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

When Nineveh repents, God decides to not destroy her. But Jonah is angry. Why was he so upset? We contrast Jonah's attitude with God's heart of compassion for the lost, revealed through His Plan of Salvation, not only for the people of Nineveh, but for all mankind, as demonstrated by the Cross. We also explore the connection of Jonah with the Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles, confirmed by the fact that the Jews read the book of Jonah on the Day of Atonement.

Jonah preaches to the Ninevites. What did he say? How was it that they all repented and turned to God from the greatest to the least? If God gave wicked Nineveh a great revival, can He not do the same in our communities today? We also discuss the theological issue raised by the fact that God relented or changed His mind concerning His declaration that He would destroy Nineveh. If God is perfect and so cannot change, how could He change His mind concerning what He would do with Nineveh?

In Matthew 12:39-41, Jesus said that Jonah was a type of Himself, especially in His death and resurrection after 3 days: "The sign of the prophet Jonah - for as Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth - a greater than Jonah is here." We discuss, did Jonah really get swallowed by a whale? Did Jonah die and rise again after 3 days? Through Jonah's prayer in the great fish, we discover some insights into what happened during the 3 days and 3 nights. Also we discuss how Jesus fulfilled the prophetic type of 3 days and 3 nights. Was Jesus crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?

When God hurls a storm at the ship, the sailors cast lots to find out why. The lot fell on Jonah, forcing him to declare his faith in Jehovah. As a type of Christ, he offers himself to die, so that the sailors might live. As a result the sailors are saved both physically and spiritually, because they now believe in the LORD.

Jonah flees to Tarshish. Where and what is Tarshish? Could it be the UK? If so, what are the implications for us today? We look at the many Scriptures that mention Tarshish, both in history and in end-time prophecy, including Ezekiel 38:13, Isaiah 60:9 and Psalm 72:10-11.

Introduction to the prophecy of Jonah, and its historical, geographical and spiritual background. Was Jonah a real person or is it just an allegory? Why did Jesus compare Himself to Jonah? We explore the balance between God's judgement and His mercy, and how it applies to our life and society today in the modern age.

Whether you are a believer or unbeliever makes a huge difference at your death, because the condition of each soul at death will determine its eternal destiny (Ecc 11:3). All mankind will be divided into 2 groups. There is a HEAVEN to gain and a HELL to shun! Before the Death and Resurrection of Christ, at death both believers and unbelievers went down to a place called ‘Hades’ (Greek) or ‘Sheol’ (Hebrew), a place under the earth for departed spirits, but the believers and unbelievers went to 2 different compartments of Hades (Luke 16:19-26). Jesus taught that by death you have made your final decision and your eternal destiny is then fixed forever. It will then too late to repent. At this point, the destinies of the righteous and unrighteous are sharply and permanently divided. In Old Testament times all went down to Hades when they died, even believers, because before Jesus died and rose again, bringing in the New Covenant, it was impossible for anyone to be born again, and so it was impossible for their spirits to go into Heaven. In this teaching we reveal the awesome difference that the New Birth makes, enabling us to go to Heaven when we die, because our spirits have been made perfect in Christ (Matt 16:18). The Old Testament saints did not go to Heaven when they died, for they had to wait for the New Covenant to be established by Christ’s Death and Resurrection before they could be made perfect (born again) in spirit, and so be able to possess the promise of Heaven (Heb 11:10,16, 39-40). But now these O.T saints are in Heaven, because when Christ rose again this promise could be fulfilled and they were born again and made perfect in spirit (1Pet 4:6), and then taken up to Heaven (Eph 4:8). They are 'the spirits of just men made perfect' who are now in Heaven (Heb 12:22-24). So when believers die, we depart our bodies (2Cor 5:8, 2Tim 4:6, 2Pet 1:13-15), and we go to Heaven (2Cor 5:8, 12:2-4, Phil 1:21-24, Rev 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 14:13). Unbelievers die in a state of unrighteousness, and go down to Torments in Hades, the temporary place of punishment, because they died in their sins and have been found guilty, and now it is too late for them to repent (2Pet 2:9). They rejected the grace of God, the work of Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit. They must wait in this holding-cell in Hades until they are resurrected at the end of time and made to stand before the Great White Throne for their final Sentencing (Rev 20:11-12). Their degree of their rebellion against God will determine the degree of their punishment in the Lake of Fire. Then they will be sentenced and dismissed into their final place of punishment - the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:15). At present only their soul is under punishment, but when they are resurrected and thrown into the Lake of Fire, both their body and soul will be under punishment (Matt 10:28). So, Hades is an initial temporal place of punishment for the soul, but the Lake of Fire (Gehenna) is the final and everlasting place of punishment for the soul and the body. Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) confirms the everlasting punishment of the wicked (v41,46). God’s Court-System of Eternal Judgment takes place in 2 Stages: *(1) Stage 1 happens right after his DEATH (Hebrews 9:27). This determines whether you are guilty or innocent, depending on if you are ‘in Christ’ and so have received His righteousness, or if you are still ‘in your sins.’ The righteous go up to Heaven, and the wicked go down to Hades, to wait for the 2nd Stage. *(2) Stage 2 happens right after his RESURRECTION. The Judge will determine the Degree of Reward for believers (according to their faithfulness), and the Degree of Punishment for unbelievers (according to their sin). There are only 2 possible eternal destinies for every person - either (1) a state and place of everlasting life and blessedness in God’s Presence, for those who have received Christ as their Savior and Lord, or (2) a state and place of everlasting punishment, for those who have rejected Christ and His offer of Salvation. Every man's final destiny is fixed by God at the time of his death, so it is essential that we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and share the Gospel with the lost before it’s too late.

God's eternal Judgment will determine each person's eternal destiny. This Judgment, which happens when we cross over the threshold from this life to the next, will be solely a judgment of that individual, and the decisions he has made in his life (Ezekiel 18:20). The Bible teaches that mankind generally goes through 3 Phases of Existence: (1) This Life. (2) The Intermediate State - after our spirit lays aside our body at death, we continue to exist, but as a disembodied spirit - this is just a temporary state between our death and resurrection. (3) The Eternal State, which starts at our physical resurrection, when our spirit puts on an immortal resurrection body. After death the invisible part of man (his spirit-soul), lives on independently from his body (the Immortality of the Soul). Although the body is mortal (subject to death), man's spirit is immortal, because its origin is the breath of God (Gen 2:7, Matt 10:28, 2Cor 4:16, Jn 6:47, 11:26, Rom 8:38-39). Our present body is a tent, a temporary dwelling place, that we'll lay aside one day, and then later in the resurrection we'll receive a permanent everlasting house from God. God will ultimately divide all mankind into 2 groups with 2 very different eternal destinies, decided at death, when a permanent separation takes place between the righteous and unrighteous. The condition of each soul at death will determine its destiny for eternity (Ecc 11:3, Rev 22:11). He either dies 'in their sins' (John 8:24) or 'in the Lord' (Rev 14:13). As with our court-system, Eternal Judgment takes place in 2 Stages: *(1) Stage 1 determines a man’s guilt or innocence. This happens immediately after death (Heb 9:27, Ecc 12:7). If he dies ‘in the Lord’ (in a state of righteousness), he goes UP to be with the Lord in Heaven. If he dies ‘in his sins’ (in a state of unrighteousness), then he goes DOWN into Hades, to a place of punishment. *(2) Stage 2 happens at his resurrection, when he will appear before the Judge for sentencing. Believers will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be judged according to their works to determine their eternal rewards. Unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne for their final sentencing. They are judged according to their works to determine the degree of their eternal punishment. They are then dismissed to their final place of punishment, the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15). From the true story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26), we see what took place at death, for those who died before Christ's Resurrection. They remained conscious and went down to Hades into one of 2 different compartments. The righteous went into Paradise and the unrighteous into Torments, and these 2 groups were forever separated from each other by a great Gulf, so that it was impossible to go from one compartment to another. Thus their eternal destiny was fixed at death. Then we reveal how Christ made the New Birth possible through His death and resurrection, so that now, in Christ, our born again spirits are perfect. So now, when believers die, they go straight up into Heaven. However, unbelievers (who reject Christ and His Salvation) still go down to Torments in Hades when they die, just as they did before Christ's Resurrection.

Christ’s future Coming is in 2 Stages. (1) He comes in the Rapture for His Church, when we meet Him in the air, and then (2) He comes with His Church and sets His feet on the earth to judge the wicked and establish His Kingdom on the earth. These 2 Stages explain why the prophecies of His Coming contain 2 very different kinds of description. Some describe Him coming in power and glory, after a sequence of signs, but others say His Coming is like a thief in the night, suddenly, without warning signs, to take the valuables (believers) from the house (earth) - a perfect description of the Rapture. The fact there are 2 Stages to His Return should not seem strange in view of the fact that what the prophets originally saw as Messiah’s Coming turned out to have 2 Stages. The Bible describes these 2 Stages or Manifestations of His Glory as (1) the MORNING STAR which will arise in our hearts (the Rapture) and (2) the SUNRISE, when His glory will fill the earth (2Peter 1:19). After the Morning Star appears, the world remains in darkness for a time before the sun rises in its glory. Likewise, Christ, our Morning Star appears first to those who are ready (believers only), then Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, will appear to bring in a new Day, when all shall see Him in His Glory. Some say that since the Rapture is at the Last Trump it must be the 7th Trumpet in the Book of Revelation or the Great Trumpet in Matthew 24:31, which Christ blows at the 2nd Coming. We explain in detail why the Rapture Trumpet is neither of these Trumpets. Then we explain the real reason, from the Rapture passages in 1Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 1Corinthians 15:51-52, why the Rapture Trumpet is the last Trumpet, for when Christ descends, He will sound His Trumpet twice. At the first Trumpet, the dead are raised, and then at the Last Trumpet, we who are still alive will be changed and raptured. Other objections to the Pre-Trib Rapture are based on the false assumption that ‘the Day of the Lord’ is the same as the 2nd Coming, for example in 2Thess 2:2-3. In the Bible, the Day of the Lord speaks of a special time when God intervenes directly in judgment, or when God is directly ruling on earth. This means the whole Tribulation is part of the Day of the Lord. This is the clear teaching of 1Thess 5:2-3. Just like every normal day the DAY of the Lord consists of a period of DARKNESS followed by a period of LIGHT. First, is the 7+ years of darkness or night (the Tribulation, when Christ directly judges the world, followed by 1000 years of light (the Millennium, when Christ directly rules the world. This is confirmed by 2Peter 3:10, which says the Day of the Lord is initiated by the Thief in the night (the Rapture) and ends with the Destruction of the universe after the Millennium (Rev 20:11), which is also the time of the final Judgment of the lost at the Great White Throne (Rev 20:12-15). This is confirmed by 2Pet 3:7: “the heavens and earth ... are reserved for fire until the Day of Judgment and Perdition of ungodly men.” A common mistake is to confuse the Day of the Lord with the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord, literally: the Great and Manifest Day of the Lord, or the Day of the Lord's Manifestation in Glory (that is the Day of the 2nd Coming). Comparing Joel 2:31 and Matt 24:29 does NOT tell us the Day of the Lord is at the end of the Tribulation, only that the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord (the 2nd Coming) is at the end of the Tribulation. In fact, the whole Tribulation is the Day of the Lord, and it comes to its climax with the Great and Awesome (Manifest) Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns in Glory. So, the Day of the Lord is NOT the same as the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord.

The Rapture of the Church is the final event of the Church Age, the ingathering of the harvest of the Church, when Christ comes for His Bride (all believers in Christ, who have been saved in the Church Age), and takes them to Heaven. In this video, we see how the Pre-Tribulation Rapture originates from the teaching of Jesus. In John 14:1-3, Jesus established key truths about the Rapture, distinguishing it from His 2nd Coming to the earth in power and glory: (1) It is a Coming of Christ for believers only. (2) His Purpose in the Rapture is to be reunited with His Bride and take her to Heaven, whereas the Purpose of the 2nd Coming is to judge His enemies and establish His Kingdom on earth. (3) In the Rapture, Christ does not come and land on the earth and dwell and reign here, as He does in the 2nd Coming (Zech 14:4), but He comes close to the earth to receive His Bride to Himself, for: “we will meet the Lord in the air” (1Thess 4:15). (4) He then returns with His Bride to the place He has prepared for her in Heaven, where they abide together during the time of Judgment on earth, called the Day of the Lord (Tribulation), after which we will return with Him in His 2nd Coming. In Matthew 24:3 (the Olivet Discourse), Jesus was asked 3 questions: (1) when will the Temple be destroyed, (2) what will be the Sign of Your Coming, and (3) what will be the Sign of the End (Consummation) of the Age (the Tribulation)?” Jesus answered the 1st Question in Luke 21:20-24, and the 2nd Question in Matt 24:7-35, which means He answered the 3rd Question in Matt 24:36-44, starting with: “But of that day and hour (of the Start of the Tribulation) no one knows (it is God's secret)" (v36). In contrast to the Day of Christ’s Coming in power and glory, which is clearly signposted and its timing knowable in advance, this Day, when the Tribulation starts, is unknowable, without any warning signs - it will happen suddenly. Then in v37,39,42,43,44 this key moment when the Tribulation starts is described as 'the Coming of the Son of Man' indicating that the Coming of Jesus in the Rapture is the signless initiating event of the Tribulation (the Day of the Lord), whereas His Coming in power and glory is the sign-posted event bringing the Tribulation to its end (the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord). In v37-41, Jesus compared the events before, during and after His Coming in the Rapture to the days of Noah. In this analogy, He uses the world-wide Flood as a fitting type of the world-wide Tribulation, as it's the only example in history of a world-wide judgement. (1) In the days before the Flood, normal life was going on, with no signs of what was about to happen. Then (2) the believers entered the Ark, a place of safety above the scene of judgment, which triggered (3) the sudden outpouring of the world-wide Flood to fall from Heaven on the very same day. So, likewise (1) before the Tribulation, normal life will be going on. Then (2) just before Tribulation-Flood falls, all believers will be removed in the Rapture to safety in Christ, our Ark of Salvation, above the scene of judgment. Then (3) the Tribulation will immediately start. So, just as the disappearance of the believers into the safety of the Ark was the initiating event for the Flood, so the disappearance of believers into Christ at the Coming of the Son of Man at the Rapture, will be the initiating event for the Tribulation. v40-41 then confirms that at this Coming of Christ at the start of the Tribulation, He will call the believers to Himself, taking them from the earth to be with Him ('para-lambano'), leaving the unbelievers behind to face the world-wide judgment of the Tribulation, for 'one will be taken, the other left', just as God called Noah's family to Himself in the Ark (Genesis 7:1), leaving the rest to face the world-wide Flood. So Jesus spoke of an unknowable Day without any preceding signs, when He will come to take us to be with Him, just before the Tribulation-Flood, which is different from the signposted Day, at the end of the Tribulation when He will come to the earth in power and glory. Then in v42-44 He emphasised that His Coming in the Rapture is imminent, which means God keeps the timing of the Rapture secret, so as far as we are concerned, Christ could come at any moment. But, His Coming at the end of the Tribulation is not imminent, for all the events of the Tribulation must happen first. So, He must be talking about 2 distinct events on 2 different Days. In v43, He compared His Coming in the Rapture to a Thief, for He will come to take His precious ones from the earth, so to the world it will seem as if a Thief had come. But He is no Thief, for He will only take His own, who belong to Him (purchased with His Blood). Believers will not experience His Coming as a Thief, but as our Bridegroom coming for His Bride. In 1Thessalonians 5:2-3, Paul summarises this teaching of Jesus.