Alright guys, like I said this is probably going to be a long sermon so I understand
if the kids get a bit cranky and you need to get out I really wanted to cover
this chapter as a whole because it all comes together. Now if you haven't been
coming to church on a weekly basis or you're new here you haven't been here
for a while what we do on a Tuesday is we tend to go through the Bible chapter
by chapter we've been going through the book of Matthew okay and we're finally
now up to Matthew 24. So the last time I preached was which was two weeks ago we
went through Matthew 23 we're now up to Matthew 24. Now this is a chapter that's
heavily debated okay now when it comes to the style of church that we are we
are an independent fundamental Baptist Church and I won't go through all the
reasons why that's the case okay but I'm strong on those labels I'm strong on
those titles that we have as a church but one thing I want you to understand
is that most independent fundamental Baptist churches we will not preach what
I'm about to preach today okay in fact many of my brethren hold a different
position than what I do okay and what this church holds so maybe some of you
have never heard this type of preaching before okay but most independent
fundamental Baptists believe in a what they call a pre-tribulation rapture
meaning that prior to a period known as the tribulation period you know the the
the believers will be taken up with Jesus Christ into heaven and God will
come and destroy the earth okay but the position that I hold and the position
that's been held by this church is a post tribulation pre-wrath rapture and
say what is that about well just listen up and we'll go through this here in
Matthew 24 okay so number one the reason why it's probably gonna be a long bit of
a long sermon number one is there's a lot of verses as you saw there's with
Bob reading but number two I've also can't just preach what it says which I
wish I could that's all I could do but I also have to dismantle or take down
other positions that people hold so it makes sense as you read through this
because I'm sure many of you when you look at these verses you're familiar
with them but you've probably been taught something else about these
verses now for example Matthew 24 many pastors will say to you that's not a
chapter for you it's not for you it's for the non unbelieving Jews it's for
the unbelieving Jews it's not for the believer they'll say okay now just
show of hands just very quickly who's been to churches or his who's been taught
the pre-tribulation rapture before can I just say show hands just to get an idea
pretty but okay cool put your hands there now how many of you just just you
don't need to put your hands up but just how many of you in this chapter alone in
Matthew 24 in order for them first of all look like I said they say this is
not a chapter for us it's not for the New Testament churches it's for the
unbelieving Jews they'll say right but how many of you have heard them use
verses from this very chapter to teach on the pre-trib rapture let me give you
some examples you guys are there and you're both your Bibles in Matthew 24
verse 36 Matthew 24 verse 36 the Bible says but of that day and hour knoweth no
man no not the angels of heaven but my father only and I'm sure you've all
heard pastors use that you know no man of the day of the hour right and so it's
a pre-tribulate you know hold on it's Matthew 24 it's in Matthew 24 what about
verse 37 but as the days of no we were so shall the coming of the Son of Man be
any times have you heard that people saying hey like the days of Noah that's
what it's going to be like when Christ comes and raptures his church what about
verse 40 then shall to be in the field the one shall be taken and the other
left I mean how many of you have heard that for a pre-trib rapture I know I
have many times many times what about verse 44 therefore be you also ready for
in such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh man I've heard those
verses I've known about you guys that put your hands up I've heard those
verses use time and time again for a pre-tribulation rapture for the church
okay but when you're looking at the other verses that's not for you it's
like what hold on you can't you can't play these games either these chapters
for us or it's not for us and if it's not for us and you believe in a pre-trib
rapture well where are your verses for a pre-trib rapture well I got to turn to
Matthew 24 if it's not for us that's my point okay now look our positions very
different I'd like to take the Bible as it's written okay now the Jesus Christ
speaks certain words to them unbelieving Jews absolutely and if you were here for
the last three chapters that we've gone through Matthew chapter 21 22 23 we saw
time and time again Jesus Christ coming up against the unbelieving Jews coming
up against the Pharisees and taking them down you know they were arguing
they were trying to find faults in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ just tears
them up okay so we saw how he deals with the unbelieving Jews now before I go on
just look at verse number 29 please Matthew 24 verse 29 the Bible says
immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the Sun be darkened the
title for the sermon tonight is after the tribulation after the tribulation I
do believe the rapture will take place after the tribulation of those days okay
and I'm going against the common teaching which is or the raptures
before the tribulation before the tribulation okay now first of all is
Jesus just speaking to the non-believing Jews here is that is that what this
chapter is about let's have a look at this okay now um look I've got a lot of
verses to go through I don't expect you to keep up with me okay but if you guys
just want to get the most out of this sermon keep Matthew 24 open and
Revelation chapter 6 okay so keep one finger there and the other verses so
those verses I'll give you time to turn to Matthew 24 and Revelation chapter 6
but all the other verses I'm just gonna spit them out to you okay so either take
down notes or you can go back and listen to this sermon later on if you need to
do further study okay but one thing you need to understand is that here in
Matthew 24 in Matthew 24 it says well let me just start off by Luke 21 37 says
and in the daytime this is talking about the time the final week that Jesus
Christ had before he was crucified it says and in the daytime he was teaching
in the temple okay and that's when he would come face to face with his with
his arm with his uh you know the unbelieving Jews that's when he come
face to face with the Pharisees in the temple and then it says and at night he
went out and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives okay so this
final week when Jesus Christ came into Jerusalem he would spend a day in the
temple teaching and then at night when it was done he would go into the Mount
of Olives Matthew 24 is taught at the Mount of Olives okay so where is he he's
on the Mount of Olives with his disciples that's where they stay in the
night so when he comes to what the word the words of Christ being taught here
he's not speaking to the unbelieving Jews he's speaking to his people he's
speaking to his disciples he's speaking to those that believe on him okay now
they'll say well you know this is not for you and this is look at Matthew 24
verse 16 Matthew 24 verse 16 they say look this is not for you you Australian
you Gentile Australian with a Chilean background it's not for you it's for the
Jews they'll go to Matthew 24 verse 16 look at this it says then let them which
be in Judea flee into the mountains see it's for those that live in Judea right
it's then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains for them who lives
in Judea they'll say it's the Jews well you know the Palestinians also live in
Judea you know there are many Christians that live in Judea there are many
tourists that that go into Judea all the time I mean it's not just the Jews
there's lots of people that live in that area of Judea today and many of them
other Palestinians okay but first of all look it says then let them let them okay
now look at verse 16 Matthew 24 verse 16 oh sorry sorry verse 4 Matthew 24 verse
4 I'm just going to rattle these off to you in that verse it says deceive you
okay so there is a them and there is a you look at verse number six it says and
ye all right you see those words and then it says see that ye all right and
verse verse number nine look at Matthew 24 verse 9 deliver you kill you and ye
yeah let me ask you something if someone says you and then them is it the same
group of people it's not the same group of people okay you is the people that
Jesus is speaking to okay and the them are others that he's referring to okay
others that he's referring to and then we're in Judea so he's speaking to you
who's he speaking to those that are on the Mount of Olives his disciples his
believers now what I want you to see here is I'm going to actually this is
this is a verse I want to turn to please go to mark 13 verse 3 mark 13 verse 3
mark 13 verse this is important to turn to because it gives us the context of
who Jesus Christ is speaking to specifically mark 13 verse 3 it's the
same story it's a parallel passage mark 13 verse 3 it says here and as he sat
upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple who's Peter and James and
John and Andrew asked him privately hey who are these men are they
non-believing Jews they're the ones that come and ask Jesus these questions which
leads him to preach on this chapter in Matthew 24 who are they non-believing
Jews who's he speaking to he's speaking to his disciples he's speaking to his
apostles in fact he's speaking to the men that would start the New Testament
churches the men that would go out and preach the gospel okay and look at drop
down to verse 37 now mark 13 verse 37 because some people say look look yes
he's speaking to his disciples but he's not speaking to their saved parts he's
speaking to their unsaved Jewishness it's like what in the world
it's been to their unsaved Jewish look these guys are saved okay they're
believers these you know and I look at verse 37 anyway even if you held that
position that Jesus was speaking to yes say people but he was really referring
to the unsaved Jewish flesh verse 37 and what I say unto you I say unto all
watch it's not for us who's all well it says what I said to you disciples my my
saved apostles I said to all watch okay so you know please don't be fooled into
thinking that Matthew 24 or the Olivet Discourse as it's known is not for you
it's for all it's for all it's specifically it's for his believers okay
please go back to Matthew 24 verse 1 Matthew 24 verse 1 and I you know I
just wasted time right I mean why shouldn't have to cover that just anyone
that reads the Bible should go Matthew 25 okay yeah let's read what the Bible
says let's but see ya now I've got to waste time explaining why people say
it's not for you all right and show you why it is for you Matthew 24 verse 1
Matthew 24 verse 1 and Jesus went out and departed from the temple so we saw
that you know daytime he'd be in the temple and his disciples came to him now
we know which disciples they were because of Mark right he said I became
to him for to show him the buildings of the temple and Jesus said unto them see
you're not all these things verily I sent to you there shall not be there
shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down
now these are words of Jesus what did he say there's not going to be a single
stone of the temple left upon another but it's a just the temple now look at
verse number 20 21 they the disciples came to him for to show him the
buildings of the temple so every building every wall every part of that
temple Jesus Christ says they'll be left here not one stone upon another okay
that shall not be thrown down that's what that was a prophecy of Jesus
Christ when was this fulfilled in 70 AD 70 AD Jerusalem would be burnt the
temple would be destroyed now why am I bringing that up it's because in Israel
today the Jews they've got the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall you guys have
you heard about that the Wailing Wall they've got this wall and they basically
say their prayers to it and they bow their heads to it like this all right
and they say hey that wall is part of the temple part of the old you know the
temple that we used to have and so we you know this is all we've got now to
worship God so we come here and we worship and we pray to this wall here
because it was part of the temple but if it was part of the temple then what
Jesus Christ said was not fulfilled he said not one stone would be left upon
another of all the buildings of the temple okay so let me say let me ask you
something if what Jesus said is true do you think that wall then is part of the
temple couldn't be couldn't be okay who do you think's a liar Jesus or Judaism
look I've been attacking them a lot lately okay but look this is Jesus
Christ is true none of the buildings will be left okay none of them and sure
enough it wasn't if you do some research into that the wall the Wailing Wall is
part of a Roman fortress okay it's part of a Roman fortress known as Fort
Antonia so just if you just want to do your researches go online look up Fort
Antonia and you understand that Wailing Wall is not anything to do the temple
because Jesus Christ would be destroyed totally was it's just part of a Roman
fortress which is just ridiculous I mean if to be praying to what I mean pray
toward any wall is ridiculous all right let alone a wall that had nothing to do
with the temple in the first place okay so and what's ridiculous about that just
not it's not just the Jews that do that guys but you have powerful men you have
leaders you have presidents prime ministers of other nations go into that
wall and pray into it what idolatry idolatry you know and that's you know
when you when you move away from Christ when you move away from the Word of God
you're gonna end up in false religion and Judaism today is a false religion
okay Matthew 24 verse 3 verse 3 and as he sat upon the Mount of Olives the
disciples came to him privately saying tell us when shall these things be and
what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world and Jesus
answered and said unto them take heed take heed means listen all right listen
pay attention that no man deceive you that no man deceive you this is why it's
important for us to preach Matthew 24 Jesus wants us to learn so we would not
be deceived many people are saying to you don't read it it's not for you that
sounds like deception to me all right sounds like someone's trying to lie to
me all right no and this is why it's so important when it comes to the end times
that sermons like this is filled with scriptures you don't want to hear my
opinion you don't hear my opinion I don't hear my opinion I want to I want
to tailor this scripture or this this our doctrine of the end times we've many
many scriptures that's why you've got Matthew 24 in one finger and the other
fingers there in in Revelation chapter 6 and many more passages that we can we
gonna go to go to okay the more scriptures we've got the less likely
we're gonna fall into problems and lies and heresies and being deceived verse
number five for many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall
deceive many hey there are others that are gonna come calling themselves Christ
and when it comes to the end times who's gonna call himself or who's gonna be
like Christ who's gonna refer to him as Christ a lot of you guys know him as the
Antichrist the Bible also calls him the beast okay the beast or the Antichrist
and then verse number six says and you shall hear of walls and rumors of walls
see that you'd be not troubled for all these things must come to pass but the
end is not yet do you get troubled do you get worried when you start hearing
about wars on the news and and rumors of wars and just recently there's been like
the United States might go and attack Iran because they shot down a unmanned
drone does that concern do you get worried about that if you do Jesus says
see that you'd be not troubled okay for us as believers you shouldn't
shouldn't matter to us who's going to war it's not our problem don't be
troubled by that we've got our business to do we've got our work to do you know
we're just passing through you know this nation is not our own not ours you know
we're looking to the heavenly kingdom okay we're looking to new heavens and
the new Jerusalem that's what matters to us you know but now what I want you to
do is please make sure you stay in Matthew 24 go to Revelation chapter 6
Revelation chapter 6 verse 1 because let's look at someone that would come as
Christ because that's what Christ said there's going to be some coming like him
in Revelation chapter 6 verse 1 this is the the seals you know the the the
seals if you're familiar with the book of Revelation the seven seals it says
here in verse number one and I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I
heard as it were the noise of thunder one of the four beasts saying 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 what did
we just read about Matthew 24 there was some coming saying they are Christ and
this he the man riding on the white horse is the Antichrist he is the beast
of the book of Revelation and his coming concrete nations okay and we know his
end goal is to basically take over the entire world but it starts off here with
the first seal his concrete nations go back to Matthew 24 please Matthew 24
verse 7 Matthew 24 verse 7 so if this guy's out conquering what do we expect
to see in Matthew 24 if the Bible's aligned verse number 7 for nation shall
rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom okay Kingdom against Kingdom go
back to Revelation 6 please Revelation 6 verse 3 Revelation chapter 6 verse 3
and when he 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 to him that
sat there on to take peace from the earth that they should kill one another
and there was given unto him a great sword hey this sounds like Matthew
kingdoms against kingdoms the wars are going on and the Bible says here in
Revelation chapter 6 of the second seal that peace has been removed from the
earth why because the earth is at war there's some type of big major world war
going on at this time okay back to Matthew 24 verse 7 we didn't finish
verse 7 Matthew 24 verse 7 it says and there shall be famines there shall be
fam what's famine a lack of food right a lack of food famines go back to
Revelation 6 verse 5 Revelation chapter 6 verse 5 and you'll see how the Bible's
perfectly consistent with these things Revelation chapter 6 verse 5 and when he
opened the third seal I heard the third beast say come and see and be held and I
behold and lo a black horse and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
hand and I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say a measure of wheat
for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny and see thou hurt not the
oil and the wine okay so just very quickly all I want to take there in
verse number six when the third seal is open is that a measure of wheat just
buying let's say you know a kilo of flour or something for wheat of wheat to
make bread he says for a penny now if you've been here in a previous weeks we
saw how a penny equated to a day's wage okay so just think about that for a
moment let's say I mean I know it's a day's wage is probably more than this
but let's say let's say a day's wage is a hundred bucks just you know for sake
of saying something simple well for a hundred bucks your whole days of working
all you can afford at that point in time is a little bit of flour just a
measure of wheat okay to do that so you can see hyper inflation you can see the
value of money you know basically deteriorating and you see a lack of food
and why why is that is because the world's at war and quite often when the
world is at war that places that have been affected you know they lose the
value of their money they can't get the food that they need and so we see these
things playing out now go back to Matthew 24 please Matthew 24 back to
verse 7 we haven't finished it yet Matthew 24 verse 7 then it says and
pestilences now what are pestilences it's disease sicknesses okay there's
going to be disease and sicknesses upon the earth and earthquakes in diverse
places back to Revelation 6 now Revelation chapter 6 verse 7 Revelation
chapter 6 verse 7 we're up to the fourth seal 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 and behold a pale horse man if you see someone looking pale what do you
think about them what do you say about them you look a bit sick don't you look
you look in pale you're not looking well a pale horse and his name that sat on
him was 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 I don't want to go I'd love to go through all
that but we need to move on okay but you can see the pestilences that were in
Matthew 24 we see the pale horse and we see people just dying you know a fourth
of the earth basically perishing with all these things the walls the famines
the sequences all these things people perishing back to Matthew 24 Matthew 24
verse 8 Matthew 24 verse 8 and then Jesus says these words all these are the
beginning of sorrows okay say what things the things we just talked about
okay the four the four horsemen the the Antichrist false Christ or the
Antichrist the the wars the the the famines the pestilences all these things
Jesus Christ calls this the beginning of sorrows now one thing I want you to
understand have we seen anything at this point in time about believers being
persecuted no it's just the entire world suffering the entire world is at war of
course I guess you could say believers are probably suffering as well because
the whole world is but you know it's not something that's targeting believers
okay that's what that's what it's called the beginning of sorrows we now turn to
a new part of the end times instead of the entire world being persecuted we're
going to now see the believers of Christ being persecuted okay now look at verse
number nine verse number nine Matthew 24 verse 9 then so after the beginning of
sorrows right then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill
you and you shall be hated of all nations why for my name's sake whose
name who's speaking Jesus Christ say mens for the Jews the Jews don't love
Jesus Christ they hate Jesus Christ they're not gonna be persecuted for the
name of Christ are you kidding me this is about believers okay if you're a
Christian okay you've got the name of Christ then you'll be persecuted for his
name you're gonna be persecuted because you're a Jew you've been persecuted
because you're a Christian okay now back to revelation chapter 6 please
revelation chapter 6 verse 9 and we can see again the consistency of the Bible
revelation chapter 6 verse 9 and when he had opened the fifth seal I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain why for the Word of God and for
the testimony which they held that's what we saw in Matthew 24 verse number
10 and they cried with a loud voice saying how long the Lord holy and true
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth so who's
killing these people the unbelieving world okay and these these people that
have died for the name of Christ for the Word of God they're asking God they're
asking Jesus how long God how long before you take vengeance upon those
that killed us verse number 11 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 and also and their brethren that should be killed
as they were should be fulfilled okay but look in revelation 6 9 again why
were they slain they were slain for the Word of God hey who's the Word of God
it's Jesus Christ okay Jesus Christ again these people that have been killed
or been persecuted by this world and the Antichrist are believers again not
non-believing Jews it's so ridiculous to hold that position I don't know why
okay the scriptures are so clear back to Matthew 24 Matthew 24 verse number 10
Matthew 24 verse 10 and then shall many be offended man I feel like we're
living these days right now everyone gets offended so easily right
everywhere you just make a joke and everyone's wow I can't believe you said
that you know you say something you know you say something just you teach the
Bible and people get offended these days man people don't have thick skin anymore
people don't know how to brush off insult and they just everyone just is
easily offended you know for those of you kids young ones that are known as
Millennials I'm feel sorry for you because your generation man it's the
offended generation all right now my generation wasn't that great either but
I'm just saying man you guys are getting you guys you guys are gonna yeah I'll be
praying for you guys I'll just put it that way okay verse number 10 and they
show and shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate
one another and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many I
haven't got time to go through this right now but in the book of Revelation
there's a false prophet that will point people to the Antichrist of the beast as
a man to be worshipped but verse number 12 and because iniquity shall abound the
love of many shall wax cold okay so the natural love that people have in the
world it's all gonna wax cold why because of the iniquity because it's
gonna be exceedingly sinful in these days verse number 13 but he that shall
endure unto the end the same shall be saved now let me tell you right now this
verse number 13 is not about your soul's salvation okay and those false prophets
that want to preach a works gospel will point to this verse and say see you've
got to endure brother you know you've got to live a life a faithful life you
got to be in church you got to read the Bible you got to serve the Lord and if
you don't do it till death man I don't know you know you got to do it to the
end to be saved that's what I was saying well hold on what's the context of what
we're reading people are killing believers it's talking about the
salvation of the flesh it's all that you know seeing it through to the rapture so
you would you would have your flesh saved as it were and being delivered by
Christ rather than being cured by the Antichrist and and his and you know the
ungodly world and we'll look at this later on you'll see later on this is not
about salvation of the soul you know this is I mean of course not right so
so it's based upon Jesus Christ it's not about you enduring it's about you
placing your faith in Christ and Christ having paid for it all your past future
and present sins you know so the context is clear I believe but we'll see this
later on look at verse number 14 they say well man hearing about this stuff
dying and it gets me worried it gets me scared is that you know well what's our
job verse number 14 because listen if we're being persecuted for the name of
Christ aren't we gonna be like trying to get out out of the persecution I'm gonna
like get it get out flee and things like that so why are we fleeing is it because
we're scared verse 14 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 okay listen
to me if you're if this if this preaching gets you scared if the end
times gets you scared pay attention because you're gonna be empowered by God
and you're gonna be out there preaching the gospel of the kingdom to all nations
that's what you're gonna be empowered to do if you face persecution here in
Sydney then you go to Brisbane and you preach the gospel there you get
persecution there you go to Melbourne and you preach the gospel there okay you
get preaching every city in Australia you get in New Zealand you preach the
gospel there all right and that's that's how the gospel is going to get out to
the whole world is because we're being pushed and we're going out hey doesn't
sound like we're scared it sounds like we want the name of God to be known in
the whole world praise God hey that's a spirit of power and of course 2nd
Timothy 1 7 says for God have not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of
love and of a sound mind be not there therefore ashamed of the testimony of
our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be there partaker of the afflictions of the
gospel according to the power of God hey yes we'll be afflicted in these last
days or whatever that last generation of believers will be hey but the Bible says
look be a partaker of the afflictions you know God wants us to to be to suffer
for him and the Lord will make sure that we're rewarded for our service for
our loyal service to him the power Bible says hey he's given us a spirit of power
and of love and you know the Holy Spirit is going to be working in us if well
that last generation the Holy Spirit's gonna be working in us we're not gonna
be afraid we're gonna be out there doing the works of God all right verse number
15 Matthew 24 verse 15 now this is important because people will look at
the end they people look at the nations and they say well look what's going on
with Iran and look what's going on Syria look what's going on with Russia you
know what's going on here I'll look now there's cryptocurrency and you know
there's all this and it's all man you know the end times you know the work
the world could be at war in any time now you know the end time listen look
watch you know be someone that that's aware of what's going on this world but
Jesus Christ tells us exactly when we're gonna know when we're in these last
times okay it's you don't need to worry about every little development in this
world okay don't be someone that's always afraid and look at all these
things but look at verse 15 Jesus tell us when we're gonna know when ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the
prophet standing the holy place who so readeth let him understand Jesus says
look I'm gonna tell you when you're gonna know is when you see this so
called abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet okay maybe you
guys want to go to Daniel the prophet let's go to Daniel chapter 9 please
Daniel chapter 9 Daniel chapter 9 because listen there's always wars
there's always famines there's always earthquakes there's always these things
going on okay it doesn't mean it doesn't mean it's gonna happen tomorrow it could
happen a hundred years from I don't know I don't know you know all I know is when
I see the abomination desolation then I'll know it's gonna it's happening okay
and let's look at the book of Daniel Daniel chapter 9 verse 27 let's learn
about this the the abomination of desolation Daniel chapter 9 verse 27
verse 27 Daniel 9 27 the Bible says then he and by the way the he here is the
beast is the Antichrist I don't have time to go through that now and he shall
confirm the covenant with many for one week now this is about Daniel 70th week
too much we don't have time to go through all okay but there's one week
left how many days in a week seven days okay but when it comes to this prophecy
it's not about seven days in a week it's seven years in a week seven years okay
but let's just say here for many in one week so in the seven years this
Antichrist will make a covenant with the people makes sense because he's out
there conquering the nations so he makes some type of agreement that you know he
becomes the king of all things and then it says and in the midst of the week hey
in the middle in the midst midst means middle in the midst of the week so three
and a half years into this final seven year period shall he cause the sacrifice
and the oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall
make it desolate there's the the abomination of desolation even until the
consummation and that the tournament shall be poured upon the desolate now
please go to Daniel chapter 11 let's learn a little bit more about this
Antichrist this beast but I want you to notice when does it take place in the
middle of the seven years that's when we're going to know we're in this time
maybe we'll have a you know we'll have a good feel we're in that period but we'll
definitely know when this takes place okay we'll definitely know this is this
takes place what happens during the middle of this week okay now just to
stop there for a minute the beginning of sorrows all right the
the four seals you know the four horsemen that all takes place for the
first three and a half years okay then we're at the abomination desolation then
we're when the Antichrist really comes into play really when he really comes
into the picture but look at Daniel 11 verse 31 Daniel 11 verse 31 says here
and arms shall stand on his part and they shall pollute the sanctuary of
strength and shall take away the daily sacrifice that they shall place the
abomination that maketh desolate and by the way this is just like a statue like
an image of this Antichrist which he calls people to come and worship at okay
we haven't got time to look at that but drop down to verse 36 verse 36 so what
happens what happens when he does this verse 36 and the king shall do according
to his will the king being the Antichrist and he shall exalt himself
and magnify himself above every God and shall speak marvelous things against the
God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished for that
for that that is determined shall be done neither shall he regard the God of
his fathers nor the desire of women nor regard any God for he shall magnify
himself above all so the Antichrist comes and he exalts himself in the midst
of this week and he says hey I'm above every God I in fact he says he's God and
that's how he blasphemes the Lord God all right now that's the midst of the
week when you see this happen you'll be like man that's it we're in it now this
is it now let's get out there and preach the gospel you know to every nation
let's make sure we use the last times the last you know years that we have or
whatever length or we have in fact it's probably a few months at this point but
let's use whatever we have left to get out there and preach the Word of God get
out there and win as many souls as possible I'll be quitting my job I'll be
I'll be out there just preaching the gospel that's all I'll be concerned
about at this time period okay and you say well what if what if you get caught
for doing that and you get beheaded and all that oh who cares you know lose my
life for Christ I'll have an exciting story when I'm in heaven all right if
you pass away in your sleep so how did you pass away I just need my sleep you
know I lost my head you know I was on my way to Melbourne preaching the gospel
then someone found me and that's an exciting story right you get rewarded
in heaven but anyway back to Matthew 24 verse 16 Matthew 24 verse 16 and the
Antichrist is going to set himself up in Jerusalem all right why because that's
you know where Christ was so of course the Antichrist wants to do everything
that Christ does and that's why when we get to verse 16 that's why we now
mention Judea the Bible says then let them which be in Judea flee into the
mountains this tells me that the persecution in Judea is probably gonna
be pretty bad okay because that's where the Antichrist is gonna be set up so if
you find yourself in that area I don't know why but if you do anyone else in
Judea should flee into the mountains verse 17 let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take anything out of his house neither let them 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 now just quickly on verse 19
I've heard people say that believe in a post-trib rapture or whatever say I'm
not gonna have any kids because you know I reckon it's just a few years away and
Bible says whoa unto them that are with child listen the context is Judea all
right if you're not in Judea I just have the kids man just have the kids train
them up to preach the gospel you know train them up to be those people that go
out there and do the great works of God and let them earn great rewards in
heaven don't you know why would you hold that back anyway but so you can see that
in Judea obviously they have to be concerned about their flight verse number
20 being not being in the winter ice I assume it'd be hard to escape during
that time neither on the Sabbath day because in that part of the world
obviously they they respect the Sabbath everything shut down I guess you're not
gonna be able to catch a train or you know get out of there as easily if you
if it was any other day of the week okay but I just want you to notice that it's
got the ye and it's got the them okay but of course there are believers in
every nation you know there's even believers of Christ in Judea okay and
many of them they can't it's illegal to preach the gospel in in Israel it's
illegal okay and there are many Palestinians that are saved there are
there are many people in that place of the world so obviously these
instructions apply to them okay verse number 21 verse number 21 so as they're
escaping the Antichrist sets himself up he lifts himself up to be God verse
number 21 for then look at this for then shall be great tribulation hold on
shouldn't there be a rapture before this tribulation period did we read about a
rapture before that guys because that's what they say before the tribulation
Christ is gonna come back and take his saints well if if that's the case why
didn't Jesus even mention it okay what we see is the beginning of sorrows and
in the midst of the week the Antichrist exhaust himself to be God they start
killing the believers of Christ anybody that has that you know that you know
stands up for his name and then shall be great tribulation that is the
tribulation the believers being persecuted by the Antichrist okay look
at this such as what was not since the beginning of the world to this time no
nor ever shall be who's doing the persecution it's the Antichrist it's not
God pouring out his wrath on this world just yet it's the devil it's the
Antichrist it's the ungodly world persecuting believers that's what the
great tribulation is all right now look it says here such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time no no ever shall be now we looked at the
book of Daniel sorry guys go back to Daniel go back to Daniel chapter 12
super important for you to see this okay because the book of Daniel especially
the last half those that that don't believe like I do will say to you
Daniel's not for you Daniel's for the non-believing Jews that's why the book
of Daniel often says when God's speaking to Daniel God will use the terms thy
people you know Daniel was a Jew so therefore thy people of Daniel are the
Jews or non-believing Jews in that sense well it makes no sense Daniel was a
believer Daniel was a man of faith Daniel someone say that is Daniels in
heaven now we're gonna see him you know but anyway go to Daniel chapter 12 verse
1 because here's the thing the Bible defines for us who thy people are okay
we don't need some scholar to tell us who thy people is we just need the Word
of God Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 and at that time shall Michael stand up Michael
the Archangel the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people
there it is thy people look at this and there shall be a time of trouble such
as never was since there was a nation even to that the same time doesn't that
sound like what we just read in Matthew 24 this is the greatest tribulation the
greatest trial trial ever look at this and at that time thy people shall be
delivered lots of Jews thy people shall be well let's have a look shall be
delivered everyone that shall be found written in the book hey listen are you
written in the book of life if you are you're the people of Daniel that's what
the Bible says how can you say the non-believing Jews are written in the
lands book of life what in the world the Bible defines things for us listen
the Bible is easy as long as we put away the false teachings the confusion that
comes from a lot of this preaching and listen to me the pre-tribulation rapture
as far as being taught within you know you know modern like denominations like
like let's say Baptists and Presbyterians and Anglicans it's only
something that's been taught the last hundred years okay since the Schofield
reference Bob which came I think in the 19 1912 or something you know and even
then it will it took a while for certain churches to accept the teaching of the
preacher rapture okay and the Baptist was some of the last to accept it okay
so really that teachings only been around for a hundred years okay but of
course for us a hundred years is several generations so we have several
generations of pastors that have been teaching a pre tribulation rapture even
though the Bible never teaches that okay let's keep going let's keep going
thy people is everyone that shall be found written in the book go to the book
of Revelation Revelation chapter 3 verse 5 Revelation chapter 3 verse 5
Revelation chapter 3 verse 5 who's in the book or the non-believing Jews
Revelation chapter 3 verse 5 he that overcometh okay that's important he that
overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment and I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life but I will confess his name before my father
and before his angels how are you in the Lord's book how are you you're someone
that overcomes right you're someone that overcometh you say what does that mean
how do I overcome I'll just read to you first John 5 5
Bible says who is he that overcometh the world hey that's a good question who is
he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of
God hey man if you believe Jesus the Son of God if that's your Savior then
you're someone that's overcome already you've overcome okay and your name is
written in the Lamb's book of life okay and you're the people of Daniel that's
how it comes together do the Jews do the non-believing Jews believe that Jesus
is the Son of God of course not you can see who's Matthew 24 written to you guys
you know I mean this is crystal clear but like I said I'm wasting time trying
to debunk the arguments that the other positions have go back to Matthew 24
Matthew 24 verse 22 Matthew 24 verse 22 and if you have any questions for me
please you know after the service or I'm here this whole week call me up catch up
with me if you want if you don't understand this please I want to make
sure this is well understood and if you if you still if you disagree with me
that's fine as well you know if this is great me but Matthew 24 verse 22 Matthew
24 verse 22 and except those days be shortened there shall no flesh be saved
remember when we read he that endure to the end shall be saved well what to say
here that and unless those days be shortened there shall no flesh be saved
is this talking about the salvation of the soul no it's not the salvation of
your body your flesh okay again confirmed for us in the Bible but but
for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened for the elect's sake those
days shall be shortened so the Lord's gonna have mercy on us and it's going to
shorten those days of tribulation okay so we can survive okay not all of us are
going to lose our lives but many of us will also survive because we're gonna be
there to be to experience the rapture to experience the resurrection okay now
those that teach a pre tribulation rapture will say well in verse 22 the
elect there are the Jews the non believe in Jews the elect all right so let's
have to debunk that as well right let's debunk that one I'll just read to you
guys Romans 11 verse 7 but says what then Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh after or seeker for Israel doesn't has not obtained what it
seeker for but the election have obtained it and the rest were blinded
that's a perfect reference for you to know that Israel not believe in Israel
are not the election all right cuz it said Israel hath not obtained that
which is seeker for but the election have obtained it how can Israel be the
election when Israel has not obtained it but the election has obtained it you say
what's what is obtained what salvation okay Israel autism not old testament
you know 1948 Israel has not obtained it but the election has obtained it okay
now I'm going to read to you from Colossians 3 11 Colossians 3 11 which
says where there is neither Greek nor Jew circumcision nor uncircumcision
barbarian Scythian bond nor free but Christ is in all and in all I love that
doesn't matter about who you are your background your nationality your
ethnicity how rich you are you know whether you're bond or free it doesn't
matter if we're in Christ we're all one and then it says in verse number 12 put
on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness
humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering what does the Bible
call us whether Jew or Greek Gentile whatever you are if you're in Christ the
Bible calls you the elect of God so how can it be the Jews you say non believing
Jews how can it be all right no it's the believing Jews and the believing
Gentiles and they're believing of everything okay that make up the elect
of God if you're a believer we're all one in Jesus Christ back to Matthew 24
verse 23 Matthew 24 verse 30 20 23 so for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened who are the elect of those that are in Christ okay God loves us
he's gonna shorten those days for us but still I mean that's what you're gonna
earn maximum rewards getting the gospel out there in the face of persecution it's
the best time to do it all right verse number 23 verse number 23 then 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
in so much that if it were possible that they should deceive the very elect now
the Bible say that the elect the saved are going to be deceived by the
Antichrist are we going to take the mark of the beast no we're not going to be
deceived okay it says if if it were possible they shall deceive the very
if it was possible meaning it's not possible okay it's not possible for us
to take the mark of the beast and I've heard people say well see this is not
for us because you know we're not called to be saved by not taking the mark of
the you know and mark of the beast and they say well it's not it's not a we're
not going to be deceived and maybe we're going to be tempted because when we're
when we're hungry we see our children starving then we're gonna want you know
I'm gonna take that mark of the beast I mean is that do you find that in the
Bible if we're gonna base our doctrine our beliefs on the Word of God do you
see believers any believers whatever believers that you think they are in the
tribulation taking the mark of the beast it's not in the Bible why would you base
doctrines or beliefs on something that's not in the Bible let's base it upon the
things that are in the Bible okay the things that are in the Bible and again
the Lord will empower us in this time there's going to be a pouring out of the
Holy I'm not so about the Charismatics here I'm talking about all the
Pentecostals I'm saying there's going to be a true pouring out of the Holy
Ghost in us I haven't got time to go through that that's in Acts chapter 2 if
you're curious and we're gonna be able to do great works for the Lord okay but
let's go verse number 25 verse number 25 Matthew 24 25 behold I have told you
before wherefore if they say unto you behold he's in the desert that's Jesus
in the desert go not forth behold he is in the secret chambers believe it not
now what's funny about verse 26 is if someone says to you Jesus is in the
secret chambers don't believe it okay why because when Jesus comes back it's
not gonna be a secret okay it's gonna everyone's gonna see it everyone's going
to know when Christ comes back and we'll prove this shortly okay and what's funny
about the pre-tribulation rapture is they also call it the secret rapture the
secret no one else no one's gonna know you know it's gonna be you know twinkling
the moment you know twinkling of the eye we're gonna be caught up you know no
one's gonna know it's gonna be a huge secret Jesus says it's not a secret he
says it's not a secret and yet it's funny how they take the things that
Jesus says and flip it on its head but verse number 27 why would it not be a
secret because look at 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 this is
like lightning if you guys see it's lightning it comes from one side it
shines and then you know the light travels but for a brief moment it's all
there it's all visible right it's traveled down but it's just it's like
fixed for a moment and then disappears right you see the entire thing and he
says that's how it's going to be it's going to be this bright light this great
showing you know as East and by the way this is how some people kind of say well
how is every eye gonna see Christ when he just comes down how is it the whole
world gonna see well there's the answer as lightning coming from the east and
shiner even unto the west so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be I
believe that Christ is going to go through the whole world okay and and and
rapture is believers from the east to the west whatever that looks like you
know on the map of Christ so we're going to skip verse 28 for now because I want
to get to that toward the end verse 28 but let's go to verse 29 verse 29 so we
saw the tribulation the Antichrist persecuting the believers okay there was
no rapture before that there's nothing there from the Matthew 24 verse 29 verse
number 29 immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the Sun
be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the star shall fall from
heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken what happens immediately
after the tribulation the Sun and the moon darkened right and the stars fall
from heaven we saw that God of Revelation chapter 6 again revelation
chapter 6 verse 12 we've seen the first five seals now we're up to seal number
6 seal number 6 in Revelation chapter 6 verse 12 it says and I beheld when he
had opened the sixth seal what are we gonna see the Bible is consistent we
should see the same events right and lo there was a great earthquake and the Sun
became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and the stars
of heaven fell onto the earth even as a fig tree cast of her untimely figs when
she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is
rolled together so the heaven or the skies the parts like a strike if you
open up a scroll it all it opens up why would it open up why is it gonna open up
it's because Christ is coming right that's why it's opening up and this is
an every mountain and island were moved out of their places all right so we see
this in Revelation chapter 6 perfectly perfectly lining up with Matthew 24 the
Sun and moon being darkened the stars falling from heaven go back to Matthew
24 now Matthew 24 verse 30 verse number 30 so we see the the heavens been opened
or departed like a scroll when it's rolled together and verse number 30 in
Matthew 24 Matthew 24 verse 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man
in heaven that's Jesus speaking about himself and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn pay attention all the earth all the tribes of the earth listen
it's not a secret all the tribes all the nations of the earth will look at
Christ and mourn hey that's not a good thing now for the believers we're gonna
be rejoicing man we're good it's over the tribulation is over I'm gonna be
with Christ but when it comes to the non-believing world they're gonna mourn
we'll see soon why and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory hey they will see Jesus himself coming with
power and great glory go back to Revelation chapter 6 revelation
chapter 6 verse 15 let's keep reading revelation chapter 6 verse 15 it says
here we saw that all the tribes of the earth will mourn revelation chapter 6
verse 15 and the kings of the earth and the great man and the rich man and the
chief captains and the mighty man and every bond man and every free man hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains men the world's just
gonna be afraid they're gonna go and try to hide right in in their bunkers
and whatever else they have verse number 16 and said to the mountains and the
rocks fallen us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb hey who do they see they saw Jesus and they
said look hide us from his wrath okay verse number 17 for the great day of his
wrath is come and who shall be able to stand that's why they're afraid they
know now God Christ is gonna pour out his wrath on this world hey the world
was persecuting God's people and now Christ is coming pouring out his wrath
on them that's what's going on okay so understand a few key things now
beginning of sorrows midst of the week the Antichrist you know exalts himself
to be God the tribulation the persecution of believers right then at
the end of the tribulation the Sun and Moon are darkened right the heavens are
opened up the Lord comes in great power and glory and these guys are freaking
out okay and he says the day of his wrath the day of his wrath is come now
we're up to the wrath of God we believe in a post-trib so after the tribulation
pre-wrath will be raptured before Jesus Christ pours out his wrath on this earth
okay are we going to are we going to miss the tribulation no we're gonna face
the tribulation and hopefully do a great job during the tribulation as his people
then we'll be raptured and we'll see soon see the rapture there and then the
God will pour out his wrath okay back to Matthew 24 Matthew 24 and of course the
wrath are the seven trumpets the seven vials of the book of Revelation again
we have time to go through that but many of you will be familiar with those
passages back to Matthew 24 verse 31 Matthew 24 verse 31 so Christ is coming
in the clouds what do we expect to see the rapture okay being with the Lord
forever verse 31 and he that's been Jesus shall send his angels with a
grout great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect who's
the elect the believers from the four winds from one end of heaven to the
other now I need you to go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 1st
Thessalonians chapter 4 okay 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 because 1st
Thessalonians chapter 4 is the most famous passage of the rapture whether
you're pre-trib post-trib post-trib pre-wrath we all agree we all agree that
1st Thessalonians chapter 4 is about the rapture okay now when we saw
Matthew 24 we saw Christ coming right he's descending we saw him coming in the
clouds we saw the angels we saw the trumpet being blown right and we saw the
gathering from one heaven to the other all right we saw five elements there in
Matthew 24 now if that's the rapture in Matthew 24 then that should line up with
1st Thessalonians chapter 4 which everyone agrees is the rapture 1st
Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16 please 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16
look at this for the Lord himself shall descend there it is number one from
heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel so we've got the angels
number two and with the trump of God the trumpet number three and the dead in
Christ shall rise first we've been reasoning up there verse 17 then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds as number five the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever
be with the Lord praise God for his promise we see the attributes of Matthew
24 he's coming line up perfectly with 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 which
everyone agrees is the rapture so why deny Matthew 24 you know hey let's just
believe what the Bible says all right now some will say well hold on if you go
back to Matthew 24 I've heard this argument Matthew 24 verse 31 Matthew 24
verse 31 let's say no no no no this isn't about you know believers taken
from earth to heaven because in Matthew 24 verse 31 it said at the end there
from one end of heaven to the other so they say well Matthew 24 is about
Revelation 19 and sorry if it gets a bit confusing when Christ comes on a white
horse and it comes with all the Saints they say that that's Christ gathering
all the Saints from one end of the heaven to the other end and that's why
they're all coming down in Revelation chapter 19 but this is why God's given
us multiple Gospels okay so I'm going to read to you from mark 13 verse 27 this
is the same teaching of Christ parallel passage the same time Matthew sorry mark
13 verse 27 the Bible says and then shall he send his angels yep and shall
gather together his elect yep from the four winds we saw that in Matthew 24
look at this from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of
heaven what it say from the uttermost part of the earth from the earth to the
uttermost part of heaven okay this is a parallel passage here in mark 13 verse
27 you may want to drop that down if in case that person or somebody you know
tries to argue that point but we see no Christ is taking his believers from the
earth up to heaven up to the clouds to be with him okay and so shall we ever
be with the Lord back to Matthew 24 Matthew 24 32 Matthew 24 verse 32
Matthew 24 verse 32 Jesus now says now learn the parable of the fig tree when
his branch is yet tender he and put off off leaves ye know that summer is nigh
so when you see a fig tree and you and and it starts to bring forth its leaves
you know that it's near summer it's basically says like because the fig tree
is a seasonal fruit we know when it's us to grow we know where the seasons
changing and some is close by verse 33 so so likewise ye when you shall see
these things know that it is near even at the doors so Jesus wants us to know
when the end is right that's why he's given us Matthew 24 so he's given us all
these events so he tells us about the persecution he tells us about the
Antichrist so we can know these things when the time comes okay I mean how how
wicked does it now sound to say well Matthew 24 don't read that's not for you
Jesus wants us to know okay he wants us to know and notice that he gave the
parable of the fig tree just out of curiosity go back to Revelation chapter
6 Revelation chapter 6 verse 13 Revelation of the 6 verse 13 it said and
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig tree cast of her untimely
figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind I only point that out just to show you
the consistency of the Bible you know Jesus Christ speaks of the fig tree in
parable then Matthew 24 and straight after the sun and moon being darkened
and the Apostle John does exactly the same thing you know it's all tied in
together perfectly all right Matthew 24 verse 34 Matthew 24 verse 34 Matthew 24
verse 34 verily truly they have very means truly verily I sent you this
generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled I mean that
should be an easy thing to understand but let me just explain a couple things
some people some be some people I don't really come I don't know who they are
but apparently a lot of so-called Christians believe they don't believe in
a literal millennium in the future they believe the millennium is right now and
they believe all these things in Matthew 24 took place like shortly after Christ
ascended up to heaven okay well 70 AD I'll teach you all these things now I do
believe there is a double fulfillment some of these things I do believe some
of these things do apply can apply to 70 AD but I mean Jesus did not come back in
the clouds in 70 AD right that's that's the way future thing to come but verse
34 the reason that the reason they come to that idea is it says here that this
generation shall not pass to all these things be fulfilled they say see the
generation that Jesus is speaking to will not pass till all those things be
fulfilled and since they did pass then all these things must have been
fulfilled already I mean look I think it's quite clear what generation is
talking about he just finished saying if you see these things all right the same
generation that sees these end time events will be the same generation that
will not pass to all these things be fulfilled okay I mean just keep it
within the context you'll be fine verse 35 verse 35 heaven and earth shall pass
away but my words shall not pass away beautiful words just confirmation this
is important to learn it's not going to change okay it's not going to pass away
verse 36 but of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the angels of
heaven but my father only just another passage there just again showing the
distinction between the father and the son Jesus says look I don't know but the
father knows how can Jesus be the father if he says I don't know the day of the
hour now maybe he knows it now I'm not sure but he says the father knows the
father knows right only verse 37 but as the days of no we were no is just Noah
so shall the coming of the Son of Man be for as in the days that were before the
flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until
the day that no he entered into the ark and you not until the flood came and
took them all away so shall all the coming so so so shall also the coming of
the sand of the Son of Man be so just like the days of Noah Noah knew Noah
knew the flood was coming Noah was preparing the ark right he knew his plan
he knew the Lord was going to destroy the earth and he was prepared he was
there working he was doing the work of God hey and if you're a believer you
need to do the work of God you know these things are coming especially in
those days these days if you're if you're the that generation that lives in
it you better be like Noah building that ark okay but when it comes to the
unbelieving world it's gonna come as a surprise they're not gonna be prepared
for it okay just like the days of Noah the unbelieving world is not going to
be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man now I want you to yeah actually
let's do this because um let's go to first Thessalonians chapter 5 first
Thessalonians chapter 5 why are we going there because first Thessalonians
chapter 4 is the famous rapture passage first Thessalonians chapter 5 just
continues the same teaching all right first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2
now our pre-tribulation brethren and I love my pre-trib brethren please never
think I don't I do okay but they'll say we don't we don't know you know Jesus
coming Jesus is coming as a thief in the night you've heard that before he's
coming so we don't know when the thief's coming if we knew the thief was coming
we would we wouldn't you know we wouldn't allow him to break in we call
the police if we knew the thief was coming you know he says we don't know
that's why it could be happening at any moment it could happen today it could
happen in five minutes it could happen at the end of the sermon could happen
at the end of the week we don't know because we don't know when the thief is
gonna break in and steal now we just saw what Jesus said about the days of Noah
it's those that were not prepared but no other believer he was prepared he
knew it was coming so first Thessalonians chapter 5 let's look at
this about the thief in the night because Jesus also mentions that in
Matthew 24 later on but first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 for
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the
night so that's true what our pre-trib brethren are saying is true it's coming
as a thief in the night okay but verse number three for when they hey who's
they it's not us okay the the the book of Thessalonians was written by Paul to
the Thessalonian Church and by extension it's written for us because we're a
church so when he says for when they it's talking about those that are non
believers the unsaved world right look at this for when they shall say peace
and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them not upon you upon them
as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape all right so is it
coming as a thief in the night yes but it's coming as a thief in the night to
them not to us to them okay you say well prove it verse number four but ye
brethren you brethren you save people are not in darkness that that they
should overtake you as a thief look it's not gonna overtake you as a thief you're
not in darkness brethren you know what Jesus said in Matthew 24 oh no I
shouldn't be reading that yeah you will be in darkness if you you know ignore
the words of Christ verse number five ye are all the children of light and the
children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness that's why the
thief's not gonna break in because we're not of darkness the thief comes in when
it's dark and it's the unsaved world that's in darkness we're not in
darkness verse number six therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us
watch and be sober hey does Jesus want us to be paying attention and knowing
when things are coming yes he does he wants us to be aware okay and the
thief's not going to come in the night for us because we're in the lights but
the unsaved world yet they're the ones so when I'll say when our pre-trib
brethren say it's like a thief in the night I don't know what's going on you
know they're just lumping themselves with the non-believers why would you
how ridiculous I don't blame them a lot of people don't look into this a lot of
people like they've just been taught by their pastors and many of those pastors
are good men I'm not saying they're not okay they're doing the best they can but
they're not preparing their flock for the end times now I'm not saying we
necessarily are gonna be that people the last generation if we're even if we're
not we should prepare for tribulation anyway you know we could have local
tribulation we're gonna have local problems you know and we should prepare
ourselves our hearts seeking the Lord doing his work it really doesn't matter
if we're the last generation or not we still have the same task to do and
that's preach the gospel and see people saved back to Matthew 24 please Matthew
24 and we're just gonna skip a few verses and I will get to that later on
I need to I need to hurry up so let's skip to verse 43 let's skip to verse 43
another parable but know this that if the good man of the house had known in
in what watch the thief would come thief why would he mention the thief here Paul
mentions the thief in in first Thessalonians chapter 5 why would Paul
mention it there because Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 24 okay Paul is getting
his teaching from Christ in Matthew 24 man our pre-treat brethren loved Paul
they loved the book of Thessalonians but why won't you go to the book that he got
his teaching from okay anyway let's keep going the thief right we watch the thief
would come he would he would have watched and would not have suffered or
allowed his house to be broken up verse number 44 look at this therefore be ye
also ready for in such an hour as you think not the son of man cometh who then
is a faithful and wise servant do we want to be faithful and wise servants
who is he whom the Lord hath made ruler over his household to give them meat
into season blessed is that servant whom the Lord when he cometh fine shall
find so doing verily I say unto you that he shall make him a ruler over all his
goods so hey man if the Lord watches you know sees us watching waiting preparing
ourselves getting the gospel doing the work preparing the arc for us later
ready but getting other people into the arc you know figurative speaking then
the Lord will give make us rulers you know we're gonna rule and reign with
Christ in the millennium all right so there's a reward for those that are
laboring and getting ready for the Lord's return but look at verse number
48 but and if that evil servant shall say in his heart my Lord delay if his
coming now before I keep reading some people take these passages and they
start thinking they get confused they start thinking maybe we can lose our
salvation okay I don't you know and again when it comes to a parable you
got to be very careful okay you build your doctrine on things that are
crystal clear and parables are there to help support what we already know as the
truth okay because you'll soon see that this wicked servant was it calling him
this evil servant he'll be cast into hell okay so if we know that believers
cannot be cast into hell can this evil servant be a believer no it's a
non-believer okay but he says well it's basically the Lord's the servants of the
Lord yeah but in the story of the parable okay for illustration purpose
okay he's the servant of the Lord but of course you then need to apply that to
the truth that we have others in the Bible so you take a story you can only
go by what Christ says in that story and then align it with the doctrines that we
hold verse number 49 let's what does this evil servant do and shall begin to
smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunken the Lord of that
servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that
he is not aware of hey who did we see and not aware of the hour who did we see
that he will come as a thief in the night to the non-believers right ties in
perfectly to that verse 51 and shall cut him asunder and appoint him his portion
with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and that's
a reference to being cast into hell the weeping and gnashing of teeth okay you
guys have been super patient with me let's keep going we're going to go back
to verse 40 we're almost done back to verse 40 because we were looking at the
coming of Christ right look at verse 40 the Bible says then shall to be in the
field and one shall be taken and the other left what does that sound like be
two people one taken the other left sounds like the Rapture right two women
shall be grinding at the mill and one shall be taken in the other left watch
therefore that's what Paul said to the Thessalonian Church watch therefore for
you know not what hour your Lord doth come okay so this is the Rapture you
know some people have been taken and others are being left now we also
skipped verse 28 let's go back to verse 28 please verse 28 we saw that verse 28
did was associated with the coming of Christ now look at this verse 28 for
whether so ever the carcass is there will the Eagles be gathered together
what is that about it's all complicated okay let's go to Luke 17 Luke 17 really
ties these verses together for us so one will be taken and another left and
whether so ever the carcass or the dead body is there will the Eagles be
gathered because Eagles are a bird of prey you know like vultures they'll come
and eat the dead the dead carcass okay this is an illustration okay it's just a
picture all right picture of what Luke 17 plays Luke 17 verse 34 Luke 17 verse
34 Jesus teaches on this elsewhere in Luke 17 34 he says I tell you in that
night there shall be two men in one bed the one shall be taken and the other
shall be left two women shall be grinding together the one shall be taken
and the other left so this lines up with what we saw in Matthew 24 right verse 36
two men shall be in the field the one shall be taken in the other left and
they answered and said unto him where Lord that's a good question one will be
taken right say where where Lord where are they taken and he said unto them
whether so ever the body is thither will the Eagles be gathered together okay
same thing right the body or the carcass and the Eagles the birds of prey the
illustration is there when you have all these Eagles and I see it that body they
all gather to that dead body and eat of it okay a picture of what of the people
that have been taken are gonna be like Eagles that are gathering to that
carcass what's that body okay and that's that's it's just an illustration it's
just a picture of Christ when Christ descends in the clouds his believers
will be taken and gathered up with him like Eagles you know so that's Matthew
24 thank you so much for your patience but I just want to leave you with this
guys you know if this freaks you out if you get scared by this you need to ask
the Lord to give you the right spirit okay it does not give us a spirit of
fear okay but of power and of a sound of love and a sound mind okay is that
right power listen anyway you guys know what I mean okay make sure look if this
gives you feel look let's just go to the Lord the Lord will strengthen you I'll
tell you listen there was a time when I believed the preacher rapture and I had
to deny it because he was not in the Word of God and I found this you know
it's like I read Matthew 24 for the first time like what in the world how do
I miss all these things right and then at the beginning I was a little afraid
because you're prepared to miss it all okay and all of a sudden well now I'm
gonna go through a whole one in the world I mean we're not gonna go through
God's wrath you know that's for another time but listen in due time when you
start to just understand the Word of God God will work in you God will strengthen
you okay and if you're gonna go through a hard time don't you think you're gonna
draw closer to the Lord don't you think you're gonna want to be walking with the
Lord and being empowered and being in fellowship with the Lord hey knowing the
truth of the rapture really encouraged me as a believer to be a stronger
believer to be more faithful to the Lord okay because if it was in my time I
wanted to make sure that I was spiritually prepared and like I said
even if it's not in my time at least I'm prepared for anything that might come
my way any other tribulation that might come my way so please you know make sure
you if you're afraid you take it to the Lord if you don't believe what I preach
today please ask me afterwards if you have any questions you want to catch up
with me during this week I'd be happy to catch up with you all right let's pray