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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

Preparing For the End Times

David Wright

Facing Crisis

True or False Revival

Shaken or Sealed

Crisis or Commitment

Close of Probation and the 7 Last Plagues

Currently, we are in a series that we are calling, Hope in These Last Days.

And last week we focused on how we don't need to fear the last days.

We focus not on the pain, but the promises.

Now we don't get depressed as we think about doom, but rather we focus on the deliverance in Jesus Christ.

So we can not only face what is coming, but we can face it confidently and courageously in Jesus Christ.

In fact, we looked last week at the coming crisis, anticipated or dreaded.

And we looked at these 4 key events, the proclamation of the gospel, the announcement of the judgment, the call to worship the Creator, and lastly a warning against false worship.

And today we're looking at a different piece, revival, genuine or counterfeit.

And next week we'll look at shaken or sealed.

Pathfinders, it's good to be prepared when you are out backpacking and camping and all the rest, but spiritually, Pathfinders is to prepare you as well.

You know, just as God used Romans in the Reformation period and God used Martin Luther to bring about revival, That was present truth for that hour.

So in these last days, I believe revelation is present truth for our time in this hour.

And we read in Revelation 1, verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, who God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place.

And continuing on in verse 3, Blessed is he who does 3 things.

I don't know about you, but I want to be blessed.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near.

God wants his end time people to also be prepared, not to be caught off guard, but to be ready for what is coming.

You know, we look at the news, every time you turn on the news, I can't help but see signs that say, be prepared, be prepared, be prepared.

We have never lived, I believe, in a time that's been quite this crazy, where the Pope is choosing to weigh in on our political process.

And as we jump into Revelation today, and we won't be in Revelation quite as much, but we'll be in it some.

I want to look at 2 principles when it comes to prophecy.

The first principle is repetition and enlargement.

We will never interpret prophecy wrongly if you understand this principle, which is rather simple and basic of repetition and enlargement.

And so if we look at Daniel 2 for an example, in Daniel 2 we have a basic outline of history that takes you from the days of Babylon, and then Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, and then the break of Roman Empire and the coming of Christ.

But then when we move to Daniel chapter 7, it covers the same ground, but then you add, That's the repetition, but then the enlargement, you add the judgment and the little horn.

Then when you get to Daniel chapter 8, covers the same ground, except it begins in Medo-Persia and it goes through Rome, the breaking up of the Roman empire, then the little horn, the papacy, then the judgment, and adds the cleansing of the sanctuary.

So again, this idea of repetition and enlargement.

And by the time you get to Daniel 11, in the conflict with the king of the north, and essentially does the same thing, but like chapter 8, it also leaves out Babylon because his vision is in the days of Medo-Persia and takes us all the way through We have a similar thing in Revelation Revelation chapter 1 we have the basic introduction And all time sequence prophecies begins right here in the time of the Prophet we'll look at that in just a minute.

Then we have the 7 churches, which gives us the basic outline, if you will.

Then we have the 7 seals, which amplifies and enlarges the 7 churches.

Followed by the 7 trumpets, which amplify even further, the 7 churches, and the 7 seals.

And by the time you get to Revelation 12, it's like a hinge in the book.

So the first principle is repetition and enlargement.

And the second principle is time sequence prophecies always begin where the prophet is.

It anchors us there because that's where the Prophet is.

By the time you get to Daniel chapter 8 and 11 it begins in Medo-Persia because at that time Babylon is already passed on and it's starting where the prophet is.

So in Revelation, well there's Daniel 2, Daniel 7, and then Daniel 8, it starts in Medo-Persia, and then 11 as well.

So in Revelation, where should the time prophecies begin?

According to this principle, it should happen in the days of John, or begin anyway, or the days of Rome.

So if you deal with the 7 churches, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets in this way, it certainly helps.

You have all kinds of random interpretations starting at various times and on and on and on and it can lead to all kinds of confusion.

By the time you get to the trumpets everything is out of control.

So in Daniel chapters 1 to 6, we have the how to be ready in end times.

In Daniel chapters 7 through 12, it answers more the when end time events will occur.

In Revelation 1 to 11, again you have this idea of how the practical chapters of a church facing end time and how to prepare.

The different kinds of Christians in every age and how to prepare.

That's what we learn in the 7 churches, the different kinds of Christians in every age and how to prepare.

That's what we learn in the 7 seals, what the church would face and how to prepare.

So this is an entire purpose in the first 11 chapters.

So just like Daniel you have the how first in Revelation and then the when second.

But when you get to Revelation chapters 12 to 22 it's more of the when the unfolding in unique detail in time events that answers the when question.

Remember these 2 principles, repetition, enlargement, and time sequence prophecy always begins where the prophet is.

But now we're going to jump into this revival.

Braden did a wonderful job of reading us our scripture today.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." The battle is going to be between Christ and Satan, good and evil.

I mean if the devil can deceive one-third of the angels in heaven, can we not expect him to pull out every stop at end time?

So we are entering a battle, and we need to know the battle plan.

But thank the Lord that we do not go forward blindly, but we can be prepared." You know, in every war, there is a war strategy.

And I'm thankful that in Revelation and the books of the Bible that also give us insight into Revelation, we can understand the devil's war strategy.

Isn't that what every war general would want?

And so we're going to look at the object of Satan's attack this morning, both for non-Christians but also for Christians and Seventh-day Adventists.

And so here we have Satan's 2 strategies for non-Christians.

Strategy number 1, war, conflict, and strife as a strategy for deception.

Matthew 24, verse 7, we read, For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famine and pestilence and earthquake in various places.

Now friends, wars happen not simply because political powers are in conflict.

Wars happen because the devil wants them to happen.

In Great Controversy 589, we read this, Satan delights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the soul, and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood.

It is his object, the devil's object, to incite the nations to war against 1 another, for he can thus divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand in the day of God." Isn't that an insightful quote?

It's the devil that incites war to distract us, To bring out the worst passions in us.

By the way, a little aside, some Seventh-day Adventists believe that when they sign up for the military, they automatically will get their Sabbath off, and they won't have to bear arms.

And when you're not in a time of draft, then you forfeit.

Series

Preparing For the End Times

True or False Revival

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Justification by Faith

A Legal Biblical View of this Core Teaching - Part 4

57m

The REBELution

1h 9m

Hebrews 11- Faith

15 The Faith of Rahab

34m

2. She Must Increase

36m

Seven Trumpets and the Role of Islam

Seven Trumpets and the Role of Islam- Part 5

1h 17m

The Kings

The Kings: Amaziah

40m

Present Truth or Cunningly Devised Fables

Higher Ground

1h 13m

The Parables

The Mustard Seed and Leaven

33m

Hebrews 11- Faith

12 The Faith of Moses Part 1

45m

Plenary Meetings

Prayer, Praise, and the Preaching of Prophecy

43m

Mocking the Remnant

37m

His Truth Is Marching On

49m

Sound Doctrine