Pastor Jeff on the Radio

Announcer (Male): You're listening to Jeff Schwarzentraub with Pastor Jeff Ministries. On today's program, Pastor Jeff continues his message, The Day That Divides, from the series Faithful Followers, and shows you why God calls you to live as a child of light: awake, alert, and fully devoted to Jesus.

We're committed to equipping believers with solid biblical truth so they can live courageously and faithfully for Jesus Christ in every area of life. Visit PastorJeff.com to explore sermons, podcasts, devotionals, and other resources to help strengthen your walk with God. And don't forget to sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly email devotionals for biblical encouragement throughout the week. And now, here's Pastor Jeff with today's message.

Jeff Schwarzentraub: How could a loving God ever judge the world? Because God's holy and he's perfect and he's bearing with great patience the sins of the world, hoping that they would repent and come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. That he died on the cross for their sins, that he rose from the dead, and if you're in him, you're saved. But if you're not, the wrath of God will be poured out upon you.

Respond to the word's warnings. Respond, don't wait and think about it. Respond to the word's warnings. That's what he was saying. Now you say, well, when will all this happen? How do we know when this is going to come? The Bible is clear on a lot of things, and some of these things are not as clear. There's really three different theological positions that people take.

One is called post-millennialism. From Revelation 20 when God talks about a period of a thousand years, post-millennialists allegorize that thousand years and they use other scriptures to demonstrate this. Here's what they believe. I do not believe this. Many brothers that love Jesus and love the gospel and believe Jesus died and rose from the dead hold to this theology.

They hold to the theology that the thousand years is going to be a period of time on the earth before Jesus comes. We're going to turn the hearts of everybody. We're going to turn the hearts of those in government, we're going to turn the hearts of those in Hollywood, we're going to turn the hearts of those in education. The whole world's going to be worshipping Jesus, or the majority of them, and then when God sees that we're ready, he'll send Jesus back.

Now I appreciate the optimism of that view, albeit dead wrong, because you have to play fast and loose with the text. You have to take statements like things are going to go from bad to worse and people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, all those different things. You have to throw those out.

You have to throw out the words of Jesus that says a time is coming that is so bad that the world has never seen before or since. I'm telling you this in advance. You have to get rid of the fact that the Book of Revelation describes God pouring out all of his judgment. And so while I appreciate post-millennials' optimism and that they stay in the fight with the gospel and they believe the world's going to turn, it's just not going to happen that way because the Bible doesn't teach that.

There's a second view. It's called amillennialism. They take Revelation chapter 20 where they mention the word thousand multiple times and they don't believe that's literal. An amillennialist would be like, we have theists which believe in God, we have atheists which do not believe in God, we have millennialists that believe if God says there's a thousand years, then guess what? There's probably a thousand years. Amillennialists say no, there's no such thing as the millennium.

Here's what they believe. They believe Satan's already been bound, which is enough to tell you that's a wrong view. I feel Satan's breath on my neck stronger and stronger every day. He's been bound and we're just in the period of the millennium right now and then Jesus comes back and he separates the sheep from the goats and we all go to heaven.

But you have to throw out so many parts of the text because both post-millennialism and amillennialism don't realize that God made promises to Israel in the Old Testament and God is always faithful to his word and he will fulfill those promises in the coming millennial kingdom. He will. And if he doesn't, he's not being true to the book.

So if you read through the Bible like I do and say I'm just going to take the scripture literally, take what it says, you're going to be what's called a pre-millennialist, which means this: the world's going to go from bad to worse, but Jesus is going to come back, he's going to rapture his church, he's going to pour out judgment, and then there'll be a literal thousand-year reign of Jesus on this planet where we will serve and live for him. That's what I teach.

Now in that theology there's different places for the timing of the rapture. Some are called pre-tribulationalists, meaning before that seven years starts, God's going to zap us out of here. Some are called post-tribulationalists, saying the church is going to make it all the way through and then at the end, God's going to take us out of here.

I take a different position. My position is called pre-wrath. I believe it aligns with Matthew chapter 24, Revelation 6, and everything else in scripture. I'm not trying to make an axe to grind, this is just where I land because this is what the word says. There will be a period of time where one generation of the church will enter into the great tribulation.

When that happens you may not know the day or the hour, but you know the time is near and Jesus Christ will come in his second coming. He will rapture his church. Revelation 8 says there's a pause in heaven for about 30 minutes and then he begins to pour out his justice on the planet. I spent a lot of time on this when I was in the book of Revelation teaching all this but if you just want a quick study on how do you know that this is right, flip over to 2 Thessalonians.

In chapter 2, he's writing to them because they want to know, hey, you've been telling us about this second coming thing and the rapture and it hasn't happened. Did we miss it? Anybody ever wonder, like you call your friends, you call like three of them and you're like, dude, did I miss the rapture? Did we miss out on what you've been telling us?

Paul says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or disturbed, either by a spirit or a message or a letter as it is from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come."

When it comes to the timing of the rapture and it comes to when the second coming is, don't get all worried and worked up about it. Don't think, well, somebody said this and somebody said that. Don't worry about that. Here's why you shouldn't worry about it. Notice verse 3. He says, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction."

He said it hasn't come because two things need to happen first. There has to be an apostasy, a great apostasy. Apostasy meaning people who have been professing Jesus with their mouth but don't have a relationship are gone. People that go to church and worship, but it's just been a profession of faith, it hasn't been a true conversion, they leave. They're leaving Jesus.

There'll be a great apostasy and the man of lawlessness will be revealed. Those two things. Who's the man of lawlessness? The Antichrist. There'll be a world dictator leader. So you know that the rapture and second coming hasn't happened until you see those two things. You say how do you know that's what it means?

In the original languages there's certain sentence constructions. This same sentence construction is found in Mark chapter 3 and verse 27, the same clause, this whole unless and first. He uses the exact same construction. Listen to this. In Mark chapter 3 verse 27, he's talking about plundering a man.

He said, "But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, then he will plunder all of his house." If you're going to go steal from somebody, here's what has to happen first in chronological order: you've got to bind the strong man first, then after that you can go plunder his house. He's talking about a chronological order.

In the same way, in John chapter 7 and verse 51, when John talks about the law, he says, "Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?" When we're trying somebody, we don't just judge them, we hear what they did, we hear what they say, then we judge them. That's the whole construction of the sentence.

So in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 3, the plain and simple reading is let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first. There has to be a massive falling away from the church, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. Those two things have to happen.

Jesus said those two things would happen in Matthew chapter 24. Here's the reality. I do not believe in a pre-tribulational rapture of the saints to get us out of here and then seven years of that because I don't believe the Bible teaches it anywhere. It's nowhere to be found. None of the apostles and prophets lived that way.

Nobody in the Bible, even when Jesus told Peter, this is the kind of death you're going to die. Peter didn't say, well, I hope I get raptured, I hope I get out of here. They didn't live that way. Paul didn't live that way. He gave his life. "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." What should I do? I don't know which to choose. Both hard choices, but it's better for you that I live so I'm guessing I'm still going to live and come to you and help you.

He never talks about I can't wait to get out of here. And by the way, in order to believe in a pre-tribulational rapture of the saints, which most biblicists do because it's been taught for all these years without people studying it, the reason they say that is because they're American. It'd be hard to be a pre-tribulationalist and live in Sudan.

When people all around you are being martyred for their faith and you're going to go there as an American preacher and you stand in front of them and you say, listen brothers, listen sisters, I know you lost your dad, I know you lost your grandpa, I know your brother was martyred but don't worry, before it gets bad God's going to get us out of here. It would never happen.

You have to be living a super cush, non-engaged life to believe in the pre-tribulational rapture. You have to. See a better thing to say is, I'm sorry that because you're being faithful you're being persecuted and martyrdom's going on and you're being punished, but I want to tell you something: our God is so good and I want to tell you a day of justice is coming and you hang in there and Jesus will rescue you from the coming wrath and then he will pour out judgment on those who did this unless they too repent.

That's truth. Moreover, if you believe in the pre-tribulational rapture and that all seven years is God's wrath and you get to Revelation 6 where there's still martyrdom going on, then you have to concede that God is the one killing his children when all throughout this book and everywhere else in the New Testament, God keeps us from wrath.

There's no wrath that gets put on a Christian ever. Do you know why? Because God put it all on his Son. And that when you repent and believe, all the wrath that was destined for you falls right on our glorious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that none of it ever touches you. That's the good news of the gospel. Amen? It's good stuff.

So you'll hear things and you'll hear everybody talking about Ezekiel 38 and 39 and here's what you're seeing. I don't do that because people have been saying that for years and years and years. Here's how you know he's coming. You see a massive falling away of the church, like 40, 50, 70 percent, and you see the Antichrist revealed and people are worshipping him.

In order to buy and sell you have to take a mark on your right hand or on your forehead, and you can't even go to the store, you can't pay your taxes, you can't pay your house, you can't pay your mortgage, you can't do anything, and everybody's like, yeah, we're giving allegiance to that guy. Then you know he's close.

And you don't know the day or the hour then, but it's close. The season's right then, he's at the door. Until that, what does that mean? It means we live and we share the gospel and persecution's part of this world and it's okay. And one generation will enter that and one generation of the church will see that and when you see that, look up because your hope is coming soon.

That's what the Bible teaches clearly all throughout the scriptures. If you don't believe that, it's all right. You're just wrong. Listen, I don't have an axe to grind, but I do care about what I'm saying here and I do care about you and I do care about the Lord. And I want you to be aware you don't need to be on edge. Is the rapture coming today? Hey, it might come today, so you better be really, really good. That's a horrible way to live.

Don't live really, really good because the rapture might come today. Live holy because Jesus Christ is your God and he died for you and he loves you and let the love of God pour through you to everybody. But respond to God's warnings. It's true. And for the Christian, here's why you need to take great peace in that. Because there's no injustice that's ever been done to you that God won't punish. Not one.

God will punish those responsible unless they too, like us, repent and believe. When the most foul person, the most heinous sinner repents and believes that Jesus is the Christ, guess what? All the wrath of God was poured out on Jesus for them and they're free.

So we share the hope that we have in Christ. But make no mistake about it, God will punish those who are not in him, which begs the question: are you in him? I tell you as your pastor, I'm not telling you this because I don't like you, I'm telling you this because I love you. If you would have asked me before I was 18 if I was a Christian, I would have argued you to death that I was and given you biblical scriptures and all sorts of things.

But I know when I was 18 and was converted, everything in my heart changed and my life began to change and I'm different than I was prior to. And I know that God saved me. Respond to the word's warnings. Respond to what he's telling you. Be aware that this is coming. It's the most significant day on the planet when God takes his church and punishes those left. It's the beginning of the end.

So respond to the word's warnings. Second is this: refuse spiritual complacency. Refuse spiritual complacency. Notice what he goes on to say. "But you, brethren," verse 4, "are not in darkness that the day would overtake you like a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night and darkness."

God sees you as salt and light. If you're in Christ, you are the light of the world because the light of the world, Jesus Christ, is in you. If you are in Christ, you are the salt of the earth, which means you're preserving the world from all the putrid things that are going on because you're living different.

He goes on to say, "So let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep, do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night." He's like, don't associate with those who are not going the way you're going. I say it all the time as often as I can from this pulpit.

If you're young and you're thinking about getting married and you're in Christ, do not marry somebody who's not in Christ. If you're going to heaven and they're going to hell and God's blessing is on you and God's wrath is on them, marriage is hard enough as it is. So don't be dumb enough to say, yeah, but she's hot and we'll work it out. It just doesn't work that way. Yeah, but he's so handsome and he's so fun. It doesn't work that way.

Marriage is hard enough when you have two Christians submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ allowing the Holy Spirit to transform you. Don't do that. Now I know there's examples and by the grace of God some of you are here that married an unbeliever and God converted them and praise God for that, but that's not the norm.

Because for every one of you I've sat down with a thousand people that have said, if I would have only known, if I would have only done what I knew to do, would have never gotten married. When you're in business, don't partner with people that aren't going the same way. Eventually it's going to fissure. If you're going to follow the blessing and the favor of the Lord, if you're going to honor Jesus in all you do and you're with somebody that doesn't care about that, eventually your business is going to run into challenge.

It doesn't mean you don't hang out with non-believers, but there's really only one purpose to hang out with non-believers. To share the hope of Christ. To let them know, to let your light so shine before men that they would see your good works and give praise to your Father who's in heaven. Evangelism's not a task, evangelism is the flowing of the joy of the Lord and you giving reason for the answer you have for all the joy you have in your life.

Whatever you talk about is whatever you worship. Ever get with somebody and all they talk about is food, sports, vacation, travel, friendships, marriage, kids, houses, property? That's their god. If you can't let Jesus come to the surface, here's my question: why? What greater event has taken place in your life than when you were dead and God made you alive? How does that not surface ever?

It's not a task to go tell people, it's a lifestyle that comes out of the believer as they continue to grow in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And so as you're hearing this, just don't spiritually compromise. Refuse spiritual complacency. Don't say, it's okay, I know I'm saved, I'm going to heaven anyway, so what difference does it make? I'll just hang out with them. Friends, the more you grow with Jesus, the more uncomfortable unbelievers should feel around you.

They should always feel your love. No question. Not your judgment. They should always feel your love. But as they get to know you, they should realize you're going a different way than I'm going. And too often when it comes to believers, non-believers look at believers and be like, okay, we go to the same golf courses, we drink the same amount of beer, we cuss the same, we tell the same jokes, we have the same problems in our marriage, we're pretty much the same.

No, you're not the same at all because internally you've been born again and saved and God's trying to sanctify you so you don't look anything like that anymore. So that when you're with those people you love them and you show love to them, but you let them see I'm not what I was.

I used to be like that, but because God's in me I'm not participating in that. I'm not talking that way. I don't want to be around that joke. I don't want to hear that thing. I don't want to talk about that. It's just not important to me. And the more you grow in Christ, I love being around non-believers when I can share the love of Christ, but I don't want to participate in the things that non-believers do.

Their conversations bore me. Their hope is false. The things that they talk about don't bring any joy. That's why they're always bragging about themselves. That's why they're always talking about what they're doing and what they're accomplishing and sometimes I wish I had like a thing on my head that was like, so what? I'm not interested in what you're saying because it doesn't mean anything.

That you're bragging about how much money you have or where you're going or who you know or what you do—so what? But when you're around Christians, it doesn't matter what they have or what they're doing or the influence they have, they're talking about Jesus and where they're going. And there's something inside your heart whether meeting with guys in Africa that are pastoring churches that make about five dollars a month that are so on fire that are my forever brothers, I get moved.

These are my guys. This is my family. This is where I'm going. Amen. Ephesians 5 verse 8 says you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. First Peter 2:9 says you're a chosen race, called out of darkness into his marvelous light. You're chosen, you're set forth. You were this, the wrath of God was on you, but now you're something new.

That's why Luke 21:36 says keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man. You know what it's like for some of you that wear glasses or contact corrective lenses. Do you remember what it was like the first time you went to the eye doctor and recognized that you needed them?

The eye doctor will say something like, do you need glasses? I don't need glasses, I see just fine. Hey, read this. I can't read that. Then they start putting these things on your eyes. Is that what it's supposed to look like? You know what I'm talking about? Then you get glasses for the first time and you walk out of the doctor's office and you're seeing things so clearly.

Like you can read the scoreboard, like you can see the basket, you can do things you couldn't. I didn't realize I needed it. That's what it's like to be born again. I didn't realize I needed it, but now that I'm in Christ I have a totally different lens. I see things completely differently. God's changed the way I look at him and he's changed the way that I look at the world. So resolve to not spiritually compromise. Refuse spiritual complacency.

There were seven churches in the Book of Revelation that Jesus Christ addressed and in chapter 3 one of the churches he addressed was the church at Laodicea. He was judging them, condemning them because of their complacency and their apathy and their lethargy.

He says this in Revelation 3:15, "I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot." They lived in a place where the water traveled to them from a far distance. By the time it got there it wasn't cold anymore, it wasn't hot anymore. Cold water's good, right? On a hot day it's good to have cold water. And a hot shower feels great. Lukewarm water and lukewarm showers are good for nothing.

And Jesus was saying this: you're good for nothing. You're so complacent. You don't even care about what I've done. So because you've become lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. Jesus is like, I'm about ready to vomit you. That's what you're like to me because you're so complacent. You don't care.

He says, "Because you say I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."

Announcer (Male): Thanks for listening today. That was Pastor Jeff with his message, The Day That Divides, from the series Faithful Followers, showing you why God calls you to live as a child of light: awake, alert, and fully devoted to Jesus. We're so glad you joined us for today's message.

Before you go, remember, when you give to support Pastor Jeff Ministries, we'll send you Letter to the American Church by Eric Metaxas as our thanks. This timely book challenges you to not remain silent in a culture drifting further from God's truth, but to stand faithfully for Christ with courage, conviction, and hope.

And that's the kind of impact your support helps make possible: proclaiming the gospel boldly and equipping believers to live faithfully for Jesus in every generation. Request your copy today at PastorJeff.com. And join us next time for more bold biblical teaching from Pastor Jeff.