Luke 17:22-27 – And then, The End – Bible study

Luke 17:22-27 And then, The End As with most people, I have a fascination with prophecy. I want to understand the Bible so I look for the whys and the hows that might bring the Bible together. Tonight, I want to share Bible passages with you. All of them have an end time significance. But I do not just want to share Bible passages. I also want to put them together in a possible order. Understand, that is dangerous and I do not know if the order I will put these Bible verses into is correct. I feel they are pretty close, but that is all I can say. I may change my mind about some of these things before I go to bed tonight. But for now, I believe these are a possible order of what will happen. You might ask, "Why would you share them if you are not sure?" Many reasons. 1. First, if he only thing I preach on are the things I personally know, our Bible would be much smaller. 2. Second, I want to paint a possible picture so that we can see how close to the end of things we might actually be. I. \#Luke 17:22-27\ The world will increase in sin. A. Jesus told us that the world would be like it was in the days of Noah \#26\ and the days of Lot \#28\. 1. Those were days so sinful that God had to judge the sinners. 2. I am not so sure that we are not already there; but if we are not, we will continue downward until we are. 3. If revival comes, it may turn the hands of sin back a bit; but sooner or later, sin will win out. B. Jesus also said that no matter how bad the world got, the people would continue doing the same things. 1. \#27\ They will eat, drink, and marry. 2. That also means that they will go to work, go to some form of worship, and go to some form of entertainment. 3. Life will not stop just because sin increases. II. The Church will fall away. 2Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; A. I know that I am reading into that verse the word "church." 1. I think the church is the only thing that can fall away. 2. Before something can fall away, it had to be pretty close at to the target. a. The church was filled with the Holy Ghost and a witness for Jesus. b. Not so much anymore. B. The church will fall away until it is removed. 1. The churchs removal will be sudden and complete \#1Thess 4:13-18\ and 1Cor 15. 2. I remember seeing pictures when I was first saved of the rapture. a. The sudden snatching away of Christians caused automobile accidents and various emergency situations. b. I am convinced by what I see being called the church today that we will hardly be missed for there seems to be few who are truly believers. c. Yet, the falling away is not complete yet. As more of the saints die off and the church is filled with more of the tares, the church will be missed less and less. III. Either shortly before, during, or just after that time, war will be declared on Israel. Psalm 83:1 Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. 5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee: 6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; 7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah. A. Some think this passage has been fulfilled. 1. That is possible, but I do not know when that was. 2. The Bible does not record such an army as this coming against Israel. 3. Many of these nations came as individuals, some as groups, but I do not know of a time when they all came. 4. Assyria came, Babylon came; but they attacked these nations as well. These nations did not join with them to attack Israel. B. Notice that all of these nations are local to Israel. 1. Ezekiel 38 and 39 lists a huge army coming against Israel which virtually everyone believes is end time; yet those nations are all far away from Israel. Eze 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. 7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 2. This battle commonly believed to be leading up to the very last battle does not have a single local enemy of Israel named. a. Why? b. I believe before we get to the last battle, the local enemies of Israel have already tried to annihilate Israel and got whooped themselves. C. However, I believe the battle between Israel and their local enemies does pull many other nations into the war and will be part of a world-wide calamity. Rev 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. 3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. 4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. 5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. IV. All of this will cause an unidentified ruler to rise to the forefront. A. I do not know what his earthly name will be, but in the Bible, he is called the anti-Christ. 2Thess 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; B. This individual will negotiate or force Israel into a treaty. Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. 1. This treaty will be filled with compromises and constraints. 2. It will allow Israel to build a temple, but it will also force Israel to recognize other religions and work with them. 3. This treaty will always be shaky at its best. 4. The anti-Christ will spend 3 1/2 years buttering everyone up to make it work and when he thinks it is time, he will announce that he is God. a. Israel will bolt. They will recognize Jesus must have been their Savior and will turn to Christ. b. The anti-Christ will seize absolute power and begin to persecute the Jews as he has already been doing to the Christians. Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. V. The Bible describes the anti-Christs sudden control. Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. A. He will implement a numbering system where everyone will have to be IDed to buy or sell. Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. B. And for the next 3 1/2 years, he will blaspheme the true God like no one ever has. Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. VI. But at the same time, God will start ripping his kingdom apart. Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. VII. It is at this time that the armies of the world will move against Israel. Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. A. Ezekiel tells us that some of the army will be destroyed on the way to Armageddon. B. Ezekiel and Revelation tell us that many will die at Armageddon. Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. C. But a great host will actually make it to the city of Jerusalem to be stopped by Jesus Christ Himself. Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. I may not know for certain the order that these events will occur, but I know they will occur. By the way, I do not think any of what I have described tonight is considered by any Bible believer to be allegorical or symbolic. These verses just the plain truth of the Bible. Now, how ready are you for them to occur?