The Two Witnesses’ Bold Stand for Truth - Part 1

Jim Scudder, Jr. (0:04)

I believe it means that there will be two men that will appear during the tribulation that will be men of God that will bring prophecies against this world system that we live in and predictions that God's judgment is coming upon the earth.

SPEAKER_2 (0:26)

Welcome to InGrace with Jim Scudder, the Senior Pastor of Quentin Road Baptist Church in suburban Chicago. He is the author of Raindrops in the Desert, co-author of The Spiritual War Against Israel, and co-author of Evangelism Made Simple.

Jim Scudder, Jr. (0:44)

Hi, this is Jim Scudder. Welcome back to InGrace, and God bless you. I hope your Monday's going great here in October. And listen, we are in a series called Armageddon's Dawn, and we certainly seem to be living in the end times, or the end times are right around the corner, and we need to know what the Bible says about the end times. And today, we will be talking about the two witnesses that we read about in Revelation chapter 11 God is giving power to his two witnesses. And there's been a lot of conjecture about these two people. Who are they? Some have said they're the previous spokespersons for God on this earth, Moses and Aaron. Others have said, well, maybe it was Elijah and Enoch, because neither died. Both were taken. One walked with God and was not, and the other rode a chariot of fire to heaven. Or maybe the two witnesses are modern, old-fashioned men who speak for God. There's also another theory, which I'm actually moving toward, although when I preached this message, I didn't think so at that time, but it also could be the ancient Moses and Elijah. And both were, of course, very instrumental people in speaking for God then and could be now. So we're talking about speculation today, but we know one thing for sure. There will be two witnesses, and a lot of things happened to them. We're going to be studying that today and tomorrow in my message titled The Two Witnesses, Bold Stand for Truth. We have a prophecy chart that will really help you understand the end times. If it helps you looking visually at a timeline, then this is for you. It's free from us here at InGrace. Call right now. The number to get the prophecy chart is 800-78-GRACE. 1-800-78-GRACE. You can also get it on our website, ingraceradio.com. I'd also love to invite you to Israel. We're going in February on our next InGrace Solidarity Tour, and it is going to be a wonderful time to study, to relax in the beautiful nation of Israel, to see the miracle of Israel, and to stand with Israel in Israel. To get your free brochure, call that same number, 1-800-78-GRACE, or go to ingraceradio.com.

Today, we're gonna see that God is gonna send a warning to the world during the Tribulation. God doesn't just zap people. God is just and God is holy, and therefore God must put down rebellion and evil. But he is also merciful. He is also love. So we deserve to be zapped, but he gives us warning after warning after warning. Today, we're gonna see two witnesses that God sends upon the scene during the Tribulation, and they will be providing the warning to those that are in the world during that time. These are Old Testament-like characters. You can almost close your eyes and picture two Old Testament prophets standing there in Jerusalem, providing these warnings. I was actually surprised to find out that modern companies had contracted with some Old Testament characters to promote their company. match.com had hired Noah because he could find a match for anything.

Excedrin had hired Moses because Moses said, take these two tablets and call me in the morning.

Microsoft had hired Adam and Eve because they said, no more apples for us.

And AARP thought Methuselah would be a great spokesperson because he said, life begins at 960

We are looking, though, at two Old Testament-like characters that are bringing the warning to the world in this horrible time called the Tribulation. Let's look at the chart. As we go through our study of the Tribulation, and we are in a pause of the chronological look at the future, but we've seen so far the rapture of the church, the seal judgments, and the trumpet judgments, at least the first six. And in this pause, this interlude that we're in, in these chapter 10 and now chapter 11, we're learning about more things that happen inside the entire Tribulation. So although Revelation is normally chronological, we're now in a period that isn't necessarily. So we're going to look through the text and try to understand if it is or isn't. But we do know that there's this Antichrist, this man of sin, that has come on the scene, and he is going to be evil personified. He's gonna come in as the Savior. He's gonna fool a lot of people. But in the end, he is truly the antithesis of God, the antithesis of Christ, and that's why he's called the Antichrist. Christ is Messiah, and so he is the anti-Messiah. And he starts with a peace, but that unravels pretty quickly, and the world finds itself in turmoil. The beginning of this tribulation period is marked by a seven-year confirmation of a peace treaty. We've recently heard in our country, in the United States, that there's the deal of the century that has been put forth by our president. I believe he has been advised by good people that Israel should have the entire land. But this peace deal, this deal of the century, does not give Israel all of the land, but it's an attempt at peace. We are to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that is a biblical principle. We should do that in our own lives frequently. Those of you that are going to Israel, we're going to show solidarity for a people, for a land, for the Jewish people. We're not against the Palestinians, we're not against the Arabs, we're not against the Muslims. Everybody needs Jesus Christ. Everyone needs the gospel. But we are especially to love the Jewish people for two reasons. One, they brought us this book. Both Old and New Testament. And they brought us Jesus. Does that surprise you? Jesus is Jewish. We should love the Jewish people for those two reasons. And if our eschatology is right, our study and interpretation of the end times, God isn't done with Israel. Romans 9, 10, and 11 just says, God has put them on the back burner, God is going to bring them again to the front burner after the church is raptured. So again, we recognize that there's a place for Israel in the world and that the modern nation of Israel is a partial fulfillment of the regathering prophecies that are all through the scripture. So, all of this to say that we live in exciting times because we're seeing the beginnings of some of the things that the Bible talks about in the end, like the rebuilding of the temple.