Bible Prophecy & The Last Days: Signs of the End | Pastor Harley Doneburg | 01.04.26

Good morning. Nice and loud. Welcome to Calvary

Chapel. We're going to take a little break here.

We took a break last week, and then the next

two weeks we're going to go through Matthew chapter

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

24, looking at some of the signs of the end that

Jesus told his disciples. Signs to look for,

things to look for before he comes back, because

the Bible says Jesus is coming back. So before

we get going, the break we're taking is out of

the book of Acts. Our break is Paul's missionary

journey, I want you to keep this in mind so we

can jump right back in. Paul's missionary journey,

he's done with his first missionary journey.

They're back in Antioch. They went to Jerusalem.

Back in Antioch, they're going to go out again,

their second missionary journey. And there's

going to be a contention between Paul and Barnabas

over bringing John Mark. So that's where we're

going to pick up. Not next week, but the week

after. We're going to take two weeks, go through

Matthew chapter 24, some other scriptures, Revelation

Matthew 24 · chapter mention Revelation 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, a few different things. Looking at

the end times, the last days, a very important

time. Last week, we looked at Daniel. We talked

about Daniel. I'm just going to refresh you guys.

We're not going to go through, because I know

Daniel, especially when we got into the math,

easy to lose people. Other people came up to

me and wanted a chart or something, a visual

to see. So I have these in the foyer. Daniel's

70th week talks about the different kingdoms,

the timing of different things, rapture of the

church, the first 69 weeks, the church age, and

then the 70th week of Daniel, which is the tribulation

period. time of Jacob's trouble. So I have these

out there, and Daniel talks about all that. Daniel

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream. He has a dream

of this image, and God gives, and Nebuchadnezzar's

ready to kill everybody because the dream troubled

him so bad, and to prove that someone knew his

dream, you had to tell him the dream and give

the interpretation, which nobody could do except

for Daniel. God gave Daniel that interpretation,

and it was of different kingdoms that were to

come, right? Daniel said, Nebuchadnezzar, you're

the head of gold. You're this king of gold who

rules over everything, and it's going to get

weaker as we go. Medo -Persia, Greece, Rome,

and then finally this last kingdom that gets

shattered is this rock that's cut without hands,

comes out of heaven. and shatters this iron mixed

with clay, the last final kingdom. And it's the

kingdom that's forming right now in these last

days, the kingdom of Antichrist, that Jesus Christ

himself is going to come back and destroy. So

we're going to look at some of those signs, but

if you'd like this little visual, they're in

the foyer. I made a bunch of copies of those.

I think they're on the desk out there. And then

if you're really interested, if you like charts,

and if you're a visual person, this book is excellent,

Charting the End Times by Tim LaHaye and Tommy

Ice. If you like charts, it's got lots of them.

And they're good. And there's scriptures with

all of them. And you can look up different things.

I'll give you some headings. Understanding God's

plan for the ages. What is Bible prophecy? How

we got our Bible. Peter and the future. Paul

and his second coming. The Olivet Discourse.

The Tribulation. Israel. Ezekiel 37 -39. Lots

of amazing things in this book. I think it's

probably $25 or $30 if you're interested. Very

helpful. And very good. So we are going to, and

the book club, listen, this week and next week,

you'll be able to sign up for the book club.

Why Grace Changes Everything, the book is $10.

You can either throw the money in the tithe box

or you can pay for your book when we meet. And

we're going to meet right before the book club

starts. We'll get together everyone who signed

up. You'll get your journal. And if you ordered

a book from us, you'll get a book from the church.

They're $10. So you just have to, when you sign

up, just let us know if you need that book. And

we'll make sure we order you one. We already

ordered some. Then we'll know if we need to order

more. So this week and next week will be the

final order for us. But you can get these things

right on Amazon for $10. So you can order that

book. And then we'll listen and you don't have

to talk at the end, you know, because the end

of the book, you don't have to like feel pressure

like I want to read the book. I want to be part

of the book club. But is somebody going to ask

me a question or no? At the end, you get to drink

coffee, have some desserts. If you want to say

something, you can. If you want to jump in or

if you have a question, maybe it'll get answered

or you can ask a question or talk about something

God showed you. That'll be at that final. And

we're trying to gear it and figure out, should

we take six weeks on a book this size? I don't

know. Some of you guys read this book in a week

or less than a week. There's 14 small chapters

in this book. You'll have it done in a week or

two. So I think we're going to shoot for six

weeks. Gives everyone plenty of time. Maybe you

need to read it twice. Who knows? You'll have

plenty of time. Other than that, we're going

to be in Matthew chapter 24, and I'll pray real

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

quick. Lord, we're so thankful, God, for your

love, for your goodness and your kindness, Lord,

and your grace in our life, God. We pray, Lord,

for this morning that you'd stir our hearts,

God, that you'd speak to our hearts, Lord, and

the things that I need to say I wouldn't forget,

and the things I do say that wouldn't be confusing.

I wouldn't leave anything out, Lord. So we just

give you this morning, God, pray that you'd stir

our hearts. Lord, cause us to look up. Your word

tells us when we see these things, Lord, we're

to look up because our redemption is drawing

nigh. So I pray you'd cause us to do that, Jesus,

in your name. So every time, you know, every

once in a while I see this image on, I've seen

it on Facebook. But it's a photographer who takes

pictures, and I probably shared this with you

before, but a photographer, he takes pictures

of walk -off home runs. Someone who's, you know,

bottom of the ninth, extra innings, 10th, 11th,

12th inning, and the guy hits a walk -off home

run. And the guy takes a picture of the guy rounding

third base coming into home. And the guy's a

Christian. He says, that's how I picture people

going into heaven. Like, finally, we've made

it. We won. And the whole team, and it's a picture

of the guy rounding third base. And the whole

team is waiting for him just on the other side

of home plate. And it's such a great image, such

a great. picture because that's really this world.

We're grinding it out here. We're depending on

the Lord. We have his word, his spirit. We have

the church to gather and to get fellowship and

to sharpen one another. But this world gets hard

sometimes. And so Bible prophecy is part of what

causes us to look up and not get distracted,

to not get deceived, so we can stay focused on

The kingdom. And not get pulled away or sucked

away by this world. Because that's what the devil

wants to do. And the sons of Issachar, I mentioned

this last week. The sons of Issachar, it's a

small group of men from that tribe. 200, I believe,

in 1 Chronicles talks about this group. It says

that they knew the signs of the times. They understood

the sign. And if you hate genealogies, like if

that's your Bible in a year and you hit a genealogy,

you're like, oh my gosh, I'm going to get through

this in one second today. It's a genealogy. Well,

you'll miss that in Chronicles if you just skip

through your genealogy because something special

was said there about these sons of Issachar.

It says they understood the signs of the times.

And it says for a reason that they knew. what

Israel should do. How do you operate? How do

you behave? What to do when you see the signs

the days we're living in? And that's the question

the disciples asked Jesus. When will this be,

the destruction of the temple and the sign of

your coming and the end of the age, the age of

man? When is the rule of man going to be over

that can be so cruel? And so off, right? And

they lived in this era of Rome when they asked

this question. And so prophecy creates a readiness,

a preparedness for eternity, that your eyes would

be looking up, your heart would be ready. I think

I did it last week. You know, a third of your

Bible, His Bible prophecy. One third. And for

every one scripture that talks about Jesus' first

coming, that we looked at it last week in Daniel

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9, that Israel was to know the day of

their visitation. The exact day. Daniel predicted

the very day that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem

as Messiah. They were to know the day. For every

one scripture for the first coming, there's eight

for the second coming. That's how important it

is that Jesus is coming back. When the disciples

were there in Acts chapter one and Jesus is taken

into heaven, the angel says, why do you stand

there gazing up? Because Jesus, the same Jesus

is going to come in like fashion. He's coming

back. Right? And I think we looked at it last

week, Acts chapter two. As Peter declares what

everyone was seeing in the early church, as they're

speaking in tongues, declaring the wonderful

works of God in everyone's language, Peter stands

up and says, this is what was spoken by the prophet

Joel. In the last days, I'm going to pour out

my spirit on young and old. And then he describes

this time that leads right to the tribulation

period. that the sun won't shine, the stars from

heaven are going to fall, all these different

things describing the tribulation period. And

that marked, Acts chapter 2 marks the beginning

Acts 2 · chapter mention

of the last days that are narrowing down, narrowing

down, and the signs are becoming more prevalent

and more prevalent and greater and greater and

more observable. So Matthew chapter 24, It says

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

this. Somebody took my clock this week. If you

look at chapter 23 with me, we'll start there.

It's important. There's some things that are

important to fit in your understanding of the

last days, how things are going to play out,

what's going to happen in the future. That scriptures

are going to fit in or they're not, or you're

going to force them. And I think I talked about

it last week, that there's this replacement theology

that lends to anti -Semitism, hatred of Jews.

That the church has replaced Israel, and that

Israel is not for today, which is not true. You

really have to force a lot of things in Bible

prophecy. to push Israel out and put the church

in its place. So it says this in chapter 23.

If you remember with me, Jesus has already rode

into Jerusalem. He's wept over it. And he says,

you know, if you would have known this thy day,

but now they're hid from your eyes. They cried

out a scripture, a prophetic messianic scripture,

Psalm 118. When they were there, Hosanna, they

were saying, blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord. Remember, they were laying palm

branches down on the road. They were declaring

Jesus Christ as Messiah. Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord. They're declaring Jesus

as Messiah, but Jesus knew something that they

didn't know. In just a couple days, they were

going to crucify him. They were going to take

everything they said about him back, and they

were going to kill him. Right. But Jesus is going

to say this. Keeping that in mind. Says this

in verse 37 of chapter 23. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

the one who kills the prophets and stones those

who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather

your children together as a hen gathers her chickens

together under her wings. But you were not willing.

How important that is. He doesn't say, oh, New

York, New York. Oh, you know, whatever. You can

name your city, whatever important city there

is today. He says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And

he says, the one who kills the prophets and stones

the ones who are sent to her. I wanted to gather

your children together as a hen gathers her chickens

under her wings, but you are not willing. And

that's God's heart for people, how he cares for

people. I remember being in Haiti, and I don't

want to throw this idea off because this is very

Jewish. But I don't want to throw the idea off.

I remember being in Haiti, and there was all

these chickens. I would watch from my balcony,

looking down in their little courtyard. And there

was a couple chickens that had these tiny little

chicks. And people who have chickens probably

have seen this before. But it was like a visual

for me. Because they'd be running around. Then

all of a sudden, you'd look away, look back,

and they'd disappear. Like, where did these little

chickens go? And then she'd lift up her wings,

and all these chickens would run out from under

her. She's protecting them. And that's what Jesus

is saying, how I wanted to gather you in and

protect you. And be your Savior. And that's what

Jesus' heart is for every single person here,

if you don't know him today. How he wants to

be your Savior, your Lord. He wants to be your

friend. That's amazing to me. The God of the

universe, he doesn't just want to save you, but

he wants to be your friend. He wants to be in

your life every day, every moment. And so Jesus

is saying, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who,

but it's not over here. And I think this book

has a chart on this. It's the dispersion of Israel,

how it's left desolate, Israel and Jerusalem.

And that's going to happen. We're going to talk

about that in a minute. But he says that, see,

your house is left to you desolate. But guess

what? It's not over. Because verse 39 says, for

I say to you, you shall see me no more until

you say. Blessed is he who comes in the name

of the Lord. They had already said that. They

had already declared that. They said that. But

guess what? It's going to happen again. It's

going to happen again. At the end of the tribulation.

Right? You remember Zechariah. He says, I'm going

to send out my spirit in the last days. Zechariah,

I think it's 12. In the last days, the spirit

on the... Oh, the sons of David, the spirit of

grace and supplication. And it says that they'll

look upon me whom they pierced. That hasn't taken

place yet. That's coming in the future. For who?

For Israel. For the Jews. And it's important

to keep that in mind because the Jewish state

and regathering, May 14th, 1948, is the super

sign of the last days. It's the sign of the last

days. I believe it's, and we're gonna look at

it next week. We're gonna talk about the rapture

next week. We're gonna talk about Israel next

week. We're also gonna talk about the days we're

living in, the days of Noah, the days of Lot.

Those are some of the last days signs Jesus also

gave in a warning to the church and to his disciples.

But the super sign is Israel. Blessed is he who

comes in the name of the Lord. They're gonna

say that again. They're going to look upon me

who they pierced. It's very Jewish. We're going

to see as we travel through Matthew 24, it becomes

very Jewish, and it lines up with Revelation

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, which is a snapshot of the first three

and a half years of the tribulation. We're actually

going to read it today and see how it lines up.

So you look with me in chapter 24. We don't have

time to read all the verses. I want to. I know

it can get. I don't want to bog you down too

much. But it says this. And Jesus was traveling

from the temple through the Kidron Valley. to

the Mount of Olives every day. He'd teach in

the temple, and then he'd leave there in the

evening and go to the Mount of Olives. He stayed

there with his disciples for several days leading

up to his crucifixion that last week. So it says

this in verse one, Jesus went out and departed

from the temple, he and his disciples, and they

came up to show him the buildings of the temple,

how impressive they were. The temple was something

that If you spoke against the temple, you could

be killed. It's like blasphemy. I mean, they

held it in such high regard, the temple, that

Herod rebuilt. He added on. He made it pretty

amazing. And so the disciples are showing him

the temple. Like, this is going to stand, right,

Lord? The temple is always going to be here.

Finally, it's established. It's going to be here.

And Jesus says this in verse two, do you not

see all these things? He's showing it, looking

at the temple. Assuredly, I say to you, not one

stone shall be left here upon another that shall

not be thrown down. And you know, 70 AD, Titus

Vespasian goes in and destroys the temple. And

to remove the gold, From the temple that got

burned accidentally, whatever, as they're removing

the gold, to get the gold, they have to take

one stone off upon another. And you've probably

seen the Wailing Wall, a very famous place where

you'll see rabbis and visitors and people go.

If you see anything that has to do with the temple,

that's not the temple, it's the foundation. It's

a retaining wall of the temple is what it is.

And then they built the temple beyond that. So

there's literally not one stone left upon another.

How did the disciples know that? How does Jesus

know that? That wouldn't take place for 35 more

years. Jesus said, so exacting that every stone

is going to get removed. One stone upon another

to retrieve the gold. that as the temple's burning,

it melts in between the stones. And the only

way to retrieve it was to tear the temple apart,

stone by stone by stone. Listen, prophecy, Jesus

knows the future. God knows the future. The Bible

knows the future. And Jesus knows the future.

Trust me, this is true. And we need to listen

to what Jesus is saying. Now he goes, so. He

sits on the Mount of Olives, verse 3, and the

disciples came to him privately saying, tell

us, when shall these things be? The destruction

of the temple. But they think this is all at

one time. Obviously, when the temple gets destroyed,

this is all going to be in one. This all happens

at one time, and it doesn't. So they're asking

basically three questions here, thinking it's

all one time. Tell us, when shall these things

be? And what shall be the sign of your coming,

your coming back, and the end of the age, the

age of man? When is man going to quit ruling

here on planet earth? And Jesus doesn't say that's

not important. That doesn't matter. Don't worry.

You just got to be a good person and witness,

go evangelize, but you don't need to know. You

don't need signs. Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus

gives them specific signs. And I'm going to read

these and then we're going to go to Revelation

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 and look and see how it mirrors Revelation

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, which is the first three and a half

years of the tribulation. If you mark in your

Bibles or take notes all the way to verse 26,

that's the midway point of the tribulation in

Matthew chapter 24. Okay, we get to a spot verse,

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

I don't know, verse 13 or 14, 15. That's the

middle of the tribulation. And Jesus is talking

about that all the way to verse 26. That's the

encouragement to hang in there. That's the abomination

of desolation. I think if some of you guys were

here last week, we talked about it. Antiochus,

Epiphanes. The Seleucid king did this. Claimed

to be the god Zeus. He went into the temple,

brought an image, killed a pig, desecrated the

temple, spread its blood all over the temple,

made the priest drink the blood, killed over

100 ,000 Jews. It started the Maccabean revolt.

History lesson. That was a dress rehearsal for

what was going to take place in the tribulation.

Because as the temple's destroyed, I don't want

to lose you guys. As the temple's destroyed in

70 AD, the temple isn't desecrated. That's going

to be future. And Revelation wasn't written until

95 AD. So that, everything John sees, Was future.

He's not looking back at Titus destroying the

temple. Right? So to desecrate the temple that

gets destroyed in 70 AD, what has to happen?

There needs to be a rebuilt temple. Which is

coming. Right? The Temple Institute in Jerusalem

is there. They have all the instruments prepared.

They're doing DNA tests. They want to get the

priests, all the people. That are going to be

able to do the sacrifices. You remember 2022?

Five red heifers were sent from Texas to Israel

that were pure. There wasn't one blemish, no

white hair on these things. Right? Now, I don't

know if those are the red heifers. And what does

that mean, a red heifer? That's what needed to

be sacrificed. and they mix the ashes in the

water to purify different things, right? In the

Levitical law and Moses, it's important. So they're

planning, and every year they go up on the temple

mount and put up a little bit of a stink, and

they want to build the temple. They have a problem

there. one of the holiest Muslim sites there,

the Dome of the Rock, that for some reason, I

think it was in 1967, when Israel took control

of Jerusalem, they left that thing there. I don't

know why, but that was part of the, whatever,

the agreement. But God knows that. In fact, when

you read the book of Revelation, and they're

called to measure the temple and leave out the

court of the Gentiles, many people believe that

that's where the dome of the rock is built and

where the court of the Gentiles would be. It's

kind of interesting. I don't want to lose you,

though. It didn't happen. I start rambling up

here. When shall these things be? What shall

be the sign of your coming and the end of the

age? Jesus said, take heed that no one deceives

you. So I'm just going to read a few of these

verses because we're just going to read the first

few, maybe 10 verses or so. And then we're going

to look at Revelation chapter 6. We're going

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

to go through some of these things that you see.

But the first thing is, take heed no one deceives

you. Many will come in my name. saying, I am

the Christ and will deceive many. You'll hear

of wars, verse 6, and rumors of wars. See that

you're not troubled, for all these things must

come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation

will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.

There'll be famines, pestilence, earthquakes

in various places. These things are the beginning

of sorrows. And they'll deliver you up to tribulation,

kill you. You'll be hated by all nations for

my namesake. And then many will be offended and

will betray one another and will hate one another.

Many false prophets will rise up and deceive

many. And because lawlessness will abound, the

love of many will grow cold. But he who endures

to the end shall be saved. You need to have endurance

through the tribulation. If you're going through

the tribulation. But the church is not appointed

to wrath. We're not appointed to wrath. So turn

with me to Revelation chapter 6. We'll just read

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

that chapter together quickly and see the correlation

here. We might read another chapter in Revelation

2. So Revelation chapter 6 kicks off the tribulation

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

period. You don't have to turn there, but John

is taken to heaven in chapter 4. An angel says,

come up here. and ushers John into heaven. And

now the church is in heaven, Revelation chapter

four and five. And this is the view from heaven

of what's taking place on planet earth during

the tribulation, seven year period. I saw when

the lamb opened one of the seals. Remember chapter

five, there was a scroll sealed with seven seals

and no one was worthy to open it. And John wept

bitterly because no one in heaven or earth was

found worthy. But then he says, oh, John, don't

weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, he's worthy.

And John turns to look at the lion of the tribe

of Judah, and what's he see? A lamb as though

it had been slain from before the foundations

of the earth. Jesus Christ is the one that's

worthy. So he's opening these seals. And I saw

the lamb open one of the seals, and I heard one

of the four living creatures saying with a loud

voice, like thunder come and see. And I looked

and behold, a white horse. It's not Jesus Christ.

It's antichrist. And he who sat on it had a bow

and a crown was given to him. This laurel wreath

was given to him. It's a conquering crown, but

it's not a kingly crown. It's not the crowns

that Jesus is going to wear. The different crown.

And he went out conquering. And to conquer. And

the bow he has is a bow of a covenant. It's a

pact. It's not like a Matthew's bow or whatever

it is. It's not a crossbow. This is a bow. It's

a covenant. It's the covenant. It's the peace

treaty that we looked at last week in Daniel

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9. That Antichrist is going to make a

treaty. For one week. A seven year period. With

Israel. That's what happens here. Revelation

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. Jesus says, take heed that no one

deceives you. Many will come in my name. Antichrist

is a deceiver. And he's going to deceive the

whole world. Rapture the church. The church is

out of here. Antichrist is going to bring this

peace. He's going to bring a peace treaty to

Israel. He's going to bring an answer. He's going

to have an answer for why millions of people

disappeared from planet Earth. All the wars and

rumors of wars that have been happening and do

happen. He's going to have an answer for all

these things. And he's probably going to be the

guy that allows the temple to be rebuilt in Israel.

That's part of this covenant, this pact, this

boa that he brings. And through diplomacy, he's

going to conquer. And then you're going to see

all these governments start shifting. And you

look at Daniel's prophecy, and we're going to

see it later in the book of Revelation. We won't

because I'm not going to go there. You guys can

read it. But that's why these horns grow up in

these kingdoms. Ten horns. It's going to be this

confederation of nations under Antichrist. That

begin to rule the world. He's a world global

leader. Antichrist. He's on a white horse. Why?

He's deceptive. Because the guys on the white

horse, those guys are the good guys normally,

right? Not in this case. He's fooling the world.

He's coming in on a white horse like a hero.

But it's a lie. And then. Verse 3, when he opened

the second seal, I heard the second living creature

saying, come and see. And another horse, fiery

red, went out. And it was granted to the one

who sat on it to take peace from the earth. And

that people should kill one another. And that

was given him a great sword, a mega sword. That's

the wars. People are now jockeying for position.

Remember, that's what Jesus said. Take heed,

no one deceives you. The second sign. Wars and

rumors of wars. How it lines up. White horse,

red horse. See that you be not troubled, for

nation will rise against nation. Kingdom against

kingdom. There'll be famines, pestilence, earthquakes.

So the next horse is this war that's going to

be taking place. And that's always gone on. Back

when it says... In verse 8 of Matthew 24, these

are the beginning of sorrows. That word literally

means birth pains. It's birth pains. It's like

when you start having contractions, something's

coming. If you're pregnant and you're a woman,

right? I've never experienced birth pains. But

when it happens, the baby's coming. There's no

turning back, right? Something's going to happen.

And so there's these birth pains leading up to

a time of the tribulation where then it gets

intense. There's no turning back. So there's

Braxton and Hicks. We're always experiencing

those leading up to that where there's some pain

and then it subsides. Some pain. We've always

experienced deception, this world. We've always

experienced wars and rumors of wars. Nothing

like we are today. World War I. That was supposedly

the war to end all wars, right? I can't remember,

15, you have to ask Caitlin, 15 to 20 million

people die in World War I. That was the war to

end all wars. Then World War II, including civilians,

70 to 80 million people die. And then they let

the genie out of the bottle, Hiroshima, right?

Here's a weapon that nobody's ever seen. And

now people have these weapons. That was almost

100 years ago, 80 years ago. Where they destroy

somebody, 100 ,000 people like that, 80 ,000,

70 ,000 people like that. One bomb. Now people

have enough bombs. Russia has enough to destroy

the world five times over. America, four times

over. People that you don't want to have the

bomb, North Korea, they have it. People that

have an itchy trigger finger. There's wars and

rumors of wars. It's taking place. Zechariah

says that in the last days that Israel would

become a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone

that all the world is going to burden themselves

with it. Everything's focused and becomes focused

on this tiny little nation that's the size of

New Jersey. Right? But wars. So during the tribulation,

there's going to be wars. Antichrist is jockeying

for position. Other countries are jockeying for

position. The United States is not going to save

the world. Donald Trump is not going to save

the world. Maybe that's a shocker to someone.

I don't know. But he's not. Where does America

play out in Bible prophecy? I don't know. We're

not mentioned really, which is kind of a scary

thing. Back in Revelation, it says when he opened

the third seal, I heard the living creature say,

come and see. And I looked and behold, a black

horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales

in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst

of the four living creatures saying, a quart

of wheat for a denarius. and three quarts of

barley for a denarius, and don't harm the oil

and wine. That's the famine that's coming. Food

is going to be so astronomical. You think food's

expensive now? I wish you knew my food bill.

We have nine kids, and they all have friends

that come over. It's like locusts come through

my house. I look in my fridge. I'm like, where

is the food? And where's the fruit? And I see

Josh sitting down eating $5 little things of

raspberries, like it's a nickel or something,

like we picked them. Well, food is going to be

astronomically expensive. People are going to

be starving during the tribulation. And it says

famines. Jesus said that there'll be famines.

Well, there's always been famine, but not like

it'll be in the tribulation period. It's coming.

And birth pains increases in frequency and intensity

the closer you get. You'd have to ask one of

the ladies if that's true, but I believe it is.

The closer you get, the more intense the pain

gets. Birth pains. Until you have the baby. And

that's what Jesus is describing these things,

these signs of getting worse. And worse and worse,

the closer you get to the Lord's return. And

then he says this. Actually, turn with me to

Revelation chapter 8. Read this really quick.

Revelation 8 · chapter mention

You wonder why things are going to get hard.

By the time we get done reading chapter 6, that's

the first half of the tribulation, over one -fourth

of the population on planet Earth is dead. Gone.

That's North America, South America, Central

America, gone. Europe, gone. Two billion people,

gone. In three and a half years. That doesn't

include the rapture of the church, people who

are taken out of here, millions of people. But

we know from reading Revelation chapter 6, at

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

least one quarter of the population is gone.

It says this as you enter into chapter 8. These

are the trumpet judgments. The first trumpet,

verse 6, says the seven angels who had the seven

trumpets prepared themselves to sound. I'm just

going to read this, and you can use your imagination.

The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed,

mingled with blood. And they were thrown to earth,

and a third of the trees were burned up, and

all the green grass was burned up. And when it

says grass, the word that's used, I can't remember

what it is in Greek, that means it means herbs.

It means stuff that you grow. That you would

grow for food. So as this happens. This is still

the first half of the tribulation. A third of

everything that you would possibly eat. That

people would grow on planet earth. That's gone.

And the second angel sounded. And something like

a great mountain burning with fire. Thrown into

the sea. And a third of the sea became blood.

And a third of the living creatures of the sea

they died. And a third of the ships were. Well,

the sea is where we get half our oxygen on planet

Earth. So if a third of it's destroyed, oxygen

on planet Earth goes down by 20%. Just oxygen.

That doesn't include food on planet Earth, things

that are coming. And use your imagination. We

could camp here for a long time. We don't have

time to. And a third angel sounded, and a great

star fell from heaven, burning like a torch,

and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the

springs of water. That's fresh water. And the

name of the star was Wormwood. And a third of

the waters became Wormwood, and many men died

from the water because it was made bitter. It

was polluted now. Like I said, we could camp

here for a while. In verse 12, a fourth angel

sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, and

a third of the moon, and a third of the stars.

So a third of them were darkened, and a third

of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through

the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,

Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth,

because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet,

the next three that are about to sound. So you

can see how the earth, the system where you grow

things and food and all, it's going to be really

messed up. So, don't harm the oil and the wine,

verse 6. Verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal,

I heard a voice. Of the four living creatures

saying, come and see. And I looked and behold,

a pal horse. And the name on him who sat on it

was death. And Hades followed with him. And power

was given to them over a fourth of the earth

to kill with a sword, with hunger, with death.

And by the beast of the field. Beast of the earth.

A fourth of the earth is destroyed. It's pestilence.

And that's what Jesus warned about, pestilence.

Infectious, deadly diseases. And we went through

the dress rehearsal with COVID for a global pandemic,

didn't we? Infectious, deadly diseases, COVID.

That's going to be nothing compared to what's

coming in terms of infection and seriousness

and how bad it's going to be on planet Earth.

Pastor Lentz is going to be incredible. When

we were planning on going to Guatemala 2020 when

COVID hit, and it was funny, we had insurance

for our trip for a global pandemic. Yeah, you

need to get insurance. Well, guess what? 2020,

we had a global pandemic. I'm glad we had insurance.

We got most of our money back for the trip, for

the tickets. But that's coming. Pestilence, infectious,

deadly diseases. You're not going to escape it.

Now, it's a weapon. Those are used as weapons

now, right? Those are going to get unleashed

as weapons on America, on other countries. Weather

patterns. Fifth seal, if you're still in Revelation

with me, he opened the fifth seal. I saw under

the altar the souls who have been slain for the

word of God and for the testimony which they

held. That's the persecution we read about back

in Matthew 24. And they cried with a loud voice

saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until

you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell

on the earth. Those are tribulation saints, people

who get saved during the tribulation. And then

a white robe was given to each of them, and it

was said to them that they should rest a little

while longer until both the number of their fellow

servants and their brethren who would be killed

as they were was completed. They're going to

have to lay down their necks for the gospel during

the tribulation period. It's often what Islam

does to kill someone. It's decapitation, beheading.

That's the way these guys are going to get killed.

And they're waiting. They have to wait. And I

looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold,

there was a great earthquake. Jesus said there'll

be earthquakes. And the sun became black as sackcloth

of hair, and the moon became like blood, and

the stars of heaven fell to earth as figs drop

its late figs when it's shaken with the mighty

wind. We're going to have to close here in just

a second. They receded as a scroll, as a scroll

is rolled up. And every mountain and island was

removed out of its place. And the kings of the

earth and the great men and the rich men and

the commanders and the mighty men and every slave

and every free man, they hid themselves in the

caves of the rocks of the mountains. And they

said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on

us and hide us from the face of him who sits

on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.

They understand where the judgment is coming

from. which is amazing. Then you get to chapter

12, and their allegiance is an allegiance to

Antichrist. They take the mark. I think it's

chapter 12. They take the mark, and they say,

who was able to war against the beast? Who was

able to fight him? They understand judgment's

coming, and then they make a stand, and they

take a mark in their right hand or their forehead.

People are going to love that mark. People are

going to want it, right? You're going to get

your monthly stipend that you don't have to work

anymore. AI is going to be your worker. You're

going to have robots. You're going to have in

your right hand or your forehead this mark. No

one's going to be able to steal your identity.

You're going to be able to go to the hospital,

the doctor, get your free medication, healthcare,

groceries. You're going to be able to get everything

you want with that mark. It's coming. It's getting.

That system is here. It's never been like this.

Jesus said, when you begin to see these things

take place, look up your redemption's drawing

nigh. We're here. The system of antichrist is

in place. It wasn't 100 years ago. 100 years

ago, this was not happening. It could not happen.

Now we're here. This is taking place. The great

day of his wrath has come, who is able to stand.

We don't have time to talk about all the different

things that Jesus talked about there in Matthew.

We're going to keep going here in Matthew 24.

I thought maybe next week we'd be done. We might

be done next week. I might be able to condense

it a little bit. But we're going to keep going.

Bible prophecy, the last days. We need to be

aware. We need to be looking up. Deception is

great. I won't turn there. I'm so tempted. Next

week we're going to look, because in the last

days, listen, the Bible says that many will depart

from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits

and doctrines of devils. There's a deception

coming where people are going to walk away. Antichrist

doesn't mean against Christ only. It means in

place of. That's what antichrist means. There's

many... False gospels out there. People who claim

to have a way to heaven. The deception is amazing.

I remember Hale -Bob Comet. Some of you guys

don't remember that. These guys wearing Nike

sneakers. These guys were doctors, lawyers. Very

intelligent people waiting for this comet to

come and take them off the planet. But they had

to drink this poison. And they're all laying

there with their, I think, white Nike sneakers.

I can't remember how many people there were in

California in the early, mid -90s, 94, 95. The

deception, like, yeah, this comet's going to

pick you up. Everyone had to have Nike sneakers,

drink this poison. Intelligent people bought

in. Intelligent people understand that the wrath

of the Lamb is coming and they pledge their allegiance

to Antichrist. The wealthy, the rich, the powerful

people who hide themselves initially pledge their

allegiance to Antichrist. The deception is going

to be mind -blowing. It says that if it were

possible, that even the very elect would be deceived.

Jesus warned that. Thessalonians says that he's

going to send a strong delusion that they might

believe a lie. That's how strong the lie, the

delusion, this Antichrist person is coming. And

the spirit of Antichrist is already here. Deception's

already here. He's probably alive, like I don't

want to be a doomsdayer, but he's probably alive.

We're living in the last of the last days. We

need to look up. So Lord, we give you our lives,

Lord. I know that I ran a little long today.

I pray, God, you'd stir us up as a church, as

a people, Lord. You've given us these signs to

equip us, to prepare us for your soon return,

the way you did with the sons of Issachar. They

knew the signs of the times that Israel might

know what to do. And we need to know as a church,

God, what should we be doing? Should we be busy

about your business or ours? Busy about the kingdom

or your kingdom or our kingdom. Give you our

lives, Lord. Pray you'd stir our hearts, Lord.

I pray some of this stuff would just settle in

on our hearts and our minds, Lord.