If you can take your Bible and turn to Matthew 24 please, Matthew 24 and verse 21, Matthew
24 and verse 21. We are continuing our series on the end times and in the last sermon I
focused on the antichrist and how the antichrist will come and persecute the people of God,
how he will exalt himself and call himself a god, try to force people to take the mark
of the beast and desire worship and for people to desire to worship the dragon. And so you
know, as is commonly understood, the antichrist or the beast will persecute God's people
and that's what I want to focus on today. You know, the persecution of God's people
coming in that future great tribulation to come. But in Matthew 24 verse number 21 it
says, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The title for the sermon tonight is Great
Tribulation. It said there, For then shall be great tribulation. Tribulation of course
is trouble, turmoil, but it's not just regular tribulation, not just regular difficulties
that believers will face, but the Bible says great tribulation. And some other passages
that speak about this same event, you don't need to turn there, I'll just read it to
you in Revelation chapter 6 and verse 9, this is the fifth seal. So this is after the first
four seals. This is after the beginning of sorrows. If you've been following on the
series you'll understand this. But on the fifth seal it says in Revelation 6 and 9,
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud
voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth?
So you see here in Revelation chapter 6 that saints, believers, will be slain for the word
of God, for the testimony which they held. This tells me that in these last days in this
Great Tribulation, believers will be speaking of the Lord, believers will be preaching the
word of God, believers will not be hidden, they will be telling people all about Jesus
Christ which is why they are the target. And then in verse 11 it says,
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 the Bible's telling us here that there will be other believers that will be slain
during this time. Now not every believer will be slain. Many, many believers will make it
to the rapture, they will make it to that resurrection when Christ comes in the clouds,
but we also see that a portion of believers will be killed and it's said there that
they should rest for a little season. This period of Great Tribulation in Revelation
chapter 6 is called a little season. It's not a period that will go on for a long time.
In Revelation chapter 12 verse 17 there's another passage, this time using the symbolism
of the woman and the dragon, if you remember that depiction there, but it says in Revelation
12 verse 17,
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed.
Who are the remnant of her seed? It says,
Which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
We see that consistency of the Bible, that it is believers, people that keep the commandments,
people that have the testimony of Christ, that will be the target of the devil, target
of the antichrist, the beast, during this great time of tribulation.
Now you are in Matthew 24, look at verse number 8, Matthew 24, let's go back a little bit
and get a little bit of context before the passage that we read. Matthew 24 verse 8,
and I already sort of spoke about this, but it says,
All these are the beginning of sorrows. Remember those first four seals? Remember the four
horsemen that is depicted, the wars, the rumours of wars, the pestilences, the famines, etc.
All these things make up the beginning of sorrows, which then lead up to that midst
of the week, leads up to that point when the antichrist will exalt himself and persecute
the people of God. Notice what it says in verse number 9, it 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.
Once again we see these words of Jesus consistent with what we read in Revelation, and notice
that Jesus is speaking to a group of people that he refers to as you, ye, the words of
Jesus Christ. Now this is where our pre-treat brethren, you know, really don't like this
being about them, okay. And they'll say, No, the you here is for the unsaved Jews,
you know, the you here are for the Jews that have rejected Christ. And well, this isn't
difficult to work out. In fact, this is extremely easy to work out who the you is. You know,
we don't need to come up with our own opinions as to who the you, Jesus Christ, is speaking
to. The Bible itself tells us who Jesus is speaking to. So if you can backtrack a little
bit in the same chapter, look at verse number 3, Matthew 24 verse 3,
Who is the you to be afflicted? Who is the kill you? Who is then the ye shall be hated?
Who are these people?
Matthew 24 verse 3,
And as he sat upon the mount of olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and
of the end of the world?
So who's coming to ask Jesus these questions about the end of the world? His disciples,
okay, the saved, okay, the saved. And when Jesus says, they shall deliver you, who is
he responding to? The disciples. Now, if that doesn't convince you, this passage that we're
reading is called the Olivet Discourse. And there's a parallel passage in Mark chapter
13. Let me read it to you. If you're fast enough, you can turn there. But Mark chapter
13 and verse number 3,
And as he sat upon the mount of olives over against the temple,
Notice the next names,
Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things
be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
So in Matthew 24, it says his disciples come to Jesus privately, okay. Now you might argue
and say, well, these disciples are not saved. Well, hold on. Then we have further clarification,
Mark 13, it says, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Hey, who are
these disciples? Are they just regular disciples that followed him, that made up the thousands
that followed, came to listen to Jesus Christ? No, these disciples are the 12 apostles, the
apostles of the Lamb. These are saved people. These are saved Jewish people. Of course,
these are the same group of men that would start the New Testament churches, that would
become the pastors and start these new churches, preaching the gospel after the ascension of
Jesus Christ. So we're talking about when Jesus says you, is he referring to unsaved
people, unsaved Jews? No, he's speaking to his disciples. He's speaking to his apostles,
okay, the same apostles, which by the New Testament churches be built upon the teachings
of the apostles, the prophets and Jesus Christ, of course, being that chief cornerstone. And
if that doesn't convince you, at the end of Mark 13, verse number 37, Jesus says these
words, Mark 13, verse 37, and what I say unto you, who's a you again? That was Peter, James
and John and Andrew. What I say unto you, Peter, James, John and Andrew, I say unto
you all, watch. Okay, so who is it to? It's all the believers, all the disciples of Jesus
Christ. This is an important teaching. And anybody that's saying to you, hey, don't
read Matthew 24, that's not for you as a Christian, that's for the unsaved Jews.
Hey, they're deceiving you. Okay, Jesus Christ says it is for all. Watch. Okay, now
please go back to Matthew 24 if you've turned away. But Matthew 24, verse 10, let's continue.
We see that we're going to be, you know, the people that live during this time, believers
that live during this time will be delivered, will be afflicted, they shall be killed, they
shall be hated of all nations. You know, every nation will have a hatred for God's people.
Okay, this is abundantly clear in the words of Jesus Christ. Verse number 10, and then
shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Notice
the next words, and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. In our last sermon,
we looked at how that false prophet will arise and deceive people to worship the beast. Verse
number 12, 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, what is verse number 13 speaking
about? A lot of people have mixed ideas. And, you know, the unsaved, hyper dispensationalists
will say, see, you've got to endure to the end in order for your soul to be saved. If
you want to be a saved individual, like, you know, salvation of the soul, you need to endure.
And so they throw works in. They say, well, you have to remain faithful. You have to be
doing the works of God. It's not just salvation by grace through faith. They'll say, no, it's
by working, by enduring. Hey, these are false prophets that say these things. These are
unsaved people because they don't understand that salvation can only be attained by the
sacrifice of Christ, by your faith on Jesus Christ. So how do we understand this? And
I'll show you shortly. But this is not about the salvation of your soul. This is about
the salvation of the flesh. Say, well, how do you know that? Well, we just, what did
we just finish speaking about? How they will kill you. Okay, they will kill your body,
as it were. This is a salvation of the flesh. But we'll go into that a little bit longer.
Now, I've got some points here as we go from Matthew 24. You know, what should be the reaction
of Christians be during this time? You know, you'll be hated. You know, you're going to
be delivered up. People are going to seek to kill you. So what do we do? Do we run from
fear? Is that, you know, is that what we're doing? Are we fearing for our lives, trying
to hide in caves and things like that? Well, notice verse number 14 as it continues. And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations.
And then shall the end come. Boy, if the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of his
kingdom is going to be preached across the entire world to all nations, then that should
tell you what Christians are doing at this point in time. Okay? I mean, if it's not the
believers preaching the gospel, who's doing it? Of course, it's the believers of all nations
going throughout the entire world, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the first point
that I have for you Brevin, if we are that final generation to go through this time period,
or whatever that generation is, number one, the number one responsibility for the believers,
even at the expense of potentially losing their lives, is to preach the gospel unto
all nations. Now, please keep your finger there and go to Acts chapter 2. Go to Acts
chapter 2, please. And say, what are we doing during these end times, these difficult times?
The same thing we've always been doing. Okay, it's still the time for the Great Commission.
Okay, time is running out, we're getting closer to the end. But that doesn't mean the Great
Commission is abandoned. In fact, the Great Commission needs to be preached, the gospel
of Jesus Christ, you know, getting people saved, teaching the gospel, getting them baptised,
all these things are important in these last days. Now, please go to Acts chapter 2, verse
14. Acts chapter 2, verse 14. And I'm going to teach something that may be a little bit
unpopular, especially in the Baptist world. But, you know, as we've been going through
this end time series, we know that, you may recall that, you know, after this great tribulation,
it says, you know, and we'll have a look at this later, but immediately after the tribulation,
the sun shall be dark and the moon shall turn to blood and the star shall fall from heaven,
that celestial darkening, right? Well, this celestial darkening is mentioned in Acts chapter
2. Now, Acts chapter 2 is about the day of Pentecost, if you may remember that, 50 days
after the ascension of Christ, the Holy Spirit is poured upon the disciples, the 120 that
are in the upper room, and what happens? They go preach in the gospel, don't they? They
go preach in the gospel, and God gives them the gift of tongues, meaning that they're
able to communicate in other languages without having had to learn those languages. It is
a special gift that was given to the disciples at this point in time by the pouring out of
the Holy Ghost, and of course, you know, many Baptists believe this has been done
away with completely, never to return. I have a slightly different view on that. Let's have
a look at this, because in Acts chapter 2, verse 14, there are many unbelievers mocking
the disciples for preaching the gospel, and this is what the apostle Peter says in verse
number 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto
them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and
hearken to my words. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third
hour of the day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. So their ability
to speak in all these other languages, preach in the gospel in all these other languages,
is something that was spoken of by the prophet Joel. Okay, that makes sense. Now look at
verse number 17. He quotes the prophet Joel here, in verse number 17. And it shall come
to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And notice
what happens. So the Lord's going to have this special pouring out of his Holy Spirit.
What happens? And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens,
I will pour out in those days of my spirit, there it is again, the pouring out of the
spirit, and they shall prophesy. So what's happening? They're preaching the gospel in
all these other languages, and Peter says, yeah, that's what Joel spoke about, when our
sons and daughters shall prophesy. Okay, because again, prophecy isn't necessarily telling
of future events, prophesying is preaching the Word of God, is speaking the Word of God,
proclaiming the Word of God, and as they go in and preach in the gospel in all these languages,
that's the fulfillment that was seen there by the prophet Joel. Okay, but notice the
next words in the prophet Joel, verse number 19. And I will show you wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapour and smoke. Notice verse
20, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great
and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Wow, there's a lot to take in there, right? But
what do we notice on the day of Pentecost, we see a fulfillment of the writings of the
prophet Joel. Okay, but not only that, it doesn't stop there. It goes into further
events into the future when the sun and moon shall be darkened. And what we see in Matthew
24 later on, and as we covered in the series, after that event, after the celestial darkening,
that's when we see the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. That's when Jesus Christ is
coming to take away, to rapture his believers. So what do we then see? That this also applies
to the end times. And so what I believe this is teaching, and again this is unpopular with
my Baptist brethren, is that in these last days during this great tribulation, what do
we see again? The gospel of the kingdom being preached to all nations. Well I believe that
God will pour out his spirit in the same way. Just like we saw in Acts chapter 2, God pouring
out his spirit, them being filled with boldness, them going out and preaching the gospel in
all these other languages that they've never learned before. Well I believe we're going
to see the same thing happen during the great tribulation. This is how the gospel makes
its way throughout all the world, throughout all the nations, is because the people of
God will be filled with the Holy Spirit of God being able to do the great work again
in verse number 21, and it shall come to pass. Remember this follows after, or this follows
at this time of the celestial darkening, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. And so brethren, what I'm saying to you is, you know, during this
great tribulation period, the persecution of the antichrist, nothing changes in our
agenda. We continue meeting, we continue gathering, we continue preaching the gospel, but we're
going to have a special measure of the Holy Spirit's power in our lives to be able to
do great works for God. And we're going to need his power, we're going to need the Holy
Spirit. You know, if we don't have that Holy Spirit, I can understand why people will cower
and be afraid and try to protect their lives instead of doing the work that God has given
us. But when we're given that power of the Holy Ghost, we won't be able to help ourselves
but be proclaimers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Back in Matthew 24 please, Matthew 24 verse 15. Matthew 24 verse 15. So again, the first
point that we, the first thing that we should be doing if we are that generation that goes
through the great tribulation is to preach the gospel to all nations. Let's keep going.
Verse number 15. Verse number 15, Matthew 24 verse 15. When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation. Remember what's that? When the Antichrist sets up that image,
proclaims to be God, desires to be worshipped. You can notice how important this point is
in the end times. You know, I think I've covered the same verse over and over again during
my series because that's what Jesus says. When ye therefore shall see the abomination
of desolation. This is something important. Spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in
the holy place, who shall read of, let him understand. So again, we're at that midpoint
where three and a half years into it now, this is the point that we need to be aware
of. Verse number 16. Verse number 16. Notice the next words. Remember how Jesus would say
you will be delivered, you will be afflicted, right? But look at verse number 16. Then let
them. Okay, so there is a you and there is a them. Okay, who are the them? Well, it's
not difficult to work out. We see it here. Then let them which be in Judea flee into
the mountains. Notice that. So God is not expecting that all his people would reside
in Judea at this time. Okay, God is expecting that his people are going throughout all the
nations of the world preaching the gospel. But then there will be those that will be
in Judea. Those that will be in that land and let them which be in Judea flee into the
mountains. Okay, so there is a time to flee. There is a time to escape. Let's understand.
Let's keep going. Verse number 17. 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. Jesus is saying, look, it's time to flee. You're not going to return back home.
Okay, it's time to get out of there. Forget trying to get all your things. Forget desiring
to come back. It's time to go. Verse number 19. 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. For then shall be great tribulation such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time. No, nor ever shall be. And so the fact that
Jesus Christ points specifically to Judea now and to them, you know, and then obviously
again, reiterating this fact of the great tribulation now that we're facing is what
I believe this has been what's been taught here is that in Judea, that's where the greatest
tribulation is going to be. That's where the greatest persecution of God's people will
be. So during these last days, whatever believers live in Judea in that segment of the world,
it's time to go. Okay, and this makes perfect sense, because if the Antichrist, you know,
comes, he's going to set himself up in Jerusalem, he's going to come and claim to be that resurrected
Christ, that's where the tribulation will be the greatest. Okay, so there's a time to
flee. But I also, yes, you know, this applies to those that live in Judea, but I believe
Jesus Christ is teaching these things so we can apply that in our situation should that
time come. And so the second point that I have here during these times of persecution,
this time of great tribulation, is that we ought to flee persecution. You see, there
are going to be places in the world like Judea that the tribulation will be the hardest.
Flee persecution, that's point number two. Now you might say, well, hold on, that seems
to be contrary to what you just said in point number one, to preach the gospel. Well, keep
your finger there and go to Matthew chapter 10. Go to Matthew chapter 10. Let's see how
these two things go together. Matthew chapter 10, verse number 23. The Bible reads, again,
these are the words of Jesus Christ, but when they persecute you in this city, flee
ye into another. For verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of
Israel till the Son of Man be come. Okay, so what do we see? People being persecuted
in their city. They've tried to preach the gospel, now they're facing potential death.
Jesus says it's time to flee. Go and flee you into another city. What are they going
to do in that other city? They're going to preach the gospel. Okay. And when the persecution
gets too difficult in that city, they go into another city. They go into another town. And
so this is one sure way to ensure that the gospel gets out. You know, the persecution
comes, hey, you know, the believers have done whatever they can in this town, in this city,
this location, flee somewhere else, go and preach the gospel somewhere else. And if the
persecution gets hard there, flee somewhere else. And so what I believe the second thing
that we need to keep in mind, should we be this last generation to go through great tribulation,
is to flee persecution. But it's not because you are fearing death, you're fleeing so you
can be a witness in another area. So God can use you in another town, in another city.
This is how the gospel is going to go out throughout the entire world. Okay. Now I want
to explain this a little bit and the idea, if you can keep your finger there and go to
Daniel chapter 2. Go to Daniel chapter 2. We have looked at the prophet Daniel during
this series as well. And we're turning to a portion, and I'm not going to read the entire
portion for the sake of time, but you can spend your own time at home looking at it.
But King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has a dream. Now some of you are familiar with it. It is
quite a popular teaching when people teach on the end times. But in his dream, he dreams
of an image or a statue. And it's a statue of a man. And if you may remember the dream
that he had, this statue had a head of gold. And that head of gold represented Babylon.
Then the breast and the arms was made of silver. And that represented Persia. So each of these
elements that make up the statue represents a kingdom. Okay. For Nebuchadnezzar, it represented
his kingdom of Babylon. But then the future elements that make up the statue were of future
kingdoms to come. So the next great kingdom on the earth was the Persian kingdom. And
then we have the belly and the thighs, and this was made of brass. And that represents
the Grecian empire. Then we have the legs, which was made of iron. And many people understand
that that represented the Roman empire. Of course, the great empire in the day of Jesus
Christ, the representation of the iron. But then we get to the feet. And you may remember
that the feet was part iron and part clay. Okay. So it's made up of the same elements
of the legs, but it also is mixed with clay. So why is that important? Because look at
verse number 40. Daniel chapter 2, verse number 40. It says here, and the fourth kingdom,
and of course I should just clarify, this fourth kingdom is the kingdom of the Antichrist.
When all the powers, when he conquers all these nations, and people give up their power
to the Antichrist, this is the kingdom that we're referring to when it comes to the feet.
Part iron, part clay. Verse number 40, Daniel 2, verse 40. And the fourth kingdom shall
be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueeth all things, and as
iron breaketh all these shall break in pieces and bruise. And then look at verse 41. And
whereas thou sawest the feet and the toes, part of the pot is clay, and part of iron.
So there's that, the part clay, part iron. Look at this. The kingdom shall be divided,
but there shall be in it the strength of the iron, for as much as thou sawest the iron
mixed with miry clay. Verse number 42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron
and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. Okay, so
what's that all about? Well that final kingdom, the kingdom of the Antichrist, it's not like
he's going to have everything, complete dominion, complete strength all across the world. In
fact, part of it's going to be strong, the iron, and part of it's going to be broken,
the clay. He's never going to fully, you know, conquer the entire world. That's his aim,
that's his purpose, but there's going to be continual strife in his kingdom, okay? And
part of it's going to be strong, part of it's going to be broken. What I'm saying is try
and tie this in with these last days when his kingdom gets strong, when there's strong
persecution against the people of God, well that's when it's time to flee into a town
that's partly broken. He's going to have, of course, influence in those cities, in those
towns, but the persecution won't be as strong in some other cities. So we flee to the places
that are partly broken, the places that are more like clay than iron. So that's the purpose
for believers to go out, flee, not to return back to your house. There's no point of you
returning back. Don't worry about your house, don't worry about your car, don't worry about
those things that you desire. We're coming to the end times. Christ is coming back. Okay,
don't worry about your earthly house. You're going to your mansions soon, okay? Your homes
in heaven that Jesus Christ has prepared. And so that's, you know, how Daniel chapter
2, the part iron, part clay comes together with understanding the kingdom of the Antichrist,
partly strong, partly broken. Back in Matthew 24, Matthew 24 verse number 22, please. Matthew
24 verse number 22. We're talking about the days of the great tribulation here. And in
verse number 22, it says, and except those days should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Okay. Now,
if you just quickly look back in verse number 13, remember how I had mentioned that this
is not about the salvation of the soul. Verse number 13, but he that shall endure unto the
end, the same shall be saved. How does this chapter use salvation? He's saved back in
verse number 22. And except those days shall be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved.
So the salvation that is being referred to here in Matthew 24, this is not teaching how to be saved,
the salvation of the soul. This is teaching about the salvation of the flesh. Okay. Preaching the
gospel, fleeing to these other cities. That's how you can be saved. And what Jesus Christ is
teaching is that he's going to have to shorten those days of great tribulation in order for the
elect's sake, for the elect's sake, so that we would be saved. So believers will actually make
it to the rapture of Jesus Christ. If this tribulation, if this great tribulation was
to go on for the entire three and a half years that's left, these 42 months that the antichrist
is to be ruled, then there's going to be no believers left, is essentially what's happening,
but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened so the Lord can come back and we can
experience that rapture, that resurrection with Christ who comes in the clouds. Let's keep going,
verse number 23. Now notice we're going to see the great deception to come. We focused on this
when you looked at the antichrist, but it says in verse number 23, then if any man shall say unto
you, lo, here is Christ and there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false
prophets and shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect. So is it possible to deceive the very elect? No. Okay. But the
deception is so great that if it were possible, the elect will be saved, but it's not possible.
So who would be deceived then? Well, not the elect. What this is saying is that the unbelieving
world can be deceived by these signs and wonders of these false Christs and these false prophets
that come in these last days. So the third point that I have for us brethren, not only are we to
preach the gospel, not only are we to flee the cities that are strong and go to the cities that
are partly broken, but we are to shine a light on the deception. Okay. So the elect, the believers,
aren't going to be deceived, but the unsaved world are going to be deceived. We're trying
to preach the gospel unto them. We want them saved. And so we need to shine a light on the
deception. Okay. Shine a light. Hey, that is not Christ. That is an anti-Christ. That is a devil.
Don't worship that person. And of course, preach the gospel. We need to shine a light on the
deception. Now, please keep your finger there and go to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2. It's
important for us to shine a light on the deception because the deception is so great. 2 Thessalonians
2 and verse number 8 reads, And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him,
that's the anti-Christ, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs
and lying wonders. Look at this. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And
for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, and
they, sorry, that they all might be damned to believe not the truth and had pleasure
in unrighteousness. Now, I know the teaching of reprobates is, again, with Baptist brethren
is unpopular, but how can you deny what we just read there? What is God going to do to
people that do not love the truth, who do not receive the love of the truth? It's said
there in verse number 11, For this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they
should believe a lie. You know you can get to a point where you've angered God so much,
you've crossed a point, you've rejected his gospel that God will send strong delusion
and cause people to believe a lie? Well, that's what's going to happen. Verse number 12,
They should all be damned. That's damnation, condemnation in hell, who believed not the
truth. So we need to understand in these final days of the great tribulation, it's so important
for us to preach the gospel, shine a light on the deception, because if they do not receive
the gospel, if they do not understand the deception that they're facing after the
rapture, after we're gone, God's going to send them a strong delusion and they're going
to believe a lie. So our role is so important brethren in these last days. We're coming
to a point where these people, if they reject what they're hearing, if we don't shine
a light on the deception, they're going to become reprobate. Following the resurrection,
the rapture of believers, those that rejected the gospel as it was presented to them, they're
not going to get saved afterwards. Now we know people get saved afterwards. We know
that's a truth because we have the witnesses, the 144,000, we have the two witnesses in
Jerusalem and so of course they continue preaching the gospel, people continue to be saved and
we need to make sure that prior to that event that we have done all we can to preach the
gospel, to flee and also to shine a light on the deception. Go back to Matthew 24 and
verse number 25. Matthew 24 and verse number 25, the Bible reads, 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 or not. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man
be. So these false Christs, they're not going to compare to the real coming of the true
Christ who comes again in the clouds but his coming is so bright as lightning that cometh
out of the east even unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. So the fourth
point that we need to think about if we are that generation that goes for the great tribulation
is that we need to look for the coming of Christ. In fact the way I've got it written
here is look for the blessed hope, for that blessed hope and Titus chapter 2 verse 13
puts it this way, look in for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Hey who is Jesus Christ? Our great God. Jesus Christ
is God and is our Saviour and is coming with a glorious appearing as lightning that shiner
from the east to the west. We need to be looking for that blessed hope. Alright and so this
is so vital for us to understand, brethren, because one thing, of course this is going
to be a time of difficulty. Yes God will help us with the filling of his Holy Ghost, filling
us with his Spirit so we can do great works for him but what's going to keep us motivated,
working hard is knowing we're surely going to see Jesus Christ. We're surely going to
see the blessed hope, the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know the Bible says
and if you guys, if you can turn to, go to Luke 21 for me, go to Luke 21, we're going
to end on that passage. But while you're turning there I'm going to read to you from
Daniel chapter 12 and verse 12 and I have covered this in a previous sermon but just
to tie it in into this one again, in Daniel 12, 12 it says, blessed is he that waiteth
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. Blessed is he that waiteth.
Brethren, during the great tribulation we're called to wait. We're called to be looking
for that blessed hope. And here it says the blessing will come to the thousand three hundred
and five and thirty days. That's one thousand three hundred and thirty five days. And what
I had taught in a previous sermon is that three and a half years is 42 months. And on
the Jewish calendar every month has 30 days. So you work out how many days that is, 42
months times 30 days, 30 days for each month, you come to one thousand two hundred and sixty
days. One thousand two hundred and sixty days that leads up to that midst of the week. But
then we have the great tribulation and there's a blessing for those that wait till one thousand
three hundred and thirty five days. So if you subtract one thousand two hundred and
sixty, which is those 42 months times 30, from one thousand three hundred and thirty
five, you're left with seventy five days. So how long is the great tribulation? Well
according to the book of Daniel it is seventy five days. Seventy five days. Now don't forget
what we read in Matthew 24 though. Jesus says those days shall be shortened. And in fact
in the parallel passage in Mark 13, I'll just read that one to you, Mark 13 verse 20, it
says, and except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. But
for the elect's sake, whom he have chosen, he have shortened the days. So we have seventy
five days set by the prophet Daniel that sees out this great tribulation. Now after that
we have the wrath of God, don't forget all that. But seventy five days of the great tribulation,
but Jesus says those days shall be shortened for the elect's sake. So think about that
if we have that generation going through great tribulation. It's only seventy five days or
less. It's only that long. If we can see it out, if we can persevere to that time, we
can see it out, be faithful, doing the work that God has left us to do, then our flesh
shall be saved. The rapture, Jesus Christ coming in the clouds. Now you're in Luke
21 verse number 27. I said that the final point here that I have here is that we need
to be looking for that blessed hope. Luke 21 verse 27, it says, and then shall they
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. You see everyone is mourning, they're wailing, they're afraid of the coming of Christ,
but as believers, he says look up, lift up your head for your redemption, draweth nigh.
What a great promise and how exciting to call that the blessed hope. Going through difficulties,
some believers losing their life for the testimony of Christ, but if we can see it out bravely,
if we can last those seventy five days or less, we're going to be there for that blessed
hope. We're going to see that redemption draweth nigh. What a great relief. What a
great blessing, you know, to lift up your heads and know well Jesus Christ is coming.
He's going to save my flesh. That flesh will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of
an eye. We're going to have those new bodies like Jesus Christ. What a great promise to
come. And so the title for this sermon was Great Tribulation. And those four points once
again that we ought to be doing if we are that generation that goes through this time
number one to preach the gospel unto all nations, number two to flee persecution, go
from city to city, number three shine a light on the deception of the Antichrist and the
false prophets, and number four looking for that blessed hope. Now I've had to cut my
sermon in half. I do have some other things that I want to cover and this is how we can
remain faithful in those last days. How we can remain faithful and during to the end
that's going to be the next part that I have in this series on the end times. All right,
God bless.