all right let's get to our prophecy update today what a week I want to talk
to you about what took place this last week doubtless you have been following
the development concerning Syria
specifically Turkey's invasion of Syria on the heels of President Trump's
controversial decision to withdraw US troops out of Syria
I suppose that those who are students of Bible prophecy should not be surprised
however what might be a little surprising is the swiftness with which
everything is happening I have to confess that I was a little taken back
by the reaction on the part of those who supported the president's decision I
mean unwavering they just have this unflinching support of the president no
matter what he does but then on the other side of that you also have those
who will no matter what the president does will oppose him I remember reading
a post one time that from a supporter of President Trump an avid supporter of
President Trump saying that if President Trump had come up with the cure for
cancer they would blame him for causing cancer to begin with so you've got two
sides and both sides are reacting to the president's decision
to get out of Syria under the banner of endless wars really a campaign promise
of his before he was elected now the concern and it's a valid concern is for
the Kurds who many accuse the president of abandoning and it brings up the
bigger question of Israel if we are completely out of Syria which is what
the president has announced then what does that mean for Israel are we
abandoning Israel and so that's the question what I found of particular
interests are the evangelical leaders that have voiced their support or
concern for the president's decision so on Thursday Haaretz reported on the
quote rare rebuke of evangelical leaders who are slamming president Trump over
the Turkish assault on Syria's Kurds Pat Robertson said quote the president who
allowed Khashoggi if I'm pronouncing his name right to be cut in pieces without
any repercussions whatsoever is now allowing the Christians and the Kurds to
be massacred by the Turks the report goes on to quote other leaders
evangelical leaders one of which was Franklin Graham who took to Twitter
voicing his concern and asking for prayer in the first of two tweets Graham
posted today I ask that you join me in praying for the lives
affected by the White House decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria
both Democrat and Republican leaders are deeply concerned because this would be
in essence abandoning our closest allies there the Kurdish people in the set
the second tweet he posts the Kurds are the ones who have been leading the fight
against ISIS in Syria also pray for the Christians who the Kurds have been
protecting they could be annihilated would you pray with me that president at
real Donald Trump will reconsider thousands of lives hang in the balance
as you might imagine there are many who are very concerned rightfully so and
Israel is amongst them which is why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was
quick to respond Arutz Sheva published a report in which they quote Netanyahu at
a memorial service for the soldiers killed in the Yom Kippur War saying we
don't aspire to be a people who dwells alone but that's how we were forced to
stand at the beginning of the Yom Kippur War that only nearing the end of which
did American aid arrived and he's right about that as in 1973 listen to this
this is very interesting still quoting Netanyahu we still greatly appreciate US
support which has increased greatly in recent years as well as the tremendous
economic pressure the u.s. is exerting on Iran do you hear a but coming
oh it's coming
however we always remember and apply the basic rule that guides us what is that
rule Israel will defend itself by itself on its own in the face of every threat
the IDF is ready to preempt every threat employing defense and attack with its
overwhelming power weapon power and power of spirit
sounds pretty confident doesn't he there's a reason for that I want to talk
about that in a moment this is the great spirit that the Yom Kippur War
generation has bestowed upon us the prime minister emphasized okay bear with
me as I was following all of this this last week I was struck with what all the
so-called expert analysts had to say secular and Christian both alike
I mean everybody's got an opinion and they're all pontificating and offering
their take on this decision as controversial as it is with the lack of
support that it has and then here are the Christian leaders with all due
respect also coming out offering their opinion what they have to say and I'm
sorry but we're waiting with bated breath
I wonder what so-and-so is going to say about it and I'm including myself in
that social media pastor JD can't wait to see what you have to say stop that
what I have to say what I have to say it doesn't matter what I have to say you
know what matters what God has to say that's what matters
what God said and that settles it God said it He already said it and that
settles it God in His Word told us who would be in Syria who would not be in
Syria what would happen to Syria and what will come from Syria
that's all I have to say let's close in prayer know I'm going well Isaiah 17:1
let's start there shall we I would submit that this is the next prophecy to
be fulfilled on God's prophetic calendar Isaiah 17:1 a prophesy against Damascus
see Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins I would
suggest it already is and the only reason this has not been completely
fulfilled is because it's also a prophecy that Damascus will be
uninhabitable and it's almost there once Isaiah 17:1 is fulfilled it will be the
trigger for Ezekiel 38 to be fulfilled which I believe is by virtue of serious
absence from the nations that are listed in that prophecy in Ezekiel 38
conspicuously absent from those nations is Syria which tells me
that Syria is taken out of the prophetic picture prior by way of and by virtue of
the prophecy in Isaiah 17:1 and then from the north from the
northern border there in the Golan Israel's border with Syria
once Damascus is destroyed uninhabitable then Russia Iran and Turkey with the
other Alliance of Nations invade Israel for the purpose of taking a spoil if you
were to ask me what I thought was one of the most detailed prophecies in the
Bible it would have to be Ezekiel 38 and the reason I highlight that and mention
that is because it's these details that I would argue are indicators of just how
close we are to the fulfillment of this prophecy one such detail is found in
Ezekiel 38 verse 13 which says that Saudi Arabia by their ancient name
Sheba and Dedan the merchants of Tarshish and the Young Lions thereof
which some believe could be a reference to the UK and the u.s. we don't know
it's possible so the merchants of Tarshish and the Young Lions thereof in
verse 13 of Ezekiel 38 we're told will only question protest what are you doing
have you come to take a spoil have you come to take booty you're invading
Israel why is it for the oil yes it is even now we're seeing it already begin
to happen on Friday the Times of Israel report it this is interesting
that the us okay so we're leaving Syria but guess what we're deploying three
thousand more troops to Saudi Arabia why to boost the air defenses why oh you
haven't heard what's going on between Iran oil and Saudi Arabia oil oh they're
striking each other strikes against Saudi Arabia from Iran
these are missile strikes and what's believed to be Saudi Arabia's missile
strikes against Iranian oil tankers it's all about the oil it's all about the oil
another interesting detail it's at the end of Ezekiel 38 in verse 23 and it's
this often missed detail that no nation including the United States of America
will come to Israel's defense America is not in Syria America is nowhere
mentioned unless verse 13 is a reference to the Young Lions of Tarshish again
possible can't be dogmatic about it but no nation comes to Israel's defense
actually contrary to the prime minister stating that Israel will defend itself
by itself here's the truth it will be the God of Israel who defends Israel not
Israel not the US and listen to what God declares through the prophet Ezekiel in
verse 23 of Ezekiel 38 He says thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify
Myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations then they shall know
that I am the lord that's why Israel will stand alone i go
back to that map of course i can i have the i had to update it i was just looking
at this map I mean it just to put it into perspective look at how big
Russia is Russia is so big this is Google Earth right so I did a screenshot and I
had to zoom way out in order to just get the the red or the yellow line and put
the name Russia at the top of the slide but if I could zoom out even more
Russia's like the whole thing and then Libya Turkey Iran Sudan Ethiopia by the
way these are the areas we know modern-day they're listed in Ezekiel 38
by their ancient names different borders than we understand them to be in the
modern day countries but these are the Arabs I mean we're getting it from all
areas why do I point this out because
you're telling me that there is a prophecy in the Bible yet to be
fulfilled where all of these nations huge nations are going to come against and
invade little itsy-bitsy tiny so tiny even my little red circle that I put
there you like my red circle
that's actually bigger than Israel Israel's like this little sliver just
it's in fact on some maps if you do a search for maps of the Middle East you
can't even fit I S R A E L in the actual land that is modern-day Israel so that
what they do is they they they do what I did basically and they take a little
little arrow and they put the text Israel then there's an arrow pointing to
this little sliver and God is saying look at this map they're all going to invade
Israel and they're going to be defeated who do you think's going to defeat them
the little red little spot right there wow
no they're going to know that there's no way Israel could defend itself by itself
against that unless it was God that's the whole point I probably could have
made that point a lot sooner and a lot quicker but I didn't the details that we
have in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy are such that they become markers of just how
close we are here's another one we're told in Ezekiel 38 that that Israel will
be at this place that they are dwelling confidently militarily economically
we can defend ourselves by ourselves Israel is strong we have the power we
have the spirit big G little o Go Go I mean it's just that like and that's exactly what God
says through the prophet Ezekiel that they will be like there will be this
confidence this strength that they're secure and prosperous and they are
they're so prosperous economically very strong Israel militarily very strong
Israel and this is exactly what we were told would happened everything we're told
would happen is beginning to happen precisely how God said it would happen
and again please you'll forgive me for the bluntness with which I say this but
it doesn't matter what everyone and all the experts have to say the only thing
that matters is what God has to say and this is what God said He said this was
going to happen He gave us detailed prophecies not just
for the sake of us being in the know that's not the purpose of Bible prophecy
no the purpose of telling us what's going to happen before it happens is so
that we will believe and that's what Jesus said
in John's Gospel chapter 14 verse 29 I have told you now before it happens so
that when it does happen you will believe that I am in other words Jesus
is saying that I'm going to tell you what's going to happen before it happens
so when it starts to happen you're going to say well didn't God say that was going to
happen yeah right here right here He said before it would happen that it would happen yeah about
like 2,500 plus years before and it's
happening yeah exactly like You said it would yeah whoa it must be true ya think
no other religious writing you cannot read the Quran and find any
passage that has prophecy about what's going to happen because Allah is not God
and Muhammad is a false prophet only God can say I'm going to tell you what's going to
happen before it happens so when it happens you'll know that I'm God I am
the Lord I'll say it's almost like the emphasis is on I and throughout the Old
Testament to the Israelites I am the Lord your God it's almost like God's
saying they're not your God that's not your God I am the Lord your God Israel
you're going to be invaded against insurmountable unfathomable
incomprehensible odds and you're going to be victorious how because I am the
Lord your God that's how that's why
and that's why we do these prophecy updates it's to bring to the forefront
these prophecies in God's Word that we were told would happen at the time of
the end because you know what they're happening you know what that means it's
the time of the end and now we can take what we see happening in the world we
can connect the dots with what God said would happen in His Word and what can we
conclude from that well Jesus said in Luke 21:28 when you see these things
begin to come to pass here's what the believer can do look up and lift up your
head because your redemption draws nigh what about the unbeliever the unbeliever
when they see these things beginning to come to pass things that were told would
happen prior to them happening and now they're happening then the non-believer
would believe because that's the good news the Gospel Jesus came He was
crucified He was buried He rose again on the third day and He's coming back again
one day and aren't you glad did you imagine if it was just Jesus came He was
crucified He's buried and then He rose again from the dead have a nice life
that's it yeah that's like Paul Harvey would say the rest of the story
and by the way history His story that's history and there's this beautiful
marriage between history and prophecy in the person of Jesus Christ Paul writing
to the Corinthians in his First Epistle the fifteenth chapter
verses one through four says moreover brethren I declare to you the Gospel the
Gospel which I preached to you which also you received and in which you stand
by which also you are saved if you hold fast that Word which I preached to you
unless you believed in vain for I delivered to you first of all that which
I also received and here it is that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures why is it important that we know it's according to the Scriptures
because it's according to the prophecy about the first coming of Jesus in the
Scriptures according to the prophecies about His first coming in the Scriptures
Christ died for our sins and He was buried and He rose again the third day
and He says it again according to the scriptures you know where the first
prophecy is in the Bible think about this Genesis 3:15 the first
prophecy in the Bible and it's when sin entered the world and God declares this
curse on the serpent and prophecies that the seed of the woman would crush his
head you're going to bruise His heel but He's going to crush your head I can't wait
doesn't sound like you can't wait either that was a prophecy of the virgin birth
the seed of the woman the woman doesn't have the seed the woman has the egg
that's the virgin birth that's the first prophecy it's called the it's known
as the protoevangelium meaning that it's the yet coming foretelling of the
prophecy of the Savior that will come because now sin has to be paid for
and Jesus Christ came and died and paid for all of our sin that's the good news
that's the gospel and He defeated death and He defeated the devil according to
the Scriptures and so that's why we now have this gift by the way had an
interesting email from a brother in the church I love this guy he always points
things out to me like this he says stop using free gift it's redundant
I thought about it he's right free means like it was a discount I mean a gift by
its very nature is free right and by the way isn't it true nowadays especially
online for those of us who read before we click agreeing we just you know we
just you know do you agree to the terms do you really know what you're agreeing
to free okay click I agree I want free I agree I want free I agree and you find
out you just got a free trial for 30 days and now all of a sudden there's a
charge to your card that showed up you agreed to thought it was free so I'm not
going to use the word free it's a gift it's a gift of eternal life this is why we
do the ABCs of salvation it's a childlike explanation of salvation and
it's simply this the A is for admit or acknowledge that you've sinned against
God that you need the Savior this is what it means to repent it's a change of
mind it's a turning from our sin and turning to the Savior for forgiveness of
sin Romans 3:10 says there no one righteous not even one whenever I
do a memorial service I always bring this up because everybody isn't it
interesting how everybody always has something nice to say about the deceased
kind of interesting because they never said that about him
when they were alive oh they were a good person like you sure weren't saying that
before oh they were a good person he had a good heart listen you might be a good
person you might have a good heart it'll never be good enough there is no one
that is good enough save One Romans 3:23 says all pretty
much covers all right you look it up in the original and you would yeah that word all
is oh it means everyone all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
ready for some more bad news well here's some more bad news
Romans 6:23 you know what the penalty is the wage of that sin that all have
sinned death the death penalty that's the bad news
are you ready for the good news now Romans 6:23 but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord that's the A here's the B believe in your
heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead that's what
Romans 10:9 and 10 says if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from
the dead you will be saved I'm so glad it says you will and that it
doesn't say you might or you could or you should or there's a good probability
or likelihood no you will the jury is no longer out the verdict is in the penalty
has been paid He went to His death in yours and my stead and He rose from the
dead here's the C lastly simply call upon
the name of the Lord or as Romans 10:9 and 10 also says if you confess with
your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead you will be saved for it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved and lastly
Romans 10:13 for me this was 37 years ago I did this it says all who call upon
the name of the Lord will be saved it's that simple
that's the childlike explanation of salvation and you might be watching
online and God led you to this video by His Providence by His design it's not by
accident or maybe you're here in this church I make no assumptions and quite
frankly if the truth were known what's happening in the world today has finally
got your attention I want to say to you that today is the day of salvation and
this is the most important decision any of us will ever make in our life for
eternal life and it's a decision that needs to be taken seriously and the ball
is in your court if I can say it that way
why don't you all stand and we'll pray
loving Father in heaven thank You for Bible prophecy thank You for the purpose
of Bible prophecy thank You for telling us what's going to happen in the world
at the time of the end so that when those things start happening
non-believers will believe and believers will look up knowing that Your return is
at the door and our Redemption draws nigh Lord thank You for Your Word the
more sure Word of prophecy thank You that it's only You and what You say that
matters in the end and You've already said it so Lord I pray that we'll take
heed to Your Word in Jesus' name Amen
