 Okay. Good morning, Rohan. Welcome to BC 213, our course on the end times. Thank you for joining. Could somebody pray and we'll start? Lord, Father, we thank you for this time, Lord Father. We thank you for giving us another day, O Lord Father, in our lives, and also this opportunity, O Lord Father, to gather here as one body, O Lord Father, to learn from your word, O Lord Father. As we're going to start our classes, Jesus, we ask for your help, Holy Spirit, God help us to understand the helpers to receive and to steward everything that you're teaching as we submit everything into your precious hands. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. So this past week, and that was in Shillong, not for holiday, but for ministry. This was a movement that was started when the Welsh revival happened in 1904. After some years, some of those missionaries had come to India. They come to this part of our country in Shillong. It's called the Kasi Hills. So the revival broke out here as well in India, in the Kasi Hills. And there's more of the Holy Spirit. And out of that, of course, a lot of work was done. But one of the churches, ministries that was birthed out of that in the 1930s, the name is called Church of Jesus Christ, Assembly Church of Jesus Christ. That's the name of the movement. So that came out in the 1930s. So they started almost 96 years ago. They started. So now it's in the third generation of leaders. It's transitioned. And so now a new set of leadership. And so every four years, they have a general conference. They bring all their... So now there are about 120 churches. They have not 120 churches, but 120 pastors. And they're multiplied. So the number of churches, maybe 60 church or something like that. Not the exact number. So once in four years, they have this conference. So they all get together and they set direction and all of that. So they invited me to be one of the speakers. And so it was the first time for me in Meghalaya. And we have a church in Nagaland. So that's... We go there quite often, but Meghalaya was first time. It was very nice to see what God has been doing. They have a rich history from where they were born, where the church was born and started. But there's also a great need because they still need the younger generation. Now it's three or four generations later. And they still need to understand the Word of God and the work of the Spirit. And there's a lot of work to be done. So it was nice on a Saturday night. I preached on the Holy Spirit. And then there were like 2,000 people inside the tent. A lot of people sitting outside and just on the hillside. It was all hilly area. So that Saturday evening, at least, I don't know, maybe 200 or some more people for the first time received the Holy Spirit, sat up praying in tongues. But it was, we prayed from a distance. We didn't lay hands and pray because there's a big crowd. Then Sunday morning, the crowd was even bigger because they invited me from all the neighboring villages to come. So it was very interesting. About 2,000 people under the tent, 2,000 people outside and people sitting on the hill slopes. Just to see that as I was imagining, how it will be during Jesus' time. They'll all be sitting on the hillside and he'll be speaking to them. Something like that. It was a very hilly area. They were actually sitting on the, and they put big speakers outside all listening. But that service was very powerful because more than 200 people gave their lives to Christ and then we invited them forward. They came and then we prayed, ministered and then straight away led them into the Holy Spirit baptism and many of them received. So it was, they got saved. They made a public commitment to Jesus, came forward and we prayed over them and then led them into the Holy Spirit baptism. And Sunday evening was more of a call for young people, lots of young people. The message was more of challenging the young people to use their skills for the kingdom. They're just showing them how. So we just spoke about the church that Jesus is building in. So about more than 70 young people came forward and gave a call so that, yes, God, I want to serve you with what you've given me. So it was nice. For me, also it was nice just to see what has happened out of 60, 96 years, a ministry that has lasted three generations. Like how it is now, three generations later, how it was very, very encouraging to see how they're journeying and all of that. Yeah, so that's what happened last weekend. All right, so let's quickly review what we've done so far is we have tried to give an overview of the sequence of events. So, and I'll just use this chart here that's on page 53, the chart that just to kind of repeat this thing overall, then we will move forward. So what we've, and this is something I want us to be very clear in our minds about. So when somebody asks you about end times, you should be able to draw this chart and clearly explain. You know, these are the main sequence of events, right? So it should be very clear in our minds. So I'm just going to go through this again. And if you have any questions, you can ask. So we are now at the church age and we are coming to the end of the church age where the church's main commission right now is to take the gospel to all the nations, make disciples of all nations. That's the main responsibility of the church. And so that is happening and it's coming, you know, I'm not saying it's over, but we're not finished our work yet, but it's coming close. You know, almost every nation has heard the gospel. Now it is more about has the gospel reached all the people groups, small, small groups, that's where we are. What will, and the other thing, and we will talk about this later, another thing that we should look forward to look at is Jesus, Paul wrote, he said, Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, you know, not for a church that is weak, powerless, that doesn't know the truth, is coming for a glorious church. So that's another thing we should be looking at, you know, that the Lord is bringing the church to a glorious church. And then is when we can expect the coming of the Lord. So the next event that we are expecting is the rapture of the church, right? So the church will be taken out of the womb and then begins the seven years of tribulation, during the seven years of tribulation on earth in heaven. So when the rapture of the church happens, every believer who's alive at that time, and every believer who has died in Christ, and all the Old Testament saints. So those who have died, Old Testament saints, believers who have died, their spirit and soul is with the Lord Jesus, right? And we are believers living on earth. So in the rapture of the church, all of us instantly will receive glorified bodies, and we will meet the Lord in the air, and He will take us to heaven. So we are there, every believer is there. At that time, tribulation begins on earth. So some more people will become believers on earth. So we call them like as tribulation believers, if you want, or tribulation saints. That means during tribulation they believed after the rapture of the church. So they are also believers, but it happened after. So rapture of the church, every believer, every saint of God is in heaven with glorified bodies, and they are going to receive rewards and all of that. So our works will be tested. We will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. We will receive rewards for what we have done. We will be taken into our mansions. All that will happen, and we are going to, of course, be involved in worshiping, worshiping the Lord and all of that. And at the end of the seven years, there is going to be the married supper of the lamb. Now, what will happen during the tribulation seven years? That is where we journey through Book of Revelation from chapter 6 to chapter 19. It gives our outline. Chapter 6 to chapter 19, Revelation, we went through. And we said, just take it in the sequence that it is given. As it is given, you take it in that same sequence. One by one it will happen, as it is given in Revelation 6 to Revelation 19. Some of the key things we saw was, yeah, there are three sets of seven judgments. There are the seals, the trumpets and the bolts. Seals, trumpets, bolts, seven, seven, seven. It's happening. Then we also saw another thing would be, there are 144,000 Jews whom God raises up. He anoints and they are going to be his servants during the tribulation, preaching the gospel. So we saw that there will be people who are saved, but many of them will be martyred. They will be killed. And then we also saw, of course, the start of the tribulation will be with the coming of the Antichrist. He will come as a man of peace. He will make a seven-year peace treaty for the Middle East. But in the middle of the tribulation, seven years, he will break his peace treaty and he will break it. He will change it. We also said there has to be a temple in Jerusalem because the worship will be started. They will worship God and there will be a temple in Jerusalem. That's also important. The other thing we said was, we saw in Revelation is there are two witnesses that will come from the middle of the tribulation till the end of the tribulation for the last three and a half years. And again, another important thing we said was, Revelation chapter 11 verse 1 is the middle of the tribulation. Revelation 11, 1. Just remember that. So we see all of these things. So from Revelation 11, 1 onwards, the Antichrist and the false prophet will change in their agenda. The main agenda will be to get people to worship the Antichrist, the beast. But when you're worshiping the Antichrist, you're actually worshiping the devil who is given power to the Antichrist and to the false prophet. So that is the main agenda to get people to. And we also just mentioned about a world economic system and a world religious system being set up by the Antichrist and the false prophet. And all this will collapse by the end of the seven years of tribulation. The seven years of tribulation will end with the battle of Armageddon. So those are the high points. It ends with the Lord Jesus coming and he will destroy all the nations that have come against Israel. He will set up his throne in Jerusalem. And then at that time, there will be another resurrection. That resurrection is for all the believers who have died during the tribulation. Because there have been people who believed during the tribulation, believed in Jesus and they would have been martyred or killed during the tribulation. So at the end of the battle of Armageddon, when at that time the tribulation believers will be raised. They will also have glorified bodies. So in the millennium, all the saints along with the tribulation believers will rule and reign with Jesus on the earth for 1000 years. They will also be the unsaved, the general people, the people are not saved. They will be there, they will be on the earth. So that's what we rule and reign over them, we establish the kingdom of God. And Isaiah 65 describes life on earth during the millennium. Life will go on, people who build, plant this, all these things will go on. There will be people being born during the millennium. The nature of things will change, meaning there will be peace because Satan is bound for 1000 years. Satan and his demons are taken out of the earth. So there will be peace in that sense, there will be peace on the earth for 1000 years. At the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be lost. He will try his last attempt to go against Jerusalem, against God's people. But God himself will intervene, will stop him. And Satan will be cast forever into the lake of fire. And then there is a great white throne judgment. After the great white throne judgment, all the believers are separated, taken into heaven. And the earth and the heavens are going to be renovated by fire. And there's going to be new heavens and a new earth. And then on this new earth, God is going to bring the heavenly city, Jerusalem. Heaven is basically going to be set up here. God will bring that city here, city that he has built. He will put it on this new earth. And the new earth and new heavens will be very different because we won't need the sun and the kind of things that we need now. God himself will be the lights. Life will be completely different. There won't be any of the evil and all these things that we see. That's the new heavens and the new earth. So that sequence is clear in your minds. If you have to explain to somebody, you'll explain. If you can explain to somebody, that means you're clear. That means you have understood it. Okay. Any question? See like after seven years, after the battle, people who are died in the tribulation will be raised, right? So here the resurrection, it means like they will get the glorified bodies. Yes. And the souls, their souls will be in heaven even if they die during the tribulation. Or is it like their souls will be kept in? No. So remember in the book of Revelation, we see time, at least a few times that the souls of the people who died during the tribulation of martyr, they come up in heaven. So while these people have been martyred, the bodies are dead, but spirits will come to heaven, right? And they will receive the glorified bodies at the end. There will be a resurrection. Yes. This Old Testament sayings. So when they were, when they died, their souls will go to paradise. Yes. Depends upon their character. Whether they believed in Yahweh God. Yahweh God. And then, and then when Jesus went to paradise after he died on the cross, to whom he preached? To the saints. So till the time of Christ crucifixion, the Old Testament saints who died, they went into paradise or Abraham's bosom and they were held there. That means, yeah, they kept, because they can't go to heaven yet, cross is not done. So they were kept in Abraham's bosom or paradise. So when Jesus died, he went to paradise. He went to the Abraham's bosom. So he would have spoken to all these people who are the saints who are in Abraham's bosom. But the Bible also says he announced to the spirits who were held in darkness. So on the other side, in hell, the some of the angels who have fallen are kept there in hell. So Jesus went and announced to them. So it's a, when Peter says, you know, that he preached the gospel, doesn't mean, okay, we usually preach the gospel so that people can get saved. So it doesn't mean that God was trying to save, the Lord was trying to save these spirits that were held in prison. But he's announcing to them what has happened. So this is, I think it's first Peter. Let me just find the, yeah. First Peter 3, verses 18 to 20. For Christ also, first Peter 3, 18 to 20, for Christ also suffered once for us, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, for whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient when once the divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah, a lack was being prepared in which a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water. So he's talking about going and proclaiming to these spirits in prison. Now, who is he referring to? Those who were disobedient. So it's on the other side. Yeah, those are, these were the angels, the fallen angels who tried to come into the daughters of men and then God took them and put them here, kept them. So you cannot do this anymore. Hell, hell put them there. So he's announcing to them. And so he is the redeemer. I don't know what exactly he would have said, but he has preached to them, announced to the Spirit sent to them. It's on the other side. And then when he ascended, he took all the spirits of the Old Testament saints who were in Abraham's bosom, who were in paradise with him into heaven. No, they are there, they are remaining there. They won't go to heaven. No, yeah, he announced to them. So like when I said, so when we say he preached to them, we can't, it's not like preach means all to get saved or to repent, but to make an announcement, proclaim to announce who didn't accept it away. And the, like the fallen angels, which we call the feelings are all in the hell. Yeah, right now. I think even Jude writes about this. So Jude mentions this. He in Jude chapter one, verse six, he says, the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own aboard. He has reserved an everlasting chains and a darkness for the judgment of the great day. Right. Jude one, verse six, he's referring to these same angels, the fallen angels. Okay. Any questions from, let me see if there are any questions from online students before we go to the next chapter. Any questions from those online? Everything is clear. All right. So having a clear overview of the sequence of events in your mind, if you can draw this chart and explain, that's good. That means you've understood the main purpose of this course, which is to get a good understanding of the outline of events. This is how it's going to happen. Okay. And you should be able to substantiate, that means say why you're saying it's going to happen like this. Right. Why you're saying, why do you say rapture is going to happen before the tribulation? You should give the reasons. We've given it, we've listed it out in that chapter. You say, okay, these are the reasons why we believe the rapture of the church will happen before the tribulation. Then why are you saying the events will happen in this sequence? Well, because we're just following the sequence of the book of Revelation. That's it. Very simple. That's why we are saying it'll happen in this way. Right. So that must be very clear. You should be able to explain. Right. So now let's go to the next chapter that we, it's actually our last chapter, which is the signs of the times. That is, how can we, you know, how do we know how close we are? This is chapter 5 on page 78. How do we know how close are we towards the rapture of the church at the beginning of the tribulation? How close are we? Right. What are some of the signs we can look at? Right. And I mentioned only some of the more important signs here. Some people will write, you know, you might find some books, 100 signs why Jesus is coming back. So they'll put every little thing and make it so many points. So I didn't do it that way. I just put, okay, here are the main things you should look at, which the Lord Jesus gave us as signs of the end times. Right. And this is a question. Even the disciples of Jesus asked him, you know, in Matthew 24, verse 3, they said, Lord, tell us when these things will be, what will be the sign of your coming. So they're also interested. We want to know if you're coming and you're going to be king, what will be the sign? So we are going to look at some of the important signs. The first important sign, which we should make note of, which is already, which has already happened, but it is a very important mark, is about Israel being formed as a nation. So this happened in 1948, May 14, 1948, when Israel declared itself as a nation. So if you look at the history of that region, you know, which today we see, which, of course, the Lord promised Abraham way back in Genesis. And we see that the Jews had been scattered, dispersed from their lands. And so from about 1600s, when the Turks, the Arabs and the Turks began to dominate that whole region, the Jews had been dispersed. They had living in different parts of the world. And that whole region was dominated by the Turks or the Arabs, the Ottoman Turks. And so Israel as a nation didn't exist. They had a history. That means they could always go back and read in their scriptures that God had promised that land to Abraham. But from the middle of the 16th century, sorry, that would be from the 1650s, so the 17th century, it wasn't there. The people all scattered. But something was happening. In the sense, the Jews started slowly moving back to their own territory. They're on their own. They didn't have a nation. It was not there. Israel was not there. The Turks were there. But they started relocating on their own, just on their own. They started moving back towards Israel. Slowly they're gathering, getting back to their own country. And then the First World War, Second World War, the British were involved and in some way they overthrew the Turks. And in some way they were instrumental in helping the Jews who had regathered, who had slowly moved back into this region, giving them confidence. And I would use the word unexpectedly. Nobody was actually anticipating or expecting this. Unexpectedly, the people, the Jews, at that time they were known as the Zionists, declared themselves as an independent country, an independent state. So obviously something was stirring in their hearts for people to move back to that region. And things were being orchestrated in the way, you know, I'm not saying these wars happened. I'm not trying to give that as a reason, but I'm just saying things happened, World War I, World War II, where the Jews were so persecuted, they fled. Many of them, or at least they tried to flee and many of them fled back to their own land, this region where they felt they would be safe. And then when they had all gathered, you know, enough number, they just suddenly declared them, so this is our country, this is our land, Israel was born. So almost it's like fulfilling many of the prophecies that were spoken in the Old Testament, right, more than 2000 years ago. So Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 31 verse 10, Jeremiah prophesied, hear the word of the Lord, O nations and declare it in the islands far off and say, he who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. So Jeremiah prophesied, as Ezekiel, we know Ezekiel's very, very powerful prophecy by using the picture of a valley of dry bones, how suddenly all the bones come together and then suddenly the flesh is coming on these bones and then breath is coming and then this army is standing up and God is saying, hey, I will do that to you, right. He says verse 21, Ezekiel 37, 21, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, very powerful. God said, I'll do it. And this is Ezekiel, he's prophesying almost 2000 years before. Of course, God gave the promise to Abraham and in between people were scattered, he brought them back from Babylonian captivity. They're there in the land, then Jeremiah, Ezekiel, both of them are saying, hey, even if you are scattered, God is saying, I will bring you back and I'll make you a nation in this land. From 1948, it just happened and it happens in a way that nobody can stop it. It's a nation now. You can't undo it. People are already there, they have declared themselves a nation. Now, all around are the Arab nations, North, South, everywhere, fully surrounded, but even they can't stop it. They're not able to stop it. Everywhere Arab nations, it's just like, you know, so they, wars have been fought and still now are being fought, but Israel is standing as a nation. Nobody can shake it. Right? So for us, we say, Israel coming back as a nation is very important because many of the end time prophecies has to do with Israel and with Jerusalem. So even when the angel Gabriel in Daniel chapter nine, when he spoke to Daniel versus 24 to 27, he said, Daniel, I'm going to talk to you about your people and about your nation, about your city and about your people. I'm going to talk to you about these 70 years. So that 490 years we mentioned. He said, I'm speaking to you about your city and your people. So and what we see happening in the book of Revelation, a lot of it has to do with Israel, with the Jews who become believers and so on. So unless the people of Israel were there, you know, those, the, what, what is going to unfold in the book of Revelation could not take place. So Israel coming back as a nation is a very important sign that we are, it's almost like, okay, this is 1159. One more minute left to 12 o'clock before the coming of the law. It's like, we are here, now all the remaining things need to be fulfilled, Jesus will come. Okay, so now in Matthew 24, verse 32 to 34, and I know I mentioned this in the very beginning, Jesus said, you know, when you look at the fig tree, when you know the fig tree is putting out its leaves and is getting ready to bear fruit, you know summer is coming. Now, of course, he's saying, you know, he's trying to say, you understand the little meaning is, hey, you know how to understand the the seasons by looking at what is happening in nature. That is the little meaning. But some people also say that, hey, fig tree is symbolic of Israel. So that's another meaning. Or if the fig tree represents Israel, then he's saying, hey, and the fig tree starts to blossom as a nation, then the time is near. So that is one way of understanding it. So for us, we say, oh, Israel has come together as a nation is beginning to blossom as a nation. And we know in scripture, the fig tree is used to talk about Israel. So that is important. And Jesus said, one generation will see everything. Right? One generation will see everything. Now, what is one generation, whether it's 40 years or 120 years, you know, I don't know, because if you look at the genealogy of Jesus and Matthew, generally is like, okay, 40 years, maybe one generation. Or if you look at the lifespan from Genesis 6, 120 years could be one, the lifespan of one generation. So exactly what is the number of years? So how many years is 40, 60, 80, 120? I don't know how exactly you'd say it. But generally you could say between 40 to 120. Like the lower limit is 40, upper limit is about 120 years. So something in that range, you say is one generation. But you said one generation will see everything happen. So now we are not going to try to do the math from 1948 add 120. So that is 2068. By 2068, everything will finish. So we're not trying to force and do this thing. But we're just saying Jesus said one generation will see everything. So within a short span from the time Israel became a nation, becoming a nation, we can expect things to happen and happen very quickly, all the remaining prophecies. The second sign that we keep looking at, number two, right, is that is Jerusalem becomes the center of conflict. So Israel after they formed themselves as a nation 1948. Remember at that time, Jerusalem was still under Arab control because they still have their mosque and everything over there. In 1967, there was another battle when I think six other nations tried to attack Israel suddenly, Egypt and Syria and all joined together, tried to attack Israel. They said, oh, we'll attack them suddenly. So they attacked suddenly. But this little nation of Israel pushed them all back and they took more land. So they captured Jerusalem, they took the Golan Heights in the north, they took more portion in the south. So when these other nations joined together and attacked Israel, and so Israel losing ground, Israel gained ground. So then they said, hey, we can't mess around with this nation. They're very powerful. They're small people, small nation, but very strong. So Israel gained ground. And that's when Israel captured Jerusalem. But then in order to maintain peace, they reached a settlement. They said, see, we know, because now if Israel captured Jerusalem, they say, okay, we are going to take over the full mosque and everything. Surely it will escalate. All other Arab nations will join and come to fight. So the commander in chief of Israel army at that time, he said, okay, we will make a peace thing. East Jerusalem, where you have your mosque and everything, you keep it under your control. West Jerusalem, we will be our control. So they agreed. So they paused the war, stopped the war, agreed to that. So the Arabs are controlling that part. They come and pray and go on their side. This side, the Jews come pray and go, keep it this way. But it has become a point of so much tension because Jews still feel that is our place. Before the mosque came, before this dome came, it was our place. So it has become a point of conflict. So Jerusalem has become a point of conflict. And since that time, you can see, you know, battles of small things happen, big things happen or constantly things happening. So Zechariah 12 verse 1 to 3, this is what God says. And this Zechariah prophesied, page 80, the burden of the word of the Lord against Israel that says, the Lord who stretches out the heavens lays the foundations of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem. So now we're talking about this Jerusalem, city of Jerusalem, a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding people when they lay seas against Judah and Jerusalem. It's happening that day, I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all people. All who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces. The all nations of the earth are gathered against it. So Jerusalem becomes a point of conflict and nations are gathered, you know, are involved, trying to solve this problem. So literally today, nations are trying to solve this problem in Jerusalem. How do you make it peaceful? So this second sign is very important. Again, this would not have happened if Israel was not formed as a nation. Suppose you think the Jews are all scattered all over the world and you imagine Arabs are living in Israel, in the land that we know as Israel now and then there won't be any conflicts. They're already occupying all this thing there and Jews are scattered everywhere. But the fact that 1948 Israel became a nation, 1967 they recaptured Jerusalem. From that time, this prophecy is being fulfilled that Jerusalem has become a place of conflict and nations are trying to sort it out. So when you're reading the news, okay, you keep an eye on what is happening to Israel, the neighbors, what is going on with Jerusalem. Keep an eye because from a Bible prophecy interest, you know, the day we have to watch and see what's happening, how these things are unfolding because we are already there. Some of the prophets already fulfill Israel's become a nation. Jerusalem has become a point of conflict. Next what? The next thing we are anticipating now is there has to be a temple. How is that going to happen? Will it happen before the rapture? Will it happen after the rapture? We don't know exactly because Bible is not telling clearly. We have some ideas, we can make some guesses, but the temple has to come. If the temple comes before and we see it, wow, it's amazing. Bible prophecy is fulfilled. But my feel is that it will happen after the rapture because the Antichrist will come and he will broke a peace. And I think part of the peace deal would be, okay, Jews, you have your temple, Arabs, you have your land, both of you be happy. So I think, I'm guessing, but I think that would be like a peace deal that he would be able to broker and make them happy, both sides happy, but it will last very short, three and a half years, that's all. Okay, so let's pause here. We will continue this in the next, after the break.