Bible Doctrine Part 3

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

These Bible doctrines were established in Scripture, and upheld in the preaching and publications of the Azusa Street ministry.

OPENER

Pass out fortune cookies to your students. Have them read their fortunes aloud. Then ask your students, “What are some other things people use to predict the future?” (crystal balls, ouija boards, astrology, palm readers, horoscopes, etc.) Say, “A lot of people worry about the future, not knowing what to expect, hoping it won’t be bad. Jesus told His disciples many interesting things about the future, about our future, and today we are going to take a look at what we can expect to see in the final days of the world we now know.”

QUESTIONS

• Identify the two appearances of Christ that make up His Second Coming.
• Define the word rapture. What is the sequence of events when the Rapture of the saints takes place?
• There will be a great separation when Jesus comes for those who are ready. Using Luke 17:34-36 and Matthew 35:10- 12, describe the differences between the two groups.
  

• Referring to Revelation 16, what seven plagues are mentioned? (Grievous sores; sea becomes blood; rivers become blood; sun scorches; darkness; Euphrates River dries up; thunder, lightning, earthquake, cities fall, islands and mountains move, hail.)
• What will happen on earth during the great tribulation?
• Using 2 John 7 as a reference, explain the purpose of the Antichrist. What will this mean to the people on earth during the Tribulation?
• What is taking place in Heaven and the same time as the Tribulation is taking place on earth?
• The phrase “wrath of God” occurs thirteen times between Revelation 6:16 and 19:15. Why does this time of trouble come upon the earth? (See Romans 1:18
  

• What three events immediately precede Christ’s rule on earth? See Revelation 19:14
• Name four aspects of life during the Millennial Reign that will be different from life as we know it now.
• Describe the governing system that will be in place during the Millennial Reign.
• What events bring the Millennial Reign to a close? (Satan is loosed, nations are deceived, and the devil is defeated by God at the Battle of Gog and Magog. The devil is cast into the lake of fire.)
  

• When does the Great White Throne Judgment occur?
• The overcoming saints will not be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment. Why?
• What is the importance of the record kept in the Book of Life? Why do you think this book will be opened at the Great White Throne Judgment?
  

• What event precedes the coming of the new heaven and the new earth?
• Describe the New Jerusalem that John saw.
• Why do you suppose this present earth is to be destroyed since the devil, his angels, and followers will all be cast into Hell?
• Why will time no longer be divided by days and nights?
• What aspects of Heaven are you most looking forward to enjoying?
  

EXTRA HELP FOR TEACHERS

Tract #72 – Hell

Tract #42 – The Antichrist

Booklet 236 – A Glimpse Into the Future

ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR YOUNGER CLASSES

Divide your group into teams. Write each of our doctrines on a small card or sticky note. Play a “pictionary” type game. Have the “artist” from each group come forward and get the word, then go back to the table and draw. First team to correctly guess the doctrine being drawn wins a point.

Make/show/discuss a timeline of the events that will take place during the last days.. It could be done as a puzzle where students have to arrange the “pieces” or “events” into the right order.

Here is a group activity that could work well if you combine all the high school classes and maybe 8th grade also. It needs a lot of people to be really effective.

Start out with 13 people on the platform. Explain that one of them will represent Jesus, and the other 12 will represent the disciples. Read the Great Commission as described in Matthew 28:19-20. Have Jesus “commission” His disciples to go and tell everyone about Him. The disciples will go into the audience and begin to do this by asking one individual at a time, “May I lead you to Jesus? I know from experience that Jesus can save your soul and make you ready for Heaven!” The person must respond affirmatively or negatively to this question. Anyone who accepts will also begin to tell others, using the same phrase. Everyone must stay in their seat until someone has approached them to lead them to Christ.

What the group does not know is that every 30 seconds to a minute, there will be “news” coming in of various tragedies - car accidents, floods, etc. You can decide. When the “news” comes in (you can either use a screen and video projector, or an appointed “News Anchor” can shout out “Extra, Extra!”) With each news story, people in your audience will “die” with or without Christ. This happens by saying something like this: “A tornado just swept through Portland and all of you who are wearing a watch just died.” You can change the scenarios to fi t your audience, but more and more people will “die.” Have two sides of the room identified with the words “Heaven” and “Hell.” Anyone who dies without Jesus must go to the “Hell” side. Those who died with Christ can be taken to Heaven. To end the game, let the “Rapture” occur. Those left alive who have accepted the Gospel can join those already in the Heaven area. Then you can explain to the students on both sides of the room that it is our job to tell people about Jesus. People die every day without Him, and we should be using every opportunity to share Jesus with someone.