What It Means to "Be Ready"

Scott Risley
Matthew 25:1-46

As we live in these Last Days, no one knows when Jesus will return, so we need to be ready at all times. God will let you live your life as you choose, but He will call you to give an account at the end. Will you be found faithful?

Are You Ready?

Scott Risley
Matthew 24:23-51

Since the return of Jesus has still not happened, some people say things are "just the same as it was since the beginning" but the Bible, unparalleled in accuracy, gives us a one-of-a-kind predictive scenario that accords with events throughout history. Whether all these conclusions are right or wrong, the big picture is clear, Jesus is coming back. Are you ready?

Getting Ready for the Climax of Human History

Dennis McCallum
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10

Jesus explains to his disciples the signs that are "birth pains" before the end of human history. He describes the presence of false teachers that will come in his name and wars, famines, earthquakes and nations will be against other nations. He warns his disciples that there will be intense persecution against Christians, that many will walk away from the faith and love will grow cold, but that the gospel will be preached to the whole world. From Jesus' words, it's clear that the end of human history will be categorized by events on multiple fronts, including: 1) theological; 2) sociological; 3) ecological; 4) technological; and 5) political. As we await the return of Jesus Christ, the call for Christians is one of anticipation and sobriety as we look forward to being with Jesus forever.

And Then the End Will Come

Scott Risley
Matthew 24:15-22

Scott Risley goes over all the preconditions that must be in place for the End to finally arrive. Two thousand years after the disciples asked Jesus what would be the signs of the End, we now live in a period of time when many of the preconditions have been realized. Some of these preconditions were unimaginable to people hundreds or even fifty years ago but now are common place. Israel is inconceivably back in its home country. Technology allows the whole world to be interconnect and communicate with one another in seconds on the other side of the world. All these things that seemed so unlikely are now happening. God told us all these things would happen and He told us Jesus is coming back too...

When Will These Things Be?

Dennis McCallum
Revelation 13:1-5

Jesus continues to speak about the end times, highlighting the abomination of desolation that will occur at the end of human history. The abomination of desolation is something directly related with the Antichrist, known as the Beast, who the entire world will worship during the time of the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will blaspheme the name of God and will rise up out of a future Roman empire in the future. The world's current overpopulation, hunger and pollution point to the likelihood of the whole world coming together under the leadership of a single individual, like Jesus predicts in the end times. Coupled with a one-world mentality in areas like global economy, entertainment, information technology, and communication, the future of the world is readily getting to the point where Jesus' prediction doesn't seem crazy. In the meantime, there's a real need to ask for Jesus' forgiveness to cover people's sin before the end of human history comes.

The Beginning of the End

Scott Risley
Matthew 24:1-24

The disciples asked Jesus what will be the sign of His coming and the end of the age. Jesus answers them, but they did not understand that the answer spoke of two separate times. They did not know that there would be a very long gap of time between the beginning of the end and the bodily return of the Son of Man. The signs of the end fell into three categories: Birth Pains, Preconditions and Specific Events.

I Have Told you Everything in Advance

Dennis McCallum
Luke 21:20-24

While on the Mount of Olive with his disciples, Jesus reveals information regarding the end times. Eschatology, or the study of end times, is important for understanding history, having confidence in God's word, learning what's to come and gives authentication to the Bible's entire message. The details Jesus reveals concerns the nation of Israel, which will be re-gathered as a nation prior to the Great Tribulation when Jesus returns to reign as Messiah. The proper response to understanding predictive prophecy is to learn more about the one it centers around - Jesus Christ.

The Mysteries of the Kingdom

Scott Risley
Matthew 13:24-46

In Jesus' day, the Jews were expecting the coming Messiah to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. When Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Jews assumed He would bring in the physical Kingdom of God in their day. They did not understand that He was inviting people now to enter the Kingdom through faith but the literal, physical Kingdom on earth was yet in the future.

The Mystery Hidden for Aeons

Dennis McCallum
Matthew 11:1-15

Jesus tells the crowd about the ministry of John the Baptist, and how there is something coming that people hadn't anticipated before. Through what Jesus said, and what John had said earlier, it's clear that there are two separate comings of Christ. The first coming of Christ will include humiliation, persecution and ultimately death on the cross, while the second coming will see Jesus return in majesty to have all bow down to him and to reign forever and destroy his enemies. These two comings of Jesus are known as the "mystery" in Scripture, and were aimed to destroy the work of Satan and his accusations against God through Jesus' work on the cross.