End-Time Prophecy, Part 2

Well, I want to do some expository preaching today, as they call it. Expository preaching is known to take scriptures and detail the meaning of the various scriptures. And since this is actually part three, I want to remind you that, for those of you who were not here, in a couple weeks ago, I did part one on end-time prophecy. And we started at the end and working our way to the start, if that makes sense. Probably doesn't. But we wanted to look at, since Maurice covered the parable of the foolish and wise virgins last week, this is part three of end-time prophecy. And this will cover the Olivet prophecy. We are actually going to go into Matthew 24, since we've gone all the way through Matthew 25, because these are end-time prophecies. And they apply to us today. So I wanted to do that, but I also want to remind you that Matthew 21 from verse 18, Matthew 22, Matthew 23, Matthew 24, and Matthew 25 all occurred during one single day of Jesus Christ's preaching. So that kind of gives you an idea of how much He covered in a day when He spoke. He covered a lot of ground. So that's why it's taking us a little bit longer to go through that than one day, because I think it's very important. As we go to Matthew 24, if you will turn there in your Bibles, I also gave you a handout, because what I would like to do today is actually go through Matthew 24. Matthew 24, because the Olivet prophecy were actually covered in Mark 13 and Luke 21 also. But I made the handout. Well, I didn't make it. Thankfully, my wife is gifted in making that and separating that, so I give her the thanks for that.

I actually pulled aside the differences. There are parallel accounts, but I wanted you to be able to see as we go through this the added perspective, not only of Mark's account, which is actually Peter's account, and also of Luke the physician who went back and was a historian and went back and wrote about this. So you don't have to turn to all these scriptures to find out the differences. I tried to dig them out and put them closest to the Matthew scriptures that they were, being Peter did hear this account, this wonderful Olivet prophecy. It wasn't really a sermon, as we'll jump in and see. It was a message to his disciples, and it was a message to us today.

And so, as we look at Matthew 24 and go to verse 1, we see that then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. As you can understand, this in all reality was sometime in the afternoon. He had obviously spent, if you go through Matthew 21, 22, and 23, he spent that time in the temple, as we will look at next week, chastising the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and the scribes, and everybody that was Herodians, all who were involved in that. But he left the temple area, and he went, as it said, to the Mount of Olives. In case you want to know, if you were to walk there today, I don't know how it was then, if you were to walk there today from where the temple location, they believe it was, give or take a hundred or two feet, it would take you about 30 to 40 minutes if you were to walk slow. You can actually make it there in about 20 minutes if you walk fast, because it is a mile and a half to two miles from the point of the temple where he was talking in the earlier chapters, till he gets to the Mount of Olives, which would be at the foot of the Mount of Olives, being almost a 2500-foot mountain there that actually separates the city from the desert area. But he walked there with his disciples, and in all likelihood stopped at the bottom of the Mount of Olives, because it was actually this mountain that was covered with olive trees all through there, and that's where they gained a great deal of their olives for the city. Now it does not have any olives, it has just a few trees, it's actually a cemetery with over, I think, 1500 or so grave sites on the Mount of Olives. But at the foot of this hill or this mount was what we know as the Garden of Gethsemane. Okay, so you remember that from Jesus Christ's last few hours where he was. So I wanted to give you that background, just so you would understand as we start in here, because they've left the temple area, and the temple area was a beautiful area that they had actually been working on the temple and the buildings around it for the last 40 to 50 years. And they had beautiful stones, it was just a something to look at that you could see from, as they say, even miles outside of the city, because of the way that these stones and everything that they had around this temple. They took great pride in this temple. And so, of course, the disciples, as you can read, they were in during his previous conversations where he took down the leaders and chastised them in Matthew 23, as woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, as he told them just what they were and what God actually thought of them. It wasn't exactly what they thought of themselves and what they thought God thought of them. And so, you can imagine the thoughts going through the disciples' minds as they were walking with him, as they were leaving that area. It's almost as if they were saying, yeah, but look how beautiful the temple is. We know you were upset because actually you could see the way that he spoke in Matthew 23, how upset he was, how disgusted he was.

And so, it comes to Matthew 24. And so, they left the temple and said his disciples came to him in verse 1 to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things? Surely I say unto you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down, which made it hard for them to understand. But Jesus Christ could see the future and knew what was going to happen in 69 to 70 AD when the Romans completely sacked and destroyed the city of Jerusalem for their rebellion against the Roman emperor, Vespasian.

So then we come down to verse 3. He said, now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things be? And not only when that temple would be destroyed, because they were thinking in their own mind, wait a minute, is that the time of the end?

So they asked him actually two different questions here. Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And as you can see, if you look on your parallel scripture account there, you see that in Mark. I thought that was interesting because actually he said he, the disciples came down privately. But Peter's account, actually since he was there, said, now, as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, his brain trust at the time, the one always showed up with him, and Andrew asked him privately. So here you actually had four different disciples who were sitting here asking these questions. So these statements that he is about to make, this Olivet prophecy, this telling of the time of the end, was only to his disciples. It wasn't to the multitudes. It wasn't to all the people who would gather around. This was something he was going to tell them because it was going to require great faith and understanding. As a matter of fact, it shocked them, and I don't think they really, truly understood it either.

So let's start in verse 4. Matthew 24, verse 4, said, and Jesus answered and said to them, okay, we understand these are the signs of the end. They wanted to know when the end would come. Jesus Christ does this description. So he actually says, take heed that no one deceives you. Deception, right? Deception. Very first one. That's one of the signs of the end.

And then he said, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. So at the end time, there's going to be those who say, I think this is interesting because other translations, it's a little more truer to the actual Greek. It actually says that Christ is the Christ. You're going to have religious leaders, false prophets who are going to come at the time and say that what? Well, they're not going to say, I'm the Christ. We have one, even today, that says he's the Vicar of Christ. But many will come saying Christ is a Christ.

They're actually going to say that, well, hey, follow us because we recognize Christ as the Christ, the Son of God. And it says they will deceive many. Many will follow along and say, oh, well, open up my Bible. Just follow Christ. You have to know Christ. And they will follow this. And it said then, you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. So he is telling them that these things are some things are going to happen. But don't look at it like this is the end, because we hear that all the time. How many phone calls did ministers get on 9-11? Quite a few.

Wait a minute. The World Trade Center is falling. We lost 3,000 people. Is this the time of the end?

Everybody wants to know when things kind of happen that they're not sure of. But what's interesting here?

But the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation in verse 7. And kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilence, or plagues, earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Still not the end. So these things are going to happen down through the years.

Disciples thought Christ was coming back in their lifetime. It wasn't until the disciples were about to be killed or very old that they realized He wasn't coming in their lifetime. But up to the time, they actually thought He was. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Now we come down to verse 9. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. He had already said that before, but He's emphasizing that He will be offended. He's emphasizing it's going to happen right at the last days. And because lawlessness, hmm, lawlessness, you get that? Lawlessness, sin, will just be prevalent everywhere.

Lawlessness will abound. The love of many will grow cold. But He who endures to the end shall be saved. This is what He's telling them. And you can see Mark's account there, that He gives us added perspective. Mark said, but watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. It was not going to be very long before they were actually beaten in the synagogue there, many of the disciples, within the next few months. You will be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.

And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations, but when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given to you in that hour, speak that, for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit. Now, brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

Signs of the end, just before the end. And then Luke gives us added perspective in verse 18 and 19. He said, but not a hair of your head shall be lost by your patience possess your souls. By your patience possess your souls. That means it's going to require a lot of faith, just before Jesus Christ returns, when all these things are happening. Now, we also know that every one of those disciples, except for John, of the four he was talking to, actually were martyred.

They were actually taken up. But he's talking here at the last days. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel in verse 14, and this gospel will be preached into all the world as a witness to all nations.

And then, here's a stopping point, line of demarcation, then the end will come. The entire world will know the gospel, not just of Jesus Christ, but the gospel of the kingdom, the coming kingdom, and the warning message that is sent out to repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. That is our message. That is the reason we spend a million and a half dollars on a program called Beyond Today.

It's the reason we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars with free literature. We realize it's our job. It's our responsibility, the commission, to go and to preach the gospel to the entire world. One of the reasons we continue to do that. Now, look it down to verse 15. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, so he says that the gospel will be preached to the entire world and then the end will come. But he says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, he says what?

Whoever reads, let him understand. The abomination of desolation. So we'll know when the abomination of desolation takes place. I'm sure many of the disciples in the first, in the apostolic age, actually thought when general Titus overthrew Jerusalem in 69 AD that that was the abomination of desolation. Well, it wasn't. We know that the abomination of desolation, first time it took place, was in 168 BC when the Antiochus of Epiphanes actually went into the temple as they were, erecting idols to worship of even Zeus.

And actually, on the temple of God, they actually believe it was a temple of God and not just the temple they erected there, that they actually sacrificed a pig. And on that actual temple which desecrated, well, something like that is going to happen again.

It will be in the last days, because it has never taken place in Jerusalem since 168 BC. And Jesus Christ predicted that we will see it at the end time. Just before the very end, there's going to be a time, and that's when I wanted to give you Luke 21 and verse 20, where it's actually said, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.

So there is coming a time when Jerusalem will be taken over by the the Gentiles. And according to Scripture, and I won't go into that because that's not the point of my breaking all this Scripture down today, but the way Scripture did, they're actually welcomed in. And the beast power led by the false prophet will actually set up a throne there in Jerusalem, and they will be welcomed in. And from all indications, whether that is three and a half years or seven years, it's debatable by both sides.

Whether there will be three and a half years total, or whether there will be three and a half years of peace, of him coming in, making peace, this false prophet, and then stopping the sacrifices at three and a half years, or whether it's actually half or three and a half years, you can debate.

There's no real clear indication which way I've heard. I've heard both arguments. I'll just know when I see it. But then the abomination of desolation will be set up as those sacrifices will be stopped.

And what's interesting here is, it says that the armies will surround Jerusalem. They will actually take a captive, and it will not be the city, the holy city as it's actually called today, for that amount of time, as long as the Gentiles. I'd like to go down to verse 16. When they see that happening, when you see the Gentiles taking over the city of Jerusalem, said, then let those in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetops not go down to take anything out of his house, and let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in these days. And then Luke gives an added perspective there. He said, for these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing in those days. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon the people. You find that account actually in also in Zechariah 14, if you wanted to actually see what's going to happen to Jerusalem. But I didn't want to write that down for there. And it says in verse 24, and they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Actually, till Christ comes back and sets His feet, it says, on the Mount of Olives, the very place that He is standing here teaching them. The very place that He ascended to heaven after He was crucified and came back and talked to the disciples. So the Mount of Olives is a very important place. It was then, and it will be in the future. I want to go up to verse 29. And it says, And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Interesting that Sunday-keeping people have a very hard time with that one because Jesus Christ is actually talking about the end time and that pray that your journey, this terrible time of stress, you're not having to leave on the Sabbath, which Sabbath is supposed to be a time of peace. Verse 21, For then there will be great tribulation, such as not been since the beginning of the world, until this time, nor ever shall be. This will be a time of tremendous stress. This will be a time that people will call out to God. They will cry out to God. As a matter of fact, I even gave the reference in Daniel 12 and verse 1.

It actually says, at that time, Michael, who is the guardian angel of the God's people, shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Book of Life, are you written there? Is your name written there?

If not, you may want to make sure. That's why it's a warning. It's a warning that we need to be on watch. That's why later on in verse in chapter 25, he mentions two or three times, watch, not just watch world events. That's why it's end-time prophecy. We ought to be watching what's going on in Jerusalem. It is important. We need to be watching what's going on in this country of ours as we see it degenerating down to worse than some of the pagan nations that God condemns through the scripture. But we need to be watching our spiritual lives. We need to be watching where we are spiritually, our relationship with God, because that's most important. Are we close to God? What about our prayer life? What about our studies? What about our meditation? Do we meditate on His words? That's why I gave this two or three, four-part sermon, sermons on end-time prophecy, because it's warning us. This is a warning message. We're to take one to the world, but this is a warning message to those who say they're following Christ, because you see in other places, He says, I never knew you, as He said in another sermon in Matthew earlier. So let's go down to verse 22. Unless those days were shortened, this is at the end time, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. So if God let it go on, the world is going to be in such a bad place that if it went on any longer, the entire world would be destroyed. There would be no humans left. There would be nothing left. We're talking about nuclear warfare. We're talking about people totally destroying each other, all mankind.

This is a warning message.

Global warming is not that time. We hear that today. Oh, global warming is the worst thing going on in the world. We need to do something about it. We even have the Pope now coming out to say, coming to America to warn us about global warming. It's the greatest threat.

I bet people in the Middle East could argue with him for a very long time if he wanted to take their place. In Syria, we now have over 60 million people living in tents displaced from their homes.

That's whole nations, 60 million. And this is nothing compared to what it's going to be like.

Nothing. This is why it's so important. But for the elect's sake, for God's people that will be here, he is cutting the time short so that man cannot totally annihilate humankind on this earth.

But then he says something in verse 23. Then if anyone says, do you look, here is a Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christ and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

So unless you're staying close to God, you're going to see this false prophet. You're going to see these people who act in the name of Christ, act in the name of God, performing such miracles. It's got to be.

See, I have told you beforehand, therefore, if they say, look, he is in the desert, do not go out, or look, he is in any rooms, do not believe him. People are going to say, well, yeah, I've seen Christ return. I saw him over here. You may have not seen him, but I saw him. And then, when the national inquirer saw it, he put it on the front. He landed over here in the desert.

Now, what does it say? For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will be coming of the Son of Man. Why? Everybody's going to see it. You're going to know the entire world's going to see when Jesus Christ returns. There's no doubt in that. As a matter of fact, he even tells this little, he said, for wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. I've had actually people ask me, I think I've answered this in a question and answer sometime here. The actual Greek should be vulture or buzzard, wherever the buzzards are gathered. He's given an example that you're not going to have any trouble seeing when Jesus Christ actually comes. No one in the world will have trouble saying, is that him? Everyone's going to know. Just like if you see buzzards circling something, most of us know what? There's something dead. It doesn't take a genius to go, wonder what they're circling for? This is why Jesus Christ made this little statement here. And then 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. Which trumpet? The last trumpet, the seventh trumpet. And they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. It means we're going to be scattered. He's going to collect those, and those bodies will be resurrected that are dead from one end of the earth to the other, as we find in 1 Corinthians 15, verse Thessalonians 4. But I want you to look in Luke 21, verse 27 and 28. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now, and that's what I like about Luke putting this in. Now, when these things begin to happen, what? These signs. These signs of the end. It's not time to fear. It's not time to say, well, I need to get right with Jesus, as the world's going to do, or think they will do. Now, when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. As I've always said, the answer's up there. The answer's not down here on earth. Now, we went through those 31 verses, fairly rapid.

But I want to go back, because, as you can see, whenever Christ wanted you to understand something, whenever He wanted to make a point, He put it in these scriptures two and three times.

If it's pretty important, He wants you to get it, He put it in there.

Just like by the mouth of two or three witnesses, a matter settled.

So, He gave us an account of this at the end time. He gave us an account of this at, in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. And we've just gone through it.

Where was John?

John didn't cover it. Yet, John spent the last half of his entire book of John in the last seven days of Christ. But here, this was three days. Remember, this was three days before He was put to death. Did He give these Olivet prophecies? Where was John? Because John was written almost 30 to 35 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Did He not think it was important to cover this? Did He think, oh, well, it's been covered three times? Well, yes, He did cover it. But He didn't cover it in John. He gave a parallel account that Jesus Christ revealed it to Him in the book of Revelation. And that's what I would like to go back now and cover that time we have left.

Because I want us to see it from that perspective. We really need to see it. Because the things that Jesus Christ has just described to them in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are described for a reason. Because they are going to be covered in the book of Revelation. And they are covered. I want to explain this so you understand it today so that you can teach others. Because what He just described were the four horsemen of the apocalypse and the seven seals of Revelation right here in Matthew. Now, to make sure we cover that, I want to hand this out to you. Again, I did this probably three years ago, but there's a lot of new people, different people.

This is an outline so that you will understand. I'm not going to go through all prophecy, but I ask that you would please hold on to this. Look at it, because I want you to make sure that you understand this as we're going through it. This is actually a timeline, actually put together by an elderly woman friend of mine who passed away quite a few years ago back in Nashville, Tennessee. And she actually drew this up because she did a great study on Revelation. And so this will kind of help you to go through this so that you're not kind of, what does that mean? Do I totally understand? Is it important to understand what the seven seals are? I think so. Is it important to know the seven trumpets and the seven trumpet plagues? Not really. I think it's a lot to try to memorize when there's so much more in the Bible. That's why I wanted you to have this. The first seven, the seven seals, are pretty easy. These are what we are to be looking for. These are the ones that he gave us to look at.

We're just about done there in the back. Now, most people are afraid of prophecy when they study it because they don't understand it. Hopefully this will help you to understand. Is everything here absolutely 100%? I based my salvation on the piece of paper I gave you. Absolutely not. Okay? Because there are some things we just don't know. We're not absolutely sure on, but this gives you an outline for how these things are going to happen in the timeline, which is kind of nice to have. It's a visual. Okay? It's always helped me in the last 10 or 15 years since I've had this. So, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. We, the Beyond Today, did a show on that that you could get, but this is a little more detailed than that. The four horsemen that are described, the four horses that ride in Revelation. Revelation 6, you will read about the four horsemen. I'd like to go back there, if you will. Revelation 6. Revelation 6.

Let's look at these four horsemen first. The first seal said, Now when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, come, saying with a voice like thunder, come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he went out conquering and to conquer. That is the first seal. That is the first horse.

God, at that time, understood that, especially when you saw the Roman armies, you would understand how their horses were strong, powerful, and that's how they won so many wars.

And also, the one who sat upon those horses, those military warriors, as they were at the time, they were feared to see a horse riding because most people could not afford a horse.

As I've explained from one other time, when we were very nice, spent time in Rome, one time went to Pompeii, and the historian there actually said that you could actually trade.

Slaves were so common, but horses were rare because they were only used basically by the military.

The common person used mules or donkeys or so forth, but they didn't use horses. Horses were used by the military. And you could actually trade 20 slaves, 20 men, for one horse.

Amazing. So you can see how this visual that John had here would have gotten his attention.

I actually, when I gave this, probably two and a half years ago, I gave a message, some of you might remember, about the revelation. And I actually went through this, Seven Seals, and I had a young man that wasn't with our church. He came in from somewhere, and after services, he came to me and said, you know, you're wrong about this. And I said, okay, well, it wouldn't be the first time. He said, you're wrong about this first horse, First Seal. That's talking about the true church in the apostolic era. I said, really? How do you get that? And he said, well, if you'll study your history, I said, well, that is one thing I do study, is history, and I don't see it. And he said, yeah, this is talking about the church at the first century, and all the all those that went out, and the great work that they were done, and they conquered many souls, conquered many souls, and saved them, and so forth. I said, well, you may want to check and read more than one book, and you may want to understand the seals. There's not one of these horses. There's not one of these seven seals that has anything to do with anyone who is righteous.

This is not about church brethren. This is about what's going to happen to the entire world, and these deceptions. And I said, have you cross-checked Matthew 24 and see that these line up?

Well, no, I just know I read the Bible, and that's what I got. So, if you have an argument about this, fine, we'll make it, but just try to stick to the Scriptures. I mean, you're safer that way. But here is the first horse. It's white, and it's got a bow, because bow and arrow was used quite often there. And there's a crown, but this is talking about false prophets, deceptions. It's one of the things you remember we just read that Christ was going to talk about. Christ talked about you're going to see at the end time. That's one of the first. The second seal in verse 3. He said, when He opened the second seal, if you'll grab this. And for those of you who I did this before, this is a scroll, and you can find that in Revelation 4 and 5, and I don't go into it much. But it was a scroll wrapped up is how they did their scrolls at the time, and on the scroll to seal it would be a paraffin or some type of wax seal that would go on top of there. And so they would always have one to tie it together. But this one, as it's described in earlier chapters of Revelation that we went through, this had actually seven seals on it. Seven seals, and they would take these seals off, and then you would find out what's inside the scroll. The first seal, I have the seven seals which I'll put up here. The seven seals that are on that scroll that John wanted opened so badly that only Jesus Christ could open, as it says. But on the second seal said when he opened it, verse 3, he opened the second seal. I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And another horse, fiery red, went out, and on it was granted the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth. And that people should kill one another, and there was given to them a great sword.

The second seal, the second horse of the apocalypse. First you have deception, false prophets and deception, the first seal. Now the second seal, showing the time of the end, what's going to happen at the time of the end, is war. Remember when he said you will have war in Romans of war?

And it's been interesting that if you go back in the last 3,400 years of this world by various historians, that's the only time we really have solid records is to go back not 6,000 years, but to go back 3,400 years. And now the 3,400 years, there are only 268 years of that 3,400 where there was not war. War on this world somewhere. As a matter of fact, since the end of World War II, 1945, in the world today, there have been 26 days of peace.

So is it intensifying? Yes. The third seal, the third horse. When he opened the third seal in verse 5, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see, and I looked, and behold a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hands. 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 do not harm the oil and the wine. Famine. The third horse, the third seal is famine. It's going to happen. And actually transferring those to today's dollars and have an understanding. At the end time, in the last days, food is going to be so scarce that it is going to take 80 to 100 dollars of your money to buy a loaf of bread. So only the rich will survive unless you have a connection with the man upstairs. Finally, we get to the fourth seal, the fourth horse. Verse 7. And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of a fourth living creature, saying, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse. So you have a white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. And this pale horse is actually, the Greek word is chloras, which is where we get the word bleach. So it's actually a green or a type of pale green is what the color of this horse was. And the name who said upon it was death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and with death, and by the beast of the earth. So many times, many times when there are bodies laying out, dead animals are going to, our dead bodies are going to be eaten by live animals. And so you're going to find a time where even the beast will be coming out of the woodwork, killing many people. So these are the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

They will ride. They have been riding, and they will ride. They will ride to the end, but the intensity of each one of these will pick up as we come to the last days.

So for 2,000 years, the four horsemen have ridden, but they will, and they continue to ride. But we will see just before the Great Tribulation, you will see a pickup and an intensity in these that you cannot deny. They're going to happen. And then, as you can see on your paper there, we have the Tribulation, the Fifth Seal. So we have the First Seal, Second Seal, Third Seal, Fourth Seal, and then we have the Fifth Seal, which is actually the time known as the Tribulation, three and a half year period of time, just before Jesus Christ's return.

And then you have the Sixth Seal, which is heavenly signs.

When all this happens, you will see. Let's go down in verse 9, Revelation 6, since we're there. And when he opened the Fifth Seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried out with a loud voice, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. And a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said of them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. So there are actually going to be people who are put to death for the name of Jesus Christ, who are actual followers. Is it the majority of the people? From what Scripture says, no. We just read what it said in Matthew.

But not a hair on your head shall be lost by your patience. Possess your souls.

We better have patience with God. We need to make sure that we have that patience.

Better make sure that we're waiting on Him, that He will deliver us.

There's always been leaders in the church who have been killed, as it will be in the last days.

Those who stand up and have a responsibility. Even Isaiah, at the age of 90, was actually song in two. But that's part of it. But then I'd like to go to the sixth seal in verse 12.

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars fell to the earth as a fig tree dropped its late figs when it was shaken by the wind. We're going to see stars. You're going to see meteors. You're going to see things just falling from the sky just before Jesus Christ returns. This is the last seal. This is the sixth seal before the seventh seal is actually opened, and the trumpets are done, as you could see.

And this is going to be so frightening. It says, Then the sky receded at a scroll when it was rolled up, and every mountain and island would move out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks and in the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. These are people who knew.

Now they got a realization.

Christ is coming, and He's not pleased with them. How about you? Are you ready to stand before Christ? Are you ready if He comes tomorrow?

Verse 17, For the great day of His wrath has come. And who is able to stand? Who is able to stand?

On this sheet of paper, you have the correlation here between Matthew and Revelation at the very top. I'd like to go back as we finish up here in Matthew 24. Let's go back to Matthew 24.

Or you can take your little sheet of paper here that I gave you.

And if you look at verse 5, Matthew 24 and verse 5, For many will come in my name and say, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. The first seal, the first horse. Christ was telling them at that time. And He tells us in three different places this is going to happen. And then He comes to make sure that the church understands it because that is who the book of Revelation is written to. It's not written to the world. He makes it specific so that we can understand. That's why I feel like this is so important because Matthew 24 is in-time prophecy. And it's something we should know. We should know those four horses. We should know the seven seals.

Because that is going to be front and center on CNN, on every network, all over.

But you're going to hear one thing that Christ talks about. He said, you're going to hear from so many of the people, peace and safety. We have such peace and safety how great it is.

Peace and safety, peace and safety. And all around the world, these things are going to be taking place. The setup for the end time. So in verse 5, you have the first horse, the first seal.

And then verse 6, you have, and you will hear of wars and rumors of war. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass. But the end is not yet the second horse, the second seal. We have wars today. We've got them scattered everywhere, right?

Wait until just before Christ returns. There will be war everywhere.

And yet, we're going to hear peace and safety. Peace and safety. Then you come down to verse 7. For a nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in various places. The third and fourth seal put together right there. And then he says in verse 9, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. The fifth seal, tribulation, is going to come upon God's people.

And then you turn over.

In verse 29, it also talks about immediately after tribulation, the fifth seal. Those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. The sixth seal.

The sixth seal.

It is sobering. It is sobering when you think about it. You kind of want to have, wait a minute, I want to feel good, Sabbath, I want to come to services, I want to be inspired, I want to be picked up and beat up all week. The world. And you hear, whoo, this is a future.

Absolutely. This is the future. This will happen. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He didn't lie.

These things will happen. Now, whether they happen in three years, seven years, ten years, or fifteen years, I have no idea. But that's why He tells us to watch. We have these things to keep an eye on. As you see this country deteriorating, as you see countries all around the world accepting things that fifteen, twenty years ago, who would have thought that would never happen?

Even England said it shook them that they accepted same-sex marriage, and they voted on it. And they could not believe, but the people actually voted for it.

By, I think, 61 to 39, something like that. The world is changing.

That's why we, that's why Jesus Christ. Do you want to know? Do you really want to know?

These four men came to Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives and said, when will these times be? He told them. Would you rather be left out and not even know, and just say, well, I don't really care about it. I need to enjoy life today.

Well, if you do, then you're in the wrong church, because we have a message.

We have a message to send that Jesus Christ is coming back. We must be prepared. We must prepare ourselves.

I hope you will look at that. I hope you will meditate on it. I hope you will not even fear, because now you know. It says, my people perish for lack of knowledge. We have knowledge. We have His writings. We have the Matthew. We have Mark. We have Luke, and we have Revelation John, telling us what to look for in the world of events. I kind of like to keep up on news. Kind of like to see. But that cannot change, because Christ said, I came that you may have life and live it more abundantly. Brethren, it's time to get into our Bibles, get into your studies, meditate, pray, and enjoy life. Enjoy the life why it is now available for us to enjoy, because there's going to come a time of great tribulation when you will not. Not to fear, but for us to know exactly where we are. Next week, I will finish Matthew 24. We will cover the rest of the verse from verses 32 through 51. And the title is A Story of a Tree, a Flood, and a Drunk, because that's what the rest of the chapter covers. And we want to go through there as I break those down, because a lot of questions come out of those stories there, even the parable of like the fig tree. A lot of people have questions about Noah, one taken and one left. And then verse 45 through 51 is written directly for you and for me about the last days and how we live our lives. So I look forward to doing that and seeing you next week. And we will cover that. So hopefully then we will have covered the Olivet prophecy. So I appreciate everybody being here today. I know everybody will enjoy the food. I hope we will have fellowship. Don't let me see your heads go down and go, oh man, this is just, oh, this is terrible. Because it's great. This is great. This is a great knowledge to have that we know.

And so we can look and see when things are going to happen. We're just not going to wonder what's going on. It is. It's a powerful thing. We know. We know right now what the Gentiles are not in control of Jerusalem. Okay. We know a lot of those things. It's going to be a little time yet.

How many years? Oh no, but it's not going to be next year. Let's make the most of this coming year. Okay.

I appreciate everybody here and look forward to everybody sharing our food. And then we will have the Bible study on Esther. And if a closing prayer, we'll ask God's blessing on the food. We'll be ready to eat as soon as they get it ready. So we'll do that.