Matthew chapter 24 We want to
begin reading with verse 3 Actually the outline of our subject that
we will be discussing for several Sunday evenings Will actually
begin with verse 4 We all know that two major questions
are raised in verse 3 so we'll begin with the questions that
were raised by the disciples and And then we'll continue reading
through the 28th verse for our scripture reading. This is a
long passage to read, but we want to do this, and I'm hopeful
that you will make some effort to take some notes tonight on
these six different outlines and views that men hold who are
premillennial in their concept of eschatology concerning this
passage of scripture. And as he sat upon the Mount
of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell
us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered and said unto
them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my
name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. And ye shall
hear of wars, and rumors of wars, see that ye be not troubled.
For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. and there shall be famines and
pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are
the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up
to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of
all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended
and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And
many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because
iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he
that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And
this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations. And then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand
in the holy place. Whoso readeth, let him understand. Then let them which be in Judea
flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop
not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. and
woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in
those days. But pray ye that your flight
be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning
of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except
those days should be shortened, there shall no flesh be saved.
But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Then
if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there,
believe it not, for there shall arise false Christs and false
prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that,
if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I've told you before,
Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, behold, he is in the
desert, go not forth. Behold, he is in the secret chambers,
believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also
the coming of the Son of Man be. For wheresoever the carcass
is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Now there
are some who go on through verse 31 in some of their divisions
of this portion of Scripture, but we will not read those verses
tonight. This is the second lesson now on the Great Tribulation
from Matthew chapter 24. We gave the introduction this
morning and tried to show the difference between general tribulation
to which all Christians are exposed and the great tribulation which
is yet future. Bible students who believe Matthew
24 predicts a future tribulation not only divide these verses
4 through 28 differently, but they do not agree in their interpretation
of the first verses of this major division. students of scripture
have various views concerning Matthew's record of the great
tribulation and This is what we want to look at tonight Six different views that I'm
going to give to you six different outlines. They're not all exactly
alike So I'm really hopeful that as I've already stated, that
you will do your very best tonight to jot down these outlines and
some of the major points. If you miss out, then get the
tapes. Get the tapes not only of the
one this morning, but also the one tonight, and especially the
one tonight in order that you might try to arrive at what you
believe is the better division of this portion of Scripture
that deals with the subject of the Great Tribulation. First
of all, some students of Scripture say the events are verses 4 through
8. In other words, they have two
major divisions. Verses 4 through 8 is the first
division, and verses 9 through 28 constitute the second division. And this is what we're going
to look at first of all. So they believe that the events
of verses 4 through 8 do not constitute a sign of the end
of the Jewish age, but they describe the characteristics of the unforeseen
intervening age. Now we'll be calling attention
to some of these points in a moment. Hence they say the false Christs,
wars, Famines pestilences and earthquakes are likened to the
beginning of sorrows to the beginning of sorrows This view is supported
by Christ's statement they say but the end is not yet Now they
have some good arguments, and I want you to be acquainted with
them These conditions, they say, are
preliminary pains which must be distinguished from the intense
pain of the birth itself. Now let's get the picture before
we go any further. They say these verses, four through eight, give
to us the unforeseen intervening age. The unforeseen intervening
age. Now we do need to be careful
about this. For instance, if we were to get into another war,
if there were to be another world war, you and I must not make
the mistake that this is it. There have been wars before.
There have always been wars and rumors of wars, and they will
continue to be. Therefore, I do think that we
need to be careful when we hear about earthquakes, for instance,
we say, this is it. Or when we hear of famines to
say, this is it. Persons who hold this view make
some very good statements. Statements with which I agree
100%. There have been false Christs in the past. And there are false
Christs now. And there will continue to be
false Christs. Now I think you can see why they make this division
on the surface. Please keep in mind some great
statements are made But they believe that these verses 4 through
8 give to us the intervening age the intervening age Now you look at verse 8 for just
a moment They say as verse 8 closes the picture of the present intervening
age verse 9 marks the time of of the agony of the birth with
the word then. Now let's look at that statement
for a moment. Looking first of all at verse 8. All these are
the beginning of sorrows. In verse 4, he said, take heed
that no man deceive you. He was speaking to his disciples
who had raised the question. In fact, two questions that we
have already sought to answer that are found in verse 3. So
take heed that no man deceive you, for many shall come in my
name, saying, I'm Christ, and shall deceive many." You'll hear
of wars. You'll hear of rumors of wars.
See that you be not troubled, for all these things will come
to pass, but the end is not yet. The end is not yet. Nation shall
rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There'll be
famines, pestilences, earthquakes in diverse places. These are
the beginning of sorrows. Now the reason they say that
verse 8 closes the picture of the present intervening age and
this is the beginning of sorrows which may be represented as labor
at childbirth. Now every mother who has given
birth to a child knows exactly what our Lord is talking about. There were labor pains before
the actual birth of the child. So all of these things, He said,
they are but labor pains. They are the beginning of sorrows,
but the end is not yet. In other words, these things
are simply preparing for the real excruciating pain of giving
birth to the child. Now this is the language that
our Lord uses. And you notice that the word
then in verse 9, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted.
They say the word then is a time word, a time word, which continues
throughout the context and serves to date the unprecedented tribulation
on the earth. The description of Israel's hatred
begins with verse 9, they say. And the time of Jacob's trouble
extends through verse 28. Now, when we look at this way
of dividing these verses, 4 through 28, they are saying that verses
4 through 8 are simply the beginning of sorrows. So when we hear about
earthquakes today, when we hear about wars, when we hear about
famines, Don't be disturbed. These are but the beginning of
sorrows. The real time for the tribulation is not yet. These
are just precursors before the terrible time of tribulation
will begin. And then the tribulation, they
say, is described beginning with verse 9 and goes through the
28th verse. Now that's the first view that
I'll share with you. Some of these we'll be able to
look at quickly, and some we'll be spending more time. Now the
second view. It is different from what I've
already given. Other Bible interpreters divide Matthew 24, 4 through
31 into two parts, into two parts. Verses 4 through 14, Give the
fulfilled prophecies. Now you're going to see the difference.
About two years ago, I read a lengthy book written by a man some 100
years ago, an outstanding expositor. In fact, he has many great things. I shared with you some of those
things by this same writer. In fact, what you treasure so
highly that is now in print in this little book on three days
and three nights, that comes from the same author. And this is his view, and he
could be classified, I think, as a historical premillenarian,
even though he did not classify himself as such, because 100
years ago, that view was not known as it is known today by
the title, historical premillennialism. So he divides And not only does
he hold to this view, but there are others. These verses into
two divisions. The first division takes in verses
4 through 14, and he says that in these verses we have the record
of fulfilled prophecies. I'm going to relate to you those
prophecies in a few minutes. Then he says the second part,
verses 15 through 31, record the unfulfilled prophecies. In
other words, he divides it somewhat different, if you will notice,
from the first view that I gave to you. In the first view, the
first division that takes in what they call the intervening
age, and they would say they are fulfilled prophecies, he
says that verses 4 through 14 is the better way to divide.
And all of the things that are given us in those verses constitute
fulfilled prophecies. Whereas in verses 15 through
31, he goes through verse 31, record the unfulfilled prophecies. Now let me give to you what he
considers to be the fulfilled prophecies in the first division
and the unfulfilled prophecies in the second division. There
are not too many, so it will not take too long to give these.
And you'll enjoy looking at them later and studying them out for
yourself. He says that in verses 6 and 7, we have the prophecies
of the present age fulfilled. In other words, these two verses
are fulfilled in the present age. Now, we don't want to go
back and read these verses again. I've just given them a couple
of times, so it is not necessary to do so again. So that's number
one. That's his first major prophecy. Then he says, number 2, looking
at verse 9, verse 9 is fulfilled in such passages as Acts 5, 40,
and 41, Acts 7, 59, and 60, Acts 12, verse 2, Acts 22, verse 20,
1 Corinthians 4, 13, and he gives a host of other verses, which
I will not give to you now because it isn't necessary. Let us turn
to Acts chapter 5. and get the idea that he is portraying
here. Acts 5 and verses 40 and 41. And you'll see what he's talking
about without reading anymore in the Acts of the Apostles. And to him they agreed, and when
they had called the apostles and beaten them, They commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them
go. And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
So he refers to some passages in the Acts of the Apostles where
not only the Apostles were beaten but even James was killed. And
then he refers of course to Acts 7 verses 59 and 60 and that has
to do with the stoning of Stephen. And so he says that great persecution
actually began in verse 9. So he says that is already fulfilled.
It is not something future. It is a fulfilled prophecy. He
says there are four parts to this prophecy in verse 9, and
they are as follows. Number one, deliver you up. Number two, kill you. Number
three, hated. And number four, for my name's
sake. Then he says in verse 10, we have described by the Lord
the history of the martyrs. A description by our Lord of
the martyrs. This is in verse 10. And then
shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another. Now that's the third prophecy
he says. That's verse 10. Then number four. He says verse
11 has been compared, now here's where I have to depart from him. Verse 11 has been compared to
the wars of the Jews. And he quotes Josephus, Volume
6, Chapter 5, Section 2 for his proof. Now beloved, I don't want
to rely on any historical work Say that is a proof of the fulfillment
of a first of a verse of scripture, and this is what it does in this
fourth Prophecy which he believes to have been already fulfilled
So he says verse 11 may be compared to the wars of the Jews called
the holy wars by Josephus volume 6 chapter 5 section 2 Then he
says number 5 The fulfillment of verse 12 has been a constant
thing during the age of grace. Now let's look at verse 12. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Well, you and I can't deny that that is a historical fact. But
does this verse actually refer to that which is history or does
it refer to that which is yet future? which is prophetical
from your point of view and from mine. And then we come to number
six. He says fulfillment of verse
fourteen is proved, and here again I have to depart from him,
this will not, I do not believe, stand the test of scripture.
He says verse 14 is proved by Matthew 28, 18 through 20, Acts
chapter 2, and Colossians chapter 1 in verse 23. Now the question
is, what does verse 14 say? And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for witness unto all nations,
and then shall the end come. He said when our Lord gave the
commission to the church in Matthew 28, 18 through 20, And as the
disciples went into all the world preaching the gospel, this verse
is fulfilled. It is one of the fulfilled prophecies.
He also uses Acts 2, because when Peter stood on the day of
Pentecost preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus, there were
gathered in Jerusalem for the observance of the Feast of Pentecost,
Jews from various nations, as we're told in that chapter. And
then you will find in Colossians 1 and 23, And we might ought
to turn and read that verse, Colossians chapter 1 and verse
23. And he thinks this is a proof text of verse 14 already having
been fulfilled. Paul said in his letter to the
Colossian church, If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled,
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye
have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven. whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. Now let me raise a question.
Is verse 14 a fulfilled prophecy? Or is it a future prophecy that
is yet to be fulfilled? I believe it is the latter. Now
I don't know how many of you listen to this man. I know few
of our members do, and I heard him this morning. I do not know
of a greater heretic on television. He's on Channel 39 from 6.30
until 7 o'clock every Sunday morning. And then I was told
just last week that he follows, I believe, this program on Channel
2. They have the money. He's on Channel 2 and they televise
the same program that is seen on Channel 39 from 6.30 until
7 o'clock. I'm talking about Herbert W.
Armstrong. One of the greatest heretics
that ever walked on shoe leather. By the way, he'll be 90 years
old in July. 90 years old. Now, I said that to say this.
I've listened to him now for about seven weeks, I think it
is. He has said the same thing for seven consecutive weeks. The very same thing. He has a
pig trail and he doesn't know anything beyond that pig trail.
He walks in it every time he starts walking. He cannot even
take a step outside of it. And this is one of his favorite
verses right here. The 14th verse of Matthew chapter
24. If I ever heard a man who is really sold on himself, he
is. And if anything should convince
a person that he is a false prophet, A false teacher. It should be
his attitude about himself. It is me, me, me, I, I, I. And here's what he said, and
he's been saying. He said, preachers today don't know what the gospel
is. He said, Jesus Christ preached
the true gospel. The apostles preached the true
gospel. But for 1900 years, There was no one to preach the
true gospel until I started preaching it 55 or 60 years ago whenever
he started. Now how do you like that? Now I'm not going to take
time to write him and giving a verse of scripture, but I'm
going to give you one tonight. I want to show you what a heretic
he is. He said that for 1900 years, The true gospel of the kingdom
has not been preached until he started preaching it. He didn't
make any bones about it. And yet, get this, his Plain
Truth magazine, according to his own statement this morning,
is going out to between four and one half and five million
people. Isn't that awful? between four
and a half and five million people who have been duped by that false
teacher. Now he said for 1900 years the
true gospel has not been preached. I want you to turn with me and
I'm trusting my memory now and I hope it works correctly, sometimes
it doesn't. Turn to Acts, I think it's the 14th chapter and the
17th verse. Evidently Mr. Armstrong never
did read this. If he were to read it, the devil
has blinded his eyes so he couldn't see it. Let's see what the Bible
has to say. The God of this people of Israel. I'm in the wrong one. 1470. Nevertheless,
he left not himself without witness. He left not himself without witness. in that he did good and gave
us rain from heaven and fruitful season, filling our hearts with
food and gladness. Beloved, I'm here to tell you
the Lord has never been without a true witness. There may not
have been very many, but God has always had his true witnesses. But Mr. Armstrong thinks he's
the only one. In fact, he doesn't even think
his son Ted Garner is now. Of course, that changes, you
know. He is a true prophet and then
he isn't. He is and then he isn't. Now what do you think about this
verse? In Matthew chapter 24 and verse 14. Is it prophecy? Or is it a prophecy that has
already been fulfilled? Is it unfulfilled or fulfilled?
If it is related to the tribulation period, which is future, it has
not been yet fulfilled, and will not be fulfilled until the tribulation
period. Now let's look at what this man
says about the unfulfilled prophecies. So he says, beginning with verse
15 through 28, he goes on to verse 31, We have the unfulfilled prophecies
therefore he believes the first division record nothing but fulfilled
prophecies and the latter Which I'm now giving to you beginning
with verse 15 going through verse 31 as he divides the portion
of scripture The following are the unfulfilled prophecies number
one the abomination of desolation Will be seen that's verse 15 When we get to that verse in
our study of this portion of scripture, we're going to spend
more than one Sunday evening. This has a direct reference to
the Antichrist. We'll have to make a study of
Daniel chapter 9, verses 24 through 27, and some other related passages
to fully understand this that is given us by our Lord in Matthew
24, verse 15. Prophecy number 2. They will
flee to the mountains, and he says this takes in verses 16
through 20. Now he makes a good statement
in connection with this, and we've already dealt with this.
See if you can put it in its proper perspective now. He says
Luke omits some of the things mentioned by Matthew and Mark
because he is discussing the destruction of Jerusalem in 70
AD. He's right. He's right in that. Prophecy number three. That will
be the time of great tribulation, verse 21. Then he comments by
saying, Luke says nothing about the days being shortened, and
he doesn't, because he says nothing about this tribulation. Luke, he says, is talking about
the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by Titus. Then prophecy
number four. False Christs and Prophets. Now he has some interesting things
on this and I hope that you'll get these thoughts that he's
going to give. False Christs and Prophets verses
24 through 26 come after the abomination. That is, they come
after the Antichrist. Therefore, he says, they're a
future. The false Christ, he says, of verse 5, now go back
to verse 5 for a moment, is before the tribulation, he says that's
before the tribulation, and then he says Christ will
come in the clouds, therefore be not deceived by the desert
and secret chambers, verse 26. Then he states, please note verse
25, I have told you before. Now he makes a distinction between
the false Christ of verse 5, which he says is taking place
during the intervening age, and in verses 24 through 26, the
false Christ and prophets, that will take place during the time
of the Great Tribulation, which is yet future. He concludes by
saying under this point, there are those who talk about Christ
coming in salvation, judgment, etc., but that is not the same
as verses 27 and verse 30. He's right in that. He's absolutely
correct in that. So he cannot be classified with
the Amillennialists and some of the others. Prophecy number
5. He refers to the carcass and
the eagles of verse 28. He says that the carcass and
the eagles do not speak of those who were killed in the fall of
Jerusalem in 70 AD, but of those who will be killed in the great
tribulation period. Now he gives some references
that are absolutely correct in connection with this. He quotes
Joel chapter 3 verses 1 through 14, Zechariah 14 verses 1 through
15, Then he includes Revelation 16,
verses 12 through 16, and finally, Revelation 19, verses 11 through
21. Now that's the second view. Do you notice the difference?
The first view divides verses 4 through 8 for the first division,
the intervening age. And then verses 9 through 28
describe the tribulation period. The second view makes a different
division. The persons who hold to this
view say that verses 4 through 14 constitute the first division,
the intervening age, if you please, because it includes the fulfilled
prophecies. And then beginning with verse
15 through 31, as he divides the passage, we have the unfulfilled
prophecies, which are related to the tribulation period. Now
here's the third view. There are some Bible exegetes
who believe the first division, verses 4 through 14, has a double
interpretation. Now I'm going to explain what
is meant by the double interpretation. By the way, I think it's Schofield
who holds to this view. And I'm not too sure, but Giebelein
may also hold to this same view. Now here's what they mean by
double interpretation. The things that characterize
the present age will gather into awful intensity in the tribulation
period. That's what they mean by double
interpretation. In other words, they believe
that the things that are happening even today are described by the
Lord Jesus in verses 4 through 14. But these things will intensify
and will culminate in the tribulation period. So they call the first
division a double interpretation view. Then the second division
begins with verse 15 and goes through verse 28 and they say
this of course describes the last part of the tribulation period.
It is actually the description of the last half of the tribulation
period. Now that's view number three.
View number four. Some students of scripture make
verses 4 through 14 apply to the first half of the tribulation
and verses 15 through 28 to describe the last half of the tribulation. Do you see the difference? There's
no double interpretation. They don't believe in that at
all. They believe that verses 4 through 14 describe the first
half of the tribulation, the first three and one half years,
that it's not going to be so bad. Keep in mind, according
to Daniel chapter 9, the Antichrist will make a treaty with the Jews
for seven years, and during the first three and a half years,
things will not be too bad. But in the middle of the week,
he will break that treaty, and then will begin the awful time
of tribulation. the worst time during the last
three and a half years. So the fourth view believes that
verses 4 through 14 describe the first half of the tribulation,
and verses 15 through 28 describe the latter half. Now we come
to view number five. View number five. We're going
to take a little more time on this one. No, wait a minute.
I have one more. Number four. I just gave you the third. Number
four. No, I did give you number four, didn't I? Okay, number
five. Now here is another view, and
this is a common view today. This is held by a great number
of people. In fact, if you do much reading, even from our church
library, you're going to come across this view, so I'll just
tell you ahead of time. So another view of Matthew 4,
Matthew 24, beginning with verse 4 through 28. makes verses 4
through 13 the intervening age. Verses 4 through 13 the intervening
age. Now I'm going to go slow here,
but I want to give some things that you need to be acquainted
with. Thus they say false Christs, wars, famines, cosmic disturbances,
and persecution do not constitute the sign. And do keep in mind,
the word is not signs plural, but it is signs singular. So
keep that in mind as we make a study. The word is singular,
not plural. So he says, the false Christ,
the wars, the famines, the cosmic disturbances, persecution, and
so forth, do not constitute the sign of the coming of Christ
and the consummation of the age. Then they say, verses 14 through
28, describe the tribulation period, which includes world
evangelization, that's verse 14, the abomination of desolation,
that's verse 15, The instantaneous flight, that's verses 16 through
20, and the great tribulation beginning with verse 27 and then
verse 28. Now that's the fifth view. You say, how in the world can
people come up with so many different views? That's a good question. That's a good question. Now as
you know, I usually keep for the last that which I really
believe is a better description of whatever I'm teaching or preaching
on. And so we're now looking at view
number six. View number six. We'll spend
quite a bit of time on this view. I think this view actually describes
better verses 4 through 28 in the light of all the other passages
as I understand them. And I'll have to insert it in
that manner. You may not understand it in that manner. I do not know
how much time you have given to the study of the subject.
And it doesn't mean just because I may have spent a great deal
of time in the study and research of the subject that I have arrived
at the absolute truth. But I am saying without any hesitancy
that this stands up in my thinking. to be closer to the teaching
of all the scriptures than any of the other five views that
we have mentioned. Now there are those who believe
verses four through eight are parallel with the first four
seals of Revelation chapter six. Now I'm going to take a little
time tonight and read the verses. I want us to become acquainted
with what I believe to be parallel passages in the study of this
subject. So let me give this again and then I'm going to ask
you to turn your Bibles to Revelation chapter 6. And when you turn
to that chapter, I want you to hold your place in Matthew chapter
24. Because we're going to be looking
back and forth for a moment. Now I'm not going to give an
interpretation of the four seals of Revelation chapter 6 tonight. We'll be doing that in subsequent
lessons. I am simply trying to give what I believe to be the
correct view concerning the division of this passage of Scripture
that we will be studying for several weeks. So verses 4 through
8, I believe, are parallel with the first four seals of Revelation
chapter 6. I'd like for us to read Revelation
6 verses 1 through 8. We want to take time to do it. And I saw when the Lamb opened
one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder,
one of the four beasts saying, Come and see." Now, if you do
much reading of the material we have in our library, you're
going to come across many works that will indicate that the first
horse and the rider of the horse is not the Antichrist, but the
Christ. But I can't accept that. And
I'll give you one major reason why I can't accept that. The
Lamb of God is in heaven, and it is the Lord Jesus who is opening
the seals. He's opening the seals. So look
now at verse 2. John said, And I saw, and behold
a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow. And a crown
was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
There's something interesting about that. Who is it? He's not Jesus Christ going forth
conquering today by means of the gospel, as many believe and
teach. But here we have the Antichrist.
And you'll notice he has the instruments of warfare, but he
doesn't have to use them. I want you to know when the Antichrist
comes on the scene, he'll have the instruments of warfare, but
he'll not have to use them. He'll not have to shoot a gun. He'll win without one shot. So John said, I saw, behold,
a white horse. Verse 3, And when he had opened
the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
And there went out another horse that was red, and power was given
to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that
they should kill one another. And there was given unto him
a great sword. And when he had opened the third
seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld,
and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of
balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst
of the fourth beast say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil
and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat
on him was Death. And Hell followed him, And power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill
with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the
beast of the earth. Now let's stop with verse 8.
Now beloved, I believe there's a parallel between these verses,
the four seals, of Revelation chapter 6 verses 1 through 8,
and Matthew chapter 24 verses 4 through 8. Check it out for
yourself. Don't take my word for it. So I believe that verses 4 through
8 of Matthew chapter 24 are parallel with the first four seals of
Revelation 6, 1 through 8, which describe the first half of the
70th week of Daniel's prophecy. Now let's look briefly at the
second division. Verses 9 through 28. 9 through 28. I believe describe the second
half of the prophetic week. prophesied by Daniel In the middle
of the week persecution of the Saints will begin notice if you
will verse 9 of Matthew 24 Then shall they deliver you up to
be afflicted That's when the real persecution begins. I said
the real persecution doesn't mean that there will not be wars
and There comes the first of all, the rider of the white horse,
then the red horse, and that's war. And then the pale horse,
that's famine. Then the black horse, and that's
death. And that's the order. War, famine, and death. But then we come to the middle
of the week, and the real persecution begins. That's when the Antichrist
breaks his treaty with the Jews. that we read about in Daniel
chapter 9, and we'll be studying more in detail later. So many
will be killed and formed the martyr company. Many will be
killed and formed the martyr company. Now we should go to
Revelation chapter 6 again. And that martyr company begins
with verse 9 of Revelation chapter 6. And when he had opened the
fifth seal, I saw unto the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the Word of God and for the testimony which they have. And
they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? This, beloved, according to the
Psalms, as we are going to see in subsequent lessons, referred
to the crying out of the Jews. of the Jews. And then in verse
11, And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it
was said unto them, That they should rest for a little season,
until their fellow servants also, and their brethren that should
be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. Now let's go a
little further. Others say Jews will pass alive
through the Great Tribulation. Now we're looking at Matthew
24 in connection now with Revelation 6. So we have verses 9-13. In the middle of the week, persecution
of the saints will begin. Matthew chapter 24 verses 9-13. Many will be killed and formed
the martyr company. Revelation 6 verses 9-11. On the other hand, saved Jews
will pass alive through. The Great Tribulation, Revelation
Chapter 7. Then do not forget Revelation
Chapter 12. They shall flee into the mountains and be preserved. Do you remember that? And this
is talking about the Jews. That's in Revelation Chapter
12. So these are the ones who endure
to the end. I said these are the ones who
endure to the end. Now you need to go back to Matthew
chapter 24 again. Because we're told in verse 13,
the persons who endure to the end, they're the ones who shall
be saved. So we have some of the saved
Jews enduring to the end. And they're the ones who are
saved. This is talking about the Jews. Then we find that they are scattered
for the purpose of spreading the message. Now that's verse
14. The gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in all the world, and then shall the end come.
Then shall the end come. The Jews who shall be saved during
the tribulation period, who shall endure to the end, and they shall
be saved. They will be scattered abroad,
and they will become the great witnesses for Jesus Christ during
the time of the tribulation. And that's verse 14. That's why
I believe this is prophecy. That is verse 14. Then we come
to verse 15. The reign of the abomination
of desolation of Daniel 9, 27 is described in Matthew 24 beginning
with verse 15 through verse 28. Now let's look at some major
subdivisions of this second section. First of all, he would be judged
at the second coming of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about the
Antichrist. And that judgment is described in verses 29 through
31. 29 through 31. And beloved, this is parallel,
listen to this, this is parallel to Revelation 6, 12 through 17. Now I want you to get a picture
of Revelation 6. Revelation 6 describes the first
six seals. It also gives to you and me a
full view, as it were, of the tribulation period. Of the tribulation
period. I want you to keep that in mind
and make a very close study of Revelation 6, the entire chapter,
in connection with Matthew 24, beginning with verse 4 through
verse 28. Now let me repeat what I've just given. So the Antichrist
will come on the scene. He'll show himself to be who
he really is. See, he'll be the false Christ
during the first three and a half years as a result of the treaty
that he makes with the Jews for seven years. But in the middle
of the week, he breaks that treaty, and then he will be revealed
to be what he really is, iniquity incarnate. the mystery of iniquity
becoming incarnate. He'll manifest what he really
is. But he'll be judged at the second coming of Jesus Christ.
And this is parallel, I said this is parallel, to Revelation
6 beginning with verse 12. Now you'll notice what I've done.
I've divided Revelation 6 into three divisions. Verses 1 through
8, verses 9 through 11, and now we're looking at verses 12 through
17. Let's read verses 12 through
17. These verses describe the very last part of the tribulation
period. What a description. And I beheld
when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, And the moon became as blood. Now let's pause a moment. I can
remember reading, and I'm sure some of you remember your parents
telling about their parents talking about the time when the great
comet, Halley's Comet. How many of you ever heard about
Halley's Comet? Let's see your hands. Well, quite a few of you have.
I remember my mother and father talking about it. My father was
milking. And he said, boy, he was just
milking away, and all of a sudden, late in the evening, just almost
dark, it was dusk, and when the Halley's Comet went over, you
can imagine, it just looked like it was real low, and the heavens
just lighted up with a terrible roar. And it frightened people
to death. Just frightened people to death.
And I can remember hearing people talk about their ancestors talking
about when the stars fell. How many have ever heard about
that? when the stars fell. Well, that's just a lot of shooting
stars. They called it the stars falling.
And how fearful people became. And they thought, this is the
end. This is it. This is it. Beloved, if you and
I were to go home tonight and there were to be a lot of shooting
stars, and if another comet were to come over and light up the
heavens, and leave a terrible rumbling behind, I'm here to
tell you, it'd make all of us feel about that high. But that would be no indication
that we're in the great tribulation period. You see, that's what
our Lord was warning about. He told the disciples, don't
be deceived. Now we're looking at the passage of scripture that
described these cosmic disturbances and these awful cosmic disturbances
will take place during the tribulation period. So here it is. We're
reading it now in Revelation 6. And the stars of hell fell
onto the earth. even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind, and the heaven
departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together, and every
mountain and island were moved out of their places." Now think
about that. You can imagine the fear and
the consternation that would just overwhelm people who would
be on earth at that time. Here the hand of God is saying,
Now I want you to notice something else. In the first seals, and
keep this in mind in the study of this, in the study of the
first five seals, you see more or less the providence of God.
Things God permits in his providence. But here in the opening of the
sixth seal, we see the very hand of God himself in these cosmic
disturbances. Here you don't classify this
with the mere providence of God. This is the very hand of God. Now look at verse 15. Here's
what's going to happen. And you can understand why this
would take place. So in verse 14 we have the cosmic
disturbances. In verses 13 and 14. And now
in verse 15. And the kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, I want you to know their wealth
won't mean much to the men. Their wealth won't mean much
to the men. Listen to it. And the chief captains and the
mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. Let's pause
there for a moment. Even today, people are talking
about finding places of refuge in the mountains, in caves, in
case there's an atomic war. And there are some people who
are even, in fact, the Mormons, I understand, they're tucking
away tons and tons and tons and tons of food and things in the
mountains of Utah. But I want to know of what value
these things will be when even the mountains themselves are
moving and crumbling. And even the caves will be just
caving in. Think about it. So every person
on earth will be touched. He cannot hide from God. He cannot
hide from the wrath of God. So let's read all of verse 15
again. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich
men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and
the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne. Who's sitting on the throne?
The Lord Jesus. And from the wrath of the Lamb,
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able
to stand? Beloved, do you now see that
Revelation 6 gives us a picture of the entire tribulation period? It describes the whole tribulation
period even before you begin to make a minute study of the
tribulation period with chapter 7. Now let me summarize the sixth
view. And I must confess to you, this
is the view that I hold. To summarize this view, we would
say that Israel in the first half of the week will experience
the beginning of sorrows. Birth pains. Birth pains. Not the real excruciating pain
of giving birth to the child itself, but just the birth pain.
verses 4 through 8 and Revelation 6, 1 through 8. Even though there
will be a degree of safety under a false covenant. Daniel chapter
9 verse 27. However, in the middle of the
week, the covenant will be broken and terrible persecution will
break out. Verse 9 of Matthew 24 and Revelation
12, 12-17. Turn with me to Revelation 12,
12-17. Let's read it. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens,
and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
short time. And when the dragon saw that
he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought
forth the man child. That's Israel. The woman is Israel. And to the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness
into her place, where she is nourished for a time, times and
a half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent
cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth
helped the woman, and the earth opened up her mouth and swollen
up the flood, which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the
dragon was wroth with the woman, that is Israel, and went to make
war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God and held the testimony of Jesus Christ. So in the middle of the week,
the covenant will be broken. Persecution will break out. Verse 9 of Matthew 24 and Revelation
12 through 17. Because of the Antichrist. That's
Matthew 24, 15. And 2 Thessalonians 2. Revelation
13, 1 through 10. Who will cause Israel to flee
from the land. That's Matthew 24, 16 through
20. Unbelieving Israel, listen to
me now, unbelieving Israel will be deceived by the false prophet. Verse 11 of Matthew 24, Revelation
13, 11 through 18 describes the false prophet. So it's the unbelieving
Israel that shall be deceived by the false prophet. and go
into apostasy, described by Matthew 24 verse 12, because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. I'm not saying
that that is not experienced and not seen to some extent during
the dispensation of grace, but I'm talking about the culmination
of it, the great apostasy that is yet to come. And it's also
described in 2 Thessalonians 2.11, God shall send them a strong
delusion that they might believe a lie. Thus the 70th week will be consummated
by the second coming of Jesus Christ and the regathering of
Israel, Matthew 24, verses 30-37. Revelation 6, therefore, is a
description, a general description, of the great tribulation predicted
by Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse. Now, I've taken a
lot of time tonight to give to you these six views. I hope you've
gotten enough notes that you can try to pick out. And I'm
not asking you to believe what I'm giving you if you do not
think it harmonizes with your understanding of the Scriptures.
But this is the way I understand the Scriptures. And I think as
we continue to pursue this sixth view that I've shared with you
tonight, It'll even stand out more vividly than it does in
the few things that I have mentioned this evening. Now let me give
some things in conclusion. There are often foreshadowings
of prophetic events before their actual fulfillment. These are very important things
that I'm going to share with you. I said there are often foreshadowings
of prophetic events before their actual fulfillment. Just as the
Lord Jesus Christ gives his people a foretaste of heaven before
they get there, he is going to give the inhabitants of the earth
a foretaste of judgment before it actually comes. And we're already seeing that.
We're already witnessing these things. So he gives the people of the
world a foretaste of wrath before his awful wrath shall come just
as he gives to you and me a foretaste of heaven before we get to heaven.
Aren't you grateful for the foretaste of heaven that you have? Beloved,
I'm enjoying a little bit of it tonight by the very fact that
the disposition of my heart has brought me to this place. where
I can have Christian fellowship with you in the study of the
Scriptures. This is a foretaste of heaven. If you and I do not
look upon our assembling together as saints of God and worshiping
the Lord in spirit and in truth as a little foretaste of heaven,
then, beloved, we're in bad shape. And just as we're experiencing
a foretaste of heaven at this very moment, We are witnessing, get this,
not experiencing it as unsaved people are experiencing it, but
we are witnessing a foretaste of the wrath of God on the peoples
of the world. Now I want you to make a distinction
between what you are experiencing as a Christian and you are experiencing
a foretaste of heaven. and what you are witnessing concerning
the wrath of God that is already demonstrated to some extent. You're bearing witness to a foretaste
of His wrath upon the peoples of the world. So both of these foretastes have
been and are being experienced. No doubt about that. Now I want
you to turn with me to Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13. I want us to look at verse 12
for a few minutes. Romans 13 verse 12. Now you and I know that the apocalyptic
day is drawing near. I said the apocalyptic day is
drawing near. We know that. And with that view
in mind, listen to this verse. Paul said to the saints at Rome,
and that, knowing the time that now it is high time to awake
out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed. Now let's let this statement
by Paul sink deeply into our minds and into our hearts. The
apostle was not suggesting that the saints of Rome should occupy
themselves with the apocalyptic day to the neglect of their own
time. He was not doing that. But to
have that day in correct perspective causes the people of God to become
fully aware of their present responsibilities. Now let's look
at the verse again and I want to establish this thought. So
he said, now is the time. It's high time. to wake out of
sleep, for now is our salvation or our deliverance, is nearer
than when we believed. Beloved, I embrace the Lord Jesus
Christ as my personal Savior and Lord, 43 years ago this coming June. I had a real conversion experience
43 years ago this coming June. My final deliverance is much
nearer now than when I believed on Christ as my Lord and Savior
43 years ago. That's what Paul's talking about. He was not suggesting that the
saints at Rome should occupy themselves with the apocalyptic
day, which we are now studying, to the neglect of their own time.
That's why he said, it's high time that you wake out of sleep.
And then he goes on in this passage and says, be sober. And he tells
them what they're to do. But when you and I have the apocalyptic
day in proper perspective, it will have a sanctifying effect
on our present lives. That's what he's saying. And
I want us to think about it seriously for a few minutes. So the salvation
of Christians or the deliverance of Christians is nearer now than
when we first believed. Christians must not become so
occupied with the excitement of past memories or their belief on Jesus Christ.
as their Lord and Savior, and their present enjoyment of the
assurance of faith, that they fail to hold the future consummation
of salvation in proper perspective. Beloved, Christianity alone gives
the true philosophy of life. Now I want to illustrate my point.
I said Christianity alone gives the true philosophy of life.
The philosophies of men are fragmentary and imperfect. I want to illustrate
this by giving two extremes. There are some who emphasize
the present life and actually make light of the life which
is to come. That's why they're always talking
about you better get all that you can get. Get all the gusto
you can get because you only go around once. So to make a bid to do over the
present life and make light of the life which is to come. Everything
is in the present. Everything is in the now. That's
one extreme. On the other hand, There are
those who are always talking about the apocalyptic day. And
I'm going to give you the Bible for this in just a moment. And
they're so occupied with the apocalyptic day that they fail
to assume their responsibilities in the now. Did you know some of the Thessalonians
had gotten to that place? Do you remember this? Turn with
me, if you will, please, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. I'll give you the
passage that describes it. So there are two false philosophies
of life. One is to say the important thing
is to live it up now because, after all, There is nothing in
the future. And there are others who say,
it's all in the future, and nothing now. Both philosophies are wrong,
but there is a happy medium, and it's what the scriptures
teach. In 2 Thessalonians 3, and you remember the apostle
Paul was correcting the false teaching to which the Thessalonian
believers had been subjected. And in verse 10, Paul said, for
even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any
should not work, neither should he eat. Now, what was wrong with
some of the Thessalonians? They became so occupied with
the future. They were neglecting the past, the present. And so
Paul said, the person who doesn't eat, he doesn't work, he shouldn't
eat. So beloved, when we have the
future in proper perspective, it has a sanctifying effect on
the present, and therefore we assume our present responsibilities. And beloved, I have a responsibility,
so do you. And I have it in the present. I cannot neglect present
responsibilities. So over against these two extremes,
the Bible gives us a philosophic balance. And that's what I'm
concerned about. I want to be a balanced Christian.
Now I look back into the early days of my ministry, and even
though I was a pre-millenarian at the time, I remember going
to one church as pastor and those people were heavy on prophecy. and knew very little about grace
and some of the fundamental truths concerning theology, anthropology,
soteriology, ecclesiology, but oh, they had had a preacher for
about five years, and every Sunday they had been taught and taught
on prophecy. When I went there, I was not
going to do it, and I'm not going to do it in any church. I cannot
be accused of it here. I have sought throughout the
years to declare the whole counsel of God. The Bible gives to you
and me a philosophic balance. And I want to share this with
you in conclusion. So when I talk about a philosophic balance,
the Bible recognizes from whom that is a true philosophic balance.
The person who has the true philosophy of life. He knows from whom his life has
come. And he rejoices in what God has
done for him. Furthermore, it gives the believer
the proper perspective of the future. Not only the past, he
knows where his life has come from. It's come from God. But it also gives him the proper
perspective of the future. And I want that. And that, of
course, has a sanctifying effect on the present. I want to live
for the Lord. I don't want to be ashamed of
Him, or before Him, when He comes to receive me unto Himself. I'll
not be ashamed of Him, but I could be ashamed before Him. Ashamed
of myself, as we're told in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 28. Now here's my concluding statement,
and I believe this with all of my heart. The pre-millennial philosophy cannot accept the vain philosophies
of either our millennialism or post-millennialism, much less
the liberal philosophy of human progress and its satisfaction
of human goodness and human attainment. With all of my heart, I believe
the premillennial philosophy of life is the only true philosophy. When we have the correct perspective
of the apocalyptic day, it's going to have a sanctifying effect
on our lives in the present. We'll look back and rejoice in
what the Lord has done for us. We know what our present responsibilities
are. And we cannot talk about the
future as we should unless we're living
for him in the present. It's just that simple. And I
don't know of a better note on which to close than that and
to observe the Lord's Supper. Ask the brethren to come for
the observance of the Lord's Supper.