 Okay, good morning. Anita and Sita Kenu, the two early birds. Thank you for joining class this morning. Before we begin, Anita, can you please lead us in prayer? Sure, ma'am. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, Lord. As we come before you, Lord, help us to understand from your word, Lord. As ma'am is teaching us, Lord, and help us to understand, Lord, and Holy Spirit, you guide us and lead us, Lord. I would like to give each one of us into your head, Lord. Those who didn't join, Lord, help them to join, Lord. Give them a good internet connection, Lord. Let them join, Lord. In Jesus' name you pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. So last Friday, we were looking at the last chapter in doctrinal foundations. We were looking at the doctrine of the end times and we saw various scripture passages that tell us that Christ's return is sure and it's soon. We also saw the scripture passages that tell us that, you know, we do not know when Christ will return, but we know that his return is sure and soon. And in the light of that, we saw, you know, what should our response be as believers, as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ? What should be our response? We just don't wait for the coming of Jesus Christ, but we are active, engaging in whatever work he has called us to do. We continue planning. We continue doing till he returns. So that is what we looked at on Friday. Now we look at the signs that precede the return of Christ. Just before he comes again, what are the signs? The first sign is that the gospel will be preached to all nations. Mark chapter 13 was 10 and Matthew chapter 22 was 14. Talk about this. It says that in Matthew chapter 24, verse 14, it says, in this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. Okay, so the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached in all the world, and then the end will come. So that is the first sign, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the return of Jesus Christ, that the gospel will be preached to all nations. The second thing is that there will be a period of great tribulation, there will be a period of great hardship and suffering all across the world. We read this in Matthew chapter 13, verse 7 and 8, Matthew 24, verses 15 to 22, and Luke chapter 21, verses 22, 24. Okay, so what will be the hardships and sufferings? These passages tell us that nation will rise up against nation, that means, and kingdom against kingdom, that means there will be war, there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famine, and all this is the beginning of the birth bank. So all of these references talk about the hardships and the sufferings that will come before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Mark chapter 13, verses 19 to 20, can one of you please read that please? Mark chapter 13, verses 19 to 20. Mark chapter 13, ma'am, verses 19 and 20. Mark chapter 13 and verses 19. Because those will be days of distress, unequaled from the beginning when God created the world until now and never be equal again, 20. If the Lord had not cut short days, no one would survive. But for the sake of elect whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. Thank you. So here it says that the tribulation or the hardships and the sufferings that will happen before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be so great that it has never been since the beginning of the creation and until now it has never been such difficulties, such hardships. Such will be the hardships and difficulties that people will face. But the Lord himself will shorten those days because no human being will be able to survive because of the severity of the tribulation and the difficulties and the hardships. And also we see that during this time that there will be many false prophets who will rise up with signs and wonders. We read this in Mark chapter 13 verse 32 and Matthew chapter 24 verses 23 to 24 where it says that false Christ and false prophets will arise and there will show many signs and wonders to lead people astray. And if possible, even the elect, those who are believers, those who are chosen by Christ, even they will fall away because of these false prophets and false Christ who will rise, who will teach many false doctrines and also will show many signs and wonders. Now apart from this, there will be many signs in heaven. In the heavens we read this in Mark chapter 13 verse 24 and 25. Matthew 24, 29 and 30. Luke chapter 21 verses 25 to 27. So can one of you read Luke chapter 21 verses 25 to 27 please? Ma'am, if you don't mind, could you please repeat the verse of Luke? Sure. Luke chapter 21 verses 25 to 27. Luke chapter 21 verses 25 to 27. There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nation will be in anguish and perplexity. At the roaring and tossing of the sea, men will faint from terror, effresiveness of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. Thank you. So here we see that during the days, even we read in Mark chapter 13 verse 24 and 25, but in those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and great glory. So we see just before the coming of Jesus, there would be signs in heaven. Just after the tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give away its light. The stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in heaven will be shaken and people will be so terrified. They'll faint because of all of these signs that are and wonders that are taking place. And then the Son of Man that Jesus Christ will come in clouds with great power and glory. Then there will be coming of the man of sin and rebellion which is the Antichrist. And Paul writes about this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. So Paul writes to the Thessalonians that Christ will not come unless the man of sin is first revealed and then the Lord Jesus Christ will destroy him at his coming. So this man of sin is sometimes identified with the beast in Revelation chapter 13 and it's sometimes called the Antichrist which is also mentioned in 1 John chapter 2 verses 18. So can one of you please read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 1 to 10. Chapter 2 verses 1 to 10 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him. We ask you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy. Report or suppose to have come from us saying that day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone receive you in any way for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed. The man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exhort himself over everything that is called God or his worship. So he set himself up in a God's temple proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things and now you know what is holding him back so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work. What one now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of his way. And then the lawlessness one will reveal whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow. The breath of his mouth and destroyed by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawlessness one will in accordance with the work certain displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, science and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives who are perishing. They are perishing because they refuse to love the truth so be saved. Thank you Siddiqui Anu. So here we see that Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica and he is telling them that they thought that the day of the Lord has already come because some people said it's you know Paul has mentioned this and so he's writing to them he says a day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and this rebellion is talking about the man of lawlessness who is the Antichrist and he says this man of lawlessness will oppose you know everything that is of God and he will exalt himself against everything that is so called God or object of worship and also that he will take his seat in the temple of God. We know that before the rapture you know the temple that Solomon built will be rebuilt in the same way worship will be reinstituted there but we see that when Antichrist comes he will desecrate the altar of sacrifice and he will set himself up as God in that temple. So we see here that he says he will take his seat in the temple of God proclaiming himself to be God and how does he do all of these lawless works it's because of Satan with Satan's power and he will be able to do all signs wonders and with all wicked deceptions he will lead many astray and all of them together will perish. So before the second coming of Jesus Christ you know will be the man of rebellion or the man of sin the man of lawlessness which is Antichrist will rise up again and when Christ comes he will totally you know put him away in the battle of Armageddon and they will be thrown into the fire or hell for a certain period of time for a thousand year rule and then you know will be totally thrown into hell for eternity. So that is about the man of lawlessness before the second coming of Jesus Christ there will be the man of sin and the man of rebellion that is Antichrist will rise up and set himself up as God. And we also see Paul is you know talks about that many Jews during this time of tribulation the seven years of tribulation you know many Jews will come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and they will trust in Jesus Christ and they will be saved but that's what he talks about in Romans chapter 11 verse 12 and verses 25 to 26. So he says for I do not want you to brethren to be uninformed of this mystery lest you be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and thus all Israel will be saved. So he says for a time being you know Israel have hardened their hearts and hence the gospel is being preached to the Gentiles and if you look at study the book of Romans we see Paul talking extensively about how because of the hardening of the hearts of the Jews the Gentiles have been you know had the privilege of receiving the gospel accepting Christ and they've been grafted into the tree of life but you know God has not forgotten about the Jews he has not let them to go to perish but there will be a time when all of them you know will repent will turn to Jesus and they will be grafted back into the tree of life and thus he says you know all Israel will be saved so many of them during this triple seven-year tribulation period will be left behind on the earth will take a stand for Christ and will you know be part of the thousand year million in rule when Christ comes the second time and then we have the millionim sorry the million means a period of thousand years and it's a very significant time in the end times as it's mentioned in Revelation chapter 20 verses 2 to 5 so can one of you please read Revelation chapter 20 verses 2 to 5 please Revelation chapter 20 verses 2 to 5 Revelation 20 2 to 5 he let hold on the dragon that serpent of follow who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and he cast him into the bottom less beat and shot him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished but after these things he must be released for a little while and I saw trunks and they said on them and judgment was committed to them then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witnesses to Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands and they lived and ring with Christ for a thousand years but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection thank you so here we see that before the coming of Jesus Christ will be the lawless one the antichrist and then Christ will come and put away you know will just by the breath of his mouth you know put them away in the battle of the Armageddon and then we see that Satan will be bound for a thousand years he will be cast in the bottomless pit and will be shut up and then we see that there will be a thousand years rule where we see those who have lived for Christ believers now will be raptured will come will live for a thousand years and also for those souls who were beheaded because of their witness for Jesus and for the word of God during the seven year tribulation period who had not worshipped the beast or his image had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands all of them will reign with Christ in that thousand year millennium rule here on earth so that is about the millennium and then we also know that the rapture will take place where the believers were alive at the second coming of Jesus Christ will be taken up to meet the Lord in the air and this is known as the rapture and we find this mentioned to us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 and 17 now after the millennium rule what happens we see that there will be the final judgment and the Bible affirms the fact that there will be a great final judgment of believers and unbelievers we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ in our resurrected bodies and the judgment will be proclaimed eternal destiny now will all of us who are believers in Christ will be judged again it says here that you know we will all appear before the great white throne as it says in Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 to 15 it says believers and unbelievers will stand before the great final judgment that is the great white throne and Christ himself will judge us will we be judged? what do you think? will believers be judged as well? yes ma'am okay so if we are judged for what will we be judged? because we say once we are born again all our sins are past, present and future sins are all covered it's all forgiven and we have the assurance that we will live eternity with Christ in our glorified bodies then why should we stand before the great white throne judgment and if you are standing before the great white throne judgment what will we be judged for? to give account of our stewardship okay to give account of our stewardship and ma'am if I say like we will be judged for one more thing according to me like being a Christian and being a saved person it is our right it is our duty of the Holy Commission to preach the gospel to each and every one to each and every creation so like in that day of judgment father will be asking what you have done for me? okay thank you Siddhi Kanu anyone else has any other thoughts? okay let's look at Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 to 15 can one of you please read that Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 to 15 Revelation chapter 15 20 20 verses 11 to 15 Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 then I saw a great white throne him who was seated on it earth and sky fled from the presence and there was no place for them and I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne and the books were opened another book was opened which was the book of life the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books the sea gave up the dead that were in it and the dead and the heads gave up the dead that were in them and each person was judged according to what he has done then death and the heads were thrown into the lake of fire the lake of fire is the second death if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire thank you so here we see that there is a great white throne judgment and you know we see that who is going to be the judge at this great white throne judgment who is going to be the judge I think it's Jesus yes it's Jesus thank you because we read in for 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 Acts chapter 10 verse 42 and John chapter 5 verse 26 and 27 we read in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 it says I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom and Acts chapter 10 verse 42 it says and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead so here we're talking about Jesus Christ so we know that Jesus Christ will judge at the great white throne so what will the unbelievers be judged for we read in Romans chapter 2 verses 5 to 7 it says so the unbelievers will be judged for their deeds for the works that they have done for the hardness of hearts for not accepting the gospel for not accepting Jesus Christ and here we see that you know they will be judged for their deeds so this will be included include degrees of punishment for we read that you know the dead are judged by what they had done according to their works and the believers will also be judged we read this in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 where it says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad so we know that you know you know we would as believers we would also be judged but the judgment will be to evaluate the various degree of rewards like Isaac said how good stewards we were of what God has entrusted to us so we will not be judged for the sins that we have done because our sins past present and future are all forgiven because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior but we will be judged to evaluate the various degree of rewards so the fact that we would be judged should not bring in any fear that we would be eternally condemned because we read in John chapter 5 verse 24 it says most assuredly I say to you he who hears my word and believes in him who has sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life so this is Jesus who is saying that you know most assuredly those who hear his word believe in him and believe the one who has sent him has eternal life and they will not come into judgment they will not be judged for their sins for the deeds that they have done in their flesh but they have passed from death into life we have already received the verdict that we would you know we have passed from death to life we have received eternal life but we would be judged to evaluate the various degrees of our rewards okay so this also gives us the great confidence that you know sometimes we are very hard working we are faithful we are committed we are trustworthy we are good stewards of what God has given to us I am not just talking about those of us who are in ministry but those of us who are also in the secular field working in various offices doing our businesses you know sometimes we feel that we are not duly paid we are not receiving the wages for our hard work you know we are not recognized we are not honored we are not appreciated for what we are doing and that can bring in a kind of disappointment of frustration and also we come to a point where we just want to quit we want to give up but you know the whole aspect of the second coming of Jesus Christ is not just that we are spending eternity in heaven but also that we are going to receive a due reward for all you know the hard work we are going to receive the fruit of our labor we are going to receive the harvest for what we have labored in and you know we see scripture talks about the second coming of Jesus James chapter 5 where he is talking about the farmer you know the farmer is looking you know is working hard then waits for the early rain and the latter rain which is all in connection with the second coming of Jesus Christ and then you know the farmer after the latter rain just before the ripening of the grains the grain is so important especially we are talking about in the context of Israel where the early rain is sometime in October and November you know which is preparing the ground to receive the seed and then the farmer labor works hard and then waits for the latter rain that comes sometimes in March April and then the grain ripens and then there is harvest time and all this what James is talking about in James chapter 5 is in the context of the second coming of Jesus Christ where he is talking about you know people who are laboring hard who are oppressed who are suffering who are not duly paid their wages and he is giving them the confidence that you know your labor in the Lord is not in vain because the second coming of Jesus Christ you will receive your reward so you will receive the fruit of your harvest you will see the harvest for what you have labored in and that is what he explains in James chapter 5 and elsewhere we see that you know we need to be good stewards of what God has given to us because the judge will ask us an account for you know and will pay us duly and reward us duly for what we have done here on earth so if you feel that you know you have been overlooked at your workplace if you feel that you have been neglected you have not been given the promotion you have not been given the honor the respect you are underpaid and all of those things we saw that in the light of second coming of Jesus Christ firstly we need to be committed since here you know continue doing what God has called us to do and trusted us to do a plan prepare, execute do everything not just sit back and think crisis is coming second coming is soon so we don't plan we don't do anything no but we labor we labor like a farmer who you know sows the seed waits for the early rain waits for the latter rain to receive the harvest so it's in the context of the second coming of Jesus Christ so also we need to labor hard you know because we will be duly rewarded and you will reap the benefits of your reward in the millenium kingdom you know we will be given positions of honor of offices to hold in the millenium kingdom when Christ himself rules imagine you know Christ himself is there ruling and we are holding different portfolios, different offices according to that will be according to what we have labored now how faithful, sincere, committed diligently we have worked and how we have worked with honesty and integrity so that is the assurance that we have that is what will keep us you know running our race with perseverance because we know that we are going to get the reward of course the reward is not just in the millenium kingdom or when we go up to heaven but we will also reap the rewards here and now just like the early rain you know yes the farmer is going to reap the harvest it also talks about you know we are receiving the harvest even before the second coming of Jesus Christ we will receive our rewards here and now and also we have this great assurance that we would duly receive our rewards according to the degree of how we have labored how sincere we have been how faithful we have been so that is encouragement for all of us to continue to be sincere and faithful even though you are not being recognized or you've been honored don't look for recognition and honor just be sincere and faithful to what God has entrusted to you doing the work of Christ and what he has called you to do with honesty, integrity and humility and Christ likeness Romans chapter 8 verse 1 says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus but there is condemnation for those who walk according to the flesh but there is no condemnation for those who walk according to the spirit okay so we are not condemned Christ does not condemn us and we will not be condemned even on the day of judgment but we will receive our rewards. Angels will be also judged this is also talking about the fallen angels where they will be judged and thrown into eternal fire that is Satan and his demons and this scripture very clearly affirms that God will entirely be just in his judgment because we looked at the nature of God in the beginning chapter we know that he is a God who is not partial he is a just God and no one will be able to complain against him on that day because God is the one who judges each one impartially according to their deeds so in the light of all of this or the reality of this final judgment we know that it assures us that justice will be carried out just like I said some of us are facing injustices even when it comes to our own workplace or even in our family life some of you mothers working hard and all you have is people grumbling grumbling grumbling all the time at you there is no recognition there is no honour giving to mothers fathers for their hard work but we see that justice will be carried out and even if you feel that you have been unjustly treated in your workplace continue with perseverance continue with joy continue with the right attitude without grumbling complaining and murmuring that is what even James talks about in James chapter 5 in the whole light of the second coming of Jesus Christ and those who are unjustly being treated he says do not complain grumble and murmur because the judge is standing at the door you will be judged so how should our response be even though we are going through hardships difficulties here on earth we are not getting the due rewards for what we deserve or the due wages and we are being undermined we are being overlooked you know James tells us that we need to be patient we need to persevere but we should not complain grumble and murmur because we will be judged if we complain grumble and murmur and we see the old testament the Israelites in spite of seeing all that God had done for them from the time that he had taken them out of Egypt divided the Red Sea provided them water and mana but still the people grumbled and God was so fed up with their grumbling and he says he will wipe up that whole generation and he tells Moses that he will create a new whole new generation he was so fed up with their grumbling that in numbers when the people of Israel were sent to spy the land of Canaan and they come back and 10 of them grumble and murmur and they say you know we will be killed by these Canaanites they are like giants we are like grasshoppers let's choose another leader and go back to Egypt and God tells Moses you know how long will these people grumble and he says 10 times they have grumbled against me so you see even God don't think the number of times these people were grumbling and murmuring and Paul talks about this in Corinthians he reminds the people don't grumble and complain and murmur because you will be judged like the Israelites were judged in the Old Testament so in the whole reality of the final judgment we know that we will ultimately get justice so be patient, persevere continue running your race with joy you know consider the joy you know when you are facing trials that what James writes in James chapter 1 you know and so we see that we need to be joyful in our attitude continue doing what Christ has purposed for us because we know when he comes he will come as a judge and we will receive justice the second thing is in the light of the judgment the final judgment you know we know that Christ has freely forgiven us imagine just saying just asking God to forgive us of our sins and asking him to be the Lord and savor of our lives all our past, present and future sins are all forgiven when we have been forgiven we need to also forgive others freely just as God has given us you know we need to forgive others and in the in the light of the final judgment it enables us to forgive others freely because if we have been wrong we can place that in God's hands knowing that in the end you know he will judge all those who have done things that are wrong the wrong deeds that they have done so you know you just let go you forgive let them go into God's hands because you know that he is a righteous judge who will judge them according to what they have done but on your side you know be clean let go and forgive others and in the reality of the final judgment you know it motivates us to live a life of faithfulness of good works of good deeds good works means not we know that none of our good works can achieve salvation cannot achieve forgiveness of sins cannot take us to heaven it's not our good works but it's talking about good deeds done in honouring God because we are his children now honouring him for what he has done on the cross so that we can receive forgiveness of sins we don't no longer stand condemned we will not be judged for our sins but we will just receive the rewards for the being good stewards and how faithful we have been so if you want to receive a good reward if you want to hear this line from the king of kings the Lord of lords well done my good and faithful servant just imagine just hearing that from from God is something that is worth giving up everything is worth running our race with perseverance is worth being patient and during fulfilling the task I'm sure you know when your boss tells you very good how excited you are or if your parents say hey great good job or your principal or your teacher says it brings such immense joy it kind of you know gets stuck in our memory lifetime that this teacher this principal acknowledged us this person acknowledged us we are so excited we are so happy just imagine receiving the statement well done my good and faithful servant from the most high God you know so that gives us the assurance that gives us the joy that gives us the strength to continue to persevere to live a faithful life knowing that all that we are doing our labor and the Lord is not going to be in vain we will be duly rewarded and also the final judgment and the second coming of Jesus Christ is not something that you know hey let me be faithful and sincere in my work in my task so that I can be rewarded so that I can be you know receive an office in you know be someone in the millenium kingdom hear this from Jesus and I get to heaven but it is something that should motivate us to share the gospel with those who are lost imagine they are going to stand at the white throne judgment along with us but just being you know let off into hell is such a sad thing so those of us those in our family an extended family our colleagues our neighbors will not be there in heaven with us and you know it's our responsibility even as it's a great privilege for us to receive salvation a great privilege for us that we don't stand condemned before the great white throne judgment that we will receive our reward but it should also motivate us to share the gospel like never before the urgency of the time it's so quick now because we know we're looking at the signs of the times we know that Christ coming is soon and we also know that before his second coming that the gospel will be preached to all nations and God is counting on each one of us and that will be something a reward that we will receive so let's do that diligently take it up to share the gospel with whoever we meet our lives also be a gospel that people will see and know our living savior who is going to come back again and let them not miss the opportunity of being with Jesus for eternity okay so that is about the second coming and the end times and the second coming of Jesus Christ and the great white throne judgment I've given you all the details about rapture the first half of the tribulation the second half of the tribulation saw that all I thought I just mentioned that in the class in Christology also mentioned about Antichrist the mark of the beast opening of the seventh seal some trumpet judgments and the war that will happen the Armageddon and also talked about the second coming of Jesus and the millenium kingdom okay so I mentioned all of that briefly you will learn about this in detail in your next semester in the second year you will learn that in the first semester in the second year okay so any questions any questions questions okay I was supposed to post the third assessment on April 11th that was on Monday and I missed that I extremely sorry about that can we just this is okay if we can move it to some other date is that fine yes no can we move that to April 18th that is Monday okay because you have another assessment on April 20th that is your doctoral foundation on April 20th but the last assessment for Christology can we have it on April 18th please okay thank you okay yes okay thank you thank you thank you thank you Isaac anyone's not okay with April 18th for Christology any questions if there are no questions so we've completed our course content so this will be the last class yeah I will I will yes Lubega I will do that I will just send it across to you by this week or maybe the beginning of next week you will receive the results for your assessment yes okay this is the last class I hope you've learnt received from doctoral foundations your systematic theology you learn quite a bit I hope and trust that it has come to us knowledge but has you've grown in your understanding of God his ways his nature his attributes his person his work what he has done and also given you a sure foundation about the various doctrines in the Bible I hope that's brought about a good understanding there's clarity and also you know the second coming of Jesus Christ thank you Silatoli if you still have any questions any doubts feel free to you know post your questions on the stream page and I'll answer that if not we'll end class now our time is already up thank you all for joining through this course it's wonderful it has been a wonderful learning experience for me as well and I hope it has been a blessing to all of you God bless you all and I will post your assessment for Christology on Monday and you will also receive your grades if you have any questions regarding your grades answers please feel free to reach out and I will you know I will explain or give you the right answers if you have any doubts about the questions or anything that has been given the assessment you can always feel free to ask okay thank you all so much and have a blessed day and a week ahead and see you in the next semester okay thank you