The Tabernacle Today

Eternity Future

Dispensationalism is God’s creative management of the ages in keeping with His own eternal plan, incorporating the good and bad choices of humans.

3 Key Features of Dispensationalism:

“The basis for salvation in every age is the death of Christ; the requirement for salvation in every age is faith; the object of faith in every age is God; the content of faith changes in the various dispensations.”           -Charles Ryrie

Revelation chapters 21 & 22 describe where believers in Jesus Christ will spend eternity. We will be in new bodies living in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth. The holy city and world will feature the absolute best things about living on the old earth enhanced by even more than our sanctified imaginations can think of! None of the sinful things that made life on earth terrible will be experienced there. But the absolute best thing will be that God will live __________________________ us there!

Land = eres (H776)

Eres occurs ______________________ times in the Old Testament (Land, earth)

Observations from Revelation 21 & 22:

Those who shut down sanctified biblically-based discussion of the future using 2 Corinthians 2:9 have missed what the very next verse says –

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.”       -2 Corinthians 2:10a

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”                -Psalm 16:11

The Testimony of the Redeemed

If you are a professing Christian, in one way or another your life is a witness about Jesus Christ. Your life is either a good testimony, or it is a bad one!

As we will see today, many otherwise good churches gain bad reputations because of the sins some of its people won’t repent of.

Read Revelation 2:12-17 The Testimony of the Redeemed Let’s Pray!

Things we know about Pergamum:

Jesus Christ is our Ultimate Judge  V. 12

“For the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart. No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.”    -Hebrews 4:12-13

Many in the church had a great testimony for Jesus   V. 13

It’s probably best to view “Satan’s throne” as being a composite of all these pagan influences, the same influences Christians of all time have had to deal with living in godless cultures where false ideas flourish and enslave.

We don’t know anything more about Antipas than his name, which means “against all!”

Some in the church need to repent of a bad testimony for Jesus V. 14-15

Behind the sins they were committing were ideas put there by false teachers, ideas they had believed and acted on.

The teaching of Balaam encouraged God’s people to compromise their faith by participating in the immorality and idolatry of those they lived among.

That’s how it works- the way churches dissolve is not from without but within, through cancerous doctrine, carnal living and compromise with the world.

Know this, Christian: Satan is your enemy and will take all the territory you allow him to take when you sin. He will accept you giving him a foothold, and if you continue to live in sin he will set up a stronghold in your life.

The church of Jesus Christ needs to care more about what the One with the two edged sword thinks than what false teachers think!

Jesus fights against professing Christians who are unrepentant V. 16

The false teachers of our day love to talk about Jesus’ love and tolerance, but can not tolerate the zeal Jesus has for Christians to be like a pure bride that rejects idolatry and immorality.

Would you rather have Jesus fight against you or forgive you?

“The Lord certainly would not exhort to repentance if it were not because He promises pardon to the penitent!” Cyprian of Carthage, 3rdcentury martyr

Even a bad testimony can become a good testimony when we repent!

Three things overcomers receive V. 17

1. Overcomers receive the hidden manna!

2. Overcomers will receive a white stone

“Judges would determine a verdict by placing in an urn a white and black pebble. If the white one came out, it meant acquittal; thus the white stone coming out would mean assurance that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!” -Charles Ryrie, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, page 30

3. Overcomers will get a new name from Jesus!

Jesus knows what’s in your heart, and when you live in first love reality and are more concerned about being faithful than self-preservation, Jesus is preparing for you a special white stone with His name for you on it!

Here is our recording of Ishmael LaBiosa's sermon from our October 24, 2021 Sunday Service! The full service livestream can be found on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1fQj7SnxgJO3VrNJqpJMQ) and our Facebook page (@thetabernaclefamily).

The Millennium

The name of the age:

Scriptures covered:

Many Old and New Testament promises; Revelation 20

Synopsis:

Time Period covered:

Privileges/ characteristics:

New Responsibility:

Failure:

Judgment:

<><

What ended when that age ended:

Carry over to the next age:

A closer look at relevant passages:

The Faithfulness of the Redeemed!  

Today we come to Jesus’ letter to the church at Smyrna, a church that was facing intense pressure to conform to godless expectations but was remaining faithful to Jesus! 

Read Rev. 2:8-11 The Faithfulness of the Redeemed! Let’s Pray!

Things we know about Smyrna:

Jesus puts death in perspective V. 8

Jesus puts difficult circumstances in perspective! V. 9

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” -Matthew 6:19-21

“For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart – by the Spirit, not the letter. His praise is not from men but from God.” -Romans 2:28-29

Something that is not in this letter: no condemnation!

Jesus speaks direct words about what lies ahead for faithful disciples V. 10

What does Jesus say to the faithful? Don’t be afraid of suffering; understand it really could happen to you; be faithful even if it involves suffering and death.   

“Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell.” -Matthew 10:28

If you will trade your desire for self preservation in for a desire to simply be faithful to Jesus no matter where you are, what you are facing, or who you are dealing with, you’ll finally be free.  And you’ll change your world!

The most intriguing suggestion about the “10 days” is that this refers to ten decrees of persecution against Christians by Roman Emperors before the time of Constantine, starting with Domitian.  

The true believer in Jesus will never die twice!   V. 12

The second death does not mean non-Christians will cease to exist, as some mistaken people believe. It means they will be transferred from Hades to the Lake of Fire, experiencing endless torment apart from Christ. 

“Let us therefore become imitators of His endurance; and if we should suffer for His name’s sake, let us glorify Him. For He gave this example in His own person, and we believed this.”   -Polycarp to the Philippians 

But Polycarp replied, “For 86 years I have been his servant, and he has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me.” 

“So it befell the blessed Polycarp…he is talked of even by the heathen in every place: for he showed himself not only a notable teacher, but also a distinguished martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, seeing that it was after the pattern of the gospel of Christ.” -The Martyrdom of Polycarp 

The Tribulation Part 2

The name of the age:

Scriptures covered:

Synopsis:

The Tribulation is the coming 7-year period of time that precedes the 2nd coming of Jesus and His 1,000 year reign from Jerusalem. Its fullest description of events and its Antichrist ruler is in Revelation chapters 6-18. Its 3 purposes appear to be: the judgment of the Satanic world system; the salvation of huge numbers of Jews to Jesus; the last chance for others to be saved. Revelation 3:10 seems to promise the church will be ‘raptured’ to Heaven before it begins.

Time Period covered:

Privileges/ characteristics:

New Responsibility:

Failure:

Judgment:

What ended when that age ended:

Carry-over to next age(s):

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.               -Revelation 3:10

Revelation 6-19 goes into the greatest detail about the Tribulation:

Chronology of Seals – Trumpets – Bowls…

Other items to place somewhere in the 7 years…

The First Love of the Redeemed!

Read Revelation 2:1-7 The First Love of the Redeemed! Let’s Pray! 

Now as we come to these seven letters, we should expect to see that some things these churches dealt with were because of where they were located. 

Things we know about Ephesus:

The inhabitants of the city were “fit only to be drowned and that the reason he could never laugh or smile was because he lived among such terrible uncleanness.” -What Heraclitus said of his city

Things we know about the church in Ephesus:

In this and the rest of the seven letters the Lord addresses Himself in a way appropriate to what that church was going through, but also with information that is useful for all the churches then and now. 

The formula of these seven letters:

A word about Jesus Christ – something to fill in the portrait of Jesus!

A word of commendation – something they were doing right!

A word of condemnation – something that they needed to change!

A word of warning – what will happen if they don’t change!

A word of promise – what overcomers will receive after Jesus comes!  

Jesus is with His church! V. 1

Jesus commends the Ephesian church for 4 things! V. 2-3, 6

First, Jesus commends them for the deeds they had done for Him!

“We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” -I Thessalonians 1:3

Second, Jesus commends them for staying away from evil influences.

Third, Jesus commends them for recognizing and shunning false teachers.

Fourth, Jesus commends them for enduring despite all they had faced

Jesus rebukes the church for losing her first love V. 4

I come to church! I read my Bible! I serve in four church ministries! I tithe! I vote the way a conservative would! I don’t smoke or chew, or run with girls who do! 

Do you see the problem with that? They were defining themselves based on what they did, rather than who they were in Christ!  

The 3 R’s of getting your first love back! V. 5a

1. Remember

2. Repent 

Now what does repentance look like when it comes to your first love?  

It means putting your Identity in Christ BEFORE your Roles for Christ!  

Children demand a woman’s role be that of “mother,” but women are much more than one role. “Roles are necessary because they give structure to our lives…roles tell us what we may expect people to do, but they do not tell us who those people are…Women receive a cultural message that being a mother is the center of their identity. Motherhood is a role, it is not an identity.” Motherhood is “not the entirety of a woman’s life, nor is it the mark of her identity as a woman.” A woman’s true identity is in Christ.” -Denise George

3. Repeat!

“I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in Me and I in Him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” -John 15:5

What happens if we don’t get first love back? V. 5b

The overcomer will get to eat from the tree of life in Paradise! V. 7

How do you become an overcomer?

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” -I John 5:4-5

The Tribulation

The Tribulation is the coming 7-year period of time that precedes the 2nd coming of Jesus and His 1,000 year reign from Jerusalem. Its fullest description of events and its _____________________________ ruler is in Revelation chapters 6-18.

Its 3 purposes appear to be: the judgment of the Satanic world system; the salvation of huge numbers of Jews to Jesus; the last chance for others to be saved.

Daniel 9 let us know many helpful things about the Tribulation:

Other key passages related to the Antichrist and 42 months in Daniel:

Adding in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 21)…

First and Second Thessalonians:

Revelation 6-19 goes into much greater detail:

Chronology of Seals – Trumpets – Bowls…

Other items from Revelation to place somewhere in the 7 years…

The Remarkable Prophecy of Daniel Chapter 9:24-27

Allow me to walk you these verses. My notes are in italics after the actual text of Daniel.

Seventy weeks (Literally, 70 ‘sevens’) are determined for your people (Jews) and your city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity (Christ’s atoning death for sinners as Isaiah 53 describes), to bring in everlasting righteousness (Christ’s coming reign from Jerusalem as Zechariah 14 describes), to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy (glory of the Lord back in the Temple as Ezekiel 44 describes).

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem (Artaxerxes, 445 BC), until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks (literally 7 sevens, 49 years), and sixty-two weeks (literally 62 sevens, 434 years);

The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times (the book of Nehemiah describes the rebuilding of Jerusalem amidst opposition within those first 7 sevens of 49 years).

And after the sixty-two weeks (which is after the seven “weeks” so 7 + 62 = 69 “weeks.” 69 sevens of years is 483 years. So 483 LUNAR years after the decree of 445 BC) Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself (Jesus’ death was in 30 AD, 483 LUNAR years after Artaxerxes decree. The rejection of the Messiah by Israel caused God’s ‘stopwatch’ to stop after the 483 years, before the last 7 years begin, creating a parenthesis in time we call the church age).

And the people (Roman Empire) of the prince who is to come (the End Times Antichrist) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and to the end of the war desolations are determined (In AD 70 the city and Temple were destroyed by the Romans, which Jesus predicts in Luke 21:20-24).

Then he (the End Times Antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week (referred to by scholars as the 70th“week” of Daniel, the coming 7-year tribulation period described in Revelation 6-19. The implementation of this peace deal will re-start God’s prophetic stopwatch).

But in the middle of the week (3.5 years into the Tribulation), he (the End Times Antichrist) shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate (Jesus calls this the Abomination of Desolation).

Even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate (The coming of Jesus as the Son of Man and His defeat of Antichrist, described in Daniel 7, Zechariah 14, Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, and Revelation 19).

Listen to Luke Martin and Edwin Stephens during our special Youth Sunday Service on October 3, 2021. The full service livestream can be found on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1fQj7SnxgJO3VrNJqpJMQ) or our Facebook page (@thetabernaclefamily).

This sermon from Dr. Campbell was pre-recorded for our podcast due to inclement weather this Sunday (1/16/2022). Here is our video recording! You can watch or listen here, our Facebook page (The Tabernacle Family), on our YouTube channel (The Tabernacle Today), and on our website (www.thetabernaclefamily.org).