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Series Code: MAT
Program Code: MAT000010S
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00:21 Shall we bow our heads for prayer. 00:23 Our Father and our God, we come before your awesome presence 00:27 in the powerful name of Jesus asking that you will be with us 00:32 as we study this very important subject about the great 00:35 tribulation which Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. We believe 00:40 that we are seeing in the world the signs that this tribulation 00:44 will come soon and we want to be ready. So I ask that you will 00:49 bless us in our study, open our minds to understand and our 00:53 hearts to receive. And I ask that you will remove any 00:56 obstacle from any heart that will watch this presentation 00:59 that we might accept the truth as it is in Jesus. In his name 01:03 we pray, Amen. 01:05 I want to draw to your attention four specific successive stages 01:13 that Matthew chapter 24 mentions in the end time. There are many 01:19 others but these are the four that I want to highlight. First 01:22 of all, you have the abomination of desolation that is set up in 01:27 the holy place. In terms of purpose of end time prophecy 01:32 we've noticed that this represents a national Sunday law 01:35 that will lead the whole world to decide to be in one of two 01:40 groups. There will be no neutrality. You will be either 01:43 on the side that keeps God's holy Sabbath or you will be on 01:47 the side that keeps Sunday as the day of rest. When the 01:52 abomination of desolation is set up that's a sign for God's 01:55 people to flee from the large cities preparatory to leaving 01:59 the smaller ones. And so after the abomination of desolation 02:04 is seen, the sign is seen, then God's people must flee because 02:09 persecution will ensue. Shortly after the flight probation closes 02:15 All the world has taken sides on one side or the other. 02:19 Just like in Jerusalem those who stayed were in apostasy, they 02:24 perished. Those who left actually were saved because 02:27 they paid attention to the sign. And then after the close of 02:32 probation when God's people flee then you have the great 02:36 tribulation such as has not been seen since the beginning of the 02:41 world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Now in order to 02:47 understand this great tribulation, not the tribulation 02:49 of verse nine but the great tribulation of verse 21. We need 02:54 to understand that there is only one tribulation composed of two 03:00 stages. One tribulation, two stages with a pause in between. 03:05 Let me give you an illustration of what I mean. You put a DVD in 03:09 the DVD player. You push play and now you're watching a movie, 03:14 let's say it's a movie. Then you go and you press pause and 03:20 the movie stops. Then at your leisure you push play again and 03:26 the movie picks up where it left off. This is the case with the 03:30 great tribulation. It has two stages with a pause in between. 03:34 Now the question is, what are the two stages of this great 03:40 tribulation? I might mention before we identify the two 03:44 stages that the first stage is the worst in the history of the 03:49 world with regards to length, because it lasted 1260 years. 03:54 The second phase of the great tribulation is actually the 04:00 worst with regards to intensity because even though it's short 04:04 it will be a time of severe anguish and suffering for God's 04:09 people. So what are the two stages? The two stages are 04:12 the first, the period of papal supremacy during the 1260 years 04:19 that began in 538 A.D. and ended in 1798 when the papacy received 04:26 its deadly wound at the conclusion of the French 04:30 revolution. This stage of the great tribulation was 04:35 interrupted towards the end by the protestant reformation. In 04:39 other words, it was cut short by the protestant reformation. The 04:43 second period, or the second stage, if you please, of the 04:48 tribulation will be a short period of persecution at the 04:53 very end of time after probation has closed and it will be cut 04:58 short by the second coming of Jesus Christ. So there's only 05:03 one tribulation divided into two parts, two phases, with a pause 05:08 in between. Now what is the biblical evidence for this? 05:13 Well, you find in Revelation chapter 13 that there is a beast 05:18 that rules for 42 months. In other places it's called 05:23 time, times, and dividing of time or it's called 1260 days. It's 05:29 actually 1260 years. And you find this beast in Revelation 13 05:35 verses three to 10 that basically does its will and 05:39 thinks it can change God's law, persecutes the saints, speaks 05:42 blasphemies against the Most High, tramples on the heavenly 05:45 temple. In other words, it does basically what it wants. God 05:49 allows to do this. But at the end of this period we're told 05:53 in Revelation 13 and verses nine and 10 that this system 06:00 received a deadly wound with a sword. In other words, it was 06:03 put out of commission, it no longer was supreme, it no longer 06:08 ruled. This is the pause button on the movie, if you please. 06:11 But Revelation 13 and verse three tells us that the deadly 06:16 wound of this system will be healed and the whole world will 06:21 marvel after the beast. And then persecution will ensue like the 06:27 papacy persecuted during the first stage of its existence. 06:32 We also are encouraged to study about the seven seals, 06:38 and particularly the fifth and sixth seals to understand the 06:42 historical framework of these two phases of the tribulation. 06:45 I want to go to Revelation chapter six, Revelation chapter 06:50 six and verses nine through 11 where you have mentioned two 06:54 periods of persecution, not one period, two periods of 06:58 persecution and actually they are two phases of the same 07:02 persecution. Let me just review what the first four seals are. 07:06 You have a white horse which is the conquest of the Christian 07:10 church. You have the red horse which represents the 07:13 persecutions by the Roman empire against Christians. Then you have 07:19 third horse, the black horse that's the period during which 07:21 Constantine and the church joined forces and introduced 07:24 paganism into the church. The fourth horse which is the pale 07:27 or yellow horse, the horse of death represents the period of 07:31 papal supremacy, the 1260 years when the saints of the Most High 07:36 were mowed down because of their religious convictions. Now with 07:40 this in mind, let's go to the fifth seal which comes 07:43 immediately after a description of the period of papal supremacy 07:47 We're going to find that the martyrs who died during the 07:50 fourth seal, during the period of the fourth horse, are now 07:53 crying out for justice and vengeance because of what has 07:58 happened to them unjustly. Revelation chapter six verse 08:02 nine: When he opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar the 08:07 souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and 08:10 for the testimony which they had and they cried with a loud voice 08:15 saying, How long, O Lord, Holy and True, until you judge and 08:21 avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. So they're 08:26 asking two things: How long it it going to be till you judge 08:29 and, secondly, avenge our blood on those who did this to us? 08:34 Now notice verse 11: Then a white robe was given to each of 08:41 them. That means they are secure they don't have to worry. 08:43 Incidentally they're not literally crying out. This is 08:46 like the blood of Abel crying out for justice when Cain slew 08:51 him. You know, Abel is symbolically crying out because 08:54 a great injustice has been done. So it says in verse 11: Then a 08:58 white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them 09:02 (This is the first group of martyrs) that they should rest 09:05 a little while longer until both the number of their fellow 09:11 servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were 09:15 was complete. So then you have a second group that are going to 09:19 be killed in the future. So you have two periods of persecution. 09:22 You have those who are crying out for justice and for 09:27 vengeance because an injustice has been done. They are given a 09:31 white robe, they're told you case is secure. Just rest for a 09:36 while until the number of the rest of the martyrs is complete. 09:39 So there are two groups of martyrs because the papacy has 09:46 two periods of persecution, two periods of dominance. Now Ellen 09:50 White had something to say about the period of persecution in the 09:56 past. She wrote in Great Controversy, page 59 09:59 the following words speaking about the papacy during the 1260 10:04 years... 10:16 So notice the first stage is the martyrs that were slain by the 10:21 papacy, that's the context, the mangled forms of millions of 10:25 martyrs cry to God for vengeance upon that apostate power. But 10:30 Ellen White also refers to the second stage of persecution by 10:33 the papacy. We find in Volume five of Testimonies, page 451, 10:39 the following words:... 11:05 And here she refers to the last group of martyrs. So she 11:09 understood that the papacy has two stages and she understood 11:13 that the persecutions by the papacy also had two stages. 11:17 Daniel 11 presents the same scenario. If you study Daniel 11 11:23 and verses 30-39 you will find that this describes the period 11:28 of papal supremacy. You'll find many common elements with the 11:32 little horn of Daniel seven and with the little horn of Daniel 11:35 chapter eight. So verses 30-39 describe the past of the papacy 11:40 when everything is going well for it. However, when you get to 11:45 verses 40-45 you have the future career of the papacy who goes 11:50 out to destroy and annihilate many because tidings are coming 11:55 from the north and the east that represents the loud cry of 11:59 Revelation chapter 18 and it represents the sealing message 12:03 of Revelation chapter seven. Ellen White saw that Daniel 11 12:09 has a past stage and a future stage to the papacy. 12:13 In Manuscript releases volume 13 page 394 Ellen White wrote: 12:51 This history is a period of papal supremacy and the 12:56 repetition of history is what is going to take place in the 12:59 future when the papacy recovers from its deadly wound. Notice 13:04 that she's not saying that the prophecy will be repeated. She's 13:07 saying much of the history that fulfilled the prophecy will be 13:11 repeated and the reason is simple. The same power that 13:14 persecuted God's people in the past is going to be the power 13:17 that will persecute his people in the future. Then she ends by 13:22 saying In the 30th verse a power is spoken of that "shall be 13:27 grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy 13:30 covenant... so shall he do; he shall even return, and have 13:35 intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant." 13:38 Then she quotes verses 31-36 which are describing the period 13:42 of papal supremacy and then she writes: Scenes similar to those 13:48 described in these words will take place. 13:51 So notice in the future, prophecy's going to be 13:54 fulfilled again, ah 13:56 not prophecy the history is going to be fulfilled again of 14:00 the prophecy just flows from verses 30-39 of the past stage 14:05 and verses 40-45 are the future stage. So there's not a 14:09 repetition of prophecy but actually a repetition of history 14:13 Both stages of the tribulation are the worst in history as I 14:18 mentioned. The first because of the length of the period and the 14:23 second because of the intensity of the period. Now here's 14:29 another interesting element. Toward the conclusion of the 14:32 first period there were signs in the heavens, there were signs in 14:38 the sun, moon and stars. The sun was darkened, the moon looked 14:43 like blood and the stars fell from heaven and there was a 14:47 great earthquake. These were fulfilled in 1755 the great 14:52 earthquake, then 1780 the sun was darkened and the moon looked 14:58 like blood and in 1833 you have the falling of the stars. These 15:04 signs in the heavens actually were announcing that the 15:08 judgment in favor of the saints was about to begin. The 15:13 vindication of the martyrs who were killed was about to begin. 15:16 Beginning with those who were killed in the past and this 15:20 judgment would end with those who will be persecuted at the 15:25 end of time shortly before the close of probation. So we have 15:30 signs in the heavens that indicate that the judgment of 15:35 the cases of the righteous who were slain are going to be 15:40 examined now in the heavenly investigative judgment. Then you 15:44 have also signs that point forward to the second coming of 15:48 Christ. They're a little different because it says in 15:53 Matthew chapter 24 and verse 30 that the sun will be darkened, 15:57 the moon will be darkened. It doesn't say the moon will be 15:59 turned into blood, but it says the moon will be darkened and 16:04 the stars will fall from heaven, the stars will not give forth 16:08 their light. So you notice once again that this will be the 16:14 announcement that the avenging stage of the martyrs has arrived 16:18 So I want you to catch this very clearly in your mind. There are 16:22 two groups of martyrs; the martyrs of the past that the 16:25 papacy slew; the martyrs of the future with a pause in between. 16:30 The deadly wound of the papacy is healed and persecution rises 16:34 again. You also have the martyrs crying out for justice and for 16:38 vengeance. So God simply gives some signs in the heavens in the 16:43 sun, moon and stars to announce that the judgment portion is 16:47 about to begin and then the signs shortly Jesus begins his 16:52 second coming which show that he is now going to avenge the blood 16:56 of those who were persecuted during the two stages. Both 17:02 stages also have a relationship with the Sabbath. You say how is 17:07 this? Because in Daniel 7:25 we're told that the little horn 17:12 which represents the papacy not only persecuted the saints of 17:16 the Most High, not only blasphemed against the God of 17:20 the Most High, but thought that it could change God's Holy Law. 17:26 The papacy in multiple statements claims that it has 17:31 the power to change God's law specifically to change the day 17:36 of worship from Sabbath to Sunday. I've provided these 17:41 quotations in other studies of ours which you can find at 17:45 secretsunsealed.org. So Ellen White also wrote about these two 17:50 periods of tribulation. In Desire of Ages page 631 she 17:55 wrote about the first stage of this one great tribulation. This 18:01 is how it reads:... 18:54 She said, for more than a thousand years. This is talking 18:57 about the persecutions against God's people by the Roman 19:01 Catholic papacy during the 1260 years. But Ellen White also 19:06 applies Matthew 24:21 to the future. You say, now how can it 19:10 apply to the past and to the future? Simply because we have 19:14 noticed that according the prophecy there are two stages to 19:18 the persecution with a pause in between. In Review and Herald, 19:23 Nov. 22, 1892, Ellen White wrote 19:52 So notice that she applies Matthew 24:21 to the 19:55 persecutions in the past and to the persecutions in the future. 19:59 You say, well how is that? Then there's two great tribulations. 20:02 No, there's one great tribulation with a pause in 20:07 between. It's the same tribulation basically because 20:10 the same power, the papacy, is the power that persecutes God's 20:14 people in both stages. Now let's compare the sequence of 20:19 Matthew 24 with the book of Revelation. I want to read 20:25 first of all Great Controversy page 614 where Ellen White 20:28 explicitly states that the destruction of Jerusalem 20:31 foreshadowed what would take place at the end of the world. 20:35 Great Controversy 614 she states:... 20:46 So she's comparing the ruin of the world with the ruin of 20:49 Jerusalem of old. Now what is the sequence that we find in 20:54 Matthew chapter 24 and then we'll go to Revelation. First of 20:58 all Jesus spoke about the preaching of the gospel to all 21:02 the world. What is the equivalent in the book of 21:05 Revelation. In the book of Revelation the equivalent is 21:09 the everlasting gospel, the first angel's message that goes 21:13 to every nation, kindred, tongue and people to prepare them for 21:17 what's coming and calling them to worship the Creator God. 21:22 Then you go back to Matthew chapter 24. After the preaching 21:26 of the gospel is mentioned in verse 15 you have the world 21:30 divided into two groups. Those who have the seal of God and 21:33 those who have the mark of the beast just like before the 21:36 destruction of Jerusalem. You have those who fled from the 21:40 city and you have those who stayed in the city. In other 21:43 words, the sign of the abomination of desolation 21:46 separated all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem into two groups. 21:50 Where is the equivalent in the book of Revelation? Well once 21:54 again you have two groups. You have those who receive the seal 21:57 of God or the sign of God which is the Sabbath and you have 22:01 those who receive the mark of the beast which is the 22:04 observance of the first day of the week. Now let me just 22:08 clarify that nobody yet has the mark of the beast. Only when the 22:13 world has seen clearly the issues relating to Sabbath and 22:18 Sunday and people decide to keep Sunday in spite of the evidence 22:23 then they will receive the mark of the beast. But now there are 22:27 many thousands and thousands of sincere Christians that don't 22:31 understand these things and when the loud cry is given under the 22:35 power of the Holy Spirit they will forsake all and they will 22:39 join God's remnant movement. So there you have the world divided 22:44 into two groups just like Jerusalem was divided into two 22:47 groups and then you have the close of probation. You have 22:52 those in the city who were faithful that now flee and you 22:57 have those that stay behind. At that moment probation closes. 23:02 Then you have the great tribulation. Once again in 23:06 Matthew chapter 24 it says that then God's people flee in 23:11 Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21. Where is the tribulation in the 23:15 book of Revelation? Revelation chapters 16-18 describes the 23:20 period of the seven plagues. That is the great tribulation 23:23 such as never has been seen. And then in Matthew 24:29, 30 23:27 you have the second coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory. 23:31 Just like in the book of Revelation chapter 19 you have 23:35 Jesus sitting on a white horse. He comes with the armies of 23:38 heaven to rescue his people from certain death. So you see 23:43 Matthew 24 and Revelation go together. Revelation is the 23:46 revelation of Jesus Christ so Revelation has to be an 23:50 explanation and a further expansion of what Jesus said in 23:55 Matthew chapter 24. Now let's take a look again at the 23:59 sequence of events in the synoptic gospels. The synoptic 24:04 gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. Let's look at the sequence 24:10 of events. And I've already covered this before but there 24:13 might be people watching who did not watch the previous 24:15 presentation so let's review. I'm going to do it quickly. 24:18 First of all 24:20 according to Matthew chapter 24 verses six through eight 24:24 there will be wars and rumors of wars, nation will rise against 24:28 nation and kingdom against kingdom, there's going to be 24:31 famine and there's going to be earthquakes and there's going to 24:35 be wars and there's going to be troubles according to what we 24:39 noticed, epidemics, pestilence, and all of these things have one 24:45 purpose. Satan wants to use these things to blame God's 24:50 people who keep the holy Sabbath. And that's what we find 24:53 in verse nine where it says then they will afflict you, there'll 24:57 be tribulation and some of you will die, some of you will be 25:01 killed. Then we're told in verse 10 that many at that time who 25:05 appeared to be genuine believers will apostatize. In other words, 25:09 they will be scandalized. This is the shaking. They will 25:12 abandon the faith because they don't want to be persecuted. 25:14 And then this time of tribulation when God's people 25:18 are being persecuted, this is not the great tribulation. It's 25:22 the tribulation mentioned in verse nine. During this period 25:24 we're told that God's people will be taken before political 25:29 before counsels and kings and presidents to give a witness for 25:34 their faith. They won't have to think about what they're going 25:37 say because the Holy Spirit that has been poured out in latter 25:41 rain power will give them wisdom and will provide the words for 25:46 them to speak. At this time false prophets will arise and 25:50 these false prophets of course are those who abandon God's 25:55 people who actually forsook the message because they did not 25:58 want to suffer persecution and because of the message of the 26:03 false prophets we're told that lawlessness will increase and 26:07 the love of many will grow cold. And then we're told that whoever 26:11 endures or perseveres to the end will be saved. Then you have 26:17 the preaching of the gospel to the world. This will be the 26:20 three angels messages that are proclaimed to the world. You say 26:23 how do you know that? Well because Jesus said this gospel 26:26 of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world 26:29 as a witness to all nations, then the end will come. First 26:32 angels message says that there's an angel that flies in the midst 26:35 of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who 26:39 dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and 26:42 people. It's the same gospel but in the end time context. Saying 26:47 that the hour of God's judgment has come and that we are to 26:50 worship the Creator and of course the sign of the Creator 26:53 is the holy Sabbath. So the gospel is preached and then the 26:57 last point that we see before probation closes is the 27:01 abomination of desolation which we noticed was the Roman 27:06 standards with an eagle that had outstretched wings and also a 27:13 sun that surrounded it, a golden wreath that represented the sun. 27:17 In end-time prophecy, it represents the United States 27:21 a nation represented by an eagle that will impose the day of the 27:26 sun, in other words, what we call Sunday and this sign, this 27:31 abomination of desolation will divide the entire world into two 27:36 groups, those who decide to reject the seal of God and 27:41 receive the mark of the beast and those who receive the seal 27:44 of God and reject the mark of the beast. In other words, the 27:49 Sunday law will divide the entire world into two groups. 27:53 The lost stay in Jerusalem and those who are saved flee, two 28:01 groups. And then God's people will have to flee from the large 28:06 cities preparatory to leaving the small cities because those 28:11 who believe that they're causing the evils in society believe 28:14 that it's because they keep the Sabbath. If they can get rid of 28:18 then things will return as they once were. Then we're told that 28:24 not one of God's people will perish during this period. After 28:29 probation closes not one person will die as a martyr. There will 28:33 be no one among the living righteous that will die. And 28:38 then this, at the very end of the tribulation we have the sun, 28:43 the moon and the stars darkening This is the darkness of the 28:50 fifth plague of the book of Revelation. All this points to 28:54 the moment when God is going to deliver his people from 28:57 certain death. And then the sign of the Son of Man is seen in 29:03 heaven. It's the announcement that Jesus is beginning his 29:06 second coming. That little black cloud about half the size of a 29:12 man's fist will come closer and closer to the earth and it will 29:16 become a white cloud as it nears Then we find Jesus once he's 29:21 above the earth, not on it, but above the earth, we're told that 29:25 he will send his angels to gather his elect from the four 29:30 winds of heaven. Now let's talk about the flight in Matthew 29:36 chapter 24 and let's go to verse 21. We'll read this verse again 29:42 that we read before... 29:55 The word then here is very significant. You say why? 30:00 Because we've noticed that Matthew chapter 24 is in 30:05 chronological order. Notice verse six. Once you see wars and 30:11 rumors of wars the end is not yet. Once you see pestilences 30:14 and earthquakes and famines these are the beginning of 30:18 sorrow. Verse nine: Then they will deliver you up to 30:21 tribulation and kill you. Then many are going to be offended 30:26 and they're going to betray one another. Then many false 30:30 prophets will rise up and deceive many and then in verse 30:34 14 the final proclamation of the gospel will come. And then we 30:40 find the abomination of desolation in verse 15. Verse 16 30:44 says Then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. 30:48 So you have a sequence of events spoken of here. The word Then is 30:53 very important. Now in volume five of the Testimonies page 451 30:59 Ellen White explains that the national Sunday law which is the 31:03 abomination of desolation is the sign for God's people to flee 31:08 after which they will be plunged into the time of trouble. During 31:14 the first stage of the tribulation God's people fled to 31:18 the Piedmont Valleys. When I talk about the first stage of 31:22 the tribulation I'm talking about the period of papal 31:25 supremacy. Let me ask you, did God's faithful people during 31:29 that period flee to the desolate places of the earth? 31:32 Absolutely. You'll notice that they fled to the Piedmont, the 31:38 Waldenses, the Albigenses fled to the desolate places of the 31:42 earth. But at the end of time during the second stage, God's 31:48 people will also have to flee to the desolate places. We're told 31:52 in Great Controversy page 635, this is speaking of the moment 31:57 when the death decree is about to be executed against God's 32:01 people it says there... 32:27 Now you're probably thinking Pastor Bohr what you're saying is 32:32 absolutely crazy. Are you saying that the time is coming when 32:36 individuals will be sentenced to death because they're Sabbath 32:40 keepers. Come on, be real. That can't happen in the United 32:42 States of America. This is the land of the free and the home of 32:46 the brave. Well folks the book of Revelation tells us of a time 32:50 when God is going to release the four winds of heaven. He's 32:54 holding them back now. He's going to release them which 32:57 means that he's going to withdraw his Holy Spirit from 32:59 the earth. And then the finally impenitent will be fully 33:06 controlled by Satan. Only those who are faithful, who received 33:11 the seal of God during that period will be protected. 33:14 Everyone else will be under the influence of Satan. There will 33:19 be no redeemable good in people after probation closes. And 33:24 Ellen White states that the heart of man can be very cruel 33:28 when it is destitute of the Spirit of God. We find in 33:33 Matthew 24 verse 22 that this period of tribulation at the end 33:38 is going to be cut short. The time of trouble is going to be 33:42 cut short. It says in Matthew 24 and verse 22: 33:45 And unless those days were shortened... that's the days of 33:49 the tribulation...no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's 33:53 sake those days will be shortened. 33:56 As I mentioned before, the first stage was shortened by the 34:01 protestant reformation. The second stage will be shortened 34:06 by God uttering his voice according to Revelation 16 and 34:11 verse 17 and this will indicate that God is now going to deliver 34:16 his people from the death decree. It's important to 34:21 realize that the elect, this is a very important point, will go 34:26 through the tribulation. God will not take them to heaven 34:30 in a pretribulation rapture. When Jesus comes he will come to 34:36 pick up, he will send his angels actually, to gather his elect 34:41 from the four winds of heaven. Now why would he pick up his 34:46 elect at the second coming from the four winds of heaven if he'd 34:49 already taken them to heaven seven years before in the 34:54 rapture. The fact is that God's people are going to go through 34:57 the tribulation, the worst period in history in terms of 35:02 persecution and anguish. And when do we prepare a character 35:08 to withstand this period of severe trial? Folks, that is to 35:13 be done now. If we reach that period and we're not ready we 35:17 will fail. That's why Jesus said watch, pray, work, pay attention 35:22 because you don't know when the time is. Satan uses us false 35:29 teachers to persuade Christians that they're not going to go 35:32 through the tribulation because Satan knows that we are going 35:37 to need a special quality of faith to go through this 35:40 particular period. Let me illustrate what I mean. Would a 35:44 person prepare for a hurricane in California when the weather 35:49 casters predict that it is going to hit in Florida? Of course not 35:54 You don't prepare for what you don't think is coming here. If, 35:58 as futurists believe all of the events of Revelation four 36:04 through 22 occur after the rapture while the church is in 36:08 heaven then why even bother to study Revelation four through 22 36:12 at this time in history. By the way who are the elect? You can 36:18 read Romans chapter eight verses 33-37 where it says that 36:23 the elect are those that have been justified by Christ. 36:25 In other words, the elect are the true followers of Jesus. 36:29 You know there's a parable that Jesus told which is describing 36:34 what would take place at this particular time of history. 36:38 I call it the parable of the persistent widow in Luke chapter 36:43 18. There this widow who was destitute of any human support 36:47 comes to the judge, and comes to the judge and continues coming 36:51 to the judge to ask him to do justice and to avenge her over 36:56 her adversary. Now that's very similar to the fifth seal. Judge 37:00 and avenge. And she's crying out to the judge and the judge puts 37:04 her off, and puts her off, and doesn't answer. In other words, 37:06 there's a delay. But eventually the judge to get her off his 37:11 back does her justice and avenges her over her adversary. 37:16 Now what does that parable mean? Well the widow represents God's 37:19 end time remnant that will go through the tribulation. The 37:24 judge of course is God and the adversary is Satan and Satan is 37:29 going to turn the adversary against God's people and God's 37:33 people. And God's people during the time of trouble will cry out 37:36 to the Lord saying Lord until when will you not judge and 37:42 avenge those who have shed the blood of your people here on the 37:46 earth? And God is going to delay The time of trouble is the delay 37:51 God does not answer immediately. But eventually God cuts this 37:57 period short and he will do justice to his people not 38:02 because to get him off his back but because he loves them. In 38:07 The Great Controversy page 631, this is the chapter on the time 38:12 of trouble in this book. Ellen White universalized the meaning 38:18 of the tribulation and alluded to Matthew 24. She referred to 38:24 the shortening of the tribulation for the sake of the 38:28 elect and to the flight of God's people from the cities. I want 38:31 to read that statement Great Controversy page 631. Remember 38:35 that this is dealing with the second phase of the tribulation. 38:39 It says there she quotes Matthew Yet for the elect's sake the 38:46 time of trouble will be shortened... That comes directly 38:49 from Matthew 24 verse 22. Then she comments... 39:36 Not one of God's people will perish during this period. The 39:40 persecution will be very intense but God's people will persevere 39:47 until the end and they will be saved. Now we go to Matthew 39:51 chapter 24 and verse 23. This is still during the tribulation 39:55 period. Jesus said... 40:04 At some point towards the end of the tribulation period Satan is 40:10 going to going to counterfeit the second coming of Jesus to 40:14 deceive if possible the very elect. The word then in 40:19 Matthew 24 verse 23 indicates that clearly. It says there, 40:25 Then if anyone says to you, look here is the Christ, or there, do 40:30 not believe it. Now this is taking place after the close of 40:35 probation. Now there's this controversy among Adventist 40:40 scholars as to whether the counterfeit second coming occurs 40:44 before the close of probation or after the close of probation. 40:49 There are some who say that this will occur before the close of 40:56 probation, others say that it will happen after the close of 40:59 probation. Now those who say that it takes place before the 41:02 close of probation you know they seem to have a point. And that 41:07 is why would Satan counterfeit the second coming after the 41:11 close of probation if he knows that he's not going to able to 41:14 deceive the elect. What would be the purpose. Ah, but if this 41:18 happens before the close of probation, then Satan can do 41:21 this because he knows that if possible that he might be able 41:24 to deceive the elect. Well sometimes what appears to be 41:29 reasonable is not exactly so. Let me just mention that there 41:34 are two reasons why we know that the counterfeit second coming 41:38 place after the close of probation. First because this 41:45 counterfeit second coming in The Great Controversy appears in the 41:50 chapter on the time of trouble after the close of probation. 41:53 So we know that that is one reason. The second reason that 41:59 we have is that Matthew 24 is in chronological order. So the word 42:05 then indicates that after God's people flee and the persecution 42:10 or the tribulation begins then in the period of tribulation 42:14 you have Satan counterfeiting the second coming of Christ. 42:19 Now I know what some people are thinking. They're saying, well 42:23 Pastor Bohr what use would it be for Satan to counterfeit the 42:26 second coming after the close of probation. It makes more sense 42:32 to say that he does it before the close of probation because 42:35 probation hasn't closed you know he thinks it might be possible 42:39 to deceive the elect. But after the close of probation he knows 42:42 that the elect are sealed and he's not going to be able to 42:44 deceive them, so what would be the purpose of counterfeiting 42:48 the second coming? Well let me give you an example so that you 42:54 can understand the reason why Satan does this after the close 42:58 of probation. It's very simple. Satan is Satan. He doesn't give 43:05 up. He tries to counteract what God says in scripture. He knows 43:10 that Matthew 24 says that he's going to deceive if possible 43:15 although he knows it's not possible, the very elect. So why 43:18 is he going to counterfeit the second coming to try and deceive 43:20 them. Because Satan harbors the thought that perhaps just once 43:25 he'll be able to counteract what God has said in his holy word. 43:30 Now you say, how do you know this? Let me give you a parallel 43:34 so that you can understand how this works out. Does Satan know 43:40 that after the millennium he is not going to be able to conquer 43:43 the new Jerusalem? Does he know that fire's going to fall from 43:46 heaven and consume him, his angels and all of his followers? 43:49 And he's not going to be able to prevail against the city. Well 43:53 folks if he doesn't know he's not very smart because he can 43:56 read Revelation chapter 20 verses seven through nine where 43:59 it says that he and his army surround the city, ready to 44:02 attack the city and then fire descends from heaven and 44:06 consumes Satan, his angels and the wicked. So why is Satan 44:11 after the millennium when all of the wicked resurrect, he'll 44:14 gather them all together, prepare them for battle to 44:17 attack the Holy City? Why would he do that? He knows that his 44:20 case is lost, Revelation says so Because Satan is Satan. At the 44:26 beginning of the tribulation at the very end he says I haven't 44:28 been able gain the victory over this group of elect people but 44:33 just maybe this once I can counteract what God has said in 44:37 his word and I can be successful in overcoming them. Matthew 24 44:42 verses 24-26 we find these words For false christs and false 44:47 prophets will rise... See during this time there are also going 44:49 be false prophets that are going to say these people are 44:53 preparing for what is happening in society, the calamities in 44:56 society. We need to observe the first day of the week. Everybody 44:59 back to church because that way our troubles are going to leave 45:03 us and the nation is going to come back to where it was once. 45:06 For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show 45:10 great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible even the 45:14 elect... verse 26... 45:26 So if someone appears in the desert that I am Christ, don't 45:30 go out. If he's in the inner room and he says I am the Christ 45:34 do not believe it because Satan is going to counterfeit the 45:38 second coming of Christ. I would encourage you to read Second 45:41 Thessalonians chapter two. It speaks thereof two comings. 45:45 At the beginning of the chapter the apostle Paul refers to the 45:49 coming or the Parousia of Jesus. A little later on in verse nine 45:54 he speaks about the coming of the lawless one. It's the same 45:58 word Parousia. So Satan is going to counterfeit the second coming 46:02 of Jesus Christ. He's going to perform this counterfeit in 46:10 order to counteract the genuine that comes afterward. Because 46:14 the devil not only counterfeits the genuine after the genuine 46:18 is put in place. The devil sometimes tries to preempt the 46:24 genuine by establishing a counterfeit. And then Jesus says 46:29 Matthew chapter 24 verse 25 to his disciples:... 46:34 Notice, I told you this, pay attention. Obviously all the 46:38 apostles have died but this was written not only for them. It 46:43 was actually written for us as well who will be living in the 46:47 last days of the history of this world. Now I want to read you 46:51 the description that Ellen White gives of the counterfeit second 46:55 coming of Christ. It's in the book Great Controversy page 624 47:01 to 626. It is a long description but a very important description 47:07 She writes:... 47:51 And you read there it says that the face of Jesus, the ascended 47:54 Christ, the glorified Christ shown like the sun. Ellen White 47:59 here is saying that Satan is going to have a dazzling 48:03 brightness resembling the brightness of the glorified 48:05 Jesus. The statement continues.. 48:47 Listen to this. Listen to this.. 49:37 Now comes what is going to be done by the elect. He will not 49:43 deceive the elect. She continues 50:10 In other words, Satan claiming to be Christ is pronouncing a 50:14 blessing on the worshippers of the beast and his image. Amazing 50:18 She continues:... 51:24 Quite a vivid description isn't it of the counterfeit second 51:28 coming of Christ. Ellen White continues: (last sentence) 51:46 In other words, Christ is not going to appear over there in 51:47 the desert. And you know people have to see on CNN, Jesus 51:51 over in the desert. Or you know he appeared in the inner room 51:55 You can watch him on the Fox News channel. You know how he's 51:59 appearing in the inner room. No. They will be universally known. 52:05 The Bible says that every eye will see him. People will not be 52:10 able to trust their ears, their eyes, their feelings, their 52:16 emotions, their impressions or the testimony of others. The 52:20 faithful will detect Satan's counterfeit in two ways and 52:25 Ellen White mentions them. But now I want to highlight these 52:31 two ways in which God's people will detect the counterfeit. 52:35 First of all, the manner of Satan's counterfeit coming is 52:41 contrary to the Biblical picture of how Jesus will come. Matthew 52:47 chapter 24 verse 30 tells us that Jesus will send his angels 52:54 to gather the elect from the four winds. In other words, 52:57 Jesus doesn't come, step on the earth and go all throughout the 53:01 earth to pick up his redeemed saints. No. He sends his angels 53:05 from where he is above the earth He sends his angels to pick up 53:10 the righteous and then we're going to read in 1 Thessalonians 53:13 four that they are caught up to Jesus in the cloud which is 53:19 above the earth. Incidentally 2 Thessalonians two verse 1 53:24 it speaks about the Parousia of Christ, the second coming of 53:28 Christ and our gathering together to him. He's not coming 53:32 here to gather to us. We gather to him. And in John chapter 14 53:37 verses one to three you remember the promise that Jesus added: 53:41 Let not your heart to troubled... You believe in God believe also 53:45 in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so 53:48 I would have told you. Jesus then said, I go to prepare a 53:53 place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will 53:58 come again and establish my kingdom with you? No that's not 54:02 what he said. Sometimes I misquote to make a point. 54:05 What does he say? He says: I will come again and receive you 54:11 to myself that where I am there you may be also. And he's going 54:16 to take us to the Father's house Because Jesus says, In my 54:19 Father's house are many mansions and then he states that he will 54:23 take us to the Father's house. That's the first way in which 54:28 you are going to detect the counterfeit is because the 54:32 coming of this false Christ is not in harmony with the manner 54:36 that the Bible describes the second coming of Jesus. Let's 54:40 read 1 Thessalonians chapter four and beginning with verse 15 54:46 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who 54:50 are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no 54:53 means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself 54:56 will descend from heaven... this is the second coming... with a 55:00 shout, with the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God 55:03 and the dead in Christ will rise first. The notice what happens 55:07 with those who died and resurrected and those who are 55:10 alive. Verse 17: Then we who are alive and remain shall be what? 55:15 Caught up together with them... that is with those who died and 55:20 resurrected... shall be caught up together with them in the 55:23 clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be 55:29 with the Lord... and then Paul says... Therefore comfort one 55:32 another with these words. So the manner of the counterfeit 55:38 coming is not the manner that the Bible teaches and the 55:41 teachings of this false Christ are counterfeit teachings. You 55:46 say, how is that? What is the false Christ going to say. Well 55:50 he's going to say as I read from the writings of Ellen White 55:55 You know the reason why all these calamities are coming in 55:58 society is because this people don't obey the law and they 56:02 insist on keeping the Sabbath day. If we can get rid of them 56:07 then once again we will have peace and prosperity in the 56:12 world and in our nation. Matthew 24 verse 28 ends what 56:17 we're going to study today. Matthew 24 verse 28 has a very 56:21 interesting detail. You remember that in the first destruction of 56:26 Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar the eagle played a role. In the 56:30 second destruction of Jerusalem you have the Roman eagle 56:33 standards as a sign. Well at the end of time you notice that the 56:39 nation represented by an eagle with a sunburst above his head 56:44 represents the United States of America and the Sunday law that 56:48 will be proclaimed. That's why Matthew 24:28 is really 56:53 interesting. It says: 57:07 So I'm hoping you've understood what we've studied so far about 57:10 the great tribulation. We still have to study in our next 57:13 presentation about the signs in the sun, moon and stars; we 57:19 haven't spoken about that. And we have to talk about the sign 57:23 of the Son of Man in the heavens Then we have to talk about the 57:27 coming of Jesus in power and great glory and how Jesus will 57:32 gather his elect, catch them up into the cloud to then take them 57:36 to heaven. So will God's people go through the tribulation if 57:41 they are alive after the close of probation. Absolutely. So 57:45 what should we be doing now? We should be forming an intimate 57:50 relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Pray such 57:53 as never before. Watch such as never before. Work for the Lord 57:57 such as never before. Use our gifts and talents for his glory 58:01 that we might be ready for the awesome day that will soon take 58:05 place in this world. 58:07 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-08-04