The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation, Part 15- The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

[0:00] Weeks ago, we began a series that will prove to be somewhat extensive regarding the subject of prophecy and future things, and in particular as it relates to the book of the Revelation and also to the book of Daniel.

[0:15] I'm confident that there have to be a number of people the world over who are concerned about what's going on in various parts of the world. And the question often goes up, just how much of this is God willing to take?

[0:34] When is he going to bring the curtain down, or is he? And what's that going to be like? In the early chapters of the book of Genesis, we read in connection with the Noahic flood that was to follow that destroyed everything on earth, that the Lord looked down upon the sons of men, and behold, the whole earth was filled with violence.

[1:03] And this was a relatively new earth at the time. We do not know exactly how old it was, but we know that Methuselah was the one who is assigned the great age in the Bible, and it would be in the year of Methuselah's death that the flood would come.

[1:24] And God simply brought that humanity, that civilization, to a close. And if he was motivated to do that on the basis of what the text says, that behold, the whole earth was filled with violence.

[1:44] And you must understand, you probably know, why God detests violence like that among people. And it's because God loves people.

[1:55] And violence is damaging and hurtful to people. So God simply did away with that race and started all over again with those eight souls that survived on that ark.

[2:08] And yes, we really do believe that. And yes, I am confident it really will be vindicated in time. So when God looks down upon the earth today, what does he see?

[2:22] Peace, tranquility, love of the brotherhood, and all the rest. Well, surely we jest because we've got violence in virtually every corner.

[2:35] We've got hypocrisy. We've got corruption running rampant throughout the world. We've got all kinds of brutality that has taken place from the abuse of children.

[2:50] By the way, we are coming up on Roe v. Wade. And I just want to stick something in here and remind you. There isn't a day goes by, but what we do not pick up the daily paper or hear about it on the television channels.

[3:08] About some terrible brutality or abuse that has been committed against children.

[3:18] And the mantra of Planned Parenthood back in 1973 when Roe v. Wade was enacted, the mantra was, Every child a wanted child.

[3:35] And if we only had free and open access to abortion, we could put an end to child abuse.

[3:48] Child abuse today is more rampant than it ever has been, despite the fact that we have already succeeded in eliminating over 53 million unborn lives.

[4:14] This is tragic. Tragic. This, in my opinion, is America's greatest single national insanity.

[4:31] One would not even think a civilized society would be capable of this. But we are. In your bulletin.

[4:42] So why doesn't God do something? The four horsemen of the apocalypse is perhaps the most dreaded title in all of humanity for the past 2,000 years.

[4:56] And for good reason. These four horsemen of the apocalypse represent the opening of the time called the Great Tribulation.

[5:06] Essentially, this is the account of God calling humanity to the time of reckoning. Nothing in all of Scripture or in all of human history is as foreboding as that which commences here in Revelation chapter 6.

[5:25] This will be Revelation number 14 in the series that we began a number of weeks ago. And there are Old Testament references.

[5:36] In fact, there are more Old Testament references that refer to the day of the Lord than there are in the new. And we're going to ask Gary to come now and read to you two of the more prominent ones out of the many that are available in the Old Testament.

[5:53] And these are taken from Isaiah. Gary? Good morning.

[6:08] Good morning. I would like you to please turn to Isaiah chapter 13. And we'll be looking at the middle of chapter 13.

[6:25] We'll be beginning with verse 6 through verse 13. And right above verse 6, it says, Judgment on the day of the Lord.

[6:44] Wail, for the day of the Lord is near. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore, all hands will fall limp, and every man's heart will melt.

[7:00] They will be terrified. Pains and anguish will take hold of them. They will writhe like a woman in labor.

[7:12] They will look at one another in astonishment, their faces aflame. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming. Cruel with fury and burning anger.

[7:26] To make the land a desolation. And he will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light.

[7:43] The sun will be dark when it rises. And the moon will not shed its light. Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.

[7:57] I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and debase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make moral man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind than the gold of Orpher.

[8:18] Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place, At the fury of the Lord of hosts, in the day of his burning anger.

[8:32] Then please turn back a couple pages to Isaiah chapter 24.

[8:43] And then Isaiah chapter 24. We will be looking at the last section of that chapter, beginning with verse 19.

[8:58] The earth is broken asunder. The earth is split through. The earth is shaken violently.

[9:12] The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it totters like a shack. For its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.

[9:28] So it will happen in that day that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth.

[9:42] They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison. And after many days they will be punished.

[9:54] Then the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed. For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.

[10:12] Well, the Bible in both the Old and New Testament has a great deal to say about the phrase, the day of the Lord.

[10:29] And that's what's coming upon this earth. And do not make the mistake of thinking that we are talking about a 24-hour day, because we are not. Although most of the time the Bible uses the word day, it means a 24-hour period, the same way we use the word day.

[10:50] But there are times when it uses the word day, and it means an extended period of time, such as we might say back in the day of Noah, or back in the day of Abraham.

[11:04] And that, of course, is not singled out any particular 24-hour day, but it is talking about a block of time. The day of the Lord, as best we can understand it, is going to encompass a period of seven years.

[11:21] It is also referred to as the Great Tribulation. It is called the time of Jacob's trouble. Why should it be called the time of Jacob's trouble?

[11:35] Because Jacob is a synonym for Israel. In fact, Jacob's name was changed by God to Israel. So Jacob and Israel refer to the nation of Israel.

[11:48] And they are going to be the focal point out of all of the nations of the world during this time of tribulation. It will be as if Israel is a state, has a big bullseye on its back.

[12:06] And all nations of the earth are going to come against that tiny nation with the intent of absolutely obliterating it. And so far as many or most of the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world are concerned, it's about time.

[12:24] They've been opting for that for a long time. In fact, for hundreds and hundreds of years. This time that is referred to as the time of Jacob's trouble or the seven-year period of tribulation or the time of calamity upon the earth is what many people refer to as the end of the world.

[12:46] Well, the world is not going to end. But the age that characterizes this world most certainly is going to come to an end.

[12:59] And there is going to be an entire new order erected. And in that new order, none other than Jesus Christ himself, who having come to earth for the second time, will be ruling and reigning in righteousness on the throne of his father David in the city of Jerusalem.

[13:21] Israel as a nation will be the central nation of the entire world. And Jerusalem will be the capital. It won't be New York.

[13:33] It won't be Moscow or London. It will be Jerusalem. And it will all be in fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham way back in Genesis chapter 12, which we considered a number of months ago.

[13:50] So, there are three basic reasons for this tribulation period. It's called the day of the Lord because it is a period of time wherein God is going to pour out his wrath, his fury on an unbelieving world.

[14:14] It will extend for a period of seven years. At the conclusion of those seven years, Jesus Christ is going to return just as he promised.

[14:27] When he was taken up from the apostles in Acts chapter 1, as they stood there and watched their Lord bodily, physically ascend right before their very eyes, went right up to heaven and they watched him until he was nothing more than a speck.

[14:46] And all of a sudden, there were angels standing there. And they said to them, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven?

[15:01] This same Jesus that has been taken up from you into heaven shall so come again in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.

[15:14] There is the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when he came as the lamb, sacrificial lamb. He came then to purchase the right to return as king.

[15:29] And when he comes the second time, there won't be any of this lamb business. That's already been fulfilled. He has been the sacrificial lamb, slain before the foundation of the world, if you will.

[15:40] But when he comes again, he will come as the lion of the tribe of Judah. It will be a time of extreme violence.

[15:52] And the metaphors that are used with the lamb and the lion are as opposite as they can possibly be. Is there anything more meek, more mild, more harmless, more gentle, than a little lamb?

[16:11] Nothing I can think of. That's what he was. As a lamb, sheep is done before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth. Is there anything more rapacious, more vicious, than a lion, an uncaged lion?

[16:29] That's precisely the role that Jesus Christ is going to fulfill when he comes the second time. One of my favorite sayings, and I don't know who it was that coined it, but it has a ton of truth in it, that Jesus Christ is coming again, but this time, he will not be in a good mood.

[16:52] Think of that. Three major reasons for the tribulation, and Gary has already read from Isaiah to express the first one, and they are negative.

[17:03] It is to make an end of evil and of wicked ones. Every now and then, you hear people say things like, why doesn't God do something?

[17:14] Doesn't he know what's going on? All of the mayhem, and the butchering, and the hypocrisy, and the corruption, and the wars that are going on. Why doesn't God intervene?

[17:26] And you must be aware, I trust you are aware, that when God created man, he endowed him with a thing called a will, a volition. And if God does not allow man to exercise that volition, then volition becomes a joke.

[17:46] Man has the power to do evil, and God does not take that power away from him. He allows him to utilize it, because if he did not have the ability to do wrong, and right, then he would be nothing but a puppet, or an automaton.

[18:06] So God has not trifled with man, when he gave him a free will, a volition. But, that also becomes the basis for our accountability, because we are free moral agents, and we have the power of making decisions, and we will be held accountable for those decisions that are made.

[18:25] So that's the first reason for the tribulation period. And when I talk about the tribulation, it is synonymous with the day of the Lord, or the time of judgment. And there are several other names that are given to it as well, that will surface along the way.

[18:39] The second reason, however, is positive. Because even though there is going to be this time of great conflagration, it is also going to be a positive time of great spiritual revival.

[18:57] Now, you might think that these are incompatible concepts, and in a sense they are. But you must also realize, as the saying goes, man's extremity is God's opportunity.

[19:13] And very often, it is when a man is faced with a situation beyond his coping, beyond his ability to solve, when man comes to the end of himself, and is ready to say, that's it, I quit, I can't do anything.

[19:35] That's when God steps in. As long as we think we can do it, we can provide solutions, and the politicos tell us, the only thing wrong with this country is, the wrong political party is in power.

[19:52] Put us in power, and we'll fix it. That's been going back and forth since 1776. Nobody's fixed it yet. Because really, it is beyond the ability of politics to solve our situation.

[20:10] There is, and hear me well, there is no political solution to the human dilemma. There are only political stopgap measures.

[20:23] There are only political things that can keep the lid on, and keep everything from just completely breaking loose. And that's because we still have some semblance of orderliness, of law and order.

[20:39] But the time is coming when that too is going to break down. So, politics is useful, it's necessary, but it is not the cure-all that many would have it be.

[20:52] So, I want you to look at Matthew's gospel, chapter 24, and we'll see about the second reason for this tribulation period that is coming upon the earth.

[21:03] And it too is very sobering. It will bring about worldwide revival in a very positive way. And in Matthew, chapter 24, bear in mind, if you will, this is just a couple of days.

[21:17] This is just a couple of days before Jesus' crucifixion. And he is in the temple area meeting with the apostles. And we read in verse 1, And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him.

[21:39] And these were absolutely magnificent structures. All of which were made out of finely hewn stone. Limestone. Skillfully prepared and dressed and brought up there to the precise dimensions.

[21:54] And it must have been a beautiful array. And these stones are enormous. I mean, some of these weighed hundreds of tons. You wonder how in the world did they manage to move those things around and put them in position.

[22:08] But nonetheless, they did. And they were admiring the stonework. And by the way, this was all the architectural creativity of Herod. Herod the Great.

[22:20] He was as great an architectural engineer as he was an evil madman. Quite a combination to put in the heart and mind of one man, but that's precisely what he was.

[22:31] And this was Herod's temple that they were talking about. And they came to him and pointed out these buildings to him. In other words, they were dazzled by it. Look at this. Look at this, would you?

[22:42] This is magnificent. Isn't this wonderful? Making over these, and I suppose they had a right to do so. And Jesus answered in verse 2 and said to them, Do you not see all these things?

[22:57] Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down.

[23:12] What? Are you kidding me? Well, these things had just been put in place. And Jesus is saying the time is coming when all of these stones will be torn down.

[23:27] And the disciples are perplexed at that. What is he talking about? These things were just built. In fact, the temple hadn't even been completed. It wouldn't be completed until what?

[23:43] Like 63 A.D. when it would be actually finished. This would be 30 years after Jesus' death. And then this temple in all of its splendor will exist for just seven years.

[24:01] And the Romans will come in and level everything in 70 A.D. but I get ahead of myself. Verse 3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came to him privately saying kill us.

[24:19] When will these things be? Now you can just Jesus says these things are all going to be cast down and these twelve apostles are standing over there beside and they're turning to each other and saying did you hear what he said?

[24:37] Did I hear him right? Did he say what I thought he said? And they start talking about this among themselves. He couldn't have meant that. I wonder what he really meant. I don't know.

[24:47] Let's go ask him. So they ask him when he's sitting there on the Mount of Olives when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

[25:00] And they had it right. It would be the end of the age not the end of the world. Jesus answered and said to them, see to it that no one misleads you. The implication is there will be those who will attempt to do so.

[25:13] Be on guard against them. Many will come in my name saying I am the Christ or the Messiah and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.

[25:30] See that you are not frightened for those things must take place. But that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.

[25:55] Now I want to stop here and just inject something by way of a challenge for those of you who like to look up things. I haven't done it so I can't say it authoritatively but I would just off the top of my head.

[26:11] Go to your computer and Google earthquakes and see if you can get some kind of a printout or rundown on how many earthquakes there have been that have been recorded and over what period of time and perchance what has earthquake activity been like since say 1900 as opposed to a couple of thousand years previously.

[26:44] Just see what you find. I suspect you may be amazed. There's more coming. but all these things are merely the beginning.

[26:58] This is just the start of birth pains. Then they who who is they they will be those who are not Jews.

[27:13] It's not a way of saying all the rest of the world. They that is Gentiles will deliver you Jews up to tribulation and will kill you.

[27:27] That's not exactly new is it? And you will be hated by all nations on account of my name. And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another and many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.

[27:45] And because lawlessness is increased most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end that is to the end of this period of tribulation shall be saved.

[28:05] And it isn't talking about spiritual salvation. It's talking about going to be a survivor. And this gospel, this good news of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations and then the end shall come.

[28:27] Now this is a very positive thing. It's got its negatives to it as well. But the end game of this is that there's going to be a huge number of people who are going to positively respond to this gospel of the kingdom that will be preached.

[28:45] and these people are going to become believers. But when they become believers, they will also be placing themselves at great risk.

[28:57] Because being believers, they will not be in a position to receive the mark of the beast. And if you do not have the mark of the beast, you will not be able to buy nor sell anything.

[29:12] Food, water, anything else. that will all be denied you. And survival will be very, very difficult. A lot of people, even as believers, are likely to die from starvation because this is going to be a horrific time.

[29:32] And in the midst of it, you see what I mean when I say man's extremity is also God's opportunity? Men tend to be more open and more receptive to divine truth when they are cast in a crisis that they cannot see their way out of.

[29:55] In other words, it almost comes to this, well, if there isn't anything else or anyone else that I can trust and there are no solutions at all and I can't see any possible way out of this, maybe there's God.

[30:10] well, has it come to that? And yes, that's exactly the way many people look at it, you know. I mean, you try God if all else has failed.

[30:21] That's your last ditch hope. And it's too bad it can't be their first hope because they could save themselves a lot of heartache and a lot of difficulty if they weren't so stubborn.

[30:34] But sometimes, sometimes, sometimes God just has to use a really big two by four to get our attention.

[30:48] But you know what? Even that he does in love. Even that he does because he wants to bring you to himself.

[31:00] And he allows desperate situations to come upon us so that we might be willing to look to him because all else fails.

[31:12] So, man's extremity is often God's opportunity. More people have come to Jesus Christ in the midst of a crisis than any other time.

[31:27] So, there will be worldwide revival and I want you to turn back to Revelation where we are targeted for this morning for the time we have left and I really wanted to allow some time for Q&A but I don't think we are going to be able to do that.

[31:41] So, what else is new? You have heard me say that before. My heart was in the right place but my head wouldn't follow. There will be this worldwide revival as a second result and to make an end of evil and wicked ones will be the first and that is the negative.

[31:59] And here in Revelation chapter 7 I'm sorry chapter 6 chapter 6 we have the four horsemen of the apocalypse and the lamb breaks open the seven seals and the four living creatures are speaking and the first one who appears in the four horsemen of the apocalypse is a rider on a white horse and this is ordinarily thought to be the person of Jesus Christ but it isn't.

[32:36] It isn't Christ at all. It is the Antichrist. Christ will arrive on that white horse but that's described in Revelation 19 and there is the real McCoy.

[32:49] This is a counterfeit here and I want you to notice that we are told in verse 2 that he who sat on it had a bow. It doesn't say anything about arrows it just says a bow.

[33:04] This Antichrist is going to be the consummate diplomat. He is going to be so smooth so suave so polished he's going to have a line that will mesmerize the leaders of the world and they will fall in place behind him because he is going to propose solutions to the problems that the world is facing and the world leaders are going to look at each other and say that's a great idea why didn't we think of that and they will implement it and guess what it will be successful and they will be drawn in more and more deeply because the next proposition he floats that too will have a good outcome and this one will be idolized around the world as the world's superman this guy is the solution to the world's problems he is our Mr.

[34:04] Fix-It he is the antichrist he is a deceiver and in due time his true colors will be shown he's the rider on the first horse and we mustn't spend much time here but the second one comes along and in verse 3 second creature is saying another red horse went out to meet him who sat on it and it was granted to take peace from the earth now the first one is going to bring peace this one is going to take peace this means that the plan and program of the antichrist is beginning to subtly unfold and they are going to be returning to a position of worldwide conflict he will take peace from the earth that men should slay one another well what's new about that nothing today and a great sword was given to him and then the third seal and all of these we'll treat more in detail later he broke the third seal and I heard the third living creature say come and I look and behold a black horse and the black horse is speaking of famine every time there is a conflict whether it is worldwide or regional there are always people who do without the necessities of life they become refugees we have today hundreds of thousands of such people particularly in the

[35:31] Mideast and these are poor people on the move they are fleeing persecution and they are fleeing militarism they are just on the road carrying all of their possessions on their back everything they have looking for a place where they can put down some roots and it is tragic and there are hundreds of thousands of people as I speak who are going through this they lack drinking water they lack medical attention they lack food they lack everything that is always a predictable result of conflict people do without and the fourth horseman is going to ride in verse seven and this is referred to as an ashen horse or a pale horse and what's left just death very logical sequence here starts out everything's great good solutions and then the bottom falls out of everything and war breaks out and as a result of war there is famine and as a result of famine there is death this is the predictable scenario now in reality this is nothing new this is a pattern that mankind has followed since the beginning and we saw it played out in bold relief and especially world war one and world war two and in

[37:04] Vietnam and Korea and Cambodia and the killing fields and all of that ghastly gory scenes starvation deprivation of humanity men preying upon other men all because all because of that singular thing that resides in the heart of every one of us as a children of the fall and that is self centered ness we're all infected with that bug we are all self centered automatically and it is only the injection of the gospel and the spiritual life that can remove us from being condemned to self centeredness to where we can become Christ centered and other centered and it is a supernatural act can't be accomplished on a psychiatric couch or in a self help book it's available only through the gospel of Jesus

[38:12] Christ and he specializes in changing hearts and making them conform to the image of his son this is what's wrong with the world this is what's wrong with the world we're all self centered I want my way but the problem is you want your way and your way is standing in the way of me getting my way so might becomes right and that's where we are that's not really too hard to understand is it this and you know something we have these austere bodies such as the United Nations and the General Assembly the Security Council they meet and our White House officials get together and the Supreme Court gets together and the Senate gets together and the House of Representatives get together but nobody ever ever talks about the real problem well the real problem is jobs no not the real problem the real problem is lack of housing no that's not the real problem but all of these things are touted as the solutions but they're not the solutions the real problem is in the heart of the human being and no politician can touch that that's an area that only the grace of

[39:44] God through the power of the spirit of God can affect nothing else will do it but do they want to talk about that as a solution well man cuts himself off from the only thing that can really save him and it's kind of tragic and it's ironic but this is the way you see this is part of the deceitfulness of the human heart Jeremiah says the heart he's talking he's not talking about the blood pump in your chest he's talking about the core of your being the heart is deceitful above all things desperately wicked who can know it you know what the average response to that is not my heart you might be talking about your own but you are not talking about my heart yes honey

[40:47] I'm talking about your heart we have all got the same kind of heart we're all part of the problem that's that's humanity that's where we are that's why we are and what's the solution solution has been around for 2000 years they didn't want to hear it then and they still don't want to hear it but it's the only thing that works God has to move into that evil self centered heart and cleanse it and forgive it and renew it and set it on a new path that's exactly what he does in the gospel amazing amazing so all these horsemen here they are going to have their influence and they are going to bring about this calamity that is coming upon the earth and

[41:51] I want to close with this because our time is almost gone and I want to show you the positive aspect of this we've already talked about it and as negative as this is going to be I told you that man's extremity is God's opportunity and here is God's opportunity it's in chapter 7 of Revelation and we are told that 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes and these of course are Jewish are going to be singled out and they are going to be preachers during this time of tribulation and guess what they're going to be preaching they're going to be preaching a spiritual solution that the world has never wanted and still doesn't want but some are going to buy into it now why because they are in the midst of an extremity and these 144,000 are going to encompass the world the whole planet and they are going to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom which essentially is repent of your sins acknowledge your sin admit your sin and put your faith and trust in the one who is coming the Messiah he is coming and put your trust in him and God will save you and forgive you and even though you lose your head to the antichrist because the principle method the principle method of execution during this seven year tribulation period will be beheading

[43:29] I don't know if there is a connection between that and what is happening today but there may well be and those who embrace Yeshua HaMashiach as their Messiah will be placing themselves at great risk and they will surface later in the revolution as those souls under the altar whom John saw who cry out how long oh God how long before you avenge us for the shedding of our blood and God tells them just a little bit longer be patient the judgment acts is going to fall so these 144,000 are going to have tremendous success and they are going to be immediately placed in peril because they will be branded as part of the enemy by the antichrist and many of these will lose their lives because as I said they will not be able to buy nor to sell and the third reason

[44:33] I'm going to reserve for our next study because it deserves time by itself and this is the third reason for the tribulation that is coming and it is to break the will of the holy people who are the holy people it's Israel well there's not a whole lot about Israel right now that you would call holy and that's because people don't understand what the word holy means we hear the word holy and we think good nice sweet righteous sacred perfect whatever that's not what the word holy means at all the word holy means separated means sanctified and these people out of all of the nations of the earth these people the Jewish people the seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they are the only nation on all the face of the earth of whom

[45:39] God has ever said you shall be a holy people unto me for I am holy you are to be a peculiar people that means you're separated people and that means that the Jewish nation as a nation and as Jews were literally taken by God and set apart from all the other nations in the world they were made special that's what the word holy means separated not belonging to the usual group separated isolated unto themselves that's what holy means and these people are described the Jewish people as a will that needs to be broken and I'll tell you something I'm not sure that you can find on the face of the earth the people who have demonstrated more of a penchant for survival for determinism for just gutting it out for fortitude for fighting against the odds there is something that is genetically built into the psyche of the

[46:58] Jewish people that God put there that makes them different I'm not saying superior in other ways but different and I know there are a lot of Jewish people who would even deny this but I am satisfied that it is true and one of the things that this nation of Jews is going to experience is a brokenness a brokenness a remorse and it will play out in a passage that we will look at later that Zechariah is going to describe when he talks about the Jewish people and he says and they will look upon him whom they crucified and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son

[48:02] Israel as a nation is going to come to a place of corporate brokenism where they are going to be remorseful over their sin and their rejection of this Messiah who was one of their own that will be their day of opening and reckoning and it will also be the day when Jesus Christ is going to go into battle and fight for his people as he did in days of old as God did in the Old Testament that's what's coming and we'll be looking at that playing out in detail and it is just absolutely stunning pray with me if you would father we recognize that there are a whole lot of unanswered questions that we have no doubt raised you've got answers for all of them and we simply look to you for wisdom we know we do not have and as we explore this amazing theme that just seems so surreal can can this thing we've described actually take place it's going to because you will bring to pass all that you have promised and these blow by blow accounts are here in the scriptures spelled out as clearly as they can be and you haven't put them in this book to fill up space you put them there for our learning whatsoever things were written for time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope we recognize that there's much about this that we don't know but we want to be faithful with what we do know and what you've been pleased to reveal and our prayer in this closing moment is in regard to any individual here boy or girl man or woman who has faith with the claims of

[50:14] Jesus Christ whatever their motivation whatever their excuse whatever their obstacles that have been there in the past we pray that you may see fit to remove them and allow them to see clearly that the only one who is capable of saving is the one who is called the Savior and there is none other prayer of our heart is for each and every person here to have already made that experience that salvation by putting their faith and trust in Christ as their personal Savior and sin bearer thank you father that this has nothing to do with church or religion or good intentions or turning over a new leaf has everything to do with coming face to face with the Savior who loves us and gave himself for us and our prayer is that they may know him for any who do not we pray that you'll give them no peace and no rest until they find it in this only one who can give it dear dear friend if that is your prayer this morning and you are here

[51:30] I want you to know that God will hold you accountable for the use of that volition that we spoke of and you can put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as an act of your will and you exercise your will to Christ in the same way you would exercise your will when you married your mate you did that you made that decision with your will and you took that person unto you to be your lawful wedded husband or wife you did that as an act of your will and that's the same way you receive a savior as an act of your will and if it is your desire even now to know Jesus Christ and his forgiveness his peace his pardon his love his everything you can right where you are simply say Lord Jesus I acknowledge that I'm just like everybody else I am a sinner in need of salvation and that's why

[52:34] Jesus came to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves and now with all of my questions and fears and doubts I know this I know I have needs that I can't meet and I know that you're willing to meet them and you're able to do so as best as I know how I want to put my case in the hands of this wonderful Savior who loved me so much he gave himself for me would you come into this life of mine and take charge and give me your forgiveness and your peace and your love and I'll praise you for the rest of my life would you make that your prayer and if you have be sure to tell somebody about it so that they can encourage you thank you father for the time we shared this morning we trust that what we have talked about will serve as seed that will sprout and bear fruit for that which is coming thank you for the presence of each one here today thank you for your own great loving heart and for being recipients of