Before the Wrath (2020) - full transcript

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As Galileans, we witnessed
his first miracle.

He warned us that a time of
great deception would come.

But we must hold on
to our faith that one

day He would return to save
us from the end of the world.

Most people don't believe
that Jesus is coming back.

What if there was evidence that
proves that this is all real?

Because there were
so many people

bringing up little bits
and pieces of this,

I'm thinking there's got
to be a pattern here.

The Bible talks about
it as being a mystery,

but why does the
rapture have to happen?



What's the point to it all?

A Galilean would have
understood that perfectly.

They are the key to everything.

I'm just so stunned.

I never thought I would
see this in my lifetime.

This is the most profound
discovery in human history.

From his promise made through
wine at the Last Supper to why

the world cannot know
the day of his return,

we were chosen to preserve the
truth until the end of days.

So even if we are not
spared from death,

others can unveil what
we knew and believe.

This discovery proves
that He is coming back.

We are not destined to
live in this world forever,

for out of the
earth we were taken,



as we are nothing
more than dust,

and to dust we shall return.

Though the body must perish,
the spirit lives forever,

so I urge you to seek the
things that are eternal

rather than that which
will decay into nothing.

As I write to you, the foretold
coming of the messiah, our Lord

Jesus Christ, is
now fulfilled, as we

await his prophesied
return at the end of days.

Though He first came
to save the world,

He will return to judge it.

My brothers and
sisters in Christ,

know that a time of great
tribulation approaches such as

has not been seen since
the beginning of the world

nor shall there ever be again.

But our Lord will return to
retrieve those that follow Him

from the wrath
that will be poured

out upon all who are living
on the face of the Earth.

A time of worldwide
wars, famines,

great earthquakes,
and sickness that will

bring an abundance of death.

The oceans will rage
and the land will burn,

as the moon becomes as blood
and the sun black as sackcloth.

But I warn you, before
that terrible day there

will be a great falling
away from the faith.

And when the hour of judgment
comes upon this fallen world,

few will remain
that truly believe.

Though the convergence
of signs for his return

have been revealed to you
throughout the scriptures,

there are some mysteries that
God proclaims will be sealed

until the time of the end...

Understanding that
will be unveiled

to the generation
that will witness

the return of the messiah.

I fear, though, that
when the savior returns,

will He find any faith
left on the Earth?

It's been 2,000 years since the
final prophecies were recorded,

and today the foundation for
the convergence of nearly

every prophetic
sign foretold within

the remaining
biblical prophecies

has never been more prominent.

As a result, a recent rise in
debates regarding the signs

of the times has led to
growing division regarding

when the messiah will return.

After all, if the
events prophesied

within the ancient records
are indeed to come to pass,

then knowing the timing
of the Lord's return

would be of great importance.

The timing is a real
hot-button, especially

among religious people,
Christians and what the like.

We love predictability.

We want to know when He's
going to be coming back.

The conflict, the disagreement,
the contention over the timing

of the rapture...

And particularly in
the last 10 years,

it has gone off the chart.

You know, instead
of saying, my, how

they love one another, as they
said of the early church...

Now today of the church,
they say, my, how

they fight with one another.

And recent findings
from organizations,

such as LifeWay Research,
confirm that the infighting

among Christians is deepening.

In one of our surveys,
we ask when they thought

the rapture would occur.

The largest group, 36%,
believe that the rapture

will occur pre-tribulation.

But if that's the
largest group, that

means there's not a
majority believing any one

thing about the rapture.

In addition to the 36% that
believe the rapture will occur

before the tribulation period
begins, 4% of Christians

believe it will
happen in the middle.

18% believe the rapture
will happen at the end.

An additional 13%
consist of other timing

variations and theories.

4% just aren't sure
about any of it.

And surprisingly, the remaining
25%, a growing statistic,

no longer believe in a
literal rapture at all.

But why is this happening?

People have access to a
lot of information right

at their fingertips, so
they want to go and develop

their ideas on their own.

They want to put
together this cornucopia

of eschatological
beliefs without any kind

of hermeneutical framework.

But it really may not match
up with any views out there.

So while the debate
rages on regarding

the signs of the times...

Some Christians believe
this is the final sign

for Christ's return, as Russia
occupies war-torn Syria.

Israel prepares for war, as
they send troops to the border.

...the secular world,
which makes up

most of the global
population, couldn't

care less about the
return of Jesus,

scoffing at what is perceived
as nothing more than

unfounded biblical nonsense.

It's helping to
drive people away.

First it's going to drive
them away from the topic we're

talking about, but ultimately
it will drive people

away from the church,
from Christianity,

from pursuing the faith.

That's how serious this is.

Yeah, I'm sure that
somebody that has not bought

into the teachings
of Jesus Christ

scratch their head a little bit
if something this important,

about Jesus returning...

Christians can't even explain
how that's going to happen.

After all, if the validity
of biblical prophecy

can be confirmed by
historical discoveries,

then why can't most Christians
get on the same page

when it comes to the
return of their messiah?

Maybe this is because we're
asking the wrong question.

There is so much
infighting about when

Jesus is coming back, nobody
stopped and asked why.

But the fact is, the timing
is not nearly as important

as the why of his return.

People forget to even ask,
why is Jesus coming back?

Why is all this going to happen?

Why must there be
an end of the world?

And I think we're focusing
on the wrong thing.

The issue is why does the
rapture have to happen.

What's the point to it all?

So what is the point?

Are the events of the end
times simply a sequence

of ancient superstitions, or
did those that were with Christ

understand something
much greater that was

buried by the sands of time?

Before our story can begin,
we need to first understand

that Jesus wasn't simply a Jew.

More specifically,
he was a Galilean.

Not only that, but
Jesus's disciples

were all Galileans as well.

They were not only Galileans,
they were Galileans from just

about every walk of life.

You've got a guy
who's a fisherman.

You've got a guy
who's a tax collector.

And yet Jesus assembled
these Galileans together.

And I think there's a great
reason why the Galileans being

present, his disciples,
future apostles,

would be spoken to by Christ
in the Galilean vernacular.

You see, even though the regions
throughout ancient Israel

share the same culture, the
Galileans developed customs

that were unique only to them.

Why is this important?

Because Jesus used
people's cultures

to more deeply communicate
the spiritual nature of God.

He used words and symbols
and analogies and parables

for them to understand.

You see it on the
Sermon on the Mount...

Speaking to them in ways
that they can understand.

Speaking to them about
being fishers of men,

you know, for example.

Why would you use that
analogy unless you

knew that these are fishermen?

Everything He said was
based on life that he lived,

culture that he belonged to.

I think it's hard for us
to understand in our day

what it was like for
them in their day.

When Jesus spoke, it was from
the heart to their heart.

There was a profound
connection made.

The first century believers
had such a clear understanding

of what Jesus was saying.

He gave them clear revelation.

So it's no wonder that
one day his disciples

came to Him to ask
about the fulfillment

of God's plan for the future.

And Jesus answered them
in shocking detail.

And He uses illustrations that
they can understand that tells

them the world is going
to come to an end someday,

and here's how it's
going to happen.

So to fully understand the
depths of what Jesus could have

revealed to the Galileans
regarding how and why He would

return in the last days, we must
understand the unique culture

to whom He was speaking.

We need to see the Messiah
through their eyes.

This sparked an ambitious
research project,

and fragments of
new insight began

to expose the forgotten ways
of the ancient Galileans.

You know that 2/3 of the gospel
took place in a little strip

of land by the Sea of Galilee?

2/3 of the gospel.

It actually makes no sense,
if you really think about it.

Most of the Jews didn't
live there, but yet 2/3

of the gospel took
place right there.

So you cannot ignore the culture
and the people, the life,

and the habits of those days.

And that's why the Galileans
are playing such a big part.

There are a lot of
other people who have

a lot of pieces to the puzzle.

And a lot of other people are
working on the same projects.

It's an enormous research
project to make sure that you

find it and get it right.

Because there were
so many people

bringing up little bits
and pieces of this,

I'm thinking there's got
to be a pattern here.

And there was... pieces to a
puzzle that formed a prophetic

timeline woven
throughout the ancient

scriptures that
directly references

an ancient Galilean ceremony...

A ceremony that was passed
down through generations

to foretell how and
why Christ will return

in the last days of the world.

And of all the
ancient ceremonies,

this secret could
have been hiding.

It was discovered within
a one-of-a-kind wedding...

A wedding that contains a series
of customs that would unfold

over an entire year, revealing
a chronological sequence

of events that perfectly aligns
with the recorded biblical

prophecies leading to the
second coming of Christ.

It's a wedding.

It is a Galilean-style wedding.

There's no doubt about it.

Why use a Galilean wedding?

Because all of his
disciples were Galileans.

When Jesus taught his disciples,
He used an object to start

with that they already knew.

Then He would say, the kingdom
of heaven is like that.

In the case of the
Galilean wedding,

He would say to the guys,
you know what our weddings

are like, don't you?

We do them all the time.

The end of the world is
going to be like that.

The parallels to the
rapture are incredible,

and it is so brilliant.

It's so brilliant.

So what exactly about
their ancient wedding

changes everything
that we thought we

knew about the second coming?

To truly understand the
depth of what we're only

now rediscovering, we must
journey back to ancient Galilee

during the time of
Christ to follow

the very sequence of
events that was hidden

within their prophetic wedding.

This is where the story begins.

These are the Galileans,
and this is what they knew.

Welcome to the town of Cana.

Israel is now under
Roman control,

ruled by Tiberius Caesar.

And under his cruel
authority, life

is harsh for many of the Jews.

But on this day, there's
hope for the future,

a promise for a new beginning...

Because on this day, the
betrothal between a young groom

and his bride is taking place.

I don't think it's possible
to overstate how important

a wedding is in the Middle
Eastern culture today,

as it was in that day,
the first century.

A wedding was the most
important event that would take

place in any town for anyone.

In fact, as word spread
throughout the streets

that a betrothal was taking
place, everyone who was able

would rush to the main
gate to witness it.

Everything took
place at the gate.

And this was really, really
important, because this

is where you found the elders.

The elders ratified
legal agreements.

And if you held the
ceremonies near the gate,

you would have
layers of people that

would gather around who
are maybe not family

members, maybe not friends.

So you see, having wedding
guests the way we have them

today wasn't important to them.

They wanted witnesses,
because you can't

make a covenant without
having witnesses

to ratify the covenant.

There is a written
proposal that is presented.

It is a written
covenant of marriage

that the bride accepts.

They would be asked, do
you agree on these terms?

They would say, "We
do," which means

that they can't go back on it.

They can't say, "I didn't
know that was in there,"

or "those terms were
disagreeable to me."

After the agreement outlining
the union between the two

families was
publicly read, gifts

were then exchanged,
with the most

extravagant going to the bride.

In fact, contrary to
popular belief, a dowry,

or the price that was paid to
the bride's father in Galilee,

was not a purchase of
the bride as property

as it was with surrounding
cultures in the Middle East,

but rather an
insurance policy that

would help take care
of her if anything

were to happen to her beloved.

But what comes next
will set in motion

a sequence of events that
will shape the future

for generations to come.

Then it focuses down
on to the moment where

everyone holds their breath.

What happens is
the bridegroom is

then handed a pitcher of wine.

The groom then pours wine
into a ceremonial cup

that will be offered to
his desired bride-to-be.

And it was called
the cup of joy.

With both hands, reverently,
and respectfully, and fearfully,

he would pass it to his bride.

When the groom presents the cup,
she now has the choice as to

whether or not she
will accept or reject

this proposal for marriage.

The moment the cup is
handed to the bride,

she's given all power
to stop the wedding

by pushing the cup back and
rejecting the bridegroom.

Contrary to all other wedding
customs in the Middle East,

the bride in a Galilean wedding
possessed the final authority.

She alone had the power
to accept or reject

the offer from the groom.

The betrothal could
not be completed

without her willing acceptance
to drink from the cup of wine.

But on this day, during this
betrothal, the bride accepts.

The groom will then also
take and drink from the cup,

solidifying the new covenant.

But then he says
something truly profound.

And then the bridegroom
says publicly

so everyone can hear,
"You are now consecrated

to me by the laws of Moses, and
I will not drink of this cup

again until I drink it anew
with you in my father's house."

But to understand why this
phrase is so profound,

we must look at
another act recorded

later in the scriptures.

During the Last Supper,
Jesus offered a cup of wine

to his disciples to signify
a new covenant with them.

And after his disciples
drank from the cup,

Jesus then said
something similar to what

a Galilean would have heard
from their own weddings.

He said...

But I say to you, I will not
drink of this fruit of the vine

from now on until that day
when I drink it new with you

in my father's kingdom.

This is exactly why when
He gave them the cup,

He actually says this is the
new covenant in my blood.

I'm about to pour my blood.

It's a promise.

We're going to be
together again,

and we're going to mark
it by drinking the wine.

It's something important.

The breaking of bread
and offering of wine...

These acts were to form a
new union, a new promise,

meant to deliberately
set in motion events

of unimaginable importance.

In my Arab culture, you
eat from the same bread

and you drink from the same cup.

The thought is that, that
which is in you is in me.

It is a common
union, comm-union...

No longer two, but one.

When Jesus says that
at that Last Supper,

this is my body given
for you, broken for you,

He is talking as a
bridegroom to his bride.

When He says to
them, this is the cup

of my blood in the
new covenant, that's

how they would
seal the betrothal

in the ancient wedding.

Well, when you think about
the Galilean disciples,

they understood
exactly what it was

saying regarding these things.

They were familiar things.

The illustration was
entirely clear to them.

When Jesus said
that, his Galilean

disciples at the Last Supper
heard only one thing...

Wedding.

In fact, this might explain
why later in the gospel records

the disciples asked
Jesus only when

the events of the last days
would take place and not why...

Because as Galileans,
they likely

had already made the
connection, especially given

Jesus's first recorded
miracle, which took place

in the town of Cana when
he turned water into wine

at a Galilean wedding.

And I find this most fascinating
that the first miracle

Jesus ever performed
was at a wedding.

And that wedding had the
same cultural dynamic

that Jesus was
describing when he

was explaining to his disciples
about his soon return.

But the conclusion of
the betrothal was merely

the first step on a
year's-long journey

to an unimaginable conclusion.

Now the betrothal
ceremony is finished,

and the families rejoicing,
partying in the streets,

go back to their houses.

But this is just
the beginning, now,

of an entire year
of preparations

that goes into making
the way for the wedding.

And though, technically,
the bride and groom are now

united as one under
a new covenant,

the real work only now begins.

The groom must
leave his betrothed,

where they will live apart until
the day of their wedding feast.

In fact, the groom is
now responsible for all

of the preparations
for the day he will

be reunited with his bride.

Over the following months, he
will acquire materials to build

a new room onto
his father's house,

along with crafting
new furniture,

such as tables and stools.

He'll negotiate for required
items, such as oil lamps, rugs,

and dishes that will be used
in the wedding feast that will

take place in their new home.

And scholars have
now discovered that

the theological implications
of this period in the wedding

held profound
importance regarding

the first coming of Christ.

You see, before
Jesus's crucifixion,

He warned his disciples that He
too would have to leave them.

Jesus tells them...

I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare
a place for you,

I will come again and receive
you to myself, that where I am,

there you may be also.

I'm going to prepare
a place for you.

This is key, especially
when we think

about the first century
Galilean experience and culture.

I'm going away.

A Galilean would have
understood that perfectly

to mean that he's going to go
away to prepare a new home.

He's going to go prepare a
place for his bride, personally.

And then Jesus said something
that they all understood.

I'm going to come back and
get you, that where I am,

there you may be also.

But then He's not leaving before
He's making a verbal promise

that He's about to come back
and take us, and where He is,

we will also be.

And it's very important
that we understand

He's not saying so where
you are, I will also be.

It's where I am,
you will also be.

He is speaking as a bridegroom
to his bride, and they knew it.

They knew it, because this
was the culture of that day.

It is so tragic, for
lack of a better word,

they don't understand the
profound depth of the culture.

You cannot separate the
culture from the gospels.

If you take the culture
out of the gospels,

you virtually gut out
the entire meaning of it.

But unlike the earthly
custom, where the groom

will bring his bride back
to his father's house,

Jesus was speaking in a
heavenly realm, where only

those that are born again,
having agreed to be his bride,

could go.

It's Jesus who introduced the
doctrine of the rapture to us.

I'm going to come
and pick you up,

take you back where I've been.

You need to
understand something,

if you don't have that event
taking place in your theology,

you've got the wrong Jesus.

If Jesus doesn't come
back for his church,

then we all have
the wrong Jesus.

He so has to come back,
that it's mandatory.

It is absolutely a
definitive event.

It defines either we have the
right Jesus or the wrong Jesus

based upon the biblical
Jesus coming back or not.

He has to come back.

He said, I'm going
away, but I'm going away

to prepare a place for you.

Then I'm going to come back, and
I'm going to bring you to me.

Well?

Hello, that sounds
to me like a rapture.

And this is further
reinforced by Christ himself

when He tells his disciples
that when this time comes,

there will be those
living on the Earth

that will not taste death.

But until that time
when the groom can

be reunited with
his bride, there is

much that needs to take place.

And although the groom has
left to prepare a new home,

the bride's job is
not yet over either.

She must prepare for
the hour that her groom

will return for her.

The bride then
takes the next year

to put together a wedding
dress and other accouterments

for the particular wedding.

She's got to buy
with her bridesmaids

all kinds of pieces of cloth.

The bride and her bridesmaids
would either weave or acquire

fabrics for the bride's dress.

Smaller towns in the
region, being separated

from more populated
areas, may not

have the materials
readily available

to complete an elaborate gown.

The bride would
often have to wait

for traveling merchants that
would sell what was needed.

These preparations could
become a difficult and costly

task that in the first century
could take months to complete.

But that wasn't all.

Even after the wedding
gown was completed,

the bride also needed
to remain vigilant

and pure as she
waited for her groom,

no matter how long it took.

The bride was to be
always ready for her groom

to come back and take
her to that place

that he had prepared for her.

The bride would just
not sit and wait.

The bride was to occupy
until her bridegroom came.

And this is where things
get very interesting.

Typically in Galilee,
around one year

would pass while preparations
were being made for the wedding

feast at the father's house.

But recently uncovered evidence
has exposed new insight

that is sending shock
waves throughout

the theological community.

During this entire
process to now,

neither the groom nor
the bride actually

knew when the day or the hour
of the wedding would take place.

The exact minute of the
actual ceremony of the wedding

was not known.

Yeah, the bride just did
not know the day or the hour

that her bridegroom was coming,
so she always had to be ready.

In fact, no one in
the entire town knew...

No one, that is,
except for one person.

No one knew the day or
the hour of this wedding...

Not the son, not anyone else...

Only the father
of the bridegroom.

Only the father of the groom
knew the day and the hour

that the wedding
would take place...

The one who read the
conditions on behalf of his son

during the betrothal...

The one that provided payment
to obtain a bride for his son.

He and he alone holds
the secret to when

the wedding will take
place, the hour that his son

can retrieve his bride.

All the types of
weddings in the regions,

whether among Arabs,
Jews, or other people,

were all predictable.

You would take a year to
prepare for that wedding,

but at the end of that
year, the wedding would

take place on a designated day.

This is what made a Galilean
wedding different than all

the weddings in the area.

Because the bridegroom would
finish building his room.

He would finish with the feast.

And then he would
go to his father

and say, father I'm done.

I want my bride.

And the father would
say, I'll tell you when.

For the Galileans, it
was a surprise wedding.

The son would go home
to the father's house.

And in the Middle
East they do this,

but specifically you
see this in the Galilee

to this day, where the
son adds onto the house.

It's one portion built upon
another, extending the home,

enlarging the home.

And so the father
would have been

the one with absolute
preview over what's going on.

It's the father who tells the
son, that's it, you're done.

And then the father would
give the announcement, son,

go get your bride.

The father would be
the one who would

determine the day and the hour.

And he would say to the
groom, OK, now's the time.

The day and hour has come.

The bridal chamber, that
place that you've prepared

was complete, he
would say, OK, now.

This is the day.

This is the hour.

Go get your bride.

This goes back now to
several accounts in the Bible

where Jesus tells his
disciples that no one knows

the day or the hour
when I'm going to come.

They wanted to know if He was
going to establish the kingdom.

And He says, no, no, no,
you don't understand.

No one knows when I'm going
to come back for my bride.

The only person that could send
the bridegroom to get the bride

was the father.

The only person that could send
Jesus to come back to the Earth

is his father.

You see, during
Jesus's first coming,

when his disciples asked when
He would return at the end

of days, He also told them...

But of that day and
hour no one knows,

not even the angels in
heaven, nor the son,

but only the father.

Jesus himself, I
believe, demonstrated

the genuine Galilean tradition
by saying not even the son

knows the day and the hour.

At the moment of his promise to
the disciples that He's coming

to take them, at the moment
of his description of the end,

He was telling his disciples no
one knows the day or the hour.

But although Jesus himself says
He will not know the exact time

of his return based on
prophesied events that would

take place at the end
of days, the gospels

make it clear that we could
know the approaching season

in which the end of our
age would take place.

The day is drawing near, so
he's got to get the feast out.

But still, he doesn't know
the day when it's happening.

He's got a lot of help putting
it together, because there

could be 50 to 100 people
attending this thing,

and he's got to feed
them not just for one day

but for several days.

The bridegroom is
finished with the feast.

He's finished
putting it together.

He's got the room
built. He calls

upon his father
to inspect it all,

which is more of a formality.

And the father finally says,
yes, son, it's ready to go.

The son says, I want my bride.

And the father says,
I'll tell you when.

But remember, this
is a bridegroom who's

waiting for the moment when
his father taps him and says,

go get her.

He's excited, he's thrilled.

And when Jesus is
in heaven right now,

wow, I can't even begin to
picture what's going on,

but he's got to be
loving his bride,

saying I can't wait
to come back and take

you to be with me where I am.

And although the groom has now
completed the preparations,

he still has to
wait for the moment

that his father will tell
him to go get his bride.

And during this
same time, the bride

would also be
prepared and waiting,

equally as eager to be united
forever with her beloved.

But as the sun sets on
the town this evening,

the time of waiting
is nearly finished.

The darkness of
night approaches.

This brings us to a topic
that's fiercely debated today.

Since the origin of Christ's
message left with the Galileans

has faded into history,
Jesus's statements

regarding not knowing the
day or the hour of his return

has sparked heated debate
and growing misconceptions.

And the church has
suffered from this.

And that is, there are
those who want to set dates.

And yet the Bible teaches
both from Jesus himself

and from the apostles that no
man knows the day or the hour.

It is my belief that
these date setters,

so-called, have irreversibly
damaged Bible prophecy.

I grieve about the
obsession of when will it

happen, as far as day and hour.

When you start setting days
and then it doesn't happen,

then you have
millions or hundreds

of thousands of disappointed
people that, good chances,

that they'll walk
away from that faith

because it wasn't proved right.

And the result is
that Bible prophecy

is being systematically
erased from Christianity

all over the world.

I'm just so stunned.

I never thought I would
see this in my lifetime

that the greatest
news in the Bible

is now marginalized,
jeopardized,

and is simply coming under
great criticism and skepticism.

And then you talk to a pastor,
and he'll say, you know what?

I don't want to be
identified with the fringe.

There is a fringe.

We don't know the day or
the hour, and we don't.

Nobody's got any
special insight.

It's a secret, apparently,
only God the Father knows.

Look, when you
live in this world

and suddenly someone
tells you you're

about to be taken physically
out of this world,

then knowing the day is
like hitting the jackpot.

However, it saddens me that
even though Jesus himself said

no one knows the
day and the hour,

why do we think that
we need to know?

It sends a clear message.

We're not supposed to
deal with the actual date.

We're supposed to deal with
the preparation for that day.

In addition, with
spreading misconceptions

of biblical prophecy, more
churchgoing Christians

with each passing
year no longer want

to hear about these
so-called fringe topics.

And most churches have
clearly recognized this trend.

And if you ask a pastor,
he will tell you flat-out,

"You know what?

The world is coming to end is
not going to grow my church.

The fact that even Jesus is
coming back is not going to."

That is the number
one reason, actually.

And it's really because
pastors are themselves ignorant

concerning Bible prophecy.

They're also fearful.

They're fearful that if they
start teaching Bible prophecy...

I mean, really, they're
teaching the Bible,

so how can you not
teach the Bible,

the whole counsel
of God, without also

teaching prophecy by default?

But they're fearful that it's
going to be too controversial.

Christians always want to
be accepted by the world.

They are always on
the run to adopt

and embrace worldly views in
order for people to like them.

You sugarcoat everything.

You become a motivational
speaker rather than a pastor.

Because if you come
to an unbeliever

and you pull out
this rapture card,

he's going to run away from you.

He's going to
think you're crazy.

And this growing trend
of marginalizing Bible

prophecy is not merely
an unfounded perception.

It's proven to be happening
and likely far worse

than you believe.

Let me take you to
a more qualitative

study we did several years ago.

We took 450 of those sermons
from different pastors,

and just took those as a sample
and looked at those sermons.

Only 2% of those were
preached from a passage

of scripture that would be a
prophetic book of the Bible.

Here's why this is a problem.

The culmination of prophetic
events make up almost 1/3

of the entire Bible.

The findings that on
any given day only 2%

of sermons contained
anything prophetic

means that churches
are intentionally

marginalizing the topic.

I think that when you take 30%
of the Bible and you ignore it,

then your understanding
of the other 70%

is going to be flawed.

The Bible cannot be dissected.

You cannot just
choose what you want.

As to why it is that
Christians today

are dismissive of
the Lord's return,

I would connect the dots
with Biblical illiteracy.

And here's the thing.

I'm sad to say that it's
the fault of the pastor

behind the pulpit.

Churches are going to
tell you, you know what?

I want to live my full life.

I want to see my
children grow up.

I want to see my grand...

I don't want to think about
end of the world issues.

And I think that is what so
threw me, is that the fact that

the King is coming, we have a
glorious home prepared for us,

we're going to go to that place
eternally, became negative,

became a downer.

But the bigger problem
is that you cannot remove

prophecy from the
Bible without also

removing the return of Christ.

I absolutely believe that the
rapture is a fundamental belief

in Christianity.

Eschatology, Bible prophecy,
is of paramount importance.

Nearly 1/3 of the
Bible is prophecy,

so you cannot have
the whole counsel

of God without also having
the prophetic word of God.

It's the gospel.

The gospel is that Jesus came.

He was crucified, buried,
rose again, on the third day,

and is coming back
again one day.

If you take the return of
Jesus Christ out of the gospel,

you gut the gospel out.

But even worse yet,
the unintended result

of prophecy being systematically
removed from churches

and educational institutes
is that the world

is forgetting why prophecy
exists in the first place.

It's so that God can prove
to the world that He is God.

The point to all of this is
that if you remove prophecy

from the Bible, you remove
the proof that the Bible

is from a divine source.

It would place the remaining
scriptures of the Bible

on par with other religious
teachings in the world.

With all things
perceived as equal,

the Bible would
be seen as no more

relevant or divine than any
other so-called holy book.

This is actually why it is
that young people today want

nothing to do with the church.

The number one reason that
many today don't believe

is because there's no evidence.

You know, what's
interesting is Jesus said,

I have told you what's going
to happen before it happens.

So when it happens, you
will believe that I am.

There is so much evidence.

And the problem
is that many today

do not believe
because they do not

see the evidence that is there.

And only one thing
could come from this...

A falling away of
those that believe

Christ will return and even
in the validity of the Bible

itself...

A terrifying trend
that has already begun.

So my mother and father
immigrated to America

from the Middle
East, and the America

that they came to in 1963
is not the America today.

It has changed dramatically.

There was a day when
there was this knowledge

of the Lord's return.

You talk about it today,
and it almost reminds me

of what Peter said about
how that there is coming

a day that they will mock
and scoff any mention

of the Lord's return.

"Where's the promise
of his coming?

They've been saying that for
generations and generations,

yet he does not come."

Well, I think that's all a
part of the end-time apostasy.

Everything we're talking
about, it was prophesied,

it's happening.

I think one of the things
that plays into here

is what the Bible
calls the great falling

away, the great fall
from truth into apostasy.

And this is not simply a
perceived social change

from different generational
perspectives but one that

is being exposed
through findings

from various organizations,
such as LifeWay research,

the Barna Group
and Pew Research.

We see that only
about 15% are bought

in to evangelical teaching
indicating that Jesus Christ is

the only way to remove their
sin and that Jesus Christ alone

is how somebody can
see eternal life

and that they ought
to share that.

More than eight
out of 10 Americans

would have some hesitancy
or maybe completely dismiss

the core evangelical beliefs
of putting the Bible first

and believing in Christ alone.

According to multiple in-depth
studies from various research

organizations, more
than 80% of Americans

no longer believe that the Bible
is the complete word of God...

A trend that isn't surprising
when considering the proof

for the validity
of the Bible itself

is being systematically erased.

With all religions being
viewed more with each passing

year as being equal
and without substance,

a global trend of
humanism is exploding.

We're up to almost one
out of four Americans

indicating, "I don't
really feel like I'm

a part of any religious group."

On that same survey, we
did ask whether people

believe the world will
end in their lifetime.

And less than one out of
five, 18% of Americans,

actually believe that the world
will end within their lifetime.

Since the return of Christ
is synonymous with the end

of the world as we
know it, this may

lend some associative insight
into the trends we're beginning

to see in why most
people no longer believe

that Jesus is going to return.

And surprisingly, the
scriptures foretold

this, too, was going to happen.

I know you have a
little strength.

This describes this
church in the last days

prior to the return of Jesus
Christ as just hanging on.

There are a remnant of
believers today that

are hanging on to that hope.

And they are few in
numbers and growing

fewer with each passing day.

Jesus said that
when He comes back,

we'll even find
faith on the Earth.

We know that in the
last days, there's

going to be a diminishing
of people believing.

I believe that what is
happening in America

is that the westernized
version of, can I say,

a man-made Christianity
is failing.

It's failing in faith.

It's failing in its ability
to engage the culture.

It's failing to be ready, to
be busy about our Father's

business.

It's failing in evangelism.

Why?

There's no sense of urgency.

And so we live in
a time when there

are those saying that
they believe in the Bible

and believe in Jesus.

I have to ask the question,
what Bible are you reading,

and which Jesus are
you talking about?

When you're completely
detached from the word of God,

then the rapture sounds crazy.

Although the same people
who may reject God

will believe in aliens.

They will believe in
going to the psychic

and hearing from the
dead and all of that.

They believe in so
many weird things.

But when you talk
about Bible stories,

they will immediately say
these are fairy tales.

And it's interesting,
because we found

physical evidences to almost
every single miraculous story

in the scriptures.

Again, the Bible declares
that in the last days

there's going to be those
who will say, where's

the promise of his coming?

Everything has been continuing
on since the beginning.

And they mock... the Bible says
in the last days there's going

to be mockers, and there's
going to be those that make

light of the return of Jesus.

Not only is it
going to get worse,

it's going to get
exponentially worse.

Considering these trends,
it's not surprising

that this is precisely why
the scriptures famously warned

that in the last days,
Jesus will return

as a thief in the
night into a world that

is unbelieving and unprepared.

Jesus warned his disciples to
be ready for his second coming.

He said He would come
like a thief in the night.

Regarding the times and
the seasons, my brethren,

you have no need
that I should tell

you because you perfectly know.

The day of the Lord indeed
will come to this world

as a thief in the night.

But it will not come
as a thief in the night

to you, because if you're
ready, you're ready.

And we can only be surprised
and we can only suffer

from it if we're not ready.

He's going to come as
a thief in the night

to those who are not aware.

He's going to come to those as a
thief in the night to those who

have been bogged
down and weighted

down with what Jesus said
are the cares of this life.

Jesus returning as
a thief in the night

to those unprepared in the last
days appear self-explanatory.

And for years,
theologians interpreted

the meaning at face value.

But you see, in
ancient Galilee, we

know that only the father of the
groom knew the day and the hour

that the wedding
would take place.

But what researchers
have now discovered

is that the hour would be
in the middle of the night.

Well, even the idiom of, "no
man knows the day or the hour,"

the idiom of, "as a thief in
the night," they in that day

would have absolutely understand
exactly what Jesus was saying

when he uses those expressions.

They knew it was literally going
to be as a thief in the night,

and it would be in
the night, which again

was why they had to
have oil in their lamps

and their lamps lit...

So that it would
not be as a thief.

They were ready.

They were dressed and ready.

This was the ultimate surprise
twist on the Galilean wedding,

and Jesus, who lived
among them for years,

knew this all too well...

That the groom would
come for the bride

in the middle of the night.

Her life was pure.

She slept in her wedding dress.

Her bridesmaids were dressed
in their white linen garments,

and they were ready to help
her out should the bridegroom

come... which he was
coming unexpectedly

at an hour she didn't know...

So that she could be
ready to meet him.

They will do that in the middle
of the night for a reason.

It's to basically declare that
it can happen when everybody

else are not necessarily ready.

It is deliberate.

And that's why only
the people that

have an active
part in the wedding

are excited and are ready.

But those that are not are
completely... they're asleep.

They are literally asleep.

Yes, exactly.

And that's why we're told not
to fall asleep as others do.

That's why one of
the reasons, I think,

Christians should
always look for is, what

are the signs that Jesus
gave to the disciples,

and are we seeing them?

And though Jesus returning
as a thief in the night

was directed to the
unprepared world,

He also gave another
warning directed more

to those that would be
waiting for his return

at the end of days...

A parable that
warns how even those

that believe they are prepared
can end up left in the dark.

Jesus spoke about 10 bridesmaids
in the night prepared

and with oil burning
in their lamps

waiting for the
arrival of the groom,

which would come at any hour.

So you've got the
parable of those

with the oil in the lamps.

You've got 10 of them.

You've got all 10 who started,
but not all 10 finished.

You say, yeah, yeah, they did.

No, they didn't.

The Bible says that at the
time of the midnight cry,

they all jumped up and
trimmed their lamps,

but only five had enough
oil to continue on.

And this is key.

Symbolically in
scripture, the oil

is a reference to the
Holy Spirit in your life.

And so you can be a
believer... listen carefully...

Jesus said these are they
who believe for a while.

It doesn't mean you're
born again to believe.

Has your belief brought
you to faith in Christ?

So these virgins were religious.

These virgins were ready.

These virgins were waiting.

They had lamps.

They had oil.

But only the ones that had
enough oil made it to the end.

The application for this
today is quite clear.

With recently exposed
social trends,

many believe that this
prophetic warning from Jesus

himself regarding the
church in the last days

is already coming true.

I think the remnant
is keeping watch.

It's a little sliver
of Christianity,

some estimate
between 1% and 10%.

They're watching.

They're waiting.

They're looking at headlines.

They're looking
at current events.

But I think that's a
smaller and smaller

portion of the Church today.

As we head back to
the time of Christ,

the sun has now set on Cana.

And just as Jesus
warned the world will

fall asleep in the
last days, tonight

so have many of the Galileans.

But tonight, the groom's
hour has finally come.

The bridegroom knows
the day is coming.

But he sleeps with
his groomsmen...

They're all over the floor,
perhaps in a small room...

And the father makes the
decision, now is the time.

The father has decided that
now is the hour his son

will retrieve his bride.

He wakes him and says,
go get your bride.

The son leaps to his feet, and
he grabs a shofar, a ram's horn

trumpet, and he lets go a blast
to wake up the entire village.

It's a marvelous scene.

But it's meant to wake
up not only the village,

but the bride and her family.

It was during hours
of unexpectedness

that it would have been,
in the very early hours

of the morning, even at
midnight, where the bride

would be hearing that cry.

Behold, the bridegroom cometh.

And she was to rise up.

She was to get her lamp trimmed.

She was to be now
executing her preparedness.

The wait is over, and the
groom is finally on his way

to be united with his bride.

As they move through
the town streets,

trumpets blared loudly to
not only wake the bride,

but also the guests that were
invited to the wedding feast.

Only those that were
prepared could quickly

rise and join the concession.

The bridegroom and his
groomsmen now exit the house.

They go out of the compound,
begin to serpentine

through the streets
of the village,

until finally they come
near the bride's house.

And as the bride
comes into view,

what a shockingly
beautiful scene it must be.

There in the middle
of the night,

you have a row of women with
the bride in the middle... all

the bridesmaids dressed in
their white linen robes,

and in the center,
the bride dressed

in her beautiful bridal gown.

After a year of
preparing and waiting,

they are finally
together again...

Reunited as one forever.

The parade led by
the bridegroom now

rush up towards the
bride and her family...

And all the people that
are standing there,

the bridesmaids.

And the two men
with the litter set

the litter down on the
ground in front of the bride.

And she very, very modestly
steps out onto the litter,

and she lowers herself down.

The bride did not
simply follow her groom

back to the father's house, but
she was lifted into the air.

In fact, the ancient Galileans
referred to this moment

as "flying the bride
to the father's house."

She's lifted up off the ground.

She's escorted with him back
to that place of preparation.

It speaks, it shouts,
all about God's grace.

It's not her efforts.

She was just to be ready
because she loves him.

She's borne aloft.

She's taken away with him.

It's all about the grace of God.

It's about the grace of
God from the beginning

all the way through
to now, to the end.

There are multiple
chilling similarities

between this cultural
practice and descriptions

throughout the Bible
regarding what theology

has coined the rapture...

A moment that
believers are caught up

in the air to be
with the returning

messiah at the end of days.

This makes me think of
something... that when

the bride is lifted
off the ground,

and they carry her
off the ground,

as it were, flying her
to the father's house,

doesn't this sound
like Jesus collecting

his bride off the Earth
to join him in the air?

Absolutely, I believe that.

Without question.

Without question.

The clues that were
given in scripture

all speak with specificity to
this exactly being the rapture.

This is the reason why
He's coming to take us.

Why would a bridegroom
come and take the bride

unless it's to marry her?

From that moment on, we will
always be with the Lord,

just like a husband
and a wife are one.

They cannot be
separated anymore.

This is why I
believe the rapture

is such an amazing thing.

After the bride is flown
to the father's house,

the long-awaited
conclusion has begun...

The beginning of a wedding
feast joined and witnessed

by all of those that were
prepared and heard the call

during the darkness of night.

And Jesus made it
clear to his disciples

that this, too, is
a picture of what

will happen at the end of days.

Those that are caught up to
be with the returning messiah

will partake in what the Bible
refers to as the marriage

supper of the lamb, the
lamb being a clear reference

to Christ himself as the
sacrificial lamb crucified

on the cross.

In fact, the apostle John
references this wedding

feast when believers are
reunited with Christ as written

in the Book of Revelation.

To those in the final
generation, he writes...

Let us be glad and rejoice
and give honor to Him,

for the marriage of
the lamb is come,

and his wife has
made herself ready.

The father's house
in a Galilean wedding

is the perfect
picture of heaven.

Together as a married
couple, bride and bridegroom,

united forever, living in the
bridegroom's father's house.

Why is this so important,
is because this

is our destination,
that we are chosen

as the bride of Jesus
Christ and to dwell

with him for all eternity.

And everything here on earth
is a foreshadow, a picture,

of that which is to come.

You know, it's interesting,
at the Last Supper, twice

Jesus says this...

I eagerly await to partake
with you when this finds

its fulfillment in my kingdom.

Here's the question
that has to be asked...

Why did God make everything?

Why did He let the world fall?

Why did He send his son?

Why did his son have to die?

Why did his son have
to rise from the dead?

And then why did his
son descend in heaven?

Why is his son coming back?

This may be the
most important event

in the entire
history of eternity

when God brings a
bride to his son.

Because of this, Jesus
promised that He would return

for his bride to all that have
and will accept his promise

until the day He returns,
to not only be united with,

but to save his
bride from the wrath

that is to come upon the
world in the last days.

But Jesus warns that many
will not accept his offer

to attend his wedding
feast, that there will

be many that choose
to be separated

from him for all of eternity...

Those that will be left behind.

When they get to
the father's house,

everybody piles into
the compound now,

and the feast is
set and ready to go.

And the door is
shut behind them.

And no one leaves,
and no one comes

in, for seven days and nights.

And in ancient Galilee,
if you were locked out,

there was no getting in.

There are so many people
who know about it,

believer and non-believer.

Oh, yeah, I've heard
about the rapture.

Oh, yeah, Jesus is
supposed to come back.

I've heard about this.

Listen, hearing about
it's not enough.

In fact, we know from Galilean
experience in the first century

that you not only
had to be ready,

you had to have enough oil...

You had to get in.

You had to get
into that wedding.

And then the door was shut.

By the way, once the door
was shut, it was shut.

Those who were out were out.

And you think about the
incredible, terrifying reality

of knowing that Christ said He
would come back, and to then

be shut out, to be left out?

And yet Jesus was warning
us in those parables.

He was warning.

And just as with an
ancient Galilean wedding,

Bible prophecy warns that those
who missed the second coming

of the messiah are destined
to partake in the wrath of God

that will be poured out
upon a rejecting word.

And the righteous will be
removed from the Earth,

because the Lord there
says in Isaiah 26,

I will put them in
their place, I will shut

the doors behind them
in these inner chambers,

while I pour out my indignation,
wrath, upon all those

who dwell on the Earth.

The fact that the church escapes
God's wrath is so important.

The church does not
escape man's wrath,

and we see that going on...

Terrible persecution going on
in various parts of the world.

But the church,
biblically, scripturally,

God says that He's
going to spare

us from the wrath to come.

When you look at
the whole picture,

the Galileans are really
the key to understanding

the why and what of the
second coming of Christ.

Jesus used this illustration
that they knew so intimately

over and over and over again...

That you have a bride who is
loved by a bridegroom, who is

betrothed to this bridegroom.

And the bridegroom is going
to make a covenant with her,

and then he's going to go away.

And eventually, when
they don't know,

he's going to come back to take
her to be with him where he is.

This is an amazing thing,
and it all stems from what

the Galileans understood.

And Jesus talked
to the Galileans

like they were Galileans, so
that they would understand what

He meant when He said,
this is what it's

going to be like when I return.

There are many people who
profess to be Christians that

are really not digging
into the details of what

God has revealed about Himself.

After all, that's
what scripture is.

The number of those looking
to the return of Christ

are diminishing with
each passing year,

and it's never been more
important to speak up about why

the messiah is coming back.

I have not given up by any
stretch of the imagination,

and that's based on what I
see happening in my events.

The attendees are
getting younger

and younger and younger.

So I have not given up.

I just think they need
to identify with teachers

who are their generation...
And they're rare,

but they do exist.

And to the pastors, you need
to tell your congregations.

The influence of
pastors for those

who attend church on a regular
basis, it is still very strong.

If I as a qualitative
researcher can

pull from some fascinating
qualitative research

that we did on Bible
reading and what influenced

people's Bible reading...

When a pastor suggests
something, and not

just the passage the pastor
mentions in the sermon,

but when a pastor suggests,
go home and read this,

go home and look up this,
that has a big impact.

And I just think we
need to hang in there

and keep encouraging the
church and encouraging pastors.

They have one of the
toughest jobs on the planet.

And those with media
influence need to speak out.

Jesus died for his church.

He's coming back for his church.

He loves his church.

And we all need to
tell the ones we love.

If they choose to ignore
it, it's their fault.

But if you never warned
them, that's your fault.

We live in a nation founded
on Christian values,

yet followers of Christ are
choosing to remain silent.

We must be prepared to tell
others why Jesus is coming back

so they too can make a choice.

It is our choice.

Jesus is not forced on anyone.

It is our own free
will and our choice

that we choose to accept
our proposal from Jesus

Christ as our bridegroom.

See, this is why Satan...

Again, the why... why
Satan hates particularly

the Christian marriage.

He hates marriage because
of what it represents.

See, it's a microcosm of
what awaits in heaven.

We are the family of
God, our Heavenly Father.

We are brothers and sisters,
siblings, if you will,

in Christ.

It is a microcosm, a picture,
of that which has yet

to be fulfilled when it comes.

Before the day of wrath...

Before the feast begins...

Before the rapture... before
the thief comes in the night...

Back to when it all
began, to the moment

that you are offered his cup...

The question is,
will you accept it?