End Times Chart – for book 9 x 12__ FINAL(7)
….As the Church did their first read through of the new letter, they were excited about the “letter directly from Jesus” part. They loved the “blessing when you read it” part, but there was one key piece they were all looking for – Was this the book that was going to answer all their questions about Jesus’ expected return! They didn’t have to read far:
Revelation 1:7, 8: “Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him— even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen! ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.’”
As they read and read, and reread through their new letter, it didn’t take long for them to understand that there was more to Jesus’ “Second Coming” than just the “pre-signs” Jesus had mentioned that would happen BEFORE his return – they were now getting their first prophetic look at what was going to happen AFTER Jesus’ return!
Nobody in the Early Church let their “Revelation letter” collect dust. Nobody said, “It is just too hard to understand.” They were pouring over it every day, making sure they understood it. The message of the letter was intense (it still is): Jesus victoriously wins… satan miserably loses!
Ethan and the Early Church did not see the coming traumatic End Times in the book of Revelation as if they were somehow directed at them, the Church, the followers of Jesus. They read that once “the Scroll” is opened, God makes all-out, no-holds-barred, take-no-prisoners war on sin and satan. That’s the part the Church had not yet heard. For all they had known Jesus was going to be returning to a sin-soaked planet. They might be lifted off, but satan would forever be wrecking this planet, and it’s future inhabitants, their grandchildren.
Once they read through their final letter of Revelation they realized that the returning Jesus was going to deal a death blow to “the evil one”! Inside that scroll with seven seals was packaged God’s final judgment on sin and hell and death!
Jesus/John “unveiled” that satan and the antichrist use every single weapon at heir disposal to defeat God and HIS MESSIAH, and they completely, and ramatically, lose the war against the Creator of the universe (Revelation 6-20)!
Revelation is a book that many Christians dislike and ignore!
The Early Church saw this letter 180 degrees opposite. They were being persecuted, their possessions and families ripped away. Satan seemed to be winning! When those “hunted” people got this letter, they were electrified. They now had the final key to the “Gospel” message – they caught something they hadn’t caught before! Satan wasn’t going to win his battle against God! Jesus was coming back, and when he did, all evil would be defeated!
Nobody in the Early Church let their “Revelation letter” collect dust. Nobody said “it is just too hard to understand.” They studied deeply – because those words were the keys to their future! They now knew the end of the story! When Jesus returned, he would reward his Saints and crush satan! He would purge the “curse” off the planet! (22:3) The message of the letter was intense – it still is: Jesus victoriously wins…satan miserably loses!
Jesus didn’t intend the End Times to scare us! He didn’t intend for his “unveiling” to sit unread! What if – the 63-year-old carpenter, the 42-year-old salesperson, the 30-year-old nurse, and the 16-year-old student could all finally say: “It’s not scary mumbo-jumbo to me any more! What if instead of sparking confusion and fear, Jesus’ “Revelation” could ignite awe and worship?
Sam Chess has intentionally written to make the difficult understandable – to “unmask” the weird and scary, to simply unfold the chronological storyline of Jesus’ final triumphant victory!
Jesus’ disciples are shocked! Their world had turned upside-down. For three years they had witnessed leprous stubs grow into fresh new feet, thousands of shekels of food appear out of nothing, and dead people brought back to life! Six months ago the momentum in their already insane new life had taken a startling shift, and now for the last six weeks they were, literally, living every moment of their lives in mouth-hanging shock!
The gears shifted last fall when their long-awaited, miracle-working Messiah had announced that he was going to die! He had slipped it in at the end of a bizarre moment up in Caesarea Philippi standing in front of the pagan “gates of hell” grotto where human beings were daily being sacrificed. “I will build my church,” he had shouted. “The very gates of hell will not stand against it! The ‘Church,’ my Church,” he had said, “will bind and loose on earth what has already been bound and loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:18-19). What in the world could that possibly all mean they wondered?
As if that hadn’t been startling enough for fishermen and tax collector brains to absorb, Jesus began to enlarge on the fact that once they got back down to Jerusalem, he was going to suffer terrible things at the hands of the religious leaders, and then be brutally murdered. “I will be killed,” Jesus had said, “but on the third day I would rise from the dead” (Matthew 16:21). That last phrase went right over their heads. It didn’t sink in at all. They were still so absorbed and confused by the “I will be killed” phrase! Peter tried to challenge Jesus: “No way, Lord,” he had said. “That’s never going to happen to you!” Jesus gave him one of his deep-into-your-soul stares and said, “Get away from me, satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things purely from a human point of view, not from God’s” (Matthew 16:22-23). Everybody else shut their mouths and tried to make sense out of what seemed senseless.
MY “OVERCOMING” DECLARATION!
“I am strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” I am an over-comer! I am a Christian soldier called out, in-filled, empowered, and deployed as one of God’s spiritual warriors!
I start from a position of victory because my Divine Commander has already fought, and won ahead of me. I have been commissioned by Jesus to enforce the victory he already won on the cross! I am guaranteed to be a conqueror…”I am MORE than a conqueror!”
“My weapons are not human weapons – My ‘weapons’ have Divine power to demolish satan’s strongholds.” My “weapon of choice” is PRAYER! My prayers have the authority to turn the tide of evil back from my family, my church, my community, my nation, and my world.
“I am not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in heavenly places.” But “I am able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil!”
I AM JESUS’ CHURCH! “The gates of hell will not prevail against me. I have received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever I bind on earth has already been bound in heaven!”
I believe that my prayers will release the mighty power of God to accomplish in my family, my church, my community, and my nation what God has already planned in heaven!
All that is needed to unlock the mighty unlimited, resources of heaven is for me to insert the keys I have been given – the keys of powerful, effective, God-filled prayer!
I believe that my prayers will foil the plans of satan and bring his evil strategies to a standstill. “I can resist satan and he will flee from me!”
I WILL pray! I will be victorious! “I am strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves me!”
Ten Probing Questions!
Probing Premise# 1) If in fact true prayer originates in heaven. If prayer isn’t us coming up with some bright idea and pummeling God until we can convince him to come around to our way of thinking.
Probing Premise # 2) If it’s true that God originates true prayer and then he looks for one of us, his children, his Church, on whom he can place the burden of prayer – who will be the tip of the spear to voice the request in faith, believing, back to Him.
Probing Premise # 3) That would certainly explain how “what you bind on earth will have already been bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will have already been loosed in heaven,” wouldn’t it? (Matthew 16:19, Matthew 18:18)
Probing Question # 4) If you knew that you were, literally, a key player in the huge, cosmic battle between the mighty power of God, and the soon to be defeated forces of sin and satan.
Probing Question # 5) If you really saw yourself as a warrior right out on the front lines.
Probing Question # 6) If you knew that your prayers could so smash the plans of satan that whole sinful campaigns that he has put in place to trip up your family, or church, or community, or country, or this world would come crashing down in response to your prayers.
Would it be worth the investment to fall on your knees and cry out to God?
Probing Question # 7) If you really believed that your prayers were going to destroy satan’s plans in reference to that person in your family that you are so concerned about.
Probing Question # 8) If you really believed that you could foil the plans of satan and literally bring his evil strategies to a standstill.
Probing Question # 9) If you really believed that your prayers would release the mighty power of God to do in your community what God has already for-ordained in heaven. But its manifestation is waiting completely, totally, on people like yourself calling on God until you see the answer.
Probing Question # 10) If you really believed that our nation could be completely turned around until it, once again, is centered on God and his Word and that your great-grandkids could grow up in a much more righteous environment than you did.
If we really believed that with all our hearts – how much time would we be willing to invest in fervent prayer to God, until we saw it all unfold?
Luke 8:28: “As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!’”
Say it with me: “What I see and hear when demons meet Jesus and scream out in terror in Scripture should make me never live in fear of them again in my life because the actual truth is demons are scared to death of my God!” “They are scared out of their mind of my Savior!!”
That Savior’s very presence caused the minions of satan to quiver in terror – every single time!
And here’s why! Listen to the tortured screams coming out of the demoniac:
Luke 8:28: “As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!’”
In direct contrast, the demons clearly believed Jesus was Sovereign! They believed, without question, that he had complete authority and that authority extended over them!
So, for those who don’t believe the Bible means exactly what it seems to be saying, I can assure you that satan and his demons do!
Even the demons End-Times view thoroughly assumes a returning Christ and a coming judgment over sin and satan. Watch this:
Matthew 8:29: “‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’”
Luke 8:31: “And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.”
Again, what “theology” are these God-hating demons pointing to that eventually arrives through the pen of the Apostle John in inspired Scripture?
Revelation 20:1-2,10: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:10 then says satan gets out briefly to gather those who still reject Jesus during the 1000 year Millenium.) “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
Based on what the demons are saying, they already know that they will also be in the lake of fire with satan forever. Notice, the demons believe their total destruction is still a “future event.” They obviously believe Revelation 20 more firmly than many Christians do!
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The point is; the evil one, the one we often see as an almost insurmountable adversary,
God needs to change the picture in the minds of his Church, from us cowering in front of satan, to seeing satan cowering in front of our Savior!