Prophecy is history told ahead of time. It is stirring, stunning, and stabilizing. Satan hates prophecy. It is exciting to be the Bride of Christ. We await Him. Believe in His return and let it ground you. (Isaiah 41:21-24; Isaiah 46:5-10; Revelation 20:1-10; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-6)

Speaker(s): Mikael Toll, Renaldo Brown, Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12856
Date: 2025-1-15
Time: Wed 7:00pm

 

P. Schaller –

Praise the Lord!
Wow. Beautiful. Praise the Lord. Wow. Beautiful. Praise God. Amazing. I feel like I’m in a school
of praise and worship, of doctrine, learning doctrine all over again. The reason is ’cause Bible
school started Monday night. Yeah. It’s been amazing and P. Toll has been our guest this week.
And I just have caught every class this week and while I’m sitting there just remembering Bible
school and when I was in Bible college and just listening and learning doctrine and how much I
love doctrine. How much I love just what the Word is saying.

It’s so awesome and I want to thank him for coming and being with us this week. It’s been a
feast, you know. I really feel like it’s a feast and a doctrinal feast. This is where the Christian
kind of, he goes to upgrade, you know. When we learn doctrine from the Word and we process
that in our life and we get fed – we get fed by the Word. Isn’t it a treasure? Here we are.
Remember we said one Sunday to one Sunday and between the Sundays is what? Chaos. And
so, we meet on Wednesday night. It’s a little bit of an exaggeration but I just really believe and
we learned this. And good to have P. Glen Sawtelle here with us. Thank you, pastor. Great to
have you. We learned this years ago and through the years how much the Lord has done for us
and I’m just thankful.

I’m going to share just a few words and then we’ll do the offering and then P. Toll will come up.
He has a PhD degree from one school and then a couple master’s degree. One from Liberty.
And you know, he knows the material and I appreciate it. And dispensational in our theology
and how much I appreciate that understanding. We have the same heart and mind.

Okay. Few words. Being a bride. Being the bride of Christ. That sounds – always that was like
something I couldn’t relate to because I’m a man and that we are the bride of Christ. But I’ve
grown in it a little bit. And of course, the chapter that we want, that you should know about – I
think many of you do – is Genesis 24 where the servant from Abraham went to find a wife for
Isaac. How many know that text? Generally, you know. Okay. Wow! A lot over here. Wow! You
guys, yeah. Wow. They’re on the ball. Okay.

So, the text goes this way. Abraham said when Isaac was 40 years old, we need to get a wife for
Isaac. So, the servant is sent out to get a wife, and so he travels some whatever, 500 miles. He
goes 800 miles. He goes east to where Abraham is from the Ur of the Chaldees. That area. And
he’s looking for a wife for Isaac.

And he finds a woman who’s watering the camels and he is praying all the time. How do I do
this? How could this happen? God has to do this. So, he comes to the woman watering the
camels. He talks to her, and he realizes that this is the woman. And what I want you to think
about is her. Because he’s going to tell her come with me and you’re going to go to a land you’ve never been to before. And also, you’re not coming back here. And you’re going to marry
somebody you’ve never met.

Now, think of those things. A woman. She’s meeting a man. I’ve never met you before. And
you’re telling me I’m going to marry somebody I’ve never met before that lives in a land that
I’ve never been to before and I’m not ever going to come back here. I’m not going. I’m not
going. Wouldn’t that be easy?

But this is actually a picture of you. ‘Cause in a way, this is what happened to you. God came to
you and said, trust me. you’re going to be married. Okay. This is like us. Look at chapter 24:54-
56. This is ESV. Vs. 56-58. Now, this is the meaning here. We also said, I will go. Why? Why did
we say and in the typology, the servant is the Holy Spirit who has come into this world to get a
bride for Christ. And the Holy Spirit tells you that you are going to go marry somebody you
don’t know. I am bringing you to him. You will live in a land you’ve never been before, and
you’ll not come back here. And she said, I will go.

When I have traveled in different parts of the world and I have met people like this, we are all
very similar. Have you ever been to heaven? No, I’ve never been there. Do you believe you’re
going there? I do believe it. Have you seen Christ face to face? No, not yet. But is he the man
that you will marry? Yes, the servant said so.

And in the story when she’s riding and Isaac is in the field meditating and she jumps off the
camel and she said, who is this man? This is chapter 24:65. I wonder what the tone was when
she said, who is that man? Who is that person who is sent out to meet us? I think, I don’t know,
she might have been very excited about it.

In a way, that happens to us too in our lives because we do meet Christ in this life. He is caring.
He is our husband. But we are not married yet. We haven’t yet met him. It says in Rev. 22:5, we
will see him face to face and his name will be written on our forehead. We have been pulled
out of the world. Baptized into the Body.

And in this age of mystery, it’s called the mysteries of the kingdom are this age. There are
things about it that we don’t fully understand but we’re living in faith. We are the bride of
Christ. We have been brought out of the world, never to return to the world. We are to be
married to somebody we haven’t yet met. And we say, the servant said, will you go? And she
said, I will. I will go.

And that great statement encompasses a lot of meaning to us. Because many of us made these
decisions not understanding exactly what they would mean or where we would end up, but we
are told in the Scripture that there’s a place prepared for us. There will not be a sun or a moon
like in this world, for God, our God will be the light thereof. And that the Lamb will be the light thereof of that city, Jerusalem. We have great anticipation. So, that’s it. Amen. All right. Talk to
each other for a minute and say, I like that. God bless you.

P. Renaldo Brown –

I like that. God bless you. This is the offering. This is a great time to learn
about your relationship with God. Maybe it’s a time of obligation for you. Ritual. Habit. But
really it’s a lesson of faith. You’re giving to something that you really can’t see what’s going to
happen on the other side of it. You’re trusting God for what he will do with it.

In your mind, you think of all the things that come between the money and God. People, plans,
budgets. But really, it’s a faith, it’s a faith lesson. It’s one of the great parts of the service where
your faith has a chance to grow.

#1. Because faith is perceptive. Faith looks into things that you
really can’t see.

#2. Because his faith is progressive.

So, really, as you grow with God, your giving should increase because your faith increases.
Imagine for a moment that your faith increases but your giving doesn’t. Your faith is behind
your giving. I really believe this is a part of our life where God wants us to operate in faith. And
if there is no ceiling or cap on our faith, there is no ceiling or cap on our giving. This is a place
that we often give. We often participate. We obey even outside of faith.

So, tonight as we give, think about the entire process. Who you’re giving to and why you’re
giving and think through faith. Don’t do numbers. Don’t do calculations. Give in faith and let
God lead you and learn more about yourself and learn more about God. Amen. (Prayer)

P. Mikael Toll –

Good evening. I am up here. I thought I was going to get a break tonight
because it was, it was Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. That was the deal. But I’m here
also on Wednesday. But I’m enjoying it. I’ve been so well received and I just really want to – P.
Schaller thank you for introduction here. Your introduction about the bride but also your
introduction of me. And I just want to says something about P. Schaller, too. Because 20 years
ago, I think it will be in May, he took over this church as the senior pastor, and I remember he
said a couple of things. He said let’s relearn. Relearn. And we are relearning all the time, aren’t
we?

And the other thing you said is like give me a year and, you know, see how it goes. And we gave
you 20 years, you know, and things are going very well. And I’m just saying that because, you
know, it says in 1 Corinthians 14:8 about the trumpet. That the trumpet can if there’s an uncertain
sound, you know, people are not getting ready for the battle. But I have been coming and going
obviously over the years, you know, and it’s the same sound here. Learn the Bible. Believe the
Bible. Go into all the world. And we’re just excited about it.

And I do remember when that time you were over in Finland for Easter, you know. It was right
at that time when, you know, a lot of things were going on and we were a group of pastors and we were heading somewhere and we were about to jump in a couple of cars and go over to the
pastor’s house.

And there was this one man. He was just going through some really difficult time in his life and
he had problems in his life and so on. And P. Schaller was ministering to him and, you know, all
the pastors, hey! We need to go here. And P. Schaller – but he’s hurting. I mean all the things
going on over here and he was concerned about this man.

And then, we got to P. Yuha’s house eventually. And it was only men there and P. Schaller put
his feet on the table, you know, without socks. No ladies there. He could do that. And then he
said, he said this, you know, I don’t care what happens to the ministry in one sense because I
am going to continue to do what I’ve always done with my friends across the world.

So, it was not about buildings and organizations, you know. So, I just remember that. So, I just
want to return those words about me there with those words. That the church here is up and
running and it’s not over. We’re still going into all the world and we’re excited about that. And
I’m glad that I can have a portion in that whole thing, also. So, thank you so much for receiving
me so well. (Prayer).

Let’s go to the book of Isaiah. We had a little pep talk – P. Schaller and I – and we decided that
we’re going to talk about eschatology tonight. So, the message will be kind of a little bit in that
field. And what does eschatology mean? It comes from two Greek words: ESCHATOS which
means last or last things and LOGIA which means the study. So, it’s the study of the last things.
And you know a lot of the Bible when it was written and still was or is about prophecy and you
know there is a lot to learn about those things. Prophecy is really history written in advance or
in reverse. So, we can know something already now that nobody else knows about.

The title for my message tonight is “Knowing Him who Knows the End from the Beginning.”
Knowing Him who Knows the End from the Beginning. And I’d like to read from Isaiah two
passages. This will be our launchpad if you will and we’ll be all over the place I assume. Isaiah 41:
21-24. And the title in my Bible here is the futility of idols. The futility of idols. And here the
Lord is addressing these. Well, he’s addressing the idols and those who have the idols and pray
to them. He says, present your case. The Lord is really cocky here. He says, present your case to
the Lord. Vs. 21-24.

So, it’s like an idol does not know anything about the future. So if we just turn – because it’s not
a real God. It’s a god with a little g. But they don’t know anything. So, Isaiah 46:5-10, and again
it speaks about dead idols and the living God or dead idols versus the living God. Vs. 5-9. Now,
verse 10, the last verse here. So, this is quite remarkable, isn’t it? Because God is so amazing.
He is different from the idols.

I think there are a couple of reasons why people do not study prophecy maybe to the same
degree now than even just a few decades ago. And one is probably, you know, because of the
lack of knowledge. They may be ignorant about it or they may have the wrong approach. We’ve
been talking a little bit about that earlier this week.

And in Hosea 4:6, it says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. So, there is a need for
knowledge. There is a need for knowledge about the end times. There is a need for knowledge
about prophecy and so on.

Another reason is that Satan attacks prophecy and he hates prophecy. He hates it in general,
but there are two prophecies that he hates especially much and they are both found in Rev. 20.
The first one is in vs. 1-3. It’s when the Millennial reign will be established in the future and he
will be bound for 1,000 years. He doesn’t like that because right now in 2 Corinthians 4:4 he is the god
of this world. But then, he’s going to be bound for a thousand years.

But a thousand years is like, you know, at some point it’s going to be over. But in a few verses
later, vs. 7-10, I believe it is, there is another prophecy about him and that is his final
destination in the lake of fire. The lake of fire is eternal. So, he hates those prophecies and he’s
doing his very best to prevent them from taking place and being fulfilled, but he’s also working
overtime just trying to make Christians ignorant about these things, so we don’t know really
that he is defeated and that is his future.

So, I’d like to speak about three different things about prophecy tonight. Three different things.
Prophecy is

#1. Stirring. It stirs us up.

#2. It’s stunning. It’s overwhelming. And

#3. It’s stabilizing.
People claim that it’s the opposite. But it is stabilizing if we teach it properly and in a balanced
way.

So, let’s start with the stirring part. Why study prophecy? Well, it’s because it’s our only hope in
this fallen world, you know. We cannot fix this world. We were trying but we are not very
successful. Now in the early church, when the Christians met, they greeted each other with an
Aramaic word that is Maranatha. Maranatha means “Come O Lord.” It doesn’t mean, hello. We
are waiting for the Antichrist. Have you seen him yet? It doesn’t. It’s like Come O Lord. They
were waiting for the Lord. They were expecting his return.

And the Blessed Hope. We find it in 1 Thessalonians 1:10. We are waiting for the Lord Jesus to show up
for us, the bride, that we heard about, before Antichrist will come into this world. Now, we talk
about the Rapture. We still believe in a pre-tribulational Rapture. More and more Christians are
kind of moving in, you know – they believe in the mid-trib or post-trib or sorry. Pre-wrath is
another version if there aren’t enough versions out there already. So, you have those. We
believe in a pre-tribulational Rapture that he will come back and we read about it in 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18. We read about it in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52. But we also read it and this is very much in line

with what P. Schaller was sharing about the bride because you know a Jewish wedding, you
have it described in the Gospel of John 14:1-3. If you want to make a study about a Jewish
wedding, and then compare that to what Christ is saying there in the fourth Gospel, it is
remarkable. It is fantastic.

So, you have these three passages if the main one is probably 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and it’s very
interesting there because Paul came to Thessalonica and very quickly he was kicked out of
there. But even though he was there only for a very short time, apparently he had taught them
about eschatology, because he’s writing about it in the first letter to the Thessalonians. But
then, there is a second letter to the Thessalonians and it was written probably just half a year
later. So, there’s not a long time in between.

And I like for us to turn to the second letter or the second epistle to the Thessalonians and we
are going to read about it, because what happened there was that somebody had written a
letter, a forged letter, and in that letter it said that you are already in the day of the Lord. And
in the rap yesterday over in the cafeteria, we shared about the day of the Lord, that the day of
the Lord is actually 1,007 years, because it included three things.

It includes first of all judgment which is the Tribulation period. It includes secondly restoration which is related to the coming of the Lord, the return of the Lord. And then, there is the blessing part which is the Millennium.
And so, he had taught them these things but he has also taught them that before the day of the
Lord comes, there will be a Rapture. You will be taken out of here and they knew that but now
a letter came and after the letter, it was signed, you know, “the Apostle Paul,” but it was a
forged letter. It was not true. And it said you are already living in the day of the Lord. So now,
they were all confused.

So, Paul writes to them in 2 Thessalonians that that was the purpose of writing that and in
chapter 2 we read here beginning in vs. 1. We’re going to read the first six verses. Vs. 1-6. I’ll
read the following ones and then we’re going to return to verse 3. So, he’s reminding them
about that. So, you know, this letter is not from me. It’s false. Vs. 6.

If you just return to verse 3 here, in my New King James Bible here it says falling away. That the
falling away must take place first. Okay. Some translations are using the English word
“apostasy” and it comes actually from a Greek word that is APOSTASIA. APOSTASIA, obviously
that’s where we get the English word “apostasy.” But that means when we say somebody is
apostate, it means that they have once known the truth and now they have left the truth and
they are believing something that is false or wrong. That is the idea of apostasy.

So, they say, okay. So, what kind of apostasy or falling away are we talking about here? How
bad must it or should it be before we can say, okay now. Its so bad that the Lord can, the Lord
can come back. I mean the church was in complete darkness for 1,000 years. Once the Roman Empire became a Christian empire, I mean the church was in darkness basically all the way up
to the Reformation. And we have other, have had other times in history when the apostasy
have been more or less total or complete, so it is really referring to apostasy in that sense that
the church must be completely deceived.

There will be no truth left or anything. But it’s interesting that if you do a word study on APOSTASIA, you will find that it means simply to move from point A to point B. It can be used in all kinds of contexts. So, something is being
removed. Something is going from point A to point B. So what is that?
So, could this refer to the Christians that are now at point A, the earth, and they are heading for
point B which is heaven. So, could APOSTASIA refer actually to the Rapture? I am leaning in that
direction. I don’t want to be too dogmatic but if it is that way, it makes a lot more sense
because how can we discern otherwise like how bad will it be. Well, it’s really bad now, you
know. There are so many pastors that have gone astray in their doctrine, so the Lord’s return
must be closer.

But he says something will happen. Antichrist cannot show up until the falling away or the
apostasy have taken place. But something must be removed from point A to point B and could
that be the church? It is very possible and then of course we read further. We find in vs. 6 there
that, you know, what is restraining that he may be revealed in his own time.

So, Antichrist cannot show up until the church has been removed, because he who is
restraining him must be removed. And who is he? It’s a personal masculine pronoun with a
capital H. He is the third person of the Trinity. It is the Holy Spirit. Only God can hold back
Antichrist. So, the Holy Spirit is indwelling the church. So, if the Holy Spirit will be removed, the
church must be removed. So, therefore he’s saying here that you’re not in the day of the Lord.
You are not in the Tribulation period yet because it cannot start, it cannot happen until the Holy
Spirit has been removed. And the Holy Spirit is indwelling you. So, when he goes, you must go.
So, that is what he’s saying.

So, APOSTASIA here may very well refer to the Rapture. I know it’s maybe a minority view. It
may be a little radical but there are a number of scholars who do believe that, that it could be
the case. And it’s very interesting. So, he’s saying that.

So, we are church age believers and because P. Schaller was talking about the bride and you
know it’s just so remarkable because we said that we are indeed the most privileged people in
all history. The church age believers are unique. Completely. I wouldn’t exchange it for
anything. Meaning that is say, oh yeah. You could be a Jew and you could be living there. You
could be God’s people. Great. You could live in the Millennium and perfect environment. All
that. No, church age believers are unique in the sense that we are the bride of Christ.

We are married to the second person of the Trinity. I mean that is – we can’t understand it. I mean it’s
just unbelievable.
So, when we are talking about those things here, we see that prophecy is stirring. It’s very
stirring us up because this is exciting. It is so exciting to be the bride of Christ and living in this
dispensation and living in this day and age knowing that the Rapture is the next thing on God’s
calendar. Because the Rapture is a signless event. It cannot be figured out. We cannot find a
sign saying that, okay. This must take place first. Then the Rapture can take place. No, nothing.
It can be taking place at any moment. Now, so it’s stirring.

But then, it’s also stunning. You know, there are about 300 prophecies in the Bible about the
first coming of Jesus Christ. Now, some of them are the same. So, it’s about 108 different ones.
But there is or was – he is dead now – but there was a mathematician and his name was Peter
Stoner. Maybe some of you have heard about him.

But he was calculating the probability that only eight out of those 108 different prophecies
about the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ would be fulfilled in one person in history. What
is the probability? And he said or he arrived at this conclusion that the probability is like 10 to
the power of 17, meaning 10 with 17 zeroes after and that’s just 8 out of 108. And that is the
same thing as if you would take a silver or not one silver dollar but a bunch of silver dollars and
you would fill the state of Texas knee high with silver dollars. You would mark one of them and
then you would blindfold a person and that blindfolded person would take a bunch of
bulldozers just to mix it all up.

And then, you send that blindfolded person into the state of Texas and there are silver dollars
up to his knees and then he will pick one and he will pick the marked one. That is the
probability that eight out of the 108 different new prophecies about the first coming of the Lord
will be fulfilled by accident if you will. And there is not eight. There is 108. And that’s just about
his first coming.

And we also have a bunch of prophecies about his Second Coming and we are waiting for that,
of course. And just to give you one example. Micah 5:2 says that the Messiah will be born in
Bethlehem. But it says there and a lot of people don’t look at that but it says Bethlehem
Ephratah or whatever you say in English.

But, you know, and that is in the south near Jerusalem. It was – there was another Bethlehem
in Zebulon which was in the north near Nazareth where he actually grew up. But it’s said it’s in
Bethlehem Ephratah that he will be born. So, when they went down there to register with the
government, the Roman authorities and all that, they were in that particular Bethlehem, not
the one near Nazareth.

And that’s just one of them. And you know, there are so many of them. It’s amazing. And yet a
lot of people read this. Bible believing conservative Christians, and then when it comes to the
prophecies related to the Second Coming, they say, oh no. It’s like they’re going to be fulfilled in
an allegorical way, you know. It doesn’t really mean that they will be fulfilled exactly.
Now, my question is why would God change horses in midstream? I mean why would he fulfill
all the different prophecies related to the first coming and then change his approach
completely to this and spiritualize everything and allegorize everything? It doesn’t make sense.

So, we can expect all the prophecies about his Second Coming to be fulfilled in the same
manner that the ones related to the first coming was aware. So, that is amazing just to think
about it that way.
And we have so much going for us here. So, prophecy is stirring. Prophecy is stunning, but
prophecy is also stabilizing. And sometimes people say, well. Wait a minute. If you study too
much prophecy you’re going to go crazy. I mean it’s like you’re not going to remain objective in
this world, this real world. I mean it’s just fantasies. I mean think about it. You know, it’s not
going to really be that way. It's more like, you know, just symbolic things and so on. And don’t
pay too much attention to it.

But remember when we read 2 Thessalonians 2 and he was talking about this forged letter that had
reached them and he said whatever you read, whatever comes to you like do not be soon
shaken. Do not be soon shaken. Return to the sound teaching that you received from me during
my visit and do not believe in some forged letters that are coming to you saying something
differently claiming that they come from me that are contracting what I have already said. You
are not in the day of the Lord. It cannot happen before the Rapture takes place.

So, the Bible says in Mt. 24 and also in the book of Revelation chapter 13 that in the last days or
the last days will be characterized by counterfeit miracles and worldwide deception. And we
are I said this the other night but I just want to say it again because I like this picture and this
illustration. Like we know so much because we live in this dispensation, you know. If you
compare what we know and understand and have had revealed to us compared to the Old
Testament saints, it’s like, it’s like we have this rap session with all the prophets, you know.
Daniel and Ezekiel and Isaiah. They’re sitting there, you know, and then it’s like all of a sudden
we’re going to start asking them questions.

But instead, they are starting to ask us questions. Daniel is like hey, hey! Could you church
believers, could you tell us or tell me what I wrote about some 2,600 years ago because I didn’t
understand it but you have that revelation. Could you tell me? And then, Isaiah is like, hey! I
need to know, also. I mean I’ve been writing so much about these things but I really don’t know
what you, what you know.

So, we are ahead of them not because we are smarter or have a higher IQ or are more
educated or living closer to God or have a better walk with the Lord but we have a greater,
fuller understanding or fuller revelation. That is something that we can be excited about. That is
something that can stir us up and it is stunning but it is also stabilizing, because we do know so
many things that – we know the end from the beginning because we believe on him. It’s not
like the idols. I mean people love to know the future. I mean they have all kinds of ways that
they try to figure out the future.

And of course, Satan knows more than we do because he’s supernatural and he has all the
demons and all that. So, sure he can say something. He can come up with some type of life that
seemingly helps people to understand something about the future. But it’s a, it’s a deception.
He doesn’t know the future. He doesn’t even know the time of the Rapture. So, it’s like God is
the one who knows the end from the beginning and that is amazing.

And I just want to close with a little bit of a personal testimony here and then we’re going to
have a rap I believe afterwards so we can go deeper in to whatever area or areas that you
would like to. But, you know, okay. I’m going to go back to 1974 in January. It was a very col
Friday night in south, southern Sweden. Not as south as Ulla is. She’s in the southern tip of
Sweden. I was a little further north. But in south central Sweden and I was 12 years old. You can
do the math how old I am.

I was 12 years old. I was not quite a teenager yet, but my siblings were. And they were part of a
teen group. So, they kind of told that you can come, you know. You’re not 13. You’re 12 but you
can come. So, I came. I was there and there was this one man. I don’t know. Normally, they just
had crazy activities. They were playing volleyball or whatever they did or table tennis or eating
or something.

But this night, there was this one guy there talking about Bible prophecy. I don’t know where he
came from. I don’t know who he was, you know, and I was just listening to this guy and I was
scared to death. I mean it’s like, wow! And he talked about Israel and this was January 1974.
The Yon Kippur War took place just a little bit before the energy crisis. All these kinds of things.
The focus was on the Middle East, so people talked a lot about it and in the churches, they
talked a lot about it.

So, I was really upset about it because, you know, I don’t know. I mean I didn’t know God well
enough. I believed in him but it was not a good experience. And then – I told this in Finland – I
remember P. Schaller was laughing at it. So, we’ll see if he likes it this time, too.
But there was like as I was walking home this cold – I walked by this hockey rink and it was
outdoor. Most of nowadays are indoor but it was outdoor. And there was a game going on.

All these lights on and people were screaming and cheering and all that. And I’m walking by that place and I’m just saying to myself like why, how can you be there and be so happy and don’t
you care that the world is going to hell in a handbasket? Don’t you understand that you should
be more serious about life. So, walked by that place and I came home and I almost went into a
depression.

But my brother was at that time, you know, God was seeking him and he worked with the guy
and he witnessed a lot to him and he brought home a book and it was Hal Lindsey, “The Late
Great Planet Earth” translated into Swedish. It was translated into different languages. And I
just found this book there, you know, and I read it. It’s like, oh no! It’s more of that stuff, you
know, and it’s like it was just – I was so scared. It was unbelievable.

But I read the book and it was fascinating in one sense but I was scared because I said, where
am I in all of this? I mean if there’s one person in the whole world that will go to hell and
everybody else will go to heaven, I’m the one who’s going to go to hell. I mean that was kind of
the attitude I had. So, it was very interesting and I read it.

But, you know, as I read this book, in the last chapter, he introduced me to something that I
never, ever heard in my life. Eternal security. That once you have been saved, you are actually a
child of God forever. Wow! That was interesting. And then, at the very end of the book, how
when we write an email or something, we often end up with like “in him” or “in grace” or “in
his service” or something. He ended the book, “See you at his feet. Hal Lindsey.” I was thinking,
wow. Is this true?

So, in the midst of all this eschatology stuff, there was this unbelievable doctrine, you know,
about positional truth, that once you’re in Christ, you’re always in Christ. And it was so
encouraging and I was very, very – and of course, little by little my attitude toward prophesy
changed because of that. That I don’t have to be afraid of these things, whatever is going on in
the world, you know. It is just unbelievable.

You are, you have your position. I mean you’re standing in grace in Romans 5:1 and you have
access to that same grace that you’re now standing in in Romans 5:2. And these things became
real to me. So, I believe if I understand my position in Christ, if I understand what God has made
or done for me and who I am in him and he is the one that knows the end from the beginning, I
am totally secure in this.

And prophecy will become something totally different. It will become stirring. It is something
you want to learn about. It’s something you want to hear about. It is something – I mean, we
had almost every day this week, I end up at a table there in the cafeteria, you know. We’re just
talking about a lot of prophecy. A lot about everything but especially prophecy and it is
stunning.

We study these things and no other book, religious book or whatever can do this. Only the Bible
can actually predict the future. Not Nostradamus or whatever his name is. I mean people read
about him all the time and it’s so vague. It’s like come on but the Bible is so exact and it is
stabilizing. If we don’t speculate about the timing of the Rapture and speculate about who the
Antichrist will be, we are fine. It will actually be stabilizing and we need it.
So, I close with this. See you here tomorrow unless the Rapture takes place and in that case, I
say see you at his feet. All right. Thank you.

 

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