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Warrenton SDA Church

Mark Finley

ISIS, Armageddon, Earth’s Last Battle and You

Let's pray together as we open God's Word.

My topic today is ISIS, Armageddon, and end-time events.

Father in heaven, we pray that as we open your Word, as we do some very serious Bible study this morning, that you do much more than fill our heads with facts, but you'd fill our hearts with a new commitment to Jesus.

May that reality take place in each of our lives where we need to make changes, speak to us, move upon our hearts, help this not to be a common ordinary meeting, but may the Spirit of God come down and may we be touched here.

As you've watched the news of the horrible tragedies that have been taking place in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria with ISIS, have you wondered about the meaning of those events in the Middle East?

Have you asked yourself the question, what does this all mean in the light of the prophetic scenario?

ISIS has moved very swiftly across Iraq and Syria, In fact, so swiftly that it has surprised Western observers, certainly has surprised the American government.

We just weren't prepared for what's happened.

Tens of thousands are now held in the grip of ISIS.

Cities that once were under Iraqi domination, cities like Mosul to Crete, have fallen to the grip of ISIS.

And ISIS stated intention in their literature, on their webpages, on their YouTube videos, is to establish something called a caliphate.

Now, if you're not familiar with Islamic terms, you may wonder what is a caliphate.

A caliphate is a society based on Islamic law.

You see, in the ISIS mentality, any society based on any other law is an illegitimate society.

Any government based on any other form of government, Whether that be democracy, whether it be dictatorship, whether it be socialism, that is illegitimate.

The only righteous government, according to the ISIS theology, is a government based on caliphate, which is a government based on Islamic law.

We in the West have become familiar with scenes of like Jihadi John, this Kuwaiti-born Londoner speaking with a British accent who has slain so many journalists.

We have seen him in his black suit and we've seen these journalists dressed in their orange jumpsuits and we've seen the knife at their throat as they have been executed.

Probably 1 of the more horrible executions that has taken place recently is an execution in Libya of 21 Christians on 1 scene as they have knelt on the shores of the Mediterranean and as their throats have been slit and they've been killed.

In December of 2014, the New York Times published a confidential comments by Major General Michael K.

He is the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East.

Now, he said, we have hardly begun to figure out the Islamic State's appeal.

And then he made this interesting comment.

He says, we have not defeated the idea of ISIS.

Why is it that tens of thousands of young people from throughout the Middle East have joined that cause?

And why is it that hundreds of young people from the United States and the West have joined that cause?

Thousands of new recruits are joining this religious holy war every single month.

And is there more than meets the eye here.

Recently, Graham Wood, who's a reputed journalist, wrote an insightful article in the Atlantic Monthly, and it gives us a real fresh perspective on the ISIS movement and helps us to understand them.

He said, the Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths.

It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs among them that it, ISIS, is a key agent of the coming apocalypse.

Now when I read that, it caught my attention.

ISIS, a key agent of the coming apocalypse?

Now the word apocalypse simply means the end of the world.

How does it see itself as a key agent of the coming end of the world?

What is its thinking process and how does this fit in to the larger prophetic scenario of the book of Revelation?

Now nearly all of the Islamic State's decisions adhere to what it calls, and this is on its billboards, its license plates, and its coins.

ISIS staunchly believes that they have a role to play in ushering in the coming of a new messianic kingdom.

Why is it that those 21 Christians were slain on the banks of the Mediterranean and their blood was allowed to go into the Mediterranean right across from Rome in Libya.

Why is it that ISIS magazine is called Dabiq, D-A-B-I-Q.

The ISIS followers in this brand of Islam believes that the final battle between good and evil will be fought in a Syrian city called Dabiq.

They believe that the armies of the west will be led by the Pope of Rome.

And they believe that the Pope of Rome and his armies will come down across Europe to Dabiq.

They believe that the armies of Rome are the infidels, that they have to be slain at any cost to establish the new messianic kingdom.

They believe that when the armies of Rome get to Dabiq that the forces of righteousness under ISIS will meet there.

That the armies of Rome will apparently succeed and they will slay all of the ISIS forces except 5, 000.

That these 5, 000 Isis will be driven back to Jerusalem and there Mahadi will appear.

He will lead the armies of ISIS to defeat all of the infidels, righteousness will shine through the world and the glorious kingdom of Islam will reign through the entire world.

That's what motivates hundreds and thousands of young people to join the cause, because they believe that they are joining a righteous cause that will slay all infidels and that righteousness and peace will reign under the Islamic cause.

How does this all fit in to the book of Revelation?

We're going to do some serious Bible study.

And we're going to look at ISIS, Armageddon, Earth's last war, and you and me and how we fit into that.

First we are going to look at 7 key facts about end time events.

Fact number 1, Revelation does discuss a final conflict between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

Revelation chapter 12, we will look at 3 passages in the book of Revelation.

Fact Number 1, truth and error at times are very, very close.

Revelation does discuss a final conflict between the force good and the force of evil, certainly not the prophetic scenario that Isis describes, But it does describe that final conflict.

Fact number 1, Revelation 12, verse 17, and the dragon, who's the dragon, everybody?

Angry with the woman, the church, and went to make war with the rest of her offspring, or the remnant, which keep the commandments of God and of the testimony of Jesus.

So Revelation clearly outlines there will be a final conflict between the force of good and the force of evil.

That the devil and the forces of hell will be marshaled against faithful believers of God.

Revelation chapter 17, 3 passages on this final war.

Revelation chapter 17 verse 12 and onward.

And the 10 horns, that are the 10 united kingdoms at any time, which you saw are 10 kings that have received no kingdom as yet.

But they receive authority for 1 hour, a short period of time, with the beast.

So the beast, the religious powers of the earth are united with the political powers, verse 12.

So the political powers, the economic powers, the religious powers are united with 1 mind.

They will give their power and authority to the beast.

Verse 14, they will, notice this expression again, make war with the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them for He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Those that are with Him are called, chosen and faithful.

So again, in Revelation 12, verse 17, you have this expression, make war.

Revelation 17, verse 14, this expression, make war.

The forces of righteousness, the forces of evil.

So Revelation chapter 19, now notice the language in Revelation 12, Revelation 17 and Revelation 19 is the same.

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ISIS, Armageddon, Earth’s Last Battle and You

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