Sermon

Bible Prophecy & The Last Days: Ready and Not Deceived | Harley Doneburg | 01.11.26

Calvary Chapel of Perry | Messages

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. We're thankful, God, to have your word, to know

  2. that you can see the future. You know the future,

  3. Lord, and you've warned us. You've exhorted us

  4. to be ready, to be watchful, to be waiting as

  5. a church, as your bride, Lord. And so we give

  6. you this time, Lord. I pray you just stir our

  7. hearts, God, that you would draw us closer to

  8. you, Lord, as we see the day approaching, God,

  9. your soon return. So we just give you this time,

  10. Lord, in your name. Amen. The book of Hebrews,

  11. the writer of Hebrews says to not forsake the

  12. gathering of yourself together as the manner

  13. of some is. As we see the day approaching, that

  14. day is the day of the Lord, his return. Because

  15. what the writer of Hebrews saw was what the Bible

  16. teaches and what Jesus said is in the last days,

  17. there's going to be a departure from the faith.

  18. A slow digression away from fellowship, the word

  19. of God, real faith, and truth. That's what we're

  20. going to see in the last days. So the writer

  21. of Hebrews sees that, understands that, and says,

  22. hey, don't forsake yourself. Why? Because that's

  23. the place of encouragement. We sharpen one another.

  24. We get in the word together. We're reminded of

  25. what Jesus says, what the Bible says, and it's

  26. the foundation of our life. It's the truth that

  27. we stand on, we hold on to, and we walk in. So

  28. the writer of Hebrews explains that. We're in

  29. the book of Matthew going through the signs because

  30. Jesus gave the disciples signs of the last days,

  31. things to look for, earmarks that the disciples

  32. and the church for the last 2 ,000 years could

  33. see these things increasing. Jesus said that

  34. they would be as birth pains. labor pains. These

  35. things would increase in frequency and intensity

  36. as Jesus is coming back. He's returning, right?

  37. And we've looked at a lot of these things. We've

  38. looked at, understood in the book of Acts, as

  39. Jesus is taken into heaven, the disciples are

  40. looking and the angel says, why do you stand

  41. gazing up? The same Jesus will come back in like

  42. manner, in the clouds. He's coming back. And

  43. that's been the encouragement. of the church

  44. for 2 ,000 years. And so we're going to look

  45. at some of the signs. We looked at some of the

  46. signs the last couple weeks. But here's the reality,

  47. what Jesus did. If you look at Matthew in particular,

  48. we call it the Olivet Discourse. Most of what

  49. Jesus is sharing, most of what he talks about,

  50. even at the end of Matthew 24, and then all of

  51. Matthew 25, is a warning. It's an exhortation

  52. to be watching. These signs are given not so

  53. you can follow signs because people will go online

  54. and look at reels and, oh my gosh, what's this?

  55. There's a comet coming. There's this happening

  56. and that. And everyone's looking, searching for

  57. the latest and greatest. What's the next? Earth

  58. is going to be destroyed on this day, whatever.

  59. I don't even know what people are looking at,

  60. but I hear what some people are saying. Jesus

  61. gave us these signs, not to just look at signs

  62. all the time, but that we would be ready, that

  63. we would be busy about his business. If you look

  64. with me at the end of chapter 24, it says this.

  65. And I think I read this a couple of weeks ago,

  66. but I want to remind you. And then all of chapter

  67. 25 is an exhortation of readiness, looking up,

  68. being prepared. But it says this, we're the servants

  69. and Jesus is the master. It says this in verse

  70. 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant?

  71. Whom his master made ruler over his household

  72. to give them food in due season. Blessed is that

  73. servant, that's us, whom his master, when he

  74. comes, finds doing so. What? We're busy. We're

  75. looking up. We're prepared. We're ready for when

  76. he does come back. He said, Assuredly, I say

  77. to you, verse 47, that he will make him ruler

  78. over all his goods. But if that evil servant

  79. says in his heart, My master is delaying his

  80. coming. And he loses sight of this fact. He's

  81. delaying. He's not coming back yet. Don't worry.

  82. We've got time. You've got time. Plenty of time

  83. to get saved. I believe the Bible, but I'm waiting.

  84. If that evil servant says in his heart, my master's

  85. delaying his coming, and he begins to beat his

  86. fellow servants and to eat and to drink with

  87. drunkards, The master of that servant will come

  88. on a day when he's not looking, he's not prepared,

  89. he's not waiting for him. And at an hour when

  90. he's not aware and will cut him in two and appoint

  91. him his portion with the hypocrites. And there

  92. shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. There's

  93. a level of urgency and awaiting that the church

  94. has always been waiting, anticipating Jesus's

  95. return. So Matthew 24 gives us a little bit of

  96. an outline as we travel through it. Also, I wanted

  97. to mention this to you. What zaps the church?

  98. One of the things that draws the church away

  99. and distracts the church, and we know... I could

  100. spend a lot of time on this, but I really believe

  101. the urgency. I mean, for me, it's kind of fun

  102. to go through all these things, to know the sequence

  103. of events, what's going to transpire in the last

  104. days. That's exciting for me. But as Jesus writes

  105. the seven churches in Revelation, the last church,

  106. kind of the last church age, is the church of

  107. Laodicea. I've mentioned this before. And you

  108. probably are familiar with it. But it's a church

  109. that's lukewarm. It's not hot. And it's also

  110. not cold. And Jesus said, I'm going to spew that

  111. church, I'm going to spew that person out of

  112. my mouth. Because it's neither cold or hot. And

  113. Jesus said, I wish you were cold or hot. Pick

  114. a side. Because when you're lukewarm, it's a

  115. place of complacency. There's another church.

  116. We go through all the churches. The church of

  117. Pergamos is a church that it literally means

  118. that word means an unholy union. The church of

  119. Pergamos, I think it's the third church in Revelation,

  120. and it's a church of compromise. It's a church

  121. that lets the world in as much as the Lord, right?

  122. It's a church that claims to be Christian. but

  123. at the same time allows the world to come in.

  124. And Jesus uses the example of Balaam and Balak.

  125. He says that Balaam, this prophet, taught Balak

  126. how to cast a stumbling block before the children

  127. of Israel. And if you look it up, you see that

  128. that stumbling block was to intermarry. Because

  129. Balaam could not curse the children of Israel,

  130. couldn't pronounce a curse on them. He went from

  131. location to location and pronounced actually

  132. seven oracles, seven blessings over this church,

  133. over Israel. And he was going to get paid for

  134. this. And so then he realized, you know what,

  135. I can't curse these people. I have to say what

  136. God tells me, but let me tell you what to do.

  137. They'll curse themselves. And let me tell you

  138. how. Send your daughters in to the camp. Have

  139. them bring their idols. And they'll begin to

  140. intermarry, have sex, and they'll begin to worship

  141. these other gods. And then God's hand of blessing

  142. will come off of them. And that's exactly what

  143. happened. And that's the warning, the church

  144. of Pergamos. And that's the warning to the church

  145. today. Compromise. And what we allow in our life,

  146. what we allow to come into our life as Christians,

  147. that causes us to not be ready for his return,

  148. to know that he's coming back, to intermarry

  149. with the things of this world. We're called to

  150. be separate, salt and light in this world, that

  151. the world can look to us as different with answers

  152. and hope. And if you don't have that hope, Jesus

  153. wants to offer that. The Bible says today is

  154. the day of salvation. If you don't have that

  155. hope, you can have it. The gospel of Jesus Christ

  156. is full of hope. Jesus Christ wants to give eternal

  157. life. But this life is so short. The Bible likens

  158. our life as a vapor. I was looking up. I saw

  159. something online the other day. was, you know,

  160. for me, a little funny, a little scary. It's

  161. like, if you're this old, this is about how many

  162. years you have left. 20 years. And for me, it

  163. was 20 years. Obviously, that can be adjusted,

  164. and I can get healthy, hopefully. Get in shape.

  165. But the reality is, is we have a short amount

  166. of time. Limited. I thought 20 years. Leah and

  167. I have been married for 25 years. I'm past the

  168. halfway point. This will be our 25th year anniversary.

  169. How much time do we have left? How much time

  170. do we have to get ready? How much more time do

  171. we have to be waiting, to be watching, anticipating

  172. Jesus' return? Should we be busy? Should we be

  173. a faithful and wise? Steward, busy about God's

  174. business and his kingdom. So although Jesus gives

  175. so many signs that we can track for a reason

  176. and a purpose, and the purpose is that the church

  177. will be ready because the Bible clearly says

  178. that in the last days, there'll be a cooling,

  179. a departure, a leaving of the faith. So the church

  180. needs to be prepared because I believe we're

  181. living in the last days. We're living in where

  182. these signs, verse 8 in Matthew 24 says, these

  183. are the beginning of sorrows. And that means

  184. birth pains. That they increase in frequency

  185. and intensity. They get harder and closer together

  186. until the baby comes, right? Until Jesus comes

  187. back. And so the church needs to be ready. So

  188. kind of exciting looking at these things, reading

  189. about these things. Last week we looked at some

  190. of the first signs. We compared them to Revelation

    Revelation 6 chapter mention

  191. chapter 6, which is part of the first half of

  192. the tribulation, which is tribulation. It's not

  193. the great tribulation. That's the midway point.

  194. That's three and a half years into the judgment.

  195. Where judgment, like the days of Noah, come on

  196. the whole planet, on the whole earth. So we looked

  197. at verse 4. I'll just read it, and we'll kind

  198. of catch up here with what Jesus says. It says,

  199. Take heed that no one deceives you. For many

  200. will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ,

  201. and will deceive many. It will be a heightened

  202. deception. People being deceived, people in the

  203. church being deceived. It's very easy to be deceived

  204. if you don't know the Bible. If you're watching

  205. reels or random clips online and you don't know

  206. the word, you might believe them. Maybe they're

  207. not true. Maybe they are. I don't know. But deception

  208. will be the first greatest earmark. And there's

  209. always been deception, right? All these things.

  210. Then he talks about wars. and famine, and pestilence,

  211. and persecution. All these things have always

  212. been, right? But he says they're like birth pains,

  213. beginning of sorrows. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter

    2 Timothy 3 chapter mention

  214. 3 with me for a second. We're just going to look

  215. at a couple verses, and then we're going to roll

  216. out all the way to verse 31. We're going to look

  217. at the tribulation. The middle of the tribulation,

  218. which is the temple is going to be built and

  219. Antichrist is going to set himself up in the

  220. temple to be worshipped. 2 Timothy chapter 3.

    2 Timothy 3 chapter mention

  221. We're just going to be there. I want to read

  222. you just a couple more verses talking about the

  223. last days. So I'm trying to keep my spot in Matthew.

  224. Paul telling Timothy, giving him very important

  225. information. In verse 1 it says, 2 Timothy chapter

    2 Timothy 3 chapter mention

  226. 3, But know this, that in the last days perilous

  227. times shall come. Those are harsh, fierce days.

  228. And then he says this. He says, men will be lovers

  229. of themselves. And we already know that people

  230. love themselves, right? Husbands are to love

  231. their wives as Christ loves the church. Love

  232. your wife as you love yourself, right? The Bible

  233. understands. And the reality is we do love ourselves.

  234. But the first, both the great commands that Jesus

  235. says as he was asked, they're linked together,

  236. loving God and loving people. It's a deferred

  237. love. It's understood we love ourselves. But

  238. if you love God, you're going to love people.

  239. And that's part of God's equation. When you become

  240. born again and saved now. You're loving God with

  241. all your heart, and then you love people. You

  242. have a heart for people. You want to minister

  243. to people. You want to share God's love with

  244. people. But Paul is warning Timothy in the last

  245. days, something very drastic is going to happen.

  246. People are going to love themselves, and their

  247. love is not going to get deferred, even in the

  248. church. People will go to church. But not have

  249. a real relationship with the Lord. Listen, it

  250. says they'll love themselves. They'll love money.

  251. They'll be boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient

  252. to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, again,

  253. unforgiving, slanderers, without self -control,

  254. brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong,

  255. haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers

  256. of God. But then here's the twist is verse 5.

  257. It says having a form of godliness. Like they'll

  258. be coming to church. They'll have Bibles. They'll

  259. have a form of godliness. An outward display

  260. at times and a profession. They'll have this

  261. form, but it says they'll deny its power. There

  262. won't be any power in their life to overcome

  263. sin and loving yourself and all these sins that

  264. take place when you love yourself. Like the fruit

  265. of the flesh. It says, from such people turn

  266. away. And we've read it before. I encourage you

  267. to read chapter 3. Chapter 4, he goes on to say,

  268. Same letter, Paul says, I charge you, therefore,

  269. in verse 1, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,

  270. who will judge the living and the dead at his

  271. appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be

  272. ready in season and out of season, convince,

  273. rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering. And then

  274. he goes on to say, the time will come where they

  275. won't endure sound doctrine, that people won't

  276. stand for the teaching of the Bible. People won't

  277. want to hear what the Bible says anymore. They

  278. won't want to hear any challenge, rebuke, exhortation.

  279. Like, I love myself. That's ridiculous. We're

  280. supposed to love ourselves, right? And sometimes

  281. that's the philosophy of the day. You're not

  282. happy because you don't love yourself enough.

  283. You're not happy because you don't have enough

  284. me time. time on your own or whatever it is.

  285. And there's a philosophy of the day. And I understand

  286. that you do need to take time for you and the

  287. Lord, you and your spouse, you and your kids.

  288. Those things need to be in balance. But the problem

  289. has always been a self problem. Jesus came to

  290. save us from ourselves because our self and our

  291. sin and this nature was destroying us. So Paul

  292. says to Timothy, the time will come in the last

  293. days. This is all part of the same letter. For

  294. the time will come when they won't endure sound

  295. doctrine. But according to their own desires,

  296. because they have itching ears, they will turn

  297. their ears away from the truth, and they'll be

  298. turned aside to fables, stories. People will

  299. turn away from the truth. Other things that make

  300. him happy, like that guy doesn't say what I want

  301. him to say. That guy doesn't. And you begin to

  302. find teachers, pastors, people on TV or the Internet

  303. that you can agree with. Instead of you agreeing

  304. with the Bible, you want to find people that

  305. agree with you to keep you and allow you to live

  306. the lifestyle you're living. You understand that?

  307. Does that make sense? So Paul is warning Timothy,

  308. that's what's going to happen in the last days.

  309. Turn to 1 Timothy. Chapter 4. Same idea. Paul

    1 Timothy 4 chapter mention

  310. tells Timothy in his first letter to Timothy,

  311. now the spirit speaks expressly. Like this is

  312. a fact, Timothy. This is by God's Holy Spirit

  313. that in the latter times, the last days, some

  314. will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving

  315. spirits and doctrines of demons. speaking lies

  316. and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared

  317. with a hot iron. Like when you have your conscience

  318. seared with a hot iron, anything goes. Your conscience

  319. is what tells you, no, that's wrong. That's bad.

  320. That's sin. But the more you do it, it just continues

  321. to sear that and sear that and sear that. And

  322. then it becomes callous. And then you can take

  323. a higher temperature, right? It's not as bad

  324. anymore. Like 102 is good, then 105, and then

  325. we can, you know, that callus. If you guys know,

  326. if you have a callus, it can endure a lot, right?

  327. Sometimes you need them for your job. Like I

  328. need this callus. When we used to do flooring,

  329. Justin and I, it would be like humorous because

  330. the way you cut carpet along the wall. Your knuckles

  331. were always scraping on the wall. They're always

  332. scraping. It was like, oh my gosh, what is that

  333. on my knuckle? It looks like a, but it was this

  334. massive callus and now slivers didn't go in.

  335. And that's what he's saying about your conscience.

  336. Something that should be sensitive becomes dull,

  337. becomes hard. And now you don't hear anymore.

  338. And we need to be careful of that. So back to

  339. Matthew 24. It says this, these birth pains,

  340. these sorrows are coming and they've always been.

  341. But then it says this in verse nine. And if you

  342. mark your Bible, you can. This is the beginning

  343. of the tribulation. Verse nine, it says, then

  344. they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill

  345. you. and you'll be hated by all nations for my

  346. namesake. And then many will be offended and

  347. betray one another, and they'll hate one another.

  348. And many false prophets will arise and deceive

  349. many. People will be looking for teachers, having

  350. itching ears. So these false prophets will arise

  351. and deceive many people. They'll make you feel

  352. comfortable in your sin. The tribulation begins.

  353. It says you'll be hated by all nations. It doesn't

  354. say except for the United States, by all nations.

  355. Everyone's going to turn their back as a nation

  356. against God. We're leaning that way already as

  357. a Christian nation. Europe is already gone. Europe,

  358. England, these countries that started out to

  359. be Christian. And had these great pastors and

  360. preachers have veered and swerved. And our country

  361. is doing the same. And we're going to land at

  362. this place at some point. And I might have mentioned

  363. this last week. The fastest growing religion

  364. on planet earth is Islam. It's Islam. It's not

  365. larger than Christianity. in numbers right now,

  366. but it's awful close. And if you read, I think

  367. it's Revelation 20, different parts of Revelation

  368. talking about the people, the tribulation saints,

  369. people who get saved. I think it's Revelation

  370. 20. It says that they were beheaded for God's

  371. name, for the name of Jesus Christ. And the number

  372. one way of capital punishment in Islam, is beheading.

  373. And so potentially, some part of the last day's

  374. religion that Antichrist is going to resurrect

  375. and raise up and pour all different mixtures

  376. in there, part of that will be this capital punishment.

  377. If you don't mold or fold and become part of

  378. that religion and you proclaim Jesus Christ,

  379. and him as your savior to do that it's going

  380. to be very difficult in the tribulation because

  381. you're going to have to lay down your neck you're

  382. going to have to be willing to die for your faith

  383. right right now you know we're trying to live

  384. for our faith not in a lot of fear what happens

  385. when somebody pressures you and there's real

  386. persecution and it's like deny or you die Are

  387. you willing to? That's a lot of pressure. That's

  388. what the tribulation saints are going to have

  389. to endure. Real persecution and death and punishment.

  390. So you'll be hated. It says, verse 12, because

  391. lawlessness will abound. Iniquity, your Bible

  392. might say. People unwilling to obey God's moral

  393. law. And the law. Because lawlessness will abound.

  394. Look at the love of many will grow cold. Always

  395. reflecting on love and what you love and who

  396. you love. But he who endures to the end shall

  397. be saved. There's going to be need of great endurance

  398. in the tribulation. You don't want to go there.

  399. There'll be deception at an all -time high. Persecution

  400. at an all -time high. Everything that Jesus talks

  401. about, when the tribulation kicks off, is going

  402. to be very, very, very intense. It says, and

  403. this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in

  404. all the world as a witness to all nations, and

  405. then the end will come. Jesus is going to come

  406. back. So the witness part of that witness, if

  407. you read the book of Revelation, You read, I

  408. think it's chapter 7, where God anoints 144 ,000

  409. Jewish evangelists, 12 ,000 from each tribe that

  410. are evangelizing the world. You'll read about

  411. two witnesses in Jerusalem who can't die during

  412. the tribulation period. Many people think it's

  413. Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets. Very

  414. well could be. I believe that. And they cannot

  415. die, but they're a witness. And their greatest

  416. witness is at the midway point when Antichrist

  417. sets himself up in the temple, kills these guys,

  418. and the world gives gifts. They all watch it.

  419. Finally, these guys can die. The world watches

  420. it. The world is giving gifts to each other.

  421. You know, CNN, Facebook, Instagram, everybody's

  422. covering this scene. this news and then in three

  423. and a half days they they stand up after everyone's

  424. been just left them there they stand up and they

  425. walk away from that god takes them to heaven

  426. like a great witness so there'll be a witness

  427. throughout the whole world during the tribulation

  428. there'll be an angel flying at some point declaring

  429. uh the gospel of the kingdom so the gospel of

  430. the kingdom it'll be preached during the tribulation

  431. There'll be tribulation saints. There'll be people

  432. getting saved. Verse 15 says, therefore, when

  433. you see the abomination of desolation spoken

  434. by Daniel, the prophet standing in the holy place,

  435. then he says, whoever reads, let them understand.

  436. And then he talks about what to do. Verse 15.

  437. I know we talked about it a couple of weeks ago.

  438. Daniel chapter nine. It's when Antichrist makes

  439. a covenant with Israel. For seven years. Revelation

    Revelation 6 chapter mention

  440. chapter 6, also same scenario. When the rider

  441. on the white horse, that first seal gets opened,

  442. it's Antichrist. He comes with a bow. That's

  443. the covenant of Daniel 9. Same thing. And he

  444. makes this covenant for one week. The one week

  445. is seven one -year periods. At the midway point.

  446. He goes into the temple, desecrates it, demands

  447. worship. Israel figures out this is not the Messiah.

  448. And he says, then flee, right? So Daniel talked

  449. about it. Jesus talked about it as a future event.

  450. It didn't happen. We don't have time to go there.

  451. I already talked about it. It didn't happen at

  452. 177 or 166 BC. Jesus talked about it as future.

  453. So the requirement of that, I know I talked about

  454. this too, there needs to be a temple. Micah,

  455. I think it's Micah 1 .8, says the Lord that you

  456. seek, or 3 .1, the Lord that you seek will come

  457. back suddenly to his temple. So Israel's frame

  458. of mind, believing Jews that are still waiting

  459. for Messiah are going to get deceived, but they

  460. believe for Messiah to come back, there needs

  461. to be a temple. something, a place for Messiah

  462. to come back to that he can't come back until

  463. the temple is built. That's very important. If

  464. you turn with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2,

    1 Thessalonians 2 chapter mention

  465. this will be my last cross -reference, and then

  466. we're just going to kind of zip through this.

  467. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. Actually, it's 2 Thessalonians

    1 Thessalonians 2 chapter mention 2 Thessalonians 2 chapter mention

  468. chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. We could

    2 Thessalonians 2 chapter mention

  469. spend a whole Sunday on this. I'm just going

  470. to read it. But Paul tells these guys. In verse

  471. 1, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now, brethren,

    2 Thessalonians 2 chapter mention

  472. concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  473. that's the second coming, and our gathering together

  474. unto him, that's the rapture. We ask you not

  475. to be, verse 2, soon shaken in mind or troubled,

  476. either by spirit or by word or letter as if from

  477. us, as though the day of Christ has come. So

  478. they got a letter. From somebody that forged

  479. Paul's signature and said, you're in the tribulation

  480. period. And they were going through trouble.

  481. They were dying. They were going through a ton

  482. of persecution. So they believed it. They're

  483. like, we missed the rapture. We're in the tribulation

  484. period. And Paul says, don't be troubled by that.

  485. And then he reminds them of his teachings, of

  486. what he taught them. And it says that the book

  487. of Acts, and we'll get there, that Paul was only

  488. there for three and a half or three Sabbaths.

  489. So he was there for three and a half weeks. Some

  490. people believe that that was the only place,

  491. time he could go to the synagogue. And then he

  492. got kicked out and all the rest of his teachings

  493. had to be other places. So he might've been there

  494. longer because it's pretty thorough and intense

  495. teaching that Paul gives on the last days. But

  496. he says, don't let anyone deceive you, verse

  497. three, by any means for that day will not come

  498. unless there's a falling away comes first. The

  499. word is apostasia. And there's two views on that.

  500. It can be the rapture of the church or a literal

  501. departure from the faith. And there's good arguments

  502. on both. I just bought a book the other day and

  503. very good. A lot of evidence that this could

  504. be the falling away is the rapture of the church.

  505. But I think it really fits for both because the

  506. last days there is going to be an apostasy. There

  507. is going to be a departure from the faith and

  508. the church is going to be raptured. So it says

  509. that happens first and then the man of sin is

  510. revealed, the son of perdition. So you won't

  511. know if you're a born again Christian here, you're

  512. going to get raptured. You'll never know who

  513. Antichrist is on this side of eternity because

  514. he's not going to get revealed until the church

  515. is out of here. That's what the Bible teaches.

  516. Then that man of sin is revealed, the son of

  517. perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above

  518. all that is called God or that is worshiped,

  519. so that, listen, here's the important verse that

  520. I really wanted to read that I'm getting everyone

  521. probably confused on. He opposes and exalts himself

  522. above all that is called God or that is worshiped,

  523. so that he sits as God in the temple of God.

  524. showing himself that he is God. And that's when

  525. Jesus encourages Israel to flee because that's

  526. not Messiah. Do you not remember when I was still

  527. with you, I told you these things, and now there's

  528. no sense in going through that. I'll talk about

  529. that when we talk about the rapture of the church,

  530. which will be next week. So he says, listen,

  531. there has to be a temple. It's going to be the

  532. abomination of desolation. And we know that the

  533. Temple Institute in Jerusalem, everything is

  534. prepared. All the lavers and everything is ready

  535. for the temple. Once it's built, everything's

  536. ready. It's already made. And if you ever go

  537. to Israel, you can go see everything. the things

  538. that are made out of gold. They're doing DNA

  539. tests. They want to figure out who the priests

  540. are to make the sacrifices. It's ready. The temple

  541. is going to be built. Those who are in Judea

  542. fleeted the mountains. Many people believe that

  543. that is the rock city of Petra in Jordan. People

  544. drop off tracks there. There's food there, non

  545. -perishable food there. There's tracks and Bibles

  546. and all kinds of stuff in that city because many

  547. people believe that that in the geography, I

  548. think it might be Isaiah 16 also. I can't remember.

  549. Talks about them fleeing and being sustained.

  550. Revelation talks about that. Fleeing to the wilderness

  551. that he's protected. I think it's Revelation

  552. 12. House top, not go down to take anything out

  553. of his house and let him who was in the field

  554. not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those

  555. who are pregnant, those who are nursing babies

  556. in those days. Pray that your flight be not in

  557. winter or on the Sabbath. It's very Jewish. What's

  558. taking place? There needs to be a temple. And

  559. the tribulation is very Jewish. Okay? The church

  560. will be out of here. This is God. God's taking

  561. the scales off of the eyes of Israel during the

  562. tribulation period is what's going to take place

  563. here. He says, for then there will be, and this

  564. is the midway point of the tribulation, there

  565. will be great tribulation such as had not been

  566. since the beginning of the world until this time,

  567. nor ever shall be. Unless those days were shortened,

  568. 1260 days, the Bible gives us that number. I

  569. think Daniel and Revelation. Unless those days

  570. were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But

  571. for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened.

  572. If anyone says to you, look, here's Christ or

  573. there, don't believe it. For false Christ, false

  574. prophets will rise, show great signs and wonders

  575. to deceive, if possible, the elect. The tribulation

  576. period is going to be the most deceptive time

  577. because there will literally be miracles during

  578. the tribulation. In fact, Antichrist, it says,

  579. He's going to take a deadly wound, and he's going

  580. to be healed, resurrected. People will believe

  581. that he gets resurrected, and that's part of

  582. what makes the world worship him, right? Comes

  583. back to life like Jesus. So he says, if it was

  584. possible, even the elect would be deceived. That's

  585. Israel. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore,

  586. if they say, look. He's in the desert. Don't

  587. go out or look. He's in the inner rooms. Don't

  588. believe it. And we're going to close right here.

  589. Verse 27, for as lightning comes from the east

  590. and flashes to the west, so will be the coming

  591. of the Son of Man. This is the second coming

  592. at the end of the tribulation. For wherever the

  593. carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered

  594. together. Immediately after the tribulation of

  595. those days, the sun will be darkened. The moon

  596. will not give its light. The stars will fall

  597. from heaven and the powers of heaven will be

  598. shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will

  599. appear in heaven and all the tribes of the earth

  600. will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming

  601. in the clouds of heaven with power and great

  602. glory. And he will send his angels with the sound

  603. of a great trumpet and they will gather together

  604. his elect from the four winds and from one end

  605. of heaven to the other. So don't get confused

  606. with this trumpet. This isn't 1 Corinthians 15

  607. trumpet. This isn't 1 Thessalonians 4 trumpet.

  608. If you read the book of Revelation, it talks

  609. about seven different trumpet judgments, right?

  610. People would use a trumpet in war, in battle,

  611. to sound a lot of things, like go into battle,

  612. come back from battle, it's launch, you know,

  613. whatever, right? So just because it's a trumpet,

  614. You can't associate it with just one event, the

  615. rapture of the church, right? The last trump,

  616. the trumpet of God. So we'll look at that next

  617. week. We're going to look at the regathering

  618. of Israel next week. And we're going to look

  619. at the rapture of the church next week and probably

  620. finalize this little series in Matthew of the

  621. last days, the end times, really preparing the

  622. church. We need to be ready for his return. So

  623. hopefully everything made sense. And next week,

  624. I'm kind of excited. I want to look at, we'll

  625. be in Ezekiel, looking at Israel being reborn.

  626. Isaiah chapter 66 says, Isaiah asks the question,

    Isaiah 66 chapter mention

  627. can a nation be born in a day, in one day? Can

  628. the earth give birth in a day? And that's what

  629. happened May 14th, 1948. Israel becomes a nation

  630. recognized by the world of its sovereignty. And

  631. it gave birth in a day. And Israel is very important.

  632. It's one of the signs. It's a super sign of the

  633. last days. Israel's important. And the days of

  634. Noah. The days of Lot, it's the moral condition

  635. of the planet. So we're going to look at those

  636. next week. Rapture of the church, the moral condition,

  637. and Israel, and the exhortation to be ready,

  638. to be watchful as we see these signs unfolding

  639. in greater intensity. And Israel is the super

  640. sign, right? It's reborn and rebirthed at first

  641. in unbelief, and during the tribulation, the

  642. blinders come off. The scales come off.