Man, well it's good to be here once again.
I asked Becky at lunch what I should preach on tonight
and she said, more Bible prophecy.
So apparently people just can't get enough.
And I know that these guys up in the front row
that drove up here from the Prophecy Conference,
they want more prophecy, right?
And I mean, this is like prophecy overload the last several days.
But believe it or not, I've got some stuff to preach tonight
that I don't feel has been covered in this conference.
There's so much to talk about.
And so this morning I preached about Gog and Magog
and I went through a lot of details in Ezekiel 37, 38, 39.
And tonight I want to talk about Luke 21.
There's a lot of preaching from the Olivet Discourse
when you're talking about the post-tribulation pre-wrath rapture.
But the vast majority of the time we're in Matthew 24,
or we're in Mark 13.
And those two chapters are pretty similar to each other.
Luke 21 is pretty different than those two,
although there are a lot of things in common
that make it crystal clear that it's a parallel passage.
And what I really want to cover specifically tonight
is the title of the message,
which is The Desolation of Jerusalem.
The Desolation of Jerusalem at the midpoint
of Daniel's 70th week is something
that a lot of people don't fully grasp.
It's kind of a meat of the word.
It's kind of a deep subject.
But let's just go through chapter 21
and see what else it has to offer.
And we'll get to that key point in a little bit.
But for now, let's start out by looking at verse eight
where the Bible reads,
He said, take heed that ye be not deceived,
for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ,
and the time draweth near.
Go ye not therefore after them.
And we know that there are a lot of false alarms
and fake dates that are set out there.
There was a big hype about September 23rd, 2017.
And there's this bozo on YouTube named Robert Breaker.
And he basically has built his whole YouTube channel
on these fake predictions.
He gets millions of views.
What will happen on September 23rd, 2015?
What will happen on September 23rd, 2017?
And he's already setting it up for 2018.
Because on his little chart, he's showing, you know,
1947's the budding of the fig tree,
70 years as a generation, and then, you know,
it's gotta happen in this generation,
so it's gonna happen on 2017, September 23rd.
Well, that never happened.
That didn't pan out.
So then I know what they're gonna say next.
Well, it wasn't really 1947,
because it didn't really become a nation until 1948.
So then they're already setting it up for what, 2018.
Since when is a generation 70 years, anyway?
You know, when did a 70-year-old give birth recently?
But what they're saying is,
well, the same people are gonna be alive.
So I've decided that before they'll finally shut up
about that budding of the fig tree,
we're gonna have to wait until the year 2068, right?
Because they're gonna say, well, you know,
some people could live to be 120 years old.
So if a baby was born in 1948, you know what I mean?
The oldest man alive, he's sort of like Simeon,
you know, waiting for Christ to be born
so that he could go home to be with the Lord
in Luke chapter two.
So finally in the year 2068, we can say,
all right, will you admit now
that it had nothing to do with 1948?
Anyway, I'm kidding.
But in Luke chapter 21, he tells us
there are gonna be false Christs, fake anti-Christs,
people that we think, hey, this is the guy,
people that we think are the false prophet
or the anti-Christ and maybe wars
that resemble the final struggle
and we think this is it, this is the end.
And there are going to be false prophets
and people who say the time draws near,
it's gonna be on this date or that date.
And I think what the devil's trying to do
is kind of wear people out,
where there's so many false alarms
that people are gonna start saying,
where is the promise of his coming?
What made me really mad was the billboards
that said that Christ was returning
in such and such the year, I think it was 2011,
and said the Bible guarantees it.
That's blasphemous because then when it doesn't happen,
everybody says that the Bible was wrong,
when the Bible said no such thing.
So he said in verse nine,
but when you hear of wars and commotions,
be not terrified for these things must first come to pass,
but here's a key thing to pay attention to,
but the end is not by and by.
Now, we don't really use the term by and by,
but in the Bible, the term by and by means immediately.
When the Bible said by and by he's offended,
in a parallel passage it said immediately he's offended.
So by and by means right away.
So the Bible says when you hear wars and rumors of wars,
don't jump to conclusions and get terrified
and say this is it, this is the end.
He's saying these things do have to happen,
they're all part of the plan,
but the end is not by and by.
Relax, that's not the end yet, why?
Because the warfare associated with the second seal
is still early on in what we know as the tribulation.
It's the second seal, we're not raptured until the sixth seal.
Then said he unto them, nation shall rise against nation
and kingdom against kingdom,
and great earthquakes shall be in divers places.
Divers means various places.
I think what it means there is that earthquakes
will be in places that are not known for earthquakes.
Not just the typical San Francisco earthquake
or Japan earthquake, but there'll be earthquakes
in divers places and famines and pestilences
and fearful sites and great signs shall there be from heaven.
What is that talking about?
Just natural disasters.
But before all these, so we're backing up a little bit.
So he says a lot of wars, famines, pestilence,
and then natural disasters, fearful sites.
And then he says, but before all these,
they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you,
delivering you up to the synagogues and into prisons,
being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake,
and it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate
before what you shall answer,
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom
which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay
nor resist, and ye shall be betrayed both by parents
and brethren and kinsfolk and friends,
and some of you shall they cause to be put to death,
and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake,
but there shall not an hair of your head perish.
In your patience, possess ye your souls.
So right there in verse number 12,
when it says, but before all these,
I'd say before any of the events of the tribulation,
you're gonna be persecuted.
So we're gonna be persecuted right now,
before any of this starts, before, during, and after, why?
Because all that live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
So even before the tribulation even starts,
you're gonna be persecuted.
Some will be put in prison, some will be killed,
and then that will continue into the tribulation.
It says in verse 20, and when ye shall see Jerusalem
compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Then let them which are in Judea
flee to the mountains, and let them which are
in the midst of it depart out.
And let not them that are in the countries
enter there into, for these be the days of vengeance,
that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
But woe unto them that are with child,
and to them that give suck in those days,
for there shall be great distress in the land,
and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall
by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive
into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Now, if you've got Matthew 24 in your mind a little bit,
some of this sounds familiar.
The Bible says, when ye therefore shall see
the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
whoso readeth, let them understand.
Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.
Well, here it says something a little different.
It says, verse 20, when ye shall see Jerusalem
encompassed with armies, then know that the desolation,
notice that word, thereof is nigh.
So when we talk about the abomination of desolation,
which we know from the book of Daniel
is at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week,
it's the midpoint of the seven years,
we often tend to focus on what the abomination itself is,
which is the great image of the beast
that could both speak and cause that as many as
would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
But what we don't often emphasize is the desolation aspect
because it's the abomination,
that's that idolatry that's set up of the Antichrist,
but it's the abomination of desolation.
Desolation of what?
What's gonna be desolate?
Well, the Bible tells us right here,
in the parallel passage, it said abomination of desolation.
In this passage, it said,
know that the desolation thereof is nigh,
the desolation of Jerusalem, right?
So it's the desolation of Jerusalem
that happens at the abomination of desolation
or at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week.
Now, a lot of people who believe in the pre-Trib rapture,
their go-to argument to disregard Matthew 24,
Mark 13 and Luke 21 is, well, that's talking to the Jews.
That's speaking to the Jews.
And we've already obviously debunked that
by showing that at the end of Mark 13,
it says, what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.
And there's a ton of other arguments
that we can use from Matthew 24 and Mark 13.
But from this passage,
it becomes ridiculous to say it's about the Jews
because of the fact that whenever he talks about the Jews,
it's in the third person.
They, them, this people, it's always somebody else.
And then when he's talking to Christians, it's ye, you, your.
So if he's talking to the Jews,
why does he switch to the third person?
Because notice what he says.
When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
verse 20, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Then let them which are in Judea flee into the mountains.
Notice them which are in Judea flee into the mountains.
Let them which are in the midst of it depart out
and let not them that are in the countries
enter there into, for these be the days of vengeance
that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
But woe unto them that are with child
and them that give suck in those days,
for there shall be great distress in the land
and wrath upon this people.
What people?
The Jews, the people of Israel.
This people and they, notice he doesn't say
you're gonna fall by the sword.
There's gonna be great wrath on you.
He didn't say that, does he?
It's all third person.
They shall fall by the edge of the sword
and they shall be led away captive into all nations
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon
and in the stars and upon the earth distress of nations
with perplexity.
What's perplexity?
People just being confused.
They don't know what's going on.
The sea and the waves roaring.
Men's hearts failing them for fear
and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth.
For the powers of heaven shall be shaken
and then shall they, notice we're still third person.
Then shall they see the son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory.
And when these things begin to confess,
then look up and lift up your heads
for your redemption draweth nigh.
So they're gonna see Christ.
Don't tell me that only the saved will see him in the clouds
no, every eye shall see him.
They specifically who?
The one who has wrath on them.
The one who is fleeing into the mountains.
The one who is led away captive by the edge of the sword.
They're gonna see him.
And then it says,
when you see all these things begin to come to pass,
then you look up their redemption draw.
No, no, no, no, your redemption draweth nigh.
So notice everything that's toward believers is ye, you,
your, and then there's the they, them, those guys,
this people, it's the bad guys,
the Jews that are getting their rear ends handed to them.
In the end times here, look at this here, it says,
they which are in Judea, verse 21,
flee into the mountains and let them
which are in the midst thereof depart out
and let not them that are in the countries
enter there into, for these be, watch this,
the days of vengeance.
So what's going on with the desolation of Jerusalem?
What's going on with Jerusalem
being trodden down of the Gentiles?
Well, it's the days of vengeance.
Remember, God said, vengeance belongeth unto me,
say the Lord, I will repay.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked,
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
The Jews over there, the fraud of the Middle East,
Israel nation is an abomination in the sight of God.
And those Jews over there, they blaspheme God,
they've hated the Lord, they've rejected the very Son
of God, Jesus Christ, they've not kept his commandments,
they've not kept his judgments,
they've not honored his name, his word, his people,
his servants, missionaries that went over there
to try to evangelize them have been mistreated.
And you know what, God's not just gonna let that go.
I mean, he's going to punish Jerusalem.
And I'm talking about the current city of Jerusalem
right now, I'm talking about Tel Aviv,
I'm talking about the Israeli state over there,
those wicked people over there that claim
to be God's chosen people, when they're nothing of the sort,
they are going to get what's coming to them, they're wicked.
And so how can they not be punished when they're so wicked?
In fact, they get a special punishment,
not just the general pouring out of God's wrath
on the whole earth, but there's a special judgment
reserved for Israel, so-called,
the fake nation of Israel over there.
There's a strange punishment for the workers of iniquity.
God gives a special judgment to them over there.
What's gonna happen to them?
Well, it says, at the end of verse 23,
there shall be great distress in the land,
talking about the land of Israel,
and wrath upon this people.
Now, God's wrath is on the children of Israel now.
Now, and it will be then, why?
Because if you don't believe on the Son of God,
the Bible says the wrath of God abideth on you.
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter two,
specifically of the Jews, the wrath has come upon them
to the uttermost, okay?
So right here, it's no surprise
that there's gonna be wrath on this people.
They shall fall by the edge of the sword,
and shall be led away captive into all nations,
and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Okay, when's this gonna happen?
Well, in Daniel, we already know
the abomination of desolation takes place
at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week.
We also know that when we look at this passage,
it calls it the desolation thereof,
and it's parallel with Matthew 24,
abomination of desolation.
But let's get even more proof just to dissolve all doubts.
Go to Revelation chapter 11.
And let's see when this is gonna take place.
We already know from Daniel when it's gonna take place.
We already know from the parallel passage in Matthew 24
that the abomination of desolation
and the desolation of Jerusalem go hand in hand.
But let's get another proof.
It's always good to double and triple check things
if we can and back things up with scripture.
Look at Revelation chapter 11.
There was given me a reed like unto a rod,
and the angel stood saying,
Rise and measure the temple of God in the altar,
and them that worship therein.
But the court which is without the temple,
leave out and measure it not,
for it is given unto the Gentiles,
and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty
and two months, and I'll give power unto my two witnesses,
and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred
and threescore days.
So we see that the desolation of Jerusalem
lasts for 42 months, which makes perfect sense.
If it happens at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week,
and there's all that stuff that happened before it
in Luke 21, it happens at the midpoint,
and then it lasts for how long?
42 months, that's the second half.
Not only that, but it corresponds with the prophecy
of the two witnesses, which also is what?
The second half.
It all fits, it all makes sense.
It uses the term the holy city shall they tread underfoot
forty and two months, and that's the exact term
that it uses if you're still in Luke 21,
at the end of verse 24.
Don't leave Luke 21, that's where we're gonna be all night.
But it says in Luke 21, at the end of verse 24,
and Jerusalem shall be trodden, right?
Trodden is the past tense of tread,
so it's the exact word used in Revelation 11.
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Now, this is pretty clear who is doing the treading,
who is doing the trotting down, who is it?
The Gentiles, right?
And in fact, this period is known as the time
of the Gentiles, why?
Because the Jews are getting smoked during this time.
I mean, they're getting wiped out.
Half of them are captive, the other half are getting killed.
I mean, it's bad for them.
They're not in charge, they're not running anything
at this point.
This period is called the time of the Gentiles, right?
From the midpoint toward the end.
You say, why is this, how does this work?
Well, we'll get into more detail,
but let's flip back to Zechariah 14.
We're gonna look at another passage
that deals with this same subject.
Zechariah chapter 14.
And right away in Zechariah chapter 14,
we start out talking about the day of the Lord,
which is a pretty familiar subject to us
because we have so much scripture on it
and it's so key to understand the end times,
the sun and moon being darkened,
the day of the Lord is a key event.
So hopefully you have a good feel for the timing of that.
Behold, the day of the Lord cometh
and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee.
Look at verse two.
For I will gather all nations, notice,
I'll gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle.
And the city shall be taken and the houses rifled
and the women ravished and half of the city
shall go forth into captivity.
Does that sound familiar?
And the residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations
as when he fought in the day of battle
and his feet shall stand in that day
upon the Mount of Olives and on and on it goes.
Now, can there be any doubt
that this is connected with Luke 21?
It's pretty easy to see here how these things go together
when the timing, it's around the time of the day of the Lord
all nations are gathered against Jerusalem
but wouldn't that be the Gentiles, right?
All nations gathered against Jerusalem to battle.
The cities are taken, the houses are rifled,
the women ravished, half of the city
shall go forth into captivity.
The residue of the people shall not be cut off
from the city.
And after that says, then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations
as when he fought in the day of battle
and this is when his feet stand in that day
upon the Mount of Olives, right?
So let's get our timeline here, okay?
From Zechariah 14, midpoint of the week
is when Jerusalem's laid desolate.
God gathers all nations against Jerusalem.
Don't miss that.
Verse two, I will gather all nations
against Jerusalem to battle.
So God in his will allows all nations
and calls all nations to come against Jerusalem to battle.
Why?
Because he wants to punish the Jews.
It's the days of vengeance.
So he gathers all nations against Jerusalem to battle
at the midpoint.
What do they do?
They ravish the women, slaughter with the edge of the sword,
desolate the city and then half of them
go forth into captivity.
Why?
Because they want to get the Jews out of there
because they want to run things in Jerusalem.
They don't want the Jews to be in charge
so they get rid of a lot of them and slaughter many others.
But then it says,
but then shall the Lord go forth
and fight against those nations.
When's that?
That's Armageddon, okay.
So midpoint, he brings the nations against Jerusalem, right?
Then three and a half years later,
he fights against those very nations
as when he fought in the day of battle.
Now this is not uncommon for the Lord to do this
where he'll use a heathen nation to punish somebody
but then he'll turn around and punish the punisher, right?
It's like when he brought Babylon to punish Judah
and then 70 years later, he punishes Babylon.
Well here, he uses the Gentiles to punish the fake Jews
and then he ends up punishing the punisher.
He fights against those nations.
Which nations?
The nations that desolated Jerusalem.
Now who are those nations?
Who's leading the battle?
Who is it that makes a decision to wipe out Jerusalem
at the midpoint of Daniel 70, the week?
Well it's the Antichrist.
Of course it's the Antichrist.
He's the one who sets up the abomination of desolation.
He and his false prophet sidekick,
they're the ones who set that up.
Now how does this work?
Well stop and think about it.
We all know that the spirit of Antichrist
is that spirit that says that Jesus is not the Messiah,
right, who is a liar but he that deny it
that Jesus is the Christ, he's Antichrist.
And we've heard that Antichrist shall come
but even now are there many Antichrists
whereby we know that it's the last time.
And so the Antichrist at first is gonna appeal to the Jews.
But you have to understand that the Jews
are looking for a Messiah today
but they're not looking for a Savior spiritually.
They're looking for a physical Savior.
They don't savor the things that are of God.
They savor the things that be of men.
So the Jews today, when they talk about
what kind of a Messiah they're looking for,
he's not the son of God.
He's not God in the flesh.
It's not Immanuel.
It's not going to be a Savior
that's gonna forgive their sins.
In fact, their Jewish Messiah
is not even gonna live forever.
Look it up.
Ask rabbis.
We interviewed a bunch of rabbis
when we were making the film Marching to Zion
and we asked them, what does a Jewish Messiah look like?
And they told us, he's gonna live and he's gonna die.
He's gonna be a normal man.
He's gonna be like a King David where he lives, he reigns,
he brings our nation to greatness, then he dies.
They don't want the Messiah to live forever.
They don't want to bow the knee and worship anyone.
They worship themselves and they worship money.
You see, when you look at that parable of the vineyard,
when the Lord of the vineyard keeps sending his servants
and they keep mishandling them,
and then ultimately he sends his son
and he says, they'll reverence my son.
When they see the son coming afar off,
they say, come, let's kill him
and the inheritance shall be ours.
It's like the Jews want to be their own Messiah
and we had several rabbis tell us
that the Jewish people will collectively
be their own Messiah.
They love themselves and you know what?
They think that they're better than the Gentiles.
They think they're better than everybody else.
So I believe that when the Antichrist comes along,
I believe they're gonna love him
when he comes on the scene in the first three and a half years
of Daniel's 70th week.
Why?
Because he's gonna build them their precious temple.
He's gonna defeat their enemies.
He's probably gonna wipe out nations
that are not willing to be a part of the new world order,
which we know it's the Jew world order, amen.
So basically, he's gonna come along
and they're gonna think he's great.
He's bringing in their one world system,
their one world government,
their one world financial and banking system.
He's defeating all their enemies.
He's building their precious temple.
This guy's great.
We love him.
It's the Messiah, right?
But then, what's gonna happen at the midpoint?
He gets a deadly wound.
The deadly wound's healed
and all the world starts wondering at the beast
and marveling at the beast.
And what does the Antichrist do?
He goes into their precious temple
and he declares himself to be God.
He declares himself to be above all that is called God
or that is worshiped so that he as God
sit in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God.
They're not gonna go for that.
They don't want that.
Why?
They wanna be the bosses.
They wanna run the...
He's gonna take over.
And look, this is how it often is in revolutions.
If you look at the French Revolution,
everybody teams up and overthrows the Ancien Regime
of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
But once we get rid of them, then what happens?
They start fighting for who's gonna be in power.
If you look at the history of Germany before World War II,
once the Nazis came into power,
well, then there's two factions.
You know, there's Hitler's factions
and then there's sort of the Brown Shirt faction.
And you guys have the Knight of the Long Knives
in order to purge out the other faction amongst the Nazis.
Same with the Bolshevik Revolution.
You have these different factions
where you've got the Trotskyites
and you got the Leninites and you got the Stalinites
and they end up hating each other,
persecuting each other, killing each other.
Well, the Antichrist and the Jews
are gonna team up nicely for the first half, right?
And they're gonna team up and everything's great.
But when he declares himself to be God,
they're not gonna go for that.
Now, contrary to popular belief,
they're not all gonna get saved at that time.
Oh, you know, whoops, Jesus, save us.
You know, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
No, no, no, this is what's gonna happen.
They're gonna get wiped out.
They're gonna get slaughtered.
They're gonna get taken captive.
They're gonna get punished.
And so there's a split
that's gonna take place at the midpoint.
So the Jews, they are using the Antichrist
to get what they want,
but then he ends up showing them, no, I'm using you.
And he turns on them and the city of Jerusalem is desolate.
It's pretty interesting and it's so consistent.
You know, Zechariah 14 lines up with Luke 21,
lines up with Revelation 11 and so forth.
So let's go back to Luke 21 with all that in mind
from Zechariah 14.
It says in verse 24,
they shall fall by the edge of the sword
and shall be led away captive into all nations.
And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles
until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Big emphasis on Gentiles as opposed to Jews, right?
Because the Jews are not going to be in the limelight.
During that second half, they're in trouble at that time.
Verse 25, and there shall be signs in the sun
and in the moon and in the stars
and upon the earth, the stress of nations.
This is what we know as the sun and moon being darkened
and the stars withdrawing their shining.
And upon the earth, the stress of nations with perplexity,
the sea and the waves roaring,
men's hearts failing them for fear
and looking after those things
which are coming on the earth
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Men's hearts failing them for fear.
This is when they're saying to the mountains and rocks,
fall on us and hide us from 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?
And then they shall see the son of man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory.
And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up and lift up your heads
for your redemption draweth nigh.
It's such a greater picture of the rapture
that the Bible paints than left behind.
This is way cooler than just being walking down the street
and you just disappear in a pile of clothes.
I mean, I want it to last a little longer.
I don't wanna just, you know, you just dump, dump, dump.
I want, you know, this is better.
I wanna see that sun and moon being darkened.
I wanna see the stars falling from the sky.
I wanna see the waves roaring.
I wanna see the perplexity, the distress, the panic.
And I wanna look up
and see the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the clouds.
I mean, I wanna savor that for a minute.
I wanna enjoy that, right?
And that's why we look up and lift up our heads.
Our redemption draweth nigh
and we get to actually see it coming and enjoy it.
We get to anticipate it.
And then that glorious moment will be
when we're caught up together to be with him in the clouds.
It's just so much better.
Now, you know, the pre-tribbers,
they often like to talk about how,
well, if you guys wanna stay here,
like as if we just decide whether we want to.
Like we can just change reality with what we want, right?
Like, hey, if you guys wanna stay here for the tribulation,
that's fine, but I'm outta here.
But you know what, my response to that is,
you know, if you bunch of weaklings and cowards
and sissies and wimps wanna leave early, go ahead.
I wanna stick around until the bitter end.
I wanna be here and see everything.
And you know what, I wanna keep soloing the whole time.
And these pre-tribbers, they often ask us,
you know, what are you gonna do?
Stockpile a bunch of food and ammo
and get in a bunker somewhere, doomsday prep?
You know, I'm not.
Why?
Because I'm not planning on hiding.
I mean, stop and think about it.
What's the point of hiding?
You go to heaven, you're leaving this earth very soon.
What's the difference whether you rise as a dead person
or whether you rise as a living person?
Now obviously, we'd all rather be alive and remain, amen?
That'd be a little better.
But not hiding somewhere.
I mean, think about how weird it would be.
If all of a sudden I see the abomination
of desolation happening and I know this is not a drill,
this is it, we're at the end.
Because that's the one sign that Christ gives us
as the for sure sign where we know it's the end time.
We don't really know until we see that.
Imagine seeing the sign of the abomination
of desolation, right?
And then imagine just hiding in the woods.
That's boring.
I mean, you just, everything's happening.
All hell's breaking loose.
And I mean, don't you wanna be where the action is?
You know, I wouldn't want to just be like hiding somewhere.
Just all honkered down and I got my 75 MREs
and I got my water purifier and I got everything.
You know, and I'm just all honkered down
and I'm just like waiting, like all right.
You know, I'm waiting to hear that trumpet sound.
I'm waiting for the sun and moon to be darkened, you know?
And then it's just, and then boom, we're caught up.
Wouldn't you rather use those last couple months
to get a couple more people saved?
I mean, even if you could just get one more person saved.
Isn't that better than just one last camping trip?
You're going to heaven no matter what.
And everybody's so freaked out about being beheaded.
You know, being beheaded is the least painful way
you possibly die.
It's the best way to go.
It was invented in 1793 in revolutionary France
by Dr. Guillotin who invented it as a humane way
of putting people to death.
As being just the quickest, easiest, most humane way.
I mean, good night.
You go through that.
Look, you're sparing people.
If we get one person saved,
you're sparing that person an eternity of hell.
Be like, no, I don't want to feel that 10 seconds of pain
or one second of pain.
You probably won't even feel it
because it's just, you're going to be in shock.
The blood pressure in your heads is going to drop.
You're probably just going to go unconscious that second.
But no, I don't want to feel pain for one second.
So let's just let these other people go to hell
for all eternity just so I can just be at my campsite
and be raptured that way.
And you know what the Bible talks a lot about?
Don't be ashamed before it met it's coming.
Well, it's going to be pretty embarrassing.
You're out in the woods using Indian toilet paper
when the rapture happens instead of being out soul winning,
preaching, right?
Winning five more people to the Lord, 10 more people.
These pre-tribbers, you know why they're pre-trib?
Because they're cowards in other areas too.
Isn't it amazing?
The same people who hate our movement for being post-trib
are the same ones who say,
you guys hate the homos or whatever.
Why?
They're cowards against the sodomites
and they're cowards about the tribulation.
They're just cowards all the way around.
They're just weak.
They're just soft.
It's just sad.
Amen.
We want to be here for the tribulation.
Yes, we want to stay.
You guys want to stay.
I don't know why you guys want to stay.
Well, you know why you don't know why we want to stay?
Because you're doing nothing with your life right now.
You might as well leave.
You might as well be caught up tomorrow
and be a pile of clothes left behind.
That pile of clothes is going to do as much for God
as you've been doing for the last year.
We want to stay because we're doing stuff
and we want to keep on doing stuff
and we want to serve and work.
We're like the apostle Paul.
Yeah, we have a desire to depart and be with Christ.
Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
But these people that are about to do nothings,
stand for nothings,
of course they're just trying to get out of here.
You know, when's the train leaving?
When's the bus leaving?
When can we go to heaven and sit on our butts?
No, I want to be here working as long as I can.
It's like these people always want to go home early
from work as opposed to the guy who's looking at the clock.
Oh man, it's almost five, but I want to get more work done.
Can I stay late?
Can I get a little overtime?
Hey, I want to get time and a half rewards
in the tribulation.
Let's be on overtime.
Let's keep working.
Let's keep going.
Quit early.
Lazy.
You know, they might as well,
God might as well rapture out a bunch of these pre-tribbers
because they're not doing anything anyway.
They're just going to be fodder for the anti-Christ anyway.
But let's keep going.
The Bible says, when you see these things come to pass,
I know ye that the kingdom of God's nigh at hand,
verse 32, verily I say unto you,
this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.
What's he actually saying there?
Such an abused verse.
Nothing to do with 1948, people.
Okay, what he's saying is that when these things
start happening, that generation's not going to pass
till it's all fulfilled.
Why does he say that?
Because a lot of people have these ideas
that this happens over the course of hundreds of years
or thousands of years.
It's all symbolic.
1,260 days is actually 1,260 years.
I've heard that theory.
Of course, I don't know how that works out
to 42 months and three and a half years.
But he's making it clear,
this stuff all happens in one generation.
So when the first seal is opened,
you know, it's only seven years
until the millennium is set up.
So it's all happening in that same generation.
Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away.
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting
and drunkenness and cares of this life.
And so that day come upon you unawares.
He's saying, look, you don't want this day
to come upon you unawares.
What does he mean by that?
He's saying you don't want to be ashamed
before him at his coming.
The Bible says that over and over again.
He says that we be not ashamed before him at his coming.
It has nothing to do with salvation.
You know, not are you ready for the rapture as in saved.
You know, everybody here tonight is saved, okay.
You know, unless there's a Judas among us, you know.
Everybody here is saved tonight at the service.
And so we already know we're saved.
So we don't have to worry about that part.
We're ready for that aspect.
But do you want to be living in fornication
when Christ returns?
You want to be living in drunkenness.
You want to be living a backslidden life.
And you want to be hit and miss to church.
And you've quit soul winning about three years ago.
And, you know, it's just going to be an embarrassment.
I think hiding out in the wilderness
and honking down is embarrassing as well.
And so he says, don't get so caught up
in the cares of this life.
And you're getting into drinking and you're partying.
And then it comes upon you unawares.
You're not paying attention.
And you end up just being a part of that perplexity
where you're just confused, you're perplexed.
Now, the great thing about this conference is that,
you know, we're awake.
Our eyes are open.
We know what's going on.
We know the doctrine.
But here's the thing.
A lot of Christians who they're skipping their Bible reading
and they're skipping the prophecy sermons
and they're drinking and partying.
They're going to get really confused
because they don't even know
what the tribulation even entails.
Like the abomination of desolation happens.
They don't even know what that is.
They don't know what to even look for.
They don't even understand it.
CNN's not going to explain it to them in the right way.
Fox News is not going to say, all right, everybody,
this is Luke 21 that's playing out right now, folks.
You know, they're just going to say, oh yeah, you know,
Israel has broken this, you know.
However they're going to explain it,
it's not going to be biblical.
God's going to send people a strong delusion
that they'll believe a lie,
that they all might be damned to believe not the truth
but had pleasure and unrighteousness.
There's two kinds of people.
There's you and them, right?
Isn't that a theme in Luke 21?
Ye, you, your, they, them, right?
So look what he says.
Take heed to yourselves, talking to the believers,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting and drunkenness, cares of this life,
and so that day come upon you unawares.
For as a snare shall it come upon all them, right?
The them, the unsaved people, right?
We know it's a snare to them.
We know that it will come upon them as a thief in the night.
It'll come on all them that dwell on the whole earth.
Watch ye therefore, back to you again,
and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass
and to stand before the Son of Man.
So what is the message at the end, the moral of the story?
Because he gives us this great sermon,
then he gives a practical application at the end.
He says, okay, how do we apply this to our lives?
Don't get so caught up in partying, drinking,
making money, the cares of this life.
Don't get so caught up in that
that it comes upon you unawares.
Now, what's the danger in it coming upon you unawares?
Well, we talked about being ashamed before a man is coming.
But there's another aspect.
If it comes upon you unawares,
if you are partying, drinking,
and not watching for these things,
and not serving the Lord,
what are you also not gonna be doing?
You're not gonna be praying, verse 36,
that you'll be accounted worthy to escape all these things.
Who's gonna survive?
Who is going to survive the tribulation?
And look, not everybody in the tribulation
is gonna die a glorious death.
Being beheaded for the name of Christ,
that's a glorious death, right?
Okay, let me ask this.
Is it a glorious death if you starved to death
during the tribulation
because you were so back sledding,
God's like, well, I don't have to feed you
because you didn't even seek first
the kingdom of God anyway.
Imagine that.
I mean, how would you like to die
a slow, painful death of famine
because you did not seek first the kingdom of God,
you did not serve the Lord,
and, you know,
because I've never seen the righteous forsaken,
I've never seen his seed begging bread,
but what if you're so back sledding
that you're in fornication,
you're so back sledding you're living in drunkenness,
you're so back sledding that you're not in church,
you're not reading the Bible.
Is God really obligated to make sure that you're safe
and that you survive all this horrible snare
and that you get through the famines
and you get through the disease?
How about this?
What if you catch some of that pestilence
that's gonna be going around?
There's gonna be pestilence in the end times.
It could be like black plague.
It could be like a smallpox
or some other horrible virus going around.
Look, I don't know about you.
I wanna be praying that I'm counted worthy
to escape those things.
I wanna escape that famine.
I wanna, you know, instead of hiding out,
hey, he that seeketh to save his life shall lose it.
He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
You know, I firmly believe
that if this happens in my lifetime,
that I'm gonna make it all the way to the end and survive.
And everybody says, oh, you'll be the first one to go.
You'll be the first one beheaded
because you have so many videos on YouTube
and everybody knows who you are.
I don't believe that.
Not for one second.
You know who I think are gonna be the first ones to go?
The drunk Christians, the fornicating, the back sled.
Why?
Because they're not praying.
I pray that I'll survive.
And let me ask this.
You think the pre-tribbers are praying?
Lord God, please help us to survive the tribulation.
They don't even think they're gonna be there
so that prayer wouldn't even make sense for them, right?
So then this is gonna come upon them unawares.
They're gonna get perplexed.
Oh, I don't know what's going on here.
Next thing you know, they're getting killed.
They're getting a pestilence.
They're going through famine.
They're going through, you know,
I believe that if I keep preaching the word of God
and keep on sowing, God's gonna feed me and clothe me.
And possibly I'll be chosen to be one of the martyrs
as my namesake Stephen was back in Acts chapter seven.
But that's a glorious death anyway.
Nothing glorious about starving
because you weren't right with the Lord.
Nothing glorious about getting an STD.
How about that pestilence?
There's nothing glorious about drinking yourself
into oblivion and then getting in a car
and getting in a drunk driving accident.
That's not a glorious death.
So it's not like there's two choices.
Die a glorious martyr's death
or live all the way to the end and see Christ coming.
There's a third option.
Die as an idiot.
Die as a fool.
Die because you didn't pray to survive.
Die because you were drunk.
Die because you're surfiting and partying
and fornicating and living.
You see what I'm saying here?
So there's a practical application here.
The post-trib conference,
it's not about doomsday prepping.
It's never been about that.
It's about being aware of what's going on
because the Bible says if you're not,
then it's gonna come upon you unawares.
You're gonna experience perplexity.
You're gonna experience confusion.
You're gonna be offended.
You might get caught up with the cares of this life.
Whereas, let's say you're a little backslidden, right?
Or let's say I get a little backslidden, right?
When we start seeing these things come to pass,
don't you think we're gonna stop
being backslidden really fast?
I mean, if you're a little backslidden
and the abomination of desolation happens,
you're gonna be like, all right,
whatever sin I have in my life,
I'm gonna quit doing it for the next 75 days, right?
Think about that.
You know, you got your sin, you're smoking,
you're smoking pot, you're drinking,
you're whatever you're into, porno or whatever, right?
You know, when you know, I mean, some Christian young man
is back saying he's living with his girlfriend, right?
He's gonna be like, you need to find your own place.
It's only 75 days.
I mean, you're gonna get things right pretty fast.
I mean, those of us who believe in this
and understand that it's post-trip, pre-wrath,
we know the timeline, we know what's going on.
When we see these things begin to come to pass,
man, we are gonna cross our T's and dot our I's
and we're gonna sharpen things up
and we're gonna say, you know what?
It's gonna be a lot of soul winning
and it's gonna be a lot of praying
and it's gonna be a real spiritual time for us.
And I think that God is gonna reward us
by allowing us to survive.
This may not happen in our lifetime,
but if it does, I think he'll reward us
by allowing us to survive or giving us a glorious death.
Where we can, I mean, just imagine this.
You go into the guillotine, right?
And then the next second you're in heaven
and there's a round of applause from all the angels
because you just died for Jesus Christ.
You just paid the ultimate price.
You just gave a great sacrifice to the Lord.
I mean, that's way better than being out in the woods
and just, you know, biding your time.
And so the moral of this sermon
is the same moral of Jesus' sermon.
Watch, pay attention, don't get caught up in other thing,
ah, Bible prophecy, no, no, no, pay attention,
learn this stuff, get the sin out of your life
and pray always that you may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things
and to stand before the Son of Man.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this great sermon
that you preached in Luke 21, Lord,
and I pray that you would just allow us, Lord,
to be accounted worthy to escape all these things
and to stand before you if it happens in our lifetime, Lord.
And if it doesn't happen in our lifetime,
we pray that we would be faithful
through the persecutions and tribulations
that you have for us, Lord.
And we pray that we would be steadfast and unmovable
and always abounding in the work of the Lord
because we know that our labor's not in vain
no matter what era we live in.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.