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People have been searching for the end of the world for thousands of years. SLIDE 634 years before the Common Era people living in the city of Rome believed the

city would be destroyed. For them this would be the end of the world. How did they know? Some believed that 12 eagles had revealed to Romulus, a number saying how long the city would exist. Some believed that each eagle represented 10 years. The end of the world was coming. SLIDE A little more than thirty years after Jesus died many Jews revolved against Rome.

The Romans sent their soldiers to Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and after many months, broke through the walls. The city was destroyed and the Temple was burned to the ground. Thousands of people died. Some Jews saw this as a final end-time battle between good and evil. The end of the world was coming. SLIDE In the year 1,000 many Christian leaders predicted the end of the world including

Pope Sylverster II. Riots occurred in Europe and many Christians headed to Jerusalem to meet the second coming of Jesus. The end of the world was coming? Are you seeing a pattern? SLIDE In the 1840s William Miller he began to preach about the world's end, saying

Jesus Christ would return and the earth would end sometime March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. He circulated his message in public gatherings and by using the technologies of the day posters, printed newsletters and charts. Moved by those messages, as many as 100,000 "Millerites" sold their belongings and took to the mountains to wait for the end. The end of the world was coming. Harold Camping first predicted the world would end in 1994, when that didnt happen said that people would be Raptured into heaven on May 21, 2011. When that didnt happen he changed the date of the end of the world to October 21, 2011. When that didnt happen he stopped making predictions.

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Wikipedia made a list of 160 incidents in history where people claimed that the end of the world would be coming. Every prediction was united by one fact. They were all wrong. That list didnt even include the Mayans who predicted because of their calendar that the world was going to end last December 21st. I have a simple question, Whats all the fuss about the end of the world? Today Im starting a three week sermon series called, is this the end? I dont know about you, but all the talk about the end of the world is confusing. Ultimately what mattered is what Jesus said. How do we understand all of these predictions about the end of the world. So in this series Im going to give you the tools to understand the predictions about the end of the world. Today Im going to share some different viewpoints about the end of the world. Part of this sermon might feel like a lecture, but I think its important we have this information. Next Sunday the sermon is going to be about the book of Revelation. Were going to close two weeks from today by examining what Jesus said about his second coming and the end of the world. If you would like to go deeper I am offering a two week Bible study on the book of Revelation that will start a week from Wednesday at the Lovell Office. Im assuming that everyone who comes knows nothing about this last book of the Bible. If you do know something about the book of Revelation this will be a plus. One other resource Im offering is this brochure that is in the bulletin. For the next three weeks I am encouraging everyone in our congregation to read a chapter of the book of Revelation every day. Ive written a devotion about the book of Revelation. I want to encourage you to take notes as I believe that God will say something to you that youll want to remember. On the back of this brochure is our prayer requests.

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When I talk about the end of the world Im talking about religious views about the end of the world. Im talking about the 2nd coming of Jesus. And then there will be a new heaven and new earth. Scientists also have theories about the end of the world. I had a friend give me an issue of Science Illustrated that had an article sharing the 10 greatest physical threats to the end of earth. Do you know the greatest physical threat to the existence of earth? A comet or asteroid hitting the earth. Scientists believe that 2 million years ago a comet about a mile wide plunged into the Pacific Ocean between Chile and Antarctica. This caused the Ice Age. Do you know how often scientists think a comet this large is expected to hit the earth? Once every 32 million years. Scientists think that in 7.6 billion years the sun will begin to expand and will eventually swallow Mercury, Venus and maybe the earth. None of us need to worry about a physical threat to our planet earth. Believe me there is a sub-culture of people who obsess from a religious perspective about the end of the world. A while ago I met a man who grew up in that sub-culture. He allowed me to share his story. He said this. I went to several different churches who had teachings about the end of the world. Some of the ideas are found in the Left Behind books. Anyway, an idea that went around was that the anti Christ would come and we would have to take the mark of the beast and once you took it, it could never be removed and you would go to hell. You could be strong and not take it but then you would have to go into hiding. You would probably be caught and be beheaded for not taking the mark of the beast. This idea came a lot from the movies that were out in the 70s and 80s about the rapture and tribulation. The common thought was that Jesus would rapture all believers before the antichrist came to power so we would miss all the trouble with the mark of the beast and have to be in hiding. But, if you weren't a Christian when Jesus raptured people and then you became a Christian later, then you would have to be the one to be in hiding away from the mark of the beast and the government might catch you and behead you.

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A common idea is that this is going to happen in our lifetime, so we need to save up groceries, prepare for the dollar to collapse, invest in gold, have munitions, and get ready to defend ourselves against the government. This thinking has caused a lot of people to be afraid, to not live life to the fullest, to put dreams and hopes on hold and it becomes an obsession. We are told to watch and read the signs and watch for Jesus' return. If stories like this were isolated examples they would be funny. But they arent funny and these types of stories have turned tragic. People have manipulated the teachings about the end of the world for horrible purposes. Remember Jim Jones in the 1970s, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in the 1990s. Some religious people have made a lot of money sharing their views about the end of the world SLIDE Who read the Left Behind series? The Left Behind Series was a collection of 16

novels, three movies and a video game about the end of the world. It was written by Tim Le Haye and Jerry Jenkins. In the Left Behind series the true believers in Christ were raptured, that is taken instantly into heaven. A relatively unknown, Romanian politician rose to become secretary-general of the United Nations. What people didnt know is he was the Antichrist. One group of Christians realized this and tried to prepare the world for the Tribulation where God would rain down judgment on the world for seven years. The Left Behind series was very successful. The first four books of the series held the top four slots simultaneously in the New York Times best-seller list. Book 10 debuted at number one on the list. Do you know how many books sold in the Left Behind series? 65 million copies. Think about this with me

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Question If you are not connected to a church how would you view church folks who believe Jesus is returning soon. And because Jesus is returning you have to save up groceries, invest in gold, buy munitions and get ready to defend ourselves against the government. Question If you werent familiar with what the faith taught about the end of the world and saw millions of people reading the Left Behind series, what would you believe about the end of the world? You would probably believe that this is how the end of the world will happen

Question If you saw leaders frequently make predictions about the end of the world that didnt come happen, what would you think about the end of the world and Jesus second coming? You would probably believe that anyone who believes in the end of the world is a bit off the mark. Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, have believed that Jesus is returning for centuries. But they havent made predictions, they havent made money on those predictions, and they havent created fear in people. It is possible to believe that Jesus is returning and not believe that the government is out to get us. Let me give you some tools to understand all of this buzz. Im going to don my teaching hat. Im going to give you some content. If you havent taken notes, I encourage you to do so. The first thing I want to teach you is a belief system called Dispensationalism. This is the theology behind the Left Behind Series. Dispensationalism is a belief system that world history is divided into seven dispensations. A dispensation is a period of time during which humanity is tested with respect to their obedience to some specific revelations of the will of God. Dispensationalists have a specific view of how the world will end. They believe that: SLIDE Dispensationalism Millions of people will disappear or be raptured into heaven After the rapture a seven year tribulation will take place

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Human conditions will deteriorate. Many people will turn away from God A leader will take over the world who is secretly the anti-Christ. Jesus will return in a public to defeat the anti-Christ 1,000 years of bliss which is the millennium Then the anti-Christ will return. Isnt this how the world is going to end? No. People have lived for thousands of years without believing in the rapture. No. Dispensationalism was developed as a system of believe by John Nelson Darby in the 19th century. People of faith lived for 19 centuries without believing the world would end according to the ideas of Dispensationalism. When you see bumper stickers about the end of the world about the rapture, know that this is a relatively new idea about Jesus return. Can I believe in the rapture and be a Presbyterian? Of course. Were not a subscriptionist church meaning that you dont subscribe to a certain set of beliefs to be a Presbyterian. To be a Presbyterian you have to believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior. There is a biblical case for the rapture, its just I personally dont believe it. SLIDE Another term that is important for us in understanding the end of the world is

Millennialism. The word comes from the Latin word mille annal or thousand years. It comes from the Greek work chillia. Millennialism comes from an interpretation of the 20th chapter of Revelation. Well be looking at the 20th chapter of Revelation more next week. Let me give you the cliff notes version. An angel came down from heaven and held the key to the bottomless pit. The angel seized the dragon who was known as the devil or Satan and bound him for a thousand years. This thousand year period where the devil was sealed away is known as the millennium. If you come across someone who believes in the end of the world, ask the person about their view on the millennium. If we understand someones view on the millennium it will give us more understanding.

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As with anything else there are different views on the millennium. I want to share three these are worth writing down. SLIDE Pre-millennialists Most of the people who create the buzz about the end of the

world are Pre-millennialists. Pre-millennialsts believe that Jesus will return before the millennium. Jesus will only return after life on earth continues to get worse and worse. Cataclysmic events will happen on earth before Jesus returns. There will be earthquakes and persecutions and terrible wars. A premillennials believes that the Antichrist will appear and there will be a period of great tribulation. A pre-millennialist wants Christ to return because when Jesus does come this thousand year period where Satan is locked up will take place. A pre-millennialist is always looking for cataclysmic signs because these reveal that Jesus is about to return. Remember when the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001. Many people saw that as a sign that Jesus was about to return. Right now with all the weather changes, people see that as a sign that Jesus is about to return. When horrible events happen a pre-millennialist sees them as signs that Jesus is returning. The people who wrote the Left Behind series were Pre-millennialists. A post-millennialst believes that Christ will come after the millennium. They believe that the millennium will come in a gradual and less violent way. They look at chapters like Revelation 20 more spiritually and view life more optimistically. The kingdom of God is now being shared through the preaching of the gospel and the saving work of the Holy Spirit. As the world gets better and more people come to Christ the millennium will happen. After this 1,000 year period Jesus will return. Then there is a group who doesnt believe in the millennium. They are A-millennialist. This line of thought began with St. Augustine who lived in the 4th and 5th century. An a-

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millennialist doesnt interpret the 20th chapter of Revelation literally. They dont believe in the millennium. They believe that the task of the church is to build the kingdom of Christ on earth right now. Pre-millennialists, Post-millennialists and A-millennialists What do Presbyterians believe? There is not specific doctrine about the end of the world and the millennium that makes a person Presbyterian. I know of Presbyterians who are premillennial. I had a parishioner in the church I served in Plainview. We were doing some planning for our Logos program once. We were doing the planning in January for a spring program. He shared that he wasnt even sure if the Logos program would start because he thought that Jesus was going to return at any moment. I know of many Post-millennialists who want to build the kingdom of God on earth right now. I know of some A-millennialists who think all this talk about the second coming is ludicrous. I remember one Sunday where we took a group of people from Chain of Lakes to pray over three properties that we were looking at. At each property I prayed that when Jesus returned he would find a group of people on this property who were being faithful and making an impact on the world. I didnt say the prayer as a statement about Jesus return. Instead I was making a statement with God that the piece of property would be used for Gods enduring purposes. A few months later this person left our church. He shared with me that he was shocked that I would make a statement about Jesus return. He didnt believe in the millennium. No matter what our view about the end of the world its most important for us to know that we are always in the hands of God. When we hear bizarre theories about the end of the

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world it causes us to wonder about God. People question why God would send earthquakes and famines and wars to people before the return of Jesus. Who wants to follow a God who is deliberately going to cause pain and suffering among undeserving people? As for meI trust God. To help you with this weve put a card in the bulletin. It carries the Scripture passage were encouraging everyone to memorize in this series. Psalm 9:10. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Take this card and put it in your pocket this week. Carry it with you. When you are going through a hard time this week, pull out the card. Say the Scripture. It will give you a source of comfort. God can help us in ways that we will never understand. We can trust God. As Jeremy Camp wrote in the song that Kristel is going to sing Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death Your perfect love is casting out fear And even when I'm caught in the middle Of the storms of this life I won't turn back, I know You are near And I will fear no evil For my God is with me And if my God is with me Whom then shall I fear? Whom then shall I fear? Despite all the buzz, we dont need to fear. We are always in the hands of God