Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: The hope of the resurrection ought to be central in our minds. The whole point of the Christian message is that God is going to reverse death for us so that we, as disembodied spirits, will one day again be clothed in our physical bodies that will then be perfect. Then ultimately, all the blessings of God will be magnified and concentrated, and that ought to be our hope.

Dave Drewry: Have you ever been reading a good book and been tempted to skip to the last page? The suspense has been building page after page, and you just have to know how the story ends. Today on Focal Point, Mike Fabarez concludes our miniseries on Christian basics by flipping to the final chapter of human history. It is the conclusion of God's epic redemption story, from the fall of mankind to the return of Jesus. Here is Pastor Mike with a final message in our miniseries called Drink Your Milk.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: The Bible says in chapter 6 of Hebrews that there are at least six things you ought to be able to stand up and articulate. You should know what these things mean and something about how they are applied. We saw them naturally fall into pairings. We saw the first two in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 2, that we ought to know something about repentance and faith, actually at the end of verse 1. In verse 2, we ought to know something about what he calls the instructions about baptisms and the laying on of hands.

Take a look at chapter 6, verse number 2, as he gives us the third category, the third pairing. The bottom of verse 2 says the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. As soon as you start talking about there being a resurrection and being judged, all you have to do is start opening your Bible and looking through the New Testament. You will find confusion really fast because there are a lot of different judgments and a lot of different resurrections. We start going, "Wow, I need this all sorted out."

To put the eschatos in chronological order, we are not going to start in the future. We are actually going to start in the past. Here comes the very first event, Genesis 1:1. God creates people so that they can enjoy his presence. That is the first flannelgraph story they learn downstairs: God creates the heavens and the earth and all the people on it. Letter B, the second thing that happens is people say, "Forget you, God. Not interested." By chapter 3, and that is where this happens, people say, "I am not interested in following your rules."

"As a matter of fact, I see that that tree that you told us not to eat from, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is really good. That would be good for me. I want to have that. I know God said not to do it, but I'm going to do it anyway." That is called the fall. Mankind fell from their place of fellowship. They no longer were able to enjoy God's presence. As a matter of fact, the next time God showed up in the garden, what did they do? They hid because they were guilty.

God says, "Okay, people said forget you." God could have rightly and justly said, "Well then, forget you." God does not say that. Instead, he says, "Okay, I'm going to choose a person. From that person, I'm going to build a nation, and I'm going to choose to set my love on those people. I'm going to choose to forgive those people." This is what is called in scripture Israel, the nation of Israel. He is going to create a kingdom. They need a king. As a matter of fact, the king is going to be his son.

He sends their king and payment for sin because he cannot just say, "I forgive you, so let's just forget about your sin." He has to pay for the sin. How is he going to atone for the sin? Well, it is not going to be through the blood of goats and rams. It is going to be through the blood of his own son. God sends their king and payment for sin, but they say, "No thanks." They may go through the motions of "Save us now, Hosanna, Hosanna," but in a week they are saying, "Crucify him. Not interested."

God says he has a new plan now. We have an expanded hybrid organization that he is going to set his love on and forgive. He is not going to confine it anymore to the descendants of Abraham. He is going to now include people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. He is going to set his love on them and move them to embrace his king, and he is going to love them and forgive them. It doesn't matter if they are Israelites or not. It is called the church.

So far, it is all historical: creation, fall, Israel, cross, Jesus, church. Great. Now we are moving into the future. All of this is yet future. What is next? God resurrects all those who were a part of the church. The problem is this has gone on for, at least from our perspective, at least 2,000 years, and most of the church is dead biologically. God says, "I'm going to resurrect all those people." Where does it say that? Passages like 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

He is going to resurrect those who are part of the church, give them their bodies back, and he is going to set aside the church and draw his attention back to finishing his program with Israel because there is a lot of unfinished business there. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 tells us about the setting aside of the church. We call the setting aside of the church the rapture. That is the rapture. The next thing on God's program comes really in a set.

The resurrection of formerly church-going, repentant, and faith-filled Christians is just their bodies because their spirits are already with God. Out of the ground they go. 1 Thessalonians 4 says if you are still on earth and you remain and you are a follower of Christ, when all these dead bodies start popping out of the cemeteries, then you get caught up in the sky to meet the Lord in the air. "What about my body?" It gets changed on the way.

Resurrection and rapture. What happens after the rapture? God is now going to do a little judging. Here comes our first judgment. The king judges the church for her faithfulness. Notice, this is a judgment of something positive: faithfulness. He judges the church for her faithfulness. How faithful were you to do what God told you with what you had? The more faithful we are to the tasks that God has called us to, the more God is going to say, "Well done."

This is the Bema Seat judgment, which means it is the good judgment. There are hopes of good things at this judgment, but there also is a little disappointment going on here. "Darn, I wasted my opportunities." What comes next? God has set aside the church now and he is turning back to Israel. Well, that has to do with something to do with Israel. Absolutely. What he is going to do is he is going to simultaneously judge the earth for its rejection of the king because the church is out of the way.

He is going to turn his attention to drawing Israelites, Jewish people, to embrace Jesus, the Messiah. This is foretold in passages like Jeremiah chapter 30, that he is going to turn his attention to win these people. In passages like Revelation chapter 6 through chapter 18, it is illustrated with all kinds of detail. For instance, there will be 144,000 Jewish missionaries that are going to go out and try and win Jewish people to the Messiah.

They will be highly successful because they will be turning their hearts every day in tons, in mass, to follow Christ. This is what is predicted, by the way, in not only Jeremiah 30, but Daniel chapter 9. He is going to finish his work with Israel in this period. This is called, by the way, because of the negativity of the judgment of the earth, the tribulational period. Jeremiah 30 has a different name for it. It is called the time of Jacob's trouble, when they will be oppressed.

But here is what it says: Jacob, which is another name for Israel, will be saved out of it. They will be redeemed, which, by the way, is so fascinating because if we were having this study in Hebrews chapter 6, verse 2, 150 years ago and talking about Israel, we would be going, "Well, where are those Israelites anyway? Scattered all over the world." There are still a lot of them scattered all over the world, but you do realize, don't you, that it wasn't until 1947 that we could say Israel's back in Israel.

They now are flying F-16s around and actually have a nation. After this time of Jacob's trouble, as God is preparing hearts of Israelis to come to embrace the Messiah that previously they rejected—not all of them, but most of them—now most of them are turning to Messiah. At the very end, as the world pits its hostility toward Israel, which is not much of an imaginative stretch because it is happening all the time, but as they bear down on Israel to destroy them, the Bible says God is going to send his king back to rescue them and defend them.

Passages like Revelation chapter 19 spell this out. It's looked forward to many times in Revelation, but chapter 16 it starts in earnest. Then chapter 18, I mean, it is all about chapter 18. Then chapter 19, the apex of it all, when the king comes to rescue Israel at the end of this thing. This in scripture is designated Armageddon. Here is the great battle of Armageddon when, as chapter 18 says, Babylon is defeated. What does that mean?

The nations that have pitted themselves against Israel in this time of Jacob's trouble, Jacob or Israel is going to be saved out of that. They will be because the king himself will come back and fight with them. Guess who comes back with the king? The church. We ride with him behind him. He comes with his saints and he comes to rescue Israel at the end of the tribulational period, a seven-year period according to many passages, including the book of Revelation and Daniel chapter 9.

God resurrects the Jews killed during the tribulation. The tribulation is a time of hostility of the nations represented by the word Babylon in the book of Revelation against Israel. Guess what? They have a lot of success in killing Israelis during the tribulation. So a lot of them, now newly trusting in Christ the Messiah, Jesus from Nazareth, they end up being killed during this period. What happens here after he comes and rescues Israel?

Guess what he does? He resurrects all those killed during the 70th week of Daniel, the tribulation. Now all the Jewish people get resurrected. This is found in Revelation chapter 20. We can call it resurrection 1.2 because what he does in chapter 20 is God distinguishes between the first resurrection and the second resurrection. The second resurrection is the bad one. The first resurrection is the good one. You want to be a part of the first resurrection.

But if you read the Bible carefully, we have already had an installment of the first resurrection, which was not the resurrection of the Israelites. It is the resurrection of those of the hybrid organization, mostly Gentiles, at the end of the church age. The resurrection of the church, just prior to the twinkling of an eye, the rapture of the church. Now we have at the end of the 70th week of Daniel, the time of Jacob's trouble, the tribulational period, we have another resurrection.

This time the focus is on the Jews killed during the tribulational period. Letter L, God then will judge Israel and the nations. There is a negative and a positive in this. He judges Israel for the positive they have done, just like he judged the positive of the church. It was called the Bema Seat for the church. It is not called that for Israel. It is just called the judgment of Israel, but it is called that in a positive manner.

In a negative manner, at the same time, he judges the nations. This is foretold in Ezekiel chapter 20 and a more familiar passage I threw in, which also refers to the same event, is Matthew chapter 25. Usually quoted out of its eschatological context, but Matthew 25 is the parable you know that Jesus told of the separation of the sheep and the goats. Remember that passage? The sheep get separated from the goats.

The Israelites get separated, and now they are judged for the good that they did. The nations are judged, the goats are judged for the bad that they did. We have a positive judgment akin to the Bema Seat judgment and a negative judgment of retribution for people that are lost. This all happens at the end of the tribulation. We call this the judgment of Israel, although it will include the judgment of the nations, the separating of the sheep and the goats. Sometimes it is called the sheep and goat judgment.

It is the separation of the nations from Israel. Now note this. F through L are all component parts of what is often referred to in the New Testament as the coming of the Lord or the second coming, or in the Old Testament is often referred to as the Day of the Lord. The coming of the Lord, the Day of the Lord, the second coming, really refers to at least seven events: the resurrection of the church, the rapture of the church, the Bema Seat judgment of the church, the tribulation, the time of Jacob's trouble, Armageddon, Christ's saving of Israel, the resurrection of those dying during the tribulation, and the judgment of Israel and the nations.

All of these events are the coming of the Lord. There are lots of things that happen when the Lord comes back within a period of seven years. Here is the gist of them, the highlights. God now finishes his program with Israel by spending a thousand years fulfilling all the kingdom promises to Israel. He made a lot of promises that haven't been fulfilled yet about a physical place with a physical king with nations on the outside that aren't necessarily kindly toward Israel.

You have got people that don't necessarily follow God and those that do follow God, but a perfect situation with the son of David ruling over Israel. Where is that going to happen? Not the New Jerusalem, not the end of the book, because at the end of the book all we have is redeemed people. But we have a period of time that God is going to play out all the promises to Israel where he is going to do exactly what he promised in the Old Testament.

It is going to happen in the context of not just these redeemed and special people, but also the other nations that are outside. Ezekiel 37 talks about this. Revelation chapter 21 talks about this. The phrase "a thousand years" is very specific, used six to seven times in Revelation chapter 20. "Thousand years," another word for that is the AKA in this point: Millennium. We call it the Millennium because a Millennium means a thousand years, of course.

The Bible says that he is going to do all these things, taking the tempter, the devil, and chaining him up for a thousand years. A thousand years, no tempter, no devil, nobody there to stir the pot. Where are we going to be? Well, we have got glorified bodies at this point, and we rule and reign with Christ. What about these people that have come over from the tribulational period? Well, they are living in unredeemed bodies, but bodies that aren't distracted or assaulted by the enemy.

They will be having children. We will not. They will be populating Jerusalem and Israel. We will not. We will be reigning with Christ. They will fill the place up. At the bottom of this period, which we didn't give a letter to, he is going to release the tempter for a short time because there are a lot of people born during the Millennium that have never even had a chance or a choice or seen the two options because all we have is Jesus on a throne ruling in Jerusalem.

After the Millennium, a couple of things happen. The release of the enemy for a while, but after that, we have God calling up then everybody who has ever rejected the king. This is a bad one. This is when he actually puts eternal bodies with DNA that is not going to be corrupted. He puts eternal bodies back on people that rejected him. Revelation 20 gives this a name. It is called by inference the second resurrection.

Basically he is telling us you don't want to be a part of this one, which really is by inference saying you better not reject the king. Don't reject the king because if you do, you end up being resurrected a thousand years afterwards. A thousand years afterwards, all you are going to be is resurrected so that we can get to letter O, where God can then judge you for your rejection of the king and your deeds.

Just like the positive judgment for Israel and the church is going to be remuneration for what is done, so it is with the judgment of people that have rejected the king. All judgment of non-Christians is going to be varied based on what they have done, just like the reward for Christians is going to be varied. This is God doling out based on effort, faithfulness, and commitment to the cause. He is going to reward people differently and so he will reward or I should say judge or repay people differently here.

Revelation 20 again spells this out and gives it a name: the Great White Throne judgment. That is what it is often called because it says he is going to resurrect bodies, stand them before the great judge, and as Ecclesiastes and Proverbs 14:14 say, every deed will be accounted for and there will be a remuneration or a repayment for all that was done. Speaking of done, letter P, at long last, God at the end of the book gives a perfect eternal home to both Israel and the church.

He is now creating a place, and this is spelled out in Revelation 21 and 22. It is a perfect place. Satan is no longer temporarily chained for a thousand years. He is completely and finally cast into a place called the lake of fire, no more ever to disturb those that follow Christ, both in Israel and the church. We will live together, as described in Revelation 21 and 22, in a 1,500-mile cube. It's a cube because the symbolism is rich.

The cube was there was only one cubed room in the temple or the tabernacle, and that was the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was, where the special representation of God's glory was. It says the dwelling of God, which was manifested between the wings of the cherubim on top of the Ark of the Covenant in the cubed room, here is what the voice says: "Now the dwelling of God is among men in a 1,500-mile cube with all these people from the church and from Israel who've put their trust in the king."

He now grants them this place and he's got a name for it. It is not the old and it is not the Millennium, it is the all-new and approved Jerusalem. This is a whole different kind of Jerusalem. Revelation chapter 21 and 22 tell us about that place. It gives us a home, a residential physical home for people who have been resurrected into physical bodies. Creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, cross, resurrection of the church, resurrection 1.1, the rapture, the Bema Seat, tribulation, second coming, resurrection 1.2, judgment of Israel, millennium, resurrection number 2, Great White Throne, New Jerusalem. Memorize this list. There will be a test.

I was thinking about 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 talking about the fact that the very first thing that is next on God's list is the resurrection of the dead. If you were to try to find a cemetery near our present meeting place, you would find very few. But most of my relatives on my mom's side are buried right outside the windows of the church. You know how it is in the South; you go to those old churches in the South and right outside is just a bunch of graves, headstones of all your relatives.

I have always thought that would be great. It might help people pay attention as they are coming in for the sermon. Here is this reminder, but more than that, can you imagine how great it is to recognize that every Christian in every church that can look through the window at a head marker, headstone right outside the stained-glass window of their church is reminded that the very next thing on God's program is popping those bodies out of those graves of those that trusted in Christ?

Then we go to join Christ in the air. The hope of the resurrection ought to be central in our minds. Unfortunately, we cannot get permits to put cemeteries around our churches anymore. But I am telling you what, if we don't recognize that the whole point of the Christian message is that God is going to reverse death for us so that we, as disembodied spirits, will one day again be clothed in our physical bodies that will then be perfect, placed in a 1,500-mile cube, a city—and I don't know other than the representation of the Holy of Holies—where all the blessings of God will be magnified and concentrated. That ought to be our hope.

In the New Testament, it was called the blessed hope. As a matter of fact, the Christians were so focused on what is going to happen in the eschatos in the end that they were people that would break out with this Aramaic word Maranatha. Remember what that means? "Come quickly, come Lord." It was the cry of the early church. I hope this little teaser on the end times might help you say, "We ought to be more focused on that."

We ought to be more filled with the kind of New Testament imminent hope of God's second coming with all of its component parts. I pray that this might get you started. A lot of homework perhaps is prompted by this, and I hope you dig into your Bibles. Let's pray together. God, please help us to be good students of the word, workmen that don't need to be ashamed, who accurately handle the word of truth.

I pray we would do that, God, not just so that we can come out of a church service saying we know more, but because our heart needs to be fueled by the details and the important intricacies of what it means to live with you forever, which is not just a pie-in-the-sky wish, but it is something that you've given us a roadmap to follow and to understand and to get our hearts in line with in scripture. God, thanks for giving us your word and I pray we get excited about it, understanding it and having our hearts long for it this week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Dave Drewry: Instead of fearing the future, we should look forward to the end with hope, joy, and anticipation. A challenge today coming from a message Pastor Mike Fabarez calls a crash course in the end of the Bible. This is Focal Point. You'll find resources related to our study when you visit our website focalpointradio.org, or simply download the Focal Point app and take these messages with you wherever you go, whatever your schedule looks like.

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Your contribution matters, no matter the size. When you donate today, we'll say thanks by sending you a book titled The Revelation Answer Book by Mark Hitchcock. This thorough Q&A guide addresses the most confusing questions about the end times, providing clear biblical understanding of prophecy, the rapture, the tribulation, and the future awaiting believers. It's a perfect follow-up to our crash course in Revelation.

Simply request The Revelation Answer Book when you stand with Focal Point with a generous gift today. Simply call 888-320-5885, or make your donation online at focalpointradio.org. Here is something special on the horizon: Pastor Mike's teaching cruise to New England and Canada this September. Set sail with us from September 19th through the 26th for in-depth Bible study and uplifting worship with Grammy winners Keith and Kristyn Getty.

All while enjoying breathtaking fall foliage as we explore historic ports like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City. Cabins are filling quickly, so secure yours today online at focalpointradio.org. I'm Dave Drewry, and tomorrow Pastor Mike launches a compelling series on what following Jesus truly requires. He'll reveal the vital distinction between knowing about Christ and genuinely knowing him. Join us for the beginning of Almost a Christian Tuesday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. Ever wish you could corner your pastor and challenge him with your toughest questions about the Bible, about faith? Well, now you can. Send me your questions. Head on over to focalpointradio.org and click on "Ask Pastor Mike," or send me a note on facebook.com/pastormike or x.com/pastormike. I can't wait to hear from you.

Dave Drewry: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.