Good morning. Nice and loud. Welcome to Calvary
Chapel. We're going to take a little break here.
We took a break last week, and then the next
two weeks we're going to go through Matthew chapter
24, looking at some of the signs of the end that
Jesus told his disciples. Signs to look for,
things to look for before he comes back, because
the Bible says Jesus is coming back. So before
we get going, the break we're taking is out of
the book of Acts. Our break is Paul's missionary
journey, I want you to keep this in mind so we
can jump right back in. Paul's missionary journey,
he's done with his first missionary journey.
They're back in Antioch. They went to Jerusalem.
Back in Antioch, they're going to go out again,
their second missionary journey. And there's
going to be a contention between Paul and Barnabas
over bringing John Mark. So that's where we're
going to pick up. Not next week, but the week
after. We're going to take two weeks, go through
Matthew chapter 24, some other scriptures, Revelation
chapter 6, a few different things. Looking at
the end times, the last days, a very important
time. Last week, we looked at Daniel. We talked
about Daniel. I'm just going to refresh you guys.
We're not going to go through, because I know
Daniel, especially when we got into the math,
easy to lose people. Other people came up to
me and wanted a chart or something, a visual
to see. So I have these in the foyer. Daniel's
70th week talks about the different kingdoms,
the timing of different things, rapture of the
church, the first 69 weeks, the church age, and
then the 70th week of Daniel, which is the tribulation
period. time of Jacob's trouble. So I have these
out there, and Daniel talks about all that. Daniel
chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He has a dream
of this image, and God gives, and Nebuchadnezzar's
ready to kill everybody because the dream troubled
him so bad, and to prove that someone knew his
dream, you had to tell him the dream and give
the interpretation, which nobody could do except
for Daniel. God gave Daniel that interpretation,
and it was of different kingdoms that were to
come, right? Daniel said, Nebuchadnezzar, you're
the head of gold. You're this king of gold who
rules over everything, and it's going to get
weaker as we go. Medo -Persia, Greece, Rome,
and then finally this last kingdom that gets
shattered is this rock that's cut without hands,
comes out of heaven. and shatters this iron mixed
with clay, the last final kingdom. And it's the
kingdom that's forming right now in these last
days, the kingdom of Antichrist, that Jesus Christ
himself is going to come back and destroy. So
we're going to look at some of those signs, but
if you'd like this little visual, they're in
the foyer. I made a bunch of copies of those.
I think they're on the desk out there. And then
if you're really interested, if you like charts,
and if you're a visual person, this book is excellent,
Charting the End Times by Tim LaHaye and Tommy
Ice. If you like charts, it's got lots of them.
And they're good. And there's scriptures with
all of them. And you can look up different things.
I'll give you some headings. Understanding God's
plan for the ages. What is Bible prophecy? How
we got our Bible. Peter and the future. Paul
and his second coming. The Olivet Discourse.
The Tribulation. Israel. Ezekiel 37 -39. Lots
of amazing things in this book. I think it's
probably $25 or $30 if you're interested. Very
helpful. And very good. So we are going to, and
the book club, listen, this week and next week,
you'll be able to sign up for the book club.
Why Grace Changes Everything, the book is $10.
You can either throw the money in the tithe box
or you can pay for your book when we meet. And
we're going to meet right before the book club
starts. We'll get together everyone who signed
up. You'll get your journal. And if you ordered
a book from us, you'll get a book from the church.
They're $10. So you just have to, when you sign
up, just let us know if you need that book. And
we'll make sure we order you one. We already
ordered some. Then we'll know if we need to order
more. So this week and next week will be the
final order for us. But you can get these things
right on Amazon for $10. So you can order that
book. And then we'll listen and you don't have
to talk at the end, you know, because the end
of the book, you don't have to like feel pressure
like I want to read the book. I want to be part
of the book club. But is somebody going to ask
me a question or no? At the end, you get to drink
coffee, have some desserts. If you want to say
something, you can. If you want to jump in or
if you have a question, maybe it'll get answered
or you can ask a question or talk about something
God showed you. That'll be at that final. And
we're trying to gear it and figure out, should
we take six weeks on a book this size? I don't
know. Some of you guys read this book in a week
or less than a week. There's 14 small chapters
in this book. You'll have it done in a week or
two. So I think we're going to shoot for six
weeks. Gives everyone plenty of time. Maybe you
need to read it twice. Who knows? You'll have
plenty of time. Other than that, we're going
to be in Matthew chapter 24, and I'll pray real
quick. Lord, we're so thankful, God, for your
love, for your goodness and your kindness, Lord,
and your grace in our life, God. We pray, Lord,
for this morning that you'd stir our hearts,
God, that you'd speak to our hearts, Lord, and
the things that I need to say I wouldn't forget,
and the things I do say that wouldn't be confusing.
I wouldn't leave anything out, Lord. So we just
give you this morning, God, pray that you'd stir
our hearts. Lord, cause us to look up. Your word
tells us when we see these things, Lord, we're
to look up because our redemption is drawing
nigh. So I pray you'd cause us to do that, Jesus,
in your name. So every time, you know, every
once in a while I see this image on, I've seen
it on Facebook. But it's a photographer who takes
pictures, and I probably shared this with you
before, but a photographer, he takes pictures
of walk -off home runs. Someone who's, you know,
bottom of the ninth, extra innings, 10th, 11th,
12th inning, and the guy hits a walk -off home
run. And the guy takes a picture of the guy rounding
third base coming into home. And the guy's a
Christian. He says, that's how I picture people
going into heaven. Like, finally, we've made
it. We won. And the whole team, and it's a picture
of the guy rounding third base. And the whole
team is waiting for him just on the other side
of home plate. And it's such a great image, such
a great. picture because that's really this world.
We're grinding it out here. We're depending on
the Lord. We have his word, his spirit. We have
the church to gather and to get fellowship and
to sharpen one another. But this world gets hard
sometimes. And so Bible prophecy is part of what
causes us to look up and not get distracted,
to not get deceived, so we can stay focused on
The kingdom. And not get pulled away or sucked
away by this world. Because that's what the devil
wants to do. And the sons of Issachar, I mentioned
this last week. The sons of Issachar, it's a
small group of men from that tribe. 200, I believe,
in 1 Chronicles talks about this group. It says
that they knew the signs of the times. They understood
the sign. And if you hate genealogies, like if
that's your Bible in a year and you hit a genealogy,
you're like, oh my gosh, I'm going to get through
this in one second today. It's a genealogy. Well,
you'll miss that in Chronicles if you just skip
through your genealogy because something special
was said there about these sons of Issachar.
It says they understood the signs of the times.
And it says for a reason that they knew. what
Israel should do. How do you operate? How do
you behave? What to do when you see the signs
the days we're living in? And that's the question
the disciples asked Jesus. When will this be,
the destruction of the temple and the sign of
your coming and the end of the age, the age of
man? When is the rule of man going to be over
that can be so cruel? And so off, right? And
they lived in this era of Rome when they asked
this question. And so prophecy creates a readiness,
a preparedness for eternity, that your eyes would
be looking up, your heart would be ready. I think
I did it last week. You know, a third of your
Bible, His Bible prophecy. One third. And for
every one scripture that talks about Jesus' first
coming, that we looked at it last week in Daniel
chapter 9, that Israel was to know the day of
their visitation. The exact day. Daniel predicted
the very day that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem
as Messiah. They were to know the day. For every
one scripture for the first coming, there's eight
for the second coming. That's how important it
is that Jesus is coming back. When the disciples
were there in Acts chapter one and Jesus is taken
into heaven, the angel says, why do you stand
there gazing up? Because Jesus, the same Jesus
is going to come in like fashion. He's coming
back. Right? And I think we looked at it last
week, Acts chapter two. As Peter declares what
everyone was seeing in the early church, as they're
speaking in tongues, declaring the wonderful
works of God in everyone's language, Peter stands
up and says, this is what was spoken by the prophet
Joel. In the last days, I'm going to pour out
my spirit on young and old. And then he describes
this time that leads right to the tribulation
period. that the sun won't shine, the stars from
heaven are going to fall, all these different
things describing the tribulation period. And
that marked, Acts chapter 2 marks the beginning
of the last days that are narrowing down, narrowing
down, and the signs are becoming more prevalent
and more prevalent and greater and greater and
more observable. So Matthew chapter 24, It says
this. Somebody took my clock this week. If you
look at chapter 23 with me, we'll start there.
It's important. There's some things that are
important to fit in your understanding of the
last days, how things are going to play out,
what's going to happen in the future. That scriptures
are going to fit in or they're not, or you're
going to force them. And I think I talked about
it last week, that there's this replacement theology
that lends to anti -Semitism, hatred of Jews.
That the church has replaced Israel, and that
Israel is not for today, which is not true. You
really have to force a lot of things in Bible
prophecy. to push Israel out and put the church
in its place. So it says this in chapter 23.
If you remember with me, Jesus has already rode
into Jerusalem. He's wept over it. And he says,
you know, if you would have known this thy day,
but now they're hid from your eyes. They cried
out a scripture, a prophetic messianic scripture,
Psalm 118. When they were there, Hosanna, they
were saying, blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord. Remember, they were laying palm
branches down on the road. They were declaring
Jesus Christ as Messiah. Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord. They're declaring Jesus
as Messiah, but Jesus knew something that they
didn't know. In just a couple days, they were
going to crucify him. They were going to take
everything they said about him back, and they
were going to kill him. Right. But Jesus is going
to say this. Keeping that in mind. Says this
in verse 37 of chapter 23. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
the one who kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather
your children together as a hen gathers her chickens
together under her wings. But you were not willing.
How important that is. He doesn't say, oh, New
York, New York. Oh, you know, whatever. You can
name your city, whatever important city there
is today. He says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And
he says, the one who kills the prophets and stones
the ones who are sent to her. I wanted to gather
your children together as a hen gathers her chickens
under her wings, but you are not willing. And
that's God's heart for people, how he cares for
people. I remember being in Haiti, and I don't
want to throw this idea off because this is very
Jewish. But I don't want to throw the idea off.
I remember being in Haiti, and there was all
these chickens. I would watch from my balcony,
looking down in their little courtyard. And there
was a couple chickens that had these tiny little
chicks. And people who have chickens probably
have seen this before. But it was like a visual
for me. Because they'd be running around. Then
all of a sudden, you'd look away, look back,
and they'd disappear. Like, where did these little
chickens go? And then she'd lift up her wings,
and all these chickens would run out from under
her. She's protecting them. And that's what Jesus
is saying, how I wanted to gather you in and
protect you. And be your Savior. And that's what
Jesus' heart is for every single person here,
if you don't know him today. How he wants to
be your Savior, your Lord. He wants to be your
friend. That's amazing to me. The God of the
universe, he doesn't just want to save you, but
he wants to be your friend. He wants to be in
your life every day, every moment. And so Jesus
is saying, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who,
but it's not over here. And I think this book
has a chart on this. It's the dispersion of Israel,
how it's left desolate, Israel and Jerusalem.
And that's going to happen. We're going to talk
about that in a minute. But he says that, see,
your house is left to you desolate. But guess
what? It's not over. Because verse 39 says, for
I say to you, you shall see me no more until
you say. Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord. They had already said that. They
had already declared that. They said that. But
guess what? It's going to happen again. It's
going to happen again. At the end of the tribulation.
Right? You remember Zechariah. He says, I'm going
to send out my spirit in the last days. Zechariah,
I think it's 12. In the last days, the spirit
on the... Oh, the sons of David, the spirit of
grace and supplication. And it says that they'll
look upon me whom they pierced. That hasn't taken
place yet. That's coming in the future. For who?
For Israel. For the Jews. And it's important
to keep that in mind because the Jewish state
and regathering, May 14th, 1948, is the super
sign of the last days. It's the sign of the last
days. I believe it's, and we're gonna look at
it next week. We're gonna talk about the rapture
next week. We're gonna talk about Israel next
week. We're also gonna talk about the days we're
living in, the days of Noah, the days of Lot.
Those are some of the last days signs Jesus also
gave in a warning to the church and to his disciples.
But the super sign is Israel. Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord. They're gonna
say that again. They're going to look upon me
who they pierced. It's very Jewish. We're going
to see as we travel through Matthew 24, it becomes
very Jewish, and it lines up with Revelation
chapter 6, which is a snapshot of the first three
and a half years of the tribulation. We're actually
going to read it today and see how it lines up.
So you look with me in chapter 24. We don't have
time to read all the verses. I want to. I know
it can get. I don't want to bog you down too
much. But it says this. And Jesus was traveling
from the temple through the Kidron Valley. to
the Mount of Olives every day. He'd teach in
the temple, and then he'd leave there in the
evening and go to the Mount of Olives. He stayed
there with his disciples for several days leading
up to his crucifixion that last week. So it says
this in verse one, Jesus went out and departed
from the temple, he and his disciples, and they
came up to show him the buildings of the temple,
how impressive they were. The temple was something
that If you spoke against the temple, you could
be killed. It's like blasphemy. I mean, they
held it in such high regard, the temple, that
Herod rebuilt. He added on. He made it pretty
amazing. And so the disciples are showing him
the temple. Like, this is going to stand, right,
Lord? The temple is always going to be here.
Finally, it's established. It's going to be here.
And Jesus says this in verse two, do you not
see all these things? He's showing it, looking
at the temple. Assuredly, I say to you, not one
stone shall be left here upon another that shall
not be thrown down. And you know, 70 AD, Titus
Vespasian goes in and destroys the temple. And
to remove the gold, From the temple that got
burned accidentally, whatever, as they're removing
the gold, to get the gold, they have to take
one stone off upon another. And you've probably
seen the Wailing Wall, a very famous place where
you'll see rabbis and visitors and people go.
If you see anything that has to do with the temple,
that's not the temple, it's the foundation. It's
a retaining wall of the temple is what it is.
And then they built the temple beyond that. So
there's literally not one stone left upon another.
How did the disciples know that? How does Jesus
know that? That wouldn't take place for 35 more
years. Jesus said, so exacting that every stone
is going to get removed. One stone upon another
to retrieve the gold. that as the temple's burning,
it melts in between the stones. And the only
way to retrieve it was to tear the temple apart,
stone by stone by stone. Listen, prophecy, Jesus
knows the future. God knows the future. The Bible
knows the future. And Jesus knows the future.
Trust me, this is true. And we need to listen
to what Jesus is saying. Now he goes, so. He
sits on the Mount of Olives, verse 3, and the
disciples came to him privately saying, tell
us, when shall these things be? The destruction
of the temple. But they think this is all at
one time. Obviously, when the temple gets destroyed,
this is all going to be in one. This all happens
at one time, and it doesn't. So they're asking
basically three questions here, thinking it's
all one time. Tell us, when shall these things
be? And what shall be the sign of your coming,
your coming back, and the end of the age, the
age of man? When is man going to quit ruling
here on planet earth? And Jesus doesn't say that's
not important. That doesn't matter. Don't worry.
You just got to be a good person and witness,
go evangelize, but you don't need to know. You
don't need signs. Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus
gives them specific signs. And I'm going to read
these and then we're going to go to Revelation
chapter 6 and look and see how it mirrors Revelation
chapter 6, which is the first three and a half
years of the tribulation. If you mark in your
Bibles or take notes all the way to verse 26,
that's the midway point of the tribulation in
Matthew chapter 24. Okay, we get to a spot verse,
I don't know, verse 13 or 14, 15. That's the
middle of the tribulation. And Jesus is talking
about that all the way to verse 26. That's the
encouragement to hang in there. That's the abomination
of desolation. I think if some of you guys were
here last week, we talked about it. Antiochus,
Epiphanes. The Seleucid king did this. Claimed
to be the god Zeus. He went into the temple,
brought an image, killed a pig, desecrated the
temple, spread its blood all over the temple,
made the priest drink the blood, killed over
100 ,000 Jews. It started the Maccabean revolt.
History lesson. That was a dress rehearsal for
what was going to take place in the tribulation.
Because as the temple's destroyed, I don't want
to lose you guys. As the temple's destroyed in
70 AD, the temple isn't desecrated. That's going
to be future. And Revelation wasn't written until
95 AD. So that, everything John sees, Was future.
He's not looking back at Titus destroying the
temple. Right? So to desecrate the temple that
gets destroyed in 70 AD, what has to happen?
There needs to be a rebuilt temple. Which is
coming. Right? The Temple Institute in Jerusalem
is there. They have all the instruments prepared.
They're doing DNA tests. They want to get the
priests, all the people. That are going to be
able to do the sacrifices. You remember 2022?
Five red heifers were sent from Texas to Israel
that were pure. There wasn't one blemish, no
white hair on these things. Right? Now, I don't
know if those are the red heifers. And what does
that mean, a red heifer? That's what needed to
be sacrificed. and they mix the ashes in the
water to purify different things, right? In the
Levitical law and Moses, it's important. So they're
planning, and every year they go up on the temple
mount and put up a little bit of a stink, and
they want to build the temple. They have a problem
there. one of the holiest Muslim sites there,
the Dome of the Rock, that for some reason, I
think it was in 1967, when Israel took control
of Jerusalem, they left that thing there. I don't
know why, but that was part of the, whatever,
the agreement. But God knows that. In fact, when
you read the book of Revelation, and they're
called to measure the temple and leave out the
court of the Gentiles, many people believe that
that's where the dome of the rock is built and
where the court of the Gentiles would be. It's
kind of interesting. I don't want to lose you,
though. It didn't happen. I start rambling up
here. When shall these things be? What shall
be the sign of your coming and the end of the
age? Jesus said, take heed that no one deceives
you. So I'm just going to read a few of these
verses because we're just going to read the first
few, maybe 10 verses or so. And then we're going
to look at Revelation chapter 6. We're going
to go through some of these things that you see.
But the first thing is, take heed no one deceives
you. Many will come in my name. saying, I am
the Christ and will deceive many. You'll hear
of wars, verse 6, and rumors of wars. See that
you're not troubled, for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation
will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.
There'll be famines, pestilence, earthquakes
in various places. These things are the beginning
of sorrows. And they'll deliver you up to tribulation,
kill you. You'll be hated by all nations for
my namesake. And then many will be offended and
will betray one another and will hate one another.
Many false prophets will rise up and deceive
many. And because lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold. But he who endures
to the end shall be saved. You need to have endurance
through the tribulation. If you're going through
the tribulation. But the church is not appointed
to wrath. We're not appointed to wrath. So turn
with me to Revelation chapter 6. We'll just read
that chapter together quickly and see the correlation
here. We might read another chapter in Revelation
2. So Revelation chapter 6 kicks off the tribulation
period. You don't have to turn there, but John
is taken to heaven in chapter 4. An angel says,
come up here. and ushers John into heaven. And
now the church is in heaven, Revelation chapter
four and five. And this is the view from heaven
of what's taking place on planet earth during
the tribulation, seven year period. I saw when
the lamb opened one of the seals. Remember chapter
five, there was a scroll sealed with seven seals
and no one was worthy to open it. And John wept
bitterly because no one in heaven or earth was
found worthy. But then he says, oh, John, don't
weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, he's worthy.
And John turns to look at the lion of the tribe
of Judah, and what's he see? A lamb as though
it had been slain from before the foundations
of the earth. Jesus Christ is the one that's
worthy. So he's opening these seals. And I saw
the lamb open one of the seals, and I heard one
of the four living creatures saying with a loud
voice, like thunder come and see. And I looked
and behold, a white horse. It's not Jesus Christ.
It's antichrist. And he who sat on it had a bow
and a crown was given to him. This laurel wreath
was given to him. It's a conquering crown, but
it's not a kingly crown. It's not the crowns
that Jesus is going to wear. The different crown.
And he went out conquering. And to conquer. And
the bow he has is a bow of a covenant. It's a
pact. It's not like a Matthew's bow or whatever
it is. It's not a crossbow. This is a bow. It's
a covenant. It's the covenant. It's the peace
treaty that we looked at last week in Daniel
chapter 9. That Antichrist is going to make a
treaty. For one week. A seven year period. With
Israel. That's what happens here. Revelation
chapter 6. Jesus says, take heed that no one
deceives you. Many will come in my name. Antichrist
is a deceiver. And he's going to deceive the
whole world. Rapture the church. The church is
out of here. Antichrist is going to bring this
peace. He's going to bring a peace treaty to
Israel. He's going to bring an answer. He's going
to have an answer for why millions of people
disappeared from planet Earth. All the wars and
rumors of wars that have been happening and do
happen. He's going to have an answer for all
these things. And he's probably going to be the
guy that allows the temple to be rebuilt in Israel.
That's part of this covenant, this pact, this
boa that he brings. And through diplomacy, he's
going to conquer. And then you're going to see
all these governments start shifting. And you
look at Daniel's prophecy, and we're going to
see it later in the book of Revelation. We won't
because I'm not going to go there. You guys can
read it. But that's why these horns grow up in
these kingdoms. Ten horns. It's going to be this
confederation of nations under Antichrist. That
begin to rule the world. He's a world global
leader. Antichrist. He's on a white horse. Why?
He's deceptive. Because the guys on the white
horse, those guys are the good guys normally,
right? Not in this case. He's fooling the world.
He's coming in on a white horse like a hero.
But it's a lie. And then. Verse 3, when he opened
the second seal, I heard the second living creature
saying, come and see. And another horse, fiery
red, went out. And it was granted to the one
who sat on it to take peace from the earth. And
that people should kill one another. And that
was given him a great sword, a mega sword. That's
the wars. People are now jockeying for position.
Remember, that's what Jesus said. Take heed,
no one deceives you. The second sign. Wars and
rumors of wars. How it lines up. White horse,
red horse. See that you be not troubled, for
nation will rise against nation. Kingdom against
kingdom. There'll be famines, pestilence, earthquakes.
So the next horse is this war that's going to
be taking place. And that's always gone on. Back
when it says... In verse 8 of Matthew 24, these
are the beginning of sorrows. That word literally
means birth pains. It's birth pains. It's like
when you start having contractions, something's
coming. If you're pregnant and you're a woman,
right? I've never experienced birth pains. But
when it happens, the baby's coming. There's no
turning back, right? Something's going to happen.
And so there's these birth pains leading up to
a time of the tribulation where then it gets
intense. There's no turning back. So there's
Braxton and Hicks. We're always experiencing
those leading up to that where there's some pain
and then it subsides. Some pain. We've always
experienced deception, this world. We've always
experienced wars and rumors of wars. Nothing
like we are today. World War I. That was supposedly
the war to end all wars, right? I can't remember,
15, you have to ask Caitlin, 15 to 20 million
people die in World War I. That was the war to
end all wars. Then World War II, including civilians,
70 to 80 million people die. And then they let
the genie out of the bottle, Hiroshima, right?
Here's a weapon that nobody's ever seen. And
now people have these weapons. That was almost
100 years ago, 80 years ago. Where they destroy
somebody, 100 ,000 people like that, 80 ,000,
70 ,000 people like that. One bomb. Now people
have enough bombs. Russia has enough to destroy
the world five times over. America, four times
over. People that you don't want to have the
bomb, North Korea, they have it. People that
have an itchy trigger finger. There's wars and
rumors of wars. It's taking place. Zechariah
says that in the last days that Israel would
become a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone
that all the world is going to burden themselves
with it. Everything's focused and becomes focused
on this tiny little nation that's the size of
New Jersey. Right? But wars. So during the tribulation,
there's going to be wars. Antichrist is jockeying
for position. Other countries are jockeying for
position. The United States is not going to save
the world. Donald Trump is not going to save
the world. Maybe that's a shocker to someone.
I don't know. But he's not. Where does America
play out in Bible prophecy? I don't know. We're
not mentioned really, which is kind of a scary
thing. Back in Revelation, it says when he opened
the third seal, I heard the living creature say,
come and see. And I looked and behold, a black
horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales
in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst
of the four living creatures saying, a quart
of wheat for a denarius. and three quarts of
barley for a denarius, and don't harm the oil
and wine. That's the famine that's coming. Food
is going to be so astronomical. You think food's
expensive now? I wish you knew my food bill.
We have nine kids, and they all have friends
that come over. It's like locusts come through
my house. I look in my fridge. I'm like, where
is the food? And where's the fruit? And I see
Josh sitting down eating $5 little things of
raspberries, like it's a nickel or something,
like we picked them. Well, food is going to be
astronomically expensive. People are going to
be starving during the tribulation. And it says
famines. Jesus said that there'll be famines.
Well, there's always been famine, but not like
it'll be in the tribulation period. It's coming.
And birth pains increases in frequency and intensity
the closer you get. You'd have to ask one of
the ladies if that's true, but I believe it is.
The closer you get, the more intense the pain
gets. Birth pains. Until you have the baby. And
that's what Jesus is describing these things,
these signs of getting worse. And worse and worse,
the closer you get to the Lord's return. And
then he says this. Actually, turn with me to
Revelation chapter 8. Read this really quick.
You wonder why things are going to get hard.
By the time we get done reading chapter 6, that's
the first half of the tribulation, over one -fourth
of the population on planet Earth is dead. Gone.
That's North America, South America, Central
America, gone. Europe, gone. Two billion people,
gone. In three and a half years. That doesn't
include the rapture of the church, people who
are taken out of here, millions of people. But
we know from reading Revelation chapter 6, at
least one quarter of the population is gone.
It says this as you enter into chapter 8. These
are the trumpet judgments. The first trumpet,
verse 6, says the seven angels who had the seven
trumpets prepared themselves to sound. I'm just
going to read this, and you can use your imagination.
The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed,
mingled with blood. And they were thrown to earth,
and a third of the trees were burned up, and
all the green grass was burned up. And when it
says grass, the word that's used, I can't remember
what it is in Greek, that means it means herbs.
It means stuff that you grow. That you would
grow for food. So as this happens. This is still
the first half of the tribulation. A third of
everything that you would possibly eat. That
people would grow on planet earth. That's gone.
And the second angel sounded. And something like
a great mountain burning with fire. Thrown into
the sea. And a third of the sea became blood.
And a third of the living creatures of the sea
they died. And a third of the ships were. Well,
the sea is where we get half our oxygen on planet
Earth. So if a third of it's destroyed, oxygen
on planet Earth goes down by 20%. Just oxygen.
That doesn't include food on planet Earth, things
that are coming. And use your imagination. We
could camp here for a long time. We don't have
time to. And a third angel sounded, and a great
star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,
and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the
springs of water. That's fresh water. And the
name of the star was Wormwood. And a third of
the waters became Wormwood, and many men died
from the water because it was made bitter. It
was polluted now. Like I said, we could camp
here for a while. In verse 12, a fourth angel
sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, and
a third of the moon, and a third of the stars.
So a third of them were darkened, and a third
of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.
And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through
the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,
Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth,
because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet,
the next three that are about to sound. So you
can see how the earth, the system where you grow
things and food and all, it's going to be really
messed up. So, don't harm the oil and the wine,
verse 6. Verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal,
I heard a voice. Of the four living creatures
saying, come and see. And I looked and behold,
a pal horse. And the name on him who sat on it
was death. And Hades followed with him. And power
was given to them over a fourth of the earth
to kill with a sword, with hunger, with death.
And by the beast of the field. Beast of the earth.
A fourth of the earth is destroyed. It's pestilence.
And that's what Jesus warned about, pestilence.
Infectious, deadly diseases. And we went through
the dress rehearsal with COVID for a global pandemic,
didn't we? Infectious, deadly diseases, COVID.
That's going to be nothing compared to what's
coming in terms of infection and seriousness
and how bad it's going to be on planet Earth.
Pastor Lentz is going to be incredible. When
we were planning on going to Guatemala 2020 when
COVID hit, and it was funny, we had insurance
for our trip for a global pandemic. Yeah, you
need to get insurance. Well, guess what? 2020,
we had a global pandemic. I'm glad we had insurance.
We got most of our money back for the trip, for
the tickets. But that's coming. Pestilence, infectious,
deadly diseases. You're not going to escape it.
Now, it's a weapon. Those are used as weapons
now, right? Those are going to get unleashed
as weapons on America, on other countries. Weather
patterns. Fifth seal, if you're still in Revelation
with me, he opened the fifth seal. I saw under
the altar the souls who have been slain for the
word of God and for the testimony which they
held. That's the persecution we read about back
in Matthew 24. And they cried with a loud voice
saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until
you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell
on the earth. Those are tribulation saints, people
who get saved during the tribulation. And then
a white robe was given to each of them, and it
was said to them that they should rest a little
while longer until both the number of their fellow
servants and their brethren who would be killed
as they were was completed. They're going to
have to lay down their necks for the gospel during
the tribulation period. It's often what Islam
does to kill someone. It's decapitation, beheading.
That's the way these guys are going to get killed.
And they're waiting. They have to wait. And I
looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold,
there was a great earthquake. Jesus said there'll
be earthquakes. And the sun became black as sackcloth
of hair, and the moon became like blood, and
the stars of heaven fell to earth as figs drop
its late figs when it's shaken with the mighty
wind. We're going to have to close here in just
a second. They receded as a scroll, as a scroll
is rolled up. And every mountain and island was
removed out of its place. And the kings of the
earth and the great men and the rich men and
the commanders and the mighty men and every slave
and every free man, they hid themselves in the
caves of the rocks of the mountains. And they
said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on
us and hide us from the face of him who sits
on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
They understand where the judgment is coming
from. which is amazing. Then you get to chapter
12, and their allegiance is an allegiance to
Antichrist. They take the mark. I think it's
chapter 12. They take the mark, and they say,
who was able to war against the beast? Who was
able to fight him? They understand judgment's
coming, and then they make a stand, and they
take a mark in their right hand or their forehead.
People are going to love that mark. People are
going to want it, right? You're going to get
your monthly stipend that you don't have to work
anymore. AI is going to be your worker. You're
going to have robots. You're going to have in
your right hand or your forehead this mark. No
one's going to be able to steal your identity.
You're going to be able to go to the hospital,
the doctor, get your free medication, healthcare,
groceries. You're going to be able to get everything
you want with that mark. It's coming. It's getting.
That system is here. It's never been like this.
Jesus said, when you begin to see these things
take place, look up your redemption's drawing
nigh. We're here. The system of antichrist is
in place. It wasn't 100 years ago. 100 years
ago, this was not happening. It could not happen.
Now we're here. This is taking place. The great
day of his wrath has come, who is able to stand.
We don't have time to talk about all the different
things that Jesus talked about there in Matthew.
We're going to keep going here in Matthew 24.
I thought maybe next week we'd be done. We might
be done next week. I might be able to condense
it a little bit. But we're going to keep going.
Bible prophecy, the last days. We need to be
aware. We need to be looking up. Deception is
great. I won't turn there. I'm so tempted. Next
week we're going to look, because in the last
days, listen, the Bible says that many will depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits
and doctrines of devils. There's a deception
coming where people are going to walk away. Antichrist
doesn't mean against Christ only. It means in
place of. That's what antichrist means. There's
many... False gospels out there. People who claim
to have a way to heaven. The deception is amazing.
I remember Hale -Bob Comet. Some of you guys
don't remember that. These guys wearing Nike
sneakers. These guys were doctors, lawyers. Very
intelligent people waiting for this comet to
come and take them off the planet. But they had
to drink this poison. And they're all laying
there with their, I think, white Nike sneakers.
I can't remember how many people there were in
California in the early, mid -90s, 94, 95. The
deception, like, yeah, this comet's going to
pick you up. Everyone had to have Nike sneakers,
drink this poison. Intelligent people bought
in. Intelligent people understand that the wrath
of the Lamb is coming and they pledge their allegiance
to Antichrist. The wealthy, the rich, the powerful
people who hide themselves initially pledge their
allegiance to Antichrist. The deception is going
to be mind -blowing. It says that if it were
possible, that even the very elect would be deceived.
Jesus warned that. Thessalonians says that he's
going to send a strong delusion that they might
believe a lie. That's how strong the lie, the
delusion, this Antichrist person is coming. And
the spirit of Antichrist is already here. Deception's
already here. He's probably alive, like I don't
want to be a doomsdayer, but he's probably alive.
We're living in the last of the last days. We
need to look up. So Lord, we give you our lives,
Lord. I know that I ran a little long today.
I pray, God, you'd stir us up as a church, as
a people, Lord. You've given us these signs to
equip us, to prepare us for your soon return,
the way you did with the sons of Issachar. They
knew the signs of the times that Israel might
know what to do. And we need to know as a church,
God, what should we be doing? Should we be busy
about your business or ours? Busy about the kingdom
or your kingdom or our kingdom. Give you our
lives, Lord. Pray you'd stir our hearts, Lord.
I pray some of this stuff would just settle in
on our hearts and our minds, Lord.