Important lessons about living for Christ in the end times.

Linn Winters: 00:27 Hey cornerstone, how you guys doing? Welcome to week four of the most depressing series ever. I wish I could tell you it gets better, it doesn't, it's just going to get worse today. The good news next week, it gets brighter next week. But we're just going to dive on in. We're going to try to take you through the second half of the tribulation this morning. So I'm, I'm watching one of those, I think it was like animal planet a while back, and I'm watching and they're documenting this mama bear and she's got her little cub. And in the moment that I was watching Mama bear's trying to take a nap, and little cub bear decides it's time to play. So as mom is laying there trying to nap, little baby bear literally is on his back legs with his front paws just pounding on Mama Bear's back. To which mama bear then kind of turns and kind of growls, you know, kind of a warning at baby bear. And the next thing you know, baby bears crawled up on top of mom like she's a mountain or something, and is gnawing on her ear. Mama Bear, growls to get her to stop. The next thing you know, baby bear is literally backing up, running at Mama Bear, and leaping onto her back. And as you watch all of this unfold, you start to say to yourself, this isn't going to end well. And sure enough, there comes a moment, that I call the come to Jesus moment, where Mama bear takes her paw and just swipes the bear cub. And when he comes to rest, he has this look on his eyes like what?

Linn Winters: 02:23 Do you get that's kind of The Book of Revelation. That there's this moment in which God says, Hey look, I've put up with a lot, I've let you get away with, and if you've looked at scripture and just said, who cares? And I've tried to give you warnings and you've blown right through them. And now we get to the tribulation and God says, okay, so we're just going to do come to Jesus. We're going to have a moment, that's discipline, I'm going to get up in your face. I love you too much to let you slip into eternity, and not do everything I can possibly do to have you reconsider who Jesus is, before there is no time to do that. The Book of Revelation.

Linn Winters: 03:04 If you were here last week, you know that we got to a point and we said, okay, so while the tribulation is going on, you know what's going on in heaven? What are you and I doing, all of us who've been raptured out of this world? What are we doing? And we talked about this thing called the Bema Seat, the judgment seat of Christ, which is the judgment seat for Christians. Everybody who's accepted Christ from the time of the cross, right up until the time of the rapture, the church. And we're up in heaven and, we're standing before God, and we're giving an account of our lives. And we talked about this idea that said, hey, there's some Christians who are going to be standing there, and because after we came to Christ, we decided to just live for ourselves anyways, that we're going to be there with like a little teeny pile in front of us. Because the vast, vast majority of our lives, we didn't live that for God, we lived at for ourselves. There's going to be other Christian staying there with some pretty serious piles, because somewhere they wised up, somewhere they said, hey, I need to leverage at least a portion of my life to honor God, to serve others, to do what Jesus would want me to do with my life, and there's going to be reward for that in heaven. It's the Bema seat. Here was the interesting thing. We also said that in that moment of judgment, standing before God, there is no mention of sin. So there's no big movie screen on the side of heaven and all of our horrible deeds get flashed up. Jesus doesn't pull us off to the side and say, okay, I just need to talk to you about October 13th. There's no moment like that. And the reason there's no moment to review your and my sin, is because when we came to Jesus, God took every ill lived moment, placed it under the blood of Jesus, to be remembered no more. Bema Seat of Christ, rewards, judgment.

Linn Winters: 04:55 But that's not the only event that happens. There's actually a second major event that happens in heaven during the tribulation while we're there, and it's called the marriage supper of the lamb. How many familiar with the marriage supper of the lamb? Good. Three of us. Okay, so this will be new for a bunch. So grab your bibles and go with me to revelation chapter nineteen. There's a moment that describes this second event that happens in heaven for you and I. Revelation chapter nineteen, I'll give you a clue it's going to be close to the end of your Bible. Revelation chapter nineteen verse seven. Here it is, revelation nineteen, verse seven says, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” Okay, so who is the lamb? Who's the bridegroom at the wedding? And the answer is, ready, Jesus. Remember when Jesus is at the beginning of his ministry, he's coming to be baptized by John the Baptist. And John the Baptist looks up, sees him coming, turns to the crowd that gathered there and says, look, look, look, look, behold the lamb of God. And over and over and over again in scripture, the lamb refers to Jesus. Because, you ready? He was the sacrificial lamb placed on the cross for us. So the lamb is Jesus. Jesus is the groom at the wedding. Which then takes us to the question, who's the bride? You and me. Matter of fact, go back to the passage, verse seven, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready ." How did she make herself ready? Fine Linen and bright and clean, was given to her to wear. Fine linens stands for the righteous acts of God's holy people. Remember Bema seat, what did we stand in front of God and give an account for? All of our righteous acts, all of the things that we did in the name of Jesus. So the Bema Seat is like buying the wedding dress, it's the preparation for the wedding. And you and I, the church, Christians who believed in Jesus since the cross right up until the rapture, are the bride of Christ. So then you say, well, so Linn, what does that mean? I mean, wedding supper of the lamb, bride of Christ. Are we actually going to be standing in heaven with Jesus and going, I do, I do? I don't know. Here's what I do know, the Bible wants you to understand that you and I are the bride of Christ. That you and I, as Christians, are going to have special status with Jesus. It's going to be different than all the old testament saints, it's going to be different than all the people who become Christians during the tribulation. The church, you and I, are going to be in a special, unique status with Jesus Christ, because we will be the bride of Christ.

Linn Winters: 08:34 Let me see if I can help with that. You and I in our lives have different types of relationships. We've got family relationships, we've got friends, and we have spouse. Now here's the problem with family relationships, you don't get to choose family, you just get stuck with them. Right, didn't choose. Friends, friends can be seasonal. I mean, we've all had fair weather friends, right? Friends who when things got going and were tough, they all the sudden took off. But even faithful friends, stop and think about this, even faithful friends tend to be seasonal in our lives. So we'll say, oh, they were my best friend in grade school. Or we'll say, hey, men in college, in college, I mean we did everything together. Some of us would say, hey, when I lived in Ohio, they were my best friends, but when you moved, your friends probably didn't move with you, right? So chances are friends are seasonal in your life.

Linn Winters: 09:44 But a spouse, a spouse, you choose. He chose her, she chose him, and you ready for this, and it's permanent. Now, some of you go well Linn, not in my case. But you realize the intent was, the intent is, that it'd be permanent. And here's what I'm going to tell you, that if you have Jesus on the other side of those promises, it's permanent. And what the Scripture's trying to tell you is that you and I, as believers, those of us who've been the church have a unique relationship with Jesus Christ, because of being the church, he makes us his bride. There's also a richness to this that comes when you begin to understand what marriage was like back in biblical times, because it's different than right now. Back in biblical times, the groom would pay for the bride. He would go to the bride's house, and then he would enter into negotiations with the bride's father, and he would pay a bride price for the bride. The interesting thing is he wouldn't marry her right away. He would leave after paying the dowry, or the bride price, and usually it was at least a year before the wedding. Sometimes several years, depending on the age of the young lady. Then on when the moment was right, he would hold what you and I would term a bachelor party. He would call together all of his friends, and they would have these festivities that would go on for several days. Okay? And then he would take the bride. How that would work is, is that as the party was going on, all the brides friends would say, hey, he's having his bachelor party. So we don't know when he's coming, but he's probably coming pretty soon, so you need to get ready. And then, more often than not, in the evening when it was dark, they would light torches, the groom and his friends would come to the bride's house and kidnap her. But it was kind of the gist of it, right? It was kind of a fun thing, and he would take the bride back to his home, and then he would marry the bride at his home.

Linn Winters: 12:21 Watch this. Jesus came to the bride's home and prayed the bride price. He didn't take us right away, but waited until later. You and I were to live in constant expectation saying, hey, it could be, it could be, it could be pretty soon. And then scripture says, the rapture will come like a thief in the night to take us away. Rapture. And now he takes us to his home, and the wedding happens. How rich is it, that literally the visual of what was marriage then, is what he walks the church through as his bride. And the really, really cool part is guys, that when this was all over, Jesus comes back to Earth. It's the second coming, and you and I come with him. Scripture tells us that the angels are part of the return, and so are the saints. You and I, the saints, come back with Jesus in the second coming. Okay?
Linn Winters: 13:31 Now, here's the deal. In the meantime, while all of this has been unfolding in heaven, the Bema seat, the marriage supper of the lamb. Things have not paused here on earth, so going back to about the midpoint of the tribulation, Antichrist is going to play two major cards, two major decisions that happen somewhere about the middle of the tribulation period.

Linn Winters: 13:57 The first one is something we call the abomination of desolation. What this is, is that the false prophet causes there to be a huge statue of Antichrist. I went to seminary, not art school. Alight, a huge statue of Antichrist placed in the center of the Temple Court. And he commands that everybody will bow down and worship the statue, abomination of desolation. And in the moment that he does that, Israel instantly realizes they've been duped. That they've made a mistake, that Antichrist cannot, cannot, cannot possibly be the Messiah. Why does this statue trigger that knowledge for them? Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not make unto thy selves any graven images, you shall not have an idol. And the moment that the false prophet places that idol in the temple courts, immediately Israel knows, oh my goodness, he cannot possibly be Messiah. It had to have been Jesus, and instantly they turn. So now think about this, you've got a moment in which all the Christians have been resisting, right? They've been say, no, no, no, he's not what you think, we can't follow this guy, and now all of Israel has turned.

Linn Winters: 15:42 That may be why the second shoe goes down, the second moment, which is called the mark of the beast, or 666. And what's going to happen is in this moment, Antichrist is going to declare that everybody, in order to sell anything, in order to purchase anything, in order to travel anywhere has got to have this identifying mark. It's a moment, it's a test of loyalty. Are you with me, or are you against me? And of course Christians, and now Israel will refuse the mark. They'll go, no, no, no, no, we're not with you. And what is the mark? We don't know. Is it a new type of social security number that all begin with 666? I don't know. Scripture seems to say, hey, there's something to do with the right hand, there is something to do with the forehead. Is that a tattoo? Is it possible that the forehead thing is somebody leaning into a rest, in order to do a retinal scan? Is it a possible the right hand you know, right now if you go through customs, you place your whole hand just right on, and instantly it identifies you. Is it a chip, and they're placing chips in people like what we're doing to pets right now? I don't know. What's interesting is, that technology is there right now, for literally Antichrist to seize absolute and total control of the world economy and world travel, with an identifying mark that he requires everybody to do.

Linn Winters: 17:20 Here's something else that's interesting. Revelation chapter 14 seems to indicate that this, the choosing to receive this mark is a one and done. That if somebody says, okay, I'm going to pledge my loyalty to Antichrist, I'm going to receive the mark of the beast. That that decision is a final decision, that cannot be amended. You can't go back and say, uh oh, I just figured out that was a bad choice, oh my, I've changed my mind. That there's something choosing to take this mark that has a finality, and an irreversible-ness to it. Which means it's different than right now, right? Because right now we've all got friends, right? Who we've watched run from God, run from God. Laugh, and say all that religious stuff is stupid, how can you believe Jesus. And then life unfolds and they get to a moment and they go, man, maybe my life would be better with Jesus, and now they reconsider their decision and turn to Christ. But this decision, as best we can tell, is one and done. If you decide to pledge your loyalty, you cannot take it back. Okay?

Linn Winters: 18:34 After this moment, after these big decisions in the tribulation, things appear to go on pretty good for a while. The economy is apparently working, life is going the right direction. But when you get to the final couple months of the tribulation, God then says, okay, we're going to do a last lap. He begins to pull out his last round of judgments. Scripture calls them the boil judgments, and there's seven of them, and here's how they unfold.

Linn Winters: 19:07 The first one is boils. So what's interesting is the only people who are afflicted by the boils are people who took the mark of the beast. Christians are not affected by boils, and as best we can tell, neither is Israel. Because now they realized he's not Messiah, and they've turned to Jesus, and finally have accepted him as Messiah. So Christians, and then now converted children of Israel who now become Christians don't get the boils, only those with the mark of the beast. But these boils are not normal boils, they are absolutely tormenting. They are painful beyond description, and the they just don't go away. They are just constantly, they're constantly, inflicting pain.

Linn Winters: 19:51 The second thing that happens is that the oceans, and the fresh water, turn to blood. Is it literal blood? I don't know, I don't know. It could be, because surely God has that power, right? He could do that, if that's what he's doing. Could it just be contaminated, and it has a red...I don't know. All I know is that it says, that all of the water on the earth suddenly becomes undrinkable. So you can imagine in this moment now, that just the effort to find some sort of purification plants, and to recycle and re-clean water. And that all of the effort that goes, just to find enough water to sustain life, just to keep people alive. But the problem with this is, how do you now water your crops? How do you purify enough water to not only allow humans, but now to take care of all the vegetation? And the answer is you won't be able to, which then immediately sends you into famine. Because you just won't be able to keep up the food supply.

Linn Winters: 21:00 If that's not bad enough, then scripture says, that God allows the sun to scorch the earth, to get hotter than normal. Now, I know this doesn't mean a whole lot to people who live in Arizona, we're the ones who go, who cares about hell? I've already lived in Phoenix, right? But just imagine for a moment, imagine if God just says, okay, we're going to turn it up to 130, 135, but it's sustained, it just never cools down. And now that vegetation that does not have the right water, and now you can just imagine that everything, everything begins to wilt and to wither.

Linn Winters: 21:38 And almost as if God says, okay, if that's not enough to get your attention, we're going to follow this up with darkness. So the sun was too bright, and you didn't like it, so now we're just going to turn out the lights. And scripture describes this darkness as being just absolutely thick. This is a moment when you cannot see your hand in front of your eyes. That you will walk, and you'll stumble. The darkness itself will almost be tormenting, because it just gets you devoid of any sort of sight.

Linn Winters: 22:11 So now stop and think about what's going on. You've got people covered in boils. You've got water at a premium, and people are you know, with lack of water. And now you got all sorts of famine going on, so now they're hungry, and they're living in absolute darkness. And scripture says, the torment of that day will be so bad, that men and women will gnaw their tongues in grief. Not a good moment.

Linn Winters: 22:40 At this time comes the battle of Armageddon. Apparently the nations of the world will look at Antichrist and go, okay, so your plan isn't working. Anything we would do would have to be better than what's going on right now, and so now conflict breaks out again, and they move against each other, trying to land grab, trying to take back control. And scripture says that those armies will come together in a place called Megiddo. Armageddon means hill of Megiddo, or mountain of Megiddo. Arma Megiddo, Armageddon. And the Bible says that that conflict will be so vile, so much carnage will be going on in that moment, that the blood will begin to pool up from all the people that are dying, and that literally the blood will rise to the level of the bit in a horse's mouth. In the midst of the battle of Armageddon, final judgment, scripture says there'll be an earthquake like the world has never seen before. That it describes mountains begin to lay flat, that islands will begin to sink down into the ocean. And there'll be a hailstorm, and some of the hail as heavy as 100 pounds apiece. And in this moment, in a moment of the battle of Armageddon, in the midst of an earthquake that is just like humankind, the earth is literally hemorrhaging and convulsing. In that moment, Jesus returns, that moment marks the second coming of Christ.

Linn Winters: 24:33 So let's grab our bibles again, and we'll take a look at what scripture says about the second coming. It's Revelation chapter nineteen, again Revelation chapter nineteen, we'll just jump down a little bit to verse eleven. Here's what it says, "I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True." Now if you remember when we began The Book of Revelation, remember that Antichrist came riding onto the scene with a white horse. Here's Jesus, at the end of time, coming riding on a white horse. Don't let that confuse you, don't let us surprise you. Because if you're Satan, and you're trying to set up a false messiah, aren't you going to do your best you can to imitate Jesus? Because you're bringing a false Jesus. So Antichrist rides in on his false white horse, Jesus comes on the real one. "I saw in heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows, but he himself. He is dressed in a robe, dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." Remember in the Gospel of John, when John is introducing us to Jesus Christ. Here's what he says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God." And here in The Book of Revelation, who's the author, who's God using to write it? John, and John says, his name was Word of God.

Linn Winters: 26:31 Verse fourteen, "The armies of heaven following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." So it's the angels, and it's you and I, coming back in the second coming.

Linn Winters: 26:44 Verse fifteen, " Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." Does that sound familiar at all? (Singing) Mine eyes have seen the fury of the coming of the Lord, he is trampling out the vintage where the Grapes of Wrath are stored. Battle Hymn of the Republic? Okay, I thought that was cool, but alright. Alright, didn't matter to you, it mattered to me. Alright, okay.

Linn Winters: 27:24 Verse sixteen, "On his robe." Maybe I just sang it so bad, anyway, "On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds." Now listen to what this angel says, "To all the birds flying in midair. “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh."

Linn Winters: 28:42 Now get the moment. The Battle of Armageddon is raging. We've got a massive earthquake, literally convulsing the earth, mountains are going flat, islands are sinking into the ocean. And in that moment, Jesus appears, coming back to Earth, with all of his angels, with you and me. And in that moment, those that are fighting in the Battle of Armageddon turned their tanks toward Jesus. They repositioned their rockets to shoot at God. Can I just suggest that that's a bad plan, it's not going to work well for you. But guys, think about this, how interesting is it? I mean God, God has taken them through so much, God has made himself so obvious. You may not have liked what God was doing, but God has made himself obvious, and now Jesus is returning right before your eyes. And in that moment you still do not repent, you still do not turn, in that moment you choose to once again resist. How crazy is that?

Linn Winters: 29:49 Here's something that's interesting. Remember that we've been telling you all along that the rapture and the second coming are two completely different events. And the reason we've been saying that over and over again is because there's a lot of Christians out there who put the two events together, and yet the reality is they're actually almost polar opposites of each other. Let me see if I can help you with that. So in the rapture, right, that's that moment at the beginning of the tribulation, the church is caught up out of the world. Who gets taken in the rapture, who gets caught up and taken away in the rapture? The church, Christians. So Christians taken, which means if all the Christians are taken, who is left behind? Non-Christians. Okay, it took you a little longer than it should have. Non-Christians left, okay? Now come to the second coming. In the second coming it just described and said, when Jesus comes, it says there's a sword coming out of his mouth that literally kills people. The best we get it's probably words. It's, right? With the words and commands and they fall over dead. So who's dying at the second coming, who's getting taken out at the second coming? Non-Christians are taken right? Taken out of the way in this case, which means who's left at the second coming, who remains? Christians. You're going to have Christians who have survived the tribulation. They've gone off into hiding, they have gotten together in little clusters and colonies and helped each other survive, scripture says those who endure to the end. So think about this, the rapture, Christians are taken and non-Christians left. In the second coming, non-Christians are taken and Christians are left. They are literally the polar opposite of each other, completely different events.

Linn Winters: 32:09 Now, I guarantee you there's some of us right now, and we're struggling a little bit. Because in this moment we're going, Linn, I mean this just talks about Jesus coming and ruling with an iron scepter. Which really just means, he's going to be tough. It talks about this sword coming out of his mouth, and people dying, I mean, just dying. And this just feels so different than the Jesus I understand, and the Jesus I grew up, you know, being told about in Sunday school. I'm having a hard time with this. You get the God's first foot forward, right? His first push into every one of our lives, is always kindness and grace, it's always a loving gesture. That he would say, hey look, here's the deal, I'm going to give you some margin in your life, I'm going to give you some time to figure out how I fit in your life. I'm not going to beat you up, or hold you accountable, right off the bat, right? I'm going to give you some room. The first foot forward of God is always a foot of grace and love, but guys, you ready? That's not his only foot.

Linn Winters: 33:32 Just remember the mama bear. See the mama bear with the cub, started off saying, okay, okay, I'm going to give you a warning. I'm going to let you know, I'm going to tell you that this can't keep...right? But eventually the mama bear goes, alright enough's enough, enough's enough. This is exactly how God deals with us. That his first foot forward says, look I love you, I'm going to give you some room, I'm going to let you figure it out. But if you keep playing, poke the bear. Then there's going to come, a come to Jesus moment. There's going to be a moment when poke the bear doesn't work anymore. Which is why it just absolutely astounds me, it astounds me about Christians who've come to Christ and decided to play poke the bear with God. That they go, hey, you know what? I mean, I know, I know, I know I shouldn't be living with my girlfriend. I know, I know I shouldn't be looking at porn. I know I ought to be going to church. I know, I know, I know, I know, but God hasn't done anything to me yet. I'm living in the goodness and kindness and grace of God, so apparently I can get away with this as long as I want. Are you kidding me? You're going to play poke the bear with, that's your plan for life, poke the bear with God? Galatians chapter six, verse seven says this, "Do not deceive yourselves. God is not mocked, whatever a man sows that will he also reap." Hebrew says, "Whomsoever the Lord loves, he disciplines." Guys, I'm just telling you, poke the bear with God, I'm a Christian and so I'm going to see how much I can get away with is a bad game.

Linn Winters: 35:28 I've got a dear friend, he was a kid that grew in my youth group years ago, we'll just call him Jimmy. And when Jimmy came to Christ man, he was an on fire follower Jesus. And then somewhere he just decided, you know what? I'm going to play poke the bear, I'm going to take advantage of God's kindness, I'm going to take advantage of God's grace. And so he began going out and messing with drugs, and getting drunk every night. He walked out on his family, because it was too much work to be a husband. And he would have said to you, look, God hasn't done anything to me. It was interesting because it was like a light switch, and all of a sudden you just saw the discipline come. He lost his job, lost a whole bunch of his friends and relationships in life, and in that moment he got angry at God. And you wanted to say to Jimmy, Jimmy, so how does this work? When God was good to you, you were reckless, and you wouldn't listen. But now that God is disciplining you, now you're going to throw rocks? What could God possibly do to get your attention?

Linn Winters: 36:52 Don't you just want to say to that little bear cub, hey, poke the bear is not a good plan. Truth be told, you ready for this? Truth be told that Mama bear, that bear, is your best hope. So you need to be with her as much as you possibly can, because when it gets really, really dangerous, she's going to defend you. She knows things about life, and surviving, that you haven't even asked the question about yet. You're going to eat so much better, your life is going to be better with her, stop poking the bear. Change the game to, I'm with the bear. And that's the word for every Christian in this room who today would say, you know, Linn, I've been taken advantage of God's goodness and kindness, I've been seeing how much I could get away with. You need to quit the game. You need to stop playing, poke the bear, and decided to start playing a new game called, with the bear.

Linn Winters: 37:56 Let's bow our heads. Hey, Dear Lord Jesus, we simply come to a moment. And God, how thrilling that you would choose us, the church, to be an a forever special relationship with Jesus. That we would be the bride of Christ, placed in a chosen special relationship that old testament saints are never going to experience, people who come to Jesus during the tribulation will not know this status. God, thank you, thank you for that. God, I pray for Christians in the room today who maybe have taken advantage of your first foot forward, of your goodness and tolerance and grace, and we've been playing poke the bear. We've been saying, Hey, God hasn't done anything to me even though I've been cavalier and reckless in my faith, and I disobeyed scripture over and over again. God may we wise up, before the bear wakes up. May we simply choose and say, hey, this is not a good game to be playing with God. And instead I'm going to switch it up, I'm going to change the game, I'm going to choose, I'm with the bear. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.



Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.