John Hagee - Back to the Future
When you really understand the mind of God, the will of God, and the Word of God, God is taking us in a perfect circle. He began with the Garden of Eden and he's going to end with the Garden of Eden. We call it, "The millennial reign". But exactly what Adam and Eve had in the garden, we are going to have for 1,000 years when Jesus Christ returns to earth to rule the kingdom that shall never end. Why should you care? Because you're going to get to see, in the Word of God today, what life in the millennial kingdom is going to be like. Everything that will happen in the future has already happened in the past.
So it's back to the future to fully understand the Word of God. Everything that happened in the life of Joseph happened in the life of Jesus. The Old Testament is God's will concealed. The New Testament is God's will revealed. If you really want to know where we're going, study where we've been, because we're going exactly there one more time: only Jesus will be King of kings and Lord of lords on this trip.
Read with me, if you will, Genesis 1:1 through 3. Ready? "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void. And darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'let there be light', and there was light. And God saw the light and it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. So the evening and the morning were the first day".
People often ask, "When did time begin"? Right here in verse 3. Everything that happened before verse 3 is the dateless past. But God's clock starts ticking at Genesis 1:3, as the sun and the moon determine the 24-hour period.
Father, let us look at the Word of God today, and thank you because it shows us the future. Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, because good things are right in front of the body of Christ. And all of God's children said, amen.
You may be seated. First, let's consider the three earths that are presented in Genesis, the first chapter. Right here, you have the original earth. This original earth could be millions of years old. This is the original earth in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". This was before Adam and Eve, obviously. Then secondly, you have this, which is the chaotic earth. This chaotic earth happened whenever there was war in the heavenlies between Satan, who seduced a third of the angels to follow him in a revolt against God. God kicked him out of heaven. And we see him, as he's kicked out of the third heaven back into the second heaven where he has set up his kingdom.
Then God created the present world in which we live, which is about 6,000 years of age. Now, we are going to talk today about the seven ages and dispensations. I'm going to give you a snapshot of each of those dispensations, because you are going to experience, in every one of these manifestations, something that's personal to your own life. It's something that God has written that relates to you. What is a dispensation? A dispensation is really a specific period in human history where God dealt with men under a thick standard of conduct. It translates in the Greek, "House laws", God's dispensation, house laws, the laws of God for his house.
Listen to this. Whether you succeed or failed in life depends on whether you obey God's laws or disobey God's laws. The secret of success is not how bright you are, not who your momma and your daddy are, but how well you learned to obey the Word of God. God gives it to Israel in Deuteronomy 28. "If you will obey all of these things, I will cause these blessings to overtake you. But if you disobey, I will send these curses and they will overtake you". And therein is the synopsis of all that God is trying to press. Will you obey me or will you not?
Why did God create human beings? He wanted to create a creature that had free moral agency. The angels did not have it. "Free moral agency" means you have the right to decide. Angels were created with the destiny to obey God. They are the messengers of God. God doesn't let them decide: they obey. But when God created man, he gave him the opportunity to obey or disobey. When Eve started talking to a snake, she decided to disobey. They weren't kicked out of the garden because they sinned. They were kicked out of the garden because they refused to confess their sin. That's a very critical point.
Whenever God came to them with the bleeding lamb skins, representing the fact that the innocent will die for the guilty, and without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Whenever God came to them, rather than say, "Father, we have sinned", Adam looked at God and said, "This woman you gave me". You did it, God. It's your fault. Eve said, "The snake talked to me". Some of you may be having conversations with snakes in your own personal garden. You need to make up your mind what they're saying to you.
So let's begin at the beginning. "In the beginning", that's the dateless past, "God created the heavens and the earth". The first verse in Genesis may be the most powerful, rich, God-centered verse in all of the Bible. It is the most powerful verse because God lays the gauntlet down immediately. If you do not believe in Genesis 1:1 where God created the heavens and the earth, you cannot possibly believe the rest of the book. You cannot possibly believe John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son". If you don't believe Genesis 1:1, how can you believe that by his stripes, you are healed?
If you don't believe Genesis 1:1, how can you believe that God is Jehovah Jireh: that he is your provider: that he is your rock: that he is your shelter in the time of the storm? How can you believe that? If Genesis 1:1 is not true, how can God be a way maker? How can God be the chain breaker? How can he be your ever-present help in the time of trouble: and your shepherd, who guides and provides? Almighty God thunders back the answer, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, the Holy Spirit", "Thy word is truth. Thy word is truth"! Give the Lord praise in the house of God.
So let's go to the first dispensation, the dispensation of innocence right there. Genesis 2:25, Adam and Eve lived together. Why were they considered innocent? The Bible says that Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. God created Eve for Adam. Adam wakes up from a deep sleep, and here's this beautiful creature beside him. Although she lived in perfect innocence, it only took one act of disobedience to get her kicked out of the garden. That's not much. That's why obeying the Lord is an important lesson for you to learn immediately.
The second dispensation, the dispensation of conscience. This dispensation was from the fall of man to the flood of Noah. It's a period of 1656 years. What is "Conscience"? "Conscience" is the God-given watchdog of the soul. It is the knowledge of our acts, our decisions. Conscience is a thing that makes us feel good when we do right, and feel guilty when we do wrong. Conscience is the umpire God put in you to help you make great decisions. Conscience demands individual responsibility. Say that with me, conscience demands individual responsibility.
The Bible speaks of a pure conscience, a defiled conscience, and a sered conscience. You and you alone are responsible for the person that you've become, not your father, not your mother, not your football coach, not your ex-husband, your ex-wife, the lover you're now going with. Don't raise your hand. You are responsible for the person you've become. You are responsible for your choices, and choices have consequences! "Well I can't trust my husband's choices". I guess not: look who he decided to marry.
The third dispensation is the dispensation of human government. It's from the flood of Noah to the call of Abraham, which is 427 years. This dispensation is so called, because God gave to Noah certain laws in which he wanted the human race to be governed. Man was held responsible for self-government in Genesis 9:1 through 7. Let me tell you something. America is still responsible for its self-government. The government does not determine who you are. We, the people, determine who the government should be!
The fourth dispensation is the dispensation of promise. It's also the dispensation of family. This dispensation was the call of Abraham to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt under Moses. The Jewish people went into Egypt as a family of 70 when Joseph went there. Four hundred and thirty years later, they came out as a group of 12 tribes with over two million people. Why did God promise? God saw the continued corruption of mankind and he made a decision that was earth shaking. I'm going to choose a special group of people that will keep my commandments, my covenants, and my statutes. Those people became the Jewish people. They are a chosen people. They are a cherished people.
God says in the book of Exodus, "Israel is my firstborn son". God says, they are the apple of my eye. They are a covenant people. God chose Abraham to be the father of all who believe. That means that Abraham is our spiritual forefather. God said to Abraham, "Your seed shall be as the stars of the heaven and the sand of the sea", represents the Jewish people. "And the stars of the skies", which represents light and authority, represents the church. So God is our father in heaven. But Abraham is our spiritual father on earth.
The dispensation of law, this age is from Exodus under Moses to the first coming of Jesus Christ. It's a period of 718 years. The fact is there are 30 exact similarities between Moses and Jesus. This is a perfect illustration of back to the future: that everything that Moses did, Jesus did and more. This is the law. Now just think about the Ten Commandments. Skipping to them, the Ten Commandments are not ten recommendations. These are ten divine laws. If you keep them, you will prosper. If you do not keep them, they will break you. You do not break the law of God. Again, the laws of God break you.
America will not break the laws of God. Just think: what would happen in America if everyone decided we're going to live by the laws of God given by Moses? If Americans begin to say that, "I will honor God and I will obey him", think how many problems would be solved. Jesus said of the Ten Commandments, "Whosoever shall do and teach these shall be called great in the Kingdom of God". How many of you would like for God to call you great? Keep the Ten Commandments! Then people say, "Well this is the law of Moses". There's no such thing as the law of Moses! It's the law of God given to Moses, who wrote it down for you to read and for you to obey!
Now we come to the dispensation of grace, the sixth dispensation. It's from the birth of Jesus until the second coming of Christ. That means right now. This age has already lasted 2,000 plus years. John 1:16 through 17, "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ". What is grace? Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Say that with me. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. God's grace is an ocean that has no shoreline, whose depths have never been fathomed. It is beyond knowing.
John Newton, a slave trader, who treated blacks of Africa worse than animals on his ship, brought them from Africa to America to be sold. But that man, wretched, as miserable as he was, found Christ. And he wrote the song, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind but now I see". Here's something you don't know. John Newton heard slaves singing the song of mourning in the hull of his ship, as they came from Africa to America. And the melody of "Amazing grace" came from the slaves, who were singing the song of mourning, as they were going to an uncertain destiny. Here's another thing you've never heard. You can play "Amazing grace" on a piano on the black keys by themselves without touching one white key.
The seventh dispensation, here God comes full circle. What Adam and Eve lost in the garden, the righteous are going to regain in the millennial reign. In the theater of your mind, go with me to the Book of Revelation. And let me tell you what it's going to be like. Here's what's going to happen. Soon the trump of God is going to sound and we're going to disappear. In an instant, we're going to be gone from this earth. Some of you are not going, because you don't know Jesus. You're religious and lost. Jesus is not the Lord of your life. I assure you: Jesus is not your butler. You are his servant: that's how it goes.
When we're in heaven, seven years, there's that number again, we're going to have a seven-year celebration for the bride of Christ. Millions of people are going to be there. I mean that is mind boggling for me. How is that going to work? I'll leave that to heaven. And then we're coming back to earth. John the Revelator said, "Mounted on white horses". Jesus is going to put his foot on the Mount of Olives. It's going split in half. The throne of heaven is going to sit down. And king Jesus will be the Lord of a kingdom that shall never end. We're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're going to be there.
There will be no divorce courts. There will be no pornography. There will be no suicides. There will be no aids. There will be no cancer. There will be no rapes. There will be no sex trafficking. There will be no missing children. There will be no drug problems. There will be no drive-by shootings. There will be no churches where people come with guns and shoot the righteous. There will be no racial tension. There will be no fake news. There will be no injustice. There will be no depression. There will be no worry. There will be no wars. There will be no financial crisis. There will be no cell phones: thank you God, no computers and no IRS!
Presidents, kings, queens shall come and bow before him. "For every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father". There's only one major problem here: some of you are not going because Jesus is not the Lord of your life. It's wonderful that you go to church from time to time. It's wonderful that you let your wives and children come to church. But Jesus is not the Savior of your soul. He's certainly not the Lord of your life.
The Bible clearly says in revelation 21:8, this group of people is not going. "But the cowardly"... "The cowardly" are those who will not stand up for their faith in Christ. Listen to that. Jesus said, "If you deny me before men, I'll deny you before God". You're not going to heaven if you deny Christ. "The unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, sexual immoral, sorcerers". I looked up the Greek essence of this word. It means people who use drugs and enchanted portions of witchcraft to control other people. "Idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire", which is the second death.
Are you on this list? Are you? Your only hope of salvation is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And it begins by believing that he created the world, he controls the world, he created you, he sent his son to the cross to die for you. Adam and Eve looked at those bloody, bloody animal skins, and started blaming God. All they would have had to do to have eternal life and still be there is to say, "Father, we sinned: forgive us". But they started self-justifying themselves, and God caused the angels with flaming swords to drive them out.
All you have to do to have eternal life this morning is to say, "Father, I receive Jesus Christ as Lord and master of my life". And instantly, angels write your name down in the lamb's book of life. You are saved and ready to go to heaven. Stand to your feet please. Look into your own heart and ask yourself if there's something in your life that needs to be confessed, a sin that's there. You want to go to heaven. You want to receive Jesus. I want you to slip your hand up right where you are. Say, pastor, you're talking about me.
I want you to walk forward right here, as pastor Matt sings. We're going to have a prayer. And as you stand here, angels are going to write your name in the lamb's book of life. If you raised your hand, start walking this way. Those of you watching by television, wherever you are, there's no distance in prayer. I want you to say these words, because it's the difference between going to heaven and not getting there. Pray with us.
Heavenly Father, I come into your presence by the authority of Jesus Christ, your precious son, and my Savior. Today I confess there is sin in my life, and I ask you to forgive me. Cleanse me by the blood of the cross of Christ. From this moment forward, I am free from the power of sin and darkness. From this moment forward, I will honor the Lord, I will read and obey his word, because Christ becomes Lord of my life from this moment until eternity, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.