Episode Transcript
Great to have you join us in countdown. Back to the future. This time we're looking at apocalypse, the 11th scenario. Some years ago, Philip Adams wrote an interesting column in the Weekend in Review. It was called It's Apocalypse Now. But how. And Philip Adams presented a number of scenarios as to how people think the world is going to end. He gave actually 10 scenarios notice as we go through them. Number one, he said, is a terrorist, nuclear or biological attack. That's how the world's going to end. All that sort of stuff's going to take place. Interesting thought, but many people believe that. Then he said another belief is that for scenario number two, the threat of epidemics, we're going to be wiped out by the superbugs. That's going to finish us all off. Not a very pleasant thought, I'd admit, is it? Scenario number three, he said this was the enlargening hole in the ozone layer. We're sort of going to fry to death. You know, that ozone layer is getting bigger, and so we're going to get cooked. That's scenario number three. Number four, scenario. Well, this is interesting. Oxygen depletion. We're all going to sort of suffocate. There won't be enough oxygen and that'll finish us all off. Scenario number five, asteroids are going to smash into the planet and wipe us all out. I was listening to radio some years ago and they said, well, we are concerned about asteroids because if asteroids smash into the ocean just off the coast of Australia, cause huge tsunamis and, you know, people living in coastal regions will be just wiped out, they'll drown. Scenario number five, then. Well, what about number six, genetic bioengineering? We're getting very clever with the way we can modify things, you know, like modified food and so on through the genetic manipulations. This is the way it's going to end. We're going to cause so much trouble from genetic bioengineering that that's going to be the finish of us. Scenario number seven. Well, he said, this is religious extremist. We're getting a lot of those, aren't they? We have Boko Haram in Africa, we've had isis, and you name it. And so religious extremists are going to cause so much trouble, so many wars are going to occur and all that. We're going to be wiped out. Scenario number eight, social disintegration and ethnic cleansing. Sort of like we had in the Second World War with the Nazis trying to wipe out the Jews, maybe in Cambodia with, you know, the Pol Pot. Or Rwanda, where different groups fighting each other. This is going to be the problem. It's going to be so rampant around the world, it's going to finish the world as we know it. Scenario number nine, overpopulation. Too many mouths to feed, said Philip Adams. So people will be fighting each other for the food. And that's how it's going to end at that. Number 10 scenario. Number 10, starvation because of water depletion. Well, in some parts of the planet, you never think that would ever happen. You get so much rain they almost drown. But other parts, very dry water depletion is going to cause problems, you know, not growing enough crops and so on. And that's how the world is going to finish. Philip Adams finished his column by saying, have a nice day. Well, how could you have a nice day after all that lot? Right? That's a good way to start the day, isn't it? But actually, seriously, Philip Adams left off the one scenario that's mentioned in this book, which is the way it is actually going to end as we know it, and that is the takeover by the Last empire, scenario number 11, which means the return of Jesus Christ, the Christ coming again. Now, the Bible calls this return of Jesus the 11th scenario. When the Last Empire actually appears, it calls it the Blessed Hope. Now, why does the Bible call this scenario the Return of Jesus, the blessed hope? What's the reason? First of all, let us notice that this is exactly what it's called. Paul is writing to his friend Titus and he says these words. He says, while we wait for the blessed hope. And then he explains what that is. The appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. So there it is, the blessed hope, the return of Jesus. Now, why is it called the blessed hope or the happy hope? Because that's what blessed means. You may recall when Jesus was preaching on the Sermon on the Mount, he started off by saying, blessed are the pure in heart, and this is what will happen to them. Blessed are the peacemakers. What he means was, oh, the happiness of those because of. So in other words, it's the happy hope, the great joyful hope, the great expectation. We could put it. So why is it called that? Well, for a number of reasons. Number one is because he's going to raise his dead friends to life. Those of his friends who died before he came, he's going to raise to life when he returns. Now, Paul wrote to his friends in Thessalonica. Now, Paul came to Thessalonica on one occasion, and he was here for about three weekends you can visit Thessalonica today. We were here just a few weeks ago. It's amazing what some of the structures that are left from these times. You can see a small theater here in the background. And here we come to where we have the forum, the marketplace of Thessalonica. And amazing what archeologists have excavated that show us what life was like when Paul was here. Well, as I said, Paul was only here three weekends. And the reason was is because they chased him out of town. They didn't want to hear about this Jesus person that Paul talked about, and so they chased him out. Well, Paul wrote to his friends later on, and I want you to notice what he said to them about the return of Jesus. He said, brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed or to be ignorant about those who sleep in death, those who've died. Death is called asleep here so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope. Why don't they need to grieve like the rest of people who have no hope? Notice what he said for the Lord himself, that's Jesus. He will come down from heaven. He went back to heaven, but he's coming come back. He's saying with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. So he's saying, listen, when Jesus comes, it's the blessed hope, because he's going to raise his dead friends to life again. What a tremendous thing. No wonder it's the blessed hope number two reason it's called the blessed hope, the return of Jesus. It's because he's going to reunite his friends who were separated by death. Here he wrote again to his friends in Thessalonica. And he continued after saying the dead will be raised first. Notice what else Paul said. He said, after that, after the dead friends of Jesus are raised to life. After that, we who are still alive, because not everybody will be dead when Jesus comes. There will be many people who love Christ. They're his friends who will be alive when he comes. So he says, after that, we who are still alive and are left, we will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Notice what Paul is saying here. He's saying, listen, the dead are going to be raised to life, and the friends of Jesus who are alive will be caught up together with them. What a day that's going to be Maybe the last time you saw your mother was at the aged care home. Well, one day there's going to be a great reunion with you and your mother. I know. The last time that I communicated with my mom was over the telephone. I was studying archeology in the United States of America. My sisters rang me and said, hey, listen, if you want to see mom before she dies, you need to come home. She was fighting a battle with cancer. She'd fought it for eight years. So I flew home for a week to spend time with Mom. But then I had to come back to the United States. And when I got back, shortly after Mum passed away, but just before she died, I was speaking to her over the telephone. What a day when we see our loved ones. I can remember the last time I spoke with my father. He was in an aged care home and my wife and I, we went to visit him on a Friday evening. We actually sang some songs with him as we opened the Sabbath together. And he was singing too. But Sunday I got a call saying, hey, dad is dying. Rushed to see him. We had a puncture on the way to the hospital. Sadly, we fixed up the puncture and then drove a few yards and got another one because there were some nails on the road. Second puncture. By the time we got to the hospital, dad had passed away. But we'll never forget that Friday night when we sang together with him. What a day it's going to be. You know, one of the best places to be when Jesus returns the second time would be at a cemetery, wouldn't it? Imagine seeing people who you love rise up from the grave again. Imagine the reunions. Parents who lost their children in an accident reunited with loved ones. What a day it's going to be when Jesus comes the second time. No wonder Paul said it's the blessed hope. Because Jesus is going to bring us together with those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. It's called the Blessed hope because Jesus is going to give us new bodies, eternal bodies. In actual fact, it's what he's going to give his friends. Notice what Paul said as he came and wrote to his friends in Corinth. Corinth is an amazing place to visit again. We were just there recently. You can see in the background there's this big mountain. It's called the Acro Corinth. Up on top there, there was said to be a temple serviced by a thousand prostitutes. This was what Corinth was like, a seaport city and not given to a lot of good things. But Paul came here and here he came to this great place. You can see the temple here. He came here through this great city where you see the forum area, the marketplace. And he preached the good news of Jesus. He told people how they could have peace of mind, how they could have a hope for the future, how they could have life at its very best because of the work that he was doing. Sadly, he was dragged right here to this very place. It's known as the Bema, the Judgment seat. And here he was brought to trial. But when the proconsul heard what it was all about, it was about religious issue. He just said, we're not interested in these matters. And so Paul was let off the hook, so to speak. But he wrote to his friends later on when he left this place, wrote to his friends who became believers in Jesus. And many of them in this city became believers. I want you to notice what he wrote to them about concerning the return of Jesus. Paul wrote, listen, Listen up. In other words, I tell you a mystery. I tell you something wonderful, Something that's amazing, Something that you'd hardly believe. I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep. Meaning we will not all die. We're not all going to be dead when Jesus comes. There'll be some are living as we said. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in the flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable. Now that word perishable means our bodies can decay and get sick and wear out. But he says we're going to be raised imperishable with bodies that cannot wear out. And then he goes on to say, and we will be changed when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, we can't die anymore. Then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory. Did you get that? What an amazing thing that will be. Can you imagine people with new eternal bodies? Imagine kids who have never been able to run. They've been crippled from birth, and now they'll be able to run like the wind. New eternal bodies. I was listening on one occasion to someone was sharing how it goes in the world today. You know, he said, I'm not sure where my wife is. Sometimes when we go to bed together, he says, she takes off her false leg and she puts it on a table beside it. Then she takes off her false teeth and puts them there. Takes off her false eyes and her false ears and Puts them there and jumps into bed. Part of us here and part of it's in bed. That's a bit what it's like today, isn't it? Our body parts are getting old and wearing out. Some of you young people, you think you're never going to get old. I got news for you, it happens pretty quick. Pretty soon you start to have to wear glasses. Maybe you already have to wear them pretty soon. Sometimes we have to have hearing aids. And on and on it goes. But Jesus says, I'm going to give you new eternal bodies. What a day. No wonder Paul says this return of Jesus when the trumpet blows. This is called the Blessed Hope. Little wonder. There's a fourth reason it's called the Blessed Hope. And that is because he's going to gather his friends to be with him. To be actually in the same space and place as Jesus himself. It happened here in Jerusalem. I love coming to Jerusalem. It's a fascinating city. I remember the first time I came here, it was so mind boggling that I didn't want to leave the place because so many of the stories from the stories of Jesus come to mind. Well, Jesus came here to Jerusalem on the night before he died. And by the way, there's the golden dome mosque as we talk, this is where the temple was. And Jesus came up on the far left. It seems on the last night before he died. He had the experience, we call it the upper room experience. And his followers were very troubled, very anxious about what was going to happen. They could see that he was not his normal self. He was a little bit different. In fact, he said, I've greatly desired to have this Passover with you before I leave you. What did leave you mean? And so they were very anxious about the way Jesus was seeming to talk to them. But notice what he said to them on this occasion. Let not your heart be troubled. In other words, don't be worried. You believe in God, you trust God? Well, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many mansions. That word in the Greek means rooms. It's a bit like living in a hotel or living in a big house where there's lots of rooms. He says we're all going to live in the. In the house together. In my father Father's house, we're going to live next door to each other. You can imagine. You knock on the door next to your own room and there's Abraham. You knock on the door over the road and there's Queen Esther. You know, that's what is. He says we're going to live together in my Father's house. There are many mansions. Don't worry. There'll be very flash rooms, I'm sure. Mansion rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. In other words, listen, I'm not pulling the wool over your eyes. What I say to you is rock solid truth. I am telling you what is a fact. He said, 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. So that where I am, there you may be also. Think of it. He says, listen, I'm going back to heaven because that's what happened next. After his death and resurrection, I went back to heaven. I'm going there to prepare a home for you. And if I go, I'm coming back. The years may go, the centuries may go, but I am coming back. I will return. Reminds you a bit of Douglas MacArthur, doesn't it? Second World War, Philippines. Japanese had just smashed the American fleet there at Pearl Harbor. And quickly they moved in to most of southern Asia, taking the Philippines. Just before Douglas MacArthur left the Philippines to come to Australia to continue the fight from that country where his headquarters were, he said, I will return. Well, the years wore on, and finally he did return and the Philippines was liberated. Jesus says something similar. Listen, I'm going to leave you, but I'm coming back for you. I will come again. What for? So that where I am, you can be also. I'm coming to pick you up so that we can live together. What a beautiful thing. No wonder it's called the Blessed Hope. We're going to live with Jesus. Who's Jesus? He's the Creator of the cosmos. All the stars, the billions of galaxies. What was it, one trillion galaxies we saw, each with 200 billion stars. The Creator of all of that is going to live with us. We're going to live with him. The One who. His hands fashioned this world, then spread them out on an old rugged cross for you. He's the one that's going to live with us. Who wouldn't want to be there with a creator God like that, who loves us so much? I will come again so that you will live with me. We will be together. What a tremendous thing. Now, where does the Father live? Where does the Father live? Where Jesus is going to take us to? Well, we know where that is because we say it every time we say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father who is in heaven, he says, I'm going to take you to my Father's. House. I'm going to take you to heaven. First of all, we're going to be together, you know, in actual fact, what Jesus was drawing from was Hebrew weddings. See, what would often happen in a Hebrew wedding, the usual practice was the groom or the bride to be and the bridegroom to be the bride. They would go to a house of one of the parents. And they would there take a drink of grape juice. And then the bridegroom would go back to his father's house and he'd prepare a room for his bride to be in the father's house. Now, the bride, the lady, had to be always ready. Cause he would come at any time to pick her up and take her to the Father's house. Jesus is drawing on this, this sort of wedding picture. He's saying, listen, I'm your bridegroom and you're my bride. You're my special people. I love you like a husband loves you. And I'm coming again to pick you up, to take you to my Father's house. We're going to live together. Beautiful picture. Can you see our Father who is in heaven now? How will Jesus return? How is Christ going to return when he comes for his friends in this blessed hope picture that we have? Well, let's notice what the Bible says about how Jesus will return. Jesus was here in Jerusalem. You can see we're taking the picture here in that wall in the front there. That's what we call the Western Wall. Sometimes people call it the Wailing Wall. This is where the Jewish people gather to pray. Because this is the closest place they can come to that golden dome which is where the temple once stood. So they come here. In the background, up the top, you can see these hills. This is the Mount of Olives on the far right. So there on the Mount of Olives, he's with his followers. I want you to notice what he said to them as he sat up here on this mount overlooking the city of Jerusalem. Notice what Jesus said. As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Did you notice? Jesus is coming very visibly, like the lightning. Now. We lived it in some time in the United States of America when I was studying archeology in Michigan. I tell you, I've never seen storms like I've seen in Michigan. The thunder was so loud, you could put your head under the pillar and all the blankets over the top, and you could still hear the thing. You could almost see the lightning. Such a vivid display There in these thunderstorms with the lightning flashing and the thunder. No, Jesus said, you will see me when I come. Just like you see the lightning flash from one part of the sky to the other. My coming is going to be very, very visible. In fact, he went on to say these words which made it very plain. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with pu and great glory. Now who's going to be mourning? Well, not the friends of Jesus. This is the greatest day on earth. He's coming to take them home. The ones who are mourning sadly will be those who refuse God's love and mercy and grace. They want to cling to sin, to hold onto it and don't want to give it away. These are the ones that will mourn. But notice what the Bible says. They will see the Son of Man coming. Now this is when Jesus returns the second time for his friends. Because he goes on and says that. And he at this time when people will mourn when they see visibly see the Son of Man come, and he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather his elect. They're gathering his friends from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Jesus is coming for his friends. But he says, listen, it's going to be very, very visible and very, very audible. Someone's going to be blowing a trumpet. You notice you don't sleep when someone blows a trumpet in your ear, do you? It's a very audible thing. You're going to hear it. In other words, Jesus is saying, listen here, this is no secret coming. This is no secret rapture. Have you ever heard of this teaching of a secret rapture or a secret coming? The idea goes like this. Many people believe that Jesus is going to come secretly. He's going to come silently and he's going to take his people out without anybody seeing them go, gonna be gathered to Him. This is why they say the planes will crash. Cause the pilot in this particular plane is a Christian. And so when he's raptured away, there'll be no pilot. And so the plane will crash. People are gonna be driving down the freeway and hello, some of those who believe in Jesus are gonna be raptured away secretly. And so the car will crash. And so this is the picture that's painted. But the Bible doesn't know anything of a secret coming. I want you to notice what the Bible teaches on this. Jesus said, therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have left his house be broken into. So you must be also be. So you must also be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him. Do you see what the Bible is saying here? Jesus is saying to his friends, listen, it's not that I'm coming secretly like a thief, I'm coming unexpectedly like a thief. I'm coming when you don't expect it. So that's why I want you to always be ready so that when I show up, you will be ready. So I'm not coming secretly, but unexpectedly. Notice Jesus is saying very clearly, I'm not coming silently because when I come, there'll be the sound of trumpets. I'm not coming secretly so that you don't see me. Because it's going to be like the lightning flashing from the east right to the west. This is going to be the biggest audio visual display you've ever seen in the history of the universe. Why? Because Jesus is coming for his friends. And he's coming for his friends. And to gather them, he has to put down their enemies. We're going to see in the next presentation. So very clearly, not coming silently, not coming secretly, but coming unexpectedly. In fact, you know, Jesus warned about teachings where people say, he's coming secretly, he's coming, gives it. In this very passage, he warns, don't believe that. Notice what he says. So if anyone tells you, there he is, he's out in the wilderness, he's come and he's out there in the desert somewhere, talking of the Messiah, his second coming. He's out there, don't do it. Jesus says, do not go out. Or if they say, here he is in the secret chambers, he's come secretly and he's here somewhere, do not believe it because he's not coming like that. He's coming powerfully. He's coming publicly, he's coming plainly. When he comes, his return will be very visible and very obvious to people. No question about it. Now, when will Jesus return? That's an important question. When will he return? Some people have various like events that must take place. Well, what does the Bible say? There are some people who believe that Christ returns after the Antichrist. So they believe Jesus secretly takes his people out and then the Antichrist appears. But this is not what The Bible teaches. The Bible, in fact, says the opposite. The Antichrist appears before Jesus takes his friends. Here we are back in Thessalonica. Paul is talking to his, writing to his friends in this great city. He was there for just three weekends. Remember, notice what he said as he writes to them in his second letter to them in Thessalonica. He says, now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with him. In other words, he's talking about that coming when Jesus comes to pick up his friends. Now, notice what he says about this. Let's go back to the start. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. Remember, the dead raised to life, the living caught up together with them at that time. We ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter. In other words, if some people say this, and we've got a letter from Paul telling us this, we saw this, whatever it is, no, no, don't believe it. Notice what he says. Let's read it again. We ask you not to be soon shaken in mind, not to be troubled either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. And now notice what he says about this day. Let no one deceive you. Don't let anybody pull over your eyes on this one, says Paul. Let no one deceive you by any means. For that day Christ return. Remember, when he comes to gather his friends, that day will not come. And unless or until he's saying the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed. Now, that phrase, the man of sin, that's Paul's term for the Antichrist. Antichrist, he's saying, appears before Jesus comes for his friends. Antichrist, the Son of perdition. So when people say no, God's people are taken out, and then comes the Antichrist. This is not what Paul teaches. He made it very clear that day will not come unless first of all, there's a falling away, meaning God's people, people who've been following God, turn away from him and that man of sin is revealed. He comes first. Now, some people believe that when Christ returns for his people, it happens after the tribulation. That's what the Bible teaches. Christ returns for his people after the tribulation. But many people think, no, no, God's people are taken away. And then comes the tribulation. The Bible says, no, he returns for his people after the tribulation. Notice what the Bible says, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And this is the return of Jesus. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, for they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And what happens? That's what happens to those who cling to sin. They mourn, as we said. But what about those who are the followers of Jesus? Then he says he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather his together, his elect from the four winds of. From the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other. Now let's talk about this word, elect. This word elect is used by Paul a lot for the believers in Jesus called according to his purpose. You're the called ones. He uses this again and again. This happens. They are gathered at his coming. But notice what it says. It comes after the tribulation. They don't escape the tribulation, they go through it. God protects us, protects them. And then he comes for his friends. You see, my friends, this idea that God's friends will escape the tribulation, this goes, runs counter to the whole Bible. God's friends have gone through tribulation all down through time. I would remind you that Isaiah was sawn in two. I would remind you that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded, Stephen was stoned. And on and on down through the centuries. God's people have gone through trouble. But Jesus says to them, this is not the end. The best is yet to come. Because I'm coming again and I'm going to raise my dead friends to life where they'll never die again. And I'm going to gather my friends who are alive and. And we're going to go together dead. And those who are raised to life and those who were living caught up together, remember? No, my friends, this idea that God's people somehow get whisked out before the tribulation is against the Bible. God's people go through it, no question. So what about those who have lost their moral compass? What's going to happen to those people who cling to sin, who hold on to sin and won't let it go, won't give it to God? These people sadly become the enemies of God's friends, God's children. And we'll talk about that in our next presentation. When we talk about Armageddon, the world's greatest battle. You won't want to miss that presentation. It'll open your eyes not only to see what the Bible says about the final events right to come, but also the amazing grace of God in those events. It's amazing, unbelievable. But you don't want to miss that presentation. Armageddon. So the question becomes now how can you and I be ready for this great event when Jesus returns? Because it's coming. It's coming. We've seen in a previous presentation the various signs. And we are steadily moving toward those great signs, those great end times that the signs point to. How can we be ready so that if we die, we're raised to life to meet Jesus who's coming for his friends, the blessed hope. How can we be ready so that we are caught up together with our friends who had their lives hidden with Christ in God? How can we be part of that? Let's notice what Paul had to say about this when he wrote to one of his dear friends, Titus. Titus was a good friend of Paul. He was a fellow worker. And Paul wrote these words to him. I want you to notice what he said to him. For the grace of God, that means the unmerited favor of God, God's sheer kindness for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Now when it says the grace of God has appeared, he means in the Christ event. God's grace appeared in the flesh. It went to an old rugged cross. He's talking about the Christ event when Jesus came the first time. The grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. God is not willing that any should perish. There's no reason that any should perish. There's no reason that anybody should be lost. There's no reason that anybody should not be ready for the coming of Jesus because of Christ. So he says offers salvation to all people. It grace he's talking about it teaches it, disciplines it, disciples, us. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. And my friend, that's true. When a person accepts the grace of God offered in Jesus, death and resurrection, it does teach us to say no to ungodliness. We don't want that old way anymore. That's what Paul is saying. And to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. And then he comes to this blessed hope thing. That's what grace teaches us. To live good lives while we wait for the blessed hope. While we're waiting for Jesus to come the second time, the blessed hope that is the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. And then Paul can't help himself. He always going to come back to Jesus. What does he say about this Jesus, who's coming again to take his friends home, who gave himself for us to put your name there where it says us, who gave himself for Bill, who gave himself for Sally, who gave himself for Gloria, who gave himself for us to redeem us. Redeem us from what? From all wickedness. From those destructive lifestyles that we once had. He's given himself so that he'll take us out of that and to purify for himself a people that are his very own. And what is it it's eager to do what is good. But what is it that teaches us to say no to ungodliness? What is it that teaches us so that we're changed, our lives are changed? It's grace. You see, grace has an incredible power to change lives. Has an incredible power to change peoples who were once drunkards to be sober, who were once violent to be kind, who were once liars to be honest. Grace is what changes the heart. Oh, a good example of that was found way back in the early, early 1990s, late 1980s, when we had the end of apartheid. You remember apartheid, that terrible blot on the society there in South Africa where white people went to one toilet and black people went to another. When white people went on one bus and black people went to another, keep them separate. Sadly, apartheid, well, apartheid had ended there in South Africa. And thanks to Nelson Mandela, who had himself been in prison for some years. And they decided to have a rock concert here at the Wembley Stadium. This, of course, is the great place where they have the great soccer matches in England, and they decided to have a rock concert here. Now, they had their heavy metal bands going on all day, Guns N Roses and other bands, and the kids were getting high as a kite on drugs and alcohol. As the day wore on, for some reason, the people who had organized this rock concert had decided that the last item would be from an Afro American opera singer, an opera diva by the name of Jesse Norman. She was to sing the last song. Now, I'm not sure who was running this concert, but they must have been on mushrooms. I mean, putting rock concerts and opera singers together in a concert, it seems a bit bizarre, doesn't it? Anyway, we go into the dressing room where Jesse is preparing to go on stage, and she's sitting there waiting to go on stage. And the camera crew come and interview her. Jessie, they say, what are you going to sing when you go out there? What's the song you're going to sing? Well, she said, let me tell you about the man who wrote the song. First she says, I'm going to sing a song that was written by a guy called John Newton. John Newton grew up in the home of a sailing father. His father was a sailor. His mother was a Christian lady. She died when John was only about 7 years of age. And John, of course, his father being a sailor, he was very vulnerable. When he got to 10 years of age, his father decided, well, you can come to sea now. So from the age of about 10, John Newton sailed the seas. His mother had given him a little Bible, but he wasn't interested in those things, and away he went. John Newton could get very drunk, and when he got very drunk, he could get very, very violent. Eventually, Newton was the captain of his own ship eventually. And he was sailing the seas from Africa to the Caribbean, and he was carrying human cargo. The cargo, of course, were the slaves. John Newton was part of the slave trade. Now, the slave trade was an horrific thing to be involved with. Why was that? Well, they would pack slaves into these ships like books on a bookshelf, because they knew there was a certain number going to die before you got to the end. So the more you got on at the front end, the more profit you made at the back end. Terribly cruel. And so stacking these slaves in on these ships, well, this was Newton's occupation for some time, bringing these people from Africa to the Caribbean. One day, Newton's on his ship sailing, and a storm hit their ship. And this storm raged so wildly that Newton thought this was going to be the end. Now, you need to know, not only did the slaves fear where they were heading, but they feared Newton. When he was drunk, man, he would be terrible. And so they're on this ship and then the storm hits. And for four days this storm raged, and Newton thought it was going to be finished. He wasn't going to get through this storm. He'd been on the seas for many years and he was sure this was the end. But somehow, miraculously, the ship made it to port very beaten up. But Newton knew that God had intervened. He knew that this was a miracle that they'd come through this thing. And so Newton began to read the Bible. He hadn't looked at this thing since he was a little kid, but now he started to read the Bible. And as he read the words of the Bible. He discovered grace, Amazing grace of God in this book. The grace that changes hearts, the grace that delivers people from all sorts of things. He encountered that and his life was changed. He accepted this Christ into his life. One of the most amazing things that happened was as God spoke to him through this book, Newton began to realize that his involvement in the slave trade was wrong. How could he be a follower of Jesus and sell the bodies of human beings across the ocean? He knew this could not be. So he left being a sailor and eventually he became a minister of the gospel. He became the pastor of this little church in Olney eventually. And you can visit this church today. We were here just a few weeks ago again. But Newton was the man who wrote the song Amazing Grace. So Jesse's telling the story. Well, that's the song I'm going to sing, Amazing Grace about this man, John Wesley, who wrote this song. When you visit the only church, you can visit the cemetery, which is around the church. And you will come across John Newton's tomb, grave, and on the side of his tombstone are these words. John Newton Clark, once an infidel, a non believer, a libertine, living for the moment, living for just pleasure. A servant of slaves in Africa involved in the slave trade was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, saved from the storm, restored, life, changed, pardoned, forgiven, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy. So this is all on the side of his tomb there in the graveyard outside the church there at Olney. Well, he's the one who wrote this song, Amazing Grace, by the way. A few years ago, I had taken another group into this church. They were all from the Pacific Islands. They could sing like angels. And they sang in this church. Inside, there's about 40 of them. And the people came up to us after they'd finished the song and they said, you know, we have choirs come from all over the world to sing this song, Amazing Grace in this church. This is about the best we've ever heard. And they weren't even a choir. They could just harmonize so beautifully. Had a moving impact on people. This song has always had a moving impact on people. Amazing Grace. And so Jesse says, that's what I'm going to sing. I'm going to sing about the God Jesus Christ in human flesh, who can change hearts, who changed the heart of John Newton and caused him to give up his cruelty to other people. Sit down. That's what I'm going to sing. Well, Jessie goes out Onto the stage after she's talked to the camera crew and the Guns N Roses are finished. And she stands there on the stage all alone. There's no backing band, no, nothing like that. She just stands there on the stage. And the kids begin to hiss and boo. What's this woman doing on the stage? And they call out, get this woman off. We want Guns and Roses. Bring them back on. But Jessie stands her ground and she begins to sing a capella, no backing music. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me and on and on Jesse goes singing this song. When Jessie gets to the second verse, the kids have stopped calling out for Guns and Roses and everything else. And they're listening. By the time she gets to the third verse, they're starting to remember some of the words of that song. They heard that in Sunday school. And so by the time she gets to the whole. The last verse, when we been there 10,000 years, the whole stadium is singing with Jessie Norman. All these kids are singing with her. Well, Jessie finishes the song and she goes back into the dressing room, and the camera crew up come up to her and say, jesse, Jesse, what happened out there? Those kids were ready to tear you apart. The answer was Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace calmed the turmoil in that stadium that night. Just the words of that song. It's Amazing Grace that will change your life and my life. I know it changed my life. Amazing Grace is the only thing that can change us. Amazing Grace is the only way you and I can be ready for Jesus to return the second time when he comes visibly, audibly, for his friends. I think we should pause and thank God for His grace that goes beyond our imagination, his grace that we don't deserve. God doesn't have to save us, but because he loves us, he wants to save us no matter how far we're down. Maybe, like John Newton, living a life of debauchery, cruelty, God can change the heart. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh, Father, we thank youk that the second Coming of Jesus is the blessed hope, the blessed hope of the ages. This Christ, who stretched out his hands on an old rugged cross, is soon to come to take his friends home. We want to be there. We want to be among them. And, Lord, we can. If we'll only accept this Amazing grace, like John Newton, if we only throw ourselves, as it were, on Christ and say, lord, I have nothing. I can do nothing. I am nothing. But I claim Christ and what he's done for me. Lord, right now, wherever we are, may we just yield to you and say, jesus, take my life. Come in. I need your help, Lord. Change me. Thank you, Lord, that when we do that, we're ready for Jesus to come. In his precious name. We thank you. Amen. Well, we're so glad that you had joined us with this presentation in our Countdown Back to the Future series. Don't miss our next presentation in the series. We're going to be looking at Armageddon. Armageddon, the last great battle. Invite a friend to watch these presentations. Ring them up, send them a link. You'll be so glad. They'll be so glad that they tuned into 3abn to watch this series Countdown Back to the Future. Jesus is coming soon. Put your life in his hands.
