Amen. Alright, well we're there in Matthew chapter number 24, and this morning I'm preaching on the subject of the beginning of sorrows,
and another title for the sermon or a subtitle could be the beginning of the end.
And I'm preaching on this because we've been taking some sermon topic ideas and Bible questions,
trying to just engage with you and try to engage as much as we can and preach sermons that you're wondering about,
and that you're curious about, and that maybe you're having questions about.
And this was a subject that several people asked about, the beginning of sorrows, and really asking the question,
is this the beginning of the end times prophecy? Is this the beginning of, you know, what we refer to as the tribulation and things like that?
Now let me go ahead and just say this up front. This sermon is not meant to cause fear, alright?
I've already preached a sermon about the coronavirus where we talked about the fact that we should not panic,
and we should take precautions of course, but we shouldn't live in panic or have, you know, just live in fear.
And again, some people are asking and want to know, is this the beginning of sorrows?
And I want to try to attempt to answer that question for you this morning.
So you're there in Matthew 24. I'd like you to look down at verse number 3 just to get the context of this passage.
This is of course known as the Olivet Discourse, the famous passage where Jesus explains the end times.
Notice verse 3,
And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying,
Tell us. Now I want you to notice the question that is asked by the disciples. They asked two questions.
They said, When shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?
They said, When is this going to happen, and what is it going to look like? What is going to be the sign of Thy coming?
Now today, you have a lot of people who teach the pre-tribulation rapture, and they'll say that the coming of the Lord is a mystery,
and it's a silent coming. We can't know when, and we can't know how it's going to look like, or what it's going to look like.
But I want you to notice that those were the questions that the disciples asked, and the answer to the question, notice verse 4,
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Is what's known as the Olivet Discourse.
So notice that Jesus does not say to the disciples, Oh, no one can know when, and no one's going to know the signs,
and it's just going to be a surprise, and it's going to... He didn't say that. They asked when and how, and He says,
Well, let me explain it to you, and He begins by saying, Take heed that no man deceive you.
And then, of course, He goes on to explain this entire idea of the end times.
Now, I'd like you to take some notes this morning, and if you've got somewhere to write some things down, I'd like you to write these things down.
The end time prophecy can be a pretty heavy subject, so I'm going to do my best to give it to you in chunks that you can understand.
I want to begin this morning by talking about the category of the beginning of sorrows,
because end times prophecy is divided into several stages or categories.
The outline of end times prophecy that we'll see here that Jesus gave is given in different categories, or you could call them stages.
And I'm going to go through all of these stages with you quickly this morning, and I want you to understand the stages of end times prophecy,
so you can understand the stage or the category of the beginning of sorrows.
And the first category, the first stage, the first step is what's called the beginning of sorrows.
Notice there in verse number 5, Matthew 24 and verse 5.
For many, this is Jesus speaking, shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
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.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
And then notice verse 8, He says, all these, all what?
Everything He described in verses 5 through 7, the many coming and saying, I am Christ, the hearing of wars and rumors of wars,
and then the actual wars of nations rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms, the famines, the pestilence, the earthquakes, the diverse places.
Jesus says, this all falls under the stage or the category of the beginning of sorrows.
He says, all, there in verse 8, all these are the beginning of sorrows.
So when we're looking at end times prophecy and outlining it into stages or categories, step number 1 is the beginning of sorrows.
And then I want you to notice step number 2. Look there in verse number 9.
He says, then. Now the word then denotes chronology, the fact that this is happening in order.
He says, 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.
So notice there's now persecution that is happening for the name of Christ, for simply being a believer or a Christian.
Notice verse 10, and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another,
and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many, 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.
Now, oftentimes people like to take that verse, verse 13, out of its context and try to teach some sort of a work salvation
that you're supposed to endure to the end in your Christian life in order to be saved.
But when you read the verse in its context, it's clear that that's talking about being saved from persecution.
The context is that, hey, they're going to kill you. They're going to deliver you up to be afflicted.
And he says if you can endure to the end, if you can hold out to the end, you're going to be saved from persecution that is a physical, physically being saved.
Notice verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then.
You see the word then there? Again, denotes chronology. This is a step-by-step process.
And then shall the end come. So you've got the beginning of sorrows that goes there from verse 5 to verse 8.
And then you have this stage or this step in the outline in verses 9 through 14.
And you can give it several different names and you can call it the end or you can call it the end of sorrows as opposed to the beginning of sorrows.
So in verses 5 through 8, we have the beginning of sorrows. It begins with pestilences, earthquakes, nations rising against nations, wars and rumors of wars.
But then there's a transition or there's a getting harder there in verses 9 through 14 with persecution.
And you can call that the end of the beginning of sorrows or the end of sorrows or you can call it tribulation even because it's persecution.
But I want you to notice it's not the great tribulation yet. So the great tribulation is a different step. In fact, it's the next step.
It's step 3 or stage 3 of the end times prophecy. So verses 9 through 14, that could be referred to as the end or the end of sorrows as opposed to the beginning of sorrows.
Or it could be referred to as the tribulation or a tribulation but not the great tribulation.
Because notice verse 15, then Jesus says this, when. And again, I want you to notice the word denotes chronology.
He's telling you what's going to happen. First this, then this, then this. And then he says,
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.
Now I don't have time to go into the abomination of desolation. That's a sermon for another day. That's not in the scope of this sermon.
But I'll just quickly say this and you can look this up for yourself. The abomination of desolation is that image that the false prophet is going to set up where people will worship the image of the antichrist and receive the mark of the beast.
That is the sign. Because remember, he's telling them, he's answering the question, when are these things going to happen? What's the chronology?
And what are the things we should be looking for? What are the signs?
In verse 15 he says, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place. Whoso readeth, let him understand.
Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.
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.
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. Notice verse number 21. For then shall be great tribulation.
When will be great tribulation? When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Now what's the difference between the great tribulation and just the tribulation that's mentioned in verses 9 through 14 or tribulation that has already been experienced by believers today?
It's a persecution, but when you see the abomination of desolation, that's going to be a great persecution.
Such as was not seen since the beginning to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
And of course we know that that's when the mark of the beast is rolled out.
That's when you're not allowed to buy or sell without taking the mark upon your right hand or on your forehead.
And that's going to be a time of tribulation that is going to be so intense the world has never seen it. Notice verse 22.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.
And again, we can study Daniel's 70th week and realize that that's a 75 day period and God's cutting it short because look, he's saying it's going to be so intense.
There's going to be such a global community and with the one world government and the one world religion and all the surveillance.
He said no Christians are going to be able to survive this for a long period of time. So he says I'm going to cut it short. Notice verse 23.
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ. He's saying this is the big characteristic of the great tribulation.
The fact that there's going to be a man and people are going to say that's Christ. So he's warning us, Jesus is warning us and says,
Look, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders,
insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before, wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth.
Behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. You say, well why should I not believe it when they say that there's a Christ over in the desert
or there's a Christ over in the secret chambers. Here's why he says you don't want to believe it, verse 27.
For as lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
He says, look, no one's going to have to tell you when Jesus Christ returns, you'll see it.
He says it's going to be like the lightning that strikes across the sky. He says as lightning cometh out of the sea and shineth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
He says, for wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together, and that's a prophetic phrase there and we can study that at another day.
And then notice in verse 29 we enter into stage four or step four and it's the rapture, immediately after the tribulation of those days.
Again, denotes chronology. After the tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven
and the powers of heaven shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn
and they shall, notice, see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet.
This is the rapture. It has all the characteristics of the rapture. He shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect.
If you study the word elect throughout the Bible, I don't have time to go into it. If you study the word elect, it's clear that it's talking about believers, those that are in Christ,
from the four winds, from even, from one end of heaven to the other.
So I've showed you that Jesus explains these four stages or these four steps of the end time prophecy.
The first step was what he referred to as the beginning of sorrows. Then step two, he didn't really give a name to but we could call it the end of sorrows
or the end of the beginning of sorrows or we could call it a tribulation period, not the great tribulation.
Then in step three, we saw the great tribulation and of course in step two, we had persecution but then in step three, with the abomination of desolation being set up,
we had persecution such as was never seen. Then in step four, you have the rapture and then in step five, and this is not really mentioned in the Olivet Discourse,
Jesus doesn't go into detail with this but I'll show it to you in the book of Revelation. In fact, keep your place there in Matthew.
We're going to come back and forth between Revelation and Matthew so keep your place in Matthew and go with me to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter number eight.
Revelation chapter number eight. And in Revelation eight, well let me just kind of explain to you the chronology of the book of Revelation real quickly.
In Revelation chapter number six, and we're going to go back in the sermon and break down chapter number six, you see the seals being opened and it correlates with what we've already been reading in the book of Matthew, Matthew 24.
Then in chapter seven, you see the rapture. At the end there of the chapter, you see all the saints of all the tribes up in heaven.
And then in chapter eight begins the wrath of God. And that's stage number five or the next step after the rapture is the wrath of God, step five. Notice Revelation eight, look at verse one.
And when he had opened the seven seals, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw seven angels which stood before God and to them were given seven trumpets.
Now the tribulation part of it is outlined in the beginning, in the first part of the book of Revelation by seals. The wrath aspect of it is outlined by these trumpets.
Notice verse number six. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Now when you look at the seals, you see things that are already happening on earth, famines, earthquakes, pestilences, wars, persecution of believers.
That's already happened here on earth. But then when you see the trumpets, this is a supernatural judgment from God. It's the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth.
Now I'm not going to take the time to go through all of the trumpets, but I'll quickly mention them to you. If you want to jot these down for your own reference, you're welcome to do that.
Trumpet number one is found in Revelation chapter eight and verse seven. And it's hail and fire mingled with blood.
Trumpet number two is found in Revelation eight verses eight through nine. And it's a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea.
Trumpet number three is Revelation eight verses ten through eleven. And it's a great star from heaven turns water into wormwood.
Trumpet number four is found in Revelation eight verses twelve through thirteen. And it's the third part of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened.
Trumpet number five is found in Revelation chapter nine and verse twelve. And it's locusts with men's faces, women's hair, lion's teeth, and scorpions.
These teeth of scorpions, tails of scorpions. And it's these beasts that come up out of hell.
Then trumpet number six is found in Revelation nine verses thirteen through twenty-one. It's horses with heads of lions and tails like serpents.
And trumpet number seven is found in Revelation eleven fifteen through nineteen. And that's God establishing his millennial kingdom upon the earth.
And of course trumpet seven leads into the final stage of end times prophecy, stage six or step six, which is the millennial reign of Christ.
So I wanted to just take some time and kind of explain to you the outline of end times prophecy so you understand what we're talking about when we're talking about the beginning of sorrows.
So you've got these stages. You've got the beginning of sorrows. You've got the end or the end of the beginning of sorrows or the end of sorrows or tribulation that's not great tribulation, whatever you want to call it. That's stage two.
Then you have stage three, the great tribulation. You have stage four, the rapture. You have stage five, the wrath of God. And you have stage six, the millennial reign of Christ.
Now what we're talking about this morning is that very first stage that's referred to as the beginning of sorrows.
Because today many people are afraid and fearful and uncertain. There's a lot of questions. And people are seeing things like this coronavirus thing, which is honestly something we've never seen before.
I mean, in my lifetime and in the lifetime of people that are much older than I am, you know, people are saying, hey, we've never seen something like this. We've never seen the United States of America shut down the way it's been shut down.
We've never seen a virus that has spread to countries in this way. And of course there's been plagues and things like that. But we haven't really seen something like this in modern history.
And people are asking the question, they're saying, is this the beginning of sorrows? Is this the beginning of the end?
So I want you to understand when we're talking about the beginning of sorrows, where we are on that timeline. We're at the very beginning before the tribulation and the great tribulation and the rapture and the wrath of God and the millennial reign.
The beginning of sorrows is that stage that is the very beginning of these things. And I want to talk to you. And we're asking the question, are we at the beginning of sorrows? Is this the beginning of sorrows? Is this the beginning of the end?
So I gave you the categories of the beginning of sorrows as point number one. In point number two, I want to give you the characteristics of the beginning of sorrows.
So the beginning of sorrows is the beginning of the end. It's the beginning of the end times outline. So let's look at the characteristics of the beginning of sorrows.
Now you're there in Matthew or I think you're in Revelation. We're going to go back and forth between Matthew 24 and Revelation chapter 6.
So I want you to have a finger in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 and let's look at the characteristics of the beginnings of sorrows.
So number one, we see this in verse number five of Matthew 24.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
So the first thing we see as a characteristic of the beginning of sorrows is that there's going to be many that shall come in my name saying, I am Christ.
Now today there are many famous people who basically claim to be Christ.
And a lot of them are not well known in the United States, but throughout the world there are several people who have huge followings that claim to be Christ.
I'll give you a couple that you may be aware of or that you've heard of. One was David Koresh.
He was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect in Waco, Texas.
And though he never directly claimed to be Jesus himself, he did proclaim that he was the final prophet, that he was the son of God, and that he was the lamb.
So he took on these titles that belong to Christ, the son of God, the lamb, he was the final prophet.
There's another one that's pretty famous in the Philippines, Apollo Quivoloy.
He's a founder and leader of the Philippines-based Restorationist Church, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the name above every name, Inc.
That's the name of his corporation. And he has made claims that he is the appointed son of God and that he's the son of God today.
So we see that in the beginning of sorrows, one of the characteristics is that there are false Christs.
Many shall come in my name saying I am Christ. And we do see that today.
Now keep your place there in Matthew 24 and go with me to the book of Revelation chapter number 6.
I want to show you how this also overlaps with the seals being opened.
Revelation chapter 6 and look at verse number 1. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 1.
And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals. So this is Jesus opening up the seals that are going to serve as the outline of end times prophecy.
And here John says, I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder when the four beasts sang, come and see.
And I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
So I want you to notice that in Matthew Jesus says, hey one of the first things that you are going to see that's going to happen is that there's going to be many that shall come in my name saying I am Christ.
And then in Revelation when the first seal is opened you see someone show up on a white horse and he's went forth conquering and to conquer.
This is someone who's pretending to be Christ or the Messiah. Now let me explain. You say well is it many or is it one? Well it's both.
And here's what's going to happen is there's going to be lots of people who are going to say I am the Christ, I'm the Messiah.
But there's also going to be one guy that shows up who really is the anti-Christ and he's going to be a sort of political leader.
Notice there Revelation 6.1, I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder when the four beasts sang, come and see.
And I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow. Alright so he's like a military, he has a weapon and a crown.
He has authority as a politician and was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
Now let me just say this. I don't believe that you and I are going to be able to look at somebody and say oh that's the anti-Christ.
There's going to be some sort of a rising leader but we're not going to really know they are the anti-Christ when they first show up.
And throughout history people have thought Hitler was the anti-Christ and Napoleon was the anti-Christ and Republicans thought Barack Obama was the anti-Christ.
Democrats thought that Donald Trump was the anti-Christ and maybe they are, I don't know. We don't know, that's the whole point.
We're going to see these leaders rise up with a bow and a crown and they're going to show up and they're going to be.
So that's the first characteristic of the beginning sorrows is that there's going to be false prophets.
There's going to be many of them that are going to deceive many people but there's going to for sure be one of them who begins to rise in power and in authority as a leader.
Go back to Matthew 24 and look at the second characteristic of the beginning of sorrows.
Not only are there going to be false Christs that will deceive many but there's also going to be wars and rumors of wars.
Notice verse 6.
So there's going to be wars and rumors of wars.
So there's going to be wars and rumors of wars and then there's going to be nations rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdom.
And the fact that he's referring to multiple nations and multiple kingdoms and wars, plural, and rumors of other wars, plural, I believe is a reference to a world war.
So here's the thing. I believe that one of the aspects or the characteristics of the beginning of sorrows is that there's going to be a world war.
And you say, okay, so when the next world war begins we know we're in the beginning of sorrows.
Well, hold on a second. We don't know if it's the next one because here's the thing about world wars.
We've already had two. And I'm sure at the time of world war one people probably thought, oh yeah, this is the beginning of sorrows.
Look, there's Hitler. He's the Antichrist. But then that fizzled out. I'm sorry, and world war one.
And then world war two showed up and then that was Hitler, excuse me.
And then you had world war two. I'm sure they said this for sure is the beginning of sorrows. But then that fizzled out.
And so there might be another. So I believe a world war will be a part of this but it might be world war three, might be world war four, might be world war five.
We really don't know. But we're looking at the characteristics here and these are the characteristics that Jesus gave us.
False Christs will deceive many. Wars and rumors of wars. And see how this correlates with the seals.
Go to Revelation chapter six. Look at verse number three. Revelation chapter six and verse three.
Revelation six three the Bible says this,
And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given unto him that sat thereon to, notice, take peace from the earth.
So see how this correlates with what Jesus is teaching? Because here you have, these are the famous four horsemen, right?
The first horseman is a white horse and it brings a political leader. The second horseman is the, he says come and see and there went out another horse.
It's a red horse that power was given to him that sat there on. What does he do? He takes peace from the earth.
That they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great sword.
Well that correlates with wars and rumors of wars with nation rising against nation because he's going to remove peace from the earth.
There's going to be a world war.
Then notice the third characteristic of the beginning of sorrows. Go back to Matthew 24.
And it is the characteristic of famines.
Matthew 24 verse 7, For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes, we'll come back to that one in a second, in diverse places.
There's going to be famines in diverse places, so that is a characteristic of the beginning of sorrows or the end times.
And again, it correlates with the seals. Go back to Revelation 6, look at verse 5.
And when he had opened the third seal, Revelation chapter 6 and verse 5,
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see, and I beheld and lo, a black horse.
And he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hands.
So this is a black horse and he has a pair of balances in his hands and of course you use balances at like the grocery store to balance,
you know, to figure out the weight of the amount of tomatoes or potatoes or whatever food you're buying.
This horseman shows up with balances in his hand. Notice verse 6,
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts saying, A measure of wheat for a penny.
Now I don't have time to develop this, but in the Bible, a penny was a day's wages.
One laborer would work for an entire day for 12 hours and they would be paid a penny.
So here we're being told that there's going to be a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny.
And see that hurting out the oil and wine. What is that talking about?
It's talking about the fact that when this horseman, this black horse shows up with this pair of balances,
he's going to make all the food really expensive. Now why is the food expensive?
Because Jesus already told us in Matthew 24 that there's going to be famines.
So when there's famines, when there's less of something, it becomes more valuable.
That's why you're paying so much money for toilet paper right now, right?
Because there's less of it, because everybody needs to wrap their entire houses in toilet paper
because toilet paper protects you from coronavirus, apparently.
Go back to Matthew 24. So you see that there's these famines and then in Revelation we see that the price of food skyrockets or goes up.
So we see the third characteristic of the beginning of sorrows and it's famines in diverse places.
And then there's the fourth characteristic and I would just call that natural disasters.
Now I don't know if that's really the right terminology, but it encompasses these things, pestilences and earthquakes.
Matthew 24, look at verse 7, for nations shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom
and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
And by the way, we've seen in our lifetime and recent history where there will be like an earthquake in the middle of the ocean
and it will cause tidal waves and it will cause all sorts of other, earthquakes will cause mudslides that kill people and things like that.
So we're talking about natural disasters here, pestilence, which is disease, plague, coronavirus, what we're dealing with now,
and earthquakes, which could also be tidal waves and mudslides and things of that nature.
Go back to Revelation chapter 6, look at verse 7. Notice how this correlates with the seals.
Revelation chapter 6 verse 7.
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death and Hell.
So notice this fourth horseman, he's just bringing Death and Hell.
Notice it says, And Death and Hell followed with him, and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
So we see that this fourth horseman, he's just bringing Death, and Jesus says it comes through pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
So we're talking about the beginning of sorrows, because people are asking this question, right?
Are we at the beginning of sorrows? Is this the beginning of sorrows? Is this the beginning of the end?
And I began by just explaining to you the different categories of the beginning of sorrows.
The categories or the stages of end times begins with the beginning of sorrows.
Then you have what I would call the end of the beginning of sorrows, or the end of sorrows, or the end, or tribulation, but not great tribulation.
Then you have the great tribulation, then you have the rapture, then you have the wrath of God, then you have the millennial reign.
So we're all the way up here talking about the beginning of sorrows.
Now we're just looking at the characteristics of the beginning of sorrows, and we see that the characteristics of the beginning of sorrows,
they correlate with the first four seals of the six seals that the Lamb is opening up,
and they're going to bring false cries that will deceive many, wars and rumors of wars, famines in diverse places,
and natural disasters like pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.
Now, they don't correlate necessarily with the fifth seal or the sixth seal.
Go back to Revelation chapter 6, or you might already be there. Look at 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.
This is the great tribulation. This is when Jesus says when you see the abomination of desolation. This is the fifth seal.
And look, what happens when the fifth seal is opened?
John says, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.
So I don't understand how those who teach the pre-tribulation rapture can get away with saying,
oh no, we're all going to get raptured out of here before anything bad happens before anybody dies.
Then who are these people? Who are these souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held?
They're being slain because they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. They're being slain for the word of God.
And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, does thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Notice, because people say, oh you guys confuse the wrath of God with the tribulation.
You don't understand because you didn't go to Bible college. You don't understand how those things work.
Hey, these people just got killed and they're complaining to God. Hey, when are you going to start judging them?
When are you going to start pouring out your wrath?
So look, apparently God hasn't poured out his wrath yet. This is not the wrath of God.
This is happening during the tribulation which are two different things.
They cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, does thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them and it was said unto 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.
So notice, look, there's going to be a period of great tribulation when many saved people are going to die. They're going to be killed.
And then of course you have the sixth seal which is the rapture. Look at verse 12.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake and the sun became black.
A sack of hair and the moon became his blood and the stars of heaven fell into the earth even as a fig cast with her untimely figs when she was shaken of mighty wind.
And the heavens departed as a scroll when it was rolled together and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
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 man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
Now notice, now we're in the stage of the wrath of God 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. You see that? And from the wrath of the Lamb.
So now God begins to pour out his wrath. Chapter 7 you see a great rapture of believers. Chapter 8 you begin the trumpets which we've already talked about and God begins to pour out his wrath.
So the beginning of sorrows is that stage of end times prophecy that begins this entire thing and I want to go through the characteristics.
We saw the category of the beginning of sorrows. Then we saw the characteristics to show you that it correlates with the first four seals.
So here's the point that I want you to understand. When we begin the beginning of sorrows, and I'm not saying that we're in the beginning of sorrows.
I'll give you my thoughts on that here in a minute. But when the beginning of sorrows begins you need to understand that is a beginning of end times prophecy.
That is the Lamb taking the book and beginning to peel off the seals of that book and every seal is bringing the next stage and the next stage and the next stage of end times prophecy leading to the great tribulation, leading to the rapture.
So look, you can't just say, oh well, you know, it's always the beginning of sorrows. No, the beginning of sorrows has a specific beginning to it where the Lamb actually opens a seal.
Now you might be thinking to yourself, well, wait a minute, pastor, because, you know, you're saying the beginning of sorrows is not just always happening and it has a very specific beginning when the Lamb opens up the seal.
But, and the beginning of sorrows coincides because it coincides with the first, second, and third and fourth seal.
But yet, there are lots of things happening right now that seem like the beginning of sorrows.
And here's what I want you to understand, okay? Though we do know that once the beginning of sorrows begins it will begin with the Lamb removing the first seal and the second seal and the third seal and the fourth seal, it's not until the fifth seal that we will really know that we are in the end, this is the great tribulation.
Because it's the fifth seal that brings the abomination of desolation and the mark of the beast. So here's what I want you to understand.
We will know when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, that's when Jesus says, flee into the mountains, don't come back down, just go.
Because that's when the image is set up and then the entire world has to worship the image and receive the mark of the beast and without the mark you won't be able to buy or sell and you're going to be persecuted and you're going to be killed.
Look, when that happens we'll know, hey, this is it, this is not a drill, this is not a warning, this is happening and we got 75 days if we can endure to that end, hey, we're going to see the rapture, that's why he says, look up unto heaven and see thy redemption draweth nigh.
We'll know at the fifth seal this is it and we'll know, oh yeah, that guy was the antichrist and those things were actually happening.
But when the first four seals are happening we really won't know if it's the beginning of sorrows or just something that looks like the beginning of sorrows.
You say, why? Here's why. Because the beginning of sorrows, though it is the beginning of the end times, the beginning of sorrows is a climax of the end times that began at the ascension of Christ.
Now go with me to the book of Acts just real quickly, keep your place there in Matthew and Revelation, we're going to go back to those verses, but go to Acts just real quickly, Acts chapter number two.
Acts chapter number two, and I want you to notice what Peter said at the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter number two, and I forgot to write this verse down, let me see if I can find it real quickly.
I'm sorry, I'm in Acts five, that's the problem so I can't find it. Acts chapter number two, and look at verse number sixteen.
This is of course the Jews, they're asking about the day of Pentecost and the speaking with other tongues and all that, notice verse sixteen.
But this is that, this is Peter explains and what's happening, he says, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come to pass, notice what Peter's saying.
It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and upon your sons and your daughters, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
So I want you to notice that Peter at the day of Pentecost, this is at the beginning, this is forty days after Jesus resurrected, he walked on this earth for forty days, then ten days after that he ascended at the forty day mark.
Ten days after that you have the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes upon the hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room, they begin to speak with tongues that they had not learned or did not know.
This is right after the ascension of Christ, I mean we're talking about just weeks after the resurrection, days after the ascension, and people are wondering, what's happening here?
Why are these people speaking with these tongues? And then Peter says, hey, this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, Acts two seventeen, and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God.
I want you to notice, that's a prophecy that God put as the last days. Now here's what's interesting about that, that happened two thousand years ago, the day of Pentecost.
We've been in the last days, see people like to talk about the last days, oh, are we in the last days? We've been in the last days since the ascension of Christ.
We've been in the last days since the day of Pentecost. Here's a prophecy that was fulfilled, and Peter says, yeah, it's fulfilled now, day of Pentecost, two thousand years ago, because it was going to happen in the last days.
And here's what I want you to understand, the beginning of sorrows is a climax, it is something that is happening and getting worse and worse and worse as it goes.
Because here's the thing, go back to Matthew twenty four, we would all agree that some things happening now are very similar to the beginning of sorrows.
I mean, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, isn't that a common thing? We just heard about Trump killing some general in Iran, recently.
And he killed some other general in Iran, you know, a couple of months ago, and he sent a bomb, you know, sometime after that.
And we're always hearing about Russia and Iran going at it and issues with China and things like that.
Hey, we're always hearing about wars and rumors of wars and nations rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms.
We're always hearing about famines, different countries and things happen. We're dealing with a pestilence right now.
In the United States and throughout the world, the coronavirus, we hear about earthquakes and tidal waves and mudslides.
We hear about all those things and say, well, that's very similar to the beginning of sorrows, but here's what I want you to understand.
Look down at verse number 8, Matthew 24 and verse 8. Here's what Jesus said.
All these are the beginning of, and he says, sorrows. The beginning of sorrows.
Now I want you to go to the book of 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5.
If you find the T-books, they're all clustered together, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, 1 Thessalonians, chapter number 5, and look at verse number 1.
1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, and look at verse number 1. Now 1 Thessalonians 5 is actually a passage dealing with end times prophecy.
Notice what the Bible says, 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 1.
But of the times and of the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
And the day of the Lord is referring to the wrath of God. Notice verse 3.
So that's after the tribulation, the rapture, all those things.
For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them.
I want you to notice this word, as travail. You see that word travail?
Upon a woman with child. Now travail upon a woman with child is talking about the labor pains, right?
The contractions that a woman has while she's giving birth.
Here's what's interesting. The underlying Greek word that our King James translators, and by the way the King James version of the Bible is the inspired, preserved, perfect, inerrant Word of God.
And the underlying Greek word that the King James translators translated in 1 Thessalonians 5-3 as the word travail,
that is the same Greek word that they translated in Matthew 24-8 as the word sorrows.
When Jesus said all these are the beginning of sorrows, that's the same Greek word that in 1 Thessalonians 5-3 they said is as travail upon a woman with child.
And they're using those words synonymously. Obviously one word could be translated into different ways because there's a such thing as synonyms.
And what I want you to notice is that when Jesus said this is the beginning of sorrows,
our King James translators who were used of God to translate a perfect, inspired, preserved Word of God, they said hey that's like a woman in travail, travail upon a woman with a child.
Well here's the thing about a woman who's having contractions and who's in labor is that it starts off real mild.
It starts off with some cramping. It starts off with some pain. But the further you get into the labor, it gets worse and worse, harder and stronger and more difficult and more painful.
And it climaxes with the birth of a child. Well look, the beginning of sorrows is that way.
It'll climax with Jesus opening the first lamb and officially beginning the end times timeline, but it's been happening since the ascension of Christ.
These things, persecutions, famines, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars, all these things have been like labor pains since the ascension of Christ that began mild and are getting stronger and stronger and climaxing.
So people say, well what about, you know, is this it? Is this the real thing? Well here's the thing. We won't really know if it's it until the abomination of desolation of the fifth seal because just like in physical labor, women will often experience what's called Braxton Hicks, right?
And those are early contractions, sometimes they're referred to as false labor. And look, I believe that when it comes to the end times prophecy, we're going to experience some of those Braxton Hicks, some of those false labors.
Look, again, I'm sure people thought World War II, Hitler, this is it. And it wasn't. People saw Napoleon and they're like, this is it. And it wasn't.
But it sure seemed like it. There have been persecutions of Christians, there have been earthquakes, there have been famines, there have been nations, there's been a World War I, a World War II.
And it sure seemed like it, but it seems like it because the beginning of sorrows is going to be the things that we've already seen, just worse and worse, stronger and stronger, more intense and more intense.
So if you're asking the question, if you're asking the question, is this the beginning of sorrow? Here's the official answer, and I took that entire time to say this, we don't know.
We don't know. And we won't know. We won't know until the fifth seal is open. That's the only time that we will for sure know this is it, red alert, this is not a drill, this is happening now.
Till then, there have been people throughout history who have been convinced this is the beginning of the end. And here's the thing, it may be, or it may be false labor.
Now let me just end with saying this, go back to Matthew 24. What we need to understand is that we need to react to this time and whether this time is the real thing, the baby's coming, labor's coming,
or if this is just a false labor, we need to respond to this time like we would respond to the real thing. Do you understand that?
I mean when the real beginning of sorrows, when Jesus, and he may have already, we don't know. Because when the antichrist shows up on the scene, we're not going to know he's the antichrist till the fifth seal.
But when the lamb begins to open those seals, there's a certain way we're supposed to respond. So here's a good idea, because we don't know now, and we're never going to know till the fifth seal is open, when we're in the beginning of sorrows, when we are in the end of the beginning of sorrows, when we're in these things, we're not going to know.
So here's a good idea, let's just respond the way we should respond if it was the real thing. Okay so you say, well how do we respond if it was the real thing? Well I'm glad you asked, Jesus tells us. Look at Matthew 24, look at verse 6. Why don't you notice what Jesus says?
Matthew 24 verse 6, and he shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Now he's talking about the real beginning of sorrows, whether that's now or something that's going to happen in the future.
He says, see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, and then he says this, but the end is not yet. So here's what I want to say to you as we end this morning.
Whether this is the beginning of sorrows, or this is just a drill, realize it, even if it is, you say, well what if it is the beginning of sorrow? Then we can say with certainty, because Christ said it, the end is not yet.
This is just the beginning. Look, we're dead sure not in the great tribulation. We're dead sure not in, if we're in anything, we're in the beginning of sorrows.
And if we're in the beginning of sorrows, big if because we don't know, but if we're in the beginning of sorrows, here's what we should know, the end is not yet.
It's the beginning, the beginning of sorrows is the beginning of the end, it's not the end. Here's the next thing you should realize, notice there in verse 6 again.
And you should hear wars and rumors of wars, see that you'd be not troubled. He says, for all these things must come to pass.
Not only should we know that the end is not yet, but we should also know that all these things need to come to pass.
These things need to happen. And you say, well that's not very comforting to me. Well you know it should comfort you that whether this is the beginning of sorrows, or whether this is just a drill and there's another beginning of sorrows coming,
it's going to maybe be, if this is it, you know, if this isn't it, the next one is going to be even worse because it's going to get harder and harder.
But as you see the wars and rumors of wars, the pestilences, the earthquake, as you see these things begin to happen, you need to realize that none of this is catching God by surprise.
Jesus said all these things must be, he said these things must come to pass, he said these things have to happen, so look, don't just realize all pestilences are coming,
earthquakes are coming, wars and rumors of war. Hey, it has to happen. It's going to happen. It's part of God's time plan. He's ordained it. It's going to happen.
He's aware of it. It didn't catch him by surprise. You and I, a few weeks ago, did not know, had never heard of a coronavirus, did not know anything about the coronavirus.
A couple months ago, we didn't know. We were going through our days, making plans, planning for Easter, planning for trips, planning for this, planning for that.
We didn't know that these things were going to happen, but God knew, and he caught God by surprise. God knows everything that happened.
Look, everything that happens is filtered through God. Everything that happens in your life, everything that happens in my life, I'm not saying that God causes all of it.
We're not Calvinists. I'm not saying that everything we do is caused by God, but it's filtered through God and God knows about it.
And when the end times begins, the wars, the rumors of wars, the pestilence and the earthquake, hey, he says, these things must come to pass.
So just realize that God knows what he's doing. God knows what's happening, and we need to realize that God is in control, and then we need to just realize that the end is not yet.
So look, don't go flee to the mountains yet. Some people are just cutting off their lives completely. Hey, the end is not yet.
Hey, we still have children we need to raise. We still have marriages we need to be engaged in. We still have people around us because the end is not yet.
Then he says this, look at verse 6, and ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, and then he says this, he says, see that ye be not troubled.
See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
You say, is this the beginning of sorrows? I don't know. But if it is, the Bible says, Jesus says, see that ye be not troubled.
And if it's not, you ought to see that ye be not troubled.
It's interesting to me how this is worded in the book of Luke. Go to Luke chapter 21, if you would, just real quickly. We're almost done. Luke chapter 21.
In Luke 21, you have a parallel passage to Matthew 24. You have the Olivet Discourse given through the words of Luke.
And when he gets to this part, in Matthew 24, Jesus said, see that ye be not troubled. In Luke 21, here's how it's worded, but when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, he says, be not terrified.
Be not terrified, for these things must first come to pass, but the end is not by and by.
So here's what I know we should be doing.
Hey Pastor, you made me listen to the entire sermon and you didn't tell me whether this was the beginning of sorrows.
I made you listen to the entire, well I didn't make you do anything, okay, but you should have listened to the entire sermon.
And if you listen to it, you know this, that none of us are going to know whether we're in the beginning of sorrows.
We'll know once we're out of the beginning of sorrows, when the fifth seal is open, we'll know, oh yeah, that was the beginning of sorrows.
That wasn't false labor. That wasn't Braxton Hicks.
But here's what I'm telling you, whether we are or whether we're not, here's how we should respond.
We should realize that the end is not yet. We should realize that these things must come to pass.
We should realize that we should be not troubled, and then he says in Luke, be not terrified.
Some people are just terrified today, in panic, just afraid.
Now look, there's nothing wrong with taking precautions. I believe in taking precautions.
A prudent man foreseeeth evil in the height of himself. There's nothing wrong with that.
But you ought not be terrified or troubled.
Let me give you the last thing we should do, whether or not this is the beginning of sorrows or not.
Go to Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter 13, you're in the book of Luke, just flip back to Mark.
If you would, Mark chapter 13. And I'll give you the last thing we should do.
Mark 13 again is a parallel passage with the Olivet Discourse. This is through the eyes of Mark.
And this is how it ends in Mark 13. Mark 13, 35, this is Jesus speaking.
After he gives all these thoughts, the timeline and the ideas, and he says the end is not yet.
These things must come to pass. Be not troubled, be not terrified.
In Mark 13, 35, the Bible says this. Jesus said this, watch ye therefore.
For ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.
Lest coming suddenly find you sleeping, what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.
So what should we be doing? We should not be troubled. We should not be terrified.
We should realize that the end is not yet. We should realize that these things must come to pass.
And we should just watch. It doesn't say watch Fox News. It doesn't say watch CNN.
It doesn't say watch ABC or NBC or whatever. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with keeping up with the news, especially during times like this.
But he's talking about spiritually, we need to be, the word watch there is talking about like a watchman.
Like someone who's up, watching, preparing. Look, people are, I gotta go prep, I gotta go.
No, go ahead and buy all the toilet paper you need. I'm not against you having toilet paper.
But you need to be preparing spiritually as we need to be doing.
You say, what should I be doing during this time? I need to be buying ammo and buying guns and getting knives because they take my gun or whatever.
Look, do all that. I'm not against any of that. Do all that.
But as you're preparing your physical military arsenal, you ought to be preparing your spiritual warfare as well.
You ought to be preparing your spiritual armor as well. You ought to be watching spiritually. Preparing yourself spiritually.
Strengthening yourself spiritually. Why? Because the end is not yet.
If this is the beginning of sorrows, it's going to get much worse.
And I'm not trying to scare you because these things must come to pass.
So be not troubled and be not terrified because God is on his throne.
Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word.
Thank you for the fact that Jesus answered the questions when they asked him,
when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming?
He didn't sidestep it. He said, let me tell you about it.
Let me tell you what's going to happen. And then he comforted them and said, be not troubled. Be not terrified.
The end is not yet. These things must come to pass.
And, Lord, whether we are in the beginning of sorrows or not, I don't know and none of us will know till the fifth seal is open.
But whether we are or whether we aren't, whether this is the real thing or this is just a drill,
Lord, help us to be not troubled. Help us to be not terrified.
Help us to realize if the end is not yet, these things must come to pass.
And help us to watch. Help us to be on watch.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
I want to encourage you for watching the live stream this morning.
And I want to encourage you on a couple of things. Number one, be back tonight, 6 p.m.
We're going to have a live stream for the evening service.
And I've been going through sermon topics and ideas that people have been giving us.
And tonight I'm going to preach a sermon called tips, dating tips for young Christian ladies.
And this was a tip that was given to us, a request, and it got a lot of feedback.
We were saying like, yeah, I want to hear that. I want to hear that.
So we're going to be talking about dating.
Now this will apply to young men as well, and it's good for parents to hear.
But we're going to specifically deal with dating tips for young Christian ladies.
So make sure you're back tonight at 6 p.m. for that.
Also, I want to encourage you to email in any prayer requests.
We want to send out the church prayer list this week via email.
So if we don't have your email, make sure you email us and give us your email address
so we can put you on the prayer list.
And then if you have a prayer request, send it in.
And just in the subject line, write public or private.
If it's private, the guys will forward it straight to me.
If it's public, then they'll put it on the prayer sheet and we want to try to get that out this week.
Also, if you have a sermon topic or idea or a Bible question, email it to us.
And I'm going to try to preach as many sermons as I can answering those questions
or make videos trying to answer those questions if we're able to.
And then, of course, if you would like to come to one of the services.
And we're not allowed to have a big group here,
but if we can have a small group come in on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
we want to try to do that.
So we're going to have a group here tonight.
We're going to have a group here on Wednesday and next Sunday and next Sunday night.
So we want to know if you'd like to be a part of that, send us an email.
Say, hey, I'd like to be a part of that.
And here's how many people are in my family or whatever.
And we're going to try to get as many people as we can.
We'll try to group you in ways that make sense.
And we just want to let you know that we love you.
We're praying for you.
And we'll see you tonight at 6 p.m.
God bless you.
Thanks for watching.