Why the return of Jesus will take place – Don Bierle

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1:00I can almost promise you've had this thought. Well, Jesus returned in my lifetime. I certainly know a lot of leavers who have gone on to be with the Lord, who told me unequivocally that they thought Jesus would return in their lifetime. And then they have gone on to be with the Lord. So we're going to talk about the return of Jesus, the Christ today, with Dr. Don Byrley. He's got not only his masters in the Bible, but they have gone on to be with the Lord. So we're going to talk about the return of Jesus, the Christ today, with Dr. Don Byrley. He's got not only his masters in peach degrees in life sciences, and a master's in New Testament studies, an academic dean and college professor for nearly 25 years. And he is a very skillful communicator. I love having him on the show. He's the author of Surprise by Faith, which developed the Faith Search Discovery presentation, used worldwide to proclaim the gospel. And you can learn more about Don at faithsearch.org. Don, so nice to have you back. Hey, Bill, so good to be back. It seems like it's been a long time.

2:00It does, but I'm glad we're doing this today. And I, like I just said, I've talked to many, many people who have now gone on to be with the Lord that were utterly convinced that Jesus would return in their lifetime. Yes, you know, I'm not sure that's a bad deal. I don't either. Because the scripture seems to indicate that we should be ready at any point. I think the theological term is imminent. We are to understand that the return of Jesus is an imminent return, which means it could be at any moment, and no one knows exactly what that is. And so we should anticipate it, Paul, even when he was ready to, he was kind of in second Timothy. He was probably on his last stages of life and anticipating death soon. And he said, he's anticipating going to be with the Lord because he was anticipating a crown of righteousness. And then he says, not just for me, it'll be for everybody who looked forward to his return. So it's kind of an all-inclusive crown, I guess.

3:02You know, I have had people say to me, well, Paul said that Jesus would return in his lifetime, but he didn't. What is your response to that? Well, there are many generations that have experienced persecution. And oftentimes that's when people think about the return of Christ because the days leading up to his coming back will be times of apostasy or abandoning of the faith or lawlessness. And of course, we're seeing that for sure today. And it would be natural for someone to say, gosh, rumors of war, etc. It seems like we fit. And maybe that's the way it was intended to be so that we would be ready. Bill, I'll be honest with you.

4:02I chose this topic because I'm afraid that most people, the Christians, have stopped thinking about it. Now, yeah, I know when they have problems and so forth, they just long for, if only Jesus would come back, I'd be done with all my problems. But I'm talking about the general population, you know, whether it be the riots in Minnesota or whether it be the problems we've got in Tucson. And people go for days, weeks, months, I think, without even a single thought that that could happen today. Well, that's not me. I think about it every day. Well, because of its glory, the amazing, wonderful moment that this will be, and the anticipation. And I'm okay with having a sense of expectancy because of the, the glory of his return. Yes, yes.

5:02You know, I guess I'm thinking more of the unbeliever. And I think, for example, of second Peter, where he says, know this first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come, mockers will come with their mocking. And saying, where is the promise of his coming? Forever since the father's fall asleep, all continues as it was from the beginning of creation. And so they actually don't believe that there really is a return of Jesus. And so I think that's where I was coming from, that maybe it's the world, the unbelieving world, that thinks that we're, we're foolish, we're crazy. Mm-hmm. Dr. Don Byrley is my guess. We're talking about the return of Jesus. Don, what do we need to know? Well, I think that's where I was coming from. Maybe it's the world, the unbelieving world that thinks that we're foolish. We're crazy. Dr. Don Byrley is my guess. I don't know.

6:02Well, I think it's not, it'd be nice if people realize that the scripture is absolutely clear on this subject. For example, Jesus, the night of his arrest, he spent the evening with his apostles, preparing them for the crisis of his death, the next day at the cross. And he made it clear to them, that the house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there, you may be also. It's pretty hard to misunderstand that. I think some people wouldn't misunderstand it, but they would probably question the authenticity of the text. And of course, you know that my book is surprised by faith

7:02and what faith search international does, has spent many, many decades defending the integrity of the text of the New Testament and its eyewitness nature and the transmission with very little change to the printing press. Therefore, I think anyone who says, well, I don't think I believe that Jesus really said that or I don't believe the text there on kind of, you know, shaky ground. That's not going to be defensible. So the fact is, Jesus did say it. And, but that's not alone. I, I could quote numerous ones, you know, like at his ascension in the end of Luke and the beginning, and Acts 1 reproduces it and says this same two angels appeared when Jesus was taken up into heaven. Two angels said this same Jesus

8:02who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. And, you know, my conclusion is that 23 of the 27 New Testament books make a total of 318 references to Jesus' second coming. So the first thing I hope to get across here, Bill, is that people have to know it's pretty much a fact that Jesus is coming back. And therefore, we should be ready and anticipating that return. I'm doing it right now. You've got me all excited to be anticipating his return once again, Don. Thank you for this. Let's talk about this passage in Revelation, chapter 1, verse 8. Yes. Yes.

9:02Oh, Jesus, the resurrected Jesus by this time, is revealing the book of Revelation to the Apostle John. And in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, as you mentioned, chapter 1, verse 8, he says, I am the Alpha and Omega. So the beginning and the end, and who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty. Kind of a preamble to the whole book of Revelation, to give authenticity to the later, the time of tribulation, the later millennium, and so forth. I know there's controversy about the exact sequence of events at the end time. I don't think I want to get into that. But yeah, the announcement.

10:02And of course, right in that same section, I think it was in chapter 1, I am alive forever more. So there's no mistaking, who's talking here. It's, in fact, Jesus himself who died on the cross, but was resurrected again. And he says, I'm coming back, his own words. Let me read 1 Peter 113 and then comment on that, if you would, done. Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace of Jesus, and be healed at his coming. Of course. Well, that's another reference, of course, to the, to the return of Jesus. And, and, and Peter makes that perfectly clear, there doesn't he, that that should be a focus. Fix your eyes fully on the grace to be brought to you.

11:02And what were you, wondering about was, was it the grace, or was it the return, or, or what, what was your thought on that? I was thinking about the return. I mean, talk about the solid evidence in scripture that he is coming back. Oh, yes, for sure. Uh, yeah, set your hope completely on the, the word hope in the Greek, uh, is not, uh, I hope the Vikings will win the Super Bowl. They won't. That's, that's not a very confident hope. I know. The hope in the New Testament Greek is a confident, a, a, a, a, uh, uh, press a, um, certain and confident expectation. That's the what you'd look up. If you looked up in a, in a Bible helpbook, it would give that kind of a definition for what biblical hope means. Confident, uh,

12:02a, uh, would they say, uh, a confident, uh, expectation, uh, is, is the idea of hope. So that means the second coming, we are to view it as something of, of great confidence. Uh, yeah. I love that you were able to reach out to your life line. That was great. Why is that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry about that. No, no, no. I find that very charming, by the way, just so you know, that's my wife sitting over here. I just done the soap. Yeah. I love that. So let's, uh, let's go back and just review a little bit because Jesus was on the earth 2000 plus years ago. And he set over and over and over and over and over that he would return. I don't know. So, you know, that's what Jesus taught.

13:04So we're building in a case that we can fully embrace as believers that we go out into the world and confidence to tell people, especially the lost and the people that don't believe that he is coming back. Yes, yes. You know, bills sometimes people object because how's that going to work You know, what if somebody's driving a car and it comes back and there's, you know, the concept of the rapture that God is going to raise up people who are believers at that time. And everything's going to be in chaos. And my response is, you know, I'm going to respond to what the scripture teaches. I'm not going to try to do God's job. I don't know how that's all going to take place or how it's going to happen. And whether or not he put some kind of a freeze or some sort of breaks on every vehicle, I have no idea. But that's God's job, not ours. And so we

14:05should respond to what the scripture teaches that he is coming back again. And how that's going to play out what's going to look like exactly. We do know that he, one of the passages of Paul wrote in Thessalonians that he will come with a shout and the trumpet and the dead in Christ will rise first. And those who are still alive will then follow. And they will meet with him in the clouds of the sky. You know, who knows how disruptive that's going to be. We are not sure. But that's what it's all about. And I'll let him take care of the details. I think that's why it's done. And then just a reminder before we go to break that 27 New Testament books make 318 references to Jesus a second coming. That's an amazing one out of every 30 verses. So it is amazing. It is amazing. I'm not sure where it is. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. All right. We're going to take a

15:10short break and be right back with Dr. Don Byerley. Our topic today is the return of Jesus the Christ. So if you have a question or comment, please text it over 877-933-2484. We'll be right back. It is my deepest desire that you take the very first step of faith by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. If you've got questions about what it means to begin a relationship with Jesus, text the word faith to 4124. Dr. Don Byerley is my guest. You can learn more about him at faithsurch.org. Don spells his last name B-I-E-R-L-E. And his book, Surprise by Faith, is one of my faves. It's in my library and I look at it often. So Don, let's get back to our topic at hand, which is the return of

16:15Jesus. And a question that we can maybe start with is this future event, which is amazingly important. Why do you think it is so absent from the consciousness of people in the world and the world culture in general? You know, if you get involved in your job, you get involved as family, you're getting sports, you get all kinds of reasons to be distracted from something that seems remote. I think it's mostly distraction. When the Bible talks about an example of why people are not ready, it describes it, for example, with... Let me grab one here. I was just going to... For the coming of the Son of Man, Matthew chapter 24, verses 37 through 39, says,

17:22for the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days, which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving and marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. My understanding of what's being said is they will be very busy with life and the idea of what God's Word says is a rather remote. It doesn't seem real and the event comes upon him and that's why also in the New Testament we have Jesus is coming described as a thief in the night, but he makes that clear. That's only for unbeliever. Believers are not supposed to be caught off guard like a thief in the night. They should be looking forward to it and anticipating it. So that's at least a thought bill regarding that

18:26question. Another question came in on the text line, Don. Maybe we can deal with this before we move on. And the question was what Bible verses support the rapture being the next prophesied event on the calendar, especially for those who don't believe that. Right, right. I would point out that perhaps that person is thinking that I don't see the word rapture in the Bible and they would be correct. The word does not occur in the Bible. The concept however does, just like Trinity does not occur in the Bible, but the concept is supported in many, many places. And therefore it is derived from the Bible even if the word does not exist. I would I would point the person, for example, to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 13, we do not want you to be uninformed brother in about those who

19:27are asleep that you may that meaning death, those who I've already died, that you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For we this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And and then we who are alive therefore comfort one another with these words. Why don't I think that refers to a time after the judgment? There is Jesus himself said there will be a period of time before he returns in judgment that will be like no other time that it's ever occurred on the face of the earth and he's talking about the severity of it the the terrible nature of it, the pain,

20:30the suffering, the horror. That means there is something yet coming which no man has ever experienced and it's usually referred to then as the tribulation, the great tribulation. He mentioned several places in the Bible. If in fact this passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 starting with verse 13 has to do with the second coming mentioned in John chapter, excuse me, Revelation chapter 19. He comes on the white horse and then he comes in judgment upon the nations and we have the final battle. There would this verse would not fit. It's like after the during the tribulation and by the time the tribulation is over with the bowls and all of the death and the horror and the destruction of much of the face of the earth, nobody's going to wonder if Jesus is coming back and I could thief in the night. It just doesn't fit. In other words, it seems to me that when you read through the

21:37whole Bible and it talks about the return of Jesus, there seems to be two descriptions and the one is a thief in the night and this passage is like that where he comes in blessing to gather up his own believers. There are more. I don't want to take too much time here Bill but in answering that question but then his after the tribulation, he doesn't come in blessing. He comes in judgment. Here comes as the king and he will establish his throne which is forever and ever and he will put down every evil and every power and dominion and he will reign forever and ever. So here's the descriptions of Jesus's return appears to be in two phases. The first one in blessing and gathering up believers who he promises would not go through the wrath of God. I have five different references

22:45where it says you will not go through the wrath of God and we normally think of the tribulation as the time of the wrath of God and the Old Testament describes it as a time of Jacob's trouble meaning it's the tribulation that wakes Israel up and causes them to recognize their heir and not accepting Jesus as their Messiah because the scripture says when he comes they will look on him even those who have killed him, his own who killed him and that's a scripture statement. Well when would they do that? It must be during the rapture that they see and all of a sudden recognize their heir but now they must go through the tribulation. Many will die 144,000 will be protected so they can serve as they were intended to after the tribulation is over. I'm getting way ahead of myself but to for me to defend the rapture I would take to take a little more time

23:51use several other passages or scripture but the person who asked that question I think you if we had time to do it you would find quite a bit of support for the idea of a rapture second and blessing separate from the coming of Jesus in judgment seven years later. And then Donna if we go to 1 Thessalonians 417 and where believers are caught up to meet the Lord of course the Greek word is harpazo and then when it got translated into Latin I think the Latin word was rapture and I think that's where we got the word rapture. Okay good point Bill I didn't I did not remember that. Yeah yeah so I think that's where we get the word rapture but I think the Latins gave us rapture. There's also 1 Corinthians chapter 15 which in starting in verse 50 and he talks about the resurrection and the description there simply would not fit after the great tribulation and the total wrath of God being unleashed upon unbelief, unbelieving powers

24:58and the world. It just wouldn't fit and so we were trying to understand the scripture and realize that appears that their descriptions are of two phases of his return. All right let's get back to the return of Jesus the Christ and maybe the question that I'll ask next is why is Jesus coming again? Yeah a lot of people wonder what's this all about? I put it down as he had when he left he had some unfinished business here on earth and in one of those has to do with believers. He promised that believers would be resurrected and remember that passage in John chapter 14 I will come again and take you to be with me where I am. Well we aren't there yet

25:58those that are still alive and in the Bible refers to that phase of our salvation as our inheritance and Ephesians chapter 4 says that very clearly let me let me read that that's in Ephesians 1 13 and 14 I mean I don't have let me let me quickly turn to that I thought I had it but I don't here's 13 and 14 I always love when I hear Bible pages turning that that's a good that's a happy that's a happy sound to me. Okay here it is and him you also after listening to the message of truth the gospel of your salvation having also believed you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise that the concept of being sealed in the Holy Spirit identifies it as ownership

27:04you've now belonged to him you're not your own you were bought with a price the scripture says then 14 who is given as a pledge to our inheritance we in putting our faith in Jesus theologically it's referred to that we are justified I'd like to just say it we we are saved from the penalty of sin that that all of us have and Romans 8 once as there's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus that's because we are justified it's a legal term saying we no longer are liable for the penalty of our sin then secondly the Bible clearly talks about in Paul especially in Romans about a theological term sanctification sanctity means holy the process of becoming transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and that's a work of the

28:04Holy Spirit and that's taking place during our lifetime as we studied the word a pray rely on the Holy Spirit he is transforming us into the likeness of Christ but we aren't glorified that means we have not yet gone to a place where there is no sin and where we are then like him and will spend eternity with him that's glory well the pledge of the Holy Spirit in us is Jesus's way of saying I think a lot of people who are listening would would connect with the idea of you buy a house and but the closing date isn't for two months down the road how does the seller know that you're going to show up two months from now and finish paying for that house well they ask for an earnest a good faith of payment and money goes into escrow it goes into escrow and you lose it if you don't show closing and they can go ahead and sell it to somebody else Jesus says I gave you the Holy Spirit

29:08within you as my earnest that I am going to show up at the closing yeah you can and so that's just a turn to take his own that have now believed are now part of the God's family and take them home to glory and that's one of the reasons that Jesus is coming back well done doctor Don Byrley is my guest we are going to take short break and come back if you have a question or comment about our discussion is welcome and the text line is open 877 9332484 I'm back with Dr. Don Byrley you can learn more about him at faithsearch.org Hey Don you've got some resources over there that are available like for free is don't you? Yeah we do have people who request help with a certain issue or topic we oftentimes just

30:13let them have materials that's what we're about in that ministry yeah I like to help people with issues but more than that we have the the last couple years we've been developing I've been at this for over 45 years and we have the Bible Learning Center it's free of use my many video teaching series are posted there on the Bible Learning Center so I write two news that with Bible themes in many of the main features and those are being all posted on the Bible Learning Center and the people have been amazed how many different issues and topics that are involved there giants on the earth and a variety of other things you just have to go and look around and then and then we are now adding guidance to use all the materials in small groups so I'm adding questions and my answers so people could watch a video section and then go and deal with the

31:19questions that I might post there and it makes it easy to run a small group from a home or a Sunday School class or something like that that's at faithsearchlearning.org Awesome. It's faithsearchlearning.org and check it out go to the resources tab when you get there and that will reveal more material than anything else. Nice all right let's get back to the return of Jesus the Christ and we started right before the break talking about why is Jesus coming again and you said that really the short answer is he has unfinished business to tend to let's talk about what the New Testament has stated those matters are the first one that we were talking about before the break and that's it he comes with a blessing to take his those who believe in him to take them to heaven with him we're talking about the resurrection of the body and then for those who are in the grave and those

32:23who are alive will have immediate transformation into their glorified body and and therefore that's one reason and that might be the first phase as I mentioned it comes right at the beginning of the tribulation or right before the tribulation some say it comes at the midpoint I'm not going to argue that that issue but Bill could I just comment he's also about that question we had earlier on the on the rapture yes in first echelonians by four he talks so let's not sleep as others do that's that back to that idea be be prepared but let us be alert and sober since we are of the day having put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation and now here's the point for God has not destined us for wrath and that's the same thing in revelation chapter 3 to one of the churches there in chapter 3 verse 10 because you have kept the word of my

33:29perspires that is kept the faith I also will keep you from the hour of testing that hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon the earth the term in revelation whenever you have those who dwell upon the earth is a reference to unbelievers and and therefore that's just true examples of Bible statement the believer will not go through the time of testing the believer will not go through the time of God's wrath that is not reserved for them they will be removed before that takes place that that's the position of course of the rapture and so forth but back to the other part we didn't even talk about this the the second phase of why that unfinished business and but that's not as pleasant because that's judgment is the second reason evil eventually does not win and that's the point of this second part of why he's returning eventually

34:38righteousness will dwell in the new creation and all sin evil all power in other words the devil the beast the false prophet are all casting to the lake of fire and that is no more and we go into a place where sin does not exist that's the ultimate triumph of good over evil and that's the second phase of Jesus is coming and if you I have some scripture relating to that if please share it jump into that yes and in Daniel there's no Old Testament passage now it says is it Daniel chapter seven seven there it is yep one like a son of man was coming and to him was given in the of course some people may not be aware

35:42Jesus referred to himself that was his predominant way of referring to himself as the son of man and that has a whole story behind it but that this so this is in reference to one like a son of man was coming and to him was given dominion glory and a kingdom that all the peoples nations and people of every language might serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed I took out a few references in that but generally I think it's understandable the point of this one like a son of man he is going to come and every knee will bow every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and that's what he will accomplish at his coming second coming in judgment I like that thank you for that reference in Daniel

36:49all right go ahead there's also the the your reference to the the great tribune during the great tribulation which is only a period of seven years there's the vials and there's the trumpets and the bowls and all of that the bowls are the BOWLS they are the most severe aspects of the wrath of God in judgment there and at the end of that the Bible simply says then the end will come when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed every dominion every authority and every power for he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy to be destroyed is death itself so that God may be all in all so when he has conquered all evil all sin even death itself he then hands over in a sense the the kingdom his rule over to the Father

37:57and God now is all in all there's nothing outside of the rule and the reign of God himself that's an amazing thought when you think of the wrath of God being poured out inconceivable now people who have not been acquainted with the Bible especially the book of Revelation would have to read Revelation chapter six through chapter about 1718 in that neighborhood and that that's the description of that seven year period of tribulation and and the horror that the the amount of death that occurs during that time is as atrocious it because the devil is attempting to fight back and he wants to destroy anyone who might believe and yet in there

38:57one of the things I'd like to point out to people right from the beginning of the tribulation God's wrath is always tempered by his grace and that is all the way through I have highlighted about seven different places where God is attempting to yet have someone witness the truth to the world that still exists and try to bring them to faith in like the two witnesses and so forth and so forth are all God's attempt that in the midst of the tribulation he's trying to save as many as possible how so when he is in the business of conquering all evil including death that is going to be seven years of wrath like the world has never seen him we'll never see again yeah it's it kind of has a crescendo yeah it starts out a little bit slower and as a seven years builds toward the end it's a crescendo the the bowls the seven bowls are are you know like half

40:04the earth is destroyed or or people are are destroyed it's just in once in a while you have you have those who respond positively to what's going on and then it'll say in the rest of the population of the earth swore at him and and on and on in other words they resisted believing all the way to the end before their destruction done what would you say to someone who said you know that sounds a little like science fiction to me yeah well that's why that's what I kind of started the program with saying many people do think of it as so remote that I don't know if I can even believe it it could happen how do you get around I mean if you're going to read the open the Bible at all and read it at all whether Old Testament or New Testament God makes it very very

41:05clear that he has knows the end from the beginning and he therefore is capable of prophecy and he has prophesied the end of the world and when we have God I this this past year and I'm doing quite a bit with it this year I wrote a the mighty works of God great moments in history and I chose 15 events from the Old Testament to the book of Revelation if we're talking about a God who brought the entire creation into existence by the word of his mouth and power we're talking about one who could just take and change the entire earth in the global flood and people don't even understand how much that change that was it broke the whole earth up into pieces we have the continents now the babble where he confused the languages so that people would then separate and go off and populate the entire world you go on and on panic cost on and on and on if that's

42:11the God we're talking about then why would you begin to question whether or not the consummation would not happen this God Jesus made it clear and so do we read it a couple of different places in scripture with God all things are possible and and therefore it would just be unfamiliarity because they say how how would that work we again want to go back and start doing God's job we need to just read the word of God and understand it and accept it yeah yeah but I do understand the issue yeah it seems just like science fiction it says all right we're going to take short break and be back with Dr. Don Barley learn more about him at faith search dot org faith search dot org we'll be right back we carry each other's burdens please know you can bring us your prayer concerns and we will

43:15pray share your prayer requests with the faith radio team by texting or calling 877-933-24-84 or share your prayer requests with the faith radio staff and listeners at myfaithradio.com I guess to Dr. Don Barley we are talking about the return of Jesus the Christ so down we don't have a ton of time left but so I want to ask a couple of questions so you could answer them what is our hope going forward how shall we live and how has this return of Jesus changed your life and do you have a little personal challenge for us you know interesting Titus in the new Testament chapter 2 says for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men it

44:16teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and godly lives in this present and and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the and it's the return of Jesus called the blessed hope the glorious appearing of our great god and savior Jesus Christ so the admonition Titus gives us is that this should prompt us to live godly lives in obedience to the word and to Jesus's teachings and that should be the outcome of what we have the results in our lives that that should prompt us for that you know that Jesus gave several parables about the end times and things like the those that didn't have oil for their lamps and and so like that and the end result of that is that he he said we are to live our lives in readiness

45:19and in fruitfulness and and in godliness I guess I would I would put it that way and if if the return of Christ the creator of the universe who has guided and directed history for six thousand years does not prompt us to be alert does not prompt us to holiness I'm not sure what will I agree all right how has this changed your life personally when you're a trained scientist how do you think about all this Bill I have to confess I have not had in all the decades of Bible study and teaching evangelism that I've done I never really ever had an interest in in the end times theology eschatology as he referred to it just in interact I always thought it was so speculative

46:27and and didn't really land on anything and you just had to say well we don't really know but last year I have no explanation all of a sudden I had an appetite to get into the end times and I think I have spent days upon days upon days scouring the scripture regarding the events of the end times and I will be developing that into some written and printed materials as well I had some insights that just really motivated me I I can't explain how in one year I could have a total transformation from a little interest to a passion for the end times maybe if I were not I can't say this with certainty but is I have an audience I have people who go to the learning center etc maybe God is saying you better alert your friends you better

47:32alert your followers and and let them know that this is not just an academic subject this is a life changing subject in that as he says at the end of the book of Revelation know that it's near the the the shrub is starting to start to bud and I you know I'm not naming a day I'm not naming a time but like you said at the beginning there are some people in past generations of all felt it's just we're he's gonna come before I die well maybe I'm repeating that I'm looking at the world around us with the lawlessness and a variety of other things and I see more evidence of fulfilling what the Bible says it's supposed to look like right before he comes then I I've lived in all the centuries so how would I know but this this century certainly fits that's that's

48:33for sure and so I have a real passion about it now we just have a minute left do you have a a challenge for us rather than going to a theology book and saying okay there's omelennialism there's pre-millennialism and there's all kinds of other millennialisms in in people write books and debate about that why don't I just you know why don't we just go to the scripture and read if one out of every 30 verses talks about the return of Jesus shouldn't we be taking that pretty serious yes we should and and not only even if there are some unknowns we are told that he could comment any minute therefore I would say to people look up your salvation is drawing near amen and that's that's the challenge yeah don thank you so much I always enjoy having you on the

49:36show and I appreciate knowing you over decades I appreciate you very much thank you Bill you appreciate it you bet Dr. Don Barley has been my guest that wraps up our show for the day and for the week thank you for supporting faith radio see you next week thanks for listening programming like this is made available through your support information available at myfaithradio.com in celebration of Easter in epic four-part audio podcast series the christ he's not just a boy and he is and what will they do to him when they find out who he

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