The Bible is a beginning, middle, new beginning book. Right now we are in the middle of the story. Jesus will make all things new. He will wipe out all evil for all time and we will be with him forevermore. This sermon is on Heaven and what makes Heaven heavenly. It’s the presence of Jesus.

The term “antichrist” is not in the Book of Revelation. Many attribute the term to the “beast” mentioned in Revelation 13 and say that it will be a political figure. John wrote in 1John 4 that the spirit of the antichrist is already at work. If you’re not living for Jesus, then you are already following an “antichrist”. The spirit of the antichrist leads people astray. 666 is his number, 7 is God’s number of completion. The number 6 is deficient and incomplete. Anything you worship besides Jesus will be deficient, it will fall short of 7. Around the throne of Jesus we’ll cry not deficient, deficient, deficient (666), but “holy, holy, holy”. We’ll talk about how the spirit of the antichrist is at work in our lives. The hope of the world is Jesus.

There are four varying ideas of how the end will go down. All of the four fit within the teachings of Scripture. I’ll share the big four, Classical Premillennialism, Pretribulational Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism. I’ll basically say we don’t know which one is right, but here’s what matters…Jesus will return, Jesus will judge and Jesus will win. Live your life for Jesus. We’re not on the planning committee; we’re on the welcoming committee.

The Book of Revelation is about Jesus. The first verse is about Jesus and the last verse is about Jesus. Jesus is the main character, the theme is worship and the intent is to unify the church. We’ll walk through the description of Jesus in verses 12-18 and end with the reality that those who are followers of Jesus have nothing to fear. This is the introduction to the series and the big push is for people to come back and invite a friend.