"Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today. It is such an honor to come together with you again for the study God's Word. I humbly ask you would join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who are facing severe persecution, that their witness would help to penetrate even the hardest hearts of their persecutors, leading others to Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. that their suffering would not be in vain, but glorify our Lord.
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for joining us today. It is such an honor to come together with you again for the study God's Word. I humbly ask you would join us in praying for our brothers and sisters who are facing severe persecution, that their witness would help to penetrate even the hardest hearts of their persecutors, leading others to Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. that their suffering would not be in vain, but glorify our Lord.
We are living in what is perhaps the most dynamic period of time in all of history, we are witnessing things that a decade ago, we never dreamed would ever happen, things that as Christians, grieves many of us deeply. I've had a number of Christians ask me, "You're always preaching against some kind of sin, doesn’t God want me to be happy?" Well, if I understand my Bible correctly, I am called to preach the whole counsel of God. not just the parts that makes everyone feel good. The truth is, nowhere in the Bible is the call from God to His people to be happy, but the call is clear for His people to be holy. With holiness will come joy that transcends our circumstances.
While Covid-19 may have impacted the many churches, most reporting attendance is only 85% of pre-pandemic levels, there is a much broader, more severe issue facing the church. Most of them, claiming to be affiliated with Jesus Christ, now don’t even belong to Jesus Christ, they belong to Satan. Many pastors who have made a commitment to teach the Word of God, quite frankly, haven’t kept it. They're not interested in committing their lives to Christ, without compromise, they're more interested in increasing church attendance and more money going in the collection plate.
As pastors, we are called to be Christ-exalting, Bible-believing, uncompromising center for growth and evangelism till the very day that Jesus comes at all costs! The first thing that Satan uses to destroy the church is the loss of our first love, Jesus Christ. The collective efforts most pastors put into teaching the live saving truth of God wouldn’t exhaust a butterfly. Many of them don’t even know the meaning of "kopos," to toil and labor for the cause of Christ, with grief and sorrow.
The early church had a beginning like no other beginning, they labored tirelessly, enduring hardship because they couldn't stand sin. They didn't compromise with the world, they preached the truth, even though people tried to kill them, all for the name sake of Jesus Christ. They toiled and labored for the right motive: suppression of evil, dealing with sin, and false doctrine for the glory of God!
As pastors, we are called to be Christ-exalting, Bible-believing, uncompromising center for growth and evangelism till the very day that Jesus comes at all costs! The first thing that Satan uses to destroy the church is the loss of our first love, Jesus Christ. The collective efforts most pastors put into teaching the live saving truth of God wouldn’t exhaust a butterfly. Many of them don’t even know the meaning of "kopos," to toil and labor for the cause of Christ, with grief and sorrow.
The early church had a beginning like no other beginning, they labored tirelessly, enduring hardship because they couldn't stand sin. They didn't compromise with the world, they preached the truth, even though people tried to kill them, all for the name sake of Jesus Christ. They toiled and labored for the right motive: suppression of evil, dealing with sin, and false doctrine for the glory of God!
Many Christians are in bad spiritual shape today, they've left their first love. They love their pastors more than they love Jesus Christ. They've become sidetracked, fighting for and defending their pastors, rather than getting into God's Word, fighting the battle on their knees. Their passion for Christ has turned cold, rendering their service to God no good.
Do you remember when you first got saved, and you care about anything but that Jesus loved you enough to die for you? You couldn't wait to tell everyone you knew without even thinking if they might be offended. Now, you’ve stopped spending countless hours getting to know Him because you'd rather watch television, or attend happy hour or have lunch with friends.
I'd like to encourage to get into God's Word, to spend time with Him in prayer, because that’s where you'll find Him.
Do you remember when you first got saved, and you care about anything but that Jesus loved you enough to die for you? You couldn't wait to tell everyone you knew without even thinking if they might be offended. Now, you’ve stopped spending countless hours getting to know Him because you'd rather watch television, or attend happy hour or have lunch with friends.
I'd like to encourage to get into God's Word, to spend time with Him in prayer, because that’s where you'll find Him.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: Perilous Times Are Coming! Part 2
If you are a true Christian, you have a heart that seeks God. You will understand the truth, believe the truth, embrace the truth,and obey the Word of truth. Furthermore, you will reject everything that is not the truth. That is one thing that can be said about anyone who is a true Christian. True believers, walk in the way of the Lord. The truth that saves is the heart and soul of the Gospel, we are called to tell people the truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only truth that saves. Apart from that truth, nobody is a Christian, and is not saved. Therein lies the problem with modern Christianity; false teaching. False teaching renders the church impotent, confused and leads it's hearers into spiritual blindness. Many professing Christians have not been delivered from sin to righteousness, from error to truth.
Romans 6:2-4, "How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." When you came to Christ, the old life literally died, new life came with your new birth.
1
John 3, "Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who
practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one
who practices sin is of the devil." There are only two kinds of people, the children of God and the children of the devil. The purpose for which Christ died was to deliver us out of this present evil age. If you are a true Christian, if you have been saved, this world does not hold any attraction to you. That is how we can know whether or not someone is a true Christian, they're disinterested in the things of this world, their affections are set on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
"Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."
Let's look at verses 15 and 16, "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains."
We saw last time that the abomination of desolation is the one event that signals the start of the birth pains. Those who left to face the Tribulation will have a clear picture of the events before His Coming, and when the abomination of desolation happens, your response is to flee, get out of Judea, because you’re going to be vulnerable to persecution and death, especially if you’re a Jew. Jesus is warning all who will read this. All throughout history, Satan has wanted to eliminate Israel, exterminate the Jewish people, so he can thwart the whole God's plan of salvation and the coming kingdom. When antichrist takes over in Jerusalem, and sets up his throne, you better flee, and run to the mountains. Flee is the Greek verb "pheugó," meaning to seek safety by flight, from which we get the English word fugitive.
The Antichrist wants to make war with the saints, so those who are believing people who refuse to worship the Antichrist, you better run. There’s going to be a terrible slaughter, and not everybody is going to make it, two out of three are going to die. The holocaust of the Jews in the past was horrific, but holocaust of the future is going to be far greater, few of them are going to survive. When the slaughter begins, many of them are going to perish, but God will always have His remnant. Christians will be martyred for the testimony which they held, the Word of God. That's why Jesus warns, "Run as fast as you can because your life is at stake." It all starts when the abomination of desolation is set up, that's the signal. By the way, the mountains are a good place to flee, because there are caves. And in the desolate places there are places to hide. Jesus expect tell them stay and face the danger, He says get out of there, because the forces of Hell are coming after you!
Beginning in verse 17 through verse 20, He gets more descriptive, "Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath."
If you happen to be on that housetop, do not go back into the house to take anything out, even your personal belongings, just get down from there and run as fast as you can! In those days because the housetops had a patio, there was an outside staircase to access it. Don't get caught up there, even if you have jump, that is how terrible what is coming will be. If you delay by going inside the house to get your things, it will mean death. When Satan tried to stop the birth of Christ, he massacred all the babies, I believe when the Antichrist comes, he's going to bring that hellish kind of activity against infants and children. Furthermore, I believe those who are pregnant will face the possibility of being ripped open, and their unborn child destroyed. We cannot even begin to comprehend the evil nature of this holocaust when the church and the Holy Spirit, Who is the restrainer is removed, and Satan has complete, total control. It will literally be Hell on earth! All kinds of unimaginable, horrible things are going to happen in that tremendously evil time.
In verse 21, He says " For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will."
This will utterly devastating, unlike anything we could ever, I do not understand how any pastor with a conscience can avoid teaching on sin and repentance unless you’re just seeking to dishonest with those you teach the Scripture, Jesus Christ went to the cross and died and through His finished work on the cross brings true salvation for those who believe and obey. The unredeemed world worst time in the history and pastors are teaching the congregation to ask forgiveness for something that happened over 200 years ago and neglecting to call them to repentance for that which they've done today. Much of this modern so called preaching, is raised up against the knowledge of God, it has absolutely nothing to do with anybody’s eternal soul and to give glory to God.
Verse 22, "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short."
Unless this most horrifying time in human history, the holocaust of Antichrist is shortened, no flesh be saved, if not for the sake of God preserving His chosen people. By the way, that's the first time in the word “elect” is used in the New Testament. God goes to extremes to protect His own! I cannot think of a better reason to teach and preach the whole Counsel of God than that. People must be called out of darkness into the Light, from error to truth, from sin to righteousness. Sin is catapulting this planet toward destruction, and some pastors are willfully without the most important passages, because they don't want offend anyone? We are not to love the world, to be friends with the world because we know what sin does, it incites sin; the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, abuse of the body, boastful pride, that's what the world panders. The world is smitten with the disease of sin and it's literally killing them.
Verse 23, "Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him."
Jesus warns, they’re going to try to deceive you, do not believe them. They're going to say, "Hey, look Christ has come, you're going to miss out! It's a trap, so they can capture you and kill you. The Antichrist is going to use any means possible to wipe out the redeemed people of God, so do not fall for it.
Verse 24, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."
We’ve seen this happening for years, false Christ's have long claimed to perform counterfeit miracles, but this will be so spectacular they might even deceive the elect, if it were possible. Jesus is saying that the false prophets are so good at what they do that they will deceive many. You cannot deceive the very elect, but they're going to try, because they’re desperate. A true Christian cannot be deceived. In John 10, Jesus says "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
In verse 25, Jesus says "Behold, I have told you in advance."
There's no reason to be fooled, He told us back in Matthew 7, Matthew 15, Matthew 16, Matthew 23 and now again here in Matthew 24.
Look at verse 26, "So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them."
If have been asked, "Pastor, how are we going to know when Christ finally does comes back?" Verse 27, "For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be."
Christ's Second Coming is not only going to happen quickly, it's going to publicly visible, like lightning going across the sky from the east to the west. Believe me when I say, nobody is going to miss it when He comes, it's not going to be quite. The entire world is going to know it's happening! This is going to be an event that everybody sees. It will be brilliant and dazzling. Revelation 1:7, says "Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen."
There’s going to be no mistaking Christ return. But before He does, this evil world is going to get worse and worse, more than anything we've ever seen before or will again. This world is going to be brought to judgment, why would anyone want to hang around and go through it if you don't have to?
That bring us to verse 28, "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."
Some versions say eagles instead of vultures, either way, this very graphic picture. Vultures are going scavenge virtually anything that has died for food. The world is going to be so vile, so wretched and so corrupt, it will be like a vulture to a dead carcass, ripping and tearing it apart. That's exactly what’s going to happen when sin is running rampant, the world is going to be filthy, dead and corrupt. It's been said that the insignia on the Roman flags in 70 A.D, had eagles on them. In the book of Revelation the birds of the air feast on the dead bodies that are present from all the conflict and distress. People will be drawn to the appearing of Jesus when He returns. God comes to destroy what is left.
Before we wrap up for today, allow me read verse 29. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
In Closing..
In John 16, Jesus said "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." True Christians have faith that gives us the victory that overcome the world. This corrupt world no longer has an attraction, we long for the eternal Kingdom. That is the mark of a Christian. But unless you believe the truth about Jesus Christ, you cannot be delivered. In order for them to hear and believe, we have to expose deception by having the courage to speak the truth!
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2023 All Rights Reserved