All right, we're here in Revelation chapter 6 and we're continuing here with the end times and we're kind of hitting the meat and potatoes here of Revelation and probably many of you out there that are watching, you kind of came into this like-minded movement, like-minded churches due to the documentary after the tribulation.
And so we're kind of hitting the meat and potatoes here. Now I want you to keep your finger in Revelation 6 and go to Matthew chapter 24.
Turn to Matthew chapter 24 in your Bible because Revelation chapter 6 and Matthew chapter 24 are parallel.
You can compare verses and see how they're lining up together. So go to Matthew chapter 24, Matthew chapter 24.
And in Matthew chapter 24, starting at verse 3, the Bible reads,
And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?
And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?
And so the disciples are asking Him about the end times and they say the sign of Thy coming, which implies that there is only one coming, which is true. There's only one coming left here.
And then it says, and of the end of the world. So they're basically asking about the end times and then Jesus is going to kind of give them some information regarding that.
In verse number 4, the Bible reads,
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. And Jesus is saying people are going to deceive you. People are going to lie to you.
In today's world, we have the pre-trib rapture teachers, the mid-trib rapture teachers, the Zionist teachers, the Judaizers, all these, the dispensationalists.
And they're lying to people about the end times. They're lying about Israel. They're lying about the Jews. They're lying about the rapture and things such as that.
Or they're unaware of what the Bible teaches. And what Jesus said is, Take heed that no man deceive you. Why? Because there are going to be people that deceive you.
And see, when it comes to the end times, most Christians have very little understanding of what's going to take place.
Okay? But this is very important for us to know because this is up ahead, perhaps in our life or after that, but we're reaching toward that point closer and closer every single day.
And quite honestly, this is a topic that people are going to ask you about. Just like the disciples asked Jesus, you're going to have co-workers that have no interest in salvation, but they're going to ask you about the end times.
And then maybe they will end up being interested in salvation after you've talked to them about the end times. So we need to know what is going to happen in the end times.
So this is what Jesus says in verse five. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
See, during this time period, during Daniel's 70th week specifically he's referring to, there's going to be a lot of people that step up here and say, I'm Christ.
And they're going to deceive people. People are going to be confused because they don't understand what's taking place during the end times.
Verse six, And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
So it talks about wars and rumors of wars, and these are things you see in Revelation chapter six. This is going to be in Daniel's 70th week.
Now truly we have wars in today's world, but during the beginning of sorrows, during the first three and a half years of Daniel's 70th week, there are going to be more wars and more rumors of wars.
The world is going to be in turmoil. And then it says, For nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
So it talks about famines, pestilences, earthquakes. And then it says in verse eight, All these are the beginning of sorrows.
This is what we talked about a couple weeks ago. The beginning of sorrows. The first three and a half years, the world is in turmoil because they're not yet ready for the Antichrist.
They're not yet ready for this new world order and the system with one man ruling it. The world's going to be in turmoil and it's going to reach that point.
Now I want you to see though here, where it said in verse eight, All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Now notice how it says, All these. All these. Not some of these, but all of these. Okay, what exactly is he saying by all these?
What he's saying is that everything I just explained to you is in the beginning of sorrows.
You see, verse five is part of the beginning of sorrows because all these are the beginning of sorrows.
He said in verse four, Don't let anybody deceive you because people are going to deceive you. Okay?
People are going to try to deceive you. People are going to lie and deceive other people.
In verse five, that's the beginning of sorrows because all these are the beginning of sorrows.
In verse six, it says, verse six is also part of the beginning of sorrows. Verse seven is part of the beginning of sorrows.
Now what it said at the end of verse six is this, But the end is not yet.
The reason why he's saying the end is not yet is because as we saw a couple weeks ago, during the beginning of sorrows, it's going to be chaos.
We saw how it talks about Revelation 12 fleeing into the wilderness. Okay?
But he says, you know, this is bad. This is the beginning of sorrows, but the end is not yet.
You say, why? Because once he declares himself to be God, the abomination of desolation.
Look, the Great Tribulation is far worse than the beginning of sorrows.
Now the beginning of sorrows is going to be bad for the whole world, but especially for Christians. Okay?
But then after the abomination of desolation, after those first four seals, then there's going to be great tribulation, which is going to be far worse.
So during the beginning of sorrows, that first three and a half years, the first, second, third and fourth seals.
Look, it's going to be bad, but the end is not yet. It's going to get worse.
He's going to declare himself to be God. And then you have the fifth seal and the sixth seal before the return of Jesus Christ.
Now turn to Revelation 13. Revelation 13. Revelation chapter 13.
See, it's very important we understand all of the terminology, all of the phrases, how everything lines up, because there's a lot of confusion on the end times. Okay?
You know, you have people that believe in pre-trib raptures and they teach all kinds of different things.
And if you've been in Baptist churches, you know, for a lot of your life, before you knew about the post-trib rapture, I'm sure you were pretty confused on the end times yourself.
Okay. Now, when I got saved, when I was 18 years old, the person who led me to the Lord taught me when I was 19 years old about the post-trib pre-wrath rapture.
So I've never really believed in a pre-trib rapture. You know, I didn't really know what I believed, but I wasn't really dogmatic and I didn't have all these confused terminologies.
But quite honestly, if you've been in Baptist churches for a long time, there might be a lot of phrases that you have memorized that you think are right, but the Bible doesn't teach them at all.
Okay? Especially when it comes to the end times. Now, in Revelation chapter 13, this is, remember, Revelation 1 through 11 tells the story and then it kind of recycles in chapters 12 through 22.
Okay? So we're going to look at Revelation chapter 13 here in probably like seven, eight weeks or something like that.
But I want you to see a few verses here in Revelation chapter 13, verse 6. Verse 6. And this references the abomination of desolation.
Verse 6. Revelation chapter 13, verse 6.
And so the Antichrist, which is being referenced here, he is going to basically make war with the saints.
After he declares himself to be God, it is an all-out war with the saints.
Okay? During those first three and a half years, you know, it's going to be tough to serve God.
I'm sure there's going to be a lot of restrictions and people are going to be mad at this kind of preaching.
But after the abomination of desolation, it's an all-out war against believers.
And notice what it said in verse 7. It said,
It said power was given unto him over all kindreds and tongues and nations.
So look, every single nation is going to be getting behind the Antichrist.
Now that does not mean that there aren't going to be saved people because we're still going to be here if it happens during our lifetime.
That doesn't mean that people can't get saved because the Word of God has power and the Gospel has power.
And we can preach the Gospel during this time and we will and get people saved.
And you know, that doesn't mean that people, you know, even after the rapture can't get saved.
Because after the rapture, people can get saved. There's 144,000. There's the two witnesses.
So look, I'm not saying people can't get saved, but let me tell you something.
The whole world is going to be against Baptist, independent, fundamental Baptist, soul-winning, hard preaching.
It's going to be an all-out war with the saints to kill saints.
And notice what it said in verse 7, and to overcome them.
So many people are going to be killed because of what they believe the Bible teaches.
Turn to Daniel 12. Daniel 12. Daniel chapter 12.
And so it's important for us to understand the timing on everything.
And so what the Bible teaches is during Daniel's 70th week, this seven-year time period,
the first three and a half years are the beginning of sorrows.
And in the midst or the middle of the week, the Antichrist will declare himself to be God.
The abomination of desolation.
And what the Bible teaches is, after the abomination of desolation, there are 75 days of great tribulation.
And then after that tribulation, God will rapture those believers that are left on earth.
It's going to be 75 days. You say, how do you know that?
And let me tell you something. It's important to know this,
because the Bible says those that are wise during this time are going to instruct many.
And look, there's going to be a lot of saved people that are confused
because they were expecting a pre-trib rapture and the Antichrist just declared himself to be God
and they don't know what's going on.
And so quite honestly, us as believers, we need to know about this time period.
And the Bible says at the midpoint is the abomination of desolation
where he's going to declare himself to be God.
Now notice Daniel chapter 12 verse 11.
Daniel 12 verse 11.
And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away.
And let me just say this, I would recommend, especially now, that you take some notes to what I'm preaching
because I'm going to kind of preach some kind of in-depth stuff here from the book of Daniel.
And look, some things are deep in the Word of God and we need to understand them.
So I'd recommend you take a pen, take notes during this time period so you don't forget what I'm talking about
because this is very important here.
It says from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away.
Remember, as we've said, the Antichrist will turn on the Jews in the middle of Daniel's 70th week
at the abomination of desolation.
We talked about last week the rise, the political rise of the Antichrist.
And the Jews are looking for a political messiah, so to speak.
They're not looking for God in the flesh and when the Antichrist demands people worship him,
they're going to basically be, whoa, wait a minute, that's not what we signed on for.
And so basically he's going to turn on the Jews and the sacrifice is going to be taken away.
I mean, the Jews are waiting to do their sacrifices again and they get all excited
and then after they start them, after some sort of time period, the Antichrist is going to take it away, the Bible says.
Why? Because he's going to demand the worship for himself.
And so from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up.
This is where he requires people to worship his image, no matter where you live.
There shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
One thousand two hundred and ninety days.
Twelve hundred and ninety days, okay?
Now this is starting in the middle of Daniel's 70th week.
Remember, the abomination that maketh desolate is in the midst of the week.
So in the middle of this seven year time period, to the end, it's going to be twelve hundred and ninety days, okay?
You say twelve hundred and ninety days, what is that?
Well, you have to understand that in the Bible, the calendar was twelve months of thirty days, okay?
They didn't have January and February and March as we know it.
With twenty eight days, sometimes twenty nine, and then thirty one days for most months, thirty for other days.
That's not the system they had in the Bible, okay?
The system in the Bible was twelve months of thirty days, okay?
Which is three hundred and sixty days.
The problem with that is that it leaves you more than five days short every single year.
And that might not seem like a big deal, but after ten years, you've got over fifty days that you're off.
Almost two months.
Now here in the Philippines, we don't really have four seasons.
We have hot and hotter, or non-rainy and rainy, depending on how you want to look at it.
But I want you to understand that I grew up with four seasons.
And see, after ten, twenty years, all of a sudden, winter is going to be in the summer, and summer is going to be in the winter.
Why? Because it's more than five days off.
You say, was there a problem with their calendar?
There was not a problem with their calendar, they just counted time a little bit differently.
What they would do is, after a time period, they would basically add an extra month.
So every once in a while, there would be some years that would have thirteen months instead of twelve.
Because they get behind by several days, after several years, after like five or six years, they have to add another thirty days.
And so there would be some years that would actually have thirteen months.
Why is this important?
Well, twelve hundred ninety days, one year is twelve months and three hundred sixty days.
Two years equals seven hundred twenty days.
Three years equals a thousand eighty days.
Half a year is a hundred and eighty days.
A thousand eighty plus one eighty is twelve sixty.
Not twelve ninety.
There's an extra thirty days. You say, why?
Because of the fact, in the second half of Daniel's seventieth week, an extra month is added.
So actually the second half of Daniel's seventieth week is going to be forty three months.
The first half is forty two months.
The second half is forty three months because the way they counted their calendars was a little bit different.
So the twelve hundred ninety days being mentioned is the fact that when you start the abomination of desolation,
to the end of Daniel's seventieth week, it's twelve hundred and ninety days.
Forty three months.
Okay? Notice verse twelve.
Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
So this is one thousand three hundred and thirty five days mentioned in verse twelve.
Okay?
Now if you were to quickly read over this, your first assumption would be,
that just as in verse eleven it starts at the abomination of desolation and goes to the end,
that in verse twelve it will start at the abomination of desolation.
In fact, most people believe that.
Unfortunately, that's not actually true.
Okay?
Now I could see where you would think that as you're reading over it,
and you're not necessarily really paying attention to exactly what's being said.
But in verse twelve, this is not starting at the abomination of desolation.
This is actually starting at the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week,
and I'm going to prove that to you.
Okay?
And this is very important.
See, what it says in verse twelve is this.
Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
Now as we saw in verse eleven, it will be twelve hundred and ninety days
from the abomination of desolation to the end of Daniel's seventieth week.
After that, you have the millennium.
Look, if there's thirteen hundred and thirty five days, an extra forty five days hanging after the twelve ninety,
that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, being forty five days into the millennium.
There's nothing in the Bible that mentions anything happening forty five days into the millennium.
Okay? So it'd be really an obscure reference with us to not really have any understanding, you know,
why there'd be something happening forty five days into the millennium.
Okay?
This is actually starting at the beginning.
And the reason why we can tell this is because notice how it says blessed is he that waiteth and cometh.
Okay?
Doesn't the Bible always talk about how we're waiting for the return of Jesus Christ?
We're waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
In fact, turn to First Corinthians one. I'll show you one reference. First Corinthians chapter one.
See, what's being said is that from the beginning of Daniel's seventieth week until the rapture is going to be thirteen hundred and thirty five days.
Now, remember, the second half of Daniel's seventieth week is going to be forty two months plus one, twelve hundred ninety days.
But the first half of Daniel's seventieth week is going to be forty two months.
An extra month does not need to be added.
So forty two months is twelve hundred and sixty days based on the Hebrew calendar.
Okay?
We use the Gregorian calendar today, but in the Hebrew calendar used in the Bible, which is still kind of a method that's used in Israel to some degree today,
with the Hebrew calendar, it was thirty day months.
And so twelve hundred sixty days is the first half of Daniel's seventieth week.
And that leaves seventy five days. Thirteen thirty five minus twelve sixty until we get the rapture.
So basically the Great Tribulation is seventy five days.
Okay. Remember what it said. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh.
Okay. First Corinthians one, verse seven.
So that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in First Corinthians one, the Church of Corinth, Jesus didn't come in their lifetime, but they were still waiting for the coming.
Okay.
We are told to wait for the coming of the Lord.
It doesn't mean it's going to take place in our lifetime.
But but honestly, with each passing day, we're getting closer and things are tying together more and things such as that.
And the Bible talks about blessed is he that waited.
Okay. So the Bible talks about we should be waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, even if it does not take place in our lifetime.
Now, there's many things that happen at the return of Jesus.
Obviously, one is we get raptured if we're here, but we're also given our glorified bodies.
Okay.
Now, turn to First Thessalonians Chapter four. First Thessalonians Chapter four.
First Thessalonians Chapter four.
And I'll show you that.
And at the rapture, those that are dead in Christ are going to be given their new bodies.
And then us that are alive and remain, we're going to be given new bodies as well.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Okay.
So in First Thessalonians four, verse 13, the Bible reads,
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope.
When it says them which are asleep, these are those that have already died, believers that have passed away.
Okay.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
So those that are dead at the rapture, you know what, they're going to be brought together as well, the Bible's teaching.
Okay.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,
and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So at the rapture, those that are dead in Christ shall rise, and we which are alive and remain also will meet him in the air, the Bible teaches.
We're going to be given our glorified bodies.
My question to you is this.
Who wrote the book of Daniel?
Daniel, right?
Today, is Daniel physically alive at this point?
No, he's not.
Daniel's already dead.
He died thousands of years ago.
Now, he is in heaven, but he does not have his glorified body.
You say, what are you trying to say?
Well, go back to Daniel.
Go back to Daniel chapter 12, and I'll show you what I'm talking about.
Daniel chapter 12.
And so, Daniel has already passed away, and, you know, once the rapture takes place, he will get his new body, the Bible teaches.
And what you see in Daniel 12 verse 13, this is what God tells to Daniel.
But go thou thy way till the end be.
What is the end?
Well, I mean, basically the time of the rapture, okay?
You know, the end of all the persecution, the end of the great tribulation.
You say, how do you know that?
For thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
So, wait a minute.
When is Daniel going to stand in his lot?
When is he going to be, basically have his glorified body?
What does the Bible teach?
Well, it's going to happen at the rapture, okay?
So, this 1335 days that it's referencing, this is referring to when the rapture takes place, he's going to stand in his lot.
Those that are dead in Christ, which will include Daniel, are going to meet the Lord in the air.
And then us that are alive, we're going to meet the Lord in the air.
The dead in Christ shall rise first, the Bible teaches.
And so it's 1335 days.
And so 1260 days into Daniel's 70th week is the abomination of desolation.
The middle of Daniel's 70th week, three and a half years, 42 months, but we're waiting for 1335 days.
An extra 75 days and that is when the rapture is going to take place.
Now, turn in your Bible to Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 24.
Now, look, some people would hear what I just said about 75 days and say, well, you're setting a date for the rapture.
Well, I'm not setting a date for the rapture because, for one, I've always said I don't think it will happen in our lifetime.
So, I have no idea when it's going to happen.
You know, it could happen in our lifetime.
But, you know, we're not going to know for sure we're even in the end times until the abomination of desolation.
Okay, now there's certain signs you might see and certain things that might make you wonder.
And what's going on in the world today?
You know, some people think we're in the end times now.
I mean, we're not seeing wars and rumors of wars.
We're not seeing, you know, massive famines, at least yet, or pestilences, plural.
So, I don't think we're in the end times right now, okay.
But the only way we're really going to know is when the abomination of desolation takes place.
And when the abomination of desolation takes place, we're going to know there's a short time left, okay.
Now, we might not know the exact second of the day the abomination of desolation takes place.
So, we're just seeing that it's roughly 75 days once we find out about it.
Now, look, during the end times, during the great tribulation, it's going to be chaos, okay.
We don't really know what it's going to be like.
We saw during the beginning of sorrows, it talked about in Revelation 12, fleeing into the wilderness, okay,
where we have a place prepared of God.
Because, basically, Christians are going to be persecuted.
And it's going to get a whole lot worse during the great tribulation.
So, look, I don't think that we're going to be waking up every morning and looking at our calendar.
I think we're basically just going to be, you know, fighting to survive, trusting in God to give us our food,
and just doing as much soul winning as we can, okay.
That's all we really can do is basically, you know, try not to get killed so we can just preach the gospel to people, okay.
It's going to be chaos. I mean, probably many Christians, probably most Christians,
are not going to be sleeping in their houses at night and everything's going well.
It's probably going to be chaos during that time period.
So, I don't think we're going to be counting down and say, well, this is the exact second, okay.
But what you can understand is when the abomination of desolation takes place, there are 75 days left, okay.
75 days left to serve God.
So, it's basically just kind of a blitz of serving God and we're going to trust in God to provide our food each and every day.
Because the Bible says we're going to do great exploits during this time period.
Now, in Matthew chapter 24, let me show you verse 9.
Matthew 24, verse 9.
And in Matthew 24, verse 9, the Bible reads,
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
And this is taking place after the beginning of sorrows is over.
And it says, you know what, they're going to deliver you up.
They're going to kill you.
You're going to be hated of all nations.
Every nation is going to hate the message of Christianity.
Every nation is going to hate the message of salvation.
Every nation has gotten behind and supported the Antichrist, okay.
This is the start of the Great Tribulation.
Turn to Revelation chapter 6. Revelation chapter 6.
Now look, I don't believe that we should just be intentionally trying to hide from everybody and just trying to live until the end of the 75 days.
I think we should be serving God and going soul winning.
But I do believe that it's going to be a bit of chaos.
That we might be on the run from policemen, the political authorities that are trying to arrest us and kill us for what we believe in.
Look, I want to live so I can keep preaching the Gospel.
Now look, obviously we don't deny our Lord Jesus Christ.
We shouldn't say, oh, you know, I'm not one of those Christians or whatever.
But here's what I want you to understand.
You know, during this time period, obviously we don't want to get killed.
We want to be able to keep freely preaching the Gospel.
Now nobody's going to take the mark of the beast that is a saved person.
The Bible teaches that.
That no saved person will take the mark of the beast.
But there's going to be a lot of Christians that are afraid to serve God during this time period.
Now look, we shouldn't be afraid to serve God.
But we also should be trying to survive and preach the Gospel to as many people as we can.
I'm not sure that it's going to be door to door soul winning during this time period.
I think it's more just going to be preaching the Gospel to anyone that you can find.
And you're trusting in God to provide you with food.
And you know, God will.
He promises that he will do that.
Revelation 6 verse 9.
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
And so the fifth seal is open and we see that people are killed for what they believe.
People are killed for believing on Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches.
Verse 10.
How long is it going to be? How much longer is it?
It's said to them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.
This is during the Great Tribulation and people have already been killed for what they believed.
And basically they're told, you know what, there's going to be other people, fellow servants that are going to be killed as you were.
They're going to be killed like you were for what they believe in.
Okay.
Throughout all time period, the last 2,000 years, people have been persecuted for what they believed.
And during the end times, during the Great Tribulation, there's going to be persecution that the world has never seen before.
It's never going to be worse than during the Great Tribulation.
You say, how do you survive?
Well, I mean, the Bible teaches safety's of the Lord, right?
Turn to Matthew 10.
Matthew 10.
See, logically, the best way to survive during the Great Tribulation is basically try to escape in the wilderness away from everybody.
But quite honestly, I believe the best, you know, life insurance, the best protection, the best safety we can have is doing as much sowing as we can.
You say, why?
Because God has a goal for the gospel to go out to the ends of the world.
Okay.
It talks about that in Matthew 24.
And he wants you to live and survive so you can preach and get people saved.
So I believe the best way to survive during the Great Tribulation is not to hide, is not to buy a bunch of guns and gold and silver and Bitcoin or whatever.
No, I believe the best way to survive is go soul winning.
And if you're soul winning, I believe God can protect you.
Now, obviously, some of us will be martyred for what we believe in.
But I do believe the best way to survive is to go soul winning.
Matthew 10.
Matthew 10, verse 16.
I mean, what else do you have to live for those last 75 days when the abomination of desolation takes place?
I mean, because today people debate about are we in the end?
And some people believe we are.
Okay.
And maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe this is the start of the beginning of sorrows.
You know, I don't see it.
But let's say the beginning of sorrows just started or whatever and chaos starts in the next couple years.
The point is, though, we can't really be sure until the abomination of desolation takes place.
When the abomination of desolation takes place, then we are going to be absolutely positive that, okay, we're in the middle of Daniel's 70th week.
And understanding this as Christians, look, there's no point of saving up for retirement.
You've got 75 days left to serve God.
The only purpose you have at this point is to go soul winning and to get people saved.
Matthew 10.
And in Matthew chapter 10, this talks about soul winning at the beginning of the chapter.
But it's actually kind of an end times chapter.
It kind of morphs the two together and I'll show that to you.
Matthew 10, verse 16.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
And so in Matthew chapter 10, in verse 16, when it comes to soul winning, he says basically be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
Okay, there's this combination.
We should be wise and we should be harmless, the Bible says.
Okay, this is a direct application for the time back then, but also for the end times as well.
Notice verse number 17, verse 17.
But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will scourge you in their synagogues.
The Bible speaks about being delivered up to councils, being scourged.
And he shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
You say, how do you know this is referencing the end times?
Now this definitely has a direct application to them back then, but this does apply to the end times and I'll show you how you know this.
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
I mean, can you imagine delivering up your brother to be killed?
Okay, you know, I don't have a brother, I do have a sister.
You know, I have cousins, I have aunts and uncles.
You know, obviously parents, you know, I have one grandmother.
And look, I can't imagine delivering up my family to be put to death.
And look, not all of my family are saved and not all of them I really regularly talk to, but I can't imagine delivering them up to be put to death.
But during the end times, people that are worshipping the beast, people that are reprobates, they're going to look at us as the enemies.
And anyone that's not worshipping the beast is an enemy, whether they're saved or just a normal everyday person that's not a reprobate, okay?
The brother shall deliver up the brother to death.
And the father, the child, can you imagine delivering up your child, your son or your daughter to be killed, right?
I mean, my son Zephaniah or my daughter Christabel, I cannot imagine ever allowing them to be killed or to deliver them up to be killed.
But during this time, people that worship the beast, people that are reprobates, they don't care about their own family.
People that are reprobates don't care about anyone because they are without a conscience, the Bible says.
And they would be willing to deliver up their children to be put to death, the Bible teaches.
And the father, the child, it said, and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death.
Can you imagine an ungrateful child that had parents that spent time raising them and yet they will deliver up their parents to death?
I mean, what a wicked world this is going to be.
People that are reprobates, they don't care about their parents, okay?
And this has happened kind of throughout history.
When you look at the Spanish Inquisition with the Catholic Church, people would basically, you know, turn on their family to protect themselves, okay?
In the book, the Gulag Archipelago, which talked about what went on in the Soviet Union,
there would be people that would deliver up neighbors and friends and they would lie about other people to protect themselves.
And it happened back then because they were worried for their safety, but how much more during the end times,
when people were worshipping the beast, it's going to be a tribulation we've never seen before.
Verse 22, say, well, how do you know this references the end times?
How do you know this is the end times?
Verse 22, and he shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Now, this phrase enduring to the end to be saved is three times in your Bible.
One of those times is in Matthew chapter 24, which is about the end times.
One of those times is in Mark chapter 13, which is about the end times.
The other time is here in Matthew chapter 10.
Now, we know from the context of what we read, when it talks about brother shall deliver up the brother to death,
that's not talking about spiritual death.
That's talking about physically being killed.
And so in verse 22, when it says he that endureth to the end shall be saved,
it's not saying spiritually saved as in going to heaven.
We're talking about the body on Katawan.
We're talking about the flesh, okay, not the spirit, okay, not the soul.
We're referring to the body.
That's the context here in verses 17 through 22 where it says, you know,
parents are delivering up their child and the child, their parents to be put to death.
This is physical death, not spiritual death.
And so some people would look at verse 22 and say, well, see, you can lose your salvation, okay?
This is not talking about spiritual salvation.
This is talking about physical salvation as it is in Matthew 24 and Mark 13
and most specifically what it's talking about.
As it mentions in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 about enduring to the end to be saved,
it's referencing if you endure through the great tribulation, you will be physically saved.
You will not die. You say, why?
Because the rapture takes place 75 days after the abomination of desolation.
He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved, the Bible says.
And so here in Matthew 10, it's the same thing.
It's referencing the end times and if you endure through the great tribulation,
if it happens in our lifetime, you will not die.
You will be raptured, okay?
Now turn in your Bible to Matthew 24, Matthew 24, Matthew chapter 24.
Look, the beginning of sorrows, as we saw a couple weeks ago with Revelation 12,
and we talked about that, fleeing into the wilderness, it's almost unimaginable
because you have wars going on, pestilences, famines, people probably aren't working.
There's probably governmental lockdowns and shutdowns and things like that are taking place.
And look, the reality is around the world,
there's going to be buildings that are destroyed due to war.
There's going to be roads that are destroyed.
People are going to be dying.
Basically, bombs going off, which means houses are destroyed.
Areas are going to be without electricity, maybe without water.
I mean, people are going to be on the run.
And it talks about having a place in the wilderness, prepared by God.
So you're not going to be coming home to your cozy home.
For most people around the world during that time period,
in the beginning of sorrows, you're not going to die.
In that time period, in the beginning of sorrows, it's probably going to be chaos.
It could depend on what country you're in,
but if there's lots of wars going on and famines and pestilences,
it's hard to even imagine how chaotic it is.
Because the world is chaotic right now.
And we only have one small part of what's going to happen in the beginning of sorrows.
The world is chaotic right now with everything going on.
And depending on where you live, it's different, but it's chaotic everywhere.
Lockdowns, shutdowns, and everything like that.
It's chaos right now. Everybody's in fear. Everybody's afraid.
How much more during the beginning of sorrows?
You can't even imagine it, as we talked about a couple weeks ago.
But how much more the Great Tribulation?
You can't even imagine it. Okay?
It's going to be far worse than the beginning of sorrows or any persecution we've ever seen.
The Spanish Inquisition, where people were being tortured for what they believed by the Roman Catholic Church,
is nothing compared to the Great Tribulation.
It's nothing.
The Roman persecution in the first and second century, King Nero, nothing.
Antiochus Epiphanes before Jesus Christ, nothing compared to what's going to happen in the Great Tribulation.
It's hard to even imagine it.
Matthew 24 speaks about this in verse 10.
And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another.
People are going to betray one another.
They're going to lie about their friends and co-workers and acquaintances.
They're going to turn on brothers and sisters and friends and co-workers and neighbors.
They're going to hate one another.
They're going to hate various people.
And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.
There are going to be false prophets during the time period of the Great Tribulation.
There's going to be false prophets that are going to be rising.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Once again in verse 13, this is not spiritually being saved.
This is physically being saved where you will be raptured, as it mentions later on in Matthew 24,
where the context is the physical, the body being killed.
Verse 14, notice this.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for witness unto all nations.
And then shall the end come.
Verse 14, the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world the Bible speaks about.
This is in reference to taking place during the end times.
Now look, I believe the whole world has heard about Jesus Christ.
I don't believe that you could go and find someone who's never heard of Jesus.
You know, somebody who lives in the deep dark jungle.
I don't believe that. I believe the whole world.
I mean, when Jesus was alive, his name spread throughout the whole world, the Bible says.
And so I believe the world has heard about Jesus Christ.
But it doesn't mean that the whole world has heard a clear gospel presentation.
It doesn't mean the whole world has really been inundated with the gospel and the truth and salvation and God's Word.
Okay?
Some parts of the world have, but not all parts of the world.
But see, when things are going really chaotic during this end times, during the great tribulation,
with Christians understanding that we have nothing left to live for except going soul winning.
Let me tell you something.
The gospel is going to be preached in all of the world the Bible speaks about.
Every nation, okay?
There's saved people in every nation in the world right now.
But look, there are a lot of countries where it's not really that receptive to preach the gospel.
You don't have the opportunity to preach the gospel.
But right now in North Korea, you can't really just go out and preach the gospel.
You're going to be killed by the government.
Now look, I'm praying, I'm praying that the ruler Kim Jong-un is actually dead right now.
Because maybe a new regime is going to rise up and they're going to be kind of, even if they're evil, weak leaders,
and they get trampled by the people and maybe North Korea could be open to the gospel.
But right now, North Korea is not open to the gospel.
Let me tell you something.
You Christians out there that think, oh, that's so harsh, you want their leader to be killed.
Yeah, I want a wicked reprobate that's preventing their country from hearing the gospel.
Yeah, I want him to be killed.
Yes, I want a wicked reprobate who hates God and demands people worship him and he hates the God above.
He hates the living God that we believe in.
He hates Jesus Christ.
He demands worship.
He prevents people from having church and hearing the gospel.
Yeah, I hope he is dead.
Okay, I hope the reports are true.
I hope he's incapacitated.
And I hope a weak leader rises up that basically is going to get trampled by the people.
And I do hope North Korea would be open to the gospel.
What a great thing that could happen in our lifetime.
Amen for that.
But I want you to understand there are countries around the world right now where it's just not open to the gospel.
It is not open everywhere in the world right now.
But during the end times, oh, the gospel is going to be preached in all the world, the Bible says.
Not just, well, there's a couple of saved people.
No, the gospel is just going to get out of everywhere.
Okay, that's what's going to happen during the end times.
And it kind of helps us understand why does God allow his people to go through persecution?
I mean, have you ever wondered that?
You know, why does the end times even happen?
Because, I mean, hell is worse than the wrath of God that's going to come on these wicked people on earth and all these things taking place.
Why does God allow all these events to take place?
Why does he allow us to go through great tribulation before the rapture takes place?
He does this for the gospel's sake, okay?
During this time of great tribulation, it's actually going to cause Christians to be bold and to preach the gospel and get the gospel out to everyone.
And yes, God will allow us to go through trials in our lives if it will further the gospel.
It's for the gospel's sake.
That's what God cares about.
Verse 15, when he therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.
Whoso readeth, let him understand.
So the Bible speaks about in verse 15, those that read the word of God, they understand.
Those that don't read the word of God, they don't understand, okay?
Verse 16, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.
See, the persecution is going to happen right over there in Judea, right over there in Jerusalem.
And I want you to realize during that time period, if you're there, you will be killed by the Antichrist and his regime, okay?
And it tells them, flee into the mountains, okay?
And so look, you know, all over there's going to be persecution and, you know, there's going to be the political agenda and countries.
Here in the Philippines, if the end times happens in our life that would rise up and try to kill us, it's going to happen everywhere, okay?
But even more so over there it speaks about.
Verse 17, let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.
Why would you need to take anything?
You only have 75 days left to live.
I mean, the only thing you need is the Bible, right?
I mean, you have the Bible.
You already have the Holy Spirit inside of you.
I mean, that's really all you're going to need.
That's the only thing that's really going to be of that much use.
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days.
Verse 19 is referencing those that are going to basically be giving birth or those that are with young children.
Look, it's hard to travel if you're pregnant, okay?
It's hard to travel if you have young children.
And during this time period, yeah, it's going to be chaotic.
It's going to be very difficult to travel with young children.
You know, even just if you give birth at the hospital now or you give birth now during this lockdown,
hey, you know what? It's chaotic. It's difficult.
It's a lot harder than it normally would be.
And how much more during the end times when there's lockdowns and persecutions and famines and pestilences.
Who knows what the world's going to be like?
And then it says, but pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.
You know, obviously here in the Philippines, the winter really doesn't mean a whole lot.
But where I am in West Virginia during the wintertime with snow and ice, it's kind of hard to travel.
It's kind of hard to get away from someone trying to kill you.
Verse 21, why is this?
Well, for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
This is a great tribulation.
It's hard to comprehend, but pay attention to verse 22 and accept those days should be shortened.
You know, what days? The 75 days, right? Until the rapture.
Unless this time period was shortened, unless that three and a half years was shortened and accept those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.
But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.
Look, if there wasn't an end to this time period of the great tribulation, no flesh would be saved.
Every single one of us would be killed.
The Bible is teaching every single one because everybody's out to kill us.
But there are going to be people that remain alive during this time period, not because they're trying to hide, but because they're boldly preaching the gospel and God spares them supernaturally, gives them the opportunity to live so they can preach the gospel.
And those that are alive, they will be raptured up, the Bible says.
But if God did not shorten this time period, if it was more than 75 days, if it was 100 days, 200 days, 300 days, it would reach a point where basically everybody would die if enough time period went by.
Because you can only hide from the government for so long.
Turn to Revelation 6 and we'll close up. Revelation chapter 6.
Revelation chapter 6.
Now, look, a lot of Christians out there, they don't believe that us as Christians, we're going to go through tribulation.
It's kind of funny because throughout the Bible, Christians and believers have always gone through tribulation and persecution.
That's the way it's always been.
Now, the Bible does not speak about the beginning of Daniel's 70th week as being the tribulation period.
It never says there's a seven year tribulation period.
There's Daniel's 70th week, there's seven years.
The Bible speaks about the first three and a half years as the beginning of sorrows.
Now, I would say, as there's a lot of persecution towards Christians, you could accurately say you're going through tribulation.
You're being persecuted.
Talked about fleeing in the wilderness in Revelation 12, but the Bible does not reference it and say, well, this is a seven year tribulation period.
The Bible speaks about the beginning of sorrows and then there's the great tribulation.
The worst persecution that has ever existed for 75 days.
And a lot of Christians don't think that we're going to go through this.
Well, my question is, have you ever read Revelation?
Have you read Daniel?
Have you read Matthew 24?
Have you read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2?
Have you read any of the Bible?
Because throughout the Bible, God's people always go through persecution.
Show me the godly person that doesn't go through persecution in the Bible.
Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
And yet there's a lot of Christians today that think, well, during the end times there's going to be no persecution.
And the reason why they believe that is they want to believe that.
They don't go through any persecution now because they don't take strong stands on what they believe.
They're not zealous to go soul winning and to preach hard.
And they don't want to have any persecution because they're not used to it.
But us that preach the word of God, churches that are out there preaching the gospel and getting people saved, we've gone through persecution.
We've gone through tribulation.
And just like the Church of Thessalonica when basically God made it a point for Paul to write to the Church of Thessalonica
because they were going through tribulation then.
And so you know what?
The end times, which he talks about in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, would make a lot of sense to them.
Why?
Because they were already going through persecution.
Revelation 6 verse 12.
So this is going to be a 75 day period.
We saw that in Revelation 6 with the fifth seal.
We saw that in Matthew 24.
We saw that in Daniel 12.
But let's see how this is going to end.
Okay.
Revelation 6 verse 12.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal.
And lo, there was a great earthquake.
And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair.
And the moon became his blood.
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it was rolled together.
And every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
This is the chaos that's referenced in Matthew 24.
We see it here in Revelation chapter 6 verse 15.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free men hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
In verse 15, they're trying to hide from God.
Well, good luck with that.
Because God is everywhere.
They're trying to hide from God because they're afraid.
And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?
You have to understand that during this time period,
they're going to have heard what the other side is.
They're going to have heard that Jesus is supposedly coming back to pour out his wrath.
They believe they're on the winning side.
They believe they're going to win this battle.
And then all of a sudden they see these cosmic signs and they know,
Oh man, it looks like we were wrong.
And then you see the return of Jesus Christ, the rapture, and he's going to pour out his wrath.
What you're going to see, and what we're going to talk about,
is the rapture will take place in Revelation chapter 7,
and then God's wrath is going to be poured out in Revelation chapter 8.
The great day of his wrath is come.
It's about to take place, and who shall be able to stand?
And yet, what we're going to see is that one chapter will go by before the wrath of God.
Next week's sermon, we're going to talk a whole sermon about the 144,000.
We're going to go really in depth.
Who are the 144,000?
Then we're going to see the rapture,
and then we're going to start getting to the wrath of God in Revelation chapter 8.
But what you're seeing here is that 75 days are over,
and now everybody who was on the side of the Antichrist is like,
Oh man, it looks like we were wrong, and they're afraid.
And that's how it's going to end.
So why does God allow us to go through this persecution?
Because, I mean, people say,
Well, why should we have to go through this persecution if God loves us?
It's for the gospel's sake.
That's what we saw in Matthew chapter 24.
And look, Satan is the god of this world,
and he is going to fight against us.
He's going to fight against godly churches and Christians going soul winning.
He's going to try to prevent that.
He's going to fight against it.
And let me tell you something.
Jesus Christ and God, they allow us to go through persecution for the gospel's sake,
because God wants the gospel to go out to the end of the world.
Let's close in a word of prayer.