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...here tonight would be receptive to the truth that's preached and that we would go out of here knowing more about the Bible than we did when we got here and also more stirred up, more excited, more zealous than we were when we got here, Father and help us not to just be here trying to kill time but help this service to really mean something for all of eternity and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now here we are in Matthew chapter number 24. This begins Jesus' final major sermon in the book of Matthew. Now this sermon kind of spills over into chapter 25. He kind of continues along the same themes. But this is known as commonly the Olivet Discourse. You might have heard that terminology before. That's a term that people have referred to because this is a sermon that Jesus delivered on the Mount of Olives. Now in Matthew chapter 23 we saw Jesus first preaching to his disciples and to the multitude. Then he directs some very negative preaching to the Pharisees and pretty much tells them at the end that he's through with them. He says, You're not going to see me again. You're not going to hear me preach to you again until you say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And so he said, I'm pretty much through preaching to you guys. Now look at the beginning of chapter number 24. Let's see the audience of this sermon. In Matthew 24 verse number 1 the Bible reads, And Jesus went out and departed from the temple. He just finished the sermon. He walks out the door. And his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. They were just showing him how great this building was. They were saying, Jesus, look at this magnificent structure. And Jesus said unto them in verse 2, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, he walks out, goes a little further, goes to the Mount of Olives, sits down. The Bible says 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? That's a very interesting chapter. Because here we have the disciples privately. But hey, here we are listening in. Isn't that great? I mean, the multitude didn't hear this. The Pharisees didn't get to hear this. Just the 12 disciples got to hear this. But here we are reading it in 2006. What a blessing to be in on this privy conversation with just Jesus and his 12 disciples. That's what I love about the Bible. I mean, it's a revelation of all human knowledge, of all God's knowledge. And so here we can read about the sign of the coming of Jesus Christ and the sign of the end of the world. Now let me warn you first before I get into this. You must always decide that the Bible is the authority. Is that right? I mean, is the Bible the authority or not? Is the tradition that you grew up with the authority? No. I mean, is what your pastor taught you a long time ago or what your church says the authority? No. Is what I'm preaching tonight the authority? No. The authority has got to be the Bible. Now some of the things that I'm going to preach tonight are probably going to conflict with what somebody in here believes. And I'm not afraid to preach it. And you know what? I'm not going to apologize for the truth because I'm just going to preach to you what the Bible says. And if it offends people, that's fine. I hope it doesn't offend anybody. I hope that you'll just be receptive to what the Bible teaches. But this is not necessarily the common teaching that most people are preaching because most people are wrong. And so I'm going to preach to you exactly what this chapter teaches. Now, starting at the beginning, Jesus will lay out for us and unveil for us the events of the end times. And He does it in order. He does it in chronology. And so let's go through and look at this. The Bible reads here, And Jesus answered and said unto them, in verse 4, Take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. Now here's what I want to do tonight. And you must forgive me, but I'm kind of winging it tonight because I had it all written down in the Bible, this whole lesson. And now I know it in my head, so don't worry about it because I can still preach the sermon. But I had it all written out in this Bible. The Bible is gone, so I can't find it. So I'm doing this off the top of my head tonight, so bear with me a little bit. But look at Revelation chapter number 6. And I want you to have one finger in Revelation chapter number 6. And I want you to have one finger in Matthew 24. Revelation chapter number 6. Revelation 6. Sorry if I didn't say that clearly. Just get your finger in Revelation 6 and keep a finger in Matthew 24 because we're going to go back and forth and we're going to see the book of Matthew and the book of Revelation compared because we're talking about the same thing. Now let me say this first of all. This sermon called the Olivet Discourse is found in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Now it's three times, almost word for word, given. But it's not in the book of John. Now that might seem a little odd. Like, well, why is it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but it's not in John? Well, because John wrote the book of Revelation about the exact same topic. And so we can see the same chronology, the same events in the book of Revelation that we're going to find in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Now look at Revelation 6. Why don't I get there myself? I've been talking so much about turning there that I didn't do it. All right, Revelation 6, and look at verse number 1. And I saw when the Lamb had opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts sang, Come and see. Now, in Revelation 1, we saw John on the Isle of Patmos. Revelation 2 and 3 was just some preaching that Jesus Christ did to the seven churches of that time. Then in Revelation 4 and 5, John is caught up into heaven, and he just sees some great visions of the glory of God. He sees the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. Everybody's shouting and praising God, and he begins to open a book which is going to unveil the events of the end times. Now, that's where we are. So this is really the first event in the book of Revelation that we're going to see in regard to the end times. Look at verse number 2. This is the first event. He 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. Now, this is the Antichrist. This is the Antichrist coming into power, going forth to conquer. Now, I don't want you to have your finger in too many places, so I'm going to read this for you. Actually, you know what? We'll have to get to that later, because this is too many fingers to have in the Bible. Anyway, here we have in verse number 2 the Antichrist comes on the scene. Now, look back at Matthew 24. What did we see in verse number 4? Take heed to no man deceive you, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ. So here's the Antichrist being referred to again. Now, look at the next scene in Matthew 24. The Bible says, And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nations shall rise against nations. There's another reference to war. And kingdom against kingdom. Okay, now flip back to Revelation chapter 6, and you'll see the same thing. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat there on to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. Now, what do we see? War. Peace is being taken from the earth. So first, number one, the Antichrist comes on the scene. He's going to conquer the world. Matthew 24, a guy comes on saying, I am Christ. Next, we see wars in both places. Peace taken from the earth. Wars, nation against nation. Now back to Matthew 24. The Bible reads in verse number 7, the latter part, And there shall be famines. Look at Revelation 6. The third seal's going to be opened in verse number 5. I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, unlow, 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 saying, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see that thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Now, if you were with us a few weeks ago when we were studying the book of Matthew, we saw that a penny, that monetary unit in the Bible, is a day's wages. You know, a hundred bucks, or whatever, for like a laborer, an unskilled laborer, made a penny a day. Twice in the book of Matthew we saw that. And so here we're seeing a measure of wheat costing a day's wages. Does that seem like an exorbitant price? I mean, that's an extremely high price. We're talking about famine. We're talking about a scarcity of food, and the supply and demand is causing this food to be extremely expensive. So notice the consistency. Number 1, the antichrist. Number 2, wars. Number 3, famine. See how it's just in the exact same order? These things are being carried out. Back to the book of Matthew. The Bible reads, pestilences and earthquakes and diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all men, I mean, of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. Now what do we see here? God's people being persecuted. Christians being persecuted in a great way. That's why it says here, they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Back to the book of Revelation. And we'll see. I looked, let's see, the fourth beast says, Come and see in verse 7 and verse 8 says, And I looked and behold 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 the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth. That's a reference again to the three things we saw, the war, the famine, the pestilence. Then the Bible reads, And the fifth seal, in verse number 9, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. So look, here we have it. The same thing. Seals 1, 2, and 3 matched up exactly with Matthew 24. Then the fourth seal kind of gave a synopsis of the pestilences that were mentioned in Matthew 24. Then when the fifth seal is opened, we have people being killed for the cause of Christ. We have the martyrs that were slain for the testimony which they held because they stood up and said, I believe in salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I will not worship the Antichrist. I don't believe what they're preaching. And then the same thing in Matthew 24, And they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations for my nature. Do you see how consistent the Bible is? Wasn't it great to have a Bible that's consistent? I mean, two different authors written decades apart. Some of the books in the Bible were written hundreds of years apart. Yet the consistency is always there exactly. Go back to Matthew 24. Many false prophets shall rise, verse 11. I'm trying to hurry through this. And shall deceive many, and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. I'm going to come back to that verse. 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. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth, let them understand. Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of this house. Either let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes, and woe unto them that are with child unto 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. Now, we have what's called the great tribulation. Now, what is the great tribulation? Well, I'm going to tell you something. The great tribulation is not what most people say that it is, and what people teach it. They erroneously teach that there's going to be a seven-year tribulation. That's just not true. Now, you say, Pastor Anderson, you're crazy, you're a heretic, you're going against everything I've ever taught. Hey, I don't care. I'm going to show you what the Bible says. I'm going to show you every time in the entire New Testament that the word tribulation occurs, and I'm going to show you what it says. How would that be? I mean, if you want to know what the tribulation is, hey, don't take my word for it. Don't take some preacher's word for it. Why don't we just open the Bible and look at every single time the word tribulation occurs, and let's see if we can figure out what it means. Now, to me, God, when he writes the Bible, if he's going to use a word, wouldn't you think the first time he mentions that word he's going to let us know what it means? I mean, if I'm reading through the Bible and I get to some kind of a spiritual word and there's no explanation of what it means, I mean, that would be confusing. When you study the Bible, always go to the first time something's mentioned. You want to know what God thinks about alcohol? Look at the first time it's mentioned. The first time the word wine occurs in the Bible is in Genesis chapter 9. When Noah gets off the ark, he makes a vineyard, he drinks wine, he's naked and molested in his tent. That's what God thinks about alcohol. He relates it with nakedness. He relates it with homosexuality. He relates it with ungodliness and filth. You want to know about the second time alcohol is mentioned in the Bible? Go to Genesis chapter 19. You'll see Lot come out of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, up into a mountain, and his two daughters get him drunk with wine, and they commit, you know, filthy acts with their dad. Incest. Now tell me that it's okay to drink socially, friend. Tell me it's okay to have Budweiser in your fridge. That's what God thinks about it. God says it's shameful, it's related to nakedness, it's related to perversity and ungodliness and filth. That's what God thinks about alcohol. All the way through the Bible, friend. Hey, you can say amen right there if you're a man, because that's good. Because I'm going to tell you something. Alcohol is straight out of the pit of hell, and you shouldn't touch it. The Bible says, look not on the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. He says, don't even look at it. He says, there's a beverage that you shouldn't even look at, let alone drink it, let alone drink it in moderation, let alone drink it at church activities like I've seen Baptist churches do. It's an abomination, it's wicked. The Bible says, woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, and putteth thy bottle to him, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. Now look, God says that there are people who give other people alcohol so that they can take advantage of them, so that they can look on their nakedness. Isn't that the first time it was ever mentioned in Genesis chapter 9? Isn't that exactly what happened? And notice, it says, woe unto him. Is that male or female? It's male. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, and putteth thy bottle to him that thou mayest look on their nakedness. Now, is that a man looking on another man's nakedness, or is it just me? Hey, I'll venture to tell you right now that there's a relationship in the Bible between alcohol and sodomy, alcohol and homosexuality, alcohol and the queers. I was driving down the road the other day, saw a filthy sodomite billboard right here in Phoenix. I was so angry, I was so disgusted, I was so enraged that this was in my town here, in my city. And the guy that was sitting in the passenger seat with me said, I can't believe this filthy billboard. It was a beer hat, but it had a sodomite picture on there. And he said, what does beer have to do with that? I said, beer has everything to do with that, friend. Look at Genesis chapter 9, the first time it's mentioned. Two men, ungodliness. Look at Habakkuk 2.15. Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, so he can look on his nakedness. Don't ever tell me that alcohol's okay. You're crazy. You're nuts. You must be reading the NIV or some perversion of the Bible. You must not have a King James Bible, because in the King James Bible, it's pretty clear that God hates liquor. But anyway, that has nothing to do with the sermon tonight at all, but it's good, okay? So take that and put it in your pipe and smoke it, all right? Because that's good preaching. But anyway, I don't even know what I was talking about. No, I'm just kidding. But anyway, the first time things are mentioned, you can get an idea. Think about the first time that speaking with other tongues is mentioned. Acts chapter 2. God lists 17 foreign languages in Acts chapter 2. He gives the names of the languages. So right away, we know that a tongue is a language. It says in one verse, we hear in our own tongue. Next verse, we hear in our own language. I mean, God has a way of defining words. He wants the Bible to be understood. Look at Matthew 24.15. Whoso readeth, it says in the last parenthetical there, Whoso readeth, let him understand. God wrote the Bible to be easy to understand. Whenever somebody has to explain something to you in a very complicated way from the Bible, it's probably wrong, because the Bible is really simple. People make salvation complicated. No, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, thus any man shall boast. Isn't that simple? Jesus paid it all. All to him we owe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, 1 John 5.1. Everything in the Bible is simple, and when you go to the first time something is mentioned, God will define it for you. Let's go to the first time the word tribulation is used in the New Testament. It's used in the Old Testament in different scenarios. It's a slightly different word, so let's look at it in Matthew chapter 13, the first time it's mentioned, and let's look at verse 21. Matthew 13, 21. And let's see what this word means. I mean, let's see what the tribulation is. I want to know what God says it is. I don't care what somebody, I don't care what Tim LaHaye says it is. All right, the Bible reads here. And verse number 20, let's begin there. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word and anon with joy, receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but doeth for awhile. For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. Okay, so what's tribulation mean? Tribulation is when somebody is persecuted for what they believe. Is that right? Look, you may not like that, but that's what it says. I mean, is that what it says or not? It says persecution or tribulation arises because of the word, and by and by he's offended. Now, we're talking about somebody who gets in church, they get saved, they get in church, but a little bit of persecution, tribulation, because they're not rooted in what they believe, the Bible says, you know, anytime any kind of tribulation comes because of the word, anytime somebody's persecuting them, by and by he's offended. Now, do you notice how God puts those two words side by side, tribulation or persecution? He's trying to show us what tribulation means. Tribulation means persecution. That's what it means. And so that's why he says it's because of what you believe. It's because of the word. Let's go to the second time it's mentioned. Matthew 24. Matthew 24, 21. For then shall be great tribulation. Okay, that's the case in point, so let's skip to the next one. Matthew 24, 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days. Okay, that's the next time. Now look at Mark 13. We're going to go in chronological order through the New Testament, so it's going to go from one book to the other as we see this. Mark 13, look at verse 24, the Bible reads, but in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light. Okay, you see that? Then let's look, these are the case in point, so we won't dwell on these. Now look at John 16, 33. Sorry I'm going so fast. 16, 33. Sorry to go fast, but I'm just trying to cover a lot. John 16, 33. And just be honest, friend. I mean, this is what the Bible says. Just read it. John 16, 33. These things I have spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Now who is suffering the tribulation? God's people. He says in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Now look, if you would, at Acts 14, 22. Acts 14, 22. Acts 14, 22, the Bible reads, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Now who is suffering the tribulation? Is it God's people, or is it the world? God's people, that's what it says. Let's look at the next one. Romans chapter 2. Now in Romans chapter 2 we've just seen, let's see, one, two, three, four, five, six scriptures where God's people were going through tribulation. Then we see in Romans 2 the first time that it's mentioned of someone other than God's people suffering any kind of tribulation. Look at Romans 2, verse number 8, the Bible reads, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey in righteousness indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. Now look, the Bible says in verse number 8, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth. So these people are being persecuted by God because they don't believe the truth. Now every time tribulation occurs in the Bible, 90% of the time it's talking about God's people. 10% of the time it's talking about the world, but when it talked about the world it said they're suffering because of what they believe. It said they don't believe the way God believes, and so they're suffering tribulation at the hand of God. And then elsewhere throughout the Bible he says you're going to suffer tribulation from other people because of what you believe. Now look at Romans 5, the next occurrence of the word tribulation. Romans 5, 3. And not only so, but actually look at verse number 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. So who's going through the tribulation? God's people, Paul and his fellows. Look at the next verse in Romans 8, 35. And I'm sorry to belabor you with this, but I have to just undo a couple hundred years of false teaching in one sermon, so bear with me. Romans 8, 35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? So who are we talking about? We're talking about us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? And look, verse 36 tells us these are the things that we go through. As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. These are things that we're going to go through. Tribulation's one of them. Listen there. Look at 2 Corinthians 1, 4. 2 Corinthians 1, 4. The Bible reads, Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Again, God's people going through tribulation. Look at 2 Corinthians 7, 4. 2 Corinthians 7, 4. Great is my boldness of speech towards you, great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 3. And I'm sorry to belabor this, but I want you to see the quantity of times that this word is used, and how it's always pretty much talking about the same thing. 1 Thessalonians 3, 4. For verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, and ye know. Now look at Revelation 1, 9. Last book in the Bible now. Here we are. Revelation 1, 9. The Bible reads, Revelation 1, 9. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Now look at Revelation 2, 9 through 10. The Bible reads, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty. He's talking to a church. But thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Beat thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Now here again, God's people going through tribulation for ten days, which involves them being thrown into prison, which involves them being persecuted. And now the final time that the word tribulation is mentioned, and of course this is not coincidental, look at Revelation chapter 7. Revelation 7, 14. And we'll look at the last time the word is used. Look at verse 13. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, let me ask you something. Is the tribulation quite what you thought it was? Because a lot of people, this is what, this is, now I'm going to give you the common teaching. The common teaching is that there's what's called the seven year tribulation. And it's where God pours out his wrath on this earth and it serves for seven years and destroys the earth. That is not true. Because did you ever see in any of those tribulation where God is pouring out his wrath on the earth, or where God is pouring out fire out of heaven, or where God is doing anything? No. You see here every time it's God's people suffering persecution for what they believe. Every time. I mean, it's pretty consistent, isn't it? You must admit that. And it's almost always God's people. We saw about one or two verses in the whole thing that was anybody besides God's people. Now let's get back into the chronology here. Look at Matthew 24. And we'll get to the truth of this whole matter. Matthew 24. Look at verse number 21 where we left off. This word tribulation. 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 except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Now, we get into a phase here where we're talking about the coming of Jesus Christ. Look at verse number 23. He talks about the counterfeits. He says, then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. He says, don't believe some false alarm. Jesus came back. Because it says in verse number 27, 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. He's like, you're going to know when he comes. Now look at verse 29. Or actually look at verse 28. For wheresoever the carcasses, there will the eagles be gathered together, immediately after the tribulation of those days. Now let's get our chronology right. Hey, if the Bible says after, I think he means that something's going to happen after the tribulation. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Now let me ask you something. Is the sun going to be darkened before or after the tribulation? After. That's what it says, right? Is the moon going to turn into blood before or after? After. Are the stars going to fall out of the sky before or after? After. Now let's look at the next thing. It says, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. They're weeping. They're upset. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet. You see that? And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. Now look, you may not like what I just showed you, but I think that's in your Bible, isn't it, what it says there? Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. What's he doing? And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet. And they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. And that's the rapture. Yes, it is the rapture, friend. That's what your Bible says, that the trumpet's going to sound and God's going to gather together his elect. Now, I'm not going to belabor you. I can show you every time the word elect is used in the Bible. It's talking about people that are saved. All the way through the Bible, the word elect means chosen. It's referring to God's chosen people. It's used twice in the Old Testament, referring to Israel, because they were God's chosen people in the Old Testament. Throughout the New Testament, it's used referring to every saved, born-again Christian that there is as God's elect. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Romans 8. If God be for us, who can be against us? Now, look, is that talking to you or not? Do you want to claim that verse? If God be for us, who can be against us? Then you must be one of the elect, right? So don't tell me that the elect is only the Jews. Because if you want to say, If God be for us, who can be against us? If you want to say, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? We're more than conquerors. All that's to God's elect, friend. Because that's in Romans 8.35, where God says who he's talking to. And so he's talking to saved Christians. And you can go through and look at it. I wish I had time to show, but I can't cram everything into one lesson. Now, look, it says, He shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When his branch is yet tender and put at the fourth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things. Now, does all these things include the sun turning into darkness, the moon into blood, and the stars falling out of the sky? That was just mentioned two verses before? Yeah. It says, When ye shall see all these things. So am I going to see that? If I'm alive, I will. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. He says when you see those things happen, the initial things, he says that generation's not going to pass until it's all fulfilled. Verily I say unto you, I'm sorry, heaven and earth shall pass away, verse 35, but my words shall not pass away. Now look at verse 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, know not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Now, people would try to say that this is not talking about the rapture. Well, look down, if you would, at verse number 40. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. What's that talking about, the rapture? Look at the next verse. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left. What's that talking about, the rapture? You say, no, no, no, Pastor Anderson, you don't understand. That's talking about the 144,000 Jews. Oh, really? Turn, if you would, to Revelation chapter 7. And let's find out if it's talking about the 144,000 Jews. Actually, I'm sorry, turn to Revelation 14. I have to skip Revelation 7. Both of them talk about the 144,000. Look at Revelation 14, and look at verse number 1 of Revelation 14. And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with them 144,000 having his father's name written in their foreheads. Look at verse 4 for a description of who the 144,000 are. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. Now, what gender are the 144,000? Male, right? These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. And the Bible explains in Revelation 7, which I skipped, that there's 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel mentioned. So we're not talking about the 144,000, because it says two women in Matthew 24, 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill. The one shall be taken and the other left. Now, friend, nothing in the Bible is incidental, coincidental, or accidental. And so if God tells us there's a reason why, He says there's a man and there's a woman being caught up, one's going to be left, one's going to be caught up. Now, you say, Pastor Anderson, are you teaching me that at the end of the seven years is when the rapture is going to occur? No. Because the first thing I did was I explained to you that the tribulation does not last seven years. That's something that we take for granted because everybody believes it. And because it's in all these theological books that the seven year tribulation, seven year tribulation, you know, and people just like a parrot repeat, what, seven year tribulation? What, seven year tribulation? It's not. I'll prove it to you. Look, if you would, back at the book of Revelation. I'll show you an exact chronology in the book of Revelation. Turn to chapter six. Now, people have told me all my life that the book of Revelation is not chronological. And that's just not true at all. They say it's just not in chronological order at all. It just skips around. Look, why would God write a book of the Bible that just skips around so crazy and you can't even follow it? Didn't He say, whoso readeth, let them understand? I mean, He wants us to understand what's going on. So this is the way it is. And you say, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson, in Revelation 12, Jesus is born. How can it be chronological? Well, it's so simple. It's so easy. It's so simple that all you have to do is you cut the book of Revelation in the middle, right down the middle, cut it in half. Revelation one through 11 are in perfect chronological order and Revelation 12 through 22 are in perfect chronological order. If you put them side by side and then you put Matthew 24 side by side and then you put Mark 13 side by side and then you put Luke 21 side by side and then you put 1 and 2 Thessalonians side by side, it goes exactly in order. I illustrated that to you a little bit at the beginning. Antichrist, wars, famine, straight down the line. And then a persecution of God's people. Now, let me show you this. We were in Revelation chapter 6 and we saw that same order. Now, let's go to Revelation 13 and we'll see the same order in the latter half of the book of Revelation. Remember, in Revelation 12, the chronology starts over again. That's why in Revelation 1, we start out at the time of Christ with John on the Isle of Patmos. In Revelation 12, we start out again at the time of Christ and then we go all the way to the end again, just like 1 through 11 goes up to the end, right at the millennium is where it stops. Look, if you would, at Revelation 13. And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. This is the Antichrist. And upon his horns, ten crowns, and upon his heads, the name of blasphemy. There's the I Am Christ. And the beast, which I saw, was likened to a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. They're worshipping Satan. And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is likened to the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue. How long? Forty and two months. So how long is the Antichrist or the beast in power? Forty-two months. Not seven years. Forty-two months. So forty-two months is exactly three and a half years. Okay? So the beast is in power for three and a half years. Forty-two months. He opened his mouth, verse six, in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name in this tabernacle and then to dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war there it is, again the chronology is right in order with the saints and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. Now this Antichrist is ruling the entire world. All kindreds, all tongues, all nations for forty-two months are going to be ruled by this beast that's in power by Satan known as the Antichrist. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now the Bible says here you've got to take the Bible literally, my friend. Every single person on the earth who is not a born-again Christian is going to be worshiping him because it says all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life. Okay? So everybody whose name is not written in the book of life is going to worship him. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity will skip that verse. But look at verse 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. This is the false prophet. Let's skip down for the sake of time. I'd love to read the whole chapter. But look at verse number 15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. Now is there somebody here that's not worshiping the beast? Yeah. Now just a minute ago it said everybody's worshiping him whose names are not in the book of life. But then just a few verses down it says that he causes to be killed as many as would not worship the image of the beast. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred threescore and six. Mark of the beast 666. Now here's the beast, the antichrist, commanding that everybody receive a mark in their forehead or in their hand. And if they don't, he's going to kill them. He's going to behead them. The Bible says, later on in Revelation 20 and also back in Revelation 1, he alluded to that. And so here we have a man, the antichrist, who's put in power by Satan, who accepts worship, who says, I am Christ, who causes everybody to receive a mark, and if you're born again and saved, then you're not receiving the mark, and the people that are unsaved will receive the mark. Now, I don't feel like I'm making any of this up. I feel like I'm just reading it out of the Bible. And I think it's pretty clear. Now look at Revelation 14. Revelation 14. And I looked and lo, a lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with them 144,000. Okay, so let's think about the chronology for a second. Revelation 12, we talked about Jesus Christ. Revelation 13, the antichrist, comes on the scene. He takes over. He conquers. There's war. There's persecution. There's tribulation against the saints. Three and a half years long. So how long is the tribulation? Three and a half years. That's what the Bible says. And then at the end, he's chopping people's heads off because they won't take the mark of the beast. He's persecuted. They can't buy or sell. They're fleeing, as Jesus said for them to do in Matthew 24. They're running for the hills. They're trying to escape. Well, keep your finger on Revelation 14. Look at Revelation 7. Actually, look at the latter part of chapter number 6. I'm sorry, I didn't finish this. But we saw the seals. We saw the first four seals matching up with Matthew 24. We saw the fifth seal, the saints that were being martyred. That matched up with Matthew 24, the persecution, the tribulation. Then we see the six seals open and lo, there was a great earthquake. Okay, you see that? So what comes after the persecution? After the tribulation of those days? Remember, it said Matthew 24. And then after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be blackened? Okay, now look. And the sun became black. Wow, isn't it consistent? And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, under the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely fig. Now, keep your finger there. I'm sorry to do this, but look back at Matthew 24. I have to show you the parallels. There's so many. I mean, it's crazy how many there are. Now remember, we saw in verse number 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days. That's the exact order it was in, in Revelation 6. We went from the fifth seal, people being martyred, then to the sixth seal, where we had the earthquake, the sun darkened, the moon darkened, the stars fall. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the son of man shall appear, you know, and we saw that. He's going to come and sound a trumpet, okay? Remember, the trumpet of God shall sound in 1 Thessalonians 4. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet them in the air, and shall meet with them in the clouds, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with you was? That's the rapture. Okay, now look at this. Look at verse 32. Now learn a parable of the fig tree, okay? When his branches yet tender and put forth. Now look. Learn the parable of the fig tree. Flip back to Revelation 6. Look at verse 13. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs. Now, isn't that amazing? Just how the Bible just so clearly lays out the... Don't tell me it's not chronological. Don't tell me it's hard to understand. It's easy to understand. If you want to understand what it says, you can just see it. Just step by step. One, two, three, four, five. Now look. In verse number 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together. So the heaven is moving out of the way, it says in verse 14. It's being departed as a scroll. And look at this in verse number 15. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. Now, can they see the face of Jesus Christ in this verse? Yeah. They're saying we want to get under something. We want to get in a mountain because we can't even stand us. The heavens rolled back. The sun fell out of the sky. I can't bear to look on Jesus Christ is what they're saying. Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the Lamb. Look at Matthew 24, powers of heaven. Verse 29, after the tribulation, the sun darkened, the moon should not give her light. Look at verse 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. There's the fall on us. There's the weeping and wailing we just saw. And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds. Now are these the same event or not? It's the same event. It's the same thing. And so here we have Jesus being seen in heaven. Now look. Look at chapter 7, verse 1 of Revelation and tell me the book of Revelation is not chronological. And after these things. Boy, it sounds chronological to me. And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree. And I saw another angel descending from the east having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of God not in their foreheads. Now let me ask you something. Has the trees or the earth been hurt up to this point? No. Has God poured out any wrath at all to this point? No. Has God done anything? No. We had the Antichrist who was doing it. I mean he was, the famines and the wars was caused by the Antichrist. I mean when the first seal was opened he went forth to conquer. What was the next stage? War. What did the war cause? Famine. What did the famine cause? Disease. It was all inflicted by the Antichrist and the dragon which gave him his authority. No mention of God pouring out wrath on anybody. So is the tribulation pouring out God, God pouring out his wrath on anyone? No. The tribulation is God's people being persecuted for what they believe. So God says in chapter 7 stop, don't hurt the earth, don't pour out God's wrath until we've sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And then in verse number 4 he begins to seal the 144,000. And I heard the number of them that were sealed and there were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel, of the tribe of Judah were sealed 12,000, of the tribe of Reuben were sealed 12,000, and on and on. After this, not chronological, huh? After this, look at verse 9 of chapter 7. I beheld in law a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds. Are these Jews? No, they're of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their face and worshiped God saying, Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. And here we are back at the last mention of the word tribulation because the tribulation is over, friend. That's why it's the last time it's mentioned. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? Where did all these people come from? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest, he said, you tell me. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve them day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto the living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. So let's review quickly. And I'm running out of time. I want to hurry through this. But this is important. I want you to see this. Number one, Antichrist comes on the scene. Number two, wars. Number three, famines and pestilences which means disease. Number five, tribulation against the saints of God. Great persecution through the Antichrist and his regime. Then what happened? There was a great earthquake. Sun and moon turned to darkness. The stars fell out of the sky. Everybody looked up and saw the heavens and the school departed. They looked at the face of Jesus Christ and all the unsaved people are crying out, Fall on us! We don't want to look at him! Then the angels say, stop! We can't do anything. We can't destroy the earth. We can't pour out God's wrath until we've sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. The 144,000 are sealed. The 144,000 Jews that are going to remain on the earth. Then after the 144,000 are sealed, then we have the rapture. When a great multitude appears in heaven, a great multitude that no man can number, and they're sealed in their foreheads. I mean, they're not sealed in their foreheads, but they appear in heaven shouting and praising God. There's so many, nobody can count it. And by the way, the Bible counts some pretty big numbers. There's a lot of people, every nation, every town. There they are, the exact same order in Matthew 24. Exact same order in Revelation 12 and 13 and 14. Look quickly at Revelation 6 where we were. We ended up with the scroll, heavens as the scroll departed. I'm sorry, we saw chapter 7. Let's look forward to Revelation 14, I'm sorry. At the end of the Antichrist regime, we saw in verse 18 where we learned that the number of the beast was 666. We get to Revelation 14, 1. The 144,000, the exact same order. Again, we go from the Antichrist, his thing ends, then we have the 144,000 mentioned. Now, look at verse 14 of chapter 14. I'm skipping a little bit, but look at Revelation 14, 14. And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, that's Jesus Christ, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, that's Jesus, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. That's a rapture. Jesus coming in the clouds of heaven, reaping the earth. Remember, the harvest truly is plentiful. Let's talk about saved, born again Christians. The sheaves are reaped at the end of chapter 14 there. Now, we can follow the chronology in both places. Now, take your finger out of Matthew 24, put your finger right here in Revelation 16, and keep your other thumb or whatever finger in chapter 8. Now, we're going to see the second half of the tribulation, the latter half, where God pours out his wrath. Now, this is described in Revelation chapter 8 and 9 as seven angels blowing the trumpets of the wrath of God. They each have seven trumpets. In chapter 16, it's described as seven vials. It's the same event in two different, it's just mentioned twice, side by side. Watch how the trumpets and the vials are the exact same thing, side by side, because it's in perfect chronological order, I'm telling you. Revelation 1 through 11, Revelation 12 through 22, side by side with Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. Look, if you would, at the first trumpet in Revelation 8, 7. The first angel sounded, and there followed. Hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees was burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Flip over, if you would, to the first vial. It says, and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast. Did I tell you where we were? I'm moving so fast, I'm sorry. Revelation 16, 2. Revelation 16, 2, and the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth. So now we're seeing the first vial. And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which had worshiped the image. Now this is the only one that doesn't match up, that's not described the same. This one talks about a sore on those that worshiped the mark of the beast. The first trumpet says, hail, fire mingled with blood. But now look at 2 through 7 are exactly the same. Watch this. The second angel sounded in Revelation 8, 8. And it says, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. So a great mountain burning on fire, cast into the sea. Look at the second vial in Revelation 16, 3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea. And it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. So it's just another description of God's judgment on the seas. The first one we saw his judgment on human beings. Those that had taken the mark of the beast, it was described as. In Revelation 16, in Revelation 8, it was described. And do you see how these are multiples of 2? Like we saw in Revelation 7 and 14, now we're looking at 8 and 16. And we saw that the hail and fire was poured out on mankind. So the first one was the judgment on man, the second one was the judgment on the sea. Look at the third trump in Revelation 8, 9. Or I'm sorry, 8, 10. Revelation 8, 10, the Bible says, and the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning, as it were, a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters, and the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. So here we have God's judgment on the fresh water, the rivers, the lakes. Do you see that? Flip over to Revelation 16, look at verse 4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of water, and they became his blood. Do you see that? Both of them. This is matching up exactly. Now look at the fourth trump in Revelation 8, 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten. Flip over to Revelation 16 and look at the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun. God's judging the sun now. He's using the sun to judge people. First he poured it out on human beings, then it was the sea. Both places exactly the same, then it was the fresh water. Now it's the sun. Now look at the fifth trumpet in chapter number 9, verse 1. Revelation 9, 1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit, and he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, it's like hell, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. So he opens up hell, and smoke comes out of hell that darkens the whole sky, and the sun's darkened. Look, if you would, at Revelation 16, 5, and we'll see what happens when the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seed of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness. Why? Because hell was opened up, because smoke filled the sky. You're seeing two angles of the same thing. Look at the sixth trumpet in Revelation 9, 13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. Now flip over and look at the sixth vial being poured out. And the Bible says, And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up. I mean, look at this. It's so easy to see. You don't even have to be a rocket scientist to see that if you start in Revelation 1 through 11, it's chronological, and then you can line up the exact same events in chapters 12 through 22, where he goes through the same events. I'm not going to go through it again, but after the rapture, God pours out his wrath upon the earth. God pours out his wrath upon men. He pours out his wrath upon the sea. He pours out his wrath upon the fresh water. He pours out his wrath via the sun. He pours out his wrath and causes hell to put up smoke and cause darkness, and on and on. It's exactly the same events being talked about. Then after this great pouring out of God's wrath, and I've got to finish because I'm running out of time. Then we see in chapter number, look at, I got the wrong Bible member, look at chapter number 11. This will be the end of all that pouring out of God's wrath, and you'll see the Bible says in verse number 15, Revelation 11 and 15, And the seventh angel sounded, and there were voices in heaven, saying that kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. So what happened at the end of God pouring out his wrath? The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ. He's going to reign on earth. It's the millennial kingdom. That's when we push the reset button and start over in Revelation 12, where it jumps us back to the beginning. The beginning of the millennium is mentioned in Revelation 11, 15. Then it jumps us back in the chronology, Revelation 12. You'll see Jesus being born in the first three verses. Now let's go to the end of the seventh vial in Revelation 16. I hope you can follow this. I'm sorry that I'm moving so fast. But look at verse 17, And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done. Same thing. Then we have, of course, Revelation 17 and 18, which is where he stops and he says, Wait a minute. Let me show you the judgment of the great whore. And then we see the judgment of the great whore in Revelation 17 and 18. And then in chapter 19, we see in detail what it's like when Jesus comes back. He's riding on a white horse. He's got all the saints with him that have been raptured. He's coming back with great power. He kills all the nations that are fighting against him. He sets up his millennial kingdom on this earth, as we see in chapter 20. Chapter 20 ends with the great white throne judgment. Chapter 21 and 22, the new heaven and the new earth, because the old earth is destroyed. Now, it's perfectly chronological order. Look if you would quickly, and I hate to try to jam all this into one sermon, but look at 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, chapter number 4, verse 15, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, see the trumpet sounding, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord is so cometh as a thief in the night. See, this is where the pre-tribulation rapture people stop reading, because they say, Yeah, it's coming as a thief in the night. Thief in the night. What? Thief in the night. And there's even a video that's called, A Thief in the Night. Jesus could come back any time. Come back tonight. Send your money now. Let's pass the plate again. You don't need this money. He's coming back any time. Hey, look, friend. He's not coming as a thief in the night. Look, if you would, down a little further. Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Let's close the bottle. Don't read any more or else you might believe what I'm saying to you. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Watch. What? What are we watching for? Look at Matthew 24. I'm going to close because I'm out of time. I don't want to belabor you. What are we watching for? Remember? He said don't sleep. He's not coming to you as a thief in the night. He's coming to the world as a thief in the night. What are we supposed to watch for, Jesus? Well, let me find my place here. The Bible says in verse 33, So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. What are you watching for? Well, watch for the antichrist to come on the scene. Watch for the antichrist to persecute you and tell you that you have to bow down and worship his image. Watch for the sun to turn into darkness and the moon to turn into blood. Watch for the stars to fall out of the sky. And then look at Luke 21. Let me see here. I don't have my notes. I'm trying to go all from memory, so bear with me. In Luke 21, and we'll see it in Luke 21, verse 28. Verse number 27 reads, And then shall they see the Son of Man come in a cloud with power and great glory. Remember they're going to see him. They want the rocks to fall on him. This is before he's poured out any of his wrath. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. Remember how the Bible said, He that endureth to the end shall be saved? He says, if you endure the tribulation, he says, if you survive the tribulation, if you make it to the end, did you notice how many times in 1 Thessalonians 4 he said, we which are alive and remain, we which are still alive, the ones that still made it? He says, he that endureth to the end shall be saved, because the Bible says, for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. And at the end of the tribulation of those days, when the sun and the moon fall from the sky, or turn into darkness, the stars fall from the sky, we can look up and say, hey, we made it. We made it. Jesus is coming back. We can look up for our redemption draweth nigh. Welcome to reality, friend. You thought, oh, I know what you thought. You thought that you were just going to live your happy little life with your 401k and your fancy car and your nice house and in America where everything's peace and safety and everything's great. And then all of a sudden, you're going to be gone before any of this happens. Wrong. The Bible says, yea and all, yea and all that will live godly in Christ, Jesus, shall suffer persecution. You say, why aren't people in America suffering persecution then, Brother Anderson? Why is it that I don't see people being persecuted? Well, maybe because they don't take a stand for anything. Did you ever think about that? Maybe it's because they're not preaching right. Maybe that's why they don't get persecuted. Maybe it's because, you say, well, I'm not seeing people get persecuted. I don't see people getting persecuted for preaching against homosexuality. Because they don't do it. Because they don't preach right. Because they're scared to get up and preach right about it. That's why you don't see the persecution because people aren't living godly in Christ Jesus. That's why. But you know what? Yes, we are enjoying a little bit of respite and a nice peaceful prosperity that was paid for with the blood of those that went on before us and died to give us this country. But I'm going to tell you something. If you don't think that persecution and tribulation is coming in this country, you've got another thing coming, my friend. And then there's going to be great tribulation unlike anything that the world's ever seen when the Antichrist comes into power and when he sets up his kingdom of darkness on this earth. No, the pre-tribulation rapture is a hoax, friend. I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Show me in the Bible. Don't tell me some rhetoric about a thief in the night. Show me in the Bible. Show me the rapture in the book of Revelation. I just showed it to you. It's in Revelation 7, when a great multitude from all nations appears in heaven, and it's in Revelation 14 when the earth is reaped from the Son of Man coming in the clouds. Blow him trumpet. Show me the book of Revelation at the beginning of the tribulation, the seven-year tribulation, which doesn't exist according to the Bible because only the first three and a half years is called the tribulation because that's where God's people are going through tribulation. The latter three and a half years is God pouring out his wrath on this earth. And judge it. Now, is God pouring out his wrath on his own people? No. That's why we're raptured out before God even pours out his wrath. But we're still going to see the supernatural events of the sun and the moon turning into darkness and the stars falling out of the sky. It's not just going to happen today, friend. I'm sorry, but you're not going to wake up raptured. It's not going to happen. You see, you have to decide whether you're a Roman Catholic who believes that tradition rules or you have to decide whether the Bible's going to rule. And you know what? I'd love for you to prove me wrong from the Bible. I'd love for you to study the Bible and prove me wrong. I'd love for you to do it. But you can't do it because it's just not true. It's just not real. And I'm going to tell you something. I defy anybody. I'll challenge anybody to do this. Memorize Matthew 24 and then tell me there's a pre-tribulation rapture. I remember when I was in Germany, they flew out an expert on the book of Revelation to teach this big conference and to preach this big conference at an independent fundamental Baptist church. And he was just the expert. And he gets up and teaches. And I went up to him and asked him a few questions afterward. And he didn't even know what I was talking about. I said, what do you think about Revelation 14, when the angel comes and reaps the earth and then he comes and reaps it a second time? And he said, I don't know what you're talking about. He said, I'd have to look that up. I'd have to look at it. I'm not really sure which part. I'd have to have my Bible in front of me. Some expert you are, friend. You don't even know the book of Revelation. If you're going to call yourself an expert in the book of Revelation, why don't you memorize the book of Revelation, cover to cover? Huh? Yeah, exactly. Why don't you memorize the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians? Why don't you memorize Matthew 24? And then come talk to me about it. I just finished memorizing Matthew 24 today. And you know what? I know what I believe. And I can tell you why what I believe straight out of the Bible. Because I've memorized the Bible. And I've memorized the portions of the Bible about it. It's not all of them. But I'm not the one calling myself an expert. I'm not the one who has signs of about a big seminar for the book of Revelation. I'm just preaching on a Wednesday night. Hey, these self-proclaimed experts have sold people down the river who don't know the Bible because they read the Bible for 15 minutes a day if you're lucky, okay? And they don't know what the Bible says. Everybody that I've ever talked to about this who reads the Bible incessantly and knows the Bible, they all agreed with me about it. And they're like, yeah, exactly. You know, why does anybody else see it? Well, they don't see it because their head's so far on a TV, they don't even know what a Bible is. They don't see it because they're so into sports. They're so into all the hobbies and all the games and all the fun that they don't meditate on the Word of God day and night. They're meditating on the world day and night. And so you try and reason with somebody and just say, this is what the Bible says, my friend. And they won't come to you with a Bible verse. They'll come to you with all their tradition and rhetoric and blah, blah, blah. This is what the Bible teaches. I rest my case. Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, thank you so much for the Bible. And I'm so glad that I don't have to hide behind years of tradition to defend what I believe. But I can just open the Bible and read it and see what you say about these issues, dear God. Father, it's really a sobering message because it's not the fairy tale that's been taught to us by the Charismatics. Maybe if Baptists would quit hanging around all the Pentecostal churches and maybe if all Baptist forefathers like John R. Rice who hung around with a bunch of Nazarenes and Pentecostals and had ecumenical services. And like Bob Jones Sr. who is not a Baptist with all their ecumenical let's rub noses with the Nazarenes and the Assemblies of God and Church of God. Hey, that's where this garbage was picked up. But God, I thank you so much that I'm a Baptist where the Bible is my authority and I haven't been influenced by Tim LaHaye the Charismatic who left behind and all this other garbage. God, please just help us to understand that our nation is crumbling around us. Help us to understand that it's getting dangerous to preach the truth. Help us to understand that tribulation is on its way and not only that but someday there's going to be a tribulation like the world's never seen. God, help us to be strong in spirit as John the Baptist was. Help us to be bold. Help us to fight for what we believe. Help us to stem the tide in this country so that we won't have to endure the tribulation and the persecution that our fathers have endured for the Bible and for the things of God. Help us to stand strong and to shout it from the mountaintops what we believe and not to quiver and hide and be afraid to preach what we believe in this perilous time of the last days, dear God. We love you and thank you.