Birth Pangs

You know, one of the most... I don't know if the word is satisfying, but one of the most exciting times of life, one of the most gratifying times of life, one of the times that just change our lives forever and just absolutely... absolutely just bring out things in us that we never even knew were possible there, is also a time in life that may bring about the absolute most pain. A time in our life that brings out joy and that that stays with... that joy stays with us for the rest of our lives, is also a time that there can be a lot of sorrow, a lot of... not despair, but a lot of problems if we're not prepared for what is about to happen. Everyone who is in here has ever had a child knows what I'm talking about. When you have a... when you have a child, it's a joyous time when you find out that your wife is pregnant and you're going to have a child. You look forward to that. You count the days until that due date is there. You're excited as the time draws near and nearer, but as you get into... as you prepare, you have to prepare for the pain that's there. There is pain with childbirth. Every woman can tell me... can tell you that, and I'm sure they're looking at me thinking, what are you talking about that for? But there is pain associated with it, and every father who's been in the delivery room can see that pain and hear that pain in their wife as they're... as they're about to deliver. There's a lot of things that we do in preparation for that, and it is God's way of bringing life into the world through pain. It's been a long time since the last time Debbie and I had a baby, over 30 years now, but I remember... I remember those times very well that she was pregnant and the children were delivered, and I remember the preparation that we went through ahead of time every time there was a child to be born. I think probably all of you have been... who have had children have gone through these birthing classes that they have, and they're pretty... they're pretty good, and they pretty much tell you exactly what's going to happen during that time. I remember the first time I was in it, and the instructor showed us a movie of what... what is childbirth like, and your eyes kind of get, like, wide open as you watch what's going on, and as you watch what happens in the delivery room, and you hear the responses of the lady, as even her husband is trying to comfort her, and you get a... you get a real picture that this... this is a... this is a unique time in life, but in the end... by the end, it's matched with joy. But it's good, and they need to show you those videos, because you have to be prepared for what's going to go on during that time.

I sometimes wonder, not often, as I've been preparing this, I wondered what would it be like if you had no idea what it was like to have a baby, and you all of a sudden were ready to be delivered, and you had all this pain, and all this thing... all these things that you didn't expect to happen happen.

You'd be panicked, you'd be fearful, you'd have no idea. It wouldn't have probably a good outcome.

But when you're prepared ahead of time, and you see what's going on, you can prepare yourself for what is going to happen. I remember, as we went through those classes, there were these breathing techniques that they would teach us, and it wasn't enough for just the mom to learn the breathing techniques. The dad had to learn the breathing techniques as well. And the breathing techniques were there, because as the pain would intensify, and one contraction would come, and the next one would be more painful, and get everyone's attention, you needed to have the breathing. You needed to keep control of the pain, and one of the ways you kept the control of the pain was you did this breathing, and you were focusing on how you were breathing. And mom might be overtaken a little bit by the pain, but dad is there by the side to remind her, breathe, let's practice the breathing in and out, in and out, quickly, quickly, focus on that. Don't let the pain control you, you control the pain.

That's one of those techniques they use. It's very valuable, you find out, after the fact, to be able to know that. I remember the instructor telling my wife, the whole class there, when you're in a contraction, focus on what's in that room. Pick out one object in that room, and you study it. Don't take your eyes off of it. Don't divert your attention at all. You keep your eyes on that, on that object. Whatever it is, you choose it, and when you're in that pain, don't you let yourself start thinking about it, having your mind go back and forth. You keep your eyes on that object. And it works. Doesn't minimize the pain, but there are ways to get through it, because you simply have to get through it in order to get that joy of having that child born. You know, as you get closer to the due date, they tell you, have your bag packed, have it already there, because you don't want, when your wife says, it's time to think, what do we need to take? Where do we need to go? Where's the doctor's number? Have everything ready. So, when the call comes, or when your wife says, it's time to go to the hospital, if that's where you're going, or time to call the midwife, if someone is coming to your house, everything is ready. You don't have to think. You are set, and you are ready to go. Works helps keep things order, because when that time comes, and when it's like, it's ready to go, there is excitement, there is a lot of flurry, there's a lot of activity going on, and it helps to have all that in mind, and to have all that prepared.

And I remember the instructor saying, you have to have a coach in the room with you. You're going to deliver that. You need to have someone. Now, some of the ladies there didn't have a husband that was going to be with them, so they had mom or sister or a friend or someone, because the coach was so important, because it was so important for mom to have someone there by her side. She's going through a lot of agony, a lot of discomfort, and to have someone there by her side to steady, and to know there's someone right there to hold hands, to remind her, breathe, breathe, focus on that object. You'll get through this. You'll get through this. Keep in your mind what the other end of this is, and that baby, you'll be holding it in just a little while. All those things. And I, you know, maybe as you went through your birthing classes, there's other things that you remember from them, but those are the things I remember. I didn't go back and even look on the internet to see what are the typical things, but after all these years, I remember, I remember those things. But birth is a tremendous, tremendous experience in life.

Painful experience, but a very satisfying and gratifying experience.

Jesus Christ talked about that experience in John 16. Let's turn there. As he was speaking to his disciples on that last Passover evening, and he was preparing them for what was going to happen, that he was going to be arrested, he was going to be crucified, he was going to die. He was preparing them with many things that they were going to need for the future. And here in chapter 16 and verse 21, he used the analogy. You know, so many times in life we see that the physical things we go through really are a tremendous and perfect analogy of the things that we go through spiritually. So in John 16 and verse 21, Christ says this, he says, a woman, when she's in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she is given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

And that's true, isn't it, ladies? That's true, isn't it, men? Yeah, maybe the ladies remember the pain, and we remember what we went through, but that is in the background. It's all superseded by the joy that you feel, the love that is unleashed in you that you had no idea that that was ever inside of you, that you could love another human being that much. And all those good things that come from childbirth and life. Back in Genesis 3, in Genesis 3, we see where God told Adam and Eve that childbirth was going to occur in pain. In pain. So you turn to Genesis 3, we'll be looking at verse 16. But you know the story of Adam and Eve. God placed them in the garden. He provided everything for them. He told them that of every tree of the garden, they could freely eat. That included the tree of life because God wanted to freely give life to them. But he said, there's only one tree in the garden I don't want you to eat of, and that's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Well, Eve let Satan, the serpent, work on her mind. She went the way that we know she went, and she didn't take the tree of life freely that would have given life freely. She determined that she would resist and reject God and take the way of Satan and took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God learned that. In chapter 3, he pronounces some things on the serpent and on the woman and on the man. Look what he said to the woman in verse 16 of Genesis 3. So to the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. In pain, you will bring forth children. Was that God's will, or did he freely want to give life? Doesn't God want to give life? When he created mankind, didn't he want everyone to have life? Wasn't that his purpose for creating them? I want to give them eternal life. But Eve decided that she would take matters into her own hands. She took the tree. Adam decided he would follow Eve rather than following God, and he took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as well.

And when they took that upon themselves, death was the result. The same death that you and I have earned as we have lived our lives and sinned against God and not lived his way of life.

As we have come to understand the truth, as God has called us, as we have the Holy Spirit, we still strive to live his way perfectly, but we still don't perfectly. And so we needed Jesus Christ's sacrifice in order for the death penalty to be paid for us. We need his Holy Spirit in order to live and give our hearts to him and truth and to develop all the things that he wants us to develop so that we can have eternal life. And he will give us that eternal life. It's his will. That's why Jesus Christ came to earth. But it couldn't happen. Eve was going to have to give life now in pain. In pain, there was going to be how life was delivered for the woman.

She sinned against God. She chose other than God. And so then, from then on, life would come only through pain. And for mankind spiritually, our lives and our birth into the kingdom of God aren't going to be pain-free. They're not going to be without tribulation. They're not going to be without trial. There will be pains along the way. Happens with Adam and Eve, and everyone who has a child. Happens for everyone spiritually as well. Turn back with me to Acts 14.

Acts 14 and verse 22. Has God inspired Luke to write what Paul was saying to the people at Antioch there that day? And verse 22, breaking into the middle of the thought, but I'm just going to the last sentence there. And verse 22 of Acts 14 says, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must, we must through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. It's not going to be pain-free. There's going to be pain along the way.

There's going to be some things to take note of along the way. God wants to freely give us life, but because of the way we've lived, because of the choices that mankind has made, it'll be painful. But that pain, that pain will be superseded by all the joy that will be there just as it is in childbirth. In Romans 8, God tells us that. Romans 8, beginning in verse 18, Paul, writing to the Romans, says that very thing. And he talks about the creation itself, the physical earth we live in or live on, how it yearns for the day when it will be restored, when the restoration will come and it will be everything that God had created it to be.

Instead of what we live on today, which mankind has abused in so many ways, still a beautiful and a wonderful place to live on, the planet that God has given us. In Romans 8, verse 18, Paul writes, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared to the glory with the glory with which shall be revealed in us. Oh, it's going to hurt. Oh, there's going to be some times that are going to be tough to go through, but it doesn't compare at all to what's coming. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Remember when you heard the due date? Remember when you said, you know, your son will be born on XX date, your daughter will be born on XX date. It was like, I can't wait until that day gets here. I can't wait to meet him. I can't wait to meet her or them if it's a multiple birth, right? Can't wait for it to happen. You anticipate that day from the day you learn that you're going to have a child. And so God says the earnest expectation of the creation is that way. Eagerly waiting for that day when the sons of God will be revealed. Those who live in accordance with God's law, led by his Holy Spirit, developing all the things that he says he wants us to develop, the character and becoming like him that God says to become when those are revealed at the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the firstfruits. Can't wait! The creation is waiting for that time of birth.

Just like you and I wait for those nine months from the time of conception until the time of birth. For the creation, verse 20, was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Then there will be freedom. Then there will be all the things that God has called us to become. Then all the things will be the way God intended them to be. For we know, verse 22, that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. All those birth pangs that attend birth.

The whole creation is feeling those birth pangs now. And as the time of Christ's return and the restoration of all things draws nearer, those birth pangs, just like contractions, will get stronger and stronger. They start off kind of manageable, but as the time of delivery and the time of birth that draws closer and closer, they become more and more painful. We know the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we, you and me, also who have the first rich of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Remember how eager? I just can't wait for that day to get here. I can't wait until that child is born. Is that the way we feel about the birth into the kingdom? Is that the way we feel about the return of Jesus Christ? We just can't wait until the time is there when we will be born as spirit beings into his kingdom.

Birth pangs, labor pains, contractions. You know, God uses that analogy throughout the throughout the Bible. Let's go back to Isaiah 13. We'll see some of the ways that he uses that, and it's a lesson for us. And as we think about it, and as we focus on what God is saying and what will occur between now and that day of birth when Jesus Christ returns.

But let's look at Isaiah 13. Clearly, beginning in verse 6, this is a prophecy for the future. It's talking about the day of the Lord. We talk about that at the Feast of Trumpets. We picture that on that day, and we know that it's a time of trouble on the earth. It's a time of pain, a time of suffering. It's not a good time from the human perspective. Verse 6 of Isaiah 13, Whale, whale, for the day of the Lord is at hand, it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

All hands will be limp. Every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Why will they be afraid? Well, they weren't prepared for this. They didn't see it coming. It's like that couple that had no idea they were pregnant, and then all of a sudden these pains go on. What do you do about this? What do we do? The pain is incredible, and they will be afraid. Verse going on, pains, and that means sharp pains. Like in birth, pains and sorrows will take hold of them. They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth. That's what it will be like. They will be amazed at one another.

Their faces will be like flames. What is going on? This really hurts. We had no idea what was going to come on us. What is happening? Behold, the day of the Lord comes, verse 9, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. He will destroy its sinners from it, for the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened and it's going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. God says, I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Maybe your margin-like mind says, terrible, a better translation of it. I will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants, those who would rule over you. Those tyrants, like what we read about in Revelation 13, that will be extant on the earth. No longer a time where freedoms that we enjoy today and have taken for granted all of our lives, but a time of tyrants that will bring pain on the earth. And there'll be haughty, and there will be pride, and there will be suffering as a result of what they do as the world moves closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ, who will deliver, who will deliver us and deliver the world from that time of pain. We can look at Jacob, not Jacob, Jeremiah, look at my notes here, Jeremiah 30. You know, that's a time that's coming of pain on the entire, on the entire world. That will happen. When Jesus, before Jesus Christ returns, you know, you know the verses about trumpets, the vials, the seven vials, and the pain that comes on the earth, the pain that comes on people, the tremendous pain. But then there will be the return of Jesus Christ, although we already know in that time of peace and joy and harmony and abundance, unlike anything mankind has heard or seen before. But in Jeremiah 30, we read about a specific group of people that will also experience that pain. Now, as we look at Jeremiah 30, you can look at verse 4 there, and, you know, God says here, these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.

I'll remind you that, as Jeremiah writes, the ancient kingdom of Israel has already gone into captivity. So these are not the words for the ancient kingdom of Israel that's already in captivity, that's already lost their land because of the sins they committed against God. But this is a time, this is a prophecy for the future. And, of course, Judah is that little nation called Israel over in the Middle East. And God has this prophecy. Now, we're going to see the word Jacob in here.

And you'll remember without us turning back to Genesis 48, because it wasn't too long ago that we looked at that prophecy in relation to something else. But in Genesis 48, when Jacob, known as Israel, God changed his name to Israel, when Joseph brings his sons to Jacob, Israel, for the blessing, Jacob said, let my name be named upon them. So when we speak of Israel, we know that we're talking about Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

We know who Ephraim and Manasseh are. We know that they're the English-speaking nations of the world. You can read the booklet on that. I'm not going to take the time to go into that, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'd be more than happy to engage anyone in that conversation.

And we'll look at it from the Bible, who had the identity of Ephraim and Manasseh today, people that are called Jacob or Israel in these prophecies. But let's look at the prophecy here in Jeremiah 30, beginning in verse 5. Thus says the eternal, we've heard a voice of trembling. We've heard a voice of fear and not of peace. Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child.

That's never happened. What's going on with these men? Why do they look like they're in such pain that they have absolutely no idea, never experienced anything like this before? Ask now and see whether a man is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turn pale? Why do I see that? Well, they're going through some really, really tough times. Alas, he says, for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob's trouble. Now, he doesn't say there it's the time of the world's trouble.

He said it's the time of Jacob's trouble. We know who Jacob is. We know the whole world will have trouble before the return of Jesus Christ, but there is the time of Jacob's trouble that will precede that. Jacob, or God's still his physical people, you and I are his spiritual people, but God knows who his people are, and they will be punished for their sins. And they will go through a tremendous time, as it says here, none is like it.

As Daniel says, there's not been a time like it. As Christ says, a time unlike any time before in history, it's a time of Jacob's trouble. But Christ says, but he shall be saved out of it. For Jacob, for the nations that are Jacob, it's going to come unexpectedly. They're not going to be prepared for those birth pangs.

They're not going to know how to navigate through that time that they're in. They're not going to recognize what's going on. They're going to be panicked. They're going to be dismayed. They're going to be afraid. They're not going to have any plan because they haven't been prepared for what is about to happen. And there's a lot that is about to happen to Jacob, or that will happen to Jacob before the return of Jesus Christ.

We know that Jacob, for a time, will just sort of disappear from the face of the earth. We've talked before about Daniel 11. Every year I kind of do a state of where are we in the world and where are we in prophecy. In Daniel 11, you know, before the return of Jesus Christ, there's three world powers that are mentioned.

There's the king of the north, there's the king of the south, and there's, as the Bible says, the news from the east. You have the European powers, you have the south of the Mediterranean powers, and you have the eastern powers that are there. But the west is nowhere mentioned in that prophecy. Today the world looks west. At that time, the west is gone.

The west is no longer a factor. The time of Jacob's trouble will have occurred. The time of Jacob's trouble will bring Jacob low. But with God, there's always hope. As he says in verse the end of verse 7 there, it's the time of Jacob's trouble, but he will be saved out of it. That trouble will pass. He will survive. There will come a time of joy. But in the rest of the chapter, God shows what Jacob is going to go through during that time of trouble.

A time when men will be bent over and wondering what is this pain I'm feeling. Never experienced anything like this before. So as we look in verse 8, God says it shall come to pass in that day that I will break his yoke from your neck.

Well, today there's no yoke on Jacob's neck, is there? We're a free country. We're the leader of the free world, is what people call us. There's no yoke on our neck. But there will come a time, God says, that I will break that yoke that's on your neck. It kind of tells us what's coming.

The time of freedom, the time of what has been, will disappear when the time of Jacob's trouble comes. It'll be a time that people are surprised. People are moaning in misery when all the things that they have been so used to just disappear. I will break his yoke from your neck. I will burst your bonds. You'll be bond. You will be, you will, as he says in the next verse there, foreigners shall no more enslave them. No longer a free land, but you will be in captivity. You will be enslaved to someone. There will be people ruling over you who don't see you as free people with the freedom of speech and the freedom of belief and the freedom to assemble and the freedom to worship whatever you God you want. You will be captive and enslaved to what they say.

Just like it says in Revelation 13, just like we can begin to see the rudiments of it in society today if we look closely. In verse 9 he says, but, you know, I'll break these bonds. They'll no longer be slaves to these foreigners, but they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. So we know certainly this is a prophetic time when Jesus Christ returns. There will be the resurrection of the firstfruits. David is among those. David will be king over Israel going forward. That's when God will release and bring back and free Israel again from the bondage and the labor and the trouble that it's going through. But we can go on in verse 10, don't fear, God says, O my servant Jacob. Don't be dismayed, Jacob. Don't be afraid.

Don't be dismayed. Don't let the fear overcome you. Don't let the dismay and the surprise overtake you. For I will deliver you, for I will save you from afar, and I will save your seed from the land of their captivity. Some may not live in the homes that they live today. Some may not live in the same areas. As another nation comes in and says, you know what? You're moving here. You're moving there. Even today, I hear stories. You hear stories, whether they're true or not. But even today, there's people saying, hey, if you don't do this, we could move you over here. Or there could be plans doing this because there are the works of things that if you don't do it our way, then maybe you need to live exactly where we have control of you. I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return. Then Jacob shall have rest, and Jacob will be quiet. He won't have rest in quiet. During that time, it's a time of his trouble.

And no one shall make him afraid. That tells us that there will be people making us afraid.

There will be people making the nations of Jacob very afraid.

I am with you, says the Lord, to save you. Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, what's in the future? For though I will make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I won't make a complete end of you. I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished. Because the sins of the land, we will see in a minute, are very great. They are very severe. And God will not allow that to be undone, or not to go unpunished. Verse 12, for thus says the Lord, your affliction is incurable.

Isn't that an interesting thing for God to say? Your affliction is incurable. You can't cure it.

The things that are bothering you, the things that are painting you, the things that are afflicting you, you can't cure it. No matter how hard you try, no matter how many scientists you put in a room, no matter how many research people you put in a room, you can't cure it. Your affliction is incurable. Your wound is severe. There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up.

You have no healing medicines.

Well, we've, in a way, kind of learned that over the last several months.

Right? I mean, no, despite all the rhetoric around the pandemic and all the things that were said, indicated, we find out that, indeed, a coronavirus is incurable. Science said that from way back. There's never been a time where a coronavirus has been conquered. And there are no medicines, God says. You have no healing medicines. You're not going to look to man. You're not going to look to science. You're not going to look to the research people. You're not going to look to the powers that be, and that's not going to be your deliverance. Isn't that an interesting thing for God to say in the context of where we are right now? All your lovers, he says in verse 14, all your lovers have forgotten you. We have all these allies, all the allies in Europe, all the people that we would say, hey, they're friends of their friends. But all your lovers, all those acquaintances, no, not acquaintances, right? All your lovers have forgotten you. They've abandoned you. They betrayed you. They no longer are interested in you at all. All your lovers have forgotten you. They don't seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of your iniquities. Boy, when you look at what God is saying, when you look at what he says the trouble of Jacob is going to be, and you look and see what he says is coming, the birth pangs that will attend the nations of Jacob, between now and whenever the trouble of Jacob is over and the rest of prophecy goes on, it's pretty severe. We can see why the nations of Jacob would be bent over, writhing in pain, experiencing birth pangs that they have not experienced. We never knew pain like this before.

We didn't even know it could feel this bad. That's how God describes it.

Your sins, he says in verse 14, your sins have increased. And we look at the world we live in today, and we look at the last several years, and we see the sins of the nation increasing, not just departing from God's Ten Commandments. That happened a long time ago with many of the things, but even departing from what is traditional and just, you would think, common sense human morality that's just been thrown out the window as the world goes further and further into things that you have to wonder, where did you even come up with that idea? That that is okay. Where did you even come up with that idea? But we know where that idea comes from. I often say when I'm talking, I don't understand the logic. I don't understand how that could happen, but then I realize I'm glad I don't understand it, because it's not of God. It's not of God, some of the things that you hear going on in the world today. And as the nation moves further and further away from even normal, everyday, six thousand years of human existence morality, you see moving further and further and further away from God until he finally says, enough is enough. Enough is enough. You have violated what I have given you. You no longer belong in the land that I have given you.

Verse 15, why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable. It's incurable. Don't whine about it because of the multitude of your iniquities. Because your sins have increased.

I've done these things to you. Shouldn't be. No secret.

Therefore, verse 16, all those who devour you. Wow! That's part of Jacob's trouble. People would come in and devour us. Take everything that we have. Hey, what's all the good about here and here? Let's use up the resources. Let's use up all the benefits. Let's just devour everything we can just like locusts come in and eat up a crop and devour it. And there's nothing left. All those who devour you will be devoured. God says, they'll devour you.

You'll watch resources. You'll watch these things be taken up from you.

But they will also receive their just reward as well. And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity. Those who plunder you, plunder you? Who just come in and they just kind of like you're down and out and they just plunder you? They're just going to take everything from you? You know, who knows what the when you can't stand up, they're just going to take everything. You know, I look at look at the number of people that are reported that come in to the country now. They're not here because they love America. They love what America has. They love what America has to give. Those who plunder you shall become plunder and all who pray on you, I will make a prey. You're going to be hunted. You're kind of their their little game that they're going to do. We're going to hunt you down. They're their prey. When you look at what God says is the head for Jacob's trouble, we can see what he's talking about. We understand why the men would be bent over in pain in a way that they never imagined they could have it.

But God says, I will restore health to you. I will heal you of your wounds because they called you an outcast saying, this is Zion. No one seeks her. Down through the rest of the chapter, he talks about a time of thanksgiving when they'll come back. There will be a time of restoration. Verse 19, out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who make Mary. Verse 20, their children will be as before and their congregation will be established before me. I will punish all who oppress them. And he talks about the government and down in the very last sentence of verse 24, the last sentence in Jeremiah 30, he says, in the latter days, in the latter days, you will consider it. In the latter days, you will consider it.

So the question then, do we believe we're in the latter days?

Well, that's the physical nations of Israel. They won't know what comes upon them.

There's another verse over in 1 Thessalonians 5 that speaks about birth pangs as well and the fear, the pain, the dismay that will come upon the earth as the world is about to be restored or Jesus Christ's return, the revealing of the sons of God who will be born into the kingdom of God. In 1 Thessalonians 5, another prophecy, Paul writing to the church in Thessalonica verse 1 says, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, peace and safety, and there may be coming a time where people will say, oh, peace and safety, all that threat of this virus and that virus gone, it's done, finny, done, peace and safety, no more problems. For when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. Oh, all of a sudden it looks like that first contraction that probably wasn't so severe, but then the next one knocks you for a loop, right? Knocks you for a loop. Sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. It will be stunning to the world. It'll be stunning to Jacob when it happens. But you, that's you and me, you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch, let us watch and be sober. Let us be ready. Let us not us bury our heads in the sand and think, all is well, all is well, all goes on, just as it has from the beginning of time. All these things really have no meaning. They've been saying this for hundreds, decades and hundreds of years. It can't be near. Know the seasons. Know what God is saying.

And watch what's going on. In Matthew 24, Christ talks about this as well. And His disciples, you'll recall, come to Him, and they ask Him, what's going to be the signs of your coming? When you return, what's the world going to be like? What will be the signs of the end of this age? And we know the end of this age is not the same as the end of the world. The end of this age is the Christian era. When Jesus Christ returns, then you have the seventh dispensation of God. And that will be a new age. But at the end of this age, they ask, what will things be like, Jesus Christ? How will we know what is happening? And Jesus Christ answers them. So let's take a little time to look at that, look at what He says, in context of what we've been talking about, in the context of Jacob's trouble, in the context of what the Bible tells us, all of which we won't get through today. But beginning in verse 4, Christ begins to answer them. And He says in verse 4, to His disciples, that would include you and me, take heed that no one deceives you. The very first thing He says, take heed that no one deceives you.

You know when He says, no one deceives you? In the next verse, He talks about false prophets, but there can be a lot of people that deceive us, right? We can have our next-door neighbor deceive us. We can have the media deceive us. We can have newspaper reports, another thing deceive us, and we can say, oh, you know what? Yeah, that's right. That's the way it is. That's the truth I want to follow. And we can look at those things, and if we look at it through God's eyes, if we look at it through the truth of the Bible, we'll be able to discern what's true and what's not. There may be some things that'll come clear as time goes on, but He says, don't let anyone deceive you. Not just false ministers, but anyone. Don't let anyone deceive you. Know the Bible. Know the truth. Know what the times of the times are. Know what the birth pangs are like. Know where God says this is going and what will be the signs that accompany the end of the age. Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come, He says in my name, saying, I'm Christ.

I've got the truth. This is what Jesus Christ says. And it may be very different if you go from church to church from what the truth of the Bible is. We know that most churches do not teach the truth of the Bible. They teach what they want to teach, and they try to put those words into Christ's mouth, but that's not at all what Jesus Christ said. Jesus Christ, you and I should be very, very clear on what He said. We've talked about it much. This is the word of truth. This is where truth is. Many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will deceive many.

Many. The word deceive, you know, that's a word that we use all the time. We read it in Matthew 24. You look in the Greek, what the word deceive means, it means that many can come and cause you to roam. Many can come and cause you to go astray. Take a different path. You know, we don't want to roam from God's truth. Isaiah 53, we read that on every Passover. You know, we've all gone astray. Remember the verse in Isaiah 53? None of us want to go astray. So Christ said, don't let anyone cause you to roam. You know where the truth is. You know what the truth is. You should know where the truth is preached because it is preached from the Bible, just exactly the way that Jesus Christ spoke it, just the way that God inspired it, just as we talk about every Sabbath. So you don't need to roam, and today it's so easy to roam. You don't have to go on Sunday to this church or that church or whatever. You can click on the internet and you can roam all you want without ever leaving your office or your computer. You can roam and think, oh, look what they say, and yet they teach things that aren't true. And so Christ says, you know, doing that stuff, putting that temptation in there could cause you to roam. Who knows what little tidbit will fascinate you in a way that you would just leave the rest behind. I'm going to follow that tidbit. I'm going to follow that little piece of truth. I don't disagree with this part of God's law, and you know what? I found the person who agrees with me, so I'll follow him because I don't want to agree with God.

Well, we could all do that, right? Christ says many will come, and many will be caused to roam or go astray. Not you and me, I pray. I hope. Verse 6, he says, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Now, the key word there is here, right? It doesn't say that there will be. Of course, there will be wars. We know that. There's many wars going on in the world right now. You can go and get a list of those wars that are actually being fought, but he says you. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Now, in today's world, we're hearing plenty of rumors of wars, aren't we? Plenty of rumors of wars. Russia will invade Ukraine. Here's what the United States will do if Russia invades Ukraine. China may invade Taiwan. What happens if China takes over Taiwan and all those computer chips that we use for everything in our world all of a sudden aren't under the control of the Chinese Communist Party? How does life change? It changes a lot. It changes a lot. What about Iran? You know, there's rumors that they are close to developing a nuclear bomb. How will they use it? They have made no secret that they would love to see that little nation of Israel wiped off of the face of the earth and right behind it would be America. What about North Korea? That's over there shooting off missiles left and right. He may not be saying much, but he's saying plenty through those missiles being shot off of what their capabilities are. Are there rumors of wars all over the world today? Does that dominate the time that we're in? Yes, it does.

Unless we don't even... I mean, that's just traditional warfare. What about cyber warfare? That's all over the place, right? Any week you can hear about glitches in computer systems and what anyone can do to our computer system. What about economic warfare? We hear about sanctions, as if that is going to wage war against them, or we'll put some sanctions on you. There's all sorts of warfare going on out there. There's all sorts of talk about it and how all that will be.

So when Christ said, you will hear of wars, you'll hear of rumors of wars.

Now that's happening. That's the world we live in, and we can hear it today better than we ever could in history because we have the internet, we have every person with a cell phone, we have everyone with a cell phone that can record any conversation they want at any time. And he says, see that you're not troubled. All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Well, nations have historically fought against each other. You know, we've been through a time of unrest, you know, for decades in the Middle East where, you know, even within a nation, you have kingdom against kingdom, you have the Sunnis and the, um, that other group. I know it. Sunnis and the other group that are, they're fighting each other in the Middle East all the time. You have Isis, who's part of a nation, but they're against even people in their own country. You've got Al-Qaeda, you've got all these groups, you've got kingdom against kingdom. You have deep divisions occurring even in this nation that you wonder where that may come to as the divides become so great. So Christ says you're going to hear these things and there will be nation rise against nation, there will be kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

Well, famines are one thing that we haven't really experienced in this country yet. You know, I, I, like you, I listen to the news and I hear and see pictures of grocery shelves that are empty and that it's hard to get this in this area of the country and that in another area of the country, and that's kind of unique. I haven't really had that happen in our history before. I hear about supply chain issues and that we've never heard before in our lifetimes. The supply chain just always work, but all of a sudden the supply chain doesn't work and the supply chain has been interrupted and that's preventing goods getting from one place to another. We do hear about weather disturbances and, you know, crop shortages, but that really hasn't been the problem when we see those pictures of grocery shelves that are empty in some places. It's not because of crop shortages. It's because of supply chains. It's because of some other things, and famines will occur, the Bible says, and Jesus Christ talks about that here. If we go back to Revelation 6, Revelation 6, here he's talking about the seven seals and the third seal, if you remember, when Christ opens it, it's about famine. It's about famine. In verse 5, Revelation 6, verse 5, says, When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. So I looked, and behold a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand, balancing the weight of things. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and don't harm the oil and the wine. Now, a quart of wheat doesn't seem like a whole lot, and yet that quart of wheat will cost a person his entire day's wages, is what this is saying.

And three quarts of barley doesn't seem like a lot. It may feed a family for a day in a very subsistence-type scenario, but that's going to cost someone their entire day's wages. What does that say about famine? What can be associated with famine? Well, this clearly talks about inflation in a way that we haven't noted. No one is spending an entire day's wages on their day's food, are they? And so famine can come about by many different ways. It can have supply chains can be interrupted. Inflation can put things right out of the market for some people. And today, inflation is one of those topics that we talk about. It hasn't even been the national topic of conversation for years. But all of a sudden today, inflation. Here's the inflation rate. Here's this. Here's that. Here's where this is going. And you hear those same things on the news that I do. This costs today this much more than it did before. An inflationary period of time can render food to become a scarce object, something that we have to think a lot more about than we did prior to this time. So when Christ says there will be famines, it doesn't have to be just complete crop failures. In fact, when Christ talks about the third horse here, he doesn't talk about complete crop failures. He talks about inflation, prices, and those type things. He talks about, you know, that same verse back in there in verse 24. He talks about pestilences. Now, we know something about pestilences because the first time in our lives we've lived for the last two years through a pestilence. We've seen what it's like. We've seen what it has brought out around the world.

We see what has motivated some leaders to do. We see what the response of the world has been.

We see things that we never would have thought we would see two and a half years ago come out of this time of pestilence. And we've seen and heard things about all these promises. This is the answer to it. If you just do this, everything will be okay. And yet we read about the time of Jacob's trouble when God says there's only one. Only he can cure those four-man incurable diseases, those incurable afflictions. And in verse 8, he talks about this time of pestilence that will come before as part of a contraction in the world, if I can use that term. In verse 8, Revelation 6 here, verse 7 says, When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. So I looked, and behold a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was death. And Hades followed with him. That power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Now we talked before that beast doesn't have to be the lions or the giant animals. It can be little things like even bats that carry things that are absolutely detrimental to humankind, right? Beasts are anything that is a danger to animals. Now snakes, they're not very big. I consider those pretty dangerous if I come across one. But here it talks about a time of pestilence where a fourth of the earth power was given to the rider of this horse over a fourth of the earth to kill with hunger, with death, with sword, and by the beasts of the earth. You know, much is said about how many lives have been lost in this pandemic. And none of those should be taken lightly, and I don't mean to minimize it at all. What is coming? Whatever the next iteration is, because there certainly is another iteration. We can read that in Jeremiah 30. We can read that here in Revelation 6. We can read it in Jesus Christ's prophecy, or that we've just read in Matthew 24. There is another one coming, and it will make this time that we've lived in pale in insignificance. 880,000 will seem nothing compared to a quarter of the earth being subject, being devastated by that fourth horseman, pestilence. And however it comes about, whether it's deliberate as part of warfare, it does say pestilence by sword, by death, by hunger. However that comes about, there is the time that's coming, Jesus Christ told the disciples then. He tells you and me now. We live in a time where we see those things beginning. Well, let's go back to Matthew 24, and we'll finish this up for today.

Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in various places. And in verse 8, all those things happen on the world, the world as a whole. And notice what he says in verse 8, all these are the beginning of sorrows. Now sorrows is not a good translation of what the Greek word translated sorrows is there. The correct and more appropriate translation of the Greek word translated sorrows in Matthew 24, 8 is birth pangs. Sharp pains, pangs associated with birth. The newer translations, the new international version, the new living translation, and others have it correct. All these are the beginning of birth pangs. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Oh, it's beginning.

From there, the contractions become stronger and stronger. And as you read through Matthew 24, you see they become more intense. Just like as labor progresses, it starts off, but it doesn't get better until the time that the baby is delivered. I'm going to stop there for today, but next time I'm here, we'll talk more about this and we'll look at what God's birthing class would look like for you and me. What would he tell us to be ready for the time? Because are we ready? Now, I have a feeling that, and I include myself, we're not ready. We're not ready yet, but God will get us ready. So the next time we'll talk more about that.