The Notes

We conclude our message series called "6 Reasons" this coming Wednesday night, February 11, 2026, with the message: 

"6 Reasons to Live in Love."  With Valentine's Day 

on the horizon - a day dedicated to love - it's the perfect time to look at how our lives are defined by love, and see the expectations of love.  The Bible calls us to "live in love;" so we break that down this week - what does a life of love look like?  Join us for worship at 6:00 p.m.   It's always uplifting and encouraging - a little mid-week encouragement for the soul. 

If you can't join us in person, you can always participate through our Facebook page - we go "live" at 6:00 p.m., and you will have a front row seat.  If you can't join us live, there are 3 ways to watch the message later - on Facebook, on YouTube, or here on our website.  Messages are posted the following day and you can watch a replay of any message anytime!  

If you want to keep some notes from a message, you can download the notes for a specific message from the "Past and Future Messages" page of our website.  There are many ways to be spiritually fed and encouraged.

This past Wednesday night, February 4, 2026, was week 5 of our message series called, "6 Reasons."  This series is designed to answer common questions, cover current topics, and build our faith and maturity as Christians.  More than any other week, this week's topic considered current events as we looked at 6 Reasons to Anticipate the Return of Jesus.  

As followers of Jesus and believers in His truth, we understand and look forward to the return of Jesus.  Why?  Because in John 14, Jesus is recorded as saying that He was going to prepare a place for us.  "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (Jn. 14:3).

So reason #1 - We should anticipate Jesus' return because He said so.  The disciples asked Jesus about when this would happen in Matthew 24:30-31 – “And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.”  But Jesus also said (vs. 36) - “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”   So we cannot know a precise date for His return, and Jesus said it will happen like it did with Noah and the flood: "People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.  Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left.  Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”  (Matt. 24: 39-41).  

So although it will happen as a surprise at an unknown time, Jesus said there will be signs, and we should pay attention to those signs.  For example, He said that when the fig tree buds, we know summer is near.  And then He gives us more signs – reasons - to believe the Return of Jesus is more near than ever before.

Reason # 2 - Wars & Famines & Earthquakes.

Matthew 24 – during the disciples' discussion with Jesus - He gave specific signs of the end times in Matt. 24:6-14:

"And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.  Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. . . .  And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.  And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people.  Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.  But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come."

That description is pretty accurate as to how things are now.  We currently have war going on, and rumors of more war.  It is, indeed, nation against nation.   There are famines & earthquakes, there have already been multiple people claiming to be the Messiah, and people have been turning away from faith, not attending church anymore, and hate is plenty strong.  Jesus was right. 

But note that He also said the gospel will be preached in the whole world!  That's good news.  And pay particular attention to His desire for us - “don’t panic” and don’t be alarmed - “such things must happen.”   Yes, these are distressful world events, but they are also a sign of hope for Christians.  Jesus' return is drawing near.  So don’t get caught up in anguish, get caught up with anticipation.  

Jesus went on to say, "when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand. (Matt 24:15).  

Jesus points us to Daniel’s Prophesy.  (Dan. 9:24-27.)  The abomination will be an image of the Antichrist as he profanes the temple, sets himself up as God, and demands worship (Matt 24:15). Those who will not bow down to the Antichrist will have to flee, leaving their property and possessions behind if they are to escape death (24:16-20; cf. Rev 13:15).

So Jesus' words lead us to Reason # 3 - the Prophecy of Daniel 9

Daniel has a vision, and the Angel Gabriel interprets it for him, and us.  

“The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.  He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” 9Dan. 9:26-27).

This prophesy tells us that the Antichrist will make a covenant (a 7-yr Peace Treaty) that he’ll break.  Peace will be a lie and a deception, and it will be the work of the Antichrist.  This will make more sense as we work through Daniel’s other prophecies.

Reason # 4- The Prophecy of Daniel 2.  In that early chapter from the book of Daniel, Daniel interprets the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar – “what will happen in days to come.” Dan. 2:28.  He is called on to not only interpret the dream of the King, but to tell him what he dreamed.  Here is what he said:

“Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.  The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.  While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.” (Dan. 2:31-34)

The meaning of this is Daniel has shown the powers of the world which will come in the future.  First, the Head represents the 1st World Empire – King Nebuchadnezzar’s own kingdom of Babylon.  The gold description is important because the king would recognize it as Marduk, the chief god of Babylon.  That "god" had a golden statue seated on a golden throne before a golden table & golden alter.  The king would know his is the first empire.

The second Kingdom to come is the Chest of Silver with 2 arms.  It is the Medo-Persian Empire which conquered Babylon in 539 BC.  

Then look at verses 39-43 - “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.  Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.  Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay.  As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle.  And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay."

That third Kingdom made of bronze is the Greek Empire.  Daniel confirms that in chapter 8 when he specifically names Greece.  Also, history proves Greece is the empire that succeeded the Medo-Persian Empire.  The "Iron" kingdom – the fourth Kingdom – is the Roman Empire.  History again shows the Roman Empire was the successor to the Greek empire.  It was often described as “Rome’s iron rule.”  And note that the fourth kingdom was described as 2 legs.  That is significant because the Roman Empire split into 2 political spheres - the  Latin-speaking West had a capital in Rome; the Greek-speaking East had its capital in Constantinople.  From the Iron legs come the 10 toes, described with great detail - part iron, part clay; partly strong, partly brittle.  It's a fragile kingdom that won’t remain united.  This is also a joined kingdom – the 10 toes represent 10 kingdoms or 10 leaders.  That 5th and final kingdom has not fully emerged yet.  It's tempting to think that it is the European Union.  But the EU began with 6 countries, and now has 27.   So this prophecy shows us that we’re close, but not quite at the last days.  There is still a 10 world leader empire that must come first.

Reason # 5 - The Prophecies of Daniel 7-9

Daniel has other visions later in life which correspond with the early dream explained in chapter 2.  Let's start with Chapter 7 when he again sees the progression of world empires – Babylon - the Medo-Persion Empire – Greece – & 10 kings that will emerge.  After the 10 kings (which is now represented in his vision by 10 horns), another horn will grow; it will start small, but grow into a new World Leader.  He described that leader more in chapter 8:23-25 - “a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise.  He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power.”

This is more about the coming Antichrist; he will be a world dictator.   This event has also not yet happened, but what is prophesied for us on the horizon is one world leader with consolidated power.  The progressions suggest it will come from Europe, but that is assuming the 10 kingdoms will be from there as well.

Reason # 6 - Israel 

To understand the significance of Israel, we have to look back at Deuteronomy 30:3 – “the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.” 

Israel is now a nation and indeed has fortune.  There have been people returning to Israel, more than ever before.  Israel's population reached approximately 10.178 million residents by the end of 2025.  Look also at Ezekiel 36:24 - “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.”

What's truly remarkable is that Israel became a sovereign nation in 1948.  Before that, it was just Palestine as the Roman Empire had tried to wipe out Israel.  More than any other recent event, Israel again being a country is key to knowing we are nearing end times.  But it’s still not on the immediate horizon yet.

Genesis 15:18 gives us a description of the geographical boundaries of Israel: Mediterranean Sea to the West; the Euphrates River to the East; Hamath to the North; and Kadesh to the South.  Note that Israel has never owned all the land promised to it from God.  But God has kept all other promises to Abraham, so we know this promise will happen in the future.  

Currently, Israel has Lebanon and Syria to it's North; the West Bank of Jordan & Iraq to its East;  Saudi Arabia to the South.  That means right now, the Euphrates River is in Iraq and Hamath is in Syria.  For Israel to have that much land, a war must happen.  And Ezekiel 38–39 describes a major attack on Israel.    It describes a leader who "will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army.  You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.”

This attack has not yet occurred.   But be aware that North of Israel is Syria – Turkey - Georgia – and "far North" as predicted in the prophecy is Russia.

So we can anticipate war in the Middle East, just as Jesus said! 

These scriptures and current events show us that the end times are more near than ever.   But I don't believe that the end is here yet - God is waiting for more people to believe in Him and in His Son, Jesus.  And that’s where we fit in . . . our job is to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  We've still got more work to do.