The End Times: What We Know For Sure
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Sunday School | The End Times
Pastor Dean Deguara
Big Idea: God has revealed enough about the future to give us hope, enough mystery to keep us humble, and enough truth to keep us faithful until Christ returns.
Matthew 24:36-44 NLT
However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
Confidence where Scripture is clear
Humility where Scripture is debated
Faithfulness until Christ returns
THE STORY WE SHARE - Confidence where Scripture is clear
History is not drifting toward chaos. History is moving toward the glorious appearance of the King who reigns even now.
Our confidence isn’t in having every answer about the future. Our confidence is in knowing the One who holds the future.
THE QUESTIONS WE ASK - Humility where Scripture is debated
How we read the Bible Matters
How should we understand prophetic imagery?
How do God’s promises to Israel relate to the Church?
How do the prophetic passages fit together?
THE VIEWS WE EXPLORE - Humility where Scripture is debated
Pre-Tribulation - simply means the Church is caught up to meet Christ before the Tribulation.
Pre-Millennial - means Christ returns before the thousand-year reign described in Revelation 20.
Jesus cared more about preparing His followers than knowing timelines.
How we live matters far more than how precisely we’ve arranged every prophetic event.
THE HOPE WE HOLD - Faithfulness until Christ Returns
Matthew 24:42-44 NLT
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
TODAY - JESUS RETURNS - FOREVER WITH CHRIST
Titus 2:11-13 NKJV
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
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Welcome.
We're so thankful that you're here with us as well as our Spanish speaking community.
If you're with us or family members are with us, we have translation available and I found out something very cool that I did not know.
It actually translated in my voice.
Isn't that cool?
But just so you know, it's not me.
It's just my voice.
All right.
And so you can get all that.
And that's available if you need to get that QR code or it might be up there.
There it is.
You can get that.
It gives you all and you can either read it or you can listen to it.
So you can do either or.
Also, if you would like to get today's notes, you can go to the YouVersion app.
You can scan that QR code as well.
All the notes are there to encourage and strengthen you.
And we've already been asked, Pastor Dean, and I'll just let you know, yes, we will post the charts and the timelines and all the different things.
that we use today just to help you and encourage you and grasp the information because today, can I just tell you, it's going to be a fire hydrant.
How many are ready for a fire hydrant, all right?
So you're going to get a lot, but my intention is just to give you really a general overview of our topic today because in 2027, I've already started studying for this topic so that next summer, we're going to dive deep into it.
But we're continuing our series Sunday School, and today's focus is on the end times.
And the big idea is this.
God has revealed enough about the future to give us hope, enough mystery to keep us humble, and enough truth to keep us faithful until Christ returns.
Every generation, or at least since I've been saved, I got saved in 1988, every generation has wondered whether they were living in the last days.
Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, political division, economic uncertainty, Israel in the headlines, technology advancing faster than anyone can understand, and every week another YouTuber claims to have finally cracked the code on the book of Revelation.
But the question for us this morning is not can we decode every mystery or prophecy?
The question is what can we know for sure and how should we live in light of it?
So today is not a message about predicting the future.
It is a message about preparing for the future.
And we're going to look at some timelines.
And again, it's a general overview.
We're not even able to really go deep into all the scriptures that support the different views that you're going to see.
But it's simply to put a curiosity inside of you that will make you dive deeper in the scriptures.
Is that all right?
Amen.
And so the goal of today is to make you a more faithful follower of Jesus.
Amen?
Matthew 24, 36 through 44.
And when you're studying this topic of the end times, this passage is always one of the main ones.
It says this.
No one knows the day or the hour when these things will happen.
Not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.
Only the Father knows.
Can we just say that?
Only the Father knows.
When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day.
In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered into his boat.
People didn't realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away.
That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
Verse 40, two men will be working together in the field.
One will be taken, the other left.
The two women will be grinding flour at the mill.
One will be taken, the other left.
So you too must keep watch, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming.
Understand that if a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into.
Verse 44, underline it and highlight it in your Bible apps or in your Bibles, your physical Bibles.
You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
How many know God wants us to live prepared, not surprised?
Amen.
And so this morning, as we jump into one of the most controversial and most talked about subjects in all of scripture, we're looking at the end times and answering the question, what can we know for sure?
Now, just mentioning those words brings different reactions for all of us in the room.
Some of you, you have shelves full of books on prophecy and
Fiction and nonfiction.
Some of you remember, maybe like me, in the late 80s, early 90s, there were prophecy conferences and charts were stretched across the back wall.
I'm so thankful for an LED, but they literally would stretch charts on the back wall of the platform.
And maybe a few of you are wondering if today's the day I'm going to identify the Antichrist.
I'm going to disappoint you, all right?
That's not our goal today.
Our goal is much bigger than that.
Our goal is to become better students of God's word because I've learned the longer that I follow Jesus, the more confidence I have in the things that God has made wonderfully clear.
How many are thankful for his clear word?
It brings clarity.
It brings authority, right?
And the more humility I have regarding what faithful Christians have studied, discussed, and debated for centuries.
So before we go any further, I'd like to give you the framework that we're going to use this morning when it comes to our eschatology.
Eschatology is a fancy word that simply means the study of last things.
or the last days, or the last, again, the last things.
Here are the last things.
The last things are what Scripture teaches about Christ's return, Christ's resurrection, judgment, and the new creation.
Or I should say, when the dead are raised, judgment and the new creation.
Confidence where scripture is clear, humility where scripture is debated, and faithfulness until Christ returns.
Would you repeat that with me?
Confidence where scripture is clear, humility where scripture is debated, and faithfulness until Christ returns.
I believe if this is our approach when we open the word, no matter what topic it is, we'll not only study eschatology well, we'll study scripture well.
So before we jump into the meat of the message, I want you to raise your hand if you believe Jesus is coming again.
Look around.
Come on, say, give somebody a high five while your hand is up.
All right.
Raise your hand if you believe there will be a resurrection.
All right.
That's good.
You guys are good Sunday school students.
Raise your hand if you believe God will ultimately make all things new.
Awesome.
Now, raise your hand if you've always understood everything in the book of Revelation.
All right.
Look around.
All right.
That's what I thought.
And that actually tells us something very important.
There is a lot about the end of the story that Christians agree on.
Jesus is coming again.
The dead will be raised.
Evil will not have the final word as we've learned in past messages.
God will make all things new.
Now, where the questions begin is how some of the events leading up to that ending fit together.
Things like, where does the rapture fit?
Or is there a rapture?
What about the tribulation?
What is the millennium?
And in what order does all this unfold?
That's where faithful Christians have sometimes read the same scriptures and reached different conclusions.
So this afternoon, we're not going to begin with what divides us or what makes us different.
We're going to begin with what we all share.
So let's start with the story that we share, confidence where scripture is clear.
And I want to give you...
This chart I'd like to give you as a simple tool that can help you see this using three different colors.
Green.
Check this out.
I got me a pointer from Office Depot last night.
All right.
So we have the green.
Green is good doctrine.
Okay.
Listen, these are the truths that we stand on.
These are the truths Scripture teaches clearly.
The church has confessed them together for centuries.
Jesus is coming again.
There will be a resurrection.
There will be a final judgment.
God will make all things new.
The truths that are in green that you're going to see in the following timelines, listen, we stand on them confidently.
Everybody say, Scripture is clear.
Scripture is clear.
So if you know the story of God, you know that you can be confident.
And then there's the yellow.
These things are important, but they are uncertain.
There are some things that are debatable.
So they're worth studying.
They're worth discussing.
They're worth having convictions about.
But they are questions where faithful Christians have reached different heights.
conclusions, things like the rapture, the millennium, other prophetic events.
These things belong in yellow.
Everybody say the danger zone.
The danger zone are things that are not taught in Scripture.
They're strictly speculations, things like predicting dates.
I got saved in 1988, and I don't know if you know this, but there was a book that was distributed and dropped on the porches of churches across America, 88 reasons why Jesus was going to come in 1988.
Wow.
And then the next year, we got the same book, but it was called 89 Reasons Jesus Was Coming in 1989.
And the following year, the guy just did himself a favor and he put 90, 91, 92, and 93 reasons why Jesus was gonna come back in those years.
Red issues are, what we need to know, are speculation beyond scripture.
Date setting, identifying the antichrist from today's headlines or acting like our preferred chart or timeline is equal to the gospel leads us to deception.
One of the greatest mistakes Christians make is treating yellow issues like they're green issues and treating red issues with absolute biblical certainty.
So timeline number one, which is the next one that you're going to see, is what, if we gathered Christians from all over Sacramento or pastors from all over Sacramento, we gathered in one room, we would all basically agree on this timeline.
That, come on, God created everything good.
Sin entered the world.
Jesus died and rose to save us.
The church age, which we're in right now, the Spirit is empowering the church.
Five, Christ returns.
Jesus will return in glory.
The resurrection, the dead are raised.
We've talked about some of this.
To life or judgment.
Final judgment.
Everyone will stand before God.
And then, come on, evil will be judged and God makes all things new.
Notice, come on, notice in this timeline the cross.
How many are thankful for the cross?
How many are thankful for the cross?
The cross is the center of the story.
Maybe not the center of the timeline, but the center of, how many know Jesus is the center of the story?
His death, his resurrection, his victory.
Everything before, come on, the cross is moving towards what Christ would accomplish for us.
Everything we believe about our future rests on what Christ has already accomplished.
So the cross in this timeline reminds us that God is not reacting to history.
He's redeeming history.
And the resurrection tells us where history is headed.
The same Jesus who conquered, come on, death, hell, sin, and the grave is coming again.
So history, listen, how many know we don't, as believers, we don't have to panic?
Let me try this side.
How many know, as believers, we don't have to panic?
Listen, listen, so history is not drifting towards chaos.
This is what many of us believe.
History is moving towards the glorious appearing of the king who reigns even now, and his name is Jesus.
Amen.
Church, this right here behind me is the story that we share.
If we've never added another event to this timeline, if we never talked about the tribulation, the millennium, if we never debated the timing of the rapture or the resurrection, we will still possess Christian hope, which is at the very end over here, that God, come on, will make all things new and we will dwell with him.
Our hope, in other words, our hope rests in Jesus Christ.
And that brings us to, again, the framework that I want to continue to remind you of.
We can be confident where Scripture is clear.
Jesus came.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose.
Jesus is coming again.
The dead will be raised.
God will judge evil.
God will make all things new.
Everybody say certainty.
Certainty.
We stand on those truths as a church.
But as we continue to show you some different views and timelines, we're about to come to some questions.
How many of you know questions are all right?
Questions are all right.
Questions that faithful Christians have wrestled with for centuries that deserve careful study and require humility.
You see, church, our confidence isn't having every answer about the future.
Our confidence is in knowing the one who holds the future.
So we begin with what we know and we stand confidently on what scripture makes clear.
And when that foundation is laid, which I'm trying to lay right now very quickly, we can honestly talk about the places where faithful Christians have read the same passages and come to different conclusions.
And that leads us from the story we share to the questions we ask.
And when we're asking questions, we have to be reminded, humility, everybody say humility.
Where scripture is debated.
Now I want you to see this second timeline where we ask, say, we're gonna get into the yellow stuff.
Everybody say yellow stuff.
And we simply begin asking questions.
I want you to notice, listen, the timeline remains the same.
But notice the questions now.
Well, what about the tribulation?
What is the nature and duration?
When is it?
The rapture.
Questions like, is there a rapture?
By the way, the word rapture is not even in Scripture.
It actually tells of what we think will happen.
That's where the word comes from.
When will it occur in relation to these events?
The millennium.
How do these events fit?
How do the pieces of prophecy fit in sequence and timing?
How many know those are good questions?
But let me ask you another question.
Why do you think Christians sometimes disagree about the end times?
When you begin reading church history, you'll discover that many men and women who disagreed over these same questions were deeply committed to the authority of scripture.
In other words, they were people who loved God's word.
They preached the gospel.
They believed that Jesus was coming again.
The disagreement wasn't over whether the Bible is true.
The disagreement was over how certain passages fit together.
Now, just to give you an example of this, a practical example, how many of you went through COVID?
All right.
Some of you are still in denial.
I didn't go through it.
I didn't get it.
I didn't get the jab.
Whatever it is.
We all went through COVID.
All right.
How many of you went through COVID?
All right.
Okay.
Okay.
Now you're telling the truth, at least.
All right.
But do you guys remember the first couple weeks?
Do you guys remember the puzzle craze?
Everybody was putting together puzzles.
Anybody remember this besides me?
I mean, we were like trading puzzles, dropping puzzles off here, going to somebody.
And we had these thousand piece puzzles because we were all bored out of our minds and we didn't know what to do.
Now, this is something that I've discovered.
Imagine during COVID, there are several families.
Again, all the church, we're like flashing our puzzles and all that.
You guys are acting like you didn't do this, but you did do this.
Now imagine us putting together the same 1,000 piece puzzle.
We got the same puzzle with the same picture on the box.
The same pieces, but how many know when it comes to puzzle, putting a puzzle together, we've all got a different approach.
I don't know about you, but our family starts with the corners.
And then there's others, come on, that they start with the edges.
And then there's some of you, listen, you start grouping the colors together.
Different strategies, come on, but if they all stay faithful to the picture on the box, they'll arrive at the same picture.
And I think that's a helpful way to understand prophecy.
We're not talking about four different Bibles.
We're talking about faithful Christians reading the same Bible and sometimes arranging the prophetic pieces differently.
In other words, church, how we read the Bible matters.
Yes.
In fact, how we read the Bible is referred to a science called hermeneutics, how we break down the scriptures.
Christians usually arrive at different conclusions because they answer these three questions differently regarding the end times.
Can I give those to you?
Here they are.
How should we understand prophetic imagery?
Now, I'm just gonna give you a sneak peek.
We're gonna do a study on the book of Revelation next summer, and I'm already starting to prepare for it now.
Let me just give you a sneak, can I give you a sneak peek?
There are over 400 verses in the book of Revelation, and there are over 500 images of the Old Testament in the book of Revelation.
Now, first century Christians, the book of Revelation actually meant something to them.
It was a letter that was written to them.
They understood this letter.
When first century Christians read Revelation, they read it with their eyes on the past.
And when they saw these images in Revelation, they weren't thinking about the future.
They asked themselves this simple question, where have we seen these things before?
We've seen them in the book of Daniel.
We've seen them in the book of Ezekiel.
This is what they thought.
Modern day Christians, we read Revelation, or let me just say this, we don't read Revelation.
We're like, nope, I ain't reading that book.
In the first few verses, it says we'll be blessed if we read it.
I've just learned this over the last couple weeks, but the book of Revelation is a discipleship book.
I'll get to that next year.
All right.
Modern day Christians read Revelation with their eyes on the future.
And instead of asking, where have I seen this before?
We're always asking ourselves, what's next?
What could that be?
When God has already revealed it in the scriptures.
Okay, I'll get to that next year.
All right, the second question is how do God's promises to Israel relate to the church?
The third question and why we come to different conclusions is how did the prophetic passages fit together?
Those three questions explain most of the differences.
Again, faithful Christians have debated the answer to these questions for decades and centuries.
Church, how many know we don't need more speculation, we need more scripture?
So let's come back to that guiding principle, confidence where scripture is clear.
We stand confidently on what God has clearly revealed.
This is what I mean by that.
Anytime someone comes to you and claims that they know the date of Christ's return, you know that they are absolutely wrong.
And we'll laugh at these things, but we've literally had people from this congregation, people that were just curious about scripture, listen, because they did not know the story of God, get wrapped up in speculation and listen, have joined a cult.
I mean, this stuff can be, you say, no, no, this really happens.
Anytime someone claims to know the date of Christ's return, you can know that they're absolutely wrong.
Because Jesus couldn't have been clearer, right?
No one knows the date, come on, or the hour.
The goal of prophecy is not date setting.
The goal is readiness.
And so we've got to continue to have, when it comes to the, everybody say the yellow stuff.
humility where scripture is debated.
We study diligently, we listen carefully, we speak graciously, because we wanna be faithful until Christ returns.
Whatever view we hold, and we're gonna go into some views, are you all right?
We're gonna go into some views, and the views that we explore, we have to do with humility.
So as your pastor, I have two responsibilities this morning.
Again, I'm just trying to whet your appetite for a message series that we'll dive deeper down in the future.
I want to teach you what real life church believes.
And then I want to represent other Christian views accurately and fairly.
Again, yellow stuff.
Everybody say yellow stuff.
Not the green stuff.
I'm not questioning the green stuff, but the yellow stuff.
Things that people different and have different opinions.
There will people that will leave a church over the yellow stuff.
But how many know the green stuff is important?
People will leave, come on, over yellow stuff.
How many know if it's yellow, just let it mellow?
Oh, no, just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
I'm just kidding.
So my goal isn't to convince you with any of these timelines.
My goal is to help you understand where faithful Christians have reached different conclusions while reading the same thing.
So here's Real Life Church's view real quickly.
Again, notice the green timeline.
Man, I'm loving my pointer.
Notice the green timeline has not changed.
But the yellow, everybody say the yellow stuff.
And so real life believes in a, you could say rapture or resurrection.
Christ returns for his church.
Seven years of judgment on the earth.
Christ returns in power and glory.
Then the millennium.
Christ reigns a literal thousand years.
Come on, everybody stands before God.
God makes all things new.
One of the greatest strengths of this view is expectancy.
Jesus could come today, so live ready, share the gospel, comfort one another, encourage one another.
That's the view.
In a nutshell, again, lots of scriptures to back this and support this, and we'll get those in 2027.
Timeline number four is what we call historic premillennialism.
Now notice, everybody say the yellow stuff.
Everything's the same.
Again, they zoomed in on this chart.
You still have the church age.
You still have the creation, the fall, the cross, the church age.
But now look at what happens in this historic premillennialism view.
You have the tribulation moved.
In this view, you're going to go through it.
God's purpose with Israel are fulfilled.
Christ returns to establish his kingdom.
The dead in Christ are raised and gathered.
Christ reigns for a thousand years.
Again, final judgment, new heaven and new earth.
Can I just tell you what I appreciate about this view?
One of the things I appreciate about this position is that it reminds us, the church, it reminds the church not to fear suffering.
Our hope has never been an escape plan.
Our hope has always been Jesus.
Can I show you another view?
This view is called amillennialism.
Again, everybody, everybody say yellow stuff.
Yellow.
It's debatable.
It's places where we can have exchanges and talk things out.
But you'll notice again, it's zoomed in.
Coming to the church age, the millennial reign is right now.
Christ reigns from heaven right now.
This is the view.
Can I tell you what I appreciate about the amillennialists?
They constantly remind us that Jesus isn't waiting to become king.
He's reigning right now.
And then there's this post-millennial view, which I love the optimism, and there's actually fewer and fewer people that hold onto this view, but I love the optimism because they remind us never to underestimate what the power of the gospel can do.
This view teaches that through the power of the gospel, Christ's kingdom will advance in history, discipling nations and transforming cultures before Christ returns.
It emphasizes hope, mission, and confidence in the long-term victory of the gospel.
Again, they remind us to never underestimate the power of what the gospel can do.
Did you get all that?
Some of you are probably wondering, Pastor Dean, which one is right?
That's what I want to know.
But I want you to hear something even more important.
Your salvation never rested on getting the millennium right.
It has always rested on getting Jesus right.
Notice all those timelines, all the timelines that I presented you just now.
These things never change.
Jesus returns.
The dead are raised.
God judges evil.
God makes all things new.
In other words, Jesus cared more about preparing his followers than knowing the timelines.
And some of you have already picked your favorite timeline.
There we go, right?
You say, Pastor, why does any of this even matter?
Why?
And again, because deception, come on, is being released at great measures right now.
Again, I just told you about a young man who used to attend this church getting deceived and now in a cult.
But here's another reason.
One day your theology of the future will become your reality.
Yes.
Come on, one day Jesus is going to return.
One day the dead really will be raised.
One day evil will really be judged.
And one day God will really make all things new.
And until that day, how we live matters far more than how precisely we've arranged every prophetic event on the timeline.
And that's why I want to finish this message as our worship team is here, praise God, where Jesus finished his teaching.
Because after all the timelines changed,
are explained and all the positions are compared, Jesus did not end his teaching with a chart.
He ends it with a command, be ready.
Come on, everybody say, be ready.
And it leads me to my last point, and it's this.
It's the hope that we hold, faithfulness until Christ returns.
Again, different ways Christians understand the scriptures.
Those are important conversations and they're worth having.
But I don't want to end the message talking about timelines.
I want to end this message about Jesus.
Because how many know Jesus isn't simply a part of prophecy.
Jesus is the center of prophecy.
In fact, he's the hope that we hold on to.
I want us to go to Matthew 24, 42, 44 again.
Because Jesus is not only speaking to his disciples, he's speaking to us.
And he says this, so you too must keep watch.
For you don't understand what day your Lord is coming.
Understand this, if a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into.
You also must be ready all the time.
For the Son of Man will come when least expected.
At the very beginning of this chapter in verse 3, Jesus is sitting at the Mount of Olives and his disciples come to him privately and they say, Jesus, tell us when all this stuff is going to happen and what the sign of your coming and of the end of the age is going to be.
And Jesus answered some of their questions, but then he kept returning to something even more important.
Be ready.
Amen.
Stay awake.
Do not be deceived.
Be faithful.
It's almost as if Jesus was saying, don't become so focused on predicting my coming that you forget to prepare for my coming.
You see, church, the bottom line as we posture ourselves is this.
Listen, God does not want us to be surprised.
He wants us to be prepared.
But what does it look like to live ready?
I believe it means that we repent quickly.
that we forgive, come on, freely and abundantly.
It means that we hold onto our possessions loosely.
It means we share the gospel urgently.
It means that we endure suffering patiently.
It means that we gather as a church faithfully, not one time a month, not two.
Faithfully, we gather together, and it means, listen, that we take our eyes, come on, off the timelines and the headlines, and we
keep our eyes on Jesus Christ.
I've been thinking about this message for a couple weeks.
I prepared it a couple weeks ago and just been mulling it over.
First time I've ever taught on something like this.
But one of the things I've realized is Jesus spent more time preparing his disciples for his return than explaining the sequence of events before his return.
And that should tell us something.
The question isn't whether we know everything about Christ's return.
The question is whether we're ready for Christ's return.
Because the end times weren't meant to fill us with fear.
They were meant to fill us with hope.
Church, if studying eschatology...
Listen, does it make you more faithful than we've missed the purpose of prophecy?
Because that the center of prophecy is Christ, not the antichrist.
Come on, not 666.
The center of prophecy is Jesus Christ.
So can I just simplify the timeline for a moment?
Let's talk about today.
Church, where are you today?
This is where God has called us right here and right now.
We're in the church age to serve, to love, to worship, to witness, to remain faithful until his return.
His return is not an escape plan.
His return is our hope.
This is what we're waiting for.
Why?
Because evil will finally be dealt with.
Come on, there'll be a new heavens and a new earth and we will dwell with him forever.
This is what he says.
Forever with Christ.
That's our hope.
Come on, not getting our chart right, not escaping the world, but being with Jesus.
This is what the blessed hope is.
And I love the way the Apostle Paul brings it all together.
Is this all right, everybody with me?
It says this, for the grace of God.
How many know we're going to need the grace of God for the days that we're living in?
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that
that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works.
Did you see how Paul connects how we live today with what we're looking for tomorrow?
And grace has appeared and is teaching us in the here and now, in this present church age.
And while we're living faithfully in this church age, we're looking for the blessed hope.
Come on.
His glorious appearing, Jesus Christ.
And that's the tension that every one of us in this room lives in.
We're faithful because we're looking for him to be with him.
Again, that's the blessed hope.
You see, church, one day, everybody say one day.
One day.
One day, every prophecy is going to be fulfilled.
Every question is going to be answered.
Every tear is going to be wiped away.
Every knee is going to bow.
Every eye is going to see him.
So until that day, church, let's be found faithful.
Yes.
What does faithfulness look like?
Faithful in our homes, faithful in our witness, faithful in our worship, faithful in our repentance, faithful in our love, faithful in making disciples.
You see, church, the question is not whether we can predict the day of his coming.
The question is, come on.
The question is, we need to be certain about when he comes, will he find us ready?
Amen.
And this is what I know in a room this size, that not all of us are living with that readiness.
Not all of us are living prepared with that hope of Jesus Christ.
You're not certain.
You think it's all chaos.
But how many know God is Lord over it all?
And today, if you're wanting to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior, with every head bowed and every eye closed,
He's had several people in the 930 lift their hands.
But if today you want to surrender your life to Jesus Christ and live with a spirit of readiness, would you just lift your hands and say, Pastor Dean, I want to surrender to Jesus Christ.
If that's you, just lift up your hands.
Anybody in the building, you would say, Pastor Dean, will you include me in that prayer?
Anybody in the 11 o'clock?
Yes.
Thank you so much.
Another hand over here.
You could just lift it high.
You just want to put something in your hands.
Several hands in this section.
Anybody else?
I'm just going to give you on the count of three.
One, two, three.
Lift your hand up high.
We just want to put something in your hand so we can communicate with you.
Thank you so much.
Church, on the count of three, those that raised their hands or maybe you wanted to and you didn't, we're going to pray this prayer.
We're going to invite Jesus Christ into our lives.
And I believe the spirit of readiness is going to come on the inside of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
On the count of three, let's pray this prayer on the screen together.
One, two, three.
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness.
I believe you died for my sins and rose from the dead.
And right now I turn from my sin and invite you to come into my heart and life.
I want to trust and follow you from this day forward.
I confess you as my personal Lord and Savior.
Thank you for saving me.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Come on, we had several hands go up.
Can we give God praise for those folks?
Listen, we want to put a Bible in your hands.
If you prayed that prayer for the first time, we believe that you got born again.
We'd love to put a Bible in your hand as well as come around you and help you in your walk with Christ.
My friend Jeff is in the back.
Just stop by the table.
He'll take care of you, and he'll put a Bible in your hands, and we appreciate you being here.
Will you stand with me, church?
How many would just honestly say, Pastor Dean, I want to live with an increased spirit of readiness and preparedness in this day that I'm living in.
If that's you, can you lift up your hands?
I want to pray before I release you.
Father, I thank you in the mighty name of Jesus.
I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit, God, would come upon us and we would live prepared, not surprised.
I pray for the spirit of readiness.
I pray, God, that we would live sober.
I pray that we would live faithful.
God, I pray that we would live pure lives, God, because we're looking for the hope that is coming.
Father, I pray, God, that we would not be complacent.
But God, we would lean in.
We would be confident of what the scriptures have absolutely made clear.
God, you are coming again.
Help us to live with that expectancy.
God, we love you and we praise you.
In Jesus' name.
And everybody said...
Listen, church, I know in a room this size, listen, you may need prayer in an area of your life, whether it's family, kids, whatever it may be.
Listen, we want to pray with you before you go.
A lot of people going through stuff.
If you need prayer, allow our prayer ministers to pray with you and for you.
Church, we love you.
God bless you.
Have a wonderful day.
Hallelujah.
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What Can We Know For Sure About the End Times?
Few topics spark more curiosity, more debate, and more confusion among Christians than the end times. Mention the word "eschatology" in a room full of believers and you will get a wide range of reactions — from the person who has an entire bookshelf dedicated to prophecy books, to the person who quietly avoids the book of Revelation altogether. But here is the truth: what God has revealed about the future is not meant to confuse us or divide us. It is meant to give us hope, keep us humble, and make us faithful.
So what can we actually know for sure?
The Foundation We All Stand On
Before diving into the details that Christians sometimes disagree about, it is worth pausing to recognize how much we actually agree on. The core of Christian hope regarding the future is remarkably unified across traditions and centuries of church history.
Jesus is coming again. The dead will be raised. Evil will not have the final word. God will make all things new.
These are not minor footnotes in Scripture. They are the grand destination of the entire biblical story. Everything from creation to the cross to the church age is moving toward a glorious conclusion — the return of Jesus Christ and the renewal of all things.
The cross sits at the center of this story. God is not reacting to history. He is redeeming it. And the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee that history is headed somewhere magnificent. The same Jesus who conquered sin, death, and the grave is coming again. That is not a reason for panic. That is a reason for unshakeable hope.
A Helpful Framework for the Conversation
When it comes to studying the end times, a simple framework can save a lot of unnecessary confusion and conflict. Think of it in three categories.
The first category contains the things Scripture makes crystal clear — the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, final judgment, and the new creation. These are the truths the church has confessed together for centuries. We can hold them with full confidence.
The second category contains things that are genuinely debatable — questions about the rapture, the tribulation, and the millennium. These are worth studying and discussing, and Christians can hold thoughtful convictions about them. But they belong in a different category than the non-negotiables. Faithful, Bible-believing Christians have read the same passages and reached different conclusions on these questions for generations.
The third category is where things go wrong — speculation that goes beyond what Scripture actually teaches. Date-setting is the most obvious example. Jesus himself stated plainly in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day or the hour of his return — not the angels, not even the Son himself during his earthly ministry. Only the Father knows. Anyone claiming to have cracked the code on Christ's return has already proven themselves wrong by making the claim.
One of the most common mistakes Christians make is treating debatable things as if they were settled doctrine, or treating speculation as if it were Scripture. Keeping these categories straight is not just intellectually honest — it is spiritually protective.
Why Do Christians Disagree?
Consider a puzzle analogy. Imagine several families all working on the same thousand-piece puzzle, with the same picture on the box and the same pieces on the table. Some start with the corners. Some start with the edges. Some group the colors. Different strategies, but if everyone stays faithful to the picture on the box, they will all arrive at the same image in the end.
That is a helpful picture of how Christians approach prophetic Scripture. We are not working from different Bibles. We are working from the same text, and we sometimes arrange the prophetic pieces in a different order. The disagreement is rarely over whether the Bible is true. It is usually over how certain passages fit together.
Three questions tend to drive most of the differences. How should we understand prophetic imagery — literally or symbolically? How do God's promises to Israel relate to the church? And how do the various prophetic passages fit together in sequence? How a person answers those three questions will largely determine which prophetic timeline they find most compelling.
What Matters Most
Here is what is worth sitting with: Jesus spent far more time in his teaching preparing his followers for his return than explaining the precise sequence of events before his return. That should tell us something important about what he values most.
In Matthew 24, after addressing questions about signs and events, Jesus keeps returning to a simple, urgent command — be ready. Stay awake. Do not be deceived. Be faithful. It is almost as if he was saying, do not become so focused on predicting my coming that you forget to prepare for my coming.
The Apostle Paul captures this beautifully in Titus 2:11-14, where he describes the grace of God as something that has appeared and is actively teaching us how to live in the present — with self-control, righteousness, and godliness — while we wait for the blessed hope of Christ's glorious appearing. Notice the connection Paul draws: how we live today is shaped by what we are looking forward to tomorrow.
That is the tension every believer lives in. We are faithful now because we are looking forward to being with him then.
Living Ready
So what does it actually look like to live in light of Christ's return? It looks like repenting quickly when we fall short. It looks like forgiving freely and generously. It looks like holding our possessions loosely. It looks like sharing the gospel with a sense of urgency. It looks like enduring difficulty with patience rather than bitterness. It looks like gathering consistently with the community of faith. And it looks like keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus rather than on headlines and speculation.
The end times were never meant to fill us with fear. They were meant to fill us with hope. The center of biblical prophecy is not the Antichrist or a particular sequence of events. The center of biblical prophecy is Jesus Christ.
One day every prophecy will be fulfilled. Every question will be answered. Every tear will be wiped away. Every knee will bow and every eye will see him.
Until that day, the call is the same for every believer regardless of which prophetic timeline they find most convincing — be found faithful.