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S Volume 1 . Issue 12
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Dr. Gilbert A. Peterson The Book's Message These Are the Times of the Signs ........................... 2
Rev. Wes Roberts For more than 1,900 years, God has Israel: The Focus of the World .............................. 3
largely refrained from intervening in the The Great Apostasy .............................................. 3
Mr. Jim Warren affairs of men. While He has performed Snatched Away! ................................................... 4
miracles and operated in the lives of be-
Dr. Rick Warren
lievers, He has seldom acted in ways ob- The Tribulation and the Mark of the Beast ............... 4
vious enough to convince skeptics of His The Glorious Appearing of Christ ........................... 5
existence. The Millennium and the Last Rebellion .................... 5
Publishers
David A. Martin
But this pattern is about to change~as The Great White Throne Judgment ......................... 6
we enter what the Bible calls the "time of
John S. Martin, III
the end." As soon as Christ returns to take Satan, the Antichrist, the Beast, and False Prophet .. 6
Editor His people to heaven, God's work will be The Two Witnesses, 144,000 Witnesses, Martyrs,
and the Unredeemed ............................................. 7
Michael J. Chiapperino powerfully evident to those who remain.
2
The Beginning
of Sorrow
In Christ's prophecy, he used the
term "beginning of sorrow," one
Hebrew scholars used to describe
THE GREAT APOSTASY
The Apostle Paul predicted that a time would
a woman in labor. Typically, a woman come when men and women would turn away from the faith. In 2 Thessa-
experiences mild contractions~ lonians 2:1-3, Paul says Christ will return only after a full-scale rebellion
spaced out over a period of time~ occurs. The Greek word apostasia, the source word for the English term
before labor intensifies. apostasy, means a defection from truth. This word "points to a deliberate
abandonment of a former professed position."
We believe that World War I "Before Christ returns, many who were once trusted with the truth
was the first birth pain and that in will depart from it."
the 80 years since, the pains have
become more consistent and pro- They will embrace the teaching of demons, speak lies, and suffer
nounced as many other signs have seared consciences. Appealing to people's fleshly desires, false teachers
become evident. C will lure people away from the truths of the Bible.
SB The seven churches described in Revelation 2-3 offer a glimpse of the
church throughout history, each representing a different era. The Laodicean
church, the final one mentioned (Revelation 3:15-18), is a description of
the church just prior to the Rapture. continued on page 4
Are
thrilling events prophesied in the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 outlines ulation, such as has not been since the
how the Rapture will unfold. beginning of the world until this time,
no, nor ever shall be." Old Testament
1. The Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, accompanied by the prophets like Jeremiah, Daniel, Isaiah,
voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. and Obadiah forecasted a time of great
2. Christians who have died will rise first. turmoil and destruction upon the earth.
3. Christians who are alive will be caught up in the clouds. Daniel predicted that the Tribulation
4. Believers will meet the Lord in the air and ascend into heaven. will last seven years (Daniel 9:24-27).
5. Christians will remain with the Lord forever.
A careful study of the 300-plus Scriptures about the Second Coming Neither Christians nor unbelievers
reveals that it will be divided into two parts. The first will be the Rapture, grasp the depth of suffering that will
when Christ will usher the church into heaven. The second will be the be packed into those seven years. Dur-
glorious appearing, when He will return to earth after the Tribulation to ing this time, the four horsemen of the
set up the Millennial Kingdom. Apocalypse will wipe out 25 percent of
the world's population; a global war
will kill one-third of the world's remain-
Belief in an imminent Rapture ing population, and there will be a soul
motivates us to whole-hearted harvest so great that no one will be able
Livi
consecration, holy living, and to count how many will be saved during
passionate evangelism. that period.
During this time, the Antichrist will
Scholars debate the timing of the Rapture. Some think it will happen dominate the earth. He will have the
before the Tribulation (the "Pre-Trib" position); others believe it will be power to inscribe a mark on the fore-
in the middle of the Tribulation ("Mid-Trib"); and others think it will occur heads or hands of the world's people.
right after the Tribulation ("Post-Trib"). Revelation 13:13 says that midway
through the Tribulation, people will be
We believe that Scriptures indicate that the Rapture will occur before forced to bow down to worship the
the Tribulation~for four reasons: Beast and to receive a mark. All those
1. The Lord Himself promised to deliver us (Revelation 3:10). without the mark will be killed.
2. The church is to be delivered from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians
1:10). Present-day Christians who are
3. Christians are not appointed to wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9). concerned about accidentally taking
4. The church is absent in Revelation 4-18. the mark or being forced to take it need
In God's providence, He has designed Bible prophecy so that the Rapture not be alarmed. They will have been
has appeared imminent to Christians of every generation. Belief in an immi- raptured into heaven before the Tribu-
nent Rapture motivates us to whole-hearted consecration, holy living, and lation takes place. But those who are
passionate evangelism. left behind must not take the mark.
The Bible clearly teaches that once the
mark is taken, it is an irreversible de-
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5
THE TRIBULATION continued Amillennialism is the belief
that there is no future Millen-
"It appears that receiving the mark God's mercy to be exhibited~since un- nium, but that prophecy will be
of the Beast is an unpardonable sin- told millions will have an opportunity fulfilled in eternity. This belief
which is why we should warn the to accept Christ as Savior. They will crept into the church after Augus-
unsaved never to consider taking that recognize that although they missed tine introduced the practice of
mark or worshiping the Antichrist." the Rapture, God is still calling them spiritualizing or allegorizing the
to repentance. The harvest during the Bible. This opened the door for
The Tribulation will be a time of Tribulation could number in the billions. pagan doctrines to infiltrate the
judgment for those who have rejected church and encouraged practices
Christ as Savior; it will force men and Far from being a divine display of that led to the Dark Ages.
women to make a definitive choice be- meanness to mankind, the Tribulation
tween God and the Antichrist; and it demonstrates beyond all doubt that
will eventually end with Christ's estab- Postmillennialism teaches
our holy God is a God who loves be- that the church will evangelize
lishment of a thousand year reign of yond all human reckoning. He is not
peace on earth. the world, making it
willing that any should perish, but that progressively better until it
all should come to Christ. C ushers in the Kingdom of God.
While this will be a period of wrath SB
and judgment, it will also be a time for This belief was popularized by
the 17th century Anglican
We
named Daniel Whitby. Only a
THE
few groups still cling to this
REBELLION
earth. According to Isaiah 65:20,
At the Second Coming of during this time everyone will
ving
Christ, Jesus will come back to judge have a long lifespan, but it appears
His enemies and to rule over the earth to us that non-Christians who
for a thousand years. There are 318 Before the Millennial reign refuse to accept Christ by the
New Testament references to Jesus' of Christ begins, Jesus must rid the time they are 100 years old will
world of Satan, the author of devilish
return to earth. In Titus 2:13, it is called die. The world will have an enor-
the "glorious appearing." This Glorious mischief on the earth. The Apostle mous population by the end of
Appearing will end Satan's Tribulation John says that an angel will descend the Millennium.
deception of mankind, and this will from heaven with the key to the bottom-
usher in Christ's peace on earth. less pit. He will lay hold of Satan, bind As astonishing as it may seem,
him with a chain and cast him into the at the end of Christ's thousand
In Matthew 24 Jesus compares His pit. The angel will then place a seal year reign, unredeemed people
glorious appearing to the way lightning over his jail cell so he will no longer will rebel against His Lordship
come from the east to the west. deceive the nations. and try to attack Jerusalem.
Revelation 20:7-9 says that at
The glorious appearing will: At this point, the Millennium will this time, Satan will be released
begin, and Christ will rule for a thou- from prison and go out to deceive
Be public and obvious; there will sand years. We have no doubt that this the nations of the world. When
be no hiding it. will be a thousand-year reign because Satan is free, the unsaved will
Occur immediately after the the Bible mentions it repeatedly. Reve- reveal the wickedness in their
Tribulation. lation 20, for example, discusses it six hearts and will join forces with
times. Satan against God.
Be accompanied by the mourning Throughout history there have been continued on page 6
of sadness by the Jewish nation three competing views of the Millennium.
(Zechariah 12:10-12). C
SB
ANTICHRIST,
Revelation 20:11-15
describes the White Throne Judg-
ment that will take place after Satan
worship after which he has always
lusted. Satan will try to complete
what he started through Hitler's
THE BEAST,
is defeated. At this judgment, God
opens two books. According to the
Apostle John, one book contains
things written about the lives of
holocaust. He will try to decimate
the Jewish people, but he will be
supernaturally prevented from doing
so. God's people will protect Israel,
AND FALSE
everyone on earth. Each person will
be judged according to what is writ-
ten in this book. The other is the
then Satan will go off to make war
against Christians (Revelation 12:14-
17).
PROPHET
Book of Life. If a person's name is
not found in that book, he will be
cast into the lake of fire.
Satan is the original
"The Antichrist is scheduled to be
the last ruler of this world~just
before Jesus comes. While the un-
After the judgment takes place, sinner. He is an immensely powerful, redeemed people of the world will
one final event will occur: Death malevolent spirit who lives to de- fall down to worship him during
and Hades will be cast into the lake ceive and murder mankind. He will the second half of the Tribulation,
of fire. This is called the second do whatever it takes to usurp the by the end of the Tribulation only
death. This will fulfill the prophecy worship and glory due to God alone. one name will be worshiped: Jesus
Christ, the King of kings and Lord
7
THE BEAST AND FALSE PROPHET continued from page 6
The Antichrist is described in 2
Thessalonians 2:3 as a "man of per-
dition," a man doomed to destruction.
TWO WITNESSES, 144,000
In Daniel 11, we are given a view
into the future and a description of
the Antichrist. According to Daniel's
WITNESSES, MARTYRS,
prophetic vision, the Antichrist will:
Magnify himself above every
god;
AND THE UNREDEEMED
Two of the most colorful characters in the
Blaspheme God; Bible are the supernatural prophets described in Revelation 11:3-4. God
Place his confidence in calls them his "two witnesses." He will give them power to prophesy for
military strength; 1,260 days. Dressed in sackcloth, these two witnesses will duplicate the
Brutalize those he conquers; very miracles that Moses and Elijah performed. They will call down fire
from heaven and keep it from raining. They will also have power to turn
Control the world's finances. water into blood and to strike the earth with plagues. These two, plus the
The Antichrist will deceive many~ 144,000 witnesses, will provide the Jewish people with an understanding
relying on supernatural signs and of the gospel.
wonders (2 Thessalonians 2). He While God empowers them to preach during the Tribulation, they will
will will also sit in the Temple and become the mortal enemies of the Antichrist. For reasons known only to
declare himself to be God. God, He will allow the Antichrist to overcome and kill these two men.
The Apostle John makes it clear Once they are killed, the people will be forbidden to bury them. They
in Revelation that the term "Beast" will lie in the street for three and a half days, and their corpses will be
is another name for the Antichrist. viewed by millions around the world.
The Beast will receive a fatal wound, Until recently, aside from supernatural means, it would have been high-
but he will supernaturally rise from ly unlikely for this prophecy to be fulfilled. But today's cable, satellite,
the dead. As a result of this resurrec- and internet services could enable millions of people throughout the
tion, many will marvel at him and world to see the dead bodies of these prophets on their television and
trust him as the leader of the world. computer screens almost instantly.
Revelation also describes a man The two prophets, however, will not remain dead. According to Reve-
called the False Prophet who will lation 11:11-13, God will bring them back to life. After they are brought
serve as the Antichrist's associate in to life, great fear will fall upon the people, and God will call them into
preparing the world to accept the heaven. At that same hour, there will be a great earthquake in Jerusalem,
Antichrist's rule. The False Prophet, and 7,000 men will be killed. Frightened, the rest will give glory to God.
says John in Revelation 13:11-14,
will enjoy incredible power. He will Far from being an example of God's cruelty to men, these events will
be able to make fire come down from be examples of God's great mercy to mankind. He intends these judgments
heaven. His miracles will convince and trials to cause people of the world to repent and turn to Him. He takes
people to worship the Beast. no pleasure in the death of the wicked; He desires that all turn from their
sins to worship Him.
Revelation describes a time~
probably in the middle of the Tribu- Before the world is plunged into plagues and disasters by one of the
lation~when the False Prophet will final judgments of God during the Tribulation, He will raise up an army
build a great image of the Antichrist of 144,000 Jewish Christian evangelists who will spread throughout the
and people from all over the world world to preach the Gospel. Every one of these servants of God will have
will be forced to worship it. The a "seal" on his forehead. While no one knows what the seal actually will
image will be given the power to be, it is likely to be a visible sign.
breathe and speak. Their preaching will be so powerful that it will result in the conversion
For centuries, this prophecy has of a "great multitude" which no one will be able to number.
puzzled Bible scholars. But now, for The Bible does not tell us much about what will happen to those who
the first time in history, the prospect accept Christ during the Tribulation, but what it does say is both chilling
of a lifelike robot communicating and thrilling. The books of Daniel and Revelation describe how Satan will
with people groups all over the world wage war upon Christians during this time.
is not so far-fetched. Modern techno- John tells us in Revelation 3:7 that "It was granted to him [the Anti-
logy can now supply robotics, voice- christ] to make war with the saints." In other words, the Antichrist will
activation, and satellite communi- do nothing without God's permission. God will have ultimate control
cations that make this prophecy of every event.
more fathomable than ever. C continued on page 8
SB
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TWO WITNESSES continued from page 7
8
Christ’s Return is
The Bible tells us that those who Nearer Than Ever
die in Christ during the Tribulation
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