As we watch our world, sink deeper and deeper into the abyss of depravity, isn't it wonderful to be able to come together and hear the glorious truths of God's Word and be reminded afresh that he is sovereign over all of his creation, he is still on his throne. He has a plan, he has a purpose, and it will be accomplished. And to know that somehow, we're a part of all of it. What an amazing thought. Will you take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 13; we continue to examine this portion of Scripture, this gospel. We're going to be looking basically at the first eight verses, but this is the beginning of a series that I want to do that I'm entitling "Jesus Prophetic Discourse on the End of the Age." And here we will see Jesus telling his disciples what is going to happen because they're asking the question. And the context here is, he has made his final pronouncement of judgment against apostate Judaism. And he's given now a long explanation of what must take place prior to the end of the age prior to the establishment of his kingdom. We see parallel accounts in Matthew's gospel chapter 24, and 25, and Luke's gospel chapter 21. And we're going to see more of those details as well. And what's happening here now occurs on Wednesday of the Passion Week. The Lord is about to go to his death on the cross a few days later, on Friday. And we know that in Matthew 23, we have a record of Jesus's public sermon; a detailed denunciation of the false shepherds that stood right before him. Those false teachers, the scribes and Pharisees that really represented apostate Israel. And after pronouncing seven curses of divine judgment upon them, he concluded with one final, climactic pronouncement in verse 33, he said, "'You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?'" And then he gave a final warning in verses 34 and 36, promising judgment that would eventually fall upon them. And we know that in AD 70, that happened. 50,000 elite Roman troops marched upon Jerusalem, they immediately captured about 500 of the Jewish leaders, some of them, no doubt, that were in Jesus' presence. And they crucified them. No doubt, again, some of the scribes and Pharisees that he had just condemned. And then we know from history that the Romans slaughtered 1.1 million Jewish people. They took an estimated 100,000 captives and took them to Egypt, glutting the market with slaves. And so Jesus' words must have been shocking to the disciples. Luke tells us in chapter 19, verse 11, that they "supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately."

So what is all this talk? He's been talking about his death, about his resurrection. And now, all of these things. And certainly, Jesus' triumphal entry just a few days earlier into Jerusalem, really heightened their expectations, but they failed to understand how all of that works together with Jesus' talk about death and resurrection. And as I think about it, like all of us, the disciples only heard what they wanted to hear and believe what they wanted to believe, without any regard for truth or reality. And in Matthew 23, we have a record of Jesus's terrifying response upon Israel with a farewell promise. In verse 38 he said, "'Your house,'" referring to the temple, "Your house is being left to you desolate.'" But in verse 39, he said, "'I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, "BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!"'" Well you notice, Jesus did not say unless, but rather, he said, "until." And therein is the glorious hope, because there is a future conversion that awaits the Jewish people; a time of genuine repentance, a time that has been carved into the granite of divine sovereignty. But Jesus gives us no hint as to when the interval of time is holy indeterminate. He simply says "until." And he used the very text the multitudes quoted a few days later, or a few days earlier, the triumphal entry when they said, out of Psalm 118, verse 26, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." And when Jesus returns the next time, as we have read in our scripture reading, we know that it will be very different. And at that time, what was once said in ignorance, and in unbelief, will be said, with full knowledge and genuine faith.

Zechariah speaks of this in his prophecy in chapter 12, beginning in verse nine. "'And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.'" Indeed, a day is coming when a remnant of Jewish people will join us in singing, Amazing Grace; won't that be a wonderful day?

The Apostle Paul spoke of this as well in Romans 11, beginning verse in verse 25. He reminds us that there is a "partial hardening that has happened to Jerusalem, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.'" And so after his scathing denunciation of their phony religious system; their hypocrisy, their corruption, and after his ominous prediction of the temple's demise, he concludes with a message of hope, and then quietly withdraws from the presence of the multitudes there on the temple area.

And obviously, this prediction of judgment on Israel's temple would have aroused great suspicion and intense desire, on the part of the disciples, to understand what in the world are you talking about? What will be the nature? What will be the duration of this time of desolation? When is this going to happen? And what do you mean you shall not see me until we say blessed it is he who comes in the name of the Lord? Didn't we just say that? Their Messiah King had just passed final judgment upon their nation, upon their temple. The disciples are confused. And so now what happens, if you can imagine, Jesus and his disciples leave the Temple Mount, go down across the Kidron Valley, and they begin to ascend up the Mount of Olives. And it is at this point that Jesus gives what is called his Olivet Discourse.

That brings us to our text here, in Mark 13, beginning in verse one. "As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!' And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.' As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, 'Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?' And Jesus began to say to them, 'See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name saying 'I am He' and will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.'"

Now, much of what I have to say this morning is going to be largely introductory to what we are going to study over the next several weeks. But I want you to think about this, many people, if not most people, scoff at the existence of a creator god. Most people scoff at the idea that he is infinitely holy. Most people laugh if you tell them that the one true God, the God of the Bible, is sovereign over all of his creation; that he is actively involved in history. Most people think that is absurd. They will laugh if you tell them that he is going to come one day and judge the nations, as well as individual people. Most say that God, if he exists, isn't involved in history. Either he doesn't exist, or at least he's uninvolved, therefore, for most people, history is cyclical. It's just an endless cycle of meaningless existence fueled by the process of evolution. There is no purpose. There is no plan, there is no destiny. We are merely sophisticated germs that came into existence by accident. And we have evolved over billions of years by random chance. That's what our children have been taught for years in our public schools. That's what most people believe. There is no design because there is no designer. There is no creator and therefore there is no judge. There is no one to whom we are accountable. There is no ultimate and eternal consequences for anything that we do. So let's just eat and drink, be merry, for tomorrow we die. This is Satan's great lie. It certainly appeals to man's depraved nature. And collectively, the masses of the world believe this type of deception, causing people to actually think that that's the truth. If you get enough people to believe a lie, it becomes the truth. Quote, unquote.

The biblical Christian worldview is very different. History is not cyclical, but God controls history; history is linear, there is a beginning there is an end. The one true God is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the consummator of all things. He is currently moving history toward a final destination, one that he sovereignly decreed and ordained in eternity past. And his plan is to ultimately bring glory to himself in ways that we can't even begin to comprehend. And that plan absolutely cannot be thwarted. And this plan is delineated in his revelation to man, which is the inspired, the inerrant, the infallible, authoritative, all-sufficient Word of the living God, recorded in the canon of Scripture--the Bible. And therefore, the unfathomably complex order, design and functionality of the natural world screams the fact that there must be an intelligent creator, there must be one that sustains all of these things. And therefore, that same one, is the one that will consummate all things. And for those who believe God doesn't exist, or if he does, he's not involved in history, obviously, the Bible is nothing more than a book of myths. And the gospel is foolishness. And the hundreds of Bible prophecies that have been fulfilled, literally, are merely coincidental.

My friend, if that is you, God calls you a fool. Indeed, the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 14 beginning in verse one, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" It goes on to say "They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together, they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." These people have no fear of God; therefore they have no wisdom, spiritually speaking, down deep. They foolishly hope that if there is a God, their own perceived goodness will be enough to help them make whatever cut there is for salvation, that God grades on the curve and they've been good enough to beat out most other people. This is how the world lives, even many in the religious world. Indeed, the unregenerate know nothing of the one true God, they know nothing of the creation, of what Scripture says about that, of the person, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, His true church. And so most of the world simply lives for itself. People are constantly pursuing the fleeting pleasures of this life. And eventually, like all of us, they are going to grow old. They are going to be diseased and decrepit. And then they will die in their unbelief and spend an eternity in hell. That's what God has said. In fact, Jesus tells us in John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." And we know according to Hebrews nine and verse 27, that "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes," what? "comes judgment."

But for those who by God's grace alone believe that history is linear, that God is ultimately in control of history, those people and I'm sure I'm speaking of those who are within the sound of my voice, will long to know all they can about his plan of the ages, and his plan for them personally. And they will search for every biblical insight available to them, so that they can know the season in which they live. They will be like the disciples who said to Jesus, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"

Now I wish to unpack Jesus' lengthy answer under seven headings over the next several weeks. Let me give you the headings. We're going to first of all see the temple's demolition. And then the signs of the end, the prospect of persecution, the abomination of desolation, the false Christ and prophets, the coming of the Son of Man, and the warning to be prepared. I'm taking them in the order that Jesus delineates them. And while we do not know a specific date when all of this occur, we can see how that the stage is being set, right now in our world, for the constellation of all of the prophetic signs to be manifested. So the bottom line is, we all need to be ready. And we all need to be excited. In fact, we need to be thrilled to know that all of this is going to come to an end and Jesus will be glorified. Aren't you tired of hearing him mocked so, it breaks my heart. So let's look at the text.

"As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Teacher, behold, what wonderful stones, what wonderful buildings!' And Jesus said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.'" And here we come to the first little point in our outline, and that is, the temple's demolition.

You must understand that according to history, this was an amazing piece of architecture. Herod the Great had spent a fortune refurbishing the modest temple structure that had been erected many years earlier under the rule of Cyrus, remember when the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. And actually, the final touches were still being made during Jesus' day. The temple wasn't actually completely finished until AD 64, six years before it was destroyed; it was a magnificent building. They said that some stones measured 40 feet by 12 by 12 feet and weighed up to 100 tons. Can you imagine moving stones like that without cranes? The walls were luminous white marble that glistened with decorations of pure gold. Wealthy worshipers would contribute countless precious stones and priceless ornaments to adorn the walls. And the temple complex would accommodate many 1000s of worshippers and in it it had symmetrical porticoes and patios and colonnades and courtyards. The opulence of this edifice was absolutely mind boggling. In fact, its splendid grandeur, was even described in the Babylonian Talmud, stating, quote, "He that never saw the temple of Herod never saw a fine building." End quote. The eastern side, that would have been visible to Jesus and the disciples from the Mount of Olives--for those of us that have been there, you know exactly what it would look like. In fact, now, if you look at pictures, you see the Dome of the Mosque, you know, you're up hight and you're looking over, now the dome of the mosque is there, but that's the Mount of Olives, looking back on where the temple once stood. But they viewed this from the adjacent mountain, and they could see it glistening, especially in the evening. And I would say even more so in the morning when the sun would light it up. And sadly, however, this astonishing edifice that they viewed from the adjacent mountain had become a tragic symbol of apostate Judaism. And it was about to be destroyed, along with their apostasies.

And this led to Jesus solemn prediction recorded in Matthew, chapter 23, verse 38, that "'Your house is left to you desolate.'" And then in Matthew 24, verse two, "'not one stone shall be left upon another, which shall not be torn down.'" Can you imagine the shock and the confusion of the disciples. And history records that when the Romans attacked the Temple Mount, they set fire to the main temple structure, and the heat was so immense that the stones crumbled into powder. And the stones that we see there today were merely the the retaining walls of the temple. And then they sifted through all of the ashes to retrieve the fine jewels, the gold and the silver. And indeed, as Jesus promised, not one stone was left standing. The great Jewish historian of that day, Josephus, said that when the Roman army had finished, the temple area looked like "a wilderness that had never been inhabited." So the Messianic hopes of the disciples being dashed, they don't understand what's going on. And if their beloved temple is going to be gone, so too is the nation, so they're doomed. And I'm sure in their mind, they're thinking, no temple means no Messiah. And yet he's here. Undoubtedly, Malachi's prophesy in chapter three and verse one is ringing in their ears. There we read, "T'he Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts." But again, if you have no temple, you have no place for the Messiah to come, no kingdom.

Later on, when all of this happened, Jews understood this. They are still waiting to build their temple are they not? By the way, Malachi's prophecy was reference to the millennial temple, that the Lord himself will construct at his second coming and you see the details of it, described in Ezekiel chapter 40 through 48. So we read in verse three, "As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James and John and Andrew were questioning him privately. "Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?" Matthew 24 three adds this, "Tell us, when will these things happen and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" Three questions, very appropriate questions. When will these things be? When are you going to destroy the temple? And are you going to miraculously rebuild it? I mean, is it going to happen next week, next month, next year? And how does all this fit into your talk about dying and resurrection?

The second question, what will be the sign of your coming? "Parousia" is the term that is used, which means "presence" or "arrival" or "manifestation". In other words, when are you going to ascend the throne of Israel as our messianic king, and the effulgence of your glory is going to beam forth? That's what we're waiting for. When is this going to happen? And what's going to be the sign of your "parousia"? And what will be the sign of the end of the age? The term "end" in the original language translates a compound word denoting an ultimate consummation, or a culmination, a completion of plot, of a planned series of events. In other words, what can we look for that will indicate that you will finally manifest your power and your glory as our Messiah? What sign? Tell us what it will be when this age of wickedness and rebellion is finally over.

Now, it's important to understand as well that the disciples thought that all of these mysterious events that Jesus was talking about would happened shortly and in quick succession, in a single continuum. They had no idea that he was going to leave; they had no idea of a church age that would intervene before his ultimate parousia. Again, Luke 19:11, The twelve, "supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately." And you realize that even after the resurrection, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples asked in Acts 1:6, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" So they could only comprehend a swift sequence of dramatic events that would culminate in this promised Messianic kingdom. So beginning in verse five, Jesus begins to answer their questions in reverse order. He begins by addressing the signs of his coming. And I again, he is using the term parousia, in the technical sense, referring to his second coming. And as we look at the combined records of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see that there are six specific signs that Jesus gives them, and he calls them "birth pangs" in Mark 13 eight for example. These are the things that will occur just before his appearing: false messiahs, nations at war, natural disasters of epic proportions, persecution of tribulation saints, defection of, and betrayal by false believers, and interestingly, enough mass evangelism.

Now, as a footnote, these six signs have undeniable parallels with the seal trumpet and bowl judgments that are delineated in Revelation chapter six through 19. The seal judgments, we know from the text, will take years. The trumpet judgments weeks, the bowl judgments days and hours.

Now, a very important digression, because this comes up from time to time. After Jesus predicted the imminent demolition of the temple, he began to foretell events that would occur in the distant, not the immediate future. But some disagree with this. And they have what's called a "preterist" view, or maybe you've heard of Preterism; that comes from the Latin term, “praeter" which means past. And this interpretation of eschatology, and particularly the Olivet Discourse and the book of Revelation, would argue that the events referred to had already taken place or were taking place at the time of the writing. And that all of the eschatological passages describing the Tribulation and the return of Jesus were fulfilled with first century events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. They insist that the timing indicators in the New Testament where words are used, like "near," "soon," "quickly," and "this generation," demand that Jesus had to return in just a short amount of time, maybe a few years or decades. There's a number of reasons why we rejected that view. I'll give you just a few samples of it so that you have some sense of it. And if you want to know more of the details of all of this, I'd be glad to refer you to other documents. But when you look at terms like "near," "soon," "quickly," you must understand that they're merely conveying the idea of imminence, which Jesus spoke of, for example, in Matthew 23:36, "'No one knows the day or the hour only the Father.'" Acts one seven, "'It is not for you to know, times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.'" And every generation should live with the imminent expectation that these events could suddenly burst on the scene and regarding the phrase in Matthew 24:34, "'This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.'" That cannot be referring to the time of Christ. Why? Because there was nothing even remotely like the catastrophic global and cosmic cataclysms described in the Olivet Discourse and in the sealed trumpet and bowl judgments, none of that occurred. Nothing even close to that occurred in ad 70. There was no abomination of desolation, where an Antichrist appears and desecrates the temple and sets himself up to be God. How are you going to spiritualize all that away? There is no place where you see the sun being darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. You don't see any of that in AD 70. There is no sign of the Son of Man that will appear in the sky and then all of the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. None of that happened. There's no sending forth of angels with great trumpet and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. None of these things that Jesus predicted. No gospel being preached to all the nations, as we see here in verse 10. In fact, Jesus described this time as quote, this is in verse 19, "'A time of tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation, which God created until now, and never will.'" Moreover, the Preterist position would mean that the book of Revelation had to have been written before AD 67. But the consensus view in church history is that its writing occurred during the reign of Domitian, around AD 95. And so all of the signs predicted after the demolition of the temple, have to be distant future, way beyond the events of ad 70, as we will see.

Now, while certain aspects of each of these signs have occurred down through history, we've never seen anything like the severity and the scope of the staggering events that Jesus described, and others that go along with it, in other passages of Scripture. And, also think about this, Jesus says that these six signs are quote, "merely the beginning of the birth pangs." In other words, they're going to get far more severe and increase in frequency. We all understand that when a woman gives birth to a child. And so to claim that these events all take place in AD 70, simply does not fit the facts of this text. Again, think about it, birth pangs do not occur at conception. They do not occur at pregnancy, but just prior to birth. And so it makes no sense to apply this to the destruction of Jerusalem--an event that occurred at the very beginning of the church age. Paul reminds us that Christ will return as a "thief in the night" right? He's going to return suddenly, unexpectedly. And he uses the same figure of birth pangs that Jesus uses here. We see that this in first Thessalonians five, verses one through three. There we read, "While they are saying, 'Peace and safety!' then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape."

So we still wait these labor pains that will culminate in the inconceivable and unprecedented catastrophes that Jesus describes. These dear friends, I believe, are pre-kingdom judges that will occur at the very end, during the time of Daniel's 70th week that we've studied in the past, just prior to Jesus second coming. And these are events consistent with the prophecies that are delineated there in Daniel's 70th week, and the pre-kingdom judgments as well, as I've said in Revelation six through 19, just prior to the Lord establishing his kingdom.

It's also important to understand, again, this is preparatory, I want you to get some theological understanding that frames what we're about to study. And that is this, although God's economy in dealing with Israel finds numerous fulfillments in the church, nevertheless, Daniel's 70th week is distinctively Jewish in context, pertaining to God's covenants with Israel. They cannot be describing something in the church age, I would argue. When Israel enters, according to Jeremiah 30, and verse seven, "the time of Jacob's trouble," that's a period of unprecedented oppression for Israel. The context describes Israel's final restoration, just before their Messiah returns as described again in Revelation six through 19. So Jesus clearly indicates in Matthew 24, verses 15 and 16, as well as Mark 13:14, that the 70th week prophecy of Daniel is to be the template of the chronological sequence of the beginning of birth pangs. These are pre kingdom judgments consistent with God's purposes and his plan for Israel, not the church. Daniel 9:24, "70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place." And while Israel has been set aside temporarily, as we read in Romans 11:11, through 15, the normal reading of scripture would make it clear that they will once again emerge; Israel will once again emerge as the object of divine intention, as he has promised. So today, we await to this. I believe now, just so that you get a sense of the premillennial dispensational position that we hold here at this church--one that is despised by many--I would argue that we're awaiting the translation of the church--the rapture of the church--the church to be snatched away, before the seven years called the Tribulation begins, or Daniel's 70th week. And the signs Jesus describes are secret events, again, analogous to a woman entering into labor and these events will increase in severity and rapidity until the Messianic Kingdom is birthed.

So typical of Old Testament prophecies, where God speaks in the second person, often addressing people who are not yet born, we see the Lord now answering these questions. And indeed, Jesus' answer speaks to all of us today, not just to them; all who will follow, but especially to those who will be alive at the time of his arrival. However, again, he doesn't answer their question regarding when, until Mark 13:32, and then he simply says, "But of the day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." By the way, that passage does not mean that Jesus was not God--that somehow, he was stating that he was not deity but rather, we can see that during the days of his humiliation, in the days of his incarnation, we know that Jesus voluntarily limited his omniscience and the exercise of his divine attributes and his prerogatives. We see this in Philippians, two six, for example. He only knew what the Father revealed to him during his earthly ministry. But after his resurrection, the omniscience he possessed from eternity past was fully restored.

So we've seen number one: the temple's demolition being promised. Secondly, the signs of the end. Now, what are the six signs, these birth pangs, these pre-kingdom judgments that Jesus described? Well, today we're going to look at the first one. And that is in verses five and six, false messiahs; that there are going to be great deceivers and deceptions that will lead to the worship of the ultimate false teacher, false messiah, the Antichrist. Notice verse five. "And Jesus began to say to them, 'See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, I" am He!" and will mislead many.'" And Jesus repeats this in verses 22 and following, "'For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance. '" And we know that they exist even today. And Satan does all kinds of false signs and wonders. I mean, think about the power of AI and what it is able to do. I think of Revelation 13, where the Antichrist even, is going to be wounded, and he's going to die. And it's interesting that God is going to raise him to increase the deception. So this is what is coming. And he extends this warning to all people, in chapter 13 of Mark and verse 37, "'What I say to you I say to all, "Be on the alert!"'"

Now, while false messiahs and false teachers have always existed--certainly they exist today-- and we are warned about them all through the New Testament, you must understand that their numbers are going to greatly increase, and their power is going to greatly increase at the very end of the age. Think of the future contact of this morning, context of this morning. Understand the chronology here of these events. By this time, the church has been caught up; the church has been raptured (First Thessalonians 4:17). We know according to Revelation 3:10, the Lord promised to keep the church from the "'hour of testing, that hour, which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.'" Imagine what's going to happen when all of the believers of the world suddenly disappear. It's going to be chaos beyond comprehension, confusion, people will be desperate for spiritual answers. And of course, that is always fertile soil for false prophets and false teachers. And sometime after the rapture, we know that the sealed judgments will begin to occur during the first three and a half years of what is called in a broad sense, the Tribulation, (Second Thessalonians, one six.) And it's interesting that at the beginning of the Tribulation, the Lord Jesus Christ will unleash the first Seal Judgment, we read about in Revelation six, one and two, which describes a pseudo peace, a false peace that will lull the world into an understanding of all that has happened. Lull them into a false sense of security; visions of Utopia will finally be promised and manifested, supposedly. Of course, this is the calm before the storm. And all of the deceptive charlatans that will arise during that time, to make a buck off of everybody's confusion, will actually pave the way and foreshadow the most vile, false Christ of all--the Antichrist. And even now the steady deterioration of societies is a real dilemma to the liberal elite who remain committed to classic Darwinian evolutionary theory and the vision that ultimately human progress is going to trend upward. Right? That's what we've been promised. And any idiot can look and see that that's not happening. And so since it's not happening, we have to have the elites to do social engineering to make it happen. And that's what we're dealing with now. And of course, this requires the superior wisdom of the liberal elite who must control the populace, who they consider to be ignorant rabble, especially, born again Christians. But after the rapture, again, imagine the chaos and even now man is desperate for a leader, right? Even in our country, we see all this chaos. The whole Biden/Trump thing, as if either one of them could ever deliver us from the abyss that we've entered into. Man is desperate for a leader. And mankind is predisposed to worshipping anyone that can offer them change we can believe in, remember Obama? That's worked out real well. Imagine how much worse it'll be dear friends. When the true church is translated into heaven. No more salt to slow down the decomposition no more light to expose it. Just darkness. David Larsen said, quote, "Problems on earth seem insurmountable. No human leadership seems competent to address the complexity of the issues. But demographic explosion with moral social, economic, ecological and political ramifications baffles the think tanks of the world, humankind's vaunted self-sufficiency, evaporates in the face of insoluble questions. The church, notwithstanding her frequent impotence and perennial failure, is now gone. And the salt and light she has afforded are missing. Homo sapiens are adrift, rudderless." End quote. Even now, the world needs a leader and how much more so in that day. The world is craving a political hero. One prominent Belgian diplomat and astute European strategist by the name of Paul-Henri Spaak. Put it this way, quote, "We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature, to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking send us such a man be he God or devil, we will receive him." End quote. Paul Missoura, prominent European economist/banker commented on this leadership vacuum. And here's the prediction that he made. Quote, "The large number of government bureaus that will have their orbits in the atmosphere of our planet cannot be allowed the freedom to compete and comply, collide with one another. So, in order to control the diverse bureaucracies required, a Politburo will develop. And over this group organization, there is likely to arise the final and single arbiter, the master of the order, the total dictator."

Well, this is from a human perspective. Let me give you the truth from a divine perspective in Daniel's prophecy. Daniel chapter eight, beginning in verse 23, we read of this antichrist that is coming on the scene. There we read, "A king will arise, insolent and skilled in intrigue. His power will be mighty, but not by his own power, and he will destroy to an extraordinary degree and prosper and perform his will; he will destroy mighty men and the holy people. And through his shrewdness, he will cause deceit to succeed by his influence, and he will magnify himself in his heart, and he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, but he will be broken without human agency."

As we look at biblical eschatology, we see that after the rapture of the church, according to Daniel 9:27, the prince to come, who is the Antichrist, will make a covenant with Israel, which actually will be the beginning of Daniel's 70th week judgment. And really the beginning of the Tribulation, not so much the rapture, but the signing of the covenant with Israel. And at that time, the Jews will finally be able to rebuild their temple on Mount Zion, something that they already have the plans for, they're just waiting, waiting to do it. And that will be the temple that the Antichrist will desecrate in the middle of the week, the middle of that seven-year period, three and a half years. But during that time, Daniel also tells us in Daniel 11, beginning in verse 36, "Then the king will do as he pleases," referring to the Antichrist, "and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done." The Spirit of God gives us more through the apostle Paul in Second Thessalonians two beginning in verse three, where we read, "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless," referring to the day of the Lord, "it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God."

This is what's coming, dear friends. But there will be many that will come to saving faith during the time of the tribulation, after the rest of us have gone on to be with the Lord either through death or through the rapture. But he will not be able to deceive the elect of God, we're told, who will be saved during the time of the of the Tribulation. Jesus even said in John 10, beginning of verse four, that the sheep follow their shepherd because "they know his voice.'" Isn't that a wonderful statement? He went on to say, "'a stranger, they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.'"

Oh, dear friends, in closing, all of this is going to happen but what we see today is the stage being set for it. The momentum is gaining with all of the deceptive teachers, religious teachers, philosophers, politicians. In fact, Paul says in Second Timothy 3:13, "But evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." The level of deception in the world today is absolutely mind boggling, isn't it? I mean, you turn on the news, you don't know what to believe, all these conflicting things. Sometimes they'll show us a split screen and on one side, you'll see, for example, hundreds of 1000s of illegal people coming across our border, and the next screen, you'll hear some guy saying our border is secure. You know, it's just double-think, it's mind boggling. And with the the advent now of AI, and the internet, social media that can propagate lies by the billions instantly; corrupt politicians and educators and prosecutors and judges in the media, we don't know who to trust in the world. But we know who to trust outside of the world, and that is the Lord our God, whose has given us his Word. Remember, Satan is the father of lies, and God has allowed him right now, to temporarily rule this current world, until the Lord returns. So dear friends, may I challenge you--guard your heart, guard your minds, be people of the Word. Read it, study it, meditate on it. Speak it to your spouse, to your children, to your friends, feed upon the word of God, and God will protect your heart and your mind, in the midst of all of this wickedness, and he will encourage you because the reality is, Jesus is coming again. Jesus is coming again. I hope you're ready.

Father, thank you for the eternal truths of your word that give us some sense of even the particulars of what you're going to do and what you have done. But Lord, there's so much we don't know. And that's okay. You are God and we are not. And were you to even tell us, we wouldn't be able to comprehend at all. But we know what you have given us is sufficient. And I pray therefore, that we will rejoice in the major truths that we can be certain of, and that is that you are in control of history, and that nothing can prevent your plan from coming to fruition and in this, helps us to relax and to rejoice. And for those who do not know you truly know you as Savior, o Father, won't you bring such conviction to their heart that they will run to the foot of the cross and cry out for your undeserved mercy available through Christ our Savior? Bless us, encourage us, strengthen us and come quickly. We pray in Jesus’ name and for his sake. Amen.