise, let's go for a text that's not in the study guide. Let's go to psalm 53 and see if the Old Testament recognises a silent or secret coming of Jesus Christ at the second coming.
The answer is, it doesn't. Our God shall come and shall not keep silent. A fire shall devour before him and it shall be very tempestuous all around him.
And David wrote that in psalm, chapter 50 and verse three. But, friends, many people today, they would be christians, believe in a secret rapture where they suddenly disappear from planet earth and are whisked off to heaven. But where did they actually get that idea? Because they didn't get it from the scripture.
Because the second coming of Jesus Christ is not secret. It's noisy, it's loud, it's physical and it's visual and it is audible. So let's find out a little bit more about the so called secret coming of Jesus.
What did Jesus mean when he said in Matthew 24 that one will be taken and the other left? Let's go to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 37 40. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the son of man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.
Please remember those words. When the flood came, what did it do? That's right. It took them all away.
And so also will the coming of the son of man be. So when Jesus is talking about people being taken away, he's actually talking about destruction. For these are his words.
Let's carry on. We're in Matthew 24. We're looking at one will be taken, the other left, which is a text used as the basis for the secret rapture teaching in Matthew 24 37 40.
It says, then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. So, friends, what is going on here? Some Christians believe in a concept called the secret rapture, which is a theory at the heart of this teaching, Jesus is said to rapture away the righteous saints in secret or the righteous people on earth, righteous believers, for instance. They say a plane will be flying along and suddenly the pilot has just vanished.
The good are taken away silently while the wicked are left on planet Earth. So the secret rapture theory teaches that those taken are taken into heaven and those left are left to face the Antichrist and a second chance where they're either saved or lost. So friends, let's understand a little bit more about this teaching.
You've probably read books or seen movies which incorporate this concept. The left behind series of books and movies was very, very powerful. In fact, there was one film, it was the movie called gone, which actually depicted three lawyers who were left behind while their more ethical friends were whisked away to heaven in secret.
So the words of Jesus here in Matthew 24 are often used as evidence for the theory of the secret rapture. But notice what Jesus is actually saying. Jesus compared the second coming to the global flood at the time of Noah.
And Jesus describes how the people of the day were enjoying everyday life as per usual until the flood came along. Some were taken and others were left. Now, please notice there's not the slightest indication that this event in any way is secret, nor is there any reference to a two stage coming.
One of the key secrets of prophecy is that the second coming is not going to be secret. Friends, let me remind you, the return of Jesus will be the loudest, most visible and global event in this world's history. He said it would be like lightning will break from one side of the sky to the other side of the sky.
And even when you're sleeping, you can see the lightning through your eyelids. So, friends, let me take a moment to just understand this teaching a little bit more. So in Matthew 24 37 42, we read, but as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the son of man be.
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away. Now we would understand that that means that they were taken away and they drowned or they were destroyed. Is there any text to clarify that? Yes.
Luke records the same words of Jesus with a little bit more detail. In Luke 1726 and 27, he records the same story where he says, up until the day Noah entered the ark, then the flood came and destroyed them all. So now we can understand a little bit more.
When in Matthew 24 41 and 42, it says, then two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill. They're grinding the grain.
One will be taken and the other left. Jesus said, watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your lord is coming. So the secret rapture theories says, those taken are taken to heaven, and those left are left to face the Antichrist, a second chance, or they get another opportunity to be either to be saved or lost.
But that, is that actually what the scripture is saying? Is that actually what Jesus is saying here? Because if we go back to his actual words, he said, two women, we're grinding grain together. The one will be taken, the other left. Two men will be in the field, one will be taken, the other left.
So they answered and said to Jesus, the disciples, well, Lord, we know where the ones left are, the left in the field, but where are the ones that are taken? So Jesus said to them in Luke 17 35 37, wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together. So he's telling them where they'll be taken. Let's just summarise.
Two women will be grinding together, one taken, one left. Two boys in the field, one taken, one left. The disciples asked the question, where is the one taken, taken, taken to? Or where is the one left? Well, they know where the one left was on the earth in the field.
And Jesus answers and said, when they asked, where are they taken, Lord? He says, they're going to be taken to where the eagles are gathered together. So what does this mean? Job 39 27 30 tells us, does the eagle mount up at your command? God asks job, and make its nest on high. From there it spies out the prey, its eyes observed from afar.
Its young ones suck up blood. And where the slain are, there it is. Friends, when Jesus is talking about being taken, hes talking about death and dying and destruction.
So the secret raptured theory says those taken go to heaven. Those left have to face the Antichrist in a second chance. But the Bible truth is opposite to that.
The Bible says that those taken are taken in or to death, and that those left are saved at Jesus Christ's second coming. So when we have a look at the text again, the flood came and took them all away. So also will the coming of the son of man be.
The ones who were taken away are those who were taken away by the flood, drowned and were destroyed. I think that's elementally clear. And those who were left behind were left alive in Noah's Ark.
The eight who were saved, mister and misses Noah, the three boys and their wife. Friends, I don't know if you know, but this teaching has swept around planet Earth in just the last hundred years or so. It's not an ancient teaching of the christian faith, it's a modern teaching.
And during this time, in recent times, there's been movies and books about it. And so the left behind series have been very powerful. In fact, 60 million books and thousands of websites have been dedicated to this topic.
And it is believed by thousands of churches. All that I've done tonight is tested this theory by the word of God. I believe there are four problems with the secret rapture theory.
Number one, it gives a false teaching about Christ's glorious return. It speaks about people disappearing, planes crashing, cars crashing, trains crashing, because the drivers disappear. They're taken to heaven.
There's a false teaching concerning the Antichrist in the three and a half years. There's also a false teaching concerning end time prophecies. And so, friends, millions are looking for events that might never take place.
Well, I hope that was helpful in helping to understand the biblical view that the second coming of Christ is not to be hidden away. It's not secret. It's something that everybody will see.
And this is the event that will be the end of planet Earth and the age of man. We go to question number nine, how will the second coming affect planet Earth? We go to revelation 1618 and 20 and find out some of the events that happen. John the Revelator writes, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.
Let's get some more detail. We're asking how will the second coming affect planet Earth? He goes on to say that it's so big, this earthquake, it must be a 910 eleven on the Richter scale and it's coming in the future. Then every island fled away and the mountains were not found.
Friends, have we had a mini rehearsal of this in recent years? Anyone remember what happened in the last ten years with unprecedented earthquakes? Some of you remember what happened in Japan. Islands sinking and mountains falling. Planet Earth as we know it will be devastated by the second coming.
See also Second Peter for a description of the powerful destruction of Earth when Jesus comes as a thief in the night. So, friends, in terms of the timeframe, the earthquake fits in very, very powerfully into the seven last plagues which are poured out upon a planet in rebellion who've rejected God's last gospel appeal given by the three angels messages. We'll unpack this more in future sessions.
We're in question ten what will happen to the kingdoms of this world when Jesus returns? Now, we covered this in Daniel 244 in session number one, the session about the metal man and Daniel talking to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. And Daniel says, and in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms. And it shall stand how long? And it shall stand forever.
Friends, here we find the key point of a secret dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar more than 2500 years ago. The second coming of Jesus Christ will destroy all the kingdoms of this world. God will set up his own kingdom, a kingdom that will stand forever.
We're in question eleven. So what will happen to the living wicked or the wicked who are living when Jesus Christ returns? We need to know. We go to second Thessalonians chapter two.
In verse eight, Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica. And then the lawless one will be revealed. More on that later, whom the Lord will consume, meaning to burn up with the breath of his mouth.
And the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming. A few years ago, we couldn't understand how brightness could actually destroy. But now we understand, via nuclear bombs and other great weapons, how humanity, flesh and blood, can be absolutely vaporised.
So what are we learning here? The wicked cannot bear the sight of a pure and holy God. So they shout out for the rocks and mountains to fall on them, to hide them from the face of Jesus. And that's in revelation 615 17.
Do you remember at the time of Jesus Christ's resurrection, the brightness of one angel caused the roman guards to faint and become like dead men in Matthew 28. Two, four. Imagine the impact of what could be millions, possibly billions of angels along with the glory of Jesus.
The evil natures of the wicked will be so overwhelmed with his purity and brightness that they don't stand a chance and will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. Let's ask the question, why are the wicked actually destroyed? We go to a text that's not in the study guide. I like to give you extra information.
You might like to jot this one down in second Thessalonians chapter one. So write down second thess, chapter one, verses seven to nine. Paul wrote, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels inflaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So if you're wondering who the wicked will be, the New Testament is very, very clear on that. There are people who don't know God. They don't want to know God, and they certainly don't want to obey God or the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The good news that makes the heart to sing and the feet to dance, that is that Jesus Christ came down here and died, that guilty sinners might go free and be forgiven and restored and born again. And that's the experience that any of us can enter into if we ask the Lord Jesus Christ into our hearts as we spoke about at the end of the last session. Session number two.
On signs of the end of the world. We're still in two. Thessalonians one nine.
These, meaning the wicked, shall be punished with everlasting destruction. More on that in a future session, from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. We're now going to ask the question, but why doesn't God take everyone up to heaven? That's a very good question, friends.
God will take to heaven everyone who'd be happy to go up to heaven. If we don't enjoy time with God on earth, we certainly would not enjoy time with God in heaven. And God respects our choices.
He's not into coercion. He doesn't force us against his will. That's not who he is.
He's a God of love, not of force and coercion. It's the same mercy that keeps some people out of heaven as it is the same mercy that allows others into heaven. We're in question number twelve.
What will happen to the righteous dead, those living when Jesus comes? Sorry, those who've died before Jesus comes. What will happen to them when Jesus returns? We go to second. Thessalonians, chapter two and verse eight.
It says, there. And the dead in Christ will what? Rise first, meaning they will be resurrected. That's exciting, isn't it? The righteous dead, they are believers.
The righteous dead are the believers who've died believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. But they have passed away before Jesus Christ came back. So when Jesus returns, the righteous dead will be raised first out of their graves.
Imagine the excitement of standing in a graveyard at that time, or seeing your loved ones and relatives raised from the tombs. The prophet Isaiah says, the dead will awake and sing praise to their God in Isaiah 20 619, as they lift it up to meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the earth. So, friends, we have to ask the question now, how many are left alive after Jesus returns? No one will be left alive here on planet earth except the devil and his angels.
The righteous dead and living are caught up to heaven. The wicked are destroyed by the brightness of his coming, and the wicked dead remain in their graves. In fact, we can summarise these four events like this.
The wicked are slain at the second coming of Jesus Christ, as we read from the text in the New Testament, by the brightness of his coming. The righteous dead who died before Jesus came back are actually raised to life. Number three, the righteous living are changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, into immortal bodies, as are the righteous dead when they were resurrected.
And number four, the wicked dead stay dead in their graves for a future time that we'll talk about in a future session, let's go to question 13. What will happen to our bodies when Jesus comes back? We go to first corinthians 1552 53, and this is what we read. And the dead will be raised incorruptible meaning the body is unable to decay and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible meaning, decaying body must put on incorruption. And this mortal body, meaning subject to death, must put on immortality. What does that mean? Friends, this is such great news.
These imperfect bodies we have now that most of us would be unhappy with will be changed. We will have eternal youth, the vigour of eternal youth. Even more importantly, our natures, our characters, will change.
We will become immortal, never to suffer sin or die again. Question 14, what will happen to the righteous living when Jesus returns in one? Thessalonians 417. The apostle Paul wrote, then we who are alive and remain speaking about the second coming of Jesus shall be caught up.
That's where the word Rapturio comes in, meaning to be caught up together with them, the dead in Christ, who rise first in the clouds to meet the Lord. Where? In the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
That is a very, very important point. So, friends, once the righteous dead have been raised, those who are alive and waiting for the return of Jesus will rise into the air. Also.
There will be a giant reunion of all those who've loved God throughout the history of the planet. Did you notice that Jesus does not set foot on the earth? Jesus will not be seen via CNN cable news network. Jesus will not be seen at a football match on planet Earth, nor will he be seen meeting the president at the White House.
The earth will be wiped clean of all life and the righteous will meet in the air. But, friends, someone will be walking around on the earth posing as the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is that being? Well, friends, the answer is that Satan has flooded the world with many deceptions already concerning Jesus Christ's return.
But he's now preparing the way for his greatest counterfeit ever. There's much we could say about this, but very, very briefly summarising a whole nother study as the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. It doesn't mean that he will impersonate Christ, but for all intents and purposes, he will be Christ.
That's from an amazing book that was written called the great controversy. So in some way, Satan does not come as himself. He actually comes as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's go to question 15. What warning does Jesus give about the second coming? He gives a warning exactly about what we've just spoken about in Matthew 24 five. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ.
Christ means the messiah. What's the end result of this? Well, the end result is that many will be deceived. In fact, in Matthew 24, it says that even the very elect, even the true believers, the ones who are reading their bibles all the time, they will almost be deceived by this.
For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ and will deceive many. So Jesus warns us there will be a counterfeit or fake christs. It's interesting to note that the Jews are anxiously looking for their messiah.
The Muslims, as you can see here in this painting, are looking for the return of their Jesus, Isa. And of course, the Christians are also looking for Jesus to return. Now, one of the last great deceptions will be a range of counterfeit second comings, possibly including a secret rapture and a literal return by the devil himself claiming to be Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, these deceptions will be very effective. Even the very elect may be fooled in Matthew 24 24. Now, if you think, well, is there any text on this in the Bible? There is in two Corinthians 1114, and this is not in the study guide.
Write it down. Second Corinthians, two core, chapter eleven, verse 14. It says, and no wonder.
For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Angel does not always mean angel. It can also mean messenger.
So Satan can come as a messenger of light. And in John 812, Jesus said, I am the something of the world. Do you know what he said? He said, I am the what? That's right.
Many of you know. I am the light of the world. Jesus brings light.
Satan only brings darkness. So Satan is going to impersonate the Lord Jesus Christ. He will come as a messenger of righteousness, an angel of light.
So you write down two Corinthians 1114, and also have a look at verse 15, where his evil angels, his cohort, can also impersonate righteous beings. There's quite a study in those two verses. Question 16.
So how can we be protected against this deception? That's a really important question. In Isaiah 820, Isaiah wrote to the law and to the testimony. What does that mean? Well, the law is the ten Commandments.
The testimony in Isaiah's time was the witness of all the Old Testament prophets. It says, isaiah says, if they, that is, whoever is giving us a belief, if they do not speak according to this word, what word of God? The ten Commandments, or the witness of all the prophets, which in our time now is the Old Testament, New Testament. It's because there's no light in them, friends.
If there's no light in what's coming to us, there can only be. What? There can only be darkness. So let's remember, Jesus said, I'm the light of the world, and Satan is the one who brings darkness.
Ephesians 612 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of the what? Rulers of the darkness. I rest my case. In order to know what is right, we need to firstly understand and trust the scriptures.
We then need to rest. We then need to test everything by this word. In this study guide, we've outlined from the Bible exactly how Jesus will return.
We can all be certain of truth and error when it comes to this vital issue of the second coming. So, to summarise, we've told you Jesus comes in the clouds when he's in the earth's atmosphere. When he's outside the earth's atmosphere.
The clouds are actually clouds of angels, because you can't have clouds in outer space. He comes also with power, glory. It's physical, it's audible, it's highly visual, and it is very, very literal.
Question 17 what will the righteous say at the second coming of Christ? We know the wicked were mourning. The tribes of the earth were mourning. They were unhappy, they were frightened.
What about the righteous? What would they say at the second coming? Isaiah 25 nine. Isaiah writes, and it will be said in that day, the day of the second coming. Behold, this is our God.
We have waited for him and he will save us. Friends, do not become weary in well doing. Do not become weary in waiting.
I think most of you would know that just what's happening right now on planet earth shows us that Jesus is very near. He's even at the door. The righteous will not be taken by surprise.
Jesus will come as a thief in the night, as in two. Peter 310 for the wicked. But the righteous will be waiting for Jesus.
And who will those saints be? Here is the patience of the saints. Revelation 1412 better translated, here are the saints who endure to the very end. What do they do? Two characteristics.
They are those who keep the commandments of God. That's the whole ten. And they also have the faith of Jesus.
The same things Jesus believed in, they believe in literally from God's word. And they also have faith in Jesus. We're in question number 18.
Will everyone who claims to be saved be taken to heaven when Jesus returns? Another really searching question. We go to Matthew 721 23. Jesus said, no, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord.
Shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but the ones who do will be the ones. But he who does the what. There's our answer, the will of my father in heaven.
He says to the wicked, those saying, Lord, Lord, I did this for you. I did that for you. Depart from me, you who practise lawlessness, those who do not obey, those who do not keep what is written in the holy scriptures.
Friends, there are people today who claim to be christians, full of the Holy spirit, yet many will miss out on heaven. The reason is simple. Jesus wants not only our worship, but he also wants our obedience.
In fact, did you know the highest form of worship is actually obedience? Any Christian who says, Lord, Lord, but is not willing to keep God's law is alienating themselves from God and not practising true Christianity. Jesus said in John 1415, if you love me. What did he say? He said, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Just keep the things I've asked you to do, just as we would ask our family members, our children, if they love us. Please, would you do this for me? It's not a hard thing to ask, is it? Question 19 what should be our attitude toward the soon coming of Jesus Christ? Should be afraid. Is it a doomsday scenario? What does the holy scripture say in revelation 22 20? Jesus is the one who testifies to these things.
Jesus Christ says, surely I am coming quickly. And John the revelator writes, amen. And his response to that is, even so, come, Lord Jesus, quickly, come.
I hope that's your response as well. Jesus is coming back to rescue us from this disaster that we're in here on planet earth. You know, friends, the second coming is the great hope for the Christian.
There may be some of you who want Jesus to come, but not yet. You may feel you have too much of your life still to live. That's understandable.
But do you understand? A life with Jesus is not a boring, restrictive life. It involves living life to the full through health and happiness. It's a life that brings inner peace and contentment.
Added to this, it will soon be an eternal life where there'll be no more pain, suffering or sorrow. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, quickly, come. All right, we have three points to remember that are our summary of what we've learned in this session.
Session number three, the second coming of Jesus Christ is the great hope for the Christian. Without this, we've really got nothing to look forward to. Things are just going from bad to worse to hopeless.
Secondly, we learn tonight in this amazing Bible study, Jesus will return to planet earth physically, visually and audibly. Finally, we learn there is deception regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ, and it will be used as a vital tool of the devil to deceive people so they are not ready for the coming of Jesus. So I want to ask you now, why is an understanding of the second coming important to your everyday christian experience? Well, if you ask me this question, I guess I would say that knowing Jesus is coming back keeps me focused on the things I need to do to stay close to him.
There's a second relational question. What can you do in a practical way to protect yourself against false christs and religious deceptions about the second coming? Well, there'd be many answers, and I'd love to know what your answer is. One answer I thought about is really to just be reading God's word, meditating on it, praying it through, memorising it, so that by knowing what Jesus said, there's no way in the world that we could ever be deceived.
Thirdly, what do you need to do in your life in order to know and do the will of God? Friends, it's hard to live the christian life, but we have to ask God to work in our hearts by faith and ask him to do his will in us. For Jesus said, those who do the will of the father are the ones who truly know him. If you love me, keep my commandments.
That's something that you can pray about. If you never accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, then take a moment and just ask him to come into your heart and say, I don't know what to do and I don't know what to say. But I love you, Lord, and I want you to put your love on me, and I want to accept you now.
And I want you to take over my life and just help me and make my life better. If you prayed that prayer tonight, or you will pray that prayer, I want to say, God bless you. So, friends, when Jesus comes, there will be only two groups, the saved and the lost.
Would you like to choose today to accept Jesus and be among those who are saved? You can be. Jesus wants you to be saved. He's trying to see how many people he can get into heaven.
No, not how many people he can keep out. All right, what did we learn in our five discovery questions tonight? Number one, we started with these. Did we answer them? How can we be certain that Jesus Christ will return to this earth? Do you remember that we found in John 14 one, three that Jesus said, I will come again.
He promised us. And for those who are worried whether God tells the truth, we're told in numbers 20 319 that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit cannot lie. Question two is, how will Jesus Christ actually return to the earth at the end of the world? He comes in the clouds exactly the same way he left.
He doesn't come in a submarine. He doesn't come in a UFO. He doesn't come in a jet plane.
He comes in the clouds with power and great glory with all the angels. Number three, will Jesus Christ return be like a secret or silent event? That's the whole opposite of the whole point of the second coming. The whole second point of the second coming is to come back and rescue God's people and take them to a better life for those who want to go to heaven.
So the answer is no. The second coming is physical, it's visible and it's audible. That's pretty noisy, especially the earthquake.
Will there be any deceptions regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ? Jesus himself said, yes, there'll be false christs saying, I am the Christ. There'll be false prophets saying this and that. And also we found out that Satan will impersonate or personate the Lord Jesus Christ, and that will deceive many and show they're unfit for the kingdom of God because they haven't understood, read and memorised the scriptures.
Finally, will every christian believer be saved at the second coming of Christ? Unfortunately not. Jesus wants people to be in heaven who really want to be there. God respects our freedom of choice and will not force people to go to heaven who don't want to be there.
Let's go into our quiz questions tonight. They're based on our study tonight. They're multiple choice, so I think you'll find the answers very easy.
The return of Jesus Christ to planet Earth is witnessed by a, only, the righteous, b, every living human being, or c, the wicked only. I want you to jot down either a, b, or c, and just at the bottom of your study guide. At the back, down the bottom.
Just put number one and choose a, b or c. Let me give you a tip and a hint. There's only one answer.
Only one of those is correct. Number two, when Jesus returns, he'll bring with him a. Just his father and the Holy Spirit, B.
Some of heaven's angels, c. All of the angels, all of heaven's angels will come with him. A, b, or c.
That's question two. Lock it in. Number three, the first ones, the who.
The first ones to be resurrected when Jesus Christ comes are a. The dead in Christ, those who died believing in Jesus Christ. B, the wicked dead of all ages, or C, the children who died as babies.
A, B or C. Lock it in. Number three, the first ones to be resurrected when Jesus Christ comes back are the dead in Christ, the wicked dead of all ages or children who died as babies.
Do you remember what the scripture said? Lock it in. Number four, what will make us secure against being deceived? Let's have a look at a. Being sincere about your beliefs.
B. Knowing exactly how Jesus Christ will return, or c, knowing exactly how Jesus Christ looks. Well, the Bible didn't actually give us a description of how Jesus looks, did he? And we can be sincere about something and be sincerely wrong.
So I hope that will help you with the answer. Lock it in. Number five, at the second coming, does Jesus set foot on this earth? Let's have a look.
One of the answers, yes. Says yes. He wants to meet up with the world leaders.
Do the tour, or be no, we are caught up to meet him in the clouds, in the air. The scripture said, on our way to the kingdom of heaven. All right, lock in one of those answers, and we're going to go straight to our answers right now.
Number one, the return of Jesus Christ to planet Earth. He is witnessed by. The answer was, be every living human being.
Number two, when Jesus Christ returns, he will bring with him the answer was c. And that is all of heaven's angels. Number three, the first ones to be resurrected when Jesus Christ comes are, a.
The dead in Christ, the ones who died believing in Jesus, they're the first ones resurrected. Then the living righteous are caught up in the air as well and changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. That's in one.
Corinthians 15 51 55. Number four, what makes secure against being deceived? The answer is b. Knowing how Jesus Christ returns, we can be sincere, but sincerely wrong.
And we don't know exactly how Jesus looked, and that wouldn't save us anyway. Number five, at the second coming of Christ, does Jesus set foot on this earth? A. Said yes.
He goes around and meets all the world leaders. And B said, no, because we're caught up in the air to meet him in the clouds. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So, yep, that's our quiz tonight. I hope that you got five out of five. I certainly tried to help you with that.
So, in our secret to prophecy programme, we're building a wall of biblical truth. In session one. If you haven't seen it, we looked at who will control the world.
We found out that God's kingdom will come down and destroy all earthly kingdoms. In session two, last time we learned what are the signs of the times. When all of the signs of the times come together in an x time, at the very end, they all happen together.
That is the major sign that the Lord Jesus Christ is about to return. And tonight we asked, how will the world end in session number three? And the answer is, with the second coming of Jesus Christ, that will end this era of the history of planet Earth. Well, what about session four? We're going into the war zone.
What's that all about? Let me give you the five questions we're going to study in session number four. Next time we're going to ask the question, where did sin actually begin? Was it actually the Garden of Eden, as most people believe? Number two, list the four biblical names for the devil. They're found in revelation twelve and verses seven to nine, but mostly verse seven.
Number three, why didn't God immediately destroy Lucifer? Good question. Could have saved a bit of trouble. Number four, will the devil ever be able to be destroyed? That is also a very, very good question.
And number five, can we resist and overcome Satan and temptation in any way? So that secret to prophecy, the war zone, you can download that lesson guide under the description bar in YouTube and print that out and have that ready for session number four. We began with prayer. Let's just pray now.
Gracious heavenly Father, we ask that you continue to bless us as we continue to open your word. Perhaps we've learned some things that are different to what we've known in the past. We pray that you'll put us on a journey where we can open and investigate the scriptures, for there are many deceptions in these last days.
Thank you for your holy word and how precious it is. The ancient biblical writings have brought us hope tonight that there's a better future than mankind is offering us down here. And we thank you and praise you and ask you to do all these things to bless God and direct us in Jesus powerful name.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I want to thank you so much for being with us. For session number three, how will the world end? And I really look forward to seeing you next time in session number four when we look at the war zone. And so at this stage, I'm going to say thank you and thank you so much for being with us, and I wish you all the best, and may God richly bless you.
Bye for now.
Secrets of Prophecy with Pastor David Price has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio. For more resource in this series you can visit the YouTube page trueblue SDA all one word that's trueblue SDA.
