Oxford Bible Church - Living in the Last Days (audio)

After Hezekiah the next king was Manasseh, followed by Amon (both evil kings), followed by Josiah (a good king), who was killed by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at the battle of Megiddo in 609 BC. Josiah's reign coincides with the decline and fall of the Assyrian Empire. In 612 BC the Assyrian capital, Ninevah, was destroyed by Babylon, just as Nahum had prophesied, and 609 BC marks the final end of the Assyrian Empire.

At this time, the Babylonian Empire took over from Assyria as the dominant power in the region. Soon after, this dominance was made complete by Babylon's decisive victory over Egypt at the famous battle of Carchemish in 605 BC. From that time on, Egypt was no longer able to exercise international power. 609 BC marks the start of a 70-year period, granted by God, of Babylonian dominance over the nations (Jeremiah 25:8-14), which ended with the Fall of Babylon at the hands of the Medes and Persians in 539 BC.

This is the 4th and final part of our study on King Hezekiah's reign. After a recap of the previous videos on Hezekiah, Derek reveals the full typology that results from realising there were 2 invasions by Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah, where the rerun of Hezekiah's 15 years is a type of the rerun of Daniel's 70th Week (the coming Tribulation).

We see how Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, is a type of the antichrist, and how his 2nd invasion of Israel in 701 BC is a type of Armageddon, threatening Israel's very survival. Just as the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ) personally destroyed Sennacherib's army in 701 BC in the Land of Israel, in response to Hezekiah's prayer (Isaiah 37), so Jesus Christ will personally destroy the antichrist's armies, who have invaded Israel at Armageddon, in response to Israel calling upon His Name to save them (Revelation 19).

In this context, it is interesting that in Micah 5:5-6 the antichrist is described as 'the Assyrian'. When he invades the Land of Israel, the one who saves them will be Christ Himself, the Son of David (Micah 5:2). He will "deliver Israel from the Assyrian" (v6), when He returns at the end of the Tribulation (the time of birth pains) and completes the regathering and restoration of Israel (v3). Then He will establish His Kingdom of peace over Israel and the whole world, reigning as the King of kings from Israel. He will be 'the Ruler in Israel' over the whole world, for His power and greatness will extend 'to the ends of the earth' (v2,4,5). He will rule from Jerusalem over the whole earth (Zechariah 14:3-9, 16-19).

My book: 'The Imminent Invasion of Israel' (available on Amazon) discusses in detail the unfulfilled prophecy in Ezekiel 38 of an invasion of the Mountains of Israel in the latter days, by a coalition of nations led by Russia, Iran and Turkey. God Himself will intervene and judge the invaders, resulting in his Name being glorified in the nations (a world-wide revival). See also my 5-part youtube series: 'The Imminent Invasion of Israel'.

Everything is in place for this invasion to take place. All that is needed is a catalyst to cause Russia to step into the leadership of this coalition. In my book, I discuss 2 possible catalysts: (1) Israel bombing Iran's facilities used to develop a nuclear bomb, and (2) Israel increasing its settlement activities or even annexing the West Bank.

The recent conflict with Hamas in Gaza and the associated internal unrest within Israel between the Jews and Arabs made me aware that a future conflict of this nature could also be a possible catalyst for the Ezekiel 38 invasion. If such civil unrest took place again and Israel felt forced to impose itself more strongly on the Palestinian Arabs, especially in the West Bank, then Russia could see this as an opportunity to create an international coalition of mostly Islamic nations to invade and take over the West Bank in the name of protecting the Palestinians and establishing a Palestinian State there, thus enforcing the 2-state solution, in accordance with UN resolutions. However, the prophecy points out that the real motive of the invading nations is the financial reward from increasing their military footprint and power in the Middle-East, as well as this being the first step towards the ultimate destruction of Israel (which would certainly be the main motive and objective of Iran and Turkey).

It is this unlawful attempt to seize God's covenant Land, which He has given to Israel, and this existential threat against God's covenant People, which stirs the Lord to take action against the invading armies to destroy them, and thereby glorify Himself in the eyes of the nations (see Ezekiel 38:14,16 and 39:7, where God speaks of: 'My people Israel', and 'My Land', and describes Himself as: 'the Holy One in Israel'). When this prophecy is fulfilled in detail, just as the Bible predicts, many will realise that the God of Israel, the God of the Bible, is alive and well, and that therefore the rest of the Bible must be true.

The Christian life is the expression of our personal love relationship with the Lord. The spiritual disciplines are for the purpose of drawing closer to God, and deepening our relationship with Him, and thereby growing spiritually. Derek shares how to introduce a new believer to the life of a disciple of Jesus, based on God's love and grace to them. It's all about loving God based on His amazing love for us, and this includes spending time with Him in the Bible and Prayer. Our love for God will also cause us to want to please and glorify Him in the way we life our life. Derek points out the 2 opposite ditches of indiscipline and legalism. When we love God we give Him our heart, and this will be naturally expressed in a disciplined life of seeking God, and obeying His revealed will.

The essence of the Christian life is our love relationship with God rather than following a list of rules. A disciple is a follower of the Person of Jesus, who wants to be as close as possible to Him. This does involve discipline. There are important disciplines that are part of being a disciple, like Bible reading and having a devotional time with God every day, with praise, prayer and confession, being faithful in Church, and finding ways to serve God and people. But we do not do them for their own sake but as expressions of our love for the Lord, in order to be close to Jesus and glorify Him.

We are precious to the Lord. Above all, He wants our heart. He wants us to give Him our heart, which starts by opening (the ears of) our heart to Him, to receive His words of love and His grace to us, for our ears are the receivers of our heart (Isaiah 55:1-3). Then as He fills us with Himself (His life and love), He takes possession of our hearts by his Spirit (Presence), and our hearts become fully His, so that we then love Him with all our heart.

Ephesians 2:5-9 describes our salvation by grace through faith (the New Birth of our spirit), when the Holy Spirit imparted the resurrection life (grace) of Christ to our spirit giving our spirit (1) life, (2) victory and (3) dominion, for we were (1) made alive together with Christ, (2) raised together with Christ fall above all enemies, and (3) seated with Christ above all.

As we were saved by His grace, so now we are to live by His grace, for the grace (the life of Christ imparted to us by the Spirit of grace) that saved us is now also available for us to live our life. God's grace (operational power within us) is freely available to empower us (Ephesians 1:19) for our life, imparting life, victory and dominion to our souls. We are to receive His grace by faith into our souls, like a yacht receives the wind to fill its sails. The Wind of the Spirit flows out from our spirit (Galatians 6:18) and empowers us for living and doing the good works that God has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).

We can't control the Wind of the Spirit, for it blows where it wishes (John 3:8), so we must surrender to His Spirit of Grace and let Him carry us along, teaching and empowering us. It only works if we give up trying to run our own life and surrender control to His Spirit of Grace that is flowing out of our spirit and working within our soul. Only then are we operating under (the power and authority) of grace.

"Those who wait (with expectancy) on the Lord shall renew their strength (pass to power);

they shall mount (raise) up their wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). As we wait on Him and look to Him in faith, believing His wind of grace is blowing from our spirit and is available to fill us, we open our heart (the sail of our soul) to Him to receive and be lifted up and carried along by His grace, just as eagles raise up their wings to catch the wind, empowering them to swiftly soar high above, carried along by the wind. Likewise, by receiving His strength (wind) to fill our souls, we pass from weakness to power, and as a result of being empowered by His grace and carried along by His Spirit, we'll make swift and steady progress in our life.

Romans 1:16-17 tells us the Good News of Christ is that the POWER of God unto SALVATION is freely available for all who believe, for the righteousness of God is revealed (1) from (saving) faith to (2) (living) faith; as it is written, “(1) The righteous (by faith) shall (2) live by faith.” First (1) through saving (justifying) faith, we received the IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ, then (2) through living faith we continually receive His IMPARTED RIGHTEOUSNESS (His Spirit of life and grace).

Both saving and living faith involve (1) submission to Christ's Lordship and (2) dependence on (trust in) His saving power. To be saved by grace we must receive Christ as (1) our Lord and (2) our Saviour, realising that we cannot save ourselves. Likewise, to live by grace, we have to (1) SUBMIT to Jesus' leadership, and (2) TRUST (depend upon) His Spirit to fill us and empower us to live our life, which requires that we BELIEVE the Good News that His grace is freely available to us, flowing out from our spirit (John 7:37-39). In this way, by FAITH we SURRENDER to God's RIVER in us, allowing Him to fill us and carry us along in our life, realising that without Him we can do nothing.

The Spirit of God within and flowing out from our spirit is also like the WIND (invisible and powerful), but also personal, for He blows where He wishes (John 3:8). We cannot control where the wind of the Spirit blows (goes) and where He will take us. We must open the sail of our soul to Him, so that He can fill us with His grace, which will then carry us along through life. For God's grace to flow in and through us, we must be 'under grace' (under the authority and power of His grace), submitting to His authority and depending upon His power. In this way, we surrender control to Him, knowing that we can make no progress (achieve nothing of worth) in our own strength.

God is whole hearted and wants us to be the same - not half-hearted or double-minded. He wants us to trust in Him and be fully committed to Him. While we are on the fence, in a place of indecision, we're not safe. This is seen in Joab's revenge on Abner, when he lured him into the gates of Hebron (2Sam 3:27). The gates of a city represent the place of decision, where you are neither in or out. Hebron was a city of refuge (a picture of Christ) and Abner was safe while inside the city (trusting in Christ), but when Joab (the enemy) persuaded him to meet with him in the gates (the place of indecision), he was unsafe, and the enemy was able to destroy him. This is why David said that Abner died the death of a fool. Likewise, when we remain in two minds about whether we should respond to Christ or trust in His Word or whether to obey God or not, we are 'in the gate', which is not a safe place. We are vulnerable to the enemy. God wants us to get off the fence!

Believers are those "who have fled for refuge" to Jesus to find salvation in Him (Hebrews 6:18). God assigned 6 Cities of Refuge to Israel, to which a man could flee if he killed someone by accident, and find safety. Jesus offers Himself to us as our City of Refuge, and if we run to Him we will be saved (Proverbs 18:10).

Many are concerned about taking the Covid Vaccine, because it could be something to do with the Mark of the Beast, and therefore spiritually dangerous. Others are concerned about the natural risk of taking it. Pastor Derek discusses these issues in the light of the Bible.