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If you would, just go back a few pages to Isaiah chapter 13. We're in Isaiah 34. One part I really liked when we read that chapter just now is where he said, Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read. And that's really what we need today. He would get back to reading the Bible to seek God's word, to find it, to read it, to learn it. And we need to be people who read the Bible. But it says in Isaiah chapter 13 verse number 6, it says, How will ye? For the day of the Lord is at hand. It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt. And they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth. They shall be amazed one in another. Their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of him. For the stars of heaven and the consolations thereof shall not give her light. The sun shall not give their light. The sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. And I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man in the gold wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. That's a pretty powerful passage, isn't it? That's a pretty sobering passage that ought to be preached today across this nation, so that people can understand who God is and what it means when we talk about the wrath of God, the indignation of God, God's anger, God's judgment, God's punishment on this world, and all of its sin. You look at the world and you wonder, you know, is God ever going to judge? Is God going to punish? Is God just going to let things continue to go? And the Bible tells us that one day there will come a time when scoffers will come and say, hey, where is the promise of his coming? For all things continue as they were since the day of creation. Where is he? When is it coming? Now, God's judgment is slow to come in many cases, but when it comes, its coming is inexorable. It's like a freight train when it comes. You can't stop it. Now, God's wrath is coming on this day that's being predicted in Isaiah chapter 13, which is called throughout the Bible the day of the Lord. It's also called the day of the Lord's wrath, and it's got a few other names, but the Bible says here the wrath of the Lord, the day of the Lord, and he explains what it is. One of the things you notice in this passage, people are going to be in pain, and the Bible says that the pain that they're going to be suffering is going to make them look as if they're a woman in labor, the kind of pain that they're going to be experiencing. He explains that there's going to be fire and brimstone. We read that in Isaiah 34 before I began preaching. We read that the sun and moon are going to be darkened, that the stars will be falling from the sky. It's a pretty awesome spectacle that's described here. Turn, if you would, to the book of Joel. Go to Joel, and look at chapter 1. Joel is toward the end of the Old Testament, and those 12 small books at the end of the Old Testament are known as the minor prophets. Your major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Then you've got Hosea through Malachi, those 12 minor prophets. The minor prophets really deal a lot with end-time prophecy if you read them. They're pretty heavy on details of end-time prophecy. Let's look at Joel 1, verse 15. The Bible reads, Alas for the day, for the day of the Lord is at hand. Same exact statement we saw in Isaiah 13, 6. And as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Look at chapter 2, verse 9. Chapter 2, verse 9 says, They shall run to and fro in the city. They shall run upon the wall. They shall climb up upon the houses. They shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them. The heavens shall tremble. The sun and the moon shall be dark. And the stars shall withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army. For his camp is very great. For he is strong that executed his word. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. And who can abide it? Jump down to verse 30 if you would. And again, more mentions to the fact that this is all prophesied in God's Word and that it must come to pass, just like we saw in Isaiah 34. It says in verse 30, I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the Lord shall come. Before the great and terrible day of the Lord come and shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be living on and on. Look at Amos, chapter 5. Amos, chapter 5. Joel, Amos, just the next book should just be a page turn away. So we saw a lot of the same things in Joel, didn't we? Destruction, God's wrath. We saw the sun and moon darkened. We saw the great terrible day of the Lord is what it was called. Blood, fire and vapor of smoke. Signs in the heavens. All kinds of cataclysm happening up in the skies. Look at Amos 5, 18. It says, woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light, as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark and no brightness in it? Look at Zephaniah. Just a few pages to the right in your Bible. Zephaniah. So we're seeing a lot of common denominators with the day of the Lord, right? Always talking about the sun and moon being darkened, all these different signs in the heavens. Look at Zephaniah 1, 14. The Bible says the great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty man, shall cry there bitterly. Remember that. I mean the Bible is saying that when God's wrath comes, when the day of God's wrath comes, even the most tough, even the mightiest man is going to be crying. He's going to be weeping. His loins and his strength are going to melt away like wax before the awesome wrath of God. He's not going to be able to abide the day of his coming and stand tall and tough and strong. No, even the mighty man will become weak at that moment. Just like the great Belshazzar. You remember the great King Belshazzar who pretty much ruled over most of the entire world? And yet when he saw the handwriting on the wall, just the fingers of a man's hand writing on the wall, his pride and his arrogance turned into fear and trembling so that his knees even smote one another. He was so afraid, he was shaking when he saw the handwriting upon the wall. But the Bible says the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of waste and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fences cities and against the high towers. And I will be distressed upon men that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as the dung. You saw that in Isaiah 34. It says in verse 18, Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all that dwell in the land. We see a lot of the same things, right? Same elements over and over again. Hey, let's jump to the New Testament. We could spend a little more time in the Old, but let's jump into the New Testament. Go to Acts 2. In Acts chapter 2, we see this quoted by the apostles when they're preaching at the day of Pentecost. This is Peter preaching, and he quotes Joel chapter 2, where we just were a moment ago. Look at Acts 2. It says in verse 19, it says, And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come, and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, what's going to happen before the great and terrible day of the Lord come? According to Acts 2, what's going to happen first? The sun and the moon will be darkened. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. Let's go to the next mention, because the day of the Lord, the actual phrase, day of the Lord, is mentioned three times in the New Testament. Okay, this is the first time. Let's go to the second time. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now, we saw it all throughout the Old Testament, but we know that it hasn't been fulfilled yet. It hasn't happened yet. It's still being predicted in Acts chapter 2, wasn't it? And we're going to see it predicted again in 1 Thessalonians 5 that it's still coming. It's still on its way, the great day of God's wrath, the day of the Lord. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5, 1. The Bible says, but of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, right, so cometh as a thief in the night, for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction... That was a word we saw in almost all those passages. ...should cometh upon them as, what? ...dravail 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. Let me ask you, is this day going to come upon us? Yes, but not as a thief. Will it be darkness unto us? No. Remember, God warned that many people who thought that the day of the Lord was going to be a good day? He said, nope, not for you. It'll be a day of darkness unto you. It'll be a dismal day. But the Bible says that it will not come upon us as a thief because we are not asleep as the people of this world are asleep. We are wide awake here. We've got the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We've got God's Word This isn't going to come upon us as a thief. It's not a shocking event to us because we've read about it in the Bible again and again and again. It's not going to come upon us as a thief. But the Bible says, let's keep reading, it says, For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for in helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now you remember in the book of Joel, he followed up all the talk about blood, fire, vapor, smoke, wrath, pouring out of his indignation. He followed it up with, But it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. Delivered from that wrath. He said in Acts 2, And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Those who have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be spared, will be delivered, will be saved from the wrath to come. Just like it said in 1 Thessalonians 1, Our Lord Jesus Christ, which had delivered us to wait for our Lord from heaven, which he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. So, those who have called upon the name of the Lord will be delivered from this day of wrath, will be spared from this great day of wrath. But look if you would at 2 Peter 3, let's go to the last time that the word, the exact phrase, day of the Lord is used, because we just want to look at the three times that that exact phrase is used. Look at 2 Peter 3, 10. The Bible says, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Does that sound familiar? In the which, the heavens shall pass away with a great noise. We saw that in Isaiah 34. And the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. So again, very consistent with everything else we've seen. All three mentions, all three times. So we've seen it all. Let's go back to 1 Thessalonians 5 where we just were. So we saw all three mentions, right? Now in Acts 2, when Peter's preaching, he's not really focusing much on end times prophecy. He's more focusing on people being saved by believing on Christ. He's warning them about wrath that's coming. But he's more focused on just preaching the Gospel. He just kind of throws in the part about the wrath. He doesn't really develop it that much. But in 1 Thessalonians 5, we'll read about the day of the Lord. It's really in the middle of a more in-depth study of end times events and end times prophecies. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1, But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. Now what part of speech is that word, but? The first word there. What is that? A conjunction, right? And what does a conjunction do? It joins two phrases, two sentences, two thoughts, two ideas. So we're not starting out with just a brand new, fresh new start here. Yes, there are chapter divisions in the Bible, but he's just picking up right where he left off in chapter 4. He said, But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. You know, the times and the seasons of what? But he says, You know, the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Well, what is he talking about? Well, go back to 1 Thessalonians 4, and you'll see what times and seasons he's telling you, hey, I don't have to write to you about the times and the seasons, because you know the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night. You know we can't know, like, when it's going to be. You know I can't pinpoint it to you and tell you, you know, it's going to be after this many years, it's going to be this time, this season. He said, Well, you know it's coming as a thief in the night. You know, people aren't going to be expecting it. You'll expect it, but it'll come as a thief upon the unsaved. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, it says, verse 13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. Now, that's what he's starting out here, because he was talking about something completely different in verses 11 and 12. In verse 11 and 12, he's just talking about being honest, working hard, making money so that you can provide for your family and give unto others. So he's talking about a completely different subject. Then he jumps in, changes gears in verse 13 and says, But I would not have you ignorant. He said, But, you know, in spite of all that, he said, I don't want you to be ignorant, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. He says, I don't want you to just mourn and weep about your friends and loved ones who were believers, who were saved, who've gone on to be with Jesus Christ. He said, I don't want you to sorrow like those that have no hope. If I were to go to a funeral of a person that I loved and that person were not saved, that would be a pretty sad time, wouldn't it? Because you think to yourself, you're never going to see that person again. I mean, if that person did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the sad truth is, hey, I'm never going to see that person again. And you say, well, there's hope. No, there's no hope. There's nothing. You know, once they're gone, they're gone. And it's sad, isn't it? But Paul said, you know, those that are asleep, later he's going to say those that are asleep in Jesus, those who are saved. He said, I don't want you to sorrow about them like those who have no hope. And who are the ones who have no hope? The ones who aren't saved, right? But he says, you know, those that are believers, don't sorrow like those who have no hope. Look at the next verse. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in other words, if we're not Jehovah's Witnesses, you know, because Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that Jesus rose again. You know, and it's funny because I just learned that recently. That's why I've been really ringing that bell lately. Because I've been out soul winning. Every time I talk to a Jehovah's Witness now, that's what I preach to them, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what I preach to them. You know, first I go through my normal, you know, gospel presentation, but I've been hidden on that, and they did not, every time, unless they get saved, every time they deny that resurrection, every time. I knocked on the door of a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses and said, they did not, they both denied the resurrection of Christ. They said, his body did not rise. I'm here to tell you his body rose. They walked into the tomb, it was empty, and they said, he's not here, for he has risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay past tense. But he rose again, as he said. He'll go meet you in Galilee. He showed them the holes in his hands and feet. He showed them that it was, he said, hey, I'm not just a spirit, because a spirit doesn't have flesh and bone, as you see me to have. So if we believe that, who believes that, that Jesus Christ rose again? Hey, if we believe that, Jesus died and rose again, even so, verse 14, them also which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. Because if we believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, then we believe in the bodily resurrection of the saints, that is coming in the future, right? Add what's known in the Bible as the first resurrection. It's also known as the coming of the Lord. The Bible says that if Jesus rose again, even so, them also which sleep in Jesus, right? The people we talked about in verse 13. Will God bring with him? 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. So this is talking about what? The second coming of Jesus Christ, the coming of the Lord. That's what it says, isn't it? We know it's not his first coming because that already happened. It says 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. And who's going to rise first? Dead in Christ. Dead in Christ. That's those people that sleep in Jesus, right? He says the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with who? 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, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief and I. So this event is going to take place at the day of the Lord. This is the rapture. And people say the rapture is an unbiblical doctrine. The rapture is very biblical. We see here clearly that Jesus Christ will come in the clouds, that the dead in Christ, or those who are asleep in Jesus, will be resurrected, and 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. Now, we just went through that pretty slowly, right? We just took each verse, these last five, six verses. Anybody not understand what we just read? Pretty simple, right? Verse 13 through 18. So let me ask you something. Since you're all such great Bible students and you've understood everything, you shouldn't have any problem answering this question then. What is the comfort of verse 18? What is the comfort? What comfort am I supposed to take from verses 13 through 17? Somebody tell me. What's the comfort? Some man here, just call it out to me. What's the comfort? What's that? What's the comfort? We're going to be with everyone else that was saved that's already passed on. Exactly. The comfort is, hey, I don't have to mourn like those who have no hope, because we've got to go back to the very beginning when he started out, what he's even talking about. The whole reason he's telling us about the rapture is because in verse 13 he says, I don't want you to mourn like those who have no hope. That's why this passage is a favorite passage at funerals. Who's been to a funeral and you remember this passage being brought up? Oh, yeah. I mean, this is a big funeral passage. Because, hey, comfort one another with these words. And so they'll use these words to comfort God's people concerning their love. Look, now let me ask you this. Is the comfort, hey, you're not going to go through any persecution or tribulation. Is that the comfort? And how many people will say, oh, you know, well, if the rapture takes place after the tribulation, you know, that's not very comforting. Well, why don't you go buy a pillow you can comfort yourself with, okay? Because this comfort is about being comforted by your same loved ones that you get to see them again. Hey, the comfort is, when my grandfather died, I don't have to moralize those who have no hope because I'm going to see them again in heaven. I know that even if I live to the day of the Lord, if I live unto the day where Jesus Christ returns in the clouds, hey, I will meet Him in the air as well as the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I will meet all of my saved friends and family that have gone before me. And if I die before that time, the body dies, that is, then my soul will go to be with them in heaven. And then I'll still meet them in the air in the bodily format. So how much would you have to twist this passage to say, well, you know, it says it's a comfort, which means that we're going to avoid all persecution and tribulation. We're not going to go through the tribulation. That's the comfort right there, that we get a free pass out of there with the rapture. Is that what this is even talking about? No. But you see, people warp the scripture to fit their agenda. The Bible says this comfort is the comfort of seeing people again in heaven. Because let me tell you something. The rapture takes place on the day of the Lord. Because when the day of the Lord happens, when that wrath is about to be poured out, when the heavens are rolled back as a scroll, when the trumpet sounds, when the sun and moon are darkened, God is about to pour out His wrath on this earth. But thank God those who call upon the name of the Lord will be delivered at that time. They'll be saved. They'll be taken out via the rapture before His wrath is poured out. But let me tell you something. That's after the tribulation. Look at Matthew 24. I'll prove it to you. Let's go to Matthew 24 and then we'll go to Luke 21. Matthew 24. So pretty clear when you just sit down and just read it. I mean, it's pretty clear, isn't it? Look at Matthew 24. Look at Matthew 24, 29. The Bible says immediately what? This is one of my favorite words in this chapter. Immediately before. Is that what it says? No, immediately after. Everybody say that with me. After. No, there's a prefix that means after. It's pre, right? Pre? No, it's post. So it says immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened. Does that sound familiar? And the moon shall not give her light. That sounds familiar. And the star shall fall from heaven. That sounds pretty familiar. And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. I think I remember reading about that a few times in the Old Testament. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man. What's his name? The Son of Man? Jesus. 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. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from the one into heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree. Remember that in Isaiah 34? And a few other places. When his branch is yet tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors. Because it's not going to come upon us as a thief because we will see all these things happening and know that it's near even at the doors. When we see the sun and moon darkening, we'll know it's near even at the doors. When we see the Antichrist, the man of sin, stand in the place that he ought not, declaring himself to be God, we'll know that it's near. We'll know that it's at hand. When there are false Christs and an Antichrist and a false prophet, we'll know it's at hand. He says in verse 34, Verily I say to you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled. What he's saying is, when it starts happening, it's all happening in one generation. A lot of people try to spread this out over hundreds of years. Now, when you start seeing the events of Matthew 24 take place, hey, that generation's not going to pass till all of it's fulfilled. He said, you'll know it's at the doors and that that generation is not going to pass till all these things be fulfilled. He says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. But at that day and hour knoweth no man, know not the angels of heaven, know not Harold Camping, but my Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also 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 a marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken and the other left. Two men shall be grinding in the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left. Watch therefore for you know now what hour your Lord doth come, but you do know that when you see these things begin to come to pass, that it's near, even at the doors, and you do know that it's after the tribulation of those days. Go to Luke 21. Luke 21. Now Matthew 24 and Mark 13, they pretty much say the same thing. There are a few differences, but it's a pretty similar rundown that Jesus gives in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. I like how he uses just a few differences of words. It helps us understand what words mean. Instead of tribulation, sometimes he uses affliction. He talks about the great tribulation. He calls it affliction. He says, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and he associates that with the tribulation. Of course, the first time the word tribulation is ever used in the Bible, or in the New Testament, is Matthew 13, when he says when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he's offended. Jesus said, in the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I hope I'm coming to the world. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians, for verily when we were with you, we told you before that we should escape, no, suffer tribulation, even as it came to pass, indeed, Elohim. He said we're joyful in tribulation, 2 Corinthians. But Luke 21 is parallel with Matthew 24, but it gives us some different details. A lot of the same things are mentioned, but a little bit of different details. It says in verse 25, and there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars. And upon the earth, the stress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. Now, that reminds me of when the Bible said there would be signs in heaven, blood and fire and vapor and smoke. Here he's saying, hey, there's going to be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars. And upon the earth, the stress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, man's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. But see, these are all things that we read about in the Old Testament coming up again. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption, draweth nigh. So at what point do we look up and lift up our heads for our redemption, draweth nigh? When we see these things happening, will we see what? Signs in the sun and moon, right? When we see the sea and waves roaring, when we see all this cataclysmic happening in nature that God describes here and He described all throughout the Old Testament, He said, when you see that start to happen, He said, you better just look up because you're about to see Jesus Christ coming in the clouds. He said, just look up. Here it is. He said, look up. He said, for your redemption draweth nigh. And He spayed to them a parable, behold the fig tree. Remember that? Always mentioned, always brings up the fig tree. And the fig tree is not some medical... You know, people will say, oh, the fig tree represents Israel. Hey, the fig tree, He said, it's like when the stars fall from heaven, it's going to be dropping like figs out of a fig tree. That's what He said over and over again. And He says, when you see the fig tree and all the trees, build the fig tree and all the trees, when they now shoot forth, you see and know of yourselves, own selves that summer is now at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And take heed to yourselves at the same time, your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore and pray always that you may be kind of worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man and in the day time he was teaching in the temple and on and on. So look, some people are going to escape these things aren't they and stand before the Son of Man, stand before Jesus Christ. And guess what? The rest will be left to endure the punishment. And those who are saved, those who believed on Christ will be the ones that are saved. Because it said, it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And if we get the context of that exact statement, he's talking about being saved from these things. When he said, it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered, he's talking about delivered from this. This outpouring of God's wrath. And yes, we use it as a salvation verse in Romans 10 and elsewhere. We're right to use it as a salvation verse because this is part of being saved, is being saved from hell and being saved from the hell on earth that's going to be poured out when God pours out his wrath. You're talking about tribulation? No. And of course, it has nothing to do with God's wrath. God's wrath doesn't even start until after the tribulation. After the tribulation is when the sun and moon are darkened. And after the sun and moon are darkened is when the day of the Lord takes place. So we're talking about two totally different things. Now if you would, turn in your Bible to Revelation. Go to Revelation chapter number 6, Revelation 6. Go to Revelation 6. The Bible reads in Revelation 6. And we'll begin reading in verse number 9. It says, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw unto the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. There's a time here where a lot of people are being killed for the cause of Christ. And the martyrs are up in heaven basically asking God, Hey, how much longer? Until your judgment comes, until your vengeance comes. You're wrapped. Remember? The day of the Lord's vengeance. You see that in the Old Testament? Talking about the day of the Lord, the day of his wrath. He said, I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, though there was a great earthquake. There's the shaking that we read so much about in the Old Testament. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely face, when she is shaking of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it was rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men. Right? Remember them? 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 of the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? It says, 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 ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to him, who 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 our God in their foreheads. Now let me ask you, has God been destroying the trees, and the sea, and the earth yet? No. He said, Don t hurt them yet, until we ve sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. He said, I heard the number of them which were sealed, and they were sealed in 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. He lists the tribes. So there s 144,000. Not really a huge number, when you think of the fact that there are millions and millions of people who are full-blooded Jews, or pretty much full-blooded children of Israel. But not only that, just descendants of these tribes. You know, because they ve been so mixed in. I mean, 10 of the tribes are totally mixed in. With the rest of humanity here. So really, it s not a huge number to say that there are 144,000, you know, that there are 12,000 people on this earth, you know, descended from Reuben, for example, you know, thousands and thousands of years later, after they ve multiplied, and mixed it, you know, that would still be a righteous remnant, that would be following Jesus Christ, that would be living a righteous life, that God could use in this capacity, this special group here, in the 144,000. But he says in verse 9, After this I beheld in law a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations. Right? Not just these descendants of Israel, but actually of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tons of them, stood before the throne, and before the land, filled with white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with loud voices, saying, Salvation to our God, which says upon the throne of the Lamb. Jump down to verse 13, it says, And one of the elders answered, saying to me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? Now this is one of John's tour guides. You know, he's up in heaven, he's got the tour guides, these different angels, and elders, and beasts, that are basically showing him things. Well, one of his tour guides looks at him, and asks him a question, you know, Hey, who are these people? What are these, this great multitude, that no man can number? And the Bible numbers some pretty good, big multitudes. I have a hundred million, okay? The Bible has some huge multitudes, but here it says, well, no man can number this multitude. It's too big. All nations, all people, all tongues. And you know, a lot of languages, a lot of tongues no longer exist. Did you know that? There are a lot of languages that have died out. Heard of a dead language? But this covers all languages, because this is from all time. This is just all believers from all time. And he said, you know, who are these people? What are these, which are raided by rogues, and whence came they? Now who knows what the word whence means? From where? From where? Exactly. It's a word that means from where. So he's saying like, where did these people come from? Whence came they? And I said to him like, you know, sir, thou knowest, like don't ask, what are you asking me? John's saying, I don't know. How should I? You've been telling me everything. He says, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, 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, the word Great Tribulation, you know, it's not really used that much in the Bible. It's used here, and it's used in Matthew 24. Show me where else it's used. And look at the context in both places. It's talking about after the Tribulation, they go up in the Rapture. Both places, same thing. And these are the two times they use Great Tribulation, you know, all of that discourse, you know, which is Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and right here. And have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. That verse is really special to those of us who live in Phoenix, Arizona. And the reason we live in Phoenix, Arizona, is because we know that for all eternity, we're not going to have the sun. Because the Bible says there will be no sun there, just the Lamb of God is going to be the light thereof, okay? So we want to get all the heat and sun that we can't. I mean, I mean, look, you have all eternity to do cold things. You know, the Bible says there's going to be no heat, no sun, okay? So that's why, if you want, I mean, why not just live in the hottest place there and just soak it up, right? Because we're never, I mean, hey, we're never going to see any heat after this place. I mean, we're never going to see hell. So just, you know, get your sun tamed, get your sun bay that will last you all, you know, all the way through eternity. And so that's why I live in Phoenix. But it says, you know, 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, nice rhyme, unto living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer, and there was given it in much incense that he should operate with the prayers of all saints. Come down to verse five, and the angel took the censer. The word censer comes from the word incense. It's basically a unit that's used to burn incense inside of it, so it's called a censer. It says, the angel took the censer and filled it with fire at the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings in an earthquake, and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 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 the trees was burnt up, so are the trees getting messed up now? Sorry Greenpeace. Sorry Sierra Club. They're all getting burned up. He said that the trees are burnt up after the servants of God were sealed, after the great multitude appeared in heaven of those that were saved, after we've been delivered through the rapture. Then he starts to mess up the trees. All green grass was burnt up, and the second angel sounded, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. Does it sound like the sea is getting messed up? I mean, forget the Gulf oil spill. This is one third of the sea turning into blood. And of course, inevitably, verse 9, the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed. Go to 2 Thessalonians, the last place we'll turn tonight. 2 Thessalonians. So we're just studying the Bible tonight, just putting it together. It's pretty simple, pretty clear. And we're doing things in context. You know what I mean? We read pretty much the whole narrative from 1 Thessalonians 4 all the way into chapter 5. We pretty much read that whole narrative. You know, we read this whole narrative of chapter 6, 7, and 8 of Revelation, you know, just getting it in context, not just cherry-picking one little thought here and a thought there and not drawing a bunch of conclusions that aren't there, but just actually just reading it for what it says. What it says in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1, it says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him. Now, that sounds like something that we've seen before, right? 1 Thessalonians 4, called the coming of the Lord, he said we'll be caught up to meet him in the crowd, be together with him. So that gathering together with him at the coming of the Lord, it says, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him, that we be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by a letter as from us or by your pastor or by some televangelist or by some preacher or by a chart or by a book or by Kirk Cameron or by Tim LaHaye or by Ray Comfort or by any of these other people, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Quit letting people tell you that the day of Christ is at hand because it's not at hand, he said. Don't let people deceive you, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God within his worship, so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Let me ask you, has that happened yet? Has the man of sin been revealed? I'm not talking about Obama. Has the man of sin been revealed, the son of perdition? Do we know? Can somebody tell right now? Yes, we know for sure who the Antichrist is. He's been revealed. He's already declared himself to be God. He's already declared himself to be the savior of the world. He's already done it. He's already sat in the temple of God. No. It hasn't even been revealed yet. And so no, this hasn't happened. No, it's not an end, because first, all those things that I just mentioned, actually, I'm sorry, that the Bible just mentioned have to take place first. And he said, that's what's going to happen first. Verse 5, Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things? Remember? We talked about this, and yet you're believing people that are telling you that it could come at any moment? We already talked about this. And he says, And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now what does he mean, now you know? What does he mean by that? Now that I just told you that, he's saying, now you know. Right? He said, I just talked to you from the last verses 1 through 5, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. So what is it that's withholding? Now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. Now you know, right? Because guess what? The day of Christ isn't going to happen yet until these other things happen first, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. So basically these forces are already at work, aren't they? The Bible says this, little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard, that antichrist shall come, singular. Even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. So we can see that these forces are already at work, aren't they? The spirit of antichrist is already in this world. 2 John warns about, he talked about people that don't confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. He said this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. Even back when the New Testament was being written, the spirit of antichrist was already in this world. He said it's already here. The mystery of iniquity doth already work. The Bible says only he who now leteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and then so that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. So who's going to be revealed? Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and then the parish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. So, what he says here, only he who now leteth will let, the word let in the Bible means to hinder. Okay? To stop something from progressing, like for example, Paul said in Romans 1, he said I would not have you ignorant brethren, that often times I purposed to come unto you, but was let hitherto. He said I kept wanting to come to Rome, I kept wanting to preach the gospel to you all, I think it's Romans 1.13. He said I wanted to come and preach to you, but he said I've been let hitherto. Other places he said a similar statement, he said I was hindered till now. I was hindered hitherto. So to let means to hinder. Now we use the word let like, hey I'm going to let you do this. We use it to mean allow, but throughout the Bible it means to hinder. Okay? Now that goes hand in hand with the verse before, when he says now you know what withholdeth, and then the next thing we see is, now you know, he said, he who now leteth will let until he be taken out of the way, and then so that wit can be revealed. Now, who is it that's going to be taken out of the way? Okay? Now the pre-tripper after me will say, oh the Holy Spirit's going to be taken out of the way. Well hold on a second, can somebody show me anywhere that the Holy Spirit is even mentioned here? Now look, a pronoun such as he, needs to have an antecedent. Now what's the first four letters of antecedent? Ante, which means? Before. Okay? So, what is the pronoun he? Is God just bringing up some new random person, he's not telling us who it is, and he just expects us to just fill in the blank? Does he who now leteth, oh, oh, that's the Holy Spirit. Well no, I think it's Mickey Mouse. The he who now leteth is actually Mickey Mouse. He will be taken out of the way. But you know what, that's just as logical as saying it's the Holy Spirit, because you know what, I would rather say, well, Mickey Mouse is going to be taken out of the way than to say the Holy Spirit's going to be taken out of the way, because the Holy Spirit is God. How do you take God out of the way? Oh, God, will you get out of the way please? God, get out of the way. I mean that's blasphemous, isn't it? It's blasphemy my friend, to sit there and say, oh, when it says he's going to be taken out of the way, that's exactly what the Holy Spirit's, well, who's going to take him out of the way? He's God. And here's a fun fact about God, he's everywhere. You don't just take him out of the way. You know, I read so many times, people say, well, when the Holy Spirit's taken out, I'm going to be taken out, because he lives inside me. How do you take out the Holy Spirit? He's God, he's everywhere. Hey, even before the first man was even created, you know the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water? Go back to Genesis 1, 2. God is everywhere. Whither shall I flee from thy surprises? Doesn't it say whither shall I flee from my spirit? Am I remembering that wrong? Let me turn there. Let me get the quote right. I don't want to quote this wrong. One of us is wrong, Kevin. It might be me. I make mistakes. Let me find my place here. Oh, it says both. Hey, we're both right. Cool. It says, whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from my presence? All right, Kevin, you know, I guess neither of us is wrong. One time I thought I was wrong, but it turned out I was wrong. I was actually right. But anyway, it says, whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? So can we get away from God's spirit? No. No. Because here's what he says next. I'm in Psalm 139, verse 8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. And which part of the Godhead are we talking about here? We're talking about the Holy Spirit. He said, whither shall I go from my spirit? If I go to heaven, it's there. Right? He said, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand leave me and my right hand shall hold me. Look, even in Genesis 1-2, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters when darkness was upon the face of the deep. God's Spirit is everywhere. It's in heaven. It's in hell. It's on the earth. It's on the waters. It's everywhere. You don't just say, oh, just take him out of the way. Now, first of all, the Holy Spirit's not mentioned in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 or chapter 2 up to that point, never mentioned. So you can't just randomly assign he to, you know, the Holy Spirit, any more than Mickey Mouse. And I think you'll have an easier time taking Mickey Mouse out of the way. Okay? Then you're going to have taken the Holy Spirit out of the way. And if I got up and said that the one who's withholding here or hindering the spirit of iniquity here was Mickey Mouse, you'd think I was crazy, wouldn't you? You'd say Pastor Harris is preaching nonsense. But you know who the real preacher of nonsense is? The one that says the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way here. You don't take God out of the way. That's blasphemous anyway because he's God. He's the one who, he'll take you out of the way. You're not going to take him out of the way. He's the creator of the universe. Okay? So he says, he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way and then shall that wicked be revealed. So when the he, whoever the he is, is taken out of the way, that's when the wicked is revealed whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs of lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Now, if we use the context to figure out who the he is, let's look for an antecedent. Okay? Let's see who's mentioned. Who's mentioned here? We got, okay, who do we got? The Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned in verse 1. I see him, right? I see Christ. I'm looking for a singular he. You know, a person that can be taken out of the way. You know, are you going to take Jesus Christ out of the way? No. Okay. No, you're not going to take him out of the way. He is Lord of all. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. I see the man of sin and the son of perdition and I see God. Anybody else mentioned? Huh? Holy Spirit's not mentioned. We see Jesus and we see God and we see the man of sin. So who do you think is the one that's going to be taken out of the way if those are your three options? The man of sin. The man of sin, right? And you say, well, wait a minute. What does that make sense? Isn't the man of sin the wicked one who's coming, is at the work, becomes Satan with all power and science and wine and wonders to all the seebleness and the righteousness and then the perdition? No. Because, according to, and I don't have time to get into this at the same time, but according to Revelation 13 and 17, read those two chapters, Revelation 13 and 17, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the antichrist, the human being, because it is a human being, who God raises up will receive a deadly wound, right? He's going to be wounded by a sword, okay? And when he's wounded by the sword, he receives this deadly wound. Now look, if I receive a deadly wound, am I dead or alive? It's kind of like when people say, oh, I've been electrocuted, this man dies. No, you were not electrocuted. You were shocked, but electrocution means you died by electricity, okay? So people, you know, this deadly wound, he dies. You say, well, how do you know he dies? Because it says his deadly wound is healed. And that's when he'll deceive all the nations because the false prophet doesn't start preaching and pointing people and saying, this is God. Make an image to him until after he receives that deadly wound because he tells them, hey, we need to make an image to this guy whose deadly wound was healed, okay? So basically, he dies and is resurrected. You say, prove it. Well, Revelation 17 says that he ascends out of the bottomless pit and the bottomless pit is what place? Hell. So this man of sin will be killed. He'll receive a deadly wound. But then the beast will ascend out of the bottomless pit, okay? And basically, that's when he sets up the image. That's when he's declaring himself to be God. Because you see, in order to counterfeit, Antichrist is counterfeiting everything about Jesus Christ. So he's counterfeiting the resurrection here. But he's actually going to be wounded by a sword. Someone's going to take a sword and wound him in a deadly way. He's going to be revivified, okay? He's going to be undead, as it were. Not a true resurrection like Jesus Christ, no. This is a counterfeit. He's going to be revivified just as Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who's also called the son of perdition, who is a precursor of the Antichrist in a few different ways, because he's both called the son of perdition. There are a few similarities. This man will die and this man will be basically taken over by Satan, okay? Basically, just like Judas Iscariot was, okay? And this man will then bring to completion, okay, the final stage where he, you know, pronounces himself to be God and commands everyone to worship him, commands everyone to get a mark, you know, the mark of the beast, the 666, all that. So, doesn't that make a lot more sense, that that's the guy who gets taken out of the way? The human being gets taken out of the way so that Satan can take full control of that man and he goes from being the man of sin or the son of perdition, like Judas was called, who was a human being, to being the Antichrist, because the Antichrist is one who is a false phony counterfeit resurrection, not a true resurrection, but a counterfeited resurrection where Satan basically takes control. The human being is taken out of the way and the Antichrist is basically the total tool of Satan, okay? So, you don't take God out of the way. The man, the human being, the man of sin, the son of perdition, he's taken out of the way. Very simple to understand. And so, I'll close my sermon with this. Let no man deceive you as that the day of Christ is at hand. Don't let anybody fool you or trick you into thinking, hey, Jesus can come back at any moment. It's just not true, because these other things have to happen first. And you study to show yourself to prove, my friend. You say, well, this subject bores me. I don't really care about it. Well, you know what? We may be living in those days, so you may want to know what's going on. You may want to know which way is up today in 2011. Now, I don't know if it's going to happen. You know, this might be 100 years out or 20. Hey, but it could be coming soon. We could begin to see these things come to pass. And so, we need to know which way the wind is blowing, my friend, and not just put our hands, oh, I don't care, I have prophecies, too complicated. Hey, you got the Holy Spirit inside of you. You got the Bible. You can figure this stuff out. Just dig in and read it and study it and learn. And don't zone out on this kind of sermon. You say, well, I already did. It's over. Okay, well, it's over now. Get the tape, all right? Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God, and for giving us these warnings, dear God, because, boy, wouldn't it be terrible if these things just started happening and we don't really know what's going on and it comes upon us unawares and we're confused by it? And, God, we can see some of these things starting to happen around us when we see the one-world government forming and the one-world religion forming. God, help us to be prepared and ready by knowing the Scriptures and understanding these things so that we will be prepared spiritually and mentally for these things when they come to pass. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.