See the question is, why? Why have a great tribulation? Why have a tribulation that climaxes with the great tribulation?
Why have believers be persecuted? Why have the mark of the beast? Why have all these things?
And the answer to that question is found in the headline of verse number 14 when it says,
This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.
See, I believe the reason for the tribulation period is because God wants the gospel to get out to all the world.
Now you may be asking yourself, well what does the tribulation have to do with the gospel being preached?
Acts 1.8, God says, I want you to go to the uttermost part of the earth. They didn't go.
They did a good job there, but they stayed there where they were comfortable.
And I think it's interesting that in Acts 8.1, the Bible says this, go to Acts chapter 8 and verse 1,
And Saul was consenting unto his death. Remember Stephen was put to death, the first martyr there?
And at that time there was a great tribulation. There was a great, now it's not the great tribulation,
but there was a great persecution, there was a great affliction against the church which was at Jerusalem
and they were noticed all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles.
And you know what happens after Acts 8? They go out and they preach the gospel, they have great, you know,
revivals in Samaria, they go. The apostle Paul eventually gets converted and goes out into the world.
Even Peter goes out and preaches to different Gentiles and here's what happens, alright?
Acts 1.8, he says go for chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. They stayed, they were comfortable, they were happy,
they were in their church, everything was good. Acts 8.1, God allows persecution to come and they go.
And you've got to understand, whenever persecution comes, the gospel is preached.
I don't know, I don't know why. I can't explain it. But think about the children of Israel.
Remember, God told Abraham, I'm going to give you a seed that will be like the sands of the sea and like the stars in heaven.
And for years and years and years and years and years, you know, decades later, you get down to Jacob and his 12 sons,
they go to Egypt and what do they have? 70 souls. But then they get put into slavery, then they get persecuted,
then they get put into bondage and then you've got millions, they're multiplying.
And there's a principle in the Bible that whenever persecution comes, whenever affliction comes,
whenever the pressure, see, the problem with the church in Jerusalem, I believe is the same problem with Christians today.
We're a little too comfortable. Attendances are high, offerings are good, I've got a good job, I get two weeks of vacation,
I get to go to a wedding, you know, sometimes, you know, if it's nice weather, I'll do it.
But here's the problem, we get lazy. And here's the problem, the vast majority of believers are not preaching the gospel.
The vast majority of believers are not going soul winning.
So God says, you know what, right before the end comes, right before I wrap this whole thing up,
right before I, you know, I have the curtain call and I finish all this up, I want to have just one last soul winning blitz.
I want to have just one. You know how Pastor Anderson has these soul winning marathons?
But this is God's soul winning marathon for the entire world.
I mean, he says, I'm going to send a persecution that's going to make my people get on the move, get out, soul winning.
And here's what you're going to say, and what's interesting is this, the dispensationalists today who fight against us, you know,
and say, no, the preacher rapture, that's for the Jews, the preacher, you know, the tribulation for the Jews, the Christians are going to be raptured out.
Those same people want to tell us that in different dispensations, people got saved differently and we're going to be doing different things.
Let me tell you something, it's the same thing that it's always been about.
Jesus showed up on this earth and he said he came to seek and to save that which was lost.
That's what he did while he was on this earth.
That's what the church in Jerusalem did during the book of Acts.
That's what you and I should be doing.
And guess what we'll be doing during the tribulation period?
We'll be going soul winning, we'll be preaching the gospel, we'll be getting the gospel out to the world and it's God motivating us.
And by the way, realizing what the purpose of the tribulation period kind of makes the preacher rapture safe.
Because what would be the point of God orchestrating this huge persecution of believers to motivate them to preach the gospel to the whole world and then remove all the parishioners right before it happens?
It'd be weird to be dumb, you know, it's dumb to think that we're going to be taken out.
We will be taken out before the wrath of God gets poured out.
The purpose of the tribulation, you say well why would God allow this to happen?
It's to light a fire under you.
To prepare for the tribulation, don't worry about the God, don't worry about the food shortage, don't worry about the water, don't worry about the shelter, worry about preaching the gospel.
The best thing you could do to prepare for the tribulation is show up to the soul winning marathon.
The best thing you could do to prepare for the tribulation is to go soul winning and learn soul winning. Listen to me.
You say well what do I do? How do I get ready? Here's how you get ready.
Go soul winning, go soul winning, go soul winning, go soul winning.
Because guess what you're going to be doing to the tribulation?
Soul winning, soul winning, soul winning.
People say well no, we're going to run through the hills.
Hey you run through the hills when you see the abomination, desolation, it's basically done.
But there will be a time that we will be going through and it's called the tribulation period.
You say well what's the point? Here's the point that the gospel will be preached to all the world.
Listen to me, don't fear the tribulation period. Don't be afraid.
The Bible says we ought not be afraid of those that can kill the body, all they can do is kill the body.
You know what I'm looking forward to? If the Lord will allow me to live through the tribulation, it's doing great exploits.
It's getting out and doing great things, bigger things, greater things for God.
But you're not going to do it during tribulation if you're not doing it now.
You're not going to show up for soul winning when it's illegal and you're not showing up when it's legal.
You're not going to read your Bible and memorize the Bible and show up for church when you live in a land of freedom.
You're not going to do it then if you're not doing it now.
So that's the best thing I could do. But the best thing you could do, the best thing you could do is go to a church like this church.
Go to a church, be under the ministry of a Pastor Burzins or a Pastor Anderson or a Pastor Romero.
Learn the Bible and learn what the Bible says and get spiritually strong for that tribulation.
Because here's the whole point, it's the same thing that's always been throughout the entire Bible.
So it's all about reaching people at the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Getting them baptized and helping them grow in grace, knowledge about the Lord and Savior.
That's what it's all about, that's what it's always been about.
And that's what it's about now and that's what it's about, what it will be about during the tribulation time.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord I pray that you would use this sermon in the lives of these dear people.
Lord I pray that you would help us to get excited about the times that we live in now, the times that we may live in in the future.
Lord help us to prepare, help us to realize that it's always been about getting the Gospel out there.
That's why we do what we do. That's why we preach the sermons and we put them on the internet and we start churches and we give our lives to these things.
Because it's the heart of God and it's the purpose of Christ to reach people.
Father I pray that you would help us to get a fire for that now so that we might be ready for it during the tribulation.