Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, July 4, 2021

Independence Day Message…Happy Fourth of July!

Today Pastor Michael is continuing his study on the End Times as we get into Revelation, the Anti Christ and the Tribulation Period.  The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse starts us off with a rider on a white horse.  

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) The riders represent evil forces that God allows to have some limited influence on human history.

The first rider, on a white horse, is a symbol of empire (6:2). The color white has so far been associated with the purity and victory of God’s people (1:14; 2:17; 3:4; 4:4), but here the rider is a satanic parody of false conquest (“he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer”) and of false endurance (signified by the crown, or athlete’s wreath [Gk stephanos]).

Drilling down deeper, Michael covers a peace treaty for the seven years of the Tribulation period, seen in Daniel 9: 27.  This prophesy allows the temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt.  Today, this seems an unlikely occurrence, so somehow the Anti Christ will work out a peace agreement that will allow it to be rebuilt.  The Anti Christ will then be seen as the long awaited “Messiah”.  

A few notes about the AntiChrist:

1. The Anti Christ will not be revealed until the beginning of the Tribulation. (2 Thesselonians 2: 3)
2. The believers must be removed before the Anti Christ is revealed. (2 Thesselonians 3 and 7)
3. The Anti Christ will rise to power as the hero who makes peace in the Middle East.  (Daniel 9:27)
4. He will be empowered by Satan and will deceive those who reject the true Christ (2 Thesselonians 2:9)
5. Halfway through the seven years, the Anti Christ will break the treaty, defile the temple and declare himself to be God. (Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thesselonians 2:4)
6. He will have world domination for the last half of the Tribulation period (Revelation 13: 1-10)
7. At the end of the Tribulation, the true Christ will appear and destroy the Anti Christ, casting him into the Lake of Fire (2 Thesselonians 2:8 and Revelation 19:20)

Our takeaway today is, “Don’t make a Christ out of anything or anybody other than Jesus Christ.”

Today’s bible verses are found in Revelation 6: 2, Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thesselonians 2: 1-10.

IMPORTANT CHURCH NOTICE:  Next Sunday, July 11, 2021, we are going to start meeting inside again for the first time in a year and a half!  We will continue to have outdoor meeting in the evening for those that feel more comfortable with that.  Also, Saturday, July 10th, we will meet at 6:00 p.m. for pizza and fellowship!